SFSS election results

Unofficial results are posted on the SFSS election website. Winners for all but the at-large positions have been decided:

President: Derrick Harder
Member Services Offier: Chris Sandve
Internal Relations Officer: Sean Magee
External Relations Officer: Graham Sasha Fox
Treasurer: Adam Lein

The winners for the at-large positions will be determined once all the mail-in ballots are received.

SFU winter break camps & clinics (ages 5-17 yrs)

SFU Recreation & Athletics is offering numerous Winter Break Camps and Clinics for children and youth ages 5-17yrs. NOTE: As the Recreation Office is CLOSED Dec. 25 - Jan. 1, it is recommended that you register before DEC. 22, 2006.

WINTER CAMPS (Jan. 2-5, 2007):
Winter Rec Camp (ages 5-7yrs & 8-12yrs)
Symphony Safari I - Music Camp (ages 5-10yrs)
Counsellor in Training (ages 14-17yrs)

WINTER CLINICS (Dec. 27 - Jan. 6, 2007):
Basketball Game Day Clinics (various ages)
Softball Christmas Clinics (various ages)
Volleyball Winter Skills Clinics (ages 9-16yrs):

All camp, clinic and registration details are online at http://rec.sfu.ca

SFSS candidate debate to be rebroadcast

The all-candidate debate will be rebroadcast on CJSF (90.1 FM) on:

• Sunday, December 17 at 8:30am
• Monday, December 18 at 12:00pm.

SFSS election debate this Thursday

The IEC (Independent Electoral Commission) just ruled that there will be a candidate debate this Thursday at noon in the Maggie Benson Atrium (the area near the Ladle). The IEC will try to have the debate broadcast in some manner for the benefit of students who can't come to campus.

SFSS election candidate statements now available

candidate statements are now posted on the SFSS election website. Click on the name of the positions that are up for election to view the statements.

Development planned inside BC provincial parks

Under it's 2006 "BC Park Lodge Strategy", The BC government has opened 12 protected provincial parks to private developers to build and operate accomodations inside wilderness areas ranging from 10-15 person huts to a 100-bed hotel with restaurant, marina and gift shop. Calls for proposals from developers opened in August 2006, and proposals have so far been submitted for Mount Robson Provincial Park (near Jasper; part of the UNESCO Canadian Rocky Mountains World Heritage Site), and Maxhamish Lake Provincial Park (near border to NWT; the only protected area in the Maxhamish Uplands ecosection). Ten other parks opened to development have not yet had proposals submitted by developers. Other parks may be opened for proposals under the Park Lodge Strategy at any time.

There was no public consultation into the BC Park Lodge Strategy, and this initiative has garnered widespead public criticism. For example, at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) Annual General Meeting on October 27, 2006, representatives from over 95% of BC's municipalities & regional authories voted to express their opposition to these plans for development inside provincial parks. However, the Province appears to be pushing ahead quickly with this initiative despite its unpopularity.

If you'd like, you can write or email your MLA, or Gordon Campbell about this.

Premier Gordon Campbell
Legislative Buildings
Victoria, BC, V8V 1X4
Email: premier@gov.bc.ca

More information:
Friends of the Campaign for BC Parks
Wilderness Committee
Globe & Mail Article

Openings for students on Faculty Structure Task Force

There are openings for 1 grad, and 1 undergrad. As best as I can gather, the job of this task force is to try to figure out how to implement planned changes to the Faculties structure at SFU (this is "phase 2" referred to in a previous post about this task force). The Board will probably vote to recommend someone, so if you're interested, show up at the next Board meeting (probably Dec 21st), email an SFSS Director, or contact task force chair (& VP Finance) John Waterhouse directly. I hear that there will also be subcommittees formed later with other openings for students. Details: task force will operate from Jan-Nov 2007, and carries a fairly high workload (perhaps a 3 hour meeting every 2-3 weeks, plus reviewing proposals, etc).

SFSS by-election candidate info

[UPDATED] There are 2 more says of voting (Monday & Tuesday, Dec 18 & 19 on Burnaby campus). Here are the updated info sources on the candidates:

1. Candidate statements on are posted on the SFSS election website.
   
2. The candidate debate will be rebroadcast on CJSF (90.1 FM) on Sunday, December 17 at 8:30am and on Monday, December 18 at 12:00pm.
3. Some candidates spoke at the GIC (Graduate Issues Committee) meeting on Dec 6 - for those in Biology, I think Raul emailed out the GIC minutes this morning. Also, I was at GIC, so you can email me (cmoray@sfu.ca) if you have any questions. For those in other departments, ask your GIC rep for more info.
4. Blog commentary on candidates at StudentUnion.ca (mosty facts), and on Xenia Menzies' blog (mostly opinion).
   
5. Most candidates have posters up.
6. There is a Facebook discussion group on the election.

Update: senate task forces on faculty & academic structure

Office of the Vice President Academic
Tue, Dec 5, 2006 at 2:39 PM

I am pleased to advise you that at the meeting of Senate last night, the motions contained in the Final Report of the Faculty Structure Task Force were approved. This means that the next stage of the academic structure initiative will proceed. The Phase 2 Task Force on Academic Structure will be established by the Vice President, Academic and members appointed in consultation with the Senate Committee on University Priorities. We will begin the work of the Phase 2 Task Force early in January.

The Phase 2 Task Force will send out a detailed community announcement in early January outlining its membership, mandate, plan of action, timelines for submissions and processes for community engagement. I look forward to working with all members of the University community on this important initiative.

Sincerely,

Dr. John Waterhouse
Vice-President, Academic and Provost

How to Donate to United Way

From: Paulette Johnston
Date: Dec 5, 2006 1:07 PM

In response to several enquiries about this:

You can donate to the SFU United Way campaign with a credit card at http://www.uwlm.ca/default.htm

You can donate by payroll deduction by accessing the SFU pledge form at http://www.sfu.ca/united-way/donate.html Print it out and when you have completed it send to SFU United Way Administration, c/o Faculty of Applied Sciences, SFU Burnaby.

Many thanks in advance to all of you considering a December donation.

Changes to University Policies GP 13 (Ergonomics),

From: K.C. Bell
Date: Dec 4, 2006 3:12 PM

Please note that the following policy has been revised. A gazette of all policies can be found on the Internet at: http://www2.sfu.ca/policies/.

GP 13 -- Ergonomics (Effective Immediately)

This policy updates and replaces the earlier policy on "Office Computer Workstations" and reflects current standards in providing an ergonomically correct working environment.

Questions regarding this policy should be directed to Pat Hibbitts, Vice President, Finance and Administration, at 604-291-3381 or email pat_hibbitts@sfu.ca.

--

K.C. Bell
Director, Special Projects
Office of the President
Simon Fraser University
604-268-6877 (phone)
604-291-4860 (fax)
kbell@sfu.ca

More details on court proceedings & decision

To: Forum
Date: Dec 4, 2006 4:04 PM
Subject: more details on court proceedings & decision

Dear Forum,

Here is a more detailed summary of the court proceedings and the judge's decision.

The petition filed in Supreme Court regarding the validity of the resolutions passed at SFSS Special General Meeting (SGM) was heard on November 30 and Dec 1, and the judge's decision was delivered on December 4.

November 30 began with Don Crane giving his arguments on behalf of the Petitioners (the Directors impeached at the SGM). In the afternoon session, Susan Coristine presented arguments on behalf of Respondent Jan Gunn and interested parties, including remaining Directors Andrea Sandau, Joel Blok, Ben Milne, Ivy So, Heather Ball and Melody Li, and Forum Reps Adam Lein, Deena Rubuliak and Amy Homan. The judge asked a lot of questions to both Don Crane and Susan Coristine.

Susan continued her arguments on Friday Dec 1, and was followed by Ulf Ottho, representing Respondents Titus Gregory and Bryan Jones, and interested party Michael Letourneau. Don Crane was then given an opportunity to reply to the arguments of the Respondents before the court was adjourned to await a decision from the judge. On this day, the judge had few questions for Coristine and Ottho, however he asked Crane a large number of questions about his legal arguments. In particular the judge objected to Don's characterization of Forum "usurping" the powers of the Board, and that his characterization of the SGM as a "mob of students" (although Crane had quickly retracted the "mob" reference). There was a bit of a buzz at the end of the lunch break, when the three lawyers were informed that Wei Li had presented SFSS staff with a memo stating that they are not to assist with the by-election. This memo had halted the hiring of polling clerks for the by-election that was supposed to occur that day (students had stood in line for a long time to apply for these positions). Crane apparently spoke to Wei Li on the phone during the afternoon break in order to secure his pledge to retract the memo and stop interfering with the By-election. The judge asked whether an injunction was required, but Ottho said that the three lawyers were satisfied with Mr. Crane's full assurance that none of the Petitioners (impeached Directors) would interfere with the By-election in any manner having been stated for the court record. However, despite Crane's assurance, by 5 pm Wei had not retracted his memo to the staff.

In total, the arguments of the two sides took 9 hours. On both Thursday and Friday, there were approximately 20 supporters present for the Respondents, while the other side of the room remained empty except for Margo Dunnet, who attended on behalf of the Petitioners.

For the ruling on Monday there were approximately 20 supporters for the Respondents, but none of the Petitioners were there. The judge began by saying that there were three main questions before him to decide upon:

1) Was the Forum meeting held on September 27, 2006 – at which the SGM was called - invalid due to Glyn Lewis' purported cancellation?

The Judge first stated that past practice within the Student Society with regard to the cancellation of Forum meeting was, in his view, not determinative. He stated that the fact that Forum meetings had been "cancelled" in the past was not relevant to this case because they had not been legally cancelled but were properly viewed as having not occurred as no one showed up, and therefore quorum was not achieved. The Judge said that Glyn Lewis had no legal authority to cancel the Forum meeting, and that the evidence suggests that Lewis' real motivation to cancel the meeting was to frustrate the process that would lead to his impeachment. The Judge continued that if people were confused as to whether or not to attend the Forum meeting (as was one of the arguments made by Don Crane), this confusion was caused by the actions of Mr. Lewis and therefore the Petitioners could not take advantage of it to support their argument.

2) Was quorum met at this meeting?

The issue of quorum hinged on whether Forum reps who have handed in their resignations before their meeting need to have them ratified before they become effective. Don Crane argued that Forum had to ratify all resignations, and therefore only 15 out of 30 members were present at the Forum meeting of Sept 27th – not enough for quorum. The Respondents had stated that resignations did not need to be ratified. Therefore, with 2 resignations having been received before the meeting, there were only 28 members of Forum such that the 15 reps present did make a quorum. The Judge ruled that our by-laws and policies do not require ratification of resignations by Forum members, and that the Forum meeting of September 27 met quorum and was valid.

3) Should the court use its power to set aside irregularities when it's in the best interest of the Society to uphold the resolutions of the SGM (if irregularities are found re: points 1 & 2 above)?

The Respondents had asked that if the Forum meeting was found to have irregularities (i.e., non-quorate or due to the purported cancellation), that the court use its power to uphold the resolutions passed at the SGM anyway. The Judge stated that this was unnecessary because there were no irregularities with the Forum meeting of Sept 27th. He said, however, if he had found the Forum meeting to be invalid, he would have upheld the SGM, as the Respondents requested. The Judge noted that the Petitioners had used every strategy they could devise to frustrate the members from holding an SGM. In particular, he pointed out that the President should have called an SGM due to having received a petition signed by 9.8 % of the membership, as the By-laws only require 5% and are not in conflict with the Society Act as had been argued by the Petitioners.

The Judge then dismissed the Petition. The Respondents were awarded costs, which will be levied against the Petitioners as individuals (not against the Society).

The Judge's decision was more detailed, and will likely be available soon on the Forum website www.studentunion.ca/forum/lawsuit.html (where all documents relating to this case can be found).

Sincerely,

Forum Representatives:
Adam Lein
Clea Moray
Deena Rubuliak

SFSS impeachments upheld!

This email was just send to Forum:

Hi everyone,

This is a quick note to let you all know that this morning the BC Supreme Court ruled on the SGM. The judge dismissed the petition, and ruled that the SGM & impeachments are all valid. The judge also ordered that the individual impeached Directors pay costs.

We will send out a more details explanation of the judge's decision this afternoon.

Thanks!

Clea Moray, Deena Rubuliak & Adam Lein (Forum Reps)

This email was just to GIC:

Hello GIC,

Please forward this to your caucuses.

The judge has upheld the results of the SGM and the Forum meeting where the SGM was called. He said that even if the Forum meeting was invalid he still would have made the SGM valid because it was the true will of the people and Shawn, et. al., made explicit attempts to prevent us from doing what we are legally allowed to do. He also made the individual directors responsible for the costs of the trial.


Please encourage everyone to come out to the GIC meeting on Wednesday at 12:30 in the grad lounge to have a good round of applause in support of all your hard work and to discuss the next step in ensuring grad students have a say, namely in the by-election.

thank you,

Ben Milne and Joel Blok

Paper topographic maps to continue

A while ago I forwarded an email about the Federal Ministry of Natural Resources plan to discontinue the printing of paper topographic maps and switch to producing online maps only. As an update: on October 12, 2006, the Minister of Natural Resources stated that they have reversed this decision in response to a large amount of public protest: paper maps will continue to be produced. More info: CBC article or Maps for Canadians website.

- Clea Moray

Want to receive REM seminar notifications?

In a recent email, the Resources & Environmental Management (REM) department seminar organizers note that anyone can sign up to receive email notifications of their seminars by sending a request to rem-seminar-committee@sfu.ca.

- Clea Moray

Art and Social Change dialogue with Judith Marcuse

Around the world, the arts increasingly provide potent tools for creating positive change in the lives of individuals and the societies in which they live. Join us for this free public dialogue Animating Democracy: Art and Social Change with Judith Marcuse, choreographer and producer.

Thursday, December 7, 2006 | 7-9:30 pm
SFU's Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, 580 W Hastings St
Registration is required; call 604-291-5100
Web: http://www.sfu.ca/dialogue/current.htm#g
PDF: http://www.sfu.ca/~nmaha/MarcuseAnimatingDemocracy.pdf

Whether it is puppets used for AIDS education in Africa, dance and theatre performances that address women's and girls' rights in Pakistan or youth-created music that speaks about life in the streets of Rio, these practices can nurture hope and meaningful change - and are critical elements in the development of essential dialogue. Choreographer and producer Judith Marcuse will speak about some of these wide-ranging global arts initiatives, including her own youth-centred work and, with participants, will explore some of the issues in the field, particularly as they relate to voice, power and social change.

Judith Marcuse, LLD, is the artistic producer of Judith Marcuse Projects and of the EARTH Project, an international arts initiative with youth that is exploring issues of social justice and environmental sustainability. As one of Canada's honoured senior artists, she has wide-ranging credits as a dancer, choreographer, teacher, director and producer that include work for dance, theatre, opera, television and film. In June 2000, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Simon Fraser University.
As an artist, I know the transformative power, the connecting energy, and the healing, celebratory, revelatory, challenging, expansive and enlivening power of art practices - in their silences, their ambiguity, and the spaces they create - whether one is a consumer, a participant, a creator or an observer.
-Judith Marcuse, dancer, choreographer and producer

Supported in part by the ICBC Civil Economy Endowment.

--Nicole Mah
Program Assistant
Dialogue Programs, Simon Fraser University

Clubs Days sign up

Clubs Days sign up is now on: come by the General Office in MBC 2250 to sign up. Clubs Days will be January 16, 17, 18th, and you can sign up for two of the three days.

United Way donations (not going well...)

'Twas the month before Christmas
and all thru the campuses
United Way donations were waning....

Look around your community this winter and it's clear how much our donations are needed by homeless people, seniors, and the many children and families affected daily by poverty. These are the very people that United Way of the Lower Mainland helps.

But to be blunt: SFU United Way donations are not what volunteers expected.

There are 219 fabulous Burnaby donors (9.5% of staff/faculty), 19 wonderful Vancouver donors (11.4%), and 7 outstanding Surrey donors (8%). Thank you to all of you who have helped us reach 66% of the SFU donation goal to date.

Your community needs you. Desperately.

Although the "official" United Way month at SFU has ended, donations are very welcome in December. Consider purchasing one less gift on your Christmas list to make a one time donation, or join the growing list of SFU staff and faculty who make payroll donations and give a small amount all year long. As an additional incentive for December, the FINAL PRIZES have been held over to Friday, December 15. At that time we will be drawing from ALL donations made in November and December for:

A day's sailing with Dr. Nello Angerilli (Imagine: a chance to tell a V.P. what you really think!)
$100 in cold, hard cash donated by Roton Industries Ltd. on Granville Island
8 x 10 photo (of your choice) from LIDC Image Library
Stamp Collection donated by SFU Microstore - 65 mint stamps
Parking space at SFU Burnaby
Gift certificate for the Diamond Alumni Centre (2 of these)

This week's draw prize winner (the last of the weekly draw prizes) is Vivian Blackwell, with Document Delivery Service, Burnaby campus library. She has won a copy of Over Beautiful BC: An Aerial Adventure. Congratulations and thank you Vivian!

- Paulette Johnston

SFU bookstore 20% off sale (Dec 6 - 8)

It's time for the SFU Bookstore Birthday Sale! Three days: Wednesday, December 6 - Friday, December 8. 20% off everything (except course books, custom orders, value priced books, gift certificates, and sale items) - at all locations.

By-election poll clerk hiring confusion

For those of you who tried to apply for the polling clerk positions on Friday (after standing in line for a long time, I've heard), please read the 2nd paragraph of the post below this one for a partial explanation of why the hiring didn't happen on Friday as it was supposed to. In follow-up to that, I have not yet been able to get any confirmation that Wei Li has actually instructed the staff to disregard his earlier memo that had stopped the hiring. However, the court ruling is expected at 9:30 on Monday, at which point either (1) Wei Li will cease to have any power over the staff (SGM upheld), or (2) the by-election will be presumably be cancelled (SGM overturned - I consider this unlikely).

Assuming that the by-election is proceeding, polling clerks are still needed. I assume that there will be information out very early next week about the hiring of polling clerks.


-- Clea Moray

SFSS - 2nd day in court - ruling on Monday

I attended the afternoon session of the 2nd day of the SFSS court hearing today. According to those present in the morning session, Coristine (attorney for Respondent Jan Gunn and unimpeached Directors) finished her arguments, Ottho (attorney for Respondents Titus Gregory and Bryan Jones) presented his arguments, and Crane (attorney for the Petitioners - the impeached Directors) began his reply to the arguments of Ottho & Coristine. It was reported to me that Ottho pointed out to the judge that if the Petitioners lose the case (i.e., if the SGM is upheld), then the Petitioners will have incorrectly named the SFSS as a Petitioner, and so the Respondent's request that the Petitioners pay "costs" should be interpreted as the individual impeached Directors having to pay instead of the Society. In the afternoon session, Crane continued his response, ending at approximately 3:50 pm. Court adjourned at that point. The judge stated that he would present his decision with reasons on Monday Dec. 4th at 9:30 am. (Once again, everyone is welcome to attend - Vancouver Supreme Court @ 800 Smithe St., between Howe and Hornby).

There was a bit of a buzz at the end of the lunch break, when the three lawyers were informed that Wei Li had allegedly presented SFSS staff with a memo stating that they would be disciplined or discharged if they assisted with the [by-election or specifically the hiring of polling clerks for the by-election - I'm not sure which] are not to assist with the by-election. This memo had halted the hiring of polling clerks for the by-election. This by-election is to elect new Directors to the indisputably vacant positions of President and Health Sciences Rep, and also (pending the court ruling) to the positions disputedly vacated by the impeachment of 6 Directors. Advanced polling is scheduled to start next week, and hiring for polling clerks was supposed to occur today. To the best of my knowledge, none of the impeached Directors has given any prior indication that they object to the by-election. Crane apparently spoke to Wei Li on the phone during the afternoon break in order to secure his pledge to stop interfering with the By-election. The judge asked whether an injunction was required, but Ottho said that the three lawyers were satisfied with Mr. Crane's full assurance that none of the Petitioners (impeached Directors) would interfere with the By-election in any manner having been stated for the court record.

Overall, I am happy with how things went today. There have been no major surprises for me in the hearing so far - neither in terms of the arguments raised, nor in terms of the judge's reaction to any of the arguments. Barring the unexpected, things should be resolved with the judge's ruling on Monday morning.

- Clea Moray

New Registrar for SFU

I am pleased to report that the Search Committee for the Registrar and Senior Director, Student Enrolment concluded its work and recommended to the President and to the Vice President Academic, that Ms. Kathleen (Kate) Ross be offered an appointment without term to the position. The President made a similar recommendation to the Board of Governors on 30 November and they accepted the recommendation. Ms. Ross will commence her new position at SFU on January 22, 2007.

Ms. Ross is a knowledgeable and skilled individual who has worked in the post-secondary arena in British Columbia for the past 20 years, and in a leadership role for the past 16 years. At Camosun College she has served in a variety of positions with increasing responsibility, including Director of Cooperative Education, acting Executive Director of Human Resources, and most recently, Registrar where she effectively managed the implementation of new software support systems for student services and enhanced enrolment management. Her references were unanimous that she is a well-regarded individual, respected by senior administration, by her staff and by the faculty and academic leaders of the college. The Search Committee is confident that Ms. Ross will apply those qualities effectively at SFU and we very much look forward to her arrival.

regards

Nello Angerilli, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President Students and International and Acting Registrar