The anticipation to learn which candidates will prevail in this year's Student Body President and Vice President races has overshadowed the goings-on of the numerous other elections run by the Elections Planning and Advisory Committee. The other elections include the Organizational Adjunctions Committee, Committee on Standards, Green Key Society, Assembly representative spots and Class of 2008 Class Council, which launch elections Tuesday with their own sets of heated issues.
Elections will get off to a rather lopsided start, with some committees drawing scores of candidates and others barely enough to fill the positions.
Despite the publicity the OAC received during the controversial Theta Delta Chi fraternity and Delta Delta Delta sorority trials in March, only six students applied to run for the six available representative positions, while the COS drew 23 candidates for its six available slots.
"Many students are unaware that there is a committee responsible for group disciplinary process, not just for [Coed, Fraternity, and Sorority] organizations but for teams and other student organization as well," OAC candidate Alyssa Minsky '06 said.
The COS may have garnered more involvement from the student body because it is responsible for overseeing a broader range of issues than the OAC, including academic integrity, sexual assault and alcohol misuse, Interim Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Director April Thompson said.
The College's policies on Parkhurst suspensions, in particular, have incited strong opinions among the student body, and the current standard of a four-term suspension for violations of the Academic Honor Principle could be a focus of COS reform in the next year.
Candidate Kapil Kale '07 said he thinks the policy is too strict.
"I don't think people who make a mistake on citations should be Parkhursted for four terms," Kale said.
Thompson said that if the COS is in a place to rethink the decision, it is certainly something they should consider. However, she feels it is important for students to reserve their judgments until they get involved.
"It's important for people to have experience, see cases and see if the myth is really true," Thompson said. "Many people hear rumors that are a little exaggerated. The standard of a four-term suspension is usually someone downloading a paper off of the Internet or copying one of their peers."
The OAC and COS were not the only organizations to receive unbalanced participation; different Class Councils drew similarly skewed involvement. With only nine students running for the 10 Class of 2006 Student Assembly representative spots -- including four students also running for Student Body President -- the Class of 2006 will be underrepresented by one member. The Class of 2008, in contrast, has over 30 students in its race for 10 spots, and the Class of 2007 has 17 contenders.
2008 Class President and Vice-President will also be decided in tomorrow and Wednesday's elections. Tess Reeder is running uncontested for President with Edward Kalletta as her running mate. Jacqueline Loeb '08 hopes to prevail over Kalletta for the Vice-Presidential contest, and Reeder said she is prepared to work with either candidate.
The Class of 2006 elected Jennifer Krimm and Samuel Jackson last week as its president and vice president, respectively, and the Class of 2007 will hold its elections over the summer.
The new Green Key Society members will also be determined this week, with 34 members of the Class of 2007 running for 20 places.
