3 FEBRUARY 25, 2004 UNBC Students become Spiritually Aware Students given the opportunity to learn about different faiths -By Carolynne Burkholder In the midst of midterms many students feel the need to receive spiritual counselling. Spiritual Awareness Day, hosted by the UNBC Interfaith Chaplaincy on Monday, February 9th, 2004 was the natural answer to this need. Three events were combined into two days of spiritual education for all interested students. On Monday night students were welcomed to learn how to meditate by attending the free introduction to meditation offered by the Buddhist Meditation Society of North BC at the Bentley Centre on campus. The Society holds the meditation sessions every Monday, but were invited by the Chaplains this week to hold a session on campus so that interested students Neil states that he hoped the Spiritual Awareness Day would “give students a chance to think _ about spirituality and spiritual issues and explore some options.” ~ would be able to access the program. On Tuesday, the Interfaith Chaplaincy hosted “The 60 Minutes with Great Texts of Great Religions”, featuring representative readings out of Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and Baha’i texts. As well, on Monday there were displays set up in the Wintergarden accompanied by representatives from faith groups in the com- munity to promote Spiritual Awareness Day. Neil and Virginia Lettinga, who are the Chaplains and co-ordinators of the UNBC Interfaith Chaplaincy were the main organisers of this event. Neil states that he hoped the Spiritual Awareness Day would “give students a chance to think about spirituality and spiritual issues and explore some options.” As well as religious ‘communities, other organisations, which displayed “broader notions of social justice” according to Virginia, such as Development and Peace, created by the Catholic Church, and Habitat for Humanity, were invited to attend. The displays were accompanied by the musical talents of two of six band members who perform at the Saturday Night Alive Inter-Church Worship Services, which are held every first and third Saturdays of the month at the First Baptist Church. Sponsoring and organising these kind of events is just one of ail lh the many roles that Neil and Virginia Lettinga have performed through the UNBC Interfaith Chaplaincy since they arrived at UNBC in the Fall Semester. The husband and wife pair cur- rently co-ordinate the volunteer campus Chaplains from all dif- ferent faith groups within the City of Prince George. Commonly there is a chaplain on campus from 10:00 until 4:00 ~ five days a week, to guide students through times of spiritual cri- sis, discuss teachings and issues, and to provide access to faith related resources and services. Virginia believes that the Chaplaincy provides an excellent opportunity to help if students have questions or need resources, Through both her own and her husband’s experience working as University teachers, she has come to believe that it is extremely important that students think about “what they believe and why they believe what they do.” The Spiritual Awareness Day and the UNBC Interfaith Chaplaincy both aim to help students on their journey in faith while pursuing higher education. The displays were accompanied by the musical talents of two of six band members who perform at the Saturday Night Alive Inter-Church Worship Services PM Paul picks CASA for face-to-face frolic CFS doesn't feel slighted By Adam Grachnik, Ottawa Bureau OTTAWA (CUP) — _ Prime Minister Paul Martin has been in office less than two months, but he’s already done something Jean Chretien never did-met with the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. In a hastily called rendezvous last Friday, CASA, not the Canadian Federation of Students-Canada’s largest student lobby group-sipped tea with the prime minister for over an hour, in what CASA leaders are calling a brainstorming session in response to the Throne Speech. “We're pleased that they called us,” said James Kusie, CASA’s national director. “We value our relationship with Paul Martin and we hope to con- tinue that.” CASA was slightly more pleased with the initiatives announced in the Throne Speech, They welcomed the changes to the Canada Student Loan Program, to include a new grant for low-income students and easier access for loan recipients. The CFS was upset with the announcement, saying that students can look forward to more debt, and that the government didn’t address under-funding to post-secondary cdu- cation. For their part, the CFS didn’t feel slighted by the apparent shunning. “It’s more effective to mect with the people who are engaged on the issues of post-secondary education,” said CFS National Chairperson Ian Boyko. Boyko added that it hasn’t been a top priority of the CFS to meet with the prime minister and critics should- 1’t see.this as a slap in their face. CFS Ontario Representative Rick Telfer explained that the CFS has met with former prime ministers since its inception in 1981, but it’s a better strategy to mcet with policy makers. In Friday’s mecting, among many items, Kusie said his team of four pco- ple “quite bluntly” asked the prime minister if a dedicated transfer fund for post-secondary education was in the plans. A dedicated fund is the common front student leaders from most educa- tion lobby groups have been calling for, which, to their dismay, the Throne We're pleased that they called us,” said James Kusie, CASA’s national director. “We value our relationship with Paul Martin and we hope to continue that.” Speech didn’t address. “The Readers Digest version is that {the prime minister] told us we have to convince the provinces,” Kusie said. He added that he was upset with the response because, he believes, a dedi- cated fund for post-secondary educa- tion must have leadership from the federal government. “His concern was that any dedicated money would still find its way into health,” Kusie added. The Prime Minister’s Office said the meeting with CASA was simply the continuation of a relationship Paul Martin has with the organization. The PMO says Martin is open and willing to meet with student groups from across the country, including the CFS, Kusie said he wants the government to improve the grant announced for low-income Canadians to include more grants after first year. He also said that offering students more loans isn’t the solution to rising post-sec- ondary-education costs.