4
Free
Forum
Opinion
April
2003H
Editorial
Political
Artwork
Free
Forum's
First
AGM
Jolene
Brisbois
Editor-in-Chief
St.
Patrick's
Day
is
an
Irish
holiday
set
aside
for
drinking,
socializing,
joking,
and
Annual
General
Meetings.
That's
right,
Free
Forum
held
its
first
AGM
on
Monday
March
17th,
2003.
We
tried
our
best
to
keep
in
the
spirits
of
St.
Patty's
Day,
but
no
alcohol
was
involved
(which
might
account
for
the
low
turnout).
Despite
the
wild
crowd
of
seven
people,
we
managed
to
work
through
all
of
the
agenda,
have
a
few
laughs,
and
give
away
a
lot
of
prizes.
Yes,
you
missed
prizes
too.
On
a
more
serious
note,
the
Free
Forum's
first
AGM
was
the
first
step
toward
a
one-year
plan
to
become
an
independent
society.
Part
of
the
requirements
for
a
society
is
to
have
AGM's,
develop
a
constitution
and
bylaws,
and
a
policy
manual.
We
are
well
on
our
way
as
we
did
have
an
AGM,
we
adopted
our
policy
manual,
and
we
have
a
one-year
plan
that
includes
the
development
of
our
constitution
and
bylaws.
However,
the
AGM
was
not
all
about
policy
and
Robert's
Rules
of
Order
(very
dull
stuff),
we
also
gave
out
prizes:
cool
t-shirts,
St.
Patty's
Day
scratch
&
wins,
fun
juggling
balls,
and
a
lot
of
Kit
Kat
bars.
Another
fun
part
of
the
AGM
was
recruiting
for
new
committees:
including,
a
Web
Page
Committee,
an
Art
Design
Team,
and
an
Ad
Committee.
First,
the
Free
Forum
is
looking
for
students
interested
in
organizing
a
web
page
for
the
paper.
This
committee
needs
to
find
Confessions
of
Editor:
TV
is
stealing
my
soul.
Every
day
I
come
home
from
school
and
mentally
retreat
to
the
boob
tube,
alternating
between
the
bombing
of
Baghdad
on
channel
44
and
Sponge
Bob
Square
Pants
on
channel
12.
Just
an
hour
break,
I
tell
myself,
then
I'll
make
supper
and
do
my
homework.
Just
an
hour
break,
I
tell
myself,
.
.
.
three
hours
later
I
have
ascertained
the
value
of
a
French
Rococo
chamberpot
($1,800
Canadian),
seen
Bon
Jovi's
new
video
7
times,
and
endured
an
unbelievable
1
7
Subway
sandwich
commercials.
Three
hours
later
I
have
ascertained
the
valueof
a
French
Rococo
chamber
pot
($800
Canadian),
seen
Bon
Jovi's
new
video
7
times,
and
endured
an
unbelievable
17
Subway
sandwich
commercials.
out
the
nitty-gritty
of
starting
a
web
page:
designing
the
page,
developing
archives,
cost
for
web
pages,
etc.
This
job
is
not
for
the
faint
of
heart.
The
second
committee
is
arguably
more
creative;
the
Art
Design
Team
will
be
working
with
the
layout
editor
and
reporters
to
develop
unique
page
design
for
the
paper.
When
1
went
to
the
CUP
conference
in
January,
I
saw
some
pretty
cool
page
layouts;
look
to
the
New
York
Times,
and
other
BIG
papers
for
inspiration.
The
last
committee
we
formed
is
the
Ad
Committee.
The
Ad
Committee
will
work
with
our
ad
manager
to
develop
policies
about
advertising
for
the
paper.
If
you
have
concerns
about
corporate
advertising,
or
are
just
the
devil's
advocate,
I
would
recommend
this
committee
for
you.
If
anyone
is
interested
in
joining
our
various
committees,
or
would
like
more
information
about
our
AGM,
please
drop
by
the
Free
Forum
office
in
room
1-120
(next
to
the
Student
Association
office)
during
our
office
hours.
On
a
sadder
note,
this
is
our
last
edition
for
this
semester,
but
we
will
have
our
next
edition
out
in
October
2003.
I
encourage
everyone
to
write
opinions,
letters,
poems,
and
short
stories
during
the
summer
and
drop
them
off
at
our
office
next
year.
We
are
also
having
a
photo
contest
in
the
fall,
which
means
you
have
all
summer
to
warm
up
your
camera
and
take
some
great
shots.
More
information
will
be
provided
in
September
2003:
including,
categories,
deadlines
and
prizes.
a
TV
Zombie
This
madness
has
to
end.
I
need
to
get
outside.
I
need
to
walk
somewhere,
go
to
the
gym,
visit
my
parents,
do
my
homework,
get
groceries,
drop
off
resumes.
Anything
is
better
than
being
sucked
into
the
void
of
television.
When
I
found
out
that
April
22nd
to
the
28th
is
International
TV
Turnoff
Week,
I
made
the
big
decision
-
no
more
TV
for
me.
If
I
need
the
news,
I'll
read
a
paper
or
listen
to
the
radio
during
my
new
daily
walk.
I
have
decided
that
the
best
thing
to
do
is
just
unplug
the
damn
TV
and
hope
that
I'm
still
too
lazy
to
plug
it
back
in.
This
is
going
to
be
a
challenge,
but
really,
if
I
can't
pull
myself
away
from
the
TV
then
what
kind
of
slave
am
I?
If
you
have
the
same
problem
as
me,
then
jump
on
the
bandwagon
and
ditch
the
TV.
There
has
to
be
better
ways
to
spend
time,
instead
of
wasting
it
on
another
Everybody
Loves
Raymond
re-run.
Veronica
Murphy
2nd
Year
Marketing
Student
1:1
vru.
cn
IPnM
Watching
the
war
from
the
comfort
of
your
living
room.
LETTERS
TO
THE
EDITOR
Imperial
Parking
Reprinted
with
permission
of
the
Prince
George
Citizen.
Originally
printed
March
24:
Dear
sir,
I
would
like
to
send
a
big
bouquet
of
wilted
flowers
to
Imperial
Parking
Canada
Corp.,
the
company
that
controls
the
parking
lot
at
the
College
of
New
Caledonia.
On
March
15
I
was
a
participant
at
a
seminar
at
CNC
sponsored
by
the
MS
society
and
the
MS
support
group
for
people
with
multiple
sclerosis.
After
enjoying
the
fine
speakers
at
the
seminar,
myself
and
others
received
an
unpleasant
sur
attendant
showed
poor
judgment!
prise
upon
returning
to
our
vehicles.
Most
of
us
with
MS,
as
one
can
well
imagine,
are
incapable
of
walking
very
far.
Some
are
in
wheelchairs,
some
use
walkers,
some
are
using
one
or
two
canes
to
walk.
Most
of
us
have
handicapped
parking
permits
displayed
prominently
on
the
rear-view
mirror
of
our
vehicles.
We
were
all
under
the
impression
this
provincially-issued
permit
gave
us
the
right
to
park
legally,
anywhere
without
penalty.
Apparently
not
so,
by
the
attendant
patrolling
this
parking
lot
Drop
them
off
at
our
office,
room
1-120
or
email
them
to
cncsn
Must
include
name
and
phone
number
(e-mail
optional).
Letters
may
be
edited
for
length
and
clarity.
Image
courtesy
of
Veronica
Murphy
on
Saturday.
Many
tickets
were
issued,
ignoring
the
disabled
permits
prominently
displayed
on
vehicles.
When
encountered
to
explain,
the
attendant
replied
that,
"There
are
designated
handicapped
spots"!
I
would
like
to
know
how
you
park
30
or
so
vehicles
in
an
area
designed
in
size
for
six
or
eight
vehicles.
Then
his
reply
was
"go
park
somewhere
else."
f-
Let
him
try
pushing
a
wheel
chair
around
the
block
in
a
foot
or
so
of
melting
snow.
Celeste
Veld,
Prince
George
Jcnc.bc.ca.
if
Reminders
for
Letters
to
the
editor: