Category: News

Here are the slates for the Nov. 27 to 29 by-election for the presidency of the CSU in alphabetical order:

An Umbrella Party:
President: Zev Tiefenbach
Vice-President advocacy: Melina Bondy
Vice-President external: Anna-Louise Crago
Vice-President outreach: Samer Elatrash
Vice-President internal: Gary Chatteram

Democracy in action:
President: Jonathan Guido
Vice-President external: Francis Murchison
Vice-President finance: Mubeenah Mughal
Vice-President administration: Patricia Marchand
Vice-President internal: Marsha Akman
Vice-President services: Natalia McDonald
Vice-President resources: Charles Wagge

New Organized Way:
President: Luis Diaz
Vice-President communications: David Lavine
Vice-President internal: Mindy Eklove
Vice-President external: Jeffrey Lerman
Vice-President outreach: Christopher Dubois
Vice-President finance: Lloydic Monestine
Vice-President organizations: Michael Vicentijevic
Vice-President academic: John Gravel

Representative Union:
President: Chris Schulz
Vice-President academic: Arielle Reid
Vice-President finance: Jonathan Laberge
Vice-President internal: Sean Morrow
Vice-President services: Sameer Zuberi
Vice-President external: Sharon Koifman
Vice-President communications: Nili Yavin

Students who have an understanding of Lampoon and have tremendous zeal:
President: Payam Montazami
Vice-President checkmark: Phil Jandaly
Vice-President: Michael Imam-Amin
Vice-President: Hovig Yeraz Papzian

The left opposition party for a really really democratic representative union:
President: Tom Keefer
Vice-President internal agitation: Stephane Desautels
Vice-President ant-corporate affairs: Trish McIntosh
Vice-President anti-IMF/WB: Yves Engler
Vice-President external agitation and anti-send back home: Susana Vargas

The Concordia Student Union is launching a referendum campaign to ask students to reject the university’s new bad debt fee, which would cut 1.61 per cent off all current funds destined for student associations.
“[The levy] is totally unethical, totally immoral. It’s a disgusting move [by the administration],” stated interim CSU President and VP finance Patrice Blais.
At Concordia, the administration collects all student fees for student
associations and clubs and then transfers the money to the respective groups.
What is transferred, though, does not always reflect the amount the
administration ends up collecting, said Bram Freedman, the Assistant
Secretary-General and General Counsel for Concordia University. Since the administration gives out the transfer based on the projected amount to be collected and not the actual amount it receives, very often it ends up taking a loss.
“What’s been happening is that the university has been providing interest free loans [to student groups] for the last several years,” stated Freedman.
According to a letter from Vice-Rector Services Michael Di Grappa in this week’s Concordian, last year that loan amounted to $783,241, or 1.61 per cent of the amount billed to students. The university decided that it needed to take action now because of the rapid growth of the loss, which was only $221,372 in 1995-1996.
That action was outlined in a memo Oct. 26 from Concordia’s Chief Financial Officer Larry English. First, the administration has enacted a bad debt fee to be reviewed yearly in order to recuperate any lost money. Second, instead of transferring the entire year’s fees first semester, the funds will be transferred on a per semester basis.
According to Blais, the fact that the administration made this decision half-way into the semester is bad news not only for the groups expecting this money, but also the students who use their services. “[Student groups] have already hired their staff. The only thing that can be cut now are services.”
Smaller groups like Q-PIRG and the Link will be affected the greatest, said Blais. But he added that large organizations like the People’s Potato, who have already spent most of this year’s projected budget, will end up suffering financially as well.
Blais admitted that English had approached the CSU this summer about
implementing the bad debt fee, but said English left the impression that there would be further discussion before the administration took action. Those discussions never took place though.
For some groups, the issue is not so much money, but the way the university proceeded. For Cristelle Basmaji, president of the Commerce and Administration Student Association (CASA), the fact there was no warning or consultation with students is what is most upsetting. CASA should be able to deal with the shortfall, she said, but they could run into problems if a loan becomes necessary.
Furthermore, Basmaji is still not sure exactly why these fees are being imposed.
Andrea Lee, the administrative co-ordinator for the Concordia Women’s Centre, echoed this feeling. “Its really confusing to figure out what’s going on,” said Lee, adding that she wonders if this money could have been recuperated somewhere else.
English has been away for the past week, but, according to Di Grappa, is
returning later this week when he will resume meetings with student groups to discuss ways to deal with the impending financial difficulties. Also, an announcement to be made at this Friday’s Senate meeting will clarify all questions concerning the new policies, said Di Grappa.
In the meantime, though, Blais is not optimistic that the problem will be
resolved before the referendum dates of Nov. 27, 28 and 29. The motion calls for not only the removal of the fee, but for the new CSU executive to take action to recuperate the fee within a week should the motion be passed. “I’d like to be able to take [the motion] off the ballot,” said Blais. If he can’t, though, he hopes that students make their dissatisfaction heard at the polls.

In a written statement, Bram Freedman, legal counsel of Concordia University, has affirmed the absolute legality of the publication of CSU councillors’ and executives’ addresses under the Companies Act.
The CSU is a corporate body therefore, this information would be deemed of the public domain.
“That would be fine,” said interim CSU President Patrice Blais, “if [the
information] had been taken from either the CSU itself or the Inspector General of Institutions at the provincial government. Instead, the information came from the university registrars, which are confidential.”
The debate over the legality of obtaining these addresses originated a few weeks ago, when CSU presidential candidate Chris Schulz sent bailiff letters to CSU councillors and executives demanding they attend a CSU council meeting.
Schulz stands by his actions. “Normal addresses are private. But the CSU is a corporated body. It didn’t have to necessarily be a corporated body. They sought to become corporated. They paid money to be corporated. The University is allowed to release public information.”
That is besides the point for Blais. “If the addresses had come from the
provincial government, then it would be a public matter.”
Freedman disagreed. “The Access and Protection Agreement (which defines the confidentiality of university registrars) protects and prohibits the release of nominative information, or private information. However, this information was made public by virtue of another law.” This would be the Companies Act.
It would appear that this new wrinkle in the ongoing saga has not moved the key players. If anything, it has strengthened their opposing beliefs.
“The CSU is required to keep a register [of its councillors] during office
hours, where you can access all of this information. They don’t. The controversy isn’t that the university released public information. It’s that the CSU doesn’t have it available,” said Schulz
Meanwhile, Blais believes certain things need to happen to atone for the problem at hand. “The CSU is waiting for public excuses from Bram Freedman and Concordia University. If it doesn’t receive any, it is ready to lodge a formal legal complaint.”
“That’s fine,” said Freedman. “There will be no excuses. It’s certainly within [the CSU’s] right to take whatever legal action they choose. We stand by our actions.”
Another part of the kerfuffle dealt with how Schulz could afford legal counsel as well as the costs of the bailiff letters. “The CSU has a lawyer who controls one million dollars, so I felt I needed to seek legal counsel to prevent the CSU from subverting the democratic process. My lawyer is a former Concordia grad and he and some of his friends who also graduated from Concordia are embarrassed to have their names associated with Concordia.
“He has charged me a $500 fee for his services because he is very upset by actions taken by the [CSU] executive. As for the bailiff letters, they cost $1800. I have a year to pay it off and, if I can’t, [my lawyer] will consider it to be pro-bono.”

The Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) will have its own funding as of January 2002. A referendum held last week on the 60 cent fee levy was passed.
Yasmin Gardaad, Vice President internal for ASFA said that 601 students voted in the referendum. She stated that 501 students voted in favour of the fee levy and 96 students voted against it.
“We will present the results of the referendum to the Board of Governors on Nov. 4. We will get about $120,000 from the fee levy for the following semester,” said Gardaad.
ASFA did secure $40,000 from the dean of students office for this semester.
Gardaad said that ASFA council had mandated the ASFA executives to seek alternative funding, when negotiations between ASFA and the CSU broke down this summer.
“It was really quite inappropriate to have a high percentage of students hanging in limbo,” said Donald Boisvert, the dean of students. “I was very concerned that these student groups were not getting any funding. We are only funding them for this semester. We were able to free up some funds and I am happy about that.”

After years of insecurity, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) has recently been granted a permanent Friday prayer space at the Hall Building on the Sir George William campus.
“We have been fighting with the applied human science department for about four years for the secure use of room H-721 at the Hall Building,” said Bilal Hamideh, the president of the MSA.
Room H-721 is used by the applied human science department to help in their interactive teaching methods. This room does not have its desks anchored to the floor and allows groups to move desks and chairs.
The MSA has been using room H-721 for more than 10 years, but now the MSA now has a contract that allows them to use H-711, H-713 and H-721 every Friday.
H-711 and H-713 are under the control of the dean of students office.
After several meetings with Donald Boisvert, dean of students, Hamideh and the Dean drafted a contract for the use of H-721, H-711, and H-713 for a period of three years. The contract was signed on Oct. 19.
Previously, the applied human science department held classes in H-721 and the MSA used it only when it was empty. Hamideh felt that the Muslim student population needed a more secure space.
According to Hamideh, getting the applied human science department to agree to a contract was not easy. They first refused the MSA’s demand for a permanent prayer space for weekly Friday prayer. When Hamideh decided this was not fair, he wrote a letter and got backing from 20 other student associations, including the Concordia Student Union.
He added that this letter requested the applied human science department to grant H-721 to the MSA for regular daily prayer. The department completely refused, he said, so the MSA requested the room for a weekly prayer space and the department reluctantly complied.
“I am happy to accommodate Muslim students on a long term basis,” said Randy Swedburg, chair of the applied human science department. “We were willing to give up some class space. The university is strapped for space, that is why when space like this is needed it needs to be negotiated.”
“Muslim students have been holding regular Friday prayer sessions for about 20 years, and they felt that they needed a more secure and permanent use of the space they use,” said Boisvert.
About 600 to 700 people attend the weekly Friday prayer session held by the MSA in H-721.
“Right now, there are no classes in this room, so I do not understand why the applied human science department is so angry about us using this space,” said Hamideh.
But there is also the problem of Muslim daily prayer space. The MSA attempted to get a contract to use H-721 for daily prayer and negotiations are ongoing. The MSA is not currently satisfied with their current daily prayer spaces which are being forced upon them by administration.
The women’s prayer space is currently in a very small room across from the CSU’s office. When the MSA asked for a new space, they were told to use the old men’s prayer space at 2090 Mackay St. But the women feel that they will not be secure in this building, because the room is in the basement and there is no phone. As for the men, they were asked to move to 2020 Mackay St. for their prayer space,
even though the previous users of the room abandoned it because they felt it was unsanitary.
“I had a cleaning company come in and do an inspection and they told me that there is damage in the foundation of the building and that when it rains, rust will accumulate and also damage the outside walls,” said Hamideh.
He is currently trying to secure room H-711 for a Muslim daily prayer space for both men and women. If the bid is successful, the MSA will set up dividers so that they can accommodate both men and women in one room. H-711 is currently under the direction of Donald Boisvert and is currently used as an activity room for all clubs to use. Hamideh says that negotiations with the co-ordinator of student affairs have not been going well.
“I am expected to meet with the dean of students soon, but it seems that he is not liking the idea of us using this space as well,” said Hamideh.
Boisvert said that daily prayer space is being considered and he would not comment further on the matter.

The dean of students office recently proposed a new poster policy, taking steps to ensure that the limited amount of space available for postering on campus be equitably divided among the university’s various organizations.
Michael Golden, co-ordinator of student affairs, said that while the university was committed to freedom of speech, it was important that all student groups got equal say and equal access, therefore making some control necessary.
The new policy, which was still in draft form and open to debate, stated that all posters must be authorized by the dean of students office or the Concordia Student Union (CSU) before being hung. It also indicated that posters may only be displayed in strictly designated areas and limited the number of copies of a single poster to 30.
A failure by the the student societies, including the CSU, to comply with any of the rules would lead to an official warning from the university’s security department. Subsequent violations would lead to the loss of postering privileges on campus.
“The policy is totally unacceptable,” said Patrice Blais, interim CSU president.
“There will have to be serious changes. The fact that we are only allowed to have 30 posters won’t let us advertise events properly and nobody will know about them. Besides its against accreditation laws.”
According to Dean of Students, Donald Boisvert, certain exceptions will be granted in the case of special events such as the upcoming CSU elections.
However, these exceptions are not long-term; each case must be re-evaluated and approved in advance by Boisvert’s office.
Organizations that are not officially recognized by the university will be fined up to $175 for any acts of non-compliance.
Robert Panetta, the science college representative for the Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA), affirmed that he had no problem with the new policy. “So long as we’re not being completely banned from postering, I don’t see any real issue.
ASFA Vice President Finance, Riccardo Filippone, concurred. “I support that the dean of students office is going to be stricter in approving posters because a lot of them are not even associated to Concordia student affairs. It’s almost offensive, the amount of posters on the walls, and they eventually start to lose their effect.”
Because designated postering areas, which exclude classrooms and bathrooms, are very limited, Golden has ensured that 80 new poster boards would soon be distributed about campus. These new boards would allow more space without damaging the walls with tape and glue.
Besides the equitable distribution of space, the safety of students was also kept in mind when drafting the policy. The excess amount of paper, and its flammable nature, can be a serious fire hazard.
“Imagine one of the escalators blowing a fuse and the sparks catching on to all that paper that’s hanging on the walls to the side of it. It would blow like a chimney,” said Golden.
This issue and others will be discussed at special meeting at the dean of
students office Nov. 8. All those who will be affected by the new policy, namely the university’s student organizations, will be invited to voice any concerns they may have before the final document is filed. Concordia’s security and fire safety officials Darren Dumoulin and Normand Lanthier will also be available to field any questions.

Concordia students have been challenged by Centraide to participate in this year’s Looney Line campaign to be held Nov. 1 on the corner of McKay and de Maisonneuve.
“It will be hard, but not impossible,” said Engineering and Computer Science Association (ECA) President Michael Nimchuk of this year’s goal of raising $2,500 at the annual ECA sponsored event.
The Looney Line itself is a simple idea. Students are asked to place loonies on the ground, trying to make as long a line as possible. Last year, the event raised $1,800. While organizers were pleased with that amount, they feel Concordia students can do better.
What is much more complicated are the issues Centraide is trying to solve. Based in Montreal, it serves as a fund raising organization for 250 local community groups. They range from the Montreal Diet Dispensary, which provides food to underprivileged pregnant women, to Les enfants de l’espoir de Maisonneuve, which provides help for both children and parents in families afflicted by violence, drug abuse and sexual abuse.
Danielle Morin, co-chair of Centraide and a professor at the John Molson School of Business, said she knows how tight money is for students but hopes they realize that there are many others who are less well off than they are.
“I believe we’re all responsible for our community,” she said, adding that
donations amount to as little as the cost of a cup of coffee.
The benefit of donating to Centraide, stressed Morin, is that 88 cents of every dollar donated goes directly back to the community, with the other 12 cents going towards the cost of materials like posters.
Nov. 1 coincides with the end of this year’s joint Concordia-Centraide campaign.
$1,000 was raised earlier this year at a barbeque, and organizers are planning a slew of other activities. These include a bagel and coffee sale by the Master’s of Business Administration Society on Oct. 30 and 31 from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. as well as a tooney table from 7:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Nov. 1. Both are to be held in the lobby of the Guy Metro Building at 1550 de Maisonneuve West.

The Arts and Science Federation of Associations held a referendum to have their own 60 cent per credit fee levy, which would benefit associations under their umbrella.
The referendum, held from Oct. 29 to 31, will be tallied by the night of Oct. 31. Associations will then be able to get their funding, if the question passes.
At this point they do not have any funding.
“The fees will be directly billed to the students by the university,” said
Donald Boisvert, Concordia’s dean of students.
Last year, a referendum was held in March 2001 to give ASFA its own funding, but the question was defeated by 19 votes. The CSU refused to give ASFA funding unless it was in the form of a loan. ASFA council rejected the offer and said that there was no way they could repay the loan.
“The CSU was operating in bad faith,” said Riccardo Filippone, VP finance for ASFA.
Both Filippone and Boisvert pointed out that every other undergraduate student pays fees to a faculty association. Up to this point, only art and science students did not have a faculty association fee.
“The ASFA fee is the lowest fee for all the undergraduates,” said Filippone.
Other faculties pay higher fees to their associations. Students from the Fine Arts and Student Alliance (FASA) pay $1 per credit, the Engineering and Computer Science Association (ECA) pay $2.66 per credit and the Commerce and Administration Student Association pays $5.00 per credit.
Additional reporting by Diana Thibeault.

Oct. 28 to Nov. 3 has been designated Campus Equity Week, a movement designed to highlight the working conditions and salaries of part-time faculty at Concordia University.
Maria Peluso, president of Concordia University Part-time Faculty Association (CUPFA) and a part time Political Science professor at Concordia, said it is the first time that Campus Equity Week has been organized as a coalition with faculty from all of the other major faculty unions, associations and disciplinary organizations from the U.S. and Canada.
“It has really been a concerted effort. We ran a campaign last year with TBA (To Be Announced) buttons, to symbolize the fact that when a student registers for a course, and the name of the professor is written as TBA, it’s because the part-time professor who will be teaching that course isn’t aware of where he/she will be placed,” said Peluso.
According to Peluso, part-time faculty account for 40 per cent of faculty
appointments. Despite the fact that part-time professors perform essentially the same tasks as do full-time professors, they enjoy none of the same benefits.
Part-time professors do not have access to e-mail, telephones or photocopiers.
They do not have offices into which they can invite students to discuss academic situations. A part-time faculty member at Concordia University receives only 30 per cent of full time pay, and has no job security and receives no health or pension benefits. Peluso said that many of these part-time faculty members end up on welfare or unemployment.
Dennis Murphy, the executive director of communications at Concordia claimed that there are two fundamental reasons why the current situation with part-time faculty at Concordia exists. “Originally at Concordia part time professors had some form of other employment. For example, you may have had a professor that was a retired employee of the Gazette, or someone who ran a program at CFCF-12.
But what started happening in the 60’s and 70’s, and especially in language programs, was that a lot more students started showing up to class, and more professors were needed. So part time professors would accept the position as a supplement to their income.
“Especially in the last 15 years, it became practice to offer courses on a
part-time basis to doctoral students. This allowed them to double the income they would be making as a teaching assistant, and it also provided them with the opportunity to get some experience in teaching.”
Murphy explained that it has now become practice to hire part-time professors, and it is now considered acceptable to consider a position as a part-time professor as primary employment. “Financially, it is not a viable way of earning one’s living. And this is evident in the way that CUPFA is trying to sensitize people to their campaign.”
Peluso added that a notion of equity between people performing the same job is required, and that students need to be aware of the quality of their education.
“Part-time professors at Concordia have no part in any of the university
committees, we have no voting member on the board of governors. We are basically performing slave labour. We want students to be aware of the quality of their education. We also want the university to integrate the part-time faculty.”
CUPFA is appealing to students to sign their postcard campaign “Equal Work=Equal Pay.” The cards can be found at CUPFA information booths located on both campuses. On Wednesday, there will be a booth set up in the lobby of the Library Building.
Signed cards can be sent to the CUPFA offices at 2150 Bishop, K-130, Montreal H3G 1M8.

The Concordia Student Union held a special meeting on Oct. 24 to appoint a Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). What was meant to be a brief meeting turned into a longer one with the introduction of several emergency motions.
The CSU may be preparing for a face-off in Quebec judicial court against B’nai Brith. VP Internal Laith Marouf confirmed a preliminary letter penned by his lawyer has been sent to the organization, demanding an apology for remarks made against the CSU.
Marouf says the remarks are libelous, racist, and defamatory. If B’nai Brith does not respond to the request, legal action could be taken against them in the form of libel and discrimination suits.
At the council meeting, a major concern was the financial cost that such an endeavour would entail. VP Finance and interim President Patrice Blais has been designated to investigate just how much the case could cost before the official go-ahead is given from council.
Marouf has solicited the services of Julius Grey, a prominent human rights attorney, and said the possibility exists that he may take on the case pro-bono, which means he would provide his services at no charge.
While B’nai Brith is not under deadline to respond to the letter, should the CSU decide to go forth with the case, they will send a second letter to B’nai Brith.
New CEO appointed
Also at the meeting, the CSU filled the long vacant post of CEO in anticipation of the CSU elections to be held Nov. 27 to 29.
Ali Abbas, a fourth year computer engineering student, was selected from a shortlist of 3 applicants and will be responsible for ensuring that the elections are fair and run smoothly.
“Because of the short notice [of the elections], we felt it would be good to have someone with a springboard of experience,” said councillor Melanie Anestis, a member of the committee that overlooked the application process.
According to his resume, Abbas once organized a student’s union election at the University of Baghdad in Iraq, which he said had a student population of 150,000. He said he has also been involved with elections at the provincial level.
“It’s definitely a good asset, I have a good feeling about this candidate,” said interim president Patrice Blais.
Abbas will be provided with an office this week. A Deputy Electoral Officer (DEO) was also appointed. Jessica Lajambe will assist Abbas with his duties.
New election regulations
Candidates in the upcoming CSU elections will have to disclose the source of any funding received in the pre-campaigning period, and detail any contact they have had with university administration regarding the CSU.
The motion, proposed by councillor Tom Keefer, was passed almost
unanimously.”It’s a big concern in terms of the extent to which the
administration has meddled in CSU affairs,” said Keefer. “We’re trying to
safeguard the interests of students. The CSU shouldn’t be a tool of the
administration.”
Keefer also wants all candidates to be on equal footing in terms of funding received to fuel their campaigns. Under a CSU by law, each slate is permitted to spend a maximum of $750.00 to further their campaign.
Two weeks ago Chris Schulz, who is running for CSU president, had bailiff letters hand-delivered to the CSU executive and council ordering them to attend a council meeting on Oct. 18. Council said the expense is something the average student cannot afford. Schulz said he has an arrangement with his lawyer.
Schulz says that if the CSU is trying to force him to disclose how the bailiff letters were paid for, it is not going to work. “CSU law cannot override Canadian law. No court can make me disclose it, and CSU council certainly can’t.”
Keefer said the motion does not target anyone in particular. “It’s nothing
personal at all. On the contrary, it’s a very political thing.”

At the last CSU council of representatives meeting, councillors said they had received a strongly worded bailiff’s letter demanding that they attend the Oct.
18 meeting and appoint a Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) or have legal action taken against them.
Councillors are wondering how, Chris Schulz and Ralph Lee who sent the letters, got a hold of their addresses and how they paid for the hand delivered letters.
Schulz stated at the meeting that they sent the letters because they wanted to ensure that councillors would attend the meeting and reach quorum, so that council could appoint a CEO.
Earlier on Oct. 18 Schulz and Lee handed in a petition with about 3,000
signatures from undergraduate students, asking for the resignation of CSU President Sabrina Stea. On Oct. 15 Stea resigned and once a president resigns there is then an election for a new CSU president in thirty days.
There is no CEO, since last year’s CEO resigned in mid-September. Council did not appoint a CEO at the last meeting, since they decided that they needed the time to advertise for the position. Nonetheless, they appointed a committee to appoint a CEO by Oct. 24.
“The petition does not count. There will be an election process anyway because Sabrina resigned,” said Patrice Blais, the newly appointed CSU president and vice-president finance.
Schulz requested the addresses of the councillors and executives from Blais on Oct.17. “I consulted my lawyer, so I could know what we are obliged to give. I got back to him the same evening. I told him that I would give him the list later on that night or the next morning. But before I could do that I started getting phone calls from councillors that were shocked at getting the bailiff letters,” added Blais.
Blais said that he was not home when the letter arrived at his home. “I knew it was coming so I was not shocked. Some parents of the councillors received the letters and since some of them come from countries where lawyers cannot be trusted, it was really scary for them.”
“I think it is really bad that students need lawyers to talk to other students.
We need a CEO, but to send a letter like that to get a CEO is not valid enough.
Council never lost quorum except once,” said Councillor Sami Nazzal.
At the meeting Schulz apologized for the ill effects that the letter had on the councillors. “It was not a strong-arm tactic. I was not sure that Sabrina was going through with her resignation and I wanted to ensure that there was quorum at the meeting.”
After Schulz apologized to council, councillor Tom Keefer asked him how easy it was to get the addresses of the councillors and the executives. Schulz replied that his lawyer had gotten a hold of the addresses somehow, but he did not know how.
“No third party can get that information. There is no other way his lawyer could have gotten it, other than from the university itself. That’s a breach of confidentiality. We need to do something about that. Addresses of the councillors are public, but not the addresses of the executive,” said Blais.
He added that he suspected that the university had leaked that information because the addresses that the letters were sent to were on university applications. “Some people moved in the summer and they did not get the letter, but it was sent to their old addresses.”
Councillor Samer Elatrash asked Lee and Schulz how they got the money to send the bailiff’s letter, considering that some letters were sent up to 300 kilometers away and that it was an expensive procedure. He also strongly implied that it was the university or some outside organization that provided Lee and Schulz with the funds to deliver the letters. “This is interference from the university.”
Schulz replied by saying that he had an arrangement with his lawyer.
Council finally passed a motion requesting that Schulz and Lee ask their lawyer how he/she obtained the addresses and how much it cost them and where the money came from. The pair was given a 48-hour deadline to reply to Council Chair Mistie Mullarkey and as yet, she has not received a reply. Lee and Schulz are not required to give a reply.
Schulz said that he will be sending a letter of apology to Mullarkey. “I still
stand by decision. It was very possible that there would not be quorum. I regret the ill effects of the letter. I failed to consider that.”
He added that he would not take legal action against council for not appointing a CEO. “They have broken their bylaws by not having the election in 30 days. As for where the money came from I was pretty clear about that at council.”
Lee said the idea to send the bailiff letters was something that supposed to be a last resort. He attended the first meeting with the lawyer and was not consulted about the second meeting. “I was not consulted about the content of the letters. I was totally against the threatening tone of the letters. I wanted to talk to the councillors. I was extremely annoyed at not being consulted [by Schulz].”

At a special council of representatives meeting, council appointed Patrice
Blais, the current vice president finance, as Concordia Student Union’s interim president.
Blais was voted in by a majority of representatives after a motion brought forward by councillor Abdel Beedassy at the Oct.18 meeting. Blais said that his selection came as a result of his experience as a member of student organizations.
“After discussing with other councillors, we decided to choose Patrice as
interim president because he deserved it. He was the hardest working executive and he gets things done on time. We believed that he was the best person for the job,” said Beedassy, a councillor and a spokesperson for council.
According to CSU bylaws, once a president resigns an election for the presidency is held within thirty days. But council decided to wait a little longer to hold them from Nov. 27 to 29, so that they could appoint a chief electoral officer and give students time to put their slates together.
When asked whether he would run for president in the elections, Blais said he had not determined his immediate political future.
Former CSU President Sabrina Stea made her resignation official. She addressed council at the meeting and read from her letter of resignation: “I want to make clear that our student union can no longer tolerate the interference in internal student union affairs by the Concordia University administration.”
The current CSU was elected in March 2001 on a mandate that was based in the fight for democracy, accessibility and human rights. However, the administration’s latest acts of banning postering on campus and calling an investigation of CSU publications convinced Stea that the students were losing their democratic rights. She hoped her resignation would bring this fundamental problem to their attention.
“If students need another election, I’ll give it to them,” she said. “With a new election, we can continue to discuss important issues.”
The voters had in fact demanded a new election via a petition started by
commerce and engineering students and it was signed by 3,200 undergraduates. The petition requesting the president’s resignation was handed in after her official announcement and despite having knowledge of its existence, Stea played down its role in her decision.
“If it hadn’t been a petition, it would have been something else. What is
important is that the students voiced their opinions,” she said.
Council member Sabine Friesinger admitted that what Stea had to go through was unfortunate but there came a time when she had to decide whether she was in office for herself or to support the democratic process.
Conversely, the Arts and Sciences Federation of Associations (ASFA) vice- president of finance Riccardo Filippone believed that the reasons given by Stea for her resignation were not advocating democracy but rather epitomizing CSU propaganda. “She clearly resigned for no other reason than the fact that she was going to be recalled.”
Filippone added that he was resentful toward the CSU for not fully acknowledging the petition’s significance. “It was cowardly of the union not to issue an apology to the over 3,000 students who obviously disagreed with its policies.
That is unheard of in politics.”
Stea has yet to decide if she will run for re-election. What she did affirm was that she would continue to speak for the marginalized and oppressed voices on campus. “The struggle is what university is about,” she said.