4grand
Active Member
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/1263749--glendon-college-and-the-21st-century-campus-christopher-hume
I have lost all respect for Christopher Hume. His article yesterday on Glendon College's "Centre of Excellence" was nothing more than biased, unfounded and untrue propaganda.
Glendon College's new "Centre of Excellence" is a complete disaster, but Mr. Hume is a graduate of the college. He is also personal friends with members of the administration, including the Principal.
I contacted Christopher before I knew of his connections and asked him if he would consider writing an article on this building. I also asked him for advice on how to get this new wing exposed for what it is, which is a waste of a $20 million grant from the province. After he didn't respond to multiple emails, I finally Googled him and found out his history. I emailed him my realization - that he was in cahoots with the Glendon administration - and he finally replied, with a two-sentence email, telling me he that "didn't hate the building" and was planning on writing about it.
Below is a draft of a letter I'm planning on sending to not only The Star's editor, but the editors of all the major newspapers. I'm working with a good number of other dissatisfied students and a few members of the staff (who will remain nameless), and we're hoping to get some exposure. I've also been in touch with journalists at other newspapers but my trouble is convincing them that this is a big enough story to publish. In my opinion it is. This new wing is an outright deception, it is subterfuge and it is injustice towards students.
Here is the first draft of that letter.
I found Christopher Hume's article in today's Star to be a slap in the face to students at Glendon College. As a graduate of Glendon himself, and a personal friend of the Principal, Kenneth McRoberts, Mr. Hume wrote one of the most biased and false articles I have ever read.
This new "Centre of Excellence", which has already been given the nickname "The Centre of Negligence" is nothing more than a showpiece for the administration of Glendon College. It is Vanity over Sanity and Style over Substance. The entire front lobby is awash in expensive, white marble, reaching from floor to ceiling, while there are nearly no electrical outlets, anywhere in the building for students to plug into. When I personally inquired of Principal Kenneth McRoberts as to the major oversight, he cited a lack of funds. This is for a building that had been given a $20 million grant from the Province to build from the ground up. When I asked how much the white, marble lobby cost, and why the money for aesthetics wasn't first spent on functionality, he didn't have an answer and quickly passed me onto someone else.
This new "Centre of Excellence" has been built for prospective students, to trick them into believing that they will have technologically sound and state-of-the art facilities when they enroll. In reality, most of the "Excellence" is found in the expensive building materials and the sterile, glass-and-white boxy exterior. Once a prospective student becomes a current student, they quickly realize that this "Centre of Excellence" isn't so excellent, but by then, York has already obtained their money.
The desks, tables, chairs and nearly every piece of material present in any one of the classrooms, is of the lowest, cheapest quality. There are nearly no electrical outlets for students to plug into. I believe in the smaller rooms there are a total of four outlets; in the medium auditoriums, there are maybe five or six; and in the large, main auditorium, which has its entire exterior covered in white marble, there are perhaps no more than ten, with most against the walls, much too far for most of the hundred-and-fifty students to reach. It's almost certain that this entire building will need to be retrofitted within the next decade, which is ridiculous.
Another odd and antiquated decision is the the installation of black boards and chalk in every classroom. Why not use 2012 technology and install SMART boards? It's quite myopic to install a projector, projector module, projector console, projector screen, and a desktop computer when all could easily be done with a SMART board, all in one. Surely, the price difference between such a strange set up and a SMART board can only be negligible. The most expensive SMART boards currently are around $4000. With a budget of $20 million, I don't understand how they couldn't find the money for SMART boards for six classrooms. Even stranger, is the fact that all of the tutorial rooms have glass back walls which let in plenty of daytime sunlight, and front glass walls which let in light from the hallway. I'm not sure how projector images are really supposed to be seen, when there are no blinds, anywhere.
Christopher Hume praises the architect and the architecture of the building itself, but personally, I find the choice of a completely white building absolutely demented. We live in Canada. Six months of the year, it is very mucky outside. Why are there white floors, white walls, white pillars and white everything? You're not supposed to wear white after Labour Day for a reason.
They've also built a rooftop patio, which conveniently enough, just like the entire new wing, faces the entrance. However, if one thinks for a moment, one starts to realize that the weather from September to May is not very conducive to sitting outside. So, if it's not for students during the year to use, who is it for exactly?
What's worse, is that the rest of the campus is literally decaying before the students' eyes. There are totally defunct washrooms, carpets are peeling up from the floor, ceiling panels are caving in, and the electrical outlets and technological facilities are nearly non-existent as the entire property hasn't been updated since it was built, over fifty years ago. Parking is a rip-off, the cafeteria is a rip-off (selling Vitamin Water nearly a dollar more than they do at Pusateri's), the computer labs are antiquated and the residences are archaic.
None of the above issues were even addressed before they decided to build a monumental, $20 million eyesore. An eyesore which they then proceeded to line the entire front lobby with expensive, white marble. I find Christopher Hume's article a betrayal to logic and morality. I even emailed him for advice, but was disappointed to find that he sided with his alma mater and his friend, Kenneth McRoberts.
I have lost all respect for Christopher Hume. His article yesterday on Glendon College's "Centre of Excellence" was nothing more than biased, unfounded and untrue propaganda.
Glendon College's new "Centre of Excellence" is a complete disaster, but Mr. Hume is a graduate of the college. He is also personal friends with members of the administration, including the Principal.
I contacted Christopher before I knew of his connections and asked him if he would consider writing an article on this building. I also asked him for advice on how to get this new wing exposed for what it is, which is a waste of a $20 million grant from the province. After he didn't respond to multiple emails, I finally Googled him and found out his history. I emailed him my realization - that he was in cahoots with the Glendon administration - and he finally replied, with a two-sentence email, telling me he that "didn't hate the building" and was planning on writing about it.
Below is a draft of a letter I'm planning on sending to not only The Star's editor, but the editors of all the major newspapers. I'm working with a good number of other dissatisfied students and a few members of the staff (who will remain nameless), and we're hoping to get some exposure. I've also been in touch with journalists at other newspapers but my trouble is convincing them that this is a big enough story to publish. In my opinion it is. This new wing is an outright deception, it is subterfuge and it is injustice towards students.
Here is the first draft of that letter.
I found Christopher Hume's article in today's Star to be a slap in the face to students at Glendon College. As a graduate of Glendon himself, and a personal friend of the Principal, Kenneth McRoberts, Mr. Hume wrote one of the most biased and false articles I have ever read.
This new "Centre of Excellence", which has already been given the nickname "The Centre of Negligence" is nothing more than a showpiece for the administration of Glendon College. It is Vanity over Sanity and Style over Substance. The entire front lobby is awash in expensive, white marble, reaching from floor to ceiling, while there are nearly no electrical outlets, anywhere in the building for students to plug into. When I personally inquired of Principal Kenneth McRoberts as to the major oversight, he cited a lack of funds. This is for a building that had been given a $20 million grant from the Province to build from the ground up. When I asked how much the white, marble lobby cost, and why the money for aesthetics wasn't first spent on functionality, he didn't have an answer and quickly passed me onto someone else.
This new "Centre of Excellence" has been built for prospective students, to trick them into believing that they will have technologically sound and state-of-the art facilities when they enroll. In reality, most of the "Excellence" is found in the expensive building materials and the sterile, glass-and-white boxy exterior. Once a prospective student becomes a current student, they quickly realize that this "Centre of Excellence" isn't so excellent, but by then, York has already obtained their money.
The desks, tables, chairs and nearly every piece of material present in any one of the classrooms, is of the lowest, cheapest quality. There are nearly no electrical outlets for students to plug into. I believe in the smaller rooms there are a total of four outlets; in the medium auditoriums, there are maybe five or six; and in the large, main auditorium, which has its entire exterior covered in white marble, there are perhaps no more than ten, with most against the walls, much too far for most of the hundred-and-fifty students to reach. It's almost certain that this entire building will need to be retrofitted within the next decade, which is ridiculous.
Another odd and antiquated decision is the the installation of black boards and chalk in every classroom. Why not use 2012 technology and install SMART boards? It's quite myopic to install a projector, projector module, projector console, projector screen, and a desktop computer when all could easily be done with a SMART board, all in one. Surely, the price difference between such a strange set up and a SMART board can only be negligible. The most expensive SMART boards currently are around $4000. With a budget of $20 million, I don't understand how they couldn't find the money for SMART boards for six classrooms. Even stranger, is the fact that all of the tutorial rooms have glass back walls which let in plenty of daytime sunlight, and front glass walls which let in light from the hallway. I'm not sure how projector images are really supposed to be seen, when there are no blinds, anywhere.
Christopher Hume praises the architect and the architecture of the building itself, but personally, I find the choice of a completely white building absolutely demented. We live in Canada. Six months of the year, it is very mucky outside. Why are there white floors, white walls, white pillars and white everything? You're not supposed to wear white after Labour Day for a reason.
They've also built a rooftop patio, which conveniently enough, just like the entire new wing, faces the entrance. However, if one thinks for a moment, one starts to realize that the weather from September to May is not very conducive to sitting outside. So, if it's not for students during the year to use, who is it for exactly?
What's worse, is that the rest of the campus is literally decaying before the students' eyes. There are totally defunct washrooms, carpets are peeling up from the floor, ceiling panels are caving in, and the electrical outlets and technological facilities are nearly non-existent as the entire property hasn't been updated since it was built, over fifty years ago. Parking is a rip-off, the cafeteria is a rip-off (selling Vitamin Water nearly a dollar more than they do at Pusateri's), the computer labs are antiquated and the residences are archaic.
None of the above issues were even addressed before they decided to build a monumental, $20 million eyesore. An eyesore which they then proceeded to line the entire front lobby with expensive, white marble. I find Christopher Hume's article a betrayal to logic and morality. I even emailed him for advice, but was disappointed to find that he sided with his alma mater and his friend, Kenneth McRoberts.
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