Think about how you spent your last $2,000. Was it on a laptop? How about a car? You could have dropped it on the best spring break ever, a semester's worth of rent or the latest tuition hike. If you spent the cash on a 40-keg blowout, we love you.
Can you even remember the last time you even had that much money? If the thought of possessing two Gs is laughable to you, then it looks like you won't be able to run for Undergraduate Student Government president at ASU. Well, you will still be able to run, but your chances of winning will likely be slim.
The top two executive candidates for the USG told The State Press they spent around $2,000 for each of their campaigns, which includes giant signs, fliers and of course, those sexy T-shirts. And while it takes a lot to get students' attention on this campus, particularly when you have to get students excited about student government, we think two grand on campaign advertising is a little excessive. The USG is tossing around proposals to limit campaign spending, and we second the motion.
From our highly unscientific yet sharp observation, it looks as though the students who had the most signs and spent the most money came out on top. So, let's do the math. Sophie O'Keefe-Zelman and Julie Johnson said they spent about $1,500 on their campaign and, in the election, they garnered 1,045 votes. Zachary Gingg and Ryan Owens said they spent about $2,500 and raked in about 389 votes. Bust out the long division and we find that O'Keefe-Zelman and Johnson spent about $1.44 per vote, while each vote cost Gingg and Owens about $6.43.
The other candidates, who spent between $100 and $600 on their campaigns, got neither the attention, nor the votes. It may be a stretch to say candidates dropping cash on way-too-big signs that are teetering out of planters are buying student votes, but we wouldn't be far off in saying that to even think about running a successful campaign, you gotta pony up the dough.
And we think that is a shame. Students who may be qualified for USG positions but don't have the money won't be able to run a successful race. And, throwing some cash into some beefed-up Kinko's signs is a lazy way to campaign. Just because we know your name, doesn't mean we know what you stand for. It stifles debate and communication of what the real issues are.
While $1,000 still seems like a big wad of cash for starving students, we think it's a reasonable cap for a pair of candidates. You can spend the other "thou" buying us 500 Coronas at Dos Gringos.