| Page 6 Over the Edge, March 10-24 2010] 2010 Traveling World Community Film Festival Film festival hits Prince George March 18-28 The 2010 Traveling World Community Film Festival will hit up Prince George from March 18 to 28. Sporting 33 docu- mentarys over the 10 days, there should be a little something for everyone. The following is the schedule of events, scattered around various venues in Prince George. Thursday, March 18 7:00 p.m. UNBC Rm 7-212 - Apology of an Economic Hitman 8:40 p.m. UNBC Rm 7-212 - Mirage of El Dorado Monday, March 22 — World Water Day 12:10 p.m. Raven Haven - Land of Oil and Water 7:00 p.m. UNBC - H20il Tuesday, March 23 12:10 p.m. Raven Haven - Justicia Now 12:45 p.m. Raven Haven - The Green Film 7:00 p.m. Artspace - Addicted to Plastic 8:40 p.m. Artspace - Garbage Dreams 8:15 p.m. Raven Haven - Made in LA Saturday, March 27 3:00 p.m. Artspace - Burma VJ 4:40 p.m. Artspace - Be the Media 7:00 p.m. Artspace - Sweet Crude 8:40 p.m. Artspace - March Point Sunday, March 28 Friday, March 19 7:00 p.m. Raven Haven - One Peace at a Time 8:40 p.m. Raven Haven - Bogota: Building a Sustainable City Wednesday, March 24 12:10 p.m. Raven Haven - Infinite Vision 7:00 p.m. Raven Haven - Myths for Profit Saturday, March 20 — Spring Equinox and Earth Hour 8:10 p.m. Raven Haven - Good Morning Kandahar 3:00 p.m. Raven Haven - Rebecca’s Wild Farm 7:00 p.m. Raven Haven - Under Rich Earth 8:40 p.m. Raven Haven - Good Food Thursday, March 25 Sunday, March 21 3:00 p.m. Artspace - At the Edge of the World 7:00 p.m. Zoe’s Java House - The Coca Cola Case 8:40 p.m. Zoe’s Java House - Tapped Friday, March 26 12:10 p.m. Raven Haven - Smile Pinki 7:00 p.m. Raven Haven - Seeking Refuge 12:45 p.m. Raven Haven - “Her Sight Is Worth It”- Film Winners 12:10 p.m. Raven Haven - Body and Soul; Diana and Kathy 7:00 p.m. Two Rivers Gallery - RiP: A Remix Manifesto 8:40 p.m. Two Rivers Gallery - Roadsworth; Crossing the Line 1:30 p.m. PG Public Library - Fatherhood Dreams 2:30 p.m. PG Public Library - Where the Water Meets the Sky 3:40 p.m. PG Public Library - Pray the Devil Back to Hell About the venues... The Raven Haven is located next to Sassafras Savouries on Third Avenue downtown. UNBC Rm 7-212 should be self-explanatory... Zoe’s Java House is located at 12514th Avenue downtown. Art Space is the venue above Books and Company on Third Av- enue downtown. The Two Rivers Gallery is by the Prince George Public Library and City Hall downtown. Media use drains happiness High media usage correlated with low levels of happiness in youth Kristy Rydz The Uniter WINNIPEG (CUP) — Sarah-Kate Salmon readily admits she spends a large part of her day attached to her cellphone — yet she’s terrified of talking on it. “I’m texting from 8 a.m. until 12 a.m.,” the Grade 12 stu- dent from Winnipeg said. “I! could text someone, ‘I’m madly in love with you,’ but | can’t talk on the phone. It’s awkward.” While Salmon likes to tune into her favourite TV shows and uses Facebook to procrastinate from homework, not all of her media exposure has been positive. On her 15th birthday, Salmon was the victim of a physical attack by a group of teens — one girl and three boys — that put her in the hospital with a concussion. “She kind of just kicked my head until | bled out my ear,” Salmon recalled. After a friend told her a video of the attack had been posted on YouTube, she was forced to deal with the horror again. “I thought, ‘What if this gets around?’ Then it just struck up the fear of it happening again. The situation just kept replaying in my head,” Salmon said. It’s this complicated relationship between teenagers and the media that a new study from Washington, D.C.’s Kaiser Family Foundation called “Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year Olds” focuses on. Reporting increased levels of entertainment media usage, with an average of over seven hours daily, the study has found a correlation between low levels of personal contentment and heavy users of media. Twenty-one per cent of respondents were identified as heavy users, meaning they consume upwards of 16 hours of media per day. Taking into account variables such as age, race, parent education and single- vs. two-parent households, con- tentment is measured by how the participant responds to questions like whether they often feel sad, get into trou- ble, are bored, get good grades and if they have a lot of friends. According to Michael Zwaagstra, a high school teacher and research associate at the Frontier Centre for Pub- lic Policy, the study’s findings prove what he has seen for years. “Time spent playing video games isn’t time spent socializing,” he says. “When you ask students, ‘How do you feel after you’ve spent all night playing games?’ The universal response is, ‘I feel terrible. | feel like I’ve accom- plished nothing.” Zwaagstra advocates for more time spent on the fundamental skills of reading and writing in the earlier years in place of technologically-focused classrooms. “We seem to be jumping from the latest gadgets instead of focusing on the basics,” he says. “If you have some- one that already struggles with making friends, it makes it that much easier to avoid social interaction.” Brad Stelmach, a guidance counsellor and psychology teacher in Winnipeg, sees the impact of social media in his office daily. “Kids will come in to be counselled and be crying, in distress. But their cellphone will buzz and they'll answer it right away,” he says. After helping students deal with the effects that Facebook statuses and text messages have on friendships, ro- mantic relationships and bullying, Stelmach acknowledges that each individual has different predispositions and thresholds for media addiction. “Technology is a great thing when it’s used in the appropriate way,” he said. “Sure there’s going to be a correla- tion (between heavy media use and discontentment), but is it going to impact everyone the same? No.” An average refund with us is $1,000. We get you an average of *1,000 on your tax refund, so you can do more of what you want to do. Get It Right.” Student Tax Prep $29°° plus FREE SPC Card* H&R BLOCK’ Click, call or come over. | hrblock.ca | 800-HRBLOCK © 2009 H&R Block Canada, Inc. *$29.95 valid for regular student tax preparation only. Student tax preparation with Cash Back option is $34.95. 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