Page 2/Tuesday, March 29,1988/Voters’ Guide iudpi.sa.id Apog juapnis «_» C «__» a fcj? Candidates optimistic despite A&M’s history of low turnout By Drew Leder Staff Writer Candidates for the over 100 Student Government positions to be filled in Wednesday’s gen eral election have been franti cally trying to get their messages out to students, but if past-vot ing trends accurately reflect stu dent interest, few are listening. With enrollment at more than 34,000 last spring, only 5,047 students cast votes in the general election, and some Student Gov ernment insiders say there won’t be a significant change in voter turnout March 30. Election Commissioner Bryan Tutt said the turnout Wednes day should be the same as in past elections, with about 5,000 votes cast, but, he said, it’s hard to guage student-voter interest be fore an election so there’s always the possibility that a larger than usual number of students will head to the polls. Jay Hays, speaker of the Stu dent Senate, contends that voter turnout at this election will not follow the pattern of past elec tions. Hays, one of the two can didates for Student Body Presi dent, said the effect of only two candidates for the highest elected, student position will be either a rise or drop in the voter turnout. He says it can go either way. Student Body President Ma son Hogan says the vast majority of the 36,448 students enrolled at Texas A&M this spring aren’t concerned enough about Stu dent Government to make a spe cial trip out to the polls. Hogan estimates that one-fourth of A&M’s students know some thing about what is going on in Student Government and the is sues it is concerned with, while, he says, only one-eigth really care about what is happening in Student Government. Lack of participation in elec tions and the day-to-day activ ities of Student Government doesn’t necessarily mean A&M student’s are oblivious to their elected representatives, Hogan said. “A lot of them are in majors so that they can’t afford to do any thing else (but study), or they may not be interested in doing it themselves, but I think they ap preciate that they have a place to go if they have a problem,†he said. Hays said students’ apparent disinterest in Student Govern ment is the result of a failure to communicate. He said many members of the Student Gov ernment think the general stu dent population doesn’t care about what they are doing, while the same is true on the other side. “Our communication network has broken down,†Hays said. “We don’t hear from students, and they don’t hear from us.†Many students agree with Hays that the voice of the Stu dent Government goes largely unheard. Adrian Angove-Rogers, a graduate student, said he is un aware of any significant actions of the Student Government hav ing occurred during the five years he has been at A&M. While this is partly the result of a communication problem, he said, there is little to commu nicate about. “Whenever they try to get something done it fails because they can’t enforce anything,†Angove-Rogers said. “They’re a government for the people, by the people, but whatever they decide, they can’t implement it.†Jeff Pollard, a staff writer for The Battalion who covers Stu dent Government activities, said many reasons account for stu dents’ disinterest in their elected government. “It’s everything from sympa thy to apathy,†Pollard said. “People sympathetic because the government can’t get things done to people who think they don’t do anything.†While many students don’t seem to be too concerned with the activities of their elected gov ernment, Hogan says they should be. “There should be a general concern,†he said. “Things that go on at this campus are going to affect everybody in one way or another and they are going to af fect the future of Texas A&M.†Polling places Students with a current Texas A&M I.D. can cast their ballots Wednesday betweem 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the following locations: Memorial Student Center, main lobby Sbisa Dining Hall, outside near the Fish Pond, weather permitting. (Voting will be in the A-1 lounge in the event of rain.) Kleberg Animal and Food Sciences Center, student lounge Sterling C. Evans Library, in front of the library. This polling place will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.