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Group says no to Rye Radio

By Colleen Marasigan

While one group of students is campaigning to set up a student-run Ryerson radio station on campus, another group is looking to stop them.

Mark Single, a fourth-year engineering student, started the “No to Ryerson Radio Committee” last week in hopes of playing devil’s advocate for the upcoming vote and compelling students to turn down the new station.

Ryerson Radio was proposed earlier this month by a group of students looking to take over the 88. 1 frequency, which was left vacant when Ryerson’s former community station, CKLN, went off air earlier this year. A referendum will be held on Oct. 24 to 26, which will decide whether they can set up a new student-run, student-operated station in its place.

The radio station would be funded by a $10.35 fee that comes out of each student’s tuition. But Single and the rest of the committee — which is so far comprised of three members — believe it is not fair for students to have to continue to pay the fee.

“Supporters see this as another way to grab money from students’ pockets who don’t have money in the first place,” said Single.

Single said the committee has not been forcefully campaigning through organized meetings or posters because their objective is to simply remind students there are two sides to each story.

He said another issue is that some students don’t even know about the mandatory fee they would have to pay to support the station.

Single noted that the previous radio station was unpopular with students, adding that “renaming” it won’t change the fact that students do not listen to it.

“If it’s something that I have to pay for, but I’m never going to use it, then I wouldn’t want it,” said John Celiz, a third-year business student. With this upcoming vote, Celiz won’t be casting a ballot.

Although Ryerson Radio may not be getting Celiz’s vote, Single does feel that “it’s a losing battle with the RSU” and they’ll be getting what they want.

But, despite the possible outcome, Single still hopes that students realize they shouldn’t be charged for something they don’t need or want and vote against the station.

 

3 Comments

  1. Susan

    The RSU was actively involved in changing CKLN from a Ryerson student station to changing it to a “community station” which involved pushing out all the students and bringing in outsiders with their own political agendas while we the students paid almost all of the bills.

    Obviously the Ryerson Student Union wasn’t acting in our best interests.

    There needs to be an audit of what the RSU does with our money, who it goes to, what connections those people or groups have to the RSU its executive or the CFS, and the RSU needs to make the information available to the university and all students.

    The RSU and the CFS have their own agendas and history have proven it isn’t always in the students’ interests.

    I say no to wasting our money on something of no benefit to 99.99% of students, but only for the political agenda of RSU.

    Koulter Bouchard who is pushing this had no problems when he was involved in CKLN that all students were paying for the agendas of non-students and that there seems to be some serious commercial dealing going on behind the scenes.

    Because of the history of deceipt I have no trust that this won’t turn into another CKLN.

    I want to know what the RSU is doing with all of our money and I think the university has a responsibility in forcing RSU to open up the books since RU unquestioningly hands over our student levies to RSU to do what they want behind closed doors with our money.

  2. Dina

    Susan, the RSU’s audited financial statements are at http://www.rsuonline.ca/index.php?section_id=153

    The fact that you call for the RSU to conduct an audit when they already do it, and publish the results, shows that you really don’t know what you’re talking about.

    As for “commercial dealing”, that’s what’s going to happen if this frequency goes to a commercial broadcaster instead of the RSU. Is that what you want? Seems like it to me.

  3. 2ndYear-Electrical

    I support Mark Single. I’ll never ever listen to that CKLN. No matter how “new” they become!

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