Vision victorious

by Ben Roode and Erica Ryan
Staff Writers

Vision Party candidates defeated Strive in all three executive positions in yesterday's Student Senate election, bringing more than 3,300 Ohio University students to the polls.

Jim Hintz, who was re-elected senate president, attributed the win to Vision members' perseverance.

"The students came out to support the Vision ticket, and we look forward to continuing our hard work in senate this year," he said.

At 2:30 a.m., results showed Vision had won 26 of 33 senate seats.

Still, Strive's presidential candidate Bob Brewster said Strive's seven elected representatives will bring new blood to senate.

"We feel that the members of senate that have been elected will represent the university and our ticket very well," he said.

Hintz, who defeated Brewster 1,754 to 1,567, said one of Vision's first tasks will be to ease new senators into their roles.

Vision vice president candidate Matttie White beat Strive vice president candidate Neal Laabs 1,824 to 1,501. Holly Seckinger took the treasurer position over Strive's Brian Ambrosia 1,774 to 1,511.

Mike Sostarich, OU vice president for student affairs, said the new senate members will be sworn in on May 30, the last meeting of this year's body.

Hintz said he was pleased with Vision members' campaigning, which included transporting students to the polls in a van.

Strive and Vision members tried diligently to reach the electorate yesterday; some members of each party campaigned for more than seven hours.

Senate Board of Elections workers printed 1,000 more ballots yesterday afternoon in addition to the original 3,200 ballots printed for the election because of the high voter turnout, board chairman Brad Lutz said.

The board switched this year from Scantron to paper ballots to simplify the voting process for students, he said. But the votes took longer to count.

About twice as many students, or 17 percent of the undergraduate population, voted in this year's election, Lutz said. About 8 percent of OU's undergraduates, or 1,577 students, voted in last year's Student Senate election, according to a May 26, 2000 Post article.

The College Gate polling site drew the most voters, followed by Bentley Hall, Baker University Center and Ping Center, Sostarich said.

Strive members said the increased voter turnout showed they connected with students.

"We did a good job with a grassroots campaign," Laabs said. "Students know it's important to vote and that they have a voice on campus."

Junior Mandi Slenkovich said she voted for Strive because she had friends on the ticket.

"If I wouldn't have known anyone on Strive, I wouldn't have voted." she said.

But freshman Joe Pecorelli said he voted Vision because he liked the party's platform.

"It seemed like they (Strive) wanted to benefit greeks," he said, "Not the student body."

–Kevin A. Schneider contributed to this story.