It is springtime at Sacramento State.

Indications of this are in students voices when they are expressing how exited they are about summer plans and can’t wait for school to be over. Students are also starting to wear less clothing. Most males note this as the first sign that spring is here and summer is right around the corner.

But along with this, something else comes with end of the spring semester.

Ah yes, the Associated Student Body elections. You know, the elections that you could care less about? Hey, I didn’t say it; it’s just that on the average only 13 percent of students actually vote.

Despite this, the candidates have put out their signs, flyers, and poster boards in order to get you to vote for them.

When first seeing these campaign signs (or promotional items), one might ask, “Why should I stop and look?” “Do these campaign signs have anything to do with my education here at Sacramento State?”

The answer is…I don’t know, who cares?

All over the campus it is clear that there are two predominate slates battling head to head, followed by another smaller independent slate. Each of these slates is presenting commercial, creative, and even artistic images that give off an impression of the values they are building their campaigns upon. At first look, these pieces of work look neat, but they do have their weaknesses as well.

The first slate to set up their campaign boards was the Unity Slate, which Presidential candidate, Peter Ucovich, describes as a “real slate” that shares all of the same basic values. Their white signs with gold and blue trim are easy on the eyes. Their posters even show the candidates pictures, so students can see who they are.

This is brave move considering that some people judge others simply by their mugs. There is potential of some candidates losing votes over their appearance.

They say that’s why Nixon lost to Kennedy. Some candidates should be nervous. What if you aren’t pretty enough to vote for? What if your smiling face becomes taunting or annoying in the eyes of a student who woke up on the wrong side of the bed? They aren’t going to like you much, and might not vote for you.

The other large slate is the Vision 2003 Slate. A slate that, according to Vice President of Finance candidate, Luke Wood, wants to be seen as a team with one agenda, rather than as separated individuals. In contrast to the Unity Slate, Vision’s current sleek logo shows a silhouette of a group of people, who we are to assume are the candidates.

Isn’t it ironic that we can’t see who the people with he vision are? Now, although the candidates don’t have to worry about glamour head shots, this silhouette could give off the wrong impression. Not having faces to relate to might lead one to believe that some candidates are hiding behind their slate. The silhouette might also suggest a lack of confidence, as if the candidates are not bold enough to come forth to the public.

No matter what initial impression this gives off, Luke Wood does assures that there will be more promotional items to come this week. Some maybe even revealing the faces of the Vision 2003 slate.

The third and much smaller slate, headed by Bandon Kline, is called The Home Team and are known for using ice cream and hotdogs when bribing students for votes. I don’t know what to make of their name other than that their candidate for Arts and Letters, Christopher Lange, is basketball player, hence; “The Home Team.”

The only question is, who is the away team? No matter if you like what you see or not, it should be noted that there is something more behind these posters. In their efforts to capture a spot in ASI these students have put a lot of effort into letting us know who they are.

We can even presume that they care about this campus, and want to make it a better place for us students. Even if it is only for the springtime.

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