Douglas students help open daycare in Uganda By Nikalas Kryzanowski, News Editor 2 ee College has helped set up a new day care at the Masaka Regional Hospital in Uganda. The facility is designed to take in children whose mothers are admitted for treatment. Masaka Hospital authorities were quick to thank Phillips and the college for their efforts. “All too often, we have healthy children who come to the hospital in the company of their sick mothers so we have always wanted to create a child friendly environment. This is now possible with the provision of the child day care facility such as this,’ said Hospital Administrator Winnie Serwanja, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph. The daycare will initially operate out of a tent on hospital grounds but staff are working to raise money to build proper buildings in which the children will learn about things such as basic sanitation and hygiene. At present, there are 32 children enrolled at the daycare and the hospital said that in the future they may additionally open their doors to children of staffers, children in the pediatric ward and those from the general community. The college will be responsible for providing basic furniture and supplies to the daycare and will also pay the salary of the daycare’s head teacher. The hospital itself has refurbished the playground equipment. The project was headed by Lynda Phillips, the ECE coordinator at the Douglas. She is still currently in Uganda and very difficult to reach as access to the internet and even electricity is limited. Douglas College has a partnership with the Ugandan hospital and has been sending students there to work for ten week periods since 2005. Students take their skills learned at Douglas College and apply them to real world health situations. June 2, 2008 DSU building burglarized By Matthew Steinbach, Associate News Die Douglas Students’ Union’s building has experienced their third break-in in three years. This most recent incident occurred after two curious previous events where people gained entry into the building after office hours without any signs of force. The most recent incident occurred during office hours, and involved the Upper Lounge. Someone pried open the Coca-Cola machines and stole money from the cash boxes inside of them. As part of their contract with Coca-Cola, part of the revenue generated from all pop sales is used in general operating funds to fund the Student Union’s events and services. DSU _ Staffer, Lyndon Surjik witnessed this event as it progressed and even pursued the burglar as he took flight. Eventually the robber did break away from Surjik, taking the money with him. The New Westminster police department is currently investigating the incident and even took some of the equipment that the suspect left behind. Lyndon Surjik emphasized at the May 28 Representative Committee meeting of the DSU that it did not seem likely that the person would ever be caught because police were not able to obtain anything conclusive to ID the suspect, including fingerprints. The students’ union building does not contain any video cameras, unlike the rest of Douglas College, so the police have to rely on much earlier methods to pursue suspects. If the person were to be captured at some point, Surjik did express his belief that he would be able to identify the culprit. Such hopes seem slim, however. The building’s previous break-ins have all gone unsettled. Changes to college’s academic freedom policy proposed By Matthew Steinbach, Associate News ok Douglas College Education Council (EDCO), the on- campus committee whose mandate is to set up the school’s educational policies, is presently debating a new policy that delves into academic freedoms. The category of “academic freedom” generally outlines what can and cannot be taught in the classroom, including controversial matters. Currently Douglas’ definition of the concept is rather murky, which the EDCO is aiming to correct. Proposed policy changes will make Douglas’ standards similar to those used in many other colleges. Jan Lindsay, the Vice President of Education at Douglas College, discussed the matter at an EDCO meeting on May 12. She stated the new policy will “allow instructors to include certain things [in their curricula] without fear of reprisal.” While this may alter how the faculty teaches at Douglas, it will be a while before the reformed policy even passes through Education Council. Their board agreed to delay a resolution on the new academic freedoms policy until October because of the magnitude of the matter. The postponement was justified with the intent of fostering as much debate as possible over the proposed changes within the college community before the council takes its final action. To participate in this discussion, students may enquire about it with their current student representatives on EDCO, Wendy Case (New Westminster Campus) and Sebastian Bubrick (David Lam Campus). Have you seen a thief?