Rayhan - Musings from Elections

The relationship between companies, the media and politics

2008-04-17T05:15:00.004+01:00

I always wondered why car makers didn't make changes to their products after the media reviewed and presented their critiques. What more would a company want than free consumer testing? Surely it would cost an insignificant amount, as a lot of the testing and data would already be present and tweaking production lines in this day and age is no hard task.

The same with electronics products. It beggars belief that Apple could innovate with the iPhone in design and a cute interface (although currently limited in functionality) and NOT ONE other manufacturer took the baton and tried to get one up on them. Take this article from a well respected online magazine: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=8492 . It gives a very well reasoned solution to creating an iPhone beater.

With my plans for the cinema, my mind went into orderdrive. The thoughts were something along the lines of:

1. Bring in major film production partner (like Universal) which is part of a conglomerate media company
2. Make a huge success of rebranding Upper Regent Street, attracting high profile "Studio Stores", interactive product stores (like Apple have done with the Apple Store) and bring some much needed vibrancy to London.
3. Pitch to the film production partner's music label to form an alliance with Microsoft.
4. In that alliance, we build the perfect media player, distribution service and market it with the kind of panache that is sorely lacking from anyone other than Apple. (Media player would be very open, web browser would fully support ALL technologies - HTF did Apple screw up lack of Flash support on the iPhone and iPod Touch!!, and the web based music hub would be VERY open, offering multiple formats)
5. Destroy Apple's market share, because let's face it, the products are very heavily flawed when you get past the great aesthetics (think video or non-itune content).

And from there, the sky is the limit in terms of cross-selling to increase revenue streams and profit margins, as well as being able to tap into a wealth of consumer data that would point the way forward.

Well, that's what I would like to do, anyway.

The Fairer Sex (Part 1 of many)

2008-04-11T16:18:00.006+01:00

We hold open doors, give up our seats, forgive without a forthcoming apology, wait and wait and wait for them to get ready and even look past the exorbitant credit card bill.

In an age where the media often highlights the inequalities women face in what is very much a man's world, there is little highlighting that men and women have very different needs, aspirations, methodologies and even physiology.

Surely, in a society where socialist themes advise government to do away with Natural Selection and not allow lazy louts to starve, we should pay women more than men for equivalent jobs. They do, after all, have to put up with living by our rules. Isn't that why we allow them the simple gestures outlined in my first paragraph?

The small picture stuff is fine. Big picture we hold onto, jealously guarding our traditions. Traditions that get us what? There is little equality, and even less compassion. Analysing society shows us that women are far more adept with survival instincts, so surely we should allow REAL women to shape policy emotionally. Schooling, social welfare, healthcare are all things that we fail to do well, because men (or women trying to be like men) make the decisions.

The world is currently run by the United States of America. They print paper money to buy the world's natural resources. They put their Armed Forces near all the major natural resource sites abroad, to safeguard the payment for these resources in their currency. On a side point, currency is backed by gold. If all the countries with dollar currency reserves asked the US to honour that promise on those banknotes and hand over the gold, would they have enough gold for all that paper money they've been printing?

Anyhow, back to the point: America rules the world. Not Americans, America. There's a difference. The ruling classes have nothing in common with the masses, yet the masses are forced for vote for the ruling classes, and are told that they live in a fair democracy. What does it take to run for President of the USA these days? Around $400m. So anyone can run...

Finally, someone has put some money behind a real woman. Ok, fair enough, she's playing by the rules of men, and corrupting her femininity, but look at her key policy: Healthcare - and Universal Healthcare for all. She doesn't care that American media and politics has painted such a socialist view as the first step towards communism. Why? Because life isn't rational, and therefore the most appropriate people to make decisions for life are women.

Links

2006-03-07T02:23:00.000+00:00

If you want more information about me, please click here

Why Am I Running?

2006-03-07T02:20:00.000+00:00

The Answer is simple...I have really enjoyed helping so many people this year, as the Vice President, and I want to continue that work and building all the foundations. You can't imagine how good it feels to help people, knowing you won't be getting anything out of the experience, other than the experience. It's a good feeling...and there is not much left in this world that is good and pure...the feeling of helping others is...please help me keep this high and vote between the 13th and 16th of March

Communications Manifesto 2006

2006-03-07T02:19:00.000+00:00

Who Am I?

My name is Rayhan, I am the current Vice President of the Students’ Union and I have spent the past 9 months running around like a to get out and about to students, working on different projects to improve the “experience” here and just being at your service…but some of you probably didn’t even know that.

What Have I Been Doing?

I attended the inductions for most 1st years, and I also organised and ran the 3 Freshers’ Fairs at the beginning of the year. It was my plan to keep that level of involvement sustained. Unfortunately I soon found out that my job is to represent and by trying to run events and organise activities I was stepping on the toes of staff that were employed to do that. How have you found university life as the year goes on? Yeah, a barrel of laughs eh? It could be, if you vote me as your Comms Officer.

What You Can Expect From Me

I plan to make knowledge freely available and easily accessible. My section of www.uwsu.com is the most regularly updated. The website isn’t great, but I managed to get more people using it through societies and all my reports are there.

When you come onto campus, can spend a whole day here, and still not know what events and activities are available to you, something needs to change. How about a list of societies and sports teams in classrooms? How about Smoke Radio playing in cafes, bars and communal areas? How about YOUR work being displayed in prominent places? And how about a new website that you WANT to use and is updated DAILY…one that YOU control (think myspace)? Those will all be the foundations to my work next year.

I’m Nice Too

I’d like to take an opportunity to talk about my competitors. Unfortunately for me, they are all nice. I’d vote for Jim Chapman, Rich Tyler and Anna (I forget her surname…she’s the Ju Jitsu girl…). Over the next two weeks, come and talk to us all. Find out how we’d help make your time here less frustrating. I want this election to be fun…make sure you have fun too.

Look out for my posters, you’ll get sick of them…so draw on them, ask me questions on them…even rearrange my face.

Presidential Manifesto 2006

2006-03-07T02:14:00.000+00:00

The University of Westminster Students’ Union

According to the Vice Chancellor of this University, not so long ago the Officers of the SU refused to meet with University Management. Today, the SU not only meet with them, work with them to create a better “student experience”, but completely ignore asking students themselves what they would like. The Officers spend the vast majority of their £19,000 worth of time behind a desk, in meetings and on expensive training, paid for by you. Do you ever see your “democratically elected” officers? Did you get much time to sit down with them and air your views so that they could represent them for you? Probably not.

I can and am changing this. I have spent over 70 hours every week trying to put in foundations for a Students’ Union who actually are able to do as they promise, as you ask. We’ll have campus reps to feed in information more efficiently, independent media run by students, and more social spaces than every before. Woo Hoo…right?

It all depends on who you vote in. This year we still had the Dragon Bar, we still have communal areas on campus, and we still have the Bar, Night Club and offices in Harrow…all under-utilised. Do you want someone who ran around to try and make use of all that is available, get people involved and put in the staffing structure to make sure that effort is sustained, as I have been doing? I have the experience, the proven ability to listen and adapt my ideas, and the determination to damn well make sure people have fun here and have the ability to have their “University Experience”.

What I will do for you next year

Work WITH the University AFTER Consulting students to provide more money for sports, entertainment and job opportunities – Regular, Professional Surveys
Get completely away from the office – replace our £30 mobile allowance with a PDA so that I can be out on campus talking to everyone, and be more responsive with communicating with you all
Give staff the respect to do their jobs without interference – and ensure they know that
Ensure the University’s major decisions (like the Academic Year Change) are COMMUNICATED to you as soon as possible, rather than at the last minute.

And most importantly, I’ll be honest with you, at all times

Please Vote for Rayhan

An Interview with Rayhan by Sarah Lefley

2006-03-04T20:36:00.000+00:00

1. Do you enjoy your job?

I love my job. It’s like a soap opera here. Plus if I was so inclined, the contacts I make and the prestige would be invaluable for any future career…but as my future career will involve being pampered on the most beautiful beaches on Earth, I’m happy to not pursue my own gain from the job…which contributes to me enjoying it more.

2. Why did you go for Vice and not President?

I wanted to provide a service and help instill a community spirit, rather than be important and do the impossible task of trying to represent 23,000 very different people, most of whom don’t really want to be represented, even if they’re shown how much it can benefit them…so the sports and societies and finance side of my role allowed me to try and shape the social future at UoW and also gave me time to work on the million and one projects that I dream up…like the shuttle service, getting in a marketing dept and an intercampus sports competition

3. How is your workload? Do you find it has taken over your life?

My workload is very heavy, because that is the way I chose. I was warned over and over again by not only everyone in the SU (who knew) but also university senior management. I knew I’d be giving up my life this year. I’ll be honest…at times it has been frustrating. I’ve tried twice to start a relationship and both times failed because of how much pressure I’ve put on myself to perform. I’ve tried to make sure that there is the staffing support in place next year so that the person that takes over from me doesn’t have to sacrifice their life, yet can achieve more than I have done. I had no handover and I’m the only sabbatical without any staff support….hopefully by the end of the year, the VP Activities will have a lot more admin support and a more defined role of fun and policy, rather than running around trying to do everything themselves. Right now, my life is the SU, and I kinda like it and kinda despise it…but that’s my own fault.

4. Roughly how many days/hours are you at university?

I spend around 10-12 hours in the office or in meetings, per day, and maybe a further few hours (some days a week) making sure I attend the social events and talk to people and sit and listen to complaints…it’s really the most satisfying part of the job….just listening to people complain….when you work so hard, and you meet some of the few people that ACTUALLY care….it leaves a smile on your face….even if they’re being personal. I try and work Sundays so that my desk is clear for the week…so on average upwards of 70 hours a week.

5. Do you feel you have been able to make constructive changes?

This is a difficult question to answer, because it all depends on the finish. I’ve run around building links, being honest and upsetting people, all to just get people to notice, get off their asses and help put in structures that will make for an easier, more efficient and fun future. The only way I’ll know if the changes I’ve made are constructive is if next year’s lot are inane, yet still achieve a lot. But hopefully the people elected this year will be passionate, intelligent and considerate of everyone around them, will listen to our handovers and make sure they focus their ideas and go through with them…We’ll see, but I’d like to think a lot of things this year will pan out to be incredibly constructive. The elections will also be a gauge of how constructive we’ve been…the one thing that annoys me is our lack of communication with our own members. If the extra Freshers’ Fair, the ReFreshers’ Fairs and all the other daft ideas I’ve come out with make people take notice, even if in anger, then yup, I’ve made a constructive change.

6. How do you feel about the position changes?

The Sabbatical positions haven’t really changed at all…I can’t express how much that annoys me. We worked so hard with the sole aim of making things easier on the people that take over next year…and the change that would have made the most difference is taking away the shit from their jobs and giving students the positions they ACTUALLY run for. We, as sabbaticals are trustees, which in short means we are responsible for the financial integrity of the SU…it’s way too much responsibility for students who have no such experience. I wanted to strip that away, get the staff support structure in and leave the Sabbs with FOCUSED positions so they could work on a few things each and do VERY well, instead of trying to work on everything and struggling to get a few half decent results. The year isn’t over yet, so will still be trying to tweak things to make it for next year’s lot.

The part time position change to Campus Reps is brilliant progress. It’ll make the world of difference next year. And the Editor of the Smoke being independent will also be a revelation. So on those counts, I feel very happy.

7. Is the student union fun to work for or much harder than you expected?

Much harder than I expected. As I and the other three trustees are the ones that get sued for any mistakes, it’s amazing how little power we had to make positive changes, how much opposition there is from staff to change and provide a service (the bar staff have been exemplary though) and how much you can get caught in the politics of such a small organisation. If you want to get into the mess that is SU Politics…make sure you have a hard wearing sense of humour, a lot of patience and resilience to see your ideas flourish…also the ability to listen is invaluable. It has been a serious learning experience, and continues to be so every day.

8. Would you do it again?

It would be insane to do it again….so the answer is yes.

I’d actually like to get on with my life, but because I’ve taken on so many projects, I might run again (but for Comms) and help next year’s lot survive the politics and finish off some of my projects.

9. What did you find made your campaign successful?

Last year my campaign was a mixture of luck and the fact that I was the only person who put their face everywhere and was SEEN on all campuses (bar Harrow – which was a mistake and cost me dearly). I have a number of strategies for this year, all of which involve personality rather than actual manifesto. It’s a popularity contest and you win by virtue of people picking your NAME above the other names on the ballot paper. It’s all a game really. People relied too much on posters and less on getting around and personal contact…which is why I won.

10. Was it worth it?

Absolutely. There’s no way I would have received such invaluable life experience until I’m 40, if it wasn’t for this job. It really is an eye-opening gift. It puts so much into perspective, gives you the opportunity to fall very heavily on your face and still have time to pick yourself up and learn. It does depend on what you want out of it… I wanted to provide more of the university experience and to grow up a bit myself…I put in the foundations for the former and I THINK I’ve done a fair bit of the latter. Graham (the General Manager) helps an incredible amount, and without his unique ways and knowledge, I would not have learnt as much. It has been MORE than worth it. The elections themselves were a bit ugly, but to be honest, I didn’t really campaign, so was quite removed from the nastiness of it.

11. Any regrets?

I’ve made mistakes, fallen flat on my face, had my ideas torn to pieces by the lack of support, been frustrated, had to deal with things I despise….and loved almost every minute of it….no regrets. I wouldn’t be half the person I am today if it wasn’t for this job, it’s challenges and the people I’ve met, conversed with and spent time with. Life’s too short for regrets, and this year is way too short to achieve anything substancial…but damn we’ve achieved a lot. Most of it is thanks to Graham and Rob.

So what is this all about?

2006-02-24T00:08:00.000+00:00

This is basically the popularity contest we call the democratic process...

The Prize... to be paid £19,000 out of your fees to provide you with a decent student experience and most importantly lay good foundations for the future.

A Month into the Job...

2005-07-31T18:45:00.000+01:00

...And I've been scarily busy...yes, I have actually been doing some work for the first time since I arrived at the University of Westminster. I'm hoping someone no-confidences me soon in Student Council, because it seems I cannot be fired any other way. There is just too much responsibility... 24,000 people to help provide a social life for...and they've given me the right to sign cheques! Big ones!

If you want to know more, I've started putting up all my reports on www.uwsu.com/rayhan .

Hope you're all enjoying your Summer while I'm stuck in this office...I can hear the beach calling from here...

Starting Soon...

2005-06-10T18:16:00.000+01:00

1001 things to think about. I can't for a single moment collect my thoughts in an organised manner, even though I've tried to make lists. I end up thinking of so many things, but always at moments when I can't write them down.
I raced into New Cav today at the request of Graham Gaskell (UWSU General Manager) to meet with the Project Manager of the New Cav Hub construction project. UWSU is to be given the Students' common room to convert into a shop. It's a tiny space, but it'll be some sort of real presence on New Cav. Finally we won't have to rely on posters alone in another location. Graham and I discussed making it more than just a shop, and using it as a port of call for students and an effective one at that, rather than trying to just make as much money as we can for the Union. This will all be decided by the SU Exec, and spearheaded by one or two Exec members who will report back to Exec, so that traffic can be directed more efficiently and too many people's time isn't taken up by a single project...as there are many others to consider, such as the Marylebone offices and social space, and the campaigns for next year, as well as Freshers, Elections, Refreshers, and coordinating all sorts of other bits.
Exec Training starts on Monday. It's very good that the Exec are so well taken care of with information and guidance...I just get concerned when I see that all this effort isn't returned to the students in the form of knowledge. That is something that hopefully will change this year, with this being one of the methods of ensuring that all students can get to know what the SU knows and take part in their union. And of course, I'll have to find effective ways of telling people this thing exists...
A lot to look forward to(and cringe at):

BUSA (British University Sports Association) Conventions (people that enjoy sports getting pissed, from what I've been told...but hopefully a few people will take it easy on the poison and will be able to tell me things that will help make it easier at Wmin to get sports working, without spending the stupid amounts we have been.

Meetings with Provosts and University departments to make things happen (such as getting a Residence Assistant position in place in the Halls of Res, something Charlene has already started working on...and if you don't know who Charlene is yet, go to http://www.uwsu.com/ !).

Marylebone Offices and Social Space project - Graham seems to be urging me to be one of the people heading this project because of my construction and property background, but I'm not sure whether my plate might be getting a little too full and whether my knowledge will be fine in an advisory capacity, rather than making all the decisions...and on that point, I have to remind myself to keep my ego in check and not act as if I can do almost everything well (which of course, I do believe I can...purely because I stay well away from anything I don't fully know about).

Getting Student Reps informed and enthused enough to really take part in Student Council and events

Getting Societies excited about running events consistently throughout the year

Starting an Inter-mural sports and activities competition. Sort of like the house competitions in school, but with wacky competitions thrown in. Something to make it easier for people to have fun and make new friends at uni, as well as take part in organising things and building skills, such as leadership and teambuilding.
And many many more...(fingertips hurting, hence my cutting it short...or long as the case may be...)
As always, if you want to know more, just ask!

Election Questions...

2005-03-04T19:17:00.000+00:00

When are the Elections? Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, next week (7-9th March 2005)

Why Vote? 23,000 students have decisions made for them by a handful of people...vote and you get to help shape YOUR Students' Union

Why Vote for Rayhan? Rayhan has shown time and again that he is devoted to the betterment of this University, regardless of his own interests. Want to know more? Ask him....

Who Else is worth Voting for? Rob Watson is incredibly capable and worth voting as Communciations Officer (he's also current Editor of the Sm0ke magazine). Chris Adams for Environment Officer. Janita for Part Time Students Officer. Louise for New Media Officer.

Manifesto

2005-03-01T17:59:00.000+00:00

RAYHAN OMAR

“Don’t look back in anger!”

University days are the best of our lives - Get the experience you came for!

Vice Presidential Manifesto
WHO AM I?
Hi, I’m Rayhan and I am a 22 year old 2nd year building surveying student. I am standing for vice president with the mission to provide students with THE University Experience.

WHY AM I RUNNING?
For several years I have been balancing work with studying for my degree and learning from my mistakes the realities of the adult world.
There is something lacking in our University. The main reason we became students was to learn. But what we also came for was the EXPERIENCE of being a student- otherwise we could have stayed at home with a set of textbooks!

My qualifications include…

• Regular attendance and contribution to Student Council meetings
• As a result of my dedication I was voted onto the Student Union Exec Committee
• Regular contributor to this magazine – The Smoke
• Five years business experience with a sound grasp of the financial world - I have worked for Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Reuters, among others
• I’ve been the liaison between the university and the SU to help progress the excellence and participation of sports at Westminster
• I learn fast, so if I do mess up, I’m quick to work hard and fix things

WHAT I WILL DO!
SU Officers are here to represent you, your wishes and your needs. There should be systems and support to allow them to do this, rather than being bogged down with paperwork ALL the time. I intend to introduce workflow systems so that the SU is more efficient at providing YOU with a BETTER, MORE ACTIVE service- the SU should be MORE than just a group of students, and university should give you THE experience.

CAN THE SU DO THIS?
A lot of people can argue that every year promises are made by candidates and that little is actually done. The truth of the matter is that things ARE done (such as getting Wednesdays free of lectures to allow extra activities to be part of the week), but a lot of candidates do promise too much.

My promise is simple:

Ensuring the year gets the best possible start with a kick ass Fresher’s Week- and that the spirit of the week will be continued with constant events, activities, societies, parties, competitions and organised mischief for the WHOLE student body throughout the rest of the year. Usually it fades out, and you’re left hanging...don’t look back on your uni days in anger….

LIVE THE DREAM- RAYHAN
FOR VICE PRESIDENT

Why Vote For Me? Ask me…
www.rayhanvp.blogspot.com

rayhano@hotmail.com

What Rayhan Looks Like...

2005-02-17T13:02:00.000+00:00