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There were a lot of new faces competing this year ...and some old ones. jim Hirsh, who had resigned fromthe previous Senate, had done an impressive P.R. jobof transforming Phyllis Birckhead into a leader overnight. This, coupled with his scathing Clarion columnson much of the opposition made the twoof them confident that they would win. Throughoutthe campaign Jim promised to resign immediately.as Vice-President if Phyllis were defeated. As the fmalballots were tallied, it was funny to see Jim gaspand then meekly smile and stammer that maybe hewouldn't resign after all. We knew then that hisbig talk for Senate was nothing more tha.n his ego.It was ironic that jim, who has lost or qu1t every otherjob he sought, finally refused to quit after promisingto do so.The election itself was marked by the emergence andsweeping victory of the Freedom Party. They had donea nifty job of campaigning, working diligently infront of GCB and proposing some excellent ideas.The lack-luster performance by other candidates anda hohum voter turnout swung the tide for the Partyas they captured nearly one-half of the Senate seats.Unfortunately, two outstanding incumbents, FredNorling and Marcus Mauldin, as well as somepromising newcomers, were relegated to the electoralgraveyard.As 1 looked over my new Senate I had great hopesthat many of the campaign promises made by thepeople involved could be implemented. Generally,the Senate was composed of energetic new peoplewho said they were willing to work. This Senate,even though its term was too short for financialefficacy, had the potential of being a good one.Soon, however, most of the new Senators realizedthat translating campaign promises into tangibleresults was more difficult than they expected. Thebiggest disappointment was the Freedom Party, whoneglected their nine point platform completelywhile they searched for imperialism everywhere fromInternational '71 to AIESEC. They made a lotof noise but were generally harmless.The Freedom Party has had an exciting but shortlivedexistence. After passing a lot of resolutionsbut never following through, they decided thatSenate was too much trouble, and vowed notto run again but instead return to the radical methodsof old. It's unfortunate that such ridiculous andapathetic people were elected on such a promisingplatform. In the future perhaps students willlearn to demand that the representatives theyelect be leaders, rather than sitting meekly andcomplaining. If nothing else, the Freedom Party, withtheir haranguing, has caused the emergence andformation of more political parties. IFC is planningto collectively flex its political muscle, but itsbeen so long since they've tried that, it willprobably be the wrong arm. Other independentcoalitions are being formed against the Freedom Party,which won't even be on the ballot.Senate meetings have been interesting. Jeff Allenhas been running as hard as he can for President.His acrobatics in trying to grab the spotlight butnot alienate potential voters, and his rationalizationsin response to criticism are nothing short of hilarious.Jim Hirsh has threatened to withhold his vote, likea lollipop, when he doesn't like a particularresolution; the Freedom Party continually wantsto recess and caucus because the individuals don'tknow how to vote until the group decides. Theremainder of the Senate voted to adjourn because theydidn't have any more money to allocate. One of thedefects of student government has been that thestudent body has elected representatives whothink that their only job is to give away money.The blame must lie with students as well as Senators.Glittering promises made during the campaign havebeen conveniently discarded afterwards because thestudents don't demand action from their electedrepresentatives, and worse yet, refuse to help atall. The vast majority of students drive their250