By Elodie Bailey Vaudandaine and Ratmir Izmailov

The April 4th marks the beginning of the long anticipated Campaign Week, the fight between lists for governing permanent bureaus next year. The opening ceremony, held in LS01, struck the audience with its grand entrance, promising candidates, and thunderous applause (which might or might not have been the cause of tech issues). In order to discover the true intentions of each list, the Sundial Press offers you a carefully crafted recap of the debate that took place later in the day. While it was more serene than the opening ceremony, the candidates answered the pressing questions on student’s minds (Lists are presented following the randomly selected speaking order of the debate).

Association Sportive (AS)

There are two competing lists for your Association sportive this year, AliAS and Casino Royale. 

AliAS: @alias.list

Objet: A Mirror “Parce que l’AS c’est vous.” (because the AS is you)  

Values: Proximity and community, Joy and passion, inclusion and ethic  

What would you name your baby goat?: Neo, after the main character in The Matrix, the movie that served as the inspiration for their campaign week. 

Casino Royale: @casinoroyale.007

Object: A CD with a song created by the team in multiple languages 

What would you name your baby goat?: “We thought long and hard about names because that’s not easy. I mean, you only get one shot at naming your baby goat. So we considered James goat, Paul because Paul our com guy is the GOAT” 

Questions for the AS Candidates: 

Do you plan on extending the amount of spots available for the Ski rip?

AliAS is open to increasing the spots for the trip “dans la limite du possible” (within what is possible). They first and foremost intend to hold the ski trip in France to limit the CO2 output and keep the price affordable for students. 

Casino Royale mentioned that they already have a potential partner for the ski trip whom they will negotiate with in order to try and make more spots available. They added that they would make an effort to hold the Ski trip during a period that does not clash with the BASC students’ schedule. 

What is your position on the Surf trip? 

AliAS recognised that the Surf trip is “a highly debated and controversial topic within our list but also the Sciences Po community.” “How is it possible that we have a week long ecological literacy course and do not realise that flying contributes to C02 emissions.” The list proposed to hold a vote in May where rising second years would decide whether they would prefer the Ski trip or another sports related trip in the south of France. 

Casino Royale said they were already planning to relocate the surf trip to France instead of Morocco. “We hope this will make the trip more logistically feasible, less expensive, and more environmentally friendly.”

Bureau des Arts (BDA) 

Art-Breaker: @artbreaker_bda

This year’s BDA list, Art-Breaker, is going uncontested. However, they stressed that “you aren’t voting for us because we’re all that you have but genuinely because we are all that you need.” 

Object: A Broken Mirror (An Artistic take on the AliAS object) 

What would you name your baby goat?: Bof (Meh in English) because there’s an artist in everyone even if you’re “bof”. 

Values: Inclusion, interconnection, innovation (The three ‘I’s)

Summary of campaign promises: Art-Breaker discussed their intention to expand the affordable art fair to twice a year, creating the “Art Space” instagram account where artists could share and sell their art, and making partnerships with other associations such as Découvrart. They also discussed establishing links with other campuses both at Sciences Po through the Weimart (Arts Intercampus Weekend) and internationally. 

Bureau des Elèves (BDE) 

There are two lists competing for BDE (once again proving the impact of first-past-the-post voting on two party systems – thanks PI). Both Glow and Elemental are competing for your votes this week. 

Glow: @glowbde

Object: A Camera. Because like a photo, each student’s experience of campus life is unique. 

Values: “Grandir ensemble” (growing together), Links, Wellbeing, Ouvert (openness)  

Elemental: @elemental.bde

Object: A Globe 

Values: Inclusivity, Responsibility, Community, Authenticity 

Questions for the BDE candidates

Will you continue organising events with limited space (eg.  trying to continue with limited space events that require constant sign ups via Google form or HelloAsso.

According to Elemental: “If you have events that are indoors, there’s no way to avoid having a limited number of spaces. That is why we’d like to have more outdoor events.” Another way Elemental proposes to reduce the stress of HelloAsso and Google form sign up sheets is implementing a “two-round sign up”, where a number of seats would only be released until a later date, giving students more the opportunity to sign up. 

Glow discussed wanting to host more events on the actual Sciences Po campus where places wouldn’t need to be limited. They also expressed their desire to seek out venues with higher occupancy rates going forward. 

Making events affordable for all students 

Glow assured students that they would maintain scholarship and non-scholarship pricing for their events. They stated that their goal was to keep large events like the gala as low-cost as possible and planned on hosting bake sales to raise funds. 

Elemental plans on keeping costs as low as possible through seeking partnerships with other organisations. According to the list, the group that remains greatly underrepresented is minors who are expected to pay the same price as the other student’s whether or not they will be consuming alcohol. 

How do you plan to better represent international students?

Glow claimed that their addition of a culture pole represented a real commitment to breaking down barriers between nationalities. 

Elemental raised the issue of integration between not only nationalities but between EURAMs and EURAFs. They proposed running dinners and collaborations with associations that represent different regions to break down these barriers. 

This weeks events and Parties:

Finally the moment you’ve all been waiting for… Here’s a short summary of some of the things going on you don’t want to miss. 

Casino Royale, AliAS, Glow, Elemental, Art-breakers

AliAS Olympics, Reims campus, from 2 to 5 pm, where you can win a trip to Barcelona for 4 people.  

Champion’s Lists, Wednesday 5-8 pm, similar to the integration playoffs. It’s a collaboration between Casino Royale, Art-Breakers, and Glow. 

Neon Party, Wednesday 8 pm at la Calabraise, a collaboration between AliAS, Art-breakers and Glow. 

Gala Sportif, Wednesday, 8:30-12:00 pm, at Vieux de la Vieille. A collaboration between Elemental and Casino Royale. 

Olympus Festival, Thursday, 8pm at Parc Léo Lagrange. An event with food trucks, live performances, and face painting. Enjoy it with Art-Breakers, AliAS, and Elemental.

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• Cadavre Exquis : Goodbye stranger
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