Minority presence higher on new UA

Undergraduate Assembly and class board election results were announced last night. Following an election with one of the largest voting turnouts in recent history, the Nominations and Elections Committee announced last night the results of this spring's student government elections. Fourteen incumbents were re-elected to the Undergraduate Assembly, which will next year include at least seven minority students -- far more than in recent years. About half a dozen Greeks were elected to the main undergraduate student government body. Until this past year, a majority of UA members had been affiliated with Greek organizations. The half-hour Fair Practices Code hearing -- at which candidates can bring campaign rule violation charges to the NEC's attention -- went smoothly, with only one appeal and one charge filed against the NEC itself. College junior Matthew Thornton, who ran against College junior Neerav Sheth for senior class treasurer, filed charges against the NEC for posting another student's picture on the Web next to his candidate statement, which he claimed may have confused voters. The NEC acknowledged the error and has decided to re-run elections for the position. The new election will likely be held from next Tuesday to Sunday, with results being announced the following Monday. Wharton freshman and UA candidate Christopher McLeester -- who had been automatically disqualified for not handing in his spending form -- appealed the charge by saying he was unclear about the rule since he did not attend a candidates meeting and did not see an e-mail explaining the NEC's regulations. The appeal was denied. UA results were then announced to the 63 students who ran for 25 available UA spots. Another eight will be offered to incoming freshmen in the fall. Half of the 16 College students elected were incumbents: juniors Alex Moskowitz and Michael Bassik, the UA's current treasurer and the highest vote-getter among UA candidates; sophomores Dana Hork and Rachel Mendelsohn; and freshmen Lara Bonner, David Levin, Molly Siems and Becky Tracy. The remaining eight newcomers were juniors Heather Germain and Ryan Little, sophomores Jed Gross and Kimberly Dobson and freshmen Arshad Hasan, Erin Kennedy, Seth Schreiberg and Aaron Short, the second-highest vote-getter. Four Engineering students were elected as well. Juniors Mo Saraiya and Michael Krouse were re-elected, along with newcomers sophomores Eric Chen and Dave Greene. All four of the Wharton representatives were incumbents -- junior Jon Glick, sophomore Dana Becker and freshmen Ethan Kay and Yale Cohen. Nursing and Wharton junior Kisimbi Thomas was elected as Nursing representative. He ran unopposed. The highest vote getters from each school's race -- Bassik, Saraiya, Becker and Thomas -- will receive a seat on the University Council. Gross and Little were elected to at-large seats. UA executive board positions will be elected at the UA's transition meeting on April 18. The candidates to succeed College senior Michael Silver as UA chair are expected to include Bassik, the current treasurer and former UA vice chairman; Krouse, who helped lead the UA's initiative to develop better relations with the United Minorities Council; and Hork, the chairwoman of the UA Communication Committee. Glick, a former UA treasurer, may also throw his hat into the ring. Class board winners were also announced last night. Ray Valerio will head the Senior Class Board as president. Mo Saraiya -- who is also a University Council representative and Engineering representative to the UA -- was re-elected vice president, and Tori Katz won the position of secretary. Roya Weiner was elected vice president for corporate sponsorship. School representatives elected were: Vanessa Freeman and Anne Berenbom for the College, Krista Pohl for Engineering, Richard Kinderman for Wharton and Kisimbi Thomas for Nursing. Ryan Miller, another newcomer to class boards, will serve as junior class president. Other elected Junior Class Board members were Stephanie Benedetto as vice president, Martina Trucco as secretary, Matthew McAllister as treasurer and Zachary Brown as vice president for corporate sponsorship. Holly Russell and Kimberly Colopinto will serve as College representatives. Wynter Duncanson and Carine Ildebrando, a Daily Pennsylvanian staff member, were elected as Engineering representative and Wharton representative, respectively. There were no candidates for Nursing representative to the Junior Class Board. Adam Zimbler and Emily Newman were re-elected sophomore class president and vice president, respectively. Katherine Smith was elected secretary and Albert Song won the position of treasurer. Santiago Rivera was re-elected vice president for corporate sponsorship. School representatives were Jeb Winton for the College, Dan Parry for Engineering, Caitlin Crowley for Nursing and Yale Cohen for Wharton.

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