The 2001-2002 Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate met last night to fill positions for next year's body. The two-hour plus meeting was longer than most of the Senate's weekly meetings this year, as almost all TCU Senate Executive Board positions were contested.
Sophomore Melissa Carson ran for vice president and won over junior Bill McCarthy, who resigned early in the year from Special Projects chair. Carson, who left campus on medical leave this semester, emphasized that the role of the vice president is to facilitate cohesiveness within the Senate.
"It's the job of the vice president to oversee the Senate," she said.
Carson emphasized specific goals that she hoped to accomplish next year such as revising the "sibling" system to start earlier, being more attentive to the needs of freshmen and new senators, continuing with Monday tabling, and going forward with dorm days, a project which would send senators into dorms to interact with their constituents.
McCarthy, conversely, stayed away from specifics, instead stressing the general goal of Senate housekeeping. "The vice president is in charge of making sure the Senate runs smoothly - not only handling the political and motivational part of the Senate, but also handling the ethical and emotional status of everyone," he said.
Unlike the vice presidential race, the treasurer position went uncontested to sophomore Ben Lee, who served as parliamentarian this year.
Sophomore Andrew Potts defeated freshman Jill Bier for Lee's former post. Each served as chair of the Administration and Budget (A&B) Committee this year, with Bier taking over for Potts after he resigned amidst concerns over his performance.
Though his inconsistent attendance at Senate meetings during the fall semester was addressed, Potts stressed that he is ready to make a stronger commitment. He emphasized his knowledge and dedication to Robert's Rules of Order, though he allowed for some leniency in following procedure.
"Often, people are cut off while speaking, and someone's views are not heard," he said, advocating for stricter use of the rules, although he would "only use as much procedure as necessary."
Freshman Suman Rao and junior Varsha Prasad competed for the historian position, which is responsible for keeping minutes and other Senate administrative functions. Rao, who won the seat, proposed several new projects, such as creating a "project dictionary." Instead of having senators fill out project slips, Rao said he would fill out these slips himself and compile them for senators looking for projects to pursue or join.
Prasad suggested drawing up a Senate newsletter, a project she promised to pursue on the student outreach committee. She also underscored the role of the historian as an executive board member to make senators, especially freshmen, feel welcome to meetings.
"I really enjoy helping people and listening to what people say. I want everyone to feel they can come to me and talk to me," she said.
Among general board elections, only one committee chair was contested.
Freshman Ed Schwehm beat out Rao for the Services committee chair. Both worked on the Services committee this year, focusing on improving Mail and Dining Services.
Rao, who had already been elected historian, said he hoped to continue improving specific aspects of student lives such as Dining Services and the Turkey and Spring airport shuttles. "Services is the most important [committee] to student lives, out of all the committees," he said.
Schwehm said he felt comfortable with his role on Services this year and hopes to continue his work. "I want to do a good job with making sure people stay on task and continue with the good stuff Services got done this semester," he said.
The A&B committee chairmanship went to Bier and junior Brad Stitchberry, even though Stitchberry initially declined to run for the position. Freshman Pritesh Gandhi and junior Gautam Kitchlu will serve as the new chairs for the Culture, Ethnicity, and Community Affairs Committee.
"I'm excited about next year. We'll work to tackle issues not only of race and ethnicity, but also religion," Gandhi said.
The Education Committee chair went to freshman Raja Taunk, who said he hoped to continue former chair Abbey Wilson's work, but to make the committee "more exciting." McCarthy took up his former role as chair of the Special Projects committee.
Prasad took on the role as chair of the Public Relations and Student Outreach Committee, pledging to continue garnering student opinions. Prasad said she hopes her proposed newsletter and dorm councils will accomplish some of her goals of increased student-senate communication.
Next year's Allocations Board (ALBO) chairs were not contested. Freshman Nikhil Abraham was elected assistant treasurer, an executive board position, by ALBO. The new chairs are Kitchlu, Abraham, McCarthy, Gandhi, Bier, and Rao. The last ALBO Council, TCU Government, is automatically chaired by TCU Senate President Eric Greenberg.
All newly elected ALBO officers, except for Abraham, will be serving double duty next year, as they all are also on the general board. Some voiced concerns about the significant overlap, but senators insisted that they could handle the responsibilities. In the year-end reports, former Special Projects Committee co-chairs and ALBO members Moira Poe and Alessandro Terenzoni recommended that in the future senators should not be allowed to hold any position in addition to an ALBO chairmanship.
Greenberg said he was pleased by the competitiveness of this year's elections and noted that only two chairs were contested last year. "It's good to see a lot of people involved," he said. "It looks like we're going to get a lot of work done next year."
Former presidential candidate and treasurer Michele Shelton did not run for ALBO, declining a nomination for the Performance Groups council. "I want to give people a chance to move up in the ranks," she said.
