Not being a Commerce student, I’m not going to say one way or the other how I’d vote on this referendum because it’s not my money on the line (although it’s probably abundantly clear where I stand). I will, however, say that I’ve so far been really disappointed at the disproportionate levels of visibility in the “yes” and “no” campaigns, with the former being a preposterous team effort by the Commerce Undergraduate Society and their crafty Dean.
With the benefit of a website (remarkably prepared before CUS officially took a stance on the referendum), and Dean Dan parading from classroom to classroom at the admitted behest of CUS, it’s essentially impossible for any Commerce student to have not been inundated with “information” on the referendum that is, in reality, just one side of the debate. Hell, they even hosted an event about this “exciting” project. (And were somehow allowed to say “beer” which is unusual)
Scare tactics are abundant, as evidenced from the FAQ:
11. What will happen if the fee doesn’t go through?
The government has no money to offer us and will likely not have any in the near future. According to the way UBC’s building upgrade funds are rationed out, we are one on a long-list and would be waiting several years before we saw any money. The only option remaining for the Dean will be to cut costs elsewhere inside the faculty’s operations. Examples of areas that could see budget cuts: class sections that are not essential to completing degrees, Commerce elective courses, low-demand concentrations, extra sections that allow double-majors, student development services, BCC contributions, contributions to student activities, CUS contributions, etc.
For now, the option has not been fully developed (remember, this issue is only a few weeks old) and the areas that would suffer have not been determined. We hope to not have to have these difficult discussions and make these difficult decisions.
and later…
When the accreditors return in 2013, we need to show them that we’ve responded to their areas of focus and renovated the facilities to a state that is representative of the learning environment needed for students at a top business school. If we lose this accreditation, we will no longer be considered for certain business school rankings such as the Financial Times and Business Week, which would in turn affect the opportunities available for students…They have clearly indicated that Phase II needs to be completed.
Without presenting any documentation whatsoever that losing accreditation is actually a risk, the Dean still manages to get away with this scare tactic. At the media debriefing, when asked if access had been granted to the reports by EQUIS and AACSB, the accreditation bodies, the CUS executive merely said “No, we’ll ask about it.”
Perhaps it would have been prudent to assess if Dean Dan’s argument that accreditation is at risk actually held water, but unfortunately we just don’t know. We can take him at his word though, since he’s totally neutral.
And if this were a true FAQ, I’d expect one of the questions to be “Why did the Dean decide to go ahead and erect a multi-million dollar building with absolutely no guarantee of funding, and resistance from the government? Isn’t he a Commerce Dean?”
Even the ballot is insanely one sided, giving you a visually appealing check mark if you do as they wish, or a scary red X if you stray from your sheep duty of doing as the Dean says.
The dissent on this referendum has been visible in facebook threads
I happily refer anyone who is interested in seeing some arguments against the fee to Alex Lougheed’s wonk-tastic post on UBC Insiders (though more charts and graphs would be awesome).
Or, if you want to hear some oh-so compelling reasons to shell out an average month’s rent for something that isn’t your responsibility to pay for, take a listen:
To conclude, I urge all voters to not assume that the very visible sources of information on the referendum are in any way impartial. Do some research on your own, read other students’ takes on the issue, and form your own opinion.
Justin Yang
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