By Shanleigh Brosseau, Editor-in-Chief  

This is my first editorial of this year, so let me introduce myself – I’m Shanleigh, current Editor-in-Chief of the Lambda. I’ll be graduating this upcoming year with a degree in Communication Studies.

Contributing to the Lambda has been one of the most important aspects of my time at LU. I am so grateful to be able to step into the role of editor for my final year here at Laurentian. But this year the Lambda and its readers are faced with a lack of funding that will propel us into a new way of delivering news to students.

Now, let me tell you a bit about the Lambda. The Lambda is LU’s oldest student paper (established 1961) and since then has been funded by a $10 student fee, supporting compelling content written by the students and for the students for over 50 years.

The $10 levy has allowed us to employ a general manager and a vibrant, engaged staff – providing students with invaluable work experience and enabling us to purchase equipment and maintain frequent print issues around campus, as well as an online presence.

However, this year we are facing financial challenges in the wake of the Student Choice Initiative. In September, Doug Ford’s government allowed Ontario students to choose which fees they wanted to opt out of.

This choice allows students to opt-out (or in Laurentian’s case, opt-in) to several student services, fees deemed “non-essential”, ranging from student groups to student services, including an $11 fee for yours truly, the Lambda

If you have chosen not to opt-in to any services, you can save a whopping $98, not including additional SGA fees like the $45 Premium Membership or the $115 Welcome Week fee.

Those who have opted-out of everything now have an extra $98 to spend – maybe it can be used to pay off student loans with the cutbacks to OSAP (Thanks for the extra cash, Doug!).

We believe in the importance of student voices. For 50 years, the very foundation of the Lambda has relied on these voices.

Without a campus news outlet, who will hold those in power on campus accountable? Who will ask hard questions? Who will investigate when there is a lack of transparency? These are questions you should be asking yourself and considering.

Throughout my few years of writing for Lambda, I’ve followed along and participated in the reporting of important campus news. Our campus and student body are small, but there’s always some story going on around campus that is worthy of telling.

The Lambda has reported on the impeachment of student politicians, allegations of hazing and assault on campus, and called into question the safety of students with incidents of racism on campus.

This integral delivery of campus news by the Lambda has held student leaders and university administration accountable and provided a platform for students to voice their concerns. Campus newspapers and media outlets across the province provide experiential opportunities for students and give voices to marginalized students.

With campus media like the Lambda at risk, students will lose a platform to share their voices and student journalists will be losing a job and the opportunity to gain experience.

So is an $11 fee worth the support of democracy on campus?

We will be continuing this year, but we will be releasing our content online through our website. Web content will make stories more accessible and available to students who might not have been able to snatch a print copy of Lambda on campus. It is also a more cost-efficient alternative to our traditional print issue.

No longer having a traditional print issue is unfortunate, but not having campus news is distressing. For now, we have the resources to stay afloat and deliver news for this year (online!) But the future of the Lambda is uncertain.

As the journalism industry continues to rapidly change, I truly hope that the Lambda can, like other media, adapt and continue to deliver accurate and compelling news coverage for the student population.

Make sure to stay tuned-in for all of the stories we will be delivering this year – not in the Bowling Alley, the halls of the Classroom Building, to the J.N Desmarais Library, or the Parker atrium – but, on our website.

To those who have decided to opt-in to the Lambda, thank you.

Make sure to check us out online – we are planning some big changes to our website to make Lambda more readable and engaging for students. Every view, share, like and follow will not go unnoticed.

Get involved and be engaged. Follow our stories, share your thoughts and remember … the Lambda is by the students for the students.