Letters to the Editor
A memorable year ahead
While I agree with some, though few, of the statements made by Carson Jerema in his article “A year to remember?” (21/09/2005), I felt compelled to comment on others. Jerema seems, enthusiastically, to promote UMSU’s organization of more social activities such as beer bashes, and devotion of less time to issues like the tuition fee freeze.
He claims that “years from now [he is] willing to bet” that few people will remember the tuition freeze issues dealt with by the union, but rather will remember the opportunity they had to speak with an “attractive classmate” at some function. I believe that it is more likely that should UMSU not continue its efforts on the freeze, more students will remember the day they had to withdraw from university due to an inability to afford a post-secondary education.
I agree that the quality of student life on campus can be raised substantially through the organization and promotion of social activities on the part of the union, though I feel that Jerema is ignoring the overwhelming success of this year’s UMSU Orientation. The UMSU executive is working tirelessly not only to improve the university experience of the students for which they care about, but also to ensure that those students will be able to complete an affordable and quality education at this institution.
Let’s give the current executive (some of whom, including the director responsible for programming, are new this year) more than six days after pulling off a wildly successful orientation week before we start to criticize their ability to organize successful social events. If anything, I think the success of this year’s orientation is a testament to the many wonderful and memorable events ahead of us in the coming academic year.
Jason van Rooy Third-Year philosophy student
Where’s the crossword?
Autumn, the time of year that makes the academically-inclined feel like crying. The knowledge that eternal classes, painful class work and impossible assignments will soon follow is enough to make one quit before they begin. The only thing that makes a student follow through with paying their tuition is the fact that the sooner you start, the sooner you finish. That, and the fact that rain or shine, the Manitoban will be published every Wednesday, and with it a new crossword.
The Manitoban crossword has been my lifeline to sanity through three years of undergraduate work and one year of graduate studies. Last year, I had one brief moment of terror as a crossword was repeated, prompting a letter to the editor. The situation was quickly rectified as an apology was sent, my letter was published and the following crossword was dedicated to me. It is due to the success of that letter that I write today.
I am completing my fourth week of classes for this semester, and have thus far seen three new Manitobans. It would seem reasonable to assume that three Manitobans would equal three crosswords, right? Guess again. Thus far, there has not been one published. That’s right, none. I am a firm believer that in order to finish well you need to start well. Well, this is not a good start to my year.
I know there are some people who will argue with me and say that there have been crosswords published. I fail to count those three-by-three squares as legitimate crosswords. I mean, 60 seconds does not quite satisfy my distraction needs.
It may be that I open the Manitoban next week to find a full-fledged crossword. If so, thank you, and you can rest assured that there is at least one person breathing a sigh of relief. If not, what are you waiting for? Please, give me the glimmer of hope I so desperately need.
Audrey Froese
Racist comments have no place in a university
Racist comments on the bathroom walls remind us that there is much work to do on campus and in the community at large.
Before understanding the barriers that Aboriginal people face in regards to accessing post-secondary education today, it is important to remember the history of “education” faced by Aboriginal people in this country — and particularly that of colonization, residential schools, abuse and institutional discrimination. The effects of this history are still being felt, and it is frightening how quickly history is forgotten. It was less than 50 years ago that Aboriginal people were still excluded from the electoral process in Canada.
The provision of education to Aboriginal people is entrenched as a Treaty right for First Nations peoples, and the federal government continues to renege on their responsibility to deliver this in any meaningful way. The idea that Aboriginal people get a free ride, as insinuated by the writing in the bathroom stalls, couldn’t be farther from the truth, particularly when considering the context of our nation’s history.
Funding for Aboriginal students has not increased substantially since the mid-1990s, and programs meant to recruit and retain Aboriginal students do not get the attention that they deserve. Though Aboriginal people make up approximately four per cent of Canada’s population, only one per cent of the country’s university graduates are Aboriginal. And despite education being a Treaty right, many native bands receive funding for less than half of their eligible students.
Racism can show its face in many different forms — through the walls of bathroom stalls, through jokes about “that native person downtown” and through governance systems that neglect to promote diversity and equality of voices.
Comments such as “all natives do is steal our hard-earned money” have no place in an institution of higher learning, or anywhere. The fact that they continue to be seen requires each one of us to challenge our own thinking and that of others around us, and to take a stand against discrimination when confronted with it.
As the famous Dante quote says: “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.” Becoming engaged in the fight against oppression also takes many forms. Not tolerating racist remarks is one such form.
Tara Williamson, Aboriginal Students’ representative and Amanda Aziz, UMSU president
In response to “Working for the weekend, but not for the man” (14/09/2005)
Interesting, isn’t it, how the study that found that students now borrow more for school, was commissioned and published by a bank, that profits from student loans. In fact, one of the two students interviewed in the article said outright that she worked for the purpose of financing her education.
While the Scotiabank study is troubling in that it furthers the idea that students need bank loans to finance their education, I think that the article points to an even larger problem in terms of student employment: a lack of fair-paying, flexible jobs. Most on-campus jobs — including teaching assistant positions, and working in labs — are low paying, despite the best efforts of the unions that represent these workers.
Many of the better paying jobs, like unionized Aramark positions, simply don’t fit with student schedules. The reality is that it’s harder and harder to finance one’s education these days, something that the university and government are clearly not waking up to. For students who have kids or who don’t fit into the “18 to 23” demographic, that squeeze can be more than they can handle.
With rising tuition fees, and rumors of a 31 per cent tuition fee increase coming next year on top of the 6 per cent this year, the university is offering no support to help students pay for their education. I only hope that there will be a better option next year then mortgaging away the next 20 years to pay for three years of school.
