ASUA president forced to wear 'I Love ASU' shirt
Arizona State University has claimed victory in this year's Voter Registration Challenge, forcing UA student lobbyists to swallow their pride and wear "I Love ASU" shirts next week.
ASU was able to register 1,054 students to vote in the five-week student registration competition between the three Arizona universities.
"The punishment should be good because if students ask why I am wearing the shirt, I can say it's because they didn't register to vote," said J.P. Benedict, ASUA president.
Benedict was unhappy about the results, but said ASU did have a good group this year and the win was well deserved.
Brian Collier, ASU co-student body president, said he was excited to beat ASU, but said he was really happy that so many students turned out on all three universities.
"I hope students will use their newfound power to vote for educational reform," he said.
The UA registered 421 students to vote. Northern Arizona University, the winning school in the past, never turned in its numbers.
Amy Hicks, associate executive director of the Arizona Students' Association, said NAU simply declared defeat, conceded that ASU was the winner and will be wearing the "I Love ASU" shirts also.
NAU left for Christmas break earlier than ASU and the UA, so they were gone before the challenge was over, Hicks said. But Hicks said she was still extremely impressed by the challenge.
"All three schools made a valiant effort. I was impressed by the events and hope to see more this spring," she said.
ASU had weekly registration tables on campus, boxes set up in every dorm on campus, two concerts, public service announcements and a campuswide e-mail.
At the UA, student lobbyists created a challenge among clubs to get more people to register, with the winning club receiving $250. The Arizona Israel Alliance won, registering 134 voters.
Hicks said the UA might not have had as great of success because its attempts were centered around bigger events, while ASU made the challenge an everyday effort.
Benedict said he plans to develop an Arizona Students' Association task force with more manpower to increase voter registration in the future.
Hicks said the UA should keep up its dedication because, in a few more years, the challenge between clubs will become more publicized and inspire more excitement about the competition.
"Our goal is for no one to register to vote because everyone will already be registered," Hicks said.
With increased voter registration, student lobbyists now will be working on getting students to vote during elections.
Hicks said student lobbyists would be shifting to state issues like tuition and getting students prepared for federal elections.
Collier said students need to vote now and ask state legislatures to give universities money.
Benedict shares the same sentiments.
"We want them to be aware they can vote; we provide the means, but they make their own decisions," Benedict said.
He said he encourages students to get registered in Tucson since many issues will affect them as students.
Benedict said one example is that city council will be working on changing the code of conduct so that students will be academically responsible for having a house party or drinking underage.
"The competition may be over now, but we're still going to work as hard and continue to build power and voice in the voting population," he said.