Responses to Johnny and Amanda

Ok, so Johnny outlined why he's against the Society Development Fund. Last week, I indicated that I'm in favour of the Fund. Here's why: I want to see what the SFSS can do with all that extra money.

Now, I understand the apprehension Johnny may have over dumping $430,000 into a largely undefined "fund". However, I don't think we should have the SFSS continually coming back to the electorate to approve funds for important projects. There are projects, like the renovations to student spaces on campus, that the SFSS is already working on and that should be completed as soon as possible. I'd rather give the SFSS the money and let them do what students elected them to do. I'm willing to give them a chance to impress me.

What if they don't impress? If the SFSS doesn't do well, students only have to wait a year to kick them out. Or depending on the circumstances, students can impeach the whole lot of them. I think recent history has shown that SFU students can effectively hold their student society representatives accountable.

Having said all that, I should mention that I'm no longer a student, so none of that $430,000 will actually be coming out of my wallet. Nevertheless, if I was a student, I'd still support establishing the Fund.



On an entirely unrelated note, I must also respectfully disagree with Amanda Sung's assertion that if this had been a municipal, provincial, or federal election, Xenia would have been labeled indecisive because she is a woman. Yes, I agree that she would have been portrayed as being indecisive. However, she'd be portrayed that way not because she's a woman, but because she in fact reversed her decision about running. She announced that she wasn't running and then changed her mind and entered the race.

I doubt the media would treat Joe Paling any differently if he had done that instead of Xenia. His opponents certainly wouldn't have thought twice about calling him indecisive. If that's what his opponents are focusing on, the media isn't going to overlook it because Joe is a man. Paul Martin and Stephane Dion immediately come to mind as examples. When the federal Conservatives accused Paul Martin of dithering, the media picked it up. More recently, the media has reported on Stephane Dion's seeming indecision over when to bring down the government. I simply can't see the media linking gender with decisive/indecisiveness.

-1

The results from the other four referendums are in, and all passed with comfortable margins:

• Question #2: Society Development Fund
  Yes: 3,010 (73%)
  No: 1,123 (27%)
  
  
• Question #3: Ending Acclamations
  Yes: 3,125 (79%)
  No: 848 (21%)
  
  
• Question #4: Membership in student organizations
  Yes: 2,497 (69%)
  No: 1,140 (31%)
  
  
• Question #5: Undergraduate health plan
  Yes: 3,559 (83%)
  No: 751 (17%)

I've already talked about Question #2 (disappointed, but the people have spoken, or at least the ones who like giving money away did). I'm "whatever"s about the other three passing.

On Question #3 of ending acclamations, it felt good to vote for it, but it will probably be rare that a "yes/no" candidate ever fails to get elected. It would take some sort of huge public relations disaster to motivate enough people to vote "no" against you (and I mean huge -- like, three or four Joe Palings worth).

The Question #4 on membership in student organizations is apparently to prevent the SFSS from joining another CFS again. It reminds me of a bad computer science joke which goes, "if you strive to make a program fool-proof, the universe will just make a bigger fool." Hmm... "if you strive to make running a student society fool-proof, the universe will just make a bigger fool." Hey, it still works!

The last question on a health/dental plan for undergrads is interesting because it won by the largest margin of any of the other referendums. I personally wouldn't have thought undergrads were that interested in a health/dental plan. We'll see how thrilled they are when they learn it will run them an extra hundred bucks a semester.

Final Results

Looks like the recounts are finished. The final election results and referendum results are in.

Johnny already offered some witty commentary on the results. Hopefully I'll find time to add my own comments soon, especially since Johnny and I are apparently on opposite sides of the Development Fund referendum question.

Preliminary CFS Membership Referendum Results by Day and Polling Station

Here are the unofficial day-by-day, poll-by-poll results published by Earl Tapia, President of the Philosophy Student Union and one of the candidates for Member Services Officer. These results (other than the overall NO 66% and YES 32%) have not yet been confirmed by the Independent Electoral Commission.


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Things to note:

- These numbers are only for the first referendum question, which was continuing membership in the CFS.
- I don't have the numbers for spoiled/blank ballots or the mail-in ballots (15 mail-in ballots I think was the total?) because I was in and out during the counting, but from what I remember hearing they were small and insignificant and/or they haven't come in yet.
- These are the unofficial results, and may change by a couple of numbers. The IEC will most likely release the official numbers sometime when all the referendum question results are released.
- I just did the math, and the numbers I'm getting now are off by about 10 - 20 for each side compared to some very early numbers that were released. Not enough to make any real difference, but should still be noted. This can most likely be attributed to my shoddy note taking and, in general, my frazzled state of mind.
- If you're not concerned about the individual polling stations, the totals are at the bottom.
- Forward to anyone and everyone.

MARCH 18

Surrey:
Y 52
N 149

Vancouver:
Y 53
N 50

Burnaby:
West Mall
Y 78
N 135

AQ
Y 226
N 406

Library
Y 138
N 295


MARCH 19

Surrey:
Y 24
N 61

Vancouver:
Y 18
N 43

Burnaby:
West Mall
Y 60
N 112

AQ
Y 216
N 470

Library
Y 115
N 276


MARCH 20

Surrey:
Y 36
N 78

Vancouver:
Y 30
N 46

Burnaby:
West Mall
Y 61
N 106

AQ
Y 220
N 450

Library
Y 135
N 251


TOTALS:

Surrey:
Y 112
N 288

Vancouver:
Y 101
N 139

Burnaby:
Y 1249
N 2501

ALL CAMPUSES
Y 1462
N 2928

I don't want to give the exact percentage, because I don't have the numbers for the spoiled/blank and mail-in ballots, but it's around 66%.

SFU Says NO to CFS (Again)

Early this morning, Amy Fox, External Relations Officer for the SFSS, announced that for a second year in a row SFU students have voted to leave the Canadian Federation of Students.

Referendum Question:
Are you in favour of maintaining membership in the Canadian Federation of Students?

Results (as unofficially posted on Facebook):
NO 2948 (67%)
YES 1452 (33%)

[edit 3:35 am: at this hour, the Independent Electoral Commission is reporting NO (66%) and YES (32%) on their website.]

Voter Turnout: approx. 19%

UVIC Grad Students Vote NO to CFS

The Martlet, UVIC's student newspaper is reporting that UVIC's grad students have voted to leave the Canadian Federation of Students. Fifty-eight percent of voters voted against maintaining CFS membership.

[update 11:45 am: here's the breakdown...

No: 260
Yes: 192
Spoiled: 5

(Quorum was 125 votes)]

Record Turnout

I've heard that yesterday's voter turnout was a record for a non-upass referendum. You can still vote in both the referenda and elections today and tomorrow from 9:30 am to 7:30 pm.

Voting stations will be set up in the AQ, WMX, and Library as well as the lobbies of the Harbour Centre and Surrey campuses.

Both undergraduate and graduate students can vote. Remember to bring your student card.

Fed Wars

"I am CFS-- Celebrity Style" is the best anti-CFS group on Facebook. Check out their Fed Wars video.

Patrick's Picks

Unfortunately, I'm ineligible to vote because I'm not taking any courses at SFU this semester. However...here's how I'd vote if I could vote:

President: Xenia Menzies
Treasurer: Anna Belkine
Member Services Officer: Michael VandenAkker
External Relations Officer: Meagan Thomas
Internal Relations Officer: Haida Arsenault-Antolick
University Relations Officer: Ryan Daw
Members at Large: Jonathan Brockman, John Morrison III

Referendum Questions:

1. Are you in favour of maintaining membership in the Canadian Federation of Students? NO.

2. If the Simon Fraser Student Society ceases to be a member of the Canadian Federation of Students, do you agree that the former CFS membership fees of $7.64 per semester for full time students and $3.82 for part-time students should be redirected into a Society Development Fund which will result in no overall fee increase for students?” YES.

3. Do you support the amendment of By-Law 14 (17) as written?

By-Law 14 (17)
a. If only one valid nomination is received for a particular office, the Independent Electoral Commission will conduct an election in which the nominated candidate will face a “yes/no” election.

b. If a candidate fails to receive a majority of “yes” votes, then the contested position will remain vacant.

YES.


4. Do you support the creation of By-Law 22 as written and the corresponding changes to By-Law 17(3)? YES.

5. Are you in favour of the SFSS developing an extended health and dental plan for undergraduate students? YES.

Vote!

It's time to vote!

Voting will take place on March 18, 19, and 20 from 9:30 am to 7:30 pm every day.

Voting stations will be set up in the AQ, WMX, and Library as well as the lobbies of the Harbour Centre and Surrey campuses.

Both undergraduate and graduate students can vote. Remember to bring your student card.