2 News March 8, 2006 + Over the Edge Volume 12, Issue 10 March 8, 2006 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Maggie Gilbert (eic-ote@unbc.ca) MANAGING EDITOR Stephanie Wilson (biz-ote@unbc.ca) PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Belinda Li (prod-ote@unbc.ca) NEWS EDITOR Andrew Kurjata (news-ote@unbc.ca) COPY EDITOR Rebecca Carmichael (copyed-ote@ unbc.ca) SPORTS AND CLUBS EDITOR Tyler Clarke (sports-ote@unbc.ca) ARTS EDITOR Tabatha Lundholm (arts-ote@unbc.ca) PHOTO EDITOR Vincent Chan (photo-ote@unbc.ca) AD MANAGER Ashley-Paige Smith (ads-ote@unbc.ca) DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Elizabeth Fyles TECHNICAL ADVISOR Eric Chlebek STAFF WRITERS Anna Gradowska Jeremy Johnson CARTOONISTS Kyle Samuels CONTRIBUTORS Sarah Boyd-Noel Ryan Muirhead Alex Rawlings Tammy Skomorowski Devan Tasa Manda CANADIAN UNIVERSITY PRESS Carolynne Burkholder Over the Edge is the official independent publishing media of students at the University of Northern British Columbia. As such, itis our mandate to report on issues of interest to students in the Northern Region. We encourage all students, both on the main and regional campuses to submit to Over the Edge. Over the Edge is part of the Canadian University Press network of papers, otherwise known as CUP. CUP is an organization that is entirely owned by member papers, and provides such services as a news wire and adver- tising to Over the Edge. OFFICE LOCATION 7-219 MAILING ADDRESS 3333 University Way Prince George, BC V2N 429 PHONE (250) 960-5633 FAX (250) 960-5407 E-mail over-the-edge@unbc.ca ANONYMOUS Satah Hamid-Balma is a graduate student earning her Master's of Public Relations degree by distance education from Vancouver to Stirling University in Scotland and she desperately needs your help. For her thesis, shes doing a survey on health attitudes and health educa- tion materials specifically with post- ' secondary students, as public relations practitioners are frequently involved in producing these materials for target audiences. UNBC is one of several BC PHOTO SUBMITTED campuses that was randomly selected. Others participating right now include the BC Institute of Technology, Van- couver Community College and Mala- spina University-College. “I've got the green light from the powers that be at Stirling and from How t to Win at Helping a Grad Student UNBC to contact students. I just have to be a bit more creative to reach students when there are no student listserves and I'm 800km away,’ says Hamid-Balma. The first 50 people to complete the survey will be entered to win one of two $50 cash prizes. The survey takes around 15 minutes to complete, is com= pletely anonymous, all online, and 99% multiple choice. “The research looks at a health issue relevant to campus life, so I think students will find it interest- ing,’ says Hamid-Balma. “It's totally up to them if they want to take part, but I hope some give it a go, And hey, a 1 in 25 chance at $50 is nothing to sneeze at.” If you're interested, check out her study website at wwwihealthatti- tudesurvey.net and read the consent form which describes a little more about the study and measures taken to protect students’ privacy. From there, you'll be able to go right to the survey. No special programs are needed; just a web browser and internet access. Dead- line to take part is March 25, 2006. If you have any questions, contact Sarah at shb@shaw.ca. She'll even send you the final research study, published in early April, if you want to read it. Looking For A Few ANDREW KURJATA NEWS EDITOR The Northern Degrees Orientation 2006 is currently looking for UNBC students to be involved in the two-day orientation period for new students at UNBC next September. These stu- dents will be group leaders, mentors, welcome kiosk. devotees, and activ- ities assistants. The purpose behind the program, says committee member Lynn Benn, is to take out the period of awkwardness or worry experienced by many new university students, and __ to provide an opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. In the past, the program has been one week long, but this year it is being cut down to an “action-packed two day event, with much of the additional ma- terial being posted on the internet. It is expected that the condensed program will encourage more students to come, and also provide more opportunities for parents and families to get involved. Though the details of the-event are. still being worked out, the focus is pri- marily on developing a feeling of com- munity with fellow students and having fun. Much of the entertainment will be provided by Playfair on Campus, “the most popular campus attraction in hist- ory for New Student Orientation Pro- grams.’ According to the organization's website, Playfair is a “team-building experience that has a long-lasting effect on the members of your campus com- - munity.’ It is has been met with great popularity at past UNBC orientation events, as has the local Street Spirits Good Students improvisational theatre group, which is also expected to take part. Says Benn, Street Spirits “looks at student issues like peer pressure, diversity and aca- demic issues” with the added element of audience participation. Also planned is a talent quest and a “battle of the air bands.” Leaders also get to participate in these events, and they will be given training and experience valuable for scholarship applications and resumes. Training sessions will take place on March 19 and on August 30 and 31. ‘The only cost for leaders is “time,’ since meals (along with a t-shirt and a cer- tificate) will be provided. In order to * qualify to be a leader, you are expected to be a returning UNBC student with a GPA of 2.67 or better. According to Benn, you don’t need to worry if you feel as if you don't “know all there is to know” about UNBC because that sort of thing will be covered in the training - and most leaders wind up learning a lot about UNBC themselves. Past lead- ers “highly recommend” that students apply for leadership positions, and in a recruitment statement Student Orien- tation Coordinator Sarah Kaehn says leaders are people who are “fun-loving, enthusiastic, and able to lead a group.’ For more information or to apply, visit the booth set up in front of the Learn- ing Skills Centre by March 10th, or contact 960-6379 or orientation-info@ unbc.ca. NUGSS 2006/2007 Election Results REBECCA CARMICHAEL COPY EDITOR Students turned out in high numbers on February 27 and 28 to vote for their representatives on the NUGSS Execu- tive Committee and Board of Direc- © tors. They also voted on a referendum question asking whether or not the WUSC fee should be raised from $1 per semester to $2 per semester. About a quarter of the undergraduate student population came out to make their voices heard, While this is relatively decent voter turnout for UNBC, it has been surpassed in both previous refer- endums and NUGSS elections. The Executive of NUGSS are re- sponsible for the everyday operating of our Undergraduate Student Society, Each member is responsible for a par- ticular set of tasks pertaining to their position. Instead of a hierarchal struc- ture, the Executive operates NUGSS as a common group. The Board of Directors is responsible for managing and driving the overall mandate of the Society. The referendum question was “Should the WUSC refugee fee be raised from $1 per semester to $2 per semester?” It was posed by the UNBC chapter of the World University Service of Canada student refugee program. They use this money to sponsor a stu- dent from an impoverished or war-torn region to attend school at UNBC. The current fee is only enough to sponsor a student every other year, so the fee in- crease would allow the sponsorship of a student every yeat. The results are broken down by per- centage as follows. A detailed break- down of numerical results is available at www.nugss.com/Election_Main. ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS First Nations Representative Veronica Haddon - 72% Ted Morris - 28% CSM Representative Donny Van Dyk - 87% - Women’s Representative Elizabeth Sharp - 44% Michelle Lamoureux - 31% Emily Gremm - 25% CASHS Representative Devrey Robbins - 55% Troy Dickson - 45% Associate Director VP Social Tanner Alden - 87% Member at Large James De Vuyst - 85% WUSC REFERENDUM In Favour - 79% Against -. 21% THE EXECUTIVE President Jillian Merrick - 60% Cody Willet - 40% VP Finance Satvir Sangha - 81% VP External Nick Nagy - 36% Doug Bell - 29% Cameron Ehl - 26% Aaron Widdis - 9% VP Student Affairs Jai Parmar - 42% Jessica Schmit - 34% Devin Tasa - 24% VP Social Fergil Mills - 54% John McGregor - 46%