"Elections? What elections?"

Although Undergraduate Student Government (USG) elections are Wednesday, many students are asking that very question.

"I couldn't have even told you elections were coming up," Rich Morris (senior-journalism) said. "The whole thing feels like a big in-crowd thing."

Many students said they didn't know about elections because they've hardly seen anyone campaigning.

In past years, students said USG campaigns were more vocal -- with people yelling, singing and dancing in the HUB-Robeson Center -- and more visual -- with fliers, banners, T-shirts and bandanas.

"In recent years, you couldn't have missed it," Kelly Collins (senior-natural resources) said.

"People would get dressed up and scream stuff at you. This year, I haven't noticed anything," she added.

USG Head Elections Commissioner Diana Maxham said the atmosphere of each year's campaigns rests solely on what the candidates choose to do.

"If the campaigners aren't out there letting students know it's election season, there's nothing we can do," she said.

Many candidates weren't surprised to hear that students haven't seen much campaigning.

"The more in-your-face campaign you're running, people seem really annoyed," vice presidental candidate Ross Moore said. "We want to be approachable rather than 'BAM! Here we are.' "

Presidential candidate Mahmoud Ablan said his campaign is taking a similar approach.

"Things I saw last year, like people throwing things in people's faces and yelling down the hallways, are very uncalled for," he said. "We're all adults here -- we're old enough to make our own decisions."

Students also said they didn't know about elections because they feel unconnected to USG.

Presidential candidate Robert Dinkelspiel said student interest could have been drawn away from USG because of all the infighting, such as the impeachment last semester of USG President Galen Foulke.

"It's a culmination of a year's worth of bad USG press and the things the current administration has done," Dinkelspiel said.

"The [USG] administration doesn't reach out to the students. It's going to be hard to win back [their] interest," he added.

Other students said they feel that the candidates haven't been around to talk to students individually.

Tyler Lacock (junior-computer engineering) and his friends Jay Skapinac (junior-broadcast journalism) and Josh Miller (junior-mechanical engineering) said they're in the HUB-Robeson Center all the time and have never seen a candidate approach a student about their campaign.

"If I was running, I would stand in the HUB and be available to students," Lacock said. "I'd go talk to them."

However, some candidates said they have connected with students.

"We're going around to student groups and trying to catch students one on one and talk issues with them," presidential candidate Mark Taticchi said.

Lacock said another problem is that current advertising doesn't stand out.

"Nobody has a cool, catchy slogan," Lacock said. "I would have a whole marketing scheme with balloons, buttons and T-shirts that said 'Rock out with Lacock out.' "

However, Taticchi said it is more important to "talk message, not push a color or name recognition."

Many candidates said the lack of flashy advertising is a result of a change of focus in this year's candidates.

"We're just a good bunch of candidates who are more focused about issues than we are about campaigning," presidential candidate Scott Sherbine said.

As the election gets closer, however, many candidates said students should expect the energy level of the elections to change.

"Wait 'til it gets to be crunch time," Foulke said. "You'll see everybody coming out tough."