November 9, 1998 NEwS Over The Edge Page 9

Student Union Building a Distant Dream

by Dana Schwehr
Almost every campus
has a student union
building: a piace where
you can go and have a
beer with your friends, or

somewhere to go to deal
with the undergraduate
society, clubs, or student
newspaper. However,
because UNBC is a rela-

tively new campus, the
administration hasn’t got-
ten to that part of the
building yet. There are
things that are consid-
ered to be more impor-
tant, such as a new gym,

a forestry lab building ©

and of course all of these
take money and time. So,
how close is UNBC to
getting a student-plex of
ifs own?

NUGSS treasurer, Chris
Reid has been working
on it. He has recently met
with some investors, to
come up with some
Strategies to make the
most of the small amount
of money that NUGSS
has set aside for the pro-

ject. Reid estimates that
it will take anywhere from
1 to 1.5 million. At pre-
sent, NUGSS has
$299,684.00 for the pro-
ject in a trust fund, earn-
ing six to nine hundred
dollars a month in inter-
est. Investment strate-
gists have been consult-
ed on how to make the
most of the money, and
options are still being
considered.

So far, there has been
no real fundraising for the
building. A building fee
was instituted in 1994,
the first academic year at
the university, and that is
all the money that has
been raised so far. There

Adrenalin Addiction

By Dana Schwehr

Not everyone can claim
that they know someone
who.has cut a CD. Even
fewer can claim to be
friends with the guy.
UNBC student Chris
Maskulak has put out a
CD with the help of his
band, Adrenalin
Addiction.

The band was formed
about a year and a half
ago, in Prince Rupert.
Lead vocalist/guitar play-
er, Chris Maskulak is a
second year history
major at UNBC. Other
band members include
Bob Page, who plays
lead guitar, bassist
Jordan Thomson, and

drummer Mike Stratham. .

Recently, due to the fact
that Thomson left the
country to go to Japan,
Alex Bunkowski has
become the temporary
bassist. The band plans
to do some touring dur-
ing breaks in Maskulak’s
school schedule.
Maskulak, who also
does promotions for the
band, has been trying to
reach a deal with the
Generator and _ the
Ironhorse Pub in Prince
George. If there is a
“Battle of the Bands’
sponsored by NUGSS in
the New Year, Adrenalin
Addiction has been
guaranteed a spot on the

bill.

The band is punk-
based, with its main
influences being Bush
and Silverchair. Chris
describes it as
“Alternative rock with a
twist of lemon.” Lyrical
content deals with things
like adoption and drug
use, which can. deeply
affect young people.
They try to be positive in
their lyric writing, and
contain no swearing, or
other objectionable
things. Their first CD,
Youth Energy, was
released independently
by Cory Pritchette, in
July 1998, and sold out
in five days. More copies
are to come out in
December 1998.
Adrenalin Addiction has
its problems, as do all
indie bands, the main
one being publicity. In a
small town like Prince
Rupert, there are not a
whole lot of record com-
panies lying around to
sign you on. Adrenalin
Addiction was _ lucky
when they met up with
Cory Pritchette, who
works with youth mis-

sions, and is’ from
Portland, Oregon. He
helped release their

album. Why release with
a person who works with
the missionaries?

are no plans for fundrais-
ing yet, but Reid would
like to see fundraising
start to occur this year.
He has recently been
meeting with President
Jago-and the Board of
Govemors to get some
land to put the building
on, and on November
21st and 22nd, NUGSS
President, Saleem
Dossa, and former presi-
dent, Matt Macrae, are to
go meet the Board of
Governors to obtain land.
However, NUGSS can
do nothing with the land
without the consent of
the students, and if they
are not interested, noth-
ing will be done. Also,

Maskulak puts it this
way: “You have to pay
your dues.” He says that
his music is not about
“Getting ripped out of
your tree”; they try to

promote a positive youth
‘image, and do away with
many of the stereotypes
that plague young peo-
ple today. The band
would like to get a deal
going a World Vision

there may be a deal to go
in with UNBC to get it
built with other UNBC -
buildings, such as the
new fitness center. If that
is the route that NUGSS
chooses, it may be any-
where from ten to twenty
years before the student-
plex gets built. Another
concer t be dealt with is
that there are no plans
drawn up for the building
yet. One NUGSS board
member has suggested
using ATCO: portables,
as CNC does.

There is no real timeline
yet, Reid says. “It all
depends on how it tums
out”.

Canada, just to give
something back to the
world. The band is cur-
rently negotiating with
Pritchette to tour in
Oregon and Florida.
With a start like this, they
just may make it to
Maskulak’s goal: to be
signed with Virgin

Records. ,

UNBC Daycare children (from left) James and
Tristan, both two years old, take advantage of the
huge pile of leaves found in the courtyard:

Photo by Jay Brunn