Letters to the Editors - October 1

I come in peace, UMSU!

Hey, guess what? It's time for the weekly Facebook reference. Flipping through the networking site other night, I came across the group 'Drop Fees Manitoba.' As many of my friends had joined the group, I decided to check it out. Surprise, surprise, the group's creator was none other than UMSU commander in chief, Jonny Sopotiuk. From the comments on the page, I noticed that his efforts were receiving support. Feeling a little bitter due to some issues I was having with Photoshop, I decided to take it out on UMSU, leaving the comment, 'What's next, a group complaining about high gas prices? You people make me sick.' Ok, so it was a little off the hip and immature, but I figured that a comment like that would fit right in in a group of this nature. My comment, at the very least, didn't warrant being removed, which is what happened some time later. What's wrong with a little opposition UMSU? You guys are always up for a good fight, putting up those fantastic posters that demand more government funding and wearing those cute little buttons that declare a yearning for lower tuition fees. Hey, where were those last year when plans were in motion to raise the tuition freeze? Your group states, 'education is a right', what about a valid right, free speech? I don't even know why I'm so upset about this, it's not like making a Facebook group is going to change anything. In the face of increasing redundancy, UMSU is trying to justify their position here at the university. Maybe it's because we're in the middle of election season, but I'm sick of empty promises. Give it up UMSU, you're only going to yell loud enough for your buddies to pat you on your back. Finishing this letter however, I see that I too am only yelling loud enough for my friends to pat me on the back. I propose a truce, UMSU. Let me keep my health plan and I'll stop calling you out whenever you demand to be taken seriously Hey, we all want something. Now that I've blown out all that hot air, I'm going to get my teeth cleaned. Here's to only getting indignant enough to feel better about yourself.

Tony Neustaedter

We Missed the Bus Too!

This is a response to Lori Adamson’s Letter to the Editor in the September 24th edition of the Manitoban. If the students of the medical faculties were not consulted about the shuttle bus, neither were those students using the bus for their commute from the North End. As a North End resident who has taken the Bannatyne/Fort Garry shuttle bus for the past three years, imagine my surprise to find the change in the schedule this year. I couldn’t understand why they would cut the service in half when the bus was always so full. Naturally, I had some questions regarding the change and so decided to call the university. Surely someone must know something about it! Out of the various departments of the university, no one appeared to know the reason behind the switching of the schedule. I was told numerous times that it was a “great new joint project between the university and Winnipeg Transit” and that although the service had been cut, the #36 had a “new and improved schedule.” After giving the new system a chance for the past month, I have come to the conclusion that it is highly inadequate. Not only is the shuttle more full of students than ever before, but the #36 is extremely unreliable.

For those students who take 8:30 classes, there are two options for transportation from the Bannatyne campus: (1) the #36 leaving at 7:32, or (2) the 7:45 shuttle. The next bus leaving the Bannatyne campus is the #36 at 8:00, too late for an 8:30 class. This morning, the shuttle bus was on-time, as it always is, and the #36 was twelve minutes late. Factoring in the stops it makes along the way, the #36 would get to Fort Garry campus after the shuttle, even though it should leave almost 15 minutes earlier, making this bus absolutely useless. Of course by this time the shuttle bus is full to capacity leaving those with 8:30 classes to squeeze themselves onto the already packed bus. Not so surprisingly, no one takes the #36. As for getting home at the end of the day, the last shuttle bus out of campus leaves Fort Garry at 5:30. If someone has a lab until 5:25, it is almost guaranteed that they will miss this bus. At this point their only option is the unreliable #36.

It seems to me that the #36 is more about servicing those who use the stops on Maryland/Sherbrook and Stafford, rather than about servicing the Bannatyne campus. Not only is this unhelpful to those students in the medical faculties, it is also unhelpful to those living in the North End. I fully agree with Lori’s suggestion to reverse the schedule, giving us the 7:00 bus and giving those in the South End the 7:45 in the morning. We would get to class on time and they wouldn’t get to Brodie Centre before the lights are on. While this is a solution, it can only be a temporary one. A much better solution would be to expand the shuttle bus service back to its original capacity. This would make the shuttle bus about benefiting students, rather than about a joint project that only benefits the university and Winnipeg Transit.

Amber Lamboo

Faculty of Arts