TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1999

Wanted: ASI leaders

Students have displayed little interest so far in becoming Cal State Long Beach's next Associated Students Inc. president, vice president or treasurer.

As of now, students cannot expect to witness much heated debate between candidates.

This is because only one person per category thus far has applied for a handful of available positions.

This is a perplexing predicament considering the lenient criteria: a GPA of 2.0 and a minimum of six units.

Twelve students have applied to fill 25 positions and the general rule is each position would need at least two applicants per position - 50 applicants.

It looks like the filing period will have to be reopened because chances are slim that 38 applicants will miraculously decide to hit the campaign trail.

If the sufficient number of students do not apply in the second filing period, well, the show must go on and the awkward scenario of a single candidate presenting his persuasive "vote for me" speech will take place.

Could it actually come down to that?

Students, as we know, lead extremely hectic lives. The majority of students here commute adding an additional hour onto an already busy schedule. Then there are family obligations, job obligations, relationship obligations, internship obligations and on and on.

With that said what do we really expect to extract from this collegiate experience? When we are all said and done -130 completed units and a bachelor's degree - have we really prepared ourselves for life outside of the college comfort zone?

Here is the point: A position in student government is one of the few entities on campus that will actually equip individuals for the real world - where there are weighty causes and movements that need attending to.

A position in student government involves deciding what is important for the campus community and putting that into action.

It involves prioritization, delegation and decision making. It is where progress begins.

The obvious possibilities it would seem would be political science majors. But governmental positions are applicable to all areas of study.

It is disheartening to see such little interest in such big possibilities.