The results are in, and CCSC has five new members! The Alma Matters ticket triumphed, with a whopping 27.2% of the vote–25 votes ahead of their nearest rival, Party of Five (even with an extended voting period, CC freshmen fell short of the national turnout average by about 10 points). President-elect Mark Modesitt picked up his ROLM phone on the first ring, and Bwog sat him down for an interview.



How did you campaign in the last few days?

Mainly, we reinforced for people to get out and vote. Our main thing is we ran a clean campaign, we weren’t attacking the other parties or candidates, and that was our mission from the very beginning.

Were there attacks?

There were a few attacks, but mainly it was just competitive.

It seems like most of the candidates live on the same few floors in John Jay.

We all get along pretty great. We’re all pretty good friends. AJ and I, we go to church together sometimes.



How do you deal with some of the negative campaigning?

I just know that I’m in the public eye, you just have to deal with it. You’re putting yourself out there to get put down. I really wanted to be class president, I just had to fight for it. If you let it get to you, you’re letting them do what they wanted to do.



Why, exactly, do you want to be class president?

As I came to Columbia the first time, I really just loved the campus, I loved everything about it. I really felt the urge to represent my class, and the more and more I meet people in my class, the more I love Columbia, and everything about it.



You only won a little over a quarter of the vote. How does it feel to be not the favorite of the majority of the class?

It kind of just proves how great out class actually is, we have such great candidates to choose from. I don’t feel that as a negative aspect, I just feel more of an honor, that I was chosen among such qualified candidates.



What do you think were the issues that won the election?

I think the main issues that we were mainly focusing on how we were going to unite the class. I think that our fellow classmates wanted to see what we were going to do long run, and how we were going to combine our class, fuse it into one body. And I think most people thought our party had the ability to get that done.

Do you have an opinion on any of the bigger issues the council works on, like for example the Manhattanville expansion?

I’ve heard a lot about the Manhattanville expansion, but I don’t know if I have enough information myself right now to give an opinion on that.

Student Council sometimes gets a bad rap for not doing anything. Is that a valid criticism?

It depends on who the student council is every year. In my high school, student council did everything in the school, but in other schools, the student council maybe just plans a couple dances a year. I think we have the power to get things done. We have the voice, we have representation.

Do you take a more insider or outsider view of the administration?

I want to represent my class when they have concerns with the administration, but I also want to work with the administration to get things done, a mutual stand.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Right now I see myself being an international corporate lawyer. I don’t know if I would ever want to be in the political spotlight, but working on campaigns of some sort.

Who do you like for the 2008 elections?

Evan Bayh, from Indiana. He’s the only Democrat that’s going to be able to win, he’ll be able to take all the John Kerry states plus Indiana. He’s got a 100% chance to win Indiana, and that’s enough to win the election. So I think that Evan Bayh is the perfect choice for the Democrats.