Issue 2, Vol 144, The Brunswickan

Page 1

feature // pg. 11 >> good tips on getting into grad school Volume 144 · Issue 2 • September 15, 2010

www.thebruns.ca

brunswickan canada’s oldest official student publication.

UNBSU reacts to PSE platforms

Reds’ rookies make immediate impact

Hilary Paige Smith News Editor Two of the province’s major political parties released their post-secondary education platforms last week. The New Brunswick Liberal and Progressive Conservative parties announced their plans for post-secondary last week. Their announcements were shortly followed by a reaction from the UNB Student Union. Shannon Carmont-McK inley, President of the UNBSU, said neither party is promising anything “astonishing or inspirational.” “There’s nothing that’s really standing out. Both parties, that have released a platform, so far have said some good things and we definitely appreciate hearing some of them, some of them are things that we’ve lobbied for extensively over the past year or so,” she said. Carmont-McKinley said a highlight of the Liberal party’s platform was the promise of ancillary fee control to prevent ancillary fees from being added on top of tuition. “It’s a very inexpensive way to do a lot of good. I know that, as UNB, we had the implementation of the health fee a couple years ago… during a tuition freeze when tuition was not supposed to increase and the university managed to sneak in this extra $50 fee on students,” she said. Both parties have plans to revise the Timely Completion Benefit program. The Liberals plan to cap student debt at $24,000 down from $26,000. The PCs also have plans to review the debt relief program, but did not announce numbers in the official release. “We’ve also been asking that it be increased from just students completing their degree in the recommended amount of time to students completing it in the recommended amount of time plus one,” Carmont-McKinley said, outlining the appeals process that students have to go through if they didn’t complete their degree in the recommended amount of time. “Most students don’t complete their degree in the recommended amount of time, just because there is so much going on and in order to really maximize your learning experience it’s better to take an extra year in many situations.” McKinley felt both parties listened to the SU’s efforts, but left several things

Varsity Reds midfielder Jean-Claude Campeau takes on a Mount Allison Mounties defender in weekend action.The men’s soccer team defeated the Mounties 2-1 followed by a 1-0 loss on the road against the Saint Marys Huskies. Andrew Meade/ The Brunswickan

The Varsity Reds men’s soccer team opened up their regular season over the weekend, with their new recruits finding their place early. In their home opener, the Reds walked away with a victory over the Mount Allison Mounties 2-1. First year player Yassim Chehab made an impact early, scoring the first UNB goal of the season in the second minute. The centre back has won over the coaching staff’s approval with his strong showing both defensively and offensively. “He had a solid opening weekend in his UNB career,” said head coach Miles Pinsent. “He was very good defensively and did well in his centre back role. He definitely plays a significant role on the set pieces and

we were aware of that. That’s what his goal came from, almost a perfect play.” Also making an impact as a rookie for the Reds on the weekend was keeper Aaron McMurray. A young addition to the team, McMurray demonstrated he is ready for the standard of play in the AUS. “He did well,” said Pinsent. “It is always tough for a first year player to come in and make the adjustments to contribute right away. He is relatively young and in a pressure filled position as the keeper. I think he handled that well. He had a solid weekend overall.” The Reds followed the opening win with a loss on the road against the Saint Mary’s Huskies, being shutout 1-0. Coach Pinsent was pleased with the win to open the season, but the loss left him disappointed with a UNB squad expected

to be amongst the top in the conference. “You cannot lose games, especially early in the season,” he said. “I was disappointed with how we played on Sunday. We didn’t put forth the effort that was needed to win a difficult road game. St. Mary’s is a good team and on the day they deserved the win. I felt it was too bad we did not put in our best efforts and we gave away three points.” Unfortunately, in a compressed soccer season there is little time to sit back and prepare for their next match. They will have adjustments to make if they intend to defeat the 2-0 StFX X-Men this weekend. “We are a young team and we have made a number of changes to our lineup this year and did not expect it to be perfect right out of the gate,” said Pinsent. “Hopefully we learnt some valuable lessons after our first weekend in the AUS and that will make us

a better team for next week.” The Varsity Reds men’s soccer team has a tough schedule ahead of them. As important as getting the win is, Pinsent says they are building towards the playoffs in November. “It is like I told the guys after the game. We’re going to learn from each and every game that we play to help us be better the next week,” he said. “Our ultimate goal is to play as well as we can when we go into November when all the important games are being played.” This weekend when the X-men take on UNB at home they will face a deeper Reds’ roster as key players will make a return from injuries. Last season’s rookie of the year Ben Law and third year midfielder Pablo Urbina will be back in the lineup and expected to lead on the field.

out. She said “there’s definitely some good things and some things that could be better.” She said the Liberal platform thus far was notably missing funding for universities themselves. “In all of our lobbying we try to maintain two priorities. There’s access to university, making sure that qualified students in our province are able to attend post-secondary, despite financial barriers,

despite social barriers, despite geographical barriers,” Carmont-McKinley said. “The other major focus we always bring to the table is quality. We don’t just want to have a system that anybody can go to and everybody can come out with something. We want a high quality system that’s competitive nationally and internationally and part of that is providing our institutions with adequate funding.” The SU President said the PC post-

secondary platform “vaguely” addressed the issue of funding for universities with the promise of a four-year rolling grant to institutions in the province. “I’m not entirely sure what that means, but it sounds like they’re at least taking that into consideration. That the funding to universities is a priority and it’s good to see that,” she said. The Progressive Conservative promise of $3.5 million in bursary money for low

income and middle-income students was something the UNBSU particularly liked from the platform. UNB will play host to two debates for local candidates next week. On Sept. 21, the Student Union Building cafeteria will be the site of the Fredericton-Lincoln debate. The following night, also in the cafeteria, the Fredericton-Silverwood debate will take place. Both debates run from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Christopher Cameron Sports Editor


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