Just three weeks before the end of the fall semester, I have come to the realization that I haven’t done any productive work outside of school since the start of classes.

As a first-year student, I naturally had many plans to do extra-curricular activities over the summer. French Club. The Varsity newspaper. Engineering Toastmasters. Engineers Without Borders. The Blue & Gold Committee (a spirit group for engineers). The Engineering Society, Academic Committee. The Engineering LEGO Club.

Tons of plans, but they’ve fallen through due to:

1. Time commitments. Toastmasters ends at 10pm on Thursdays, when I am often staying up late completing PHY180 lab write-ups. I also have limited time to begin with because the commute eats up 3 hours each day. LEGO Club… well, meetings are also on Thursdays, and I guess doing error analysis calculations is more feasible than constructing a house made of LEGO bricks.
2. Lack of response from group executives. I’m serious – I signed up for a gazillion clubs during the UTSU and Engineering Clubs’ Fairs, but have only been e-mailed by a handful. And some have only e-mailed once, and never again. The only French Club meeting I’ve been to was their introductory brunch, which, incidentally, was delicious.
3. Laziness. I signed up for blogUT, knew I was going to blog the second I had something to say, and… kind of forgot about it.
4. In my defence, it was partly also due to shyness and decision-making. I was trying to come up with something interesting to talk about. Whatever was remotely related to engineering, I stuck the blog entry into the Online Design Journal I’m required to keep in preparation for one of my final exams.

Considering that all of my friends here at U of T are first-years in engineering, I haven’t been doing non-scientifically-related writing for a while now, and I am slowly losing my French skills, my inactivity is clearly something I should deal with.

Fortunately, I kept the last e-mail I got from blogUT, in my Inbox where I could easily see it. And I discovered that not only was the founder a former EngSci graduate, but there were posts, personal ones (i.e. not just artsy reviews or school events!) that could resemble what I’d write in any blog.

I decided not to write for the Arts section of the Varsity when I realized that they didn’t publish book reviews (plus my  reviews are generally outdated – a few months after the book’s release), and didn’t write for the Science section because they seem to expect up-to-date news from research conducted right at the U of T. The Cannon, the engineering newspaper, has never e-mailed me since I wrote my contact information on the sign-up sheet.

So much for trying to be connected to student life. I guess that’s how blogUT started, because it sure feels good to be blogging and just… doing something aside from problem sets and whatnot.

The new school year is rolling around and the course textbook list is out now on the U of T Bookstore website.

Before you head on down to the bookstore and leave a dent in your credit card, you might want to try to:

1. BUY YOUR BOOKS USED

   You can get used books from a number of places, including:

   a) Book exchange websites, such as TUSBE (my favorite)
   b) The UTSU book exchange
   c) Websites that sell used books, such as abebooks.com and even Amazon
   d) Your friends!

   Don’t forget that the U of T Bookstore also sells used books, but you might be able to get a better deal if you look around other places.

2. BUY YOUR BOOKS FROM THE DISCOUNT BOOKSTORE

   If the book you want is the latest edition and you can’t get it used, then your best option is to buy it from the discount bookstore, located across the street from the U of T bookstore. The price difference isn’t crazy, but it’s probably the cost of a cheap meal.

3. SEE IF THERE’S AN ONLINE VERSION

   Sometimes if you Google hard enough, you can find a PDF version of a textbook you can view for free. You might prefer to have a hard copy of all the pages to carry around, though it can be handy for those times that you don’t have the book on you.

To make sure you are getting the right book for the right price, remember to:

• Check the ISBN number of the book you want with the one you’re buying
• Look around at the prices people are offering for the book and see if you can get a cheaper deal
• See if the book is actually “Required” for the course; I often find that I don’t even use books that are “Recommended.”

If you have any tips on buying or selling textbooks, leave them in the comments!

Another round in the epic battle between university admin and CUPE.

University of Toronto students have always found a sense of pride in not being York students. The announcement of a vote in favour of strike action by our teaching assistants caused many students to pause for a moment and wonder if this sense of pride could possibly… maybe… almost be unfounded! An undergrad town hall on collective bargaining with representatives from CUPE 3902 and UTSU answered questions and heard concerns about the potential strike. So stop putting your transfer application for Windsor, McGill or McMaster together: everything is going to be just fine, or so we’ve been told.

Find out more after the jump. (more…)

We know that the transition from party- and relaxation-filled winter break to test- and assignment-filled school is an unpleasant one, to say the least. To help smooth things over, the UTSU has planned Winterfest, a smorgasbord of events covering everything from skating, to movie night, to club night, and everything in between. After the jump, read some more detailed descriptions of the events. (more…)

Last Friday, hundreds of U of T students gathered at Convocation Hall for a lecture. But this wasn’t just any lecture — it featured environmentalist David Suzuki. Any SUV-driving, littering, non-environmentalist who attended was probably disappointed that the talk was neither boring nor trite.

The event was hosted by the UTSU, UTERN, the Good Ideas Fund at Hart House, and CUPE 3902, among others. Clayton Thomas-Muller, who is the Tar Sands Campaign Organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network, also spoke about his work traveling across North America, defending the rights of Indigenous peoples against unsustainable energy policies. City Councillor Olivia Chow also gave a short, motivational speech.

David’s lecture had an informal feel — not what I expected. Instead of pulling out charts and PowerPoint slides, he told stories about his experiences with government officials, business leaders, and other students. How are different people dealing with (or not dealing with) the state of our planet? What have people done in the past to take action, and was it effective? Is it too late? These are the questions he addressed. And FYI, it’s not too late, but it won’t be long until we can no longer escape the consequences of our over-consumption, which he likened to how bacteria live inside a closed container… eventually they will run out of food, overpopulate, and die.

So eat vegetarian for one week every month. Leave your car at home once a week. Turn off your electronics. Sign up for the David Suzuki Nature Challenge!

If you want to check out some great Canadin indie music you won’t have to leave campus to do so. On Thursday December 13th starting at 8:00pm, The Hidden Cameras will be performing along with Sister Suvi, from Montreal, and local Toronto musician Allie Hughes in the Great Hall at Hart House. This is an aids benefit concert with proceeds going towards Toronto People With AIDS Foundation and AVERT International. The best part about this concert is that tickets are only $5 for students or $10 for adults. It’s brought to you by UTSU in partnership with Hart House’s Social Justice Committee.

For advance tickets head to the University of Toronto Students’ Union office located at 12 Hart House Circle, 9:00am-5:00pm. Cash only. Or for more information: (416) 978-4911 x 225

Also, you can check the facebook event AIDS Benefit Concert with The Hidden Cameras for more info.

By now you’ve probably seen tons of UTSU flyers and posters all over campus promoting the construction of a student-run space called Student Commons. It sounds pretty nice at first; after all, who wouldn’t want a 24-hour student space or space for student organizations? Before you buy into this, some things you may want to consider.

Firstly, the UTSU is proposing that all students pay $5 per session during the construction of this place and $14.25 per session after it opens to pay off the mortgage. It doesn’t stop there — they are asking for $6.50 more per session for operating and capital renewal costs. Do your math and this adds up to $20.75 per session! Furthermore, are these costs not subject to change? This is, after all, only a propsal. Hmm…

Another thing that really bugs people is the fact that we actually have to pay for a space like this. Do you think the University of Toronto should be responsible for these costs? What is this space going to look like anyway? What if we don’t like how it turns out?

For more information, check out the links below:

An article by The Varsity against the idea.

The Student Commons website.

A utoronto LiveJournal post discussing it

Make your opinion heard by voting anytime from now until November 2nd. Polling stations are at the following locations:
SIDNEY SMITH LOBBY
WOODSWORTH RESIDENCE LOBBY
ATHLETIC CENTRE
MEDICAL SCIENCES BUILDING
TRINITY COLLEGE
ALUMNI HALL (ST. MIKE’S)