When economics students Curtis Kuznecov and Leighton Hay sat down next to each other in Professor Robert Gateman’s ECON 210: Microeconomic Policy class, they didn’t expect to enact tangible policy changes in the City of Vancouver by the end of term.
Professor Gateman assigned a project in class where students would use microeconomic tools, such as incentives and cost/benefit analyses, to improve a public policy and challenged them to get their names in the news.
“Once you’re in one news article, the media attention starts to steamroll and Professor Gateman knew that,” Curtis explained. “That’s what happened to us. Our project progressed far beyond what we ever expected.”
Their project proposed that Vancouver parking meters should allow drivers to leave their cars downtown overnight and prepay for the next morning. This would create an incentive for social drinkers to leave their vehicles behind without receiving a parking ticket and simultaneously decrease the number of drunk drivers getting behind the wheel. Realizing the potential for the project, Curtis and Leighton wrote an open letter to City Council to put forward the idea.
“We procrastinated at first,” Leighton remarked, “but after we sent out the letter we realized that we could do it. The worst thing that could happen was that we would end up where we started.”
The response they received was surprising. The Vancouver Sun picked up their story, and with organizations such as ICBC and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) getting behind them, Curtis and Leighton were contacted by City Hall. The cost/benefit analysis that they created highlighted the low implementation costs for Vancouver through existing parking payment options and the social benefits that the city would incur by keeping drunk drivers off the road. The proposal was unanimously approved by councilors less than two months later.
In order to make their project a success, Curtis and Leighton pushed beyond their comfort zones. Curtis suggests that Arts students who want to create change should collaborate with organizations and network with peers to make their projects as successful as possible.
“Build those relationships in your classes and maintain them outside the classroom,” Curtis said. “If you build small social networks, you’ll be able to introduce your ideas with confidence.”
Drawing upon this experience, Leighton recommends that all university students should strive to apply their academic learning to projects outside of class.
“You can take whatever you’ve learned at university and apply it to change or do something. It’s just a matter of looking at the problem, taking your knowledge and putting it forward to make change.”
