Uncontested races vex USG officials

USG elections managers expressed disappointment with the lack of candidates for executive committee positions yesterday as the official list of candidates for next week's elections was released.

Since only eight people are running for six positions, candidates in four of the races are running unopposed.

"We would have preferred that each race have several excellent candidates, but unfortunately, this year was just an off year," USG elections manager and U-Council chair Liz Gough '07 said in an email.

She added that USG elections seem to "go in cycles." While seven students ran for president last December, two ran in 2004 and six ran in 2003.

Moreover, while there are few candidates for executive committee positions, the six senate spots up for grabs attracted 19 candidates: two for Class of 2008 senator, five for 2009 and 12 for 2010. USG president Alex Lenahan '07 said he was encouraged by the high turnout for these underclass positions.

He also echoed Gough's frustration with the dearth of candidates but noted that races for executive committee positions, with the exception of president and vice president, have always suffered from low numbers of candidates.

Since 2003, no more than two students have run for the positions of treasurer or undergraduate life chair, and there have not been more than three candidates in the races for academics chair and campus and community affairs chair.

Neither Lenahan nor Gough could say exactly why such an imbalance in turnout for executive committee and senate positions exists.

"Judging by the candidates running, it appears that there was a pressure to have previous USG experience," Gough said.

Will Scharf '08, who mounted a campaign for president last year as a sophomore, said that it is difficult for an outsider to become a viable candidate. "If you're not part of the structure, if people haven't seen your name around, it's tough to get your name out there," he said. "I think a lot of people look at school-wide elections and say, 'I can't do this.' And I think that's a negative for political processes."

Scharf abandoned his plans to run for the vice presidency this year, after being elected president of Charter Club. In a club-wide email last week, he said he wanted to concentrate on his duties at the club and a potential bid for the position of Interclub Council chair.

Alec Williams '09 was expected to run for vice president as well, but said in an email that his absence from the ballot "wasn't a choice, but a matter of circumstance," as he had been away from campus during the deadline to turn in candidate statements.

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Class of 2009 senator Josh Weinstein will therefore replace current vice president Rob Biederman '08 unchallenged. Biederman, who is running for USG president, will compete with Class of 2008 president Grant Gittlin, the only other candidate.

In the only other contested race, Jake Bornstein '09 and Lauren Barnett '08 will vie for undergraduate life chair.

Lenahan agreed that the perception that former experience is necessary might dissuade students from running for office.

"One thing that may happen is that people who haven't had experience in USG positions assume that if they don't win when they're freshmen, that's it, so to speak," he said.

Gough also pointed to the lack of sophomores in the USG as a reason for the low turnout for the executive positions, which are traditionally filled by upperclassmen.

"On the U-Council, there is only one sophomore, and in the past couple of years, the U-Council has produced several candidates for [vice president]," Gough said, naming Biederman and Jesse Creed '07. "Finally, there is the possibility that we did not advertise the elections as well as we could have."

Gough and Lenahan said that they used the same timetable for advertising as they had in previous years but speculated that their efforts this time must not have been as effective.

"Perhaps the broader trend is that we need to do a better job of promoting the committee chair positions such as academics chair, campus and community affairs chair and undergraduate life chair," Gough said. "It is possible that people are turning out in low numbers because they don't completely understand what the job entails."

This year, only one candidate is running for each of these positions. Mike Monagle '09 will move from secretary to treasurer, and Sarah Breslow '08, an associate editor for The Daily Princetonian, will switch from campus and community affairs chair to academics chair. Cindy Hong '09, the only unopposed candidate new to the USG, will replace Breslow as campus and community affairs chair.

Gough added that "there really is no formula" for advertising, but that the president was largely responsible for doing so, being the only person with access to the all-undergraduate email list.

"At the same time, though, the USG as a whole should look into doing a poster campaign before elections," she said. "Another idea would be asking the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students to send out an [email] that contained election details."

The shortage of candidates may also be explained by the absence of contentious election issues. "I think people aren't as interested," Scharf said. "Last year you had a lot of big issues. Grade deflation was still more current [and] four-year colleges were still up in the air."

Despite her disappointment with candidate turnout, however, Gough said the USG is fortunate to have the contenders it does. "I have worked extensively with Josh Weinstein, Sarah Breslow and Mike Monagle," she said, "and I am positive that they will continue to do great work on behalf of our student body."

Elections will begin Sunday, Dec. 3, and conclude Tuesday, Dec. 5.