With just a few clicks of a button, the student body holds a lot of power today – the power to elect new Student Government leaders who will lead for the 2008-2009 school year. Students can log on to their PAWS account and vote for the candidates they want to see in office beginning today at 8 a.m. until 9:59 p.m. But on a campus with more than 27,000 students, some may be wondering how many students know about the issues behind the campaign faces, or who the faces are behind the campaign names. For students who do not know – there are three tickets registered in today’s election. The “Do Nothing” ticket is headed by SG presidential candidate Taylor Craft and his running mate Wesleigh McLeod. The history sophomores have no other members on their ticket. The “Do Nothing” ticket aims to use student feedback to direct their SG administrative action. Craft said their campaign does not include any issues. He said they did not create a platform with promises they will not be able to uphold. SG presidential candidate Dixon McMakin and his running mate Kristen Oaks are the leaders behind the “Vision 2008” ticket. McMakin, SG director of athletics, and Oaks, senator for the College of Agriculture, adopted four issues for their platform: accessibility, accountability, safety and communication. The team said they promise to be the most accessible SG president and vice president in the history of SG if elected. “Vision 2008” wants to implement a free DVD rental program in the library and reinstate the University’s President’s Cabinet, a group made up of presidents from 37 organizations on campus. SG presidential candidate Colorado Robertson and vice presidential candidate Shannon Bates are also vying for the top SG offices under “The Foundation” ticket. Their ticket aims to “build from the ground up” and build a solid foundation for future SG administrations. Their biggest goal is to save students an estimated $3,324,000. Other promises include initiating a public feeding for Mike VI, extending library hours, providing free rain ponchos and implementing a bus system complaint hotline. Issues common to both the Robertson-Bates and Dixon-Oaks tickets include lobbying state Legislature for textbook tax exemptions, implementing a rollover “W” grade system, improving campus safety and lighting and extending operational hours of 459 Commons dining hall. Several students said they are apathetic about the SG election. Many said they did not know anything about the SG campaign tickets, and they did not plan to vote. Others said they will vote, but do not plan to get informed until Wednesday. Katie Cook, business sophomore, said she does not know what distinguishes one ticket from the other. But Cook said she plans to learn about the issues before voting. Cook said she has heard people talk about the “Do Nothing” ticket, though. “It’s an adequate approach,” Cook said in reference to the ticket. “It’s a good joke, but when it comes to the heart of the student body, they will be inadequate.” John Casey, biological engineering senior, echoed Cook’s sentiments. Casey said he plans to vote, but he does not know who he is voting for, and said he will make his decision today. “I’ll look through the list of candidates on each ticket, and I’ll decide how feasible what they’re trying to do is,” Casey said. Casey said he suspects the majority of students voting in the election will be people who have a stake in one of the campaigns, members of the Greek community and friends of the candidates. Thomas Barnes, business sophomore, said he plans to vote too, but he has not been keeping up with the campaigns and does not know who is running for each ticket. “I plan to read the push cards [Wednesday],” Barnes said. “The people I know don’t know who is running either. But I think it is important to find out what they are about.” Whitley McCoy, political science sophomore, said voting in the SG election is not a high priority among her friends this year. But McCoy said she plans to vote, and she said Robertson will get her vote. “I believe he is more determined and well-rounded,” McCoy said. “I know he has good leadership skills.” Jason Dormady, political science junior, said he plans to vote for his former high school classmate McMakin. “Whenever we were in high school together, the student body elected him as Student Council president and he met every expectation that I had for somebody in a leadership position,” Dormady said. Some students said student apathy and ignorance for the SG election will not extend to the U.S. presidential election in November. Kimball Colly, kinesiology freshman, said he will probably “pick someone random from the list” when he votes. “But I think campus knows more about the U.S. presidential election than the actual election,” Colly said. Andrew Lively said students are more informed and concerned about the U.S. presidential election, and he said the majority of campus is of the same opinion. Lively said he does not plan to vote in today’s SG election and has no idea who is running. “I voted last year, and I just went through and looked for people’s names I recognized,” Lively said. Though the voting window closes tonight, the election results will be sealed until 6 p.m. Thursday at the Bell Tower.
—-Contact Natalie Messina at [email protected]