The unfortunate tendency, or tragic flaw, of biting the hand that feeds
Just before the Winter Solstice: I got elected
January 8th: SFU got up and running, as did my job
Mid-January: Six SFU students went to Nanaimo for the CFS conference, a get together which I now believe is not only time ill-spent, but actively detrimental to the health of many of the participants - I think it's fair to assume that people get real sick after going to these things.
The end of January: Forum approved a working group to reaffirm, renegotiate or terminate our relationship with the CFS.
I liked this range: I was somewhat disappointed by the split that said "either hate the Fed or love it." I'd hoped for renegotiation with an eye or reform, perhaps forming a critical caucus with like-minded CFS schools to push for, or at least discuss, badly needed change.
A week ago: I heard that this had already been tried. A couple years back, such schools as Kwantlen, Douglas and SFU got together to make some changes and renew the Fed from within.
These are the same schools that, in the subsequent year, saw large, expensive, machiavelian, and unethical pushes to get pro-CFS slates into office. In SFU's case, most of the Common Sense slate made it their business to not just fire a long-time worker on spurious grounds, but tried to purge the staff of anyone who wasn't their buddies. That was just the beginning. These slates came close to destroying their respective student unions.
This piece of information was the last nail in the coffin.
On Monday: I was compiling the working group report, which was not as negative as I'd feared. I found out that Wednesday was the last day to call a referendum, and that said referendum had to be in before Wednesday. So I drafted a question on our relationship with the CFS.
On Wednesday: It went through board with a recommendation. Then we had forum. I presented the working group report. Then the CFS reps, who I had invited, had a chance to speak. I'm angry at them: I asked them to come, not to ensnare them, but to make sure that they had a chance to speak their piece. They turned around and called the working group's report - to which they knew that any SFSS member could contribute - "one sided" and otherwise unfair.
Harsh words, but the motion to have the referendum passed by 30 to 4 with 1 abstention, and with a bit more money for the SFSS thrown in to boot.
On Thursday: our lawyer said that this referendum is legal.
Saturday and Sunday: I go to a CFS exec meeting (the one that I found out today had been moved to another school). I expect antagonism.
Wish me luck.