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Vote Vans to Take Students to Polls

Vote Vans, an initiative started by Zach Golden and Claire Forman in 2007, is coming back again this year to help students make voting easier. It will be shuttling students from Mason to W.T Woodson High School where they will be able to vote.

Vote Vans will have a tent set up in the grassy area between Enterprise Hall and Science and Tech II and also at the Sandy Creek Circle to educate students about the voting process as well as this year’s candidates running for office.

“Our main goal is to transport students who don’t have cars but are passionate about voting,” says Melissa Jackson, organizer for Vote Vans.

Vote Vans will also be handing out electronic surveys via iPod touches to students in hopes to raise awareness about higher education issues and budget cuts. This information will then be used to go to Richmond on Lobbying Day to lobby on the student’s behalf.

Come out and show your support and vote for your favorite candidate!

By Aisha Jamil

Mason Votes is Back!

It’s that time of the year again and Mason Votes is back!

Election Day is coming up in less than a month and Mason Votes is prepared to have students pumped up and ready to vote!

College-aged students are one of the most apathetic age groups when it comes to voting, but the last presidential election definitely turned over a new leaf. It got the masses excited. It got us excited. It got everyone excited!

So, in order to keep that excitement going, Mason Votes is coming back this year to raise voter awareness for Mason’s student population.

Come visit us at the Johnson Center -Tuesday, Oct. 26, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to have some free snacks (homemade brownies and such) learn about voter registration and become our fan on Facebook. Keep checking our website for more articles, news and updates about the coming mid-term elections in the next few weeks cause it’s bound to become a tough battle!

– Aisha Jamil

ELECTION RESULTS

Percent of Precincts Reporting: 99%
GOVERNOR RACE
Creigh Deeds (D) – 41.23%
Bob McDonnell (R) – 58.64% (winner)

LT. GOVERNOR RACE
Bill Bolling (R) – 56.41% (winner)
Jody Wagner (D) – 43.51%

ATTORNEY GENERAL RACE
Ken Cuccinelli (R) – 57.52% (winner)
Steve Shannon (D) – 42.39%

13th DISTRICT HOUSE OF DELEGATES RACE (Prince William Campus) – 100% of Precincts Reporting
John Bell (D) – 38.6%
Bob Marshall (R) – 61.3% (winner)

37th DISTRICT HOUSE OF DELEGATES RACE (Fairfax Campus) – 100% of Precincts Reporting
David Bulova (D) – 67.56% (winner)
Christopher DeCarlo (I) – 24.74%

40th DISTRICT HOUSE OF DELEGATES RACE – 100% of Precincts Reporting
Susan Conrad (D)* – 36.81%
Timothy Hugo (R) – 63.06% (winner)

47th DISTRICT HOUSE OF DELEGATES RACE (Arlington Campus) – 100% of Precincts Reporting
Eric Brescia (R) – 31.87%
Patrick Hope (D) – 63.89% (winner)
Josh Ruebner (I) – 4.11%

*George Mason University graduate student

Students Ride the Mason Vote Van to Polls

What Does It Take to Be Lieutenant Governor?

By Mason Votes Staff Writer Ethan Vaughan

When Virginians go to the polls on Nov. 3, they will not be voting for their three statewide officials as one party ticket. This means that the next administration could be a mixture of political parties.

It has happened before. When Democrat Tim Kaine won a surprise victory over Republican opponent Jerry Kilgore in the 2005 gubernatorial election, it was Bill Bolling, a Republican, who snagged the lieutenant governor’s seat.

With the race for governor turning out to be unexpectedly tight (Democrats were elected in 2001 and 2005 by comfortable margins), the battle to win the state’s second-highest office has been pushed to the side. The lieutenant governor, however, is the state’s second-in-command, and can ascend to the governorship in the death, resignation or disqualification of the governor.

The Constitution of Virginia states that the lieutenant governor must be a United States citizen who “shall have attained the age of thirty years and have been a resident of the Commonwealth and a registered voter in the Commonwealth for five years next preceding his election.”

The greatest constitutional difference between the governor and lieutenant governor is that while the governor may serve only one consecutive term, the lieutenant governor can seek reelection as many times as he likes.

Once in office, the lieutenant governor’s primary responsibility is to preside over the Virginia Senate, casting a vote only if the chamber is evenly divided on a piece of legislation.

Practically speaking, the lieutenant governor makes appearances on behalf of the governor, and, when the two are of the same party, advocates on behalf of the governor’s agenda. In cases where the administration is politically split, however, the lieutenant governor is largely free to push an agenda independent of the governor’s office, an ability whose importance has increased in recent years; since 1980, three lieutenant governors have gone on to take the helm of the state, making the office a springboard to greater political power.

Bolling, who is running again for the position, has a moderate lead against his Republican opponent Jody Wagner; an Oct. 7 Washington Post poll had him leading Wagner 49 to 40 percent.

Political terrain is never steady, though, and both candidates are hitting the trail in the last stretch of the campaign.

“As the state Treasurer and Secretary of Finance, I helped Mark Warner and Tim Kaine balance the budget, create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and make record investments in education and job training,” Wagner said in a statement to Mason Votes. “I’m proud that our efforts earned Virginia the designation as the country’s ‘Best Managed State,’ and that we were named the ‘Best State for Business’ eight times during the Kaine administration alone. I plan to invest in high-growth industries like renewable energy production and biotechnology, utilizing George Mason [University], and other schools as incubators of research and development.”

Wagner said that education, job creation, and transportation would be her biggest policy priority concerns, promising to allow “every student” in Virginia the opportunity to attend college and come up with a permanent solution to the transportation problems in the region, proposing such remedies as public/private partnerships and incentives to get cars off the roads.

The Bolling campaign was skeptical of Wagner’s promises.

In a statement released to Mason Votes, a Bolling spokesperson said that Wagner’s “policies of higher taxes, more regulations and more government spending will kill jobs and drive our economy deeper into recession.”

Bolling pledged to serve “as Virginia’s chief jobs creation officer and oversee Virginia’s economic development and job creation programs,” a goal his camp said he would accomplish through deregulation and lower taxes

“Lieutenant Governor Bolling is uniquely qualified to perform this function because of his background in private business, his experience in state and local government, and his reputation of being one of Virginia’s most pro-business leaders,” the campaign said. “In addition, his policies, of reducing taxes and regulations and investing in proven economic development and job creation programs will help get our economy moving again and create jobs.”

Mason Votes Van Will Again Shuttle Students to Polls

By Mason Votes Staff Writer Ethan Vaughan

For the second year in a row, the Mason Votes Vans will ferry students from George Mason University’s Fairfax campus to their designated polling place, Woodson High School in Fairfax.

The Mason Votes Vans will run from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and will pick students up from the front of Sandy Creek Parking Deck, where the shuttles and Gunston Go Bus usually run.

Staffed by drivers from Student Government, the two seven-passenger mini-vans will alternate trips, with one heading to the polls while the other is departing, with the goal of ensuring that no student has to wait more than a few minutes for a ride.

Students at the stop will be provided with snacks, drinks and campaign literature from all candidates.

The program provided 400 students with transportation to the polls in 2008, though SG officials acknowledge that fewer people are likely to participate this time around.

“2008 was a historic election so it was easier to promote,” said Student Senate Speaker Mhehvish Khan. “This year, we’ll be working even harder to do that.”

Pete Danjczek, chief of staff to SG President Devraj Dasgupta, said he thought there would be “far fewer riders in 2009, but qualified that SG would try to make up for the deficit with “the passion of last year.”

Danjczek said that members of the fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha would be dispersed throughout the Johnson Center and near Southside letting people know about the shuttle service and distributing campaign literature.

“We want students to understand why they’re voting,” Danjczek emphasized. “We’re handing out an unbiased page of platforms from the candidates’ websites, using their wording. We’re not doing much interpretation.”

Mason Student Runs for House of Delegates

By Mason Votes Writer Ethan Vaughan

Susan Conrad, a master’s candidate at George Mason University studying for a degree in Instructional Technology, is running for the House of Delegates 40th District seat. She is campaigning on a transportation platform that would require raising gas taxes and automobile registration fees.

“It’s not going to be popular,” said Conrad, who recommended raising the gas tax by about five cents and the registration fee by five dollars. “But the longer we wait, the more it’ll cost. Fairfax roads only got one million dollars for road maintenance this year. People don’t want to pay to fix pot-holes, so they’ll wind up paying for a new car alignment. They don’t want to pay a gas tax, but they burn three dollars in gas a day sitting on Route 66.”

Conrad said that Northern Virginia needs expanded roads, and, ultimately, a much larger Metro system that goes “at least to Gainesville.”

“Those projects will take years to finish,” said Conrad. “In the meantime, there’s some other things we can do.”

Conrad proposed tax incentives for businesses to stagger their work hours, ensuring that “a portion of their workforce will not be on the road at certain times. That way, we can spread out use of the roads.”

Conrad said that a large part of the problem comes from Republican lawmakers in the House of Delegates who have taken from the wealthy communities in Northern Virginia without giving enough back.

“For every education dollar we sent to Richmond, we only get 25 cents back,” she said. “And the local economy has to make up the difference. Just over in Prince William County, they get 56 cents back. There all of these formulas they have down there, and none of the money is coming back to Fairfax.”

Conrad went on to say that a lack of funds affected the entire community, from university students coping with rising tuition to commuters facing long commutes, to businesses who find operating in the area difficult due to “overwhelming traffic.”

“We’re at a pivotal point,” stressed Conrad. “If we don’t allocate money to education, roads, and economic development, we’re going to be in trouble.”

Conrad made clear that she wasn’t advocating withholding funds from the rest of the Commonwealth.

“I definitely feel we have to help,” she stated. “I’m not saying we should get one dollar back for every dollar we give, because when we help other parts of the state we all benefit. However, there’s a disproportionate amount not coming back. Eighty percent of the state’s money is coming from here. If we don’t develop infrastructure here, the whole state is jeopardy.”

Students Respond to Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize

Deeds’ Daughter, Son Campaign for Father at Mason

By Broadside News Editor Amanda Cheek

Oct. 26, 2009

The children of Democratic candidate for governor Creigh Deeds came to George Mason University Monday to campaign for their father. Amanda and Gus Deeds were handing out flyers on campus and speaking with students.

“Young voters hold a lot of swing,” said Gus, 20, on why they are on the road for their father.

Amanda, 24, explained that they were handing out flyers with quotes from The Washington Post covering topics from their father’s campaign.

Amanda said that is was important to hand them out at Mason because The Washington Post is local and relevant. She emphasized that the flyers were “supporting Dad’s plan on transportation” which was an important issue in Northern Virginia.

“[We have] got to get our Dad elected,” said Amanda.

Gus said that they have been on the campaign trail with their father and have visited several universities across the state including William & Mary and Virginia Tech to hand out flyers.

“[It’s] getting the conversation started,” said Gus. “Getting it out that there’s a governor’s race going on. People, especially students on college campuses are busy and might not realize it.”

Gus feels that there is a lot of voter fatigue left over from the presidential race and that the campaign would have to “battle” it to get his father elected.

When asked how they deal with negative campaign ads about their father, Amanda said they are in the car a lot with him away from the Internet. She said they don’t have blackberries and try to watch as little television as possible. “We watch stuff like VH1 and Tool Academy,” said Amanda.

“It seems like Mr. McDonnell has a negative attitude on negative ads,” said Gus.

Amanda said they spoke with students today that were concerned with the negative ads. She said she doesn’t understand why people are worrying and letting the ads affect their decision.

“Bob McDonnell has spent more money on negative ads than we have on all our ads total,” said Amanda. “[He] just can’t be our governor,” she said.