{"id":11166,"date":"2015-10-22T06:30:36","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T13:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=11166"},"modified":"2015-10-19T09:33:06","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T16:33:06","slug":"camosun-college-student-society-elections-to-take-place-in-october","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2015\/10\/22\/camosun-college-student-society-elections-to-take-place-in-october\/","title":{"rendered":"Camosun College Student Society elections to take place in October"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) student council elections are taking place on October 28 and 29.<\/p>\n

As has been the case in years past, getting students aware and voting is a challenge. CCSS executive director Michel Turcotte says it is up to the candidates to engage students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s kind of unfair thinking it\u2019s the student society\u2019s responsibility to increase voter turnout, I would argue,\u201d says Turcotte. \u201cThose running in the elections, it\u2019s their primary responsibility. My primary responsibility is to ensure that there is a fair and accountable process that is taking place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lack of voting and participation from young voters hasn\u2019t just been an issue at Camosun. Declining voter turnout from young people is a problem for all elections, says Turcotte.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Camosun College Student Society\u2019s Andrea Eggenberger (file photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIf you look at the voting rates for youth or even in general for federal, provincial, municipal, and student society elections, it\u2019s a complete downward curve,\u201d he says. \u201cAt every level, youth, and voters in general, are voting to a lower degree, and they\u2019re just completely detached from the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CCSS relies on student input and votes to shape their decisions, but students just don\u2019t always have student politics at the top of their priority list.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I wouldn\u2019t vote,\u201d says first-year Mental Health and Addictions student Amanda Aikan. \u201cMostly because I haven\u2019t had the time to find out who\u2019s running and what they care about, so it\u2019s more of a time issue. I\u2019m more focused on the provincial and federal elections than the campus election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turcotte says he feels the lack of voter turnout at the CCSS elections is indicative of young people not participating in political processes in general, a trend he hopes to see end soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s time for students to actually pay more attention to politics,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause it\u2019s the only way their voices are going to get heard. And right now, politicians don\u2019t listen to students because they know they are not a political force to be reckoned with.\u201d<\/p>\n

CCSS external executive Andrea Eggenberger says that elections are a good time to get some new faces involved in student politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year we have several constituency director positions and one executive position vacant; it\u2019s really exciting to get a new person in there. So, definitely, those are great opportunities\u0143they are paid jobs. The executive position is 20 hours a week and the constituency directors are 15 hours. If a student is looking for a paid position for the next eight months, it\u2019s a great way to get involved and have a part-time job at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eggenberger feels that the CCSS struggles with voter turnout because of the nature of Camosun\u2019s programs. She says people often think that because they won\u2019t even be here next year, they shouldn\u2019t bother voting, as they won\u2019t see any changes take place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe especially find that in our spring elections, people say they\u2019re not going to be there so it\u2019s not going to affect them personally, and maybe they shouldn\u2019t vote,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd we\u2019re like, \u2018No, leave a legacy.\u2019 But, generally, at the fall elections, you get positions that will directly affect them in school right now, so we do get a better turnout in the fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the October elections approach, the CCSS hopes there are plenty of students who are willing to make a change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping for some really engaged members to come in with new ideas, and who are just eager to learn,\u201d says Eggenberger. \u201cThere are some systematic things they\u2019ll have to learn, which is always really exciting, about how our organization works. So it\u2019s always great to see new faces, new ideas, and watch them grow, when they come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, the CCSS is trying to make voting more efficient and easier for busy students by setting up online polls for future elections. This service is not confirmed yet, but it is one way the CCSS hopes to increase voter turnout.<\/p>\n

Aside from the student council positions, the October election will also contain a referendum question about a Camosun club seeking funding to bring refugees to Camosun for postsecondary education. The money for this club would come out of Camosun student fees.<\/p>\n

The CCSS represents and supports Camosun students with services, programs, and activities. They have a board, a student council, and staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) student council elections are taking place on October 28 and 29. As has been the case in years past, getting students aware and voting is a challenge. CCSS executive director Michel Turcotte says it is up to the candidates to engage students. \u201cI think it\u2019s kind of unfair thinking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,153],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-october-21-2015"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11166"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11168,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11166\/revisions\/11168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}