Online voting might find its way to London after the idea was presented to council Monday night. The suggestion came from councillor Nancy Branscombe after years of fluctuating voter turnout in the city.

“Quite simply, cities and municipalities who are using Internet voting have far higher voter turnout and participation than we do here in London,” Branscombe wrote on her blog last week. “We cannot simply sit by and watch.”

The promises of online voting are numerous, including spikes to voter turnout, cost savings and an election process that appeals to younger voters.

According to councillor Harold Usher, City officials favoured the idea at council Monday night.

“We didn’t have any choice but to look at it positively,” he said, noting that a number of other municipalities are using the system, including Markham and Stratford.

But not everyone is praising the idea.

Greg Fowler, a citizen journalist and community activist, cautioned against running with the idea, especially with an election approaching in October.

“It needs a go-slower approach than what Nancy appears to be suggesting,” he said. “Why did she wait until now to propose it?”

Fowler participated in the Strengthening Neighbourhood Initiative, which made recommendations to increase political involvement in London. Part of the plan praised the Internet as a way to boost interest. The task now is to come up with creative solutions in a thorough vetting period.

“That’s the process in which online voting should be investigated I think,” he added.

The City is launching its own feasibility plan for online voting to discover how other municipalities have handled the system.

The plan will try to address some concerns about security, which surfaced at the meeting on Monday.

“We have to be careful that we conquer all the security risks as well as the technological risks,” Usher said. “In other words, what happens if the power fails, or if you have a glitch, or have a virus, or something like that.”

Once the feasibility plan is finalized, councillors predict the shift to online voting is just a matter of time.

“In this day in age, everything is going to go technological and this is just one of them whose time is waiting to come,” Usher said.

If introduced, London will be catching with up the University Students’ Council, which introduced online voting for its election in 2000. Turnout spiked from 18 per cent to 26 per cent in the first year.

Based on this precedence, City officials hope students will make it to the polls in digital droves to cast a ballot once the system is introduced.

Brandon Sousa, municipal affairs commissioner for the USC, believed London will find a successful blend between online and offline voting. He argued London is in a better position to experiment with online voting because it has less red tape than cities like Toronto.

“There will be a large transition time before voting is solely online,” he said.

While USC voter turnout jumped after online voting was introduced, campus elections saw greater increases last year and in the 2003/04 school year while years like 2001/2002 saw much lower participations, calling the guaranteed benefit of online voting into question.

“Turnout varies somewhat based on the number of candidates, the excitement those candidates generate among the student body and other ballot questions. But you can see a noticeable jump in turnout after online voting was introduced.”

Despite all the concerns about online voting, councillor Judy Bryant said the system would get introduced eventually.

“We have to work pretty quickly to get that in place, and that’s probably not impossible but that’s probably a bit tough to do,” Bryant said. “We have to dot the Is and cross the Ts and we’ll be all for it.”

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Despite collecting over $3 million in student fees last year, the organization has grown bigger and faster than these fees can support, according to Sacha Kumar, vice-president finance for the USC.

Total projected income for USC operations broken down between services and retail. Subtractions are shown in red, surpluses are shown in green.

“We really are spending more and more each year and our fee structure is staying the same. That’s a problem,” Kumar explained.

The deficit, which could be as high as $300,000, was partly a result of poor budget planning. The projections made this time last year were all inflated, according to Kumar, with some USC-owned businesses expected to end the year more than $100,000 lower than projected.

Last year, budget planners hoped USC-owned businesses would bring in enough profit to help pay for ballooning costs elsewhere in the corporation.

“It came to the point where we were relying on money in our retail division to pay for salaries. And that should never be the case,” Kumar said.

Last year, InPrint was projected to end the 2011 school year with $86,000 in profit. Instead it will end in the red by over $13,000. The Spoke and Wave combined will end this school year more than $240,000 below projections.

In anticipation for the projected deficit, the USC started axing jobs within USC ranks months ago. Kumar said these full-time salaries and benefit packages became too strenuous to maintain.

“It was a bit of a shake-up, for sure,” Kumar said. “This problem would only get worse unless we made these cuts now.”

They also reduced some contracts from 12 months to 10, saying the summer workload was too light to justify full-year terms.

But this year’s budget isn’t just about cuts.

If council approves the proposal, the USC’s information technology department will see over $100,000 added to its budget line. Part of the money will be used to purchase reservation software, which would manage bookings for the renovated gym, according to Kumar.

Students supported adding $25 to their student fees to renovate the gym space in a referendum earlier this month. While this gives the USC about $600,000 in extra cash, the USC is still seeking a $2 million loan to pay for the construction.

“We’re just paying for it up front,” he said. “Construction companies won’t finance people. They need to get paid right away.”

Yearly interest on the loan will be $42,000. The construction is expected to be finished by September.

Students will be paying total student fees of $427.12, an increase that includes $25 for the renovation and $4.75 for other costs. The base student fee, which funds the majority of USC operations, remains unchanged.

Council will have two weeks to scrutinize the budget before voting on it. If passed, it must also receive a stamp of approval from Western’s Board of Governors.

Budget Highlights

Corporate Capital

Projected 2009/2010                           -$125,000

Proposed Budget 2010/2011              -$200,000

One of the major spending points of this year’s proposed budget is the $200,000 being allocated for internal capital for the USC to maintain itself. This amount represents the biggest single investment in the budget, should council approve it.

Of this funding, approximately $100,000 – $125,000 will be devoted to updating the USC’s information technology. This will take the form of updating servers, purchasing newer computers to replace the outdated ones some USC departments use and potential funding for a USC website update.

Part of this IT investment will also be used to update the out-of-date reservations software for booking space.

The remaining funds will be divided amongst the USC’s various departments. These divisions will depend on requests made, as well as the priorities of the USC as a whole.

Food & Beverage

Projected 2009/2010                    -$246,397

Proposed Budget 2010/2011           -$16,872

Going into this year’s budget, the USC’s main food operations — the Spoke and the Wave — were experiencing financial difficulties.

With the construction of the Spoke’s patio and ongoing renovations costing valuable summer business, the hope is this year the operation will experience a turnaround.

Similarly, the Wave is also aiming to slim down costs. Though it is still expected to run a deficit, next year’s budget is much more hopeful than this year’s projected loss. One of the tactics they will be using is attempting to make menu changes that combine ingredients – this way one ingredient can be used in several different meals.

Both operations are also aiming to strike on “the next CLT” — the next popular menu item that resonates with students. The Spoke has already talked about grilled cheese and pizzas, while the Wave is aiming to see what works during the summer and hopes to launch a new menu for the fall.

Media

Projected 2009/2010                        -$306,902

Proposed Budget 2010/2011            -$252,849

Since CHRW was moved to another budget line and tvWestern.ca’s budget line is at zero, the Gazette is now the main component of the media budget line.

One of the biggest changes this year is the allocation of $0.50 from the collected student fee that will go specifically towards the development of online media — especially video.

This change comes as a result of an acknowledged swing in the industry where online content is growing at a rapid pace. The additional money provided by this levy will provide the foundation for increased online development.

Other budgetary efficiencies were found by decreasing the current year-long term for Gazette full-time editors to 10 months, while the USC’s marketing department will be responsible for generating an additional $50,000 in revenue.

Retail Services

Projected 2009/1010                              +$107,176

Proposed Budget 2010/2011                +$119,316

There are several major changes to retail service operations outlined in this budget. One major change will be the Post Office moving into Mustang Alley.

With the exception of the Used Book Store and Purple Door Promos, all of USC’s retail service operations have been conservatively budgeted to sustain a loss next year.

This is due, in part, to the ongoing questions of how the USC should treat retail operations — balancing service to students against being profitable is one of the central questions of the USC’s guiding document.

“The goal of our operations should be to be revenue neutral,” Pat Duncan, USC councillor, said. “But just because they’re budgeted at a loss doesn’t mean they will lose money.”

tvWESTERN.ca

Fees collected 2009/2010              -$92,300

Proposed Budget 2010/2011                     -$0

As was shown in the general USC survey performed in 2008, 83 per cent of students surveyed (approximately 3,800) stated they had never watched one of tvWestern’s videos. Budget allocation was another factor leading towards the recommendation of eliminating tvWestern.ca’s student fee; currently, as much as 80 per cent of the operation’s budget goes towards salaries.

While this may be the end of the USC’s own TV station, it does not mean the end of video on campus. Student-created Big Purple Couch is expected to continue, and the USC has stated they will facilitate students who have their own video ideas.

“We need to ask how many volunteers are going to be affected,” Andrew Beach, USC councillor, said. “Are we losing the opportunity for students to get involved?”

The extended hours will run Monday to Friday from April 11 to 30.

“I didn’t actually think it would happen this fast,” Pat Searle, president of the King’s University College Students’ Council, said of the decision, which was made public on Twitter yesterday. “It’s honestly been like 10 e-mails and suddenly it’s happened.”

Searle said most students will use the extra hours to stay a little later or arrive a little earlier, rather than pulling all-nighters.

“As for main campus students using it, we have nothing against that,” Searle said. “The doors are open. I’m excited to see students from all across campus.”

Searle began working with librarians last December to launch the program after students started asking for more studying time. He clinched the deal when KUCSC offered to pay for part of the program, according to Claire Callaghan, chief librarian at King’s.

“They’re giving almost a third of what they would need to keep the library open,” she said.

The decision comes on the heels of an unrelated petition to keep the Allyn and Betty Taylor Library open for 24-hours. The petition circulated campus last November, but administration is still deliberating over the idea.

King’s approved the extended hours much faster than main campus because there’s less red tape and fewer costs, Callaghan argued.

“We’re part of the whole library environment but we’re separate as well, so it’s much easier for us to work on things. We don’t have to consult to the same extent they do.”

Costs for keeping the King’s library open are much less than Weldon or Taylor. At King’s, work study students will work the late shift, dropping costs far lower than other libraries like Weldon, where full-time librarians and security are needed.

“Hopefully King’s realizes this is something King’s should always be doing, so we don’t have to [always] fund this,” Searle added about supporting the program through the KUCSC.

Callaghan said her first concern was over security and safety of students. After 10:30 p.m., the shuttle bus running between King’s and main campus stops. With most city busses ending around midnight, concerns were raised about how students will get home at night.

“There will be a period where students, if they want to go home, will have to rely on a ride or a cab, or walking, which we always encourage in groups,” Searle said.

Mary Carol Watters, dean of students at King’s, said she’s meeting with brass at King’s next Thursday to work out the details.

“Our next steps are getting the key players together to make sure we can offer this in a safe and convenient manner for staff and students at the college,” she said.

Currently, two security guards work a night shift at King’s. If needed, librarians could call them and Western’s campus police for help, according to Callaghan.

Another concern is cleaning the library. Searle said cleaning staff will be able to vacuum and run regular maintenance on Saturday and Sunday, which will not be 24-hours.

After the trial period ends on April 30, King’s will use entrance and exit numbers to measure how successful the program was.

“This is a trial. So it might not happen in October or December exam periods next year,” Searle said.

With the program, Western is added to a list of other universities with 24-hour study space, including McMaster and Carleton.

“We did our homework before, just to see. While we know students want 24/7, are other libraries offering this? And indeed they are,” Callaghan said, adding rather than catching up, she believes King’s is simply “joining in.”

The referendum to renovate the University Community Centre passed with 57 per cent of voters agreeing to the additional $25 student fee. Last year, another referendum on this issue was voted down by students with 56 per cent of the vote.

USC President

USC Referendum

Board of Governors at large

Health Sciences, Medicine, Dentistry Senator

Information & Media Studies, Social Science Senator

At Large Senator

USC Health Sciences – Kinesiology Councillors

USC Social Science Councillors

USC Science Councillors

USC Science Council President

USC Social Science Council President

Source: USC Elections website

UCC Referendum
Students voted Yes by a margin of 1,096 votes to the proposed UCC renovation referendum. Following last year’s failed vote, the renovation fee was lowered to $25, down from $95 last year.
Current USC president Emily Rowe was optimistic about the results.
“I think this opportunity is exciting for students and the chance for more activity and programmable space is amazing moving forward.”

Marshall Goldfarb

Marshall Goldfarb’s platform boils down to a wish list of populist ideas designed to win votes. We’re hoping most voters will see past the glossy coat of populism to the giant piles of garbage that lie beneath.

The $3 meal is an incredibly inane idea. According to the numbers in a break-even analysis provided by Goldfarb himself, he would have to sell 1,000 meals a week just to break even. Reaching that plateau is about as probable as a women’s issues primer in Student Magazine. Not to mention the fact this endeavour will drive business away from the USC’s cash-strapped Spoke and Wave.

Furthermore, Goldfarb’s proposal to disperse tickets for athletic events will not only be valueless to students — who already get into Mustang games for free — but also unnecessarily wasteful. The actual design, printing, cutting and distribution of these tickets will be a monumental project to undertake for a glorified flyer.

Expanding HYPE and reorganizing it into a promotional operation is a noble idea — HYPE would be more useful to the USC as a promotional vehicle. However, Goldfarb underestimates the sheer human resources and financial clout required to pull this off. The increased cost of promotions will force Goldfarb to implement cover charges and hike up drink prices, which will almost certainly discourage students from attending his on-campus events.

Matt Hyland

Hyland’s platform is a smorgasbord of tidbits thrown together in an attempt to speak to as many different student issues as possible. Nothing revolutionary in other words.

Many of Hyland’s platform points bear a remarkable resemblance to other platforms in the past. If you’re going to copy other people’s suggestions, it’s a good idea to make sure they’re worth pursuing.

Hyland’s decision to consult only select “key stakeholders” when writing his platform costs him a lot, as several of his major points are already being taken care of by this year’s USC board, especially the grocery store — which the vice-president finance is already negotiating a potential agreement on.

In an effort to avoid the appearance of bias, we won’t delve too much into the whole “e-Gazette” concept, other than to say such decisions come under the purview of our internal management.

The “rebranding” of USC services, in principle, is a good idea. The USC could use a wider public profile when it comes to retail operations like the Wave or Mustang Alley.

However, the vague term “rebranding” could mean a whole lot when applied to services like Pride Western or the Women’s Issues Network — especially when both groups have shown a desire to remain distinct from the broader USC.

Ultimately, Hyland’s platform is a classic case of overreaching. He fails to provide concrete solutions to retail services and clubs, which instead we are promised will be “reviewed” or “analyzed.”

Mike Tithecott

Mike Tithecott impressed us with his honesty. Saying he isn’t prepared for this job and admitting much of his platform is borrowed from previous candidates is commendable.

Not presenting solutions to the USC’s biggest issues is not. Proposing a review committee to investigate USC retail operations is a roundabout way of saying “I don’t really know how to solve this problem.”

Laptop sharing is a grandiose, expensive idea. Costs associated with this are astronomical, including warranties, managing the rentals and risk of theft or damage. Since the program would last several years, he’s passing costs to future boards who must maintain the program or drop it all together. All for something already offered at dozens of computer labs around campus.

Most of Tithecott’s ideas are small and insignificant, like upgrading UCC bathrooms with two-ply toilet paper.

While his “Key to Western” idea would provide a lot of information missing from the USC website, Tithecott could achieve this along with 90 per cent of his platform in the first week. But what happens after that?

When pressed about a lack of vision for USC finances, Tithecott listed a few good ideas that were suspiciously missing from his campaign. If he really understood the USC’s key problems, why would he keep solutions off the platform?

Ultimately, Tithecott has all of Goldfarb’s blind populism — he just coats it with a little more charisma.

Ray Park

Like a hamster, Ray Park’s platform is small, fuzzy, and mostly harmless. Coming in as the shortest of this year’s batch of candidates, Park’s vague and insubstantial platform tops out the buzzword count before even getting past the title.

“Bringing Western Together & Embracing Diversity Closing the Gap: USC and Students Being Reliable and Beneficial to Students” is so incomprehensible, we wish we thought of it, since it’s comedic gold.

One of the more interesting things about Park’s platform is how it actually got worse over the course of the campaign. When it started, it contained no mention of “Opt-out Dental Coverage” for the USC health plan. This suggestion is nothing new, and students have voted down this costly opt-out a total of three times in past years.

You could say Park’s other platform points are at least easily attainable — and we definitely agree. They’re so attainable that Emily Rowe could likely complete them before she finishes reading this article. If Park’s goal was to counter Hyland’s platform, “Aim Higher,” mission accomplished — nothing aims lower than this.

Jeff Rutledge

Rutledge is the only candidate to adequately address the club system, providing well-researched improvements like stronger financial training, which goes far beyond the vague generalities of his opponents. Since the USC has struggled to correct club finances for a few years now, he should be careful to make this a lasting program and not simply a handout on best practices.

Having debit and credit at the Spoke would be great — but he fails to mention in his platform that costs would be passed on to students at about $0.25 to $0.35 per transaction.

His suggestion to bring in a printing press is by far the most unfeasible point on anyone’s platform. Printing houses exist at the most elite school’s in the world, not Western. Can we print money too?

The Purple Bike rental program is great for the environment and for students, which is probably why this is already in place at Western and almost ready to launch.

His Purple Hub is a sensible idea to turn the website into a service where students can sell textbooks and co-ordinate rides. Combining calendars for faculty councils with a central USC calendar would help in overall promotion and it’s surprising this hasn’t already happened.

Ultimately, Rutledge’s platform is a few shining stars inside one giant black hole: he fails to even mention the USC’s retail operations, which are bleeding money, and offers no solutions to fix USC finances.

Matthijs van Gaalen

As far as platforms go, it doesn’t get any more risky or sweeping than Matthijs van Gaalen’s, which addresses big picture ideas — not T-shirts or toilet paper.

While the chances of his lobbying being successful are slim, van Gaalen’s academic advocacy is a fresh and innovative idea that separates him from the pack — no other candidate explores how the USC can influence academic policy.

His pass/fail interest credit idea might inspire students to learn about subjects outside their primary studies, thus encouraging a more diverse and vibrant campus. It is refreshing to see a candidate who is interested in lobbying for pedagogical causes.

Van Gaalen deserves praise for presenting a directional shift for the USC; however, convincing administration to apply these changes will be an up-hill and most likely fruitless struggle.

He has also hurt his cause by not focusing on more tangible points that are relatable to the average student. Van Gaalen should have augmented his big picture ideas with more concrete changes and improvements to student life. A new website and promoting environmentalism are pedestrian ideas.

Furthermore, van Gaalen’s welcome week for upper-year students is an extraordinarily trivial idea. Most upper-years — who live off campus and are already familiar with campus and London — will be going to Richmond Row during the first week of school — not wet/dry programming on campus.

Not presenting solutions to the USC’s biggest issues is not. Proposing a review committee to investigate USC retail operations is a roundabout way of saying “I don’t really know how to solve this problem.”

Laptop sharing is a grandiose, expensive idea. Costs associated with this are astronomical, including warranties, managing the rentals and risk of theft or damage. Since the program would last several years, he’s passing costs to future boards who must maintain the program or drop it all together. All for something already offered at dozens of computer labs around campus.

Most of Tithecott’s ideas are small and insignificant, like upgrading UCC bathrooms with two-ply toilet paper.

While his “Key to Western” idea would provide a lot of information missing from the USC website, Tithecott could achieve this along with 90 per cent of his platform in the first week. But what happens after that?

When pressed about a lack of vision for USC finances, Tithecott listed a few good ideas that were suspiciously missing from his campaign. If he really understood the USC’s key problems, why would he keep solutions off the platform?

Ultimately, Tithecott has all of Goldfarb’s blind popularism — he just coats it with a little more charisma.

Having debit and credit at the Spoke would be great — but he fails to mention in his platform that costs would be passed on to students at about $0.25 to $0.35 per transaction.

His suggestion to bring in a printing press is by far the most unfeasible point on anyone’s platform. Printing houses exist at the most elite school’s in the world, not Western. Can we print money too?

The Purple Bike rental program is great for the environment and for students, which is probably why this is already in place at Western and almost ready to launch.

His Purple Hub is a sensible idea to turn the website into a service where students can sell textbooks and co-ordinate rides. Combining calendars for faculty councils with a central USC calendar would help in overall promotion and it’s surprising this hasn’t already happened.

Ultimately, Rutledge’s platform is a few shining stars inside one giant black hole: he fails to even mention the USC’s retail operations, which are bleeding money, and offers no solutions to fix USC finances.