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There’s an article out today, stating that SFU is about to raise their fees again. Starting next year, they will be one of the highest priced post-secondary institutions in the country. I guess since BC (specifically Vancouver) has one of the highest costs of living in the country, why not tack that on as well.

I just graduated (BA Communication) from SFU in June 2003, and I’ll be paying for that privelege for the next 15 years of my life, if I follow my amortization plan. And I’m one of the lucky ones. Others have double that and more to pay back after their degree programs.

The first SFU fee hike (as fully admitted by the administrators) had no direct benefit to the students. They used the extra cash to improve systems used by clerks and administrators (they all have new iMacs - the flatscreen ones) to make the institution function more smoothly. That was the only change visible to me - I’m not sure what other systems/structural improvements were made out of those funds.

I wonder what the funds from this next fee-hike will bring?

Globally, Canada’s tuition rates are fairly middle-of-the-road. They’re far from free, but one look at the rates in the USA, they’re a small drop in the bucket. We’ve also got one of the higest per-capita rates of post-secondary educated population in the first world. According to Immigration Lawyers Mamman & Associates,

Relative to many European countries, Canada puts greater financial emphasis on post-secondary education. About one-third of public education dollars is directed toward its universities and community colleges. Full-time university enrolment grew by almost 40 percent over the 1980s, and in colleges by 24 percent. In 1993/94, enrolment at these institutions totaled 950,000. Despite this rapid growth, expenditure per student has also risen markedly. In 1993/94, it was, at $19,000 per student, 43 percent higher than in 1982/83.

Granted, that’s a bit outdated now, but it still shows a general trend.

Another thing that surprised me was the utter disdain for college & trade school training that peppered the comments after the article. People complaining that they can’t afford University, so they’ll have to go to a “lesser” institution, and ultimately be less successful. Well I can’t speak for everyone, but I am a University Graduate, and I make less than $30,000/year. I’m not going to be paying off my cumbersome loan any time soon with that kind of salary. Whereas someone who goes to BCIT will pay an average of $10,000 for their program, and come out into a career field where their starting wage will likely be 50% more than what I’m making right now.

I strongly believe in the value of education for its own sake, and it’s unlikely that anyone will become an English professor, Anthropologist, or Doctor with a community college or trade school education. But if careers like these are not in your future, do you really *need* a University education?

Remeber, not being enrolled in a University will not prevent you from reading Fouccault, or compiling a collection of poetry by 18th centry Russian Czars if that’s what you really want to do. All it takes is a little initiative to find resources and like-minded people to share your ideas with. Granted a University makes that process a tad easier, but it’s not impossible without the almighty student card.

Your thoughts on all of this?

Today is taking forever to end. It is the suck.

And it’s not even the kind of day where I can say it’s taking forever because it’s so slow. I’ve actually accomplished more in the day and a half I’ve had this week than the entire week previous.

It’s been a fairly busy morning… AND IT’S STILL ONLY 1:20.

Where’s the justice?

I have been tainted by fear. I feel like this makes me a bad person.

Taking the skytrain in to work this morning, I was CRAM^TMmed into a car with a very strange guy.

Now I walk through 3 blocks of the poorest postal code in Canada twice daily, so I see my fair share of strange people, but this guy was a little extra strange. He was obviously of Middle Eastern descent, with long hair and a bushy beard, and looked fairly hard up (dirty, smelly, etc). His ill-fitting clothes were fairly bulky and lumpy to combat the cold. He was also mumbling in whatever language he spoke (I couldn’t tell which one as it was mumbling after all) - whatever it was, it was definitely not English. It also had a strange lilting intonation to it that made it sound chant like.

My first assumption: Oh. My. God. He’s a suicide bomber and he’s going to blow up the Skytrain and kill all these commuters, myself included (since I was literally wedged up against him). I was nearly paralyzed with fear, and mentally preparing how to get off the train ASAP as soon as it stopped again (even convincing myself that I’d be ok at least until then, since his plan likely included either Granville, Burrard or Waterfront stations where he has the opportunity to do the most damage).

Then I got a grip. I paid closer attention and noticed that his mumbling wasn’t a chant. He was most definitely talking “to someone.” Likely one of the city’s many Schizophrenics whose been tossed out to fend for himself and can’t afford or doesn’t want to take his meds. Probably more a danger to himself than anyone around him.

I was immediately consumed by guilt. And rage. What has all of the terrorist propaganda done to me that my first thought at seeing this guy was “Suicide Bomber”?!?! And in Canada! Nobody hates Canada! If he had been of any other ethnicity, I likely would have automatically come to the “crazy person” solution immediately - not thought he was a terrorist.

For the record, I did stay on the skytrain all the way to my stop, wedged up against the strange guy. And when he smiled at me as I disembarked, I smiled back. That’s another thing I learned to do today: When someone smiles at you, smile back. And mean it. We’re all human, and we deserve at least that much.

I just got some wikkid cool headphones. I ordered them last week, and they arrived today.

Now I can rock on in the snow, feelin’ mighty fine, with warm, warm ears.

My only lament - I didn’t bring my discman to work with me today - so no outdoor rockin’ out until later, or more likely, tomorrow.

One of my Christmas gifts was a Birthday/Anniversary calendar. I’m also getting really into using my Palm/Outlook calendars.

So if you have a birthday or anniversary that you’d like me to know about, email me or leave it in the comments.

Who knows, you may even get a card outta the deal

I’ve tried to write this post about 12 times now, and every time it keeps sounding all hokey and stupid. Oh well. I figure I’ll just toss out some key words about what happened in 2003, and what I hope to happen in 2004. In no particular order:

2003: discovery, joy, achievement, pain, questions, completion, struggle, success, realization, actualization, rejection, selection, friendship, love.

2004: energy, health, change, goals, saving, learning, loving, growing.

Yah, I guess that about sums it up.

I’ve made it halfway!

Halfway through what, you ask? and at 3:00 am?

Work. That’s what. Graveyard Shit Shift.

Someone quit without notice, and I’m taking one for the team, cleaning up the last of the mess. This is really the only impact the whole thing has had on me, and I volunteered for it anyway being more interested in what the shift was like than anything. It also means my weekend starts at 7:00AM this morning. Not too shabby.

Surprisingly, I’m still fairly awake (touch wood) and not feeling too bad, considering I’d much rather be buried under a bunch of blankets than in an office chair.

My only complaint: I polished off the last half of the most excellent book I’ve read in a long time. Life of Pi by Yann Martel. It’s Mark Twain meets Rudyard Kipling meets Salman Rushdie. Absolutely Amazing. I can’t say enough good things about this book. Just go read it. You’ll love it.