Hawks cap worst season since ‘03-’04 Sports, page 20
THE The tie that binds Wilfrid Laurier University since 1926 Volume 53, Issue 24
thecord.ca
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Students’ Union considers next move
Net total debt 2008
Net total debt 2009
Net total debt 2010
* Figures include WLUSU’s clearing house agreements with Laurier, loans and lines of credit from the university and external loans guaranteed and not guaranteed. All totals as of April 30 of given year.
Net total debt 2011
Net total debt 2012 PHOTO BY NICK LACHANCE PHOTO MANIPULATION BY WADE THOMPSON
Costly capital expenditures add up to put WLUSU in deep hole; Union seeks solution with Laurier JUSTIN SMIRLIES NEWS DIRECTOR
Various capital projects in recent years have contributed to the reasoning as to why the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union has incurred a debt load of $4,250,156 in loans and a line of credit from the university. In addition, WLUSU has another $2,415,051 in loans from external institutions that are guaranteed by the university. In total, as of April 30, 2012, WLUSU has a net debt of $6,567,498. Including the guarantee given by
the university, there is a cap of $5 million that the university placed on the Students’ Union, which Jim Butler, the vice president of finance at Laurier confirmed WLUSU has exceeded. “We take on capital projects and the capital projects we finance them through debt financing,” explained Michael Onabolu, the president and CEO of WLUSU. “Things like the Terrace expansion… like club space, the foot patrol space, the 2-4 Lounge, and renovations to space and study space to students.” “Every project that we do is to benefit students obviously,” he
Bylaw impacts audit process ELIZABETH DICESARE CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR
After the 2012 auditor’s report on the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union was released, it was revealed that WLUSU now owes over $5 million dollars in debt, which lead many students to begin questioning how this situation was able to occur. According to Jon Pryce, the chair and chief governance officer at WLUSU, without having a treasurer sit on the current board of directors, the entire group is held responsible for ensuring that WLUSU’s finances are kept intact. However, this responsibility has
recently been removed from view of students, as it is now solely up to the board to review and approve WLUSU’s annual audit. Chris Walker, the vice president of university affairs, explained that a new bylaw was voted on and approved by students in the WLUSU election in January 2012 that allowed the board to have sole power over whether or not the audit would be approved. At the time, Walker was the chair and CGO. “It was never really explicit within our constitution or within our bylaws that we have to present it [the audit] to the membership,” said Campus, page 4
added. In 2010, the Students’ Union announced that the Terrace expansion that was occurring that year was over budget and resulted in a $1,480,541 price tag. In that same year, the WLUSU board approved a bailout for the ailing William’s café on the Brantford campus, which incurred a deficit of $655,398 at the time of the decision. Furthermore, the construction of the new Foot Patrol office — which saw the price triple than what was originally projected — and renovations to the 2-4 Lounge were made in the 2011-12 academic year.
During that same year, WLUSU made a decision to drop the management of the Terrace food court and the C-Spot, which became International News. “It just comes down to the presidents, right? If there is a president that has a capital project they would like to see go through, there’s different funds that they can access for that project,” continued Onabolu. “I would guess, because it’s not something that I have done, that’s the mindset that these past presidents have had.” According to the WLUSU financial statements from 2009 to 2012,
Campus, page 4
Chow in K-W
Exploited for experience
Taking on a classic
Olivia Chow visits THEMUSEUM in Kitchener to discuss the importance of art to a city
Unpaid internships have become common for recent grads, but are they always legal?
Opera Laurier delivers stellar performance of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.
Local, page 6
In Depth, page 10
Arts, page 14
WLUSU has, in addition to paying off some other loans, taken on more loans and debt as the years progressed. In 2011, however, the financial statement noted that WLU forgave WLUSU $243,104 on a previous loan, effective Aug. 1, 2011. That same year, WLUSU took out another $2-million loan from the university. WLUSU makes monthly payments on whatever debt they incur each year. “It’s just the line of credit that’s put them over the $5 million,” said
Inside