By Steven Ellis

OME STUDENTS AND FACULTY MAY NOTICE A change at the Robertson library, following the ten percent eduction in its budget for this fiscal year. A net of seventy-two riodical titles have been eliminated from the list of over 1700 riodicals that the library subscribes to, and those subscrip- ions begin to run out this month. Additionally, a full time ibrarian position was eliminated, and $400,000 less was udgeted for books.

The amount of money available for periodicals has not en changed from the amount budgeted in the previous year. ecause of an increase in subscription rates and a skyrocketing S exchange, a fifteen percent increase in this budget would ve been needed to maintain periodical services at their revious level.

Fewer periodicals at Robertson in 1995

None of the more familiar magazines and journals were cut this year. The Senate Library Committee, in co-operation with the academic departments, decided which periodicals had

Loew, I'M SoeRY, Bur Theres

to be cut based on usage. One hundred and forty two titles that had outlived their usefulness were eliminated. Enough money was generated that seventy new titles could be picked up, generating the net loss of seventy-two titles.

Chief librarian Dan Savage warned of the danger of further budget reductions. Savage said that further cuts could mean that even well used publications would have to be dropped.

At the same time, Savage was quick to point out library services that could compensate for the loss of periodicals. Many periodicals are accessible through interlibrary loan. Each student is entitled to five free inter-library loans per year, and each additional loan costs five dollars. The library is also

looking into electronic alternatives to the expensive hard-copy periodicals.

ttawa (CUP)

P TO 100,000 CANADIANS ARE EXPECTED TO icipate in a January 25 student strike against the federal

overnment’s proposed reforms of social programs.

’*Students are mobilizing across the country,’’ said Pam rache, national strike co-ordinator for the Canadian Federa-

ion of Students (CFS). ‘‘Even non-member campuses are loing something. There is a phenomenal resonance of action to ow the government.”’

The January 25 strike is one ofa series ftactics to pressure the Liberal government withdraw its plans to eliminate Ottawa’s 2.6 billion provincial transfer payments, . J. {... hich help fund post-secondary education. the proposed cut becomes government gislation, it will send tuition fees through e roof and force students to support heavy ebt burdens.

Demonstrations are scheduled for ancouver, Victoria, Lethbridge,Calgary, egina, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto, Guelph, udbury, Windsor, Kingston, Peterborough, itchener-Waterloo, Montreal,Halifax, tedericton and St. John’s.

That afternoon, seven universities and

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But Jean-Francois Venne, president of the University of Ottawa student council, says formal consultations have not worked. Ata Nov. 21 meeting with Human Resources Minister Lloyd Axworthy, only about 35 student leaders had access to the minister during a 45-minute discussion, Venne said.

**If they start a real consultation, we’ll stop all the protests and we’ll work through the channels that are put in place,’’ he said.

McGill Social Work student Melissa Redmond, a mem-

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arge turnout expected for January 25 Strike Day

logic and their vision of this country because it’s not one that includes us,’’ said Patterson.

Axworthy is scheduled to table his proposals when Parliament reconvenes Feb. 6. Many students fear that once that happens, itwill be too late to prevent them from becoming official policy.

The key to getting these proposals defeated is to prevent themfrom being tabled,’’ said Brad Lavigne, a vice- president with the Concordia Graduate Students Association. If you look at the history ofhow legislation is affected in this country, there is only one

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ollegesin Vancouver will be converging on ¢ Vancouver Art Gallery to march through

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wntown on a ‘treasure hunt’ to look for | | laces like corporateoffices where the gov- ent could find money to fund education. Toronto, students are expected to join in a ‘solidarity rally’ ith members from the National Action Committee on the tatus of Women and the Unemployed Workers’ Council, ong other supporters, In Ottawa, aprotest on Parliament Hill scheduled for noon. The CFS is also planning a march to the adquarters of Canada’slargest bank, Royal Bank, to protest tecord profits this year, and to the Business Council on ational Issues, a big-business lobby group. But some say the time has passed for student protests. Another protest would be detrimental,’’ said Chris non, a Carleton student union director. ‘‘Protests have a ce, but we have already had a protest [on Nov. 16]. Torepeat t is pointless.’’ Lennon said the student movement should Ncentrate on negotiating with the federal government to € federal reforms of social programs better for students. It [another protest] would be a big photo-op,”’ he said. € got the attention of the government in November, and we the attention of the Canadian people.”

ber of Students for Social Justice to Educate McGill Students about the Axworthy Reforms, believes the Ministry’s consul- tation methods --like a workbook students are meant to fill out -- are a smokescreen for the fact that basic decisions have already been made without regard for public opinion.

The workbook is a perfect example of someone else defining the agenda,’’ said Redmond. ‘‘Someone else is asking the questions and telling you what to answer. It says, ‘Here’s my vision of Canada. You tell me which parts you like.’ Turn it into your own form ofprotest. Don’t answer the questions because they’re going to be used to shoot you in the foot.”’

Keith Patterson, also a member of Students for Social Justice, sees protests like the one planned for January 25 as a crucial part of the ’’ consultation process.”’

**T think that the demonstration is not separate from -- it’s in addition to the consultation process. Challenging policy reform at a Parliamentary committee level is not enough. We need to challenge their rhetoric, their ideology, their faulty

example where once legislation is tabled it’s been changed. [There are actually two: proposals forindexing old-age pensions in 1985 and the Mackenzie Pipeline inthe late ’70s].”’

CFS chairperson Guy Caron says the CFS has obtained the supportof74 other organi- zations for the protest, including the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the Council of Canadians and several locals of the Cana- dian Union of Public Employees.

These three organizations and the Cana- dian Union of Postal Workers, the Cana- dian Labour Congress and the National Anti-Poverty Association signed a ‘State- ment of Solidarity’ January 12, in support of an accessible post-secondary education system in Canada.

And although one student association in Quebec, the Federation Etudiante universitaire du Quebec (FEUQ), has set its strike day for Feb. 7, the organization says it still encourages its members to hold ‘general assemblies’ against the reforms on January 25.

Still, FEUQ president Francois Rebello says the group will not encourage them to march January 25.

**We chose [to march] February 7 for a couple of reasons. First, the majority of CEGEPs open on January 22 or 23. Soif you have to organize something on January 25, it’s too late to do something with these colleges. Secondly, the Parlia- ment at Ottawa opens on February 6. So if you organize a big event before the opening of Parliament, it’s like talking to someone who isn’t there,’’ Rebello said.

The CFS represents 425,000 students in 69 colleges and universities nationwide. Organizers hope that all student asso- ciations, whether members of the CFS or not, will participate in the January 25 demonstration.