So the STUSU election is upon us all and there are some nice issues to choose from, including the ever-present buzz word “accountability.”
Many of the candidates would like us to believe that accountability means openness, responsibility and fairness. For the most part the STUSU meets all of these; all expenses are well documented, and most are open to public scrutiny as they should be.
Why do we bring this up?
Well, both these humble writers attend the Atlantic University Undergraduate History and the Classics Conference put on by St. Thomas University Society for History (STUSH) right here at STU.
While talking to the coordinators, we discovered there was a slight misunderstanding concerning clubs and societies funding regarding the event.
STUSH had sent an open-ended funding request on the Feb. 3.
The STUSU responded with $150 to offset the registration fees for STU students, deducting $15 because Mitch Messom had already requested this. This funding was to help the students attend, but not to help fund the actual event.
So after clarifying the funding request, the STUSU caved in and gave STUSH $235. This miscommunication left us curious, so we went to the STUSU books.
We believe that what we found was done completely within the bounds of STUSU policy, and is in no way contrary to the normal operation of the STUSU.
However, we list the following expenses to give people a chance to decide for themselves what they want to change next year – if anything – and consider their own opinions of accountability.
STRAX – $650 (radical left-wing group and STUSU’s biggest expense)
NB Public Interest Group – $400 (left-wing group with a goal to create a student union fee to fund themselves)
Students For Sustainability – $600 (environmental group and supporter of a bottled-water ban)
The other big expenses without ideological slants
St. Thomas University International Student Association – $600
Native Student Council – $475
UNB/STU Cheerleaders – $400
It seems odd that the biggest expenses seem to be highly ideologically-driven causes which most of the members of the finance committee are either directly involved in, or in favour of. It also seems strange that purely academic causes such as STUSH, the economic society and GRID society got $235, $250, and $100 respectively.
Let us take a look at part of the list for academic assistance.
At least two members of the SRC received $300 in academic assistance, and one other member received $175. The Aquinan received $800 for five people to travel to a conference. The biggest expense in total was $2,000 for Rivendell Communication (Cuba), of which one of the current vice-presidents is part of.
Now, all of this is on the up and up. It is perfectly legal and legit. It just seems they splurged it all very early on, and it also seems that certain union members are partial to getting certain things on the fast track, while others get the penny pinch.
This article is only food for thought. So please ask questions of STUSU candidates.
Ask them what they really mean by accountability. Does it mean shoving the money out as quickly as possible to a select few and then claiming broke?
Personally we like to see all groups get the penny pinch equally, but we are not sure if that jives with what some candidates consider “accountability.”
Cui bono.
