Referendum on Student Space
(The following is the personal opinion of Chad LeClair and Ezra Edelstein)
On March 6th the students of Dalhousie will be asked to vote on the future of the university. There has been a lot of discussion and debate over the advantages and/or disadvantages of the projects proposed. Some of these discussions have taken place in public arenas where facts have been emphasized and people on all sides have had an opportunity to be heard. Others have taken place in more one sided arenas such as Facebook groups where factual comments can be removed to make way for profanity- laced tirades without a shed of truth.
Recently, it has been very popular to bash the student union for not doing enough in regards to the referendum. I don’t know whether this is posturing for the upcoming elections or just a plague-like outbreak of misinformation and hypocrisy, but the reason is not important. I’m not writing to say that the student union has or hasn’t done enough because that in itself is very debatable, but I would like to tell you what we have done.
As mentioned we organized an opportunity for all students to come together and let there voices be heard by administration. Those of you who came to the Imagine ’07 event had the opportunity to speak directly to Tom Traves and have him hear your concerns. We have negotiated with the university on several issues to ensure that if the proposed spaces are created they will be used for the activities that students want. That includes everything from ensuring that there will be a new Gradhouse that is bigger and less expensive to run to making sure that room bookings in the new building will be handled by the student union, ensuring that they will be free to societies and easily accessible. We have attempted to ensure that students have the proper facts surrounding the projects and the proposed financing by sending out society news letters and setting up large displays in the SUB.
We have also advocated to ensure that the buildings will be built ‘Green’ and that they will be universally accessible. In essence we have made certain that the concerns of Dalhousie students are the main focus of the design and operation of all new spaces. Lastly we are facilitating a referendum in which all students of Dalhousie will have the opportunity to make their voices heard by voting. The sad fact of this is that most students will not vote and many of those who do will have not taken the time to find out the facts, but instead will vote on misinformation.
Many people out there think that the student union hasn’t done enough because the university is running a campaign to get students to vote yes and we are not running a ‘No Campaign’ to counter it. I ask you, why would we spend thousands of dollars of student’s money to run a campaign against the university? Is it inconceivable that some students think that this project is a good idea? I know I certainly do. Disagreeing with something just for the sake of an argument is one of the major downfalls of our generation. Students who think that for one reason or another university administration are out to get them are looking at the world through a very cynical eye. The administrations goal is to increase enrollment. The way that they do that is by making the university appealing to incoming students and by keeping tuition as low as possible. Why is university so expensive here then? Because the government under-funds post-secondary education in Nova Scotia due to the fact that we are a net importer of students (if you want more information on that or would like to get involved contact Ezra Edelstein or Mike Tipping). Does the university want to screw students to try and make more money? No, it’s NOT a profit organization, they aren’t here to make money, they are here to make the university as good as possible and appealing to incoming students. It is up to us to work with them so that the name of Dalhousie can become more prominent and our degrees become more valuable every year.
It is a rare occasion when a university asks its students for input on how to improve campus, the university could have just raised tuition and gone ahead to build these structures. Instead of doing that our administration has given us the opportunity to get involved. They have guaranteed us equal representation on design and planning committees, meetings with architects, and public forms throughout the planning stages to give input and get updates. This is the first time I have heard of such an opportunity afforded to students. Unfortunately those that spend their days advocating that the world would be a better place if we could all work together, have a difficult time following their own advice. This project, if done successfully, could mean a change in the way universities across Canada view the student population. Let’s not screw it up.
On March 6th the students of Dalhousie will be asked to vote on the future of the university. There has been a lot of discussion and debate over the advantages and/or disadvantages of the projects proposed. Some of these discussions have taken place in public arenas where facts have been emphasized and people on all sides have had an opportunity to be heard. Others have taken place in more one sided arenas such as Facebook groups where factual comments can be removed to make way for profanity- laced tirades without a shed of truth.
Recently, it has been very popular to bash the student union for not doing enough in regards to the referendum. I don’t know whether this is posturing for the upcoming elections or just a plague-like outbreak of misinformation and hypocrisy, but the reason is not important. I’m not writing to say that the student union has or hasn’t done enough because that in itself is very debatable, but I would like to tell you what we have done.
As mentioned we organized an opportunity for all students to come together and let there voices be heard by administration. Those of you who came to the Imagine ’07 event had the opportunity to speak directly to Tom Traves and have him hear your concerns. We have negotiated with the university on several issues to ensure that if the proposed spaces are created they will be used for the activities that students want. That includes everything from ensuring that there will be a new Gradhouse that is bigger and less expensive to run to making sure that room bookings in the new building will be handled by the student union, ensuring that they will be free to societies and easily accessible. We have attempted to ensure that students have the proper facts surrounding the projects and the proposed financing by sending out society news letters and setting up large displays in the SUB.
We have also advocated to ensure that the buildings will be built ‘Green’ and that they will be universally accessible. In essence we have made certain that the concerns of Dalhousie students are the main focus of the design and operation of all new spaces. Lastly we are facilitating a referendum in which all students of Dalhousie will have the opportunity to make their voices heard by voting. The sad fact of this is that most students will not vote and many of those who do will have not taken the time to find out the facts, but instead will vote on misinformation.Many people out there think that the student union hasn’t done enough because the university is running a campaign to get students to vote yes and we are not running a ‘No Campaign’ to counter it. I ask you, why would we spend thousands of dollars of student’s money to run a campaign against the university? Is it inconceivable that some students think that this project is a good idea? I know I certainly do. Disagreeing with something just for the sake of an argument is one of the major downfalls of our generation. Students who think that for one reason or another university administration are out to get them are looking at the world through a very cynical eye. The administrations goal is to increase enrollment. The way that they do that is by making the university appealing to incoming students and by keeping tuition as low as possible. Why is university so expensive here then? Because the government under-funds post-secondary education in Nova Scotia due to the fact that we are a net importer of students (if you want more information on that or would like to get involved contact Ezra Edelstein or Mike Tipping). Does the university want to screw students to try and make more money? No, it’s NOT a profit organization, they aren’t here to make money, they are here to make the university as good as possible and appealing to incoming students. It is up to us to work with them so that the name of Dalhousie can become more prominent and our degrees become more valuable every year.
It is a rare occasion when a university asks its students for input on how to improve campus, the university could have just raised tuition and gone ahead to build these structures. Instead of doing that our administration has given us the opportunity to get involved. They have guaranteed us equal representation on design and planning committees, meetings with architects, and public forms throughout the planning stages to give input and get updates. This is the first time I have heard of such an opportunity afforded to students. Unfortunately those that spend their days advocating that the world would be a better place if we could all work together, have a difficult time following their own advice. This project, if done successfully, could mean a change in the way universities across Canada view the student population. Let’s not screw it up.
posted by Chad LeClair at 1:22 p.m.
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