8A
NEWS
SUA
THE UNIVERSITY OF DAIRY KANSAS
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2009
Bingo helps lighten the load on students' wallets
Game night at the Kansas Union offers a chance to win groceries, gas cards
BY MICHELLE SPREHE msprehe@kansan.com
Any money-saving alternative sounds more appealing than clipping coupons or making a budget. On Tuesday night, 169 students discovered they could keep money in their pocketbooks by shouting, "BINGO!"
Student Union Activities hosted
Grocery and Gas Bingo at the
Kansas Union Ballroom where
students competed for the chance
to win groceries or gas cards worth
$20, $25 and $30.
Eric Jury, Lake Quivira senior
and games coordinator for SUA, helped organize the event.
"With the economy, people realized they could save a few bucks on groceries so they came out," jury said.
About 5300 worth of groceries and gas cards were purchased from Checkers Food, 2300 Louisiana St., and local Conoco gas stations for students to win.
"We're trying to help people out at the pump as well as food." Jury said.
In the past, winners of the event could take a bag full of groceries. But on Tuesday, winners could only choose two grocery items to take home.
"With the rising cost of food right now, we want to give students an option to win so we give out more items now and less bags of groceries," turs said.
To attract more students, gas cards were randomly given to winners for the first time. Esterenia Armento, Jarkarta, Indonesia, sophomore, was the committee head for the event.
"We are trying to make something new every year so it's not boring." Armanto said.
Megan Do, Wichita sophomore, won by forming a "U" shape on her bingo card.
"I have horrible luck," Do said.
"It was the first time I'd ever won at bingo."
Do won a box of macaroni and cheese and a box of cereal, which she gave to a friend.
Jury said between 30 and 40 students walked away with prizes. A full bag of groceries and a $50 gas card were also given away.
"My favorite part of the night was to see how excited people got." Do said. "At times people were getting a little intense."
SUA will host Grocery and Gas Bingo again on March 27 at 8 p.m. in the Union Ballroom.
Edited by Andrew Wiebe
Rachel Gray/KANSAN
Bowe Neuenschwander, Hoxie senior, and Jon Huffmaster, St. Louis senior, wait for the next number to be read at SUA's Grocery Bingo night. Huffmaster needed one more space filled to win the round. SUA holds Bingo night each semester and entertained a record crowd of 169 on Tuesday night.
SENATE
Greek community remains a constant on Senate ballots
BY BRIANNE PFANNENSTIEL
bpfannenstiel@kansan.com
Student Senate coalitions have announced their presidential aid vice presidential nominations as they gear up for spring elections, but some things haven't changed from previous years. Namely, the presence of multiple Greek candidates.
During the last five Senate elections, including this year's race, only two of the major coalitions have run without a greek candidate for either president or vice president. Delta Force ran once in 2006 and again in 2007 without a greek presidential or vice presidential pick. They lost both elections.
So what does it take to win a Student Senate election?
IT'S ALL POLITICAL
During the past two years the nation has watched Barack Obama go from senator to president of the United States. His campaign was
revolutionary in many ways. But in the end, it boiled down to the same principles that have been guiding politics for decades: It was about winning.
Those same principles that govern national elections have been at play in campus politics for just as long.
"All elections are the same," said Mark Joslyn, associate professor of political science. "It's a matter of looking at voters
"It often comes down to where you have connections."
president choice is strategic in terms of attracting demographics," Joslyn said. "They all try to balance the ticket in an ideological and in a practical sense."
and what they want and what they need and making yourself look like them."
Joslyn said Student Senate's tendency to pick greek candidates to run for the top spots mirrored national elections and the need to appeal to an important constituency of voters.
JJ SILER Overland Park junior
In the ideological sense, Joslyn
"Usually the president's vice
said, a president would look for someone who balanced out his political strengths and weaknesses. For instance, President Obama chose Senator Joe Biden as his vice presidential pick because of his years of experience in national politics and foreign affairs. But Joslyn said another important factor was practicality — candidates needed to appeal to a wide range of voters.
THE GREEK COMMUNITY
The greek community, which comprises 14 percent of the student body, can be a big player in Student
Senate, More than 3.500 students are involved in greek organizations.
J. J. Siler, Overland Park junior and Envision's student body president candidate, said coalitions tended to campaign heavily to the greek community because Greeks consistently turned out to vote every year. Siler said connections to houses and suggestions from fellow house members might help motivate members of the greek community to vote more often.
"It often comes down to where you have connections," Siler said. "I've been involved in the Greek com
Michael Gillaspie, Asbland senior and student body vice
munity during my time here, so definitely I'll campaign to them a little bit harder"
president who ran with United Students, said that United Students generally ran with a greek student on the ticket because of a continuous partnership that had developed over the years.
"Coalitions that try to emulate other coalitions that have won in the past," Gillaspie said. "So if you've been representing the greek community for the past 30 or how-
"I think students should expect ideas and plans from their candidates."
ADAM MCGONIGLE Wichita junior
WHAT DOES
THIS MEAN
FOR
STUDENTS?
Senate elections is infamously low. In fact, there has yet to be an election in which voter turnout exceeds 20 percent. During the past five years, turnout has ranged
between 13 and 16 percent. Last year's turnover was 14.5 percent.
"I don't think there's an organization like Senate anywhere else in the world, where people give you $400 and don't care what happens to it." Siler said.
Adam McGonigle, Wichita junior and student body president, said he didn't feel one constituency was being overrepresented on campus. He said the best way for students to have their voices heard was to vote and to ask their candidates to provide them with solid ideas and platforms.
"I think students should expect ideas and plans from their candidates," McGonigle said. "I think they should expect a lot of specifics in those plans. But above all, they should demand honesty and integrity in the campaign."
Edited by Carly Halvorson
election history
Envision
Alex Porte — Tau Kappa
Epsilon
JJ Siler — Beta Theta Pi
2009
United Students
Mason Heilman — Not
greek
May Davis — Alpha Chi
Omega
Students of Liberty Adam Wood - Not greek
Students of Liberty 7%
Adam Wood — Not greek
Eric Hyde — Not greek
2008
United Students 49%
Adam McGonigle — Not
greek
Michael Gillaspie — Sigma
Phi Epsilon
ConnectKU 44%
Austin Kelly — Not greek
Jason Oruch — Alpha
Epsilon Pi
2007 - United Students 51%
Hannah Love - Not greek
Ray Wittlinger - Theta Chi
Delta Force 40%
John Cross — Not greek
Liz Stuewe — Not greek
(replaced Ryan Rowan, who was a member of Phi Beta Sigma, when he had to drop out of the race.)
2006 — Ignite 53%
Jason Boots — Not greek
Melissa Horen — Alpha
Gamma Delta
Delta Force 40%
Studie Red Corn — Not greek
Bridget Franklin — Not greek
2005 KUnited 55%
Nick Sterner — not greek
Marynell Jones — Kappa
Alpha Theta
Delta Force 36%
Elaine Jardon — Alpha Chi Omega
Stephanie Craig — Alpha Gamma Delta