Over the Edge ° October 24 2012

~ PHOTO SOURCECUNBC.CA
HANNA PETERSEN
NEWS EDITOR

Students at UNBC should
be watching for improved

campus
to over
capital

facilities, thanks

$582,000 _ in
funding from
the government's $44
million dollar investment
in B.C.’s_ post-secondary
infrastructure. The
investment will be seen
in the enhancement — of
exterior lighting to improve
campus safety, as well as
implementing a number of
energy-efficiency — projects
related to heat distribution
and lighting. Thegoal will beto
improve UNBC’s track record
in campus _ sustainability.

“It’s projected that in the
next decade over one million
new jobs will be created in
British Columbia,” says MLA
for Prince George-Mackenzie
Pat Bell. “This funding will
ensure that Prince George
students have the. skills

they need to fill these jobs
and meet the demands of
BC employers.” An increase
in post-secondary funding
is, without a doubt, very

UNB

UNBC TO IMPROVE CAMPUS

welcome news to_ the
students and faculty at UNBC.

“The original buildings on
the Prince George campus
were opened in 1994, and
additional funding such as
this allows us to continually
make improvements — to
the buildings and_ their
operation,” — says UNBC
President George Iwama.
“Visitors to the campus are
so impressed with what
we've built here, and our
students and faculty truly
have a matchless setting
in which to learn’ and
conduct leading research.”

The investment is a part of
annual funding required to
maintain the campus. “None
of this money is to build a
new building, for example.
It’s used to maintain the
campus, just like how on
your house you~ would
spend ae certain amount
of |money maintaining
things,” says UNBC vice
president of external
relations, Rob van Adrichem.

“Since it opened, UNBC
has made a_- significant
difference in Northern British
Columbia,” adds MLA for
Prince | George-Valemount
Shirley Bond. “The campus
means that students can
make the choice to obtain
post-secondary training
closer to home.” More
than $68 million has been
invested in capital projects
at the university — since
2001, including funding
for the Teaching and
Learning Centre, and the
Northern Health Sciences
Centre which houses the
Northern Medical Program.

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NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA

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CUPE; QUEBEC, AND YOU

LEILA MAHEIDDINIBONAB
STUDENT LIFE EDITOR

The price of a post-secondary
education is on the rise. With
each additional semester of
study, the average student
has to weigh the benefits
of an education against
the cost (and for a greater
majority of us, student
loans and debt) to get that
education.

This struggle between
education and cost has been
the focus of the student
strikes in Quebec over the
last 13 years. From 1968 to
1990, tuition in Quebec had
been fixed at a rate of $500
per year. In 1990 the Liberal
government doubled the
tuition fees, causing a drop
in student enrolment until
1994 when the government
tried to double the fees
a second time. With the
prospect of further increases
in tuition fees in less than
5 years, the students of
Quebec went on strike; fees
were frozen until 2007, until
the government instituted
a $500 increase over five
years until 2012.

Eliane Laberge, the President
of the FECQ (Fédération
étudiante  collégiale du
Québec / Quebec Federation
of College Students), spoke
last week at CNC in Prince
George about the history
of strikes in Quebec,
specifically the fee hikes
that had initiated the March
2011 strikes. The proposed
fee increase in 2011 was
$1,625 over five years,
roughly a 75% increase in
tuition fees.

“It was not an economical,
but an ideological decision,”
says Laberge. “One third
of the increase in fees

f

4

4

“You wro

was going to be funnelled
back into financial aid for
students. It was like, ‘Here,
give us $20 and we will loan
you back $20 with interest.’
It didn’t make sense, why
can’t we just keep our $20?”
It was these inconsistencies
that the student unions,
along with the 80,000
students they represented,
protested against for 14
weeks. During the peak
of the strike in March
2012 there were more
than 300,000 — students
protesting, roughly three
out of every four students.
“What frustrated us was
that the government made
us feel like we were not
there, even though we were
the biggest strike in the
history of Canada,” says
Laberge. Eventually, after
months of futile bargaining,
the students finally won.
The increase in fees was
blocked after the Liberal
government was_ voted
out in favour of the Bloc
Québécois. Although the
strike in Quebec may seem
far from home, it begs
notice due to our own strike
in British Columbia.

A $20 million cut to the
post-secondary budget in
BC is planned for next year
and part of $70 million in
administrative cuts have
been proposed over the next
3 years. The accountancy
firm Deloitte has been
contracted see how cuts
can be made. One of the
ways the province plans
on saving money is called
the “Post-Secondary Sector
Administrative Service
Delivery Transformation
Project”; this plan looks at
consolidating services at

universities in order to cut
cost.

“Inthe past, ‘shared services’
and ‘shared procurement’
have meant privatization,”
says CUPE-BC in response
to the recommended shared
procurement and back office
administration services
which Deloitte suggested.
Services like IT and payroll
are under consideration
in order to determine if
they can be centralized
between _ universities to
save money. Earlier this
year a collective letter was
signed by all 25 public
post-secondary _ institution
presidents in BC, including
President Iwama_ from
UNBC, stating, “we must be
clear that it is unrealistic to
assume that the reductions
contemplated by the end of
the year can be achieved

without implications for
service levels.”

CUPE 3799, which
represents 370 support

staff here at UNBC, has had
an overtime ban in place
since October 11, 2011, in
an attempt to put pressure
on the province to listen
to their demands. This ban
follows a general walk out
which happened on October
4th on the UNBC campus.

On October 15th and 16th
there were two scheduled
meetings between the
university bargaining team
and CUPE. “Both sessions
were delayed, postponed,
and eventually cancelled
as management is waiting

on approval from the
government regarding
their proposals” says

Caroline Sewell, CUPE 3799
president.

ee
te whal?
Take the red pen challenge.

Garn your moral high ground.