The Cadre -

3 November 1998

UPEI News aS

By MELISSA DOUCETTE

Science students will be voting for their representatives a second time.

The decision was made on Sunday by the UPEI Stu- dent Union Council in response to concerns surrounding the recent elections.

According toarticle IV.6 of the UPEI Student Union Elections and Referenda By- Law, polling stations are to operate between the hours of © 9:00 am and 5 pm on each ) regular voting day

But on October 29, the » last day of voting, the polls closed an hour eerly. Biology students returning from a field trip were surprised to find the polls closed, and therefore were unable to vote in the elections.

One candidate was up- set. According to reports, he claims he may have had enough support to fill one of two va- cancies had the polling station been left open until its sched- uled time.

Stephen Lewis and Stephen Hann, Vice-President Finance and Vice-President External, respectively, acted as Chief Returning Officer (CRO) for the election. The CRO oversees the operation of the election, and normally the position of CRO is filled by a non-council member of the Union.

Since council was un- able to find anyone to fill the position and no one applied, Hann and Lewis were ap- pointed to fulfil the duties of the CRO. The wrong closing time was given to campus se- curity, who staff the polling station, and both Hann and Lewis take full responsibility for the mistake.

Asaresult ofthe mix-up, council decided Sunday night

to call a by-election for the position of science representa- tive. All other election results were accepted.

In accordance with the Elections By-law, article V.6,

council is empowered to de- termine voting dates and nomi- nation deadlines for by-elec- tions. The dates set for the science representative by- election is Monday, Novem-

ber 9, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, and Tuesday, November 10, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. No new nominations will be ac- cepted.

Overall, voter turnout for

By-election called for science rep.

Recent council election marked by poor voter turnout

the elections was poor. Only five percent of the entire stu- dent population voted,

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UPEISU forced to have another by-election

On-line registration in the works for UPEI

By RYANLUND

Registration has alwa beunadifficulttimect year or UPEI students, but help may soon be on its way. University officials are planning to take the registration services of UPEI on-line, a service which is expected to be completely upand running by July of 1999.

The former process saw students lining up for hours in order to obtain their desired courses.

John DeGrace, Univer- sity Registrar, has indicated that the upcoming registration, beginning November 12, will be the last time that students will everhave to wait in line for

registration. If all goes ac- cording to plan, a trail run of

this service is scheduled for

the March registration for the summer classes.

The objective of the new

is to replace the cur-

rent staff-directed registration

services with an on-line, web-

based, student-directed regis-

tration system.

“Students will still beable to register through the regis- tration office in person,” says DeGrace, but adds that he ex- pects that 85 to 90 percent of students will use the new sys-

tem.

Many students be- lieve they need to be first in line on registration day to ensure their places in required classes. In most cases this is a myth, and very few students are ever denied the courses that

they want regardless of their position in line, according to the Registrar.

With the adoption of the on-line service, first and sec- ond year students will have an equal opportunity in register- ing for courses. Third and fourth year students will have a slight advantage.

The first day of regis- tration will be dedicated to fourth year students only, with the second day dedicated to both third and forth year stu- dents. This preferential treat- ment will help fourth year stu- dents to meet the necessary requirments for graduation.

For the students who feel compelled to wait in line at registration, the new on-line services could prove to be a

- photo by Richard Haines

worthy investment, and could relieve some undue stress.

Still, this method is not without faults.

The Registrar will be more strict with prerequisites to courses and class sizes. Also, instead of lining up out- side the Sports Centre, stu- dents will have to wait in line for the use of a computer. With only roughly 300 com- puters on campus, finding a free computer could be quite a chore. But many students may find it an better alternative to being wet and cold.

This service will also give students the ability to reg- ister, drop, add, and discon-

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