© theother press ¢ News November 12, 2003 What is the MSS? The MSS simply stands for Marketing Student Society. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to bridging the gap between Douglas College marketing/business students and business professionals. The MSS’s mission is to help students network in the business world, build contacts, thus making their transition to a working business professional easier. Who is the MSS? The MSS consists of 13 executive members and five committee mem- bers. President: Shazmin Kassim VP: Lovleen Brar Secretary: Carrie Middleton Treasurer: Scott Souder Promotion Director: Alyssa Mclean Media Director: Husna Shaikh Recruiting Director: Braden Cave Webmaster: Krystal Dupuis Events Coordinator: Elena Petkov SFU Liaison: Candace Mclellon BCIT Liaison: Nicole Webster PMRS Liaison: Terry Burgess BCAMA Liaison: Braden Cave and Lovleen Brar Committee Members Faisal Riasat Trevor Dueck Marc Nicholson Consuel What does the MSS do? The MSS organizes speaker nights to allow marketing/business students to network with professionals. They also hold events in collaboration with other educational institutions to pro- vide students with the opportunity to meet other students in the field. For the past two years the MSS has held “Marketers Night’ in collaboration with SFU. This year it was held at the BC Sports Hall of Fame. There was a high turnout out of students and business professionals at the event. Approximately 200 students and pro- fessionals attended. The event was a huge success and will be held every year in collaboration with SFU. The MSS has also developed rela- tionships with marketing associations such as British Columbia American Marketing Association and _ the Professional Marketing Research Association. Douglas College market- ing students get first priority to vol- unteer at all their events. Volunteering at the events gives students the oppor- tunity to network, free entrance into the event, and develop contacts with reputable professionals. The MSS also organizes club nights at various popular Vancouver night- clubs. The money raised goes into the marketing scholarship fund. Bake sales, raffle draws, and various other events are held in Douglas College for the scholarship cause. How can you get involved? Every month pick up your copy of the MSS NEWS from outside the MSS office on the 4th floor, for news on upcoming events and how you can get involved! =¢ an’t get the courses you need? China Sends a Man to Space and Journalist to Jail Matthew Little OP Contributor When China, the most populated country on Earth, sent a man to space it joined the elite ranks of space faring nations such as Russia and the United States. Colonel Liwei, 38, who makes a modest salary of $1600, became China’s first astronaut and has quickly become a national hero. The launch interrupted the normal state-controlled media broadcast and sparked a wave of nationalist fervor. Imagine a crowd of cheering Chinese people, holding pictures of their first astronaut, proclaiming proudly the greatness of China. However, there were some people wondering about the cost of the pro- gram versus the need for food and assistance for Chinese rural peasants who often live in terrible poverty. This, however, will not be mentioned on CCTV, the state run Chinese tel- evision station. In fact, mentioning it could land a journalist in jail. China is the world’s leading jailer of jour- nalists. While Chinese people will be bom- barded by official state-run news reports of the event and the glory of China under communist rule, it is worth considering that China has no free press. The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) has declared, “There is, so far, no press freedom in China.” The Committee to Protect Journalists has declared that Jiang Zemin, the past president and de facto leader of China, is presiding over “the world’s most elaborate sys- tem of media control.” China is known to spend huge sums of money on media control and even the inter- net has been contained, censored, and monitored, thanks largely to US tech companies hungry to break into the massive Chinese market. As the launch date approached, a frenzy of national pride swept across China and since the launch, Chinese people have proudly echoed Beijing’s sentiments of China’s greatness and the success of the Communist Party. The People’s Daily website rang out “this proves our strength,” and “long live our great motherland!” Getting the post-secondary credentials you need is not always easy—from getting into the classes you want to balancing school work with other commitments. The British Columbia Open University offers over 500 distance university and college courses, many of them open for registration throughout the year. Transfer the BCOU credits you earn to the program of your choice or apply them to a BCOU credential. Register today. Start any time. 604.431.3300 = 1.800.663.9711 www.bcou.ca BRITISH COLUMBIA OPEN UNIVERSITY A Division of the OPEN LEARNING AGENCY So, while the Chinese people are celebrating their entry into space it is unlikely they will ever hear about the major environmental disasters that plague their nation, the truth of the 1984 Tiananmen Square massacre, or China’s rank as one of the world’s worst human rights abusers. aes Page 6 e _http://www.otherpress.ca