York Federation of Students
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since March 2007. |
- This article is on the York Federation of Students in Canada. For the UK version, see York University Students' Union.
York Federation of Students represents over 45,000 students at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The York Federation of Students (YFS) is a member of the Canadian Federation of Students (Local 68).
Contents |
[edit] Members
- President: Corrie Sakaluk
- VP Campus Life: Reuben Hodari Clarke
- VP External: Shamini Selvaratnam
- VP Equity: Fuad Abdi
- VP Operations: Safiya Williams
[edit] College Councillors
- Stong College: Appointed
- McLaughlin College: 'Appointed
- Vanier College: Appointed
- Winters College: Appointed
- Glendon College: Appointed
- Founders College: Appointed
- Bethune College: Appointed
- Calumet College: Appointed
- Atkinson College: 'Appointed
[edit] Faculty Councillors
- Faculty of Arts: Noora Sharrab
- Faculty of Science and Engineering: Tarun Sabharwal
- Faculty of Education: Joelle Woodruff
- Faculty of Fine Arts: (vacant)
- Osgoode Hall Law School: Tarek Hamam
- Schulich School of Business: Cesar Teledo
Note: Atkinson and Glendon are distinct. Atkinson is both a faculty and a college, and Glendon is a faculty, a college, and a campus.
[edit] YFS Services
The YFS offers several different services to students, such as reduced photocopying fees and a free local fax line (YFS). It also runs the campus food bank, peer support and academic advocacy services. All undergraduate students at York University (with the exception of Atkinson & Osgoode Hall students) participate in a health plan (YFS). 65.5% of voting Glendon College students voted to join the health plan during their 2006 Spring Elections (Elections York). Glendon College was a previous non-participant in the plan. Students with alternative extended health coverage are permitted to opt-out of the plan.
Conflict & Controversy
Conflict has arisen during past YFS elections, with some alleging that pro-Israel and pro-Palestine groups have attempted to take over the executive of YFS.
In January 2005, 5 students were arrested and beaten by Toronto Police in Vari Hall for having a demonstration against the War on Iraq and drawing the connections that York University has to major players in the Military-Industrial Complex.The YFS and York University Senate condemned the administration's decision to invite police onto campus, which ultimately lead to the beating of the students. Over a thousand students attended the demonstration to protest the use of force by police against the demonstrators.
The YFS has also come under scrutiny from a small number group for its support of the right to assembly, protests and other events in Vari Hall, one of the main classroom buildings on campus and a traditional centre of student gatherings. Under the previous Presidencies, the head of the University would debate the President of the YFS in Vari Hall.
The elections in early 2006 saw 15 positions being acclaimed, only one spot was left vacant. However the contested positions had the highest voter turn out, on paper ballot, in the student union's history. The numbers were far less, though, than the number of voters when the YFS utilized York's computer voting system, eVote.
In the most recent elections in March 2007, York Undivided contested Reality Check for a mojority of the positions. Unoffical results gave the York Undivided team all but 6 councillor positions. However the elections have been put under intense scrutiny due to the suspected bias of the Chief Returning Officer Kelly Holloway, who was hired by the incumbent team and all thru the election process dished out demirit points to Reality Check for petty mistakes while showing clemency to the York Undivided team to the extent of overlooking an assault by one of their candidates on a volunteer of the Reality Check team. Furthermore during the vote count, two ballot boxes were found to be quite clearly compromised, which the election officals deny. Thus the integrity of the electoral process is in doubt and is being contested by the Reality Check team.
External link
* YFS Website
 |
This Canadian university, college, or tertiary institution related article is a stub. See the WikiProject Education in Canada for article coordination. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
[edit] External link
 |
Canadian Students' Associations | |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Student Unions | |||
| Acadia | Alberta | Algonquin | Athabasca | Bishop's | British Columbia | Brock | Calgary | Carleton | Lethbridge | Manitoba | McGill | McMaster | UNBC | Ottawa | Queen's | Ryerson | St. Francis Xavier | Saint Mary's | Saskatchewan | Simon Fraser | Toronto | Victoria | Waterloo | Western | Wilfrid Laurier | Windsor | York | |||
| School Memberships | |||
| ANSSA | CASA | CAUS | CFS | CSA | NBSA | OUSA | |||
