University of Florida - Tower / Seminole Yearbook (Gainesville, FL)

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Rock the Vote Each spring and fall, Student Government candidates herded students to the polls. Student Government? What does it do for UF students? How does it work? Who are the candidates? There are so many questions that can be raised about the ings of student government, but where are the answers? Maybe this can help. Elections happen twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. Elections are held for 40 Senate seats representing the living areas in the fall and and 40 Senate seats representing colleges in the Spring. Then each semester, the newly elected elect their Senate president and pro tempore. In addition to the Senate elections in the spring, the student body president, vice president and treasurer are also elected along with Traffic Court Chief Justice and Honor Court Chancellor and Associate tices. These people are elected for a full year and represents the executive and cial branches of the government. There is another main theme to under- standing student politics... parties! There were three parties represented in the Spring ' 98 elections: Action, Honest and Vision ' 98. Action played off their candidates ' perience in student government, Vision ' 98 emphasized change and diversity in gov- ernment and Honest stressed, well, their honesty. There is so much more to know about student government, and you probably want to turn the page. Through spring of ' 98, Chris Dorwoth was student body dent, Eric Lasso was vice president and Brent Gordon was treasurer. In the spring elections, John McGovern won student body president and Terry Jackson won vice president with 50.06 percent of the votes. Vision ' 98 candidates won 39.8 percent, and Honest candidates won 10.8 percent. A run-off election was held for treasurer with Action candidate Ian Lane winning 54.6 percent of the votes, making a clean sweep for the Action Party in the executive branch. Story by: Brie Zulaf and Natasha Phillips Student Life 27

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Student apathy was just one thing candidates sought to change. Fresh- man Deeb-Paul Kitchen does his duty at a poll near Turlington Plaza. Polling booths were located in various places around campus so that more students could vote. Student Brian Firth listens intently to Vi- sion ' 98 sophomore candidate Jeremy Kaplan ' s and Action Josh Heller ' s views. Heller served as Parliamentarian for the Act ion party. Deciding between the two qualified parties was difficult for most students. Political science senior and Action candidate Richard Fobair explains his agenda to physics freshman Pat Powers. Al- though most students appreciated the effort, some students complained about the in-your-face campaign tactics. Dedicated candidates and supporters spent many hours out in the hot sun selling their party. Vision ' 98 supporters Alexiz Zepeda and Erin Alvarez give buttons and pamphlets to students as they pass in Turlington Plaza. Why do you think voting in Student Government elections is impor- tant? Important to have a say in where my A S fees go. A Because I • think it is im- - Serena Underwood 2LS 26 Student Life

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Tom Delker and Nicole Beach, both physics graduate students, take some time to grab a bite to eat at the Baja Tortilla Grill. The mexican-style rant served fajitas, quesadillas and tacos, while using the freshest of ingre- dients. It was one of many new addi- tions to the campus dining family. Q are some of the reasons why you choose to eat on campus so often? A I eat all the time on campus be- cause it ' s easy. I live on campus. Robby Etzkin,115 Oasis Carts could be seen rolling all around campus providing a la carte snacks for the hungry student between classes. Here alumni Michelle Legrande, 26, counts back change to agriculture senior Nicole Perez, who had just bought a coffee to warm the cool early morning air. Finance freshman Anthony Glasgow sorts through fresh hamburger toppings for his recently purchased meal. Aaron Norman, 34, served up fresh hamburg- ers and hot dogs straight from the grill at the Carleton Grill, a new addition to the Gator Dining Services ' family this year. 28 Student Life