Our Tenth Year! T1976 — 1986 Other Press Douglas College’s Autonomous Student Newspaper Welcome! Or for those of you without ‘86’ in your students numbers, WELCOME BACK! The ~ Volume 20 Issue 1 Along with about half the population of the lower mainland, l tried out the new -ALRT during the freebie trial runs last month. The ‘‘Skytrain’’ was packed with history-makers; families out on an adventure for the kids, curfous young adults, and lots of gaggles of teen-agers getting thrills riding up and down the line all afternoon. There was oohing and aahing all around as the train snaked its way through Burnaby, from young and old alike. ‘‘This is almost as much fun as a roller-coaster,’’ enthused one black-leather-clad teen. | found their reaction amusing, but understandable. For me, having lived six years in Toronto, a ride on a subway train was nothing special. Taking the train | dozens of times a week, it becomes part of the humdrum everyday existence which we all take for granted. I’m sure it will be the same with the ALRT. This month’s big adventure will be commonplace by the summer, and by this time next year people will hardly even think of it, or remember a time when you had to take the 120 or 112 bus to get downtown from New West. | It’s like that here at the College, too. People forget, or don’t even realize, that just a few short years ago this big, beautiful campus was just a gleam in an architect’s eye. Now we take it for granted. We also take for granted things like the Student Senate or this newspaper. New students think of them as some arcane organization, filled with people who have been there for decades and certainly don’t want any silly young fools with naive ideas and-lacking in academic knowledge coming around to bother’ them. And returning students who have never been involved don’t see any major reason for ruining a perfect record by getting involved now. ; Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of the people on the senate and ‘the O.P. have been here for a year Or less. We’re hardly repositories of ancient | wisdom—in fact, we’re not really much better informed than the average student. The only difference is a desire to ‘ ‘get involv So, why should you? Ask not what you can do for involvement, but ask what involvement can do for you! Of course, it looks good on your resume, but did you ever wonder why businesses look to hire people with padded resumes? Working on a council or newspaper gives you hands-on experience dealing with organizations and people which is invaluable in real life, and should be a major | part of anyone’s education. | Besides, it’s fun! Even if you don’t plan to take over the college as the first step | in your scheme for world domination, you can meet a new and stimulating circle of friends, enjoy intellectual drinking sprees and wild discussions on issues of -earthshaking import, like whether buying O’ Keefe Hi-Test will hurt South African blacks. So, come on down! You have nothing to lose but your boredom, and everything to gain. This semester could be another humdrum, dull time at this waystation, or it could be the most fun you’ve ever had in your life! Give it .a chance Photo by Brian Bisset The ALRT, or the ‘‘Skytrain’’ as it is not likely to be called, starts up officially today, January 6. But thousands of Lower Mainland residents got a free trial run during December. Just think! You could be out of New West and clubbing it downtown in just twenty five minutes!....Hey, where’d everybody go? BRIAN WANTS YOUR MONEY Halifax [CUP] - Ontario’s David Peterson led a pack of Ministers must approach “‘What. happened to the financing ‘‘in a way that does new era in federal-provincial relations?’’ he asked. ne Insie A big ad...p.2 Douglas Notes No news ain’t good news; why don’t you write some? Youth Suffrage Talk back to your parents.. .p.6 Sound & Fury Trevor Carolan can’t get to Belor Math, and David Sylvian can’t see the forest for the trees are too bright...p.8 Sports & Funnies And other goodies.. .p.10 SII GIA ROOEFIACEIPGEEIGRRREEIPSEIAAROCADORSEIGRARAGIRS premiers at last week’s first ministers conference in de- nouncing Ottawa‘s plan to cut $6 billion from federal trans- fer payments to the pro- vinces. Peterson said reductions to the federal government’s con- tributions to health and post- secondary education funding would ‘‘Cut right into the bone.”’ “They will cut right into our ability to provide the faculties, libraries and state- of-the-art equipment that are needed to teach and train the next generation of Canad- ians,’’ said Peterson. Peterson told Prime Minis- ter Brian Mulroney the First not jeopardise our national committment to first class health care and first-rate ed- ucation and training.”’ Peterson joined Manitoba premier Howard Pawley and Quebec premier Pieere-Marc Johnson in critising the fed- eral government's ““unilat- eral’’ action in proposing the cuts to Established Pro- grammes Financing. Finance Minister Michael Wilson an- nounced the cuts in late September. Pawley said the Mulroney government’s actions were “‘indistinguishable from the approach of the former government. Pawley called on Mulroney to immediately suspend act- ion on any cuts to federal programmes affecting the provinces for the next two years. Johnson, in Halifax only for the first day of the conference because of Monday’s provin- cial election in Quebec. said the cuts ‘‘are unacceptable.’’ Premiers Jim Lee of P.E.1., Richard Hatfield of New Brunswick, and Brian Peckford of Newfoundland al- so denounced the cuts in their opening address to the two- day conference.