Students eagerly gathered at the Hive at Concordia’s Loyola campus on Nov. 20 to watch the different slates running for the CSU presidency present their views a debate.
The debate began with Chris Schulz, presidential candidate for the Representative Union, and he emphasized how he is running to create change at the CSU. Opening a student centre and a CSU office at the Loyola campus are a few of the platform points raised by Schulz. He added that in the past months, the CSU has done a number of things that have not represented the majority of Concordia students, listing the student handbook as a primary example.
Presidential candidate Tom Keefer of The Left Opposition continued the debate by reinforcing his dissatisfaction with the university administration. “They’re trying to increase fees for students. They get massive salaries, and the rector has an entertainment allowance of $1,800 per month. All of this is coming out of our student fees,” said Keefer.
“This whole election campaign is very embarrassing for the university administration,” continued Keefer, “because they thought that they could expel and ban me from campus and that I wasn’t going to be able to say anything more about them.” Keefer added that the administration has been involved with trying to tamper with student politics.
Luis Diaz, presidential candidate for the New Organized Way slate, acknowledged how for the longest time, the CSU has had a political agenda that alienates many students. “It is very hard to properly represent 22,000 students with different beliefs, religions, races and cultural backgrounds,” said Diaz. “This is why, if we were to be elected, we would not have a political agenda.” Diaz added that the main goal of New Organized Way is to make students aware of what’s going on at Concordia, and to improve the university’s image.
An Umbrella Party’s presidential candidate, Zev Tiefenbach, stated that their major platform is to have an advocacy service that would help students deal with various problems such as landlord disputes. Tiefenbach also underlined that faculty associations are very important. “A student union should never undermine the work that faculty associations undertake.
Discussions of the candidates’ platforms were followed by numerous questions from the audience. Concerns among students included the Sodexho Marriott contract with Concordia, club funding and changes they would like to see being made at the Loyola campus.
Anna Louise Crago, VP External of the Umbrella Party said our quality education is on the chopping block. “Even if you know your program is not going to get cut, the courses in your program are going to get cut.”
Despite disagreements among the four parties regarding various issues, all of them expressed disappointment regarding voter turnout among Concordia students during former CSU presidential elections. Each presidential candidate stressed the importance of having more students vote during election period.
The debate began with Chris Schulz, presidential candidate for the Representative Union, and he emphasized how he is running to create change at the CSU. Opening a student centre and a CSU office at the Loyola campus are a few of the platform points raised by Schulz. He added that in the past months, the CSU has done a number of things that have not represented the majority of Concordia students, listing the student handbook as a primary example.
Presidential candidate Tom Keefer of The Left Opposition continued the debate by reinforcing his dissatisfaction with the university administration. “They’re trying to increase fees for students. They get massive salaries, and the rector has an entertainment allowance of $1,800 per month. All of this is coming out of our student fees,” said Keefer.
“This whole election campaign is very embarrassing for the university administration,” continued Keefer, “because they thought that they could expel and ban me from campus and that I wasn’t going to be able to say anything more about them.” Keefer added that the administration has been involved with trying to tamper with student politics.
Luis Diaz, presidential candidate for the New Organized Way slate, acknowledged how for the longest time, the CSU has had a political agenda that alienates many students. “It is very hard to properly represent 22,000 students with different beliefs, religions, races and cultural backgrounds,” said Diaz. “This is why, if we were to be elected, we would not have a political agenda.” Diaz added that the main goal of New Organized Way is to make students aware of what’s going on at Concordia, and to improve the university’s image.
An Umbrella Party’s presidential candidate, Zev Tiefenbach, stated that their major platform is to have an advocacy service that would help students deal with various problems such as landlord disputes. Tiefenbach also underlined that faculty associations are very important. “A student union should never undermine the work that faculty associations undertake.
Discussions of the candidates’ platforms were followed by numerous questions from the audience. Concerns among students included the Sodexho Marriott contract with Concordia, club funding and changes they would like to see being made at the Loyola campus.
Anna Louise Crago, VP External of the Umbrella Party said our quality education is on the chopping block. “Even if you know your program is not going to get cut, the courses in your program are going to get cut.”
Despite disagreements among the four parties regarding various issues, all of them expressed disappointment regarding voter turnout among Concordia students during former CSU presidential elections. Each presidential candidate stressed the importance of having more students vote during election period.
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