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job boards, or help when preparing for that interview. Recruiters will no longer be able to come to our campus to do interviews; the cost will now rest on the students to travel to Moncton, Halifax, Toronto, for the job interviews. I feel the minister responsible for Employment and Immigration, the Honourable Bernard Valour, has made a bad call by closing most of the campus centers and taking away this invaluable service to thousands and thousands of students across our country. Are we not part of that group trying to enter the work force?

More good news. The province is giving the Univer- sity a zero percent increase in funding for the 1992-93 year, which happens to be against the recommenda- tions of the MPHEC -Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission. This freeze is occurring in all the maritime provinces. About one thousand students from Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, recently held arally ata Board of Governors meeting that was supposedly going to pass a tuition increase of 10% for 1992. When that percentage is added to 1991’s increase it equals a 35% increase in tuition in - just two years. Here, at UPEI we are not facing that drastic a hike and dig into our pocket books. How- ever, foreseeably, we will be looking at about another 5% increase - 20% increase of tuition in two years. Can we afford this? Can we afford not too?

I was once told that students complain too much and are not grateful for what they are receiving - an edu- cation. Well, I strongly disagree. Yes, we are very grateful for the opportunity to study and obtain a more global education, but when that right is slowly being taken away from us, we do not complain about it, rather we stand up and fight for ourselves and generations to come.

Post secondary education is (was) no longer only for those who come from the very rich and elite. Every person no matter of race, colour, or religion had the right to an education. Today our society demands that people be educated! No longer isa high school di- ploma enough; whether it be university, college, ora technical school, education is becoming required so one may enter the competitive work force. This leaves students at a fork in the road - down one we see university, college and university learning; down the other we see huge student loans, working part- time jobs into out academic/study schedules, mini- mum wage for summer jobs that are to supplement the remaining amount of dollars not supported by Federal loans and Provincial grants; and after graduation huge student loan payments for the next ten years.

UPEI X-P RESS

January 16, 1992

Nowlamcomplaining. Canadaisinarecessionand | I do not foresee and quick changes in consumers | spending. PEI has been hurting for the last couple of years as tourism has gone down. People are just not travelling or spending as much as they used to; such factors as GST, a provincial sales tax our dollar make people thrifty with their money. Most Tourist opera- tors and operations depend on the summer months of June, July, August for their livings. Operators are scared to hire staff (most often students off for school break) in case of loosing more money. Thus, students do not have that needed summer job. Many have to resort to UI just to live for those months, then rely ona part-time job and loans to try and make it through the academic year and the cycle continues. When university tuition and fees are raised EVERY year, but the Federal Student Loan program, the Provincial Bursary, Minimum wage are not raised to meet these increasing demands, what happens then? More part-time and mature students and students attending school ona rotational basis - school one year, work the next year to pay for the following. NOT!

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Our Federal Government spends approximately 5% on © education. The United States over 20%. Will we get | . the funding from our governments when universities 7 have no more services to cut, capping ofenrolment — and classes are at an end, when tragedy strikes? | Please explain to me how there is never andy money ~ | for what is needed now, but when Hell breaks loose, or someone looses their life, answers to problems and :

money is miraculously found?

Jo-Anna Murphy student

SO MUCH FOR THE GREENHOUSE PRRB Ci 2

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