Letters

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Letters to the Editor

This letter was sent to the Gem for publication. Stu- dents should find it very in- teresting.

On the evening of March 6/90 I was listening to the lo- cal t.v. program “Compass” and I couldn’t believe what they are saying — the essence of the program was that the students aré. going to be kicked out of the UPEI residences for approx- imately one month next year so that athletes from the Canada Winter Games can be accommo- dated during their stay on PEI, and two to three weeks are go- ing to be added to the University school year to make up for the loss to the academic program.

Mr. Connolly, you have been selected by the citizens of PEI to be our voice in matters re- garding education. Your job title does not include assisting Island tourism, the economy of Char- lottetown, or the world of Na- tional athletics in general. We the people have put you in your position because at the time of the last election it seemed that you would be a good represen- tative of whatever Department the Premier chose to use you in. From where I stand, you are do- ing a hell of a poor job when you allow University student to be pushed out of their place of ed- ucation merely to accommodate what amount to public entertain- ment. Where has your common sense gone when you will allow mere games to come ahead of a young man or women’s career preparation program, just to pro- vide short term amusement to a few citizens of Charlottetown and what ever number of stragglers that might come to the Island

from the mainland.

If it is necessary for anyone to be housed off campus, then house the athletes in local Charlotte- town homes. Don’t do-this to the students who will be faced with additional travel and economic problems and with the fact that even if they are able to arrange short term housing, it may not have the privacy that is required for serious study. Bear in mind the Games are after all ONLY games, whereas the students are working on their careers, have paid for a certain amount of edu- cation and should not be cheated out of one minute of it.

This is serious business, these students are working on their fu- tures in a mature and adult man- ner, yet our Dept. of Educa- tion thinks nothing of cutting into their year like cutting a deck

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of cards, withdrawing a packet, removing a bunch of cards, and putting what is left at the bottom of the deck. this is a hell of a way to run an education system, and is symptomatic of the low regard the Government of this Province has for the educational system in general.

You may think that it is no big deal that two to three weeks will be added to the end of the University year, but a large percentage of student work dur- ing the Summer months to ear enough to continue their educa- tion the following year. Many of these student hope to get jobs in other Provinces. What chance will these students have in the job market if they arrive at the job site two to three weeks late? By allowing this damaging

Lucky To Be a

Due to the onset of midterms, this article had to be delayed for a couple of weeks. The first three articles pointed out prob- lems that I saw here at UPEI. Of course, despite these I do feel lucky to be a student at UPEI.

Some have taken offence to my last’ three articles, but- if people don’t point out things that aren’t working the way they should, how would we ever see im- provement?

Here are, in my opninion, UPEI’s good points:

1. The most obvious has to be the new field house. It has racket ball and squash courts, a well equiped weight room, a running track, saunas and many more wonderful things.

2. The size of UPEI. Because UPEI has such a low student population, professors have more time to spend with students on individual problems. Also, other staff members can get to know many of the students on first name basis, making their jobs easier and the students feel more like they matter. Small classes al- low people to get to know the ma- jority of their classmates.

3. Bernadine Hall is a nice place. We have kitchnettes on each floor, cable tv, and lots of Hall spirit.

4. Speaking of Bernadine Halli, a rezl benefit are the two ladies who take care of the build- ing, Mary and Brenda. They are always friendly and eager to help students with any problems. I can’t speak for the other two res- idences.

the year that the Games are in, but you are potentially removing from many students the opportu- nity to continue in the following year due to the lack of money. Oh yes I know they can always fall back on student loans, but you and I both know that they are not

always available to every student, and when they are available, they

often are not enough to pay for all the requirements of the Uni- versity year.

However, disregarding the availability of student loans and their percentage of coverage, what right have you or anyone else to force student to borrow more than they would have nor- mally needed just so you can be a patron of the games? It is not right that the Univer- sity students should have to

subsidize these games. If the citizens of Canada want Winter Games, then let them bear All the cost themselves. Not one mo- ment of the students Educational time, or one penny of their money should be used in the pursuit of these games.

Mr. Connolly, this is serious business — and is not a matter that can be glossed over, or the buck passed on to someone else. In the end the people of PEI have chosen you and you have accepted the job of over—seeing the educa- tional system of PEI. The people of PEI expect you to do your duty and rectify this travesty before it goes any farther.

Yours Sincerely, Charles P. Cavanagh

student AT’ UPEI!?!

5: Campus improvement. The vet college, food center and new field house have given UPEI a new look since I arrived in my freshman year. Main building has been renovated and looks like a completely new building. Along with addition of new buildings and repair of the old, the cam- pus has retained an old fashioned, scenic look.

6. Our sports teams. 7. The library. The staff are very helpful and friendly. We

Editorial Dear UPEI Students

I arrived at my office last Monday only to be met with nu- merous complaints and crude let- ters about last week’s supple- ment on Gay/Lesbian issues. Do you people do anything but com- plain!!?

To be honest, I’m absolutely disgusted. Look at this from my point of view. In the past we have run articles which were crude (but funny), and people complained. We’ve printed funny cartoons, and people complained. We omitted cartoons last week, and people complained. We’ve printed articles which were ob- viously offensive to women be- cause people complained. We’ve printed supplements on women’s issues, and men complained (but didn’t want to write anything on men’s issues). We've printed sports, and people have com-

4 have at our disposal a wide vari- ety of books, journals and other reference material. What isn’t available the library will either order or obtain through an inter- library loan.

I’m sure that UPEI has many other good points as well, such as school spirit. For these reasons, as well as my affection for Prince Edward Island, I do feel lucky to be a student at UPEI. Of course, it does, like any other campus, have it’s problems.

CC

plained the Gem has too much sports. We’ve printed fewer sports articles and people have complained that we don’t print enough sports. We print what U.P.E.I. students submit and people complain that there is nothing worth reading. We don’t print anything on the rights of minorities, like homosexuels, and people complain that the Gem is afraid to tackle any of the issues that are out there. So for two weeks in a row (Oh no!! God for- bid!) we’ve printed issues that cover homosexuel issues, to try and make up for the times we ignored them, and people com- plain!!! What do you people want anyway?!? Maybe you would like to come in to my office and help put the paper out each week, and

then have to listen to people com- _

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Editor-in-Chief:

Terri Lyn Hall Production Editor: Dave MacKinnon Advertising Manager: Jim McGrath Photographer:

Sue Rigney Typesetter:

Simon T. Berge Circulation Manager: Ian Wood

Graphics Editor: Liam Whitty

CUP Editor:

"Matthew Willis -

Chief Technical Liaison: John Doucette

Layout Personnel: Kheng-Wee Wah

Submission Policy

We reserve the right to

- edit submissions due to taste

and/or space limitations and not to print submissions that are submitted after the dead- line of Monday at 3:00pm. Submissions to the GEM be- come the property of the GEM unless other arrange- | ments have been made. All submissions can be submit- ted to the GEM through the GemSlot on the office door in Main Building Room B06 or through the VAX to account GEM. (We cherish typed submissions.) Those which are libelous, racist, ho- mophobic, or attempt to in- cite violence or hatred toward a particular person or group will not be printed.

Any member of the uni- versity community can make a contribution to The GEM, but the editor also reserves the right to print submissions from outside the university community.

The staff of the GEM can be seen in their natural habi- tat in their basement office in Main Building, room BO6. We can also be contacted by voice by calling 566-0629, or leaving a message with our secretary at 566-0530.

The GEM University of PEI

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