It discourages me to see that Joe Stonehouse has found a medium in The McGill Daily through which to take out his personal frustrations with his AUS election disqualification without complete disclosure of his own actions. While accusing AUS Chief Returning Officer Sophie Goss of acting unprofessionally, he has resorted, by way of Facebook, to childish and profane personal attacks on her, demonstrating completely unacceptable behaviour for someone who was even considered for an executive position in a student society.
Perhaps more outrageous than Stonehouse’s personal attacks are his accusations of electoral bias in Goss’s conduct: accusing her of disqualifying him based on her personal connections to Patricia Tao is ridiculous. In the time that I have known Goss, she has only demonstrated to me a sense of morality and an ability to make unbiased decisions paralleled by few; I could never imagine her consciously making the decision Stonehouse is accusing her of, or letting personal feelings cloud her judgment. Goss’s clear head and commitment to objectivity made her more than qualified to run the elections; she was forced to make a difficult decision, and it is clear to me that she made the right choice.
Goss demonstrated incredible integrity in running an election while Stonehouse repeatedly disrespected her authority and the by-laws of the election process; she was well within her rights and acted as stipulated in her contract in disqualifying Stonehouse. His actions after his disqualification amount to nothing more than a need for petty revenge, which has done nothing but cloud Tao’s election. There is no doubt that she will fulfill and surpass the requirements of her position and move past the death-throes of a defeated opponent.
Ben Landon
U2 Math and Physics (Joint Honours)