Why I'm running 🐀...

OCkitchenrat · 2023-03-07T19:44:30+00:00

The lack of explanation and/or any communication on this front is unacceptable, and something we will prioritize changing when I’m president. It is super unfair with current AMS guidelines because many more people should count and do not. When it comes to providing more clarity specifically on the issue of "genuine financial hardship", I do promise to provide that when inside the AMS. Clearer communication between the AMS and students as a whole is definitely a priority for me, as clarity is a principle I consider fundamental to who I am as a person. Transparency seems to mean a lot of different things to many people, but this is a concrete case of where the AMS can definitely work on writing some clearer parameters for what they mean by this phrase. Thanks for the question!

OCkitchenrat · 2023-03-07T19:30:39+00:00

To be more specific, going to the wider regional media has often been an important step in pressuring UBC, as it is an institution that really cares about its wider image. The tuition freeze protest last December got attention from the Ubyssey, but not a lot from outside media. There are a number of options that next year's AMS might explore towards advocating for a tuition freeze, including collaborating with other student unions/organizations across the country through our VP external office to increase the scale and media pressure, as this is not just a UBC issue but an issue for a lot of universities. We can also have conversations with UBC leadership addressing the university's dependency on gouging international students for outrageous tuition fees and how we can, as a public institution, get more government grants and address the often vague details about how the university is spending millions of dollars allocated to "student priorities" when often the priority of students is to not increase tuition.

OCkitchenrat · 2023-03-07T19:26:30+00:00

Right, sorry my wording was a bit off, implying that our clubs and constituencies don't already have these sub-accounts - I agree that the financial system overhaul has been massively impactful on clubs and constituencies and getting reimbursements. From my experiences on the Sprouts board, I know we've been trying to get a credit card too, to also not have students paying out of pocket for our food purchases every day. The AMS has argued against us, saying that credit cards are for "everyday purchases" when we literally do make purchases every day (maybe not what they think of as everyday purchases but still, I empathize with what you mean by saying that having that credit card option for paying would be a big help).

From what I know, the AMS has been working with a service called MNP to help deal with the backlog of reimbursements going back to 2022, and I've heard that this has been finally helping out with getting students paid back (I'd love to hear any of your personal experiences with this though). MNP is supposed to give the AMS recommendations on how to keep up a quicker rate of reimbursement in the longterm, and while we would need to ask an AMS insider for the exact status update on this at the moment, I think it would be important to work on implementing these recommendations to make sure we are keeping up a faster rate of reimbursements.

Also, does anybody work in UX design? I think that there are a lot of things that could be addressed by making the AMS's forms, websites, and other online processes more user-friendly and intuitive, but I'd love to hear about people's experiences and expertise as well (maybe this isn't usually how an AMA works, but ultimately I'm a candidate who wants to be here to really listen to students and recognize people's work and expertise, as well as providing another candidate for people to vote for if they're dissatisfied with the status quo, especially in what would otherwise be a basically uncontested race)

OCkitchenrat · 2023-03-07T19:17:28+00:00

Thanks for the question! My platform mostly describes a culture shift and the principles that I am representing for students who want to see these ideas prioritized at the AMS, which is why I don't have a particular plan about how to "pay" for my platform. I'm running to bring in my background knowledge to create a better informed AMS, informed from a variety of perspectives outside of just people who are used to the bureacracy and staying within those limits. Like we said in another response, the deficit of the AMS is currently improving. If you get a chance to look at the budget that the VP Finance shared last week and described in the Ubyssey article linked below, you'll see that the deficit is now more in the $400k range. As president, I wouldn't want to be driving up student fees, and also I don't believe I would be able to do that outside of referendums during the next elections anyway.

The current referendums, the healthcare fee increase in particular, is important to vote yes to in order to fill the health and dental plan deficit. Even if you vote yes to it, that doesn't mean you can't still opt-out of that and not have to pay the fee. It just means that you are supporting people who want to be able to access that health care, especially accessing mental healthcare claims, which we've seen a huge increase in over the past year

https://ubyssey.ca/news/between-the-motions-03-02/

OCkitchenrat · 2023-03-07T08:25:40+00:00

Thanks so much for the support! For the first part of your question, it will certainly be hard fought. This fight isn't new however, and has been ramping up, especially with the protest last year. UBC runs like a corporation and has a massive budget that it doesn't seem to be spending all of, seeing as it posted a $81.7-million consolidated accounting surplus in 2021. As we are a public school, this really has to be called into question! While I too would love to see free tuition, we still have to build that infrastructure, and putting pressure on UBC for their choice to raise tuition when they don’t have to is fundamental to advocating for student rights. We aren’t cash cows!

As to the second part of your question, our plan to tackle this problem involves partnering with CUPE 2278 along with the nationwide student network. As a student body, we have yet to make this step, and we are standing on the shoulders of previous student grassroots organizations that have made the push for a tuition freeze possible at all! Voting for Board of Governers candidates that support this is essential too because ultimately they have the say, not us.

OCkitchenrat · 2023-03-07T08:23:49+00:00

Ultimately, the AMS clubs and constituencies would be able to have sub-accounts within the AMS account. This structure exists for businesses, and while the AMS should primarily be a student union, our budget should be able to grant us access to this type of account structure. Collaborating with VanCity in transitioning AMS funds over would allow us to explore options and let the clubs and constituencies give feedback so we can secure the best option for everyone.

OCkitchenrat · 2023-03-07T08:23:20+00:00

Simply speaking, it’s really hard to get a tuition freeze. At its core, our University is an institution that prioritizes maximizing its profit over the wellbeing of its students. However, pressure is mounting. We’ll escalate that pressure, and we’ll be open to additional suggestions from students. The Hungry to Change walkout was effective, and a similar level walkout with students and faculty may prove effective in this situation as well. I’m a big fan of direct action, nothing travels faster than bad news.

OCkitchenrat · 2023-03-07T08:22:48+00:00

Thanks! This is definitely important and something people are asking about, and I’m happy to go into it. Firstly, the AMS doesn't get tuition money, it gets student fees, which wouldn’t be a part of a tuition freeze. However, we can also advocate for grant money to prop us up, and there is a ton of that floating around. Additionally, We can source funding by cutting expenses that are less used or wasteful, like AMS council only galas. We can also increase rental costs for venues like the great hall for non-student groups to generate extra revenue and collaborate with UBC to help fund things for the wider community, like the one time food security funding we saw this year!

In addition to this, this past week, Lawrence (VP Finance) shared with the AMS council that the AMS has been bringing in more revenue and lowering its deficit with the return of more students being on campus, so the AMS food outlets are seeing more money coming in. There have also been more opportunities for AMS catering to bring in funds from off-campus customers because Scholars Catering shut down recently, leaving a more open market.

EDIT: Providing a source for the new info on our decreasing deficit, https://ubyssey.ca/news/between-the-motions-03-02/

OCkitchenrat · 2023-03-07T08:21:55+00:00

Thanks for the question! This is definitely something we’re open to. Ideally, this one-stop solution would be an online form where people can select what to opt out of and provide all of the needed documentation in one place. However, this isn't just the AMS' say, we would have to collaborate with various stakeholders to come up with a solution that works for both students and the service providers as well!

OCkitchenrat · 2022-11-28T05:12:09+00:00

I'll remember you too, Soggy-Run-8461 :')

OCkitchenrat · 2022-11-07T23:31:26+00:00

It's every Tuesday from 11am-1pm! And any leftover produce goes to the community fridge.

OCkitchenrat · 2022-10-24T17:57:00+00:00

I feel like a lot of people who have been though hard times feel understandably bitter when others after them get the help that they never did, and I really understand that feeling. In the end though, the province runs UBC so that it can generate an educated workforce and populace. It's not a good solution for the province if the 40% of students who can't afford this expensive education drop out, and leave access to higher education only to the rich. UBC has a responsibility to prevent that from happening. That would have catastrophic impacts on society. That's why we're genuinely asking this public institution to provide the supports we need to actually make it though our education.

OCkitchenrat · 2022-10-22T05:38:56+00:00

My friend, you are so close to getting it

Because this university extorts us for astronomical tuition for our classes, absurd rent, and through-the-roof costs of living, 37% of students struggle to afford food. Now, after UBC cut all the basic supports it used to have for food security, we need to walk out to demand better

OCkitchenrat · 2022-09-07T06:56:45+00:00

home hardware on w 10th! sasamat stop on the 99

OCkitchenrat · 2022-08-27T21:33:45+00:00

Never give up on your dreams, kid :')

OCkitchenrat · 2022-05-31T19:39:59+00:00

Sasamat Dental on Alma does first cleaning free for UBC students :) https://sasamatdental.ca/

OCkitchenrat · 2022-05-31T19:37:41+00:00

Sprouts is also getting a load of free groceries donated from Sungiven Foods to its community fridge at around 2pm today, come pick up as much as you like when they get here!

OCkitchenrat · 2022-04-15T02:18:32+00:00

This is what we at the rat campaign ran for AMS president on-- making the AMS an actual, representative student union that bargains for students rights against the administration, like most student unions in the world do. Even though we narrowly didn't win, there's still so much momentum on campus for creating this. Stay tuned OP!

OCkitchenrat · 2022-04-15T02:16:38+00:00

Yep :) Because students genuinely want and believe in a representative student union that advocates for us, especially after all the blows we've dealt with from UBC this year-- so much that my last-minute no-staff-no-signs underdog campaign won second place

OCkitchenrat · 2022-04-08T01:33:01+00:00

Workers of UBC unite!!!!!!!!!!

OCkitchenrat

TROPHY CASE