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Special Editorial

From the News Desk:

By Samuel Lapalme-Remis,
News Section Coordinator

j The instructors have
; decided to strike. In many ways,
this is a perfectly understandable
decision. They are fighting for very
| little in the way of financial
rewards, but for much in the way
college life will operate from day-
to-day. If they lose this battle,
expect to spend a lot more time in
lectttre*halls and less time in the
more intimate confines of a
classroom. If you have a problem
with class material, it will be
harder to get help from your
instructor because he or she will be
busier with other classes and
students. Think you have problems
with getting the classes you want?
Just wait and see how things will
be after a faculty loss at the
negotiating table. °
Unfortunately, this scenario
is all too probable. The rotating
: strike strategy operates on a crucial
but shaky assumption: that the
government cares about students.
The Post-Secondary Employers
Association (PSEA), the
organization fighting on behalf of
the government, does not seem
overly preoccupied with the
——rotating strikes. After all, students
may be severely inconvenienced,
but they will still receive credit for
courses completed during the
Winter 1996 semester. They won’t
be banging down government
doors.

The instructors, however,
do care about students. They are
not giving themselves a paid
vacation here. They will have to
picket in the cold or the rain. They
will have to deal with angry and
confused students. They will have
to constantly play catch-up in class

pita a sd ae

 

To the Other Press,

I hate band/album reviews (as
they are generally more about the
writer than the music said review
puports to be about), but January 23
saw me reading page 11 while in
line to pick up my welfare cheque.
And there it was, the line which got
me to thinking: “There’s a lot to be
said for the observation that the 90’s
are really just the 70’s, only with
better drugs”. hrm... I thought that
the 90’s were the 60’s upside down,
but that hasn’t exactly been the case.
But perhaps, there is more... Wait!
Have you evver heard of the theory
of Culture Meltdown? We live in a
society that is so self-obseesed that
the past is routinely plunered for pop
consumption today.

Consider this: the 50’s
experience their big nostalgea wave

‘in order to make up for cancelled

classes. The quality of the
education they offer students,
which is, after all, their chosen
craft, will suffer enormously. They
are far more likely to feel the
effects of the strike than the
government is.

There is the danger that the
instructor’s union will lose the
support of the faculty. In that case,
the union would be forced to cave
in to the government demands. It
seems more likely, however, that
the government refusal to negotiate
will strengthen the instructor’s
resolve. Still, one must take into
consideration the fact that the
union could only obtain a 55%
strike vote from the faculty, and
that was three months ago.

The effects of the strike will
probably become routine for both
teachers and students, because the
two sides are far from reaching the
full agreement required for a return
to work. They aren’t even talking
at this point. However, the faculty
cannot afford to let the end of the
semester to arrive without
resolution. When classes end, so
does all their leverage. If the
faculty unions panic just before
April 20, the government will
simply reap the rewards of
patience. The faculty will be
desperate enough to give in.

But the faculty have one
rarely mentioned secret weapon:
the all-out strike. With an all-out
strike, students could not obtain
credit for classes. At this point,
they would start getting on the
government’s case, After having
invested all that time in a semester,
students would not accept a refund

 

in the 70’s up to 1982 (so this will
include everything from American
Graffiti to the Stray Cats); the 60’s big
return happened circa 1987, shortly
after Gerry Garcia emerged from his
coma of insect dreams; the 70’s hit us
again first with the emergence of acid
house shortly after that, and then
infiltrated our conciousness through
bands like the Black Crowes and that
movie, Dazed and Confused. Are you
with me, still? Already we are being
packaged the fun (BLAH) of the 80’s
in CD collector packs, and yes that is
Duran Duran attempting another
comeback, and I hear george Michael
might actually release something soon.

And where are we, circa 1996,
mid-decade lag, we are waiting for
something to happen, and what is it?
Nostolgia for yesterday. As for the
vaults of memory are nearly empty, all

February 6, 19

 

 

  
  
 
     
   
    

 
   

Well son,
we are experiencing a shortage
of fire wood in the captain's lounge,
it looks like we'll be taking a few
of your logs.

 

S.S. Government

 

 

 

 

and an apology. The unions would
have maximized their leverage,
and the whole mess would not
have the deadline that the end of
classes currently imposes.

Is the faculty seriously
considering an all out strike at this
time? Probably not. However,
desperate times call for desperate
measures, and the Douglas College
Faculty Association will be getting
pretty nervous around March 15,
which is only 45 days away.
Perhaps an all-out strike beginning
now would be a more effective and
ultimately more painless solution
for all,

This is only speculation.
Perhaps the government will act
quickly and show a new, as-of-yet
undemonstrated willingness to
compromise. Still, it seems to me
that students should expect a long,
drawn-out battle with a messy
conclusion. And just wait until the
consequences of a governmental
win kick in...

there is left to recycle for the next
retro-fad is the early 90’s (think: Sub-
pop, lolla palooza memories, patron
saint Kurt...). The void beckons: it is
only a matter of time before our culture
will wistfully evoke today in search for
nostalgia. And then, soon, we will
collectively look to the future for
meaning and good clean fun.
(“Remember Tommorow? those were
the days!”), As a species we will shed
our pasts like old bellbottoms, and leap
into tommorow bare ass backwards.
Pop culture will explode upon itself!
Personally, I can’t wait.

Until the Sex pistols reunite for
their 20th-anniversary-of their- break
up tour,

T remain,
CULTURE CURMUDGEON

 

 

Letters to the editor continue on page six.