Members of the campus community reflected on the importance of voting in the approaching elections for the Associated Students Inc. executive and college directors.

Twenty-one candidates have been actively campaigning since midnight on March 30, vying for the student vote. Four more candidates are running in this year’s election than last year’s 17 candidates.

Many candidates said they feel low voter turnout is a problem that needs to be addressed by ASI and the candidates to increase voter participation. Candidates and students not currently involved with ASI feel steps need to be taken to increase the connections between ASI and students.

Alexander Huttleston, candidate for vice president of University Affairs, said in a debate held April 22 that students do not vote because they don’t feel ASI is responding to them. He said ASI needs to focus on student outreach throughout the school year.

“ASI appears one month out of the year. You see an election, people campaign and then it disappears for another 11 months,” Huttleston said.

To increase ASI’s accessibility, Huttleston said a Wiki website should be implemented and used to post events and information like the Davis Wiki that the Davis community currently does. Huttleston said if elected, he will have a private cell phone line people can access for campus concerns at anytime, instead of making them search online for contact information.

Jennifer Alvelais, candidate for vice president of Academic Affairs, said Sac State should have a MySpace or Facebook page that ASI can use to recruit students and inform them of events ASI is holding.

She said if elected into office, she will work to address the visibility of the things ASI and the directors have done or contributed to the campus that have benefited students. As an average student, Avelais said she doesn’t know what these things are. She also said one idea the Imagine Revolution slate she is running with is holding ASI office hours in the quad a couple times per month.

Chantel Crane, senior government major, said this is the first year she will vote in ASI’s elections since she can vote online. She said she was upset by the lack of answers from current ASI members running in the elections.

Crane attended the debate between candidates for the vice president of University Affairs. She asked candidate Felix Barba, current ASI director of Arts and Letters, what he has done for the students, as Barba said his experience with ASI was important. In response, Barba said he founded the Salsa Loca Club on campus.

Following the debate, Crane asked Barba what he has done within ASI, but said he could not answer the question and told her to access his website, votefelix.com.

Crane said students are not involved with ASI because its members do not tell students what they are doing as representatives and don’t reach out to students. She said it’s important that this year there is competition for the positions and candidates advocating a change within ASI, such as Imagine Revolution.

“I think this is a unique time where we can change the way that ASI works and if we can make it so that students actually have a voice on campus, then maybe we won’t get kicked around by the administration and we actually have more power to do something,” Crane said.

Sac State students have until 7:30 p.m. today to vote in the ASI elections for the executive and college directors who will represent them during the 2008-09 school year.

Students can vote online through ASI’s website at www.asi.csus.edu/vote.asp or at four locations throughout campus, including the Library Breezeway, Library Quad, Riverfront Center and Student Access Center in the University Union. The winners will be announced between 8 and 10 p.m. tonight in the Union Station Lobby in the University Union.

About 7 percent, or 1,700 students of the 27,000 enrolled at Sac State, voted in last year’s elections.

No candidates are running for three director positions for the College of Arts and Letters, Engineering and Computer Sciences and Undeclared, as opposed to last year’s two vacancies. There are four uncontested candidates for president, vice president of Finance, director of Education and graduate director in comparison to the nine uncontested candidates last year.

Current ASI members feel steps have been taken to involve students throughout the past year because of the importance of the elections.

ASI Secretary of State Affairs Roberto Torres said the elections are important because ASI represents the students. Torres is also a candidate for executive vice president and said the concerns voiced during campaigning should be taken to the ASI office.

“I keep hearing these concerns about how the incumbents haven’t done anything, but students really, if they have those concerns, should go to our office and tell us, ‘You’re not doing your job. I want you to do something better.’ All of us on the board are really open to criticism,” Torres said.

He said he hopes students with these feelings “go out and make that statement by voting for whomever will do something.”

ASI President Christina Romero said ASI has made many attempts this year, especially with the new marketing department, to reach out to students. The ASI Marketing Department was created during spring of last year.

Angela Hong, ASI marketing coordinator, said one of the strategic objectives of the department is to make ASI visible and transparent.

Hong said the marketing department has made brochures and newsletters to let members of the campus community know what the board does and is expected to do, and what programs are available. She said the elections are important because they indicate the amount of campus involvement and because the student representatives in ASI should be chosen by students.

Romero said ASI held extra activities and days in the quad, heavily marketed events and collaborated with other campus entities to reach out to individual students.

“I think on our end, we’ve done everything we can with the manpower, like the student employees that we have, with the marketing campaign we’ve done, with the beginning of the year contest. I believe that we’ve done our part to reach out to students,” Romero said. “And now the ball is really in (the students’) court to come out and vote and see the materials that are available around campus.”

Ashley Downton can be reached at [email protected].