By Sara Kay

I once had a love affair with politics. I love watching the morning news and getting my daily fix of what’s going on in our nation’s capitol. I even enjoy tuning into a rousing session of Congress on C-SPAN when nobody else is home, and watch the decrepit men and women peruse the meeting room, dropping votes here and there, mindlessly chatting with their colleagues about how the economy may be slipping through America’s fingers, but at least they’re still making that paper. Tee hee hee, hardy har har. Lately, however, I think politics is being a sketchy little a-hole.

My sudden distaste for politics started with the carrying out of the most recent SGA elections here at the University.

Usually when they come around, I vote for the president and vice president that I think will most benefit the student body, and I kind of ignore everything else on the ballot.

I know, I know, not a good practice as someone who should care about things that can affect the school, but up until now, none of the acts they were trying to pass seemed all too important. I would read over them as if they weren’t going to have any change on the school, and to be honest, I’m pretty sure they never did. That is, until now.

This year, there was an unsettling question asked on the elections ballot that made my stomach turn. It made me nervous, upset and queasy; pretty much that feeling you get after eating day-old sushi.

“Do you think Hofstra students who have cars on campus should pay a $25 car tax to go towards sustainability efforts?

My blood boiled. I had to shield my eyes away from the computer screen so as to secure my body from turning to stone after making direct eye contact with such an outlandish question. A car tax? $25?! What am I, made of money?!

The University’s tuition is high enough, leaving me barely enough money to buy a slurpee at the 7-Eleven, how is it fair to make me shell out an additional $25 to do something that I already am doing for free?

It isn’t. And to be honest, asking that on a ballot where many of the respondents may not have cars is a giant crock of bull poo. People who don’t drive shouldn’t answer for the people who do. I hauled my boat of a car up from the great state of Maryland after one semester of not having a car at all, and I’ll be damned if someone who has the luxury of not paying for gas every other week gets to decide whether or not I should pay a “car tax.”

This wasn’t the only instance where my interest in politics started to slip away. In an effort to protest this car tax, two of my peers wanted to stage a protest during class hours in order to get the word out on this tax. They wanted to do what many other university sponsored clubs get to do all the time: speak out for what they believe.

However, they were brutally rebuffed by the University’s administration, who basically gave them the proverbial middle finger by saying they were not allowed to protest, and then turned around and gave a big ol’ pat on the back to the people who were supporting the car tax.

One group got shafted for wanting to get the word out, while another group got praised for keeping their mouths shut, but having their lips open just enough to kiss a little ass.

In case you weren’t paying attention for the last week, here’s what the outcome was. The car tax failed, meaning myself and every other driver on this campus gets to park for free, just as it should be. And the administration, which shut down these two students from speaking out against something they believed to be detrimental to the student body, failed as well.

So now, here I am, having no respect for the corrupt politics that allowed this violation of the first amendment and wondering how the institution which I used to have so much interest in and respect for could let me down so much.

I thought politics was supposed to be a push and pull of different ideals, where ultimately everyone gets a chance to throw their two cents in, even if their two cents aren’t even worth that much.

This act of covering up a side of an issue is a generic case of poor politics, carried out in a sleazy way.

This issue was one that would have had an affect on the majority of the student body, and the voices of those against it weren’t ever able to be heard. Until politics can gain back my love and affection, it’s just going to have to be single and miserable while I’m living large with my free parking in one hand, and my dignity in the other.

Sara Kay is a junior print journalism student. You may e-mail her at [email protected].