OCR Text |
Show TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2001 THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE " Jreestyle Democracy! ' i Wri-- e in Vo-tesPu-Zin- in g A5L)U BRAIN WATTS Editor jjESSSs"'' ' ' wu);as7W63 I , PPPS I Close Volumetrics 05 : ' rx $ ' 'lyKmfl flow AMYTN, 23 ITH-HHE- I . ; K.faw.it.iaw.fcM evbi::h fig5&' . & Musts! - to 3,000 students took the to vote in last primary elections for the Associated Students of the University of Utah. I hate to see an opportunity squandered. While voter turnout for this year's primary was as high as it's been in recent memory, more than 20,000 U students still didn't find it worth their time to log onto the Internet to cast a vote. Even worse, most of the 3,000 1 students who did vote actually I wasted their votes on "legitimate" candidates. ASUU elections are not about using your student vote to make a positive impact on how your student government is run. The elecJ tions are really your one opportuni- ty to send a personal, uncensored message into the heart of that temple of red tape that is ASUU. The method of delivery? The vote. No matter what you type in that little white field of free, uncensored space, someone on the other side of the model government tunnel will have to read it. write-i- n It's a college student's best chance at meaningful graffiti. This fact is more important now than ever. With valuable bathroom stall space being consumed by advertisements, where is a student supposed to pontificate about the value of ASUU, the utility of a college degree and the college experience in general? I'm happy to report that many students did take advantage of this crack in ASUU's bureaucratic armor. I must reiterate, however, that I hate to see an opportunity squan- dered. Even Efec-tjon- s Green as possible. The alternative is even worse, though. What if the jokesters were making a lame attempt at resurrectd presidening the tial elections. Florida election jokes are so two months ago. Don't tell that to Al Gore, though. He nearly called a press conference when it was reported that a few sporadic write-i- n votes were cast with him in mind. Regardless of the stupidity, "Is it the Chad" technically came in fifth in the overall election, just behind scandal-shroude- Chronicle Managing t 11 those students bright enough to realize the awesome power of the write-i- n vote failed to use .that power to its full potential. For example, "Is it the Chad" received three write-i- n votes for president of ASUU. I assume these Votes refer to Tom Green's star turn in "Charlie's Angels." I would hope that college students would have enough sense to pay as little attention to Tom U Force. Many of the votes, however, contained much more entertainment value. One thoughtful vote was cast for Yoda. Although some initially thought the vote should be counted for Steve Nelson of the Innovation party, cooler heads prevailed, and the Jcdi master retained the vote. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Scooby-Do- o both made an appearance in the final tallies, as did Mickey Mouse, Winston Churchill, monwrite-i- n key boy and Zach de la Rocha. For sheer comcdic value, my favorite vote was cast for Ziggy StardustJames Joyce. Once the ini- tial humor of the coupling subsides think you'll agree that Stardust and Joyce make for a compelling I team. The full potential of the write-i- n vote is only reached, however, when the message is poignant and directed toward its recipient. Even if you think ASUU is a stellar organization, it's worth writing in a derogatory comment aimed at ASUU just because someone in their office will have to read it. In fact, not only will somebody have to read it, but they will have to make it available to the public. The complete list of the tabulated votes, including write-i- n votes, was posted on ASUU's front window for several days. A "few choice votes that took aim at ASUU were: "Pretend to care," "Waste our money," "Act like you are useful," "Pad your resume," and the succinct "ASUU Blows." The presence of the write-i- n vote makes it clear that everyone should vote in the upcoming final election. If you're completely apathetic, tell the world about it. Stand up and have your utter apathy or contempt counted. If you can't think of something clever to write, vote Stardust and Joyce. Give them a chance. SMEW 2002 Entering Class Medical School Application Workshop Tuesday, March 8th, 2001 5:30 7:30 -- P.M. in JTB 130 Details on: MCAT, Recommendations, AMCAS, and Interviews Now is the time to begin preparation! of Utah Preprofessional Advising Office University Marilyn Hoffman, Predenfal Advisor (Plus - Drawing for FREE KAPLAN COURSE!) All Interested Premed Students are Welcome! |