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Friday, April 15, 2011 7:32 p.m.

Spring Fling relocated to Smith Center, limited to 800 students

by Madeleine Morgenstern

Spring Fling will be held in the Smith Center and attendance will be capped at 800 attendees due to weather concerns.

Originally scheduled to be held on University Yard, Program Board chair Wesley Callahan said the decision was made after thunderstorms were forecasted for Saturday.

Callahan said the fire marshal would only allow 800 people to attend due to the ongoing construction in the Smith Center that has currently closed four of the building’s six entrances,

“We wish we could have had it on the yard, it hurts me that people won’t be able to see the show,” Callahan said. ”It’s very disappointing, this is something we’ve worked for six months on to plan and to prepare…that’s the weather, you can’t beat mother nature.”

The event was originally publicized as “rain or shine,” but Callahan said the severity of the predicted thunder and lightning prompted concerns from the sound and lighting technician about safety.

Mike Posner and Chiddy Bang are still scheduled to perform, but there will be no other entertainment, corporate sponsors or alcohol served, Callahan said. FoBoGro and Tonic will provide food.

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Sunday, April 3, 2011 4:01 p.m.

Mike Posner, Chiddy Bang to headline Spring Fling

by Madeleine Morgenstern

Singer Mike Posner and hip-hop band Chiddy Bang will headline this year’s Spring Fling, which will be held on University Yard, Program Board announced Sunday.

In a reversal of the past two years, the annual spring event will be moved from the Mount Vernon Campus to Foggy Bottom this year, and will no longer be known as Fountain Fling. PB called the event Fountain Fling for the past two years, combining the Vern’s Fountain Day with the popular Spring Fling event.

Program Board Chair Wesley Callahan said the decision to move the concert back to Foggy Bottom was a question of which campus would be able to draw the most students.

“When you can have a great concert with 3,000 people or a great concert with 6,000, it comes down to what’s the greater good we can serve,” Callahan said.

Callahan called the change “nothing against the Mount Vernon Campus and nothing against the Mount Vernon Programming Council” — the Vern’s student programming body.

“Our goal is to program events that the student body comes out to, especially when you’re spending such a large amount of money on concerts.”

Alternative rock band State Radio headlined last year’s Fountain Fling.

Spring Fling will be held April 16.

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Friday, March 11, 2011 4:13 p.m.

JEC releases full list of election winners

by Madeleine Morgenstern

The Joint Elections Committee released the full list of Student Association, Program Board, Marvin Center Governing Board and Class Council winners after Thursday’s elections.

Runoff elections for SA president and executive vice president will be held March 23 and 24.

The full list of winners is below:

Student Association President

  1. Chris Clark – 1,107 votes – 26.53 percent
  2. John Richardson – 1,044 votes – 25.02 percent (will proceed to runoff)
  3. Kwasi Agyeman – 695 votes – 16.65 percent
  4. Caleb Raymond – 472 votes – 11.32 percent
  5. Phil Gardner – 304 votes – 7.28 percent
  6. Jason Kaplan – 301 votes – 7.21 percent
  7. Joshua Benjamin – 250 votes – 5.99 percent

Student Association Executive Vice President

  1. Ted Costigan – 1,317 votes – 32.53 percent
  2. Amanda Galonek – 1,074 votes – 26.53 percent (will proceed to runoff)
  3. Samantha Free – 757 votes -18.70 percent
  4. Aria Varasteh – 642 votes – 15.86 percent
  5. Zahin Hasan – 254 votes – 6.40 percent

Student Association Undergraduate-At Large Senator – two seats

  1. John Bennett – 1,535 votes
  2. Cory Grever – 1,485 votes
  3. Keaghan Ames – 1,370 votes
  4. Zach Kahn – 809 votes

Student Association CCAS Undergraduate Senator – six seats

  1. Josh Goldstein – 861 votes
  2. Samuel Sherman – 780 votes
  3. Scott Backer – 773 votes
  4. Kaitlin Gaughran – 766 votes
  5. Danica Brown – 730 votes
  6. Eric Arpert – 693 votes
  7. Daniel Bassali – 630 votes
  8. Jonathan Carfagno – 626 votes
  9. Gordon Pera – 567 votes
  10. Daniel Ceisler – 543 votes

Student Association ESIA Undergraduate Senator – three seats

  1. Elizabeth Kennedy – 332 votes
  2. Elena Gillis – 321 votes
  3. Manuel Iglesias – 249 votes
  4. Nathaniel Austin – 230 votes
  5. Garrett Graham – 173 votes
  6. Mateo Garcia – 164 votes
  7. Jason Gamache – 161 votes
  8. Patrick Cero – 111 votes

Student Association SEAS Undergraduate Senator – one seat

  1. Dan Gil – 122 votes
  2. Amitava Paul – 66 votes

Student Association SOB Undergraduate Senator – two seats

  1. Nick Koeniger – 213 votes
  2. Russell Feldman – 205 votes
  3. Michael Buss – 197 votes
  4. Hugo Scheckter – 163 votes

Student Association SMHS Undergraduate Senator – one write-in

  1. Sahand Yaqoub Moradi

Student Association CPS Undergraduate Senator – one write-in

  1. vacant

Student Association SPHHS Undergraduate Senator – one seat

  1. Alexander Mizenko

Student Association Graduate-At Large Senator – two seats

  1. James Bonneau
  2. Liz Barnes – write-in

Student Association CCAS Graduate Senator – three seats

  1. Bradley Dlatt
  2. Gary Wong – write-in
  3. Three-way tie between Brian Cahill, Joshua Patchus, Matthew Gripp - write-in

Student Association ESIA Graduate Senator – one seat

  1. Patrick Hanley

Student Association Law School Senator – three seats

  1. Jake Chervinsky
  2. Meredith Dempsey
  3. Katie Ondeck – write-in

Student Association SMHS Graduate Senator – two seats

  1. Robert Kickish
  2. Jordan Werner – write-in

Student Association SEAS Graduate Senator – two seats

  1. William Rone
  2. Three-way tie between Gabriel Yessin, Steve Holt, J.P. Blackford - write in

Student Association SOB Graduate Senator – two seats

  1. Jason Platzman
  2. Kendra Singh

Student Association CPS Graduate Senator – one write-in

  1. Brian Hawthorne

Student Association School of Nursing Senator – one write-in seat

  1. vacant

Program Board Executive Chair

  1. Connor Currier

Program Board Executive Vice Chair

  1. Megan Davidson

Marvin Center Governing Board – Undergraduate – four seats

  1. Jordan Hill
  2. Dylan Pyne
  3. Edwin Wharton
  4. Joong Hyup Lee

Marvin Center Governing Board – Graduate – one write-in

  1. Gary Wong

Class Council – sophomore – seven seats

  1. Mary Devlin
  2. Khadija Lalani
  3. Five appointed seats

Class Council – junior – seven seats

  1. Arsalan Ahmad
  2. Brett Rudman
  3. Five appointed seats

Class Council – senior – seven seats

  1. Estee Gabel
  2. Christopher Stevenson
  3. Five appointed seats
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Wednesday, March 9, 2011 10:27 a.m.

JEC announces location for election results

by Jamie Blynn

The Joint Elections Committee will announce the results of the Student Association, Marvin Center Governing Board, Class Council and Program Board elections in the Marvin Center Continental Ballroom Thursday.

In previous years, the JEC made these announcements in the Marvin Center’s Columbian Square.

Polls are open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.

If no candidate receives more than 40 percent of the vote for a specific seat, runoff elections will be held March 23 and 24.

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Monday, Feb. 28, 2011 9:08 a.m.

JEC approves final candidate list

by Jamie Blynn

The governing board that oversees the upcoming Student Association, Program Board, Class Council, and Marvin Center Governing Board elections approved Sunday the list of official candidates for the upcoming student elections.

After determining the legitimacy of the signatures that candidates had to submit from their constituencies, the JEC approved 51 candidates for the SA – 39 for senator positions, seven for president and five for executive vice president–  two for PB, four for MGCB and six for CC. Seven candidates’ petitions were determined invalid and not placed on the ballot.

Keith Osentoski, Pierre Doriscat Jr, Reem Ghoneim, Alexander Bradley Canales, James Reed, Katrina Valdes and Shawn Kelly were disqualified from their respective races.

Candidates were determined invalid if they turned their registration in past Monday at noon or after the extended registration period on Friday at 5 p.m.

“JEC is glad to announce the amount of people who have registered this year,” JEC treasurer Ari Kasper said. “We’re excited about the increase in candidates for major positions.”

Students will be able to write-in candidates for seats that have no registered candidates – College of Professional Studies, undergraduate and graduate, School of Medicine and Health Sciences undergraduate, School of Nursing, Marvin Center Governing Board graduate and the Graduate School of Education and Human Development.

Elections will be held on March 9 and 10.

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Monday, Feb. 21, 2011 3:26 p.m.

JEC releases unverified list of Student Association candidates

by Lauren French

The Joint Elections Committee released an unverified list of candidates for the Student Association, Program Board, Marvin Center Governing Board and Class Council elections Monday afternoon.

The JEC still has to verify that the candidates are eligible to run by examining their academic and disciplinary records and examining the signatures each candidate submitted.

The race for president and executive vice president is larger than in recent years, with 12 people vying for the Student Association’s two top spots. Three SA outsiders – John Richardson, Joshua Benjamin and Kwasi Agyeman – are in the running for president, joined by three current or former senators – Jason Kaplan, Caleb Raymond and Chris Clark – and a former JEC member and SA senator – Phil Gardner.

Eight students are running in uncontested races and another eight races – mostly graduate seats – have no students running.

The full list is below:

President-1

  1. Jason Kaplan
  2. Caleb Raymond
  3. Phil Gardner
  4. Chris Clark
  5. Kwasi Agyeman
  6. Joshua Benjamin
  7. John Richardson

EVP-1

  1. Amanda Galonek
  2. Ted Costigan
  3. Aria Varasteh
  4. Samantha Free
  5. Zahin Hasan

U At Large-2

  1. Keaghan Ames
  2. Zach Kahn
  3. John Bennett
  4. Cory Grever

CCAS Undergrad-6

  1. Keith Osentoski
  2. Kaitlin Gaughran
  3. Scott Backer
  4. Daniel Ceisler
  5. Jonathan Carfagno
  6. Josh Goldstein
  7. Danica Brown
  8. Samuel Sherman
  9. Gordon Pera
  10. Daniel Bassali
  11. Eric Arpert

ESIA Undergrad-3

  1. Elizabeth Kennedy
  2. Mateo Garcia
  3. Elena Gillis
  4. Garrett Graham
  5. Patrick Cero
  6. Manuel Iglesias
  7. Nathaniel Austin
  8. Jason Gamache

SOB Undergrad-2

  1. Nick Koeniger
  2. Russell Feldman
  3. Michael Buss
  4. Hugo Scheckter

Law School Grad-2

  1. Jake Chervinsky
  2. Meredith Dempsey

SPHHS Grad-1

  1. Menolly Hart

CCAS Grad-3

  1. Bradley Dlatt

ESIA-Grad-1

  1. Patrick Hanley

 

PB Exec Chair-1

  1. Connor Currier

PB Exec Vice Chair-1

  1. Megan Davison

MCGB Undergrad-4

  1. Edwin Wharton
  2. Kat Valdes
  3. Shawn Kelly
  4. Jordan Hill
  5. Dylan Pyne
  6. James Reed
  7. Joong Hyup Lee

Grad at Large Senator-2

  1. James Bonneau

SOB  Grad Senator-2

  1. Jason Platzman
  2. Kendra Singh

CPS Undergrad Senator-1

None

 

CPS Grad Senator-1

None

 

SEAS Undergrad Senator-1

  1. Dan Gil
  2. Amitava Paul

SEAS Grad Senator-2

1. William Rone

 

SPHHS Undergrad Senator-1

 None

 

SMHS Undergrad Senator-1

 None

 

SMHS Grad Senator-2

 None

 

GSEHD Senator-2

 None

SON Senator-1

None

MCGB Graduate-1

None

Class Council Senior

1. Estee Gabel

Class Council Junior

1. Arsalan Ahmad

Class Council Sophomore

  1. Khadija Lalani
  2. Mary Devlin
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Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011 11:34 a.m.

Student Association amends JEC charter

by Jamie Blynn

The Student Association Senate amended the Joint Elections Committee charter Tuesday night allowing JEC members to file violations against election candidates and banning unsolicited campaign communications, two issues causing controversy for the Senate.

Last Wednesday, the JEC – the independent body that oversees the SA, Program Board, Class Council and Marvin Center Governing Board elections – filed suit against SA President Jason Lifton for signing the charter, which they said was contradictory and unenforceable.

The following day, Program Board Chair Wesley Callahan sent an e-mail denouncing the charter, disagreeing with the JEC’s inability to file election violations and the provision that all unsolicited electronic campaign material may only be sent by candidates themselves, charging that it would result in unnecessary spam in students’ inboxes.

At the meeting – a special session called by Lifton – the Senate focused solely on amending the charter so that all four organizations could accept it and not risk delaying the election.

After much debate and examination of the rules of quorum, the Senate granted the JEC the ability to file violations against election candidates in a 15-2 vote, with Sens. John Bennett, ESIA-U, and Cory Grever, SoB-U, abstaining. Sens. Charlie Rybak, U-At Large, and Dylan Pyne, CCAS-U, objected to the amendment.

“It’s about making it easier for people who don’t care,” Lifton said. “By signing up to be a candidate you are accepting a higher burden.  At the end of the day, follow the rules and you will not get violations.”

If the Senate did not pass the amendment changes Program Board requested, the charter would be taken to the Student Court for approval, Lifton said.

“I think we got our point across to the JEC that we are displeased with the way [they have filed violations] in the past,” Rules Committee Chair and newly-announced executive vice president candidate Amanda Galonek, CCAS-U said.  “They understand where we were coming from.”

The Senate also approved the amendment prohibiting unsolicited e-mail communications in a 15-2 vote.  Candidates are now allowed to send e-mails over listservs of organizations they belong to, but will not be allowed to send e-mails to personal e-mail addresses.

“The point of this is just not to annoy people,” Lifton said.

The Student Association elections will be held March 9 and 10.

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Monday, Feb. 14, 2011 3:35 p.m.

Lifton calls special Student Association meeting

by Jamie Blynn

The Student Association Senate will hold a special meeting Tuesday night to amend SA election rules, which came under fire in the last week when members of the body that oversee the student elections called the rule book contradictory and unenforceable.

Last Wednesday, the Joint Elections Committee – the independent body that oversees SA, Program Board, Class Council and Marvin Center Governing Board elections – filed suit against SA President Jason Lifton for signing the JEC charter, which they argued was contradictory and hampered their ability to enforce election rules.

One day later, Program Board Chair Wesley Callahan circulated an e-mail denouncing the charter, citing several factors including not allowing JEC members to file election violations and a change stipulating all unsolicited electronic campaign material may only be sent by the candidates themselves.

In calling the special Senate meeting, Lifton said the agenda would be limited to discussing the charter, and that an amendments package would be sent out beforehand.

“There is currently a fair amount of disagreement in a handful of the points raised in the charter that the Senate passed last week,” Lifton said. “It is vital that the charter be agreed upon for the election process to continue successfully.”

The Senate first approved the JEC’s charter Dec. 7 and amended it Feb. 3 to effectively strip the JEC of some of its powers.

Student Activities Center Director and JEC adviser Tim Miller addressed the Senate last week instructing them to amend the charter to fit the provisions requested by the JEC, but the senators did not. Miller then sent an e-mail to SA and Program Board leaders Sunday night saying he would force the JEC to delay the election if the charter is not fixed this week.

The Senate will meet in room 301 in the Marvin Center at 9:30 p.m.

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Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011 9:47 p.m.

Program Board chair denounces JEC charter in e-mail

by Jamie Blynn

The head of Program Board has come out against the Joint Elections Committee charter, a document currently at the center of a lawsuit the JEC has filed against Student Association President Jason Lifton.

Program Board Chair Wesley Callahan circulated an e-mail Thursday night to various student leaders stating that his organization disapproves of certain changes made to the charter – which lays out the ground rules for SA, Program Board, Class Council and Marvin Center Governing Board elections – at the SA Senate meeting Feb. 2.

In the e-mail, Callahan said Program Board objects to the amendment stipulating that JEC officers may not file campaign violations against candidates, a change from previous years.

“[I]it effectively takes the teeth away from the JEC, and reduces the probability that a candidate who violates the election rules will be caught,” Callahan said. “This will result in more violations, and more going unnoticed. The end effect is that more candidates will break the rules, which will only continue to muddy the reputation of the orginizations and positions involved.”

Callahan also objected to the change stating that unsolicited electronic communications promoting a candidate’s campaign may only be sent from that candidate’s personal account, as opposed to authorized agents on behalf of the candidate.

“Changes to this rules [sic] will result in the spamming of student and administration e-mail address [sic],” he said. “This will result in hundreds of necessary [sic] e-mails filling the inbox’s [sic] of students, who do not need to received [sic] campaign updates for a CCAS senator.”

In the e-mail, Callahan urged the JEC to remove both sections. Any changes to the JEC charter must be made by the SA Senate and signed by the SA president.

After the JEC filed suit against Lifton last night – alleging he signed the contradictory and unenforceable charter into law – SA Sen. Ted Costigan, CCAS-U, circulated an e-mail to his fellow senators this afternoon, asking them to support Lifton in pleading no contest and arguing that “dealing with internal court cases lawsuit is not in the best interest of any students.”

“Doing this will end this lawsuit and stop this whole unnecessary issue,” Costigan said. “[Lifton] is uncomfortable doing this without the consent of the Senate given that the bill was passed by our body.”

Costigan requested that any senators with objections to a no contest plea contact him within 24 hours so he can advise Lifton of the Senate’s opinion.

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Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010 2:30 p.m.

Rapper Wale may perform at Fall Fest

by Madeleine Morgenstern

D.C.-based rapper Wale may perform at this year’s Fall Fest, according to his website.

The rapper lists “George Washington University” as the location of his Sept. 4 concert, which is the day of Fall Fest.

Program Board Chair Wesley Callahan would not directly confirm whether the artist would bet this year’s Fall Fest performer.

“As of this morning we still haven’t signed any contract with him,” Callahan said, although he added, “he’s part of the plan.”

Callahan also said there was a “definite possibility” that there will be more performers at Fall Fest, but declined to elaborate on who else they could be.

Wale performed at Fall Fest in 2008, joining rock bands Virginia Coalition and The Canon Logic at the annual Welcome Week event.

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