LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Ha readers, my name is Mark Fisher and I’m the Business Manager of The Other Press. Don’t worry, I haven’t taken over the paper or anything like that; I’m just using this space so that I can talk to you about something very important to the future of this newspaper. From October 20" to November 27", a referendum of all Douglas College students (note: that means you!) will be held about increasing the funding The Other Press receives from students (once again, you!). This referendum will be done over email, and by the time you’re reading this, it’s likely already in your myDouglas inbox. Currently, The Other Press is badly underfunded. While inflation has increased and our costs have gone up, the amount that we receive from students has stayed the same for over 10-15 years. Many positions at the paper are making roughly the same amount of money they did 10 years ago, and we’ye had to eliminate several positions like illustrator, office manager, features editor, and Coquitlam editor in order to cut costs. We’ve had to reduce the pay for all of our contributors, and that’s a shame, because making this paper is a lot of hard work. We’ve had to hold off on buying necessary equipment upgrades that we should have had a long time ago. The only solution to these problems is an increase in per-student funding to The Other Press. \n fact, the only thing that’s saved the paper, (besides the a level of responsible financial management that many professional companies would envy), is Douglas College’s increases in enrolment over the same time period; but it’s just not enough anymore. We can’t just ask for an increase in student fees and have the college give it to us, no matter how badly we need it. Instead, we will hold a referendum in which students like you can vote for or against an increase to your student fees. This referendum will be sent to you via your myDouglas email on the same day that this issue goes to press. Fortunately for you, because enrolment at Douglas College is so high (believe it or not, more and more people still want to come here!), we only need a teensy-tiny increase in the fees each student pays in order to ensure that we’ll be financially stable for years to come. How much of an increase are we asking for? A mere 85 cents. $0.85! Less than a pack of gum! Heck, some of you have more change than that in your pocket right now. It’s not much to you, but multiply it by 9000 students each term and it’s going to last us a good long while. We also want to tie the amount we receive to the inflation rate, so that the paper is provided for in the future. What will we do with this increased funding? A whole bunch of necessary things, but here are the big three: PUBLISH MORE ISSUES: Right now, we can only afford to publish 12 issues per semester, and that number should really be 14, We want to do more issues, and with this levy increase we'll be able to. The result will be a better-informed and more entertained student population. If we don’t get a funding increase soon, eventually we won’t be able S . to afford 12 anymore, and will have to cut back to 11, then 10, and so on. That’s not something I ever want to see happen to this paper. RAISES AND NEW POSITIONS: As I said earlier, it’s been much too long since most of our positions got a substantial raise. Our editor-in-chief and section editors are among the lowest paid in the country, and making this paper is a lot of work, so a raise is definitely long overdue for them. Also, with more funding, we'll be able to create more positions, which means more jobs for students right on campus. DISTRIBUTION: We want to get the paper out to more people, and this will allow us to do that. ' So please, when you get the referendum survey in your e-mail, take the time to vote yes. If you really like us, tell your friends and classmates at Douglas to do the same. You'll get a better paper in return, and you’ll get it more often too. Thanks a lot, and enjoy this week’s issue, Mark Fisher Business Manager and Advertising Manager, The Other Press Vote YES in the Other Press funding referendum! Voting yes means you'll get MORE ISSUES! I We'll be able to increase from 12 issues to 14 per semester with this additional funding! The referendum will be sent to your mydouglas e-mail account. Log in and vote YES to support The Other Press, Douglas College’s 100% indepen- dent student newspaper.