SU plays political shuffle board

Page 2: The Sheridan Sun, ThurSday, SePTember 20, 2012

New bylaw alters structure of SSUI board of directors

Victoria Skalin

Sheridan News At last Thursdays Special General Meeting, Student Union passed a new bylaw that altered the structure of Sheridan Colleges Board of Directors. Previously, Trafalgar and Davis Campuses both had five seats on the board, and HMC had one, but last weeks meeting left Trafalgar and Davis with four seats, and HMC with three. One of the things the board put a lot of emphasis on this past term was the lack of representation for HMC students, given that it is growing, said Emma Alguire, Student Union president. And also a lack of interest at Trafalgar and Davis Campuses. At last years election Trafalgar Campus only had one person run for the five seats that were available, while HMC had seven run for the one seat that was available.

With these bylaw changes, students at HMC will have a larger say on what goes on at their campus. Business students, like the students at HMC, relate to these positions because it is what they will do in the real world, Alguire said. Its developing skills like financial management and strategic planning, that will be helpful in their work experience. It may not be as helpful for someone who is an arts student or a technology student. Every Student Union meeting held must rotate to a different campus. The meeting was held at HMC because the bylaw change was something that ultimately affected HMC, so the board of directors looked into that factor when deciding where to hold the meeting, Alguire said. I honestly think that everyone just came for the food, said Maria Marin, the only member on the board of directors at HMC. But everyone voted unanimously to the changes. Buses were provided to and from HMC at both Trafalgar and Davis campuses, the time of the transportation however was not as easily accessible.

The bus times for Thursdays 3 p.m. meeting were not made available to students until approximately noon Thursday, less than two hours before the scheduled departing time at 1:45 at Trafalgar. When we got around to finding transportation for this meeting everything was booked so we were pretty rushed to get the times out, said Alguire. But the most a bus will fill is about five or six students per campus, so I dont think it really affected the number of students that came. Alguire said. Other changes to the bylaws included clarifications of terms, such as chairperson instead of chair, and a change that requires members who are in positions that are not filled in the next election to either stay on as their current position or to resign. The bylaw changes for the board of directors will be in effect for the upcoming by-election taking place next month. The by-election is being held because of the lack of interest from Trafalgar and Davis at last years election. At last years election, one candidate, Pawan Giri was acclaimed for Trafalgar.

Journalism launches new sites

Natalie Lavoy-Furtado
Sheridan News Two new Sheridan Journalism print websites mean quick and easy access to the news. We had the Sheridan Sun newspaper that didnt have a website and we had something called the Sheridan Sun Online which was a website, said Nathan Mallett, journalism co-ordinator. The two publications you might think would carry the same content they didnt. What used to be the Sun Online has now been replaced by the Sheridan Voice, which will showcase multi-media news, Now its a truly online publication, said Mallett, Its its own entity. TheSheridanVoice.com is compiled by five groups of students, so on the website there are five different channels. This way students arent limited to a certain category like news or lifestyle and they can write whatever they want, said Cheryl Vallender, journalism professor. One student works on the story, two for the video, one photo feature and one infographic, said Vallender. An infographic is a visualization of the story and since data journalism is a growing field we want students to use these skills to make a really good package. And the TheSheridanSun.ca digital edition is great for students who dont have time to pick up the school newspaper but are still interested in news and whats going on with the school. With this new online outlet, students can get breaking news daily instead of news compiled weekly. So if there is a car crash on campus, students can be the first to know simply by visiting the website. First and foremost both the newspaper and the website are really for the students to build their portfolio, said Mallett. But both websites also benefit every other student on campus as well as people interested in general. Like every other publication in the world its there to serve the interest of readers, said Mallett.

Tap n go printers in Learning Commons

Changes aimed at improving accessibility, cutting wasted paper
Kim Gauvreau
News Sheridan Learning Commons has upgraded its printers. The move is expected to be more environmentally friendly while better accommodating students with special needs. Leading the project is manager of IT Operations Alex Virapen. The main goal in all of this is trying to give students an incentive to go digital, and to show students that everyone in the college is contributing to the sustainability challenge, Virapen said. The challenge, issued to the college by President Jeff Zabudsky asks staff, students, and faculty to conserve resources at school and in the community. One of the main benefits to the new printing system, explained Virapen, is that the Learning Commons is now set up to be fully accessible. Not only have the printers been improved, the system for people with accessibility issues has changed. The new printers cater to the needs of students and faculty who are in a wheelchair. At the farthest end, closest to the entrance, that printer is placed extra low, allowing students and staff to fully access all the components of the printer without any issues. We are now within the accessibility guidelines with height and reach. Were really proud of that, Virapen said. Last semester, printers were set up corresponding to the area students were sitting. For example, if the area was colour-coded yellow, you would print work on the yellow printer. Now the printers are programmed to print wherever you are sitting. By tapping a oneCARD at the printer, students can see the print job they are awaiting. Students will now have to release this print job for it to be printed. Once released, the job disappears from the print queue under the users name. Its definitely made it easier for us. I used to avoid printing here, in general. And Im glad to hear were doing this for the greater good, said Sheridan student Victoria Marshall. Systems also purge print jobs that have not been attended to after eight hours. The paper waste has been cut down substantially. It was like a paper mill in here before. There was so much waste. The printers were spewing out jobs like crazy and wed end up with a huge pile at the end of the day, Virapen said. Those unclaimed papers are referred to as orphaned print jobs, and contributed to a considerable amount of waste at

A student prints in Learning Commons on a printer features new method of releasing a job.

Kim Gauvreau

Sheridan. The important message here is that all of the students should be proud to know, Hey, Im involved in something big here. Its about the responsible use of printing, and students are getting a sense of this, and the resources around the school that we can continue to improve, Virapen said. The new system also features scanners allowing students to scan work or notes and send them to a professor, or to fellow students who werent in class that day. Work can be scanned directly from the printer. W This project is not done. Its so early for us to know whether everything is working as well as it could be. We want to see if we need to change things, so, were still doing some analysis, and want some student opinion, Virapen said.