Students react to annulment

Some Concordia students reacted unfavourably to the news that the CSU judicial board annulled November’s byelections.
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” says Melissa Gamache, a 20-year-old English Literature student. “It’s a little irritating. Make up your mind. Is [Schulz] in or out? Stop jerking it around.”
Other students are equally disturbed by the decision. “It’s a joke,” replied Josh Margo, a 22-year-old English Literature student. “The people who made the decision don’t realize the repercussion of what’s going to happen to Concordia students’ degrees. They made a decision on the reputation of the school.”
Students agree that necessary steps must be taken so the problem of current student representation can soon be resolved.
“I hope it’s going to be fixed soon. It’s really hectic to have another election and it should have been settled last semester,” said Amineh Fadhil, a 21-year-old Computer Science student. “It costs more money for another election.”
Finding a resolution soon is one thing. Getting people to vote again is another. “In one way it’s good because controversy compels students to go out and vote. It seems that if politics is boring, people get involved,” pointed out Stephen Murphy, 20, a Sociology student.
“[However], I kind of feel that this whole situation is a feeble attempt for the current CSU to keep the next party from taking office but that’s politics.”
Students stand divided on whether presidential candidate Chris Schulz’s Representative Union was treated unjustly. “It’s ridiculous,” said Andrew Johnson, a 23-year-old Political Science student. “It seems pretty unfair to the students and to Schulz.”
His 21-year-old Philosophy counterpart does not agree. “I think the sooner something happens, the better,” said David Parker. “I didn’t really like Chris Schulz, so it isn’t worth it to sacrifice a quality candidate just to have another president now.” Being in full agreement that there should be another election, he added: “I think it’s better for the CSU to be in opposition with the administration.”
Lack of organization is what made Tara Day, a 26-year-old Economics student, not vote in the elections. “I didn’t vote because it wasn’t organized and I didn’t really know what I was voting for,” she said. She is also not pleased with the judicial board’s annulment. “I don’t feel it’s the right thing to do to annul. It seems to be a radical decision to me.”
What cannot be ignored is that many Concordia students either do not care or are getting sick of Concordia’s political chaos. “I think people are tired of all the politics,” said Mark Ordonselli, a 19-year-old Journalism student. “The average Concordia person just wants to go to school without being assailed with this political tension.”
Others like Brenda Fulton, an Independent student, remain in somewhat of a state of shock. “It’s just unfortunate that that’s happened. I thought that it was set,” she says. “It’s just too bad that they made one decision and now they took [Schulz] off again. It’s unsettling that they can’t seem to make up their minds.”
Day had a suggestion for future elections. “Before there’s an election, it should be organized and professional. You’re trying to represent the students and that can’t be achieved if it’s so disorganized.”