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EDITORIAL

There has been much talk recently about education: its
role in our society, and whois entitled to receive an education
in the first place.

A few years ago, there was a television show called Max
Headroom: 20 Minutes Into the Future. In one particular
episode, a man who was obviously not in a position of either
wealth or stature was arrested for showing an educational
video to some of the neighbourhood children, a video for
which he did not pay.

As he was led away handcuffed into the waiting police
van, he shouted at the magistrate who was overseeing the
operation, "You can't do this! Education is a right!"

The magistrate's cool response: "Only for those who can
pay."

This séems to be the very situation in which weas a society
presently find ourselves,as both governments, post-secondary
administrations and educated alike suggest that the only
people who are deserving of an education are those who can
eitheraffordit financially or whose pastmarksareabovea pre-
determined standard.

Government funding for education is continually being
decreased; classés are continually being scaled down or even
cut entirely; and inevitably more and more students are being
turned away. Asa society we also seem to be misinterpreting
the very meaning of the word ‘education’.

One dictionary meaning of the verb ‘educate' is 'todevelop
and cultivate mentally and morally,’ a task which far exceeds
mere job training. Obviously the demand for continuing
educationis there; itseems ludicrous todeny these people that
which is not only what they want, but is also theirs by right.

By placing restrictions on access to education, Douglas
College is in effect placing students' futures in jeopardy, like a
bureaucratic Wheel of Fortune: ‘Sorry, student x, looks like
you've landed on Lose A Turn. Oh well, better luck next year.

Students must take action to let Douglas College
administration know how they feel, and try to fight this trend.
The consequences are far too serious to do otherwise.

 

  
   

PCSS RE

douglas college's auto student paper - si 1976 =

September 30, 1992

TheOther Pressis Douglas College'sautonomous studentnewspaper
since 1976.

Being autonomous means neither the Douglas College Students’
Society or the College administration can tell the Other Press what to
print. Only you, the students, can decide what goes in the paper by
helping out.

Wereceive our funding froma student levy collected from youevery
semester at registration, and also from local and national advertising

revenue.

The Other Press is a member of the Canadian University Press, a
cooperative of almost 50 student newspapers from across Canada. We
adhere to CUP’s Statment of Common Principles and Code of Ethics.

The Other Press reserves the right not to publish anything sexist,
racist, homophobic, or against the principles of good taste. Letters
received by the Other Press should be a maximum of 300 words, typed,
and contain the name, program of study, and student number of the
writer (although the latter canbe withheld upon request). The Other Press
reserves the right to edit for space constraints. And double-check your
spelling and grammar: letters are printed uncorrected. The collective is

final arbiter of disputes. PHONE - 525-3542 FAX - 527-5095.

Staff This Issue

We quibbled over food, what to order and who to order from. One
staffer was a vegetarian, one was known to puke, and the rest were
reasonably passive. Tony Sousa dibbled-dabbled on the computeras Tara
Campbell became defensive over a happy Chris”macaroon” MacLaren
who wandered in and out between classes. Elaine Leong ventured down
to Chicago Tonight to get a story on ladies night, but the club was closed,
and anyhow, Angus Adair beat her to it. Mark Foster commented on the
red spots which danced around the boom box. Little did he know it was
the ghost of Gord Belec, who had eaten some bad pizza and decided to
haunt those stupid production martyrs. Tim decided to kill the giant,
mutant fly sitting on his chair, but on realizing “Harry” knew the answer

 

 

tolife, the universeand everything, decided he wasen’tsuchabad fly after,,
all. Byrun Stedmann became increasingly warped as the night went on.
Angela Chiotakos, who ventured out to her car around 2:00 am, wa:
locked out for a short while ‘cause a security guard ignored her banging
on the door’. Sean Veley demonstrated a natural talent for dancing and
expressed his inexplicable love for The Mr. T oe while Mario
Drakos came in to do some work after she had been shot down in her
Criminology class. Adrienne Merlo came in to type up an epitaph for an
old friend, and Ryan Cousineau had declared himself a bastion o
conservatism. Hilary Allan declared herself a republican anarchist, bu
didn’t know what it meant. Deanne Vanessen ,confused and sedated,
made contact with the underworld, but hung up on hearing the ca
would cost .25 cents a minute. Delusions and delirium ran rampant o

Tuesday night production, then subsided into cramped:
-slumber : a

* ZZ ZZZZZZZZLZLLZZZZZZZZZ

 

. Senrererer 09. 199° the Other Press

Other Letters
Stop Whining
and Support
Reg Policy!

Ican’tbelieve “The Other Press”
allowed the article “Student
Demoralized By Registration” on its
front pageletalonein the paperatall.
Another letter along the same lines
was allowed on page six. What
whining!

The front page article describes
student Rob Romo’s unfortunate
plight with Douglas’s new G.P.A.
priority system for registration. Poor
Rob hasa G.P.A. of 1.9. What are we
supposed to do, Rob? Shall our
education system settle for
mediocrity? If anything, education
inB.C. needs toincreaseits standards.

‘Wake up, Rob! The real world, with

an increasingly poor economy, is
becoming more competitive than
ever. Whatare you going todo when
a prospective employer passes you
over for someone with a higher
G.P.A.? If you wrote the Sun or the
Province tocomplain, they'd tell you
exactly what I’ll tell you now. Those
who work hard at achieving a high
G.P.A. are more deserving and will
be looked at more seriously by
employers. Rob’s quote, “I want to
come here and get my courses and
getthehellout”,demonstrates exactly
what kind of student he is.

Inregards toPatrickLawrence’s
letter “Enrollment Policy Affects
Student's Future”, the seven spelling
mistakes speak for themselves.
Patrick ee on the “political-
correctness” bandwagon by crying
discrimination and includes himself
with others not able to make the
grade., He then adds that the
financially unfortunate areincluded.
Hell, I’m poor and nobody has
discriminated against me! Patrick,
why don’t you start your own
politically correct interest group. I'll
proof read your newsletters.

The enrollment policy is more
pena as fair. It helps to increase
s ds in our educational system
while making our graduates more
competitive for future employment.
Sure, it would benice to bejudged on
attributes like interpersonal skills,
imagination, or social sensitivities,
buthow objective andaccuratecould
that be? As for now, the G.P.A.
priority system is, in all probability,
the most accurate system for
measuring academic achievement.
The most appropriate advice for
students like Rob and Patrick isto try
a little harder. As for the “Other

. Press”, try to look beyond stories of

self-pity,and giveussomereal news.
Peter Sabourin

Collectivenote:.Wewouldbehappy
if you dropped by room 1020 to help
write some real news.

Marching with

Mulroney

The latest “make or break the
nation” constitutionalaccord, Meech
Lakell, was announced Aug.20,1992.
Those who op the package
were, Brian Mulroney declared,

“enemies of Canada.” Joe Clark said,
“the day of Judgment is at hand.”
Thus the nation, where nota soul has
seen the text of the document, were
warned — by the men who had sold

 

rhe Other

Canada to the U.S. under the FTA
and who are at this moment
upgrading that sale under the
NAFTA.

Why was this most sweepi
constitutional change since 1867
necessary? According to the
government - and its cheerleaders in
the “opposition” - constitutional
amendments were required because
Quebec was “left out” of the
constitutionin 1982. Inrealityin1981,
73 of 75 M.P.’s from Quebec voted
for the repatriated constitution. In
Quebec’slegislature the Liberal party

voted for it. It was rejected by the PQ.

vernment whose stated reason for

ing was to take Quebec out of
Canada. A Gallup poll in Quebec
(LA Press, June 19, 1982) found only
16% opposed the new constitution.
Nor were there demands from
Quebec for further changes to the
constitution when Mulroney came
to power in 1984 . In the 1990s, polls
haveconsistently shown thatless than
10% of Quebecers see theconstitution
as a national priority.

The ledconstitutionalcrisis
has been deliberately created by
Mulroney todestabilize the Canadian
Confederation. What Canadians are
experiencing is an orchestrated
campaign to create a sound and fury
that will divert public attention from
the destruction of the Canadian
economy and the transfer of its
sovereignty to the U.S. And, if
possible to preserve enough of
Mulroney's Quebec base to ensure
his re-election.

Thisdocumentgoes well beyond
MeechLakelin handing new powers
to the already bloated provinces.
There is to be no more Canadian
culture, from now onit’sB.C. culture,
Saskatchewanculture or Nova Scotia
culture. The new Senate, instead of
providing protection for the smaller
provinces, will, wheninconflict with
the House of Commons, sit in a joint
session and be easily swamped by
the newly expanded House (36 more
members from Ontarioand Quebec).
The people can’t, apparently, be
trusted to elect their own senators, so
the premier pf Quebec gets toappoint
them.Eachprovincereceives theright
to pull out of national cost shared
programs, set up their own and
receive federal funds for doing so.
There will be no new national

s in the new Canada. The
abhorrent notwithstanding clause
(sec. 33) which allows Ottawa and
each province to override the basic
legal fights of citizens contained in
the Charter of Rights — forced into
the constitution by power grubbing
western pretaiers in 1981 — has not
been abolished; it has now also been
given to the new native elite to use as
they see fit.

To top it off each province has
received the right of veto over any
further institutional change thereby
casting in stone this self serving
document — the prime minister’s
new election platform — where it
will hang in perpetuity like a
millstone around the necks of future
generations.

And what of her Majesty’s loyal
opposition, those elected and paid to
oppose? As with Meech Lake 1, they
are marching in lock step with
Mulroney. The liberals in their
ongoing rush to betray the legacy of
Pierre Trudeau, have rolled over
offering their throats to Mulroney in
submission. Nancy Riche, president

of the NDP, a party which regularly

 
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
 

.the country,

 

 

pr6fesses its commitment tonational
programmes, Rha ized Aug. 24,
that Joe Clark has made her want to
“vote Tory”. The “‘new” premiers,
Harcourt, Romanow and Rae, the
ink scarcely dry on their elections
promises to fight “the Mulroney
agenda,” now sing with him in
exactly thesamekeyas Vander Zalm,
Devine and Peterson before them
and with precisely the same lack of
mandate from the electorate to
mangle the constitution. Native
leaders, who in 1990 cenit
were ing Meech Lake to save
aoe aren now emerged,
reincarnated as salesmen (and
women) for Brian Mulroney’s
demolition of Canada. They have
received large, new powers for
themselves including a whole new
level of government without a hint
of checks and balances, without any
system of accountability to rank and
file natives, and with the power to
override the Charter of Rights
whenever ordinary Indians question
this new, Canadian apartheid.
Theseconstitutional changes will
weaken the east-west ties that bind
Canadainorder tofacilitate the north-
southbonds of free trade. 18thcentury
Poland gave each noble veto power
over decisions in its parliament. The
resulting paralysis led ultimately to
Poland’s absorption by Prussia,
Russiaand Austria. Canada islocked
into the economic embrace of the
most powerful nation ever known.
The last thing it needs is the
destruction ofits existing constitution.

David Orchard

national chairperson of Citizens
Concerned About Free Trade

No Sex
Please, We’re
Siudenis

Inyour September 1,1992article
titled “the Sexual Politics of Birth
Control” you fail tomention the best,
100% guaranteed method of
preventing accidental pregnancies
and STD's.

DON’T HAVE SEX!!

Yes, That’ sright, theancientbirth
conrtol method of ABSTINENCE.
People do live without “getting
layed” for extended periods of time,
and in a more comfortable manner
than those who contract STD’s or
become accidentally pregnant.

Consider ALL the alternatives
before it’s too late.

Jay Kennedy
Bus & Comm,UT

Il Have a Nose
to Pick With
You

Hey you snots!

Why do you continually waste
our time? the hell is Tundra
Woman? Why the hell should I care?
She's just aninvention of communist
idealism. I'm sick of you P.C. liberals
trying tocram theenvironmentdown
my throat. I'm sick of your lame'o
stories, when are you going to start
being journalists and quit being

opagandists. To all of youl senda
heart -felt PISS OFF!
name withheld