FISEE
FOMJTT
March
2004
Opinion
iihaigenousiVoice
Dear
Editor:
My
name
is
Colin
Haugen.
I
am
a
32
year-old-male
Cree
Dakota;
I
am
a
family
man
with
two
boys,
a
daughter
and
a
loving
wife.
I
have
been
actively
involved
in
student
politics
for
the
past
three
years:
two
years
as
the
CNC
Student
Association
(CNC
SA)
First
Nations
Representative,
two
years
as
the
CNC
First
Nation
Student
Club
President,
one
year
as
student
is
the
BC
liber
al
government
selling
another
resource
of
the
province
students.
representative
for
the
CNC
college
education
board,
and
I
served
as
National
Aboriginal
Chair
for
the
Canadian
Federation
of
Students.
Currently,
mv
politics
are
restricted
to
the
PGNFC
(BOD)
and
the
CNC
SA
office.
I
graduated
from
CNC
with
an
Associates
Degree
in
the
Arts,
and
today
I
work
in
the
office
of
the
CNC
SA
has
a
tutor
coordinator.
To
say
I
am
not
a
political
animal
is
to
say
Gordo
doesn't
like
martinis
in
Hawaii.
For
the
past
three
years
I
have
Tree
Fofurrf
s
.fembiesTwo's
Jolene
Brisbois
Editor-in-Chief
Well,
this
is
my
last
issue
as
Editor-in-Chief.
I
have
spent
the
last
two
years
nursing,
raising,
cajoling
and
pleading
with
the
paper,
as
it
slowly
became
its
own
entity.
It
has
developed
from
a
prude
little
monthly
newspaper
that
focused
on
out
of
date
information
to
a
hip
and
funky
look
at
the
people
and
events
that
are
important
to
our
college.
Free
Forum
has
gone
through
several
facelifts,
some
out
of
necessity
and
some
out
of
boredom,
and
through
it
all
it
has
managed
to
maintain
the
interest
of
readers
within
the
college
and
though
out
the
community.
The
staff
at
the
paper
has
changed
only
a
little
through
the
past
two
years.
We
have
created
some
positions
and
dropped
others
as
the
needs
of
the
paper
changed.
Today,
we
have
five
positions
for
the
paper:
Editor
in
Chief,
Features
Editor,
Production
Editor,
Graphics
Assistant,
and
Ad
Manager.
They
are
all
paying
positions
with
great
perks
like
traveling
across
I
Canada,
getting
great
recom
mendations
for
resumes,
and
building
community
contacts
for
future
careers.
Last
year,
I
spent
five
memorable
days
in
Montreal.
I
attended
several
insightful
workshops
about
running
a
newspaper
and
writing,
and
then
I
spent
some
time
exploring
the
beautiful
city
of
Montreal.
I
look
around
our
little
office
and
imagine
what
it
would
be
like
with
a
few
more
computers
and
several
people
happily
working
on
various
articles
and
graphics.
I
smile
at
the
thought.
A
few
more
years
and
that
dream
will
happen.
All
the
paper
needs
is
five
dedicated
people
next
year
who
are
interested
in
helping
the
Free
Forum
reach
its
full
potential.
If
you
are
interested
in
one
of
the
staff
positions
at
Free
Forum
or
are
interested
in
writing
for
the
paper,
and
are
going
to
be
attending
CNC
in
September,
email
us
at
cncsncnc.bc.ca.
We
will
be
holding
training
sessions
throughout
March
for
anyone
interested
in
one
of
the
five
main
positions
stated
above.
I
hope
to
meet
many
new
and
eager
people
who
are
interested
in
helping
the
Free
Forum
in
its
next
stages
of
development.
watched
in
horror
the
dismantling
of
the
Province
by
Gordon
Campbell
and
the
BC
liberals.
As
of
February
17,
2004
the
Liberal
government
cut
grants
to
students
attending
Post-Secondary
education,
making
the
program
totally
loaned
based.
For
me
this
move
is
making
Post-secondary
education
the
luxury
of
the
rich.
The
average
debt
load
for
four
years
of
post
secondary
education
will
be
$40,000.00
for
students
without
children,
and
$70,000.00
for
single
parents
-
it
is
absurd.
If
not
for
grants
I
would
have
graduated
with
close
to
$45,000.00
in
debts,
instead
of
the
$16,800.00
I
have.
I
am
currently
paying
$210.00
for
the
next
110
months
to
pay
off
my
loans.
If
I
were
to
pay
the
amount
proposed
by
the
liberal
government
it
would
be
$630.00
a
month
for
the
next
110
months.
Possibly,
the
debt
load
would
be
distributed
over
more
time,
adding
another
220
months
of
$210.00
a
month;
therefore,
paying
$210.00
for
27.5
years.
Anyway
you
cut
it;
it
is
a
death
sentence
to
students
using
the
student
loans
program.
It
is
a
cop
out
by
the
current
liberal
government;
it
is
the
BC
liberal
government
selling
another
resource
of
the
province
-
students.
So
what
can
we
do
about
it?
We
can
say
loud
and
clear
to
the
government
that
our
students
are
not
for
sale!
We
are
going
to
fight
you
Gordo.
You
can
contact
your
local
government
through
the
CNC
SA
and
give
our
MLA
the
message
-
do
not
cut
our
grant
program!
Gone
are
the
days
of
quitting
one
job
to
find
another
job
down
the
street.
We
cannot
get
by
and
hope
to
build
lives
for
our
families
or
ourselves
if
we
do
not
gain
access
to
the
toolbox.
Campbell
is
shutting
the
lid
on
the
toolbox
and
it
is
our
civic
duty
to
tell
this
asinine
Hawaii-toting-drunk-at-the-wheel
-enough
is
enough!
Do
not
cut
grants!
Lets
give
him
whiplash
for
driving
drunk;
contact
your
local
MLA's
Shirley
Bond
and
Pat
Bell.
Sincerely,
Colin
Haugen
Hffl
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:
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I'll'
.
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