AUCC caucus reps elected

Some of the responsibilities of the caucus representatives are to attend AUCC meetings and allocate funds to student clubs by voting on club budget proposals, according to Kristen Lyon, AUCC chair and a junior in the School of International Service.

"They need to be fair and objective towards all clubs, not only the clubs they will be representing," Lyon said.

Lyon defined AUCC caucuses as groups of similar clubs pooled together through a caucus representative so the clubs can discuss co-sponsorships and work together on other items. AU clubs are grouped into one of five caucuses, and each caucus elected one representative.

Each candidate was given up to five minutes, without time for questions, to speak on their candidacy. After the candidates spoke, Lyon separated the voters into sections by caucus to give voters an opportunity to ask the candidates questions.

Club participation in the elections was optional and occurred by sending a voting representative. Twenty-two voters attended and each person could only vote for the caucus of which he or she is a member.

Eight voters represented the social/performing arts/sports caucus. The initial voting round caused a runoff election between Seth Fanaroff and Katie Lock. Fanaroff, a senior in SIS, was elected with 60 percent of the vote.

Ten voters represented the political/special interest caucus and elected Megan Hynes, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, with 70 percent of the vote.

On Friday, authorized voters connected with university clubs elected representatives to the AU Club Council for five different club caucuses - social/performing arts/sports, political/special interest, religious/service, ethnic/cultural and academic/professional. The winners and the percentages by which they won are listed below:

Social/performing arts/sports Candidates: Elliot Chiu, Seth Fanaroff, Katie Lock Number of Voters: Eight Winner: Fanaroff (60 percent)

Political/special interest Candidates: John Findlay, Megan Hynes Number of Voters: 10 Winner: Hynes (70 percent)

Religious/service Candidates: Travis McArthur, Michael Repas Number of Voters: Three Winner: McArthur (67 percent)

Ethnic/cultural Candidate: Spencer Siegel Number of Voters: One Winner: Siegel (100 percent)

Academic/professional Candidate: Dorian Key Number of Voters: None* Winner: Key

*No authorized voters from the academic/professional caucus were present during the elections. The voting deadline was extended to midnight, and Key won the vote.

SOURCE: AUCC Chair Kristen Lyon

A sole representative of the ethnic/cultural caucus elected former Student Government Outreach Director Spencer Siegel, a sophomore in CAS, who ran unopposed. Siegel was unable to attend the election meeting and was represented by former SG Secretary Alex Manzanares, a sophomore in the School of Communication.

Dorian Key, a sophomore in SIS and the School of Public Affairs and an Eagle columnist, ran for caucus representative of the academic/professional caucus and was also unopposed.

Lyon extended the voting deadline for the academic/professional caucus representative seat to midnight after no authorized voters of the caucus attended the elections. Key officially won his seat at midnight.

Keegan Gibson, a senior in SIS and president of the Catholic Student Association, voted within the religious/service caucus bracket.

"I wanted to meet the candidates and just decide for myself who the best representative of our caucus will be," Gibson said. "I wanted someone who will be fair-minded and assess each club by its budget requests and not bring anything to the council except for a sense of responsibility to the student body."

McArthur expressed his satisfaction with the AUCC's organization of the election.

"This AUCC election, especially in comparison with previous elections, reached the apex of transparency and fairness," McArthur said. "The Carter Center would be proud."

Fanaroff stressed he would work with his caucus on conducting events since he believes his caucus "depends upon its interactions with other members of the campus community."

The five caucus representatives will vote alongside an SG representative and a Graduate Leadership Council representative in AUCC meetings because the SG and GLC each contribute 14 percent of the AUCC's overall student activities fees, Lyon said. Lyon will ask the representatives to abstain from voting on budgets for clubs of which they are a member.

The caucus representatives will conduct budget hearings on Sept. 15 and 16 and Sept. 22 and 23 during which clubs will defend their budget proposals that they must submit no later than Sept. 13 at 5 p.m. The fall budget allocations will be posted on the AUCC office door, Mary Graydon Center room 260, on Sept. 24. Budget appeals hearings will take place Sept. 29 and 30.