The Silhouette See ANDY
MCMASTER UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
www.thesil.ca
Thursday, September 20, 2012
EST. 1930
Writing for the 99 per cent.
Vol. 83, No. 7
The race against tuition rates As the cost of education rises, students walks the halls unaware that little is being done to reverse the process. Are we prepared to let future generations (and even current freshmen) meet the consequences wallets-first? See A3
Occupy McMaster rebuilding Sam Colbert Executive Editor
When members of Occupy McMaster arrived at their space in the corner of the Student Centre on Tuesday, Sept. 18, they didn’t know what had happened. Lori Diamond, administrative director of the Student Centre, didn’t know either. Siobhan Stewart, president of the McMaster Students Union, said she saw that Occupy was still set up in the corner of the student centre when she left late on Monday night. But Tuesday morning – the day after the one-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street – the area was cleared out. The books, the furniture, the blankets, the pamphlets, the posters and all of the other items that has collected since Occupy began spending time on the MUSC couches last November was gone. Representatives of Occupy met with McMaster Security Services Tuesday morning in hopes of getting to the bottom of the matter. Security Services said they would check security tapes. “We do have a theft report, and it is with our investigator right now,” said Cathy O’Donnell, Staff Sergeant of Security Services, on Wednesday. “It’s a temporary setback for the student movement,” said Alvand Mohtashami, who was one of the founders of the group last November. “But we are organizing to build a culture of revolution.” The MUSC space was relatively empty over the summer months, but now that September has come, students are coming together again to get Occupy McMaster back up and running. They’ve added a couple of tables and some pamphlets, and they are trying to be more vigilant. “I’ll be back as soon as possible and support the occupiers, whose existence and presence is necessary to the survival of the idea of the university as a place of unhampered pursuit of the truth, wrote Dr. Karl Andersson, who is currently back in Sweden, in a comment on TheSil.ca. Andersson, a grey-haired scholar who was studying the Bertrand Russell archives in Mills Library, was a regular presence at Occupy last school year, and he helped to maintain a 24-hour watch.
MUSC sitting on $1.1 million Board made of University and MSU reps will decide how to spend it Sam Colbert Executive Editor
Two years after it was allocated, the McMaster University Student Centre (MUSC) continues to hold $1.1 million in student money, and both the McMaster Students Union (MSU) and the University are looking for a way to spend it. The money came from excess student fees collected by the MSU in 2010-11, which were collected to pay for the remaining portion on a loan from the University to fund the MUSC’s construction ten years ago.
The money will either go toward a new capital project to improve the Student Centre or toward discounting occupancy fees of MSU and/or University businesses and services. The decision of how the funds will be spent now sits with the MUSC Board of Management, which includes representatives from both the MSU and University. John McGowan, who is the business manager of the MSU, explained that details on how, exactly, the money will be spent have not yet been worked out. The money was not originally
dent Centre. In order to pay for their share, the MSU borrowed money from the University, to be paid back over a number of years. MUSC was completed in 2002. However, the final loan payment from the MSU to the University didn’t occur until late 2010. “Leading up year of the retirement of the capital debt on the student centre, there was a lot of discussion between the University and the MSU on exactly what was outstanding,” said McGowan. SEE FUNDS, A4
CFS-Ontario Chair attends town hallstyle student meeting on campus Aissa Boodhoo-Leegsma Senior News Editor
Sarah Jayne King, Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario, was at McMaster on Sept. 19 to support student activism on campus. King gathered in the location where the Occupy McMaster movement has begun to re-establish their headquarters in the Student Centre. She was on campus speaking to students of Occupy McMaster. King came to campus specifically to attend the Education Town Hall this past Wednesday. The town hall meetings were taking place on university campuses across Ontario in order to address student issues surrounding tuition fee increases and quality of education. The goal of the town halls is to seek student feedback to be submitted directly to the provincial government. ”There’s a movement across Ontario to seek more student input on the issues that are affecting students, especially as the government is in the process of making significant changes to our education systems… and has not been doing a lot to hear from students directly about what they actually think about these changes.” McMaster is a member of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), not CFS.
JEFF TAM THE SILHOUETTEw
Sarah Jayne King, a CFS representative, listens to student concerns at an education town hall meeting.
However, King stated her inter- to education issues [or] to other est in working with students across campaigns and movements going the province, on. I’m happy to help where regardless of There’s a movement to seek their student more student input on the issues there’s that appetite… and union’s afthat are affecting students, I know that it filiation, to adespecially as the government dress concerns exists on a lot [has been] making significant of campuses.” about current changes to our education King also issues in education. noted the upSarah Jayne King coming On“The reChairperson, CFS- Ontario tario Student ality is… students need to be represented, to Activist Assembly at University of voice their opinion when it comes Toronto (St. George Campus) on
OPINIONS SPORTS
INSIDEOUT
Tolerance has become humanity’s handicap
Immortality is quickly becoming more than an idea
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earmarked for projects of a certain kind. “In all scenarios, it will help benefit undergraduate students,” he said, given that a reduction in occupancy costs for MSU services would mean more funding for other areas, and that a capital project would, presumably, benefit at least some students. The issue began in 1987 when the MSU held a student referendum about the construction of a student centre. As a result, they started to collect a yearly amount from students to finance their portion of the Stu-
The kings are hosting Queens this weekend
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October 12 and 13. The province-wide assembly aims to bring together hundreds of students to share experiences and engage in issue-based workshops to strengthen student activism in Ontario. “Students are really worried that these changes [to our education systems] are ways to cut costs. All the while the government has been increasing tuition fees for the past seven years and we have nothing to show for it in terms of quality [of education].”