Over The Edge Page 2

NEws

, March 10, 1998

And the Peasants Rejoiced

By Nicole Larson

On March 5th, 1998, Premier
Glen Clark and Advanced
Education, Training and
Technology Minister Andrew
Petter announced that the
tuition freeze which has was ini-
tiated in British Columbia two
years ago will be continued into
a third year. This freeze, cou-
pled with the announcement
that funding for British Columbia
student assistance would
receive a 14 per cent increase,
means a chance for many stu-
dents to further their education
while incurring as little debt as
possible. “It is our goal to future
reduce tuition fees,” said
Premier Clark, “there is no bet-
ter way that we can build a
strong future for British

Columbia than by expanding
access to post-secondary edu-
cation.”

After the National Day of
Protest held last month, the cost

of higher education was at the -

forefront of almost every stu-
dent's mind. This freeze on
tuition, which was expected,
helps to ease the minds of the
over 150,000 students attending
British Columbia’s colleges and
universities. At UNBC, a tuition
freeze means that many stu-
dents may not have to take time
off to earn the extra money that
a tuition increase would force on
them. “We know that a lot of our
students here [at UNBC] face
financial problems, so this will
help them,” said Dr. Charles

Jago, President and Vice
Chancellor of UNBC, “I think it’s
good news.”

There have been speculations
that this further freeze in. tuition
may make British Columbia a
more appealing place for stu-
dents from other provinces to

attend institutions of higher

learning. One can only theorize

on how this will affect enrollment
at UNBC and other institutions
around the province. British
Columbia already has some of
the lowest tuition costs in
Canada, and this further freeze
must make it easier for students
in other provinces to choose
British Columbia as the province
in which attend a post-sec-
ondary institution. “There is a
growing gap in British Columbia
fees and other province fees,”
said jago when asked about
future enrollment at UNBC by
out of province students,
“whether that inclines students
from out of province to come to
BC, | don’t know.”

There is a possible downside
to this tuition freeze. If tuition
stays frozen and there are no
increases to the funding of col-
leges, universities and other
institutions of higher education,
then the ability for those institu-
tions to produce the best quality

Premier Glen Clark

education possible. will
decrease as the cost of educa-
tion increases. There are, how-
ever, speculations that the gov-
ernment of BC will be doing
some compensatory funding for
colleges and universities: that
would make up for the freeze in
tuition. “The freeze could have
the effect, if there is no compen-
sation for institutions, of keeping
fees low but making it more and

more difficult for institutions to
provide the courses and pro-
grams that students want,” Jago
said, “You could have cheap
education, but a poor quality of
education, and | don’t think any-
body wants that.”

Art at UNBC

Left: Miranda Bysouth, first year
RRT student, puts the finishing
4| touches on her version of The

Scream.

Right: Tami McHugh, NUGSS
fundraiser, sets-up the student
painters in an attempt to make
students aware of the new PG
Art Gallery.

Photos by Aaron Mahoney | —

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