Pub half empty: The January 20, 1997 issue of Nexus began with a heated letter from a student of Camosun’s Hospitality Management program about attendance at the campus pub. The letter expressed frustrations felt by those in the program regarding a lack of students visiting the pub. It seems that the uninvolved student body lives on here in 2022, and I think that reflects both a lack of information and a lack of interest.
Registration rage: Several columns in this issue reflected student outrage in response to Registration and Financial Aid’s poor organization and lack of preparedness for the beginning of a new semester. Conflicting information, long wait times, and not enough staff were among the key issues addressed. Tensions rose to the point where a student physically assaulted two Registration faculty members.
A textbook example: Anxiety also surfaced at the beginning of this semester regarding the price of textbooks. An article in this issue featured an interview with Camosun’s bookstore manager, who echoed the students’ sentiment. She said that most textbooks only have about a two-year life cycle, after which they become obsolete. The school was focused on gaining copyright release of publications, thereby allowing them to more economically print only chapters which will be used. Unfortunately, many courses still continue today to require expensive and largely unused textbooks.