ASG Presidential candidates announced

Christina Hammett
The Advocate

The turnout in the run for ASG presidency this year is about 50 percent lower than last year, but Elections Committee Chairperson Jennifer Rogers believes there is a good group of candidates in the mix despite the low participation.

The two tickets in the running include current ASG Director of State and Federal Affairs Danielle Pannell for president alongside ASG Director of Diversity Rae Nichelle-Peres for vice president, and ASG Senator of Business and Social Science Bradley Best for president and student L. John King as his running mate.

“All of them are qualified,” said Rogers. “John’s the only one who’s not in ASG, and that actually helps him in a way. He brings more diversity for the student body. Danielle, Rae and Brad have been a part of ASG and they know how to get things done.”

The applications for the top two positions in student government were due Monday at 7 p.m. Rogers said the Elections Committee actually received three packets but because one of the qualifications was not completely met in time, the other potential ticket was disqualified.

Rogers said this year they will not be accepting any late tickets. “There will be no late tickets this year,” she said. “Last year, late tickets were accepted and it caused some uproar.”

She also said other changes will be made from the way the election process was run last year. For one thing, because there are only two tickets this year compared to four in 2008, the debates may be formatted as actual debates rather than question and answer segments due to time constraints. There will also be a shorter campaigning timeframe for the candidates, moving from three weeks to two weeks.

“Last year was kind of an aberration (with the campaign period.) It gets expensive and a lot of them (candidates) sink their own money into it,” Rogers said. “I haven’t had any candidates complain. They’re all pretty relieved that it’s going to be a shorter time period.”

According to Rogers, money may have been the ultimate reason why there were so few people seeking candidacy this year. “The biggest question I got from people was ‘how much time is this going to take, because I have to work.’ Yes, you get a tuition waiver and you get paid every month, but for some people, that’s not enough. It takes a lot of dedication. I had people fill out the papers only to discover that they couldn’t come to Mt. Hood anymore because they couldn’t afford it,” she said. “People are having to choose between the wrong things.”

This year, campaigning will begin on April 27. Voters’ pamphlets will likely be passed out the same day. The vice presidential debates will occur on April 29 from noon-1 p.m. and the presidential debates will occur the next day from 4-5 p.m.

Both debates will be monitored by political science instructor Janet Campbell, and depending on weather conditions, will either take place in the Main Mall or the College Center. The student body will have their chance to vote from May 4-7 on the MHCC web site.

Rogers urges students to get involved, listen to the candidates and be a part of choosing their next student body president.

“How the college is run affects everyone. If a student wants their time here to be more than just a passing time, they need to get involved,” she said. “It’s important for a student to take a firm hand on their education. One way is for them to vote. If you don’t vote, you can’t complain. Take control. If you want to have control, take it by voting. Look at the issues and if you want your time here to be something more, vote.”