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Volume 49 - Issue 19 March 9, 2016

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BOG elections: student candidates pay their way

The winning candidates from FUSE slate featuring Cassandra Myers, Victoria Morton and Mariam Nouser. COURTESY FARHAN RIAZ

By Al Downham

Student member candidates in Ry-

rson’s 2016 Board of Governors BoG) election are spending hun-

dreds on campaign materials out-

of-pocket. FUSE — including candidates

Victoria Morton, Mariam Nouser

and Cassandra Myers — was the winning slate, with candidates arning over 1,200 votes. Yet,

hey’re unhappy that BoG election policies can potentially shut out ow-income candidates.

“This is ridiculous in my opin-

on,” said Nouser, a third-year mechanical engineering student.

Nouser is vice-president student

ife at the Ryerson Engineering Student Society (RESS), vice-pres- dent external affairs at the Ryer-

on Muslim Students’ Association and vice-president administration at the Ryerson Mechanical Engi-

neering Course Union. Morton — the RSU Board of

Directors’ (BoD) senate director

— said FUSE spent up to $700 on campaign materials includ- ng posters, handouts and $150

n chocolate mini eggs, switching rom Cadbury to no-name brand o cut costs.

“Among the student leadership ole, [the election’s] kind of re- erred to the Wild West,” Morton

aid. “A lot of students don’t even onsider running because they

know they can’t afford it.” Morton is also a Ryerson Stu-

dents’ Union (RSU) vice-president

education candidate for the Im- pact slate and vice-president cor-

porate relations at the Ryerson Communication and Design Soci- ety (RCDS).

“We aren’t expecting any reim- bursement,” Morton said. “We were able to get the money, we

just wish we didn’t have to spend money to work for free to make the school better.”

Morton said slates “didn’t make sense” in the BoG election, that candidates should come from dif- ferent backgrounds. However,

running as a slate helped pool money and voters.

BoG Election Policies and Pro-

cedures state funds for posters

can be made available to can- didates at the discretion of the

Election Procedures Committee.

There is also no cap on what students can spend on their cam-

paign. Morton says the poster funding service wasn’t promoted prior to the election or during the all-candidates meeting.

Outside of BoG elections, sev- eral student unions and societies enforce reimbursement and caps.

The Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU), whose election continues until March 9, has a reimburse-

ment process and raised caps for campaign spending this year.

“There’s no submission of the

budget, but they buy their ma- terials, submit their receipts and then they get reimbursed that

way,” said RSU President Andrea

Bartlett. RSU campaign expenses cannot

exceed $500 for presidential and

vice-presidential candidates, oth- erwise risking eligibility for reim-

bursement and fines. Student societies like the RCDS

have varying reimbursement pro- cesses and caps on campaign

spending. Nouser said she will pro- pose a motion to introduce reim- bursements to RESS at its Annual

General Meeting in two weeks. “Even when [students] cam-

paign, it should never be some-

thing that’s going to be a hin- drance to the person,” said RCDS President Casey Yuen. “[Reim- bursement] ensures anyone from

any background or financial back- ground is able to participate.”

BoG student member candidate

Angelo Robb spent $50 on posters, saying those who can’t afford post- ers “won’t necessarily have as good

as a chance as those who can.” However, not all 2016 BoG

election candidates think admin-

istration should reimburse student spending.

“I think it’s better we had to pay

out-of-pocket,” said BoG election candidate Banin Hassan, a third- year electrical engineering student.

She said she doesn’t support RSU candidates campaigning with lawn signs, photo booths and pancakes.

“That’s kind of going to waste in my opinion.”

Hassan said lack of reimburse-

ments motivates students to effi- ciently spend money and time on effective strategies like candidate-

voter interaction. BoG student member candidate Jamie Gallo- way, for example, said she spent

no money on her own campaign.

Morton said there’s too muchpaper wasted in the BoG election,

but moving campaigns towards a paperless, online strategy could decrease student awareness.

“It terms of reality, [posters] help in elections,” Morton said.

Although they didn’t promote

the issue as a campaign point, Nouser and Morton said making the election accessible to student

candidates is something their slate plans to advocate for.

“Two of us currently struggle with finances,” Nouser said. “It’s

imperative we push for [reim- bursement or caps]. We didn’t

want to push out loud.” The winning candidates start

their BoG term Sept. 1.

Equity centre sponsorship in question

By Nicole Schmidt

A new equity sponsorship package was created last year. PHOTO: CHRIS BLANCHETTE

A four-month delay in putting out a sponsorship package for the equity service centre has created funding challenges, staff say

A delay in sending out sponsor- hip packages has made navigat-

ng funding difficult within the

Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) quity service centres.

In past years, individual equity entres have compiled sponsorship

packages to help support staple

vents like Pride and the Reclaim- ng our Bodies and Minds Confer- nce. These community sponsors re often the major source of fund-

ng, said equity and campaigns or- anizer Corey Scott. This year, the entres collaborated to create one

major package. Employees started working on

he package in August, which was

upposed to be sent out last Oc- ober according to RyePRIDE co-

ordinator Daniella Enxuga. RSU president Andrea Bartlett said that ince this was a new initiative, ompiling pictures, budget break-

downs and content took time. Be-

cause of this, the package wasn’t sent out until mid-February.

“It’s really frustrating because we’ve been working on them since the end of last summer,” said Enx-

uga. “There’s really no reason it should have taken that long.”

The package is intended to at- tract both internal and external community sponsorships. But last

month, members of the RSU exec- utive team approached the univer-

sity asking for the full amount of sponsorship that the equity service centres requested. Ryerson sup- ported 100 per cent of the request,

donating $27,900.

“We have a long history in supporting RSU initiatives with

regard to equity and inclusion,” said interim president Mohamed Lachemi. “We feel that creating

welcoming safe space and an ex- ceptional experience is for all stu- dents.”

The university has supported equity centres in the past, but donations were made in smaller

increments. Scott has been work- ing in the equity centres for three years and said this is the highest amount of money Ryerson has

annually donated in that time. Given the date the sponsor-

ship package was released, some

equity centre employees have expressed concerns with secur- ing external funding for the year.

“Any money we get from the

sponsorship packages will now go to next year’s budget,” said

Enxuga, whose contract ends ear- ly next month.

The RSU is still waiting on Ry-

erson’s internal transfer.

Scott added that the equity centres have only been able to secure half of the external fund-

ing they’ve made in years past.

Bartlett said she’s made it clear that employees are free to reach

out for sponsorship at any point throughout the year and that any incoming sponsorship funds from

the package can be delegated ac-

cordingly. “My hope is that [the equity

centres] will now be able to attract

more external sponsorship so that

they can go to local companies and actually build partnerships be-

cause that’s how the equity centres will better sustain themselves,” said Bartlett.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016   NEWS   3

“It’s frustrating ...

 There’s really no rea-

son it should have

taken that long”

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Intern Army Ben “Hours” Hoppe

Victoria “Transcribe” Sykes Hannah “Interview” Kirijianv

Lidia “Safety” Foote

Contributors Zeinab “#bye” Saidoun

 Jaclyn “Relax woman” Tansil Brennan “Bean stalk” Doherty

Sarah “Franklin Roosevelt” Kricehl

Brenda “Harry Truman” Molina- Navidad

Dylan “Circle of Life” Fr