Hawthorn Court residents will have a voice in the Department of Residence with the help of their newly elected representatives.Apartment Community Director Mary Beth Golemo said a total of 101 votes were cast at the Dec. 7 election to decide the four new building cluster representatives and two at-larges.Sara Geiken, junior in mechanical engineering; Ryan Guard, junior in history; Joe Stanisz, junior in history, and Nick Slater, senior in psychology, will serve as the representatives for their respective clusters. Jim McCurdy, junior in microbiology, and Michael Falk, senior in meteorology, were elected as at-large representatives for the residents. “There were 10 students up for six spots,” Golemo said, who will serve as an adviser to the city council-style government.Golemo said holding the election during Dead Week may have been a factor in the lack of student participation.”It was a low turnout in comparison to the other votes we’ve had at Hawthorn during the fall semester,” she said. “Maybe it was because it was so close to Finals Week.”Now that the representatives have been elected, Golemo said the students have a lot of work to do in the next few months.”First and foremost, they have to elect their leader,” she said. “They will also have to work on bylaws to the constitution. At the same time, I know we’re looking to use this group of students as feedback for Hawthorn issues.”Golemo also said the Department of Residence will depend on the council members for insight as Hawthorn Court shifts from Phase 1 to Phase 2.The council will meet at least once a month, Guard said, and will focus on issues residents have been interested in.”We’ll express concerns on more visitor parking,” he said, “and also on more picnic tables and barbecue pits.”

McCurdy said he thinks the smaller council will be able to serve Hawthorn Court residents better than the Inter-Residence Hall Association.”We won’t be tied up with procedure as much and will have a lot less wrenches thrown in the machinery,” he said.

Geiken said she agreed with McCurdy’s view and said the council will not demand to be involved with their resident’s everyday lives.”We’re going to make sure that we protect students’ rights out here,” she said. “We’re also making sure that we’re not too much of a Big Brother.”