Heard in the Hall

You Striking?

OpinionsSanaz Sunnie Hassanpour — Published March 20, 2012

Are you planning to support the strike and how are you participating?

• 

  “Well, I have been already on strike for two weeks now and I have been to lots of meetings, [wearing] red clothes, doing a lot of crocheted products with red fabric. [I’ve been] helping people to express themselves and get out their stress with crafts, picketing, and going to a lot of meetings and protests.”

  — Casey Stainsby , BFA Theatre & Development

• 

  “Well, I am currently not going to my classes. Well—most of them, except one that is not cancelled. That’s pretty much how I support it. I am not participating in any protests. I respect the decision of boycotting classes and I respect democracy in general.
  So, I’m not going to classes, but I’m not particularly for the strike… I think some of the actions should not be happening. Some things are not working and we know and they are still doing it; that, for me, doesn’t work.”

  — Catherine Gelinas , BFA Film Production

• 

  “I am not planning to support the strike. I don’t believe in it. We already [have] one of the cheapest tuitions in Canada and one of the cheapest in the world, so I don’t think that’s a good idea.
  I think raising prices is normal—it can keep you competitive. With more funding, you can also get better teachers. That’s a severe lack in our school. I find we have a lot of teachers who don’t know how to explain. So, I’m opposed to the strike. I don’t think it should be going on.”

  — Daniel Ahmarani, BComm Finance

• 

  “All I am really doing is not attending class. I am not very active. I am not protesting. I am actually not 100 per cent sure about the tuition [dilemma] in general. But I do think once you’ve voted to do a strike, you need to take a decisive action.
  I didn’t vote. My reason is that I don’t think that I’m knowledgeable enough on the subject to weigh in whether the tuition hike is a good or a bad thing.”

  — Michael Wheatley , BFA Film Animation

• 

  “I’m for the strike. I’m going to do what they tell us to do. I’m more passive, but if they say, ‘Don’t go to school,’ I don’t go [to school] to support them.
  I didn’t vote. [Strikers] are not very aggressive. I was at UQAM and [the strike] is very aggressive there. When there is a strike, they just don’t let you go to school. Here, it’s not well-organized.”

  — Yuna Kersalé , BFA Design