—

April 7, 1998

1am compelled to write a let-
ter in regards to the cover of
your most recent, April Fool's,
issue of Over The Edge. I'll
preface my comments by
making clear my understand-
ing that this was your April 1st
issue and that you did indeed
warn readers to “not take [it]
too seriously.” That said, |
have to ask myself who are
the people that allow such
mindless, ignorant, unin-
formed slander to grace the
front of UNBC’s only student
newspaper. As our only offi-
cial publication, | would have
hoped that this newspaper

LETTERS
“We must plunge deeper into the whole philosophy of NON-violence.”

would attempt to uphold stan-
dards of good taste and

humour. If this is too much to

ask, | would at the very least
expect the editors to display
some degree of social aware-
ness and responsibility. Your
latest issue shows none of
this.

My point is this: | find it dis-
tasteful and offensive that an
issue, ANY issue, of a publi-
cation put out by supposedly
educated students should so
blatantly misrepresent the
visionary words of one of the
Civil Rights movement's most
admirable, pivotal figures. |

write, of course, of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., a man who
lived by a creed of not “incit-
ing riots” or “coming for chil-
dren,” but by the belief that
(quoting Dr. King) “we must
plunge deeper into the whole
philosophy of NON-violence
(my emphasis).”

You may think that my take

on the situation is “over the
edge” given the context that
this was your issue for April
Fool’s day, but | would sug-
gest to you that on NO day is
it acceptable to slander and
deprecate such monumental
words and the man and

Are you pleased with ICL food service?

Are you pleased with ICL
food service? Are you getting
you money’s worth? | don't
think believe so. Since | have
been here, |’ve found a major
decrease in food quality.
There are smaller portions
and they have raised the
prices! There is little selection
and it is getting worse.

Because the cafeteria does
not serve the students on
weekends, we are left with the
Wintergarden where selection
is even more limited. I've seen
the Wintergarden close for

over an hour in the middle of
the day because there was
not enough staff it operate it.
As well as a shortage of food
with only one employee work-
ing it is often the case that
cleanliness is highly question-
able. The server is going from
the till and handling the
money to handling the food
that we have ordered. | have
also seen management get
upset with employees for no
apparent reason. These are
the employees who maintain
as sanitized a work place as is

possible, and thus, incurred

longer service lines.

The servers in the arrange-
ment are not the problem - it is
the management that need to
make some changes. Isn't it
time their contract was termi-
nated?

We, the students as keeping
ICL in business. We deserve
better service, food, and man-
agement.

A concerned student

THE UNPOLITICAL POLITICS OF OUR NUGSS

During the March 30th
NUGSS meeting Brendon
Kruger and Susie Dwyer sub-
mitted a written complaint
concerning the MAI FREE
ZONE sign in the NUGSS
office window. The two con-
cerned students stated that
NUGSS has failed to uphold
sections 2.1 and 2.2 of the
constitution: NUGSS will facil-
itate an awareness of the
rights and views of each
member of the society and to
promote equality among all
members of the society.

Their complaint states that
“[t]his is an educational institu-
tion. By not equally represent-
ing both sides on an issue, it
does not promote free thought
and is therefore redundant of
an academic _ institution.
Sections 2.1 and 2.2 prevent
NUGSS from being allowed to
take a political stance on con-
troversial issues. NUGSS has
a responsibility to each and
every member of the society
to present all information in
the same manner, and should
therefore leave political issues
to the self-proclaimed political

groups on campus, making
them true to their constitu-
tion.” Their proposed solu-
tions: “Post the opposing side
or remove any and all propa-
ganda on the controversial
issue in question, which hap-
pens to be declaring NUGSS
an MA\I-free zone.”

To start off my rant, Susie
Dwyer stated that the issue
was not the MAI in particular
but rather the constitutional
flaw that the NUGSS has
“overlooked”. This is com-
pletely contradicted by one of
the proposed solutions she
submitted—removing :
propaganda on the controver-

n

sial issue in question. . .”,.

therefore the complaint is
about the Multilateral
Agreement on Investment.
Next, the so called “constitu-
tional flaw’ can be interpreted
in different ways. When, after
a great deal of deliberation,
the NUGSS voted 4 to 1 (3
abstentions) to become an
MAI-free zone they were facil-
itating “an awareness of the
rights and views” of many
members of the society. As

for “promot[ing] equality
among all members of the
society”, other society mem-
bers are also entitled to
access the NUGSS to have
their rights and views facilitat-
ed. There is nothing prevent-
ing Pro-MAI students from
getting on the agenda, pre-
senting research on an issue,
forming a committee and

proposing a vote on having a
Pro-MAI sign hung in the
NUGSS window.

The Multilateral Agreement
on Investment is an issue stu-
dents must acknowledge.
Two major provisions in the
MAI, as it is presently pro-
posed, that will obligate our
governments for 20 years
(yes the hands of future par-
liaments will be tied) are: 1)
unrestricted access to all eco-
nomic sectors and 2) the
immediate and full compensa-
tion for any revenues (actual
or potential) lost due to MAI-
incompatible government
action. The first opens the
door to foreign ownership of
our educational institutions.
The second is a way to

beliefs that they represent.
Granted, April 1 is a day set
aside for joking, but this cover
goes beyond poor taste and
joking and instead left me
feeling sick and ashamed of
this newspaper. Coming so
close to the anniversary of
Martin Luther King Jr.’s
assassination (April 3), this
piece of ‘writing’ is doubly
insensitive and a bold-faced
misrepresentation of both Dr.
King and the intellectual and
social awareness of the stu-
dents of this university. To
clarify Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.’s true beliefs and vision, |
include an excerpt from his
August 28, 1963 speech in
Washington, DC:

“| have a dream that one day
this nation will rise up and live
out the true meaning of its

Over The Edge Page 5

creed, “We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal.” |
have a dream that one day. .
sons of former slaves and
sons of former slave owners
will be able to sit down
together at the table of broth-
erhood. . .This is our hope.”

Please, in the future,
attempt to show a greater
degree of intelligence, social
awareness and good taste.
The students of UNBC
deserve it and the memory of
Martin Luther King Jr.
demands it.

Rumon Carter
UNBC Student

Commissionaires to Remain Alert

On behalf of the British
Columbia Corps of
Commissionaires, UNBC
Site, | would like to take this
opportunity to thank all those
who supported us during our
contract negotiations.

Your kind remarks to us and
about us | am sure helped us

ensure foreign

ownership becomes a reality
because it gives investors the
right to challenge—SUE!—
(and therefore inhibit) public
funding for education.

University and College stu-
dent associations across
Canada are proud to have
declared themselves MAI-free
zones. The NUGSS was only
able to muster enough politi-
cal will for two weeks before
caving. in. Why didn’t the
NUGSS consider the first pro-
posal? Why did this removal
of “propaganda” proposal not
require any information to
convince the NUGSS that, in
being an MAI-free zone, it was
infringing on “free thought’.

Interestingly, Jackie Eaton,
Tyson Hodgson and Tami
McHugh, who abstained from
the previous MAI vote sud-
denly acquired the political will
NOT to be MAI-free. Other
“representatives” who voted
against being an MA\I-free
zone were, Jamie Campbell
and Gord Larson, the former
changing his previous deci-
sion and the latter consistent-

secure our renewed contract.
Special thanks to Kevin
Larson for his efforts.

J.W.G. (Bill) Bishop, Sgft.
Site Supervisor
UNBC Site #146

ly voting against the MAI
issue. Mr. Dave Nagel, as
ombudsperson was not enti-
tled to vote and Chris Reid
was absent from the first MAI
vote and abstained from the
second. This leaves Marki
Sellers, Jack Lin and Matt
Macrae being the only direc-
tors having the political will to
make decisions and stand by
them. The NUGSS is political
by the very fact that we have
ELECTIONS!

The every day deci-
sions that the NUGSS direc-
tors make on our behalf are
political. Not all decisions are
easy ones, some are highly
complex and are in need_ of
research—on both sides of
the issue, this is one reason
directors receive up to $300 a
month (before taxes). The
work was done on the MAI, a
decision was made, and now
a quick vote has made me a
member of a DEMOCKERY!

Leanne Chatten
UNBC student