punditry.ca — uncovering DSU elections

“Student politics are the most vicious kind of politics that exist, because the stakes are so low.”

I certainly think Henry Kissinger knew what he was talking about when he said that student politics are vicious. They are not for the weak hearted or the sensitive. You need to have a nice, thick skin if you plan on entering the world of student government. Every move you make, word you say and look you give will, from appointment on, be criticized. The overeager constitution eaters will rip you to pieces if you forget your Bylaws and back in the days of John Packman, you couldn’t finish a sip of your coffee before the flash went off six times. Are you from Studley? Then Sexton councillors already hate you because you don’t “get” them. I don’t envy those of you about to enter office; however, I commend your passion and commitment.

Regarding those about to enter office: I did made early predictions for the victors, and I’ll stand by them (perhaps moderately reluctantly), but I know firsthand there are a lot of factors even the most inside lounge lizard living under Zimmerman’s desk could not accurately account for.

Two years ago, while actively encouraging the electoral process, I had a group of gentleman at the voting station say “he has a nice ‘white’ name, let’s vote for him.” That ‘white name’ happened to be Jonathan Hughes who later that week went on to win the third Undergraduate Senate seat by 3 votes. In my first year, the executives of the union all had last names which placed them at the top of alphabetical orders – Edelstein, Dugay, Bond, and Berthier. This was before randomly assigned positions on the ballot. Coincidence? We’ll never know. I’ve heard girls vote for hot boys, boys vote for cute girls, students remembering candidates from a first year class and even recognizing “that guy from the Info Desk”.

Don’t get me wrong. I am, by no stretch, accusing students of basing their vote on racism, alphabetical order or their sexual preferences. In addition, I’m not discrediting those students who take the time to inform themselves, vote with a conscious and invest themselves in the outcome. I am only illuminating the reality that is the unpredictable nature of student politics.

Perhaps we will see Kurin rise above the sea of testosterone, never knowing whether or not her gender played a large role. Bailey’s dark, hipster frames could give him the upper hand. Maybe a last name like Wedge will ‘wedge’ out the competition and being named Price could come at a ‘price’. Again, we’ll never know.

What I do know is it’s all coming to an end. Here’s my overcritical, bias, and unwarrantedly blunt summary of the election period:

Debogorski remains the petulant child throwing a tantrum and tugging on the parental pant-leg that is the DSU. Despite his dreamy demeanour, I fear Bailey is limited beyond sunshine and cuddles. King Whitfield of Gossip Kingdom experienced a rumour mutiny and learned what it feels like to be on the other end of the whispers.  Leforte entered the election with a sense of entitlement and mild arrogance and exits exactly how he entered. Kurin, however, does not exit in the same fashion she entered. Much like the month of March, Kurin entered like a lamb and leaves as a lion. A lion with bloody claws and sharp teeth. Price claims to have shaken the hands of upwards to 1200 students and saved the lives of upwards to 6 kittens stuck in trees. Raising political funds may be his strong suit, but humility is not. Over all, this wasn’t an overly exciting election and even became borderline annoying.

My advice for the candidates, and those candidates of the future, is to focus on you. Forgo the nasty gossip, direct personal attacks, planted interruptions and rumour mill churning. Be confident enough in your ideas, your platform and your ability to fill the position so that you don’t feel the need to belittle your opposition. Leave that to us.

See you at the AGM, bitches.

xoxo,
gossip girl

Add to:

Sarah Amyotte Uncategorized

I’m bored.  I’ve already voted, and now there’s really not much going on other than waiting.  I want to see the action of results day, and I don’t have the patience to actually do schoolwork while I wait.  The thing is, given that you’re here, I know I’m not alone.  So let’s play a game.

For those of you who have heard of Six Word Stories, you’ll know this idea isn’t a new one.  Come up with the best statement of exactly six words that you can to sum up a part of the election. It can be the election as a whole, a description of one of the candidates, a story about something that happened… anything goes.

For example: Nothing can stop the Debogorski machine.

Don’t be shy to post multiple ideas (though if you are shy, just change your username, God knows enough people are doing it already).  The best six word story, to quote Peter Stoffer, will win “an allegedly fabulous prize”.

I know you guys are creative.  Let’s see what you’ve got.

Add to:

Eric Snow Uncategorized

1. Every candidate had a website outside of Facebook, and for the most part these were good websites.

2. I didn’t hear a single Kings student bitch about not getting to vote in the DSU Elections.

3. The Elections Committee eased a decade-old restriction on online campaigning: websites can remain up during polling.  [Candidates: any idea if new people visited this week?]

4. Eric Snow wasn’t running in this election.  (He’s run in almost as many elections as Debogorski!  Speaking of…)

5. Debogorski.  After 3 years I thought I’d seen it all, but I was very impressed with his campaign this year.

6. Calibre of candidates in general.  I might speak more on this later, but the quality and variety of candidates pleased me greatly.  Judging (as always) purely from online content including punditry.ca posts, the Union will be well-served by almost any combination of candidates.  I hope, as I always do, that those who don’t end up with an executive seat stick around in some capacity.

7. NSPIRG didn’t come up at all.  It doesn’t usually, actually, but after its dominance last year I thought we’d never again hold an election without hearing “enn-ess-purg” 100 times a day.

8. Three candidates from Sexton?!? Happy surprise!

9. There are people who don’t like Henry Whitfield.  Seriously, I’ve never met him but I have heard about him, and I didn’t imagine anyone would be harboring the level of resentment I’ve seen in our comments section.

10. In a platform plank a supporter complained we were neglecting and suggested we look at : 5 spelling mistakes, in 1 sentence, including the same word spelled two different ways, both incorrect.  Awesome.  I won’t name names, but man was that ever kurInkredible.  (No?  kaylAmazing?  fan-kurin-tastic?)

Add to:

Mike Smit Uncategorized

What are you doing here?  You should be here, voting! If you are visiting this page even once to see this post, you should have already voted by now.

It’s pretty straight-forward: all you need is your banner number and your date of birth.  Executive positions are ranked ballot, unopposed races are yes/no, and Senate gives you up to three votes out of the four candidates.

Do it!  Democracy!  You know you want it!  For the Union!

Add to:

Eric Snow Uncategorized

In celebration of the end of campaigning, I have one last video to share with you.  

The Search for the Next Greg Debogorski: Kris Osmond’s Audition Tape

Many thanks to Kris Osmond and Greg Debogorski. All of the segments were filmed in one take, so I think these gentlemen deserve nominations from the academy.

Happy voting!

Add to:

John Hillman Uncategorized

So here it comes. The moment of truth.

Like some cyclopean shadow, I’ve been watching the candidates from the darkest corners of campus all week long, my camera attuned to their every move. I’ve been to every debate. I polished off all of the excess sausages at the Candidate Breakfast. I slipped in Henry Whitfield’s bedroom window and stroked his hair while he slept.

Okay, perhaps you didn’t need to know that last part.

Point being, I’ve witnessed a lot. I’ve formed some very strong opinions. I don’t have the time to get a tenth of them out before the voting period opens though, so I’ll stick with the one that most of you will probably find the most interesting.

 Last year I publically endorsed noted know-it-all and policy wonk Eric Snow for President.

That said, it’s probably pretty obvious that tomorrow I’ll be heading online, opening the DSU Elections website…

And voting for Greg Debogorski.

I will repeat that again.

I, John Hillman, pundit of minor note, am voting for Greg Debogorski tomorrow—and I encourage you to join me.

I realize that Snow has already implored you to vote anyone but Debogorski. We can all agree that “ABD” makes for a terrible rallying call though, so I urge you to at least hear me out. Pardon the length–I feel I need to make sure it is absolutely clear that I’m not making this endorsement lightly.

Eric suggests that everyone who is considering voting for Debogorski should be voting for Bailey. I beg to differ.

Greg may be a cantankerous SOB who doesn’t give a crap about whether people like him,  but…well…he’s a cantankerous SOB who doesn’t give a crap about whether people like him. The DSU has a way of beating the individuality and ideals out of incoming candidates, and forcing them to conform to the status quo. On those rare occasions where likeable outsiders like Bailey get in, how many idealistic election promises end up getting abandoned, or watered down beyond recognition? Perhaps no one can overcome the problems inherent to the institution, but if anyone will go down swinging in defense of his ideals, it’s Greg Debogorski. He might end up impeached, but he’d make one hell of an effort to shake up the status quo along the way.

Now, I know that many of you are just peachy with the status quo. It’s hard to see the problem when you are as deep inside the belly of the beast as most of the pundits and fans of punditry.ca.  Talk to some students you’ve never met though, ones who aren’t afraid to hurt your feelings because they don’t know how much work you have put into the union. Greg does it all the time.

There is a HUGE perception out there that the DSU is run by a small cadre of insiders who are more concerned with playing political games than looking out for the average student. This is fuelled in large part by the fact that most students have never (knowingly) had a conversation with a councilor. How can council effectively represent the will of the majority of the students if they have no reliable way of gauging their constituents’ opinions?

I’ve heard from a friend before that it’s not a councilor’s job to represent their constituents’ opinions, but rather to make the decision that they personally feel is in the best interests of their constituents. That may be the best you can do within the confines of a terrible system that has you representing upwards of several thousand students (only a tiny fraction of whom likely voted for you), but it is a pretty condescending attitude when you think about it. Whatever excuses we like to toss around about students not voting because they are happy with things, most apathy stems from the fact that people feel disconnected from the decision making process in their union, and God help me, I think Greg has the best ideas about how to fix this problem.

From my reading of his platform and listening to him in the debates, Greg proposes that we bring in an online system that allows the union to hold monthly referenda, and conduct monthly surveys.  Direct voting on controversial issues, and a constantly updated stream of direct feedback from a large sampling of the student population. Empowering students and getting priceless input about their priorities—why is this such a stupid idea again?

Greg even proposes a way to draw skeptical students into this system, by rewarding voter participation with material benefits. In the debate, Bailey argued that there are plenty of students who would be willing to help move Dal forward sans-reward, and I agree to a point, but there is also a massive segment of the population that has written off the DSU altogether. You’ll never reach them without breaking through that invisible wall of skepticism, and the best way to do that is to offer them a tangible reward for voting. I think that once these newcomers realize they have a say in the decision-making, and are sucked in to the drama like those of us already here, they will be far more likely to extend their interest in the union to areas where there are no bribes.

As for the constant stream of criticism directed toward Greg’s lack of technical knowledge and perceived personality flaws, as far as I can tell, he is a smart guy with a degree in management. He may not have the detailed knowledge of the inner workings of the DSU, but I’m sure he can figure things out pretty quickly. I’ve talked with him several times at the events this week, and he’s also a surprisingly nice guy when you get to know him – a little blunt, but he doesn’t seem to hold any personal grudges against people who have belittled him for years, which is more than I would be able to say if I were in his shoes. He has a great sense of humour about himself, and its 100% genuine. As he says in his video, he’s rough around the edges, but he’s real, and I like that in a politician.

Do I think Greg can win? He’s a long shot, granted, but I’ll give him better odds than some of the others have. He had engaging performances in the debates—and he actually showed up for all three. He speaks to issues that average students care deeply about. He has a strong video and bio. He isn’t actively scowling in his picture this year. He managed to win me over at any rate, so who knows what effect he’s had on others. I guess his odds depend on if average students actually come out and vote—a crazy thought, but who knows, right?

To paraphrase his video yet again, I’m going to take a chance on Greg. Here’s hoping he fights like hell for me.

For the union!

Add to:

John Hillman Uncategorized

I have been asked to post an endorsement on behalf of the Engineering Society on Sexton. I would like to precurser this with a note that this is not my personal endorsement as I felt as the Sexton Campus Director it would be inappropriate for me to endorse one presidential candidate over another. In 13 years since TUNS amalgamated with Dalhousie we have not to my knowledge had a presidential candidate from Sexton(or Daltech). This year we have 2 and that is a testament to the ability of students to bridge the gap that was originally there.

Without further adieu….

Dear Voters,

The Dalhousie Sexton Engineering Undergraduate Society would like to support and endorse the following Candidates:

Chris Saulnier for President – Chris is an engineering Student who has been long involved with the Engineering community serving as DSEUS Chair for the past 3 years.

Rob Leforte for Vice-President Education - Rob has been a great support to Sexton campus in his current term of VP Education and the DSEUS would like to acknowledge his contributions and commitment to Sexton campus.

Ben Wedge for Senete – Ben is an Engineering student who is highly involved in DUES and a Sextant Editor.

The DSEUS would like to congratulate all candidates on a great campaign and wish you the best in the year to come.

Sincerely,
Krista Ash

VP External – Dalhousie Sexton Engineering Undergraduate Society

Add to:

Zhindra Gillis Uncategorized