OveR THE EDGE Vo.LumME 11 Issue 2 SEPTEMBER 29, 2004 Editor-in-Chief Carolynne Burkholder Managing Editor Stephanie Wilson News Editor Kathleen De Vere Culture Editor Maggie Gilbert Sports Editor Jessica Johnson Photo Editor Dana Schwehr Production Coordinator Becky Booth Copy Editor Earson Gibson Ad Manager Russell VanderEnde Reporters Charles Thrift Travis Nielson Belinda Li Corey Scofield Genevieve Byrna Photographers Belinda Li Marlon Francesini Production Assistants Richard Parker Contributors Dirk VanStraten Over The Edge is part of the Canadian University Press network of papers, otherwise known as CUP. CUP is an organisation that is entirely owned by member papers, and provides such services as advertising and a newswire. ; Over The Edge is the official publishing media of stu- dents at the University of Northern British Columbia. As such we are required to report on issues of interest to students in the Northern Region. We can be reached by ‘several methods as outlined below and encourage all students, both those on the main campus and regional campuses, to take part in Over The Edge. Over The Edge 3333 University Way Prince George, BC V2N 429 Phone: (250) 960-5633 Fax: (250) 960-5407 E-mail: over-the-edge @ unbc.ca Page 2 Big Man on Campus: A message for your NUGSS President “With great power, comes great responsibility” -Spidey’s Uncle Ben >> by Jeremy Belyea As your Director of University Affairs, Iam able to use my “pow- ers” to help others on campus with ‘whenever the need arises. Case in point, after the last issue of Over the Edge came out; a great deal of concern was raised over the article “Men in the World.” An obvious satire poking fun at of some of humanities less desirable quali- ties... like War and weapons of erectile destruction etc. Almost immediately I was asked to inves- tigate whether or not the article was “Hate Literature” or some- thing along those lines... As your big cheese representative at NUGSS, I was obliged to dig a lit- tle deeper to address the growing concerns. The sense of community we have at UNBC is one of the greatest things about our school, and it was my goal during my mediation of this problem to find a peaceful solution. A question arose of whether or not a violation occurred under UNBC’s Sexual Harassment and Discrimination code/policy. It would be easy to get into the fight of freedoms of expression or press vs. individual rights however, pre- ferred to try and solve the problem without an all out war with OTE. While waiting for a decision from Dr. Cindy Hardy the Sexual Harassment officer on campus, your NUGSS executive was forced to make a decision to ask OTE to recall off campus pies of OTE, “and’as’a show of Pood faith they also temporarily recalled on cam- pus copies of the paper. Once a decision came down from Dr. Hardy, the NUGSS executive was forced to make the decision to “freeze” OTE and stop them from publishing until we could get to y >> Continued from “Students Take Back the Night” page 1 to avoid violence and prevent it in our community.” According to Boyd-Noel, Take Back the Night Marches were start- ed in Germany in 1973. “Take Back the Night Started because women really felt they weren't safe,” said Boyd-Noel. “It was one way of quite literally tak- ing back the night on this one evening during the year and say- ing we're safe on this day’, and we can march together. We can’t do that any other day of the year, but we can do it tonight. The whole point is to raise awareness of gen- der based violence.” “It’s very important that UNBC students and the women’s centre Women United to Take B the bottom of the violation. Now this was viewed by many as an attempted killing blow to behead OTE, and believe me I heard all of the same rumors you did, read the handy little slips of paper printed by students concerned enough to photocopy notices of NUGSS actions on OTE with their own money and distribute them to their fellow students. Fast forward to our last NUGSS weekly meeting, where after exhaustive research and closed room negotiating, NUGSS and OTE were able to peacefully resolve the issue. There was no hidden personal JJ vendetta, or a political will for mud-slinging, just NUGSS and OTE sorting out the issue professionally. I hold no ill will towards anyone at OTE, or any of the students on either side of this issue; I just did my job as the mediator in this to the best of my abilities. I take my job very seriously, I wear multiple name- tags (which many like to poke fun at - you know who you are), but I am just doing my best to be notice- able, and approachable, so I can better serve the student body. Kudos to my NUGSS team, and everyorte at. OTE for being able to quickly resolve this negative into a positive and educational solution. Well with that cleared up, I have just a short amount of time to doa NUGSS update, Shinerama was an absolute success, we smashed last year’s record by almost 4 thousand continue what they started last year, which is being involved in community events,” said Sharon Hurd, the Executive Director of the Phoenix Transition Society. “UNBC ‘is an educational facility and a big part of that is raising awareness of issues, and one of the main issues in front of us right now is all the women who have been murdered and gone missing in B.C.” “The university can play a big “part in raising that awareness. I’m really grateful to Sarah from the Women’s Centre, and Dr. Loller and Rhonda Lowen for their sup- port and participation.” “T think the march is important because it brings awareness to women who get abused, and will hopefully get people to stop,” said dollars. Congratulations go out to all of the clubs and volunteers that participated, and especially to. Shineriffic Serena, because without her none of this would have been possible. As I am writing this Iam doing my best to remember every- thing about the Backyard BBQ, the bands were incredible, the music was awesome, it was just a fantas- tic night that I will never forget. From loading in band equipment to welcoming party goers at the front door of the multiplex and introducing the different bands at the beginning of the show, your NUGSS team worked hard to make the night a success. I cannot say it enough but when you get the chance, come by and thank April Williams NUGSS general manager, and the NUGSS Team for putting together the best organized most enjoyable Backyard BBQ in my many years at UNBC. Well Iam over my word limit again, but if you ever need help and think NUGSS can help, do not be ‘shy, write in with questions... drop by to visit etc. s Lam off to enjoy some of SUM 41’s leftover bread which I’ve toasted and slathered with cheese whigz- Thanks for reading. Enjoy the picture of me ‘with the tortured celebrities of SUM 41. (To the edi- tor, if the pictire does not work please delete the last line and just print the picture of me and the A&W bear again. Thanks) Peace and Bannock ack the Night Jagjeet, a UNBC student who was interviewed before the march took place. When asked if she intended to march in Take Back the Night, she said she didn’t. “I don’t know if I would. I would go if I knew someone who had been a victim of violence, but I don’t know anyone like that.” However, what UNBC students like Jagjeet don’t know is gender based violence hits closer to home than many of them may think. “T think it’s important that UNBC students participate in Take Back the Night because there needs to be a clear statement on campus here that violence is not acceptable,” said Boyd-Noel. “The reason why it’s especially important this year is that I've become aware of three rapes reported at the sexual assault cen- tre that occurred in the first week of September last year,” she said. “We need to be aware of that, not brush those stats under the rug. There is a special reason why we did the shoe exhibit, and why we participated in Take Back the Night,” said Boyd-Noel.