Jon Hembrey
News Reporter

As they wrap up their campaigns in advance of next week’s vote, the four candidates for Humber Student Federation president agree they enjoyed the opportunity to speak directly to students.
During the two-week campaign that ends tomorrow, the candidates were able to promote their platforms by answering questions at forums, plastering the campuses with posters and handing out flyers.
“It’s not just about sitting at home saying you’re going to do this on a poster,” said a first-year police foundations student, and presidential candidate Gurpreet Dhillon, 20, who added he wanted HSF to help those in need, both at the college and in the surrounding communities. “It’s more about going to talk to people to learn what they want from their college.”
Though the forums did not draw large crowds, Dhillon and the other candidates for the $35,000-a-year top job – Adam Gorman, Bhaskar Ranjan and Bryan Tran – and the 11 vying for $21,000-a-year vice-presidential positions hoped they got their points across.
“The students have been fairly receptive,” said Tran, 25, a third-year business administration student  whose campaign emphasized his experience as Vice-President of Campus Life at Lakeshore and a promise to better integrate all three campuses.
“The message is going out but it takes time,” said first-year business management student Ranjan, 27, who promised more services to help students find jobs, said interest from students grew steadily during the campaign.
However, first-year e-business marketing student, Gorman, 22, who pledged more social events for students, said the college could do more to publicize HSF elections.
“Maybe teachers could talk for just five minutes about what’s going on, voting days and where to find more information,” he said.
Polls will be open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday.
HSF purchased new voting booths this year to provide more privacy and better access for students with disabilities, said HSF Executive Director, Ercole Perrone.
The other candidates at North Campus are Stephanie Butler, Richard Chang, Shabana Kaker, Varun Verma and Bradley Watson for Vice-President Administration, and Arshdeep Mangat, Melissa Mendes, Abdul Wahid Rahmaty for VP-campus life.
At Lakeshore, only one candidate is running for each position: Karlie Fisher for VP Administration and Deniero Bartolini for VP Campus Life.  Ballots for the two positions will allow students to either accept or reject with a vote of “yes” or “no” the candidates.
A rejection will leave a position vacant until next fall.