Is Kyle Boyer In Trouble?

Student Assocation Presidential candidate Kyle Boyer allegedly failed to report four expenses in the expenditure report he submitted to the Joint Election Commission and may have actually exceeded the $1,000 spending limit, according to a complaint filed by senior Wylie Ballinger on March 2 and a subsequent report by The GW Patriot's Bill Flanigen.  

The Patriot writes:

Ballinger alleged that the financial statement provided by Boyer to the J.E.C. failed to report the fair market value of the car he used while campaigning on H street on February 25-26, a parking ticket he received, parking meter payments, and the cost of Facebook advertisements. The fourth violation report alleged that, when the undeclared expenses are included in the tabulation of Boyer’s spending, he surpassed the $1,000 spending limit for presidential candidates.

The student-run publication, which according to its website aims to promote conservative and libertarian views on campus, verifies Ballinger's claims:

An examination of Boyer’s expenditure report by the Patriot confirmed that the candidate did not report any spending for a car, a parking ticket, or meter payments, and that he reported no purchases of Facebook advertisements. Included in Ballinger’s complaints were pictures of a car being used by Boyer and his campaign supporters on H street in front of Kogan Plaza. A parking ticket was visible beneath a windshield wiper of the car.

Boyer, who fell just two votes short in the Feb. 25-26 election of preventing a run-off, has been penalized by the J.E.C. for three other campaign-related violations. 

If the J.E.C. finds him guilty of these violations, Boyer will have more than six violations and thus be disqualified.  

This means SA Senator Nick Polk, who finished third in the initial contest, would compete against SA Senator Julie Bindelglass, who placed second, in the March 11-12 run-off.  

The J.E.C. documents are not currently available online. 

GWblogspot would like to open up the comments section to discuss the merits of the complaint filed against Boyer. Please give us your input. 

Burrito del Rey Comes to J Street!

TRY THE NEW MEXICAN VENUE IN J STREET CALLED BURRITO DEL REY! IT OPENS TODAY!

A bunch of us were invited to taste test the new restaurant's tacos and burritos last night, and I have to admit, the food was pretty delicious.

There will be a comment box on Burrito del Rey's counter all week for you to submit both positive and negative feedback. Tell us what you think of this new restaurant. Is it as good as Chipotle or Qdoba? What do you particularly like or dislike about the food served? Is the price reasonable?

Keep in mind, this venue will just be here for the semester, and there is still a large possibility that Qdoba will be in J Street in the fall! This new Mexican restaurant just proves that when we complain to the administration, there will be a response and that they do care about what we want!

You can also discuss Burrito del Rey on our Facebook wall and discussion board!

Also, there is poll to the left of this post asking whether or not you are satisfied with Burrito del Rey!

The Trouble With Runoffs

Firstly, congratulations to all of the SA candidates who won their elections last week, and congratulations and good luck to those involved in runoff elections.

While Kyle Boyer got intimidatingly close to the 40% margin required to forgo a runoff election, falling only two votes short of an outright victory and garnering over 16% more of the vote than chief runner-up Julie Bindelglass, his stellar performance in the first round elections should not be construed by anyone as a guarantee of success in the runoff, especially to his campaign and strong supporters.

Runoff elections provide a classic advantage for underdog candidates. Favored candidates, which I would most certainly contend Kyle was and still is, attempt to build grand coalitions of supporters in the first round election, in hopes of gaining an early win and not having to bother with a runoff election. It's a smart strategy, and it works much of the time. It almost did for Boyer.

However, what heavily favored candidates must be wary of in runoff elections is the support for the multiple underdog candidates coalescing around the one remaining less heavily favored candidate in the runoff election. This, accompanied with diminished turnout, which helps heavily favored and more publicized candidates, and a drop in enthusiasm for the coming election, can all add up to an underdog win, if the underdog candidate mounts an effective campaign.

So, before you write off Julie Bindelglass, or don't vote because you think the result is a foregone conclusion, remember that she can definitely win the presidency if she puts in the necessary effort.

In short, neither candidate can take the other's strengths or their own weaknesses for granted. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Learn more about their campaigns here (Kyle Boyer) and here (Julie Bindelglass).

The Storm of the Century (or something a little less dramatic)

Currently on the front page of washingtonpost.com, there is an article warning D.C. residents of the looming storm making its way up the east coast. As a southern Californian and a proud Angeleno, this incoming storm produces an array of mixed emotions. I am excited by the visual of a white layer of snow covering the DC area and by the possibility of frolicking in the snow (like they do in the cheesy disney movies). However, as this storm comes closer, so do feelings of animosity from my fellow peers (especially the New Englanders and New Yorkers). The facebook statuses of one of my friends (a hard-core New Yorker), who shall remain anonymous, constantly mocks us Californians.

A*a^ is Cold weather again, watch out for whiny Cali kids.

And then from an earlier storm....  

A*a^ Snow day; gotta be extra careful to avoid the California kids who whine about the cold...

I do not not appreciate this cynicism from elitist yankees. Until I came to GW, I had only been in snowfall once. Thats right, once. Do you know why? Because 65 degree December days are incredible. Over winter break, I called my friends from New York and Massachusetts and asked them "What are you up to today?" Their responses were "Nothing. I am snowed in. I can't leave my house." They asked me what I was up to and I told them "I am going to the beach." I rest my case. One of the pictures above was taken on the last day of winter break while I was driving down Sunset Boulevard. It was 72 degrees and I questioned why I wanted to come back to the east coast. The other picture, was sent to me by a New Yorker during winter break. 

And let me add, Californians deal with the weather in a perfectly normal way. We are not the only ones that complain in the snow. As a matter of fact, my friend (an inhabitant of Western Massachusetts) is complaining at this very moment of the ......

"disgusting, cold, wet, white crap, that is falling from the sky and ruining my freakin life."

So stop hating on my people, you Northerners. We know that we come from the best part of the country and you can attempt to convince us otherwise but we know better. And the difference between Californians and New Englanders (and this is a huge generalization and a joke) is that Californians think that we come from the best part of the country, New Englanders think they are the best people in the country. So to all my North-easterners, us Californians will deal with the snow however we feel fit. We will whine, we will make a big deal out of 1 inch of snow, and we will slip on fall on the ice. But know this, when we go home for winter break, think about how much it sucks being snowed in when we are free to do whatever we please. 

Paper or Plastic?

Willing to spend 5 cents per bag next time you buy something at CVS? That's something you may have to consider if the D.C. City Council passes new legislation that would raise a 5 cent tax on plastic and paper bags used at grocery stores, drug stores, and street vendors.

According to a GW Hatchet article published on February 26, this new law aims to clean up the Anacostia River, which is most heavily polluted by plastic bags, among other trash. And while supporters of the legislation recognize that there is concern over increased prices during the recession, they also point out the obvious: customers won't have to spend more if they bring reusable bags. In other words, the law would both help clean up the Anacostia River and decrease the use of disposable bags by encouraging people to be more environmentally conscious while shopping.

The Washington Post's discussion of the legislation notes another point of concern:

Critics also say there's a financial burden on the poor who would be charged for bags that would normally be free.

Not an issue, argues Tommy Wells, D.C. Council member and author of the bill. The city plans to provide free bags to low-income residents. In doing so, they further encourage all D.C. residents to stay environmentally friendly.

Moreover, those who would choose to pay the tax would contribute to much-needed city revenue. Just look at Ireland as an example of a successful bag tax. According to the BBC back in 2002:

A tax on plastic shopping bags in the Republic of Ireland has cut their use by more than 90% and raised millions of euros in revenue, the government says.

The tax of 15 cents per bag was introduced five months ago in an attempt to curb litter, and the improvement had been immediate and "plain to see", said Environment Minister Martin Cullen.

Will the tax be successful in D.C.? We'll have to wait and see.

Can you hear me now?

Commuters can expect more bars in more places when riding Washington D.C.'s metro. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced last Friday that they have made deals with a variety of service providers to expand their wireless service.

Four major cell phone companies -- Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, AT&T and T-Mobile -- will build a new wireless infrastructure in the underground rail system during the next four years.

Originally, customers of Verizon - the service provider claiming to be America's largest and most reliable network - were the privileged few who could chat it up with their friends and families while on the metro. With this announcement, the rest of the mobile community can rejoice.

Riding the metro during rush hour, you can see most passengers clutching their blackberry or iPhone, eagerly waiting to get back above ground to check their email or make a call. Now riders can stop playing block breaker and get a head start on that days work!

In addition to the practical benefits of the expanded service, like being able to email your employer if the metro is delayed and you will be late to the staff meeting, the enhanced reception will add some needed abbrevs to the text lexicon, such as:

• otm = on the metro
• stotoabl = single tracking on the orange and blue line

Just so everyone knows how far we've come, watch an ad for the "first cell phone" below:

Time to Reform the JEC?

At 12:30 p.m. last Friday, students finally found out who would be going into a run-off for the Presidency of the Student Association. Even that late at night, there was excitement and celebration.

But the results were supposed to be released at 9:30 p.m. What happened in the three hours between? Largely nothing. People stood around. Every half hour starting around 10:30, they would announce the winners of one of the smaller contests...after reading off the hundreds of write-ins for each post.

The website for the Joint Elections Committee said:

We ask that people begin gathering in Columbian Square starting around 9:00pm. The results will be announced as soon as possible after that.

I don't know about you, but where I'm from...12:30 isn't as soon as possible after 9.

And the worst part is, the results are all electronic! I realize that they need to verify the votes, and check to see if any of the write-ins are legitimate, but come on! Reading them all off, going by them one by one, doesn't that seem a little bit unnecessary? George W. Bush, even if he had won, is not going to come serve as CCAS-U Senator. And though I was happy that somebody had written me in for that very same post (As you can tell, it was a very tough competition between me and the former President), I don't really care.

So here's what I'm proposing, and somebody tell me if I'm crazy:
1. Get rid of the write-in spot unless there are less candidates than there are positions. Unless:
2. Somebody registers in advance to be a write-in candidate. This is the way it's done in Connecticut, and it saves the registrars of voters days in counting unnecessary ballots.

Maybe next year we can ensure that this all runs a lot more smoothly.