Contract leaves students either in debt or housing purgatory
By Cedric Chen
To the new students who don’t have a clue of the leech on their wallets that’s been going on, I’ll make things clear for you: “the interim contract,” which was first introduced in March, 2011, and first implemented in August, 2011. This system evicts all residents from the Residence between spring and summer semesters, and between summer and fall semesters, and has those who choose to stay — particularly, international students — pay an extra $250 just to stay in Residence for two weeks or to switch into their next-assigned rooms earlier. For those who have too much luggage to deal with, Residence and Housing gives them the not-so-merciful option of the interim storage for $50.
When this system was first introduced, it met fierce resistance from the residents, and the Residence Halls Association campaigned so hard that Residence and Housing had to withdraw it. However, since the RHA isn’t as active during summer semesters, Residence and Housing took the opportunity to finally put the system into practice .
Many long-time residents, including myself, have been completely and whole-heartedly against this system. We see it as taking your life when you’re already sick. Many international students came to Canada with no family connection, so when this system is implemented, they have no choice but to fork over $250 to Residence and Housing again and again. Before this, they could save the $250 for their textbooks for the next semester, or some tickets to their favourite attractions, or their medical insurance bills, but now those are all but a dream. On the other hand, many Canadian students are criticizing Residence and Housing for “seeing nothing but the Lower Mainland.” Since they’re Canadian, they’re seen as “domestic” students and won’t have the priority for interim housing or storage. What Residence and Housing has failed to see is that carrying their luggage to Oak Bay, Kelowna or Prince George is no easier than carrying them to Seattle or Hong Kong.
Sure, the B.C. Liberals are the first to blame for the dramatic cutting to education funding, but that should never be a justification for SFU to suck the students’ blood dry. On the other hand, while SFU has constantly mentioned that they want to construct communities, the interim contract system is torturing the Residence community to near-death. I admit that I’ve made a significant number of life-impacting friends in Residence, but the skyrocketing expenditure is suffocating for myself and may other students.
My demand is very clear: Residence and Housing shall immediately abolish this ridiculous interim contract system and return all money collected under this system to its victims, whether they still live in Residence or not. We’re students, not cash cows. We do not deserve to be treated as a source of revenue. I’m asking the RHA to once again take a very strong stand against the interim contract system. You’ve stopped it once, and you can do it again. If you really want to defend the interests of the residents, you should step up and take this stand.
