NOVEMBER 5, 2003 News 4 Strife and Suspensions Trouble NUGSS Internal dispute within NUGSS results in suspension of director Photo by Marlon Francescini Ross Sandwell the Associate Director of Finance and Operations has been suspended from NUGSS for two weeks By Kathleen De Vere Ross Sandwell, the associate director of finance and operations has been sus- pended from his duties as a NUGSS director by a unanimous vote of the NUGSS board. “The decision resulted from some incidents that occurred, from Ross’ dealings with staff members,” said Tamara Sweet, NUGSS’ director of external affairs. According to Sweet the decision was made in an in camera session and was confidential. The vote was conducted by secret ballot, and the results were unanimous in favour of suspension. While Sweet could not divulge more than general details about what caused the NUGSS board to use suspension, she cited that there had been “several different incidences with NUGSS staff members.” She stated that the board felt that Sandwell had treated staff inappropriately and yelled at them. The NUGSS staff includes such posi- tions as General Manager, Executive Assistant, accountants and Audio Visual Technicians. The most public of these occurrences was an incident where Sandwell pur- Executive . sued a heated argument with the NUGSS speaker of the board, Moezine Hasham during the course of a NUGSS board of Directors meeting. “Ross was unhappy with the way the meeting had been run. [He] voiced this at the wrong time, our speaker gave him a warning and the incident escalated from there.” Sweet explained. Sandwell himself did not deny the incident. “I yelled at the chair. I raised my voice and | got kind of loud. I snapped - I lost it.” However, while Sandwell admits he did lose his temper at the NUGSS meeting, he also feels that his outbursts may not be entirely unwarranted. . “Since May I have fought an uphill battle.” He said in an interview with Over the Edge. “I feel that I have dealt with rudeness and contempt, and that the board takes my proposals and shoots them down.” Regarding the incident with Hasham, Sandwell said that “|Hasham] would interrupt me when I tried to make a motion...he should not be judging on the quality of the debate or interrupting board members.” An observer for Over the Edge who was at the meeting noted that “during the course of a debate, Ross was attempting to convince another direc- tor to make a motion. The speaker of the Board interrupted Sandwell mid- sentence, and referred to Sandwell Roberts Rules for being off topic dur- ing the debate. When Sandwell attempted to interject, Hasham would not let him.” Eventually, Sandwell was given the floor again, and during the course of his speaking he was given a formal warning for being off topic by Hasham. After this, Sandwell tried unsuccessfully twice to have Hasham dismissed as chair of the board. In the words of Over the Edge’s observer, “this is when the Robert’s Rules mud throwing began.” Due to the argument, at the October 29 Board of Directors meeting, NUGSS decided to suspend Sandwell from his duties as a director for a two week period lasting from November 1 to November 14. When asked for com- ment Sandwell said “I’m not upset about the suspension, I need the two weeks off. I’m upset at the big picture.” Graduate runs across country A New Resource Women’s Centre from the Mentorship program opens doors for UNBC women By Carolynne Burkholder Another resource that is avail- able from the Northern Women’s Centre is a program entitled “Opening Doors: Mentorship for Diverse Women in Northern British Columbia.” -According to Sarah Boyd-Noel, the Coordinator of the Women’s Centre “the men- torship progranvis geared:tawards women who come’ froth ‘diverse backgrounds.” This year the Mentorship Program is aimed towards women who have tradi- tionally had trouble gaining access to resources and advancing in post-secondary education, and the working world. Examples of these women include: women with dis- abilities, single parents, and women who belong to ethnic minority groups. The Mentorship Program involves mentees, who are typically students at UNBC, who are matched up with a mentor SpecQVee SINCE 195& who is someone usually involved in a career that the mentee has a particular interest in, and is willing to share their knowledge and experience. The two participants meet up for approximately five hours a month from October until April. The mentor provides the mentee with assistance in meeting their learning goals, and providing them™with advice and guidance. The Mentorship Program was developed last year by the Northern Women’s Centre. The last season of the Mentorship Program matched up women in very diverse backgrounds, such as social services, healing touch, and environmental planning. As well as the mentor/mentee relation- ship, the program also offers work- shops in practical skills needed in the working world, such as resume writing, along with life skills such as stress management and nutri- Northern BCS Largest Sctection of AR T SUP Pp Li ES © Dawn Nault is our on staff Art Adivsor. © We do our best to fulfill special orders. Phone: (250) 562-2414 Toll Free: 1-800-667-9633 Fax; (250) 562-9159 490 Brunswick St. Prince George; BC. V2L 2B6 tion. The participants in the Mentorship Program have the opportunity to input their opin- “This year the Mentorship Program is aimed towards women who have tra- ditionally had trouble gaining access to resources and advancing in post- secondary education and the working world.” : ions regarding what workshops they would like to participate in. If you are a woman who is interested in developing leadership skills, participating in training opportu- nities to help with academic and career goals, and faces barriers to inclusion in higher education and the workforce, this is the program for you! To get involved with the Mentorship Program please con- tact the Mentorship Program Coordinator Dawn Dunstan at dawn_dunstan@hotmail.com or leave a message -at the Northern Women’s Centre at 960-5632. to raise scholarship money By Ginny Collins, Central Bureau REGINA (CUP) =- Wes and Dano Baker, two brothers from Western Canada, ‘have hit the road to raise money that will go toward scholarships for univer- sity students. Wes’s mission is to run across Canada, from Halifax Harbour to Victoria, in an attempt to raise $100,000 in donations to help students in financial need. This is «a project headed by Canada Run, an association of which Wes Baker -is the presi- dent. Wes’s brother Dano has also come along for the ride. He has done part of the journey on foot but mainly takes care of ‘the: administrative and public rela- tions tasks while riding along- side Wes in the Canada Run van. “Wes thought it would be a fun way to do things for a good cause,” said Dano. The Canada Run Association began as a student work-term project but soon turned: into a reality. Being recent graduates themselves, Wes and Dano say they know the financial struggle many students face. An average day on the road for the brothers includes getting up at 4 a.m. and hitting the road by 5 a.m. Wes takes a one-hour lunch break as well as 10-minute breaks every six or seven kilome- tres. The two continue travelling until 8 p.m. each evening. Although the journey began as 4 “nin” the. brothers have since had: to slow their pace down.. “Wes has been walking a lot throughout the whole prairies because he hurt himself back in Ontario,” said Dano in a phone interview Tuesday. Apparently, while much fur+ ther East, Wes hurt his knee fair- ly seriously while running. Despite this, by Tuesday morn- ing they had reached Medicine Hat Alberta with no intentions of slowing down.On average they travel around 65. kilometres a day.- According to Dano,- several companies have been very sup- portive of the campaign. Many other companies :and organiza- ‘tions have expressed interest but are waiting for Canada Run to achieve charity status. They are currently in the process of doing so. and~are. waiting to receive their status package. Once it is received, donators will get a tax receipt for any donation over $50. The association is also ask- ing the public for individual cash donations. 435 eM As far as gaining further sup- port-and publicity, the brothers are optimistic about the last stretch of their journey. “The last three weeks are real- ly going to be significant as far as. the dent that we ‘make,’ said Dano, adding later that he felt the West was where their base was the strongest. The journey is expected to fin- ish by mid- to late- November. Dano said that they are unsure of the exact financial gains so far and that they don’t’ wish to find out until the journey is complet- ed.