Connors & Matheson - Platform Critique 3 of 3

There has been a lot of online discussion over the course of this election. Since my last critique many people have posted comments on both this blog and other websites. It seems as though people are starting to loose faith in both the Connors/Matheson and MacGillivray/Clarke slates. I say this is with good reason. Within the ongoing discussion it has become apparent that both slates lack a vast amount of important knowledge of theU.
Rather than replying to all the discussion immediately, I will reply specifically to the last section of the C&M platform - Innovation - and let future posts address the other issues.

I am glad to see that the Innovation section of the C&M platform really is the most innovative of all 3 sections. Sure, there may not be a lot of content and all the good and feasible ideas are about the environment, but the environment is important. OK, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll go through the issues one-by-one.

Creating a Greener and Healthier Campus
As I alluded to earlier, the solutions C&M present to environmental issues on campus are both thoughtful and innovative. I am glad to see that any environmental proposal isn't a rehashing of current ideas, but something new.
However the innovation stops right about there. C&M go on to discuss the food at Morrison Hall and suggest they will attempt to sway Sodexho to produce better quality food. I have 2 issues with this suggestion:
1) C&M themselves state that this is a relatively unfeasible idea; "This is a very sensitive issue due to the constraints of the contract that Sodexho has with the school."
2) If you eat the same of anything 3 times a day every day than you are going to complain. It is obvious students are going to complain about Morrison Hall, but the C&M solution is one that will only temporarily halt these complaints. Give students a few months of eating the same "better" food and the issue will arise again.
Rather than C&M proposing a nonviable, band-aid solution they could have approached this issue realistically and not tried to get elected on campaign lies. It is true that Sodexho serves cheaper food that they recycle in to new meals. They cut costs wherever they can. C&M could have suggested lobying to lower Food Service Costs to better reflect the product being delivered to students.

Improving Your U
Once again C&M apply the same tricks of setting up a Straw Man fallacy to dupe students. They suggest that theU is structured in a way where "councilors do not [have]...enough power to hold the executive to their word or enough opportunity to bring their own issues to debate." If councilors ability to add any issue to the agenda, criticize any executive member during the presentation of executive reports, or the ability to impeach any member of theU isn't enough power than I don't know what is. If councilors aren't effective or efficient it may be an issue that every year the majority of the councilors are incompetent at doing their job. Their silence at council meetings isn't a demonstration of a poorly structured organization, it is blatantly an issue of the current talent pool.
Now there are many problems with the structure of theU, C&M just don't know what they are. I think it is a good idea to put in some research into theU's by-laws, various departments, and overall operating efficiency and make some realistic, viable, and beneficial solutions.
C&M do suggest the importance of researching other Student Unions for possible ideas. Why haven't they done this already? Why haven't they already looked at our by-laws (which are public)? Why haven't they gone to at least one council meeting? If they did any of these things than I and many other students would have read a document with some truly innovative ideas.

Academic Improvements
I actually think C&M have addressed some important issues in this section. StFX does have an unusual format of registration and presentation of our academic calendar. They suggest that we should register for courses before the summer while I say that registering before the year makes a lot more sense for our small school. Yes, maybe things would be easier for certain individuals. However, when you look at all the internships, co-op, and exchanges students are attending it becomes evident that a lot of students don't know what they want academically until moments before they return. Additionally, with a small staff going on sabbatical quite frequently the postponement of registration compensates for the needed flexibility.
That aside I think C&M should follow through with getting official exam schedules posted earlier and a more reflective academic calendar.