Fire walk with me

Despite a more convenient voting system, commissioner calls Tuesday's turnout low

By Michelle Norton
Managing Editor 

Students will have one final chance to vote today for their favorite candidates -- or, in most cases, the only candidate -- as the annual Students' Association Senate election wraps up.

Though the SA Senate is the elected representative body for the UH student population, SA Election Commissioner Cynthia Trevino said voter turnout Tuesday was low.

Low voter turnouts are not new to SA elections, however. At the end of last year's election, a total of 807, out of the eligible 33,000 students on campus, turned out to vote.

At the time, SA presidential candidate Monica Quintero told The Daily Cougar that she felt the low turnout was due to the rainy weather and the fact that the election was held close to Spring Break. She also said she thought inadequate publicity also affected the turnout.

One factor that may have contributed to the low turnout Tuesday was a new election system. Rather than students having to vote at polling stations dictated by their colleges, students were able to vote at any of the four polling sites on campus for the first time.

The four polling sites are the Millennium 2000 Satellite Cafe, PGH, Melcher Hall and the Law Center.

Students can vote today from 9:30 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. at the polling sites. Anyone wishing to vote is required to have a valid Cougar 1Card for identification.

In addition to low voter turnout, Trevino said there had been some problems Tuesday that occurred when poll workers swiped students' 1Cards.

However, students who experienced such problems were still able to vote by matching their cards to their names on a printed roster.

Another difference from last year's election is the type of campaigning. In this year's elections, only the Law Center candidates are contested, while the rest of the candidates are running unopposed.

The candidates for the 1999-2000 SA are Thomas Cassidy for president; Dana Enriquez for vice president; and Glenn Turner for student regent.

Cassidy now serves as SA vice president, while Enriquez is student regent and Turner is a senator.

Candidates for the At Large positions are: Kayla Allen for seat No. 1; Stacy Hilliard for No. 2; John Sonnier for No. 3; and Kimberly Terry for No. 4.

Other candidates are James Patterson for The Honors College; Wendy Ballard for the College of Hotel and Restaurant Management; and Randy DeLay for the College of Technology.

Running for the positions in the College of Business are Chris Hough for seat No. 1; Mary Dispersio for CBA No. 2; Cory Herrell for CBA No. 3; Richard Russell for CBA No. 4; and Milly Garzon for CBA No. 5.

The candidate for the College of Education No. 2 position is Diane Hamden.

Candidates for the College of Humanities, Fine Arts and Communication are Michele LaRocco for seat No. 1; Melissa McCalla for HFAC No. 2; Fernando Fernandez for HFAC No. 3; and Sara Moosavideen for HFAC No. 4.

Running for positions in the College of National Sciences and Mathematics are Brian Pool for seat No. 1; Joel Rodriguez for NSM No. 2; and Donald French for NSM No. 3.

Candidates seeking positions in the College of Social Sciences are Tim Kutka for seat No. 1; Justin Ray for Social Science No. 2; and Megan Evans for Social Science No. 3. In the Cullen College of Engineering, candidates are Anjana Desai for Engineering No. 1 and Gabrielle Lugo for Engineering No. 2.

The candidates running for the position in the Law Center are Fini Thomas, M. Kirk Cameron and Sara Grossman. They are not affiliated with the Cougar Spirit #2 Party, the group with which all other candidates identify.

Quintero said she encourages students to cast their votes for their student government officials.

The results of the election will be announced at noon Friday in the University Center.