Student gov't elections see few changes

Voter turnout may be at a record high of 41.4 percent, but the message of the voters hasn't changed: They like the status quo.

The results of the student-government elections were released last night, and, of the 53 positions up for grabs, only 12 were filled by new faces.

The announcement came after the Nominations and Elections Committee debated two charges brought earlier this week by Wharton freshman Steve Ariel, who ran for class president against Wharton freshman and current class president Arthur Gardner Smith.

The first violation charged Gardner Smith with exceeding the $50 campaign spending limit for all candidates by using color ink - which is more expensive than black ink - on the back of his flyers.

The second alleged that Gardner Smith violated the Equal Access Campaigning rule by campaigning on the Class of 2010 Web site, a site to which Ariel did not have access.

The NEC dismissed both charges against Gardner Smith - who won re-election - and then announced the rest of the results.

"My opponent was on guard, and I can't blame him for doing that," Gardner Smith said.

He added that he will run a tight campaign in the future.

All three class boards retained the same president and vice president. New additions include College junior Seth Shapiro as vice president for corporate sponsorship for the Class of 2008, College sophomore Jessica Staller as secretary, Wharton sophomore Liz Lee as Wharton representative for the Class of 2009, College freshman Alyssa Yeager as treasurer and Wharton freshman Lisa Cuesta as VPCS of the Class of 2010 board.

The Undergraduate Assembly saw the largest turnover, with seven new faces replacing members on this year's body.

College freshman Zac Byer is among the newest batch of UA members. Though he lost his election for the body this fall, he decided to run again in spring and received the third-highest number of votes.

"It was nice knowing a lot of people and getting to take advantage of the listservs," he said of his new campaign strategy.

Each candidate who received the highest number of votes for their school on the UA will automatically have a seat on University Council. Those four include Nursing junior Alexandra Kotsovos, Wharton junior Alex Flamm, Engineering junior Dipal Patel and College junior Jason Karsh.

Four incumbents - Engineering freshman Yaya Shriya, College sophomore Christine Eklund, College junior Ashish Bhumbla and College sophomore Dan Tavana - were not reelected.

"I'm extremely pleased with how the overall elections process went," said College junior Dan Strigenz, the elections chairman of the NEC. "We had a great group of candidates who brought forth many ideas in order to improve the University and to make their mark on student government."

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