February 4th to 18th 1982

   

 

The Other Press

Page 3

 

 

PRINCE GEORGE (CUP)----

They founded a new prov-
incial base for the national
student movement, pound-
ed out plans for a mid-
March ‘‘week ‘of action,’’
and proposed alliances with
faculty. and staff on
campuses.

The five-day meeting at
the tiny College of New
Caledonia was geared to re-
placing the B.C.Students’
Federation with the Pacific
arm of the Canadian Fed-
eration of Students. But the
biggest issue to hit the con-
ference floor was a pro-
posed constitution with a
provision giving greater
voting weight to the larger
universities.

Member universities and
colleges, previously allotted
one vote each at confer-
ences, will receive under
the new constitution an ad-
ditional vote for every 8,000

have four votes, while the

ded

aie GEORGE (CUP)

A recent survey by the
British Columbia Students’
Federation reveals a
rampant problem of sexual
harassment in provincial
universities and colleges.

And it showed that 25 per
cent of the women who res-
ponded to the survey at
Douglas college and 21 per
cent at Capilano College
had been sexually assaulted
while attending college.

“I’m shocked and worried
and angry,’’ said Sophia
Hanafi, BCSFwomen’s
steering committee repre-
sentative, of the survey
results. But she emphasised
that ‘‘a very small percent-
age of the campus popula-
tion’’ actually responded to
the questionnaire.

“It was mostly an informa-
tional questionnaire,’’ said

May-Liz Vahi, McBride

campus chair. ‘‘I think it
indicates that there is
sexual harassment at
Douglas College.’

“It is obviously something
which has not’ been

 

students enrolled. UBC will

Universities of Victoria and
Simon Fraser members get
two votes each. Currently,
only SFU is a member
CFS Pacific.
UBC delegates were the

_main proponents of the
change. Terry Cox, UBC

Alma Mater Society ad-
ministration director told
the conference it would be

‘“‘impossible to sell CFS

Pacific to the students of

UBC without representation

by population because the

passage of referenda, no
matter what the issue, is

ex- .
tremely difficult at UBC
since
since 10 per cent of the en-
rolled 24,000 students must
vote in favour of the issue
for it to pass.

‘Keep in mind that in the
past three years only one of
about .eight referenda
reached quorum. The issue
that reached quorum and
passed was to reduce stu-

addressed properly if it’s
been allowed to reach these
proportions,’’ said Hanafi.
“It must be far, far more
widespread than any of us
realised.’’ The question-
naire was sent to 20 post-
secondary institutions in
B.C. and five have respond-
ed to date, although Hanafi
said she expects more
results before March.

But while the number of
women who have been
sexually assaulted on
campus was high, the num-
ber of women who indenti-
fied sexual harassment as a
problem was relatively low,
she added.

‘‘It is really odd,’’ she
said. ‘‘You’d think that at
least Capilano College,
where 21 per cent of the
women were _— sexually
harassed, there would be
more than 24 per cent of
the women who felt it was a
problem. ’’

She added that many
college and_ university
administrators are unwilling
to deal with the problem.

‘It’s a difficult thing to

dent fees by$15. per stud-
ent.’’ Full fees for CFS
membership are $7.50 per
student.

Even with the weighted
voting system in place,
argued AMS external af-
fairs co-ordinator James
Hollis, UBC, with 40 per
cent of the province’s stu-
dents, would comprise only

20 per cent of the votes ata .
think it -

conference. ‘‘|
would be very difficult for
the students of a large
institution to swallow hav-
ing the same number of
votes as a small college.’’

Hollis said the weighted
voting resolution promised
more broadly-based repre-
sentation from UBC if «its
upcoming referendum on
full membership passes.
‘‘Instead of one student
professing to know the
mood of the entire UBC
campus, one delegate can

be a graduate student, for
instance.’’ And, according

- Survey Shows Sexual
Harassment At DC

correct. Again it comes
down to the society that we
deal with every day. In
addition, the voice of the
students right now may not
be strong enough to counter
administrations like Simon

Fraser’s, where they hush

things up,’’ she added.

Although women at some
colleges did not identify
sexual harassment as a
problem on their campus,
Hanafi said their attitudes
reflect a society where
violence against women is
so prevalent that sexual
harassment on campuses
may seem relatively insigni-
ficant.

At Capilano College, 59
per cent of the respondents
said they had been verbally
harassed, 46 per cent
physically harassed, and 36
per cent propositioned.

At Vancouver Community
College’s King Edward
Campus, 51 per cent of the
respondents had been ver-
bally harassed, 36 per cent
physically harassed, 18 per
cent propositioned, and 3
per cent sexually assaulted.

to the same bylaw in the
new constitution, one dele-
gate has to be a woman.

The four votes which UBC
could eventually receive are
‘really token,’’ said Mark
Rogen, full time ombuds-
person at Vancouver Voca-
tional Institute and author
of the weighted voting
clause. ‘’ Taking all that into
account and with them say-
ing they couldn’t run a ref-
erendum without four votes
| thought it rather prudent
to give it to them,’’ Rogen
said.

Catherine Ludgate, Capi-
lano College student society

   
   

UBC 4 Douglas 1

staffperson, criticised the
decision. ‘‘The divisions be-
tween the colleges and uni-
versities are largely artifi-
cial and that argument was
a bogus one,”’ she said.

Ludgate also criticised the
outcome of the vote on the
weighted voting proposal,
where several smaller col-
leges abstained and four
were absent from. the con-
ference.’‘It just mirrored
the way decisions are made
in this organisation--with
the little schools not partici-
pating and many not under-
standing the dynamics of
what was going on.”

Would you sit in here?

Smells Funny

by Ian Hunter

The Staff/Faculty lounge
at Douglas College’s New
West campus is creating
quite a stink among the
people who are supposed
to be using it.

“‘It would be used more if
the thermostat could be
turned up, but the thermo-
stat is in the bookstore next
door,’’ said Mary
Matthews, College librar-
ian. But the bookstore staff
say that with all of the
people coming in and out, it
would get too hot if they
turned up the heat.

As well as being cold,
damp, and full of mildew,

the lounge’ is also
supposedly being swallowed
up by the bookstore.

“| feel that it is a real
affront to the Faculty Asso-
ciation,’’ said Jim Davies,
Douglas-Kwantlen Faculty
Association Vice-President.
“We lost a quarter of it to
the bookstore without even
knowing it.’’

The staff of the bookstore
said they knew nothing of
this, and said that it is the
responsibility of the
physical plant manager,
West Graden, to oversee
the use of the room.

Graden could not be
reached for comment. SD