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USG elections conclude; several races undecided

The results of USG spring elections for class officers and U-Council were announced yesterday after slightly more competitive races than usual for each office.

The election also yielded a new USG social chair, Timothy Skerpon '03, who ran uncontested for the position.

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Overall voter turnout was 46 percent, or 2,111 votes. Voter turnout for each class varied, with 61 percent for the Class of 2005, 47 percent for the Class of 2004, 56 percent for the Class of 2003 and 20 percent for the Class of 2002.

These numbers were "about average, maybe a little bit lower," USG treasurer and election committee member Mike Kimberly '03 said. "We expected to see 40 to 50 percent."

The difference in voter turnouts between the individual classes was also "typical," Kimberly said.

This year's sophomore class election was a little more competitive than usual, Kimberly said. It is customary that the lowest percentage is in the upcoming junior class. There is often a revival of interest for senior class president, evident in the number of candidates in the election, he added.

U-Council election results

The U-Council election filled 10 spots on the council. Elizabeth Biney-Amissah '04, Aaron Bianco '05, Allison Arensman '04, 'Prince' senior writer Weili Shaw '04, Christopher Wendell '03, Josh Anderson '04, John Brunger '05, Jeff Vinikoor '03, Amy Saltzman '05 and Taylor Henricks '03 will be the new U-Councilors for the upcoming academic year.

Tim Skerpon '03, who ran unopposed, will be the USG Social Chair next year.

Class officer results

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In the Class of 2003 officer elections, only the office of president required a run-off, between Catherine Farmer '03 and Clark Webb '03. The senior class government will also include vice president Courtney Coleman '03, treasurer Heather Morr '03, secretary Luck Dookchitra '03 and social chair Nancy Saedi '03.

The Class of 2005 will also hold a run-off for class president — between Kyle Detwiler '05 and incumbent Beau Harbour '05. There will also be a run-off for class secretary between Surabhi Saraswat '05 and Michelle Leutzinger '05, a Daily Princetonian staff writer. Other elected class officers include vice president Federico Baradello '05, treasurer Emily Moxley '05 and social chair Stephanie Scott '05.

All of the 2004 officers either won by a simple majority or ran uncontested. Eli Goldsmith '04 will return as president, Rishi Jaitly '04 as vice president, Michael Angelo '04 as treasurer, Maureen Monagle '04 as secretary and Milo Adams '04 as social chair.

In his current post, Goldsmith had already begun planning for next year's events, such as more class trips and an expanded lecture series that will bring more nationally recognized speakers to campus. This year's speakers included Judd Winick from MTV's "The Real World," Paul "Kinko" Orfalea and Dr. Drew Pinsky from MTV-KROQ Loveline, who will speak Saturday.

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"I would like to try to incorporate the unique talents of classmates into class events . . . like shows and performances," Goldsmith said.

Misinformation

Originally, a representative from the USG misinformed the candidates in the race for 2005 secretary that the de facto winner was Saraswat.

"I was incredulous that I had won and asked whether I was in a run-off," Saraswat said. "I was told 'no.' "

Despite the misnotification, Saraswat is looking forward to the run-off election against Leutzinger and plans to do more campaigning.

Farmer said she plans to talk to some people, but does not "plan on doing too much campaigning" in her bid for 2003 president re-election, since run-off voting begins today.

U-Councilors look to future

The newly-elected U-Councilors expressed a great deal of excitement and optimism about their new positions.

Bianco said he hopes to improve communication between the administration and students.

"The first thing I plan to do is approach the U-Council and the administration to implement more interaction between the administration and student organizations . . . in order to empower those organizations with access to resources," Bianco said.

Arensman said she is excited to continue the projects she has worked on in the past, such as improving the underclassman advising system.

"My immediate concern is the women's issue task force, which came out under the administration of Joe Kochan '02," she said.

U-Councilor Jeff Vinikoor '03 also expressed his excitement about serving for a second term. "I was happy to see a greater gender mix this year," he said.

Voting for the run-off positions begins today at noon today on the USG website.