Proceeding on to the next round of elections, six presidential candidates were chosen by the student body Wednesday during votes in Commons. The prevailing Uppers were Peter Accomando ’05, Daniel Adler ’05, Billy Doyle ’05, Morissa Sobelson ’05, Robert Spang ’05, and Yusuke Uchiyama ’05. A relatively large number of students—almost 700—voted on Wednesday. Compared to recent years it was the largest outcome for second round elections. Secretary of Student Government Anthony Reyes ’05, remarked that, “There has been an impressive turnout because everybody is so enthusiastic about the elections this year”. Anthony accredited the aggressive campaigning as the reason for such a tremendous number of votes. Addressing four of the recent issues concerning student government and school programs at Phillips, the candidates shared their views on D.C. reform, communication, student life, and academics. Concerning student life, both Daniel Adler and Bobby Spang wish to push back delivery times for day students past 9:30p.m. The rule was originally instated for safety reasons because PAPS monitors activity on campus throughout the night. Spang said, “I want to push back food delivery deadlines so that students can order food after 9:30. It isn’t fair to deny us food after 9:30 when we have no other means of nourishment, and nobody wants to go to bed hungry”. Like most of the candidates, Yusuke Uchiyama finds a problem with the current D.C. system. Uchiyama thinks it unjust that a West Quad North student can be punished differently than a Pine Knoll student for the same crime. He wants to make sure that breaking the same rule proceeds with the same severity of punishment. “Until a cross-campus consensus is reached on whether or not to press for reform, the student council will not be able to make headway,” he said. He continued, “I believe the first step in addressing this issue is getting the facts about discipline on campus out to the student body, and then gauging general opinion. If we’re going to fight the system, we need to be unified.” Accomando, Doyle, and Sobelson believe that communication between students and faculty through the president is key for the understanding of concerns of the student body. All three are interested in establishing a web site to allow students to voice their opinions. Sobelson, who sent out personal e-mails to over 500 students last weekend, believes that everybody’s opinion matters. “Through a variety of initiatives, such as increasing Student Echo coverage, creating an interactive and informative Student Council website, and encouraging more students to attend Student Council meetings, I want to give those of us who are interested in doing so the opportunity to become better informed and more involved in the school-wide decision-making process,” she said. Current Student Council President Allegra Asplundh-Smith ’04, said “In both rounds of elections this year I think voter participation has been outstanding. She continued, “I give a lot of credit to candidates for that; I have never seen such amazing campaigning, from pins, to banners, to websites and posters.” “I think that all of these things have a lot to do with why so many kids are voting, which is terrific.” There will be one more election before three of the six current candidates will speak at an All-School Meeting. The candidates will discuss their concerns and platforms as student presidents. The final election on April 7th will decide the 2004 to 2005 Phillips president.
