Quad awaits poster invasion

Among them there may be a future President of the United States.<P> The Class of 2004 kicked off its student government election last night with its introductory candidates meeting.<P> Arriving nearly 20 minutes early, approximately 50 freshmen swarmed into Stiteler Hall, anxious to kick off their campaigns for Class Boards or the Undergraduate Assembly. The Nominations and Elections Committee waved the eager crowd into the lecture room.<P> For the next 40 minutes, NEC Vice Chairwoman of Elections Anne Hankey educated the crowd on the regulations of the upcoming election. Polls will be open from October 5 to October 10 and results will be announced on October 12.<P> In this year's elections, 36 candidates are running for eight spots on the UA, seven are running for the two College representative positions, six are running for Wharton, one for Engineering and a surprising none for Nursing.<P> For the Class Board, nine students are running for president, three for vice president, three for secretary and one for treasurer.<P> Emphasizing the importance of following all of the rules set by the Fair Practices Code, Hankey stressed how seriously the NEC takes the entire process.<P> "If you fail to turn in your spending forms you are automatically disqualified," Hankey said. "I can't stress how important this is."<P> Halfway through the meeting, UA Chairman Michael Bassik and Director of Student Life Fran Walker got up to address the crowd and entertain questions.<P> "We deal with a wide variety of issues that you personally, as students, are passionate about," Bassik said, referring to the UA.<P> The meeting ended with a question-and-answer session in which the eager candidates surrounded the NEC member, asking questions.<P> "They had fantastic questions that were of relevance and not ridiculous ones," NEC Chairman Nick Goad said.<P> When the meeting adjourned, the crowd of freshmen said they were excited about the idea of running.<P> "I've had a lot of experience with working with the administration to try to get them to change things and, for me, I think this is the next logical progression," College freshman Jenifer Rajkumar said.<P> And College freshman Mei Elansary said, "I was anxious to get involved the minute I got here."<P> The meeting itself elicited a great response from the freshman candidates.<P> "They were very straightfoward and clear -- and very humorous," Rajkumar said.<P> One candidate was relieved to discover he won't have to campaign at all. College freshman Gaurav Patel only found out today that he is the new freshman class treasurer.<P> "I was treasurer of student council in my high school and I thought it was something I wanted to do again," Patel said. "I'm really excited -- I like the idea."<P> Campaigning begins today and on Wednesday, October 4, the NEC will hold a Get Out the Vote event for freshmen from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. in Vance Hall.<P> The polls open at midnight next Thursday and close the following Tuesday. Following the FPC hearing on October 11, results should be announced the following day.<P> <P>