by Chris Schrimpf
Contributing Writer

Between September 17th and September 19th, almost 700 students voted in the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) fall elections. A total of 16 representatives were elected to full year
terms: nine frosh and seven at-large representatives.

The seven at-large representatives chosen were: Melinda Coro ‘04, Adam Lachman ‘03, Rebecca Weinstein ‘04, Maris Yanow ‘04, Nick Snow ‘03, Gabriel Bass ‘04 and Anna Borrelli ‘04. 

The elected frosh were: Intan Nurhati, Emily Polak, David Ziegler, Yaw Agyenim-Boateng, Ali Gomer, Nathan Victoria, Joe McGuire, Micah West and Vera Krimnus.

No problems were reported with the electronic voting system, and voter turnout out was high in comparison to previous years. 

According to the WSA, 320 freshmen voted in the election, almost 40% of the class. A total of 366 students voted in the at-large election, a turnout of about 18%.

"We had an excellent turnout in the freshman elections. The at-large election was also higher [than last year], as well. Our voter turnout for the at-large elections last fall was around 8%,"
said WSA president Matt Fox ‘03. "I believe the online system helped add to the turnout."

There were 13 freshmen running for nine spots in the freshman race, and nine students ran in the at-large election. In each race, fewer than 10 votes separated the last student elected
from his or her nearest competitor.

"While I heard it is fairly painless to run in the fall, I was still apprehensive after looking at all the other very qualified candidates. I was very hopeful I’d get elected, but I wasn’t counting
on it," Coro said.

"I definitely hoped I’d be elected. I was really into making posters and solicited my floormates to help out, and I had a great time chalking," Polak said.

Once elected, students are placed on one of the eight subcommittees of the WSA. Each committee focuses on different aspects of university life ranging from the Student Budget
Committee, which allocates to clubs the $425,000 raised through the College Body Tax, to the Community Outreach Committee, which works to enhance communication within the
university community and with the city of Middletown.

"I will be on the Student Affairs Committee. One of the projects we will be working on deals with the meal plan. The idea is to give students more freedom in choosing their meals, so that
there isn’t a mandatory number of meals you have to use," Polak said.

"Last year I was secretary and archivist, and it was just my cup of tea. So that is what I’m doing again this year," Coro said. "I’m on the Coordinating Committee which runs the weekly
WSA meetings, and makes sure we communicate clearly and efficiently. My experiences last year on the WSA, like dealing with the Murphy report, were extremely rewarding and I
wanted to be able to continue to make significant changes around campus."

Complete results of the elections are located on the WSA website at http://www.wesleyan.edu/wsa.