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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2001)
day, November Politics iuedfrom/finrsday, November 1, 2001 THE BATTALION Page 3A -ihirts in less; Tore the gair,:| ce sold hints fhe group .n 7,000 posted &M Bookstorej c*ds from its s ite and blue $10,000. a said he ex| er two checii -h for xaytown club de the .indents' airfi ay in New id, but it tun in necessary, jailed Conti to make ai : explained Ik company offi ■ed to waive! irfare. Evans le Hilton Hot rk City, and hotel rooms fe gden comments on Nov. 6 state election Irazos County voter turnout usually low, Ogden says he expects it to be high ' ♦ COUKTNFY STELZEL exans are being called to the |ng booths on Nov. 6 to decide ither the Texas Constitution will add 19 new amend ments to its current 390. The amendments proposed by the Texas Legislature vary: pro- led amendment No. 13 icerns donating old school ipment and property for servation purposes, and posed amendment No. 12 uld allow the legislature to ke amendments to the con- ution without holding a idle-wide election. |Karen McQueen, the Brazos nty Clerk, is the public offi- in charge of organizing the dions for Brazos County. Queen said voter turnout is very low for an election h as this, which will not lude the election of any per- to public office. In an off year when it’s •ma. Universe® low, we probably get less till tryingtoaP 10 percent of the regis- he site of tkr voters to cast their bal- interviewsoffik McQueen said, nows and as»Asof 10 a.m. Tuesday morn- urist sites, si)« the clerk's office reported ' play and Iwut 200 voters.This number is ■te low when one considers finance majoiP 1 the Brazos County voter finitely be in jfegistration office currently eing Wall 87,394 voters registered id." 'iinhe county. said the fireti email relief ra sen because ub will givel of the student these kids g students, f and all Amei proud of, m of the young t A&M,”E\ait dition to tbe on, the studet i lie Neu 1 ■ ib Saturday to play the Unne Sen. Steve Ogden is the Texas Senate representative for the fifth district, which includes Brazos County and 18 other counties. According to the 1990 census, Ogden’s total district population is 551,652, with 372,073 total registered voters. During the 1998 general elec tion in which Ogden was re elected, 143,275 registered vot ers cast their ballot, just one- fifth of the total voting popula tion for the district. Ogden said he suspects that the low voter turnout at elec tions is because people are busy and some of the items on the ballot seem so minuscule and unimportant that regis tered voters do not have time to learn the issues. Nevertheless, Ogden said that he expects voter turnout to be higher during this election due to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. “By going to the voting booths, it would signify that we are not taking this great country, and privileges it gives its citi zens for granted,” Ogden said. Ogden said that voting, even in a small election such as this, is a good exercise in democracy. “Particularly after the Sept. 11 attacks, it is important for us to remember what we’re fight ing for,” he said. Ogden said it is very impor tant for the students of Texas A&M to participate in this election as well. “[The students of A&M ] are of the voting age in Texas, and these amendments affect all Texans,” Ogden said. The senator said that by allowing the election to slip by without casting one’s ballot, the citizens of Texas are agree ing to a general obligation debt on behalf of the state of Texas that is somewhere in the range of 3.5 billion dollars. 1990s, when the student body was a decisive voting force in Brazos County. “When student turnout was high — when student political interests were high — the stu dents of Texas A&M usually determined the outcome of the vote in Brazos County,” Ogden said. During the 1998 general COLLEGE STATION VOTING LOCATIONS NOVEMBERS, 2001 ELECTIONS EARLY VOTING: Thursday and Friday, from 8 a.m. to 0 p.m. REGULAR VOTING: November 6 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. South Knoll School College Station Conference Center C.S. Municipal Court Bldg Memorial Student Center A&M United Methodist Church College Hills Elementary School Bright Light Baptist Church Brushy Community Center A&M Church of Christ C.S. Public Library Lincoln Center C.S. City Holl Training Room C.S. ISO Admin. Bldg. College Heights Assembly Of God Aldersgate Methodist Church Holy Cross Lutheran Church “As students, they [the stu dent of A&M] are guaranteeing the debt of the state of Texas if they do not vote, and if these bonds fail to repay that debt, the burden falls onto the people in the form of taxes,” Ogden said. Ogden also spoke about the large drop-off of A&M student participation in state elections since the late 1980s and early 1220 Boswell, College Station 1300 George Bush Dr. 261! -B Texas Ave. Texas A&M 417 University Dr. 1101 Williams St. 1 1234 St Hwy 30 St Hwy 60 & Old James Rd. 1901 Harvey Mitchell Pkwy South 1818 Harvey Mitchel Pkwy South 1000 Eleanor 1101 Texas Ave. 1812 Welsh 4100 Old College Rd 2201 Earl Rudder Frwy S 1 200 Foxfire Dr. ADRIAN CALCANEO • THE BATTALION election. Prairie View A&M had more student votes than A&M. This fact says a lot about voter turnout because A&M Prairie View has a much smaller student body. For Fall 2001, the registrar’s office at Prairie View reports a tentative numberoft 6,754 students; approximately one-seventh of the number of students currently enrolled at A&M-College Station. An amendment of particular interest to the administration, faculty, studenfs and staff of A&M is proposed amendment No. 5, which authorizes munici palities to donate outdated or surplus firefighting equipment or supplies to underdeveloped countries. Ogden said he does not support this amendment. “This amendment is not a good idea because the equip ment and supplies should be donated to the Texas Forest Service, an agency of Texas A&M, because they fix the items and give it to volunteer fire department across the state,” Ogden said. He said this program is much better than simply donat ing the goods to countries such as Mexico, which the amend ment would allow. Ogden said he does, howev er, support proposed amend ments 12 and nine. Proposed amendment No. 12 eliminates obsolete, archaic, redundant and unnecessary provisions and to clarify, update and harmo nize certain provisions of the Texas constitution. Ultimately, this amendment may limit the number of times voters will head to the ballot box by allow ing legislation to ratify consti tutional changes. Ogden said the amendment is so narrowly defined, howev er, that an infringement on voter’s rights is not expected. He said that this amendment will only allow the removal of such provisions currently in the constitution that was originally adopted in 1876. “Some of the types of restric tions that were put in the consti tution in 1876 no longer make sense or apply,” Ogden said. Regardless, the amendment will reduce the number of times that Texans can vote on amend ment issues, limiting Texan voter rights and responsibilities. Another amendment on the ballot of particular concern to Texas voters is No. 9. This amendment would allow the authorization to fill a vacancy in the legislature without an election if a candidate is run ning unopposed in an election to fill the vacancy. Once again, this amend ment would limit the voting rights of Texans by prevent ing write-in votes. Ogden said he also supports this amendment and that there is no real possibility that the candi date will not be elected if he or she is unopposed. He said, “I’ve never seen a write-in win before. Not that it couldn’t happen, but if they [the candidate] is not organized enough to file to run, then they don’t need to be elected,” Ogden said. Positive and negative argu ments can be drawn for all 19 amendments that will be placed on the Nov. 6 ballot. Voter’s guides have been sent to every See Elections on page 4A. tzers and cli » died while ran to the site, W it. and theylMj trying to helpo i said. lly presenting the benefici warding conclui ks-Iong fundraisi lea said. I of just leek, we can) personalized sta sentingitonl e Aggie coir said. NTER sessment | ir you! nents throu Checklisti Tim Reynolds Nomadic Wavelength Tour Monday, November 5th Rudder Auditorium 8:00 p.m. Great seats still available! ■ • ■ er at id with m (ears MSC Box Office order by phone: 845-1234 Don’t miss this Solo Acoustic Performance from the longtime collaborator with Dave Matthews he fall and spiing#} :<amp«i#[; !: Send#; 13-1111. lintheOivisionofWj! iMthebattconi if hie Battalion. fi#j all 845-0569,Mwi I Friday. Fax: M5$i i Pick upas M MasterCard, tafdi Be an SI Leader Learn what it’s all about Supplemental Instruction Y f T™ 1 • Job rair Qualifications! Undergraduate Student 3.0 GPR 0 Good Interpersonal Communication Skills 0 Energetic & Motivated THE BEST JOB ON CAMPUS JOIN IK! THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1,2001 ROOM 329 MSC 5:30 P.M. Texas A&M University, Center for Academic Enhancement, Room 525 Blocker, 845-2724 http://www.tamu.edu/aac/