So long, and thanks for all the fish

Brent Rose
Managing Editor
I’ve worked at Excalibur for four years and I regret nothing.
At the end of all things, I must now depart so this is my last editorial.
From the CUPE 3903 strike in 2008-2009 to the recent Israeli Apartheid Week, I’ve seen York University change.

I know we have had past editorials saying that everything’s the same: parking costs a lot of money, TTC buses are always late, the Student Centre is recognized more as a food court than a hub for student activity, York is becoming more corporatized and the YFS elections are unfair. But things have changed.
Parking still costs too much money.
But at least the buses run on time, kind of. Well, the 196 has the worst delays, but at least it’s not as bad as the York subway construction. The York community was told that the subway construction would start in late January.
It’s March. It still hasn’t started.
Firing Rob Castle after serving 20 years as executive director of the Student Centre, really seemed to improve morale and employee satisfaction at the Student Centre. Maybe not right away, but when Saqueeb “Mr. YorkFest” Rajan was fired a year later after working hard coordinating Student Centre events for seven years, and several Student Centre employees left in protest, Scott Jarvis, executive director, was left with a non-confrontational, minimalist staff.
But when it comes to York becoming more corporate, it seems York would rather have an under-equipped and understaffed privatized healthcare clinic to relieve students’ suffering rather than let them be medically treated by well-trained and experienced doctors, chiropractors and nurses at a not-for-profit York Lanes Clinic.
But at least the YFS elections were fair. Ever since the adoption of new election procedures in the student union’s bylaws, there haven’t been any complaints, conflicts of interest, disqualified candidates or protests.
Oh, and no opposition.
Almost every candidate won their position by default, making this the first election where everyone agreed to stop caring.
Okay, things are bad, but I don’t have to tell you this.
You have thieving punks running freely around York stealing your laptops, your phones, your property. Student loan debt is getting worse; every year you owe more to the banks and the government. Shadowy committees, boards of directors and organizations are becoming less transparent and more corrupt.
Our pickup numbers haven’t changed in the last few years, so I know people are reading Excalibur. At least you care enough to know what’s happening, but that’s not enough.
You have to get mad. You have to stand up in class, stop in Vari Hall or open a window, and yell “I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”
It doesn’t matter if you’re a student, a professor, a teaching assistant, an employee or a York administrator, for things to change on campus, for people to care and get involved with the York community, you first have to get mad.
I can’t tell you what to do, what to think, or how to act, but – Goddamn it – you have a voice.
Clarification
The March 23 editorial, “So long, and thanks for all the fish,” employed some subtle sarcasm that may have escaped some readers. To clarify, the firing of then-Student Centre executive director Rob Castle likely did not actually improve morale and satisfaction among Student Centre employees. Previously, former employees told Excalibur they appreciated and respected Castle’s 20 years of work at the Student Centre.