This year’s race for the five student seats on Senate has eleven candidates, a drastic increase from last year’s turnout of only two.

Why are so many students vying for this position? Incumbent Joel Mertens sees various factors, one being that the position of student Senator, which meets about once a month, is often viewed as having a low time commitment.

“It is not [a low-time commitment] if you are doing your job right… this view makes the Senate a ‘safe’ choice//em///high recognition with little actual work,” he explained.

Mertens added that Senate is sometimes a catch-all for inexperienced candidates. “There are people don’t actually understand what Senate does. They are frustrated with student politics and want to make changes. Unfortunately for them, there is a very large separation between Senate and AMS politics,” he said.

The senate is the governing body which oversees all academic issues, ranging from academic grievances to new courses, to initiatives taken up by various faculties. Last year, only two students ran for the five at-large positions available, requiring the AMS to appoint three students during the summer.

Sonia Purewal, the science faculty representative to Senate this year, hopes the added interest this year is based on altruistic motives.

“I just hope [candidates'] ultimate reason for running is so that they can bring the student perspective to the work Senate does, especially at the committee level,” she said, “and to take the initiative to bring issues pertinent to students to the attention of Senate when need be.”

Whatever the results, both Purewal and Mertens believe that those elected must be considerate of student interests. “A good (student) Senator needs to be able to stand up for students while simultaneously being able to understand the University’s viewpoint,” said Mertens. Purewal added that they should be approachable so that their constituents can come to them with their thoughts on issues that come to Senate.

Mertens added that knowledge is key. “It is important to have knowledgeable experienced candidates who can ensure continuity of the student senators,” he said.

“Otherwise, we try reinventing the wheel and the rest of the senators think we are rash and immature.”

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