Western Front - 1997 April 25

              >
GOLF: Women maintain
perfect record
SPORTS, 8
Friday,
April 25, li®7
Volume 100
Issue 7
WESTERN FRONT Western Washington University Bellingham, Washington
AS Election marred by
Fairhaven controversy
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^S^^^B
fflill§l|f^
By Jenny Zappala
The Western Front
Two unfair representation
grievances were filed against
Associated Students Vice
President for External Activities
candidate Jesse Salomon by fel­low
candidate Alfonso Marsh III.
In his first grievance, Marsh
accused Salomon of unfair repre­sentation
in an university publica­tion
called the VOX.
In the second grievance, Marsh
objected to seven signs Salomon
posted inside Fairhaven College;
it was within the a
decisighwas fair and just in
omem§o e^jg^ze opportunity for
repfmentaWm ... That is what
the code is suppmed to
sh III
affairs
— Aimnso
candidate, VP Wr exte
he also objected to more than 400
handbills urging students to vote,
which Salomon had stuffed in the
Fairhaven students' personal
mailboxes.
The AS Election Board ruled
on these complaints in an emer­gency
grievance hearing at 5 p.m.
Tuesday; this hearing had to
occur within the
24-hour dead­line
set by the
election code.
Present at the
meeting were
the election
board, Marsh,
Salomon, candi­date
Genevieve
Panush, VOX
reporter Arthur
Warmoth, VOX
representative Al Bentley, and AS
President Leslie Keller.
Both Marsh and Salomon
gave opening
statements.
In his opening
s t a t e m e n t ,
Marsh described
how the first
grievance began
when a friend
called Marsh
about the student
p u b l i c a t i o n ,
VOX. Marsh
drove to Fair­haven
College Sunday night and
discovered VOX "pamphlets"
which featured Salomon, in a
200-word statement and 250-
word interview. Salomon's oppo­nents
and the other candidates
were not listed.
Marsh filed the grievance
Monday. On the election form,
nything
ht it was OK
ive, as long as
— J(jS>e Salomon
candidate, VPfor miernal mairs
Marsh stated four reservations
about the publication: anything
printed in VOX can be viewed as
an endorsement by Fairhaven
College and students; if VOX is a
university publication, then the
other candidates were not equally
represented; mention of addition­al
information available on a
Western Computer User's Group
suggests WCUG endorses candi­date
Salomon; pamphlets app­eared
in the Fairhaven Complex;
election materials cannot be dis­tributed
in any residence build­ings.
In defense, Salomon said VOX
was open to all candidates, but he
took the initiative to contact
VOX. "I did my research and fol­lowed
through," Salomon said.
Salomon presented a signed
statement from Samantha
Tretheway, VOX editor that stat-
See Grievance, page 3
New AS Board of Directors nearly chosen
By Ryan Hawkes
The Western Front
The unofficial results are in and
the Associated Students Board of
Directors have been elected.
More than 1600 students partici­pated
in the election.
Since no one in the category of
vice president for external affairs
won more than half of the votes
the two with the most votes are
having a runoff election. Alfonso
Marsh UJ and Jesse Salomon will
have a runoff from 9 a.m. to 7
p.m. on Wednesday April 30 in
Red Square.
"I am hoping that as an activist,
in regards to the run-off election,
I think people should vote,"
Saloman said. "So many times I
have felt frustrated by people not
voting."
"The external affairs position is
really important," Marsh said.
The vice president is the "liai­son
between Western students
and local and state government,"
Marsh said. "That person needs to
be somebody who is diverse, has
experience and can work well
with many people."
President-elect Shane O'Day
wasn't expecting to have the 50
percent of the votes needed to
win and was planning a run- off.
"It was really exciting. One of
those things you put all your time
and effort into, and it pays off in
the long run," O'Day said.
"Next year is going to be an
excellent year. Everyone is new
on the board of directors, so we
will have new goals, new ideas
and new perspectives," O'Day
said.
"There were twice as many
candidates (this year), more pub­lic
forums and simplified voting,"
Election Coordinator David
Candy said.
the goal of a 100 percent
increase was surpassed due to the
increased publicity from the AS
Review and the Democratic
Circus on KUGS. "There was a
lot of interaction between stu­dents
and candidates, which is
what student government is
about," Candy said.
Last year five out of seven
positions were uncontested and
voting was at less than 500 vot­ers.
The results will be ratified after
the run-off election ballots are
couned. The AS Board will ratify
the results when the final results
are in next Wednesday.
AS UNOFFICIAL ELEC LTS
These results are unofficial until^^^Myy the currehl^^VWU
Board of Directors. Infort$00m current as of April 23,JtWDT.
Winner
PRESIDENT
Shane O'
VPFOR IN
Hyu
VPFO
Statistics coMpiiiB byDavid Candy, Joseph Mochnick and
Shannon Cutler. Ballots counted by County Auditor.
Front/Vincent Verhei