Na ep EE eT a RS ee a ea
Television. Smash it. Slam it. Fire it up!

By Allison Clarke

Television is the anti-Christ.
It feeds us information like an
intravenous telling us what to
think, what to eat, how to
dress and how to live.
Television shapes our popu-
lar culture which in turn
shapes our thoughts and
identities.

In the early 1900s radio
changed North American’s
lives and for the first time
news and information was
available almost instantly.
Families turned on the radio
and listened to music, stories
and news from around the
world. Communication
reached a new level and then
came the start of rock’n’roll.

Like radio, television was
informative and exciting, in
the beginning. . The powers
that be soon realized the pro-

found potential of televi-

sion to sell ideas and }

products. It was the per-
fect medium for deliver-
ing propaganda and it
contributed to the cre-
ation of mass culture,
popular opinion and glob-

alization. People believed |

what they saw on screen

and in many instances |

they still do. The hidden
messages and manipula-
tive angles are transpar-
ent to the average view-
er.

My strong distaste for
television began in the
early 1980s with Hockey
Night in Canada and only
grew stronger with the
introduction of

the Phil
Donahue Show and talk tele-

Students smashed televisions in an effort to
raise awareness about the pervasiveness of
television in our society

Newhart. :
Television has become the
god of our households. We

# first Survivor

and friends but now we
just ask them to turn up
the volume or change the

™ channel. Television is the
| focal point of most living

rooms — people face it
like drones bowing to the
mother ship — bowing to
the one they serve.
Among other scenarios

| such as the O.J. Simpson

Trial and Jerry Springer,
when the winner of the
program
was featured on the front
page of the Vancouver

#7 Sun it became painfully

obvious that television
was shaping our lives in a
destructive way. It
became clear that it was

time to take a stand.
Several years ago | took the

television when | shut it off,
disconnected the cable and
got on with my life. Recently,
| read a letter to the editor in
Adbusters magazine and it
inspired me to take further
action against the media
machine. On December 8,
2001 | am gathering with a
groups of friends and
acquaintances to smash tele-
vision sets. At the same time
we’re going to dance, skate,
bike, ride and talk to each
other. The choice is ours
about how we want to live
and think. Shut off the televi-
sion for a while and see how
your world changes.

For more information and to

join in the fun of smashing
televisions visit: www.posi-
tivedna.com

vision, soap operas and sit-
coms like Roseanne and

used to talk with our family

Out of the Spotlight

By Aphra Hugues

This week:
Cannon

Who protects you when
you’re on campus? Who
picks up your lost gloves?
Who locks and_ unlocks
rooms for you? Who rushes
to your help if you keel over
or drop chemicals on your-
self?

This week’s interview is
with Marlene Cannon, the
site supervisor for the BC
Corps of Commissionaires,
the people who do all these
things and more.

The Corps, which is head-

Marlene

quartered in Vancouver, has |

police. This works out to a lit-
tle over a quarter of the
employees in Security at
UNBC. . Cannon does not
have percentages for the
Corps as a whole, but says
that the proportion at UNBC
is lower than at other sites,

a contract to provide security F™=,

for UNBC. The Corps was
started after World War II to
provide employment for the
war veterans, who often did
not have any skills that civil-
ian employers needed when
they came home from the
army. Back then, all the
Corps employees were either
ex-military or ex-police.
These days, people are also
recruited for other skills, such
as computer knowledge and
first aid.

The UNBC operation has
fourteen full-time employees,
of whom four have the tradi-
tional background, and
another sixteen employees
on the spare board, of whom
four are also ex-military or ex-

Photo By Aphra Hughes

Marlene Cannon strives to keep
the campus at UNBC safe.

because of the low-profile
security the university speci-
fied in their contract with the
Corps. Sites such as the air-
port and the welfare offices
have a higher proportion of
military types, because the
employer requests that back-
ground. Some of the UNBC
employees do also have a
Corrections background or
highway rescue experience.
The coniract specifies that
the Corps will have three
members on duty at all times,

of which at least one must
be female, at least one
must be male, and at least
one must have Level Ill
First Aid. They work twelve
hour shifts, during which
they patrol all the buildings
and the grounds, including
the parking lots after hours.
They are responsible for
walking you up to Res or to
your car if you request an
escort, which you can do
twenty-four hours a day.
The Corps will also jump-
start your car if needed or
break in if you locked your

keys inside. The Corps
answer the Help lines
(those yellow phones

around the parking lots).
While they do not patrol the
residences, they do assist
the Residence Assistants
with the Diebold system,
which locks the doors, as
well as concerns about
noise, wild parties, and
First Aid.

The Corps does hire peo-
ple who drop off their
resumes. They are looking
for teamwork and _ public
relations skills, a good atti-
tude, good motivation and
deportment, and will look at
your work experience ——
although they do train peo-
ple after hiring. The
province requires Basic

(continued on page 10)

first step in the fight against

BRITISH COLUMBIA
LEGISLATIVE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

2003 Program

PURPOSE
To provide British Columbia university graduates
an opportunity to supplement their academic training with
exposure to public policy-making and the legislative process
within the province’s parliamentary system.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE
Individuals who have received a Bachelor’s Degree
from a B.C. university or a B.C. university-college
within two years of January 2003.

LOCATION

Parliament Buildings, Victoria, British Columbia

TERM

January 6, 2003 - June 30, 2003

APPLICATION DEADLINE
January 31, 2002 - 4 p.m.

STIPEND
$16,210 for 6 months

HOW TO APPLY
Program Applications are available from Political Science
Departments at all universities in British Columbia.
You can also request an application by contacting the
Public Education & Outreach Office in Room 144,
Parliament Buildings, Victoria B.C., V8V 1X4.

Telephone: (250) 387-8669 Email: BCLIP@ieg.bc.ca.

Or print an application from the

website: www.legis.gov.bc.ca.

ACADEMIC ADVISORS
Dr. Pau! Tennant, University of British Columbia
Dr. Patrick Smith, Simon Fraser University
Dr. Norman Ruff, University of Victoria
Dr. Tracy Summerville, University of Northern British Columbia

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