Uver ihe Kage

Uctober Lo, 1996

Letters

Protesting Student Apathy

(Name Withheld by Request)

Alright, look. I’m getting a

bit tired of the attitudes I hear

about this newspaper. People
seem to be forever complaining
about the quality and/or lack of
content in the paper. Everyone
is entitled to have his own
opinion; but hey, we have to
draw a line somewhere. |
believe in the motto I saw ona
poster once: “You complain,
you do it.” Why voice your
opinion if you don’t want it
heard? And if you voice your
opinion so it will be heard, why
not do so in a more or less open
forum? (I say more or less only
due to the fact that the paper
comes out every two weeks, not
frequently enough to carry ona
“true” debate.)

If you want to see the paper
changed, don’t just sit around
and wait impatiently for it to
happen on its own. Go out and
change it. Do something
besides complain. It has been
said that there are three types of
people in the world, those who
make things happen, those who
watch things happen, and those
who wonder what happened.
But there is also a fourth type:
those who complain that
nothing happened. Personally,
I sometimes think those people
should be shot, especially when
they had the opportunity to
make things happen and decided
against it. If you want to see
more news articles, write some.
If you want to see more photos,
take pictures. If you want to see
more cartoons, poetry, anything,
bring your submissions to the
newspaper office. Those people
don’t bite. They don’t stand
behind the door with a loaded
shotgun, lying in wait for
unsuspecting students to wander
along. Don’t just complain
about things; do something!
Don’t just tell one friend about
something you disagree with;

share with the rest of the
university. You may discover
that other people share your
opinion. If you don’t believe
one person can make a
difference, try writing an article
and asking for help in making a
difference.

Several people have come to
the newspaper office to
complain about the election
rules. There was a complaint
that the rules were not posted.
They had been in the previous
two issues, but the people
complaining about the lack of
visibility had not read the
newspaper; and freely admitted
this. The rules had also been
posted on the door of the office,
as well as the bulletin boards
around campus. Complaints
were also voiced about the rules
themselves. I don’t necessarily
agree with all of them; but I can
clearly see both sides of the
argument over them. “Be
eligible to run by having your
name in the staff credits twice
between the dates of January 1,
1996 and October 1, 1996” was
the first criteria for running for
a position on the newspaper.
The complain was that this
excluded those students who
had not been in attendance last
semester.and was designed to
make the paper “elitist” as
opposed to representative of the
student body. Okay, true, it did
exclude some students.
However, a lot of the students
that were excluded were those
who really didn’t appear to care
enough about the quality/
content/etc. of the paper to
bother contributing anything
last year. (A haiku counts as a

contribution to the paper, for |

those of you who lack the time
to sit down and write an actual
article.) You must also consider
the flip side of the debate. The
newspaper staff should consist
of people who actually care
about the paper (enough to have

had something to do with it
other than running for. a
position just to have the
prestige of an official title).
Having your name in the
credits twice in five months is
not a lot to ask. Especially
considering that “staff credits”
does not require you to attend
weekly meetings or put in x
number of office hours a week.
“Get approval of a member of
Over The Edge” was another
of the rules. Why there should
be any debate over this criteria,
I’m not precisely sure. The
rule in question is in place to
prevent the election from
becoming a simple popularity
contest amongst people who
have no real interest in the
running of the newspaper on a
day to day basis, or even an
issue to issue basis. The rules
of the Natural Resources
Society election says that
anyone running for a position
must be a member of the club.
Although I don’t know first
hand, I will venture a guess that
being a member of NRS §
involves more than perhaps
writing two haikus over the
course of five months. Are
Over The Edge’s rules so
unfair? If you agree or
disagree, please do so publicly
by writing a letter to the editor.
There is a submissions box
outside the office for those who
don’t want to venture in. (By
the way, this will get you half
way to being eligible for the
next election!)

Pit Page

OUTDOOR SOCCER TOURNAMENT
The outdoor soccer tournament held on September 28 was
great. The weather cooperated and the chili was awesome. The

winning team was the Wailers - they beat Strikers United in
sudden death overtime.

THE INTRAMURAL SCENE
Intramurals are well underway, but we are still looking for
females to join coed indoor soccer. The games run Monday to
Thursday with each team being guaranteed 1 game a week.

VOLUNTEERS
Anyone looking for volunteer hours or who would like to get
involved with the fitness center, should come to the PIT and
sign up. We are actively looking for dedicated people to help
us out with intramural special events. Depending on the
number of hours you work, you may be eligible for free
equipment for a 1 month period or for a whole semester. The
equipment rentals include racquets, balls, eye protectors and
cross country ski packages. It is a great opportunity to build up
your resume and then get out on the courts and play.

FITNESS CENTER HOURS

As of September 3, the hours of operation are the following:
Mon. - Fri. 6:30 am - 10:00 p.m.

Sat.- Sun. 8:00 am - 10:00 p.m.

The PIT has new squash racquets in, so for those of you
looking to purchase a racquet, come on up and check out what
we have. We also carry eye protection, balls, grips, wrist
bands, head bands, bags and racquetball gloves.

POTENTIAL BASKETBALL PLAYERS
UNBC will be having a men’s and women’s basketball team
which will play in the Prince George league. The games start in
mid October and are played at the Civic Center downtown. The
games are scheduled for Mon. - Thurs. and each tam players | -

2 games a week. For more information, come to the Fitness
Center and talk with Jim O’Meara.

UNBC ONLY SQUASH TOURNAMENT
The squash club will be hosting a UNBC only squash
tournament on October 18 and 19. The entry fee is $5.00 with
prizes for Ist and 2nd in each category. The categories are
Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced. You can register at the
re.

BASKETBALL

As of October 8, 1996

Notice from the Staff at Over The Edge

Our policy to date has been to avoid involvement in local

politics. However, a decision has been made to begin

| accepting ads from local political parties. Anyone wishing
to take advantage of this change in policy, please contact

| Sheila Wanner at Over The Edge.

Phone: 960-5633

Fax: 960-5617

#e-mail: over-the-edge@unbc.edu

Bl snail mail: Over The Edge

3333 University Way

Prince George, BC

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