Sophomore senators elected

All eight freshmen running for reelection to the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate won a seat in Wednesday's elections, along with four newcomers.

Next year's sophomore senators will be incumbents David Baumwoll, Rafi Goldberg, Jeff Katzin, Cho Ling, Alex Mendell, Chloe Snider, John Valentine and Jose Vasquez. The new senators will be Jason Bauer, Jonathon Gais, Katie Herr, and Kyra Jackivicz.

Chris Eager and Diana Fox did not win seats.

Of nearly 1,300 freshmen who were eligible to vote, 461 cast their ballot online on Wednesday, according to the Elections Board (ELBO). But ELBO refused to release vote tallies for individual candidates, even though ELBO bylaws require that the results be made public. ELBO Chair Abby Lillianfeld said that the bylaws, which are new, deviate from previous regulations on this point, and that ELBO did not inform the candidates of the change.

According to Lillianfeld, "because they were not told [of the new bylaw], the candidates did not take actions they may have," such as dropping out of the race or campaigning harder. She assured that ELBO would release all the results in the next election.

TCU Senate Parliamentarian Adam Koeppel said that ELBO asked him whether it would be appropriate to release the specific results, and he suggested that the organization call the candidates and see if any had any objections. "I think seeing vote counts is the sign of a healthy democracy," Koeppel said.

Of 13 candidates contacted by the Daily, only five returned calls and e-mails, but those who responded had mixed opinions about whether the numbers should be released.

"I wouldn't have any objections at the moment, but it's not something I consider necessary," Goldberg said.

Snider, however, said that releasing the results would "make one senator look better than another senator" by allowing them to compare the vote counts. But, he said, "if ELBO needs [to release them] to be legitimate, then I understand."

The other three senators fully supported releasing the numbers. "I don't have any problems with it, and I think it's time these things are public," Ling said.

The ELBO bylaw mix-up was not the only legal mishap of the election. Fox was disqualified from the race when ELBO discovered that she had e-mailed campaign letters to student leaders and organizations without the body's approval. All campaign e-mails sent to student groups must first be approved and sent through ELBO.

Those senators who are returning are excited about the chance to continue many of the projects that they started this year as members of the Senate. Baumwoll plans to continue to work on senate surveys -- the first of which should be released in the next two weeks -- while Snider will focus on Senate outreach to students through monthly e-mails, an initiative she hopes will eventually be enshrined in a bylaw.

Bauer expressed an interest in examining the alcohol policy with the Administration, specifically the current policy that students can receive Probation I if they are drunk and are treated by the Tufts Emergency Medical Services (TEMS). Some argue that the policy discourages students from calling TEMS if they are in trouble.

The election for sophomore seats was the only contested race yesterday. Candidates for junior and senior senate seats, seats on the TCU Judiciary and seats the Committee on Student Life ran uncontested.