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By Paul Berard

Corporate Sponsorships on campus
got your knickers in a twist?

What is it that really binds you? The
exclusivity agreements, the
appearance of lack of choice, or just
the fact those corporate entities are
buying up everything in sight to put
signs on it.

Well, I’m here to tell a story about a
place where the lack of movement on
the issue might be due to a missing
historical perspective. It wasn’t that
long ago in this place that Universities
and Colleges had a very different
method of funding themselves, one
that is still with us in some form at well
established campuses, but often sim-
ply overlooked in the quest to have an
activist stance on the issue.

You see, the simple fact of the matter
is higher education, prior to the two
Global Wars, was a privately funded
matter for the most part.
Governments didn’t actually play
much of a role at all in higher educa-
tion until after the two wars, after
which many people had traveled
abroad while on duty and wanted to
learn more about the rest of the

EDITORIAL

Historically Speaking Corporate Sense (Simplified)

world.

Then came this minor little issue
called the Chilly War. While the Chilly
War didn’t exactly jump out and
announce itself to the public, the
threat was enough to help accelerate
the inflation rates of most countries
when coupled with rapidly increasing
energy crisis and population explo-
sions. The Chilly War cost a lot of
money, whether you were a partici-
pant or not, and the end result was
that most governments wound up
with nothing in the coffers, so to
speak.

So, running on overloaded credit dur-
ing the late eighties and all through
the nineties, governments suddenly
realized the threat of having their
credit access downgraded, especially
when faced with the upstart corpora-
tions that were raking in two or three
times what the government could. To
further aggravate the point, came the
expectation from the populace that
the government still dealt in the local
currency. The truth was the local cur-
rency had already been replaced by
credit, what with people embracing
their credit and, to a lesser extent,

debit cards.

So, the government found itself with
little choice. Cuts had to made
somewhere, so that the government
could maintain it’s credit rating, but
the rising power of the corporation
was what made it attractive to attempt
the leap. So, the government began
to offer incentives for corporate spon-
sorship, saying “go ahead, invest in
schooling for people - get a tax
break!” Of course, the corporate
sponsors jumped at the chance; they
had been advertising for many years
and were very good at blanketing
whole areas with their product logo.
“Yea,” they cheered, “at last we are
getting the chance to push our prod-
uct and do good in the world!”
However, there was a single problem
in this potentially utopian system, one
that many corporate entities had
failed to anticipate. As the .govern-
ments fell by the wayside on the
financial score, the corporate entities
found that they had to pick up the
parts of the system that were falling
apart. This included items such as
military supplies, higher education
buildings and facilities, and patented

February 21, 2000

colour schemes. This action led to a
serious backlash of criticism from var-
ious rag-tag ‘activism’ groups, making
the current situation possible.

So what's the point? The next time
the corporate team raises a sign on a
corporate sponsored building, don’t
think “blood-sucking pigs, they’re tak-
ing over this campus,” think instead of
how that building and the technology
in it will help you to progress through
your education. Keep asking ques-
tions, by all means, try to have the
company operate in the most ethical
manner possible, but remember, even
governments have had to make their
fortunes through unethical actions. It’s
the unfortunate result of capitalism.
And for those of you on the other side,
when you see activists protesting,
don’t think “drugged out hippies with
no good point” and try to hit them with
your car. Remind yourself that they’re
working to ensure that the ethical cor-
poration exists in our society.

We need each other, whether we like
it or not.

Letters To The EdaAitor

Concerns Regarding Loss of Exchange Student

Dear Editor,

| was extremely dismayed and dis-
turbed by the piece in the previous
issue of ‘Over the Edge’ about Anna
Sorkomova written by Sheryl Knight. |
would like to start off by saying that |
did not know Anna and will not pre-
sume to speak for her in any way.
Despite this like many students at
UNBC | was very deeply effected by
her death and in my own way | have
tried to make sense of it. But this let-
ter is not really about Anna but about
the way Sheryl Knight presumed to
speak on her behalf. | do not know
whether or not Sheryl Knight knew

UNBC Student Speaks Out on CNC Free Press Article

Dear CNC Free Press and “Loyal
CNC Student,”

| am writing in response to the arti-
cle, “The University that Would Be
King” in volume 30 #06 of the CNC
Free Press. | would like to start by
stating that, as a journalistic article,
that yours was top notch. Full of jin-
goistic terms and manufactured con-
sent. Of course we are young, nothing
starts out old! And you obviously have
not looked at the calendar since the
institute started, or you would notice
not only forestry, but also such pro-

Anna Sorkomova but regardless no
one has the right to speak from her
perspective as even those closest to
her cannot possibly imagine what she
may have been thinking or feeling
before and at the time of her death.
Anna Sorkomova WAS a human
being and by virtue of this should
publish an article in HER voice is both
tasteless and strips Anna and it is dis-
heartening that this warped version of
her should in any way influence how
we think upon who she may have
been. Anna Sorkomova is not some
fictitious character we should feel free
to dissect at will and then rearrange

grams as all the major Sciences,
Business, Economics, Women’s
Studies, Natural Resource
Management, International Studies,
and the list goes on. Incidentally, our
international Studies program is the
best and most developed in Canada,
and one of the best in the world. You

_can see this in the graduates who are

now working for such .organizations
as the United Nations; Intérnational
Committee of the Red Cross,and the’
World Bank.’ ee ae

Next, have you looked at your own

so that we may feel better about who
she was and why she died. SHE WAS
REAL!!! SHE WAS SOMEONE’S
FRIEND!! SHE WAS SOMEONE’S
FAMILY!! Sheryl Knight, you do not
have the right to invent an identity for
her. What gives you the authority to
ask for forgiveness on Anna’s behalf?
The answer is simple, nothing gives
you, me or anyone else that liberty.

| understand that people (including
me) feel the need to make sense of
Anna Sorkomova’s death and we all
have the right to do so in any way we
must, however, this does not give us
the right to victimize someone who

resident rooms lately. We may be pay-
ing more, but trust me it’s worth it. As
for our pub, well to get away we don’t
need to drink, we have an entire
Provincial Park to get away.

| will admit that free parking is nice,
and all CNC students should count
themselves luck on that point.
However, | would have to say (on an
entirely unrelated topic) that our stu-
dents are just as “real” as CNC stu-
dents. CNC’s “homely” atmosphere is
more like a “highschool” atmosphere,
which is why | have seen many CNC

has no recourse to speak for herself.
Speak for yourself, but if you insist on
speaking for others, please at least
have the courtesy no to speak for the
dead. Anna Sorkomova was a real
person.

Hello. My name is Amy. You have NO
idea who | am.

Sincerely,
Amy Thibodeau
Concerned student

students migrate to UNBC, or down
South to the better institutes and edu-
cation. :

Overall | think that most students
are biased towards their own school.
But please, if you are going to slam
UNBC, then one; do it properly and
look at all the facts, and two; tell it to
our faces and not only at the places
where you will get support.

Dennis Balogh
4th year International Studies
Student, UNBC