News
I
March
2004
B.
C.
student
grant
program
axed
Jonathan
Woodward
Ubyssey
VANCOUVER
(CUP)
A
B.C.
government
program
that
provided
over
$30
million
in
grants
to
students
with
financial
need
was
eliminated
in
last
week's
provincial
budget,
angering
student
groups
who
fear
a
devastating
rise
in
student
debt.
The
money
was
diverted
to
B.C.
universities,
with
$19-million
going
directly
into
universities'
operating
grants
and
the
rest
going
to
post-secondary
education-related
projects.
Karen
McDonald,
k
spokesperson
for
the
Ministry
of
Advanced
Education,
said
the
ministry
had
a
"flat"
budget,
and
could
not
raise
money
to
fund
universities
in
a
climate
of
rising
tuition
without
the
cut.
"We
made
a
choice
and
a
very
difficult
choice,
I
have
to
emphasize,
to
put
more
money
into
the
institutions
in
order
to
fund
student
spaces
and
mitigate
the
upward
pressure
on
tuition,"
she
said.
The
decision
comes
after
the
provincial
government
cut
the
portion
of
the
grant
program
that
applied
to
first-year
students
in
2002.
Any
student
currently
receiving
a
grant
will
instead
receive
a
loan
in
the
next
school
year.
McDonald
said
the
loans
will
increase
Conjuring
up
contraband
Prison
artist
would
"prefer
to
be
silenced
rather
Alex
Redgrave
The
Link,
Concordia
University
MONTREAL
(CUP)
Peter
Collins
is
an
artist
and
an
inmate
with
lots
to
say,
even
from
behind
bars.
His
work
frankly
depicts,
and
often
criticizes,
Correctional
Services
of
Canada,
where
he
has
served
20
years
of
a
25-year
to
life
sentence.
The
one-man
exhibit
Bound
and
Gagged:
When
Art
Becomes
Contraband
has
therefore
been
branded
as
"art
that
clawed
its
way
out
of
prison."
Most
drawings
portray
daily
prison
life
(a
dejected
looking
inmate
thinks,
"Looks
like
it's
going
to
be
another
one
of
those
decades..."),
while
some
go
global
and
speak
out
against
political
figures,
such
as
George
W.
Bush.
Collins'
political
art
satirizes
inside
and
outside
abuses
of
power
by
accentuating
the
fine
line
between
social
control
and
public
safety.
Colourful
cartoon
characters
sprout
cynical
quotation
bubbles
that
are
thought
and
not
said.
Censorship,
it
appears,
clouds
over
prison
and
page.
The
prisoner's
proverbial
ball
and
chain
becomes
symbolic
in
Collins'
work,
as
the
viewer
senses
the
strain
of
free
speech.
"Without
being
overly
dramatic,
I
can
assure
you
that
the
Correctional
Services
thrives
upon
secrecy,
and
the
only
thing
that
seems
to
spur
it
into
action
is
the
possibility
of
public
embarrassment,"
he
remarks
in
a
recorded
introduction
to
the
show.
Although
Collins
was
told
it
would
be
in
his
"best
interest"
to
shut
down
the
show
and
some
of
his
work
has
been
confiscated
or
censored
by
prison
authorities
he
says,
"I
would
prefer
debt
by
$14,000
for
students
currently
receiving
grants.
The
B.C.
Chair
for
the
Canadian
Federation
of
Students
says
that
debt
is
too
much.
Michael
Gardiner
said
cutting
the
grants
takes
money
from
students
who
need
it
and
dilutes
it
through
the
general
public.
He
vowed
to
make
the
provincial
government
reverse
its
decision.
"We're
going
to
war,"
he
said.
'This
is
the
most
mean-spirited,
damaging
legislation
to
students
who
need
help
the
most."
Oana
Chirila,
student
council
president
at
UBC,
said
the
provincial
government
did
not
get
input
from
student
groups
and
has
ignored
possible
consequences
of
its
decision.
"I
don't
think
they've
really
consulted
as
to
where
they've
gone
with
this
initiative,"
she
said.
"This
is
not
a
progressive
step
in
funding
to
financial
aid
at
UBC."
Pat
Hibbetes,
VP
Finance
at
Simon
Fraser
University,
said
universities
are
welcoming
the
chance
to
restore
expected
cuts.
SFU,
which
was
looking
at
a
$15-million
deficit
next
year
without
tuition
increases,
hopes
to
see
about
$4
million
restored
to
current
funding
levels.
than
be
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LeComte,
getting
the
exhibit
open
to
the
public
was
a
lesson
in
patiencethat
lasted
three
years.
While
collecting
Collins'
work,
LeComte
managedfo
bypass
the
CSC,
but
not
their
censorship.
Some
of
the
more
political
pieces
"disappeared,"
while
others
were
described
as
"hate
literature."
"An
artist's
environment
feeds
them,
it's
their
inspiration,
so
it's
not
surprising
that
Peter's
art
reflects
his
immediate
surroundings,"
she
explains.
LeComte
"Art
coming
out
of
prisons
is
beautiful.
People
shouldn't
be
threatened
by
it.
"
-
Dee
IxComte
also
points
out
the
animal
watercolours
included
in.
the
show,
which
she
hopes
will
bi
the
stereotype
people
may
have
prisoner
art
as
being
racist
or
pera
Art
coming
out
oi
pnsonsri;
beautiful,"
she
says.
"People
shouldn
t
be
threatened
by
it."
In
factit'Vthe
artists
themselves
who
mightXbe
threatened.
"When
prisoners
express
them
selves
it's
usually
used
against
them
instead
of
for
them,"
she
explains.;
Nevertheless,
activist
art
is
an
import
tant
medium
of
protest,
and
LeComte
wants
the
public
to
be
able
to
judge
Collins'
work
for
themselves.:?
'"
"This
small
voice
has
escaped
the
confines
of
Canada's
prisons
and
it's
liberating
to
know
that
people
are
looking
at
some
of
my
work"
Collins
concludes
in
his
recorded
message.
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tn
ner
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serv-
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this
may
lower
projected
tuition
increases
J
at
SFU
from
35
per
cent
to
closer
to
20
per
cent,7
J
she
said.
j
UBC
has
already
budgeted
for
an
increase
,
in
provincial
funding
in
its
tuition
proposal,;
meaning
that
the
current
range
of
its
proposed
m
tuition
increase
will
remain
between
15
and
19
per
cent,
said
Brian
Sullivan,
UBC
VP
Students?!
"The
$10-million
cut
that
we
were
expect.
J
ed
to
take
looks
to
have
been
restored
and
that.
is
good
news,"
he
said.
'
f
As
money
is
still
available
in
the
form
of
J
loans
to
students,
UBC-provided
need-based
J
financial
aid
won't
increase
as
a
result
ot
the
,
budget
speech.
But
Sullivan
thinks
individual
1
students
will
feel
the
pinch.
f
,
"We
expect
that
a
few
more
people
will
be
1
in
emergency
situations,"
he
said.
jil
McDonald
said
the
government
is
looking
at
a
loan
remission
program
in
future
budgets,,!
whereby
students
with
debt
can
apply
to
have
j
the
provincial
government
relieve
their
loans.:
Under
this
program,
a
student's
eligibility
for
loan
forgiveness
would
be
judged
in
a
way
sim:j
ilar
to
the
scrapped
grant
process.
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