March 26, 2001

Opinion

John Q. Robot: A question of morality

It is a common belief that all
politicians are crooks.
Canadians, like our American
brethren, believe that our
politicians should be immune
from common human foibles
such as greed and gluttony.
We are m shocked when we
hear of politicians abusing the
powers that they have been
entrusted with and we are
saddened when we hear that
these same politicians pad
their expense accounts and
overcharge for travel expens-
es. Citizens, | hear your pain
and your frustration; | under-
stand your need for politi-
cians with unassailable
morality; | hear your calls for
unimpeachable public repre-
sentatives and | deliver to you

an idea so revoulutionary it
may cause widespread panic
in the rathouses we call par-
liament.

| could explain this idea in
one single word, but that
word would not easily be able
to explain all the various
implications of this brave ven-
ture. No, indeed a single word
would never do the idea jus-
tice, and that’s what this
whole concept _ involves:
Justice for all. Additionally, a
one-syllable newspaper arti-
cle would never give me the
ink | believe | deserve.

So what is this concept? It
came to me in a vision while |
was driving my truck from
Quesnel. My battery wasn’t
working so | was left alone

with my thoughts for the dura-
tion of the trip. As | drove, |
pondered the quality and
state of our government and
intermittently cussed my
wretched truck, but as | said
before, the blinding light of
ingenuity struck and | came
up with the perfect idea.

“Dude” | began, “Dude,
wouldn’t it be rad if we had
like, killer-robots in parlia-
ment!” Yes, indeed, with killer-
robots in parliament we
would never worry about the
morality of our elected offi-
cials. These robots could be
programmed to meet their
constituents’ needs, from the
razor sharp throwing stars to
num-chucks modified with
death rays. As citizens we

Elections Policy and
Candidate Actions

| am writing in response to
the unethical and disgusting
manner by which some of the
of the candidates displayed
themselves. | believe that the
candidates running in the
elections should exemplify
characteristics that portray
respect, fairness and maturi-
ty. However, this was not the
case. Two events occurred
that need to be brought to
your attention.

During the last week, candi-
dates started to campaign,
and as we already know,
Over The Edge Newspaper
had pictures and profiles of
some of the candidates who
were running, unofficially. At
one point during the week,
Ombusperson. Candidate, AJ
Lal and Finance Candidate
Bal Gill were at a table set up
in the hallway outside of
NUGSS office, for what rea-
son, | do not know. What |
saw though, was in very poor
taste. As they campaigned
and promoted themselves,
they used a large stack of
Over The Edge newspapers
to show the candidates run-
ning. The problem however
was the fact that (a) all covers
were removed from the
papers, effectively eliminating

Moezine Hasham’s adver-
tisement for Director of
University affairs, and (b)
they had crossed out with a
pen the pictures of Moezine
and Mohammed _ Habib
(Director at Large candidate)
while circling their own pic-
tures and adding comments
in support of Jose G.
(Director of University Affairs
candidate). | found this to be
in poor taste, as character
attacks like this one can not
be tolerated especially by
and “impartial”
Ombudsperson.

The second incident occurred
on Wednesday night, March
14th. A friend and myself
walked into the NUGSS office
to use the phone and per-
haps get some Ping Pong
paddles. Upon entering, we
saw Jose and his friend using
the computer and the room
for homework. A conversation
ensued, where Jose started
to talk about his campaign.
He also mentioned other can-
didates whom he said “would
make a great team, as long
as Moe did not get in.” |
believe this was uncalled for.
He continued to disrespect
Moezine as both a person
and a candidate. If Jose had

something to say about his
campaign, | feel the NUGSS
office isn’t the right place to
do it. Secondly, those who
have access to it should not
abuse the NUGSS office isn’t
the right place to do it.
Secondly, those who have
access to is should not abuse
the NUGSS Office with the
purpose of doing homework,
or checking emails on their
computer. It is not a personal
office. As well, personal
attacks upon any candidates,
regardless of who they are,
should not be tolerated.

| hope that as voters, we real-
ize that this type of activity
cannot occur. | do not under-
stand how people can
respect and vote candidates
like Jose, AJ and Bal, who
portray such bad taste,
immaturity and utter stupidity.
Especially in the Position of
University Affairs, one that
represent the entire school,
Ombudsperson one _ that
should be fair and unbiased,
and we all understand the
importance of the Finance
Director. | was disgusted by
the acts, and | hope they do
not occur again.

The Concerned Student

could be sure a room full of
frenzied automatons was
hearing our voices. Elections
would be finished quickly as
we watch the winner stand
victorious over the lifeless
corpse of the defeated killer-
robot and we would cheer as
the oil, the life blood as it
were, oozes out of the metal-
lic jugular vein of the loser.

This exciting venture is cer-
tainly not without drawbacks.
It is quite possible that our
matallic saviours could turn
on us and unleash an apoc-
olypse not envisioned since
Revelation. To solve this, |
suggest a squad of extra-
deadly _killer-robots who
could kill the killer-robots
meant to save us, but now out

to kill us. Does this seem cir-
cular yet? It isn’t. | propose
that the extra-deadly killer-
robots be plugged in with a
long extention cord, so if they
decide to join forces with the
nefarious transformed-from-
good-to-menacingly-evil
politician robots we can sim-
ply unplug them.

So what was the one word
solution? What was this one-
syllable wonder? Simply this
my friends, love. Yes love is
all we need to make this
world a better place. Love
and a whole pile of killer-
robot politicians.

Simon Goring

“Sorority Whore”

Last Thursday, March 8th, |
walked around the UNBC
halls and Wintergarden and
was pleased to see various
booths promoting women
and women related issues.
The Elizabeth Frye Society, a
booth on midwifery, another
on breast feeding, the UNBC
Sorority, North Country
Clayworks and the UNBC
Women’s Centre were just
some of the groups that par-
ticipated in the event.

| left that day impressed with
the school and the women
and men who took their time
to organize such an event.
My warm and fuzzy feeling
were so strong that 45 min-
utes in line at Sgt’s could not
dampen my spirits. That was
soon over, later on in the
evening | was in the pool
table area and | spotted
woman wearing a tight red
tank top with the following
words across her bosom:
“SORORITY WHORE.” |
asked my companions “What
kind of woman would wear a
shirt like that?” The various
guesses were a woman with
no sense of self worth or self-
esteem. But after watching a
couple of people “congratu-
lating” her on her shirt |
thought maybe it was for
attention. | found the shirt
insulting to women. | also

found it insulting to see other
women “high-fiving” her and
giving her the “thumbs-up”.
As the night wore on, | decid-
ed to give her a piece of my
mind. Just as | was going to
tell her the “WHORE” shirt
was entirely inappropriate,
another woman threw a drink
in her face and then one of
the “bouncers” yelled at her
to leave the bar. | do not know
if these reactions were
because of her vulgar shirt or
because of her behaviour
during the course of the
evening, nonetheless | felt
satisfied.

Women everywhere have
been fighting to shed the
stereotypes that keep us
labeled “whores”, “sluts” and
“bitches”. When a woman
wears a_ shirt labeled
“WHORE?” we are not fighting
with intelligence, self-respect
or integrity. Maybe | am over-
reacting , however, | did not
find it funny; in fact, | found it
immature and lacking in good
taste.

To the woman who wore the
“WHORE “ shirt and the
women who “congratulated”
the “WHORE” shirt woman:
grow up. We have come a
very long way as women and
you are the type that pro-
motes a Stone Age mentality.
Joyce Roth