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 "Photo: Chris Sloan/Poly Post")
 "Photo: Chris Sloan/Poly Post")
 "Photo: Chris Sloan/Poly Post")
As students get familiar with the yearly burst of ASI campaign posters staked around campus, few realize the effort involved in the back end of each campaign.
ASI presidential candidates dropped the politics for a moment to share the real ups and downs of life on the campaign trail.
“[Campaigning is] taxing physically, mentally, academically ... and can be a financial burden ... [but] it’s an investment,” said Clark DeBevoise, presidential candidate for The U Element. “It’s a lot of work, but there is a lot of help.”
The 2009 ASI Elections will take place on campus Tuesday through Thursday, with an open forum Tuesday during U-hour in the University Quad.
Coupons for a free Grand Slam Breakfast from Denny’s will be offered as an incentive for students to vote, but they will be in limited supply.
While write-ins are accepted until the last election day, three teams – Team B.E.S.T., The U Element and Team YSS – have had many a sleepless nights balancing school with a frenzy of campaign responsibilities.
Teams meet several times a week and more frequently during the election campaign period.
“We meet about every other day ... to debrief and get everybody on the same page,” said DeBevoise.
Preparation begins months before the election season to research, plan and gain support for a ticket. Eligibility requirements must be met and each candidate must carefully decide on a team to work with. Teams include a vice president, senators and other optional support such as a campaign manager.
“Preparation started winter quarter. Finding the team and support was the most difficult part,” said Richard Liu, presidential candidate for Team B.E.S.T.
Most candidates admitted they picked the campaign color scheme based on their favorite colors or the clothes they had in their closets.
The real kickoff seems to happen during “Midnight Rush,” when all the teams gather to blanket the campus with stakes and flyers. As many as 30 volunteers per team may show up for the event, which occurs about two weeks before the elections.
Despite all the effort, it is expected that a number of signs will end up disappearing or damaged.
“It’s irritating,” said Blake Adham, ASI presidential candidate for Team YSS. “To be out ’till 4 a.m. putting in stakes and flyers, and it takes somebody two seconds to knock [them] down.”
“Stakes pulled from the ground, crumpled flyers...[It’s hard] not to take it personally,” said Chris Chen, ASI vice presidential candidate for Team B.E.S.T.
Each team has a remarkably small campaign budget to work with, and it all comes out of their own pockets. Candidates are not provided with any money from the university, but are restricted to set amounts.
Anything above can result in a campaign violation. Each team is allowed $900 between a presidential and vice presidential candidate, $200 for senator at large candidates and $300 for those running as college senators.
“The season is often too short to get serious sponsors involved,” said Liu, who dipped into his savings to fund his campaign.
DeBevoise said his parents contributed money.
Adham used his own funds to support his campaign.
After signs are up and team moral is high, the real work begins: getting students to vote.
“Its amazing, but I’d say about 25 percent of the people I talked to do not even know what ASI is,” said Adham. “We do the legwork to really let students know what ASI is about.”
Getting students to vote can be a real battle.
“One of the hardest things [through the elections] is fighting apathy,” said Liu. “We had about a 10 percent ASI voter turnout last year. What are student leaders without the students?”
The final push happens this week as candidates race to gain support, often talking to every student they see on the way to class.
This year, teams are using Facebook, personal Web sites and even listing personal cell phone numbers to fuel support.
“Students need to know that there is a student government that represents them and is there to help,” said DeBevoise.
Despite the hard work and extensive effort, the results depend on the student body as a whole.
“Students need to make an informed choice,” said Adham.
YOUR VOTE COUNTS:
Elections
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday around campus.
Election Forum
Tuesday at noon in the University Quad.
The full ticket
See pages 8-9 for the complete listing of all candidates.
thepolypost.com
Continuous coverage online leading up to the election results Thursday.
Reach Teresa Jansen at news@thepolypost.com
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