The Gem

Page 4

Lucky To Be A Student At UPEI!?!

Well, I got a lot of response from last weeks article (of course, it was mostly people trying to figure out who I was) and so, I think that I will continue to air my complaints in public.

The issue this week, oh mighty public, is parking! To be more detailed, it’s the parking made available to students living in residence that I object to. In one word, it’s pathetic. Now lets expand on this.

As many people know, those of us who pay an arm and a limb (there’s those two vital body parts again) to live in residence must park our cars down by Blan- chard Hall from mid-November until the snow stops falling (for PEI that can be anywhere in the middle of April). Sure, all of the cars should be parked in one general location to make snow removal easier, but why so far away?! There are several rea- sons why making us park down by Blanchard is a stupid rule:

First, the distance. It may not look like a long walk at first glance, but it does tend to get ex- tremely cold on, PEI in the win- ter and there is no wind block- age in the area. This leaves stu- dents exposed to freezing temper- atures and wicked winds. The discomfort is compounded when one is carrying an arm load of groceries or books. I’m sure that many people would use the ar- guement that we don’t need our cars all that much anyway and that students off campus make the walk everyday. Well, I have a counter arguement. We use our cars during the week for several things such as: shopping, visit- ing, going to church and other ventures. Each time, we must walk down that hill, clean off our cars and then walk back up that hill again, usually against a fierce wind. Students who drive to school usually have their cars parked nearby their homes (ie: they don’t have far to go to warm it up and clear it free of snow...everyday). Shouldn’t we in residence be able to park our cars close to our homes so that we can take proper care of them.

The second big reason is snow removal, which is also the rea- son we have to park where we do. I have heard the excuse given that we cannot park our cars at the top of the hill (by the li- brary and much closer to Berna- dine and Marion Halls) because the snow must be cleared away for students coming in for classes in the morning. What’s the dif- ference if they park in the first

row of parking spaces or in the second, third, fourth, you get the idea.... Gee, when we get up in the morning we have to walk all the way across campus just to get breakfast, and then walk through more slush and grunge to get to our classes.

On the weekends, of course, there are no classes. But, like on the weekdays, the snow is re-

moved from the ’top-of-the-hill’

parking areas before it’s removed from parking lot A (the one by Blanchard). Why? Well, for the convience of the one or two people who might come into the library early on Saturday or Sunday (im- portant point: library doesn’t open until about 10am on Satur- day and lpm on Sunday): Sce- nario (and this has happened): Student gets up early Sunday morning to go to church. She walks down to get her car (say about 9:30am), but it’s buried in a snow drift. The snow plows are up at the top of the hill digging out parking spaces for people who don’t exist (ie: anyone who would come to the library on a Sunday morning at 9:30am)!

Don’t get me wrong though, our cars are eventually freed from their prison of snow, except for the little piles left around the pe- tiphery of the autos. Unfortu- nately, this is a once a day thing. Therefore, the snow left around the cars is left there even after the cars have been moved (even though students who live in resi- dence aren’t supposed to use their cars). The result is a big mess be- cause those little periphery piles are still hanging around and must be driven over to leave and to park. My suggestion, plow in the morning (early) and then come back later in the afternoon or evening and plow again.

As a resident student, and hearing the same from others, I think’ that resident students should be given the parking area at the top of the hill (for Marion and Bernadine Hallers) and the parking spaces along side Blan- chard (running north/south - for Blanchard Hallers) for parking. After all, we do pay at lot of money to live on this campus and we are people too. If this doesn’t sound feasible, how about build- ing a resident parking area just east of Bernadine Hall. There’s plenty of room and we would be able to keep a better eye on our cars.

Keeping an eye on our cars,..this brings me to a.third point, vandilism. My car was vandilised the first week

that I parked it on this campus. That was in September, and so it was parked by the library. Well, while it’s down by Blanchard I have even less a chance of being sure that it is where it’s supposed to be and hasn’t been either to- talled or stolen.

I will conclude this week by apologising to any off-campus students who may have felt pointed out in this article. I’m not trying to make life harder for you, just better for us. I really doubt that letting Marion and Bernadine Hall residents park at the top of the hill would incon- vience anyone at all, especially if it was designated as: Resident Parking Only! I’d even pay a

2st

Researchers may have fou

...continued from front page

dia research but added the univer- sity has not yet demonstrated the method can work on a large scale.

“It’s a chemical reaction which has worked on a laboratory scale but it has to be tested on a larger scale and this is’ far from being done,” Roy said.

Hydro has already destroyed PCBs in one million litres of min- eral oil in transformers using sub- stance such as metallic sodivm.

The scientists have done con- sulting work with New Lite, a chemical research firm in London, Ontario, which is developing a way of removing PCBs from water.

little extra for the privilege; as long as security was provided, of course. =

I would like to hear some re- sponse from other resident stu- dents on this issue and especially from the people who decided that we should park down by Blan- chard (if they’re still alive > how old is this rule, anyway?). _

CC

PS: For those of you who are crazy to know if I am who you think I am, remember this: If I wanted my name to be known, and I have my reasons why I don’t, then I would have included it at the bottom of the article.

nee:

New Lite general manager Mike Robertson said five companies in Canada, including Ontario Hydro, already destroy PCBs with metal- lic sodium, which explodes when mixed with water.

“What is different about what Concordia is doing is that their

* approach is a whole lot safer,”

Robertson said. ““There’s nothing to blow up.”

PCBs can cause liver and repro- ductive disorders and are suspected of causing cancer. PCBs .were widcly used as a coolant in electri- cal equipment until 1977, when the federal government banned them after fears were raised about their potential health hazards.

continued from page 2

item on the meeting agenda, con- tact Paula Guathier. The UP- EISU general meeting will be held on March 8, 11:30am to 12:45 pm at the pit in the library. Classes are cancelled during the meeting.

MAPUS is a full member of the Canadian organization for part time students (COPUS). COPUS was formed in 1977 in re-

sponse to the needs and concerns of part time students. The CO- PUS annual Atlantic Confernece will be held on February 2-4 this year at UPEI ee

Part time students pay a $5.00 per course fee to MAPUS

upon registration. Full-time ma- ture students pay student fees to UPEI student union.

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