Andy Hogan '11 will serve as the Student Union president during the 2009 to 2010 academic year, as he defeated his opponent Philips Loh '11 in the first round of Student Union elections last Thursday. Hogan garnered 678 votes, while Loh received 301.

Hogan said he and Vice President-elect Amanda Hecker '11 are already working to formulate a concrete vision for the 2009 to 2010 academic year.

Hogan declined to elaborate on the specifics of his vision, saying they will be fleshed out during his first Executive Board meeting in the coming weeks and will be disclosed to the public shortly thereafter.

Hogan has already met with current Student Union president Jason Gray to facilitate the transition process of entering the office as the new Union president.

"We've started contact, and we will be meeting on and off for the next few weeks. We want to make sure the transition process is done correctly so we can build off the work [Gray] has done and move forward from there," Hogan said.

According to Hogan, they have already discussed the budgetary issues that Brandeis has faced this year as well as the budget challenges for the coming year.

"I'm really happy that Brandeis had so much faith in me, and I hope to work as hard as I can to earn Brandeis' respect and trust and be a great president," Hogan said.

Hecker will serve alongside Hogan after beating her opponent, Nathan Robinson '11, by 168 votes in the first round of elections. During her campaign Hecker said that she wanted to establish a Union blog through which students would be able to contact their Union representatives immediately if they needed assistance.

"I'm really happy and thankful for the support I received, and I am committed to maintaining this blog that I promised in my campaign, which will really open up the Union to student ideas, more creativity and more student involvement and input," Hecker said.

Robinson congratulated Hecker on her victory, saying "I think she will be a fantastic vice president, and I wish her all the best for her upcoming term."

Robinson, the current Castle Senator, said he will not run in the second round of elections for senator. He explained, "As vice president, who oversees Senate meetings, I wanted to radically restructure the way in which Senate meetings operate, and without the ability to change the bureaucracy and stagnation in the Union, I don't think I would want to be a senator and continue to participate in that system."

Daniel Acheampong '11, the only candidate officially on the ballot for the position of Treasurer, won with a grand total of 924 votes. "I really appreciate all the support from the Brandeis community," Acheampong said.

Acheampong added, "I and my assistant treasurers look forward to participating in more events and activities to see firsthand how money is being used and also to provide resources for club leaders who need it."

Diana Aronin '11 was elected as the Union secretary, having received 7 percent more votes than her opponent Esther Yi '11.

"I'm really glad I won, and I'm excited to start. I want to start getting everything organized before the new Executive Board meets for the first time, and we will take it from there," Aronin said.

In descending order of votes received, Akash Vadalia '12, Julia Cohen '10, Makensley Lordeus '11, and Gabriel Weingrod Nemzow '12 were elected as the new members of the Finance Board.

Lisa Qi '11 won the position of racial minority member of F-Board, for which she ran unopposed. Nicole Coredero '11 was elected as the Junior Representative to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee with 704 votes.

Two elections reached a second round last Sunday because no candidate received a majority after the first round. In the final round of elections for the junior representative to the Board of Trustees, Heddy Ben-Atar '11 reined in 274 votes to defeat Sahar Massachi '11 by just seven votes. Ben-Atar led Massachi 392 to 384 votes after the first round of elections, with Philip Lu '12 trailing behind with only 129 votes.

"I'm really excited for this opportunity. It was tough getting here and I faced a tough opponent, but I'm really excited to work with the trustees," Ben-Atar said.

Samuel Fuchs '11 beat Jourdan Cohen '11 170 votes to 152 votes in the final round of the elections for the Junior Representative to the Alumni Association last Sunday. In the first round of elections, 301 voters abstained, 240 voted for Cohen, 238 voted for Fuchs and 209 voted for Jordan Kert '11.

"I am excited to begin working to create stronger connections between the alumni and current Brandeis students," Fuchs said after winning the elections.