Today is the final day to file paperwork to become a candidate in next month’s UOSA presidential elections. However, before you run off and pay the $150 fee or submit the 501 signatures needed to file, we thought we would outline attributes we believe our student-body president must possess.
• First, candidates looking to add another line to their resume need not apply. Our leader needs to understand his or her actions affect the entire OU community. We need a leader whose goal is to improve the OU experience for all students. We don’t want someone who is going to sit back and put his or her feet up while in office.
• Second, we need someone who will bridge the gap between government and students. The fact is, students don’t care about UOSA. Six percent of students — 1,357 votes — on the Norman campus voted in the fall UOSA elections. During last March’s presidential election only 5,282 votes were cast, according to Daily archives. We need a leader who can break through the apathy and encourage students to concern themselves with the real issues that impact them.
• Third, our president needs to be transparent. If students aren’t attending UOSA meetings, then create a message board for students where they can interact with UOSA representatives and voice their opinions about proposed legislation. With classes, work and other responsibilities, students can’t always adjust their schedules to attend UOSA meetings. By creating a message board, students will have an easier time staying informed about the things going on in UOSA and — more importantly — could help hold our student-government representatives accountable for their actions. The students who currently care will have their voices heard, while the ones on the fringe will have one less excuse not to get involved. Students are affected by the legislation UOSA passes and need to be informed when new bills are proposed. The university needs a student leader who will release this information to the public.
• Fourth, the next UOSA president must be the most visible advocate for students on campus. When tuition increases come around — and we would all be fools to think they aren’t coming again — we need a leader to stand up to the administration. Yes, we understand higher-education funding is becoming harder to come by, but the university cannot continue to squeeze more money out of students. We are not calling for a student-body president to stubbornly fight President David Boren, but we believe the UOSA president should go to bat for students through serious negotiations with the administration. UOSA leaders are not elected to be talking heads for the university; they are voted to represent students. The next UOSA president should never forget this — ever.
Applications are due at 5 p.m. today. Do you have what it takes to effectively represent us?
The Oklahoma Daily is pleased to provide you the opportunity to share your thoughts about this article. We encourage lively debate on the issues of the day, but we ask you refrain from using profanity or other offensive speech, engaging in personal attacks or name-calling, posting advertising, or straying from the topic at hand. To comment, you must be a registered user of OUDaily.com. Thanks for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Register
localsooner 1 year, 3 months ago
So what does the USOA actually do?