As a former member of the Student Union Elections Commission and as a student here at Boston University, I would like to commend SUEC Chairwoman Jeanette Jankiewicz and the entire Election Committee for their outstanding work this semester. Jankiewicz has labored many hours to bring about these comprehensive Senate elections.

Despite the negative attacks SUEC has received every year, SUEC has been making drastic improvements. When I became Chair of SUEC in January of 2001, I was the sole member with no background pertaining to elections. SUEC was also hindered by no records nor any real set of bylaws. The past two years were rocky, but SUEC prevailed. Jankiewicz has continued to improve SUEC at a faster rate than ever in SUEC history.

We all must remember that the Student Union is more than a few students playing government. It’s a forum for change. We are all students — not politicians — and the Union is here to voice our opinions to the administration during each of our tenures. The few students who do get involved do so to make a difference. Why hinder this process by re-holding elections? Let the Union do what it was created to do: to make BU a better place. Now more than ever we have extremely important issues to dedicate our time and effort on: the closure of the BUA’s Gay-Straight Alliance, the guest policy, the lack of a rape crisis center, the fact that we have no sexual orientation non-discrimination clause, campus apathy and many other issues.

Besides The Daily Free Press and a few grudge-filled individuals, I see no one else complaining about these Senate elections. SUEC has held the best Senate elections ever, and E-board elections last spring brought out the largest voter turnout within the past 11 years, according to the Vice President and Dean of Students Office. Making a difference here at BU is hard enough with all the administrative road blocks. These leaders who truly dedicate their time and efforts to the students here at Boston University don’t need to deal with the attacks of a small minority of our peers.

I agree SUEC isn’t perfect (last time I noticed the FreeP isn’t either, when some days the date on the front page is wrong), but it has come a long way. Jeanette and the four [sic] other members of SUEC are the true symbols of real student leaders. I have seen the hard work and dedication they have put forth over the past months and they deserve praise and recognition for it. Good job SUEC!