The Loveliest Village

Auburn Sustainability Action Program (ASAP) wants to take your picture today on the concourse for their “What’s Your Plan?” campaign. The campaign is part of a national New Voters Project organized by student Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG).

Brittany Branyon, co-chair of ASAP, held the first day of photo shoots yesterday. The organization will also be out there today looking for more students interested in becoming involved in the campaign. Students will be posing for a photo with a “What’s Your Plan?” sign. The photos will be sent to presidential candidates and state representatives to urge them to address issues like global warming.
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Ignite Auburn is holding an activism event Tuesday, November 27 at 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m on Cater Lawn.  It is a memorial dedicated to those who are losing or have lost their lives due to tobacco.  They will be placing T-shirts on the lawn every 72 seconds to represent a life just lost in America.

“We know that the public understands how deadly smoking can be to smokers,� said Leah Huskey, Ignite Auburn Vice President, “but we want to show people how extensive that fact really is.  The 72 second statistic represents people who die from just breathing in others’ smoke, too.  Even children are included.�

Ignite Auburn is an organization dedicated to the prevention of youth smoking.  For the past two years, they have participated in the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids’s Kick Butts Day.  Last year they organized a carnival for the children of Project Uplift and others in the Auburn-Opelika communities.  

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E lections are meant for everyone’s participation, but there are some people who have much difficulty with this task. In an effort to help disabled people in the voting process, the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering has teamed up with Indiana University, the Auburn University Center for Governmental Services and IBM. (more…)

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When we are traveling to the polls to cast the ballot of our choice, how often do we think of those with disabilities and if they are having the opportunity to place their vote? Voters with disabilities face barriers and discrimination nationwide. Auburn University is partnering with IBM, Indiana University and the AU Center for Governmental Services to make a change in the voting system and give voters with disabilities a chance to have their voices heard through their votes.

Receiving a grant from the AU Outreach Office, Professor Juan Gilbert of Auburn University began research for the voting system on Oct. 19, 2006 with a team of 10 Auburn graduate students and faculty members. The advanced electronic voting system they began working on is called Prime III; it enables those with certain disabilities to vote in elections with privacy and simplicity. The name Prime stands for premier voting systems and the number III incorporates the three methods of voting used by the program: visual, touch and speech.

Gilbert believes Prime III will be successful and helpful. “It will enable a greater group of people to participate in our electoral process, plus it is secure,� states Gilbert. He envisioned the idea for Prime III after hearing a specialist in electronic voting talk about the flaws in existing electronic voting systems. “It was noted then that electronic voting systems were found to be quite vulnerable to hackers, faulty code, lack of recount ability and human error,� says Gilbert.

Prime III is an electronic voting system for people with disabilities such as, hearing, visual and physical; however, it can be used by everyone. The voting system incorporates the current voting process that the voter is accustomed to using and significantly improves upon it. “This approach allows voters with disabilities to remain confident and calm while using the enhanced voting system,� states Gilbert. “They will have the option of using the touch screen, headset with an embedded microphone or both to cast their ballot.�

Also, voter privacy will be secured by using randomly generated numbers during the time the voter views or hears their options. Then to ensure accuracy of vote counts and protect against malicious intent, a barcode system and printed ballot will be used while the voter is able to review and confirm their vote.

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