UA election brings new mix to body

The face of the Undergraduate Assembly changed drastically this week, as only nine of 17 UA incumbents who ran were re-elected by the student body in the University-wide elections. And the fledgling Coalition for Responsive Student Government turned talk into votes by gaining 10 UA seats -- seven of them from the College. But one Coalition candidate -- College sophomore Peter Spier -- was disqualified by the Nominations and Elections Committee for his involvement in illegal campaigning. The NEC ruled that Spier "biased the elections" because he supposedly campaigned for candidates other than himself -- a policy which NEC elections chair Michael Monson said he warned Spier about twice. In an emotional speech which he later admitted was "inappropriate," Monson claimed "there was definitely bias here" and that Spier "was not just campaigning for himself." Coalition Chairperson Darion D'Anjou said he was happy about his group's performance, but added that he did not think Spier's disqualification was fair. "We did well but I'd like to find something about the inside dealing in the backroom that disqualified Peter," D'Anjou, a Wharton junior, said. His dismissal from the elections followed almost three and a half hours of NEC hearings on violations of the Fair Practices Code -- the policy which governs the way candidates can run for office. Of the 55 candidates running for office, 33 had charges filed against them. All 20 Coalition hopefuls were charged by fellow candidate Michael Nadel for their distribution of leaflets advertising their names and ballot numbers. Nadel, a College freshman, said voters used the leaflets as a reminder at the polls. He alleged that this violated the NEC's rule of no campaign materials within 75 feet of the ballot boxes. "They had an advantage I did not have," Nadel said. But the NEC ruled that Nadel's charges were neither a "gross violation of the rules" nor did they "bias the election." Campaigning for the UA chair began immediately after the results were announced at around 12:30 this morning. College junior Kirsten Bartok, an incumbent, distributed a four-page brochure advertising her accomplishments to the newly-elected UA members. Bartok is the only member who has declared her candidacy for the position. Winning seats in Wharton were junior Jason Wu, current UA sophomore Treasurer Eric Leathers, freshman Dan Debicella, freshman Quang O and freshman Daniel Chen. Freshman Kevin Chang and sophomore George Callas tied for sixth place. A run-off election between the two will take place on the Wednesday after spring break. Tamara Dubowitz was the election's top vote-getter, leading the field from the College. Also winning were Bartok, freshman Ashley Magids, freshman Miae Oh, junior Scott Sher, sophomore Jessica Pollock, sophomore Seth Hamlin, freshman Marissa Mole, sophomore Sarah Manning, freshman Laura Amrofell, freshman Lance Rogers, junior Brian Lynk, sophomore Dan Schorr, junior Rashad Ibrahim, and junior David Heimann. The Nursing representative is freshman Susan Horrocks. Successful from Engineering were freshman Erika Brown, sophomore Gaurang Shah, and sophomore Ha Nguyen. Dubowitz, Hamlin, Magids, and Bartok also won seats on University Council.

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