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H - - «• mmvry %, January 31, 1997 Memorial University of Newfoundland Volume 47, Number 14 Government won't budge on 1-900 line Deputy minister says Internet can help solve the problem of high student phone bills By SEAN RYAN Despite numerous student complaints about expensive phone bills, the department of education won't replace a 1-900 student aid information line with a toll free number. Instead, the government says, it will use the Internet to help deal with the problem. The provincial student aid division operates a 1-900 number which charges callers 50 cents for the first minute and 40 cents each additional minute. The 1- 900 number was the target of numerous complaints last semester because of the high long distance bills students, particularly those in rural Newfoundland, are charged to check the status of their student loans. "What [the Internet] would do is remove dependency on the 1- 900 number," said Frank Marsh, assistant deputy education minister. Math Department proposes mandatory entry exam for 1080 By MICHAEL CONNORS Officials with the Math Department are proposing that all first- year students registering for Math 1080 be required to write a placement exam. Presented to the Senate Undergraduate Committee over a week ago, the test would replace the Math Skills Inventory (MSI) which is currently taken by all students who scored below 70 per cent in high school Academic Math. Bruce Watson, head ofthe Math Department, says the Math Placement Exam is necessary because of the elimination of public exams last year. He also said the 70-per-cent cut-off point in Academic Math isn't necessarily an indication of how well a student will do in Math 1080. "The province did away with public exams so high school marks are less reliable," Watson said. But the Senate committee didn't accept the proposal. Steve Ennis, vice-president academic with the CSU and committee member, thinks the test isn't fair because it applies only to Math 1080. "If you fail [the test] you can'tdo 1080 but you can do [Math] 1000," Ennis said. "Say I attained a mark of 80 in [Advanced Math in] high school but I don't study over the summer. It can knock students off." Students graduating from high school in the Advanced Math program have the option of doing either Math 1080 or the more advanced Math 1000. The placement test will only be administered to students registering for Math 1080, however, and Ennis feels this punishes students who did the harder program in high school, but choose not to in university. Watson argues, however, that Advanced Math students should have no problem with the placement exam. "About 50 per cent of the material is junior high school level. I fully expect a student who received alegitimatemarkinAdvancedMath to pass the placement test," Watson said. "A lot of advanced students go into 1080, and we currently excuse them from writing the MSI. For consistency we thought it would be • Please see "Senate" on page 5 But while Marsh says the 'Net may be the solution to an inefficient system that often leaves students on hold for as much as 15 minutes, all the while being billed for their time, student leaders aren't quite as optimistic. "I disagree due to the simple fact: 'How many students have access to the 'Net around Newfoundland?'" CSU Vice-President Zaki Saleemi said. "You have to realize not everybody has instant 'Net access." Saleemi said New Brunswick tried to use the Internet to solve the same problem, but it never caught on. "Out ofthe 8,000 people [New Brunswick] has on their student aid program, 40 used the 'Net access last year," he said. But Marsh said the difference is that the Newfoundland government has learned from New Brunswick's mistakes. • Please see "Dial" on page 4 Members of Barnes House get psyched up for Winter Carnival by doing their best engineering ill piessrin. See Stoly on page 3. Photo by Mike Bannister New society wants hemp legalized By CRAIG BABSTOCK Memorial University now lays claim to its very own hemp society. And while the group's quest to legalize marijuana may make hemp growers and pot smokers happy, it is getting a mixed reaction from some members of the MUN community. The goal of the MUN HEMP Society (the acronym stands for Help End Marijuana Prohibition) is to push for the 100 per cent legalization of hemp. The group says hemp has several industrial uses, including the manufacture of clothes, rope and paper, as well as the recreational produc- HEMP, HEMP, HOORAY! Kate Johnson ofthe MUN HEMP society says legalizing the plant marijuana is made from will benefit the economy, the environment and put big smiles on everybody's faces. Others are skeptical. tion of marijuana. Kate Johnson, the society's founder, says legalizing hemp can also benefit the environment. She says paper could be made from hemp instead of wood, and that a crop of hemp can be replenished in less than a year, as opposed to 100 years for a tree. And, as an added bonus, Johnson says legalizing hemp would result in a boom for the local economy. "Newfoundland is perfect for growing hemp, so why aren't we doing it? Then we would have an economy again. All those poor fisherpeople could go out and farm hemp, and they'd have money," she said. "[Our group's goal] is to make more people aware of the government's hypocrisy and confusion concerning the hemp and marijuana laws. This could • See "Legalization " on page 5 PlAn/n//n/G A TNP OIL OFF TO TH£ mALL/ ouGf\uizE yooil F/U EN/Df WITH A THU^e-irVAr CAU-. Call Return - Missed Call Call Return-Busy Three-Way Calling • 69 • 66 *71 NEWTEL 35Cper activation. Where available. *69 does not work on display blocked calk.
Object Description
Description
Title | Cover |
Description | The Muse, vol. 47, no. 14 (31 January 1997) |
PDF File | (27.32MB) -- http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/muse/TheMusevol47no1431January1997.pdf |
Transcript | H - - «• mmvry %, January 31, 1997 Memorial University of Newfoundland Volume 47, Number 14 Government won't budge on 1-900 line Deputy minister says Internet can help solve the problem of high student phone bills By SEAN RYAN Despite numerous student complaints about expensive phone bills, the department of education won't replace a 1-900 student aid information line with a toll free number. Instead, the government says, it will use the Internet to help deal with the problem. The provincial student aid division operates a 1-900 number which charges callers 50 cents for the first minute and 40 cents each additional minute. The 1- 900 number was the target of numerous complaints last semester because of the high long distance bills students, particularly those in rural Newfoundland, are charged to check the status of their student loans. "What [the Internet] would do is remove dependency on the 1- 900 number," said Frank Marsh, assistant deputy education minister. Math Department proposes mandatory entry exam for 1080 By MICHAEL CONNORS Officials with the Math Department are proposing that all first- year students registering for Math 1080 be required to write a placement exam. Presented to the Senate Undergraduate Committee over a week ago, the test would replace the Math Skills Inventory (MSI) which is currently taken by all students who scored below 70 per cent in high school Academic Math. Bruce Watson, head ofthe Math Department, says the Math Placement Exam is necessary because of the elimination of public exams last year. He also said the 70-per-cent cut-off point in Academic Math isn't necessarily an indication of how well a student will do in Math 1080. "The province did away with public exams so high school marks are less reliable," Watson said. But the Senate committee didn't accept the proposal. Steve Ennis, vice-president academic with the CSU and committee member, thinks the test isn't fair because it applies only to Math 1080. "If you fail [the test] you can'tdo 1080 but you can do [Math] 1000," Ennis said. "Say I attained a mark of 80 in [Advanced Math in] high school but I don't study over the summer. It can knock students off." Students graduating from high school in the Advanced Math program have the option of doing either Math 1080 or the more advanced Math 1000. The placement test will only be administered to students registering for Math 1080, however, and Ennis feels this punishes students who did the harder program in high school, but choose not to in university. Watson argues, however, that Advanced Math students should have no problem with the placement exam. "About 50 per cent of the material is junior high school level. I fully expect a student who received alegitimatemarkinAdvancedMath to pass the placement test," Watson said. "A lot of advanced students go into 1080, and we currently excuse them from writing the MSI. For consistency we thought it would be • Please see "Senate" on page 5 But while Marsh says the 'Net may be the solution to an inefficient system that often leaves students on hold for as much as 15 minutes, all the while being billed for their time, student leaders aren't quite as optimistic. "I disagree due to the simple fact: 'How many students have access to the 'Net around Newfoundland?'" CSU Vice-President Zaki Saleemi said. "You have to realize not everybody has instant 'Net access." Saleemi said New Brunswick tried to use the Internet to solve the same problem, but it never caught on. "Out ofthe 8,000 people [New Brunswick] has on their student aid program, 40 used the 'Net access last year," he said. But Marsh said the difference is that the Newfoundland government has learned from New Brunswick's mistakes. • Please see "Dial" on page 4 Members of Barnes House get psyched up for Winter Carnival by doing their best engineering ill piessrin. See Stoly on page 3. Photo by Mike Bannister New society wants hemp legalized By CRAIG BABSTOCK Memorial University now lays claim to its very own hemp society. And while the group's quest to legalize marijuana may make hemp growers and pot smokers happy, it is getting a mixed reaction from some members of the MUN community. The goal of the MUN HEMP Society (the acronym stands for Help End Marijuana Prohibition) is to push for the 100 per cent legalization of hemp. The group says hemp has several industrial uses, including the manufacture of clothes, rope and paper, as well as the recreational produc- HEMP, HEMP, HOORAY! Kate Johnson ofthe MUN HEMP society says legalizing the plant marijuana is made from will benefit the economy, the environment and put big smiles on everybody's faces. Others are skeptical. tion of marijuana. Kate Johnson, the society's founder, says legalizing hemp can also benefit the environment. She says paper could be made from hemp instead of wood, and that a crop of hemp can be replenished in less than a year, as opposed to 100 years for a tree. And, as an added bonus, Johnson says legalizing hemp would result in a boom for the local economy. "Newfoundland is perfect for growing hemp, so why aren't we doing it? Then we would have an economy again. All those poor fisherpeople could go out and farm hemp, and they'd have money," she said. "[Our group's goal] is to make more people aware of the government's hypocrisy and confusion concerning the hemp and marijuana laws. This could • See "Legalization " on page 5 PlAn/n//n/G A TNP OIL OFF TO TH£ mALL/ ouGf\uizE yooil F/U EN/Df WITH A THU^e-irVAr CAU-. Call Return - Missed Call Call Return-Busy Three-Way Calling • 69 • 66 *71 NEWTEL 35Cper activation. Where available. *69 does not work on display blocked calk. |
Date created | 2018-03-26 |