Ocroser 22,2003 Cuurure 23

CFUR: Free Stuff and
Community Radio

Photo Contributed

Richard Lazenby is a Anthropology professor. His current research

is about the origin of handedness. He is exploring this through com-
parison of both human and primate skeletons.

By Christopher Earl

In the world of community radio, there simply is
not the kind of money flying around that there is in
commercial radio. Sure, some twenty-five year old
community stations manage to raise tens of thou-
sands of dollars in a single fundraising campaign,
but most of us, who are rather new on the scene,
have to make do with very little. A manager in this
little corner of broadcasting must learn to make
something of nothing, and rely on the good nature
of community members and organizations. CFUR
has been rather fortunate in that regard.

Whenever we have needed something to help us
achieve the goal of becoming one of the best com-
munity stations in the country, an individual, busi-
ness, or organization has offered up the goods, most
often without expecting anything in return. This,
people, is the essence of community radio - a repre-
sentation of a community with a genuine interest in
self-improvement via the development of local cul-

~ ture. Sure, we throw money at passive forms of

entertainment all the time and think nothing of the
money spent, even while we complain about inflat-
ed prices, but it is when we actively take part in, or
lend support to, a local organization with a mandate
to heighten the quality of local culture in the com-
munity that we really can feel like we’ve really spent

The point is people who are genuinely interested
in the welfare of their environment are people who
make endeavors like The Prince George Symphony,
The Prince George Theatre Workshop, Theatre
Northwest, and CFUR possible.

In the case of CFUR in particular, our very ability
to broadcast is thanks to such resulting generosity.
UNEC provided a location for our office and studio.
The ten watt transmitter-we currently use to broad-
cast our signal was donated by Geoff Rhodenizer of
Kelly Road Secondary School. The students of
UNBC, thanks to a successful referendum concern- _
ing the collection of student fees as a source of fund-
ing for CFUR last fall, provide CFUR with most of its
operating budget. And, most recently, Electron
Sound and Percussion donated a fabulous micro-
phone.

All of these people/businesses/ organizations
(and we apologize for omitting any) have thought
nothing of giving us what we needed to get by when
there is not a lot of money to buy it for ourselves.
And we thank them.

Of course, it would be criminal if we failed to
mention all of the volunteers who give their time for
nothing more than the satisfaction of helping CFUR
grow. With this kind of support, we can accomplish
almost anything.

“| dare you to have an
open mind. Challenge
hegemonic ideas, and
more importantly, think
before you act. Every
action has an equal and
opposite reaction”

Oh how clever the community our little
crew of academics can be. Here we all are at
university, educating ourselves and expand-
ing our horizons. We are learning how to be
ever so clever and expressive at the same
time.
“FAGGOTRY RULES AGAIN!!!” How is

one to interpret such a statement, that can be
viewed at any time in the Mens’s bathroom
that is located between Student Success
Street and the Bentley Centre? I have to
admit I was mildly baffled by it. Was it an
honest boast of victory? “YAY! Fags rule the
world!” I'm pretty sure this is unlikely. What
is it that makes a homophobic man feel as
though he can speak his mind when he is sit-
ting on the toilet? I’d say the answer is pret-
ty obvious; its easy to be a homophobe when
your in a little cube and no one can see you.
I dare the person that graced the wall of the
bathroom stall to mark his penmanship on a
wall in the middle of the University, in the
middle of the day, where everyone can see
you. If your so proud of your hatred and dis-
gust at fags, then why not do it publicly? I

time and/or money on something worthwhile.

Out on Campus

Graffiti of a Lesser Value

find it a beautiful irony that the penmanship
itself was sloppy, poorly written, and was of
the same grand intellect of the fecal matter
this guy likely flushed down the toilet.
There are those who are slightly more
brave and take chalk to chalkboard in the
middle of the night. These people like to tar-
get a wider viewing community, showing
that they at least have the intelligence to
realize that location really is everything.
“JOE BLOW* HAS A LOOSE ASS! WITH
AIDS!” This was written on a chalkboard in
the middle of the winter garden some weeks
ago. Now, it is my assumption that Joe Blow
didn’t put this advertisement up himself, so
my next question is, how is it that the author
of such intelligent statements knows this
information. It is presumable that Joe Blow
wouldn't really go around telling everyone
about how loose his ass is, so I’m going to
have to assume that the author has had
some sort of experience with Joe Blow that
gave him this information. Perhaps this
attempt at well refined wit was simply a
joke, a jest. My next question then is, what is
so humorous about AIDS? Your dealing
with a very real illness, that is very much
ingrained in our community. AIDS is no jok-
ing matter my friends. While Joe Blow may
very well have AIDS, I would suggest it is
not your job to tell the world about it. On the
other hand, I would suggest that if Joe Blow
chooses to be sexually active, he does have a
responsibility to let his sexual partners
know about his illness. So now we are deal-
ing with a person who is not only very intel-
ligent, but who is also seemingly very insen-
sitive and unperceptive to people who are

not as lucky as s/he is to be in such good
health.

But the saga of graffiti does not stop here.
PrideUNBC posters are also subject to
defacement. It takes a really cleaver individ-
ual to write “FAG” ona poster that states the
following: “Fag, Dyke, Homo, Flamer,
Fudge Packer, Carpet Muncher, Butch,
Queer, Sinner, Crack-Snacker, Cock Sucker,
Queen, Muff Diver, Ass Pirate: Try
Something New - Celebrate Diversity.” The
person who inked the profound statement,
“FAG,” beside these words shows a lot of
depth. They essentially proved the point the
poster was making while demonstrating
their own incredible narrow mindedness.

Another PrideUNBC poster under attack
has the word “gay” in huge bold letters
printed on it. Someone of astonishing intel-
lect actually scratched out the ”G” in the
word gay, and then proceeded to write, in
tiny blue ink, the word “Gay” and drew an
arrow to the giant bold letters, G-A-Y
already on the poster. I have to admit this
was a great source of entertainment to me
and my friends for some time. I assume this
person also has an A average in all their
classes and possess a huge vocabulary, and
is obviously highly literate. I come to this
conclusion because this individual has mas-
tered the art or tracing and copying, some-
thing most of us conquer in Kindergarten.
Its good to see that all these years later, at the
post-secondary level, these skills are still
adequate and in good use.

For some reason anal sex also seems to be
a fun and interesting target to attack. Why,
in the last issue of Over The Edge the

“Signals to Noise” music review column
used “buttsex,” which signified for what a
CD with a one star rating might be like. “I’m
not saying its like buttsex, I’m just sayin’.”
I'm presuming the person who created this
rating system has engaged in “buttsex”
(which by the way is two words, not one,
and is more commonly known as “anal
sex.”) and apparently had a very bad experi-
ence with it. That’s highly unfortunate,
because I know a large group of people who
are going to go out and buy these one-star
rated albums based on the fact that they are
suppose to be not quite as good as andl sex.
Men, women, straight and gay can enjoy
anal sex, and many of them do. Its intelli-
gence at its finest when we compare our
music to anal sex, don’t you agree?

Now I’m not trying to make you believe
that this university is full of idiots. I’m sim-
ply challenging you to be smart, use your
intellect, be creative, and most of all, I dare
you to have an open mind. Challenge hege-
monic ideas, and more importantly, think
before you act. Every action has an equal
and opposite reaction, and if your action is
defacing bathroom stalls, posters, or just
being idiotic, then the reaction might be
something like, oh, an article in Over The
Edge about how impressively intelligent the
student body of UNBC seems to be.

“Names may have been changed for pri-
vacy reasons.

-This article does not reflect the opinions
of PrideUNBC, but rather are those of the
author. 5