Voter turnout for the general election was rather low. The race for president, which was the only contested race in the general election, is still incomplete. A runoff election between Christian Sanchez '05 and Ryan Park '05 was held yesterday. If nobody contests the election, the AAS will release these results at midnight tonight.
Only 386 students voted for judiciary council (JC) member, electing Taamiti Bankole '06 with 353 votes, 91 percent of the total votes cast. Bankole is especially enthusiastic about his new position. He said he is particularly looking forward to being a part of the changes that are about to occur within the committee regarding review and recognition. His own personal plans revolve primarily around these changes.
"I'm just looking forward to reviewing our requirements for review and recognition," Bankole said. "[The council] intends to make review and recognition a tighter and a more coherent process," he added
Three hundred and twenty-seven students elected Andre Deckrow '06 to be JC chair. Deckrow spent the fall semester as a Class of 2006 senator on the JC, but as chair, he will have to give up his seat in the senate. "I'm a little disappointed to lose my vote in the AAS senate, but at the same time, I feel excited about the contributions to the AAS that I can make in the capacity of JC chair," Deckrow said. "I want to work with the students to ensure that the policies of the judiciary council are in the best interest of the College."
Two hundred and eighty sophomores voted to fill their senate seat. Ethan Davis '05 is the new Class of 2005 senator, getting 120 of the 280 total votes cast. Davis is enthusiastic about becoming a member of the senate.
"I am honored and indebted to my class to have been elected a sophomore class senator. The position, despite all the derisive rhetoric about the AAS, is an important one," he said. One of his primary goals as senator is "to seek more responsible allocations of funds to student organizations."
The junior class voting turnout was much smaller than that of the sophomores, with only 85 students casting a vote. A.J. Korytoski '04 and Paris Wallace '04 won the two Class of 2004 senate seats. Korystoski, a write-in candidate, received only seven votes, eight percent of the total, and Wallace got 61 votes, 71 percent of the total.
"I am surprised but delighted to be chosen as a write-in by the junior class," said Korytoski. He has many goals which he hopes to achieve during his time in office. "I hope to relay fresh ideas and rational decision-making to the current leaders of the AAS and to spark rejuvenated confidence and support by the student body towards student government," he said.
Wallace also has a number of ideas. "The first objective that I will try to accomplish as an AAS senator is developing solid goals for the organization," Wallace said. "I feel that presently there is no purpose or direction within the AAS, and I hope to focus our efforts towards achieving goals that will positively affect the student body," he added.