Our quotes from last week’s Council were used in your recent article on AUS’s “Afrosh The Universe 2010”. As Frosh coordinators, we do believe that there were serious errors in organization, and that AUS has a responsibility to be upfront and transparent about where a large sum of their students’ money went. However, the tenor of your article left much to be desired. It framed the issue as a puerile back-and-forth between coordinators and AUS. One point that must be clarified is that we believe the AUS executive went into Frosh with all the best motives and worked hard to make sure it happened. The event itself was eventually a success, and this can be attributed to the hard work and skill of both the coordinators and key members of the AUS executive.
The matter at issue is the deficit likely to be run by this year’s Frosh and the failures in management and organization within the events portfolio that led to it. Better preparation over the summer could have prevented the budget shortfall and made Frosh fiscally responsible and more fun for all involved. AUS needs to have a candid conversation about why these problems occurred and how they can prevent them from affecting its other events this year. At last week’s Council, the VP Events’ report on Frosh recommending the 1,800 cap for future Froshes was approved and adopted. We think this is unacceptable in light of all the problems that resulted from the cap increase this year. The VP Events, and by extension AUS, has a responsibility to current and future Arts students to undertake a clear, complete, and honest accounting of Frosh’s failures and successes so that the former may be prevented and the latter preserved.
Casey Adams and Yusra Khan
AUS Frosh coordinators, “Afrosh the Universe 2010”