Hey!

I'm Nashwa Khan and today is a special day , First Year Council Election Day! I am running with a diverse group and you may have already seen our video , if not and you have time please check it out; the link can be found below.

In regards to our platform as a collaborative group which ranges from Humanities, Science , Engineering and beyond we feel we can better voice first year concerns because we each bring a unique background to the table.

The A Team is comprised of...

Matt O'Brien - Male Co-chair
Nashwa Khan - Female Co-Chair
Meaghan Langille - Internal Commissioner
Melissa Meyer - Education Commissioner
Andrew Toye Ojo - Events Commissioner
Jacky Leung - External Commissioner

We , the “A –Team “ want to make First Year a family, that’s right a family, a fam jam, the best fam jam you’ve ever been a part of. That is the main goal of 2009-2010's First Year Council, also known as the FYC.

You might look at some other platforms out there, and they seem pretty extensive. A good platform should only take one paragraph to summarize, not a novel. We're here to serve you, not bore you.

So as a team, we believe the entire direction of FYC should follow these three basic pillars:

1) Accountability
*Allowing First Year students to sit in on meetings, suggest ideas, help plan events, and volunteer
*Bring power back to you. FYC should not just be a title anymore. FYC is the tool of students like you!

2) Reform
*FYC shouldn't be the "elitist" club for first year students. The FYC should be an accurate representation of the views, struggles, joys, and rich demographic diversity of Mac.
*Ensuring that efficiency is the top priority of the FYC in delivering the goods, not bureaucratic titles or red tape

3) Event-2-da-max
*Bringing new and exciting events that ONLY first year students can attend
*Formals, Christmas, Oktoberfest, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Welcome Week, Valentines, Spring, and many many more
*Ensuring YOU have a voice in all of those events!

We will get rid of the clutter and the confusion. If you want something, none of us want you to have to search through Mac's confusing site to get to it.

Direct communication links. Direct voice. Direct representation.

See? That didn't take a novel.







http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VeZjhTPKY8


polling will be taking place at The Student Center , Keyes Lobby, JHE, and Commons.


WANT TO BE THE CHANGE IN FYC, WE WANT TO REPRESENT YOU

Thanks and we really appreciate any support!

I wouldn't say I would agree with that to be honest! The whole "good platform should take a paragraph" one. It can be construed as not having a platform and instead using 3 cliche's everyone running for the FYC basically touches upon in their own way already! I see absoultely NO depth in your platform! Its awesome for getting voters but I'm reaaallly not impressed :S

You guys have a good video/posters/campaign but I don't see anything that shows you guys have done any homework regarding the bylaws/minutes and talking to past FYC members when it comes to advocacy and representation!

Any comments? I'm sure you guys have done alot of prep regarding the aforementioned notion; let the first years see it! You'll be surprised how much they might be willing to read; Uninspiring campaigns is one of the main factors in the 80%+ voter apathy level at Mac

Originally Posted by huzaifa47

I wouldn't say I would agree with that to be honest! The whole "good platform should take a paragraph" one. It can be construed as not having a platform and instead using 3 cliche's everyone running for the FYC basically touches upon in their own way already! I see absoultely NO depth in your platform! Its awesome for getting voters but I'm reaaallly not impressed :S

You guys have a good video/posters/campaign but I don't see anything that shows you guys have done any homework regarding the bylaws/minutes and talking to past FYC members when it comes to advocacy and representation!

Any comments? I'm sure you guys have done alot of prep regarding the aforementioned notion; let the first years see it! You'll be surprised how much they might be willing to read; Uninspiring campaigns is one of the main factors in the 80%+ voter apathy level at Mac

Huzaifa, I love you. Keep in mind that they are in first year and still do have a lot to learn. They're still transitioning from their high school mentality. The high school student council is very different than what a university one would be. Nevertheless, I agree with your points I prefer more information over less. I want to see people moving forward and if you only have three goals I don't see a lot of progress being made. Also, not everyone enjoys bylaws as much as us (and Callen).

Originally Posted by Nosh

Hey!
1) Accountability
*Allowing First Year students to sit in on meetings, suggest ideas, help plan events, and volunteer
*Bring power back to you. FYC should not just be a title anymore. FYC is the tool of students like you!

2) Reform
*FYC shouldn't be the "elitist" club for first year students. The FYC should be an accurate representation of the views, struggles, joys, and rich demographic diversity of Mac.
*Ensuring that efficiency is the top priority of the FYC in delivering the goods, not bureaucratic titles or red tape

3) Event-2-da-max
*Bringing new and exciting events that ONLY first year students can attend
*Formals, Christmas, Oktoberfest, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Welcome Week, Valentines, Spring, and many many more
*Ensuring YOU have a voice in all of those events!

Tip: fewer events = greater turnout
When midterms hit you'll have fewer people come out. Have a few events that are relevant to the needs to first year students and you'll have a greater attendance. I could see a formal being difficult because the IRC has the res-wide formal on November 6th and then second term everyone has formals so its like formal mania. Christmas is exam time plus it's not inclusive so you should call it a holiday event so that would be tough. From my experience in the residence system which is mainly first years plan big events in January and September. You can do a couple of small ones between October, November, February and March. December and April are always no event months because everyone's too focused on exams.

I support all of those running for these positions. It's great to see all of you so excited and driven to enhancing your experience here at Mac. However, keep in mind that you have the power make the FYC so much greater so why limit yourself to a few extra events and not being an elitist group. This is your first year experience make it the best year possible by going above and beyond.

Originally Posted by ferreinm

Huzaifa, I love you. Keep in mind that they are in first year and still do have a lot to learn. They're still transitioning from their high school mentality. The high school student council is very different than what a university one would be. Nevertheless, I agree with your points I prefer more information over less. I want to see people moving forward and if you only have three goals I don't see a lot of progress being made. Also, not everyone enjoys bylaws as much as us (and Callen).

lol I know what you mean Nicole! I'm pretty aware of the "they don't know alot about university" notion too! But that usually tends to give people a reason to not start doing work for FYC till its too late! My predecessor from the minutes(End of November): "what meetings do I have to attend? I am so out of the loop" who then resigned in January. Therefore as mean as it sounds to the poor froshies I have to harass the FYC people before and after elections so they know someone's watching them and hence they get pressured to work. I have discussed it with the BOD as well; they too will hopefully have a more proactive role this year!

Plus I have my awesome survey that needs to be put out by the FYC effectively next spring= Vested interest!

And since the polling period is over I can reveal that