By Callie Buys
BYUSA is refining the campaign rules to better serve the student body.
Due to the recent election, a need to evaluate how the student government operates has been shown. Each year, at the end of the elections, the Rules Committee reviews various infractions by the candidates, said Joshua Dahmer, Rules Committee President.
'The rules are refined each year to clear up the definition of what the rules intend,' said Dahmer, 23, a junior from Wenatchee, Wash., majoring in information systems.
The rules committee may find it necessary to revise the campaigning rules to ensure all the candidates understand the rules, he said.
'I felt that at the beginning of the elections that we were being punished for what has happened in the past,' said Don Bennion, one of the candidates for student body president. 'My feelings were stronger in the beginning against the rules, but now I better understand the rules and the wisdom behind them.'
The rules guide the BYUSA elections and help define how candidates portray who they are and what they want to accomplish, Dahmer said.
'I think BYU wants to avoid the political playing field. They want everyone to be on neutral ground,' Bennion said.
Bennion, 23, a junior from Wenatchee, Wash., majoring in mathematics, said he feared having such defining rules eliminated the possibility of showing individual candidate''s personalities.
'In the real world you buy your votes. In the idealized setting of BYU, it''s a good idea to have a $300 budget, because if you can do something creative with that, it shows ingenuity,' said Gavin McCaleb, 26, a graduate student in public administration from Boise, Idaho.
By improving the rules, BYUSA can incorporate people who can make a difference on campus.
Even though BYUSA cannot make University policy changes, it can make the administration aware of what the students care about, said current BYU Student Body President, Matt Blackner.
'If a student saw that there was a flaw in a policy, we want to know, and it''s probably something that needs to be looked at,' said Blackner, 24, a senior from Sacramento, Calif., majoring in International Studies.
Bennion said BYUSA has made students apathetic because it has painted a picture of not having the power to make a difference.
President-elect Robert Foster said BYUSA offers students a chance to get involved and make a difference.
'In a private organization directed by the guidance of the church, we are going to work together and see how we can serve each other,' Blackner said.