Thank you, SGPS
Dear Editors,
Re: “To do with less, or not” (Feb. 5, 2010).
My heartfelt praise and thanks to Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS) Vice-President David Thompson for his opinion piece in Friday’s Journal.
The SGPS is right to denounce the disingenuousness of the suggestion that the dire state of our operating budget has anything to do with the provision and maintenance of quality education.
The deficit in this year’s operating budget coincides—almost to the dollar—with the amount that’s been diverted from it to finance debt on capital projects.
This diversion of capital—that took the administration years to admit to—is directed especially to the Queen’s Centre, that ill-managed, ill-timed and at $230 million, indecently expensive homage to “student life,” paid for by the blood of now-declared “no longer core” programs.
Queen’s is so concerned by its reputation as a school that it would cater to recruits whose priority is “world-class” at the cost of excoriating its educative mission, eliminating six per cent of its faculty as enrolments double from a decade ago, bankrupting entire departments who as early as next year will not be able to afford a pencil.
The capital budget, the only healthy budget judging by recent and projected constructions on campus, should reimburse the operating budget now.
With these savings where they don’t hurt, Queen’s will recover the financial means to build its true and only Centre, the provision and maintenance of quality education.
Adèle Mercier,
Philosophy professor
Opt in to opt-out
Dear Editors,
The AMS elections move to online voting has been successful in terms of increasing voter turnout. But there are unexpected and negative consequences due to this change.
Previously, the voting process was time-consuming, so only the people who were interested and involved in university activities were likely to vote. With online voting, people who could care less about university clubs are willing to strike down these fees without any regard for the consequences.
In the Winter Referendum period, opt-out fees for Diatribe, Ultraviolet Magazine and Konekt were rejected. In the preceding period, The Empress and Lighthouse Wire Magazine were rejected for continuing fees. In the span of a year, nearly half of the campus publications have lost their primary source of funding.
As the co-president of Inquire, this change is both sad and frightening. Aside from providing an outlet for creativity at Queen’s, these publications promote a diversity of opinion and provide an important outlet for freedom of expression.
The loss of opt-out fees seriously threatens many of these publications. A $0.30 fee raises nearly $2,500, enough for two or three publications. In contrast, a successful fundraiser at a bar raises $500. These opt-out fees are integral to the sustainability of free expression at Queen’s.
Voting yes to an opt-out fee doesn’t cost a dime. People can still opt-out of the fees. Opting out of these fees takes even less time than voting does.
Next time, consider supporting more opt-out fees. It doesn’t cost you anything.
James Simpson,
Co-President, Inquire Publication
ArtSci ’11
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.
