Access gaps to education persist Poor Canadians continue to be underrepresented in post-secondary institutions: study By Carly Yuck, The Concordian (Concordia University) MONTREAL (CUP)}—Poor Canadians continue to be _ underrepresented in post-secondary institutions, while their wealthier counterparts are twice as likely to attend university, according to the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. “The Price of Knowledge”, a report published at the end of November by the foundation, said this represents one piece of evidence that Canada has made little progress in broadening accessibility to post-secondary education. The Millennium Foundation was created by a 1998 act of Parliament, though it operates as a private organization. Its mandate is to provide scholarships and bursaries to Canadian students studying at a post-secondary level, though the funding is scheduled to end this year. This year’s report had seven sections, each focusing on social backgrounds of Canada’s students, how they pay for education and the barriers they face when pursuing higher education. American data reported in the document suggests that it is easier for a young person with poor grades who comes from a privileged family to access post-secondary education than it is for a gifted student who comes from a low-income family. Once students from either background are enrolled at an institution, the report noted, academic performance determines the level of success—not social background. Despite falling into underrepresented category of youth in post-secondary education, Mallory Belgica has found ways to pursue fashion marketing at LaSalle College in Montreal. She said she relies on the government to help pay $1,725 in tuition fees each semester. Her parents can’t contribute, she said, because one is unemployed and the other is semi-retired. Belgica is, according to the report, among the 31 per cent of Canadian post-secondary students relying on the government for education subsidies this year. With a part- time job at a pharmacy, she is also among the near-half of all students who said they look to part-time school year employment as a way to afford their education. The fashion marketing student said she receives $2,617 from the government each semester. “It helps me pay for my tuition, books and other things that I can’t afford with my part-time job,” she said. “Without this loan I would have to work a full time job and my school work would suffer, as would my chance of graduating.” Higher education can be an important factor for finding future employment. Canadians without a high school diploma are 2.5 times less likely to be employed than are those with a bachelor’s degree, the Millennium foundation said — this rises to 3.5 times less likely for aboriginal students. Going to college will net someone an average of $394,000 more than a high school-only graduate over a 40 year period, according to the report, and someone holding a bachelor’s degree will earn $745,800 more in that time. This comparison is based on full-time employees in Canada. As noted by Statistics Canada, people who didn’t pursue higher education after high school are more likely to be unemployed or work part-time. The value of post-secondary education has held true, even through the recession. Though overall employment in Canada declined over the past year, the decline was sharpest among employees with lower levels of education. Copenhagen 101 Preparing for the post-Kyoto Protocol worid Devon Willis and Andrew Cuddy By Ami Kingdon and Cameron Fenton, The Link (Concordia University) MONTREAL (CUP)—This month, delegates from around the world will meet in Copenhagen to write a new climate change agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol. The meeting is expected to set the agenda on climate change for the next decade—even though world leaders have lowered expectations by promising only guidelines in lieu of substantial cuts to carbon emissions. Devon Willis and Andrew Cuddy, who will represent the Canadian Youth Delegation in Copenhagen, spoke at McGill University last week to discuss their goals and concerns. “We want agreement on the essentials,” said Cuddy, speaking about the reduction of carbon emissions, the sharing of green technology and financial costs. The Canadian Youth Delegation is an initiative of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, a non-profit national environmental activist group. The Kyoto Protocol introduced an approach to climate change that saw countries set goals for greenhouse gas reductions based on the levels they emitted in 1990. Canada’s Kyoto goal was to reduce emissions by six per cent from 1990 levels. “Now instead of using 1990 as a base year, Canada uses 2006,” said Willis, referring to the plan from the Conservative government to reduce emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 and 60 per cent by 4 2050. “Emissions rose significantly since 1990, so it’s not a really fair comparison to Kyoto. The worst possible outcome at Copenhagen would be a law that is not sufficient, because then we’d be locked into it until 2020,” he continued. Explaining how developing nations could benefit from cap-and-trade technology transfer programs—where developed nations share their “green” technology—the duo said that programs in the Kyoto Protocol have been " hindered internationally by information property rights and patents. Willis added that under the current cap-and- trade system, developed countries provide financial or technological aid to developing countries only in the form of carbon credits, such as tree planting. “Canada could claim reductions in another country and that country could do the same and it would skew the reductions,” she said. Quebec Premier Jean Charest announced last week that he would commit Quebec to reducing emissions by 20 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020, as opposed to the baseline of 2006 that the federal government is aiming for. The Bloc Québécois also passed a non-binding motion in the House of Commons urging Canada to actively pursue emissions reductions. China is the world’s biggest and fastest-growing producer of greenhouse gases, and has set a reduction target of 40 to 45 per cent of 2005 levels of carbon dioxide gas per unit of gross domestic product by 2020. Under the Chinese plan, reductions would be based on economic efficiency, allowing emissions to increase, but at a slower rate. Under the Kyoto Protocol, developing nations like China were not expected to reduce emissions. The lack of participation from developing countries led the United States under former president George W. Bush to reject the protocol. The Americans said the treaty was meaningless without the co-operation of developing economies. _ 5 Africa, which has felt the effects of climate change strongly through deadly droughts and intensifying desertification, will send one unified delegation to the Danish capital led by Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi. The delegation has said that it would demand climate reparations from the developed world. Douglas College Wrap-Up By Kristina Mameli Got talent? Current and prospective Douglas students (including students in grades 11 and 12), are being challenged to show their talent in video form for their chance to win a full year’s tuition at Douglas. The Doug’s Got Talent YouTube video contest is aimed at showcasing the talent of Douglas College students in honour of the College’s upcoming 40" anniversary. The talent may be in or outside of the classroom and must be creative—but not creepy or illegal. To enter, create a two minute or less video of your talent and post it to YouTube by February 28" 2010. Fill out a contest form and hope for the best! The videos will be judged by the Doug’s Got Talent committee which consists of Douglas students, faculty and staff. They will select nine finalists whose videos will be posted to the College’s website in March 2010. There, the videos will be open to voting. The three videos with the highest number of votes by the end of March will each win grand prizes of $4,000 in tuition. Three runner-up prizes of $400 tuition vouchers will also be awarded. : See www.douglascollege.ca/talent. http://brian4205.wordpress.com/2007/10/ Douglas College Business Association wants you! The DCBA celebrates its first birthday during the Winter 2010 semester, but needs the input of students in order to plan the milestone 1" Birthday Bash. The event will be the largest party put on by Douglas College students for Douglas students. The DCBA is asking students to take at quick survey to help determine details such as where and when the event should take place, how much the tickets should cost, etc. Follow the link at http://www.dcba-online.ca/ to take the survey. Upcoming Winter Orientation The Office for New Students will soon play host to Winter Orientation at both Douglas campuses. The annually event provides new students with a fantastic opportunity to meet people before their classes start, to learn the layout of campus, to meet teachers, to learn about student services and all that the College has to offer. Orientation at David Lam is December 15" from 6 to 9:30pm and at the New Westminster campus December 17" from 6 to 9:30pm. Also make sure to look for The Other Press on location! For more information, visit http://www.douglas. bc.ca/new-students/office-new-students/orientation. html.