Volume 16, Issue 1 September 16, 2009 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Andrew Bailey MANAGING EDITOR Stephanie McCullough PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Reza Akbari GENERAL OFFICE ASSISTANT Kali Flick COPY EDITOR Vacant NEWS EDITOR Shelby Petersen ARTS EDITOR Samantha Farrow SPORTS EDITOR Andrew Bailey PHOTO EDITOR Vacant AD MANAGER Vacant CLUB EDITOR Vacant COMICS Sara Fontes STAFF WRITERS Thomas Cheney PHOTOGRAPHERS Reza Akbari Shelby Petersen Andrew bailey Ricardo Alberto Levia CONTRIBUTORS Ménica Nifez Hernandez Katherine Sui Mel Farrow thanks to Monica Special Nunez Hernandez, exchange student from Mexico for shar- ing her idea for the design of cover page with us Reza Akbari Over the Edge is the official independent publishing media of students at the University of Northern British Columbia. As such, it is our mandate to report on issues of interest to students in the North- ern Region. We encourage all students, both on the main and regional campuses to submit to Over the Edge. Over the Edge is part of the Canadian Uni- versity Press network of papers, otherwise known as CUP. CUP is an organization that is entirely owned by member papers, and provides such services as a news wire and advertis- ing to Over the Edge. Over the Edge is published every second week during the fall and winter semesters. OFFICE LOCATION 6-350 MAILING ADDRESS 3333 University Way Prince George, BCV2N 429 PHONE (250) 960-5633 FAX (250) 960-5407 E-mail over-the-edge@unbc.ca From Editors Memo from the Boss j . September 16, 2009 + Over the Edge Aaron Hill just hit a 2 run blast to put the Jays up by two over the Tigers in the 9th and now I'm ready to get work- ing on this first memo of the year. I am writing this in Victoria due to LSAT prep so unfortunately I was unable to partake in, what I can only assume was, an awesome backyard BBQ so I havent gotten a chance to meet all of you yet. Regardless, for those of you who are returning students welcome back, and for those of you just starting out here, welcome. Over the Edge is full on prepared for a fantastic year and we hope we can entertain and inform you to the _ power of awesome. You first years will soon learn that you have attended the University with the finest of all campus _ papers, seriously on a scale of skim to chocolate milk, we're the chocolate. Of course, we will need your help to be | impressive over the course of the year by sending in your submissions and letters. I look forward to reading what this year's student body has to say. ‘The biggest and most important announcement for me to mention in this memo is that Over the Edge is hiring! We are currently in need of a photo editor, a clubs editor, a copy editor and a features editor. Those of you wanting to apply for the photo editor position need to submit sample photography along with you're resume. For the clubs editor position we will need three writing samples to accompany your resume. Copy editor applicants will be given articles and asked to edit them to test your proofreading skills. Finally the features editor is something we're hoping to bring back into focus this year; the type of feature we are looking for is a comic’s page. A newspaper without a comic’s page is like an Andrew Bailey without a beer, so if any of you are interested in cartoonistry or cartoonism, as well as the organization of cartoon/comics, you need to get in touch with us. All resumes/work can be submitted through email at over-the-edge@unbc.ca or just drop your stuff off at our office. That's about it for this memo, I've said welcome, and I've advised about the employment opportunities we've got, all I need to do now is thank you for picking up this awe- some publication. This is our official UNBC school paper, welcome to it. Much love for your readership and good luck with all your semester plans. ANDREW BAILEY EDITOR IN CHIEF/SPORTS EDITOR Come late April most students, after finishing up their last final exams of the year, scatter to other areas of the country in anticipation of some much deserved time away from UNBC to focus on other areas of their lives, primarily drinking on patios and sleeping till noon. Our elected members of the NUGSS board however spent their summer organizing and plan- ning events to ensure that everything would be in place by September to en- sure a fantastic year for us students here on campus. For those who are unaware, NUGSS is UNBC’s Undergraduate Student Soci- ety they are comprised of board mem- bers elected by UNBC students and are responsible for maintaining a sensational campus community here at UNBC. NUGSS faces a challenge this year as there are only two returning board mem- bers, both of whom will be moving into different positions: Jennifer Kwan will be moving from her previous position as Women's Representative to Vice Pres- ident of Finance; and Lindsay Gardner will be taking over as NUGSS President after serving as the Colleges Representa- tive last year. With all the new faces taking their pos- itions on the board the composition of NUGSS will see a change from the norm as historically NUGSS has been pre- dominantly comprised of business stu- dents, a phenomenon Gardner believes is because “naturally business students on campus have historically been the most involved with the school.’ This year how- ever only four of the elected eleven board members hold business related majors. Gardner is thrilled with this compos- itional shift, as she hopes that the divers- ity of the board will allow for a wider range of events aimed at students from all academic backgrounds. Gardner also pointed out that this shift illustrates that a wider variety of students are taking an interest in UNBC'’s student government stating “it's important for students to get involved if they want to see change and this is occurring as we see a lot of students running for board positions with NUGSS. Over the last few years weve worked really closely with students and clubs to let people know what's available to them and this, I be- lieve, has lead to our current board which is extremely diverse with members from all different backgrounds.’ Despite the rise in students interested in running for board positions, Gardner was unopposed when she ran for Pres- ident last year. This is very common and, in fact, there have been very few NUGSS elections in recent years that have seen more than one presidential candidate. Gardner explains, “as far as running for the NUGSS President goes, non-board members see less of a chance of running against someone with NUGSS experi- ence.’ Gardner went on to explain that “there are many internal conversations within the board regarding running for the presidency and if someone on the board is planning to oppose another board member for president they gener- ally have enough respect for each other to work it out through conversation.” Gardner is cautiously optimistic regard- ing her first full term as NUGSS Pres- ident stating, “everyone is meshing well but there is a lot to learn so during the next month were all going to have to work hard and learn a lot.” The new members had little time to celebrate their electoral victories as, after taking office on April 1, they immediately began spending their sixty required hours a month during the summer, often vastly exceeding this time requirement, planning for UNBC’s two main September events: The Backyard BBQ, and Shinerama. Gardner was very impressed with the dedication her new board showed to their NUGSS com- mitments stating: “you think 60 hours a month isn’t that much but when it’s sum- mer time and you have so many other commitments its hard to get all the plan- ning done, but so far so good!” The Backyard BBQ, which will be held on September 11th, is of specific import- ance to the new NUGSS board due to the negative response the students gave to this event last year. As this is a University event the main complaints by students were regarding the lack of accessibility to the beer garden, the tiny designated drinking area resulted in enormously long lines, a problem worsened by Prince George's cold climate, which caused many students to get fed up and leave the event entirely. Rumours circulated after the event that NUGSS had run out of beer and had therefore closed the beer garden entirely, these rumours were later discredited however the negative stigma remained throughout the year. To avoid history repeating itself, Pres- ident Gardner and the rest of the NUGSS board have organized a much more realistic drinking venue as Gard- ner explained: “this year we will have the benefit of the Thirsty Moose Pub which will be open. We have also gained an ex- tended liquor license which will allow for a gated outside area and we will be using the event space too so we will be able to have a capacity of 600 people in the drinking area.’ (As I am writing this a few days before the actual event and this paper will be published after it has taken place I can only assume the beer garden worked sensationally and everyone had an awesome time.) Of course the day is not just about drinking. The NUGSS board will also be organizing free non-drinking events throughout the day. These free day events will not be specific to the Backyard BBQ as Gardner has made it one of her pri- mary focuses as NUGSS President to host many free UNBC events through- out the year in response to student com- plaints last year that NUGSS events were inaccessible due to cost. Along with organizing UNBC events, NUGSS is also responsible for oversee- ing the variety of clubs here on campus. The clubs days this year will be held on September 16% and 17% tables are avail- able to all current clubs and will be set up around the Wintergarden area. Any stu- dent who does not find a club appropriate for them has the option of creating their own club by filling out a clubs application form, these are available in the NUGSS office. NUGSS will be holding club hear- ings during September and January. Club hearings are held by NUGSS board members, as well as volunteer student representatives, to ensure that all UNBC clubs are open to all UNBC students. The NUGSS board meets every Wed- nesday from 9:30- 11:30. All students are welcome to attend these meetings however those wishing to raise certain issues to the board must fill out an Action Request Form, available in the NUGSS office. These forms must be submitted by Friday of every week. Those unable to make it to these meetings to raise their concerns will be benefitted by Gardner's open door policy, as she is more than will- ing to meet with any students expressing “T really want students to know that they can walk in and see me any time.”