Eight Tufts students gathered on the stage at Hotung Caf?© last night to speak to the student body about why they should be elected to various positions in student government. Though the candidates barely outnumbered their audience, tomorrow's midterm election is the first in recent memory in which voters will be presented with a choice. Three Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate seats - two reserved for juniors and one for a sophomore - opened up in January as three senators left Tufts for the spring semester. One seat on the Committee on Student Life (CSL) also remained open from the first semester.
There are three candidates for the two junior Senate seats: Mark Nawfal, Scott Pherson, and former Senator Erin Ross. TCU elections are run in a pluralistic system, so the top two vote getters in the Valentines Day election will automatically join the Senate. Sophomores Kevin Coyne and Joshua Gold are running for the Senate seat vacated by Melissa Carson after the end of last semester.
Sophomore Zacki Raheem and former CSL member junior Tal Unrad are both running for the sole CSL seat, which is open to any member of the Tufts community, regardless of class.
The candidates spoke about their qualifications and the general interest areas in which they think change is needed.
Nawfal advocated going farther on issues that the Senate has already taken steps to address. He advocated keeping at least one room in the Tisch Library open 24 hours a day and improving the registration system so that all add/drop procedures can be done online. Nawfal also said that the University "should introduce business courses into the general curriculum," a prospect which the general faculty has vehemently opposed.
Another perennial Senate goal discussed was communication between campus organizations, which Pherson said still needed improvement. "There sometimes is a breakdown between groups. There's been conflicts between TTLGBC and TCF, and there have been other small conflicts as well," he said. Pherson pointed to Feb. 24 - when three semi-formal dances and the annual Parade of Nations are scheduled for the same time - as an example of inadequate communication.
Returning from a semester in Washington DC, two-year senator and former Services Committee Chair Erin Ross revisited two goals she has promoted in the past. She said that, if elected, she would continue working to bring anonymous AIDS testing to Tufts, where only confidential testing now exists. She also argued that, while there have been marked improvements in Dining Services, concerns persist.
"There is still more work that can be done to get students more bang for their buck," she said.
Coyne, who said he would be abroad all next year, told assembled students that as a senator he would concentrate on improving general dorm conditions, as well as space issues at Cousens Gym. Along with some of the other candidates, Coyne suggested ways to continue improving Tufts' nightlife. "Club Hotung seems to be a success on a small degree, I think we should start more things like it," he said.
Gold, a member of the Social Policy Task Force, cited community service and "facilitating social opportunities" as his two main objectives.
Ross, along with CSL candidate Unrad, are both running for positions they once held. Prior experience can, at times, be an advantage for candidates, said TCU Senate President David Moon.
"I think incumbents frequently have an easier time getting reelected, especially if the campus is already familiar with them," he said
"However, I think special elections at Tufts are very unpredictable because they are in the middle of the year with less people running and the election isn't as big a deal, which means there will be significantly lower turnout. So, I don't think the other two candidates are at a disadvantage. If they can bring people out, they can pull it off."
CSL candidate Raheem, who also said he would be going abroad in the fall, spoke about his interest in political science, as well as his philosophy on judiciaries.
The CSL seat that is up for election is the same one that Unrad himself vacated at the end of last year when we went abroad to Argentina. Having remained empty for all of the fall semester, he is trying to win back his position.
Unrad said that faculty/student committees should remain largely a background monitoring group. "While the CSL has the power to change policy on campus, I am content with keeping the CSL as its been and being a good moderator for groups on campus," he said.
CSL Chair Shou Min Tan said that Unrad's old office may or may not help him in getting reelected. "There's a learning curve that Tal had to deal with when he joined in the first place. It's not that hard, what you need is your common sense and your willingness to learn. So, I don't think that puts the other candidate at a disadvantage," he said.
