INside

 

 

QUOTE of the MONTH

Only the winter has the power to
focus our minds on

what we still share as Canadians. 9

_ Michael Valpy, Columnist — Globe & Mail

 

 

December 7, 1993

The Douglas College Newsletter

 

Project moves to Nicaragua

The good news from Nicaragua is that
Douglas College’s joint project with
INIEP (Nicaraguan Institute for Popular
Education and Research) is now produc-
ing educational materials in the Central
American country.

Instructional Media Services Manager
Rob Linschoten has just returned from
Managua (the capital) where he guided the
installation of the computer and video
production systems donated by the Asso-
ciation of Canadian Community Colleges
to the project.

"The systems are up and running. They
are currently the most advanced systems
in Nicaragua, if not in Central America,"
says Linschoten. "The project has in-
creased the rate of production and the
quality of output of educational materials,
particularly for popular education
materials for literacy and health."

The bad news for the people of Nicaragua,
says Linschoten, is that the country’s
economy is being destroyed by U.S. and
International Monetary Fund policies that
support landowners’ refusal to give land
to peasants.

"The crisis in Nicaragua is artificial.
There’s nothing wrong with their
resources. Managua is swollen with
campesinos driven off the farms because
the landowners are refusing to work the
land until the dispute between the FSLN
(the former Sandinista government) and
the landowners is solved. The FSLN prom-
ised to redistribute land to the rural poor.
Ironically, the same promise was made to
the U.S.-backed contras, and they have
received land in Managua itself."

Linschoten visited the INIEP training
centre near Lake Nicaragua, and also
visited foreign aid organizations and saw
their projects.

 

"The systems are up and
running. They are currently the
most advanced systems in
Nicaragua, if not in Central
America."

 

Most of his time, however, was spent
installing the systems and demonstrating
their features to the INIEP production

staff. The process was complicated by the
absence of some of the equipment the
College sent to Nicaragua in September.

"The INIEP gear was in customs for two
months. A lot of things listed under
‘miscellaneous’ disappeared. I had to rush
around replacing them," says Linschoten.

Now that the sophisticated systems are
running, INIEP has an opportunity to do
work for other NGOs (non-governmental
organizations) which Linschoten says will
give INIEP a vital income base in the
country’s ravaged economy.

Health and Safety policy in place

The Health and Safety Committee wants
the College community to know that there
is an Occupational Health and Safety
Policy in place at Douglas College.

Passed by the College Board in April
1993, the Policy Statement indicates that
Douglas College is committed to provid-
ing safe and healthy working conditions.
The statement also specifies the responsi-
bility of administration, supervisors,
employees, students and facility users in
maintaining a safe environment.

Copies of the Policy will be distributed
and posted throughout the College by the
Public Information Office. If you have any
questions, please contact one of the follow-
ing Health and Safety Committee
members: Paula Maisonville (DCFA),

Bob Gordon (BCGEU), Colleen Byberg
(Student Society), Kris Remmem
(Personnel) or Pat Thomasson
(Facilities). @

 

inside INside...

President’s Report............ z
College Bricfeics cscs sees: 2
Foundation Profile ......... 3
Even Calendar « 4
BCGEU Ns... 4
Douglas College sports........ 5
Weide Zone... 2... ss: 6