Student Housing Awareness event brought to you by the letter’s U-L-S-U.

Student housing leaves no room for learning

Thursday October 2nd, 2008 join the ULSU in University Hall Atrium to discuss the issues that face students in finding safe and affordable housing.

In the Lethbridge city census of 2008, the City of Lethbridge put the current vacancy rate at 3.87% with a population of 83 960 people. Although 3.87% seems a reasonable rate of vacancy for a city of our size, this year’s census “expanded the dwelling unit types to occupied, unoccupied, under construction and vacant lot.” Which boils down to a vacancy rate including land and housing which is unable to be occupied.

Lethbridge, being a smaller urban center is often seen as a student friendly much more affordable place to live than Calgary or Edmonton. Yes, this is very true but that does not diminish the fact that student constantly face issues in finding housing to fit their particular needs. Transitory life styles, low and inconsistent incomes, little background in legal rights and an energy intensive life style are all factors which combine to make it very difficult for students to find suitable housing and protect their rights.

From a report put out by Social Housing in Action: “The vacancy rate is currently less than 1% (CMHC, 2006). Rental stock is declining with over 300 rental properties condominiumized this year alone (Real Estate Board, 2007). Gentrification is also occurring, further reducing affordable rental and ownership stock. The rental industry has seen significant increases in rental costs; 22% in the past year.”

Student housing rights are an issue which affects not only students but also the members of the university community and community at large. Lethbridge is a city whose prosperity and community development is greatly aided by students and our ability to live in a secure and suitable place is fundamental to academic and social success while attending University.

Please join us noon-1:30pm October 2^nd, 2008 in the Uhall Atrium to talk to representatives from the province of Alberta, ULSU, the University Administration, Social Housing in Action and the City of Lethbridge about Lethbridge’s student housing issues.

Free dessert and coffee will be served.

Students welcome pledge of long-term predictable federal funding for post-secondary education.

Ottawa, ON – The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations is encouraged by the pledge of the New Democratic Party to create a dedicated funding transfer from the federal government in each fiscal year to support the post-secondary educational services of the provinces. The pledge, announced today as part of the NDP’s “Education Opportunity Plan”, would guarantee each province a long-term, predictable level of funding each year, provided that each province satisfied certain criteria and conditions set by the federal government regarding program quality, accessibility, public administration and accountability.

“Since the 1990’s, the responsibility for funding post-secondary education in Canada has largely been offloaded to individual students and private enterprise, placing the accessibility, affordability and quality of the system in jeopardy,” said Zach Churchill, National Director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. “Depending on the amount, a dedicated transfer can help to reverse this process, allowing the federal government to reclaim its abdicated responsibility for ensuring a properly funded and accountable public post-secondary education system.”

The NDP Education Opportunity Plan also promises:

- A grant of $1000 by 2012 to all undergraduate or equivalent students who qualify for student loans, paid at the beginning of each school year
- A promise to forgive the student loans of health professionals who commit to dedicate the first 10 years of their careers to family medicine in Canada
- A promise to reform the Canada Student Loan system, including providing interest relief, to ensure that students will not be forced to start repaying their loans until after they have completed their education

CASA calls on the New Democratic Party to follow-up on today’s announcement with more specific details about how their dedicated education transfer payment will be funded each year. With reference to this, CASA recommends that a dedicated transfer be funded at an initial level of $4 billion in annual cash transfers, with increases made accordingly for annual inflation and demographic growth thereafter.

CASA will continue to call on the other parties in this election to create progressive solutions designed to increase the participation rates of Canadians who are currently underrepresented in the post-secondary system, while sustaining students currently in the system by reducing the amount of debt incurred in pursuit of a post-secondary credential

The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) is a non-partisan, not-for-profit national student organization composed of 23 student associations, representing 300,000 students from coast to coast. The University of Lethbridge Students’ Union is a proud member of CASA.

Brodie

UofL on itunes….world look out!

The University of Lethbridge has rather recently created a wicked Uleth itunes. Your go-to source for podcasts of wicked lectures happening at the Uni as well as announcements and addresses from our President and other amazing people here at the University.

Find it at: http://www.uleth.ca/itunesu

Jenn Prosser, VP Academic

A U of L Students’ Guide to Voting

Congratulations! Just by reading this far you have become 40% more democratic! Jokes aside, if you are a first time voter (that includes first time voting away from your home town “home”), the process can seem quite daunting and confusing. This piece will clear up those confusions and misconceptions. Before anything else, find out where you can register to vote and what you will need for identification purposes on the Elections Canada website (www.elections.ca) or the ULSU website (www.ulsu.ca ).  You can also contact the Elections Canada Lethbridge office at 403.329.2111.

And now for the fun part, actually voting!

If You Are From Lethbridge

You should have received a voter information card from Elections Canada providing the hours and locations for voting on Election Day or at the advance polls. However, if you have recently moved or turned 18 years of age, it is possible that you are not on the list of electors. If you have not received your voter information card, you can call Elections Canada at 1-800-463-6868, or visit their office in Lethbridge Center Mall by October 7^th. If you miss that deadline, you can still register in person on any of the advance voting days (October 3^rd, 4^th, &6^th), or on Election Day at your assigned polling station. Once you are registered all you need to do is show up at your assigned polling station on Election Day with your voter information card (if you have one) and the proper identification and cast your vote!

If You Are Not From Lethbridge and Want to Vote For Your Home Riding

For this, you need to either 1) Go to the Elections Canada office in Lethbridge Center Mall before October 7^th and vote by special ballot, or 2) Drive back to your home riding on the 14^th and vote there. I highly recommend not skipping a whole day of classes and just voting by special ballot.

If You Are Not From Lethbridge and Want to Vote In the Lethbridge Riding

If you are like me, due to the constant moving you have probably never changed your driver’s license or passport to show a Lethbridge address. That’s ok, you can still vote here. Again, there are two options: 1) You can go to the Elections Canada office before the 7^th and request to change your residence in the voter registry. All this requires is you filling out a piece of paper that contains your Lethbridge address, and signing it. You will then be able to show up at a polling station on the 14^th and vote. 2) Show up at your assigned polling station on Election Day and register to vote. You will need a piece of photo identification showing who you are (ie: drivers license, passport), as well as a certified original document showing your Lethbridge address (a copy of your lease or utilities bill with your name on it will suffice). You will then need to register at the polling station, and depending on the time of day this could take a while. Again, I highly recommend doing option one and taking care of it in advance.

Free textbooks online?

“How to Download your textbooks for free.”

A very very interesting article from Macleans Magazine campus edition, I highly recommend everyone check it out. Textbook prices are totally unregulated by any sort of external body outside of the on-campus University Bookstore and the university community and are not subject to any sort of public transparency or accountability. Being an industry which lends itself to monopoly, often times textbook stores charge prices to turn a profit (whether that be large or small, there is little information out there on their business success). Like any business we cannot really fault them for this, but is this meant to be a business? Textbooks are a necessary part of anyone’s education, with your success often times being dependent on your ability to access these high priced duo-tangs of information. Now, the writers of these books do get paid royalty’s but ask any professor and they will tell you it is very very little.

This is an ever growing battle and if you have any concerns or comments on this please feel free to contact us!

Jenn Prosser, VP Academic

Adam Vossepoel’s hair or: VP Academic Meliorist submission for September

Every week the ULSU executive is invited to write up a little somethin’ somethin’ in the University’s Student opertated newspaper. This week was my turn, so for your blog reading pleasure:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

September has come and is almost gone and I cannot believe it! To start off, a big up to everyone who came out to Sloan. What an amazing show! I got the chance to interview Jay Ferguson before the concert and will be posting the audio file on our blog. Now, on with some important ULSU info:

Grade Appeals

For those of you unfamiliar with this process, it is pretty simple and quite easy to deal with and I am here to help you out every step of the way. Just to let you know, grade appeal deadlines and info is pages 72-74 in the Calendar (found on the Uleth website) but if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to come chat with me!

Housing Horror

Ever live in a place so unbearable you don’t know how you made it through? Do your friends compare your digs to a post-hurricane municipal site? Feel as if your landlord is exhorting money for you to live in an illegal basement? Well, the ULSU and CAUS is running  “Housing Horror”, student housing awareness day on October 2^nd and we will have provincial, municipal and university representatives coming to the Atrium in Uhall at noon to discuss the challenges that students face in finding safe and affordable housing. Come down noon-1:30 to hear what they have to say and ask them questions. We’re are also still accepting your Housing Horror photos to be used as a visual demonstration that day, so please let you voice be heard and submit!

Test Bank

The ULSU runs a test bank program on our website where old tests are available for students use. A great resource and if you have any old tests you would like to contribute please come down to donate them at the ULSU office, level one of the Student Union Building.

CAUS

I represent the Council of Alberta University Students here for the USLU and sit as CAUS’s Vice Chair this year. If there are any concerns you would like to see brought up in our provincial lobbying efforts, please let me know!

Adam Vossepoel’s hair

As some of you may know, our President, Adam Vossepoel has really fantastic hair. This however, does not come cheap nor easy to this boy. He is on the lookout for a great hair product to use to make his locks luscious. We are now accepting suggestions via our blog so please feel free to let him know what product you favor in your day to day hair care.

That’s it for now. Here are the bevy of ways to contact me:

Twitter: jpro86

Blog: www.ulsu.wordpress.com

Website: www.ulsu.ca

Telephone: 403 329 2770

Email: su.academic@uleth.ca

A hodge podge of goodness

Well well well…what a day so far!

This October is proving to be an exciting one!

Firstly: SLOAN! Today on CKXU 88.3 FM or around the world at www.ckxu.com we will be holding a contest to win one pair of Sloan tickets. That’s right boys and girls, Sloan tickets can be all your for the simple and easy action of listening in today between 4pm-4:30pm and giving that phone a little dial.

Secondly: It is still not too late to submit your housing horror pictures. Don’t know what I am talking about? Well….click on this bad boy. We are accepting photo submissions through most forms of submission stuff, so e-mail me at su.academic@uleth.ca or come on into our offices (level one of the Students’ Union buidling)

Thirdly: Bob Dylan is coming to Lethbridge. This is the greatest news I could ever hear ever. I am the happiest VP Academic in the world right now. Want more info? Love Dylan? Click on THIS.

Landlord and Tenants rights: Things you should know.

Well, I have received a few questions in regards to the rights for both landlords and tenants and to make it a little easier here are some links to what you need to know in the housing industry.

A Guide to the legal rights for both Landlords and Tenants.

Landlord and Tenant laws

Cdn. Legals FAQ’s pertaining to Landlord/Tenant rights

Service Alberta – Renting information

Canadian Mortage and Housing Cooperation

If your interest lies in other forms of housing and shared accommodation (ie. legalization of basement quites, residential zoning laws and cooperative housing) I highly recommend checking out this site: http://www.sacha.coop/intro.html.

It is home to the Southeren Alberta Co-operative Housing Assocaition and has a wealth of information.

Please come out October 2nd, 2008 for ULSU’s Student Housing Awareness day. We welcome everyone to attend to learn from their Provincial, Municipal and local representatives what is being down to help overcome the challenges students and other face in finding safe and affordable housing.

Jenn Prosser, VP Academic

Make your vote an educated vote!

As a part of its promotion of a Post-Secondary Access Agenda, CASA has launched a web video entitled The Education Challenge, aimed at encouraging students and the general public to strongly consider the issue of accessibility to post-secondary education when casting their ballot on October 14th, 2008.

Stay tuned to State of the Union as we will be releasing more information regarding each of the party’s platform on PSE, and our thoughts regarding them.

Brodie

Lethbridge Student Housing: Oh, the horror!

The ULSU is asking you for submissions of your “housing horror stories”.

What is a housing horror story? Well, that illegal basement suite, those huge cracks in your kitchen wall, broken water heaters, deadbeat landlords, $500.00 for one room in a 5 room house. Students are faced with all these issues when it comes to safe and affordable housing and we want you to tell us about them!

Creativity loved, any type of photo accepted. As an extra added bit of awesome, we will be drawing (one ballot per participant) for four (one gift certificate per winner) $50.00 Safeway gift certificates.

Photo submissions will be accepted until September 30th.

In the UHall Atrium, on the date of October 2nd, the ULSU will construct a mock house with three walls and one open wall with the photo submissions pinned to the outside walls to showcase the participant’s submissions and call visual attention to the state of student housing in Lethbridge.

Donate a food item for the ULSU Food Bank and receive $2.00 off your ticket for our first ever “Super Awesome Theme Dance Party” being held that night, October 2nd in The Zoo.

Wait! There is more!!!
Come down to the Atrium noon-1:30pm on Thursday October 2nd to get your “Super Awesome Theme Dance Party” ticket and check out what your local housing authorities are doing for you. Representatives from University Administration, the ULSU, Social Housing in Action and the Alberta provincial government will be there to speak to what they are doing for students and to answer your questions.

Whew! What a day!

So get those photo submissions in and see you October 2nd!

Jenn Prosser, VP Academic