COLUMN: Let’s hear who you’re campaigning for
As our own USU/SA election season is upon us and candidates have filed their intention to run for office, I’m excited to see the letters to the editor start coming in about why this particular candidate is best for the job for whatever reason, or why another particular candidate is not good for the job because of this set of reasons.
I’m so excited for it that I’m starting to set aside extra space in the opinion section just to accommodate the influx of letters: It’s the only place where you, the reader, are able to voice your views as if you were a regular weekly columnist.
But I’m also aware of the fact that not many of my readers have actually written a letter to the editor before. I’ll give you the rundown.
Letters to the editor are just that. You send them to me, I put them in the paper. Boom, done. But it’s also a good idea to have a point to what you’re writing – I’m not going to print your letter all about how your puppy is the #CutestThingEver. It’s also a good idea to back up your statements with actual facts, figures or reasons.
Most of all, it’s a good idea to make yourself not look like a jackass, even if you’re vehemently opposing the election of are particular candidate.
Let me give a quick example by writing my own letter to the editor with the suggested headline of “(This office) office needs more choice.”
To the editor:
(This candidate) is running unopposed, and unless there are some write-in candidates I don’t know about, will walk into (this office) position for next year.
I like (this candidate). He’s a great guy to hang out with. I don’t doubt he would make a great VP, I just wish we had more options to choose from.
Every day I see (this candidate) studying at the big table outside the service center on the third floor of the TSC. The faces around him don’t generally change – many of the other USU/SA officers who hang out there doing homework or taking a break to play table tennis.
I might still vote for (this candidate), but it would be nice to have the choice not to. Isn’t there another person we can at least choose from as a write-in candidate?
– Tavin Stucki
See? It’s not that hard.
Your letters should reflect your own feelings. For example, I’m expecting many letters along the lines of “There’s no diversity among candidates,” “Don’t vote Tavin Stucki for Athletics VP,” “Write in Colby May for president” and “I just want a good Howl.”
It’s even OK for candidates to write letters promoting themselves for office. It’s even better for their campaign teams to do it.
As a reminder, letter should be short-ish, and mine was fewer than 200 words; they should be in good taste – I opposed (this candidate) for office, but I gave honest reasons why and didn’t just call him names; there shouldn’t be more than one written by the same person in the same week – too much of a good thing can ruin a cause.
Letters can be submitted by hand to my office in TSC 311 or by email to statesman@aggiemail.usu.edu.
– Tavin Stucki is the editor in chief of The Utah Statesman. His articles have won awards and appeared in numerous news publications throughout Utah. Send any comments to statesmaneditor@aggiemail.usu.edu.