Page 2 April 1, 2009

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PANTHER POST

Big plans in store for upcoming school year

The 2009-2010 Student Union Executive Council, and their election opponents talk about the election, next year

By Shavado Gibson

Post Contributor

Student Union General Elec- tions are held each year at UPEI, where candidates vie for different positions such as President, Executive Vice President, VP Activities, and Board of Governors or as representatives for their Fac- ulties/Schools.

However, since this was my first time witnessing an election at UPEI, I can cer- tainly say that it was an in- tense and competitive one — as evidenced by the num- bers running for the differ- ent positions. There were four candidates, for both the President and Vice-President Activities positions and five Executive Vice-Presidential candidates, with numerous students running as repre- sentatives.

Before the election, candi- dates were working hard to win student votes. Candi- dates showed initiative by going into classrooms and speaking to students, writing their names in the snow, put- ting up posters around cam- pus, uploading videos on Facebook to help promote campaigns and creating Fa- cebook pages outlining their backgrounds and why they wanted to run. All in all,

such initiatives gave students a “taste” of their platforms.

The elections were held on March 17 and 18 and students were able to vote online for the candidates of their choice.

By Wednesday at 9 p.m. voting was closed. Immedi- ately, counting of the votes began in the Student Union building and were finished

by 12:15 a.m. Now Elected - What’s Next?

Many of the candidates campaigned on making ef- fective changes. Now having been elected, the question is: “What will the new elected Student Union do for us?” To find this out, I talked with some of the newly elected to get a scoop on their plans for the upcoming school year.

Timothy Cullen:

The newly elected Student Union President Timothy Cullen, commonly known as Tim, is the new president-elect for the Stu- dent Union. Tim is very pleased to become the next Student Union President. Cullen’s main objective is to focus on responsibility and effective communication. As soonas he takes office, Cullen would like “to start meeting with Presidents of different societies and councilors on a

weekly or bi-weekly basis.” He intends to have the coun- cilors function in a way that is more effective within the SU. Cullen plans to do “prep work” over the summer, re- searching other options and examining how councilors and Student Unions around the country operate. This re- search can be used at UPEI and can “basically become a proposal for the council.” Cullen expects this proposal to be ready when they return in the Fall.

He plans to present the proposal to the council for discussion. Also, Cullen’s focus is to have the Student Union be “active and proac- tive concerning student’s is- sues.” He affirmed that he will work and fight for the students. When asked if he would be willing to get help from his former presidential candidates, Cullen said that he will make efforts to con- tact the other candidates.

“They all had excellent ideas,” he said.

Cullen believes he and the other candidates can work to- gether to perhaps implement some of their ideas proposed during the election. Cullen confirmed that the work will not be easy, but things will “get done.” He concluded by thanking all the students at UPEI who supported him.

Newly

tudent Gibson Photo :

Jarrod “J-Rod” Faria: The next SU Executive Vice President I also caught up with the new elected executive Vice-President Jarrod Faria commonly known as “J- Rod,” at The Wave. He was thrilled to have won win the position and is excited and determined to serve the students. J-Rod expressed gratitude for his support. “T would like to thank all students and supporters that worked and promoted my campaign which led to my

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success,” he stated.

J-Rod noted that when he gets into office, one of his goals is to “improve the communication between students and the administra- tion by sitting on various committee and boards.”

He intends to address some of the communication issues by helping students with their concerns. J-Rod (a Trinidadian) indicated, “as an international student, I would like to work with the international society and other international students, to reduce tuition costs.”

He is determined to fight for the tuition to be reduced. The international school fee is double the regular school fee paid by Canadian stu- dents.

As a result of winning this

See ‘Election’ on page 3