October 10, 1989 TORONTO (CUP) -- Students are becoming the big losers as a faculty strike at Laurentian Univer- sity -- but they are fighting back. If the strike continues the student council may organize a mass withdrawl by students, council vice president Lee Jeannotte said. That could cost the university thousands of dollars in refunded tuition fees. The council is also planning a protest to greet Premier David Peterson as he arrives in Sudbury Monday for unrelated meetings. About 1,500 students at a recent general assembly expressed con- ~ cern that they would have to pull long hours to make up lost time. "We shouldn’t have to go to class from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. because both sides are acting like children," said council president Brent Bostrom. Already, the council organized a Sept. 26 march of students into downtown Sudbury that "stopped traffic for about two hours" to protest the lack of negotiations, Jeannotte said. Talks resumed two mornings later. Students also staged a brief oc- cupation of president Charles Belanger to pressure both sides to the negotiating table. "If the strike enters a fourth week I don’t know what the mood will UNICEF Trick-orTreat Campaign October Is UNICEF Month Have Your Coins Ready On Halloween : (Es) Wy unicef Women’s Centre Axed! NORTH VANCOUVER (CUP) Capilano College’s decision to evict the campus women’s centre has drawn heavy criticism from campus leaders. Citing a "space crunch" and a lack of funds, the administration has decided to give the office space over to the college’s international studies pro- gram. "I think it is very regressive of the college to do this," said Joyce Smith, who helped start the centre 15 years ago. "There’s still a lot of work to be done." The college used to pay the centre director’s salary, but that money was cut during the recession of 1981/82. College officials say the space was withdrawn due to lack of funds, but they say the women’s centre wasn’t as impor- tant as other departments. "We felt that there was a higher priority need for that space," said Capilano plan- ning director Allan Ing. "It’s a simple matter of logic -- which department has bigger needs for that space at that time." Canadian Federation of Stu- dents-Pacific chair Pam Frache said the college’s logic was flawed. "Just because there’s low use of the centre doesn’t mean it should be eliminated," she said. "Some facul- ties have fewer students enrolled in them, but that doesn’t mean they should be eliminated." Student council executive Andrew Irvine said the students were mostly apathetic about the decision. "For most women on campus, this is a transitional stage between high school and univer- sity," he said. "They don’t see a reason to get involved in anything." Other women’s centres seem to be well protected against such ar- bitrary closure. At Vancouver Community College-Langara, and at Simon Fraser University, the campus student union building houses the women’s centre. At New Westminster’s Douglas Col- lege, the women’s centre is also run by the administration, but centre co-ordinator Liz Wilson said the same thing couldn’t happen there. Wilson said she was shocked to hear about the Capilano centre. "We have a space crunch here too, but we don’t invoke drastic measures like they do at Capilano." Other Press change to," Jeannotte said. "Many people are worried about losing their year." Both faculty and administration are refusing to commentas negotia- tions over a new contract continue, while students worry over lost study time. "Most students are not blaming the faculty right now," said Jean- Strike at Laurentian University- Students are the Big Losers notte, who is in fourth year. "I think people are just too concerned they’Il have to push 12 weeks (of school) into eight." Faculty want the right to use out- side mediators to settle disputes with the administration, and salary increases of 13 and 11 per cent over the next two years. The ad- ministration is resisting the media- tion package, and offered 9 and 8.5 per cent salary increases. Jeannotte said a lot of Laurentian students who do not live in the Sud- bury area have been forced to move back home. Only about one third of Laurentian residence students are still there, she said. "Most people have no classes," she said. "Some have one." Concourse Comandeered by by Peter Malacarne On Wednesday October 4th the main concourse was taken over by 22 volunteer groups from throughout the Lower Mainland. This event was co-ordinated through the Burnaby Volunteer Centre. The purpose of the event was to provide student population of Douglas College with informa- tion about volunteering and to show how diverse the concept is. - To quote a privileged unnamed source "You do not need to be an expert. All you need is to care. You can give a little or a lot of time, learn on the job, and make friends while helping your community." An innovative development in volunteering that may be of interest to students is the development of a skills bank. The BVC Skillsbank is a link to personal and professional exploration and development. Stu- dents developing new skills and looking for short term commit- ments to apply those skills should check out this opportunity. The length of the commitment could be from a few weeks to a few months. Regardless of the commitment, it is temporary. Volunteers The Centre is looking for profes- sionals with devreeloped skills, as well as people like Douglas Col- lege students, who are in the process of gaining these skills and looking for contacts in their par- ticular fields. To make inquiries about volun- teering opportunities in your area or about the BVC Skillsbank con- tact the Burnaby Volunteer Centre at 294-5533, or 250 Willingdon Ave., Room 14, Burnaby. Student Council Gives Themselves BRANDON (CUP) -- Two councillor’s objections weren’t enough to stop Brandon University student council from voting itself a hefty increase in honoraria. The council executive honoraria will jump 140 per cent from $500 to $1200 per year. Council also approved September 14th a 50 per cent increase for other council members and student senators. Pay for a council rep. will rise from $300 to $450, while renumeration for student senators will increase from $200 to $300. The student union will now spend $12,450 per year on honoraria for a full slate of councillors and senators, up from $6500 last year The council passed the motion by CROSSED -OvT... Pay Raise a slim margin after a long debate. Two of the dissenting councillors registered protests at the outcome of the vote. "There should have been a lot more groundwork done on this proposal before a vote was held," music rep Jason Munroe said. Council president Sean Bowie defended the pay hikes. "The age of doing something for nothing is over. People won’t do something unless they’re adequately compen- sated for their hard work,” he said, adding that in comparison to other student unions with a comparable budget, the BUSU executive earned “low honoraria levels.” Vice-president external Kirk Brug- ger said the pay increase was in- tended to generate interest and commitment on council. Vice-president activities Bob Hume cautioned students not to be misled by a quick examination of the figures. "On a percentage basis, it sounds like a big number, but at $500 for 30 hours per week, four weeks per month, eight months a year, it is ridiculous to expect a person to be motivated,” he said. He said accountability will be a factor in students’ minds. "I know there is a legitimate concern that not all BUSU members will pull their weight," Hume said, "but the majority do their jobs and they deserve to be compensated fairly for the work they do." The Ubyssey Censored? CUP (Vancouver) In an attempt to prevent any biased articles about a proposed recrea- tional facility from reaching voters’ waivering minds during a referen- dum, the student council at UBC didn’t want The Ubyssey to write anything about the project for the whole week. A representative from council wanted to screen all copy before it went to print, but eventually, The Ubyssey staff managed to convince the student council to give up on insisting that. The Ubyssey staff are now considering becoming autonomous from their council, much like the Other Press.