Iskander wins decisive re-election victory

Wiess Col lege junior Marvana I skander swept T u e s d a y ' s S tudent Association pres ident ia l e lec t ions race. Out of a total of 1,362 votes cast in the race, I skande r ob ta ined 809, which co r r e sponded to 59.4 percen t of the vote. She w a s followed by B a k e r C o l l e g e * s o p h o m o r e Hrisl l ikesh Urtl ikar with 10.8 percent of the vote. "I think the ent i re campaign was never f r amed as re-election, bu t for the job next year and not just what I've done in t h e past ," I skande r said. "I feel really good winning with that personal unde r s t and ing . I think a lot of people spoke out and suppor ted me, and 1 really apprec ia te that. "I feel like t h e SA m a d e s o m e improvements th is year, and not everybody knows that . B u t ! still think we have a lot to do. One*thing is to make s u r e as many people a s possible know what ' s go ing on. For everybody 's informat ion, SA meeti n g s a r e M o n d a y e v e n i n g s at 10 [ p . m . ] in. K e l l e y L o u n g e , " ' I skander said. I skander ' s p lans for next year include bet ter ene rgy conserva t ion and lighting, facilitating the rollover of meal plans and improving a spec t s of the curr icu lum such as redesigning foundat ion c o u r s e s and broadening the scope of env i ronmenta l education. She also h o p e s to work with the o the r cand ida t e s on t h e good ideas they had . "1 thank the people who k n e w how dedicated I've been this last year. It 's been ha rd work, but I wouldn't do it again if I didn't think 1 could do a be t te r job next , year ," I skander said?" Lotlikar said, "Congratula t ions to Maryana in winning. I think the studen t s m a d e a good choice, and I h o p e to s ee a lot of great th ings c o m e out of the SA next year." Sid Richardson Col lege junior George Hatoun said, "Maryana had grea t n a m e recognit ion and a good record to run on." Hatoun was also a presidential candidate. "I ran for SA pres ident because I had s o m e new ideas and I saw a n u m b e r of p rob lems in our SA, and I had d i f ferences with Maryana on the way that the SA and t j ie |SA1 Sena te conducted its bus iness , " h e said. However, Hatoun also congratulated I skander on h e r victory, "I think that s h e will do a very good job in her second te rm as presi den t, and 1 wish he r the best of luck," h e said. WRC junior Mo Bawa, ano ther pres ident ia l candida te , e x p r e s s e d d isappointment at s tudent r e sponse and the election process . "I th ink the at t i tude of the Rice s tuden t s and p rob lems with the entire political process should be evalu• aU„'(l and dealt with-," h e said. ' "111is will ensUre that t h e activities of the SA are not just to renew itself annually but to help s tuden t s ' views be bet ter represen ted ." Bawa also expressed concern at t h e way votes were tallied. "I think a more formal, businesslike set t ing for count ing votes is nec