david "can't even bother to button my shirt up properly" ros and scott "i'm actually a man-bot" mclean of the york excalibur posted a little video on the excal website.just two newspaper men, having a chat about vari hall. i wish they wouldn't embarass themselves, because everyone who knows anything about the excalibur knows that they're reading from a script hand-written by the administration of the university(otherwise i would comment about using a student newspaper to air your own opinions and bias... ).
they say that "the vast majority" of students( as demonstrated by "two polls) at york university are in favour of renovating vari hall(the focal point of the university campus)?
really? no offense, mclean/ros, but "the vast majority" of people who completed your polls probably don't account for the entire university population--and students aren't the only people entitled to an opinion in this matter. faculty and staff have a vested interest in this university and they too should have a say.
but let's just say, for a moment, that if all of the students who take your poll say they want vari hall renovated, it should be renovated? does it matter that the building was designed by an award winning architect raymond moriyama of the firm moriyama&teshima?
moriyama was made an officer of the order of canada in 1985 and in 2008 was promoted to companion of the order of canada. he was also awarded the order of ontario and received a governor general's laureate award in visual and media arts in 2009.
on their website, moriyama & teshima describe vari hall:
"One of the issues explored in the building's design was how architecture can support and even encourage the learning process. In Vari Hall learning is not confined to classrooms and lecture halls. Rather, it spills out into stairways, corridors, under stairs, wherever students can gather informally and spontaneously to discuss and debate. "
so, you're going to just change an award winning architect's design because its original purpose and vision doesn't suit you anymore? that doesn't make any sense.
i have an idea, maybe we should just tear york university down and re-build it as the panopticon? maybe that would solve your problem.
york is notorious for being hideous and over crowded. one of the beautiful things about vari hall is not just that it was DESIGNED for public usage/protesting/education outside of classrooms but that it's an amazing open space with windows and flow.
it doesn't need to be "spiced up" with tables and chairs.
maybe you'd like to spice up some mozart with a few guitar rifts? or maybe auto-tune a wagner? or maybe you could paint van gogh as a more handsome man?
take vari hall away from york university, and you might as well rename it york mall, because that's what we'll look like.
i can't even listen to this entire video because these men sound so ridiculously stupid. please, please do us a favour and stop making videos, you're making us ALL look bad.
