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terloo, along with many W?nher major cities in Canaâ€" da, is being systematically destroyed by exponential populaâ€" tion growth. Traditionally, growth has always been regarded as a natural and posâ€" itive force. Children grow, plants grow and our knowledge of the uniâ€" verse grows. Notwithstanding, the exponential growth in world popuâ€" lation is causing havoc worldwide. It took approximately three million years for humanity to reach one bilâ€" lion in 1804. By 1925 it had grown to two billion and a mere 77 years later it reached 6.3 billion. Already we are witnessing severe climate changes caused by polluâ€" tion and growing industrialization. Wildlife is being threatened by the ever increasing demands on the supply of land and our drinking water can no longer be taken for granted. Business thus far has shown little concern for the enviâ€" ronment, but this attitude must change if we are to preserve the finite planet on which we all live. The Kyoto Accord is merely one small first step on the road back to sanity. At the local level, Waterloo is beginning to feel the adverse effects of sudden and explosive growth. Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington and Hamilton have merged into one giant urban area. Traffic congestion is the norm and air quality is deteriorating. In order to escape sprawl, many people have started to migrate westwards towards the Waterloo region and Guelph. Unfortunately, these areas will suffer the same fate. Expansion has already affected the once peaceful villages of Ayr, Conestogo, Baden and New Hamburg. Huge tracts of beautiful farmland and rural landscape are Exponential growth is destroying Waterloo You said it QUESTION WHAT Do YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT THE CURRENT CHANGE OF SEASON? Ihi|EHS being bulldozed daily to make way for sprawling residential subdiviâ€" sions. Waterloo‘s own projection of 750 new houses every year is a recipe for disaster. In the name of "smart growth" the Oakville town council recently passed an official plan amendment to urbanize all of its remaining rural land. Instead of opting to became a leader in controlling sprawl, Oakville chose the easy way out by destroying its rural heritage. Traffic congestion will increase, air quality will deteriorate, farmland will disappear and the environment will continue to suffer. There are no easy solutions to the much larger problem of human population growth, Cities worldâ€" wide are feeling the appalling effects of gross overpopulation. London, Paris, Rome, New York and Los Angeles continue to expand outwards at an alarming rate. They represent the ultimate in urban planning. __ We cannot and must not follow their example. It is not too late to Initiations have improved at local universities en 1 started at the Univerâ€" Wity of Toronto, it seemed to be the goal of the secâ€" ondâ€" and thirdâ€"year students to see how frightened they could make the firstâ€"year students, especially those who had not been away from home before. When our children started Grade 9 in about 1970, this type of initiaâ€" tion was beginning to infiltrate the _ About that time, someone from one of the local universities was high schools. "The temperature change and the colours." "Cool weather." OM B John Francis HE CHRONICL] Jessi Webster | COMMENT learn from their mistakes. Cities across Canada have a public duty to reâ€"vitalize decaying downtown cores. They have an obligation to "inbuild" wherever possible and to strongly resist the temptation to expand outwards in ever increasing circles. In this regard, Waterloo is to be commended for reâ€"zoning the Seagram and Canbar lands for resiâ€" dential development. The majority of people who decide to settle in Waterloo do so because of its "small town" feeling. If Waterloo city council and the business community continue to support exponential growth then they will inevitably kill "the goose that laid the goiden egg." This city has a wonderful history and a magnificent scenic heritage which is unique and second to none. Unless future growth is strictâ€" ly controlled and permitted only within existing city boundaries, the damage to our priceless rural landâ€" scape will be catastrophic. killed during initiation ceremonies. The next year, all that nonsense was suddenly stopped. The person who stopped it should be acclaimed as a That nonsense is to be contrastâ€" ed to the welcoming orientation of today‘s students. Recently a group of polite, smiling, happy relaxed students went through our neighâ€" bourhood on a scavenger hunt. What a wonderful improvement! "I have no likes or dislikes, I like all seasons." "I like the cooler weather and the trees changing colour." M. Carl Kaufman, Sarah Munck David A. Crow, Jim Schaller WLU staff fight the good fight I didn‘t attend my 2002 Homecoming celebrations at Wilfrid Laurier University last weekend. I haven‘t heard any reports on whether attendance was down this year, but this is one Laurier grad that is not about to cross a staff association picket line to celebrate my alma mater. When I attended Wilfrid Laurier Uniâ€" versity in the 1980s, the WLU Staff Association (WLUSA) was more like a social club than a union. Its role evolved until 1995, when it was certified as an independent local union. WLUSA‘s roughly 400 members are university support staff working in the registrar‘s office, library, health services, WLU Press, and other areas of the university. In my experience, their work is every bit as important to students‘ education as that done by faculty (as the WLUSA website says, "the university works because we do"}. With skyrocketing enrollment, their work will be even more important. The first two collective agreements were signed by WLUSA in 1997 and 2000, without any labour disruption. When the secâ€" ond agreement expired on June 30, it became clear that the uniâ€" versity administration was determined to extract major concesâ€" sions from the union in areas like contracting out, benefits and job security. Union President Bruce Wolff has said that "these are things that brought about the formation of the union in the first place. We don‘t know why this attitude is coming forward. We were looking for very modest improvements." According to WLUSA, it "tried to complete its negotiations before the start of this school term by asking the university administration to vâ€"T add more meeting dates over the sumâ€" % AN ()Il’ | F n mer, but this didn‘t fit into their schedâ€" | wlhe Aedior t ‘ ule." In fact, the university waited until | | VIEW | Sept. 10 to table a salary offer. WLUSA ‘ e ’ members voted overwhelmingly to [ r 5;“ reject the administration‘s offer and . |f , J gave the negotiating committee a | fi § | strike mandate. Picket lines went up ‘ M l § ' on Sept. 16. 2w4 *3 The contracting out issue is the hh s seoe # most contentious. The university n e wants to eliminate a provision proâ€" vides for three months of notice (in addition to normal notice plus twice SCOTT the severance allotment) if a person‘s PIATKOWSKI job is contracted out. This provision has never been invoked to in the five years that it‘s been in place and the university has never been prevented from coping with emergency staffing needs or from hiring temporary employees during peak periods. Even if WLUSA and the university can‘t agree on a contracting out issue, there is a process for quick mediation of the dispute. WLU faculty, who recently settled their own contract with the university, have been very supportive. Three hundred faculâ€" ty and students marched in support of the strikers last Friday. The NDP club on campus collected over 400 signatures in supâ€" port of the strikers, on a campus that is more politically conserâ€" vative than most. Faculty Association President Joyce Lorimer (one of my professors} acknowledged that her members had to continue teaching through the strike, but "when such loyal and hardâ€"working employees are driven to strike, then there is something deeply wrong with the management of employee relations in this university." The Faculty Association has donatâ€" ed $50,000 to the WLUSA strike fund. Whatever the outcome of the strike, or whenever the conâ€" tract is signed, Political Science prof. David Docherty was right in summing up the impact of the dispute: "This will be a differâ€" ent place after this is over," he said. Added Lorimer, who like Docherty was taking part in Friday‘s march, "WLU‘s true Homeâ€" coming celebration will be the day when staff comes back to work with a fair settlement." Philip Wong, assistant viceâ€"president of human resources and the university‘s chief negotiator, has claimed that "It‘s sort of business as usual but not quite," during the strike. Business as usual apparently includes the fact that garbage is not being picked up (unionized drivers have refused to cross the line}, deliveries aren‘t being made, and labs have been cancelled. Meanwhile, the university has hired a notorious security firm called Accufax to videotape and intimidate strikers. A parent who was marching with strikers was warned that she would be charged with trespassing after she committed the crime of takâ€" ing a short cut across campus while still holding her sign. Wong told the Record that, "in my view, the university will continue and has always demonstrated respect for its employâ€" ees." The best way to prove that statement would be for the administration to withdraw the university‘s demands for unreaâ€" sonable concessions. Particularty if you are a Laurier grad (but even if you‘re not), I urge you to join me in contacting WLU President Bob Rosehart and ask him to do just that. You can reach him at 884â€"0710, extension 2250 or by eâ€"mail to rroseâ€" | ANOTHER 1 VIEW | | ICa I a «iI \ SCOTT ; PIATKOWSK