THE VOICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO MISSISSAUGA
October 20, 2014 Volume 41, Issue 6 themedium.ca
“Stupid” bylaw proposed downtown UTSU to vote at AGM on change to include only the voices of marginalized students MENNA ELNAKA ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR Voting at next week’s Annual General Meeting of the UTSU has the potential to dissolve the union, say representatives of UTMSU. The meeting’s order of business includes motions on bylaw amendments concerning the board of directors, some of which are required to be approved for UTSU to comply with the Not-for-Profit Corporations Act. Lumped into the motion with the legally required amendments, however, is another amendment to adopt a new structure in the board of directors, which is not required by the act—despite an explicit claim to the contrary by UTMSU executive director Walied Khogali in an email to executives and their associates—and is not marked as necessary in UTSU’s own AGM package. Currently, the UTSU board of directors includes directors from the Faculty of Arts and Science, the Transitional Year Program, the professional faculties, downtown colleges, and UTM.
MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM
Full-time UTM students will be able to vote at UTSU’s AGM at the OISE Auditorium on October 29. The proposed structural change— dubbed the “constituency model”—involves removing the college directors and replacing them with 10 directors to represent marginalized groups, including racialized students, women, international students, students with disabilities, first-year students, ath-
letes, mature students, indigenous students, commuters, and LGBTQ students. If the majority votes in favour of the amendment, the directorate positions representing the seven downtown colleges will be dissolved, along with a number of positions representing pro-
fessional faculties. The change would also mean upper-year students, males, and other students who do not fit into any of the marginalized groups would not have their own representation on the board. Last May, Robyn Urback of The National Post condemned the proposed
structure, calling it “harrowingly stupid”. Urback cited the fact that many of the 45,000 undergraduate students who pay mandatory fees to the UTSU wouldn’t have a category representing them. UTSU published a response to the Post’s article on Facebook titled “Inclusion Is Not Exclusion”, in which they said the proposed structure seeks to address complaints that college and faculty representatives on UTSU’s Board “were not sufficient or representative”. However, the bylaw amendments exclude the directors being replaced. “These groups represent themselves through their own students’ societies, and wanted to interact with us in that way. We wanted to respect these wishes,” wrote UTSU president Yolen Bollo-Kamara, adding that the establishment of a new committee has also been proposed “that would allow direct representation from student societies, without violating new restrictions on representation”. AGM continued on page 2
Student papers hurting from ad losses Market slowly reforming, but poor revenue still forcing papers to cut spending MARIA IQBAL NEWS EDITOR Canadian student newspapers have had a rough time financially for the past year and half in the face of declining ad revenue and the sudden bankruptcy of a major national advertising supplier. Campus Plus (C+) was an advertising subsidiary owned by Canadian University Press, a non-profit cooperative of newspapers at postsecondary campuses across the country. C+ declared bankruptcy in June 2013 as a result of “declining sales caused by a poor economy and a general decline of advertising spending in the industry,” stated MNP Ltd., the trustee appointed to administer the bankruptcy, in its preliminary report. In an email to member papers in March 2013, CUP president Sam
Mental health gets a boost The Ontario government allocates $12 million for programs across the province’s postsecondary schools. Medium News, page 2
Exclusion is not inclusion Student union’s reaction to criticism of its proposed new board structure doesn’t count as genuine debate. Medium Opinion, page 4
You’ve got mail. It’s art DVSSS organizes pen pals at UTM to send each other their impromptu canvasboard projects. Medium Arts, page 5
A real equality defender MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM
Newspapers across the country are cutting circulation in response to a decline in ad revenue. Brooks, who was also CEO of C+, said that C+ was closing down because it had faced losses over three consecutive years. However, other factors also played
a part. “Although our initial intent was to restructure Campus Plus and work towards a place of profitability, the company is too fractured as a result of mismanagement for this to be
possible. Downsizing and preparing to close operations is our only option,” Brooks added. C+ continued on page 3
Rabia Khedr overcomes obstacles in her roles as non-profit founder, racialized woman, and mother. Medium Features, page 8
Five-year plan, UTM-style The coaches are looking for players to build the new varsity teams on campus. Medium Sports, page 11