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The Brunswickan
Volume 141 Issue 9 • Canada’s Oldest Official Student Publication • UNB Fredericton’s Student Paper • Oct. 31, 2007
Student groups meet with Premier
Still Perfect
President addresses faculty
by Josh O’Kane
Nearly two months after the Commission on Post-Secondary Education in New Brunswick released their controversial report recommending vast changes to the current PSE system, no answers have been found as to how many or which recommendations will be followed. Though no answers were given, UNB Student Union VP External Jordan Graham says that at least students’ voices are starting to be heard. Graham was one of the UNB representatives who attended a meeting last Wednesday with members of the provincial government, including Premier Shawn Graham and the Hon. Dr. Ed Doherty, Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labour. The New Brunswick Student Alliance (NBSA) was also in attendance, with representatives from the province’s various university student unions and representative councils, as well as three from New Brunswick’s community colleges. Student groups, as well as many residents of the province, are concerned with several of the report’s recommendations, including the conversion of the UNB Saint John campus and two satellite campuses of the Université de Moncton into polytechnic institutes. In their proposed form, these institutes would offer specific technical education and lack the research and liberal arts education that the existing institutes provide. The meeting acted as a forum for key stakeholders in the issue, in this case, the government and students in post-secondary educational institutes, to discuss the effects the recommendations in the report would have on them and the province as a whole. “We each had an opportunity to discuss what our views were on post-secondary education commission Report,” says Jordan Graham, of the meeting. “We had a chance to speak to what we thought were the important factors – whether that was the Report overall or the specifics towards individual institutions.” The stance taken by UNB students at the meeting was a united one. “UNB took a strong stance together,” explains Graham of the two campus’ councils. “We didn’t represent as UNB Fredericton or UNB Saint John, we spoke about what would be the interests of UNB as a whole.” Graham says that he primarily argued towards the benefits the UNB Saint John campus brings to the Fredericton
see Graham page 3
Meeting held last Thursday to express their concerns on the post secondary Report
by Naomi Osborne
Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan
Varsity Reds forward Kyle Bailey watches the puck slide past Saint Mary’s goaltender Brandon Verge after assisting on the first goal of the game. The Reds would not relinquish their lead for the remainder of the game as they cruised to a 3-1 victory over the fourth ranked Huskies. Saturday night saw the Reds defeat the St. Francis Xavier X-Men by a 6-2 score to move into first place in the Atlantic Conference. See page 7 for a full report on the weekend’s action.
Sew... it’s Halloween by Mitchell Bernard
It’s always tricky to find a great Halloween costume. Of course, it’s the big night when all the ghosts, witches, and other cliché costumes come out, and I’d be the first to admit that my choice of costume ideas in the past have been less than creative, most of them being last minute ideas thrown together before heading out the door. So to help with some costume ideas, I recently visited the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design on Queen Street in Fredericton. I was hoping to see some new and creative designs from people who are poised to enter into the world of fashion. This was my first trip to NBCCD. Although I’ll admit I don’t really know much about Halloween fashion, Jaclyn Wilson, a third-year fashion student,
was kind enough to discuss Halloween costumes with me. I found her working at her costume along with other fashion students in the third-year section of the school. We discussed everything from Halloween fashion to her repertoire of past costumes, including a prize-winning design: Poison Ivy from the Batman series, which was Wilson’s costume last year. “Most inspiration for costume ideas come from film,” she said as we stood at her worktable. “There are many different ways to find inspiration…even just typing in Halloween costumes in Google.ca and finding ideas that way.” She predicted that there would be many pirates this year from the release of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’ this past summer. Other students at the fashion school noted that you could find inspiration everywhere, including magazines. Many of the fashion students have been recently working on costumes of their own for Halloween. For Wilson, she’s logged a lot of hours working
on a lion tamer costume, which she designed. “I started working on the idea this summer for my circus clothing line,” she said, showing me a sketch for the costume. She added that it would probably take her 40 or more hours to complete it. Complete with a corset top, boy shorts with garter, and a tiny top hat, Wilson plans to be a lion tamer with a bit of an edge. She admitted that the costume is a bit risqué, but I’m sure she won’t be the only woman out this season with a costume showing a bit of leg or décolletage. When asked if she is currently designing costumes for any family or friends, Wilson told me that she’s too busy working on her own costume, even though she does try to help come up with some ideas for friends. As far as producing the costume, she just doesn’t have the time. Along with the design for Halloween, Wilson is also
see Costume page 10
Pumpkin Sacrifice hits 35th year by Jordan Gill
The longest-running residence tradition in Canada, and what is possibly UNB’s oldest student tradition, is set to go for another year. Harrison House’s Great Pumpkin Sacrifice will take place on Wednesday, October 31. Legend has it the tradition began 35 years ago when an intoxicated Harrison resident (and current UNB professor) climbed onto the roof of Harrison
File Photo
Harrison House holds longest-standing residence tradition in Canada every Halloween House and proceeded to hurl numerous pumpkins to the concrete below. Despite how it sounds, this
year’s Loyal Guardian, Charlie MacPhee, says that the pumpkin sacrifice has a profound effect on the residents of Harrison House.
“It sounds like something that could be seen as funny, but we take it actually quite seriously,” says MacPhee. “The point of it is not just destruction or just novelty... It’s really to bring our House together to one common focus, and to put all your work together, and to put all your energy together, to create something pretty monumental.” The Loyal Guardian has the most important job of the sacrifice. It is his job to carve the pumpkin and to preside over the whole Sacrifice ceremony.
see Sacrifice page 3
The President of UNB held a meeting last Thursday inviting members of the UNBF and UNBSJ staff and faculty to come together and discuss the issues in the Post Secondary Education Commission Report that was released last month. A tele-conference was held at the Wu Conference Centre between Fredericton and Saint John. Many staff and faculty members have mixed feelings and concerns about the Report. Some say it is misleading and contradictory in that it states that its first priority is the students’ interests, while making statements on issues such as tuition that would be detrimental to students’ needs. President of UNB Dr. John McLaughlin made his position on the matter clear, stating that there has to be change that will meet the specific needs of the citizens and all the people in the community. He introduced what he referred to as his “bedrock principles,” which included UNB being a public, comprehensive university, having a core curriculum, and having a student-focused agenda. Jula Hughes, Law Professor at UNB, felt encouraged by McLaughlin’s principles, which she said reassured her of comprehensive programs on both campuses. This is just the beginning of the process for staff and faculty members of both campuses as they fight for the future of their universities. “Our students deserve to have something better come out of this,” said McLaughlin at the conference; “it’s going to be difficult because we are all going to the table with our own bedrock agendas.” McLaughlin also pressed that he sees this issue as being about both the campuses in Fredericton and Saint John. He believes the twocampus model is a basis for strong universities in the country. Regena Farnsworth, Assistant Professor at UNBSJ and a member of the Association of University of New Brunswick Teachers (AUNBT), brought up the concern of staff members in Saint John. The budget process is beginning and staff fear the cutback may lead to lay offs. The budget is expected to begin soon and no statements on the issue can be made until the government decides what they are going to do. UNBSJ has suffered the most financially throughout the whole process. McLaughlin plans on working with his colleagues to find solutions to their financial problems within the next two weeks. “We are waiting to have the follow-up meeting to see what is on
the table,” he said. President of the UNB Student Union Brad Mullins commented that the President tried to be as reassuring as he could for staff and faculty members. “One of the most threatening positions is uncertainty and it has not gone away,” said Mullins. He feels the Report is an accurate reflection of what the students have asked for and does not want to see it dismissed. “There are a couple of groups calling for the dismissal of the Report,” he said, “but that is not our stance.” Mullins sees a lot of good in the Report that needs to be addressed in the near future. The financial aid elements are good and need to be implemented, he said. As for the development of the polytechnics, “it is only a small part, 10 pages in a 60 page Report,” said Mullins. Members of the staff and faculty on both campuses expressed their concerns with the issue of UNBSJ becoming a polytechnic institute. Hughes stated that what UNB truly needs is more provincial funding, that money has to come somewhere and they are looking for the province to provide that money. The answer is not to turn a well established university into a polytechnic. “The problem with polytechnics is they only have narrow programs that are not quite university standard,” said Hughes. “Now more than ever, women are entering technical educational fields, so why take that opportunity away from them?” asks Hughes. She says that polytechnics only focus on engineering and skilled trades such as heavy equipment, welding, and ironwork. Skilled trades don’t have the tendency to attract women in any significant numbers. “I see a real danger that we are throwing women’s education down the tube,” said Hughes. If UNBSJ was to be turned into a polytechnic, Hughes says that the credits students received there would not be transferable outside of the province. Students would be able to take credits they gained in community college and transfer them over, but only within the jurisdiction of New Brunswick. “That is only one side of the coin because our programs have to be accepted outside of New Brunswick,” stated Hughes. UNB would lose its national status, she said, and it wouldn’t be good for anyone in the past who has graduated or for anyone in the future. “There would be no benefit,” said Hughes. “Hopefully the government will realize that before judgment day.” Hughes is also worried that the ability to attract students from outside the country will decrease. People won’t want to come to the school if they know that what they study there won’t be worth anything once they want to go back home and work, said Hughes. Diversity in the schools and the classroom is a key instrument. “When you get people from outside of the country it makes a difference,” said Hughes, “to have a diverse class makes it a better experience.” This will essentially close the boundaries for international students coming to UNB and for anyone who graduated from UNB to leave. “What are we going to do…build a wall?” she said.