STORY about SolidarityMediaEducation posted on April 12, 2010 by isaac

UBC AMS and Pit Pub Cancel Fundraiser for Anti-Olympic Arrestees

AMS claimed the event would upset the RCMP detachment on campus

by Isaac Oommen

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A fund-raiser for protesters arrested during the Olympics that was to be held on 6 April was cancelled at the last moment by University of British Columbia Alma Mater Society (AMS).

"AMS Services made it clear to Pit Pub that the cancellation was because they were politically uncomfortable having an anti-Olympic event on campus," said Alissa Westergard-Thorpe from the Student Justice Centre (SJC). "They were afraid of upsetting the RCMP detachment here."

AMS even insinuated that SJC was a front for the SACA, which is helping the arrestees fight their cases.

"Now AMS is claiming that the policy is that only student groups can book events on-campus," said Westergard-Thorpe, "which makes no sense since off-campus groups work with student groups to book space at UBC all the time."

What really infuriates event organizers is that the AMS waited till the Thursday before the show on a four-day weekend to cancel it. The SJC as a consequence could not get any other space to hold the event by Tuesday. AMS also turned down SJC's offer to make changes to the posters and promotion that would get rid of the content that was objectionable.

"The AMS has made it clear that they don't want anti-Olympic events on-campus, which is not new since there have been similar issues all year with anti-Games postering and leafleting," explained Westergard-Thorpe. "SJC is determined to fight this issue, and is determined to hold a fund-raiser for the defendants."

UPDATE:

VMC Spoke later with AMS President Bijan Ahmadian later in the day, who responded to the above statements; Alissa Westergard-Thorpe then rebutted his reply.

Ahmedian wanted to make it clear that the AMS had no issue with the impact of the event on the RCMP detachment on-campus.

"All advertising for events at the Pit Pub have to approved by the manager of food and beverages," said Ahmadian. "We were told the event would be promoted by word-of-mouth. Instead, a psoter was printed, which did not meet our guidelines. We even offered to pay the students for the cost of printing said posters."

"That issue is key because we were never asked to submit posters for approval," said Westergard-Thorpe. "It sounds like an excuse because we would have given the posters for approval if we'd been asked."

"The content issue on the poster is a moot point anyway," said Ahmadian. "It's okay to say 'fuck the police,' and we haven't even had an actual ruling on the poster. I want ot make it clear that the main issue is that (the organizers) violated the original policy that the Pit Pub and gallery space are limited to only the use of on-campus groups."

"They're exaggerating this policy because the Pit Pub has been used by on-campus groups to fund-raise for off-campus organizations," said Westergard-Thorpe, "Including for protesters from the anti-APEC rally a few years ago. Not to mention that UBC clubs can raise money, and then donate to off-campus groups."