The Undergraduate Council of Students held internal elections for voting positions during its first general body meeting Wednesday night. Positions to be filled included nine at-large representatives, six executive board positions, Undergraduate Finance Board representative and webmaster.
The meeting was the first attended by class representatives elected by first-years last week. Twenty voting member positions, five per class, are reserved for class representatives each year. The nine at-large representatives that existing UCS voting members elected Wednesday filled the vacancies left by a scarcity of upperclassmen running for the class representative positions last spring.
The nine new at-large representatives elected were: Dave Beckoff '08, Benjamin Boas '06, Ben Creo '07, Sara Damiano '08, Hugh Livengood '07, Kevin McDonald '08, Mike Thompson '07, Kelly Walton '09 and Halley Wuertz '08.
Creo, a former chair of the UCS Campus Life Committee, lost to UCS President Brian Bidadi '06 in April's election.
Bidadi said the number of vacancies left for at-large representatives was high this year, compared with an average of four or five vacancies usually left after the class representative elections. However, he said that the 23 students who ran for at-large positions this year indicated that the internal election was competitive and produced a "better representation of the student body" at Brown.
When asked why voting involvement among older students tended to lag, Bidadi described a "self-fulfilling phenomenon" in which upperclassmen running for UCS positions recognize a higher level of involvement in underclassmen and tend to campaign toward them. He suggested that informing juniors and seniors about issues before the elections would increase their participation.
Increasing the level of student involvement in the UCS decision-making process emerged as a theme in the at-large candidate speeches Wednesday.
Newly elected at-large representatives spoke about issues raised during the elections for first-year class representatives last week, including meal plan options, advising, study spaces, the housing lottery, course registration and the transfer process.
In addition to the at-large positions, UCS held internal elections for six vacant executive board positions, which are voting positions.
The newly elected academic and administrative affairs chair is Beckoff, who said he hoped AAA would act on its potential to make "actual long-term changes to Brown."
The new appointments chair, responsible for appointing and holding accountable undergraduate student representatives on University committees, is Boas.
The new communications chair is Tristan Freeman '07, also a class representative.
Thompson was elected UCS secretary, who also acts as vice chair of the Communication Committee and vice chair of the Appointments Committee.
The Corporation liaison, who communicates between UCS and the University's board of fellows and board of trustees, is Kate Brandt '07.
Doug Faron '06 was elected alumni relations liaison and will be responsible for, among other things, improving communication between alums and students and promoting class unity.
UCS also elected its new UFB representative, Jonathan Margolick '06, who will share UFB responsibilities over student groups and their funding in a checks-and-balances relationship with UCS.
And the council chose Tara Gonsalves '08 as webmaster of the UCS Web site.
Campus Life Chair Deanna Chaukos '08 said she was glad to see "so much more interest (in UCS) this year," and added that because of the large number of candidates for a few positions, "we know we are electing people who are dedicated."
Also at the meeting, the council spoke briefly about future plans for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, stressing the need for a strong and organized response. The council expected to work with the school administration in a weeklong series of forums, speakers and other events to raise funds for victim assistance.
UCS also approved four clubs for University recognition: The Paintball Club, Practicality Club and Organ Donation Club were approved as Category I organizations, and the Men's Club Tennis group was approved as a Category III organization.
