Blake Frederick: 2009/2010
On the past year:

“The role as president has obviously been very difficult for me. From the very beginning I felt very strongly that a lot of people, particularly a lot of people on Council, were out to get me, and the reason I believe that is because I was disqualified before I was even able to take office. That started my term on the wrong note.

I’ve always had the best intentions to try to stand up for those students who are struggling to get by financially through university, and I had a lot to contend with in terms of trying to deal with Council and I failed to convince Council. And obviously I became frustrated with their lack of action on issues of financial accessibility to post-secondary education.

And I’m in the situation I am in now because of that.”

Do you have any regrets?

“I regret not making the motivations for my actions [clearer] than I did during my term….If I made [clearer] what I was doing…I think a lot of students would have been more sympathetic and supportive of my actions. But because I failed to do that, it wasn’t clear what my motivation was…and as a result, students and Council subscribed their own motivations to me.”

“The unfortunate part of the whole impeachment issue is that I did do a lot of good work throughout my term which has now been overshadowed. But I do personally also recognize that, despite my failing on tuition and the UN complaint. I feel that I did do a lot of positive work for students in my term.”

Name one success from the past year:

“Crystal and I have been very successful with our negotiations on the SUB project. We haven’t been able to get what we want in all cases, but I think that we have worked very successfully with the university on making sure that the new SUB project will be one that benefits students greatly.”

Why weren’t you at Friday’s results night?

“I [was] with friends….I thought it would be better to be with friends when I heard the results of the election instead of being at the AMS party.”

What are your plans for next year?

“I will be graduating this year, so I am going to be moving on from UBC. I will be looking for new opportunities outside of student politics, and I want to wish the best of luck to those that were elected.”

Bijan Ahmadian: 2010/2011
On the past year:

“I was always flustered by the inability to get things done for students because the AMS was constantly sabotaging students. When the AMS doesn’t have a relationship with people who make decisions for students, those people will make those decisions in isolation of the AMS, and students are left out. This past year was the worst of it. We came pretty much to a standstill.

“It came to the point when the UBC president had to write a letter to AMS Council, and pretty much openly say, ‘We do not have a constructive relationship.’”

Biggest failure of this year’s executive?

“The Olympics. That was the saddest moment for me, knowing that the Games were coming here…it’s a one time opportunity, and we didn’t go into a strategy on how to engage students.”

“[And] the fact that the SUB agreements haven’t been achieved yet is another big failure.”

Name one success from the past year:

“Honestly my mind has been so occupied with failure, that I’m having a tough time coming up with something I can identify as an achievement.”
“There wasn’t anything that would stand out…I’m sure there have been some things that were here and there.”

What are some solutions that you have?

“We have to identify who the people out there are who make decisions for students. And the two big ones are obviously UBC and the provincial government. So we need to start contacting them…let bygones be bygones…and [find out:] how do we move forward? Then we have to move to other stakeholders on this campus.”

What are your thoughts so far on the new executive?

“I’m really excited about this team. Everybody is extremely talented, extremely genuine, in terms of caring for students’ interests. They’re in it because they care about students….We’ve known each other for a while. They all come with experience with the AMS.”

How will you increase accountability?

“Accountability also extends to students-at-large….One of the commitments that I am making this year is to make sure that we are accessible to the media, that we give them information when they need it.”