November 10, 2004 PHOTO BY DANA SCHWEHR Fly strips in the Administration Building at UNBC offer small respite from the cluster flies invading the top floor of the building, Cluster flies are often confused with house flies, but are larger, and can be identified by gold-coloured hairs underneath the base of the wings. While the flies pose no health risk, they cause a great deal of irritation to occupants of the building. By DANA SCHWEHR GRAPHICS EDITOR Every year, staff top floor of the Administration Building at UNBC have to fight off an odd invasion - ‘flies. Faculty who are unfortunate enough to occupy offices on the west side of the top floor of the building have had to deal with a plague of flies that infest the build- ing after the first frost of the fall for more than 10 years now, and the pests have become experts at evok- ing feelings of irritation, disgust, and embarrassment in their ‘human victims. “Thave had two students tell me that they had to leave my office because of them” says Dr. Ted Binnema. _ According to faculty, the flies have been known to buzz around windows, fall into uncovered bev- erages, and even drop onto stu- dents who are trying to get help in their classes. “I’ve never really understood the phrase ‘dropping like flies’ before,” says Erin Beveridge. “I don’t like jumping over them like they are landmines.” Theories abound as to the source of the plague. Faculty members have been told that the bugs are coming in through open windows, and to keep office windows closed. Other more pithy members of the faculty have proposed the body of the person who is sup- posed to vacuum the building may be hidden in the ceiling, thus giv- ing the flies a place to breed. The real story is perhaps more mundane, but no less entertaining. When the weather begins to cool off in the fall, insects, including flies, moths, and the occasional butterfly, seek out a sheltered spot in which to spend the winter. According to Dr. Staffan Lindgren, an associate professor in Forestry who specializes in study- ing insects, the Administration building provides just the sort of shelter that insects need to survive winter in Prince George. According to Lindgren, the cold- er the weather gets, the further into the shelter the insects travel. This behaviour leads the bugs to crawl in through any holes or cracks in the building’s surface that they come across. Once in the building the insects warm up, and they become active again. They then seek light, and bumble their way into faculty members offices. So, the real truth is the flies aren’t breeding in the ceiling, rather they are simply looking for a place to stay through the cold winter months. Some people Have expressed the concern that these flies pose a health risk, however this is not the case according ‘to Lindgren. The majority of these insects are members of the species of fly known as Pollenia rudis, or the “cluster fly”. The cluster fly larva is specifically parasitic to earth- worms, and the adults eat flower pollen, Despite the flies being harmless, faculty irritation with the situation is rising. Unfortunately, little can ‘be done to alleviate the situation - at least until the warm weather: comes, and the flies leave the offices on their own. Dosti Club Helps Enrich Lives Through Operation By BRYNA CASEY STAFF WRITER To some, getting a shoebox for Christmas filled with hygiene products and non-violent toys would be a disappointment, but to others in under developed nations this box from Operation Christmas Child could change a young life for the better, and it often does. Operation Christmas Child is the opportunity for someone with the means to send a package filled with toys, school supplies, hygiene items, and other things to a child in a developing nation around Christmas time. The Dosti Club (an Indian cul- ture group) here at UNBC has . organized the Operation Christmas Child for two years ina row. They surpassed their goal of filling more than 65 boxes last year and hope to fill 75 to 85 this year with the help of students, their families, and faculty of UNBC. “Christmas time is about bring- ing joy to a child’s life,” said Karm Sangha, the project coordinator for the Dosti Club. “It is nice to know that you can help people so far away and give a gift to a stranger that may change his or her life.” The Dosti club is committed to helping the project out, and so if you start to fill a box and then real- ize you do not have the time or funds to finish just drop the unfin- ished box off at the NUGSS office and they will help finish it off. Jai Parmar, president of the club, says everything that is needed to fill a box is at the campus. The corner store sells hygiene products, and the bookstore sells school supplies, so in the end it might take as little as half an hour and however much money you would like to spend to get a warm feeling because you know you are helping others. If you are interested in sending a box to a child in another country, go to the NUGSS office and ask for a brochure which will give you detailed instructions about how to put your box together and what to send. Completed boxes should be dropped off at the NUGSS office by Friday, November 12 so that the Dosti club can ship them off the next day. Some suggestions of what to - send in the box are toys such as small balls, dolls, cuddly animals, skipping rope, puzzles, comics and yo-yos. If you are so inclined to put school supplies in, good ideas Christmas Child for those are pens, pencils, crayons, coloring books, writing pads or paper, and solar calcula- tors. Other items such as toothbrush- es, toothpastes, soaps, combs, and washcloths would be useful to send in the realm of hygiene prod- ucts. Feel free to include hard candy, mints, sunglasses, ball caps, socks, T-Shirts, toy jewelry sets, hair clips, watches and picture books. Please do not include scary toys or food items except for hard candy. The Dosti club is also asking that - if anyone is supportive of this pro- ject and has extra‘ shoeboxes around their home, they bring them in and drop them off at the NUGSS office so even more chil- dren can experience the magic of a simple shoebox this Christmas. News Page 5 Flies Bother Faculty for Ten Years NEWS Administration building host to unusual invasion of pests ssi University Strengthens Ties to UArctic UNBC and'the University of the Arctic recently estab- lished . the © International Academic Office (IAQ) at UNBC. The IAO will coordi- nate. student. academic activity and provide regis- trarial functions for the UWArctic’s Bachelor of Circumpolar Studies. The University of the” Arctic is a cooperative net- work of universities, col- leges, and. other organiza- tions committed to higher education and research in the North. Members share resources, -facilities, and expertise to build post-sec- ondary education programs that are relevant and. acces- sible to northern students. _ High Commissioner Visited Canada’s High Comm- issioner to New Zealand, John Donaghy visited UNBC on. October 29th. He gave a. presentation to Dr. Heather Smith’s International Studies 101 class, and talked about his long career in the Canadian — Foreign Service, his role ‘as High Commissioner and his role in negotiating the free trade agreement between Canada the United States, as * well as his experiences serv- ing as the Chief Negotiator ¢ for a free trade treaty between Canada and Singapore. fe Class studies PG Perceptions Prince George’s attrac- - tiveness as a destination for tourism is the focus of a sur- vey being undertaken by a class. in the University’s Resource Recreation and Tourism (RRT) program. All this week, the ten stu- | dents in the fourth-year RRT class are surveying res- idents and tourists at vari-” ous locations around.the city: Canadian Tire, City Hall, Parkwood, and the Airport. The students are planning to collect 200 com- pleted surveys. from resi- dents and another 200 from visitors to compare visitors and residents’ perceptions of Prince George as a tourism and recreation des- tination. The final report will be completed in early December and. is the major assignment for the course.