Student interest lacking at GC town hall

Last Monday's Governing Council election town hall brought a diverse group of graduate and undergraduate candidates together for a lively discussion of pertinent student issues. The only problem was that the students forgot to show up. Despite a long list of students invited to the event via Facebook as well as an iPod giveaway, the town hall, co-hosted by the French Club and the Young Liberals of UofT, was sparsely attended.

Nevertheless, the candidates appeared unfazed by the low turnout and proceeded to answer questions regarding their positions on a variety of topics including governor accessibility, student equity and the perceived barriers to student space.

The imbalance of student positions on the Council, in comparison to faculty, and administrative representation was a key issue during the discussion. Gabe de Roche, one of three students moderating the town hall, asked the candidates what they thought the ideal balance on the Council would be.

"There should be equal representation between the total administration and the total student body. Under the current system, the administration is able to bully through anything they want because we don't have the ability to effectively stop these actions," explained Ken Kuran, an engineering undergraduate student running in the professional faculty constituency.

"When you only have eight student members, it's very difficult to affect policy that deeply. Realistically, achieving parity with the administration is improbable but raising the number of student representatives is still possible."

Greg West, a psychology graduate student and Gregory Rebejko, an undergraduate from Woodsworth agreed that the under-representation of students on the Council was an issue that they would address if elected.

Candidates were also asked about their views regarding the University's contentious Student Code of Conduct, which addresses non-academic aspects of student conduct on university property. In the past, it has been vehemently criticized by UTSU while the University administration has adamantly defended the Code's existence.

Joeita Gupta, a part time undergraduate and incumbent seeking re-election had previously voiced her concern about the nature of the Code at a November meeting of the Governing Council. Monday's town hall was no different as Gupta called for the abolition of the Code, referring to it as a "redundant document."

"What the Code of Student Conduct has usually been used for, and we have a well-documented history of this, is the criminalization of dissent. They hand academic penalties like suspension and expulsion for non-academic 'offenses.' We need to start talking about student rights rather than student penalties," she explained.

Professional faculty undergraduate hopeful Natalie Melton echoed Gupta's sentiment, characterizing the Code as redundant.

"There are already by-laws and provincial laws that are in place to deal with these non-academic offenses. Professional faculties also have their own codes that serve the same purpose as the UofT student Code," she said.

Daniel Gatto agreed that a review of the Code was necessary but opposed Gupta's call for its abolition. Gatto, a candidate from Trinity College, emphasized the need for the administration to have legal recourse when dealing with issues occurring on University property. However, he noted that the Code should not be used to suppress free speech on campus.

Voting began on Mar. 1 and will continue until Mar. 12. Students are able to vote through their ROSI accounts.