Uncontested CCSC Party Releases Statement Emphasizing Voter Outreach

Students should expect a different kind of campaign in this year's Columbia College Student Council elections, the uncontested executive board ticket Action Potential said in a statement released early Wednesday morning. With a commitment to a positive, grassroots race, the Action Potential Party faces a challenge in boosting student participation rates beyond the meager voter showing and interest in council elections in recent years.

For uncontested tickets this year--the race for the class of 2011 council is also running without contenders--battles over campaign minutia may be replaced with more active efforts to engage students, the statement said.

"While reducing our usage of posters to a minimal amount, we will amp up our web and one-on-one campaign efforts," the party wrote in its statement. "Through a grassroots approach, we aim to involve and engage more than 50% of the student body. We invite you to join us in this quest for 2,500 participants."

"We are fully determined to earn the positions for which we are running," the party added.

The party is composed of Sue Yang, CC '19, Nuriel Moghavem, CC '11, Deysy Ordonez, CC '10, Sana Khalid, CC '11, and Sarah Weiss, CC '10, who is currently studying abroad. See full text of Action Potential's e-mail below.

Despite the uncontested race, the Action Potential Party is still gearing up for an intense campaign season. Our goal is to engage and energize the campus community, and we have invited the other uncontested candidates to join us in reconnecting CCSC with students. The lower interest in CCSC candidacy this year is an issue that we will not let rest. Rather, we are fully determined to earn the positions for which we are running.

Not having to deal with negative aspects of a campaign like rules violations and competitive tensions allows us to run a different kind of a campaign. We will channel that energy towards a much more productive cause: engagement and community building. While reducing our usage of posters to a minimal amount, we will amp up our web and one-on-one campaign efforts. Through a grassroots approach, we aim to involve and engage more than 50% of the student body. We invite you to join us in this quest for 2,500 participants. Ideas, feedback, and active support are all welcome. You supply the potential, we supply the action!

Please feel free to reach out to us at ColumbiaActionPotential@gmail.com. You can also find most of us in Lerner or find Sarah in Ecuador. We look forward to getting to know you.

For Alma Mater on the Hudson Shore, Sue, Sarah, Nuriel, Deysy, and Sana

Tags: News, Alix Pianin, Action Potential, CCSC, Elections, Student Councils