The AUSU By-Election is now in full swing. The candidates have each put up a short biography that you can see at this link, and you can also go to the election forums that AUSU has set up if you want to be able to speak directly to them. At this point, only five of the nine candidates have bothered to put up their own candidate biographies (the ones in the forum aren’t limited by the short word count of those on the AUSU site) and only three questions have been asked?all by current AUSU Councillors.
This really gives the whole thing the feel of some serious inside baseball. And That’s not how it should be. Remember, these are the people who will be advocating for things that could make your schooling easier, or harder. Cheaper, or more expensive. More relevant, or not. It makes sense that if You’re concerned about the value You’re getting out of your schooling, you should be a little bit concerned about where these candidates are coming from.
On the other hand, this lack of concern suggests to me that people feel that the student council is currently doing a reasonable job, because if students were concerned about anything, there’d be more commenting and questions going on. However, maintaining that satisfaction is exactly why people should be getting involved. With a council of nine that has over a year and a half left until the next election, the addition of two new people is a significant change to the group, and there’s more than enough time left in the term for that change to possibly turn things very sour indeed.
And on the other side, if students choose well, it could also give council extra energy and creativity so as to be able to tackle old problems in new ways. It really all comes down to us. Would you prefer regular texts still be available, or would you prefer that the university lower the course materials fee because we only get e-texts now? These are the types of choices that council will have to make as they advocate for students, so knowing what those who are running feel is more important matters. Register for the forums, it only takes a minute or two, read what’s there, and most importantly, ask something that matters to you.
Meanwhile, here at The Voice Magazine, our feature article this week is our interview with student Marilyne Whitty. This extremely busy student has some interesting ideas of things AU could do to improve. We also have a look at some of the upcoming Athabasca University Awards. With the deadline of October 15th rapidly approaching for some of these awards, The Voice Magazine breaks down what you need to qualify for these awards. Also, Deanna Roney continues her exploration of motivations, and the importance of being willing to accept what drives you.
I also want to draw your attention to the Women of Interest short this week, as it brings us a tale you don’t see very often, a woman inventor, and how her now-household product was originally created. And that doesn’t even get into our reviews, advice, news, or entertainment features we’ve got to keep you busy this week. Enjoy the read!
P.S. If you didn’t already know, The Voice Magazine has a Facebook page and a twitter feed if You’re into that kind of thing!
