Presidential Profile: Candidate Nathan Giede
Presidential Candidates
Nathan Giede. 3rd year student of Prince George, B.C.
What are your goals for that position if elected? My tangible goals are achieving better communication between council and students through media and “talk with your representative” events, securing bus tickets for students, creating a campus convenience store, and reorganizing TWUSA for better efficiency. My ideals are to listen to students, plan how to meet their needs, and enact those plans for the present and the future.
Photo by: Alejandra Yaya
What do you think is the most important issue TWU students face that you would like to work on? I believe a great deal of students on campus are frustrated with Housing’s lack of transparency and planning this year. I plan on facing this issue head on and fostering lots of discussion on how Housing can improve in order to better serve students. Those students who are off campus or do not own a car while in residence would be best served by the bus ticket issue being solved and receiving passes. I will do my best to solve this next year.
How would you like to see the TWUSA budget spent? Under my leadership, I hope to spend part of the budget on bus tickets, improvements to the Cube, marketing the t-shirt press to dorms (now currently in TWUSA), and creating an on-campus convenience store in the Douglas Mail centre. I would also want to reduce the amount of carry over from previous years in the budget, which may mean a reduction in student fees.
Do you think student leaders should be required to sign a statement of faith? I began the year believing that a statement of faith should be required to serve as a student leader in any capacity. However, through various discussions with people of all different levels of devotion and from different denominations, I believe this issue is simply to broad and complicated to be solved by demanding each leader confess his or her faith in a way he or she might not be able to in all honestly. Therefore, my answer is no.
Why should students vote for you? I believe that my experience on TWUSA, my passion to see students get what they deserve from both TWUSA and the University, as well as my desire for government efficiency are all attributes of solid candidate. I am a team player and a hard worker who would love to serve students in TWUSA for a third year.
Two things wrong with this platform. A) A convenience store is highly unlikely due to the fact that Sodexo has exclusive rights to sell any and all food on campus. B) The bus tickets wont happen. There have been several former TWUSA members that have been trying to get this done for roughly 3 years, and Translink has said they will NOT partner with TWU because we’re not big enough, and there are greater needs in other locations. So if Nathan wants to continue to pursue this, he’s going to be met with a simple No by Translink. If the VP would like to adjust his platform and say he’ll try and get affordable tickets, by reselling them, let me remind you that it is illegal to re-sale these tickets.
I recently heard Nathan promoting himself to students, and he sounded less like the personable student friendly guy he was last year, and much more like a stereotypical politician that is only interested in getting himself and the people he supports elected, in order to enact his own agenda. Ask him about the $2500 (approximately) spent on the TWUSA “retreat” where they spent one night in Vancouver enjoying themselves. Or the $3500 in office expenses. And when he talks about Starfield, just keep in the back of your mind that about 90% of that money came from the Events budget because our wonderful Director of Events (Bradyn) has done a great job being under budget this entire year. If it wasn’t for Bradyn this concert would never happen. So the moral of the story is not to listen to the pretty words, but ask tough questions and see if you get the political response or if you can get a real personable response with sound reasoning. And normally the way you can tell is if there’s an actor voice (we’ve all seen acting, we can figure it out).
I’m guessing whoever wrote the above is on TWUSA. Otherwise how would they have known all of those details?
In addition, the issues you have with the finances were decided upon by the entire council, not just Nathan. And if you are in fact on TWUSA, as I suspect, you should remember that you were involved in this decision and you are making TWUSA look incredibly unprofessional. You should look up the word “libel.”
I’m not making any comment about any candidate here. I just want to clarify how TWUSA has spent its money, in light of some exceptionally incorrect statements made anonymously earlier.
Of the $6,000 going to the Starfield concert, only $500 is being re-allocated from the Events department. Which is less than 10% of the money, not 90%.
Most leadership positions have a spring retreat involving a long weekend out of town.
And $3,500 in office expenses? On what? And lets recognize that this is $3,500 out of $270,000 (1.3%).
Please do come to your own conclusions about the prudence of these expenses. But when it’s time to criticize publicly, lets make sure we do so with real information, not myths. Few people outside of TWUSA care to get that involved in the financial details, but most people inside of TWUSA would probably be more aware of reality.
$6000 for Starfield!! Does anyone even remember what that is?! I want my student fees back.
Okay, this is the third time you are running and every year you keep making promises that you never keep. I remember when you came to my dorm first year and promised these great events. Yet you only did two. As VP you promised these huge changes that never happened. Now you are promising more lies!
First, Convenient Store.
Last year you told me that “Lauren Peterson is and idiot anyone who serves on TWUSA can tell you that this convenient store she is promising will never happen” and now you are promising it? Last I heard you do not even have the room 100% for sure yet… have you even talked with Scott Henderson or Chris Fox about this? Or is this another one of your great promises you will never keep?
Second, Transit Pass.
Again last year you said that this would NEVER happen when Lauren said she was going to make this happen. You have been on council for 2 years now and every year you have told me this could never happen and now you are running for it? Jason Brandl who served on TWUSA for three years said this “TWUSA has looked into it before (I speak having been on those councils) and Translink said that they would not partner with us as TWU is too small of a school. Any candidate who promises to work on this, is promising to waste time into something that has already not worked.” So I am really wondering where you think you can change things? When councils for the last five years and even this year when I asked Christian told me he already looked into it and was rejected AGAIN! Another promise you will not keep!
Third, Your “Experience”
1. What By-laws have you edited from what I have heard that was all Jason Brandl and that he served for two years as VP to make those changes this year? What actual changes have you done besides just talking?
2. Again this “transition” you talk about who knows if this will actually happen because no one will ever happen. We all know how good your word is?
3. BIG SUPPORTER of TWUSA expanding services… Really? Then how come I saw Christian from my Fraser apartment going dorm to dorm while you were campaigning. He was out there getting dorms to sign up for T-shirts while you were consumed with trying to lie to people. Also this is under Christian’s budget under his control are you really that low that your going to take what he has done and claim it as your own? What are you going to say next you invented Can-am?
Lastly, TWUSA Resources
1. Makes TWUSA into more of a streamline business model… do you even know what that is? Or are these more words you are throwing out there? So I have a question, I am no business major here but what do you think the Structure of TWUSA should be (Functional, Division, Structural etc..) , what strategy should they take to be a streamline business, are they centralized or decentralized, Your a political science major do you really think you are the best person to create TWUSA into a streamline business?
2. Fold positions that have made obsolete like what one? What position is obsolete. I recall you telling me that you wanted to create a new position just so you (executive) could have an assistant and now your saying you want less positions? I am really confused here.
3. I was told by my senior rep that this new mail-room was going to be used to offer these new services and it was going to be used with REC services. Yet you expect to turn it into a store and then where are you going to offer these great new services?
4. ONE QUESTION: You were on the council that increased student fees right? How come now you say you want to lower them.
I have voted for you the last two years with the hope that you would follow through… please stop lying to the student and making up things you have done and changes you are going to make.
There is the truth, I am tired of the lies and I think the student body is too!
Actually I’m not on TWUSA, and why does it matter if I am. Shouldn’t this all be public knowledge? After all I am paying for you to waste my money.
I find the whole argument that Nathan should not be “promising” anything really obnoxious. First of all, he has never promised he is going to accomplish these objectives, he said he was going to make it a concerted effort if he was elected. Secondly, and more importantly the thought of any potential president with out goals or any clear objectives is indicative an administration that will falter in mediocrity and waste.
Josiah,
When he came to my apartment he promised me that he was going to accomplish these tasks. He said that as president he was going to make these things happen. I have heard the same things for many years now and I am tired of it. Especially when he bashed someone lasted year for running for the EXACT same thing.
Secondly, how would an administration do under a potential president who has his own agenda and is promising things he knows will never happen? You were here last here Josiah, and he bashed Lauren Petersen’s platform because she wanted to get a uPass and Convenient Store and now he is running under the same thing… He knows these cannot happen and yes he is running for them. Do we want to vote in a president who is going to waste our time and money?
Lastly, I did not say he should not promise anything I would just love to see something that is not a lie. He is wanting to improve other aspects of TWUSA that I have no problem with and think are great. But I do want my money wasted, I want a difference and I am tired of lies.
First off all StopLying…we are both arguing from our experiences. As a friend of Nathans and someone who has seen him campaign, your accusations are incongruent with Nathans character. Its easy to mutilate someones character behind the internet. It frustrates me because libel like this poisons those who don’t actually know Nathan.
Is Nathan a perfect person, No. Has he made mistakes as a leader, yes.
Is he also genuine, talented, and driven to help students, I would argue yes.
Josiah,
A long time ago Nathan was my friend, my accusations are right on with his character however. As sad as it makes me to say this you do not know Nathan as well as you think. He is a politician he will sell whatever he needs to sell to get his position. When he walked into my apartment this year in comparison to years before there was no sincerity in his voice anymore it was purely selling me on lies.
I would agree with you on some points, he is talented, and driven. However he is not genuine and not there for the students. I’ve been around long enough to see two years of Brian Weir, Dave Van-Hemman and now Dan Folkman. I am not going to leave this school in the hands of Nathan. I might be gone but I do not want my school to be left in his hands. He was my friend but once he started on TWUSA it has been nothing but concerning for himself and his personal gain.
Josiah, you are arguing because he is your friend not because you actually listen to the “promises” he is making you. I would not have been this passionatly fighting aganist him and would have voted for him again. But he is running on the platform of something he strongly stood aganist last year and this year. Multiple times told me that anyone on TWUSA knows this would not never happen and will never happen. I am arguing as a student who loves this campus, and wants to see a stronger candidate win who actually has the student’s interests at heart.
I can’t disprove your statements because the evidence that is given is not something I have access too. I really don’t want this election to boil down to popularity or friends, so I will keep my remarks short. I trust StopLying that you really are concerned. May I make a suggestion, perhaps as a friend you should confront Nathan face to face rather then anonymously on the internet. I recognize I make the leap that you haven’t. That being said, I just hate the nature of this sort of mudslinging and slander that you and others are guilty off. If you believe in an other candidate, then perhaps you should be arguing for their own merits rather then the alleged “political sins” of Nathan.
I am a friend of Nathan, but I am also student who has seen as many TWUSA administrations as you have. It would be refreshing to see an administration that has a clear set of policy goals. Its the job of our president not only to represent us, but also to captivate our imagination and accomplish legacy.
Anyways I have given my two cents….
All the best to the other candidates, may this thread not be indicative of the conduct of both those running and voting in the next few days.
Josiah
How are you gonna spend the TWUSA money? You yourself do not pay for schooling in any way. You are given money from the government, from your band, and from you dad who is a doctor. How would you see the money that other students, who work all summer to scrape by just to attend university here, pay to TWUSA in our student fees? Student fees went up $5 last year, which accounts for approximately a $20,000 increase to the budget. That would still leave a huge carry over budget. What ties do you have towards how the fees should be spend? Do you know what it is like to work all summer to pay for your education here? Have you actually done any work towards the issues that you propose or support in your platform? Have you done any work yourself on getting or working with or supporting the shirt press before now?
The area that you propose to use for an on campus convenient store is not just for TWUSA.
The sole purpose of the area is not at the disposal of a TWUSA board group. I voted for you last year for VP because of who you were and what you stood for. This year, you have completely changed. You are running for the exact things you ran against last year and said that they would never happen, yet here you are claiming that you can do them. Translink has already said no to proposals from previous councils, so how do you intent on doing that which previous councils haven’t been able to?
You claim to be for students and listen to them. How would you know what our needs are? I have seen you around campus less than half a dozen time this school year before elections started. You campaigned at the Spartan basketball game on the weekend and left half way through the game. I have seen you at one other Spartan game all year, and then again you left half way through. Do you actually support any of the students?
Do you really know what students want? Just because you have been on TWUSA does not automatically qualify you for a continual position. There have been very successful members of TWUSA that have not had previous experience on TWUSA.
Have you had any other leadership positions outside of TWUSA? What activities in the community and on campus have you personally been involved in?
This year I do not see you as an approachable person. I do not see you as someone that I could talk to about issues on TWUSA and hear the issue and discuss it without being told I am wrong because I cannot understand what the issue really is. I have seen the other candidates and feel that I could have not just a conversation about TWUSA with them but just any conversation with them.
Dear Stoplying,
Here is some advice: learn to use the contraction “you’re” so as to not discredit yourself with poor grammar.
Furthermore, there are various methods available to link related clauses, such as a semicolon, colon, or conjunction; unfortunately, you fail miserably in every case.
I only draw attention to this fact because this is an election at an academic institution, and I find it difficult to take any of your rhetoric seriously when it’s stated with no regard for syntactic governance.
Coincidentally, I believe your account of Giede is guilty of the same vulgar fallacies pervading your use of language. Show some class by putting some of your liberal education to use; you hack.
Sincerely,
–Conflict of Interest
Hi Ted Lewis!
Ted isn’t it against TWUSA bylaws to voice your support for a candidate running in the election (besides yourself) since you yourself are on TWUSA?
Dear Christian Sawka,
I will do my best to keep my rhetoric within the realm of decency, for the sake of the aforementioned qualitative standards I hold to those who attend a university.
I think it best that you abstain from supposing my identity, which has been intentionally concealed behind the veil of anonymity made available through this medium.
My support of Giede, in fact, has nothing to do with the poor (feel free to substitute “poor” with “whiny”)form of his opponents, but more to do with the fact that there is no other candidate I would trust with something even so banal as the TWUSA presidency. No one has put in the effort nor shown their quality to the same extent. Two years of experience, including one as the executive vice president, proves Giede’s commitment to TWUSA and this school better than any over-ambitious and disingenuous list of promises could ever do (the subjects of these criticisms intentionally remain unnamed).
If you want to resort to baseless guessing and quoting “bylaws”, be my guest; However, I must remind you that it reveals your egoist insecurities more than any fault of your opponent or his supporters.
Sincerely,
–Conflict of Interest
Ted,
I am not Christian Sawka and I was actually asking if you were or were not allowed to openly voice your support. I have heard from members on campus that you are not allowed to. It was an honest and genuine question.
I do not believe that serving on TWUSA places someone above another person who has been an RA or D-group leader in their caring for this school. There are many ways to serve through student leadership and I do not believe the TWUSA positions mean more for caring than other positions.
My only concern with your post is this… You may have amazing grammar, great writing ability and everything you need to “academicly” write a comment. But you missed the point all together, sadly. There was no attack on Nathan by me. You are so quick to assume I was attacking without realizing no one attacked Nathan. Nathan has serves this campus and this community well, although I may not always agree with him I will never argue with the dedication he has for this campus. He is a great candidate and someone that I can thankfully call my friend.
I do not hide behind a list of promises, or my spelling for that matter. What I am running for is what I, myself are running for. I believe those are some needs around campus and therefore I want to changed them. Next time before you assume I am attacking maybe read what I am writing. Assumption is bad for all.
-Christian Sawka
I find all these anonymous comments really obnoxious.
Sincerely,
Anonymous
Dear all,
First, I want to make it very clear that I have in no way endorsed any candidate or presented any conflict of interest during this campaign.
Second, I would like to clarify that while I have read the obnoxious rhetoric in the comments section of this post, I have not posted in the comments until this time. I would ask all those offering comments to refrain from assuming the identity of those offering anonymous posts.
Finally, if any of the electorate have reservations about candidates, I would encourage them to express them openly. Retaining anonymity in this situation is quite frankly cowardly, and I would not belittle myself by disguising my identity.
Sincerely,
Ted Lewis
LOL Christian,”academicly”? really?
Hey rllydsntmttr2me,
I think Barney Stinson says it the best when he says,
“Creating your own words shows creativity and vision” :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG7T76kb2fo
I would like to make Christian aware that, although I agree with the wisdom of Mr Stinson, “academicly” isn’t a new word.
It’s just a failed attempt at “academically”.
Na not a failed attempt :)
Make claims up front and then disregard them behind doors; this is your style. I sincerely hope Nathan’s long overdue time on TWUSA is up.