Council Elects Gabay President

The Undergraduate Council voted former Treasurer Carey W. Gabay '94 its first-ever president last night in an election that named four of the council's seven executives who will oversee its fall session.

Melissa Garza '94, originally a presidential candidate, claimed the vice president post, while Cynthia D. Johnson '96 was elected secretary and Rene Reyes '95 won the race for treasurer.

The ballots were counted by election supervisor R. Gin Lo '94. Lo was assisted by former Chairs David A. Aronberg '93 and Evan B. Rauch '92, and former member Steven N. Kalkanis '93.

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III and Assistant Dean of Students Sarah Flatley were also in attendance in order to insure that no questions arose concerning the integrity of the already-controversial election.

Gabay, the head of the Quincy House delegation, said he wants to pursue a "dynamic and active grassroots path towards council leadership."

Of the four presidential candidates, Gabay was seen as the closest to outgoing Chair Michael P. Beys '94 and outgoing Secretary Randall A. Fine '96.

Fine has been the subject of an investigationregarding a $25,000 Environmental ProtectionAgency grant he was awarded through the councillast spring.

Reyes and his opponent Hassen A. Sayeed '96were questioned by the council regarding how theywould each deal with the grant if electedtreasurer.

"Part of the problem was that information waswithheld from the full council during this wholeprocess," Reyes said. "After conducting a fullinvestigation we would inform the council ofwhat's going on and maintain openness while wedeal with this as quickly as possible."

"Openness" emerged as a catchphrase throughoutthe speeches and question-and-answer periods ascandidates attempted to refute what they said wasthe council's image of irresponsibility,infighting and ethical deficiency.

Gabay and Garza were challenged in thepresidential election by Marc D. McKay '94 andfirst-term member Anjalee C. Davis '94. Davis'platform consisted of her attempt to rally the 57new council members behind her to fight for "a newleadership, making sure that this year is notpolitics as usual."

Garza, McKay and Davis each emphasized thepotential for their administrations to deviatefrom the political maneuvering associated with thecouncils of former leaders, most recently Beys andMalcolm A. Heinicke '93.

"My leadership would be based on only one setof rules," Garza said. "Not one set for my friendsand another for my enemies."

Gabay too addressed the issue of impartialityin leading full-council hearings. In his firstofficial act as president he appointed David A.Smith '94 as parliamentarian. Smith was anunsuccessful candidate from Winthrop House in lastweek's general election.

But McKay asserted that his was the onlycandidacy which offered broad-based experiencecombined with integrity. "I'm neither asingle-issue candidate, nor am I the candidate ifyou want to elect a puppet government," he saidregarding Garza and Gabay respectively.

Garza was elected vice president over opponentsMcKay, Reyes and John A. Mann '92-94, who proposedthe implementation of "a comprehensive code ofethics."

Johnson beat out first-term member Andrew J.Ehrlich '96.

As he stepped down from his position as councilchair, Beys assessed the council he was leavingbehind.

"When I first started on the council as afreshman, it was the calm before the storm," hesaid. "Now the storm is over."

Beys attributed much of the criticism launchedthroughout his term to his "active" approach toleadership. "As a government we were obligated topush for student interests, even in the mostunwinnable battles," he said.

"That is the legacy we're leaving after thelast few years. But that change in path did notcome without the council experiencing some seriousgrowing pains," Beys added.

Beys surmised that he "took 90 percent of theflak" directed at the council last year. "Peopleneed to realize that positive change requires someagitation," he said.

But Beys ultimately conceded someresponsibility for the council's unscrupulousimage. "I own up to my share in the divisiveness,"he said. "And I hope that these traditions remaincharacteristics of a past council.

Fine has been the subject of an investigationregarding a $25,000 Environmental ProtectionAgency grant he was awarded through the councillast spring.

Reyes and his opponent Hassen A. Sayeed '96were questioned by the council regarding how theywould each deal with the grant if electedtreasurer.

"Part of the problem was that information waswithheld from the full council during this wholeprocess," Reyes said. "After conducting a fullinvestigation we would inform the council ofwhat's going on and maintain openness while wedeal with this as quickly as possible."

"Openness" emerged as a catchphrase throughoutthe speeches and question-and-answer periods ascandidates attempted to refute what they said wasthe council's image of irresponsibility,infighting and ethical deficiency.

Gabay and Garza were challenged in thepresidential election by Marc D. McKay '94 andfirst-term member Anjalee C. Davis '94. Davis'platform consisted of her attempt to rally the 57new council members behind her to fight for "a newleadership, making sure that this year is notpolitics as usual."

Garza, McKay and Davis each emphasized thepotential for their administrations to deviatefrom the political maneuvering associated with thecouncils of former leaders, most recently Beys andMalcolm A. Heinicke '93.

"My leadership would be based on only one setof rules," Garza said. "Not one set for my friendsand another for my enemies."

Gabay too addressed the issue of impartialityin leading full-council hearings. In his firstofficial act as president he appointed David A.Smith '94 as parliamentarian. Smith was anunsuccessful candidate from Winthrop House in lastweek's general election.

But McKay asserted that his was the onlycandidacy which offered broad-based experiencecombined with integrity. "I'm neither asingle-issue candidate, nor am I the candidate ifyou want to elect a puppet government," he saidregarding Garza and Gabay respectively.

Garza was elected vice president over opponentsMcKay, Reyes and John A. Mann '92-94, who proposedthe implementation of "a comprehensive code ofethics."

Johnson beat out first-term member Andrew J.Ehrlich '96.

As he stepped down from his position as councilchair, Beys assessed the council he was leavingbehind.

"When I first started on the council as afreshman, it was the calm before the storm," hesaid. "Now the storm is over."

Beys attributed much of the criticism launchedthroughout his term to his "active" approach toleadership. "As a government we were obligated topush for student interests, even in the mostunwinnable battles," he said.

"That is the legacy we're leaving after thelast few years. But that change in path did notcome without the council experiencing some seriousgrowing pains," Beys added.

Beys surmised that he "took 90 percent of theflak" directed at the council last year. "Peopleneed to realize that positive change requires someagitation," he said.

But Beys ultimately conceded someresponsibility for the council's unscrupulousimage. "I own up to my share in the divisiveness,"he said. "And I hope that these traditions remaincharacteristics of a past council.