Well, Vikings it’s time for you guys to decide who gets to drive this boat for the next year. It’s okay if I call you Vikings, right?

I ask only because I know that school spirit isn’t exactly our strong suit. We don’t wear green on Fridays, and we sure as hell don’t vote in school elections. Why don’t we vote? It’s because we don’t give a shit. Why don’t we give a shit? Probably the same reason no one really cares about local politics. Not a high enough body count. I think if maybe we went to war against another school, UP perhaps, we might be able to get a decent turnout for a peace candidate. We’re not going to get that lucky, though.

I’ve spent the last part of my fairly-limited lifespan going to ASPSU meetings and debates and, I’ll admit, it does occasionally hurt me right in my smart parts. But that is no excuse to tune out completely. That is precisely the state of the student population here at PSU. Completely tuned out.

This isn’t a complaint that there aren’t enough people paying attention or participating, it’s a complaint that practically no one does. There were less than a dozen people at the debate that decides who handles over 20 million dollars. Most of that dozen was student media. Weird shit happens because this whole process takes place in a vacuum.

If nobody is going to vote, I honestly think we should re-think how these positions should be filled. It’s great that students have the chance to experience the thrill of politics outside of the real world. But the truth of the matter is that this is the real world. There are 35,000-some people that work and learn here at PSU and there are hundreds and millions of dollars involved. Tuition is a lot more than paying taxes, and the positions in student government do have a voice on campus. And they are basically electing themselves and each other. It’s exactly like everything we complain about with big government, except it’s right here on campus and the only thing you have to do is surf a website to vote. Even so, less than ten percent of the school actually does it. All you non-trads out there need to get with the program, too. Just because you think college politics is just kids’ shit you need to re-evaluate your opinion. I thought the same thing when I showed up here at 28, but after spending the last month following what goes on in these mysterious and ever-changing rooms of Smith Memorial Student Center, it’s become clear that these people really do have an effect on your world. They decide how much money you pay for school and they influence legislature. Also, they are not all morons. Many are young, but some are skilled politicians and the only people really watching them are people like me, and that should definitely worry you.

You’d think that the people leading the school should be the cream of the crop. But the cream doesn’t have to rise far since few even apply for these positions. This year there are 28 people vying for 25 Senate seats. And guess what? This is the first time in years that there has been more than 25. PSU tradition indicates that if you want to be a senator, all you have to do is fill out the application. This is supposed to be democracy. Get with it, folks. It’s time to pay attention. With the state of the economy, it is of vital importance to take student government seriously.