Rounding out the executive

Introducing the candidates for VP student advocacy, VP student services, and VP external

Kyle Lamothe and Signy Holmes Staff

What made you decide to run for vice-president (advocacy)?

My experience with UMSU. I worked for UMSU the last year and I’ve been involved with student union and student groups. The experience in basically being involved, giving of one’s time to different issues and causes for students.

What in your background has prepared you for the position?

Starting in high school, where I was the student council president, so I have working experience in advocacy and student issues. Also I was in campaigning and government tradition standing committee of the student union, I worked with student groups and I worked with different entities in the university, both academic and administrative ones. Basically I wanted to get experience . . . to get this job.

The vice-president advocacy is a new position. What would you like to see done with the position and what kind of role do you think the vice-president advocacy will play?

Giving students working knowledge of advocacy matters, it is meant for people who have no idea how to file for an appeal, for example, if they are wrongly graded. Basically, knowledge of how process in the university’s administration will work, you should be working for it for every student and that would be my number one priority. As well as being a strong voice in the Senate for students, in the Board of Governors, as well as working within the university, making sure that the students’ . . . interests are strongly defended.

Since UMSU elections have a history of low-turnout, what would you like to tell students to get out to vote and vote “yes” for you?

The students invest more then $6 million in this union. It’s their money at work and I believe they should have the last vote to who should run it and how they should do it. They should basically vote “yes” for us to go out there and give them what they want. They have gotten good things accomplished in the past and I believe they can trust us in doing even better.

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Why did you decide to run for vice-president (student services)?

There have been significant, positive changes made within UMSU in the past few years. UMSU has become more accountable and relevant to students, and it has worked extremely hard to make things happen on campus. There is always more work to be done, however. I would like to be a part of the UMSU exec because I believe in the student movement and what it can accomplish. I want to work with other students to accomplish more over the next year.

What in your background has prepared you for the position?

I currently sit on UMSU as a University 1 rep, I have been a member of numerous student groups on campus . . . . I have taken the bus, I have driven my car and I have biked to the university. I am an athlete, a musician, and a bookworm. I understand the challenges that students at the U of M are facing, and I want to work with other students to ensure that each student at the U of M is getting the most out of their time spent here.

What developments in the students’ union have you been proud of and what would you have done differently?

I am very happy to see that council decided to have all five executive positions elected this year, as this ensures that UMSU stays accountable to its members. I would like to keep the open-door policy going on, and I think this past year’s executive have done an excellent job of promoting UMSU and its services. They have also ensured that the government keeps funding for education a priority. There is always more work to be done, and I would like to build upon the solid base that has been set. This year I want to focus on building a more engaged campus community.

What would you like to accomplish with the position?

I want to see increased support for student groups, including more student group office space and keyless access to already existing student space. I want to organize fun events that support and profile local student talent. There are over 80 recognized student groups on campus, and I want to coordinate student events on campus and create a raised profile for these events. I want to work with other students in residence to ensure that they are getting the most out of their on campus experience. I want to meet with student groups and students at large on a regular basis to ensure that UMSU is doing what students actually want done. And I want to see more pancakes, more of the time.

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Why did you decide to run for vice-president (external)?

I’m really passionate about issues facing students at the U of M, issues like increasing funding for post-secondary education, improving food services and also improving transportation options for students. This year on the executive I was the director of internal administration, and I really enjoyed it, so I’d like to spend another year working on student issues.

What in your background has prepared you for the position?

Well, to have been on the executive. I gained a lot of experience learning about the inner workings of the university, learning about how to lobby the government, which is a major part of vice-president external, and that experience, I think, really prepared me well for vice-president based on what I’m doing, working on the executive again . . . .

What developments in the student union through your tenure have you been proud of or would you have liked to have seen done differently?

Well there’s always lots of room for improvement in anything that you run or choose to do. But, I guess I’m most proud of trying hard to improve communication of UMSU events and services, so we made sure that we had posters up at Bannatyne campus and Fort Garry campus, in every single building, about what’s going on. I was also really happy about how our budget consultations went . . . . I was chair of the finance committee this year, and we carried out the budget consultations so we can hear student feedback on how students want money spent in next year’s 06/07 UMSU budget. I’d like to work a lot more on engaging students overall with UMSU, making sure UMSU is relevant to what we want, what students want, and make sure services and events are relevant to what people want to see.

What would you like to accomplish next year?

The most important thing that I would like to work on is increasing federal funding for post-secondary education, so hitting the government both federally and provincially, making sure that we have enough funding to get the quality of education we deserve while keeping tuition fees affordable for everyone. Other issues that are extremely important: food services. This year at UMSU we started working on a student bid for food services, but the ARAMARK contract does no expire until next spring, so this summer is really an opportunity for us to build a strong bid to have the food services run by students, for students. Another really important thing that I’d like to accomplish is to improve transportation options to the university.As vice-president (external), I’d like to meet with City Hall, meet with Winnipeg Transit and improve transit options to the university, to both the Bannatyne and Fort Garry Campuses.