The deadline for Student Association applications is today. Monday, candidates for all SA executive positions will be allowed to begin their campaigns, but it seems one campaign is already under way.
An article in the Feb. 1 issue of The Reflector brought a certain Facebook group to the attention of the campus. The group was formerly known as “T.J. Harvey for SA President in ’05,” and later changed its name to “Exploratory Committee for T.J. Harvey for SA President in ’05.”
We assume that on Monday Harvey will announce his bid for SA presidency.
Mary E. Brown, the SA’s election commissioner, said Thursday that whether the group is a violation of SA policy is open to interpretation, and that Harvey would not be penalized for the group.
LSU encountered a similar problem this school year when a candidate for college council president announced his candidacy prematurely with a Facebook.com group.
Neal Hebert, the chief justice of LSU’s student-run University Court, said their student government elections commissioner promptly ordered the group shut down. “It’s important to enforce that,” Hebert said, “simply because it isn’t fair to give one candidate a defacto leg-up on the other candidates.”
We agree.
Brown hasn’t taken it seriously, but this blatant violation of the SA’s bylaws is a serious issue, and should be treated as such. Thefacebook, which claims over 3,000 MSU students as members, is a public forum. Members of the group have been actively campaigning by inviting Facebook members to join the group.
LSU treats student government campaigning seriously, while we allow a candidate to take advantage of the SA election process without a word.
Harvey’s “exploratory committee” group violates the rules of campaigning. Brown has been impotent in her treatment of the violation.
It isn’t fair to the other candidates who have followed the rules from the beginning.
Hebert summed up our thoughts perfectly: “If you don’t follow the rules, you’re cheating. It’s not that hard.”
The Reflector editorial board is made up of opinion editor Angela Adair, news editor Elizabeth Crisp, assistant news editor Jed Pressgrove sports editor Jeff Edwards, entertainment editor Dustin Barnes, managing editor Pam McTeer and editor in chief Josh Foreman.