Ocrtoser 8, 2003 | Opinion 9
Controversy over the new location of Prince

George’s ‘Black Orchid Escort Agency’

It has come to my attention and most likely all of yours by
now, that the ‘Black Orchid Escort Agency’ has branched out
and opened a new service on the corner of Westwood and
Range Rd. Now, I am not one to discriminate against sucha
business because beliefs may be that under the circum-

_ stances, this is an okay thing. In some people's eyes, it is a
safe haven for those women who are run to the streets - at
least this way they can be in a “safe” home. It is the new
location that has caused so much turmoil and debate
though. Noticeably. in P.G. the amount of houses for sale
have sky rocketed, so why did the BOA have to lease this
particular house, a house right kiddy corner to the Peden
Hill Elementary School and the John McInnis High school?

The surrounding neighborhood has banned together in a
remarkable scene standing for there children’s safety, picket-
ing every Saturday. Young children hold bright signs saying
“Honk for our safety,” resulting in a song of vehicle horns
honking in a stream of protest, a moving scene for such a
worthy cause. Neighbors understand that there is no way to
eliminate these kinds of services but they would much
rather have it in a more secure area, away from such a fam-
ily-orientated neighborhood with schools. High school stu-
dents at this point in their lives are at an extremely suscepti-
ble age and they are not naive, they know what is taking
place there, while the younger elementary students are full
of innocent questions.

The BOA has another place that is currently being run in
PG. also, and no problems have arisen with its-currént loca-
tion. Brian Skakun, the councillor for P.G., wants to block
escort agencies and other seemingly red light buisnesses
from being allowed to locate in residental areas. So, it should
be understood that this neighborhood is not biased against
the BOA; they simply just do not accept the location. Over a
thousand signatures filled petition forms in less than an
hour that were circulated through Prince George, the stu-
dents at UNBC are more then welcome to sign these peti-
tions as well. There is one located in the women’s center.

Letter to the Editor:

What is filler? What is offensive?

First off, please understand that by writing this letter to you I do not
mean to offend anyone on the staff of “Over the Edge”. I am writing
this letter not to complain, but just to inquire about some of the articles
that are printed in the paper. 1 suppose what I am asking is whether or
not these articles actually have any merit and to ask what exactly is the
point of them other than just attempting to fill up empty space?

Not to insult “Over the Edge” because sometimes the “journalists”
working on the paper do actually write interesting articles, but it is
really necessary to include a picture of a vagina along with it? I don’t
know how any of the other students felt who picked up a copy of the
last edition of “Over the Edge” but personally I found the picture
somewhat vulgar and unneccessary. There are many other ways of

grabbing people’s attention than just placing a large picture of a vagi- *

na or be it some other part of the body on a page.
Instead of using that picture, one could have just attempted to think
of an attention-grabbing title other than “Eat This Article”. Also, what

is the point of having articles that compare different pens? I was riding.

in an elevator with a 3rd year student the day that the paper came out,
and even though she has read “Over the Edge” several times, the stu-
dent was still surprised to see that an aritcle about pens would appear
in the paper. I suppose what I am really asking of the staff of “Over the
Edge” is write articles that actually have a point and matter.

Instead of comparing different types of pens, talk about global issues
or even local issues. As Canadian citizens we are lucky to be given
freedom of speech, so if one is going to write for the masses should one
not use that freedom wisely and write about things that actually mat-
ter and not things that just fill up space? Maybe then more copies of
“Over the Edge” will be picked up and there will not be so many
copies just lying around left untouched, which I may remind you is a
waste of paper

Sincerely,

Tiffany R.D.

A reply from Over The Edge

Obvious Blatant Discrimination
Against Lefties at UNBC

Has anyone else noticed that there are not enough
left-handed seats to go around at UNBC? Or, on the
flip side, if there are enough left-handed seats to
accommodate the class in question, they seem to all
be cruelly taken by right-handed keeners who arrive
half an hour early for class? I think that this obvious
prejudice is something that is rooted in the universal
conspiracy against left-handed people. As a left-
handed person I am shocked at the lack of govern-
ment funding put into this obvious minority prob-
lem. I mean, come on here! There seems to be fund-
ing for every other disability that prevents learning
at UNBC. What about the fact that after sitting in a
three hour lecture taking copious notes, my back and
left hand feel like they are going to fall apart after
having to contort my body into gymnastic poses in
order to compensate for a desk that obviously was
not made for my misfit body. Believe me, inefifty
years UNBC will be billed by my chiropractor. I don’t
know about you, but I think I have a case here.

- People with other physically-based ailments are

catered to by government funding...how is left-hand-
edness any different? It seems that the insensitive
government and their co-conspirators at UNBC just
doesn’t seem to care how hard it is for me to learn in
this environment! I am in my third year here at this
institution and have been ranting the same rant for
the past three years and there is yet to be even the
slightest bit of improvement in the lack of left-hand-

ed desks and the lack of disability funding problems.
All I can do now is plead to the other students at
UNBC, please, please if you are right-handed do
NOT under any circumstances sit in desks created
for left-handed people. I REALLY don’t care if you

“| think that this obvious prejudice

‘is something that is rooted in the

universal conspiracy against left-
handed people. As a left-handed
person | am shocked at the lack of
government funding put into this
obvious minority problem.”

don’t use the little pull-up desk. Some of us do, and
therefore would appreciate the opportunity NOT to
spend our entire tuition on our chiropractor bills
during our four years at this wonderful institution.
On a slightly related topic, when I die I fully expect
my parents to dedicate a UNBC Award in my name
“The Carolynne Burkholder Bursary”, the first ever
award to combat discrimination against left-handed
people and make the future safe for the left-handed
péople of tomorrow.

- -  Carolynne “Left-handedness Prejudice
Advocate” Burkholder

Dib YoU Know?

Personally, I’d like to think that
all the articles in Over The Edge
have merit. Why? All our articles
are written by student volunteers,
because they had an interest in
the issue, or felt that other stu-
dents would be interested in
hearing about it (or at least be
entertained by it).

I feel that it if someone wants to
take time and effort to write an
article that address student inter-
ests (whether they be mundane or
sensational) they, as a student
deserve to have space in their stu-
dent newspaper.

While you may feel that an arti-
cle on female sexuality may be
‘irrelevant, I assure you that other
people on campus do find that
issue important. While some may
find the illustration crude, it
comes from an anatomy textbook,
(complete with the labels) so it
wasn’t intended to be vulgar,
rather it was supposed to
provocatively informative, which

fit nicely with the theme of the
article.

While the article on pens may
not have been the most earth
shattering idea ever, it was sup-
posed to be amusing.

I'd also like to think that all the
articles in our news section have a
point and matter to students. The
return of anthropology students
from the Komi republic, NUGSS
news, developments on transit
policy, and rape safety all matter
to UNBC students in one way or
another.

As a volunteer run organiza-
tion, we can only cover what our
volunteers are interested in cover-
ing. We would love to have more
people interested in writing
news, and chances are, if you
think that something is impor-
tant, other people around the
school feel that way as well.

— Kathleen De Vere

—- Becky Booth

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