Laci Ollison & Isaiah Magett – Word Editor & Contributor:

Guys are passing out flowers. Girls that would once give me dirty looks now run cheerfully up to me and shove candy in my face. People that wouldn’t even glance in my direction are now taking time out of their day to have a one-sided conversation with me in which they tell their whole life’s sob story in two minutes.

No, I haven’t gained any type of status or popularity. I’m still the same bald girl who likes to give people encouraging words and then go rant about something. And no, it’s not the lovely warm weather that is making people acknowledge me. It’s election season.

I commend the candidates who have a purpose and definitive reason as to why they are running. Those are the ones who have carefully thought out plans and formed ideas on how to better our campus and student body.

Unfortunately, those candidates, unless running unopposed, will not get elected.

Sad to say, but elections are still a popularity contest. We no longer vote for who has the best platform or whose vision lines up with that of the university. We vote for the candidate whose name we saw the most or who gave us chocolate or roses.

We are so contradictory. We want police officers that will uphold the law and not abuse their power, and governmental officials that will represent us well, use our tax money correctly, and create laws that work well for everyone. Yet, when it comes to our campus where we spend ten months of our lives, we want to put people in office who are “cool.”

Student elected positions are more powerful than we realize. However, since we don’t elect students who know how to maximize the potential of their office, we never see the full effect of what could be a great change.

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Since the creation of the Student Government Association on our campus there has been a feeling of connectedness between the university and local government. However, overtime that sense of collaboration has slowly faded.

Rarely do we hear about cooperative work between students and community organizations.  One could assume that this is a result of the generational gap between the administration and students, or the technological divide between campus and the greater Greensboro community. I believe it is a combination of the two.

Students want to create a more holistic relationship with the community, however older generations are no longer willing to discuss the morals which have been passed down to them.  I can imagine this lack of communication is further fostered by the constant distraction from reality that technology provides.

There is no question that there is a schism between campus government and state policy.  When the N.C. Board of Governors met to discuss closing down HBCUs in February 2015, I only remember seeing three Aggies in the building.  When Representative Trudy Wade introduced Bill 36 to Senate, I doubt few current Aggies were present in the meeting.

It is evident that most student government candidates don’t know the first thing about local policy, but it’s not their fault. Administration nurtures us to a vegetative state.

As I watched the candidate rally and listened to their speeches, I wondered which student would be brave enough to ask about clean water- an essential resource taken for granted on this campus. Currently, most students are not aware of the maintenance and fees implemented to provide such a luxury.  It is not the lack of political consciousness, but the lack of knowledge and use of our most basic amenities that saddens me.

I’m not really quite sure how to judge this year’s election.  From what I have seen, the six Mister and Miss N.C. A&T candidates, and the sole Student Government Association President candidate show where our values lie as an institution.  The fact that SGA is supported by tuition dollars, yet our collective focus as students is still closer aligned to glamor than to substance, proves to be an issue not only for current Aggies but for future Aggies as well.

I love my institution and I would hate to see it fail. However, it is my duty to be honest with the readers.  I just do not understand why the student body does not demand more of our collegiate officials.

If civilization was to collapse, leaving us to rebuild it under the leadership of the 2015 N.C.A&T SGA candidates, I think it would be safe to say that we would be glamourous, waterless, and completely unaware of local government.