HE UPEI ' ' I] K T _suN, ThursdayhOctober 163 1980. page J
F“
By the time most of you read this, the future of UPEI may be sealed. In a meeting of Senate today (Thurs. Oct. l6) which begins at the fateful hour of 3 pm, the Business Department at UPEI may attain school status. While future repercussions of this act can only be speculated, the fact remains that there will be effects, as there are with any act.
The article on page two is presented for the most part from the side of Business, if only because the members of the Faculty of Arts who were approached- refused to comment. Perhaps one should play “Devil's Advocate” in order to present an alternate view to those students who are new to the issue.
Business has made a name for UPEI. The quality of the Business Administration courses here has attracted four times the number of students enrolled eleven years ago. Smaller classes than have most other well- known Business Schools allow the personal attention necessary for a successful understanding of material
taught.
However, the hard facts and implied repercussions must also be discussed. The popular figures floating around show that Business students now make up approx- imately 70% of the Faculty of Arts. What that means is that if you take #00 students out of Arts, you have about I70 students left to warrant the continuation of the Departments of History, Philosophy, Sociology, Modern Languages, et cetera. With the increasing de- cline of enrollment in the Arts, it does seem logical that UPEI will exist in the future as a community
'college. According to the MPHEC Sixth Annual Report which came out last month, Arts enrollment for the Maritime Provinces in l979-80 was 26.h%, down from
h2.0% fifteen years earlier.
With talk on integration between faculties running cheap, the President's recommendation that the Busi- ness Administration Department be given school status Seems instead to favour fragmentation. In a university that now has three faculties, there will be two facul- ties, two schools, and presumably eventually one vet school. What will there be to prevent Engineering and Home Economics from becoming schools?
All the stink about Business becoming a school seems to be a smokescreen set up unintentionally to take the emphasis from the absurd administrative councils and committees which are the topic of many heated distus-
sions at Faculty meetings.
In essence, what the President proposes is to dis- solve two committees and to initiate/formalize three councils and one committee. This increase in admini- strative bureaucracy as it now stands lends itself
LETTERS ‘
Dear Editor:
This is in response to 'the childish display of name calling and confused contradictions found in last weeks editorial.
For instance, someone finally decided to do 50mething about the SUN's rather unique ability of 1putting people to sleep. This I'SUN Staff” should -not be scorned, but apt ,plauded. ,
1 Why don't you get off ‘your pedestal? Those who _read the supplement read it because it is the kind 'of material they would
like to see in your paper.
The few that complained are mere hypocrites, a- fraid to admit they liked
it. They should also con-
‘sider coming 60wn from’
their pedestals”
We, the Engineers of UPEI, do not claim respon- sibility for the SUN Sup- plement, but do applaud the Phantom Writer and hope to hear from him or her again. .‘ N ' “What is Obscenity” j
‘ “Loose and vulgar talk
about human genitals, or kids starving in ghettos? Humorous celebrations cf sexual intercourse, or men getting blown to pieces by grenades? Obscenity is usually in the mind of the reader.” ' ...Clive Barnesil97l A Peeved-Off Engineer.
beautifully to criticism and questioning.
“The most absurd, or rather ridiculous, is the Aca- demic Council which is to act as an advisory to the~ President to coordinate allnacademic matters. These include curriculum, allocation of resources, staffing, ’long-range academic planning. The composition of the , Academic Council will be determined by the President
(is this democratic?).
In the recommendations, the President states that it is his belief that an Academic Program Committee for Business Administration together with the Aca‘ demic Council will be the most effective way to, encourage‘meaningful interaction between Business and the rest of the University. It looks like the only interaction will be between Senate andthe committees. The entire Faculty of Arts is cut out of the discussion except for two token remarks.
And the most disturbing of all is that students are not mentioned at all in the recommendations regarding structural change, as it stands now. STUDENTS YOU SHOULD FIGHT FOR A SEAT ON THE , ACADEMIC COUNCIL. After all, curriculum changes
are the interest of the student.
It seem that space will not allow for more, but if there are further questions, please see the
President or the Editor or a
acuity member.
We do not mean to insinuate that the President is not doing his job properly. On the contrary, we think he should be commended for finally making an attempt to change some of the archaic structures around here, but the recommendations do need fur-
ther work.
Have a funny week and be strong.
The UPEI SUN aims to be an independent newspaper published weekly throughout the academic year by the“ UPEI Student Union, printed. by Williams § Crue Ltd, in Summerside and distributed throughout the campus and select spots in Charlotte- town.
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'The Staff meeting is Sunday night at 8pm in
THE SUN's office, fourth'floor
Main, east end. BE THERE 1! Thanks muchfiy to:
Cathy Parkman Nancy MacDonaldr Heather MacDougall Frances Smits Mike Evans Caroline Meincke Mike Armitage
Paul Robinson
Ross McDermott
Gary Fisher
for all the Slave duty they
Editor 1 Maureen Hartman,.
, ,...4
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