Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Keeping to the rules

Yesterday night at 6 p.m. was the kickoff to the Missouri Student Association (MSA) 2011 presidential election. After much campaigning from the three president-vice presidential pairings-- Hansen-Oxenreider, Travis-Horan and Woods-Moon, the election was postponed until next week because of two complaints filed against one of the candidate pairings for illegal campaigning.

This so-called "illegal campaigning" was sending out mass e-mails soliciting themselves. Let's put this into perspective: we live in a world of technological communication, Facebook, Google everything....and sending out an e-mail to a group of people endorsing yourself is illegal. You can have websites, Facebook events, advertisements and fliers...but can't send out a mass e-mail or tell people to vote for you in a verbal, face-to-face conversation. I think there's some irony here.

The mass-email and notification rule is a very collegiate standard to uphold. At this year's Homecoming, I am aware of two pairings who were disqualified because although they all showed up for their blood appointments, donated blood, were healthy, arrived on time and volunteered....someone was spotted telling more people to give blood for their pairing's points. So no points at all for them. But it's not about the points....it's the fact that they all gave blood that will be donated to save LIVES. Heck, if it takes mass e-mails and verbal endorsements to help people change our world, let them happen! Why hold people back because it might not be fair that one has more access to another?

I really don't understand it. There is obviously reasoning for the mass e-mail rule and more, but you need to think of the end result and its benefits. In sarcastic retaliation to the e-mail discussing the post-ponement, Sherman and I posted Facebook statuses instructing our friends:
Due to the substantial judicial issues affecting the MSA election, please write in Fabes-Artemas for the 2011 MSA President/Vice President. Sherman Fabes and I believe we can pull this upset off.

It received a pretty adequate response from our Facebook followers with likages, comments and even tags in new posts. Thus, it was a funny joke of the week, and I encourage people in their future endeavors not to make rules against e-mails and things that could better our environment.

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