Student Government (SG) at the University of Florida has three branches, similar to the US federal government: executive, legislative, and judicial.

The legislative body of SG is the Student Senate. The Senate consists of 92 Senators elected for one-year terms. Half the Senate is elected in the Fall semester, based on residential area (e.g. on-campus hall or off-campus district); half the Senate is elected in the Spring, based on college or school (e.g. Engineering, Dentistry).

The Senate passes laws and resolutions to represent the students of UF. The Senate spends the Activity & Service fee paid with tuition, which totals more than $11 million annually. These funds support academic and non-academic student organizations, recreational sports, the student union building, and other SG programs. Besides allocating funding and overseeing SG programs, the Senate approves executive appointments (e.g. cabinet directors) and works with the executive to represent students’ interests in the university, as well as local, state, and federal government.

In short, it ain’t kid stuff. UF Student Government has been the training ground for several prominent leaders in state and federal government. And $11 million isn’t chump change. Among students, considerable media attention and public discussion is devoted to SG.

I’m running for one of the Senate’s 5 seats for the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. There are 10 candidates overall: 5 candidates from my party, Unite, and 5 candidates from the opposition. The 5 highest vote-getters will win a seat. Results typically, but not always, break on party lines.

I decided to run for Senate because I’m tired of mediocre leadership. Given UF’s size and influence, and the talent and diversity of its students, we deserve the very best in representation. At the same time, UF faces serious challenges: How do we keep the promise of a public university to remain accessible while trying to improve the value of our education? How do we operate the university efficiently without cutting corners in a way that hurts students? How do we ensure that our policies as a university align with the public interest in society at large?

My personal area of expertise is technology and information policy. Somewhat by accident, I have become a leader in the free culture movement, the political and social movement to protect the “cultural environment” and ensure that public policy advances participation, freedom, and innovation. I have worked alongside some of the brightest minds in business and civil society to raise awareness of issues that affect today’s students, consumers, entrepreneurs, and artists.

There is a total vacuum of leadership on tech policy in SG today, even as technology affects more and more aspects of students’ everyday lives. In fact, there is little political will to promote personal and social responsibility across the board. The politicians of current system of SG are more interested in adding lines to their résumé than addressing the issues that will affect students.

I am running with the Unite Party because we share a common dedication to increasing participation in and improving access to SG. We believe that UF deserves the best representation, merit-based appointments, openness and transparency, fiscal responsibility, and accountable leadership. I make no claim that either I or the party are perfect — I assure you we are not — but we are forward-looking and truly concerned with the best interest of the student body: all of it, not just some people.

Furthermore, I hope to set an example for civic engagement beyond UF. I fully believe that free culture is the new environmentalism. If we want to preserve what’s best about our technology, arts, and media, we have to make a stand. If we want to continue to innovate tomorrow, we must act today. Decisions that affect our rights and freedoms, our access to knowledge and our ability to participate — they’re not just made in D.C. They’re made in state and local governments, in schools and universities, in businesses and individual consumer habits. It’s time to think globally and act locally.

I hope to win my Senate seat to serve and represent the students of UF. I also hope to set an example for the students and citizens of the world — to show that it is possible to address global issues in one’s corner of the world, and to encourage a few others to do so.