page 4 ce” x0" ie MWe” This page of The Other Press is reserved solely for the purpose of correspondence and opinion. The views expressed on this page do not necessarily reflect those of this newspaper, or the Douglas College student society or administration. ‘ ‘ All letters and opinions must be typed at a 60 stroke kine, triple spaced and bear the name and telephone number of the writer for reasons of verification and validity. The telephone number will not be printed and the name may not be printed if just cause is shown. Letters should be no more than 200 words in length and opinion pieces should be under 1000 words in length due to space and layout requirements. ee ; : We reserve the right to edit all letters and opinions for clarity and libel. Letters and opinions may be edited to size. — | Deadline for all submissions is 4:00 P.M. the Friday before production week. Ad: Coordinator. .....ccccoscccccccscvccessevescconccvseses unfilled Business Managet........-csseseceseeees ERNEST HAWKER CUP Coordinator............ seat ti ARNOLD HEDSTROM ‘Editorial Coordinator......... sk guenedy sence DAN HILBORN Entertainment Coordinator..........cceccccesesesceees unfilled Features Coordinator............00cseceeecceecceseceeess unfilled News Coordinator.......cceccescsccsscsenseees DAN HILBORN Office Coordinator...........++++ CATHY MAKOWICHUK Photography Coordinator.......... veoeeeSEAN VALENTINI - Production Coordinator..........-.+++ MARTIN HEMERIK Sports Coordimator..........0.sseeeeeees MARTIN HEMERIK Courier....... dsncustanabeseasessubascvears MARTIN HEMERIK Ty pesetter.......cecccecseeeseeeees .... ROBIN ROBERTSON Contributors.........ssss08- secceceseeeee ROBIN ROBERTSON PAT O’DOHERTY........... ....MURRAY BUDDEN........ ALAN SNIDER........ selbescieaves DOUG PARSONG....... we LITTLE SISTER.............. ...-DONNA FORBES........... JOEL HAGEN....... ROGER BOLEN...... ROB GUZYK... CARL SVANGTUM........ NETTIE BOULANGER.......... SEAN SCHONFELD....... .SEAN BALDERSTONE........ Other Publications Society, Board of Directors............- Sevesees JOEL HAGEN.........MARTIN HEMERIK.......... MD ipeceeeee IAN G. LYON........SANDRA McMILLAN........... aoe Senetesenregurees wee VICTOR J. CROMARTY...........00000+ ie Other et See Jamel teaehe Student newspaper, published s times a semester every two weeks] under the auspices of The Other Publications Society. Our funding comes by way of a direct student levy paid at registration time and through local and national advertising. The Other Press is a member of Canadian coe ai yt lca The Other Pvess- sissy tsi aad goasnictins maubars be | come to our semi-regular staff meeting usually held on Thursdays at 12:00 noon. Story and production meetings alternate every Monday at 4:00 P.M. All meetings take place in The Other Press newsroom adjacent to the student lounge off the main concourse in the North Building in room 2305 |right beside the student society offices]. Phone: 525-3542 Mailing Address: The Other Press Douglas College 700 Royal Avenue Box 2503 New Westminster, B.C. V3L 5B5 eT: by LITTLE SISTER Democracy is the moral equivalent of gang rape. Now that | have your atten- tion allow me to explain. Suppose, for analogy’s sake, that a society of 7. people exists somewhere in Canada, say Sleaze-ville. This society is composed of me, ‘Little Sister’, and my _ six Big Brothers, (the Sleaze-vill- ains). One day my six Big Brothers (any association to the government is purely intentional) decide to rape me. They are in the majority and | am in the minority because | don’t want to be raped. According to the principles of Democracy, (majority rule) my Big Bro- thers who rape me are in the right, simply because they are the majority. Democracy, by its very nature, has legitimized their claim to rape, pillage, plunder, or whatever they the majority decide to do. Let’s now relate this analogy to present conditions. Under Parliamentary Democracy (government of the people, by the people, for the people...and in spite of the people) elections are held in order to decide who will represent the masses in Ottawa. The governing par- ty, which ‘supposedly repre- sents the majority of the seats in parliament, by does not require the majority of the number of votes cast. Simply because you voted for the Conservatives or the- NDP (in the last federal election) as your choice of representation, under the present system you are wrong and are forced to live under a_ party platform, which you voted against in the first place. Your ballot only counts if you vote on the right side, in this case the Liberal side. Then and only then, have you achieved fair and just repre- sentation, according to your. desires. Following this to its logical conclusion, the majority who vote a political party into power are gang raping the minority who voted for the Opposition parties. With a closer examination, it is ac- tually the government in power that is transgressing the will of the minority, who chose not to have them rule in the first place. What is ° occuring in the ‘Great White North’ is a system in which the government, through the supposed will of the majority of voters, subjugates the will of the minority who voted for the Opposition parties. Once again, suppose for analogy’s sake that you have, five ridings in Canada say (1) Thursday, February 16, 1984. Democracy ls...... Keen-ville, (2) Who Gives a Flying #&?t! Ville (3) Right- field, (4) Left-field, and (5) Toilet Towne. 52 percent of the population did not vote- of the 48 percent who did-43 percent voted Conservative, 28 percent voted Liberal, 27 percent NDP and 2 percent Other. After the election, the Conservatives snatched a seat in Right-field, the NDP grounded a seat in Left-field and the Liberals obtained 3 seats: 1 seat in Who Gives a flying #&?t! Ville, 1 seat in Keen-Ville and 1 seat in Toilet Town. The seat in Toilet Towne is a cushy one. From the’ breakdown, the Liberals obtained 28 percent of the popular vote, yet obtained 3 seats and hence- forth become the ruling gov- ernment. Although these fig- ures are padded to illustrate a point, under closer examin- ation of polling results in a Federal election, the majori- ty of the population who should, ideally, elect ihe government, don’t even ‘vote. Letters........... Dear Editor, The Christian Movement for Peace is a registered nonprofit organization activ- ely involved in exploring the issues of peace and social justice. One of the means through which this is accom- plished is the Christian Movement for Peace Inter- national Workcamp — Pro- gramme. In conjunction with our European: CMP offers these work- camps throughout Europe and North America, allowing volunteers the opportunity to develop an international per- spective on peace and social justice. As many of our partici- pants are university stu- dents, we feel that this information is of direct rele- vance to your readers. De- pendant as we are upon {Maple Ridge notice!! Are you a student attending the Maple Ridge campus of Douglas College? Are you a student in New Westminster who is aware of the difficulty involved for a student from Maple Ridge [or surrounding area] to attend classes in New West? The impending closure of Douglas College in Maple Ridge is concern to any present and future student seeking post secondary education. For single parents and people with limited or no transportation the closure of the Maple Ridge campus would be a_ nightmare. definition of a ‘‘community college’’ becomes a joke when the communities are forced to attend schools found only in the city. Please express your concern and ideas by writing your letters to: Save Our College [S.0.C.] c/o Doug Lewis, at the Maple Ridge campus branches, | The 52 percent of the population who chooses not to vote usually does so because either A) They don’t want to be governed, B) Don’t believe in voting for the lesser of two evils, C) Can’t read the ballot, D) Secretly wanted to run for office themselves but were too shy, E) Wanted to vote “NUN of the above’’ but the Pope wasn’t a candidate, or F) Wanted to vote NO. Now please don’t get me wrong! I’m not advocating | that you don’t vote, all I’m saying is know what you're voting for. When you cast a ballot, you are first and 4 foremost casting a vote for the system-Democracy. If you believe that you are, in essence, being ‘raped’ by the majority, ABSTAIN! Af- ter all, if you vote, you the victim are giving their ac- 4 tions legitimacy. You are giving the ‘Victim’s sanc- tion’. In this case, ‘‘Don’t vote, it only encourages them.’’ donations to fund our activi- ties, our ability to inform students of: the possibilities open to them is limited. We hope that you might be able to help us in this regard, given the means that are at your disposal. We hope that the enclosed press release and informative broadsheet will enable you to, perhaps, include some brief ‘‘blurb’’ on our group and the oppor- tunities it offers for the benefit of your readers. Should you require or like any more information on the programme, please do not hesitate to contact us at (416) 921-2360. Your cooperation in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Yours Sincerely, Alyson Huntly Co-ordinator for Canada/U.S.A. Also, the true