Hey Mac!

As some of you may already know, a referendum will be held concurrently with SRA General Elections. The referendum is being held to get, you the students' opinion on whether or not you are opposed to or in favour of implementing a 35 cent Ancillary fee to support McMaster students volunteering overseas with Engineers Without Borders.

WHAT IS EWB?

Engineers Without Borders is an NGO (non-governmental organization) who works both here in Canada and overseas in Rural Africa (Ghana, Malawi, Burkina Faso, and Zambia) to promote global development and poverty reduction initiatives.

Overseas we strive to create long-term sustainable development solutions through the engagement and education of local citizens and leaders providing a sense of ownership. In Africa, the projects fall under three categories: Water Sanitation, Agriculture & food processing, and Rural Infrastructure.

In Canada we strive to educate the public and advocate for poverty reduction solutions and awareness. This is done through: the School’s Outreach program, curriculum enhancement (in Mac’s case: “The Root Causes of Poverty” Workshop for Engineering 1P03 and the newly formed Global Engineering Team), public engagement through events/ seminars/ workshops etc. and general member learning (for Mac EWB is the implementing of knowledge team and hosting Weekly Engagement Nights among other initiatives).

WHAT IS THE JUNIOR FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM?
The Junior Fellowship (JF) program is an opportunity open to ANY McMaster student who will be returning for at least ONE full year of study following their summer overseas. Each year, one student out the pool of applicants is selected. The JF spends 4 months overseas in Africa (Beginning of May- End of August), the prior school year in preparation, and the proceeding school year actively contributing and sharing their experiences with the EWB, McMaster, and Hamilton community. Therefore, the JF program is classified as an 18-month commitment, with 4 months of overseas work.
In the preparation year much of the work is self directed and guided, therefore the student selected must show strong work ethic, initiative, and a willingness to learn. Prior involvement with EWB is not a requirement by any means but is advantageous to applicants.

How does the JF program benefit McMaster students
The Junior Fellowship program benefits McMaster students as it provides them with the remarkable opportunity to constructively contribute to developing nations as a representative of Engineers Without Borders. It provides them with the opportunity to develop professional skills essential to their future goals- regardless of their career path. This is evident in the application process alone, as the selection process requires the submission of a written application, resume, and interview with the chapter president and past Junior Fellow. Furthermore, it promotes McMaster as a community of students devoted to positive global change and development and fosters the ability to grow as leaders both locally and abroad.

Why should students be inclined to fund the JF program (vote “yes”)?
The fee would go directly towards an opportunity available to students. It is not a very costly expense (the most 35 cents can get you is a gumball) and is for YOU, the students. Furthermore it is only fitting it be funding via MSU fees- a student union that so adamantly functions for students, by students. Knowing students fund the program increases ownership of the JFs and yields the potential to increase engagement and vested interest in the program.

***The fee is only 35 cents and ALL of it goes towards overseas initiatives of the JF, none of the funds stay within our chapter***

On March 10th & 11th say “YES” to student opportunity, promoting global citizenship and creating the potential to have a lasting impact on individuals in developing nations.

HELP BUILD AN OVERSEAS CONNECTION; 35 CENTS HAS NEVER GONE SO FAR.

If you have any questions/ comments don't hesitate to ask & make sure you vote !

Is there an opposition side to the campaign?

Originally Posted by A.Marlowe

Is there an opposition side to the campaign?

I don't think there is, no reason why there should be one. The last commercial referendum we had(DVD fee) had an opposition side because it was a straight up sketchy commercial service and hence a few SRA members were against it, plus the fees were much higher.

Only opposition in theory will be people not knowing enough about it(why should we give money to engineers etc; even though this post does say it is open to everyone) or people straight up against any extra fees even if it is 35c

For this referendum I guess EWB people will have to get the engineers out there, they don't have a SRA election but a table will still be in JHE for the referendum.

Ditto with Artsci, Kin, Nursing.

Originally Posted by huzaifa47

I don't think there is, no reason why there should be one. The last commercial referendum we had(DVD fee) had an opposition side because it was a straight up sketchy commercial service and hence a few SRA members were against it, plus the fees were much higher.

Only opposition in theory will be people not knowing enough about it(why should we give money to engineers etc; even though this post does say it is open to everyone) or people straight up against any extra fees even if it is 35c

For this referendum I guess EWB people will have to get the engineers out there, they don't have a SRA election but a table will still be in JHE for the referendum.

Ditto with Artsci, Kin, Nursing.

Hi Huzaifa,

Both the Junior Fellowship program and EWB itself are completely open to anyone from any faculty. Many of our members come from faculties outside of Engineering, and their contribution to the chapter makes EWB a fantastic place to learn more from each other and to have really engaging discussions.
In the past, we have had Junior Fellows from other faculties. For example, Vera Rocca, last year's President and a Junior Fellow in the summer of 2008, majored in Political Science.
If you would like to learn more about what the Junior Fellows do on their placements, check out the blogs they made during their Fellowships, which are linked to the EWB McMaster website here:

http://mcmaster.ewb.ca/Struc/OS_Blog.php

I'm pretty sure he understood that Steph. He was pointing out that most opposition would come from people who didn't realize that.

I would have no problem with donating 35 cents to EWB, I just don't like the idea of having a referendum to add it to student fees. If people who vote yes actually support it, why not just ask them for money straight up? If they're willing to have it come with student fees, they'd be willing to do it in person as well. However people who will come in next year won't get a choice, they'll be forced into it. I don't think we should have the ability to force others to donate to one particular charity.

I know 35 cents is such a small amount that its practically meaningless, but I still hate the principle of it.

Student fees are bullshit and have a tendency to get abused. Look at levies like Incite, and Solar Car -- benevolent in intent, but next to useless to the average student.

Marlowe is completely right. Fundraise. Do not ask for another levy.

I've been to a few things that the past JF's have presented or been at. They don't just go on a vacation to Africa. They learn a lot and spend a lot of time when they get back sharing what they have learned. I am actually really impressed with them.

It is part of why I want to go abroad with EWB later on.

Fund-raising has been the method used in the past, but it can be unreliable. The .35 per student is really worth it. If you are concerned about tuition prices, we should really be looking at inefficiencies in the financial structure of teh school, and irresponsibility by the departments.

"If you dont spend it, you wont get it next year" is the reason we have high tuition.

.35 cents here, .35 cents there, it all adds up to exorbitant student fees for services which have no effect on me whatsoever. Shouldn't student fees I pay be ones which have a direct effect on me? I think it's wrong to force students to pay for something they won't use, especially since a majority of McMaster's students won't even find out about this referendum and won't know that they are paying extra money for causes which won't effect them. It's very shady in my opinion, and should not be happening at all, can't someone in the MSU do something about this?

Originally Posted by Rossclot

I've been to a few things that the past JF's have presented or been at. They don't just go on a vacation to Africa. They learn a lot and spend a lot of time when they get back sharing what they have learned. I am actually really impressed with them.

It is part of why I want to go abroad with EWB later on.

Fund-raising has been the method used in the past, but it can be unreliable. The .35 per student is really worth it. If you are concerned about tuition prices, we should really be looking at inefficiencies in the financial structure of teh school, and irresponsibility by the departments.

"If you dont spend it, you wont get it next year" is the reason we have high tuition.

We're not talking about Tuition, we're talking about student fees. EWB seems like an absolutely phenomenal organization, I'm not disputing that. And I would gladly donate 35 cents to them.

However, that does not mean we should have them funded by a student fee. There are lots of worthwhile causes, its up to individual students to support the ones they see fit. Rohan was right to compare it to Solar Car. It may be a great cause, but the average student will never reap any benefit from it. Donating to it should be each students prerogative, not something decided by a referendum.

The reason why I support, and helped bring to referendum, EWB and their endeavours is because the nature of the McMaster Chapter is one of progress and taking the steps towards creating global citizens. While fundraising is an option, it is often clouded by the fact that many student chapters do not receive the financial support of the university or larger companies to make any sort of relevant difference -- a 35 cent student fee can go a long way.

No one complains about the $1.37 for World University Service of Canada Refugee Scholarship, a student fee that everyone pays in September, and is adjusted by inflation. It is altruism that should encourage people to support the referendum and keep in mind that over the span of 4 years, a successful EWB referendum would cost the average student less than $1.50... the cost of one large coffee from Tim Hortons.

If you honestly cannot afford to pay the 35 cents a year, than I would whole-heartedly support voting "no" for the referendum. If it comes down to the fact that people feel like they are not receiving benefits from donating to a cause that creates global citizens and has direct impact on communities across the globe, than maybe we are losing sight of what it is to be benevolent.

I should point out that I am also against forced donations to any other charity. Charity without choice is not altruism. It is up to each individual student to decide whether they want to support a certain charity. I might want to support EWB, or I might decide that I would rather give my money to PETA. I shouldn't be forced to pick one of those charities because of what other students decided.

I might not expect to get any benefit from charitable donations, but I certainly expect them from my student fees. We should not muddle the distinction between the two.

really? at least you KNOW this 35 cents will be going to a good cause. I'd rather pay this than that retreat the SRA goes on every year (or the majority of the MSU fee in general...but thats another story). and there are plenty of fees we pay that could be worse (cough...CFMU...cough ).

i would not be caught dead donating to PETA however.

Exactly. We should be working to cut back on the number of fees that do not benefit students. This year the SRA is not going to Bark Lake, because of the cost. I'm not sure whether this was because of student objections or because of the current lacklustre financial performance of the MSU, but its a start toward them not wasting our money. Cutting back on the CFMU fees is a direction that many people (myself and Rohan included) wish that the MSU would take.

Each student should decide where they want their money to go. You don't like PETA, I do. Why should you be forced into supporting an organization just because I support it?

It's great to see so much discussion on this, many of you ask why should I support this organization via student fees and not another is because the fee is not going to a "random or sketchy project" within EWB.

It is going towards sending a STUDENT overseas to volunteer in a development project and as previously stated, sharing what you learned with Mac and the community is not a good idea but a duty of the JF during their debreifing year.

Without the fee our means of sending the JF are via fundraising for the most part, if for any reason fundraising is unsuccessful in some years the JF would not be able to go- again it is a student opportunity. Therefore both students looking to seek the opportunity to act as global citizens and the EWB organization would suffer as a whole due to it.

If you don't think 35 cents is worth it then vote "no", that is why it's in a referendum to get students to vote and its up to them to do so.

So in short I know the concept of "forced charity" is something that does not resonate well with many however this extends beyond that concept because its a student opportunity to aid a charitable cause

If anyone really wants to complain about the solar car fee, you can come talk to me. I'm on the exec team and I can tell you all about how solar car works for Mac students and the Hamilton community. I can tell you about the solar car budget and why we need x amount of money, or what it is we actually do, or even the fact that we are ALSO open to ALL McMaster students who are interested in solar energy, cars, or all those things in between.

Not to hijack the EWB thread, because they are a great bunch of people, but I felt the need to defend my extracurricular activity when people are attacking it, much like I always do.