Day after day people complain about the homeless asking for cash but they don’t stick – sticks in your windows asking for change! Or yell at the top of their lungs asking for change. They simply say “can I have a dollar” – But the University kids (mainly Dal students) spent this Tuesday running up and down the streets of spring garden not only disturbing the peace with their noise but also panhandled all day long! I know its for a good cause and I gave them some change but they need to be a bit hush, hush and stop waking people up during their afternoon naps. OR stop shoving sticks into peoples windows when they’re driving…
—YoGranMomma
This article appears in Sep 3-9, 2009.
Get over it GranMomma. It only happens once a year, not every day!
Most of these people are frosh and it is their first time away from home, let them blow off some steam and have some fun while they make some new friends and discover who they really are.
I know, I’ve been there before.
I agree with the OP. Shinearama is one of the most annoying fundraisers I know of and the Frosh get way out of control with their methods. There’s a big difference between standing on a corner politely soliciting donations and having some 19 year old scream at you, your run the guilt-trip or stick sticks in your window (that’s a new one). Every year they seem to find more creative ways to be irritating. They should give you a sticker to avoid harassment whether you donate or not.
I agree with Miles and the OP. These kids are out of control. They should require supervision in some way to ensure they’re not overdoing it and breaking any laws.
They will actually give you a sticker if you decline, I was on my way somewhere yesterday and knew I’d have change on my back, so I told the group I encountered to hit me up on the way back and they tried to give me a sticker to avoid being asked constantly.
On a similar note, I love how the Metro has headline today about the outrage about handicap abuse, right next to the main photo on the page which is a girl pouring water on a student duct taped to a telephone pole during shinerama.
The Metro always has the best article placments PAS. A couple of weeks ago I saw an article about the Swine flu next to an article about a rib eating contest. Was good for a chuckle.
I did Shinerama too, and it was a lot of fun. Some of my best university memories. Yes, they go a little far sometimes, but really – it’s one day a year. Let them have their fun, and raise money for CF while they’re at it.
Yeah, I like little frosh…
You keep gettin’ older and they keep stayin’ the same age…
Shinerama needs to be blown up. It has strayed far from its original premise and is now just an out-of-control panhandling and bad behavior binge by a mob of disorderly kids. Nobody seems to tell these kids how to do anything except to harass and annoy as many innocent passersby as possible as many times as possible. They have not gotten one thin dime from me for years and that will continue until they rethink this ridiculous scam.
Honestly I wish they had a limit to the amount of “WOO”‘s they screamed outside my room on Robie/Spring, BUT it’s for a good cause, so I can live with it for a day….
where is it the money goes again?
Cystic Fibrosis, ya’ll.
Shinerama supports the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Actually the money is well-spent with 78% of donations going to research, treatment and education-type projects. If CF is a cause you care about, the CCFF seems like a good charity to give to. By comparison, the Terry Fox Foundation spends 87% of their donations on cancer research, 10% on the Terry fox run and 3% on administration, whereas the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation puts only about 53% of their total revenue towards research and services while over 40% goes to fundraising, the CIBC run for the cure and administration.
Only if you’re foolish enough to give them anything. Stop supporting this and maybe it will get some much-needed revision.
Well, their tactics are questionable, but Shinerama is hardly a scam. I would just e-mail them and explain that you don’t give because you don’t like the Shinerama kids. Maybe if enough people complain they can get their fundraisers to dial it down a notch.
http://www.cysticfibrosis.ca/page.asp?id=4…
Don’t blame the students/kids on their actions and methods; direct it to the organizers of the campaigns.
I am NOT saying that its Shinerama’s fault necessarily of any organization related to CF, but to (perhaps) the frosh organizers, some shinerama staff, maybe even some organizations at the universities. There is not any “training session” given before these events (I was a Dal frosh in 98….) and many of the students are told to “be energetic and lively”.
Certainly, a young naive student may decode those words in many ways, however, if they’re not educated/informed or even supervised, it has potential to be a shit show. Energy tends to be high during frosh week and I do not believe that students want to be rude people – especially while trying to raise funds for charity.
I believe the bitch one or two years ago was about how students were saying, “We’re raising money for CF,” and not “We’re raising money for CF RESEARCH!” The kids just need to be trained/taught better by the frosh committes or foundation committees (or both).
Its certainly not illegal.
It’s mostly the fault of frosh staff. When I did Shinerama in 00′ we were on the leading edge of the crazy shit. We were told to anything that we could think of to get money. It’s a noble cause, but the methods are flawed. I can understand the frustration, it is out of hand especially when these methods make the front pages of a un-respected free newspaper, seemingly in support of the outlandish behaviour.
I’m confused because when I did Shinerama we hosted BBQs, Car Washes and did community and campus clean-ups… I’ve never heard of these methods being employed before. Mind you I did this at Cape Breton University, perhaps that’s why it’s different.
I was also a frosh in 2000, and we were definitely encouraged to be as crazy as we could. Personally I just called it a day at 10am and went home, as I’m not exactly the loud frosh type, but I know there were a lot of antics going on.
I find it odd that something like the CF Foundation condones uni. kids putting themselves in the midst of traffic islands, and the street – almost partying, and chance causing an accident and perhaps being killed outright. The case at times at the Dartmouth side of the Angus L. What are the stats. for deaths from causes due to CF vs auto accidents, in Canada? Not a cent to this group under these circumstances!