Answers don't lie in march
Do you support global warming? Big fan of mass genocide? All for drowning kittens?
No, of course not. Nobody is.
Asking students if they’re in favour of higher tuition fees is just as ridiculous a question. No student, no matter what socioeconomic background they come from, wants to pay more for their education. With the Reaching Higher plan coming to an end, Ontario universities really have no clue what tuition will look like next year. It’s a frightening thought.
That’s why this year the RSU has been planning what will surely be the most aggressive Drop Fees campaign yet. The union executives and their loyal minions have been spraypainting banners and flags overnight in the Student Campus Centre for several weeks.
All this is in preparation for Poverty Free Ontario Day of Action on Nov. 5, when thousands of students from universities across Toronto will march to Queen’s Park and protest the rising cost of our education. It’s a worthwhile and important cause, but one that obscures more than it educates.
The truth is most students who join the march don’t really understand the issue. They don’t know what the Reaching Higher plan is or the politics behind coming up with a figure for tuition. Most just want to save some cash and let out some angst. And hey, who can blame them?
Tuition fees are not a simple concept. It can be really confusing. Unlike the Close Gould Street campaign, it’s not physical. There’s nothing students can see every day on their walk to school or notice when changes are being made before their eyes.
And to be completely honest, after four years at this school and two years working as a news editor, I don’t understand the issue inside-out either.
Is marching up to Queen’s Park every year really going to prove a point? Should the government give a damn about students if a number of them either can’t vote or just don’t? Will other people, who do vote, care about our issues if we march? Is it really the provincial government we should be harassing or should we be bugging the feds instead?
If the RSU really wants students to become more engaged members of this community, I think there needs to be either far more education done on the topic or a new game plan for getting shit done. It’s really tough to come up with a solution and to be fair, and
I don’t have any of the answers either.
But I don’t think the answer lies in using grabby words like “province-wide poverty” or a having silly mock demonstration that comes off as an inside joke between people in the know rather than a strong attempt to educate the masses.
Comments
Anonymous, 4 months ago said:
Dear Editor,
I appreciate your comments, but I believe your wrong about a couple things. All of those handouts that are given out each include a massive amount of information and as a person frequenting doing outreach if students had questions we can answer there questions about the purpose of this campaign and why it s so important.
Secondly I don't appriciate you calling the demostration silly and saying that the meaning is an inside joke. If you took the time and watched the utube video of it or read anything on it I believe it is very clear what we were trying to demonstrate.If you actually did your research and came up with a strong argument then you would see how that demonstration actually educates as well.
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Anonymous, 4 months ago said:
I think you need to chill for a second.
We`re in school for a reason and that`s to be educated. The RSU needs to spend more time and money on RYERSON STUDENTS! the students THEY are SUPPOSE to work for!
Right now the RSU puts a lot of money into campaigns like DROP FEES *cough* I mean Poverty Free Ontario... the campaign they used to hide the true meaning they might as well have called it Drop Fees because that is the main focus and that is where the majority of money is being spent within the campaign.
if you really cared Drop the Fees by dropping the campaign and giving the money back to the students. You can also call all the students who haven`t picked up their Opt-Out cheques and give them their money back!
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Anonymous, 4 months ago said:
To the commenter above..No offense but most students don't care about the campaign. That's why the pamphlets end up on the floor. I am tired on stepping on student money. When is the RSU going to start spending on useful initiatives for our students.
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Anonymous, 4 months ago said:
So what was the turnout for this year like? Apparently 4 to 5 hundred people showed up at Queens park. B.T.W theeir are still some individuals on campus who although they might not like paying higher tuition fees realize that in the end higher fees actually benefit the students. I remember seeing a video online taking about how higher tuition fees in the US for example with their college system have really helping to improve the quality of their education by making students think of their education as an significant investment (instead of a nice expensive hobby with no good sense of what direction they will take it in the end and no real realistic idea of what they will end up doing with their education). The gentlemen who did the video was actually Milton Freeman - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxeP-krUrdU ... it's dated but it does have some good arguments.
I just think that the RSU has totally dropped the ball on this file. Instead of helping students by trying to pressure government's /other groups inro providing more opportunities so that students can actually pay for their education or have a way of paying for the costs of their education they focused WAY too much on satisfying their CFS political masters by pushing this complete failer of a campaign.
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Anonymous, 4 months ago said:
I just feel that if you want the government to drop fees, at least tell them where they are going to get the money from to do that. Social services and health services need money as well, so you have to justify the reasons behind taking money away from them as well.
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