Hello fellow UBC graduate students. My name is Cisco (@ciscogiii on twitter) and I am running for the senate position with the intent of making graduate student problems and ideals heard by the university. These maybe as simple as (dis)approving a course or as complex as ensuring an academic appeal is given the fairness it deserves. I won’t bore you to death talking about details of my background or who I am (these may be found at www.franciscograjales.com/ for those who are interested); I much rather focus on why I am running for this position and what I would like to do for you.

Unlike most other GSS candidate positions, Student Senators hold a different role. If elected, my job is to represent you, graduate students, in the highest decision-making body at UBC – Vancouver Senate. This means that although I will not hold a budget to make physical events or scholarships happen; I can persistently ensure that your voice is heard in all senate decisions. These include graduate-calendar changes, campus building decisions, appeals, curriculum changes, and policy; such as what our current president, Arvnd Saraswat, has proposed in regards to accessible child-care facilities.

It is sad that due to the unpaid nature of this seat, it has been customary for graduate student senators to step back and let their job slack. I feel privileged at the opportunity to represent us and break this patternif elected as your representative. I would also like to show my commitment by letting you know that my arms and ears are open to you. There’s no need to come to the GSS office – you can ping me on twitter, Facebook, or even my mobile. I commit to listening and facilitating your voice to the GSS body because I believe it is the only way we can be properly represented at the UBC Vancouver Senate. I will also strive to keep your GSS representatives accountable and support them in serving you.

Let’s work together and make UBC the best graduate student experience we could have!

Cisco

Twitter – @ciscogiii <http://twitter.com/ciscogiii>

Facebook – Cisco GIII <http://facebook.com/ciscogiii>

Mobile - +1.778.881.4061 (SMS is best)

Email - me@franciscograjales.com

More about Cisco - www.franciscograjales.com/about/

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There are a number of resources available to rank Twitter users, or “tweeple”, including (alphabetically) Grader, Tweeple Twak, Twinfluence, TwitDir, Twitterholic and Twit Rank. However, the problem I find is that they are based primarily on quantitative data i.e. number of followers, number of following, updates etc. and nothing qualitative. Anybody can add hundreds of followers, but whose updates cut the mustard in terms of quality?

Being in the health care industry it is vitally important that you listen to the right people. Listening to the wrong person could have serious implications on your health or the health of others. To this end, I have compiled a list of the top 20 30 health tweeple I think you should follow based on the quality of their contributions and their overall influence in the field. Yes I will have missed people, and yes it will probably be biased, but at least it’s a start! So, the list:

1. jenmccabegorman
2. mindofandre
3. carlosrizo
4. pfanderson
5. alensa
6. bobcoffield
7. tedeytan
8. healthythinker
9. ciscogiii
10. knightsicre
11. mdbraber
12. anitasamarth
13. endamadden
14. philbaumann
15. scanman
16. symtym
17. drval
18. berci
19. NurseDan
20. Geek2Nurse
21. MedicalQuack
22. ThatScottGuy
23. cerro
24. ekivemark
25. adistas
26. HIMSS
27. markhawker
28. wjjessen
29. 6oclockvintage
30. drrwinters

Phew! I’d originally aimed for a top 20 but soon realised that wasn’t going to be enough. I plumped for a top 30 but there’s still probably a whole wave of people I’ve missed. Thanks for all of your suggestions, and do feel free to leave comments so I can prepare a revised list in the future. Happy tweeting!

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