The University Board of Elections yesterday announced the preliminary list of candidates running in spring elections, as candidates geared up for today's start to the official campaigning and endorsing period.
Five candidates are vying for the elections' top seat -- Student Council President.
Second-year College student Elliot Haspel and third-year College student Greg Scanlon each are running as reformers, they said. Haspel served as Council's religious affairs chair this year while the election marks Scanlon's first involvement with Council.
"The Council needs serious institutional reform, and it needs to start concentrating on concrete, tangible efforts for students," Haspel said.
Scanlon also said he wants to change the way Council operates.
"They're accomplishing things, but it could be done a lot more efficiently," he said. "Hopefully, I'll be able to change the tone a little bit."
Third-year College student Marisa Nelson, third-year Commerce student Curtis Ofori and second-year College student Noah Sullivan each pointed to their experience on Council and cited a desire to continue their work as Council president.
Nelson, who served as a representative this year, said she wants to continue reaching out to students.
"I've been able to see how great the resources are to Student Council and how effective you can be in making change when the resources are used efficiently," Nelson said.
Ofori said that despite his removal as representative after his switch from the College to the Commerce School, he wants to continue his involvement.
"I really want to continue the hard work I started as a representative," Ofori said. "I have a faith in continuing to work side by side with the current and next group of representatives."
Sullivan, who served as chief of staff this year, said his experience working on a broad range of issues make him the most qualified candidate.
"There's a lot of potential out there," Sullivan said. "I want to work hard as president next year to really push forward, to bring students together and address problems that affect us all."
The position of Student Council executive vice president currently has no candidates, while Rebecca Keyworth and Jamie Sisley are contending for Council vice president for organizations. Gregory Jackson Jr. is running unopposed for Council vice president for administration. Kat Shea and Nathaniel Smith are competing for fourth-year class president, while Alicia Petit and Brian Leung run for vice president.
The College representative positions for Council, Honor Committee and University Judiciary Committee are all contested, with four, eleven and six candidates, respectively, running for three spots on each organization. Representative positions for each group from other schools, however, are mostly under-filled or uncompetitive.
UBE Chair Brian Cook said candidates could get on the ballot as late as the day before the election begins, provided they meet petition requirements.
A full list of candidates is available on the UBE's Web site.
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