UNews - Alex Masse

Student Speaker Challenge continues

trevor.kenney — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:18:12 +0000

The second of four quarter-final sessions of the Student Speaker Challenge is ready to go, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 12:15 p.m. in Ballroom A of the Students' Union.

The annual event is in its second year and with eight talented student speakers taking part, has begun to capture an audience and, at the same time, some profile on campus.

"It's a very valuable place for students at all levels and stages of their university careers to develop their public speaking and presentation skills and to generally be able to stand up to audience scrutiny in a positive way," says Alex Masse, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Students' Union vice-president academic.
"We learned last year that if we put an effort into recruiting good students, we get very good speakers and I believe we've got an excellent lineup this year."

The How Education Benefits the World Student Speaker Challenge is a collaboration of the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA), the Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group (LPIRG), and the Students' Union (ULSU), with support from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

The challenge began Jan. 13 when speakers James Falconer and Selin Bilgin squared off in the first quarter-final, addressing the question, "What is the value of post-secondary education to the world?" After making 15-minute presentations, each speaker then opened the floor to another 15 minutes of questioning from the assembled audience as well as the three-person panel of judges. Falconer was declared the winner of the first matchup and will advance to the semifinal sessions, Feb. 23 and Mar. 2.

The final session will be Tuesday, Mar. 9, 7 p.m. at Andy's Place. The winner of the event will receive a $500 award, second place $300 and third place $100. All sessions are open to the public.

"It's the old style, classic Greek conception of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ," says Falconer, a fourth-year sociology major. "The stadium, the discourse, the back-and-forth dialectic, that's what I thrive on and this is a wonderful example."

Following is the challenge lineup.

Session Schedule

Session 2 - Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 12:15 p.m. in Ballroom A, SUB
Speakers - Cashe Erskine and Keith McLaughlin

Session 3 - Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 12:15 p.m. in Galileo's, SUB
Speakers - Vanessa Lodermeier and Keith Gardner

Session 4 - Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 12:15 p.m. in Galileo's, SUB
Speakers - Kate Nesbitt and Saikat Basu

Semifinal Sessions
Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 4:30 p.m. in Galileo's, SUB
Tuesday, Mar. 2 at 4:30 p.m. in Galileo's, SUB
Speakers - TBA

Final Session - Tuesday, Mar. 9 at 7 p.m. in Andy's Place (AH100)

East Africa the focus of SACPA event

trevor.kenney — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:54:59 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge will host a special edition of the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA) presentation Wednesday evening in Galileo's Gallery.

Speaker Justin Odera will present International Repercussions of the Eco-crises: East Africa, 4:30 to 6 p.m. in Galileo's.

The UN FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) projects that the greatest number of people in history will be starving this year, with over 1 billion going to bed hungry. In Eastern Africa, this reality is exacerbated by persistent drought.

In a world threatened by simultaneous economic and ecological crises, thousands of billions of dollars are made available on short notice for banks and financiers. Should the poorest of the poor suffer even more because of financial profligacy of the moneyed elite?

Odera will talk about the plight of his Acholi people in the Sudan, displaced by civil war and now coming home after 15 years from the Kenyan and Ugandan refugee camps to face hunger, and a void in education and medical care. Justin will also speak about those of his people who have come to Alberta and how they are faring in this time of crisis.

Odera was born in 1973, during a period of civil war. His Acholi family hometown was Pajok in the Magwi district, eastern Equatoria province, Southern Sudan. He lived through 29 brutal war years as well as the fragile life in refugee camps, before arriving in Canada in 2001.

The Acholi people have been living along the shores of East Africa's rivers and lakes for the past six centuries. The traditional territories of his Luo speaking tribe are the borderlands of western Uganda, northwestern Kenya and Sudan's Eastern Equatoria province.

Odera is the Program Director of Southern Sudan Canada Acholi Progressive Education Association (SSCAPEA), an Alberta based, non-profit organization dedicated to health, education, economic aid and community development amongst war weary families hailing from the refugee camps of East Africa.

Alex Masse will serve as moderator for this free event.

ULSU elections enlightening

trevor.kenney — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:36:09 +0000

Flames vs. Oilers. Harper vs. Dion. Competition between rivals provides free advertising and captures public attention, both of which are valuable assets when in want of a larger fan base or having polls tipped in your favour.

So what do you do when no competition exists?

With three of four ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Students' Union (ULSU) executive positions having just a single candidate in the spring elections, the 2009-2010 nominees faced the challenge of single-handedly garnering student interest, producing stimulating political debate, and showing they are competent and can be held accountable.

"The uncontested candidates had to work even harder in their campaigning," says Adam Vossepoel, ULSU president. "They had to prove that they deserved the position more than anyone else and were, in fact, the best candidate for the job."

Jeremy Girard, the single presidential candidate, agrees.

"To run against somebody else would have been easier; instead I was basically up against every single other person in this school and I needed to show people I was the best candidate for the position," says Girard, a fourth-year neuroscience major.

Proving worthy of the position isn't the only issue that arises when a candidate runs uncontested; to be viewed as credible and capable is difficult to attain without a rival posing a test.

"It's more challenging to campaign against someone, but it's much more difficult to be seen as legitimate when you're campaigning alone," says Alex Masse, the single vice-president academic candidate.

Masse, a fourth-year political science major, planned to prove his legitimacy through the election's town hall speeches, executive council debates and the CKXU radio debate.

For Allan Hall, fifth-year accounting student and vice-president administration candidate, running uncontested didn't change his objective of ensuring student support.

"The best thing I feel that I could do was just talk to students," says Hall. "I think that it was really important that all the candidates, even if they didn't have any competition, made an effort to engage students."

The position of vice-president internal was the only one sought after by more than one student; fourth-year psychology major Matt Kalynchuk and third-year philosophy student Cole Lehto both vie for the title.

"Cole and I had to use campaigning to differentiate ourselves from one another and help people choose a candidate based on who they believed was right for the job," says Kalynchuk.

"Running against someone means you must campaign in order to win and the competition is motivating," says Lehto, who was pleased to have a competitor. "Running against no one means you must draw your motivation to campaign from a feeling of duty to do so, which is difficult."

Whether the 'battle of Alberta' or the aspiration to hold an important political role, the challenge of garnering interest and being regarded as worthy, at times with no reference point, is difficult to achieve. If willingness to work hard is any indication of success in this area, it appears the ULSU can rest assured it will be in worthy hands for 2009-2010.

ULSU elections in the books

trevor.kenney — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:40:26 +0000

The battle for ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Students' Union president may have been a one-horse race but it didn't stop voters from casting ballots in the 2009-2010 ULSU executive council and general assembly election last week.

Over 21 per cent of students cast their votes in the election as a variety of roles were filled. Jeremy Girard ran unopposed as ULSU president and will take over office in May. He's excited about the upcoming challenge.

"I'm proud to serve as president in the upcoming year," says Girard. "The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has a lot to offer to the community, and the Students' Union has a lot to offer to students."

Girard takes over from outgoing ULSU President, Adam Vossepoel.

"I'm confident the incoming executive team will lead the ULSU down the right path," says Vossepoel. "The organization and the interests of students are in very capable hands, and I leave my presidency with no apprehension about the future of the ULSU."

Following are the results from the 2009-2010 ULSU election.

2009‐2010 ULSU Executive Council: Jeremy Girard, President; Allan Hall, VP Administration; Alex Masse, VP Academic and Cole Lehto, VP Internal.

2009‐2010 ULSU General Assembly: Justine Foy, arts and science representative; Zack Moline, arts and science representative; Eric Hawthorne, arts and science representative; Willis Norrie, arts and science representative; Alecia Fraser, arts and science representative; Cayley Rauw, arts and science representative; Tyler Stewart, fine arts representative; Tyrell DaSilva, management representative; Michael Persinger, organization of residence students representative; Fwanyanga Mate, international representative; Melanie Sam, First Nations, Inuit Métis representative; Jenn Prosser, board of governors representative.

The newly‐elected council members assume their roles May 1, 2009 and remain in office through to Apr. 30, 2010.

UNews - Alex Masse

Student Speaker Challenge continues

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