Daniel Benedetto was a trooper. First spotted in The Hive before9 p.m., the presidential candidate had the raccoon mask ofexhaustion stretched around his head by 10:30 p.m.

What was he doing there? He knew he had no chance of winningthis year’s Associated Students Inc. election &- headmitted as much two days prior. Yet Benedetto stuck around,leaving his poor dog / campaign mascot, Raider, at home wonderingwhat was going on. Benedetto stayed to the very end, when he couldjust as well have been asleep in bed with Raider at his feet. Buthe stuck it out.

Julio Velázquez also stuck it out. He didn’t haveto. Instead of telling anyone who’d listen about how stupid acertain State Hornet columnist is, he could’ve relaxed at afriend’s apartment, or in his own ASI office on the thirdfloor. The offices up there aren’t very big, butVelázquez could’ve made room to enjoy a nap when itwas obvious the election results wouldn’t be released untilearly Thursday morning. No one would have thought less of him&- not even a stupid columnist from The State Hornet.

Current ASI President Peter Ucovich surely didn’t have tostay. He wasn’t seeking office; he wasn’t publiclysupporting any candidates. Ucovich could easily have waited to hearthe Recreation / Wellness / Events Center vote results the nextmorning. Surely, the mystery surrounding his successorwouldn’t kill him &- sources say he’s not tooclose to either Joshua Wood or Brandon Kline.

But there were a few noted absences from the sometimes lively,always-depressing election night pajama party.

Hey, President Alexander Gonzalez &- where were you? Thededicated team that helped deliver your RWEC stayed up all night tohear the news. A horde of reporters, knowing how monumental thiselection was, waited all night to deliver the message of a RWEC winor defeat. Candidates found ways to entertain themselves all night,long after the pitchers stopped flowing from Round Table’skegs. A sea of ketchup, mustard and marmalade played drums, dancedand chatted.

Where the hell were you, Alex? You needed this thing to passmore than anyone else; after all, without student fees, there is noRWEC. Without the RWEC, there is no “Destination 2010.”And without “Destination 2010,” there is no AlexanderGonzalez at Sacramento State.

You get paid plenty more than ASI Executive Director PatriciaWorley, but she stayed until the sun rose. You get paidexponentially more than The State Hornet news editor Alan Schuster,but he made it to bed at 8 a.m., only after stories highlightingthe election results were posted online. Ken Morton, theRecreational Sports honcho, not only stuck around, but also keptthe troops in good spirits throughout the night.

So while you were in Natomas &- sleeping, watching”Nick At Nite” or nervously awaiting a call fromsomeone in the University Union &- almost everyone else withsomething to lose or gain by the results was burning the 4 a.m.oil.

Except for athletic director Terry Wanless, who was nowhere tobe found. And basketball head coach Jerome Jenkins, whose team hasthe most to gain from this project. This RWEC was built to supportathletics &- anything else said during the campaign or saidleading up to the groundbreaking ceremony is a lie &- yetdespite this support, no one representing athletics (except forMorton, mustard team candidates and their respective flaks) stuckaround.

You might have had fun in the Union, Alex. After all, you couldhave met some students. You probably play a mean conga, but itlooks like we’ll never know.

This was your chance to be different than Donald Gerth, and youfailed. You know little about student culture, and it seems youdon’t care to know. You missed your opportunity to spend alittle time with the Daniel Benedettos, the JulioVelázquezes and the Alan Schusters &- they’re alljust footnotes in your journey to the destination campus. And that,Alex, is really too bad.