UWSA decides not to leave CFS
By Michal Tellos
News Editor
January 20, 2010
In recent months several schools have contemplated canceling their membership with the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) amid issues of transparency and lack of services.
 Two weeks ago the UWSA discussed the issue, and opted not to leave CFS just yet.
“The UWSA Council hasn’t so much decided to stay with CFS as it hasn’t decided to leave. Membership never needs to be renewed and in fact, it’s an incredibly daunting task to leave. While our students’ union stands to save its members $180,000 per year should we defederate, we are talking about a grueling, year-long process that until now, no one has decided to undertake,” said Robert Woodrich, UWSA Vice President University Administration.
“To add to that, many student leaders have also been of the persuasion that perhaps the CFS can be changed from within. While I certainly sympathize with this desire, it is simply not realistic,” he added.
UWSA councillor Thomas Sasso, who does want to leave CFS, has attended several of their meetings and knows what problems exist within the organization. >>
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Blue chair campaign to raise tuition awareness
By Michal Tellos
News Editor
January 20, 2010
This week will see the campus sprinkled with hand-painted blue chairs, which are meant to spread awareness for students who cannot afford a post-secondary education.
 The event, which exists throughout Ontario universities, was facilitated by UWindsor’s Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) coordinator Madeline MacIsaac, who was assisted by a handful of students.
The blue chairs are significant symbols.
“Every blue chair represents a seat at a university that wasn’t filled because a student couldn’t afford to go,” said MacIsaac.
MacIsaac also wants every blue chair to mean something unique.
“I hope that blue chairs on our campus allows for students to tell their story. Every student has had financial trouble at some point in his or her career and many on OSAP will continue to have them afterward. If a student lives off OSAP alone they actually live below the poverty line, so you could imagine the stress that would inflict on anyone,” said MacIsaac. >>
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UWSA student groups coordinator Renee Taylor fired
By Shane Lange
Lance Writer
January 20, 2010
The UWSA came under fire from an ex-employee this week in response to their swift dismissal of Student Groups Coordinator Renee Taylor during December’s exam period. Taylor, the former Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences representative on UWSA General Council, claims “they gave me absolutely no reason...they fired me without cause.”
The closest approximation of a rationale, says Taylor, was divulged by UWSA General Manager Dale Coffin, who said, “the organization is going in a different direction.” A confidentiality or privacy policy restricts the UWSA from any comment on former employees - officially, no one is talking.
A source close to the UWSA, however, accuses Taylor of “actions on her part that may have lead to her dismissal,” adding that an apparent breach of confidentiality and unethical conduct, “has something to do with it.”
The same source proposes that Taylor is “capitalizing on this [confidentiality policy]...to paint them [UWSA] in an unflattering light.”
A notice addressed to UWindsor student leaders posted on Taylor’s Facebook page the day after her firing may account for some of the hostility toward her. >>
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