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Graeme Obree defeated as Glasgow University students choose Edward Snowden as Rector

NSA whistleblower finishes ahead of Flying Scotsman

 

Students at Glasgow University have chosen NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden as their new Rector, ahead of former Hour Record holder Graeme Obree.

The election today saw a record turn out as students decided to use the vote to make a political statement and appoint Edward Snowden to the role. The Rector represents the students but is also, ex-officio, the Chairman of the University Court, the body which administers the resources of the University.

Previous incumbents include Winnie Mandela, who at the time was the wife of African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela and Mordechai Vanunu, who in 1986 revealed details of Israel’s nuclear weapons program to the British press and was subsequently abducted and imprisoned.

After the vote was announced at 5pm this evening, Graeme Obree said in a statement:

“I was happy to put myself forward as a candidate to become Rector of Glasgow University and it has been great fun to be involved in the campaigning. I would have been delighted to become a representative of the students and would have been energetic in the role, had I been elected.

“Also, I have no doubts that he other local candidates for Rector, Alan and Kelvin would have been outstanding Rectors, they are passionate and progressive people who would have been great in the role. 

“I have the utmost respect for Edward Snowden, he has made a huge personal sacrifice which must have been a massive choice for him and was the clear favourite as soon as his name was put forward for the role of Rector.”

Obree was briefly a student at the university, attending four months of an engineering design degree before dropping out. He was nominated to the three-year post by two student societies, the Glasgow University Sports Association (GUSA) and the the Glasgow University Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Trans, Queer, Plus Society ( GU LGBTQ+). He stood on a platform of promoting sport and diversity, and giving students a vote.

Chris Cassells, Edward Snowden’s spokesman for the Rectorial election campaign, said: “We are delighted to see Edward Snowden elected as the new Rector of the University of Glasgow.

“We have a proud and virtuous tradition of making significant statements through our Rectors and today we have once more championed this idea by proving to the world that we are not apathetic to important issues such as democratic rights.”

David Newall, Secretary of Court at the University of Glasgow, said: “This has been a record turnout for a Rectorial Election and I warmly congratulate Edward Snowden on his success. I would also like to thank Charles Kennedy for the contribution he has made to the University over the last six years.”

Charles Kennedy, the outgoing Rector said, “It has been a pleasure and a privilege to serve the students of the University of Glasgow for the past six years. The post of Rector is an important one, and I would like to wish my successor all the very best for his term of office.”

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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9 comments

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Flying Scot | 10 years ago
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Graeme, seek Asylum in Buchanan Bus Station, next time, this seems to win you the vote.

The se appointments are often overly left wing things if you ask me, G O was a more obvious and enthusiastic candidate, it's the students loss.

Avatar
lc1981 replied to Flying Scot | 10 years ago
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Flying Scot wrote:

The se appointments are often overly left wing things if you ask me, G O was a more obvious and enthusiastic candidate, it's the students loss.

Snowden left wing? He's a libertarian who supports Ron Paul!

Avatar
Rupert | 10 years ago
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So is Edward Snowden living in Scotland now ? I am sure he will do a good job where ever he lives.

I know it's a selfish comment but this is great news for the rest of us. If Graeme had got the post we all know he would have put a lot of energy into it.

Now that he knows he hasn't got the post he can apply his energy and enthusiasm to more cycling related things.

So it's a win for cycling  1 or maybe something else..... time will tell. One thing is for sure there's a lot of people that want to know what Graeme is going to do next  1

Avatar
lolol | 10 years ago
0 likes

Commendable stance, but does that really mean they have no rector, I wouldn't see Edward Snowden being all that involved in the day to day running.
The Winnie Mandela is probably downplayed a little these days.

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Grizzerly | 10 years ago
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That is sad. It is a sad reflection on the modern mentality of jumping on every trendy bandwagon.

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stenmeister | 10 years ago
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Snowden won because he promised to leak the answers to the exam papers.

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SteppenHerring | 10 years ago
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Next time they should settle it on the rollers.

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Flying Scot | 10 years ago
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G O should just run for Prime Minister instead.

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jova54 | 10 years ago
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Presumably Mr Snowden was not available for comments.  4

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