ae Te | Chantelle Desharnais pictured here gathering DC support for | the student rally at the Art Gallery earlier this year. _ by Earle Gale If you happen to bump into a big » group of excited students from Quebec this summer, feel free to give them a L warm smile, and say “hello.” They would like that. But whatever you do, don’t say “bonjour.” The 51 bursary students from Quebec are at Douglas College for a five-week English language immersion program starting May 26th, and the last thing they [ want to do while they’re here is speak | French. Vicki Condon, Language and Cultural _ Assistant, and Judy Parkin, Summer _ Language Program Facilitator, are overseeing the visit. They say they have plenty of exciting things waiting for the F students at Douglas, including a nature b trail in Stanley park, a barbeque and line dancing, and activities environment week. Parkin and Condon are excited about during » the visit, and say the college is always a more interesting place while the students _ are in town. “You can feel the energy around the college while they are here,” says Parkin. According to Parkin, the students make “amazing friendships” during the r five weeks at Douglas, both within the “The program is getting smaller, but it’s | government cutbacks, not a lack of enthusiasm for - the program,” says Parkin. program and between the visiting _ students and regular students at the [ college. ““We’ve even had students driving L F over to Quebec to visit people they met ‘while they were here.” The main point of the trip, though, is to hone English language skills among r students aged around 19 to 22, for whom 5 English may be a second, third or fourth language. Each day, classroom time and field trips concentrate on that. But outside school hours, monitors, drawn from regular students at Douglas, will help organize activities, like a trip to the jazz a visit to the Dragon Boat Race. These ' festival, a hike on Grouse mountain and b | trips will give the students a chance to practice their fledgling English and make new friends. The scheme is open to anyone who Society. Meet some of the French bursary students from Quebec, here to immerse themselves in the English language atmosphere of B.C. Our crack photographer had to catch these students as they were on their way to yet another fun-filled activity at Boardwalk Billiards in New West. Our friends from the East say they are here from “every village in Quebec. That includes such exoctic locations such as; Gatineau, Rimouski, Lac St-Gean, Montreal and Quebec City. bck Press The late spring, post-exam calm at Douglas College has been | disturbed by a sudden defection from the Douglas College Student Early last month, Athletic Representative, Chantelle Desharnais resigned, after having served roughly two-thirds of her term. It | wasn’t immediately known why Desharnais quit, but one source speculated that it had to do with personal differences. When the Other Press contacted Desharnais, she offered a written explanation as to why she had resigned. Desharnais stated in her memorandum: that “the student society has simply not lived up to my expectations, regarding what I believe a student society organization should be accomplishing for its student body...My accomplishments of course, will not go unseen. And although only a couple of months remain to my term, I am assured my athletes will always view me as their representative.” Vice-President External Dave Seaweed said that Desharnais also notified the student society of her resignation by written letter, voicing the reasons for her resignation. “I don’t even know why she quit. She wrote a letter to us, I’d have to re-read it. Something Quebeckers’ stay Student athletics rep gets frustrated; resigns by Jim Chliboyko about being available to the college board. “She was a good athletics 9 rep. Betty-Lou Hayes, Douglas College Athletic’s Director echoed similar sentiments. Hayes said she advised Desharnais not to quit, but also said like that.” until, at the earliest, September. that “[she] had to do what’s right for her.” Speculating as to why Desharnais resigned, Hayes says, “I think she found it a frustrating process. We will miss her. She was very conscientous. You don’t find very many people The resignation leaves the student society without an athletics rep for the time being. Incoming athletics rep, Mark Rowe, is not available for the summer, Desharnais told the Other Press. According to Desharnais, Rowe has informed the DCSS that he is not able to commence his duties Desharnais suggested that her runner-up in the 1995 DCSS elections should have been named as replacement. The runner-up was Anne-Marie Fern, who is currently a field hockey coach. professionals.” As for Desharnais, her political future will continue on the Douglas College campus. Come September she will be sitting as one of two student Representative on the College Board, where, she says, “I will sit with home in B.C. photo by Eric Milner has completed one year of post- secondary education and would like to learn one of the official languages. Each summer, thousands of students criss- cross Canada on planes, trains and automobiles in search of some fun and adventure and new language skills. Parkin says that it’s a great way to see how people live in different to get a place, of those 476 came to BC. The majority of the students move between the population centres in Ontario and Quebec. Douglas has participated for 20 of the program’s 25 years. Like most government funded programs, money is Douglas has participated for 20 of the program’s 25 offered bursaries. “The program is getting smaller, but it’s government cutbacks, not a lack of enthusiasm for the program,” says Parkin. “Each year, [program enrolment] goes down by about five students,” added Condon. “But,” she said, “the college plays parts of the ; a supportive Sei i years. Like most government funded programs, money ee builds “enormous is scarce at the moment. keeping the goodwill.” program The federal going. Some government’s Department of Canadian Heritage funds the program, and it’s managed by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC). Last year 15,515 people applied to participate in the scheme, and 6,460 of them managed scarce at the moment. That means slimming down at a time when Parkin and others involved would like to see the program expanded. Recently, the program was squeezed from six to five weeks, and fewer students each year are institutions have had to drop it, so we have to be creative.” The federal government funds the students’ tuition, activities, and accommodation costs. Douglas College meets the cost of providing the facilities, and the students themselves meet the cost of getting here from Quebec. While they are here, the students will be staying with local families under the Homestay Scheme. There are usually around 150 international students at Douglas living in the community under the Homestay Scheme from institutions such as Momoyama University in Japan. The Homestay Scheme gives the Quebeckers a chance to experience family life and cuisine on the west coast, as well as the English language. But, the accommodation providers have been asked not to speak French to their guests, just so that the whole five weeks remains a learning experience. We welcome our visitors from Quebec, and wish them a happy and rewarding stay in BC.