autonomous and can do as we please. Nyah nyah. Fuck shit cock pussy pooh. However, speaking with the lovely Raphaella Weissgerber, External Relations Officer for the Douglas Students’ Union (DSU), it was agreed that there is a distinct relationship between the written and the read. “TI think a lot of the content in art and writing comes from the observer,” she said. “There’s a lot more going on inside of that person’s head than there maybe is in the words.” “But [’'m not a big fan of censor- ship,” Weissgerber added. “I watch John Waters movies.” The issue at UNBC revolves around some twit student who got upset and complained to a ninny stu- dent union. The student union, fearing whatever mob connections this complainant must have had, put their tail between their legs and acted immediately without a thought to the gravity of the grievance. A mouse spoke and the elephant roared. One is a dense and hypersensitive dork, the other a cowardly bully granted too big a stick. Both are compensatory actors; both are fucking losers: Hypothetically, if our fairly liberal and mostly evocative paper were tied to the DSU financially, and therefore tied to their image, what would it take to inflame them to the point of puni- tive action? “Well,” Weissgerber seductively pondered, “if you were starting to write KKK stories, or things that attack gay people, I can see us wanting to distance ourselves from you.” Fair enough. If we were writing articles like that, ’'d want us hung out to dry, too. But we aren’t, and neither are the good folks at Over the Edge. “Honestly,” said Weissgerber, “I think the (UNBC) student union just panicked and acted.” I understand that, to most stu- dents, student newspapers are sometimes akin to Christian house parties: a place where geeks with something in common hang out and perpetuate inside jokes at the bewil- dered expense of the student body. I get that most of you might not care, and neither did I for a long while. But writing is what a lot of us (and a lot of you) like to do, and there is no better time than the present, and no freer time than in college. There is a certain point when you know, as a decent person, that you’ve stepped over the line. And when you assemble a number of decent people together, it becomes harder and hard- er to get away with smearing someone or some group. Ignorance is not acci- dental—you can’t accidentally slip racism or homophobia or sexism or any ism into a diatribe. If it exists, it is there wholly and throughout. But you can’t get angry over one word when the other thousand point to a differ- ent conclusion. Then again, you can’t tell someone else what and what not to get angry about. Part of the right to a free press, at the post-secondary level anyways, is the right to find these lines and boundaries—where good taste and hurt feelings meet; where satiric wit and outright attack intersect. That is a judgment that every person has the right to retain and act out on. In my judgment, the line wasn’t crossed in Prince George. The line wasn’t even in sight. The world’s a pretty cutthroat and mean-spirited place at times, but aren’t we privileged to frolic under the secu- rity blanket of “school” while having a good laugh at ourselves along the way? So thank you. Thank you, reader. Thank you, DSU. Thanks to every last one of us who has the strength to that deserve both mockery and adulation. What a dull world otherwise. Fuck shit damn, goose goose duck. have weakness—weaknesses Nighttime March fights Violence Against Women Hilary Onas, The Ubyssey (University of British Columbia) VANCOUVER = (CUP)—Carrying signs with slogans like “A Woman Is Raped Every 17 Seconds,” and “Hey John, Pll Show You a Bad Date,” a diverse group of women took to the streets of Vancouver on the night of Sept. 24. Following a rally with several speakers in a park, protesters stopped traffic as they made their way up to Broadway. The annual Take Back the Night, organized by the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter, aims to unite women of various backgrounds and life experiences to work towards a common goal: an end to violence against women. Many of the women in attendance had participated in the event before and were inspired to come back this year. “I just wanted to help out,” said Asia Melville, an event volunteer. “I just liked the energy of the last march that I was in, in Calgary. . .and wanted to be part of it in Vancouver.” Other participants, such as Linda Ochober § G/200l Sourivanh, had never been involved with Take Back the Night before. “My manager at work is an activist for Rape Relief,’ Sourivanh said, adding that after hearing about the event, “I thought I would come out and take back the night.” Rape Relief has been operating since 1973 and was Canada’s first rape crisis line. The shelter organized Take Back the Night in Vancouver from 1980 to 2001 and decided to partici- pate again this year. Take Back the Night “is not only to stop rape, but it’s also...to demand livable said Samantha Kearney, who works at the shelter. A boost to welfare is imperative so women in abusive relationships can leave at any time and know they will be provided for as they rebuild their lives, Kearne explained. Vancouver's first Take Back the Night march, organized by the Fly-by- Night Collective in 1978, did not have the mandatory city permit. The refusal to ask for city permission has welfare,” not changed 26 years later. “We have the right to walk in the streets,’ said Lynda Gerty, another Rape Relief worker. “We don’t need men’s permission—and we're not ask- ing for it.” Organizers were quick to point out that although men are asked not to participate in the march, they can still help to spread the message. “Men can work to end male vio- lence and support women who work to end it too. They can help fundraise and get involved in childcare as (the marchers) are in Take Back the Night,” said Gerty. “After all, there is no way to end the violence without the co-operation of men.” The shelter’s employees hope the event sent a message to the govern- ment in light of cuts to social programs in British Columbia, which they feel have decreased options for women. Though the event lasts only one night, the hope is to end violence against women completely, said Gerty. “That’s a particular experience for women who are going to attend (Take Back the Night) that is rare and that we're creating for one night, and then demanding that we have it all the time.”