Juniors elect pres. amid controversy

and Daniel Gingiss After a seven-hour debate surrounding an unfair campaigning charge, the Senior Class Board finally announced its new president last night. College junior Loren Mendell garnered enough votes in yesterday's run-off election to defeat Wharton junior and current Junior Class Board President Jason Diaz. But before the final decision was handed down, the current Senior Board members debated Diaz's claim that Mendell violated Section 2c of the Senior Class Board's election code. Section 2c states that "No other printed publicity is permitted regarding your candidacy in the election" besides those publicity items mentioned in other sections. But several Board members refused to comment as to what exactly Mendell did to warrant Diaz's accusation or suspicion. Diaz, who had until 7 p.m. to file the charge, made his official complaint at 6:56 p.m. last night. "Our election was running very smoothly until 6:55," said Senior Class President Matthew Canner. "But you have until 7 to file a grievance." Canner, a College senior, said last night that the Board decided Mendell was "not in violation" of Section 2c of the code. He added that the Board members were upset at the entire situation, so they felt it necessary to discuss the problem fully. "We wanted to deliberate it thoroughly since it was such an important decision," he said. "We were saddened by the whole situation because one person was going to be upset." Diaz, who was indeed visibly upset after the decision, would not comment about the charge. Instead, he conceded to his opponent, Mendell. "Congratulations to Loren Mendell," he said. "I think he'll do a great job, [and] I'm looking forward to participating next year." Mendell was unavailable for comment last night. The other run-off in yesterday's election was for Wharton representative, which was decided without any controversy. Wharton junior Elin Brenner defeated Wharton junior Dan Spears to claim the position. "I'm very excited about it," Brenner said last night. "I'm really looking forward to serving on the senior class board -- I think it will be lot of fun." Brenner added that she, like the other run-off candidates, was frustrated because she had to campaign on Locust Walk a second time. "We were all surprised -- no one expected it to happen," she said. "I just decided that I was going to go out and try again and hopefully win this time." Brenner added that her main goal as Wharton representative will be to make sure that all Wharton students know about Senior Class Board events.