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Robertson Library gets a facelift

By Kelly Mason STAFF WRITER

Over the past few months the Robertson Library has undergone renovation and reorganization.

These renovations, which began in July 1998, now include a larger circulation desk and an expanded media centre. Periodicals have been relocated to the second floor and holdings such as the PEI and Special Collection have also been shuffled around. UPEI Music Department’s collection of recordings and books can now be consulted in the Robertson Library.

“The need for it [renovation] ultimately came out ofaneed for more space,” says Lynne Murphy, Head Librarian. This increased need for space began with the Music Department request to move their collection to the library.

“After that it snowballed,’’ Murphy says. “[Library] staff were looking into the matter and added their input on what

© * © Should be done.”

First year student, os

Brian Larter thinks more should be done. “Theright

renovations are not being done,” Larter says. “They need to update the computers, especially Bobcat [search engine].”

Second year student Trudy Scott agrees, but maintains that the most recent renovations were also needed.

“Changing the exit door was better as well as the study area,” says Scott. “When I was there last semester, I found it really distracting studying in the old area. There were always a lot of people walking around and being noisy.”

It was suggested that adding staff presence to the upstairs level would likely lower noise level. This led to the relocation of periodicals.

Althoughthe renovations were scheduled to be completed before the beginning of the winter semester, little is left to be done. “Aside from the renovations we have also reorganized our approach to students and are

working more closely with:

the faculty,” says Murphy, who adds more tours and orientation sessions will _

_. beavailable to library

users oO

By Kelly Mason STAFF WRITER

Initiated in 1998, the UPEI Writing Centre is part of “Writing Across the Curriculum” which was spear-headed by English professor Dr. Wendy Shilton. Located in the basement of Dalton Hall, students are invited to go to the Writing Centre to pick up tips on how to improve their writing skills.

“TIt’s] aplace [where students] can come and get help with their writing” says Linda Meggs of the Writing Centre. “It doesn’t have to be because they have problems with their

writing, just so that they can have another person who can be an audience for their work, ask them questions about it and clarifies it.”

The concept of the Centre for Writing is that peer evaluation and writing coaches are always needed. Meggs says the centre is trying to recruit students from every discipline to have a good selection to suit students’ needs.

“Tutors don’t have to be experts,” says Meggs, who also wants to add computers to the tutoring. “Nor do they have to present themselves as experts, they’re just somebody to sort of be

another ear for a student’s writing, or refer them to appropriate ways to improve.

“What we are hoping for down the road, what I would like to see, maybe done in conjunction with the Faculty of Education or maybe the Department of English is [that] we would like to have acredit program for tutors so that they could take the course with the writing centre,” says Meggs who thinks this is one way to encourage students to become tutors.

Ifinterested in seeking a tutor or to be a tutor, contact Linda Meggs at 628-4320 or

email Imeggs@upei.ca

Rape Crisis Centre needs volunteers: appeals to university students

By Lorna Hutcheson

A splash of coffee, sprinkled with creativity and saturated with commitment were key ingredients in the creation of

the PEI Rape/Sexual

Assault Crisis Centre in 1981. Four women were concerned about people who were sexually abused

-and sexually assaulted, and

they wanted change. They were motivated by the lack of support available to a victim of gang rape. They

_struggled with the notion of -how could they make a

difference. How could they reachout? Was there some sort of support system already in place? Why wasn’t there a seryice available? . -

_ After a lot of dialoguing and coffee, the quality quatro swung into action and within a short space of time secured the funding and training necessary to establish a

volunteer crisis line. The PEI Crisis Centre has been operating ever since, non- stop, 24 hours-a-day.

In the scheme of things, this non-stop service isasmall miracle. A miracle manifested by the vision of these women and _ the undaunting support of the community at large. Each year a number of UPEI

students and others reach ~

out and make a difference by volunteering. They are joined by some university faculty who participate in the intensive volunteer

With the dawnin: of the new millennium, representatives of the PEI Rape / Sexual Assault

Crisis Centre continue to -

live out the vision of the dedicated women who led the way. With ongoing support from~ the community, they will succeed.

On January 19, another training session

will begin for women interested in volunteering with the Rape Crisis Centre. The comprehensive training requires a 2 % hour time commitment per week, for

16 weeks. It includes practical knowledge about community resources,

an historical . and social framework for understanding the dyrlamics of sexual abuse, support «skills, and. role plays. Participants become highly skilléd and are able to handle a wide range of calls on our crisis line After the training, new members may be invited to join the flexible, supportive

_ 24-hourcrisisline.

You can make a difference! It’s not too late. Continue the UPEI trend by applying to volunteer with the PEI Rape/ Sexual Assault Crisis Centre. Call 566-1864 and continue the quatro’s vision for

change. oO