Elections Special Issue One 28.02.17
The Sugar Review Returns! Who’s standing for what? Who actually is RON?
EDITORIAL
Loughborough Overheard You asked for a banger I gave you a banger You’re getting way too big for your booze Boy: “You’re being very quiet” Girl: “I’m watching a video about Komodo dragons thank you very much”
Hello all! And welcome to this very special first Exec Elections edition of Label for this year!
Far be it for me to pass judgement, members of my committee have been working away on some manifesto critiques, which might just resonate with you and all those niggling feelings you have towards the candidates and their plans for the future. This first mini issue contains critiques of arguably some of the most passionate candidates this year, so it is well worth giving them a read, and seeing if all that passion is likely to be all talk and no action? Our Head of Online, Marketing and Distribution, Beatrice Quarshie, has also made her way to these pages with her fabulous Sugar Review. At time of writing this editorial, I don’t know quite what it will include: probably some sweets, certainly some dishy male candidates, and (without a shadow of a doubt) some big laughs. If I love Exec Elections for one thing, this would be it! So what are you waiting for, dive in and immerse yourself in just a little more of this candidate-crazy world we are all living in. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! Leanna Kightley Label Editor
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Got som ething y want to ou say abo ut this is sue
OVERH SOMET EARD HING?
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Get in to uch on Twitte @LabelO nline r at
TOP T W E E T S
Jonathan Ako @President_LSU - Filmed my exec profile for @MediaEO_LSU today exec of #ExecElections George Hones @PostgradEO_LSU - For all the candidates that may not be successful in these #ExecElections - have you considered further study at @lborouniversity ?! JT @MediaEO_LSU - Excited to get started with Exec Elections media tomorrow... it’s been a long few weeks of planning
Illustration by Emily Forrester
Now, Exec Elections are in full swing, and love them or hate them they are here to stay for the next week. So, what do we think of the candidates so far?
Design by Jessie Foxford
Boy: “Well, that didn’t go in did it” Girl: “Heh, that’s what she said”
ACTION EO CANDIDATE
Illustration by Carla Borkmann
Running for Action EO for a second year Anna has amended her manifesto from 2016, learning from its previous strengths and weaknesses. Anna mentions the inclusion of postgraduate, international, college and London students all of whom are students who are often excluded from union affairs, and recognises out of term time as an optimal period for engaging with them. However, Anna fails to say how she will communicate with these students and advertise the opportunities to them. Although many will be in Loughborough out of term time many are not interested, have busy schedules and do not engage with the union or get involved. How would she go about making these opportunities appealing to these students?
Anna Milewska /AnnaForAction @Anna_For_Action
Although her points are clear, many of them do not expand on how she intends to solve the problems within Action, for example, she mentions understanding the student demographics better and creating a more comprehensive handover process, yet does not say how she will implement this. She also fails to mention the financial restrictions within the section. Having held the position of Action EO for a year, Anna clearly knows the section and shows a dedication to the role by aiming to reduce the amount of admin work involved in the position to spend more time working to improve the section for future years to come and recognises the importance of the educational aspect of Action, aiming to introduce co-curricular projects that enhance the academic achievements of students. Overall, her passion for Action is clear and she makes a promising candidate for the position. Lydia Kah-Pavlou Culture Editor
@am4action @Anna_For_Action
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ACTION EO CANDIDATE
However, while his manifesto is easy to understand many of the points are unclear and can be left to be questioned. Although he acknowledges postgraduate students the statistic he includes is incorrect as although 4,500 postgraduate students reside in Loughborough not all of them stay over summer. Rory also mentions summer incentives but how would this work? Postgraduates are hard to engage with; how does he propose to advertise these opportunities to them over the summer when the union is closed? He also fails to mention London and college students.
Rory Pears Rory 4 Action @Rory4Action @Rory4Action
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Another interesting point is the mention of targeting specific demographics with the right projects for them. Although this is a good idea, the majority of students who participate in Action already choose projects that appeal to them, how would he make a difference to the wider student population? Rory’s final point about hall committees also seems a bit irrelevant to the overall manifesto as hall Action reps are already responsible for effectively engaging the majority of freshers into projects throughout the year. Overall, Rory’s manifesto shows he has researched into the section and seems dedicated to improving Action making him a more than suitable for the position. Lydia Kah-Pavlou Culture Editor
Illustration by Carla Borkmann
Rory’s manifesto follows a “What?” “How?” “Why?” layout, showing he has a clear set of ideas and knows how he wants to implement them. He shows an understanding of the section by acknowledging the financial difficulties within Action and by proposing to work alongside the RAG EO he recognises weaknesses in the section and knows how to develop improvement.
MEDIA EO CANDIDATE
Illustration by Phoebe Logan
First and foremost, I was somewhat underwhelmed by Gafyn’s manifesto. This is the primary opportunity for a candidate to sell themselves to the voting population of Loughborough, and with 90 of an available 250 words used, Gafyn could perhaps be considered to be underselling himself. The mention of an increase in the regularity of events such as ‘Make Your Mark’ is a reasonable suggestion to improve LSU Media’s outreach, though realistically how many more of these engagement events are possible, perhaps an increase to one in Semester 1 and one in Semester 2? I will be interested to hear further about this in the Bubble Debate.
Gafyn Donald
The YouTube viewership point was dissected in Gafyn’s Label interview, if implemented this will detract traffic from LSU Media’s site and as highlighted by R.O.N licensing issues are also a point of concern. The mention of an improvement to the Hall Media marking scheme is pragmatic and considered, though a degree of specificity will be required in Gafyn’s Bubble Debate to justify its inclusion as 1/6th of a manifesto. Match Report has been a huge success this year and the prospect of creating more shows with a student orientation is a promising manifesto point from Gayfn, I look forward to hearing about specific show ideas at a later date. Gafyn’s manifesto offers relative promise, though I feel there are not a lot of original ideas. However, a strong theme and notable social media presence are positive signs to his campaign.
/GafynMcdonaldMedia
Tom Newman
McDonald4Media @McDonald4Media
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MEDIA EO CANDIDATE
Training is of undeniable importance in improving volunteers and allowing them to develop: this is a promising manifesto point. However an all inclusive ‘LSU Media training programme’ would require collaborative consistency across all sections, and with the inevitable disparity in skill-sets required for differing sections, e.g: LSUTV - Label, this will surely provide logistical difficulties: Tom will have to expand on this point in detail in his Bubble Debate.
Tom Stovell /TomAndMedia @TomAndMedia
The mention of ‘handbooks’ is in principle a strong point, though with handovers already existing between successors, how do these ‘books’ offer a different and improved strategy? Are committee members keeping weekly, monthly or termly entries? I would like to hear about this further as it has potential, but also has potential to be a waste of time. The implementation of ‘periodic workshops’ is a bright idea, though similarly to my criticism of Gafyn’s first manifesto point, the regularity of these events will have to be specified in both temporal and logistical terms. The mention of establishing a full marketing committee is again promising from Tom, though acting as its own section is potentially divisive. Marketing is an immensely effective tool for cross-sectional publicity, so whilst in principle this point has its merits, it will require expansion in the Bubble Debate to iron out a few creases. Tom Newman
@TomAndMedia
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Illustration by Phoebe Logan
Tom Stovell’s manifesto offered a four-fold systematic structure, with an emphasis placed on training, an improvement to the handover period for committee members, alongside developing LSU Media’s recruitment and marketing strategies.
SOCIETIES EO CANDIDATE
Firstly, Sam’s manifesto is well-structured and broken down into key issues that they wish to address. They start by highlighting the need for more societies on the London campus. Attention to the universities London postgrad office has been and increasingly large issue in recent elections and its inclusion here is predictable but that is not to say it isn’t relevant. The idea of working with other branches to form a “Societies Experience” is promising, but perhaps begs the question whether they can form a model on their own. There is a lot that needs elaborating, but it is a promising start. Illustration by Lizzie Poole
The second point of a Societies Framework is very encouraging. Obviously the desire to increase the number of societies has always been a big issue for Societies EO and the idea of providing a framework to make setting up a society easier seems a logical idea. It is unclear how the award scheme mentioned will work but this is a great point.
Sam Hill /SuperSam4Societies @SuperSam4Societieseo
The personal development seems the most vague of the candidate’s points. They say there has been interest in some areas but fail to mention where his interest has come from, or how it was expressed, perhaps something that can be explained later in the campaign. Finally, the summing up by building on the work of previous EO’s displays a good knowledge of the history of the job, and what areas have had a long lasting effect on LSU Societies. There is no mention of the Give It A Go week however that ran in January, a new addition that the candidate will probably need to address. Jamie Hutton Culture Editor
@SuperSam4Soc
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SOCIETIES EO CANDIDATE
As opposed to the other candidate, they do begin by addressing the Give it a Go week straight away. The idea to change the length and time of the event is basic but also makes a good amount of sense. However, this point is brief and doesn’t mention if any changes would be made to the way the actual event is conducted.
Nathan Parker /ParrotParkerSoc @ParrotParkerSoc
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The idea of Swap Week is a promising one, and the mention that it will be devised by the candidate themselves does away with the collaboration that Sam mentions, which could be troubling, but it does display that the candidate has faith in their own abilities. However, how the week is marketed and how students will be encouraged to get involved is not mentioned. The third and final point suggests a reward scheme to increase involvement in societies. These kind of reward schemes has often been mentioned by candidates in the past, with varying success. The idea is well articulated, but they may need to address whether it would encourage a competitiveness that may cause tensions within the societies. Jamie Hutton Culture Editor
Illustration by Lizzie Poole
Nathan begins by drawing on personal experience, something that Sam failed to do. They claim that many students don’t participate in societies, an observation which seems unfounded and isn’t backed up by any statistics. However, this does display an enthusiasm for involvement in the section and is a promising introduction to their manifesto points.
SPORT EO CANDIDATE
Ash’s manifesto is one the stronger statements that I’ve seen this year but, like many, has gaps in terms of clarity. Ash claims that she wishes to increase promotion of sport through the various media outlets within University but does not specify how she will build upon current efforts; efforts which are already quite substantial.
Illustration by Emily Forrester
Ash’s desire to improve training and resources for coaches and volunteers is admirable as this is often a less direct way of improving accessibility of sport, but would require significant planning in relation to budgeting. This could prove problematic, considering that she also wishes to implement a financial review that looks to minimise costs but doesn’t suggest a new source of revenue. Furthermore, the other financial promise of her manifesto looks at maintaining the status quo of grant funding and ‘Club of the Week’ schemes rather than implementing new ways of making sports clubs more cost effective.
Ash Prescott /GottaCatchSport @GottaCatchSport
In the ‘Inclusivity’ section of Ash’s manifesto she proposes an increase in the visibility of disability sport, an improvement in the quality of inclusivity amongst clubs, and an increase in the availability of sport for postgraduate students outside of term time. These suggestions seem very reasonable as disability and postgraduate sport take a definite back seat in terms of prominence within the University. The main barrier to these would, again, be financial as she does not suggest how these could be funded, but it is hard to be comprehensive on such a tight word limit. David Boyden Sport Editor
@GottaCatchSport
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The Sugar Review 2017: Day Two
Super Sam for Societies has been sharing the Tangfastics love all over West Park Teaching Hub. Kudos to all the candidates venturing out to West Park (an often forgotten corner of the bubble), those Engineers need sugary loving too! Leo and Stich ventured to Falk Egg supposedly empty-handed – to amend this issue feel free to deliver a tub of Haribo to me personally and all will be forgiven. Rumour has it Rory the Racing Car for Action was spotted with Leo in a hula skirt performing what can only be described as a well coordinated
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mesmerizing grass skirt dance. Still no sugary goodies but all will be excused in exchange for footage of that little dance number. Can I just put it out there that I love Fireman Sam?! The cartoon leaves me undecided on the candidate himself but the theme is genius.The amount of hosing innuendos I want to make about him and Finance and Development that spring to mind are borderline crude and would probably see me banned from LSU Media so I’ll leave it to your imaginations, but just know they’re good. Plot twist: can Gafyn McDonald for Media hand out actual McDonald’s? (Probably best not to tell Union Affairs Committee) What better fix for a Stuesday than a Big Mac and fries! Can’t forget to mention the love child of Harry Potter and Steve Jobs who more commonly goes by iVoteKyle for Union President. Please make this happen: VC Bob giving birth to Ako, who’s giving birth to Kyle who’s giving birth to a sign that says Vote Kyle for Union President, if that doesn’t make you vote I’m not too sure what will. For more candidate spotting and Haribo sweets flocking check in with @LabelOnline on Twitter this week. Beatrice Quarshie – Head of Online, Marketing and Distribution
Design & Illustration by Carla Borkmann
In a never before seen Exec Elections special (well at least in my Loughborough lifetime) and a campaign first for me: CUPCAKES. Well put down the tub of Haribo and tickle me pink. Did someone say free cupcakes in James France today? Being a full time (and by full time I mean all 6 hours of my week) Martin Hall resident the allure of free cupcakes in James France courtesy of Tom for Media was somewhat tempting and if you were lucky enough to indulge in one I hope you enjoyed it. Little word of advice for Tom for Media, if you really want to go that extra mile feel free to bring your cupcakes to the School of the Arts.
WHY SHOULD WE GIVE RON A CHANCE? When Elections period swings around every year you can be sure of a few things: - The BNOCs come out to play. - You’ll never want to see a Haribo again by the end of campaign week (other sweet brands are - and will be in vast quantities – available). - RON will give it his best shot… again. But who is RON, and why should we give a flying you-know-what about what he has to say? RON stands for Re-Open Nominations (“ohhhhhh” I hear you say). In other words, if you don’t fancy the other candidates, RON is your man. In the event RON was to be ‘elected’, there would be a by-election (or similar) in which another candidate, or few candidates, would come out of the woodwork and give Elections a go, without the all-encompassing pressure of what to all intents and purposes is the real deal: terrifying manifesto critiques, exhausting Campaign Week, and the dreaded Bubble Debate. Okay, so they won’t avoid this entirely. A couple of years ago when circumstances led to a Union President by-election for example, the candidates did have to go through a lot of this, but the pressure was felt considerably less. Not just by those running for office, but by the entire student community. So, going back to my original question, why should we give RON a chance? Well, it goes a bit like this. Many people, from students to staff, will argue that Exec Elections really are just a popularity contest. Whether this is true or not, you decide, but you can’t deny that the intensity and very public nature of the Elections process might just put off a wallflower, who although shy and retiring would be fantastic at the job.
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A vote for RON may just be a vote for these less-confident types, so if you really can’t choose, consider RON. He might just be what YOUR union is waiting for! Leanna Kightley Label Editor
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LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! /LabelOnlineLSU @labellsu @labelonline Disclaimer: Label is the publication of Loughborough Students’ Union. The opinions contained are those of individual contributors, not of Loughborough Students’ Union, the editorial team, or any other officer of the Union unless otherwise stated. Cover Photography by Elias Ruiz Monserrat Additional Design by Jessie Foxford and Liam David Hopley