News DSU continues slow progress towards financial independence JJ McCullough, OP Editor PHOTO BY JJ McCULLOUGH 3 now been over a year since the Douglas Students Union was rocked by a high-profile financial scandal that darkened the college’s reputation with near constant gossip of corruption, embezzlement, and impeachment. A lot has changed since then; the DSU now has a new board of directors and a largely reformist spirit, but the legacy of the past continues to hang over the organization’s basic operations. To this day the DSU remains in a court- ordered state of financial receivership, and though progress is being made to alleviate this status, the evidence suggests that considerable work is still to be done. A DSU board meeting held last Wednesday was attended by Marne Jensen, the DSU’s court-appointed receiver manager. Though her appearance was much anticipated, her status updates seemed to indicate that the Union’s goal of completing all of their outstanding audits—the necessarily prerequisite for leaving receivership status—is still a ways off. During the September 19 meeting, Jensen announced that bookkeeping for the DSU’s 2006 fiscal year was completed, and had since been passed on to the offices of Tompkins, Wozny, Miller & Co., the union’s auditors. She noted that the 2005 audits have yet to be completed, which Jensen said is due to the auditors’ instance that they view both 2005 and 2006 records simultaneously, in order to observe any inconsistencies between the numbers. When asked when the auditors’ work would be completed, Jensen said she did not know, and said the matter was now entirely within the auditor’s 4 Receiver Manager Marne Jensen (left) delivers an update as Ben Johnson and Sebastian Bubrick look on. jurisdiction. Overall, however, she declared the DSU to be in a generally “positive position.” Jensen also showed board members a rough budget chronicling the union’s spending for the previous year, though these numbers were declared to not be public, and thus a copy of the breakdown could not be obtained by the Other Press. Though the budget seemed to enjoy general acceptance, several DSU board members requested a more detailed breakdown of expenses be produced for a future meeting. Marne Jensen was originally appointed DSU receiver-manager by a provincial court in January of 2006, following a complex series of court challenges in which the Douglas College administration accused the student union of being in complete financial disarray. In her present role, Jensen holds final authority over all spending conducted by the DSU, and will continue to do so until the two outstanding DSU audits are completed to the court’s satisfaction. Jensen is now easily the most important figure in the student union, but her status has not made her immune to criticism. The Douglas College administration initially argued against her appointment, claiming she lacked a strong financial background. Critics of the Canadian Federation of Students have likewise argued she is too politically connected to that organization to hold what should be a politically neutral office. It is her unusual living conditions, however, which have proven to be the source of the greatest ongoing controversy. A resident of Vancouver Island, Jensen is currently employed full time at the University of Victoria, where she serves as general manager of that school’s student society. The lengthy commute to Douglas, coupled with her already tight schedule, has made her appearances on campus increasingly rare in recent months. Most DSU board members have likewise acknowledged that Jensen is generally difficult to communicate with outside of such visits, an issue which former DSU Pride Liaison Nathaniel Wolfe made much of during his resignation earlier this month. In Jensen’s absence, much of the day-to-day duties of the receiver are conducted by Benjamin Johnson, Jensen’s assistant. Though usually on campus five days a week, Johnson also lives in Victoria, which has prompted further controversy over the combined costs of the duo’s travel expenses— which the DSU pays. During last Thursday’s meeting, DSU College Relations Officer Matthew Steinbach, a frequent critic of Jensen’s, expressed frustration at the receiver-manager’s frequent absences, and suggested she take time off from her UVic duties to focus exclusively on the affairs of the DSU. Jensen responded that such a plan was unfeasible, but defended the present arrangement. Though acknowledging her slow speed, Jensen said that such delays were offset by the “really good deal” the DSU was receiving from her employment. The DSU has so far paid Jensen $15,000 for her year of service, an amount that Jensen claimed was lower than what many other revivers would charge for a single month’s work. She similarly stated that it was her goal to resume attending DSU meetings at least once a month. Three BC Schools to Attempt to Leave CFS JJ McCullough, OP Editor A dramatic political showdown is set to take place this spring between the Canadian Federation of Students and three of its member student unions. The student societies of Simon Fraser University and Kwantlen University College, as well as the graduate student union of the University of Victoria, have all formally submitted petitions to CFS head office requesting permission to hold a binding vote of “defederation” among their respective student bodies. The Canadian Federation of Students is a national umbrella group to which many student unions across the country belong. The organization engages in a variety of progressive lobbying campaigns and provides its “member locals” with certain benefits and services—such as student day- planners—for which students at CFS schools pay additional “member fees” as part of their tuition. The organization has long been controversial, however, and today is one of the most polarizing issues in contemporary BC student politics. Critics of the organization have tried to tie it to recent political scandals at Douglas College, SFU, and Kwantlen, while supporters have argued abandoning the CFS would badly cripple the relevance and power of the student movement. The Simon Fraser Student Society has become particularly outspoken in pro-separation sentiment ever since a strongly anti-CFS board was swept to power in last year’s election, following a controversial mass impeachment. For his part, Derrick Harder, the president of the Simon Fraser student union, denied that a province-wide separation campaign was in the works. “We are aware of the other campaigns but there has been no coordination between us,” he said. CFS Posters at a skytrain station PHOTO BY JJ