Shannon Higgins
Editor-In-Chief
Convocation photos at Ryerson aren’t worth a thousand words — they’re worth $30,000 in the Ryerson Students’ Union(RSU) coffers.
Here’s how it works: if you want cheesy Ryerson graduation photos for mom and pops, you pay a $25 sitting fee just to get your photo taken. Then, you pay out of the nose to the photography studio for a package. And when convocation rolls around, the RSU gives you a crappy class composite.
Every year the RSU negotiates a fee with Lassman Studios for allowing the company to set up shop in the Student Campus Centre and monopolize Rye grad pics. The union uses the photos as a source of revenue to pay for other student services. And while I will give the RSU kudos for offering the service on campus, other schools like the University of Toronto are doing it without the $25 sitting fee.
It’s kind of ironic that a students’ union who preaches about the follies of overcharging broke students is cashing in on a commission that is basically a cash grab.
Twenty-five dollars doesn’t seem like much. But it adds up with the $40 convocation fee and the $28,000 of debt most students are saddled with when they leave Ryerson. Just ask the RSU — they’re always ranting about how students get ripped off.
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Wonder what life would be like without that pesky cable bill? Flip to page 12 and read biz and tech editor Matthew Braga’s tips on killing your cable without missing Glee. And check out arts and life editor Gianluca Inglesi’s feature on page 10 to see some of the school’s best dressed.
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