October 27, 2004

CO

Interested in
Pursuing a
Graduate Degree in
Economics?

Economics is an exciting
and in demand career, and
anyone interesting in pur-
suing their Masters degree
in Economics is invited to
attend the Economics
’ Program Graduate School
Information Session.

Dr. Ken Kasa,_ the
Graduate Chair of Simon
Fraser University will be
speaking, application pro-
cedures and course infor-
mation will also be avail-
able. October 29, 2:00 to
2:45 pm., in Admin 1069.
Everyone welcome.

Scientific
Creationism Lecture

Irrefutable examples of
design in Nature: a lecture
by Dr. Thomas Kindell, the
author of Evolution on
Trial. Kindell will be visit-
ing UNBC on November
8th, at 7:00 pm. in room 7-
238.

Dr. Kindell will be citing
examples of extreme
design technology and fan-
tastic instinctive behav-
iours of a wide variety of
creatures. All are welcome,
donations accepted for the
Creation Science
Association of Prince
George.

Call for Debate

The 11th Annual Santa

Claus Debate will be held

in the Winter Garden,
December 1st, at 6:30 pm.

Debaters will have -five
minutes to argue for or
against the existence of
Santa Claus. Open to facul-
ty, staff and students. For
more information, contact
Todd Whitcombe at 960-
6678.

Family Halloween
Bowling

Family
Bowling is at Strike Zone
on October 31st from 11:00
am. To 2:00 pm: Pizza and
pop provided, costumes
are optional (prizes for best
costume), free for Rec Org
members and their fami-
lies. E-mail Sean Kinsley
(kinsley@unbc.ca) to:.sign
up. (Include number of
kids and adults.)

Halloween

“The Coming out Story of One

Who is not Gay, nor Bisexual

by Heather Glasgow.
>> Contributor
When speaking of late with the

recently ordained vice president
of PrideUNBC, I had a revelation.

~ Years of questions were answered;

my search was over, my identity
was established. I wish to now use
this opportunity to reach out to
other women I know are waiting
to come forward.

I am a gay man trapped in a
womans body.I began to realize it
in my late teens. Growing up in
Vancouver I found myself inex-
plicably drawn to the gay district
that is Davie Street. The lights, the
dance beats, the glamour, the
sense of community and cama-
raderie dazzled me. I was sucked
into conversations about Gucci
and cosmetics. I laugh now when
I think how I told myself I went to
those clubs for the music. I was
lying. It was the men. Men upon
men, dancing together, calling me
‘sweetheart’ and ‘darling’. We
drank into the late hours, sang
Annie Lennox songs, held hands,
and checked out boys in tight
pants. Those were the good old
days when no one questioned me.

Slowly it occurred to me that
my life was becoming divided.
My straight friends looked at me
in wonder and suspicion as I
bounced off to the gay club, arm
in arm with my flamboyantly
attired male friends. They whis-
pered behind my back, thought it
strange that I had taken a sudden
liking to Cosmopolitans and Will
and Grace.

Eventually, I started sneaking
off to avoid the inquisitive faces.
When people asked me where I
had been on the weekend, I lied
and told them I was studying. In
actuality, I had danced on stage
shamelessly, my arms raised over
my head in celebration and joy,

surrounded by men I had grown
to love so much. My CD collection
swelled to included suspect vol:
umes such as the Queer as Folk
soundtrack and Love Inc. My
secret was growing deeper. I had
to work harder to mask my true
feelings. Although it pained me
greatly, 1 went along to straight
clubs. I watched as men swilled
back beers, belched loudly, and
bounced on the dance floor to
Fifty Cent as though they all were
the long lost members of G - Unit.
“The white man’s overbite”, (a
classic straight move) plagued the
dance floor as.I observed in horror
from the shadows of the bar. Oh! I
had betrayed my true self in those
dark days!

And then it hit me. I was with-
out identity. I was neither gay nor
bisexual, but lingering on some
strange plane between two
worlds. Where could I place
myself? I had seen other women
like me, linked in arms with a gay
man, or sitting in his lap. I began
to think about these relationships.
What did it mean that I was far
more attracted to a gay man then
a straight one? I sunk into a deep
pondering, I left the clubs and did
not return for many months. The
soundtrack of my days went from

‘Daft Punk to R.E.M.I left home

last summer for UNBC on a quest
to find myself, and to find a place.
Time has:served me well for now
know who | am.

Although my breakthrough has
been problem solving, it has also
been perplexing, for I know now
that we are cursed ladies, we want
‘what we cannot have. But please,
do not be discouraged, come
forth, be not afraid for others who
are like-minded. will embrace you.
Let us together build a communi-
ty, and never take for granted the
gay man inside of us all.

Discover PIRG and

by Catherine Fraser
>> Contributor

I never thought I would be an
‘activist’ of any kind. I was raised
by parents who always taught me
to do the right thing and to be a
good steward of the planet, but
there was never any special
emphasis on being ‘green’ or sav-
ing whales or anything like that.

_Mom and Dad taught me to com-

post, recycle, not to litter, and to
generally be thrifty and mindful of
how I lived.

We had books on our shelves
like Amy Dazycyn’s ‘Tightwad
Gazette’, wherein Amy instructed
the world on how to “use only four
squares of toilet paper per wash-
room visit” and-to “reuse those
plastic gallon milk jugs as pooper
scoopers”. :

Still, as I grew into adolescence
and became more independent, I
took things for granted. It was a
matter of forgetting to live con-
sciously and consider the impact
of my lifestyle on the space around
me. I made needless trips in the car
when I could have walked, I threw

Arts Page 12

Pucks create a great live
CD in Artspace

Story and photograph by Jonas
Gagnon :
>> Opinions Editor

The Pucks concert was the first
time I have ever been to Artspace,
and both impressed me. The Pucks
put on a good show and Artspace
was a great intimate venue. The
Pucks are Lloyd Larsen on tuba
and bass, Cindy Larsen on percus-
sion and vocals, and Murray Gable
on guitar and vocals, and they put
on a great live show. Their music
was good, but what was impres-
sive was the way they interacted
with the crowd. They told jokes
and even took some requests
yelled from the audience. Another
fun part of their show was they
had a sing along with the crowd.
Their live show was worth going
to; it wasn’t simply playing songs
from their records.

This was my first experience
with The Pucks and I thought their
music was beautiful. The. song

pop cans into the garbage, I
brushed off world events that
seemed so _ distant because
Dawson’s Creek was on the next
channel. I have spent the last few
years in a period of unrest because
the state of our world and our
environment sometimes seems too
daunting to take on. I wanted to
see something change, both in my
life, and in the world; to do some-
thing that would yield visible
results.

I became interested in PIRG as a

result of discontent with the world
around me. I’m talking not only
-about the unequal distribution of
wealth on the planet, but also of
the garbage I see strewn on my
front walk. Its not just on the glob-
al scale, its something that had to
start in my own kitchen with a bag
set aside for recyclables. We are
lucky, on this campus, to have a
tool for social and environment
change at our very fingertips.

The Prince George Public
Interest Research Group has been
present since 1995, empowering
UNEC students to take initiative
and to positively impact the envi-

lyrics were so well written and
thoughtful that they got the writer
of the group, Murray, an invitation

to the L.A. Songwriter
Symposium. The music was folk
but swung all the way from a
bluesy ‘No More Little Women’ to
some covers. of pop songs like ‘I
Want You to Want Me.’ They start-
ed out with a Bob Dylan song. This
created a nice segway from a more
known folk singer into their own
work.

Artspace was a great venue. It
was quite intimate, allowing for
the aforementioned conversation
between the crowd and The Pucks.
It was mostly filled with middle-
aged people but there was a small
contingent of university aged peo-
ple.This was a fun evening. I rec-
ommend Artspace for a night out.
It’s cheaper than the movies and
lasts longer, it. supports local
artists, and is more fun than the

average Hollywood movie. You

should go.

Make a Difference

ronment (both physical and social)
through education and through its
various action groups.

These groups include the
Composting and Organic Garden
Action Group (the ones pushing
buckets of rotting _ vegetables
through the halls), the Recycling
Action Committee (bleary -eyed
res dwellers who would probably
rather be sleeping in on a Saturday
than lugging everyone’s old pizza
boxes to the depot) and the

Organic Food Group (providing an.

alternative to chemically-treated
and less-than-fresh supermarket
produce).

On top of that, the Tuition
Action Group (advocates for. an
issue that we are all involved in,
whether we like it or not) facili-
tates awareness of government
imposed fee increases and strives
to hold decision-makers account-
able for legislation that affects you
as a student.

The Goat River Watershed and
Great Bear Rainforest Action
Group raises awareness of one of
the province's threatened. water-
sheds in unison with other local

environmental organizations.

~Greening the Ivory Towers is a

pilot project underway in partner-
ship with several universities
across Canada, facilitated by the
Sierra Youth Coalition. Its aim is to
measure’ UNBC’s sustainability
against. various pre-set indicators.

That's not all - there is a flavour
for everyone and the volunteering
opportunities within the PGPIRG
are endless. If you have only an
hour a week, you can make a valu-
able contribution.

If nothing else, PIRG will
empower you, as an individual, to
start thinking outside the box.
Surrounded by fellow students, it
is an education in taking on some
of the world’s most daunting prob-
lems at a very small scale. Drop in
to the office and browse the book-
shelves, rent a movie, or just read
the stickers on the wall.

As students at UNBC, we have
more resources at our disposal
than the average citizen. PIRG can
help you channel your energy and
desire for change into a movement
that will make a difference for the
rest of your life.