LaBolt, Ahmed on Track for Tight Election

Author: Andrea Gissing

Ahmed Taps Into Experience while Promising Innovation

"While running for a position on the Student Government Association (SGA) might have been the more natural choice considering my three years of experience there," explained Fahim Ahmed '03, at the electoral debates Tuesday night, "I feel that the Community Council is where changes are addressed and affected."

Ahmed is one of the two candidates running for the 2002-03 position of the Student Co-chair of Community Council (SC-COCC) in the election coming up this Thursday and Friday.

To advertise his candidacy and his platform, Ahmed has put full force behind this campaign. "This is my first campus-wide campaign," he said. "So far it has been very challenging, very hectic, yet very rewarding." Like many of the other candidates, Ahmed's approach has been to campaign with posters, meet and talk with as many student groups as possible and basically get to know as many people as he can.

"Now that the primary logistical process with things like posters is over, I have more time to go door-to-door," he explained. "From now until the election I plan to spend a lot of time introducing myself to more people, talking to them about my ideas and seeing what their perspectives on those ideas are," he said.

"Through talking with people," continued Ahmed, "I've been able to spend time fleshing out my initiatives, adding on suggestions that I have received as to how my platform could be complemented. For example, I have received questions regarding the issue of the financial aid policy and how it could be used as an important tool to make the school more diverse. Also, I have discussed the issue of sexual harassment and have been able to add more ideas to my platform, such as developing the support infrastructure in the way of counseling so that it is accessible to everyone."

One of the most gratifying aspects of the campaign for Ahmed has been the exposure to parts of the school with which he has had less interaction in the past.

"Throughout this campaign," explained Ahmed, "I have been able to meet with a lot of student organizations and see their perspectives on many matters. This campaign opened doors to talk to as many people as possible and, as a result, I have met many people I would not normally meet, for example, members of the first-year class as I was hanging posters up in their dorms. The positive support that I have received from the people that I have talked to has been one of the most rewarding aspects of this process for me."

To Ahmed, the debates Tuesday night demonstrated the student body's support and interest in the upcoming election.

"I was really impressed with the format of the debate," he said. "I was definitely encouraged by the wide audience, both present and those who tuned in on WRMC, and I was impressed by the quality of the questions asked."

Topics posed to the candidates at the debate ranged from platform issues to questions about protest policy, the NESCAC admissions policy review and laundry services on campus.

Ahmed looks forward to the rest of the week with enthusiasm. "What is important for us to realize," he continued, "is that every student has a voice and a vote, and it is their responsibility to use it and express their opinion."

He said that a "weak" turnout at the election would be a "poor reflection on the candidates' ability to engage the student body."

"That said," Ahmed continued, "I am optimistic about the outcome of this election. I believe that the student body will recognize my experience and past accomplishments on the SGA and will see how I work closely with the students and the administration to get the job done."

Student Input Crucial in Labolt's Campaign

"Campaigning is one of the best ways I can think of to keep yourself out of your room," said Ben Labolt '03, referring to his campaign for the position of Student Co-chair of Community Council (SC-COCC) for the year 2002-03.

Many students have probably seen LaBolt around campus as he walked from student organization to dorm to social house, just for starters. "I've tried to open lines of communication with as many groups and individuals as possible," he explained. "I've tried to do a lot of going door-to-door to talk to people. When I talk to someone on an individual basis, not only do they get to know me, but they also have the opportunity to get candid and ask the questions that they want to, addressing the issues that they want to know about. In big groups it is tough to ask personal questions."

For LaBolt, campaigning has brought many positive experiences. "The campaign itself has been fun," said LaBolt. "It's been rewarding to see Middlebury College from many different angles. That is hard to do on a day-to-day basis. Through the campaign, I have been able to meet a lot more people, as well as be exposed to student groups that I haven't been to before."

In addition, conversations around campus have helped him focus and further define his platform. Several issues have been brought to LaBolt's attention and agenda, in addition to the six main focal points on his platform: residential oversight, academic interest and social house review, the citation policy, the study abroad policy, judicial reforms and the security policy.

"Many points raised by people have been sort of difficult to answer," he said. "For example, someone talked to me about the diversity of food in the vegetarian line. Now while that is not something that the Community Council addresses necessarily, it is important to know what people want."

For instance, at a meeting of the Middlebury Initiative for Sustainable Development, several issues concerning the direction of the College in terms of environmental policy were addressed, including recycling, the proposed Carbon Neutrality Plan, the use of alternative fuels at Middlebury and overall campus contribution to protecting the environment.

"It was good that [LaBolt] came and asked us what we thought the direction of the school, in terms of sustainable development, should be," said Rose Boyer '05. "It showed that he was interested in what we had to say, and the fact that he took the time to come to the meeting says a lot about him."

As far as the rest of the campaign has been going, LaBolt said, "It's been exciting, though very hard to judge. The debates were positive, the level of student involvement was great and the number of questions received from the floor or through WRMC and online, as well as the number of people who were there watching, showed the level of student interest in these elections. [For us candidates] we were really able to discuss a variety of issues in depth."

For LaBolt, the key to the election is to get students to actually vote. "We're going to have to do this the old style democratic way," he commented. "That is, really campaign for people to get to the polls and vote."

Don't forget he likes chocolate covered strawberries.