After an extended delay in counting the ballots, the much-awaited results of this year's highly competitive Columbia College Student Council elections were released at 3:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon.
The most intensely debated and monitored race of the election, for the executive board, resulted in a landslide victory for the Mosaic party. The final tally was 909 votes for Mosaic and 537 votes for the Pulse party.
Next year's CCSC executive board includes President Mik Vasarhelyi, CC '04, Vice President for Policy Jee Hae Yoon, CC '04, Vice President for Campus Life Raygine DeAquoi, CC '04, Vice President for Funding Matthew Harrison, CC '05, and Secretary Mark Aspis, CC '05.
This year's elections were determined by 38.75 percent of the Columbia College student body--a ten percent increase from last year.
Those involved say there were a number of factors that contributed to the rise in student interest.
Vasarhelyi touted the great weather, the senior event on the steps, and a contested executive board election as reasons for this increase.
"It was the first beautiful day in a long time, and this year 26.57 percent of the senior class voted, where as last year only seven percent did," Vasarhelyi said.
The higher voter turnout was also attributed to the publicity and strong campaigning associated with this year's elections.
"Both parties had very strong qualifications and platforms, as well as informative web sites and a great deal of persistence," Vasarhelyi said.
Members of the Mosaic party said they were pleased to see the increase in student involvement in the elections, but also considered the implications of greater voter participation.
"Having a contested election and intense competition increases the visibility and legitimacy of CCSC," said Vasarhelyi.
"The high number of voters also makes us feel that much more accountable to the student body," Yoon added.
Although Mosaic will not be instated until after commencement, party members will begin shadowing their current counterparts in the next few weeks.
"The five of us need to work with this year's executive board and learn the finer details of our jobs. We intend on going to meetings with them and meeting the administrators they are currently in contact with," Vasarhelyi said.
While Mosaic plans to build upon the current council's legacy and continue certain projects started this year, they also have new ideas that they hope to start discussing before the end of the semester.
Yoon, who began an ethnic studies proposal this past year as the student services representative, said she plans to continue working on the proposal next semester. She also said that Mosaic would like to begin collaboration with the New Student Orientation Program earlier to enable an online facebook.
In the remaining month of the academic year, members of Mosaic said they plan to charge ahead with these ideas, but acknowledged their appreciation of the current CCSC executive board.
"They've done a really wonderful job and each of us has learned so much from their dedication," Yoon said. "We respect and admire this year's CCSC executive board and their work. They've set extremely high standards for us to meet and they've definitely left their mark at Columbia."
With Columbia's 250th anniversary rapidly approaching, the Mosaic party said it is looking forward to the opportunities that accompany such a momentous campus occasion.
"The 250th anniversary is a landmark occasion for Columbia and we definitely want to take advantage of it to raise school spirit and community," Vasarhelyi said.
"This important moment for Columbia is also a great chance of us to reevaluate and enact changes," Yoon said.
Members of the current executive board expressed confidence that collaborative efforts with the 250th anniversary committee would be handled well by the incoming board.
"I think that they bring a lot of experience, energy, and some really great ideas, and I think that they will serve as the catalyst to a wonderful 250th anniversary celebration year," said Michael Novielli, CC '03, Columbia College Student Body President.
Other election results introduced new faces to student government. The races for the senior and sophomore class councils were uncontested, but the race for control over the junior resulted in an upset of the incumbent party. The Surge party tallied 285 votes, placing them ahead of the 142 votes of current Class of 2005 leaders, Roar.
Members of Surge attributed their party's success to several reasons.
"A lot of people were [discontented] and people wanted a change.
Also, all five of us ran in the past so our names were out there," said Harmony Davis, Class of 2005 president-elect.
Some of Surge's ideas include purchasing class T-shirts, either by assisting this year's council in that process or on their own as party, creating a newsletter for next year that features members of the class, and establishing a summer directory listing the whereabouts and contact information for members of the junior class.
Although the representatives of the Class of 2004 ran uncontested, write-in candidates Medha Goyal and Peter Paul Shaker won 90 votes. Several days before the elections, the two had expressed interest to the Committee on Elections, Nominations, and Appointments although it was past the deadline to enter the race, said Eleanor Coufos, CC '03, CENA chair.
The other races of the day varied between close calls and runaway victories.
Jacqueline Russo, CC '04, won by 80 votes for the one-year senate term.
The pair of two-year senate positions were decided by a much closer margin. Jen Schnidman, CC '06, and Chetan Bagga, CC '05, only received five more votes than their closest competitor, Jeff Engler, CC '05.
The three representative positions yielded decisive victories for Student Services Representatives Eva Cohen, CC '06, and Miri Rosen, CC '05, and Academic Affairs Representative Reggie Gossett, CC '06.
The ballot also included a referendum asking if the University should prohibit the ROTC from having a chapter at Columbia.
Nine hundred seventy three students voted that the University should not prohibit an ROTC chapter at Columbia, while 530 voted that it should. These results will be sent to the University Senate for informational purposes.
ROTC protesters stationed themselves on Low Plaza during the elections in order to demonstrate their strong opposition to the military recruitment organization's presence on campus. But student council insiders believe that results of the vote will have little effect on the administration.
"The vote was simply a way to show some kind of data about the way some students feel. It was mainly for internal purposes," said Michael Novielli, CC '03, CCSC Student Body President.