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RSU election profiles: SPARK

The Ryerson Students’ Union elections are underway and the winners will become the governing student body at Ryerson.

Students can vote online through their RAMSS accounts from Feb. 6 to 8.

Click here to check out the other executive slate profiles: Elevate, Ohana, Rhino Party

Harman Singh president

Did not comment in time for publication.

 

Daniel Lis vice-president education

Why are you running for your position?

I care about access to education and the way that policy can influence its quality both inside and outside of the classroom. My experience with the portfolio is extensive as I’ve worked on a variety of education related topics over the course of the past two academic years with the last two VP Educations.

What is your major criticism of how things were done this year?

I would like the executives this coming year to be more publically available for drop-in hours, and so this is an initiative that I would like to see being put in place.

What platform are you running on?

The SPARK platform is based on four major pillars: jobs, transit, space and service. I have plans for all of these but one of the projects I’m most excited about is our U-Pass program that we will be lobbying and working hard on to launch.

What is your main concern surrounding access to education at Ryerson?

Ensuring that stakeholders and government are engaged for discussion and action on keeping tuition costs as low as possible, and subsidies and loans as available as possible. All this while working towards a meaningful long-term solution to deal with the skyrocketing costs of tuition.

 

Ali Yousaf vice president operations

Why are you running for your position?

The first day I got to Ryerson, I signed up to be a volunteer at the Ryerson Students’ Union. Ever since, I’ve been a part of the Rye Family. Being an International student you start getting home sick, but the RSU always made me feel like I had a place here. During my second year in Ryerson, I worked with the Ryerson Engineering Student Society as the Mechanical Director and worked on representing the Mechanical Engineering Students. This year (my third year in Ryerson) I’ve been working with the RSU as the International Students Representative. All this experience has encouraged me to run for this position.

What is your major criticism of how things were done this year?

I don’t have major criticisms of the way things were done this year, but the one thing is financial transparency. I am on the budget committee this year for the RSU and I still don’t have exact details of our financial status. It is the responsibility of the Vice President Operations to maintain financial transparency.

What platform are you running on?

We have 4 major slate points: student jobs, student transportation, student services, 24-hour student spaces.

 

 

Lauren Emberson vice-president student life & events

Why are you running for your position?

I have the experience, the vision, and the work ethic to do fantastic things for the student life and events portfolio. I’ve planned and executed plenty of events of both large and small scales, and I see room for positive fundamental change in student groups and student life. I want to get shit done, and I want to make sure that everyone knows that they matter on campus, and I want that reflected through the student groups and events that exist on campus.

What is your major criticism of how things were done this year?

This year, I promise to use students feedback and suggestions in the planning process of events. I also hope to have a more direct and open line of communication including drop-in hours for students to come and voice their concerns and ideas.

What platform are you running on?

I’m running on a platform of kindness and productivity. There are so many fantastic events and initiatives that I am beyond excited for, but I think there needs to be more transparent communication and active listening to understand the needs and concerns of students while doing it.

What events are you planning on organizing?

I think the events portfolio has seen huge improvements in the past couple of years, so I hope to be able to pay a bit more attention to the student life side of the position. I think where I see my time best spent is in providing the same events that students love, but while also investing a lot of time and effort into student groups and their funding and space needs in order to allow them to run events of their own for their groups.

Taran Saini vice-president equity

Why are you running for your position?

I have always wanted to be more involved in Ryerson’s community, and give back to the students somehow. Being a student myself, I know what we need and what we want from our university and I believe I have the qualities to make that possible, so I thought this would be a great position for me. I also feel very strongly about making Ryerson a more equitable campus for all.

What is your major criticism of how things were done this year?

A lot of light was shined on the six equity services we offer. However, mental health issues were not given a lot of attention in the sense that not enough events were created to bring awareness to these issues.

What platform are you running on?

Bringing more light to mental health initiatives, attempting to create a more stigma-free environment in all of Ryerson.

What events are you planning on organizing?

Events to de-stress students during midterm and final season, start being more eco-friendly on campus overall by having more blue bins for recycling available and so on to cut down on waste, events for pride and help LGBTQ2S students feel welcome and celebrated, develop policies for sexual violence and get more healthy food banks to contribute to the good food centre.

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