PREMIER

PREMIER JOE GHIZ will be granted the hon- orary degree of Doctor of Laws during a special con- vocation ceremony to be held in November. The UPEI Senate has called the convocation to mark to hundredth anniversary of the arrival of the Lebonese to PEI, which is being cele- brated this winter.

The _ special “convoca- tion, scheduled for Novem- ber 29th, will confer de- grees on 15 students. These students are those who have completed degree re- quirements since the last convocation was held in May. Ordinarily, such stu- dents. would have to wait until the following May for

convocation. 5

UPEI President C.W.J. Eliot first proposed the spe- cial convocation and sug- gested Ghiz at the first Senate meeting held this term. Eliot says the Pre- mier was an obvious choice for a person to honour as a prominent member of the Lebonese community.

“It is very difficult to ignore the Premier”, said Eliot. “In fact, no one can better represent the achievement of the Lebonese community.”

When asked about pos- sible political motives for honouring Ghiz, Eliot said that his motives, and those of the UPEI Senate are pure. He said that he

hoped people would not think of granting a degree to Ghiz as politically moti- vated.

“The honorary degrees committee (of senate) con- Sidered everyone, but it kept coming back to Ghiz, both for his own achieve- ments and for the commu- nity he represents.”

Some people may also view the ceremony as an at- tempt to make Ghiz more

"GSS e888 88.88.8888 F OR DR EET Menthe Fn take

aware of the problems fac- ing

UPEI and post-secondary education. Eliot added that he does not think the Pre- mier could be made more aware of the plight of post- secondary education.

While special convoca- tions and other ceremonies to honour persons and groups are common at some universities, UPEI has held a special convocation only once before. That cere- mony marked the opening of Robertson Library in the mid-seventies.

President Eliot believes that UPEI should honour accomplished groups and individuals. He pointed out that during: the last convocation held in May, UPEI chose to honour a prominent engineer to mark the 100th anniversary of the Engineering Society of Canada. The special con- vocation, Eliot said, should be held now because “it is best to have it when it’s as- sociation (with the centen- nary) can be perceived.”

“The arrival of this im- portant ‘group is an _his- torical occasion which I don’t think should be over- looked,” he said. Eliot said that since he came to PEI he has been impressed by the role of the various. eth- nic groups on the Island.

“The Lebonese commu- nity”, he said, “has man- aged to maintain its iden- tity for over a hundred years in a very, very strong way. I think their con- tribution to the culture of this island is significant. Not more significant than others, but worth recog- nizing at a moment when they themselves are cele- brating.”

One other mem- ber of the Lebonese com- munity will be honoured

alliance 4

29 AS

of Prince Edward Island

at the November ceremony. Doreen Kays, a broadcast journalist and writer who has worked for the CTV and ABC networks will re- ceive an honorary degree along with Ghiz.

Eliot expressed hope that the University will honour other groups in the future, though it would probably be done. during a regular May tion ceremony. a possibility that some of the prominent people who helped the University in succeed in its Challenge of the Eighties fund rais- ing campaign will be recog- nized at the next May con- vocation. :

convoca- There is

Prada Ortaber 2S 19ST

O RECEIVE HONORARY DEGREE

Candidate disqualified

ONE OF THE candi- dates running in last week’s Student Union elections was disqualified because of campaign posters left up on polling day. Mary Nichol- son, who was running for the position of Senate rep- resentative, was disquali- fied last Thursday by in- terim Chief Returning Of- ficer Ron Cameron.

According to a_ by- law of the UPEI Stu- dent Union constitution, all campaign posters for any student election must be taken down by midnight of the night before polls open. This is to pre- vent the possibility of cam- paign material influencing any voter on the way to the polls. Interim CRO Cameron stated that when

he toured campus Thurs-.

~day morning, he found two posters of Nicholson’s in the stairwell leading to the Robertson Library base-

TRVREVIRIIIN td

ment. The UPEISU elec- tions bylaw states that any campaign material found within 20 meters of the polling station must result in disqualification of the candidate they promote. Cameron said that all candidates were informed that posters must be re- moved when the elections by-law was read to them when they declared candi-

. dacy.

Although it can be easy for a candidate to miss some campaign posters when it comes time to re- move them, the stipula- tion about campaign mate- rials does not usually cause problems. The last time a candidate was disquali- fied because of posters was during Student Union elee- tions two years ago. Ac- cording to Cameron there

~ were also a few fines laid

during the last elections for posters still up outside the

PP RRVWRW*

®

20 meter circle of disquali- fication.

Other than the disqual- ification, Cameron said the election went very well. There was an 18% turnout for the elections, and a were a fair number of candidates seeking election. Of the seven positions that were voted on last Thursday, three were contested. Al- though still small, this ra- tio is an improvement over the last set of SU elections when almost all positions were either uncontested or had no candidates at all.

Candidates de- clared elected were: Kirstin Lund for Board of Gover- nors representative, Joanne Wilkenson for Freshman rep, Juila Hammond for AVC rep, Tony Mason for Education, Ian Burge for Business, Joanne McGim for Science, and Bryan Howard as Senate rep. .

: , SS eVHT HOO 4 Oe