At the Delta Brunswick on Monday, Rick Miner attempted to defend his recent proposal to disolve UNBSJ and NBCCSJ into a polytechnic institution. Even in the faces of more that 200 strongly opposed community members, Dr. Miner insisted that his proposal would provide the education choices and resources that the community wants.
In response to many protests that Saint John wants a university, not a polytechnic institution, Dr. Miner advised the audience several times to read his report to find a satisfactory description of this proposed institution. He continued use of this insult until an audience member politely categorized it as such.
Dr. Miner’s objective in this meeting seemed to be an attempt to convince his audience that Saint John will lose nothing in this change - that transforming our university into a polytechnical school would add to and not remove any academic programs or career choices from the local post secondary system. Of course he did not use these words because they are too far from the truth for him to qualify. Dr. Miner emphasised the presence of arts programs in his proposed institution and its ability to grant a variety of degrees. Yet, when asked to put these two statements together and confirm whether this polytechnic institution would include a four year bachelor degree program in English literature, Dr. Miner avoided any reference in his response to his own proposal, and declared that he could not say what others would decide regarding the future of the UNBSJ campus. The proper answer to this question is obvious in light of a previous statement made by Miner that, “There will be no change made in the nursing program”. It appears that Dr. Miner does know what others will decide regarding the future of our campus when he expects we will like to hear the answer.
Politicians, like lawyers, never ask a question that they do not already know the answer to. This post secondary commission was not designed to research and find out what is best for the provincial post secondary education system. The provincial government, in favour of certian business interests, decided to place a polytechincal institution in Saint John, then provided a commision to advise in its favour. The government is not deliberating.
In the recent past, Saint John has not fought hard enough for our Saint John. We have allowed self interested government officials and certain industrial powers to dominate our city, running their agendas with no regard for the people of our community. This happens in Saint John because we let it happen. We must now stand up for ourselves. Politicians care only for money and votes. Our officials must be forced to remember that they are elected by us! Our elected officials must believe that their actions now will win or lose the next election! We must not allow Saint John to be the puppet town!!
Blog roundup « Living in interesting times said,
October 2, 2007 at 11:29 pm
[...] here and here; Chris Walsh here; Lisa at the UNBSJ Education Society here, here, and here; more here, here, here, here, and here; and giraffecycle.com has ongoing coverage. [...]