S OUT ON CAMPUS: A Pride UNBC Q &A PrideUNBC: Who are we? What do we do? PrideUNBC is a queer friendly organization here on campus that has two goals; 1) Provide a friendly and safe space for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, two-spirited, queer and questioning and other wise (un)defined individuals on cam- pus and 2) To provide for an aware- ness/representation of the LGBT-. TQQ community on campus. How do we try to accomplish these goals? 1)We hold drop-ins EVERY WEEK for people to come swing by and enjoy. During these drop- ins many things can occur from board games, movie nights, dis- cussion groups, and just hanging out and having fun. We also hold special events through out the year. This includes things like Special movie nights, bowling nights, pub nights, film festivals, dances, the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy event, and more. You don’t need to be gay to attend ANY of our events. Our only pre- requisite is an open mind. Regular drop-ins are held every Monday at 5:00-7:00pm in the Elder’s room of the First Nations Centre. 2) We are here, and we make our presence Known. We are well respected within the community, we hold major events like last year’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy event, which allowed for the University to be made aware that there is a Queer presence on cam- pus all the while creating a posi- tive environment. We put up posters, we support national cam- paigns like McGill’s same sex mar- riage campaign, and the National AIDS awareness campaign, “How Snow Ball Dance By JC DiacHuk STAFF WRITER PrideUNBC and the International Student Club hosted a dance on Friday the 19th, endearingly referred to as “The Snow Ball” - complete with paper snowflakes. The dance allowed students and members of the PG community to come and spend a good time with people they cared about, without fear of nasty looks or remarks. Overall, the dance was a success, the music was more than decent, the dancing was lively, and the do you know what you know?” Basically, we make sure that we can’t be missed, and try to present a positive image whenever possi- ble. PrideUNBC is sovereign. We are not affiliated with any other LGBTTQQ group off campus. That includes, but is not limited to -GALA North, and Youthquest!. That isnot to say we don’t support their efforts. In fact, PrideUNBC is on friendly terms with both groups, but we are here to repre- sent the LGBTTQQ community on campus, so it’s only. right that we keep ourselves separate, but still supportive, of other LGBTTQQ groups. We are also more then just a ‘club.’ Unlike other -clubs under the NUGSS banner, we don’t ask our ‘members’ to pay a member- ship fee, or have their name on a ‘membership list.’ This is because PrideUNBC believes that it would be insensitive to ask people who might be struggling with their sex- ual identity to do any of those things. We don’t need to know what your sexual identity is. We don’t need your name. We don’t need your money. What we need is to make sure you feel safe and comfortable here on campus and that you have the resources to use if and when you feel you need to utilize them. We are here to pro- vide that service to you. PLEASE don’t hesitate to con- tact us. You can e-mail us at pride@unbc.ca or check out our web site at http://prideunbc.tripod.com If privacy is an issue, we can guarantee your wishes of anonymity will be respected. In Respect and Pride, -PrideUNBC, Michael J. Cruickshak, Secretary. a Huge Success night's entertainment was enjoy- able. It is good to have the straight community attend these events, as well so keep up the good work and show your support. The PrideUNBC club provides a unique service to the University and the community, giving youth who have different sexualities to have a safe place to relax and share. Gay, bi, trarisgendered, questioning, straight, or any other defined or undefined sexuality - it doesn’t matter, since the group supports celebration and the acceptance of all kinds of people. Sorority to Sell Angels on Campus Feel like deing something to help your fellow person this Christmas season? Members of the Alpha Pi Beta Sorority are selling Angels to sup- port three Prince George charities: Quebec Shelter, Phoenix Transition Home, and the Prince George Sexual Assault Centre. Members of the sorority will be selling the Angels at a table in the agora on November 22 through to November 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. . Lepine wrote 8 Novemeer 24, 2004 Afro-Caribbean Club Bidding For Love By KATHLEEN DE VERE News Epiror The Afro-Caribbean Club has come up with a creative and fun way to raise extra funds for its projects - a silent auction that saw students at UNBC bidding for love - or a least a date with attrac- tive young members of the stu- dent body. The club held the Bachelor and Bachelorette silent auction on Thursday, November 18, in the agora, and the public was able to buy the rights to a date with one of 24 willing student volunteers for a small price of a $5 minimum donation. Bidding went from 1:00 p-m. until 4:00 p.m Students filled out a form with their bid, for the dates, which were held at 5th avenue bowling on Saturday November 20, and had to watch all day to see if they were being outbid for the date of their dreams. Bidding for some of the stu- dents being auctioned off went as high as $40 dollars according to representatives from the club, and proved to be a big success. According to Harpreet Minhas, a member of the Afro-Caribbean Club, the money raised from the auction is going towards the club’s Black History Month fund, and a portion of the proceeds are being donated to hurricane victims in the Caribbean. “We're fundraising for Black History Month because we want to make this a big event on cam- pus,” said Minhas. vet “We'd like to be able to afford to hold shows, publicize it and invite guest speakers,” she said. Black History Month is in February, and many students are already looking forward to the event the Afro-Caribbean club*has planned. PHOTO BY MARLON FRANCESCINI Just some of the more than 20 students who donated themselves to the Afro- Caribbean club’s charity auction. ‘The Bachelor and Bachelorette Silent action was sponsored by NUGSS and by 5th Avenue Bowling, and raised more than $353.for the Afro-Caribbean Club. December 6: Canada’s Other Remembrance Day A Day to Overcome Violence Against Women By BeLinpa Li For THE NORTHERN WOMEN’S CENTRE Mark Lepine stormed into an engineering class at 1’Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal on December 6, 1989 armed with a semi-automatic rifle. In a rampage, he fired several shots into the air and ordered for the men to leave. He then shot and killed six of the remaining female students in the room before going through the rest of the school in an attempt to kill as many women as he could. After twerity minutes, the largest mass murder in Canadian history was over as Lepine fired a shot into his head. Twenty-seven people were shot and fourteen were dead. Lepine’s rampage was not a random act of violence by a madman. All of the fourteen lives lost belonged to women, of which twelve were engineering students. As stated in his three-page sui- cide note, translated to English, “the feminists always have a talent for enraging me. They want to retain the advantages of being women (e.g. cheaper insurance, extended maternity leave preceded by a pre- ventive leave) while trying to grab those of the men.” He also included a hit list of nineteen prominent Quebecois women. According to Lepine in his note, “The lack of time (because I started too late) has allowed those radical feminists to survive.” Having been rejected from the engineering program at |’Ecole Polytechnique, Lepine believed as well that all of the female engi- neering students were radical fem- inists who’ stole his place in the program. Commonly known as_ the Montreal Massacre, this moment in time brought the issue of gen- der violence back into the spot- light as women’s issues had more or less faded into the background by the 1980s. Thus in 1991, the Canadian goverriment established the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women to be on December 6, the same day as the horrifying event. According to Status of Women Canada, “this day represents a time to pause,and reflect on the phenomenon of violence against women in our society. It is also a time have a special thought for all the women and girls who live daily with the threat of violence or who have died as a result of delib- erate acts of gender-based vio- lence.” Besides dwelling on the unfor- tunate events of the past, Status of Women Canada also states that December 6 is “for communities to reflect on concrete actions -that each Canadian can take to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.” To commemorate the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, the Northern Women’s Centre will be hosting a number of events on December 6 at UNBC. Through monologues, guest speaker dis- cussions, and theatre perfor- mances, the goal of this year is to not only bring more light to the topic of violence against women, but also to focus on the problems in Northern BC, For more infor- mation about December 6 or what you can do to help, stop by the Northern Women’s Centre or e- mail empower@unbc.ca.