By Dick Snyder
And so it’s all over and the mopping up begins. This year’s RSU executive election certainly was not the “deja vu” that president-elect Paul Cheevers slugged it early on in his campaign, even though it seemed that, like last year, the Election Procedures Committee was out to get him. He was told that any sightings of his old “Cheevers Achieves” T-shirt would result in a billing to his $400 campaign budget, potentially throwing him over-budget and—like last year—out of the race. As well, he was warned that any sightings of this year’s collector’s item—”Deja Vu” buttons—on voting days could result in his disqualification.
But Cheevers tip-toed nicely around these obstacles and came up a winner, perhaps only because he has the kind of name brand recognition that would make Coca-Cola executives envious.
And is this such a bad thing? If Cheevers wanted it badly enough, he might as well be king. And Lord knows, he’s been itching to take the reigns of the RSU for a long time. He could be just what Ryerson needs: a highly visible, ambitious, pushy little tyrant who might actually shake things up around here. On the other hand, until we find out what he really stands for, personality might be all we have.
But this could actually work well. Fortunately, Cheevers has some strong, experienced people working with him. (Well, we hope they’ll be working with him. If they don’t try to have him impeached, anyway.) Greg Thomas, re-elected as v-p academic, has proved himself a dedicated and tireless student advocate. Patrick Hynes, our new v-p finance, is also a strong voice for students. As academic affairs commissioner, he shoved the ICE survey so far down Academic Council’s throat they didn’t know what hit them. He also worked with Thomas to draft the Student Rights Handbook, a handy document telling students they don’t have to put up with any shit from profs and how to get retribution. Incoming v-p administration, Donna MacNeil, has proved herself an active student rep and eager protege of out-going v-p admin, Juanita Dickson.
Which brings us back to what Cheevers stands for, and what he’s going to do. Nobody is quite sure. Apart from rollerblading past security in an attempt to make contact with as many students as possible, what will Cheevers really achieve? Well, depending on who you talk to, either “not as much” or “a lot.” Fears that the main is too status quo—he’s cool on the campus centre and likes the CFS—is a dying organization which should be avoided. There are more focused organizations coming up which could offer more tangible results to the student movement. Yet Cheevers chose to flip-flop on his original anti-CFS stance and backed the group during the election and referendum. Perhaps he noticed a trend among students who were pro-CFS and decided to capitalize on it.
So who cares? Only 10 per cent of students chose to vote anyway, and “who cares?” seems to be the attitude pervading this whole election. Well, it seems that Cheevers cares; if only about himself and his reign. Which, come to think of it, should make for an interesting administration. Let the games begin.
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