Coughlin, Winchester withdraw from race
By MYRA MCGRIFF
Saint Mary's Editor
Caroline Coughlin and Jeanna Winchester dropped out of the race for 2002 Student Body president and vice president early morning Wednesday, leaving only one remaining ticket, that of Kim Jenson and Elizabeth Jablonski-Dieh in the election.
After an interview with The Observer Tuesday, Coughlin and Winchester sent an e-mail to elections commissioner Mary Crawford stating ethical reasons for dropping out of the race.
"After the interview tonight with The Observer, we realized that we do not feel it is ethical to commit to something that we might not be able to see to the very end," Coughlin wrote in an e-mail sent at 2 a.m.
Before dropping out of the election, the two campaigned for one day on the theme of "More Access, More Security, Less Worries."
After failing to show up for a scheduled interview Wednesday night with The Observer, the two declined to comment on specific reasons for withdrawing their candidacy, with Winchester saying only "it was a very, very hard decision."
The ticket's platform called for caller-ID, call waiting and campus detex use expansion as some initiatives to establish during during the 2002 term.
In withdrawing, Coughlin and Wincester hope to relieve any worry that they may hurt BOG in the long run by not being prepared for the job of president and vice president, stating in the e-mail that it "would be unfair to BOG, the student body, and ourselves."
Crawford sees the realization as a smart move.
"I think that if they couldn't handle [next year] they did the right thing by pulling out," she said. "They had to expect to be intimidated. They are the student leaders. It isn't all fun and games. In the beginning they were a little unsure. The interview with The Observer was probably the straw that broke the camel's back."
Whether or not the interview was the last straw, Coughlin and Wincester have left the door open for Jenson and Jablonski-Dieh, as they now run unopposed.
"It's never good to be running unopposed. That means a lack of diversity," said Crawford.
Coughlin and Winchester made it clear in the Tuesday interview with The Observer that if not in office, they would not contribute to BOG.
All News Stories for Thursday, January 24, 2002
