CC Elects First-Year Council

Mark Modesitt, CC '10 and member of the Alma Matters party, was elected president of the Columbia College class of 2010 on Tuesday, edging out his nearest competitor by six percentage points.

Modesitt and running mate Molly Conley, CC '10, received 110 votes-or 27.2 percent of the vote-to beat out the Party of Five's AJ Pascua and David Salant, both CC '10. Alma Matters scraped out the narrow victory from a field of seven candidate groups, three of which netted 20 or more percent of the vote.

But the night was not a total disappointment for the Party of Five. Member Joey Goldberg, CC '10, was the top vote-getter in the race for class representative, taking home 12.6 percent of the ballots. He will be joined by Charlotte Freinberg, CC '10 and candidate from the TOGA party, and Priyanka Gumaste, CC '10 and candidate from the Alma Matters party, both of whom received slightly over eight percent support.

"Our first step is just to set up a class council in an effective manner and to provide a good sense of communication," said Modesitt on Tuesday night. "We need to start right away with our platform goals."

The Alma Matters party campaigned on a platform of improving communication between first-years and the class council, boosting the class of 2010's connections with alumni, and instituting monthly service projects-a program that Modesitt zeroed in on during last week's first-year debate.

Modesitt said he would also focus on financial aid, which he dubbed the most pressing matter facing the Columbia College Student Council.

"I know there's been a lot of progress made," said Modesitt. "But I just think it's really crucial right now-with all our other peer institutions having such great financial aid-that Columbia step up to the plate."

Modesitt added that he would reach out to Goldberg and Freinberg, both members of opposing parties, as the first-year council begins to organize itself.

Yesterday's total of 409 votes, or 40 percent of the class, was down from the 47 percent turnout of one year ago. Subash Iyer, CC '07 and chair of the CCSC Elections Board, credited the downtick to a rule-new since the last first-year election-that prevents students from campaigning within 100 feet of polling sites and the residential concentration of this year's parties, three of which were centered in John Jay 14.

Iyer denied that the timing of the election-which began on Monday, during the celebration of Yom Kippur-played a significant factor, noting that only 40 ballots were cast during Tuesday's extended voting period.