OPINIONS

 

 

In honor of the Other Press’ 30th anniversary we'll be featuring a new column thi
“This week in Other Press history.” Each week Pll be profiling notable stories fror
newspaper's rich past. Today we look at one of the oldest surviving issues in the C
Press archives, September 26, 1977. :

Top retro headline: “French Immersion ‘Fantastic”

These days most of us tend to take bilingualism for granted. We take French ir
mentary school and ignore it on our cracker boxes. Back in 1977, however, the pus
bilingualism was still a relatively new and exciting development. /

The September 26 issue of the Other Press features a breathless interview witl
Douglas student Lori Anna Latka, one of the first students to enroll in the federal
ment’s new-fangled “French immersion” initiative. As part of the program, Latka
weeks in Quebec with her classmates, and the interview is full of stunning insight:
result. “People of Quebec live differently than we do in many ways,” she declares.
example, “the styles of clothing there are much ahead of ours, as they tend to foll
New York trend: tight jeans rolled up, straight leg pants; styles that are just touchir
West Coast.” Surely many readers were jealously swooning at the revelation.

But speaking French isn’t just a fun excuse to travel. Apparently there is quite <

- . on for bilingual Canadians in the 1970’s. The Other Press notes that federal civil serv:
iS in soon be eligible to receive an annual bonus of up to $600 per year if they can pas:
OP Raa French oral exam. Nowadays unilingual Canadians probably just wouldn’t be hired

was truly a simpler time.
J.J. McCullough, OP Contributor

 

 

Bottom retro headline: “Douglas student president blasts education minist«

 

 

i

BLAST FROM THE PAS1

a Starting next week, this column will feature a different special guest writer each issu
bk picked from the prestigious ranks of the OP Alumnus. We've tracked dowr
me of our past staff writers and begged, borrowed,and sometimes
them to submit content. What will this sectio
about? We have no idea! We’
excited to read it as )

     
    
 

tgs

and cooking... and bartending...

psn oe Mes fan & Rewertme ioe: aime
he ” a 4 C3 de Lats ban 2

staffingco staffingco.com

 

3 THE OTHER PRESS SEPTEMBER 28 2006