theUbyssey INSIDE EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT - Founded in 1918 Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, September , 1991 Vol 74, No 1 Classifieds 822-3977 RATES: AMS Card Holders - 3 lines, $3.00, additional lines, 60 cents, commercial - 3 lines, $5.00, additional lines 75 cents. (10% discount on 25issues ormore) Classified ads payable in advance. Deadline 4.-00 p.m., two days before publication. Room 266, SUB, UBC, Van., B.C. V6T2A7,228-3977. 10-FOR SALE- COMMERCIAL IBM Compatible computers & peripherals sale price for students w/AMS card. Call Reid « 322-6810. 11 - FOR SALE - PRIVATE IBMXTcomputerforoale. Dual Drive640K memory. Large monitor w/mouse & lots of business and graphics software $900. Call James 738-5723 (O.B.O). 1982 TOYOTA COROLLA 2 Dr. 5 sp. AM/ FM cassette. Good condition. Low mileage. $2800 OBO. 737-7767 OR 681-4516. Sharp 64K LQ. 7200 Pocket Computer + 64K programmablefetats card. 128K for $250.00 OBO. 255-9541. XT Computer Roland Dot Matrix printer. Good Condition $750.00. Phone 736-8540. Leave message. 84 MUSTANG • Auto, doth int 71,000 km, P/S, P/B, anVfm caaa, sunroof, one owner excellent cond. Asking $4500.421-6135. 20-HOUSING Boom & Board - 3 Bedrooms avail, n/s in Richmond. $500/Ma Must like pets. Lana 244-9477 or wk. 264-2091. Beautifully furnished, large 1 bdr character suite to sublet Oct 1. Quiet South Granville location, lots of light 10 mins from UBC. Non smoking faculty member preferred. References required $950.00/mo. 738-5723. Furnished rooms available as of September 1st. $410/Month includes meals, utilities and rent Far more info, Call Jeffat 690- 1040 ASAP. 25 - INSTRUCTION Piano Lessons, UBC Village Area A.R.C.T. B.Mus. 984-7340OR224-7150. Alii English/French as a second language. E lessons. Qualified teachernear UBC. Please can Annabel at 228-8357. 30 -JOB Between Deadline for submiaiom: for Tuetday't paper it Friday al 340pm, for Friday'* paper, Wednesday at 330pm. NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WltX, BB ACCEPTED. Note: 'Noon'* 12:30pm. Wednesday, Sept. 4 Open Auditions for the UBC Opera Workshop (1991-92 Session) 7:00pm. Music Biding, 338. For information: Call 822-3113 or 822- 6434. International House is offeringfree E.S.L. tutoring to international students or any student who needs help. Pis contact THAO at I.H. or call 822-5021. Mom needs after school care 3 to 6PM. Men, Tue, Thur, Fri. Wed 1:45 to 5.45. Pis call 224-6533 leave message. Sportswear A Imprint Co. Seeks Stdnt to promote their goods & services. Ideal for stdnt living in residence: full support included. Catalogues, samples provided commission paid immediately. Call Ken 270-6348. Staff meeting at The Ubyssey. Bring; your bag lunch, come by if you are interested in joining or if you are an old staffer (read: get your ass back in here!). Newspaper policy is decided at staff meetings, every Wednesday. SUB 241k. Noon. Thursday, Sept. 5 Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. First meeting "The IVCF Challenge" Noon, Woodward 4. Sunday, Sept. 8 Agakhan Foundation. A9 km walk to raise funds for Third World De- velopment. Walk begins at Lumberman's Arch - Stanley Park. 11:00. Info: Zahra 432-6709. JOBS in Environmental Education The Association for the Promotion and Advancement of Science Education provides an environmental education program to elementary schools across the province, and trains young people to present the program to children. We need to hire five "Environmental Youth Corps' staff who will be trained to deliver educational programs in elementary schools and to the general public. Applicants should be 24 years old or younger and have a background or interest in environmental science or education. Experience teaching either adults or children, or experience working with chilr dren would be an asset. The job begins on October 1 and will last until March 31,1992. Please send a resume, the names and phone numbers of three refers ncesandaphotocopyofarecent transcript to the address be low. There is no smoking in APASE offices. APASE 3466 West Broadway Vancouver, B.C. V6R2B3 HLSHJ4NS Do you play an orchestra or band instrument? Yes you can perform with the UBC Symphony Orchestra or UBC Wind Ensemble No, you do not have to be a music major! No, you do not have to enroll for credit! Yes, you can enroll for credit! 228-3113 224-8246 J 70 - SERVICES Singles Connection - An Intro Service for Singles. Call 737-8980. 1401 West Broadway. Vancouver (at Hemlock) HALF PRICE BEER No kits, no clean-up, no sediment in bottle. Use our professional equipmenttobrew your own beer on our premises. Richmond Beer Works. 244-8103. 80 - TUTORING Exp. Math Tutor needed approx. 3 times/ week for Math 130 & Stats. 733-6840. 85-TYPING AMS WORD PROCESSING Professional service for resumes, letters, essays, theses and much morel Check out our competitive rates, fancy type styles and snappy paper that has envelopes to match. Come in and visit room 60, Student Union Building or phone: 822-6640 Word processing It proofreading - essays, resumes. $2.00/page. Elaine 264-9504. Monday, Sept. 9 Production night at The Ubyssey office. Come learn to typeset, design a page, or just hang out. Tuesday, Sept. 10 Lunch-hour seminar: "Hong Kong: Lame Duck or Golden Goose?" by Dr. Lee Ngok, Univ. of Hong Kong. Noon, Asian Centre, Seminar Room 604. Tuesday, Sept. 24 A Brown Bag seminar on "Indonesian Development in Agriculture" by Dr. H. Didung, Director General of Food Crops in the Dept. of Agriculture, Indonesian Government, Noon, Asian Centre Seminar Room 604. DISCOVER THE COMPETITION • low low prices ' free services ■ laser printing UNIVERSITY VILLAGE 2"° FLOOR 2174 WESTERN PARKWAY VANCOUVER, B.C. 224-6225 FAX 224-4492 OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK M-TH 8-9 FRI 8-6 SAT-SUN 11-6 The Alma Mater Society Ombudsoffice is currently seeking Caseworkers for the Winter Session The function ofthe Ombudsoffice is to represent the student complaints within the U.B.C, and the AMS administration. The Ombudsoffice Caseworker is required to establish regular office hours to investigate and resolve student complaints. If you are an enthusiastic individual who is seeking to broaden your experience, and, as well, are interested in helping your fellow students, then the Ombudsoffice needs your assistance. For an application form, or further information, contact the A.M.S. Ombudsoffice at the Student Union Building 100A - 822-4846, or write to P.O. Box 60, c/o A.M.S. Business Office, S.U.B. Room 266, 6138 S.U.B. Blvd. Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z1 WORK STUDY POSITION Work study position available as an assistant with the UBC Speakers Bureau, filling requests from community groups for faculty/staff speakers, late Sept. to March 31,1992. Pleasant, helpful phone manner an asset. Candidates must be eligible for the work study program. WAGES: $10.25 to $11.25 per hour, approx. 7 hours per week. UBC encourages qualified women and minority applicants. Interested candidates should submit resumes by Thursday, Sept. 12 to the UBC Speakers Bureau, Community Relations Office, Room 207 of the Old Administration Bldg. UBC SPEAKERS BUREAU STUDENTS WANTED! SubWay Cafeteria is looking for cheerful, friendly and energetic students who want to work 2-hour shifts between classes. You choose the day and the meal you wish to work (breakfast, lunch or dinner). We pay you $7.00 per hour PLUS you get the 3 course meal of your choice. What a deal! Pick up an application form at the SubWay Supervisor's office. Join The Ubyssey and rise above the mainstream media. SUB 241k NOTICE TO ALL UBC WINTER SESSION 1991-92 STUDENTS The first instalment of tuition fees are due Wednesday, September 4,1991 by 4:00 p.m. To find out your fee assessment and amount due: 1. Call TELEREG at 222-3444 and use the M# command. TELEREG is open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. weekdays and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekends. 2. Call the Hotline at 822-6866 3. Calculate your fees by referring to pages 30 - 33 in the Calendar Payment can be made on or before the due date at any branch of the Bank of Montreal (payment form required) OR at UBC's Department of Financial Services. Note: Library cards will be available without registration status letters. 4 2/THE UBYSSEY September 3,1991 >SZ.TFAi.;..o?..A.,. .'..?. .'..... ,, ... 'iipiiij|>i)i]|i^ii|,VMVVi '- J" *-* -- S..-MC...+. ■»■>■ j...j.....^.a.^.....J.*w...^...J./X». a AA Changes in WSO trigger criticisms Director shifts focus away from counselling to advocacy in restructuring of office V by Franka Cordua-von Specht SINGLE mother Margaret Rasheed was on the verge of abandoning her degree programme when she went to see a counsellor in UBC's Women Students' Office in April 1990. Eight months earlier Rasheed, 31, left a Montreal shelter for battered women to return to UBC, with two-year-old daughter Sarah, to continue undergraduate studies in International Relations. She was met, however, by another series of challenges. A Chinese family of four had been living in her two-bedroom townhouse at Acadia Park. When they were unable to return to China because ofthe Tiananmen Square massacre, they remained with Rasheed. "Both of our families had limited resources and no alternative accommodations so we decided to stay together to -reduce both of our living expenses," Rasheed says. The family's contribution to Rasheed's monthly daycare cost of $575 and rent and utilities of $700 was critical because Rasheed's student loan was caught up in a bureaucratic nightmare involving the BC and Quebec governments. Without funds that fall and winter, Rasheed exhausted herself caring for her child, trying to keep up with a full course load, substituting at the daycare part- time, and working as a janitor for three hours five nights a week. "It was really frightening with a baby at night in that part of campus alone in ten empty daycares,'' she says. "Sarah would be asleep in the stroller in the next room while I'd be vacuuming." At about 10:30 at night she would wheel the sleeping child through a wooded area before arriving in her cramped living space. After a nap she would turn her attention on her studies—if her daughter did not wake up sick—in the early morning hours. She might have applied for welfare but was stopped by the fear of being labelled "just another single mother looking for a handout" and by the belief her Prairie family had bred within her that "you can never expect anything for free." In April when her finances were desperate and her grades had slipped she went to see counsellor Nancy Horsman at the WSO. "She is a mature women who has been at the university for a number of years, has raised five children, and I knew she would understand my circumstances," Rasheed says. "She empowered me by giving me the tools to turn around the problems existing in my life," she says. "It's thanks to the counselling from Nancy Horsman that I came back this year to complete my degree. Her counselling was very timely, very helpful and very compassionate." Rasheed does not believe her story is unusual and says she knows other young mothers at UBC facing similar pressures. She fears they will not be able to turn for support to the WSO like she did. IT has been a turbulent year-of- change in the Women Students' Office. The new director is restructuring the office without the support ofthe professional counselling staff and without extra funds from the administration. This past spring director Marsha Trew trimmed one-to-one counselling to free up more staff time for support groups, educative and advocacy work. This does not mean staff has been reduced but that their job descriptions have changed. This past year four women devoted most of their time to one-to-one crisis, drop-in and ongoing counselling on such issues as sexual abuse, marital problems, custody battles and poor working conditions in the classroom. This September, according to the counsellors, two of them will spend less than half their time counselling. That's nearly an 80 per cent reduction. Trew says these calculations are inaccurate but did not say how much time would be set aside for counselling. "It depends on the demand," she says. "Everybody will be doing counselling. Crisis management and drop-in counselling will be available every day." This means that women needing immediate help will be helped, she says, but the majority ofthe women needing ongoing counselling will be referred elsewhere. Horsman, however, believes that all counselling—not just ongoing—is at stake. She points to the July leaflet detailing the WSO's services which fails to mention the office does any counselling at all. "My concern is that they're taking something away that is a qualitatively good service for women students and acting as if it's alright to do this," says Horsman, who has worked at the office for the past 18 years. Ellen Pond, a spokesperson for the student-run Women's Centre, says the service is essential: "A lot of women need WSO should be in line with other women's centres across North America which focus predominantly on support groups, education programmes and advocacy work. Counsellors agree more such work is needed on campus, but not at the expense ofthe morsel of counselling that exists for the 14,400 women on campus. (According to Trew, approximately 500 women used the one-to-one counselling services during the last winter session. Horsman says she alone saw more women than that, not including the number of women-she came in contact with at her workshops.) "As long as Fm in this office the main focus will be safety of women on campus and that means rape prevention and education programs," Trew says. "We're looking to reduce the number of women who use counselling by doing prevention work." Horsman agrees with prevention. "But we're dealing with a population that has already been abused and continues to be abused. We have to address the damage already done. We can't just stop counselling and say Well, we've enough of that.' "If you raise consciousness more women will become aware inequities and more will need counselling support. It is unethical to do advocacy work while cutting back counselling," she says. But Trew says it's not a question of ethics but of organizational reality and argues the WSO should be reaching a greater number of campus women. "As soon as you say this office needs to focus most of its resources on one or two hundred women (in ongoing counselling), then Fll have someone coming to me that counselling. We are talking about women's survival. We're talking about fewer suicides, fewer breakdowns and fewer women dropping out of school." Meanwhile, K.D. Srivastava, vice- president of academic and student services, says he won't get involved. "If s really the decision ofthe director to decide how to best allocate the funds within budgetary constraints." The programmes Trew is initiating for the fall include one on rape prevention, one for mature women students, one on women's health issues like eating disorders and another encouraging women to enter engineering. A difference of opinion "The cutbacks show a lack of understanding ofthe rights and needs of women students," says WSO counsellor Caren Durante, who has taken a leave-of- absence for a year. WSO counsellors believe the office should remain strongly rooted in counselling (crisis, drop-in and ongoing) like it has for the past decade. Trew believes the and say 'Alright what are you doing for women's safety on campus? There are hundreds if not thousands of women at risk. What are you doing for them?" But Horsman says: "How can numbers be counted when you save one woman from a breakdown, or from taking her life?" Communiciation breakdown The difference in opinion between director and staff is further aggravated by a lack of communication. Counsellors, who have had more autonomy in past years, say Trew does not consult or work with them. "She makes appointments and puts programmes in place and then comes back and tells us what's been done. We have no input," Horsman says. "I've been made to feel invisible." Trew directed the Women's Centre at Capilano College from the late 70s until the spring of 1988. Sandra Moe has been an instructor of psychology and women studies at has college for the past 16 years. "It is my view that she lost touch with her constituency on campus," she says. "As a feminist you are working with women not just for women, and if you go making changes, you need group discussions, you need dialogue. "Even if there is no agreement, if s important that everyone feels they've had a fair hearing, that they've been heard," Moe says. "Once two sides are firmly entrenched and alienated it's difficult for them to get them working together." Valerie Raoul, acting head ofthe French department, is disturbed by the divisions in the WSO. "No radical change will happen without the support ofthe people implementing the changes," she says. Trew says, "Change is very difficult, sometimes very painful because there isn't a right or wrong way of doing things." Shortage of funds A1989 Review Committee report affirmed the counselling and advocacy function ofthe WSO but noted the \b.c\l of advocacy done in "highly visible ways" on campus. Trew says it is impossible to secure extra funds in this time of fiscal restraint and that UBC is lucky to have a university-funded women's office at all. She says she had no choice but to cut counselling to accommodate education-advocacy work. "Trew has a point in wanting to reach more students," says Raoul. "But why does this have to be an 'either•or' situation. If the report said the advocacy role should be expanded then at some point there has to be recognition that it requires the funds to fulfill that." She says it is ironic that the administration bills itself as supportive of women but will not provide the extra funding for the office to fulfill the broader mandate. "I think there needs to be a forum on what the office should be doing, a re- evaluation ofthe objectives ofthe committee's report in light ofthe current atmosphere and funding," Raoul says. But Srivastava says no more money is forthcoming because the mandate has not been expanded but neglected. "Advocacy has been done in the past and has gone down in terms of function." The present budget is $283,000. One member ofthe Review Committee, Mary McBuraie, says the committee's report is being misinterpreted. "Every single person on that committee decided 100 per cent in favour of counselling in the WSO. We felt the office should do more advocacy but not at the expense of counselling. "It angers me that Marsha comes up here and does not pay attention to the committee's report and to the staff that has run this office all these years. If s a real blow to the staff and the people using the office," she says. Need for feminist counselling Tanis Williams, associate professor of psychology at UBC has been referring students to the WSO for many years and says the first-rate counselling they have received has helped them continue their studies. "Typically it will be during the years as graduate and undergraduate that they'll have to come to terms with these experiences (past and present abuse) and you can't do that in group therapy and short-term therapy is not enough time." The WSO is the only place on campus that women know they can get feminist counselling, according to WSO counsellor Ray Edney. "Feminist counselling takes into account there are societal pressures on women that make it difficult for them to function and achieve to the best of their ability," Edney says. "So when we work with women, we work to empower them." Srivastava says ongoing counselling should be picked up by the Student continued on next page September 3,1991 THE UBYSSEY/3 BC TRANSIT FALL SCHEDULE Take transit to UBC and be a Roads Scholar. Smart students take transit to campus for some very intelligent reasons. Speed, affordability and convenience are built right into BC Transit's integrated bus, SkyTrain and SeaBus network. And many campus-bound routes are wheelchair accessible. Better still, transit is green, so you can help reduce auto emissions on the road to higher education. A Quick Course In Economics. BC Transit's flexible fare system lets you pay as you go, or pay in advance with either FareSaver tickets or a monthly FareCard. FareSavers are available for One, Two or Three Zone travel, in money-saving booklets. But if you take more than 20 rush- hour trips per month, then FareCards are for you. FareCards eliminate the need for change, and may be used by others. And best of all, when you Fast Trax your FareCard, it becomes even more economical. >(trf GoTransit or Carpool. Old FareSaver tickets may be used with a cash upgrade at time of travel until September 30. Unused tickets may be returned to BC Transit for a refund after October 1. Cash Cash Upgrade Upgrade One Zone IOC Three Zone 25C Two Zone 25C Concession 5C Fast Trax To Higher Education. Fast Trax is a transit strip that you affix to your student I.D. It upgrades a One-Zone FareCard to allow you to travel One, Two or Three Zones for the One-Zone fare, anytime. Unlike the FareCard itself, your Fast Trax photo I.D. is non-transferable. Participating campuses may levy a nominal service charge for distribution. Fast Trax transit strips are available at most student union associations, where you'll also find FareCards, FareSaver tickets, system timetables and the new Tri-Guide — a comprehensive, pocket-sized manual for rookie and seasoned transit users alike. Timetables are also available at public libraries, community centres and all other Transit Information outlets. Passes and tickets are also sold wherever you see the FareDealer symbol. Transit Information 261-5100. What's To Catch. Here's a complete list of transit service to UBC including routes that will be extended or improved on September 2. From West Vancouver board #258 bus for direct rush hour service to UBC. From North Vancouver board #286 for direct rush hour service to UBC. In addition during the AM peak, the #85 route provides an express connection from Waterfront Station to UBC connecting with the SeaBus. From Downtown board #4 bus on Granville Mall or #10 bus on Hastings or Granville Mall for frequent service to UBC. From SkyTrain board #9 or #31 express bus at Broadway Station for service to UBC. Within Vancouver board #4,9,10, 25, 31,41,42, 49 or 85 routes for direct service to UBC. Note #10, 31 and 85 operate express over certain portions of route. From Richmond board #480 bus for direct rush hour service to UBC or any Vancouver bus to 41st and Granville and transfer to the #41 to UBC. From Ladner and South Delta board any Vancouver bus to 41st and Granville and transfer to the #41 to UBC. From North Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, New Westminster and South Burnaby board any bus to SkyTrain and connect at Broadway Station with the #9 or #31 express service to UBC. From Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody board any Vancouver bus to Kootenay Loop or Downtown Vancouver and connect with the #10 UBC service. From North Burnaby board any local bus to Kootenay Loop and connect with the #10 UBC service. Changes To Watch For September 2: #4 powell/ubc Some departure times will be slightly adjusted during the evenings. #9 BOUNDARY/UBC With the start of Fall classes, daytime trips on the #9 will be extended to UBC until approximately 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Some departure times will be slightly adjusted during mid-day. #10 HASTINGS EXPRESS/UBC Some departure times will be slightly adjusted during mid-day. #25 BRENTWOOD MALL/UBC With the start of Fall classes, peak period trips on the #25 will be extended to UBC. #31 BROADWAY STATION/UBC With the start of Fall classes, peak period service on the #31 will be improved to UBC. #49 METROTOWN STATION/UBC With the start of Fall classes, peak period trips on #49 will be extended to UBC. Service during a.m. peak period will be improved from every 12 minutes to every 10 minutes. #85 UBC ROUTE With the start of Fall classes, #85 route will be reinstated. In addition the #85 will now pick-up UBC passengers only, between Waterfront Station and the Burrard Bridge. Local downtown travel can be completed on #1 and #22 routes. #480 STEVESTON/UBC With the start of Fall classes, peak period service to UBC will be reinstated. #258 WEST VANCOUVER/ UBC #286 NORTH VANCOU- VER/UBC With the start of Fall classes, peak period express service to UBC will be reinstated. A Dozen More SkyTrains. We're adding 12 new vehicles to SkyTrain, so capacity will be substantially improved during rush hours. BCTransitjSS Vancouver Regional Uranait System THE UBYSSEY We are always looking for new staff interested in helping to produce the newspaper. We need news writers, photographers, arts and sports writers, typesetters, computer geniuses, cartoonists and profredars. NEWS WSO... from page 3 Counselling and Resource Centre. "Its mandate has been changed to counsel all students on all the issues," he says. Trew agrees and also says women can go to the psychiatric services at Student Health. "The WSO can't play Lone Ranger, we have to work with other people." Student Margaret Rasheed wonders who decided to expand the SCRC's mandate. "Have counsellors suggested it? Have students suggested it? No. It's the administration who suggested it. They've not received any requests." She is angry that counselling is being consolidated. "The administration is treating counselling services on campus like a division of a large corporation—institutionalized and depersonalized," she says. "I know someone will be there [at the WSO] and help me cope with the stress at hand," she says. Going to a woman counsellor in a centre that you know is for you, for women, really raises your self-esteem." According to SCRC documents sent to The Ubyssey in July, the centre has "embraced the principles of feminist counselling." The SCRC, however, only has one woman counsellor. "Even if that one counsellor were a feminist in her approach, can one woman answer the needs of women on campus? No way," Horsman says. She is skeptical of the SCRC services for women. "I personally have had women come in here in tears from that office." The director ofthe SCRC, Ken Kush, did not return repeated phone calls from The Ubyssey. The future ofthe WSO Horsman fears the restructuring ofthe office will eventually lead to its demise. She believes that once counselling is cut there is no way the office will get it back and that advocacy programmes can easily be taken over. "Eventually faculties will put in place their own programmes with their own people directing them and when that happens this office will retreat," she says. By cutting the grassroots service of counselling, Horsman says the WSO will no longer hear what hurdles women face on campus, and the WSO will not know how best to advocate for their needs. Bob Bagshaw, a counsellor at Capilano College for 15 years, agrees. "If you're not acting locally, you have nothing to say globally." It is this lobbying voice that Horsman believes the administration wants to quell. "For twenty years the administration has been looking to take power away from this office because one thing they can't stand is any real constituency office," she says. This article is reprinted from the July 25th edition of The Ubyssey. On July 15, more than 50 women and 15 men occupied the WSO in protest ofthe cutbacks. The occupation was organized by the AMS Women's Centre .Women from the Centre called for counselling to be reinstated and for a woman of colour to be hired in the WSO. At the rally, protesters spontaneously wrote a letter to the administration. To date, there has been no response from the administration or the WSO director, and counselling hours have not been restored •0 > 4/THE UBYSSEY September 3 1991 UBC trash is born again by Raul Peschiera UBC is finally becoming serious about a student recycling programme. A five-compartment recycling bin was installed Saturday near the south entrance ofthe SUB concourse. A similar bin is to be placed next week on the north side. Each bin will have compartments labelled for newspaper, magazines, metal cans, clear glass and green glass. Niki Ferrel, AMS recycling coordinator, said, "Last year, newspaper recycling bins were available but this year we've moved on to a multi-material recycling facility." The single blue recycling bins which are inconspicuously scattered along the SUB concourse will be moved and placed elsewhere on campus. Ferrel hopes that the bins will be used correctly and be more visible to the students than the single bins. "In the past, students have used the old blue bins as garbage cans instead of recycling containers." Zimm's Trading, the company who installed the new recycling bin, will be handling the maintenance of the containers. Frequency of pick-upis based on demand. "For a couple of months Til be watching how often [the containers] need to be emptied. It could be once a week, once every few weeks or once a month." She said students should make sure that they put their material in the right compartment. If students want a refund for their aluminum cans, they can now go to Blasters Arcade in the SUB where they will be given five cents per can. "The success ofthe recycling programme depends on the students," added Ferrel. ||»««|| €#«S€tAS$ Dolt! RAUL PESCHIERA PHOTO Blue boxes move into Totem Park by Raul Peschiera This year, Totem Park residences will be the site of an experimental recycling programme sponsored by AMS Food Services. Every floor will have three blue recycling boxes which will serve to collect clear glass, newspaper and mixed paper wastes. "This is the only spot on campus that Food Services is participating in," said Niki Ferrel, AMS recycling coordinator. Approximately 1,200 students will be residing in Totem Park and Ferrel is optimistic the recycling boxes will be a successful model for future projects. "I think Food Services is really doing a great job. There are 36 floors at Totem and [placing] three blue boxes on every floor is extensive. "Refundable bottles and cans have always been saved in the residences so a box for them is not needed." She said that depending on the student response, a system similar to Totem's may be put into place in other residences. Summer news: In case you missed anything compiled by Rick Hiebert News at UBC does not stop happening when most students are away for the summer. Here are some ofthe more important items from summer issues of The Ubyssey. Daycare taken over at UBC In July, UBC Housing took over the administration of UBC's daycare system in order to take "a more paternal approach" over the formerly parent run daycares. Parents were upset that the university has chosen to take financial control ofthe daycares, despite administration claims that the parents will have a significant role to play in planning daycarebudgetsandhiring staff. They are worried that the university will also hire unionized labour to replace parental cleaning crews, which would result in higher daycare rates. Already, UBC students pay $460 per month in daycare fees, as compared to a city of Vancouver average of $419. New Minister appointed Central Fraser Valley Socred MLA Peter Dueck was appointed minister of advanced education in late May. After being cleared by the RCMP of allegations that he took travel expenses from hospital suppliers when he was minister of health, Dueck returned to the provincial cabinet as David Strangway's new boss May 29. Dueck's appointment impressed neither NDP opposition advanced education critic Barry Jones nor Canadian Federation of Students-BC chair Brad La vine. Theythoughtthe appointment was part of the preparation for the announcement of a new university in the Fraser Valley. BC budget bad news The provincial budget brought bad news for students on May 21. Funding for post-secondary education only rose by 4.5 per cent while science and technology funding was cut for the next fiscal year. Student assistance funding was also frozen. Augh! Administration! Supreme court protects rapists by Cheryl Niamath Picture this: you park your car in B-lot but you forget to roll up the window and somebody steals your stereo. The thief gets caught and charged but the entire trial centers around why you didn't lock your car properly. Or how about this: you're walking alone through a rough part ofthe city and someone beats you up and takes your wallet. In court, the defense attorney focuses on the fact that you have been in fights before and you knew you were in a dangerous area, so how do you know for sure if you were beaten up? But, you might say, the legal system doesn't work like that. A crime is a crime, and criminals get punished, right? Unless you happen to get raped. It used to be that a rape victim's sexual history could not be introduced as evidence in a sexual assault trial. Last month, the Supreme Court of Canada rMSSTYUE •*.', i > overthrew the Rape Shield law. Now it will be perfectly acceptable (under some circumstances, which will be decided upon by the judge) for the courts to delve in to the past sexual experiences of a victim of rape. This takes us back decades. Putting the victim on trial went out of style ages ago, didn't it? It wouldn't be quite so bad if it was common practice to grill the victims of other crimes about how many times they went out without locking their front doors, or how many times they left their knapsacks unattended while they went to buy a cup of coffee. It wouldn't be so bad if an alleged rapisf s past convictions for sexual assault could be admitted as evidence in a trial. The Rape Shield law helped to encourage victims of sexual assault to press charges and go to trial to convict their attackers. The Rape Shield law protected victims of rape. By striking down the law, the Supreme Court is protecting rapists. DON MAH PHOTO New Deans for law and commerce The faculties of law and commerce appointed new deans in late spring. Feminist legal scholar Lynn Smith was promoted from professor to dean ofthe law faculty while Michal A. Goldberg comes to UBC to be a professor of urban land planning and dean of commerce. Engineers change with the times In late July, UBC administration banned the Lady Godiva Ride and stopped racist, sexist and homophobic activities by engineering students. The dean of applied science will be screening editorial candidates for any EUS publications. If the EUS violates any of these provisos, their fees will be confiscated and the offenders will go before a independent committee. According to EUS president Adam La Rusic, the engineers think thatit was presented to them as a fait accompli without enough consultation with the students. In relatednews, the EUS may still have to pay the $15,000 fine assessed by Student Court after the printing of a sexist and racist EUS publication in the spring of 1990. The EUS is petitioning AMS Student Court, arguing the fine should be waived. UBC to hire women's advisor In September, a woman will be hired to advise UBC President David Strangway on "women and gender." The part time advisor will counsel Strangway on issues regarding the status of women at UBC and other gender related issues. Fraser Valley University in the works Peter Dueck, MLA from the Fraser Valley and advanced education minister, announced that the Socreds have appointed a committee to plan for BCs sixth university. The university has no definite opening date, but Dueck has already assured community lobby groups that they will soon begin to work on plans for the university. Andrews and Somerset mourned Two prominent members of the UBC community were mourned this summer. Kenneth Andrews, 69, died July 20. He was the retired head of a major campus union, CUPE116. Dorothy Somerset, the prominent arts figure and former head ofthe UBC theatre department died on August 11. September 3,1991 THE UBYSSEY/5 A backstage look at Marissa Cheng, a dancer with the Chinese Youth Goodwill Mission from Taipei, Republic of China. The Theatre troupe performed at the UBC Old Auditorium Saturday night. CHERYL NIAMATH PHOTO Opening dance at the annual llluminaries Festival at Trout Lake. don mah photo Blues legend Buddy Guy plays the PNE. Summer Ot>f\ Wednesday night at the PNE. 6/THE UBYSSEY September 3,1991 theUbyssey EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT CLOSEST BICYCLE SHOP TO UBC BICYCLE STORES — % STARVING STUDENTS MAINSTREET ^ ^^ _ 7 «qiMME 4 BR£4f( sai.e» $309 Cap's Price $ 389.95 PEUGEOT NAHANNI MTB *SI9 Cap's Price $ 469.95 Cap's Price Red Tag BIANCHI TEAM GRIZZLY IBEX NYALA FORZA BRAVA OCELOT PEUGEOT X COUNTRY MAC KENZIE KINGS CANYON DIAMOND SPRINGS LOOK M170 M180 M190 MTB 21 sd MTB 21 sd MTB21sd Road 14 sd Road 14sd MTB 21 sd Hybrid MTB21sd MTB 21 sd MTB 21 sd MTB 21 sd MTB 21 sd MTB 21 sd $1349.95 549.95 439.95 529.95 699.95 369.95 $ 579.95 569.95 879.95 1129.95 $ 849.95 1069.95 1379.95 $1099.95 429.95 349.95 419.95 499.95 299.95 $ 449.95 449.95 679.95 899.95 $ 699.95 899.95 1099.95 25% off REG. PRICES NORCO BAGS, RACKS LIGHTS, LOCKS HUGE CLOTHING CLEARANCE SHORTS, T-SHIRTS TIGHTS, JACKETS LOTS MORE!!! AVENIR HARD SHELL - Approved LG/XL Only Reg. $ 59.95 FEATURING VISTA - LIGHT STROBE visa: ON THE SPOT FENDER INSTALLATION NO LABOUR CHARGE TUES. - FRI. SALE RUNS FROM SEPT. 3 TO SEPT. 28, 6:00 PM 6255 WEST BOULEVARD 4387 WEST 10TH AVE. 263-3240 12 STORES TO SERVE YOU. 222-8200 4 4' 2/THE UBYSSEY EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT September 3,1991 EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT s ECT's vapid style faces last year at UBC by Raul Peschiera By the end of this academic year, the English Composition Test as students have known it will no longer exist. The excessive administrative load for the English department is the primary cause for the restructuring ofthe ECT. The required exam was designed to run adjacent to English 100, but was not at all connected with the course. For the last ten years, it was organized and coordinated by the English department and a senate committee. Many English professors have complaints about the process. Professor Anthony Dawson said, "I don't think [the ECT] does the job if s supposed to do. It tends to produce a kind of teaching to the test in English 100. It tends to reward a vapid style." Jane Flick, head of the university's ECT committee, said, "The English department won't be administering the exam any longer. The university faculties are now discussing an exam system to replace the current ECT." Susanna Egan, assistant professor said, "It's just an enormous task—3,500 students come to UBC every year, and counting the people who fail the exam, it's an enormous exam to process. "It's an enormous burden on the English department, which has been gallantly handled." Many English professors agree with Egan and other complaints about the ECT have arisen. Joel Kaplan, associate professor, said, "In the past there has been a strange correlation between some of my better English 100 students who having failed [the ECT] and some of my weaker, sometimes failing, students having passed. It has created some discrepancies in that way." Dawson, citing professor John Foster's report on the ECT, said the test was "ethnocentric and [tended] to disqualify non-native English speakers." "Wereally dont needthe ECT; it's really quite superfluous. It would be much better to screen students beforehand." Jane Flick could not confirm what system would take the place of the ECT since the university faculties have not yet issued an official proposal. Dawson speculated a screening exam for admission into English courses could be an option and an independent group could be hired to mark the exams. "We're facing a much larger population of ESL students than ten years ago. We cannot ignore this problem," he said. Flick said, "We have always had concern for ESL students. I think there is a large number of remedial students but the 25 to 30 per cent failure rate is not outstanding." She said students shoul d read their calenders and find out the composition requirements for their faculties. She added English 100 does not prepare students for the ECT, so they should prepare themselves for it. "Any student who fails the ECT twice is a student who definitely should spend more time reading and writing. They should get help," she said. The Centre for Continuing Education offers non-credit courses for students who wish to improve their reading and writing skills. Though the ECT is to be annulled be the end of this academic year, currently enrolled students are still required to take the composition test. Added Dawson, "I hope [the end of the ECT] is true, but 111 believe it when I see it." Three per cent fee means less groceries to eat by Sharon Undores Effective this fall, applicants are being forced to pay three per cent of their Canada Student Loan as a processing fee. The federal government introduced the non-refundable "guarantee fee" on August 1. Due to the surprise implementation, not all students have been notified of this additional fee. The amount must be paid to the bank, before receivingthe loan. In the future, students can budget for this fee in their loan application but it cannot be considered an exceptional expense. Brad Levine, the Canadian Federation of Students(CFS) chairperson for BC, said lobbyists in Ottawa were close to stopping it before its implementation. "It is an administrative nightmare. We will continue to fight it." Laurent Marcoux, director of policy and programmes for the student assistance department of the secretary of state,said the fee was implemented "to partly offset the rising costs of the Canada Student Loans programme." Dan Worsley, assistant director of awards and financial aid at UBC said the fee "helps to offset administrative costs and defaults on loan payments. It is a trend in the federal government, to make the programme more cost effective." "It is an unbelievable measure, to add a surcharge to those who have to borrow money. First they cut transfer payments and now this — it's a vicious cycle. "I have misgivings about the three per cent levy. In essence, a student with the maximum loan of $3570, will have to pay $107. That's groceries for half a month," he said. Christine Fleeton, a fourth year English student, said "I had enough problems getting a loan. With the loan, I will have just enough money and $200 to last until January when I will appeal. "Now I will have to pay $100. It will be tight for me. A lot of others will not be expecting it and will be short on their budgets. "It may not be possible for some people, especially for single parents," said Fleeton. Kelly Guggisberg, coordinator of external affairs, said "I can't think of a logical reason why the government is hitting up the people who can least afford it. Tuition is up and the cost of living is up. A levy on living is not reasonable. "A petition will be circulating in the SUB for the first few weeks of school. Since the student council is not meeting until September 11, we decided that a petition would be an immediate way to address student concerns to the federal government." Levine said that CFS has been against the levy since 1989, when it was first proposed by federal bureaucrats. CFS is now running "a tough campaign to raise awareness. There was little support for the initiative. The students and the banks are unhappy about it," Levine said. "Ideally it will be eliminated in the shortest time possible. Hopefully within a year." The fee may be paid by a post dated cheque or money order. -;anp when you ELIGIBLE FOP. LGJ\HmA< THERE'S ALWAYS THE 6\^ NO LONGER ASSISTANCE "... Governments increase burden on students by Frances Foran A number of changes in the provincial and federal tiers of student aid indicate both programmes are shifting the financial burden of education onto the student. As a result, the student who applies for aid this year faces more demanding criteria. At the federal level, a three per cent "guarantee fee" has been introduced into the Canada Student Loans Program. The purpose of the fee is "to offset the cost of benefits received under the...Program," such as subsidized interest ofthe loan while the borrower is in school and during the six-month grace period following studies. To augment this cost-reduction strategy, the CSL Program will no longer tolerate defaults. A CSL default will likely pre-empt a student's eligibility for further CSL loans. Dan Worsley, assistant to the director at UBC Financial Aid, said obtaining a clearance on a CSL default will now be "virtually impossible." Jane Weiderman, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Advanced Education and Technology, said a similar policy for the BC Student Assistance Program will be effective in the next couple of months. When this policy is in place, delinquent loan payments will affect the student's credit rating. Another amendment to the BCSAP this year, is the increased number of hours the student must work as a requirement for a student loan. The Demonstration of Personal Responsibility clause now requires the student to spend a minimum of 560 hours (increased from 360) volunteering, caring for children aged 11 years or younger or studying during the four months before the academic period. Since the clause qualifies a student for remission of an undergraduate debt exceeding $13,000, failure to prove responsibility in a post-audit means a remission will not be granted. Weiderman said the work requisite was increased to "strengthen the requirement that the student make every effort to contribute to the educational cost." The new student loan structure Loans make some students more equal than others «. by Frances Foran The amended structure ofthe loans programme serves some students better than others. The maximum amount available for a loan to an undergraduate is $30,000 from the provincial and $20,000 from the federal programmes. A single person enrolled in 60 per cent of a full programme (minimum course load) may have no problem completing a degree in the requested "timely manner" of five years. And a single student may borrow the maximum annual loan of $7,140 for five undergraduate years and still not exceed the $50,000 limit. It seems, however, students with dependents, who borrow the maximum annual loan, are penalized for the luxury of finishing the programme in the same "timely manner." Single parents and married students are eligible for a greater annual maximum loan ($10,710), but are still subject to the $50,000 limit and the minimum enrollment criterion. A single parent who receives the maximum loan could exhaust the total available funds in about four and a half years. In effect, students in this situation would be required to carry a heavier workload than the minimum in order to complete a degree within the time constraint. Extra employment supplements a loan and enables a student to spread funds over a greater length of time, but may not be manageable for students with children in daycare. Weiderman said the increased work requisite ensures the student makes every effort to contribute to the educational cost. If this is the sole purpose of the work requisite, it is redundant. While loan ceilings have been stable for two years, the cost of books, public transportation, food and tuition are all up this year. Enforcement by the programme is unnecessary; the student's greater contribution to the educational cost will be guaranteed by swelling prices. Students who fall through the cracks of the government loans programmes, may find help from the AMS Emergency Student Loans Program, assumed last February by Kelly Guggisberg, coordinator of external affairs. The ESL Program offers interest-free, short term (one year) loans of less than $1500 to stu dents in dire and immediate need. The programme is not meant to replace the government loan programme, Guggisberg said. A successful applicant is one who has exhausted other sources such as AMS and external bursaries, parental contribution and government aid programmes. like the government loans programmes, the ESL Program has amended the criteria for loan eligibility. Due to last year's high default rate, applicants will be subject to a more comprehensive selection process. Applications for the Emergency Loan Program are available at Kelly Guggisberg's office, SUB 250. September 3,1991 THE UBYSSEY EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT/3 pw~ z"%y-' * * . ■* EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT ■-A*-i* *.+... Steiner cultivates creative approach to schooling by Franks Cordua-von Specht What do you remember from kindergarten? I remember one sweet-smelling afternoon when I sat with the other children in a circle huddled around a hot pot of honey. We each held long braided cotton strings that we dipped into the depths of the liquid beeswax, adding layer upon layer to the candles, presents for our parents that Christmas. This is one of my most vivid memories from the Waldorf School in Hamburg, Germany, where my parents enrolled my brother, sister and me in kindergarten. Unlike many public kindergartens, the Waldorf school, founded by Rudolf Steiner in 1919, does not teach reading, writing or arithmetic, and I have no memory of any letter As disguised as Apples or letter Bs as Bees decorating the kindergarten walls. The goal of Waldorf education is to nurture the creative forces that slumber within children — leaving the reading, writing and arithmetic for later stages. Introducing formal education in kindergarten is premature and hinders the development of the child's creativity, Steiner believed. I agree with this. Children should be accepted as children and not be transformed too soon into little adults. I watch with apprehension as more and more parents use subliminal means to educate their kids at ayounger and younger age, hoping their child will be able to pronounce the word d-o-g before the child next door. Waldorf education encourages play as opposed to work by providing children with opportunities to use their imagination. Play, Steiner pointed out, comes from within. Work from outside. In kindergarten, I remember pouring water into wine glasses and carefully drawing forth the notes as Iran my fingers around the rim; hemming the apron ofthe little puppet (a cook), which would later be part of the class puppet show; using chopsticks to grasp raisins as I learned to eat with them; planting a garden and caring for p. Freestyle the pansies; learning to play a harp; even milling grain into flour for the bread we would bake. I cannot remember when I first learned to add or subtract. But I do rememberthethickred cotton that I used to make the lips for the puppet. I can remember the smell ofthe honey, the taste ofthe bread. It is, as Steiner said, that life is to be experienced in the same way as art —through the senses. Sterner's pedagogy probes deeply into the question: s'j»^ what is the hu- , 1$ man being? He believed the inner de- velop- ment of the hu- m a n needed to accompanythe rphysical sensory development in order for humans to perceive with "wholeness." He wrote that the developing of a vivid inner life will serve as a key to unlock the beauties of the outer world. In 1919, Rudolf Steiner founded the first "Free Waldorf School" in Stuttgart, Germany. The .:. 1 "free" was meant to signify the freedom of the school from any political or economic oppression. Currently, there are Waldorf Schools around the world, all of them private. Originally, they were never intended for a privileged few —the first school in Stuttgart was set up for the children of employees of a cigarette factory, the Waldorf Astoria Company. My parents did not enroll me in a Waldorf School when my family moved to Canada and I cannot judge how such an education would have served me. But I am grateful for the fullness oflife I experienced as a six-year-old. When I ask others what they remember of this period of their life, some tell me about fingerpainting and reading. Most say "not much." Oddly, that's how I feel about my elementary school education. QUO VAVIS ACADEMIC PLANNERS (august to august) tn€ SChOldf size 6V2"x83/4" - 16.5x22 cm Z— in, JULY 24 27 i 25 28 i ! J ! 2S i j 29 ! s 30 —•-" L textagenda size 43/4"x6%" - 12x17 cm fc 1 ~ Academic weekly. The notebook agenda with the full year. Detachable address-book. PnflCiPdl size 6%"x8%" -17x22 cm ;— , I ::- — [ : ? ■ I .— k. Eiiil« ptn ti^j r ■551 T" The notebook for the dynamic student. Scholastic appendixes (note paper, graph paper, space for indicating results). Bound-in address-book. A diary conceived by the teaching profession for teachers and professors. Pages designed especially for you. A convenient size for your briefcase, desk, etc. All the advantages of the Quo Vadis Agenda Planning Diary formula + special features. Detachable address-book. university size 4-X6- -10x15 cm ■ -_ 1-1. fr 'Ii ■ — _ a — a Lj^=i^~- I r t 1: b "" !■ ^2 ~ L = i= = The pocket Agenda Planning Diary for College or University. Detachable address-book. Me student size 7"x31/2" - 17.5x8.8 cm Academic biweekly, fcxtraflat with original design. Detachable address-book. Quo Vads planners are printed on recyclable paper. AVAILABLE AT MOST STATIONERY AND OFFICE SUPPLY SPECIALISTS w vadis QUO VADIS INTERNATIONAL Ltd 243 Dunbar Ave. - Montreal, QUEBEC H3P2H4 Phone:(514)342-3919 - Telex : 05 825839 Fax:(514)342-7877 Exclusive Distribution for ONTARIO only: WILLOWDALE M2H 3B4 720 Gordon Baker Road Phone:(416)495-1676 4 4/THE UBYSSEY EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT September 3 1991 »TVVM""V EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT New research centre To be focus of feminist network in BC Veronica Strong-Boag, a historian specializing in Canadian history for the past twenty years, intends to promote feminist scholarship. Strong-Boag has recently been appointed director of the new Centre for Research in Women's Studies and Gender Relations at UBC. by Effie Pow UNDER Strong-Boag's leadership, the centre is setting up a Women's Studies graduate programme that should be in place in two years and planning a collaborative PhD programme. "I was attracted to the idea of something new that could be shaped. The administration stressed this was a key moment and there were lots of possibilities and support." Strong-Boag, however, is well aware ofthe challenges ahead. "If you know anything about university bureaucracy, these things always take longer than you anticipate." She says the first months of operation are focussed on research that is responsive to the community and addresses women's experiences. "The research agenda for this centre is set in consultation with feminist scholars across campus." STRONG-BOAG has had a lot of firsts in her career. In 1975 she was the first person in Canada to do a doctoral thesis on Canadian women's history. She was also the first woman historian appointed at Trent and Concordia universities. At Trent, Strong-Boag became more active in women's issues. Originally from Victoria, Strong-Boag received her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto and did graduate work at Carleton University in Ottawa. At Carleton, she focussed on Canadian women in history, notably Nellie McClung, who was instrumental in winning the right to vote for women. At Simon Fraser University, Strong-Boag was jointly appointed to the history department and Women's Studies. AtSFUherwork moved from the turn-of-the-cen- tury to the twentieth century and she became more engaged in interdisciplinary work. "My own work is moving out of "Feminism is one part of opening up the world of scholarship." the fairly conventional graduate experience at the University of Toronto, which is still one of the more conservative schools in the country," Strong-Boag says. "Ferninist scholarship in general is sensitive to inter-disciplinary work. "Historians are not the most progressive people, so I've worked in environments that have been more or less supportive." Strong-Boag says interdisciplinary work, however, is isolating for female academics; at SFU there was one other woman historian also associated with the Women's Studies programme. "It was very important for me to have intellectual nourishment and support, and a network of feminists." Since Strong-Boag's appointment at UBC, she has met people in arts, social work, education, medicine and geography who are doing work related to the Women's Studies Programme. "As a Canadian historian I am very committed to promoting Canadian work and work on Canada. "My first priority is to encourage scholarship thatishome-grown and addresses the concerns of women in the community, which seem to be unaddressed by UBC as an institution and often not addressed in scholarship anyway." Strong-Boag says she discovered a lack of significant literature "I see the centre operating as part of a consensus which emerged out ofthe UBC community. I want to foster the consensus that is already developed, talk to the people about the possibilities, see what resources we can mobilize and make hard choices." A collaborative PhD programme with SFU and possibly with the University of Victoria will also be established. UBC will not be the first university to have a graduate programme (York University in Toronto was the first to have such a programme). "UBC has been slowtostartin Women's Studies." Strong-Boag also has concerns about the graduate programme. "Faculty resources are insufficient for the undergraduate programme. They are doing it on people's good will and sessionals, who are always underpaid." Strong-Boag has expressed her concern to Dan Birch (vice- president of academics) and John Grace (dean of graduate studies) and suggested the SFU model, which is based on joint appoint- ceived a letter from a SFU colleague (who did want her to go to UBC) which asked if she was having fun yet. "If I answer this colleague, I could say Fm having fun and I anticipate having fun," she says. "I anticipate undoubtably getting a bloody nose at some point, but I'm pretty hard-nosed and I've "I see the centre operating as part of the consensus which emerged out of the UBC community." been aroundalongtime. Ihave the advantage of having come through several schools. "I'm not about to be intimidated by UBC. Peoplehave warned me about the bureaucracy and if s a big school, but I've had that experience at the University ofToronto. I'm not about to be intimidated, not to say I can't be, but if s not on women and poverty when she was compiling material for a book of essays on BC women. "If s those kinds ofbig lacunae in literature that responsible scholars should address," Strong- Boag says. "I consider the mandate ofthe centre action-oriented in terms of scholarship." Many feminists at UBC had been thinking about a centre for a couple of years and were in a good position to move when there was more support from the institution, Strong-Boag says. Previous administrative work at SFU was an asset for Strong- Boag when UBC approached her about the position of director. "There are probably ruder words for us, but I think historians often turn up in administration because we're all into organizations and like to see things run efficiently." In the first year, Strong- Boag will meet with many people in various faculties in an effort to connect the strengths she sees at UBC. "Not only will I be introducing myself to UBC scholars, but Fm hoping I can introduce UBC scholars in different faculties to each other," Strong-Boag says. "There's a good group here that's done a lot of work. What we need to do is highlight it, present it and reward people for doing it." Within two years, Strong-Boag wants to have the basis for a master's programme in Women's Studies set up. ments in various areas. Strong-Boag says senior appointments are needed for a graduate programme, which cannot be based on people trying to get their own academic careers established. "Some kind of hiring is absolutely necessary. This is going to be difficult for UBC, as it is for many other universities, when appointments are tight and everybody fights over who gets the appointments. But also because this is feminist scholarship, a lot of people are going to have some mixed feelings. "Feminists are sensitive to the political implications ofthe kinds of work we do. In some ways thaf s why it's easier to live with people who are truly conservatives, who have their agenda right up front." The centre wants to examine the relationship between the sexes, because in history the man has been treated as the norm, Strong-Boag says. "I see feminist scholarship and work in Women's Studies and gender relations, as a way of keeping people honest about their work—that it's self-conscious work that doesn't claim to be everything." Most scholars are realizing they need to discuss the experience of both sexes, different races, ethnic groups, and classes, Strong-Boag believes. "Feminism is one part of opening up the world of scholarship." Strong-Boag says she re- going to be easy." Strong-Boag is organizing a conference to be held at UBC on women's health for October 1992. The focus on health brings together the kind of work that has been done at UBC, which is across all the disciplines, she says. She will oversee the conference funding for the next few months. The second conference may be on poverty and related issues: disability, single mothers, elderly women, women of colour, discriminatory labour market. "It's even more in the planning stage, it's mostly in my head." UBC has the resources for significant research, if they are properly mobilized, Strong-Boag says. "As a responsible feminist scholar, I can never turn away from the fact that there is an important research agenda that needs to be addressed if women's needs are to be addressed. We've got women and men here who are committed to making this a more egalitarian society. "I think the administration has realized the time has come to address the situation of women on campus and the situation of women in scholarship, so a lot has happened simultaneously, which is confusing." Last September when the Women's Studies undergraduate programme was moved to a major from a minor position, the centre was created. Another new development of UBC's campaign, is the creation of a part-time position: an advisor on women and gender to the president's office. "I don't think it's overkill. Some people may say there are suddenly all these appointments I think it's long overdue and if something had been done a long time ago, we wouldn't be in the position where so much is needed." Strong-Boag is looking forward to meeting the advisor to the on women and gender. "I don't know if you've looked at the job description, it could be anything or nothing. It's impossible to say. We presume everybody starts off with the best intentions in the world, but best intentions are best maintained by good communication," Strong-Boag says. "I certainly will make an effort togettogether and talk about what we are doing." Strong-Boag says her five- year term will be a test of her competence and "also what commitment the university has to feminist scholarship and making the environment better for faculty women. "I think the centre represents the highest ideals of the university, which is service through research." "I think the centre represents one of the highest ideals of the univesity which is to service through research." Strong-Boag wants to collaborate with other feminist scholars at universities and colleges in BC. "UBC tries to be chief dog all the time; collaboration and cooperation is important." Located on the third floor of the Library Processing Centre, the centre's researchers include Barbara Heidt (Slavonic studies), Geraldine Pratt (geography) and Judith Daniluk (counselling psychology). A professor from Norway is arriving in October and a professor from McGill University may join the research team. Director fills lacunae Strong-Boag has a recent book out on Canadian women entitled The New Day Becalled: Lives of Girls and Women in English Canada (1919-1939) and has two others in the works. She is putting together book of essays on BC women with Gillian Creese from UBC's sociology faculty, which will be published in spring by Press Gang Publishers. Many of the essays are written by UBC faculty members. "What is clear is the strength of the inter-disciplinary feminist scholarship [at UBCI" Strong-Boag is also working on a book about Canadian women in the urban experience from 1945-1960. September 3,1991 THE UBYSSEY EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT/5 ON THE BOULEVARD Hair Care Services Esthetician Suntanning Special 10 sessions for Offer Expires Oct. 15 Hours: Mon - Sat 9:30 - 6:00 5784 University Blvd. 224-1922*224-9116 SU-KSCREENING *' (t WtEX DEUVZIY ON STOCK REUS) T-SHIRTS ....*«, sweatshirts .. :2sr.".. $15.20 ea. Other styles, colours & tabric contents available * Based on 25+ units ' TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Price includes 1 colour print, choice of ink colour, screen set-up & artwork. No hidden charges. Options: flashcure- add ,38C/print (for solid coloured fabric) & puff ink - add 75 z o Q tr o o X September 3,1991 THE UBYSSEY EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT/9 Leave School And Stop Wasting Your Parents' Money D D. 'Bdhcd Qvrd'fcy * >f-> tn DO If you think school supplies on campus cost too much, head for Grand & Toy. Because when you show your valid student I.D., you'll always get 10% off our regular priced items. Everything from pens to pads, and a whole lot more. So come into Grand & Toy today, and show your parents what you've learned. GRRND&TaY OFFICE PRODUCTS ■ PRODUITS DE BUREAU Richmond Centre • Lougheed Mall -Capilano Mall • Guilford Town Centre • Pacific Centre • Eaton Centre MetroTown THE THUNDERBIRD SHOP AT UBC SAVE YOUR MONEY REDEEM OUR COUPONS! We know that money Is tight that's why at the Thunderbird Shop we've given out over 1/4 million dollars worth of coupons for you to save money on shirts, pants, school supplies, knapsacks & more! Coupons available in the "Inside UBC" Calendar. Enter our contest Prizes! Prizes! Prizes! DOWNSTAIRS STUDENT UNION BUILDING 224-1911 MON. TO FRI. 8 AM - 6 PM SATURDAY 10 AM-5 PM SUNDAY NOON - 5 PM 6> I- L—— \ea/ ■x • verbal . analyse * ' fynWic • tt»ipora I ® -ration^ £u.fingreayxi® at\d facif) 'digits * ®* logical 'lintdjr ^OrnKtd ideaf) * 6) + mr\onV£rpal fa/areneft)^ * 'WtbtMc (futtinf £ ^ form vsHo\tf) -Co«cr£tti $>(fdating to ihi«»* Q^^iCJ^ ONCrt tyM*** 1 For more details on classes starting October 1,1991, see our UCS Educational Programs Brochure available for pick-up in the UCS Computing Support Centre, Room 209- Computer Sciences Building after September 6,1991. Registration for these classes will begin September 16,1991 Tip: Register early, these classes are popular. UCS Educational Proarams University Computing Services, UBC 4 10/THE UBYSSEY EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT September 3,1991 ^ ©> e> 6) (? is . sr * r/at ^ofi^B^-teach^r^ encouraged ieft-h&ided children, ■to mSr-ite )rvnh -their ritfk-t fond'f .Thif ancient friaf aga-mff fye lift hand and -the right hewifphere of-the brain haf pee*, reflected m our focrety, t^ftornf and levitfu&fer. far exaMpfe the 1st in word for (eft ifSimffer- rvfe3nir\/> Ipad, o^iihou^, f truster.JPeyter- \^ [Qtin-fcr n'jM. rfliie% airvd m{Ue$ a lack of *tora I ?trznftk. fck& Lrifikt) rt&rf$ ftraigW ^>rJuft ■ Correct &yid rectieucte co^e frm neft and thj Ist'n ooefhate rtc&p. p??fite -th* enphaff? oK %e (eft rtemifphere there if a lot of untapped potential >n tke ncfdt hemisphere'• FormsI educate h&? focuffed on deve(opiry> th£ left ^iffhere, frut it fhculd j& ftructuredto employ the whole fcr&in rmaHa\ in a different vay. if fatk ?de? ofthe (yram are employed j*-tandem, learning fecomef More effec-eivB avid effrci&tf. iilrinou^m cntcca ( ° thin kind if ufed ii fdiooff, \t ,j 9°^ipie to apply creat?^ tWrnktnfto yt>ur ftudfe*?. Ntfte - t&k.vxf, rvtervtoriVif&Hd ftudyinfP c&k. fae i*pro\/ed by eMptoyinf tke rrtfkf hBntiff^f-r-e witiAffudy tec^mof^ that Have g&n desr?£d. l'ifatfosi Otid *A.\r\d iriappr'nef- Mir\d Mdfpinf if artcor-d of ,dea$.vv ^ -\\i @ -* ©)• • «• • (9 ?,< it- k@> (9 -!c ^ • &■ © CB SAFEWAY We bring it all together ♦ For all your grocery needs and more, Safeway is ready to help you with convenient shopping hours, superior selection, competitive prices and service that's second to none! Our friendly staff are here to help you any way that we can. 555 W. 12th AVE CITY SQUARE MALLL — OPEN — 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. 7 Days a Week 990 W. 25th AVE KING EDWARD MALL — OPEN — 8 a.m. to Midnight 7 Days a Week 8555 Granville St at 70th AVE. — OPEN — 8 a.m. to Midnight 7 Days a Week 4575 W. 10th AVE at SASMAT — OPEN — 8 a.m. to Midnight 7 Days a Week 27333 W. BROADWAY at MACDONALD — OPEN — 8 a.m. to Midnight 7 Days a Week 2315 W. 4th AVE at VINE — OPEN — 8 a.m. to Midnight 7 Days a Week FAST, FRIENDLY SERVICE.. |-9€ §> *. e V <§> @ \> S Q <5> 3 i (3 /I ^ 'l\ ^JY^L^ CtWPflAtJ CUISINC Vegetarian & Non-Vegetarian Dishes Dinner Specials Present this Ad between 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. and you and your guest receive one complimentary menu item when another menu item of equal or greater value is ordered. Limit $7.00 Exp. Sept 30/91 Vancouvers' 1ST ETHIOPIAN RESTAURANT 2930 West 4th Ave. Reservations 731-7899 Dine-in Only jaWiiwM™""1**™"™!™^, Ro^h Ha^hana Attend! It's music to your ears! The shofar is blown... a contact Is made... don't miss It. Be In a synagogue! Sunday, $ept a* 7pn Monday, $«pt 9* IQwn Tuesday, SeptlO, 10am Cttabad House $750 Oak St* Vancouver ROLL INTO "► OUR WHEELY BIG SALE! Mountain Bikes $50 to $200 off all models Our Wheely Big $100,000 Clearance Sale is on from Aug. 16th to Sept 3rd. Lots of in-store specials! While quantities last only! Come soon! (Sole Ptica do not apply to duldrm's bicjda.) SAMPLE SAVINGS -$50 BRC BACKROAD Shimano 100GS $269 BRC TREKKER Shimano 200GS $299 BRC SIERRA Shimano 300GS $399 BRIDGESTONE MB3 Shimano DX $899 SAMPLE SAVINGS -$150 BRC LIMELIGHT Shimano DX $599 SBIROCKHOPPER Shimano 400LX $499 MIYATA1000LT Touring Bike $889 ROCKY EQUIPE Shimano DX $1049 -POINT GREY -i 224-3536 SAMPLE SAVINGS -$100 BRC BANZAI Shimano DX/LX $499 BRC GONZO Shimano DX/LX $499 ROCKY FUSION Shimano DX/LX $639 BRC Sierra-ladies only $349 SAMPLE SAVINGS -$200 ROCKY BLIZZARD XT/SYNCROS $1499 ROCKY EXPERIENCE Aluminum $1299 ROCKY CIRRUS Elevated Aluminum ...$1599 ROCKY HAMMER Ritchey Logic $799 KERRISDALE- 263-7587 3771 W. 10th at Alma 6069 W. Boulevard at 45th OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK! September 3,1991 THE UBYSSEY EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT/IL ::sr . m YOUR RUNNING'WALKING'LIFESTYLE STORE 3504 West 4th Ave., Vancouver, B.C. 732-4535 Recycle your old shoes at our 4th Annual STINKY SNEAKER SALE! (Aug 19-Sept. 15,'91) SAVE UP TO $50 on a new pair of shoes, (with trade-in) All trade-ins are recycled and donated to the St. James Social Service Society. SEE YOU AT THE SALE! Join Peter, Karen, Ranza, Wayne and Carey, Wednesday nights at 6:30 p.m. during the weekly FORERUNNERS RUNNING CLINIC. The People at Forerunners (left to right) Carey Nelson, 28:0410,000m Runner; Karen Butler, 3:02 Marathoner; Peter Bulter, 2:10 Marathoner; Wayne Richardson, Ultramarathoner; Ranza Boileau, 1984 Olympian UBYSSEY STAFF MEETING IS 12:30 ON WEDNESDAY AS USUAL NEXT PRODUCTION BEGINS THURSDAY EVENING SUB 241K 3SWJ55L VARSITY COMPUTERS vmcouver, b c SERVING VANCOUVER SINCE '87 TMSON 386SX • 1MIB3M8XCPU • 1 Meg RAM • 1.2orl.44MjgtoDpy«1vl • t aria, 1 paiM. 1 (»nt port • lOlkiyiinlmndMytovd • 40 Mrg laid Aim • MonomnttorwakHnuIn *850» TMSON 38SDX-25 • 25MIB3MOXCPU • 1 Me! RAM • U Of 1.44 Mag Hippy drtn • 1 MiM. 1 paaal, 1 gam pat • 101 toys atrancafluyboird • 40 Mtg lam! am a MononrnnorwHhHfiajlM cofnpiflbtof cord ♦1000" TRBOII386DX-33 • 33MIU 386DX CPU • 1 Mi j RAM • 1.2 or 1.44 Meg loppy ditw - 1 wriri, 1 piftNtl, 1 gum port • 101 kiyl inhuad klyboird • 40 Meg tart n*» • Mono monitor wHhHtrcuus compitBln cad >120000 (604) 222-2326 Fax: (604) 222-2372 MALE VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED: Genital Herpes Treatment Study. Tests involving a potential new treatment for genital herpes are presently being conducted. Male volunteers between the ages of 18 and 45 with recurrent genital herpes are required for testing of new agent. Patients may receive treatment with new drug or with placebo containing no active drug twice daily in tablet form for 18 weeks. This study includes donating semen samples every 2 weeks and blood and urine samples monthly for a period of 10 months. No other antiviral medication may be used during the study period. A frequent genital herpes pattern is not required. A generous honorarium is offered. If you are interested in finding out more about participation in this study, please call 822-7565 or 687-7711 pager 2887 for details. The war for our universities fey Rick Hiebert "Professors should have less freedom of expression than writers or artists, because professors are supposed to be creating a better world." —Harvard English professor Barbara Johnson (In Tenured Radicals). PRINT Tenured Radicals By Roger Kimball Harper and Row Illiberal Education By Dinesh D'Souza Maxwell MacMillan Canada A war may be about to erupt in Canadian academia. Students and faculty with politically progressive views are working together to build a university community that fights sexism, racism, homophobia and other prejudices through a new approach to academic teachings and student life. They stress affirmative action, the politicizatdon of every area of education and the replacement ofthe conservative views traditionally associated with post-secondary education with "new" progressive approaches. This movement is getting the attention ofthe Canadian media. In May, Maclean's magazine thundered in a cover story that "The Silencers" are actively "stifling expression and behaviour" on university campuses. The newly dubbed "Politically Correct" movement is made up, in a very general sense, of those who feel that academia is structurally racist, sexist and right-wing and that universities should be used to work and educate against the "system" they support. However, the movement is coming up against Their object is nothing less than the destruction of the values, methods, and goals of traditional human istic study. - Roger Kimball some opposition from conservative academics who value the merits of academic tradition. What's going on? And why? In order to consider what the goals of this movement may be in Canada, a study ofthe way this movement works in the U.S A. will provide useful insights. Two recent books give an introduction to the right's arguments. Tenured Radicals by former Yale professor Roger Kimball and Illiberal Education by former student activist Dinesh D'Souza argue that the "politically correct" tenured left has taken over collegiate education in North America, causing a profound revolution in how students are educated. Tenured Radicals is the type of book that speaks to the converted. Roger Kimball argues that those in the Sixties New Left that became academics have brought in trendy new academic theories that glorify "in-thinking" and treat the theory as more important than the truths taught by the material. For example, he discusses the trendy new literary theory of deoonsbuction, which suggests that materials you read don't have an inherent meaning which is obvious and discernable to all, but instead can only be deciphered by reading into the material what you want to see: usually whatever the theorist wishes to attack. In a hilarious part, Kimball looks at an art journal's deconstruction of a painting by the French artist Courbet. The Quarry, a painting that pictures a hunter by his shot deer, is figured by a befuddled deconstructionist to be a message from Courbet that he fears castration. Kimball's book is best at looking at the world ofthe academic journal and conference. He does a good job at examining a few ofthe broader academic ' S^Ij|rJ|i$Y . • ::S^p!eirjfer| (fee BotlrM GaSfeh'":' II 68tosW7viarine Dnye 12/THE UBYSSEY EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT September 3,1991 issues coming out of this movement. Deconstructionist Paul De Man, for instance, was a hero of leftish academics, even after it was revealed that he wrote articles in a pro-Nazi Belgian newspaper during World War Two that said Jews contributed only "a few personages of mediocre value" to European culture and should be at least deported from Europe. Kimball's dissection ofthe critics who try to play down de Man's stupidity is very illuminating as to how far some academics will go to ignore the potential faults of their heroes, and is an example of his rhetorical skill. Although a little dull in places, Tenured Radicals is an intelligently written precis of the right's arguments against this tenured interest group. ILLIBERAL Education, however, is the more useful book for Canadian students, as it does what so few academic books do: it looks at how these ideas affect students' lives. Dinesh D'Souza handles the issues involved by concentrating on six American universities and on how students are affected by the new upsurge in attention towards people of colour, women and homosexuals. He looks at admission standards, curricula (his chapter on Women's and Black studies is an excellent primer on those issues) and student life in general. D'Souza, a former Reagan White House staffer and a former editor ofthe U.S.'s most famous (or infamous, depending on your politics) conservative student newspaper, The Dartmouth (College) Review, takes a surprisingly nonpartisan approach. He argues that instead of fostering racial tolerance, things like affirmative action and caving in to small pressure groups agitating for change is actually bad in the sense that it does not promote racial tolerance or provide a grounding in common values of Western civilization which would enable the leftist student to be intelligently critical ofthe system. Within the tall gates and old buildings, a new worldview is consolidating itself. The transformation of American campuses is so sweeping that it is no exaggeration to call it an academic revolution. -Dinesh D'Souza In other words, liberals are doing the wrong things to get what they ostensibly want. As an example, he looks at Berkeley's unique admissions policy, which admits students by racial quota. The administration of Berkeley wants to have a student population exactly corresponding to the population of California, which results in a policy that forces whites and Asians to have superior grades to be admitted while other students of colour with worse grades—who are often not up to Berkeley's tough standards—are accepted due to their race. What results, D'Souza argues, is a student population that looks at each other as students of a racial group instead of just a student happening to be racially different. This, he suggests, is a negative thing that doesn't promote tolerance and understanding. THE strongest merit of Illiberal Education is its widespread use of student interviews. D'Souza spent two years crossing America to interview the students and the professors involved. The reader hears the voices of students who argue for these new approaches and understands better why they think as they do, as D'Souza allows them to speak for themselves. The book is full of statistics and quotes which help the reader understand possible consequences of affirmative action (for example, the hiring of professors who teach without reaching out to all students or racial tensions within the student body). Progressive students will not like iySouza's own proposals, which include: student organizations based on intellectual interest rather than race or mode of sexual expression; a canon that includes the best of Western, Asian and African classical cultures to promote racial understanding; admissions policies favouring poverty, not race and a student and alumni push to understand these new academic issues. Nevertheless, he merits consideration. If the academic left wants to win the battle for the student mind, they will have to counter the arguments D'Souza, Kimball and other critics raise, or lose by default. Are they up to the challenge? Canadian post-secondary education may soon find out. BEAT YOUR HUNGER WITH A CLUB. When your hunger just won't quit, beat it with a Subway Club. It's loaded with ham, turkey, roast beef and free fixin's. Look out wimpy burgers. Subway's Club is the serious weapon against big appetites. ANY SUB OR SALAD ■ FOOTLONG I 5738 | UMVOSITYBLVD. _ 222-0884 SIM Off -n •SUBUJ Ollsr Expkas:SapL 17/91 ANY fOOTLONG | SUB OR ■ SALAD | I 0NTHEV1UGE) | 5£ftfe£ ^x Cash for Used Books ^ Bring your used books to .X > TI STEA* AND REA SI RC YORl MX 1EDINI SH ANDCHD CANDKIDN1 OTHER MEAl SONABIEPR] JNDAYSPECL yASTBEEFAI KSHREPUDl W UNTIL SE iYPIE US AT ICES AL VD DING YEN MON-SAT 8:30-8:30 4556 W 10™ 224-1912 The University of British Columbia THEATRE DEPARTMENT GENERAL for FREDERIC WOOD THEATRE and DOROTHY SOMERSET STUDIO on Saturday, Sept 7th and Sunday. Sept 8th For appointment phone 822-3880 ALL WELCOME IBOOKSTORF 9 am - 5 pm on all Buy Back dates The University of British Columbia FREDERIC WOOD THEATRE 1991-1992 SEASON 5 th of July by Lanford Wilson Septemeber 18-28 by William Shakespeare November 6-16 SAKCOPHAQW by Vladimir Gubaryev January 15-25 SEMPER FIDELIS by Ian Weir March 4-14 Information & Reservations Phone: 822-2678 Room 207 Frederic Wood Theatre September 3,1991 THE UBYSSEY EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT/13 Ce-x-c-e-l-l-e-n- tV The EATERY GOURMET BURGER (BEEF OR TOFU) or FRIED NOODLES (YAKI UPON OR YAKI SOBA) The good deal is, your least expensive meal is free when two or more of the above items are ordered. Not valid with any other coupon. Dining in only, please. Valid when this ad is presented prior to placement of order. 3431 WEST BROADWAY 738-5298 o^snm EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT EXPLORE A World of Student Tteivel! • Student Charters Across Canada • * World wide Student Airfares • • Ski and Suit Holidays♦ * European Youth Tours * • Student Work AbroadFrogramme • • Marty other Student Trafel Opportunities • Visit the Student Travel Experts on Campus Student Union BuMng, tower Level - UBC The Travel Company of the Canadian Federation of Students Student Representatives FACULTY OF ARTS Nominations are invited for Student Representatives to the Faculty of Arts: a) One representative of the Major, Honours, diploma and resident graduate students in each ofthe Departments and Schools of the Faculty of Arts. b) Two representatives from each of First and Second year Arts. Student representatives are full voting members in the meetings of the Faculty of Arts, and are appointed to committees of Faculty. Nominations forms are available from School and Department Offices, the Dean of Art's Office, The Faculty Adviser's Office, the Arts Undergraduate Society Office. Completed nomination forms must be in the hand s of the Registrar ofthe University not later than 4:00 pm WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18,1991. Note: In constituencies from which no nominations have been received by the deadline, there will be no representation. f^os ACCOMMODATES 100 • Private Parties • Grad Cruises • Daytrips • Christmas Carol Cruises Weddings Luncheons Dining & Dancing Licensed Bar Available Book a Cruise Today 682-3074 [ Department housing idea unsuccessful by Carla Maftechuk An attempt by a student to make Place Vanier Residence a more "academic" environment has been unsuccessful. Russell Pitts, a student advisor at Vanier, wants to initiate a programme in which residents are assigned living spaces according to their academic interests. Students who are enrolled in a particular department would be placed together on the same floor. Residents could easily attend off- campus events together, and professors would be invited to give seminars. The programme is similar to one Pitts was enrolled in at Stanford University. "The focus was residence-based education, to live in an environment where you would be exposed to a variety of literature and philosophy throughout the day. I found it a really rewarding experience and that's where the idea started," said Pitts. "I thought that I could bring that to UBC, because I know some people have approached me and said that the residences here at UBC don't have that focus; the focus ofthe residences is essentially social." Last spring, Pitts approached Housing Administration with his plans. "We wanted to start it this September but it didn't get the full support of Housing. They already have previous commitments, soit's not any fault of theirs. It was hard for them on such short notice to make the change," Pitts noted. Bob Frampton, the assistant director of Residence Administration, feels that the idea is good. "We're always receptive to different innovations," Fvrampton said, "[but] there was not a lot of interest in a specific purpose house. The timing was not great, and students weren't aware in advance." For the programme to work, "you need student interest and someone who wants to coordinate," Frampton said. No additional hiring would be necessary if the programme is implemented in the future. Pitts found the English department to be very supportive. "We were going to start with English first because we thought that would lend itself best to the type of colloquia that we wanted to get across," he said. "Some ofthe professors in the English department said that they would be happy to come down and do something for it." Pitts attempted to rally student support for the idea, but did not find a lot of interest. "I think, in general, some people were really opposed to it because they thought it would be elitist or that it would be parochial, so we didn't get a lot of turn out in terms of students. But I think it would work if it went through administration," said Pitts. In Pitts' experience, elitism was not a problem. "I found [the Stanford programme] to be really social. When you get out of the classroom, you don't necessarily talk about your classes. "I feel that the administration is fairly reluctant right now to do it, but I think if they're pushed hard enough they might. I think it would be a really good idea, especially because I don't feel [Vanier] is an academic community in itself," said Pitts. Pitts intends to continue his efforts to open up the residents' options. "This is after all a university. If s an academic community and underlying anything that goes on at the university there should be an assumption that if s academia and if s an academic enterprise." ECCAD expands its campus by Karen Young The construction of a new building at Granville Island, projected to open in 1993, will house the classes currently taught at the satellite campuses of Emily Carr College of Art and Design (ECCAD). The extension, to be located across Johnston Street, is designed to accommodate the overflow of students rather than to encourage increased enrollment. ECCAD was built in the late 1970s for approximately 500 students. Presently, there are about 650 full-time students and more than 1,000 part-time students. Glen Black, manager of campus and facilities, hopes only a structure bridging both sides of the street will be needed (a shuttle bus presently joins the dispersed parts ofthe school). "If s difficult to operate a college where alot of things are inter- disciplinary...when we're in three different locations," Black said. Aprovincial grant of $600,000 received by the college in June will contribute to the ten million dollar cost. The interior ofthe new college building will contain numerous studios, the college store, computer and photo-technical labs, the library and a lecture theatre. Underground parking will be available for at least 255 cars. Mike Barnes of Toby Russell Buckwell and Partners Architects, a developer of Sinclair Centre, is one of the architects. The other half of the venture is John and Patricia Patkau, an architectural team that created unconventional projects such as the Seabird Island School in Agassiz (the building, situated on an island on the Fraser River, suggests flight with its unique free- form design). Grading the Asian student The quality of prejudice is not strained; it droppeth like a gentle dew drop from history's rain ... and cuts deep through someone else's heart, leaving scars of pain. Few minds forgive the past. by Chung Wong Dear Asian students: So many writers with Asian names have made mistakes in essays. So have non-Asians. So many writers with Asian names have made typos. So have non-Asians. So many writers with Asian names have made spelling mistakes. So have non-Asians. So many writers with Asian names have made grammar mistakes. So have non-Asians. But in reality there is a difference: mistakes attached to Asians, are almost always noticed, and subsequently associated with an inability with the English language. So remember who you are when you write. You are often graded as such. Asians must be more than perfect: you cannot even trust coworkers, they're not flawless. You must triple-check everything. Non-Asians will look more often for flaws in your work. When an non-Asian editor makes a mistake on an Asian writer's copy, who loses credibility? A race. For a non-Asian, a mistake, if looked for, is often understood as just a mistake. Everybody makes them. Sometimes, flaws are even respected: "I like it because ifs rough." Not a bad deal if you're not Asian. Ednote: There was no examination of gender differences in this freestyle. * *■ 14/THE UBYSSEY EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT September 3,1991 EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT 1 High school grads not ready for UBC by Cheryl Niamath Gettdngthrough the first year of university, straight out of high school, is like "trying to stuff a watermelon down the sink," says Jeff Antonio, a second year science student. Antonio says he had good study habits and was lucky enough to have taken calculus at Magee Secondary. "It helped me get off the blocks a little faster in Math 100." Yet he still felt unprepared for his first year at UBC. Antonio is not alone. According to a random sample of current second year students, most of whom entered UBC after Grade 12 last year, high school did not prepare them for university. Some science students say their university courses built on what they had already learned in high school. Students in arts, however, say high school had not taught them enough. Catherine McClements, an arts student majoringin Japanese, attended New Westminster Secondary. She says she was "not at all prepared" for first year arts. "We'd get these sheets at the beginning of the term with the date ofthe mid-term and the due date ofthe term paper, but nobody ever told us how to write a midterm or a term paper." Sheila Maurer, a school counsellor at University Hill Secondary, says she begins talking to students about attending university in grade eight. She stresses the importance of being able to work independently, which is an essential skill for university students. Maurer considers herself a "very university-oriented* counsellor. She encourages students to attend open-houses at post-secondary institutions and arranges for University Hill graduates to talk to students about what first year is like. English professor Ross Labrie says graduating, high school students lack some of the necessary skills required at the university level. He says, however, the issue is a complex one. "If s true that high school is not preparing students for university....Many students are not doing sufficient writingin high school, their writing is not being marked enough, and there is insufficient analysis of literature." Labrie blames a general decline in literacy for students' poor performance in English 100. "It's not just a matter of brushing up on analytic techniques. More useful would be getting students to read for half an hour before bedtime each night." In addition to feeling academically deficient, students find some professors inaccessible. "One of them outright told us not to talk to him," McClements says. Students used to receiving a great deal of attention from their teachers in high school are shocked when they walk into a class of 200 students and learn the professor may never get to know their names. As every student knows, there is more to university than classes and assignments. Most of the students surveyed graduated from high school unready for the UBC social scene. Leaving a school of 500 students and entering a university with an enrollment of more than 38,000 can be overwhelming. Science student Howard Lim, who attended Magee Secondary, says he was not prepared for "being such a small, insignificant person on campus. [In high school] you used to be medium-sized, but at UBC you're small." Arts student Marsha Lopez- dee grew up in the Philippines but attended North Surrey Secondary for Grade 12. She found the stress of moving from high school to university hard to deal with. "I would have wanted to be more prepared for the emotional changes. You're brought into a whole new place and you expect someone to take your hand, help you out. "My friends were even more shocked than I was, because I was uprooted once before." Richmond Senior Secondary graduate Hanna Pierce took a family management course in Grade 11 that covered subjects such as alcohol and drug abuse, safe sex and sexual assault. Other students surveyed received no such guidance in high school. Entering a university environment in which most other students have reached the legal drinking age, where alcohol is easily available and sexual harassment is not uncommon, students needto learn "survival skills" before they get to UBC. With schools pushing students to go on in their academic careers, studentsneed to be getting the type of high school education that will prepare them for the demands of first year university. JOIN THE UBYSSEY'S PHOTO DEPARTMENT. SUB 24 IK ,.AND SMILE 40% OFF ALL FRAMES • Large Selection of Designer Frames • Soft Contact Lenses $99.00 • Eye Examinations * Offer applies to complete eyewear ( Frames & Lenses) Visions West Optical 2959 W. Broadway (at Bayswater) 7394110 4» S mr 8th ANNUAL AMS ^*at^y Welcome Back BBQ September 6, 1991 12 noon - 8:00 pm • Maclnnes Field FEATURING Roots Round Up Spin Doctors Memory Day Hard Rock Miners Sarcastic Mannequins Free Admission • All Ages Welcome (wristbands required far the purchase at alcohol • wristbands available with photo '. J.) For more information please call 822-6273 or drop by SUB 220 Arts & Graphics \MMmmmmiMi 15 All Staedtler Leads BTS Price***59Iilllat All Pens over $10.00 BTS Price***20% OFF Alarm Clocks BTS Price*" 10% OFF BOOKSTORE 6200 University Boulevard Te1»822-2665 (UBC-BOOK) GEAR ^Sgp UP FOR BACK TCPjCHOOL $ A V I N G $ \i if \/Wt/l\ISt i Stationery & Supplies Acco Binders (Wilson Jones) Assorted Round Ring Binders 1" ••• ll/2" 2" ••• Esselte File Pro Asst Colours ••• Esselte Unibox ••• Pilot Fast Track ••• Staedtler Topstar Hi-liter ••• Dainolite 100W Flexible Arm Lamp Assorted Colours ••• REG BTS PRICE PRICE $2.49 $1.69 $3.49 $2.39 $4.49 $2.99 H9.95 $9.98 $4.64 $2.69 $1.29 69i $2.65 99( $34.78 $14.98 Electronics ^asuig All Calculators* 675 Price"*20% OFF Including Printing Desktop 'Excludes HP 95LX, HP 48SX, & software accessories Hewlett Packard Calculators HP95LXMSR $845.95 BTS Price"*$699.00 HP 48SX BTS Price***$386.00 All Batteries * BTS Price***20% OFF 'Excludes Button Size Clothing liH\/m/i\i/i 11 t\st\\/\\\s All Mens & Ladies Swimwear BTS Price***20% OFF All Backpacks & All UBC Crested Clothing* BTS Price*** 10% OFF •excludes sale priced items EVER for EXceUance" The Total PC Solutions Company Everex products are now available on campus! • Step MegaCube File Servers (Novell Certified) • Step 486,386,286 • Tempo 486,386,286 • Tempo 386 Notebook • • Graphics Adapters (VGA, Hi-Res., Frame Grabbers) • Network Adapters • Tape Backup • ESIX System V • • LaserScript Printers (PostScript, HP Auto-switching) • OCR Scanners • Color & Gray-Scale Scanner • • Modems & Fax/Modems • Monitors • Memory Boards & I/O Cards • An Everex Representative will be available in the UBC Bookstore on September 24th, from 10am to 4pm, Stop by to discuss your latest computer requirements and to find out more about our exciting Everex products! UBC Computer Shop UBC Computer Shop only serves UBC staff, students and faculty members. Rated number 7 in customer satisfaction and performance! Rated number 7 in customer buying plans! Most comprehensive on-site warranty in the country One-Stop Shopping Largest selection of computer products and peripherals Special University prices! BOOKSTORE 6200 University Boulevard Call .UBC-BOOK(822-2665) 16/THE UBYSSEY EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT September 3,1991 Sue Medley at the Dragon Boat Festival. DON MAH PHOTO PAUL GORDON PHOTO gto Social Ice T at Lollapalooza (Enumclaw). RAUL PESCHIERA PHOTO PAUL GORDON PHOTO September 3,1991 THE UBYSSEY/7 SMART START BUNDLE MS-DOS 5.0, Lotus Works & Dexxa Mouse (incl. word processor, database, spreadsheet, communications, graphics package] 148 ALL MODELS FEATURE: Samtron SC 441 41 Colour VGA monitor OAK VGA(25K. 8-bitl Licensed AMI BIOS 101-key enhanced keyboard 45MB Fujitsu hard drive (25ms. 1.1) 1 2MB- 5%" floppy drive Combined floppy/hard controller Serial,parallel ports Users''technical manuals 1 year warranty parts & labour Customized configuration NOW!! All Systems Standard With Colour VGA 286 12MHz 45MB SYSTEM with monitor • 1MB RAM • 12MHz clock speed • Slim line case 286-20MHz/45MB system $83* $788 436-33 45MB SYSTEM with monitor • 4MB RAM/64K Cache • 33MHz clock speed • Expandable to 16MB • Mini-Tower case $2388 386SX 16MHz 45MB SYSTEM with monitor • 1MB RAM • 16MHz clock speed • Expandable to 4MB • Slim line case 386SX 20MHz 45MB system $1048 $988 UPGRADE FOR ABOVE SYSTEMS VGA Package A; • 1024*768 resolutions • OAK (512K. 16-bitl • Samtron SC-428 VS VGA colour monitor • 14" monitor w/tilt & swivel • .28mm dot pitch 173 Out Looking For A Good Cellular? Price based on minimum activation of 6 months All phones must be activated by Campus & Cantel Motorola Ultra Classic Talkman Motorola 8000M 738 $388 ALL PHONES FEATURE CANADIAN WARRANTY • ALL PHONES INCLUDE FREE LEATHER CASE Out of town call collect AMPUS COMPUTERS COME SEE US AT U.B.C. 2162 Western Parkway, Vancouver, B.C. HOURS Monday to Friday 9:30 a.m. 5 30 p.m. Saturday 10:00 a m ■ 4:00 p m FAX 2284338 228-8080 NEW LOCATION IN SURREY 10746 King George Hwy., Surrey, B.C. HOURS. Monday to Friday 9:30 a m 5:30 p.m. Saturday 10:00 a.m. 4:00 pm FAX 5844383 584-8080 CARTEL APPROVED AGENT 8/THE UBYSSEY September 3,1991 SPORTS dancing in the rain - UBC running back Elmore Abraham doges rain drops as well as tacklers en route to rushing for a 125 yards against the ^University of Alberta Golden Bears In the T-birds 38-1 win at Thunderbird Stadium Saturday night. STEVE CHAN PHOTO Foot birds thunder to 38-1 win liy Mark Nielsen * The UBC Thunderbirds probably couldn't have asked for a better start to the 1991 Canada West football season when they pounded the University of Alberta Golden Bears 38-1 at Thunderbird Stadium on Saturday night. A Even the weather cooperated in an ironic kind of way. The home team was up 35-1, making a UBC victory a virtual lock, when a spectacular thunder and lightning storm broke out early in the second half, complete with torrential rain. *■ The downpour sent some of the 896 Jans home, but most—spurred on by the gratis special effects—-just stayed and cheered louder. Anywhere else and people would have been cursing that kind of weather, but at Thunderbird Stadium you can consider it to fee a good omen. After all, they're the Thunderbirds, right? ^ By that time, UBC had already produced a lot of excitement of their own, particularly in the second half when they scored 28 points off four touchdowns. Quarterback Vince Danielson found »Rob Neid for a 31 yard touchdown pass, then connected with Jason Walley on a 16 -tyard throw and then Mark Nowotny with a 20 yard strike before scoring himself with a one-yard keeper. In the first quarter Jeff Sharpe hauled in a seven-yard pass—one play after ^owotny snared a 23 yard pass off a slant pattern—to put UBC up 7-0. ■■> Moreover, second-year running back ■ Elmore Abraham quickly established him- ■ self as the player to fill the shoes of since- | departed All-Canadian Jim Stewart cover- I ing 125 yards in 23 carries. I Like UBC's scoring, most of Abraham's I yards came in the second period where his 5 running put the Golden Bear secondary on its heels. At 5'6" and 180 lbs., Abraham is about the same size as Stewart, and his reckless, bounce-off-the-hits rushing style is uncannily similar. But by his own admission, Abraham, Butschler—to create those openings. Tve got the best offensive line—they were powerful," he said. "They were just taking their blocks anywhere and I'd slash— that's what I do. All they do is take their blockers and I slash off them." Even so, Abraham does have some cre- were quickly extinguished by the UBC defensive secondary which intercepted Alberta quarterback Ted Everson five times. Roger Hennig snagged two such passes and Todd Robinson snared one in the Thunderbird endzone. Anthony Findlay and Brad Yamaoka got the other two. The Thunderbird defence held Alberta to 95 yards net offence while the UBC offence generated 437 yards of offence. Overall, the outcome was an inauspicious debut for the Golden Bears' new coach and ex-Canadian Football League legend Tom Wilkinson. It seems that restoring the troubled Bears, whose future was put in doubt last year when the U of A athletics department effectively ended the programme over funding problems, will be a tall task even forWilkie. Danielson who spent last year on special teamsreturn- ing kicks, said he has a long way to go to reach the level of ability his predecessor had. "I don't think I can fill his (Stewart's) spot yet," he said. "I got to get more experience." And, as Abraham also said, it helps to have a veteran offensive line in front of you—led by All-Canadian centre Andrew Abraham dentials. He came to UBC by way of Bakers- field College, California and he was named the BC Junior Football League's most valuable player in 1988 and 1989 while playing for the Renfrew Trojans. He also earned MVP status at Notre Dame high school. Danielson was good on 13 of 19 passes for 211 yards, with Jason Walley the top receiver with 78 yards on five receptions. What chances the Golden Bears did get Bird Droppings During the fourth quarter, rookie running back Brad Yamaoka showed why he was named the BC high school football player ofthe year last season after leading the Kamloops Red Devils to a BC AA championship. A15 yard pass and run was called back by a holding penalty, but Yamaoka also broke free for carries of 19 and 38 yards in addition to his first quarter interception. With the game effectively won, UBC coach Frank Smitn also gave backup quarterback Ranjit Bawa some time on the field where he connected with Nowotny for five yards on his first play. Although a presence in the defensive secondary, Roger Hennig had troubles as a kicker, going wide on field goal attempts of 33, 41 and 28 yards, all in the second half. September 3,1991 THE UBYSSEY/9 *»s*^ **■>*••< 4 Educate yourself Another crisp academic year unfolds again for students. University studies, however, should not be limited by classes, mid-term papers, procrastination and stress. And despite the personal routines and detachment endemic at such a large campus, many clubs and services are available for new and returning students. By meeting people at UBC, you encounter diverse ideas and conflicting views, and expand your perspectives. Intellectual development is augmented by learning that extends beyond lecture halls— this is one of the most important aspects of education. Clubs ranging from the New Democratic Party Club to the Scottish Country Dance Club, the student newspapers, the radio station and campus athletics are only some good ways to meet people. At gathering places like the Conversation Pit, Gallery Lounge and Women's Centre, many students have realised that coffee and conversation are also part of the discourse in the scholastic environment. Everything you need to know, you might have learned in kindergarten (according to writer Robert Fulghum), but in university it's what and how you chose to learn that matters. Welcome back. theUbyssey September 3,1991 The Ubyssey is published Tuesdays and Fridays by the Alma Mater Society ofthe University of British Columbia. Editorial opinions are those of the staff and not necessarily those of the university administration, or of the sponsor. The Ubyssey is published with the proud support ofthe Alumni Association. The editorial office is Rm. 241k of the Student Union Building. Editorial Department, phone 822-2301; advertising, 822-3977; FAX# 822-6093 The underwater journey of fashion plate Sharon Lindores is brilliant. The yawning gorilla Paul Gordon, croons, "Julie Andrews sings like a bird." Frankie Cordua von-Specht the whale watches him thump-chest and swallows Cheryl Niamath. From inside the belly, Donny Mah hears Cherry holler: "Help! The bones of Carlly Maftechuk are tickling Rebecky Bishop's nose and my Sara Patton feet are soggy." On the dock, zowy Hao Li the fly-fisher puts Paully Dayson bait on his pole and lets it whirl into the blue Elai3ne. Chung Wong instructs, "Don't ever use Marky Nielsen cliches in your writing." Frances Foran tells rapper Raully Peschiera he is like a "daisy in the sunshine" anyway. "Karen Y mg flowers don't grow underwater," Ricky Hiebert saj.-.. Mushroom-head Mikey Coury and Nikola Marin the algae fart to the sounds of whales singing. In the great blue sea of marvelous creatures, Feeffie Paw designs The Ubyssey's fall fashions. Welcome back, Ubyssmals. Editors Paul Dayson • Sharon Undores • Carta Maftechuk Raul Paschlera • Effla Pow Letters Sick and tired of Horsman Yawn, yawn - yet another hate letter from that self-serving counsellor at the WSO, Nancy Horsman. According to the latest diatribe (August 15, 1991), everything Marsha Trew does is wrong and the World of Women on campus is going to fall apart without the services of?? You've guessed it — counsellors!! It really is too bad that there is no evidence that counselling a small percentage of individuals cures centuries-old misogyny, but that is what Horseman wouldhave us believe. Could thisbe delusions of grandeur I wonder? Quit playing the really nasty game you're playing Horsman — undermining and maligning another woman in a newspaper — it is worse than offensive, it stinks. Jennifer Craig Medicine "They should go home" Ed. Note: The Ubyssey does not print letters deemed racist by staff, but in the interest of debate the following letter has been printed: This summer's Ubyssey The Ubyssey welcomes letters on any Issue. Letters must be typed and are not to exceed 300 words In length. Content which Is Judged to be libelous, homophobic, sexist, racist or factually Incorrect will not be published. Please be concise. Letters may be edited tor brevity, but It Is standard Ubyssey policy not to edit letters for spelling or grammatical mistakes. Please bring them, with Identification, to SUB 241k. Letters must Include name, faculty, and signature. articles about apparent racism written by Chung Wong, Cha-Li Chen and Ita Kendall are quite misleading; being a Caucasian Canadian born and educated in BC, I know that the vast majority of Canadians are not so small- minded as to be "racist". Every nation and every genetic group of the human race (ie. there is only one human species, thus only one human ^-ace") does have a small percentage who blindly assume that they are somehow superior to people from other places, other cultures. When people band together, labelling themselves in terms such as black, white, yellow or red, they are actually promoting racism as a division; these are exaggerations of skin colour. I have never seen an African with skin darker than chocolate, never a European with white skin, never an Asian with yellow, nor a North American Indian with red. Have you? But I have noticed that recent immigrants, mostly from Asia, are constantly branding Caucasian Canadians as "racist" whenever these immigrants are confronted with the inequalities of this society, inequalities that have been here from the stai^* anyone who has lacked money, material wealth or social connections has had to persevere through the difficult times. Ask some European immigrants who came here in the 1920s. If you take an honest look at the planet's various nations you will see many inequalities that are based more on material wealth, social position and manipulative power, than on"race". Another point that recent immigrants should wake up to is that they are now in a different country called Canada, that Canada, although young, has developed certain laws and social traditions that are Canadian. They should show respect for these laws and traditions, not demanding to behave as if still in their country of origin; if they wish to remain Chinese, East Indian or whatever, they should go home because they obviously do not appreciate the genera] openness and kindness of real Canadians, of Canadian society. In particular, Chung Wong does not understand nor appreciate Canadians, venting his frustration in a way that comes across as anti-caucasian racism. He shoul d open his eyes and look around Vancouver. What will he see? Many couples from different genetic backgrounds, enjoying each other's positive human- ness... a relatiely new social phenomenon on planet Earth. Andmanycuacasians will be seen workinginlower- echelon jobs while a relatively high percentage of *- Chinese immigrants are driving brand new cars. * Lastly, since Chung Wong has expressed his disdain for Caucasian Canadians, it may be appropriate to point out the disdain that v modern China has shown towards central Asia's non- > Chinese people. In the 1950s China illegally annexed by military force a large piece of Mongolia, all of Tibet and East Turkestan; since then, millions of Chinese civilians have moved there, thus de- 0 stroying the indigenous societies and murdering mil- -* lions of non-Chinese people who had li ved there for many centuries. Several organizations in Canada, USA, Europe and Australiahave been making efforts to stop these atrocities; ninety-nine per y cent of the membership in these organizations are Caucasians. So, don't call us "racist". And don't call us "white". TJL. Danlock * ps: If you want to help Tibet, contact: Canada Tibet committee, Box 65851, Station F, Vancouver, BC, V5N 5L3 Women Students' Office dismantling, counsellor says A 70-year-old office in Brock Hall, the Office for Women Students is being dismantled by Director Marsha Trew, apparently by a decision of the President's Office. Counselling for women in that office is finished. In place ofthe service function in the Women's Office, Trew has instituted short-term, high profile "advocacy* programs in some ofthe faculties. These are being given top marks within the senior administration as well as within the university community relations office. A glossy pastel-blue "Fall Preview^ brochure ofthe Women's Students Office (WSO) promotes "women friendly engineering" — a joint project ofthe WSO and the Faculty of Applied Science. The Fall Preview ofthe WSO also invites students to drop-in to "a woman's place" at Brock 203 to talk and to drink coffee. Artists may bring their work for show in a newly-decorated office, the brochure says. Women students must not bring their problems or their concerns to Brock 203. Again the brochure extols the friendliness as a key to the atmosphere of this office. There is no counselling offered. The public relations effect ofthe WSO Fall Preview is excellent. The President's Office has a friendly window, the community relations of fice can swell with pride. And all this friendship for women is being extended in a year which witnessed male "hate" letters to women of Place Vanier Residences; EUS "hate" articles to women, natives and gays in a nEUSlettre; UBC head psychiatrist Tyhurst's hate atrocities to women patients. Somehow, the fluffy brochure of the WSO with its 1950's language and its R.E.A.L. woman decorum, begins to look offensive. Worse than offensive, the glossyinvitationtoa"woman friendly engineering" is a covert invitation to men to have fun. The phrasing is sexist and demeaning to women students, and once again reveals the underlying misogyny on campus. Because of Marsha Trew's decision to cut the counselling function in the WSO, a decision she insists is dictated by the President's Office — women students have no safe pi ace to take reports of harassment or abuse. The final, terrible piece of misogyny is that a woman has been co-opted by men to destroy a viable Women Students' Office. She has shown no conscience at all in her actions. Nancy Horsman Ed. Note: This letter was printed in The Ubyssey, August 15,1991. It is being reprinted in the interest of keeping students informed about the debate over the WSO during the summer which still continues. 1 10/THE UBYSSEY September 3,1991 PTTERS/OP-EDI Cry me a river, white boy For some time now I have been following with interest the widening discourse on Political Correctness. I have recorded the McNeil Lehrer Report's series on PC, bought the Atlantic for Distort D'Newza, I mean, Dinesh D'Souza's article Illiberal Education, relieved my doctor's office of the May 27 Macleans cover The Silencers:"Politically Correct" Crusaders Are Stifling Expression and Behaviour, clipped froni The Province Jeani Read's column Beware the reprise of Animal Farm: Politically Correct uses incorrect means.... A few underlying components of media coverage ofthe reified PC Movement are 1) the appeal to "authoritative sources." These are typically professionals, renowned authors, artists or professors and 2) the absence of obvious partisan affiliation of the particular news medium, or so-called "objective journalism." Add to these the frequent use ofloaded or disparaging epithets in the order of "shrill feminists*: the thought police, the new restrictive order, the new McCarthyists, repressive PCers, left-wing fascists. The result is notonlyfurther entrenchment of hegemony, but a de facto campaign to trivialize, diffuse, detract from and contain what may constitute the most widespread legitimization crisis since the second wave of feminism. My first observation is that an issue of sensitivity is being confused with the explosive issue of censorship. Recently at the University of Michigan posters reading "A MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE—ESPECIALLY ON A NIGGER" were put up around campus. A response prohibiting such behaviour tends to be interpreted by PC detractors as being an act of censorship, whereas protocol, manners, politeness, etiquette and other forms of social pressure, including peer pressure, are commonly exerted in a similar way to enforce, encourage or promote behaviour that is deemed appropriate, and to discourage that which is not. Unlike "repressive PCers" no one seems to accuse environmentalists of being "ominous" and "Orwellian" in their tactics. Yet these people use the same "methods of harassment and peer pressure," which Jeani Read says, ' "violate all kinds of civil and human rights and freedoms." Nonetheless, I have yet to hear one person whine about not being able to use styrofoam cups anymore. Not only is the environmental agenda of reducing, recycling and reusing fashionable—as a society we've come to see it as being THE RIGHT THING TO DO. But not so with bigoted usage. If not fashionable, it is still acceptable to be overtly and covertly ethnocentric, racist, sexist and homophobic. Thus, so-called neo- conservatives complain of being "repressed" when they, havinghad the monopoly of power and resources in Academe and elsewhere, have consistently and sys- Perspective tematically repressed all sorts of people for the last 400 years running. Like any labelling, those identifying with a label tend to find themselves defending it to outsiders while having internal squabbles. A label, then, is seldom totally descriptive; it often lend itself to the perpetuation and maintenance of certain appearances. PC labelling causes shut down. Much as the label "feminist" does, PC labelling evokes, in many circles, a derisive type of response which often results in the very legitimate gripes of a particular person or group being marginalized, if listened to at all. Moreover, those who oppose these "repressive PCers" often display a quite presumptuous, if not offensive, quality: that of contradicting or not accepting what people assert on the basis of a lifetime of experience as women, people of colour, etc.. Notably, in the ongoing PC debate, women, people of colour, homosexuals and bisexuals are termed "special interest groups" even though these, taken together, constitute a clear numerical majority on the planet. In such a global perspective white men would more aptly be considered a "special interest group." It is not acceptable, but understandable that those who have a vested interest in straight white male middle class hegemony are on the offensive; they are upset and resistant to the fact that this dominant status is changing. On the other hand, let's not forget those white boys who have already been rethinking and reacting against their inherited privilege and may even be self-proclaimed PCers. WOW. For me the PC debate boils down to the fact that a plea for sensitivity is being confused with a demand for censorship. As a Black woman my own worry is that my voice and my point-of-view will be further ignored. Is this possible? An illustration. A year ago when I was considering a vari-ety of alternatives ranging from suicide to dropping out of school, I went to see the head ofthe English Department, to voice my experiences of passive and active ethno- centrism, racism and gross gender bias in that department; to tell him that, in effect, I felt I was being expelled for refusing to allow my mind to be colonized. The good doctor's response was to tell me that "Rome wasn't built in a day," and that as a minority student I was at a disadvantage and would have to learn to cope. So here's the almighty rub: in the present climate of PC bashing, in addition to such condescending platitudes and patronizing excrement, I can now look forward to being brushed off as a "left-wing fascist", part of a "repressive PC mob" out to "demonize all of Western culture." Well, hey, free dummy! Nikola Marin September 3rd - 6th, 1991 Tuesday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm SUB CONCOURSE, UBC 8>: • plants prints/posters • china wall hangings • kitchen appliances furniture «mj • clothing AMS BARGAIN DAYS >fAVEkNA