New chair at Ryerson
The School of Journalism has named journalist Dan David Canada’s first Chair of Diversity.
The position was created to make up for the media’s failure to “(assume) a leadership role on employment equity,” wrote journalism school chair John Miller in a proposal to Applied Arts chair John Kitamura last winter. “We propose that the leadership come from our School of Journalism, which is located in the most cosmopolitan city in Canada.”
A national study by the journalism school found 2.6 per cent of daily newspaper staff is non-white – five times less than found in Canada’s visible minority population.
David, who has taught broadcast journalism at Ryerson, is a Mohawk. He has 15 years of experience at CBC Radio, CBC TV, and TVOntario. Last year David was one of the first foreign journalists invited to South Africa to train television reporters preparing to cover the country’s first-ever democratic election.
David will be responsible for research, recruitment, training and teaching.
International student fees increase
International visa students starting classes in September will feel the effects of Ryerson’s university status when they go to the cashier to pay their tuition.
Ryerson will be asking for nearly twice as much money as last year’s freshmen paid in six of Ryerson’s programs.
Janice Winton, Ryerson’s Executive Director of Finance, said now that Ryerson has university status, program fees have to be brought in line with other Ontario universities. The fees are set by the provincial Ministry of Education and Training.
International students who are already studying at Ryerson will not be affected bt the tuition raise.
First year students in Nursing, all disciplines of Engineering, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Hospitality and Tourism, and Food, Nutrition Consumer and Family Studies, will pay $15,492 in tuition this year.
Last year, international visa students paid $8,741.22.
Ombudsman to sprout at Rye?
Ryerson may finally be getting an ombudsman.
Paul Cheevers said if Ryerson holds a referendum on student services funding, the ballot may include a question asking if students want an ombudsman on staff.
The ombudsman would receive and investigate complaints and problems. Both RyeSAC and CESAR have been lobbying Ryerson administration for an ombudsman.
Provincial Elections
The Eyeopener’s Matt Sheperd ran for office in Fort York riding in the June 8th election. His campaign was based solely on students’ issues. The election saw Rosario Marchese of the NDP, the incumbent retain his seat.
Shepherd showed what a lack of publicity can do for a campaign: he captured a whopping 0.54 per cent of the popular vote.
With files from Rob Granatstein, Saleem Khan, and Kenny Yum.
Correction: In our Jun. 28 edition’s Eyeflash, “New chair at Ryerson” we wrote: “A national study found 2.6 per cent of daily newspaper staff is non-white — five times less than found in Canada’s visible minority population.”
The sentence should have read, “…five times less than found in Canada’s population.”
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