Dominic Baez
Managing editor

With a mere 15 votes separating them, juniors Duncan Reid and Ashlee Carter will proceed to the Associated Students of Linfield College general elections next week, after beating out junior T. Craig Sinclair to become the next ASLC president.
Reid secured 35.1 percent of the vote, 258 votes, while Carter earned 33 percent, 243 votes, and Sinclair received 27.4 percent, 201 votes.
Also on the ballot, ASLC vice-presidential hopeful junior Chris Norman dominated the polls, winning 59.5 percent, 438 votes, of the vote. However, freshman Sean Boedeker remains in the running, earning 14.9 percent, 109 votes. Sophomore Geoff Porter came close and captured 13.6 percent, 100 votes. Freshman Dylan “Race” Packer, though reported last week in the Review as a vice- presidential candidate, did not meet the GPA requirement for office and was not approved to run in the election by the ASLC Senate. Because of the Senate’s decision, Packer was not on the ballot this week.
In total, 735 students voted, which is 46 percent of the student body. This is only a 1 percent increase from last year’s elections, despite the expected increase in votes because elections were conducted online rather than in physical booths like last year.
“It’s not what we were hoping for,” ASLC Secretary sophomore Heather Snyder said. “But hey, 1 percent is better than none.”
Snyder said she hopes to increase voting during the general elections by implementing several ideas, including stationing computers at the information booths so students may vote as they walk by.
As for the new online system, Snyder said the process went smoothly with only one exception: the system used, Survey Monkey, has an opt-out link at the end of each of its e-mails. If students in the past opted out of surveys from Survey Monkey, they did not receive the link to the Web site. The problem was easily remedied, though, as the only student who encountered an issue talked with Snyder and resolved the situation. If students encounter problems during the general elections, Snyder said she encourages them to contact her if they desire to vote.
The Fred Meyer Lounge was filled for the primary debates March 2. For the first time in years, seats were scarce, as space ran out on the lower level. Students were able to watch from the second floor balcony in the Riley Student Center, though.
The questions were similar to those asked in previous years, students supplied generic inquiries about the candidates. However, some questions focused on the current state of the economy, campus security and other details on aspects of the Linfield community.
This year’s debates might have been a little more lackluster than hoped for, Snyder said.
“It was kind of mediocre and way more mellow than last year’s,” she said. “There were no controversies this year, so I guess I can understand. But you know how you can tell when someone is just really passionate about something? I guess I just didn’t feel it this year,” Snyder said.
The debates next week will be different. Instead of a traditional debate forum, Snyder and Director of College Activities Dan Fergueson decided to instill what they named “Fireside Chats,” where students will have the opportunity to talk one-on-one with the candidates; each candidate will have 10-15 minutes to address the students, attempting to flesh out his or her personality to the audience, Snyder said.
The session will be in Fred Meyer Lounge at 7:30 p.m. March 9. Another e-mail link will be sent to the student body to connect them to the voting Web site March 10.