Can you name even one of your school representatives?

Do you have any idea what they do for, or against, you as a Skyline student?

The most recent election brought up a few interesting points to The Skyline View. As most students would have seen had they logged into their SMCCCD email accounts this past week, the ASSC advertised that people who printed out confirmation that they voted on this most recent election would be entered for a chance to win an iPad mini. This incentive is probably what drove most of the voters to participate in determining our new representatives. However, it can be safely assumed that many voters blindly checked off boxes as all that was available were the candidates’ short biographies.

The Skyline community did not vote based on the issues at hand. This is where the trouble began: this incentive driven, online poll. Now there is nothing wrong with offering incentive, nothing at all. The main issue to see here was that our student body made an important decision without doing their homework.

While the candidates probably should have campaigned in the weeks leading up to the elections, there is a bigger problem with a general lack of interest. Only 280 of the approximate 10,000 students even showed up. While the actual percentage of voters could not yet be determined, there’s a strong indication that it will reflect a downward trend compared to last year’s figure of 3.7 percent.

In truth, the ASSC candidates were lazy for only giving us short bios to make a decision on, but theres blame to be shared by the Skyline population as a whole. That means you, the reader. The reason that the candidates didn’t provide us with more information is because we haven’t given them any indication that we even care. The average student doesn’t care about how the big-wigs in administration, who control your tuition and the delineation of resources on campus, see the student body at Skyline.

We as students need to be more aware of ourselves and of our representation. This isn’t a cry for complete expertise or that you should know the platform of every student who runs for office, but at least go out and make your voice heard. Not even a quarter of Skyline students voted in this recent election, and that percentage is astoundingly good compared to previous semesters.

For the sake of your own educational experience, or more appropriately to get the most out of the $46 per unit you spend at Skyline, be a vocal part of your student body. Do more than take advantage of the events the ASSC sets up for you. When it comes time for elections and decision making, take a moment and decide exactly who is speaking on your behalf behind closed doors.

The ASSC is meant to represent the best of Skyline College students and to best represent the campus opinion. Who wants to be represented someone that was chosen by the minority?