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Winter 2016 PGSS Referendum endorsements

EDITORIAL

WUSC Student Refugee Program fee increase – YES

The Daily endorses a “yes” vote to the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) fee increase referendum question. Collected since 1986, this fee has supported the WUSC Student Refugee Program, which provides funding to students living in refugee camps to study at McGill. The fee currently amounts to $0.50 and has never been adjusted for inflation, which limits WUSC to sponsoring only one person each year. Increasing the fee to $2.00 would allow WUSC to sponsor up to three students annually.

LICM fee increase – YES

The Legal Information Clinic at McGill (LICM) provides essential services, many of which are specific to graduate students. It represents graduate students in negotiating with their supervisors when professional relationships become strained, and in defending them against accusations of plagiarism. In addition, LICM helps graduate students appeal withdrawals. Undergraduate students currently pay $4.50 per semester for the same services, whereas graduate students pay $2.00 per semester, though in proportion to their numbers, PGSS members use LICM services more than twice as much as undergraduates. As such, The Daily endorses a “yes” vote to increase the LICM fee to $4.50.

—The McGill Daily editorial board