The spirit of political enthusiasm has swept our nation into a fervor. In fact, it's been sweeping the U.S. into a fervor for seemingly countless months. This enthusiasm came to a head Tuesday with the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
Now, however, is the time to shift that political passion from a national stage to a local one.
Yep, Student Government Association Elections are here again.
Election packets are now available for any of you interested in leading the Ball State University student community.
This is the beginning of an election process with which most of you have become familiar, especially after last year's abnormal events.
This time a year ago, no election packets students picked up to apply to run for SGA were turned in. By the time the due date rolled around, no slates were in the running to lead Ball State students.
The deadline for slates to apply had to be pushed back, and finally two groups of interested students emerged.
Last year's noticeable dearth of enthusiasm left a bad taste in the mouths of politically minded Ball State students.
This year, if the level of political activity of late is any indication, this problem should not recur.
Those who have been vocal supporters of candidates and viewpoints in recent months now have an opportunity to make a concrete difference in the way campus works.
Anyone interested in politics, whether you have SGA experience or not, simply needs to refocus that enthusiasm to issues that are important to students, and an easy way to do that is to canvass the students themselves.
Part of the application process includes collecting 400 student signatures. This is a great opportunity for potential candidates to ask those students what they might like to see happen at Ball State.
This is also the perfect time for slates to develop ideas for their platforms before the Feb. 16 application due date.
The hurried and haphazard platforms prepared by last year's slates left something to be desired for many student voters.
This time around, if slates organize now, they should be able to come up with ideas that are both appealing to voters and realistic for implementation.
Not only do students have an opportunity through SGA to bring some of the excitement of national elections to campus, but they also have the chance to define Ball State's future.
SGA exists to give students that opportunity, and it's your responsibility to fulfill it.
All you have to do now is sign up.
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