Just a few days ago, there were no names on the ballot for either president or vice president of next year's senior class council.
But now, just a week before election day, the number of candidates interested in the two highest offices in 1998 Class Council has mushroomed almost out of control -- and the race appears to be wide-open.
As of press time, juniors Kevin Arista, Kathryn Bieneman, James Horowitz, Aaron Klein, Chris Ott, Arvidas Remeza and Doug Young had declared their intentions to run for president of the 1998 Class Council.
And Rachel Bogardus, Matt Burke, Matt Herman, Maurissa Horwitz and Alex Reitman had all stated they would run for senior class vice president.
Since none of the seven presidential or five vice-presidential candidates submitted petitions to be placed on the ballot by the deadline, the winners will be whoever can mobilize the most write-in votes in their favor.
Most of the candidates said they decided to run once they realized the council would be leaderless -- after three-year incumbent 1998 Class President Randi Barnes and two-year incumbent Vice President Chris Atwood both announced they would not seek re-election next year.
A number of the write-in candidates were present at last Wednesday's 1998 Class Council meeting, which normally draws only a handful of students. About 20 students attended to discuss the upcoming class elections.
Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia and Dean of the Class of 1998 Lisa Thum were on hand with Barnes and Atwood to fill in prospective candidates on what the jobs entails.
The students present at the council meeting expressed dismay that juniors have recently received a bad rap for a failure to show interest in their Class Council.
"We're not an apathetic or do-nothing class," Sophie Delano '98 said.
"The juniors have been focusing their energy on other events. I don't think the class is apathetic at all," Horwitz said.
Bieneman said she "wouldn't have considered running if there hadn't been so much hype" about the alleged "apathy" of the class.
Young said the fact that no juniors were running for Council President influenced his decision. "It would be a shame to have a leadership void for senior year if there are people there who care," he said.
Barnes said she hopes the appearance of candidates "shows a new interest in the council," but she does not think "apathy" was ever an accurate description of her classmates' attitudes.
Arista, a former council treasurer, said busy students may have neglected the class council because "we weren't visible enough," rather than because they have been apathetic about council activities.
Horowitz, who is running for an at-large Student Assembly seat as well as president of the Class of 1998, said most students interested in campus government run for the Assembly rather than class council.
Competition from the Assembly "leaves the Council with a hole," he said.
Klein, a member of the Assembly his freshman year, said many juniors elected not to run for office because they thought student government was a "sinking ship."
"Now that the ship has stabilized, it's time to build on what's been done and to create a new superstructure of student government capable of creating mass movement within the student body," he said.
