Vivian
wins second term as A.S.I. president
By Sean Emery
On-line Forty-Niner
The
Associated Students Inc. runoff elections,
held April 8 and 9, resulted in a win for
Danny Vivian for A.S.I. president.
Vivian
received 54.3 percent of the vote, while
his opponent, Adam Anderson, received 45.6
percent. In the other runoff election
for A.S.I. treasurer, Mike Johnson won with
56.5 percent of the vote, while his opponent,
Lauren Haverlock, received 43.4 percent.
According to the A.S.I. office, the total
ballot count for the runoff election was
2,017 votes.
“On
top of the immediate relief, it is a humbling
experience to be there and to realize all
the work that everyone, on both sides, put
into [the election],”Johnson said. “I’m
very thankful to all the people who supported
me and helped me out [during the election],
and I’m looking forward to the opportunity
to show them what I can do to serve the
students.”
Johnson
and Vivian will join Guido Piotti, who won
the position of vice president during the
regular elections, in the A.S.I. executive
positions.
“I
was very happy [when] I realized that I
would be working next year with Danny, Guido
and myself,” Johnson said. “The three of
us come from very diverse backgrounds on
campus, so we all bring something different
to the picture. We can see the larger picture
on this campus, and what it needs.
I’m very excited to see what we’re going
to accomplish next year.”
Vivian
was also pleased with the outcome of the
elections.
“I’m
happy to be given the opportunity to work
with [Johnson and Piotti] next year,” Vivian
said.
According
to Lauren Leahy, the A.S.I. election commissioner,
the runoff elections were a success because
of the work of both the election commission
and the candidates.
“[The
election] ran smoothly because the candidates
did their job, and [the commission] did
our job,” Leahy said. “Everybody pulled
their own weight.”
“The
candidates all put an honest effort behind
their campaign,” Vivian said. “The results
[of the election] say a lot about the quality
of the campaigning.”
From
the beginning, Leahy’s goal was to raise
the participation level of the campus in
A.S.I. elections.
“I
wanted to break some sort of record, because
I wanted to encourage more people to come
out and vote,” Leahy said. “I think we had
a positive response in terms that, since
1995, this is the second highest voter turnout.
I want people to feel like they have a reason
to vote. I want them to know that
A.S.I. provides a lot of opportunities for
them.”
Leahy
also praised the candidates for going out
and making one on one contact with the students
of the university. She believed that
since Cal State Long Beach is considered
a commuter school, having the candidates
interact with students helped to make them
feel like individuals, instead of members
of a large group, which she believed helped
lead to the higher turnout.
“I
would like to thank all the students and
organizations who helped out with the elections,”
Vivian said. “I also want to thank all those
who took the time to go out and vote.”
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