It has been noted by many, including your articles and cartoons, that there isn’t a safe haven from advertisements for students running for various positions in the Student Senate. But it is time to ask ourselves, as students of this University, when is it too much?
The beauty of attending such a large university today is the ability to relish in our free speech rights as students, and chalking the quad and handing out fliers surely falls under that category.
While I understand that many votes cast for Student Senate and Trustee will be name recognition, that strategy has gone too far.
With all of the concern of trying to outnumber another nominee, the campaigns have gone inside the dorms, which I believe should be a campaign-free zone.
In LAR, where I live, one of the nominees for Trustee not only put posters up on all of the bathroom doors, but also slipped fliers under the doors of the rooms.
The candidate was male, so clearly a representative did this for him, but it was more of an annoyance than anything else.
I do not know what this candidate stands for, but only his slogan. To intrude into a dorm in which the candidate doesn’t live is taking the name-game and campaigning too far.
The ability to discuss and argue over candidates should never be hushed, but there is a clear difference between overbearing campaigning and thoughtful discussion. It’s tiring to see names everywhere, and they seem to be growing, but at the end of the day, students need a place to escape it, if only for a moment.
Kaitlynn Kelly
freshman in LAS