Start preparing for a possible TA strike

On Wednesday, hundreds of TAs met to discuss the state of contract negotiations with UBC. They haven’t had a contract for nearly two years and haven’t gotten UBC to budge from their stance of no pay increases.

So now, they’re considering striking. According to our sources, if they choose to strike, they would force UBC’s hand by having it take effect during the final weeks of classes and exams.

We’re still finding the details of when a strike vote might be called and what it could mean for students. But what is clear is that the TAs are serious about keeping all their options open.

This means that everyone should be prepared to not have their TAs for a couple weeks at the end of the school—and plan and study accordingly.

A simple guide for how clubs can stay out of trouble

The UBC Ski & Board Club had to do some explaining to the AMS Student Administrative Commission recently. Ski & Board had distributed posters for a February 3 beer garden called “Cavesluts and Dinowhores,” featuring an impossibly buxom cavewoman spilling out of her skimpy cave-bikini.

So yeah, it broke a few rules about respectful discourse toward women.

One response to this could be that it shows the AMS needs to bring back a revamped equity program that teaches clubs how to promote positive discourse (the AMS equity program was scrapped two years ago). But it’s not necessarily true that this single event should require a systemic change.

Every two years or so, it seems a student organization gets itself into trouble. In 2008, it was the Chinese Varsity Club’s video about the “Honger” club. In 2010, it was the Arts Undergraduate Society’s newspaper making jokes about “tramp stamps.”

What’s really needed here is just a reminder to club executives to keep an eye on those in your club who are prone to doing blatantly stupid things.

In fact, here’s an easy-to-follow guide to what should never appear in your official club material.

1. Caricatures of sexually promiscuous women.
2. Jokes about racial stereotypes.
3. Derogatory comments about sexual orientation.

There are other grey areas that should probably be avoided, but come on, people, it’s really not that complicated. Just keep these these three simple rules in mind and you can avoid a whole lot of trouble.

A sustainability college would be good news for the UBC Farm

Everyone loves the idea of a farm, even if they don’t regularly interact with it. This was proven in the widespread support for saving the UBC Farm from condominium development a few years ago.

Yet the lack of interaction is still a problem. Outside of that campaign and a few events throughout the year, few students are involved with the Farm. It can seem like a hassle at times to get down to south campus when you’re balancing classes and struggling with exams. Plus it rains for most of the academic year.

But with the prospect of a sustainability college being built on UBC Farm, more people will actually have a chance to experience one of the largest urban farms in North America—even if they don’t have an affinity for physical labour. This is a great step towards making UBC Farm more accessible to all residents in the Lower Mainland.

UBC film students should come out of their shell more often

The “Harry Potter in 60 Seconds” video, made by UBC film students, was pretty amusing as viral videos go.

But it was probably also the first time you watched something created by a UBC film student.

The work of film students doesn’t have the same visibility as their fine art brethren in the theatre and music departments. And while part of this is due to the lack of a high-quality viewing space like the Chan Centre, it’s also because the department just doesn’t seem as motivated to share their talents with the general university community—their poorly-advertised film festival notwithstanding.

Yes film students, we know you’re very busy. But we encourage you to get more involved in the larger campus community. Videos like this both further your career and entertain your peers—and can be made even without a time-turner.

Campus Security suprisingly sets the standard for web presence

UBC Campus Security’s decision to make improvements to their online Lost and Found service is great for UBC students. As we get more and more of our information online, it’s important to create effective communication on the interwebs. Other examples include Campus Security’s surprisingly quirky and informative Facebook page, and—hey, wait a second. How did it come to be that Campus Security has one of the best online presences at UBC?

We don’t mean to besmirch Campus Security. They do a genuinely great job of realizing there’s more to communication than press releases and vague UBC talking points.

But surely other groups on campus could follow their example and give their department a little more personality. Such efforts may not make it any easier for us to find our iPod, as Campus Security’s does, but it’d sure help raise their profile among students.

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