Presidential Ballots Are Thrown out Kick Off Spring Allegations of Voting Misconduct Spur Decision, Re-Vote on Monday Fling Weekend by BENJAMIN GEDAN and Amendment
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Volume XXXVIII, Number 61 THETUFTS ’DAILY I Friday, April 30,1999 Block party to Presidential ballots are thrown out kick off spring Allegations of voting misconduct spur decision, re-vote on Monday fling weekend by BENJAMIN GEDAN and amendment. After months of speculatior Outgoing TCU President Jack andplanning, SpringFling1995 JEREMY WANGIVERSON Daily Editoral Board Schninnan said a second election has arrived. The festivities be. hurts his chances of getting his gin today with the annual Inter. The Tufts Community Union (TCU) presidential electionresults proposed amendment passed. If25 GreekCouncil(IGC) block party percent of the student body votes on Fletcher field from 3 - 7 p.m have been deemed invalid amidst allegations of improper conduct in the election, the amendment and will continue througk needs a simple majority to be tommorow with the eagerly an. during the voting process. The decision to discard the ballots as passed. A smaller turnout, how- ticipated main concert. Last ever, would require the support of night, comedian Richard Jeni well as to hold a re-vote on Mori- two-thirds of the electorate. played Cohen Auditorium for day was made late last night by the ElectionsBoard(ELB0). “That’s the biggest problem,” this year’s spring comedy show. Schninnanexplained. !‘Ifyou get a Thegateswillopenat 11a.m. “There’stoomuchevidenceout significant turnout, I think people tomorrow, allowingTufts band there that people were allowed to are going to ... vote for the amend- Brother Chameleon to take the vote more than once for this to be ment,” he said. stage at 1 1:30 considered a fair election,” ELBO a.m. The proposal would allow the It will be followed at 12:45 chair Jon Chines said at a press conference. Photo by Kate Cohen TCU president to create an execu- p.m. bythe Cherry Poppin’ Dad- tive council to address “macro is- dies, and then succeeded by ELBO members said that they Despite the low attendance at Wednesday’s debate, yesterday’s fad received approximately 20 voter turnout was unusually high. sues.” This council would be com- theSugarHillGangat2:30p.m. prised of any qualified students The main act, Ben Folds Five, phone calls with complaints of unethical votingpracticesthrough- According to Chines, elections “Apparently we were not con- chosen by the president.The coun- willat long lasttake thestage for cil members would report regularly its hour-and-fifteen minute set out the day. After two hours of previously have been handled en- tracting with TSR, we were con- discussion, ELBO members cle- tirely by ELBO. In the last Senate tmctingwith Damian Allen,” Chines to the Senate and be subject to at 4 p.m. executive dismissal, but would not The bands will be perform- cidedthatthe electionresultscould election,however, hesaidthat Tufts said. “Allen was not working for not be considered. Student Resources (TSR) was TSR, we thought he was. have a vote on the Senate. ing on the President’s Lawn. Monday’s vote for the TCU Students over 21 should enter The presidential candidates, brought in toshare theresponsibil- “He did not give us any indica- current TCU TreasurerLarry Har- ity of running elections. Chines tion that this was not the case,” he president will again include sec- between Goddard and Ballou tions related to the constitutional and bringtwo forms ofID along ris and Vice President Vivek was under the impression that added. Both candidates, visibly frus- amendmentand theopen Judiciary with their ticket. No more than Ramgopal, later supported the rul- Allen was acting as a TSR repre- ing. However, election coordinator sentative during this election and trated with the prospect ofrenewed position. Chines said that ELBO one six-pack of beer can be members will cover nearly every brought onto the concert Damian Allen, who hired andmoni- the previous one. campaigning,spoke about the im- tored the poll workers, was not “P!anning an election is an ex- plicationsof another vote on Mon- shift at the polls and control all grounds. Students under 21 aspects of the election. He added should enter between Barnum contacted prior to ELBO’s deci- tremely complicated process, and day. All parties agreed that there that each candidate will be given an md Ballou and need only theii sion. Allen said that no impropri- we have not had a full Elections will be a significant decrease in voter turnout. Ramgopal said that additional $50 to spend on week- Tufts ID in addition to their eties took place during the elec- Boardthisyear,”Chines said. “The the reduced voter response will end campaigning. ticket. tions and disagreed with ELBO’s responsibilities get spread pretty affect each candidate equally, but All students, including seniors, Tickets are free and can be judgement. thin,” he continued, explainingwhy “I worked almost nine hours at the group sought TSRs help in Harris disagreed. are eligible to vote. Votingwilltake Djcked up in the Campus Center placefrom i 130a.m.to 1:30p.m. :day.All studentsmust present multiple locations today and no running the election. “Vivek‘s constituency is much more consistentthan mine. The [sec- and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in both I Tufts ID to receive their tick- multiple voting was going on,” Itwasn’tuntillatelastnightthat Allen said. “The allegations are TSRPresidentTrevor Brown spoke ondelection]won’thaveasmuchof dininghallsandfrom 11:30a.m.to :ts. Students over 21 who wish 7 p.m. in the campus center. to drink alcohol must have an unfounded,” he later added. withELBOmembersandexplained an effect on him,” Harris said. Yesterday’s vote was not only Election results will be posted Idditional form of identification Although neither Chines nor that his organization was not in- to decide the next TCU president. on the Daily’s web site, to pickuptheirtickets aswellas Allen witnessedany illegalvoting, volved in either of the TCU elec- Chines believes that students may tions this semester. Also included in the ballot was the www.tu fts.edu/as/stu-orgl to gain admittance to the site. tuftsdaily, soon they are avail- In the event of rain, all guest have voted multiple times. “TSR hasno affiliation with the finalspotontheTCUJudiciary and as as a referendum able. tickets will be void; therain site LLWe’retrying to err on the side elections besides the fact we are for a constitutional will be Cousens Gym. of safety,” Chines said. “We dion’t investigatingthepossibility ofrun- have all the facts. There is enough ning ELBO in the future,” Brown -Jeremy Wang-Iverson reasonable doubt. This is the only said. thing we can do to ensure a fair Chines, however, had a differ- election,” he added. ent understanding. American airlines seek safety checks on their foreign partners Los Angeles Times-Washington became concerned. The Defense Department com- Post News Service plained that contracts with US airlines require many WASHINGTON-Major US airlines Friday will thousands of US military and other government propose for the first time that the airline industry personnel to fly on foreign airlines that are beyond assess the safety of dozens of foreign airlines that the reach of DOD safety assessments. The airlines currently fly many Americans underjoint marketing have also come under pressure from the Transpor- arrangements, airline and government sources said tation Department’s Office of Inspector General, Thursday. which is conducting an investigation of code-share The plan, crafted under pressure from govern- safety. The plan was to be presented by a“ ment officials, implicitly acknowledges that some committee of the Air Transportation Association, US carriers are selling ticketsunder their own name which represents major airlines, to top officials of fortravel on airlines that may not meet an acceptable the Defense and Transportation departments. The level ofsafety. Delta Air Lines recently terminated two departments have often been at odds on how its relationship with Korean Airlines after aseries of to deal with foreign safety, with Defense wanting crashes, and the proposed worldwide safety review authority to do on-the-ground assessments, while could reveal more problems with other overseas Transportation warned that such a plan would airlines. violate foreign sovereignty. I Photo by Kate Cohen Under a lucrative business practice known as But Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater has “code sharing,” an airline can sell tickets suggest- told his lieutenants to cooperate in developing a Campaigning traditions such as painting the cannon will be ingthatit isoperatingaflight toaparticularcity, but workable:plan that wouldnot violate foreign agree- repeated for Monday’s vote. in actuality simply book seats on a flight operated ments. Transportation Department sources said by another airline. These arrangements suggest an Thursday that the airline plan, or some form of it, airline offers seamless service around the globe, but would apparently meet that requirement. they may surprise passengers who fail to read the Mary Lou McHugh, assistant deputy fine print andthinkthey aretravelingaUS carrier all undersecretaryofdefense for transportation policy, the way. expressed optimism about the proposal. “Imple- As the practice has spread to Asia, Africa, and mentation ofthe draft statement of principles, which Latin America, where aviation safety records lag was developed by the airlines and DOD over the behind those of the United States and Europe, past four months, represents significant progress government officials and some airline executives in addressing DOD concerns,” she said. 2 THETUFTS DAILY April 30,1999 The Daily Weekend Outlook I I Today Saturday I Sunday Yeltsin OKs plan for Partly doudy, sea breeze Drunken sun, sea breeze Sunny handling tactical High: 60; Low: 43 High: 65; Low: 45 High: 65; Low: 47 nuclear weapons Spring Fling is looking good thanks to an “Omega Block” (after the Greek letter Omega) which continues to hold strong over North America. This will ensure dry MOSCOW- In a rare meeting ofthe Kremlin Security Council weather for the next week, with temperatures getting milder each day.