The best and the worst USU candidate policies 2018
So, it’s that time of year again where we have the absolute P L E A S U R E of hearing from each USU Board candidate about what they want to do for us if elected. Now I know what you’re all thinking. “How am I going to get time to sit down and comb through all of these fantastic policies, in order to make an informed decision come polling day?” Well, worry no more, because I have done the hard work for you. Below is my list of the best and worst policies brought to you by this year’s USU board candidates.
Candidate 1: Zimeng Ye
BEST POLICY: Electronic Student ID Cards. YES! Except you’re the USU not the Uni so I don’t know how you’ll achieve this.
WORST POLICY: Catering App to compare food outlets on campus.
INTERSTING: Shared umbrellas. Aren’t the ones outside Fisher on a rainy day there for sharing? Oh, we have fun.
Candidate 2: Maya Eswaran
BEST POLICY: Joint USU SUSF memberships. This is something that needs to happen but it has been a goal of many USU board members in the past and never achieved.
WORST POLICY: SUPRA wine and cheese nights.
INTERESTING: A left wing USU. Is this a policy?
Candidate 3: Lachlan Finch
BEST POLICY: Sydney University fun run to raise money for mental health awareness. I love this idea. Lachlan also says he will use his entire salary as a Board member to fund it if the USU can’t, which is a big promise but honourable!
WORST POLICY: Affordable access cards. Yeah this is a good idea but unoriginal. I mean I don’t think I’ve met anyone that wants to pay more for their access cards.
INTERESTING: More healthy food on campus AND a supermarket on campus! Lachlan why don’t you just partner the USU up with Harris Farm already!
Candidate 4: Daniel Lee
BEST POLICY: Medical zones to provide students with access to first aid kits, Panadol etc. I think this is a really good idea actually. I for one need a few Panadols after overhearing some conversations whilst walking through Courtyard.
WORST POLICY: Enhancing the Access App AND bringing back the physical card. Which one do you want Daniel, make up your mind.
INTERESTING: Daniel wants to focus on main campus but also other campuses… so you want to focus on the entire University?
Candidate 5: Mike Mao
BEST POLICY: A Welfare code of conduct for clubs and societies to ensure safety and wellbeing of students at USU events. This is great.
Free access to psychologists for international and exchange students. Love this. But don’t forget about the domestic students.
WORST POLICY: Humans of USYD. Just grab your camera and start an FB page, don’t run for board.
INTERESTING: Monthly payments for Access cards. Literally just partner up with Afterpay.
Candidate 6: Bec Miller
BEST POLICY: Supporting SURG’s transition into a program to allow for digitalisation of the station. Look I may be a bit biased, but this is my favourite policy so far.
Sexual assault and consent campaign during O-Week – this is a fantastic idea.
WORST POLICY: Clean energy to be used in Wentworth’s replacement. Whilst we all love some of that sweet clean energy, let’s be real, Wentworth isn’t going to get knocked down in our lifetime.
INTERESTING: Live music lunchtimes. Why don’t we just host Coachella at Hermann’s.
Candidate 7: Decheng Sun
BEST POLICY: Help students get jobs. The promotion of multiculturalism and translation of USU materials into other languages. Great!
WORST POLICY: Changing the positions of board directors into voluntary jobs. This isn’t reasonable considering the workload and time spent by board directors.
(Not)INTERESTING: Affordable Access. Boring.
Candidate 8: Connor Wherrett
BEST POLICY: Transparency and accountability – explaining what the access card even is; posting board director reports online. This is important because let’s be real, the majority of students don’t even know that the USU board directors even exist.
Connor also wants to reform structures surrounding international students, providing them with travel concessions, USU job preferences and translations.
WORST POLICY: More funding and marketing for revues. Sorry but I get enough messages asking me to buy tickets to shows I don’t want to see.
INTERESTING: Food Trucks on campus. I’m pretty sure this has been and done but if you could get Bar Luca on campus that’d be great thanks.
Candidate 9: Chuchu Yin
BEST (and only) POLICIES:
Make international students get involved with C&S culture to improve multiculturalism.
Promote societies; elaborate on C&S processes; enhance international student ambassador program.
Chuchu also wants to introduce Internship programs for students.