University strike 5 weeks and counting

[da_head]

the teacher advisors at my university (York University at Toronto, Canada) have been on strike for i think more than 5 weeks now? it's ridiculous. i was psyched for a potential 1 or 2 week break, but this is getting stupid. if class doesn't resume by monday, classes for the rest of december will be canceled, and possibly the whole semester. wtf is happening to my tuition? to my time? to my fucking life?! and of course, this ideally would be the perfect opportunity to get ahead, but being the procrastinator i am, i just waste the days away gaming, gbatemp, going out uselessly. and my dad's driving me crazy, tryin to make me study >.> well anywayz, thanks for reading through my rant. here's a video made by some people at the uni, making fun of CUPE which is the TA's union. just for a little background, some classes have resumed because the visa students need to finish their semester. while they were having their exam, they raided Schulich (the school i go to), disrupting STUDENT exams, and claiming that they're doing it for our own good (a fight against the university). anyways enjoy.

bah, i can't embed it properly, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tORTDae-Yck...re=channel_page

EDIT: shit this should have been in my blogs. mod move plz?

 

[UltraMagnus]

well, just make sure they arn't charging you for this semesters tuition (assuming you have to pay in Canada)

 

[FAST6191]

Hmm there was a strike while I was at university but it was only a day (and none of my lectures were cancelled although I did need to cross lines (or more precisely float over a 3m wall)).

Disrupting exams is a bit much though.

 

[xcalibur]

well, just make sure they arn't charging you for this semesters tuition (assuming you have to pay in Canada)

Thats one of his worries.


This shit sounds ridiculious. I really feel for the position you're in but just make a few trips to the uni office to find out what the hell is going to happen to you if this continues any longer. This is a really bad situation to be in so I suggest that you get as much information as you can. If studying on your own is something you find hard then maybe get a tutor and get your dad to pay for it (I'm sure he'll be more than happy). 5 weeks is a really long time and this can have a huge negative impact on your education.

 

[hankchill]

The teachers need to seriously suck it up; Why go on strike, because they aren't getting paid enough, right? Boo-fuckity-hoo. Honestly these 'teachers' need to learn that the university is for the next generation of students, not for themselves.

Like the guys above said, I hope they aren't charging you for tuition, because how much sense would that make if you were paying to not go? I did the smart thing and didn't bother with university

 

[da_head]

it's not the teachers that are on strike, it's the teacher advisors. basically, they're graduate students working part time to help pay for their tuition. you know what they're demanding? they want free tuition, full time pay, and a 30% increase in wages. WTF. stop bitching and go get a real job!! jesus

o and might i add, they're ALREADY the highest paid TA's in ontario.

 

[Raven Darkheart]

you have TA's in charge of your classes??? 0.o

 

[da_head]

you have TA's in charge of your classes??? 0.o

for a few classes yeah. we would have the prof doing lectures on one day, and the next day, there would be about 5 classes all led by TAs. but that's not the problem. the profs need TAs to mark shit cuz the profs themselves are lazy fucks

 

[Raven Darkheart]

you have TA's in charge of your classes??? 0.o

for a few classes yeah. we would have the prof doing lectures on one day, and the next day, there would be about 5 classes all led by TAs. but that's not the problem. the profs need TAs to mark shit cuz the profs themselves are lazy fucks

thats been a trend thats become more popular in the last 10-15 years...thats unfortunate, but yeah i'd make a trip or 2 down to the bursars office with all of that free time u have now

 

[Anakir]

I'm soooo glad I didn't switch to York. I was planning to because I really want to get in teacher's college. But wow.. York is such a huge turn off to me now. I'm just happy I didn't go. I feel for you man. I complain about school and shit, but when I'm not in school, I'm bored as fuck and wish I was in school. York students have soooo much time on their hands right now it's not even funny. York's gonna lose a lot of students for this.

 

[3020]

Man that sucks. I hope the strike is over before next year because I'm going to york then.

 

[Little]

thats fucked up >.>


and the one time one of our lecturers decided they didnt want to teach us and got her assistant to do one of our lectures..... like 80% of students complained. It didn't happen again.

 

[FAST6191]

thats fucked up >.>


and the one time one of our lecturers decided they didnt want to teach us and got her assistant to do one of our lectures..... like 80% of students complained. It didn't happen again.

There were no assistants as such for us, a few times we junior readers and what have you but that was OK because it was their area of expertise and it just for parts of lectures.

@hankchill while I agree in part (if you sign up for something...) what I read on the subject would seem to indicate they have hours (internal and external) capped along with wages:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/nov2008/york-n15.shtml
Note I accuse that article of substantial bias, a university is not just a teaching institution (while I have little experience of Canadian education I seriously doubt it is different there, especially in light of the hoops required for P.Eng) and it does not seem to account for that.
On the flip side there is plenty of off the grid stuff available for those that want it, I have rarely seen such a place where the agreement is "just don't take the piss".

On the other hand education has never directly taught me what I wanted to know and I had to go and do for myself. If the facilities are there can you not get some "coursework" assigned (I do not know what you are there for but I can think of at least 4 examples for law, engineering, computing, science, language, business........), many people would kill for a project of sorts to try stuff out with.

 

[da_head]

yep it's official, classes are canceled for decemeber. i think it's time i got a job >.>

 

[Cablephish]

I have a friend who went there at the beginning of this September. I think in his case this would be a kind of relief, seeing as he has this veil around him that says, "I'm a slacker, and I'm enjoying this."

But yeah, this is pretty out of control now.

 

[da_head]

I have a friend who went there at the beginning of this September. I think in his case this would be a kind of relief, seeing as he has this veil around him that says, "I'm a slacker, and I'm enjoying this."

But yeah, this is pretty out of control now.

i'm a slacker too, but if we didn't have a strike right now, i would be done all my projects, and almost all my exams, so..

 

[falcon64z8]

That sucks, because its like you just wasted a semester of school and have to redo it all over again. Hope it ends soon.

 

[Deadmon]

Yeah, a lot of my friends who're in York are quite pissed...the possibility of doing their fall term finals in the winter term..ugh!

Blah, York already has the highest paid TAs, so why ask for more? -__-

Well, here's hoping that you won't get screwed over financially!