I completely and whole heartly agree with the Editorial in The Silhouette today.
Here it is word for word:

Show Me The Money

The end of November is normally the time when MSU members are made aware of how their money was spent last year, and the SRA is told how the MSU is spending money this year. MSU Corporate Bylaw 4 requires the VP Finance to have published the MSU audit for the previous year in the Sil by November 30. By that same date, the SRA is to be given a compreshensive update on MSU current finances, the Mid-Year Budget Review. You can turn through all 36 pages of this week’s issue, but you will not find the audit in the Silhouette this year.
No one, except maybe a few people in the MSU office, knows the current state of MSU finances at this point, the midterm of the current Board. This is unacceptable now and it always has been.
The person responsible for this is the VP Finance, Drew Mitchell. Some would argue that this position is most clearly specified as to the duties involved of all of the Board of Directors’ roles. So, it shocks us to see that the financial administration of the MSU is so poorly managed.
The SRA does not know what the MSU balance sheet looks like, and neither do students. There was a time when the VP Finance understood responsibilities of the office. In 1983, the Treasurer of the MSU noticed that he had made a mathematical error.

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At 4pm Eastern Time today, history was made at McMaster University. In less than a day, a coalition of students collected the necessary signatures to force their student government to hold an emergency meeting. This is the first time that members of the MSU have envoked their right to require the SRA to meet.
The petition stated the following:

Mr. Ryan Moran
Vice-President Administration – McMaster Students Union
McMaster University Student Centre Room 201
McMaster University
1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4S4
Mr. Moran,
We, the undersigned members in good standing (registered in 18 units or more of undergraduate degree courses) of the McMaster Students Union, hereby petition under Article 4.2.4.1 of the MSU Constituition for a meeting of the Student Representative Assembly to be held no later than 10 days after the receipt by you of this petition. Article 4.2.4.1 states:
4.2.4.1. The SRA shall meet within ten days at the call of the Vice President; or on petition to the Vice President of not less than 1% of the MSU membership; or on petition to the Vice President by not less than 10 members of the SRA.
It is your duty under the MSU Constitution to call this meeting. We respectfully request that the meeting be held at 6:30pm on December 10th as it will be on the day of the week and time that the SRA normally meets.
The meeting will be for the purposes of reconsidering the matter of the termination of the Silhouette Executive Editor.

…

CARLI WHITWELL
NEWS EDITOR

At Sunday’s Student Representative Assembly meeting, after the first executive session, Moonsammy’s motion was divided into two.
The first motion that the SRA recognize the McMaster Student Union Board of Directors’ decision to terminate the editor as a violation of operating policy 1/K was voted upon in open session. The second part of the motion that the SRA reinstate Jaic as Executive Editor of the Silhouette, was moved into closed session.

Though the decision regarding Jaic’s fate with the MSU remained unknown to the public after Sunday’s meeting, an SRA member, who requested to remain anonymous, came forward to the Silhouette to inform students what happened during the second executive session.
The source said that the motive for moving into executive session was the same as Drew Mitchell and John McGowan stated previously, so discussion could centre on Jaic’s employment issues.

The SRA member said that during the executive session there was no new information provided to the SRA by the Board of Directors.
The informant said that the SRA voted on the issue of directing the BOD to reinstate Jaic to his former position of Executive Editor of The Silhouette. The motion passed to direct the BOD to rehire Jaic.

Immediately following this, a motion to reconsider was brought forward with the intent to bring undisclosed information to the attention of the SRA.
However, Robert’s Rules of Order states, “the purpose of reconsidering a vote is to permit the correction of hasty, ill-advised, or erroneous action, or to take into account added information or a changed situation that has developed since the taking of the vote.”

Additionally, a motion to reconsider “can be made only by a member who voted with the prevailing side.” Robert’s Rules of Order further specifies.

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Enough said. …

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On Sunday the SRA met and the MSU Executive, with the help of their friends, completely destroyed what little resemblance of student democracy was left at McMaster.  I am struggling to explain what happened because it was so amazingly unbelievable and wrong.  I have been covering student politics across Canada and the only comparision I can draw is to the arrogance and anti-democratic behaviour of the “G7″ at Simon Fraser.

The SRA meeting began with approval of the agenda.  The Executive moved to have question period not in its normal position on the agenda, instead they asked for it to be the last item on the agenda.  They did this to avoid having a question period with many people present and in the hope that after a long night of filibustering debate that the SRA would choose to cancel period.  The SRA approved this and later in the evening the SRA cancelled question period completely.  The Executive will go 18 weeks without having to answer questions from the SRA membership.  This would include questions from students like myself when SRA members proxy their speaking rights to me.  (Students are not allowed to speak to the SRA directly)

Next, the Speaker of the MSU made a ruling in regards to the firing without cause of the Silhouette Executive Editor.  She ruled that MSU policy was not followed in firing the Editor and as such it was a violation by the Board of Directors.  This ruling clearly stated that the actions of the Board of Directors were wrong.  They had abused their power.  It was now up to the SRA to act to enforce the rules. …

I am working on a post about Sunday’s eight hour SRA meeting which was the nail in the coffin of student democracy at McMaster. I am hoping to get it up by the start of the day tomorrow morning. …

There is a new student union blog out there. The Dalhousie Student Union is now blogging. Go over and check them out:
http://dalhousiestudentunion.blogspot.com/ …

The statement of Alexander Litvinenko prior to his death from Polonium 210 poisoning at the hands of Putin:

I would like to thank many people. My doctors, nurses and hospital staff who are doing all they can for me, the British police who are pursuing my case with vigour and professionalism and are watching over me and my family.

I would like to thank the British government for taking me under their care. I am honoured to be a British citizen.

I would like to thank the British public for their messages of support and for the interest they have shown in my plight.

I thank my wife Marina, who has stood by me. My love for her and our son knows no bounds.

But as I lie here I can distinctly hear the beating of wings of the angel of death.

I may be able to give him the slip but I have to say my legs do not run as fast as I would like.

I think, therefore, that this may be the time to say one or two things to the person responsible for my present condition.

You may succeed in silencing me but that silence comes at a price. You have shown yourself to be as barbaric and ruthless as your most hostile critics have claimed.

You have shown yourself to have no respect for life, liberty or any civilised value.

You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy of the trust of civilised men and women.

…

To view a detailed post on the bylaws and policies violations by the MSU Board of Directors please click here (Warning it is an extensive post and a long read)

Editor of McMaster’s student paper says he was fired without cause
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
By Dave Ward

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Student newspaper editors might have more reason to watch what they say following the dismissal of Chris Jaic, executive editor of McMaster university’s undergraduate newspaper, The Silhouette.

“We still don’t know why I was fired,” Jaic said.

He said he was informed he had been terminated without cause on Nov. 3 in a meeting with McMaster Student Union business manager John McGowan and MSU VP administration Ryan Moran.

“[McGowan] gave me a letter and said ‘give me your keys and we’ll arrange to clear out your office,’” Jaic said.

Moran said the process and specifics can’t be discussed.

“He wasn’t fired ‘without cause,’ the phrasing was ‘not for cause,’” Moran said. “It allows us to terminate an employee in good standing.

“MSU recognizes that [Jaic] has contributed a great deal. We appreciate what he has done.”

Jaic said the relationship with the Board of Directors had numerous problems during the year.

“There wasn’t a specific issue that caused [the dismissal]; it was a culmination of issues,” Moran said.

Jaic said he was once told quotes for his stories from a board member must be verified by another member of the board before being printed.

“The relationship has not been positive,” he said.

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The McMaster NDP club is having our last event of the term. We, of course, invite anyone (student or not) interested in politics to attend. One thing that is great about the MacNDP is that we enjoy open intelligent discussion. Come on out. We have two of our local MPs there. This is a great chance to speak to them about what is happening in Ottawa. Plus the venue, King Paisley Pub, is a great place to have a few drinks.
McMaster NDP PARTY!
WHERE: King Paisley Pub – 1019 King St W (located in Westdale Village beside the Snooty Fox at King St W and Paisley Ave)
TIME: 7:00-10:00pm
*ALL AGES Welcome
Hamilton Centre MP DAVID CHRISTOPHERSON and Hamilton Mountain MP CHRIS CHARLTON are coming to party with us at King Paisley Pub. This is the last McMaster NDP event of the term, so don’t miss this unforgettable night! …

To view a detailed post on the bylaws and policies violations by the MSU Board of Directors please click here (Warning it is an extensive post and a long read)

…

To view a detailed post on the bylaws and policies violations by the MSU Board of Directors please click here (Warning it is an extensive post and a long read)
Undrgrads.com has coverage of the Silhouette Issue on their site here:
http://www.undrgrads.com/campusbuzzplayer.html
(Also, take the time to check out the entire undrgrads.com site. It is a non-profit site that is a project of McMaster students.)
They do a nice job with the segment. Kyle Park, member of the Executive Board, goes on the offensive against my article last week in The Silhouette which spoke to issues within the MSU.
He states that I must be misleading people about the SRA getting a 15% discount at the bar. To do so, he twists and turns the words to be specific to alcohol only. Yet, he admits they do get a discount, just not on alcohol. Seems that I was correct. (Now, one problem with print is limited space, if I had more space, maybe I could have been extremely detailed) He complains that I do not point out that more than just the SRA gets line bypass. My statement was that with Quarters losing so much money, the SRA should not be getting perks. It is worth noting that the SRA only gets line bypass (in practice) on Thursday and Saturday because those are the only nights there are lineups. They do, however, get free admission to most events held in Quarters.
Then he goes after my paragraph on the police contract that the MSU has. …

Great Job Jack!    I am very proud to have a federal NDP card in my pocket today. 

Commons approves motion for state funeral

Updated Tue. Nov. 21 2006 11:24 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The House of Commons voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of an NDP motion asking the government to sponsor a full state funeral when the last First World War veteran passes away.

Only three surviving First World War veterans – Dwight (Percy) Wilson, 105, and Lloyd Clemett and John Babcock, both 106 – are still alive.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said the government should recognize that a state funeral would celebrate “the contribution of a whole generation of Canadians who served, whether overseas or here at home and their families as well.”

Layton told CTV’s Canada AM on Tuesday morning that the funeral would allow the entire country to pay tribute to all those who served during the First World War.

Source: CTV.ca | Commons approves motion for state funeral …

“effective Immediately”This sounds like there is an interesting back story to this.  Should be interesting to see what comes out in the near future.

News Release

Carleton University Announces Change in Leadership

November 20, 2006

Ottawa ON, November 20, 2006 — Dr. David W. Atkinson, President and Vice-Chancellor of Carleton University, today announced that he has resigned as President of the University effective immediately.

“The Board of Governors has accepted Dr. Atkinson’s resignation in the best interests of the University,” says David Dunn, Chair of the Carleton University Board of Governors.  “It is vitally important that the Board of Governors and the President be aligned on the issues and on the relationship necessary to move forward in a cohesive way

 Hattip over to the CUSA Chair for posting this info in an MacLJ conversation.

Source:Carleton University …