I did not have anything written for my column last week: I do not have an excuse, and I will not even try to fabricate oneas I have done in the past. Once you start putting lies in print, eventually your professors, your colleagues, your employer, and others begin to collaborate, only to discover that all those days spent out of province, or in a foreign country, were just cover-ups for daily excursions to Cedar’s to discuss slacker philosophy and the anguishes of being part ofa generation we would not leave if given the chance. When lies begin to overlap and multiply seemingly on their own, you have a problem. I suggest therapy, as I do with every problem.

For this issue, I have decided to put aside the horrors of my every day life and

discuss something which affects every student of this university. I will tell by S. 1 ivi ng stone

you, though, that the oil slick has been taken care of, and my

life has returned to a reasonably normal state,

although my questions for

McDonald’s still persist. Now that

my personal life is no longer an obstacle

in the writing of this article, I shall continue with

the chosen topic. Maclean’s magazine and my continued

campaign to have it silenced as the popular voice of the nation. Welcome to round #2 in my battle with Maclean's.

My contempt for Maclean’s lies in its annual report on universities across thg nation in which the University of Prince Edward Island usually is ranked near thé bottom. Some would say that UPEI deserves to be at the bottom of the barrel, if not dead last, but they may also agree with the idea of labelling/small undergraduate schools ‘‘decent’’ or ‘‘not decent’’. Last year this university was ranked ahead of just one school - the University College ofCape Breton, which battles to keep itself from being declared bankrupt. We must thank Maclean’s for adding to its list this year a cluster of other upiversities which fell behind the ranking of UPEI. Thank you Maclean's. Your entire staff can anxiously await honourary degrees in our spring cgfAvocation.

Maybe this university should have joined Carleton and Newfoundlang’s Memorial and opted out of the survey. Opinions certainly would not have worsened. If anything we may have been able to save ourselves the gimost certain embarrassment of being placed near the end of the list again. It is difficult enough trying to give explanations to acquaintances gftending other universities why one is enroled here without them producing a Maclean’s article to support their arguments. Many people just cghnot grasp the fact that most of the students at UPEI are here by choice. It was not a forced decision based on economics or high school grades. One does not have

to. fear being shut out by graduate schools in the future because of a bachelor’s

degree from the University of Prince Edward Island. Our alumni, which includes much of the faculty, have gone on to acquire graduate degrees and, yes, employment. . We must also thank Maclean’s, the so-called voice of the nation which actually hides in the shadows of Upper Canada, for placing UPEI in the top ten category of ‘‘school which most improves its students’’. Yes, the outstanding seniors of UPEI have been refined by this university. Without

the university’s help, we would still be the collection of angry youth with below ~ average grade point averages who attended Frosh Week ready to allow anarchy to take over the campus. The students of this university would like the elitist faction of the country to realize that this is a university which holds over one hundred years of history within its buildings. It is not a forum

| iz Ee a ie eS for educators to reform savages into academics. I may be acting somewhat harsh with Maclean’s, but | am just me C ial 3 angered by unconnected criteria used in the rankings and the magazine’s unnecessary judgements concerning publicly funded ae, ” schooling. If I was attending a privately funded university, the c ine oe gy ratings could be deemed appropriate, but for universities and Q colleges that are essentially controlled by the government, we must realize that for a relatively new university (UPEI is celebrating its twenty-fifth year in 1994) in arelatively poor province, we are doing quite well. The University of Prince Edward Island plays an important role in the education of Islanders and an integral part in the academic and cultural aspect of the province. I will be very content to receive my degree from this university in the Spring, and when I do, the education editors at MacLean’s can kiss my aspirations.

12/X-Press/November 18, 1993