ek The following interview was supplied to The Gem by the Press Office of the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa. Maxim Sotnikovx is leader of the Moscow University’s Komso- mol organization, which has a membership of more than 24,500. Being the largest youth organization in the So- viet Union, the Komsomol unites nearly 40 million young people of the age 14 to 28. The questions were written by the staff of the stu- dent newspaper Manitoban on the request of the embassy, which translated and telexed them to Sotnikovx, received his answers, and translated them into English. = lHIII SMITH CORONA TOMORROW'S TECHNOLOGY AT YOUR TOUCH JUST WRITE FORANY COURSE... Smith Corona On Campus yee XL 2000 Electronic Typewriter with Spell-Right™ Electronic Dictionary . . . The Affordable Portable — Perfect for Back-to-School checks spelling of 50,000 words. © WordFind™ locates errors. @ Full line memory correction allows correction from one character to. an entire line. © WordEraser® removes an entire word with one tap of a key. © Other features include bold print, auto retum, auto center, auto halfspace, auto super/subscript, end of page waming, and more. Save $40.00 $309.95 or Rent to Own $39.95 month (x9) XL1000 Electronic Typewriter Save $30.00 $259.95 or Rent to Own $34.95 month (x9) © Spell-Right™ electronic dictionary P \Carter & Co. Ltd. 74 Queen St. 566-4260 ——————— QUESTION: How do Soviet youth evaluate the chances for progress in arms control and disarmanent? ANSWER: I think that the first ever, we have a Situation where progress is possible. Whe are certaionly prepared to make our contribution and, judging by teh results of our Foreign Ministe Eduard She- vardnadze’s meeting with US Secretary of State George Shultz, the Americans are also prepared to play ball. for time The agreement reached at the meeting to sign before the end of the year a treaty on the elimination of two classes of nuclear missiles should be considered the most important international event since the Helsink Con- ference in 1975. QUESTION: Here in the West, we have heard about the policy of glasnost and democratizastion pursued by Mikhail Gorbachev. How does this policy influence the life of the Moscow University students and all Soviet stu- dents generally? ANSWER: I'll give you a few examples. A decision was taken earlier this year to increase student representa- tion in the bodies managing university affairs. From now on, we shall have 25 per cent of the seats in the learned Councils of Institutions of higher education. Student commissions are alse being) : ON THE OTHER SIDE An interview with Soviet youth leader Maxim Sotnikovx set up at the Faculty level to participate in -decision- making affecting students’ vital interests. This partic- ularly applies to the drafting of curricula and examination schedules, the distribution of stipends (incidentally, on September 1 stipends were raised by 50 per cent for Straight-A students and by 25 per cent for all the rest). and cases of expulsion from university, etc. The first ever election of a Dean was held recently at the Department of Law. Previously, Deans were ap- pointed and did not have to heed student’s opinions. The policy of glasnost you have mentioned has stimulated young people’s activity. Multi-candidate elections are now common practice in Komsomol ganizations. New political clubs and students’ disco and or- video clubs have sprung up. In one of these clubs, stu- dents simulated a meeting between Shevardnadze and Shultz, which resulted in a failure to reach an Fortunately, agree- ment. they were wrong. Thanks to democratiza- tion, international contacts have become livelier. I mean contacts at the Student level, because co-operation at the Dean and Rector levels has been going on for a long time. This November, a group of Moscow University students are going to Yale University, USA. This year, we have re- ceived several student dele- gations from other countries. Next year, we are expecting to receive twice as many. This is also the result of our becoming more fi- nancially independent. Pre- viously, we managed our financial affairs through a bank account of a higher-up organization, whereas we have our own bank ac- count. We have nearly 50,000 roubles (more than 100,000 CDN dollars) on it. We have carried out a dozen operations, learning to be fi- nanciers. QUESTION: The main role of students’ unions in Canada is, to some extent, lobbyist activities in various government agencies on po- litical issues and, to a greater extent, protection of their members’ interests. What role do students’ unions per- now — form in your university? ANSWER: ’ We are also trying to tackle the social abd economic problems of youth and, of course, pro- tect their Our Komsomol organization also represents the interests of students at the city level— its representatives are in the elective bodies of the city’s Komsomol organization. Fi- nally, our three students are members of a District and City Soviet (local govern- ment). Next year, we are planning to nominate our candidate for election to the Supreme Soviet of the Rus- sian Federation. QUESTION: What do Soviet students consider the main problem today? ANSWER: We think that the main prob- lem is to encourage people’s interests. creative energy and activ- ity. Incidentally, this is a key problem to the policy of perestroika in all spheres of life in the USSR. A poll we had taken in the Univer- sity on the EVE of the 20th REV gE XY, oS So 6 r Anniyens™ Komsomol Congress showed that the Komsomol’s pres- tige among students was falling: first and second year students were eager to work in the Komsomol organiza- tions, while senior students used every pretext to avoid Komsomol work. Why? Some students frankly told us that they did not be- lieve their social activities could change anything. Yet, nearly 90% of those polled put forth constructive pro- posals on ways to change the style, methods and aims of Komsomol work. These proposals were later laid at the base of what journal- ists called “a 17-point pro- gramme for reorganizing the Komsomol.” Incidentally, no youth paper in Moscew wanted to publish the results of the poll, so we sent them to the foreign press through the Novosti Press Agency. Another priority is to protect the en- - vironment. The country’s first students’? Environmen- tal Protection Council was set up at Moscow Univer. sity sore 10 years ago. At first, it united biology, soil and geography students. But later, students from all de- At the initiative of the Council, we partments joined it. sent a letter six months ago to the government, ‘drawing its attention to the State of Kurshskaya Kosa, a sandy peninsula in the Baltic Sea, unique in its beauty, and de- manded that oil production be halted there. Several days ago, we re- ceived a reply saying that oil production has been sus- pended there and inviting representatives of the University’s Ecologi- cal Council to participate in a fact-finding expedition that -would investigate the matter and report the results of its investigation to the govern- ment. The Ecological Council is be- coming kind of co-ordinating centre of the students’ eco- logical movement through- out the country. Similar Councils have been set up in nearly 150 institutions of higher education. Last year, the councils had their first Conference and next year they will have a second one. QUESTION: If you were to make an appeal to the Canadian students, what would you tell them? ANSWER: The Canada Cup Tournament was. held a while ago. I watched almost all the games, because for 10 years I had been Captain of the University’s hockey team. And though we lost, it was a wonderful experi- ence. I want to have more such experiences, I want us to get to know better each other’s views on various is- sues, from the problems of peace (which you mentioned in your first question) to that of self-government in stu- dent’s hostels and canteens. This is essential for trust and lasting peace. In short, if I were to make an appeal to the students of Canada, my message would be that of peace and mutual under- standing. . ‘=Page 12 Thursday, January 141988 == stp cee tes epetmaenaeege me eae eae a a Aaa at ee Sip ee ATO ee Ree ea apne mee ie eee vas = . i A A A A A A A. tie i, ly eae a =<