During the four hours before A.S. election results were announced last Friday, the Elections Review Committee found the Student Voice! slate guilty of campaign plagiarism and found two college senator candidates guilty of illicit ‘dorm storming’ practices.
A.S. President-elect Utsav Gupta filed a violations report on April 9, accusing Student Voice! of plagiarizing the campaign phrase ‘Uncage Sun God’ and several other elements of his Web site.
Sixth college juniors Brian Ng and Mona Vakilifathi, who presented the case on Gupta’s behalf, argued that ‘uncaging’ Sun God was an original idea, coined and used by Gupta throughout his campaign and on his Web site. The site was launched March 9, well before Student Voice! used the same term on a Web site launched April 1.
Ng and Vakilifathi also argued that Student Voice! plagiarized the image slideshow and pop-up text featured on Gupta’s Web site’shy; ‘mdash; as well as two images complementing his platforms to halt tuition increases and protect free speech.
‘The similarities on the Web sites are too common,’ Vakilifathi said.
Ng said Gupta was not looking to disqualify Student Voice! from the election, but was merely seeking a public apology and removal of the Web site.
A.S. Elections Manager Frank Carroll mediated the discussion.
Rishi Ghosh, creator of the Student Voice! Web site, defended the slate’s right to use the images by arguing that they were acquired through free, public-domain sources. He said that the code and software used to layout the Web site were completely different than those used by Gupta.
Ghosh also argued that the idea of an ‘uncaged’ Sun God was first coined last year by writers at the Guardian, making Gupta’s claim of original ownership unfounded.’
After hearing both sides, the committee voted that the phrase ‘Uncage Sun God’ was not Gupta’s original idea and therefore not plagiarized, but that the Student Voice! Web site as a whole was plagiarized.
However, committee members then voted that the plagiarism was not a violation of the A.S. Election Code, and decided to take no action against the Student Voice! slate.
In addition, Marshall Senator-elect Brian McEuen accused Marshall Senator-elect Shervin Sarraf Anghoozeh of ‘dorm storming,’ ‘mdash; the act of soliciting door to door in residence halls ‘mdash; while’ Warren College Council President-elect Emily Law and Warren Senator-elect Josh Grossman made similar accusations against Warren senator candidate Tyler Nelson.
The committee found Nelson guilty of illegally posting campaign flyers on the doors of several Warren College apartments, but voted against disqualifying him. Instead, the committee decided that Nelson should apologize to Grossman.
Similarly, Anghoozeh was found guilty of illegally contacting Marshall residents to encourage them to vote. The committee asked him to issue an apology to the three residents he had contacted who helped present the case against him.
Readers can contact Yelena Akopian at [email protected].