Who’s excited about student politics??

Me! And hopefully some of you as well…

I have the exciting opportunity this year to cover the goings-on of our beloved UWSA. Though some complain about rampant student apathy at the U of W, I feel that student politics are absolutely interesting and worthwhile. I’ve always admired those who take an active interest in the world around them, it’s pretty awesome.

Bottom line: The UWSA has power, and can get things done. It represents and is accountable to students (likely, that’s you!), so use it, and stay informed, even if it simply means reading this blog. I do hope I can step up the challenge.

So how are they doing so far?

Well, a booze-extended O-week seems to have been a success. Really, what student can complain about daytime drinking and day long performances by a diverse array of local artists? That is, of course, not to mention free food and sign-ups for some pretty awesome workshops.

But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. Just who are our UW Student Association executives this year? We have…

Kelly Ross, Vice President Student Services
Geoff Brown, Vice President Internal
Barb Wilton, Vice President Advocate

And, dun-dun-dun… our Co-presidents for the 2008-2009 year are—

Vinay Iyer.

That’s right, we have one part-time co-president—our first bit of controversy for the year? Maybe.

Now to be clear, Iyer certainly has full authority as UWSA president, however he is officially only working half-time hours, since his former co-president Tasha Spillett resigned in July. Spillett chose to give up her position after receiving a full scholarship from the Business Council of Manitoba toward her Education degree.

Fair enough. Congratulations, Tasha! Though I could go on a tirade about the fickleness of student politicians and how they don’t take their positions seriously, I’ll save it for now. Yes, it is a bit odd that we only have a half-time president. But, Iyer has experience in the UWSA from his previous position as Vice President Advocate, and he is confident that the rest of his executive will be able to pick up any possible slack. Plus, in the past UWSA has consisted of a mere two executives, so let’s not be too quick to complain about 3.5.

I plan on waiting to see what the UWSA delivers this year, and going from there. Let’s judge them on their performance as opposed to some lofty matters of principle.

The truth is, as important as student politics are, it’s quite obvious that they can’t be judged with the same severity as real-world politics. It’s a different ball-game, with a different set of standards. This does not negate the importance of participating in such things, nor is it an excuse to do badly at your job. It just means that the reality for students is that sometimes, our education requirements overshadow our other positions. I don’t blame Spillett for taking free money, and I doubt many students could. It’s unfortunate that she wasn’t able to keep her position, and now we’ll never know what she could have done for our school. Still, it happens. That is the nature of such short-term university positions. Now is the time to try things out, test our limits and see what we can do.

So, I’m excited to see what our slightly lighter load of UWSA executives have planned for the year.

Check back!