The Peak

SFSS incompetence has left our DSUs starving for funds

By Faris Chebib

There is a special kind of logic that only exists among committee members. To the outside observer it may seem irrational or irresponsible, but when one is a member of that committee, then the groupthink usually dulls misgivings about poor logic.

This is evident in the SFSS board of directors: here, we have a group of people whose jobs often include cleaning up the messes of their predecessors. Last week, it was announced that departmental student union (DSU) funding is at risk because of previous mismanagement by Anna Belkine, and further negligence on the part of Joe Zelezny. Core funding for student clubs is also at risk, while these clubs are reaching record numbers.

Whether or not the board of directors realizes their impact, DSUs are an important part of campus life. They allow students to get involved with making their department better, and to give back to the SFU community. Being part of a DSU gives new academic perspective to students, and allows for a social connection that one cannot find in class. As an executive of one such DSU, I am proud to see new students going beyond coursework and career-oriented goals.

According to the student union organizer office (which already saw cuts last summer, when one employee of a two-employee team was let go due to poor budgeting) there are 43 DSUs on campus and only $16,000 to fund them for the spring semester.

The budgeting woes came as a surprise to everyone; it is disappointing that the record amounts of active memberships in DSUs and student clubs will now be punished financially. After all the work done to get students to be more involved, DSUs now face a wall in the way of important student-focused activities.

Take the English student union, which depends on grant funding to publish its annual issue of Ampersand, a journal by and for students. Their proposed grant of $2,800 for publishing their yearly issue was slashed to $1,000. Ampersand is an amazing publication; every issue is packed with smart writing and its very openness allows students from any field to participate. Projects like Ampersand, which involve SFU students getting together to create a published work, are exactly what grants and core funding are supposed to be for.

The Cognitive Science Student Society (a.k.a. COGS) has been working on its own journal since December, and was hoping for a grant to subsidize the cost of publication. The journal was established in 2002, and has been complimented by academics around Canada and the world. It is the only undergraduate cognitive science journal in Canada and one of the few with open-access to undergraduates around the world.

These projects, among many departmental projects, are exactly what a responsible student government should be budgeting for. I encourage all students to get involved with their student union activities. Even if budgeting is completely cut, being an active member of your DSU sends a message to those making budget decisions.

I urge the board of directors not to cut any funding from DSUs. Do not punish current students for the transgressions of politicians past. I advise taking a harder look into the budget and reminding the board of directors that no matter what their decision is on DSU funding, we DSUs will be watching.

Faris Chebib is president of the Cognitive Science Student Society