108 comments. And counting. Thats how much hype the UCSBizfrosh (re: last weeks front page article) affair has generated on our website. And to think that a week ago, the Undergraduate Commerce Society felt the whole issue wasnt really news.
The council members, in particular UCS President Jyotin Handa, have since apologized for their inapproachability and initial reluctance to comment on the issue. Ive assured him in return that considering all the pressure he and his execs were under at the time, it was quite understandable.
While it may be appeasing to the administration and the Student Union that UCS has issued a statement of apology, I hesitate to conclude that the issue is wholly corrected and resolved. Dont get me wrong — Im not in any way questioning the sincerity of Mr Handas letter, but its one thing for the UCS execs — all of whom are student leaders in their own right — to express their regret and assurances over the matter, and another altogether for so many commerce students to simply resent the fact that Bizfrosh is under investigation in the first place.
You see, for effective change to occur, willingness must come from all concerned. And judging from the 108 comments posted on our website this past week, it seems that a high number of commerce students (or non-commerce students who frequent Bizfrosh every year) are relentlessly unwilling to comply. As our poll indicates, the majority of them seem to think the whole affair was overblown to begin with.
Most of the comments centered on the apparent hypocrisy and double standard-ness of UTMSU, as they themselves are under investigations for controversial cheers during their own Frosh Week. Several students even went so far as to comment on how The Medium is simply a puppet for the student union in this regard. Well then, I wonder what these students were thinking when we publicized UTMSUs proxy misdealings at their Annual Generals Meeting last November. How easy it is for us to slander one another as biased. If as university students we cannot shed our hasty defensiveness and objectify our opinions as much as possible, then I shudder to think of our future.
In defence of UTMSU, and as already mentioned in the article last week, they have already taken steps toward reprimanding themselves with regards to the homophobic chants overheard during Frosh Week; hence, the implemented policy which UCS hesitated to adopt.
Another common argument posed by these individuals is that the chants are just chants. Nothing serious, nothing sinister, and certainly nothing to get carried away with. Its about having fun, writes one student. Its not as if were actually promoting and encouraging underage sex. Well, then why yell it out as if its cool? More significantly, do you really need to shout words like cum and g-spot to have fun or to appear bold and appealing cavalier? Arent we all a little too old to still be shocked and excited by such words?
I wont go into repeating my stance and rhetoric from last weeks editorial. Instead Im going to keep this weeks short and refer you to Mohammed Ashours letter to the editor, The UCS-Bizfrosh debate. Mr Ashour has very eloquently echoed my sentiments on the matter, and while I commend the UCS council members for their decision to express their regret over the matter and account for their actions, I urge all you students who voted Overblown on our website to keep an open mind as you read the letter. I honestly feel youre missing something very important in this debate. Perhaps you might find it somewhere amidst Mr. Ashours words.
