The petition
“Whereas the Graduate Student’ Association building located at 2030 Mackay is a graduate student space provided free of rent by Concordia University;
Whereas every graduate student at Concordia pays an annual fee of $43 to the GSA;
Whereas the GSA provides access to two computer labs, printing services, a lounge, a conference room, a microwave,a refrigerator and a television;
Whereas the GSA has been opened from 10am to 11pm from Monday to Friday and from 12pm to 5pm on weekends to assure access to services to graduate students;
Whereas many graduate students, mainly from the Faculty of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences have no other access to computers than those at the GSA;
Whereas on October 10th, a motion to “Reduce the operation hours of computer labs the same as working hours of Secretary coming into effect by November 1st, 2007” was carried without having been put on the agenda, without any discussion and rationale for such downsizing;
Whereas new opening hours would only give graduate students’ access to the GSA from 10am to 5pm from Monday to Friday and therefore reduce considerably access to GSA services;
Whereas this motion was put forward without prior notice and in the absence of two of the Arts and Sciences directors and the specialized individual program director who had previously indicated that the meeting time was not convenient for them and that they could not attend;
Whereas, the motion was carried (5 in favour / 2 abstention) in the sole presence of 4 of the 5 elected executives officers (all students from the Faculty of engineering) who have voting powers on council according to the GSA by-laws, of the 2 directors from the faculty of Engineering and the director reprensenting Science;
Whereas this decision affects access to service to the entire graduate student community;
Whereas there is not financial justification for the reduction of the GSA operating hours; the operation costs of the evening, week-end, the computer lab including all payroll costs for the lab monitors represent only 8% of the annual budget (less than what the executives are paying themselves in salaries);
We, the undersigned Concordia graduate students, call upon the GSA council (GSA) to reverse the reduction in operating hours of the GSA and the reinstatement of the employees laid off by that measure.
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