Boris Degas
Program and year of study: Fourth-year biochemistry student.
Relevant previous experience: Volunteer for the Concordia Student Union orientation, with the Concordia Alumni team and at Hingston Hall to help students move in.
Why he is running for the job: “Volunteering with the CSU has been great. I feel like you can contribute directly and have impact on people,” Degas said. “I care a lot of about the environment and feel like I can really make a difference.”
Ideas he will bring to the table if elected:
– Institute a bike co-op. “As a biker, I know a lot of people commute to school with bikes, and we’re lacking somewhere where we can meet people who are interested in biking as well and where we can use tools to repair bikes ourselves without having to pay huge amounts of money to a private shop.”
– Hold “dump and run” events, where during the school year people can drop off unwanted goods and then in September, the goods would be sold with profits going to charity.
– Bring back the Green Week: bring in speakers and organize workshops while involving local farmers and cooks.
Why is he the best person for the job: “I’m a very energetic and outgoing person. I try to be charismatic to get people’s attention and network. I feel like those would be big assets to the job to be able to use my energy and my persona to get things done.”
To learn more about Boris Degas, contact him through Facebook.
Paul Jerajian
Program and year of study: Second-year actuarial math and finance student.
Relevant previous experience: An internship this summer at a pharmaceutical company, where he had to work with a marketing manager and deal with external associations.
Why he decided to run:
– For the VP external portfolio: “I was really hit by the tuition hikes. I was really disappointed, because there are a lot of actuaries that work for the government and if they can’t see this happening, it’s the students who are paying for this, and students shouldn’t be in a position where they should pay more.”
– For the VP sustainability portfolio: Jerajian feels that Concordia could be even more sustainable than it actually is.
Ideas he will bring to the table if elected:
– As VP sustainability, he would promote more vegan alternatives on campus and raise awareness about veganism.
– On the long term, Jerajian wants to look into putting recycling bins in every class and talk with Chartwells to extend the menu at Concordia.
Why he is the best person for the job: Through his degree and class, he has gained expertise about tuition hikes because his education focuses on insurance, foreshadowing risk, hedging, and investing money.
To learn more about Paul Jerajian, contact him through Facebook or email him at [email protected].
Candidates for VP of communications and promotions
Katie Brioux
Program and year of study: Fourth-year communications specialization student.
Relevant previous experience: Brioux has worked for the Concordian for two years, including one year as graphics editor. “I  also have an amateur background in art and visual art [and have] made posters for überculture’s ‘Buy Nothing Day’.”
Why she decided to run: “For me it feels right as something I am passionate about, just because I really do enjoy being involved at school and I wish for everyone else to feel the same way I do about their faculty and their school as well,” she said.
Ideas she wants to bring to the table:
– Revamp the ASFA website as “an open communications platform and bring it more to a discussion level for students.”
– Create vlog news journal for ASFA to let students in on what’s going on at ASFA.
Why she is the best person for the job: “I just feel like I can do a really good job and will whole-heartedly dedicate myself to it. I’m already putting off homework and school to campaign!”
To learn more about Katie, contact her through her Facebook group at votekatie4vpcoms.tk or email her at [email protected].
Alexis Suzuki
Program and year of study: Third-year English, art history and studio art student.
Related previous experience: Suzuki is currently VP external for Volunteers In Action, a Concordia charity-based group that works with different charities both locally and abroad. “One of my responsibilities on VIA is to create and distribute sponsorship packages, and that’s something that has recently been added to the ASFA VP communications portfolio, so I think that it would work nicely and it would go hand in hand.”
Why she decided to run: “I feel like partaking in school initiatives has the potential to enhance the university experience exponentially and I’d love to be the one responsible for informing students of all the amazing things that ASFA in particular makes accessible to this school.”
Ideas she will bring to the table if elected:
– Brainstorm options of response to rising tuition. “I think we also need to make other options available for students to voice their opinions and voice their discontent with rising tuition [besides protests].” Suzuki would like to get executives from different associations to brainstorm about other ways students can voice their discontent.
Why she is the best person for the job: “I’m coming from an artistic perspective, and I’d really like to try to be innovative in the position if elected […] art is about so many different things in so many different ways and I think that that enables people to communicate to different people in different ways.”
If you want more information about Alexis, visit her website at www.alexissuzuki.com or join her Facebook group, “VOTE FOR ALEXIS SUZUKI ASFA VP COMMUNICATIONS & PROMOTIONS – OCT. 12th-13th.”
Laura Robbins withdrew her candidacy for the position of VP of communications shortly after the campaign period had started. She found out that she is not eligible for election as she is on a semester-long academic leave for personal reasons. According to ASFA bylaws, executive members must be taking classes in order to be eligible. Robbins intends to run for the executive in the future once she returns to full-time studies.
Candidates for independent councillor
Sian Mill
Program and year of study: Fourth-year human environment and urban studies student.
Previous experience: VP internal of the geography undergraduate student society last year.
Why she decided to run: “I really liked my first exposure to student politics [as VP internal]. I liked working with the past executive and am looking forward to getting to know the current executive.”
Why she is the best person for the job: “I’m really dedicated to the position. I’ve learnt all the relevant bylaws and annexes and I’m learning Robert’s Rules to help council go smoothly as possible.”
What ideas she would like to bring to the table: “I realize that we have to be realistic. I know that the execs and the chair are going to be setting the agenda but in the back of my mind I will be thinking about the member associations and the events they are putting on to better enrich the student lives and help people get involved. So, when I am sitting on council that is the main point I’d like to keep in mind.”
If you’d like to learn more about Sian, you can contact her through Facebook or email at [email protected].
Yasmeen Zahar
Program and year of study: Second-year environmental science student.
Relevant previous experience: While new to student politics, as an environmental science major she is passionate about sustainability.
Why she decided to run: “I attended a ton of ASFA events last year so I got really familiar about how it works and was interested in getting more involved with it. I thought independent councillor is a good place to start. I’m interested in being on council and voicing people’s concerns.”
Why she is the best person for the job: She says she is passionate about the job and very personable. As such, she would voice students’ concerns at council and hold the executive accountable to make sure they are doing the best they can for students.
Ideas she would like to bring to the table: Zahar would be interested in working on the sustainability committee to hold events and increase awareness about sustainability. “As an international student, I was [also] hoping to address concerns that international students have – could be on tuition, could be on anything else that they would want voiced there.” Zahar would also like to get more international students involved around school to make them feel more comfortable.
If you want more information about Yasmeen, contact her through Facebook (as Yazzy Zahar), or email her at [email protected].
Voting takes place Oct. 12 and 13.
Comments are closed.