NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2008
5A
ELECTION 2008
Noncitizens have opinions, not votes
International students couldn't vote still followed the presidential election
BY JESSE TRIMBLE
jtrimble@kansan.com
Not every student excited for the presidential election was allowed to cast a vote last week.
Students who weren't U.S. citizens, such as Yaser AlZayer, weren't able to vote.
AlZayer said he followed the election closely this year and
AlZayer, Qatis, Saudi Arabia junior and president of International Students Association at the University, came to the U.S. when he was 19 years old.
that he would have voted for President-elect Barack Obama.
"It was exciting to see new things," he said. "You'd think an African-American candidate wouldn't make it that far. It was really exciting to see
AlZayer said Obama's optimism was encouraging to Saudi Arabians who wanted to see the war in Iraq end.
him win. He has a more inclusive message and positive. He's optimistic about the future."
"I always use the word 'we' when referring to the U.S., so I think that's a clue that I feel like a part of the country."
He said the system made sense when he looked at it from a historical perspective, though.
Jose Espinosa-Machado, Panama City, Panama, senior, has been living in the U.S. since he was 8, but wasn't able to vote because he is not a U.S. citizen. He said this was the first year he kept up with the elections.
The primaries, Espinosa- Machado said, featured an all-star list of candidates.
diplomacy and engagement than many other candidates"
Espinosa-Machado said that he planned to vote in the next election, but that he would first have to jump through some legal hoops.
"The electoral system really intrigued me," he said. "It seems kind of counter to the idea of a total democracy."
"Hillary Clinton, first of all," he said, "Law and Order's" Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and best of all, not George Bush."
JOSE ESPINOSA-MACHADO Panama City, Panama, senior
"I have to pass an interview and the citizenship test, which I think costs around $600, so that's a hindrance," he said. "I guess it's supposed to be, though."
Espinosa-Machado said he was an Obama supporter from the first day he heard about him through a Facebook group.
Espinosa-Machado said that he had liked Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) before he ran for president, but that he thought McCain was not himself on the campaign trail. Then, he heard about Barack Obama.
"I really like his worldview," he said. "It's a breath of fresh air, and he seems a lot more open to
Espinosa-Machado said that because Panama recognized dual-citizenship, he thought he would likely become a U.S. citizen in the
future.
"I always use the word 'we' when referring to the U.S., so I think that's a clue that I feel like a part of the country," he said. "I feel like I have a stake in both countries."
Tugce Kurtis, Istanbul, Turkey, doctoral student, said she was in Vermont at Bennington College working on her bachelor's degree during the 2004 elections when Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) lost to President George W. Bush.
"At my college and in Vermont, which is a very liberal state, people were utterly disappointed, and so was I." Kurtis said.
Kurtis said people in Turkey always paid close attention to the U.S. elections.
"American foreign policy directly impacts Turkey, given that it's on the border of Iraq," she said.
During Bush's presidency, Kurtis said, Turks were often critical of U.S. policies.
"People in Turkey have been hoping for change that Obama promised," Kurtis said. "I, myself, have been on Obama's side since the first time the likelihood of his presidency came up"
"It was a long time coming," she said. "I am eager to see how things will shape within the U.S. and expect to see a positive turn in U.S. foreign relations."
She said she was thrilled to hear Obama had won the presidency last Tuesday.
Extreme cycling
Edited by Becka Cremer
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY HALEY JONES
hjones@kansan.com
Groups with senators may get leg up in funding
STUDENT SENATE
Pacey said the format and process was fair, but could always be improved. Every semester, student senators are responsible for contacting student groups and being available to help them with anything they might need from Senate.
"It would make the process better if everybody did their outreach," he said. "But I hope students know Senate is there to help them with their events."
He said, for example, that law school groups received more funding this year because they had graduate senators in the groups. This meant they were involved with Senate and were familiar with the process and what Senate would and would not fund. In his six years of involvement with Student Senate, Pacey said, he noticed that the Mock Trial team was a well-funded group because past finance chairs were members of the club.
"It's pretty obvious that having people involved in your group and also in Student Senate helps you get funding," Pacey said. "But getting more funding is a function of being involved."
Joe Allie, 12, rides through floodwaters of the Snoqualmia River covering a nearby road on Wednesday in Snoqualmia, Wash. A rain storm has filled western Washington rivers and officials at Mount Rainier National Park have closed the park because of flooding along a main road.
Student senators disagree over whether KU student groups with student senators in them are more likely to receive funding. Mark Pacey, Manhattan third-year graduate student and finance committee chairman, said this was because student senators understood the rules and regulations of requesting Senate funding and, therefore, would be more successful.
to work within the system didn't make it unfair to those outside of Senate. He said the list of senators who were available to represent groups and assist them was available online.
"If I had a group that needed $4,000 more, I could probably get them funded because I know what's on going in their heads when they vote," he said. "I would tell them, look, you're asking for $6,000 but if you ask for $12,000 then you get $10,000."
"It's tough for me to see that we fund a group at a high level near the beginning of the year and then sometimes we get toward the end of the year and we have to table all of the legislation." Porte said.
"I certainly think it's easier to get funding if you have an existing relationship with senators and even easier if you know how finance works, but easy isn't unfair — it's just convenience," he said. "It's all about taking advantage of opportunities."
Alex Porte, Great Falls, Va., senior and Student Senate treasurer, said it was very clear that a person's group affiliations often influenced the way they voted. Porte experienced this firsthand. A request he submitted for funding was voted down because some student senators were disgruntled that their event, which was ineligible for funding, had not been approved. But, Porte said, the most frustrating thing was mismanagement of students' fees. He said some groups were funded more heavily at the beginning of the year and, by the end of the year, Senate had to be very selective in funding because there was not enough money.
Ryan Lawler, Bolingbrook, Ill., senior and community affairs director for the Student Legislative Awareness Board, said it was unfortunate that knowing people in Senate had an effect on legislation at all. But, he said, that it was just the way governing bodies worked.
Some senators disagree, saying that almost all student groups get the funding they request. Ethan Zipf-Sigler, Prairie Village third-
"The better you understand the system, the better the results," he said. "I kind of look at it as the nature of the beast."
Zipf-Sigler said student involvement had made no difference in deciding whether a group received funding. He said groups that had senators help them author a request were likely to be more successful because senators understood the rules and process.
Zipf-Sigler said, though, that just because senators knew how
year law student, graduate senator and member of the finance committee, said a group's request for funding had to be excessive or in serious violation of the rules to be rejected.
"We follow the rules as closely as we can," he said. "But the reality is that pretty much every group gets funding. It's hard to look at students and say, 'No you can't have funding.'"
Edited by Kelsey Hayes