Congressman Tim Walz and Al Franken at WSU

Sponsor: WSU College Democrats
Date/time: Wednesday October 29, 2008 at 7:30 P.M.
Place: Lourdes Hall, North Lounge
Contact name: Gerald Strauss, grstraus9954@winona.edu
College Democrat's website: http://studentclubs.winona.edu/wsucd

Please join the WSU Community and the WSU College Democrats as we welcome Congressman Tim Walz, and Al Franken. Election day is less than a week away, and this would be a great opportunity to meet your Congressman, and future United States Senator from Minnesota!

Winona State nursing student rally

Nursing Students for Choice will be hosting a rally to promote the pro-choice vote on October 30. Meet at the corner of Huff and Broadway at 5pm if you are interested in demonstrating. Signs will be provided. For more information contact Annie Stadstad at nursingstudentsforchoice@gmail.com.

Cookies for Candidates: Winona State University

WHO: Pi Sigma Alpha (Political Science Honor Society)
WHAT: "Cookies for Candidates"- Pi Sigma Alpha will be selling sugar cookies for $0.50 each, and these cookies will count as "votes". The cookies will either be marked with an O (Obama) or an M (McCain) and buyers can choose which candidate's cookie they would like to buy. Unlike an actual election, buyers can buy as many cookies as they'd like. At 3:15 pm Pi Sigma Alpha will announce the winner of the election.
WHERE: Lower Hypen- Kryzsko Commons
WHEN: Thursday, October 30th from 11am-3pm

Proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards Pi Sigma Alpha's trip to Washington D.C. next year. For further information contact Pi Sigma Alpha President, Codi Wood, at CCWood8725@winona.edu.

St. Cloud State University Runs Successful Election Day Campaign

St. Cloud State University students and employees, concerned that leaving registration to Election Day has in the past resulted in long lines at polling places, "got out the vote" in a variety of ways this fall. Their efforts resulted in 2,420 registrations by the Oct. 14 deadline for advance registration.

The campus-wide non-partisan campaign focused on educating, registering and helping students become active and engaged voting citizens. Among the many get-out-the-vote activities were the following:

• Students staffed kiosks during Mainstreet, an outdoor gathering of student organizations, to register voters on Sept. 3.
• The fall Women on Wednesday speaker series is focused on politics, with sessions on citizenship, women and political power, and the impact the election may have on GLBT issues, reproductive rights and discrimination issues.
• Secretary of State Mark Ritchie visited campus on Sept. 30 to discuss "Free and Fair Elections" and show a documentary on the 2004 election.
• The University Program Board sponsored Decision ‘08 on Oct. 7, a night of discussion and education that included voter registration.
• St. Cloud community members staffed kiosks in the student dining hall and other campus locations to facilitate advance registration and help students find polling locations.
• E-mails to students throughout the fall listed non-partisan sites with voter guides and self-assessments to help students match their political views with candidates’ positions, provided the secretary of state Web site that answers common voter questions and allows for on-line registration, and listed the Web sites of other secretary of state offices in the Midwest for students choosing to vote in their home states by absentee ballot.

The campaign will conclude the week before Election Day with e-mail reminders and voting information, as well as a mock election in the residence halls on Oct. 27.

A Night to Honor Jim Ramstad

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas is proud to honor Representative Jim Ramstad for his 18 years of outstanding service in the United States Congress.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008
7:00 p.m.
Adath Jeshurun Congregation
10500 Hillside Lane West
Minnetonka, MN 55305
Free and open to the public.
Please RSVP to Jacob Millner at (612) 338-7816 or Jacob@MinnDakJCRC.org.
Dessert reception to follow the program.

Debates at Winona State University - October 21

Event Title: PSA College Democrats, Independents, Republicans Debate
University Sponser: Political Science Association
Date: Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Purple Rooms 105 & 106
Contact: Lisa Maloney, lmaloney2046@winona.edu

Minnesota State College Student Association surpasses voter registration goal

On October 14 the voter registration deadline in Minnesota passed. College students have done a stunning job of registering both their fellow students and community members. Thanks to the amazing efforts on campus, the student association has more than doubled the goal of 4,000 voter contacts.

MSCSA was very excited to have Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie to present the MSCSA Voter Cups to the winning campuses.

One award was given to the campus with the largest total of voter contacts. The other cup was awarded to the campus with the highest percentage of their FYE contacted, read more here.

Thanks to the efforts MSCSA registered 4,329 new student voters and 4,006 students who were already registered, pledged to vote. This provides a total of 8335 student voter contacts.
Here are the winning campuses.

Highest Number or Contacts:
Inver Hills Community College 1432
Century College 1225
Normandale Community College 1188

Highest Percentage of FYE Contacted:
Anoka Technical College-58.6%
Ridgewater College-Hutchinson-46.0%
Inver Hills Community College-44.5%

Beyond these numbers a couple other campuses deserve mention for their engagement efforts.
MSCTC-Detroit Lakes has held 3 candidate forums and has worked with several community organizations to keep the campus child care center open for parents who wished to attend the event.

Vermillion Community College registered 10% of the population of the city of Ely. Campuses have done many great and amazing things that we will work to chronicle as the election approaches. Keep checking the MSCSA Civic Engagement page for updates during the election.

For more pictures from the Fall Leadership Conference, click here.

Metropolitan State University town hall forum

Metropolitan State University will be hosting a Town Hall Forum with the U.S. Senate candidates in the Great Hall, and on KSTP, on October19th.

Winona State University Hosts Election Panel

WINONA, Minn. (WSU-UC)- Winona State University's Department of Mass Communication and The American Democracy Project will host a panel discussion, "Local Election Coverage: Challenges and Rewards," from 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, in WSU¹s Kryzsko Commons Student Activity Center.

Panelists will address how they handle coverage of political campaigns and the rush of election night news updates, fairness, equal time issues, media bias and audience reactions to negative campaign techniques.

Panel guests include Rusty Cunningham, Publisher, La Crosse Tribune and Winona Daily News; Dave Dicke, News Anchor and Reporter, HBC TV News; Darrell Ehrlick, Editor, Winona Daily News; Mark McPherson, News Anchor/Reporter, WKBT-TV; Bob Sebo, Program Director, KWNO Radio; Noel Sederstrom, News Director, KTTC-TV.

This event is open to students, faculty, staff and the public.

For more information, e-mail Tom Grier, assistant professor of Mass
Communication: tgrier@winona.edu.

Winona State University Election Event

Event Announcement:

The American Democracy Project welcomes Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie for a presentation and panel discussion entitled, "Election Administration: The process to ensure fair, accessible, and accurate elections." Secretary Ritchie will be joined on the panel by Sarah Crowell of Citizens for Election Integrity MN and Holly Davis of MSUSA. The event is scheduled on Tuesday, October 7, 2008 from 4-6PM in Baldwin Lounge, Kryzko Commons. The event is free and open to the university community.

For more information, call Kara Lindaman at 457-5406 or e-mail: klindaman@winona.edu.