Student Leader Hustings

Monday lunchtime, the student leader candidates had their chance to put their policies to passers-by on the SUSU concourse. The Tab was there to take notes.

First up, the RAG officer candidates took to the stage. The main thing separating them seemed to be their opinion on the best way for RAG to raise money: Ross Nation believes big events like the Kilimanjaro trip are worthwhile, Alice Gray wants to see more people doing activities they haven’t done before and Charlotte Von Sicard would like a Big Brother style event which apparently other unions do.

Moving on, SUSUtv candidates Catherine Darcy and Tim Brooks were in agreement that their productions need the common branding but Catherine was keen to point out Tim didn’t have experience of running a team within the TV media arm. Tim directed people to his manifesto, arguing for more society collaborations. Both seemed to me to be strong candidates for the role.

Surge was up next, with Claire Joines largely agreeing with everything Jamie Barker said. However, they seemed to disagree on the purpose of Surge, with Claire arguing they were there to produce the best output and Jamie believing widening participation would lead to competition among DJs and would raise standards in that way. “Try something fun, that’s what student radio is about, if it doesn’t work it’s not the end of the world,” Jamie told the audience.

Of the three candidates for Edge editor, only Matt Timmiss was there, which gave him a decent chance to put his case. He wants to rename the Edge to “end confusion with the gay club” and for fresh publicity. He’d like to update the website to present the writers’ work better and organise socials to increase the community feel.

Sam Everard is unopposed for Wessex Scene editor but couldn’t resist making a gag about RON never turning up. He put a strong case for his vision of the paper, emphasising collaboration with other media departments, the AU and forging links with Solent and the police to improve news content. I asked him how he sees the Tab-Scene rivalry and Sam responded well, saying “I don’t see why it doesn’t have to be healthy, with meetings between the editors and encouraging people to write for both.”

Laura Mason, running unopposed for the new Nightline student leader position, answered a question from Chloe Green with her vision for Nightline in a year which included better promotion and more integration with other SUSU welfare services.

Next on stage was international officer candidate Vlad Novikov whose two competitors weren’t present so could take the time to expand upon his manifesto and answer a question from Chloe about integrating international freshers’ week and welcome week. Vlad believes international students “need as much support as they can get to adapt to their new home” and said they don’t want to be separated from the UK students through freshers’ week so they can easily join societies and groups. He emphasised the importance of halls for internationals, arguing “JCRs should have a responsibility to include internationals.”

Finally Adam Proudly and Jack Kanani, Sports Participation Officer candidates, were asked if every student should do some kind of sport. Jack said the key thing here is accessibility, Adam was eager to say everyone should at least try a sport. A key difference between them was on the issue of cost for the more casual sportsperson. Jack argued “they should invest in order to participate” and that sports clubs can’t be free because “in the real world, it can’t happen.” Adam said there should be more free taster days.

It’s a shame there wasn’t much of an audience for our student leader candidates since these positions play an important role in the running of the union. With campaigning now in full swing, expect some of these races to be among the most closely fought in the SUSU elections. A full list of candidates with links to their manifestos can be found here.