rT page 4 THE OTHER PRESS November 9th, 1984 lose Charges problems ignored by Heinrich NDP Education critic Mark Rose today detailed B.C.’s education woes and charged Education Minister Jack Heinrich with ignoring them. NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY PRESS RELEASE ‘Jack Heinrich is a nice guy, but he’s not really listening much. Most of the public reaction to the new gradua- tion programme was negative; but he’s going ahead with it anyway. Instead of streaming in grade 10, we shall have the stream printed on the transcript when the student graduates. The public will rapidly become jaded if their input is not listened to by the minister,’’ Rose charged. ‘‘The minister claims that all stu- dents will follow programmes © of increased structure and direction while at the same time accommodating a range of interest.ana ability: He forgot to mention that because of government budget cuts, the offerings to suit. the range of student interest and ability will be much narrower and there will be more dropouts. Mr. Heinrich also forgot to explain | how the increased emphasis on science was to be delivered when many schools have substandard . science equipment and their districts have no money to upgrade it. The education ministry has yet to develop science safety standards despite repeated recommendations by independent ex- perts that this be done. “The minister’s approach is to pile band-aids on band-aids and to ignore other things happening in B.C. that affect the education system. For example, the last census showed that there are more smaller families and more single parent families. If you consider those factors with the chang- ing nature of work and the workplace, there are profound implications for education planning. “| took the minister’s new cur- riculum when | was in school forty years ago. | can still solve quadratic equations - but nobody’s asked me to so far! “‘There’s a basic contradiction in Mr. Heinrich’s approach. In high school the emphasis is on university and college preparation. However graduates from the Interior find that they cannot afford to take on a $22,000 student loan - and the local community college has been directed by the ministry to give university transfer programs low priority. “So the student from Vernon is much less likely to go to university than Vancouver or Burnaby graduates. “This ministry is certainly not planning for the future. Children starting school now will spend most of their lives in the 21st century. The minister has no idea what knowledge and skills children should be given now so that they can function effec- tively then, and is not trying to find out. “In a still broader context, this government is not even trying to balance the requirements of our economy for skilled personnel with course offerings so that students stand a chance of a job after graduation. “This minister’s approach has all” the excitement of institutional food. We believe that the educational menu needs to be adjusted to suit the student, but this government is taking us back to the programmes of the fifties and sixties, and freezing out the arts and physical education,’’ Rose concluded. Thighs Ripping down a promotional poster of a pair of women’s legs was a “‘knee-jerk reaction’’ by Concordia feminists, according to a director of MONTREAL [CUP] the school’s theatre department. The banner depicted a pair of women’s legs spread apart as a frame around information about the play. Director Don Kugler said the design} was just an image that would bring to mind the idea of a cabaret format. Kugler described the incident with] the banner as an example of ‘the facism of the left’’ and a ‘‘knee-jerk reaction.”’ One of the women who ripped down] the banner, Tamara Feder; asked, ‘What does a woman’s crotch have to do with a dream? Is that where the dream comes from, or is that what it is about?’’ Some of the women who ripped} down the banner had just emerged from a class called ‘’Gender and} Authority.’’ * A woman who works in the informa- tion desk in Concordia’s Hall Building, where the banner was displayed, and] who asked not to be identified, said: ‘These young ladies are the women of tomorrow. | am glad they did what | did not have time to do.’’ ; Meanwhile, the space which the banner used to occupy was not left vacant. It is filled with a string of posters advertising the Engineering 10th Anniversary ‘‘come blow a can- dle’’ beer. bash. Simon Fraser University’s admin- istration president says he fears the B.C. government will force the univer- sity to spend its operating grant in areas the Socred cabinet deems nec- essary. William Saywell, who recently spoke with B.C. premier Bill Bennett about SFU’s future, says he warned the government not to interfere with university planning. ‘| proposed that we be given a reasonable grant and must be left to manage our own affairs. My concern is that the provincial government will wish to direct how the funds be spent,’’ Saywell said. “‘l came away with no answers,’’ he said. ‘‘On the other hand | think | made some points.’’ Saywell’s comments come only two weeks after he announced that the administration will recommend cutting the budget of SFU’s Centre for the Arts by one third, and the elimination of Latin American, Middle East and African studies, | undergraduate German and Russian language pro- grams and Spanish graduate courses. Saywell has also recommended that interdisciplinary studies be eradicated and some of its programs transferred to other departments. And students are beginning to echo Saywell’s fears. Stephen Howard, SFU student coun- cil president, says the Social Credit government wants to emphasize “training over teaching’’ and restruc- ture the university°according to its ideological framework. “We agree that things have to change,’’ said Howard. ‘But let’s go forward, not backward. Let’s not just have a senior troika making decisions. Let’s involve the broader university community. ’’ Howard also criticized Saywell’s failure to confront the government about its education policies, Saying Saywell is playing poker with Bennett and using students as chips. - “What’s going on is they are playing a game of poker--making some concessions to government policy-- hoping the government will say ‘Con- gratulations, you're finally coming along. Here’s your operating budget with a zero per cent increase as opposed to a five per cent cut,” — Howard said. Howard said Saywell’s claim that SFU Prez fears Gov't Intervention students now prefer training over arts and fine arts programs is false. Howard said in a recent meeting with fine arts students, Saywell admitted he has no evidence to back his assump- tion up and offered little hope that the recommendations will be altered. Lara Lamb, a fourth year inter- disciplinary arts student, said the cuts mean entire faculties within the Centre for the Arts will likely be eliminated. “It’s like forcing them to cannibalize each other,’’ Lamb said. ‘‘It’s like sending them out in a lifeboat and saying, ‘Okay, see who survives.’ ”’ Lamb said the elimination of Latin American, Middle Eastern and African studies means the administration does not consider those courses. important. “It says those parts of the world aren’t important to us, or those studies aren’t valuable in the marketplace.’’ Lamb said fine and performing arts students and faculty are organizing a campaign to fight for more funding. At the same time the administration proposed the cuts, it recommended more money be pumped into a new faculty of applied sciences, to be made up of existing applied science pro- grams. Canada works program answer To Unemployment Flora MacDonald, Minister of Em-. ployment and Immigration, today an- nounced the immediate introduction of a $250-million round of constituency- based Canada Works programming to meet the continuing unemployment crisis as a result of the previous government’s inaction. This will provide jobs for 47,000 workers this winter at a cost of $88 million in 1984-85 and $162 million in 1985-86. This application deadline date has been set at November 16, 1984. The Minister also announced an increase of $100 million to the expend- iture ceiling under Section 38 of the Unemployment Insurance Act together with the provision of $80 million in associated consolidated revenue funds ($44 million in fiscal 1984-85 and $36 million in 1985-86) to create jobs for 21,000 more workers. ‘This is an interim measure,”’ said Miss MacDonald, ‘‘chosen for immed- iacy and to give time for my colleagues and | to review our overall thrusts in job creation and training. Frankly, | was appalled to discover that despite the recognition that this winter’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate will remain well over 11 percent, the previous government had made no provision to address this issue.’’