Re February 18,1981 ~ local news The Other Press page three _ Wilkinson speaks on split by Greg Heakes Anthony Wilkinson, pre- sident-elect of Kwantlen College spoke Friday on the organizational structure proposed for the newly-for- med Kwantlen College. Wilkinson told over 100 ~ staff and faculty members at the Newton campus that . Douglas Colleges’ past sys- tem was not working be- cause of a combination of geographic economic pro blems and ‘“‘confusion in the staff function.’’ He said that great tra- f veling distances between campuses, lack of space, financial, and economic problems have plagued Douglas in the past and will continue to affect Kwantlen “but only on a_ lighter scale.”’ ; ‘“‘Any new system con- tains vestibles of unreality. We're in an almost no win ‘situation, but I think that in the future it is a win - situation.’’ he said. Wilkinson stressed the fact that he hopes to cut down quarrelling between Tony Wilkinson introduced a new educational system for _ Kwantlen College during a speech to over 100 staff and faculty members at the Newton campus. Photo by Greg Heakes Battered wives find relief in support group by Carol Pope A support group for bat- tered women was recently struck by two members of Port Coquitlam Area Wo- men's Centre (PCAWC). Five battered women will meet every Tuesday night for three hours over a period of ten weeks. Noreen Hardy and Mar- tha Royea, of PCAWG, will be working to help battered women rebuild their lives. Hardy said that there is a need for this type of pro- gram because of ‘the fear that results from battering. ‘‘Many women feel trap- ped in their situations, and are watched constantly by their husbands. Some feel forced to stay with their husbands because of eco- nomic reasons. The hou- sing shortage makes it very difficult for a woman to find a place to live, especially if she has children,”’ she said. | “‘The women will be able to exchange thoughts and discuss their situations,’’ said Hardy, ‘‘We take a feminist viewpoint and try to build up self-esteen.’’ “If we are able to help one women build a new life, then all of our efforts will have been’ worthwhile,’’ said Hardy. The Coquitlam Transition House is a great help but it only acts as a band-aid,’’ said Hardy, “this will continue from there.”’ The Coquitlam Women’s Emergency Crisis Shelter opened October 2, 1978 due to the efforts of Port Co- quitlam Area Women’s Centre. The third transition house in the lower main- land, it provides battered women and their children with food, refuge and sup- port while they recover and consider new options. continued page 6 staff members which has caused unrest in the past. “‘One of the great pro- blems with the last system was that no one was ac- countable. We have to get away from the us and them syndrome,’’ Wilkinson explained, who added that there will be no shakeup of the present administration. ‘I favour a system where everything is out on the table and if someone doesn’t agree with some- one, then, they should say so’’. Wilkinson said that the new system will be student and client orientated and that it will meet the social and community needs south of the Fraser. Wilkinson said he has a deep concern for the future of colleges and universities because increasing compe- tition is coming from non- academic institutions. He labelled businesses and in dustries as the two major opponents. ‘“‘We are in confronting times. The 60’s were the years of student power, the 70’s were faculty power and in the 80’s institutions are going to be attacked from all sides. For the first time students realize that the job can be done elsewhere,’’ he said. Wilkinson said that com- panies like C.P. Air and Air Canada are already training their own apprentices be- cause they can’t get suf- ficient supply of adequate workers out of the schools. He also mentioned that there are private teaching companies whose sole pur- pose is to teach for a profit. ‘In the future, students are going to demand more certificates and more voca- tional and career emphasis. There are going to be mas- sive demands for retraining as more and more women enter the work force;’’ he said. Wilkinson mentioned that the great travelling distan- ces between the campuses was one of the major ob- stacles of a multi-campus structure. “‘We have four widely seperated campuses and a public transit’ system that can only be described as neanderthal. The problem will be compounded when we are faced with gas prices of $2/gallon,’’ he said. Wilkinson said that Lang- ley, Surrey and Richmond should eventually develop so that they each can offer a full range of courses. ‘‘We’re looking ahead to the possibility that there could be another split within 5-10 years. But, we don’t want to have to go through the same trauma connected with this split.’’ And so does Day Other Press reporter, Greg Heakes, spoke recent- ly with Bill Day, the newly elected president of Douglas College about the college split. Day has been assoct- ated with Douglas College since its inception in 1970. How aware do you feel the students are of the college split? I suspect that many don’t realize that it’s a total split. It’s not just a change of the’ internal organization. I’m not sure alot of faculty realize it either (laughs). Could you give us .some history on the split? Back in 1969, eight school districts-- Maple Ridge, Coquitlam,New Westmins- ter, Burnaby, Richmond Delta, Surrey and Langley recommended to the go- vernment that there be two colleges, one on the north side of the Fraser river and one on the south side. But the goverment didn’t agree. The college was built under the assumption that it would split eventually whether it be 1900 or 1980. The long and short of if is that Douglas grew to the point where it was not working properly and it couldn’t run as a unit. Why? Because of the size of the region, the difficulty in cros- sing the river, and the traveling distances between the campuses. The college board decided last spring to split and the Minister of Education agreed. Will the split affect the quality of education? No, definitely not. Through having a smaller organization less time wil] be spent on meetings, just for the sake of having meetings and more time will be spent on communicating between the campuses and trying to touch base. What are the effects on registration going to be? I suspect that registration and public interest may increase on the south side to the river because, for the first time, they will have their own institution. The north side already has BCIT and PVI and it (Douglas) will probably assume a smaller profile. But the south should experience an upsurge in interest. Alkies So you’re free Thursday nights and you think Doug- las College doesn’t offer anything culturally and so- cially stimulating to warrant your participation, eh? Well, alienated one, your time has come. The multi-campus council has recognized the exis- What other major areas will the split effect? The split will effect eve- rything, Student Society, College Board, budget, working conditions, business systems, jobs of staff and political relation- ships. What do you mean by “political relationships? ‘* Since’ Burnaby will be- come the biggest single population for Douglas, we expect political activity wi- thin the community to in- crease. After all, isn’t the college suppose to be in- volved in the community? How will the budget be split? The division of the Bud- get will be a 50/50 split. But since the nursing pro- gram will stay with Dou- glas, it will make us a little bigger. Will Kwantlen. courses be recognized by all major institutions? Yes, the Kwantlen cur- riculum has been approved by all major institutions. unite! tense of the ‘‘Thursday night discussion club.’’ The club meets every Thursday night after class at the College Place Pub in down- town New Westminster Membership is open to any Douglas College stu- dent who seeks ‘‘to go beyond knowledge and de- fined wisdom in search of relative truth.”’