Over The Edge Page 4 EDITORIAL December.7, 1998 The Automaton’s Christmas By Paul Berard The other day, | accompanied a female friend to a local depart- ment store to shop for a dress. The dress was for her, not me. (But nice try) So, as | waited for her to change, | wandered about the Women’s department of The Bay. Normally this might be enjoyable - a chance to wander the aisles and see what colours are fashionable this Winter - but this was not the case. Enter Douglas Fir. Douglas Fir, for those who have not managed to be initiated to this new torture device, is a little, tiny plastic tree that sings Christmas tunes. This hideous, lit- tle monster is obscenely polite, wishing poor passers-by to have “A Merry Christmas” and “Thanks for listening,” as though anybody couldn't hear its insane little diatribes. For the poor woman working behind the counter, I’m sure her sanity was quickly fleeting. For fifty dollars ($50.00 cdn) you can own one of these stupid devices and perpetrate the great commercial machine that makes Christmas go ‘round (For those without the social con- text, that’s money that makes the world go ‘round). Does this seem fake to anybody else other than myself? Just what the “keeping-up-with-the- Joneses, yuppie, dead- brained individual” Cony Hake needs for Christmas. Why bother with sinceri- ty when you can serve it up half cold from a ready-to-dispense machine. it's a banner year for movies like Antz or A Bug's Life. Another ban- ner goes up in stores across the country as the toys go head to head attempting to wipe out each others colonies. Small Soldiers toys have infiltrated stores across the globe, just waiting to tear out of their packaging and tor- ment Barbie across the aisle. Everything is mar- keted bigger and better than before, ready for the onslaught of the masses. More electronics in more toys that nobody will buy - talking, walk- ing, wetting the bed on cue - are filling up the shelves all over. Furby. What the hell is Furby? You ever put a rat terri- er into a bathtub for three days? People attack other people for these things, making them _ the “Tickle-me-EIlmo- Beanie-Baby-Media- Hyped” toys of the pre- vious year, and | have to wonder if it’s really all that important. Christmas is a time to be with people you love, people you know and people who matter to you. Not a time to be out maiming and pillaging at the mall. Celebrating differences requires meeting the needs of different people by get- ting them things that represent their differ- ences. So find a gift that’s worth it. Better yet, something. make More EXILED IN ANARCHRY Debate Letter to the Editor: There have been many NUGSS actions over the years that have caused me to raise my eyes to the heavens and plead for mercy, but their actions surrounding “Anarchy in exile” take the cake. | feel | must speak pub- licly to this issue. As | understand the situation: Rob Brydon published an anarchist student newspaper. Marki Sellers submitted an article to this paper which alleged some uncomplimentary things about NUGSS staff April Williams. Chris McNelly (student ombudsperson) took Rob aside in the hall and stated that the University Harrassment Board, The UNBC Vice-President and President were all inter- ested in the case, that Rob’s name was on record, and implied that unless he published an apology to April he would be kicked out of school. When Rob con- tacted the UNBC Harrassment officer, he was told that Chris's threat of expulsion had no grounds or basis in reality. | am not writing to defend or apologize for Marki’s statements, nor to make any judge- ments on April’s work. | am writing because | am appalled that a stu- dent society, paid for and maintained by stu- dents, would threaten a student with expulsion for publishing an opin- ion with which they dis- agreed. It is even more disgusting that they used false information to do so. If |, as a Canadian cit- izen, criticized a high level beaurocrat in Ottawa by name in a widely read paper...say the Globe and Mail, | highly doubt that any- one would consider it appropriate action for the Canadian govern- ment to threaten to deport the editor of the Globe and Mail, nor support the beauro- crat’s bid to sue me for all | was worth. After all, we live in the pretense of a democracy, do we not?! Students have the absolute right to criti- cize their government (NUGSS), its opera- tions and staff, if they do not think that they are fulfilling their duties. If people cannot take criticism, and are not willing to learn from it, then they should not be involved in the polit- ical/public service realm. A big hole in the swiss- cheese logic of NUGSS on this issue is the expectation that Rob, publisher of an ANAR- CHIST student news- paper, would edit out or apologize for an opin- ion that offends a gov- erning body. | feel that NUGSS actions on this issue are in flagrant violation of the constitution they are responsible to uphold (Sections 2.1, 2.3,.215,/2:6,, 2.1): The power of the ombudsperson does not include intimidating students. Chris McNelly abused his _ position, and acted in direct vio- lation of the Ombudsperson Policy (Sec. 5.1 (1.2), 5.2 and 5.4). | suggest that he be immediately removed, as he has not demonstrated the appropriate level of judgement necessary to fulfill his duties in an ethical manner. His use of false information to intimidate a student is especially disturbing. Copies of the NUGSS constitution and Ombudsperson Policy are avilable at the NUGSS office. | hope that in the future, NUGSS will not waste their paid time intimidating students who's views are in opposition to their own, and will instead turn their efforts towards more constructive ven- tures. Jenny Biem Over The Edge welcomes all letters to the editor and attempts to print every submission. Submissions may be withheld and printed at a later date due to spacial restrictions. Over The Edge reserves the right to edit for spelling, grammar, content, withhold, in whole or in part any Letter to the Editor. Anonymous Letters will not be printed in any way shape or form.