Election missed the point

It felt like State of Play 2: Student Association Election. Not on the same level of politics as Washington, but with all the drama and hearsay.
Student elections: where overdramatic lives.
Bias. Relationships between overseers and candidates. Unequal punishments among parties. Possible bribery. Rumors galore.
This SA election was characterized by everything an election shouldn't be about, and it further tainted my already negative view of student politics.
In a competitive time where Latin honors and bulky résumés are most important, it seemed that personal gains were the biggest incentive for candidates, supporters and election officials. There were pure souls that did run ethically sound campaigns, while others made sure the integrity of the election was not compromised, but these participants were overshadowed by the "he said, she said" allegations of the election.
An ugly and rough election at an inappropriate time.
A slashed budget, cut classes and professors, and a dwindling student trust of campus leadership are affecting the University at Buffalo, and the ones that should be vowing to make UB a better place should put their actions behind their words.
We need strong leaders in Albany and in 350 Student Union more than ever. I trust the officials elected to follow up on their promises.
But this election, for the most part, wasn't about rehearsing platforms or answering the questions of the student body. Instead, attacks from each party flooded the Student Union, which was a sea that drowned every student brave enough to walk through it with purple and green flyers.
There's nothing that'll get students more amped up about UB than corrupt student politics shoved down their throats.
Elections bring the ugly out in people. The thought of a position of power can make a candidate forget the initial reasons he or she ran. This is especially true in such a popularity contest that we all try to believe is about the best candidates.
I'm sure the people involved in this process had good hearts. They entered this election for a reason: they saw flaws at UB and wanted to fix them for future students.
But politics can be a screwy thing. Paranoia infiltrated the minds of each party's candidates, and these students sometimes reacted without much thought. This election shouldn't have been about the allegations against each party, or the questionable expenditure reports.
The Student-Wide Judiciary shouldn't have had the microscope zoomed in on its off-the-book punishment procedure. The trial-and-error use of punishments was viewed as screwy, but considering the circumstance (this was the first election SWJ was involved in), it did what it could to maintain an ethical election.
In the end, although every candidate gave the rehearsed answer that working toward the betterment of UB was most important, there was a lot of crying, complaining and bickering done by every member of each party.
The future of UB is looking bleak. UB 2020 is in the process of being pushed back, and we need strong delegates to advocate for our school in Albany. We need a strong president with a magna cum laude-worthy character to make sure ethics are preserved and the student body gets every opportunity to enjoy this school. We need a strong treasurer to make sure funds are used correctly.
We need to forget this election and focus our attention on making UB better.

E-mail: david.sanchirico@ubspectrum.com