BCFS launches the ‘Fairness for
International Students’ campaign

> Filling funding gaps with unregulated tuition

Katie Czenczek
News Editor

 

I should be no surprise that

international students pay an exorbitant

amount of money to receive education

at BC post-secondary institutions.

On August 15, the British Columbia
Federation of Students (BCFS)
launched the “Fairness for International
Students” campaign in hopes of
convincing the provincial government
to put a cap on international student
tuition fees and improve services

available to international students.
According to research conducted by
the BCFS, international student tuition
costs have risen 64 percent since 2006.
This is due to international tuition
being unregulated in BC. International
students make up 20 percent of the
student population yet produce half

of tuition fee revenue in BC.

Aran Armutlu, chairperson at the
BCFS, said in an interview with the
Other Press that it is no coincidence
that international student tuition
fees have skyrocketed around the
same time that government funding

has dwindled for universities.

“There's been chronic underfunding
issues at our universities for about a
decade. What happens then is that our
institutions have their costs increasing,
and they're trying to find ways to fill
those gaps in their budgets. They can’t
look to domestic students because
there’s that two percent cap on domestic
tuition fees,” he said. “It’s clear that

¢ C One of our slogans is that international students
really keep the lights on in our institutions”

—Aran Armutlu

 

[universities] are relying on international

students to fill the gaps for funding.”

Not only are universities making up
lost revenue from international students,
but international education is also listed
as an industry on BC exports website—
right behind Forestry, Mining, Natural
Gas, and Technology—contributing $1.77

billion to the provincial GDP in 2015.

Just this year, Douglas College’s
international student tuition increased by
nine percent, said Paul Wittayaworapat,

a Kinesiology student at Douglas College,

in an interview with the Other Press.
“Students didn’t know that their
tuition was going to increase by nine
percent until three months before the
tuition payment deadline. It’s hard
to make enough money because as
international students we can only
work 20 hours a week during the
semester. It’s hard to budget when

there’s such short notice,” he said.
Wittayaworapat, who immigrated
to Canada from Thailand four years
ago, also said that he doesn’t necessarily
think that international students
should pay the same amount of tuition
that domestic students do. Rather,
regulating international students’

tuition would prevent high increases.

“When we say, ‘Fight for fairness for
international students, we aren't saying
that we want to have fees be as much as
domestic students,” he said. “We're not
here asking to pay as much as domestic
students, we just wanted to be treated like

a person, not just like money in the bank.”
Aahelee Bandyopadhyay, Women’s

Students Representative for the DSU who

majors in Anthropology and Sociology,

said to the Other Press that she feels as

if there is a divide between domestic and

international students that is hard to fill.
“T have seen this attitude of

treating international students as cash

cows, but that’s not the case,” she said.

“We're human beings too. Our parents

work, we work, and [being viewed asa

commodity] creates this barrier between

domestic and international students.”
Bandyopadhyay, who came to
Canada from India, also said she
believes that there should be more
services available to international

students first coming to Canada.

“I think that providing better
accommodation services for people
who first come here would help a lot,”
she said. “Another thing is the lack of
academic advising services available.
Whenever students are going there,

they have to wait a week or two weeks to
talk to an academic advisor. Currently,
there are only two academic advisors

for 3000 international students.”
Melissa Chirino, a Douglas College

student majoring in Psychology who

works as the Pride Representative for

the DSU, said in an interview with

the Other Press that she wants to

call to attention the fact that many

international students are not wealthy.

“T also wanted to point out the
stereotype that all international students
are rich,” she said. “I have student loans in
Curacao that aren’t worth much because
of the exchange rate. | think that it’s
important to get rid of that stereotype
because then people will know that we

do go through struggles to live here.”
Armutlu also said that if
international students were to leave BC
universities, there would be tremendous
pressure put upon universities to find

ways to maintain their budget.

“One of our slogans is that
international students really keep the
lights on in our institutions,” he said.
“So, if they don't feel like they're being
supported, then they’re going to feel
like they’re being mistreated. If they
don’t feel like they’re getting that value
for their education, then they'll choose
to go somewhere else, and when we
rely heavily on international students
for tuition fee revenue—along with the
economy being impacted—we could
see huge impacts on our institutions.”

Photo via BC Federation of Students

BC facing record-breaking wildfire
seasons for two years straight

> Stats show 2017, 2018 worst years on record

Chandler Walter
Contributor

 

n BC, summer means heat, and heat
means wildfires.

Record-breaking fires have been
burning throughout the province for the
past few months as fire crews from across
the country and beyond work to put out
the flames.

The province faced a similar dilemma
last year when both human and lightning-
caused fires burned through over one
million hectares of land before being put
out by either fire crews or cooler weather,
and now 2018 is on the cusp of the same
tragic milestone.

According to current statistics from
BC Wildfire Service, this year has already
seen 970,827 hectares of land burned as of
August 27, and with 461 fires still burning,
that number will only climb higher.

The fires have gotten so bad that the
government of British Columbia declared
a state of emergency on August 15.

Metro Vancouver residents were
reminded of the fires on a daily basis over
the past few weeks, as looming clouds
of smoke covered much of the Lower
Mainland. On August 22, Vancouver
broke a record for the smokiest stretch
of weather in history with 73 hours
of nonstop smoke, according to the
Vancouver Weather Twitter account. The

last record was set in December of 1963 at
72 consecutive hours.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
released a statement that same day
explaining what actions the Federal
Government would be taking to combat
the province-wide problem.

“Our thoughts are with everyone
affected by the wildfires in British
Columbia, and our government is
determined to support British Columbia
in the wake of this devastation,” Trudeau
said in his statement.

Sexual violence and misconduct can never be part of student life.

ATU Micere reece) lel cee

Make campuses safe for everyone, play your part.

 

“With this new committee, we will
work to address the urgent and long-
term impacts of the wildfires, and will
collaborate closely with Premier Horgan
and local authorities to support recovery
and rebuilding efforts. I would especially
like to thank first responders and all of
those who are working hard and putting
their lives at risk to help people affected
by the wildfires.”

The new committee that Trudeau
mentioned in the statement is the
Ad Hoc Cabinet Committee that will

Illustration by Cara Seccafien

“meet as required to consider and
coordinate federal contributions and to
support recovery and rebuilding efforts,”
The committee will also be working
with Indigenous groups to ensure that
their communities are supported, and
will aid in the on-the-ground efforts
currently being made by the Government
Operations Centre.

While the smoke has since cleared
from Vancouver's skies, the unseen fires
are still burning throughout the province.

SS OBURI
COLUMBIA