Over The Edge Page 8 CLUBS April 7, 1998 RPIRG UPDATE by Jenny Biem What is a PIRG? Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) bring together students, staff, faculty, and community groups to organize around issues of public interest, such as ‘the environ- ment and social justice: We promote and con- duct research educa- ~ tion, and action in these areas. Currently, there are nineteen PIRGs at universities in Canada. and many more in the United States and _ Australia We are student funded which means that all students are automati- cally members, ensur- ing that we are not tied to the government, uni- versity or corporate funding Students have the option of requesting a fee refund and with- drawing their member- ship if they do not sup- port the work of the PIRG. We are non-partisan, meaning that we do not support political patties We make decisions through consensus process, which is a non- hierarchical way of working in groups. Here are a few examples of the many Prince George PIRG projects: -provides. the MAI-not Action group (educating stu- dents and the communi- ty about the Multilateral Agreement on invest- ment), the Organic Food Group, implemen- tation and maintenance of the UNBC Composting Program, compiling a _ Legal Resource/Child Custody Guide. All of these projects are start- ed through — student ideas and initiative This coming years projects will be the result of your energy and action! Students can get involved with PIRG, in a myriad of ways - by get- ting elected t the Board of Directors (oversee the adminis- trative end of things), by starting or joining an action group, by volun- teering in the office for a variety of tasks and pro- jects, or through the occasional employment opportunities PIRG Volunteers are what make this group tick, so please come get involved in the struggles to social change and ecological sanity! The PGPIRG office houses a growing col- lection of books, maga- zines, videos and clip- -pings files that provide alternative perspectives on the world around us Titles include; the Post Colonial Studies Reader, Alternative Press Review, Watershed Sentinel, Gay Skins, Earth First! Journal, Adbusters, the Bullet is the Word, Zapatista Women. . .. and the list goes on. All books and magazines are four week loans; audio/ video tapes and clippings files are two week loans To sum it all up: the PIRG is a _ fabulous place to connect, get informed, get involved, and make a difference to the world around us! Room # 7-234 (across from the bookstore), phone: 960-7474, ee. “im? a ea: pgpirg(glunbc.edu Do ! hove to he of freaky drug using hippie or a militant vegan or a radical activist to gel involved? Hell no! You'll definite- ly find some of these wonderful characters floating around the office, but everyone interested in exploring and working on issues that fit into PIRGs man- date (i.e. social justice or the environment) is welcome. What exactly do you mean by the phrase “social justice”? Justice and equality for people. Typically, this involves challenging and attempting’ to deconstruct systemic oppression such as racism, sexism, homo- phobia (fear/hatred of gay people), ableism etc... It also includes examines issues such as mass media control, the Multilateral Agreement on Investment, freedom of speech, tenants’ rights, taxation laws, the glob- alization of poverty, how Canada’s foreign poli- cies affect human rights globally, capital punish- ment etc...etc...etc... You get my drift. Upcoming PIRG events Wed, Sept 16 @ 3:30- 6pm Consensus Workshop Wed, Sept 23 PIRGA- PALOOZA - Students are the performers. Any music, poetry, dance, theatre, spoken word or visual art connected to an environmental or social justice issue is welcomed! Call Jenny 960-7474 to perform! LUMBER OUT OF THE COLBOUNE While you drink from your bottled water stop and consider the profits that will be made by water treatment facilities when all natural waiter sources have been destroyed by headless forest practices Watersheds need to be preserved or they will perish. Early morning on September 9th, the Priesds | -~of wie Eighteen watersheds in the Valley have already been defiled, which has intensified efforts to save Colbourne Creek. The Creek is located 160 km _ northeast of Prince George near the community of McLeod Lake Carrier Lumber Company is pushing a 12 km road into the Colboume Valley. where, over the next five ~ petition in opposition to the destruction of the watershed. The Tsek ehne people have lived and carried out tradition- al activities in the rough- ly one hundred square miles since time immemorial Cultural sur- vival and animal habitat must have precedence over forestry for a change Rather than being tive logging and the establishment of value- added industries. Alternatives do exist! Phil Zacharatos, head of the Forest District at the Ministry of forests can defer Carrier Lumber’s timber harvest license and find a more sensible Space to log Responsible logging can be achieved. To get “more information and to *, THE ANTIGRAVITY CLUB Learn To Juggle! Practice with Other Jugglers! Wednesdays starting Sept. 23 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM Highglen Elementary School For More Information Contact Richard or Maggee 562-4671 stvine@mag-net.com JUGGLING TAKE BACK THE NIGHT ‘98 a vyomen's march to protest violence against women September 25, 1998 7:00PM LAW COURTS - 250 George St. Sponsored by: Elizabeth Fry Society Community Policing Access Centre (Downtown) . Phoenix Transition Society * * Central interior Metis Women's Association PGDTA Status of Women Committee “: -AWAC & Quebec St. Emergency Shelter “*" “ CIRX the Max FM94/ All Hit Country CJCT UNBC Women’s Centre Men Against Violence Against Women RCMP Victim Services Colbourne Valley years, they will log twen- ° protested at'the Ministry ty clearcuts. of Forests to draw atten- Approximately half of tion to the last remaining the McLeod Lake Band pristine watershed inthe Members living on the Colbourne Valley. reserve have signed a opposed to logging, Friends of” ne Colboume Valley sup- port the increase of for- est industry employment by encouraging selec- become involved stop .. "by the, PG Public...” Interest Reséarch Group (PIRG).