Rock the Vote

As several political races begin to heat up, 2011-12 Associated Students Vice President of External Affairs Krista Parker, who will receive her bachelor’s degree in political science this Friday, blogs about the importance of students voting in June and November.

After many visits to local, state and federal legislators’ offices over the past three years at SDSU, I have heard one common message: students don’t vote. After awhile, I really got sick of hearing that and when I took office in May 2011, one of my main initiatives was registering students to vote.

Rock the Vote at SDSU is a campaign that really encompasses the importance of the youth vote. Students have been known not to vote in the past simply because they don’t know why their vote matters. The campaign really focuses on the issues that directly impact students and educates them on the candidates running for office.

With June 5 and Nov. 6 elections quickly approaching, the importance of registering to vote is increasing. It really is easy! Go online to Rockthevote.com, head over to the Associated Students Government Affairs Office in the Alumni Center or visit the San Diego County Registrar of Voters to fill out a form to register (in San Diego, voters must register at least 15 days in advance of an election).

However, the most important part is to make sure and vote. There’s even a polling place on campus to make it easy Note: documents in Portable Document Format (PDF) require Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher to view, download Adobe Acrobat Reader. (7 a.m. to 8 p.m., June 5, Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center)!

So back to the original question: why vote? First, let’s prove those legislators wrong and show that students do vote and, second — and most importantly — this is the perfect way to begin the process of getting your opinions heard!

Storm, Nasatir Halls Getting a Makeover

Two of the older buildings on the San Diego State University campus are about to get long-needed makeovers.

Renovations will begin June 1 on Storm and Nasatir Halls, bringing the 1957 buildings into the 21st century with modern energy efficiency and current health and safety standards.

We’ll post construction updates on this blog to keep our readers informed about the progress of the project. For more information about the project, read this SDSU NewsCenter story.

GreenFest Offers Students Different Opportunities

Jennifer Conners is a senior, majoring in Integrated Marketing Communications. She will be graduating this Month.

While most students went to GreenFest this past weekend to enjoy the music and rides, a few of us had another purpose. My student-run marketing agency, Asimo Integrated Marketing, successfully executed an integrated marketing communications plan designed to increase awareness of the Honda Civic Coupe at GreenFest as part of our Marketing 472 class.

We created a campaign consisting of a sponsorship with SDSU’s GreenFest, social media efforts, event flyers, a contest among students, and a short questionnaire designed to show off the  fun, appealing attributes of the Honda Civic Coupe to the Generation Y market. The campaign reached more than 4,000 campus and community members. At GreenFest, thousands of students got an exclusive look into all of the features the 2012 Civic Coupe has to offer, including eco-
friendly initiatives and gas-saving options. We hosted a photo booth and passed out reusable water bottles to support GreenFest’s campaign to go green.

To wrap up the program, our team will be presenting our results to Honda representatives in a formal, agency-style presentation. Overall, it was a great experience and we were proud to sponsor such a huge campus event on Honda’s behalf.

Other team members, who will all graduate this month, included Ashley Daily, Marketing; Eliza Cuevas, Integrated Communications; and Ryan Walczuk, Integrated Marketing Communications.

Celebrating Spring with GreenFest

No matter when you attended San Diego State, in recent years, one of the highlights of the spring semester is the annual festival put on by Associated Students. When I was an undergraduate student, it was called Spring Fiesta and AzFest.

Fast-forward to 2012 and that festival has morphed into GreenFest, a week of events celebrating sustainability — a core value of Associated Students — and Aztec pride. Associated Students has worked hard to green its facilities and promote programs that espouse an eco-friendly lifestyle in recent years, and GreenFest is no exception.

This year’s GreenFest — which takes place April 22 – 28 — will host several events, including:

• Earth Day 5k and Kids’ Fun Run
• E-waste Drive
• SDSU Takes Over the Ballpark
• GreenFest Festival

To learn more about Associated Students’ sustainability efforts, visit as.sdsu.edu/thinkgreen or the GreenFest website, “like” Green Love and GreenFest on Facebook or follow GreenFest on Twitter.

March Madness

Students camped out on Campanile Walkway for prime campaign signage spots.

While many attribute the madness of March to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, many SDSU student leaders deal with another, more personal, version of it, as well.

Just last week, SDSU students elected a new group of executives and college representatives for Associated Students for the 2012-13 academic year.

And it’s no “simple” election — as part of the process, students sit through orientation meetings, sleep outside overnight to stake prime campaigning sites and debate their opponents in an open forum. Even then, the slim margin between victory and defeat can be as thin as a dozen votes.

This is outside of their normal lives as students, too. There’s still midterms, part-time jobs, volunteering during Explore SDSU, and cheering on men’s and women’s basketball.

But, that’s what makes these students leaders — their commitment to campus, their classmates and the San Diego community is what sets them apart. They’re advocating on behalf of students, overseeing the many facilities and services students enjoy, and partnering with other organizations to help the San Diego community.

If the “madness” of students’ busy lives seems a bit much, just remember the end of March is just around the corner — and spring break along with it.