The Other Press Oclober 14, 1986. Page 5. » It’s OK, Bob -To the Editor | I would like to address the issue of NDP leader Bob Sk- elly’s | media nervousness and the doubt it has cast on his competency to govern the province. Mr. Skelly is a human being and as such is subject to the same emotions as the rest of us. Emotions such as nervousness (as well as con- fidence) are generally brought about -by percep- tions and ideas. If you think every dog is going to bite, you will be scared of dogs. Running a provincial gov- erment is not an easy task Sexual Politics . .Why are we here? Good question. I would really like someone to answer this question for me. My parents tell me I’m in school so I can get a good job, meet nice men, and become socially adept. My teachers tell me I’m here to learn and my friends tell me I’m here to meet nice men and become socially acceptable. Not so difficult, right? Personally, I don’t think a ollege education is going to get me a good job. It will probably just make me aware of what a good job could be and how unlikely it is I will ever get one. What my parents don’t seem to tealize is that if I were to find a nice’ man, I probably wouldn’t be able to distin- guish him from the gluti- mous masses of hormones mning rampant around the campus, supposedly in the pursuit of “higher learn- ing”. As to being socially adept, I have serious doubts as to my ability to function as a part of college society let alone being adept at han- dling the hypocrisy around me. I do have to agree with my teachers that I am here to learn. The question is with the made on media awful burden making —-for which your damned if you do _ and damned if you don’t. Bob Skelly’s nervousness in the face of the media and at the prospect of a daunting task if he wins, is perfectly normal. I know it would scare me. I would suggest that anyone who approaches the task of governing the province with glib confid- ence and casual style (such as Vander Zalm), doesn’t realize the immensity of the task or is just an idiot. Either one is dangerous. Bob Blank demands the close and the of decision- huge time, scrutiny, whether or not the college ‘institution’ wants me_ to learn. The longer I am a student, the more I feel as though I am the employee of some huge corporation designed to drain all my money and emotion. and leave me an empty shell of non-humanity in a_ hostile world. I have no desire to be accepted by a society I dis- like, in fact I would rather destroy the society of Douglas College and replace it with a society of politically and sexually aware _intel- lectual warriors with severe attitude problems. So why don’t I leave? I don’t have anywhere to go and I enjoy meeting nice men. Besides, what else can a young, idealistic, sexually obsessed female do with her formative years. Susan Smith “eS Do it October 22nd First Year Fool To begin at the beginning, which has been a_ historical point of commencement for many years, I am a~freshman student at Douglas. “So what,” you might ask, “so are lots of other people.” Ex- actly, and to further this, everybody at the college was once a new kid on the con- course. Which brings me to the topic of today: Douglas College through the Eyes of a First Year Fool. Registration: What a nasty word it is. The entire experi- ence was about as relaxing as the FLQ crisis. Who cares if you don’t need Basket Weaving 120, it’s an anthro- pology credit, isn’t it? “Will you be paying by cash, cheque or credit card?” Gee, I was hoping kind of hoping that they would ex- cept old 6/49 tickets (I’ve got hundreds of them.) But tui- tion isn’t the only expense facing us, there’s bus fare, rent, food, Student Society fees, extra administrative costs, locker rental (it doesn’t even have a sound- system or breakfast nook) and of course text books! Gone are the days when your teacher arrived with an armload of texts for the en- tire class - no charge. You didn’t even have to sign a leasing agreement. It seems like a dream now, doesn’t it? Now I pay $30.00 for a book for the privilage of defacing it. Writing in texts used to be exhilirating way of denying authority, now the thrill is gone (and so are the little black moustaches I always- drew on the photos.) So now your instructor arives in class not with an armload of books but with a handout listing the 12 texts you will need for his course and 17 essays due in next class. I say all this assuming you have made it to your class. There’s plenty that can go wrong before you get there. For instance, I’ve noticed that during the first few days, freshmen experienced a loss of motor- coordination. I say _ this because many students had to take the elevator instead of braving on flight of stairs. There also seems to a lack in ability to translating the words ‘push’ and ‘pull’ in to motion. Some people just walk right in to the doors, others wait for someone to come along and open it. I was quick:to learn that there is no bell system at Douglas. Wow! I was actually responsible for tel- ling time myself. It’s lucky that I have a digital watch. I set the alarm just so I would feel at home. Speaking of feeling at home, people can walk into class with fries and coffee if they so choose. However, ordering pizza in is frowned upon (unless you get 2 and split it with your instuctor). What’s this? Did you say, “Call me Bob?” Are you certain you wouldn’t prefer ‘professor’, ‘sir’ or ‘your holy worship’? What a change. The only problem is that my parents can’t figure out why I am always writing essays for this ‘Bob’ friend of mine. Can’t he do his own work? At the college there are plenty of opportunities © to make new friends, and cultivate new enemies too. A fun way to get the library staff to notice. you is to walk through the detection system with tin foil and kitchen magnets -in your pockets. Although I have only been at Douglas for four weeks, I have managed to_ identify some of the more popular ‘lines’ being bandied about the concourse. Some of my favorites are: “What do you want be when you’ grow up?”, “Let’s go to my place and STUDY” and “Hey, did you see that bird smack into those windows?” By way of a conclusion, I would just like to say that high school and college do at least have one thing in common: every one _ still bitches about the cafeteria food. But so long as I stay away from the dogfish and minute rice special, I think that I will enjoy my stay at Douglas College. Hobbs The Other Press The Other Press is a democratically run, autono- mous student newspaper, serving Douglas College | since 1976. It publishes 8 times a semester, every two weeks, under the auspices of The Other Publications Society. Our funding comes by way of a direct student levy paid at registration, and through local advertis- _ ing. The Other Press is a member of the Canadian University Press, and subscribes to it’s statement of principles. ‘OPS Board of Directors Chairperson: vacant Entertainment Co-ordinator: Richard Haines Member at Large: vacant Features Co-ordinator: vacant Member at Large: vacant Classifieds Co-ordinator: vacant Staff Rep: vacant Sports Co-ordinator: vacant Staff Rep: vacant Recruitment Co-ordinator: Karen Dhillon Business Manager: Kathy Hunter Graphics Co-ordinator: Chris Brown Photographic Co-ordinators: Jim Kilcher Other Press Staff Production Co-ordinator: John Typesetter Co-ordinator: Production Assistants: Copy Editor: John News Co-ordinator: Jeff House Editorial Co-ordinator: McDonald none McDonald Dino Forlin Contributors Jennifer Whiteside Colin Turkington Rachael Smith .