Over The Edge Page 10 January 10, 2000 Millennium Scholarships Bigger Disappointment By Nicole Larson “More than 10,700 British Columbian stu- dents at the post sec- ondary level will receive scholarships from the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation fro the 1999-2000 acad- emic year”? Jean C. Monty, Chairman of the Board, and Norman Riddell, Executive Director and Chief Executive Director of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation announced on December 9, 1999. Good news for UNBC students or is it? Not really if they were already receiving a grant from the BC Student Assistance Program. What Monty and Riddell failed to »mention was that this is only the spring install- ment of any award granted by the BC Student Assistance Program. Students are not getting any more money than they would already have been expecting which has lead to a great deal of than Y2K confusion. “It has creat- ed a lot of confusion,’ says Linda Roa, co- ordinator of loans and financial aid at UNBC. “They (the students) think they are getting an additional grant or scholarship on tope of what they’ve already been assessed for. In fact, they are not going to get additional money.” Andrew Petter, British Columbia’s Minister of Advanced Education admits that the letters could cause some students financial misunderstandings. “The foundation’s letter may have led some stu- dents to think they will receive more money that they originally thought,’ said Petter: “I want to make sure everyone understands what is going to hap- pen. In BC, money from the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation had been combined with funding for our provincial grant pro- gram and is distributed by the BC Student ser- vices branch.” In with the over 10,000 letters to BC students announcing their new “scholarships” came press releases that stu- dents are to fill out and to send to local media outlets. “The letter and the package sent to stu- denis is unacceptable,” said Mark Veerkamp, BC Chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students. “Not only is it a waste of money (to send out these announcements), it is completely deceiving.” . Some students are worried about how much mailing these let- ters announcing money students already knew was coming to them cost. “Il want to know how much this mail out cost and why this money isn’t being spent to help more students,” demanded Cathy Hebein, an Open University Student. “If | hadn't phoned to find out more about this let- ter, | could have been in real trouble come January.” PI BETA PHI FILES Greetings to all return- ing students and wel- come to the new stu- dents here at unbc. The pi beta phi sorority would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped contribute to our teddy bear tree and operation Christmas child fund- raisers held in December. All dona- tions were greatly appreciated and brought smiles to many faces. We hope you all had a good new years, and wish you the best in the new millennium. To kick off this year, the pi beta phi sorority and NRS are teaming up to proudly bring you the millennium formal dance Jan. 14 from 8pm-tam. Yes, this is a formal dance with the great opportunity to wear your old grad dress or suit tucked away in your closet. It's a great way to meet the new students and have fun with old friends. Don’t be dissuaded by the dance being a for- mal. Dress is formal, but that just contributes to the fun! Tickets are $8.00 for members of pi beta phi and nrs, and $10.00 for non-mem- bers. Tickets will be on sale January 10-14 in the wintergarden. This dance is just the first of many great events planned for the year including candygrams for valentine’s day, bake sales and even a hawai- ian luau! We look for- ward to seeing you at the dance, as well as at other events to come. Nipissing staff find Viagra in their Christmas stockings By Andrew Sunstrum TORONTO (CUP) - Nipissing University’s Board of Governors has passed a motion to give staff a bigger than usual Christmas bonus. Just in time for Christmas, the Board agreed to add the drug Viagra to the University’s employee group benefits package. The impotency fighting drug, which costs around $9 a pill, will now be covered up to a maximum of $1,200 per year by the festive insti- tution’s drug plan. “It happens to be absolutely just a coinci- dence,” said Connie VanderWall with a gig- gie. As Nipissing’s direc- tor of Human Resources, VanderWall is charged with keeping the University’s _ staff animated. Eight other Ontario universities have already added the drug to their benefits pack- ages, while the rest are presently considering the addition. Some uni- versities that have been mentioned as already passing the drug are the University of Toronto, Brock, Queen’s, Guelph, Waterloo, York and Lakehead. After studying the costs and benefits of Viagra for a year the Board’s pension and benefits committee initi- ated the fruitful gesture. “lt will restore some dignity and quality of life to them if they do so choose,” explained VanderWall. Comparing Viagra to birth control _ pills, VanderWall said the university didn’t want its drug plan to discrimi- nate. “It’s just getting a lot of press because it’s about sex,’ she added. But Marjie Smith, Nipissing’s director of communications, isn’t so sure. She said Viagra’s addition may be an ambitious plow to combat the difficulty of faculty re-tension. “Nobody’s gonna want to retire now,’ cracked Smith.