An Interesting SGM

The Douglas College Stu-
dent Society Received two
solid mandates for action at a
heavily attended Special Gen-
eral meeting on Thursday,
February 13th.

By a vote of 58 to 16, the
students passed a motion to
provide financial assistance to
the Other Press in the pur-
hase of their new typesetter.

ally no action could be taken
at this time on the issue of a
seperate athletics fee levy,
two resolutioMsS Were passed
which will lead to a Levy
proposal being brought up at
the Society’s Annual General
Meeting on the last Thursday
in March.

Instructor Jim Davies’ Pro-
ect Delphos was removed
from the agenda at the start
of the meeting, at Davies’
request. The reason was
unclear at presstime, but may
_ have been the lack of profile

of the issue, which may have
led Davies to anticipate defeat
of the project’s request for
funding.

The Other Publication Soci-
ety proposal entailed the
DCSS taking on the interest
payments on the loan the OPS

_had negotiated with Linotype,
Inc., for the purchase of their
State-of-the-art Linotron 100
typesetter.

OP members brought out
during the discussion that this
machine will both enable the
OP to put out a much better
quality paper, and will also
allow them to solicit local and
regional typesetting work.
According to OPS Board
member John McDonald,
they are currently negotiating
a contract with the College
Administraion, which would
be of great mutual benefit.

The business generated will
also allow the OP to provide
jobs for a number of students.

In spite of the lopsided
vote, their were some pointed
questions from the _ floor:
There was also heavy criti-
cism of the whole idea from

UT student Donna Forbes,

a former OP staffer.

_ Forbes stated ‘‘It has been

And although constitution- °

my experience over the past
couple of years that the Other
Press has never, in the past
two and a half to three years,
demonstrated, to me person-
ally, that it is financially
responsible.’’

During the latter part of
that period, Forbes served as
both OPS Board Chairman
and OP production manager.

Forbes also noted that the
OP ran a regular budget
surplus of $5,000, and there-
for did not need the DCSS’
financial support.

“1 really don’t think that
the Student Society has any
business funding an autono-

  

concluded Forbes.

OPS Board Spokesperson
John McDonald countered
that the OPS was ‘‘not that

rich’’, and did need the sup-

What do you do if you don’t
fit into one of the neat little
categories of the govern-
ment’s financial aid package?

 

by JEREMY BLOOM

 

Most students fit. They are
either group ‘A’, dependent
on their parents for support in
the first four years after high
school. Or else they have
supported themselves in the
work force for some time,
saved up some money, and go
back to school older—and
independent.

But there are hundreds,
perhaps thousands (nobody in
the Ministry of Education
seemed able to give a definite
answer) of students who don’t

 

 

Douglas Notes
helping hands and good
advice...p.2
os be your own boss...p.3
©’ Neat Stuff
© Tale of Two Torries and
Other Fables of Canadian
@ Life...p.6
uy Katimavik Nuked...p.7
oY Anarchronauts
e &y Sue and Sean go back, back,
yy back...p.8
® Slab Boys, Sex , and Other
Creatures...p.10

Les Autres...p.13
Valentine Sweets...p.15

 

 

port of the DCSS to swing the
purchase.

Other staffers added that,
while the first few years
would be tight, once most of
the machine was paid off and
revenue was coming in regu-
larly, it might be possible to
eliminate the OP fee levy.

At present, each full-time
student at the college pays $4
towards the Other Press when
they register, along with a
$19 Student Society fee.

DCSS_ President Michael
Glavin stated that the issue of
a seperate athletic fee levy
was first brought to him by
the administration.

mous organization’s typeset- _
»ter,’’

quite fit. For off€teason or
another, they can’t count on
support from their families.
But they can’t count on finan-
cial aid, either.

According to Douglas Col-
lege financial aid officer Patty
Lewis, if there is a ‘‘demon-
strable breakdown of the fam-
ily relationship,’ the student
should be able to get a loan, if
they can document it. ‘’But
for people who’s parents just
won’t support them because
of ‘moral reasons’, the par-
ents who say, ‘I supported
myself through school, my
kids can do it, too’; for these
people, there’s just not much
we can do.’’

U.B.C.’s assistant director
of financial aid services, Dan
Worsley, adds ‘‘In some
cases where parents can’t.
contribute, we can help with
work/study jobs—and the
U.B.C. administration has
supplemented the ministries’
work/study allotment.’’

‘“‘But,’’ he concedes,
““sometimes we can’t help—if
the parents are wealthy,
there’s no rift, they just won’t
help the student—we’ve had
to say ‘no’ in a couple of
cases.”’

Even when there has been
a “‘‘rift’’, the process is far
from easy, according to a
Douglas College student who
has been through it.

“It was not at all easy to
satisfy their requirements,’’
said Jennifer Whiteside. ‘‘]

Because of cutbacks, the
College does not believe it
can support athletics funding
without a $10,000 per semes-
ter contribution from — the
students. He added that
there were definite hints that
unless the levy was brought
in, the College would sharply
decrease .its own _ athletics
funding.

The levy would amount to
about $3 per full-time
student.

Nearly the entire crowd was
supportive of Athletics, and
the idea of the levy.

Hocky team member Al
Lucier noted they needed the

ard to

said Jennifer Whiteside. ‘‘It
took me three weeks to get
the documentation they want-
ed (from the family psycholo-
gist). Even after | brought
them exactly what they want-
ed, they said that even with a
Doctor’s certification, they us-
ually don’t award loans to
“modified B’s’’ (students
who can’t depend on their
families, but don’t fit the min-
istry’s-requirements for ‘‘in-

dependent’’). Which was very

   

 

 

 

money if they were going to
remain competative. ‘‘We’ve
been playing for three years
without things that teams
we’re playing take for
granted’’, he said.

Athletics director Betty Lou
Hayes added that in spite of
the cutbacks so far, Douglas
has teams in the nation’s top

ranks, teems any student
should be proud of.
Paul Gill, Gord Day, and

others, including Glavin, had
objections, but on_ the.
grounds that the funding was
not the student’s responsi-
bility, but the province’s.

Because of the resolutions
passed at the meeting, a
definite proposal will be
brought up at the AMG in
March to institute a separate
fee levy for athletics.

   

Another CE student

with the same problem is Neil
Burnett. But while Whiteside
eventually got her loans, Bur-

nett was turned down. He
wound up. getting a_ loan
through Alberta, where he
grew up. Both think the
system needs a real overhaul.

“‘It was almost degrading,’’
said Whiteside. ‘‘The docu-
mentation was of a very per-
sonal nature, and really none

cmennied on epee? 3

class sizes, may
‘observe, all of the afore-
in- mentioned reasons are the
results of financial hardships
that oC institution es ee