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    The Current Policy

    The AMS’s current policy on tuition was passed on November 21, 2007, in preparation for a federal by-election in Vancouver Quadra. (Stephen Owen had resigned his seat to work for UBC.)

    The way the policy is structured is as a set of 17 principles, divided into 4 categories: Tuition and Fees, Core Funding, Student Financial Assistance, and Research. It’s a modest document calling for, among other things:

    * working with UBC, student societies and governments towards a long-term funding strategy
    * opposing tuition increases greater than the British Columbia Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI), whichever is lesser
    * controlling tuition at the provincial, rather than institutional level
    * no differential tuition for out-of-province students
    * working both with UBC and independently to lobby the province for more funding

    Deconstructing the question until there’s nothing left, behind the jump.

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    Race Profile: VP Administration

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    UBC Insiders Analysis

    Click here to skip to profiles of the candidates in this race.

    On paper, the VP Administration does not have a lot of duties within the AMS. That changed a lot in 2008 with the successful NEW SUB referendum. Until the NEW SUB is actually opened, the VP Admin’s job will be heavily focused on making that happen. We asked about the decision this year, during negotiations with UBC, to hand over project management duties to UBC Properties Trust (UBC PT). This is something the AMS had pledged not to do, going so far on that assumption that they hired their own project managers, MHPM. The reasons for the switch have never been divulged publicly, having been discussed in camera by council. Instead, the AMS says only that this was a necessary step in order to obtain other concessions from the university on the NEW SUB project, they have not pinpointed those concessions.

    We also asked about ensuring the NEW SUB is student-driven. The handover of the project to UBC PT was a step backwards and more generally, it seems like the project has shifted to the back of mind of many students. When the next VP Admin takes office, returning the student-driven focus should be a priority coming into the next step: architect selection.

    More thoughts and questionnaires, behind the jump.

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    Hey! We’re back to no one taking interest in the AMS. Highlights:

    1. Tuition Increase proposals from UBC
    2. Student Housing demand report released
    3. Council makes donation to Haiti relief efforts; doesn’t make donation to Haiti relief efforts

    Catch up on five hours in five minutes, by passing the jump.

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    GSS Executive Elections 2010

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    Nominations for GSS executive positions closed yesterday. Candidate lists and events lists after the jump.

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    UBC Insiders Analysis

    Click here to skip to profiles of the candidates in this race.

    Although the Ubyssey’s tag line is “…since 1918”, the current incarnation was created in 1995. After a shutdown for some time, the Ubyssey was re-launched in 1995, free of AMS control, as the Ubyssey Publications Society (UPS). The Ubyssey’s wikipedia page has the backstory.

    Making your $5 more accountable, after the jump.

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    Race Profile: Student Legal Fund Society

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    UBC Insiders Analysis

    Click here to skip to profiles of the candidates in this race.

    The Student Legal Fund Society was created in the wake of the 1997 APEC protests. Its specific mandate is: “SLFS is a non-profit student run society that provides advisory, legal, and financial assistance to fund, initiate and continue advocacy, lobbying and litigation to improve education and access to education at UBC and such other matters of law, which set broad precedent and concern UBC students.” It’s a very broad definition, and the decision this year to provide funding for the BC Civil Liberties Association’s Legal Observer training and Know Your Rights workshops exposed the widely differing interpretations of this mandate that are possible.

    More on the SLFS and questionnaires, after the jump.

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    Race Profile: International Student Seat

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    UBC Insiders Analysis

    Click here to skip to profiles of the candidates in this race.

    The non-voting international student seat was created by AMS Council in November 2008 at the request of representatives from the International Student Association (ISA). They were looking to increase communication between the AMS and the ISA, International House, and the international student population in general. They also wanted the ability to better advocate on issues from the international student perspective, and gain recognition and formal status within the AMS.

    The first person to assume this position, Nazanin Moghadami, was elected alongside last year’s AMS elections in January 2009. Councilors and council observers tend to agree that over the past year, the International Student Rep has had very limited visibility in and around council, and the expected benefits of the position have largely failed to materialize.

    The optimistic view of the situation is that after only a year, more time is needed for the position to fully develop, and that there should not be a rush to judgment. A new person in the position may take a different approach to it and be very effective. Having the position causes no harm and takes nothing away from the AMS, but contains the potential for great benefit.

    The pessimistic view is that having the seat has brought no actual value to the society and therefore the position is unnecessary. The brouhaha in November 2009 over council’s refusal to create a non-voting seat for students with disabilities caused some councilors to have second thoughts about the International Student Seat. In December 2009, a motion was put on the council agenda proposing to abolish the seat, but the motion was ultimately taken off the agenda before the meeting and has not been discussed further.

    If you are an optimist, and hope the seat can evolve into a valued and integral part of council, the most important qualities to look for in a candidate are quite basic: thoughtfulness and commitment to the job. It will be very important in this position to contribute constructively to the AMS in everything it does, not only the things that are of special concern to international students.

    Visibility, both within the AMS and within the international student community is also key. One of the reasons behind the creation of the seat was as a way for the AMS to make better connections with groups of students they might ordinarily have trouble reaching. If the person elected to this seat can successfully forge those connections, it is something that would reflect very well on them.

    On the other hand, someone with a lot of bold new ideas, looking for immediate change in the AMS may have that work against them. The AMS certainly recognizes that they have problems, and can be open to new ideas. But new ideas have to be based upon a solid understanding of how the AMS currently functions, something that unfortunately takes a bit of time to figure out. Coming in too quickly with a bunch of ideas that expose a knowledge gaps of AMS structure will only alienate others and ultimately reduce the effectiveness of their voice on council.

    See Candidate Profiles after the jump.

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    Image00010

    The Point Grill, located at Marine Drive residence, is UBC Food’s newest restaurant, and is set to open very soon. The always adorable Andrew Parr was nice enough to give myself and Rabi Sun (of Portraits of UBC and Just Shoot Me fame) a sneak peek at what was going in there.
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    Today we are happy to present a guest post written by Dia Montgomery, Law Rep on AMS Council.

    The strongest democracies flourish from frequent and lively debate, but they endure when people of every background and belief find a way to set aside smaller differences in service of a greater purpose.

    BARACK OBAMA, press conference, Feb. 9, 2009

    It is a new year and the beginning of a new decade. January rains have helped settle the dust after last November’s high-charged UN complaint debacle. In the end, AMS President Blake Frederick & VP External Tim Chu retained their roles, largely due a legal memo advising councillors against severing our errant leaders from their positions. And so, between the tuna sandwiches & paper nameplates, a sort of normalcy has returned to AMS Council meetings.

    Yet, after such bitter schisms between Council members, we who serve as AMS representatives must ask ourselves how to work productively for the good of all students. Perhaps the solution is to continue the ban on slates. While it is natural for students to want to organize and operate within groups, the dark side of human nature prevails. As with established political parties, there is a danger that slate members will seek to gain more power than their rivals and take revenge on political opponents. Such posturing and politicking takes away from student representation.

    However, a continued ban on slates is not a surefire path to AMS unity. Even without slates, members of AMS Council, either deliberately or inadvertently, wear their larger political leanings on their proverbial sleeves. Our council chambers are often divided by NDP or Liberal affiliations. This divide distracts us from our duties by creating animosity between members and promoting petty jealousies.

    But there is a way forward. Our AMS could benefit from something so clichéd, old fashioned and ridiculed that it just might work: teamwork. Hackneyed though it may be, we need to be grown ups and forgive each other for last year’s hurt feelings. Yes, we felt betrayed. Yes, we feel as though the other side did not understand our good intentions and would not really listen to us. But that was last year. Like it or not, we are still the AMS Council. We still have the responsibility to work together.

    There continue to be real problems facing students at the University of British Columbia and we must get behind each other’s efforts to solve them. We have to collaborate and create a culture of teamwork. From this point on, no one councillor should completely own an idea or process. Instead, we should seek out ideas and opinions differing from our own. We should be open and receptive to ideas and input from others. We should interact with each other, despite past animosity, and maintain the willingness to engage even when things are not going the way we planned.

    While we have had difficulties with each other in the past, these skirmishes should not be allowed to define us. This is a new year, an Olympic year, and we can rise to the challenges ahead together. What do you say, fellow Councillors?

    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.

    Policy92.
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    One problem: the Board never met in October.
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    ..
    bogmeetings09From BoG website.

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