U of T misses parade beat
The parade was as much fun as ever this year, with all the traditional costumes, floats, and of course, Santa Claus. The various marching bands were particularly good. Western was there with their cheerleaders, Queen’s was there with their bagpipes and tartans, U of T was MIA. Wait, what? That’s right. In a century-old parade, in our own city, that goes through our own campus, our school can’t even come up with an entry. There were even two schools from the U.S. marching! Where were the Blue and Whites? Do they even exist anymore? And people wonder why students have so little connection to the campus and the university: there is nothing to connect to. SAC and the administration are both full of talk, but a little short on the action.
Sean Hayto
Thompson’s tale
Re: Councillor snubs student reporter, Nov. 20
It was with great dismay that I read the article concerning Councillor Michael Thompson’s alleged snubbing of a university journalism student. The piece misrepresented what I know to be true of Michael-namely that he is someone who, despite working tirelessly for his community and on city council, has always given students his time and utmost consideration.
I am a professor of economics and have called upon Michael to come speak to my students on several occasions concerning issues of community development and enterprise. Each time Michael has been more than forthcoming and has donated his time and boundless energy to my students without regard to either who was watching or what immediate political benefit (if any) such a task may have provided. It has been my experience that Michael does these things because he is genuinely interested in what students have to say and also committed to Scarborough Centre and the city as a whole.
I am also involved in a grassroots community magazine which on several occasions has called upon Michael and/or his office to provide a quote for a story or a message concerning a community event. Again, on these occasions, Councillor Thompson has never once declined to be interviewed nor has held back his support just because we were a small, community-orientated media outlet. In fact, quite to the contrary, Michael has supported our little magazine whenever called upon.
Raphael Gomez
Chair Economics Department,
Glendon College (York University)
Councillor Thompson’s take:
• I would like to clear up a number of inaccuracies which appeared in this article. When Ms. Takaya originally contacted my office for an interview, she requested a one-half-hour session which would have to be conducted in time to meet her deadline, not the five minutes that the article stated. I am a strong supporter of journalism education, and gladly accommodate such requests if I can. While I have agreed to numerous such interviews in recent years, my schedule did not permit an interview at a time that could meet her stated deadline and I had to decline her request. Despite this, she persisted in trying to contact me through my campaign office by phone and by dropping into the office, even after her stated deadline had passed. My campaign staff described her manner as increasingly confrontational and uncooperative.
See link in Comment section for full text of Councillor Thompson’s letter.
