By Sarah Krichel
The Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) board of directors meeting on Dec. 19 settled some of the issues that were pushed from the Semi-Annual General Meeting on Nov. 29.
Here are some of the motions presented at the meeting:
HOLOCAUST EDUCATION WEEK — AMENDED
The motion put forward by Samantha Cooper, member of Hillel at Ryerson, brought forward discourse surrounding accusations of anti-semitism on campus. The motion asked for a Canadian Holocaust Education Week to dedicate five days annually to the remembrance of the genocide with events and programs. The board passed the motion.*
NEW METHOD OF REMOVAL OF AN EXEC FROM OFFICE — OUT OF ORDER
Engineering student Matthew Smith put forward this motion, following the motion at the SAGM requesting vice-president education Victoria Morton’s resignation. The system in place only allowed members of the board to put forward a motion requesting the dismissal of an exec on the board. The motion called for a new method of dismissal to be implemented, whereas the general membership has access to requesting one.
Smith included in the motion a rule stating that no less than five per cent of the general membership must be in favour of a referendum to have it put forward. The motion also included a rule specifying that no more than 500 members from one faculty may count toward that five per cent.
This motion will be reviewed by the bylaw committee in the Winter 2017 semester.
6 FEST REPORT TO BE PUBLISHED BY RSU — AMENDED
The motion called for a breakdown of all expenses from the 6 Fest concert in October, including what has been paid out by the RSU to students who have requested refunds. The motion called for this to be done before the 2016-17 Annual General Meeting.
An amendment was passed to have a full report executed by the finance committee of the RSU, to be presented in the March board meeting. Another amendment was made to only disclose the lump sum of how much money is received in sponsorship, rather than numbers in specific sponsorships.
ENCOURAGE THE REMOVAL OF FEE TO PLAY POOL AT RAM IN THE RYE — PASSED
The motion argued that the implementation at the Ram in the Rye of a $2 charge for billiards per game of pool can create a tense environment as well as lack of equity for students. The board passed the motion to encourage the Ram in the Rye to remove the fee.
BICYCLE RACK — OUT OF ORDER
The motion was presented to solve the problem of students having to lock their bikes along the railings of the Library Building and the Nelson Mandela Walk. As student population increases yearly, the motion called for additional bike parking racks to be purchased and placed along Gould St. and Bond St. The board did not discuss the motion due to the matter being the jurisdiction of the university and the university space.
HAIR SALON EQUITY — REJECTED
The motion cited financial inaccessibility and exclusivity against customers of certain ethnicities at a hair salon on Bond St. The motion argued that looking into haircut options on campus would be a small improvement on quality of life for students. The motion was not passed by the board.
*CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the board amended the Holocaust Education Week motion to have the RSU participate in a genocide awareness week and host multiple events during the year covering multiple different genocides. This amendment was not passed. The Eyeopener regrets this error.
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