CBC Article Sparks Anger, Disagreement Among Indian Students

An article describing international students’ use of a local foodbank has sparked debate within the Indian community at CBU. The article in question, published by the CBC early Thursday morning, suggests that the unavailability of part-time jobs could be to blame for the students’ lack of food security. On the Facebook page ‘CBU Indian Society’, student’s expressed disappointment and even anger over the article, sometimes directed at the three students who were featured in the story; others point toward the fact that these students volunteered as a way to give back, or pleaded for the group not to jump to conclusions – they appear to be the minority voice, at least in this particular forum.

In late December the Caper Times surveyed nine local businesses as part of preliminary study on employment opportunities for students. All nine businesses responded that they had received more applications than in previous years, averaging an increase of 51 percent. Of those nine business, four said they would be hiring at least one more position than they had previously staffed. While more extensive research is needed before we’re able to have an accurate picture of the current job market, it seems unlikely that increases in staffing could provide any significant counterbalance to the increase in demand.

Surprisingly, some comments on the normally friendly Facebook page were quite venomous; one comment referring to the students as “cunts” and another insinuating that Indian students who could not afford to properly feed themselves must be suffering from addiction issues. In December CBC ran another article detailing the support of a local food bank for employees laid off after unexpected shutdown of the ServiCom call centre.

Somewhat ironically, the previous post on the group was from a prospective student asking about local job opportunities in Sydney. His question was greeted with an air of general hilarity, and most responses were extremely sarcastic.