ao Sry Douglas Students’ Union AGM Summary David Lam coordinator position changed, major changes made to Performing Arts Fund Kristina Mameli news editor (: Wednesday February 3, the Douglas Students’ Union held its Annual General Meeting in the newly renovated Upper Lounge of its building on the New Westminster campus. The meeting provided an open forum for students to discuss and vote on a number of bylaw amendments put forward by the Representative Committee. Luring students with free pizza and wings, the meeting also gave the Douglas community an opportunity to look over financial statements, hear what the current Representative Committee has been working on and to provide input to help improve how it operates. The meeting was called to order by incumbent B.C. Canadian Federation of Students Representative Michael Olsen who acted as the chair of the meeting. He briefly explained Robert’s Rules of Order that would be observed for the duration of the meeting. He then moved from protocol to procedure, calling for approval of the evening’s agenda as well as the AGM minutes from the three previous years. The bylaw amendments proposed by the Representative Committee were then put forward. The first motion, motion A, was carried with no discussion necessary and made minor changes to the David Lam coordinator position. Further to motion A, motion B saw the changing of requirements for David Lam coordinator candidates. Candidates now need to only take one course at David Lam instead of 50 per cent of their course load. Motion C warranted a bit of discussion before being carried. It successfully reallocated the funds from the $3.50 per semester Performing Arts Fee to instead be “apportioned equally to the Performing Arts Fee, Building Maintenance & jf Improvement Fee, [and] Clubs Fee.” There is currently $586,007 in surplus in the Performing Arts fund and motion D called for the surplus to be divided as follows: “40% Performing Arts Fund, 40% Building Maintenance & Improvement Fund, 20% Clubs Fund.” After some heated discussion, an amendment was put forward by a student that the funds instead be equally distributed amongst the three. The amendment was quickly accepted and the motion carried. Motion E and G were presented as housekeeping items intended to amend outdated bylaws to reflect reality. Bylaw III, Section 3.b), a bylaw regarding a Student’ Union Building fee of $9.00 per student per semester that no longer exists was deleted as it was originally set to expire following the completion of the DSU building. There is a surplus of money in that fund that must also be used for DSU buildings. In future, this could mean DSU facilities on the David Lam campus. In the same motion, it was also decided that the obsolete Section 8 be deleted. “The Students’ Union Building fees shall be assessed for each College semester until all mortgage or other indebtedness, secured or unsecured, of the Society with respect to the Students’ Union Building has been fully discharg Motion G, also a minor housekeeping item, was to remove any reference to the Thomas Haney Campus (a Douglas campus that was once in Maple Ridge) as the campus no longer exists and the bylaws renumbered to reflect this. The final motion was motion F, which is “[e]ffective August 31,2012: Whenever the Performing Arts Fund and Clubs Fund reach $100,000 the surplus will go into general revenue.” As the fund was last used in 2005 to fund a performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, the motion passed. The unused money can now easily be spent on more student services. DSU’s Auditor, Calvin Tompkins, then explained the financial situation of the organisation and broke down the numbers in his firms’ financial report as of August 31, 2010. It was also “resolved that Thompkins, Wozny, Miller and Co. be appointed the auditors of the Douglas Students’ Union for the fiscal Year ending August 2010.” Receiver-Manager Marne Jensen then gave her report. She said that Douglas is currently in the process of ending receivership of the DSU and that the DSU is financially healthy and may now function independently of the College. That, as Jensen explained, is due entirely to the efforts of the Representative Committees of the last few years which have completely rebuilt the DSU’s financial and operational foundation following its collapse in the fall of 2006. On behalf of the Representative Committee, DSU external relations coordinator Priscilla Bartleman then delivered its report. She spoke of the many events, campaigns, and services the committee has been a part of, placing particular emphasis on the OnePassNow campaign and the Education Shouldn’t Be A Debt Sentence writing contest/campaign. She also spoke briefly about the renovations of the Upper Lounge and __ invited all students to attend biweekly DSU meetings every second Wednesday. All of the documents referenced above, in the spirit of full disclosure and complete transparency, can be found at the DSU’s offices upon request. Bae chanics : During the two week Olympic break — (February 15-28), there will be no classes _on either campus. Some College services, however, will be eee with limited hours. For more information and a complete listing: visit: http://www douglas.be.ca/ olympic-break-hours html. Second year students could win one of 25 $1000 awards : Douglas students’ entering their second year in the summer or fall 2010 or winter 2011 semesters may be eligible for one of 25 $1000 awards. Students applying for the awards miust be Canadian citizens enrolled in university transfer arts, science or business courses that have accumulated a minimum of 24 transferable credits as of December 31, 2009. They must also have a GPA of 3.50 or e* qualify. _ February 22 is the deadline for applications. Students will be selected by the Selection Committee for Scholarships, Awards and Bursaries by March 31. Apply _ online at ttp://registrar douglas. be.ca/ by Sen eee in; oe Z Dougie ries money for ee aes that amounts to $2200, 01 or, according to an email from the group, : os MOR peaeet rex Gat day pegs employees have also stepped __ up at the David Lam campus. In room A1040, the Learning Centre is selling chocolates. They call it “Exchange Your Change for Chocolate.” With all money going to the Red Cross, the Learning Centre will continue to collect money during the Olympics during the limited hours of operation mentioned above. Keep up to date with the Douglas community’s relief efforts at: http://www. douglas .be.ca/haiti-relief html.