News for N00bs, Summer Edition!

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Holy shit! After a news dry spell so long we had to start reviewing a Sauder mascot competition, UBC and the Province decided to announce everything on one day. Thank you, board meeting and day-before-the-Premier’s-campaign-fundraiser. Here’s a simple take on what’s going on (with files from Neal Yonson).

Oh, and the Ubyssey debuted a new article cleverly entitled The Scoop, a UBC Media roundtable. In which no conflicts of interest occurred, and we pretended to be legitimate and suffered through a lack of sparkles.

Five More Years with the Hottest DILF Around

The Sexy President and Vice-Chancellor Himself, Stephen J. Toope, got renewed for five more years (in addition to agreeing to sing a duet with Bijan at UBC’s Got Talent). That’s pretty simple, even a n00b can understand. “His second term as President will be driven by the University’s new strategic plan, Place and Promise, that was created under his stewardship.” What we still can’t understand, however, is what the fuck FROM HERE means.

UBC-O Gets Bigger, Still Not Hard Enough

UBC-O bought some land and doubled the size of their campus. What is to be done with this land, however, is “limited only by vision and imagination.” Oh, and they’re protecting some pond.

“UBC Life,” Death and Rebirth

“UBC Life”, a UBC-themed online message board, launched this week and then promptly disappeared when it became clear that the site’s owners had misrepresented themselves. Their fate was sealed by repeatedly attempting to convince people that the site was sponsored by UBC—kind of like how Serena’s dad tried to fake Lily’s cancer on Gossip Girl. Were they hoping UBC would back them once the site took off? Oh, foolish mortals.

Some tips for next time someone wants to impersonate UBC online: don’t register the domain name to the Vanier Front Desk, or use the UBC Crest. Definitely don’t send out a fake UBC Broadcast Email, making people paranoid about how you got so many email addresses (and definitely—definitely—don’t follow that up by mocking people who believed, if only briefly, that it was real). Finally, when the university goes out of its way to say they have nothing to do with you, don’t say you are “university-supported.” A few faculty members does not a university make.

Gorgeous sources at the OLT (that’s Office of Learning Technology—techies in the basement of IKB) say they’re looking into implementing BuddyPress on UBC Blogs with no timeline at the moment. The BuddyPress website says it’s great for building university social networks, so we’ll see if all our internet wet dreams come true. Otherwise, we’re just left with nightmares about bulletin boards. Because the idea of a UBC message board? kind of outdated—as evidenced by the fact that most of the posts on UBC Life came from within the already-formed BlogSquad/Rezlife scene. And, as opponents of the current power structure would be the first to say, the way to get more people involved with university life is /not/ to market it to the same old keeners.

But a social network for UBC students? Um, is there an appropriate way to typeset “moan of arousal”? (Even if all we’ll get is probably just another Vista.)

Girl Up the U-Pass, Already

Fuck, we wish. Seriously, why hasn’t it been pink—you thought brown was a better choice? We think it’s high time that Translink stop discriminating against “girl” colours and embrace the magenta. After all, what better way to overcome centuries [okay, like 1.5 of them] of social construction than by forcing all those neanderthals to proudly display their Big Pink Identity Cards? Man up and accept that magenta is awesome, or pay for your own damn bus pass. Considering all post-secondary students will now be getting a U-Pass—and that the gender gap at the university level has already tipped to a solid female majority—it’s time to paint Vancouver pink. Lisa Frank stickers optional.

Board of Governors Still Not As Awesome as Schwarzenegger

For all the super duper hacky hacks out there: Brad Bennett, the Chair of UBC’s Board of Governors, has stepped down. This means both a new board chair and a new board member…FRESH BLOOD!! Bill Levine is the new chair and Virginia Greene (in the kitchen with the lead pipe) will be the new member of the board. A UBC anthropology alumna, she’s done a bunch of cool stuff.

Without Further Ado, the Sauder Shit You’ve Been Waiting For:

Mascot Madness is finished, and coming in first place with a staggering 76 votes (beating “none of the above” by 23 votes) is our dear Japanese lioness, Okima. The most interesting thing to note is this little disclaimer under the results:

(Note: All designs will proceed for review by the CUS Board of Directors to determine the best representation of the undergraduate society.  As well, multiple production companies will be approached for concept drawings to help in this process. Final mascot may not be exactly as voted on.)

A little bird bee-comm told us that there’s no way Sauder is going to spend any more money on this shit. Oh, and they analyzed the results too. We’d personally love to see that Board of Directors meeting, in which they DEBATE A JAPANESE LION WITH A TIE WHO LOOKS LIKE PEDO BEAR. Don’t believe us? Allow us to introduce you to some copy & paste magic from here:

Province Announces a Unicorn U-Pass!

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In a flurry of activity on Twitter, BC Premier Gordon Campbell announced that all Metro Vancouver post-secondary students (except those private school kids at TWU!) will be eligible for a U-Pass, eliminating excuses for students to drive drunk!!! Oh, wait.

The new universal Unicorn U-Pass will cost $30/month, with students outside of Metro Vancouver paying less.

uh, yeah. we went there.

So, what does that mean for you sexy UBC folk? Yes, our ego may be a little crushed as our elitism is threatened and those plastic cards with horrific photos from first year pop up everywhere. However, great news: MORE SEXY REFERENDA.

VP External Jeremy McElroy broke exclusively to us (ok, it was a tweet to Taylor, but whatever) that come January 2011, there will be a referendum on accepting the U-Pass at the new price of $30/month. Or, $120/semester.

Currently you are paying $95/semester, or $23.75/month, so the price increase for a normal school year will be $50/year.

In comparison, currently those other kids are stuck with the FastTrax program offered from Translink which allows full-time students from non-private post-secondary institutions to travel across all zones for the price of a single zone adult monthly pass. Or, $81/month. Yikes.

SFU, Langara College, and Capilano University (our not-as-hot sisters in the U-Pass program) are also affected. Langara and Capilano currently pay more than $30/month so they get an immediate price cut. We assume SFU will also be holding a referendum to accept the new price. What do you think? Is paying ~$50 more per year worth it for students from Kwantlen, Emily Carr, etc to save $400 per year?

The overarching question to consider is whether we will be getting increased service to UBC, or if we are simply subsidizing increased service along routes to these other institutions.

As we’ve previously mentioned, in addition to the cost of the U-Pass going up, there are also whispers in a not-so-silent manner that AMS Council is going to hold a referendum or two on raising student fees and tying our student fees to CPI. Stay tuned, kids…we have a feeling there will be some sexy and dramatic debate next year about a whackload of fee increases.

For more information on the UBC U-Pass click here or here.

Mascot Madness: Revenge of the $ith

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Did you know that the day of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, there were BP executives onboard? They’d been flown out to celebrate 70 years of safety on the rig.

We can only imagine, as we head into this, the third part of our CUS Mascot breakdown [Ed. note: breakdown is suuuuper apt], that the mood in the CUS boardroom must be… oh, no, that’s in such poor taste.

More jokes that will hurt your feelings, after the jump.

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Mascot Madness: The Quickening

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In Part One of our Mascot Madness series, we—

that is to say, KAI & TAYLOR of Confidential, TREVOR (Features) and JUSTIN (Coordinating) of the Ubyssey, and NEAL of Insiders—

laid out the CUS’s nefarious plan to make their faculty seem cute and cuddly by designing a new mascot. Naturally, we had some things to say about the submitted designs: namely, that they’re all unrepentant, derivative hogwash. SERIOUSLY YOU TRACED A DISNEY LLAMA WTF

After the jump, we’ll be taking on six more submissions—three of which are men in  suits! Way to buck the trend, guys.

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Mascot Madness

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Oh. Dear. God.

Sauder, according to its own press, has “reached a point where we take ourselves way too seriously. We’re students! In university!!”  So what have these unheard-of levels of self-awareness prompted—a mandatory soul-searching elective? New courses on ethical business practices? Zen meditation?

Hmm, no. Doesn’t sound like the faculty. How about a $6000 mascot competition? Sauder students have pitted their own semi-artistic overachievers against one another, voting on submitted designs. The winning design will actually get made, and presumably some kid with hidden art skills will achieve the two holy grails of Commerce: winning, and cash money.

Hence our first feature was born, Mascot Madness. The following three posts (Saturday! Sunday! Monday! A LONG WEEKEND OF HILARITY) are a collaboration between Trevor Record (Features) and Justin McElroy (Coordinating) of The Ubyssey, Kai Green and Taylor Loren of AMS Confidential, and Neal Yonson of UBC Insiders. It’s long, but we promise it’s not tedious. If you’re actually in commerce, voting ends on Monday. Spread unicorn love accordingly.

Warning: The opinions contained after the jump may reflect some disillusionment or refer to negative stereotypes of Sauder students. Rest assured, we’re not all bitter Artisies, suffering away only to graduate into the worst job market in umpteen-hundred years. Some of us are in Science too.

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Cappellacci wears ugly old man blazer, lures Ackbar into trap.

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AMS VP Academic, Ben Cappellacci, has pulled off what some are calling the greatest trap in UBC’s illustrious history. He has somehow lured Admiral Ackbar, the preeminent source of all trap locations on campus, into a trap. The trap of Associate Vice President Academic.

We here at the Confidential were really excited when the Admiral was elected. We’re going to be extremely sad as he is forced to resign from council. We might even shed a pink tear from our collective sparkle eyes.

Guess there’s another Arts AMS rep spot open… #GG4Artsrep

This isn’t some April Fools joke.

This isn’t a trap.

Update:
To Whom It May Concern:
I am resigning my seat as an Arts AMS Rep, effective immediately.  I have found that my Council chair does not swivel to the standards I became accustomed to in 1983, and the distinct lack of spaceships under the AMS’ command makes it difficult for me to be effective.
Because I am taking the position of AVP Academic, I have no choice but to resign: the AMS can’t repel conflicts of interest of that magnitude.
I look forward to working with everyone in my new capacity, and would like to say that I do admire the amount of time and effort you all put in to bettering the UBC experience, especially since most of you do so as volunteers.
Yours sincerely,
Admiral Ackbar / Sean Cregten

he'll safewalk you home too.

Executive Report Cards, Part 1

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Hopefully all you lovely readers are enjoying your summer, blissfully free of UBC. We’re still here, and also kind of bored… so we read all the AMS executives’ quarterly reports.

Critiques, you ask? Applause? BISH PLZ. That would require us delving into the Issues That Matter. Since it’s impossible to get an interview with these sexy folk, we’re just going to stop at the surface level of their reports. (Which, we might add, would make any stakeholder cringe at the epic amounts of graphic design fail. Can’t you people get some artsy interns in or something?)

 VP Administration

FTW: Completed SUB negotiations; maintained perfect mane. Mad Commerce negotiation skillz earned the AMS a grace period of 8 years for services in the old/current SUB, and maintained the winning side of fixed interest rates, among other things. Planned SUB Architect Selection.

Facepalm: Failed to save the equity program from the chopping block—which may or may not be seen as a good thing, depending on whether you <3 equity or capitalism more. Yay for a lighter portfolio?

Sparkles: there is apparently a “huge ongoing issue” with the water polo club…wait, what? We have a water polo club? Um, we’re having a major flashback to the good ol’ days, when we were but young sprogs watching the OC in our dorm/parents’ rec room…

not to be confused with an Issue That Matters.

Dramz (Possibly Imaginary): She mentioned the Ubyssey Architect profile of stock questions to the firms and how that helped their campaign in March…however, she totally snubbed former VP Admin Crystal Hon & the intense Issues That Matter blogging that occurred in April while Architect Selection was actually taking place. Plus, Crystal wasn’t present at the signing of the SUB negotiations…which she worked on for a year. KNIFE FIGHT OR JUST DUMB POLICY?

Her quarterly also mentions a miscommunication between the former Equity Big Head Guru & the new occupants of her once-proudly-Equitized office space. Hey, Emma? apparently you need to return some keys. We know leaving is hard, but sit-ins are just too, too retro.

“While I am in commerce, I’m no blood-thirsty, greedy, proletariat-crushing capitalist that hates equity and i think the whole Equity idea within the AMS has gone amuck.”

Ben Cappellacci, VP Academic & University Affairs

FTW: Ben’s working on implementing the Credit/D/Fail system which will help our—well, mostly your—GPAs! WOO. He also merged the Safewalk and Safety offices and seemed to generally care about and work with international students.

this bears little relevance but had to be posted anyway.

Facepalm: Ben mentions the “Sale of Liquor” database in his report…but SOL’s are “Special Occasion Licenses.” Ben writes as if he is involved in this project, while in reality, this editor hasn’t witnessed Ben inputting over 1000 SOL’s into a database past midnight on a Saturday night. [Important disclaimer: Taylor, Girlfriend of Insider, gets all defensive when her mans has to work late.] Ben’s office houses the binders that the SOLs are stored in, but this is mainly an Issues That Matter volunteer project.
Also, Ben doesn’t seem to love council much.
Sparkles: The new campus plan for the next 20 years includes the goal to house 50% of all UBC students in residence. The Sauder Store is coming in September 2011, and we only have 2 more years of the horrid Vista system left (OH THANK GAWD).
Dramz: Ben lays some executive-speak smack down on former AVP Ian Turner, saying their relationship was “strained at best” and that Ian “was unable to produce a completed project during his time in the office.” Ooo~ooh, burn. On the other hand, Ian totally made Sportswriter of the Year.
“AMS Council is truly the stuff of legend.”

die, old man blazers, DIE.

Jeremy McElroy, VP External
FTW: Jeremy went to Ottawa, came home, and we became Associate Members of CASA again! He also dealt with a debacle around the U-Pass Subsidy Fund, which was fully allocated to students in financial need for the first time ever. He then found out that the U-Pass mailouts were being paid for from this fund, so there was a 60k overdraft. Bad former Execs! bad!
FACEPALM: OH MY GAWD THAT BLAZER. Also, a notable lack of copy editing in this one. We’d volunteer to look over the drafts next time, but somehow we don’t think he’d go for it.
Sparkles: what’s up with Lobby Days? Is that happening this year despite the OVER 9000!!!1!!!!1! DOLLARZ aspect? What does a girl have to do to score herself an invite to that party?
Dramz: HST is looming like my thighs after a winter of inactivity, and there’s a BC Lobby initiative trying to get off the ground. And considering that the province has promised a universal post-secondary pass but provided no details—well, it doesn’t take a Commerce major to realize that our traditionally Hells Of Low fees could rise to accomodate other schools.
More next time, as we delve into the shallow, shallow depths of QUARTERLY REPORTS woooooo

 

Abandon Ship

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DOES NOT APPROVE

The AUS Phailboat is going dowwnnnn.

Yesterday, my beloved Arts Undergraduate Society selected an interm President. They picked someone who already lost in the previous election, and was essentially a sore loser. FML.

After I straggled in, got a slice of delicious pizza, and started to listen, turns out there were four nominees for the vacant President seat. Who were these four fine candidates? The lovely Cheryl Kornder, former SUB Queen Crystal Hon, Mr. “FUCK THE AUS/LET’S MAKE IT AWESOMER” Brian Platt, and eventual winner, Ryan “I’m so happy and easy to work with vote for me even though my speech was complete hogshit garbage” Trasolini.

After the first round of voting, Cheryl and Crystal were eliminated. Hmm… both start with the letter C. Both eliminated. Conspiracy? I think so. Conspiracy even starts with the same letter (WHOA MIND BLOWN). Better take this up with student court so they can analyze something completely different about the council meeting. Eliminating these two was the first mistake council made.

Second round, everyone voted again. Turned out to be 12-9 or 11-9 or something like that for Ryan. Or Brian. “WHAT? With a B or an R?” With an R. Ryan. Ryan won. Hokay. Agreed. D’accord.

all eyes on you. all two of 'em.

@ginohhh’s tweet pretty much sums up how I feel about the situation: “Congratulations to the AUS for achieving new heights of incompetence. I’m out.”

Seriously. Council… WTF? You went though a month or two of elections / agony / student court / useless banter / resignations /complaining … and you end up appointing the same cry baby which put you into this whole mess? Smart. Real fucking smart. Maybe I shouldn’t even bemoan council, seeing as though it was all proxies there. Yeah, let’s let Mike Silley vote, even though he was kinda/sorta involved in the elections clusterfuck. Great fucking idea. No Offense, Mike.

I don’t know what to rant about. That council appointed Ryan, or you didn’t pick other, much more qualified candidates that weren’t involved in the clusterfuck of an election. You should have appointed someone impartial. Someone removed from the previous debacle. Someone that could have gotten the AUS back on track. Someone who could have led the recovery, and bring the AUS back to what it used to be (some of us still remember the ACF days).

Dammit council, you failed. I guess whining enough does pay off.

Guest Editorial: Justin McElroy Rants for 2,000 Words

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In keeping with our commitment to bringing you the greatest news from the finest minds, Our Editorial Board of Great Truths & Unbias persuaded Justin McElroy, glistening beacon of truthiness, to write a few words on the subject of the ongoing student court debate, or, as we like to call it, What Passes for Scandal These Days.  Justin, in addition to being one of the finest political analysts around, is the Ubyssey’s Coordinating Editor for 2010/2011. He also served as Sports Editor last year, which he would like you all to forget, and as News Editor in 2008/2009; he also writes an infrequent column/blog/cranky old man rant for Macleans on Campus.  Justin is indeed the cousin of Jeremy McElroy, VP External, and possesses a similarly-sized but not expressed dose of the Patented McElroy Charm.  Also, if you pester him, he can show you family baby pictures on his iPhone.  There are at least three Justin McElroy Memorial Items, none of which have anything to do with this article.

Full disclosure: Kai not only works with Justin (at the Ubyssey) and is dating Jeremy, but has also been told by Justin that the prospect of her attendance at theoretical future family events is, and I quote, “uncomfortable.” It’s uncomfortable to us all now, Sparky.

HOUSECAT, HOUSECOAT

Oh, hello.

You may know me as “the guy from The Ubyssey,” or “McElroy who isn’t Jeremy.” I am writing here because a) This entire AUS election/Student Court judgement pile of stupid has annoyed me greatly, b) I did not feel it would be responsible to publish a sarcastic 2000 word diatribe on this stupid little fiasco on the website I oversee, and c) I want to a choice curse word or two, just for kicks. It’s fucking irritating and I want it to go away. Also, I may have been promised a tasty beverage or two for doing this. And Kai asked me to. So there’s that. [ed. note: Oh, he loves the attention.]

That disclaimer out of the way, let’s go ahead with the ranting and the shaking of fists. Continue reading →

A Procrastination Post! Your April News for N00bs

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Confidential is back, Koerner’s isn’t, and surprise, surprise the AUS is a shit show once again.

Brian vs Ryan vs Student “Court” vs Naylor vs OMG Enough Already

So the AUS is a goddamn nightmare. It all started with this document that makes no fucking sense and hurts our cute little headband decorated brains. As a fellow sexy blogger once said, “most of it is irrelevant shit amounting to intellectual masturbation.”

So, n00bs: Naylor was the AUS Elections Administrator and isn’t a fan of Student “Court” as referenced by “the rising scourge of kritarchy.” Student “Court” dislikes Naylor because…we’re not quite sure. Let the battles commence.

In the AUS Presidential election, Brian beat Ryan by one vote. Ryan filed an appeal to the SC over a single ballot that he thinks was ambiguous and should therefore be spoiled, meaning it wasn’t a tie, meaning Naylor’s tiebreaking vote wouldn’t count, and meaning that Ryan would be EL PRESIDENTE.

However, SC went all power thirsty like the Volturi and began to “investigate” the situation. They ramble about the background of the election, how paper ballots got fucked up, how the results apparently caught on fire, and concluded that in the end there was STILL A GODDAMN TIE (seriously, we’re not making this up).

However, what is really alarming (think black iris thirsty alarming) is how they then deem the election VOID AND OF NO EFFECT. SC was simply asked by Ryan to “rule” on the validity of a certain ballot. Instead, SC found that the way the AUS elections were run was in violation of AMS code because they lacked appeals procedures (yes, we actually looked up the code). They also made this ruling without looking at the AUS 2010 General Election Regulations which includes the appeals procedures.

Whatever, its now all a moot point because Brian resigned in a professional letter to AUS Council in which he signs it “peace out, dawgs.” Be still, our gangsta meme hearts.

More sparkles and #procrastireading after the jump!

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