THE UfOEPENOENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO FACULTY OF LAW
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u tra vtres JANUARY 20, 2004
SINCE J..999
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Library "sting" operation nets trespassing students . ,
Tjaden cites increased incidence of theft.in security crackdown BY BERN INA BUTT Campus police confronted se,·erallibrar) patrons who had ne\·er bargained for penallies exceeding overdue fines. On Dec. II, 2003----.t week before the end of the fall exam period-sc,·eral JD students who were stuuying in the library past closing were forced to leave when Coordinator of Information Sc.:rvices Ted Tjaden alerted the students that they were trespassing, and that the authorities had been called. ,\ccording to one student, who spoke on condition of anonymity, "Ted stormed in around an hour after the library closed ... I fJgUre that there WJ.S at least a half-dozen students there, but there might have been more." Geoff Blackie (II) corroborated ihe accounr. "Through the window I saw two cruisers pulling up as I was walking down the stairs," he recounted. "I was pretty surprist·d as I didn't actually expect Ted to fol10\v through on the late-night threat. Nonetheless, as l was \Valking out the front
Basking in glory at Law Games
<loor. four of them were walktng in."
The 11nonpnnus studen t \V:ts upset and surprised by the Incident, and noted, "The problem I ha....e with the whole thing is that it was well known that law students were regularly staying overnight in the library; this had been going on for at least the last two n-ars and was, if not endorsed, certainly tolerated by libra.ry staff" Aaron Peters (I I) suggested that "the policy changed because students started becoming pretty cavalier about the whole practice." In the unnamed ~tudent's opinion, the library admmistration should haYe opted for a different approach, such as advance warnings issued in listscrv emails. "If they wanted to stop this lbehaYiour], all they had to do was publicize that it had to stop ... If there were any previous warnings, I certainly didn't ger them,'; said the student. When a~kcd whether the ltbrary had informallr acquiesced to the practice of overnight use of the library, Tjaden and Chief Law Ltbrarian Ann Rae emphasized that ltbrary staff turn off the lights ar Se\·· era! interYals prior to closing, and perform walkabouts to clear the library. "\Ve do not ~ee how this can be seen as 'acquiescence'
PLEASE SEE MLASKIN" ON PAGE 2
The U ofT contingent enjoys a moment of rest at Law Games in Halifax. The annual event took place January. 7-11. For more Law Games coverage see pages 12 and 13. Photo tollrlf{Y '![ S1i11rm De.rai.
Implications of tuition freeze uncertain for Faculty BY DAVID KHAN During the last provincial election cam· paign, the Liberals made numerous promises, including a freeze of post-secondary tuition. Thts promtse was celebrated by many student groups, including and most importanll), those representing students in deregulated programs such as law, medicint·, and business. These faculties have witnessed tuition increases of thtm~ands of dollars a year, and further increas-· es arc expected. Since taking office, the new Liberal go\"ernmcnt has been confronted with a budget deficit markedly larger than anticipated. Further, official announcements on the fulfillment of campaign promises ha,·c been sparse. The nution freeze promise is a case in point. To date, the Mimstr) of Education bas made no public commit-
mcnts to the freeze, and Education Minister Gerard Kennedy's press secretary did not contact U\' before the print dead-
line. \ccording to Acting Dean Brian Langille, the official word from the universny admtnistration is that there will be a two year tuition frcc;.:e on all programs, including all regulated and deregulated pro· grams, with no exceptions. For him, the real issue becomes where funding will originate to make up for the lost reYenue from increased tuition. Sachm Aggarwal, graduate student rep · rescntativc on Govcrmng Council, pomrs out that Liberal election campaign documents included assurances funding would be prondcd to posHecondary institutions to compensate for the freeze. HoweYer, no official government documents have confirmed this. Governing Council, says
Aggarwal, is "operating on very little information," and there are several "unanswered questions" with regard to the implementation of the freeze. Acting Dean Langille explams the proposed tuttlon freeze ts part of the larger issue of post secondary fundtng in general. At the U of T, regulated tuition increases
PLEASE SEE "FEE" ON PAGE 4
WINDEX • CONSANGUINITY, P8 • MASTHEAD, P12 • SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, P17 • NEIL YOUNG, P21