November 10, 2004

News -

Page 3

Students Should Think Green Says Carr

By CAROLYNNE BURKHOLDER
EDITOR IN CHIEF

The Green Party
ensures a “future
for our youth. The
party gets the
issues of the 21st
century. The
Green Party does
not endorse band-
aid solutions to
economic prob-
lems, they are
interested in long
term issues.”

- Adriane Carr

The early 1980s brought forth
many new developments in
Canadian Politics, one of which
was birth of the British Columbia
Green Party.

Adriane Carr, the current leader
of the Green Party was one of its
founders, and throughout the past
21 years, Carr has been the leader
of the Green Party twice and run
in many elections on behalf of the
Greens.

Over the past two decades, the
Green Party has grown immense-
ly in popularity and scope of
interest. In the 2001 British
Columbia election, the Green
Party received 12.4% of the vote,

with 20% of the vote in seven rid-
ings, the best showing it has ever
had. Carr is confident that the
popularity -and influence of the
Green Party will continue to
increase.

Carr visited UNBC on
November 3rd, only a few days
after participating in the Surrey -
Panorama Ridge by-election
which took place on October 28th.

“|The Green Party was able to]
offer voters a choice,” said Carr,
who felt very positive about the
participation of the Green Party in
the election.

“This was an example of a three
-way race. It was obvious that
people were thinking seriously
about the Green Party.”

The by-election allowed Carr to
address key issues in Surrey asa
“part of her Green Party Platform.
She asserted that there are “no
simple solutions [to the problems
faced by British Columbians] and
the citizens deserve long term
solutions.”

According to Carr, her partici-
pation in this by-election allowed
her to “build the party and bring
forward the growth of grassroots
capacity.”

She is very positive about the
Green Party going into the 2005
British Columbia Provincial
Election, as she has many candi-
dates committed to run and many
supporters throughout British
Columbia.

In her interview, Carr said she
found the by-election was defi-
nitely representative of what
could occur during future elec-
tions in British Columbia. She felt,
however, that the results of the
election, where the NDP candi-

date won a convincing victory, is
not necessarily representative of
the common sentiments of British
Columbians.

“IIt was] bitterly fought and
extremely polarized between the
left and, the right,” said Carr. In
the future, Carr said she sees the
Green Party as “breaking the cycle
between flip-flop negative vot-
ing.” She will be running as the
Green Party leader in her riding
Powell River - Sunshine Coast in
the 2005 Provincial Election.

According to Carr, the Green
Party appeals to university stu-
dents-in many ways. First, the
Green Party ensures a “future for
our youth. The party gets the
issues of the 21st century. The
Green Party does not endorse
band-aid solutions to economic
problems, they are interested in
long term issues.”

As well, Carr said “the party
prioritizes issues that youth. are
interested in, such as education,
our top priority. We cannot let
post-secondary education be the
privilege of the rich.”

Finally, Carr asserted university
students should look at the Green
Party because they represent a dif-
ferent style of politics. She stated
that the Green Party supports “a
positive, non-adversarial
approach to politics. We want
people to vote for us, instead of
vote down another party.”

The biggest problem that is fac-
ing youth in the political system is
that “three quarters of youth do
not bother to vote,” she said.
University students could change
the face of politics. They must
commit to vote for a vision of
British Columbia, she said.

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A

PHOTO BY BECKY BOOTH
Adriane Carr visited UNBC on November 3rd to promote the British
Columbia Green Party to university students.

Prestigious Award Received by UNBC Professor

Michalos given gold medal for outstanding research in social sciences

BY COREY SCOFIELD
STAFF WRITER

As proof of UNBC’s growing
presence in the field of academe,
UNBC’s own Dr. Alex Michalos,
current chair of the university’s
Institute for Social Research and
Evaluation, was honored this past
month with the federal govern-
ment’s Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council’s
(SSHRC) Gold Medal for
Achievement in recognition of his
outstanding contributions to the
field of social science.

The award, which includes a-

$100,000 research grant, is present-
ed annually to social science and
humanities researchers whose
work has had a profound impact
not just in the academic world but
on the lives of all Canadians.

Dr. Michalos’ work is in the area
of “quality of life” research, which
is typically been evaluated
through health, education and eco-
nomic indicators. Michalos revolu-
tionized the study of quality of life
by combining individuals views
on their own quality of life with

other data to for the first time
attain a comprehensive and signif-
icant picture of quality of life with-
in Canadian communities , and
throughout the world.

On request from the United
States government, and as an advi-
sor to the Pentagon, Dr. Michalos
has worked with the US Military in
evaluating and addressing escalat-
ing rates of depression and stress
among US servicemen and
women.

Michalos has also worked as an
advisor to the newly formed South
African government, and has
aided the new government in eval-
uating and improving its citizen
quality of life in the wake of
apartheid.

The author of 22 books, and
founder of four scholarly journals,
Dr. Michalos currently edits the
academic journal, Social Indicators
Research, a journal he founded
over 29 years ago.

With its publication of over 1000
articles on quality of life research,
the journal has earned him presti-
gious recognition from the

International Society for Quality of
Life Studies, an organization
which awarded him its coveted
“Betterment of the Human
Condition” award. This award,
which has been received by the US
Centers for Disease Control and
the UN Development Program,
places him among the most highly
influential and prominent voices in
quality of life research today, not to
mention one of the worlds most
active and effective humanitarians.

Since his move to UNBC from
the University of Guelph in 1994,
Dr. Michalos and his research have
had a significant impact on public
policy concerning quality of life in
the city of Prince George and
throughout BC’s north.

As an advisor to Prince George
city council, Dr. Michalos regularly
collects and analyzes quality of life
data from the city of Prince George
and throughout the north so public
policy makers can get a real picture
of the impacts of their policy deci-
sions This is a service he has
undertaken in past years, when
city council has been debating

issues of water conservation and
the impacts of new casino loca-
tions in Prince George.

Dr. Michalos also has help create
the Prince George Community
Planning Council, an advocacy
group which deals with issues con-
cerning homelessness, community
well-being, and health in the north.
Michalos also serves as chair of the
committee which founded the
Learning Difficulties Action Centre
of Northern BC as well as serving
as a Regional Representative for
the Healthy | Communities

Unde Wea,

"The Diarist of Circumstances"

Something to offend everyone

‘Tuesdays

at moon on:

Network of British Columbia.
Presently Dr. Michalos is plan-
ning to take his research to a new
national level, by using his newly
acquired funds to collect quality of
life data from throughout Canada
on the implications of art, and the
implications of science and tech-
nology on Canada’s quality of life.
He also plans to collect nation
wide data on the quality of life of
Canada’s senior citizen popula-
tion; and continue to, as he said,
“Ito] promote a culture of evi-
dence-based policy making.”

$8.7im Prince george