The beginning of the end
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Polling for Student Government Association president and student trustee has officially closed for another year as of 8 p.m. this evening.
No word yet on how any of the candidates have faired during this election cycle. According to election officials, the final tallying won't be finished until roughly 4 a.m. Friday morning.
Though the election cycle this year has gone largely without scandal (for past controversies ranging from 2004 to 2006 click here, here, here and here), the process has not gone without incident.
A judicial committee handed presidential candidate Derek Khanna a written warning Tuesday night after several copies of unapproved campaign flyer ended up in the offices of the Daily Collegian. According to Khanna, the posters - displaying a graphic of a middle finger with each digit representing a different minority group on campus allegedly taken from rival candidate Malcolm Chu's Facebook.com account - were never intended for distribution and had been leaked by a member of his campaign.
Chu could not be reached for comment on the matter.
Presidential candidate Devin Ashe also took aim at Khanna this week, criticizing his opponent for claiming he had been the only senator to vote against the latest increase in student fees. Ashe pointed out that Khanna had not been a member of the senate last fall when the last fee increases had passed through the legislative body.
Khanna said clarified by saying he had intended to mean the fee increase passed in the fall of 2006 when he had served as a member of the senate.
Photo courtesy Collegian staff