January 20, 
     
    
   
   
    
     eT: 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Cadre 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Acadia students up in arms 
     
     over stalled contract talks 
     
    
   
   
    
     WOLFVILLE(CUP)— With 
     
     negotiations heading nowhere 
     
     fast, students at Acadia Uni- 
     
     versity are bracing for a fac- 
     
     ulty strike. 
     
    

    
     But they aren’t taking 
     
     the looming strike sitting down. 
     
     Or are they? 
     
    

    
     On Jan. 12, hundreds of 
     
     students occupied the main 
     
     administrative building on the 
     
     Nova Scotia campus and held 
     
     a sit-in to express their dis- 
     
     pleasure with the current state 
     
     of contract negotiations be- 
     
     tween administration and fac- 
     
     ulty. 
     
    

    
     Talks are currently at a 
     
     standstill. A provincially-ap- 
     
     pointed conciliator had been 
     
     called in earlier this month to 
     
     help the two sides reach an 
     
     agreement, but left after just 
     
     two days. 
     
    

    
     The highlight of the sit- 
     
     in was a two-and-a-half hour 
     
     question period during which 
     
     Acadia president Kelvin 
     
     Ogilvie and faculty associa- 
     
     tion president Jim Sacouman 
     
     fielded questions from stu- 
     
     dents. 
     
    

    
     “I think the students 
     
     were really pleased about the 
     
     forum,” Paul Black, president 
     
     of Acadia’s student union, said. 
     
     “They got to ask the questions 
     
     they wanted to ask, and they 
     
     got to ask them to the people 
     
     the way [they] wanted to.” 
     
    

    
     During the emotionally- 
     
     charged forum. however, there 
     
     were signs of frustration among 
     
     the students as the two presi- 
     
     dents belittled each other. One 
     
     student asked how they could 
     
     stand there and expect to be 
     
     taken seriously while virtually 
     
     laughing at each other, and 
     
     there were repeated calls from 
     
     the audience for the two to 
     
     “grow up.” 
     
    

    
     The faculty iscalling for 
     
     a five per cent raise retroac- 
     
     tive to last November and in 
     
     each of the next two years. 
     
     The administration is only will- 
     
    
   
   
    
     ing to give faculty the five per 
     
     cent retroactive raise, with 
     
     smaller increases in each of 
     
     the next two years. There is 
     
     also disagreement over 
     
    

    
     the language of the new 
     
     contract. 
     
    

    
     Acadia students have 
     
     taken other actions to encour- 
     
     age the two sides to sit down 
     
     and work out their differences. 
     
     Many have formally refused 
     
     to pay their tuition this semes- 
     
     ter, and some are sporting red 
     
     and blue ribbons to protest the 
     
     stalled talks. 
     
    

    
     Black has announced 
     
     that if the situation is not re- 
     
     solved soon, the student union 
     
     will call forthe resignations of 
     
     both Ogilvie and Sacouman. 
     
    

    
     “Having allowed the 
     
     situation to escalate to this 
     
     point, itis apparent that neither 
     
     iscapable of competently hold- 
     
     ing their position,” Black said. 
     
    

    
     While Ogilvie refused 
     
     comment on the matter, 
     
     Sacouman said, “If it were 
     
     seen to contribute to the nego- 
     
     tiations, | will resign immedi- 
     
     ately at the same time that 
     
     Kelvin Ogilvie resigns as presi- 
     
     dent of the university.” 
     
    

    
     Black also announced 
     
     that if a strike or lockout oc- 
     
     curs, the student union will 
     
     pursue legal action against both 
     
     parties. 
     
    

    
     Student frustration is 
     
     being exacerbated by a work- 
     
     to-rule action that was 
     
     launched by Acadia faculty at 
     
     the beginning of the month. 
     
     Professors are refusing to take 
     
     part inthe Acadia Advantage. 
     
    

    
     a program through which stu- 
     
     dents use laptop computers as 
     
     a major learning tool. 
     
    

    
     Students in the program, 
     
     who now number over | 400, 
     
     pay an extra $1,200 on top of 
     
     their regular tuition and are 
     
    
   
   
    
     issued a laptop computer. Us- CA 
     
    
   
   
    
     ing the computer and one of 
     
     the myriad network connec- 
     
    
   
   
    
     . my 
     
     | network an 
     
     tions found in Acadia s class- -"_ Tay 
     
    

    
     4. Se 
     
    
   
   
    
     » a= 
     
    
   
   
    
     rooms, residence rooms and 
     
     common areas, students can 
     
     download material provided by 
     
     their professors, access class 
     
     notes found on web 
     
    

    
     sites or join with others in 
     
     chat groups. 
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
       
     
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Sacouman says profes- 
     
     sors have not received pay for 
     
     helping to make the Acadia 
     
     Advantage program a reality. 
     
     Other faculty say they are par- 
     
     ticipating in the job action to 
     
     drive home the fact that they 
     
    
   
   
    
     should have the choice as to 
     
     whether or not they will use 
     
     computer technology in their 
     
     classrooms. 
     
    

    
     Acadia faculty will hold 
     
     a strike vote in late January or 
     
     early February 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
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