Communication is key for a legislative body that represents the whole. In the case of SPU, this means Associated Students of Seattle Pacific (ASSP) should be in constant dialogue with the student body.

The highly-visible ASSP elections advertising around campus in the past few weeks is an example of an effort to achieve such dialogue. This attempt has, however, largely been a failure, and for two reasons. First, information about how and when to apply for candidacy for the 2005 election has been notably absent, and, second, the ridiculous paradox of ChŽ Guevara's face on election posters is entirely ridiculous.

Although this year is far more contested than the last, ASSP still failed to advertise the election and how to get involved for students interested in running. Simply posting on the ASSP website and burying information in the frequently-discarded ASSP e-letter is simply not enough. Other organizations on campus can get the word out, and ASSP certainly has not failed in promoting other campus activities, but how to apply to run for ASSP is, for the most part, a secret. This is hardly beneficial in a democratic system that relies in involvement.

Senate has improved this year on allowing candidates to inform the student body of where they stand on issues, but using ChŽ's face on posters advertising the democratic process is a shameless display of publicity mongering. BJ Louws, the chairman of the Election Task Force said in an e-mail, "The ChŽ face is very recognizable in popular culture. This has appeal because we thought it would catch people's attention."

Louws also said that they wanted to keep the theme of "Viva la Revolution" and ChŽ was their best choice. What ever happened to good democratic revolutionaries? Apparently Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi all fail to represent revolution as well as communists. That was a missed opportunity.

Instead of using the face of an extremely controversial and bloody historical figure who, need we remind you, stood against democracy and organized religion, maybe ASSP could create more edgy designs. Many other university councils produce professional quality advertising for important events. Our council however, continues the time-honored tradition of grade school and high school advertising, also known as butcher paper and tempera paint. With as many art and design majors as we have on campus, couldn't we at least enlist their help? Or, if need be, we could outsource the job.

This year's publicity for ASSP elections has been mediocre considering that it needs to be able to communicate to the student body over a plethora of advertisements, flyers and other media. Cheap, controversial tricks are not the proper way to snag students' attention, especially for such a serious issue. Quality, intelligent advertising would have been a better choice. Perhaps it is time for ASSP to spend a little more money to get their point across. This will be what reaches the students in the end.