NEC disqualifies three at hearing

Three freshman Undergraduate Assembly candidates were disqualified at last night's Nominations and Elections Committee Fair Practices Code hearing. After charges against nine candidates were debated last night, the NEC voted to disqualify College freshmen Steven Schorr and Daniel Slawe and Wharton freshman Mimi Baker for two different violations. Baker and Slawe were disqualified for not handing in their campaign spending forms, and Schorr was disqualified for appearing, by name, in Tuesday's edition of The Daily Pennsylvanian. Two freshman candidates charged that in speaking to the DP, Schorr violated Article 5, Section D of the FPC. Following the hearing, Schorr said he understood the nature of the FPC and he said he does not feel the code is flawed. "I don't think there's anything wrong with it," he said. "I understand though, that I should not have been in The Daily Pennsylvanian." Although Schorr was disqualified for not abiding by the code, College freshman Cheryl Harmelin, who was charged with the same violation for appearing in the DP, was not disqualified. "I think as far as the NEC, it was doing its job," Schorr said. He added that he is disappointed that his name was printed in the paper even though he pleaded with DP staff to omit his name. College freshman Larry Kamin, who was one of eight candidates to win a seat on the UA, was one of two candidates to file charges against Schorr. "I feel that the NEC ruling was justified, yet I of course feel great sympathy for Steve and the others," Kamin said. "I would have been satisfied with any decisions the NEC came up with just as long as it was exhibited that the FPC was clearly violated." "The FPC has its flaws just like any other regulatory document," he added, but "we did agree to follow this code as a condition of running for the UA." Engineering freshman Adam Plotkin, who also filed the charge against Schorr, said he now believes that the FPC was violated by both Schorr and Harmelin. "There's no question," he said. Plotkin said the reason for the outcome of the hearing was "bureaucratic inconsistency, both the nature of the FPC and because of the DP's practices." NEC Vice Chairperson Mike Rosenfield said he continues to believe that the FPC is a fair code. "We run into these problems every year, but we do explain [the FPC] over and over [to the candidates]," the College senior said. UA member Lance Rogers, who was present at the FPC hearing, said he believes the "FPC is necessary to protect all candidates running." Aside from Kamin, this year's elected UA candidates are College freshmen Alex Malek, Seth Lasser, Tal Golomb, Christopher Melling and Corey Lambert, and Wharton freshman Hester Wong and Alan Danzig. Narlek was this year's top vote getter and will automatically get a seat on the University Council. Forty percent of the freshmen class voted in the election, up five percent from last year. Last year three freshman candidates were charged with violating the FPC, but no candidates were disqualifed.