Times are changing

New UMSU seats will improve representation

Christen Roos

Last year a historical change happened in student representation at the U of M. Five new seats were added to UMSU council. This change was a popular story in the Manitoban last year (it was featured in an editorial last October), and I thought it was important to get another viewpoint out there. Why does this concern me? It is because I am the representative for students with disabilities. In addition to my seat, a representative was added for Aboriginal students, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and two-spirited (LGBTT) students, international students and women.

One of the concerns of those who criticized the creation of these seats was that since these communities are self-identified, there is a chance that one student could be over-represented in council. But, what one tends to forget is that if a student lives in residence, belongs to a college and is in a faculty, then that person technically has four representatives on council. The student has the ability to vote for each council representative within their residence, their college and their faculty and, on top of that, can vote for the president and vice-president of UMSU.

Unfortunately, it seems that the people who raised concern over this move last year saw past this reality of college and residence representation, and were only concerned with the new community positions because apparently they would be considered “minority” positions. These seats challenge people to realize that there are differences in the world. If a student happens to be two-spirited, Aboriginal and living with a disability, why shouldn’t they be given the right to vote for all three communities?

One of the reasons UMSU council decided to add these new seats was to ensure that those who have been historically underrepresented in the political process now have a voice. In principle, these seats wouldn’t be necessary if all segments of society were properly represented, but unfortunately this is not currently the case.

As a person who lives with a disability, I couldn’t be happier that there are seats to properly represent these communities for the first time. I’m even happier that I am the person who has been given the opportunity to fill one of these seats. There are many barriers around campus that make life a little challenging for students with disabilities; barriers that some may not even realize are there.

Does anyone who doesn’t use a wheelchair notice that room 206 Tier is not wheelchair accessible? Does it bother anyone that if there was a fire in the bottom level of Tier right in front of the entrance leading into Fletcher Argue and a student in a wheelchair was caught in the south-wing, they physically could not exit the building?

These are concerns that are real and play a big factor to those who use a wheelchair every day. Just a warning for anyone trying to enter Pembina Hall from the west side entrance using a wheelchair: there is a one inch lift on the ramp and, if you don’t approach the bump the proper way, you could fly right out of your wheelchair and not be able to get up. Trust me, I’ve tried to go up that ramp and I did fly out of the chair and I can say it’s not much fun.

There are several opinions that have been expressed regarding these new seats on council. I don’t agree with many of them, but I can assure everyone that if I have to spend the next year convincing people and explaining the importance of the seats, then that’s what I will do. We are making changes within council and, frankly, change does scare many people. But I promise the changes that will be made will only enhance the experiences of the student body as a whole, as well as voice the concerns and issues of those students who have been ignored for so long.

Christen Roos is the UMSU community representative for students with disabilities.