Student union stages Halloween awareness event as a precursor to the Day of Action

Brandon Duda

A mock crime scene was set up in Vari Hall to increase awareness of Ontario’s title as the province with the highest tuition fees.

Outlines of bodies lined the floor of Vari Hall last week.
    The paper corpses were covered in messages from York students about their growing debt due to high tuition fees.
    The bodies, which were outlined in caution tape, caught the attention of the throngs of people entering and exiting the building on Oct. 28. Many stopped to read the messages, and some wrote messages of their own about their struggle with debt.

‘I don’t really know what we’re doing with the bodies [ . . . ]we should send them right to Dalton McGuinty
— Gayle McFadden, York student

    The York Federation of Students (YFS) volunteers, campaigning for lower tuition as part of the “Drop Fees” campaign for a poverty-free Ontario, reminded students that Ontario has the highest tuition fees in Canada.
   “The little bodies have stories all over them. Some of them are a kind of obtuse, some of them are gross exaggerations, but a lot of them hit really close to home,” stated Gayle McFadden, a first-year psychology major. McFadden claims to already be at least $5,000 in debt, without counting any extra expenses.
    The event was targeted at Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, which was evident due to the sign that had been placed amid the scrambled bodies and had the following written all over it: “Debt: due to McGunity, Victims: students.”
   “I don’t really know what we’re doing with the bodies,” McFadden stated, while looking down at the paper outlines. “But I think we should send them right to Dalton McGuinty’s doorstep.”
   One story that was told was that of a young mother who was working two jobs to make enough money to get milk for her 18-month-old baby.   “This could be me next month if I can’t make rent. It’s just very scary,” expressed McFadden about the young mother’s struggle.
   The event was promoting the Nov. 5 “Day of Action,” when students will be bussed from Vari Hall to Queen’s Park to protest with students from various other schools all over the GTA.
Last year’s event consisted of everyone dressing up as zombies for the march. This year’s theme consists of a display of mock body bags to represent the amount of students who have to drop out of school and drop classes, as well as those who cannot finish school or obtain a post secondary education due to high costs.
    However, second-year student Theresa Dang said she won’t be attending the rally because she doesn’t believe it will do anything to lower the cost of tuition fees.
    “They’ve done this before and nothing has really happened, and I don’t think anyone is actually listening to us,” said Dang. “I feel like it is kind of a waste of time.”