Presidential Polemics
Re: This is the end, Sept. 30.
Not only is the presidential search committee already biased against students by having only three members, but given the current committee selection, the University of Toronto’s largest demographic, those aged 17-25, have the least representation. The part-time student chosen for the committee is an older individual, which, while it plays well to strict notions of diversity, nonetheless adds yet another 30+-year-old voice to an already top-heavy committee.
Leo Trottier
Your editorial was offensive and written in bad taste. To demean a role that my fellow student-governors and I take very seriously is an affront to us and everything that we are working to achieve, and your suggestion that we abolish the position of president is simply inane.
Frankly, if you’re going to write an editorial as ill-conceived as the one you wrote, you should at least get your facts straight. Of the 50 members of the Governing Council, only 16 are government appointees (14 right now, actually), not 25. The other “external” members are the alumni, who are elected, and the Chancellor.
If the Governing Council didn’t want student input, there wouldn’t be any students on it at all. I’ll be the first to admit that I’d appreciate additional student representation on the Governing Council, but to say that the students are there as “token” representatives is ludicrous.
You say that because the search committee requires a vote of 12 out of the 15 members to appoint a president that this means that the committee could ignore the will of students completely. That may be true, but the same could be said of the alumni (of whom there are three on the committee) or the government appointees (of whom there are two plus the Chair). Surely you would not suggest that the committee would ignore the wishes of the alumni or the government appointees-your article seemed to imply that they autocratically make decisions in their own interests anyways. Why then would the government appointees leave themselves only three spaces on the committee?
Ari David Kopolovic
Student Governor, Full-time Undergraduate, A & S University of Toronto
Governing Council
Re: U of T games full of super soccer, thievery, Sept. 27.
It is important to note that this is not the first, and certainly not the only opportunity available for soccer enthusiasts to enjoy their favorite sport on campus. Through the auspices of the Faculty of Physical Education and Health, the intramural soccer leagues have once again begun their seasons. There are 18 women’s teams contesting championships in three different divisions, and 30 men’s teams competing in three divisions as well.
While soccer is one of the most popular intramural sports offered to our students, it is by no means the only one. Each year over 9,000 students participate in intramurals on all three campuses. It’s a great program, and can be enjoyed throughout the academic year, every year.John RobbProgram Manager, FPEH
Optical illusion, we hope
Re: Cover photo
With regard to your cover page photo-insert of last week, concerning the recently inaugurated extension of the Ontario College of Art and Design, I feel compelled to offer a somewhat crude comment, which I think regular readers of The Varsity will enjoy nonetheless. In a great display of their typically cunning skills of abstraction and ability to express their artistic views in us plain folks’ everyday language, a few OCAD students have let me know that the multi-million dollar extension isn’t just that, but actually a gigantic Dalmatian that keeps on humping the old building underneath with his big red shaft. Have another look!
Martin Zeilinger
