Correction Appended
When the Associated Students of Arizona State University Polytechnic, or ASASUP, begins its fifth year in the fall of 2008, applied psychology senior Kelley Stewart will be president, technology graduate student Matthew McCoy will be vice president, Greg Fischer will be secretary, and Austin Helm will be treasurer.
"Although voter participation numbers dropped a little bit on all the campuses this year, I feel the elections went pretty well," vice-president elect McCoy said. "Everyone who was elected comes with great experience and potential."
This will be McCoy's fifth year of ASASUP participation and Stewart's second term as president.
In the March 31 and April 1 elections, 176 Polytechnic ballots were cast — 2 percent of the total Polytechnic student population of 8,752.
The March 31 lunchtime and April 1 evening Voting Feast, where ASASUP provided food, drinks and computers and raffled away prizes such as an all-in-one printer and a digital camera, generated more than half of all the votes submitted.
Agribusiness sophomore Abby Brigham said she had fun at the lunchtime Voting Feast, but noticed the lack of student interest in voting.
"I think it's important that we vote, and I wish there were more people there," Brigham said.
Election commissioner Maximo MenaVasquez and McCoy both said they are looking forward to seeing Polytechnic grow in the next year.
"We have three brand-new buildings for classrooms and offices," MenaVasquez said. "We hope that will bring more students out here. Co-enrollment with Chandler-Gilbert Community College is ending, so we want to make sure students know about that and can get all their classes from here."
MenaVasquez also said that many of the issues currently under consideration will be passed on to the new administration, such as the new $25 student government fee that will be going into effect in the fall semester.
He said all campuses are putting together a committee — made up of the student government presidents and a student representative from each of the ASU campuses — to decide how to give out the money.
Parking is the biggest issue McCoy will concentrate on.
"[Parking] seems to be the biggest student complaint out here," he said. "We want to get more of those lots paved and fix the potholes."
McCoy also said the student government will be focusing largely on promoting involvement in the more than 35 student clubs and organizations by re-establishing the Council of Club Presidents.
"A lot of times, the people who are truly interested in being involved are involved in the clubs, so we would like that to be a good connection to the students," he added.
ASASUP encourages students to express their ideas, questions or concerns by sending an e-mail, slipping a note into the soon-to-be-constructed suggestion box in the student union, or coming to an ASASUP meeting, held on the first and third Friday of each month in the student union.
"In the five years since I have been out on this campus, we've gone from no one even knowing who we are to really being on the map," McCoy said. "I think that goes along with how hard the student government has been working and will continue to work."
Correction:Kelly Stewart's major was incorrect. Stewart is an applied psychology senior.
Reach the reporter at: kbielski@asu.edu.
