Having been a member of several campus groups over the years, one would expect that I would be first in line to vote yes on the funding referendum for the new “Student Commons” proposed by the University of Toronto Students Union. Well, you couldn’t be more mistaken.
The idea of a shared space for students to rehearse, perform, pray, eat, and lounge 24 hours a day sounds highly appealing. Hearing about such a utopian area certainly sent sinful thoughts of beautiful dance studios and majestic theatres (all for free!) racing through my mind. However, upon examining the notices of the referendum, I was horrified to find that few specific plans have been made.
Being the keen user of campus space that I am, I hoped that there might be some more information on the UTSU website so I could tell all my friends and group members to vote “yes.” Sadly, my hopes were crushed as I was unable to find any information available to the public.
Because of this lack of specific information, two big questions kept running through my mind; “What will this space look like?” and “Who is going to be running it?”
Thinking about this only spawned more uncertainty: has a design even been drawn up for this building? What if I do not like the design that I voted to pay for, or the space is not adequate for my group’s needs? If no design exists, is the $30 million price tag an estimate? Could the price increase? Does that mean another referendum in 10 years to support any unanticipated costs? Will alumni get to use the space we partially paid for? How can we guarantee all student groups have equal access to the facilities? The list goes on.
With U of T constantly growing, one would naturally assume we will never have enough space. The problem is not a lack of facilities, but a mismanagement of them. A multitude of buildings are virtually deserted at most hours of the day. Surely it would be possible to reevaluate the space we already have and use it more creatively.
At the end of the day, it is not about money. I would not mind paying for something well-designed and well-run. Nonetheless, until specifics are given, I will, regrettably, be voting “no.”
