Over the Edge ° October 10th 2012 OPINION ON STRIKE THE LACE CAMPAIGN JORDAN CROSINA As | write this, CUPE employees are 30 minutes into their October 4 strike. My regularly scheduled class has been cancelled due to the professor's unwillingness to cross the picket line (despite instruction from the Faculty Association not to interrupt classes), and | find myself debating what | think of all this. To frame this discussion, | suppose | should say that | am generally pretty right-wing; | don’t generally think much of unions, and | really don’t like strikes. But as a student at one of BC’s public universities, complaining about social movements is really looking the gift horse in the mouth. Upon hearing that our class was off because of the job action, a fellow student loudly (and irritably) pronounced that he paid $500 for this class and that as a customer he is entitled to each and every lecture in the semester. | won't even bother to point out that your tuition doesn’t get you a fixed number of instructional hours anyway — classes that run three hours every Monday frequently get significantly fewer instructional hours compared to classes on other days, because holidays are usually on Mondays — or that semesters don’t even have fixed lengths (anywhere from 60 to 65 instructional days is typical, | believe). What is really short-sighted about the “paying customer” logic is the ridiculous idea that $472.20 per course actually pays for your education. If you'll allow me to round a few digits, I'll tell you that taxpayers are forking out about three quarters of the actual bill, to the tune of about $1370 per course per buttocks per chair. And if you’re wondering how far up my colon | had to reach to come up with these figures, you can find UNBC's Ministry of Adv. Ed. funding letter for LOCAL GOVERNMENT 2012/13 on our finance department's website. I've often thought that unions have outlived their practical necessity, supposing that the Employment Standards Act, WorkSafe BC, etc. should suffice to protect the workforce. However, the situation of CUPE members seems to shut that notion down right quick. One staffer who has been here at UNBC some dozen-plus years told me earlier that even if she had only received cost- of-living raises to keep up with inflation over the course of her employment, she would be making some $7 more per hour now than what she is. That would be quite a raise compared to the 2% they’re asking for! Don’t get me wrong, | sympathize with the administration too. | don’t know how they will come up with a fair increase for these people when the university's funding is set to continue decreasing under the Liberal government. They are only allowed to raise tuition by 2% per year by law, but according to the 4:1 funding ratio | discussed earlier, that translates into just a 0.05% increase in revenue. It seems to me that the provincial government either needs to let tuition grow naturally, or cough up some real funding. Anyway, | suppose my point here is that we students are not customers, we are basically the recipients of educational welfare. Those union workers who earna wage and pay their taxes contribute more to my being here than | do (especially because educational income tax credits and the HST rebate usually keep students like me from paying any net tax), and as | pass their picket line on my way home, | think Ill just smile and say “thanks.” STUDENT COMMITTEE HEATHER RITCHIE, VP STUDENT AFFAIRS, NUGSS KELLEY WARE, PRESIDENT, POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENT ASSOCIATION ROB CURRIE-WOOD Last year at the Political Science Student Association’s Annual Politicians Dinner, City Councillor Lynn Hall recommended that students form an advisory group to communicate the needs of students to city hall. We have enthusiastically taken up the councillor’s advice and began working to form a committee that will engage youth with local government and politics. At this time, we are actively pursuing interested students to become involved in working on this committee. The committee is open to all who wish to participate and want to effectively engage in the political process. The committee will bring forward student recommendations to city council with the aim of achieving meaningful goals that will greatly improve student life in Prince George. By participating, you will become active in setting the political agenda while making a positive difference for students in the region. You may be thinking to yourself, ‘Why engage the local government? | thought all they did was plough snow from our streets in the winter and fill potholes in the summer: This may be the perceived role of our local government; however, our municipality does far more than just provide basic services. Local government is the closest level of government to you; it is the most accessible level of government to you; it isa place where the community gets together to decide a particular course of action. UNBC students make up a growing part of this community and it is important that we participate in the community discussion. What should they city be doing to improve student life in Prince George? Participate and have your voice heard. Contact pgsac1 @gmail.com to get involved. ALISSA MACMULLIN The LACE Campaign is a grassroots movement based out of Vancouver. LACE stands for “Live Active, Create Empowerment.” Presently, women and men from all over British Columbia (and further) have been promoting pap- talk and getting women empowered to get their annual pap smears! | have taken on the role of Student Representative for the LACE Campaign in Prince George. Over the past few years, clinics in Prince George, including the university clinic, have hours designated for paps during Pap Awareness Week. It’s a great reminder for women without family physicians in the area to get their paps done. While the clinics have promotional efforts of their own, | found it relevant to get students involved in the campaign and help make it wide- spread in our own town! This year Pap Awareness Week is October 22 — 28, and | am looking for more volunteers to help spread the word! Go to www.lacecampaign.com or www.facebook.com/lacecampaignprincegeorge for more information on the campaign. Pap smears are very important to have done annually when a woman has been sexually active for a minimum of three years or when they turn 21. My mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer, caused by human papillomavirus, when | was 5, and | never understood the extent of the disease that young. She underwent treatments of radiation in Vancouver, and was away from home often. Reading her medical records this summer was difficult — if she had more regular pap smears, she could have caught the cancer earlier, saving herself from extensive treatment. Usually there are no early signs of cervical cancer, but pap smears can catch it early! Luckily for my father, brothers and I, my mother survived the treatments, but still lives with the damage to her body Remember, __, Pap tests save lives! MY October 22-28 Pap Awareness Week Get involved at LACEcampaign.com from the radiation. Today, treatment options differ, for a small portion of the cervix with the cancerous cells can be removed, rather than having to undergo doses of radiation. With the LACE Campaign in Prince George, | hope more women will understand the importance of regular pap smears. Have you had your pap this year? CAMPUS CALENDAR October 11 Study Abroad Fair 11:00am-3:00pm @ Wintergarden Cookie Chat Join NUGSS, Senate, and the Board of Governors student representatives in the lounge by Degrees for some FREE cookies and juice. 12:00-4:00pm @ Lounge by Degrees Coffee ARTivism Expressions: Sexualisation of youth in the media Guest speaker Chandra Scopie, co-facilitator of research project on Sexualisation of youth in media. Potluck and movies at 6:00 pm, speaker Jat 7:00. 6:00-9:00pm @ Rotunda Gallery October 12 Study Abroad Fair 11:00am-3:00pm @ Wintergarden Lecture: James Casey Quantitative Analysis of Indirect Drivers of Environmental Change in International River Basins. 10:00 am @ Room: 6-307 Lecture: Cecilia Malmqvist and Harald Sall The challenge to make the researchers and the forest sector connect. 3:30pm @ Room: 7-152 October 13 INUGSS: Annual Dodge Ball Tournament Teams of 7 for $13, part of the money raised will igo towards prostate cancer research. Costume contest prizes and more! Cost: $7 for teams of 13 people 10:00am-2:00pm @ NUSC Event Space USC Ride for Refuge A 20km bike ride around Prince George to raise money for the Student Refugee Program. Support the Ride for Refuge through donations, participation or cheering them on! No cost, but WUSC is collecting donations. Start at UNBC @ 10:00 am. October 16 UFM. 10:00am-3:00pm @ NUSC Event Space Stone Soup Series Get together to make a communal soup. Sign up and be contacted to bring an ingredient. 5:00-7:00pm @ the Gathering Place Lecture: Tyler Smith Impact of Land Use Activities on Sediment- Associated Contaminants: Quesnel River Basin, BC 9:00am @ Room: 6-307 Northern Medical Program Information Session Topics covered include the admission requirements, application dates, MCAT score, program costs and an overview of the application process. 1:00-2:00pm @ Room: 9-280 October 17 Food Bank Yoga Cost: $2.00 and a non-perishable food item! 4:30-6:00pm @ the Gathering Place. October 18 ARTivism Expressions: Eco-feminism/Eco-fashion Activists involved in community garden and social justice projects will speak. Potluck and movies at 6:00 pm, speakers at 7:00. 6:00-9:00pm @ Rotunda Gallery October 19 Global Fridays: Dr. Lorna Carson Linguistic Diversity in Europe: Vision, Visibility, and Vitality. Noon - 1:30pm @ Rm: 10-4520 Lecture: Dan Adamson Mapping Prince George's Natural Areas and Climate Change Impacts 3:30pm @ Room: 7-152 October 20 NUGSS: Redneck Relay Participants will go through an obstacle course with a variety of challenges, including potato sack races, climbing hale bales and extreme mudding! Cost: $5 per team of 2 people Outside next to NUSC and the Bus loop October 22 Thesis Defence: Stephanie Ameyaw Canada's Position on Corporate Social Responsibility in a Developing Country Context 10:00am @ Room: 6-307 October 23 UFM 10:00am-3:00pm @ NUSC Event Space October 24 UFM Canning Learn how to can all those delicious fruits of autumn. Cost: $5 per person 10:00am—2:00pm @ the Firepit (meet at the UNBC Bus Loop at 10am!) October 25 Thesis Defence: Danielle McIntosh Wildlife Viewing in the Mountain National Parks of Canada: An Experiential View 9:00am @ Room: 6-307 October 26 Lecture: Dr. David Schindler The Oil Sands: Economic Saviour or Environmental Disaster? 3:30pm @ Room: 7-212