asfe

Darkness. [pause]

That’s all there was to see as I was walking home at night last winter. The bus I normally took to get home stopped running at this time of night, but I didn’t mind the walk, it’s only 25 minutes.

It was super quiet, I’d never seen a path so lifeless.
Not a single person in sight. But I was used to it, I walk this way many times.

[lower voice]
Sometimes… it feels… too quiet…
[very long pause 10s]

[whisper]
Sometimes… its hard to feel safe…
Sometimes… you never know…
[face one side of the audience]

[YELL and turn around]
IF THERES SOMEONE FOLLOWING YOU


There’s a lot of good advice out there for walking home alone at night. For example, it’s important to be aware and not glue your face to your phone. Also, that you should avoid walking alone in the first place. However, for some this situation is unavoidable. I’m talking about night classes.



Come on [elongated]… It’s just Waterloo… it’s not so bad. At 10pm campus is still alive with people buzzing about.

BUT [pause] there are some areas where it doesn’t feel so safe. Especially during the winter, it gets REALLY… REALLY… dark… super early. In fact, some areas of campus are lit so poorly that complaints have been filed. The pathways on the Western end of campus were deemed to have inadequate lighting. Luckily the Federation of Students has put in place a task force to help improve lighting in some areas.

But right now [pause] its inadequate. And right now [pause] I’d feel unsafe walking there alone at night.


Well if you feel unsafe, why don’t you take classes during the day?
Because not everybody HAS that option
Some courses are only offered at night, and some people have to work day jobs

Is it fair to force people to take night classes? Nobody’s forcing you to do anything. Sure you don’t have to take them. But if you want this pretty piece of paper that says your name on it, and says university of waterloo, and says that you you’re good at doing some thing that you studied for 4 years, then you have to come to this class at night.

Again… is it fair? Is it just?
Is it fair to those people who don’t have the finances to pay for tuition. So they have to work part time during nights. What should they do now?
Oh they can just give up their shifts and find some other way to make money.

What about the people who live really far away? I know a guy who takes the GO from Kitchener to Toronto and Toronto to Kitchener every day. If class ends at 10pm, what are his options? Is it even worth going to the class at that point? It seems easier to skip, doesn’t it? Is it fair?

What can be done though? Is it the university’s fault? Who has the power here… certainly not the guy who has to give up his night shifts to accommodate for night classes. But why not? Isn’t he the customer? Isn’t he the one paying for these services?

Well it all comes down to supply and demand. If there’s enough demand for it, maybe the university could offer alternatives to night classes. Perhaps classes on the weekends or online alternatives. Something that would lessen the burden on people who don’t feel safe at night

Of course it’s not that easy, and UW already offers some services to help, such as the campus shuttle.

But is it enough?

Thank you.

[End.]