The race for ASLC president and vice president begins

Dominic Baez – Editor-in-chief.

In a surprisingly low turnout, only three official candidates will be on the ballot for the ASLC elections in March: one for president, two for vice president.
Junior Shelby Simmons, the current Associated Students of Linfield College secretary, is the only official candidate for ASLC president, and her name will be the only one on the ballot for president.
“It’s kind of crazy [running unopposed],” Simmons said. “At first, I was glad because that meant I could focus on what I wanted to do as president, not so much on campaigning.”
Simmons said she wants to broaden her campaign bubble to reach large campus groups, such as Greenfield and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, instead of just Greek life. Simmons is a Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority member.
“It’s important to incorporate everyone on campus,” she said. “I want to find out what all students want.”
Her main priority, Simmons said, is communication, whether it is with students, faculty or administration.
“I want to see the bigger viewpoint,” she said. “I want to see what the majority wants.”
Junior Sarah Spranger and sophomore Katie Patterson are vying for votes for ASLC vice president.
“I’ve always been interested in ASLC,” Spranger said. “I was involved in high school government, and I liked knowing that I
affected the community in a positive way.”
Spranger, a Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority member, said that while she enjoyed her experience as Panhellenic president, she wanted to expand her interests.
“Senate, for example, while it runs great, there is always room for improvement,” she said. “I feel non-senators aren’t connected with the Senate. I would like to educate incoming freshmen and upperclassmen about what it is that Senate does.”
One of the main responsibilities of the ASLC vice president is to chair the Senate.
“Maybe we could put in a small blurb in the Review, or maybe have Hewlett-Packard senators,” Spranger said.
The Review was unable to contact Patterson before publication.
All three candidates were presented to the ASLC Senate on Feb. 22 after turning in the required paperwork Feb. 19 and passing the ASLC Bylaws test Feb. 21.
At the Feb. 22 Senate meeting, ASLC Elections Committee Chair junior Bradley Keliinoi said some students had voiced frustration regarding the lack of publicity across campus concerning the coming election. However, while there wasn’t much paper publicity, ASLC sent out numerous campuswide e-mails, along with spot postings to StudentNews.
The show of candidate apathy might work in their favor, though. As reported in the Review in years past (“What a difference a vote (or two) can make,” TLR,
March 14, 2009; “Approachability reigns,” March 14, 2008), voter turnout is always slim in relation to the number of student body fee-paying students. Last year’s number decreased from 2008. This results in a smaller pool of voters to sway.
However, that also means that there are fewer voters to go around, and the vote margin might be just as tight as it was last year, where senior ASLC President Ashlee Carter won by two votes.
The debates will occur March 1 in Fred Meyer Lounge after Senate finishes its business.
General elections will take place March 8, per Article V, Clause III of the ASLC Bylaws, which states that general elections must take place the second Tuesday of March as long as the college is in session.
For more information regarding the ASLC elections, visit www.linfield.edu/aslc.