The Student News Site of San Francisco State University

Golden Gate Xpress

The Student News Site of San Francisco State University

Golden Gate Xpress

The Student News Site of San Francisco State University

Golden Gate Xpress

The polls are open but voters slim, ASI elections lack interest

It’s election season at SF State, which means it’s time for students to execute their civic duty: Make signs, go campaigning, hit the polls and show pride in campus government. Right?

Probably not.

The polls are now open for the Associated Students Inc. student elections, but with many candidates running unopposed, this election is not as competitive as it was last spring.

However, candidates and current members of ASI are using this as an opportunity for outreach.

“I know some of us will win by default, but it’s not just about winning, it’s about how we campaign,” said Andrew Gutierrez, the ASI presidential candidate who is running unopposed. “We’re trying to get out there and talk to the students so they know who we are. That way we can be held accountable when we get into office.”

Some members of ASI attribute the lack of candidates to apathy.

“There’s a lack of interest or awareness,” said Travis Northup, former vice president of external affairs for ASI. “I’m not really sure what’s up with that.”

About 40 applications were submitted to run for the board’s 18 positions, making Gutierrez believe that the drop in candidates is partly due to support for his slate – Achieving Community Through Integrity, Openness and Knowledge.

But some students do not believe they were informed enough about the candidates to make a decision.

“It’s important to participate in these elections, but I feel like you need to know the people who are running to actually be able to vote,” said Muriel Eastman, communications major. “That’s why I’m not voting.”

Besides the candidates, a major issue in this election is a proposed referendum set to increase the $42 student fee that funds ASI by $12 over three years. The referendum would increase the fee $9 in the first year, $2 in the second and $1 in the third.

“I’m interested in students voicing their opinion on this,” Northup said. “I don’t necessarily agree with it, but without it, it could spell doom for ASI.”

The idea for an increase stems from cuts to ASI, such as lower enrollment and making summer session a part of the College of Extended Learning.

“We can’t really do anything about the CSU raising tuition, but student fees are something we can work with,” Gutierrez said. “I’m in support of it because it can be used to provide students with so many more services.”

With the loss of funding creating a situation where ASI becomes unsustainable and unable to provide monetary support to students, some find the increase to be necessary.

“It’s worth it,” said Margarita Gonzalez, an international relations major. “If it’s going toward students and it’s just a few more dollars, it’s not a big deal.”

Tuition increases and a possible cut of $500 million or more due to Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget lead some to believe the fee increase is inappropriate.

“I personally don’t even see a lot of the money going toward ASI being reflected on the campus,” Eastman said. “I disagree with the increase and think it’s the wrong time to be asking for one.”

Gutierrez believes that students should vote not only to make their voices heard, but also to build a rapport with the candidates.

“If no one votes, it looks like there’s no student needs and I know that’s not true,” Gutierrez said. “There’s a lot of student demands on this campus. Students should know who the people who are representing them are. I hated this campus my first few years until I got involved and felt like I was able to do something.”

The polls close March 26. ASI ballots can be found online at sfsu.votenet.com/sfsu.

View Comments (7)
More to Discover

Comments (7)

All Golden Gate Xpress Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • M

    Maher DabitMar 29, 2011 at 5:37 pm

    My name is Maher Dabit. I am a senior studying Civil Engineering at SF State. I ran in the elections as a Science and Engineering Representative and won. I believe that we had a low voter turnout due to students discouragements of the voting website malfunctioning on the first day of elections. Furthermore, the school sent out a mass email to all the students to start voting on Monday, (March 21, 2011), however, the voting website was down.

    On Wednesday, March 23, 2011, I took action and made a public comment in the Student Government Board meeting about the students frustrations of the Voting website malfunctioning. A large group of my engineering friends have notified about the voting website problems they were experiencing on the first day of the elections. Despite the fact that I attended the board meeting on Wednesday and demaded another mass email to be sent to all the students notifying them of the situation, the ASI Executive Director at SF State, Peter Koo, disagreed and said that they will not send another email to all the students.

    I am glad to see this article because it gave me a golden opportunity to spread the word to my fellow SFSU students about what happened on the first day of the elections.

    Reply
    • B

      BrutusMar 29, 2011 at 5:46 pm

      The real problem was the almost utter lack of serious campaigning, due in no small part to the fact that most candidates ran unopposed. The students had little reason to care.

      Reply
  • B

    BrutusMar 22, 2011 at 11:22 pm

    FYI Travis Northup is not the VP of External Affairs. He resigned after the school barred him from traveling due to gross misconduct.

    Reply
    • C

      CorneliusMar 24, 2011 at 10:58 am

      This is the second article (from this author) that has Mr. Northup quoted from a position he hasn’t held for 3 months.

      Reply
      • B

        BrutusMar 25, 2011 at 12:12 am

        An Xpress story with a clear lack of fact-checking? Inconceivable!

        Reply
        • R

          RXBMar 25, 2011 at 3:47 pm

          If anyone is interested in what Brutus is doing on a Friday at 12 a.m, be sure and check https://www.goldengatexpress.org!

          Seriously man, get a life. Take the stories with a freakin’ grain of salt, it’s a college news publication for God’s sake! The LA and NY Times run corrections on a regular basis, some of which are a lot more impacting than screwing up the name of someone’s title. It’s just the reality behind world of journalism.

          At first your earlier comments seemed witty and relevant, but now almost every one of them turns into an extremely nonconstructive and negative thing to say either about the story at hand or the [X]press staffers themselves.

          Go join an online forum or something, where equally as many people won’t want to have your opinion constantly shoved down their throat.

          /rant

          Reply
          • B

            BrutusMar 26, 2011 at 11:15 am

            It’s not just the nature of his title, it’s the fact that there’s basically zero effort to make accurate reports. This “news”paper receives thousands of dollars of student fees every year, & this is what we get in return?

Activate Search
The Student News Site of San Francisco State University
The polls are open but voters slim, ASI elections lack interest