Last Friday afternoon,two members of 
     
     the U.P.E.I. Students Union met with 
     
     Premier Alex Cambell to discuss the 
     
     rationale,or'perhaps lack of it,behind 
     
     the P.E.I. Government's recent proposal 
     
     to adopt a new Bursary program for 
     
     University students.tHis,new program, 
     
     if accepted,will enable a student to 
     
     recieve a $1400.00 Canada Student Loan 
     
     gand a P.E.I. Government Bursary'of up 
     
     to $1000.00 if the individual shows 
     
    
   
   
    
     sufficient need_for it, This means that the ‘ 
     
    
   
   
    
     student must borrow the full $1400.00' 
     
     in order to become eligible for a 
     
     Bursary! ) - 
     
    

    
     External Vice PreSident Bob Gray and 
     
     Vice President Comptroller Bill MacIntyre 
     
     of U.P.E.I. raised a number of pertinent 
     
     questions but few answers were given 
     
     due to the fact Premier Cambell knew 
     
     very little about the circumstances 
     
     surrounding the decision of his cabinet. 
     
    
   
   
    
     'He said that on that day he was in Ottowa 
     
    
   
   
    
     on other business.However,Mr.Cambell 
     
    

    
     said he felt that this new program was 
     
     "biased" toward graduate.students who must 
     
     have additional money to follow a Post - 
     
     Secondary education. 
     
    

    
     Asked about the effectivness of the 
     
     old progravar. Cambell said many abuses 
     
     were made by students who "inflated" 
     
     their needs in order to get Bursary 
     
     money.Under the new program,there will 
     
     »wbe a.moratstxitt“poiicingfloftapplications 
     
     so that these abuses will diminish.It 
     
     will require the employing of two additi- 
     
     onal people at a salary of $6000.00 a 
     
     year each in order to make this policing 
     
     effective.However,no definite answer was 
     
     given to the question of why this 
     
     policing was not instituted under the 
     
    
   
   
    
     old program instead of changing the entire 
     
    
   
   
    
     system nowlv 
     
    
   
   
    
     Mr.MacIntyre and Mt.Gray then 
     
     explained that at the end of four years. 
     
     of college,a student who borrowed from ’ 
     
     the Government under the new plan would 
     
     owe $5600.00.If,after graduation,he 
     
     decides to marry a girl who has also 
     
     borrowed the maximum from the govern— 
     
     ment, then their total debt would be 
     
     $11,200 with interest starting six 
     
     months after graduation, not after the 
     
     individual got a job. In reply to this 
     
    

    
     -argument, Premier Campbell said that it 
     
     ‘was up to the individual to get married, 
     
     and could not be considered by govern- 
     
     ment as a reason for avoidance of pay— 
     
     ment. Also he felt that it was fair for 
     
     the interest to begin compounding six 
     
    

    
     months after graduation and not after 
     
     obtaining a job because a lot of gradu- 
     
     ates would not seek employment if they 
     
     didn't have to pay interest. 
     
    

    
     At the end of the discussion, Pre- 
     
    

    
     - mier Campbell made an appointment for 
     
     the students to meet with the Deputy 
     
    
   
   
    
     Minister of Education Lorne Moase, who, ' 
     
    
   
   
    
     along with Minister Bennett were out 
     
     of town that afternoon. ’ 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     negative I 989393.12: 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     -The negative aspects of Plan "B" are: 
     
    
   
   
    
     _(a) A young man or Woman who has initi— 
     
     tative and drive will earn from part—time_, 
     
     ,work during the school year and a job 
     
     during vacation and thus decrease his or 
     
     her need, consequently rendering him or 
     
     her ineligible for any of the bursary or 
     
     free money. This is penalizing ambition 
     
     and drive. 0n the other hand the lazy or 
     
     indifferent individual realizes that he 
     
     .is not expected to work during the school 
     
     Year and, with the rate of unemployment 
     
     being high as it is. this individual can 
     
     very plausibly be unable to find a job 
     
     and thus qualify for the full loan and 
     
    

    
     as much bursary as is necessary to liq- 
     
     uidate his costs. In this fashion his 
     
     -laziness and indifference are being sub- 
     
     sidized. This would be_avoided by Plan'Aly 
     
    
   
   
    
     (b) If the individual can get free money 
     
    
   
   
    
     >.only after he has borrowed the full $1400.: 
     
    
   
   
    
     he is very PRONE to manufacture a situat— 
     
     ion where he will need more than $1,400. 
     
     so that he can enjoy some of the frost- 
     
    
   
   
    
     -ing at the top of the $1,450. level. 
     
     :Plan "A" would discourage this type of 
     
     ‘approach. 
     
    
   
   
    
     ,It must be realized that Prince Edward 
     
    
   
   
    
     ~Island students come from every geo- 
     
     ‘graphical area of the province. It 
     
    
   
   
    
     must be realized too that some of these 
     
     areas are not lucratiVe as far_as the 
     
     family income is concerned. They are 
     
    
   
   
    
     -neither very lucrative in providing part 
     
    
   
   
    
     time employment or summe:employment to 
     
     the resident student. 
     
     There are other factors which mitigate 
     
    
   
   
    
     against our present system and it is our 
     
    
   
   
    
     hope that an equitable solution can be . 
     
     introduced in which all students will 
     
     be treated on a fair and equal basis. 
     
     Let it not be said that in Prince Edward 
     
     Island education is only for the rich 
     
    
   
   
    
     and'npt.for the poor. 
     
    
   
   
    
     DUFFY SPEAKS OUT   
     
    
   
   
    
     The recent announcement of the new 
     
     bursary program-by the Campbell ad- 
     
     ministration, the Student Union feels 
     
     will have great repercussions on the 
     
     student who is presently, or in the 
     
     future, pursuing a post-secondary ed- 
     
     ucation. we feel the proposal is 
     
     geared more towards the graduate stu— 
     
     dents' needs. than that of a student 
     
     who is pursuing a Bachelor‘s degree. 
     
     It hardly seems to be the type of 
     
     program for a Province that doesn't 
     
     have a graduate school. Now the ques-' 
     
     ition that we feel needs answering is: 
     
     Is the decision by the P.E.I. govern- 
     
    

    
     .ment a direct result of recent dis- 
     
     cussions on Maritime Union, since both 
     
     N.B. and N.S. are adopting the same 
     
     plan? Are the people of P.E.I. lead— 
     
     ing or being lead? What do you think? 
     
     President,,Q.P.E.I.S.U. 
     
    
   
   
    
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