By Mario deSantis, April 7, 1999

Yesterday, as I was reading the article "Synchrotron worked for the right reasons"(1) I began to shake my head in realizing the linear thinking skills of his author, Dwight Percy. Percy is very excited about the economic spinoffs of the building of the Synchrotron in Saskatoon, and defended the project as "...the right thing to do..." Here we go again with this obtuse economic philosophy of making the hard decisions(2) based on the choice of what is right versus what is wrong(3). The major problems with the decision of building the Synchrotron is that its connection with our overall educational needs have not been understood by the politicians and that its operational costs have not been identified yet(4). Because of these problems, the decision to build the Synchrotron just prior to election time is tainted by political motivation, and therefore this decision to build the Synchrotron is not the right thing to do now when our universities are contemplating substantial increases in tuition fees.

Percy defends the project because of the educational challenges our children will have once the Synchrotron is fully operational in year 2008. He says "...What an incredible opportunity for my 12-year old!..." Percy forgets that this Synchrotron, per se, cannot provide the relevant economic relationship between education and work which is so much needed in Saskatchewan. Therefore, the Synchrotron is an expensive educational accessory for the benefit of few privileged children(5) and to the detriment of all others. This is not a democratic and compassionate outlook of education; it is an outlook which will further divide the rich from the poor, cities from the country, non natives from natives. Premier Romanow claims to lead by consensus, the truth is that his dictatorial(6), lack of creativity(7), and opportunistic political ambitions drive further divisions among Saskatchewan people.

Endnotes

1. Synchrotron worked for the right reasons, by Dwight Percy, The StarPhoenix, April 3, 1999, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

2. The current management philosophy of our leaders is so archaic that they still define the manager as the leader who makes the big buck to i)make the hard decisions, and ii)get the job done through others. I wonder what kind of hard decisions this manager can make under an autocratic environment and what kind of human sensitivity this same manager must have in making sure to exploit the work of others for his/her credit. Refer to the series of Mario deSantis' articles on the NEED OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGES IN SASKATCHEWAN published in the Fall of 1998 in the North Central Internet News

3. Refer to the series of Mario deSantis' articles on the Systems Dynamics published in February/March 1999 in the North Central Internet News

4. Some fear synchrotron project may drain university finances, by Kim McNairn, The StarPhoenix, April 1, 1999, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

5. Thoughts on Education, Knowledge, Learning and the Internet, by Mario deSantis, January 23, 1999. Published in the North Central Internet News

6. Saskatchewan Tin Pot Dictatorships: Lack of Integrity is Lack of Leadership, by Mario deSantis, February 7, 1999. Published in the North Central Internet News

7. A short commentary on the budget: A Number Game, by Mario deSantis, April 1, 1999. Published in the North Central Internet News