By Staff Editorial

By Staff Editorial

With this being the first issue of Viewpoints for 2006, we felt it appropriate to come up with a few New Year’s resolutions for Riverside City College.

Reducing voting apathy

Every year there are student elections on campus and almost no one cares. Last year 323 students participated and that was a good year compared to 2000 when only 151 votes were cast. Since 1995 the total amount of votes cast each year in the student government elections has never broken the 600 mark. Year after year the voter turnout is low and yet nothing is ever done to drastically change that fact.

For the upcoming elections this semester we suggest to aim for a high but obtainable turnout of around 750 students. To help here are a few realistic suggestions to increase the voter turnout:

1. Prepare early – The sooner students know the information they need the better.

2. More posters, more forums – Make it so everyone on campus knows that the elections are coming up, who is running and why they should vote. Having more than one forum will garner more attention to a wider group of students.

3. Get people involved – Ask for volunteers to help, get the clubs to help spread the word and work with Viewpoints to get the information to the students.

If students are given a reason to vote, and know when to, they will. Have the information about the candidates in a more visible area instead of hidden in the help menu of WebAdvisor. The better informed the students are and the higher the voter turnout is benefits everyone.

Student involvement

Last year during the Riverside City College president selection everyone was involved from faculty, administration to staff… except for students. At the time, the reason given for not including students was that people at the college thought students would not have the time commitment needed for such an important task. After some questioning by then incoming student Vice President Mike Gasca, it was promised that from now on students will be involved in all of the important decisions regarding the college.

For 2006, try to keep this promise alive and going. The student’s voice and opinions are vital to this college. Who knows more than the students on what the students need and want?

Everyone knows this college is growing and changing; students must be involved along the way.