Monday, February 1, 2010
Volume 36, Issue 16
ECC votes to increase fees SAALIHA MALIK WITH NOTES FROM STEFANIE MAROTTA
On January 29, voting members of t h e E r i n d a l e C o l l eg e C o u n c i l approved increases in parking fees, residence fees and meal plan rates. The Council, UTM’s highest decision-making body, met to approve the 2010-2011 ancillary budgets. Parking fees were discussed first, with a proposed 3% fee increase on all parking passes and a dollar increase on the $12 maximum daily pay-and-display charge. Alex Maclsaac, manager of Parking and Transportation, reported that a parking deck, estimated to cost $6.5 million, will be built in lot 8 and will provide about 290 more spaces. Construction is expected to be completed by September. The profit projected for the coming year from the sale of parking p a s s e s i s r e p or t ed l y $ 9 3 , 0 0 0 , $80,000 of which will be a result of the fee increase. Maclsaac said that the profit will go toward the $6.5 million debt the parking deck will incur. Instead of resorting to the 2530% increase that was implemented to build the CCT parking garage a few years ago, the 3% increase should be sufficient to pay off the debt in time, said MacIssac. UTMSU president Joey Santiago, who was present during the meeting, pointed out that a large profit
Edward Cai/The Medium
ECC members vote in favour of fee increases to take effect next year. has been made in the last few years specifically from parking revenue. He asked where these profits are being allocated if not for the construction of a parking structure. Malsaac told attendees that the
funds have been put toward improving other facilities on campus. Defending the construction plan, Malsaac expressed his confusion with the concerns being raised.
Students are unhappy about a parking space shortage but complain about the cost of expanding, which needs to be covered by an increase in fees, said Malsaac. Santiago responded by saying
students can’t afford to pay greater costs to replenish services that were taken away. Next, Director of Hospitality and Food Services Bill McFadden discussed the direction of food services on campus and why a meal plan rate needed to be increased. Citing various reasons such as natural disasters overseas that affect food production and an upcoming increase in minimum wage, McFadden said Chartwells will have to increase f o o d p r ic e s . A s a r e s u l t , t h e University will raise the cost of residence meal plans by 4.1%. To improve the food services as the campus grows, the new instructional centre will include a cafeteria, and Administration is in the process of approving a self-serve Tim Horton’s. The discussion period on this particular motion caused a heated debate. Santiago inquired about the left-over funds on student meal plans that cannot be rolled over to the next year. McFadden responded that the value students get comp ar ed to wha t t hey don’t use is monitored closely and the department finds it to be a suitable balance. Following McFadden’s statement, UTMSU VP equity Vickita Bhatt spoke against the motion but was ruled out of order twice by the chair as she questioned the purpose and fairness of mandatory meal plans.
see Fees on page 3
Students camp in for literacy fundraiser CAROLINA SALCEDO
Many students at UTM can boast of— or confess to—having spent all night at the Library. But not many can say they’ve done it for six nights in a row. Last week, three UTM students, Masoud-Al-Rawahi, Sofia Marques De Sa and Crystie Doell, spent seven straight days living in a blue nylon tent, underneath large cardboard signs and glowing Christmas lights, at the entrance of the Library. They collected donations and spread awareness as part Live-In-For-Literacy, a crosscountry initiative. Masoud, a fourth-year CCIT student and vice president of the UTM
Me to We club, organized the Live-In campaign as their latest fundraiser. “We were approached by an organization from Queen’s University called Dream,” said Masoud. “They told us about this joint project between eight Canadian Universities, to bring awareness and raise funds for libraries and books in India.” Teams from all eight universities would camp out in their respective libraries for eight days, from January 22 to January 30. After asking the HMLAC for permission and support, buying a tent, and figuring out a shift system so they could each shower and go to class, Masoud and Me to We president Crystie Doell organized the Live-In campaign at UTM. Masoud, along
-4° -9°
-3° -7°
with friend Sofia Marques De Sa, who joined in to help, found himself settling in for seven nights sleeping on an air mattress inside the tent. “Many people ask us if we actually stay overnight, and yes, we do. The first night was a bit weird. The cleaning staff warned us that we might hear some odd noises and that definitely did happen,” said Masoud. Throughout the seven days, many students inched by, eyeballing the large tent, blankets, donation boxes and scattered belongings. A few lingered, and Masoud perked up to tell them about the cause and the goal as they slipped a few coins in the donation boxes. Between the eight participating universities, including
-2° -9°
1° -7°
Concordia, McMaster, Queens, University of British Columbia, U of T St. George campus and York, the goal is to raise $20,000 to build a library and publish 10,000 children’s’ books by local authors for local communities in India. The UTM team’s goal was to raise $1000. Although most students who walked by were puzzled, many showed different reactions to Masoud. “Lots of weird looks and stares. I’ve even had people ask if we’re campaigning to keep the library open 24/7!” For more information on the The Live-In-For-Literacy initiative, Dream, and the participating universities, visit www.liveinforliteracy.com.
-5° -9°
-1° -9°
Obama ‘s student debt plan PAGE 2 Moving a house PAGE 5 Studying Alghabra PAGE 7 Majors face a tough loss PAGE 10 www.mediumonline.ca