In the first uncontested race for Student Union President in recent memory, Senator-at-Large Alison Schwartzbaum '08 won the top post in the first round of Union elections last week.Schwartzbaum is also the Union's executive senator and was the North Quad senator last year.

She said the main focus of her presidency will be "quality-of-life" issues, including renovations to the Intercultural Center, changes to residence hall quiet-hour policies and reforms to Student Events, student dining and the University's policy regarding alcohol at campus events.

"I want to make life as good for students as possible," Schwartzbaum said. "I'm not the type of person who can just have complaints and not doing anything about it."

In addition to Schwartzbaum's election, Director of Union Affairs Aaron Gaynor '07 defeated Ridgewood Quad Senator Brian Paternostro '07 by a vote of 378-374, according to provisional results sent to candidates by Director of Club Development Darren Gallant '08, who oversaw the elections (see article, page 1). After the initial announcement, the margin was reduced by two votes following the discovery that two alumni voted.

Senator for the Class of 2007 Joshua Karpoff was eliminated in the first round.

Gaynor said "he feels great" to be the vice president, and that he wants to "re-shape the role of the VP to make it more about guiding the executive office and doing internal coordination stuff."

Gaynor called Paternostro and Karpoff "first-class."

Paternostro returned the praise. "Aaron Gaynor will do an amazing job as VP," he said.

Harrison Chizik '07, the Finance Board chair, was elected treasurer without opposition.

North Quad Senator Alex Braver '09 defeated Union Judiciary Justice Sean Patrick-Hogan '07 by a vote of 448-287 in the contest for Union secretary. Ziv Quad Senator Adam Gartner '07 was eliminated from the race during the first round.

Braver said his reaction to the results was "a mixture of enthusiasm and a little bit of surprise, nervousness and anxiety.

My personality will allow the Union to be friendlier and focus on customer service," he said. "My focus on the [Executive] Board is to represent freshmen and sophomores since I'm currently the youngest E-Board member."

"I think Alex Braver will make a great secretary," Gartner said, adding, "It's always hard when you lose."

In the Finance Board election, Massell Quad Senator Jacob Bockelmann '09, Sridatta Mukherjee '09, Jordan Rothman '09 and Jeremy Shuman '07 were voted in as new members.

Bockelmann said he looks forward to serving. "It'll be great to have someone with both club leadership and Union experience," he said of himself.

Mukherjee said her new post is her first in student government. "I'm really looking forward to the experience," she said.

Rothman said he'll do a great job.

Asher Tanenbaum '08, who lost to Shuman by four votes, called his loss "disappointing." He said he was unsure if it was "100 percent good" that three out of the four winners were first-year students.

Radhika Kak '09 was elected as the F-Board's member for racial minority students in another uncontested race.

"I'm really happy," Kak said. "I want to get more representation for international minority groups on campus."

Class of 2008 Senator Sam Vaghar, who was also unopposed, was elected his class's representative to the Board of Trustees.

The race for junior representative to the Alumni Association also only had one candidate: Reuven Solomon '08.

Solomon said his main goal is to raise student awareness about the work of the Alumni Association.

Kimberlee Bachman '08 defeated Castle Quad Senator Adi Shmuel '08 to become junior representative to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee by a vote of 551 to 178.

"I'm looking forward to being an advocate for positive change for the student body," Bachman said.

She said her goals include making sign language an accredited course, adding more experiential learning to University curricula and increasing the number of courses focused on current events.