October 12, 1998

| was walking home
from a local drinking
establishment late
Saturday night. It was
just past the police sta-
tion when an_ individual
decided to victimize me.
He was eating what
appeared to be a subma-
rine sandwich. When |
was parallel to the indi-
vidual, | thought (unfortu-
nately out loud), “that’s
not a Mr. Submarine
shirt.” | was going to ask
him if the Sub Shop was
still open because |
thought he worked there
and | was hungry. The
individual began to
scream’ “What's wrong
with my shirt?” The lan-
guage soon turned to
extreme aggression
upon me. From what |
understand this person is
not from UNBC.

What followed could
only be described as an
opprobrium (festival of
demons) There were
now at least five people
around me_ pecking,
punching, kicking and
hissing at me like chil-
dren in a William Golding
novel.

| persistently attempted
(quite diplomatically
under the — circum-
stances) to relate to the
idea that there had been
a simple misunderstand-
ing. It was no use. | was
further terrorized with
kicks and more threats. |
noticed a girl (who | rec-
ognized as a UNBC stu-
dent) and tried to con-
vince her that there was
an error in understand-
ing; nothing more! The
boys slowed their attack
on me and eventually

LETTERS
I was once less rational animal than these “fellow students”

they came to the sense
that they were taking part
in acts beyond reason-
able intent.

| knew running would
have simply resulted in
being chased down with
a good old-fashioned
shit-kick attachment. |
am 33 years old. | have
been to where these
people are in their lives. |
also knew that it would
be futile to resist with any
force. | have a bent nose
from my own silly (past)
aggressions. | chose to
drop and ‘play dead’. |
dropped to the ground
and began to stress quite
fearfully that, “| am a
University student too!” |
am not a coward. There
was a point when | really
wasn’t sure that | was
going to live!

Eventually | was

allowed to get up and
was thankfully allowed to
leave with emotional
scars and the sensation
of very dangerous peo-
ple learning and striving
to become professionals
here at UNBC. | saw
them walking and talking
among themselves now
on the other side of the
street. They knew they
had done something
wrong.

These attackers know
now who | am, and |
them. They have suc-
cessfully made me feel
unsafe in my own insti-
tute of learning. One of
the perpetrators walked
up to me in the hallway
today and offered to buy
me a beer in apology. He
wasn't too keen on inter-
preting the student ethi-
cal code; or the human

APEC and other protests prevent crimes

Unfortunately, newspa-
pers are depositories for
ad hominem arguments.
James Moore's letter
‘APEC Protestors, What
Happened?’ (‘Over The
Edge’ September 28,
1998) keeps with the tra-
dition. Since it is easily
understood that igno-
rance is linked to arro-
gance, the latter is a poor
ally in public debate.
James Moore is ignorant
of the facts regarding the
APEC protest. Attacking
and stereotyping the citi-
zens that took part in the
protest is arrogant.

| will not lay claim to
absolute knowledge of
events that led to this
unfortunate incident, but |
will lay claim to more
knowledge of the events
than James Moore has
displayed. For this rea-
son, | feel obliged to
respond to his letter
(even though | should be
writing papers and study-
ing for mid terms!).

The organizers of the
protest, UBC, the RCMP
and the Prime Minister’s
Office (PMO) all set the
rules months in advance
to APEC. One rule, the
boundary as to where
protestors could position
themselves, was
changed at the — last
minute. The protestors

‘were

were not consulted, they
simply pushed
back, rendering months
of planning useless and
futile. The targets of the
demonstration would be
able to roll through with-
out having to lay an eye
on a sign or protestor.
This is akin to a vivisec-
tionist removing the
vocalization capabilities
of an animal so he/she
won't be distracted by the
screams of pain or feel
compassion for the ani-
mal while they get on
with their ‘necessary’ job
of ‘improving our
lifestyles’. Should our
world leaders and cor-
pratist elite be allowed to
cut the vocal chords of
the dissenting voices?
Voices that scream for
those who have already
(literally) had their voices
silenced? If the world’s
political and corporate
elite could hear these
screams, would their poli-
cies be so harsh? We
must also remember
these screams are very
often the precursor to
positive change.

Now to deconstruct
James’ letter:

“The career-student
intelligentsia are manu-
facturing the argument
that the APEC confer-
ence... is a grand scan-

dal whose root is the
Prime Minister’s: wish to
stifle free speech.” | am
acquainted with a few
people who attended the
protest. A couple work in
a warehouse, another is
a professional consul-
tant, one is a student who
is definitely not a “career-
student” (Who could
afford that!?). Now | sus-
pect that the majority of
people at the protest
were UBC students, a
logical assumption, given
the location. | fail to see
the logic in labeling them
“career-students”. | sup-
pose this speaks to the
ad hominem nature of
James’ letter.

Did the PMO “stifle” free
speech? We won't know
that until after the hear-
ings. Though to date,
there has been some
very damning evidence
speaking to that hypothe-
sis. UBC officials stating
that the game plan was
changed at the last
minute. The many
remarks noted in RCMP
memos and notebooks
that speak to the ‘political
problem’ the . protestors
pose (embarrassing dic-
tators or “foreign lead-
ers”), not the ‘security
problem.’ Direct refer-
ences to the PMO with
regards to the latter.

Maybe James, in light of
the most recent damning
evidence, since he
penned his letter, will
change his opinion. The
solicitor general, Andy
Scott’s loose lips slip up.
Caught by an ex-journal-
ist (now NDP cabinet
minister) mentioning
which RCMP sergeant
was going to take the fall
for the PM. Take all of
the above ingredients,
put it in a pot, top it off
with a hefty portion of
pepper spray (not to
taste, it has to be hefty
for this recipe) and call it
suppression stew.
Guaranteed to satisfy
any dictator’s appetite.
“Good lord.” This, |
hope would put any one
who believes in free
speech and democracy
into a “clinical hissy fit.”
Yes, police in this country
regularly arrest protes-
tors. In almost all cases,
organized, planned and
publicized protests end
up with non-violent willful
arrest. This is what
makes Canada such a
wonderful place to live.
We can disagree with our
government and we can
wave a sign in a politi-
cian’s face and live to tell
about it. It seems with
Chretien however, that if
we do such a thing, we

Over The Edge Page 5

ethical code. He said it
would make him feel bet-
ter if he could just buy
me a beer. | don’t think
he wanted me to feel bet-
ter. | think he wanted to
dampen my sense of vio-
lence in his world and
mine. | guess that was
simply, “the psyche of
the abusive disclosed to
the ‘post-abusive.” | told
him that it would be bet-
ter for me if we just
acknowledge each
other's existence and
discontinue any further
communication. My rea-
son for deciding this is,
“We are not at concur-
ring levels in our devel-
opment as human.
However with hope and
practice this can be
done.”

| hope anyone who sub-
scribes to this sociologi-

get put in a headlock or
pepper sprayed!
James accuses the pro-

testors of having too
much time on_ their
hands. | have heard this

many times before. |
have had people accuse
me of the same thing
while | had two jobs on
top of the protest | was
taking part in (that’s a
whole other story). It is
very insulting, but we (the
citizens in this country
who have been pushed
to the point where we are
willing to take the time
out of our busy lives to
fight for our freedoms
and beliefs) are used to
it. This absolute false
accusation has been
manufactured by public
relation firms such as
Burson-Marsteller and
fed to the public. As evi-
dence to this point,
James may find interest
in the fact that there was
a 4% unemployment rate
amongst those arrested
at Clayoquot during the
summer of 1993.

| have been in a country
where clubs, tear-gas,
electricity, knives,
scalpels and torture, but
mostly bullets deal, with
those opposed to the
government. In a couple
of words James, it sucks.
| was told of the atrocities

cal ili (I call human ado-
lescent barbarism) will
read this letter and real-
ize the importance of
feeling safe. More impor-
tantly, if they see them-
selves acting out this
type of behavior, they will
stop it before injury
results in death.

It is inhumane to rob
anyone of their safety in
the halls of UNBC or
anywhere (day or night).
If these University stu-
dents see themselves as
eventual professionals
maybe they should go
back and read The Lord
Of The Flies or seek
some kind of counseling
before the propagation of
violence affords them an
education in Kingston
Pen.

David Schindler

committed there. They
are unspeakable, and |
won't ruin your day by

writing them here.
Scenes at the APEC
protest last summer
reminded me of that
country, not Canada.
That is what | found most
disturbing. No James,

this is not a “brittle mole-
hill.” It is a very important
event that should be
examined in depth.
James also suggests
that “those who have
lives beyond placards,
protests, and pepper
spray, remember to intu-
itively wield Ockham’s
razor..." Many crimes
have been prevented
because people wave
signs and placards.
Women can vote in this
country because people
waved placards. We
have environmental leg-
islation in this country
because people wave
placards. | would sug-
gest that James sharpen
his “Ockham’s razor” and
re-evaluate the events
leading up to the APEC
demonstration.

Thank You
Kevin Murphy