As part of the Students’ Union’s annual survey, vice-president academic Hana Kadri wants student feedback on potential changes to the Taylor Family Digital Library (TFDL).

The SU wants to speed up repairs in the library — such as broken power outlets — and improve the library’s study space.

Kadri says that many repairs are not dealt with quickly in the TFDL because students don’t immediately report the problem to staff. There’s a backlog of repairs around the university, so the sooner a problem is reported, the sooner it is fixed.

Hundreds of pro-Gaza protesters gathered outside city hall to demonstrate against Israel’s invasion of Gaza — Operation Protective Edge — on Friday, Aug. 1. The previous two protests saw over 1,000 attendees. Hamas and Israel have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, which is set to end Thursday, August 7. Over 1,800 Palestinians and over 60 Israelis have died in this year’s conflict.

Your favourite campus radio station is getting some exciting upgrades this year. CJSW boosted their signal from 4,000 to 18,000 watts in July and are working on a new website that will automatically podcast all of their shows.

Station manager Myke Atkinson said the wattage boost will improve their signal across the city.

“There are kids in residence who’ve told me they can’t pick up the signal. That’s not cool,” Atkinson said. “The [new] signal is just way, way cleaner wherever you go.”

Arts students will enjoy a refurbished Arts Lounge in the fall with the space set to receive $8,000 in new furniture this August.

Plans include adding more sofas, coffee tables, book shelves, student art and a new sound system.

The Arts Lounge opened in Feb. 2013 on the first floor of the Social Sciences building. These are the first upgrades to the space.

Students’ Union arts representative Kirsty McGowan said the upgrades will make the space more hang-out friendly.

Campus Security has added a statement to security alerts to emphasize that victims of sexual assault are not responsible for the actions of their attackers.
The statement begins with “a victim of a crime is not responsible for a perpetrator’s actions.”

Consent Awareness and Sexual Education club (CASE) president Emily Leedham said past security alerts implied the responsibility to prevent assaults lay with the individual.

The language we use to discuss sexual violence needs to change. Removing stigma overnight is impossible, but changing the way we discuss sexual assault is a positive step.

On campus, thanks to the Consent Awareness and Sexual Education club and the Students’ Union, security alerts issued by Campus Security now include a disclaimer stating that victims of assault are not responsible for their attack.