Total AS Election Coverage

Two weeks ago, during the final week before Spring Break, hundreds of students visited voting booths situated in the cafeteria and business building to vote for their new Associated Students Board of Directors.

Amid midterms, students managed to spare the few minutes it took to fill out a ballot, and mark their choices on which person they believed should be appointed to office in the student government.

However, despite posters and flyers distributed by candidates throughout the school, there were still a number of students who did not vote due to a lack of knowledge about the A.S. elections, like freshman and liberal arts major Yoshikuni Yamata. "I really don't know what it's about, I don't know what their platforms are."

As an incentive and reward for those who did vote, a raffle was drawn with prizes ranging from movie tickets to an iPod.

With 556 votes, 19-year-old Lillian Cavalieri was elected to the position of A.S. President. When asked how she felt after being chosen she was thrilled that most of her team got elected and seemed very open to having others join the group.

"We're enthusiastic to bring Colosimo on our team," said Cavalieri. "Our main focus for the next year will be to leave the petty squabbles that previous boards have faced, and bring to life progressive movements that occur on campus." In the flurry of running the campaign, Cavalieri spoke of how her group visited classrooms to discuss their interests in the A.S. elections, and contacted a number of clubs as well. She also wanted to stress that, "We are a progress group of students and we have a long agenda that will come to fruition." Among other goals, Cavalieri also aimed to have better publicity for the Associated Students.

Janelle Tucker, who won the position of Director of Student Outreach with 512 votes, shared her feelings. Her goals are to improve movie nights at SMC, as well as establish a more homelike feeling on campus and make things more comfortable for students. Tucker also wants to be more efficient and get things done on time.

Journalism major Guadalupe Trujillo won the position of Director of Academic Support over Sepidah Makabi with 512 votes to 214. "I'm really pleased because all the hard work paid off," said Trujillo after learning of her victory. "I'm pretty confident because I'm with the Corsair Coalition, I think it turned out fine." One of Guadalupe's many goals are to recruit more students to the academic committee that she looks over, and wants to spread the awareness of the A.S. as she believes, "There are students who care, who do want to get involved, however, there are just not enough people reaching out to them."

When asked of her general outlook on things after being elected, she replied, "I'm really anxious to start working."

Jonathan Michaeli won the position of Director of Financial Support with 539 votes. Despite his victory, Michaeli was still in shock a few days after the elections. "I haven't really felt the impact yet," said Michaeli. His view on things now seemed enthusiastic, "I'm pretty ambitious about being able to get more awareness out to students about all the scholarships, resources and opportunities to get help in succeeding in their goals." On behalf of his colleagues, Michaeli also wanted to thank all the students for their support, for taking the time to vote; it was very much appreciated.

Belinda Phillips was elected to Student Trustee with 396 votes. When asked of her goals, Phillips replied, "I plan to really represent students in the meetings, to research and analyze things before making decisions." She also emphasized how she wanted to do things to lower crime in the school and get SMC's student numbers up. Belinda also believes that, "if the student government and administration work harmoniously, the school will thrive."

Luis Gonzalez won the position of A.S. Secretary with 529 votes. "I think it's a great opportunity for me to make a difference," said Gonzalez after learning of his victory. When asked if he was nervous during the campaign, Gonzalez replied, "I was pretty confident, I didn't think I was going to lose, I think we had a great campaign." Gonzalez also said that his team is going to work hard to bring back a lot of programs to the school, and plans to help the other directors in their projects.

SMC Junior Sadia Afolabi was elected to the position of A.S. Vice President with 547 votes. Afolabi said that the number one goal of their team was to get involved with the city council over the parking meters, as well as to try and lower textbook prices. Sadia was grateful to her advisors for their confidence in her as well as one other group, "I want to thank the African Student Union for their tremendous support."

Tamar Jacobs won the position of Director of Activities with 456 votes over Mark DeWig (177). Her reply to the elections was, "I want to hear from the students on what they want, then try to work with their desires."

Victor Castro won the position of Director of Student Services with 524 votes. When asked how he felt after winning, Castro replied, "I'm hopeful, I was going to try to expand on goals before the election, perhaps even add a few more on." Victor believes the main challenge that he faces is to meet every chairperson from each department and try to work with them on solving current situations. Victor also wanted to thank the Corsair Coalition for their support.

Others elected were Robert Noland with 514 votes to the position of Director of Publicity and Jeff Jenson as Director of Instructional Support with 516 votes.

On the ballot, a poll was taken asking students weather or not smoking should be allowed on campus or permitted in smoke-designated areas. The result was that 52% of the students (321 votes) preferred a smoke-free campus to the 48% (294 votes) of the people who favored smoke-designated areas.

The elected candidates will not begin their terms in office until July 1, taking a few weeks break to organize before starting work.