NOVEMBER 2ND 1983 Ray oe SN pe a ey eA pai ee Fee een Peet ae TN . Perea Seti ‘THE OTHER PRESS OTHER-NEWS _PAGE3 — Sharp Cutbacks Flatten Music Department How do cut-backs affect the Music Department at Doug- las College? I talked with Tatsuo Hoshina, Instructor by Robin Robertson of Music and Acting Con- venor who is in his thirteen- th year of teaching at Doug- las. College, to get some feedback. The original programme is still intact and a new prog- ramme was added to that three years ago. The main area where the Music De- partment suffers is in money cuts to repair instruments. Some years ago at the McBride campus, a sum of $8,000.00 was given to re- pair instruments. This sum was cut down to $3,500.00 right before the purchase of more instruments, resulting in constant re-tuning instru- ments. The amount is just over $3,500.00 today. Yet tuning costs are also up enormously. An average upright piano costs $65.00 to retune,and a grand piano costs $100. We have seven grands and 20 uprights to repairat Douglas two to three times a year. Band instruments also must be tuned once or twice a year. As well as repairing and tuning instruments, there is the purchase of sheet music. Sheet music must be bought “straight and not photocopied because of copy-right laws. The prices of sheet music have skyrocketed as well, and with four choirs at Douglas, a lot of sheet music is borrowed from choirs in other colleges. This all adds up to a lot of time and money spent in acquiring the music Private teachers are hired by the department and con- tracted hourly. They have not received a raise in three years. At the moment these teachers receive $20.00 an hour. They could be getting $23.00 at VCC, or $25.00 at UBC and Capilano. Because of this, there is.always the threat of them leaving to receive more money else- where. The cutbacks haven’t, how- ever, affected enrollment. This year’s large enrollment is probably due to the attrac- tion of a new campus, the excellent teaching reputa- tion, and the fees of music courses are less than half of UBC’s. How does the Music De- partment compensate for lack of money? Mr Hoshina replies, ‘‘We are trying to do our best and we hope for things to be better in the future.’’ In December, they have to hire four soloists, an organ, and an_ organist which will be paid for through sale of tickets. Orc- hestra members from around the area also come in voluntarily to work with the students. Students won't feel the pressure of cutbacks in the Music Department as much as the teachers who have to compensate. The teaching standards are high, and the department tries to put out as many stimulating events and concerts as they can. With the addition of non- credit courses in music, the place is always active and in use. How do students feel about cutbacks? ‘‘We things we lost we didn’t have to begin with.’’ Doug McCaulay; ‘‘In the Music Department I haven’t felt any effects from cutbacks Ronda Butcher; ‘‘Because we don’t get as much music it makes it hard because we can’t afford to buy it our- selves.’’ Mark Tarrell; and, “‘As long as cut-backs don’t interfere with my individual. studies and I keep getting my guitar lessons, then any cutbacks in music don’t bother me.’’ “‘Bronco.”’ gained | many things and the only: GOv'T QUESTION QF BALANCE” “DEC! The Douglas College Ad- ministrative Board voted not to protest the elimination of elected representation on by Dan Hilborn the board at October 20. Typically enough, the vot- ing was split completely along the lines of the Socred appointees opposed and the elcted representative in fav- or a meeting The current make-up of the board allows one more SIONS DECISIONS appointee than officials el- ected from the nearby public school boards. The elimination of the elected postions is included as part of Bill 20, The College and Institution Ad- ministration Amendment Act, part of Bill Bennett’s 28 part restraint program for , the province. Sandy Tompson, one of the appointees on the board, questioned whether the mo- tion recommended more el- ected officials than appoin- tees. Helen Casher, former bd board chairperson who made the motion, explained that she didn’t care how many elected positions were kept, as long as the govern- ment didn’t have total cont- rol over the make-up of the board. After about ten minutes of debate Casher and Gwen Chute voted in favor of the motion while Tompson (cur- rently a New West alder- man), Bill Hedlund (a recent mayorality candidate in New West), and Bill Murnane voted against the motion. D.C. Library Gets New Brailler The Douglas College Lib- rary and Student Society by Ernest Hawker have jointly purchased a Brailler (braille typewriter) for use by visually impaired students. Residents from from New Westminster who suffer from visual handicaps may also use the machine. The Brailler is second hand and was provided by the Canadian National In- stitute for the Blind at a cost of $300. This money was split evenly between the library and the student soci- ety. Students may find the Brailler on the main floor along with the Visual Tech machine. A NON-DOGMATIC APPROACH Every second Friday, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, a small body of students come to- gether in the Modern Lang- by Robin Robertson uages and Humanities area to discuss the seven major religions of the world; Hind- uism, Buddhism, Christian- ity, Islamism, Judaism, Confucianism, and Taoism, We call ourselves the Comparitive Religion Club and are sponsored by Charles Marxer, Professor of Philosophy. Film from the well documented _ series ‘‘The Long Search’’ are shown and Huston Smith’s fascinating book entitled, The Religions of Man is studied. This book may be obtained for only $4.50 in the Bookstore. The idea of bringing in specialists from the various religious fields to share knowledge with us on their doctrines has also been en- tertained. The Comparative Religion Club takes a nondogmatic approach to the cultures and philosophies of the religions of the world. The group’s main goal is to foster in- dependant study and to. provide an opportunity for students with similar inter- ests to come together in discussion. Our next meeting is Friday, November 28th. Please join us, all you need bring is your inquisitive mind!