LETfERSTo THE·EDITOR

Sexistcascade

Is the Cascade ·gender specific"? Should T be looking for signs of that and sl.iniming them accordingly'? And the Toque? hahaha my life just g0t a whole lot more fun ls this how the Cascade wants to expand their male readership'? I think it's a bit of an ~front to the general rendership because it portrays a few negative stereotypes:

The Cascade sexist'?Wns I supposed to get that impression from the picture of the breast on the front puge? (note sarcnsm dripping from the question mark) Hey, I'm all for a little "T&A" for the boys, but l think it's better left 10 the likes uf Hugh Hefner (Playboy).

Guys don't read for pleasure. they only look at the pictures.

Sex is the only thing that 'sells', even in the academic arena.

Wumen don't min<l leating past the pie's (how 'bmll walking pa t'!).

University level press isn't capable or any n,me than a few soft-cLJrc porn rics tlncl badly penned articles.

The nverage university s1mknt 1.:onsumes lhi sort uf material as m:ws.

Oh, hell, I'll slop now raccy press might crente a ~1ir in the beginning, hut I know of WAY toe, many WL11ncnwho won't even bother picking up a ncwspa• per because of' this type of Lhing, ,li\u lo be honest, who does the shopping?

Women have higher buying power. which would equal higher atl snle~ if the paper actually considered them as part of their demographic.

It's all busincss, l'm not ~uggesting lhat the Cascade turn into some sort of Ladies Ho1r1eJournal. but if it ccrrninly had appeal 10 the female demo, especially considering the 45% ·mature· student attendance of the college, then would that not equal higher circulation'? What about a 'family' section'/ it's not too far.fetched considering the average age/family status of the potential reoJen:bip whal if there wa!i a regular article about shopping/cooking on a hudg• et accompanied by an appropriate ad from a grocery'? (Ok .1'11co111ribute,but I won't commit to ·owning' it at this time) you get the idea. I'd love to see a 'rants and rnvci\· column You get the idea l had a brief ClitwersalilJn with a fellow claiming allegiance with the Toque u graphic artist of some sort and he had said something to me about the photo-quality difference pe1weenthen, and the Cascade which sornehnw made them tt better paper, etc anu I quietly took his kneecaps out with "Oh, I read the papers for the articles''_ He Jid,1't hnve anything 10 say after th.it. Ha I la.

All right, I hadn't realizcJ tlrnl I wrote that much until l maximized the screen I'm going now

Sincerely, CASSANDRA

Cassandru,

Thank you for heing mat we enough to call us on our sexist mtitudes, but not qµill 1 11u11ure enough to leave your na//le. I wn sorry to hear that you II/ink that we are sexist. This is surprising considering that our stalf' is split 50/50 girl/guy. With regards to your cml.l'ern about the breast on checover nf ourjll'st issue, apparently you do not like renaissance artwork. I am sorry to hear about that. Your letter concerning the con.tent of artwork on our first issues cover is not the Jirst l 've heard about what has become the infamous boob scandal. What always surprises me about com· 111entslike yours is that nobody seerns to pick up on the .fact that a photo of the World Trade Center is right beside the breast yet nobody seems to see it. Do I live in a soci• ety that is so jaded to violence that its moral outrage is directed to a breast rather than the loss c~fthousands <dlives?

Casscmdrn. now that you understand that the breast on. issue one hangs in the Louvre. We should also examine some o,fyour other staternents. Yes we do have several badly penned articles bur university is supposed to he a place where we can grow and develop ns writers. It takes 11,utsto write stuff that ynu know people wi!Lrecld and respond to. That i.t., <f rourse. (f you /(lave your name on your work, otherwise you are a coword. four tlai111that 45% of' rhe sr11Je11t body is composed of ,:mature s/Ude,tts may be true. Do you 111ea11 that they are over 19, or do you mean that they Me ,1wt11reenough to make up their ow11minds about what they want tn read? Maybe you mean that they what <Hen·, whiney babies? Which cutegv,~v would you put yo11rse~(in?

We here at the Cascade went through all the issues we have printed Iv date and could not.find a11yarticle that discriminated ag,1inst women. Norhin.g as sexist as the Ladies I Jome Journal. which by its rwme carers exclusively to women and seems to imply that women should stay at hmne. In.fact I could call you sexist because you seemed to miss the carrot that was shaped like a penis and only focused on the breast. If that cover was discri111inatingwas it not discriminminf{ equally to hoth malPs and females? Who are you to say that women do more shopping than men do and that they have more buying powerY I know lots of male shoppers that would he offended at your a~·sump• tirm that their shopping dollars are less relevant them yours. Your claim that you only read rhe paper for ir'.,;news i.\- ridiculous bernuse it would seem tlwr you are reacti11gto a photo and not printed material. You should also by now recognize that the Cascade contains very little news. it is mostly opi11io11.We t1y to print articles from the widest cro.\·s-s(l(·tionrm our readership and try 011r best ro provide c1.fom111for t>veryane viewpoint anybody C'(l/'I nmtrihure by just e-11wili11gyour suh111issio11s 10 ('a1·r·,1d(•(~y11,ji•.hc,r•(1.Now I can get on to better rhi11r,<slik<'leshi<1n mud ,vrnstli1tg. -Hdltor

Sexistliberalgovernment

Does the Liberal Government have a vendetta against the 'little guy' or are they just out-and•OUl misogynists' 1 Don't get me wrong, guys, bul t:Ver since the election ()f these pscudo-dcn1ocraLic individu• als, this fine province of ours has sulfrred exponentially; most obviously. though, at 1heexpense of women.

Back in the spring, the nul'ses wnlked a legitimate picket line, Lo both the cheers and jeers or the general public. Although I acknowledge that men arc becoming an incn:asing percentage of the employees in the British Columbia health cure industry. let's face it folks, most of the nurses employed in this prnvince are women: women Wh\l were tired of 1he condi1ion~ they were wnrking under, and had electcJ to strike in r,rntest: women who had f..tnri• lies and live~ uu1sitk ol'their 12 10 16 hour-per-sl1i l't jnbs: woI11i.;11who hull to work alnne under stressful coniJilions nnr on rn;casion, bt1t reg11larly.ns the employer(sl felt thnt they could rnn 011rheJlth care system on a shoestring buJget. There was a not-so-quiet grumbling f'rom sume or !hi.; public. sugge:.ti11gthat i r the nur~~·:. didI1't li~e wtJr~ing in the BC sys1c111th<:11 they hnttld qL1i1nnd go elsewhere: and those same voices criecl nut in protest when that's exnctly whm llie nurses JirJ. Then the-horrific haf)pened: the government LEGISLATED the health care \.\omkt>rshack to work. Since when docs this happen in a DEMOCRACY'} l heg you ln con~ider. in hindsight, the ramifi 1:nlions o/' sud, polilicul acrion !

Regarllless of whether Yl)LI agreed with the nurses' posirion throughout the whole situulion. ask y<\urself if 1hc Liberal gov ern111enlacted in H way that was conducive lo the whole democratic ideology. In other words, do you condone 1hc gov. ernment's power to for1:e people against their wishes or to act against their own SL'll. interest? fs that not called a DICTATORSHIP? Perhaps someone from the history Jepartment could refresh our collective memories .ibout such atrocities that have occurred in the past?

In the summer of this year. the govern• ment quietly slipped liule ·wurning notices' into non.descripl envelopes and mailed them ollt with a pillance offering to ensure their receipt to those least likely to argue. fn the last day or two, the general public has become aware of those ·warning nntiC!c!s':welfare recipients with children over one year or age will be forced lu go ba1:k to work. Spct:il'ically. though, the media has reported 1lrnt SIN• GLE MOTHERS with the youngest i.:hild over 12 lllonths of age will be forcl;!d off lilt' system. Again, a system that supports primurily women has been targeted by the Liberal government and son1ething. tells me that they're 1101hlulling. There have bee,, no reports about single fathers. or single pe1)plein ge11eralhaving their sole source of income terminmed ns n result or huving 'exh.i11sred'l'he sysrem. After nll. I gi,ess the m;1joriry of' people who cnlil'L'l a welfote chcquc would be single 1110th er~. so if' changes were to be upplieJ 10 l11esysteliI. then that would be the I1lacc to start. right'! It's not as if they are :Jctually going to con1plain abou1 the way lhe government treats them they"ll ju~t hn\le their cheques uxcu that much sMncr. Be,ides. i:,1i'1the gliVI,:rnmcru stinlLIIUl• C.'0111i11ued nn Page 9

by Beth Kelleher

Phuse One of the BC Teueher's job .iction begnn November 8 as u result of ongoing negotiation fuilurc between the BC Teacher's Federation (B TF) ,rnd the HC Public School Employer"s Associution (BCPSEA).

Seventy-two hour strike notil:e was served Monday morning following eight months of tloundel'ing negotimion and uverwhcl111ing support in district union srrike votes ;:11.:ross rhe provin<:e. Issueson the bargaining tabk indude~ dus~ si,e limits. funding for spcr.:iul minmity :.tudent groups (such us cthnir.; groups. und srudenl~ with Jisubilitics). and proposeJ salury increases.

Joh Actinn affe<:ts more than 600.000 stulll'nts. 4100 tcad1crs. and 1800 schOl)is in (,0 M.:honl distril:ts i11British Cl)lumbiu.

Accmding tn the BCTF. the Libenll Purty wa~ electeu intn Prnvini.:ial gliver111m:ntin M.1y 100 I with a party platform thut induclc<l boosting cclm:utional funding. The BCTF daims "the B.C. Liberals said many time~ that public cllucation wt1stheir rwmbcr one priority, that it would he protectcJ an<l cnham;cd." Thus. having this cxpectatinn. muny mc111bcr~of the BCTF were shocked and upset at the ,rnnnuncement - n mere four months later - that the government is 110wimposing a rrcczc on education funding until 2004. Tca<.:hcrsare ulsu angry at plans tn eliminate class siz.t: limit~. cul funding l'or tfisabled s1udenls,and cu1backs