What is STORM?
STORM is a student organization dedicated to making student voices heard. We
believe that students should not have to feel helpless to decisions which
affect their lives and the quality of their education. One lone voice may be
easily ignored, but the combined voice of an organized group can make a
difference. In times where governments are making massive social spending
cuts, and the state of education, health care, and other social programs that
were fought for by previous generations to ensure a basic standard of living
for all, are being sacrificed to maintain "capitalist incentives"
and profit margins for a small portion of the population, we, as students,
need to be aware, to be critical, to organize, be activists, and take
responsibility for the world in which we live. It was in recognizing this need
that STORM was created.
What does STORM do?
Some recent events that STORM has been involved in include:
- An "eggcellent" protest on December 10, 1995 in which
around 1200 eggs signed by students were delivered to Ralph Klein during the
Christmas tree lighting ceremony. The idea for this protest was sparked by
comments Klein had made earlier about how students "must be content with
the governments cuts to post-secondary education" since they weren't
"throwing eggs at the minister of advanced education". This comment
was in reference to a 1991 incident in which John Gogo, at that time advanced
education minister, was pelted by an egg.
Afterwards, Klein made an offhand remark that the students involved in
the protest were "jackasses" that was picked up by the media. Klein
was forced to issue an apology, and to save face, later made a token gesture
by meeting with then-Student Union president Garett Poston to discuss student concerns. The
eggs were donated by STORM to the food bank after the protest.
-
Various teach-ins designed to stimulate critical thinking through education,
encourage student activism, and keep students informed on current events and
how students are affected by them.
-
STORM members join health care workers in protest at a capital health
authority meeting regarding the contracting out of labour to private firms in
various areas of the health care sector.
How can I get involved?
STORM holds meetings every Tuesday at 5:00pm at the Hub Arts Court Lounge
right beside the A&W in Hub Mall. The meetings are open to anyone, and
we always welcome newcomers. While construction is going on, the
meetings have been temporarily relocated to Humanities Center Rm. 2-14.
Visit the STORM history web site or the geocities history site
Any comments, suggestions or questions can be emailed to:
Jen
Hayter(jhayter@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca) or
Gord
Peters(gpeters@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca)
This page was created by Gord Peters