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Because of what Student Government officials are calling “misrepresenting the truth,” the Commissioner of Elections investigated a Web site Monday that connected the “Making It Happen” campaign site to a purposely misspelled Daily Reveille Web address.
 The investigation followed the University Court’s attempt to file an injunction against the Michelle Gieg and Patrick Downs-led ticket for possibly breaking the SG election code and the code of ethics.
At press time, neither the University Court nor Election Board could prove any breach of ethics or the election code because the person believed to be responsible for the Web address is not a University student.
The redirect was disabled Sunday night after The Daily Reveille Editor-in-Chief Scott Sternberg asked Gieg to stop it because it misused The Daily Reveille’s Web address.
If users tried to access The Daily Reveille’s Web site, www.lsureveille.com, before Sunday night, and inverted the “e” and “i” in the site’s name — www.lsurevielle.com — they were forwarded to the “Making It Happen” homepage.
Commissioner of Elections Devin Reid said the Election Board can not pursue any action against the “Making It Happen” campaign because board members have no firsthand knowledge or evidence of the redirection from the “Revielle” Web site to the campaign site because it has been disabled.
Though University Court can not take action, University Court Chief Justice Neal Hebert said the court justices are disappointed with the situation.
“[Behavior] of this type — while not officially sanctioned in the Election Code — is expressly forbidden in the Student Government bylaws; the Code of Ethics expressly forbids student government officials from misrepresenting the truth,” Hebert said in an official opinion of the court.
But Louis Day, media law and ethics professor, said the site not only has ethical questions — it has legal implications.
Day said the site is a misrepresentation of The Daily Reveille’s Web address because changing one letter in its name makes the “Revielle” site appear to be connected with The Daily Reveille.
Will Coenen, local patent and trademark lawyer, also said the “Revielle” site address has potential legal ramifications because the use of a very similar spelling of The Daily Reveille is a potential trademark infringement.
Coenen said use of the misspelled Web address is based on a “likelihood of confusion” that Web users think they are accessing The Daily Reveille Web site.
Gieg said Monday that her campaign is not attached to the “Revielle” Web site and that she is not responsible for the redirection.
Gieg said she knew for several days that the site redirected to her campaign site, but that she did not take immediate action to stop it because she was not sure how to handle the situation.
She also said that she and other SG members think Joe Morel, a University graduate and former SG member, has access to the content of the “Revielle” site, but that she is not sure he is responsible for its redirection to her campaign site.
Morel is not connected to her campaign, Gieg said. She said that she is acquainted with Morel, but her connection with him is “problematic.”
“I don’t control him,” Gieg said.
Morel refused to specify his connection to the “Revielle” site.
Gieg said that when she asked Morel to take the re-direction down Sunday night, it was done immediately.
Morel said he did not want to say who created the redirection to the “Making It Happen” Web site. He said the owner of the address — whose name he would not disclose — knew about the redirection to the “Making It Happen” site.
“It was done on the [Web address] owner’s accord,” Morel said.
Morel said that he did not want the “Making It Happen” campaign to get in trouble for redirecting the Web site because its members did not do it.
Hebert said the court wanted to file an injunction to maintain SG integrity.
“The University Court remains committed to ensuring that this election will be conducted in a manner that is both fair and honorable, as well as enforcing the idea that all Student Government members — past, present and future — carry out their duties in accord with the Code of Ethics and SG Constitution; this is both our privilege and our duty,” Hebert said.
Heath Hattaway, opposing presidential candidate from the “In Focus” campaign, disapproved of the “Revielle” site redirection.
“An attempt to mislead students by relying on spelling errors is, at best, a poor representation of what Student Government is about,” Hattaway said.
Jonathan Harb, opposing presidential candidate from the “L.S.You” campaign, declined to comment.