March 1, 1985 PAGE 7 Dear Other Press Regarding a column by Scott Leaf in the O.P., Feb. 1, 1985. | would prefer that you print material from covert Socred apologists under the heading ‘‘Letters to the Editor’ in future. By allowing regular column space, you imply editorial approval regardless of your c.s. dis- claimer. Scott Leaf was identified as the director of B.C. Young Socreds in the Feb. 4 issue of New West. Now and the Feb. 5 issue of Coq. Now. | feel that not mentioning this fact in relation to the content of the article is deceptive. In fact, the rather mangled accounting methods presented by Mr. Leaf as. his personal opinion are nothing more than standard Socred dogma. Mr. Leaf states that there was a 5 per cent decrease in school age children in the last 20 years and a corresponding 8 per cent decrease in education’s total percentage of the budget funding during the same period. Ignoring the fact that post secondary educational enrollment has not decreased, and by my observation has actually increased, Mr. Leaf then proceeds to subtract a percentage of one function from a percentage of another, different function to arrive at a net loss of only 3 per cent. Interesting economics, Mr. Leaf. | also find suspect his statement that educational expenditure has ‘more than kept pace with inflation’’. If you look around B.C., you will see school closures, courses cut, tutorial departments cut, practical facilities cut, classes filled over capacity, in- structors with no time for personal access, and so on. What this means. is a deteriorating educational system for us and for those who follow. Education is so incredibly important to our future, as individuals and as a province. To jeopardize this future in order to facilitate a short-term and notoriously misguided economic re- covery program, namely ‘‘restraint’’, is naive and potentially disastrous. If you were on a sinking ship, would you burn the lifeboats to keep warm? In conclusion, | found Mr. Leaf’s article condescending, insulting, and entirely misleading. | am pissed-off that you printed it without mentioning his political affiliations. | would like an apology. be dead serious or be seriously dead, K. Smith Dear Biff, Geez, Biff, long time no hear! How are things back East at Average Old University? I’ve got a few hours off between classes here at Douglas so | thought I’d scam some time on one of the typewriters to tell you about the damn poor showing our provincial government is making on the educa- tion scene. What's it like to attend university at Average Old, in a province where they care if their youngsters get a good education? Must be nice and somewhat free from some of the concerns we face out here. | know economic restraint is ‘in’ with the powers in charge of many countries and regions, but in B.C., restraint has turned into something Dear Other Press As we sit here in the dim lighted upper cafeteria we laugh at how dumb we are to time and time again buy a hamburger with fries and gravy hop- ing that, for the price we pay (35 cents more for a slice of processed cheese!), we would get A) a nicely toasted bun, not a burnt one. B) a hamburger patty larger than the size of a quarter, and maybe even some lettuce and tomato! C) more than a sore eee © =, Soe = ets 2 aN ve 8 EES ry cays S otal J co > me, ae ot G9 oak os ey dozen fries. D) and last but least oe; aes more than two tablespoons of gravy. Ne wie After all we are students working ge: iS é hard to get an education (DESPITE CUTBACKS!) and many rely on the cafeteria for meals. The point is if we have to pay these high prices should- eg eg esas Ses Sp AeR 0 i Roc v2-vsfagoeta ae) r ree pare Maesg se =*,% tet wewrs . . more like strangulation for many students. One of the things | learned today was that B.C. does not have a bursary program. We’re the only province in Canada like that. This attitude is financial discrimination. The province has produced budgets that are making this clear. You must have more money each year to attend school. Not only are they charging more money each year, but things are being taken away. We are paying more for less. Is this what they mean when they say, ‘‘A fool and his money are soon parted?’’ What we do have here is a number of students unaffected by the cutbacks and price increases. Who are they? They are the offspring of the wealthy. Since the wealthy will be the ones who can attend university or college, they will be the ones who will be eligible for the best work and the result of that is the maintenance of the status quo. Those with the wealth will keep it while the rest of us will scramble around in the mud at their feet, looking for handouts. It’s not a pretty picture. Boy, are our faces ever red! We elected these people! These elected people are very concerned with balancing the budget, Biff, they want to make sure the government doesn’t lose money. They : Qa 4 eeeee r Garnier re cee s Gaon n’t the food be worth it? Signed, On a Budget and Hungry! eas dete te oe Acca Crab tr want to balance the books so much they think some people shouldn’t go to school so that the numbers come out right. | bet you want to know what I’m going to do about this problem, right? Well, since | have been taught to write | think I’Il show the government that | can by sending them a letter telling them what they’re doing wrong. | don’t think they'll be upset if | tell them what they’re doing wrong be- cause they are not professional politi- cians; they’re car dealers and million- aires with political hobbies. They might-read my letter and then throw it in the garbage and pretend that they didn’t get it, so I’ll send a couple copies to their Opposition buddies and various organizations. | . ° . { ‘ Sarre ‘ me SN TRS OA HN ce os Roepe tees Stale t ehe ae ‘3 = - oo ete mah As se te tn eee a a nm etn 2 sus yoieaseae = might even send a couple out to people who went to college in the ‘good old days’ who might think we deserve the same breaks. In fact, Biff, just check this list and see if there is anybody who you would add: - Premier Bill Bennett - Education Minister Jack Heinrich - my local MLA(s) - Opposition Leader - Opposition Education critic - local school board(s) Since they’re politicians, I’ll make a note of telling the government mem- bers that something should be done soon, or Ill help them out of office at the next democratic opportunity. So how are things in Mississauga?.. B. James Cooper Dear Other Press | fail to understand what the Anti-Nuke Coalition hopes to achieve. If America were to back down from the Red Menace and dismantle their nuclear weapons, the Communists would be knocking at the back door (Canada) in no time at all. Then the freedoms and lifestyle we have come to love would be gone forever. If they were to dismantle first, then | might consider it but | doubt that would happen. | also don’t understand why everyone thinks the world would be over if the bomb went off, because} there would still be lots of humans alive. Besides the experts say eho proportionalley [sic] a nuclear holo- caust would kill less of the worlds population than did the Black Death, during the Middle Ages. So it’s not! like it hasn’t happened before. .And besides | think I’d rather be dead or even a mutant than a Communist. Signed, Bob Blank