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Thursday, September 26, 2013
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Western prepares for HOCO Day to be marked by increased security
Volume 107, issue 14
Western, USC fail on free speech Lily Robinson Gazette Staff
Bill Wang GAZETTE
BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOUR. Western will see an increased security presence during Homecoming weekend. Guests won’t be allowed in residences during the weekend, and there will be increased police patrols around campus and downtown.
Hamza Tariq Gazette Staff As Homecoming approaches this weekend, preparations and security measures on and around campus are in full swing. With an influx of out-of-town alumni expected to come to watch the football game — which pits the undefeated Western Mustangs against their perennial rivals, the also-undefeated Queen’s Gaels — police and university staff aren’t taking any chances. Additional police officers will be on duty for the weekend, starting from Friday night, according to desk sergeant J.C. Aubin of the Campus Community Police Service. “We have also hired some offduty London police officers to assist as well, so they are going to be patrolling the neighborhoods,” Aubin said. London police will also be playing an active role on the weekend to make sure the many events in and around campus and the influx of people coming from outside London goes smoothly. They will have additional officers around the university area and the downtown for homecoming, according to Aubin. Aubin said the best way to avoid a ticket is to obey the law, as offence notices might be issued for offences contrary to the Liquor License Act. Though it’s not uncommon to
We don’t have guests on this weekend because there are lot of students, and if every student had a guest we’d be over capacity for the safety of our buildings.” – Susan Grindrod
associate vice-president of Housing and Ancillary Services
have out-of-town visitors in residence on weekends, students in residence hoping to have friends crash on the floor may be disappointed for Homecoming. Residences will not be allowing guests this weekend, according to Susan Grindrod, associate vice-president of Housing and Ancillary Services. “We don’t have guests on this weekend because there are lot of students, and if every student had a guest we’d be over capacity for the safety of our buildings,” she said. However, for residence-dwellers or other students not looking to go out on homecoming, Housing and Ancillary Services alongside the University Students’ Council have planned events, according to Grindrod.
“We are doing more on-campus events now than we ever used to, and there are a lot of options for people who don’t want to party,” she said. “We promote the USC’s free pancake breakfast and all that, and then Western Film has got free admission for residence students.” She added a barbecue called “Street Meet” would be held outside residences for students who are coming back. Sophs and residence staff will be telling students who decide to go out and drink to be safe and avoid dangerous situations, Grindrod said. “I wish everybody a happy and safe homecoming,” she said. “It’s a great time to meet people and the football game is always lots of fun.” The Student Emergency Response Team will also be on-call as usual, to respond to any medical emergencies 24/7 on campus. Western Foot Patrol, the student volunteer-based safe escort and patrol service, will be operating as usual in the evenings from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Sunday. “It’s a fun time but [students] should drink responsibly and always stay with a friend when they’re drinking,” Samantha Johnstone, manager of Western Foot Patrol, said. The Homecoming festivities kick off tonight at 7 p.m. in the Labatt Lounge at TD Stadium.
The Justice Centre of Constitutional Freedoms has spoken and its verdict isn’t good. This year’s Campus Freedom Index establishes that among Canadian universities, Western has unsatisfactorily promoted and facilitated free speech on campus — in other words, Western got an F. The JCCF Campus Freedom Index measures the state of free speech on the campuses of 45 Canadian universities. Administration and student unions at each university are awarded letter grades both for policies and practices pertaining to freedom of expression. “The Campus Freedom Index has shown that universities, which are supposed to be the places where controversial ideas can be discussed openly, debated, and developed to pursue the capture of truth, [are no longer] living up to that mission,” Michael Kennedy, co-author of the Campus Freedom Index, said. Letter grades awarded to Canadian institutions by the JCCF are based on explicitly stated policies that protect free expression and academic freedoms, and practices that either exemplify or are incongruous with their stated aims. The policies and practices of the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Ryerson University and Acadia are among the most highly touted by the Campus Freedom Index. Occupying the other end of the spectrum are Carleton University and University of Ottawa, earning themselves F averages for both university administration and their student unions. Awarded letter grades of B for its policies and F for its practices pertaining to free speech, Western’s administration fared only slightly better than its University Students’ Council, whose policies and practices were ranked at a C and F, respectively. While Western graces neither the best nor the worst categories, its mediocre ranking amidst other Canadian universities suggests room for improvement. “What you’re seeing at Western is both the university and the
Naira Ahmed Gazette
student union not doing enough to protect the free exchange of ideas on campus,” Kennedy commented. “If that continues, what you’re going to see is that those administrators and those student union executives think they’re in the right when they try to shut down an unpopular event or try to cancel a lecture by an unpopular individual. That’s why it’s so important for Western to acknowledge why they’re getting these bad grades.” Western’s rankings from the previous year differ in only one category, with the USC having improved upon their 2012 policy ranking by one letter grade. Keith Marnoch, director of media relations at Western, drew attention to this as a concerning component of the JCCF Campus Freedom Index. “In my mind there hasn’t been anything that’s been on the radar for us in the past year. This purports to be an annual survey, [but it] continues to report on incidences that are long since past and they’re rehashing them word for >> see free speach pg.3