Panda, Jin vie for 2010 presidency

next week’s election

Jin said in an interview that she is challenging Panda because there has been a decrease in class unity and participation in events since Panda became president in February after Connor Diemand-Yauman ’10 vacated the office to become USG president.

“I am running [for Class of 2010 president] because ever since Connor left for the USG, there has been a void in the leadership that has not been adequately filled,” she said, adding that current social chair Michael Chou ’10 and current treasurer Jake Dale ’10 both support her bid for the presidency. Dale added that Jin, Chou and himself have all agreed to support each other’s candidacies.

“I think that there was a lack of large-scale events. There was not a single event with more than 200 people in attendance [this last year],” Jin said, adding that the last well-attended class event was last year’s sophomore formal, which she “personally spearheaded.”

Panda, however, said he has had a positive impact on the student body, as he has worked to modify and improve the class government.

“In my three years at Princeton, I’ve helped discard an old model of what class government ought to be and have instead laid the foundation for a set of events that better serve the interests of the class and enrich the Princeton community,” Panda said in an e-mail.

Jin explained that she hopes to unify the Class of 2010 by continuing traditions such as pub night and study breaks and also introducing a large-scale class event, such as a concert with a big-name band.

“Our class is less unified as of now, and we want to change that before the end of senior year,” Jin said.

Panda said he believes his platform only differs from Jin’s in two key areas: community service and selection of the Class Day speaker.

“I think the class can and should continue its commitment to serving the community,” Panda said. “Another key distinction is that I feel pretty strongly about opening up the process of getting input and selecting a Class Day speaker to the class at large, instead of leaving less than a half dozen people responsible for selecting a speaker for the entire class.”

Though current Class of 2011 president Alex Rosen faces no opposition, incumbent vice president Michael Perl ’11 is being challenged by Shannon Mercer ’11, who said, “The class government now is a great example of the way a class government should be.” Still, she noted, there is always room for improvement, especially with regard to the communication between the class government and students.

Mercer described her platform as “centered around making the junior year of transition feel comfortable within the class and creat[ing] general fun.”

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Perl said one of his main objectives is to “facilitate the connections” that students have formed in their first two years while ensuring that these bonds are not lost as students join different eating clubs and other organizations.

He explained that he has already started planning trips to the New Jersey shore or Six Flags to maintain class unity.

“I have the expertise that will let me [maintain our class unity] next year,” Perl said.

He also noted that a possible improvement to the current system would be scheduling study breaks at times when as many people as possible can attend.

Damjan Korac ’12 will challenge incumbent Class of 2012 president Lindy Li for her position.

Five students are competing for the position of Class of 2012 vice president, which was vacated by Li, who became the class president in February after former freshman class president Ashton Miller resigned his position to take off the spring semester. Eri Andriola, John Monagle, Katlin Poladian, Nick Pugliese and Rodrigo Munoz Rogers are the candidates for the vice presidency.

“I want to hold more frequent study breaks with entertainment like live music or movie screenings so people can actually hang out and not just grab food and run,” Andriola said.

Monagle said he would like to establish a projects board for the Class of 2012.

“Students would come with event proposals, and they would talk to the officers, and the government would allocate funds to make [those events] possible,” he explained, adding that he thinks this would help involve more students in the class government.

Calling herself approachable, open-minded and fair, Poladian said she hopes to make class government a forum in which every student can be heard.

“I want to make sure that the sophomore formal is even better than Freshman Formal with more attendees than ever,” she said in an e-mail. “I believe [that] in getting the most value out of every event we sponsor, we can both spend our budget wisely and we use our resources wisely, preventing waste and supporting sustainability at the same time.”

Explaining that he was “more of a type-B personality than a type-A,” Pugliese said that, if elected, he would like to hold fewer, larger class-wide events, such as a barbecue.

Rogers said that his platform focused on three points: sustainability, fiscal responsibility and accessibility of class officers.

“While the current administration did a great job, there’s always room to improve,” Rogers said of his decision to run.

Austin Hollimon and Grace Zhu are the candidates for Class of 2012 treasurer.

Jake Dale and Jonathan Nussbaum are running for Class of 2010 treasurer, while EJ Chi and Nick Mora will face off for Class of 2011 social chair.

Eleven students are competing for 10 spots on the U-Council. Candidate Carter Greenbaum ’12 said he would advocate for changing the pass/D/fail policy and hosting guest speakers at times other than 4:30 p.m., when many students are busy with sports practice or other activities.

Harry Schiff ’10, who is running for re-election to the U-Council, said that, if re-elected, he would continue his current projects with the USG alcohol working group. The other U-Council candidates did not respond to requests for comment.

Voting begins Monday at noon and will continue until noon on Wednesday.

For a complete list of candidates in all the elections, please click here.