Published by the Students’ Society of McGill University
♦
October 12 th, 1994
News Concern over Axw orthy proposals cause S S M U to speed process of joining national student association. Page 3
y e * * * 1* * Hailed as the drug to solve all the w orld ’s problems, is Prozac all that it is cracked up to be? Page 9
Editorial Th e Supreme Court of Canada created a danger ous grey area in the legal system last week. Page 6
ENTERTAINMENT Sinéad as you ’ve never seen her before. Page 11
SPORTS Redbirds come out on top in university base ball. Football sinking fast to the bottom. Page 15
Columnists P. Shah................... Page 10 G . G ibson.................. Page 7 M . L u z ........................ Page 7
Departm ents Crossword................. Page 5 Observer..................... Page 5 W hat’s O n ..............Page 19
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In Dom ino Confido
A x w o r t h y p r o p o s a ls fo r e d u c a tio n a l fin a n c in g ra is e stu d e n t c o n c e rn s By M
ic h a e l
B r o ad h u r st
A discussion paper released last w e ek b y fe d e ra l H u m a n R e so u rce s M in is t e r L lo y d A x w o r t h y c o u ld m ean tu itio n fees for university students w ill increase by as much as 300 per cent in the next three years. Th e report, Im proving Social Se cu rity in Canada, outlines a federal governm ent proposal to replace the current educational transfer payments with a compre hensive system of student loans. Federal transfer payments to the provincial ministries of education c u rre n tly stand at $2.3 b illio n annually. A x w o rth y ’s plan calls for the government to replace the current Post-Secondary Education trans fe r p a y m e n t w ith a “ s u ita b ly d e s ig n e d in co m e c o n tin g e n t re p a ym e n t loans p la n [th a t] m ight provide up to four dollars in loans for every dollar of cash the federal government puts into it.” In c o m e C o n tin g e n t R e p a ym e n t Plans re qu ire stu dents to repay their loans through the federal tax system based on th e ir in co m e le v e l. A student with a high-paying job would pay back their loan in a re la tive ly short period of time, while a per son w ith a lower income would repay the loan over a longer time period. Th e governm ent’ s proposal suggests that access to h ig h e r education w ill not be affected by this plan, because access to the proposed loan program would not require students to prove “ need” for funding. The current provinc ia lly -b a s e d loans p ro g ra m assesses students on the basis of financial need. A x w o rth y ’s p la n also promises that any financial assis tance p ro g ra m created b y the reorganisation of the social secu rity system in Canada w ill be in addition to the $1 billion already dedicated to student loan p ro grams.
But G u y Caron, president of the C a n a d ia n F e d e ra tio n o f Students, said the m ove b y the government would restrict access to po st-se co n d a ry educational institutions. “ It has been described by M r. A x w o rth y as a progressive m easure, but we th in k, on the contrary, it ’ s a very regressive m ove,” he said. A cco rd in g to a confidential memo leaked to the Toronto Star, officials from the federal govern m ent e xp e ct tu itio n fees in Canada to double in 1996-97, the first year of operation for the pro posed plan. In a m em o sent b y Claude La je u n e s s e , p re sid e n t o f the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, to its mem bers, Lajeunesse suggests that the effects of an IC R loan program might be far greater than the gov ernment thinks. “ B y o u r c a lc u la tio n s ... tu itio n fee increases o f up to $ 3 ,00 0 per student have to be contemplated. T h is is based on the amount of funds being pulled from the system and an assump tion that the provinces would not m e re ly ab so rb the cuts but instead would react by allowing the universities to recoup these funds through tuition,” the memo said. “ W e pointed out that while it is not possible to determine the p o in t at w h ic h tu itio n fees become a deterrent to access, a $3,000 increase in fees (hence reaching $6,000 in some jurisdic tions) would certainly be seen as going well beyond the acceptable lim it — at the very least, students would see it as a major barrier to access.” B ill D obie, president of the A lm a M a te r S o c ie ty at U niversity of British Colum bia, said that students across the c o u n try sh o u ld be co n ce rn e d with A x w o rth y’s proposal. “ W e ’re concerned about it — we w il l try to educate our See A x w o rth y Page 2
Volum e 14 Issue 6
The Lizard King in action...
T h e J e su s L iz a r d b r in g d o w n th e s h o w B y H a r r is N e w m a n
The Jesus Lizard are a damn fine band. Having arisen from the remains of Austin band Scratch A c id , the Jesus L iz a rd have spawned endless im itators. Th e y ’ve got numerous world tours and six releases (w ith at least as m any singles) on T o u c h & G o Records, not to mention living leg end status under their belts. They play rock music — not wuntoothreefore punk rock, but the heavy duty stuff, the kind of music that makes people scream out loud and drum w ith their feet really lo u d ly w h ile liste n in g to their walkman in boring lectures. Their live shows, like the one they played Wednesday October
A ll Canadian U n d e rg ra d u a te s are a u to m a tic a lly covered by th e
S tu d e n t H e a lth P la n P ick up an in fo b ro ch u re a t th e SSM U o ffice fo r m ore d e ta ils
If y o u a r e c o v e r e d
5th at Cafe Cam pus, keep you glued to the action — the virtuoso m usicianship of d rum m er M ac M cNeilly, guitarist Duane Denison and bassist D a vid W m . Sims is both enthralling and exhausting to watch. A n d then there’s frontman David Yow . Whether he’s demon strating his E d G rim le y inspired dancing sk ills, being throw n through the surging crowd (looking very much like a cross between a fetal pig and Robin W illiam s) or demonstrating stupid penis tricks, he never misses a word or a beat. The Tribune spoke with a sur prisingly gentlemanly and sober Y o w prior to their Montréal show. See Lizard Page 11 b y a n o t h e r p r iv a te
h e a lt h c a r e p la n , y o u m a y o p t o u t o f th is p r o g r a m . D E A D L IN E : O C T O B E R N o tic e : T h e S S M U
14,
1 9 9 4
w il l b e d e l i b e r a t i n g
o n a p ro p o s a l t o e n h a n c e th is p r o g r a m s u b s t a n t ia lly . A n y c h a n g e s t o t h e b e n e f i t s t r u c t u r e w ill b e a d v e r t i s e d th e T rib u n e .
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