Seven teams set to run for UGBC

Even if you have yet to be hit by the flood of Facebook group invites, the fact will soon be hard to ignore: The race for the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) president and vice president is officially on. The teams running this year are Chris Denice, CSOM '09, and Alejandro Montenegro, A&S '09; Rhick Bose, A&S '09, and Anand Savani, A&S '09; Phil Dumontet, CSOM '09 and Mike Sokolowski, CSOM '09, Paul Lilek, A&S '09 and Matt Marshall, CSOM '09; Michael Foley, CSOM '09, and Michael Fox, CSOM '09; Katherine Buck, A&S '09, and Frank Nasso, CSOM '09; and Joonhak Lee, A&S '09, and Brendan Dailey, A&S '09.

As of yesterday at midnight, teams were allowed to begin their campaigns, and with a big field, this year's contest may be louder and more present on campus than in recent years.

"This year I think the candidates are going to have to look for ways to be different and to stand out," said Angie Christopher, co-chair of this year's election committee and A&S '08.

Christopher has been on the elections committee since her freshman year and has witnessed many changes to the undergraduate campaigning seasons.

"Every year is very different," Christopher said. "Last year was kind of mellow because there weren't too many teams and they generally agreed on most topics."

This year there is also a notable diversity among the candidates in regard to their previous involvement on campus that will lead to some more creative campaigns, Christopher said. She said that a great variety of groups on campus are represented by the candidates, from orientation leaders to resident assistants, to a wide array of cultural groups and even different undergraduate schools. "I love it when candidates have fun with it and use really creative ways to get attention," Christopher said. "I don't want this to be a campaign of ratting people out to get an edge."

Christopher said that the elections committee frequently gets complaints from campaign staffers about other teams breaking campaign rules, including illegal use of mass e-mailing to the BC community or knocking on student doors past 10 p.m. While Christopher acknowledges that these rules are important and the elections committee should definitely be notified of any infringements of these guidelines, she is also hopeful that this year's candidates will not stoop to illegal activity to get ahead. She said is looking forward to a fun, fair campaigning season.

The upcoming 2008 presidential election also puts the UGBC elections in a more interesting situation. With students becoming more and more politically aware and engaged, Christopher said she is hoping that some of the excitement will rub off on the campaigning at BC. One student in particular, Kyle Greenleaf, LSOE '10, has taken this issue into his own hands by spearheading a Rock the Vote-type group on campus called BC Votes. His mission is to raise the level of student voter turnout by advocating the importance of the student voice on campus. In last year's election, Christopher said, 23 percent of the undergraduate student body voted in the primary, and 27 percent voted in the finals. These small numbers are a trend at many college campuses, Christopher said, but when the election committee compared BC's voter turnout to other Boston schools such as BU and Harvard, BC fell short.

"We're a school known for student involvement," Christopher said. "We shouldn't have such a low voter turnout." In an effort to increase student engagement in this year's campaigning, the election committee rearranged the debate schedule in hopes of a higher student attendance. This year's first primary debate will be held on Sunday at 4 p.m. in Gasson 305 and will be run by the election committee. Immediately following this debate, the AHANA Leadership Council's debate will be held at the same location. Christopher said the committee hopes that combining these debates into one night will encourage people to come for one and stay for both.

All BC students are encouraged to attend the debate on Sunday to learn more about the candidates. Candidate platforms can also be found online through the election committee's web site, which will also provide links to each of the teams' individual web sites.