Kirkwood ticket member admits stealing Big Red campaign e-mails

Days before the IU Student Association elections, the Big Red ticket has filed a formal complaint against a member of the Kirkwood ticket for allegedly violating IUSA election and University codes.\nLuke Fields, presidential candidate with the Big Red ticket, alleges that Adam Pozza, a member of the Kirkwood ticket, accessed Fields’ computer and forwarded e-mails regarding Big Red’s campaign to members of the Kirkwood ticket, according to the complaint. \nSarah McDonough, IUSA elections commissioner, said because of Pozza’s actions, there is a “definite possibility” that the Kirkwood ticket may be disqualified from the election. The commission will hold a hearing Wednesday night in response to the allegations. \nIn response to the allegations, members of the Kirkwood ticket called an emergency meeting Sunday night in the Redbud room of the Indiana Memorial Union.. Kirkwood ticket’s presidential candidate, Joe Weis, said in a question and answer session that Pozza admitted he sent the e-mails from Fields’ account. They asked the IUSA Elections Commission Sunday evening to remove Pozza’s name from the election ballots.\nThe allegations include that e-mails were forwarded from Fields’ account to the IU Finance Club and Eric J. Gibson, chief of external for the Kirkwood ticket. Pozza is currently the vice president of the IU Finance Club.\nFields said the e-mails were sent March 2, while he was spending the night in Indianapolis. Pozza, who is running for Congress on the Kirkwood ticket, lived with Fields and Big Red ticket vice presidential candidate Dan Sloat, but as of March 21, had moved out of the apartment.\nFields said he came home from Indianapolis and was checking on an e-mail he had sent to a potential employer in regard to an internship interview. When he accessed his e-mail, however, he noticed every e-mail he had sent during the last six months had been deleted. Fields was able to recover the deleted e-mails through IU E-mail Exchange, a service that backs up e-mails for a certain period of time. He said during the recovery he realized the e-mails had been sent out and then attempted to be hidden.\n“We weren’t exactly sure what to do about this,” Fields said. “This pretty much goes against everything we stand for as a ticket.”\nFields said he wants the student body to be informed about what’s been going on when they go to the polls on Tuesday and Wednesday. \nFields said there is “no smearing, no mud-slinging” between the tickets. He said Big Red is demanding a fair process and its emphasis has always been on doing what’s right and positive.\nAndrew Hahn, vice presidential candidate for the Big Red ticket, said after Fields noticed the missing e-mails, they contacted the IU Office of Student Ethics and filed a judicial complaint against Pozza “immediately.” \nHahn said because of spring break, the student ethics committee’s judicial hearing would not have been held before March 28. Because of this, there was a possibility a judicial resolution would not have been reached before the deadline for filing an IUSA elections complaint. As a result, Hahn said they filed a complaint with the IUSA elections committee Friday. \n“We filed this complaint because we feel this is not something IUSA stands for,” Hahn said.\nThe complaint alleges that Pozza broke IUSA election codes, University Information Technology Services policy, IU Code of Student Rights and possible “applicable laws.”\nDuring the Kirkwood ticket’s press conference, Weis presented attendees with a written statement about the issue. Weis did not formally address the complaint. He did, however, reiterate the ticket’s platform, and encouraged the Big Red and INdiana tickets to “re-evalute their platforms.”\nIn the written statement, Weis said Pozza did not act on behalf of the Kirkwood ticket.\n“We want to assure you we had no knowledge of Adam Pozza’s action,” said Nancy Kazarinova, treasurer candidate for the Kirkwood ticket, during the press conference.\nShe said she welcomed an investigation by the IUSA Elections Commission and said the ticket plans on going into the election with “full force.”\nMcDonough said the complaint hearing will be 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Distinguished Alumni Room of the IMU. The hearing is open to the public.