40 Years Ago
Oct. 6, 1965
Plus ça change…
The long-awaited Bladen Commission reported 40 years ago this week on the future of university financing. Like his future counterpart, Bob Rae, Dean Bladen concluded that tuition should not be lowered, and that governments should “resist the popular pressure for the abolition of fees.” The report called for more than eighty percent of the aid to education budget to come from the provincial and federal governments, and advocated “free” graduate studies, with a grant of $2000 per student, per year-provided that the student didn’t have a summer job to help offset costs. Will we ever win?
20 Years Ago
Oct. 7, 1985
OK Blue Jays! Let’s skip class!
Some of you may not be old enough to remember the glory days of Toronto baseball, but it all started at the Ex in 1985, when the Jays clinched their first ever division title as the whole city watched. Students skipped class and jammed bars and common rooms to watch Canadian baseball’s first foray into the playoffs. Said one UC don: “When it comes to the series, I’d sell my textbooks for some tickets.” Remarkably, U of T, York, Laurier and most other Canadian schools did not even have Varsity baseball or softball teams at the time. Credit the growing Jays fever with helping to eventually bring our current teams about.
