A i ae als Oak. cilia ama Fighting your dragons to save the world Bex Peterson Editor-in-Chief or this Lettitor I'll be talking about dragons—but for once, I won't be talking about Dragon Age. Professor Robert Gifford of the University of Victoria has a theory regarding our hindered ability to conceptualize and combat climate change that he calls the “Dragons of Inaction’—barriers that keep us stagnant even in the face of oncoming disaster. He classifies these “dragons” under seven genera: Limited Cognition, Ideologies, Social Comparisons, Sunk Costs, Discredence, Perceived Risks, and Limited Behaviour. It’s a cute metaphor to help name and categorize Room 1020 - 700 Royal Ave. Douglas College New Westminster, BC, V3L 5B2 604-525-3542 Bex Peterson Editor-in-Chief M editor@theotherpress.ca James Moore Layout Manager M layout@theotherpress.ca Katie Czenczek News Editor © news@theotherpress.ca fa) id Jess Berget q Opinions Editor oA © opinions@theotherpress.ca 3 Greg Waldock Web Editor © webeditor@theotherpress.ca Caroline Ho Assistant Editor M assistant@theotherpress.ca our own psychological limitations, and I highly recommend checking out the website dragonsofinaction.com for more information. In essence, the problem is this: The world feels far too big for us to impact, and climate change feels far too big for us to fix. There’s a real cognitive dissonance in how we take the Earth for granted. We feel like we're so small in comparison to this planet that our actions make no difference, but big enough that we deserve to take and extract and destroy without thinking of broader consequences. At the end of the day, the world is going to outlive us— short of dropping an apocalyptic number of nukes, the planet will still be here despite what we do to it. However, we are rapidly making this world uninhabitable for everyone currently living on it, which @ theotherpress.ca © editor@theotherpress.ca ¥ © /theotherpress f/douglasotherpress Lauren Kelly Graphics Manager © graphics@theotherpress.ca Sonam Kaloti Arts Editor M arts@theotherpress.ca Brittney MacDonald Life & Style Editor M lifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca Isabelle Orr Entertainment Editor © humour@theotherpress.ca Jacey Gibb Distribution Manager Meghan Lin Production Assistant @ bd © im Dp fe is at the very least an incredibly counter- intuitive move on the part of the human race. But who is “we?” Though I don’t recommend abject nihilism as a coping method and I don't think people should take it as an excuse to do nothing, at the end of the day the biggest producers of pollution are not us as individuals. Which means that we, as individuals, can’t fix it. Not as individuals. Because that’s the thing—we’re not all just individuals. We're part of a bigger picture. As anyone who's ever played Dungeons and Dragons could tell you, dragons are not a one-person fight. Acting collectively, we have a chance. We can all make individual efforts to reduce our carbon footprint. Throughout this issue there are plenty of excellent Angela Ho Business Manager Cara Seccafien Illustrator Tania Arora Staff Reporter Naomi Ambrose Staff Writer Roshni Riar Staff Writer Billy Bui Staff Photographer Angela Ho Business Manager Jerrison Oracion Senior Columnists Cover layout by Lauren Kelly Horoscope illustrations by Cara Seccafien suggestions, tips, and tricks for doing so. We can also organize to start taking down some of the bigger culprits of pollution and carbon emissions. We can demand for better, more ecological practices. We can remind politicians over and over again that climate change should be our biggest priority moving forward. The only way we're going to tackle the problem of climate change is by working together, as corny as it sounds. We might as well start now. Until next issue, Bex Peterson Bex Peterson The Other Press has been Douglas College’s student newspaper since 1976. Since 1978 we have been an autonomous publication, independent of the student union. We are a registered society under the Society Act of British Columbia, governed by an eight-person board of directors appointed by our staff. Our head office is located in the New Westminster campus. The Other Press is published weekly during the fall and winter semesters, and monthly during the summer. We receive our funding from a student levy collected through tutition fees every semester at registration, and from local and national advertising revenue. The Other Press is a member of the Canadian University Press (CUP), a syndicate of student newspapers that includes papers from all across Canada. The Other Press reserves the right to choose what we will publish, and we will not publish material that is hateful, obscene, or condones or promotes illegal activities. Submissions may be edited for clarity and brevity if necessary. All images used are copyright to their respective owners.