And the winners are: Sean Weinstock and Adi Jain

Sean Weinstock and Adi Jain looked relieved as they sat down in Skibo Café Thursday. Sure enough, “relieved” was the first word out of both of their mouths when asked how they felt about having finally been appointed student body president (SBP) and student body vice president (SBVP), respectively.

“And excited,” added Jain, a senior electrical and computer engineering and business administration major.

Only days into their positions, Weinstock, a senior business administration major, and Jain already seemed amazingly busy. Weinstock entered Skibo with come straight from a job interview. Jain arrived a little later, explaining that he was running late from another meeting.

After the elections ordeal that lasted nearly six months, Weinstock and Jain were finally appointed last Monday.

“We cracked the obligatory smile when we heard that GSA and Senate had approved our appointment,” said Weinstock. “Then, we went straight to the books and e-mailed Senate about our first meeting just hours later.”

Although they will spend almost half the time in office that their predecessors did, Weinstock and Jain were optimistic that they’d be able to accomplish their goals despite the shorter time frame. They stressed that the time and effort one puts into the job is more important than the actual calendar time.

“We’re just excited to get going already,” said Jain.

Weinstock and Jain have already put the voting fiasco in the past. Both expressed hopes that the situation never happens again, but had more interest in talking about their presidential plans.

Their answers seemed to echo each other on almost every front. Beyond their similar collared dress shirts, they were, in their words, “in sync.”

They talked about the number of people that supported them in their campaign.

Weinstock felt especially encouraged by instances in which undergraduates he didn’t know approached him and told him how much they loved the CMU 5, the term he and Jain assigned to the five main goals they hoped to achieve while in office.

Weinstock hopes to have even more encounters with the student body, including first-years, whom he hopes will feel free to bring him all their ideas.

“I guess what I’m really excited about is just talking to students and getting things done,” Jain said.

But, they insisted, their ideal Carnegie Mellon is “so much more” than just the CMU 5. Although they plan to fully implement the CMU 5 and its accompanying initiatives, they hope to expand it much more.

“I’m not the champion of everyone’s issues,” Weinstock said.

Weinstock and Jain stressed the need to work with students, faculty, and staff to improve the university as much as possible.

They have started work on one of the five, “Power to the People,” by talking to the library about installing Microsoft Office on all cluster computers and adding additional power outlets in work areas.

They will also continue to work on the institutional memory initiative aimed at increasing the use of the Tartan Wiki, a database for all student organizations. The two have already met with Karl Sjogren and Andrea Hamilton, former SBP and SBVP, who started the institutional memory initiative.

For Weinstock and Jain, the presidency is just a position which will make it easier for them to put their proposed changes into effect. One person alone can change things, the two insisted, but their positions now give them a great point from which to start.

“The message is the same as it’s always been. Come to us and tell us whatever you’re thinking about,” Weinstock said.
“Find us, e-mail us, harass us, whatever you have to do,” Jain added.