Volume 16, Issue 9 January 27, 2010

SHELBY PETERSEN NEWS EDITOR

With more than one thousand Canadians still unaccounted for in the aftermath of the earth- quake in Haiti, and the countless Haitian citizens

who have died or are miss- ing, aid and support con- tinues to poor in from around the globe. Almost as quickly as the devastating earthquake gripped the tiny island nation, several UNBC clubs sprang into action and started to collect funds to donate to the Red Cross's Haitian Relief Fund. The primary organizers are Red Cross intern and International Studies Student Asso- ciation vice president Heather Carson and Model UN VP external Stephanie Leong.

“(Haiti} lack[s] the infrastructure and capabilities to do this without international aid, so it is up to the de- veloped world to provide aid. Students should be global citizens and if we can help, we should,” says Leong.

While the immediate response to this undeniably horrendous natural disaster is both commendable and expected, there are still many questions that remain unanswered when it comes to how effective the aid will be. Already, there are problems emerging with the dis- bursement of aid within Haiti resulting in starvation and health problems as planes filled with food and ma- terials sit meters away from those in need.

‘The earthquake has left one third of Haiti's popula- tion dead or in need of basic humanitarian aid (food, water, shelter), but what fails to be discussed is the squalor that existed prior to the disaster. Furthermore, Haiti's corrupt government and poor infrastructure play a large role in escalating the earthquake'’s total devastation. The epicentre of the earthquake was in Haiti's capital city of Port-au-Prince which the UN has called “the most dangerous place on Earth.’ Com- pounded with Haiti's high level of corruption and the

HELEN HOGETERP COPY EDITOR

On Thursday January 14th UNBC put on the 3rd annual Green Day, an exhibition of lo- cal green projects, a forum for discussion, and a chance for stu- dents to learn about composting, Over the Edge asked Danielle Smyth, 2010's Green Day co- ordinator, a few questions about the event.

OTE: How many years have you been involved with Green Day?

Smyth: The first Annual Green Day (2008), held on the Spring Equinox, was coordinated by an Environ- mental Studies class taught by Dr. Ken Wilkening and Dr, Art Fredeen. I was involved with Green Day 2008 as an exhibitor, displaying my Master's research on waste management at UNBC.

The second Annual Green Day (2009), focused on helping establishing priorities for greening UNBC by holding UNBC’s largest campus engagement in the Winter garden. Green Day 2009 was coordinated by a sub-group of the Green University Planning Commit- tee, which I was a member of.

As UNBC'’s first Green University Research Man- ager, I coordinated the Third Annual Green Day (2010) to coincide with a Northern Bioenergy Partner- ship forum taking place downtown Prince George.

One of the University's major green projects is the Bioenergy program, which will offset Greenhouse Gas Emissions and fossil fuel consumption at UNBC. We wanted to raise awareness about the project within the UNBC community (through a presentation in the Wintergarden) and offer the group from off campus (attending the forum) a chance to tour the IK Barber EFL pellet heating system and the future site of the

OVER

Experimenting on students since 1994

overwhelming statistic that less than 60% of aid donated actually makes it to those in who need it, the question remaining is does our money ac- tually help?

Leong however has stated that, “There have al- ways been problems associated with internation- al aid from government to government. This is a bigger problem than we are attempting to address with our campaign. As previously stated, our aid is for victims of the earthquake, not permanent infrastructure or long term development.’ It is also important to note that the funds being col- lected by UNBC students is being given to the Red Cross which is notable because the Red Cross has some of the lowest administrative costs of any similar organization, meaning more of your money goes to those in need and not to run the organization.

The underlying issue however, is that with a country as destitute as Haiti, it should not take a major natural disaster to garner support. Sadly however reaction rather than action has come to — be a common trend in the Western world. More- over, as evidenced by the 2006 tsunami in South- eastern Asia, even our (the west’s) attempts to rebuild are lacklustre. In a recent lecture given by the CBC’s Adrienne Arsenault (The National)

she discussed how the west rebuilds the poor.

Instead of rebuilding a community with better resources (running water, electricity, etc) aid or- ganizations stick to the same standards observed prior to the disaster.

The situation however, appears to be a Catch-22. If we give aid, there is no guarantee that it will reach those in need, but we cannot stand idly by and do nothing either, Is the solution, then, to donate money and be satisfied with 40% that might actually make it to the victims? Or, should we as citizens of the Western world demand accountability and that our governments act rather than react?

Biomass Gasification System. (For more information see: http://www.unbc.ca/green/energy.html) OTE: How did this year compare to past years?

Smyth: With a shorter timeframe for planning than previous years, this year’s event was a bit smaller than past events but the exhibitors and presentations were top notch and there was tremendous interaction. From the “Building a Compost Bin’ demonstration to the “Bulb Crushing Machine” to the “Green University Video Pledge” to the “Bike Blender Smoothies’ - this year Green Day was very appealing to the senses. I think this was a unique theme of this year’s event.

OTE: Do you feel as if it was a success?

Smyth; There was a great deal of communication between people from the UNBC campus commun- ity (staff, faculty and students) as well as citizens of Prince George. Based on feedback from participants and exhibitors there was a lot of dialogue and con- nections were being made across many of the diverse

A .

a

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY ARIA HANNOLYN CHENG.

THE EDGE

UNBC Students Step Up for Haiti

UNBC ETUDENTS FOR

HACTIA! EARTH @Uiike

Ultimately, it is up to each citizen to decide which course of action is most appropriate when dealing with global disaster. The easy solution is to simply donate money, but what the people of Haiti and other similar nations need is for people to compel their governments to act before a disaster happens to ensure that they have access to proper infrastructure, food, and water so that when nature strikes the nation is better equipped to deal with the aftermath, and perhaps, even prevent some of the damage. In the mean time however, dona-

Another Successful Green Day at UNBC

aspects of sustainability including local food, energy, transportation, waste reduction and composting, OTE: So a theme this year was sustainability which has become quite a buzz word, Can you define the term sustainability and tell us why it’s relevant?

Smyth: The term “sustainability” has become increas- ingly popular on university campuses and within the broader society however its history and meaning are often misunderstood. Popular definitions and refer- ences to sustainability include the consideration of the concept’s economic, environmental and social dimen- sions — which must be considered simultaneously since each is interconnected and interdependent.

Within the context of higher education, sustainabil- ity has been described as taking positive steps towards becoming more environmentally and socially respon- sible institutions while considering the three primary functions of a university — teaching, research and cam- pus operations,

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY SHELBY PETERSEN

tions can be made to the Canadian Red Cross online, or you can visit the table set up in the Wintergarden by Stephanie Leong and Heather Carson until January 29". As of January 19", the students have managed to collect just under two thousand dollars which is truly a testament to the generosity of the students in and

around UNBC.

There are many aspects sustainable campus oper- ations which include but are not limited to, food, waste, recycling and composting, energy, climate change, transportation, campus landscaping and grounds, green cleaning, sustainable purchasing and green buildings.

Campus sustainability is important because through their operations, teaching and research universities and colleges consume vast amounts of resources and prod- uce enormous amounts of waste, impacting both the environment and society. As the educators of future leaders in a variety of academic programs, universities like UNBC, have a unique responsibility and oppor- tunity to demonstrate innovation with sustainability within their own

OTE; Which event was the most popular? Your favourite? The most groundbreaking?

Smyth: The “Building a Compost Bin” demonstra- tion, run by the Prince George Public Interest Research Group, received a lot of attention and raised a lot of awareness how to get involved in the UNBC Volunteer Compost Program and generally about the importance of composting organic waste and diverting it from the landfill.

I enjoyed the Bike Blender Smoothies provided by Students for a Green University (a group of students that have demonstrated exceptional leadership and pas- sion in greening UNBC). They were delicious, healthy and made with green human power!

One of the day's most interesting events was the presentation by Terry Teegee, Vice-Chief Carrier Sek- ani Tribal Council. Terry attended the COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December — the meeting was considered one of the most important and historic meetings about Climate Change and perhaps of our time. Terry joined us on Green Day to share his experiences from an Indigen- ous perspective and we were extremely lucky for this opportunity.