Casey Park

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http://caseypark.com

…Less fees.
Guess what? You pay over $700 in supplementary fees to the MSU each year. Don’t think you should have to pay those fees? If elected, I’ll let you decide what fees you want to keep and which ones you want to ditch.

Now, I'm a bit unclear on this platform point. Is it talking about a restructuring of the fees (ie we change what we're paying as a group), or is it an individual opt out thing?

excessive posterization hurts my brain.

Basically, if elected, I vow to bring all student fees to referendum to allow the general student body to decide which fees should stay and which should go. This being said, it will be consensus among all students and not on an individual basis.

From my perspective, it is necessary that students have the opportunity to pay the fees they want to, so that obsolete fees are eliminated and more money ends up back in your pockets. Honing in on Bylaw 5: Financial Affairs, students can see how much they pay every year. If these numbers strike you as being a problem, a referendum is in order to properly reflect what students want.

https://www.msumcmaster.ca/studentGo.../MSUBylaws.htm

Originally Posted by casey.park

Basically, if elected, I vow to bring all student fees to referendum to allow the general student body to decide which fees should stay and which should go. This being said, it will be consensus among all students and not on an individual basis.

It's a nice idea to let the students decide which fees should stay, but you want to get a consensus among all voters? How realistic is this? proposal sounds obsolete

That doesn't sound realistic to let us decide what fees to keep and what not...How do you plan on doing that?

I also thought the whole basis of your platform was you are not making campaign promises? Doesn't "I vow to" constitute a campaign promise...and in this case a rather large one considering it would be the decision of the SRA or 3% of the student population to bring these issues to referendum and not the autonomous decision of the President.

An interesting idea since there are some fees which may be seen as unnecessary but there are some things which might be good to opt out of but would that compromise certain things and make everyone else pay more? I.E. Opting out for the HSR for people who rarely use it? Or the athletic centre which is a sizeable chunk but then would that mean certain things would be compromised in terms of service?

Student registered in 18 or more units at ANY time during the session will be reponsible for the following fees:
Athletics & Recreation Activity Fee 104.34
Student Health Services 53.39
Solar Car 1.00
Ontario Public Interest Research Group 7.04 (OPIRG)
(Note: If you do not wish to support the work of McMaster OPIRG, you can claim a full refund by bringing your student card to the OPIRG Office within three weeks after the completion of the drop and add period.)

McMaster Student Union Fees:
Student Organization Fee: 111.05
Health Plan Premium: 45.00
Dental Plan Premium: 95.00
H.S.R. Bus Pass: 102.70
WUSC Student Refugee Fee: 102.70
Ancillary Fee for CFMU-FM: 1.37
Ancillary Fee: 16.30
MARMOR Yearbook: 8.48
Incite Publication: 0.88
MSU Sub Total: 380.78

Administrative Services Fee ($1.08 per unit) to a maximum of $32.40 Athletics & Recreation Building Fee ($2.71 per unit) to a maximum of $81.30 McMaster Student Union's University Student Centre Building Fee ($2.99 per unit) to a maximum of $89.70 Student Services Fee ($4.07 per unit) to a maximum of $122.10

Overall. A great goal to have students have extra money in their pockets but there seems to be nothing substantial we can really vote on since we do get to opt out of health and dental which is a sizeable chunk. However, I think in terms of the other fees listed above, I personally don't really listen to the radio but I'm not going to cry over getting back a cup of coffee's worth of money. I can see the possibility of opting out of the athletics and recreation but I'm sure most people would want to use it at least a few times since the track and other facilities in the new gym are included in it.

Also, this could lead to a thing where certain services or areas don't get funded and lose interest. I'm sure many people don't want 1 dollar being put into the solar car but it's a generally good initiative McMaster has for spreading awareness and using it for various competitions.

I can see why some people might object to paying into the WUSC Student Refugee Fee but I'd say it's an overly good. Do we really want to strip the education of a refugee in a war torn country who just wants to learn?

Just my 2 cents.

Originally Posted by casey.park

Basically, if elected, I vow to bring all student fees to referendum to allow the general student body to decide which fees should stay and which should go. This being said, it will be consensus among all students and not on an individual basis.

From my perspective, it is necessary that students have the opportunity to pay the fees they want to, so that obsolete fees are eliminated and more money ends up back in your pockets. Honing in on Bylaw 5: Financial Affairs, students can see how much they pay every year. If these numbers strike you as being a problem, a referendum is in order to properly reflect what students want.

https://www.msumcmaster.ca/studentGo.../MSUBylaws.htm

Principle of charity: "In philosophy and rhetoric, the principle of charity requires interpreting a speaker's statements to be rational and, in the case of any argument, considering its best, strongest possible interpretation."

By consensus I therefore assume you meant majority.

"If these numbers strike you as a problem" therefore seems to be a call to action not an ultimatum.

See what happens when people play nice?

The fees Furgs listed that I'd like to learn more about are those pertaining to the radio station.

Originally Posted by casey.park

Basically, if elected, I vow to bring all student fees to referendum to allow the general student body to decide which fees should stay and which should go. This being said, it will be consensus among all students and not on an individual basis.

From my perspective, it is necessary that students have the opportunity to pay the fees they want to, so that obsolete fees are eliminated and more money ends up back in your pockets. Honing in on Bylaw 5: Financial Affairs, students can see how much they pay every year. If these numbers strike you as being a problem, a referendum is in order to properly reflect what students want.

https://www.msumcmaster.ca/studentGo.../MSUBylaws.htm

Im sorry, but that is not realistic at all. University needs to make money. It would be better if you focus on something more realistic, where you can actually make a change for the students. I don't like inflated promises.

Originally Posted by jo87

Im sorry, but that is not realistic at all. University needs to make money. It would be better if you focus on something more realistic, where you can actually make a change for the students. I don't like inflated promises.

This has been a point that has been brought up throughout the first day of campaigning.

If you look at Bylaw 5: Financial Affairs, all the fees in sections 2.2.2 and 2.2.3 have been charged to students via referenda. Many of these fees have been voted upon years before current seniors at McMaster took foot upon this campus.

As MSU President, I want students to choose exactly what they want to pay for and not be bogged down by the actions of their predecessors.

Initiating a referendum is not difficult; a majority vote of the total membership of the SRA, a resolution at a quorate General Assembly, or a petition with 3% of the MSU membership is required.

Keep in mind that these are only campaign ideas; not promises. I want your promises this week and if one of them is to resoundingly not go through with this plan, I won't.

Actually, Casey isn't incorrect with that point. The University doesn't have any say over it. Students voted most of those fees into existence through referendums and the only way to repeal the fees before their intended expiry date is through another referendum.

The incredibly puzzling part of the point is how the MSU plans on having all those referendums in a particular year. It would be quite the logistical nightmare. Moreover, how would it serve us to blindly say yes or no to fees without proper inquisition to the effects of repealing those fees.

E.G. - If we got rid of the Ath and Rec fee, there is no telling how much it would cost us to use the gym facilities.

Jo87, while I contend that it is a realistic point in terms of what the MSU can do, it is a completely ridiculous point in terms of the implications of it. The logjam created by that point alone would keep the SRA arguing over trivial matters for weeks, much less the 3-4 hours they currently spend.

Actually just reading Furgs comment I have a question.

So suppose you let students vote on the student fees and they decide that they do not want to pay the WUSC Student Refugee Fee, the health plan and the dental plan.

Now eliminating either the dental or health plan would be insignificant because you can opt out of these if you do not use them, however, suppose because we gave the option to the students these plans are eliminated. We now have people who may not be covered by their parents and now have to suffer to find health and dental at an adequate price.

Similarly, if students feel they would rather save money then spend it on a refugee's education how does that look on the MSU and McMaster as a whole.

Student input is very important but sending all the fees to referendum is not the best option. They do need to be addressed but I feel as if there is a better approach to be taken.

Dan, I agree with you wholeheartedly.

The best option is actually one that should have appeared in the Constitutional referendum: a review of the effects of referenda and their relation to the current student atmosphere to determine whether a new referendum is beneficial.

Many fees in particular need reassessment. I've been clamoring on about the CFMU fee for a while, and how it can be lowered since the CFMU has been posting consistent profits for a few years.

CASEY YOU DO NOT GET TO STEAL THAT, THAT IS MINNNNNNNNNNE. MUAHAHAHAHAHA.