Twelve senators were appointed to the Student Association Senate for the 2007 - 2008 school year, though no election was held.
This year's Student Association Senate election, which was to be held September 25 - 27, was cancelled due to the fact that only one candidate for each position of SA Senate petitioned to run in the race.
Several of the appointed senators were members of the SA senate for the 2006 - 2007 term and remained in their positions for this academic year.
Nick DellaNeve, an off-campus Senator, claimed that they were put into the position due to circumstances beyond their control.
"It's unfortunate that we didn't have an election. It gives you more satisfaction being elected by your students," he said.
SA Senate elections are usually done early in the school year and are extremely time-sensitive since elected senators have to assume their positions immediately.
Potential opponents had until September 21 to petition for Senate candidacy, after which a three-day election would have been held.
According to Jovan Ramirez, an on-campus SA Senator, this is not the first time SA has been affected by a lack of student participation.
"The same thing happened last year," he said. "There were people who were not enthusiastic and resigned."
One cause of the candidate shortage may be that students were insufficiently informed. The candidacy petition and election were advertised in standard ways such as fliers and school publications, but several students stated that they had no notice about the election.
"I don't think I would have wanted to be in a senator position, but I would have liked to know," said Max Kimbarow, a freshman business major.
Ramirez feels that it would have been a benefit if more people were aware of the election.
"I think (more advertising) would have helped. It would have been wonderful to get the word out more," he said.
Student apathy may also be a reason for the election's cancellation. Both Ramirez and DellaNeve note the decrease of student participation in several school events such as Spirit Week.
"I think it's either a sad story or a great story," said Dennis Black, vice president of student affairs. "Either the people that ran are so outstanding that no one else wanted to run or no one cared."
Many students claim they would have been interested in being involved in student politics if they had known.
"I would have definitely participated or considered running but I didn't hear a word about it," said Ben Charlton, a sophomore economics and urban and public policy studies major.
According to Ramirez and DellaNeve, most students who get involved in SA Senate do so through SA clubs or through Student Assembly. Before his participation in the senate, Ramirez was involved in NAACP and DellaNeve was a part of Student Assembly. They note these two avenues as ways students can learn about SA without having to be actively involved.
"Student Assembly is filled with freshmen. That's one of the best ways to get into SA," DellaNeve said.
Many of these students, however, are not yet prepared to take on the demanding responsibilities of being senators.
"It's hard to know what you're supposed to do as a senator, especially if you haven't been a part of SA and if you don't know SA's constitution," DellaNeve said.
Ramirez agreed and said that his first year as a senator was a learning experience.
"When I first started last year, I wanted to make a difference, but I didn't know what I was going to be doing," Ramirez said.
Still, both senators feel that students should have had chance to get involved.
"We do need the student body's input, but it was out of our hands," Ramirez said. "They still need the option to vote at the end of the day."
Black feels that in order for students to be involved they must first and foremost be informed.
"For the people to be engaged they have to be aware," Black said. "Whether it's at a local, state or national level, it's everyone's responsibility to make sure people have those possibilities."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
