By Dessa Bayrock (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: February 20, 2013
While most students were having one last hurrah of a Friday before the end of reading break, your Student Union Society met to finalize funding, talk about the things getting done around campus and make plans for the future. The regular SUS board meeting on February 15 lasted a little over an hour, and took place at the Mission campus.
Big Bang gets funded
A coalition of science student groups planning the Big Bang event this year received $3761 in funding, as reviewed and recommended by SUS’s finance committee.
Absolute Style gets funded
Fashion students received $1500, as reviewed and recommended by SUS’s finance committee, to go towards the annual Absolute Style year-end fashion show. It’s too late in the process for SUS to be mentioned on the posters or tickets, but they’ll show up in the lists of thank-yous and on the website.
“We’re just essentially supporting the fashion students,” president Shane Potter says. “Recognition is quite secondary.”
Health Club gets semester funding
UFV Health Club claimed $100 as their semester funding.
Dinner for library grads
Library and Information Technology Student Association requested and received $800 for a graduation dinner. This is an event that they host every year, and this sum will cover roughly $25 per plate per graduating student, VP finance Ryan Petersen estimates.
Cricket Club hosts tourney
The UFV Cricket Club received $450 to host their annual cricket tournament. This funding will cover the cost of the pitch and the trophies.
“They’re a fairly active group, in their own little cricketing way,” Petersen says, noting that they draw “quite a few” students out to the tournament every year.
Psych students to host speaker series
The Student Psychology Association was given $160 to host a speaker series.
“They’re looking to bring in a number of doctorate speakers to speak on varying topics within their field and doctoral work. This would cover the cost of food and the speakers themselves,” Petersen says.
BCSA gets a vacuum
The Biology and Chemistry Student Association asked SUS for $70 to purchase a vacuum for their study space. The space is fully run and cared for by students, which BCSA president Jennifer Martel says led to some complaints by facilities.
“We had a complaint from facilities that there was food and stuff on the ground – but it’s a carpeted ground, people eat their lunches while they’re studying, and there’s not much we can do,” she explains. “We try to keep it as clean as we can.
Martel also says that the space is windowless, which means it can get extremely stuffy, so the BSCA is also looking to purchase a fan with the funds. SUS granted the BCSA the funding, pending a response from facilities to both problems.
New clubs and committees
United Way Fraser Valley Student Committee registered as an official club – Stickland says that their club is based largely around volunteering in the community, but they’ll meet on campus.
Social Work Student Association has submitted a registration package to become an official club, and have been approved as a club pending a faculty representative signature to sponsor the club.
In the future, SUS is looking into …
• Facilitating an inter-campus video feed between campuses – which would allow students on any campus to tune into a SUS regular board meeting in real time.
• Developing a permanent opt-out option from the U-Pass for disabilities students, who have to go through the current opt-out process every semester.
• Gaining or rotation more staff to deploy the U-Pass over the course of the year, which can turn into a major time commitment if handled by one or two staff only.
The next meeting will be at the CEP campus at 9 a.m. in room A1426 on March 1. Your trusty Cascade will be there, and so should you be.
