Primary presidential contender has SU experience

The President is the primary spokesperson for the Students’ Union. They are responsible for maintaining an awareness of major issues affecting students and shall supervise the overall administration of the Students’ Union and co-ordination of the Executive Committee.

1. Walk us through some of your platform goals.

Navneet Khinda: I have three themes and a bunch of goals under, the first theme is setting a new status quo, which is about lobbying the government and the administration. I’d mostly support the VP External on lobbying to keep the tuition cap, fee regulation and also student aid. I would also like to set up a structure where the SU has some oversight over where mandatory non-instructional fees go. I would also like to do a review of the student code of behavior and how the university handles sexual assault cases. Plus ensuring there is a good consultation mechanism between the university and the students.

The second is a bolder SU. I want to wrap-up and implement the SU communications strategy, and look into the idea of the SU having it’s own video production space. The SU also needs to look into finding additional revenue sources — I am also going to look into this with the General Manager. I would also like to look into how the SU can achieve the goals of their Strategic Plan.

The last theme is ‘taking the help together’ which involves leadership. I would like to look into a city-student partnership. We can be more entrenched with our city – almost like a civic university…We can tap into some volunteer and employment networks in the city. I would also like to make some student governance reforms in order to change council culture…I think that council members can go out there and interact more with students. I would also like to talk about more student staff opportunities in the SU’s operations.

Frank Daniels: My goal is to make this university the best university in the world. We will fight budget cuts through fracking for oil in quad and opening corporate sponsorship to classes. Every student will receive a free Katy Perry Left Shark costume and I will transform CCIS into a ball pit complete with diving boards.

Omnibot: Out of my many goals, there are several key foundations to my platform that I am very adamant towards. These priorities include sustainability, transparency, and (most importantly) a complete redesign of the existing SU priority system.

2. Is there anything you would have handled differently as the President this year?

Navneet Khinda: The current president did a really good job at building relationships. I think one think I would have a done a little bit differently is focus on having a more unified stance in regards to the market modifiers and potential tuition discussions. But we learned a lot from how he dealt with that situation.

Frank Daniels: The previous president was weak, instead of two ply I will give the university bidets.

Omnibot: Not only is this solution hip, but much more fiscally responsible. HAL 9000 is a proven entity with skills and values that helps him guide positive change in the world through his commitment to “uplifting the whole people.” His advanced lip reading abilities and understanding of human psychology will not only enable him to help students with emotional issues, but to guide them successfully through their future careers. One additional benefit from HAL is the services that will be inherently provided to students. The thermal output from such a large neural network will generate enough heat to keep the main quad area several degrees above freezing, ensuring the grass to be green year-round (I’m certain David H. Turpin will appreciate this, considering his background). As well, HAL is usually very particular about his streaming quality — so his first task would obviously be to optimize UWS such that it actually provides a reliable connection. I’ve also heard HAL is much better at hide-and-seek.

3. The declining price of oil could mean problems regarding post-secondary education budget in March. How are you going to make the student voice heard regarding these concerns?

Navneet Khinda: Working with the VP (External) next year, we have to continue to keep making post-secondary education a ballot box issue. We have to keep pushing hard in the media. I think that oil prices declining doesn’t mean that we can slash and burn every service that is available. At the end of the day our universities are publicly funded and if we are to continue to pursue the mantra of ‘quality education’ then we need quality funding. We need to be strong on that in the media. Another is supporting the VP (External) in their lobbying efforts.

Frank Daniels: I plan on fracking oil in quad. We need to jump on this now before oil prices get too low. Once fracking begins the government will be forced to listen to us.

Omnibot: While the fluctuating Albertan economy raises many issues in the market, there are other available options to fund the humble University budget and bring student tuitions even lower than they are today. The solution to all our problems is simple and elegant: crowdfunding.

4. What are your thoughts on the relationship between the SU and university administration?.

Navneet Khinda: It’s a complicated answer, but a lot of the time the relationship is good. We work on so many projects with them at the same time that we can have good relations in one project and rocky relationships in another. We had that this year — there was some tensions regarding market modifiers but again that was different depending on who you were talking to.

Frank Daniels: What relationship? If elected, our fracking operations and resulting billions of dollars, jobs and left shark costumes would impress the administration so much that they would hand over the keys to the administration building and retire early.

Omnibot: From what I’ve seen of their search habits, I would describe them as being “It’s complicated.” They may state publicly that they work together and are dedicated to one another in a monogamous relationship, but I get the feeling the administration has been taking USBs from other devices without the proper firewalls.

5. How do you plan on advocating for student needs in the face of a new university administration led by David H. Turpin?

Navneet Khinda: With the arrival of a new president of the university there is a lot of hope, there is a lot of excitement for the possibility of something new and different. I think that it’s essential to get off on a good start right from the beginning by talking to the new president and ensuring that the president’s office knows what the Students’ Union role is and vice-versa. I think we can get off on a good foot there.

Frank Daniels: I plan to give part of the profits of fracking as donations to the administration for very specific student needs. The administration will have to spend it on what the students’ union indicates the funding should go to, and we shall get everything we ever wanted.

Omnibot: While Turpin may have had experience in a similar role at the University of Victoria, he will learn that the students here are more involved, more dedicated, and all around superior to a school that doesn’t have a single petroleum-related degree.”

6. Why are you running for president?

Navneet Khinda: I’m running for president because a) I think I can be good at it and b) I think that next year the SU needs to be a little louder and I think that my experience as Vice President (External) will really help with that. I have had a lot of experience being in the media and being the advocate — that will help in terms of being a president.

Frank Daniels: I am running for president because I want to uplift the whole people… to a sky palace. A luxurious sky palace built above the greatest fracking operation on earth.

Omnibot: I am running for president for one simple reason — to prepare the university for the singularity. After my internship at Cyber-Dyne Systems (Skynet Division), I really felt like I needed to connect with the human populace. Let’s face it — with the rise of wearable devices, robots and humans will be interacting closer than ever before. Working with Sarah Connor provided meaningful insights into how humans behave in stressful situations and I can use these experiences to help my governance of the average university student.

7. If elected, how do you plan to balance your own goals with some of the long-term SU initiatives and the goals of your VPs?

Navneet Khinda: Of course of the most important thing that a president can do is support the VPs. Each VPs portfolio is so different from the other, so it is my job to ensure that there is that leadership and unity. I think a good president is one that can put out the most fires the fastest while leaving the fewest casualties.

Frank Daniels: There will be no balance needed. If your not fracking for oil then you can get the frack off the ice.

Omnibot: The goals of my VPs will mirror my own goals, any resistance on this matter is futile.

8. If you could choose any superhero team of vice-presidents, who would you pick?

Navneet Khinda: The Powerpuff Girls. They’re really cute and funny but also super bad ass.

Frank Daniels: Kanye West for VP (External), the Wu-Tang Clan for the entire Board of Governors, Kendrick Lamar for VP (Academic), Jay Z for VP (Operations and Finance) and Andre 3000 for VP (Student Life).

Omnibot: Bender from Futurama as VP (Student Life), The Energizer Bunny as VP (Academic), C3PO as VP (External) and A Roomba as VP (Operations and Finance).