COCA Conference!!

 Hey All,

Tayler Weeks and I just got back from an AMAZING five-day conference in beautiful Halifax, NS. We attended the COCA 2013 National Conference, with over 150 students from schools across Canada. COCA stands for the Canadian Organization of Campus Activities, so basically students from positions like VP Communications and VP Activities and Events met up and discussed various events and ideas to promote those events.  On top of this we attended various educational sessions presented by professionals from across Canada.

These sessions were super interesting and I definitely learned a lot, however the best part of the conference was the showcases that we attended. Each night there would be comedians, musicians and speakers doing short sets to give us a glimpse of their act in hopes that we will book them and bring them back to our schools. Well I can tell you one thing, I’d love to bring them ALL to X! Everyone was so talented and interesting, I had a great time listening and laughing. One of my highlights was when Wayne Hoffman read my mind!!!!! Can’t wait for him to come for Frosh Week!!!!

One of my personal favorite presenters was Frank Warren, the creator of Post Secret (www.postsecret.com). He gave us a presentation on why he started the project and how it has changed his life, along with many others. 

Frank Warren and I 

I also really enjoyed seeing a StFX favorite – Mo Kenney, preform at the Seahorse!

Tupperware Remix Party receiving their award from Trevor Boris and Emmet Blois

 Here are a few awesome new acts that I hope we can bring to X. Check them out!!

Sticks- http://www.stickswork.com/bio.html

Zolo- http://www.reverbnation.com/zoloworld

Tupperware Remix Party- http://twrplive.com/

Chraig Cardiff- https://myspace.com/craigcardiff

Kayo- http://www.kayomusic.com/

Hope everyone’s summer is treating them well!

Cheers,

Emily

NOTICE REGARDING RECENT BUDGET CUTS

Dear Students of StFX,

As some of you may have heard, the university has just recently undergone several cuts in an attempt to balance the budget. Due to several reasons, including less government funding to post-secondary institutions, StFX has run a significant deficit. The St.FX Board of Governors has mandated that the University provide a balance budget for this academic year 2013-2014.

The University has undergone a voluntary and involuntary job restructuring process. At this time a number of positions across campus have been cut, the Students’ Union is in the process of looking to see which positions have been cut and how this will impact students. Our goal is to lobby all parties to continue to provide St.FX students with quality services and to stay true to the school’s academic mission.

As more information is available we will share it on theu.ca. We have asked to speak with both the university administration as well as the various union leaders involved, to provide us with clarity involving the impact that these cuts will have on various departments across our campus.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask your SU President, Benjamin Gunn-Doerge (su_pres@stfx.ca) or SU Vice President, Taylor Mason (su_vp@stfx.ca).

Lets talk about CASA

Hey Everyone!

So we are back to work in our offices after an exciting week at the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) conference in Ottawa. The conference was an amazing experience and has definitely pumped us up even more for the year to come.  We have returned from the conference having learned so much about the role we have to play here at StFX to lobby for some of the most pressing issues that affect Post Secondary Education at the federal level. For those who might have never heard of CASA, we will give you the low down of what it is and how theU is involved. 

CASA is a member-driven advocacy group focused on providing affordable, accessible and quality Post-Secondary Education for students across Canada. We are an alliance consisting of 26 Student Associations from across the country, representing 320,000 students from a variety of Post-Secondary institutions. In the past, CASA has played a huge part in lobbying for some of the most significant successes in federal funding and policy, including student grants, the Copyright Act, and repayment assistance. In a nutshell, our predecessors have made some huge leaps and bounds over the years in ensuring that students across Canada can access an affordable and quality Post-Secondary education. Check out this link if you’d like to learn more about CASA’s successes:  http://www.casa-acae.com/at-a-glance/successes/

Reppin' the East Coast with MtA Exec

This year, we hope that X will be as involved as possible with CASA, and that together as a student body, we can drive some pretty substantial change! As a member association of CASA, theU sits on a variety of committees which discuss and research pressing issues affecting the students at each of our associations and prepare comprehensive policy papers, media releases and reports outlining our directives at the federal level. Not only are these resources used to lobby on Parliament Hill, but they also provide us with information that further enriches our lobbying efforts at the municipal and provincial level. On top of this, our very own Ben Gunn-Doerge has been elected to serve as Director at Large for the Board of Directors for the 2013/14 year. This means he will be even more involved with the issues that matter most to our university and other universities across Canada!

With the next provincial election in our midst, it is vital that we as students voice our opinion on the matters that most affect our education. This means being engaged both with our provincial lobbying group, Students Nova Scotia, and federally with CASA. We hope that this year, more than ever, the voice of the students at X will be heard (and better yet, listened to!) and that we can continue to make huge strides to improve our education, and of course, preserve all of those things that makes a Nova Scotian education so valuable and competitive. Whether this is through our provincial or federal lobbying efforts, Ben and I will do our best throughout the year to ensure that X stays informed and involved in these decisions! If you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to drop by either of our offices, or shoot us an e-mail!

Keep on keeping on,

Ben and Amy

A New DriveU!

Hey guys,

In an effort to improve our DriveU service The U decided to purchase a new vehicle with a larger passenger capacity then the previous car, which only had 3 seats. The general manager of the Students’ Union, Sean Ryan and I checked out a few possible vehicles and decided to go with a new 2013 Dodge Caravan from a local dealership. While you probably won’t be seeing it in a new Fast and the Furious movie, it’s perfect for us. Along with two DriveU drivers it will able to seat 5 passengers, which will be a lot more convenient during the busier winter season. We got it in bright blue so we can rep StFX and The U all over the roads.  All we have to do now is figure out the new decals to go on it!!

XOXO Gossip Gareth

Here's some shots of the new ride! Thanks to the boys of the exec for being car models for the day: