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Over The Edge Page 6 : LETTERS November 15, 1999

Should Women’s Centre Be Judged as a Club?

In its last edition,
O.T.E. asked if the
Women’s Centre
“should be expected to
fundraise “in-'the same
way as clubs”. Looking
at the precedent set by
other universities, . the
answer is clear: “the
Women’s Centre should
be funded exclusively
by the Northern
Undergraduate Student
Society. After research-
ing this topic, PGPIRG
has collected some cold
hard facts........

The Simon Fraser
University | Women’s
Centre has been in
operation since 1974.
They are almost exclu-
sively funded by the
SFU Student Society
(special events such as
International Women’s
Day celebrations are

sometimes funded: by

program donations):
They have two employ-

. Women’s

ees at present; one
Coordinator who. works
21-28 hrs/week, and
one librarian who works
10-12 hrs/week. These
employees receive ~
$21/hr. and ~ $16/hr

respectively. ~
-The° University of
Victoria Women’s

Centre also secures its
funding from the UVIC
Student Society. They
have established a set
amount per student to
be given to the UVIC
Women’s Centre. They
employ one permanent
part-time Coordinator
20 hrs/week. This is
increased to 25
hrs/week for the three
peak months. of the
year. The UVIC
Gentre
Coordinator curréfitly
receives $16.67/hr, with
a Muaranteed: raise to
$19/hr over the next two
years. The. UVIC

Women’s Centre also
currently holds two
workstudy __ positions
funded through the
University.

*“The Women’s Centre is
a_service, not a club. In

order to properly func-
tion as a service, con-
sistent funding for a
coordinator and office
maintenance must be
secured. As the exam-
ple from SFU and UVIC
shows the Student
Society must offer a
reasonable amount: of
funding for the Women’s
Centre.

Shelley Milstein &
Johan Boyden
PGPIRG

Over The Edge welcomes ail Letters to the Editor and attempts to print
“every submission. Submissions may be withheld and’prinded at a later
date due to.spacial restrictions. Over The Edge reserves the right to edit
for grammer, spelling, content, or withold in whole or part any Letter to the
Editor. Letters submitted Anonymously will not be printed in any way
shape or form. Authors who wish tg-have thei
taken into consideration.

r name withheld will be

Letters to the Editor

can be‘sent to:

over-the-edge @ unbc.ca°

Defense Continued From page 5

But being a survivor
of abuse | could never
wish that apon anyone.
Not every woman at the
Center has had terrible
experiences, nor c@en-
trary to popular® belief
are they are lesbians.

The Controversy sur-
rounding Women’s cen-

ter funding is quizzical
to me, the Women’s
Center us a valid and

‘important service here
- at UNBC.

Alex Vlaszaty
Concerned student

Who called?

Just press «69 to see the last

number that called you.

Try *69 Call Return today.

Just 75¢ per use. *

, oO

ce tewus

Cost tor this survica 1s 75e per use, tv 8 miaumuin of $6.00 per month for rostdenbal customers.

‘

In response to Mike
Lau’s slanderous and
unjustifiable remarks |
have a few things to
way. First your repre-
senting youself as a
concerned student, yet
let's not mask your
involvement with
NUGSS. You are a vot-
ing member on the
NUGSS board. You
have a personal stake in
the matter. If there were
problems with the
Women’s Center books
why didn’t someone
from NUGSS inform the
collective about it? If
you are representing
ffie studént body why
are you trying to pro-
mote animosity towards
the Women’s Center?

‘nee jerk reaction fails to justi-

fy Women’s Centre

Mike Lau’s Letter to
the Editor in the Nov 1
issue of Over The Edge
points out a_ few hard
and fast rules about
running an organiza-
tion.

Keep your contractual
agreements. The
Women’s Centre signed
a contract which dealt
with out how expenses
were to be documented.
NUGSS must defend
their budget every year
to the students and if
one_ organization is
unable to justify their
expenses, their funding
will come under review.

Lobby your funding
institution with numbers.

It appears from, the out-
side that ry few
women use the

Women’s Cenire. Can
thee Women’s Centre
content that they need
similar funding to last
year or even an
increase if there is no
tracking of student visits
or usage.

As a student service,

the Womenis Centre
represents NUGSS and
UNBC. In a climate of
funding restrictions with
little §$ communication
between NUGSS and
the Womenis Centre, a
small event like the
painted banner “Fuck
the Patriarchy” gives
NUGSS_ reason _ to
question their support.
Itis not that the students
who run the Women’s
Centre cannot be con-
troversial, simply there
are better ways to grab
attention. (and no, burn-
ing Mike Lau at the
stake no matter how
tempting will not help)

And lastly, the
Women’s Centre has
done a very poor job of
convincing students that
they are an integral part
of the university and
deserve more funding
than any other organi-
zation on campus.
Indeed, they have done
little to market the
Wemen’s Centre to the

student population;
marketing which would
convince the students
that their expensive
tuition is well spent.
Simple knee _ jerk
reactions like writing a
letter to the Editor
denouncing Mike Lau’s
position will fail to pro-
vide any real solutions
and fail to convince me
that my money is well
spent supporting a gen-
der biased organization.

Yours sincerely,
Aaron Mahoney
UNBC student

The Women’s Center: A
Valuable part of UNBC

Instead of trying to
make bridges you are
burning them. The
Women’s Centre is a
valuable service that
provides a comfortable
social space, a safe
place for all women,
information and educa-
tion on many issues of
abuse, feminism, and
sexuality just to mane a
few. Within the past
three months we have
received phone calls
from women who need
counseling, _ financial
aid, need information on
abortion, the pill, and
where to go to find legal
aid because her hus-
band had just beaten
the shit out of her and
had taken the kinds. WE

NEED A COORDINA-
TOR so we can network
with other community
services for women, to
organize workshops, to
promote events, and for
numerous other rea-
sons. Yes, our coordina-
tor is paid more than
minimum wage, but how
can a Women’s organi-

_zation pay any less? For

decades women have
been poorly paid, if paid
at all. Then you expect
the Women’s Center
should have a bigger
budget than last year
not a 60% cut of 6,000
dollars leaving only

2,000. ..Fhe Women’s: +

Center at UNBC is not
an anomaly on the uni-
versity scene. It is a part

of a greater network of
Women’s Centers in
British Columbia and
Canada. To you Mike ||
thought society had pro-
gressed in the promo-
tion of equality and
women’s rights but you
are a reminder that
being a woman in soci-
ety is a constant strug-
gle.

P.S. the Women’s
Centre efficiency can
not be represented by a
bunch of graphs. Mike,
it is a service that needs
a coordinator.

Traci Murphy