The Cadre -+

16 March 1999

News 5

UPEI Health Centre: changed for the better?

By MARY ACORN

When change hap- pens, it is not always well accepted. There are usually some people who think it’s great, and then a large amount of people who don’t know what to think. This is true for the changes that have taken place with the UPEI Health Centre.

Last year the Health Centre was operating under the umbrella of Student De- velopment. It was open five full days a week with a dif- ferent doctor working every day. The Health Centre served staff, faculty, and stu- dents alike.

Due to budget cut- backs, the Health Centre was changed drastically. The School of Nursing took over and now it’s open four half- days a week and a doctor is on duty three half-days a week.

In addition, the serv- ices of the Health Centre are now for students only.

Sharon Zimmerman was a nurse at the UPEI Health Centre for 17 years before being let go during the management changes. She explains that she was very disappointed when the deci- sion was made to change the Health Centre.

Zimmerman felt that the services there cae her term were “well utili by staff, faculty, and students, and noted that faculty did not have to cancel as many classes to go to a doctor’s ap- pointment because they had the service offered to them on campus. She felt that it may have been a better decision to privatise the Health Centre

and to keep it running full time rather than cutting the operating hours and jobs.

The new nurse of the Health Centre is Mae Gallant, an employee of the School of Nursing. She feels that the centre’s hours are sufficient for tending to students’ needs.

Although several stu- dents have wondered why the centre was not open on Fri- day afternoons -- a time that is convenient for many indi- viduals’ timetables -- Gallant explains that in previous years these hours had not been busy.

During the afternoon that the doctor isn’t in, Gal- lant and the receptionist, Pam McGuigan, are still on duty. Students can have a nursing assessment done during this time, but no diagnosis or pre- scriptions can be given.

The Health Centre has changed its focus from the reactive h to preven- tion. The difference is that in a reactive setting a patient comes in with a lem and he or she is told to fix it. With a preventive setting the emphasis is put on helping the client find a way to stay healthy. Gallant said that the hoped to make use of the dif- ferent resources at UPEI for health promotion and educa- tion.

All of the services nor- mally offered at medical clin- ics are offered at the Centre and test results are received within the same time span as other clinics.

The Health er is Monday to ednesday from 1:00 to 4:30 and on - day 8:30 to 12:30. The doctor is available Tuesday to Thursday.

The poster worth a thousand words

UPEI SU elections peppered with controversy

By KAREN RAWLINES

According to Pauline Tran, the current UPEI Student Union Vice-President Internal, the student union is “the group

whose philosophy is to unite the st ts on campus.” If Tran’s words are ac-

curate, this year’s elections are already making that unity a challenge. Students at large are divided by heated debate surrounding the campaigns of various candidates.

“There have been a lot of complaints about posters,” says Tran, who is also acting as Chief Returning Officer (CRO) for the election in con- junction with SU president Matt Gray. “A lot of peo were offended and felt that the posters were derogatory and unprofessional. They basically feel that the posters mocked the election.”

Tran says that as of the SU General Meeting

material. She adds that al- though there is policy with re- to usage, it is not ceplicit fr Timiting what may be circulated. “Campaign material disrepute the student union,” she explains. “That's all there really is. It’s open to

Complaints lodged against the nature of the post- ers were taken by the CROs to the UPEI ombudsman, Ryan Pollard, and he has taken steps to inform the candidates. —

period. His posters bearing the message “free nude

hotos...er, | mean, vote Pepin” have since been re-

Stephen Lewis is cur- rently the Vice-President Fi- nance ee hy and is _ — I think that the quality of ee to be ” Lewis said of pointed nature.

But the outrage has continued.

Charlottetown’s daily newspaper, The Guardian, featured a front ¢ story

about the general meeting. This has the opponents and

proponents of the poster (and the candidate himself) further riled up. A number of mes- sages have been posted to the Student Union electronic

may

the polls have closed on Thurs- day, but the results will be very telling about students’ concerns.

“The most effective way people can voice their concerns is to vote,” Lewis says.

See 7 for complete infor- mation on polling stations.

Attention Students & Faculty For All Your Storage Needs

Stow-It-All Self Storage

We offer many different sized units. Lease by the Month or long term. Open Monday thru Friday 9am-5pm Saturday 8am-12 Noon.

Located only minutes away from U.P.E.1.

28 Thompson Drive, Charlottetown

Phone 368-7000

U-Store It U-Lock It U Keep the Key