Over the Edge - November 2

Zizek at occupy wall street.

Many famous and influential
people have put their faith behind the
Occupy Wall Street movement. A 62
year-old Slovenian academic by the
name of Slavoj Zizek seems to be
gaining a voice that people are begin-
ning to take note of in the midst of the
choir of support that the movement is
continuously gaining. Zizek has been
in attendance in the epicentre of the
Occupy movement in New York’s
Zuccotti park.

Zizek’s message, which he has
been advocating for years, has been
referenced in many scholarly works,
books and documentary films. Zizek’s
main message is something that syn-
ergizes with the Occupy movement.
The gist is according to Zizek is that
liberal capitalism as we know it is col-
lapsing from within and will eventu-
ally come to an end.

“True dreamers are those who think

things can go on indefinitely the way
they are. We are not dreamers. We
are awakening from a dream that is
turning into a nightmare. We’re not
destroying anything. We’re watching
the system destroy itself.”

Zizek, a visiting professor at New
York University, spends half the year
at the university of Ljubljana where he
grew up, and is also the international
director of the University of London’s
Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities.
Zizek has long since been identified
as a dissident. Zizek pays tribute to
Winston Churchill in his idea that
democracy is only the best option
from a selection of awful systems.
Zizek points out that capitalism and
democracy however are not entirely
linked, as capitalism is now a feature
of illiberal and undemocratic regimes
such as China and Singapore.

“Carnivals come cheap,” says

Zizek in a speech that has been posted
on the main Occupy Wall Street web
page. “What matters is the day after.
We have to return to normal life. Will
there be any changes then?”
“Remember that our basic message
is: We are allowed to think about al-
ternatives. The rule is broken. We do
not live in the best possible world.”
Zizek also continued to state that,
“We are not communists. If commun-
ism means the system that collapsed
in 1990, remember that today those
communists are the most efficient
ruthless Capitalists. In China today
we have capitalism which is even
more dynamic than your American
capitalism but doesn’t need democ-
racy... the marriage between democ-
racy and capitalism is over.”
This speech was given on Octo-
ber 9th and since then the Occupy
Wall Street movement has shown no

signs of slowing down. Protests have
been occurring all over New York, in
Madrid, Hong Kong, London, Rome,
Berlin, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam and Los
Angeles to name a few. A protest
took place in Prince George on Sat-
urday October 22nd on the steps of
City Hall. Over 100 people came out
in solidarity with the growing global
movement to voice their concerns
over economic disparities here in
Prince George.

“The only thing I am afraid of is
that we will someday just go home and
then we will meet once a year, drink-
ing beer, and nostalgically remem-
bering what a nice time we had here.
Promise ourselves that this will not be
the case,” says Zizek in his conclu-
sion to his October 9th speech. While
those are legitimate fears, the move-
ment only continues to gain strength.
Since authorities have banned the

ONLINE SOURCE
use of microphones, in order to pre-
vent disturbing neighbourhood peace,
Zizek who remains committed to the
movement, has employed the tactic
of the “human microphone” to shout
his speeches to the vast crowds of
protestors. The protesters then repeat
him word for word so his message is
transmitted through the crowds.

Furthermore, legendary folk singer
Pete Seeger and his grandson also
showed their support at the protests
in New York. Michael Moore, who
had previously stated after the re-
lease of Capitalism: A love Story that
he would not make another film un-
less the “American people took ac-
tion against the economic system,”
is now ready to get back to work. He
has announced that he is planning a
new film that will “help move the ball
down the field”.

NORTHERN MEDICAL PROGRAM GETS SENIOR
LEADERSHIP ROLE AT UNBC

UNBC's Dr. Snadden gets Provincial promotion

HANNA PETERSEN
NEWS EDITOR

After eight years with the North-
ern Medical Program VP of Medicine
UNBC, Dr. David Snadden has been
appointed as the Executive Associ-
ate Dean of Education for the UBC
Faculty of Medicine. This means Dr.
Snadden will be responsible for all
education programs in the Faculty
of Medicine. However, Snadden will
not be jetting off to Vancouver as the
position is based in Prince George at
UNBC.

“That there is going to be a senior
leadership role in northern B.C. illus-
trates that the Faculty is committed
to its responsibilities as a provincial
Faculty of Medicine,” says Dr. Snad-
den. “It is a fantastic opportunity to

work with the Faculty and health
authorities to build on what we’ve
already accomplished for the whole
province.”

Dr. Snadden will be working along
side Dr. Geoffrey Payne, who will
replace him on an interim basis. Dr.
Payne was the first faculty member
appointed for the Northern Med-
ical Program and had been at UNBC
since 2004. Dr. Payne has worked to
develop research platforms for the
Northern Medical Program and has
been Assistant Dean for the past two
and a half years.

“We’ve now graduated four classes
of students from the Northern Medic-
al Program and we have been focused

on creating a program that proves
an exceptional medical education in
northern and rural communities,” says
Dr. Payne. “I am thrilled to be moving
into this role, as an extension of my
previous position in the program, and
I look forward to continuing our work
as the program grows and matures.”

The Northern Medical Program
is a part of UBC’s Faculty of Medi-
cine and works in collaboration with
UNBC and Northern Health. The dis-
tribution and expansion of the MD
undergraduate program has more than
doubled the number of medical stu-
dent spaces in B.C.

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