After parading around College Green with no shirt on and "Levy 4 Prez" painted on his torso, Jason Levy stuffed eight slices of pizza into his mouth in an attempt to make a name for himself at yesterday's "Get Out the Vote" event.
The Nominations and Elections Committee organized the "Get Out The Vote" event to allow undergraduates to meet student government candidates and to help publicize elections, which began yesterday and will run through April 9.
Hundreds of students flocked to the event, which ran throughout the day and featured blaring speakers, student performances, free popcorn, cotton candy and a pizza-eating contest.
"The event was a forum for the candidates to be able to meet the voters in a really informal setting," said NEC Vice Chairwoman of Public Relations Rochelle Behrens, who organized the event. "If nothing else, free food allows everyone to come and meet the candidates."
The spring-like weather made the event more enticing for students who passed by, much to the delight of the candidates.
"I always like it when people are out on the Walk," Class of 2004 presidential candidate Meredith Seidel said. "And it's an awesome day, weatherwise, so I think it's great."
Many of the candidates said that they appreciated the opportunity to meet the people who would be voting and that they hoped to gauge voters' opinions about certain issues.
"Elections are about change," Class of 2005 College representative candidate Chaz Maffey said. "And you need to be aware of the candidates that are out there in order to effect the change that you desire. This is a good way to meet the candidates with a handshake, not a smile."
For a lot of students, the event was a reminder that the time had come to select new members of student government.
"I didn't know you could vote yet until I came here and talked to the candidates and found out that I can go home right now, get onto Penn InTouch and vote," Wharton and Engineering freshman Gillia Cassell-Stiga said.
Some candidates said they appreciated that the student body was getting this gentle reminder to select its new crop of leaders.
Greg Tidwell, running for Class of 2005 vice president, said that there had been disappointing voter participation in past years.
"I don't care who you vote for -- it's just important that you vote at all," Tidwell said.
Behrens said she was glad the candidates were using the time to talk to voters.
"I saw people really campaigning hard, really taking it seriously, which was good," the College sophomore said.
Maffey, like some of the other students running for office, taped a florescent green flyer to his shirt to draw attention. The flyer, which depicted WWF star The Rock, read, "It doesn't matter what you think... if you vote Chaz."
Levy, who is running for a seat on the Undergraduate Assembly, as well as Class of 2004 president, said he used bodypaint as a fun way to catch people's attention and to convince them that he would go out on a limb for his constituents.
"It's a tradition for me -- whether it's election time or football games, I'm body painting," the College sophomore said. "I'm going all out for 2004."
He said he was also excited for the hot dog eating contest, which ended up being replaced by a pizza-eating contest because the vendor failed to deliver the hot dogs.
"I'm hopefully participating in a hot dog contest," Levy said. "I've been preparing for it for weeks, eating 20 hot dogs a day, at least. I'm a little nervous, but I think I'm ready for it."
In the end, Levy did partake in the pizza-eating contest, but he did not do as well as he hoped. College representative candidate Lincoln Ellis took the victory rather easily.
Candidates and students alike said the event was a fun break from the serious aspects of campaigning.
"I think this helped to lighten the mood around student government right now and at least to show it's okay to not be serious all the time," Behrens said. "We do deal with some serious issues, but we have fun, as well."
The winners of the elections will be announced on April 10.
