Over the Edge -February 15 KEEPIN’ IT GREEN WITH OTE Alternative Uses to Reading the School Newspaper DEVON FLYNN CONTRIBUTOR fter reading the January 18th article For the Love of Writing: Reasons to Write for Your School Newspaper, I felt compelled to compile this list for the good of the Green University (phew, al- literation kicks ass!) And with that, I give you: 10 Alternative Uses to Reading the School Newspaper 1. Pranking roommates — We work hard at university and it’s nice to go home and relax. But sometimes living with roommates can get a little stressful. Perhaps they don’t do their dishes as much as they claim to or they complain about the most miniscule things like the living conditions not being up to their standards. Well bring ‘em down a peg. OTE issues make great wall paper and can really “fill” up a room, if you catch my drift. Should you take the pranking route with all that paper, be sure to be safe. Keep it away from heaters, computer vents and light sources. You don’t want to go from scheming prankster to convicted ar- sonist. Speaking of things getting toasty... 2. Keeping the homeless warm — For the past four years, brave students took to being “homeless” as part of the 5 Days Cam- paign. They spurned cell phones, showers, warm bedrooms, and readily available food in order to experience a taste of the home- less lifestyle in order to raise awareness and funds for the Com- munity Partners Addressing Homelessness organization. Part of this campaign was to experience as-similar-as-possible con- ditions as the homeless, including sleeping outside. One brave participant relayed to me the value of paper and how stuffing crumpled paper into his sleeping bag increased the toasty factor by insulating him. OTE — it saves lives! It’s not just good for keeping warm, but also... 3. Drying wet winter clothes — Winter gets pretty wet sometimes and it can get expensive to crank the heat up to dry off clothes all the time, not to mention wasteful (Green University students, come on!) So why not take those soaked boots of yours and stuff ‘em! Some crumpled up OTE works well in absorbing the mois- ture. Take out the moist paper, leave to dry in some corner of the house and re-use them again when we get those lovely wet Prince George winters. And when that paper has reached the end of its life, turn it into... 4. Mulch for compost — Newspaper is renowned for being great for adding to compost. Keep your worms happy and keep your garden productive. Before you know it, you’ll be enjoying some homegrown vegetables before the next OTE issue comes out! Al- though summer brings in veggie weather, it also brings in the need for... 5. Moth Control — Last summer, Prince George was invaded by the Satin moth. Porch lights at night became a mottephobe’s (fear of moths) worst nightmare. And according to Staffan Lindgren, a forest entomologist and professor at UNBC, we can expect this summer to be much worse. Close your windows, roll up those issues and get ready for some good ol’ moth smooshing! If moths are a bit too scary for you, maybe you can use that rolled up newspaper as a... 6. Spooky decorations for Residence’s next Haunted House — Every year gets better as more residents get the crap scared out of them visiting the haunted house. 2011’s Haunted House involved a spooky forest theme which incorporated forest litter comprised of, you guess it, loads and loads of old issues of OTE. All that rustling paper, never knowing what was going to pop out; that’s some spooky stuff right there! But not all woods are as spooky. Shane Lake parties can be grand times so long as someone gets a nice fire going using some... 7. Fire Starter — Nothing works better than newspaper to get a nice raging fire going. Even the most amateur of fire-makers can be successful so long as they got piles of OTE to help them start that beacon of warmth in the dead of September night. Watching all those sparks and embers from burning pages makes for a good show as they float and fly away, almost like... 8. Paper airplanes in the Teaching and Learning Building — If you haven’t done this before, I highly suggest it. Get a good airplane style online, fold it up and let ‘er fly. Although news- paper isn’t the sturdiest of airplane paper, OTE is surely the most abundant, with stacks of unread issues easily found around most comers of the school. If your airplane sucks, you could also use that paper to throw... 9. Confetti for graduation celebration — Sure, it’s a bitch to clean up, it gets stuck to clothes everywhere and it’s a waste. But you want to celebrate with glitz and glamour damn’t! So shred up some old issues and make yourself some prime confetti to throw up and celebrate all that hard work you put into graduating. Go ahead, you deserve it! 10. Learning to Spell Check — Okay, let’s take the opposite route and say you didn’t graduate. Smarten up, grab a highlighter and pick up the nearest issue of OTE. While this isn’t so much an alternative to READING the newspaper, you do have to read the articles to pick out the spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. And trust me, there’s always a couple in there! While you appre- ciate the hard work contributors and editors put into the student- run newspaper, you can appreciate them a little more for allwing yu to prctice yor profreading skill. Student Refugee Program Needs Your Help Fonte y\ i -aNMInee 5 F NICK LOWTHER CONTRIBUTOR Brings one student from a refugee camp to [33 UNIVERSITY OF IRTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA CLASS GIFT Al UNBC id you know that just by paying your school * fees every semester you are changing a UNBC every two years life? It’s true! Right now, your $2 Refugee Fee goes towards supporting the Student Refugee Program (SRP) at UNBC. The SRP is a pan-Canadian program established in 1978 by the World University Service of Canada (WUSC), a Canadian non-governmental organiza- tion. It is a sponsorship and resettlement program that helps young, capable, and self-reliant high school graduates who have been persecuted and forced from their homelands into refugee camps. The SRP enables these refugee students to enter Canada as permanent residents and pursue their education at Canadian universities and colleges. UNBC is one of over 60 schools to participate in the SRP. Since 2005, we have sponsored four stu- dents who were originally from Ethiopia, Congo, Somalia, and South Sudan. In order to continue be- ing involved in this program and provide our spon- sored students with the best support possible, the WUSC local committee, a student club, requires a reliable source of funding. This is where your fees come in. Currently the $2 Refugee Fee achieves the follow- ing: * Supports WUSC in its overseas selection process * Pays living expenses for that student for the first twelve months (housing, food, etc.) * Provides a small yearly allowance over the next three years if the student stays at UNBC This semester, the WUSC local committee would like to increase the levy through a student referen- dum from the current $2 to $5. A $5 fee could would be able to achieve all of the above, plus: * Bring a sponsor student to UNBC every year * Provide more support past the SRP student’s first year * Add currently neglected items (e.g. computer, phone) to the budget * Cover rising costs This means that SRP students will have better support from other sponsor students and committee members who have been through the process before -- which has never been the case at UNBC. To learn more, search for “UNBC WUSC” on Facebook or email unbcwusc@gmail.com TO THE 2012 — 2012 CLASS GIFT COMMITTEE BECAUSE UNBC HAS OPENED SO MANY DOORS FOR US” The Class Gift gives our graduating class the opportunity to leave a permanent mark and commemorate our time spent at UNBC. Our goal is to have 12% of the 2012 Graduating Class make a donation to the Graduating Class Gift Bursary. When we hit this target an anonymous doner will give an additional $4,000 in student support. We invite you to give $20.12 No matter how much you choose to give, your gift will have an immediate impact on UNBC students. “All donors recieve a Class of 2012 decal. TO MAKE YOUR GIFT VISIT External Relations - ADM 1065 CALL (250) 960-5750 [m] sf [a] unbc.ca/classgift tig CLASS GIFT