Stud

 

ents-

Pawns in Strike!

Once again we the students are the pawns in a game of chess between
the administration and the Douglas College Faculty Association. As in
chess, the pawns are expendable. In this dispute WE are the pawns at the

barganing table

. Each side says the students are their main concern: rubbish. We will
suffer from their decisions. Unlike the staff, we can not put a strike behind
us. Musi¢, Theatre, and closed enrollment students will be hit the hardest
as they are unable to make-up for lost time. The D.C.F.A. will be able to

pick-up where they left off.

As a student , I support neither side. I sympathize with the DCFA,
but they are not faultless in this dispute. Ultimately, there is the possibility
that a large number of the student body will lose a semester or a year;

that possibility is unacceptable.

I believe students are angry at being used as pawns! We are going
to be the victims of a horrible situation. Our education has yet again been
put in danger. As students, we should let the DCFA,the Administration,

and the government know we are

as mad as hell at being used as

barganing material. We are not pawns! We have a right to the education

we paid for.

Rachael Burnett

“Women
Must have
the Right to
Choose"

The issue that won’t go away,
that has kept those on Parlaiment
Hill ducking for cover for almost
two years now, is finally being
dealt with. On Friday our federal
government finally did something
it has promised to do: it tabled
legislation in the House on abor-
tion. The thing is, this is one piece
of legislation that the majority of
Canadians would rather the
government left alone. Not because
we don’t want to deal with the
issue, but because we feel any law
restricting a woman’s access to a

 
 

   

safe. abortion is a law against
women.

We cannot accept the legisla-
tion. A woman must have complete
control over what happens to her,
physically, socially, economically,
emotionally. Not her doctor. It’s
her body, her life. Period.

How many doctors are going
to agree to allow a woman to go
through with an abortion when the
procedure is being put into the
criminal code? Doctors are now left
wide open to being sued by anyone
who thinks their decision is wrong,
including the woman’s
partner/spouse, family members,
even anti-choice groups. Doctors
won’t even tell you when you are
pregnant what sex your child is for
fear of being sued if they are wrong.
And that’s not a criminal offence. I
don’t care how Pro-choice a doctor
is, the possiblity of being sued will
be all too present and may work
against a woman seeking an abor-

 

“Thank-
you!”

Dear Friend,

Thank-you for stealing
$100.00 out of my purse. I hope
you needed it to buy groceries. I
hope.you needed it to pay your rent.
I hope you needed it to buy your 5
- year old daughter a halloween
costume. I hope you needed it for
bus fare.

Well that’s what my daughter
and I needed it for. May you spend
it with a guilt-free conscience so
the next time someone rips YOU
off you’ ll feel good about yourself.

Name withheld by request.

DCSS Objects to
Letter

Dear Other Press,

 

 

The Students’ Society objects
to the allegations made by Rick
Shepherd in the Oct. 23 issue of the
Other Press. The equipment expen-

~ ditures approved on Oct. 10th were

the result of several months of re-
search on the part of Equipment
Purchase Committee.

The executive felt that because
there were many outstanding
equipment purchase directives
from the fall 1988 and spring 1989
semesters, a committee should be
struck to facilitate these purchases
and ensure that the Society was
purchasing the best equipment for
the most reasonable price. It could
have easily been the case that each
individual purchase was approved
separately, in separate meetings,
but the committee felt that it was
best to deal with the results of its
research at one time.

Mr. Shepherd could be more
responsible in his research as
several of his allegations are false.
First, the Oct. 10 meeting was not
the first meeting of the newly
elected Representative Committee.
Given that some purchases were
directives from previous semesters,
those purchases will not be coming
out of the fall 1989 budget. Equip-
ment purchases are not "capital ex-
penditures" as such, there exists a
line item in the budget to accom-

Other Press

tion.

Also, only the woman herself
can really know what’s best for her.
A doctor can make an educated
guess, but he/she isn’t leading that
woman’s life. And that is the bot-
tom line. Women must have the
right to choose, for themselves,
what is right for them individually,
because no-one else really knows.

This legislation, as tabled,
takes away a woman’s right to
choose. It also degrades women in
general: by saying that women
must have a doctor’s permission to
recieve an abortion, our govern-
ment is effectively saying that
women can’t make intelligent, well
thought out decisions about their
own lives.

We have to act. Now. Our
government has shown us, quite
convincingly, just who it is listen-
ing to. The people in this country
who are pro-choice have got to turn
it around, have got to make them-
selves heard, immediately. It is still
not too late to make sure that
women. of every background in
Canada will continue to have ac-
cess to safe abortions. The legisla-
tion, if passed, will deny that
access.

Phone your M.P.! Today!

D.C. Keeps
Up With
Technology

It is good to see Douglas
catching up in the computer world.
Back in the old days of Douglas
(85), all us CIS 110 students used
IBM PC’s. Also all we did was
program in BASIC for the whole
semester. POWERHOUSE was a
word we never had heard of before.

Then there came a little
change. The IBMs were upgraded
to XTs, we even got a couple of XT
turbos. We even received better
printers. Also the main frame, Data
General, got upgraded to a better
system. Then came the computer

modate purchases of that nature. It
is within the purview of elected
representatives to make financial
decisions that affect the operations
of the society. With a membership
of over 6,000, only two full-time
staff people to service that mem-
bership, limited space and outdated
equipment the Society has acted
responsibly in making decisions
that improve the efficiency of th
Society office and improve the
ability of the office to serve its
membership. Agenda and minutes
of meetings are posted, and all
meetings are open to the general
membership. Should the lines of
communication break down be-
tween elected representatives and
their constituents break down, stu-
dents are welcome, indeed en-
couraged, to speak to the executive
or staff about issues of concern.
The Students’ Society
Equipment Purchase

Committee:

Rose Grassman

Merrylyn Houlihan

Christina Steinmann

‘o Jennifer Whiteside

jo

“crunch. Lots of students, and not

enough computers. Only 2 com-
puter labs (PC) between CIS and
OADM. This caused a lot of stress
at final project time.

Then came a drastic change.
The CIS and OADM departments
both got new labs. Both of them
loaded with the latest technology
(286), the latest versions of
software. It is a relief to see
Douglas college keeping up with
technology. It gives Douglas stu-
dents an edge; in this world, an
edge can make a difference.

As for me, I am heading to
SFU. Hey I need an edge too. The
diploma is a good thing to have, but
I want more. I just hope Douglas
continues to keep up with the pace
of technology. If not, Douglas stu-
dents could lose their edge, and
possibly the chance at a decent job.

Colin Turkington
Soon to be x-CIS student

Dogs!

"Oh great", I said to my friend
as we pulled into the drive way.
"“Dobermans."

I don’t know what it is but
dogs, especially big dogs, get me
apprehensive. Of course, the ap-
prehensiveness builds to a fever
pitch when I see these animals
bounding around, barking loudly,
and displaying no signs of effective
visible restraint.

"Just don’t show any fear and
they won’t bother you."

Somehow I knew that classic
cliche on canine behavior was in-
evitable, and if there is one cliche I
hate, it is one that has never been
effictive for me personally.

Anyways, after two hours of
terror the beasts had subsided, and
once within the safe confines of an
automobile, I began to think about
dogs. Not any one dog, but just the
species in general.

I suppose sometime, long ago,
wolves started to get an idea. Who
knows, maybe the Emperor or
someone said to a congress of
gathered wolf leaders, "Hey, if we
help instead of hinder these crazy,
furless creatures who use only two
legs, we will get guaranteed food
and warmth. Our scouting parties
have proven it. They never come
back."

So, consequently, over time
wolves became domesticated and
assumed a new identity: DOGS!
This, of course, all seems very ob-
vious, but how come there is only
one kind of wolf, geographic
names aside, and so many different

\day, Novemeber 6, 1989

types of dogs?

Tough question?

No, not really. The explana-
tion is simple when taken in his-
toric terms. After domestication
dogs not only had to adapt to work-
ing and living under certain
geographical conditions, they, like
their human masters, had to adopt
nationalities.

Ludicrous, you say? Un-
founded?! Hogwash?!

Well, I suppose a few specific
examples must be examined to
“stem the voices of cynics. First, the
German Shepherd. Physically, the
breed is perfectly suited to Ger-
many, from the plains of Prussia

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