Apathy is an insidious disease that has infected many on this campus. Though the past few weeks have been rife with controversy, only a few of my friends have shown any real interest in the issues, much less acted on their opinions. In general, students at RPI seem disinterested in politics both on our campus and on the state and national levels.
It’s unusual for a school to have a student-run facility like the Rensselaer Union, and it’s unfortunate that students here aren’t particularly interested in taking advantage of the opportunities that it provides. People have been very slow to register with the Rules and Elections Committee; there was actually no President of the Union candidate until yesterday—even though registration started on February 25. No official parties were registered until Monday, even though the deadline was the next day. Aside from a single Grand Marshal candidate, the only people to put up posters were Arthur Galpin and a graduate student. Only three people are currently running for the four positions available in the senate for both the 2009 and 2010 class years, and a minimal number of people have signed up for class council. These numbers reflect the extensive disinterest in student government at RPI.
While I recognize that not everyone has the spare time, drive, and skill set require to hold student office, it’s not unreasonable to expect more people to pay attention to the workings of the student government at RPI. A few issues ago, I asked people about their satisfaction with the student Senate for a “Poly Snaps” feature. Approximately 90 percent of the responses I got were along the lines of, “I have no idea what the student government does.” This could be due in part to lack of publicity by the Senate, but that is certainly not the sole factor.
As citizens of RPI, I implore you to pay more attention—not simply to our student government, but to other matters on campus (such as the environmental engineering department and “Virtual Jihadi” controversies) and the world. I don’t ask you to become a living Reuters ticker or spontaneously register to run for GM; what I’d like to see is a bit of passion about something outside of your own small lives. I know there are several things that compete for your attention—classes, significant others, video games—but it can’t hurt to put other activities aside for a moment and start giving a damn about the state of affairs here at RPI and in the world. Put on the news as you get ready in the morning; read the profiles of those running for student government that will be published in The Poly next week. Attend a meeting of the College Republicans or the College Democrats—or both (they’re held on Wednesday at 8 pm in the Shelnutt Gallery and 9 pm in the Phalanx room, respectively). Think, discuss, debate, react. Get angry about something and take action. And if you have any newfound opinions you’d like to share, I always welcome mail—send any letters to the editor to edop@poly.rpi.edu.
