UMSU AGM 2006
Students meet with union representatives
Chelsea Moore staff
The annual general meeting (AGM) of UMSU was held March 22, with an open invitation to students to become more involved in the students’ union. Along with the current and most of the incoming UMSU executive, students discussed their chief concerns regarding budget issues, transportation and food services on campus.
Although students participated by debating about these issues, official business did not take place, because a quorum of 200 students is necessary to invoke policy changes at the annual general meetings, and this one fell short by nearly 175 people.
The meeting kicked off with reports from the executive concerning what exactly they have been doing over the 2005-06 school year.
One of UMSU’s main concerns over the past year has been the $315 ancillary fee passed by the Board of Governors last April that was not collected from students as a result of $8.9 million in funding from the provincial government last July.
According to UMSU president Amanda Aziz, an increase in these fees from last year’s $150 to $465 has already been sanctioned by U of M’s Board of Governors, but whether or not it will be implemented starting in the next school year is yet to be determined.
As a result, UMSU has been working together with the Canadian Federation of Students to create a campaign called FeeWatch, which is designed to help students fight against ancillary fees and to maintain support for the tuition fee freeze.
Also discussed was the 2006-07 provincial budget, which legislated that the tuition fee freeze in Manitoba will continue next fall for the seventh consecutive year.
Manitoba universities have also received about a seven per cent increase in funding, and over $12 million of that goes to the U of M.
Josh Mason, UMSU’s director of student affairs, talked about the expansion of the UMSU living office to add a vendor selling bus passes and other merchandise. He added that they’ve seen a “growing need” for this service on campus.
The director of internal administration, Rachel Gotthilf, noted that profits within UMSU businesses have soared this past year, running at 160 per cent of their expected revenue.
Aziz gave a review of UMSU’s work on food services. She discussed the ARAMARK contract extension of seven months and UMSU’s plans to put forward their own bid for the next food services contract, which will be negotiated in April of 2007.
One resident student suggested that allowing the use of declining balance cards at GPA’s would be practical, because residents could then purchase food to take home, like bottles of pop and packaged soup.
Aziz noted that this plan is already underway, as is the debate around transportation and parking at the U of M.
“Parking is obviously an issue on campus,” noted Aziz. “It has a lot to do with the lack of quality transit in the city of Winnipeg.”
Some alternative means of improving transportation to the U of M that Aziz mentioned were park-and-rides, more carpooling and the creation of a universal buss pass (UPass) to help reduce the amount of vehicles on the road.
However, some concern was displayed over the potential conflict between transit users and car drivers if the universal pass is implemented, as the cost would most likely be shared by all students.
