Representing our diversity
Meet the people running for UMSU’s student community rep positions
Kyle Lamothe and Signy Holmes Staff
The five community representatives were added to UMSU council last year and are elected by those who describe themselves as belonging to their representative groups, however, only international students may vote for the international students’ community representative. All five seats are uncontested in this election, but each will face a “yes” or “no” vote on the ballot.
LGBTT Community Representative
Why did you decide to run for LGBTT Representative?
I guess because I’m gay (laughs) . . . mainly, I was on the bylaws committee when the seat was instituted and I helped with that process, so I feel it’s really important that the seat is filled. There are still some things that I hope to see accomplished on campus and with UMSU before I leave here that are good for the LGBTT community and that will help bring students to this school that otherwise would go to other schools. Spending a year on council as the LGBTT rep might give me the opportunity to do some of that stuff or at least make sure it gets done.
What in your background do you think makes you particularly suited for this position?
Well, I’ve been an activist in the community for way too long, long enough to have a constant headache. I’ve run the RPM [Rainbow Pride Mosaic] for the last two years, running again, hopefully to get re-elected to do that next year — everything.
What are the biggest issues facing LGBTT students?
The biggest issue facing the students [is] homophobia on campus, which, while it’s not hugely evident because people aren’t getting beat up all the time, I currently manage the bashing and homophobia report program and last year we had 12 reported incidents and we assume for every one that gets reported there are 10 that don’t . . . . I think that’s the biggest problem. Residence itself is the second biggest. We had a student move out of residence last year because of homophobia.
What would you like to accomplish as the LGBTT Representative?
Too much to do in a year. I would really, really like to see a pride flag in even one student recruitment brochure that comes out of the administration building. I’d really like the administration to stop saying that the RPM is their gay centre, because it’s UMSU’s gay centre . . . .
Since voter turnout in UMSU elections is traditionally so low, what would you like to say to students to get them out to vote and to LGBTT students to get them to vote for you?
I’d like to say that, LGBTT students, they have an opportunity to have a voice on campus to speak just for them, and I really encourage them to take that opportunity, to go out and actually vote — even if you don’t vote for anybody else, go vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for your LGBTT council rep, because you have one, and a lot of schools don’t, and it’s just silly not to take advantage of an opportunity like that.
International Student Representative
What made you decide to run for International Students’ Representative?
The first day I came here, there were not so many international, especially Chinese students, but as I grew close to my graduation date, there were people just coming to the university, and as the amount of Chinese students and other international students increased, I just felt like I should do something for them. From my experience . . . I know where the problems are; I know where they need help. I just feel it’s my responsibility to help them.
What in your background makes you particularly suited to be the International Students’ Representative?
In my high school, I did . . . a similar job, and I have good communication skills. And I love to help people out, so that’s pretty much it.
What do you hope to accomplish as International Students’ Representative?
Well, personally, I prefer to welcome multiculturalism, because for international students, they always have their own little group — even though they’re in Canada, they don’t connect with Canadians like people from other places, so I’ll be working on multiculturalism.
What about with tuition freeze and work permits, what would you like to do there?
I will keep working on it and try my best; I don’t know what I can do right now, because I don’t have particular work, but still working on the tuition freeze. Personally, I don’t want to see the tuition . . . rise again, because for the students who already study here it’s kind of unfair.
Aboriginal Students’ Community
Representative
Why did you decide to run for Aboriginal Student Representative?
Well, I found out that nobody was running for it, and I thought, I know how hard the past president of ASA worked to get this going in UMSU, and I thought it was pretty sad that nobody was going for it.
What kind of background do you have that makes you suited to be the Aboriginal Student Representative?
Well, like I said, I’m involved with ASA, I’m the secretary there, and I know some issues. I’m involved with . . . Aboriginal students, I know some of their issues . . . . I come from an urban [area], I’ve lived here most of my life, it’s hard just to get here. I know some issues about that, issues about feeling like you belong here, because you feel like you’re just a small mouse in this big place. It’s nice when you see other Aboriginal people struggling to succeed, to achieve a degree. There’s a lot of single parents that come here from the Aboriginal community.
What do you think are the biggest issues for Aboriginal people on campus?
It’s all about finances, I think. Finances and being heard. Some services, too. For myself, I have a friend who is in his final year, and he’d never heard about certain things on campus like the ASA, the ASC; services that were available to him. There are Aboriginals that come here that don’t know about services that [can be] provided to them, such as counselling, advisors, [and] representation.
What do you hope to achieve as the Aboriginal Student Representative?
I hope, for myself, to learn, and to represent the Aboriginal community here to the student body . . . just to be involved, see what’s going on at UMSU. Also, I was thinking about . . . spirit week, they have all those cultural displays, and groups doing different things, and one thing everyone’s asking about is “why do Aboriginals just get an hour’s slot?”
It’s always rushed . . . . There’re dancers, there’re hoopers, there’re jiggers and there’re fiddlers . . . which is representative of the traditional way, which is all great, but also, one thing that was brought up in an AC meeting, for example, why can’t there be, also involved in that week, Aboriginal awareness day? Why not have it expand, have poets say something, Aboriginal writers, even Aboriginal rappers . . . there’s the urban element also that should be represented.
Community Representative for
Students with
Disabilities
Candidate
Why did you decide to run for this position for the second time?
First of all, I was worried that it would go unfilled. Being the second year, we don’t want to lose momentum and it’s really important that the position stay on council. We’ve made a lot of good progress so far this year. We haven’t done as much as we’ve been wanting, but being the first year, it was a learning experience just to start off with a new position, so hopefully next year will get some annual, regular sorts of things happening and go from there.
How did your job go this past year?
The first thing we started off this year was we made the UMSU daytimers we hand out at the beginning of the year large print, and that was one of our big projects that we did. As far as everything else we’re slowly getting projects started. Like I said it takes a while to start things up from the very beginning and start something fresh, but hopefully next year we’ll go on and make some more changes and more progress. But I think the most important thing is having the seat on council and having the perspective added as a voting member. It would have been great to have a few more events or a few more projects, but we’re happy to just have the perspective, and if we didn’t have it, it would be unfortunate.
Why do you feel you’re the best person to represent students with disabilities?
I’ve been doing this for a lot of years, I don’t shut up very often, and it’s not hard for me because I’ve had a disability since I was born.
What are the biggest issues for students with disabilities on campus and what would you like to do next year?
One of the biggest issues, I think, is equality, just in general. Getting the same recognition everyone else does, and this year the seats will be voted yes/no, and maybe we’ll be given a little more credibility than just being acclaimed like we did last year.
For next year, I’d really like to see an audit done of the entire campus and projects being started beyond UMSU. UMSU’s just basically the stepping-stone of getting awareness out. When I look around, walking around campus, where there’s, for instance, no wheelchair bathroom in St. John’s, and this affects students with disabilities. You look at our new engineering building, and the door that leads from the tunnels to University Centre, there’s a lot of resistance on the door . . . . Push buttons do cost a lot, but does it really equal the cost of me getting my face smacked by a door? I think because it’ll only be the second year, we’d like to ask for mountains and we’d like to get them, but unfortunately things take time.
