The Panther Prints January 30, 1996

News/Features 5

CFS Calls For One More Day of Action

by Zachary Schwartz

(CUP: McGill Daily) Student organizations across Canada are gearing up for a national day of protest on February as impending budget cuts are hashed out by uni- versity administrations and faculties. The protest, called a National Day of Action and organized by the Cana- dian Federation of Students (CFS), is to make sure students’ voices are heard before federal Finance Minis- ter Paul Martin’s budget is released later next month, though just what action students will take is another matter. The CFS suggested that the protest be targeted towards financial institutions, aiming to condemn their exploitative record-breaking profits in the midst of widespread govern-. ment cuts. There will be city-wide activities culminating in a rally in major cities across Canada, like treasure hunts intended to publicize the finances of big businesses in major cities.

Several conservative universi- ties disagreed with this approach, preferring that the National Day of Action be less belligerent in tone.

Erik Paulsson, a student coun- cillor at Concordia University, believes students should be going to greater lengths than just participat- ing in the standard march. Students should be shutting down the down- town core with human bodies and students handcuffing themselves to various institutions, such as banks, he said.

“It is much more complicated than telling the government to stop cutting, because it goes beyond that,’’ he added.

‘Concordia Student Union President Jonathan Carruthers recog- nizes the abundance of side issues that could potentially affect the approach that the CFS decides to take regarding the National Day of Action. He insisted that ideological and nationalistic stances must be put

aside and all parties must ‘‘concen- trate on the fact that we’re all against the cuts.”’

Concordia has formed an action committee to help formulate a plan of action and to mobilize student support. Carruthers himself is plan- ning to visit various classrooms during the month to promote the event.

There are high hopes for this year’s Day of Action based on last year’s impressive turnout. CFS national chairperson Guy Caron claimed that last year’s January 25 National Day of Action was ‘‘the largest student demonstration in the country’s history.’’ Media reports said last year’s day of action in- volved up 70,000 students across Canada.

‘*Last year’s participation was great,’’ said CFS executive Brad Lavigne. ‘‘Hopefully we can better the numbers.’’ Like many student leaders, Lavigne is worried that the federal government’s budget-balanc- ing tactics are coming at the expense of education.

‘*We have to show students that there is great wealth in this country, and that it is not being taxed.The line that the government can’t afford social spending on post- secondary education, health care, daycare, and employment (pro- grams) is wrong.”’

“It’s not just that the cuts are bad -- there are alternatives to cut- ting social programs to bring down the deficit,’’ he said. “‘We want to show the government numbers and deliver a pre-budget message that no more cuts are necessary,”’ said Lavigne.

Although most of the action to be taken in February has yet to be planned, an optimistic Lavigne described the event-to-be as part of an ‘‘ongoing campaign, building on last year’s lobbying and Jan. 25.”’

MacLean's on UPEI

by Christopher Michaud

As you may remember from last week’s paper, I wrote an article on what MacLean s magazine had to say about UPEI in its ranking of Canadian universities. I also mentioned a survey that would be made available to the students of UPEI on what they thought about their university.

As promised, here is the survey. Please fill it out diligently and honestly. This

your university, and all answers are anonymous. There are boxes available for you to deposit your answers, or email me your answers (I won’t say a thing!).

1. Your year and faculty:

2. Major: Minor:

3. Full-time _____ Part-time ___

4. Are you on: Student loan 5. Are you: Living on your own __ Parental aid = __ Parent's Residence __ Scholarship __ Residence ie Pay your way __ Sharing a place

6. Do you work during the school year? If yes, how many hours a week: 4-8 _ 8-12 _ 12-15_ More _

7. Do you work to survive, or for spending money?

8. Do you plan to continue your studies here if tuition continues to increase, reach- ing over $300 per course by the end of next year?

9. Do you feel professors understand your work and have other demands other than classwork?

10. Do you find yourself falling behind in classwork, because of work and other factors?

11. List twelve of the professors you have had within your faculty, best and worst, and rank them from 1 to 10 (1=gosh awful to 10=mahvelous dahling).

12. Do you honestly think UPEI is as bad as MacLean’s says it is? Why or why not?

13. Do you approve of the plan of forced early retirement of UPEI tenured profes- sors by the University? Why or why not?

14. Do you approve of the plan to have these professors replaced by 9-month replacements, many of whom will not remain here long? Why or why not?

15. Do you approve of a vice-presidential position for UPEI? 16. List suggestions you have towards improving UPEI and its nationwide reputa- tion.

17. Keeping in mind some of the statistics from MacLean’s, do you think UPEI’s monetary resources are being used properly, i.e. student-oriented? 18. What areas do you think need immediate attention and improvement?

19. Do you approve of the formation of a committee of students, separte from the - Student Union, who will research and make suggestions and push for results, on behalf of students, for the improvement of UPEI?

Would you like to be on the committee?

20. Do you think your degree from UPEI will be worth the time and money spent here when it comes time to hunt in the job market? Once again, thank you for your comments and answers to this survey. They are most valuable, and hopefully we will have some success in getting some things done. If you have any other comments on this survey or on last week’s article and upcoming ones on this matter, or if you would like to be a part of the committee, please contact me at cmichaud@upei.ca.

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