Our bills are paid, with money in the bank

The last general meeting for the MUN Students’ Union (MUNSU) saw heated and lengthy debates regarding the state of the union’s finances. While there was confusion and premature assumptions that MUNSU would be shutting down sometime soon, accountants for the union later said there is no need for panic. The Feb. 10 meeting was dominated by two issues, both brought to attention by Aboriginal Representative Daniel Bennett. One of the issues still remains unknown since it was discussed in in-camera, whereby media and spectators are not permitted to know the details due to possible legal ramifications.

The other was the idea that MUNSU was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy; an idea proven a week later not to be true. While some board members may have rushed to the conclusion that MUNSU was about to run dry (considering the yearly inefficiency of most union services, a loss on the Snoop Dog concert, and the idea that costly Breezeway renovations were either unnecessary or poorly planned), it seems that in the long term, your students’ union will be financially fine. Several board members highlighted the fact that MUNSU had lost almost $150,000 in the first half of this fiscal year, and that financially bleeding services would eventually lead to a worthless student union.

Initially, Bennett used terms like ‘insolvency’ and ‘bankruptcy’ saying, “As soon as our creditors realize that we are almost bankrupt they are going to start asking for their money back.”

Another board member, Faculty of Business Representative Timothy Margolis, said that someone should be fired or held accountable if this was the case. While he later apologized for and clarified his comment, it wasn’t before other members had taken offence. “There should be no talk of firing. Are there problems? Yes. Do we need to look and review our policies and procedures? Yes,” said Chris Wass, MUNSU arts students’ representative and chair of the investigative committee currently looking into Breezeway bar spending. “That is very poor language,” he said. “This board needs to be more cautious about the words that we brand. These are people’s lives and livelihoods that are at stake here.” The hour-long debate that ensued resulted in a consensus to meet a week later to discuss the issue that Bennett had introduced. Bennett requesting that MUNSU Director of Finance, Travis Collins, who had been absent from meetings in weeks prior, be in attendance.

The next week the state of affairs was clarified by MUNSU’s accountants at a special meeting. “I’m here to tell you exactly what your financial position is,” said a MUNSU accountant on Feb. 17. “I’ve been hearing through the grapevine that there is a lot of concern about MUNSU going insolvent, bankrupt. I’m basically here to tell you that that is not the case.” “For every $3.4 that [MUNSU] has, you owe $1 in cash, which is an excellent ratio,” said accountant Barry Skinner.

“You have a lot of cash, all your bills are up-to-date, and you have cash in the bank.” Skinner emphasized the fact that, despite losing approximately $150,000 in this fiscal year, total assets for MUNSU stood at about $2.3-million and that there was ‘a bright future ahead for the union.’ Skinner said there are many things to consider when talking about the financial well being of an organization. According to the accountant, fluctuation in earnings from one year to another is independent.

At the same time, he agreed with those board members of the opinion that student services that lose money year after year are obviously not a good thing, but in the end, MUNSU would not go bankrupt. “One of the things you have to look at is the services you are providing and whether or not you are going to continue to provide them.” Skinner went on to say that The Breezeway has never made any money and reminded the board, and listening students, about what MUNSU is really about. “[MUNSU] is a not-for-profit organization which means if you break even at the end of the day then you are doing well,” said Skinner.

Skinner effectively put to rest any ideas that MUNSU was about to go bankrupt. Engineering Students' Representative Ashley Reid demanded an apology and/or retraction from members who, according to her, had concluded without proper evidence that MUNSU was actually running out of money. Reid said that the ‘uneducated’ comments made by board member Bennett could cause a lot of panic, saying, “I just feel that fact should have been collected before this was brought to the board, for the simple reason that there are a lot of people on this board for whom it would cause a lot of stress.”

Continuing, Reid said, “While I do applaud any strive to make change with respect to MUNSU’s financial situation … I would just ask that those members who spoke of insolvency or bankruptcy, to retract there statements or maybe even apologize to the board.”

Bennett, claiming that he was still right on a technicality, declined to apologize or retract any statement. Other board members supported his decision not to retract the statement. For the fiscal year starting April 1, 2009 and ending Oct. 31, 2009, executive positions within MUNSU split $67,946.39 salary. While $201,086.29 was put towards concerts, including Snoop Dogg. MUNSU spent $96,187.40 on the Post Office, and $15,735.62 on travel costs. MUNSU revenue is dependent on student enrollment at Memorial. Currently each student pays roughly $40 per term. In 2009, students at Memorial paid $609,288.68 in membership fees.

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