By Benjamin Lee
The proposed SFSS student union building is an extravagant $65-million luxury that students ought to critically inquire, and despite an ongoing period of fiscal restraint across Canada, a referendum question has been presented to fund the SUB exclusively through student levies.
Since there are no initial and startup funds available from the university or province of B.C. to assist in funding of the SUB, the SFSS board is turning to students to foot a 30-year open-ended bill, beginning in 2014. Upon the success of the referendum, the SFSS board claims they will reach out to the university and the provincial government; my concern is there would be no incentives to do so, because there is no need for the SFSS to “stay hungry,” especially when the funds are guaranteed each semester and will increase each year.
However, this SFSS board will stay foolish. Despite there being five business students on the 14-member SFSS board; they have presented a spectacularly unsophisticated fundraising strategy. Look at the Build SFU website: why isn’t there a PayPal link that would encourage the SUB’s early supporters to make an initial contribution? There is no outreach strategy to prominent SFU alumni to earn their endorsement of the SUB, which would, frankly, impart credibility. There is no mention of any joint partnerships between current donors to SFU and the SFSS to partner in fundraising. Why isn’t there an initial fundraising cap, say $2—3 million from investors, before proceeding to ask the student body for money? Build SFU’s justification is that they have consulted for six years, but this due diligence has not been accorded to fundraising for the $65-million SUB. The SFSS may not be shy asking students for money, but I would bet on a more embarrassing reaction if they had the gall to approach the CBC Dragons.
Let’s examine the authority of the SFSS board to manage a $65-million project. SFSS directors are elected to one-year terms, make under $100,000 (actually they make between $20,000 to $30,000), but somehow feel they are competent in making million-dollar decisions — how can they fully appreciate the significance of $3 million, $3.5 million and $35 million, when they themselves have never earned such an amount? Rather, a $12 burger and $800 monthly rent are expenses that resonate with everyday students; it raises the question: how deeply out of touch is the SFSS board?
Is this the realization of fiscal responsibility that the SFSS board campaigned on in the last election? To date, there is little praise associated with the current SFSS board, except their delicious hypocrisy in locking out the society’s staff for three months, citing the society was in a deficit of $800,000, yet during the lockout, the board raised their own wages! Furthermore, the SFSS has called on DSUs and clubs to endure cuts, but the board remains unwilling to face fiscal restraint themselves. Perhaps, the SFSS should fix their own affairs, before going to students for help.
From March 20 to 22, think twice, but vote once.
