Rae of Spite
Re: SAC lost $30,000 on frosh-week Wonderland jaunt, Nov. 22.
I am suspicious of the intentions of Dylan Rae. According to your article he was concerned about the $32,000 loss on the wonderland trip. I know for a fact that he overspent by $170,000 last year on orientation, so where does he get off complaining about a $32,000 loss? Last year’s loss was over five times that of this year’s. I personally think his attack is politically motivated. He wants to run people for SAC next year, so he’s playing the blame game and trying to get recognition so as to achieve his goal.
Upon reading this week’s Medium (Erindale paper) it is clear that SAC would have made an $18,000 profit had VIBE secured the $50,000 sponsorship deal it signed on for. It astounds me that VIBE has had no accountability accusations for its financial shortcomings in this saga, but that’s another matter altogether.
Talking to a SAC executive, I got the impression that SAC does not see the $32,000 as a loss but an expenditure. Let’s face it, 3,800 students from across U of T went to wonderland, had a free concert and got home safe. Everyone had a good time. Mr. Rae should simply be happy that SAC did not repeat his loss of $170,000.
Mutaz Musa
CFS gets trashed in turn
RE: “CFS trashes former premier,” Letters, Nov. 22.
It concerns me (although I can’t claim to be surprised) that the CFS is, as usual, taking the wrong approach completely with regards to the Rae Review of post-secondary education.
The Rae Review should be looked at as an opportunity for constructive change in Ontario’s post-secondary education system. Instead of collaborating with the Rae Review panel in the hopes of attaining some sort of compromise, the CFS resorts to trashing Rae.
Adversarial tactics such as calling the CFS’s Rae Review site “ReviewRae.ca”, creating an anti-Rae Review doppelganger draft in response to Rae’s own first draft, and accusing the former premier of “gross and self-interested distortion” is more than merely unhelpful, it’s insulting.
The Rae Review is the best chance the CFS has to actually get some of the more reasonable aspects of its position to be adopted by the government. Just think, if you decry Rae’s efforts today, what are you going to say in a few years time if a Mike Harris Review of post-secondary education comes around?
Ari David Kopolovic
Student Governor, Faculty of Arts & Science
University of Toronto Governing Council
Corruption par for course
Re: Israeli prof-politician sees opportunity, danger in Bush re-election, Nov. 22.
I was disappointed to read the biased response of Sarah Nasser, chair of SAC’s International Affairs subcommittee, to Professor Naomi Chazan’s refreshing lecture. Nasser was quick to point at “corruption within the Palestinian administration” and implies that the future Palestinian leadership has ambitions to get “control of the money rather than helping the people out.”
Nasser forgot to mention that the last three Israeli Prime Ministers have been involved in highly publicized corruption scandals. Even our own PM Paul Martin has got his hands dirty with the sponsorship scandal.
Samer Abdelnour
UTSC Representative & Executive Committee Member, College of Electors University of Toronto
Re: Ignatieff has ‘second thoughts’ about Iraq, Nov. 22.
The title of this bit of loose reporting seems to be the only information presented. There is no backup in the article! Could some one please report on what the man actually said on the topic? A summary would be nice.
The general press usually gives us one side and ignores the other. I am dismayed that our U of T press is doing the same.
Kevin Doyle
Shabby old Europe
Re: “CFS trashes former premier,” Letters, Nov. 22.
As usual, the CFS and its spokespeople refuse to let facts get in the way of a good theory.
Consider Jesse Greener’s claim that “in each and every country where tuition fees increase, the government withdraws a corresponding amount in public funding.” In fact, a quick look at statistics suggests that this is false.
In Canada, public spending on post-secondary education accounts for 1.6 per cent of our GDP. By contrast, the five countries Mr. Greener thinks we should emulate (Sweden, France, Ireland, Finland, and Germany) respectively spend 1.5, 1.0, 1.1, 1.8, and 1.0 per cent. By this measure, Canada’s public support for post-secondary education is one of the highest in the world, though apparently not high enough for Mr. Greener.
Furthermore, because we also support our universities and colleges through private sources (primarily tuition fees), Canada as a country ends up spending fully (including both public and private funds) 2.5% of its GDP on post-secondary education.
This might explain, for example, why Canada (despite having tuition fees) produces a much higher number of university graduates than any of the five countries Mr. Greener mentions. Indeed, while 25 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 25 and 34 have a university degree, the same numbers for the five countries Mr. Greener mentions are respectively 20, 18, 20, 11, and 18 per cent.
Moreover, the absence of private financing in Europe may provide an explanation for why they are often of such remarkably shabby quality.
Carl Irvine
Law 2006
