Spartan Daily Serving San José State University Since 1934

View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by San Jose State University WEATHER TECH A&E SOCIAL MEDIA FollowF us on TTwitter E-Readers vs. Books: Russel Brand’s new @spartandaily@ Which wins out? comedy scores laughs BecomeB a fan ono Facebook High: 64° PAGE 6 PAGE 5 facebook.com/f Low: 44° sspartandaily Spartan Daily Serving San José State University since 1934 Tuesday, April 12, 2011 spartandaily.com Volume 136, Issue 36 Polls open for A.S. elections today Francisco Rendon 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Wednesday. “We’re a little lower than that but we’re also class here and go home.” Staff Writer The Associated Students collect a fee a campus with a very low resident popula- Chief Election Officer Lucreisha Daniels from all students at SJSU every semester, tion. When you look at who votes, it’s resi- said the election board, a separate entity and are responsible for services such as AS dents.” from student government, ensures that can- Elections for Associated Students gov- Printshop, Campus Recreation and Trans- Kelley said a big issue on both large and didates are operating within proper proce- ernment will be open for voting starting portation Solutions. small, rural and urban campuses is a dispro- dures. today at 10 a.m. and will close Thursday at Rich Kelley , Director of Student Involve- portionately low percentage of students “We’re basically the ones who regulate 8 a.m. ment said although the A.S. election board who vote in elections, participate in student elections,” she said. “We’re the election po- All students registered at SJSU who have is aiming for record-setting participation, government or are aware of the state of af- lice. A lot of rules need to be followed.” paid the most current A.S. fee can vote on- SJSU has traditionally had low voter turn- fairs on campus. Votes are gathered and recorded through line through MySJSU or in person at polling out for these elections, which occur every “We tend to see the same small percent- Votenet, a software operated by an indepen- locations on campus. year in the spring. age involved in many things,” he said. “These dent company, and will be tallied at the end The polling locations will be in front of “At my previous institutions, voter turn- students are involved in 4-5 organizations, Clark Hall and Campus Village Quad from out was usually 10-15 percent,” he said. (while) you’ve got 20,000 students who go to see ELECTION page 2 Election outreach Voting stations: Where to go comes up short Matthew Gerring Staff Writer A student protest campaign cur- rently circulating on campus and Facebook is pressuring the Asso- ciated Students Election Board to make information about the election more accessible, citing diffi - culty in fi nding the voter guide, a lack of advertisement about election-related events, and low participation rates in last year’s election. Yan Yin Choy, a junior envi- ronmental studies major, said she started the campaign after fi nding out about the elections and hav- ing a diffi cult time fi nding information about the candidates and events online. “This is not an accessible process to a commuter student,” she said. “Most students don’t know about A.S. — they wouldn’t even go to the website — but those who do go to the website won’t be able to fi nd information.” Choy said the campaign has gathered about 120 signatures so far. Two open forums, a debate and a barbecue were held on the SJSU campus for students to meet the candidates and ask questions and advertised on the Associated Stu- dents Election Board website. The A.S. Election Board also produced a voter guide which was only available as a hard copy from the A.S. House or at election-related events until a PDF version was posted to their website on Mon- Illustration: day, the day before the start of the Leo Postovoit / Spartan Daily election. Organizers of the campaign said this isn’t enough. “You have to dig for the information,” said Holly Rude, campaign Photo: Brian O’Malley / Spartan Daily organizer and senior sociology major. Polling stations where students can vote are located at Clark Hall Information about election-re- (above) and in the Campus Village Quad (right). lated events and voting dates and times were not available on the main SJSU online events calendar, except for the barbecue on Thurs- day. Vote on campus The A.S. website and Facebook page both listed voting dates and Thursday and Wednesday the barbecue, but not the candidate debate or open forums. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. No information about the candidates or the voter guide was available until several posts appeared on the A.S. Facebook page on Monday. Vote online on MySJSU Rude said she’s been taking the campaign’s petition around to her Tuesday 10 a.m. - Thursday 8 a.m. see OUTREACH page 2 Photo: Michelle Terris / Spartan Daily 2 NEWS sPARTANDailY Tuesday, April 12, 2011 ELECTION dates are always readily available but no OUTREACH addressing her concerns to running in the election,” one ever pays them any attention. I feel From Page 1 the A.S. Rules Committee said Kelley. “We had four From Page 1 that people should pay the elections and would be a better way to candidates that were dis- the candidates more attention.” change the current policy. qualifi ed for eligibility — ei- Kelley said although the election pe- classes and has gotten about Elections Board adviser ther grades, number of units, of the election period. riod ends on Thursday, there is still a pe- 20 signatures so far. Richard Kelley suggested or being on probation.” Through the use of Votenet students riod for filing grievances and to run-off “Most are pretty unaware that Choy address her con- Kelley said on March 2 — are able to vote at polling places or online any ties, should the need arise. that elections are going on,” cerns to the Associated Stu- the deadline for candidates from any computer she said. Election consultant Ariel Pickett said she said. “They notice that dents Board of Directors in- to fi le — there was only one “The polling locations are a quick stop increasing voter turnout this year would theres not a lot of publica- stead. vacant position and three for people who would most likely forget,” hopefully improve participation in future tion around campus regard- The letter circulated by uncontested positions. Daniels said. “We want to make it as con- elections. ing the election, and a lot of the campaign cites the fact He said two other students venient as possible so there are no excuses “It’s important for students to show students are frustrated be- that seven positions in the were removed from the bal- as to why you didn’t vote.” up to show their support,” Pickett said. cause they’re not even sure A.S. elections are uncon- lot for not meeting a re- There will be a barbecue to announce “They might get other students involved what A.S. does for them, but tested and three have no quirement or deadline after the winner at the A.S. Barbecue Pit on who may want to get involved next year.” they pay them money every candidates running for them the fi ling deadline. Thursday at noon she said. Kelley said anyone who wants to know semester.” as evidence of “reoccurring Kelley said the number Strategies such as a Meet the Can- more about candidates can check the Chief Elections Offi cer disinterest” and a failure of of uncontested positions is didates barbecue and banners around voter information guide on the election Cree Daniels said the A.S. the A.S. Elections Board to a concern for the Elections campus were employed to increase voter board website. Elections Board has no con- interest a suffi cient number Board. participation, Daniels said, but student “Even if you only know one person trol over what Associated of students in running for “We need to have more interest is generally low. running, get out and vote for that per- Students advertises on its offi ce. students running in the A.S. “Last year we had about 1,600 (stu- son,” he said. “Students pay $150 a year, website, and told Choy that “There were more people elections,” he said. dents) vote in A.S. elections,” she said. “A that’s a large budget. (They) should have a lot of people just don’t care. Our candi- say in how that money is used.” WORLD NEWS A.S. CANDIDATE GUIDE Ivory Coast leader Gbagbo captured McClatchy Tribune rian security forces and taken to a “safe place.” As news spread of Gbagbo’s arrest, Bamba said he expected loyalist fi ghters to “lay down JOHANNESBURG — Ivory Coast’s Lau- their weapons.” The Candidates rent Gbagbo, who refused to concede defeat Gbagbo’s wife, Simone, and son, Michel, in elections or in battle, was seized by oppo- also were captured. sition forces Monday and taken to the hotel Ivory Coast was thrown into crisis after where his rival’s government was based, ac- elections last November. The balloting was cording to French and U.N. offi cials. observed and certifi ed by the U.N., which de- The capture came after French helicopters, clared Ouattara the winner. acting at the request of the United Nations, Gbagbo, however, refused to cede power.

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