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A tale of two students, a St Patrick's Day opinion

This week's Market Squared talks about the two sides of university life this weekend, the one's who party and the one's who are fighting.
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This Sunday is St. Patrick’s Day, the annual celebration of that time a Catholic saint drove all the snakes out of Ireland, and then held a street party with green beer to celebrate.

Of course, the two are unrelated. What ancient origin gave root to St. Patrick’s Day has long since been replaced with suds, sounds, and cartoon leprechauns.

Speaking of two things that aren’t alike, there are duelling problems on the post-secondary scene these days. One involves the proposed changes to college and university funding by the provincial government, and the other involves how universities across the province are dealing with “unsanctioned parties.”

There are many dedicated young people who, over the last several months, have been trying to raise a ruckus that the “Student Choice Initiative” was going to cost them in the loss of valuable clubs and services.

But since the actions of some tend to tarnish the reputations of all when it comes to students, the ones trying to save campus media, student government and other initiatives paid for through student fees will be tanked when images of debauchery and trash covered streets hit the media.

I foolishly tried to engage with someone on the Guelph sub-Reddit who was grousing about how the Ryerson student union was misspending funds. They were mad because of the reported $250,000 in credit card purchases, thousands of which was spent at night clubs and bars. Understandable.

I did point out that it was the student newspaper at Ryerson, the Eyeopener, that exposed the scandal, which resulted in the president and vice-president operations of the student union being removed from their posts, but my Reddit friend was not persuaded.

They wondered why more of their student fees go to the paper, so that the Eyeopener reporters can keep an eye on Ryerson’s student government. It’s not exactly an argument I’ve heard before. I mean, why are local news sites asking for subscriptions to pay reporters to attend city council meetings, right?

Let’s just get rid of the whole thing! council and the media.

Of course, money is top of mind when talking about unsanctioned parties. Here in Guelph, and other university communities in Ontario, tens of thousands are spent on police and awareness about unsanctioned parties, particularly around Homecoming and St. Patrick’s Day.

And while universities made the counter argument that they, and their students, are huge economic drivers in the city, the counter-counter argument is that post-secondary institutions are still getting a free ride since the “Heads in Beds” levy has not been increased since 1987 while property taxes have been going up steadily year-over-year.

So my instinct says that the university and college students’ fight against the provincial government to stop the cuts is going to have a tough time finding sympathy, and when the green puke starts flowing, even less so.

It’s a pity because the Student Choice Initiative means that services students depend on are now in danger of losing some, or all, of their funding. At the U of G this includes the student-run food bank, the bike centre, SafeWalk, the Bullring, the Student Help and Advocacy Centre, and, perhaps most consequentially for the City of Guelph, the student bus pass.

I know that’s another itch for many in Guelph, that the bus service seems to so heavily favour key university routes, but the $135 that each U of G student pays for their universal bus pass will blow a pretty big hole in the Guelph Transit budget if it goes away.

And there will be no help from above. The 10 per cent cut to tuition, sold to the public as a favour to over burdened students, has blown a $60 million hole in the U of G’s budget. Where will that money come from?

Who knows?

That’s why campus groups hoping to fight the Student Choice Initiative are looking to public pressure. It worked with Schedule 10 of Bill 66, so if the claxon is loud enough, there’s at least the possibility that the government could change their mind.

It’s a slim possibility, but it depends on the public seeing the grad student that depends on the food bank, or the student renter that needs protection from negligent or absentee landlords, or the student that needs the safety of someone to walk home with.

Heck, there’s also the fact that many of these campus groups provide good part-time jobs, on campus, for students.

That won’t be what people see on Sunday though. They’ll see the drunkenness, they’ll see the lewd behaviour, and they’ll see “over-privileged” university students not giving a damn about the community they live in, or those that live in it with them.

Perhaps I might encourage the ones who want to “let loose” to think of the ones back on campus helping their fellow students and providing valuable services by observing a more solemn dignified St. Patrick’s Day.

Perhaps do something more in keeping with the tradition. Get a few friends together, enjoy a few beers, and watch Snakes on a Plane.


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Adam A. Donaldson

About the Author: Adam A. Donaldson

In addition to writing his weekly political column for GuelphToday, Adam A. Donaldson writes and manages Guelph Politico, frequently writes for Nerd Bastards and sometimes has to do less cool things for a paycheque.
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