-. II
AM.* groups
$2.8M - less congestion
restored year’s decision.
by Peter Brown and UW News Bureau “Ah.” is back. Last Wednesday, Dr. Johnny Wang, Associate Provost (ComputInformation Systems) ing and announced that “(n)ewsgroups that are currently not supported will be reinstated as soon as possible.“These computer newsgroups include the “alt.” hierarchy, cancelled in April, 1990 by Wong because of budgetary restrictions. “After reviewing .the report of the Advisory Committee on Network News, and the comments that I’ve received, I am proceeding in accordance with the recommendations of that committee,” Wong said. This Advisory Committee was formed after a controversial debate over the reasons for the “alt.” group’s CancelIation. Some claimed that complaints about such explicit groups as “alt.sex.borulage” prompted last
by Teresa Kennedy, Peter Brown, tid UW News Bureau
The Committee’s report, in May, 1991, recommehded
released that “it is
important that the University of Waterloo consult its user community when decisions must be made about the use of resources which are committed to E-mail and news.” It went on to say that the Committee sees “no need for a Committee, even of one, to monitor the contents of items, noting that the current daily volume of approximately 11 megabyte arriving at the University makes such monitoring impractical. Wong also announced Wednesday that Roger Watt of the Department of Computing Services (ext,’ 2491; emaik rwwatt at wat-servl.uWaterloo@ “has been appointed as a liaison person with respect to complaints related to the contents of electronic mail messages and news articles. ”
Fight the power and sexual harassment,
These issues are openly discussed in a group along and This past weekend, 1 along with 19 with many other concerns intimate stories. other women, experienced a -sensaFor those not able to make it, you tion that we never had before . . . empowerment. Yes, and to prove it, have another chance in November. we all have a lo-by-10 inch slab of Sessions will be held November 2-3 from 9 am to 5 pm. The student cost is wood chopped in half by our own $40.00 (regular $60.00), and trust me. hammerfists. . . it is worth every cent. If interested, Today, I think we are all walking of with our shoulders back and our please contact the Federation heads up high as a result of the setf- Students office. If you feel you may be interested in following up this basic confidence we now feel. This is in course witi and intermediate course, thanks to WEN-DO. WEN-DO stands for the way of please contact the Women’s Issues Board. women; a women’s selfdefense charitable organization whose objecI highly recommend taking WENtive it is to educate women in self- DO. It will turn you from a defensedefense. They teach techniques less victim into a woman aware of her ranging from verbal to physical self- environment and knowledgeable of defense. They also tell you the facts the many choices and techniques about family violence, sexual assault available to her. by Shelagh Bury Women’s Issues Board
UW President Douglas Wright announced the university’s purchase of a new building at the board of governors meeting October 1.
OFS... later, dude by Dave Thomson
htprint
staff
The Federation of Students have decided to postpone the referendum on whether or not Waterloo will pull out of the Ontario Federation of Students (OFS) until February 11 and 12, 1992, from the previously planned dates of November 26 and 27 of this year. The Federation executive received approval for the change in dates from 14 of the 26 Student Councillors by telephone last Wednesday, October 9. They sent a letter to OFS Chairperson Laurie Kingston informing her of the change, citing fiscal reasons: “the costs of sending campaiagn material and ballots to our co-op students is between $3,000 and $4,000.” The Feds will also kiIl two birds with one stone, since February 1 I and 12 are the dates of the election of the Federationi executive. Fed President John Leddy hopes to have the Ontario
University
Students
Funding AIliance (OUSFA) proposal completed by then “and we will have a specific alternative to offer UW stud&s.” OUSFA is an alternative lobby group formed by the student federations of Brock, Queen’s, and Waterloo, ail three of whom have spoken out against the OFS’ coecentration on so-called non-student issues.
Fight the epidemic by Robin Kalbfleisch special to Imprint
Women and AIDS and the issues surrounding the epidemic was the topic of discussion last Sunday afternoon at a lecture given by American singer-songwriter Holly Near. The event was part of AIDS Awareness Week, which was recognized kor the first time as a national event. Across Canada, the week of October 6-13 was set aside to promote a variety of programs and events designed to encourage education and awareness about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Holly Near, 42, has recorded 15 albums on her own Iabel, Redwood Records, and continues a stage, film, and television career that began over 20 years ago, Fiercely dedicated to the protection of human rights and the promotion of world peace and understanding. Near has been actively involved in a wide variety of. political and social movements, including the fight against AIDS. Near began Sunday’s lecture by offering
an
insi@ful
look
at the
challenges that we face as we deal with the reality of a crisis that is as big and as misunderstood as AIDS. According to Near, the key to understanding the issues surrounding AIDS is the ability to be highly
sensitized to diversity. Clearly, AIDS is a disease which cannot be defined on the basis of age, sex, clasS, or sexual preference. In order to move forward in the fight against this disease, we must get rid of the notion that it affects the gay men’s community only. As well, we have to realize that there are a number of economic and social factors which have contributed to the spread of the disease. Fur example,
AiDS is presently
the
number one cause of death for poor women of colour in New York City. Because these women cannot afford to take time off work, or pay a babysitter to watch their children, they rarely visit the doctor. By the time they
actually seek medical attention it is usually too late. Worse yet, doctors often do not think to test women for AIDS, as many symptoms of the disease may be attributed to other more common medical problems. Therefore, to develop the most effective AIDS prevention and awareness programs, policy makers need to look at the whole picture. Presently, the problem is that these programs are developed based on a white, middle-class perspective of the disease. As a result, many groups, such as prostitutes and drug abusers, are falling through the cracks. Holly Near remains optimistic, however, that there is a lot that can be done, particularly at the coinmunity level, to raise awareness about AIDS and to provide those necessary services that are not readily available. In New York City for example, members of a senior citizens group make meals, do grocery shopping and laundry and look after pets for people with AIDS. In conclusion, Near urged the audience to be persistent. After working for nearly 25 years for a variety of advocacies and coalitions, she
remains a firm believer in the the power of the human race to rise to the occasion. Given the serious nature of the AIDS crisis, let’s hope that we can live up to the rhallenge.
Purchase df the former “‘B.F. Goodrich” buiiding, located at 195 Columbia Street is effective November 1, but BFG wilI continue to use about a quarter of the building’s space for <another two years. The 36,50Osquare-foot building, with just over two acres of property, contains offices, laboratories and warehouse space. AIan George, UW’s Vice-President Academic and Provost, said no decision has been made yet on which departments will move into the building. Space is at a premium, he said, as several departments currently have to use portable buildings. “We are severely congested on campus,” George said. “The university has a number of portables and we have a steady stream of requests for additional ones.” The building cost $2.8 million, paid for out of the university’s $5.&million capital fund. George said it was far cheaper to purchase a building needing few renovations than to construct a new one. John Leddy, UW Federation of Skdents President, refused to vote in favour of the purchase at the University’s Building and Properties Committee meeting because he suspects the space wilI be used as administrative, rather than teaching space.
“I believe that there are other more important priorities that are directly student related,“Leddy said. “I do noI deny that administrative space is congested, but at this teaching; institution, student space, like classrooms, should be given a higher priority, I just hope that if we ever build a student centre here on campus, there will be the same sort of dollars available from the administration.” Other news from last wkek$ board of governors meeting includes UW’s burgeoning enroIlment, 5 per cent higher this fall than projected. The science faculty must absorb the largest jump at 30 per cent, while both arts and environmental stuares were up 9 per cent. At the B~G,~Associate Provost Alan George described predicting first-year enrollment as an imprecise science, saying that such factors as diverse as Waterloo’s improving and the economic reputation downturn can easily skew the numhers of first-year students from what was expected. When deciding how many students they want, programs musl try to estimate the “take rate,” George said. This rate is the percentage of applicants who will accept Waterloo’s invitation over those of other institutions.
Esperanza by Katha Cove-Shannon SpeciaI to Imprint In El Salvadoi, community organizations are the life support systems for the majority of the people. Community organizations, such as women’s groups, trade unions, afid church groups offer the El Salvadoran people basic necessities as well as security. They offer support for the people, and a chance to work together to better their lives. Yet, any &Ii&ion with a communiv organization could mean death. For the past 11 years, the govemment of El Salvador - a military dictatorship - has been waging war against the people of El Salvador. Especially since 1989, ‘the popular movement - a term used to collectively describe community organizations - has been a main target for the government’s army and death squads. Anyone trying to improve the standard of living of the people - for example, a women’s group trying to get taxes lower on food since children are already malnourished - will face being put on a death list. The popular movement has become a refuge for those people
threatened
by the govem-
merit. The -in organized faction against which the government is fighting is the Farabundo Marti National L&eration Front (FMLN) which was organized in response to the dictatorship. Through the yea-, they have secured land in northern El Salvador. The ongoing war has devastated the entire country economically and environmentally. Recently, however, the people of El Salvador have been given real hope. On September 25,1991, the govemmerit
signed
an
impurh-tt
ecorkomic
and political agreement with the FMLN in which the armed forces will be reduced in number and purged of human rights violators. F6ILN combatants will be permitted to enter a new d&an
police force, and a band
b
+
reform will be instituted. A National Committee for the Consolidation 01 Peace (COPAY), made up of FMLN, government, and popular movemenl representatives, will oversee the implementation of the accord. The war, however, is still ongoing. A ceasefire negotiation between the Salvadoran government and the FMLN started on October 12, but the death threats and disappearances continue in the meantime. Although real hope for peace is more apparent now than it has been for the 11 years of war, there is a fair distance to go before the Salvadoran people can ‘safely start rebuilding their lives. An organization in Canada, called Esperanza (which means “hope” in Spanish), works in affiliation with the popular movements in El Salvador. Esperanza provides moral, material, and economic support to community-based organizations, providing aid for community projects decided upon and organized by communities in El Salvador. Esperanza has set up an Urgent Action letterwriting network, placing fax machines in several places in El Salvador. This means that information of injustices can be immediately sent to Canada so that Canadians can respond quickly with faxes and letters to the Salvadoran and Canadian governments asking that these injustices be stopped. Esperanza also organizes tours in which Canadians can go to El Salvador and meet with members of the popular movement. Salvadorans are also brought to Canada to speak .and meet with community organizations here in Canada. This provides an opportunity for greater understanding between our two countries. If you are interested in jo&g EspeEinZa Or if you just want to learn more about what is happ&g h a
Salvador, come to the meeting on October 16 at 7 pm in Campus Centre MA. For more information, call MMCO at the Global Community Centre, 746-4090.