HOLIDAYS AND DRINKS: THE PERFECT COCKTAIL..::00ssenss000f December’s here, and with it is a boost for Vancouver’s growing craft cocktail scene | il x A \- | Y , Vie ee ‘ q : i, ano PLACE ¥ ALLY ——— Reporters Chahira Merarsi and Jake Wray interview former LSU council member Harsimran Malhi. ROBERTO TEIXEIRA photo More allegations against LSU surface The Voice investigates further after the firing of general manager 66 We were threatened a few times HARSIMRAN MALHI FORMER LSU COUNCIL MEMBER By CHAHIRA MERARS] and JAKE WRAY ullying council members into si- lence, staff resisting changes by elected members, and booze on the students’ dime are just a few of the accusations being levelled against the Langara Students’ Union by sources who talked exclusively to The Voice. The allegations come on the heels of the abrupt firing of the LSU’s general manager Desmond Rodenbour, who claims he was hired to implement re- form. At the same meeting, the LSU also fired its legal counsel, which had recommended Rodenbour, and an elected board member. Harsimran Malhi, who was elected in this year’s spring election, said she was fired last week after spending months trying to enact reform in the student union. Malhi said the LSU staff threatened to take legal action if she kept trying to improve transparency and modernize the union. “We were threatened a few times,” she said. “It was like we were told ‘you'll face grievances because this is not something that is our job.” Officially, she was fired for missing two board meetings. She said she had alerted the GM that she would miss the meetings for personal issues that had come up. Malhi said she felt like some staff were unsupportive. “We saw threats were given to us be- cause we were trying to ask for policies because if you don’t know what the policies say, how can you do some- thing?” She added that as a council member, they would be “accused of things again and again.” Malhi said it was made very clear to her when she was elected, that asking questions was not seen favourably by the staff. More on the investigation on Page 2... Odd time for new LSU bylaws LSU schedules special general meeting in middle of exam time By TANNER BOKOR ly called a special general meeting to change the student union’s by- laws at a time when most students are in the middle of exams. “I think it is weird,” said first-year nursing student Matt Sawatzky Thurs- day after he heard about the meeting. LSU bylaw 4.3 states, “council shall give no fewer than 14 days’ notice of an annual general meeting, special gener- al meeting or referendum.” It is unclear if the LSU respected their own bylaw. The undated SGM an- nouncement is posted on the LSU’s website. Posters promoting the special meet- ing, which are usually time stamped, were not in this case and it’s not known if 14-day notice was actually given. Sawatzky said if the LSU wants peo- ple to know about the election, they should have given more notice. “If they wanted to promote something, why wouldn’t they want students to know?” Immediately following on the termi- nation of LSU general manager Des- mond Rodenbour, the newly-elected board of directors set the meeting date for Dec. 7. It’s slated to be held from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at the student union building’s up- per lounge to make three major chang- es to the union’s bylaws. T: Langara Students’ Union quiet- Continued on Page 3... NOTE FROM THE EDITOR By CHANDLER WALTER published by The Voice in reaction to allegations made about — and decisions made by — the Langara Stu- dents’ Union. We have received statements alleg- ing that financial mishandling and im- proper behaviour has been occurring within the LSU. Furthermore, Desmond Rodenbour, who was the general manager of the LSU, was fired last week during a closed meeting, along with the union’s legal counsel. The Voice reported the firings in yes- terday’s issue, and then launched into an investigation of the allegations. For years, students have complained about the Langara Students’ Union’s lack of transparency and accountabili- ty towards its members. In past Voice publications, there have been attempts to delve into issues at the LSU, though our reporters have been consistently turned away. Report- Te is a special, investigative issue & ers have been told they are not allowed to shoot photos or video in the Stu- dents’ Union Building, and that the only communication available is through an often unresponsive media contact inquiry page on the LSU’s web- site. Rodenbour was a window into the LSU for The Voice. During an interview with one of our reporters, and again af- ter his dismissal, Rodenbour said he hoped to steer the LSU in the direction of other student unions, as Langara has been lagging behind. In recent weeks he spoke about the LSU’s de- mocracy project, the LSU by-elections and other on-campus issues. Rodenbour began his job in August with what he said was a mandate to change the union’s direction, and he told The Voice on Thursday that one of the ways he intended to improve the LSU’s transparency for Langara stu- dents was through a stronger relation- ship with campus media. The LSU has planned a special gen- eral meeting on Dec. 7 — in the middle of this exam period — in which they plan to amend bylaws allowing for a change in the election cycle: cementing current LSU directors’ terms until De- cember 2017, and making it impossible for students in one-year programs to run for office. Our reporters handed a records re- quest to the LSU around 10 a.m. on Dec. 1, asking for the names and contact in- formation of the elected representa- tives. It is our belief that bylaws in the newly-enacted Societies Act state that the information should have been pro- vided immediately. A Voice reporter has visited the LSU at least six times since, and as of this paper’s print dead- line, we have yet to receive any of the requested information. We also asked for their financial statements — such as travel expenses and entertainment expenses — which should be provided within a 14-day period. It is an old story that corruption has occurred in student unions in B.C. — with some of the reasons being compli- cations in the old Society Act — and some unions have been exposed for their lack of transparency, including the Kwantlen Student Association in 2011. We are not talking about a few dol- lars here. We estimate that close to $1 million in students’ dollars are in the contro] of the LSU. Those who attend Langara should be aware of the weight that money carries, and become in- formed about how it is handled. Get involved. Hold your union ac- countable. 66 Get involved. Hold your union account- able CHANDLER WALTER CITY EDITOR