Something has stuck in the craw of news watchers at the University of Calgary since last March. What the hell was Rod Love
thinking?
Our mustached Board of Governors member did an about face when he voted against a maximum tuition increase. For those who don’t know, in Love’s checkered past he was Ralph Klein’s right hand man (a sort of Lady MacBeth, if you will).
Love was involved in drafting the government’s current education policy, a good example of the government’s overall policy of getting out of the social service industry. And, at least at some point in his past, he believed students should pay 100 per cent of their education.
What, then, was Love doing by voting against a tuition increase that would continue these policies on their merry way?
We’ll tell you, with some certainty, that Love didn’t undergo a change of heart, nor was he atoning for past sins. Mr. Love did not, as it may appear, become the savior of students.
The Board Meeting, encircled by 2,000 angry students, saw Love announce the U of C was out of touch with students (swish: two points).
It was at that same meeting that White forgot the rules of dealing with gangsters: never go against the family and never turn your back.
"We have to get in line with the government’s policy of increasing tuition," said White up against a brick wall.
Love proceeded to vote against the increase because the U of C was "not paying enough attention to the stakeholders."
He took the brunt of student ire and gave it to White, and let government get off scot free. Nice deflection. Call up Banquo, tell him there’s a knife in his back.
Students call Terry White "el Chupa Cabra," the goat sucker. Do they even talk about the government?
They’re not entirely blameless, but White and the U of C get a frequent one-two punch from Edmonton. They only real business the government does on campus these days is to hand out funding envelopes which handcuff schools into narrowly funded, narrow-minded projects.
Yet who gets the blame? Evil, evil Terry White. Maybe Terry White isn’t the best president we could have, but shouldn’t students be more effectively channeling our rage at the people who really control the funding strings?
Students can sympathize with White’s situation, his Edmonton bosses left him swinging in the wind. It sounds vaguely familiar to students, it’s what they have had to deal with every year since the ’80s.
Terry. They screwed you over. They’re not your friends. Join us