Rick Mercer is one of Canada's most famous political satirists. More often then other televised personalities, Rick Mercer sheds a no-bullshit perspective into Canadian politics. Canada is now about to go into an election for the 3rd time in 7 years, and here he sends a message to the youth. Yeah it's directed to the Canadian electorate, but it's still relevant to everyone, regardless of the degree of politics. - Kyle
The International Party is based on real solutions to bridge divides between all students. We are a practical party. We will strive towards initiatives that provide all students with greater accessibility to their studies in a more inclusive and participatory environment supported by a transparent council that engages with you, and not without you. We believe in a university that's based on opportunity and equality, and we have the goals and the knowledge to make it happen.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Welcome TIP Board of Directors and 2011 Candidates!
What a day! We had an extremely interesting nomination meeting, and many showed up to take part, vote, or just show their support. Without further ado, we would like for you all to give a kind welcome to TIPs first ever Board of Directors and Representative Candidates for the 2011 Student Union Election. They're all deserving board members and candidates and you will all know about each of them very soon!
1. Sebastian Lindholm
And now the march forward continues.
Board of Directors
Raphaelle Jamet
Tine Schwarz
Louise Dane
Jan Schubert
Lina Beling
Representative Candidates
1. Sebastian Lindholm
2. Andreas Kidane
3. Elissa Berrill
4. Katharina Huhn
5. Kseniia Beznos
6. Helene Hedberg
7. Nina Landtblom-Bounou
8. Rabindra Dangol
9. Andreas Nordang Uhre
10. Ryan Goldstein
11. Sadiq Maliq
12. Ellen Cecilia Edberg
12. Ellen Cecilia Edberg
13. Anatolii Doludenko
14. Hanyun Ren15. Sambu Chantraine Temo
16. Kyle Verboomen
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Great Indian Tamasha (circus)
It has been more than 3 years since i came to Stockholm and have been working at KTH. It was a bit surprising to see such an ordered way of managing student affairs and student union taking constructive ways to improve student experience, as this is not what i use to experience back in India. Student unions in Indians are connected very closely to political parties and their affiliations oblige them to obey directives from party high-commands, directly or indirectly. In view of the coming student elections, i would like to share some experiences which i had in India around the same issue.
As i mentioned above, almost all major political party put their weight behind a particular student political party in elections. Hence the scenery around student elections change to very much what we see in national elections. Prospective student leaders roam around the campus asking to vote for them. They are allowed few minutes of time in each faculty where they come to classrooms and put up their agenda. Posters spring up on walls of university and university gates usually are hoarded by their volunteers trying to woo students by all possible means. The main motivation of student leaders behind running for the student office are power, money and future.
POWER:
Student office can exert major pressure in the decisions taken by university administration and this gives student leaders tremendous power to put up their political agendas in university policies. So if national opposition parties decide to protest against a government policy, you can see the universities “controlled” by their student leaders organising these marches on their behalf and at the same time student party affiliated to government tries to do the opposite and this puppet game mostly affect the studies too. Almost all Indian universities provide hostel facilities to students and hence hostels become a major power hub for student leaders where they accumulate their representatives who control the resident students and manipulate their opinions (sometimes by brute physical force too!). Some student hostels became infamous for harbouring criminal elements too as these criminals were used by politicians for their own needs and safely placed under the “protection” of their pet student leader. The taste of power which a student leader feels, when (s)he can exert his opinion on thousands of people, makes him/her addicted to this game and hence almost all of them end up becoming local or national politicians. Also, their interaction with criminal elements (who help them secure votes by illegal means like kidnapping, threats and likewise activities ) stays much longer than their student office tenure which introduces criminals into political systems.
MONEY:
Money is one of the major factor in this case. Student union controls the budget for various campus activities and corruption is a way of life. Budgets of major universities runs in millions and significant portion of this money is directly controlled by student union. Since the money runs in millions, so its not surprising when student leaders invest few hundred thousands during elections and one wonders how can this guy/gal afford this kind of money when (s)he doesn’t come from rich family background. They know that they can “earn” more than what they are going to invest.
Present student politicians end up future politicians as the party high commands evaluate their performance during their tenure at universities, especially their obedience to their “orders”. This makes them mere puppets and they end up doing the same when they end up a politician. This vicious circle promotes only those kind of people “who can be controlled” and have low self-esteem for their individuality. Hence its not surprising to see dynastic tendencies in political parties in India.
FUTURE:
One of the most disturbing face of this above mentioned system came to light prominently during the anti-reservation protests in 2006 when a non-political student organization “youth for equality” spearheaded massive nationwide student protests and local students offices were kept mum by major political parties, who made that issue at first hand (to gain major portion of the vote-bank). It was particularly shamefully to find that in one of the major student protests against government, students offices had little to do for the fear of their own future, even if they understood the rational argument involved.
The most disturbing aspect of the whole issue of this article is that the so called educated people in universities are electing these kind of people and this makes me doubt if we can claim that education improves the rational powers to decide for individual or society. Those students who have complains against the system, choose not to get involved in controversies since student leaders can actually exert their “powers” to disturb their studies and their performance in their degrees. This hidden blackmail, in a society where education is valued as one of the few liberating ideas from poverty and uplifting societal status, fuels the system to continue in its ugly form.
But not everything is lost. We do encounter some leaders who go the “other” way even at the cost of resistance and pay the price for the same. I hope that the present popular opinion in India saying, “when you try to change the system, system eventually changes you”, will change to something more constructive. India is now emerging from its sleepy and dark past of ugly politics to more open and establishment-resistive systems and student politics cannot remain isolated from this phenomenon. Their constructive role in student life is still pending in a big way. We have learnt lessons from the past and present students are becoming more aware of the issues through media and are beginning to question student leaders who enjoyed going un-questioned in past.
Sandeep Nagar, PhD student, KTH
Guest Blogger
As i mentioned above, almost all major political party put their weight behind a particular student political party in elections. Hence the scenery around student elections change to very much what we see in national elections. Prospective student leaders roam around the campus asking to vote for them. They are allowed few minutes of time in each faculty where they come to classrooms and put up their agenda. Posters spring up on walls of university and university gates usually are hoarded by their volunteers trying to woo students by all possible means. The main motivation of student leaders behind running for the student office are power, money and future.
Party members convincing voters during the Student Union Election period at Kerala's MGU colleges.
POWER:
Student office can exert major pressure in the decisions taken by university administration and this gives student leaders tremendous power to put up their political agendas in university policies. So if national opposition parties decide to protest against a government policy, you can see the universities “controlled” by their student leaders organising these marches on their behalf and at the same time student party affiliated to government tries to do the opposite and this puppet game mostly affect the studies too. Almost all Indian universities provide hostel facilities to students and hence hostels become a major power hub for student leaders where they accumulate their representatives who control the resident students and manipulate their opinions (sometimes by brute physical force too!). Some student hostels became infamous for harbouring criminal elements too as these criminals were used by politicians for their own needs and safely placed under the “protection” of their pet student leader. The taste of power which a student leader feels, when (s)he can exert his opinion on thousands of people, makes him/her addicted to this game and hence almost all of them end up becoming local or national politicians. Also, their interaction with criminal elements (who help them secure votes by illegal means like kidnapping, threats and likewise activities ) stays much longer than their student office tenure which introduces criminals into political systems.
MONEY:
Money is one of the major factor in this case. Student union controls the budget for various campus activities and corruption is a way of life. Budgets of major universities runs in millions and significant portion of this money is directly controlled by student union. Since the money runs in millions, so its not surprising when student leaders invest few hundred thousands during elections and one wonders how can this guy/gal afford this kind of money when (s)he doesn’t come from rich family background. They know that they can “earn” more than what they are going to invest.
Present student politicians end up future politicians as the party high commands evaluate their performance during their tenure at universities, especially their obedience to their “orders”. This makes them mere puppets and they end up doing the same when they end up a politician. This vicious circle promotes only those kind of people “who can be controlled” and have low self-esteem for their individuality. Hence its not surprising to see dynastic tendencies in political parties in India.
FUTURE:
One of the most disturbing face of this above mentioned system came to light prominently during the anti-reservation protests in 2006 when a non-political student organization “youth for equality” spearheaded massive nationwide student protests and local students offices were kept mum by major political parties, who made that issue at first hand (to gain major portion of the vote-bank). It was particularly shamefully to find that in one of the major student protests against government, students offices had little to do for the fear of their own future, even if they understood the rational argument involved.
The most disturbing aspect of the whole issue of this article is that the so called educated people in universities are electing these kind of people and this makes me doubt if we can claim that education improves the rational powers to decide for individual or society. Those students who have complains against the system, choose not to get involved in controversies since student leaders can actually exert their “powers” to disturb their studies and their performance in their degrees. This hidden blackmail, in a society where education is valued as one of the few liberating ideas from poverty and uplifting societal status, fuels the system to continue in its ugly form.
But not everything is lost. We do encounter some leaders who go the “other” way even at the cost of resistance and pay the price for the same. I hope that the present popular opinion in India saying, “when you try to change the system, system eventually changes you”, will change to something more constructive. India is now emerging from its sleepy and dark past of ugly politics to more open and establishment-resistive systems and student politics cannot remain isolated from this phenomenon. Their constructive role in student life is still pending in a big way. We have learnt lessons from the past and present students are becoming more aware of the issues through media and are beginning to question student leaders who enjoyed going un-questioned in past.
Sandeep Nagar, PhD student, KTH
Guest Blogger
Saturday, March 26, 2011
TIP Nomination Meeting: Don't miss your chance!
TIP's nomination meeting is set to be held on Monday March 28th at 17:00 in room B4. Here we will elect our board of directors as well as our list of candidates. All students that are SUS members are welcome to be elected for one of the following positions:
1) Board of Directors
- The board of directors will be managing the party throughout the student union election period, chair meetings, and conduct secretarial duties.
- The elected board of directors will be a temporary position until the student union election is finished and a new set of board members will be elected at our semi-annual meeting set to occur in June 2011.
2) TIP representative
- A TIP representative will be a listed candidate for the 2011 Student Union Elections in May, and if elected, will represent The International Party in the Student Council.
1) Board of Directors
- The board of directors will be managing the party throughout the student union election period, chair meetings, and conduct secretarial duties.
- The elected board of directors will be a temporary position until the student union election is finished and a new set of board members will be elected at our semi-annual meeting set to occur in June 2011.
2) TIP representative
- A TIP representative will be a listed candidate for the 2011 Student Union Elections in May, and if elected, will represent The International Party in the Student Council.
---
To all candidates, come prepared with statements of your intentions to run for one of the two categories to help motivate members to nominate you on our candidate list or as a director on our board.
Don't miss your chance!
----
Friday, March 25, 2011
What would you change about your student experience?
The University of York, preparing for their 2011 student union elections.
Enjoy your weekend!
Kyle/
Thursday, March 24, 2011
What are your thoughts on our platform?
Today we hosted our information meeting at Stockholm University's Nobelhouse. It was a big success as the table was completely full of students that brought something unique to the table. As points were being presented, students contributed by sharing their own experiences as a Swedish student or as an international; bringing so many ideas together into one forum.
After our 1 hour general information meeting, the core group of active members and some newly interested students remained for a very long stand-off between us, diplomacy, and the creation of Stockholm University's best platform and student by-laws in years! We're not politicians, we're students that really care about student issues for different reasons. And for many of us, this was the first time to sit down and actively construct a party platform to be contested in a student election.
We sat for 3 additional hours, many of us not knowing each other all too well, fiddling with diplomatic processes to ensure that minutes are correctly tabulated, ensuring that our agenda was followed as scheduled, and each person participated and voted. There were moments where patience was tested and styles clashed, but we kept on going for the goal, point by point. Finally, at 16:25 pm today, our platform was set in stone.
Now, we want to know your thoughts. What are your thoughts on TIPs platform? We can always learn from everyone elses constructive and practical opinions.
Please let us know :)
Kyle/
After our 1 hour general information meeting, the core group of active members and some newly interested students remained for a very long stand-off between us, diplomacy, and the creation of Stockholm University's best platform and student by-laws in years! We're not politicians, we're students that really care about student issues for different reasons. And for many of us, this was the first time to sit down and actively construct a party platform to be contested in a student election.
We sat for 3 additional hours, many of us not knowing each other all too well, fiddling with diplomatic processes to ensure that minutes are correctly tabulated, ensuring that our agenda was followed as scheduled, and each person participated and voted. There were moments where patience was tested and styles clashed, but we kept on going for the goal, point by point. Finally, at 16:25 pm today, our platform was set in stone.
Now, we want to know your thoughts. What are your thoughts on TIPs platform? We can always learn from everyone elses constructive and practical opinions.
Please let us know :)
Kyle/
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
About the right to take an action
“There is a wonderful old Italian joke about the poor man who goes to church every day and prays before the statue of a great saint, begging: ‘Dear Saint, please, please, please, let me win the lottery.’ Finally the exasperated statue comes to life and looks down into the begging man and says: ‘My son, please, please, please buy a ticket!’” (c). You may know this anecdote from the “Eat, Pray, Love” movie or book by Elizabeth Gilbert (or maybe any other source), but for sure in this blog entry I’m not promoting neither of them. What I am promoting is the proactive position in your life overall and student life particularly, and I think you got the idea already. There is no reason to just walking around and complaining to your friends, for instance, that you don’t like something about the university life, when you actually have the chance and the right to change the things for the better; you can take an action.
You are the part of the Stockholm University student community, no matter if you are spending several years here doing your undergraduate, master or PhD or you are an exchange student only for the one term. As well it does not matter if you are a Swedish or an international student – you have the opportunity to influence and to improve your study conditions.
My home country is Ukraine, and I should say, such thing as the student governance is almost unknown and not existent there. For me, student elections and opportunity to affect every day life of the students and even, to the certain extend, the decisions of the University authorities are so new! In the university where I received my undergrad degree, Student Union was just helping head of the departments in organizing planned by them celebrations (for example professional holidays) and promoting night clubs around the city, where you can get student discount for the entrance. Meanwhile, all the important decisions regarding student life were taken by the high university officials and those decisions were never for the student benefits. Nevertheless, some people were bringing cases to the courts or getting into the troubles (this one from my personal experience) just trying to deliver to the officials collective student concerns, that the study conditions are not very pleasant and supportive.
Here in Sweden everything seems to be much easier. It is your right to influence. It is your right to vote. And it is a pity that a lot of students just ignoring those rights.
TIP is here now to change this situation. We are trying to involve each and every student into the participation in the university life. Join us tomorrow (Thursday, 24th of March at 12 pm in Nobelhuset) for the information meeting to learn more about us, to become a part of our party. Or at least support us with your vote and we will do our best to make your study at the Stockholm University even more enjoyable than ever!
Yours sincerely,
Kseniia Beznos.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
CUTV Coverage of the Concordia Student Union election - Montreal, Canada
 |
| Concordia University Hall Building - Sir George Williams Campus |
This is my home university, and I take a lot of pride in how active the Concordia Student Union and students are there. Alot of stuff goes on in that box of a building.Their student union elections are happening March 29th to the 31st, and their campaign period is seriously a sight in itself. I've posted a video from Concordia's CUTV which offers some perspective into the opinions of students at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.
 |
| CUTV interviewing Concordia grad student Joey infront of Concordia's People's Potato |
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Participation & Activity
Lots of people have addressed TIP with their concerns already. One of the big issues that has been highlighted is the lack of campus events and activities after classes and lectures which link Swedish and International students creating a connected community on campus.
The pubs, parties and film nights on campus mostly attract foreign students. This happens for two reasons; first, international students arrive with few social contacts in Stockholm. They are more open to finding a new ‘family’ at the university, made up of all the other International students. Second, Swedish students sometimes feel excluded as parties and events are often advertised for ‘International’ students on the posters at the walls of Södra Huset, or on Facebook. The international students also received a weekly newsletter full of activities, but the Swedish students do not.
TIP recognizes that without students’ participation there will never be activities on campus which to create connectivity between all students. But we also saw that without activity it is hard to get participation from students in the first place. Of course, this could be a vicious circle. This could mean the end of all improvement efforts considering the social network at SU. But with this in mind it could also lead to another conclusion: TIP wants to create a campus community which allows for equal information and participation of all students, Swedish and International.
If you too are interested in helping to make this first step, participate and support TIP’s attempt to build up an inclusive community where everyone is welcome. The reason why you should get involved is simple: without your help the student groups at SU will stay divided. If we just continue complaining about this situation, nothing will change, even if a change could be easily induced. Don’t wait for someone else to begin the movement. It is your university, too. This does not constitute a duty, but rather an opportunity for everyone to volunteer and gain experience.
Share your ideas and commitment to influence the social network at SU!
Christine Schwarz
We are on our way
The weekend is coming to an end and the bright spring sun is slowly setting itself over Stockholm.
With the warmer spring weather upon us we have an optimistic and exciting time ahead of us. The International Party (TIP) has been approved for the student election in May and just as the strength of the sun will work slowly to put green grass on the ground the members of TIP will work eagerly towards achieving a great election result.
We have so many great ideas, so many great people keen on moving this party forward, and last but not least, the great motivation of us all to make a difference and improve Stockholm University and the Stockholm University Student Union and with this the life of all people engaged in studies here at our university.
We will have a meeting on Thursday to further discuss our platform of ideas but also to discuss a strategy for our campaign towards the election in May.
Anyone interest in being a part of TIP, hearing more about us, or just interested to attend the meeting for any reason is very welcome to come.
Anyone interest in being a part of TIP, hearing more about us, or just interested to attend the meeting for any reason is very welcome to come.
Best of luck to everyone involved in TIP but also to the rest of the people striving towards- and working with the election.
Cheers
Sebastian Lindholm
Saturday, March 19, 2011
TIP is IN! Cheers!
At 5pm it was official: TIP is officially a party in the 2011 Student Union Elections! Its been an extremely exciting week and a half installing all of these platforms and working together with a great group of students that all have different perspectives of the state of affairs at Stockholm University. Our constitution and model platform have been published the Constitution page, but everything is up for you to critique and reconstruct on March 24th.
Last night we celebrated our mere hours of existence, and we did it in fashion at Professorn. St-Patricks Day offered us plenty to smile about, and drink about. So let's look forward to the next few steps, and prepare to take part in the fun, because this is all for you!
Kyle
Last night we celebrated our mere hours of existence, and we did it in fashion at Professorn. St-Patricks Day offered us plenty to smile about, and drink about. So let's look forward to the next few steps, and prepare to take part in the fun, because this is all for you!
Kyle
TIP members Raphaelle and Louise with her lucky charm ;)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Getting Down to the Issues
So here we are, then. After all the huffing and puffing, the whining about the state of affairs and the hijacking of our student democracy, it's time for TIP to show its quality.
The platform committee meets for the first time on Wednesday to start preparing a draft program, but that is just the beginning. The creation celebration on Friday should be teeming with ideas and suggestions for what The International Party should focus on in these elections, so it's really important that we all right now start thinking about what TIP is and in what direction it goes from here.
So let's do this! Figure out what matters to you and your friends and show up at Professorn on Friday for some drinks and discussions! The International Party is not and will not be four people with all the answers, this is something we have to do together!
Andreas Nordang Uhre
The platform committee meets for the first time on Wednesday to start preparing a draft program, but that is just the beginning. The creation celebration on Friday should be teeming with ideas and suggestions for what The International Party should focus on in these elections, so it's really important that we all right now start thinking about what TIP is and in what direction it goes from here.
So let's do this! Figure out what matters to you and your friends and show up at Professorn on Friday for some drinks and discussions! The International Party is not and will not be four people with all the answers, this is something we have to do together!
Andreas Nordang Uhre
Saturday, March 12, 2011
A Voice for Everyone
As simple as that is the core value of The International Party. Having been involved in student politics at four universities in three countries, I have seen how easily students' elected representatives lose touch with what's going on among their peers. Insulating themselves in a bubble, personal advancement and prestige becomes more important than addressing the issues that matter to those who elected them in the first place. This has a nasty habit of transforming a once thriving democracy into a secretive club for the privileged and connected.
In some respects, this is particularly visible here in Stockholm. The student union headquarters looms on a hilltop, and the wayward traveler seeking to vent his concerns is greeted by bolted doors. Notable achievements on the part of the student democracy this academic year includes liquidating pubs and party activities, promoting multinational companies and their products on campus, as well as being reprimanded by the rector for not keeping and publishing records of meetings and decision. Requests for information are met with silence, and the question grows in my mind; who are these people working for?
The International Party wants to change this. Enough of the secrecy, enough of the shady backroom deals. We deserve a student democracy that tends to the best interests of all its members, makes its deals in the open and gives the electorate a chance to hold it accountable. Not just on election day, but on all the other days as well. This is what the upcoming elections will be all about!
Andreas Nordang Uhre
In some respects, this is particularly visible here in Stockholm. The student union headquarters looms on a hilltop, and the wayward traveler seeking to vent his concerns is greeted by bolted doors. Notable achievements on the part of the student democracy this academic year includes liquidating pubs and party activities, promoting multinational companies and their products on campus, as well as being reprimanded by the rector for not keeping and publishing records of meetings and decision. Requests for information are met with silence, and the question grows in my mind; who are these people working for?
The International Party wants to change this. Enough of the secrecy, enough of the shady backroom deals. We deserve a student democracy that tends to the best interests of all its members, makes its deals in the open and gives the electorate a chance to hold it accountable. Not just on election day, but on all the other days as well. This is what the upcoming elections will be all about!
Andreas Nordang Uhre
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Application delivered
Great job so far everyone!
Sebastion/
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
We have set sails
Hej allihopa!
The ship has left the harbor and now we have taken sail towards, what I personally hope and aim for, a very bright future with a lot of engaging work and ultimately progressing towards a more equal and cosmopolitan campus.
The sky will not always be clear from clouds and we will meet, and have to tackle, a lot of obstacles on our way to land. Hopefully for all involved parts this will be an interesting, exiting, and motivating journey towards a unified goal.
I see this as the chance to make a difference, and that difference will be towards a more unified campus where we can bridge the gap between the Swedish students, such as myself, and international students that have come here to study and live.
This party will seek to address matters and problems that throughout previous years and political reigns have been overlooked and put in the shadow.
We thrive towards an open campus where everyone will be aware of what is going on, what is discussed, and what is addressed.
For those of you out there willing to join us on our ship to success and towards the future I can assure you that there is still plenty of room on our boat.
Tack, thanks, and enjoy the rest of your day!
Sebastian Lindholm
Signature gathering: Completed! Next step: Creation Celebration!
Sebastian and Kyle spent most of the day outside of Prego at Frescati campus meeting students and gathering all kinds of signatures that were required to set up the creation of our new party. Our creation's fate lies in the 2011 Election Committee, and these signatures were required to demonstrate that there is a general interest to form the party. We needed a minimum of 25 students that are currently members of the student union - we earned over 40! Thank you all for your support and interest TIPs creation.
Our next step is TIPs Creation Celebration on March 18th at 19:00 at Professorn Restaurang in Lappis. Join the facebook event! Invite your friends!
This is the beginning of a real movement for campus equality at Stockholm University. Be sure to tell all of your friends and invite them to the facebook group!
Kyle/
Our next step is TIPs Creation Celebration on March 18th at 19:00 at Professorn Restaurang in Lappis. Join the facebook event! Invite your friends!
This is the beginning of a real movement for campus equality at Stockholm University. Be sure to tell all of your friends and invite them to the facebook group!
Kyle/
Monday, March 7, 2011
TIP set to launch March 18th
We're extremely excited to announce the creation of this groundbreaking new student party, just in time for the 2011 Stockholm University student elections. Learn more about our mission statement, platform, and members in just a little while!
Keep informed through this blog! Our facebook page and newsletter is coming out soon.
If you're interested in getting involved, email us at: vote4tip@gmail.com
Kyle/
Keep informed through this blog! Our facebook page and newsletter is coming out soon.
If you're interested in getting involved, email us at: vote4tip@gmail.com
Kyle/
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