Executive Decision

Voting starts in the annual Exec elections

By Adam Richardson

Election fever rocked the Union this week as the Executive elections and the Leeds Student Editor Election began. With so many people running, Leeds Student offers a quick guide to the Executive elections.

The Exec are a group of six elected individuals who are there to listen to students and promote the experiences and opportunities the Union offers.

The Activities Officer is responsible for representing Leeds University Union (LUU) activities locally, nationally and to the University and ensuring there is adequate support and facilities for students and student activity groups. They oversee LUU activity campaigns and the activities agenda. With over 250 activities at LUU, this is no mean feat.

There are two candidates for Activities Officer: Daniel Gray and Tim Mortimer. Gray pledges to move more paperwork online, attempt to protect LUU budget’s from University cuts and improve support for sports teams. Mortimer pledges to make the Union more transparent, increase the promotion of clubs and societies to students in halls and make more time available for campaigning.

Students who go for Communications and Internal Affairs Officer (CIA) are often the ones that have the most immediate contact who students. The CIA Officer is responsible for making sure Union policy is enacted on and acts as the representative of the Union to the media.

There are three candidates for CIA: Daniel Edmonds, Michael Sprack and Rachel Wenstone. Edmonds pledges to fight the impending cuts and work against fascist groups on campus and the local area.  Sprack pledges to engage with the democracy review to make the Union more democratic and campaign on environmental issues.  Wenstone pledges to make Union services more accessible and to build a Union around getting students jobs when they graduate.

The Community Officer is responsible for representing student in the Leeds community. They deal with issues such as housing, safety, crime and rubbish.  They also represent LUU in the local community.

There are five candidates for Community Officer: Ruth Cooper, Abi Foster, Paul Gold, Mark Sewards, and Shadin Dowson-Zeidan. Cooper wants to help students stay safe in Leeds, work with the Council to reduce litter in Hyde Park and help with housing problems.  Foster pledges to campaign for better public transport, increase night-time safety initiatives and get students more involved in local issues.  Gold intends to help more students find part time work, help students be greener and advertise Union services to students.  Sewards wants to address student housing, engage students in volunteering and tackle rubbish. Dowson-Zeidan  wants to campaign for better housing, help students get ore involved with volunteering and support spaces such as the Peanut Gallery.

Education Officer is responsible for representing students on all educational issues, both nationally and locally. They lobby the University on all academic issues to ensure students are satisfied with the quality of education they receive at the University of Leeds.

There are four candidates for Education Officer: Elliot Jebreel, Kathryn Rose, David Santa Maria Gonzalez and Jack Smith. Jebreel pledges to campaign for imprived academic support, better libraries and fairer funding. Rose promises to get students more involved with education issues with a petition system and that she will be informed on Higher Education issues. Gonzalez wants to fight the cuts, help students get jobs when they graduate and make decision making as democratic as possible. Smith wants the lobby for the digitalisation of core texts, oppose fees and fight cuts and improve the experience postgraduate students.

The Equality and Diversity Officer is responsible for representing students on all equality and diversity issues locally and nationally and working alongside the University’s Equality and Diversity committee, in addition to the NUS Welfare Zone and Liberation Campaigns.

There are four candidates for Equality and Diversity officer: Marcus Crawley, Lauren Fordham, Sean McHale and Beenal Tailor. Crawley pledges to celebrate diversity in LUU, support those who feel they can’t join societies and tackle discrimination.  Fordham wants to make activities, societies and the Union more accessible for disabled students. McHale promises to allow free speech to continue on campus for rational debates, to promote collective action to seek equality and to neutralise factional interests in LUU by making access to Union democracy. Tailor pledges to oppose the cuts, make more provision for disabled students and fight discrimination.

The Welfare Officer is responsible for making sure that there is appropriate provision for students’ general, sexual and mental health issues. They are also responsible for making sure there is support for students in areas of debt management, and university accommodation.

There are four candidates for Welfare Officer: Jack Cheyette, Hanif Leyalbi, Bernie Snell and Emily Spurrell. Cheyette promises a Union that helps students by offering more services, more themed weeks to tackle issues and making students aware of Union services. Leyalbi pledges to fight the education cuts, make access to healthcare fairer and to promote an ethical Union. Snell wants to improve contact with JCRs, have a regular confidential drop-in period and publicise existing services. Spurrell wants to work on student safety, publicise the counselling services and have campaigns that tackle issues such as alcohol, drugs and sex.

Those are the candidates. Whoever you decide to vote for, just make sure you vote. Ballot boxes are open now until Tuesday 23^rd February at 4pm. You can vote online at http://www.leedsuniversityunion.org.uk/elections/ after logging in, as well as the Union building and the Parkinson building.