So, why assume the current editorial board holds this opinion about safety on campus? Or any opinion of the previous editorial board?
In fact, our investigations into safety on campus this year have headed in the opposite direction from the opinion expressed. On September 5, our front page story was on SASSL’s criticism of York administration’s safety bulletins on campus, calling them “false security.”
Our job all year is to look deeply into why crime rates on campus are high and give our readers answers. We do this through news investigations and reporting fact, not by reporting assumptions.
I’m also concerned that JFAAP incorrectly labelled the editorial in question as an article. It was not an article, but an editorial which expresses the opinions of one person, namely the Editor-in-Chief. Excalibur, one of the country’s best student newspapers and winner of several awards, would never present these claims as a news article.
The opinion of this individual, which stated crime problems on campus are coming from the Jane and Finch community, was factually held, cleaving to the fact that the Jane and Finch neighbourhood has one of the highest crime rates in the country—a 2009 StatsCan report highlights several Toronto neighbourhoods as crime “hotspots,” one of which is the intersection of Jane and Finch.
This opinion may have been an oversimplification of a complex social issue which continues to be a problem throughout Toronto with no concrete solutions as of yet. As Torontonians, we’re all concerned with crime in our city, and are open to solutions to this problem.
To address the letter, which demanded an apology and an active attempt at creating good ties between the Jane and Finch community and York University, I must make it clear that Excalibur cannot, as an organization, issue an apology for the opinions of other writers, but we can, and most certainly will, work toward bridging any perceived gap between ourselves and the Jane and Finch community.
And Excalibur has an interest in that community: I, the current Editor-in-Chief, cut my teeth in news reporting at the York West Advocate, a Jane and Finch community newspaper.
We look forward to the responses of all concerned community members. We are very much interested in starting a dialogue in the community. For it is through dialogue—not allegations based on miscommunication—that we can identify and implement solutions to problems on campus and elsewhere.
