GSG elections inspire little involvement from students

This campaign season has been relatively uneventful for GSG assembly member Aaron Tobiason - no posters, no speeches, no debates and no opposition.

Tobiason, like six others running unopposed for executive seats in the Graduate Student Government, does not have to worry about campaign posters, fliers, buttons or T-shirts. All he has to do is wait for the election to draw to a close today.

Unlike other student governing bodies, such as the Student Government Association and the University Senate, a lack of student involvement in GSG elections is not unusual, as they typically have notoriously low participation rates despite a $1,100-per-semester stipend that accompanies executive positions.

Roberto Munster, director of operations for the GSG, said he tries to encourage students to vote and run for executive and representative positions, often to little avail.

"Executives meet every week, and officers must also represent GSG in other committees and meetings [that are not GSG-related] on campus; it's a big time commitment," Munster said. "Many graduate students feel they cannot make the time commitment."

This year's GSG president, Anupama Kothari, is running for re-election and is one of the six candidates running unopposed.

The only position being contested this year is vice president for student affairs. Both Siddharth Choksi and Lenisa Joseph - who serve on the body's general assembly - are competing for the job.

Both Joseph and Choksi have been campaigning on their own behalf over the last few weeks.

Choksi, the GSG representative for information management, chose to get the word out by speaking to classmates and reaching out to the Students Council of India, a student group that recognizes about 70 percent of Indian graduate students as members.

"The [Students Council of India] has many members, both Indian and non-Indian, and the group is closely associated with other graduate groups," Choksi said. "So sharing my ideas with them was useful in reaching a large group of students."

Since announcing her candidacy, Joseph, the assembly representative for special education, created fliers and Facebook groups and sent e-mail messages to get the word out.

"I ran for the position because I genuinely care about getting [graduate] students' voices heard on campus," Joseph said. "This is not just about me winning; it's about students stepping up and making sure they're adequately represented."

Often, the level of interest of graduate students directly impacts which departments are represented in the GSG.

"If that one student [enrolled in Jewish studies] didn't want to get involved with the GSG assembly, then that department wouldn't have any representation in the assembly," Munster said.

The number of participants running for representative positions in this election is more than usual, Tobiason added, but he would like to see more in the future.

"I think the GSG election committee did a great job getting people to run for different positions and we'll find out how good the voter turnout was when the results come in on Monday," Tobiason said. "The good thing about not running against anyone, though, is that I am already prepared to assume my role as vice president for academic affairs."

botelhodbk@gmail.com