The Cadre + 27 October 1998

UPEI News 3

User fees implemented for inter-library loans

By MELLISA DOUCETTE

Students and faculty of UPEI must now pay a user fee for Inter-Library Loans (ILL). Undergraduate students pay $2 foreach ILL, while faculty, graduate students, and outside borrowers pay $3.

Under the old system, the first five ILL’s were free to undergraduates. For subse- quent loans, the library ab- sorbed the first five dollars of the cost, and the student paid the rest. Now, the $2 user fee per loan isthe only one charged to undergrads.

Dr. Marva Sweeney- Nixon, Biology Professor, con- tends that her department is not well equipped to reimburse students for ILL expenses accrued for class work.

Often, biology students find they need to travel to Dalhousie University to con-

duct research, continues Sweeney-Nixon.

In addition, faculty, graduate students, and outside borrowers must pay the cost of the ILL as well as the user fee. Depending upon where

the ILL comes from, ILL costs | can run anywhere from $5 to |

$20 per loan. In the opinion of some faculty, the user fee coupled

with the increasing cost of |§

ILL’ sisdiscouraging thorough- ness in research for all mem-

bers of the university commu- |

nity

Sweeney-Nixon, who feels that budget cuts critically effect research, teaching, and stu- dents.

Dr. Irene Gammel of the English Department comments that many professors are con- sidering travelling to Toronto

“The library is essential ™ to campus activities,” notes

or Boston for research pur- poses. “It is becoming increas- ingly difficult to conduct seri- ous research [at UPE!),” adds Gammel.

Dr. Roger Gordon, Dean of Science, comments that publishing is fundamental fora professor's career stability and promotion in today’s highly competitive market.

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But the library staff feel they had little choice in the decision to implement a user fee.

- Photo Richard Haines

Student union general meeting given little attention

By MELISSA DOUCETTE

A spirit of resounding in- difference characterized the

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first UPEI Student Union (SU) General Meeting of the year. The Pit was no more crowded than usual, and most students

seemed to be disinterested or of the meeting.

unaware of the proceedings.

The poor attendance may be due to a lack of promotion

According to the UPEI

SU Constitution, Article XIV (F), all General Meetings re- uire proper notice given rough the campus radio and the student newspaper. No- tice of date, place, and agenda must be publicized in two con- secutive editions of the paper.

Quorum — the number of students needed to declare an official General Meeting—must also be met. If there is no quorum, another general meet- ing must be held in that semes- ter, as the SU is required to host a minimum of one per term.

Under Article XIV (C), this number is set at five per- cent of the Active Members, roughly around 100 students.

The UPEI SU speaker is also obliged to officiate all Genera! Meetings.

But notice of date, place, and agenda of the UPEI SU was not placed in two con- secutive issues of The Cadre. The UPEI SU speaker did not preside over the General Meeting, and it is not known if quorum was met.

The meeting agenda was fairly limited, consisting of a

eneral introduction to the un- ion, reports from the SU Ex- ecutive, and announcements.

Out of all the Executive, Vice-President Pauline Tran tried to inject some vigour into the listless crowd. Many paid little attention to the happen- ings, and one person yelled,

*Continued on page 4