Election Dissection 2013

the

gateway

www.thegatewayonline.ca

feature 15

Volume 103, Issue 23

Election Dissection compiled by April Hudson and Michelle Mark photos by Selena Phillips-Boyle

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tudent politics can be exhausting for students who don’t speak the language. And with this year’s presidential race featuring two experienced, well-matched politicians, even students who have a background in the public sphere could find themselves confused. The Gateway’s Election Dissection brings together three SU experts to act as your translators — and to go through each candidate’s platform with a fine-toothed comb. News Editor April Hudson and Online Reporter Michelle Mark sat down with the panel shortly into the campaign period to analyze each race and determine which candidates, if any, deserve to represent you for the 2013/2014 school year. Panel expresses disappointment in lack of both female candidates and contested races The discussion kicked off with the panel brainstorming reasons for the continuing trend of all-male executives as well as this year’s lack of opposed candidates. Considering last year’s hotly contested races, Ross suggested that perhaps years of heavily and lightly contested elections tend to alternate. “It seems to go in waves,” he said. “We had the race two years ago where only one race was contested ... then there was the explosion where (there were) two to four candidates for every race last year. “That’s what we’re probably seeing again this year: just everyone’s trying to posture themselves and time themselves appropriately.” Ross also described the trend of all-male executives as a strange one, pointing out that most faculty and department associations on campus have a fairly even gender split, with females regularly filling presidential or vicepresidential roles.

However, Eldridge countered that since the Students’ Union is a more prestigious organization than faculty associations, the lack of female candidates is only to be expected. “I think that’s the trend you see in corporations and businesses — it’s that the higher you go, the fewer females that there are,” she said. “The closer to the top it is, the less likely there’ll be females there, and I think we’re seeing the exact same thing.” Wa Kaai described her own experience as a female councillor considering running for an executive position, saying that she decided not to run out of uncertainty of what the Students’ Union could provide for her. “(I’m) not saying that it wouldn’t have been a good idea for me to be an executive, but I think the more that I talked to women involved in the Students’ Union, it also tends to factor in that way,” she said. “A lot of them have goals to achieve and life plans, and sometimes the Students’ Union doesn’t factor in, and that’s okay.” Ross pointed out that the lack of female executives in itself could be deterring women who might otherwise consider running.

The Panel Alex Eldridge is a current graduate student in Library and Information Studies. She was The Gateway’s Editor-in-Chief for the 2011/2012 news year, and served as the Senior News Editor for the 2010/2011 year. In addition to covering the Students’ Union during her time at The Gateway, she followed Students’ Union politics and elections closely throughout her undergraduate degree.

Ngina wa Kaai sat on Students’ Council for two years as a representative for the Faculty of Education. She served as the campaign manager for previous elections candidates, including Arts student Dorothy Roberts and current Chief Returning Officer Farid Iskandar.

Michael Ross is currently a graduate student at the U of A, but he still keeps a close eye on the Students’ Union. After serving as an Engineering councillor for two years on Council, Ross was also last year’s Speaker. He keeps a blog, which sometimes addresses political issues, and has been writing for The Gateway since leaving his Council duties and beginning his graduate degree.