A student senator at The University of Western Ontario is creating a fuss on the bus – and that’s a good thing.
Fuss on the Bus creator and student senator Patrick Searle (centre) works on the second episode of his ‘talk show’ with guest, fellow student senator Matthijs van Gaalen. Holding the camera is Adam Postalian.
In an attempt to educate the student population about the university Senate, and the role it plays, Patrick Searle has taken his message to YouTube – via public transit.
The third-year King’s University College student body president, and first-time student senator, wants to share with fellow students the opportunity to shape academics at Western through the Senate.
But the first job is to educate.
“When I started thinking about running for Senate, back in January, I would walk up to students to ask them to vote for me,” he says. “They’d say ‘Sure, I’ll vote for you if you get us like a pool table or if you get us a big concert.’ I had to tell them that’s really not what Senate does. So the question then turned from ‘will you vote for me’ to ‘do you know what the Senate is.’ It was very clear that a lot of students aren’t aware.”
So if students aren’t going to Senate, then taking Senate to them might be a solution. With the launch of Fuss on the Bus Oct. 13, Searle took to the affiliated college bus (the blue Aboutown bus) and created a mobile talk show. The first show’s posting to YouTube has received almost 900 views, surprising Searle.
“So far the response has been pretty good. The interest shows that they want to know about what is happening at Western,” he says.
“The majority of shuttle bus users are affiliated students, so that’s how I’m connecting to them, but if main campus students want to get involved in the discussion I encourage them to as well.”
With 18 student senators (14 undergraduate and four graduate), Searle says all are supportive of sharing issues affecting education and student life.
The initial show touched on topics such as what is Senate, a recent Remembrance Day issue, scholarship availability and the Career Centre. Searle hopes to film every two weeks.
“We’re students, not celebrities or stars, and we’re talking about student matters – we’re not talking about Hollywood – we’re talking about what really impacts students,” he says. “That’s how it’s supposed to work. Focus on the experience inside the classroom.”
Check out the program at www.youtube.com/fussonthebus