Elected Candidates

The full list of candidates to get elected are:

• Gayle Cini
• Karol Buttigieg
• Chayenne Catania
• Thomas Farrugia Garzia
• Liam Axisa

These results reflect not only the preferences of the students but also suggest a strong endorsement for the policies and vision put forth by SDM. The election results are set to influence how student governance will roll out in the coming year.

The post ITS Student Election 2024 appeared first on The Third Eye.

No experience necessary, a positive attitude and a desire to be part of something special is all they are asking for. Roles are open to people 16+, who love science, social media, or interacting with people.

Here’s what you get:

• Be part of a vibrant team and contribute to Malta’s National Science and Arts Festival.
• Gain valuable experience in science communication, social media management, or event coordination.
• Receive training workshops before the festival – will be conducted on University Campus at the beginning of September.
• Earn a certificate for your volunteer service.
• Enjoy free festival snacks, drinks, and a commemorative T-shirt.

There’s a flexible volunteer schedule and shifts can be choosen across the two days:

• September 27th: 5 pm – 11 pm (split into shifts of 3 hours each)
• September 28th: 9 am – 11 pm (split into shifts of 3 hours each)

Here’s how you can contribute:

• Social Media: Capture the festival through photos and videos and plan engaging content for social media channels. (Must have access to a camera – phone cameras are okay, but DSLRs are preferred)
• Support: Help with setting up and running interactive STEAM experiments.
• Help with Welcoming: Chat with visitors and answer their questions, as well as conduct surveys to gather feedback.

Click here to apply by August 18th, 2024.

The post Volunteer at Science in the City 2024 appeared first on The Third Eye.

Prevention First: Building a Healthy You

YMCA Malta believes in the importance of preventative measures. By taking care of yourself regularly, you can build resilience and develop the tools needed to manage stress, anxiety, and everyday hardships. Their philosophy focuses on:

• Strong self-development: This includes practices that improve your mental, physical, and sexual health.
• Active citizenship: Engaging with your community and promoting positive change.
• Community engagement: Building strong connections with others can provide invaluable support.
• Safe space for well-being: The YMCA offers a comfortable environment where you can prioritize your well-being.

Affordable Support: Psychotherapy, Family Therapy, and Counseling

Their team of qualified psychotherapists offers a range of services, all designed to help you improve your life. Whether you’re looking to manage stress or anxiety, work through mental health or process life changes, their services are offered on a donation basis of €10 per session. There’s also the option of waiving the fee for those in genuine financial hardship.

The YMCA offers:

• Individual adult therapy
• Individual child therapy
• Family therapy
• Couples therapy

Important Information:

• This service is not intended for emergencies.
• Appointments are required for all therapy sessions.

To access these services, contact the Community Services Manager at nicola.ymcamalta@gmail.com. Please include your name, surname, and contact information. The team will then contact you to assess your needs and match you with the right professional.

Be sure to share this information with anyone who might benefit from these services!

The post YMCA Malta – Subsidised Psychotherapeutic Services appeared first on The Third Eye.

Furthermore, KSU expressed their gratitude towards Riolo

The entire KSU team would like to thank him for his work and contribution to the Council’s efforts, and wishes him well in his future endeavours.

KSU statement

Due to there being a vacant role within KSU, interested participants are requested to fill out this form within fifteen days.

The post Isaiah Riolo Resigns As KSU Culture and Entertainment Officer appeared first on The Third Eye.

The new executive team is as follows:

• President: Yana Cermona
• Vice-President: Giulia Bugeja
• Secretary-General: Kevin Curmi
• Financial Officer: Daniela Marotta
• Public Relations Officer: Nicole Sciberras Bray
• Media Officer: Marie Azzopardi
• Academics Officer: Mariah Busuttil
• International Officer: Miirko Sant
• Events Officer: Tristan Azzopardi

Presidential Comment

I firmly believe that if all executive members cooperate, trust and pull the same end of the rope we will achieve great things together and we will go above and beyond our own expectations.

Yana Cremona

The Third Eye wishes the new executive all the best for their upcoming term!

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In a couple of hours I should be in my scrubs observing a consultant performing a physical examination on a patient. A couple of more hours after that, I am supposed to be seated with tens of other students attending a lecture; a contemporary ceremonial gathering celebrating a dying tradition. My schedule is as packed as that of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson; however, I do not anticipate the sight of a single pancake any time soon. Instead, I opt to stay in bed. A temporary prison sentence before I pay my dues as part of a civilised society. A sentence that is in no way voluntary.

I’ve spent many hours – or maybe days – staying in bed, on the couch, or on any surface that can withstand my weight. The funny – and sometimes disturbing – fact is that I do nothing at all. Usually my thoughts keep me company. A series of concepts passing by my mind with no intention to answer a philosophical question nor ask for practical solutions. My points of view in life are redundant. My healthy image of myself is dilute. Social connection benign and effort expensive. My Mental Health, invalidated and irreparable.

Although the narrative on Mental Health shifted from a stigmatised point of view to an accepted social phenomenon, I worry it has become that of fantasy. Despite the heavy campaigning, it seems we are lost in some kind of discrepancy. Why are we raising awareness about something we’ve yet to understand?
I have an issue with our contemporary perceptions of what mental health is. There is a relentless reduction of the self and mind only to personify it as ‘Mental Health’; an Institutionalised fickle entity limited to deterministic ideologies in academia applying counterintuitive pressures pushing the narrative away from any legitimate Mental Health comprehensive dialogue. If I’ve lost you, how do you think I feel when my brain decides to think of these sentences? Allow me to explain my point.

In the past few years, we’ve become glued to mental health perfectionism and hyper-awareness. Millions upon millions of books sold insuring the key to enlightenment amongst its pages. Millions more globally are seeking mental health consultation – striving to find answers about their lacking mental capacity to deal with….. life. It has been a distraction from the initial concept of mental health campaigns’ genesis.
I’ve struggled with my fair share of mental health issues. In fact, for a couple of months now, I’ve been attempting – and failing – to write this article. The pressure I’ve applied on myself made me anxious and self-deprecating. I found myself ranting and rambling with my pen on some poor notepad that didn’t see my angst coming. My notepad resembled a detailed-ink-stained-map of Asia. Every emotion carried its own weight on the page.

Internally enraged from my writer’s block, I am nonchalantly staring at the wall. I just stare with no real intention, but with every bit of ambition. My mind sees it differently, of course. We are meant to sometimes stare at the wall to think, predict, and process information. Our memories intertwine with our never-ending fictional streams of thought, narratives, and dreams. I just couldn’t balance my thoughts with my writing. I was limited.

“To be or not to be, that is the distraction.” A quote from ME, in Bed.

As we target mental health, we are mostly missing the point completely. Therapy was never the ultimatum – nor was the placement of anyone in distress in a given time in some circle-jerk group feeding off of each other’s insecurities for temporary relief. Needless to say, therapy has become such an expensive investment. If students and those who are less privileged socio-economically cannot access help, are those campaigns offering impractical solutions?

Our deepest and darkest thoughts are those that drive us to be better human beings. The danger arises when we develop a complacency to those facets of our characters. We’ve become far more comfortable in admitting we feel ‘depressed’ than participating in a reflective process to deal with our introspective maturity.

I sure hope my Perspective is cynical. That we are not relying on social campaigns – who are exploiting mental health campaigns for exposure – to define what mental health means to us. That we are applying more effort to be in an uncomfortable mental space to learn where our expressive limits are.

The step forward is to discard the notion of mental health. The step forward is to rehabilitate the
narrative; to reassemble our social and intra-personal perspective to accommodate to all. A diverse
scenario where the formerly known as a person with mental health struggles is viewed as a human
who fits a unique psychological profile; moreover, a heterogenous person liberated from the
mental health limitations in social hegemony.

The post My Approach to Owning My Mental Health Struggles | Your Write to Write Campaign appeared first on The Third Eye.

The online debate was meant to give a platform for the presidential candidates to defend and explain in further detail the proposals they had originally outlined in their respective manifestos. That said, since the debate was shared live on Facebook, it also gave students a platform to voice themselves on the candidates’ proposals through comments, shares and by sending their own questions to be answered during the debate.

What sparked a lot of conversation during and after the debate were allegations that were reportedly made by Bajada throughout the debate. What did not sit well with many regarding these allegations was that they apparently had no basis in fact on the most part. The most heated allegations were centred about KSU’s work this past term on the Barts’ Medical School issue as well as the Engineering Warrant issue, claiming that the Council’s work has been close to futile.

These allegations stemmed from the fact that the issues are still not resolved despite many months of work by KSU in conjunction with the respective student organisations (MMSA and UESA). However, a number of students clarified that issues such as these are not easily resolved and that the work has been put in by the taskforces. These statements were seconded by representatives of KSU, MMSA and UESA who worked directly on these issues.

With regards to the engineering warrant issue specifically, Bajada alleged that he, as an Executive Member within UESA, was not invited to join the Task Force working on the issue. UESA in fact published a statement following the debate that clarified that all members, including Bajada, were invited.

Despite the disagreement with Bajada’s performance in the debate there was some praise of his willingness to bring up some issues not yet contested publicly and his general determination to come forth for as an independent candidate. One such issue was the question of KSU’s finance management, having spent 16,000 EUR on printing. In response to this, William Farrugia, outgoing KSU President, defended the amount by outlining where the expenses went (i.e. Freshers’ Week, Careers Expo, AGM reports etc.). Another critique was of the Green Fund, which was also clarified in that it does not have to do with printing but offers discounts and cash-backs to students on sustainable modes of transport.

Xuereb has since posted a video as a reaction to the debate’s outcome but the student body is still awaiting a response from Bajada’s end at the time of writing. Silent day will be starting in a few hours at 22:00 tonight, and after that time, no platform will be allowed to publish any election-related material.

The post Students react to yesterday’s KSU Presidential Debate appeared first on The Third Eye.

Kris Bajada. He needs no introduction. He’s our University’s well-established independent candidate. If this information is new to you, Kris is an engineering student who shall be contesting for the role of president for the third consecutive year.

He vouches to bring students together because to him students are not colour-coded. He intends on unifying student organisation so they could together reform the student council that is KSU.

Bajada launched his manifesto back in March just before the consequences of the Coronavirus unravelled and cancelled all of our social lives. In it, he has 98 proposals promised to the student body on diverse subjects ranging from international opportunities to the environment.

The Third Eye is dissecting said manifesto into bits and pieces to tell you what you’re in for should you vote Kris Bajada into KSU.

Let’s start from parking and transport.

It’s no secret that transport and parking make everybody’s university experience a headache. In his manifesto Bajada proses a point system for students who make use of alternative transport. These points can then be redeemed for prizes.

Bajada vouches to lobby with the administration so that after 12pm, all parking spaces available on University grounds can be used by students. He also intends introducing a transport service with pick-up points to and from University during the day.

In particular for Gozitan students, Kris Bajada wishes to set up a shuttle bus for these students specifically on Mondays and Fridays so that they could travel easily from Ċirkewwa to Imsida.

With regard to the environment

Bajada pledges to plant new trees around campus as well as push for a zero-plastic policy.

Two very interesting proposals in this area are the pilot project to replace windows which receive a certain amount of sunlight with transparent solar panels and the setting up of various roof gardens.

Not only are these proposals quite interesting and would probably be welcomed with open arms by the student body but they’re also very fresh ideas that have rarely been mentioned if at all in recent manifestos published from all the competent competitors.

Jumping onto the subject of academia

Bajada promises in his manifesto to increase the number of lockers and CCTV cameras in the bag depository area in the library.

On another note, he wishes to increase the amount and variety of placements available for Erasmus. Furthermore, he seeks to increase the amount of financial support given to students whilst on Erasmus.

Some good news for medical students also, Bajada wishes to negotiate with the government on the Barts Medical School issue which seems to crop up every so often.

Related to this subject, he proposes the possibility of a discussion with foreign medical doctors about rare diseases and new medical procedures.

With regard to student organisation and the actual structure of the council, Bajada has long stated that there needs to be a restructure of the council however details of what this would entail have never surfaced.

He pledges to amend the Room Allocation Report to help those organisations which were unable to obtain a room by providing them with a temporary one.

He will also push for reforms in the current university electoral system to make sure students are better represented.

Kris Bajada in his manifesto does not just address resident students whose journey starts and ends at the University of Malta but he also caters to international students. Many of his proposal centre around the idea of inclusion such as consultation session, a buddy system and the publication of a pamphlet with useful information.

However, he also mentions events such as the celebration of international feasts and international culture nights on campus. Since the only feast we tend to celebrate is St Paddy’s, these events might actually turn out to be useful, cheers Kris.

Now hold your horses, Kris is not done yet.

Here are some bold proposals which will for sure spark interest in the student body such as a puppy room during exam period and a de-stress room with sleep pods and lounging bags!

He’s also promising to fix the disparity in the amount given in the monthly stipend. This as well as pledging to give medical student free doctor’s scrubs.

Bajada also wishes to offer free eye tests to those students who are in courses which are mainly computer-based. Moreover, in his manifesto he mentions the procurement of subscriptions for specialised software such as Adobe to make it available to the students.

These are just the proposals that we managed to fit in this article, there are many more where that came from.

These proposals are ambitious to say the least. One definitely has to question the amount of money that is required to fulfil these proposals without driving the council into situation of debt.

However, these proposals reek of the fresh air the student body has longed for. There’s no denying that these proposals would actually interest the student rather than the traditional ‘additional charging stations’ proposal.

We’ll leave judgement up to YOU, the student.

The post What is Kris Bajada promising you? | KSU 2020 appeared first on The Third Eye.

The role of President will be contested for by Matthew Xuereb, who held the role of Education Coordinator for the past year in the Council. This means that the only election will be supposedly held between Xuereb and Kris Bajada who is running for President as an independent candidate, since no other nominations have yet been announced.

The rest of the roles apart from President were also announced and since only SDM have publicly put forward their candidate nominations, these candidates are almost certainly the new members of the Council. The roles are as follows:

• Matthew Gauci – Vice President
• Julia Cini – Secretary General
• Tano Bugelli – Public Relations Officer
• Andrea Galea – Financial Officer
• Neil Zahra – Social Policy Officer
• Elsa Cassar – Education Officer
• Matthias Caruana – International Officer
• Yasmine Ellul – International Coordinator
• Nicole Galea – Culture & Entertainment Officer
• Jurgen John Gauci – Culture & Entertainment Coordinator

With regards to the role of International Coordinator, it is likely that Yasmine Ellul will be holding the new role of Student Affairs Officer if KSU’s motion to introduce the new role passes during the AGM.

The candidates will be officially nominated during this Thursday’s AGM happening at 12:00PM.

The post KSU Presidential Election to be between Matthew Xuereb and Kris Bajada appeared first on The Third Eye.

Ten members were elected to the new executive team, with only two of them having been from the previous exec; President Clayton Seguna and Vice President Rebecca Fsadni. The full list of roles is as follows.

• Clayton Seguna – President
• Rebecca Fsadni – Vice President
• Andrè Mifsud – Secretary General
• Chris Debono – Public Relations Officer
• Ivana Galea – Financial Officer
• Kristina Micallef Pulè – Social Policy Commissioner (KPS)
• Rachel Dalli – Educational Officer
• Mirea Gauci – Leisure Officer
• Daniela Cremona – External Relations Officer
• Francesca Camilleri – International Officer
• Armand Abela – EFPSA Member Representative

The Third Eye got in touch with outgoing President Luanne Grima to get her comments on her past year leading the team.

I have been blessed with an amazing team who helped me achieve my goals for the organisation. I cannot say it was an easy term but I have grown so much and made experiences that I will cherish forever.

“I am confident that Clayton will make great things happen in the organisation and at least I have forwarded it to strong hands,” she closed off.

Looking forward to the new term, President Clayton Seguna expressed his hopes for the new term, especially in the midst of the current pandemic.

Given the current national situation due to this pandemic, I can assure you that we will be thinking of alternative ways, to support and motivate students and the general public.

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