With costumes, song, and dance, the candidate forum for the Engineering Student Council first-year elections turned into something of a circus Sunday night.
While creating witty party names like “Red, White, & Fu” and “FuReal” is a tradition, members of one ticket, “Pirates of the SEAS,” took the gimmick a step further by dressing in nautical attire and lacing their speeches with quips suitable for Treasure Island.
“Ahoy mateys!” Pirates of the SEAS leader Gregory Feldman, SEAS ’12, said. Wearing an eye patch and a pirate hat, Feldman called for more convenient fire drills, increased use of South Lawn, and more study breaks with “boatloads of free food.”
Vice-presidential candidate Victoria Lee, SEAS ’12, sported a patch and red bandana as she promised to expand Flex off-campus and create new SEAS merchandise.
“Together we’ll find the ‘X’ marking the treasure,” Lee said.
Anmol Gupta, SEAS ’12 and another candidate for the vice presidency boasted a Spiderman costume because “when you think of Columbia, you think of Spiderman,” which was filmed on campus.
Gupta said the costumes promoted school spirit, what he said was the backbone of his platform.
Independent class-representative candidate Xin Zhang, SEAS ’12, rounded out the evening by strutting toward the podium singing part of the theme song from children’s TV show Arthur.
“Every day when you’re walking down the street, everybody that you meet has an original point of view,” Zhang sang.
Other presidential contenders are Nathan Lee, Nathan Levick, Derrick Fu, Joseph Barakat, and Benjamin Malec, all SEAS ’12.
Fatima Dicko, David Gu, Jessica Wu, and Katherine Chan are running for vice president.
Others vying for the two representative positions are Judy Kim, Ryan Mulvey, Eric Tang, Eric Harms, and Mailing Wu, who was absent from the forum.
Lee based his platform on community building. “I’m not talking about a bunch of us standing together singing songs like ‘Kumbaya,’” he said. Lee said he would promote community by hosting study breaks and fixing everyday problems.
When asked to describe his position in two words, Levick said “wireless” and “enthusiasm.” His running mate, Gu, also emphasized the need for wireless in more dorms to “defeat the monster that is the Ethernet cable.”
Academic and dining flexibility were also popular talking points.
Fu said he wanted to bring a microwave to every floor of Carman, and chopsticks, more kosher options, and air conditioning to John Jay.
Like their rivals, Barakat and Malec emphasized the need for small changes, with Barakat suggesting recyclable takeout containers and change machines in the laundry rooms, and Malec calling on the University to make the path in front of Butler safer and to revamp Mudd.
Campaigning ended at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, and voting runs from Monday through Wednesday.
lien.hoang@columbiaspectator.com
