By Cedric Chen
I’m a forum representative. Last month, another student organization (referred to as “Organization X” after here) came to the SFSS Forum meeting, advocating their referendum question to impose yet another levy on all students, whether they accept it or not. Organization X asked for the forum’s endorsement, and I refused to support them. Later, when I was reporting back to my DSU about this in a DSU general meeting, the attendees became furiously and blatantly hostile to this proposal, and this gave us yet another indication that the practice of on-campus organizations collecting levies is going too far and getting out of control.
Before I get started, allow me to draw a clear distinction: I’m in no way advocating against any cause of any on-campus organization collecting levies; my point is simply that the practice of collecting levies is getting far too acceptable.
First of all, let’s be brutally honest: SFU students and students at other institutions are already bearing heavy financial burdens thanks to government cut-backs and corporate greed (think about your hundred-dollar textbooks). Unlike the wealthy, just one more dollar can always be the last straw on a student’s back. Also, unlike the governments, who can always increase taxes as a mean of income, we cannot ask for unlimited treasure from our parents. With many of us already bearing unbearable student debts, most of us would do whatever we can to cut down our expenses. Opening up another levy is certainly in counterproductive to this goal.
More importantly, students are sometimes not given any other choices. If a student does not agree with how The Peak or SFPIRG is behaving, they have the option of opting out and reclaiming their levies. For some other organizations, opting out has not been an option, and if you refuse to pay these levies, your account becomes outstanding, preventing you from enrolling courses for the next semester. Taking Organization X as an example, when I was trying to add an opt-out clause into their referendum question proposal, my motion was turned down.
Another reason why I’m against such practices is that once levies are approved, we can hardly find a way to track how they’re used, let alone decide how they should be used. In these cases, ‘Don’t worry. They’ll know how to use the money,’ is plain old bullshit. If the Simon Fraser Student Society, big enough to supposedly represent all SFU students, commits financial misconduct like using our money to renovate their office instead of repairing the recharging machine at the Copy Centre until last semester, then how can we just expect a random on-campus organization to financially behave as well?
Again, I’m not alleging that all these organizations have been committing financial misconduct, and if one organization doesn’t commit financial misconduct, its people know that my comments here won’t affect them. I’m just proposing that we cannot just trust any organization when we’re deprived of information.
Last but certainly not least, call me selfish, but some of these organizations and their causes just aren’t going to bring any benefit to SFU or the SFU community. While The Peak is providing SFU students a platform to spill out their dissatisfaction with this university, and SFPIRG is providing SFU students good alternative sources for knowledge, I can’t see how some other of these organizations are to our benefit. In the example of the Organization X, they’re starting big projects outside of Canada. How are those big projects going to benefit SFU? Organization X kept arguing that they’re practicing SFU’s motto ‘Thinking of the World’, but have they been thinking about SFU, whose very survival is under threat from all sides?
Let’s be honest: We’re just not ‘enlightened’ to the point where we’re willing to give out levies from our pockets without seeing any potential benefit or reward, especially when we’re about to starve to death. Are these big projects going to produce talents that will help SFU build itself in return? Maybe. Maybe not.
In conclusion, I just don’t see the necessity of opening up another levy that will be imposed on already-struggling SFU students. Other than that, the practice of random on-campus organizations collecting levies may be justifiable when this practice is well under control, but now it’s spiraling out of control.
My final words to the Organization X are: if you want money, you can always do what all DSUs have been doing. Hosting fund-raisers or applying for a grant. You can also sign a sponsorship agreement with a big corporation, just like what the BASS has done. If students don’t want to give you money, you really shouldn’t just go to the SFSS and ask them to force students into giving you money.
Soon there’ll be a referendum regarding this proposed new levy, and I would encourage you all to vote ‘No’. Because if the question is passed, other organizations will do the same, and eventually SFU students will be dragged into a bottomless whirlpool.
