Over the Edge + December 1, 2010

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Gold for Green Winners Announced

Jessoca N Shapiro wins the draw for UNBC’s gold for green contest

HANNA PETERSEN
NEWS EDITOR

On November 12th, the results of the Gold for Green Contest
at UNBC were announced. The contest was sponsored by
UNBC’s environmental club, Students for a Green University.
Students were encouraged to enter the contest by composing
short submissions proving “why they deserve gold for being
green” on UNBC’s Facebook page. The ten students with the
most “likes” were awarded with a “Green Gift Bundle” from
the UNBC bookstore worth $150. One students, Jessica N
Shapiro, was randomly selected from the 10 to receive a
$1,000 cheque from Integris Credit Union.

The contest was a vehicle for UNBC students to express
how being “green” affects their lifestyle. Shapiro wrote, “I
believe in the years that I’ve been watchful over my waste

output, consumer habits, and energy consumption, I’ve
simultaneously inspired handfuls of friends, family members,
and even strangers to do their part.” Shapiro, who worked as
a Greenpeace canvasser in Toronto, is a strong advocate of
being an environmentally conscious citizen, and has even
protested in the streets of big cities for causes such as clean
energy, in order to promote a healthy future.

Shapiro, who completed her undergraduate degree at
McGill University in Montreal, is currently working on her
Master’s at UNBC. Her thesis topic deals with the debate
surrounding the Inland Temperate Rainforest just 100km
outside of Prince George, which is a globally unique forest,
and currently under threat of harvest. She is studying the

non-timber values surrounding the forest in hopes to make a
case for its protection.

The contest rendered over 50 submissions and Jessica N
Shapiro ranked seventh out of ten in the number of “likes” for
her post. Shapiro will not be pocketing all of her winnings,
however, as she will be donating up to a quarter of the
prize to a non-profit organization called Community Forests
International, whose mission is to foster environmental
stewardship in Canada and internationally by establishing
community forests, promoting sustainable forestry techniques,
and initiating environmental education.

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Congratulations to Over the Edge’s very own Jessica Shapiro! We know you will spend the money wisely!

Donate Blood NOW

Who wants to give blood?

CHRIS UNGER
UNBC BIOCHEM STUDENT

This plea, in its many incarnations, seems to plague today’s media
as modern health care systems desperately try to combat the
chronic shortage of blood. | know hospitals are always in need of
blood for surgeries. | know that blood donation is a good cause. But
sometimes it feels like I’m a bad person if | even so much as keep
an ounce of it for myself. Fortunately, there may soon be a remedy
to the continual shortage.

In April 2007, a method was devised for the complete removal of A
and B antigens from blood cells, effectively yielding any blood sample
an O type. Accordingly, if all donated blood could be converted into
O type, ABO compatibility issues would become a moot point. If
science like this proves effective, current donation levels will better
suit the huge demand for blood.

So, if I’m not a researcher, why should | care? Today’s ever-present
blood shortage is a fact of life. We’ve all been subjected to the medical
guilt-trip: “Give blood now if you care about life, you cantankerous
scallywag”.

Please don’t misread this. | am in no way trying to discourage blood
donation; all | am saying is that there are other alternatives. Ask the
Canadian blood services about universal antigen research, and how
you can donate. We may then see a drastic decrease in the constant

nagging.

ONLINE SOURCE

Donating blood is not nearly as scarry as it seems