I would like to begin this week’s column by congratulating RPI’s hockey team for providing a wonderful rout of Clarkson at the second annual Black Friday game. I’m sure more than a few articles appear throughout this week’s issue on the game and the day’s festivities, so I’ll keep it simple. Good Job, and kick Union’s ass this weekend.
Hopefully, everyone has calmed down after last week’s presidential election. For better or for worse, we have another four years of President Bush as our Commander in Chief. I found it interesting to see the reactions of various students to the results. The day after the election there were really only three reactions; despair, joy, and complete indifference. While that may seem like the full spectrum of reactions to the results, what hit me was that there were very few students who had mild reactions one way or another. It was all or nothing. If you cared about this election, it wasn’t a simple preference one way or another; it was a complete commitment to one side. Now this may say more about the people I tend to converse with than the actual feeling of the student body, but I wanted to take a time out from my normal column remind you that things will work out.
If you are a Bush supporter, then I want to congratulate you. I pray every night that these next few years will be some of the best our country has ever seen. Your time is now, so now is your chance to deliver for our country. The mandate from the people was one of a divided country. Both houses of Congress and the presidency are now controlled by the Republican Party, but none of the margins of victory were tremendous. This is a time to unite the county, not to trample on the losers.
If you voted for Kerry, just remember that the next congressional election is only two years away, and if the stewardship of our nation goes awry, we have a chance to reset the balance of power in 2006. Also remember that you will still be in your twenties when the next president is seeking re-election in the 2012 race.
I don’t want anyone to think that I am ignoring the various third party candidates—I’m not. With the exception of Nader, sometimes during this election I felt like the only person who actually knew the platforms of Peroutka or Badnarik. Our system is fundamentally a two party system, and historically the rise of alternative parties has only occurred in times of deep fracturing in our country. While this country certainly is in a period of division, I don’t think anything short of a major political party fracturing into two would lead to a rise of a new political party.
Our leaders are in office for a blink of an eye when compared to our lifetimes. This bodes well for us when the country makes a mistake, but can be a hidden curse when we have a great statesman such as Reagan or Clinton (take your pick) who many of us wish could serve far into the future.
Much like the national leaders, your student leaders are only here for a short period of time. My time as Grand Marshal is halfway over, as is the term of the Executive Board and the Student Senate. In this week’s Top Hat, I want to pose to the student body a very simple, yet very important question: How can the Student Senate and I help you and make RPI a better place in the five months that we have left?
We are your agents of change on this campus, but quite honestly we can’t change what we don’t know exists. In addition to ideas, we are always looking for people to help out. No matter what part of life here at RPI you want to make a change in, we have a group for you to join, or can point you in the right direction where to go. If you are interested in joining one of our many committees, or want to give us your two cents, e-mail gm@rpi.edu, instant message “RPI GM,” or visit us Thursdays at 9 pm in Union Room 3202.
