the

Gither Press

Vohurne 23 * Issue 12 * De3cermber 1998
Room 1020-700 Royal Avenue
New Westminster, BC

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The Other Press is Douglas
College's autonomous student
newspaper. We've been publishing
since 1976. The Other Press is
run as a non-hierarchical collec-
tive, which means that if any-
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‘Trent.

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during the summer.

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student levy collected every
semester at registration, and from
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enue,

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the Canadian University Press
(CUP), a cooperative of student
newspapers from across Canada.
We adhere to CUP’s Statement
of Common Principles and Code
of Ethics.

The Other Press reserves the
right to choose what to publish,
and what not to publish, but usu-
ally we print everything, unless it
is racist, sexist or homophobic. If
you have any quibbles with what
we choose, maybe you should get
your lazy butt down here and
help.

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Contributors
New Westminster: Holly Keyes,
Chris Morris, Jason Kurylo, Alex
Bustos, Dante, Jones, Raven
Olson, Staphanie Keane, Laura
Selman, Elmo, exam stress, lack
of sleep, final projects...

  

we Litres!!

 

e oS

Has the true meaning of Christmas
been lost? There can be no doubt
that the original idea of a
celebration for the leader of the
Christian world has been long
deceased. The idea is too abstract
for modern people to understand.
That we should not buy things for
people and celebrate without
spending 1s an absurd axiom. The
spirit is to spend. This is not really
a new idea, as gifts have been
exchanged by people for hundreds
of years. People giving something
to someone else emulating the gifts
given to the baby Jesus so many
eons ago. The gifts represented the
giver and were thought out to be
something that a person needed. It
started with farmers taking over a
goose or a turkey to their
neighbours for a celebration, and
the neighbours in turn would cook
the bird and give the original gift
givers the cooked bird along with
vegetables from their garden. It
then evolved to buying things like
clothing or toys for children, or
gifts that were for entertainment
purposes. But the spirit was the
same. A person saw something that
fit the persona of the man or
woman they knew. The gift was
purchased with the thought in
mind of “Oh, they'll love it” or “I
thought of you the minute | saw
it.’ Christmas has been a
commercial enterprise for years,
that's no surprise to anyone, but
now it’s just way out of hand.

There is one gift that is given
more than any other every year. It
encapsulates all forms of gifts be
they dothing, music or otherwise.
And they are totally impersonal,
proving without a shadow of a

Letters

Missing the Point

November 25th issue, an ad for a

Calvin Klein perfume called
respects. The objections that

immediately come to mind are: 1)
Calling a perfume “Anorexia” makes

anorexic, and to the people close to
them. 2) The ad implies that being

counter to your claim that you don't

who undoubtedly is smiling in it

because she was completely unaware

clear that she is not anorexic, but
merely thin. For the CK company to
disregard this fact is extremely
disrespectful to Ms. Flockhart;

you are thin, there is something

way!) is harmful and hurtful.

 

 

I was horrified to see on p. 7 of your

“Anorexia.” The ad is offensive in many

light of the terrible suffering that this
illness brings—both to those who are

dangerously thin is a desirable standard
of beauty for women. It therefore runs
print things that are sexist. 3) The ad

features the actress Calista Flockhart,

that her photo would be used for such
a purpose. Ms. Flockhart has made it

moreover, its message to women that if
“wrong” with you (but we like you that

Eve Abrams

       

doubt that Christmas means
absolutely nothing. They are gift
certificates.

When you give gift certificates,
you are admitting that you have no
imagination and that you really

havent put any thought into a gift

ful December 25 at four in the
morning when the house would
erupt with excitement. Most of us
can probably vividly remember
those days, because they weren't
that long ago. If you didn't get the
gift you wanted, there was some-

 

 

 

 

for that thing equally

person but impressive to take

you feel your mind off it.

the need But now, alas, kids

to spend run the world.

money. There is the

For some “snowball” toy that

reason, we has become a part

associate of Christmases past

money, and will be for

not gifts, many to come. It’s

with the toy that every

Christmas. kid has to have.

If we They just won't be

placed Elmo will rise with his minions tobecome = Ego] unless they get
: the prevalent toy once again!

emphasis that toy, and parents

on the gift, these certificates would
not even exist.

When you receive twenty dollars
in gift certificates from your moth-
er's relatives whom you see a few
times a year, have they really
thought of what youd like? Not
really. They couldnt give a rat’s ass
about what youd really enjoy
receiving, they just have to spend
money to be “in the Christmas
spirit” of giving.

There is no doubt that children
are spoiled at Christmas time.
Parents go out of their way to get
kids the things they want. They leaf
through the toy catalogue the kids
have left big black circles in. There
used to be standards parents went
by. There would be a certain
amount of money parents would
spend, and it would be kept a
secret from the kids until that fate-

Not Missing the
Point

I wanted to congratulate the
author of the article regarding the
Buy Nothing Day (Nov. 25
issue of the Other Press). It’s a
shame their name was not
printed after the article, or
maybe it was and I missed
something, Anyways, I must say
the article was very well written
and constructed with care.
Instead of ranting and raving
and name calling, the author

has developed a very dear and
concise article on who, we, as a
society, have become. Literally,
a bunch of money spending
blindmen. Ready and willing to
buy anything that is thrown our
way, without even taking the
time to thoroughly analyze our
purchases. As long as there is a
name brand on the article of
dothing or piece of purchase, it
is destined to be bought. I feel
brand choice, should not

matter, but rather the quality of
the item being bought should

 

Page December 9 1998 | he Other Press

are more than willing to help out.

Two years ago, it was anything
with a Power Rangers logo on it.
Last year was the Tickle Me Elmo
doll which went for hundreds (if
not thousands) of dollars. This
year it’s a Furby. Even more sad
than the fact that parents buy these
things for their kids without even
knowing what they are, is that peo-
ple are buying multiple Furbys to
sell to desperate parents who will
spend any amount of money to get
one. At the low rate of 500%
mark up. It’s quite an anomaly that
parents will scrimp and save all year
to buy a fad gift for their kids
which will inevitably break in a few
months. All for the spirit of
Christmas.

There are even movies made
which make light of the situation.
Last year saw the release of Jingle All

dictate the price of the purchase.
But as long as name brands get on
TV and brought to us through
mass media, they have become

inevitablely popular and it will

 

the Way, in which Arnold
Schwarzenegger goes through hell
to buy a toy doll for his son.
Apparently, it's the only thing in
the world the boy wants, and his
Christmas will be shattered if he
doesnt get it. Of course, rather
than teaching his son a life lesson
like you don't always get your way,
Arnold eventually gets the toy for
his son and there's a happy ending.
In real life, however, kids throw
tantrums if they don't get their
snowball toy. It’s fine to spoil kids
for Christmas, but be reasonable. If
you get every little thing that kids
get into their heads on a whim,
youll be teaching them that being
greedy is good, and everyone in the
entire world will bend over back-
wards and take it up the ass for
them. Basically, that the world
revolves and exists only because
they are here.

Buy that gift for that special
someone, but put some thought
into it. Even though we will never
revive the original meaning of
Christmas, we might be able to
flash back a few decades and show
some basic human interaction by
thinking about what someone
would like. And not just buying
whatever the latest fad is, because it
will be a useless piece of junk in a
month anyway. But just walking
through the malls and looking at
all the hostile people who are shop-
ping to get that Christmas feeling
in malls opened extended hours
staffed by people who don't want
to deal with asshole customers
whining and complaining that there
is no stock on Christmas eve, I
really, really doubt it will happen.
Merry gen-X-mas.

stay that way til the end of time.
Advertising has drowned us in
decision making. We are no
longer allowed to make up our
OWN minds without a billboard
trying to tell us to choose them.
And the only way to at least try
to put an end to this nonsense
is by buying nothing on
November 27th. I know by the
time this gets published, Nov.27
will have passed but I hope
most of did what I did and hid
my wallet for one whole day.

7) As hard as it was, being a

y Saturday and all, I was able to

@ resist the urge of going out that
night, and instead, worked on a
couple of essays and final
projects, which later on, I’m sur
will have proven more useful
than going out drinking or
whatever the case may have
been. Well, once again, to
whoever wrote that piece, very
well written and thank you for
your insight on this ever
increasing phenomenon.

Scott Susi