As unopposed SA Treasurer candidate, Maurice Frediere aims to increase efficiency and transparency

By Abigail Panitz and Claire Weddle     2/15/16 9:30am

As an unopposed candidate running for the position of treasurer, Maurice Frediere hopes to use the role to streamline the process of club funding. He wants to consolidate clubs with similar goals to ensure that funding for student organizations is used efficiently.

“Essentially what I feel like is happening is [we are] closing out growth because there are so many clubs,” Frediere, a Duncan College freshman, said. "If a student has a really unique idea it’s going to be tough for them to get started because the resources are so spread out.”

Regarding blanket tax initiatives, Frediere said he wants to increase transparency within the SA regarding blanket tax funding.

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“Whenever we make a decision we’ll release the documentation everything we saw that was right with the club if we decided to fund it or everything we saw that didn’t meet our standards,” he said. “Students are contributing $30 a year to the blanket tax so I think that they deserve to have knowledge of what our decision is.”

Frediere also plans to use his position as a member of executive board to implement non-treasurer changes.

In his role as New Student Representative on the Wellbeing Committee, Frediere has worked with the Rice Apps student organization to develop a Wellbeing App. RUPD was considering paying $25,000 for a private developer to create a similar app, and opted instead to combine with the Rice Apps version for free.

Frediere said he hopes to incorporate the Wellbeing app’s preexisting features, including a mobile blue button, anonymous reporting and a Blood Alcohol Content Calculator, with general Rice resources such as a calendar of club meetings and servery menus. The combined sets of information would make up a new Student Life app, he said.

Frediere also said he wants to use his executive role to push for the possibility of subsidizing first-time sexually transmitted diseases testing for all students on campus. According to Frediere, most campuses have this subsidy to benefit low-income students.

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