IOP Selects 14 New Members to SAC

As presidential candidates continue to criss-cross the country campaigning for votes, the Institute of Politics (IOP) is gearing up to get students involved in the election season with new blood and fresh ideas.

The Student Advisory Committee (SAC), the coordinating body of the IOP, selected 14 new members last week, including eight first-years and six sophomores.

"One of the best things we get out of the selection process is all the new ideas that people have been able to think about," said SAC Chair Avery W. Gardiner '97.

The SAC acts as the link between the student body and the professional staff at the IOP.

Members chair other IOP student committees, plan forums and events, interview and select IOP Fellows and help set the goals of the Institute as a whole.

"[The new members] are coming in having seen how the IOP works, but not having been in the thick of things as SAC members, so they'll have something of a fresh perspective," Gardiner said.

The 14 new members, who were informed of their selection on Sunday, will eventually constitute more than half the membership of the committee, which currently has 27 members.

"We have a lot of graduating seniors this year, so there were more [new members] than usual," Gardiner said.

The selections were made from a pool of approximately 30 applicants, based on essays and a half-hour interview with a SAC subcommittee. New members were selected based on their past experience in politics and their ideas for upcoming events and projects.

Riad Abrahams '99 spoke about expanding and publicizing the IOP's role in helping students find political internships over the summer and spring vacations. Such internships are especially plentiful this year because of the presidential election.

Other new members include sophomores Bradley H. Cohen, Michael E. Driscoll, Robert A. Waldo, Brant K. Wong, William Zerhouni and Kristopher J. Thiessen, who is a Crimson editor.

New first-year members are William F. Abely, Rucker A. Alex, Brandon J. Hofmeister, Sarah K. Hurwitz, Ayanna A. Lonian, Kent B. McNellie and Jeffrey P. Yarbro.

There are roughly 100 to 150 students actively involved in coordinating IOP events at any given time.

This year, the Student Advisory Committee and the IOP are focusing on the November presidential election and on increasing student involvement in the political process in general.

"It'll be bigger and better than '92 was," Gardiner said.

"[We're] making sure that every student knows about the elections, feels that he or she has enough information to vote and remembers to vote," she said.