“Over-funded” colleges struck by provincial funding cuts By Nikalas Kryzanowski, News Editor aig administration of Douglas College has announced a flurry of budget restructurings for the 2008-2009 fiscal year. The dramatic shakeup comes in the aftermath of the BC government’s recent across-the-board 2.6% funding cut to universities and colleges—a cut that translates to $2.3 million reduction in Douglas’ budget. According to Douglas College president Susan Witter, the Ministry of .Advanced Education introduced the cuts because the expansion of seats over last few years had lead to under utilization in the system, meaning the post secondary system is now over-funded for the number of students enrolled. Hardest hit will be courses with historically low enrollment, including Humanities and Social Sciences, which stand to shrink by 23 sections. Language, Literature and Performing Arts will lose 19 sections and Computer Information Systems will be reduced by 15. : “What disturbs me is that we have gone on with our three-year planning to develop 30 new programs. It takes four years to roll one out, and the ministry supported us,” Witter said in an interview with the New Westminster Record. “It feels like we had the rug pulled from under us. We wouldn’t have developed these new courses if the ministry had not encouraged us to do so.” The college will also undergo some direct cash based reductions including one that will hit some students particularly hard.’ $100,000 is to be removed from student aid for next year. Along with addressing the student shortfall, the Liberal government has also suggested that they are making the cuts to address a shift in funding priorities. bAdvanced Education Minister Murray Coell said that the money coming out of operating grants should be redirected at more high-priority areas, such as Aboriginal education and health care, as well as skilled labour training. As a result, the college will be creating a series of new or expanded initiatives to reflect the shift. They include ten new sections for English as a Second Language for international student growth, and 8.5 new sections geared towards the Aboriginal stream of Child and Youth Care. Meetings will be held throughout May to discuss the budget and a special College Board meeting will be held on May 29 to approve the restructured budget. May 5, 2008 Province promotes six BC colleges to “university By Matthew Steinbach, Associate News Editor Tie Government of British Columbia created five new universities last week, upgrading several of the province’s colleges to full university rank. The new universities are Kwantlen Polytechnic University (formerly Kwantlen University College), Vancouver Island University (formerly Malaspina University College), University of the Fraser Valley (formerly University College of the Fraser Valley), Emily Carr University for Art and Design (formerly Emily Carr Institute for Art and Design), and Capilano University (formerly Capilano College). These new universities will hold the status of “regional university,” which stems out of the old system of university- colleges. University-colleges were originally created in the 1990s, to get around the fact that ordinary colleges could not grant degrees. This changed after the BC Liberals took power in 2001, however. The idea of creating several “regional universities” was part of a government report released a year ago titled Campus 2020, which recommended the elimination of university- colleges and the creation of regional universities. The report also recommended that colleges should stop granting degrees. The intent was to make education mandates clearer in regards to who is responsible for what within education. Despite the complex arguments, the recent changes seem to be more about name than anything else. Currently none of the new universities are set to receive increase in funding and their ” status mandates are poised to remain the same. At last week’s open house of the David Lam campus expansion, Murray Coell, the Minister of Advanced Education in BC, addressed questions about what impact the recent reforms would have on Douglas. Coell stated that despite the upgrade of several surrounding colleges, Douglas would not be hurt because “there!is still a strong college system left,” adding that “there will be more money for projects like [the David Lam Campus expansion].” When asked whether or not Douglas will still grant degrees, Coell responded “Absolutely”. Diane Thorpe, the NDP MLA for Coquitlam- Maillardville was quick to question the changes, however. She expressed surprise over the “unexpected” nature of the college upgrades and concern over how quickly it happened. She also added that if the province proceeded to give “more funding in the future [for these new institutions]” it may hurt the students and reputations of the province’s less popular, under-funded colleges. “If you are a student would you rather go to a college or a university?” she asked rhetorically. Kyle Baillie, Manager for the Office of New Students — the college department responsible for recruitment and retention — stated that the recent college upgrades were a “concern”, but added that he does “not believe this will affect Douglas in the long run,” arguing that “many of these institutions are outside of our recruiting area.” News Shorts By Nikalas Kryzanowski Douglas instructor releases bold study on early humans An archaeology instructor at Douglas College has published several bold new studies suggesting that humans may have arrived on the Pacific Coast more than 1,000 years earlier than previously thought. Michael Wilson, along with US archeologists Steve Kenady and Randall Schalk have been studying bison bones found on Vancouver Island, and judging from _ the remains their research indicates that the bison may have been butchered by humans some 14,000 years ago. One of the bones, discovered more than a century ago, is currently in possession at the Royal BC Museum. Canada’s Beijing Olympic outfits unveiled Team Canada strutted its stuff at a fashion show last week in Toronto to show off Canadian duds for the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing. The outfits were designed by The Bay, the same company that designed Canada’s uniforms for 2006 Turin games and will do the same for 2010 winter games in Vancouver. The 2008 outfits fuse Canadian and Chinese symbols and are made from super lightweight material that will keep athletes cool for what are expected to be very hot temperatures during the games. The clothes are made from bamboo and organic cotton fabrics. 79,000 Ontario students play the “Choking Game” Some 79,000 students in Ontario have played “the choking game” at one time or another according to a 2007 student drug use and health survey. The “game” is a high risk, dangerous activity where one youth intentionally chokes another youth to the point of passing out, briefly inducing a feeling of euphoria triggered by a blood rush. While the game is not new Dr. David Wolfe, director of the Centre for Prevention Science, suggests that parents should be aware of the activities that their children engage in. Some 82 kids in the United States have died in the last decade as a result of the game while 74 Canadian children have been sent to hospital.