Your Sporadic Dose of News for Noobs
Long time no post! We won more moniez, Taylor is back (with less memes and more sparkles), people are storming some goddamn wall on campus, Gossip Girl aired, and it’s almost summer. Here’s a rundown of what is happening/a bunch of rumours in the sextacular AMS.
Secrets, secrets are no fun…
AMS Council had some super secret location discussing some super secret things where the sexy media isn’t allowed. We speculate that half of the meeting will be spent discussing strategies on how to become as popular in the UBC world as Justin Bieber & Perez Hilton are in the real world.
After the jump we have some sexy Toope, the no alcohol at Koerner’s shit, and a clusterfuck of AMS rumours…
And you thought the last meme post was forced.
Elections season is over, which, these days, means it’s time for recount/contest season! Rather than recount the Trasolini/Platt saga at great length, we’ll recap shortly, and then present the only result we care about: ACKBAR ACKBAR ACKBAR
So.
- Trasolini loses by one vote, cast by AUS EA Matt Naylor to break a tie.
- Trasolini writes open letter, claiming that ballots were miscounted (he has proof!!) & he should have won by two votes.
- Wahmbulance called.
- Recount reveals that Platt is still winner.
- ??????
Anyway, here’s a thought to cheer you up, Artsies. Sure, we’re starting the new elective year on a wonky note. But there’s so much for us to anticipate! Yes, you, Foresighted Arts Voters, had the courage—the understanding—the bravery to elect Seannie C., a.k.a. ADMIRAL ACKBAR. We here at the Confidential (okay, I here at the Confidential) are Huge Fucking Star Wars nerds, and we’re super-excited for the opportunity to spend an entire year doing variations on the trap meme.
When we haven’t had our caffeine:
When we’re feeling just too old to keep up with you political whippersnappers:
When shit’s about to get funky:
WE’RE SO EXCITED!!! WE’RE SO EXCITED!! WE’RE SO SCARED
Gracias.
Voting for Sexy Candidates is Sexy.
Let’s face it: looks matter. Attractive people succeed in life. Just knowing that Kai and Taylor are extremely attractive individuals is probably enough to get you to read this blog. Their shear hilarity and awesomeness gets you coming back with every post.
Ryan Trasolini
He’s the definition of smarmy. He was the one out there in front of every event, looking awfully cold, handing out his fantastic yellow business cards. That has to be a few sparkle points and a gold star or two in the Unicorn Championships.
Fact is, the man is bold. He can be in your face. He’s not afraid to take chances, just like his seafoam green shirt in the picture. He’s quite adorable and cute, which is evened out by his obviously cheesey/sleazy behaviour.
Ryan Trasolini – we approve. Of everything. Except for that shirt. I fucking hate that colour.
YEAH YOU WANT TO READ MORE.
Partial Results Wholly Unsatisfying
…if you know what we mean.
PARTY’S OFF, EVERYBODY GO HOME.
After $60,000 from Arts alone (and that uneven funding is a whole ‘nother story) spent on booze, booze, and Said the Whale, UBC VOTES is ready to announce the results of their efforts. Er, kind of. See, the longer elections go on, the clearer it’s becoming that this election is bound to reinforce the status quo. Let’s look at some of the goals we had going into this. Was there an upturn in student involvement?
Well, according to Sir SUS (EA Lougheed)… no. (But there’s so much else to celebrate!)
Oh. Well. Was there a new sense of excitement surrounding constituency politics?
…um, well, Eleven’Eleven” said some really nice things. But most students still have a predictable reaction:
I see. How about we just find out who won, then?—ah, but as it turns out, we won’t be getting that either.
The registrar’s office has, apparently, bucked at the notion of having to provide a list of student numbers of online voters on Friday. EAs may protest, but to no avail—the registrars have deadlines, too, and they’re not giving it up until after the weekend. This means that the paper ballots cast can’t be counted (because double votes can’t be eliminated) until Monday. Meanwhile, “partial results” (aka web ballots + Epic Math) will be announced tonight, but we’re assuming that the number of paper ballots (est. 25% of those cast)—and, thus, the margin of error—will still be rather high.
So what went wrong? Well, for one thing, this whole UBCVOTES thing—cool as it is—was rather last-minute. Hopefully next year’s committee, should they decide to keep the partnership alive, will start planning earlier & make use of now-existing infrastructure.
Secondly, events (& voting) were heavily promoted online, but given the nature of the hack facebook community (so insular, NASA’s using it to keep astronauts warm! ba-dump-ching), this may not have been the best strategy. Perhaps, next year, a better physical presence? We hear the SUB is good for that.
Thirdly, the elections committee was forced to use WebVote at the last minute, rather than the hackable AMS Elections voting system, although, again, the availability of (alternative) paper balloting was limited at best. In conjunction with this, we’d strongly—strongly—recommend a more comprehensive volunteers program, possibly with a talented, dedicated volunteers coordinator.
On a positive note, what went right? Well, we’re totally impressed by the dedication of the entire elections committee. Lots of love for former Confidentialite Taylor Loren, whose voice was apparent in a lot of the official emails we got (even though they were e-signed by the EAs) and who was a vivacious and visible presence throughout the events/voting process, from tweets to butts in seats. The events were expensive, yes, and not too effective, but they were way way bomb.com. MoA is a kick-ass venue, y’all. Everyone who went to the parties had a lot of fun (and there’s photographic evidence if you know where to look). Drink tickets got handed out like fuckin’ confetti. And hey, pancakes!
But we’re still mulling over one question: will all these sexy parties be enough to prevent the largest candidate case of blue balls, like, ever??
Go Have Fun…
Why are you here reading this? Why aren’t you at the St. Patty’s Bash at the Museum of Anthropology?
The party will be raging until 12am, with $3 drinks and FREE good times.
ALSO, don’t forget to visit UBC Votes, learn about the candidates, and VOTE for your favourites… including AMS Confidential for the Voter Funded Media Contest!
Dear EA Will McEwan: We’re so sorry
Oh, how times have changed.
Remember when we were all, “EUS have their shit together” and praised them up and down? PISH-TOSH. Crack a beer, friends, and learn all about the shenanigans going on in the nerdotron faculty.
Julian Ritchie just disendorsed himself for EUS President, citing a wish to not split the vote. If you’re American, this decision can be explained as an alternate universe in which Ralph Nader disendorsed himself in the 2000 Gore/Bush elections. Of course, Julian Ritchie is a lot smarter than Ralph Nade oh hey, back to the coverage. So why would Ritchie ask his supporters to reconsider their choice? In other words, who’s Bush?
He’s still running, and can’t say for sure…
In unrelated news, “as everyone who looks at the elections website can see,” there’s an apparent Iranian/Persian slate running in the election [Ed. note: I didn’t say it, but someone Iranian did: “They can hold meetings in Farsi!”] Sources say they handed in paperwork together, and only recently de-friended one another on Facebook (although if FB were an indicator of slates, the whole damn system would be screwed). And you might notice while Facebook stalking that the supporter of one tends to be the supporter of all the others. And you might also notice that they all seem to have the same campaign points, even when such points fall outside of the position they’re running for. BUT IT’S TOTALLY NOT A SLATE, AND WE’RE NOT SAYING THAT.
So, aside from some platform glitches, what’s the problem? After all, this isn’t the AMS’s first—or only—unofficial (apparent) slate. What’s worrying insiders is the fact that all of these candidates, with no exception, appear to be hilariously incompetent.

they’re our corporate sponsor
OH MY GAWD EDITOR LADY i dont understand what would make you say that CLEARLY you know NOTHING AT ALL about elections RAWWWRRRRR on what evidence could you POSSIBLY base this HEINOUS ACCUSATION
Well, for one thing, there’s the clusterfuck of a wall on Presidential candidate Sina Sahami’s election event. It’s 10 pages long now, and no doubt getting longer, so I’ll save you the trouble and say that it’s disheartening, not least of all because of the sort of crazymaking Sahami supporter who says things like this:
I heard people commenting that [Sina’s 50% participation goal] is far-fetched simply because even countries have not been able to do so. Yes that is true. However, I believe that the problem is the government bodies themselves; they DO NOT WANT MANY PEOPLE TO BE ACTIVE.
Actually, come to think of it, there are a few secret/exclusive societies at UBC, aren’t there? Here’s one I found:
Sina himself does a lot of shit-disturbing on his wall, calling the former exec “incompetent” and “dishonest,” and saying that EUS leaders are “ditching responsibility” (mostly in regards to budget transparency). Numbers (& more complex explanations than FALSE!!1!) are boring, but here are some rebuttals from people who don’t think so, and have actually held office:
There’s this note from former President Chris McCann (or, if you prefer, Chris McCAN’T HAR HAR HAR).
And THIS one from “Charizard” Pedram, who more than thoroughly details her credentials (and name-checks Dreamboat Sean Heisler &hearts).
And my dear friend Omid “Too Legit to Quit (the AMS) (EVER)” Javadi, in his epic 300-word meme-packed epic nerd elections breakdown, not only covered most of the incompetency concerns, but also ensured that no woman will ever find him attractive. [Ladies: do you like dance music, cleanliness, and teh internetz? do you find body hair the single greatest indicator of virility? tact: your nemesis, or just unnecessary social frippery? IF SO, DIAL 1-900-WOAHMID FOR A GOOD TIME]
Anyway, that’s three people (five, if you include the candidate and his supporters) with inside information raising legitimate concerns about the competency of this (apparent) slate. What’s next, Formerly-Put-Together EUS? Disendorsements? Dropouts?? THE END OF DAYS??!?!?!
IN CONCLUSION: hey, Mining Engineer Alex MacKinnon, who may or may not still look like this:

rejected olympic mascot “neerdii” finds your views interesting, wishes to subscribe to your newsletter
I’ve never met you, and I tend to believe that miners are all a bunch of fratboy rock jockeys (WHAT UP, MINERS). But remember when you said “This is where I wish I could post that Picard facepalm picture”??!? Well, we tend to agree.
WHO LOVES YA B
It’s A Referendum in the A.U.S.
This is part 1 of a point/counterpoint series on the AUS referendum. Hopefully we’ll get around to the counterpoint.
Votin’ with a click like yeahhhh
Checkin’ that box like yeahhhh.
There’s a poorly advertised/promoted/talked about referendumb question on this year’s AUS election ballot. It reads something like:
Do you wish to pay more every year for a new party space on campus? Like, not too much. Way the hell less than those new 2012 commerce kids, and when it’s all said and done, a little more than those damn peppy HKINners want in their referendum.
At this point, you might be all like “ZOMG WHAT A DEAL,” like when they put two Cheetos bags on sale for $4 and you buy four bags instead of your usual one because they’re so much cheaper.
Maybe you’re thinking “NAW WAY SON” because instead of an extra few bucks per year given to the AUS, you could buy eight whole bags of Cheetos instead of one or four.
If this thing passes and meets quorum (unlikely), you artsies will be paying:
- $18 for 2010/2011 and 2011/2012
- $23 for 2012/2013 and 2013/2014
- $28 for 2015/2016, then adjusted by inflation/CPI
Well, wait Gossip Guy. That seems like a fairly reasonable increase for a new building/sapce, but… what’s it going to look like? Where will it be? Great questions, astute reader! Luckily, GG has obtained some documents showing a revamped Buchanan West Courtyard. Clicky “continue reading” to see…
TiK ToK – GG's new love
Of all the candidates so far, one has really stuck out in my mind. Whether it’s for the picture on her poster, apparent slate like behaviour, or how the the ubcvotes website is incorrectly listed as “.com” on her poster, I think I’ve fallen in love. Lisa Anderson, possible future AUS General Officer, I, Gossip Guy, salute you. I also think you lead a glamourous life of wild nights and partying, and I want in. I imagine something like this…