As box after box filled with mugs disappeared, freshmen elected their student government representatives in the heaviest turnout out in recent history.
Nearly 50 percent of the class voted. The Rules and Elections Committee, which organizes elections for the Student Senate, ran out of commemorative mugs to give voters after they voted early in the afternoon.
"I like the turn-out. This year’s freshmen are gung-ho, and the Senate had a lot to do with it. The Rules and Election Committee did a great job, and the Executive Board also helped. I’m glad to see the freshmen are out showing their concern in student government," said Senator Chris Humphries ’03.
While nearly 550 freshmen voted a significant number withheld their votes because of the nature of the process.
At the polls several freshmen expressed the need for a more meaningful elections process.
"I’m not voting because I don’t know anything about the people on the ballot. This is not supposed to be a popularity contest," said freshman Harry Berger.
Another freshman who voted, Justin Fisk, echoed Berger’s concern. "I didn’t feel informed; a couple of people came around, but it might have been cool to have an assembly or a debate. All we saw were posters."
The Rules and Elections Committee and, in a wider context, the Student Senate face a difficult task. On one hand they have a candidate population that is largely unaware of the issues that could potentially affect their class.
On the other hand they have a class like any other group of citizens that wants to vote knowledgeable, whether by issues or by personalities.
Rules and Elections Committee Chair Matt Rudary acknowledged the dilemma and listed several ways that candidates could combat the problem, including dorm-storming.
"A balance is needed between freshman representation and the need for freshmen to know their candidates. The duration of the process currently is long enough so that candidates can get out there and freshmen don’t have to vote just by name," said Rudary.
Several freshman candidates, including newly-elected Class Representative Ratheet Pandya, felt that the current balance of conducting elections during the fifth week of the semester was inadequate.
"I would make the elections take place in the spring semester. This would give people an opportunity to get to know the candidates better, " said Pandya.
"Moving the election to the spring is impractical. The Senate needs its four senators as soon as possible and the Class Council needs its representative to start on its agenda as soon as possible. Current Senate bylaws say that freshman elections must take place in the fall, and I would disagree with changing the elections to spring," said Rudary.
