tiexp: debate of the month: What to do with votes for dan?
February 17, 2001

In this installment of tiexp's debate of the month, tony and nick sound off on the vote for player four. An unexpected turn came when applicant dan announced her withdrawal from the game. With dan leaving, the vote has a clear outcome: her neck and neck rival and the only other applicant with a large lead, tyler, would almost certainly win. Should tiexp step in, giving dan's votes to rob in the way she requested, or should we not count them at all? Here are the arguments:

Tony: Don't count dan's votes and let tyler win

While it may sound unfair to throw out the votes dan earned, that's typically the way votes go. Gore couldn't have withdrawn and just given his votes to nader. Besides, voters are getting used to being disenfranchised. There's a treasure island in florida, and they went through something similar to this recently. Actually, in their case, gore did withdraw and give all his votes to another guy, so maybe that's not the best example.

It all boils down to: did dan get lots of popular votes to indicate support for her to win, or did dan earn the right, in votes, to choose the outcome?

In the american political system, votes are supposed to indicate democratic support of the people's choice. It's not supposed to be a situation where whoever can get people to vote for them now have the power to do whatever they want. So regardless of the way the political circus runs in dc, sacramento and at the city's civic center, I think we owe it to our loyal readers to take the high road. Dan's votes should not be counted at all.

Besides, tyler has video gear and could help us crank out more film.

Nick: Give dan's votes to rob like she wanted

I think it's easy to solve this problem. Now that dan has backed out of the experiment roommate contest we should give her votes to rob - just like she asked us to do. I know the news of dan leaving the contest is a traumatic event for many, we here at the treasure island experiment are just now getting over the loss. We were completely inconsolable for at least 10 or 15 minutes, but then friends started and those crazy antics put us back in a cheery mood.

Now the question remains - what are we going to do with dan's votes?? Answer - give them to rob just like dan requested. Why? - Beyond the concrete fact that dan wants to give her votes to rob there are other reasons supporting this position:

1 - rob and dan both have three letters in their first name
2 - rob is very far behind and if he doesn't get her votes the whole contest will be very predictable
3 - being predictable is boring
4 - there is never a fourth thing
5 - being boring goes against the rules and moral standing of tiexp.com
6 - dan coerced her friends and family to vote for her so she should get to decide what happens to her votes
7 - do you really need anymore reasons - the choice is clear

Solution - rob gets dan's votes

Tony: Distribute dan's votes evenly among the less popular applicants.

Who says you can only have one opinion? In the proud spirit of countless former presidents: if you don't like that opinion, here's another one: give dan's popularity votes to the unpopular guys.

I have a personal attachment to this opinion. I was the troublemaker in school, the last one picked and the most aggressively singled out for violations of conformity and disruptions of popular thought.

I am a voice in the wilderness, crying out for the afflicted one and the one for whom there is no popularity. Give me your tired, your poor, your humble masses, yearning to code java! Yeh, give me votes, or give me death! Or whatever, anyway, I think the guys that are getting picked last should get some extra points just for playing.

I equally support, and will argue for, both opinions.

More information about voting, politics and corruption: