brunswickannews
4 • Feb. 1, 2012 • Issue 19 • Volume 145
Finance minister’s remarks irk students at budget consultation Cherise Letson The Brunswickan Finance Minister Blaine Higgs disappointed some concerned New Brunswick students last Tuesday at a budget consultation that took place at the Maritime Forestry Complex. Students expressed their concerns about tuition hikes, retention programs and student employment, among other issues during the question and answer portion of the meeting. Many students who went said they were not impressed with how the minister received their concerns. Students were also not impressed about a remark Higgs made about receiving an e-mail from a student, saying that they “didn’t know how they were going to afford the taxes of alcohol and cigarettes along with tuition.” Students Alexandra Cole and Sarah Hunt, creators of the Occupy Tuition group, said they were not impressed with the Minister’s reaction and remarks. “I’m quite displeased with it, because it seemed like he brushed off every concern that the students themselves had right off. He didn’t really pay much mind to it,” Cole said. “I think he should be ashamed of himself, the way he responded. He didn’t treat us as if we were being serious,” Hunt said. University of New Brunswick Student
Union president Jordan Thompson’s reaction was no different. “I was a bit disappointed with how he handled them,” Thompson said. “He did make a remark about cigarettes and alcohol, which is not the situation. Students can’t afford education. There is a large amount of unmet need among many students, and it’s not frivolous spending that gets us there. It’s lack of support from government and other sources,” Thompson said. Thompson said he doesn’t feel optimistic that student opinions and concerns expressed that evening will be taken into consideration. “I don’t necessarily get the feeling that it was taken seriously, or as seriously as we would have liked, and that’s a definite concern going into this budget process, as Mr. Higgs is writing the budget. So I hope our concerns do get taken seriously. Maybe I misread, I hope I did. But I’m not optimistic, let’s put it that way,” Thompson said. Higgs said the “alcohol and cigarettes” comment did come from an actual email he received from a student after the budget last year and that it was the student who made the analogy. However, he said that it is not a stereotype he has for students, but that he does expect that some young people, students or not, do spend a lot of the money they get from a loan in this way.
Blaine Higgs at an open consultation last budget period. Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan “So it’s not any more of a student who is going to university or a student goes in right out of schooling into a job. It’s you know, the money coming in on loans can be attractive, and I think it’s reasonable to expect that sometimes you can spend what you have,” Higgs said. Higgs wouldn’t say whether or not tuition would be raised next year. He
did say the province does want to be competitive in terms on tuition, as well as in employment opportunities when students graduate, thus keeping graduates in the province. “What the opportunity there is to build a better connection between the educational program and the job opportunities that are available and what we want to try
to strategically focus on,” Higgs said. Higgs said the government will focus on whether or not the incentive programs currently offered to students work, and if not, try to put programs in that do. “That’s something we want to try to correct and say ‘well let’s put programs in that mean something’,” Higgs said.
UNBSU general election kicks off Feb. 3 Alanah Duffy News Reporter Nominations are opening on Friday for a number of positions with the University of New Brunswick Student Union for the 2012-2013 academic year. Students interested in getting involved with the UNBSU can pick up nomination forms in the Welcome Centre beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. After picking up the form, each student must gather 25 signatures of other students who feel comfortable nominating him or her. The nomination period is open from Feb. 3 to 10. “There will be a mandatory candidates meeting on the day that nominations close, where I give them all the information that they need about regulations and running their campaign,” said Cassie MacKinlay, Chief Returning Officer for the UNBSU. Nominations will close at noon on Friday, Feb. 10; the candidates meeting will be held at 4 p.m. that afternoon. After the candidates meeting, campaigning is
allowed to begin. Students can run for a variety of positions, including the executive positions of president, vice-president external, vicepresident internal, vice-president finance and operations, and vice-president student services. There is one student position available on each of the Board of Governors and the Senate. There are also 20 faculty councillor positions available: three seats for the arts, business, and engineering faculties; two seats for the kinesiology, nursing, and science faculties; and, one seat available for the computer science, education, forestry, law, and Renaissance College faculties. As well, there are nine positions available as non-faculty councillors: Aboriginal student representative, accessibility representative, international student representative, LGBTQ student representative, off-campus student representative, residence student representative, women’s representative, and two students at large. The students at large positions are new this year. MacKinlay explained that these
positions were added in order to reach more students. “They’re not associated with a specific role, as far as faculty goes. They’ll give students another avenue of questioning or information,” she said. “It’s the idea that if a student goes to a faculty rep and feels that this rep is too focused on what’s going on concerning their faculty, the student will have someone else who’s not focused on something.” Another change this year is in terminology; student representatives were previously listed as liaisons. MacKinlay explained that liaisons didn’t have voting rights and couldn’t bring motions to council. By changing the name, everyone on council will have voting rights. After two weeks of campaigning by candidates, voting opens on Feb. 27 and closes on March 2. Voting is done online, through e-services. Last year’s voter turnout was only 7.9 per cent of the student body. The student union has budgeted $1,000 toward advertising to try to increase student interest in
The CRO wants YOU to run in the upcoming election. Tim Lingley / The Brunswickan the elections. MacKinlay said that she would love to see an increase in the number of voters in this general election. “Even to me - this seems low - but even a 10 per cent increase,” she said. “Any type of increase without getting my expectations
too high. My goal would be a minimum of 10 per cent, but I would love to see it higher than that.” To learn more about the student union and view descriptions of the positions available, please visit http://www.unbsu.ca/election/.
looking to inform students of what’s e-mail: news@thebruns.ca going on campus?
Winter Adventure Weekend February 4-5, 2012 Are classes and midterms stressing you out? Is winter feeling long and boring? How about a weekend getaway to break up the term?
Enter the UNB/STU Winter Adventure Weekend, a once-in-a-lifetime weekend of winter fun open to all university students aged between 18 and 26, organized by the UNB/STU Rovers. We invite you to get active, have fun, and explore Canada's greatest asset: the great outdoors. Come experience the true excitement of high adventure in a Canadian winter!
Exciting activities include:
Dog sledding (tentative), cross country skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, broomball, outdoor skills (survival, snow shelters etc.) socializing – and lots more!
$20 per student. Space is limited! Book your spot before Thursday, Feb 2 at 5pm by registering online.
For more information, and to register, check out: rovers.scoutsrivorton.org/adventure