YO U R NEW PRESIDENT Issue 14 By-Election Supplement – 06th June 2011
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News OUSA By-Election
LANDSLIDE WIN
for “people’s president”
Logan Edgar Last Friday, 2nd year BCom student Logan Edgar was elected OUSA president in a landslide victory. Edgar’s
He wiped his eyes, and tried to make it look as if he wasn’t crying
success has been simultaneously heralded as a victory for the “average joe” student, and condemned as the worst thing to ever happen to OUSA. Although Edgar originally entered the race as a “joke candidate”, he soon amassed huge support from the student body, and ultimately won 1265 votes, an impressive 740 more votes than runner-up Francisco Hernandez. Indeed, Edgar gained more support by 25 votes than the total votes for all the other candidates combined.
Reaction from the other candidates The results were announced in the OUSA Boardroom to a small crowd, approximately half of which were Edgar supporters. According to a Critic reporter who was present, Edgar’s reaction to the result was reminiscent of an emotional participant in Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. “He wiped his eyes, and tried to make it look as if he wasn’t crying”. The other candidates to run were Brad Russell, Francisco Hernandez and Shonelle
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Eastwood, who as current exec members, will serve alongside Edgar. Russell, who was graceful in defeat, commented that he was “looking forward to working with Logan”. Hernandez, who appeared variously speechless and angry in the boardroom, said “I’m super devastated yeah but that’s just politics aye.. Logan won because he was able to tap into that raw nerve of populism”. Eastwood commended Edgar on his “excellent campaign”, and added “I’m looking forward to working with Logan and I think there is an onus on the whole Executive to make sure we are all working as a team and giving him the support he needs.”
Lovers and Haters According to OUSA life member Kyle Matthews, Edgar is not the first “joke” candidate to win a presidential election. “Adrian Reeve won the 1994 Presidency, though a lot closer than this. He was running against the 1993 Vice-President. Adrian sold pot from the
OUSA By-Election News Presidential Office, among other things.” However, Matthews believes that Edgar is even less serious than Reeve. “Adrian was all ‘OUSA should be about partying’ and stuff, but he never said anything as offensive as making women more promiscuous.” Given Edgar’s inexperience and lack of OUSA institutional knowledge, many are concerned that Edgar could have a negative impact on OUSA when it is already vulnerable. Matthews stated “This is the worst possible time for OUSA to be electing a kid who knows nothing about OUSA, whose most prominent campaign promise is treating women like an object for the pleasure of men, and who doesn’t seem to have any leadership experience running a large organisation like OUSA at all. This isn’t a joke, it’s not CV building, it’s about people and an organisation that matter. I don’t know what the reasoning was behind the many people who voted for him, but he looks to me like the opposite of what OUSA needs in 2011.” Other students agreed with Matthews, expressing their new-found support for VSM. Noted one Facebook commentator “students clearly aren’t grown up enough to have their own associations”. However, others people have commented that Edgar’s victory signals a change in OUSA, that it may begin to engage with and represent a wider spectrum of students, including those who had been previously uninvolved in OUSA.
The campaign and its controversies Edgar won students’ approval with campaign slogans such as; “I didn’t get a B- in the BSNS104 midterm without knowing a thing or two about economic policies” and “Logan Edgar- Because his Mum loves him”. Although the vast majority of his votes likely came from his supporters, some students commented that their vote for Edgar was “essentially a ‘No Confidence’ vote”. Noted one student, “Basically, I voted for Logan to express my
dissatisfaction with how OUSA has been run for the past few years.” Edgar’s campaign was not without controversy. According to Returning Officer Imogen Roth, four formal complaints were made against Edgar. At the time of reporting, none of the complaints have been upheld, although there is the possibility that complainants may appeal to the executive. Roth says that, given the potential for a conflict of interest, any appeals may be referred to an independent arbitrator instead. According to Hernandez, some of Edgar’s campaign workers were responsible for a chalk smear campaign, which read “Hernandez Loves Cock”.
Election turn out The voter turn out was relatively high, especially given it was a by-election, which typically attract less interest. Returning Officer Imogen Roth said “We’re really glad with the turnout and we hope to get more students involved and voting in the second semester when we elect a President for 2012”. By comparison, ex-OUSA President Harriet Geoghegan won the 2010 Presidential election with 948 votes. The voter turn out is also high compared to other universities; the current president of Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association (VUWSA) Seamus Brady was elected by only 560 votes. Despite the negativity, newly elected Edgar is staying positive. “Everyday I’m in office I’m going to work as hard as I can for OUSA”. After the announcement, Edgar and his supporters celebrated in the boardroom with beer and a goon, courtesy of OUSA. – Julia Hollingsworth
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Edgar won students’ approval with campaign slogans such as; “I didn’t get a B- in the BSNS104 midterm without knowing a thing or two about economic policies”
News In Pictures
Looking sharp on the campaign trail
Brad Russell flashes the camera a cheeky grin while waiting for the election results.
Francisco Hernandez speechless as he hears his results read aloud.
OUSA secretary Donna Jones congratulates the new president
Down to business: with his priorities clearly in order, Edgar cracks open a celebratory goon
Edgar dictates his inaugural press release Critic 14: By-Election Supplement –
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Infographics News
How You Voted Logan Edgar
88.3% Didn’t Vote
423
Bradley Russell
292
Shonelle Eastwood
Votes for Logan
1265 1240
525
Francisco Hernandez
11.7% Voted
*No Confidence, 61 **Abstain, 18 Critic 14: By-Election Supplement –
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Votes for Brad, Francisco, and Shonelle
1265
Who Voted
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Logan Edgar Interview
The King of the Scarfies
Logan’s election has polarised students, resulting in both fear and excitement amongst the student population. We had a chat with Logan about his reaction to the news, his plans for the future, and his feelings towards his critics. Why did you first decide to run? I was walking out of BSNS104 with a big smile on my face after stomping out a B- in the midterm when Lozz Holding calls me and tells me to meet outside OUSA at 3pm with my student ID because I am being nominated for OUSA president. 90 minutes later, I was suited up in the boardroom.
How do you think it will be working with the other candidates (the candidates that ran against Logan will also be on the exec)? I can honestly say that Brad goes good on the piss. Shonelle and I have also had some fun at the OUSA staff party. I look forward to working with all the candidates and embracing all their great ideas in the next few months.
How did you feel when you heard you’d won? I fainted for a wee bit, then had a wee tear and then felt rather aroused.
What’s the first thing you’re going to do in office? I am employing a painter to produce a mural of me naked fighting a lion to stretch across the oval office ceiling.
Why do you think so many people voted for you? Because students can actually relate to me and don’t see me as some ‘elite’ political knob-end.
What’s the most important change you will bring to OUSA? It’s connection with students. What they want is more important than what a few detached people in the boardroom want and that needs to be addressed.
How did you celebrate your victory? For a start, we finished the 15 pack in the boardroom, followed up with a white wine goon kindly supplied by OUSA. From there we ventured across to Liquorland, where we purchased two 24 packs of speights and two 12 packs of flame. After finishing those with a good group of my core supporters, we went to a BYO for my adopted scarfie mother’s 23rd. From there we went to the Octy and got hard on it, presidential style. How did your Mum react? My adopted scarfie mum fed me up on Rosé at her birthday. My genetic mother was rather excited but clearly did not understand the magnitude of the whole situation. Are you excited about your new role? I’m so fucking excited! Are you concerned that you might not know enough about OUSA to be president? No.
What do you do in your spare time? Spoon-feeding the malnourished scarfies of impoverished Castle St. If you get to know them, all they want is a hug. Your slogans seem to be what impressed (and angered) people the most. How did you come up with them? I have a team of political experts and dedicated funny cunts that have helped me along the way. Has your campaign increased your popularity with the ladies? Do you get recognized on the street? Yes… You could say that. What do you want to say to all the haters? I think that a lot of them are caught up in the petty bickering of student politics and thinking that OUSA should be run like a business, when really what I want to change is making OUSA a voice for the reallife students. If you guys have just a little bit of patience, you’ll soon see how the big dog barks.
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Opinion James Meager
PUNDITRY He may not know much about OUSA politics, but he has the potential to do an alright job, argues ex-Finance and Services Officer and mydeology.co.nz blogger James Meager. Logan Edgar has won the OUSA Presidential By-Election, replacing the Association’s most recent deserter, former President Harriet Geoghegan. Originally presumed to be a cunning media plant, Edgar stormed to victory and will receive 7 months worth of Presidential salary (roughly $17,500), which experts expect to be injected directly into the local alcohol, pies and blue Powerade industry. This author extends his whole-hearted congratulations to Edgar, who now has the challenging task ahead of him of governing an Association facing a $1.8million drop in revenue, increasing levels of staff distress and an apathetic student membership. Edgar guaranteed his win after a comprehensive social media campaign, spurning the traditional handing out of candied bribes by relying on comprehensive social networks to create a Facebook “Page” with over 600 “likes” and Vote Logan Event with near on 1000 attendees. His ability to reach out to the “Jo(e) Average” student has the potential to engage a new cohort of members who were previously uninterested and unaware of an OUSA existence. He will not be without his detractors though. Edgar was given numerous warnings throughout the campaign after several complaints were made against him, including accusations of smearing other candidates with homophobic slurs, producing posters promising to make Dunedin females “more promiscuous”, and using other students’ IDs to cast votes in his favour. Some are worried that Edgar represents the overly advertised and “unfortunately unprogressive” proportion of University students, those who feature highly in riots, the Dunedin Hospital A & E, and faeces related escapades. I’ll give Edgar the benefit of the doubt. If he has what it takes to give OUSA the kick in the arse that it desperately needs, if he can connect with those not “typically engaged” with OUSA, then that can only be a good thing. Some may not particularly like the students’ choice of President, but that’s democracy for you - students were offered a choice, and they’ve made a clear decision about the type of leader they want. So what next for Edgar? He will quickly learn that the job of President is often restricted to being the voice and image of the Association, rather than the actual decision maker. It is the Executive as a whole, and ultimately the students who will make the big decisions regarding the future of OUSA. But if he can act in a presidential role which represents the needs and concerns of all students, then he is certainly doing no worse than any other President of late. It will take a while to get on top of what he needs to do functionally as President, however there are plenty of vocal “advisors” around to lend their opinion, be assured of that.
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