RPIRG
Welcome to Saskboy’s RPIRG (Regina’s Premier Internet Redirection Gang)
Head to RPIRG.ORG for the Regina Public Interest Research Group.
Someone at the UofR Carillon mistakenly[?] published my domain name RPIRG.CA in reference to the Regina Public Interest and Research Group which has claimed the name in print, but didn’t take the obvious step of actually registering the name with CIRA.CA to become the actual unique owner. I noticed the name RPIRG.CA was also published in the URSU day planner more than a month ago, and I notified the Regina Public Interest and Research Group that they hadn’t yet bought the name that was already in print. As several weeks have passed since that friendly effort to assist them in their initial foray into the world of domain names, and no registration took place, I took it upon myself to take it.
If anyone from the Regina Public Interest and Research Group wants RPIRG.CA as their domain name still (since it is in thousands of printed and distributed media), I’d be happy to transfer it to them. Please contact me at my email address listed on the side of this website.
Until the domain name is transferred, RPIRG.CA at Abandonedstuff.com will stand as a testament to the “newly incorporated student organization, Regina Public Interest and Research Group,” which is described in the Carillon paper as “working hard this fall to establish itself.” Good luck with that.
UPDATE: RPIRG has contacted me to get the rpirg.ca domain name. They’ve reserved .org as well but their site still isn’t running as of September 29th 2007.
UPDATE: November 8, 2007
I’ve not yet received reimbursement for the RPIRG.CA. Also RPIRG.org is still unused and hosts only ads.
I’m emailing a prospective board member tonight to see if they can help me find out what is going wrong at RPIRG at the UofR.
This person wrote:
The vast majority of students (from what I’ve heard, all but you)
are happy with what we’ve been doing, and what we can empower students to do themselves in the future.so far those who’ve been involved are mostly university students busy with life and classes… volunteering countless hours for something they think will change the campus, community, and world…
if you don’t like how they’re operating… then stop whining, go to a meeting, and get involved yourself.
By encouraging the organization, with tens of thousands of student dollars, to set up the website they advertised at least as early as August, I get called a whiner?
Besides knowing a student who was unhappy with how the free contest draw was cancelled/postponed/whatevered, this week in the Carillon Joshua McFarlen wrote (ironically underneath Billy Patterson’s excellent article on plastic bottles) that he’s unhappy with RPIRG. “None of them could provide me with a definition of social justice.” Since that’s central to RPIRG’s operation, hopefully they brush up on that soon.
I’m also going to ask RPIRG what they are doing to help students get the University of Regina to bargain with CUPE employees again, so labour disruptions at Saskatchewan’s largest campuses end.
@hotmail.com
![[EFC Blue Ribbon - Free Speech Online]](http://www.efc.ca/images/efcfreet.gif)
October 12th, 2007 at 7:25 am
October 12th, and no RPIRG.ORG website, and my pointing the domain RPIRG.CA to RPIRG.ORG has been to this point, pointless.
October 16th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
October 16th, and still no website. An invoice for reimbursement of the .ca domain name was submitted yesterday. I asked when the draw for prizes was going to be held that day, on the deadline for entry, and they said they might not draw on the 15th, and were waiting for more entries. I asked if they thought it was fair to the people who entered on time, and they answered that they thought so.
I’m not impressed at all with the professionalism of RPIRG.
December 2nd, 2007 at 12:31 am
The RPIRG board election, or whatever, was rescheduled from late November to December 4th. There’s a sticker updating the date, on their posters.
I’ve not had a reply to my last letter to them, over a week ago.
December 5th, 2007 at 6:03 am
As of November 30th, rpirg.org is finally up! Without a phone number or email address for readers to ask for more information, however.
And still no reply to my last email sent weeks ago to RPIRG.
February 4th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Hey Saskboy, I attend the U of R and oppose the whole concept of RPIRG. They are in no way accountable to the students; it takes forever for them to post their board minutes, so we can only assume they do not have board meetings. And when they do post minutes, we find out that each board member was given $250 in order to retain their services. These members were elected in December, so theoretically, they will only be doing 3 months of work. Sadly, when RPIRG called for board members they did not advertise the $250 incentive, otherwise I may have ran.
Furthermore, we have no idea how much the office administrator is being paid. This radically left-wing cabal siphoned $90 000 dollars off of U of R students and have done little to prove themselves relevant. Recently, the office administrator wrote a piece of idealistic drivel in the student paper in a desperate attempt to attract modicum of “interest” in their group. RPIRG is useless. But I could go on about this fringe group with sizable resources. Anyways, thanks for bringing light to the lack of professionalism that typifies this group. I really hope someone dismantles this group.
February 7th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Hi Doc. thanks for your note.
RPIRG opt out deadline is Friday I heard.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:28 am
Hey Saskboy,
First and foremost, I’m no way affiliated with anyone at RPIRG or the University for that matter. Simply read the blog here.
I trust that you fully understand the new domain laws effective Jan 1, 2008. Due to the fact RPIRG is an Incorporated Company in Canada and your withholding the .ca domain name you my friend could find yourself in some heat.
I think your lack of professionalism in handling this is pathetic. You sit there and talk like your some internet guru, yet you have this two -bit free template of a blog.
February 8th, 2008 at 8:00 am
“Worst”, I’m not withholding the domain so your point is nonsense. You also should use “you’re” when you want to say “you are”.
February 11th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Wow, “Your worst night Mare” makes no sense. Furthermore, a mare that rides only at night is only scary when ridden by a horseless man. The collective IQ of RPIRG and its supporters is negative 7.
February 11th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Just as a clarification, there is no remuneration for being a board member for RPIRG. There is a possible $250 funding for board members for board development. This is for attending workshops or conferences to further the development of the PIRG and the board (surprise surprise). I’ve been involved with other boards and organizations that offer similar opportunities so I wasn’t amazed and aghast as Dr Casbah.
As far as the posting of minutes goes, I have no comment other than the fact that they seem to go up in batches. I haven’t found PIRG to be unaccountable though. That’s just my experience though, you might be looking for different things than I am.
If all else fails, I’m pretty certain that the AGM is coming up and if you haven’t opted out, I believe that’s the official airing of grievances (other than going in to the office or to the meetings).
February 11th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
“BIRT RPIRG approves the spendig of $300 for food and wood for the Board retreat on jan 12th & 13th.”
I wonder how that went, or if the motion was carried? Based on minutes from the next meeting it appears it took place.
==
Something of concern, however, is the following from Dec. 7, 2007:
“3. Student Handbook Draw: Mystery Prize. Discussed informally that $200.00 gift certificate from
the Universtiy Bookstore would be a good choice.
BIRT the RPIRG board approves the purchase of $200.00 gift certificate from
UofR bookstore for the “Mystery Prize” draw.
Carried”
The problem is that October was the advertised draw date for the 3 contests, where one was a $200 mystery prize. A prize was not approved by the board until December? That can’t be correct. Didn’t the person who won that draw wonder for 2 months where their prize was?
February 26th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Why do you care to examine RPIRG so thoroughly and criticize every move they make? They may be “unprofessional”, but who should really care? Give them some slack, they are in their first year, and with all due respect to the board, they are volunteers! Let each person make up their mind, and if they are not in favour with RPIRG, they can opt out of paying $5!
As for the domain… Thanks for keeping all of us updated on how accommodating you were in trying to offer RPIRG with the .ca. You truly are a gentleman. But why did you get it in the first place, and if they turned out to use .org and are content with that, who really cares!! Kudos to you for laying claim to RPIRG.ca for them and only asking to be reimbursed transfer cost… Pat yourself on the back why don’t you.
So continue your little rants and spreading awareness of RPIRG. They are only trying to help out the students and if you don’t want to be a member, then don’t. You aren’t being forced.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Constructive C. I think it’s fine that you have questions about my intentions, but you obviously have some incorrect notions about how a group with public money should operate. You seem to think that being mostly volunteers absolves them from running in an open and ethical manner while they control tens of thousands of dollars in student levied money?
You’re also using incorrect terminology concerning the domain. I did not request a “transfer cost” reimbursement. I requested a reimbursement which would put me $0.00 ahead, and RPIRG $0.00 behind on owning the name they foolishly advertised months before they owned the rights to it. I am a gentleman, and your anonymous trolling suggests you are not.
I don’t have a choice about being an RPIRG member, because someone from the community has to shine a light on them until they attain a level of useful public action that surpasses defensive editorials in the newspaper, and a retreat for the volunteer board. If you can mention some of their public actions that have benefited the community to this point, I’ll be happy to highlight them. I’m not against RPIRG, I’m offering my oversight as volunteer assistance to their goal of social justice. Without oversight, there can be no justice.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:11 am
In the spirit of transparency, what exactly is the “reimbursement which would put [you] $0.00 ahead, and RPIRG $0.00 behind”?
Simple question. Simple answer, please.
February 28th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Seems pretty straight forward I thought, Mike. RPIRG was to (and still can) pay exactly what I paid to reserve the name for them (less than $20). A couple representatives of RPIRG agreed to that plan when I suggested it to them, and then they backed out without even telling me. I had to find out why, when they hadn’t sent the reimbursement many weeks later.