OPinion

 

  
  
   
 
   
  
 
 
  
  
    
 
 
  
   
 
  

h, the ironies keep piling up!
Remember last issue I
mentioned that the Canadian

ederation of Students (CFS) refused to
cept the fact that the DCSS withdrew
rom CFS in 1991, calling the
ithdrawal “illegal” because the student
ociety failed to meet quorum. Well, if
ou were paying attention last issue, as
was, you would notice that way back
in 1982, when the DCSS voted to join
e CFS, quorum was not met, either.
If you actually read the article in
uestion (clipped from the Other Press
hives, circa March, 1982), you would
ote that the issue was passed on a
echnicality. The same technicality, it
pears, that the vote to withdraw from
the CFS was passed on. If the CFS does
pursue the issue, ie, suing the DCSS for
ack dues (unlikely, but I like delving
into these theoretical musings every now
d again), the DCSS should countersue
for collecting fees illegally. Wouldn’t
at be a hoot?
In case you missed it, the pullout
last issue was a _ retrospective,
containing clippings from the last 20
ears of publishing at the OP. Some
people I’ve bumped into (including a
Eacpie DCSS members) seemed
confused on that point. That’s why there
Es stories about Bill Day and joining
the CFS. Just thought you should know.
The search is over...for now. After
three months without any butt in the big
chair, Douglas College now has an
interim President. His name: Dr. Lloyd
Morin. His credentials: President,
Camosun College, 1979-1989. Special
Projects Officer for the Ministry of
Advanced Education and Training,
1989-1993. Since then, he has been
Acting Director and Provincial

 

More rumours from
he Milhouse

indquist P. Milhouse rides again

Coordinator for Prior Learning
Assesment, Council on Admission and
Transfer.

My sources place him in Cambodia
in the 70s, running spook missions for
the CIA before he infiltrated the BC
Educational System, but my sources
have been known to ingest one too many
psilocybinic agents before making their
reports.

Which brings us to another point. This
is, as stated, a gossip column. Everything
in here is purely speculative. I mention
this because some of you have been
asking me if it’s true that Susan Hunter-
Harvey was kidnapped by the US
government. Truth is an extremely fluid
concept, my dears, and I’m not about to
put my neck on the line, especially since,
as was just reported, the new President
may or may not be a CIA spook.

This message found its way to me the
other day, from Chantelle Desharnais. It
says, and I quote, “Unorganized,
unworthy cause. Illegitimate
organization. ‘I won’tbe part of.’” This,
I assume, is in response to why she
resigned from the student society.
Remember, these are her words, not
mine.

Speaking of resignations, there goes
another one...or two. Tammy Shapcott
resigned from the Student Society,
leaving the position of Vice-President
Internal. Dave “will he never leave this
place?” Seaweed finds his way back into
the student society exec as her temporary
replacement. Dave, as you probably
don’t know, was narowly defeated by
Jaimie McEvoy for the position of VP-
External in last year’s election, so I’m
sure he’s happy to get back in the saddle.
Also missing; Jessica Stanley, UT Rep.

 

by David Tatarin

here is nothing that

raise smy ire more than

people asking me what I
am. I reply immediately that Iam a
Canadian, but I know that what
they are looking for is which
cultural adjective I put in front of
the hyphen, that is,;whether I’m
French-Canadian, Ukrainian-
Canadian or one of the many other
cultural identities.

We Canadians have become a
hyphenated society and I am at odds with
that. I consider myself a Canadian first
and foremost and this is nothing to be
ashamed of. In fact, we should start to
foster pride in our Canadian identity
instead of offering excuses for who we
are.

About 18 years ago I adamantly called
myself a Ukrainian-Canadian. Then, I
decided to visit the Ukraine, the land of
my heritage. I viewed this trip more as a
pilgrimage than a holiday. When I
stepped off the plane in Kiev, my heart
flooded with emotion, for here, finally,
was the land of my forefathers.

A week into the trip, some people I
had befriended brought me a dose of
reality. When they asked my nationality,
I, full of patriotic fervour, announced
that I was a Ukrainian-Canadian. A long
silence ensued. One of the fellows

seemed to be deliberating on my
statement. Finally, he told me that in
their eyes I was a Westerner, a foreigner,
certainly not a Ukrainian.

I was crushed. Nothing I could say
seemed to change their mind. When I
arrived back home, I began a long
process of reconsidering my national
identity.

Not long ago my mother informed
me that her church

’ fiction

lene

alolseiiteasleye

)

In celebration

of twenty years

of freedom of the student
press on,campus, The Other
ublications Society (publishers

of the Other Press) announces the

return of

the student controlled writing

anthology, The Otherthan. Tell your
friends. Tell your neighbours. Bring

Tike eat ce

No more hyphens, please

  
  
 
   
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
  

organization had
received a
delegation from
the Ukraine. An

event — she
related

brought home quite succinctly the
differences between the Ukrainian-
Canadians and the European Ukrainians.
When the delegation was entertained by
a local dance troupe, several delegates
commented on how the traditional
Ukrainian dance is dying as an art form
in the Ukraine; they were surprised to
see it flourishing here in Canada.
I find this point significant.
Ukrainian culture in
Canada has
remained static
from the first

your work to room 1020 and
share it with the world.

For more information come to «:
oom 1020, call 525-3542, fax |
527-5095 attention the Other

ess, or email corrmc@vcn.be.ca }

 

wave of immigration; it has not evolved
in a similar fashion to the European
Ukrainian culture. Our current
Ukrainian-Canadian culture represents a
colloquial way of life more typical of my
grandparents. The European Ukrainians
live and breathe their culture daily while,
we Canadians of Ukrainian descent
attempt to live within two cultures.
Hence, our hyphenated identity.

We Canadians try so hard to fight
assimilation. It’s as if we are scared of
becoming Canadian. Politicians who
espouse the multicultural viewpoint say
that there is no Canadian identity. They
are wrong and I think it is ill-conceived
government policy to perpetuate
multiculturalism, to perpetuate the notion
of hyphenated Canadians. They
do our country a great
disservice.

I am proud
of my
+ Ukrainian
heritage, but I

am even prouder to
be a Canadian. If we
weren’t so
headstrong in being
hyphenated

Canadians, maybe we

would be more
accommodating of one
another.

 

 

The Oth

er Press September 171996 3