Help wanted: No experience needed; anyone can be next SGA President or Vice President

- Editor's Note: This is first in a three-part series by Student Government Association Vice President Preston B. Powell.

With student body elections rapidly approaching, now is the time that many aspiring people on our campus begin to plan what will hopefully be the beginning of a year-long event involving campus politics.

I know, because this time last year, I too was one of those people. Along with my running mate, Ryan Bolick, we began a journey that will not end until Reading Day this coming May.

It has included a hard-fought election, a busy summer and fall semester filled with all the ups and downs of working in the best interest of the student body here at Appalachian State University.

What began as the long awaited pursuit of a dream has become one of the most rewarding experiences of my collegiate career. It is my hope that others will see that realizing their dreams may not be as difficult as one may think.

Phase I: Are you qualified to be Appalachian's next president or vice president?

Many may find it surprising that the minimum requirements for running for public office are not that far out of reach. You only have to be a rising junior or senior who attended Appalachian the previous fall semester. A minimum GPA of 2.25 is also necessary.

That's about it. You don't have to be in Student Government Association (SGA) nor do you need any experience in it either to be able to run. I believe that you just have to want to make a difference here at Appalachian. So the answer is yes, you too can run for SGA president or vice president. All you need now is to file with the elections committee.

Phase II: Find the right running mate.

Before any of you run out and declare your intentions to run, you need to find the right running mate.

Turn back the clock to January 2000. It was around this time that Ryan and I decided that we might make good candidates for president and vice president. My path was a bit different than current Student Body President Ryan Bolick.

Running for office was something he wanted to do since arriving as a freshman. For me, it took several frustrating experiences with the current SGA administration to decide that something had to change.

Regardless of our reasons, we both knew that running for SGA office was something that we wanted to do. In our case, this worked out well because Ryan and I are near opposites. To me, he's overly organized, while I'm too laid back for his tastes. When combined, we pick up nicely where the other has left off.

I know that there can be various winning combinations for running mates but it is important to find someone who compliments you, and someone who you can work with easily. That is important; you will be spending a lot of time with that person.

Have I got you interested yet? The bottom line is you don't need a special SGA pedigree to be the next leaders on campus. All it takes is the right running mate and an extraordinary amount of creativity and determination to run a campaign.

Next Tuesday, I will profile what it means to run a campaign and all the work that goes on behind the scenes with it as well.

6 billion people, and 400,000 acres land lost per year, makes problems

Jason Hoyle

The world's population is now estimated at over 6 billion people. Yet, for now, it is still theoretically possible to produce enough food to feed every person on Earth, but that won't be true for too much longer.

The population clock on population-awareness.com says almost three people are added to the world every second. By the time you are done reading this there will be hundreds of additional people in the world. The census bureau estimates that world population grows about six million people per month.

Is population control equal to birth control? How about death control? Our new president, George W., ended funding of overseas family-planning groups whose services include abortion counseling. The Christian Science Monitor in its Jan. 26, 2001, issue reported the United State's funding is over half the funding that most of these programs receive. What that means is that all of a sudden in many developing nations already battling hunger there will be numerous mothers-to-be that don't receive adequate planning for their family; i.e. more abortions, more unwanted pregnancies, more starving people. The United States. government uses a formula to determine environmental impact. I=PAT, or (I) impact = (P) population times consumption per capita, or (A) affluence times the harmfulness of the (T) technology used. In other words, affluent technologically oriented populations have the largest impact on the environment. Sound like any nation you know?

Not all is lost, at least not yet. "Europe has not only stopped its population growth but actually reversed it. By 2050, Italy's population is expected to shrink from 57 million today to 41 million and Germany's from 82 million now, to 73 million," according to Nov/Dec. 2000 issue of E-Magazine.

This predicted reduction of Europe's population is in direct contrast with our own population growth rates. Our country is expected to double its population by 2100, and those are the Census Bureau's middle projections.

The biggest question plaguing my mind is what are all these people going to eat? In the United States, 400,000 acres of farmland are lost a year. With the population doubling, land able to support food growth would shrink from 400 million to only 290 million acres. In an article located at The Earth Council's homepage, Peter Ward of Washington University said, "Every forest, every valley, every bit of land surface capable of sustaining plant life, as well as much of the plankton in the sea, will have to be turned over to crops if our species is to avert unprecedented global famine."

Yes, global famine on an unprecedented scale. If that is hard to imagine then it's probably because you're in the world's most affluent country. What will alleviate this problem? AIDS epidemics like the one in Africa now, widespread starvation in developing nations, morning-after birth control pills, sex education, nuclear war, or some other catastrophic event? No one knows what the future holds, or even if we are past the point of no return.

I'm not advocating any particular action, belief or strategy. I am advocating an awareness of the truth that has for so long been ignored, an acceptance of reality, and a thoughtful people aware of the long-term consequences of their actions beyond their immediate reach. You may not care, but when the world is out of food you better watch out, because I will be coming to eat YOU!