elections: What the candidates should be talking about pg 9 UTSU
Take a glimpse at U of T’s artistic landscape pg 19
THE VARSITY Vol. cXXXiii, No. 17
Music students asked to approve 160-fold increase in fees
University of toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
25 February, 2013
Union stands firm as Victoria contemplates exit Four divisions proceed with separation plans and gird for legal battle as prospect of utsu disintegration looms
rida Ali VArSitY StAFF
The Faculty of Music is asking its students to approve a steep $1,200 levy increase to help close a $1.5 million budget shortfall. Administrators say that without the increase, the faculty will be unable to meet “the typical yet extraordinary costs of providing international-quality professional training and research programs in music” and has warned of cutbacks in staff and course offerings. “I cannot emphasize enough how critical a positive response to the referendum question is for our future sustainability,” said dean Don McLean in an open letter. “We are currently in a position where we cannot move forward with hires and cannot expand or enhance any of our program offerings without showing a more stable financial trajectory.” Provincial policy prevents the faculty from abruptly raising tuition fees by amounts as large as that proposed. Consequently, McLean’s administration has been forced to ask students to approve the increase as a student society fee, which would then be siphoned to faculty bank accounts. This unusual approach requires students to vote on approving the increase before it can be charged. The faculty held two open forums on January 17 and 24 to explain and discuss the situation with students. The Faculty of Music Undergraduate Association declined to comment on the fee increase. McLean’s letter indicated that the
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Zane Schwartz ASSociAte NewS editor
University of Toronto Students’ Union president Shaun Shepherd warned a growing number of student groups seeking “defederation” from the central union that there is “clear legal precedent to stop them,” even as logistical planning for referendums and eventual exits appeared well underway. Shepherd’s statement came in the form of a letter sent February 22 to Trinity’s co-head of college Sam Greene. It is “structurally identical” to one sent to the Engineering
Society in 2010, says president Rishi Maharaj. The letter objects to Trinity “conducting on behalf of the utsu a referendum related to its own membership and fees,” asks that the referendum effort be discontinued, and states that the utsu will not conduct such a referendum, leaving no clear path forward for those attempting defederation. Shepherd’s statement on the defederation movement came as Victoria University’s student leadership body vusac announced they too were considering an exit from the union. vusac’s move brings the total number of colleges and faculties con-
sidering the move to four, with the Engineering Society, Trinity, and St. Michael’s College announcing their plans before Reading Week. vusac president Shoaib Alli said he was concerned by Shepherd’s language. “I don’t want to feel like I’ve been held hostage by the students’ union,” said Alli. Greene says it is “disingenuous” for Shepherd to send “what can only be interpreted as an attempt to intimidate us about taking action.” “Why is it that they’re so interested in a legal battle about this?” asked Greene. “Why not just have the referendum? If they think their services are so good, and they think that what
they provide to Trinity students is so strong and useful, why are they not prepared to defend that in an open democratic forum?” College leaders involved in the socalled “defederation” movement are seeking what amounts to a financial exit from the utsu, by having member fees re-routed to college- and faculty-level bodies rather than centralized union coffers. The decision to explore an exit came after the union’s reticence to implement electoral reform proposals put forward by some college leaders in time for this year’s elections,
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