february 2012. Volume XxviII. Issue V

2

Table of ContentsEditors’ NoteLetters to the Editorriskier business? Niko Bell

Students United Mackenzie Scrimshaw

Dislodged Seana Stevenson

Front Lines Natascia Lypny

Taking Action Photo Essay

Where Do We Go From Here? Michaela Cavanagh

The Challenge Ahead Julia Duchesne

Disturbin’ Durban Philippa Wolff

Strike out Siobhan Fleury

february 2012. Volume XxviII. Issue V

Editors-In- Chief Board of Publishers

Publisher Online Editortreasurer

Production ManagerEvelyn Hornbeck Charlotte Harrison

Davis Carr

Ben HarrisonSimcha Walfish Jon Finn

34678101214162018

The

Uni

vers

ity o

f Kin

’gs

Col

lege

| 63

50 C

obur

g Ro

ad |

Hal

ifax

NS

| B3H

2A

1 | w

atch

edito

rs@

gmai

l.com

| Tw

itter

@Ki

ngsW

atch

C

over

Pho

to b

y A

lex

Este

y

But if the watchman see the sword come, and sound not the trumpet, and the people not be warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand - Ezekiel 33:6

photo editorAlex Estey James Shields, Dave

Etherington, Paul Pritchard, Nick Gall, Alex Boutilier,

Fred Vallance-Jonescopy editorPhilippa Wolff

3

Editors’ Note

This issue is about getting Action.

Appropriate for February, isn’t it? It’s true, we’re quite clever. Though this issue doesn’t offer you any love or sex tips (how could we top last year’s, ahem, blow-by-blow courtesy of Genny and Rory?) we do take a look at student action. Whether you were out in the street dancing and chanting or following our live coverage and online video, Feb. 1 was a big day for King’s students. We have the full rundown (p.7), plus we ask questions about the best way to get things done (p.14).

We’ve been taking action here at The Watch, too. At our latest general meeting, we made some changes to our constitution. The most important amendment was finally defining the role of the board of publishers. The board (with the new changes, voting members are a journalism faculty rep, our publisher, three students, and Un-ion Financial VP) is tasked with making sure we spend your levy well. They do this not by making any judgements on editorial content, but by keeping an eye on finances and administration. What does that mean? It means the KSU, though they sit on the board, doesn’t decide what we print. Not even close. It’s important to have different constituents represented on our board, including that one.

This magazine is a student space. May we suggest using it for your own action? Journalism, we’re told, plays an important role in a democracy—asking questions allows for openness and informed decision-making.

We’d love you to ask with us.

Evey and Char

4

Letter to the people in charge of KSU elections:This is just another parallel between Dalhousie and King’s

but I can’t help point it out, in hopes that someone somewhere will either fix it or show me where I’m wrong.

It’s election season at both schools and there are a few dif-ferences that make it really difficult for me to defend my school.

The DSU launched a website off of their own site, as well as a one-stop Facebook page, to give candidates a timetable and keep the public up to speed on where everyone was in the process: King’s did not.

Dalhousie has had multiple debates, one at each main campus and one specifically designated for the presidential candidates: not so much for King’s.

On February 1, they announced and published a complete list of election nominees, easily found with a simple Google search: I’m still not sure who all is running for what at King’s and I’ve already been added to several groups.

These are easy, affordable steps that could be taken to bring the student body into the process. The DSU has gone to the media, being for the most part the Dal Gazette and CKDU, to talk to them about bringing their elections further out into the open. Each candidate now has a published bio with the Dal Gazette and an on-air interview with CKDU to get their mes-sage out. No such initiatives seem to have been taken by the KSU.

I understand that King’s is a small school; that’s half the reason most people love it here so much. But it’s not as though we couldn’t be doing this better. Especially considering every one of my above complaints could be entirely unfair, but King’s is such a closed off community that it’s even locking King’s students out now.

I don’t see any election coverage online at The Watch: why hasn’t the KSU gotten on that? I haven’t seen any fliers or any-thing around campus, and I’m there three days a week. King’s has the potential to be just as amazing as Dalhousie in so many ways, and this is just one of them. Open politics shouldn’t be questioned at King’s. The only reason I even know there is an election going on at King’s at all is because some of my friends are running and have asked me to come out and support them at the debates.

Which, hey, I may have already missed.Kristie Smith

ON ELECTION COMMUNICATIONS

Letters to the editors

While reading the January issue of your magazine I was disheartened to read that Dr. Anne Leavitt had decided to re-move student representation to the Budget Advisory Committee. I understand that one reason she moved to exclude a student voice from this committee was that we lack the moral character to advise her on budgetary issues.

If Dr. Leavitt thinks the Students’ Union is incapable of an open approach to the University budget, then I would suggest she reflects on the Union’s actions in 2009. Shortly after being elected to office, the student representative at the Board of Governors’ Executive, I, voted in favour of approving a budget that presented deep cuts across the board and would spell the end for the girls’ volleyball team. While many of the cuts were hard for us to stomach, the Students’ Union voted in favour of the budget because university services we considered essential to student life were spared the sharpest part of the axe, and we were able to identify those services through Budget Advisory Committee. We were particularly stubborn in our approach to discussing library cuts with the administration, who lacked understanding of how important library hours were to the student body. I think it’s important to note that had students not presented advice to Dr. Barker in his budget advisory committee before the budget was brought to the University Board Execu-tive, this issue would not have been dealt with, and the library would have had 9-5 hours and been closed on weekends dur-ing the 2009-2010 academic year. The Students’ Union also voted in favour of the budget in 2011, again in no small part because we had a venue to present our concerns in budget advisory.

Dr. Leavitt would be wise to recognize that student voices are essential to her making the wise leadership decisions that will guide us through the next few turbulent years. Not only does treating the student body with respect reap benefits today, but so too in the long run. How are alumni supposed to support a college that ignored their voice while they were attending it? Respect builds a community that not only makes the college stronger this year, but long after Dr. Leavitt has ceased to serve. Unfortunately this works both ways, and if our president con-tinues with the approach that has come to define her so rigidly this year, then the damage will far outlast her time in office.

David EtheringtonPresident, King’s Students’ Union, 2009-2010

on BUDGET ADVISING

5

Since 1990, NSPIRG has worked at Dal to link academic work and research with concrete action on social and envi-ronmental justice issues. NSPIRG is a fully-inclusive, consensus-based and non-oppressive group that seeks to empower both students and the broader Halifax community. NSPIRG offers its members a range of valuable resources for projects, events, and campaigns. Our office in room 314 of the SUB is a wel-coming space with public access computers, free coffee, and a gender-neutral bathroom. There you will find lots of materi-als and tools for loan and an impressive alternative library. NSPIRG also provides funding for many new initiatives. Have a great new idea? Come talk to us! The Loaded Ladle, which is itself run largely by King’s students, began as an NSPIRG working group, as did the Dalhousie Women’s Centre and the Grainery Co-op, both of which are very important to many King’s students.

NSPIRG acts as a community hub, and can help connect people to resources and projects to working groups. We contribute to the King’s, Dal, and Halifax communities hugely. If a levy for NSPIRG was passed we would serve as a bank of resources for Action!King’s (the KSU activist organization) and many other King’s societies. NSPIRG will work on King’s cam-pus to engage students and to serve your needs. We will offer a complimentary avenue for King’s students to create change both on and off the Quad.

King’s students have always been excited about NSPIRG, but unlike Dal students who pay a levy into our organization, we’re not able to sit as students on the board of directors, and are instead forced to take community positions. (Of the ten posi-tions, seven are reserved for students and three are reserved for representatives of other communities.) As there has been consist-ent interest from the King’s community in sitting on our board of directors, this has been a barrier to an active representa-tion from King’s students in our organization. This also keeps representatives of other important community groups from filling board positions. Bringing the King’s student body into NSPIRG through a levy would give King’s students full voting and signing privileges, and would allow for a more diverse board of direc-tors.

Many of NSPIRG’s initiatives have been thought up and run by King’s students and alumni. Study-In-Action, which works to link students’ academic work to charities, foundations and NGOs was started and has often been coordinated by King’s

ON NSPIRG students. Besides finding concrete uses for our schoolwork, the lasting connections made between students and these groups are invaluable. NSPIRG also happens to be the only group at Dal to work with King’s students on the Day of Action. School-Arts, which brings university students into elementary schools to teach art programs, is both an NSPIRG working group and a KSU society.

We King’s students have a well-earned reputation as en-gaged citizens, and NSPIRG facilitates the sort critical thought and action that is so important to so many of us. NSPIRG and its working groups have held many workshops, lecture, and film screening events at King’s, which have seen an impressive turnout from King’s students.

There has been some concern voiced about the size of the prospective levy—$3 per semester, tied to CPI. While this may seem high at first, this amount makes a lot of sense. Since 1990, NSPIRG has been operating on $2 from each full-time Dal student. While that may have been adequate 22 years ago, it does not provide adequate funding to maintain all of the resources NSPIRG seeks to offer, which is why NSPIRG is vying for a $1 increase at Dal (which will still not adequately compensate for inflation). It is important to have King’s and Dal students pay the same levy, to ensure that we are given input as members. Of course, there will be publicized opportunities to opt-out at the beginning of every semester. When it comes down to it, King’s and NSPIRG have a lot to offer each other. We’ve been flirting and hinting at something formal for over two decades, it’s time to take the next step. If you have any questions, concerns, comments or queries, or want to find out more about some of our great initiatives, we invite you to stop by the office, check out our new site at nspirg.org, or email sammy@nspirg.org.

Sammy Newman

Have beef to share? Send us your letters to

watcheditors@gmail.com

6

riskier businessNiko BellUnion misreads canteen agreement

The King’s Students’ Union made a mistake presenting information on the King’s Galley before the referendum, The Watch has discovered.

At the town hall discussion, Internal Coordinator John Adams had said that if the Galley were to fail in the first five years, the full $75,000 fee to the admin-istration would be refunded. In fact, the KSU would only recover a portion of that money. If the Galley were to stop run-ning after three years, for example, the KSU would still pay three fifths, or about $45,000.

King’s President Anne Leavitt brought the error to the attention of The Watch after Phoebe Mannell repeated it in a let-ter to the editor, on behalf of the elections

The widest & wisest selection!

5262 Sackville Street, downtown Halifax (902) 425-2140101 Portland Street, downtown Dartmouth (902) 444-2140

toll-free 1-866-6-COMICS www.strangeadventures.com

Canada’s oddest comic book stores!

committee. It read: “Should the venture fail in the next five years, this $75,000 will be returned to the KSU in its entirety.”

After The Watch asked about it, KSU President Gabe Hoogers confirmed that this is false. He said that the KSU made the mistake because drafts of the contract with the administration changed quickly over the negotiation process.

Hoogers says that this change doesn’t affect the result of the referendum. “I don’t think it’s going to be a big burden,” he said. “What students wanted to know is if this was going to affect the financial stability of the KSU.”

As The Watch goes to press, the King’s Galley is scheduled to open on Monday, Feb.13.

news

7

Students UnitedOn Wednesday, Feb. 1, King’s students, alongside hun-

dreds more from Dalhousie University, Saint Mary’s University and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, took to the streets of Halifax as part of a nation-wide Day of Action to reduce tuition fees and drop student debt.

While this year’s Day of Action was a national endeavor, coordinated from coast to coast by the Canadian Federation of Students, rallying for increased access to university education was all too familiar for many Nova Scotian students. Many of the 1,000-strong crowd of students had joined together for the same cause last February.

Despite their frustration, few were surprised to be rallying again.

“I don’t think anyone thought that our government would have a crisis of conscience this year and change their opinion straight away,” said Omri Haiven, External Vice President of the King’s Students’ Union.

Dr. Laura Penny, a King’s alumna and now a King’s professor, organized a rally with a similar vision in 1995.

“I am frustrated that we have to keep having the same argument over and over again, but I also think that that is the nature of the political beast,” said Penny.

While the students marched through the streets of downtown Halifax en route to NSCAD, toting placards with recycled slogans from years prior, several students acknowledged changes at the 2012 Day of Action.

“The biggest thing that comes to mind is definitely the weather,” said fourth-year student Davis Carr. Carr remembers the snowstorm on last year’s Day of Action that forced the closure of inner-city schools. Carr referred to the inclement weather as “super epic.”

Haiven, who chairs Action King’s, explained that the new organization model used to plan this year’s Day of Action al-lowed students who weren’t necessarily involved in one particu-lar thing to take on responsibility in their area of expertise.

“We worked together to try to make a really diverse rally,” said Haiven.

Gabe Hoogers, president of the King’s Students’ Union, took notice of the different aura about those rallying.

“What I sensed was that there was more frustration in the air,” said Hoogers. “The government still hasn’t responded to our calls to return their promises of the past and people are worried that what’s going to happen from this newly-signed MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) is really going to affect

their university education.”While Hoogers drew attention to the provincial govern-

ment’s disregard for the Day of Action last year, opting instead to increase tuition fees and cut funding further, he commended King’s students for their continued effort in this aim.

“I take a lot of pride in how friggin’ ridiculously engaged King’s students are,” said Hoogers. “We came out with the KSU headbands and war paint and compared to the propor-tion that came out from other schools, it’s so huge and really inspiring.”

Haiven echoed Hoogers’ sentiments.“King’s has a very interesting brand of leadership and this is

why I love King’s,” said Haiven.Both Haiven and Hoogers foresee a Day of Action in

2013.“We just need that much more time so that Darrell Dexter

can prove himself to be the farce that he is, who is someone who doesn’t believe in Nova Scotian working families or in students,” said Haiven.

Penny also anticipates future rallies. “If you believe in a principle, you have to stand up for it on the regular and not just once.”

Hoogers illustrated a plan of action in order to further this pursuit.

“I said it in my speech and I really mean it: we have to bring back the energy and the excitement that we saw here today to our students’ unions and our board of governors,” said Hoogers. “We’ve got to

pressure people in power and stay engaged and stay involved in what’s going on with the reduce fees, drop debt movement.”

In addition to Hoogers’s insistence for continued pressure, Haiven advocates that change is necessary in order to further the movement.

“I think that there are different tactics that are needed to be used each year,” said Haiven. “You need to keep the revolu-tion, or at least the protest, creative.”

“We have to encourage each other to speak out when we see injustice and what we’re seeing right now, with this nine per cent increase over three years, is an injustice,” said Haiven.

“We’ve got a provincial election coming up sometime soon and they’re going to hear our calls. The public has already heard our calls; 83 per cent of Nova Scotians disagree with raising tuition fees,” said Hoogers.

“Darrell Dexter needs to open his ears,” said Haiven. Disclaimer: Davis Carr is Production Manager of The Watch.

“I take a lot of pride in how frig-gin’ ridiculously

engaged King’s students are"

Frustration fuels the second annual Day of Action Mackenzie Scrimshaw

news

8

news

Seana Stevenson

the watch gets the lowdown on lodge

renovations

Dislodged

Seana Stevenson

9

news

Inside the cramped bathroom off the Chancellor’s suite loose tiles are falling off the wall, crashing into a pile on the floor. The culprit: water and frost that has been seeping in through the cracks in the stone.

The President’s Lodge is a grand three story (four if you count the basement) house on the edge of the King’s College campus. The once beautiful home is now closed due to cracks in the foundation.

Walking from room to room, the cracks get longer and the piles of destroyed wall and ceiling get bigger. “It is sad,” said Pamela Hazel, assistant to the president, Dr. Anne Leavitt, about the disrepair.

Water has come in the chimney and faulty areas in the roof and gutter. “Within a matter of days we are going to start repairs on the gutters because the water is still coming into the building,” said Gerry Smith, King’s bursar.

The Lodge not only houses the president of the university—it’s a community space. The first floor is often used for events, including sherry with the President after Matriculation, the Contemporary Studies Programme party and the Haliburton Society’s annual dinner.

While Matriculation was able to hold their sherry hour in the Lodge at the beginning of the academic year, the Haliburton Society was recently forced to find a new venue. When Hilary Ilkay, president of the Haliburton Society, approached Leavitt about attending the event, she was told the Lodge would not be ready.

The Haliburton Society cooks a dinner for a selected Cana-dian author, the King’s president and a few faculty members. Afterwards, the author holds a question and answer session for the King’s community.

“We heard that the Lodge would be unavailable before the winter break, so we immediately sought out a new loca-tion—the Senior Common Room,” said Ilkay. “There’s a long table there, so it is suitable for dining purposes.” The Haliburton Society will likely prepare the meal in the Alex Hall kitchen and the reading will take place in the Senior Common Room along with the meal. “It’s not ideal, but we’ll make it work!”

The Lodge was designed by Andrew Cobb in 1928 and opened its doors in 1930. Since then the heating and electrical

system have not been updated. Smith commented on the fuse box, saying that it was far too old for a house this big. Leavitt said that the Lodge “isn’t an entirely safe place to be until the electrical is replaced.”

In the President’s Lodge Maintenance Report, the electrical wiring and lighting section shows that the Lodge needs a com-plete overhaul. “In comparison to today’s standards, there is a limited amount of outlets available in the rooms, much less than what should be in place to meet current code requirements,” the report reads.

In order for all the renovations to take place, the school needs a lot of money. There will be fundraising, since King’s ran out of money just before the Lodge repairs were scheduled. Smith said repairs on other buildings have drained the fund.

The advancement office is currently in charge of the major gifts campaign, which includes raising money for the Lodge, the Pit and the Wardroom. “There’s always a possibility that some donor might come and cut us a big check and we could just get the work done, but … fundraising money takes time. When it comes to repairs as funds becomes available, that takes time too,” said Leavitt.

Leavitt, who currently lives in Bishop’s Landing, a waterfront condo complex, was informed about the renovations before coming to the school. While she does not care where she lives, she is sad to not live on campus. “It would be nice to be in the Lodge; it would be nice to see more of students.”

Leavitt has the same problems as some day students. “King’s is a highly residential campus with lots going on, so when I come here in the evenings, and I do come back for some events, lots is going on. If you’re not on campus, it’s not as easy to participate in all of that.”

To completely fix everything in the Lodge, the maintenance report estimates the cost at $475,000. With an estimate this high and the number of repairs needed, the Lodge is not likely to reopen until September 2013.

“There’s always a possibility that some donor might come and cut us a big check

and we could just get the work done”

10

Alex Estey

Front LinesNatascia Lypnythe trouble with patrol at king’s

After moving out of residence in her second year at King’s, Lindsay Logie was concerned she would lose touch with the quad community. She thought a job on campus would help keep her connected. So Logie joined Patrol in September 2010.

“Patrol was so present for me in first year,” she said. “It seemed like a good way to make friends and be connected between the years at King’s, and that was something I really wanted to hold onto.”

Logie’s colleagues echo her reasoning for taking the job. On the surface, Patrol is the perfect opportunity to have a pres-ence on campus without having to live at King’s. And, hey, the shifts are scheduled around class times and the job pays above minimum wage.

But this initial optimism fades after a year of red T-shirted late nights.

“I notice a difference in the way I perceive it because last year I was new and it was all very different to me,” says Patrol member Laura Holtebrinck. “This year, I’ve already done the job for a while and I feel like … I’ve gotten a little more cynical.”

feature

Like many Patrol workers, Holtebrinck lived on campus dur-ing her first year at King’s. She says this experience makes her more understanding of residence students’ occasionally unruly behavior during her shifts. “I think the point of having a student patrol is this power to relate to the residence students and be able to tackle problems on their sort of level.”

But sometimes, too much is too much.When a group of first-year students began taunting Patrol

members with cries of “Snitches!” in the residence hallways last semester, complaints were lodged with Dean of Residence Nicholas Hatt, who acts as the staff supervisor for Patrol.

The call-outs eventually came to an end. Still, many Patrol workers have come to accept verbal harassment and rudeness, such as doors slammed in their faces, as an inevitable part of their job. “I feel like there’s a culture where you’re just expected to brush it off as ‘Oh, they’re drunk. They’re first-years. They don’t mean anything by it,’ when I don’t think that’s always the case,” says Logie, who adds that students have singled her out for harassment.

Patrol’s two days of training at the beginning of the school

11

feature

“There are real problems that should be addressed”

year do not include strategies for dealing with different types of harassment and abuse, says Hatt, explaining such incidents have been rare.

In its place, the training encourages the use of a non-confrontational technique called “verbal judo”, which aims to diffuse tension and calm aggression.

Patrol veteran Phoebe Mannell says their training is helpful for dealing with cooperative students, but leaves workers at a loss at how to tackle the occasional tough situation.

The “verbal judo” technique also assumes a certain level of respect from students toward Patrol workers, which is not always easy to establish. “I think the student-student relation-ship is an ongoing challenge that people on Patrol face,” says third-year Patroller Stefanie Bliss. “Our authority in our position only extends so far as the people that we’re working for want to accept it.”

Bliss says she introduces herself to as many residence stu-dents as possible. When they know her by name, she finds she receives better treatment while on duty.

But friendship can pose its own set of problems.“I do think it’s also important to keep that differentiation be-

tween your relationship with someone as a friend or acquaint-ance and your relationship with them as a person who is on Patrol,” says Jacqueline Vincent, Patrol Student Supervisor. “That can be a fine balancing act, but that’s definitely a separation that we need to keep and I think we do.”

Logie’s not so sure. She says the potential social repercus-sions of reprimanding friends or the friends of coworkers are always in the back of her mind when she is on duty. She finds it confusing knowing when she should follow the rules by the book, and when to go along with her partner’s judgment call. “It’s just at your discretion as a member of the community,” she says.

While Logie is a fan of Patrol’s non-aggressive and non-confrontational mantra, she worries that members are not given any tools in place of these disciplinary mechanisms. “Patrol is a hypothetical authority, as scary as that is to say. It’s more based on respect. It’s not based on any real power that Patrol has on campus.”

Patrol workers cannot fine or reprimand students in any way for violating the rules set out in the Residence Guidelines or College Code of Conduct. Instead, they fill out incident reports at the end of every shift, noting any student misconduct. The reports, along with a logbook detailing other difficulties faced by Patrol over the course of a shift, are sent to Hatt for revision every day. It is then up to Hatt whether or not to pursue the complaint.

“In one word, I would say it’s flexible. It’s incredibly flex-ible,” says Hatt of the repercussions for student misconduct on campus. He says that the Guidelines and Code provide him, Patrol and the residence dons with considerable leeway in handling situations on a case-by-case basis, which helps avoid detached punishments that ignore the student behind the act. The system also allows for students to view and appeal any incident reports concerning them. Hatt says this practice ensures disciplinary decisions remain fair, objective and transparent.

The Patrol workers are only notified of follow-ups when a student is banned from campus or when a complaint directly involves them. Holtebrinck says she wishes Patrol was made more aware of how their incident reports were being handled, to see what comes of their work.

Logie thinks it’s little, if anything. She describes the disci-plinary mechanisms at King’s as nonexistent. “There are some in place, but they’re so rarely employed that I don’t feel that they’re effective, and I feel that past a certain point in the se-mester, students figure out that nothing’s going to happen to you if you don’t listen.” She adds that the rules seem to apply differ-ently to different people, depending on their ‘social capital’ in the King’s community.

Mannell agrees that some students take advantage of the rules’ leniency. Still, she finds that leniency is an important part of what makes Patrol human as compared to other security forces. Patrol’s face-to-face interactions with students on campus are what make the system so special to King’s, says Hatt. “I think Patrol really sets a good tone on campus and encourages the students to know that they themselves have an active role in making sure that this this community has a good character and is ordered well.”

For her part, Logie has decided to redefine her role as a Patrol worker. When she began Patrol, she “was really timid and was going to follow other people’s leads as to how you be Patrol and what that means and where your authority lies.” Now, three semesters on the job later, she has come to disa-gree with the system more often than not and follows her own instincts as to how to conduct her Patrol duties.

“I realize that I’m sort of indicting the system and I don’t mean it to be a personal attack on anyone,” says Logie. “I just think there are real problems that should be addressed and maybe they should be addressed publicly.”

12

Where do we go from here?

Comparing photos from last year’s Day of Action to this year’s, it doesn’t seem as though much has changed. The same blue face paint adorns the faces of protestors holding the same loudspeakers, chanting the same slogans. The same colour-ful signs bob above the crowd, the same “we-mean-business” expressions on the faces of students, the same fists in the air. Okay, maybe there was a bit more snow last year. But after more than a year’s worth of discussions, and now a second Day of Action under our ever-tightening belts, what do students have to show for it?

Last Feb. 2, Halifax students took to the streets to make their voices heard by the provincial and federal governments about tuition increases and funding cuts. Just days before the march, the Nova Scotia government announced they were ending the tuition freeze that had been in place, capping tuition increases at three per cent annually over the next three years while reduc-ing grant funding by four per cent.

Last year’s Canadian Federation of Students-organized march went off like a snow-globed dream—thousands of students from five universities participated, with a fire that only the infamous O’Neill report could have sparked in them, and a fresh political wound from the provincial government’s announcement. The energy was staggering. Gabe Hoogers, King’s Students’ Union President and the National Executive Representative of the CFS says, “a really amazing thing hap-pened that day. It was the biggest march that Halifax had seen in ten years.”

Almost a year later, another memorandum of understand-ing between the province and Nova Scotia universities was released, cutting grant funding by three per cent and enabling tuition fee increases of three per cent per year. Now students’ worst fears about tuition increases are one step closer to com-ing true. Earlier this month, around a thousand students turned out to protest tuition hikes and funding cuts, in addition to high school students, professors and Haligonians-at-large.

The turnout was impressive. The chants hit the perfect balance between appropriately rousing and disparaging. DJ Yellow Fever’s U-Haul dance tunes were infectious, as always. Was it still inspiring? Absolutely. But something was missing. The sting of being snubbed by an NDP government that was supposed to be helping students, the fresh rage that drove the protestors through a blizzard a year earlier was gone. In its place was a sense of weary frustration with change that has yet to come.

After almost two years of trying to negotiate with the provin-

cial government with little headway, some students are disen-chanted with the “All out February 1!” rhetoric. A student who would prefer not to be named, because she is worried about sharing her financial situation, says that she feels “alienated” at King’s with her student debt.

“You know, you come to King’s and you’re already behind.” The Student Day of Action seems more like a social event than a protest, she says. Rather than marching once a year, she says, “there’s so much more we could be doing to make univer-sity accessible.” Even having more of an open and stimulated discussion amongst students before the march would be helpful, she said. “You believe in this community and you want to be a part of it.”

Despite the scepticism, King’s students were leading the pack on Feb. 1. But groups that had participated last year—both the DSU and ANSSA, the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations—were conspicuously absent. What changed? Lindsay Dowling, the DSU’s communications coordinator, says it’s simple: because the DSU isn’t a member of the Canadian Federation of Students, they weren’t formally invited this year. “We’re all fighting for the same thing, but CASA (the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, of which the DSU is a mem-ber) goes about it in a different way. CASA focuses on building relationships and engaging in an ongoing dialogue about the issues,” says Dowling. “It’s what works for CASA best. We’ve had more success in terms of building relationships instead of protesting.”

Mark Coffin is the executive director of ANSSA, which rep-resents the DSU amongst five other students’ unions across the Maritimes. He says that ANSSA also takes more of a lobbying approach to change. “For instance, we’re the only group who lobbied for the student debt cap, and we didn’t do that through taking to the streets—we did it by lobbying, and we were suc-cessful.”

Coffin admits that they’re not always so successful. Over the summer, ANSSA was tasked with creating a negotiating com-mittee to come up with policy for the next two years on tuition regulation, fee increases and how the funding the universities give students is distributed.

“It didn’t happen over the course of the eight months that we were part of the negotiations for. What happened was they couldn’t come to a decision. Essentially what they said was that the university presidents weren’t comfortable making decisions with students in the room.”

The student voice being relegated from the negotiating table

Marches are only part of student activismMichaela Cavanagh

feature

13

is not unique to the provincial government. Last month, The Watch reported that the KSU has been shut out of the commit-tee responsible for the school’s financial planning. Hoogers says this widespread atmosphere of exclusion is “utterly frustrat-ing.” “To be excluded from a process that we know we can contribute really fully and knowledgeably to ... it’s a shame the administration and the province have taken that route to proceed.”

But despite the overall mood of secrecy, Hoogers says he remains hopeful. “We know the government really doesn’t have too much longer until it faces another election,” he says. “They’re going to be looking to appease voters that they’ve really alienated over the past few years. The idea of two thou-sand students hitting the streets will definitely get the government moving.”

In fact, even the idea of one thousand students on the streets this year is enough to get the government moving—or at least budging a little. The day after students addressed Darrell Dexter outside his offices (“Darr-ell, Darr-ell”), Hoogers says he got a call from the NDP caucus. The MLAs were requesting a meeting with the post-secondary education coalition, of which Hoogers is a part, to discuss funding priorities later this month.

While this year’s Day of Action obviously sent a clear mes-

sage to the MLAs in this particular case, it’s a complicated thing to get a government to change its politics. “Protesting is just one piece of a spectrum of activism,” Hoogers says. The protesting can only be effective if it’s paired with the lobbying aspect, he continues. “That’s how protests come to make a big difference in the eyes of government. Students will benefit from knowing that we have the public on side.”

“Students need to recognize that our job doesn’t stop with going out into the streets for one day. We need to take that energy back to our campuses … and engage with our commu-nities.”

“There’s so much more we could be doing to make university accessible”

Alex Estey

feature

14

taking actionKing’s students marched on the National Day of Action, Feb 1Photos by Alex Estey

Leanna Winberg

photo essay

15

The Watch’s Evan McIntyre spent Feb 1 chasing the march. To see his videos and hear his story (including his run in with Premier Dex-ter) see the web-exclusive content at watchmagazine.ca

16

profile

The Challenge Ahead

Anna Bishop Vice-President, CommunicationsBest moment of your year on exec?“Every time I send out a TWAK is a triumph … But a whole moment? I would have to say the Day of Action; that’s not necessarily related to my position as CVP, but it was pretty awe-some.”Biggest challenge?“Just making sure that all the little things get done … it’s easy to let those things fall through the cracks if you’re not always being diligent about maintaining them.”Biggest challenge the CVP will be facing next year?Bishop notes that students will hear a lot of “speeches with ambition, and crazy ideas, and that’s really good,” but a CVP has to fulfill many day-to-day responsibilities before starting new projects. Another challenge is the pace of technological advancement these days: next year’s CVP will have to involve the KSU in all aspects of social media.Plans for next year?Bishop isn’t running for the student union again, but hopes to become Science Rep to stay involved in student politics. She also plans to get involved with NSPIRG (Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group). Building on her year in communica-tions, she hopes to turn a long-standing dream into a reality: “having my own radio show at CKDU.”

Julia Duchesne. Photos by Alex EsteyOutgoing KSU leaders look back and forward

Omri Haiven Vice-President, External

Best moment of your year on exec?Too many to choose! The boycott, the canteen, the Day of Ac-tion, and getting the Boys’ Club, a discussion group for male issues, on its feet. On the canteen: “It was really inspiring to … go from the beginning of the year, when we had really no chance of having student-run food on campus, to now, where it’s only a matter of days until the canteen opens.”Biggest challenge this year?“The inaccessibility of education (and of) positions of privilege for students.” Haiven says students should be concerned about the axing of student representation on two crucial financial com-mittees. “You decide what your priorities are in a budget … if students aren’t informing what the priorities are for our school, then we’re at a huge loss.” This will still be the biggest chal-lenge next year, Haiven says.What’s in store for you next year?Haiven is running to reprise his role as VP External. Any further words to students?Once your reps are elected, “you should push them to do the things that you want them to do.” Haiven urges students to get engaged beyond the ballot box. “Those who make that extra effort … to talk to us about what issues are important for them are often really rewarded with the work that we’re able to help them do.”

17

profile

Anna DubinskiVice-President, Student Life Best moment of your year on exec?“I’ve done such a variety of different things that I never ex-pected to do in this position … One of them will be next week, when we open up the canteen. Leading the Day of Action pro-test is also high on the list. “It’s an experience I’ll never forget.”Biggest challenge so far?“My biggest struggle has been balancing the position and staying an active student, being a good friend, being a good roommate, and keeping up with all of my relationships … The biggest struggle is actually finding a healthy balance for yourself.” Also, says Dubinski, don’t underestimate the power of surprises. With one phone call, all your best-laid plans can just fall away. As with the canteen, “things just come at you and you’re there for them.”What challenges do you think the SLVP will be facing next year?The Co-Curricular Record, a new Dal initiative that lets students register their co-curricular activities on their permanent record, will be a lot of logistical work for the new SLVP, who will be set-ting up the program and encouraging King’s students to register.What are you moving on to next year?Dubinski is running for Board of Governors rep. She’s also eager to take advantage of the many rights that every member of the KSU can exercise without a formal position. But the main reason she isn’t running for exec again? She’s missed perform-ing with the KTS “like life itself.” She hopes to make up for that lost time next year.Any further words to students?Dubinski wants to express her excitement about the upcoming elections—she’s delighted to see so many candidates. For old hands at the KSU, seeing new faces who “really want to be a part of it” is extremely exciting.

Nicholas GallVice-President, Financial Best moment of your year so far?When Gall took office in 2010, the most recently completed audit was for 2006-2007. He’s been working ever since to catch up the Union’s finances. Recently, he got back the audit for the fiscal year ending April 2011. To Gall, that was “a pretty significant moment.” He’s proud that he finally brought the Union up to date.Biggest challenge?“Learning as I go along.” Gall didn’t get any formal training from the last executive, so he figured things out himself. After two terms, he feels he’s learned a lot.The biggest challenge facing next year’s FVP?Gall has a lot to say about this serious topic. Back in 2010, the Union’s biggest expense was the yearbook. Since then, they’ve hired a full-time staff person, created new union-hired positions, and started a business—the canteen. Yet the KSU has only raised student fees with inflation; we now face an “emerging structural deficit.” The KSU needs a more sustainable funding model, and Gall poses a stark choice: either “a huge scaling-back” of KSU services, or (he hopes) increased revenue in some form.What are you heading on to next year?After graduating this spring, Gall is heading to Ottawa to work for an industrial lobbying group.Further words to students?Gall notes how far the KSU has come in the past two years. No longer providing “illegal secret loans to the Wardroom,” the Union has moved toward “a far more transparent model of financial management.” Despite the ensuing costs, he stands behind the move. “Going forward, it was the absolute right thing to do, and I hope my legacy continues in that regard.” Gall laughs after this remark, but he is proud to be leaving us a more mature and fiscally responsible KSU.

18

Nick StarkBoard of Governors Representative

Best moment of the year so far?Creating an alternative budget for the school last spring—it showed that students understand the financial situation and have a lot to say. “It was met with some pushback by the ad-min, who were worried that it would actually gain traction with some of the board members, which for us is a big victory … we want to show that we have some different ideas.”Biggest challenge so far?“Negotiating a new president coming in with a different idea about the school … and dealing with the financial challenges.” While that is important, at the same time “we want to make sure that students are heard.”What challenges do you think the BoG reps will be facing next year?Wrestling with the question of financial sustainability. Also, the opportunity to “re-establish a footing on which we can agree with the administration and move forward in a positive direc-tion.”What are you heading on to next year? Stark is running for president and thinks his experience liaising with the administration will be helpful next year. He hopes to help the KSU run smoothly during a year of big projects.Any further words to students?If we believe in something, we must fight for it. “We have a lot of power. We should never feel apathetic … We have an incredibly powerful voice.”

Gabe HoogersPresidentWhat has been your favourite moment as president?Hoogers was inspired by seeing student support for the boycott and Day of Action. He’s also looking forward to the opening of the Galley (“Grilled cheese with Gouda!”). “I’ve actually had so many profoundly inspiring moments … I really couldn’t nar-row it down to a single one.”What has been your biggest challenge?For Hoogers, the president should facilitate communication between students, faculty and administration. Communication during the transition to a new president (Leavitt) has been “a challenge, but a fruitful challenge.” On the other hand, it’s also hard to communicate with students as much he would like. Still, Hoogers is happy that more students than ever are “aware of the issues (and the) possibilities” to effect change.What challenges will next year’s President be facing?Dealing with unforeseen events, such as the canteen. Also, while King’s financial future is being decided, “it’ll be the presi-dent’s job to ensure that students remain relevant in the minds of our administrators.” What are you planning to do next year?Hoogers will be back at King’s until December, finishing up some courses. “For the first time ever, I’ll be able to do real stu-dent things … just doing what I’ve always wanted to do.” He’s considering the KTS, rugby, frosh leadership… “And maybe, occasionally, some class readings. We’ll see about that.” Do you have any further words for students?“Being involved with the students’ union has definitely shaped who I am over the last several years, and it’s been absolutely a pleasure to be enabled to do that; I’ve grown, I’ve learned a lot, and I hope I’ve contributed in a way that people see as significant … I want to thank King’s people for that opportunity.”

Davis Carrprofile

19

Dan BrownBoard of Governors Representative

Best moment of the year?“The whole thing has been tremendous fun.” Brown relished meeting some of the “characters” who make decisions for the school. His favourite moment was the President’s inauguration. “I have an undying amount of love for the regalia of King’s,” and this ceremony, with so many King’s faces brought together by incredible music, was “pretty overwhelming.”Biggest challenge so far?“To reconcile the positions as both a representative of the stu-dent body and an active board member.” Brown feels that as a Board, “we’re finally at a very, very positive stage.”The biggest challenge facing next year’s reps?Brown emphasises the challenge of ensuring a single vision for the diverse groups comprising the Board. “The Board has incredible talents and incredible intelligence when engaged in the right fashion … Upcoming reps need to be prepared to engage with the Board in a positive, progressive way.”What are you heading on to next year?Brown is graduating in the spring. He comments on Halifax’s seductive nature: despite initial plans to leave right after gradu-ating, he’ll spend the summer here learning languages. “You don’t think about it, and all of a sudden you’re a Haligonian … I have so much love for this place.”Any further words to students?To future BoG reps he says: “We are part of a greater whole … Look forward to the opportunity of engaging as a single unit in this beautiful functioning mechanism of King’s.” Also, a good BoG rep will ensure students’ ideas are raised. “Students have excellent ideas and innovative ways to help repair our school, given the appropriate forums to do so.”

profile

20

Disturbin’ DurbanKing’s student James Hutt makes a scene at international climate conferencePhilippa Wolff

On Dec. 7, 2011, James Hutt woke up at 6 a.m. in Durban, South Africa. He hid his T-shirt underneath a dress shirt and caught a shuttle with 17 other young Canadians.

Hutt, a fifth-year King’s student who just finished his degree in International Development Studies and Spanish, was one of 18 Canadian Youth Delegation members attending the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Na-tions Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They’re the group that’s working toward finding an international agreement against climate change.

“We were in a rush, trying to get everything together and make sure that everyone knew their roles,” said Hutt in an email

Photo Supplied By the Canadian Youth Delegation

profile

from Japan, where he is representing Canada on the Ship for World Youth, an international environmental awareness pro-gram sponsored by the Japanese government. “I think we were all full of anxiety.”

Hutt and his companions were nervous because of what six of their T-shirts represented. They read “People Before Polluters” across the front and “Turn Your Back on Canada” on the back.

The six members of the Canadian Youth Delegation were preparing to deliver this message to Canadian Environmental Minister Peter Kent in response to his decision to back out of the Kyoto Accord. They would be doing so in front of representa-tives from around the world.

21

“Time stopped. I felt my heart thundering.”

profile

“What compels me to fight for action on climate change,” Hutt said, “is the fact that the poor suffer the worst impacts, and that millions of people are already dying (each) year while our government (continues) to expand the tar sands and block international progress.”

The group sat down in the plenary room and tried not to look suspicious, he says. It was more than three hours before their moment came.

“It was painful,” Hutt said. “Time could not have been going any slower, and almost every representative gave calm, sterile speeches. It felt like watching politicians rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.”

For Hutt, the long wait was tense. “I felt like at every second I was being watched.”

Then Kent stood up.Hutt held his breath, he says. Kent delivered his opening

words in both English and French, and then Hutt’s fellow del-egate Sonia Grant tapped her lap. As planned, the six youths took off their dress shirts and stood up.

They turned their backs on Kent’s address.“Time stopped,” said Hutt. “I clasped my hands together in

front and felt my heart thundering. What seemed like half an hour standing there was probably 20 seconds.”

The crowd before them was restless for a few seconds before standing up and taking out their cameras. Security guards came over and asked them what they were doing and to leave, but the delegates didn’t respond.

“Matt (Chisholm, another delegate) told them that this was a peaceful action and we didn’t say a word to them,” said Hutt.

Then two things happened. Kent said, “For Canada, Kyoto is in the past,” recalls Hutt. According to Hutt, this is all Kent said while they were standing. Then members of the audi-ence both behind them and in front of them began to turn their backs, too, and they started applauding.

“At the moment all the nervousness and worry I felt disap-peared. I felt powerful,” said Hutt. “That wave of support was empowering, and when it happened I knew that we had taken power away from Kent and our government.”

The protest lasted for three or four minutes, says Hutt. The security guards came back with more support and “grabbed” the six Canadian youth. The delegates were led out a side door into a backroom where they were questioned. When they refused to answer, the guards took their accreditation.

“They kicked us out, which we knew would happen,” Hutt said. “But it was not only worth it, but necessary. We had shown the world that our leaders do not represent our interests and that Canadians want real action on climate change.”

Awareness, especially of the environment, is something that’s important to Hutt. He’s worked on both Canadian coasts for the cause. In the east, among other things, he’s worked as the Water Coordinator for the Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club, promoting consciousness of water quantity and contamina-tion. Friends Uniting in Nature, which educates children about sustainability, brought him to Vancouver, where he worked as the Program Coordinator.

“Education is the only way we can go beyond the current structure of our society and create a new paradigm where we stop seeing the environment as a commodity for our exploita-tion,” said Hutt, adding that he knows this will take a long time.

In 2011, the Nova Scotia Environmental Network (NSEN) gave him the Youth Environmental Leader Award. He won mostly for his two-time participation in and promotion of the 25 Litre Challenge. The challenge requires one to use only 25 litres of water in 30 days.

Hutt notes that he doesn’t consider himself an environmental advocate or an environmentalist. His real interest, based in growing up with an awareness of and frustration with poverty, is social change. It wasn’t until he took International Devel-opment classes that highlighted the link between social and environmental issues that he saw a connection.

Nevertheless, the NSEN’s award was an honour for him.“It was a really nice piece of recognition that I’m on the

right track and that my actions are making a difference,” said Hutt, who will return to Canada Mar. 5. “Often, working on social change can be frustrating and feel fruitless, but it’s hard to see all the impacts you’re actually creating.”

Hutt says that the media coverage of the Turn Your Back on Canada action has also helped him feel his own impact.

“People have told us (the six members of the Canadian Youth Delegation) that we inspired them,” he said.

This awareness, he says, dispels any regret he might have had about breaking the United Nations’ rules.

“We disrupted the plenary,” said Hutt, “but Canada had been disrupting the entire (Kyoto) negotiations.”

22

Strike outSiobhan Fleury thinks the metro transit union needs to take one for the team

The union and workers want better conditions. The city wants to save on some cash. Everyone else just wants a service restored—a service integral to the day-to-day lives of the work-ing and student population.

To get drivers back in the buses, operators back on ferries, and the lives of Haligonians back to normal, the union is going to have to be a little more considerate of what everyone else wants.

Since the transit union announced the beginning of its legal strike on Feb. 2, the lives of thousands have become signifi-cantly more difficult. People walk unreasonable distances, pay unreasonable amounts of money and take unreasonable amounts of time to get where they need to be. As students, it’s hard to succeed at school when you can’t find a way to get to class. One student at Saint Mary’s University had to drop his semester because of the strike.

As inconvenient as the strike may be, it’s important that we, as transit users, look carefully at the reasons behind it. Amal-gamated Transit Union Local 508 (ATU) represents bus drivers and ferry operators working for Halifax Metro Transit. One of the factors pushing the union to strike was the city’s desire to implement a new scheduling system that will give workers less control over the shifts that they work. Since 1908, employees have picked their shifts in a way that has been referred to as “cafeteria style.” They select each individual shift they would like to work over the course of a three month period.

Metro Transit has proposed introducing a system called rostering. Collections of shifts to be worked by an individual employee over a week would be assembled, and instead of picking each shift they want to work, drivers would pick their collection of shifts.

The city suggests that implementing rostering would reduce the amount spent paying employees who work overtime hours. On Nov. 30, 2011, Jim Cooke, former Chief Financial Officer of HRM, released projections that Metro Transit is expected to exceed their budget by just under three million dollars this year. Cooke stated that about a million of this sum results from overtime wages that Metro Transit did not anticipate. Overtime

wages were already an expense—in 2009, drivers were paid upwards of 2.5 million dollars in overtime.

The government’s desire to implement a more cost-effective scheduling system is extremely reasonable. The current system leaves upwards of 80 shifts each week unassigned, to be picked up on overtime pay. Picking shifts by week instead of by day would leave fewer shifts uncovered.

As someone who has worked in the service industry, I can say that having the right to choose your shifts at all seems pretty lofty. Many workplaces—stores, restaurants, restaurants, schools—assign shifts regardless of when employees prefer to complete their hours. It’s hard not to think that maybe employees don’t need so much control over their shifts as to pick the exact hours that they are going to work every day. To a lot of service industry employees, picking a package of shifts to be worked each week would make life a walk in the park.

On Thursday Jan. 2, when the strike began, ATU president Ken Wilson told Metro News that the city had forced the work-ers to strike on the basis that “They don’t understand the busi-ness.” Maybe, then, the business should be explained to them, because the demands of the union can seem pretty unreasona-ble to an outsider. The city’s failure to “understand the business” doesn’t seem like a reason for transit workers to need to pick exactly which shifts they are going to work every single day.

When HRM proposed to implement the new scheduling tac-tic, they also offered to instate a six per cent increase in wages for transit workers over the next three years. Another offer even excluded the change in scheduling, and still proposed a 3.5 per cent increase in wages. Nevertheless, the ATU turn down every offer, sometimes complaining when HRM negotiators walk out on meetings. In the midst of conflict, it’s really impor-tant for everyone to be a little bit considerate of other people. The role that transit workers play in our society is a crucial one, and their jobs are by no means easy. Still, as per their rights as laborers, it seems like they’re pretty well-off, and when times are tough economically, everybody’s going to have to help bear the burden.

opinion

23

Are you a student preparing to begin a Master’s level programin Business, Earth Sciences, Engineering, or EnvironmentalSciences at a Nova Scotia university? Consider energyrelated research – it’s more than just oil and gas.

The Pengrowth-Nova Scotia Energy Innovation Grant supportsresearchers investigating areas of importance to Nova Scotia’senergy sector. Up to four $15,000 AWARDS are availableeach year for priority research areas.

For application details and information on other programsplease visit: www.gov.ns.ca/energy

Application deadline for the 2011-2012 academic year is January 20, 2012.

“Funding from this grant will allow me tocombine innovation with creative thinkingto aid in the understanding of offshoreresource potential.”Darragh O’Connor, Master’s student in Applied Science, Dalhousie University, winner of the 2011 Pengrowth-Nova Scotia Energy Innovation Grant

DEVELOPING LEADERS IN ENERGY

The Pengrowth-Nova Scotia$15,000

Energy Innovation Grant can helpmake your research goals a reality.