Letter to the Editor

Editor, Is UPEI phasing out the Centennial Scholars pro- gram?

This is a proud program established in the fall of 1972

in ani . It has contin- to mark the province's centennial year. I

ued for over thirty years. Basically, it is a program to

i f age to ho are over sixty years 0 ieee nd work toward their degree

enrol in UPEI courses @ an i i Iment fees. They must s Na i ing, and other items. The

i k their books, lunches, par program allows seniors, most of whom had to a school early, an opportunity to car that e

degree.

s has moved to limit the pro-

The board of governor . e pro-| gram to one course per year. If a senior enrols at sixty

r year, how old rs of age and takes one course per | ill that ffir be when forty credits ae ae earned? And will that 100 year old student still f

tion in class? Most of us do not have the finances, and

even fewer have the will to pay $20,000.00 for a

degree we will never use. We want oe aie sonal satisfaction, our late great accomplishment.

our age, it's not likely to be used for financial gain. +

We need support. We ask anyone who can throw a lit-

tle support (or a lot) our way please 5 —, i ired, universi Sy pee seniors, groups, individual

esent, politicians, ee and all others who can reach the ears of UPEI

authority ask them to reconsider. The legacy ’ ee 1972 authority was the establishment o ae Centennial Scholars project to mark PEL. s one

dredth birthday in Canadian confederation.

mantling of this project.

Bill Evans Centennial Scholar

It will be a sad day for all if today's legacy is the dis-

Gambling by All Ages on the Rise

A recent survey of adolescents found that more than 80 percent of those between 12 and 17 years say they have gambled at least once in the last 12 months. More than 35 percent say they gamble at least once a week.

With the rise in online poker and real money gambling, more and more youth are getting turned on to this ‘new to them’ gambling phe- nomenon.

Stats Canada also did a study on the effects of gambling in Canada. They found that three quarters of all adults have gambled in 2002 and estimated that 1.2 million adult Canadians were at risk of experi- encing a problem with gambling, or were problem gamblers.

“These 1.2 million individuals rep- resented 5% of the total adult popu- lation, and 6% of all gamblers. That is, they had suffered adverse effects from their gambling behaviour, such as financial or social prob- lems, anxiety or depression, or dependence on alcohol.”

The figures between both studies show similarities, which question the effectiveness of youth gambling laws with concerns to VLTs, lotto tickets and other illegal gambling.

“In 2002, an estimated 18.9 million adult Canadians wagered $11.3 bil- lion on everything from VLTs, lot- tery tickets and bingos, to blackjack and slot machines in casinos. This amount was more than a four-fold increase from $2.7 billion a decade

UPEI Cadre October 19, 2004 page 3

earlier.”

The addition of Charlottetown’s new “Racino” may soon be adding to these figures. That is, the open- ing of some 225 new video lottery terminals (VLTs) in the Charlottetown Driving Park.

Though there was significant public appeal from the public and many of the Churches, Binns and the provin- cial government decided to go ahead with plans for the new Racino in efforts to revitalize the racing industry and boost govern- ment funding.

Texas hold’em, a rapidly growing style of poker is currently one of the most popular sought after means of gambling. Specifically, poker- room.com offers real or play money accounts where users can refill any- time they like, without repercus- sions in the game. They also offer spots for winners in the World Series of Poker, which costs approx. $10 000, where the best in the world duke it out for a grand prize of several million dollars. The online gambling community is increasing exponentially.

This leads to some questions among the Atlantic Lotto Corporation. Will they accomplish a reputable image in the online community, and are we seeing an end to those static VLTs. One thing we do know, is that