The Universitv-

knowledge *for whom

,

What’s a university for? “Teaching But two factors have changed this some-
and this bias in the enrolment. One
research”, is the usual answer to that ques-
what. One is that business has become course, the cost. Even with the stud
tion, but unfortunately, more and more concentrated
it doesn’t say very in the hands plans that have been implementec
much about what a university does.of huge multinational corporations, whose the 1965 survey, the cost of tuition,
continued maintenance requires large and living’ costs (which amount to
It does not tell us what is taught, who is
numbers of administrators, economic $2,000 for an eight-month academic
taught, what the social purpose of the planners, and social manipulators who are still extremely discouraging,
curriculum is, what research is done, or are either employed directly by the cor- downright prohibitive, to families I
how research is used. It gives us a formal porations, or exercise their socio-econ- less than five or six thousand do
description, not the reality. omit management functions as govern- year. Low income people are VC
Some people are not really very con- men t ’ employees. Since the old model of luctant to borrow, and with good
cerned about that because they perceive competitive, laissez-faire capitalism has for they cannot afford to be in dc
scholars to be free agents in society, been replaced by a corporate, planned, pay the interest on student loans.
neither employers or employees, people
welfare state, there are quite a number of students today are completing their
who stand aside from society to study it “social service” jobs dealing with wel- graduate education two-or three tl
with detached objectivity. Universities
fare, pension plans, health insurance, dollars in debt, and as unempll
are their specialty, protected preserves
social work, and so on. Most of these jobs rises, their job prospects are nc
where they can contemplate the natural
require a great deal more education than good.
and social world, and pass their wisdom on was necessary in the past. However, even if the financial
to the young. The other factor is technology. Many to go to university were equal al’
This is a myth that is fortunately employees
dying. today are trained scientists society, the universities would not
It must die because it is so inaccurate and technicians,
that who work in the corpor- less a servant of the corporate ow
it becomes more and more difficult every ations’ research labs and carry out tech- class. In fact, by the time peopl
day for even the most tradition-bound nical functions all the way from the pro- gone through high school, the bias
academic to apply it to what he experien- duction line to the manning of the ever- ucation has already limited the
ces. But the idea that the university present is computers. These people, too, tunities of many poor and workin
somehow neutral, even though closely re- usually require a university education. people. Many studies have bee
lated to society, dies hard. Therefore, while just over half the em- which show that the cultural and n
ployed labor force in Canada is still in the background of lower income, 7
There are consequently many ambigu-
industrial blue-collar category, increasing class children makes them less
ities in current thinking about education ; numbers of workers are university ed- survive in the middle and uppe
for example the authors of the famous
ucated “professional” people. Training oriented “academic” stream w!
Hall-Dennis report on education say in one these workers is the most important of the the road to university, and are cons
breath that schools should in no way be functions of the modern university, and ly easily streamed into vocational
political, and in the next, that schools despite the persistence of the -elite, com- which deny them university entrant
should inculcate the “national ideology”.
munity of. scholars concept of the univer- problem is not so much that the voc
The fact is that universities are not
sity, it is now a mass, public education courses are not useful, but that tht
neutral-they cannot be neutral-but are
institution in much the same way as the for each student is often determine
integrated thoroughly elementary
into the structure and high schools. class background. And the lower
of our society, and serve the interests of
Now, it is true that the people who go to come of the family, the greater is
those who have the most power in society. university still tend to be predominantly essity for a child to get out of scl
from the upper levels of society. start supporting himself.
In modern society, the most powerful
institutions are the great (and usually According to the 1961 census of Canada, And even if he goes to universit
23.3 percent of Canadian men are owners not likely to be able to break intc
American based) corporations, and the
most powerful people are those ,who own or managers of business (other than much better standard and qualit;
farms) or work at occupations that are The expansion of the universities
and control the corporations. This group
controls the economic classified
power of society as ‘professional’. Yet a 1965 opened the door for people in th
survey by the Canadian Union of Students strata to rise, but has only occurr
which provides the practical capability of
showed that 48 percent of Canadian uni- far as it is necessary for maintail
solving problems and meeting people’s
versity students had fathers who were existing social hierarchy. For, ;
needs, all the way from building dams members of the occupational group. tioned earlier, the increasing edu
and railways and communications media,
The remaining 52 percent of the stu- requirements for many working
to providing houses, food and clothing. It
/ dents came from 76.6 percent of the work- jobs makes a university educati
is the interests of this powerful few that
ing population who are employees and essary not to give many peoplt
the university serves, above, and even
farmers. jobs, but to get them any job at 2
against, all others. The Dominion ’ Bureau of Statistics CUS survey of 1965 showed that, el
To understand what modern universities showed in 1964 that 54.1 percent of Canad- the considerable bias toward upper
do, one must first take a look at the nature ian families make less than 5,000 dollars’ a backgrounds amoung students, 81
of the modern labour force. Traditionally, year, a figure which despite inflation and had fathers who had never acqui
the labor force in industrial society has wage increases, still remains about the university degree, and the fathe
been composed almost entirely of people same. Yet, the offspring of this income percent had had no education of ;
who do primarily physical labor. Even group comprise only 28 percent of the <beyond high school. Yet young pt
those jobs that required a skill or a university students. I day must have a degree just to I
craft were basically manual labor. There are many factors that produce the same socio-economic level tl

2 ‘the Chevron
 ,

If parents had had without one.

d Moreover.‘ as social power is increasingly
le concentrated in the hands of the owners of
growing monopolies and conglomerates.
1t
the status of ‘*middle class” or profession-
al jobs, in terms of social power and in-
It. dependence in their work. is decreasing.
Consequently. in nearly every discipline.
g universities are preparing students to be
a
3- workers who serve the corporate bosses.
1, Technicians are often so specialized that
d they will be unable to comprehend the
general nature of what their work is about.
Y
and accordingly make good employees
d ,Fho fit into 3 job *slot. and take orders from
It above without much ques-iioning. Scien- of the course material taught to students. to benefit their fellow man. that students A number of other students and some
tists study nature in isolation from so- for it is based on the same values. philoso- often complain : “My courses are irrele- professors have been working to redirect
ciety. and accept the myth that they are phies. and methodologies. The funds for vant”. the universities toward the service of
not responsible for or competent to under- research come largely. from government Some people are beginning to become working people. Their work has included
Y
23 stand how their findings are implemented agencies such as the Defense Research openly critical of this kind of system. They such things as:
in society. English students rarely are Board and the Canada Council. and from are beginning to see that their education l the critical analysis of aspects of the
en&raged to discover the social and industry. Rarely will any funds go to a serves profits more than people. and that curriculum and research which bias it in
P
historical backgrounds of the periods which project that is not in the interests of the they themselves are not an elite. but a favour of the continuing power of the cor-
1”- gave rise to the literature they study:and powers-that-be. part of the labor force being trained to act porate owners.
consequently more easily accept the no- But more significantly. regardless of for the elite over and against the rest of l pressing for changes in curriculum
tion that cultural expression is a matter where the money comes from. or what the labor force. and asking that new areas of research be
of individual inspiration which is beyond the hopes of the researchers are. their Last year, for example. a delegation of entered into. such as. fcr example. labor
the capacity of the masses. who must be findings are implemented only insofar as students from the University of Waterloo history.
allowed to wallow in mediocre and sterile they are financially profitable or improve Engineering Societies to the Congress of l doing some research and studv in
0 culture. History students learn about the the administrative stability of the corpor- Engineering Students in Montreal made their free time. and working with *off-
‘S
exploits of kings. nobles. bishops. gen- ate society. the following comment in the briefs that campus people such as labor. tenants.
erals and businessmen. seldom about One can find many examplesof how this they wrote : welfare recipients. and Indians. on mat-
t-
labor movements and the history of requirement of profitability prevents re- “The desire of the people in control of the ters neglected by universities. or handled
S “little” people. and they learn about search from meeting people’s needs. A major corporations of this country to make by them in an anti-human way.
e
events in isolation from historical pro- University of Waterloo scientist recently more and more money is seemingly in- l pressing for more democratic univer-
I1 cesses. Hence. they are induced to believe wrote that the technical means of ending compatible with the necessity of providing sity decision-making structures that will
e that only the powerful few can make his- pollution exist. But look around. and we people with a better living condition”. allow changes to occur without the con-
S tory. and they cannot comprehend the his- find that few are being used. that little is They perceived that there is a conflict flict that presently results when changes
l- torical processes that must be understood being done to implement these means in their own profession between the em- are demanded in the existing rigidly
*- if man is to be the master of his fate. politically and economically. In the US. a ployer engineer. and the majority of en- au thori tarian system.
h Social science students are taught theories medical researcher told an ABC gineers who are employees. They saw that l pressing for a student aid system
of behavior that exclude any understand- news reporter not long ago that if the the employee engineer has a great deal that will allow all people to have equal fin-
S
ing of human values: thus they become government would give the same priority more in common with the less educated ancial accessibility to university without
good social manipulators who will see to medical research that is given to the working people than with his professional the necessity of going into debt.
Y such things as a workers’ strike for better space program. he could guarantee that colleague who is in an ownership or man- l urging a greater recognition of the
wages or a movement for social change cancer could be wiped out in ten years. agement position. common interests of students and work-
as a breakdown in the system that should Yet American medical research centres “It is morally inconceivable that one ing people by such programs as urging
be prevented. Economics students learn are being closed. while the incredibly can justify professional people “scab- students not to scab against workers while
theories that support the pursuit of profit. profitable space and missile industry ex- bing”. when people are outside on the on summer jobs.
which led one University of Waterloo pands. and employs -nearly all the avail- picket lines fighting for what they believe Unfortunately, such people are still a
11 economics professor to tell his class earl- able American research scientists. And is necessary to their comfort and happi- minority, and they are frequently brand-
S
ier this year that the way to fight inflation the list can go on and on. ness. A respect for unions is essential in ed by university administrators and the
is to freeze wages-not profits. rents. and It is the nature of th& market which this regard. and a disrespect for the com- press as irrational, building-burning anar-
I-
prices. makes the job-training aspect of the un- mon rules of humanity is indefensible.” chists, or ungrateful ‘brats, much in the
e In nearly every field. specialization so iversity what it is. Universities are And they added: way that business, government and the
h fragments any understanding of the world. supported insofar as they can produce the “...unlike the true decision-makers. it is press h;ts traditionally slandered the
e that students find society so incomprehen- human capital necessary to profitable pro- the engineer who must influence a chan& labour movement.
t sible that they can only permit the power- duction. and most students demand the ing attitude...It is the professional engi- Moreover, they cannot succeed, even if
ful few to go on making the decisions. courses that will make themselves sal- neer %ho must join in the fight for hum- their views become accepted by the maj-
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3 The other principal function of the un- able commodities on the job market. anization of working conditions. both ority of university people, without similar
cl iversities is the carrying out of research. It is because they are being trained to be within the ranks of their profession, and changes throughout society. The univer-
I- and once again this “pursuit of truth“ profit producing commodities for the outside. in the ranks of the people who sities Ean only serve working people if
n serves profits more than people. Its corporations. rather than people who can freeze on picket lines for another five working people get together and demand
r characteristics are quite similar to those freely and creatively use their knowledge cents an hour. ’ ’ mat changes be made.

fhda y 70 april 1970 3

 Housing costs
still going up
Housing has long been an issue of major concern, but
in recent years the situation has become critical. The
Economic Council of Canada estimates that 41 percent
of Canadians live on or below the poverty line ($1,800
for a single person; $4,800 for a family with five child-
. ren. ) The average income (1967) for Kitchener-Wa-
terloo was only $5,448; average family earnings amount-
ed to $6,800. In 1967 an income of $7,000 was reauired to
get an NHA loan. The figure is now about $8,300. What
hope is there that the average working man will ever be
able to own a home, especially when you consider that
a $25,600 mortgage costs $62,000 over 25 years, $72,090
over 30 years, $81,000 over 40 years? These figures are to even apply for a loan, Kitchener-Waterloo residents percent; materials and equipment rental-45 percent;
calculated at 9 percent. NHA loans cost about 9.8 per- are increasingly being forced to rent homes or apart- labor-13. percent. This seems to destroy the popular
cent and conven%onal mortgage rates run to 10.11 per- ments. myth that rising wages are a prime factor in the increas-
cent. From 1961-66 there was a 7 percent drop in home ed cost of housing. The price of land has risen over
ownership and a corresponding 7 percent rise in ten- 100 percent since 1962 and the cost of servicing, over
The average selling price of a home in-Kitchener- Wa-
terloo for new and used homes together in december ant occupation. However, from 1963-66, rents increased 125 percent.
an average of $3.80 a month! A family with a low in- Someone is making ai profit on housing at the expense
1965 was $17,137; in december 1966, it was $19,415; and
by december 1967, it had risen to $21,683. come and several children will find that the rent re- of most homeowners or potential buyers. From all in-
quired for adequate accommodation is extremely high. dications it is the land speculators and investment
Mortgage rates (NHA insured loans) have risen
from 6.25 percent in 1965, to 8.25 percent in 1966; and Of almost 2,000 families surveyed in a K-W apartment dealers who are forcing prices up and increasing infla-
are now approaching 10 percent. Given this high rate study, 38 percent had an income of less than $5,000 per tion.
of interest, and the increasingly hight income needed year, and 60 percent had an income of less than $6,000.
This fact would suggest that the lowest income families
are not living in multiple residential units (high rise
apartments or town houses) which averaged $140 a
month in 1966. Since they could not afford their own
single homes, it appears that these people are living in
converted houses or above commercial establishments.
‘_ While the government recommends that, ideally, a
family should spend about 25 percent of its income on
housing, most are paying 40 percent. Rents and hous-
ing costs continue to skyrocket. What are the com-
ponent parts of the cost of a house?
According to a survey done by the National Research
Council in September 1968, this is the breakdown for an
$18,000 home: land cost, overhead and profit-41.2

How Ontario robs the poor to pay

Next time you open your pay
envelope, look at the amount de-
ducted for Ontario Health Ser-
vices Insurance Plan. Last year
the Ontario government. over-
charged the workingman of On-
tario $39,000,000 for medicare.
Thats right, thirty nine million
dollars!
And where did the money go
which was milked from your pay
cheques? One place it went was
to giant American and Canadian
corporations who are sharing in
the biggest steal in Canada’s
history. Last year the Ontario ’ medicare rates range from free their use by companies to “ra-
the&i
government handed over more coverage in Newfoundland and tionalize” their corporate op-
than $30,000,000to such “needy” Nova Scotia and 55 cents a month erations-that is, to re-arrange
corporations as Kraf t Foods, for a single person in Manitoba their operations for I . greater effi-
Allied Chemicals, Domtar, Union ($1.10 per month family rate) to ciency and profitability:r, In *it-
Carbide, Westinghouse, Uniroyal, $14.75 month (family rate) in On- self “rationalization” would app-
and General Foods-and you paid tario. To make matters worse, ear to be neither wrong nor
for it. while most other provinces pay dangerous to their employees’
How does it all work? First of 100 percent of the doctor’s bill, welfare. However, in the case of
all, Ontario has the highest me- Ontario pays only 90 percent. As at least two of the largest com-
dicare rates in Canada. Of the a result of such high premiums panies-Canada Wire and Cable
seven provinces which have join- and minimum services, the On- (grant of $187,083) and Westing-
ed the federal medical services tario government took in over house (grant of $250,000) the
plan (P.E.I., New Brunswick $296,000,000 in OHSIP premiums money was used to close down
and Quebec still have not joined) last year, and paid out only $257,- operating factories in one area and
OOO-leaving a clear profit for to open new factories in other
the government of $39,000,000. (lower paid) areas, throwing

Editorial In contrast with its practice of hundreds of union men out of

The basic interests of work-
ing people and students are
largely the same. Yet4 in the past
students and labor have not only
been apart from one another, but
have often worked against one
another.
It has too often been the case
that students and labor have
viewed one another with sus-
picion, ‘and have missed opp-
ortunities when their joint efforts
could have solved a common
problem.
The Labor-Student Political
Committee hopes to overcome
this separation, to bring stu-
dents and working people to-
gether to work on solving the
problems they share. I cooperation with ongoing com- ar$ “loans”, not grants. They ed out under EIO went to Canadian
The LSPC was initiated through
the efforts of Bob Hopf, chair-
man of the Kitchener-Waterloo
Labour Council’s political action
committee. The group includes
members of the political action
committee, and students from
the University. of Waterloo, Wa-
squeezing every last penny out of work. In both cases these com-
the working tax-payer, the Ontar- panies are foreign owned and con-
terloo Lutheran University, and io government displays a striking trolled-and neither displayed
Conestoga’s Adult Education generosity towards its friends, any responsibility for the men
Centre. the giant corporations. Over the they had thrown out of work dur-
It was decided by the members past year the Tories have issued ing this “rationalization” pro-
that the LSPC ‘would first con- gifts totalling $30,000,000to cor- cess.
centrate it’s efforts upon pro- porations out of the public trea- The Tory government’s friend-
grams of public awareness, such sury under the “Equalization of liness towards the huge American
as this newspaper. In doing so, Industrial Opportunity Program.” corporations shows up in other
the committee could not only help Included in the $30,000,000 was ways as well. Grants to American
to create an informed public, but $16,000,000handed to 77 “needy” coporations average more than
the members could also get to American companies such _as $201,000each while those to Cana-
know one another and to share General. Foods (who got $250,000) dian corporations averaged about
information and ideas. whose profit last year alone was $135,000 each.
So that’s how it is in Ontario.
Co-operation between stu- more than $100,000,000, and who The workingman is overcharged
dents and working people is not already had retained earnings $39,000,000 in OHSIP payments
entirely new. Over the past for investment of $450,000,000. so that the Ontario government
couple of years there have been The excuse that the Ontario can pay American corporations
a few, intermittent attempts at government makes to cover this
to buy up Canada. Of course, one
joint action. But the LSPC hopes gigantic give-away of your health shouldn’t ovetlook the fact that
that it can replace occasional care dollars, is that these gifts $14,000,000of the 30 million hand-
munication and joint activity, and are, however,‘ mighty strange corporations. After all, the Tories
create a genuine basis of mutual loans, since the government re-
fuses to reveal the terms under hav; rich friends in Canada too
understanding.
For more information about which they are granted, except who wouldn’t want to be left off
to say that they will be “forgiv- the gravy train. And besides, you
the Labor Student Political Com-
mittee, contact Bob Hopf, at en” in five years, and pay no wouldn’t want Mr. Randall to be
interest. unfair or discriminatory when
749-9324, or Tom Patterson, at One of the most interesting by- he hands out your money. Would
744-6.111,ext. 2534. products of these loans has been you? c

4 1064 the Chevron