When real life is more important

I write this on my Archos, early in the morning, sitting in an empty dining hall at a youth camp a little north of Kingston. This weekend I am here with the youth group I lead thus I will not be on campus until Sunday (if I even go there at all).

My point: never forget real life. Sure the SFUO is real life; it has a huge budget and it is a decent job for the Exec, but for the rest of us? If you asked random students what the sfuo does, i'm sure one of the most common answers would be along the lines of a social events coordinator (or possibly something about protests).

I think the first task of the new exec should be to change this. While social events are admirable, I doubt that students want to pay over $140 per year for a few social events! There are so many opportunities for improvement: just look at CHUO. I mean, I have yet to find anyone who listens regularly. The Pivik should not be more expensive than walking to Mac's. The Agora should NOT cost the student body over $500 000 a year to keep open. There should not be excessively loud snowboarding events on the Morisset Terrace during mid-terms. The sfuo events or campaigns should not ever be outright failures.

I know those were all "should not" statements and I have offered not concrete suggestions, but that should be the job of the people earning our votes. I do have suggestions for some of the above problems and have also shared my concerns with some of the candidates, and when I get home I will elaborate.