Students Seek Voter Pledges Electoral College Explained
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Citizens owe it to veterans, Football team defeats School of Drama wins country to vote • A6 University of Chicago • A10 humanities grant • B8 FORUM SPORTS PILLBOX thetartan.org @thetartan November 5, 2012 Volume 107, Issue 10 Carnegie Mellon’s student newspaper since 1906 Unraveling the activites fee: Where does your money go? ANNA WALSH and they certainly can’t grow.” Personnel Manager The fee increase, which would go into effect next aca- When considering the sub- demic year, will go up for a ref- mitted organization budgets erendum vote this Thursday last spring, the Joint Funding through Saturday. The vote Committee (JFC) had to sort is split into two referendums: through over $1.6 million in one to raise the undergradu- requests. The committee only ate fee, and one to raise the ended up allocating $1.12 mil- graduate fee. lion, meaning that it had to However, when one con- tighten restrictions on what siders that the activities fee could be funded — and one of this year collected over $2.4 the costs that didn’t make the million, it raises the question: cut was spring break trips. Where does all that money go? For Alternative Break, a student group that plans ser- vice-based trips, JFC’s deci- The source of the money sion “was a huge blow,” said Carnegie Mellon’s Board Sabrina Larkin, the club’s of Trustees sets the activities president and a junior chemi- fee every year, taking into ac- cal engineering and engineer- count recommendations from ing and public policy double student government. The fee major. The organization re- is currently $97 per semester. quested over $18,000 from Over the past several years, JFC, but only received $204. the fee has increased at an This stretching of resourc- average rate of 2.4 percent. es is the reason that Student According to Mark, a senior Body Vice President for Fi- lighting design major, student nance Jon Mark is proposing government has made its rec- a $24 increase per semester ommendations for increases to the student activities fee. based on the five-year average “The programming supported of the Consumer Price Index, Chloe Chia/Junior Artist by the fee has essentially out- which tracks prices of various grown resources that we can household goods in order to and statistics and decision sci- want, so I think in terms of money goes to different places Although the percentage of give it,” he said at a town hall measure inflation. ence double major, explained transparency and getting the depending on who it’s from. the graduate students’ fee that meeting about the activities According to its fiscal pol- at the town hall meeting, “One proper feedback all at once, The graduate students’ activi- goes toward JFC funds is lower fee, held last Thursday. “A lot icy, student government is al- of our fears last year when we [the 25 percent increase] is a ties fee is divided and sent to than the percentage of the un- of these organizations have lowed to recommend up to a thought about [doing] the 5 better solution.” three different locations: 30 dergraduate fee, the GSA Vice come up to us and told us that 5 percent increase in the fee percent [increase] is that if you percent goes to JFC’s funds, 45 President for Finance Patrick the funding that we’re giving without needing to call a ref- do that over five years, a lot of percent goes to the Graduate Foley, a Ph.D. candidate in them, considering the rate erendum for students to vote the students may not necessar- The Graduate Student Student Assembly (GSA), and statistics, believes that gradu- of inflation [and] the rate of on the increase. ily notice. It’s definitely harder Assembly 25 percent goes back to the ate students do not benefit as what we’ve been having to cut But Student Body President to PR that and make sure we’re Once the Hub collects the departments for students to them, they just can’t keep up, Will Weiner, an economics really reflecting what people funds for the activities fee, the distribute. See FEE, A3 Electoral College explained Students seek voter pledges MADELYN GLYMOUR Obama won the 2008 percent in New Hampshire, NOËL UM PIRGs, he became interested promising to text their friends News Editor election with 365 electoral 2.5 percent in Iowa, 2.8 per- Assistant News Editor and began to get involved. reminding them to vote. KYLE HENSON votes; he swept the battle- cent in Nevada, 0.6 percent Hodge said, “Sometimes Neti said the three-part Staffwriter ground states, including the in Colorado, 5 percent in Wis- Due to interest in student you don’t care because you system of voter pledging — traditionally red Indiana, consin, 4 percent in Michigan, rights and advocacy on cam- think, ‘My vote’s not going which includes signing a card, As election season draws North Carolina, and Virginia. 2.8 percent in Ohio, and 4.1 pus, Carnegie Mellon will to matter,’ but especially for calling by phone, and texting to a close, the candidates for This year, however, the race percent in Pennsylvania; and found the first chapter of the Pennsylvania, as a swing — is new this year, and she the presidency are making is much closer. Romney has Romney is up 0.3 percent in Student Public Interest Re- state, it’s really important. hopes that it will encourage their last speeches in the 11 seen positive poll data in the Virginia, 3.8 percent in North search Groups (PIRGs) orga- You see these old guys in students to go out to the polls. battleground states that will traditionally blue Michigan, Carolina, and 1.4 percent in nization in the state of Penn- government and you think, “We are having some decide which candidate gains Minnesota, and Pennsylva- Florida. sylvania. ‘They’re not in tune with my phone bank blitzes this week- the 270 votes necessary to nia; meanwhile, Florida and If the averages given by Student PIRGs is a student- ideas and they’re not going to end to continue contacting win the election and goes on Ohio remain as important RealClearPolitics represented funded, nonpartisan, and be able to represent me,’ but if the student body because we to occupy the Oval Office this now as they have been in past actual popular vote totals, nonprofit organization that you get students out in force, found through our research January. years. Obama would take 290 elec- “gives students the skills and you can get them to be a driv- that students are more likely There are a total of 538 The political aggregator toral votes and Romney 248, opportunity to practice effec- ing force for what they want to show up to the polls by electoral votes at play in the site RealClearPolitics averag- giving Obama the presidency. tive citizenship,” according to in government.” four percentage points if they presidential election. In order es poll data from many local Even if Obama lost the two the Student PIRGs website. According to Daniel Walk- receive text messages from to be elected president, a can- and national political polls. states where the poll results Representatives from Stu- er-Murray, a campus organiz- someone they know,” Walker- didate must win a majority of According to the site’s aver- dent PIRGs have set up tables er for Student PIRGs, youth Murray said. the votes — in other words, at aged polls, Obama is up 1.5 See ELECTION, A3 on campus since the begin- voter turnout has increased Compared to other col- least 270. ning of this school year in or- by about 21 percent since the lege campuses which Student Electoral votes are allotted der to encourage students to last presidential election, and PIRGs has reached out to, based on the popular vote in register to vote. the number of students who Carnegie Mellon was leading each state. A state has a cer- The student interest gar- claim they are intellectually the nation for a few weeks in tain number of electoral votes nered from tabling became involved with the election has the number of voters regis- apportioned by population; the basis for a Carnegie Mel- increased by 13 percent. tered on campus. the candidate who wins the lon chapter of the organiza- Neti cited progress with “We were beating schools popular vote in each state tion. student rights as a reason for out that had six times the wins all of that state’s popu- Satvika Neti, a first-year in this increased voting interest number of people that we lar votes (except for the few the Science and Humanities among college students. had,” Walker-Murray said. states that allow split elec- Scholars program and head “If we want more federal “Carnegie Mellon has toral votes). In this electoral of Carnegie Mellon’s Student funding for student loans, we about 6,000 people, and we cycle, there are a surprisingly PIRG chapter, helped to start have to let them know. If we had organizers at the Univer- large number of states that the club because although she want to change the world, we sity of Texas at Dallas that has are considered toss-ups. wants to vote, she will not be have to let them know to start about 36,000 students, and The 11 battleground states of voting age this fall. listening to us. One way to do obviously toward the end of in which both President Neti said, “Even though I that is by voting,” she said. the student drive they beat us Barack Obama and Republi- won’t be able to vote in this Walker-Murray said that out, but we got a lot of people can candidate Mitt Romney election, I’m still really invest- Student PIRGs stopped the interested in volunteering stand a chance of winning are ed in it.