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over The EDGE page Wednesday, Sept 20, 1995

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YOUTH VIOLENCE AND OTHER MENACES TO SOCIETY

by Scott Bishop

The recent savage attacks in our
province have left most of us a
little outraged and shaken.

But there is a sickening element
in our midst who seem to derive
great pleasure in the hurting, even
killing, of others. It seems the pris-
tine beauty and innocence of Brit-
ish Columbia is no less immune
to the violence that we’ ve come to
expect in places like New York’s
Central Park, East Los Angeles or
downtown Detroit on a Saturday
night.

I’ve visited all of these places,
as well as some pretty scary spots
in Toronto where I grew up, and
I’ve always been able to ‘take care
of myself’ and remain relatively
unscathed. I even worked as a
doorman-bouncer at a blues-bar
where nightly fights were a mat-
ter of course once the liquor started
to flow. .

But I had to travel all the way to
Prince Rupert, a “peaceful little
fishing village”, (as it’s described
in the tourist guides) before the

reality of the violent world of street
gangs intersected with my own.

It seems that walking home
alone at night in Prince Rupert is
just not unwise for young women,
sickening as that truth is, but also
for males as well.

I had left my friends’ place after
consuming some alcoholic bever-
ages, as I am want to do on some
Friday nights, and was heading
home on foot. I never drive drunk,
and usually take cabs, but it was a
beautiful spring evening and I was
feeling good to be alive.

As I passed a fairly busy inter-
section called the Five-Corners,
someone came up to me from be-
hind and slammed me over the
head with a basebali bat, for abso-
lutely no reason except to kill me
for kicks. They piled me into their
car and started driving me toward
the dock area.

I woke up and asked
them what the hell they
were doing, and they re-
plied “We’re going to kill
you” and they all started to

YOUTH VIOLENCE CON'T

laugh.

There were four of them, all
young men, in the car with me, and
as I looked around I had a weird
sensation of staring into the true
faces of evil; their eyes seemed red
and maniacal.

Of course, that sensation could
be accounted for by my situation.
I fought with the punk next to me
in the backseat and managed to roll
out of the car, banging myself up
even more in the process. The
grass on side of the road seemed
so cold and refreshing to me at that
moment and I thought I was safe.
But their car came to a stop and
two of the boys jumped out and
started whaling on me with a steel
pipe and baseball bat. I remember
trying to roll into the bushes at the
side of the road to get away from
them when a car approached and
scared those little sicko’s away.

Of course the passers-by didn’t
stop to see if] was all right so thank
God my assailants left when they
did or I’m sure I’d be dead right
now.

As it turns out no one tried to

D

help me that evening.

Ihad crawled across the road
to a well-lit gas station where
I lay bleeding for 2 hours be-
fore help came in the form of
a police car.

The officers didn’t even ask me
what happened before they were
pouncing on me.agd slapping me
into handcuffs.

I guess the sight of a 6’4" man
bleeding and barely conscious was
enough to convince our “protec-
tors” I was a dangerous criminal.
If I was anyone else but a mature
male, do you think they would
have treated me like that?!!!

If it sounds like I’m angry at the
police, Iam. Almost as much as I
am at the youths who left me with
37 stitches in the head, a fractured
skull, and multiple contusions all
over my body. These are the other
Menaces to Society: our own jus-
tice system.

I’m especially angry at the
RCMP because of all the things I
learned later when ! tried to find

: TER

out who the perpetrators were. It
seems that I was not the only large
male attacked that evening by a
gang of youths with baseball bats
and pipes. Two hours earlier in
almost the same spot a gentleman
was also badly beaten for kicks,
and this guy was 6’10" and almost
300 Ibs!!!

He had also been drinking that
night and when he went to the po-
lice station to report the assault, he .
was treated with complete indif-
ference. They didn’t take him se-
riously.

Another man, who was in town
fishing from the States was also
attacked by who I believe to be the
same gang. He is 6’8" and weighs
almost 400 Ibs!!! He was beaten
unconscious and dropped off the
docks and was saved only by the
tide coming in.

No one was robbed in any of
these incidents. I myself had $150
on me and no one even made a
move for it. The only motivation
seemed to be the thrill of taking
out a big guy.

I’m sure there were other inci-
dents in Prince Rupert over the last

Fa

SEXUAL
HARASSMENT

two years, and the police did noth-
ing. It wasn’t until this summer
when Trygue Magnusson was bru-
tally beaten by a gang of “Young
Offenders” that the Justice system
- finally acknowledged that there
was a problem.

Now there is a great cry for cur-
few in that town, one I wholeheart-
edly agree with. But if the police
had taken the other assaults with
the same M.O. more seriously, Mr.
Magnsson might still be alive to-
day.

Every day we seem to be read-
ing about brutal killers and sexual
predators being released from jail
with no warning to the community
and about young offenders com-
mitting horrendous acts with little
or no consequences.

When is this injustice going to
stop? How many more people
have to die or be assaulted; how
many more Jessie Cadmans have
to be before our parliament acts,
the courts get tough and the police
' take us seriously no matter what
our race, age, gender or social
standing?

When I saw on the news the

other day that a 10-year-old girl
was abducted from her parents’
home, I sat shaking with rage.
WHEN IS THIS GOING TO
STOP?!!!

The answer is NEVER, until we
as Citizens start getting more re-
spect from our police and tougher
penalties from courts.

I used to be a believer in giving
people a second chance but not
any more. Forget the “three strikes
and you’ re out’ rule, I say the sec-
ond violent crime or sexual assault

, and BAM-you’re gone for good.

NO PAROLE.

The same rule applies to young
offenders. ;

Of course all the liberals in our
society might say I’m biased, but
try telling that to Melanie Carpen-
ter, Kristen French and Leslie
Mahaffy’s parents. Try telling that
to all the other countless mothers
and fathers who’ve had to be told
of the senseless deaths of their
sons and daughters.

I just thank God my parents
weren’t among them. This time.

submitted by the Women’s
Centre

The Women’s Centre
exists to provide a physical and
social environment for all
women on campus. The Centre is
being developed to create an
atmosphere that reflects and
welcomes the diversity of
women’s experience across
sexual, cultural, physical,
generational and economic lines.
Women from other Regions will
have a place that they are able to

‘access information regarding

UNBC and connect will other
women on campus.

During orientation week
the Centre held “Open House”
for all students to come and see
what we’re all about. Addition-
ally, an “Open House” was held
by the Women’s Studies and
Gender Studies Faculty. Collec-
tive meetings are held in the
Centre, usually weekly (look for
the leader board ads in the
Centre), and additionally various
groups, such as an health
collective, meet on a regular

basis. The Women’s Centre is
again sponsoring “Brown Bag
Lunch Lecture Series” every
second week, the Dec.
6thcommemoration ceremony,
and hopefully a film festival.
Look for BRIGHT YELLOW
SIGNS POSTERS announcing
events that will be coming up
during the semester. We have the
beginnings of a great library,
dealing with women’s issues.
Books areavailable on loan to
students. Services are geared for
women, however, men may
access information on any
woman’s issues through the
office.

The Women’s Centre is
intended for use by all women
on campus, and we utilize the
services of an Office Project
Coordinator and volunteers to
keep the doors open and the
space useable. When these
people are not available women
may access the Centre by asking
Security to unlock the door.

We look forward to
seeing returning collective
members and welcoming new
members.

LECTURE FOR
WOMEN

Sexual harassment includes a
wide range of behaviours
with a sexual element where
the contact is unwanted and
forced. It can have the effect
of making the person feel
uncomfortable, violated, sick,
frightened; unemployment or
lost school time can be a
cansequence. Find out more.
All women are invited to
explore the current law on
the topic of sexual
harassment and a variety of
practical, methods that might
be used to address
harassment.

Lawyer Barbara Flewelling
and Former Federal
Governifent manager Irene
Plett will be speaking at the
Prince George Women’s
Centre (235 Quebec St.) on
Wednesday Sept. 27 at 7pm.