Jackson ’15, Wagstaff ’14 run for USG president; bonfire delayed till Saturday

Wagstaff was elected social chair in the spring of 2011 and served a full year term. Last semester, the USG voted to amend the constitution to extend the social chair term to the winter election cycle, when the rest of the executive committee is elected. As social chair, Wagstaff has organized the past three Lawnparties concerts.

As class senator, Jackson led the implementation of the Committee on Background and Opportunity survey. Though it is rare for a sophomore to run for USG president, Easop’s predecessor, former USG president Michael Yaroshefsky ’12, ran as a sophomore and led the student government for two years.

In his capacity as the current social chair, Wagstaff said he believes he has demonstrated “that we can produce results and that we can run an organization in an effective and enjoyable way.”

“I’m running because I have a passion for the USG, I have a passion for the University as a whole and a passion for, most importantly, the students themselves,” Wagstaff said after the Senate meeting. “I have a really big passion for this job and big dreams for what we can accomplish.”

Jackson said he has had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects that have given him a different perspective on what the USG does. He said his vision is for the USG to be used as a resource center for students and that his campaign is focused on “access, accountability and approachability.”

Both candidates said they plan to begin campaigning by speaking to as many voters as possible. Wagstaff said he hopes to speak to many young voters while Jackson plans to go door-to-door and also speak to students in the dining halls. Both candidates will reveal their personal campaign websites this week.

Six candidates are running unopposed. USG social committee member Carla Javier ’15 will serve as social chair, after Reid Bergin ’15 announced her intention to run and then withdrew from the race. Christina Yu ’14 will serve as treasurer, Class of 2014 Senator Dillon Sharp will be academics chair, projects manager Gregory Smith ’15 will be the chair of the Undergraduate Life Committee and social committee member Trap Yates ’14 will be chair of the campus and community affairs committee. The Class of 2014 Senators will be current senator Charissa Shen and John McNamara, who is the USG executive secretary.

The vice presidential candidates are U-Councilor Elan Kugelmass ’14, Class of 2015 social chair Danny Johnson and CCA chair Carmina Mancenon ’14.

Three students are running for two slots as Class of 2015 senator: current senator Deana Davoudiasl and challengers Eric Swenson and Zach Ogle. Nine students are running for Class of 2016 senator — Eduardo Lima, Hannah Swenson, Erica Turret, Dan Chen, Ben Dinovelli, Alex Jafari, Ella Cheng, Marcus Stroud and Andrew Sun.

Yates is an associate editor for Street; Johnson, Javier and Cheng write for the news section; and Davoudiasl writes for the Prox.

Campaigning begins today at noon. Elections will begin a week from today and will last until next Wednesday.

The USG also delayed this weekend’s bonfire after the football team’s victories against Harvard and Yale. Originally slated to take place on Friday, the USG decided to postpone the event until Saturday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.

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Easop said he got about 20 emails from football players on Saturday requesting that the USG change the date of the bonfire since the team will have its final game of the season at Dartmouth on Saturday and will therefore not be able to properly celebrate the bonfire on Friday night.

Joe Ramirez ’07 spoke about the tradition of the bonfire at the meeting, which includes burning a bulldog and a John Harvard effigy in the fire. The bonfire ceremony will last about 10 to 15 minutes — part of which will be a literal passing of the torch from the 2006 Princeton football team — the last team to win a bonfire — to the 2012 football team. The fire will then burn for about an hour.

Despite the change of date, Ramirez said the building of the bonfire will begin Friday afternoon to get students excited for the game. Students will be able to decorate pallets and help build the fire.

The USG also discussed this weekend’s busing to the football game at Yale. According to Easop, 550 bus tickets were sold prior to the event, but only 453 students got on the buses in the morning.

“Not every bus was completely filled ... and then there was one bus that had a handful of about five people,” Easop said. More students filled the buses on the return trip, leading the USG to discuss the possibility of possibly selling one-way tickets at future events.

The USG also discussed this Friday’s Hoodie Allen concert, this semester’s Dean’s Date celebration and the new Tigerapps homepage.