The AMS, by its own admission, doesn’t have a lot of spare money hanging around. With a looming structural deficit, one would think that they would be coming up with more frugal ways to spend students’ funds. One would think that their spending would be cautionary, and that they would be on the lookout for new sources of funding. Which is why their last Council meeting was all the more puzzling.

It was there that our wizened student leaders debated for three hours whether to rent out 100 per cent of the Whistler Lodge to the general public during the Olympics in order to make up to nearly an additional $70,000 for the AMS. That’s a lot of money, and reports from VP Finance Tom Dvorak indicate that even more money could be made if the AMS were to advertise that they have a sweet chalet open during the Olympics. They rejected the idea, and there’s certainly merit for keeping a student building open for students during the Olympics, and putting that as the highest priority.

But the AMS has been all over the place on this issue. In 2007 they rejected the idea of selling beds to the general public. In June 2009 they decided to sell half of the beds, and keep half for students. In August 2009 they decided to look into selling all the beds. In September 2009 they’ve decided to just sell half of them again. Consistent thinking isn’t exactly a virtue of this group.

Then there’s the fact that Council voted in favour of approving $81,000 to renovate the SUB basement to add more offices for clubs and to move its photocopiers a few feet. Which sounds laudable, until you realize that these offices will become obsolete in five years when the new SUB is built, and that the renovations will increase the number of spaces for clubs from 70 out of 350 clubs to 77. A whopping two per cent. All for $81,000. Why was the money spent? Well, there was money for renovations in the budget, so they spent it. Apparently, Council has never heard of the amazing cost-cutting measure known as “not spending your entire budget just because you can,” but this just in: it can sometimes be a useful tool to save money.

Another way to save money? Not going on cross-country flights. However, VP Academic Johannes Rebane apparently felt the need to go to Massachusetts to check out Harvard University’s first-year seminar programs. Unfortunately, $3000 to create an Equity and Diversity Assistant position—allegedly something that the AMS really really cares about—simply can’t be funded. The Ubyssey watched one of the girls who came to Council with the request leave frustrated and in tears Wednesday night, and who can blame her?

The AMS provides many good services and generally does good for students, no doubt about that. For example, $68,000 allocated for clubs in its Clubs Benefit Fund, which is replenished each year. This is for funding special projects, travel grants, furnishings and equipment up to $450 for clubs. That’s great. Let’s see more initiatives like this, rather than having $140,000 spent annually on Safewalk, when virtually every other university that provides a similar service does so with volunteers.

So, AMS, some helpful advice: Don’t propose to alleviate an injury (structural deficits) by having a referendum to increase student fees (with a band-aid). Don’t spend thousands to stay in a fancy hotel in Victoria when cheaper accommodation will do. Don’t spend all the money you have in a budget simply because there’s money in a budget to spend. If you need to spend the money, our money, then spend it on initiatives that will impact students immediately. We’re students in a recession. Act like it.

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