Jeff Javidfar is a good person. It’s important I make that clear from the start.Many testimonials spend too much time focusing on a person’s material credentials,often forgetting their equally important moral worth.

I first met Jeff in a political science mini-course two years ago. He was thisshort, well-spoken, opinionated, informed rabble-rouser. The professor demandedwe share our views on each and every topic. Though we differed on as many positionsas we agreed, I quickly learned to respect him for his honesty, open-mindedness,and depth of understanding.

Usually, I loathe discussing politics with classmates. It’s a recipe for chaos.Even so, something about Jeff prodded me to engage him. Toward the last daysof that class, he first told me he considers himself a moderate. Upon furtheranalysis I found that he simply does not believe in extremes. As he once said,’extremists tend to miss some part of the big picture.’

Something else about Jeff. He buys my boxer shorts. Well, not exactly. He didit once, as a big favor to me and an even bigger inconvenience to himself. Ourgirlfriends still give us hell about that. Never mind the murky details. Thepoint is that Javidfar routinely puts others before himself.

This is the guy who drives sick people to the infirmary. This is the guy whostays up all hours of the night helping others ace their tests. This is theguy who puts his life on hold to comfort friends when they need a shot of Jackand a shoulder to cry on. This is the guy who should be representing Stony Brook.

Enough about his character. Now for his qualifications.

For someone who has never taken a single journalism course, Jeff sure knowsreporting. Must be a fast learner. He began with the Statesman as a sports writer,and soon made the leap to editor. As managing editor under my time as E-I-C,Javidfar spent countless hours helping me write, edit, and layout the newspaper.He now oversees the paper as president. Much as it shames my ego to admit, itwas Jeff, not I, who won first place in the Newsday School Journalism Awards.That’s skill.

And let us not forget his other responsibilities. He is a Resident Assistantin Douglass College. He is a research intern for the Collaborative Group atthe Center for Biotechnology. He is an Honors College student who has been onthe Dean’s List for seven consecutive semesters.

He is enrolled in the university’s exclusive eight-year BA/MD Scholars forMedicine program. He is a member of the Golden Key International Honor Societyas well as of the Sigma Beta Honor Society. He is also a junior with seniorstanding.

So what do we have here? A man of insight and character with more than enoughexperience to accomplish whatever task he might face. In my opinion there isno better candidate for State Assembly for Student University. I, for one, knowthat I will vote Jeff Javidfar for SASU Representative.

Christopher Latham
Former Statesman E-I-C
Class of 2002