On Monday, Daniel Ovadia was officially re-elected as the UB Council student representative.
Ovadia, who collected 242 votes, narrowly beat Robert Golightly by eight votes. Nigel Michki received 122 votes and 25 students abstained.
Ovadia is excited to start another year at the position. He said his experience at the job is his biggest asset.
Usually, the first few months of holding the position are about building connections with the various student governments, he said. Because he already built that network, he said he can get a dialogue started right away, allowing him to focus on ideas and solutions that are "intentional, specific and beneficial."
He plans to strengthen this communication through the Coalition Of Advocacy and Leadership (COAL), an organization created last fall semester by Graduate Student Association President Jonathan Knights. The goal of COAL - which consists of the seven presidents of the student governments, the chief justice of the Student-Wide Judiciary and the student representative of the UB Council - is to discuss what issues the students believe need to be addressed.
"I will be able to understand what [the student governments] perceive the issues are," Ovadia said. "The University Council representative is the representative of all the governments and all the students, and I plan to do my best to share that information with the council."
Ovadia plans to do more with the position than he did this school year. Although he will continue to represent the many students at UB as a whole, he intends to help any single person with a problem.
"If there are big issues, I am going to make sure there are student groups coordinated to speak with administration," Ovadia said. "But at the same time, if an individual student has a concern or a question and I am in a position where I can get them a real answer or facilitate a solution for them, I am going to do it."
Although there was a total of 623 votes cast this year - 84 more than last year - Ovadia is disappointed in the low turnout. He believes it is a small number because students don't see the direct impact of the position. Unlike SA elections, he said clubs and future events at UB could be affected, which has more of an immediate effect on students.
In response to his eight-vote victory, he said: "I can't appreciate enough every individual vote. It highlights the importance of voting."
Ovadia intends to work with Golightly and Michki next year. Ovadia said they were both qualified candidates and share the same enthusiasm for UB and the same motivation to stay active that he does.
"When an individual expressed an interest which is similar to mine, I think it is important to work with them and collaborate," Ovadia said.
Ovadia has already begun planning out his schedule for next year and he is looking forward to continuing the work he has done this year.
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Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
