News editor.otherpress@ gmail.com Transit Hikes Hit Vancouver By Garth McLennan, News Editor Win the coming of the New Year, the cost of public transit has been upped across the board. The fare increases were formally approved in June of 2007, with Translink officials citing the need to pay for new equipment and upgrades as the reason for the increases. The fee raises came into effect on the first day of 2008. For standard, one-zone tickets the price will rise to $2.50 for an adult ticket, and to $1.75 for a concession fare. Two-zone fares have had their costs boosted by 50 cents to $3.75, while a three-zone pass will now set the user back a hefty $5. The price of monthly public transportation passes have also been increased, with a one-zone costing $73, a two-zone being set at $99, and a three-zone at $136. The 1.5 hour leeway from the purchase of a ticket remains the same. Vancouverites greeted the fare increases mostly with dismay. “Tm okay with a_ slight increase,” says Rachel Goldman, “I can see Translink needing to up their fares, but it really becomes difficult for the working poor. Also, the one and half hour time between tickets is ridiculous, it should be much longer.” “The transit fare increase that came into effect on the first is scandalous. Poor working people should stand up as one person against it. People in Toronto still pay less for their transit use in both directions than we do here. The fact that a person only has a 90 minute leeway on a single ticket to go to Vancouver and come back is ridiculous. If you take the bus from places like Port Moody or Port Coquitlam, you can barely say hello before you have to turn around to go back again,” says Bozenna Siedlecka of Port Moody. It is estimated that for a family of four to utilize public transit to go to and from metro Vancouver, the cost will be around $40. “Translink should ditch the zoning and peak/off-peak periods and settle on a single Metro Vancouver fare. This would free the designers to build a more efficient system by not having to factor in the different zone boundaries. It would also be great if the Translink board and our government officials took transit to work to gauge the service for themselves,” said Coquitlam’s Tony Chung. [Skytrain & Bus (Adult) tater scosarmennn mm can aay ontaeat 1 Zone 2 Zone |__ $3-75 _ $2.50 . 3 Zone $5.00 Monthly Fare Cards 1 Zone $73.00 2 Zone $99.00 | | 3 Zone sccceccuaianiaeaoataitas ee $136.00 Third Member of Student Union Board Resigns Wendy Case cites tensions between pro, anti-CFS factions of DSU reason for leaving By JJ McCullough, Editor in Chief W enay Case, the Aboriginal Liaison of the Douglas Students’ Union has officially served notice of her intention to resign from the student government, citing anger and frustration with the organizations’ political dynamic. “T have faced so much personal opposition from this Representative Committee that it is actually starting to affect my health,” she said in an interview with The Other Press. She claims that the tensions and pressures of the job had caused her to suffer from high levels of stress and anxiety attacks. Arguing that her political views were often at odds with other members of the board, Case claims that she was frequently the target of personal insults and criticisms that went “beyond differences of opinion.” Case was originally elected to the DSU board of directors in last spring’s general election as part of the broad-based “Revive” slate that swept all but two of the board’s seats. The coalition party was always a tenuous alliance, however, and the group’s post- election unity has steadily broken down over the last few months as political cleavages emerge though in-fighting. Chief amongst the divisions is the matter of the Canadian Federation of Students, an organization of which Case is an extremely vocal critic, and has accused of corruption and mismanagement. Yet many other board members consider 4 her criticisms unjustified, and remain strong supporters of the CFS, creating considerable tension. “Tf you are an open de-federate on this board you’re often accused of having opinions just for the sake of opposing the CFS,” said Case, referring to her opinion that the Douglas Students’ and Wendy doesn’t quite mesh up with that.” “T think it’s kind of upsetting how stressful the situation has gotten for everyone,” he added. The Canadian Federation of Students is an increasingly controversial student group to which many student Union should leave, or “de-federate” from the larger Federation of Students. “There has definitely been persecution because we're in the minority,” she stated. Case’s boyfriend, and fellow DSU board member Matthew Steinbach, repeated her claims. “The other members of the board have been putting a lot of focus on the CFS and CFS activities unions across Canada belong. It exists primarily to co-ordinate and facilitate student activism and lobbying efforts among its member unions, but the group has lately become the centre of a great deal of political criticism in many schools across British Columbia. Critics have painted the CFS is wasteful and ineffective bureaucracy, while supporters have accused anti-CFS student politicians of using personal vendettas to try and bring down a successful organization. Despite her departure, Case says she intends to stay fairly active in DSU politics and remain “one of the harshest critics” of the DSU board. With Steinbach, the two now plan to begin circulating a petition calling for the DSU to leave the Canadian Federation of Students, an effort, which if successful, could eventually trigger a College-wide vote on the matter. “IT want to feel like I’ve accomplished something important before I leave Douglas,” said Case, “and de-federation is really important to me.” Wendy Case is the third member of the DSU board to resign since last year’s election, and will join former Pride Liaison Nathaniel Wolfe and former Member-at-Large Jessica McCallum, both of whom resigned last semester. Both McCallum and Wolfe resigned for largely personal reasons, though Wolfe, who also held anti-CFS views, offered some harsh political words in his resignation letter. Case is the first member to depart on explicitly political grounds, however. Members of the pro-CFS faction of the DSU board could not be reached for comment as of press time, but Alysia MacGrotty, the DSU’s external relations officer and prominent CFS supporter claimed she felt Case’s departure was “inevitable.”