Back on track The Mustangs bounce back with a 61–20 win over Laurier. >> Pg. 7
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2014
Caranci drops out of race London mayoral candidate Roger Caranci has dropped out of the race. Former councillor Caranci’s withdrawal on Tuesday evening has come as a shock to many Londoners as he was a front-runner in the race, polling third among the initially 15 other mayoral candidates. Caranci has thrown his support behind candidate Paul Cheng, who according to a recent poll is placed at a firm second in the race with 27 per cent support. The mayoral race is currently led by councillor Matt Brown who currently had 35 per cent support according to the same poll. Cheng, a political outsider, has surprised many with the support he has garnered through his campaign. With main polls opening on October 27, Caranci’s withdrawal and subsequent support of the number two candidate will likely cause a change in the dynamics of the race. • Hamza Tariq
WESTERN UNIVERSITY • CANADA’S ONLY DAILY STUDENT NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED 1906
@KatieAtGazette
King’s University College’s 490seat Kenny Theatre was packed, as London’s mayoral candidates took on each other in the two-hour long debate on Wednesday, October 8. The debate format allowed the 13 candidates to highlight what distinguished them from the other contenders in a one-minute speech at the start of the debate. Then candidates answered questions posed by students and two candidates were chosen at random to rebut the original candidate’s answer. The floor was opened for the community to direct questions to specific candidates during the third part of the debate and candidates were allowed to ask each other questions at the end of the event. Students who couldn’t access the debate in person took to Twitter to stay engaged and many students watched the live feed from just outside the theatre. The candidates received
VOLUME 108, ISSUE 24
USC opens its books in town hall meeting Kevin Hurren NEWS EDITOR-AT-LARGE @KevinAtGazette
Students gathered in the USC council chambers for the budget town hall yesterday afternoon — an informational event meant to offer more details about where Mustang dollars are going. In addition to outlining tuition and ancillary fees, USC vice-president finance Andrew Lalka explained to those in attendance the financial realities of the students’ council. One such obstacle presented by Lalka is the fact that if inflation increases at the current rate, the cost of many USC services will rise. To compensate for this, the organization will have to strategize ways to keep revenue lines paralleled. To avoid raising fees and costs for students, the USC may have to trim and cut where its funds go. Lalka hopes that by raising attention this issue through events like the budget town hall students will be more open to engage with dialogue. “We operate in a very challenging fiscal environment,” Lalka said. “So when people say, ‘why isn’t this being done, why isn’t there more money for this, why isn’t this being
Students question candidates at King’s Katie Lear NEWS EDITOR
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questions from students on how to keep students in the city after graduation and improving student-police relations. The debate brought to light issues of making the city accessible to the disabled and creating jobs in London. Campaign frontrunner Matt Brown took on the majority of questions from the floor, although each candidate had an opportunity to make their opinion known on a variety of issues. Brown was impressed with how the students ran the debate. “This was the best-run, best-organized all-candidate’s meeting that I’ve participated in to date,” Brown said after the debate. Another frontrunner, Paul Cheng, believed there was room for improvement. According to Cheng, there was not enough time for the debate to really get running and for the candidates to make their positions clear on pertinent issues. “Three hours would’ve been fine — there was no free flow. But the questions were very sharp, very poignant, very productive,” Cheng said.
Damon Burtt • GAZETTE
paid for?’ It’s not always a case of the organization not being aware of these issues.” The second part of the town hall featured a question and answer period where attendants got the chance to raise concerns surrounding the USC fee and other financial matters. The USC fee currently sits at $685.38 per students, the bulk of which goes to the bus pass and health and dental plans. As such, the bus pass came up as a potential place to save dollars with one student at the town hall suggesting an opt out process be put in place.
Other USC executive such as vice-president external Jen Carter and president Matt Helfand stepped in to address these concerns. In terms of the bus pass, Helfand clarified that the price students get is significantly subsidised in part because the London Transit Committee receives a one-time payment. Additionally, Carter spoke to questions concerning how other universities were dealing with similar financial pressures. The council communications portfolio, including USC promotional departments and The Gazette,
were also raised as potential places to save money. A condensed version of the presentation and PowerPoint will be put online in the next few days. Lalka hopes, however, that students don’t read through this data and come to depressing conclusions. “It’s very easy to look at those numbers and say we’re looking at a gloom-and-doom budget. Though we do have environmental challenges ahead of us, both Western and the USC are very well-positioned to invest in smart ways,” he said.
Ontario funds mental health Drishti Kataria GAZETTE STAFF @uwogazette
Ontario has pledged $12 million dollars to the Mental Health Innovation Fund to increase mental health projects for post-secondary students. The Mental Health Innovation Fund, established by the provincial government in 2012, aims to strengthen and increase innovative approaches to on-campus mental health projects. “This new round will have a special focus on under-represented groups, students with addictions and helping students transition into university,” said Sean Madden, executive director of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance. Currently, not only is the amount of students with mental health issues increasing, the share of students with mental health issues as a proportion of the student population is also increasing. According to Jen Carter, vice-president external of University Student’s Council, there is a huge increase in the numbers of students seeking mental health assistance
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HIS NEW ROUND WILL HAVE A SPECIAL FOCUS ON UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS, STUDENTS WITH ADDICTIONS AND HELPING STUDENTS TRANSITION INTO UNIVERSITY. SEAN MADDEN
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ONTARIO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT ALLIANCE
at Western and the funding hasn’t matched that increase. There’s a significant wait time for Western students to see a mental health counsellor. “We find that students who fall through the cracks remains a problem — these are students who
maybe seek help in a place that isn’t equipped to help them, or is less able to get them the help they need,” Madden said. The goal of the innovation fund is to establish programs dedicated to smarter referrals, lifestyle and stress management in order to effectively prevent crises amongst students. Proposals will be assessed on whether they demonstrate innovation in their approach to the provision of mental health and/or addictions services to postsecondary students. “Eligible recipients for the current call for proposals under the MHIF include publicly funded universities and colleges of applied arts and technology, Aboriginal Institutes, and student associations,” said May Nazar, communications officer for the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. According to Nazar, projects will be carried out by these organizations in partnership with other stakeholders, with an interest in mental health and addictions issues including aboriginal community organizations and district school boards.