Of Potholes and Draught

I have two beefs in which I would like to address in this issue of the X-Press; the first concerns the massive craters located in various areas across campus, especially at the Belvedere en- trance (the one I always use). I mean, come on guys, somebody is responsible for this crap not being looked after and I’m quite sure this guy or gal is getting a hefty chunk of change to look after things like this. Let’s just get it out in the open and see if things will take care of themselves without going around tracking down who is responsible for repairing the roads.

My second beef may not be a concern of as many students, but it really gets my goat. It’s the issue of Myrons mysteriously running out of draught every single weekend at about 12orso. NowI may notruna nightclub myself, but think that whoever does down there should sit down for a few minutes and get the old calculator out or something. I myself am a bit P.O.’d about the :act that someone down there seems to think that once we get a tew in us we won’t mind paying $3.65, plus atip for Al, foracold one. Well, this little note is just to let you know. that I do care and that the Playhouse will open again....perhaps it’s time to shop around if that’s the way your patrons are going to be treated. Thank you for attention. Dry & Bumpy

Are you looking for fame and friends? Hot nights with hot dates? POWER? Then join the hockey team. Onthe other hand, if you are looking to churn your charming cynicism into free- floating hostility, or you are Une COE CO ME Car twisted mental thoughtsin print then SUBMIT TO THE X- PRESS! Here's what you need to do:

PURO Ste rome COL sticking place;

2. WRITE. About anything! WSR MEU LCRU UO OR how bad your cat's litter box smells, ANYTHING!

3. Put your name and number

on it;

4. Bring it down to the X-Press office either printed out orona RY es

5. Putitin the submissions slot. SIMPLE!

OYTO MSD RSTO Res Phursday 4:00pm!

Some Readers May Be Offended

Mature Content!!

By Rory O’Connor and Danielle Christensen

As fourth-year students ‘who have both been heavily involved in many aspects of the Student Union throughout our university careers, we have had the chance to work with many bright, creative and talented people. These people are genuinely interested, and work ‘hard to improve the situation of their fellow students. But due to structural deficiencies in the organization, their efforts are often of limited effectiveness. We would like to point out some of the problems we have encountered in hopes of generating discussion that will im- prove the situation. As we see it, the Student Union acts in four main areas: Services (SWAP, Health Plan, etc.); Sub-organiza- tions (CIMN, X-Press, Yearbook, etc.), Lobbying on behalf of students; and maintaining ongoing communications with stu- dents. We have encountered :few problems with the delivery of services, so for the purposes of this article we will ignore them.

communication. For starters, lobbying cannot be effe without an understanding of student concerns. A great d non-participation by students is written offas apathy, and students are indeed apathetic. Others, however, may not an interest in or agree with particular issues or ma) understand either how to get involved or what they wou expected to contribute. The SU has unfortunately not effective at getting the word out on such key topics. There are many reasons why the SU has a hard effectively communicating with students. Due to space li tions we will analyze two important ones: the structure SU, and the job of SU promotions coordinator. From thei contact with their would-be constituents, potential SU cor lors limit communications with students. In our time at | few individuals running for council (with the exception of running for executive) have ever made a speech at the C dates Forum, or even publi

While we have encountered problems within the sub-or- ganizations, we also see posi- tive attempts to resolve them. For the purposes of this article, we would prefer to concentrate on the areas of lobbying and communication, because these areas have a direct impact on all of the student body.

In all of the lobbying efforts we have witnessed at UPEI, few have attracted more than 20 students, most of whom

In our time at UPEI, few individuals running for council (with the exception of those running for executive) have ever made a speech at the Candidates Forum, or even publicized their cam- paign! These individuals have com- monly relied on,a low voter.turnout (largely composed of friends) to land them in office.

their campaign! These indi als have commonly relied low voter turnout (largely posed of friends) to land th office. As a result, most stu are unaware of who is repr ing them on council. On council, these councillors s truly represent their consti (either expressing their vie council or updating them o' rent news). While most co lors work extremely hard i positions (through commi

were SU councillors! This is

not areflection of the efforts of the organizers themselves, but rather the accepted methods of organizing. All the posters in the world are just dead trees if they don’t tell people what’s going on. In one recent example, arally was held in the Panther Lounge against the Axworthy reforms. Many posters were up all over campus, advertising free food and beverages and live music, but they didn’t mention that it was to protest cuts to post- secondary education. Local media outlets turned out in force

‘and gave heavy exposure tothe 10 or 12 students who were there

to listen to the speakers. The publicity regarding an apparent lack of concern was not necessarily the best message to send to the government and the public at large. Unfortunately, this level ofattendance is something we have seen repeated through- out our university careers. We'd like to offer a few ideas to improve the situation. Many of these ideas involve communi- cation and publicity and will be discussed later, but some others deal specifically with lobbying

The first and most important of these is advance plan- ning. It is impossible to adequately alert the media and students to an event when the organizers themselves don’t know what it will involve, where it will be held, who, when, and how. All of these particulars should be in place several weeks before an event.

The next aspect is numbers. If you can’t guarantee a number of students at an event, say 50 or 75, don’t hold it. A poorly attefded event wil! undermine your position, however strong it is.

Another consideration is focus of lobbying efforts. When planning anevent, focus on the issues as they relate to the students of this university in their daily lives. As well, don’t overwhelm students with protest after protest. Pick some issues and stick to them. Students onl, have so much energy to spend.

All of the effectiveness of lobbying is dependent on

meetings, etc.) the structure and culture of the council hav them from adequately representing and reporting to stu

SU President Andrew MacPherson, recognizin problem, has investigated the possibility of having coun represent departments as opposed to having a number rep one faculty. If implemented, this may lead to a more gras government with better communication between studet} council. :

Another problem is publicity. Itseems the S.U.1 fund extended hours for the publicity coordinator. Mo! signs about events litter the university, keeping studet! easily seeing what is new. Perhaps if old signs were 1 when new ones were put up, students would not have '0 as hard to find out what is currently going on. Like! scrolling pixel signs in the Pit and the Panther Loung* be updated each week (as opposed to every few mo! we’re spending money on them, they should be used. ing publicity would increase awareness of events 0? An increase in awareness obviously increases the ch student participation on campus.

There are many other problems, and an eve? number of possible solutions. We cannot possibly ©oV" all here, but a committee is being organized to look it" of the problems of lobbying and communication, i? ° present the Student Union with some possible solutions article has led you to think about the problems 2 constructive solutions, feel free to get involved. There“ be two committee meetings, so the commitment wil painful. In addition, you may help improve the awa” involvement of future students at UPEI. To help imp Student Union leave your name with Betty at the 0530). Now that you’ ve gained awareness of the eve"

pate!