Month: September 2009

Robert Worsley: not a Nazi

Post author By Neal Yonson
Post date September 28, 2009
3 Comments on Robert Worsley: not a Nazi

Did you notice this correction in today’s edition of The Ubyssey?

On November 28, 2008, The Ubyssey published an article entitled “RCMP have ‘final solution’ to the ‘fraternity issue.'” The article in question was part of The Ubyssey’s annual all-satire edition. The Ubyssey and staff regret having left its readers with the impression that the RCMP on campus has used violence or excessive force or acted in any manner similar to the Nazi party during the Second World War. The Ubyssey and staff also regret any damage the article may have caused to the reputation of the RCMP member who was named in the article, Cpl. Robert Worsley.

AMS

AMS Council: September 23, 2009

Post author By Neal Yonson
Post date September 24, 2009
2 Comments on AMS Council: September 23, 2009

Highlights:

Q: What’s going on with the NEW SUB project? A: We discussed that in the in camera session
A few more SUB renovations
Student access to Whistler Lodge during Olympics preserved
You’re on your own, Equity And Diversity Coordinator

GSS

Children vs. Liquor

Tagged: Massive Failures in Communication

UBC’s Graduate Student Society (GSS), to put it bluntly, is dysfunctional. This in itself is not news since this has been the situation for some time now. However, the entire situation reached a new low at their last council meeting. What happened may not have been the most scandalous of the GSS’s problems, but it’s certainly the most comical: they tried to put a daycare and a liquor licence in the same room.

Campus Life Issues

A Forensic Examination of the War on Fun, Part 2

Post author By Neal Yonson
Post date September 15, 2009
4 Comments on A Forensic Examination of the War on Fun, Part 2

Yesterday, UBC Insiders released a database of Special Occasion Licences (SOLs) granted at UBC that revealed 1 in 5 SOLs granted at UBC were approved by the RCMP despite being in breach of provincial liquor regulations. The overwhelming majority of these events were not student-run. There is another area to explore about how the RCMP scrutinizes SOL applications at UBC: rules that aren’t in provincial law.

Campus Life Issues

A Forensic Examination of the War on Fun, Part 1

Post author By Neal Yonson
Post date September 14, 2009
12 Comments on A Forensic Examination of the War on Fun, Part 1

Last year, former Ubyssey reporter Bryan Zandberg wrote a piece for the Tyee examining whether there was a “War on Fun” at UBC.

A year later, the piece is as dated as it is current. Sgt. Dan Wendland is no longer with us at UBC, but his legacy lives on through the policies he implemented. The students featured in the article for the most part have given up the fight, but a new set of students is discovering the absurdity with which the RCMP holds power over Special Occasion Licences (SOLs) at UBC.

In re-launching UBC Insiders, we made investigative features part of our mandate. Over the summer, I tracked down as many Special Occasion Licence applications filed at UBC as possible. With these in hand, a database was constructed through many, many late nights of data-entry. The database has been put online and can be accessed here. The database profiles 730 events from January 2008 until the present. The results confirm things that, empirically, students knew were happening. But they also raise questions about what rules the RCMP was actually enforcing.

AMS President

Three Questions for the President

Post author By Alex Lougheed
Post date September 11, 2009
1 Comment on Three Questions for the President

Before Imagine day, I managed to sit down with Presidents Toope and Frederick to ask them three questions:

1. How will the Class of 2013’s UBC experience differ from the Class of 2010’s?
2. What is the value of an incoming undergraduate to the University?
3. Why did the entering class decide to come to University, and how will UBC deliver?

The Presidents were given the questions days in advance of their interview. Here are their responses.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3ywsazhHls]
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn2gV5F8GUw]

Athletics BoG Campus Life Development Government Issues News President Student Movement Student Politics Uncategorized

Summer News Recap

Post author By Alex Lougheed
Post date September 9, 2009

Happy First Week all. Here’s what happened while you were out.

On Campus

The Student Board of Governors representatives turned over. Tim Blair bids farewell, as Michael Duncan takes his place. Bijan Ahmadian and Alexandra Caldwell (UBC-O) were re-elected for their respective second terms.

The University approved a plan to in-fill Totem residence. This was met with surprise and glee from at least one editor of this blog. (Board item front page, 60-megabyte board presentation .pdf)

Campus Life Development

St. John Hospice

Last September, in partnership with the Vancouver Hospice Society, the Order of St. John and Vancouver Coastal Health, the Board of Governors passed a partial Board 1 to build a hospice. The building will only cost UBC marginal maintenance costs, the management will be undertaken by VCH, and the building is forfeited to UBC in at least fifty years. A good deal for all parties. The Board approved the plan, and sent the planning department off to come up with a site and to contract out the design.

AMS

AMS Council: Sep 2, 2009

Highlights from tonight:

Is UBC driving us crazy?
Further plundering of the President’s fund by the external office

Uncategorized

Introducing: Insiders 2.0

Welcome!

After slaving away behind the scenes for three months now, we’re finally public. Introducing the brand-new UBC Insiders! Andrew, Justin, Neal and I have been working away behind the scenes, securing the new team, working on web development and coming up with a business strategy, editorial schedules and research ideas to give you what you want from UBC Insiders: the best coverage of UBC Vancouver political news and opinion.