The Eyeopener, Ryerson’s controversial independent campus newspaper, dodged another bullet last week when they came to an agreement on a nasty spat between themselves and RyePride, a gay and lesbian student group.
In a previous editorial, the paper had referred to student council (RyeSAC) president Darren Cooney as “the token gay guy,” much to the disdain of RyePride. When The Eyeopener refused to apologize for the remark, RyePride picketed the annual broomball match between RyeSAC and The Eyeopener, calling for managing editor Michael Traikos to resign over his editorials. When that didn’t accomplish anything, RyePride did what only a student group could be shortsighted enough to do: they called the rival campus paper, The Ryersonian, and told them they planned to vandalize the Eyeopener office that night. Naturally, security was called, and several people were detained.
Now, the sheer hubris of telling a newspaper that you committed a crime is stupid enough, but to do it before you commit the crime is beyond comprehension. Or is it?
Had it not been for my time at The Varsity, I probably would have been more shocked at the whole scene, but observing the baffling behaviour of U of T student politicians has somewhat desensitized me.
Who are these people? When did university become the minor leagues for the Ross Perots and Tooker Gombergs of the world?
From office break-ins to the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) sending spies to photograph their enemies (Hey, Leigh Damian Philips, next time run faster!), the Student Activity Council (SAC) at U of T by far takes the cake as the greatest assortment of sociopaths this side of the Fraser Institute, and I should be on their side!
As someone who came from a leftist punk background, I thought organizations such as the CFS or the International Socialists, both of whom have deep ties with SAC, would be looking out for me, but really they just look out for themselves. I first realized this while I attended Ryerson. I met a member of the International Socialists in a class, and we talked politics. Of course, he was several years older than I was, so I figured he’d be graduating, but no—he’s still at Ryerson to this day! He takes just enough classes to spread his group’s propaganda and still qualify as a student, and he’s not the only one. Many U of T political fixtures have been on campus for years, nowhere even close to finishing a degree. In the words of David Spade, “there are lots of people who go to school for eight years; they’re called doctors.” But far from being doctors, these kids are bleeding out English and philosophy degrees. No wonder the CFS cares so much about rising tuition—if they didn’t, their whole organization would have to get real jobs in the real world!
And this is why Traikos and the The Eyeopener got busted. Cooney had been contemplating running for RyeSAC president once again, and Traikos told him to move on. University is supposed to be a transition into adulthood, not a teet to suck on until there’s nothing left. Not only are these twentysomething dinosaurs denying double-cohort stricken youth a chance to shine, they’re holding themselves back. You think you got a rough ride from The Eyeopener, Cooney? Wait ‘til you get into real politics, where you won’t have the luxury of having froshed with the paper’s editor. And as for Alex Artful-Dodger, wow. The wolves are licking their chops for your real world coming-out party. Maybe you should stay in school for a couple more years.
