The Contenders
Presidential candidates Allison Williams, Talia Radcliffe and Holly Archer vie for the AMS’s top spot in the upcoming election. (Harrison Smith)
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After-hours childcare needed, parent says
Last Friday AMS Vice-President (Operations) John Manning handed Ban Righ Centre Director Barb Schlafer an $8,422 cheque the AMS Board of Directors decided to give either the centre or Queen’s Day Care two and a half years ago. In July 2005, four months after the AMS Board of Directors cancelled the AMS-run After-Hours Childcare service (AHC), the Board decided to give the $7,797 collected from its opt-outable student fee—which had already been approved for that year—to either the Ban Righ Centre or Queen’s Day Care.
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Unpeeling AMS platforms
Team WCW wants the AMS to have a longer outlook than just a 12-month term. Vice-president (university affairs) candidate Yanique Williams said she wants AMS governments to begin to think in five or 10-year plans. The team’s slogan—“Are You Ready for Change?”—suggests they are looking to challenge the AMS’s transient nature, she said. Vice-president (operations) candidate Andrew Cameron said the team also wants to re-create the Queen’s Centre working group that existed a few years ago. The group would be made of AMS members and students-at-large.
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Canada-wide student government
The University of British Columbia’s Alma Mater Society executive gets lunch every day, plus cell phones. At the University of Western Ontario, institutional memory within the student government is ensured thanks to 55 full-time, permanent staff. Last year, Simon Fraser University’s student government executive was impeached. This year, each of the three members of the Queen’s Alma Mater Society (AMS) executive—President Kingsley Chak, Vice-President (Operations) John Manning and Vice-President (University Affairs) Julia Mitchell—will receive a $19,453 salary.
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Clark Hall Pub tops EngSoc platforms
Engineering Society presidential candidate Mitchell Curley says the situation surrounding Clark Hall Pub inspired him to enter the election. He decided to run after being inspired by Clark Hall debates at last Monday’s council meeting. Curley, Sci ’08, said he doesn’t see the situation as a daunting responsibility.
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Blue Chair initiative targets tuition fees
AMS Vice-President (University Affairs) Julia Mitchell hopes the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance’s Blue Chair campaign will encourage students to lobby for lower tuition fees, improved teaching quality and increased scholarships, bursaries and grants for students in financial need. Last week seven universities associated with OUSA set up blue chairs around their campus to represent empty spaces students should be able to fill in universities.
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