New Senators and J-member elected

With only hours remaining before the online polls close in the annual fall TCU Senate and TCU Judiciary (TCUJ) elections, all the candidates can do now is wait for ELBO to tabulate the votes and announce the winners sometime after 12 p.m.

Eight freshmen seats, one sophomore seat and one senior seat were open on the Senate, while there was one TCUJ seat up for grabs Ted Schwartzberg was uncontested for the one senior seat.

At a forum on Tuesday night in Hotung, the candidates made statements and faced pre-selected questions from senate leadership.

The admissions office may tout the diversity of the freshman class, but the freshman candidates appeared remarkably homogeneous in their experience and personality types. Each one had leadership experience from high school, a similar level of enthusiasm about being at Tufts and comparable lists of ways they would improve the School.

Some candidates identified specific changes they had in mind. Freshman Alex Mendell said he wanted to see turf on the quad, paper towels in the bathrooms, and books on the Internet.

Other candidates focused on how their personalities made them good candidates. Freshman Jolanda Porter talked about her "responsibility and reliability" and said she was "ready to work."

Most of the freshman candidates, however, centered their comments on their desire to serve the school and their class. Rafi Goldberg wanted to "help facilitate the legacy" that the freshman class will leave on Tufts by attending to the needs of his constituents.

Dave Baumwoll and John Valentine gave the most creative presentations. Baumwoll gave impromptu remarks and humorously explained his desire to be "not only the ear, but the voice" of students. Valentine stunned the crowd when he sang his opening words, "if you've got a problem, you've got to rise above it," citing the film Cool Runnings.

Brandon Balkind and Matt Pohl were the two candidates for the open sophomore seat, and both had similar reasons for running for the Senate.

"I want to make the people know what's happening," Balkind said. Pohl said he wants to "change the fact that people feel that politics here is a joke."

This year, freshman senators were elected a little over two weeks after orientation began, giving them little time to get acquainted with issues affecting the University, to develop platforms or to rally support.

Instead, some candidates relied on catchy humor to attract votes. On Tuesday, Chloe Snider said she is approachable because "Chloe rhymes with David Bowie." Joe Weiner said he was the perfect representative because he is a "Jumbo Weiner."

Junior Sebastiaan Kwakkenbos wanted to bring a "fresh sense of un-biased advantage" to the TCUJ. He ran against Michael Douglas.