September 29, 1986. Page 2.

The Other Press

 

 

" LIFE AFTER EXPO

Vancouver (CUP) - _ Land-

lords here are choosing over

Expo guests, say housing

administrators at the two

local universities.

But that’s small compens-
ation to students facing the
tightest housing market in
five years.

Bob Frampton, residence
administrator at the Univer-

sity of British Columbia,
said an increase in applica-
tions for on-campus hous-
ing this summer indicated
local landlords were chang-
ing traditional student
accomodation into more
profitable bed-and-
breakfast for Expo visitors.

“Now, a lot of people who
had decided to piggy-back
on the fair’s appeal are
deciding they would rather
convert back and rent to
students than risk having an
empty bed,” said Frampton.

There are an_ estimated
2,500 such _ bed-an _break-
fasts in the Vancouver area,
charging guests between
$45 and $65 per person per
night. But Frampton said
profits from such accomod-
ation must already be drop-
ping as the number of out-

. of-town Expo visitors
declines.

At Simon Fraser Univer-
sity, housing manager Geoff
Ward said Expo had not
affected listings with regular

landlords, even during the
exhibition’s peak summer
months.

“IT have rented places close
to the university in the past,
and have not had a problem
finding something in my
price range of $200 to $300,”
said UBC student, Martin de
Jonge.

“But this year, there have
been occasions when I’ve
arrived at the same time as
four or five other students,
and just as quickly the place
has been rented,” he said.

Anna Metaxas, a UBC
grad student, said apart-
ment-hunting in Vancouver
is dismal compared to
Montreal. “For $275, you
can get an apartment in
Montreal, downtown, in a
high-rise, with everything
included,” she said. “Here

you can’t get anything for
$275 -- you'll be lucky if you
share.” :

An April study by _ the
Canada Housing and Mort-
gage Corporation indicated
Expo was a major factor in
the decline in rental housing
vacancies, with Vancouver
experiencing _ the largest
decrease of the 24 metropo-
litan areas that CHMC
surveyed.

The study also estimated

international
pavilions
1000-1500

employees of
and corporate
would occupy

rental units. Students now
speculate a large number of
vacancies will appear after
Oct. 13, when the fair closes.

Among _ those ___ benefiting
from Expo’s close are the 782
students finally moving into
Fairview Crescent, new
residences which UBC ren-
ted to Expo Corporation for
more than three times the
charge to students.

“The one-year tenancy of
Expo has allowed us to retire
a large part of our debt, and
also pay for our
furnishings,” said residence

_administrator Frampton.

“Expo is really only a short
term factor, however, in
Vancouver’s rental housing
market,” said Helmut
Pastrick, an economist for
CHMC’s B.C. and Yukon
division.

The vacancy rate will rise
slightly after Expo’s close,

and then resume at the
previous level, he said.
Pastrick said vacancies

will eventually decline and
rents will increase, and ex-

pressed little © enthusiasm
about prospects for student
housing.

“Students are always. in a
difficult position for hous-
ing,” he said. “But it is not
going to be any easier over
the next few years.”

 

Join

 

YETI SKI CLUB
“Meeting —
Thurs. Oct. 2
Room 4306 at 12:30

the

 

 

CFS

Continued
forming an alternative
association?

Said Booth, “Maybe it

won’t come to that, if the
CFS realizes that we’re get-
ting serious. We may be able
to pressure them into giving
B.C. more attention. If not,
another student organiza-
tion could develope.”

“My official position is
that I am opposed to pulling
out if there are no alternative
organizations to turn to.” he
added.

On the other hand, the
CFS feel that B.C.’s lack of
student influence on _ the |
government is the fault of
the student societies.

Acording to Marg |
Fartaczek, a former Douglas |
College student who now
works at the B.C. Regional

 

DCSS UPDATE

Well, the fall semester has
begun and homework is
already beginning to pile

up. Essay assignments are
out and mid-terms loom
ominously around the

corner. But wait, something
is missing from this
delightful little scenario. A
little matter of a Student
Loan. Well that is easy en-
- ough to take care of, you just
_ arrange a small loan from
the folks until the cheque
arrives. But you don’t live at
home? Well just go down to
financial aid and see if they
can help you out until the
cheque arrives. What do you
mean you have to eat inthe
meantime? You have to give

up some luxuries if you
want an education, right?
What’s that, you already

have your student loan?. Oh,
I see. It arrived three weeks
after registration and was
only $3,000 leass than you
had asked for. And that in-
cluded a whole $40 a month
for a bus pass to. Kind of a
~ shame when you _ consider

FE _ that the cheapest pus pass

available is $46; but you can
make that up by collecting
old pop-bottles, right? And
if you insist on eating, there
is always the food bank...
Does this sound all too
familiar? The fact is Student
Assistance. in this province
is one of the worst in
Canada. The B.C. Govern-
ment is spending a_ whole
$12 million on student aid
this year. Four years ago
they spent $33 million. Why
the sudden drop? Can you
Say restraint, Boys and
Girls? As if matters weren’t
bad enough, in 1983 the B.C.
government entirely cut out
it’s student aid grant
program and_ replaced it
with a loans-only program.
Today, British Columbia
remains the only province

without a non-repayable
grant program.
By comparison, the

province of Alberta has in-
creased the amount it will
spend on_ student assistance

by 35%. With the smaller
population base and
economic problems of it’s

own, the provincial govern-
ment there is committing
$110 million to to help
students get a post-
secondary education. That
is more than 10 times what

Victoria is prepared to
spend.

With all this in mind, the
Douglas College Student

Society in conjunction with
the Canadian Federation of
Students (Pacific Region)
will be sponsoring a Task
Force on Student Assistance
to be held here on October
16th. The focus of the task
force is to provide an oppor-
tunity for students to ex-
press their concerns about
the state of affairs in the
student aid program curr-
ently in place in British
Columbia. The task force
will welcome all input from
students and in_ particular
would like to hear how the
Student assistance program
affects the students at
Douglas College. If you are
apprehensive about  speak-
ing to the task force in per-
son , the task force would be

CFS office in Vancouver, the ~
relationships between
Student associations is lack-
ing.

“We have a _ definite
problem getting information
from the associations. The
problems and concerns are
not coming up at meetings,”
said Fartaczek. “The associ-
ations suffer from a lack of
continuity which prevents
us from acting on the in-
formation we receive,” she
added.

Although Booth dismisses
the Provincial CFS office st-
ance as “rhetoric”, he feels
that the problem lies with
the national level of the CFS.

“We have no complaints
against the regional office.
How much can three people
accomplish? We just feel
that for the amount o
money we as students pay
to the CFS, we deserve more
attention that we are getting
from the national office,”
said Booth.

 

glad to accept
presentation for

a written
considera-
tion in their final report. So

please remember to come
out on the 16th and tell us
what bothers you about the
Student aid program. WE
WANT TO HEAR FROM
YOU.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
OCTOBER:

9th : Comedian, Barry Ken-

 

 

nedy, Room 2201, 12:30 pm.
Free admission to all
students.

10th : Hockey Social, 20:00,
upper cafeteria.

13th ; Thanksgiving Day.

16th : Task Force on Student
Aid. one f

 

~~