The Cadre

October 28, 1997

Letter to the editor

Editor:

The last edition of The Cadre carried a letter I had written about an article by Kristen Patterson about the Take Back the Night March, as well as a response to my letter from Kristen. It is Kristen’s response that I would like to address at this time.

It seems apparent from the tone of Kristen’s response that she perceived my letter as an attack on her article and her personally. I’m sorry she felt that way, as that was certainly not my intent. I thought her article was excellent in many ways, and I applaud her participation and enthusiasm. My letter was written for two purposes. First, I wanted to assure her that her position as a “tomboy who loves men” was not really as unique as she may have thought. It is a common fallacy that women who speak out about male violence must therefore “hate men.” I am certain that all the women in that march have men in their lives that they love. Second, I wished to point out that her generalization about the women in the march -- regardless of whether generalizations are “part of reality” or not -- in fact marginalized many of the participants and gave a false characterization of the march. A number of women! spoke to said: “Well, I’m nota student, lesbian, or a housewife, so I guess I wasn’t there.” Generalizations should include a broad spectrum, and individuals should be able to identify themselves somewhere along that spectrum. An example of this was when Kirsten described people at the march as ranging in age from six to sixty. All the women and children who were at the march could place themselves somewhere in that range. It’s general but inclusive.

For the record, I would like to say that I also believe the inclusion of men in the movement is very important. How- ever, the Take Back the Night March is an event held to symbolize the strength and solidarity of women and to stress that women should be able to walk at night without the protection of men. Far from being “isolated,” men were encouraged to show support for the march in other ways (child care, providing drives, attending pre- and post-march gatherings, etc.). I believe it is okay for women to do some things on their own, just as I believe it is okay for men to do some things on their own. Most feminists I know would be thoroughly delighted if more men were to take an interest and participate in the struggle for equality.

Finally, while I believe Kirsten when she insists that she only writes “what is real and true,” I hope that as a journalist she will ask herself: Whose truth? and, Whose reality?

Sincerely, Trish Daley

questions? comments? newspaper@upei.ca

International rates rise at UPEI

By Suzanne Williams

As many are aware, the International student fee has been doubled for new main-campus_ students at UPEI. This was a change that took many people by surprise.

International students must pay the regular tuition fees plus another fee which is unsubsidized by the Cana- dian government. Canadian students do not need to pay this fee, since it has been subsidized for them already through Canadian taxes.

A couple of years ago, the government was still controlling what this interna- tional fee would cost. All of the money from the fee went straight to the hands of the government, which left no money for the universities. The reins of control have now been handed over to the universities themselves, and this money which comes from the fee now goes toward subsidizing the inter- national students’ education, as well as recruiting more international students and building more programs to ensure a better future for the university.

The main-campus in- ternational students now pay a fee of $1700 per semester on top of what is paid for tuition, books, residence, and the like. The fee was supposed to have been dou- bled last year, but a mistake occurred when a recruiter had the previous rate of $850 per semester printed up, so it was decided that the fee would be changed this year instead. When this rate was changed, it was meant to be brought in line with the

international fees of other Maritimes institutions, but if all the Maritime fees were to be exactly the same, UPEI’s fee would have had to been tripled.

The international fee for veterinary students is not the same as the fee for main-campus _ international students, however. The vet- erinary fee has originally been modeled after Tufts University in the United States, and is now the same as the fourth most expensive vet school in the States (whether or not Tufts still is). For first-year international vet students, the fee is an astounding $33,070 Ameri- can.

Surprisingly enough, with the fee having been doubled, UPEI still is not the most expensive institution in terms of an international fee.

One school with an extremely high fee is St. Mary’s University in Hali- fax. International students there pay two fees -- one to the university and one to the government. The govern- ment fee is $220 per course and the university fee is $370 per course. If an interna- tional student there were to take a full course load (ten courses per year), he or she would be paying $5900 just for the international fee.

This does seem to make UPEI’s $3400 main- campus international fee small in comparison. Ac- cording to Blaine Jensen in Student Development, On- tario institutions figure out their international fees by tripling or even quadrupling the rates Canadian students

pay. However, as far as Dr. Epperly is concerned, the international rates will not be changing again anytime soon.

The most likely reason why UPEI is not receiving as much money in interna- tional fees as other Maritimes institutions is because there simply aren’t as many inter- national students here. Out of 214 students in the veterinary college, 40 of them are international.

An even smaller per- centage is apparent on the main campus: out of 2,253 full-time students, 37 of them are from another country. This does not mean that all 37 paid the doubled rates this year, though: all main-cam- pus international students who were on campus last year are still paying $1700 for the entire year for their fee, which is the same as what they had paid last year.

Seeing the faces of other international students as well as the faces of the Canadian students, it is no- ticeable that we add to the value of the education here at UPEI. We teach our peers and professors about our cultures while we learn about Canadian cultures in return. As long as interna- tional students keep coming to UPEI, the students will be the best prepared for the real world as possible. Someday the university will be consid- ered an acknowledged re- source of the Island, and I hope that more international students will be as intrigued by and satisfied with the education received here at UPEI as I am.