The Numbers Don't Add Up

After Jared Torres lost his bid for student body president his immediate response was "the numbers don't add up." He's right and I believe there are several reasons why.

In last year's election more than 2,200 students voted for student body president. In this election only 1,800 voted.

1. There were four candidates running for office, which means more supporters coming out to vote.

2. Several candidates from the other campuses ran opposed. On Treasure Coast, Paul Lowe ran for re-election to the Governor's seat. He received 17 votes. Last year 128 votes were cast for govenor. On Jupiter 246 votes were cast for governor, this year 80 votes. This means an extra 277 votes were cast on those campuses last year.

3. If you add the online votes with the Boca votes from last year you get 1,772 votes cast for president. This year 1,772 votes were cast for president.

By looking at the numbers compared to last year the numbers don't add up, but there are very good reasons why that is so.

Please Let Me Vote – Elections Web Site Fails Students

If you visit http://www.sga.fau.edu/elections/ there’s a lot of useless information such as two separate links to a list of the candidates, which is no longer correct since one presidential candidate dropped out. You will also find a draft of SG’s elections statutes.

But what you won’t find is a link to vote. And you won’t find one on SG’s regular Web site either.

If SG cannot provide a link to vote on their own Web sites, how can they possibly be expected to oversee $6.5 million of students’ money?

Smells like a perfect reason to dispute an election. If I were running I’d dispute it based on that fact alone.

I am outraged. I’ve written about SG’s Web site before but this takes the cake, the pie and the whole damn bakery.

Students are being disenfranchised and I cannot wait to find out what excuses Administrators and SG leaders will have for this obvious blunder.

In case you actually want to vote you can click here

Voting Starts Tomorrow

Tuesday kicks off SG's elections for student body president, governors and open house seats. Click here to cast your vote.

Check This Out

An anonymous reader listed this link in their post. Apparently FAU's Student Government won best SG in 1999. It's an interesting and thought provoking read. Next year's SG leaders would be wise to read it and get some ideas on how best to serve the students.

http://www.floridaleader.com/bestsg_1.htm

SG's Top Leaders Shy Away From Endorsements

At least three of SG's top leaders have made a bold decision on who they are supporting this year. No one. Student Body President Austin, Vice President Kim Nguyen and Presidential Chief of Staff (former Boca Senate Speaker) Todd Ericson have all decided not to endorse any of the candidates this year.

I would expect this from, let's say the likes of former Student Body President Dan Wilson, who wanted to please everybody, but not from Austin Shaw. Shaw's actions in the past have showed he always stands on principle even when the majority disagrees. Shaw has never hesitated about criticizing SG's actions. And I've never seen Shaw shy away from a difficult decision. But yet he doesn't want to get involved in this year's race for president. Shaw's graduating this semester. He won't be around to see what happens to SG, but that doesn't mean he has to stop caring. Instead he should tell the students who he thinks should represent the student body next year.

Thursday Night Debate

Don't forget to attend Thursday night’s Presidential debate on the Boca campus in the Senate Chambers starting at 8 p.m. This is the last scheduled debate between the candidates. Voting starts Tuesday March 27.

Hopefully, the debate will be livelier than the one hosted by the University Press two weeks ago. If the candidates were smart they will have evaluated the questions from the UP’s debate, and found more ways to distinguish themselves from their opponents.

Candidates Agree on Everything; Students Don't Care Anyway

On Monday the UP held a presidential candidate's debate with Jared Torres, Jeff Joyner and Tony Teixeira. While the event flowed well and there were no bumps in the road, it was terribly boring.

The candidates agreed on just about everything with minor differences sprinkled throughout. But the real question is, do students really care where these candidates stand?

I don't think so. Last year Austin Shaw got many votes, not because of his platform and where he stood on the issues, it was because he was the cute guy that flirted with the girls as they passed by.

Many of the students who are going to vote in the election already know who they're voting for, even if they won't admit it, as many top SG leaders are refusing to actually support a candidate this election cycle.

Presidential Candidates Have Been Announced

And the candidates are…


1. Jared Torres – The former UWC rep is the front-runner this year. He hails from last years Diversity party. And if anything, Diversity is a loyal party. During the summer election it was obvious where the majority of Student Government stood. Diversity literally camped out in the breezeway for two days during the summer election. All of the challengers had better have a horde of followers if they expect to beat Torres. If anything it’s his running mate that could hinder his ability to win the election. Rocky Joarder who’s been called the puppet master in the past is a controversial and divisive figure in SG politics. However, it would be unwise to ever underestimate Joarder.

2. Tony Teixeira – He’s back. After winning last years election and then losing it after it was disputed, Teixeira has decided to come back for a second round. Most of Teixeira’s support from last year has disappeared so unless they turn up, or he has found new supporters Teixeira won’t have a chance. But rumor has it Diversity may have truly broken apart and loyal supporters from last year may be switching sides in this years race.

3. Jeff Joyner – I know very little about this candidate from Jupiter. But being from Jupiter automatically makes him a long shot. However, it will certainly mix things up in the north by having him in the race.


The UP is hosting a presidential debate slated for Monday March 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the University Center. Check back for more details.