The Peak

SFSS Profile: 20 questions with Andrew Fergusson

By Kendra Wong

1. What is your favourite thing about SFU?

The architecture. A lot of people dislike concrete but I like Arthur Erickson’s original vision [as depicted in] Radical Campus: Making Simon Fraser University. West Mall interrupts the single walkway that should have gone from the bus loop all the way down to residence. There is the same walkway by the water tower as there is by the AQ; they were designed to connect. The original design was absolutely amazing. The moment they started “bean counting,” instead of actually designing buildings, that’s when it all started going downhill.

2. What is your greatest achievement?

I’m the longest serving internal relations officer, but aside from that, a crowning glory — I don’t have that yet.

3. What is your guilty pleasure?

Transatlantic flights and shopping at Whole Foods.

4. Where do you hope to be in 10 years?

I don’t necessarily know where I want to be in 10 years, I’m sure I would want the clichéd house and nice electric car. I like the IRO position, so I could see myself doing that professionally. No locale in mind, hopefully Vancouver is still good in 10 years.

5. What was the last book you read?

Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks. It is the new James Bond book that was written in the voice of Sir Ian Fleming. It was complete insipid dribble, but enjoyable nonetheless. It reads like a James Bond movie . . . you could take it as a script.

6. What was your most embarrassing moment?

When a staff member came into the Board office and issued a declarative statement that nobody else had acknowledged to the person that it affected. There were several other directors in the office, there was so much tension and everybody’s faces blanched.

7. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Machu Picchu; the best way to describe why I want to go there is, “just because.” I want to climb up the mountain, I want to see what it was, and I want to touch history.

8. What is your greatest fear?

Having said or done something in the past that precludes me from doing something in the future. Political news is full of people having done something in the past, then somebody digs it up, and it absolutely massacres them when they don’t expect it.

9. What are you most grateful for?

Mark, [my husband], I love him, he’s awesome. I can hide from anything when I’m with him. He is political without being involved, which allows me to vent.

10. What is your biggest regret?

My most recent regret was buying Killers tickets and not being able to make it because of the provincial election. I was campaigning . . . and I couldn’t go even though I bought the tickets months in advance.

11. If you could switch lives with anyone, who would it be?

I can’t think of anybody whom I’d rather be. There are certain aspects [of people’s lives] that I like, but they usually come with drawbacks. I could go with fame, but then you would have to deal with constantly being under the microscope, even more so than I am now [as IRO.] I think I have a decent balance right now, so why would I want to change it?

12. What are your favourite movies?

Good Night and Good Luck; I was literally on the edge of my seat in a movie with no action whatsoever, but it was so gripping. I also like The Emperor’s New Groove because it’s such dry, sarcastic humour, and the timing is so proper. It’s so well crafted.

13. What is your biggest pet peeve?

People who are unwilling to acknowledge scientific fact [because] you have to do a hell of a lot of work to even get to a theory. The scientific method is pretty solid.

14. What is the most important thing you look for in a potential partner?

With Mark, there was significant crossover, so lots of shared experiences and very similar ways we grew up. But [there are still a lot of different things] we can experience together.

15. What was the best date you’ve ever been on?

When I met Mark. I met him at the The Cambie, we went to The Lennox, Commodore Bowling, the Roxy Burger, [we were out] until 3:00 a.m. I don’t remember much else, until the next morning, and it hasn’t stopped ever since.

16. If you could choose any five people to have an imaginary dinner with, who would they be?

Mao Zedong, Zhiqing Jiang, Yasser Arafat, and Benjamin Netanyahu just to see what happens, and throw in Nelson Mandela just to see who will win in that battle.

17. Who do you admire the most?

Tommy Douglas; he did things that might have precluded him from venturing forward in the future. He was into eugenics at the turn of the century, but he did so much for the country. We’ve got nationalized health care [because of him]. He achieved everything ethically, forthright, and for all the right reasons.

18. What was your first experience in England like?

I like it, but London is too big. I love the underground system . . . but I didn’t like how many security cameras there are around. [I was pointing at the architecture] of Westminster Station [which is right under the Parliament buildings in London] and then Mark told me to stop pointing. With all the security cameras around, I had to think about what other people would think about me, in an uncomfortably conscious way.

19. What’s it like being the longest running IRO?

I like my staff, and I like the job. There’s always something new, because there has never been consistency applied to the position. Aside from writing a really good exit report, the habits haven’t been engrained. Slowly and surely, making the Student Society a better employer and a better place is why I keep on coming back.

20. Finish this sentence: Student politics are . . .

What people make out of it, and have improved substantially this time around. I don’t want to be called a politician when I’m done here. That said, there are different types of people involved in student politics; There are those who are involved for the good of the Student Society; they are completely selfless and it’s not about the money. There are the people who do it for their resumes. Then there are the people who do it for themselves and that’s when the most problems come in.