Student 'Sit-In'

Mzuni students arrested and detained during 'Sit-In'

It is inconceivable that any university in Canada would lack functional computer labs equipped with colour printers. I certainly took full advantage of Ryerson's computer labs, which were always available 24-hours a day and with minimal printing cost. Nevertheless, when encountering those pesky error messages such as 'load tray' or 'toner low', I would often mutter under my breath over the two-to-three minutes it would take me to log onto a different printer. Many of you may recall the scene from the cult classic film "Office Space" that captured a defiant employee (Micheal Bolton) destroying the office printer with a baseball bat in the middle of a secluded field because of its incessant 'PC Load Letter' error message... The point that I am trying to make is that minor technological glitches can often frustrate us to no end because we expect our gadgets to work, especially when we need them to most.

Now imagine that you are a cash strapped undergraduate student without access to a functional printer for eight months. What would you do? Well, during our second week just two weeks prior to exams, the student body held a 'sit-in' (strike) allegedly to protest the administration's failure to repair the sole printer used by the entire student population. The police armed with rifles were called in to suppress a small minority of students who were aggressively protesting. Unbeknown to me, teer gas was fired within 10 metres of the Physical Planning Building, where I was quietly preparing a lesson plan for a class the following day. In addition to the teer gas and the odd gun shot fired into the air, I continued to work rather contently I think in large part because of how calm the faculty were about the situation. After talking with one lecturer, it became clear that irrational behavior is typical of the police. Hence, the situation going on outside was almost expected... Just a few irrational policemen running around with tear gas and assault rifles... no big deal...

During day two of the 'sit-in', the President of Malawi's brother gave a speech on campus in an effort to gain support for, amongst other things, a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would permit the President to appoint his successor. In this case, the successor would be the President's brother. In a seeming gesture of good faith, the President's brother donated two printers to diffuse the issue. Regardless of whether the donation was politically motivated or not, the students returned to class the following day and a notice from the Registrar ordering all students to vacate the campus indefinitely was rescinded.

Mzuni students prepare to vacate the campus after an order was issued from the Registrar

I learned an important lesson that day. And that lesson is to avoid getting involved in any event that could go awry... and to avoid taking pictures of the authorities... so these will be my last!