Letter to the editor

FSU clarification
RE: “Sex sells at Fanshawe” January 5, 2007 by Chris Walker

Having had the opportunity to read over Chris Walker's article, on behalf of the Fanshawe Student Union, I would like to respond to two points made in his past letter to the editor.

First is in regards to the Student Union being the “self proclaimed” voice of the students at Fanshawe. We are not self proclaimed, we ARE the voice of the students at Fanshawe. We hold elections, open to all students, and are elected on behalf of students to represent them. We are the governing body of the students, and we are the Fanshawe Student Union Incorporated. This makes us the voice of students. To say we are self proclaimed, is inferring that we as elected leaders (or as students at large) decided this amongst ourselves when in fact, this is what we are elected to do. As President, my job description includes that I hold the “spokesperson position” of Fanshawe students. All full-time students who pay student fees have the opportunity to run for positions and to vote. So this is hardly something that a few of us are deciding on our own.

Second was with comments made about the College Student Alliance (CSA). Currently, no student at Fanshawe pays $4 to belong. They pay $3. This past conference that was held in November in Sudbury, the elected leaders from across Ontario chose to raise the fee to $4 per student. The Fanshawe Student Union Executives sat down and discussed this at length, and on numerous occasions, to make sure that whatever way we voted was what was in the interest of the majority of our students. I was beyond impressed with the comments, questions, and discussion had at the Board table by my team. They researched this fee, where the fee would be spent, and grilled myself and the CSA Board to make sure that all the answers they wanted were satisfactory. I believe in the fee increase and so does our Board. If they didn't, then the vote to increase the fee at our table would not have passed. And as in all democratic organizations, the majority always rules.

The dedication of this year's Student Council is exemplary. You have some great students stepping-up and taking leadership positions to make Fanshawe College accountable for you. I hope that all students recognize the great things that we do for our student body, as we continue to be one of the leading student union teams across Ontario. Last week, every member of my Executive team came in to help on Week of Welcome for new students, while they were still on the same Christmas vacation as everyone else. If that isn't a team that is dedicated to student life, I do not know what is.

Christine Thomson
President
Fanshawe Student Union

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.