T-minus 32 Days Until School Starts

*Note to self: make sure that I'm still in the "Who Needs Sex? U of T F$cks Me Everyday" Facebook group*

Honest to God, I love being in school. I love learning, I love meeting new people, and I love getting involved with various social movements on campus. Yet at the same time, I'm really not looking forward to the back to school rituals, particularly here at U of T. In my opinion, the only other time of year that sucks even more is the pre-Christmas rush. On a happier note, at least I won't have to take any more classes with 1400 other students at Convocation Hall anymore (pictured above)

The U of T Bookstore is a NIGHTMARE throughout the month of September. It's like a Boxing Week blowout sale that will easily cost you $1000 or more depending on the subjects you're taking. Even if you have the foresight to pre-order stuff online, you have to wait in line for close to an hour to pick up your order.

It also bothers me that certain professors will come out with "new up-to-date" versions of their textbooks every 2 years, though the new version is much the same as the old one. In fact, the majority of the content is the same - it's only rearranged (i.e. what used to be on page 172 is now on page 180) - and most of the new content is simply stuff that you can easily look up online. For instance, charts and tables from Statistics Canada. My tax dollars already pay for this stuff, why am I paying for it again? Oh riiiiiight, my professor is taking home a 20% cut of the book sales.

In fairness, the publishing companies are the ones who set the prices of textbooks, but even used books are way overpriced (i.e. my heavily abused anthropology textbook that was only $20.00 less than the regular retail price of $96.00). Even for classic readings, say Plato's Republic, the professors seem to prefer that students only buy certain, obscure editions rather than something you can easily get for dirt cheap at Chapter's.

I do have to say though, there are some cool profs who ask that students to pick up their books from other stores, such as my history professor last year, who had us go to the Toronto Women's Bookstore for the bulk of our readings. In addition to this, he actually selected books that would be interesting and relevant to read further down the road. I didn't mind, because I'm a huge fan of the wonderful activist women who run the store, and I like supporting my local economy. Dammit Professor Greer, why don't you teach any other undergraduate courses?! HIS106 was the best!

Then Frosh Week rolls around and virtually everywhere on campus, various corporate sponsors try to woo you into buying even more crap. Isn't it bad enough that the average debtload for an undergraduate student in Ontario has already tripled since 1993? (See the figure on the right, from the Canadian Federation of Students). Mastercard certainly doesn't see it that way, and perhaps that's why they set up several card application tables in a bid to add to your debt. In exchange for applying, they give you some cheap trinket. I love getting free stuff as much as the next person, but the problem is, these things aren't really free. Most students don't realize that continuously applying for credit looks bad on your credit rating in the long run. Personally, I'm worried enough about my debt as it is. Thanks, but I'm not going to make it worse by applying for more debt that I don't need in exchange for a cheap water bottle, flashlight or knapsack.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for the opportunity to study at one of the most well recognized and respected post-secondary institutions in the country, but like all mega bureaucracies, U of T is a giant, faceless, poorly run organization. Quite frankly I can't help but feel ripped off when half of the buildings are falling apart and they can't even be bothered to fix seats in the lecture halls. Especially considering that the school itself has nearly $1 billion in reserve funds, and much more invested in the likes of companies such as Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Lockheed Martin and Phillip Morris. Why are we, the students, still paying for maintenance and capital construction costs out of our ancillary fees? ($853 per student last year and rising). The governments are screwing us over too, by lifting our tuition freeze in 2006, and by cutting core funding for post secondary education.

Well tens of thousands of us got mad enough about it and decided to let them know (Left: National Student Day of Action, Bloor and St. George, 02/07 2007). The Arts and Science Students' Union sums it up perfectly though:

Don't let university get in the way of your education

And I don't intend to let that happen.