News Briefs
Class Council Election Issue Resolved
The arguments surrounding the candidacy of Prashant K. Dilwali ’08 were resolved by an Undergraduate Association JudBoard ruling on Sunday, March 18. Dilwali, whose candidacy was previously contested over a late ballot application, was appealing a decision by the UA Election Commission Rules Board. The Rules Board asserted that Dilwali had violated campaign rules by forming a Facebook group before public campaigning began. The board then appended “violated election rules” to Dilwali’s name on ballots. Dilwali argued that he was running as a write-in candidate when he formed the Facebook group and was under the impression that he could not run as an official candidate.
The JudBoard members wrote in their decision that the “violated election rules” statement was “excessive … given that Prashant’s violations appear relatively minor.” The JudBoard did not, however, overrule the Election Commission, stating that “it is not within our jurisdiction to overturn [the Rules Board] decision.” The JudBoard did request that candidate platforms submitted after the deadline be added to the voting Web site. Those platforms were added on Sunday night, said Michelle Jeong ’08, chair of the Election Commission.
Nick Semenkovich
MIT Bested in Blood Battle
MIT donated less blood than last year’s February drive, losing to the California Institute of Technology in the MIT vs. Caltech Blood Battle. During the drive, which ran February 12–15, only 3 percent of MIT’s 10,050 students donated, while 7 percent of Caltech’s 2,086 students donated blood, according to the Web site of American Red Cross Team And Network of MIT (ARCTAN). In total, MIT collected 296 pints of blood from this blood drive — less than the 305 pints collected during the February 2006 blood drive. Each person donated about one pint when giving blood, but some donors were deemed ineligible to donate and did not count toward the final total of pints donated.
According to Jonathon Weiss ’93, a coordinator of the drive, the lower turnout this year could have been affected by poor weather later in the week, Red Cross volunteers calling in sick at the beginning of the week, and a different incentive last year. The blood drive in February 2006 involved competition between dormitories and included prizes.
Nick Bushak