The Muse, vol. 58, no. 27 (19 June 2008)

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- Feature p. 4-5
Volume 58 Number 27
June 19; 2008
MUN crowned most enterprising campus in Canada
ACE Memorial set to represent at competition in Singapore
ACE Memorial won top honours for their efforts in eight community-based partnerships.    IAN VATCHER
BY1ANMACDONALD
One of Memorial's most active volunteer
groups have again, for the third year in a
row, won the right to represent the country on the international stage.
Advancing Canadian
Entrepreneurship (ACE) Memorial competed against other Canadian campuses in the 2008 National Exposition and
grabbed the first place spot, earning them
the title of Most Enterprising Campus
in Canada.
The prestigious award is not only a reflection of the community work the organization has done, but is also their ticket
to represent Students In Free Enterprise
(SIFE) at October's international competition in Singapore.
"Out of all the years, I would say I'm
most proud of this one," said Marybeth
Handrigan, president of ACE Memorial
and fifth-year business student at MUN.
"The competition really stepped up."
The presentation that won ACE the national title showcased the eight community-based partnerships their 86 volunteers engaged in.
Liam Kelly, a third-year commerce student and vice-president of Think Green
- an ACE program that teaches students
business tactics through recycling - was
a first timer at the nationals.
"I've never gone to a national competi
tion and been the top dog," he said. "The
impact that you know you're making in
the community is huge and gives you that
much more confidence when you go to
these competitions."
Another of the group's projects re-invigorated a Labrador pottery studio that
was forced to close in 2005. The studio,
Moulder of Dreams, was created in 2001
to provide work opportunities for people
living with muscular dystrophy.
Jonathan Earle, also a fifth-year business student, has been a major part in seeing this project come to fruition.
"For the last two years that's been my
baby," said the VP consultant of ACE
Memorial "We've helped them make
their business plan, we've helped them
pass government legislation, we got them
over $428,000 in start-up capital and expenditures for the studio - which included wages - and constructed a new facility."
The studio now has eight workers, one
manager, and employs five people with
disabilities.
These two enterprises, coupled with
their six other projects, have resulted in
over 26, 000 volunteer hours according
to Handrigan.
The balance between work and school
can sometimes be hard to maintain, but
the crew at ACE claims extra-curricular
activities give its members an advantage
when class time starts.
"It kind of complements each other,"
said Handrigan. "ACE forces you to be
organized, so with that I'm able to stay
organized with school."
"You know, you might have to sacrifice
a night [that] you can't get downtown, but
that's minor when.. .at the end of the day
you can see over a hundred kids learning
the prospect of recycling and business,"
added Earle.
With October's competition approaching, Handrigan and her team have a lot of
work ahead of them. She says that the rest
of the summer will be spent working on
ACE's current projects and planning for
their international presentation.
International students burned by rising tuition
MUNSU rep says the ten per cent increase may affect enrolment
BY COURTNEY BARBOUR
International students will still feel the
pinch of rising tuition fees, despite the
provincial government's announcement to extend the tuition fee freeze at
Memorial in next year's budget.
For international undergraduate
students returning to Memorial this
September, the per credit hour tuition
fee will climb ten percent to $323.
For an international undergraduate
student enrolled full-time in a Faculty
of Arts program, this would mean $4845
in tuition fees per semester. A Canadian
student enrolled in an identical program
pays nearly four times less at $1275 per
semester.
According to Zeeshan Siddiqui,
International Students' Representative
for the MUN Students' Union (MUNSU),
the university confirmed the increase to
the Union in late May.
"The university said that they couldn't
fully finance [University services] with
the funds that the provincial government
provided, so that's why they decided to
charge more money to the international students," said Siddiqui.
"There are certain arguments in which
people support the point that tuition fees
should be increased because local students think that we [international students] don't pay taxes - that's a common
myth," he said. "International students
do pay some amount of taxes when we
buy things or when we work over here we
do pay [sales and income] taxes,"
A Facebook group called "Keep
the Freeze" created by MUNSU Arts
Rep Becky Windsor argues that the
University's decision to increase inter
national tuition fees does not support
the provincial government's immigration strategy and progressive policies
related to post-secondary education in
this province.
A presentation by the University indicated that there were 377 international undergraduate students studying at
Memorial during the 2004-05 academic year. This is the most recent data that
could be obtained.
International undergraduate tuition
fees at MUN remain on the lower end
compared to universities across Canada,
but Siddiqui says that the jump in tuition may cause some international students to rethink their decision to attend
Memorial.
"I spoke to a couple of international
students here at Memorial about the upcoming increase in tuition fees, and they
were all shocked basically."
"Obviously the main thing that attracts international students is the low
tuition fees over here compared to the
other provinces, [and they are] compromising the weather and other opportunities and situations by coming to St.
John's. I would say that a lot of international students will definitely be looking at other possibilities besides coming to Memorial."
MUNSU is working on a campaign
to present students' concerns over the
increase to University and the provincial government. The "Keep the Freeze"
Facebook group encourages students to
e-mail MUN's acting president, Eddy
Campbell to show their opposition to
the increase.
Siddiqui says that the Union has also
been writing letters to ministers within
the provincial government, and speaking with student groups to raise awareness of the issue.
"A lot of students don't really know
that there's going to be a tuition fees increase," he said.
"How most of the international students came to know was basically
through e-mails I started sending out
to the clubs and societies that many of
the international students belong to. It
will be kind of a surprise for the new
students coming in the fall semester that
there's going to be a tuition fees increase,"
said Siddiqui.
Canadian students attending
Memorial have enjoyed a tuition freeze
since 1999; international fees were last
increased in 2002.
At press time, Memorial's Board of
Regents was unavailable for comment.