1997_05 The Daily Collegian May 1997

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107. No. 131
California State University. Fresno
Voter apathy reigns among CSUF students
By Ezra Danciu
The Daily Collegian
"I'm too busy." "The money
won't go to me anyways." "I won't
be here next year, so the outcome
won't affect me." "I don't know the
parties' platforms or who's run¬
ning."
Statements like these were com¬
mon from students passing the poll¬
ing booths this week. These com¬
ments were from a small, but highly
representative, fraction of the stu¬
dent body — a student body that
doesn't vote.
According to the department of
student life and development, on
average, only nine to 12 percent of
the student body votes.
Tuesday was the first of three
days of voting for representatives
of the Associated Students Incorpo¬
rated (ASI). The people elected will
decide on the appropriation of some
$272,000 —i the money that stu¬
dents pay into the corporation each
semester in the form of the Student
Body Fee.
So why the widespread apathy?
Political science professor
David Provost says that the main
reason for voter apathy is that
people don't think it makes much
difference who is elected. They
don't sec any difference in their
day-to-day lives.
"Take the campaign scandals in
Washington. People think that ev¬
eryone is doing it. so it doesn't
matter anyways. This may not be
true, but it is what people think,"
Provost said.
Manuel Annear ran as a Reality
candidate the last two years and is
chairman of the election commit¬
tee this year. Annear is very con¬
cerned about the consequences of
a low voter turnout.
"When you have a student body
of 17,500 and only 1.200 students
vote, something is very wrong,"
Annear said.
Annear said a situation like this
is especially dangerous when the
only people voting are the candi¬
dates and their friends. Instead of
representing the interests of the en¬
tire student body, those elected will
reflect a much smaller and more
single minded interest group.
Another factor discouraging stu¬
dents from becoming involved in
ASI elections, Annear said, is the
level of "overall immaturaty" dis¬
played by the candidates and their
supporters.
"There arc groups roaming the
campus at night tearing down the
posters of opposing candidates.
Both parties are guilty of this, but
neither will confess to it," Annear
said. "There was a recent incident
where someone allegedly tried to
run down a candidate with a car. It's
a viscious battle."
Of the students who did vote,
most said what drew them to the
Please see VOTE page B.
Chelsea Clinton
chooses Stanford
over Ivy League
Reuters
WASHINGTON — Chelsea Clinton, the
only child of President Clinton and Hillary
Rodham Clinton, will attend Stanford Uni¬
versity in theTall, joining the Class of 2(K)|
ai one of Amman's most prestigious colleges.
The White House made the long-awaited
announcement of 17-year-old Chelsea's de¬
cision one day before the May I enrollment
deadline set by most lop schools.
"The president artd Mrs. Clinton an¬
nounced today that thdir daughter Chelsea
will enter Stanford University this fall as a
member of the class of 2(K)I," it said in a
statement. Chelsea had also considered
Harvard, Yale. Princeton and^Brown, among
others.
Founded in 1X91, Stanford is located in
Palo Alto, about 35 miles south of San Fran¬
cisco. The campus features Spanish architec-.
ture with red tile roofs and fragrant eucalyp¬
tus trees.
A highly selective university. Stanford
admitted only one applicant of every eight
last year. Its distinguished alumni include Re¬
publican President Herbert Hoover, former
Secretary of Slate Warren Christopher and
Astronaut Sally Ride.
"I'm just grateful that this day has come,"
Hillary Clinton said of Chelsea's decision on
Wednesday during remarks at a ceremony
honoring Peace Corps volunteers.
Mrs. Clinton said her daughter wanted to
pursue a medical career, a course of study
for which Stanford is acclaimed. In the
United States, students wishing to become
physicians take "pre-med" courses as under¬
graduates before going on to medical school.
"Right now she's very interested in medi¬
cine. That's something she'll see if she likes
when she goes to college. She'd like to be a
doctor," the first lady said in an interview on
the CNN program "Larry King Live."
Chelsea's choice of Stanford, where tu-
Please see CLINTON page 4.
Blood bank wraps up annual campus drive
By Rosanne Tolosa
The Daily Collegian
The Central California Blood Center's
Bloodmohilc was at the Free Speech Area
yesterday from X a.m. to 3 p.m. for the
final 1996-97 campus blood drive.
The semester-long goal for the blood
drives was to collect I .(XX) pints of blood
which can possibly save up to 3,000 lives.
"We basically have over X00 pints so
far. so we only need 2(X) more pints today
to meet our goal,'.' said Trisha Studt of the
Central California Blood Center.
Chris Fiorcritino, coordinator of the
Students for Community Service Program
and the blood drive chairperson, said that
the blood drive started off well.
, "Usually, it's a little bit slow around X
a.m.. but there have been quite a few
people who have already come to donate
this morning." Fiorentino said.
By the end of the day, the goal was
practically reached with-a total of 199
pints of blood collected.
Fiorentino said that in the past, the
university has had only a few blood drives
that brought in about 100 pints of blood
each, but with the involvement of the
Blood Center in the past couple of years,
campus blood drives have become more
successful.
The entire campus community and
President John Welty have also played
major roles in the blood drive.
"This has really been a huge group ef¬
fort." said Studt "The whole campus has
gotten involved."
Fiorentino said that campus organiza¬
tions such as Food Service, Plant Opera¬
tions, Student Life, Academic Affairs, the
residence halls and the athletic department
have all donated time "and effort to the
blood drive.
President John Welty contributed a let¬
ter to the campus community encourag¬
ing everyone to donate blood.
Please see BLOOD page 4
Ryan Weber — The Daily Collegian
The Central California Blood Center made its last visit for the semester yesterday
in the Free Speech area
.