Students head for the polls
Six referenda questions in addition to electing representatives
With CSU election season in full swing, it’s clear that last year’s decision to allow students to run as slates has caught on. Three of the candidates for president are running with slates of six to eight students (eight is the maximum number allowed). Some of their names will be familiar.
Unity, with orange posters, is led by current VP Clubs and Spaces Angelica Novoa. Her seven VP candidates have rallied around maintaining the tuition freeze, and protecting and expanding existing student space. They would also like a subsidized tutoring centre and Café X (a VA Building staple) opened in the EV Building.
Go Concordia has adopted green as its colour, and have prioritized making the university the greenest campus. They also support the tuition freeze and student space and want student services and student government to be easily accessible. Mina Etezadi is heading a slate of eight VP hopefuls.
Impact, running with blue posters, is billing itself as the “clean slate.” Sustainability is also important to them, but they are most concerned with being accountable and accessible to the electorate. Among Youri Hollier’s six VP candidates is recently fired CSU electoral officer Beisan Zubi.
The fourth presidential candidate, Al Yati Mohammad Maher, has three VPs and is concerned with maintaining the current tuition freeze.
In addition to the CSU executive positions, there are 30 seats on CSU council (proportionally divided among the faculties), five Senate seats and two on the Board of Governors.
Students will also be asked to vote on six referenda questions; two that stand to put money back into their pockets, and four that propose new ways to spend it.
The first two questions involve last year’s decision to increase student ancillary fees at a stepped rate over the next few academic years. The questions ask that that decision be rescinded and that the CSU mobilize opposition against such increases.
The other four questions concern fee levies for different projects. One would increase the levy available to The Concordian newspaper, the other to QPIRG. In addition, 41 cents per credit would be allocated to the Canadian Federation of Students. Finally, students are being asked to allocate an additional 25 cents per credit to the newly formed Sustainability Action Fund (see The Journal, March 8).
Elections take place at polling stations across both campuses March 27, 28 and 29, and all undergraduate students are urged to use their votes.