Posted on 04/14/2005 1:20:25 PM PDT by Rebelbase
The Senate Chambers in Witherspoon Student Center were overrun Wednesday night with the ever-expanding ranks of scurvy dogs and scalawags as Elections Commission Chair Bonnie Pierson revealed the results of the remaining offices of the 2005 Spring General Election.
Although candidate Will Quick almost doubled his votes from last week's election, Whil "The Pirate Captain" Piavis clinched victory in the runoff for the position of student body president.
Student Senate President candidate Forrest Hinton was also elected, along with Senior Class President candidate Carla Babb, who triumphed over Hisham Salama by a mere 32 votes.
Quick's small show of supporters, consisting largely of Student Government members, were confined to the corners of the chambers by the large crowd of pirate enthusiasts, who chanted and cheered to Pierson's announcement.
During a short speech to dissenters and supporters alike, Piavis revealed his real name and declared that during "The Year of the Pirate," his main focus would be getting the students involved with Student Government.
"We're quickly goin' to bae getting our plank started, get the simple things out of the way," Piavis said. "Then we'll bae working on getting the Senate out to the students and out to the college councils."
Although many of his opponents claim that he is making a mockery of the Student Government's highest position, Piavis asserts he is serious about his role, gimmicks aside.
"This simply bae a way to get people to pay attention and get involved," Piavis said. "We're not a group that bae full of ourselves. We bae out here for the students."
Piavis faces staunch opposition from members of Student Government, who according to Quick, "weren't looking forward to working with The Pirate Captain." Quick said this has the potential to harm Piavis' work throughout his term.
"[Student Government's] overall goal is to get as much accomplished as we can," Quick said. "I hope that the perception I got from the beginning is somewhat changed [soon]."
Piavis said however, that he wasn't worried about winning their favor, pointing out that many new Senators will be entering Student Government over the course of next semester.
"We're liking the fact that most of the Senate are new scrogs," the Captain said. "Me hopes the rest bae coming around. [Our crew] not bae a bad lot."
Despite Piavis' popularity on campus as the Captain, Quick did mention concern for the perception of the University on a larger scale.
"Outside of campus, I don't know what this will do to our reputation and our effectiveness as Student Government," Quick said. "I'll be tuned in as closely as anyone else."
According to Hinton, who defeated candidate Tommy Ozbolt 59 to 41 percent, Piavis has already achieved one of his goals. An astounding 25.7 percent of the student body visited the polls during the runoffs, a number which exceeded even Pierson's expectations.
"We owe it to The Pirate Captain for getting students involved," Hinton said. "What I really want is that same 25 percent to stay involved with Student Government all year."
Ozbolt said he was thrilled that Piavis won, citing him as "the last chance Student Government had for change."
"If they would have elected the 'Tony Ticket,' it would have been the same old crap with a bunch of elitists walking around in suits," Ozbolt said. "He's the radical reform we've been pushing for."
Hinton said he would be willing to work with Piavis the same as any other candidate and said he looked forward to doing extensive work with the Senate.
"We have to fix the structure of Senate," Hinton said.
As for the dissenting view of Piavis in the eyes of many Senators, Hinton said he would have none of it. According to Hinton, "The Pirate Captain won fair and square."
"I support the decision of the students," Hinton said. "They watched and made an educated decision."
I wonder if ECU is going to start having identity problems?
NC ping, ARRR!
Ahoy, matey! Should we all be talkin' like pirates on this here thread?
Owl_Eagle
(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
Arrrrgh!
Arrr if thar be some scurvy dogs usin the King's Engligh send em' to the plank!
Is it just me, or does the opponent, Quick, sound like a weasel and a dork? Maybe he can run for Massachusetts senator in a few years.
Accent? What accent?
Methinks the rum be flowin' early, matey!
September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day - http://www.talklikeapirate.com/
The caption read, "He's a pirate's pirate."
Congressman Billybob
Latest column, "Billybob's Speech for FR's March for Justice II"
Out of how many total votes? When I went to college only about 43, 44 students even bothered to vote in these things.
Yeah, like "ending racism" and "embracing diversity".
One guy had to put on a pirate hat and as the people sang happy birthday theyd occasionally stop and hed have to say Arrr, its me birthday.
Also I recall that occasionally they turn on a disco ball and all the waiters/waitresses have to get up and perform YMCA.
On a ~$35 check I left our waitress a $20 tip. That was my unspoken acknowledgement that yes, honey, Ive had crappy jobs too.
this is awesome. When I was in college (Notre Dame) I never voted in any student govt election (except for a dorm one where my roomie was running for dorm senator). Had a pirate run for office, I definitely would've made the effort to go to the polls.
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