Free Money - U-Pass subsidy

Are you registered in summer courses? or are you a grad student? Consider filling out a U-Pass fee subsidy brought to you by the AMS - your friendly student society!

If you have a summer U-Pass, and you experience financial hardship, you're a part-time student, you have family obligations that prevent you from taking full advantage of your U-Pass or you're commute is over 1.75 hours, then chances are you qualify for a summer U-Pass fee subsidy!

The fee subsidy is worth $23.75/month, and is credited to successful applicants SSC accounts. The best part is that you still get to use your U-Pass (unlike exemptions).

To apply for the subsidy, just download and fill out the form, attach the supporting documentation and drop it into the AMS!

Summer deadline: June 10, 2009. Note: to apply for a winter term one and two fee subsidy, you must fill this out again in the fall.

The AMS invited you to spread the word!

If you have any questions, please contact Elissa at upass@ams.ubc.ca

We want you! To work with us for the provincial election!

The BC Provincial Election is coming up this May 12th, and we need/want/would love your help with our campaign!

We're hiring a handful of campaign volunteer coordinators.

Length of Term: until May 15, 2009
Hours per week: 10
Salary: Honorarium equivalent to $10.00/hour

Duties and Responsibilities:
• Promote the AMS Provincial Election campaign and the AMS provincial election priorities
• Circulate petitions around classrooms and the Student Union Building
• Distributing AMS Provincial Election campaign material to students
• Organizing events surrounding the BC Provincial Elections such as a Meet and Greet session with candidates
• Actively calling student voters from the AMS Voter Registry reminding them to vote as well as issue awareness
• Potentially door-knocking reminding student voters to vote and making them aware of student issues and AMS priorities
• Data entry

Qualifications and Experience:
• General understanding of student issues
• Awareness of the BC Provincial Elections process
• Very outgoing
• Friendly and attentive to detail
• Strong communication (written and verbal) skills
• Experience and understanding in transportation planning an asset
• Experience with issue-based advocacy organizations an asset
• UBC student
•
Application Deadline:
March 20th, 2009, however, preference will be given to earlier applicants.

To apply please send resume and short cover letter to Cody Yorke: outreach@ams.ubc.ca

We are also looking for volunteers to help out with the campaign!

We need you to help out in any way you can!
Volunteer to circulate a petition, make classroom announcements, poster, flyer, distribute stickers and buttons, organize, resist, mobilize! Let us know about your own campaigning ideas!

Any time you may have is great.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact outreach@ams.ubc.ca

Upcoming events and opportunities

Here are some upcoming opportunities you may be interested in:

*Forum on Public Education
Wednesday March 4th
12:30-1:20 pm
AQ 3005 (SFU)

The SFU Community Coalition is hosting a public forum to discuss information
 about the Province's plans for the post-secondary budget for 2009-2010, and
would like to invite you to attend. You are invited to hear presentations and participate in the discussions
 arising from the Coalitions' analysis of the impact on education due to
Provincial budget inadequacies. For students, you may expect larger class
sizes; faculty, TAs and support staff cuts, and further infrastructure 
deterioration. Staff and faculty might want to address the impact of job
cuts on teaching and support services. These are some of the far-reaching 
consequences of changes necessitated by inadequate government funding



Speakers:



ROBERT CLIFT

CUFA BC Representative

What the BC Budget Means to You


KEVIN HARDING

SFU Student Senator and member of the SFU Board of Governors

Impacts of the Budget on SFU


CRIS COSTA

Graduate Student Society

Activism Going forward



Questions can be addressed to the Coalition at gss-event-organize@sfu.ca .

*Celebrating Women's Achievements Past and Present
Wednesday March 4th
5:00-9:00 pm
Alice Mackay Room
VPL Central Branch
350 W Georgia
Vancouver BC

Members of various organizations in Vancouver, including Women's
 Organizations, NGOs, community groups, students and individuals, have
 collaborated to put together this special event in commemoration of this 
year's International Women's Day.
 From 5:00 to 6:00 you will have the opportunity to enjoy coffee, tea and 
refreshments, and to mingle , network, and visit the booths from many local
 and international women's and human rights organizations.

The program will begin at 6:00 and will feature:


Poets Marni Norwich, Magnolia Villalobos, and Shauna Paull


A speakers panel:

Shelagh Day of FAFIA (Feminist Alliance For International Action)
Kasari Govander of West Coast LEAF(Legal Education and Action Fund)

Asia Czapska of Justice For Girls

The Solidarity Sisters Choir


Following the program, you will have further opportunity to eat, mingle, and
visit the booths.

For more information,please contact codyorke@gmail.com

*BC Civil Liberties Association First Annual Membership Conference
Wednesday March 25th
6:00 pm
Vancouver International Film Centre
1181 Seymour st.

The BC Civil Liberties Association is presenting its first annual membership
 conference on Wednesday, March 25, 2009. The conference is being held at the
 Vancouver International Film Centre theatre and is free to members, but also
 open to non-members. The Association's Annual General Meeting has been 
incorporated into the conference and will be held at 7:30 pm.

Taxi To The Dark Side, winner of the 2007 Academy Award for documentary 
feature will be shown at the conference (no admission fee for members).
 Using the torture and death in 2002 of an innocent Afghan taxi driver as the
 touchstone, this film examines changes after 9/11 in U.S. policy toward
 suspect in the war on terror. It tells the story of abuse at Bagram Air 
Base, Abu Ghraib, and Guantanamo Bay. From Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and 
Gonzalez came 
unwritten orders to use any means necessary. The CIA and soldiers with
 little
 training used sleep deprivation, sexual assault, stress positions,
water boarding, dogs and other terror tactics to seek information from
 detainees. Many speakers lament the loss of American ideals in pursuit of
 security.


Admission: $10 (free for members)

Meet others at the wine and beer reception (cash bar), hear the latest updates on important issues and see an academy award winning documentary!

For more information, check out the BC Civil Liberties Association Website.

*Grants for grassroots projects from Freedonia

Freedonia is a Canadian organization that provides small grants to support 
grassroots organizing that promotes radical and democratic social change.


Freedonia was founded in 1997 by Gary Moffatt as an expression of his 
lifetime commitment to anarchism and to building social and economic 
alternatives to capitalism. In keeping with this anti-authoritarian 
vision, Freedonia is a catalyst for the development of movements promoting 
radical democratic and systemic change. 

In their 2009 Granting Period, Freedonia invites applications for projects 
which are focused on expanding grassroots, face to face participation in 
social, economic and political activism through organizing, training 
and community-building. 

Applications for the 2009 Granting Period must be submitted by March 20,
2009


Freedonia generally makes grants up to $5,000. Freedonia funding is limited 
to projects located within Ontario and British Columbia, Canada.


Freedonia recognizes and values the diversity of our communities and our
 movements. Freedonia is committed to ending all forms of discrimination and
 to the realization of full social and economic equality. In this spirit,
 Freedonia takes proactive measures regarding funding applicants from equity 
seeking groups. Favourable consideration will be given to projects that 
expressly and actively promote social and economic equality.



For more information, have a gander at the Freedonia website.

Thanks folks, and if you have any questions, please contact Codymike at outreach@ams.ubc.ca

More Buses! More Often!

Public transit is an integral part of student life in Vancouver.  

It is an important service we depend on to ensure that we can get to and from school and work.  But the system is broken - long lines, bus passups, and a systems that practically shuts down after dark have become the standard level of transit service.

This needs to change.

Join in the call for a big picture plan: to increase frequency of trips to campus; to provide more late night services; to implement additional express routes; to ensure that transit remains affordable.

Let's make it happen!

Please take a moment to fill out our online transit survey at www.passups.ca.

Keep an eye out for the full site coming soon!

We're hiring!

In addition to the previously mentioned transit surveyors positions, the External office is also hiring two new commissioner positions:

A Transit & U-Pass Commissioner and a Government and Media Commissioner.

Both positions are 10 hours/week and pay is estimated at $10/hour (to be confirmed).  Both positions also have a provincial election focus.

Deadline to apply for these positions is Feb. 27th.  For more information and to apply, contact vpexternal@ams.ubc.ca

This week's Cinema Politica: "Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai"

The next Cinema Politica film will not be "Losers and Winners", as previously stated.  Instead we are screening "Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai."

Tuesday, February 24th

7:00 pm

Norm Theatre in the SUB

FREE!

"Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai" tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and defend democracy-a movement for which this charismatic woman became an iconic inspiration.

See the website, facebook group or facebook event for more information.

Questions about Cinema Politica? Contact ubccinemapolitica@gmail.com

Job Opportunity with the External Office!

Hi folks,

We are in the process of launching our upcoming transit campaign, and we need your help!

We are hiring people to survey students Feb 24th to March 5th.

Please see the job posting on the ams website.

Thanks!

Cody

This week's Cinema Politica: "Borderless" and "Walking the Line"

Tuesday, February 10th

7:00 pm

SUB Norm Theatre

FREE!

"Borderless" is a docu-poem about the lives of undoumented workers in Canada.

"Walking the Line" offers a harrowing view of the chaos, absurdity, and senseless deaths of immigrants along the US-Mexico border through private citizens (known as the Minutemen) who are taking the law into their own hands.

For more information, check out the website!

The Facebook Group!

The Facebook Event!

Or e-mail ubccinemapolitica@gmail.com

Aces!

International Students Forum

Your AMS External office presents:

International Students Forum #2

Thursday, February 12th

5:00 pm

SUB room 42v (bottom floor)

Free dinner provided

Are you an international student at UBC?

We want to hear form you!

Come and share your experiences with other international students and representatives from your student union, the AMS.  WE need to work together to make the UBC student community more inclusive space.

Let's talk about:

Tuition

Financial Aid

Housing

LPI

Your time at UBC

For more information, check out the facebook event or e-mail Sneha Sethi at international@ams.ubc.ca

AMS council meetings

Just a reminder, AMS council meetings are open to all students.

Meetings are held every wednesday at 6pm in council chambers SUB  206.

Free food!

Cinema Politica Spring Schedule!

The full schedule for this term's cinema politica is now set!

Every Tuesday, 7pm in the Norm Theatre. Free!

January 27th: "Five Ring Circus"

Director Conrad Schmidt will be present after the screening for Q&A.  This is an intriguing film that exposes and examines the shortcomings of hosting the games in Vancouver.  It critically analyzes the claim that the coming 2010 Olympics is to be socially, environmentally and economically sustainable.

February 3rd: "don't need you: herstory of riotgrrrl"

"don't need you" is a documentary film that tells the story of the origins of Riot Grrrl in the in the American Independent music scene of the 1990s, and how this feminist movement evolved into a revolutionary underground network of education and self-awareness through music, writing, activism, and women-friendly community.  The film features one-on-one interviews interspersed with rare, archival materials, including original Riot Grrrl fanzines, flyers, and photographs, as well as seldom seen footage from pioneering Riot Grrrl bands like Bikini Kill, Heavens to Betsy, and Bratmobile.

February 10th: "Borderless" & "Walking the Line"

"Borderless tells the story of undocumented workers in Canada.  They do the low wage jobs that 'Canadians' don't want to do: cleaning high rises in Vancouver, swaddling babies and building houses in Toronto.  They are part of the third world inside Canada's borders whose work subsidizes our first world economy.  "Walking the Line" is a harrowing view of the chaos, absurdity, and senseless deaths along the US-Mexico border through private citizens who are taking the law into their own hands.

February 24th: "Losers and Winners"

A gigantic industrial site is dismantled, this film documents the stories accompanying its disappearance: how the coke workers in industrial Ruhr Region experience the arrival and working methods of the Chinese, their feelings upon seeing their pride in their work vanish along with what was the most modern coke factory in the world, but also the strain and conflicts the Chinese workers face during their 60-hour work week far away from home and family, caught between euphoria and doubts about their future.

March 3rd: "Occupation 101"

A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict, "Occupation 101" presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions.  The film also details life under the Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace.

March 17th: "The Orange Revolution"

Released in 2007, the lively, award-winning documentary film "Orange Revolution" is a shocking look at Ukraine's controversial 2004 Presidential election.  Filmmaker Steve York examines how a corrupt regime attempted to fix the election by any means possible, including attempted murder.  Ukrainian citizens responded by taking to the streets in a continuous series of mass protests that became known as the Orange Revolution.

For more information on Cinema Politica, check out the website, Facebook Group, or e-mailubc cinemapolitica@gmail.com.

Codymike Yorke

AMS External Office Outreach Commissioner

outreach@ams.ubc.ca

Canvasing job opportunity

The BC Health Coalition in partnership with ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) Canada is hiring for part-time, short-term canvassers to help organize around public health issues.

Duties: conduct door to door field work to engage community members in pressing and timely issues related to public health care.  No experience is necessary.

Hours: part time.  2pm-7pm starting immediately until Feb 12th.

Compensation: $13-$15/hour.

Check out the websites for BC Health Coalition and ACORN Canada.

For more information or to apply contact bcacornva@acorncanada.ca

Thank,

Codymike

ourtreach@ams.ubc.ca

Volunteer opportunity for anyone interested in public health care advocacy

The BC Health Coalition has partnered with Check Your Head to bring together a group of high school and university aged people to work on issues related to public health care.  They hope to focus their work over the next three months on opportunities to assist organizing around the provincial election, focusing on connecting with and educating voting-age youth.

Their first monthly planning meeting is on Wednesday Jan 28th, 5:30 - 7:30pm ironically located at the 411 Senior's Centre (411 Dunsmuir st. at Homer).

They will provide dinner and transit passes for those who participate.

For more information on this project you can call them at 604-685-6631, e-mail them at healthcare@checkyourhead.org, or check out the facebook group and event.

For more information on the involved organizations, check out their websites: check your head and BC Health Coalition.

If anyone is interested in attending the meeting, please contact codymike at outreach@ams.ubc.ca.

Updates & Events!

Hi Everyone,
Here are some updates from your AMS external office:

U-PASS:
Term 2 Subsidy Applications are now available. Please visit www.amsubc.ca

UPCOMING EVENTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT:

Wednesday, January 21st
Student Debt Banner Drop
7:00-9:00am, Stadium & Broadway Skytrain, Granville & Broadway Intersection

On Wednesday, the national aggregate student debt will reach $13 billion. In collaboration with other Vancouver student associations, students will be raising awareness about these unacceptable levels of student debt on Wednesday morning. Come and join in on the fun! Email outreach@ams.ubc.ca for more information.


Tuesday, January 27th
International Student Open Forum
5:00- 6:30pm, AMS Council Chambers SUB 206

International students are integral to the UBC student community. At the same time, international students may face barriers to accessing education that differ from that of 'domestic' students. If you are an international student, come out to this session and share your student experience! We want to hear from you, and work together to find out how the AMS can make your student experience better. Dinner will be provided for those that RSVP to international@ams.ubc.ca.


Tuesday, January 27th
SUBversive Cinema season kickoff - Five Ring Circus
7:00pm, Norm Theatre, by donation.

The "Five Ring Circus" exposes a side to the Vancouver Olympics which has not been revealed before. This film shows how this three week event is changing Vancouver forever. Find out what mayors, activists and residents think of the 2010 olympic games. The documentary features interviews with George Monbiot, mayors Derek Corrigan, Richard Walton, and Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, University of Toronto Professor Helen Lenskyj, ' Jenny Kwan(Member of the legislative Assembly), Christopher Shaw of 2010 Watch, Sara MacIntyre of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Kim Kerr of DERA, David Eby of Pivot Legal, Betty Krawczyk, Harriet Nahanee, David Cunningham and many others. It also features appearances by Sam Sullivan, Gordon Campbell and members of the Vancouver police department.

Cinema Politica at UBC is a weekly series showcasing movies that harness the power of film to engage issues relating to the environment, globalization, gender and sexuality, indigenous rights, global health, and student power. www.cinemapolitica.org/ubc. For more information, e-mail cinemapolitica.ubc@gmail.com.


If you wish to get informed on or involved in any AMS External Office initiatives, please contact outreach@ams.ubc.ca

Codymike Yorke
AMS External Office Outreach Commissioner
outreach@ams.ubc.ca

Gender issues in higher education- forum

Why Are We Still Talking About This? Gender issues in higher education.

Why? As a woman student at UBC, we want to hear about your experiences on campus. This event is designed to draw on your experiences as women in undergraduate and graduate programs at UBC. It is our hope that we can work with you to gain a better understanding of what women students across the campus - from different faculties, disciplines, research areas, and professional programs - experience in terms of campus culture, campus climate and other issues of concern for women students here at UBC. This event will be the first in a series of events and initiatives designed to use your experiences and insights as women to better inform our efforts to encourage and foster an inclusive campus environment.

When: Tuesday January 20^th 2009 from 12 to 2pm

Where: Thea’s Lounge, Graduate Student Centre, 6371 Crescent Rd.

For more information and to RSPV: CJ Rowe, Diversity Advisor – Women, Access & Diversity

Phone: 604-822-2415 Email: cj.rowe@ubc.ca

Can’t make it in person? Join us online at http://blog.students.ubc.ca/access/category/gender-issues-in-higher-ed/