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The Cadre is the official newspaper of the UPEI Student Union. 2,000 copies of The Cadre are printed 10 times per semes- ter. There are meetings open to anyone Mondays at 4:30 in room 213 in the W.A.Murphy Student Centre. The dead- line for submissions is Thursday at mid- night. The opinions expressed within The Cadre do not necessarily represent the views of UPEI or the UPEI Student Union Inc.
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catherine SWEET |
et
Editorial 14: The Positives (+) and Negatives (-) of
In the midst of this most recent cold snap, I was unexpectedly given a les- son about intelligence.
I was walking across the snow- covered parking lots after class when I came across two individuals who were boosting the dead battery in one of their cars. As I walked past the pair, I noticed
‘that the set of booster cables that they were
using were completely black. There was — no positive clamp. There was no negative clamp. There was no difference between the clamps whatsoever. "How are they going to keep track of the battery's polari- ties?", I thought. .
I approached the pair and asked if they needed a hand. They said that they could manage just fine so I turned to walk away, but then stopped. I couldn't help but ask about their unusual looking booster cables. One of the two pointed to a rather
Intelligence
snappy decal that accented a small box that was attached to the cables — then explained the purpose to me. The mystery was solved.
"Intelligent" booster cables they were called. "Intelligent" because the cables themselves keep track of the battery terminals — which means that-you can hook any of the four clamps onto any of the four battery terminals and the jumpstart will be successful. "Pretty cool idea," I thought as I walked away.
Then I took a moment — and real- ized — that "true" intelligence would more likely refer to someone who can tell the difference between the symbols for (+) and (—), and not to someone who needs a small electronic box on a set of over priced booster cables to do so. :
These "Intelligent" booster cables are the latest in a long line of items which
supposedly make our day to day lives easi- er. These items are invented to take the. thought process out of tasks. To promote speed. To promote ease. In short, to pro- mote less thinking.
The easier we make things for ourselves, the lazier we become. The more items that we buy, like the "Intelligent" booster cables, the more we reward stupidity and ignore intelligence. It's not a comforting thought - Common sense is become less and less common.
So, to end this editorial, here's a tip: Save yourself the fifty dollars, use reg- ular booster cables, and simply pay atten- tion to the small symbols marked (+) and
(-).
Matt Stewart, Editor-in-Chief
laura FANNING entertainment editor : brodie MACRAE sports editor : alex FIELD photographer : brad DEIGHAN | reporters mari¢ve MACGREGOR. julie VEINOT advertising manager natasha MACKINNON distribution manager ; lennie MACPHERSON contributers
-
TO GROUND
AST eee as CIE REIN aE 1. Connect positive (+) cable to positive post of discharged
battery wired to starter or solenoid.
2 Connect other end of same cable to same marked post
(postive) of booster battery
3% Connect second cable (negative -) to other post of booster
battery .
4. Make final connection on engine block of stalled vehicle
away from battery - stand back -
connection. Discard the rags.
4. Start both vehicles and remove cables in reverse order of
page 2
Letter to the Editor
What is the Consequence?
Dear Editor,
I could have frozen my butt off last night; I could have paraded around and shouted this afternoon. But both of these acts are abnormal. By abnormal I mean one would not have regularly camped out in storm conditions in February, and most people would agree that marching down- town is not the best way to spend an after- noon the week before midterms are sched- uled to be written. However, the reasons for engaging in this absurd behaviour are quite normal, which is why I chose instead to write this letter. The issue at hand? Well, it depends what angle one approach- es it from.
Some say because tuition prices are leaping up by 4-6% for next year. I prefer to look at it from an internal angle, if you will. Look at the prices today, not
just for the 2002 - 2003 academic year, but today. It will cost you, the student, to eat today. It will cost you to photocopy neces- sary course aids, it will cost you to trans- port your little body to and fro to accom- plish errands, it will cost you time to run these errands. Errands will take away from your time spent on making yourself healthy and preparing for exams. But, one would argue, that's life. And it is, if you | are a non- working student. Now throw a
. part time job into your day. The
cost to work, although not monetary, is hefty. Both your time and energy are involved, both resources are nonrenewable resources (as far as today goes). Quite lit- erally, by the end of today you are spent!
We are all familiar with the quali-
ty - quantity inverse relationship. When a large quantity of a good is produced, often the trade off is a reduction in the quality of the good. Guess what? The quantity of
tuition prices will go up. And the trade - off? The quality of the students will decrease. Our days will be spent on errands, transportation, and part time jobs. Where, tell me, is the higher level of thought in any of these tasks? Do univer- sities today lack the quality control of the past? If we are going to be treated as’ goods being manufactured out of a univer- sity, then we will respond, not react, as a lower quality good. We have breaking points, and we will bust sooner or later.
So, I urge the ones encouraging the tuition increase to think about what it really means. We are all taught in kinder- garten for every action there is a conse- -quence. Think about the consequences of your actions. Thank you.
Aleida Tweten