President's Platt-form: See what I did there?

When I initially contacted Brian Platt, asking him a few questions about his Presidency and the direction he wants to take it in, I was preparing an article about the election and had contacted various other sources, including Ryan Trasolini, so that I could provide a well balanced analysis of how the contest got so close between the three candidates, as well as where the AUS will go from here. While I was preparing this article, Ryan Trasolini filed a complaint stating that there were problems with the count. After a recount, it was confirmed that the initial count was indeed valid.

There are now rumours swirling that Ryan Trasolini is going to attempt an appeal to the Student Court, which may or may not do anything.

In the meantime I wanted to share Brian Platt's responses to my questions, because though the article that I was planning on writing can't really happen anymore, I think it is worthwhile to take a look at the person who is going to be the next AUS President, barring any new complications. My prediction is that Brian Platt will stay President, given that both the initial count and the recount revealed the exact same results, and that rumours sometimes are just that, rumours and not fact. So congratulations President Platt, I wish you good luck.

Given that you won by one vote, that of the Elections Administrator, how consultative do you think you need to be with the student body at large in AUS decision making?

The AUS' problem is that the student body in general doesn't CARE about anything the AUS does. So to be honest, consultations are pretty far down my list of concerns. What we need to do is make the AUS relevant to Arts students, to get them coming out to events, to make sure they know what the AUS is and why it's important to exercise your right to vote in the elections. And I feel like I have a pretty good grip on how to accomplish this.

I'd be more worried about my slim margin of victory if something more than a tiny fraction of Arts students actually voted in the election.



Is there a place for your two opponents in the AUS, and if so what do you see their role as being?

The only thing I care about is that the person serving in a given position is capable and hard-working, and that they care about doing their job well. If Mike or Ryan want to stay involved, then I welcome that--but on those conditions, of course.

The corollary to that statement is that I'm also not afraid to tell anyone, regardless of their "political standing", that I think they're wrong for a certain job and I don't want them to have it.


What are the major failures of last year and how do you plan to solve them?

Well, a month ago the AUS suddenly found itself with a large budgetary surplus to get rid of, and they chose to do so by spending a whackload of money on the elections week. Most of those events were quite poorly attended, and it makes me shudder to think about how much student fee money was churned through for such a small return.

But the AUS should never have been in that position in the first place. Either they had a very bad plan from the start, or there was an absymal failure to follow a good plan. I understand it's easy to sit back and criticize from the outside, but I tell ya, I'm not the only one who feels this way. A lot of AUS Councilors do, too.

Under my Presidency, every single dollar of what we take from Arts students will be squeezed for all it's worth. I will always keep in mind that I have been trusted with hundreds of thousands of dollars of other people's money, and will act accordingly.


Will you bring fun back to the AUS?

Oh hell yes. We will set the tone early. You won't recognize the AUS next year. Trust me.

Shortest Scandal Ever

According to reliable sources, Brian Platt remains the incoming AUS President. The votes stand. Nice mustache.

AUS Presidency Controversy

Ryan Trasolini has filed a complaint over his loss to Brian Platt by one vote, that of the Elections Administrator Matthew Naylor.

In an open letter written by Trasolini he claims that the votes for the position of AUS President were miscounted, and that a discrepancy exists between the reported tally of the Elections Committee and that of the totals approved by scrutineers Ignacio Rodriguez and Nathan Tippe. Scrutineers oversee the counting of the ballots as candidate's representatives to ensure that the handling of ballots is done in a fair and impartial manner, and is reflective of the correct total. Ignacio Rodriguez was the scrutineer for Mike Silley, who was 16 shy of the total of the two tied candidates. Nathan Tippe was the scrutineer for Trasolini. Brian Platt did not have a scrutineer present at the time of ballot counting.

Both Rodriguez and Tippe had signed a document prior to the official announcement of the results stating that they agree with the totals given. Prior to his announcement that he will have to cast the tie breaking vote, Matthew Naylor presented the audience of a dozen or so people in the Gallery with the signed statement from the two scrutineers that the totals were fully representative of the votes cast, though it is important to state that scrutineers oversaw the paper ballot counting, and electronic votes were sent to the Elections Committee after approval from Chris Eaton, Academic Governance Officer. The document was written by Ignacio Rodriguez and was meant to certify that the scrutineers believed the vote counting was done properly.

Trasolini claims he should have won with a total of 204 votes to Platt's 202, stating that the two scrutineers both believe that Trasolini was 10 votes ahead of Platt in paper ballot counting, giving him a victory of 2 votes once the 8 vote lead by Platt in nline ballots is reduced. Upon being contacted for comment, Ignacio Rodriguez said "as a scrutineer I watched the counting of paper ballots, as I have said I believe that was handled properly and correctly. When adding up the total, the calculations were based on a Ryan Trasolini being 10 votes behind. Obviously if this was incorrect then the results would change. I have complete faith in the EA [Elections Administrator Matthew Naylor] to rectify any unintentional mistakes."

Matt Naylor: The Decider

Because my computer is about to run out of batteries, I will keep this brief. Brian Platt and Ryan Trasolini were tied after votes were counted for position of AUS President, and Matt Naylor, AUS Elections Administrator cast the final deciding vote. His vote was for Brian Platt, our new AUS President.

Excited for Constiuency Election Results? Too bad.

According to sources, the constituency results (at least in full) will be delayed until Monday at the earliest due to there not yet being a list of eligible voters made available to the respective Elections Administrators from the Registrar's office. Once the list is available, votes can be counted and full results released.

We're crossing our fingers.

GO VOTE!

This picture is something that is awesome. Awesome like democracy. Voting ends today at 5 pm, if you haven't voted yet, please do.

Information on voting is available here.

Interview with SUS AMS Hopeful Karen Lee

What do you seek to accomplish as SUS AMS Rep?

This past year, I have been increasingly active in the AMS and have experienced the barriers that discourage students from getting involved. Trying to get involved is intimidating and finding information on how council works is not that easy. As SUS AMS Rep, I would like to continue my work as a member-at-large on the Student Life Committee and Document Access Working Group to make information more accessible to students and to find more ways to engage students.

What do you think the biggest problem facing the AMS is today?

There are a number of issues facing the AMS today, but I think the biggest problem is the ongoing structural deficit. The AMS is neither broke nor in debt, but its spending cannot be sustained for more than 5 years. Fortunately, I have witnessed current councilors and committees working hard to fix this problem. Due to their hard work, I am confident that this problem will be resolved before the AMS sustains any serious financial damage.

What is your greatest strength? What is your greatest weakness?

I think my greatest strength would be my passion for student involvement and engagement. I feel that UBC has lost the school spirit and pride that was present in the past. Many students today are no longer aware of the goings-on on campus. I feel very strongly about this because I was able to make the transition from un-involved to involved. Since this personal change, I have been able to encourage many people to care and to stay informed on AMS and campus issues today.

For my greatest weakness, I will have to admit that my knowledge of the AMS is not as thorough as I would like it to be. This is why I have been attending council meetings, multiple committee meetings and talking to councilors to learn as much as I can. I have learned a lot in the past year but there is still much more to learn. I can only hope that my thirst for knowledge can be quenched as a SUS AMS Representative.