A word of advice.

This year has been a difficult one, student politics-wise. A lot of shit has gone down. There has been a media frenzy around such crazy situations as the CFS Referendum, the e-vote debacle, and (of course) issues surrounding the BOA and the contested elections. All of these events have resulted in a very divided campus, and a lot of broken friendships.

And now, the student associations' elections are coming up. SAFA just finished theirs last week, and the CSA, PIDSSA, & ESS/SSA are getting the ball rolling on theirs.

A word to the wise. Student associations hit close to home. This is where students go to find their home base, to meet/work with people from within their programs. From what I've seen, students will usually identify themselves as being an "artsie", a "commie", or an "engineer" before identifying with the SFUO.

So what does this mean for the potential candidates? One-up the SFUO and make your elections a positive experience. Remind students that getting involved doesn't necessarily mean being slandered and plastered all over the on-campus media. Run a fun & engaging campaign that gets apathetic students to care about their student associations. Not mine, not yours. Everyone's.