By James Compton

Classes at Canada's third graduate journalism degree program won't begin until next September. But already critics are asking questions about the University of British Columbia's relationship to its sole corporate media benefactor. James Compton wades into the debate.

IT WILL BE ROUGHLY NINE MONTHS BEFORE classes begin at Canada's third graduate journalism degree program, but already questions have been asked about the school's relationship to its sole corporate media benefactor. The University of British Columbia announced the creation of the Sing Tao School of Journalism in July 1996. The school's first director, Donna Logan, began her appointment Aug. 1, 1997. And a few weeks later, construction was completed on a three - storey building that will house the school on UBC's picturesque Point Grey campus in Vancouver. But, while Logan searches for the school's two faculty members (the closing date for applications was Dec. 1, 1997) and prepares curriculum for the fall 1998 opening, some members of the university's Senate have raise d troublesome questions about the propriety of naming an academic program after a corporate donor.
We don't have any departments or academic units named after a sponsor or benefactor on campus. We have buildings, which are fine. We have endowed chairs, which are fine, but not an academic unit. We don't have the Molson school of forestry, or whatever. It is an unfortunate precedent to start that," said Robert Schutz, a member of the UBC Senate and sponsor of a motion to strip the name Sing Tao from the journalism school's title.
The motion was defeated by a slim margin: 27 to 21. And I think if it hadn't gone as far as it had the Senate would have voted it (naming of the school after Sing Tao) down," said Schutz, who believes there is widespread opposition to the idea among members of Senate. " I mean, if there had been a notice of motion that said we were explorin g the possibility of doing this I think it would have been voted down. But I think a lot of the senators thought the president and the dean of art s have already promised that they would name the school the Sing Tao School of Journalism and they couldn't go back on their promise. So I think it was water under the bridge by then."
A joint Board of Governors/Senate committee has since been struck to develop a policy on the use of major donors' names. Committee chair Philip Resnick is one of the people opposed to the naming. He calls the Sing Tao situation "crass." "Aren't there limits?" he asks. "Isn't there a point at which one has to say that certain things are for sale and certain things are not?" He wonders whether the university would have approved a mor e well - known donor like newspaper publisher Conrad Black. The Sing Tao donation followed a long search by the university, stretching back to the early `80s, for funding to support a new graduate journalism program. During an ear of government cutbacks in which university budgets were becoming tighter and tighter, that funding wasn't realized until a deal was struck between the company and former UBC President David Strangway. So - called "corporate partnerships" with Canadian post - secondary institutions have been on the rise in the `90s. One high - profile example is Toronto's York University, which is soliciting corporations to put their names on courses for a $10,000 fee. Corporate sponsorship of individual university classrooms is also a common sight on many campuses, including Simon Fraser University's Harbour Centre in downtown Vancouver, which boasts such rooms as the Fletcher Challenge Theatre. As well, the universities of Toronto and Western Ontario, along with York, have al l renamed their business programs after generous donors. Critics argue the shift to private funding has led to the development of have and have - not faculties. Hardest hit are the arts and humanities, whose programs don't have an immediate business application. Critics fear a reliance on private funds will significantly change the focus of research. Sing Tao, which translated means star island, is the largest Chinese - language newspaper in Canada. The Hong Kong - based company publishes in Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Hong Kong, Britain, Australia and the U.S. The company, controlled by newspaper baroness Sally Aw, whose family made millions after founding the Tiger Balm empire, is a multinational wit h deep pockets. its Sing Tao Foundation established a generous endowmen t fund to pay for the cost of the new building and establish the school's initial operating fund. The total size of the gift has not been made public, but the Vancouver Sun has reported the initial sum to be clos e to $3 million. Sing Tao is providing additional money to pay for staff salaries and additional expenses, while other donors will be solicite d in the future. Aw wants to promote high journalistic standards at a time when the quality of journalism is seen to be slipping, says Bob Yip, city editor of th e Vancouver edition of Sing Tao. "Her idea is to promote journalism everywhere."
Donations to non - profit institutions are not uncommon in Chinese business culture. "Gift giving is an important part of traditional and modern Chinese culture," according to Jan Walls, a China scholar and expert in international communication at Simon Fraser University. Walls says investment in education has been one of the primary values of Chinese culture over the centuries. "The main thing is to be able to make a gift to a non - profit institution. Business has not been the orthodox route to fame and honor in traditional Chinese culture. So, you could say that being seen as a good corporate citizen is especially important from the traditional Chinese perspective, because there is not that much honor in doing business, per se." Nevertheless, it is common marketing practice for businesses to donat e money to concerns which are somehow related to their main purposes or interests, according to Charles Weinberg, who teaches marketing at UBC. He says Sing Tao will gain name recognition by having its name attached to the school, but Weinberg cautions "the benefit of that name recognition would be unclear." Robert Schutz, who teaches in UBC's Department of Human Kinetics, doe s not question the integrity of Sing Tao nor the university administrators who put the endowment package together. However, he is worried the deal may be the beginning of a slippery slope.
I know nothing about Sing Tao," says Schutz. "I hope I can assume enough integrity there that they would not try to interfere in academic matters. And the university would not permit any outside agency to dictate wha t or how things should be taught. But that could happen down the road with other units, other corporations, if this kept going." Any suggestion that Sing Tao will have control over academic matters is dismissed by Shirley Neuman, UBC's dean of arts. Neuman points out that endowed chairs and speakers already exist on campus and at other reputable universities. She says academic control is never included in the gift arrangement. "The reporting line for the Sing Tao School of Journalis m is through myself, the dean, and, of course, to the vice - president academic provost and the president," she said. "There is no direct reporting line to Sing Tao." The school, like other professional programs at UBC, will have a steering committee composed of faculty members and some members of the professional community, including one member from Sing Tao, out of about a dozen o r so. But, says Neuman, that person will not have any directive power. "The endowment deed says that Sing Tao has the right to be consulted but not to direct." At work in her newly finished director's office, Logan is busy surveying other journalism and communication programs from around North America , sifting out what she feels are the best attributes of each institution. Logan, a veteran journalist with The Montreal Star and the CBC, sound s genuinely thrilled with the daunting challenge of building a topnotch J - school program from scratch. Her goal is to use the university's expertise from other faculties, in both the sciences and the arts, to expose th e 25 graduate students expected next fall to a wide range of interdisciplinary research combined with practical writing experience. Specific courses have not yet been developed, but Logan says an emphasis will be placed on Pacific Rim issues, rethinking journalism practices , and critical thinking skills. Logan believes many of today's journalists would benefit from better training in research and investigative work. "We tend to look in very traditional places for stories," she said. "And the really big stories elude us because we are so bogged down in process."
One of the things I'd like to do at the school is use it as a stimulant for journalistic issues," said and enthusiastic Logan. "Either through a newspaper, journal, or even conferences, chairs, speakers, that sort of thing. Because I think there's really room for that in this country." But will the still - unnamed school journal publish critical research of Sing Tao newspapers? Yes, says Logan, who adds she wouldn't have accepted the job if she felt there were any strings attached to the funding. "We will be analyzing all papers in Canada including the Sing Tao," she said. "I think that is fair game." Frankly, I have a hard time believing that," says James Winter of the University of Windsor (Ontario). Winter, the author of Democracy's Oxygen: How Corporations Control the News, believes the Sing Tao gift will have a "chilling effect" on research. "The tendency of human nature is that you don't bite the hand that feeds," he said. "And so, why do research on them (Sing Tao) when you can do research on someone else, or in so many other areas. I think the likelihood of them doing critical research on that company is minimal." Winter adds he believes a "chill" could extend t o research on other news corporations which could be viewed as potentia l future donors. Philip Resnick, who teaches in UBC's department of political science, agrees. "You're aware of who is behind this major contribution and I can't help but think this is going to inhibit, to some degree, your willingness to be as free about things as you might have been." Resnick won't predict what the university committee's findings will be. But he says a debate will likely be held on how UBC should distinguish between the naming of physical structures (such as buildings) and academic programs. He says the committee's report should be finished by February or March. But, he stressed, the use of the Sing Tao name is a done deal which won't be revisited.

James Compton is a doctoral candidate/journalist at Simon Fraser University's school of communication (now on faculty at Western Ontario -- Marc)