Nine of the 10 freshmen vying for spots on the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate were elected yesterday in the only contested senatorial election of this cycle.
Incumbents Lauren Levine, Chas Morrison, Katy Simon and Sam Wallis won reelection, while Edward Chao, Ryan Heman, Molly Moulton, Dan Pasternack (who is an assistant news editor for the Daily) and Shabazz Stuart earned first-time seats. Lucas Schlager, who was not an incumbent, was defeated.
Heman was the Queer Straight Alliance's community representative this school year, meaning he attended Senate meetings and could vote on all issues except those having to do with funding.
About 42 percent of the Class of 2011 voted online in yesterday's election, according to junior Anjali Nirmalan, the chair of the TCU Elections Commission (ECOM).
Nirmalan called this number "neither low nor incredibly high. That's a pretty respectable turnout," she said. "The freshman class usually turns out in dependably high numbers."
There were originally 11 candidates in the field, but Matthew Small dropped out before Monday's candidates forum, in which contenders presented their platforms and responded to a number of questions posed by ECOM representatives.
This was the first such forum available for online viewing. JumboCast.com recorded and posted footage of the entire event online. "Often, the candidates forum is poorly attended because students are so busy," Nirmalan said. "This is the first time that candidates have had the chance to express themselves and their goals for the year in a video format."
Nirmalan said that JumboCast plans to record and post videos of the two presidential candidate forums, which will take place later this month.
