Jacob Howell is a fourth-year business law student with a double minor in psychology and business. He is running to be Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA)’s next vice-president (finance) as part of the Students First slate.
Previous experiences
Throughout all of his years at Carleton, Howell has been involved in representing students. He was a first-year floor representative, vice-president (administration) of the Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) in his second year, moved to RRRA president in his third year, and now, currently serves as CUSA vice-president (finance) during his fourth year at Carleton.
Howell said his experiences have allowed him to achieve some big goals such as diversifying Abstentions’ inventory, saving overhead Abstentions costs, and making Ollie’s Thirsty Thursdays more profitable while reducing business costs.
Reasons for running
Howell said his biggest motivation to run as an incumbent in this year’s election was to make sure student money is being spent effectively.
“In all honesty, making sure that students’ money is spent in the wisest way that it can be is something that’s like very important to me,” he said.
“I know a lot of students have those questions in regards to like RRRA and CUSA,” Howell continued. “Being able to show that we have made those efforts to kind of like cut some of the fat and put it into more student-centric areas is something that I get a lot of satisfaction from.”
Slate or independent?
Howell said his decision to run in a slate this election was based off of the support from previous slates he had been a part of.
“After being through many elections, they do take a significant mental toll on people that I think you know, various students might not see,” Howell said. “It makes it a little bit easier to kind of get through those days knowing that you have the support of other people.”
Howell also mentioned slates can be helpful for candidates who may not be able to spend $600 campaigning alone because slates are able to share financial resources.
Campaign goals
Howell said his main policy points include accessible legal counsel for students, a rideshare program, and empowering entrepreneurs.
“Whether students are having issues with their landlord, or even immigration questions all the way to even ranging to if you get into like a fender-bender, we want to provide a service where you can call a lawyer,” Howell said. “Even if you do end up having to go to court, you actually won’t have to pay for their court time.”
Howell said he is also hoping to implement a rideshare program for students who commute.
“Not only can they carpool and save time and money, but it’s also reducing the amount of vehicles that are on the road,” Howell said. “It kind of reduces that carbon footprint and the traffic on campus as well.”
In order to empower entrepreneurs, Howell said he wants to work with apps such as Future Finder to give students tips on how to start their own businesses.
Final thoughts
Howell said he encourages students to ask questions during the election.
“It’s really about students who may not know a lot about CUSA or even that do know a lot and are looking to see how their university experience can be impacted,” Howell said. “We want to do that in the most positive way possible.”
“A lot of us are definitely giving this election our all,” he said. “We just have that passion and that grind and we’re willing to put our money where our mouth is.”
Featured image by Tim Austen.
