Blogs
The new constitution - what does it entail?
- 14 Mar 2008 01:15
The turn out of voters has decreased from the 2250 last year, and the amount of candidates has decreased from 28 to 14. Speculation has been made as to why this is, and Stuart Rice (Union Manager and Deputy Returning Officer) suggested that it could be due to the weather, this being the last week of term and half the number of candidates.
However, Rhys Dart (Developing and Training Officer for NUS Wales) maintains that the 1135 votes is a very respectable number when compared to the very low turnout of 186 student voters at Wrexham University and 890 student voters at Aberystwyth University. Swansea is therefore still performing in the eyes of the NUS. This is the first dip in the amount of voters since 2003 and it cannot be put down to one specific reason.
One suggestion was to make voting available online. When asked whether this was viable, Rhys said that until a perfect counting system was available, there is no point in employing it. Previous trials of online voting have caused problems with lost votes and incorrect counting.
A large focus for tonight was on the new constitution. All Student Union's now must be registered as charities, the Charities Act 2006 must be enforced by October 2009. Stuart Rice said that the University Council actually asked for the constitution to be implemented sooner rather than later, hence its inclusion in this year's elections.
Stuart explained how the new constitution is a lot 'simpler', and that the old constitution was filled with many 'contradictions'. For instance, the main constitution body states that only a 5% turnout is needed, whereas the union articles suggest 7.5% (a figure quoted in our earlier articles and on Xtreme Radio.)
"The new constitution will actually benefit the university" explained Rhys. He explained how the new charity act states that the Student Union must have independent trustees. Swansea will have three trustees and they will bring guaranteed expertise to the union, and will undoubtedly be a great benefit to the union. The SABBs are legally and financially responsible for the union and so it will be a great help for them to have the guidance from the independent trustees. The trustees will be looking after the interests of the charity i.e. the union.
Best of luck to the new SABBs and wishing every success to the new constitution.
Result: Treasurer
- 14 Mar 2008 00:45
It was a long and painful wait for the Treasurer result as it was re-counted three times and counters were changed twice. The treasurer for next year has been announced as Andy Fay who won by a mere two votes ahead of the other candidate Hollie Davies.
As members of his campaign team waited outside with stressed looks on their faces it was plain to see the pressure was on. Mark Hanney a member of his team said as the votes were being counted, 'I've been here since 8am and incredibly stressed. If Andy doesn't get in it will destroy him'. All day it had been close between the two candidates, with the prediction exit polls having 51% in favour to Hollie. With the votes 539 to Hollie and 541 to Andy it was the closest results of the evening.
Andy turned up to the Waterfront office for a quick chat after his win looking incredibly shocked and happy. When asked why he thought he won he commented 'with two votes between us who knows, but I believe I can do the job, I wouldn't have run for the position if I didn't think that and I hope I can do everything I said I would'. Andy has promised policies including supporting societies, continuation with NUS to campaign against tuition fees and ensuring Sabbs have the funds they require to implement policies. When asked what he first planned to do he commented, 'I want to start with the new freshers coming in and raising awareness of the SU straight away'. He also commented that he plans to sort out the conflicts with the SU and the AU and commented that 'Oceana is something we need to sort out and I think we can do it quite easily and we can work together'. Andy certainly planned to end the evening in style in DV8 and make sure it was a night not to forget and relax after the stress of the last week
Result: President
- 14 Mar 2008 00:40
James Houston was today celebrating a landslide victory in the SU Presidential election winning by a massive 379 votes. It was hardly a surprise as his 'Jim can fix it' campaign has been so well received around campus. Singing in lecture theatres, early mornings and wandering around campus in a shell suit have proved worthwhile as Houston victory was established without even going to a recount by gaining 609 votes, 58 more than was required. Other candidates were Paul Archer, Mark Houghton and Jay Yorke-Wade who received 225, 217 and 39 votes respectively.
We managed to catch up with James who was keen to thank all those who voted for him and those who helped him in his campaign: 'First of all I want to thank everyone who voted for me. Also thanks to everybody that helped me with my campaign. I am truly blessed with great friends and that has had a huge bearing in my campaign and as a result the election outcomes.'
On the poor turnout, Houston felt that the first years weren't aware of the elections as much as they should have been, shown by the fact that only between 5-10% of first years voted.
The fact that only 1,136 students voted has not only disappointed Houston, but also fellow candidate Paul Archer. They are both in agreement that the poor weather affected the turnout and the fact that there was no poll booth at the student village. 'Why would someone want to come out in the rain all the way to campus just to vote?' asked Houston. It's a matter that needs to be addressed and it is one of the areas that he is keen to change: the marketing of elections and other important student events. At the end of the day, it is those students he is representing.
On the relationship with the AU, Houston feels that the addition of Leoni Munslow as Women's officer is a good outcome of the elections. Munslow knows the ongoing of the AU as she has served on the AU committee this year as AU administrator. Houston feels that a good relationship between the SU and AU is vital to a thriving university and having seen the relationship break down this, Houston is hoping there will be more communication between them to enable them to work well together.
So what are Houston's main policies? Sitting with a huge grin on his face Houston claimed his main ideas are to first of all create more of a SABB presence up at the village. He hopes to encourage societies to spend more time and resources attracting fresher's at the village and to have more suggestion boxes around campus to gain your thoughts so that if there are any problems, he can help to fix them.
Result: Education
- 14 Mar 2008 00:15
Even after taking an early lead in the first round, Ross claimed he "still couldn't believe it". The possibility of Lleu Williams pulling out a win still remained strong at that point. In the final round figures were close with Ross sliding to a victory of 529 votes to Lleu's 469. Before he rushed off to treat his campaign team to some well earned drinks, he stopped in to talk to Waterfront.
Looking genuinely surprised Ross claimed he was "overwhelmed... excited...and shocked". After catching his breath he started enthusiastically discussing what would be the first move within his new role. Initially he will be pushing to set up trial dates for a number of his manifestos. That includes policies like 24 hour library opening beyond the exam periods to help cater for essay deadlines. Next on the list is a "look into blackboard to overturn it".
When asked whether forcing lecturers to put notes on blackboard encouraged students to stay in bed, he responded: "It's not the case, even if lecturers add basic notes and a reading list it helps". Students would still need to do the reading to pass their exams. It is important that everyone has access to "use it as a tool for their education ."
While Ross recognised that part of his success may be due to him being a familiar face to the regulars of JCs, he also wanted to make clear that he would rather it "wasn't a popularity contestand he was recognised for his own merits". His campaigning style involved a lot of personal contact, "I like to think I'm an approachable person" he claimed.
Ross seemed genuinely touched by the effort some students had put in both helping him campaign and supporting him. His team pushed him to go further by doing things like dropping by student's houses in the village and talking to as many people as possible. He recalled how one girl took about 20 minutes or so to talk to them while she was busy; then, "when it was tipping down with rain, with no lectures she came down to vote for me".
Another winning manifesto promise was to address the work-play balance of university life. "I think it's key to have balance. It's very hard to find time to relax particularly if your in your final year like I am". A mixture of social and music events, with the addition of stress management workshops will aim to keep students happy and healthy.
Although he was "very very disappointed" with the turn out he put this down to problems with promoting the elections and also the poor weather. "The only time I wasn't cold was when I came in for a hot chocolate" chuckled Ross. Looking forward with a smile he suggested "I am interested in working with the other candidates. I think it'll be a relaxed atmosphere with a great team"Photo Blog - Old meets New
- 13 Mar 2008 23:30
Owen Morgan, the incumbent president, shakes hands with the winner of the presidential race James Houston. James will now take over the reigns later this year.
Photo by Claire Packer
Result: Welfare Officer
- 13 Mar 2008 23:30
"Explosive": this it what newly re-elected Welfare Officer Nick Morgan promises his that next year's campaigns will be.
Within Nick's manifesto are two central issues which he plans to implement in order to improve the lives of Swansea students. Firstly, mental health issues, a controversial subject which Nick wants to tackle in the future, believing that a stigma is usually attached to mental health issues. He is going to make sure that students are more aware of what mental health issues are and how they affect the lives of students. Exams are especially stressful times, and Nick wants to ensure that students get all the support that they need.
Nick also wants to voice any concerns that students have. Recently a student approached Nick regarding an important issue that they had. Nick listened to their concern and this has spurred him on to make sure that he will do all he can to resolve any problems students have - as Nick says, it is "their views, their injustices". As Welfare Officer, Nick is responsible for the social concerns of Swansea students. The Welfare position is constantly evolving and Nick is going to take next year as it comes, and, if something happens which affect Swansea students, then he will ensure that he deals with it so your student life is a carefree, happy and safe one.
Nick was very happy with the result, even though the number of votes, the amount of re-open votes cast were not as many as Nick thought.
Looking to the future, Nick hopes that Elections 2009 will have many, many more candidates. He believes that students need more candidates just to fill the promise of democracy.
Nick believes that the SABBs have done a great job this year and wants to continue their great work. He is going to continue to maintain the balance between being available for students to talk to him at his desk, whilst being out and about around university.
Best of luck to Nick!
Women's Officer - Leoni Munslow
- 13 Mar 2008 23:15
Congratulations to Leoni Munslow on winning the position of Women's Officer next year. Throughout her campaign Leoni has had masses of support and thanks them for helping her get her proposals and ideas across. Leoni has taken the opportunity to spread her message in lectures, seminar and various meetings held throughout campus. Her efforts have satisfied her immensely and she feels that she could not have done anymore to achieve her goal.
Her main aim next year is to encourage more women to attend self-defence classes as she feels that women should be given the opportunity to learn how to defend themselves. Now that she has won the race for Women's Officer, Leoni is going to treat her campaign team to many drinks and many thanks as they have been a piller of support to her throughout the week.
Commenting on the low number of voters this year, Leoni feels that it is a great shame as everyone has put in so much effort this year. She feels the weather may have been an issue but in general she feels that more students should have voted.
She has yet to contact her parents and give them the good news but can guarentee that they will not be asleep until they know the results aswell. After learning that she had won Leoni says 'Ellen is an amazing girl with lots of character and a strong campaign team and Sam has loads of great ideas, well done to you both'.
Katy Bergson
Iwan Berry
Carl Day
Jake Elliott
Kate Fletcher
James Gawn
Jon Pearson
Jac Smith
Caroline Sutch
Holly Thomas
Dafydd Vaughan» Blog Feed
» More Feeds
Vote08:
Live Updates
» See more updates
