VICTORIA MARTINEZ
Senior News Editor

Movember and student care

Vice president student affairs Leon Thompson was out of town last week for the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium at McGill University and will provide council with a report on student care this week.

The council is also fully supporting Movember by now, with the executive leading the way. Scott Hitchings’ blonde moustache has been developing for weeks but it is barely visible. Chris Stoicheff has fudged the rules and traded his full beard for a thick moustache. Thompson is taking the opportunity to reduce his shaving responsibilities and sport a thin ‘stache. And Blair Shumlich has the beginnings of a dirty moustache — Kelsey Topola shows no visible moustache.

Engineering councillor Leejay Schmidt expressed the sentiment that “prostates are good,” which was seconded by Thompson: “I would also like to echo the sentiment that prostates are awesome.”

Questions and comments on BHP, after the federal decision

The questions period turned to a discussion on the executive’s actions regarding BHP Billiton’s attempted takeover of PotashCorp, outlined in a full article here.

The council requested that on serious decisions, they be consulted or at least notified by the executive before official statements are made.

Councillors from Edward’s School of Business maintain that the college was and is neutral on the takeover, though Stoicheff questioned the veracity of that claim, based on a rally held Oct. 29 in the college for PotashCorp’s previous donations.

The heated debate necessitated 20 additional minutes of discussion to the period.

The executive stood by their decision and cited the need for immediate action and pointed to a precedent set by the previous council that council need not be consulted on non-student issues.

Place Riel renovations

Council members got the opportunity to tour Place Riel and described the renovations rather than having the USSU general manager, Caroline Cottrell, do so.

Schmidt informed council that “the mechanical is shiny,” and that the Upper Place Riel “looks really cool. It looks like it’s going to be absolutely great — lots of space.”

Katie Salmers, one of the arts and science councillors, also emphasized the accessibility and convenience of the upper space, along with the natural lighting it will have.