To view a detailed post on the bylaws and policies violations by the MSU Board of Directors please click here (Warning it is an extensive post and a long read)
Undrgrads.com has coverage of the Silhouette Issue on their site here:
http://www.undrgrads.com/campusbuzzplayer.html
(Also, take the time to check out the entire undrgrads.com site. It is a non-profit site that is a project of McMaster students.)
They do a nice job with the segment. Kyle Park, member of the Executive Board, goes on the offensive against my article last week in The Silhouette which spoke to issues within the MSU.
He states that I must be misleading people about the SRA getting a 15% discount at the bar. To do so, he twists and turns the words to be specific to alcohol only. Yet, he admits they do get a discount, just not on alcohol. Seems that I was correct. (Now, one problem with print is limited space, if I had more space, maybe I could have been extremely detailed) He complains that I do not point out that more than just the SRA gets line bypass. My statement was that with Quarters losing so much money, the SRA should not be getting perks. It is worth noting that the SRA only gets line bypass (in practice) on Thursday and Saturday because those are the only nights there are lineups. They do, however, get free admission to most events held in Quarters.
Then he goes after my paragraph on the police contract that the MSU has.
The fourth issue is the MSU paying for extra police officers in Westdale to crackdown on student nuisance offences. The contract the MSU signed with the police is a “MSU Top Secret” contract. I have been able to calculate based on information released by the city in news releases and normal cost of paying for police services that the cost of the contract is somewhere between $40,000 – $60,000 a year. The MSU and University are jointly paying this expense. This is a significant amount of money. This contract was not approved by the SRA has required by the MSU Constitution. The money the MSU is spending to crackdown on students could be better spent on measures that benefit both students and the community.
He clearly did not understand my point in stating that it is a “Top Secret” contract. It was to make the point that the costs of the contract are not known. I have requested this information numerous times and each time was told that it was a confidential document.
The best analogy for this is Area 51. We all know it exists, like we all knew that the MSU has signed a contract with the police to crackdown on students. We do not, however, know exactly what is going on in Area 51 just like we do not know what is in the contract.
Unfortuantely, The Sihouette for space, cut out my next para which develops my point:
One of the biggest perceived problems the community complains about is “Mac students” being loud walking home from bars. Why not, instead of paying for a police crackdown, rent buses to take people home. It will be more effective and cost less. I know the reason that I walk home after a night out with friends is because there are no buses after one o’clock. The SRA must find better solutions and demand to know why our money is being spent without proper approval.
So, I give Kyle Park some lead way on that point as it did not get fully developed.
In terms of there being provisions in the Constitution for students to be able to recall Vice-Presidents. There is none. The MSU Constitution states the following for recall of Vice-Presidents:
8.3. RECALL OF VICE PRESIDENT OR TREASURER
8.3.1. Initiation – A petition of 33% of the SRA delivered to the MSU Secretary.
8.3.2. Notice – The MSU Secretary shall give a least 5 school days’ notice of an SRA meeting for the purpose of recall by:
8.3.3. sending written notification to all SRA members
8.3.4. posting it on the official MSU notice board
8.3.5. Recall shall be automatic upon 2/3 affirmative vote of the total membership of the SRA at two consecutive SRA Meetings.
8.3.6. Vacancies created by recall motion shall be filled through a by-election according to established MSU procedures.
Bylaw 4 states:
8.3 Recall of Vice-President (8.3 Recall of Vice-President (Administration), Vice-President (Education), or Vice-President (Finance):
8.3.1 Initiation – A petition of 33% of the SRA delivered to the Administrative Assistant;
8.3.2 Notice – The Administrative Assistant shall give at least five (5) business days’ notice of an SRA meeting for the purpose of recall by:
8.3.2.1 Sending written notification to all SRA members;
8.3.2.2 Positing it on the official MSU notice board.
8.3.3 Recall shall be automatic upon two-thirds affirmative vote of the total membership of the SRA at two (2) consecutive SRA meetings;
8.3.4 Vacancies created by a recall motion shall be filled through a by-election according to established MSU procedures.
On a side note, next time, I am not going to do an interview on camera chewing gum. lol My practical education continues.