Archive for Dean Tester
Age cap on student bus passes reversed
In rare unanimous decision, Ottawa city council votes to remove 28+ age limit on student passes
Ottawa’s city council has voted unanimously to allow students 28 and older to purchase student bus passes again.
City council set the age limit on student bus passes last December, and once the policy took effect in July students began protesting the decision.
Students from Carleton University and the University of Ottawa presented council with 2,400 signatures demanding that the policy be reversed. Student groups argued that all students face the same type of financial barriers, regardless of their age.
Many city councillors spoke in favour of the motion, some admitting they had made a serious mistake. Others also took the opportunity to criticize council’s decision to reject a universal bus pass proposal earlier this year.
The move will cost OC Transpo $220,000 per year, but saves students 28 and older about $20 on a monthly bus pass.
Ottawa students demand reversal of age cap on bus passes
City council will decide Sept. 9 if it will reverse policy forcing students 28+ to purchase pricier adult pass
The City of Ottawa is one step closer to removing an age limit for student bus passes, a move that student groups have criticized since the policy started in July.
The Ottawa transit committee voted unanimously to recommend city council reverse a policy that prevents students 28 or older from purchasing a student bus pass. Council will revisit the issue on Sept. 9, but a reversal will need the support of 75 per cent of council as it has already been debated once this year.
“It’s going to take some convincing,” says Nick Bergamini, vice president student issues with the Carleton University Students’ Association. “But we’re going to be lobbying really hard in the next few days.
“It’s our top priority.”
The age limit means that students 28 and over will have to pay the $84.75 adult price for monthly bus passes, instead of the $65.25 student price. In an eight-month school year, this would mean an additional cost of $156 per student. Students who normally purchase semester passes will pay an additional $194 over two semesters, while those who purchase a yearly pass will pay an extra $268.60 per year.
The age cap affects thousands of students across the city, including Will Samuel, a 32-year-old anthropology student at Carleton University. He says he is going to have to make sacrifices to pay for his bus pass this year.
“Every year I rely heavily on every penny pinched,” says Samuel, who is in the fourth year of his honours degree. ”I can either not afford books, a new winter coat I desperately need or glasses and contacts to replace my four year old glasses that are damaged.”
Many local student groups made presentations to council, including both undergraduate and graduate student associations at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa, the Algonquin College Students’ Association and several other smaller universities and colleges.
Over 50 people showed up to the transit committee meeting to support a reversal of the age cap policy, says Bergamini. He says representatives from CUSA will be collecting petitions and meeting with city councillors throughout the week to try and win support, while similar initiatives are underway at other schools.
Over 2,300 people have joined a Facebook group condemning an age cap on student passes
The age limit on student passes would save OC Transpo, Ottawa’s transit provider, $220,000 per year, according to internal estimates. But students have argued that they are already overburdened with tuition payments and living expenses, and that an age limit is an unfair cash grab.
OC Transpo has been struggling to balance the budget since a 51-day transit strike last winter cost it millions of dollars in revenues. A recent OC Transpo report also revealed that it spent nearly $2 million over budget paying workers overtime to repair and recertify buses after the strike.
OC Transpo spends nearly $2 million over budget on overtime work
Carleton adopts Project Hero, joining six others
Will cover four years tuition, one year residence for children of soldiers killed in the line of duty
Carleton University is the latest school to provide financial aid for children of Canadians Forces personnel killed while serving in an active mission.
The scholarship, called Project Hero, pays tuition for four years and residence for one year. The scholarship is open to students who live in Canada, are 25 or younger and registered as a full-time student at the university.
“Joining Project Hero is a fitting way to honour the memory of the brave Canadian men and women who have lost their lives in combat and to support their children,” said Carleton University president Roseann O’Reilly Runte.
The Carleton University Students’ Association has also taken an active role in bringing Project Hero to the school through talks with administration.
“I am very proud to be a student at a university that values the contributions and sacrifices of the Canadian Forces members so highly,” said Nick Bergamini, the association’s vice president of student issues. “We want to show the students who are in the military or have family in the military that we support them.”
Project Hero is now available at seven schools. The others are the University of Ottawa, the University of Calgary, Concordia University, the University of Windsor, McMaster University and Memorial University. Retired Canadian general Rick Hillier founded the project, and lieutenant-colonel Kevin Reed has been working to bring it to as many schools as possible.
“Carleton is a valuable link in the national network of universities that continues to expand,” said Reed. “I am delighted they have come on board.”
Northrup’s return is proof of a broken system
Bad decision is a small part of the bigger picture, as democratic deficit on Carleton’s campus grows
The student who proposed a controversial motion declaring cystic fibrosis only affects “white people, and primarily men” is back as a councillor with the Carleton University Students’ Association, bringing back memories of the scandal which tarnished the university’s reputation last year.
For those who don’t know, last year Donnie Northrup proposed a motion to replace a fundraiser for cystic fibrosis with one that is more “inclusive.”
The motion, despite being factually inaccurate and offensive to most, passed quite easily at council. The students’ association suffered through weeks of intense media coverage and public scrutiny as a result, deservedly so.
Northrup resigned at the next council meeting as students presented signatures to impeach him. It was quite clear that the students did not want him back.
Yet somehow, he finds himself sitting on CUSA council again, this time as a councillor for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
To me, this is an absolute proof of a democratic deficit that exists on many campuses today. The students would likely never support the man who embarrassed their school on an international scale.
But it wasn’t up to the students. After the last election, three seats remained vacant for Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences students. And instead of leaving them vacant until the majority of students returned to school and holding a by-election, the three seats were filled in the summer.
And what kind of fair, democratic method was there for selecting the students who would fill those seats?
Students were given 10 days to apply and collect enough signatures to get nominated, and council would vote. Well, students who walked by the CUSA office every day were given 10 days. Or those who checked obscure sections of the rarely updated CUSA website.
And funny enough, only four people applied for those three CUSA seats. Three of them, including Northrup, are CUSA employees. The other applicant was told their nomination papers were forged.
And sure enough, those three CUSA employees became CUSA councillors.
Sound fair to you? It gets worse.
Diab saga continues at Carleton
OnCampus blogger tweets live from former professor’s classroom
One of my colleagues at Carleton University and fellow OnCampus blogger, Jennifer Pagliaro, is live-tweeting from the former classroom of Hassan Diab, a professor accused of bombing a French synagogue nearly 30 years ago. Diab was hired to teach introductory sociology at Carleton University, then quickly replaced following public outcry. This is the first class being taught by his replacement, and they reportedly will discuss Diab’s situation as part of the lesson.
You can follow the updates at http://twitter.com/CharlatanLive
For background, you can also see Pagliaro’s piece that appeared in today’s edition of The Charlatan (Carleton’s independent newspaper) at http://charlatan.ca
Man accused in bombing hired, then fired at Carleton
Carleton University removes professor accused of attack on synagogue one day after he was hired, citing concerns about a “stable, productive academic environment”
A man accused of bombing a French synagogue nearly 30 years ago will not teach at Carleton University, as originally planned.
Yesterday, the Ottawa Citizen reported that Hassan Diab, a former professor at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa, was hired to teach a sociology course for the rest of the summer.
However, a spokesperson for Carleton University now says they have replaced Diab “in the interest of providing its students with a stable, productive academic environment that is conducive to learning.”
Several Jewish groups spoke against the hiring, including the Canadian Federation of Jewish Students.
“It was a questionable decision to welcome him back in the first place,” said Ariella Kimmel, vice president external of the CFJS. ”To have somebody charged with such a horrible offense would be incredibly distracting.
“But we commend Carleton for recognizing their mistake quite quickly.”
B’nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress also released statements questioning the hiring of Diab.
Representatives from the Carleton University Students’ Assocation declined to comment.
Diab is charged with the murder of four people in a 1980 bombing in Paris.
He is on strict bail conditions which prevent him from leaving the house alone and force him to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, but had made special arrangements to teach. He will face an extradition hearing on January 4, 2010.
Big, fat cheques for student execs
Are students getting their money’s worth from student leaders?
Being a student union executive is not an easy job. It’s (more or less) a full time job that deals with serious issues, with the added pressure of being in the public eye. Balancing the demands of a diverse student population with one’s own beliefs is a difficult task, especially when coupled with fiscal and legal responsibilities.
So imagine how frustrating it must be when somebody like me is sitting across the table, criticizing every move you make and demanding better at every turn.
But when you are getting paid upwards of $30,000 a year like executives of the Carleton University Students’ Association, students have a right to demand better.
And students like myself will, because we care. I care about students, and I care about how my money is spent. That’s why last week I found myself vocally opposed to the CUSA budget, proposed by vice-president finance Meera Chander.
I thought I brought up a pretty good point. The original budget, presented to the financial review committee before the meeting, had a typo – one that meant Chander had an additional $9,000 to spend on behalf of the students. But instead of taking her time and finding the best way to spend that money, she created a $9,000 contingency fund.
I thought Chander owed it to herself and the students to take a little time and review that spending. I suggested we could pass the budget at the next meeting. She’s worked hard on that budget for three months. It hardly seemed fair to make a snap decision on $9,000.
To be honest, I don’t think a contingency fund is a bad idea. In fact, considering how much contingency cash CUSA spent last year during the Ottawa bus strike, it might be a good way to spend that money. But if it was absolutely necessary, why didn’t she budget any money for contingency to begin with?
She didn’t respond to my critique. And neither did any other member of the executive. Not even a council member.
Maybe it’s because the meeting was held late Friday night, and people just wanted to go home. Maybe councillors were genuinely more interested in what was happening on their cell phones. Or maybe they didn’t want to squabble over $9,000 in a budget of nearly $1.9 million.
But whatever the case, they simply didn’t care enough to discuss it. Maybe it would have been different if it was coming out of Chander’s pocket – heck, a $9,000 pay cut would almost bring her down to the average for a student union executive.
But it’s not coming out of her pocket. It’s coming out of mine, and every other undergraduate student who attends Carleton University.
That’s why I care.
I don’t think student executive salaries are too high. But if the average student knew how much student executives got paid, or knew they had multi-million dollar budgets, they might be a little less apathetic.
So I urge students everywhere to consider this question: are you getting your money’s worth?
I am eager to hear your responses.
How much does your student union executive get paid?
And is it too much? Or not enough?
Every student union is a little different, but they all have one thing in common: they don’t work for free. Student unions often have multi-million dollar budgets, and you can bet the people in charge are getting a good chunk of your money.
But just how much? I did a little digging, and pulled the numbers from every student union in Ontario that’s a member of the Canadian Federation of Students – easily accessible list of websites, if you’re wondering why. Or at least I tried to. Only 12 CFS-O schools have online budgets (that I could find), while 25 don’t.
No matter. I pulled the numbers as best I could. Salaries for each executive were sometimes lumped together, sometimes seperated. Benefits were often unclear and tied in with other expenses. Executives wages were not always seperated from other full time employees. Some of these budgets are two or three years old. So if anybody has more recent or accurate numbers, I would love to see them. But overall, this gives us a little bit of perspective.
The average executive receives about $16,757 in remuneration ($19,705 for undergrads, $10,860 for grad students.) The average executive slate is paid about 13 per cent of the student union budget (15 per cent for undergrads, nine per cent for grad students.)
Here’s the list, in order of average executive financial remuneration (includes salary, benefits, honorariums, etc.)
1. Carleton University – $36,599
2. University of Guelph Central Student Association – $30,335
3. University of Windsor Students’ Alliance – $27,682
4. University of Toronto Students’ Union – $26,171*
5. University of Ottawa Graduate Students’ Association – $16,110
6. Trent Central Student Association – $13,075
7. Scarborough Campus Students’ Union – $12,703*
8. University of Western Ontario Society of Graduate Students – $11,419
9. Queen’s University Society of Graduate and Professional Students – $8,480
10. University of Toronto at Mississauga Students’ Union – $7,574
11. University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union – $7,432
12. Glendon College Students’ Union – $3,500
* UTSU and SCSU both include their executive salaries with those of directors, co-ordinators, and other important staff; these numbers are the average of the pay of all these positions
So what do you think – do student leaders get paid enough? Or do they get paid too much? I’d love to hear your comments, and if anybody has any information about student unions that I haven’t covered I’d love to share it with the readers.
Are you too old for a student bus pass?
Students call age limit on discounted passes ageism, cash grab
As of July 1, student bus passes in Ottawa will only be available to those 27 and younger – and some students are not too happy about it.
Older students must now pay the full adult rate for a monthly pass, $84.75, instead of a $65.25 student monthly pass. They can no longer purchase semester or annual student passes, which offer additional savings.
Student outrage has sparked a Facebook group with nearly 1,500 members as of July 16. Student leaders in Ottawa condemned the new policy, which passed last December.
“If you’re a student, you’re a student,” says Erik Halliwell, president of the Carleton University Students’ Association. “Many people are still in school after the age of 27, and many people are going back to retrain during the recession.”
He says the change affects about 3,300 students at Carleton University, including over 1,000 undergraduate students.
Algonquin College Students’ Association president Mike Hirsch calls the change “a tremendous mistake” that “unfairly disadvantages a very large demographic at Algonquin College” in a letter to the Ottawa Citizen.
Although Hirsch could not be reached for comment, Halliwell says the ACSA is circulating a petition to remove the age limit.
Halliwell says he also intends to petition city councillors, and thinks the issue could become important in the 2010 municipal election. City council cannot revisit the issue until next year unless a special motion passes with support from 75 per cent of city councillors.
Representatives from the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa have also expressed concern, but could not be reached for comment.
Some students are expected to attend tonight’s Pedestrian and Transit Advisory Committee meeting to plead their case, but Halliwell says the student union is preparing to confront council in September.
Several students have posted much harsher criticisms on a Facebook group called “Against the Age-Cut Off for Student Bus Passes.” Complaints range from “discrimination based on age” to “cash grab,” though some students have defended the policy.
The age limit will save Ottawa’s public transit service, OC Transpo, about $220,000 a year, according to the motion passed by council. The limit is based on the amount of time a student would take to achieve a doctorate if they were in school continuously.
OC Transpo’s revenues are down this year after a 51-day strike by employees took buses off the road. Several other changes have been made to increase revenue, including increased prices for bus fares, tickets and passes. Council also rejected a proposal for a universal student transit pass at the University of Ottawa last March.
