Weblog
10/03/02 08:51 PM: From the Georgetown Voice
Confessions of a communications director
By Dave Stroup
I’ll admit it: I was the one who suggested the classy-sounding titles. It was my feeling that the more seriously we took the Georgetown University Student Association campaign, the more important we could pretend it was. To avoid internal struggles, the candidate did not want to designate a “Campaign Manager.” So instead, I devised a list of snazzy titles to give to each member of the staff. We even had an Assistant to the Deputy Communications Director, whom we lovingly referred to as Ginger.
We thought we were taking the whole affair too seriously, and that we were blowing it way out of proportion. We started planning well ahead of time, and we thought that clever stickers were a really neat idea. We had ambition, but we still kept a certain sense of sanity in our campaign preparation.
Well, last Thursday night, my feelings about GUSA and the entire election process changed dramatically. When I first read through the GUSA by-laws and the constitution, I imagined a dignified group that would be the closest thing to “real government” you could find on campus. When I went with my candidate to New South to place our banner on Thursday night, those feelings went right out the window.
The film Representing You wasn’t that far from the truth. In fact, I think even more exaggeration should have been used to properly characterize GUSA campaigns. I can only imagine how much worse the GUSA Presidential campaigns are compared to what I saw for just the GUSA Assembly election.
We arrived at New South a good hour before midnight, because mind you, no one is allowed to put up posters before 12:01 a.m. This was yet another example of painfully strict and annoying campaign regulations we faced. Some regulations, I can understand. However, most of the rules are downright stupid. For example, having to number each sticker we intended to wear to support the campaign. There is no limit on the number of stickers we could have, so I don’t see what the fuss is about. One other example of the brilliance of the GUSA Election Commission is that if a poster is taken down, ruined or destroyed, you are charged again if you wish to replace it. So basically, if someone takes down your $3 poster, and you want to replace it, you are deducted another $3
