Team CES presidential candidate Morgan Campbell, vice-president (Operations) candidate Ashley Eagan and vice-president (University Affairs) candidate Kieran Slobodin describe themselves as AMS insiders with experience and research on their side this election.

With a comprehensive platform that includes 16 initiatives, Team CES said one of their favourite points focuses on bringing more services to the Queen’s Centre.

Over the summer, Eagan said she went on a Student Life Centre road-trip to investigate the possibility of bringing a pharmacy and a fresh-produce grocer into the empty spaces in the Queen’s Centre. The grocer would also have an online delivery component for students.

“We knew [the AMS] would be getting control of the Queen’s Centre, and we knew that there was this empty space,” Eagan, ArtSci ’11, said. “Every student life centre I visited had a pharmacy, but the only grocery check-out store was at Western. I’ve been able to rack up a number of contacts through my travels, and the Queen’s administration is crazy about the idea.”

The team reiterated that the services would operate as businesses, renting the space from the AMS. Furthermore, team CES said that they have been in contact with the Grocery CheckOut, the grocer at Western who is eager to expand to Queen’s.

“Team CES is devoted to having simple, healthy food options on campus,” Eagan said. “I’m so excited about this.” But the platform extends beyond the green grocer. Team CES said they plan to convert the sustainability coordinator’s role into that of a sustainability commissioner.

“It’s very clear that this campus is serious about sustainability initiatives,” Slobodin, ArtSci ’12, said, adding that the creation of an entire commission devoted to sustainability will allow the issue to be incorporated into all aspects of AMS policy.

If elected, the team also pledges to implement composting systems for the Queen’s Pub and Common Ground.

“The services are already outputting so much organic waste, and we’d be partnering with Queen’s Hospitality and Food Services, which already compost in the cafeterias,” Eagan said. “We’d be working with them to get a pick-up system.”

Team CES has already negotiated with Athletics and Recreation to pay for the renovation of MacGillivray-Brown Hall, so it would come at no addition cost to the AMS or students. The AMS-owned building currently houses the AMS Food Centre and AMS IT offices.

“It’s about turning it into the campus hub that it should be,” Slobodin said. The renovated space would be used by intramural teams to play games, and also as a practice and performance space for AMS clubs.

“A lot of [performance-based groups] don’t have a performance space that is sound proof. Having them able to practice here will be fantastic,” Campbell, ArtSci ’11, said.

Team CES will also partner with Athletics and Recreation to create an incentive program, ‘Passport to your athletics,’ to encourage students to attend games to increase campus spirit. Every time Queen’s students attend a games, they get a stamp in their passport, which will eventually lead to rewards like Gaels merchandise or NHL tickets.

Homecoming is another avenue that Team CES addresses in their platform. Through the creation of a Homecoming contract, Team CES hopes to outline what is expected of students, the administration, and the City of Kingston over the next three year suspension until 2014.

“It’s not feasible to bring it back but what our volunteers were saying to us was that if we just knew what the administration wanted, it would be easier to deal with the three year hiatus,” Campbell said. “We want to lay out what everyone expects, and we want to lay out exactly what student rights mean.”

Other platform points include the creation of gender-neutral washrooms in AMS-owned spaces and lobbying the administration to do the same for university owned buildings. Team CES will also implement semi-weekly free women’s self-defence classes run through Athletics and Recreation.

They also plan to create an online campus calendar for clubs to post their events and will lobby to bring the orientation week concert back to campus. On the new SOLUS system that will be replacing QCARD in March, Team CES plans to lobby the administration to implement a waitlist feature for classes.

“We have the experience to know what’s feasible and practical, and we’re looking towards an environmentally and financially sustainable AMS,” Campbell said. “That’s a principle that a lot of Queen’s students embrace.”

For the full platform see voteces.com.