Proposal developed to address concerns about Mactron

The President's Advisory Committee on Community Relations held its
annual community meeting last night (May 24) at St. Mary's High School and President Peter George took the opportunity to discuss the proposal he will be sending forward to the University's Board of Governors with regard to the ongoing operation of the Mactron, the University's new video message centre and scoreboard.

“I recognize that this has been a source of irritation to many people on and off campus,” said President George. “It has also been difficult to tell people what we have been doing because we have contractual obligations that we have needed to sort through. However, we believe we now have the agreement of both parties, we have consulted the major stakeholders, and we believe we will soon be in a position to take a formal proposal to the Planning and Building Committee of the Board of Governors about the Mactron.”

The proposal going forward to the Planning and Building Committee will
include the following recommendations:

* All third-party advertising will be removed from the board by the end of May;

* The Mactron will be angled in toward the Ivor Wynne Centre to
mitigate any disruptive visual impact on the community;

* The Department of Athletics & Recreation will be asked to develop a
policy on the board's use and hours/days of operation. This policy will go forward to the President's Committee on Athletics & Recreation.

President George told community members that Athletics & Recreation has been advised that they need to think about limiting the evening hours of operation of the board and turning the sign off entirely at times when the University is closed, such as the winter holiday season.