U of C SU Elections

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Just as I suspected.

Useless.

They plan Bermuda Shorts Day.

Not Useless

End thread

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

They plan Bermuda Shorts Day.

Not Useless

End thread

You mean the thing with the 3 hour line ups to get in where they run out of beer every year?

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by keenan87

Just like every organization, I feel they are entitled to have fun as many organizations do it from their profits (LDL and Den) or from tax payers (corporations).

I think you might have this part backwards. Corporations (some, anyway) have profits to spend. The SU is not a profit making organization, it charges student's mandatory fees and then spends them.

[Zarley]

The SU runs Thursden and BSD. Therefore it is the most integral organization at the U of C.

[Cheerio]

Just imagine how much money a 24 hour McDonalds on campus could make.

[ShaolinFlame]

I've been following this for a while, and I figured as an active undergrad I should throw in my couple cents. For some context, I'm an older (mid twenties) undergrad who recently returned to postsec a year ago at UofC. I spent a few years at another institution pursuing an unrelated degree directly out of highschool, but decided that wasn't for me (BA -> BSc). Spent some time in the corporate world in between.

After reading Keenan87s explanation of the SU, I am more firmly than ever in the abolishment camp. I guess you could accurately label me as a bitter failure though, so what the hey do I know?

Also completely agree that food in Mac Hall is a joke. The distribution of customers to businesses is completely out of whack and makes no sense. Although I may not be the best person to judge on food and the like... [Clearly Tim's is in high demand, but seriously WTF? I'll never in a billion years understand why the two Tims have 30 minutes lineups, and yet all of the coffee shops with real, actual, good coffee sit empty. I laugh every time I'm in there at the hordes of fools waiting in some massive line for their triple triple laxative. I'll stick to my delicious black medium roast from ICT. /endrant]

Back to the topic at hand though, I can't really see the logic of something like an SU to begin with. I mean a bunch of kids elect some other kid who has one, maybe two years to 'govern' something which they will most likely never return to, let alone care about five years down the road. If students had to attend the University for the rest of their life, do you think the SU would extoll the same platforms? Would they be thinking about spending a bunch of money to renovate a perfectly fine building, or would they think more responsibly about the long term costs of such a project? The lack of accountability down the road just screams legacy spending to me.

Further, am I the only person who filled out that MacHall survey asking that they not spend a crapton of money on it? I mean the freaking survey was so geared towards lavish spending, that I actually had to fill out the custom reply boxes because the framing of the questions wasn't nearly thrifty enough. IE - How many more rooms with places for kids to nap in do we need? I mean really? I don't even know where to start on that one...

There are plenty of alternatives for young people to become politically active and gain the experience that comes with that, but in the end that's my $70 (or whatever). I'd rather that money go to a scholarship or research grants than to a bunch of kids who want to play government.

I guess in the end though we (the student body) are really to blame, since we condone this crap by letting it exist. And really, I don't think you will ever have a university culture (in Canada at least) that is any radically different than what we see. The demographic is very young and entitled. There's one guy running for SciRep, and for me his poster slogan sums up the general attitude of the student body: (Paraphrased) "The arts students got a new study lounge. Where's our new study lounge?". Pure whiny entitlement, and worse, for no good reason. I've never failed to find a quiet place to study further than a few minutes away.

So yeah, if someone runs on a platform of abolishment, you've got my vote!

Bitter failure out

[Cheerio]

I'm in Haskayne and for Haskayne rep I just voted for the people that said they would try to stop the administration from changing MW lectures to MWF lectures. I doubt they'll be able to do anything but a man can dream

[kirant]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

I'm in Haskayne and for Haskayne rep I just voted for the people that said they would try to stop the administration from changing MW lectures to MWF lectures. I doubt they'll be able to do anything but a man can dream

There are MW lectures?

No, seriously. I've never had one of those in all my years of Engineering.

[Zarley]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

I'm in Haskayne and for Haskayne rep I just voted for the people that said they would try to stop the administration from changing MW lectures to MWF lectures. I doubt they'll be able to do anything but a man can dream

They're changing it? That's brutal. I'm a grad, but the MW lectures were one of the major perqs of being in Haskayne.

[Rutuu]

Originally Posted by keenan87

Wow, what a great post without any arguments. I am not here to impress you but I would like to know how this pessimestic attitude has done for you career-wise.

I am suspecting you are one bitter fella who didn't even make it through university.

If a resume came across my desk with UofC SU anything on it I'd file it in my garbage can.

Go Rock!

[GGG]

I am not sure what the U of C student Unions does but I was a member of the student Council at the U of S.

One good example was the academic advocacy department. If a student had an issue with a professor, was charged with plagiarism, was being having problems getting credits recognized etc. There was an individual to help the students jump through all of the paperwork, hoops, and appeals to get their complaint heard. The big key to this was that it was independent of the university and actually represented students rather than a some mid level manager working for the university. I worked there for a year and we got some really good results. A professor lost half of the final exams for a bunch of engineering students and was trying to screw them over when creating final grades and we worked with the students and the university to solve the problem rather than just a bunch of students trying on their own.

The other place a student association is good is a government needs someone to talk to regarding Student issues and this is a good place to have one point of contact and to be a voice advocating for students.

Where student unions are terrible is when they try to build empires. Why does the SU need to run businesses? Why do they need student space? Why do they run Mac Hall? All of these things can be better done by the university itself or by private enterprise.

The worst thing I ever heard from the USSU was when we proposed the USSU set up an online classified add site to sell textbooks. The response from the administration side of the USSU was they didn't want to do it because it might compete with their physical used book store. That concept is very prevalent throughout Student Unions. They want to protect their empire rather than serve students.

So what to do? My advice would be to get on the Student Council as your college rep and then get on the finance committee. These positions aren't a lot of work ( a few hours a month) but come with a lot of power. Once on these committees focus on cutting budgets and eliminating any service that isn't advocacy. When I was there for two years we cut a lot but resistance is huge. The people who want to play politics and the administration who want to empire build and the lawyers who write the contracts do a good job at maintaining the bureaucracy. But it is a fun fight and worth doing.

The fight against the CFS saved every student at the U of S $9 per year. So at 14000 students and 6 years later we saved students $1,000,000 dollars in fees.

So while the student union does good things, they need to be kept in check so love or hate student politics you should get involved with it

[zhulander]

I'll bite.

Originally Posted by keenan87

They do have limited power but they are the mediating body between the students and the university officials that prevent them from doing whatever they want.

They talk about tuition and trying to keep it as low as possible. I can't remember 100% but I do know that they eliminated fees for something this year. Even if it was reduced by 40 dollars a student, that's a lot of money.

That's the problem with the SU, all they do is talk about keeping tuition lower. So they reduced a $40 fee but where were they in 2010 when UofC decided to charge a general student fee. A whopping $225 a term for these 'services':

By implementing the Student Services Fee, the University is eliminating the fees it charges students and graduates for a student transcript, the individual counselling fees levied through University Health Services, and the small levies it assesses through the Students' Union fee. The registration and thesis fees paid by graduate students are also eliminated.

They control the food court and Mac Hall as well as the Store which I think is reasonably priced. That also allows for a lot of students to find work during the year and help out and make some money after hours.

Mac Hall is the quite possibly the worst food court in a post secondary school in Canada.

They are responsible for the U-Pass as they are the ones that negotiate the contract

They have a terrible negotiator, the fees for the UPass have been steadily going up since 2009 from $85 -> $117. It's $58 now to replace a missing UPass up from $15.

The VP external is responsible to meet with corporations and to provide us with funding (helping tuition) and scholarships

You seriously think the VP external has any relevance in corporate funding and scholarships?

The VP academic takes care of how professors are doing their job and the USRI ratings decide a large portion of the salaries for professors.

How do they take care of how professor do their job? If the USRI is any indication, some of my professors should have been fired a long time ago.

The VP student life is pretty self explanatory. His job is to make the university experience more than just going to class and trying to succeed academically. They look after clubs and other events that being a part of really makes me realize that when I will be done my time here at the U of C, I will definitely have a lot of positives to look at.

They control the den and Thursden which is supposed to be very reasonably priced.

Student life is probably the only 'useful' thing they do.

They sit on city council meetings (more for President) and make sure that the city is considering the campus for their decisions. For example, Hardave talked Nenshi out of a new transit route that would have really made it difficult for students just this year.

Like I said, they don't have too much power and they aren't all corporate people, however, they are a body that do look after students indirectly and something that we can use. More than just people sitting down and having parties at least.

I'd like to know where all the SU general fees go. Always tons of rumor of mishandling of funds in the SU. I have no problems paying the ancillary fees however as all that stuff the majority of students at least get some benefits from.

[Baaarrden]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Related question: I was attending a 2 day course at SAIT this week and they too are holding the SU elections. One of the campaign posters was for a guy running for VP: Student Life. His slogan was "Make it cool. Make it seek.". What the heck does "make it seek" mean? Google has failed me, is it some new kind of lingo the kids are using?

I go to U of C but it sounds like "Seek" is most likely a play on one of the names of the candidates. That's the only thing I can think of because I have never heard the phrase "Make it Seek" before.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Baaarrden

I go to U of C but it sounds like "Seek" is most likely a play on one of the names of the candidates. That's the only thing I can think of because I have never heard the phrase "Make it Seek" before.

Can't be that, his name had nothing even close to "seek" in it or as a play on it.

I am choosing to believe this is some new sort of lingo and will just start using it randomly in my daily interactions.

Perhaps it is the new "stay frosty"?

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by kirant

There are MW lectures?

No, seriously. I've never had one of those in all my years of Engineering.

In Haskayne all the concentration classes are an hour & 15 minutes regardless of if it is Tues/Thurs or M/W with tutorial on friday.

[keenan87]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

Just imagine how much money a 24 hour McDonalds on campus could make.

They would literally run everyone else out of business. Secondly, I can't even imagine the uproar McDonalds will cause with health freaks.

[KOgear]

Originally Posted by GGG

I A professor lost half of the final exams for a bunch of engineering students and was trying to screw them over when creating final grades and we worked with the students and the university to solve the problem rather than just a bunch of students trying on their own.

Haha this is probably the dynamics class that was the most terrible/difficult class I've ever taken.

Still unbelivable how he lost so many exams. But the solution had a loop hole, I think we had a booklet to do our intial work and then transfer that to a final booklet with a clean solution. So people were asked to bring in the booklet with initial work for grading. But people took advantage and used peoples that would probably get better marks.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by keenan87

They would literally run everyone else out of business. Secondly, I can't even imagine the uproar McDonalds will cause with health freaks.

Why? McDonalds and A&W aren't different in the healthy scale.

If McDonalds was brought to Mac Hall, it would cut out the crappy places for much better that people actually want to eat at. Get some Cultures and Mrs Vanellis up in there.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by keenan87

They would literally run everyone else out of business. Secondly, I can't even imagine the uproar McDonalds will cause with health freaks.

Maybe you need to look at the quality of food options available when McDonalds would run everyone else out of business.

[keenan87]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

Maybe you need to look at the quality of food options available when McDonalds would run everyone else out of business.

You can have the best list of options but I still guarantee Mcdonalds will kill everything other than maybe Tim Hortons.

McDonalds = Cheap
Students = Poor