Highlights From The Feb. 8 CSU Council Meeting

NewsJulian Ward — Published February 9, 2012

CUSAcorp in the Red, Again

CSU VP Finance Jordan Lindsay presented a much-anticipated report on the state of CUSAcorp, the for-profit corporation of the student union.

“For [CUSAcorp] to be profitable, might be tremendously difficult in the long run,” said Lindsay. Both Lindsay and CSU President Lex Gill stressed that CUSAcorp has always been a money losing operation.

CUSAcorp has an operational deficit of $51,439 from the four months of the fall semester, mostly because of Reggie’s, which Lindsay said “eats up” any profits made by other money-making enterprises in the corporation. He explained that major efforts are being put into ensuring that Reggie’s can become a profit-making company. Improved marketing, improved lighting, a new system for managing alcohol sales and theme nights are all being implemented.

Le Frigo Vert and Gender Advocacy Centre on the March Ballot

Counsellors voted to include two fee-levy questions in the CSU general election in March. Students will be asked to vote on Le Frigo Vert having an eight-cent increase from 25 cents to 33 cents per credit and the Gender Advocacy Centre having a fee-levy increase of 10 cents per credit, raising their fee levy from 29 cents to 39 cents.

Minimum Agreement Voted Down

After a heated debate, the contentious ‘minimum agreement’ was finally voted down by counsellors. The agreement would have bound counsellors to not publicly criticize any faction of the movement against tuition hikes; it would also bind the union to not negotiate with the government if the government refused to have all umbrella student groups at the bargaining table; and it would have prevented the umbrella organizations, like the FEUQ and ASSE, from making a unilateral decision on behalf of its member associations, instead letting all associations vote independently.

“At this point in time the minimum agreement is irrelevent. […] We’re just wasting time and resources discussing something that is no longer an issue,” said CSU VP External Chad Walcott, who made a small speech on why counsellors should vote against the agreement.

In the end, three counsellors voted for the agreement, while eleven voted against, and one abstained.

Student Governor Seats Officially Eliminated by CSU
The CSU officially updated their standing regulations to remove the Board of Governors seats, which, after this school year, will no longer exist.

Late last year, the Board of Governors voted to cut the number of representatives down, with students being one of the hardest hit groups. As of June, rather than the current setup of four representatives—two elected by the student body, and two named by Council, with the president of the CSU traditionally taking one of those seats—students will now only have one voting representative and
one other alternate representative who will have speaking rights but no voting rights, except at the committee level.

The new voting governor will be chosen from among the executive and the alternate governor will be chosen by counsel at their June council meeting.

The alternate governor can be any student who is a member of the CSU.