Cauldron

Issue date: 4/27/07 Section: Front Page

Media Credit: Amber Chemam New COC Chair Marcella Vasquez takes office after a long and controversial election. Election results were announced on April 3.

A new Council of Clubs chair is in office after a two-week delay, following a series of filed complaints and the disqualification of one of the candidates.

Marcella Vasquez will serve as chair for the 2007-2008 year, and in her first act in the position, she presented CoC's budget for the coming year at the Student Government Association meeting on April 17.

Vasquez said that there was a "significant cut" in the CoC budget that she expects will result in less funding for large-scale events on campus next year. She also said it might effect the number of small events put on by clubs.

Vasquez said that the CoC constitution underwent a number of changes this year that will affect the clubs in the coming semesters. One of the new requirements for clubs to remain active in the CoC is to oganize a minimum of two events per year, including speeches or meetings.

Vasquez said that mentorship was her main focus. "I want to educate the board [composed of club presidents] on making responsible decisions on how the budget is spent," she said. "It's also about accountability."

In an attempt to reduce club dependency on allocation money, Vasquez said she hopes to see more fundraising by organizations.

Announcement of Vasquez's win came two weeks later than expected because of delays resulting from complaints against one of the four candidates running for the position. It then took another week for the winner to be determined because of complaints filed against and the resulting disqualification of another candidate.

The first complaint was filed against junior psychology major Clint Mendonca for campaigning before the allotted time period had begun. According to electoral literature distributed to all candidates, campaigning is restricted to a five-day period prior to elections. This year, the policy changed by one day, allowing campaigning to begin on a Tuesday instead of a Monday.

According to Mendonca, conflicting information was sent to the candidates, leading him to start his campaign through a Facebook.com group on Monday. He said that he was not the only candidate to make this mistake but was the only one to receive a hearing by the Judicial Council.

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