Some cheap champagne after a hangover.

My last post on this ULSU blog as Vice President Academic…

What to say? This year has been amazing, its been thrilling and most of all, incredibly rewarding. I cannot think of the words that could express just how I feel leaving this organization.

So, in few words.

Thank you. To all who supported, all who detracted, to all who came in to visit, to rant, to cry and to demand retribution. I drink a glass of cheap champagne in your honor.

Love,

Jenn Prosser, no longer Vice President Academic of the University of Lethbridge Students’ Union.

(I dig the) Campus Roots Cooperative Garden

This weekend the Campus Roots Cooperative Garden club dug up the new and soon to be planted Campus Community Garden. I missed a bunch of the fun times, but still took some photo’s of the work done and felt a twinge a pride of the UofL community. Call me sentimental but I am pretty stoked to see all these individuals come together from different groups to create something beautiful.

This has been a long process and over the past two years Kyle Robinson and others have worked incredibly hard to make this happen, and now that it is I can only imagine the excitement these individuals must feel.

Well done, Roots Club, well done!

You can sign up for the Garden’s communal and individual plots here.

Love,

The ULSU (and the earth)

Gimme Shelter? Housing resources in Lethbridge

A little known program is available to Alberta residents here in Lethbridge to help out with high housing costs. The Rent Supplement Program, funded by the Alberta government and other stake holders and administered through Lethbridge Housing Authority, this program pays anything above the threshold of 30% of the tenants income to subsidize the difference between a negotiated market rent and 30% of the household income.

Any Alberta citizen is eligible to apply, but all applicants are prioritized based on need. This is a great program if you’re a student forced to live off campus due to residence being full and unable to accommodate your necessary monthly spending on your income because of the high cost of off campus housing. Families also benefit from this as it is total monthly income of the household. Application forms can be accessed here.

The LHA offers other housing programs to help individuals get into safe and affordable housing, if you or anyone you know need any help in this respect please contact them.

Housing remains to be a serious concern here in Lethbridge and although we have seen some movement in the number of rental proprieties available this past few months, it still is hovering at only about a 1% vacancy rate. Social Housing in Action (SHIA) and the Affordable Housing Task Forces (a joint committee with SHIA and the City of Lethbridge) have developed a plan to end homelessness, The Bringing Lethbridge Home Plan is available through the City of Lethbridge website as is Bob Tarleck’s personal vow to end homelessness. For information on what the province of Alberta is doing to combat this social issue, see their 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness.

Bring on the Little Kids!

Last week the U of L officially broke ground on the lastest addition to the campus – construction has begun on the new Daycare Facility here. This is a pretty big deal considering that this push for on campus daycare has taken nearly five full years to come to fruition.

Ground was broken by student leaders, senior level administrators, members of the Daycare Action Committee (DAC), and the outside service provider for the daycare facility. For many of the students present this opening was a large victory as the movement to bring daycare onto campus began as a grass roots movement. DAC was formed with the support of faculty and staff here at the U of L, but largely was made up of students. Their study on the need for daycare on campus was the prime spring board that got this issue moving along in the upper levels of administration. You can find many of their studies here.

All of those who worked so hard to bring this service to campus, congratulations – here’s to 2010, when the facility will officially open its doors for service.

Cheers,

Eric
VP Internal

CAUS: Budget 2009 Gives Students More of the Same

Budget 2009 gives students more of the same

Edmonton, AB – The Alberta 2009 budget puts the government into the red, but avoids passing down cuts into post-secondary education. Minister of Finance and Enterprise Iris Evans announced that Government of Alberta would be continuing their previous commitments in post-secondary education but unveiled little in the way of new spending or programs that were not previously announced.

“There is a missed opportunity to make post-secondary education the key to our economic recovery,” said Beverly Eastham, chair of the Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS). “But students are relieved to see that the government is not reversing the many gains that have been made in the last few years.”

Included in yesterday’s budget is a 6% increase to the base operating grants for universities. This will ensure that tuition does not go up past inflation and that Alberta’s universities do not face cuts similar to the early 1990’s. However, students and universities will continue to face serious challenges next year and throughout the duration of the economic downturn, as no new funding was announced within the student financial aid program despite rising costs in getting a degree.

“We are still far from having the most affordable universities in Canada or meeting the challenges in providing a higher quality education-but it is good that the province is not looking to put more of the cost onto students this budget,” concluded Eastham. “We wanted to see more funding and lower tuition, but this is fortunately not a step backwards.”

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The Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS) represents the interests of students at the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary and the University of Lethbridge.

For more information contact:
Beverly Eastham
CAUS Chair
tel: 780-492-4236
cell: 780-237-1707

On the tangibles of advocacy…

As outlined in the Post Secondary Learning Act of Alberta, the mandate of all student unions/associations in Alberta is to advocate on behalf of their constituents, to the University administration, and to the three levels of government. This year the ULSU has done this through its membership in The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), The Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS), attendance at City Council meetings, as well as on numerous committees at the University level (including the Board of Governors, the Senate, General Faculties Council, and University Budget).

Of these groups, the federal and provincial advocacy tends to be the most contentious when it comes to the student body. The ULSU pays approximately $26,000 in membership fees to CASA and CAUS. As you may have guessed, the money for these membership fees comes from YOUR SU fees. A common question we receive, and rightly so, is “What are the benefits of being part of these organizations?” People frequently want to see the tangibles for the money they have contributed, so how do we justify spending all this money to be part of these organizations?

The answer is quite simple – access.

March was home to the Lobby Conventions for both CAUS and CASA, which were both weeklong events during which members from the ULSU go to the respective capital cities and advocate on behalf of the students here at the University of Lethbridge.

For CAUS, President Adam Vossepoel, VP Academic Jenn Prosser, and VP Academic Comissioner Kendall Yamagishi spent several days in Edmonton lobbying MLA’s and Ministers. During that week, CAUS had 51 meetings with members of the Legislative Assembly, including meetings with the Minister of Advanced Education and Technology, Doug Horner. 

For CASA, Adam Vossepoel, President Elect Jeremy Girard, and I spent a week in Ottawa running around Parliament Hill. During that week, CASA had over 160 meetings with MP’s, Senators, and parliamentary aids. Some names you might recognize are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton, Elizabeth May, Gilles Duceppe, Stéphane Dion, Speaker of the House Peter Milliken, local MP Rick Casson, and local Senator Joyce Fairbairn. That’s right; we were able to meet with all five party leaders, a first for the organization. Also, I was invited to attend a special meeting with the top dogs at Elections Canada, were we had the opportunity to discuss the “Lethbridge Incident,” as well as future plans to increase accessibility for student voters.  

So all of these meetings are fine and dandy, but the follow-up question is do they accomplish anything?

If any of you were watching CPAC during the last week of March, you would have probably noticed a few questions during question period about Post Secondary Education, questions that were formulated directly from CASA policy. During the 2008 Federal Election, many of the main political parties had policy almost word-for-word from CASA in their PSE plans. Both the new Canadian Student Grant Program and Repayment Assistance Program introduced by the government address policy presented by CASA; policy that was contributed to by the ULSU. The ~$2 Billion in funding for deferred maintenance announced by the federal government was not just a victory for CASA, but also the University of Lethbridge, as we recognized this as a major issue on our campus. When teamed up with CAUS, we are able to secure $145 million of that for the U of L. Last year CAUS succeeded in lowering interest rates on student loans in Alberta, something that many of us here are quite appreciative of. Elections Canada said they want the ULSU to be one of their main partners in formulating a student strategy for the next election. Elizabeth May said the Green Party wants to use CASA as their main source of information and policy on PSE. The Prime Minister Stephen Harper talked positively about CASA in caucus (he is not frequently known for mentioning advocacy groups in caucus). If you noticed that now when you apply for an Alberta Student Loan, they no longer consider the value of your car as income, that’s another CAUS victory. The increase in funding for university residential spaces across the province? Check mark CAUS!

While these victories may seem small compared to the dozens upon dozens of policies presented by CASA and CAUS, you really need to look at the system in which they are working. If you ask for 30 things, you might only get two, and it could take a year or two to implement. That’s the nature of the bureaucracies of the provincial and federal government. However, that is MAJOR progress. It’s the needs of students being addressed, and both CASA and CAUS are attributed levels of success that many similar organizations could only dream of. Not many organizations can say they get meetings with the head of every political party, or have its members on a first name basis with the Minister of Advanced Education and Technology. But we can, and that’s worth something.

Brodie Pattenden

VP Admin

The 2008/2009 CAUS Membership

ULSU VP Admin Brodie Pattenden with Stephane Dion

ULSU President Adam Vossepoel with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff

 

 

 

 

Last Lecture 2009 podcasted

As a gift,

The lovely folks at CRDC recorded the 2009 Last Lecture series featuring Craig Milner, Robin Bright and Chris Kukucha. The video podcast is available on the Uleth itunes found on the new Unews site.

Or just click on THIS.

Love,

The ULSU and CRDC

Posting Problems

• ** WARNING! INCOMING RANT ***

Let me preface this by saying that this topic is not directed to any one person or department, it simply designed to spread awareness about an issue.

Okay. That is just about enough!

The ULSU ran into an issue this year. It was something that was never encountered in the past. And it was something that has caused considerable frustration to everyone that has ever suffered through it. I am talking about posting at the University of Lethbridge.

At first, we could ignore it. After all, it is just a couple of posters here and there. Maybe they fell down. Maybe the duct tape did not hold to concrete. Maybe a couple people did not agree with the content and tore them down. These things happen.

But then it got worse. Much worse. Soon, any poster that was trying to promote student life, whether it was from the Students’ Union, an on-campus group, or department was being ripped down. And it wasn’t just one or two posters here and there. It was systematic destruction of any and all posters on this campus.

The only “safe” place is on the sparse bulletin boards around campus. If you have seen the bulletin boards, you will see why I put safe in quotations. They are a cluttered mess, which are only cleaned off during convocations. Quite honestly, they so cluttered as to be useless. In addition, there is no set system as to which postings can go where, so anything and everything goes on all the boards that are not under glass. Rooms for rent, bands, Thailand trips, mushroom promotion, books for sale,  club events; it all becomes the same: unreadable and un-usable.

As an aside, this year, the ULSU, fed up with the clutter that infects boards in the SU Building, instituted a system: Grouping of posters by type. Was it effective? Yes. Was it expensive and complicated? No. All it involved was labeling the boards, and posting a guideline notice. Problem solved.

In addition to the bulletin boards, there is the matter of posting on concrete. Now, in the past, on-campus groups had been allowed to post on unfinished concrete surfaces. The postings typically had to be in the promotion of campus life, whether it was a special lecturer, or special event. This year, despite the new strategic plan outlining student engagement as a key priority, this is no longer the case.

Now, I am greatly in favor to the prohibition of posting on painted or finished surfaces. Duct tape, the typical material for affixing posters, can seriously damage drywall or laminate. But concrete?! Duct tape is strong, but I have yet to encounter a type that can compromise the structural, or even surface integrity of concrete.

So, what is the point of this rant? Well, something need to change. It seems like a fairly trivial issue to get worked up over. But it is not. As stupid as it sounds, posters are important at the University of Lethbridge.

So, a call to action:

The posting guidelines need to change. Rather than promoting the university community to be involved, it is hurting it. Posters, despite their weaknesses, are still a very simple, and very effective way to communicate. They show that there are people on this campus that are excited to be here, people that want to get others excited as well.  Posters demonstrate that there is life within these austere, concrete walls. Let’s make sure that that life can grow and flourish.

So, what are we doing to change these guidelines? First, we need your feedback. Email me (su.president@uleth.ca) with your comments and frustrations,  but also with your suggestions for improvement. We will take it from there.

I am admittedly biased, but in my mind, posters around the campus are a good thing. They are one of the things that make Universities unique. In what other environment can you find so much activity in such a small space? People; staff, students, and faculty, complain that there is nothing to do here. I vehemently disagree. The University of Lethbridge is a hive of activity and excitement. There are many people here who are passionate about promoting campus culture. Posters help them do that.

Adam Vossepoel

President