#upeisu

( Image: Hannes Grobe/AWI ) Sunday night marked the third Council meeting in as many weeks, an unusual occasion for Student Union, and it showed -- the meeting was comparatively brief, light-hearted, and controversy-free. The provincial budget drops this week, and a Budget Town Hall will be held this Wednesday in AVC’s Lecture Theatre A from 11:30-12:30. Come take a gander. UPEI’s first annual Mental Health Week, which finished its rounds last Friday, was “really awesome”, according to VP Activities Jon Millington. Participation was much higher than had been anticipated, with pins and stickers circulating throughout campus all week. Wednesday saw a group of about 25 high school students sitting in on various classes – much to the chagrin of one psychology class that wrote a midterm under the judging stares, real or imagined, of the visitors. A small pack of puppies even made an appearance for Thursday, which has received some very positive feedback in spite of the lower-than-expected number of furry friends. After finally following up on its decision to deny free parking to UPEI motorists, the Farmers’ Market is “looking for feedback”. Contact VP Communications Chelsea Merry if you’ve got something to say. The Cadre’s website had over 6500 unique pageviews last month, a statistic which greatly exceeds that number of people that actually attend UPEI. Go us! Council went in-camera for a discussion surrounding New Student Orientation Policy. While no official details have been released, rumours have been flying as of late regarding the future direction of the annual program, and who will oversee it in years to come. The meat of the rest of the meeting concerned clarifications to UPEI’s Storm Closures Policy, and working out the kinks in the current document. As of now, if administration is unsure of a closing time by 7 AM on a potential storm day, a delay will be put into effect until 11, with a further announcement at 10. If campus closes, the Student Centre will be left open for students and faculty to “seek refuge.” Some councillors raised concerns over non-abidement of the current policy by faculty members, as some profs have allegedly gone on with their classes, campus closure be damned. Faculty cannot decide to close or remain open on its own, and must act in accordance with the rest of campus. Arts Rep. Amy Doyle noted that the “further announcement at 9” for one of the snow days last week did not show on the UPEI website until half an hour later, and that the website for Charlottetown radio station Hot 105.5 should not have this information before the university’s. The UPEISU plans to continue working in accordance with the University to resolve issues with the current Storm Closure document. Overheard in council: “We disposed of it in a legitimate way.”

MacDonald then took the blame for sharing the information with The Cadre, which he claimed to have done out of frustration with the lack of internal communication and the rushed decision to close the sandwich kiosk. When asked if he realized that he was releasing confidential information at that time, MacDonald responded, “Yes. I can honestly say that, as soon as I cooled down, I realized that ‘oh crap, I screwed up.’” Later in the meeting, Councilor Bob Déziel made a recommendation to the Student Union’s Ombudsman that she look into the breach in confidentiality made by VP Daniel MacDonald. That recommendation, which was then approved as a motion, sparked a larger discussion about confidentiality within Council. The topic will be revisited at later meetings. Council did eventually vote overwhelmingly in favour of closing the sandwich kiosk, after removing sections of the motion that referred to opening The Wave throughout the days next year. Towards the end of the meeting, conversation fell back on the lack of communication within the Student Union.  One Councillor brought up the fact that, this year, Council has almost been seen as a “formality” to the Executive, noting that the Executive claimed to have not made the decision when in practice they did. On Monday morning, the UPEISU released an open letter to students regarding The Cadre’s story last week. It should also be noted that VP Executive-Elect Travis Gordon stepped down on Monday morning from his position of Off-Campus News Editor, stating that he wanted to ensure that he had the full confidence of Councillors.  Gordon will continue to volunteer with The Cadre until the end of the academic year. 

( Photo: Josh Coles ) Editor's Note: This article has been updated in correlation with the UPEISU to reflect errors made at the time of publication. The UPEI Student Union let slip on Wednesday that they would be closing their sandwich kiosk—dubbed “Mickey’s Other Place”—on Monday, March 18, several weeks before the end of the semester. It will not be reopening next year. The original Mickey’s Place, generally known as “the coffee kiosk”, will not be affected by the change. The early closing of the sandwich kiosk is due largely to poor sales, which have plagued the kiosk throughout the 2012-2013 school year. Back in January, an Internal Operations Report delivered to Council by VP Finance Daniel MacDonald highlighted a substantial drop in the organization's net income, and that the UPEISU's savings account would only buy time. Student Union executives, along with General Manager Melissa Morrow, made the decision on Tuesday afternoon, with no prior notice given to the Student Union Council. “[We] made this decision in order to improve our current and future service offerings,” said SU President Kate VanGerven in a statement Wednesday afternoon. As it currently stands, the Student Union has an estimated $351,000.00 remaining from student fee revenue. While that may seem like a lot, it is in reality just enough to operate until the end of the current fiscal year (April 30).* Due to consistent losses from businesses such as Mickey's Other Place, the organization may be forced to reallocate money intended for savings to pay for operating expenses over the summer.* The benefit of closing the Smoothie Kiosk early? An estimated $500 in savings in salaries every two weeks for the remainder of the semester, and an unknown amount from product purchases. $500 bi-weekly may not seem like a lot, and it certainly is not -- however, the amount shows just how close to broke the UPEISU is this year.* VanGerven noted that most of a recently received food order will be returned to suppliers, and the remainder will be used by Mickey's Place and the Wave. The Student Union plans on continuing food services beyond the coffee kiosk in the fall semester. However, these services will be offered in The Wave, which, barring final approval by Council, will be opening earlier on a daily basis (see our story about the renovations from earlier this semester). These changes comes in the middle of a period of relative turmoil within the Student Union’s internal structure. Several weeks ago the position of Operations Manager—held at that point by Kirk Dingwell—was cut unexpectedly, again without prior notice to Councilors. Dingwell was a long time employee of the Student Union. With the recent decision to close Mickey's Other Place, and the planned amalgamation of kiosk services and the Wave, Mickey's Place manager Kim Collister's job may be also on the line. Although it is hard to pinpoint exactly what caused the lack of sales at the kiosk this year, factors may include poor services, lack of advertising, and the addition of a new Subway restaurant located in the CARI complex. What is for certain, however, is that the Student Union is suffering from lack of communication not only to its students, but internally as well. Even the Student Union Executive, including VP Finance Daniel MacDonald, was unaware of the poor state of the kiosk until mere days before it is set to be shut down. *The financial figure above reflect that money intended for monthly operation expenses, and does not represent the wealth of the UPEI Student Union as a whole. *The assumption that the UPEISU will be forced to reallocate money intended for savings into operational expenses is premature. This sentence has been corrected to reflect that it is only a possibility at this time. *The organization as a whole is not "broke". The UPEISU is on track to meet its targeted budget, although they are budgeted to lose money.

A detailed analysis of the survey results in a future article will be available later this week in The Cadre. Last week’s Beach Blast was reported to be a “smashing success” by Councillor Millington, still shedding sand from his six-hour stint with a shovel and the volleyball pit. Despite technical difficulties at Saturday’s concert – broken debit machines, point of sale systems, and draft/pop at the bar, and toilets that wouldn’t stop flushing – attendance to the show was well over 700 and the volleyball tournament sold out. Next stop: puppies! This year, puppies will be a part of UPEI’s Mental Health Awareness Week, which began Monday. Our fluffy friends will be on-campus Thursday, which means you’ll have a considerably higher chance of getting licked on campus grounds than usual. Maritime rap artist Classified, who was originally scheduled to perform at the Wave before the end of the school year, continues to evade communication attempts. The artist rescheduled his touring destinations after signing to a new label. If he reschedules to a date after the Wave closes for the summer season, the concert may have to relocate to the Civic Centre, or be cancelled entirely. The animal of the week, presented by Buchanan, was the maned wolf. Overheard in council: [under breath] “I will f***ing kill you.”

( Jennifer Lawrence at the Oscars Sunday night, whose wide array of facial expressions matched the various moods at the Council meeting that same evening. ) Sunday night's meeting of the UPEI Student Union Council warmed up with the fate of laptop/cellphone usage. A blackout test period was in place, intent on weeding out distractions among those present; however, some councillors believe these means of communication to be a necessary evil in keeping council meetings well-oiled. The decision reached was to return electronic devices to Council, though it is “strongly recommended” that they be used only as absolutely needed. The next item on the docket was storm closures – still a sore topic for some. Not deaf to the arguments and strongly-worded letters provided by students dissatisfied with the handling of closure announcements, President Kate VanGerven assured that new procedures are in motion. In future, delays are much more likely to be announced following the draft of more “specific” guidelines. Grumblings have arisen on campus after the release of a rather barren summer course schedule. The courses offered are dependent on both professors present and money available, and students are reminded that certain courses may not be online yet. On an international note, Board of Governors Rep. Nicole Lane reported that, following his recent trip to Egypt with Premier Robert Ghiz, UPEI President Alaa Abd-El-Aziz has thrown the idea out there to build a school in the country and have it staffed with graduates of UPEI’s Education program. Moving onto to the recent UPEISU Elections, the unofficial results from earlier this month were formally approved. In the same vein, forces are in motion to change the election by-laws with regards to fees. As it reads now, if an election candidate accumulates more than $250 by the Chief Returning Officer, they’re out of the race. Council would like to fine only up to an amount of $100, but the CRO would keep track of the numbers and hand out disqualifications should the former threshold of$250 be reached. The 2012-2013 Council has been plump with impeachments, and a third was voted on at Sunday's meeting, with Residence Rep. Logan MacKinnon narrowly avoiding a motion by four votes. MacKinnon had been put up for impeachment at the Council's previous meeting by Rep. Shelby Russell, who cited a lack of communication with RA’s and RLA’s MacKinnon also has a history of non-attendance. In his defence, the Residence Representative offered financial and family-related issues, as well as conflict between meeting times and employment for which he applied before his election as a councillor. MacKinnon further stated that he was “too busy” to file reports to Council. The result of the secret ballot vote was 8 – impeach, 12 – not impeached, and 5 – abstain. The majority of Sunday's four hour long meeting concerned debate over the summer hours of Rep. Travis Gordon, Executive Vice President-elect. A full-time summer working period had been previously purposed, aimed at devoting sufficient time to the preparation of a lobby document to Provincial and Federal governments. The decisions outlined above all factor into how much work goes into the project and how much money SU will input – especially in the case of hiring a consultant, which could cost upwards of $10,000. Council voted to hire Gordon full-time for the summer months on the condition that student fees do not increase. The animal of the week, presented by AVC Rep. Donald Buchanan, was the little brown bat. Also heard in Council: “No more dick jokes.”

Voting in the UPEISU Spring General Election came to a close at 9:00pm last night, and a higher than usual voter turnout had election candidates waiting nearly two hours for the results. A three-way, all female race for President saw two-time NSO Coordinator Anastasia Smallwood come out on top, receiving 551 votes to fellow contenders Sarah Lavers (379) and Kelsey Marr (298). "Im honoured to be chosen as the new President of the UPEISU and would like to thank all those who helped me throughout my campaign and who took the time to vote," said Smallwood following her victory. "As President I promise to keep to the ideas & plans outlined in my platform; as President, I hope to represent the students in the best way possible." The race for Executive Vice President was blown wide open, and saw current Cadre Managing Editor Travis Gordon come out on top by over 500 votes. "I'm very excited to start in May," said Gordon. "There is lots of good work to be done." The only other two contested positions saw Dana Kenny capture the Board of Governors race over Connor Jay, and the three available Science Representative slots went to Michelle MacDougald, Keegan Marr, and Kate Rundle. Matt Rice, uncontested for the position of Vice President Activities, was voted in by a solid 'Yes' vote. All other uncontested positions were voted in as well. In an interesting note, it appears as if one newly elected student representative may soon be stepping down. Brady Sheehy, elected last night as UPEISU ombudsman, has also applied to be a Resident Life Advisor (RLA) for the 2013-2014 academic year. Chances are Sheehy will get that job, and if so, will have to step down from his Council position. This means there is a high chance that the ombudsman position will be open again in the Fall. The unofficial results, to be approved at the Student Union's next council meeting, are as follows: President Sarah Marie Lavers 379 Kelsey Marr 298 Anastasia Smallwood 551 Abstain 66 Executive Vice President Josh Bryan 236 Travis Gordon 771 Abstain 149 Vice President Activities Yes - Matthew Rice 885 No - Matthew Rice 131 Abstain 123 Senate Representative #1 Yes - Amanda Johnston 855 No - Amanda Johnston 84 Abstain 152 Senate Representative #2 Yes - Lucas MacArthur 862 No - Lucas MacArthur 85 Abstain 139 Ombudsman Yes - Brady Sheehy 822 No - Brady Sheehy 107 Abstain 162 Board of Governors Connor Jay 335 Dana Kenny 655 Abstain 121 Councillor - Science Representative(3) Kylie Ford 168 Kevin Jay 83 Alexander Johnston 164 Michelle MacDougald 290 Keegan Marr 202 Kate Rundle 173 Shelby Russell 153 Abstain 174 Councillor - Nursing Representative Yes - Melanie Caird 58 No - Melanie Caird 1 Abstain 8 Councillor - Business Rep #1 Yes - Justin Lank 128 No - Justin Lank 22 Abstain 25 Councillor - Business Rep #2 Yes - Nathan Lawless 131 No - Nathan Lawless 20 Abstain 21 Councillor - DVM Representative Yes - Emily Colwell 41 No - Emily Colwell 6 Abstain 0 Valedictorian - Morning Convocation Yes - Jason Cook 93 No - Jason Cook 20 Abstain 12 Valedictorian - Afternoon Convocation Robert Hainsworth 74 Joshua Kiamba Tarichia 23 Abstain from voting 26 Councillor - Arts Rep #1 Yes - Derrick Biso 289 No - Derrick Biso 27 Abstain 40 Councillor - Arts Rep #2 Yes - Sara Paula Reeves 289 No - Sara Paula Reeves 28 Abstain 33 Senior Class President Yes - Kate VanGerven 178 No - Kate VanGerven 22 Abstain 11 Senior Class Vice President Lindsay Gallie 87 Jonathan Millington 94 Abstain 23 Senior Class Secretary Yes - John Paul Larkin 161 No - John Paul Larkin 19 Abstain 20 Senior Class Treasurer Yes - Isaac Townshend 165 No - Isaac Townshend 14 Abstain 25 Owen MacDonald Memorial Award Andrea Avery 47 Christine Cassidy 54 Conor Leggott 28 Chelsea Merry 67 Abstain 25 Crescam Serviendo Award (Female) Danielle MacDonald 59 Kate VanGerven 118 Abstain 32 Crescam Serviendo Award (Male) Jonathan Millington 99 Curtis Moerike 18 Isaac Murphy 67 Abstain 28 Award Class of 1998 Leadership Emma Boswell 40 Kelsey Doiron 57 Kendra Kirkwood 55 Natasha Procter 18 Abstain 45 Senior Class Spirit Award Amy Lou Caulier 71 Nick Vankampen 94 Abstain 48

( From left: Presidential candidates Sarah Lavers, Kelsey Marr, and Anastasia Smallwood. ) The UPEISU Spring General Election is fast approaching, and yesterday's Candidates Debate saw the race heating up fast. Today, meet the three women in the running for Presidential office: First thing’s first: why did you decide to run for President? Sarah Lavers: I had absolutely no intention of running for president. I knew that there were people who were gonna do a good job and were in line for it. I was approached by an executive member and they said “these people dropped out and no one’s going to run for it. I really think you should run,” and I started to think about it. So it just kind of all fell into line and I started putting effort into it. Then one of the people who I thought had dropped out actually didn’t, which is great, it’s nice to have the competition. I was going to drop out if I knew that one of them would come back, but I’d already put so much effort into it and I really started to enjoy it that I thought “I don’t want to drop out now”. It’s been really good. I’ve been talking to so many students and they’re just telling me things and I just love going out and talking to them. Kelsey Marr: I've been asked this question a lot over the past few weeks. I just really want to make a change on campus; I want everybody to have the opportunity to feel like they can speak their minds. I'd like to see more of a collective group, because the issues we're facing as a campus - for example, budget cuts - are something that affect us all; yet the majority of students on campus are not aware of the impact, or how big of an issue things are. I feel like if we face issues as a collective and said 'this is what we want', there are things that could be dealt with in that manner. I just felt like it was something I had do to. If I was going to be at UPEI next year, I wanted to make sure that I not only got everything out of UPEI that I wanted, but that everybody else was getting all that they could out of the school as well. Anastasia Smallwood: A good way to go about my thought process is that I think I have a lot of the skills that the president has to have, skills like leadership and leading the council and organizing the council retreat, that sort of thing, organizing the executive, being a leader to them, organizational skills, through my past experience I have definitely shown that I have good organizational skills and good problem-solving skills as well. Other aspects would be experience, I have been a first-year representative with the SU as well as a Senate Representative for two years, so definitely experience, I know how the council works, I've spent time with the current president, Kate VanGerven, definitely figuring out what the position entails, and I think I have all the qualities that would fit that position. And above all, I love the organization, and I want to be involved. What aspect of the position do you think you would be most comfortable with, and which will you be the least comfortable with? e.g. Dealing with the media, working as a team with the executive, drafting policies, doing lobbying, etc… Sarah Lavers: I’d be most comfortable with going out and talking to students. One of the things that I’d like to do is to possibly hold some of my office hours at the Wave if they’re open in the afternoon. I think that would be cool because then students could come and look for me and then that brings business to the Wave. Talking to administration, too, because I worked with UPEI for a year and a half in the dean’s office at the AVC, so I already know a lot of the administration. It’s nice because I’m on that friendship basis with them – it’s a bit of a different aspect to it. Aspect I’ll be least comfortable with? That’s a good question; you guys always ask the hardest questions! I have to be very careful how I answer this question. I’m trying to think of all the aspects of this position and I’ve familiarized myself with everything – I’ve done my research on this. I’ve looked at other student unions and I’ve seen what the president does there and different mandates that people have come out with and it’s all generally the same. I love talking to students, I work really well with the current executive, and I know a lot of people who will be in this executive. The whole apathy issue that was brought up – that is a really hard thing to tackle. That would probably be the hardest – I wouldn’t say that I would find it uncomfortable – to approach because the high schools have the same mentality. High school is a popularity contest, or at least it was in my high school, and that’s not what I want this to be. I want people to vote for me because they know what I’m standing for and that I’m a good leader. I don’t want people to vote for me just because they know who I am. Kelsey Marr: I'm really comfortable talking to people, and so talking and acting as a liaison between the students and the university is something that I think I could do really easier. I was President of the Soc/Anth society for a year and a half, and so I acted as that voice in a much smaller context. I also feel like working with the students and the administration to draft policy is something that I'm really interested in - my Honours is about policy. I feel that I'm really well equipped to deal with that. I also feel that I'm really well equipped to deal with all of the stress that goes on with the job behind closed doors that students don't necessarily see. I've managed to fit my four years into three, and I'm dealing with the Honours course work too. I think least comfortable would be actually going and lobbying to government because it's not something that I've done before; but it's just something that you experience the first time and understand what's happening, and you can move forward from there. Anastasia Smallwood: Definitely a couple aspects I think I'd be good at would be the leadership aspect, leading the executive, leading the SU, working in a team with Melissa Morrow and the rest of the executive, and talking to the media. I've talked to the media a lot through Shinerama in the past, and also as NSO co-ordinator. But, I'd say probably one weakness that I'm thinking of would be the lobbying part of it. It's something I have researched in preparation for this campaign but it's not something I've done in the past. Do you think the Student Union should aim to provide more services to students at the risk of losing money, or act more like a business and aim to make more money, at the risk of providing less services to students? Sarah Lavers: Coming from a business student, that’s a contradicting question in my mind. I would think that there needs to be some kind of a middle ground. We just can’t keep losing this money. The Cadre is doing really well with the online pieces that you have and it’s been great. I think it was the best decision you could have made. Mickey’s Place never really loses too much money; it’s pretty steady. It’s just the Wave, that’s the one everyone has been talking about. I would try to incorporate my job to help those services out and make money. It’s really hard because I could see it from both angles and I feel like there should be a happy middle ground. Finding that middle ground may or may not be possible. We don’t offer enough services. I feel that one of the services that we do offer that does not get utilized enough is with the societies. You can give societies free drink tickets and they’ll come in and keep coming back (to the Wave). They’ll have their society meetings here instead of in their lounge. It’s little things like that that you can kind of incorporate into that type of a service that we offer that does both. We’re dealing with the society service and making sure they’re happy and the other aspect is getting people into the Wave and spending money. So, you can kind of put those things together. It’s things like that that need to be elaborated on more. Kelsey Marr: I really think it's a balance. Obviously the Student Union doesn't want to lose money. It's losing the students' money, and it's losing money that we're getting from other sources, and so you don't want to see that money funnelled into open holes. At the same time, I don't think that any of the services that we currently offer should be cut back. Take for example the Wave: obviously the Wave has become a giant financial sinkhole, but at the same time, it's our campus pub. It is, and has the potential to, be such a focal point of unity, and I would hate to see it go downhill. As President, I would work as much as I can, and as hard as I can, to maintain those services [...] but also, right now, I'm not privy to the financial issues. It's something that has to be looked at as a group. Anastasia Smallwood: I think it should be somewhere in the middle. I don't think we should be increasing services if we know that we're going to consistently lose money, I think we need to focus on the services that we have, as a business, but also from the standpoint of the students. Improving the services that we have in order to make them gain profits. If you win, what one concrete thing would you like to have done to improve the student experience at UPEI? Sarah Lavers: I’m not sure how feasibly possible it is but one of the things that I would really like to see taken advantage of is possible co-op programs in departments other than business, computer science and physics. I know that some people might say that you can’t really do it with arts programs but you can. Anyone would benefit from it. Even if it was just somebody coming in and talking about what they did in this profession or a one-day thing where they go on a job with one person. We have such a huge business community here on the campus that doesn’t get touched and it’s unfortunate. You could even do just a “go to work with Mom or Dad” day like you did in grade nine. Same idea, except with possible career choices that you’d like to do. The reason I find this is so feasible is because we’re such a small university that it’s not unrealistic. That’s something that needs to be taken advantage of. Kelsey Marr: I'd like to have put more of an expectation on the Student Union to act as a union of students; as a union of the entire student body. I'd like to see the faculty representatives and even the executives take more of an open role. In my four years here, I've never been approached by a faculty representative and asked my opinion on something. I assume that it's happened at some point, but nobody I've talked to has had that experience. I would like to have an expectation that for some many hours a week (obviously more for executive) representatives hold office hours where people can come and talk to them. But not "office hours in the office" - people are kind of reluctant to climb those stairs. I'd like to even see the executive take it upon themselves to walk around campus and to approach people, because you can't wait for them to come to you. I recognize the level of apathy that happens on this campus, but just because there is a level of apathy doesn't mean we all need to be apathetic. Anastasia Smallwood: I think that to improve the experience of students here at UPEI there needs to be a more of a connection between the students and the student union, and that comes from having councillors be open and be in communication with their representatives. Name one Dean and one of the University’s Vice Presidents. Sarah Lavers: Vice President… Katherine Schultz? Is she still Vice President? A Dean – Christian Lacroix, he’s the science Dean. Kelsey Marr: Dean of Arts, Don Desserud. I can't honestly name a VP. Anastasia Smallwood: We have VP Academic, Christian Lacroix and Dean of Business Alan Duncan. [ Voting for the UPEISU Spring General takes place Feb. 12th and 13th via your campus login. ]

( From left: Executive Vice Presidential Candidates Josh Bryan and Travis Gordon. ) The UPEISU Spring General Election is fast approaching - and as the race heats up, The Cadre sits down with your candidates. Today, meet the two men in the running for the position of Executive VP: What is it about the position of Executive Vice President that you find attractive? Josh Bryan: Well, communicating with campus is probably one of the bigger things.  Things like education week helps inform students and bring our voices of the students towards government officials, and I just feel like getting the voices out there is something that needs to be done. Travis Gordon: Well I think generally, the opportunity to make a difference in what matters to students. A big part of the job is advocacy work, and lobbying, and dealing with the federal, provincial, and municipal governments. Being the person who takes point on that gives me the opportunity to work on issues that matter to students, both internal and external to the university. I would say, generally, hoping to be able to make a difference on issues that matter to students. What do you think the Executive Vice President’s role should be as it relates to the Buddy Program? Josh Bryan: I feel like they should play a key part...I know Maggie does a whole bunch of work, and I assume Danielle helps along the way.  I feel like the Exec VP should be active in it, helping with communication. Travis Gordon: I think the role of the Exec VP, in terms of the Buddy Program ... I'm not sure if that is the right place for it, frankly. I'm not sure the Exec VP is the one who should be supervising that program. I think what we need for the Buddy Program is a strong coordinator and a deputy coordinator who can run the program under the supervision of, perhaps, the VP Activities. I think the Exec VP's focus needs to be squarely on advocating for student issues. I have nothing against the Buddy Program, but I'm not sure if the Exec VP is the person who should be overseeing it. One of your primary roles will be representing the SU at the federal level through CASA.  What does CASA stand for? (Editor's note: It stands for the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations). Josh Bryan: Canadian Academic Students Association? (How far off was I?) Travis Gordon: Canadian Alliance of Students Associations. What would you say to someone arguing that our involvement in CASA is futile, as we would be getting the same benefits of their lobbying efforts even if we weren’t part of the association? Josh Bryan: I feel like we should be a part because it shows that we actually do care and that we're willing to put the money and the time into it because we care about our education and want the best for students. Travis Gordon: I think there are a number of benefits that we receive from CASA, by being members. Certainly we've received support, and will receive support in the future, on building the documents that we need in terms of carrying out provincial lobbying such as lobby documents, pre-budget submissions, assistance on writing policy papers. CASA has a lot of expertise and knowledge, and I think by being a part of CASA we have access to that expertise to help us ... I think provincial lobbying and advocacy are important because ... the Holland College Student Union for example are not heavily involved in that area, and I'm not sure any other student unions exist in the province. We are the only student union that undertakes lobbying on the provincial level. In terms of receiving benefits from CASA, I think we get our money's worth in the assistance that we get from them. What can the Student Union do about tuition at UPEI, given that the university’s operating grant will inevitably continue to fall (or at least not increase) in the near future? Josh Bryan: No matter how unfortunate it sounds, tuition is going to go up and there's not much we can do about it, unless we can lobby the government to give us the HST cut that other businesses are getting and help us out.  It works both ways because once we graduate they get trained students to go out and work. Travis Gordon: I think the key going into the future will be being pro-active. Telling the government before it comes time to make the budget, before it comes time for the Spring session of the legislature to begin sitting, to tell them that we don't need, nor do we want, but especially that we can't handle a cut in the operating grant or a hit in terms of HST. I think we need to be pro-active. Approximately 50% of UPEI's funding comes from the provincial government (between UPEI main campus and the AVC). Obviously this funding has a large impact on what students pay in tuition, and so I think that we really need to be proactive in the future in dealing with government to ensure that our tuition remains reasonable. [ Voting for the UPEISU Spring General takes place Feb. 12th and 13th via your campus login. ]