p rs F se overtheedge 6 March, 1996

a

UNBC Student Delivers Assignmen

We’ve all heard the story of the
dog eating the homework, but
probably not the story about the
dog delivering the homework.
That’s exactly what a University
of Northern British Columbia
student can say. Nursing student
Holly Nelson completed an
assignment on the health and
fitness level of dog mushers, and
then had her assignment delivered
by a dog team.

“J thought this would be a lot of
fun to send it by dog team because
the assignment was about dog
mushers,” says Holly. “We always
hear excuses for not having your
homework done on time. It just
so happens, this assignment was
delivered early.”

Holly is a UNBC student in
Quesnel, located south of UNBC’s
Prince George campus. Her
professor, Dr. Martha MacLeod,
received an e-mail the day be for
the assignment arrived, which
read:

Iam sure you have received
assignments in all forms but I bet
you have never had one delivered
by a dog team. I will post it this
morning and it will be carried by

dog team over the historic Cariboo
Gold Rush Trail, a total distance
of 365 kilometres. I am keeping a
“hard copy just in case there’s adog
fight and my assignment gets eaten

t by Dogsled

by Rob van Adrichem

by a dog.

In dog sled racing, the dogs
themselves are extremely fit and
in excellent health. In her
assignment, Holly examined the

RE-THINKING THE UNIVERSITY:

fitness of the athletes behind the
sled. She has been working on the
project with local sled dog racer,
Jeff Dinsdale. “What’s been
evident in the past few years with
high-profile races like the Iditarod,

~ which are really ultra-marathons,

is that some teams are able to do
better than others, even though the
dog care is probably equal
between the teams,” says Jeff, a
former Iditarod qualifier. “The
real difference between the dog
racers is just how fit they are
themselves as individuals.
Nowhere have I seen any research
on the fitness of dog mushers, so
sure, why shouldn’t a northern
university like UNBC be doing
this kind of research. In fact, the
world champions for the past few
years have all been British
Columbia residents.

“It would be really reassuring if
UNBC researchers found out that
we all did need that extra layer of
fat to keep warm in the cold
weather.” :

The President’s Public Lecture Series presents

“Madly off in all Directions”: Pressures for Planning and
Accountability in Universities

by:

John Stubbs, President of Simon Fraser University

7:30PM

UNBC Dining Hall

lL Wednesday, March 13, 1996

Everyone welcome
. Refreshments will be served following the lecture