Taking ‘Action’ to another level

> DSU Election New Westminster Candidates forum

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor

 

A s part of campaign week, hopefuls
or the DSU Board of Director

opened themselves to the student
on the New Westminster campus on
March 1 at a candidates’ forum.

Four candidates participated in
the New Westminster forum: Prabh
Hundal, who is running for Director
of College Relations; Tanysha Klassen,
who is running for Director of External
Relations; Chandrang Makwana, who
is running for Director at Large; and
Francis Ataiza, who is running for
the Coquitlam Campus Director.

Each candidate was allowed
a 60-second opening remark.

“I’ve developed a relationship
with the college and it would be
beneficial,” said Hundal in regard
to her interest in the Director of
College Relations position.

On the Director of External
Relations position, Klassen explained
their experience with advocacy
campaigns over the previous 10
months and how it helped them feel
ready to take on the position.

“T hope to keep fighting for
affordable post-secondary education,
making it accessible for people
through things like campaigns
and working at all different levels
of government,” said Klassen.

The third candidate to open was
Makwana. Makwana explained that he
was an international student who started
attending Douglas College in 2016. In
his time at Douglas, he felt drawn to the
DSU and had spent a significant amount

of time there, making him interested in
pursuing a Director at Large position.

Closing off the opening
remarks was Ataiza.

“What we're trying to build is to
have a better community for both sides—
New West and Coquitlam,” said Ataiza.

After opening remarks, candidates
were each asked questions related to
the position that they were running for.
The first question, directed towards
Ataiza, was whether it would be
beneficial to hold joint campus events.

“Team Action is working hard
to plan events for both campuses so
that David Lam is noticed more [...] If
elected, my team and I would make
sure that David Lam is up and going.”

Ataiza further elaborated on his
experience with student engagement
and how he would use that to further
engage Coquitlam students.

Hundal was then asked:

“[What were] the most contentious
subjects to be discussed with the
college this year, and what [was]
the plan to tackle these issues?”

Hundal said that she felt like she
understood what students wanted during
her time with the DSU. First would be to
increase library hours, second would be
to improve food services, third would be
to increase awareness and understanding
around college policies, and fourth would
be increase the use of open textbooks.

The next question, directed at
Klassen, asked what the most important
external issues were for the DSU.

Klassen cited three issues
that they thought the DSU found
most important—first being
Don't Close the Doors.

> DSU Election Coquitlam Candidates Forum

Aaron Guillen
Staff Reporter

 

L2* week, a candidate forum took
place at David Lam campus as part
of the DSU Election campaign. Contrary
to the previous year, only one team is
running—Team Action. Though Team
Action has faced many student issues
and prevailed, they believe that they
have more to prove if elected again. Five
members of Team Action attended the
Coquitlam campus forum.

Aran Armutlu, running for re-
election as Director of Finance, called
for an equal amount of resources at both
campuses.

“We have plans to build a DSU
office at David Lam. We’ve always valued
equality, and we've already hired a full
time staff so students can go to the
Coquitlam campus for an abundance
of resources. We are working towards
more presence here, with student and
staff spaces and all the services offered
for clubs to be available, all things that
the David Lam campus will see in the
future,” said Armutlu. “An accessible
education is the most important,
especially with rising tuition costs. A
big part of what we do is campaign,
with Squash the Squeeze as our biggest
success. The provincial government
decreased the interest rate for student
loans and that’s a victory—something
that we will continue to fight for.”

When it comes to open source
textbooks, Armutlu believes that
students and professors shouldn't be the
only ones addressing the matter, but also
the publishing press. Similar to previous
campaigns, he hopes to continue
lobbying for this issue if elected.

Telka Pesklevits, running for
election as Women’s Representative, said
she believes that there is a lack of women
in male-dominated programs such as
engineering.

“If elected, I will make sure that
these programs aren't just targeted to a
male audience, but to females who are
interested as well. As an executive at
the Women’s Collective, we’ve booked a
speaker on an upcoming weekly basis,
creating the opportunity to see strong
females in leadership,” said Pesklevits.

“Altogether [...] we should support
women in society. We are continuing
weekly coffee houses at the collective
that are open to those who don’t self-
identify as women as well. Our goal is to
bring awareness on how all genders can
bring support to women’s issues at the
college.”

Sahara Tom, running for re-election
as Aboriginal Representative, hopes to
increase awareness of services available
on campus for students, especially
Aboriginal students, if elected.

“Along with coordinators, I aim to
create an Aboriginal student orientation
starting in the upcoming fall semester,”

“We got 13 endorsements
in the province, three being the
DSU,” explained Klassen.

Squash the Squeeze, the
Canada Grants program, and
Aboriginal education were other
causes Klassen mentioned to be
of importance to the DSU.

Makwana was asked about
student apathy at Douglas College
and how that impacts the DSU.

“I, myself, as a new student, got
to know about the DSU as soon as I
came here because we have all these
different events we organize, and we
have a whole a whole min-tent out

cC

here. Getting to know about the DSU
isn’t a problem,” said Makwana.

Makwana then further
encouraged students to attend the
events that the DSU creates.

The floor was then opened to the
audience. One student asked about
what the DSU would do to help to
help alleviate student poverty. Klassen
responded that the DSU is part of
BC Poverty Reduction Coalition, and
worked on refocusing the food bank
to better help the students who most
need it. Klassen also mentioned that
they would be looking into creating
more nutrient-dense free food events.

   

 

shares Tom.

When it comes to pertinent issues
surrounding Aboriginal rights in
the community, Tom hopes to work
alongside fellow students and professors
to lobby for keeping local government
accountable on promises they have
made.

Paul Wittayaworapat, running for
election as Director of Campus Life,
wants advertisements for social events
to be increased, noting that if there isn’t
a table in the concourse or promotions
on social media, the students won't
show up. In addition, Wittayaworapat
addressed the promotion of pub nights.

“At pub night, we don’t purchase
alcohol or promote the consumption.
We create events such as this to
improve the social life aspect of being a
college student. [The choice to drink] is
their own decision.”

Lastly, Francis Ataiza, running for
election as Coquitlam Campus Director,
praises the recently implemented
Evergreen Line, and promised that
those who make the trek to the David
Lam campus won't miss out on student
life and important events.

“At Douglas, we are proud of our
community in New West, which is
already pretty solid. If elected, I will
make sure that every student’s voice
is being heard at both campuses,” said
Ataiza. “My job is to ensure that events
get planned here and will cater to
students. I can’t wait to get some work
done and take action.”

Voting for the DSU Elections take
place from March 6-10. Polling stations
are open in the concourse and outside
the Library at the New Westminster
campus, and in the AB Atrium at
David Lam.