[temara.brown]

Undergraduate Election for the University Board of Governors

There will be an election held to elect an undergraduate representative to the Board of Governors. All you need to do to vote is check out each candidate's resume and platform, and vote online using your MacID! You may cast your ballot in this election any time from 8:30AM until midnight on Tuesday, October 20 and from 8:30AM until 4:30 PM on Wednesday, October 21, 2009.

For more information about this election, check out the website.

The candidates for the position are listed below. Their resumes are also attached:

Matthew Davidson, Honours Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, level III

Simon Gooding-Townsend, Honours Arts and Science, level II

Blair Gosselin, Electrical Engineering and Management, level IV

Norman Kearney, Honours Philosophy and Political Science, level III - (facebook, website)

Luke Lorenzini, Electrical Engineering, level III

Zohaib Naqvi, Commerce, level III (facebook)

Ashley Patton, Humanities, level II

Mandip Puri, Life Sciences, level II

Evan Stevens, Chemical Bioengineering, level IV

Siobhan Stewart, Anthropology, level II

* To candidates who wish to link further campaign material to this site, please contact this post's publisher or email links to [email protected] om

Yay Norman! Good luck to Norman and all the other candidates.

Alright, so I read everyone's "resumes" and any other supplementary things as well-- facebook, website. I'd like to point out a couple of things:
1. I highly recommend that many of you head to Career Services because those resumes are disastrous.
2. I don't know some of you, however, I know for a fact that you gave false information because I know what the positions you've held are actually like. It's one thing to make yourself stand out on your resume and it's another thing to lie. To those of you who have supplied inaccurate information, I won't call you out, but you definitely do not have my vote.

I want to add my two cents in here because I feel quite strongly about this.

This is a very important position, and in the past it has been underutilized. The people who have usually held this seat have been disjointed from the MSU, which is the primary advocacy body for Undergraduate students at McMaster.

This is a very bad thing, as the MSU conducts a lot of research, and a lot of outreach to students, and have a far better grasp on student issues than any single student would. The MSU President needs to be in good contact, and needs to have faith in the abilities of the Undergraduate Rep on the Board of Governors.

With that said, there is a sole candidate here who I believe actually should be in this position. The funny part is, when I first heard that this position was open, I said out loud to my friend "oh man, we really need to get ________ to run because he's the only person AT THIS SCHOOL who I feel can do it."

That person is Norman Kearney.

His resume is quite underwhelming compared to his actual qualifications.

First off, Norman is simply THE most well-rounded person on this list. He has been in multiple faculties, has involved himself with many different parts of student life: musical theatre, dance, advocacy organizations, lots of student mentorship, and he has previously been the Undergrad Senate Rep for Student Affairs (and in that role held his own in a big standoff with Dr. George -- something that not many people at this school can say.)

Norman understands the issues affecting students, and he is an excellent and experienced debater. His maturity level is unlike that of a normal 22-year-old and this allows him to very successfully communicate with people in positions of power in the University. Moreover, his vast involvement in the MSU has allowed him to cultivate good relationships with the people who do a lot of research into Undergraduate issues and viewpoints.

In short, I don't particularly care for any other candidates in this matter; period. My best friend could be running and I would still vote for Norman because he is the only person, who has the experience, knowledge and ability to properly represent us.

TBrown endorses Rohan's statement.

Go Norman Go!

In addition to Rohan's statement, Norman was the only candidate with the initiative to come talk to us (at our FLIRC meeting). Something I believe all the candidates should have done at some point.

I whole-heartedly support Evan Stevens. He is an amazing guy with great qualifications and ambitious intentions that will be a voice for all students.

I would like to support and reiterate all of what Rohan said! I've spent sometime going through all the resumes and I clearly feel that Norman Kearney deserves this position because of his extensive experiences, his background on a senate committee as well as his long term passion and commitment to the values of right and wrong. I don't think he will be least intimidated by the Board Of Governors when it comes to making sure student's are being put first!

While some of us might be strongly inclined to support a certain candidate because a) He's our Friend/Acquaintance/Friend's friend b) From the same ethnic/cultural/social group as us or c)Part of Our Faculty/Program. But I would still suggest still having Norman somewhere on your preferential list if not first because he his arguably the most qualified individual!

I will be voting for two people only in this election with Norman obviously being my first choice and Zohaib Naqvi second!

Originally Posted by deadpool

This is a very important position, and in the past it has been underutilized. The people who have usually held this seat have been disjointed from the MSU, which is the primary advocacy body for Undergraduate students at McMaster.

It's certainly true that communication with the senior student governments --- the McMaster Students Union (MSU) and McMaster Association of Part-Time Students (MAPS) --- is very beneficial, but the individual elected is not a spokesperson for those student governments.

Recent student governors may not have had regular contact with the MSU, but it was not always so. Norman Kearney will be the 18th undergrad to serve on the Board of Governors since student representation was added in 1976, but he won't be the first to have significant points of contact with the MSU. Craig Cowan (80-82), Joel Couse (82-84), Paven Bratch (84-86), Richard Baillie (90-91), Brent Herspegiel (91-93), Geoff Ritchie (93-95), and Kerstin Erickson (03-05) all served on the SRA during or prior to their terms on the BoG. Indeed, Bratch and Ritchie served on the BoG, Senate, and SRA concurrently.

At a time when University budgets will be more pressured than ever, and federal and provincial governments constrained by the economy from making large new investments in higher education, the student voice at the Board of Governors will be important to help keep the focus of resources on the quality of education McMaster provides. The newly elected governor, Norman Kearney, has proven himself a student leader who speaks eloquently and frames his positions cogently. In this respect, he reminds me of the very effective voice representatives like Joel Couse and Geoff Ritchie brought to the Board.

Now more than ever, students will need a voice like that working collaboratively --- but not subordinately --- with the leadership of the senior student governments. The responsibility for initiating and sustaining that dialogue is a two-way street.

Woah! Mr David Moore one question: HOW do you know about the history of student politics at McMaster all the way back to early 80's?

Originally Posted by ferreinm

Alright, so I read everyone's "resumes" and any other supplementary things as well-- facebook, website. I'd like to point out a couple of things:
1. I highly recommend that many of you head to Career Services because those resumes are disastrous.
2. I don't know some of you, however, I know for a fact that you gave false information because I know what the positions you've held are actually like. It's one thing to make yourself stand out on your resume and it's another thing to lie. To those of you who have supplied inaccurate information, I won't call you out, but you definitely do not have my vote.

It's over now right? So...... who was it?? :O

The winner was Mr Norman Kearney by a currently unknown number of votes!