Monday, April 16, 2007
If the NBA doesn’t work out, Julian Wright may want to consider a career in campus politics.
The junior forward was on students’ minds last week, for more than his announcement that he would enter the 2007 NBA Draft: They tried to elect him into Student Senate.
When the votes were tallied in last week’s Student Senate elections, the results showed that United Students’ Hannah Love and Ray Wittlinger had won the president and vice president seats. Their opposing party, Delta Force, had taken control of 13 junior/senior seats.
Lurking behind those names, however, was a long list of write-in candidates ranging from the legitimate — students who ran independent of a coalition — to the absurd, including Wright and others like him. It’s a common election day theme, and the Student Senate election was no different.
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Some other notable names that appeared on Student Senate election ballots: Billy Madison, Elvis Costello, Jesus and Joe DiMaggio (president/vice-president), Fred, Osama bin Laden, Luke Skywalker, The Great Gatsby, Robert F. Kennedy, Darth Vader
Athletes were among the most popular write-ins, including both professionals and Jayhawks. Wright’s four nominations were joined by nods for teammates Mario Chalmers, Russell Robinson, Brandon Rush and former Kansas forward Christian Moody. KU football players past and present also found their way onto ballots. Incoming wide receiver Xavier Rambo caught a vote, while former players David Ochoa, Banks Floodman and Kevin Kane also received attention. Students voted for Kansas football coach Mark Mangino and Baby Jay, too. Former NBA stars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone did receive votes but were not elected.
John Cross, who ran for president with the Delta Force coalition, said ridiculous write-in votes at least brought people to the polls.
“It’s too bad they didn’t have a chance to educate themselves on what Student Senate does,” Cross said. “But I don’t think they’d take the time just to write about Chuck Norris and joke about it later.”
Cross kept a good sense of humor about write-in ballots.
“It’s always fun looking through the write-ins,” Cross said. “I personally was pulling for Stephen Colbert, but he didn’t get his seat.”
Fictional characters did well in the polls, especially those in the puppet demographic. Four members of The Muppets received votes, along with Mickey Mouse, Scooby-Doo and Captain America.
Television personalities Mr. Ed, Grizzly Adams, Paula Abdul, the aforementioned Steven Colbert and Chuck Norris were popular picks.
A number of nominations were derogatory toward Student Senate and the election in general. A few voters voiced their opinions with write-in votes such as “I won’t accomplish anything” and “Campus politics suck”.
Some of the most bizarre nominations included Black Republican Robot, Susan B. Anthony, the State of Vermont, “Macho Man” Randy Savage and God.
“I’m not sure why people who voted for Chuck Norris didn’t just vote for me,” Cross said. “Because we’re pretty much the same person.”
Kansan staff writer Erick R. Schmidt can be contacted at eschmidt@kansan.com.
— Edited by Sharla Shivers
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