| Our View: Voting perpetuates growth
Every spring semester, The Herald staff sits down and tries to come up with a new way to tell students to vote in Student Government Association elections. These annual "get out and vote" gray boxes are nothing if not formalistic. They usually read like, "The SGA is holding elections this Tuesday, students will be asked to elect a new president and vice president and new senators. It is students' civic duty to make their voices heard. Appreciate the freedom you have. Get out and vote." Undoubtedly, the above rationale should provide students with ample motivation to vote in Tuesday's SGA elections. However, the urgency and importance of the message is undermined by the rather humdrum way it is communicated. If students do not feel that the issue is important to The Herald, why should they find it important to them? This year, The Herald will say the issue is very important to the newspaper and Arkansas State University students. The university is at a point in its history at which reliable leadership is imperative to the well-being of an institution growing to strengthen its position in the Delta, the state, the country, even the world. Consider the great things ASU has accomplished. Shared governance is giving students, faculty and staff greater input in university operations. A new mission statement has united the ASU community under common goals for the institution's achievement in a global community. New classes and facilities are being built. A new Board of Trustees member brings more prestige and global economic savvy to the university. Alumni are active in important jobs and positions across the country and in state and national government. ASU pride is everywhere. Of course, all these accomplishments start with students. Without them, these great achievements would be all for naught. An important part of perpetuating such success is students getting involved and voting in Tuesday's elections. The more students who vote, the more the university will know they care about ASU's future, and the university's achievements will be even better. |