Freshmen rev up for Class of 2011 elections

A determined group of Princeton's newest students hit the Street, dorm hallways and dining rooms in earnest as campaigning for freshman class government positions officially began yesterday.

This year, nine freshmen will vie for the position of Class of 2011 president — down from 17 last year — and all of this year's candidates aim to prove that they possess the qualities required to prevail in Sunday's election.

"I'm from Minnesota, so I have a lot of 'Minnesota Nice.' I genuinely want to meet people," said candidate Richie Huynh, who said he hopes to use this Midwestern friendliness to become president.

Many candidates also pointed to prior student government posts as evidence of their ability to lead. In his official campaign statement, Alex Rosen made a point of highlighting his experience in "planning social events as President of my high school class."

But some candidates say they have already found college elections to be quite different from what they encountered in high school.

"My school was significantly smaller, so I didn't have to put myself out there as much," Jayden Ziegler said.

Ziegler and other candidates face the challenge of communicating messages to an electorate of over 1,200 students. Many candidates declared their intention to begin canvassing dining halls immediately, as well as reaching out in a variety of other methods.

"I think my friends will support me," said Isaac Reyes, who listed his "chiseled features" as an asset in his campaign statement.

Posters will be a common sight on the campaign trail this fall. Students can look forward to a wide spectrum of slogans splashed across campus in the coming week: "Win with Huynh," "In Princeton's service and in the service of all Princetonians" and "I Love Princeton '11."

Not all slogans, though, were worth hanging on posters around campus. "My friend suggested 'Lexi rhymes with sexy ... for a reason,' but I thought that would send the wrong message," Lexi Meyer said. Meyer, who coordinated a high school community service program that sent students to Mexico, will probably stand out from the crowd nevertheless: She is the only female candidate.

Outreach efforts, however, can fall flat unless a candidate has a message to communicate. For freshmen, this poses a dilemma: How much can candidates really say about a school they've attended only for a few weeks?

Most candidates focus on their past qualifications for this reason. Jacob Loewenstein, however, hopes that the way to students' votes is through their stomachs. "Based on their residential college assignment, certain people may be subjected to lower quality meals," said Loewenstein, who also aims to tackle other food issues such as dining hall overcrowding and extending Late Meal to 1 a.m.

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Whatever their platform, candidates will have to muster energy and enthusiasm to make it through campaign week. This suits candidate Shawn Kothari just fine, who has been looking forward to campaigning since he first set foot on campus. "When I visited, there was a lot of energy, a lot going on; it was very vibrant. I knew I wanted to do what I could to uphold that."

In contrast, Lang Wang decided to run only a week before campaigning began. "People kept telling me I should run. I'm the creator of the Princeton '11 Facebook group, so I've already been posting lots of information about campus events. I'd be doing a lot of the same thing in student government."

Despite all their talk about qualifications, the candidates know that they face a significant challenge in rising to the top of a crowded — and evenly matched — field. As candidate Brian Jeong put it, "Honestly, I think it's going to be like rolling a nine-sided die. It's going to be random."