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31 January 2003
uwRyan.com This website is meant to provide value to UW student by delivering information. It shares its name with the column that I write for Imprint. Please provide feedback on what I write as well as give me suggestions of topics to cover. You can send e-mail to me to ryan[at]uwryan[dot]com.
uwstudent.org
Federation of Students 
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Campaign painsReach into a grab bag of election garbage
Feds executive candidates began campaigning on Tuesday by putting up posters and debating in the uwstudent.org-Imprint media forum. There are some amusing pearls in the murk of the political talk, whether they be unusual ideas or laughable suggestions. Weird words and strange ideas Haynes' "earmark amortization fund" was a term I had never heard before, it seems to mean a capital budget. Council approves an operating budget but doesn't deal similarly with capital expenses. It's okay; the idea is just bizarre. Schmidt shows his technocracy, suggesting that Feds get into "open source software development." Dilts's "Party Whip" idea to have someone "to ensure that Feds operations run properly" is okay. How about electing an executive that can do that. Also keep councillors in-line would be good if it works. I'd settle for a single-e council (like the triple-e, equal, elected and effective, senate from Meech Lake). Council, at least, needs some effectiveness. Edey is trying to resurrect the idea of the universal bus pass. Do you remember when that was in former Fed president Yaacov Iland's platform. Leo's idea of a nap room is fun. Robson suggests the idea of paying dividends to students as so-called "shareholders" in Feds as a corporation. Dividends can not be paid to students because as the corporations act says that a not-for-profit corporation like Feds "...shall be carried on without the purpose of gain for its members..." Certainly if it was so important to give money back to students Feds could convert to a business corporation to pay dividends, but it then would no longer be tax exempt and would have to pay tax on its income. The closes thing to this idea would be a reduction in the student fee the following year. Style over substance Hickson wrote, "the number of students involved in clubs will increase 50 per cent," but doesn't give an explanation of how this might be achieved. Fedy wrote, "I will focus on achievable goals that will benefit student life at Waterloo. In the past, candidates have promised things that simply could not be delivered, I want to be different." First what does this mean and second don't you think others have promised to succeed where predecessors failed. Much of what Colquhoun writes is full of platitudes about doing a better job. He is especially prepared for the situation where someone gets beat up outside a bar and the university tries to manage and then shuts down the bars. If that situation ever occurs, he has a plan to handle it. At least his suggestion is a contrast to the belligerence of the current exec, whose plan has yet to pan out. Diversity Whitey won the elections last year. This year, out of 13 candidates only Lee-Wudrick and Dominguez aren't white and only Hickson and Haynes are female. Both these proportions of the candidates look to be less than the proportions in the student body. Who are they In the forum candidates were asked to give the one word that describes their best quality or greatest achievement. Each person's choice shows what they like about himself or what image he wants to portray. Perhaps the most apt answer is Robert Robson's word, perseverance. He is a candidate again, after losing to Chris Di Lullo last year. Communicating with students Every year people use words like communication, relevancy and awareness and pledge to improve these things for the Feds; this year is no exception. Fedy lists "creating new means of communication" as a goal and wrote, "Students must have access to as much information as possible on the issues that affect them." Dominguez plans the "creation of a Feds newsletter." Schmidt wrote, "The Feds need to constantly question our relevancy to our members." I think a lot of students have an answer to that question. The real question is what would be done about student concerns. Capper states a goal to, "Reinforce communications and maintain visibility..." So many of these statements have a common theme; what will get done and how. Tell us. Usual suspects Then there are the common issues. Deregulation is a concern but those who say that tuition shouldn't increase anymore need to tell us how the university's finances can be pulled out of the toilet. Quality has been decreasing; tuition has been increasing. Where is the money going to come from? What can you do about it? The double cohort issue is similar. "We need to cater to underage students," thanks for the newsflash. Edey, as a planner and Feds "75 metre" commissioner didn't surprise anyone by bringing up housing. If any changes happen, for how much of it can he take credit. Last word Vote. |