It’s hard to tell whether Rob Ranley or Marines Piney actually want to be president of the Student Government Association (SGA).
They have declared their candidacy and showed up at the first debate. But the race for the presidency doesn’t feel like a campaign – neither candidate has taken major steps to make themselves visible on campus since they were nominated two weeks ago. Ranley wasn’t even on campus for the start of his campaign, spending a week in Spain.
Both candidates have started to campaign, but barely so. Both have created Facebook groups (“NU Runs on Ranley” and “Raising the Bar: Piney for President”). But as of press time, the two groups had a combined 403 members. That’s less than a third of one percent of the undergraduate student body.
After being nominated to run, the two candidates were responsible for submitting financial and biographical paperwork to the SGA, but neither met the 6 p.m. March 20 deadline. Now, both candidates are being censured by the organization they hope to lead. If neither candidate can turn in some simple paperwork on time, does either deserve the student body’s support? How can students expect them to get real things done, things that require far more than just a pen and a solid surface to write on?
With two candidates who barely seem to care about the campaigning process, could Ranley and Piney be running for a more personal motive – to pad their already extensive r’eacute;sum’eacute;? Is the SGA presidency just the next thing for a senator who has already spent time as a vice president in the organization?
This problem, though, isn’t new to direct elections for SGA president, now in its second year. Last year’s campaign season, which resulted in the election of Joey Fiore, was equally silent. In a staff editorial published this time last year (“SGA direct elections approach with a whisper,” March 28), The News wrote, “The most upsetting aspect of this round of elections is that no one seems to be excited about it, including the candidates. While watching them explain their so-called ‘plans’ for the betterment of Northeastern at the debate last night, we have to wonder if Fiore and Chris Bourne are simply running because they happened to be nominated.”
If students are expected to make an informed decision when the time comes to vote, the candidates must take more steps to distinguish themselves and become more present.
Because it doesn’t seem the student body is aware of what is going on with the campaigns, Ranley and Piney need to be working to raise the campus consciousness. But they aren’t doing that. If the SGA wants students involved and engaged in the election process, maybe the candidates should start by involving and engaging the campus in the election process.
