Ramtin Taramsari is a first-year Life Sciences student hoping to double major in Bioethics and Physiology. He is running for Vice-President University Affairs. Taramsari is also a voting member on the Arts & Science Council.
When asked about what made him run, Taramsari cited his past high school leadership experience and introduction to the UTSU as a first-year student.
“Ever since I joined my high school student council, I developed a passion… for just being a part of my education outside of just solely academics. I always liked the idea of helping run the student life portion of things,” he said.
Taramsari is running on a platform of financial transparency and wants to ensure that students are aware of what their fees cover.
“My platform revolves a lot around making sure that the UTSU is shown in its best light. I know that stereotypically people don’t have the best perception of the UTSU, and I think a lot of that sprouts from the lack of financial transparency because a lot of people don’t really understand where the money they’re using actually goes to,” he said.
Taramsari also added that by creating better transparency between the UTSU and the student body, he hopes to build more trust in the student union.
Taramsari emphasized the importance of building trust between university administration, student unions, and the students. “I think that one thing definitely to focus on would be to make sure that students do feel like we’re here for them. And in light of that, like I said, things like the financial transparency really help [that] because I think that a lot of it spouts from mistrust.”
Taramsari also plans on lobbying the administration to create more gender-neutral bathrooms. “I’ve noticed that other universities and other campuses that I visit, there’s a lot more focus on gender-neutral washrooms. I know that we do have a few on campus, but I do find it odd that in this day and age we don’t have more of them and they’re not more readily available than they are,” he said.
