SFS ELECTIONS Freshmen Elect Representatives to SFS Council By Sean Abouchedid Hoya Staff Writer

The winners of Monday’s re-election for the two freshman representative positions on the School of Foreign Service’s Academic Council were Nicholas Reise and Bogdan Tereshchenko. There were no re-elections held for the presidential and senior representative positions decided on Sept. 13. Ory Abramowicz (SFS ’02) won the presidency while Jeff Kang and Dan Percella (SFS ’02) were elected senior representatives.

The other members of the Academic Council, elected last spring, include junior representatives Stacey Tsai and Sandrea Hwang and sophomore representatives Kristen Wayne and Beatka Zakrzewski. Wayne is a staff writer for The Hoya.

According to Zakrzewski, the turnout for the general presidential election was approximately 25 percent of the entire SFS. Turnout for the senior representative election was also approximately 25 percent while about 49 percent of the freshman class voted. Zakrzewski also noted that the difference in turnout between the original freshman representative election and the re-election was only about one percent.

Tsai was enthusiastic about these turnout figures, particularly in the freshman election. “We’re really excited about the level of participation from the freshman class,” she said.

She added, however, that there were plans to amend the election process for next year. The four members of the election commission- Hwang, Tsai, Wayne, and Zakrzewski – were all new to the election process. In addition, some of the election rules were amended last year, prior to the current elections, according to Tsai.

“We [The SFS Academic Council] do plan to improve the election process,” she said. “We welcome any feedback.”

The purpose of the Academic Council, according to Tsai, is to act as a liaison between the student body and the administration. It consists of nine elected members – two from each class and one president chosen at large.

These members meet periodically with the Office of the Dean to discuss and advocate issues relevant to students such as curriculum.

In addition, the Academic Council has ten subcommittees which deal with issues such as curriculum, freshman admission and the annual Diplomatic Ball. The subcommittee positions are filled on the basis of an interview process which began this past week and is open to all SFS students.

“Students have ample opportunity to participate in the School of Foreign Service and make a positive impact on the school,” Tsai said. “The council encourages all students to get involved.”