Online Voting

Haverford College senior Jesse Ehrenfeld didn't have to endure a six-hour ballot-counting meeting after student government elections this year. He was psyched about that. Haverford students voted for new student government copresidents entirely online this week, and the results were available 15 minutes after the polls closed. A new Haverford computer program tabulated the vote immediately, so Ehrenfeld, a lame-duck student government copresident, and his student-pol peers didn't need to count hundreds of paper ballots.

Here are the voting procedures used to select rosters for all-star games by the major sports leagues. Major League Baseball Starters: Eight position players chosen by fan balloting. Reserves: The first eight reserves, five starting pitchers and three relievers are chosen by the players, coaches and managers' balloting. The manager then picks five more pitchers and three position players with input from the commissioner's office. In doing so, he must be certain that each team has at least one representative.

The Phillies' Carlos Ruiz remains third in fan balloting to be the National League's starting catcher in the All-Star Game. Ruiz has 1,756,018 votes and trails the Giants' Buster Posey (2,445,005) and the Cardinals' Yadier Molina (2,291,567). Ruiz is seeking to make his first All-Star team. Among outfielders, Hunter Pence (1,234,428 votes) is seventh and Shane Victorino is 13th with 1,039,970 votes. Jimmy Rollins is fourth among shortstops with 983,520 votes.

The Phillies' Placido Polanco retained his healthy lead at third base in the National League, according to the latest totals of fan voting released yesterday. Polanco has 2,599,925 votes, with Atlanta's Chipper Jones second at 1,558,895. Chase Utley is third at second base with 1,827,194 votes, behind Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips (2,286,378) and Milwaukee's Rickie Weeks (2,094,502). At shortstop, Jimmy Rollins is third with 1,354,896 votes, behind Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki (2,385,991)

When it comes to ugliest, who's the top dog now? Sewell's Elwood? Or Fishtown's Pee Wee Martini? On Monday, the title was vacated when cancer claimed the life of Gus, a one-eyed, three-legged Chinese crested from Florida. In June, Gus, 9, was crowned world's ugliest dog at a fair in Petaluma, Calif. Now the canine with the most credentials is probably Gloucester County's Elwood, the Chihuahua-Chinese crested mix who won the title in 2007. Yes, the mutt whose mug inspired a line of greeting cards (available at some Target stores)

You might call this a poopularity contest. Despite the bad pun, the Philadelphia Water Department really is running a contest to find an official "spokesdog" for its campaign to get dog owners to pick up after their pets. The competition will be held among the canine populations of East Falls, Manayunk and Roxborough. The three parts of the city were chosen because the department is working with riverside communities to reduce dog waste, which it said is carried off by rainwater or snow melt and fouls rivers and streams.

Record number of votes are in Voting for July 14's All-Star Game in St. Louis ended Thursday night, and a record 223.5 million votes from 17.8 million ballots were cast at MLB.com and the 30 club sites. The ease of online voting, where an individual could vote up to 25 times a day, boosted those unprecedented numbers. The game's players will be announced at 1 p.m. tomorrow on TBS. Voting for the starters may be over, but the fans aren't done yet. They will be able to select the final player for each league's 33-man roster on MLB.com.

THE PHILLIES HAVE revealed the 12 names on the Wall of Fame ballot, with Curt Schilling seeming to be the front-runner. Schilling was on the ballot last year in his first year of eligibility, but the selection committee of team executives and media members selected John Kruk. Schilling went 101-78 with a 3.35 ERA in nine seasons in Philadelphia before demanding a trade and winning World Series titles in Arizona and Boston. His numbers, however, are impressive: sixth in wins, eighth in innings (1,659 1/3)

More than 37,500 Pennsylvania State University alumni — by far a record — voted in the election for three open alumni seats on the board of trustees, with the winners scheduled to be announced at a trustees meeting Friday afternoon. The race was so contentious and closely monitored that the board hired an independent auditing firm, KPMG, to handle the election and its results. Online voting closed Thursday morning, with about 20 percent of the more than 190,000 eligible alumni taking part.

BALTIMORE - Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout has consistently maintained that he is not consumed by the subject of the All-Star Game. The 2009 Inquirer South Jersey player of the year from Millville may have to adjust his stance Sunday. That's when the American League and National League all-star teams will be announced during a 1 p.m. show on TBS. All but one of the 34 spots for each of the teams will be announced. Trout, who will turn 21 on Aug. 7, missed most of spring training with an illness and shoulder injury.

Ian Desmond withdrew from the All-Star Game on Saturday, saying he had a strained left oblique. The Nationals' shortstop then slugged his 16th homer that night and came back to rip another one on Sunday. Hey, nobody should have a problem with a guy wanting to rest an injury. And if he doesn't want to go to an increasingly meaningless game, why insist? But it's one more indication that players simply don't give a hoot for what used to be the only all-star game in any sport that meant anything.

BALTIMORE - Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout has consistently maintained that he is not consumed by the subject of the All-Star Game. The 2009 Inquirer South Jersey player of the year from Millville may have to adjust his stance Sunday. That's when the American League and National League all-star teams will be announced during a 1 p.m. show on TBS. All but one of the 34 spots for each of the teams will be announced. Trout, who will turn 21 on Aug. 7, missed most of spring training with an illness and shoulder injury.

The Phillies' Carlos Ruiz remains third in fan balloting to be the National League's starting catcher in the All-Star Game. Ruiz has 1,756,018 votes and trails the Giants' Buster Posey (2,445,005) and the Cardinals' Yadier Molina (2,291,567). Ruiz is seeking to make his first All-Star team. Among outfielders, Hunter Pence (1,234,428 votes) is seventh and Shane Victorino is 13th with 1,039,970 votes. Jimmy Rollins is fourth among shortstops with 983,520 votes.

MINNEAPOLIS - Placido Polanco spent his day off Monday in Philadelphia seeing yet another doctor for yet another ailing part of his 36-year-old body. He joined his teammates Tuesday as they neared the end of early batting practice at Target Field. The third baseman took some hacks as manager Charlie Manuel watched from behind the cage. The manager opted not to start Polanco, who deemed himself ready to play, but his return Wednesday will be welcomed. After a weekend of wretched infield defense, Manuel decided to switch things.

Adam Taliaferro inspired Penn State students and alumni everywhere in 2000 after he was paralyzed in a football game against Ohio State and made a storybook recovery despite dire predictions. It appears many of those same fans once again have put their faith in Taliaferro, now 30 and a Cherry Hill lawyer, to help their alma mater in the aftermath of the child sex-abuse scandal still rocking the campus. Taliaferro was the top vote-getter among candidates for three open alumni seats on the Pennsylvania State University board of trustees in the most highly contested race in the school's history.

More than 37,500 Pennsylvania State University alumni — by far a record — voted in the election for three open alumni seats on the board of trustees, with the winners scheduled to be announced at a trustees meeting Friday afternoon. The race was so contentious and closely monitored that the board hired an independent auditing firm, KPMG, to handle the election and its results. Online voting closed Thursday morning, with about 20 percent of the more than 190,000 eligible alumni taking part.

THE PHILLIES HAVE revealed the 12 names on the Wall of Fame ballot, with Curt Schilling seeming to be the front-runner. Schilling was on the ballot last year in his first year of eligibility, but the selection committee of team executives and media members selected John Kruk. Schilling went 101-78 with a 3.35 ERA in nine seasons in Philadelphia before demanding a trade and winning World Series titles in Arizona and Boston. His numbers, however, are impressive: sixth in wins, eighth in innings (1,659 1/3)

The Phillies' Placido Polanco retained his healthy lead at third base in the National League, according to the latest totals of fan voting released yesterday. Polanco has 2,599,925 votes, with Atlanta's Chipper Jones second at 1,558,895. Chase Utley is third at second base with 1,827,194 votes, behind Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips (2,286,378) and Milwaukee's Rickie Weeks (2,094,502). At shortstop, Jimmy Rollins is third with 1,354,896 votes, behind Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki (2,385,991)

More than any other sport, baseball can be explained by numbers. So here's a couple for you to consider: 1.28 million. 1.1 million. The first is the number of all-star votes amassed, at last tally, by Chase Utley, who has appeared in just 19 games this season because of a knee injury. The second is the number of all-star votes cast for Ryan Howard, who drove in his 54th and 55th runs of the season in his first at-bat Tuesday night. Utley is third in voting among National League second basemen, Howard is fourth among first basemen, according to the latest tabulation released by Major League Baseball.

You might call this a poopularity contest. Despite the bad pun, the Philadelphia Water Department really is running a contest to find an official "spokesdog" for its campaign to get dog owners to pick up after their pets. The competition will be held among the canine populations of East Falls, Manayunk and Roxborough. The three parts of the city were chosen because the department is working with riverside communities to reduce dog waste, which it said is carried off by rainwater or snow melt and fouls rivers and streams.