Faculty Student Council Elections Underway
Students go to the polls to choose students’s councils
Morgan Modjeski, staff
Faculties across the University of Manitoba campus have recently or are currently undergoing elections for student council, student association president and vice-president, and senior stick and vice-stick.
Student council elections are held during March and early April and are a democratic process involving a campaign week and specific voting dates. Voter turnout can range widely based on the size of the faculty and the level of student participation.
The Faculty of Agriculture held its student organization elections on March 10 and March 18, according to Pamela Desrochers, senior stick of the Faculty of Agriculture Students’ Organization. Patricia Johnson will replace Desrochers, and Sarah Laudin will replace Jeffrey Cook, the current vice-stick. Their terms will be effective on April 2.
Running for the 2008-09 senior stick position for the Human Ecology Students’ Association is the current Faculty of Agriculture events co-ordinator, Aaron Story. The current president is Anita Mundt. Running for the vice-president position, currently held by Krista Lyon, is Josh Lockhart, a second-year representative. The students go to the polls on March 25 and 26.
Brandy McKay is running uncontested for the presidential position in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreational Management Student Association. Ryan Giesbrecht is running uncontested for vice-president (kinesiology), Carl Campbell is running for the vice- president (physical education), Lisa Flanders is running uncontested for the vice- president (athletic therapy), and Lindsey Kruschel is running for the vice-president (recreational management). According to Kelsey Nowosad, current vice-president (athletic therapy), around 100 students are expected to vote.
Justin Penner is running for the position of Science Students’ Association president a position currently held by Jason Athayde. Garret Klos is running to replace current vice-president Dale Dhaliwal.
Students in the Faculty of Music went to the polls on March 24 and 25 to vote to replace the current senior stick Robert Chrol and current vice-stick Vanessa Unrau. Stephanie Gogal was running for the senior stick position, and Alena Arnason was running for the vice-stick position. On the first day of voting, the turn out was 64 per cent, according to Unrau.
When asked why she wanted to be vice-stick, Anarson said, “I love the school and I want to make a difference.”
Students at the Asper School of Business held their elections in early January and February. But currently they are holding a byelection for a Senator and a University of Manitoba Students’ Union representative.
The University of Manitoba Engineering Students’ Society held their elections on March 14 and 15. The current senior stick, Phillip Dompierre, will be replaced by Kathryn Hearson.
According to society secretary Ryan Gryba, there has been a change in the number of vice-presidents from two to five for the 2008-09 year. The vice-stick positions were filled by Megan Lusty, David Barchyn, Brady Gmiterek, Ryan Gryba and Steven Bohrn.
The Faculty of Law Students’ Association (FLSA) has their elections set for March 27 and 28, and there are currently two people vying for the presidential spot. According to Dani Boyer, marketing and communications director of the FLSA, Randall Boessenkool and Jon Vince are both running for the presidential position, and Brendan Burns is running uncontested for the vice-president position to replace Uliana Gic.
According to Amanda Bell, president of the University 1 Student Council, nominations were due on March 24. The results were not known at press time. Students vote on April 1 and 2.
The Arts Student Body Council has not announced when its elections will be held, but the deadline for nominations was March 21and candidate applications are being reviewed. Senior stick Brynn Morrison Lount and vice-stick Sanya Anwar’s terms at the Arts’ student council are over this year.
The Social Work Students’ Association is planning to hold its elections on March 26 and 27, as the terms for current senior stick Roni Dhallwai and the current vice-stick Melissa McIntosh are set to expire. Nominations were due on March 17.
On March 7, the Faculty of Nursing held its students’ association elections. The senior- stick position will be filled by Nicole Ritchet, who was the vice-stick for the 2006-07 year, and new vice-stick will be Brittney Weber.
The Pharmacy Students’ Association held its elections over the month of March. The vice-stick elections were held March 6 and 7, while the senior stick elections were held March 13 and 14. The 2007-08 vice-stick Barret Probyshyn became the senior stick for the 2008-09. Both Advit Shah and Justin Ling ran for vice-stick. Ling won the position.
Students’ associations in the Faculty of Education, Faculty of Dentistry and Faculty of Medicine could not be reached at press time.
