April 30, 2009
SGA election results announced
After Blazers completed casting their votes for Student Government Association (SGA) positions on Tuesday and Wednesday, the new officers for the 2009-2010 school year were announced today during second period.
Election results for the SGA presidential race between juniors Alex Bae, Sibyl Brown and Andrew Hyder and the vice presidential race for the class of 2010 between juniors Karre Lawson and Olayinka Oladiran have been withheld due to ongoing disputes over misconduct.
The results of the election were petitioned because some candidates allegedly violated election rules by offering "incentives" to voters. The candidates contested the petition because they allegedly did not receive a copy of the election rules and were unaware of policies banning this practice. According to Bae, a reelection for the two positions will be held sometime in the next three weeks.
The election results are as follows, according to current SGA president junior Sibyl Brown:
Executive level:
Vice President: Mady Nadje, junior
Secretary: To be appointed
Treasurer: Naimisha Mahesh, junior
Class of 2010:
President: Tamara Taylor
Class of 2011:
President: Christina Stiles
Vice President: Hannah Ho
Class of 2012:
President: Nebiyu Fitta
Vice President: Bruce Yuen
Silver Chips Online is still compiling information and a more complete story will be posted soon.
Election results for the SGA presidential race between juniors Alex Bae, Sibyl Brown and Andrew Hyder and the vice presidential race for the class of 2010 between juniors Karre Lawson and Olayinka Oladiran have been withheld due to ongoing disputes over misconduct.
The results of the election were petitioned because some candidates allegedly violated election rules by offering "incentives" to voters. The candidates contested the petition because they allegedly did not receive a copy of the election rules and were unaware of policies banning this practice. According to Bae, a reelection for the two positions will be held sometime in the next three weeks.
The election results are as follows, according to current SGA president junior Sibyl Brown:
Executive level:
Vice President: Mady Nadje, junior
Secretary: To be appointed
Treasurer: Naimisha Mahesh, junior
Class of 2010:
President: Tamara Taylor
Class of 2011:
President: Christina Stiles
Vice President: Hannah Ho
Class of 2012:
President: Nebiyu Fitta
Vice President: Bruce Yuen
Silver Chips Online is still compiling information and a more complete story will be posted soon.
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YOU LOST SO GET OVER IT!!!
i voted for alex the first time and im going to do it again
i didnt even take his candy and he still got my vote
what did sybil do this year to deserve a second year? pep rallies were dry, same goes for the spirit weeks and every other event.
sibyl was at school almost everyday until at least 7 hard at work for her school
Please, pick the lesser of two evils.
sibyl does try really hard to make events as great as possible, and the student body should try harder to involve themselves in these events. why do you think pep rallies are so dry? because no one cares enough.
and obviously sibyl's gonna give the results, because she was there when they were counted. she didn't even lose by that many. people need to stop talking about sibyl. if you really think SGA does that bad of a job, why dont you try joining and improving it?
and alex bae's an idiot. who "doesn't know" that you can't give out candy during an election?
2. this last spirit week? a bunch of people had no idea it was happening.
We did our part by asking seniors to send in their designs. We gave about a two months notice before the deadline. We only received about 4 designs and from there we choose what was best. If you don't like it you then you should have done your part by sending a design in the beginning of the year. For now, you can either make your own or decide to not purchase a shirt. and as a little side note, the profit goes towards prom
We had announcements during Info Flow, so as a blair student it's your responsibility to stay informed. All you have to do is listen. Nothing too hard.
and In my opinion, this years SGA did a fantastic job. After being here four years I've seen more student involvement then previous years. I think the issue here is that people bash what SGA has done on silver chips instead of channeling that frustration into constructive actions. Be involved in your community to see the change you want to see.
(btw, the senior office & sga work on their own)
and last thing. SENIORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSS !!!!!!!!!!
WHOOOOO! We got 10 more days left & then DEUCE
oh. prom tickets on sale now. $55 for singles. financial office. no doubles. no dates over 21. thats disgusting.
Honestly, this statement is kind of ignorant. I have the same class every morning and the television doesn't not function in the class room. Not only that, but my fellow classmates aren't respectable enough to be quiet during announcements. So please don't say its too hard, or imply that we don't listen, because I know I do and I had no idea there was a spirit week, in fact I didn't even know it happened.
I don't really like either candidates............. but I'll have to say Sybil is probably better than Alex. Alex... ugh... he is so pompous and arrogant - just spend a couple minutes with the guy! At least sybil has the personality (and looks :]) and the ability to fake it alex is just straight up obnoxious.
RE-ELECT SYBIL BROWN 2009!!!
bae is the best
you. have. got. to. be. kidding. me!<br />
she sugar coats everything she does so that you will like her. she doesn't listen to what you have to say, pretends to work hard so you think she's doing something, and only cares about herself. honestly, if anyone in this school is smart they'll vote for alex.<br />
i think it's true that the students are to blame for pep rallies and spirit weeks, at least mostly but to be honest the days weren't so great this year, because they don't want to support sga. although it sucks that everyone has to suffer for the president's incompetency.
And lets be real, this sga had a lot of things to deal with in such a tumultous year and i think they did so in a great way. VOTE SIBYL!
And mind you, Hysen only did a little bit of organizing. The results came from years of pent up frustration at a school system more designed to treat students like test-score producing machines than human beings. Imaging what he could have done with some even more intense organizing?
If anyone reading this wants to improve their school, learn about the resource-mobilization theory of social movements from a reputable sociology source. Because anger and frustration always exists. The question is, how can that anger be organized?
And the nice thing is, the people in Blair's SDS chapter, and in SDS chapters across the country seem to know this. Nice Job ;)
SGA was a failure this year. We had to pester them for a month to get them to schedule the activity fair. Unacceptable.
that is, no one but eli barnett (who attends how many fun school sponsored functions???)
sibyl for prez!
Your opinion is not fact. Take that into account before you make another comment.
But by all means, if you want to continue making a fool of yourself with your terribly typed comments and (incorrect) blanket statements, go right ahead. Your choice.
We understand your concern about the activity fair. However, these types of in-school events are a collaboration between SGA, the administration, and the staff. It is very difficult to organize an event like this in the beginning of the year because teachers don't appreciate losing a lot of class time, which I completely understand. In the beginning of the year there are a lot of 4-day weeks, freshmen assemblies, etc. and it is unfair for SGA to take class learning time without considering the teachers.
However, we were not a failure and I really do not appreciate that comment. Next time please approach the SGA face to face and we will work with you to make things better.
Thank You.
The point of said comment was not to be appreciated, it was to demonstrate a specific failure of this year's SGA such as to dissuade people from voting to reelect said SGA president.
Seeing as the activity fair is one of the only SGA-organized activities I really care about, I'm not going to vote for the leadership that did not handle it particularly well this year.
Even from the way you type your attitudes are snobby, elitist and your diction makes you sound like you think your better than everyone else.
Get off your high horse.
And your litmus test for SGA success is whether the activity was well planned or not? That's like saying you chose to vote for a presidential candidate by whether their inauguration parade was well planned during their previous term.
and yes I wrote "your" by accident instead of "you're"
And please don't call me elitist for liking the English language.
It's not because he is typing with proper grammar, it is the manner in which he states his points and his stuck-up word choice.
"The point of said comment was not to be appreciated, it was to demonstrate a specific failure of this year's SGA such as to dissuade people from voting to reelect said SGA president."
Just read that a few times and you should be able to understand.
Liking the English language doesn't make you elitist, it's how you use it.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with that statement (other than the less-than-optimal use of "such as"), unless you're reading at a third grade level.
As for sounding snobby, I'm sorry if I don't include enough humbling (and completely superfluous) "I think"s and "In my opinion"s for your taste.
My response is to improve the SGA through the democratic process by not reelecting the SGA president who did not do a particularly good job this year.
You can express your grievances, but do it in a more constructive manner that doesn't create a chasm between you and the person you are trying to negotiate with. This does not mean ignoring a problem, it simply means approaching it in a way that makes people feel receptive and thus willing to accommodate you.
You're the one missing the point now. My point was not to negotiate with the current SGA. My point was to influence people to vote against the current SGA. I really couldn't care less if there's a "chasm" (fancy word choice, you must be a snob!) between me and the SGA. Aggressive writing, in this situation, is effective writing. My target audience is not members of the current SGA.
It's a bit hypocritical that in decrying my
"higher-than-thou approach," you yourself are attempting to elevate yourself above my "snobby" diction. No, obviously using a word such as "said" is below you, you would *never* to stoop to such a level!
What else can we do if no one tries to even listen? Try spending EVERY DAY IN SGA UNTIL 8PM AT NIGHT! And try to organize an event that attracts 3000 students and then maybe your claims that SGA does NO work will be valid.
If you have complaints, please come to Room 161 during your lunch. We are always there. We always see complaints on Silver Chips yet NO ONE ever approaches us face to face.
As far as I'm concerned, I think the SGA probably wouldn't want him as a president either way.
Vote Sibyl!
How are you supposed to know that giving candy is bribery? Are there any rules that were given out? It was Sibyl's duty, as the president, to inform all of the candidates of the rules and she did no such thing! If she really cared about the school or running an clean campaign, why didn't she tell Alex to put away the candy instead of telling him that it's a "bad" idea. She was obviously using that as her back up plan and she got what she wanted. If she was going to win, she never would've even cared about the stupid candy that Alex gave out to everyone or whatever. She's only complaining because she lost and will stop at nothing to get what SHE wants.
The SGA doesn't want him? WHO CARES! It's not only the SGA voting for him. This election is for US, the student body. It doesn't matter if the SGA wants him or not, WE DO.
and..Alex is not just a resume padder!!
how could u make a comment like that when you don't even know him? Just because he does well in school (unlike the other candidates) doesn't mean he should be stereotyped into a resume padder
ALEX BAE FOR PRESIDENT
DAYUM!!
I agree with the comment that Alex should not be called a resume padder, but you can't assume the other candidates don't do well in school or it's just for popularity. No evidence to back up your opinion.
This dude's obviously a resume padder - while sibyl actually cares about the SGA. I mean come on, Alex, if you're gonna say the SGA was bad at least say you tried to change it or took the initiative to do SOMETHING. You can't just come in and say it sucks then try to take it over.
It's because he's a resume padder - he's been concentrating too much in school and his own academics to care about the SGA or any other activities - but all of a sudden he wants to run for SGA president? If that doesn't smell like a resume padder then I don't know what is.
For people who think that Alex is an arrogant, pompous jerk, I can see why you think that. I've known him since freshman year and I thought that too but he's changed a lot. I didn't like him at all until this year and the fact that I'm supporting him so strongly now means a lot to him and it should to people who care about electing a competent leader. Sibyl had her chance and the fact that she managed to make a lot of people hate her as much as they do after trying to help the school shows that she needs to step down and give someone else a chance.
lol he deserves it more than the both of them.
if anything, he is the resume padder. that boy just does not give up, huh? If he won, he'd probably overthrow principal williams and become a freakin SGA tryant (if that is even possible). Am I the only one who gets that vibe from him?
As for the Brown v. Bae situation, I honestly think both candidates are great and I am stuck on who deserves it more. As a result, I chose not to vote for SGA president because that is how conflicted I was on the sitch-ee-ation. My gut feeling is telling me that Bae got this though.
haha
I voted for Sibyl last time
but if she's making everyone re-vote cuz candy is "bribery"
then I dunno
but I've never really talked to either of them soo
I guess it more comes down to; which one will be more of an asset to blair
although I still want someone nice as president
My advice, quit complaining and do something about it. If to you that means voting for your favorite candidate, have a blast. Both Sibyl and Alex are extremely dedicated, hardworking individuals and either one will do a great job leading our SGA.
Sadly, it's up to the majority of Blair's students (consisting of immature, self-absorbed children) to start giving a damn and change their attitudes from annoying bickering and complaints to constructively working towards a solution. And sorry boys and girls, but voting isn't a solution. At best it's a first step.
If you have a problem get involved with SGA, give constructive feedback, actively attend the events you supposedly want. Maybe once you've done that your complaints might hold some water, until then please stop bothering SGA because no one wants to read any more of whatever is going on in this article response.
Oh and I heard that Sibyl was the one who gave Alex the rules of conduct way too late. She was in charge of making sure that Alex knew the rules. Honestly, Alex didn't win because he passed out candy. He probably won because he looks (is) smarter than Sibyl.
For those of you who keep bashing this year's SGA, recall last month's carnival. It was one of the best student events I've attended at Blair in my four years here. Same goes for the events around a few football games this year, specifically against Northwood.
Also, Alex Bae is neither a resume padder or condescending/conceited. He's genuinely nice guy who would be a great SGA president. Plus, I'm not sure there's anyone who runs for elected office who doesn't at least partially want power or to boost their resume. That's not saying elected officials are bad people, but it's only natural that they would want power, control, love, etc. Nothing wrong with that, if they do a good job.
I've also read a lot of comments that aren't very merciful to my character. Yes, I was an idiot for giving out candy, but "blazer" summed up my flawed thought process nicely. I believed that I was "giving out the candy to everyone, regardless of whether they agreed to vote for [me] or not," and that because of this, I was in the clear. I wasn't. And I regret it. I'm sorry that my mistake caused undue stress to the administration, the SGA, the candidates, and the voters. I have now received the rules and assure you that I have read them. Many times. Haha
Accusations of resume padding are warranted, but untrue. I know I might seem like that kind of guy (I do fit the stereotype) but honestly, that just isn't true. In fact, because of this election, I've already had to drop/postpone so many of my activities, like swim practices and several piano competitions. My coaches, teachers, and mother are very unhappy with me. And I'll be honest. At first, I didn't really want to run for president. I thought I had no chance, that I'd get no votes, that my unpopularity would only increase from my effort. If I really wanted to pad my resume, wouldn't I have chosen something that I had better chances in? The fact that I even had supporters was truly humbling. I honestly didn't expect it.
Others have said that I have no platform, that I plan on shirking my responsibilities if elected. But I can't agree with that. I wrote my platform and speech the way I did for two reasons: 1) I did not want to overly criticize the current administration. I do know how hard they have worked and I was reluctant to run on a platform of "improvement," which would imply that they were doing a bad job. 2) I honestly believe in what I'm running on. This isn't just a bunch of rhetoric. I actually was a part of the sophomore class council two years ago. And these were ideas that I've held in my heart since then. I know for a fact that I didn't get much done when I was in the SGA back then. But I do believe that we can make some true progress now.
I know even recently, I've said some things, in anger, that I now truly regret. Facebook is quite dangerous in that way. I think a quote by Evan Esar (that happens to be on my iGoogle page today) sums this up nicely: "Anger is the feeling that makes your mouth work faster than your mind." I apologize for any offense. It wasn't intended.
Anyways, I don't want to be a negligent president OR an "SGA tryant". Honestly, I'm just kinda bummed out at how many more people despise me because of this election. It seems that I'll have much work to do regardless of whether I win this or not. I only have one more year to make friends, after all.
Another note to my awesome and amazing supporters:
Thank you for existing! As I said before, this is still a bit of a surprise to me.
But I would like if you could tone down the comments a little bit? Some of the things that were said up there are kinda... inflammatory. I think the nicer people are, the happier everyone is :D
So regardless of how I feel, what I say, or what happens at the end of all this, there's one thing that still stands. I DO want to make this school a better place, and I think that together, we could totally do it.
- Alex Bae
I haven't read so much BS in one sitting since our first advisory class.
If you actually believe what you just said and made yourself out to be a victim, then I weep for future students of this school.
I am not a supporter Sybil Brown and I would totally vote for you, but wholly moley save it for Miss America. Between you and Sybil.... Hyder FTW.
i think his comment was a honest response to the comments bashing him
and pretentious much? you gotta be kidding. giving protips and then calling someone else pretentious? if youre not a hypocrite i dont know who is.
Do you blame Sibyl for not getting to rules across to you clearly? Because everyone keeps saying that's the main reason this reelection's occuring.
[And just so everyone knows, I'm not blaming her.]
I guess everyone was in the dark when it came to that policy. I mean, I gave candy out to plenty of people in the SGA and nobody seemed to know that it was against the rules. I don't blame anyone. It was just a stupid little mishap.
Painful wall of text is painful.
Really, line breaks between paragraphs (even if formatting does not allow for indentation) makes your comments a *lot* more readable.
I can't bring myself to read that.
A bit of advice:
You don't do yourself any credit by posting something like that on silverchips. There are much better ways to get a point across than online commenting. The internet is not a very good place to defend your image, you can't win and you may just end up making yourself look really, really bad.
Let him defend himself all he wants.
He should be able to say whatever he wants, and he can format his writing however he wants. Why should he have it written the way you want it?
And actually, a lot of students have been reading this specific article because they want to see what people have to say. Even though Hyder and Sibyl haven't posted on here, I'm sure they would if they felt necessary.
It seems like every single comment you post is self-centered. Talking about the robotics club, about how you prefer to read certain things.
It probably took him a lot of effort to come on here and speak his mind. He should be applauded for that.
You really need to calm down.
Other than that, Alex, it's good to hear that you don't blame Sibyl for the candy situation, because all I've heard from your supporters is that it's all her fault. Good luck in the re-election!
Lastly, I think that Sibyl is just as qualified as any candidate, and I'm proud to say that I voted for her, and I will again.
<br /><br />
He can say whatever he wants, but you can't win in an argument on the internet against opponents who have nothing to lose (anonymity is a pain, isn't it?). All you end up doing is hurting yourself. Internet is srs bsnss.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
Though, the wall of text may not be his fault, it looks like there's a formatting bug getting rid of all the line breaks (it did it to my post as well).
- Jennifer Wang, Silver Chips Technical Staff
for all you people hating on sybil, every year, it doesn't rly matter whos pres because in the end the same amount of stuff gets done. the only reason why sybil looked so bad this yr is cuz she LOOKED like she didnt know what she wuz doing
as for alex bae i think everything said so far good and bad is true.. he's arrogant but he knows enough (this year) to hide it
so the only difference u get is that alex is gonna look like he knows what he's doing next year even if he does no better of a job than sybil. and if anyone actually thinks dramatic changes are gonna happn (with any candidate), they're being lied to
so it comes down to who you want to represent blair - white girl who looks like she doesn't kno what shes doing (and rly means no harm) or "nice" asian boy with rock star hair who just found his ticket to harverd and can make you feel good with words
u ask me - i'm abstaining lol
keep in mind that ppl generally seem nicer when u don't kno them :)
You have GOT to be kidding me
First of all, we would like to thank you for your interest in the article and the current election. Your comments are always appreciated. However, we would like to remind you that comments should stick to the issues at hand and should not contain personal attacks or inappropriate language.
Thank you for your cooperation.
We can argue about the candidates' shortcomings all day long - but the question I personally find more interesting is the following: all the candidates (Bae, Brown, and Hyder) clearly want to represent Montgomery Blair, so the question is what sets them apart - what makes them any more 'special' than anyone else in the student body? I feel a sense of distrust for the "new" players: I would like to ask, why after three years do you only now want to make a change? What were you doing for that 75% of your time in high school?
Sibyl's got a bad rep, no doubt about that, but at least she's been with the SGA from the beginning, through rain and shine. And that dedication and that past commitment means something when it comes to trust from the voters. If the other candidates are more qualified, let them join SGA next year. After all, they'll make a bigger difference working together than attacking each other's characters.
1) they genuinely just dislike her
2) they feel that SGA has been weak and ineffectual this year
Those in the first group cannot be argued with - there is simply too big a discrepancy in ideas and beliefs. However, for those of you that think SGA was a failure because of Sibyl's ineptitude, you must realize that, as such a large (and unfortunately, largely unspirited) school, Blair is impossibly hard to connect. Students don't listen to InfoFLOW, teachers teach through announcements on the PA, so we can't blame SGA for not reaching us. I remember one particular instance, a few weeks ago in the SAC, when a group of students tried to take just 5 minutes of our lunchtime to make a presentation on Invisible Children. They were shouted off the stage.
I think, even if we vote Alex, he will encounter the same problems, and have the same issues motivating the school. Until, as a school, we learn to respect the effort it takes to even reach out, to try to speak to this tidal wave of voices, it might be better to reelect Sibyl, who has already had a year's worth of experience working with a school like ours.
People have been comparing Alex's and Sibyl's platforms and have been pointing out how revolutionary Alex is, how he says he'll swoop in to fix everything...
I think the reason why Sibyl is running a different message is, not only because she's the incumbent, but because she understands how hard it is. She's been with the SGA longer and understands its shortcomings. The fact is that if we elect Alex, next year the candidates for 2010 will step up and say the same thing: "SGA was ineffectual, we need drastic changes, blah blah blah"
The truth is though that these declarations only reveal how inexperienced and unqualified a candidate is. A school of 3000+ is hard to unite and lead, and that's a fact.
To claim anything else is empty rhetoric.
Both Hyder and Alex are arrogant, it seems like they both have managed to hide it this year.. the question is, as many have said before, who do you think deserves the "padding on the resume"...