Commerce students fight for space
Study space recently taken away from Commerce students was given back again last week.
“Dean Roger Martin promised in a public forum that MBA students would have exclusive use of the library inside the Rotman building for the exam period,” said Chun Lo, vice-president of the Commerce Students Association.
Commerce students say that they used to have a section of about twenty-five study carrels reserved for them in the library. They arrived at the library on November 26, though, and found that their carrels had been given away to the MBA students.
“I was comfortable in the building and I knew that I could get a lot of work done in the library. I felt like I had a home at school and it was just taken away from me. I have not been able to study as effectively at school since then,” said Ana Belic, a second year Commerce student.
Belic and other students then complained to the Commerce Students’ Association about the situation. According to Lo, Vaughan Johnson, the president of the association, wrote a letter to the dean about their lack of study space.
The issue was finally resolved last Thursday when Johnson received a phone call from Dean Martin’s office, informing him that the computer and trading lab in the library would be opened up for the Commerce students.
“The response from Dean Martin is a big step. We’re happy that they responded to our letter,” says Lo.
He thinks that the computers will have to be moved or more tables put in the lab before it’ll be suitable as a study space though.
“The Dean is concerned with all students at this stressful time. He’s been working hard to provide all the students with study space,” says Ken McGuffin, manager of media relations at the Rotman School of Management.
McGuffin disagrees that there were study carrels in the library reserved for the Commerce students, but says that this issue has been resolved by providing lab space and tables and chairs on the second floor for the students.
When asked if the issue had been resolved, Lo responded, “If that’s what they call resolved, then it has been resolved. Personally, though, I wouldn’t want to see this happen again.”
—Sharon Ho
How much will you pay for another Athletic Centre?
A U of T administrative proposal to have students chip in for a new athletic centre at the Varsity Stadium site has sparked a coalition of campus groups opposing the $89 per student levy.
“I think students will realize that it’s an unreasonable levy,” said Jorge Sousa, the Graduate Students’ Union president.
The Graduate Students’ Union, the Association of Part-time Undergraduate Students and the Arts and Science Student Union are working toward raising awareness amongst students that they should not be paying for capital projects on campus.
If the levy passes, within the next three years, current students will pay $25 while construction is underway, and then when it’s completed, they’ll pay an $89 levy. It has to go to the council of student services, where student governments are represented, and if it isn’t passed there, administration or athletics can take it to a referendum.
Some new residences will also be built as a part of the project, but only if the athletic center goes through.
Sousa thinks that residence is very important to students, but first they require an affordable education. He adds that students were never asked whether they wanted the development.
—Kelly Holloway
Scarborough students protest spending habits
Banners reading “Stop $hopping, Start Living” will be waved about in the Scarborough Town Centre on Saturday, December 15, as the University of Toronto Scarborough Students (UTSC) Resources for Environmental and Social Action (RESA) take action against consumerism.
Their mission?
“To draw shoppers’ attention to the social and ecological consequences of their wanton holiday spending, and to generally poke fun at the absurdity of corporate consumer culture,” according to a press release.
