Cheryl’s votes

While I’m waiting at home for my individualized voter id and login to be sent, I figured I would post up who I’ll be voting for.  See below for how my ballot will look.

All in all I haven’t been super impressed with any campaigns. What happened to the good ole days of intense campaigning?! (See Tim vs. Iggy) Most of the candidates themselves do not even seem that excited about the elections. Apathy at its finest.

And because I like to read posts with pictures, here’s one:

And my choices:

President:

1. Jeremy McElroy (he’s got the experience and professionalism that the AMS President definitely needs – Jeremy will be a good balance between the past two extremes of AMS Presidents)

2. 3. undecided yet which order I will rank the remaining candidates in

VP Academic and University Affairs:

1. Justin Yang (he has the most relevant experience and is one of the most hardworking and dedicated student leaders I know!)

2. Jennifer Wang 3. Matt Parson

VP External:

1. Mitch Wright (while Mitch and Katherine’s platforms are very similar, Mitch has more direct experience as the current AVP External; also, I think it would be good for the VP External to not have political aspirations as well as to be as non-partisan as possible)

2. Katherine Tyson 3. Rory Breasail

VP Admin:

1. Mike Silley

2. Kath¥. 3. Gordon Katic

VP Finance: (I actually forgot this race and almost hit post…a true testament to how boring of a race it has been)

Undecided. Both candidates are similar (even in appearance!). Elin has the knowhow but I have a lot of respect for Arash as a leader.

BoG:

Sean Heisler and Sumedha Sharma

Senate:

Justin Yang, Spenser Rasmussen (undecided on rest)

Don’t forget to vote at http://www.ams.ubc.ca/elections/ Happy voting

AUS Ramblings

Unfortunately midterms prevailed last week and I never had time to write more about the latest AUS dramz…and honestly by this point I am pretty much over it.

The one thing I will point out that AUS Council should learn from its last meeting is to enforce an actually legitimate proxy consent system (or, you know, actually have a proxy system…instead of allowing randoms to show up and proxy for any missing councillors, sans consent)

We wouldn’t want voters to look like this:

But nonetheless, what’s done is done.

I do not know many of the new councillors, but the general trend I’ve seen over my time around the AUS is rapidly declining commitment to the society.

I’m not advocating a council where these types of interventions are necessary:

(though it is almost Arts Purple!)

However, it seems that each year there is less and less commitment leaving those willing to attempt to pull everyone’s weight and inevitably fail. New people come into the society with plans to bring back the glory days of the AUS but to be frank I do not see this happening. I’d love to be proven wrong, and perhaps I’m just cynical, but I really can’t see the AUS making any big changes in the near future.

I don’t expect people to devote their all to the society, but when council can’t even pull off successful simple events, councillors blow off events, clubs are left stranded and treated as second class citizens, Arts Week drives one to avert their eyes and drink, and simple tasks can’t even be performed I don’t really know what to say.

Here’s to hoping next year will be a turnaround year. If not, I’m graduating and won’t have to see anymore.

AUS (never-ending) Drama.

If you haven’t heard, today AUS Council voted Ryan Trasolini as its interim president (until a president will be elected in the fall by-elections).

This decision left most councillors, hacks and anyone who heard with the following reaction:

Post to follow with thoughts by myself (and perhaps Michelle’s!) Haackery may also be involved.

Stay tuned!

And on to Student Court we go…

My sources tell me Ryan is currently writing a formal complaint to Student Court.

Warning: I do not understand how Student Court works (I’ve heard they do not have the power to actually do or enforce much, but I recall some debate about the AMS changing this? Really not sure…) Also it seems most extreme hacks do not understand Student Court either (perhaps this will be a learning experience for us all)

The grounds for the complaint are allegedly the contested ballot I reported on earlier. Apparently Ryan is going to ask for the ballot to be discounted (thus giving him the AUS presidency).

My thoughts on this:

- I have no idea the likelihood of this getting through Student Court (and if there can be any rulings imposed)

- This could make transition AWKWARD.

- In the (in my view unlikely) event Ryan does become AUS President through this process…(how) will council accept him? And by accept I don’t mean whether council will accept the results so much as I mean respect him as a leader after instigating this process.

This seems to me that it will create a bigger mess for the AUS just after many councillors and hacks were celebrating change in the air and a fresh set of eyes.

We’ll see how it pans out…for now I need to get back to work. Will post more as I learn more.

Love and kisses,

C

AUS Elections: Timeline of Today’s Drama and Results

Thanks to Omid for posting earlier when I was out.

Here’s the timeline of events (to my knowledge) for today:

- Ryan files a complaint (his reasons for doing so posted earlier today)

- recount of AUS Elections ballots, which came out to the same results as before

- Ryan accuses one ballot of being unclearly marked whether or not it was for him or for Brian

- AMS Elections Committee checks the ballots, determines the ballot was in fact for Brian

- Brian remains AUS President-elect

I may be wrong on some of this, correct me in the comments if that’s true, but this is the information I received.

Also, Ryan has the right to take this to Student Court.  I’m not sure on what grounds he would do so…it clearly states in AUS code that in the case of a tie the EA makes a deciding vote (point of interest: under SUS code, if there is a tie the EA makes the decision by flipping a coin).

C’est tout pour maintenant. I still am composing a post on the flaws of the AUS and my propositions for change. Perhaps it shall be entitled the Manifesto of Curls (there actually is a Naylor Manifesto).

Love and kisses,

C

PS, I never actually posted results. Here they are (unfortunately I do not have vote totals):

President: Brian Platt

VPI: Elysia Pyne

VPX: Carolee Changfoot

VP Admin: Laura Manyari

VP Academic: Pelican Mann

VP Finance: Obi-Wan Kenobi

General Officers: Alison Chan and Ivan Staeheli

AMS Reps: Admiral Ackbar, Rory Breasil, Carolee Changfoot, Kyle Warwick, Michael Haack

Senator: Kristian Arciaga

AUS Elections…not over yet?

This just came into my inbox…I have no time to analyze it now…but speculate away!

To whom it may concern:

I would like to formally announce my complaint against the results of the 2010 Arts Undergraduate Society Presidential elections.  I believe that the votes from the online portion of the ballots were not accurately reported and as a result lead to a miscalculation in the combined paper and online total which may have lead to a different candidate being chosen.  I have obtained a copy of the online voting results directly from the UBC registrar and an eight-vote margin exists between Brian Platt, the winning candidate and myself. In the approved document from the Academic Governance Officer Christopher Eaton, it states that I received 170 votes while Brian Platt received 178 votes, reiterating the 8 vote margin.  In my discussions with elections scrutineers after the results had been released, Iggy Rodruigez and Nathan Tippe both told me a 10 vote margin existed between myself and Brian Platt when they counted the paper ballots, which they re-counted several times. According to their results Brian had 24 votes and I had 34 votes from the paper ballots.  The totals therefore indicate that I had 204 votes whereas Brian had only 202 which leads to a potential discrepancy in the existing elections count. It is my belief that there has been a misreporting in the online voting portion of the AUS election votes which has lead to the incorrect candidate winning the election. I would to see this matter thoroughly investigated potentially with a third party recounting the ballots to ensure legitimacy. I have every faith that the elections administration will ensure that proper candidate is rightfully elected.

Regards,

Ryan Trasolini

Upcoming Elections Events!

No liveblogging tonight (I accidentally typed that as “loveblogging” the first time…Freudian slip? <3)…upcoming elections events which I am psyched for!

Tonight: Dance-mocracy with Said the Whale (who I’ve heard are AMAZING live from my “brother”)

Tomorrow: post-Dance-mocracy pancake breakfast! And St. Patrick’s Day party at the Museum of Anthropology! Tomorrow is also Imagine Your Arts Major in the SUB Ballroom from 11-2!

Details: http://sites.google.com/site/ubcvotes/events

I will try to write a lengthier analysis of the AUS races tomorrow, perhaps with some endorsements!

Love and kisses (and I hope to see you at the events),

C

Liveblogging the UBC Votes Poetry Slam\

10:31 – And I’m heading home soon. Have a good night everyone!

10:21 – We’re singing Happy Birthday to Ekat!

10:00 – “Drink, bitch.” – Isabel. My spelling sucks.

9:52 – Naylor to candidates: “I’m giving you money, get out there and campaign!” He has a more Calgarian accent right now.

9:49 – Chants: “Brian, Brian!”  Isabel is speaking to me in Spanish…I am confused. Naylor is up! “Most likely in a poem about how democracy sucks” – Alex. Naylor: “I am tired of a democracy…I am just fucking spent”

9:48 – Mitch and Aaron are doing bible quotes to the tune of Mary’s ukelele. Oh dear…

9:46 – She’s singing some song I do not know. But props to her for getting up there! Aaron Palm is next!!

9:44 – “I’m getting drunk” – Alex. Mary is going to perform on ukelele.

9:41 – This has been a fun evening! I am also super excited for SAID THE WHALE tomorrow night…YAY!

9:34 – There is a conversation about penises. I am missing most of it (which is sad). Isabel and I just voted!

9:18 – New arrivals: our resident hobo (Carolee), Mike and Ryan.

9:10 – There is serious slammage going on, to quote Jonathan.

9:04 – Elysia (VPI candidate) is here. As is UBC Slam Poetry and my lover Isabel. Also, apologies for poor typing which may arise.

8:59 – Mary Leong (VPX candidate) has now arrived.

8:57 – ACTUAL poetry slamming starting. I missed the first bit being on the phone…I’m not sure what’s going on.

8:37 – Naylor has just informed me that the RBT Policy is once you’re on “you’re on for life”

8:27 – Taylor and I are officially twins. We even have the same laptop. <3

8:22 – Jonathan: there’s a lack of slammage. Jonathan is offering free tickets to the next person who arrives and uses the word “slammage”

8:17 – I’m laughing at Taylor’s tweets quoting Matt

8:12 – Brian and Jonathan are talking Nazi and Soviet politics. I’m intrigued!

8:02 – Apparently this blog had about 3600 hits yesterday…(Taylor just showed me how to check the blog stats). It’s crazy.

7:54 – There are more people here now. I do not see any more candidates though.

7:45 – It’s sort of hilarious that we still have the days of the week posted in MASS…this is I suppose what remains of our MASS Calendar of olden days. There’s nothing posted below them…

7:43 – Naylor has a shirt with a unicorn on it…he has a new allegiance to AMS Confidential?! I’m sad.

7:39 – Naylor/Taylor are talking about “aging out.” I have never heard that terminology before…does that make me of a different generation than them?

7:31 – Also, today’s AUS council meeting was chaotic to say the least…here’s a brief review of what happened: http://bit.ly/aSZtG5

7:29 – Naylor: “I’m still king of the blogs!”

7:28 -I’m eavesdropping. Brian and Rory are talking philosophy…they have very similar majors (History/Phil double major/major and minor).

7:26 – shameless plug: my “brother” is running for SFSS Treasurer over at SFU: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=377458419458&ref=ts

7:22 – AMS Confidential is on their way (according to Twitter). I am pleased.

7:17 – There are not many people here yet. Candidates present: Brian, Rory, Kristian and Lisa. Naylor is laughing that I’m liveblogging this…he’s also incessantly asking what’s going on at the AMS meeting.

7:12 – I’m at the UBC Votes Poetry Slam in MASS. Low turnout so far, which I’m attributing to the fact that there is currently an emergency AMS council meeting discussing voter fraud (exciting!) See the UBC Spectator or Ubyssey for liveblogs of the meeting.

Thoughts on the AUS Presidential race and the AUS Referndum

According to the AUS elections Twitter (@auselections), Ingrid Nilson has just dropped out of the race for Arts AMS Representative, leaving us with six candidates running for five seats (and one of those candidates is a joke candidate).

The lack of competitive races in this election is very disappointing to me. Not only is there a lack of competitive races, but many of the candidates don’t seem to be taking their campaigns very seriously (that is, if they’re campaigning at all). To me, not attending the debates (or at the very least replying with availability or regrets) does not bode very well for the next year of the AUS as it shows a lack of commitment and reliability. Huge thanks to all the candidates who did come out (or had legitimate reasons for their absence).

What boggles me the most is that only ONE presidential candidate, Brian Platt, attended the debates. I was already intending to support Brian in the presidential race prior to the debates, but my support for him increased exponentially when I heard his platform and ideas in more detail and witnessed his professional mannerism. I fully endorse Brian and urge all Arts students to vote for him and encourage their friends to do the same. It will be hard for Brian to win as he is not currently an AUS insider (and council is very insular) but I firmly believe that he is the best candidate for president. The AUS needs some new blood and a fresh perspective to be able to achieve the change that all candidates are campaigning on.

On a different note, I’d also like to write a bit about the fee increase referendum that came out of nowhere (yes, it seems like it came out of nowhere to me too even though I am a current AUS exec).

History/Timeline:
- Technically the AUS ran a student fee increase referendum last year as well (it was not advertised and we were nowhere even close to quorum anyways and thus most have forgotten/never knew about it)
- The money was to be used to create a new student space and/or expand upon our current space. This idea has been supported by the Dean of Arts and past AUS councils.
- This year’s AUS exec met with the AMS Designer (i.e. the person who would be designing a new student space or an expanded student space) within a month of our taking on our positions and created a committee to look into the details of a new or expanded space. I chaired this committee in the summer (it was called the AUSSSE committee, the Arts Undergraduate Society Student Space Expansion committee) and our president took over chairing it in the fall.
- During the summer we, with the AMS Designer, looked into a couple options for expanding/renovating the AUS offices and the MASS space.
- In the fall, I no longer sat on the committee  and thus do not know exactly what they did work on or how often (if at all) they met. I do know that a sub-committee to deal with promotions surrounding a referendum was supposedly created (again, I never heard of it actually meeting, but it might have met a few times).
- I had barely heard running a fee increase referendum mentioned again until a few weeks before the election when the AUS Executive had a couple email threads about it.
- In the beginning of March another email thread was sent out within the execs to vote on whether or not we wanted to put the referendum on the ballot. Three of us (myself included) voted NOT to have it on the ballot for various reasons which I will not outline here (if you want more details feel free to email me about it at cherylkornder [at] gmail [dot] com). One exec voted in favour, one did not respond to the thread and our president (who in code is only supposed to vote on the Executive Committee in the event of a tie) strongly supported the idea and decided to put it on the ballot despite the other execs concerns (and majority vote in favour of it NOT being on the ballot).
- AUS Council had not heard anything about the referendum since the creation of the AUSSSE committee until our president announced last Monday that it would be on the ballot.

That’s the timeline to the best of my memory (it’s possible there are other happenings that I was unaware of).

All that said, I cannot support this referendum as I think the AUS has not provided much, if anything, tangible to the students who paid us their $13 student fees this year (and thus I cannot see why these students should vote to give the AUS money in increasing increments up to $28).

I do agree that the AUS should expand its space and create club offices, more study space, etc. but this is not the appropriate time or process for a referendum. (As a note of history, when the AUS created its original MASS space, about 8 months of promotion and campaigning were done to pass the fee and had the support of the AUS council of the day).

I think the AUS needs to get itself into shape before it attempts a referendum, and electing Brian Platt as AUS President would be a great first step to do so.

That’s all from me for now. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to email or leave a comment

Love and kisses,

C

AUS Elections Debates now Posted

AUS Elections debates are now posted! You can find them here: http://ubcvotes.ca/debates (and compare them with my liveblog from yesterday if you so choose!)

I will post more later (likely a more detailed examination of some of the contested positions…perhaps the presidential race).

Until later!

Love and kisses,

C