ONE HIGHLIGHT of National Week of Action was a panel discussion held with a moderate student audi- ence in Duffy Ampitheatre last Wednesday. The discus- sion focused ‘on the financ- ing of post-secondary educa- tion and the responsibilities of the federal and provincial governments.

The panel, Moderated by Prof. David Milne of the Political Studies department, featured Philip MacDougall, deputy Minister of Finance for PEI, Roger Burke, PEI Deputy Minister of Educa- tion, and Nigel Chippendale, director of Policy and Anal- ysis of the educational sup- port branch of the Federal Secretary of State. UPEI Students, faculty, and staff were also represented on the panel.

Also included were Olive Bryenton, president of the Canadian Organization of Part-Time University . Stu- dents (COPUS), Leo Chev- erie, president of the union representing university sup- port staff, Ian MacDon- ald, director of Student and Services, Verner Smitheram, of Arts, and Dr. Leon Loukes, pro- fessor of chemistry.

External Dean

Each panel member was allowed to speak for about 5 minutes after which ques- tions from the students were allowed.

Philip MacDougall at- tempted to describe the workings

of the federal _ Established Programs Funding transfer

More discussion than action Highlights of “Legacy of Restraint” Panel Discussion

payment which funds PEI’s health and higher education systems. He addressed the problem that the province is not obligated to spend the full transfer payment allot- ted to education and prob- lems of determining the ex- act amount of the compli-

cated transfer. PEI’s deputy Minister of

Education Roger Burke dis- cussed the national Forum on post-secondary education he attended last year and how it examined accessibility to quality education and the need to create a greater pub- Burke stated that now education is higher on the agenda of both fed- eral and provincial levels of

lic awareness.

government as a result of the forum. He said that the step is for the dele- gates to the Forum to meet with the Council of Minis-

ters of Education to draw up

secondary education. : Representing David

Crombie, Nigel Chippendale of the Secretary of State agreed with Burke about the forum and expressed the federal government’s desire for closer cooperation with the provinces, students, and the private sector regarding higher education. Chippen- dale outlined federal govern- ment support and described a new program to fund stud- ies in science and engineer- ing.

Dean of Arts Verner Smitheram delivered a heated speech about the cuts going on in his depart- ment.

“Like a mosquito in a nudist colony each small cut draws a little blood”, he said.

Smitheram gave the ex- ample of the student-teacher ratio in the History depart- ment. In 1979-80 it was 1 to 78, he said, while now it is up

to 1 to 133.

Students had several question for the panel. The first asked

why the Maritime Provinces

Higher Education Commis- sion, the body that each year recommends the mini- mum amount each province should spend on higher ed- ucation, only recommended a minimum amount. Ian MacDonald, UPEI’s repre- sentative on the body ex- plained that they realized there was in dollar value from year to year. He

a loss

said last year they attempted to upgrade the recommenda- tions but they realized there was not enough money being given to do it.

Roger Burke was asked why PEI spend even less than the MPHEC recom- mended minimum on post- secondary education. Burke acknowledged that funding has been reduced below sus- tenance levels and explained that different provinces dealt with the recommendations in different ways. MacDougall also responded saying PEI has met the recommended levels 5 times in the past 8 years.

Another ‘student asked that despite government pre- dictions, university enrollment keeps increasing and does govern. ment funding take it into account. Roger Burke re. sponded by saying they have given up trying to predict en- rollment-patterns now. Dean Smitheram joined the dis. cussion to say that there would be less problems with higher enrollments if more students took courses in clas- sics, fine arts, and other low- enrollment programs to bal- ance things out.

The next question from the floor dealt with the debt students have to take on to get a degree. Chippendale said the federal government was concerned with accessi- bility and debt load. Mac- Dougall stated that the gov- ernment absorbs 80-85% of the costs of post-secondary education.

_ “When is the last time someone made an investment on your behalf and you didn’t contribute’’, he said.

UPEI ident Eliot was also present at the discussion and praised the government’s responsive- ness and attitude towards higher education. Regard- ing program cuts, he re minded students that the At- lantic Veterinary College was a new program for the re gion. However, Eliot warned of the increasing costs of re search and the growing reluc: tance of the government to fund it, especially in smaller centres.

Pres-

Fitness testing!

Come one, come all!

Activities include:

1. Muscular Endurance - Situps, Pushups 2. % Body Fat - skin fold measurement 3. Flexibility - stretching

4. Cardiovascular - exercise bike

Where: Weight Room, (Downstairs in Gym)

When: Monday - Thursday 4-6 pm, February

1-4, 1988

At your convenience! Name

Phone Preferred Time Clip and Save

= Complete form and return to Secretary in down- stairs office in Gym.

hursday, January