Letters. -=

THE LETTERS PAGE is your forum of discussion. Please make your submissions legible to persons other than yourself. All letters are printed verbatim including spelling errors. Deadline is Monday before 5:00 pm. Let- ters may be left at the SU office in the Barn, The Gem office Rm.01 Utility Bldg., sent through campus mail, or

sent via VAX mail to account GEM.

inhumane Behaviour

Editor:

I am deeply appauled at the inhuman incident which occurred at the Robertson Library on the night of 24 A wild duck which had been shot was

November.

found dead in the second floor ladies washroom. What had this innocent creature done to deserve this merci- less killing? It certainly de- served a nobler grave than

imagine who would perform such a savage act. To coldly murder on of Nature's gifts is monsterous! I’m outraged and furious to the point that I am unable to see clearly around this sad, sad injus- tice! I'm shocked to actually be in some sort of associa- tion with this satanic brute! It bloody well isn’t a humor- ous prank! Imagine, I con- sidered ALL people who at-

carefree RESPONSIBLE and loving ADULTS. I'm so sadly disappointed. And to real- ize that there are low scum among us who would actually harm an innocent creature is absolutely appauling! You're a savage. You’ve no excuse!

Kim Stright Senior Student Assistant

Robertson Library

a TOILET STALL! I can't

tended this institution to be

Fixed crossing and other concerns

Dear Editor:

I have deemed it necessary to put this letter into The Gem. I feel that we as a student body make our feelings known on the fixed crossing debate. In this it does not matter which side an individual takes, but to many are unwilling to add their voice to this debate. After the Christmas rush of exams and personal endeavers, it is critical that students, and professors speak out on this contentious issue. I know that many have done this, however it is critical that we all speak out.

As for the comments in last weeks Gem on my recent letter to the Gem, I must first say that I respect your opinion. I must also say I agree that the Globe and Mail, the the New York Times should not be compared to the Guardian. Yet the writer said that I was ridiculous in saying that the Guardian shouldn't be compared to these two magazines? To me we are both saying the same thing. Oh yes I admit that the Globe and The New York Times cover a great deal more, but they also have a wider readership.

Secondly I object to his ad hominem statement that I am narrow minded and con- servative. I realize that I did sound like I did not deem it necessary to carry National stories, but what I meant was that the Guardian, and Gem does not need to carry as many national stories. However, I do apologize for being vague on this point. Nev- ertheless I stand by the fact that the Gem has improved tremendously over the past year, and I congratulate the Editor on his fine work. To everyone at this University from the Freshmen, to the seniors, the Professors to the Janitors I wish everyone a very merry Christmas, a happy new year, and God bless you all.

Wendell Blackett

FROM THE EDITOR: Thank you Mr. Blackett for the praise. I must disagree with you. however, that. the Gem should carry less national stories. UPEI students must realize we are not the only post-secondary students on earth. We are part of a large community of students across the country and the world who share problems. All universities in Canada suffer from funding problems and a federal government only now waking up to the importance of the university. All university students are suffering under administrations that cut costs by hiring fewer and fewer professors and making do with lesser qualified lecturers. é

UPEI are affected by the events in other provinces. The Gem believes that UPEI students should know what their peers are up to at other universities: their problems, what solutions they have tried, how much their needs are also ignored by government. We can learn from them the events at other universities as well.

However. The Gem takes care that we print news happening at UPEI before we print national stories. We also try to select national stories of direct interest to this university. This term there has been so much UPEI news to report that we have had little space left for national stories, so I've increased the number of pages we print to accomodate them. Believe me, they are relevant to us at UPEI

‘LETTERS Cont. on page 5

“Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but, unlike charity, it should end there.”

- Claire Boothe Luce

Derrick Webber, Editor-in-Chief

Ian Mollison, Interim Production Editor Derrick Cameron, Advertising Manager Darrell Cole, Sports

Karen Cullen, Photographer

Jill Noonan, Typesetter

James Connolly, Systems Manager

STAFF MEMBERS:

Robert Bodrog, Dawne Chappelle, Kaberi Dasgupta, Cora-Lee Des Roches, Anne Irving, Bobbi Sue Keating, David MacKinnon, Ian Mol- lison, Lisa Murphy, Claire Murray, Sam Okello, Ellen Perry, Dan Mullen and Chris Vessey.

This Week’s Contributors:

Malcolm Gorrill, the Bios, the Engineers, The Starlyte Synthetic YuleTree Corporation, Steven Wynne, and Heather Hickey. Special thanks to brewer’s yeast, without who’s by- product the Gem could not be produced.

Deadline for submissions is Monday, 5:00pm

This is the last issue of The Gem for this term. Our next issue will be on Thursday, Jan- uary 7th. Watch for it!

_The GEM is published by the University of Prince Edward Island Student Union. Views ex- pressed are not necessarily those of the GEM

staff, the UPEI Student Union, or of anyone in particular.

We reserve the right to edit submissions.due to limitations of space or taste.

If you are interested in learning’ more about your student newspaper, drop on down to our office anytime or come to our regular meetings Monday at 6:00pm.

Our office is hidden in the UTILITY BUILD- ING, Rm.01. Follow the sound of the cursing. Phone 566-0629 or 566-0530 or send VAX mail to account GEM. ’

The GEM is a member of the Canadian Uni- versity Press.

r 3 1987