By Carlee Duchesne, Advertising Representative

Year after year, three-letter acronym after three-letter acronym, the AMS elections take over not only the minds of the Queen’s student population, but also their hallways.

I don’t know when it started, but handing out small leaflets with your team’s name and the three inspirational words that envelop your campaign has definitely become the trend. Personally, I don’t find small, brightly coloured handouts informative or persuasive, and if anything I think they can be conceived as more annoying than helpful. Our current world is filled with alternative routes of advertising and information sharing, many of which don’t rely on the mass consumption of paper (the majority of which end up on the ground or shoved in between chairs in the lecture halls). So then, why do these teams feel the need to ambush your fellow peers as they make their way to and from class?

Yesterday I was walking back from class through Mac-Corry, minding my own business, talking on the phone when I was approached by a team (no need to reveal which one, since they all seem to have the same tactics) who decided that relaying their information to me was more important than my phone call. This information was deemed so necessary that they were willing to bypass actually handing it to me (which implies consent on my part) and instead shoved their leaflet between my hand and my phone. So I was left, slightly dumbfounded, walking through campus still talking on the phone and now with the added joy of a leaflet precariously sticking to the side of my head.

I am all for self-promotion and having actually read some platforms from candidates in various positions I think that there are some great leaders and really wonderful ideas out there. However, just as you would probably be annoyed if someone on the street was shoving copies of their newspaper into your hand as you made your way through downtown, some of us are annoyed by the incessant need for you to get your colourful piece of paper into our hands while we are casually making our way to class.

If we are interested in learning more about your campaign, we will come talk to you at your booths and if we seem uninterested then don’t take it personally, we probably have a lot of other things on our mind. There are many other avenues available where I can educate myself on your campaign platform, your goals and your promises – so please save me, and the environment, and stop with the election confetti.

Do you have something to say about the 2011 AMS elections? Email journal_blogs@ams.queensu.ca to see it published in The Headline.