President’s Challenge: Let’s make this the first “Green” SBA election
By Will Hall
As the SBA election season kicks off, candidates will soon be busy trying to figure out the best way to get their message across to students and to improve their chances of winning. However, there is one area in which all candidates and students should work together this election season: eliminating the waste of paper and other resources that often accompany these races. That is why, in my capacity as SBA President, I am issuing a challenge to all SBA candidates to run a "green" campaign this year.
As you all know, B.K. Roberts Hall is usually covered with hundreds of flyers and platform cards around election time. On top of that, many candidates in the past have placed campaign material in students’ folders in an effort to promote their platform. However, these practices not only turn our school into a eye sore for an entire week, but they also lead to overflowing trash cans and tons of wasted paper. I will be the first to admit that I was just as guilty of wasting resources during my campaign last year as anyone else was.
However, it is time to end that practice once and for all. My challenge to candidates is as follows:
- Do all that you can to limit the number of flyers you print up in support of your candidacy.
- In lieu of flyers, use technology such as Facebook, Youtube, and other creative ways to get your message across. Not only will this help reduce waste, but being creative and cutting-edge will help you get your message across better than any flyer will.
- Don’t print up flyers or campaign materials to put in everyone’s folders. If every candidate prints up a flyer or letter for every student, then this campaign will have claimed a veritable forest of trees. Plus, they will all end up in the trash almost immediately.
- If you do print up flyers or platform cards, please make sure that they are recycled and not just thrown in the trash can.
These are not official campaign rules, and candidates are permitted to do anything within the guidelines laid out in the SBA constitution and the rules promulgated by the SBA Elections Committee to promote themselves. However, I strongly encourage all candidates to come together and send a message that our SBA and our law school is committed to going green. I also urge all students to ask the candidates what they are doing to run a green election and what their ideas are to help our law school go green in the future.
Thanks to everyone for reading this, and thanks to all of those seeking positions on next year’s SBA board. With your leadership, not only will SBA continue to provide the outstanding service that FSU Law students have come to expect, but it will also establish our law school as a leader in the going green movement.