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Intruducthty

I NINE“, ‘ .-, a4»

finnuivbmhs‘: "Stan Daltoti.

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“.5 "(Toronto

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As many of you will re— _ member, The Cadre carried this

column throughbut the academic year'75-76; *In my introductory

column of last year I exe

plained that the title "Letters

from Exile" did.not mean that I was 'exiled' by any court ' of laNV,-that is to say, in

a legal sense. However, due to high unemployment and the seasonal natureof most jobs, it was impossible to find work thus forcing me to leave my home Island and look for

a living elsewhere. I came to Toronto, where I had worked before entering UPEI in 1970. '

The policies of the Campbell

government(orrather, the laCk of them) under his infamous. "development plan" do not

'in any way, provide for full. employment of Islanders. Many, many others, like

me, are forced to leave P.E.-I. to obtain a living when they would rather stay. They are, therefore, just

as effectively exiled as though

it were decreed by a court judge .’

Most students at UPEI today are faced with the' same threat of,economic exile

as I was. They are concern— ed with whether or not they

upel fight 5 .We got the team thats dressed green and white, We got the team that gonna win tonight,> "_ We got the Island fans and all_the luck, Cause we got the team~ that sure can fffffff

'f

f

f f - I Fight for our honor and preserve our tradition,. Scoring(baskets, goals, t.d.) .thats our ammunition, V We got the Panther hungries and we'll never quit, N0 team can touch us causé they're full of sh-sh—sh

. n sh

sh-

' sh sh ." sh _ r ' . Sharp-shobters and they think they can score,1

LETTERS FROM EXILE ' The Cadre, , '

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P.E.IL

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W111 be permitted to stay. on the Island among their ‘ family“and friends to pursue a future of material benefit\to fellow Islanders as well as themselves. , I, and others like me, are waiting for employment opportunities to develop_ back home so we may return. I hate Toronto and big city life. it is foreign to me; but worst of all, those among whom I grew up and know so well are either 1 back home or are scattered throughout the_country and the U.S. ,

But worse still, the policies of the Trudeau and Campbell governments are designed to educate the people in the hinterland (underdeveloped) areas- such as to mkae them ir- relevant to their.native areas. We are being ed— ucated so we will serve the capitalists interests in the industrial centers like Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, etc. Our '

‘education is purposefully

made irrelevant to our native areas for the purpose of keeping these areas‘under- developed so that foreign

But we've got the defense

_that’ll show—em the door,

The whistle is blown, we're taking the rap, A penalty on us? The ref's full of cr—cr—cr cr cr cr cr Crazy calls telling our coach to sit down, V ' But our team‘s busy beating them into the ground. We explode into victory like

. a big earthquake, '

But always extended is

_the Panther handshake.

’ Why oh why is the other 'Vteam's cry, ..We simply answer with

.E. E

U. U. U

P I. P I. P. .I.

(Faster and faster)

«

MarkVVickersr

n

I

Co'lum nzThe "‘Purp'ose .of‘Le tite-

capital_(from Toronto&U.S.) can more easily exploit these areas.

Not only are they not interested in our people' getting educated so they can

themselves develop their

native area, they are hostile to_itu They don't want the people to assume control of what is right- fully theirs—the land , education, etc. The ca- pitalists (whom our gov— ernments serve) want'to maintain their control over there resources so they can maintain their profits. Their interests and the peoples interests

'are diametically opposed,

Right now the dictator— ship by the capitalist class—a minority class- prevails.

This muSt change in favour

‘of theinterests of the

majority—the people:

workers, farmers, fishermen

students- if the needs of

our people are to be met. No capitalist government

will ever do it, that

much is certain . As

history haS'proven time and

again in many countries

(including our own) the

only gains the egople

make are those that they

themselves fight for.

Thus Oct. l4th-Thus

the'General Strike of

1919 in Winnipeg. Thus

the 8 hours Bill; un—

»employment Insurance;

Family Allowance; Old Age and Widow's Pensions; Workmen's Compensation; the Right to Collective

'Bargaining, and many many

more.

To fightback we must be organized: there is nothing so Weak as the strength of one. We must be organ— ized so we can struggle for vital reforms to improve our standard of living. Unemployment and high living costs will.remain as long as labor, farmers,

'and students remain un—

organized—for it is only .when organized and

united do we constitute ourselves as‘ a power.

The UPEI Student's Union

has been historically con— cerned with campus problems; it has rarely if ever been effectively organized to deal

with the vital problems con- cerning students in the areas of democracy fbr'stu— dents (ther's only 5 stud— ents on Senate, one-on the board of Governor's 'and similar token represent— atives on other decision making bodiesf. '

More over, these dis— crepancies are built into

rs From'Eine’

the University Oct. This Oct. must be changed to favor students. Mind

you, the university author— ities will permit, even demand, that students have

a say, but when it comes time to make concrete de— cisions suddenly the student are considered too im- ,mature or inexperienced to make such decisions. This was my experience on

Senate. From my study of the Cadre these past two years and discussions with

‘students this isstill the

case.

Students interests go beyond the campus. They are" concerned about jobs, housing, taxes, as well as a thousand other things. Their union must represent them in these interésts which is why the Student Union must organize a say in . labor,farming, fishing, as well as invite these other sectors to a voice in the university. Students as well as workers and all other sectors- must pay the same prices for Commodities, the same rents, taxes, etc. They are all victims of in- flationary prices, there— fore since they have a ~common problem it is necessary for these dif— . ferent sectors to UNITE ON A BROAD ALLIANCE TO FIGHTBACK. The students union can no longer just concern itself with the students problems they're studying; it mUSt look beyond the university so as to help lay the groundwork for "life after university".

Students constitute a minority, they are a tran- sient group (4¥year life span) and, thanks to administration policy, are segregated from the rest of the Society. This must be changed.

"Letters From Exile" will deal with these issues throughout the year and will articutate the al- ternative and the strategy and tactics for achieving it. We will be examining the nature of our class— divided society and how that give rises to your problems at UPEI as well / as contrasting it with developments in the Socialist countris such as the U.S.S.R.,Cuba, East German, Socialist Republic of Vietnam,etc.

What you have to say regarding this column is important, so please scrutinize it carefully and dont hesitate to critisize it.

V