Thank You

2006-03-15T17:53:00.000-08:00

I was elected as President today - thank you to everyone who voted for me, and I promise to do my best to serve you all as President next year!!!

Q & A With ALW

2006-03-12T20:24:00.000-08:00

Q: So why are you running for President?

ALW: The perks.

Q: What perks?

ALW: Well, I get to keep my stuff in the Legal Society office instead of a tiny locker.

Q: I see. Anything else?

ALW: Not really.

Q: Alright. So: tuition’s going up. What are you going to do about it?

ALW: Thankfully it’s not going up by that much – 4% for current students, which is basically inflation plus 1-2%, and 8% for incoming. There’s not much we can do but keep pressure on the admin to honour its commitments, and makes sure the provincial government does the same. They’ve pledged to set up an independent body to monitor access and quality. While this sounds good on paper, I have concerns about effectiveness. Still, to be fair we should give them a chance to deliver on their promises. We also need to make sure the law school receives the benefits of increased tuition; as Chris Lee has said, asking students to pay more tuition is only fair if they also receive the benefit from it.

Q: Switching from LL.B to J.D.: yay or nay?

ALW: I’m indifferent. The original concern – and I think this was reflected in the results of the plebiscite last term – was not so much whether to change or not, but what other law schools were doing, and whether we wanted to follow U of T or not. While my personal view is that we shouldn’t make our decisions based on what other schools are doing, after seeing the plebiscite results, a number of students were concerned about the optics of being the next school to switch. Now it appears that Queen’s and UBC are going to switch, so if we are going to move on this, I think we should do it with them – and if not, we have to be prepared to hold our ground as other schools switch over.

Q: Parking passes – why are we thrown in with the undergrads in the distant lots?

ALW: This has been an irritant for quite some time. Chris pushed on this issue really hard at then end of last year, and the beginning of this year, but it’s really just the central university administration ignoring us. I’m happy to raise the complaint again but the likelihood of this changing isn’t very high, to be honest.

Q: Building and library hours – what can be done?

ALW: UWO has a policy that all it’s libraries are open to all students – although Ivey has swipe cards. Really this is a question of capital improvements. Ideally we would see all law students have swipe cards to get access to the building and classrooms after hours, but it would require a major investment by the faculty/university to upgrade the building, and I don’t see it coming anytime soon. I think it’s more likely that we could get library hours extended by an hour or two if anything.

Q: Any thoughts about the Career Services Office?

ALW: Lots of complaints on this front. Rishi Bhasin, has been the point man on this file; a report is being developed to recommend changes to the faculty. There are a number of issues, which, to be diplomatic, involve the effectiveness of some of CSO support.

Q: Why are we still using pen and paper to write exams? What is this, 1986?

ALW: Good question. Adam Banack has done a good job of taking this on term and that’s what part of the Monday town hall was organized to discuss. There is some resistance from the faculty – as usual, change is a pain in the neck. Many law schools have already made the switch and there’s a company that specializes in providing just such a service (i.e. software that locks out everything except a word processor). Personally I’m all in favour of a switch to laptops for exams. The vast majority of students use laptops now, and students are punished for having poor penmanship rather than only being assessed on the merits of their arguments.

Q: Any reflections on this past year?

ALW: It’s been a great year. We really did bring the Legal Society back from the brink. I don’t want to point fingers, but my first year the Legal Society didn’t really do very much. I was lucky enough to be part of a great team who, once we took over, really took things seriously. We aren’t perfect, and we made some mistakes, but we acted quickly to fix them, I think. Chris Lee – what can I say? The guy has basically treated the presidency like a 20+ hour a week job – big shoes to fill, but I’m up to it. He has built a great rapport with the administration and the other law school student socities. Reagan totally overhauled our books and put in place a system that can serve us for years to come. Sherry has been totally reliable as secretary (and chased after us to keep the office clean). Lessa was our USC rep extraordinaire and I know was a big help to Chris. And the year reps all took on projects of their own – special props to Matt Langford for heading up the used bookstore and being a part of the Merchandise Committee, and Joel Timmerman for being the locker czar. Oh, and Pat Rogers for his double duty on Social Committee. The first year reps all brought a lot of enthusiasm to the table and have contributed to all council discussions. All in all, I think it was a very successful year. We aren’t superhuman; we didn’t do everything perfectly, and we did make some mistakes, but on the whole I think the entire group can be proud of what we’ve accomplished.

Q: Thoughts on the other candidates running in the campaign?

ALW: Guess I have to be diplomatic eh? Just kidding. Actually, the fact we’re even having a race is a good thing: we haven’t had one in several years. It’s generating interest in the Legal Society and forcing people to flush out their plans and positions.

I worked with both Mark and Adam this year and they’d both do a great job as VPI. As for Aileen, she was the de facto social coordinator this past summer for those of us who hung around London, myself included, and I’ve got nothing bad to say about her except that she always gives me a hard time for avoiding karaoke nights.

Matt Lerner, hey, prince of a guy – even though we disagree on the partisan political front, we’ve talked about Legal Society stuff and there isn’t much difference between us “on the issues”, to be honest. Which is actually reassuring, since the Legal Society will be in good hands either way. But the bottom line is that I have one key asset that Matt doesn’t. That’s right: my posters are way funnier.

As for the acclaimed candidates…it’s nice to not have to campaign, eh!?

Q: What makes you the best candidate for President?

ALW: Well, the best way I can say it is that I think two years of work and experience has to count for something. If the organization was in dire straits, I could see how that might be a negative, but I truly feel the Legal Society is in much, much better shape than at this time last year, and I am proud to have been a part of that.

Q: Best Denning of the year?

ALW: Tough call – I’m a fan of Molly’s, so I enjoy any Denning there. The craziest evening was definitely the Halloween pub crawl which was, of course, an unofficial event which just happened to be organized by people who were also members of our Social Committee. Alibi? The Wick? Rum Runners? Pure class.

Q: One thing you would have changed from last year?

ALW: I wouldn’t have taken on so much. Two part time jobs, plus all the moots, plus Legal Society, was way too much for me. I survived, but barely!

Q: Any parting shots?

ALW: Props to anyone who read this far! And thanks for taking the time. Get out and vote – preferably for me – but whatever you decide, exercise your right!

Candidate Speeches

2006-03-12T20:23:00.000-08:00

...will be held at 1:30pm on Monday in Room 38. Hecklers will be prosecuted. Just kidding. But no tomatoes please.

I Know What You're Thinking...

2006-03-10T15:00:00.000-08:00

...what's with this blog? Is this some kind of joke? Is ALW not taking this seriously?

Patience, grasshopper. On Monday at 1:30pm there will be a townhall meeting where all candidates will be giving speeches. I'll also be posting my expanded thoughts on a number of issues on Monday. In the meantime, I'm happy to entertain questions either in the comments here, or via email at aleewudr@uwo.ca. I may even post my responses, who knows? So go nuts. It's either that or doing readings. Your call.

BONUS: Enjoy my quality MSN display pics courtesy of photoshop whiz Shods over at The New Step (she also did the posters):

SK KLIK ENDORSES ALW FOR LEGAL SOCIETY PRESDIENT

2006-03-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

SK CITY – SK King today announced the SK Klik’s endorsement of Aaron Lee-Wudrick for Legal Society President.

"I am proud to endorse ALW for President" said SK King "having long been a close associate of his, I am convinced that he fully understands the needs and concerns of the SK".

"What’s more," added SK Prince "ALW has demonstrated his long-standing, unwavering commitment to the Legal Society. As the SK Klik is an integral part of the Western Law experience, we are encouraged by his vision for the school, that includes a strong and vibrant SK."

Rising from his throne, the SK King encouraged all SK Klik members, groupies, associates, fans and even detractors to support ALW "ALW knows the rules of SK, and those rules will serve the entire Western Law community well".

Welcome to Campaign '06

2006-03-07T21:07:00.000-08:00