March 19, 1990 eres Other Press Homophobic Posters at U of T Cause Backlash Against Varsity by T. Clive Thompson III TORONTO (CUP) -- A poster in a University of Toronto residence has been called homophobic and "disgusting" by administrators and campus ac- tivists, but the residence’s dean says there is no policy against it. The poster appeared after the campus paper,.The Varsity, pub- lished a special Lesbian and Gay Men supplement Feb 26. The poster criticized the paper for ex- cessive coverage of gay and lesbian issues. It remained up for about five days. "I am not against homosexuality," it concluded. "I’m against ever having to read about them again. Back in the closets and washroom stalls you bunch of degenerates." UofT assistant vice president- student affairs David Neelands said the poster "goes beyond bad taste. "I think that calling gays and lesbians degenerates’ is totally in- appropriate. I’m disgusted." David Rayside, chair of an un- official university committee on homophobia, said the poster was similar to homophobic graffiti found in washrooms across cam- pus. "It’s really just a more public version." Residence dean Garry Spencer said there is no rule prohibiting residents from putting up homophobic material on bulletin boards. "There’s no specific policy," Spencer said. "Peer pressure usual- ly decides what stays on the board and what doesn’t. If someone Pensions Denied Homosexual Lovers At McGill; Quebec Law Discriminates by Neelam Sandhu MONTREAL (CUP) -- As McGill’s academic council was _ discussing pension benefits for family, professor Sam Noumoff asked, "Is it the intention of the university at this time to interpret the term ’spouse’ to include mem- bers of the same sex?" In short, university vice-presi- dent-finance John Armour’s answer was ‘no’. Although the University of British Columbia recently joined Nova Scotia’s Acadia eit in ting pension benfits to same- Panmt of gay staff members, Armour said McGill won’t be fol- lowing suit. Quebec’s charter of human rights forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, execept with respect to pensions and employee benefits from having to follow that rule. McGill also says the province prohibits same-sex spouses from getting benefits. Robert Head, chair of McGill’s lesbian and gay staff as- sociation said McGill should set an example. "Regardless of what may be defined in law, McGill University as acommunity leader owes it to its employees and the community in general to address this issue and set an example for change," he said. "The non-inclusion or recog- nition of such benefits for homosexual employees and their spouses represents discrimination as it pertains to employment equi- ty," Head says. Grassman Resigns Continued from page 1... . _Tather by increasing our staff by 100 percent. Salary increases cannot be done only for one staff person. We should reconsider [sic] all of our staff and after that we should determine if we have the funds for further salary raises," Grassmann stated. She also found it difficult to develop a working relationship in the society, which contributed to her resignation. "When I talked with our staff or asked questions it was never at any time my intention to harass anyone. I must admit that I didn’t know that as treasurer I would need permission to discuss financial matters with the office staff. I’m really sorry that I have never found the right means to communicate with you. I found the subject of money much too important to ignore especially when it is not my money to let personal feelings get in the way,"Grassmann write in her letter to the Representative Commit- tee, In closing her letter, Grassman commented on her observations as an elected member of the society. "After two years of being an elected member of the society, I cannot say anything has changed, only the individuals. Quite the contrary, we went from bad to worse. Most of the executives have forgotten why we are here, not to run our own little campaigns but to serve the student body as a whole or at least the ones who gave us their support to be elected." She is quite pessimistic about the society’s economic future. Grassman believes if the society keeps spending at their current levels, _ without advanced budgeting, they will end up operating at a deficit two or three semesters down the road. doesn’t like what’s on it, they’ll take it down." Neelands said he would talk to Spencer about the poster but not ask for restrictions on uses of the bulletin board. "I think people can have freedom of expression but I think they can also get a tongue-lashing every once in a while," Neelands said. The poster was gone from the residence which houses primarily engineering students by Mar. 3. Spencer said he does not know who put it up or took it down, and never actually saw the poster, or heard any complaints. Resident Sean Perry said the poster reflected the general opinion of residents. "I think people are sick of having homosexuality shoved down their throats," Perry said. "(The Varsity Lesbian and Gay Men supplement) isn’t journalism, it’s propaganda. It doesn’treflect U of T." Andrew Davidson, of UofT’s gay and lesbian association said the poster is partly a backlash against the publicity gays and lesbians have received in the last year. Recently, his group brought a complaint against a college student paper to the Human Rights Com- mision. ioe Charges Seniors by Kieran Harrop VICTORIA (CUP) -- The University of Victoria is the only university in British Columbia that charges senior citizens tuition, and students say this is elitist. UVIc president Howard Petch said seniors pay if they take a cour- ses for credit, but pay less if they just sit in on classes. Petch said the administration was concerned seniors might take a space that could go to a younger person and seniors take courses purely for in- terest, "in that I don’t think they’re trying to get a degree." The issue is the lack of class- room space at UVic, said Petch. There are thirty-four seniors at- tending the university. Student council president Kelly Abysinghe, said the university’s stance was both ageist and elitist. "(Seniors) have a lot to offer," said Abysinghe. "If you"re taking a history class with someone who has been through the war and depres- sion, you get an added dimension you just don’t get in a text book,” she said. Abysinghe said education should be available to everyone, not just young upper class people seeking jobs. Abysinghe said seniors should not be slotted away in old age in- Stitutions. Anita McWilliams is a senior student on campus. "It’s too bad this is the only university that char- ges full fees," she said. Campus Notes Women’s Week Celebrated Women around the world celebrated the gains they have made in society during International Women’s Week, March 5th to 11th, the Douglas College Women’s Organising Committee included. All through the week, the committee showed films, held an open forum and co-sponsored an open house along with the Women’s Centre and the faculty association’s women’s committee. The W.O.C. is planning a film series and a Gender equality workshop for April. DCSS Declares War on Homophobia The Douglas College Student’s Society has passed a resolution Supporting an anti-homophobia campaign on campus. The Representative Committee, meeting on Thursday March 8th, voted unanimously in favour of the motion. The motion states that the D.C.S.S. should apply pressure to the College Board "to take steps to improve the environment on campus for gay, lesbian and bisexual students." The motion also involves support of the Gay Games, Celebration ’90 by actively opposing any hate campaigns generated as a result of the games, Library Goes High-Tech The Douglas College library is going high-tech. By September of 1990, the library hopes to have an automated system in place which would help students locate resources quicker and easier. Student cards are being redesigned to accommodate the bar code which will be used to help monitor materials. Society Discusses Ombudpersons’ Report Keith Olstrom’s Interim Ombuds Report was discussed at the March 8th Representative Committee meeting. During the meeting, Olstrom raised the point that the report was an interim one only, and requested input from new Representative Commit- tee members. University Transfer Representative Andrew Burton called the report constructive, and recommended the society work with Olstrom’s sugges- tions, Nursing/Dental Representative Janet Fors noted, "it was quite a blow to see all of the problems," and stated she agrees with the report. There had previously been controversy over the report concerning the way Olstrom had conducted the report, the validity of it, as well as Olstrom’s responses to allegations of sexism. The report will be discussed at both the next Representative Com- mittee meeting and the D.C.S.S.’ Annual General Meeting on Wednes- day, March 21st. McWilliams said Simon Fraser University and University of British Columbia have no fees for seniors, and of the sixteen other universities across Canada she called all had at least some kind of tuition break for seniors. McWilliams said "(seniors) are among those who have con- tributed the most to society over the years though their jobs, their families and community service." McWilliams said seniors who grew up in rural areas often had no access to post-secondary educa- tion, and where she grew up in Pemberton Valley there was only a | al little elemetary school. "Even to go to high school we had to go into Vancouver, if you were lucky enough to have rela- tives, and endure extreme home sickness," McWilliams said. After the war, McWilliams got a secretarial job, but always wanted to catch up on something she felt she had missed. Continued from page 1... that the policy has yet to be implemented. And it may not be at 1, "It’s a draft proposal, it wasn’t something that the College wanted to make its mind up on at the upper echelons and simply dictate that was what would happen," said Angus. If implemented, students will be notified of the change in the Fall 1990 semester to allow time to prepare for the adjustment.