News New DSU board assigns “cabinet” roles By Matthew Steinbach, Associate News Pes May 7 meeting of the newly- elected Representative Committee of the Douglas Students’ Union saw the directors determine their portfolio positions for the first time since last March’s election. This year, Geoff Lenahan— leader of the victorious “Revitalize” slate— gained the position of Speaker (the Representative Committee’s chair), and Staff Relations Officer. Also from Revitalize, Christine Nieder achieved Deputy Speaker, Deep Singh became the BC Provincial Executive (the DSU’s representative on the Canadian Federation of Students — BC Board), and Hassan Chaudry attained Clubs Coordinator. The only affiliate of “Douglas Students’ United” slate to receive one of these tasks was Ally MacGrotty, who will now also serve as the Performing Arts Committee chair. Portfolio Positions are akin to cabinet posts in the Federal Government. Each task is appointed after a representative is elected, a common student does not determine these assignments. However, these roles execute some of the pivotal functions of the students’ union. For instance, the DSU employs several staff members that Geoff Lenahan (far right), the student union treasurer and now chairman of the board, seen here with fellow board members during last week’s DSU barbeque. are neither students nor members of the organization. Thus the students’ union charges an individual to be the Staff Relations Officer, which ultimately deals with the staff’s Union (CUPE 2396) and the conduct of the DSU’s employees. Despite the significance of these positions, this can also be an indicator of where individuals stand within the newly elected group. Some organizations bypass this by placing these into someone’s duties description, so when student’s vote, they are electing these positions automatically. Under the Douglas Students’ Union’s system, usually leaders of a slate in the previous election tend to gain the key portfolios because of this. Student Union votes to support controversial Toronto protestors By Matthew Steinbach, Associate News Ace the country, many student unions have sprung to the support of a group of protestors dubbed the “University of Toronto 14.” Following a board meeting last week, the Douglas Students’ Union has officially announced their backing of this group as well. March 20, 2008, saw 14 protesters rally inside administration offices at the University of Toronto, allegedly protesting a new policy the school was implementing that would make it easier to discipline students for so-called “non-academic” conduct, such as public misbehavior or disruption. After the group spent several hours squatting in the building, security was summoned to clear them out and several arrests were made. In the aftermath, many of the protestors have since claimed their arrests were politically-motivated, and others have claimed to suffer police brutality. At its last Representative Committee meeting, the Douglas Students’ Union criticized U of T officials for “suppressing students’ rights to organize,” and expressed apprehension that similar shutdowns of protests could occur at Douglas, too. The committee subsequently passed a motion declaring unanimous 6 support for the U of T 14. Though the DSU may be supportive of the 14, some other schools have been more wary. The Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) at SFU initially voted to endorse a similar motion of support for the protestors, but the vote was not unanimous and triggered a great deal of controversy in the aftermath. J.J. McCullough, the editor of the OP who also serves as opinions editor of the SFU student newspaper The Peak, wrote an article expressing several strong concerns over the SFU student union’s decision to back a group of people he described as “lunatics.” In a lead editorial article he argued the Toronto protesters were not nearly as peaceful as many assumed and called attention to a YouTube video documenting the episode. In the aftermath, the SFU union voted to rescind support for the group at their next meeting. Joe Paling, the SFSS president who was opposed to the protestors from the beginning, claimed he felt the U of T episode “lacked coherence.” “They were trespassing, and they prevented people from going home,” he said. Eventually all but two of the five board members of the SFSS who initially voted in favour of the group voted to rescind the initial motion. News Shorts By Nikalas Kryzanowski Longtime DSU staffer dies Marilyn Houlihan, the longtime General Manager of the Douglas College Student Society, has died of cancer on April 30th at the age of 66. She was well liked and had been with the Student Society since its inception in 1972, until she eventually left the organization in a bitter parting. The Douglas Students Union has pledged a $500 donation to the BC Cancer Foundation in her honour and her obituary requests that donations be made to the Foundation in lieu of flowers. David Lam could rock next fall The student union is working on a big concert for students this fall at David Lam Campus. It is hoped that the show will involve some big name bands and be akin to some of the “welcome back” celebrations often held for students at larger universities. According to Geoff Lenahan the DSU has received approval from most of the necessary parties and all of what remains is to confirm the bands. Campus Pride centre to reopen Having been closed for the year, the Pride Centre at Douglas is about to reopen thanks to the work of April Taylor, the new DSU Pride Liaison. The centre, which offers a safe and welcoming space forthe college’s gay, lesbian, and questioning students, has recently acquired some new items such as a fridge and television. The layout will change and there will be some new material and_ resources available. Taylor is looking for volunteers to help with the centre this summer and for next year and can be contacted at dsupride@yahoo.ca. The formal reopening will occur on June 4, 2008.