Democracy in Phys. Ed.

New election format makes its debut for faculty

Andrew Sain Staff

A new executive for the Student Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation Studies (SAHPER) was chosen last week, in what election organizers called the first democratic election in the 40-year history of the council.

Voting took place on March 22-23. According to Andrew Weir and Leslie Camaso, the SAHPER elections committee, the decision was made to overhaul the election process in order to make the organization more professional and democratic, and to make the council more effective for students.

“Council right now is a bit of a clique, and though it is responsible for organizing socials and things like that, it doesn’t seem like it does a very good job of it,” said Camaso. Weir provided unofficial election results, saying that voter turnout was approximately 54 per cent.

The new executive consists of Jeff Mitchell (president), Lindsay Woodrow (vice-president, kinesiology), Lana Hochman (vice-president, athletic therapy), Nic Scrabek (vice-president, physical education), Amanda Penner (vice-president, recreation management and community development), Nick Kojima (secretary), as well as Janelle Boyd, Giulia DeLeo and Adam Hildebrandt as committee chairs for professional development, professional relations, and recreation and leisure, respectively.

The new election format is aimed to incorporate all of the available programs in the faculty through vice-presidential positions, hence the large number of elected seats. The inclusion of an all-candidates forum before the election is another step taken to open up the council and election process. A second part to the election will be held in September to elect non-executive positions.

The forum was held on March 15, and the goal was to provide students with an opportunity to hear candidates’ platforms and ask questions.

“It used to be that you would look on a ballot, but you wouldn’t know who you were voting for,” said Weir.

Questions for the candidates, some prepared by the elections committee and some written by students, ranged in their scope from how the presidential candidates would reduce the clique image of the council, to which animal each candidate most identifies with. Pizza and pop were provided to the small but interested crowd.

Jeff Mitchell, president-elect, said that professional development is going to be one focus for him.

“Professional development is huge. We’ve taken the first few steps this year, things like getting more professional speakers in, the idea of brown-bag lunches where professors within our own faculty — all the streams — come in and talk . . . and you can see what’s happening within your own school. We have some amazing professors and some amazing opportunities for research in this area alone,” he said.

Mitchell also emphasized hosting more sporting events in the faculty, as well as increasing community initiatives and volunteer programs and bringing “tradition” back to the faculty.

“Today . . . is a special day because it marks not only 40 years of student representation, but also a new beginning for the faculty of physical education and recreation studies,” said Weir.