The University Act requires that an actual student be elected to this position, and the nomination form enforces this by requiring a student number. I used the student number of my interpreter, Darren Peets (shown with me in the photo to the left) (he's the one on the left), a graduate student in Physics. A further administrative decision was made that the ballot ought to reflect the identity of the student who would serve, thus my name on the ballot will be followed by his in parentheses. Bummer.

However, all is not lost. Darren has agreed that, if I'm elected, he will not only push me to every Board and Board committee meeting (including any in Kelowna or downtown), but he'll also continue in his role as interpreter/translator. I will serve on Board, but with his assistance. If you're worried that my shock value will wear off and the Board will begin to ignore me, I assure you Darren is perfectly well-qualified, and will be a very useful source of information for me, as he has been for the current Board members, which will keep me relevant if not infuriating. In fact, if I'm somehow banned from entering the room, I'm confident in Darren's ability to continue in my place (I consider this extremely unlikely, however, and I'd raise quite a ruckus if they tried).

Darren has been the GSS rep on the University Town Steering Committee since mid-summer, where he has made life somewhat awkward for administrators and campus planning types by pointing out mistakes they're about to make and finding out more about what they're up to than even they know.

Darren was also the GSS rep on the South Campus Neighbourhood Plan Working Group, which guided the preparation of the plan for that area. The acting Director of Planning's strongest memory of the process is thought to be Darren's photo of a pizza tree when he gave a presentation encouraging community gardens as one example of a sustainability initiative that ought to be mandated in the area. While the plan is a huge improvement from the default option (the CCP), he still feels far more could have changed. The roadblock was from above, where BoG felt that turning our land endowment into monetary endowment (or stock) was the overriding priority.

Darren has attended various other campus development committees within UBC, the AMS and GSS, and the GVRD, and has given presentations at BoG, BoG committees, the GVRD/UBC Joint Committee, and GSS council. He usually brings his own borrowed laser pointer, which sometimes infuriates administrators who'd had to scour their building for one earlier in the meeting.

If you have questions, try e-mailing vote4hydrant@canada.com, and I'll try to respond when I get the chance, unless you're screaming insults at me or trying to sell me Cheep Medz From Cnaada from a website in Belarus.