Strauss Edges Cumarasamy in ESC Presidential Election

Liz Strauss, SEAS '08, was elected president of the Engineering Student Council's Executive Board last night during the council's internal elections.

Strauss, the current vice president for student life, ran against Eash Cumarasamy, SEAS '08 and current president of the SEAS class of 2008.

In other races, Prish Dunstan, SEAS '09, was elected VP policy, after defeating Michael Fu, SEAS '09. Chandni Saxena, SEAS '09, dropped out of that race. Daniel Wong, SEAS '08, was elected VP intergroup. He ran against Gunnar Aasen, SEAS '10, and Samantha John, SEAS '09. Krissie Zambrano, SEAS '09, who ran against Erin Svokos, SEAS '09, was elected secretary. Finally, Kim Manis, SEAS '09, was elected as Strauss' successor, running unopposed for VP student life.

"I am a little overwhelmed and thrilled. I have a brilliant E-Board and I'm excited to be working with them now," Strauss said after the elections. "Dan [Okin, current E-Board president] is going to leave some incredibly big shoes to fill."

Most candidates emphasized the importance of increasing publicity for the council. Cumasamary, along with several others, spoke of reaching out to campus media and creating a SEAS home page where students could access pertinent information regarding the school. Strauss suggested using programming to increase publicity, adding that she would like to promote issues the council is working on, and not simply the identity of the council.

Dunstan, who is currently a 2009 class council representative, proposed a "study abroad track" for SEAS students that would make studying abroad a more feasible option. Wong emphasized the need to bring engineering student groups together. Like Strauss, he said he believed that programming is the best solution. Zambrano proposed using posters, fliers, and Facebook to publicize ESC's projects and work.

Zambrano also focused on increasing voter and candidate turnout by having "candidate-student meet and greets."

ESC's use of internal elections has undergone scrutiny. Last year, the council held a referendum that would have abolished the internal system in favor of an open election. Although 67 percent of the students who voted were in favor of converting internal elections into direct elections, the low voter turnout was insufficient to enact the change.

In a continued attack on the internal elections, Bwog, the campus news and gossip blog of the Blue and White, did a poll asking readers to vote for either Cumarasamy or Strauss. The non-scientific poll which was open to all users suggested that had the elections been direct, Cumarasamy would have won, sitting ahead of Strauss by 13 percent as of press time.

Okin expressed confidence in both Strauss and the new E-Board. "I think Liz is an exceptional leader who is extremely dedicated to improving SEAS and its standing within Columbia. I have complete confidence that she will lead ESC through its best year ever," Okin said.

Cumarasamy said that he has other plans. "I am very excited to run for the class of 2008 president one more time. I had always wanted to stay with the class of 2008," Cumarasamy said. "I think that Liz has done a great job on the council for the past two years. Either way, the council would have done great, and she'll do a great job next year."

The current E-Board has decided to devote the rest of the semester to integrating the new E-Board.