Spring Break
SGA actions cloud recent elections
Amanda Wood
Issue date: 3/24/06 Section: Opinion
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I like an old song, " The World Is a Ghetto," by a group called War.
In the song, members of the band explore the necessity of holding on to those you love, as well as your deepest sense of who you are - in the midst of the rampant confusion that marks so much of human experience.
I must confess that I have witnessed a great deal of confusion since the first SGA election earlier this month.
The confusion surrounding this year's elections hit close to home for the Pilot. Due to what he felt was a conflict of interest, Jacob Conley resigned as sports editor.
We are saddened to lose a great writer who enthusiastically covers GWU sports.
First, I want to applaud SGA for the way it responded to the Pilot's coverage of that first election.
As a journalist interested in providing the student government every opportunity to be accountable and open with the students they represent, I asked SGA President Anya Huneycutt and Karissa Weir, director of student activities and leadership development, for their permission to observe the elections, from start to finish.
I inspected each ballot box to ensure that it was empty before the election, I interviewed candidates, and I observed SGA members as they waited with the student body for voting to begin.
I and other Pilot representatives observed voting and ballot counting procedures, and, as a journalist, I am satisfied that the elections on March 7, which resulted in a run-off between Christoph Brown and Brandon Beach, were fair.
At the end of the day, SGA members told the Pilot that a run-off election would take place March 21, so plans were made for Pilot representatives to cover it too.
On March 20, the SGA opened the polls for the run-off between Brown and Beach. Pilot representatives were not informed that this voting was taking place, and your newspaper was not present to observe the process of the run-off election.
According to Weir, the SGA voted to follow the election rules laid out by its new constitution, which has not yet been approved by the dean's council, senior staff or the board of trustees.
In the song, members of the band explore the necessity of holding on to those you love, as well as your deepest sense of who you are - in the midst of the rampant confusion that marks so much of human experience.
I must confess that I have witnessed a great deal of confusion since the first SGA election earlier this month.
The confusion surrounding this year's elections hit close to home for the Pilot. Due to what he felt was a conflict of interest, Jacob Conley resigned as sports editor.
We are saddened to lose a great writer who enthusiastically covers GWU sports.
First, I want to applaud SGA for the way it responded to the Pilot's coverage of that first election.
As a journalist interested in providing the student government every opportunity to be accountable and open with the students they represent, I asked SGA President Anya Huneycutt and Karissa Weir, director of student activities and leadership development, for their permission to observe the elections, from start to finish.
I inspected each ballot box to ensure that it was empty before the election, I interviewed candidates, and I observed SGA members as they waited with the student body for voting to begin.
I and other Pilot representatives observed voting and ballot counting procedures, and, as a journalist, I am satisfied that the elections on March 7, which resulted in a run-off between Christoph Brown and Brandon Beach, were fair.
At the end of the day, SGA members told the Pilot that a run-off election would take place March 21, so plans were made for Pilot representatives to cover it too.
On March 20, the SGA opened the polls for the run-off between Brown and Beach. Pilot representatives were not informed that this voting was taking place, and your newspaper was not present to observe the process of the run-off election.
According to Weir, the SGA voted to follow the election rules laid out by its new constitution, which has not yet been approved by the dean's council, senior staff or the board of trustees.