Wednesday, October 30, 2013

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Getting it on with Gottfried Gilbert Gottfried is turning up the heat with a Londonthemed roast. >> pg. 4

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CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2013

VOLUME 107, ISSUE 31

Slate candidacy opens up for USC elections Elections committee allows candidates to declare earlier Stephanie Grella GAZETTE STAFF

Multi-faith town hall reaches few Megan Devlin NEWS EDITOR

Students planning to run for University Students’ Council president, vice-president internal or vicepresident external can now declare their intentions much earlier in the year, after new changes to election rules. The creation of the declaration of candidacy and declaration of endorsement is an effort to ease the presidential candidacy process. According to a USC press release, these declarations will now allow candidates to develop campaign teams and platforms more efficiently. “The DoC presents the opportunity for the elections committee to gauge how many slates and candidates there may be for the upcoming election, allowing us to properly plan for the elections period,” Pashv Shah, USC chief returning officer, said. “We are encouraging individuals to hold meetings and consultations officially. All of those actions have been known to happen roughly around this time, but it has usually been under the table.” Before now, candidates could not officially declare they were running until late January, while this year, slates can already declare candidacy for the spring election. The official campaign period still does not start until the new year, however. “In prior years, candidates would begin their campaign plans a year before the election, and everything was done behind closed doors,” Sam Krishnapillai, vice-president internal for the USC, said. “This is like formalizing a process that already exists behind the scenes.” The declaration of candidacy is not a replacement for the nomination form, but simply an additional component that states the candidate’s intent to run. Upon completion, the candidate must then complete a consultation meeting with the USC’s chief returning officer

FILE PHOTO

USC ELECTIONS CANDIDATES — NOW AVAILABLE EARLIER! The USC elections committee is now allowing potential candidates to declare their intent to run earlier, largely because candidates would begin preparing around this time anyway. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

to ensure they have an understanding of election preparations, including pre-campaigning limitations. “The DoC will benefit the candidates by providing them a way to put together a campaign team and get concrete feedback from their peers,” Shah said. Once the declaration of candidacy has been completed, the declaration of endorsement then allows the slate to register members of the USC clubs systems to be their endorser throughout the election. According to the USC, this new feature allows candidates to gain a greater amount of support from the Western student population. “The most important thing is strategy. If the slate has a good strategy, then they will target specific

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In prior years, candidates would begin their campaign plans a year before the election, and everything was done behind closed doors […] this is like formalizing a process that already exists behind the scenes. — Sam Krishnapillai

vice-president internal for the USC

groups and clubs to gather their support,” Shah said. By developing the declaration of endorsement, the USC hopes to drive the strategy and grow competition for votes between slates during the election. In past years, candidates have found it difficult to manage their support from large student groups while also campaigning, preparing for debates, studying and possibly holding other positions. “[The DoC] is making the elections process cleaner and fairer. It’s putting everyone on the same playing field,” Krishnapillai said. There have not yet been any declarations of candidacy for the spring elections.

The results of the University Students’ Council’s online town hall about the multi-faith room are in, but they might not paint a complete picture since not all interested parties were aware of the event. According to Sam Krishnapillai, vice-president internal for the USC, the online town hall was the second leg of a two-step consultation process with faith groups regarding the multi-faith space. “We spoke to them about the multi-faith space in the Mustang Lounge and the 24/7 prayer space that we have next to the chaplain’s office,” Krishnapillai said. “They all expressed the need for having a space that was accessible 24/7.” Krishnapillai mentioned incidents last year when students would come to the multi-faith room to pray only to find another club using the space for programming. According to Krishnapillai, the 24/7 prayer room coupled with the bookable multi-faith room have received good feedback. “I didn’t get one negative comment about it. I was actually surprised. I’ve heard a lot of great things about the 24/7 prayer room because it’s quieter and there’s natural light coming from a window at the back,” Krishnapillai said. However, not all faith groups were aware of the town hall. Amir Hage, president of the Muslim Students’ Association, said he didn’t receive an email or hear about the town hall at all. He said he would have had many things to discuss about the setup. “I would’ve said they need shoe mats, coat hangers, places to put your coats and bags because when a lot of people go in there — when winter comes and people come in with their shoes the room is going to >> see HEAT pg.3

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