CNC student paper has run-in with council

By Paul Berard
The firing of a student
newspaper editor and the
canceling of the publication’s
last issue of the year has
raised concerns at a northern

B.C. college campus.
Kalinda Link, editor of the
Pit, was fired by the student
association at the College of
New Calédonia after a homo-
phobic comment was printed
in the latest issue of the

paper.

The association, which pub-
lishes the paper, says Link

failed to fulfil her responsibil-
ity to properly edit the Pit.
The homophobic comment
was contained in 2 joke -horo-
scope.

Laird Lynch, president of

the student association, says
Link should not have let the
comment get through.

“When she was asked
about it, she said, “Oh, | did-
n't read it. She wasn't proof-
reading, really,” he said.

“It’s nothing personal, but we
can't have [this] kind of thing
going .on,” added Jen
Molyneaux, the association's
treasurer. —
Link admitted to overlooking
the comment, but says she is
very sorry for the mistake.
She says she. planned to
print a retraction in the next
issue of the Pit and informed
the student union of this.
After leaming she was fired,

Link inserted 250 photo-

copied retractions in the

issues of the Pit which
remained on the stands.

Laird says a retraction will
be printed in the first issue of
the newspaper next year,
when it resumes publishing
in January.

Link says it was wrong for
the student union to fire her
and to cancel the last issue
of the year.

“This was a job | wanted for
two years, | was fired, but |

don't feel | was fired for a
good reason.

“Speaking from .a: student
perspective, even when |
was just a writer last semes-
ter, | always looked forward

to the issue coming out, just,

so | could read what every-
body else had to say: It's
really the voice of the stu-~
dents,” she said.

Kevin Brammer, a second
year student at the college,
says he was surprised when
he heard about the maantie
actions.

“l read the paper, | think Wa

pretty cool. | think that every-
body is entitled to.a mistake
once in a while. | dan’t see
why [Link] should have been
fired. The paper's. been weil
improved since last year. |
can see where the Student
Association is coming from,
but | don’t think it's worth the

death of a newspaper,” he. .

said.

“Shutting down the newspa-
per is cutting off the voice of
the students. | think the

newspaper is like a watch-

dog for the student [associa-
tion], letting them know
where students’ concerns
stand.”

Matt Macrae, president of
the student union at the
University of Northern British
Columbia, agrees that tem-
porarily shutting down the

CENSORED

paper is problematic.

“A student government
needs some sort of checks
and balances. This paper is

that check and: balance,” he

Student association mem-
bers. at New Caledonia
College say they were gener-
ally unhappy with how Link
was running the paper, point-
ing to. such problems as toe.
many spelling errors in the
publication.

But Doug Brown, the staff

member who wrote the arti-..

cle in question, says that Link
was deeply committed to the.
paper.

“She put in long, long hours.
She'd be in there over the
weekend constantly. If you
wanted to find Kalinda, you.
knew where to find her.
She'd be in the office werk-
ing,” he said.

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Athletics
(BCCAA). Both the women’s

Ete See ek Spree ee em. ae ee Dee es Oe

Sports Clubs or Teams?

By Nicole Larson

Recently the UNBC basket-
ball clubs attempted to join
the British Columbia College
Association

and men's clubs were denied
access to the league. The
reasons given for this refusal
were a lack of coaching staff
in the area, a short exhibition
season, and _ inadequate
training and playing facilities.
Despite the agreement that
the clubs had worked out
with Kelly Road Secondary
School which involved the
use of their gymnasium for
games and practices the

BCCAA stilt did not accept.

their application. There were
also worries about a commu-
nity of Prince George's size
housing two teams from the
BCCAA, the Timberwolves
and.the Kodiacs.

The exhibition seasons that

both basketball clubs had —
“May not seem promising,
with no games won by either.
team, but when you consider
the fact that all of the players _
were | just walk-ons, they

were not recruited, some of
their games were very good.

“They did not win any games

but some of the games they
did have very goad halves,”
said Jim O'Meara,
Recreation/Sports Intermural
Coerdinator, “In one of the
halves the women’s team
only lost by 3 points, which is
a definite improvement from
last year.”

The UNBC sports program
has taken this whole episode
in stride and is looking -at
reevaluating their decision to
join the BCCAA.. They are

_ currently looking into all of

the sports clubs at UNBC,
doing some. restructuring of
the clubs, fitness centre and
intermurals. This was a dis-
appointment but it allowed
UNBC’s sports programs to
get a foot in the door. It was
recommended that UNBC be
given a partial membership

to the BCCAA, which means

they will not be able ta vote
on any specific decisions, but
they are allowed to have rep-
resentitives on some of the
BCCAA committees. The

_ UNBC sports programs are

also looking into joining other
university leagues.

And now...
A 8.U.G.S.S.
Announcement!

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three ways to get involved.

1. Send your e-mail address to
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2. Talk to any of the BUGSS direc-
tors

3. Wait until next semester, after the
stress. of exams, and sign up at the
table that will be set up. |