Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Four Elected as GUSA Reps

Four Elected as GUSA Reps

New South has low voter turnout

By Jean Weinberg Hoya Staff Writer

Approximately 50 percent of the freshman class voted in the GUSA elections for representative on Friday. Jamaal Young (SFS), Trey Street (SFS), Sean Hawks (SFS) and Melissa Foy (COL) were elected. The top three candidates were within eight votes of each other, whereas the Foy was 43 votes away from Hawks candidate.

Young received 320 votes, Street received 316 votes, Hawks received 312 votes and Foy received 269 votes. Street and Hawks ran on the same ticket, which means that they worked together on their campaigns, though their votes were counted separately.

“It was a nice day. I was hoping we’d catch more voters,” said GUSA Election Commissioner Kerri Tyman (COL ’00).

However, she noted that the number of people who voted in the final elections, 679, was almost exactly the same number of students that voted in the primaries. Students voted in order to elect eight candidates out of the 19 that were running.

Although Young finished seven out of 19 in the primaries, he received the highest number of votes in the final election. Tyman said the major increase in number of votes was probably due to his “creative posters and fliers” that he put all around campus between the primaries and the final elections. Young said he “got a lot of positive feedback and a large percentage of people agreed with what” he had to say.

Tyman also noted that 298 voters were residents of Village C, 237 of Harbin Hall and 154 of New South. New South had the lowest number of voters turn out for the election. The top four finishers in the race were from Village C and Harbin, not New South.

Candidates Foy and Hawks said that their first concerns are about dorm conditions. Foy said she wants to eliminate the problem with the sanitizers in the bathrooms that many students complain about, and also wants to get a better ventilation system because the current one is dirty and moldy. However, she said she is not positive which things GUSA can change, so she wants to exercise caution in promising things.

Hawks said he is also concerned with the bathroom conditions in the dorms. He said he wants to get doorstops for the residents of Village C, because many students have said they want them.

Young said one of his main goals is to secure money for the Residence Hall Offices to buy computers, so they can have databases and be able to alphabetize daily package lists. He also wants to hold town hall meetings that so that the administration and the students can more easily communicate with each other and he wants to put an emphasis on discussing diversity issues.

Street also said he would like to see more interactions between the administration and the students. He suggested that there could be a monthly meeting for the students with University President Leo. J. O’Donovan, S.J., where the students could ask O’Donovan questions and have an opportunity to voice their opinions.

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