ETS

Bottles property of Memorial _

by Daniel LaRonde N various parts of our university we are I fortunate to have racks to gather pop bottles as a contribution to the Memo- rial Bursary Fund. With tuition up and funding down, bursaries certainly help out students fac- ing less-than-adequate finances so they can eat, pay rent etc. To avoid writing an article con- cerning people taking bottles from these tracks for their own use, as well as off of the tables and other places the bottles are commonly left, I questioned some students who frequently drop inatthe “Pit Stop’’ inthe Robertson Library for reactions to this apparent “‘thieving”’ (for lack of a better word). First let me explain the situation this article deals with.

A student buys a pop, drinks it and either leaves the empty on the table he/she sits at, keeps the bottle, or ‘‘donates”’ it in one of the tacks. The rack is identified in plain, large print, by a sign saying ‘‘Please do not remove bottles from the pit... The money is given to the Memo- ial Bursary Fund,’’ and the bottles are cashed in for the bursary fund, which is there for students with emergency-type needs (food, rent),

There are a few people (one I have witnessed many, many times) who take the bottles from the rack and cash them for their own use.

I have asked students (who mostly remain anonymous) about these deeds of theft, and I have compiled a little list of “‘utterances’’, most of which are expressions of outrage.

1. ‘Uf the bottle is their own and they paid for the pop, it’s up to them what to do with it, but people taking bottles froma bursary fund is low and scavenging. ’’

2. ‘They should be expelled from University Sor theft.’’

3. “‘It pisses me off to see myself struggling with money, and having someone ‘steal’ Srom what could be in students’ pockets for rent, Sood, books.’’

4. “‘ When I place my bottle in the rack, I want it to go to the Bursary Fund, not to this individual. I’m furious that he/she (vou know who you are) has the gall to take bottles from the rack.”’

5. ‘I think it sucks. Fi unding has been frozen so much, I haven’t received a loan and have been forced to quit University, because of lack of funds. It fuckin’ ticks me off that people are

lhe big English

conference

" Rebecca Ford

ast weekend, UPEI was overrun with En

glish undergrads as they gathered for a weekend

of rewarding, intellectual pursuits. These students came from 12 Atlantic universities,

including 3 from the United States, The

universities included Acadia, Dalhousie, Mount

llison, St.Francis Xavier, St. Mary’s, St.Thomas, all three campuses of the University of Maine, both campuses of the University of New Brunswick.

From each of these campuses came forth some brave souls to present papers they had written Mmany different topics. After the papers were presented, there was time allotted for questions from “audience, During this time, the facilitators (as they were so aptly called) were in charge of the

tkers and, if necessary, mediation.

._ “te were a total of five sessions held over the weekend. These sessions gave participators a “ce of four vastly different topics. The sessions lasted approximately 75 minutes and were used Present 3 or 4 selections (be they papers or selected poems).

his was the 13th annual Atlantic Undergraduate English Conference. There were 60 papers

Sent

¢d this year, as compared to 15 in the first year of the conference. These were both critical

‘Teative papers on topics such as Women & Literature, Milton & Meaning, Harmony & Discord

omen & Romance.

"those interested in next year’s conference, slated for St. Mary’s University, the information "ld be available early in the Fall semester from any English faculty members. @

taking the bottles, when the money is clearly needed somewhere else. The bottles should be Placed in a bin where people will have a hard time getting these bottles without being con- Spicuous. I think the ‘person’ should be repri- manded by law.’’ (Peter Noel, former arts student)

An undisclosed source had indicated to me that there was $10,000 (approx) worth of pop bottles that had passed through the ‘‘Pit Stop’’ and only $2,500 had reached the bursary fund last year. I was also told these few people have been warned by letters froma lawyer stating he/ she can be charged under the Criminal Code of Canada. In my opinion, if they justified them- selves for taking the pop bottles by saying they desperately needed money, I would suggest they make use of this student bursary fund, like other students do, and not resort to stealing donations. I want my Pop bottles to go to the bursary fund, but I don’t feel that I have to securely guard it so that it gets there. Those were my bottles, I paid for them, and I donated them to the fund. Whether they got there or not remains to be seen. I will follow up on this article at a later date. @

LETTERS continued from page 3

interview. That is totally incorrect as I had spent alot of time and energy attempting to get the members of ‘‘Blue Rodeo” to do an interview session. ‘‘Blue Rodeo”’ had refused to partake ina session since the local paper, The Guardian, had refused to give any advance notice of their performances. Before you jump up and point out that the X-Press gave advance coverage, | would like to make it clear that the interview was promised based on a number of conditions that your paper did not comply with. (ask Sean what these conditions were.)

2. As for attesting that the band management and members were difficult to work with, any one that had to work with them during their 3 day stay KNOW that they were hard to work with. Most bands and acts that I have had the fortune to work with supplied me with a list of performance demands (a rider) which normally consist of a one page document, ‘‘Blue Ro- deo’s’’ rider consisted of a 23 page (typed on both sides) booklet with 116 demands. Hope- fully that will show you that as an organization, ““Blue Rodeo Productions”’ were indeed a most difficult group to work with.

I apologize on behalf of myself for being unable to obtain for you an interview and hope that I can rectify that situation by offering to you an interview with Sue Medley on Feb. 18th.

Adrian Harrison, V.P.O. UPEISU

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