As election season draws near once again, bets are already being placed — will fewer people bother to vote than last year?

Once again, election season is upon us. Traditionally, the Rearguard has examined potential candidates for the most prized student stipend positions on campus — ASPSU President and SFC chair — but this time, we don't care enough, and we're betting that we aren't alone.

We suspect that even fewer than the 3% of you who voted last year will do so this time, despite the rising cost of tuition and books, plus the myriad of other issues, like the move to turn PSU into a public corporation. Why are we betting that you won't vote? Because, despite the best intentions of recent Student Body Presidents and past administrations, students just don't give a shit anymore.

First a disclaimer: we are not advocating that you don’t vote this time. Far from it. Student government actually does things for you. They just suck at letting you know what it is they do. That gets compounded when you consider that PSU is the undisputed King of Commuter Colleges, which makes it more difficult for information to reach the student body. Few of us actually live on, or near campus, which makes us care as much about ASPSU elections as we do about the winner of the Canadian Regional Parliamentary elections (unless you're a politics nerd like I am — Go British Columbia Labor Party!).

Portland schools are accustomed to a lack of student involvement in student government, which has had consequences. About twenty years ago, Portland Community College saw such a decline in voter turnout that they ended their elections process altogether. Student government elections cost money, and money saved can be allocated elsewhere. At PCC, student government exists; it's just appointed by the outgoing administration. Sounds a bit tyrannical, right? But it’s often overlooked that student government generally has as little or as much impact as it wants to have. If student government wants to establish a textbook exchange for students, they can; or, conversely, if government wants to have a big group hug at the end of the academic year like the Sanford administration is planning, they can. The potential for impact on the lives of students is limited only by the imagination, idealism, and organizational abilities of those in power.

Which brings me to my main point: PSU students don't vote in ASPSU elections because most students don't think ASPSU does anything for them. For the most part, the only students who vote are members of student groups and publications. Student groups have a direct connection to the results of elections, since they are the closest thing to special interest groups that the university community has. Voter registration drives are awesome, but most students don't connect the dots between voter registration, voter turnout, and elections results. We need something more substantial — like new and inventive ways for students to save money directly. Something that: 1) the student body can see being done, and 2) something that says, “Hey, those ASPSU clowns are actually doing something that affects me!”

A safe prediction for the upcoming elections is that 3% of the student body will vote. There will probably be yet another decline in turnout. Hell, we'd be lucky to break 700. Students don't see ASPSU doing a damn thing for them. We're hammered with political messages every single day, and we are largely tuning out. If candidates want our votes, then they should do something exceptional to earn them. Otherwise, they shouldn’t be surprised when only the student groups elect the next ASPSU president and SFC chair.