Before I say anything, know that I have my biases. I am running with Tritons United. Having said that, I am in the precarious position of having to cover the news while being part of it. So without further ado, we need to have a conversation about the upcoming elections.

I’m disappointed by the amount of harassment I’ve seen former A.S. presidential candidate Joey Giltner face. It has reminded me too much of the dirty politics I see in the news. You’d think, “It can’t happen here,” but it can, and there’s precedent for it. In fact, the term “ratfucking” — a slang term for political sabotage — was coined during the student elections of the late 1950s and early 1960s at the University of Southern California. Unsurprisingly, many of these same “ratfuckers” went into politics and were sent to jail for their involvement with the Watergate scandal.

Ratfucking is more effective than ever with the advent of social networking. One such incident occurred near the end of finals. Sonia Avelar posted a status that was essentially an essay-long character assassination of Giltner, politicizing the phrase “trigger warning” in regards to the statement “I am an undocumented immigrant” — a statement found in a Tritons United banner. However, Avelar’s concern appeared disingenuous at best and, at worst, antagonistic. What occurred next was pure thuggery.

Supporters of Students Determined, including those directly associated with the campaign — Colin King and Anali Valdez — proceeded to engage in what I and many others including Facebook, interpreted as cyberbullying. However, you could feel the momentum change when a member of our slate, a DREAMer, came to support Giltner. Here is an excerpt:

“[Tritons United] could’ve easily responded to this grievance and publicly ‘outed’ me to defend our cause. Instead, they respected my space, my privacy … From which an alleged Republican who supposedly supports a protest stopping immigrants from exiting a bus is miraculous if you ask me. I believe actions speaks louder than words, and here is the proof.”

Now, I don’t want to paint this in black-and-white terms. I am confident that there are men and women of integrity within Students Determined. For example, a student unassociated with the slate posted two Buzzfeed articles that I considered overly hostile toward Giltner. I incorrectly assumed it was someone on the slate and sent Students Determined presidential candidate Travis Miller a disgruntled message. He immediately reached out with words of support, and I thank him for being the better man.

There’s an attitude of indifference toward A.S. Council on this campus. That’s quite understandable, but your vote really does mean something. You could be voting into office individuals who could make up the spiritual successor to the Nixon administration, or perhaps students who will run the next Enron. And, if you do vote, please make an informed decision. There’s a chance our representatives will have important influence later in life.