Aaron Wade

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Website: www.aaronwade2010.web s.com
E-mail: [email protected] om
Facebook Group:
Twitter Account: aaronwade2010
Twitter Hashtag: #AWade
Youtube Account: aaronwade2010
Flickr Account: aaronwade2010

I've known Aaron since... I'm not sure when but it's been awhile. :p

I've worked with him largely during his presidential term in the Science Society not only as a welcome week planner for the faculty but also as the SRA Science caucus leader. As a welcome week planner, Aaron was extremely supportive in his role having been a past planner himself. Whenever we needed anything, Aaron was always there to lend a hand!

As a SRA member who was trying to bulld connections with the faulty societies, I was extremely fortunate to have been able to have had Aaron for a colleague. From the moment both our terms had started, we had both taken an eager interest in planning and coordinating various projects. He was keen to make sure that not only the SRA and the Senate representatives were informed as to what was occuring in the Science Society and also to look into how we could make progress. By the end of the year, our team could pride ourselves on a few solid projects, including one that successfully bridged the gap across all the faculty sub-socieities (science has tons of those), the senate reps, the MSS, and the SRA. His work was innovative and each bit of it done with thought and passion.

Aaron then took over the role of an SRA science rep and went on to be the external affairs commish. I can only assume he'd do an awesome job there too!

YAY! (a tbrown recommendation wouldn't have been complete without that last bit)



and to all the people who, for some reason, keep asking me: I'm not on any campaign teams! I don't even go to mac this year!! frig!!... I made this post purely as a recommendation to Aaron to thank him for all of his awesome work.

I'd also like to throw out how awesome of a guy Aaron Wade is. I've never worked with him in any professional capacity, but knowing him from faculty day as a first year, and then later meeting him in a one on one capacity, I can tell you that he is a level of cool most people never reach (And I'm on a rival campaign team, so you know this stuff is true ) As a rep, I've also seen him being absolutely crazy with spirit, the guy is the definition of a sci-co.

However, I haven't actually seen much of his platform. I checked out the facebook group and website, but aside from the stuff about being green I haven't actually seen any goals or plans for if he wins. Is there anywhere to get this information?

Also, the site mentions the policy about campaigns that get 10% of the popular vote being able to claim to get money back from the MSU (up to $500). Which I think most people agree is a waste of money. If elected, would Aaron have plans to scrap this policy?

(Also, it feels super weird talking about him like he isn't here.)

Hey Andrew

Thanks for the kind words Andrew. As for the platform, it’s up now, so go take a look (www.aaronwade2010.web s.com). As for the MSU’s policy to reimburse presidential candidates, I’m not going to scrap it. The reasoning behind the policy is so money is not an obstacle when deciding to run for president. I however understand that it is students’ money, and what I am trying to do is waste as little as possible. Also, I am trying to make most of my purchases on campus (either through the Underground or Titles), so the money that I do spend goes back to students. As President, I would ensure that all candidates spend campaign funds in the same manner, as I am doing this year.
Thanks again for the question and if there are any more please feel free to ask.

Aaron

Hey Andrew,

I totally agree! I see the argument that it's important to ensure money isn't a factor in someone running for President...I guess it's their way of ensuring elections can't be "bought". However, I find it interesting that many candidates are putting forward platforms with commitments to "put money back into students' pockets" and "ensure the MSU isn't wasting money" and aren't showing that commitment beginning now, during the campaign period. Aaron's campaign is not only being more sustainable but is also instituting a cap at $300 on ourselves rather than the $500 limit. This still is using students money, because realistically it's impossible to win an election without spending some money since the unfortunate fact is a lot of these elections are based on name/campaign recognition. However, Aaron's commitment to this lower limit shows that he is willing to lead by example.

I hope that whoever is President next year will ensure that campaign money is spent at Student Services such as The Underground and Titles exclusively so the money remains on campus.

I just saw this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjweEtGUOus, and I was wondering what sort of things do you think you can do to improve relations with the Hamilton community?

Hey,
Great question! As mentioned in my platform, the SRA’s External Affairs Committee is currently developing a policy for community relations. In that process we’re running a survey to find out what students want and need from the city. Once that is completed we’ll have identified some of the issues that create the McMaster “bubble” and we’ll be able to lobby the city to correct these issues. The McMaster bubble is essentially the area that most students live in and travel to (i.e. Westdale, Ainslie Wood, and other places like Hess Village). I would also like to see the “Get Cultured” program expand to include other positive aspects of Hamilton, in addition to museums and galleries (such as the Hamilton Conservation Authority). This sort of initiative encourages us to get out and explore the city, which will eventually lead to more students wanting to stay in the city after graduating.
As for the Westdale and the Ainslie Wood community, there is much room to improve. We can do this by regularly speaking to and working with people living within the area. We also need to help the residents of Westdale and Ainslie Wood with the initiatives that they bring forward, such as community clean-ups. This is a simple matter of our services (like MACgreen and the Student Community Support Network) working together with the community association to organize and promote these initiatives to us. This will show the community that we are willing to be cooperative neighbours, and that we also want a safe, clean environment to live in.
Thanks for the questions and keep on asking

Aaron

Hey Aaron...great Idea with the posters, I love the fact that it your reducing paper waste(in two ways really if you include money)...I was wondering if you had any further plans for improving the environment friendlyness of this campus?

Also when you discuss HSR transit routes and having more convenient bus stop locations that include a stop possibly near the centre of campus how do you plan on maintaining the pedestrian friendly aspect of campus while doing this?

A final opinion, I just want to mention that I find it refreshing to see a candidate who lets their platform do the talking instead of going overboard with poster designs, buttons, songs etc...Simple and honest is what I like.

Originally Posted by wadea

Hey,
Great question! As mentioned in my platform, the SRA’s External Affairs Committee is currently developing a policy for community relations. In that process we’re running a survey to find out what students want and need from the city. Once that is completed we’ll have identified some of the issues that create the McMaster “bubble” and we’ll be able to lobby the city to correct these issues.

Aaron

Huh wth? So your entire point is based on the responses you get to the poorly distributed and promoted surveys that no one gives a shit about? How many responses do you have for this survey? How many do you expect? Since it will be responded by mostly MSU bubble individuals how do you think that is representative of anything?

And I can't believe you just said that our bubble issues can be solved by "lobbying the city"

How the heck did you come up with that bright idea? What was your basis/theory behind it? What anecdotal evidence do you have to support that theory of yours. From my point of view the issue with the McMaster bubble isn't entirely the cities fault, alot of it has to do with student perception of the city they live in.

Highly worried by your cynical view on this situation

As for your mention of SCSN and MacGreen should organize initiatives in Westdale/Ainslewood, it IS already within their mandate :S

Ocho Cincho,

I completely understand your viewpoint.

Surveys are not perfect; there is no method to collect information from students that is not biased in some way. I am not trying to imply that this survey would be the-be-all-and-end-all to information collection. I am sure that the Subcommittee on Community Relations will talk to more students before completing the policy. I simply presented the survey as explanation of how some information would be collected.

As for lobbing the city, there exists a limit of what can be done effectively, aside from talking to the city. Students feel that there is a number of issues within the city that make us feel uncomfortable leaving the “bubble”. These are issues that the MSU would need to do more about than solely creating services or contributing money to; we need the City Council and the Mayor to assist with solving these problems if they want to pop the “bubble”. That being said, this is an issue involving the students, and on our part, we can engage the city by participating in the programs I mentioned above. I also mentioned the services need to work with the community association, not individually. This is a way for students to interact with members of the community in a positive manner. This is a multilayer issue that exists between the university, the students, the city, and the community. All of these groups need to come to the table to help fix this issue.

As for it already being in the services mandate, it is but it’s not happening to level that it needs to be.

Thanks for the comments,

Aaron

Aaron,

It's great that you're exploring the community outside of McMaster. But what of the lack of one inside of it? After poking through your site it's great to see that you have some ideas on bridging the gaps but I ask: is it effective to pursue both goals simultaneously? The whole notion of crawling before you can walk. Be careful you don't stretch yourself too thin.

Having just faced a similar problem I can tell you that I'd rather finish one thing than do two things poorly.

Originally Posted by wadea

Ocho Cincho,

I completely understand your viewpoint.

Surveys are not perfect; there is no method to collect information from students that is not biased in some way. I am not trying to imply that this survey would be the-be-all-and-end-all to information collection. I am sure that the Subcommittee on Community Relations will talk to more students before completing the policy. I simply presented the survey as explanation of how some information would be collected.

As for lobbing the city, there exists a limit of what can be done effectively, aside from talking to the city. Students feel that there is a number of issues within the city that make us feel uncomfortable leaving the “bubble”. These are issues that the MSU would need to do more about than solely creating services or contributing money to; we need the City Council and the Mayor to assist with solving these problems if they want to pop the “bubble”. That being said, this is an issue involving the students, and on our part, we can engage the city by participating in the programs I mentioned above. I also mentioned the services need to work with the community association, not individually. This is a way for students to interact with members of the community in a positive manner. This is a multilayer issue that exists between the university, the students, the city, and the community. All of these groups need to come to the table to help fix this issue.

As for it already being in the services mandate, it is but it’s not happening to level that it needs to be.

Thanks for the comments,

Aaron

As a co-chair for the Hamilton Youth Advisory Committee (HYAC) and a Mac student I commend Aaron for such thinking. The bubble exists, sadly, but he is someone that would best be attuned to solving the problem. He is , after all, a Hamilton native. His track record speaks for itself in terms of what he has done in previous positions. If he is elected MSU President I would gladly collaborate with him to help make this City more appealing to McMaster students.

Originally Posted by McMaxwell

Aaron,

It's great that you're exploring the community outside of McMaster. But what of the lack of one inside of it? After poking through your site it's great to see that you have some ideas on bridging the gaps but I ask: is it effective to pursue both goals simultaneously? The whole notion of crawling before you can walk. Be careful you don't stretch yourself too thin.

Having just faced a similar problem I can tell you that I'd rather finish one thing than do two things poorly.

Hey James,

The thing to consider within the MSU is that there are a lot of people. The President's role is to set the direction for the organization. Not everything in Aaron's platform is something that he plans to accomplish on his own, but things that he plans to ensure happen under his direction. With himself, 3 VPs, multiple committees, the SRA and the services of the MSU, with the direction he is setting, I don't believe he is stretching himself thin at all - it's important to work on both.

Good point and you're quite correct that if the right leader is chosen then the direction will indeed be set and followed through!

However the only problem I foresee will occur when the committees, the SRA and all those other people you mentioned aren't on the same page. Which is likely in any large group.

I'm only drawing on my own experience and as you've pointed out there are certainly positives to large groups, I just haven't seen any during my time at Mac.