SOAR- Help Save Our Residence!

Step One

2007-01-19T10:41:00.000-03:30

In all honesty, that protest went far better than anything I could have hoped for. I am really proud of the entire Paton College for showing up and voicing our concerns. An even more positive sign- MUN put out a press release already concerning the protest, and although it provided no new material and continues to spin the issue, it definitely sends a sign that this fight is far from over.

Contact Information

2007-01-18T19:24:00.000-03:30

If you have written your MP and your MHA/MLA, try writing some of the following (Please note that the Honourable Joan Burke is the Minister of Education and Anna Thistle is the Official Opposition's critic for Post-Secondary Education):

The Honourable Gerry Reid
Leader of the Official Opposition
Confederation Building, East Block
P.O. Box 8700
St. John’s, NL
A1B 4J6
GerryReid@gov.nl.ca

The Honourable Danny Williams
Premier of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador
Confederation Building, East Block
P.O. Box 8700
St. John’s, NL
A1B 4J6
DannyWilliams@gov.nl.ca

The Honourable Joan Burke
Minister of Education
Confederation Building
P.O. Box 8700
St. John’s, NL
A1B 4J6
JoanBurke@gov.nl.ca

Anna Thistle
MHA, Grand Falls-Buchans District
P.O. Box 8700
St. John’s, NL
A1B 4J6
AnnaThistle@gov.nl.ca
_________________
Thanks to Yuri Gidge
Academic Don, Bowater House
and all around Cool Guy

2007-01-18T19:17:00.000-03:30

As I am new at using this whole Blogger software, I'm consequently an idiot. Now, anyone can comment, and if you would like to contribute a writing to the blog, send an email to society.of.active.residents@gmail.com and we can arrange something.

Preparing for the Big Day

2007-01-18T16:52:00.000-03:30

Tomorrow is a day that we have to make memorable. At noon tomorrow in the Square, we're going to gather, and show Memorial that we support tradition, that we care about the future of residence life, and that we will not be evicted from our own homes. This is our only chance to speak up and speak out, and I urge everyone to get involved. Talk to fellow residents, and most importantly, show up tomorrow and act intelligently yet aggressively. Together, we can stop this decision in its tracks!

MUN Misses Mark with Latest News Post

2007-01-18T01:04:00.000-03:30

Once again, Memorial has missed the mark. In this latest release, the University claims that these changes were made "after considerable consultation with residence student leaders." This is quite a misleading statement, as their "consultation" consisted of asking the Paton College Council what would be hypothetical courses of action if the University were to institute such a policy. This was not put to the council for a vote, nor approval, nor anything beyond a superficial examination. This is hardly what I would like to call "consultation."

In addition, if the university is using this to prop up its decision, then shouldn't the massive number of protesters perhaps remove that pillar of their argument? Residents know what this will do to the spirit of MUN, and we know that losing the input of seniors will equal a rapid erosion of spirit and a sense of community, both on Res and around the MUN campus. MUN has long acknowledged that residence is the heart and soul of school spirit in St. John's, and yet they continually cite "Lack of Spirit" as a main problem plaguing the university. By instituting such a policy, MUN is exacerbating the problem, rather than alleviating it.

Friday

2007-01-17T09:03:00.000-03:30

In case you haven't heard (you know, hiding under a rock, etc.) there is scheduled to be a massive protest beginning in the Square at Noon on Friday. There are a few things to stress though before we get too ahead of ourselves.

If we protest like idiots, nothing will happen. We have to keep this as civil and decent as we can, because the more credible we appear to be, the more airtime we get on CBC, the more coverage we get on the newspapers because they realize we mean business. So, coming to the protest and bringing a picket sign that mixes various expletives mixed with "MUN" or "Dr. Meisen" is just not acceptable.
On the other hand, be loud, get riled up, and show everyone how passionate you are about not destroying residence. We have an enormous capacity for change, and if we harness this passion and drive, we can succeed. MUN has a long, proud history of protest, and we cannot let this campaign end up any different.
House rivalries have to disappear, folks. I know that's another integral part of the res system, but we can return to that rivalry afterwards. Right now, we have to band together, not as residents of Blackall or Curtis or Burke, but as residents of Burton's Pond and Paton College.

Get ready for the end of the week. It's going to be a wild one.

2007-01-17T00:35:00.000-03:30

Thanks to Matt Wright for the Logo!

Get Involved!

2007-01-16T16:52:00.000-03:30

Hello fellow residents.

By now, you have all heard the news from MUN, and frankly put, it's disgusting. Many of us came to residence for the simple reason that we realized we had a guaranteed place to stay as long as we maintained good academic standards. Now, the university, in a clear money grab, wants to eliminate a large part of the residence experience, and essentially evict senior students starting next semester. We cannot allow this to happen, and we cannot let this decision pass by without protesting. SOAR, the Society of Active Residents, has been created to present a unified voice to the President's Office, Senate, and Board of Regents at Memorial to convince them to change this ultimately ineffective plan, and to ensure those who deserve to stay can stay, and pass on their knowledge to incoming students.

We must take action, but we must do it quickly and intelligently. This is not the time to curse Housing, as we know this was a decision levied on an unwilling Housing by Memorial University higher-ups. Read this letter, send an email to society.of.active.residents@gmail.com , and join SOAR. Together, we can prevail.

Letter to Students

2007-01-16T16:49:00.000-03:30

To Whom it May Concern:

With the recent news that Memorial University is drastically altering
the Residence landscape in Paton College and Burton's Pond, a group
of students on residence have decided to band together to fight what
we believe to be a near-sighted, inane, and utterly unnecessary move
on the part of Memorial University and MUN Housing.

The plan is, to reiterate the words of Christine Burke in the latest
MUN Housing press release, to convert 68% of Paton College to first-
year only spots, and 50% of Burton's Pond. This may not seem like a
lot, but let's break down the numbers. There are 1500 total spots in
residence at MUN- 988 in Paton College, and 512 in Burton's Pond.
With half of available spots on Burton's Pond going to first-years,
this equates to 216 available spots for first years on Burton's
Pond. 68% of Paton College reserved for first years only leaves 316
spots in total for returning students in Paton College. Subtract
from this number the guaranteed spots offered to each house's
executive and staff (90 total,) this leaves only 226 spots for
returning students not in Executive or Staff. Think about that for a
moment.

What is central to this debate is the lack of insight on the part of
Memorial University. From all indications, this decision has been
avoided for years by MUN Housing, despite mounting pressure from the
University to admit more first-years as an obvious means of
increasing the profile of Memorial on the international and national
stage. However, it now appears MUN Housing has acquiesced, and we
now face the prospect of being removed from what we originally
believed a safe place for us as long as we maintained our academic
standards. Essentially, Memorial University has betrayed the loyal
students who have donated some of the best months and years of their
lives to the betterment of the University, all in the name of profits.

Rumblings have been going around that the rate for rooms next year
will go up, and not at the rate of inflation either. What this
implies is that this move is only for financial gain- essentially,
the University is viewing prospective students with dollar signs in
their eyes, and failing to see that they are losing what is an
integral part of the residence experience. Seniors help make what is
an amazing and unforgettable experience, and to remove them from the
equation is to lessen the experience for all. Without the guidance
and tutelage of older students, first-year students will ultimately
not get all they can out of their single year in residence. But of
course, as we have seen time and time again, the University
apparently cares little for the needs of its students.

To be blunt, we feel the university has clearly overestimated the
attractiveness of both Burton's Pond and Paton College. Correct us
if we're wrong, but it's rather difficult for new students to feel
excited about living in a cockroach-infested and dilapidated
apartment with another first-year and two seniors who may still be
jaded and bitter about losing their two former senior roommates to
bureaucratic ineptitude and a lack of empathy on the part of the
Board of Regents and the other higher-ups in Memorial University.

There is absolutely no evidence of a coherent or cohesive strategy on
the part of the University to implement these unrealistically
complicated plans. The University has not decided how returning
students will be allocated to rooms, it has not determined the
pricing schemes for next year, and it has not conceived how a house
(specifically dealing with Paton College) is expected to manage when
the ratio of seniors to first-years is worse than 1:2. There is
absolutely no indication from Memorial that they have thought anymore
about this plan beyond salivating at the thought of increased
revenue. However, we feel that on this issue, despite the dancing
dollar signs reverberating in the mind of Dr. Meisen, the University
reveals particular incompetence.

We believe that incoming students will be deterred from making a long
stay in Memorial University due to the lack of available housing
beyond first year. The lack of credible and sustainable housing, in
actuality, erodes Memorial University's credibility both within
Canada, and when it concerns international students. One of the most
effective means of advertising for any university is word of mouth-
and not, as the University would lead you to believe, those oft-
encountered silhouettes and a new brand redesign, which drew funding
away from the building of a new residence- a concrete and clear plan
to alleviate the funding shortage. How does Memorial expect a
positive vibe to emanate from the lips of former residents if they
were unceremoniously dumped from previously guaranteed rooms in the
vain search for more money?

This goes much further than our own self-interest. We believe that
this move by the university will undoubtedly detract from the
experience for all future residents. This destroys a long and proud
history, especially in Burton's Pond, which has been a bastion for
senior students since induction. The dynamic of all aspects of
residence life will be indelibly altered if this move is prematurely
implemented by the university.

This is, essentially, what the debate revolves around. The
University, seeking more money and greater prestige in the Canadian
university community, is seeking to deprive students who are willing
and have already paid the university a great deal of money to stay in
residence. We are being betrayed, and it is imperative upon students
to take action against this plan. Although we do not resign
ourselves to this fate, it would be much more tolerable and
acceptable if the change were not as drastic and abrupt as this plan
implies. A well-planned and gradual implementation of this plan to
research the possible unforeseen side-effects is essential if
Memorial wishes to implement change at all, and at all points along
the way, students must be actively involved. This is the prime
missing piece of this enormous and superfluously elaborate jig-saw
puzzle.

We urge all students to become active. Because it is inherently true
that residents have very few allies outside of residence itself, we
must regain an active voice. Lobby your local MHA, both here and at
home. Write the Premier and implore him to intervene. Talk to city
councilors, faculty members, and write letters to the members of the
Board of Regents, the Senate, and our university president, Dr.
Meisen. We cannot let this issue fade into the background, and we
cannot let our residences be taken from us. We urge you all to be
proactive, and to join in with peaceful yet aggressive protest and
discourse. We will not take this lying down, and we will not lose
our residence.

- Signed,

Society of Active Residents- SOAR