Election fever has struck the campus and we are already seeing the first casualties falling around: violations of varying sorts and wounds to egos and reputations that people may never recover from. The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) elections are fierce, and ruthless, which is hardly surprising.
It must be noted that Carleton as a university is renowned for its programs such as journalism, and political science. When you have a campus full of students learning how to play the political game, it’s hardly surprising to see some of the moves that get played by candidates during election period. To the careful viewer, the elections can be seen as a master class in political maneuvering.
I’m currently employed to run the CUSA Live office at CUSA. Much like the rest of the institution of CUSA, I strive to operate without consideration to public opinion on the politics that govern the senior echelon of the organisation. The CUSA Live office is bound in particular by its own code of ethics, with rules more stringent than those that bind the organisation itself. We are prevented from even expressing support of any candidate of any election. As the CUSA Live radio station becomes more and more popular, and the other forms of digital communications with students become more successful and engaging, it’s important to hold ourselves to the highest of standards.
At the very heart of the whirlwind of intrigue and slander which is spreading its tendrils across Carleton is the Elections Office at Carleton. As CUSA Live tends to deal with CUSA communications (excluding print) and the website we have been working with the elections office to ensure that students have the best possible access to information.
It was the CEO of the Elections Office, Sunny Cohen, who choreographed negotiations between the Charlatan, CUSA Live and the elections office to make sure that students now have never before seen avenues to engage with the election. I personally have Cohen to thank for helping to secure CUSA Live access to the Charlatan candidate videos so that users of the CUSA Live mobile phone application can quickly review their options, something that would have been impossible had the CEO not been able to bring us together.
Although it’s been clear that he has engaged the new media on campus (such as live-streaming debates), and has proven quickly adept at settling into the role there is one vice which must be noted. It is with greatest regret that I’ve noticed a great naivety in the CEO.
Cohen appears to have underestimated the paradigm in which this election is being held, he’s been operating on the key assumption that all of those running for office will follow the rules. He has assumed that they would play nice, he has assumed that they would not use any, and all means necessary to win. The CEO has been naive in not foreseeing that his office shall be right in the line of fire, when, as Kurt Vonnegut said “the excrement hits the air conditioning.” To the electorate I implore the following: Those involved in the election have not idly stumbled upon nomination forms. There is forethought and strategy applied to every move and gesture by all involved. One does not simply get elected.
— Luke Smith,
CUSA Live facilitator
