URSU gives party leaders the fax

Chad Macleod fills out a form detailing his debt for URSU to fax to provincial party leaders. Photo by Jamie Fischer.

by Jamie Fischer

The provincial election has led to a lot of new media talk. Websites, Facebook groups, and even a Twitter hashtag war have all sprung up in recent weeks. But at the University of Regina, students are getting attention the old fashioned way – with a fax machine.

 The University of Regina Students Union (URSU) took the new concept of vote mobs and gave it an old school slant as they held their first ever fax mob on Oct. 19.

In a busy public hall of the Riddel Centre, URSU set up a table full of T-shirts, buttons, pamphlets and, most importantly, a blank form inviting students to explain how much their university education has cost them. At the end of the day, these forms were sent to party headquarters of the NDP and the Saskatchewan Party.

“We know that there’s a lot of student apathy, and a lot of stereotypes about students. And sometimes those are true,” said Paige Kezima, URSU’s vice-president of external affairs.

The fax mob was Kezima’s idea and it’s part of URSU’s bigger election issue campaign. Education costs, affordable housing, day care, aboriginal education and, of course, voting, are all being addressed during their campaign.

“Hopefully by doing these things and having a presence we’re going to get students engaged and at least informed, and hopefully they’ll get out the voting box,” Kezima said.

The idea to use faxes instead of social media for a day was a simple one.

“We recognize that campaign offices aren’t running solely on social media, they’re still using telephones and fax machines,” Kezima said.

“I was just thinking of ways that would really get our voices heard, and even maybe annoy some of the parties for a brief afternoon. It’s really no comparison to the burdens students are facing,” she said.

The colourful booth drew a lot of onlookers, and once URSU had an opportunity to talk to students, many volunteered to fill out the forms.

“It’s an awesome idea,” said Chad Macleod, a third year finance student.

“Right now I’m in a huge problem with my money because school is so expensive this year,” he said.