A police investigation into a sexual assault that allegedly took place at a York University residence earlier this month has revealed that the incident did not occur on the campus.

York University today replaced campus safety alerts, which had been warning students of the alleged sexual assault that supposedly occurred in the Founders College residences on Jan 11, with a statement stating that the alleged assault did not happen on the campus.

“The Toronto Police Sex Crimes Unit, in cooperation with York University Security Services, has completed its investigation in relation to the alleged sexual assault that was reported to have occurred on Friday, January 11, 2008 at Founders College Residence, York University. It has been determined that the sexual assault did not occur at York University,” the statement reads.

Two sexual assaults occurred on the York University campus in September, and this most recent allegation prompted heightened media attention, and a firestorm of allegations against the university by activist groups.

The students union demanded the university conduct an immediate safety audit. “It is clear from this incident that the York administration needs to do more to address the systemic issues of sexual assault and violence on this campus,” said Gilary Massa, a vice-president of the York Federation of Students (YFS) immediately following the accusation being made public.

Last week, after racist graffiti was discovered at York, student activists pounced on the university again, arguing that safety on the campus was a major concern. They also claimed that not enough was done to address campus safety issues following the alleged sexual assault. …

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT MACLEAN’S ONLINE

IN THE NEWS

Three University students killed in Ottawa crash

Story not reposted as copyright for it belongs to The Canadian Press and I do my best to respect copyright. You can read this section on Macleans.ca.

St. Thomas University faculty union ordered to vote

Striking faculty at St Thomas university have been ordered to hold a final offer vote early next week by the New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board. The union had attempted to block a final offer vote from taking place in favour of their own vote, but the Board ruled against them. The union is recommending its members reject the university’s latest offer.

The university requested the employment board order the vote after the faculty union rejected a ruling by Milton Veniot, the government appointed mediator, that the union should accept the university’s pre-lockout offer. The university locked out the faculty on December 27 after 10 months of failed negotiation. The faculty then voted to go on strike earlier this month.

The university’s offer would see wages rise by three percent for two years of a three year contract, and 3.5 percent in the final year. The union wants to see wages increase by 43 percent over the same three year period.

The union claims that St. Thomas University is paying faculty at a rate significantly below comparable universities. However, Veniot concluded in his report that STU’s compensation was actually first for associate professors, and full professors at the ceiling of their wage scale, when compared to other undergraduate universities in the region such as Acadia University and Mount St. …

The city of Oshawa has moved one step closer to enacting a controversial housing bylaw that would leave hundreds of students without a place to live. On Monday the city’s development services committee approved the bylaw for city council consideration.

The new regulations would limit the number of bedrooms in houses, close to the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and Durham College, to four, and place restrictions to keep bedrooms from comprising more than 40 per cent of total floor space.

The official goal of the bylaw is to control “density.”

Councillor John Neal, who represents the ward where UOIT is located, says the proposed bylaw does not go far enough. He wants restrictions placed on the number of houses that can be rented in the area, as well as laws requiring a set distance between rental houses. “This will bring the neighbourhood back to what it should be, what it was . . . it was quiet,” says Neal.

Students and the University both feel that the bylaw is unfairly targeting students. The university sent out a news release prior to Monday’s meeting stating that it fully supported the position of the students’ association against the bylaw.

The bylaw is the first in Ontario designed to restrict students from living in an area near a university. Many other university towns such as London and Hamilton are looking to pass similar restrictions on student housing.

The city of Oshawa denies that it is targeting students.

Read background story Oshawa Council backs down on controversial housing bylaw

Joey Coleman: Liveblogging the Oshawa meeting …

Bylaw targetting students will leave 500 homeless according to student association

21/01/2008 18:53:49 – at the meeting. Finally got here after getting stuck on a GO Train that was 30 minutes late.

21/01/2008 18:54:20 – the permanent residents are go in force tonight. They are unhappy.

21/01/2008 19:00:44 – applauses are not allowed. Heaven forbid a politician feel some pressure. (This case it is the anti-student faction clapping)

21/01/2008 19:01:42 – staff can exempt non-student rentals from bylaw.

21/01/2008 19:03:06 – back to the “middle of the night” renovations lines.

21/01/2008 19:04:00 – residents not happy at the three year exemption – students will still be living next the university.

21/01/2008 19:07:23 – one councillor says he would not live in a student house cause it does not have the amenities of a normal house. In other breaking news – old people have different tastes than young.

21/01/2008 19:24:20 – some parent has her kid wearing a sign saying “Keep me safe!” I would like to know how this parent would react if she found out a white collar criminal lived on the street. What would these people do if the Hell Angels decided to move in? Blow up the street with artillery? I mean, the city has already broken (executed search warrants) into houses with locksmiths to get leases because university students moved into the area. You thought Mel Lastman calling in the army to shovel snow was ridiculous wait till these people find a grow-op in their backyard. (I always thought search warrants were for criminal offenses, not the offense of going to school.)

21/01/2008 19:29:10 – one councillor suggests that the housing licensing bylaw should be extended to the rest of the city starting in three years. …

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT MACLEAN’S ONLINE 

21/01/2008 18:53:49 – at the meeting. Finally got here after getting stuck on a GO Train that was 30 minutes late.

21/01/2008 18:54:20 – the permanent residents are go in force tonight. They are unhappy.

21/01/2008 19:00:44 – applauses are not allowed. Heaven forbid a politician feel some pressure. (This case it is the anti-student faction clapping)

21/01/2008 19:01:42 – staff can exempt non-student rentals from bylaw.

21/01/2008 19:03:06 – back to the “middle of the night” renovations lines.

21/01/2008 19:04:00 – residents not happy at the three year exemption – students will still be living next the university.

21/01/2008 19:07:23 – one councillor says he would not live in a student house cause it does not have the amenities of a normal house. In other breaking news – old people have different tastes than young.

21/01/2008 19:24:20 – some parent has her kid wearing a sign saying “Keep me safe!” I would like to know how this parent would react if she found out a white collar criminal lived on the street. What would these people do if the Hell Angels decided to move in? Blow up the street with artillery? I mean, the city has already broken (executed search warrants) into houses with locksmiths to get leases because university students moved into the area. You thought Mel Lastman calling in the army to shovel snow was ridiculous wait till these people find a grow-op in their backyard. (I always thought search warrants were for criminal offenses, not the offense of going to school.)

21/01/2008 19:29:10 – one councillor suggests that the housing licensing bylaw should be extended to the rest of the city starting in three years. …

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT MACLEAN’S ONLINE

While, it is back to the ‘Shawa for me today. I will be covering tonight’s city committee meeting where they are planning to redo the proposed student housing bylaw. (Disclaimer: for legal reasons, they don’t actually call it that and they protest that the bylaw has nothing to do with students. Just happens to apply in an area that the only renters are students.)

Should be an interesting meeting. I am expecting the "we hate students" crowd to be out in full force tonight after watching council get infected by common sense last week.

I am hoping to get a connection on my internet router and do some live blogging tonight.

P.S. Daily Update is running late, my laptop crashed this morning and the tubes went on the fritz for me at the same time. …

Proposed changes would have forced students out of neighbourhood near campus

The City of Oshawa backed down on a controversial proposed housing bylaw when over 450 people came out to a public hearing Monday. The proposed bylaw was widely considered to be an effort to curtail the student rental market in the neighbourhood surrounding Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology to appease residents.

The move follows months of tension in the community that led the city to impose interim control bylaws, preventing renovating properties for rental purposes, and to execute search warrants looking for leases and cancelled cheques. The conflict culminated in police raids on student houses this fall.

The new proposed bylaw would limit the number of bedrooms within rental houses in the area surrounding the university to four, regardless of the size of the house. Landlords will have to pay a $250 per bedroom annual licensing fee and carry increased insurance. The policy changes were designed to answer resident complaints about noise from student rental housing, among other concerns. None of the recommendations from students or landlords were included in the proposed changes, according to critics.

Rick Cameron, a permanent resident, described his experience sharing a neighbourhood with students at Monday’s meeting. “My house is continually used as a urinal, a toilet to throw up in,” he said. He said the bylaw should be passed immediately but pushed for it to go further by limiting the number of homes in the area that can be rented to students.

But not all residents at the meeting were in support of the bylaw change. …

“Nothing short of getting rid of all students will appease local residents,” John Gray, mayor of Oshawa, said Friday. His city is dealing with town-and-gown conflicts between students and residents that culminated in police raids on student housing this fall and now a proposed new bylaw.

“All three groups are not happy,” Gray said, referring to the situation in the neighbourhoods surrounding the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and Durham College. The area has been the target of a blitz to enforce noise and parking bylaws.

The new proposed bylaw would limit the number of bedrooms within rental houses in the area surrounding the university to four, regardless of the size of the house. Landlords will have to pay a $250 per bedroom annual licensing fee and carry increased insurance. The bylaw will be debated by city council on January 16.

The move follows months of tension in the community that led the city to impose interim control bylaws, preventing renovating properties for rental purposes, and to execute search warrants looking for leases and cancelled cheques.

Police and city officials raided 17 houses being rented by students in September. One Durham College student returned from school to find police officers, a fire marshal, and a building inspector searching her personal possessions. A locksmith had picked the locks to her rental home to gain access. Her roommate was awakened from a nap when the officials entered her bedroom to search.

Students were given no notice of the searches and houses were entered whether or not the students were at home. …

Mayor says residents want to get rid of all students