views on liberal report to close the UNBSJ

[twitch]

i'm not sure if everyone has heard of this report but between the winter session and intertern session a commision was formed to look critcally at the Universities in the province of New Brunswick in Canada. there are a few problems within the system causing such symptoms as a lower enrollment in campuses so this comission was a good idea. and in the report, leaked a couple weeks ago and formaly released yesterday, they do address the finanical restrictions improsed by high tuition and high student debt. but they also want to CLOSE the univerisity in Saint john in preference to a Polytechnic Instuition. in their defence they have qouted other polytechnics being prosperous, what they don't say about those institutes is that they are located in a busy hub of a highly populated area and are surrounded by universities. there was a rally and protest on monday in saint john of over 1700 people from the university, including present and past students and staff and from the community. this is a pretty major thing. they also want to do this in moncton and shediac in the same province.

if you haven't heard of this i encourage you to search canadaeast.com in the telegraph journal section for articles in the paper of the region, key words: university, saint john, ed doughty, rick miner. also search cbcradio.ca with particular interest to the interviews aired during information morning saint john (not just because the host steven webb is my dad but because that seems to be section of the radio that has the most news about this issue). there is also a couple video clips that can be found on the web. right now global is recording for a section on their news report in the cafeteria of the school.

after getting the information, please tell me what you think of the planned changes. i would really like to discuss this issue with the members of this board.

(i will add a link to the actual report after classes-please expect it either tonight after 10 atlanic time or tomorrow)

[reachthestars]

Wow, they're really thinking about closing UNBSJ? That scares me more than you will ever know. That would bring us down to just one English university in the province (if you count Saint Thomas and UNB as one... same campus..). UNB Fred would be FLOODED, and it will kill any growth in Saint John.

The city keeps talking abou the need to attract more young people, and they want to shut down one of the few things bringing new faces in? Because I tell you, Moncton and Fredericton are nicer cities for a younger crowd. Saint John will only lose out if this goes through. I love my city, but without the university there is little for any person 20 and up...

[twitch]

exactly. its really quite ridiclous. why can't they achieve the same goals without closing the university seems to be the hot question but no one is answering.

[ladada2001]

Personally I'm against the changes that they're imposing to make. I find it really offensive too, more so because I've been working a portfolio for a long time now for my bachelor of arts.

Now, what's really got me up in arms is that they want to cut back the courses from a 4 year course to maybe a 1 or 2 years so I'd need to finish it somewhere else.

I really do not want to leave the city because I want to continue my artist life style/career. That to me seems asinine.

Being brutally honest, I wouldn't mind the tuition going down and scholarships going up some.

But there isn't much likely hood that it will happen if they're concerned about student fee's and such. They're more likely to keep it where it is or lower it for the specific reason that I keep relating to; Money.