Majority of USG races uncontested

The USG announced the candidates in the spring 2010 election on Monday morning.

Only three races are contested in the election, in which students must elect class officers, U-Councilors and the USG social chair.

In the USG’s original announcement, Jamie Joseph was listed as running unopposed for Class of 2013 social chair when in fact, incumbent Cameron Hough had also filed to run.

“Cameron had registered by the first deadline, but there was an issue where her submitted forms were not recorded,” USG president Michael Yaroshefsky ’12 said in an e-mail to The Daily Princetonian. “Once the issue was clarified, she was added to the spreadsheet.”

Jake Sally ’12, Kiran Gollakota ’13, Nicholas Antoine ’12 and Chenyu Zheng ’12 are running for USG social chair to replace John Wetenhall ’11. Gollakota is also a staff writer for The Daily Princetonian, and Wetenhall is a sports writer for the ‘Prince.’

Sally is the current social chair of club soccer and assistant social chair of Cloister Inn. He said that he wants to see “bigger name performers” at the University.

“A lot of these events aren’t quite to the level that I would quite like to see them,” Sally explained. “A lot of people are frustrated looking at Lawnparties — people are actually leaving Princeton instead of staying on campus.”

Though running on “more of a whim,” Sally said that he will be “accessible” while in office and open to input from his peers.

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“I’m really looking forward to campaigning,” Sally added. “Probably won’t do the door-to-door thing, though.”

Gollakota had a job similar to USG social chair in high school and has worked with musician Theophilus London and music group Chiddy Bang.

“Part of the reason that I want to do this job is that to me there’s nothing more awesome than creating a crazy and fun concert that a lot of people get incredibly excited about and really, truly enjoy,” he said in an e-mail.

“I think what differentiates me from the other three candidates is that, at least from the looks of it, I’m either shorter, younger or significantly less buff,” Gollakota said. “It sort of makes me seem like a hipster relative to them.”

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Antoine said in an e-mail that his love for music makes him stand out from his competitors.

“I’ve played in [the Princeton University Jazz Ensemble] and several jazz small-groups,” he said. “I’m currently playing in the band Sensemaya, and I’m planning to declare my major in music. If I’m elected, I’d like to bring more shows and events to campus — specifically more musical and comedic performances.”

Like his competitors, Antoine also cited previous experience to support his candidacy.

“I’ve been a member of the USG Social Committee for the past two years and have a good understanding of the ins and outs of running Lawnparties and other social events on campus,” he said. “Also, my freshman year, I organized the Friday Night Jazz Series at Forbes College.”

Zheng said in an e-mail that she would bring unique entertainment to campus if elected.

“As USG social chair, I would work hard to ensure the quality of [Lawnparties] concerts and Dean's Date celebrations,” she said. “Moreover, I would promote student musicians and provide discounted tickets to concerts or theme parks. I also plan to bring a jaw-dropping hypnotist, James Mapes, to campus, among other novel entertainers.”

She also proposed the creation of an online system to track seat availability at the Garden Theater, explaining “I love the popular Garden Theater free movies and hope to add convenience to the student body.”

Stephen Stolzenberg and incumbent Hanna Tian are vying for the chance to be Class of 2013 treasurer.

“This is actually the third contested election I’ve been in at Princeton,” Stolzenberg said. “It’s fun to be on the campaign trail again, and it’ll also be much more rewarding if I do win and get to do the job.”

In his campaign statement, Stolzenberg said he hopes to “foster a sense of 2013 community and voice” if elected.

Tian did not respond to a request for comment.

No students had submitted candidate petitions to enter the race for Class of 2012 treasurer or Class of 2013 vice president, and only nine candidates had entered the race to compete for 10 available U-Council positions as of early Monday morning. Another U-Council candidate entered the race during the day on Monday. Yaroshefsky announced in an e-mail to the student body that the deadline to file candidate petitions for these races has been extended until Wednesday. Candidates for currently contested positions will be permitted to withdraw from competition and enter one of these three races if they desire to do so.

Following this announcement, Yaroshefsky received “dozens of replies” from students interested in the open positions, he said in his e-mail to the ‘Prince.’

“Perhaps this is a sign that students are genuinely interested in getting involved with student government but uncertain of their chances in an election, especially of unseating an incumbent for class office,” Yaroshefsky said.

After learning that no one has decided to oppose him, incumbent Class of 2012 treasurer Austin Hollimon will now enter the race for another term.

“After reflecting on my many memorable moments organizing a myriad of events and the strong relationships I have built as a part of being a class officer I realized that walking away from Student Government would be a grave mistake,” he said in an e-mail.

The final list of candidates will be released following the Wednesday deadline.

Ten candidates are currently competing for positions on the 10-person U-Council. Merik Mulcahy ’13, Andy Martens ’13, Wonpyo Yun ’13, Sarah Wiley ’13, Alice Stanton ’13 and Samuel McConnell ’13 hope to join the U-Council for the first time. Incumbents John Allen Zumpetta ’11, Steve Lindsay ’12, Carter Greenbaum ’12 and Alex Pretko ’12 are competing to remain for another term. Martens is also a sports writer for the ‘Prince,’ and Yun is also a staff writer and copy editor for the ‘Prince.’

Marking a departure from recent years, the senior class presidency will not be contested. Class of 2011 president Alex Rosen has not faced competition since winning a nine-person race in fall 2007. The other four Class of 2011 officers are also running unopposed: Michael Perl, Jonathan Gary, EJ Chi and Shaina Li will retain their positions as vice president, treasurer, social chair and treasurer, respectively.

Facing no competition, Lindy Li will continue as president of the Class of 2012. Nick Pugliese will continue as vice president, Angela Groves will retain her position as class secretary, and PJ Das will remain as social chair of the Class of 2012.

Class of 2013 president Zach Beecher will retain his position. Kendra Simon will win her first term as Class of 2013 secretary.

Editor's Note: Austin Hollimon ’12 and Chenyu Zheng ’12 responded to requests for comment after print publication. The online version of this article has been updated to include their responses.

Correction: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this article stated that Kendra Simon '13 would serve another term as class treasurer when, in fact, she will serve her first term.