OPinions Editorial oped@siwash.be.ca HEY, HO, IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN. Yes, election fever has hit Douglas College. So, how many of you managed to vote this go about? Don’t be shy. That’s it, raise your hands high so we can count...let’s see, 10? 20? That’s not very many, is it? No, no no, I don’t want to hear excuses. It’s okay. No, we’re not going to call you lazy apa- thetic bastards for not voting. We know you don’t care about student politics around this joint. Frankly, neither do we. Does it really matter anymore? After last year’s successful campaign to stop the education cutbacks, nothing really matters. Did you know that last week was the annual Student National Week of Action? Neither did we. And what does it matter, now that we’re not paying twice as much for tuition? Who cares if those poor sods in Toronto or Regina are getting soaked by the provincial and national educational institution. Just as long as we’re not, eh? Let those other students go on about ‘solidarity’ and ‘fighting the cuts.’ Us BC’ers don’t have a thing to worry about. No, really. The Other Press talked to Glen Clark personally, and he said so. “Don’t worry,” he said, and of course we can believe him. Who cares if he lied to the rest of the province about the budget? We know he’s on our side. He said so. And he’s proven it by capping tuition. Of course, there are some problems with the cap, like at UBC, where there are buildings that are currently unoccupieable until the university can get some money to fix them. But that’s UBC, and we’re Douglas right? Right! We’ve got no prob- lems here. None at all. What’s the biggest contro- versy this year? The logo! I mean, really. How bad can it be? Oh sure, the support staff is still in a position to strike, but they wouldn’t do that to us, would they? No, we’re students. We don’t care about anything as long as when can walk through the doors, go to class, listen to some teacher go on about...something or other, and then leave as soon as it’s over. That’s what school is all about, isn’t it? Frankly, anyone who gives a damn about this place has got a screw loose. One student politician is the same as the next, right? It doesn’t matter who gets elected, cause nothing ever gets done, you know? Shit, we here at the OP can hardly wait for the day that all our courses are available over the Internet. That way, nobody needs to come to school at all. Hell, nobody needs to do nothing at all, ’cept sit there in their darkened room, bathed only in the soft glow of cathode rays. Wouldn’t that be paradise? Letters oped@siwash.be.ca A necessary response to Marcel Martin: Marcel Martin may portray himself as a man of the times, but he seems to be lacking in any vision for the future. I food scraps. article on selective logging in his backyard. In this article Marcel seems confused about a number of issues and makes a number of unqualified assumptions. First of all, there’s his reference to “developing wilderness.” Is that an oxymoron or what? I think he means “enhancing wilderness.” Then he claims that leaves are a mess. Well maybe they get in the way of a good game of golf, but I suspect that Marcel’s lawn is several acres short of a good fairway. It’s like calling food scraps garbage. Marcel should be aware that leaves left on his lawn over winter act as a mulch.- They will decompose and contribute needed nitrogen to his lawn. The result is that his lawn will actually be healthier! Appearances can be deceiving. Dead leaves can also be composted with kulture! Letters continued on page 7... Come join the conspiracy. Other Press Staff Meetings are held every Wednesday at 4pm in room 1020. All students are welcome to come and voice their opinions; or to just lurk in the corners of the room pretending to do their homework. We have nice meetings. Strangely, Marcel identifies himself as “leaning to the eco-warrior am writing this letter in response to his — side of the fence.” This identification with radical environmentalism is puzzling as one of his cited reasons is the observation that the malls in his area are adequate. Whaaaa? Marcel, malls are an embodiment of the Satan- spawned automobile-consumer years. If short-sighted developers and leaf-hating private citizens have their will not be much left. One final point about being a man of the times, Marcel. You can only serves Now, not Tomorrow or Yesterday. Sure you have a couple of 200-year-old trees on your lawn, but Marcel also expresses concern about how long have you owned that the concrete hell that Vancouver is (lots of malls in Vancouver too, property? Your role should more be like that of a guardian, than a way in the name of convenience, there offer limited reasons for your justifica- tion of convenience. Convenience only October 29 1996 Volume 21 Issue 5 The Other Press is Douglas mous student newspaper. We lishing since 1976. Being au neither the Douglas College nor the College Administra’ ermment can tell the Other P: The paper is under the sol¢ cq domination of the students of lege. Please feel free to came ¢ basement cave and exce contributing to two out oft issues in a semester, you too: voting member. The Other Pres: non-heirarchical collective. Sort of; At any rate, no one’s in charge, so dén’t:phone and ask for our president...we ‘don’ havéone. We receive our funding froma student levy collected every semester at registration, and from local and ational adverfisit The Othet Press is a member of the Canadian University Press. a cooperative of student newspapers fran across ‘Cat We claim to adher¢ to CUP's Stateme: mmon Prin- ciples and Code of Ethics. The Other Press reserves the right to choose what to publish, and what not to publish. If you have any quibbles with what we choose, maybe you should get your‘fazy butt down here'and help.. ; : Letters to the Other Press should be a maxi- muin Of 506: words but if yu can write some- thirig longer without repeating yourself, we may. print it. Lettegs'should be legible. If gui disk, we wall be very happy. Each jyitist include the §writer’s name and phone number (however, if so asked, the OP will publishiletters anonymously; phone num- bers are néver published), The Other Press re- seryesthe right to edit for space constraints. Déubleceheck your spelling and grammar: let- ters are printed uncorrected. The collective is the final arbiter of disputes: Douglas College Room 1020 700 Royal Avenue ew Westminster, BC V3L 5B2 y’know), but then feels justified in doing as he will on his own land (being the unfettered free enterprise sort that he is). Gee Marcel, the reason there is a need for a treecutting bylaw in your community is to ensure that your community doesn’t become this concrete inferno. People need trees, and the region your community is a part of is high risk. North of the Fraser is designated as the Lower Mainland’s high growth area over the next 20 possessor. With any luck, those trées will be around to witness the lifespans of many Martins. These are ancient beings, man. I don’t think they see the need of convenience. Love and Plenty ‘o Tree Hugs, Lorax ” Milner evil twin” Contributers Doug Whitlow, Holly Barbara Kinsey-Huber Pidasso, Tammy Shewch Shawl, Jack Kabocha, Ci Sallows, Elijah Bak, Tc young, Sarah Bird, J Alscher, Jonathan “C Employees opemploy@siwash.be. Accounting -Mario Production Resource - Editorial Resource - T: 2 October 291996 The Other Press