“The King is Dead, Long Live the King! “Should Old acquaintances be forgot... “ “One Chris to Another...”

Witty catch-phrases such as these were popular this week as the student body adjusted to a chang- ing of the guard in the Student Union. I would like to add another phrase that, in my humble opinion best describes my _ sentiments towards our new President.

“Better the Devil you know than the Devil you don’t...”

The Devil we knew was, of course, Chris Burns. Though he may not be a Rhodes scholar, he was certainly passionate about his university. To this day, he stands as the only politician I have ever heard say “I was wrong.” In parting to you, Mr. Burns, I offer a reminder that no one understood Nixon either. Then there is the Devil we don’t know. Shrouded in mystery, Chris Gray re- mains an enigma to most students. So what do we know about our new SU President?

We know that, in the first semester, Mr. Gray was formally taken to task by the SU Executive for his apparent lack of work. Those who inherit his duties as VP External can certainly breathe a sigh of relief. There does not seem to be that much to do. It may seem surprising to the average human being,

SACRED COWS

By Peter Gillis

though, that someone whose work-habits are sus- pect would be ‘promoted’; but remember -- this is politics we are talking about.

We know that Mr. Gray thinks little of the opinions of students. Last semester, when the SU was discussing a tuition in- crease, a motion was put forth requesting a referen- dum that would ask stu- dents if they accepted a hike in their fees. Mr. Gray tried to turn the referendum into a non-binding plebi- scite. (For those of you not familiar with these types of votes, the difference is the following. A referendum says: “Tell us what to do.”, while a_ plebiscite says: “Tell us what to do; but don’t expect us to listen.”)

Furthermore, he ques- tioned the validity of a referendum when, on aver- age, only 10% of students cast a ballot. After being reminded that he himself was elected with only 10% of student support and to question the validity of a referendum would ques- tion the validity of his own seat on council, his answer ran somewhere along the lines of “Oh, but that’s different.”

We know he thinks the Panther Prints is a waste of student money, and we know he was involved in the decision to ax CIMN support. Yet, all of this knowledge pales in

comparison to the greatest

The Panther Prints 6* Opinion

January 21, 1997

truth -- we, the students at exactly where you stand tell us where you stand,

UPEI, now have a presi- dent that we did not put into the position, who has the power to affect our lives and pocket books for the next few months; and we ‘know’ absolutely nothing about his goals, policies, and positions on student issues. Nothing. Be afraid. Be very, very, afraid.

So, Mr. Gray, I offer you a Challenge. I have rapped your face with a leather glove and thrown the gauntlet at your feet. I challenge you to publicly state, in print, and without use of a thesaurus or any fancy sayings like “I am very concerned about...” or “We are seriously looking into the possibilities...”,

on:

(a) The building fund and any potential increases in our tui- tion in relation to it. Will you fight a mandatory donation, or will you support it?

(b) UPEI member- ship in CFS;

(c) The horrible state of Robertson Library; (d) CIMN funding; (e) and anything else that may touch our lives as students.

If you ‘do not’ tell us where you stand, then you will give us a reason not to trust you. If you ‘can not’

then you will give us a reason to wonder what you are doing in the job in the first place. Finally, if you ‘will not’ tell us where you stand, then you will give us a reason to assume that you, sir, are no different from every other patroniz- ing politician who is elected to represent the people and only end up representing themselves.

Traditionally, new leaders are given a little honeymoon to get their affairs in order. Seeing there are only _ twelve weeks left in the school year, I would say that your honeymoon ends_ right about -- now. We await your response.