The Gem

Editor's Message

Dear UPEI Students,

I didn’t think the day would ever come but its here, the last issue of the semester. Its been a long hard year at the Gem but I would like to think that we’ve made an impression on the students. We’ve tried a few new things this year as you all have noticed, and for the most part we have met with great success. Sure there have been complaints, but no matter what we do or how well we do it, there will always be somebody who thinks we could have done it better. UPEI is a very small university and I think it is fair to say that it ts also a very conservative university. We have taken a chance by printing articles which editors in the past have not even attempted. Yes, this might be a little fool hardy, but I assure each and every one of you that tt was not my intent to offend anyone. There are many things which we do not feel especially comfortable talking about, but.does that mean we should ignore them? I think not. We have tried to cover issues like homosezuality and female sezuality to the best of our ability. I would also like to point out that for every one of you that complained about the subject mat- ter or language used, there were three people who commended us for it. Students do not want to read teztbooks in their spare time, nor do they want to read the Globe and Mail, for the most part. Some people have been trying to mold the Gem into either of the above. It is not our duty to cover the news like the Globe and Mail or to write in a textbook like manner. It is our duty to print articles which are of interest to students, and to write in a language that students can understand. Articles do not have to be educational in order to please students, and sometimes the articles which some feel are offen- sive are the ones the students want to read. Once again I would like to say that we did not intent to offend anyone, and I feel that the entire Gem staff did a damn good job this year considering our lim- ited resources and fossil-like equipment. Hopefully this year’s Gem has been an eye opener for some.

I would like to thank everybody who has contributed to the Gem this year in any way. This in- cludes all the paid Gem staff (you all did a great job), layout volunteers (we couldn’t have done it without you), all you regular contributors (your hard work is much appreciated), and most of all you, the students of UPEI who read the paper. I also would like to express my thanks to the Student Union for making the Gem possible. We would have never made it through the year without all your

advice and support.

Remember, the Gem belongs to the students of UPEI. If you don’t contribute you are only hurt- ing yourself. But if you want a really great student newspaper we need everybody to pull together and work hard. I think that we accomplished a great deal this year but there is still so much more to do. The plans I have for the future of the Gem cannot be accomplished without the help of the students. If you volunteered this year, we love you! but if you didn’t, please make a point of it nezt year. Every contribution, no matter how great or small, makes a significant difference in the quality of “your” student newspaper.

Good luck with your ezams, have a wonderful summer, and see you in the fall, To all graduating students, good luck with your job search and don’t forget the good ole university that made it possible!

Editor-in-Chief: Terri Lyn Hall

Production Editor: Dave MacKinnon

Advertising Manager: Jim McGrath Photographer: _ Sue Rigney Typesetter: Simon T. Berge Chief Technical Liason: John Doucette

CUP Editor: Matthew Wiilis Graphics Editor:

Liam Whitty Feature Writer:

Candi Mackie

Circulation Manager: Ian Wood Layout Personnel: Kheng-Wee Wah Submission Policy

We reserve the right to edit submissions dué to taste and/or space limitations and not to print submissions that are submitted after the dead- line of Monday at 3:00pm. Submissions to the GEM be- come the property of the GEM unless other arrange- ments have been made. All submissions can be submit- ted to the GEM through the GemSlot on the office door in Main Building Room B06 or through the VAX to account GEM. (We cherish typed submissions.) Those which are libelous, racist, ho- mophobic, or attempt to in- cite violence or hatred toward a particular person or group will not be printed.

Respectfully yours,

fj ft 1) a, 4 draw U4) Ca ae: Terri Lyn Hall Gem Editor

Letters to the Editor

was disabled for first year course accounts. While ezperimenta-

duced by government and indus-

Any member of the uni- try are produced by word process- " Wa

versity community can make

I have read with disappoint- ber and March. This year,

ment the letter by Lloyd F.J. MacDonald in the previous issue. The letter ts a misrepresentation of the facts and an attempt to rally student support for a non- constructive agenda.

As a member of the Computer Advisory Committee (CAC), I would like to explain the re- cent measures taken to reduce the workload on the central comput- ing facility and relate these to an arising need for policy realign- ment,

During the past couple of years, computer usage at UPEI has grown at an ezponential rate. This is most noticeable in Novem-

November’s level caused consider- able system stress as witnessed by many complaints from students

about unacceptably slow computer response. As the March peak ap-

proached, it became clear that a capacity shortfall could only be avoided by taking immediate ac- tion to reduce the VAX workload.

The Director of the Computer Centre brought this concern to the Computer Advisory Commit- tee. It was this committee (not the Director, as Mr. MacDonald states) which identified and au- thorized the following “emergency measures”:

- Access to electronic mail

tion with Mail is common, there are no courses which require tt (and most students will read- ily acknowledge its use to be “leisurely”).

- Access to the Swing and Bulletin utilities were withdrawn from first year accounts. These utilities are not required by any courses (and very few first year students use them).

— The LATEX typesetting sys- tem was made unavailable to first year accounts. The production of typeset material is an expensive an unnecessary luzury (the vast majority of quality reports pro-

ing, not typesetting).

- Further issuing of personal accounts was suspended. Most universities do not support per- sonal accounts.

It should be emphasized that these measures must not be con- strued as long term established policy. It should also be pointed out, that performance statistics have since shown that the mea- sures were effective in preventing @ capacity crises.

The reasons for some mea- sures being applied to first year student accounts are not intended

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a contribution to The GEM, but the editor also reserves the right to print submissions from outside the university community.

The staff of the GEM can be seen in their natural habi- tat in their basement office in Main Building, room B06. We can also be contacted by voice by calling 566-0629, or leaving a message with our secretary at 566-0530.

The GEM

University of PEI

550 University Ave.

Charlottetown, PEI

CIA 4P3