Vote
U The Ubyssey
Yes
on the fee question
What kind of campus do we want? A university offers classes, funds research and grants degrees. A campus is the culture that binds that place together, making it more than just a stepping-stone to a career. The most vibrant campuses, those that make a university more than simply the sum of its parts, are those where students lead what happens outside of class. Where they take charge and organize events. Where those with a project and passion can do just about anything. But to make UBC that sort of campus, we need to have the means to do so. That’s the choice you face this week when you vote in the referendum. There are questions on the U-Pass—which obviously need to be extended—and other questions on bylaw changes and tuition policies for the AMS. But the main question is changing the student fee structure. It would raise fees by $5 for full-time students and $19 for those that opt out of the health care plan. We urge you to vote yes. The AMS’s membership fee of $12.50 is the lowest in Canada for any university over 20,000 students. Almost no other school comes close. It’s a fee that hasn’t changed since 1982. And when UBC was still expanding, and your student union had a near-monopoly on food and catering services, this was fine. They piled up profits year after year from their businesses, which in turn made low mandatory fees financially feasible. Those days are long gone. The AMS ran a six-figure deficit last year, will run another this year, and is cutting services to the bone. Voting yes would take their fee to $21—and take your student union out of financial crisis. It may seem like a lot, but three years ago, students decided they wanted a better campus when they voted to fund a new $110 million Student Union Building. That building will be ready in September 2014, but will the group running it be able to offer more than just minimum services inside of it? Your student union isn’t perfect. You only have to glance at our front pages to see that. They aren’t asking for money they want, though—they’re asking for money they need. Without this increase, they’re going be less and less effective in advocating for students, administrating services and overseeing clubs. This fee increase isn’t just about empowering the AMS. It’s about empowering students to do more. Voting yes gives clubs access to an annual $70,000 pool of money, and if you’ve ever been part of a campus club, you know that a little money goes a long way. This fund would be there for you. Voting yes creates a $100,000 sustainability fund, the same type that exists at UVic, SFU, Queen’s and McGill, allowing even one student with an idea the chance to make our campus a more sustainable place in a direct way. Voting yes transfers $1 from every student to a childcare endowment fund, supporting student-parents by creating quality, affordable spaces right here at UBC. Voting yes means more affordable tutoring from AMS Services, free DJ lessons from CiTR, and 24/7 news reporting from The Ubyssey. And voting yes means that we are taking an active step in shaping this university by directly funding organizations and ideas that we believe are important. All this, for $5. Even if you opt out of the health plan and pay $19, it’s still a good deal, and a deal we badly need. Without it, building the new SUB will putter along and students will still come together to put on events. Life will go on per usual. But this week, you can make a choice for change. There are times where UBC students have risen up to shape our campus—saving the UBC Farm, building the new SUB, funding construction of War Memorial Gym, even convincing the government to start construction on the Point Grey campus in 1924. This week could be one of those times. Let’s make this happen. U