Two candidates, Shauna Rose Raeside and Sarah Jones, are both vying for the position of Science and Health Faculty Representative in the upcoming SU elction.
Sarah Jones
One of Jones’ core promises is to organise a Science and Health ball to make up for its absence in the past two years. She intends to leave the major details of its venue, food and date up to students.
Jones, a second year Analytical Science student also has plans for improving the education of Science and Health students; she aims to establish a Peer Tutoring Service and exam workshops led by older more experienced students, similar to the current Maths Learning Centre.
Close to exam season especially, she believes that having students in the year above give guides on exam questions could be incredibly helpful.
If Jones is elected she intends on establishing a Covid-19 vaccine information page on dcu.ie that would debunk myths about the vaccines and eventually deliver environmental awareness messages.
She also intends on hosting talks about women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) fields, a topic she’s passionate about, and mental health.
“It rubs me up the wrong way that we have these big mental health weeks, one extravagant week and then the doors shut on that until next year. I think it should be spoken about all the time, having someone in every few weeks,” Jones said.
“I’m a normal person, I don’t study from 9 to 5. Not all my grades are 1:1s. I like to have a laugh, that’s who you want to come to for your problems,” she added.
Shauna Rose Raeside
Raeside, a third year Applied Physics student, debuted her campaign for Science and Health Faculty Rep in a short YouTube video with her cat Scamp.
If elected she promises to push lecturers to listen to students when building course materials and assessments, telling The College View that “someone has to be loud and annoying.”
“We’re all adults here, there needs to be an attitude shift from some lecturers,” she said.
In terms of the challenges of Covid-19, Raeside plans to fight for a reading week for Science and Health students, and for second year INTRA-related modules to be modified to include tips for external internship applications.
“A lot of us this year found ourselves looking externally for internships, and it can be very daunting to apply for if you don’t know how. It’s a simple thing that can make a big difference,” she said.
Raeside promises to establish informal spaces for students studying within the same school to help them make friends and support each other. “If we’re still online then a little drop-in Zoom would be good,” she believes.
She says that these spaces, whether physical or virtual are inclusive of all science and health students, including “the often-ignored nursing students” as a way to foster a sense of “community and stick-togetheredness.”
“Students need a rep with determination, compassion and creativity to find solutions to the real issues that affect them. I have been that person for my class for the past three years, and I’m ready to be that person for all science and health students if you choose me to represent you,” Raeside said.
Voting for DCUSU elections takes place on March 24th and 25th, information on all candidates can be found at https://www.lead.dcusu.ie/
Jamie Mc Carron
Image Credit: Shauna Rose Raeside and Sarah Jones respectively
