The EUS Is Weird

WIth only a few hours left in the EUS elections, we’re hoping you’ve all already put in the time and research to make informed democratic choices. But if you didn’t, check out this obviously timely and well-prepared post:

THE GOOD

What’s up, Ian Campbell. We knew Ian was running unopposed for VP Finance, because apparently most people—even those paid to do it—just kind of don’t like Finance positions:

And it takes a classy dude to admit Hey, I’m running in an uncontested race and then turn around and say, but it’s still my job to convince you that I’m the right person for the job.

But the real reason we <3 and are endorsing Ian:

1. He’s knowledgeable about AMS affairs, and we like his views on those;
2. He recognized us on a bus and we talked about the above for like half an hour (drunk time).
Yeah, we’re suckers for that sort of shit.

THE KIND OF JUST CONFUSING

Jannel Robertson is one of many running for AMS Rep. Unfortunately, her platform left us scratching our heads a little. (So did her legwarmers and Eminem pose.)

In amongst your boilerplate campus left material (tuition is too damn high, Gage South/Land Use—o hai not yr department) is this:

“Currently the AMS does not have an explicit policy on procedures dealing with sexual assault and violence. Without a policy that directly addresses sexual assault and violence the AMS is not demonstrating their dedication to student safety, a core aspect of student life. I will take action to create an official AMS policy on sexual assault and violence as well as training for AMS personnel, especially pub staff and security.”

Jannel’s Facebook has an extended platform:

“During my term, in order to prevent sexual assault or violence from occurring, I will work with Business and Facilities Committee and Student Life Committee to implement an official training program and workshops for all Pit Pub, Gallery and security staff. This way staff can recognize a potential situation before it develops and hopefully be able to prevent the event from occurring. They will know how to deal with disclosure and where to direct the individual to for support. Proper training of staff can raise awareness and help prevent future sexual assaults or violence from happening.”

Normally we would analyze this and talk about strong and weak points in Jannel’s argument, because it’s not commonplace in elections—and especially not in (stereotypically) male-dominated EUS elections—and therefore a worthy topic of analysis. But in the interests of Lady Feminism As Interpreted by Women I’ve Never Met, that would be wrong. So you know what? BLINDLY VOTE FOR JANNEL. She seems like a good person with a lot of unrelated volunteer experience, and her ideas could be worse. Also, she said ‘women’ and ‘sexual assault,’ so as a feminist, I’m legally obligated to find these good ideas for Council to address.

p.s. I’M SORRY WE CALLED YOU EMINEM, WE KNOW HE’S MISOGYNISTIC AND HOMOPHOBIC AND GLORIFIES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

THE JUST PLAIN RIDICULOUS

Jihua Zhou (Jay) is a third-year student with “several key issues to address”: parties.

See, a bureaucracy like the AMS will never have the efficiency that a smaller bureaucracy like a student society will ever have; therefore, THE AMS SHOULD JUST GIVE THE EUS THE MONEY FOR WELCOME BACK BBQ/BLOCK PARTY.

“For example for frosh week, instead of AMS hosting a concert they should instead give us the grassy knoll and funds so WE can host a giant kick ass party for the entire campus.”

Apparently, all of campus showed up to Oktoberfest and raised thousands of dollars for the EUS. Simple math proves that if you use more money and throw an even bigger party, even more people will show up, and raise thousands more dollars for the EUS!

Loooooooook, the AMS refused to underwrite more years of ACF because it was a bad idea. If the Engineers want to take a crack at this, that’s great—but in light of IMMINENT FINANCIAL MELTDOWN, I’m thinking hey, maybe this one waits a year.

“Realistic and practical solutions” indeed.

PS Brian Platt totally beat you to the Knoll party idea, foo.

WHAT THE HELL, BROSEPH

Look, we know Engineers aren’t exactly wordy types, but this particular ‘campaign point’ just takes the cake:

“Provide a wide range of opportunity for student involvement in all aspects of the External Portfolio, allowing UBC engineers to experience more than just the academics of university life”
I’ve been to petting zoos with less fluff than that statement. There are entire factories devoted to the creation of pillows and other find bedding which have less fluff.

We know you’ve got ideas, Ben Kernan, even if you don’t have a website. But this is ridiculous. And since you’re running in one of the most contested races, you may wish to step your game up.

It’s Gettin’ Hack in Here

So, we’re currently in the midst of UBC Votes elections…but who the hell cares? Scandal, hotness, we can’t seem to uncover you! What we have noticed, however, is the infiltration of an abundance of hot hacks on campus. Because this blog (and cough single editor cough) finds student politics extremely titillating, let’s get this verbal foreplay over with and get down and dirty with Canada’s finest Presidents and VP Externals visiting for the CASA Conference.

The CASA Team

photo taken by his grandma.

Alex Lougheed: After almost a year, UBC’s favourite policy wonk/the competition/not my ex-boyfriend has returned in a professional capacity as an employee of CASA. Only this time, his hair is more hipster and we stole his Athabasca trophy.

Jessica Seguin: Member Relations for CASA, she came to present at AMS Council last week and, well, Erik didn’t even try to hold back his enthusiasm for how hot she is. She is definitely a babe, but we have a piece of advice for you, darling: run!

he's interviewing with the globe and mail in this pic. knees, weak.

Zach Dayler: This National Director of CASA has his phone number on the internet and seems to be the perfect mixture between geek chic and awkward WASP. Oh, did we mention he was wearing hipster specs at Council last week? We’d also like to imagine that he is more of a rainbows than unicorns kind of guy who’d make you see double rainbows all night long.

Marianka Charalambij: For all you diligent readers who are secretly in love with Taylor but prefer blondes, this is the girl for you. Marianka is the Public Relations and Communications lady, worked at lululemon, and was also a cheerleader…like Taylor. Anyway, Marianka is also a TOTAL HOTTIE and probably has a super sexy accent to go along with her mad dragonboat paddling skillz.

Dalhousie Hotties

Okay, we’ve tweeted this before, but you HAVE TO WATCH THESE VIDEOS, both Chris and Rob seem freaking hilarious and totes droolworthy.

Chris Saulnier: President of DSU, we deem him the hottest hack on campus. Look at that smile! He even made a Justin Bieber themed election video! He’s an engineer, tweets, and enjoys the great outdoors (okay, we don’t, but we’ll imagine it’s charming). We’re just left daydreaming about whether he can juggle fire both in and out of the bedroom…

Rob LeForte: Any man that wears pink spandex has our heart forever. The VP Academic and External for DSU enjoys gangster rap, according to his Twitter. If only we could cuddle with him and a unicorn during a classic movie, all our carebear dreams would come true.

Other Notable Hotties

Hardave Birk: This UofC VP External fella wants to have Ekat’s babies, who can blame him? Plus, he has a freaking tumblr, that’s like the key to our hearts.

Nikki Harris: She has the best title ever, SOOO jealous…VP Princess Street. Yes, this is legit, apparently it’s some campus in Manitoba. Who wouldn’t want to date a princess, fellas?

We hope you’ve all gotten your fix of some serious eye candy, because the agenda for this conference is hella boring. And to all you delegates we skipped over, including our very own, forgive us. To those we did include, please don’t sue us. To everyone reading this from another student union who has never read Confidential before…start your own goddamn VoterMedia already! UNICORNS4EVER, SPARKLE TOGETHER <3


WE CAN HAZ MONIEZ!

Here are the results for the AMS Referendum!

13,574 voted with 28.9% turnout…huge increase since the 7800 on Wednesday.

  1. Housekeeping bylaws- YES – meaning we can have quorum for 500 people instead of 1000.
  2. AMS Bylaws – NO – failed to meet quorum
  3. U-Pass – YES – 95% yes, with 678 students who didn’t want the U-Pass
  4. Tuition policy – YES -meaning Council will now think about if they want to lobby for lower tuition, will probably not act on it.
  5. AMS Fees – YES – students voted 52% to 48% to increase the majority of students fees by $5. THE AMS IS SAVED.

It is a happy day for all those involved in any kind of activity at UBC…we’re not exactly sure how they pulled this off but they did! Congratulations!! Now, off to go drink ourselves silly. We’ll probably do something more in depth at a later date, but depending on how drunk we get this weekend, we might not. HEART YOU, READERS.

15 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Vote in the AMS Referendum

Have you ever dated someone who is passive aggressive? It’s pretty much the most annoying thing in the world, and almost impossible to change. Kind of like the 92% of students who haven’t  yet voted in the AMS Referendum. At first I was quite annoyed because the Referendum committee is sucking balls (last referendum ~23K students voted), but then I decided to just be passive aggressive like all the other students who haven’t voted yet. So, here’s why you shouldn’t vote:
#1 Democracy is a failure, at least, that’s what I’ve learned by reading Plato and shit. Also, something about a cave.

#2 I don’t drink alcohol, therefore I never get to enjoy $9.50 pitchers on campus.

#3 I’m celibate, so I never have to go to the Pit on Wednesdays to try and get laid. I also never use the AMS health plan to cover my birth control pills. Or cold medicine. Or antibiotics.

#4 My parents pay my tuition, so I don’t care if there’s a student society to lobby to the government about student loans, student aid, and shit like that.

#5 I’m graduating soon, so I don’t care about the $108 million brand new awesome SUB that is going to be built.


#6 All the VFM blogs are stupid, and I don’t like unicorns, therefore I don’t care if unicorn hack blogs exist.

some people draw devil horns on their exes, we think unicorn horns are cuter.

#7 I don’t like cheap but good food on campus, and I especially hate blue chip cookies.

okay, these look seriously so awesome.

#8 I never use the cheap Whistler Lodge. Whistler is stupid.

#9 I’m super smart so I don’t use the services, like free tutoring.

#10 Nobody reads The Ubyssey.

#11 I never get sick, so I never use the AMS health plan for prescriptions. I have perfect eyesight and teeth, too.

#12 I have no friends, so I’m not a member of any clubs that would benefit from a Club Benefits Fund.

#13 I hate getting drunk at outdoor concerts like Block Party and Welcome Back BBQ (and thus have never made out with Mike Duncan)

gerald deo photo

#14 I hate the earth. Screw a sustainability fee, worms are stupid.

#15 I never use my mother fucking U-Pass.

Oh, plus: I will never be sexually assaulted, and none of my friends will. Because I can totally control that, so there’s no need for me to consult with the Sexual Assault Support Centre.

Yeah, so, there’s probably at least one reason why you should vote for the “$5” increase. I’m going to go drink cheap beer now.

For more information on the referendum, check out our page here.

Video Killed the VM Star

Something that we can’t do as a VoterMedia blog (okay, something we can’t do well, if you remember our endorsement video) is create really cool videos that are sure to become! viral! and create! student! engagement!

However, what we can do is showcase/make fun of them all for you.

For more information on the referendum, check out our 2011 AMS Referendum page.

Case Study #1: What the Fuck is Tilt Shift, Anyway?

The AMS commissioned a super cool video to be made so that thousands of students will see it and get super stoked to vote in the AMS Referendum. I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what is so cool about this “tilt shift” thing. Apparently it is supposed to make UBC look like a menacing Polly Pocket but instead it just looks like you filmed from really far away. Yeah, I’m probably going to fail my Film Studies class.

Case Study #2: Awwwh, look at that cute kid who wants to be President!

This wins best video, hands down. Major props to the NO campaign for not shelling out thousands to create a video and doing a damn good job about it. This video takes on the spirit of American political ads, that is, not everything is true (Jeremy was sarcastically joking about his salary raise, for example). But, the little costume beard, black and white effect, and political seal are really all it takes to make this shit hilarious. Bitches are suckers for those chubby cheeks, right?

Our friends over at SyrupTrap have this to say:

Regardless of how you plan to vote this week, this video from the ‘Vote NO For AMS Fees But Yes On The UPass’ campaign probably won’t convince you to do anything except maybe thank your parents that you don’t have to live with a younger brother that is this annoying (and to shout at them if you do). The creators of the video use some younger kid to stand in for Jeremy McElroy, apparently making the argument that the AMS President’s request that you vote ‘Yes’ sounds equally ridiculous coming from both peoples’ mouths. What this video really does, however, is annoy the shit out of us.

Case Study #3: The Semi-Inspirational Video

The Ubyssey made a video of their own (OMG their video editor is awesome, have you seen his shit?) in an attempt to use their earned media to inspire the masses. Thumbs up for the flashy text and dolla dolla dolla bills signs, yo.

Case Study #4: The Presidential Videos

These VOTE YES videos are purely informational. Props to Jeremy for the purple shirt, but oh god that music is annoying. This is Jeremy talking about the fees, and there’s a whole slew of others talking about FAQs on their YouTube channel. Watch if you have the hots for Elin or Jeremy, otherwise it’s probably faster and more entertaining to read information.

The First Annual Flamingos

Awards season appears to be over with the climax of The Oscars…or is it? Full disclosure, I was too busy watching the Justin Bieber movie instead of the Academy Awards, so I don’t really know what kind of competition we’re up against here. Anyway, here’s AMS Confidential’s take on the last years entertainment in council chambers. We give you…The Flamingos.

[image redacted to protect people doing better things with their lives now]

Brittany Perna was elected as the International Students Rep, and at her first meeting the AMS decided to axe the position altogether for next year’s elections. BritBrit still could have retained her seat for the whole year, lobbying for the international kids and all, but chose to skip all the council meetings instead.

Elin Tayyar never failed to make us swoon with his hipster style every meeting. Just look at this photo, it’s like pixel sex. And seriously, who else do you know who can rock PLAID pants?

Bijan Ahmadian doesn’t win a flamingo, but hey, this is us being nice to him. We could have said a lot of other things, but we just really don’t like this shirt. Or his fur lined jackets. Or his cuffed jeans, etc.

Amanda Li is fierce. Not only is she super hot, she’s also an engineer. Besides having to put up with guys all the time and a severe lack of ladies, she is also President of the EUS and can probably outdrink every other non-engineer guy on council. Who wouldn’t tap that?

Michael Haack wasn’t elected as VP Admin, but unlike every other person who doesn’t get elected, he decided to run in the AUS Elections for AMS Rep. Since then, Michael has gotten involved in a lot of committees and has grown from being somewhat knollie to being a good leader-of-the-opposition type of guy. We were really sad he didn’t run for VP Admin again, and it’s been fun watching him evolve into a cute little butterfly over the last year.

Ben Cappellacci came on the scene as a relative no one to anyone not in Sauder. At first we thought he was your typical frat guy, but over the year we’ve found out that he is so much more than that. Ladies, he is also single. Ben worked really hard this year on a whole bunch of things – like implementing Credit/D/Fail but most notably for lobbying on the Land Use Plan. He stepped in to fill Bijan’s shoes by leading the referendum committee and was overall stellar at pretty much everything he did, especially for having no earlier hack experience. We already miss him, and his ridiculous tweets on Wednesday nights.

Oh, Ryan Trasolini. Pretty sure that he is at the point now where he just wants to forget that he was ever involved in AMS politics. However, let’s reminiscence: after his election resulted in a tie, with the tie breaker being cast for the other candidate, he appealed. After the appeal didn’t go the way he wanted, he went to student court, where they tried to throw out the entire election. Then Brian Platt stepped down in order for the AUS Executive to vote to appoint an interim President, and Ryan brought some of his frat friends to proxy and vote for him so he could win. After that, he got to be AUS President, woopdeedoo, where they got their account frozen for operating without a budget. But back to the AMS – Ryan was the chair of the Student Life Committee which was supposed to be dealing with the Block Party fiasco and making a plan for it to be fiscally sustainable. Turns out that he didn’t do any of this, leaving Crystal Hon to pick up the pieces in just a few weeks. We advise Ryan to just stick to spinning sick beats in the future.

Have some other suggestions for The Flamingos? Leave in the comments or email to amsconfidential [at] gmail.com

Don’t forget to vote for us in VoterMedia, right here!

FuckYeahNumbers – CUSElections AfterMATH

* Also, a quick something on Sauder secret building monies (oOOOooohh). Read about that and more after the break.

As a former/current math nerd, there’s nothing that gets me more excited than being able to throw numbers and statistics around and feel important. It’s like a second Christmas, except instead of bits of shredded wrapping paper flying through the air, it’s percentages and … other math things flying through the air. You can only imagine the intense feelings I have towards Pie R Squared.

GREATEST PUN EVER MADE

To be fair, though, Sauder has a LOT of good looking and sexy numbers to throw around this year:

Continue reading

Guest Post: Hacks I want to fuck

This is a guest post by GlitterGirl. She is a little embarrassed to say her real name and fears sexual harassment suits, but she is involved in the hackosphere and is super hot. [Editor’s Note: I promise that I didn’t write the part about UBC Insiders!!]

Andrew C.
What can I say? Boy with a beautiful head of curls and a pair of very handy hands. That’s hot, and I can’t believe the girls aren’t already all over this one. And if you’ve seen him at council, you know he’s got the goods. A man with that much passion and fire always drives me mad with desire. Status: Single.

Sex: Drunk, hard and heavy. Orgasms so many ways you think you’d gone to orgasm heaven. Engineers are innovative, right?


Spencer R.
He’s definitely got that S.N.A.G. vibe going. Blonde haired and such striking gorgeous blue eyes. Who needs lights, those babies will light the whole room just like that. And such beautiful bone structure.

Status: In a Relationship…jealous.

Sex: Dreamy and gentle, with a soft sheen of pure sustainable light emanating from his body, until he starts talking about Plato mid-thrust. Things will go downhill from there.

Dylan C.
Dylan. Oh Dylan, Dylan, Dylan. You’re the adorable boy next door, having a bake sale every other week for some obscure charities like “Help Flamingos Stay Pink” and “Give Abandoned Pet Rocks A New Home!” I’ll pretend to be interested in helping orphaned and abandoned Christmas trees, and we’ll hit it off. He also signs up with “Love”! How adorbs is that?!

Status: Single.

Sex: Awkward at first, but will leave you feeling full of pure, unadulterated loving. Might even melt cold black heart of icy darkness.

That Guy Who Writes UBC Insiders
What he lacks in stature, he makes up in pure power. Both in brain and in body. Have you seen this man in motion? He is a fucking machine. Now convert that energy into something more useful, like fucking your brains out. Don’t underestimate the Asian guy—he’s got the whole package.

Status: The gossip changes daily.

Sex: Powerbar it—it’s going to be the sex marathon of your life.


Elin T.
He’s tall, dark, well-dressed, and handsome. Isn’t there always one in those trashy romance novels? And remember the sex in those books? Always body-writhingly good. ‘Nuff said.

Status: Single.

Sex: “He mastered her mouth and her body until she was weeping with it. He murmured brokenly in French, and her arousal gushed through her like a tidal wave, a solid wall of incredible pleasure that took her past the point of return. Ripples of ecstasy flooded through her, changing her, making her indelibly his.” (Blogger’s note: I really need some real-life sex)

Shocked by an omission? Speculating on Sheldon? Got your own opinions about who you’d like to hump on Council/AMS/GSS? Sing out, darlings, in the comments below. And remember—it’s all in good fun until we have to hire a legal team.

Please don’t make us hire a legal team.