The Insiders
-
Nov
19
AMS Council: November 18-19, 2009
Posted by: Neal Yonson | November 19, 2009 | 13 Comments
7+ hours of defeating motions. Highlights:
- No disability seat
- No unbanning of slates
- Stephen Owen and Nancy Knight bring the spin about Metro Vancouver’s proposed bylaws
- The AMS Foundation has achieved a balanced budget!
- YVR Add Fare opposed for U-Pass holders
- Electoral Code Changes for appeals and the international student seat
- Committee Appointments
Nov
18
More Executive Shenanigans. Sigh.
Posted by: Neal Yonson | November 18, 2009 | Comments Off on More Executive Shenanigans. Sigh.
Oh, AMS emails.
To whom it may concern,
I would like to formally apologize for certain content contained within the original version of my 3rd quarterly report. I originally chose to include comments about executive dynamics within the report in an attempt to shed light on the causes of recent events. I now realize that an official quarterly record is not the appropriate venue in which to raise these issues.
Further, I would like to specifically apologize for a reference made within the original document. The intention of drawing on an historical example (Wikipedia further apologies for lack of citation) was to support a shared executive responsibility for the current state of affairs. However, if such a reference has at all caused negative feelings or implications outside of that intent, I take full personal responsibility for those feelings and sincerely regret any such outcome. Such a sensitive reference should not have been included.
Please find enclosed an updated version of the report to replace my original submission.
Sincerely,
Tom Dvorak
What appeared in his original quarterly was a dissertation on dysfunctional executive dynamics and the reasons for that. It detailed how executives were more concerned about making sure their personal point of view was put forward, rather than coming to a consensus as an executive. Communication is poor. It was also disconcerting to hear that executive committee meetings were rarely, if ever, happening. Note that Tom is careful not to retract what he had to say, just to concede that the quarterly was not the appropriate venue.
Of course, what the second paragraph of the letter refers to is that Tom took it to a whole new level, referencing the “banality of evil”, in which it is postulated that great evil can be done not by psychotic or evil individuals, but by regular people who accept that what they are doing is considered normal and acceptable. This was put forth as a theory for how things got the way they did within the AMS. Tom acknowledged that it was “fairly drastic” to compare the executives to war criminals, but then… did it anyways. On a side note, we are extremely proud to proclaim UBC Insiders: Not war criminals, since 2007.
To all this we say: meh.
The AMS is at its best when it looks outside itself at issues rather than internal political BS. The navel-gazing that normally goes on, however, is a huge turn-off. With tonight’s council agenda focused on the slate debate, a proposal for a non-voting disability seat, and probably some discussion of this quarterly, it’s pretty clear which types of issues they are absorbing themselves with. My level of interest is at a near-low.
Executive dynamics are, I’m sure, a perennial problem. Hey look! UBC Insiders even had a post about it just last year. But why care? It’s a complete waste of energy investing any energy in this issue. This is one problem that is 100% guaranteed to work itself out, and quite soon: elections are just around the corner.
Nov
17
Counterpoint: AMS Council Should Not Have Non-Voting Equity Seats
Posted by: Alex Lougheed | November 17, 2009 | 6 Comments
Today we offer you a point/counterpoint on an upcoming resolution before AMS Council. We offered Tim Chu, present AMS VP External, to argue for and Matthew Naylor, past AMS VP External and current Arts Councillor, to argue against the resolution: “AMS Council should have non-voting equity seats”. This is Matt’s response, for Tim’s, visit here.
Every word over the 750 word-count we told them to stay under has been greyed for fairness. Enjoy.
At the November 18th meeting of AMS Council, on the table will be a motion to create a non-voting seat for students with disabilities. While this is a well intentioned motion, it is not the right one in terms of furthering the interests of students with disabilities. I urge Council to defeat this amendment.
Nov
17
Point: AMS Council Should Have Non-Voting Equity Seats
Posted by: Alex Lougheed | November 17, 2009 | 2 Comments
Today we offer you a point/counterpoint on an upcoming resolution before AMS Council. We offered Tim Chu, present AMS VP External, to argue for and Matthew Naylor, past AMS VP External and current Arts Councillor, to argue against the resolution: “AMS Council should have non-voting equity seats”. This is Tim’s response, for Matt’s, visit here.
Every word over the 750 word-count we told them to stay under has been greyed for fairness. Enjoy.
AMS Council needs a seat for students with disabilities
AMS Council is the highest elected decision making body of the AMS. AMS Council is intended to be the organization that represents UBC students from all walks of life. However, in reality, the composition of AMS Council is not very representative of the student population. There is a long list of equity-seeking groups that are grossly under-represented on AMS Council. This list includes racialized students (students of colour), female students, and openly queer students. This list also includes students with disabilities.
Nov
17
Former AMS VP External to run BCCLA workshops
Posted by: Neal Yonson | November 17, 2009 | 3 Comments
We need to be able to acknowledge current political structures, like the government, and the law, and work within them for reform. Equally important however, is that we engage in an active critique of those structures, which should entail some forms of confrontation.
– Stefanie Ratjen speaks on civil liberties and the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
It has been confirmed that Stefanie Ratjen, former VP External of the AMS, has been hired by the BC Civil Liberties Association to run the Legal Observer training and Know Your Rights workshops at UBC, which are partially funded by the Student Legal Fund Society, which is in turn funded by student fees.
Is Stefanie a motivated, committed individual legitimately concerned about the impact of the Olympics? Yes.
Does Stefanie’s hiring destroy any pretense that existed about the BCCLA’s program being neutral and non-partisan? Yes.
Nov
6
Where the Money Goes
Posted by: Andrew Carne | November 6, 2009 | 6 Comments
In case you haven’t heard, UBC’s salary data has been released for the fiscal year ending March 2009 (available here, Excel sheet including 2008 data, compiled by UBC Insiders, available here). In accordance with the Financial Information Act of BC, this document includes a breakdown of all persons earning over $75,000 and lists both remuneration and expenses. Upon analysis of this and the 2008 data, some interesting observations can be made.
Note: When examining this data, it is important to remember that remuneration is not purely paid salary but also includes benefits and other forms of compensation.
One datum which immediately jumped out, upon scanning through all 3,261 names, was that former UBC President, Martha Piper received a whopping $359,127 in 07-08 and another $96,526 in 08-09. As her term as UBC’s President ended in June 2006, it is astounding to see such large amounts of compensation still being paid.
It may also be interesting to note that UBC’s net salary increase was 8.19% from 07-08 to 08-09.
More detailed analysis of raises and other salary data after the jump.
Oct
29
City Steps Back from UBC Annexation Plan
Posted by: Alex Lougheed | October 29, 2009 | 3 Comments
The following is a guest post by John Tompkins, editor and publisher of the Wesbrook Journal, former editor of the Hampton Journal, and resident of UBC. If you would like to submit a guest post, contact us.
Lack of local interest is cited; new thrust is to provide UBC more services
The City of Vancouver has lost interest in the idea of annexing UBC, at least for the time being.
The City has not lost interest in expanding the range of services it provides UBC, however. On the contrary, City Council in October voted in favor of starting a courtship which, if consummated, could eventually see—among other things—Vancouver City Police take over policing duties at UBC from the RCMP. (video)
Oct
28
TransitDB: Underground Bus Loop would have been completely overloaded
Posted by: Neal Yonson | October 28, 2009 | 3 Comments
For those of you new to UBC and UBC Insiders, Dr. Darren Peets has already written the authoritative piece deconstructing the poor planning behind the underground bus loop. Darren would undoubtedly be proud to think that he may have literally analyzed the project to its death.
Before the big news broke yesterday, UBC Insiders had been looking further into the technical design of the underground bus loop. In the interest being topical, and also of not having all this research going to waste, here’s an interesting data study that was conducted on the bus loop’s capacity showing that the whole thing would have been absolute chaos every single day.
Carson Lam, a science student at UBC, developed an absolutely awesome website called TransitDB, which takes all of Translink’s data and presents it in new and much more useful ways of looking at it. But for data nerds, the biggest asset of having a database is that you can mine it for information. Data is a science student’s best friend.
Oct
27
A Tunnel to Nowhere?
Posted by: Neal Yonson | October 27, 2009 | 9 Comments
The AMS this morning released a statement saying that UBC intends to cancel the underground bus loop project.
Earlier today, Blake Frederick outlined the situation: 3 weeks ago UBC starting thinking of a contingency plan if loop wasn’t going forward, due to concerns over Translink’s funding drying up. Translink was supposed to commit $10M to the project. Blake: “If Translink’s funding doesn’t come through, they have no other source of funding and they will have to cancel the underground bus loop.” Translink’s ten year plan does not include this funding. Blake has now reached the conclusion that the project will be getting the axe.
Blake also passed on information from Tim Chu’s meeting with Translink representatives this week. Apparently Translink does not yet have the technology available for the proposed bus loop, and also do not have the staff available to devote to the project, presumably because of the transportation planning going into the Olympics.
Ken Hardie, spokesperson for Translink said only that “Translink is not in a position to fund expansion,” adding that what exactly falls within the definition of expansion is a discussion to be had between Translink and the University.
Nancy Knight, AVP Campus & Community Planning, said that while the Mayors Council funding package announced earlier this week does not appear to contain the necessary funding to go ahead with the project, UBC is still waiting to hear this officially from Translink. She indicated that UBC is still committed to the project, but that it has always been a partnership with Translink, and in a partnership, if one partner is unable to meet its obligations the project falls apart. In the event that Translink pulls out of the project, the tunnel will not be built but that in all likelihood the road would (half of which is already built).
When asked about all of the utilities that were moved last year, she said those would have needed to be moved anyways in order to properly service the new buildings going in there (currently only the New SUB and the Alumni Centre, and possibly some student residences.) Even if the project is cancelled, the university still does not look fondly on the current location for two reasons: a promise made to the UEL that the bus loop would only be temporary, and the designation of the land it currently sits on as the “Gage South” neighbourhood, slated for market housing. As to what that means, while Campus and Community Planning will be looking to develop the future transportation plan with all of campus (we can all hope that actually happens; it certainly didn’t with the underground bus loop), a rather large, easily accessible and relatively central location would have to be found if a new bus loop were to be built. In the land use plans laid out in the current version of the campus plan, that certainly isn’t there (and this is why we should all listen to Darren Peets when he says planning is a total crapshoot).
Although no one has yet confirmed the exact fate of the underground bus loop, it’s a safe bet that the project’s dead.
Update: October 27, 4:56pm
Nancy Knight has issued an open letter regarding the status and future of the Underground Bus Loop, which can be found here. Details are still vague, and confirmation regarding this cancellation is still pending discussion with TransLink.
Update 2: October 28
Nancy Knight has released an amended version of her open letter in which it has been confirmed that Translink will not be able to contribute its share towards the underground bus loop.
Oct
22
AMS Council: October 21, 2009
Posted by: Neal Yonson | October 22, 2009 | 7 Comments
Highlights from tonight:
- AMS serves intent to leave CASA as of April 1, 2010
- Committee Reform Proposal
« go back — keep looking »
