Last fall, the Board of Governors gave its consent to UBC’s newest policy, Policy 92: Land Use and Permitting. Look closely at the top right-hand corner of the policy. The approval date listed is October 2009.
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One problem: the Board never met in October..
From the Elections Administrator last Sunday:
I have decided to allow club/group etc members to attach their title to their name when they endorse candidates, PROVIDED that they state that their opinion is their own and does not reflect upon the group they are a part of. (this is, of course, if the group decides not to endorse said candidate.)
Second of all, I have decided to allow all candidates to seek endorsements from non-students prior to the beginning of the campaign period. For example, if a candidate wanted to seek the endorsement of a past AMS president right now, they can do so. However, no such endorsement must be made public until the beginning of the campaign period. All other rules regarding endorsements still stand.
This is a step in the right direction. The earlier ruling at the All-Candidates Meeting that titles were not to be used was awkward and without precedent. Happy campaign prep to all candidates!
Less than 24 hours after the All-Candidates Meeting, the first withdrawals have occurred, all in the race for Board of Governors. The info was tweeted earlier today by Elections Administrator Isabel Ferreras.
Statements from the former candidates about their decision to withdraw:
Peter Stein: “By observing others I’ve noted that in many cases, unless it’s needed, it’s best to be prudent in one’s proclamations. With all due respect, no comment.”
Nader Beyzaei: “My entrance was a strategic decision, and based on the nominees I decided it would be best to drop out, and focus on what I originally set out to win: Senate.”
AJ Hajir Hajian: “My commitment to “our UBC” falls more closely into the academic scope of the Senate.”
This leaves 6 candidates in the race for the 2 BoG seats: Bijan Ahmadian, Blake Frederick, Philip Edgcumbe, Sean Heisler, Guillaume Houle and Azim Wazeer.
UPDATE: Jan 10, 8:50pm.
Philip Edgcumbe has also dropped out of the running for Board. When asked why, he responded that he is “pleased with the quality and commitment of the other candidates and I trust that they will represent UBC students well on the BoG.” Philip also included a plug for two other candidates, which we will keep quiet on until campaigning opens.
Much of this post is since outdated. Visit our elections page for up-to-date information.
Live from the all-candidates meeting. Lists verified with the Elections Administrator. Tentative on petition checks.
President
Sean Kim
Pak Ho Leung
Natalie Swift
Bijan Ahmadian
VP Academic and University Affairs
Rodrigo Ferrari-Nunes
Ben Cappellacci
VP Finance
Elin Tayyar
The Invisible Man
VP Admin
Ekaterina Dovjenko
Michael Haack
VP External
Stas Pavlov
Jeremy McElroy
Timothy Chu
Aaron Palm
BOG
Sean Heisler
Azim Wazeer
Bijan Ahmadian ?
Nader Beyzaei
Philip Edgecumbe
AJ Hajin Hajian
Guillaume Houle
Peter Stein
Senate
Aminollah Sabzevari
Blair McRadu
Alyssa Koehn
Syed Nayef Andrabi
Miriam Sabzevaed
Joël Mertens
Nader Beyzaei
Ryan Bredin
Philip Edgecumbe
Arielle Friedman
AJ Hajin Hajian
Sean Heisler
Spencer Rasmussen
Johannes Rebane
Gary Tse
Blake Frederick
SLFS
Siavash Ahmadi
JJ MacLean – Students for Responsible Leadership (SRL)
Hillson Tse – Students for Responsible Leadership (SRL)
Aaron Sihota – Students for Responsible Leadership (SRL)
Paul Godin – Students for Responsible Leadership (SRL)
Alexander Shalashnly – Students for Responsible Leadership (SRL)
Anthony Bryson – Students for Responsible Leadership (SRL)
Kyle Warwick
Omid Atai
International Student Representative
Charlott Sandor Johansen
Star
Brittany Purna
Guessy Wang
Se Won An
Xena Hinson
Ding Kun
Ubyssey Publications Society Board of Directors
Chair: Campbell Bryson
Directors: Neil Andrews
Oliver Thorne
Sandy Buchanan
Imran Habib
Blake Frederick
| Event | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Campaigning Opens | January 18th | 8am |
| All Candidates Forum | January 19th | 11am-1pm |
| Candidates Debate (BoG,Sen,Intl) | January 20th | ??? |
| Candidates Debate (P,VPX,VPF) | January 21th | ??? |
| Candidates Debate (VPAD,VPAUA,SLFS) | January 22nd | ??? |
| CITR Debate (P,VPAUA,VPF) | January 22nd | 5pm-6pm |
| Hackfest Beer Garden | January 24th | 7am-11am |
| Voting Opens | January 25th | 8am |
| CITR Debate (VPX,VPAD) | January 25th | 5pm-6pm |
| All Candidates Forum | January 25th | 11am-1pm |
| Elections BBQ | January 27th | 11am-1pm |
| Jello Wrestling at SUB Ballroom | January 27th | 12pm-1pm |
| Quiz Night at Gallery Appeals deadline feb 5th. |
January 28th | 8pm |
| Voting Closes | January 29th | 4pm |
| Results Announced | January 29th | 6pm |
| BBQ | January 29th | ?? |
| Candidate Expenses Due | February 1st | 12pm |
| Appeals Deadline | February 5th |
Spending limit $450.
Reimbursements $300.
One new ruling from the Elections Administrator: Individuals cannot use titles in endorsements unless notifying the Elections Committee. This comes from the general rule that groups cannot endorse candidates without informing the Elections Administration.
| Polling Station Location | Dates | Time |
|---|---|---|
| VST | January 19th and 20th | 10am – 2pm |
| Regent College | January 19th and 20th | 10am – 2pm |
| Pan-Hellenic House | January 20th | 4:30pm – 6:30pm |
| Vanier Cafeteria | January 20th | 5pm – 7pm |
| Totem Cafeteria | January 20th | 5pm – 7pm |
| Koerner Library | January 20th, January 21st, January 22nd | 10am – 2pm |
| SUB | January 20th, January 21st, January 22nd | 10am – 2pm |
The Translink Commission released a decision on how to implement the YVR Add Fare a couple of hours ago.
Translink had originally applied to the Commission to introduce a $2.50 levy, to be collected each time a passenger were transporting between the Bridgeport and Templeton stations. The Commission, citing the “awkwardness” of the two-way fare, and that the fare did not adequately target air travelers alone, approved a new scheme which includes fare exemptions for non-cash fare media and creates a single $5.00 fee to leave the airport.
One such non-cash fare media is the U-Pass. Others include FareCard, FareSavers, and other non-cash fare media at any station or other point of sale.
Earlier this week we posted about a new Senate admissons policy, J-50. While it represents a small step in the quest for fairness in the admissions process, there is still a great deal more going on behind the scenes that is also more controversial.
Indeed, while J-50 received widespread support from Senate, there were some concerns with it. As an example, even if the curriculum of another Canadian province results in those students being over- or under-represented at UBC, Senate may not be able to actually address it. Sonia Purewal, who sat on the working group said “Until data is available on all provinces, there is still going to be differential treatment for a subset of students as some students will not get any grade adjustment whereas others will… Despite this, we can’t ignore information that warrants attention. We have to begin the process to create a fair admissions practice.”
Senator and debater extraordinaire Joshua Sealy-Harrington also raised the point that if there was an international jurisdiction where grades had to be adjusted downwards, it may work against the university’s diversity goals.
Downward adjustments in general are something that makes everyone nervous. The rational argument goes that to achieve fairness you have to be willing to do both upward and downward adjustments. The obvious problem that gets in the way is that the optics of lowering students’ grades is horrible. Regardless of how justified it may be, the politics will always get in the way.
To see an example of this, you don’t need to look far. The Senate working group that was working on J-50 was also examining a much hotter issue: adjusting grades of incoming BC students based on which high school they come from.
New year, renewed enthusiasm. Highlights:
AMS elections aren’t the only game in town right now. The GSS is also gearing up now for their executive elections this month.
Are you graduate student? Are you interested in helping your fellow graduate students and representing them at the University, Government, and public level? If so…
The Graduate Student Society (GSS) of UBC-Vancouver is now accepting nominations for various Executive positions and a seat on the UBC-Vancouver Senate. The GSS serves 9,750 Master’s and Ph.D. students at UBC-Vancouver, providing academic, professional, social, and recreational services to our members, and acts as steward of the Thea Koerner House Graduate Student Centre. The nomination period closes at Noon on January 19th, 2010.
Available positions include:
President
Vice-President, Academic and External
Vice-President, Administration
Vice-President, Finance
Vice-President, Services
UBC SenatorDescriptions for these positions can be found at: http://gss.ubc.ca/wpmu/election/position-descriptions/
Nomination forms can be picked up at the GSS office in the Thea Korner Graduate Student Centre (6371 Crescent Rd.) or downloaded from the elections website: http://gss.ubc.ca/wpmu/election/.
An on-campus debate will be held January 25th, at 5pm in Thea’s Lounge in the Graduate Student Centre. There will also be an off-campus debate on January 26th, at noon in the Diamond Family Lecture Theatre in the BC Cancer Research Centre (675 West 10th Avenue, by Heather).
Respectfully,
Glen Bremner
Chief Electoral Officer, GSS 2010 Elections
elections@gss.ubc.ca
Like the AMS, GSS Executives are paid for their work, $13,000 for President and $10,000 for VPs.
A copy of the petition currently being circulated made it’s way into my hands. There are six questions being asked:
1. The removal of Blake Frederick
2. The removal of Tim Chu
3. Creation of a $5.00 “Engagement Levy”
4. A code change to implement slates
5. Indexing all non-indexed AMS fees to CPI
6. Amending the bylaws to separate the director and officer status of executives (so Council can effectively impeach).
Questions 1, 2 and 6 were expected. Although questions 1 and 2 will come in to effect once another executive would be elected, its only real effects will be to bring out angry mobs to express their moral outrage, hopefully driving turnout through the roof for question 6, which would fix the problems we covered earlier.
Now that VFM is back up and running, and there is a renewed interest in the AMS, this is a great time to engage with your student society!
The first council meeting of this term will take place this Wednesday, at 6 pm in SUB 206. Everyone is welcome to attend, and dinner is provided.
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