THE OLYMPIC BREAK IS A GREAT IDEA
The up and coming two-week school closure at Cap should only be considered a great escape from the chaotic hell that Vancouver is going to become during the 2010 Winter Olympics. After a two day, eight hour training session for Samsung, it is apparent that the school closure benefits us - we legitimately do not want to come to the Cap Trap with the ridiculous amount of tourists that are going to be invading our beautiful city. The amount of people visiting us, as stated in an article on Go2hr.com, is going to be tens of thousands spectators, athletes, and officials. If we thought commuting to Cap in the morning was bad, the Olympics will take road rage to an entirely different level. CBCNews.com describes the transportation plan as being devoted towards the reduction of automobile use, up to 30 percent. They are expecting 50 percent of downtown’s roads to be closed for pedestrians. Granville, Robson, and Hamilton are to name a few. The plan also entails details of roads being closed and only used the Translink and accredited people. Even though the plan is putting out over a 100 more buses on the road, they are entirely concentrated throughout downtown Vancouver. They are not planning on putting much more on the North Shore or having the buses come to North Vancouver. This does not help the students of Capilano whatsoever. Also, Translink is expecting 5,400 more commuters per hour on all transit. Students coming across town or even from a far distanced are inevitably going to run into many delays and an over amount of people on their usual bus route. Who really wants to get on a bus at 6:30AM in the morning, to get to an 8:30 AM class, just to be pushed up against a stranger?
There’s also been a lot of talk about students losing money due to the closure because classes are in session two weeks longer: we will lose out on work or even, potentially, a summer job because we'll studying away for final exams. This event affects everyone, not just the students, even employers. They are going to be prepared for this delay and take into account that students are going to be starting two weeks later. In reality, summer doesn’t start until we are out of school after all. Everywhere gets busy when we break free of those shackles of school work. As far as losing money because we are there for the extra two weeks, we also have (or should have) taken this opportunity as a monetary gain. Over 80,000 jobs are being offered during the Olympics, says CBC News. The amount of jobs that are being offered for students specifically is ridiculous. All pay wages will vary between companies and jobs, but overall, these two weeks are meant to make money for the city of Vancouver. If you have a job already, then you aren’t losing out on any money and if you haven’t got one: get off your ass and go to Vancouver2010.com.
Not only that, but the amount of money that has been put into the Winter Olympics, $1.6 billion according to VancouverKiosk, should convince us to take part in this once in a lifetime experience. Tourists are paying to come here and we get to participate, in many ways, for free. Shows, events, and entertainment will be common, and for the most part we won't have to pay for anything. Not convincing enough? Vancouver is only going to be a host to the Olympics once, in our lifetime anyways, and the fact that we know this city to no ends should persuade us to want to take part in the free events as much as possible. Rather than paying for a hotel, for transportation, and everything else that a tourist will be paying for daily, we'll be experiencing it all for free. We have U-Passes now, right? We can go back to our homes afterwards. We aren’t tourists here, we know our way around, and we should take this advantage to stretch our legs and take a stroll through the chaos. Streets upon streets are being closed for events, parties, and best of all: beer gardens. Let’s be proud of Vancouver, not go to school for two weeks, earn money, and join in on this international event that is now in our own backyard.
// Madison Strub
writer
THE OLYMPIC BREAK IS A TERRIBLE IDEA
The extended Olympic break is an overall negative, and an unfair showcase of our University’s ability to put our education on the back burner. While there are some obvious upsides to the Olympic break, such as the chance for some of us to escape this horrendous circus known as the Olympics, one cannot ignore yet another perfect example of how the economics of the Olympics have been given a higher priority than the education of a country's students.
Classes will end Thursday, February 11 and resume Monday, March 1. That's one week more of a break then typically scheduled for second semester. Students were calmingly reassured that the extra week of class time will be made up for come April, but I have troubles seeing this fact as an “all’s-well” solution.
Firstly, classes will be pushed back to accommodate said missed education time. This means, depending on exam dates, many may not finish with school until the end of April. Thus, students paying for room and board will need to dish out one more months rent, money that I’m sure they’d rather not spend.
Secondly, a delayed end to our second semester courses means a late start to working. Students need to work to pay for school. While we’re stressing over exams, we could be working, earning desperately needed money.
Thirdly, whatever happened to the break we were supposed to have during first semester? We never had one, having been told it was going to be used for our extended spring reading break instead. And now we are being robbed of even more vacation time by having school go further into summer then it’s supposed to.
It just doesn’t add up, but somehow no one has noticed. Administration has apparently done a poor job of giving a clear idea as to how our schedules would change. J.B. Scoten, a second year student, says “We weren’t even told how it would effect our curriculum until the last possible moment. Now we’re the ones responsible to sort out our own learning schedule.”
You would think that, given the fact that we are already being treated like secondary citizens to wealthy VANOC investors, Capilano's administration would at least have the courtesy to let us know what’s going on. Because although we were indeed told that our class time would be pushed back by a week, specialized programs, such as music, have numerous exams, recitals, and performances whose dates need to accommodate the curriculum’s schedule. And as it stands, students in said specialized programs, such as music, still have no idea when those dates are.
And what about the employees of Capilano University? Surely, they are in support of the University’s decision to extend the break. Apparently not. An employee from financial services, who wished to remain nameless, stated that “The Extended Break has caused employees to have to reschedule their time. We either need to use our own personal vacation time, or come to work. And since there’s limited parking and the city is going to be insanely busy, that’s just not realistic.” So exactly who is benefiting from this extended break? Not the employees, clearly, and not the students.
Although, there are some upsides to having an extended break. For example, students were given the opportunity to volunteer and even potentially work for VANOC here at Cap throughout the break. Lucky us. What an honor, to work for an event we are surely all so very supportive of. Personally, I would rather eat a bumble bee than work for VANOC, but that’s just me. Regardless of your personal opinion towards the Olympics, this poor consolation prize seems to me to be a simple way to distract us from the fact that we were conveniently ignored thus far.
Besides, if you are being paid to work for VANOC, where do you think your pay is coming from? Tax payers. You should have just asked to borrow money from your parents – that's way less work. The reality is, even if we didn’t have an extended break, the Olympics would still be here, inconveniencing us as students. But the true issue is the fact that our overpriced education was put second to Capilano University’s “once in a lifetime” opportunity to put the Olympic logo on some cheap university paraphernalia. Once in a lifetime? Really? Because last time I checked, selling out is pretty common.
// Rachelle Rovner,
Writer
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