Student Union Elections Are Here Again — Let the Rhetoric Begin!

by Erin FAGAN

A fresh batch of student union by-election candidates could be found in The Pit this past Wednesday, the 10th of October, testing a half-atten- tive, half-apathetic lunch crowd with their speeches.

The current SU executive began the event, at 12:30, with a call to vote in the elections (Running from the 15th to the 17th of October) and a run-down of their current projects. —

“| was listening ... it altered my view of who Id vote for.”

-Joey Weale

Cynthia Dennis, the president,

indicated that currently, she is working on restructuring the student govern- ment in order to increase internal stu- dent representation and efficiency, open communications, “blah blah

blah.” She also promoted student

attendance and interest in an impor- tant, once a year, meeting with provin-

cial ‘Mihister of Education, Jeff (antz?

which would have occurred | this past Thursday, the 12th. :

Next, Caolan Moore, the VP of Campaigns and Communications, announced some of his initiatives,

such as an up-coming “Hair-Cut-A-

Thon,” which will be an event to. raise

money for AIDS résearch. He is also

chairing a White Ribbon campaign for awareness on Violence Against Women, has attended a Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) ‘confer- ence in Ottawa to “help me help you,” and, most importantly, is working to form a strong tuition freeze lobby group on campus.

Chris Power, VP of ‘Campus Affairs, spoke about various events, including society nights, which have either occurred in the last month or will happen in the near future. Rob Kemp, the VP of Finances, also tabled his initiatives on maintenance, build- ings, and the general financial work- ings of the SU.

The speeches got underway after an appeal by Dennis for people to “give their full attention” to the candi- dates. The first speaker was an unchal- lenged candidate for business rep,

Matt McCarville, Who came to the

podium armed with a bottle of pop and remarked that it would be sad if he didn’t win as “THe’d] only be defeating

myself. ” The other default candidate, “I go by Paul,” Campbell, spoke of his

enthusiasm on becoming education rep.

The dramatic part of the rally began as the seven competitors for the three Arts reps spots made their pleas to the lunching crowd.

The first candidate, Alex Field, sporting a grey toque, confessed that to be an Arts rep has been “a dream of mine since childhood.” He ended his speech with a string of “wonderful” affirmations, climaxing with a heart-felt “Isn’t UPEI wonder- ful?”

Valerie’ Rowbotham, a first year student, promoted herself as an easy to approach candidate, and then ended with, “Just vote for me.”

A small error was made by Dennis in announcing a “Donald” MacPhee. The candidate, Andrew MacPhee, corrected her and outlined some of his opinions and beliefs on tuition and the value of a university education. The best reason to vote for him, he concluded, is that, “It’ll cost you less money in the long run.” The next candidate, Jonathan Matters, did not show for the event.

_~ Brodie MacRae ascended to the podium with the cynical com- plaint, “Thanks for the applause.” After a sufficient peal of claps, cheers, and whoops from the Pit, he added that he was “missing a test,” which garnered a little more applause and a “That’s dedication, Brodie!” from somewhere in the back. His speech consisted of a slightly-over-two-min- utes Monty Python sketch reading, complete with a slight British accent.

After that, Krista Gallant stat-

Caolan Moore once again demonstrating how he got elected.

ed that she would be an ideal candi- date to represent students’ thoughts and feelings.

Christina Holloway also pro- moted herself as a well-qualified can- didate for Arts rep., and was the only candidate to look directly at my digital

“It was good that they had it at the Pit, where there’s lots of

people around.” -Amy Mahar

camera.

Finally, Erica Stanley listed three issues of importance: student involvement in the search for a new Dean of Arts (Dr. Philip Smith is step- ping down from that post), a campaign for publically funded student educa- tion, and a greater involvement in humanitarian aide campaigns.

Dennis concluded this round by reiterating some of the major issues coming up in the Arts department, and added that “You want a keener who will look out for you.”

The five potential first-year reps. gave the next round of speeches, beginning with Matthew Thomson’s description of his capabilities and

interest in the position.

Next came Sarah Riley, who

acknowledged first that she had not prepared a Python skit. She did add, and proved in the process with her delivery, that she had “ener- gy, enthusiasm, and experience,” and proceeded to list her recent experi- ence.

Debbie Bradbury admitted that she was from Newfoundland, thus her slogan, “Don’t be goofy and vote for the Newfie!” She was followed by Rebecca Burke, who also listed her interests and aptitudes for the position. Nick Flood was the final candidate for the position of first-year representa- tive. This concluded the candidate rally.

A third-year Science student, Amy Mahar, described after the event that, “It was good that they had it at the. Pit, where there’s lots of people ' around.”

Joey Weale, Senate Representative and spectator, also added after the event that, “I was lis- tening ... it altered my view of who I’d vote for.” He also wanted to tell people that, “You gotta vote!!!”

The next evening, Ryan O’Connor was overheard in Dr. Dowbiggan’s Russian History making an appeal to fellow classmates to “Go rock the vote!”

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