Mantle, Vanier plan board to improve budget oversight
Jacob Mantle, ArtSci ’10, and Dominique Vanier, ArtSci ’08, share more than their office space in the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS) Core.
“We have the same goals,” Vanier said. She and Mantle have worked in ASUS together for two years. This year, she’s the academics commissioner and he’s the internal affairs commissioner.
Mantle is running for ASUS president with Vanier as his vice-president.
The two met in a group interview last year for their commissioner positions. She said they work well together, which will help them if elected as next year’s executive team.
Vanier is an environmental science major. She hopes to pursue environmental law or go into environmental consulting. She has also done a lot of extracurricular work representing students and working with children.
She was a floor representative for the Main Campus Residence Council in first year and also acted as the natural and physical sciences academic representative to the ASUS Assembly.
She has also volunteered with Kaleidoscope, a “big buddy” mentoring program for Kingston’s elementary school children.
Mantle was a DSC representative for the history department, a Gael and a member of both the Senate on Non-Academic Discipline and Orientation Activities Review Board.
Mantle, a self-confessed “farm boy” from Uxbridge, said being a Gael taught him how to present the University in a positive way to newcomers.
The two are running with a three-point platform based on ability, tangibility and visibility.
If elected, they would create a Board of Directors comprised of students, faculty and alumni to act as another pair of eyes for planning the ASUS budget, Mantle said.
There’s currently a Board of Finance with seven student . It doesn’t have decision-making power.
“[The Board of Directors] will not only be for oversight … but for the mentorship,” he said.
The team would also introduce a new service in the Red Room, which ASUS was given under former Dean Bob Silverman, in Kingston Hall.
They haven’t decided what the service will be yet, although they’re considering opening a creperie, a motion for which ed in the fall referendum.
“We feel we need extensive market research done first,” Vanier said.
She said student volunteers would track the traffic flow by the Red Room and report their findings to the Board of Directors, which would suggest further steps.
“With that, we can go forward.”
Charbon, Johnston say as first years, ‘our eyes are fresher’
Amanda Charbon and Rory Johnston, both ArtSci ’11, see themselves as the perfect team.
“It’s a cute story,” Charbon said. “We were sitting next to each other in religion class and realized that we have different views, but the same goals.”
Johnston is running as president and Charbon is running as vice-president.
Charbon said she’s very liberal in her political views, while Johnston calls himself a “very right wing, Stephen Harperist.” But both politics majors want to go into international corporate law.
“We both had similar ideas for where ASUS should be and how it should be thought of,” Charbon said.
“ASUS awareness is really our first priority,” she said.
“Really no one really knows what ASUS is,” Johnston said, adding that he compares ASUS to the provincial government and the AMS to the federal government.
The team also plans to focus on external revenue for ASUS, through marketing to local businesses.
Johnston said the team’s considering asking companies such as Rogers for money, as well as international corporations and local restaurants.
Charbon said the team would also like to put ASUS’s “Red Room”—located in Kingston Hall—to use.
The team would focus on student opinion and would approach students for ideas about what to do with the space.
“We represent Arts and Science, so we’d like to get their ideas,” Johnston said.
Johnston and Charbon said they’ve been told that, usually, first-year students don’t run for ASUS executive.
“Our eyes are fresher to the issues at hand,” Johnston said.
Johnston said although he hasn’t had much extracurricular experience, he said his personality will help him achieve what he has to do.
“We’re both extremely willing to learn,” Charbon said. “I don’t think experience is measured in years, but it’s measured on your ability to do things. Both of us are very well-seasoned in that.”
The team plans to make ASUS events—such as the ASUS movie theatre—more “noticeable.” They’d also like to hold events at Queen’s clubs and pubs that involve guest speakers.
They want to make sure first-year students are informed about what it means to be a part of ASUS.
“ASUS events are often under-trafficked,” Johnston said. He said the team will use posters, word-of-mouth and Facebook to publicize their events. Charbon said she thinks the team has a good shot at winning.
“I think that if we can do it, anyone can do it.”
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