Source
r/mcgill•
Adonom

Arts Undergrads Vote to Strike on Nov10 [Other AUS General Assembly Resolution Results Inside]. Thought You Should Know.

At the AUS GA today, the following resolutions were passed. Full descriptions were e-mailed to all Arts undergrads. I was absent for the votes on the last three (Coffee at SNAX, Student Consultation and Tuition Opposition). Quorum was set at 150 (according to the constitution) and met at ~275.

Bear in mind that no resolution of the AUS is binding upon the actions of Arts students.

All of the following resolutions passed:

  • Academic Amnesty

  • MUNACA Support

  • QPIRG YES Support

  • Support for Department of African Studies and African Studies Undergraduate Programs

  • Day of Striking on November 10th Against Tuition Hikes

Discuss

EDIT: Full text of resolutions available here.

Posted Nov 9, 2011, 2:19 AM UTC · edited

416
MyfishwillkillyouHonours Unemployable '14•

I hate that feeling you get where you disagree with something but you knowingly missed an opportunity to change it so you really have no right to complain about it.

Oh, and take a gander at the bit about Snax. It's treated in an intentionally silly matter, making it difficult for me to take their other issues seriously.

3
AdonomOP•

I enjoyed the Snax resolution. It was placed on the agenda after the serious business as a way to lighten the mood and have some fun (who says GAs can't be fun?). Nobody took it seriously, bit we did get some good laughs.

1
MyfishwillkillyouHonours Unemployable '14•

Oh it came afterwards? Thank God. In the PDF it was placed somewhere in the middle.

On a side note, Santropol is the best coffee I have ever tasted and I disagree that it's abused by snax employees.

2
AdonomOP•

It was moved to 6th position. Resolutions were voted in roughly the order I posted above, because we knew we may lose quorum after the strike vote (we did). The second tuition resolution was redundant after the strike vote, and the consultation resolution only parroted the existing mandate to lobby of AUS.

1
Savolainen5Linguistics/Russian U4•

I was sick and unable to go to the GA, but there's one thing that's bothering me about this whole 'strike' thing. That is, what does one expect this to accomplish? (And I have no negative feelings about it one way or another, I'm just curious)

It seems to me that strikes are most effective when the strikers remove some kind of service by not being at work. Students are served by the university, rather than the other way around. So by striking, in this way, the university is losing nothing. The teachers (those that have not agreed to suspend classes) will still teach, albeit with smaller classes. How does this send a message to Admin?

2
AdonomOP•

I think the rationale is that it's the best we've got. Students as a population don't have many avenues for political pressure. It's the best available way to demonstrate student political will. (Also, I take exception to "students are served by the University.") Strikes are considerably more effective when there's something to take away, or something is given up. Students don't have too many options in those regards.

That being said, the wording of the strike resolution made it clear that the main purpose of the strike was to allow/enable students to attend the Nov10 demonstration downtown. It would have been done differently if the Admin was the (pardon the pun) principal target.

1
Savolainen5Linguistics/Russian U4•

I see, I see. Thanks for the info!

1
[deleted]•

The GA is such a flawed process. There's little that's democratic about demanding that students give an entire night to decide these questions. What happens is the whole thing gets hijacked by a small group of people with their own political agenda and they end up deciding for the rest of us.

1
hcirtsafonos•

and in the end...none of it really matters (most of the time, at least...hopefully).

1
s3admqHonours Economics/Finance '14•

There is a HUGE self-selection bias

1
PasswordIsntHAMSTER•

Everybody can attend, except maybe the busier students. If you don't, it's usually because you didn't think it was important.

But then, if it's not important, you have no right to whine ಠ_ಠ

1
s3admqHonours Economics/Finance '14•

My point was that what the GA passes doesn't necessarily reflect the opinions of the majority of the student body

2
PasswordIsntHAMSTER•

Who's fault?

1
imakhink•

Have fun.

1
rissa_rizz•

Well things just got interesting...

1
needfordxdt•

I love how the quorum for the Arts GA is larger than SSMU's and they got more attendance than any SSMU GA I can remember.

1