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Velume 22+ Issue 13 > January 14, 1997 Room 1020-700 Royal Avenue New Westminster, BC V3L 5B2 general@op.douglas.bc.ca

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he Other Press is Douglas College's autonomous student REwspaper:

We've been publishing since 1976. The Other Press is run as an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take turns acting as sort of an executive officer for the week, but all the decisions of this officer must be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting, by a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs, but by a two thirds majority in the case of...

The OP is published weekly during the fall and winter semesters and monthly [as a magazine] during the summer. students. All DC students are welcome to join. (Bored, Lonely, creatively repressed, need something on your resume, or??? Come down to room 1020. We're usually friendly and we have lots of toys. No experience required.)

We receive our funding from a student levy collected every semester at registration, and from local and national advertising revenue.

The Other Press is a member of the Canadian University Press (CUP), a cooperative of student newspapers from across Canada. We, generally speaking, adhere to CUP’s Statement of Common Principles and Code of Ethics.

The Other Press reserves the right to choose what to publish; however, we'll print most things, unless they're racist, sexist, homophobic, or really illegal.

All opinions appearing in the Other Press are the responsibility of their creators and are not necessarily the opinions of all members of the Other Press. We try to believe in the freedom of the press.

‘We want you to be part of the publishing process, so when you submit a letter or article to us, include a way we can contact you. We realize that you've already spent a good deal of time preparing a submission, but typos happen, tenses change, participles dangle; we need to know if it is deliberate or if it was an error. Phone numbers are not published and pseudonyms are accepted. Everyone has an opinion, and we'd like to make sure yours is clear.

Letters may be proofread, but are not edited except for length, Keep in mind that if you don't submit it on disk, some poor soul will have to type it for you.

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Jason Kurylo, Johnson C.H. Tai, RG, Joyce Robinson, Kevin Sallows, Idella Sturino, Meg Murphy, Dalish Merzaban and Douglas Quan, Trevor Hargreaves, Reverend Tom

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‘A new section of Op/Ed to try and

Devil's Advocate: stir up controversy and fight

Tom Laws

1997 will be remembered as the year of death. The year in which Mother Theresa and Princess Diana died, along with student morals and decent representation. 1998 by stark contrast will be remembered as a “bitch” year, or at least that’s how it’s starting out.

The Canadian Federation of Students (or CFS) is leading the way towards a protest of student debt. This wonderful invention of bureaucratic garbage will take place on January 8, and will whine and complain about the government not giving funding to students, and not doing anything to help relieve the burden of student loan debts that occur.

CFS says that Canada is one of the few countries in the world that doesn’t have federal funding for its education program, but what it apparently fails to realize is that we are also one of the few countries in the world to have a decent education system

universities’ evil enemy: mundanity)

that allows almost anyone the right to an honest education.

What they also fail to see is that most student debt is piled on by loafers. Many students get their student loans, and go out and buy a stereo, or something that they couldn’ afford before, they don't bother to work during the school year and wonder why they have $30 000 of debt when they come out of the whole thing.

Others have gone on to get a degree without ever having gotten a student loan by saving cash, working at menial jobs during the year, and budgeting. Yet the CFS stands for all students. Not likely.

Douglas College students (and BC students in general) have nothing to complain about, as BC has one of the only tuition caps in the country. So why are we protesting at all? Because, like unions and everything else that used to stand for something, CFS is now an economic entity.

The CFS functions much like a

labour union: In the beginning, unions were set up help the working man get fair wages and good working conditions, and they served a very vital purpose. Now, however, these unions have become economic entities in and of themselves using the dues from union employees to pay their wages. Belonging to a union now means slacking off and

everything in my adult life should be given to me. I shouldn’t go through any hardships, I shouldn't learn to deal with new situations as they arise, because these things never happen in the real world. Instead I and everyone else should learn that as long as you can scream loud enough, someone will take

pity on you.

not being able to be fired because the If everyone just took their heads out

union will boycott your employer. Itno _ of their asses and looked around,

longer stands for anything useful. perhaps they'd see that maybe they could Much the same goes with CFS. go to school and work and not have to

take out a student loan.

Perhaps they would see that if they didn’t go to the bar every Friday night, they could pay their way without looking for a handout. It’s time students

Perhaps way back when, students had to have a voice to get a fair shake, but now, we have a rather easy life by comparison with the rest of the world. Case in point, China and the Tiananmen Square rallies.

’s see CFS take a tank in the head for a student. Perhaps I missed the point of coming to college. I thought it was to get a real life education that would help me in the

stood up for what's right. Maybe a little hardship right now that may lead to something better later on would be better than listening to some bullshit. Let’s all try and be a little less Gen-X

Renaissance

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real world, and according to CFS, about life.

Ask Reverend Tom

He’ back, that font of ancient wisdom, revealer of universal mysteries and purveyor of kick-ass gyros. Questions can be directed to his holiness at opinions @op.douglas. bc.ca, or to room 1020, New West campus

Dear Reverend Tom: Is it true that God is the mythical “fifth member” of the Beatles? Ringo Lenno

Dear Ringo:

Unfortunately this is false. God had nothing to do with the Beatles. He was, however, one of the founding members of Wham!. Evidence of this is easily found in the often overlooked 11th commandment: “Thou shalt wake me up before ye go-go, ‘cause He don't plan on goin’ solo.”

Dear Reverend Tom: Does God wear shoes? Buster Brow

Dear Buster:

Hell yeah! God actually commanded Noah to get two extra snakes into the ark so he could get a nice new pair of Gucci loafers. All God’s shoes must be special ordered because he takes an unbelievable size 21! And you know whar they say about Gods with big feet! (The “virgin” Mary certainly found out. Rowwwr'!)

2 January 14, 1997 The Other Press