by lan Hunter The Douglas College Student Soiety spensored a very successful public meeting in conjunction with the Faculty Association last Tuesday. The purpose of the meeting was to alert the public to the cutbacks in education; how it affects them, and what they can do about it. Photo by lan Hunter The cafeteria at the McBride site was packed as speaker after speaker spoke of the impending demise in the quality of life if the proposed cuts in- the education system in B.C. go through. Norma Oat, an Adult Basic Education instructor at Winslow Campus started off the meeting with a song by a student of hers, Bill Fowler. Fowler, an adult studént, was illiterate two years ago and in the song pleads tion system fo haven't had a wise. hope in society other- PLEASE* MR, BENNETT Before we came to school Our lives were dull and like a duel Wanting to learn Wanting to earn Please, Mr. Bennett; don’t take away our school chorus: It’s everything to us In our days It’s everything to us Learning Pays : It’s everything to us To get a decent trade Please, Mr. Bennett, we are so afraid. Then we came to learn Our lives took a different turn We came to see F _ That we could be free Please, Mr. Bennett, won’t ya’ let us learn? Chorus ; Now the gov’ment limits the funds For the schooling of our sons Don’t let us go We'll be so low Please, Mr. Bennett, don’t limit the funds Chorus Oat also sang the song at the rally on Friday. like him who ji, Davies, from th pa ea After Oat came | Faculty Association said that the educa- tion system in B.C. is not facing restraint but emasculation, ‘’That is what education in B.C.is facing; emas- culation.’’ 4 Davis went on to say that, in otder to keep the same level of service this year as next year there would have to be a 15 percent increase in operating funds. In a television speech last month B.C. premier Bill Bennett said that there would only be a 12 percent increase in the education system in the province. Some institutions would get more or less than 12 percent depending on their needs and the whim of the government. “We will not have our educational system raped or seduced,’’ Davis concluded. Student Society President Kevin Hallgate spoke about various cutbacks that Douglas would suffer depending on how severe the shortfall is. He said that ’’if our funding is cut 20 percent, there will be 15 percent less students coming here next year.’’ Next on the speakers list was Gordon Bryanton from the College-Institute he other speakers. e Douglas-Kwantlen were told (by the government) ducators / \ S01 ‘iation, — He sai a, We that education is in crisis, nursing is in. crisis, industry is in crisis,...what we weren’t told was that this is govern- ment by crisis...a bargain basement government.’’ Bryanton went on to make the state- ment, ’’the more educated this society is the more capable it is of dealing with changing economic conditions.’’ Next at the podium was CFS field- worker Mike Miller, who said that, “inflation in education is a lot more than 12 percent,’’ and that ’’just about all educational institutions have enrolment up with demand for more courses.’ At the end of the meeting Student Society President Kevin Hallgate held up a memo that Douglas College President Bill Day had made stating that the College would be in normal operation the. day of the protest. Hallgate read out a similar memo. stating that ’’The College will be in normal operation on Friday, March 12, 1982. All classes are expected to meet at Georgia and Beatty at 1:30 p.m. Buses leave Douglas College at 12:30 p.m.”’ The meeting ends. OTHER PROTESTS. East coast sounds HALIFAX (CUP) -- Halifax students hoped that city winds would take their message to provincial legislators on March 11. Studens at colleges and universities in the provincial capital held an outdoor ‘make noise’’ session for one minute, protesting government underfunding and the threat of spiralling tuition costs. At Dalhousie University and St. Mary’s University, students competed for higher turnouts, honking horns, blowing whistles, taking stereos to residence windows and shouting in the streets. The noise festival was part of the National Week of Action activities, spearheaded by the Canadian Federa- tion of Students as part of its ’’Stop the Cuts’’ campaign for 1981-82. McGeer booed. VICTORIA (CUP) -- Six hundred stu- dents booed and _ heckled British Columbia _ universiies minister Pat McGeer on the steps of the provincial legislature March 11, demanding more funds for post-secondary education. Protesters from the University of Victoria and Camosun College marched through windy city streets to the legislature buildings for a rally. They were sparked by recently announced tuition fee increases at B.C. campuses that range up to 32 percent in the case of the University of British Columbia, and their chants demanded an end to the rule of the provin- cial Social Credit government. Speakers from student organizations, unions and faculty associations addres- sed the rally and, finally, McGeer agreed to speak. The militant crowd chanted ’’Bullshit, bullshit,” when he promised B.C. taking funds from the coal project? ’ he asked. No one responded. ‘Well, how many people would oppose higher taxes on corporations?’’ he wondered. Again, there was no response. McGeer tried to explain the province S restraint program and was shouted down once more. 2,000 students dislike Lougheed EDMONTON (CUP) -- Alberta premier Peter Lougheed found himself gazing out through a heavy March snowfall at 1,500 to 2,000 students in front of the provincial legislature. The crowd was protesting federal and provincial underfunding of post-secondary educa- tion, marching as part of the Canadian Federation of Students national Week of Action. The demonstration had formed at the University of Alberta, where classes were cancelled for the march. It included representatives of students at universities, colleges and _ technical institutes in Grande Prairie, Edmonton, ‘Red Deer, Calgary and Lethbridge. The biggest contingent came from the University of Alberta. Students massed in the cold weather, with the wet snowfall greeting the start of the mile-long trek to the provincial legislature. As they marched, they chanted ‘’No More Cutbacks’, ‘‘They say cut back -- we say fight back,’’ and ‘‘Hey, hey, ho, ho -- Jim Horsman’s got to go.’’ Horsman is Alberta’s advanced educa- tion and manpower minister. Most of the past activity among Alberta students on education funding has been directed at the provincial government. But the message of this march -- and similar Week of Action events staged at centres across the country ws that both levels of government share blame for under- funding. Though both Lougheed and Horsman spoke to the crowd, the federal govern- ment reneged on a promise to send a represenative. ¢ 4 photo by CalReyburn The Federation of Alberta Students (FAS), which organized the Alberta action, met with a comical sequence of federal promises. © First, Ottawa promised a visit from Secretary of State Gerald Regan. Then he declined, so they offered Regan’s parliamentary secretary. The secretary turned into a liberal backbencher, the backbencher into a telexed statement, and the telex became a telegram. The telegram arrived late, and had to read to FAS over the phone. “Welcome back,’’ Lougheed when greeting the students. said He reminded them of a similar march four years ago, when 5,000 students made their case against funding cuts.