A residence student braves the cold to tray-boggan near the S Building on North Campus.
photo by cecily van horn
Crafty students using caf trays to toboggan
Jordan Sandler
LIFE REPORTER
Humber residents are taking advantage of the snow to continue their ongoing tradition of using cafeteria trays to toboggan down the slopes at North Campus.
“Sitting on top of a steep hill with a cafeteria tray in one hand and a beer in the other, it just seems like the ultimate Canadian college experience,” said Michael Klein, 22, a first-year nursing student who took part in the shenanigans.
Tray-bogganing, as it is fondly known to students, allows participants to use their creative juices to come up with one of many possible styles that will help them reach the bottom of a hill in one piece.
“We’ve tried standing but it doesn’t exactly work – the trays kind of go all over the place – so generally sitting is your best bet,” Klein said.
“You can sit with your butt on one tray and put your feet on another tray but that gets kind of wild.”
Residents looking to hone their skills in tray-bogganing have a variety of slopes to choose from at North Campus. These include hills located behind S and T Building but those brave enough for a real challenge can venture into the southwest corner of the Arboretum where they will encounter what many call Death Hill.
“There are trees all over the place, branches across the ground; it’s hardcore,” Klein said.
When Lynn Newhouse started her job as the North Campus residence manager last February, she was informed that students were tray-bogganing near the residence buildings. “Obviously we don’t let them do that, but it is hard to control where they take the trays,” she said.
Dining Hall Manager Gord Power said he was given advanced warning about the impact of winter weather on dining hall supplies. “I heard it before I got here, that if the trays went missing, that’s what they were being used for,” he said.
The dining hall purchased about 600 trays before the start of this school year and had 700 to 800 from the previous year, Power said.
“We purchase more than we need, but if everybody and their brother are taking them and leaving them outside then the rest of the residents suffer because they have nothing to carry their food on,” he said.
Residence life Manager Michael Kopinak said the theft of trays and, more importantly “the safety of residents” must be considered when addressing this issue. However, he said, “if this is the worst thing people do all year I’d be happy.”
“I’m not going yell and scream at somebody because they’re outside with a food tray,” Power said. “If I’d go back 20 years I’d probably do the same thing.” �