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Tales of a Commuter: U.T.S.U and the Disconnect
March 18th, 2010 by justine abigailAh, the last day of the 2010 U.T.S.U election! It’s been quite an exciting time at U of T these past few days as our campus has been filled with orange, green, pamphlets, solicitors, music, and why yes, even scandal! At around the same time last year, I wrote a blog post that described my pretty shameful lack of knowledge about the election, campaign slates, and the U.T.S.U in general and so I promised myself that this year, I’d get myself a little more involved…actually take the to learn about each side’s platform, and why yes, even chat with a few of the candidates and campaigners that we try so hard to avoid on our way to Sid Smith (I know, right?)! And this wasn’t one of those things that I said I would do but wouldn’t actually…I’ve actually been pretty involved this election campaign. I know what each slate stands for, watched the debates, actually knew the people I voted for (and didn’t just use the innie, minnie, mynie, moe trick), and omg even read The Varsity for the first time in a very, very long time.
This is not actually me.
But here’s the thing. I’m a student and I’m a commuter. And though I’ve educated myself about both Change and Stronger Together’s campaign platform, I still feel there’s this sort of disconnect between myself and U.T.S.U. I’ve spoken to many commuters about this same issue and almost 100% of them share the same sentiments. True, this wasn’t a scientific poll and I really only talked to maybe 20 student commuters out of the thousands at U of T, but something tells me that this is a pretty general feeling. I honestly don’t see how some of these things affect me in any direct or tangible sense. The closest thing that might is probably the discount on TTC metropasses (amazing feat btw). But I don’t even buy a TTC metropass. It still comes out to be more expensive for me personally than to just buy tokens. And okay fine, fighting to reduce fees is incredibly important but I’m graduating in a year (fingers crossed) and this probably won’t happen anytime soon so once again, irrelevant and not applicable to me…
Don’t get me wrong, I care about this school and I’m incredibly proud to be a part of it but I can’t help shake the feeling that there is and might always be this unbridgeable discord between us. And with all these candidates constantly talking my ear off about how I matter…how they’re going to make student life better…and how this is our U of T and that they can and will make a difference…I find myself questioning all these broad, sweeping, and optimistic claims.
Anyway, just thought I’d give my thoughts and hopefully a different perspective. Here’s hoping that the slate I voted for will bridge that gap for my last and final year at U of T and really, make a change 
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March 18th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
I totally agree with this! I live so close to UofT….and my morning commute is probably 10-15 minutes……..BUT i still find that most events and facilities are structured for those living on residence. I think more needs to be done to help out commuters with :
-TRANSPORTATION fees, more activities or places to hangout between classes (because the commute home and back would take too long and most areas on residence are hangout areas for residence folks…sometimes awkward for us commuters)
- more fun events before midnight or at least accommodations for us after events because the late night commute home is not very safe!
-a commuter hotel/residence would be kind of awesome! ( a place where we could check in after a long night of studying or partying ) … a commuter can dream.
-I also think that a HUGE weak point of U.T.S.U is the failure to connect first-year commuters with residence folks. COMMUNICATION between the U.T.SU and commuters needs to be strengthened because it’s disheartening to see many first year commuters HATE UofT just because it there are so many barriers between them and campus involvement.
It the words of Miss Britney Spears…U.T.SU…. “Why don’t you DO SOMETHING?”
March 18th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Oh my, I wish I lived just 10-15 min away! Try a 1.5 hr commute. It’s a bitch, believe me.
I like your idea of a commuter hotel/residence that’d accommodate us for just a night every now and then. Haha that would be the greatest but you’re right, ’tis but a distant dream.
Also, as for the connection for first year commuters with rez peeps, I’m not sure if UTSU would be best to handle that. I think the individual colleges should deal with that and some are already trying but still…it’s hard cuz all the rez kids have their little cliques already and you feel like this random outsider coming in and trying to be a part of their group.
Ohhhh wellllll!!!
March 19th, 2010 at 12:33 am
Rez cliques = THE WORST!
i tried commuting for the first two weeks of school before getting a place in Toronto….SO HARD!
I was tired ALL the time…..stopped getting ready for school (gave up hair straightening!) and was grumpy ALL the time! worst first two weeks of University life EVER!
i have a lot of respect for commuters who manage to go to school, work and have a social life while COMMUTING!
Its definitely one of the hardest things out there.
March 19th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Yeah so true, commuting sucks.
I agree with you on everything Abigail. I find the campaigns to be too idealistic or somewhat high school like. I saw a campaign that said somewhere in the realm of “build school spirit through prom night” which to me sounds like just a big party which individual colleges already do don’t they?
I like to see more concrete ideas like the metropass thing you mentioned, or I saw an idea about creating an internal craiglist (which I’m not so sure is necessary but it sounded good to me) and definitely more programs that reach out to commuter students (i.e. place to stay for free (however there are places that you can sneak into )).
March 19th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Sorry Justine I meant.
March 20th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
I have some friends who are commuters and they always have to leave events really early and miss out on the fun later on. It sucks so much and I agree that this is one issue that should be addressed somehow.
p.s. lol @ the photo caption
March 20th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Heheh thanks Winna! I saw the internal craigslist idea as well and that did sound like a really great idea. Might seem like a relatively small change but that’s where you have to start, right? Need to take those small but progressive changes and build upon that.
I also liked the idea of creating a sort of Google calendar to keep track of all the events going on on campus. I was thinking this might be a good idea for blogUT to take on…create an “events” section similar to that of blogTO’s to have a better idea of all the things going on throughout the year.
@Lori That is the story of my life. It is such a pain in the ass to have to leave early to catch either the last ride on the TTC/Go. Ahhhh the struggles!!
March 21st, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Loved this column. Very elucidating!
Just to answer some of the comments:
- cliques and isolation are unfortunately a part of U of T. I think the colleges and the frosh/res crowd are very isolatory. I’d really suggest finding an active campus club, as they draw in from the entire student base, and have events more in keeping with commuter schedules. More generally, turning to any classmate and asking “have you done the readings?” is a pretty consistent ice breaker.
- there definitely needs to be more space allocated to students for activities, lounging, and studying. Some colleges, like Woodsworth or EngSoc, have been proactive in increasing access to space, but the central admin also have a roll to play.
- i dont know what can reasonably be done about the transportation issue. That part is handled by TTC and the city. Also remember that there are tens of thousands of commuter students all with different schedules. Impossible to accommodate that.
Staying true to my heart, I must say that campus clubs, especially the , french club EFUT, go to great lengths to advertise events to all students, including year round postering. Most of our events take place on campus and end before 10pm. There’s only so much we can do before apathy is also a concern? Join us here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2201797931
or
March 27th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Thanks for the comment Antonin!
Definitely have to find your own ways to get involved and I think that’s something you learn as the years go by. I remember my first year was somewhat of a disaster but it’s gotten 20x better. I guess you just gotta get out there to adjust!