Give us answers
The admission of theft by former URSU president Haanim Nur needs to be fully investigated
After an extremely low-key, boring URSU Presidential by-election that could make Mitt Romney look good and exciting, the voting students are finally finding out why we had a by-election in the first place. And folks, if you have not yet heard why, it’s a real doozy of a reason.
Unlike really rich people in the United States who simply pay ridiculously low taxes on their income, the URSU President we elected last year to represent us and our interests with some vigour and enthusiasm became so vigourous and enthusiastic in performing her job that she ended up writing to the best of our knowledge about $700 worth of cheques payable to herself from money definitely intended for other purposes. But hey, as Haanim Nur said herself, “[m]istakes can be made.” After all, when you care so much about making students’ lives better, life is all sunshine-and-lollipops – even when you commit crimes.
It is extremely pathetic though that the Canadian Federation of Students Saskatchewan chapter (CFS SK) tried to sweep this under the rug and keep it hush-hush – and that Nur went along with it. Only after that poorly-written page-two article last week in which Nur gave the murkiest statement on her resignation for “personal reasons” did the CFS SK acknowledge the issue publically. Worse than that is the fact Nur has not even apologized to the student body for betraying our trust in her and the entire URSU and CFS organization. After all, if this goes all the way to the upper echelons of power, what else is going on up there behind closed doors?
After the Carillon article ran, students who posted with some enthusiasm on the online edition expressed an outpouring of anger and disgust. Some were openly calling for an official police investigation for theft and embezzlement and maybe forgery claims too. Nur did have to forge a signature to cash those cheques. Others expressed outrage at Nur’s casual tone in her responses to questions posed to her by the Carillon. Either way, we should truly see how far up the chain of command this goes and investigate this heaping, stinking pile of political elitism. Maybe we will have to throw some more dishonest folks out of office. Who knew that the University of Regina would have their very own version of Watergate? To say the least, this makes for a truly interesting time in U of R student politics.
As for our newly-elected President, the shoes he will have to fill are only about a size one. And if he does his job well, with honesty and integrity, maybe we can all write him a collective bonus cheque at the end of the year for $700. At least that way we all willingly blew our money down the chute rather than having it stolen from us.
Sebastian Prost
Contributor
