We asked, what the new council reps intend to do with the power they have received
The winners of the Representative Council Election tell us, what they intend to do with their acquired power.
Original text and pictures: Anriika Kauppi
Translation: Isabel Lehtikallio
It is time to transform election promises into actions now that the new Representative Council has begun its work. In exceptional circumstances, the council’s term lasts for just one year. What do the newly elected members of the Representative Council intend to accomplish within this timeframe? We asked this of seven reps.
At times, it took a while to get to the concrete actions. The newly elected reps found it easy to discuss values and how they want the student union to function. It was much more difficult to summarise what concrete actions they intended to undertake. This is of course understandable, as all interviewees are first term reps, and the term has just begun.
Based on the interviews, this group of contributors is brought together by their enthusiasm to learn from the other reps, what they do not yet know.
Who was interviewed?
Interviewees were from a group of reps who garnered the ten highest comparative indices in the Representative Council Elections, among those who had responded to TREY’s election compass and are not candidates in the spring’s county or municipal elections. If a person is a candidate in the county or municipal elections, the rep with the next highest comparative index in their electoral alliance was interviewed. The comparative index indicates the internal order of alliance candidates based on casted votes for them. Candidate interviews are avoided in journalistic publications to preserve impartiality and to not give individual candidates unjust publicity.
What is a rep?
Rep is a colloquial term for a Representative Council representative. The members of the student union have elected them to decide on common matters, such as, how the membership fee funds are used, or for which matters the student union aims to advocate.
Matti Kalttila
1st year medical student
Electoral alliance: MedBoomare
“I will promote the interest of Kauppi Campus and get students, starting from their fresher time, to know TREY and its member services better.”
Roni Hietalahti
3rd year civil engineering student
Electoral alliance: Kyltyrböndet
“I have become familiar with the best parts of Hervanta’s student community. Now, I want to broaden my understanding to cover the entire university community, simultaneously illuminating others the good sides of Hervanta.”
Valpuri Hurting
4th year social work student
Electoral alliance: Viva – The Green Left in Tampere University
”I aim to promote TREY to make a statement about the genocide of Palestinians and to publicly endorse the academic boycott of Israel. Still need to research what would be the best way!”
Saga Porjo
1st year medical student
Electoral alliance: Green List
“If one holds humanity and nature in high regard, you cannot make that bad of a decision. I don’t know yet what kind of decisions I will face, but I will make them based on the common values of the Green List.”
Marcel Laukkanen
1st year civil engineering student
Electoral alliance: Rakennustekniikan, Arkkitehtuurin, Tuotantotalouden ja Tietojohtamisen OpISkelijAt
” I want to raise TREY’s events budget by 20,000 euros alongside supporting smaller associations. I want to add a sense of community between campuses with big open events. For example, it would be fun to attend the Newcomers’ Orienteering twice a year!”
Aurora Kuusisto
3rd year journalism student
Electoral alliance: Kontakti
“I will support Visiiri and promote the consideration of neurominorities in the Representative Council’s work. The most important thing for me is that one of university democracy’s central cornerstones is maintained, which is the student media.”
Eino Suni
4th year engineering physics student
Electoral alliance: Kahden Tähden Teekkarit
“I want to act as a messenger between the Representative Council and my own guild, by attending the board meetings of Hiukkanen to convey to them the council’s latest, and to ask for their opinions.”