Brady Ehler, OP Opinions Editor aa The following article is an opinion piece only. It does not necessarily reflect the thoughts, beliefs or opinions of the Other Press collective. But then again, maybe it does. If you don’t dig what you read here, please write us about it. —Ed. By now, many of you are awate of the current state of the Douglas Student’s Union. As men- tioned in the recent open letter by Douglas College’s Vice President of Educational Services, Blaine Jensen, the DSU still does not have control over the funds from our student union fees. For those not up to speed, in May of 2005, the DSU had their funding pulled, because they had not completed their annual audits for four years. Now, the audits that the DSU are required to make are independent, (from the college) however, they were never able to operate completely free of checks and balances. In fact, the union is required to send the College Board a statement of the annual audits every year, after the audits have been complet- ed. This proved only a minor problem to the masters of subterfuge at the DSU; they sim- ply forged the docu- ment for several years running. Or so the current allegations claim. But only time and forensic accounting will unravel who is to blame. Hopefully, the DSU will get their funding back soon. Hopefully, they will not be racking up gigantic bills, (which they will pay for with our money) by taking the college to court. If we cross our fingers, this whole thing will be resolved by 2007. After all, since April, there has been a whole-new line up student reps in office working in unison to get things run- ning smoothly again. Well, at least there would be if the positions weren’t being con- tested. Yes, that’s right; we aren’t even sure who our elected DSU reps are. All of this brings several questions to my mind. Foremost among those ques- / : | 3 % tions are: is the DSU justifying their own existence? Would anyone notice if the DSU were liquidated entirely. And finally will I ever see another pub night again? At the moment, no, the DSU is definitely not justifying their existence. No one is sure exactly who the elected members are, and they have no actual funds to misappropriate, er...spend. Supposing they were in proper working order, what would we be getting out of them? To answer this question, I'll just zip on by the official DSU website. Hey, look here, it says it will provide me “with up-to-date information on the activi- ties and the advocacy that your students union is doing for you.” Hey look, it’s signed by our old pal Ryan Phillip Lam...from January! I wonder what he meant by the “provision of advocacy”. It seems sort of ambiguous, doesn’t it? Anyways, here are the services provided by the DSU, as listed on their “up-to-date” website. I will attempt to debunk them as I go along the list: ¢ Housing: This is done by homes4students.ca. It’s external, and really has nothing to do with the DSU Studentphones.com: Again, it’s external. Fax Service: This might have been useful if we were still in the 80’s. Clubs and Associations: Just like the unfunded kind you can make at home. Bulletin Boards: Holy shit! Real-life bulletin boards? © International Student Identity Cards: These are actually useful; they can help you save on travel expenses. e Legal Advice: Like “take the 6 THE OTHER PRESS OCTOBER 5 2006 : y Do We Need The DSU? college to court, instead of maintaining personal accountability.” © Lockers: If I were in high school, I would be all over this. ® Microwaves: Holy shit! Real-life microwaves!? ¢ Ombudsperson: Useful...if you can figure out who is the rightfully elected person. e Free Phones: Conveniently located nowhere near your classes, in New West—useful in Coquitlam only. ¢ Photocopiers: Like the ones in the library, but farther away from the books. Pride Collective: Useful, but only if you're gay. Transit: For 2 dollars, The DSU will provide you with a fast-track sticker, which will allow you to use your one-zone mon if it were a 3-zone pass. This is useful, but not nearly as useful as a U-Pass. There is always the health plan to consider. I personally, have never used it, but poor and haven't gone to a dentist in years, I probably will. I think the health plan i important DSU service. Many students don’t really care about all that other junk, b health plan is something they can actually use and get something out of. The DSU building is actually a nice place to hang out. It has free arcades, billia peak hours, and the pub nights were a great time, when the DSU still had the fundi them. Unfortunately, there isn’t much of a community in Douglas College. People 1 avoid hanging out after their classes, so the building is usually vacant. I think the only people to get a real benefit from the DSU are the elected reps t I’m sure working there is a great introduction to the world of politics and faux drai As far as I’m concerned, the DSU may not be necessary for a college like Doug perhaps union dues should not be mandatory. Maybe a better arrangement would t optional membership, and then the DSU would actually have to prove its worth to getting funding.