Opinions May 5, 2008 Aimee Ouellette opinions @theotherpress.ca A grad’s lament Laura Kelsey _ assistant editor Wien I first walked into the New West Campus while taking part-time classes three years ago, I have to admit I found the vast concrete concourse intimidating; it wasn’t as welcoming as its newer-built Coquitlam counterpart, with its couch-seating Atrium and lower ceilings. But that didn’t keep me away — I ended up becoming a full-time student at New West. But with this semester’s end comes the conclusion of my Douglas College stay, and now, without the comfort of employment ready after grad, I wonder if I could have done more. Perhaps I didn’t study enough, didn’t focus enough during class. Maybe I should have been listening harder that day I was tired during a lecture and I let my fatigue guide me to a www. perezhilton.com digression. Supposedly these feelings are normal, and my apprehension and guilt are justified. More experienced learners try to coax the worry from me with . lines like, “Everyone feels that way,” or “You’ll have a job in no time,” but I wonder why I let Facebook distract me when I was paying so much money to be taught. I realize I am a child and subsequent casualty of technology: impatient with a short attention span and more receptive to watching and listening rather than studying textbooks. Perhaps teaching plans have not evolved enough to suit the ever-changing needs of students. Or maybe that’s just an excuse for my own inattentiveness. But it’s tough to sit in front of a computer and not give in to the YouTube God; worship involves taking a break from rational thought and viewing quick clips of random hilarity—it gets addictive. Faithful followers of YouTube and its apostles, Perez and Facebook, number in the millions, and students are the main chunk of those devoted to the daily website pilgrimage. It’s nice to take a break from a busy brain but it also contributes to a growing ProcrastiNation, a world where people are too distracted to get anything done. I’m not saying I didn’t accomplish anything while at Douglas; on the contrary, I learned a lot from instructors and fellow students, and did well in my classes. But I can’t shake the guilt eroding at my graduation pride: could I have done better if I hadn’t given in to cyber-distraction? It took me a long time to ignore the television deity but I eventually lost my faith as I realized its sedentary and redundant worship caused me to pay penance in the form of a fatter butt. Yet even the threat of a bigger behind doesn’t calm the siren-like call of the Internet. So now, as I receive my diploma and scout for work... ... Sorry, but the “Two-legged horse” on YouTube is so damn funny. What was I writing about? New Universities in BC: more opportunities for students, or a blatant cash-grab? By Sean Hibbitts Ax I the only one who thinks that the recent decision to give university status to more schools in B.C is a foolish mistake? Coming soon to a theatre near you will be the University of the Fraser Valley, Capilano University, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Emily Carr University, and finally, Vancouver Island University. Why would the government do this at the same time as it has slashed the budgets of all the universities and colleges (including the newly elevated)? Like everyone else I can only speculate. My first suspicion is that government is trying to download costs somewhere. How would this work? Well, if the government makes confused university colleges into universities, they will be better able to attract international students. Whether this is actually true or not remains to be seen, but I believe it is one of the motives. However, it is my opinion that the new “use any prefix” universities will be after the very lucrative money that comes from international students looking for a Canadian education. If international students put lots of money into universities, then the government won’t have to; that seems to be the logic. But what happens to quality in this equation? What happens to the reputation of all existing BC universities if what we have is a government- established system of “degrees for sale” to unsuspecting international students? I am tired of the exploitation of international the traditional universities? My third suspicion is that this is just poorly-thought-out, local pre-election political haymaking. Why do I think this is poorly thought out? Well for one thing I think it will harm the BC college system. For another, it will foster competition, and not cooperation, in the most highly students, and of the articulated post government _using secondary system in them as a cash cow “6 ony . the country. to fund various things My =e vo si : As a former that the government that the motive fe or this Douglas College refuses to fund. ° student and My second move is to som ehow former student suspicion is that punish the traditional «epresentative the motive for this on the college move is to somehow punish the traditional universities — universities that engage in teaching, research and service. What if the government could appease the public by creating universities that only teach, and can do it more cheaply than universities who actually do what universities are supposed to do? Wouldn’t the government then have an excellent excuse, probably even with public support, to interfere in the autonomy of universities.” education council, I want to stress the importance of the college system; that is, colleges which carry out their appropriate mandate and are not university wannabes. I spent my first two years of post-secondary at Douglas, and I still feel very strongly about the time I spent there, but I fear the colleges in the GVRD are now going to have to struggle with the problem of competing for students. Douglas College, Vancouver Community College and Langara College have many wonderful and unique programs, but they do not have the word “university” in their names and therefore they will face discrimination. This is a slap in the face to the College mandate. So let’s recap and see who wins and who loses. Vancouver Community College, Douglas College, and Langara College will see a massive decrease in enrollment because of students who want to get into the shiny new universities. This means that many important job skill programs will face major budget - cuts and possibly even program closures. International students will face new pressures trying to decide what is actually a university and what isn’t. Regular students of all BC universities will have their education devalued as the degree factories just created go into operation. I believe that there are no winners here, except perhaps a government in Victoria that thinks we are not smart enough to figure all this out. I think we should be protesting this highly egregious act, because the goal of education should never be quantity over quality. 7