The Insiders
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Jan
24
Issue of the Day: Educational Quality
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 24, 2007 | 12 Comments
Out of all the ongoing races, arguably the academic portfolio (Senate, and part of VP Academic) has received the least amount of attention in debates and media sources. While we constantly discuss issues surrounding access to postsecondary education we rarely take time to consider the quality of the education which we struggle to receive in […]
Jan
24
BoG at a Glance
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 24, 2007 | Comments Off on BoG at a Glance
We haven’t written much about the BoG race. So I will. To begin, a some candidates say, well, nothing, and offer us platforms with platitudes and no evidence of depth of analysis/understanding. That’s not to say they aren’t intelligent, thoughtful people; in fact, they deserve significant credit for putting themselves out there. But the BoG […]
Jan
24
Issue of the Day: Governance
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 24, 2007 | 22 Comments
Who governs UBC? Right now it’s a complicated balance between the University’s BoG, and the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD). In short, UBC’s BoG has the final say on development on campus, provided it conforms with various strategic plans (OCP, etc) that are the purview of the GVRD. However, what happens when there’s a conflict? […]
Jan
23
Debate V: Admin with Issue of the Day Goodness!
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 23, 2007 | Comments Off on Debate V: Admin with Issue of the Day Goodness!
Today marked the second VP Administration debate. I use the term loosely. Generally speaking a debate involves a clash of ideas, and usually some disagreement. These candidates? Well, they just don’t. They generally agree. Students need to be more involved in renovation decisions, there needs to be less red tape for SAC, we need to […]
Jan
23
Issue Backgrounder: Tuition and Financial Aid
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 23, 2007 | 18 Comments
It’s become clear, through comments, that most students don’t really know how Universities are funded, and how the financial aid process works. And since it currently ranks highest on our survey as an issue, we’re presenting this backgrounder. It’s wonky, but hopefully in plain English. 1) Government fundingThe government funds Universities in many ways. The […]
Jan
23
Survey Results
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 23, 2007 | Comments Off on Survey Results
As you may know, we did a survey of our readership. Stats are below the jump: Total responses: 43 Percentage planning to vote: 88.2% Are they AMS types? 27% said yes, while 9% said they pay attention and show up occasionally. 41% said they had a few friends involved, while 24% said they had no […]
Jan
22
Debate IV: VP External
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 22, 2007 | 54 Comments
Subtitle: Naylor vs. the World We observed a unique phenomenon at the debate today. Matt Naylor knows a lot, and brought a lot of ideas. As punishment, he had to deal with all the other candidates shooting for him, trying to criticize him and his ideas. They clearly see him as the front-runner. This corner […]
Jan
22
Swimming Upstream: The Maxwell Maxwell Story
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 22, 2007 | 60 Comments
Ordinarily, we like to look at the races race-by-race, but the Presidential race is kinda unique, the most important and, in this year’s unique circumstance, the two candidates are largely incomparable. One is offering a largely philosophical vision, the other a practical one. It’s the former with which we’re concerning ourselves, initially. Look for the […]
Jan
22
Point-Counterpoint
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 22, 2007 | 16 Comments
This morning, Maxwell Maxwell and Jeff Friedrich had an excellent mini-debate on one of the posts below. It’s well worth reading, as it highlights the candidates’ distinctions, and provides some excellent discussion on the AMS. So we’ve reproduced it here. Maxwell Maxwell:To use a favourite word of mine, I think you misunderestimated my proposal. I […]
Jan
22
Issue of the Day: U-Pass
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 22, 2007 | 46 Comments
Image from Wikipedia So, as most readers know, we have a U-Pass. Students pay $22/month, and can’t opt out unless they live outside Translink. In return, we get a pass good for Transit all over the lower mainland. The fee used to be $20/month, but we voted overwhelmingly in favor of raising it by $2/month […]
