Other Press You and Me You might have heard this: one before: “the Canadian Federation of Students is you and me”, every stu- dent at Douglas, every student at Capilano, and every other student from a member student association across Canada. Believe it! | You might also have heard that Capilano faced a faculty strike last semester. With the dedicated efforts of our student society and letters of support from CFS members across Canada (and Douglas) our strike was soon resolved. Our national student organiza- tion might not be very well known at Douglas. This, I should remind you, Senate represents students If the DCSS_ senate members were reminded that they el- ected to represent the students who voted for them and not their own personal opinions perhaps we would get more accomplished. With a major referendum coming up (CFS - March 10) and a major fund raising effort, Rick Hanson month at the college is March, sen- ate members have a lot to do keep- ing their departments informed about events and issues. A lot has Dear Mr. Bonner In my letter, I was criticizing Bill Vander Zalm’s policies and_ the way he governs our province. He has a lot of power, and I try to tell the public (or whoever wants to read) what he is doing, so they can express their opinion. I was not, however, critiquing his religious beliefs. Your criticism of my letter seem- ed more concerned with the reli- gious aspects than the criticisms of Bill Vander Zalm. You did not seem to get my point in your ap- parent tunnel vision. Mr. Bonner, the Christian religion is one of many in Canada. Buddhism, Is- lamic, Sikh, Hindu, etc. Do not in- sult Canada’s miulti-culturalism by insisting these people pray to your A message from Vernon On March 10, students at Doug- las College will vote on a member- ship review in the Canadian Fed- eration of Students. The Kala- malka Campus Student Associa- tion will have a referendum on March 17 to join the Federation. Students at our campus are ex- cited about becoming members of the Federation. We see the Federa- tion as a strong alliance between students in Canada and we want to contribute to it. Our campus has approximately 400 students and we are located in Vernon. The participation rate of students in post secondary educa- tion in our region is below 6%. isn’t the fault of the Federation. The trouble is poor Douglas representa- tion within our » and poor dissemination of information to the campus. The Federation has been doing a good job for Douglas representing it through a cohesive provincial and national voice. Now that more Douglas students are pressuring their Federation Voting represent- ative, more information about CFS services can be learned. Remember you are voting to tell the DCSS that you do care about our CFS organization. Irwin Oostindie VP Internal Capilano College Student Society (That’s in North Vancouver, Mike, not the Okanagan.) been accomplished this year by the senate but I hope students will take issue with the problems and be very careful who they elect for next year. If the students choose reps with a genuine interest in working for them there would be a lot less wasted time and energy on personally motivated ‘impeach- ments’. In the final analysis it is up to the students, all of whom be- long to the student society, to take an interest and become informed about what their reps are or are not doing for them. Sandra Glass Arts/Humanities Rep. god, or are you trying to head a Douglas College inquisition. The abortion issue you raised is strictly a matter of opinion. (I suggest you pay attention to the news, there is a trial in the U.S. that will set a precedent on this issue). Mr. Vander Zalm is trying to put his view on abortion into use in the province. Slightly confront- ational, wouldn’t you agree, when half of B.C.’s population is pro- choice. If you would like more examples of him abandoning his non-con- frontational election promise, _lis- ten to his radio show. Finally, you’re insluting me by calling me ignorant. I suggest you put on your glasses, forget what you were taught in Sunday school and read the article objectively. It was meant to inform, not anger. Jordan Acomba Tuition at our college has risen 208% since 1981 and the most re- cent unemployment rates are around 25%. The cost of finishing our degrees is much higher than students from the lower mainland who have the opportunity to live at home and don’t have to move three hundred miles just to attend university. Our student association wants to become members of the Canadi- an Federation of Students to work together with colleges like Douglas in fighting for an accessable high quality post secondary education system. Our strength as_ students lies in our numbers and unity. On March 10 please vote No! John Ledlin, Vice-President Kalamalka Campus Student Association Vote “Yes” We are writing with regards to the upcoming CFS referendum on March 10, 1987. CFS, commonly known as the Canadian Federation of Students is more correctly known as Central Canadian Fed- eration of Students. We would like to bring to the students some con- cerns we have with CFS. The CFS meetings attended by student rep. Brent Wilson tend to be long on talk and short on action. The services offered are dubious at best and benifit students in central Canada more than students in western Canada. The service pro- grams are, in our opinion, should be a secondary issue, however, CFS makes them the focus of their attentions. For an _ organization that claims to be the lobbying group for students to have a small office based in Vancouver when the government officials responsi- ble for the allocation of funds for Students are located in Victoria does not allow CFS . adequate ac- cess to the government. CFS will claiin a victory for themselves when they are only part of a larger group. CFS implies that by pulling out, the students of Douglas Col- lege do not want to work with other student organizations. Does this mean that Douglas College Page 7 March 4, 1987 Other Press Douglas College’s Autonomous Student Newspaper students should have to pay Th $27,000 for the right to work with E student organizations? The _ stu- Other Press dents at UBC, BCIT and the Col- lege of New Caledonia do not be- long to CFS, they don’t pay this fee and they have no desire to do so. When half the students in BC are not members of CFS it appears that Douglas College students are throwing away $27,000 a year. With the extra $7.50/yr./student the students of Douglas College could use this money for construc- tive funding of student activities and therefore eliminate the need for additional levies. CFS blames the lack of student interest on any given campus about CFS on the The Other Press is a dem- ocratically run, autonomous student newspaper _ serving Douglas College since 1976. It publishes 16 times a seme- ster, once a week, under the auspices of The Other Publi- cations Society. Our funding comes by way of a direct stu- dent levy paid at registration and through local and _natio- CFS executive members (in this | nal advertising. The Other case; Michael Booth). We feel that | Press is a member of the Michael Booth has been extremely | Canadian University Press co-operative and helpful in his dealings with CFS and has con- sistantly worked to increase the benefits provided by CFS for the and subscribes to it’s state- ment of principles. students of Douglas. ibe ee Although CFS blames the lack of | Chairperson: student interest on the executive, Vacant it should be noted that it is difficult | Member at Large: the Other Press. University Press statement of principles. Disclaimer: the opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Letters may be edited for brevity and clarity and to subscribe to the Canadian An open letter to students In March you will be voting on a referendum to pull out of the Ca- nadian Federation of Students. We urge you strongly to vote NO. The Federation released it’s Stu- dent Assistance Task Force report on Jan. 27 of this year. This report was an incredible achievment for the students in B.C. All of the member local student associations worked together to produce this comprehensive document. The result of this report was ter- rific. We made the front page of the Vancouver Sun, and brought pub- lic attention to the needs of stu- dents. The report was also re- leased to the “B.C. Student Finan- cial Assistance Advisory Commit- tee”, which is the government that is to make recommendations to the Minister of Advanced Education and Job Training on the future of : - Vacant to arouse student interest in an or- Member at Large: ganization that is unfocused, im- ; Vacant potent, and places more burdens | Staff Representative: o> than benefits on students. , Staff Representative: a : Signed: Kirstin Shaw Sandra Jane Glass Business Manager: (Arts/Humanities Rep.) Mark Roberts Brent R. Wilson (Social Sciences Rep.) Other Press Staff Production Co-ordinator: John McDonald Typesetting Co-ordinator: Jeff House Production Assistant: David Mills Copy Editors: David Mills : Jennifer Whiteside Financial Assistance in B.C. Bin The Canadian Federation of Stu- News Co-ordinator: — John McDonald dents is currently running a_ post- card campaign urging Stan Hagen, the Minister of Advanced Educa- Editorial Co-ordinator: Colin Turkingdon Entertainment Co-ordinators: tion and Job Training to return the Jeff House : * . Kirstin Shaw grant portion of the Financial As- Bestares Co Gainer: sistance program. It is important Vacant that every student at Douglas Col- | Classifieds Co-ordinator: lege sign these cards. This will Vacant prove that the students really do | SPOFrts Co-ordinator: support the goals of the Canadian Federation of Students. We need your support to contin- ue and improve our effectiveness as a lobby force. You need us to strengthen your voice. A collective effort of ALL stu- dents in B.C. is necessary. We Veronica Blok Recruitment Co-ordinator: Karen Dhillon Graphics Co-ordinator: Chris Brown Photographic Co-ordinator: Rachael Smith Human Rights Co-ordinator: Paul Gill have the worst education system Comments in Canada. We MUST work to- | john McDonald gether. The students united shall Chris Brown never be defeated! Rachael Smith Bettie Williams Lori Donald English Rep Simon Fraser Student Society Other Press roor | (under the door) DEMME SO roe ee ye ry a FANNON VAN NE OE EVAR BN ON DE VEN YeCie ew Orde tad”