The Insiders
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Oct
21
Breaking: UBC Insiders Issues First Notice to CASA, AMS to Violate Contract?
Posted by: Alex Lougheed | October 21, 2009 | 12 Comments
Upon receiving our tweet regarding the motion to leave CASA this evening, CASA has sent a letter, with supporting documentation, to various UBC media regarding the constitutionality of such a motion.
CASA claims the AMS has two unmet obligations: that 30 days notice be given to CASA prior to leaving, and that one full membership-year be passed prior to leaving. Insiders was the first notice given to CASA regarding this motion, and one full membership-year has yet to expire.
CASA concludes the earlier the AMS could leave CASA is upon the end of the membership-year: April 1st, 2010, and as a result, under a new executive committee.
The letter convincingly demonstrates that the AMS was aware of this obligation, having exercised full member privileges up to and including March 2009.
Further, the letter claims that the AMS has been negligent to respond to questions from CASA, who still seeks clarification around their concerns, and the steps that the organization could take to address them.
This editor remains convinced that new blood need to be entered into the decision, as it has become clear the main players are too invested in personal politics, and are having that cloud any reasonable assessment.
This is a difficult issue to access from the outside, as the information both media and council have received has been largely hearsay. CASA does not yet proactively disclose minutes of meetings. Upon requests for minutes, CASA has promised draft copies to Insiders, but to no avail yet.
Further, this editor is not convinced that AMS VP External Tim Chu has provided due diligence in this affair. It appears from my limited perspective that he has been avoiding CASA staff, preferring to not speak to them or respond to their questions, and instead holding ‘public’ meetings with students, personally invited by himself, complete with dubious claims about CASA spending. This is demonstrated by both CASA’s claims about the lack of contact between him and CASA staff, as well as his attitude at the public meeting where CASA was present. Chu remained silent throughout. Given the other gaffs of his term, council should be most skeptical of what comes from his office tonight.
In other news, the University Act provisions in Bill 13 just passed committee amendment phase in the legislature without revision, with exclusive focus on the parking lawsuit.
Oct
19
Come on feel the noise
Posted by: Neal Yonson | October 19, 2009 | 2 Comments
The UNA just started a public consultation about their proposed noise bylaw which runs until November 9.
This process has been ongoing since well before the appearance of Bill 13, which would give UBC the ability to regulate noise all over campus. The University Neighbours’ Agreement, the document which defines the governance of the UNA, outlines how rules regarding noise, nuisance, parking, and traffic can be put in place. Although the UNA does all the legwork to develop the rule(s), UBC’s Board of Governors would be the ones to ultimately put them in place. The Neighbours’ Agreement is clear that any new rules would apply only to the areas falling under UNA jurisdiction, not all of campus.
The fact that Bill 13 exists is a tacit acknowledgment that the BOG never really had the legal authority necessary to enact any noise rule the UNA came up with (not that it would have stopped them, of course.) Since it’s likely Bill 13 will pass, this is probably a moot point but still worth noting.
Reading through the proposed bylaw the image that comes to mind, to borrow a phrase, is that of a wildly overlapping Venn diagram. It contains some very broad, very vague rules with seemingly contradictory clauses, odd exceptions and an uneven mode of enforcement. Naturally, this is a subject on which UBC Insiders cannot keep quiet.
Oct
16
Costeloe, First-Ever Student Vice-Chair of Vancouver Senate
Posted by: Alex Lougheed | October 16, 2009 | 4 Comments
Just confirmed with the Senate Secretariat that Mr. Geoff Costeloe, of Terry fame, was elected to the position of Vice-Chair of the Vancouver Senate this Wednesday.
This is the first time a student has been elected to the position since its creation in 1916. No one formally asked for the tally, but I’m told it was “close”.
The role of the Vice-Chair is to be speaker of the Vancouver Senate in the absence of the Chair, Prof. Stephen Toope.
The last election of the Vice-Chair, student senator Mr. Blake Frederick lost to incumbent Vice-Chair Dr. Rhodri Windsor-Liscombe in a close tally of 36:23.
This would mean in the occasional absence of the President, a student reigns over the most powerful academic body at UBC Vancouver. The vote indicates a strong show of support and trust in the student body by the faculty, alumni and administration, and a progressive vision for the current Senate.
Oct
14
Planning the Unplannable
Posted by: Alex Lougheed | October 14, 2009 | 6 Comments
The following is a guest post written by Dr. Darren Peets, former student Board of Governors representative and campus planning aficionado. We invited Darren to offer a critical retrospective on campus planning procedures, and to offer a solution. Dr. Peets is currently working as a post-doc in Japan.
I was invited to write a short piece for UBC Insiders on the amenability of university campuses (campi, perhaps?) to physical planning exercises such as the current UBC Vancouver Campus Plan. While I’ve been on plenty of planning-related committees and have argued with plenty of planners, I don’t have a degree in planning, so there may be things I’ve overlooked, misunderstood, or oversimplified. I am, however, probably qualified by now to offer a curmudgeonly admonishment about how you people are getting it all wrong, how you should really do it, and how, back in my day, we had to carry the horse through five metres of snow to school and back, uphill both ways. I should also mention that I’m not known for being brief, but I’m occasionally sarcastic.
The first and most important thing to understand about university physical planning is where new buildings and public open space come from on a university campus (existing buildings require much less planning).
Oct
8
Province Expands Board Powers, Creates Oligarchy?
Posted by: Alex Lougheed | October 8, 2009 | 3 Comments
The Province tabled a bill yesterday to expand the powers of the Board of Governors, in response to asks from the University Neighbourhoods Association and the Board. It represents a stark change in the authority of the Board, giving it municipal powers such as the ability to regulate, prohibit and fine those in contravention.
Oct
2
No More Hospice Behind Marine Drive
Posted by: Alex Lougheed | October 2, 2009 | 3 Comments
Just got a mail from the planning department: St. John Hospice will not be built behind Marine Drive! There is much to rejoice here, as it points to something in the planning cycle working. Here’s the letter that made my morning.
Sep
28
Robert Worsley: not a Nazi
Posted by: Neal Yonson | September 28, 2009 | 3 Comments
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.
Sep
24
AMS Council: September 23, 2009
Posted by: Neal Yonson | September 24, 2009 | 2 Comments
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
Sep
21
Children vs. Liquor
Posted by: Neal Yonson | September 21, 2009 | 2 Comments
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.
Read more
Sep
15
A Forensic Examination of the War on Fun, Part 2
Posted by: Neal Yonson | September 15, 2009 | 4 Comments
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.
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