Murray Speaks out on Student Issues Election
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Plastic JockJock TalkTalk Surgery withwith Nightmares! CamCam DobieDobie PagePage 15 Twin Talk with Tegan & Sara Page 8 VolumeUniterUniter 57, Issue 3 October 31, 2002 THE T HE O FFICIAL W EEKLY S TUDENT N EWSPAPER OF THE U NIVERSITY OF W INNIPEG Murray Speaks Out On Student Issues election. His mother agreed to move to In terms of student issues, the mayor BY SCOTT DE GROOT Winnipeg from Montreal in 1998 after has many goals in his coming term. Murray Voters in the Oct. 23 civic election Murray’s first victory, and was a great sup- views post-secondary education as extreme- have given Mayor Glen Murray a second port throughout his second campaign. ly important. While earning his degree in mandate. He received 103, 457 votes, which In his new mandate, Murray plans to Urban Studies from the University of accounts for 50.6 per cent of the popular increase funding to the arts in Winnipeg by Concordia in Montreal, he was actively vote. 2 million dollars to promote innovation and involved as vice president of the student Al Golden managed to obtain 76,749 creativity. These new funds will be directed association. votes or 37.5 per cent of the popular vote, a to many areas, such as the Royal Winnipeg Murray wants to expand on the suc- much stronger showing than many expect- Ballet to support original productions and cesses made in the development of the new ed. Golden was forced to leave office as a First Nations galleries that may have been Red River campus, continue with the 21 mil- councilor in 2000 for a conviction of tax overlooked in previous budgets. lion dollars in land and tax credits given to Policing and safety is another top pri- evasion. Murray would like to see the city of universities, operate free transit routes ority next term. There are plans to add 21 Turnout of eligible voters for the elec- Winnipeg’s overall revenue share increase between Red River’s downtown campus additional officers to the police force with tion was 48 per cent, compared to 53.6 per from only 6per cent of the 7.6 billion dollars and the U of W, and restoration of the his- 18 committed to the downtown area. cent in the 1998 election. collected in total taxes. The reaming 94 per toric Wesley Hall. “We know there are a lot of concerns David Lettner, who led the fight against cent of the money goes to the federal and He is committed to continued devel- for women on safety issues, particularly they the demolition of the Eaton’s building, won provincial governments. opment of affordable student housing for tend to be more vulnerable and more often 14, 199 votes to place third, Aboriginal candi- Another major commitment includes the U of W through meaningful partner- the targets of violence,” Murray explained, date Chris Henderson won 7, 270 votes to restoration and creation of housing in the ships between President Constance Rooke, “so adding 18 officers to the downtown will place fourth and Nick Ternette received 2,665 inner city. There is 65 million dollars cur- the City of Winnipeg, Concordia add a stronger presence than we have seen votes to finish fifth. rently set aside in a joint initiative by the Construction, and the UWSA. in years.” All of the incumbent councilors in the Civic, Provincial and Federal governments Murray believes that the 20 per cent On a personal note, the mayor city were re-elected with two new editions: for a new housing rehabilitation zone. student discount on transit fares has been a planned to take it easy for his victory cele- Mike Pagtakhan and Russ Wyatt were Plans for increased consultation with success, but wants to see bus fares go down bration following the stressful campaign. “I elected in Point Douglas and Transcona residents in Wolseley on the issue of chemi- overall. was so tired,” Murray said with a smile. “My respectively. cal “fogging” will be achieved through a cit- “We want to look at expanding this partner Rick and I went up to a hotel room This election campaign included izens committee set up over the winter to program, its one of the areas we did not do and turned on the television to catch the last many personal attacks on Murray and often review the situation. Goals of increasing as well as I’d hoped,” said Murray in an of the coverage on the news that night. strayed from civic issues. Murray’s family composting and recycling as well as the con- interview. “I’d like to see bus fares go down About ten minutes later he was waking me became involved in many aspects off his re- tainment of methane gas will be priorities. overall.” up because we both fell asleep.” U Crowded Classes Strain the U of W passed at senate allows courses to be taught ment.” Deane disagrees, noting that when pos- CORTNEY during the Monday-Wednesday-Friday free Deane stressed that overcrowded class- sible new sections have been offered to stu- P ACHET period to accommodate the growing student es does not properly serve the student. dents. population in dire situations. “We want to accommodate students,” “I don’t think it’s a direct cause because News Editor “That doesn’t necessarily mean that in said Deane. “But we don’t want to do so in a any institution of our size getting hit with a 13 the future that’s where we’re likely to sched- way that alters in any substantial way the per cent increase in people is going to have a The University of ule additional sections,” said Deane. quality of what we do here or the conditions little trouble initially working out how to Winnipeg has experi- “It would be useful if we could open under which students study here.” accommodate them,” said Deane. enced a 13 per cent enrol- more sections in courses,” Ashdown said. Keeping class sizes small and being With a potential influx of students from ment increase from the “I’ve heard stories of students sitting on the accessible to students remains a priority for Ontario in the 2002-2003 academic year, pro- 2001-2002 academic year and students and floor for the first few weeks of classes. It’s professors. fessors and students consider the impact professors are feeling the pressure. ridiculous.” “We try very hard to be accessible,” enrolment increase may have at the U of W. Larissa Ashdown, President of the Dean of Humanities, Professor Neil said Besner. “We have a reputation and we “We’re anticipating there is going to be UWSA acknowledges that smaller class size Besner believes enrolment increase and larger have to work at it.” another rise next year and we are struggling is a big draw for students registering at the class size affects individuals throughout the Besner emphasizes the financial situa- desperately to cope with what we have now,” University of Winnipeg. university, including administrative assistants tion of the university as a factor in the over- stated Besner. “Anything that jeopardizes the small and cleaning staff. crowded courses, pointing out that the gov- Potential long-term plans include classes will fundamentally compromise what “Increased class sizes puts a strain on ernment provides funds to the university on a launching a capital campaign to acquire more we stand for,” she said. everybody. Professors feel the strain, students regular basis, however enrolment continues to buildings for the university, said Deane, not- Ashdown noted that lunch-hour classes feel the strain,” said Besner. “If you’re in a increase. The university is expected to do ing that some provinces, such as Nova Scotia, have been implemented by the administration class with 60 students in a room designed for more with less, notes Besner. must first and foremost accommodate resi- due to lack of rooms during regular hours. 49, there’s less room for you, there’s less “We can’t hire more professors, we dent students. Patrick Deane, Vice-President elbow room, less room for your books, less can’t hire support staff. We have a crumbling “Everybody is strained,” said Besner. Academic of the U of W, explained a motion room for the professor, less room for equip- infrastructure,” said Besner. “We’re planning as best we can.” U Meet Your Old Pal Stu - page 11 page 2 October 31, 2002 the uniter uniter the news Volume 57, Issue 3 October 31, 2002 STAFF Cortney Pachet Idea of 100% Smoking Ban News Editor Tamara King Has Some Students Fuming, Features Editor Jonathan Tan Others Cheering Focus Editor but good for public health. Michelle Kuly BY LAURIE HURRIE View and Culture Editor According to Health Mayor Glen Murray wants to extend Just before being re-elected, Mayor Canada over 45000 people Andrew Buck Glen Murray said that he would like to pur- will die prematurely in the current smoking ban to all pub- Sports Editor sue an all-out public smoking ban, which Canada this year due to would extend Winnipeg’s current ban to bars tobacco use and at least lic places, which would include Eszti Nagy and restaurants with lounge licenses. The cur- 1000 of them will be non- bars and restaurant lounges, what smokers. Health Canada’s Distribution Manager rent ban only prohibits smoking in public places where minors are allowed such as cof- website also says that regu- are your opinions on this? fee shops, bowling alleys and restaurants lar exposure to second- Stu Reid without lounge licenses. hand smoke increases a per- Production Manager Similar all-out bans have been imple- son’s chance of getting a lung disease by 25 “It’s good for non-smokers...they have a mented in Vancouver, Victoria and Ottawa, per cent.