www.thecourieronline.co.uk Monday 9 March 2015 Issue 1308 Free
PLAY TIME All the games you should be procrastinating with this Easter p. 40
The Independent Voice of Newcastle Students
ELECTIONS RESULTS The full run-down of the winners fromlast week’s campaigning p. 3
New Union officer team crowned after biggest ever election race By Tom Nicholson Editor The officer teams for 2015/16 were announced on a night of high drama in NUSU’s Venue last Friday. The sabbatical officer team, who will take over from this year’s crop of elected Union officials in July, will comprise of: Dom Fearon, President of the Union; Matt Price, Education Officer; Luke
Allison, Welfare and Equality Officer; Hannah Goring, Activities Officer; Victoria Armstrong, Editor of the Courier; and Angus Taylor, Athletics Union Officer. The Presidential ballot was the most open race in recent Union elections history, with a previously unheard-of nine candidates standing for the post. Fearon led from the first round of voting, with a commanding 264-vote
lead over his nearest rival Will Herbert. As the rounds progressed Fearon’s lead held steady, and by the final round of vote redistribution under the alternative vote system Fearon had won by 229 votes over Charlotte Gower in second place, whose 760 votes out of 3232 cast couldn’t match Fearon’s 989. Speaking after the announcement, Fearon said: “Words can’t describe how I feel at the moment. I was basically
Est 1948
DISSO BREAK-UP The seven stages of grief after hand-in p. 15
47 candidates fight for power over course of 14 ballots Turnout up by just 4 voters on last year to 4310 despite massive promotional push Proportion of voters who are international students leaps to 21% trying not to have a heart attack for the last hour [before the announcement]. I had my dissertation in for Wednesday, so [it’s been] by far the most stressful period of my life. Luckily it was all worth it. I think I’m going to get badly peer-reviewed. I think the AU backing helped. I just really wanted it, so I tried my best and smashed it as early as possible.” The ballot for Education Officer
followed a similar pattern, with the eventual winner, Matt Price, establishing an early lead which he maintained throughout the five rounds of voting to finish with a 141-vote lead over Nicholl Lynch in second place. Third-placed Tom Gordon, previously an unsuccessful candidate at last year’s officer elections, promptly resigned from all of Continues page 2