By David Randall
BYUSA elections are finally over. Some are cheering, some are crying and many are asking, 'Who cares?'
Part of election time is having BYUSA held up to scorn. It''s when all of the students can talk about how they are underrepresented. They can complain about how BYUSA doesn''t do anything for them and how it is just a sham operation for overachievers who want to try and lord over their fellow students and throw themselves parties.
Many student complaints have some merit. They may feel their BYU experience might not be much different without the Juggling Club or the Fall Fling or so many of the dances they never go to. Students may also feel they will never be affected by BYUSA''s student leadership programs or the Soapbox and Student Advisory Council they sponsor. And, as far as elections are concerned, students may feel there will be relatively few changes any BYUSA presidency can make that will have any visible effect on the way the campus operates.
This is also the way I felt, to some extent, for most of my time at BYU. But that was before one of my good friend asked me to be on a campaign. Suddenly I was meeting new people that helped me see another side of BYU''s student leadership - the side of giving rather than getting.
I have long considered myself a journalist who liked the safety of impartiality and cynicism. It''s easy not to have an opinion, and most of the time it''s easy to argue against anyone who does. At BYU, and almost everywhere I''ve been, I''ve felt practically surrounded by cynics.
But when I went to work on the campaign, I was suddenly alone in my cynicism and surrounded by people with ideas and willingness to serve and make BYU better. I met people who were more worried about giving back to the university than taking from it.
They seemed to answer the question for me about why we have a BYUSA or at least see the potential that the organization has. BYUSA has the potential to allow students to serve and make a difference in the lives of other students through clubs, programs and service projects.
No doubt there are wasted man-hours and wasted funds at BYUSA. No doubt there are self-promoting cliques that form and small groups that some might classify as secret combinations. But the people I''ve seen who are involved in the organization seem to exude a quality that can only improve the university and the students.
Maybe it is not an organization that can please all of those who are waiting to take from the university, but it definitely has the potential to help all those who are willing to give something back. And that is why it seems a student service organization should exist, for those who are going to give. The rest of the students can continue to whine and withhold their votes from BYUSA elections.
Who cares? Lots of people, I''ve come to find. Let''s just hope the new BYUSA president can use their efforts and ideas to improve our campus community.