Student Council Elections

From Tuesday 30 June to Thursday 2 July, math students will be voting in a by-election for two seats on Student Council.

There are four candidates running for these seats, and we requested a short statement from each of them asking why they deserve your vote and why you should care about the Federation of Students. Two of them didn't reply before the publication deadline, and so we will not speak on their behalf. The other two, Ajnu Jacob and Barbara MacDonald, forwarded these statements for your reading pleasure.

Voting will take place online next week (Tuesday to Thursday) at http://vote.feds.ca.

InsideR

Ajnu Jacob

I - Ajnu Jacob - already accomplish the basic duties of a FedS student councillor by representing my constituency as an undergraduate student senator and by being an integral and informed part of student politics. Having said that, by nominating myself as a FedS Math student councillor, I essentially intend on expanding my horizon by making a difference in the Federation of Students. And how do I plan on doing this? The Election Committee has failed to fulfill its fundamental duties; for instance, for this year's summer election the campaign period had to be extended due to poor administrative practices, where a nomination form from one of the candidates was misplaced and had to be re-submitted by the candidate at a date past the nomination period. I want to help FedS administer better by being on this comittee for Winter 2010 (provided I am not running for any of the positions during the said period). Another aspect that I want to contribute towards is the Student Life Endowment Fund by being financially sound since I have managed a Society's expenditure for two academic terms and by being involved with the Math Endowment Fund since Winter 2008, I essentially am qualified to contribute to such a representation as SLEF and EOI - and I hope to not oversee grievous errors that impacts the financial distribution of the student life. Other areas of FedS that I wish to contribute towards are the Budget Committee for reasons that have already been established. All in all, I am endorsing myself as the best candidate that you as a math student could vote for! And I refuse to believe that apathy exists among UW students - it is the cause that essentially matters - make FedS your cause.

Ajnu Jacob

Barbara MacDonald

I am a 4th-year CS student who has done much in my past 4 years at UW and likes being involved. I have been involved in extra-curriculars for many years and have a lot of knowledge about student life on campus. Most notably, I am particularly involved in Orientation since I have been a Math leader, Math FOC, and am currently the Orientation Admin Co-ord (FOCAC). I enjoy bettering the lives of our incoming students and ensuring their transition to UW is as seamless as possible. I also participated in the first term of VeloCity and have volunteered many weekends for campus days!

In 2008, I was a Computer Science Representative on MathSoc and made decisions on behalf of all CS students. I feel like I am a typical Mathie - I program, play video games, have fallen asleep in the Comfy, spent many hours slaving away in labs, cringe at daylight when I leave the MC and, most importantly, regularly read mathNEWS. In the upcoming terms, I will be available to talk to Math students and listen to their advice and concerns. When I make decisions, I think about how Math students will be impacted first.

The Federation of Students makes many decisions on behalf of UW students and these decisions directly impact Math students. Therefore, Math students should care about Feds and the decisions they make. Math students can learn more by reading Imprint and mathNEWS and staying informed. Students can also contact their respective Councillors and the Feds Exec if they want to voice their input.

Barbara MacDonald