Two senators step down

Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senators Pranav ("PK") Kapoor and Larry Mahl resigned from their positions Sunday after announcing that they were not able to meet their responsibilities. Elections will be held within 15 days to fill their seats, as per the TCU Constitution.

The loss of senators mid-year is not abnormal, TCU President Melissa Carson said.

"It's not something we look forward to, but in every organization, people sometimes need to drop out," she said. "PK and Larry did not resign out of protest," but because they were no longer able to commit enough time and wanted to open up their seats up to someone who could. Kapoor and Mahl's resignations should not affect the image of the senate, Carson said.

Mahl, a sophomore, left because he felt he could not "fulfill the job to the best of [his] ability." Though he expressed enthusiasm for the Senate, Mahl said that "someone else with my same enthusiasm but a lot more time will do much better."

Mahl refused to comment on how his absence might affect the sophomore representation, however, and ended the interview.

Kapoor, who had to resign due to sudden personal reasons, reflected upon "great memories" with the Senate, and added that he was sad to be leaving.

The resignation letters from Mahl and Kapoor were the "nicest I've ever seen," Carson said.

"It makes people sad to see those you worked closely with have to go," Carson said. "But we will work hard to help the new ones fit in," she said.

Many influential senators, like the current TCU Treasurer Ben Lee, originally joined the Senate in special elections to fill resigned seats, she said.

According to Elections Board (ELBO) Chair Joe Coletti, the elections will be conducted like regular elections, wherein each candidate must petition signatures to run. Sometime next week, ELBO will hold a meeting for candidates where election procedure will be explained.

Though three members of ELBO were just elected on Oct. 10, Coletti expects the election to be smooth. Rather than being concerned about their inexperience, Coletti expects their added presence to be helpful.

Due to a fall-off in interest, ELBO has only had two to three members the past few years, although it is supposed to have five members. This year, all seats are full, which will lighten each member's workload.