President's Address
Getting to the Polls By Angela Hui
Registering to vote is, arguably, a rite of passage in college; it’s part of becoming an independent adult who actually—or seemingly—cares about the real world. Most college freshmen are eighteen, or will be, by the time election season rolls in. They will actually have the power to make a difference with a vote, but how many of these young crazy kids actually take the initiative to register themselves?
Ever since school began, a part of ASUCI’s EVP office had been busy preparing for this year’s state elections. It is their job to make their fellow students more aware of how important and easy registering to vote is.
Happy Fall, Anteaters!
I hope that all of you have been having fun and productive fall quarters, and I especially hope you’ve gotten the chance to participate in some of the exciting events that ASUCI has provided!
So far we’ve broken the world record for the biggest dodgeball tournament, our Welcome Week has had the best turnout in decades, we’ve had over 1800 anteaters register to vote, established the first Speaker Pro Tempore position in Legislative Council, had an enlightening event featuring a progressive sex education speaker, and hosted a jam-packed basketball rally and other thrilling activities. Our fifth annual Shocktoberfest was a huge success, with students getting to dougie with Cali Swag District and letting it rock with Kevin Rudolf into the wee hours of the night. We also held the coolest Midnight Magic ever, featuring basketball coach Russ Turner slam-dunking in front of a crowd of adoring fans. A national sports blog even quoted UCI’s Midnight Magic as “bringing the most heat when it comes to kicking off their college basketball season.” Fall quarter is off to an electrifying start, and you can only expect more sparks to fly. Some of the events you can look forward to in the near future include the vendor fair, comedy nights, movie nights and fall elections! Be sure to come out, participate, and let your voice be heard!
I’d like to take the opportunity here to outline some of ASUCI’s goals to make this upcoming year, and others after it, better than ever. Our major focuses this year are communication between the student government and the student body, student involvement in all of the great programs and activities that are available around campus, and advocacy for student rights and concerns. It is our job to work tirelessly for you, the student body, but we can’t do it without your help, so please get involved and give us your feedback!
“It’s a weird idea to be able to speak your mind, and it’s weird that people aren’t taking advantage of it,” said Joshua Wang, a member of the EVP team. “Choosing someone in office affects us—college can be more affordable, so it really makes a big difference.” “Why waste your opportunity by not voting?” Rachel Tong, another EVP office member, chimed in.
With clipboards packed with voter registration forms in hand, the EVP team enabled students to register on the spot. The process was pain-free, quick, and simple; the required sections were pre-circled and the forms were mailed in for them. They were also everywhere: stationed on Ring Road, in the halls of the Middle Earth, Mesa Court, and Arroyo Vista housing complexes, and at school events like the Anteater Involvement Fair during Welcome Week and Shocktoberfest up until the 18th of October, the last day to register to vote in the November elections.
In the end, the EVP team succeeded in getting more than 1,800 students to register or re-register. In addition to the number of already registered UCI students, these results would have certainly contributed to the California’s state elections on the 2nd of November. To prepare for the elections, a number of debates and events were held on campus to inform and educate students. Two debates, held in affiliation with UCI Vote!, Young Americans for Liberty, College Republicans, and College Democrats, attracted a successful turnout of students and non-students alike. The debates, between the 48th Congressional District candidates Libertarian Mike Binkley and Democrat Beth Krom on the 13th of October, and between 70th Assembly District candidates Libertarian
Say Hello to the Pro...Tempore By Thanh T. Le Say hello to Vikram Nayudu, the new speaker pro tempore for legislative council, which has never before existed in the history of ASUCI. As such, the creation of the position is historical, and it was made with the hopes that ASUCI could work better to gether.
Good luck with the rest of the quarter and I look forward to seeing all of you around campus these next few weeks. Rip ‘em, Eaters! Warmly,
Sitara Nayudu President Associated Students University of California, Irvine president@asuci.uci.edu | 949 824-2415
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