Cross about crosswalk
re: “St. George crosswalk takes first steps” [Apr. 3]
Can we stop and think about this new crosswalk that is being heralded on the front page of The Varsity as a victory for student safety? The crosswalk, proposed to run between the Baden building and the Galbraith building, was rejected by the city at first because it is too close to an existing crosswalk. However, persistent student nagging has convinced the community council otherwise. I have seen the “old” crosswalk at St. George and College. We all have. It is a one-minute walk from the proposed new one. This is not a victory for student safety; it is a victory for student laziness.
We are university students, not children. And yet, we somehow convinced the city that we require it to shell out $75,000 to build a traffic device that will prevent us from having to look both ways before we cross the street. This is a colossal waste of money. And if this were not bad enough, somehow the university itself is being asked to pay $37,000.
As a veteran street-crosser, I have come up with a system that can save the city and university lots of money. If a car is coming, do not cross. If not, do. If there are many cars, and one cannot cross safely (ever), WALK TO THE CROSSWALK 1 MINUTE AWAY.
I am mystified why two poles and some lights would cost $75,000, but perhaps this takes into account the electricity and light-bulb changes that will be required. If this is the price of such a “safety” (read: completely-superfluous-symptom-of-our-modern-obsession-with-luxury-and-laziness) device, I am strongly against it. There are many better uses for $75,000. We could use it to start building our new child-proof university safety playgrounds, which should replace our (both physically and mentally) dangerous classrooms.
Zvi Halpern
High-flying tuition fees
I attended the recent Governing Council meeting, where the university raised tuition for law school by 14 per cent. Michael Marrus claimed that an open, thorough and honest discussion of this issue was a “political circus.” If he’s correct, then send in the clowns! Then again, don’t bother, he’s already here.
Terry Buckland
