News Page 5 No campus activities for NUGSS_ By Kathleen De Vere Did you know that NUGSS (Northern Undergraduate Student Society) does not have a director of Campus Activities? The Director of Campus Activities position is arguably one of NUGSS’ most important positions. Its responsibilities include organising some of NUGSS’ biggest events, including the Backyard Barbecue and the annual Shinerama fundraiser, and yet technically, it is sitting vacant. “IT won't be running, there’s too much work over the school year!” Will DeWolf replied when asked about the possibility of him running for the position. DeWolf is cur- rently acting as the Interim Director of Campus Activities, a position he has held since last April, when NUGSS declared the election returns for the position were unable to indicate a clear winner. The electoral complications arose from an exceedingly close race, and a problem with the NUGSS’ def- inition (or lack thereof) of what constituted a valid ballot. “There was no definition of a ballot,” DeWolf explained. “When the ballots were counted, Duncan McCall won by three votes, but if you included the ballots that were ‘spoiled’ Serena Hartl won. The problem was with what counted as a spoiled ballot. Is it the whole sheet, or can you still count just a single category that wasn’t spoiled on the ballot?” Due to the Floridian nature of the electoral problem, the previous NUGSS board decided to declare the position vacant, and hold a by-election rather than simply declare a winner. However, the previous NUGSS board did not hold a by-election last school year. “We didn’t have enough time before the end of school to organise a by-election.” DeWolf explained. NUGSS election policy requires 2 full weeks of classes to hold a by-election, to ensure that there is enough time for a nomination and campaigning period, and by the time the election was over and all the recounts had been made, there was less than a week of school left before summer break. “Now the by-election will be held approximately at the beginning of October,” according to DeWolf. The uncertain- ty about the date of the election is due to the fact that before the by-election can be held, NUGSS must hire a Chief Returning Officer to organise the election and set the elec- tion dates. While DeWolf could not tell Over The Edge who the Chief Returning officer would be, he did say that there was only one candidate who applied for the position and he/she would be hired very soon. DeWolf, who was elected last year as an Associate Director of Campus Activities, is currently filling in for the position. “All our main events happen in September, the backyard barbecue, and Shinerama are the’ biggest. NUGSS needed someone to work the required 50 hours a month so the events could be planned,” DeWolf said. “It’s better than a real job,” he added. After the by-election, DeWolf will step down and resume his position as one of two Associate Directors of Campus Activities. Photo by Marlon Francescini Will DeWolf is currently the interim Director of Campus activities. B.C. Universities Launch Transit Pass Program funded primarily by student levies By Stephen Hui, British Columbia Bureau VANCOUVER (CUP) — Students at British Columbia’s two largest universities have gained unlimited access to public tran- sit in the Vancouver area. Almost 60,000 students attending Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia may now use a new stu- dent transit pass to ride the bus, rapid tran- sit, and commuter ferry. They are also pay- ing a mandatory fee for the so-called U-Pass — regardless of their transit usage — unless they qualify for an exemption. “More students choosing to leave their vehicles at home will result in benefits not only to our university community, but to the’ community at large,” said Ron Heath, SFU dean of student services, at a press confer- ence held in a downtown transit station. As part of the program, both universities will receive an increase in transit service, including more frequent bus trips, to meet an expected rise in ridership. “Tt is a tremendous boost for the usage of our transit in the Greater Vancouver area,” said Doug McCallum, chair of the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority. The majority of the cost of running the program will be recovered through student levies. Additional funding comes from the universities, as well as the VanCity credit union, the sole corporate sponsor of the pass. The Transportation Authority expects the program to be “revenue neutral” and will review the cost of the pass in two years. Each student at UBC pays $20 per month for the pass, except those in on-campus stu- dent housing, who shell out $15 per month. SFU students are charged $23 per month. A regular monthly transit pass previously cost students $63. Students at both universities approved the fees in referenda. Earlier this year, UBC students overwhelmingly backed the pro- gram with a 69 per cent majority vote. But the levy passed by a mere 33 votes at SFU, where the program continues to be a con- tentious-issue. Opponents of the pass argue that drivers should not be forced to subsidize transit users. Supporters counter that tuition from transit users already partially funds parking Photo by Marlon Francescini services on campus. “At UBC we're trying to incorporate a number of other programs into the U-Pass for people that don’t take transit, so that it still ends up being worth their while,” said Rose Gardner, a UBC arts student, following the press conference. “It’s not just a transit pass,” added Cindy Taurin, a biology student at UBC. “We’re trying to push it as a transportation pass. So, we've got a merchant discount program to go along with it.” The student union at SFU refused to have its logo printed on a poster promoting the pass at the press conference. ”That’s because we don’t agree with cor- porate sponsorship of that kind — the cor- porate sponsor that is seen as the initiator of the program when clearly students are,” Sara Rozell, a representative of the Simon Fraser Student Society, said afterwards. “I’m glad we have the U-Pass. I’m not glad that it says ‘VanCity U-Pass’ on it. It’s $5 million of students’ money for a year. It’s $300,000 of VanCity money for a year.” It remains to be seen whether the program will be expanded to include other post-sec- ondary institutions in the Vancouver area. The Transportation Authority says it will consider the possibility if the program is successful. SFU and UBC are not the first universities in the province to introduce a student tran- sit pass. The University of Victoria has had one since 2001. Students at that university pay about $13 per month for their pass. Almost 60,000 students at SFU and UBC now take part in a U-PASS program, where they pay a mandatory fee for unlimited access to buses, rapid transit and ferries in Vancouver and area. As part of the program both universities will receive increased transit service, including more frequent bus trips.