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View Poll Results: What do you think of the redsuits?
Awesome. 10 24.39%
Go away. 11 26.83%
Neutral/no opinion 9 21.95%
Good & bad points 11 26.83%
Voters: 41. You may not vote on this poll


Redsuits...

 
Old 09-23-2013 at 05:07 PM   #1
Kevin_92
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Redsuits...
Hello all;

Out of curiosity, I am wondering what the general opinion of the redsuits (Eng reps) is.

They claim to have a 90% approval rating by the incoming first years (Zack Strong, that 'infamous' Sil article about "when repping goes a-wrecking", comments section) , but I think that's most likely invalid data, as the first years really haven't had a chance to develop an opinion of them after welcome week.

I don't know the overall campus's opinion, but I'm reasonably certain that in upper year eng (and post-welcome week first year eng), the overall opinion is far, far less than a 90% approval rating.

Just curious

*edit: I am not a redsuit, and don't claim to know much about them, but want to see what the general opinion of them (vs. the 90% approval rating) is
Old 09-23-2013 at 06:13 PM   #2
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The approval rating is in fact quite high. The stats are provided to the orientation week organizers every year from the SSC, which collects feedback from students after Welcome Week, and typically that number is passed on to the Eng Reps each year.

Lots of people have beef. A handful actually care to make a difference (and trust me, they have done a great job, and made significant change in the past 4 years). The majority are apathetic, or else complain bitterly in their own social circles. Don't be the latter and you'll realize how much of a positive impact people in a red jumpsuit actually have,
Old 09-23-2013 at 07:39 PM   #3
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I don't really like those guys. They said it themselves, "people don't like us because we are loud and obnoxious", that's exactly why I don't like them.

Also the cookie giving tradition before tests for first years needs to go away. You try to focus on the material, but there's some guy with underwear over his pants offering you cookies and crackers.
Old 09-23-2013 at 08:45 PM   #4
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You're only young once. You might as well make the most of it. Their job is to make sure you have something to look back years from now. I even have stories of my own that will make friends and family laugh -- all because a redsuit pulled a clever prank. This is why I have never had a problem with them.

If you were wondering if I used to be one... I have never participated and I don't regret it. I am more of a humble person.
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Old 09-23-2013 at 08:49 PM   #5
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Any rep that is cheerful and get people excited is a winner in my books.
Old 09-23-2013 at 09:02 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrPlinkett View Post
Also the cookie giving tradition before tests for first years needs to go away. You try to focus on the material, but there's some guy with underwear over his pants offering you cookies and crackers.
Let's set the story straight here

1. It's crackers.

2. It's a tradition that dates back probably before most in Uni were born. Traditions that old don't easily "go away" because there's something about them that keeps them going--usually they appeal to someone.

3. The cracker tradition is based on the fact that soda crackers can help calm an upset stomach, and they're not unwelcomed snacks either. The majority of people passing by respond very positively to it. Elderly folks and people on campus for other reasons even say Thanks, so this is not coming from an biased source.

Granted, students (possibly such as yourself) stick up their nose, or else rudely comment that its a gross prank and that the redsuits should leave. To that I say: Stop being ignorant, or else stop looking at Super Plumber's junk if that is really the reason you are going to do poorly on an exam... While a handful of reps may have left a bad taste in your mouth (no pun intended) at some point during the year, there are literally hundreds more that have only left positive impressions on thousands of other people over the years.

And if all of this doesn't make you consider giving them a bit more respect, just think: You could be at Queen's where their most passionate engineering students literally beat the ground with their leather jackets...
Old 09-23-2013 at 09:21 PM   #7
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Quote:
1. It's crackers.
Sometimes, it's cookies. But maybe they run low on crackers.

Quote:
2. It's a tradition that dates back probably before most in Uni were born. Traditions that old don't easily "go away" because there's something about them that keeps them going--usually they appeal to someone.
First step would be for redsuits to realize that they have better things to do than breaking focus of stressed out students.

Quote:
3. The cracker tradition is based on the fact that soda crackers can help calm an upset stomach, and they're not unwelcomed snacks either. The majority of people passing by respond very positively to it. Elderly folks and people on campus for other reasons even say Thanks, so this is not coming from an biased source.
Okay, so why have so many people giving away crackers? Why not just put them in a bowl in every examination room, to avoid redsuits bringing their shtick into stressful situation.

Quote:
Granted, students (possibly such as yourself) stick up their nose, or else rudely comment that its a gross prank and that the redsuits should leave.
Noone here called it a prank. Also this thread is pretty much the rudest way anyone is going protest redsuits.

Quote:
To that I say: Stop being ignorant, or else stop looking at Super Plumber's junk if that is really the reason you are going to do poorly on an exam... While a handful of reps may have left a bad taste in your mouth (no pun intended) at some point during the year, there are literally hundreds more that have only left positive impressions on thousands of other people over the years.
Now who's being ignorant?

Quote:
And if all of this doesn't make you consider giving them a bit more respect, just think: You could be at Queen's where their most passionate engineering students literally beat the ground with their leather jackets...
No, I wouldn't go to Queen's Eng because of their choice of faculty colour. I hate purple.
Old 09-23-2013 at 10:16 PM   #8
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It's never cookies. Not in 5 years. But sure.

I'm not being ignorant about it :p I'm addressing the points you've made, and addressing the complaints and feedback that redsuit get. And people DO complain in the way I'm describing, and I HAVE heard the ignorant remarks from people who put down some of the best, friendliest eng welcome week reps. One rep is a mascot: He distracts you from your exam and ruins your day because he has a superman costume on. That doesn't mean the other 100 reps don't make another 1000 more students feel a little more relaxed and at ease. The tradition dates back to an Alumni that still supports the Faculty, who started the tradition because he saw a need to reduce tension going into the exam room. That is still the spirit of the gesture, and from the majority of comments, I'd say it's still being done well. If the majority of people believe that going into an exam with anxiety is cool, then I'll support the motion to stop it, but for some reason I think people prefer a chance to relax even the slightest bit.

And purple is the colour for Engineering. It's celebrated at just about every eng school except Mac. Fun fact.
Old 09-24-2013 at 10:50 AM   #9
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Quote:
It's never cookies. Not in 5 years. But sure.
Sure, if you've never seen it, it must be untrue.

Quote:
One rep is a mascot: He distracts you from your exam and ruins your day because he has a superman costume on.
So you agree that dressing up like superman with underwear on the outside and distracting students is a dumb idea. Why do we allow them to do it? Just because it's a tradition?

It is dumb and should be abolished.

Quote:
And purple is the colour for Engineering. It's celebrated at just about every eng school except Mac. Fun fact.
Proof link?
Old 09-24-2013 at 11:01 AM   #10
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during move in, i do recall them having a few inappropriate cheers involving alcohol and drugs. that is one thing i dont like about them.
Old 09-24-2013 at 11:32 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Silver View Post
during move in, i do recall them having a few inappropriate cheers involving alcohol and drugs. that is one thing i dont like about them.
They are cutting back on that. Also move in itself would be quite difficult without the Engineers who come out in large numbers to do move in exclusively. Noone does Shinerama or just stands there and cheers. Its all movein.
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Old 09-24-2013 at 01:12 PM   #12
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"never seen it" is different than, "always been a part of of organizing and distributing". If someone was handing out cookies, it was not an official rep.

As for purple: It's the national colour for engineering representation. It's why nearly every engineering school dyes students purple at the beginning of the year. It's why ESSCO lights the CN tower purple for National Engineering Month. Look into it.

And as qwerty said, the most offensive stuff has been cut back, with a lot of work put into that effort. I realize I may be coming off as an aggressive defender, but there has been a significant amount of work for 3 or 4 years, trying to improve the situation. It's hard not to get a little bit passionate and defensive when people in their 3rd or 4th year begin suggesting that nothing has changed. Last year, a group of 4th years tried attacking the student leaders for some "tradition" that hadn't occurred since their first year (before the time of the student leaders). Hence why I'm comgin off a bit defensive

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Old 09-24-2013 at 02:37 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by qwerty91 View Post
They are cutting back on that. Also move in itself would be quite difficult without the Engineers who come out in large numbers to do move in exclusively. Noone does Shinerama or just stands there and cheers. Its all movein.
its good that they are cutting back on it, but it was still rampant this year. many parents approached me regarding their cheers. those cheers were stupid. and yes, move in would be tough without faculty reps/cas/ww reps. that is obvious. idk why you needed to mention that.
Old 09-24-2013 at 04:42 PM   #14
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I'm not sure whether the red suites have become less relevant since I started at McMaster, or if I've just simply stopped noticing them. I used to dislike them, but now I'm pretty meh on the whole thing.

I do have a friend who was a red suit in the past, but quit (or didn't reapply... no idea how it works). He says while there are some cool people there who really uphold the things reps are supposed to do (i.e. make everyone excited and feel included) there's a lot of power tripping too.

In his words, he described some of the members as those nerdy kids in high school who would attend all the parties, but not really talk to anyone and just stand around in the corner. Socially inept people who didn't really understand where they fit in. Now that they have positions of power and belong to something, they use it to rampantly hate on the other faculties and just glorify simply being an engineer... and not necessarily being a good engineer. Like a gang mentality perhaps?

I'm not going to vouch for any truth in all that, just an observation I've heard from a previous "insider".

Other than that, like I said, I don't really mind them much any more.
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Old 09-24-2013 at 07:17 PM   #15
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Dislike. Severely. Loud, annoying monkeys.

I get the whole being upbeat and exciting thing, to get peopled hyped for McMaster and starting school, but it's just so, so lame. I ditched on Welcome Day in about 15 minutes because it turned into a bunch of chimpanzees screaming asinine beer chants.

Boring. Not entertaining. And, quite frankly, stupid.
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