Letter to the editor: WSA election

WSA election results are laughable
The students of Western Michigan University have voted not only once, but twice for the Knappen-Putnam administration to represent the student body as Western Student Association president and vice president, but because of rules that were not well clarified or publicized, the Senate, who was only half present at today’s meeting, voted in the Nordstrand-Dunsmore administration by a vote of 22-16.
The recent events that have occurred with the WSA presidential election are laughable, to say the least.  I am not only appalled by the poorly executed job of the election control board to notify the candidates and Senate of rules clarification, but by the fact that the Nordstrand-Dunsmore team would even consider accepting the positions of president and vice president of the WMU student body in light of the recent election events.
In my opinion, candidates with integrity and character would have conceded the election and let the winners of the popular vote assume their roles. This just shows that these candidates are not truly interested in the betterment of our university or the voice of the student body, but in furthering their own goals and objectives, which is the last thing this university needs.
I also believe that the credibility of WSA as an organization is at stake.  Why would students waste their time voting for future elections or getting involved with an organization that doesn’t truly follow the desires of the students, which have been made evidently clear in the past two elections? The senate should have put aside their personal opinions and voted for the Knappen-Putnam administration as an act of representation for the student body, which is why the Senate exists in the first place.
Maybe the newly inaugurated WSA administration should consider changing their slogan, “WSA: Where your voice is heard,” to something much more true, because we can all see what a joke that slogan turned out to be.

—Amanda Jandahl
WMU junior

Election process is a miscarriage of democracy
Today, I witnessed with growing horror a miscarriage of democracy: Nate Knappen, the clear victor of the past two elections, was denied his appointed position as president by the efforts of the Senate, who instead handed the presidency over to runner‑up Stacey Nordstrom.
A series of technicalities and backroom decision‑making lead to this point, and thus the voices of the majority were silenced by the actions of senators that decided that they knew better than those they represented.
With this single motion, the WSA undid the democratic processes that came before, the senators placed personal opinion above the duty for which they were elected and seized control, regardless of the people they were meant to represent.
This moment will tarnish the reputation of the WSA; perhaps people will forget in time, but the heart of darkness will remain.  The WSA has failed in its duty to the student body; this is no longer the place where “your voice is heard” but the place where “our voice is heard.”
Everyone has a right to know how this appalling turn of events came about, and the perversion of justice that occurred in the Senate on this day.

—Peter C. Bryan
Senator (College of Arts And Sciences)

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=5786

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Apr 15 2009. Filed under Letters to the Editor, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com