PeaTat

Campus Concerns

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Sidewalks or Pathway

) 1... =

Toni Fletcher

On the evening of
February 21st, the first
in a series of lectures
sponsored by _ the
University President
was held in the cafeteria.
This series of lectures is

aptly named “The
President’s Lecture
Series’.

The first speaker was
Dr. Harry Arthur, former
president of York
University in Toronto.
His lecture outlined the
importance of planning
in university life and in
government. He spoke
of the role that politics
and government play in
both the development
and continuation of
educational institutions,

as well as_ the
importance of
>onsidering and

consulting the end users
in the planning process.
Not only was: Dr.
Arthur’s lecture
- interesting and peppered
with amusing snippets,
but also it was relevant

- to. what is happening”

now. at UNBC.
Dr. Arthur related

University planning to”

architectural planning.
No matter how well
designed. a landscape

plan is, no matter how.

beautifully laid out the
sidewalks and pathways
are, people will still
walk across lawns or
through gardens and
create their own path to
get them where they

staff;
residents in Prince:

want to go. That
analogy brought a
chuckle from _ the
audience as many of us
pictured the pristine
concrete sidewalks
around campus last
spring. The largely
unused sidewalks
contrasted sharply with
the footpaths trampled
in the lawns _ that
indicated where people
really wanted to go.
Having listened to Dr.
Arthur’s lecture, I have
a much deeper
understanding of why a
plan is vital to the future
success of UNBC. You
are probably aware that
the President’s Planning
Committee is in the final
stages of developing a
plan that will re-focus
the direction of UNBC
over the next several
years. I now am able to
appreciate the effort that
the committee has made
to. consult the
university’s end users,
namely the. students,

George and throughout
the region. The point of
this article is to heighten
reader awareness of the
remaining lectures. The
first lecture drew only
about 35 listeners, and
very few of those were
students. To advertise
the series, there were the
standard green and
white lecture series
posters on bulletin

faculty ~ and ~
‘It seems to me that
students would want to-
-know who they can hold

accountable. Following .

boards around campus,
and advertisements were
placed in the local
papers, but still only a
small audience
appeared.

I know that there were
a lot of mid-term exams
held this week before the
reading break. I am also
aware that this type of
lecture may not appeal
to all. But I don’t
understand how it is that
so many of the students
that I spoke with were
totally unaware of the
lecture itself. If you
have any suggestions as
to how the events at
UNBC can be better
publicized, please let me
k n O Ww
(fletc0O2@ugrad.unbe.edu)
and I will pass them o to
the communications
office.

The next lecture in the
series will be on March
13th. The president of
Simon Fraser University

_ will speak about the
need: for. accountability

in- university planning.

the lecture, there :is an
opportunity to ask
questions and make
comments, as well as
free coffee and desserts.

overtheedge 6 March, 1996

"a

What For? |

The Interfaith Chaplaincy
is a place that most people
think they know what is for,
and are usually only partially
right. Yes, as is obvious, it
is there for people to get
religious help and guidance.
But the spiritual guidance is
only part of the story.
Another large reason for
their being in the school is
to give people someone to
talk to. If you go into the
chaplaincy, your first
impression is that it is a very
peaceful place. Yes, like a
church, but you will also

notice that there is a definite ©

shortage of religious
paraphernalia inside.
Sometimes there will be
people in there talking, and
then it might be a good idea
to let them be and come back
in a little while. Once you get
to talk to one of the chaplains
(they are easily identifiable
because they wear name tags
with “chaplain” on them)
you will find out that they do
very little in the way of
conventional preaching.
They are not there to
pressure you into or towards
anything, and they are not
there to convert you. to a
religion. They will discuss
your problems with you, and
then show you any possible
solutions that they can think

of: after: that “it? s~your :

decision as: to what:to do.
Atheists and Agnostics are
welcome as well as everyone
else. They don’t discriminate
as to who can go inside the
room.

The chaplains each
represent different faiths,

including Baptist, Lutheran,

‘about.

-Jes Burkitt

Pentecostal, Mennonite, Full

Gospel, Bahai, Roman

Catholic, Superet, Christian

Reformed, United, Alliance.

Anglican, as well as
nondenominational. They
admit that they don’t cover
every religion that a person
could possibly be; but, they
are not here to please
everybody, because you
can’t please everybody.
They are here to help. A large
portion of this help is for
people who are away from
their families for the first
time. The Interfaith
Chaplaincy gives them a
place where there is someone
friendly to talk to.

Of course, as with every
group here, there are the
usual array of people who
don’t agree that the Interfaith
Chaplaincy should be here.
As would be expected, other
people think it should. The
chaplains think it should, as
is obvious. If you don’t
agree, they invite you to
come in and talk to them. If
a person does not agree that
the chaplaincy should be
here, but will not go and talk
to the chaplains about it to
find out more, then it seems
somewhat senseless to judge
something you know nothing
The — Interfaith
Chaplaincy is not about

‘converting heathens, it is not:

about being preached at by a
holier-than-thou preacher,
and. it is: not about being an -
exclusive club only for
religious people. The
Interfaith Chaplaincy is more

about giving help, advice,

and promoting unity among
people.