Next semester’s student leaders digitally elected
Class officer votes are in, and results were announced after a runoff election. Close to 1000 students vote.
May 18, 2016
Cut-out faces and puns plastered over every available inch of the upper quad pillars can signal only one thing: class elections.
For the first time, students were able to log on to their school-made Google accounts and vote for their desired officers for the upcoming school year.
This process was implemented after the incident that occurred during the beginning of the year during the USB elections, in which ballots were altered. Close to 1,000 students voted in the election.
For the class of 2017, Paul Bang defeated three-time president Morgan Pak, after a tie-breaking re-vote (other offices also required a re-vote).
“It was definitely bittersweet because it has been such a huge part in my high school experience. All good things come to an end and now is the time to move on to bigger and better things,” Pak said.
Joining Bang as next year’s senior class officers will be Ameer Alameddin, Donje Lee, Austin DeCambra, and Vinay Bhupathiraju as vice president, secretary, historian, and social chairperson respectively.
For the class of 2018, Hampton Douglas will be returning as president for the third year in a row with his catchphrase: “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
“My friends didn’t have the ability to promote for me on social media but they sure did help in person. They got my name out there and they were always there when I was in a state of doubt or anxiety. My opponents had great sportsmanship and integrity while going into the race,” Douglas said.
In addition, fellow sophomores Danton Wong, Steven Liang, Clarissa Hui, and Kevin Lew will join Douglas as vice president, secretary, historian, and social chairperson, respectively.
Finally, for the class of 2019, Megan Young will be taking the position as the new class president and will be joined by classmates Victor Chai, Andy Tsai, Patrick Ma, and Austin Kim as vice president, secretary, historian, and social chairperson, respectively.
“It was definitely fun. The overall process was a competitive atmosphere but most of all it was memorable and there were tense moments but the excitement took over everything,” Bang said.
However, for some candidates, the competitive environment was taken too far.
While running for reelection, Pak faced threats and accusations against her integrity. These culminated in a direct confrontation during lunch with an opponent and spurred Pak to respond via a Facebook post, in which she crafted an open letter addressing those who use such methods to win. She claimed those people were creating an issue “that looks to destroy the sacredness of our school as a place of development and learning” and one that “dismantles the core of our community.”
Pak said these allegations were made via social networking sites in the past but had recently been directed at her at school.
She said it “was something starting from freshman year that’s built up and escalated to this year, where it’s more confrontational, direct, and in-person.”
CORRECTION: In the print version of this story, the number of students voting in the election was inaccurately reported.
