NEws. Know the scoop or have a lead? Contact the editor at news @theotherpress.ca Discover the Royal City's hidden gems Douglas College hosts sneak peek of New Westminster Cultural Mapping Project Patrick So Vaillancourt Mews Editor id you know that New Westminster was once the capital city of British Columbia? Were you aware that the Royal City’s downtown was completely destroyed in what has been known as the Great Fire of 1898? The truth is that when people think about arts, culture, and history, New Westminster tends to get overlooked as people are attracted to the sights, sounds, and smells of British Columbia’s Olympic cities. New Westminster’s cultural, literary, and visual arts communities are now coming up with a unique approach to make people aware of the city’s cultural gems, demonstrating that while Vancouver may be the Lower Mainland’s economic hub, New Westminster is a major player in terms of arts and culture. The New Westminster Cultural Mapping Project, which held a sneak peek event at Douglas College on September 26, is an initiative taken on by the City of New Westminster, the Arts Council of New Westminster, and Douglas College. It seeks to provide Internet-users with an interactive map of the Royal City’s cultural, artistic, and historical assets. The cultural map is all-encompassing, drawing on venues and artists with well-established web presence as well as items fed from social media websites. The map will also include creative professionals in fields such as architecture, graphic design, and furniture makers, as well as performing artists, among others. Glenn Gordon, the project’s coordinator, said that the New Westminster cultural map will be a first in British Columbia and one of only a handful in Canada. Gordon produced a similar map for the City of Regina. Gordon added that the goal is to capture “all the creative resources and cultural assets in the Royal City.” The project, largely funded by the provincial government through a BC Creative Communities Grant, is a great example of an initiative which brings together a community agency and the municipality, as well as Douglas College. The City of New Westminster has provided technical expertise to the project and will host the map on its web server, while students at Douglas College will provide much of the marketing and data entry necessary to keep the map updated. Rick Carswell, the New Westminster Arts Council president, said that the project was not as simple as partners and funding sources initially thought it would be. “New Westminster is full of artists, performers, authors, artisans, painters, dancers—you name it,” said Carswell. Carswell also remarked that the cultural diversity of the city’s population adds to the city’s vibrancy. New Westminster is home to a number of Chinese, Filipino, Korean, and other South Asian creative minds. New Westminster counts amongst its residents a Stanley Cup-winning goaltender, an Olympic medallist, several musicians, writers, actors, magicians, and even an astronaut. The cultural map will bring to light those whose creativity has yet to be discovered. The official opening of the cultural map is scheduled for April 2014. New Westrinster’s famous worlds largest Tin Soldier Photo courtesy of Beth Cougler Blam Study projects tuition to increase faster than inflation over next four years tami Jone r= Lyivynenko vow OTTAWA (CUP) — A new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) projects a 13 per cent increase in tuition over the next four years. Coming on the heels of Statistics Canada releasing the 2013-14 tuition prices, the report shows tuition fees across the country rising faster than the rate of inflation. “Canadian full-time students in undergraduate programs paid 3.3 per cent more on average in tuition fees for the 2013/2014 academic year this fall than they did a year earlier,” reads the StatsCan report. “This follows a 4.2 per 4 nt increase in 2012/2013.” Nigel Wordich, a university ident and contributor to e CCPA report, said the provinces are investing less into post-secondary education, passing the cost onto students. According to Wordich, the fiscal strain of recent years is one of the reasons for decreased funding. The CCPA says most relief for university costs come in form of grants and rebates rather than direct funding— something Wordich says is problematic. This form of aid doesn’t support all students and bars those coming from low-income backgrounds from entering college or university. Dan Harris, the NDP post- secondary education critic, says this increase is a continuation of a long-term, 20-year trend. Harris says the steady hike in costs puts the “affordability of education out of reach.” “Direct funding to education has a multiplying effect,” he added. “It’s going to lead to greater economic success and better revenues for the government. The money is going to come back.” Direct funding is one of the primary recommendations of the CCPA report. They cite the example of Germany, where participation and student retention are high as a result of publicly funded education. Wordich said while Canadian tuition rates are lower than in the United States, we need to look elsewhere for post- secondary education models. “Oftentimes we compare Canada to the US, but if we look at European, North American, and Asian countries in general, Canadian provinces have some of the highest tuition rates,” he said. “Public education and tertiary education has a collective benefit for all of society and for that reason it should be collectively funded.” Harris said with the current average $20,000 debt upon graduation and youth at double the unemployment rate of the rest of the country, students who finish school can’t get on with their life and contribute to the economy. With the $15-billion borrowing ceiling removed by the Conservative government, the graduation debt is only increasing. “It’s a really frightening prospect for young people today,” said Harris. “When we're told time and time again that this is the first generation that’s going to get less than what their parents had, that’s when we have to strive to do more and be better, we have to demand more.” Wordich, who is a third- year student at the University of Ottawa, said “the discussion on tuition rates is hitting critical masses.” He points to Quebec, where the student protests last spring made national news in demanding lower tuition fees. Harris said students need to get active and engaged, adding they should make their voices heard in the 2015 election. “We need to make sure students that come from all backgrounds have an equal opportunity,” added Wordich.