By Kurt Krumme
Two weeks of pointing fingers, name calling, and failed P.A. systems can only mean the annual burp of campus activity known as the RSU election has come and gone. With the political squalor at an end, Ryerson students can now call Paul Cheevers their new king and RSU can start paying off a $5,000 election bill.
“Ryerson Rocks, let’s go drink at my house,” yelled an ecstatic and somewhat tipsy Cheevers after his victory was announced Thursday night at The Edge pub.
The victory was sweet revenge for Cheevers, who was disqualified for exceeding his budget after being declared president last year.
Controversy is nothing new to RSU elections. Current President Mike D’Angelo strolls down memory lane, “Phantom polling stations that didn’t exist, stolen ballot boxes, even stations running out of ballots, you name it, we had it,” he said.
D’Angelo is not enthusiastic about his successor. “I don’t care,” D’Angelo said. “It seems like he goes against the norm just for the sake of it.”
“Who cares” seems to be a common feeling at RSU. Paul Felstein, advisor to the Elections Procedures Committee and last year’s leader in the Cheevers disqualification, said he cared little for the election. “The president-elect is nothing. It doesn’t matter to me if Bozo the Clown got it.”
The question remains: if RSU doesn’t care, why should the students?
“People don’t know what’s going on, they don’t know the candidates,” said Student Groups Coordinator Leatrice Spevack. “Student money is paying their (RSU executives) salaries and nobody cares.”
Ryerson’s student apathy reared its ugly head again this year as an early Eyeopener estimate showed only 10 to 12 per cent of the student body bothered voting.
Chief Returning Officer Andrea Webb feels that students being uninformed is the main problem. “The candidates only have about a week and a half to campaign. That’s enough time to plaster the school with posters, but I don’t believe in elections by poster,” Webb said.
Despite his victory, Cheevers said he was nervous at times. “After the Rogers (Communication Centre) votes came in, I figured I wouldn’t win if I wasn’t leading by 200 votes. Even with 199 votes, it might be time for a Jack Daniels shooter.”
446 votes and several shooters later, cries of “Fuck you Felstein” were heard from the victorious candidate as beer was dumped on his head.
Runner-up Jim Pelkmans was over a hundred votes behind with a total of 334. Dana Shaw was third with 253 votes. J.P. Phillips was fourth with 223 and Sharon Mendelaoui finished with 160 votes.
V-P Education Greg Thomas kept his job with 763 votes. New V-P Finance Patrick Hynes and new V-P Administration Donna MacNeil ended with 573 and 684 votes respectively.
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