UCF SGA Presidential Election in Doubt
News, UCF SGA — By Andrew Stein on February 27, 2010 at 9:44 pmTUESDAY UPDATE: The hearing on the election violation submitted by Kyle Schumacher is set to begin at 11:15 a.m. Tuesday.
KnightNews.com wants to point out, that if we hadn’t investigated and found out Schumacher filed this violation, and interviewed him about it, you likely would have no idea who filed it and why — even as the hearing starts.
That is because UCF has refused to release any information on this violation, other than the time, to KnightNews.com or any other media we are aware of on campus. UCF has not fulfilled our public records request for the violation put in Friday.
It is very possible, given our current dispute over records, that when UCF does release the records, Schumacher’s name will be blacked out. Making it possible, under UCF’s interpretation of privacy laws, that a student could cause the SGA president-elect to be thrown out of office — and you’d never know the name of the student who caused it to happen.
KnightNews.com will add this issue to Our Fight for Free Speech and let you know if the violation is blacked out — if and when we do receive it.
Although Mike Kilbride and Taylor Lochrane were elected Student Body President and Vice President this past Wednesday, KnightNews.com has uncovered exclusive details about the doubt now being cast on whether or not the results of the elections will decide who actually takes office.
UCF Homecoming King Kyle Schumacher, a write-in candidate who came in third place with his running mate J.B. Corey, submitted an election violation memorandum to the Election Commission on Friday before 5 p.m., according to Schumacher.
The memo charges both candidates with using university property in order to collect votes, Schumacher said in an exclusive phone interview with KnightNews.com. The property he referred to includes the Student Union’s power cords, which are funded by the Activity and Service Fee — money straight from students’ pockets — as well as the UCF wireless network.
UPDATE: Read Schumacher’s Late Breaking Statement Issued Sunday Night.
According to UCF’s “Use of Information Technologies and Resources” policy, “The university and its employees are prohibited from using any university resources in support of a political campaign or for campaign fund raising, even under a reimbursement arrangement. An example of prohibited use would be a university employee using university e-mail or Web or telephone resources to solicit support of a political candidate or to raise funds for a candidate.” Click here to view the entire policy.
“If you use campus wireless Internet in biased (voting) tents, I’d argue that’s soliciting support,” Schumacher said, referring to the policy above.
Schumacher feels candidates should not be allowed to use student-funded property for their political gain. Schumacher pointed out you can’t campaign for political candidates like Charlie Crist using campus resources, and said it would be hard to refute the office of SGA President, which oversees a $15 million budget of state money and sits on UCF’s Board of Trustees, is not a political candidate that also should be banned.
Schumacher does not plan on attending the election hearing to defend his submissions because he said it was knowingly scheduled at a time when he must be at his paid internship. The hearing is scheduled for late Tuesday morning, according to Marlee Popluder, Chief Election Commissioner.
Schumacher made it clear he was not “out to get Kilbride,” but is trying to keep our university responsible for its actions and all rules applied fairly.
Although Schumacher doubts the Election Commission will agree with him, he says “if that miracle of God happened, I’d be happy to be the next SGA President.”
KnightNews.com made a public records request for a copy of the violation submitted by Schumacher on Friday morning by sending an e-mail to Popluder and UCF’s General Counsel, but the e-mail was not returned until we asked a second time on Saturday.
“Sorry but I do not have a copy of the violation electronically,” Popluder wrote.
KnightNews.com is currently in a dispute with the General Counsel’s office over whether or not the office should charge us an estimated $100 to black out the names of Registered Student Organizations’ leaders to process a public records request for budget request packets submitted to the Activity and Service Fee Committee.
The General Counsel’s Office and an Office of Student Involvement Advisor both claim that information is protected by student privacy laws known as FERPA, even though the RSO leaders are requesting state money — A&SF dollars — to control and spend. UCF admitted to KnightNews.com recently that SGA leaders names are not protected by FERPA.
KnightNews.com asked how UCF is allowed to publish names and e-mail addresses of RSO leaders on this OSI Web site without those students signing a FERPA waiver, but Christa Coffey, an OSI advisor, has not responded to that question sent by e-mail at about 3:45 p.m. Friday afternoon.
In an earlier e-mail, however, Coffey said that the names of students published on the OSI Web site are “not necessarily” the same names on the budget request form.
It’s not clear if SGA’s and the UCF General Counsel’s refusal to release the document when requested Friday was related to the dispute with KnightNews.com regarding releasing the names of students on SGA forms — considering Schumacher’s name would be on the form and a decision would have to be made regarding whether to black it out or not before releasing it.
KnightNews.com was unable to get official confirmation from UCF that Schumacher submitted the violation or any other details about it.
Schumacher, however, told KnightNews.com Popluder originally told him the violation hearing was scheduled for Friday, but later changed it to Tuesday morning so the violation could be properly notarized.
Schumacher suggested someone else may have pushed her to change the date.
“I think she called someone else who said, ‘Did they follow this rule?’” Schumacher said, when asked about the unexpected rescheduling.
KnightNews.com expects more information from Popluder during her normal business hours on Monday.
KnightNews.com is still in contact with attorneys and First Amendment watchdog groups regarding Our Fight for Free Speech outside the Student Union and access issues for public records. Check back for updates regarding that, and for our continued coverage about this violation.
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42 Comments
Doubt schu and jb corey thought of this scheme in their rooms before the election happened. Things need to get done and these guys are trying to straighten sga out. They obviously did more research and follow the rules more than other candidates. Presidents should be law abiding as well as any other student. Rules are rules, punishable when enforced, hopefully for the better. No doubt some administration is corrupt and controlling the hearing date.
I’ve had it with people attacking Knight News.
What fanciful and fabricated stories are you talking about? Here’s what I’ve seen from Knight News in the last couple weeks:
1. They exposed the tailgate controversy, and contradiction between UCF, SGA and the Orlando Sentinel.
2. They forced SGA to release a copy of the A&SF Budget. Now, the Future is going every Friday, and between both news sources, we found out about the carpet they’re trying to use our money to buy in the Union.
3. They endorsed a candidate, and called it an editorial. BIG FUCKING DEAL. The Future did this every year until this year. What happened when the Future didn’t endorse Logan and Logan lost? He cut their funding to zero. I’m sure the Future was advised not to endorse, since the election was shaping up to be so close. And in the end it was.
4. Coverage of Zeta’s philanthropy event.
5. They investigated UCF’s attempts to brush a mold infestation under the rug.
6. They showed us pictures of a man with machine guns in a UCF area.
7. They broke the news of this election violation, even though UCF apparently didn’t want us to know about it. They interviewed Kyle and quoted him. It was fair.
What has Knight News “fabricated?” If you are upset with them writing editorial opinions, get over it. They have that right. They covered Kilbride’s campaign with a fair, unbiased reporter. Same with Seeff’s.
I’m happy there is a media source that actually gives a damn and will stand up and fight for our First Amendment rights. I am happy Kyle is standing up to fight for our rights. I wish more people would see things for what they are.
I agree that pizza and t-shirts mask the real issues and cause us to lose sight of the goals that we are trying to reach through the elections process but without them no one would vote. The average student honestly doesn’t care all that much about SGA and its activities (unless they are reading one of the fanciful and fabricated stories that KnightNews writes), and therefore doesn’t care who wins. There is already plenty of confusion over the elections statutes, so adding more rules about spending limits and boundaries would only make it worse. I do feel things should be simplified however.
Sidenote: If kyle cares so much about this subject and is spending countless hours researching and writing statements why can’t he manage to show up to the hearing? He should have used his convincing arguments to persuade his boss to let him take an early lunch; people do it all the time!
I’ve been waiting for some comments before I threw my 2 cents in on the topic.
I have been a heavy campaigner for the last 3 SGA presidential elections and I would say it’s about an 75/25 mark on students who vote at the booths on campus. 75% of the students vote for 2 reasons: 1) Free gifts (i.e. pizza, shirts, water, stickers) and 2) to get it over with and not be bothered anymore. The other 25% actually listen to platform points before voting.
Jess, you are very ignorant to believe that students at these stations who are soliticing votes aren’t doing so with pizza and sitting there telling them who to vote for at the computer while they are logging onto MyUCF. Yes, a student has the ability to vote for anyone they want, but you are not going to win this debate on the “freebies” issue.
I am not directly involved in SGA, but I now have a mission for the next year before I graduate and I encourage all who is frustrated with the way these ridiculous elections are run to join Schu and I. I really want to end the “pizza for votes” tradition we’ve had over the years and it needs to end NOW while we still have leaders on this campus with the passion to change this crap. If you want to join this escapade, please email me at rgarrett371@gmail.com. It’s gonna be a tough run and before we can go to Senate/SGA with the issue we need solutions to replace the current trend.
Lastly, if you would like to refute my opinions/comments, please have the balls to either A)contact me personally or B)leave your full name so that you have credibility.
I have a lot more opinions on this whole issue, but Schu said it better than I could.
Classic antics! As a senator and someone who hangs around the SGA office a lot, Kyle has begged for election reform since last elections. Maybe it was just been drown out by his views on palm trees, fishing on campus, and sprinkers that go off in the rain. Have to admit, he gets more done in SGA without being in SGA than most get done who are in SGA.
If Kyle was really so concerned about this, why has he never done anything about it before? For all his talk, he’s never done anything to make any changes.
I know for a fact that the Kilbride ticket spent 3 times the amount of money the Seeff ticket did. I know this because I work for one of the stores they got their food from. We donated 99% of it. I know they got their tshirts for pennies, just like their palm cards and signs. We cut them a amazing deal because they were nice guys, which is what i imagined happened with the rest of their stuff.
Actually…”you’re” an idiot. Read my statement again because you clearly misunderstood it.
I wasn’t talking about the total amount of UCF students, and neither was he. Schu is suggesting that 90% of the over 9,000 students who voted in this election only did so because they got something out of it, food or otherwise…there just wasn’t that much food (or campaigners) to go around for this to be so. Clearly, many students voted of their own accord.
And PS, the assertion that “this election system” favors the person that has the most money is a joke. EVERY ELECTION, from junior class president at Oviedo High School to president of the United States, favors the candidate with the most money…obviously. That is a systemic issue within our society and has no solution, because it really isn’t a problem – just the nature of elections.
He makes a few valid points and raises a few interesting questions. Reconsidering the processes any traditional institution, which he is encouraging, is generally a good idea. However, I question his motives…and additionally, there are so many glaring factual omissions within his commentary that it comprimises his entire argument.
Your an idiot.
“10% of the student body vote in a presidential election. While this is an admirable statistic, it is also problematic. I would surmise that 90% of those students”
90% of the 10%.
I think he makes plenty of valid points…
WOW there’s a whole hell of a lot wrong with this letter.
Pizza, food, and handouts are NOT in exchange for votes – that is called bribery. They are for all students, and their purpose is to draw attention to the voting station, NOT to use as a reward. If a candidate is seen only handing out pizza as a “gift” to students who voted for them, that is absolutely a violation of statutes and should be reported. Additionally, any student can vote for any candidate on any laptop out there, even if it’s at a biased station.
You “surmising” that 90% of students only voted because they got a slice of pizza doesn’t make sense given the election results. First of all, there wasn’t that much pizza and free food to account for all of those votes. Second, wouldn’t that mean that the person who had the most stuff would have won? Were you, like, asleep last week? The Kilbride-Lochrane campaign was outnumbered and outspent at least 2-1 by their competition – and that is an extremely conservative estimate. Seeff-Wolkenfeld had more food, more volunteers, more handbills, more shirts, more voting stations, more publicity, more everything. And yet…remind me again who won?
Additionally, remember LAST year’s election? Similar situation – those flashy candidates with a ton of free food, overzealous campaigners, expensive signs and empty promises? Yeah, they lost too.
In my experience as a campaigner I completely disagree that students only ask about pizza – I’ve campaigned for three years now and many, many times I’ve been asked to describe my candidate’s platform, or answer questions about the election or SGA in general. Though it’s true that the vast majority will just keep walking, when students ask questions of the campaigners, they do ask for relevant information.
Another thing: the neutral voting stations set up for votes also used the wi-fi. Was that unethical, too?
And PS: GWU is a private school with less than half of our students…so how is that comparison valid or relevant?
Schumacher, your letter was EXCELLENTLY written. I see you becoming a very successful lawyer in the future. Congrats on your intelligence.
What excellent writing, a bit lofty and verbose but overall phenomenal. Hats off to Schumacher.
Sga is one big wasteful scam.
What a shame!!!
Keep spending our money!
Question, the people i voted for, Daniel & Kevin (i know cause i got a shirt for voting – thanks!) were using wireless internet cards and car batteries to keep their station going behing VAB LOL. When I asked them about it they said they had a bunch of stations like that set up all around campus. So does this include them? The Kyle kid should call them lol.
Bullshit. You could have scheduled it at 7pm at night when he was off work — just like you do senate meetings. We all know the administration is controlling this….
The Hearing must to be with in 2 school days of the violation, this rule changed like a month ago, so that’s probably why there was confusion over the date. It was not just planned “because he has to be at his internship”
George,
It seems to us like the problem with the records is with UCF’s General Counsel’s office and administration. We are working on an update about why we may sue UCF for records. Our update will include a similar fight another student newspaper had with their administration. The university in that case backed down, and they had to pay the newspaper’s legal fees.
Look for that update tonight or tomorrow.
Stein,
You also might want to follow up with this
KnightNews.com made a public records request for a copy of the violation submitted by Schumacher on Friday morning by sending an e-mail to Popluder and UCF’s General Counsel, but the e-mail was not returned until we asked a second time on Saturday.
“Sorry but I do not have a copy of the violation electronically,” Popluder wrote.
It doesn’t matter if she has it electronically or not, she still has to provide it to you.
Gotta enjoy Schu’s Shenanigans… I’m pretty sure he was firm supporter of the Kilbride campaign. Having lived with him, to answer the questions involving his experience, its more than yours.
Kid is a genius and UCF is lucky to have a student that truly stands up for what he believes… He has already improved the quality of this campus and will leave it a better place before he graduates.
I think Kyle should skip all this SGA bullshit and file an emergency injunction in the real court (like Beta did) and have this election thrown out… have him named president… have a re-vote… basically any of the options you just listed.
We have rules written for a reason. Shcumacher is just clearly highliting the irony of our student GOVERNMENT association not even following our OWN rules. About “rocking the boat”, some of the greatest people in history were seen as just “rocking the boat”.
For everyone whining, go amend the rules and there would be no need to rock the boat, morons. Schumacher is the only thing making SGA the slightest bit interesting.
“You’re making a mockery of UCF SGA”
politics alone is a fucking mockey.
While I’d love to see a hostile takeover of SGA by two people worse than Daniel and Kevin, the violation will never get through the Judicial branch of SGA.
And, even if there was some “Miracle of God” and there was a major violation against both tickets, it would probably result in a “special election”, where all the current candidates (including the write-ins) would go for another election OR it would possibly result in a “new election,” where the write-in candidates would probably be the only candidates because the other candidates would have to be “disqualified” from the race. It all depends on what ends up being the ruling.
But its doubtful that anything will come from this.
All of you are making an absolute mockery of SGA. What once was a superb organization has been losing its credibility because of narcissistic people like Kyle Schumacher and this JB Corey guy. If these two people were to become STUDENT BODY President and VP the school would crumble. These kids are a joke, they are fraternity brothers who think they are owed something without working for it. I think they should both find a large cliff and hold hands and jump off while kissing each other. I seriously think they schemed this whole plan up before the elections started together in their bedroom. And whoever wrote that these two would have won if they ran are just as delusional as these two are. Way to go making greek life look better everyday Schumacher. Someone should impeach this guy from every leaderhship position that he has before this gets any worse. Also, you can see Schumacher starring in the movie “American Psycho”.
To make this sound even fishier… Check Kyle Schumacher’s FB profile.
He supported Kilbride and Lochrane!!! This is starting to look like a soap opera.
I agree. This is complete bs.
So basically UCF will release our names when they want to, but not on information they don’t want you to see?
Don’t these assholes sell our names to companies too? I guess it’s ok when they can make money, but not when we want to see how the money is being spent.
“KnightNews.com asked how UCF is allowed to publish names and e-mail addresses of RSO leaders on this OSI Web site without those students signing a FERPA waiver, but Christa Coffey, an OSI advisor, has not responded to that question sent by e-mail at about 3:45 p.m. Friday afternoon.
In an earlier e-mail, however, Coffey said that the names of students published on the OSI Web site are “not necessarily” the same names on the budget request form.”
This shouldn’t be. Good luck trying to get some information from that lady…
Does anyone know the experience these guys have?
This election did not have a favored ticket.. just more of a “i hate these guys less then i hate the other ones”…
lolzcat!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, I’m having a problem viewing your site in my browser. Could you please check this. My browser is Opera 7 btw.
Isn’t this the same Kyle Schmacher who used some stuff that “belongs” to UCF to get elected at Homecoming King? Should he be taken off his throne? Seriously, find other things to do than rock this boat.
interesting about FERPA… but then again, everything is sloppily done around a school, papers are waived, people know people, its all a shit hole and everyone is trying to make a f*ckin dollar; what people will try for money these days..
SCHU would have won if he ran! he’s got a good head on his shoulders and could do some real good for ucf! no more wasted money on palm trees
If Kyle and J.B. ran they would have won anyway so this would be the best thing for the school. It wont happen but it would be great if it did.
I hope this actually pulls thro.. these two should of ran in the first place.
Oprah’s Alien Baby!
Brad Pitt’s secret gay lover!
Lose 40 pounds in 40 hours!
SGA election in doubt!
I’ve said it before… This is exactly why nobody takes you guys seriously! This is getting pathetic.
Stein… you won’t let go will you…
For using power cords…. really… sounds like he’s gonna be a lawyer in the future. Even a “great” politician.
YOU ARE A FUCKING BROHATER, Do you understand if you didn’t campaign on campus there would be about 6 votes all together…its SGA let it go brohaters
But those using the wifi to vote are students who pay the fee to use. So does it
still count then?
Good, hold them responsible for their actions.
and that is the same wireless network that Schu used to get himself elected as a senator… what a joke…