A state senator, the president of AccuWeather, a state Supreme Court justice, and [insert student here].
These are some of the people who, every year, meet to decide how many more hundreds (or thousands) of dollars you will be required to spend on your education.
Your room and board.
Your Internet.
And now, at least three Penn State students are vying for the open student position, but only one of them has made his candidacy public -- Safeguard Old State (SOS) executive director and last year's student government presidential runner-up Gavin Keirans.
University Park Undergraduate Association President Hillary Lewis said she knows of two other candidates for the position, but neither she nor the candidates has made their names public.
And now, the Penn State student body remains in the dark about who will be its voice at each Board of Trustees meeting. Two of the three students who aim to represent their peers are hiding beneath the veil of undeserved privacy.
Just because it's not public information doesn't mean you are restricted from coming forward, Candidates X and Y. Keirans even put his application online for the students to observe and critique.
Next year, the Board of Trustees will meet somewhere in the state to discuss how much more of a hit our bank accounts will take. The members will look at the numbers, listen to reports and set a new increase in tuition, among other things.
But how many members of that board actually write that check for thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of dollars every semester?
One.
How many of them really know if students would prefer a week off for Thanksgiving more than a one-day Fall Break?
One.
And how many of them truly know how students feel about campus technology, student housing and on-campus dining.
One.
Candidates X and Y, do you want to be the voice of the students? You want to tell dozens of some of the state's most powerful heads what we think?
Prove it.
Follow Keirans's lead and tell us that you're interested. Post your application online, or send it to the Daily Collegian.
We're reporters, editors, page designers and photographers, but we're also students. And we want to know who you are.
