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UTM discusses parking fee increase Campus Affairs Committee proposed fee raises for parking, food, and residence costs ALICIA BOATTO ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR The UTM Campus Affairs Committee convened last Wednesday to discuss proposed fee raises for parking costs on campus. Last semester, a new two-level parking deck opened in front of the Recreation, Athletics and Wellness Centre. In a presentation given by Paul Donoghue, UTM’s chief administrative officer, the increase in parking fees will be used to pay off the loan on the new parking deck. According to the meeting’s agenda, “the cost of the parking deck has been paid for by the ancillary via its construction reserve of $3.0M and a loan from the UTM operating budget of $6.97M.” Present at the meeting was UTMSU’s president, Nour Alideeb, who opposed an increase of the fees and voted in favour of hiring a working group to try and find alternative solutions for students.
SAMUEL KAN/THE MEDIUM
Parking fees are expected to increase to repay the loan from UTM’s operating budget. Donoghue stated, however, that there are currently four working groups across the campus that were consulted in the decision to raise fees, and said that no alternative
course was reached. Before the meeting concluded, Alideeb presented the committee members with the main goals of the student union.
UTMSU plans this year to focus on expanding the Student Centre. Alideeb said that the space of the centre is currently functioning at maximum capacity, and working
toward an expansion is needed and expected to resume later this semester. Students had previously rejected an expansion in the 2013-2014 academic year, because, according to Alideeb, the $25 fee increase for students was deemed too high. Alideeb also stated that the UTMSU recently renegotiated with MiWay Transit to reduce UPass interest fees from nine percent to seven percent over the next several years. She also discussed the numerous campaigns that UTMSU endorses, such as the Fight the Fees campaign, and the bursaries they offer to students in financial strain. The next Campus Affairs meeting is scheduled to take place in February, and will be presented with more information regarding fee increases for food and residence, as well as a final vote to decide on the overall service fee raises.
U of T ranked poorly for Jewish community New York-based newspaper ranked U of T the third on a list of 40 worst colleges for Jewish students
MENNA ELNAKA NEWS EDITOR FARHAT AMINI
The University of Toronto was ranked third on a list of the 40 worst colleges for Jewish students, alongside McGill University placing fourth, and York University in seventeenth. The Algemeiner, a New York-based weekly publication which refers to itself as the “fastest growing Jewish newspaper in America,” released in late December its first-ever annual article on the 40 worst colleges for Jewish students in 2016. According to The Algemeiner’s list, the ranking was based on “the number of antisemitic incidents on each campus; the number of anti-Israel groups, and the extent to which they are active; the Jewish student population, and number of Jewish or pro-Israel groups; the availability of Jewish resources on campus; the
SHIFA SIDDIQUI/THE MEDIUM
The Algemeiner released an article about the worst institutions for Jewish students. success or lack thereof of Israel boycott efforts; and the public positions of faculty members with respect to BDS [Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions Movement].” In an interview with The Medium, Dovid Fune, the editor-in-chief of The Algemeiner explained that they
calculated the results for the ranking by looking at each of these factors, giving them a certain amount of points, then adding them up to see
the conclusion. “The idea is to give people a snapshot of the challenges that they might face in advance to their coming on the campuses as Jewish or supporters of the Jewish states,” said Fune. The list reasoned the U of T ranking, as it has “hosted a considerable number of events in recent years portraying the Jewish state as barbarous and colonialist.” When asked if there was a particular incident that led to this ranking, Fune stated, “There’s definitely no particular issue. We didn’t feel that it was right to be grading based on one isolated incident […].” Anna Shternshis, the director of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies at U of T, stated in an email to The Medium that the centre is one of the biggest in North America, with over 3,000 students taking Jewish courses annually. Ranking continued on page 3