A group of York students has won the opportunity to have their very own I-phone application developed after winning The App Challenge final, held at the Ron Cooke Hub on Wednesday, January 18.
YUSU Welfare officer Bob Hughes has warned students to be vigilant after a student loans phishing scam has been revealed.
Her Majesty the Queen will be visiting York on Maundy Thursday, 5th April, as part of the 800th anniversary of York’s Charter for the traditional “Royal Maundy” ceremony.
A flood caused by a heating system “failure” forced the university IT services to shut down many essential systems on Sunday night, causing problems for many students on the eve of their exams and assignment due-dates.
My first live blog was last year's Roses, where everyone involved was running around trying to get news and results as soon as they were available... preferably before Nouse. Hustings are a little more tricky; it's easy to miss something, and miss a dozen other things trying to figure out what exactly it was that you missed.
So relaxing at home, albeit it a little wet from the rain, I'm taking a second look at tonight's events. Here are my two cents, for what they're worth.
One of the first things I noticed was the high number of positions with no candidates. Though three of the five paid positions have more than one candidate running, not one candidate is running for a voluntary or council position against an opponent. Furthermore, there are still ten positions with no candidates running.
Undoubtedly, this is a concern for the GSA. But Alistair Clark, one of the two candidates running for President, made a good point when he suggested this year will be a transitional one for the association. Whilst the GSA might have difficulty finding someone to stand for every position, those who do stand and are elected can put last year's problems behind them and ensure that next year, the GSA comes back stronger.
On the subject of Alistair, I was impressed with his speech tonight. What he lacks in experience with the GSA, he makes up for with passion and good ideas. His opponent, Rui Huang, is more familiar with the association, and has surely learned a lot from being involved in last year's elections. Based on their performances at Hustings, I think it's safe to say both Alistair and Rui would make a good President.
The two candidates for Welfare Officer, Tom Farnhill and Heather Rowley, also came off looking good as well. It was clear from their speeches that they both care a lot, which is important when you're paid to deal with welfare issues. It's a shame they can't both be elected; but regardless of who wins, the welfare of graduate students is in safe hands.
I was surprised by the absence of Seemal Asif, who is running for both Academic Affairs Officer and International Students' Officer. By not showing up tonight, she missed what was probably her best chance to legitimise her candidacy. Her Academic Affairs opponent, Kieran Alden, had some good ideas - he thinks the Academic Affairs Officer should be more available, so if he gets elected, good luck to him.
Acting President Richard Rhodes, who is running for Finance Officer, has already proved himself as an able GSA officer, and provided he doesn't get "ronned" I'm sure he'll do a good job of looking after the association's money. The other paid officer candidate, James Cousins, was asked several questions as the graduate students in attendance tried to determine his suitability for the role of Services Officer. In my opinion, he handled this pressure quite well.
In truth, I didn't see cause for concern with any of the candidates who stood at Hustings. No doubt the current GSA officers wish they'd seen more graduates put their names forward for election, but at least those who did all seemed competent - even Lauren Sewell, Kelly Sinclair and Pip Rackstraw, who ran for Events Officers impulsively. Clearly, lessons have been learned from last year.
It's worth pointing out that all of the positions with no one standing are those on Association Council - a completely new body this year that effectively takes over from General Meetings (UGMs) as the Sovereign body of the GSA. I would expect these to be filled very easily in a by-election when people realise how important they actually are.
Also, because we had to pass the new constitution last academic year, both paid and non-paid officers are being elected this term (normally paid officers will get elected in the summer term) which undoubtedly has an impact on the amount of people standing for the voluntary positions.
Is there some reason the results haven't been published as a follow-up?
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