Comsoc Elections (1 Viewer)

[mr_shittles]

Just a quick reminder to everyone that the Comsoc election is on from today. You have two choices: Community or Drive, and you can only tick for one party (ie. no voting for individual; candidates).

If you are enrolled in commerce or a combined program with commerce (eg ComScience, ComLaw, ComEng, ComArts, etc.) you are eligible to vote. Whilst voting is not compulsory, it is important to do so since this is an organisation that is supposed to represent the interests of Commerce students.

 

[Eagles]

I refuse to be USED!

 

[Bambul]

[rant]A few years ago ComSoc elections used to be very different. You would go to the AGM and everyone who wanted to run for a position would get up and talk to you for a few minutes about why they were the best candidate for the position, followed by questions from the audience. Then everyone would vote. Those who voted tended to be people who were active within ComSoc and had a good idea of what ComSoc did and who the candidates were (knowledge that was increased after they heard the candidates speak). Those elected were elected because they, as individuals, were good candidates and were able to convince a group of their peers that they were queslified to be in charge of publications, social activities, ComSocs finances, etc.

Today it is very different. Groups run together, based on the social networks of 2 or 3 people who want to run for President and their close supporters. It has become a popularity contest where Commerce students are asked to vote without having any idea at all about what ComSoc even is, let alone who they are voting for or why. It is impossible for someone to come along and say "I've done these things, I have the motiovation to be a good XYZ, I think you should vote for me" and get elected, because everything is one group against another. Even then, it's unlikely that one group has all the best people, and I want the best person for treasurer to be the next treasurer, the best person for social exec to be the next social exec, not just the group which on balance is better (which is very hard seeing as few people know anything about the election other than the colour of the shirts that people wear and a few sound bites that tell you little in the way of substance).

In my first year (2002), one guy got involved in ComSoc mid year, then a few weeks later ran for Social Exec at the AGM. He proved to us that he had the prior experience, the skills, the motivations and the ability to be a good Social Exec, so he was elected. He didn't have a big social network within ComSoc, nor the funds to pay for the shirts, how to vote cards that you now need to get elected. The criteria has gone from being qualified, to wanting it more.

Not only that, but there is a much larger turnover of exec members from year to year under this new system. Previously the President (plus a few other execs) had always been an exec from the year before, they understood how ComSoc worked from the inside so they could effectively lead it from the top. Not having this threatens instability and risk at the start of every year as the new administration tries to get a grasp of how everything works.

I really do not approve of theis election system and do hope that enough of the right people can understand my reasoning and reverse this back to how it used to be. And as someone who experienced ComSoc under the previous system, I can tell you that it did so much more for Commerce students than it has in recent years, when it has become little more than a vessel for social events.[/end rant]

 

[Sarah]

[rant]

I really do not approve of theis election system and do hope that enough of the right people can understand my reasoning and reverse this back to how it used to be. And as someone who experienced ComSoc under the previous system, I can tell you that it did so much more for Commerce students than it has in recent years, when it has become little more than a vessel for social events.[/end rant]

I'm not happy with the current system either. Who would be the right person to talk to if you want to address these concerns?

 

[Minai]

I agree wholeheartedly Bambul. (Having been somewhat involved with Comsoc since 2003)

The removal of below the line voting has turned this election into a shambles, and basically a popularity contest between two teams that aim to get as many of their friends to get as many of their friends to vote.

Mat...do something!!
(Aside, have I set some sort of precedent with an Ecocomp coordinator being the returning officer for the comsoc elections?)

Sarah - Basically, David Ho for a start, but probably Dr David Morgan (the Associate Dean), he has probably the greatest influence over Comsoc

 

[Sarah]

I agree wholeheartedly Bambul. (Having been somewhat involved with Comsoc since 2003)

The removal of below the line voting has turned this election into a shambles, and basically a popularity contest between two teams that aim to get as many of their friends to get as many of their friends to vote.

Mat...do something!!
(Aside, have I set some sort of precedent with an Ecocomp coordinator being the returning officer for the comsoc elections?)

Sarah - Basically, David Ho for a start, but probably Dr David Morgan (the Associate Dean), he has probably the greatest influence over Comsoc

Who is David Ho? Is he the president of Comsoc? Sorry for my ignorance but communication from Comsoc has been somewhat lacking particularly with respect to what Comsoc are actually doing for students. Oh yes, i've been contacted about socials but apart from that, i haven't heard much.

Also, is there a way to make student reps accountable for their actions (and in most cases, lack of action) ?

And who got rid of below the line voting?

 

[redslert]

Who is David Ho? Is he the president of Comsoc? Sorry for my ignorance but communication from Comsoc has been somewhat lacking particularly with respect to what Comsoc are actually doing for students. Oh yes, i've been contacted about socials but apart from that, i haven't heard much.

Also, is there a way to make student reps accountable for their actions (and in most cases, lack of action) ?

And who got rid of below the line voting?

communication of ComSoc just sucks and always have been
I don't even know who is in each party, there is absolutely no information, checking out the comsoc website reveals NOTHING...
the only people who knows anything are people who are actively participating

ComSoc to most students is useless they don't do anything .... if i go on further i would be stepping on couple of ComSoc memebers in here so i'll just leave it there

one last thing, if comsoc was to disappear tomorrow i doubt most people will notice

 

[Frigid]

[rant]Today it is very different. Groups run together, based on the social networks of 2 or 3 people who want to run for President and their close supporters. It has become a popularity contest where Commerce students are asked to vote without having any idea at all about what ComSoc even is, let alone who they are voting for or why. It is impossible for someone to come along and say "I've done these things, I have the motiovation to be a good XYZ, I think you should vote for me" and get elected, because everything is one group against another. Even then, it's unlikely that one group has all the best people, and I want the best person for treasurer to be the next treasurer, the best person for social exec to be the next social exec, not just the group which on balance is better (which is very hard seeing as few people know anything about the election other than the colour of the shirts that people wear and a few sound bites that tell you little in the way of substance).[/end rant]

*sigh*

i agree with Mr Bambul, and i think the view applies across the board to other elections as well.

 

[§eraphim]

yeah, i concur. comsoc's work = Cruise + camp + some other crap. its definitely pork barrelling (and profiting from ticket sales too)

 

[Bambul]

Wow, people agree with me. And I thought I was the only one who thought this way.

 

[Eagles]

mr shittles = mat??

hey.. wasssup, derek here!! Sydney was NOT a disaster LOL!!

hahaha, can I grab that pic of us eating KFC in suits at 11pm???!?

 

[mr_shittles]

Yeah Eagles, that's right. I've forwarded your picture to your email address.

It didn't run 100% smoothly, did it? The best bit was the KFC deal!

 

[Shawny]

k lets just be happy and say alrite its the system and we can't change it

wat i dont get is why do u need to be such dirty mutha fukers in a shitty small town election of nothingness e.g. comsoc elections to ur peers and in thsi years case former friends

and i mean this gets seriously dirty man
- setting up ppl in order to get rule violations so that one party(community) gets banned from campaigning for X number of hours

- personal attacks upon presidential and executive candidates on both sides, its like me saying hey frigids a fukin arsehole, dont vote for tat corrupt mofo. No offense frig, just using ur name s an example.

- constant tit for tat dobbing in a bid by both sides to get rule violatoins on each other

- allegations of impersonating and slandering on comsoc forums and allegations of deliberate sabbotage by Drive to defame Community. Through posting anti-drive stickers(i think an illegal tactic to directly discredit opposing team's name)
Note- allegations, yet to be proven that Drive is responsible, but the events did happen

- militant and aggressive campaign tactics bordering on hostile physical contact to both potential voters/voters/opposing campaigners

- constant war of words and actions, creating a tension and hostile environment for the university community at large within the confines of CLB

- campaigners with little or no knowledge of policies attempt to bs and copy opposing teams policies in a bid to win ur vote. In other words, bluntly lying to ur face

- not to mention a lack of key, concrete measures nor well planned effective measures in their key campaign policies. In other words all talk, no action(well wont be action).

- a trend of indifference and a culture of doing shit all. E.g. every yr so far, since this new system, all u have is 1 cruise, 1 camp, 1 ball, doing the fuking bare minimum, sure it takes time to organise others, then DONT FUKING PROMISE US U'LL DO MORE SHIT IF U GET ELECTED WHEN U CAMPAIGN!!!

-fact is roughly 1-5% of total eligible voters choose the leadership of comsoc, in other words less than 5%, tats 5 out of 100 ppl in every lecture theatre choose to vote in the people who are meant to represent commerce students. Democracy? Equal or fair representation? WTF does do those 2 things mean?

the only thing proven by this yr's election is that "nice guys never come first"

This is where part of ur money goes boys and girls, this is where it goes, to fund the t-shirts, to fund teh banners, to fund the fliers for an unclean, unrepresentative and deffintely non democractic campaign


old system sounds better,

and btw mat, why dont the fuk morgan change the system man, he knows its all a fraud and all a load of shit and this wastes money man not to mention time and fuks up uni for a week all for a very small minority to benefit


ah well in saying all this shit, nothing will change, just gets it off ur chest

those in power will do wat they need to do to stay in power
those who want power wont want the system to change, coz the system is what motivates them
and those wifout power can't do shit anyway

 

[Minai]

Nice to meet you Eagles (I met you at the presentation night/KFC)

I had a nice run down on all the dirt that's been happening from one of the returning officers I ran into today...the campaigners are getting worse every year. Dare I say it, but I feel most of these people who are involved with either Drive of Unity just want something to add to their resume.

 

[Sarah]

Nice to meet you Eagles (I met you at the presentation night/KFC)

I had a nice run down on all the dirt that's been happening from one of the returning officers I ran into today...the campaigners are getting worse every year. Dare I say it, but I feel most of these people who are involved with either Drive of Unity just want something to add to their resume.

I agree. And there are others out there that feel the same way.

 

[§eraphim]

i concur with the above post. its a ptless stalemate that only creates enemies over the pettiest issues. In particular, a certain Shangsoc/UNSW Union exec from CommUNITY was acting quite childish. and morgan is as complacent as the rest of the commerce faculty when it comes to real student representation.

i propose that they should just have separate societies representing different groups without the COMSOC umbrella. eg Actuarial Society, Marketing, Finance and Economics (who are very poorly underrepresented). Althought there would be more admin, it would be better for administration, less money would be spent on party campaigning, greater representation for students and much more focussed events (careers for example).

I also resent the fact that the student rep body comsoc is dominated by a bunch of CV building, shallow commerce-law students. there should be a rule saying that a min %age of ppl from must come from other commerce degrees. otherwise, at present as the balance is shifted towards the c/l students, how can we truly say comsoc equally represents all com students!?

The blatantly unfair comsoc constitution rules are a cancer on commerce student population: i strongly advise that we abandon the present comsoc and pursue a more decentralised network of student societies.
Ends rant

 

[Harimau]

-fact is roughly 1-5% of total eligible voters choose the leadership of comsoc, in other words less than 5%, tats 5 out of 100 ppl in every lecture theatre choose to vote in the people who are meant to represent commerce students. Democracy? Equal or fair representation? WTF does do those 2 things mean?

5% is a bit of an exaggeration... Last year, over 1300 people voted. It was the largest (Maybe second, next to the Union elections) turnout for an election. Although, i do concede most of them didn't even give a damn about Comsoc.

the only thing proven by this yr's election is that "nice guys never come first"

That's for sure. Its a pity that people must be ruthless to win.

and btw mat, why dont the fuk morgan change the system man, he knows its all a fraud and all a load of shit and this wastes money man not to mention time and fuks up uni for a week all for a very small minority to benefit

He was the one tha abolished below the line voting... That was his one attempt at reform.

 

[mr_shittles]

To all members of the UNSW Commerce and Economics Society:

The results of the interim count have now been released:

Community 393 votes
Drive 403 votes

The two party preferred vote is:

Community 49.4%
Drive 50.6%

In addition, there were 4 blank/incorrect votes, 88 excluded votes
(votes that both parties and the Electoral Officer mutually agreed not
to count) and 48 disputed votes (votes where the faculty to which the
voter cannot yet be fully ascertained).

Total votes cast was 936.

 

[mr_shittles]

Nice to meet you Eagles (I met you at the presentation night/KFC)

I had a nice run down on all the dirt that's been happening from one of the returning officers I ran into today...the campaigners are getting worse every year. Dare I say it, but I feel most of these people who are involved with either Drive of Unity just want something to add to their resume.

Minai, you had it easy. This year, I've handed out 4 campaign suspensions, dozens of warnings, and its getting worse. We argued from 7pm to 1am this morning over a letter of apology and the ban issued, and security even kicked us out of Comsoc after midnight. I'm still getting calls at 3am.

 

[Harimau]

Minai, you had it easy. This year, I've handed out 4 campaign suspensions, dozens of warnings, and its getting worse. We argued from 7pm to 1am this morning over a letter of apology and the ban issued, and security even kicked us out of Comsoc after midnight. I'm still getting calls at 3am.

/me envies Minai too.

The worse part about it is that it ended up being completely pointless...