By Nicole F. Park

Daily Titan Staff Writer

Voting for the board of directors of Associated Students Inc. began yesterday at 8 a.m. and ends today at 8 p.m.

There are four voting sites on campus, with online voting available from any computer with access to the Cal State Fullerton network. This is also how all votes are submitted by CSUF students at the Irvine campus. Online voting is available at Vote.Fullerton.edu upon sign-in with a valid CSUF campus-wide ID number. Individual candidate profiles are also available to view on the site. Votes may be submitted on campus at marked ASI polling tents at Mihaylo Hall, McCarthy Hall and the entrances of Pollak Library and the Titan Student Union.

The board of directors for ASI sits at the top of the student government’s hierarchy alongside ASI President Juliana Santos. The board is comprised of 16 students, two each from the eight academic colleges on campus. Board members are elected to allocate funds and vote on outcomes within the board, their respective colleges and the university.

Board members are only permitted to serve for the college in which they major. The same rule applies for any voting student. Students may only vote for one of their own college’s candidates. In the event that a student is a double-major, the student is only permitted to vote for the first major they declared. Undeclared students may choose any one of the eight colleges to submit their vote for.

Senior business major Nick Klaiber, 22, cast his ballot Wednesday morning.

“As a student, I feel that we need good leadership and that it should come from other students. We need more leadership in the university and in my college. It is important to vote for leaders who will enunciate our student needs, especially within our colleges,” he said.

As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, the unofficial polling tally, reported by ASI Elections Commissioner Genevieve Aldred, reached 446 student votes.

“It has been my goal this semester to make elections more visible and accessible to CSUF students,”Aldred said.

She stressed the importance of voting: “The board is the voice of the students.”

On Tuesday, Aldred hosted “Coffee with the Candidates,” an event featuring a panel of 12 of the 14 candidates, an open round of questions from the student body and unlimited free Starbucks coffee.

Sophomore theater major Amanda Petrocelly attended the event to learn more about her college’s potential representatives.

“The free coffee sparked my interest, but I’m glad to be here. I didn’t vote last year because I didn’t really know what was going on and didn’t want to just pick a name off the list. Now I’m going to know who is the best vote for me,” Petrocelly said.

“Now that we’re broke, it’s even more important to pick someone who knows where to put our money,” she said after Tuesday’s informational forum.

To add incentive to voting, after casting their ballots on campus, students will be treated to Halloween candy, “I Voted” stickers and pens, along with the chance to win one of three $25 gift cards to Yard House in a drawing sponsored by Communications 451-C’s advertisement campaign with Honda Insight.

The newly-elected board members will be announced at 9 p.m. in the TSU Legislative Chambers Thursday. The official announcement will be posted on the door of TSU 207 on Friday, and the newly appointed board members will take office Jan. 1, 2010.