In a campaign of similar issues, leadership styles differentiate candidates

Tufts Community Union presidential candidate Joe Mead defines the "essence of leadership" by quoting Abraham Lincoln: "A good leader will take people where they want to be. A great leader will take them where they ought to be."

The sophomore from Baltimore, MD holds these words as a standard by which to model his work in student government. If elected as TCU president, Mead hopes to be as strong, vocal leader who sets a tone of "blue-collar work ethic" for the Senate.

"I always like to lead by example. Whoever is in charge of an organization needs to work the hardest and be there at every point," he said. "The Senate needs someone who's willing to do the grunt work."

This vision of the role of a TCU president differs greatly from the last three presidents, who have all lead by depending on help from subcommittees.

Though Mead can spout off a variety of issues and projects he would like to see the Senate work on, much of his vision involves improving the efficiency and productivity of the governing body. Too many good ideas come up at the beginning of the year and get lost, and the amount of time it takes senators to complete projects is too long, he said.

A reason for this, he says, is that new senators don't receive enough guidance and resources to accomplish projects. Mead proposes to give more project management training to senators if elected. He would also try to organize meetings better to make them more efficient and would encourage other senators to be more goal-oriented by writing down expectations for what senators are supposed to do.

"The other senators are great, and they're committed, but they have to be given the tools to complete what they want to do," he said. "There's an element of organization missing from the Senate."

Though he has only been on the Senate for a year, Mead says his coursework and other activities have helped him develop the leadership skills necessary for the job. A psychology major and English minor, Mead is taking a class this semester on working in organizations and reads books about leadership on his own time. He is the treasurer of the Inter-Greek Council, a Delta Tau Delta executive board member, and a member of the lacrosse team. He was also served on the Senate's Public Relations Committee and the Allocations Board.

Like his opponent Randy Newsom, outreach to students is the main plank of Mead's platform. He wants to emphasize the need for the Senate to get out of the campus center and do outreach in places where students are, like the dining halls. He would like to see more of the ideas for Senate projects come from people outside the Senate.

"We keep trying to do the right thing in the wrong way," he said. "It's our responsibility to go to them and find out what their issues are."

Mead describes the rest of his platform, which includes improving communication between the administration and the Greek system, passing the constituency-based bylaw, asking administrators and trustees to improve financial aid, and adding more restaurants and other business to the Merchant on Points program, is just an initial list of what he sees as student needs so far.

Newsom has also talked about many of these projects, but Mead thinks his action-oriented leadership style would make him better suited to accomplish them.

"I like to make sure every step of a project is able to be completed and is completed," he said. "If I'm not working, I'm not happy."

That aspect of his personality is what drew him to the Senate in the first place. After freshman year, Mead felt he wasn't doing enough on campus and joined the Senate because he saw it as a way to be active in the community.

"I think that I can make an extreme positive difference in student life at Tufts," he said.