Polls open for Senate elections

Author: Scott Greene

Students will log-in to vote today as polls open online for the Fall Student Government Association (SGA) Senate elections. The elections begin after SGA leaders were forced to actively recruit candidates and extend deadlines to fill the ballot with even one student for each race, a setback for President Alex Stanton '07, who had repeatedly indicated his hope for greater student interest this year in the SGA and its work.

Today's ballot includes only 16 candidates for the 15 total open seats in the Senate, and the race for Ross Commons Senator is the only one contested. Void of competition for all but one seat, the resulting lack of campaigning on campus underscored the absence of any sign of imminent balloting.

"The campaigning for the Senate elections is usually residentially based, as compared to the Presidential elections of spring, which tend to be more campus-wide," said Dean of Student Affairs Ann Hanson.

Jessica Singleton '08.5, a Brainerd Commons Senator last year who is running unopposed as Junior Half-Year Senator, said that the absence of student interest did not reflect a lack of student awareness or a lazy SGA administration.

Instead, "It is a national election year and this fall there are a lot of important activist campaigns going on, so everyone is pressed for time at Middlebury," she said. "I think that people are coming out of the summer and the projects that they were working on are demanding of people's time."

The majority of the candidates have made their focus the SGA student leadership's priorities, claiming that they would pursue the agenda set forth by Stanton, starting by assessing the college's alcohol and social life policy - including the proposed SafeRides program, which aims to reduce drunk-driving to and from off campus parties - and searching for ways in which to enhance the SGA's efficiency.

Singleton regarded the SafeRides program as "a healthy thing for the College to do," and remained optimistic about its viability.

"I think to win with the administration, not only do you have to have the vote of confidence of the student body via the SGA but you have to really prove that its important to you and that this thing is going to be sustainable," she said. "There are many logistical problems with the bill that the administration has raised, all of which the SGA has come back with a viable alternative for, and I think that eventually something good will happen."

The winners of today's election will join Stanton in his goal to increase efficiency in communication between the SGA and the student body.

Hanson contended that though the year has only just begun, these efforts are already visible. An example of such efforts comes in the form of an online blog on the SGA website (www.middsga.blogspot.com) .

"This year the SGA has worked extremely hard to get information out to the students and they are doing a great job of trying to promote student-SGA communication," Hanson said.

A third issue undertaken by several candidates is the proposed attempts at campus-wide carbon reduction, the brain child of the College's Sunday Night Group and an issue already heavily backed by the SGA.

"I definitely appreciate the long-term benefits of environmental protection programs, and I think these types of initiatives become more important every day," said Sandy Sokoloski '07, running unopposed for Inter-House Council Senator. "I think that these long-term benefitsa make it our responsibility, as a college that is financially able to do so, to implement environmental protection initiatives such as a carbon reduction program."

Stanton also extolled the virtues of the proposal.

"This represents a wonderful opportunity for Middlebury to be a nationwide- and worldwide- leader in responsible energy use and for us to take the next step towards reversing our dangerous reliance on fossil fuels," he said.

Still, the lack of student responsiveness about their own representation has revealed itself. But Stanton also cautioned last week that campaigning should become more noticeable as the election drew nearer.

"Per SGA Senate election rules, campaigns can't begin until a candidate has submitted his or her letter of intent," he said, "and therefore I would imagine that candidates are just getting started on their campaigns."