The Insiders
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Jan
21
Race Profile: VP Administration
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 21, 2010 | Comments Off on 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.
Jan
20
AMS Council: January 20, 2010
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 20, 2010 | 3 Comments
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.
Jan
20
GSS Executive Elections 2010
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 20, 2010 | Comments Off on GSS Executive Elections 2010
Nominations for GSS executive positions closed yesterday. Candidate lists and events lists after the jump.
Jan
20
Referendum: Impeachments
Posted by: Andrew Carne | January 20, 2010 | 3 Comments
The following is a guest post by Bowinn Ma, EUS President 2007-2008; AMS Councilor 2006-2008; Former Hack, less so now.
Bowinn, as EUS President. Martin Dee photo.
One of the roles of guest writers is to change things up, and change things up I shall! The UBC Insiders team has done a magnificent job of creating thorough, professional, and complete postings, but what seems to be lacking is public participation. Where are the dozens of comments we used to get from people supporting and condemning opinions? Where are the flame wars and public uproars against the tragedy de jour? Where is Joe the Plumber, Little Timmy, and Big John with their stories of personal strife against the Power?
More of Bowinn’s thoughts, after the gap.
Jan
20
Race Profile: Ubyssey Board of Directors
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 20, 2010 | 1 Comment
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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.
Jan
19
Debate: Senatorial Quarrel
Posted by: Alex Lougheed | January 19, 2010 | 2 Comments
The problem with having an election for five spots is you end up with a race of twelve candidates (last year aside). Fortunately for us, only seven candidates showed up today to answer some questions from the moderator, Forestry Senator and All Around Good Guy Mr. Angus Cheung, and from the audience.
More on their answers behind le jump.
Jan
19
Race Profile: VP Academic and University Affairs
Posted by: Alex Lougheed | January 19, 2010 | 11 Comments
UBC Insiders Analysis
Click here to skip to profiles of the candidates in this race.
Note: Alex was the 2008/2009 AMS VP Academic and University Affairs.
The VP University affairs is the largest and most detail-oriented position on the executive. Best described as the executive that handles “everything else”, the VP A/UA is the single student on campus with the most influence over the way the university goes about its regular business. The job is best chunked into three broad categories: campus governance (planning, liaising, fiscals), academics (quality, funding, senate), and campus climate (culture, relations, equity).
Traditionally a position held by wonks, a good candidate will have a strong appreciation for detail, will be strategic and organized, will learn quickly, and will be a leader when they need to be. This means an understanding of the issues, players, conflicts and rhetoric of campus, as well as having the managerial skills to organize an office that handles forty committees, tens of pages of reading a day, and countless emails.
All that really matters is governance, and questionnaires after the jump.
Jan
19
Race Profile: Student Legal Fund Society
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 19, 2010 | Comments Off on 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.
Jan
18
Race Profile: VP Finance
Posted by: Alex Lougheed | January 18, 2010 | 3 Comments
UBC Insiders Analysis
Click here to skip to profiles of the candidates in this race.
The VP Finance has traditionally been one of the most difficult jobs to be effective at in the executive committee. Tasked with crafting a budget to spend millions of dollars in three months, there’s little the VP Finance can do to shake up the status-quo in their most important task. Other parts in the job are the SUB businesses, sustainability, the AMS/GSS health and dental plan, and financial administration.
Because elections don’t yield the best accountants and because the post has been neglected in the past, the VP Finance role was once thought to be a liability to the society. To make sure the job gets done, the staff assumed much of the job. The AMS has matured since those days, and I would claim today the staff has too much control. What the job needs is an insider who understands the system, has the trust of the staff, but also has a vision on how to modernize a fiscal system that’s as rigid and cold as the building it’s housed in.
Recently challenged at council were philosophical questions about the operations of the SUB businesses. The AMS has prided itself on being one of the only student societies in Canada that has a business operation that nets a profit, which is one way the AMS retains the lowest student fees in the country. That said, profitable businesses often come at the cost of pricier food and lower employee wages, many of whom are students. Which is better: cheap mandatory fees, or cheap Pendulum T-Birds?
Also challenged was the extent that the AMS should be volunteer- or employment- driven. While the undergraduate societies are largely run by volunteers, does the importance of their parent organization warrant the added accountability only paid employment can ensure? Insiders answers this question with an unequivocal yes, provided the position at hand has any significant stake in the future of the society. There is, however, a larger role that volunteers and interns can play within the AMS, as opportunities there are currently non-existent.
Budget-wise, the VP Finance is the mastermind behind the AMS services. Operationally overseen by the hired ECSS, the VP Finance still sets the political direction of the otherwise non-political services for the year. In particular, an issue is controlling the spending of the $130,000-annual Safewalk, in which a walk costs more than a taxi-ride.
Also, an alleged structural deficit was uncovered in the budget this year, of which not much is yet known (we asked). It will be the incoming VP Finance’s job to make sense of this hoo-hah, and hopefully use the crisis to introduce some overdue changes.
The candidates in this race are the rather fashionable Elin Tayyar, ’09 SAC Vice-Chair, and the hyper-transparent Invisible Man. We’re elated to see a joke candidate in the running, but disappointed at the overall lack of interest for this race. Tuum Est, Elin.
See Candidate Profiles after the jump.
Jan
18
Race Profile: International Student Seat
Posted by: Neal Yonson | January 18, 2010 | Comments Off on 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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