MURDER TRIAL | Court proceedings into the death of an Armstrong teen continue in Kelowna [A7]
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RAPUNZEL, RAPUNZEL
RICHARD ROLKE Morning Star Staff
LISA VANDERVELDE/MORNING STAR
Christina Stuart, six, chats with Rapunzel at the Vernon library’s princess storytelling party. It is one of the many spring break events being held at the Okanagan Regional Library branch.
College boosts tuition fees RICHARD ROLKE
Morning Star Staff
Victoria, not Okanagan College, is being blamed for hiking students’ costs. Tuition for domestic students will climb two per cent in 2014-15 while it will go up eight per cent for international students. “The responsibility for this lies with the provincial government and the Eric Reist lack of funding,” said Eric Reist, Vernon Students Association general manager. “The college doesn’t have a lot of options. It’s legislated to balance the budget and short of cutting programs, it must increase revenue.” For a domestic student taking a fulltime university transfer arts program, tuition will increase from $3,203 annu-
ally to $3,267. The domestic student tuition increase is expected to generate about $313,371 in additional revenue, that will be offset by an expected reduction in enrolment ($1.23 million) in some program areas because of the falling numbers of high school graduates. International students, whose tuition hasn’t increased during the past five years, will face an increase from $11,000 to $11,880. While he understands the cost pressures facing OC, Reist believes students will be negatively impacted by the tuition hike. “Our fear is post-secondary education is becoming inaccessible to a greater number of students,” he said, adding that students also face the burden of books, transportation, rent and possibly child care. The Vernon Student Association operates a food bank to assist students
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in need. “We’re finding increased demand for that,” said Reist. OC’s 2014/15 budget is worth $92.8 million. “We have seen pressure on our annual operating budget from several fronts. We began this budget process wrestling with an issue that was measured in seven figures,” said Tom Styffe, OC board chairperson. “It has led to some tough decisions, including some position adjustments, but we have a responsibility to focus on the sustainability of our initiatives, with respect for student and community demand.” Some staff positions will be reduced, partly through retirements, but there will also be layoffs for two part-time support positions. “Where required, we are also looking at shifting positions to reflect demand for programs,” said Styffe.
Differences have flared over who should be an Interior Health Authority board member. During Tuesday’s North Okanagan-ColumbiaShuswap Regional Hospital District meeting, director Mike Macnabb challenged IHA chairperson Norm Embree to support having elected officials named to the IHA board to expand public accountability. “Mr. Embree and I agree to disagree,” said Macnabb, who represents BX-Silver Star. “I asked him if he supported it and he said no.” Presently, IHA board members are appointed by the Norm Embree Ministry of Health. Macnabb insists the public has no sense of decisions being made by IHA that impact health care services and the expenditure of taxes. “The vital part missing is the public and the public is represented by elected officials,” he said, adding that representatives from regional districts or municipalities could help IHA promote vital concerns. “We could be an ally to go to the public and say, ‘We’re in trouble,’ but instead, they sit in isolation.” Embree, who lives in Salmon Arm, confirms that he doesn’t support Macnabb’s concept. “If we start opening up the board to elected officials, we’d wind up exploding the size of our board,” he said. “I don’t believe large boards work well, especially governance boards.” Embree is also concerned that politicians sitting at the table could focus on their specific communities instead of looking at broad-based health care needs. “It was tried in Saskatchewan years ago and it didn’t work because you get people with one thing (issue) on their mind,” he said. In terms of transparency, Embree says that is an ongoing priority for his board. “We have a good relationship with regional hospital districts,” he said, adding that any decision on board membership rests with the Ministry of Health and not IHA. Despite Embree’s opposition, Macnabb vows to keep pushing for membership changes to the IHA board. “We will carry on through the Southern Interior Local Government Association and the Union of B.C. Municipalities,” he said.
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