The University's Elections Board (ELBO) released the results of the one contested Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate race last night, as well as the results for the four uncontested TCU races.
The sole contested election was for the Class of 2008's TCU Senate seats, of which eight candidates received spots: freshmen Alexandra Pryor, Bruni Hirsch, Jonathan Adler, Stephen Blaker, Harsha Dronamraju, Michael Eddy, Evan Dreifuss and Radha Patel. Of these eight, Hirsch, Adler, Dronamraju and Dreifuss have been re-elected to the TCU Senate.
The results for the four uncontested TCU elections filled six TCU Senate seats for the Class of 2006 and seven seats for the Class of 2007, seven seats on the Tufts Community Union Judiciary (TCUJ), and four seats on the Committee on Student Life (CSL).
Sophomores Ivan Nurminsky, Denise Lyn-Shue, Brody Hale, Robert Kim, Harish Perkari, and Marie Delnord were welcomed into seats on the TCU Senate. Of these seven, Lyn-Shue, Hale, and Perkari are currently incumbents who serve on this year's TCU Senate.
For the Class of 2006 TCU Senate race, juniors John Valentine, Jason Bauer, Ed Kalafarski, Jeff Katzin, Rafi Goldberg, Athena Bogis, and Nicole Brusco were given seats. Of these six, Valentine, Kalafarski, Goldberg, and Bogis are current TCU Senators who will return in the fall.
Freshmen Allison Towle, Justin Greenbaum, Jamie Morgan, Marc Bouffard, Alexander Clark will obtain seats on the TCUJ, as will sophomores Jake Resnicow and David Dennis. Morgan, Bouffard, Clark, and Resnicow are all current TCUJ members this year.
On the CSL will be freshmen Alexandra Barker, Alison Hoover, sophomore Travis Brackin, and junior Jordana Starr.
According to ELBO Press Relations Director freshman Simone Press, the voter turn-out for the Class of 2008's TCU Senate elections was record-breaking.
Fifty-nine percent of the Class of 2008 voted, or 738 out of 1,259 students. In comparison, the similar Fall 2004 TCU Senate elections saw a voter turn-out of 565 people.
Dronamraju said that he felt this year's election for the Class of 2008 was of "utmost importance in determining what direction the Senate as a body will be moving in the following years." He said that, over the past year, he has noticed that sophomore senators are often relied upon to get work done for the body.
"This year's sophomore class has done just that and it is important for our class to do the same next year," Dronamraju said.
According to incumbent freshman TCU Senator Bruni Hirsch, sophomore senators are allowed to be a member of a TCU Senate committee, even if they do not win a seat on the Senate.
Hirsch was even more excited by her victory this election round. "I love student government, I knew that if I wasn't re-elected, I would be really disappointed," she said. Specifically, Hirsch said she wanted to complete projects she had begun last term.
"I'm not someone who wanted to give up on something; I wanted to complete them," Hirsch said.
Students could vote online at the University's Web Center site all day from 9:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.
Although he was uncertain of the freshman voter turn-out yesterday, Dronamraju said that he felt that the elections were run smoothly, despite hearing reports of high Internet traffic.
"A couple of my friends had to wait for a good amount in order for the voting page to load due to high demand, which is always a good sign," he said.
