Please remember to vote Tuesday and Wednesday. The polls will be open from 8 am until 8 pm both days. Any student can vote at any polling location on campus. A complete list of polling stations is available on the sidebar of this site (look on the right).

Remember to bring your Gator1 student ID.

Any student enrolled for at least 1 credit can vote. You don’t need to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident (international students welcome).

You can vote for me if:

• you have at least 60 credits
• your major is registered with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

If you have 0-30 credits, you’ll vote for the freshman seats. If you have 30-60 credits, you’ll vote for the sophomore seats. If you have 60 or more credits, you’ll vote in your undergraduate college. Graduate students will vote for the graduate seats, and professional students will vote for their professional school’s seat.

In addition to Senate seats, everyone votes for:

• Student Body President and Vice President
• Student Body Treasurer
• ballot iniative (online voting)

I would ask my supporters to also support all our Unite candidates and vote yes to true online voting.

So get out there and vote. Wear red — a Unite Party T-shirt, button, sticker, whatever. Post a flyer on your door. Write a note on your white board. Post a link in your away message. Remind your friends, roommates, classmates, clubmates, teammates, and everybody else to go vote.

Do your part. Participate. And we will win.

P.S. Just a friendly reminder: Unite’s Senate slate was endorsed by the Alligator. Woohoo!

And Boing Boing, and…

My campaign has been lucky to get (inter)national attention. I want to work hard with the Unite Party to represent UF, but my personal platform is breaking barriers well beyond Century Tower.

Here are some noteworthy blog mentions:

• Slashdot
• Boing Boing
• Spread Firefox
• Downhill Battle
• Open Access News
• FreeCulture.org
• Universities Allied for Essential Medicines
• Wendy Seltzer
• Teleread

I’m both honored and humbled by all the attention. I just hope I win my seat and get a chance to serve the students of UF — and I hope I inspire other students around the world to take up these issues at their school.

I’m featured in one of the Unite spots airing during the campaign. It’s a little low-budget, but it still puts a smile on my face.

.torrent link to download. (You will need a client such as BitTorrent to download. If you live on campus, this won’t work; sorry.)

Throughout this campaign, I’ve introduced myself to probably hundreds of people who didn’t know me previously. But whether campaigning in public or introducing myself at student organizations’ meetings, I have precious little time to convince my audience why they should vote for me and the Unite Party. Clubs want to get on with their meetings, people want to get to class or wherever they’re going, so while I do what I can to give people a chance to meet me and voice whatever questions or concerns they have, I have to be realistic: voter turnout last year was less than 20%. Most students just don’t care.

While I’d love to convince all 48,000 UF students to care enough to vote, few of them will give me more than a minute or so to do so. So I focus on the basics, trying to highlight our qualities that I think will most resonate with them: openness. Accessibility. A commitment to positive change. An ambitious but realistic platform. The most diverse candidates.

On this site, however, I get to talk about what I want. And one of the key reasons I think students should care about this election is technology.

Tech matters. And it matters more right now than maybe ever before.

ICARUS still prowls the campus housing network, shutting down anyone who uses peer-to-peer technology, regardless of the purpose — and even harmless users of IRC chat.

Students still complain about downtime on WebMail. Meanwhile, UF tech staff complain that students aren’t switching away from WebMail to get their email via standalone programs like Mozilla Thunderbird. But they’ve done little to help students move away from WebMail. The server load remains high, and students still have trouble getting to WebMail when they need it.

Worse is that students never had a say in the decision to end forwarding of GatorLink email accounts that pushed everyone back to WebMail once they could no longer forward their mail to their Gmail or AOL account. The committee that made the decision, the IT Advisory Committee, is made up entirely of professors and administrators — no student sits on the ITAC.

When I learned that, I went into action. I didn’t need to be a Student Senator or a Cabinet Director to speak up — especially since apparently SG wasn’t doing its job to stick up for students. I wrote a letter which the Alligator published; I met with the head of IT to tell my concerns and ideas; and then, late last year, for the first time, students were able to apply for a seat on the committee, as well as its Academic Technology subcommittee. The appointment hasn’t been made yet, but we’re on our way to having a voice in such decisions in the future.

But two issues, above all others, make UF’s tech policy so relevant today:

1. The tech fee. The state Board of Governors, which oversees the Florida State University System, recently approved a technology fee for universities. The fee would be set by a committee at each university, composed of faculty and students, to pay for technology services at the university. Under the current proposal, the tech fee would not be covered by Bright Futures scholarships, which more than 90% of UF freshmen receive. The proposal must be approved by the Florida Legislature to be implemented. If passed by the Legislature, decisions made in the next year will have a large influence on the direction of the tech fee.
2. UF IT reorganization. Right now, UF’s IT services are being reorganized. IT services from across the university will be centralized and standardized. The exact form of the reorganization and the policies it implements will be decided to a great extent in the coming year.

In both cases, UF has an opportunity to improve the tech services it provides students, by increasing funding for IT and by using those funds more efficiently. But students can also get screwed if we don’t participate in the process.

The current Student Government has shown a real lack of leadership by not addressing these issues. The Swamp Party may have changed their name, but they are still the incumbents. Simply put, our opponents have dropped the ball on the important tech issues that affect students.

I and the Unite Party have the experience and the vision to lead on this important issue. We will ensure that students’ best interests are represented.

I’d forgotten I never posted the results of my inquiry: When I went looking for the tape of last Tuesday’s Student Senate recording, I was told it wasn’t even recorded.
So I was wrong in my belief that every Senate meeting was recorded. It’s not just an issue of making the video available, it’s even getting them to record it all.

Again, I can point to our platform and say I’ll work to ensure that every Senate session is recorded and the video made promptly available online in accessible formats.

The Alligator has been griping a lot lately about the lack of substantial differences between party platforms this election. Well, this is one area where I think we shine. Our opponents promise “access,” but you’ll find nothing in their platform to realize it.

On the other hand, here’s a summary of Unite promises to make it easier to find out what your elected officials are doing in your name:

• Televise Senate meetings online
• Publish Senate agendas online 24 hours in advance of all Senate meetings
• Promote an open book policy by having financial reports available online
• Re-design the SG web site to include immediately-updated, cross-referential data such as voting records and financial impacts of a given bill
• End promised positions and create a culture of inclusiveness for all students
• Publish a monthly SG electronic newsletter to prove our accountability

All of this is simple, and none of it will break the bank. The financial cost and effort involved in meeting high standards of openness and transparency are minimal compared to the benefits.

In the spirit of open debate, here’s what the other guys promise:

• Bi-weekly SG podcasts updating students on noteworthy events
• Increase diversity of involvement in SG within cabinets and agencies
• Reform SG to better represent students from all areas of UF

The podcasts are not a bad idea, and slightly sexier than our monthly newsletter, but they’re no substitute for the documents themselves. Without the video of meetings, without voting records, without accessible documents, podcasts would be little more than SG-produced propaganda, because students still wouldn’t have access to the facts.

Unite also will increase diversity within SG by ending promised positions, as stated above. I’d love to see how effective cabinets and agencies could be if appointments were made based on qualifications and ideas rather than election promises.

I’m not sure what they mean by “reform,” but I won’t give them too much flak, as our “culture of inclusiveness” isn’t very specific, either.

I’ll be honest: in terms of campus improvement and student life issues, I don’t think either party is very different in their promises. I think we’ve both done a fair job of identifying issues that affect students day in and day out. I think our ideas are slightly better than theirs, and I think we’d execute them more efficiently (because our appointments would be merit-based), but I don’t think the differences are that significant.

But I think we take the cake in the “big picture”. SG will never live up to its promises without real openness and inclusiveness. In access, Unite is leading. SG desparately needs to reform its internal spending and make more dollars available for student programs (and less for office redecoration). In fiscal responsibility, Unite is leading.

On the other hand, without a strong commitment to social responsibility, UF isn’t living up its promise to the community. Again, Unite is the leader.

These are the differences of substance. This is the difference in philosophy. This is why I’m a candidate with Unite — indeed, this is why I’m a candidate at all.

Walking home from campus late Thursday night, I noticed a woman sleeping in the bus shelter in front of Tigert Hall.

A few hours later, less than 100 yards away, university provosts and vice presidents and their secretaries would be inside, tending to the concerns of one of America’s largest universities.

I don’t have any major insight into the issues of homelessness and poverty. I just know that people are people, and deserve to be treated with dignity and compassion, whatever their station in life.

Neither do I have the solution to those issues. Even if I did — if I knew the magic bullet to eliminate poverty — I’m not sure Student Government would be the best forum to address that. But I know we need to be talking about it. SG controls a lot of resources, not the least of which are funding for student organizations and events, and the “bully pulpit” of media attention.

Homelessness is not a problem that disappears when we walk into a classroom; neither will it vanish on the day of commencement. But in this situation where real people are suffering every day, SG is doing little if anything to focus on the problem.

The Unite Party platform includes a promise to “proactively address poverty”. A bit strange for a Student Government party, eh? But there’s a lot we can do.

SG can help coordinate service organizations and focus projects. SG can build partnerships with local government, community organizations, and businesses. SG leaders can set an example for the student body by publicly speaking about and participating in efforts to alleviate poverty and homeless. By appointing officials based on merit rather than backroom promises for election support, SG can operate more effectively and exert a greater impact. SG can improve publicity efforts to increase participation on campus and in the community. And, as laid out in our platform promises about fiscal responsibility, SG can reign in its own budget to ensure more programming for students: more funding for speakers, films, and activities to engage students in the world around them.

A major part of education and the university experience is learning not just from classes and textbooks, but from organizations and activities; learning not just about chemistry and psychology, but social and political issues in the world around us. I’m running with Unite because we don’t want to settle for the status quo. We want to push the envelope and move things forward. We want to set the standard; we want to lead.

I believe people have a moral responsibility to help others in need. It’s just one aspect of personal and social responsibility overall. Students at UF are part of larger communities, from the local community, to cultural and religious communities and the global community. SG should partner with others to provide more programs to ensure that UF graduates are equipped to meet their responsibilities. And if I’m elected, I will.

If you will be unable to make it to the polls on Feb. 28 or March 1 — because you’re studying abroad or at a satellite campus, or for any other reason — you can still vote by absentee ballot.

However, the deadline to request an absentee ballot is today. You can download the application via this link. Be sure to turn it in on the 3rd floor of the Reitz Union before 5 pm today. You can also email the form to elections@sg.ufl.edu or fax it to (352) 392-8072.

If I can interject a bit of commentary: This process sucks. I guess it’s better than nothing to be able to email the application — a student abroad would have a hell of a time coming to the Reitz Union to turn in the application or faxing to another country. But it’s not enough.

Online voting is a better path. Online voting will allow students to vote from anywhere in the world, no absentee ballot required. UF students deserve online voting.

Here’s a great article on online voting from 2003 in The Chronicle of Higher Education. It quotes Brian D. Namey, the student body president at Carnegie Mellon University:

When few students voted, he says, he could sweep an election by going to a few major student organizations — “the college equivalent of special interests,” he says — and getting pledges of support.

“But the more people vote, the more uninformed voters are going to be in the system, and it was our challenge to educate the voters,” he says. After running hard against four other candidates, Mr. Namey won the presidency with 52 percent of the vote. “I really had to pound the pavement,” he says. “The possibility of being removed from office contributes to a better campaign.”

So online voting breaks the “special interest” strangehold of a few large organizations, encourages participation, and leads to better government? Hmm. I wonder why the incumbents don’t support it?

I’m happy to say you’ll find online voting and other good ideas in the Unite Party platform.

There’s been a lot of hubbub lately about a snafu in the SG Senate process for budgeting student organizations for next year. I’ll let the Alligator do the talking: original story, follow-up, editorial, letter 1, letter 2. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about this in the days to come.

The accusations are really flying. I’ll withhold judgment.

I’m going to get a copy of the video of Tuesday’s Senate meeting. At least, I’ll try: Senate meetings are recorded, but what happens to those recordings, I have no clue. (Maybe they go to the SG Vault in the Reitz Union basement?)

If I get a hold of the tape, I’ll try to digitize it and make it available via this Web site.

At this point, I can proudly note that the Unite Party platform includes the following promise: Televise Student Senate meetings via the Internet.

It’s common sense: make your information accessible. If you want people to participate, if you want to be inclusive, you have to make yourself and your information accessible. If you don’t do that, one can only assume you’re not really interested in inclusiveness.

I promise to work hard to bring SG and UF to a new standard of transparency. We’ll make it easy to find out what your Student Government and your administration are doing. We won’t do business in the dark; rather, we’ll commit ourselves to openness and accountability. Because democracy works best when the voters know what’s happening.

It’s just common sense.

A Platform Presentation Session with the Swamp and Unite Parties

To provide a venue for freshmen and the general student body to meet Student Government candidates and learn about their ideas, the Freshman Leadership Council, an SG cabinet, presents a party-neutral candidate forum. The Presentation will begin at noon on Tuesday, February 21st in the Reitz Union Ampitheatre.

The event is open to the public, and aims to inform the student body about important issues dealt with in SG. Executive candidates from both Swamp and Unite parties will present their respective party platforms and answer questions from the public. Swamp presidential candidate John Boyles and Unite presidential candidate Jared Hernandez are expected to present, supported by a host of additional candidates from their parties.

Some independent candidates may also appear. Please send your questions and comments to Gloria Tavera at grtavera@ufl.edu.

• Who: Freshman Leadership Council, a Student Government cabinet
• What: A Platform Presentation Session with the Swamp and Unite Parties
• When: Tuesday, February 21, 2006, 12 pm
• Where: Reitz Union Ampitheatre
• Why: To inform freshmen and the general student body about candidates in the upcoming Student Government elections, to encourage voter participation in Student Government elections, and to provide an open forum for communication between Student Government candidates and the student body, in a neutral environment.

I’m happy to announce that around 2 am Wednesday morning, I got a call from Unite Party president Adam Roberts to say I’d been chosen as part of Unite’s slate of candidates.

Unite is changing “politics as usual” at UF. They’re changing the tone of the debate, raising the level of dialogue, and I’m glad to be a part of it.

From here on out, I’ll be talking to students and student groups in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to hear their thoughts and concerns, and brainstorming the best ways to improve student life and the UF experience. I hope you’ll join me.