Over the Edge + November 12, 2009

| may not agree with what you have to say, but! will defend to the death
your right to say it.”

~ Voltaire

The opinions expressed in editorials or letters to the editor that are submitted
to Over the Edge are not the opinions of Over the Edge or UNBC. The views
expressed in a letter submitted to Over the Edge are the views of the original
authors, and therefore, do not reflect the views of Over the Edge, or its staff.
Over the Edge welcomes your submissions to our opinion section. To submit a

letter to the editor e-mail over-the-edge@unbc.ca.

Video Game Addiction:

To Discover and Solve

HAAKON SULLIVAN
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

People do a lot of things
when they get home after a
long day. Many people now
blow off some steam by
picking up a game and en-
gaging in virtual tasks such
as blowing up evil aliens
or building a vibrant town.
How involved in these tasks
are you? Have you stayed
up until the early morning
on a weekday to master
your sniping skills? Have
you stood up your date to
raid the Alliance territor-
ies? Have you shirked your
essay to get a high score on
something like Tetris? If so,
you may have a problem.

It happens to the best of
us. When things get excit-
ing or interesting in the
game, it’s not easy to put the
game down and get back to
boring normal life. Here's
what you should do.

First, set a task you want
to accomplish in the game
and quit playing

you accomplished

after
have
it, Let's say you are play-
ing some Halo Online and
you say that you want to

play for only 30 minutes.
When your match is over
at around the 30 minute
mark, stop. Don’t listen to
your friends or online bud-
dies who ask for another
game if you have something
else you have to do. If you
cave in to the pressures of
others, you may never stop
playing.

Also, if you played really
badly during those 30 min-
utes, then accept the loss
and stop. There will always
be times where you will not
be at the top of your game
and continuing to play to
chase your losses will only
put you into a vicious cycle
similar to those with a
gambling problem. Only in
this case, you're losing time
which could be argued to be
more precious than money.

That leads to the second
point - dont take gam-
ing too seriously. It’s only
digital

Throwing your emotions

entertainment,

into the game and getting
to connected to it can result
in you chasing your losses
as above and becoming de-
pressed and frustrated. If

you spent all those hours
building up your civiliza-
tion in Civ 4 only to find
it crushed under the boot
heel of another civilization,
then take it with a smile.
It’s the way the game works
so don't mope around and
take it out on others and es-
pecially don't start another
game and play it obsessively
to beat the system. Then the
game is not being played for
fun anymore and it’s doing
more harm than good.

If you start a game, play it
for a while, and look up at
the clock to see that hours
have gone by when there
was something else that you
should have done then stop
playing and think, Maybe
you do need to set limits
and start thinking of the
real reason why you're play-
ing the game. Then you can
begin enjoying the game in
moderation while enjoying
everything else life has to

offer,

Relationships chats with
Ruth-Anne

My name is Ruth-Anne and I'm a
3rd year Psychology student at UNBC,
Lately I’ve been noticing a lot of confu-
sion with people in relationships and
OTE has granted me space to discuss
these issues further. A friend of mine
has given me a stellar question/com-
ment and I will answer it here. Please
submit questions to over-the-edge@
unbc,ca and the staff will forward them
onto me, and then check the next issue
for my reply!

Sarah

I work in a department store and there's
a guy in a separate department that has
me kind of confused. I heard stories about
him and another coworker originally and
now he’s been getting friendly with me. I
know the girl quite well and they are both
giving me different stories. I told him I'm
an avid photographer and he asked me to
go out and take pictures of his car with
him. I'm confused mainly because I hear
a lot of douchey stories about him yet he

seems like a wholesome guy to me. Where
should I take this?

Dear Sarah,

I'm glad you are taking in both sides
of a story and as it stands there are some
things you should be asking yourself. First
off, what makes a true douchebag is the
person that has 2 sides, He's the guy that
makes you feel special until you find out
everyone gets to feel special by him. So,
the douche title might be warranted. It's
a great sign that he has proposed your
first outing together, I imagine the car will
look better at night? Watch your back and
make sure you get home to develop those
photos. Let him take the lead as he prob-
ably has tons of practice and whenever
you can, take a step outside the situation
to assess how you truly feel. The girls that
have supposedly been crossed by him can
complain to themselves, as you aren't go-
ing to be the stupid girl and get hurt by an
unrelenting douche.

Graciously, Rath--Fune.

Opinion 7

Green Talk

Thomas Cheney - Columnist/Staff Writer

I am getting really pissed off at the Conservatives with their
handling of the climate change file. It is not that I am opposed to
individual rights and want to live in some sort of hippie-Stalin-
ist gulag for the environment, far from it, I am loving my electric
heated apartment in a smart growth location while sipping on my
fair trade, shade-grown organic coffee. However we have a choice: a
sustainable future or no future at all. Thus, it is with little surprise
that the Conservatives went in to full-blown attack mode after the
release of a report commissioned by the David Suzuki Foundation
and Pembina Institute that found that we can reduce carbon emis-
sions to 25% below 1990 levels which is the minimum the scien-
tists say that developed countries need to do in order to prevent
runaway climate change. This reduction in emissions can also occur
without significant damage to the economy.

I am quite apt to believe the report as it relates to economic per-
formance as the funding for the study came from the Toronto Do-
minion Bank. This report was done by Canada’s premier expert on
the economic effects of climate policy, Dr. Mark Jaccard of Simon
Fraser University, Jaccard is also no left-wing, green ideologue. In
2006, Jaccard stated that Canada’s Kyoto Targets could not be met,
much to the delight of Conservative Environment Minister John

Baird and to the great disappointment of environmental groups

4 §=©Sex and the City UNBC Edition

and opposition parties who were still calling on Canada to meet its
emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol.

When I first heard about the greenhouse emissions reduction
target of 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, I was honestly quite scep-
tical in regards to how achievable it was. The numbers are in and I
must acquiesce, It seems quite possible for over the next 10 years
we can reduce emissions by 39% by 2020 from today’s levels. In
spite of our Kyoto commitment of a 6% reduction, our national
emissions are as of 2006, 22% higher than in 1990, Such an emis-
sions reduction would require the introduction of a carbon tax or
a cap and trade system that would make the emissions of carbon
dioxide cost $200 a tonne by 2020. However, total income will
increase across the society although slightly more slowly than it
would otherwise. Even Alberta, would still have a booming econ-
omy under the proposed emissions targets. The cost of taking real
action on climate change would mean that rather then being 30%
richer in ten years we will only be 26% richer. If Mr Prentice is not
willing to accept these “kinds of economic consequences you see in
this report” I wonder what kind of consequences he would accept?
So, in his opinion the future of the world must not be worth 3% of
the national income. Great environment minister, eh?

Kali Flick - Columnist/General Office Assistant

We all have some idea of what love is or what we want it to be,
but when and where do we find it this fabricated love. Everyone has
been in a relationship or a few, and we've all believed to have loved
and been loved. But it doesn't seem to work, at least not in my case
anyway, So when is love? Is it a certain time in each individuals life
or just the perfect pair of two? In the movie, Love Story it is said
that, “Love means never having to say you're sorry.’ Now perhaps
that is a fairytale line, but if it's correct than that is the underlying
reason behind my past relationships not working out. I apologize
for everything and I know I don't always make things simple. Now,
after finding and losing love I still believe there are requirements in
a relationship which lead to true love.

First the obvious, a good relationship makes you feel good about
yourself, You respect one another. You're interested in his/her opin-
ions. You accept each other's quirks. And you don't compare your
partner to others; you should know why you're together without
judgement. Now these few simple things don't make love, do they? I
don't think that builds my fairytale relationship, Or does it, because

when I''m in a relationship these things are familiar and do make me
happy. So maybe these are elements of love.

It seems to be that these obvious requirements in a loving rela-
tionship rely on communication and respect. That being said love
must happen when: you are awesome of your partner's faults and
are able to accept imperfection, you support and encourage each
other's individual interests and identity, and you truthful and hon-
est at all times. Love is kind and does not hurt.

I wonder if I've ever had true love or just fallen in lust. Perhaps
I’ve been forcing myself to think I’m in love when I've merely only
found a lust of physical attraction time and time again. The emo-
tions stirred up by lust can feel very real but they are based on this
fantasy ‘love. Those in lust fall for a fantasy of what might be, and
reality can get lost in the excitement. This puts a damper on the
saying, ‘love at first sight, as this would be lust. So when does love
happen? Hopefully one day we get to realize our fantasy.

Things | care about this week:
Michael Jackson and my BlackBerry

I STEPHANIE MCCULLOUGH
MANAGING EDITOR
Things I care about this week: Michael Jack-
son and my BlackBerry
Newsflash, This Is It only being in theatres
pPriginally for two weeks was a sham, Am I the

nly person that realized this? NO movie com-
pany or theatre will want to pull a movie if it’s
still garnering an audience, Most newly released movies always say
“Only in theatres” anyway. This update that the showing has been
extended for five weeks is pure bogus, It bothers me a lot.

“Best I Ever Had” by Drake is a fantastic song. The hype about
him is warranted.

I think I’m addicted to BBM. Not in that satirical I-love-it-to-
much but in the nothing-else-will-ever-compare way. The HTC
Hero is by far the most advanced and innovative phone to come
out in the longest time and I am rejecting it because it won't be
capable of BBM. Lest we forget, the word addiction connotes some
sort of dependency; this is true. BBM enables me to chat more with

Attention!

people about pointless things, whether or not this is a good thing
I dont know, On one hand I am being more social and enjoying
other people's opinions, yet on the other hand I am wasting com-
pany time and not streamlining my conversations or saving them
for when I can actually see someone in person. I know that many
of my mobile conversations are exacerbated via the quick response
and whole-view-conversation, Add to these amazing features the
fact that I can tell how responsive my conversation-participant is
being and I get even more passionate. This has probably hurt me
many times when talking about serious things via BBM. I am the
type of person that does not allow myself to get addicted to any-
thing because I am in Control, or so I believe, I am also one of those
people that will not propose a problem unless I am finding a solu-
tion so here it is. 1 am (someday) going to stop using BBM. I will
revert back to texting and when the conversation gets muddled, I
will simply pick up the phone I am already using and put it to it's
original purpose: making a call.

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