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St. Cloud State University
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Voting polls open today
By Tia VanVeldhuizen
Published:
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Online polls opens today for student government president and vice-president, 16 senator-at-large positions and four referendum questions.
Referendum questions include whether SCSU should continue to have a smoking room, if photographs of students should be available to SCSU faculty, if SCSU should purchase wind power as their main source of energy and a question regarding changes to the university constitution.
Wind power option
If the students vote in favor of powering almost the entire campus through wind energy, tuition may�increase less than 1 percent, Mike Chouinard, chair of the student services committee, said.
Students will be asked separately�if they support using wind energy and�if they support a less than 1 percent tuition increase to pay for it.
If approved, the majority of campus would be powered by wind energy. Chouinard said it would likely be purchased from Xcel Energy, SCSU's current energy provider.
Xcel may put windmills on the west side of St. Cloud or use power from wind energy generated in southwestern Minnesota.
"If students support the initiative, the administrators would adjust tuition accordingly and begin to purchase wind power in the following year," Chouinard said.
The tuition increase would cover the additional $40,000 per month cost for using wind energy. Chouinard said he didn't know how many years the tuition increase would remain.
"The university already purchases a small amount of wind energy for their electricity needs," Chouinard said. "The referendum is asking if students would approve a tuition increase to have nearly all of the university's electricity be derived from wind turbines."
Tony Hansen, professor of earth sciences, said wind energy is a non-polluting, renewable energy source.
"The winds will never stop blowing," he said. "If cost was not an object, you could put windmills up all over the place."
Apocalypse room
Controversy over the Apocalypse room, the only on-campus smoking room, heated up last fall when health officials visited campus and said smoke from inside the room leaked out when the doors opened, spreading harmful carcinogens.
The question about whether to keep the room was put on the referendum after a group of concerned students asked student government to take action on the room this spring.
If the students vote to get rid of the room, the decision will be passed through Atwood committees and sent to SCSU President Roy Saigo.
Student photos
Students will also be asked if they want photos of consenting students made available for faculty use.
David Christof, director of Lawrence Hall,�addressed the question with student government last fall.
He said from an instructor's perspective, the photos could help build relationships between students and teachers.
"(Teachers) could memorize the student's names faster, which would help them establish a positive report," Christof said.
If implemented, the pictures may be posted online, and could be used for Public Safety.
"We would like certainly to have the ability to view a photograph of either a student or employee, if it were an emergency need-to-know," Miles Heckendorn, director of Public Safety, said.
He said the photographs may help identify a student who is creating a potential danger or help a family member find a student
"We probably get three to four calls a semester from a concerned parent or student that they've been trying to reach a student," Heckendorn said.
Bianca Rhodes, student government vice president, said the photos could result in some professors ostracizing students.
"The first thing that pops up in my mind is the Patriot Act," Rhodes said. "It could be used to ostracize certain students."
Constitutional changes
Proposed changes to the university constitution include deleting references to the SCSU president.
One section that would be cut gives power to the university president to cancel events. The current phrasing of the constitution allows the president to cancel an event when he or she believes it would result in physical harm to people or property.
"There's the thinking that that could be used for less than honest purposes," legislative affairs chair and co-author of the changes, Gordie Loewen, said. "Students shouldn't specifically set themselves up to be beholden to the university president."
Diane Burlison, vice president of Administrative Affairs, said such changes would be analyzed.
"We would review it in context with the MnSCU board policies," Burlison said.
Loewen said the changes could be overridden by university policy.
New position proposal
Other�proposed changes include adding a new position of "external" vice-president.
"The external vice president is an overblown communication tool, basically," Loewen said.
Whoever holds this position would be a voice to the student body, and the "internal" vice president would manage the internal workings of student government.
Both offices would oversee student government committees and be filled during spring general elections next year, if the measure is approved.
For the amendments to pass, a majority of at least 8 percent of the student body needs to vote in favor of the changes.
Voting via the Internet
If online voting is successful this year, it will be used in future elections.
Rhodes said other colleges have had success with online voting and have increased voter turnout.
"Everyone's checking their e-mails," Rhodes said. "This would just help them exercise their voice in a different way."
Rhodes said her biggest concern is making sure candidates take down their fliers by election week. Previous years, candidates had to campaign 50 feet away from polling places. During election week, candidates can only campaign outside.
She said she expects a higher voter turnout than last semester, which was 3 percent.
"There really is no excuse for people not to vote," Rhodes said.
She said voting through ballot stations was�a lot�of work. Online voting would cut down on paper waste and time. In previous years, up to five hours were spent counting ballots, Rhodes said.
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