Student Union and cadre

_Distraction Leads To Serious Mistakes

7 SUL. { ‘LETTERS FROM EXILE The Cadre,

U.P.E.I.

Last semester the Cadre came into direpute with some of our Island citizenry. The issue concerned quality and journalistic respons- ibility-or the lack of it.

_ The comments I heard from some people suggested the Cadre was’ fast sinking into a gossip rag and "kiddie korner: nonsense _ sheet. Judging from the

_ few copies I received last semester I can un- derstand why.

Like the student union, the Cadre does not, nor can not enjoy student popular support until they both root themselves firm- ly in student issues of primary concern, namely: inflation, unemployment, housing, education spend- ing,health care, to. name afew. The rift between the union executive and ‘i the membership it pru- portidly represents , reflects a serious lack of communication and dis- regard (as well as ig-

-. norance) of the most press-— dng concerns for stud- ents as a whole.

es When the union executive like the Cadre editorship, -is divorced from the majority, what else can be expected but that ab- stract and generalized "issues" will be put for- ward which are of no. interest to students. The result? Apathy regarding political concerns and, where the Cadre is con- cerned, the editorial committee resorts to playful "journalism:. The Cadre and the

‘student union will earn

and maintain the sup-

port of the student body- as well as the respect of the Island people-if and when they properly identify the most pressing concerns of students as a whole and rally their support around the stnuggle. for resolutions _ to these problems. Other- «/wise neither the union = executive nor’ the Cadre have ® reason .for. being.

With this kind of unity

established it will be

both possible and necessary to establish al-

~liances with other progres= sive forces such as the P.EI Federation of Labour, Nation-

‘ i} it

al Farmers Union, etc. to. strengthen their influences for social and economic

‘advance through fighting in-

flation, unemployment, ‘stu- dent fees, etc. But their unity can be achieved on

a broad scale-student unity. If the student union ex- ecutive itself was organ- ized it could, if it saw the issues and the need for outside support, begin to establish broad unity.

These are issues of strategy and tactics for organization which the union and the Cadre should be fighting for. This would require constant con-

tact with the student

body-the only source of proper direction. Th en the Cadre would have its:.

‘proper task set out-ad-

vancing students rights of political equality, right to employment proper health care, etc.

~ Administration and gov-

ernment have, for many years,

succeeded in making students believe that while they're in university they should concern themselves only with their studies, and that they are temporarily detached from the world at large. Nonsense! You

must pay the going rate for all commodities and services. Every time prices go up your fixed "income" loses that much more power. You have to pay rent, buy books, equipment, and clothes. Yet

- you are financially prec

due to poor loans. And you are not @o defend your- selves? You are not to defend yourselves when you can seé with your own eyes that there are thousands of university graduates p unemployed or are in dead- - end, low-paying jobs? If you're like many others you fear for your future. You are to say nothing? But you will be expected to pay back you student laan! And to the same government whose educational and employment. policies have undermined our con- fidence in our future- Wouldn’t you think the UPEL administration (Baker and Co.) would care for student concerns? No, apparently they're not. Apart from protecting their own jobs they're in- — terested only’ with pre- venting students. from championing their: in- terests, becuase a con- frontation would weaken administrative authority. This would open the door

The Cadre, Feb. sin .1977,page 10

an integral part of it The union executive and

the Cadre-both the property a-nd responsibility of the student body-have a tre- mendous responsibility: t the student must demand they live up to it. N.B. DISCRIMINATION: It was revealed here re- cently that foreign students studying at the _ University of Toronto _must pay tuition fees. 250% more than Canadian

students! (Glowe and Mail and must demand an equal

share in it. Those who tell you otherwise seek _ to deter you from fighting for what is youts =by at- tempting to keep you po- litically ignorant and disarmed.

by students in such mat-— ters as greater student representation on Senate, Board of Governors, etc. This would scare the* hell out of Baker and

his government cronies. And they justify denying democracy to students by telling them they are incapable of greater re- sponsibility. Treat them like children and hope- fully they'1l act that way! The U.S. govern- ment has a similar pdélicy regarding blacks. And

the Canadian government treats our native peoples similarly.

No, students are not separate from the rest of the society: they are

that man bolt

SUNDAY NIGHT 8 PM. DUFFY

Car Rally Results

Jessie Wheatley & Pearl MacCallum 3 rd prize : Donnie Cameron & Donnie McLean 4 th priz-e : Rus Melanson & John Vessey Best Female Team : Jessie Wheatley & Pearl MacCallum Booby Prize : Paul Currie & Derek Key

Last Saturday's car rally 2 nd prize : was a tremendous success, aside from the misguided directions which seem to have baffled most participants. Some did finish the tough -course, however, and the following ws the list of winners :

1 st prize : Paul Taylor & Robert Coles

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