“It’s like they want you to fail,” said fourth-year biology student Brent Brentson in an exclusive interview with The Medium.
After a four-hour trek spanning Deerfield to CCIT to IB to Kaneff to Davis, Brentson is at his wits end. A lack of power outlets has forced him to quit his academic career.
“Inhumane!” Brentson said as he gestured to a study desk missing a power outlet.
The struggle for power outlets is a well noted difficulty facing students. Faulty outlets, unfinished desks, and awkward locations have plagued student attempts to charge for decades. Students have been forced to resort to power banks, or worse, letting their devices die and interacting with the real world.
The Hazel McCallion library touts the most power outlets of any building on campus, but totalitarian librarians and harsh architecture make it difficult for students to use.
“I used the last three per cent of my phone battery to try and log into ACORN to drop my courses, but the U of T Wi-Fi wouldn’t connect.”
When directed to a lone power outlet along a hallway on the second floor of the ICCIT building, the now-former student grimaced. “The cement hurts my ass. I’m entitled to a power outlet and a lightly cushioned desk chair, preferably one that spins. You know, the bare necessities.”
