Fall 1999 Issue 1 – October 1
The piece that I chose to revisit is the editorial for this issue written by Mat Pigozzo. Pigozzo started by bringing out an issue that still haunts students who love Orientation Week and think it is a great way to start university – namely, the administration’s decision to shorten it to only retain the informative sessions. According to Pigozzo, the administration proposed this to take the load off the administrative officials who were involved highly with the set up and operation.
Pigozzo didn’t stop at Orientation Week and pointed out the fact that environment at UW was changing at an increasing rate and combined with the administration’s failure to keep students informed, some students had been having a hard time to cope with the dynamic system. The fault also lies with the students for not keeping themselves informed. As Pigozzo put it himself, “Student apathy is a major area of concern at UW” and considered this lack of concern to be the major reason why even the university didn’t feel accountable to students. Pigozzo talked about other things that were a nuisance to students: fees being due before the start of the term (which has been in place since I started school), and the rule that fees could no longer be paid in cash or debit. While the merits and demerits of payment methods can be debated upon, Pigozzo is justified in saying that the fewer the number of ways that fees can be paid, the more work for students who prefer certain modes and the less work for the administration.
Another rather important issue that Pigozzo discussed is the possible sharing of student information with advertisers, evident from some Bell Canada packages that were sent out to all students by email. Pigozzo ended the article by encouraging students to get involved, to have a better knowledge of what is happening around the campus and to know how to express their concerns.
The reason Orientation Week is still an entire week at UW is because the students have been resisting the proposed changes. The key message to take from this article is to be aware and critical of what is happening and express concern on the issues.
Fall 2005 Issue 1 – September 28
Dan Arnott wrote a very interesting editorial for this issue discussing the meaning of life. He started by saying, “LIFE HAS NO MEANING.” According to Arnott, many proposed systems such as religious texts, systems of government like democracy and socialism, arts, and even the principles of science, have failed to provide the ordinary man a concrete meaning of life.
Inspired by an English course, he explained existentialism as the belief that life has no pre-existing meaning and that individuals should seek their own meaning of life. This concept changes “life” from a strict definition to a concept subject to everyone’s own understanding.
Arnott apprehended the audience’s thinking that seeking the meaning of life is what philosophers, psychologists and people who deal with such subject areas do. However, Arnott argues that the skills that engineers possess, which make them question what is proposed to them and use their analytical skills to reach conclusions, make engineers equally capable. For some people, the areas that give them satisfaction are scientific relationships and principles. For others, it is social relationships or spirituals. Arnott urges everyone not to blindly accept others’ views but rather look for their own meaning. Blindly accepting others’ views eliminates the discovery process that is integral to finding your own concept. According to Arnott, people have existentialist theories even if they acknowledge it or not.
Fall 1995 Issue 1 – September 29
Kataline Princz wrote an article titled ‘Real Choices’ on the Feds’ vote on approving an article also titled ‘Real Choices’ presented by CASA – Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. This document basically contained four proposals for reducing drastic tuition rises.
The first proposal criticizes the provincial and federal governments for cutting education funding. Due to a decrease in government funding, students would theoretically be taking more loans then spend more time repaying those loans and thus not contributing to Canadian economy. Therefore, the federal government should renew their commitment to a national standard of education and pledge continued funding.
The second proposal calls for the provincial government to increase its hold over university systems. It recommends the elimination of superfluous faculties (schools choose specialties in education and research), increasing distance education, finding alternatives for costly labs, and the overall streamlining of faculties and universities. Moreover, Canada also restricts funding allocations for applied and basic research to remain competitive. Princz pointed out some drawbacks of this proposal: labs are an integral part of undergrad education, streamlining of the system requires time and is expensive. Furthermore, researchers would not be willing to drastically alter their research.
The third proposal instructed universities on how to meet the demands of the industry and marketplace. It instructed universities to teach critical thinking, research, communication skills, forum of business, labour and government representation etc. Princz reflected that while these steps could not reduce the cost, they would ensure that students get their money’s worth.
The last proposal suggested a surtax be collected from university graduates whose income exceeded the average income and this surtax be used to subsidize education costs. The flaws that Princz pointed out in this proposal included possible reduction in alumni funding, discrimination as many graduates left the country, exploitation by government and no guarantee that it would reduce the tuition.
Fall 1990 Issue 1 – September 21
Elanie Miller wrote an article regarding women in engineering whose proportion was 12-16%, which, compared to a proportion of 16% in 2009, shows no improvement in the last two decades. Miller stated two reasons for the small proportion of females in engineering: the perception to high school girls of engineering as a profession and the facts associated with actually working as professional engineers.
There was a lower proportion of females in managerial positions (23%) within the 25-39 age group. A survey of American female engineers also indicated that one-third of them felt they were being excluded from the decision-making. Male engineers also earned an average of one thousand dollars more than their female counterparts. However, the Canadian system emphasized hiring based on qualification through which, according to Miller, “the ‘systematic’ barriers which prevent women from advancing [were] eliminated”. On the brighter side, job satisfaction among female engineers was quite high and 80% said they were satisfied with their salary.
According to Miller, although sexist barriers were diminishing, the sexist stereotypes still existed and were a threat to a comfortable work environment.
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