September 21, 1999

NEWS

Around Canadian Universities . . .

Bankruptcy ruling won't help other students

Source: The Muse
(Memorial University)

By Amanda Labonte

ST. JOHN'S - A
Newfoundland Supreme
Court ruling last month in
favour of a student who
declared bankruptcy is
encouraging, but will not
actually help students
appealing the federal
bankruptcy act, say stu-
dent leaders. .

On August 12,
Supreme Court Judge
C.J. Hickman granted an
absolute discharge from
bankruptcy to former
Memorial University stu-
dent Connie  Velda
Pilgrim.

Pilgrim, who graduat-
ed from Memorial in
1993 with a Bachelor
degree in Education
(elementary), had

acquired a $36,568.15
debt from Canada
Student Loans.

Her efforts to find per-
manent work as a
teacher in the six years
since graduation were
unsuccessful, therefore
Pilgrim was only able to
pay back $1,886.

In his ruling, Hickman
said Pilgrim fell within a
category that entitled her
to bankruptcy protection.

"Hopefully [Pilgrim]
will, in the future, be able
to find meaningful and
satisfactory employment
in her profession unen-
cumbered by the burden
of a debt accumulated
through no fault of her
own," Hickman said in
his ruling.

Pilgrim filed for bank-
ruptcy on June 2, 1998,

after having moved from
her hometown of Goose
Bay, Labrador to Grand
Prairie, Alberta in an
effort to find full-time
employment.

Her declaration of
bankruptcy came mere
weeks before a new fed-
eral law, with a June 18,
1998, deadline, prevent-
ed any student from
declaring bankruptcy
until they had been out of
school for 10 years.

Prior to 1997, students
fell under the same
bankruptcy laws as
everyone else.

The law was changed
again in 1998, prevent-
ing students from declar-
ing bankruptcy for 10
years after graduation.

-30-

U of A team makes waves with new
Dewey Decimal System

Source: Gateway
(University of Alberta)

By Yang Wu

EDMONTON (CUP) —
In the greatest act of bib-
liomania since Melvil
Dewey developed his
library classification sys-
tem in 1876, a University
of Alberta research team
has modified the Dewey
Decimal System to bet-
ter represent women’s

issues.

Led by Assistant
Professor Hope Olson,
the four-member team
believes the famous
library system is full of
19th Century biases
towards female topics.

Lori Giles, an assistant
to Olson, points out that
witchcraft is currently
catalogued under the
occult, demonology and

parapsychology.

Using a thesaurus and
a Dewey computer pro-
gram for Windows, the
team is identifying prob-
lems in the present sys-
tem and finding solutions
for them.

The Dewey Sysiem is
presently the most popu-
lar classification system
in the world, being wide-
ly used in 135 countries.

U of T president lobbies Ottawa on behalf
of drug company

Source: Varsity
(University of Toronto)

By Nicola Luksic

TORONTO (CUP) -
University of Toronto
President Robert
Prichard has been
caught lobbying the fed-
eral government on
behalf of a drug compa-
ny.

Over the last few
months, Apotex, one of
the largest generic drug
producers in Canada,
has been negotiating with
U of T in regards to a
$20-million donation.

The grant, explained
Apotex spokesperson

Elie Bitito, would go
towards a proposed $90-
million Centre for Cellular
and Molecular Biology
Research at the universi-

Due to new federal
regulations, generic drug
companies are having a
difficult time.

In response, the presi-
dent of Canada’s largest
university wrote to Prime
Minister Jean Chretien
and cabinet members,
urging them to reconsider
the recent drug regula-
tions.

After his letter-writing
initiative to clear the way

for Apotex’s donation was
exposed in the media in
early September,
Prichard apologized to
the university.

Prichard stated that he
should not have taken
steps that would pull the
university into a federal
debate between generic
and research based drug
firms.

A governering council
spokeperson noted that
this implies that the uni-
versity is no longer per-
ceived to be neutral due
to its extra-curricular
liaisons.

Northern Undergraduate Student Society

1999-2000 Elections

Positions available:

Director of University affairs
Director of Internal affairs

Director of External affairs

Director of Finance & Operations
Director of Campus activities
Ombudsperson

Student at Large (three positions open) [Note:

These are not executive positions, only positions on the Board of

. Directors]

Nominations:
Sept 20 at 9:00 am to Oct 1 at 5:00 pm, 1999
Campaigning:
Sept 25-Oct 1, 1999
Speeches in the Wintergarden:
Oct 5, 12:00 Noon

Voting will take place infront
of the wintergarden display
case at:

Oct 6 & 7, 10:00 am-4:00pm

Northern Undergraduate Student Society
Suite #7-234, 3333 University Way
Prince George, BC
V2N 4Z9

Over The Edge Page 7