Students are not the only ones to get miffed about overzealous campaigning.
Facilities Management personnel have expressed concern over student election propaganda covering Grounds, particularly candidates' campaign posters.
"On an average day, posters cost $50 a day to remove. Because of elections that cost doubles," Landscape Superintendent Jeffrey Ertel said. He said facilities personnel usually remove posters once a day, but now it is becoming necessary to increase the frequency of removal to two or three times each day.
But Student Council Vice President Brock Jolly and Elections Committee Co-Chairman Jonathan Bertsch said they never have been contacted and are unaware of any problems with facilities regarding campaign materials.
Article V of the Student Council Bylaws clearly outlines appropriate candidate campaigning procedures and specifies designated areas for placement of campaign materials.
Sidewalk chalking is not too much of a headache to facilities personnel, as it merely washes away with rain, but posters have become a significant issue with facilities management.
Facilities personnel also are questioning the placement of campaign paraphernalia.
According to Article V, "Campaign materials may only be posted on University-approved, general use bulletin boards," which are cleared off once a week by University employees and disposed of properly.
Ertel said he noticed that posters have been hung on unapproved places such as lampposts and columns - taboo areas for student campaigning. He said hanging posters on unapproved areas further increases the cost of maintenance on Grounds because such practices cause problems, such as paint chipping, that need to be repaired.
Jolly said Council takes appropriate actions to ensure that candidates follow all regulations. "If posters are placed illegally we contact that candidate and ask them to remove them," he said.
He added that he understands the concerns with having a massive amount of campaign materials posted and said Council has taken steps to decrease the amount of posters and chalkings.
Both Jolly and Bertsch cited the regulation in Article V which states "candidates may post only one flyer on each approved bulletin board" as a means of reducing the amount of propaganda.
Ertel said he has received complaints from community members regarding posters on Rugby Road in areas beyond the jurisdiction of facilities personnel. Residents in surrounding neighborhoods are discontented with the appearance of the posters and are upset when posters fall and create a considerable amount of litter.
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