A Cunning Plan

Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 9:11:51 PST
X-Mailer: SFUwebmail 2.70
Subject: A cunning plan

Andrew Aikenhead's Last Word (The Peak, March 18) has caused me to have a brilliant idea to cure apathy in student politics. Every year, the SFSS holds a referendum on a program that students will have to pay for every semester. Make it something pointless ($50/semester for new study carrols, for example). Students will flock to the ballot boxes to defeat the referendum. Once there, they figure, "I might as well vote for a president and executive as well".

Now some might argue that while such a ploy may cause students to vote, they will not vote responsibly or to make a well informed decision. Not to worry! Most of us who actually do vote in these elections choose the candidates at random anyway. All the presidential candidates this year are members of slates with similar agendas - which is a nice way of saying you have no real choice for your student society. I've been here for three years, and no matter who you vote for, the issues will be the same next year.

The CAC is currently footing a bill of $600 for the carnival they had earlier this month. If the SFSS is truly dedicated to curing student apathy, this is exactly the sort of thing they should be tossing their bread crumbs into.