Volume 7, Number UBkkRSITY OF
8 WATERLOO,
Waterloo,
Ontario
Friday,
September
23, 1966
CUScollapsefeared- Alberta fifth to quit studentunion
Write-ins, fund drive to opposeawards plan Student Council is preparing a two-pronged assault against the new Ontario Student Awards Program. One proposal concerned the for+ mation of a university scholarship fund through a money-raising drive. The president of Student Council, Mike Sheppard, also suggested a write-in protest to Queen’s Park. Debate was spirited, but Council showed itself cautious in its w preach. SAP, as most students are painfully aware, is the Ontario government’s program of loans and grants to Ontario students. President Sheppard has attacked the program as violating the spirit of equal opportunity in education. Students needing money to further their education will be forced to leave university heavily in debt, unable to take employment in such low-paying jobs as the Company of Young Canadians. Mr. Sheppard has also attacked the program for its arbitrary assessments of the amounts students must save in a summer and that parents must contribute, Not only is a long and involved means test
required, but registrars no longer control student aid. Another bitter blow has come with the cancellation of scholarships by the university. These awards were valued atwell over $400,000 a year. The government of Ontario effectively stopped the scholarship program by threatening to cut back the university’s operating grant by an amount equal to the scholarships. The president of Student Council said investigation showed the obvious move was to form an endowment fund by canvassing local citizens and service clubs for money. He felt the question of canvassing industry might have to be negotiated with President Hagey since the University of Waterloo is planning a multi-million-dollar building campaign within the next year. Members of Council absolutely refused to proceed immediately with the program. Peter Fried, grad representative, said, “This program could flop.” A committee, consisting of Sheppard (chairman, non-voting), Flott, MacKenzie, Cavanagh, Willms and Elliott was established to study the question.
The crushed and reelingcanadian Union of Students received another blow this week when the University of Alberta student council voted to pull its 11,000 students out of the organization. They are the fifth university to quit the supposedly national student union this month. Memorial University of Newfoundland, Loyola College of Montreal, Mount St. Vincent of Halifax and Marianapolis College of Montreal all left CUS during September. Rex Murphy of Memorial University has labelled CUS “a bureaucracy administering unto it self.” A telegram informing CUS president Doug Ward of Edmonton’s decision to leave the organization was received Tuesday in Ottawa. Edmonton council president Branny Schepanovich has for several months criticized CUS for overextending itself in its activities, and at the 30th CUS congress earlier this month threatened to pull his university delegation out of CUS. The sudden pull-out drew an expression of disappointment from Ward, who said he would personally encourage and assist the Edmonton campus in any future move back to cus. “Alberta traditionally has been one of the strongest members of CUS” he said . Schepanovich’ s opposition to CUS policy, particularly in the area of international affairs, extends back to the day he was elected council president--March 4. Earlier this summer he sent a cir
Young elected CUS vice-pres Dave Young, last year’s chairman of the board of external relations at this university, was elected yicepresident of the Canadian Union of Students at its fall CongressinHalifax. He takes over the post at a time when CUS faces a challenge to its very existence. The Coryphaeus offers its best wishes to Mr. Young. The future of CUS could not be in more competent hands.
t
Steve Russell gives a bargain . . .
engineer
Spies, pressure, phone calls and rumors-all point to a campaign against the new Engineering Society bookstore at 192 University Avenue West. The store was conceived by Vern Wilson of Engineering Society A in an attempt to force the official campus bookstore to lower prices onits engineering supplies and related goods. If this attempt failed, the store was to continue as a service to the students. While the organization of the store was difficult, the real problems did not start until it opened Monday, September 12. There was only one customer, and he just copied down the prices on the goods available. By Tuesday, business was good. But during the day, manager E.S. Hills, of Pickett Sales of Canada
r
Ltd., a Toronto supplier, calledMr. Wilson and warned him about the dangers of a price war. At the same time, Mr. Hills asked Mr. Wilson to increase the price of a slide rule from $21.50 to $22.50 which is what the U of Toronto store charges for the same instrument. The campus bookshop demands $23.95. When asked, Mr. Hills saidhe was unable to say who had given him the price information. He said it was either the U of T shop or our campus bookstore. Mr. Wilson agreed to raise his price since a war would finish the store. It is operating without any backup capital. A nonprofit organization, the store has a markup that is just enough to cover overhead and other costs.
(‘ We can do without CUS,” said 41But the question is, Schepanovich. can CUS do without us?” Memorial University was the first of the universities to withdraw. The Newfies rocked the annual CUS congress in Halifax when they called its members “worthless swine” and pulled out. Mount St. Vincent University added to the crisis at the CUS congress by announcing their decision to leave. Then immediately after the Halifax meeting, Loyola and Marianapolis jumped to the French- speaking Union G&&ale des Etudiants de Q&bee. With five more colleges gone from CUS the organization is left with 43 members representing 160,000 students. The major cause of all the dissension is a determined attempt by this year’s CUS executive, led by President Doug Ward, to move the group into the field of student activism. ‘The declaration of the Canadian student’ (see,page 3) that”theCanadian student has a vital interest in the future of his country” was op posed by Alberta and Bishop’s University at the CUS congress. The University of Waterloo dele gation emphatically backed the re solution and is supporting CUS in its new stand. But the big question now is who will be next to quit-- and how soon?
cular to all council presidents warning them against stretching activities beyond their campuses. The circular questioned the CUS national executive’s right to make policy statements on world issues while at the same time claiming to represent the opinion of all Canadian students. It urged delegates to the 30th congress to consider restricting CUS to activities which only directly involve university and other post-secondary students in Canada. When his proposals failed to re ceive support at this month’s congress, Schepanovich threatened to pull out of cus.
Try Qbig plastic bag Why should students freeze while janitors escape the terrors of winter gales? So reasoned Tuesday’s Student Council. Council would like to see the University of Waterloo emulate Carleton University by having tunnels join all of the buildings on campus. At present only certain buildings are so joined. It was suggested that shelter from the elements could be found by converting the present service tunnels. These, however, are dark, dirty, narrow and oily. Anyone for coveralls?
SC dennands
control of $14 athIetie fee
The Federation of Students will make its more forceful thrust for financial autonomy this Thursday. President Mike Sheppard told an applauding student council that now was the time to demand that the university transfer control of the $14 student athletic to the Federation. A board of athletic activities would then administer all sporting activities except intermural events. While the student may not claim this fee for income-tax purposes, the university has been using aportion of the fee to finance the activities of the athletic department. Council members felt it unfair
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that students could not claim for monies spent on the university. The formal motion presented to Council read: (*Resolved that the Student Council direct its president to demand in meeting with the appropriate university authorities that the total incidental athletic fee of $14 collected from undergraduate students be remitted to the Federation of Students and added to its general revenue”. Mr. Sheppard, in thanking the council for its unanimous support, said that he would go all-out to see that the Federation received the full fee.
S
The university bookstore has a markup of 40 percent on its engineering supplies while that of the new shop is only 15 percent, Profits from the U of W store are sent to the university coffers. The engineering store makes no profits. The man who had copied the prices on Monday returned and bought a geometry set. When asked for whom he was buying the set, he became flustered and said that he was only doing his job. Business continued to pick up, but at the same time, posters put up Tuesday in the engineering foyer advertising the store disappeared by Wednesday. Replacements were gone again on Thursday. All of the posters were properly stamped and authorized in the Federation office. Since then, things have been quiet. There were no further calls.
. . . while comparative
Elsie Fischer shopping.
does