Happy President’s Day Weekend! I know I speak for all students when I say this university holiday was a much needed one. For those of you who have no classes on Friday or Tuesday, then all the more congratulations on your four-day weekend. If you only get Monday off, still count yourself lucky. Some universities don’t take this Monday off. For example, our good friends at the University of Texas at El Paso had school yesterday. (It should be noted that while UTEP does not observe President’s Day, they do take Cesar Chavez Day as a school holiday).
This week is special for more reason than shortened class days, however. This week is the capstone of the ASMSU Presidential campaign; the surrendering of the sector, the changing of the guard, the passing of the torch. You get it. Last week in the presidential primary, four pairs of candidates were whittled down to two, with my good friend and fellow student Kiah Abbey winning the primary by an overwhelming margin. I believe she received 501 votes and the second place finisher received only 168. Do these numbers seem low to you? They are. Although it was only a primary election, only 6.1% of the student body voted. While the results seem to paint a pretty clear picture as to the voice of the student body, it is still pretty sad that students don’t take the time to directly impact the choosing of their student leaders. This is no Electoral College system. You vote directly for the candidate you think would best represent and fight for your needs and wants.
Tomorrow the real voting begins in earnest. The candidates are Jesse Cook and Brian Murakami , and Kiah Abbey and Lindsay Murdock. To read more about each of the candidates and their vision for Montana State University, click here.
It’s the week of Presidents! Make your voice heard!
