ct 9, 2 Editorial ver The Edge Page One Student’s Opinion Money. Some say it is what makes the world go around. Unfortunately, due to many reasons we do not have a lot of money here at UNBC. In fact the Northern Undergraduate Student Society (NUGSS) has actual- ly been losing it. NUGSS has lost about $8,000 over the past two years. This is just a fact of life at UNBC and it isn’t anyone’s fault. Then came the proposed 2000/2001 NUGSS budget. This budget was prepared with one ultimate goal in mind. A balanced budget. It took along time to create but thanks to The Director of Finance, Shane Shepens, and the Monetary Affairs Committee this was actually accomplished. Some _high- lights of the budget include increased funding for sports and clubs, reduced spending on executive travel and bene- fits, and an increase in the amount given to all the soci- eties on campus. Despite being awarded more money then they received last year, over $1000 more, Thanks, 1 am one of those foolish stu- dent who decided to start looking for a place to live after the semester began. Basically, what this meant, was we couldn’t move in any- where until the end of the September. This was due to the fact that all of the decent houses were quickly rented by students who were ambi- tious enough to move back by the end of August. The only options left were to either tent somewhere, or couch surf. As much as | love tenting in the wilderness, with a layer of canvas being the only protec- tion between me and the nat- ural elements, | realized that ‘the thrill of tenting would quickly wear off after the first frost. Even sooner if a resourceful little rodent decid- ed that one of my overpriced textbooks was great material for creating a nest. Therefore that option was quickly thrown out and the latter was ‘implemented. By Tracy O’Brien So there | am, couch surfing, once again at my buddy Cathy's pad. | have now come to the realization that living out of a backpack means complete and total chaos. For summer break chaos is fin, but once school starts chaos translates into disorganiza- tion, and for me disorganiza- tion means unnecessary stress and usually bad grades. With all my binders and other school supplies still in storage, | decided to purchase a UNBC note- book/clipboard to give my life some. resemblance of order. It was in this book that | kept all of my notes for the first three weeks of classes. You can imagine how important that book became to me. Unfortunately | ma one of those people with a natural - tendency to lose things. | have heard numerous sug- the women’s centre response to this budget was one of rage. They believe that NUGSS is not supporting them but is merely tolerating their existence. The women’s centre wants NUGSS to fund them over $20,000 so that they may hire a co-ordinator to help “organise” events and keep their books up to date. Unfortunately for Eila Lund, and the women’s centre, NUGSS just cannot afford to give them over 15% of the revenue they get from stu- dents. NUGSS has many Letters other expenses. All the events run throughout the year cost NUGSS money. Last year alone the student society lost over $14,000 run- ning events for 100% of the student population. The Society also has to fund over 90 clubs around the school. In the previous fiscal year $21,000 was spent on clubs. This year their funding has increased a measly $1500. ’'m not going to even go into the support the women’s cen- tre gets from students at the University. It is a very contro- versial issue that cannot be addressed in an article of this length. However | did want to say directly to the women’s centre that their slanderous ways of getting their point across are neither welcome nor admired. In future a more conservative approach to the situation would be appreciat- ed by ail. And that is One Students Opinion. A.J. Delisle ut No Thanks gestion of how to keep track of my things, everything form high tech location devices to duct taping my valuables to myself. Seeing as | am an individual on a student bud- get the tacking device was not a feasible option. This left me with either duct tape, or a conscious effort to not leave my stuff everywhere. | chose the latter for obvious reasons. *So there | am clinging to my little notebook as | roamed aimlessly around the univer- sity. | was in the third week of school that the unthinkable became reality. | was in a lab in the Canfor theatre that ended early. | suppose that in my excitement | forgot my only notebook. | am sure you all can imagine my panic that night when | couldn't find it in my knapsack. At one point or another we have all lost something, a disk, a binder, a bag, and it is when you start remembering everything that was in it, that your heart truly begins to sink. But no fear, this troy is not a completely sad one. The following day | returned to the Canfor Theatre and found a little present awaiting my return. So | would like to thank whoever found my notebook in the theatre, on September 22nd or 23rd, for not throwing out all of my notes that were contained inside. However, | am not so appreciative of the theft of the notebook itself. Perhaps some would say finder keepers, but the reality of the situation is that we are all students. We are sup- posed to be held together by common interests and look out for one another. We are mostly on tight budgets and have little money to spare. The thing that disturbs me the most is not that it was my "notebook, with all the times | have lost things this was bound to end up happening now and then. It is the fact that most of the people | have talked to have had a similar experience at UNBC. So to the people who have no conscience when it comes to helping themselves to other people’s thing, next time try to consider how it would feel if you were in their shoes. If you had irreplaceable notes and projects in a binder and it was thrown out because someone wanted your binder and didn’t have the consideration to at least take the papers inside to security. the again some- one who felt stealing was a better notion than actually forking out the five dollars to buy their own, probably is lacking all forms of considera- tion anyway. Sincerely, Tracy O’Brien Over The Edge appreciates every students opinion, and will print letters to the editor that are submitted. Please drop off you submission at our office or email at over-the-edge @ unbc.ca.