Name: David Martin
Age: 20
Degree Subject: BA Geography
Position/s Held:
- Editor of The Edge (2012/13)
- Features Editor (2011/12)
- Transport Officer E + E (2012/13)
- Quiz Master- Quiz and Curry (2012/13)
Experience:
- Wessex Scene writer
- Helped with SUSUtv
- Sat on Referendum Working Group
- Surge Presenter and Producer for 2 years
Campaign Slogan: Vote In Martin
Strength: Communication
Interview
1. Why did you decide to run for this position?
I decided to run for this position because it feeds into a lot of my areas of experience. I have a wealth of Media experience and I’m passionate about Union Films and Performing Arts. I also fought for Performing Arts reviews to be covered in The Edge this year. The Democracy aspect is something I’ve always been very interested in and I want to make it more accessible and open for people. I want to make it all clearer and hassle-free for Student Groups. It’s a position I really wanted to go for because this role combines all my interests.
2. What has been your best experience whilst you have been involved with SUSU?
That’s a tricky, tricky question. I think elections last year, I got really involved with the media coverage when all the departments came together and I met lots of new people and made long lasting friendships. It was so good to see so many talented people all working together. I hope this year can achieve the same.
3. What makes YOU the best candidate for the job?
I would say that I am the most experienced candidate for this role. I’ve got experience in all three aspects: Media, Democracy and Student Groups. A lot of people get confused about Democracy, so that’s something we need to make more accessible. I’m an honest, open and easy to talk to person and I think I work quite well in one to one environments, which is important for a Sabbatical Officer. I’m also a good public speaker and can motivate and inspire those around me.
4. SUSU Media departments have been collaborating more and more this year, in light of this, firstly do you think it’s a good idea and secondly how would you like collaboration between media departments to improve?
Yeah I think it’s a good thing. In my role as Editor I’ve seen a lot of new people come in especially for The Edge who didn’t really know what the magazine did. We’ve also been able to collaborate more with Surge in terms of charts listings and co-ordinating features and interviews and with SUSUtv. We can all come together and share experiences and when things haven’t worked we can improve. In the future I’d like to improve the coverage of live events and organisation. VP DCI should organise and feedback to the groups. I also think that the Media departments should have a good relationship with the Soton Tab, we’ve seen quite a lot made of the aggression between the two but they should provide competition to each other in a healthy way.
5. How will you go about integrating Union Films and Performing Arts into the Creative Industries Zone and making all the separate student groups work together?
I want to start with Training Week, I think all Creative Industries should meet each other.We can all sit down and talk about how to give feedback and what our big projects for the year will be. I want to go for bigger and bolder projects now that we have more people in this zone. The Edge have already collaborated with Union Films covering their marathons and providing listings, but also with Performing Arts previews and other media departments could do this. One of the things I really want to work towards is a Creative Industries spaces plan, I’m thinking five years and we need to make a move towards building a Creative Industries Hub, rehearsal space and Media rooms.
6. What is the biggest thing you want to change with regard to Democracy?
The biggest change I want to make is to do with the culture of Democracy. I’ve seen people lose faith in democracy and some are critical of Sabbs re-running. There’s been a loss of faith in my opinion. There’s a lot about Union Council in my manifesto but I feel that Student Leaders should not just sit in Union Council and just present their own ideas but actually talk to the student bodies they represent. We should be talking to the students more and make every student feel like they can question officers and know what is going on. We need a clear line of communication. Also a monthly drop-in where Sabbs will answer any questions that students have.
View David Martin’s Manifesto HERE.
