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Matt Clarke’s platform contains seven small-scale but tangible goals, as well as a call for students’ participation in determining what issues he should address if elected as MSU President.
Participation and making connections is Clarke’s theme for the campaign. He plans to improve the connection between the MSU and students by creating a suggestion box that will be placed outside of the MSU office. Along with this, Clarke will be collecting ideas throughout his campaign period to determine which issues are truly most important to students.
As a result, he has designed a feasible platform, but it does not contain many large goals in comparison to the other candidates. His platform lacks the ambitiousness and depth that some of the other candidates have.
“If something from [the participatory platform] comes to be a bigger idea it’ll really provide a project to work on and extend, as well as if Teddy [Saull] starts anything this term, there’s some loose ends that need to be tied up, keeping those projects going and making sure that his vision is also followed through in the following year,” said Clarke.
Clarke, who originally started at McMaster as an engineering student, names making the switch to the arts as a defining moment in his academic experience.
Q: Opponent you would vote for?
A: Ehima
Q: Opponent's platform point you would criticize?
A: Tristan Paul – Grocery Store
“Providing a grocery store on campus kind of solidifies [the McMaster] bubble rather than encouraging students to spread broader into the community.”
“What sets me apart is the diversity of experiences that I’ve had at this school,” said Clarke. “Although I lack the governance side of experience, I’m coming from a clubs background.”
Q: Most ambitious goal?
A: McMaster Art Crawl
The rest of Clarke’s platform is mainly small-scale goals, such as adding a computer charger rental service to the library and offering a healthy wrap option late at night at TwelvEighty. These goals could be accomplished rather quickly, which raises the question of how much impact Clarke’s presidency would actually have on students’ lives.
Two of the seven goals plan to renovate space that already exists at McMaster but isn’t being used to its full potential. Clarke plans to add bar-style seating and desks with electrical outlets on the second and third floors of the student centre.
He also wants to create an outdoor seating area in the small space between MUSC and Gilmour Hall.
“One of the points that really stands out to me is revitalizing that arts quad space. I think that’s something different that not a lot of people have looked at,” said Clarke.
When asked the most important student issue, Clarke named study space and support for students. He believes one of the best ways to support students is through extending the hours of operation for the peer support line by three hours per night, a service he currently works for and has worked for in the past.
“Perhaps students are having a hard time transitioning into university life […] Even just calling somebody to listen really can settle your thoughts and self into the community. It just provides students with a place where they belong.”
Despite this effort, it is unclear whether the Peer Support Line is the best way to address issues about student support and mental health. Other options should be explored to determine if the Peer Support Line provides the kind of support that students need.
When asked about his most ambitious goal, Clarke cited the McMaster Art Crawl, but added a disclaimer that he has tried to design a platform that is very feasible.
“I’ve tried to make my platform as achievable as possible,” said Clarke. “I think the toughest one to implement will likely be the art crawl. There’s a lot of different logistics that have to go behind the scenes, whether it is getting space, or selection of art, or making sure students are aware and are creating for that purpose.”
Clarke has a realistic platform, but in comparison to the other candidates, he will not make a very significant impact on student life unless he begins to start dreaming bigger.
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Five students are in the running to become the next president and CEO of the McMaster Students Union. Initially, six candidates were announced at a meeting on Jan. 17 in Council Chambers. One candidate, Thualshini Sooriyadas, pulled out of the race on Sunday, Jan. 19, the first day of campaigning.
Israa Ali is a fourth-year life science student and the MSU Diversity Services director. She is a co-chair of the McMaster President's Advisory Committee on Building an Inclusive Community.
Jacob Brodka, a third-year life science student, is running for a second consecutive time. Brodka is a 2013-14 SRA science representative and services commissioner for the MSU. He is the transition program coordinator for the Student Success Centre.
Jyssika Russell is a fourth-year biology student and the director of the Queer Students Community Centre (QSCC) on campus.
Teddy Saull is a fourth-year psychology, neuroscience and behaviour student. He is an IntroPsych teaching assistant and an academic experience advisor.
Thulashini Sooriyadas, a third-year geography student, pulled out of the race on Jan. 19, the first day of campaigning. She is an event coordinator for Free the Children at McMaster and an executive on the McMaster Creative Arts Dance Team.
Jason Wolwowicz is a fourth-year French and political science student. He is a 2013-14 SRA humanities representative, sits on the MSU executive board, and is the vice-president of McMaster Musical Theatre.
Each candidate has a $600 budget for campaigning funded by the MSU. According to election rules, candidates are not allowed to campaign door-to-door or post campaign material on Avenue2Learn or LearnLink. Candidates who campaign on Facebook will be restricted to doing so on their own page dedicated to the election. Voting, to take place online, will begin on Jan. 28 at 12 p.m. and end Jan. 30 at 5 p.m.
Photos by Tyler Welch / Senior News Editor
TheSil.ca will be home to continuing coverage of the election leading up to the voting results on Jan. 30. Follow us @theSilhouette and use #MSUpres14 to join the discussion on Twitter.
Amid all the big talk about the economy during this presidential election, a mini-drama played out earlier this week over the use of a song by The National in a pro-Mitt Romney video. The decision to soundtrack a Romney video with The National is a confusing one – the band played two concerts in support of Obama not even a month ago. And even more confusingly, the song used in the Romney video, “Fake Empire,” is the same song Obama used in a video about his “signs of hope and change” that came out shortly before the 2008 election.
The National posted a scathing response to the Romney video on Youtube, saying that “every single person involved in the creation of the music you’re using is voting for President Obama.” The video, made by a group called “Ohio University Students for Romney,” was taken down the next day.
You might see this as a win for artists looking to control how their work is used and to prevent it from being used without permission. Though it’s easier than ever to take and use music without permission, it’s also easier to get caught. When I watched the Romney video, The National’s comment had around 1,500 up votes, easily making it the top comment. It worked pretty well to undermine the message of the video. The band had real power; they were able to do something about the misuse of their work, which hasn’t always been the case for artists.
In the early 1990’s, members of “riot grrrl,” a feminist punk rock movement, notoriously avoided all contact with the media to prevent the misrepresentation of their message. If anything about the riot grrrl movement was expressed, it was on their own terms.
But avoiding the media completely isn’t a great solution, and The National have shown that artists today can still control how they are being presented while still reaching many people.
A question remains, though: Why did the Ohio University Students for Romney choose “Fake Empire”? Surely there are plenty of other songs that could have been used in the video that didn’t have such a clear association with Obama. Either the Students for Romney didn’t do their homework about the history of the song they decided to use, or they are actually much smarter than they seem.
News about the Romney video didn’t start to spread until The National commented on the video, and maybe the Ohio University students chose to use “Fake Empire” precisely because it was the worst choice they could have made. Publicity about a bad decision is still publicity. They were able to take advantage of The National’s ability to point out how ridiculous it was to use their music to also draw attention to the video it was in. It seems that artists will never be able to control the use of their work, even when it appears that they do.
And maybe, if we want to really take it to the next conspiracy theory level, the whole thing was cleverly planned so that the statement of apology made by the Ohio students would reach the largest number of people. The students used the opportunity to write, “unfortunately we’ve learned that partisan divide exists on Youtube and in music as much as it does in Washington.” The apology spins the whole thing to claim that Romney is really about bringing different people together, and though he is running on the idea that he represents a change from Obama, it’s a change that can appeal to everyone.
Is a partisan divide really such a bad thing?
Nolan Matthews, Senior ANDY Editor
