Voting now open in DPW election
Friday 16 Jul 2010
Voting is now open in the Deputy President (Welfare) election.
Click here to be taken straight to the voting site where you can read the candidates' manifestos and then cast your vote. Alternatively, scroll down to read the candidates' answers to Hustings questions.
This is a full-time Sabbatical role. We are electing a new Deputy President as the winning candidate from the spring term elections has since resigned.
Voting closes on Monday 19 July at 17.00.
Hustings – Q&A
There are four candidates running for election. We asked them to answer the following five questions, to give you some insight into their experience, policies and what they plan to do next year.
1) What experience do you have in a Welfare role?
Stefan Bauer: I will be honest – I have no experience in executing a Welfare role at university level. I was, however, on the receiving end of both poor and exceptional welfare services at Imperial and have seen what a difference it can make and hope to be able to further improve many aspects of this in the next academic year. Over my 3 years at Imperial, I have seen and helped with awareness and welfare campaigns and I am determined to use mine and other volunteers experience to to run the smoothly and effectively.
Charlotte Ivison: I began my official involvement with the Union in an Ordinary Committee position first on the Riding Committee and then for DramSoc. This role involves giving members’ feedback, i.e. presenting any problems to the committee, which I think is important in ensuring that students are happy with their club. I’ve also acted in this role on the Union Council, where I’ve had the privilege of representing the student body’s views on Welfare Policy. I’ve helped out with welfare-focused club activity such as writing for Felix on behalf of WSET, and I’ve recently been planning SHAG Week, for which I’m next year’s Coordinator.
Mubeen (Shah) Rahman: Volunteer for a young persons helpline since I was 18 - listening to and helping students with their issues and concerns from drugs to relationships and sexual health to mental health and study pressures - I have learnt a lot at the deep end! Held the Member Support role for IC St John Ambulance where I helped look after members of the society as well as training and developing their skills. Am a volunteer Police Officer in Hammersmith and have looked out for IC students there - from making sure they get home safe after a night out to crime prevention advice.
Mike Richards: From the outset I do not have any official experience within the union, but I do not see this as a completely bad thing. For too long the union has been run by the same set of people, the sabbatical team cannot truly represent you within only one type of demographic on the team. I would bring another point of view to this otherwise excellent team. Also, whilst I haven't held a welfare role, I have lived one. Through three years at Imperial myself and my friends have had problems with alcohol, drugs etc but no one used the welfare services. Dealing with these problems personally would enable me to make a great welfare officer and hopefully people would comfortable talking to me about their problems.
2) What plans do you have for Welfare campaigns next year?
Stefan Bauer: There are many issues that need and deserve more attention, but I think that Imperial offers a wide range of awareness campaigns that mirror topics that are important to students and everybody that lives and works in a diverse environment such as London and Imperial.
Surely sexual health and AIDS should be one of them. I believe that SHAG week and positively red week target those issues well, but both of them did not reach their potential last academic year. A big campaign that combines both and raises the issue around the time of World AIDS day would surely reach more people and raise more money and awareness.
I like the idea of Green Week and had the pleasure to represent Imperial at a meeting where the idea of a London wide University campaign against climate change was debated. Although this has not happened, I would like to see it develop and blossom in the future. Imperial is spearheading the green university concept and I am sure many students would like to be involved with this.
RAG and CAG are good ways for students to get involved, raise money for a good cause, help people and have a good time. I will do my best to support them and their actions to make sure we can exceed all expectations and continue the good work that we have seen over the last year(s).
Charlotte Ivison: A lot! As I’m next year’s SHAG Week Coordinator, I’ve been spending a lot of time planning the week, which if all goes to plan will use drama, art, film and debate to get you interested in sexual health and safety issues and maybe view them in a different light. This will hopefully involve lots of different clubs and societies, as I think that this is a great platform for different clubs to produce something fantastic together which engages the student body and may be slightly outside their usual activities. As DPW, I would want to extend this idea to all of the Welfare Campaigns to get the maximum number of students talking and thinking about important issues.
Mubeen (Shah) Rahman: In addition to the current set such as sexual health and I think it's important to focus on Equal Opportunities as well as Mental Health and addressing addiction. All of this needs proactive engagement with the student body for prevention rather than waiting for things to develop and seriously affect a student's life.
Mike Richards: Welfare campaigns. I would like to keep the existing ones but make more prominent especially the sexual health and alcohol awareness ones. Also as mentioned below one about drug use. But another event which I would like to introduce is a refreshers week to boost student spirit. Imperial is the only university I know which doesn't have one.
3) What kind of CAG projects do you think the Union should be involved in next year?
Stefan Bauer: The Community Action Group is the best place to go if students want to get involved and help. I would like the Union and Imperial as a whole to support the little every-day things more. Advertise the soup and maybe get the unsold sandwiches from the dining hall too could be a way to help them.
Charlotte Ivison: I think CAG activities should aim potentially to extend further along the age spectrum in terms of people helped. The elderly suffer from a lot of issues students face such as depression and loneliness, so a program where students help senior citizens could be both really effective and rewarding. Similarly, it is widely held that to combat obesity and change the environmental attitudes of future generations, it is ideal to educate them while young. There are many students at Imperial who are interested and highly educated in these areas, making it feasible to organise a schools outreach program with these aims, perhaps in partnership with some part of Imperial’s Outreach program like Exscitec.
Mubeen (Shah) Rahman: I think this is a decision that should come from within the CAG group i.e. does the Chair feel more support or more projects are needed. It's student volunteering and those on the frontline should decide how they would like to spend their time and efforts best.
Mike Richards: One of the points I raised in my manifesto - CAG does great work though not many people know about it. I want to raise its profile within the union get more people involved in areas all over London. I would also like to see us working with bigger charitable organisations to achieve more. For instance the soup runs are great but probably could be more effective running with someone like Shelter. Also I would like to get CAG members volunteering with local council initiatives too.
4) Do you think the Union should do a drugs awareness campaign?
Stefan Bauer: I believe that students are aware of drugs, their effects and the consequences their consumption can have. However, it is, unfortunately, common for students to take illegal drugs or show disregard for their own health and safety when consuming legal stimulants. Those issues have been identified and deserve attention in some way or another. I would doubt that a campaign is helpful and effective when it comes to decreasing drug use in students, but everyone should know how and where to get help if they feel that need it. In my opinion the time and money would be better invested in increasing the help available rather than preaching and telling them how to live their lifes.
Charlotte Ivison: I think that traditionally a lot of emphasis is placed on drug abuse education in secondary school rather than at university, but it is naive to assume that just because we’re older, we don’t need any help when making these choices. In the majority of the many aspects of illicit drug use, London has the highest participation in the UK. Therefore, in principle a campaign week is a good idea, as it is as broad and important a set of issues as any other of the campaigns. However, we already seem to have a calendar jam packed with Union events, so it might be difficult to squeeze it in! The Advice web page on drug abuse is not as extensive as it could be - going into the physical effects of each drug as well as a more extensive list of helplines would be helpful. I think we should start there, and see where we go.
Mubeen (Shah) Rahman: A proactive one yes. Drugs awareness with young people is notoriously difficult, especially for those who slip into drug use or addiction without realising it; it's important to have campaigns that as many students are able to relate to.
Mike Richards: Simply yes. It is naive to think that drugs aren't a problem and it is quite amazing we don't already have a programme in place. Although I wouldn't want to give plans on a specific scheme yet without more thought into the issues.
5) How much has RAG raised this year?
Stefan Bauer: Rag raised around 30000pounds this year, which is more than three times the amount of money they were able to raise last year and an impressive advancement on the mere 2000pounds they raised 2 years ago. Very good work! A huge thank you to everyone involved!
Charlotte Ivison: As far as I have been able to work out, ICU RAG raised £12,362.00 this year and ICSMSU RAG raised £70,296.70 this year, together making a total of £82,658.70!
Mubeen (Shah) Rahman: ICU Rag took £7321.93, ICSM took 43,934.10 (not finished yet).
Mike Richards: RAG does great work and if elected I would like it to be more well known how much money is raised and where its going. I would estimate raised £15,000