DUSTIN QUEZADA _ of my choice and other “gifts.” up and payed for an onslaught of printed spam. The’ - EV BISHOP Buyer Beware © ho says you.can’t buy happiness? . Today happiness is found in| lime green colanders, turquoise with white polka-dot aprons, odd, brightly coloured octopus legged eggcups, and the return of melamine mixing bowls. At least according to June 2005’s Chatelaine, it is. (They post the question that begins this column on‘a glossy ad page.) Concerned for my mental well being, they self- lessly reassure that ‘colour therapy has never been more affordable.” I confess, to my shame, that that page’s oranges, reds and yellows with bits of sea blue and green do appeal to me., However, their instructions about “details that let your personality shine” are a little too black and white for me — very impersonal, really. If you’re wondering why I’m discussing ads, it’s — because I recently became.a Maclean’s subscriber: | and was rewarded for doing so with free magazines Lucky me. I signed most offensive is Lou Lou. (f wish I was making up that name.) If Chatelaine’s portrayal of kitch- enware equaling happiness is ludicrous, its ads are down-to-earth, practical, and honest in comparison to Lou Lou’s. ® Lou Lou is Canada’s Shopping magazine. It teaches crucial skills like how to buy polo-and- short combos right off the rack and how to wear tunics; headbands and sundresses. (Silly me, I thought that those were easy to figure out... but no, I’ve been wearing my sundresses all wrong.) It discusses who’s in fashion and the seasons’ must haves: Baby-doll dresses from $90 to $495 (“The Price is Right,” they say. Sadly, they’re not trying to be funny.) The “Not To Be Missed” section includes the |} riveting, “Foot Report: how to have feet you’! want to show off.” Several helpful columnists grace its pages, including. Dr. Fashion, from whom I can get my style Rx, and a self-confessed shopoholic who brings peace and comfort to my world as she’ mourns the loss of a shirtsleeve. (Don’t ask—suf- fice it to say, PHEW, she got the sleeve back and the painfully zippy piece could end already.) It also dictates pieces of fine lingerie that need to be added to my “portfolio.” (Call me old-fashioned, but I think that would freak out every boss I’ve ever worked for. I keep my undies in n my drawer, thank you very much!) -The worst part of the magazine, that at its best is complete drivel, is its ads. “Cool isn’t a fad. - Cool isn’t pretence. Cool isn’t wearing a mask that doesn’t fit. Cool is a label that says you and not everybody else.” I’d laugh my “head off except they’re serious. And what is this oh-so-cool, make you cool label? Why it’s Keds, of course. ” And the. Lou Lou’s a 100-page commercial. . best part? People pay for it. (Although I have little ’ card that can get you a discount off of newsstand prices.) This is nothing new. We've been paying for cable and satellite for years—I love how they spice up their commercials by having little snippets of intriguing shows in between them. Isn’t that cool? Lou Lou makes me feel ashamed and ill. I know that we're a capitalist, consumer driven society, but don’t we know how gross our clamour for more, more, more is? I lied a bit above, when I said the ‘ worse part was the “cool” ad. The worse part was that even though I was reading critically, a few ‘times I thought, Actually, that is kinda cute... I wonder if I could get one of those here. ARRRGH. It’s contagious. ‘In the midst of this buy more propaganda, ] read - an article by Adnan R. Khan called “Murdered for love” (Macleans, May 23, 2005). It discusses mod- em Pakistani women and the continuing horror of “honour” crimes. This, and other issues, reinforce in my mind the insignificance of so much of what our culture pours its energy into and the absolute lack of value in our quest for stuff. I’m not much for conspiracy theories, yet there’s a part of me that wonders if the heavy push for us to be credit card enslaved, shopping lemmings isn’t a way to keep us from ef- fecting change. When our minds are preoccupied with getting bigger and better stuff, do we have any mental energy, interest or financial capability to help in our world? When we buy, what are we buy- ing into? I have to thank Lou Lou. In being so grotesque- ly in my face with their vapid materialism, I had to confront some of the lies I buy into. Not only that, with camping season starting, I can use all the fire starter the mailbox can provide. +-- By DUSTIN QUEZADA IT TURNS out the northwest is a hotbed for armed forces aboriginal » recruits. That’s why Sgt. Ron LeBlanc, a Canadian military recruiter was in _ Terrace last week, one stop in his - tour of the region. - Not only does the northwest ac- - count for 80 per cent of aboriginals in B.C, that are part of the military, but the province also makes up the. bulk of aboriginal entries Canada- wide, said LeBlanc. “A 14-year reservist, LeBlanc has been recruiting First Nations in B.C. for three years. He said the province leads the way for three reasons. “Not all provinces have aborigi- nal recruiters,’ said LeBlanc, an Ojibwa from Ebb and Flow, Mani- - toba. “There was no such program - 14 years ago.” He said young aboriginals make a stronger connection when role models are of similar background, to them, eS Other factors, - said LeBlanc, trained as an armoured reconnais- sance officer, is a higher number of aboriginals per capita in B.C. and “the programs he was recruiting for are only offered in B.C. or the West. | Those programs — Raven*and — _ Bold Eagle — drew about 15 appli- -. cants, ranging-in age from 16 to 24, © Raven, offered in B.C. only, and . Bold Eagle, open to the western provinces, are similar programs that offer culture camps and military re- cruit training courses. The qualified applicants are taken ‘through aptitude, medical and physi- cal tests, before they face an inter- view. Vivian Clayton, 17, said she had no problem with the nine pushups and 15 situps demanded in the phys- ical, but found the vocabulary in the aptitude test a challenge. . Clayton, waiting for word on her OM) Milita histo The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - B1 ‘ith natives SERGEANT Ron LeBlanc stands: with, hopeful’ applicant Vivian Clayton outside the temporary armed | forces recruiting centre in Terrace last week. Clayton is vying for a summer program designed for First Nations. DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO results; was vying for a spot in the Raven program because she’d heard good things about it from friends and siblings. “You get a good workout and you — get paid,” said Clayton, adding she can graduate early from high school due to the four credits she’d also re- ceive by attending the program. Graduates from the summer pro- grams are encouraged to remain ac- tive in the armed forces, either by joining a nearby reserve unit or by joining for full-time duty. While LeBlanc said aboriginals make up a minority of the military’s makeup, they have a long history of working in the armed forces. LeBlanc said native - officers blame the government, not the mili- tary, for previous discriminations to First Nations veterans who have CLAD it in their Red Serge, constable Kelly Martin (second from right) and [inspec- tor Marland Degrand look on as Clarence Michiel Grade 5 students line up in the school gymnasium May 19 for their unique graduation ceremony. Daring crop of students __KAT LEE PHOTO fought in the War of 1812, World War One and Two. The summer programs help e: ease parents’ fears, the recruiter said, be- cause when kids return to their com- ~ “munities they are changed; showing discipline and respect. Recruiters are especially busy af- ter the federal government’s pledge to increase the military’s full and part-time personnel by 8,000. Around Town “try. tion. the City project. Bodies of Steel | SOME PEOPLE have too much iron in their system, and it’s not because they’re pumping it like Schwarzenneger. These people absorb too much iron in their diet because they have Hereditary Hemochromatosis (HHC), a common - genetic disorder of people, with Northern European ances- Hemochromatosis Awareness Week is from May 25- 31, ‘The Canadian Hemochromatosis Society is trying to raise awareness of the disorder for early detection and preven- One in every 300 Canadians has HHC but may not know it, which could lead to problems down the road. _ -If untreated, iron will collect over the years in vital or- gans like the heart, liver and pancreas and ultimately damage the body. Iron can also collect in joints and sexual organs. Warning signs to the genetic disorder are chronic fatigue, arthritis, diabetes, liver diseases, weigh loss, mood swings, irregular heartbeat, abdominal pain, menstrual irregularities, impotence, bronzing or greying of the skin and jaundice.. If HHC is found early enough, iron’ overload can be pre- vented by regular blood withdrawls. Blood tests and genetic tests can be taken to find out if the gene is in the family. For more info, visit www.cdnhemochromatosis.ca. Spirit Bears in Terrace - AS MENTIONED in this space last week, Terrace is the sight for the official launch of the Kermode Spirit Bears in — By KAT LEE ‘FOR SOME students, graduation comes early. For the Grade 5 students at Clarence Michiel Elementary School, graduation came on May 19. _ The students graduated from the DARE program, which stands for Drug and Alcohol Resistance Education. DARE also stands for Define, Assess, Respond and Evaluate. _ The goal of the program is to teach kids to resist drugs and violence. _ “Pm glad I took this class because I learned many things I’d never heard of be- fore,” Kaylan Stone said as she read her personal essay out to the DARE grads and attending parents. Contstable Kelly Martin and Inspector Marland Degrand from the RCMP taught the DARE program to the two Grade 5 classes throughout a nine-week period. They came to the school for one hour each week be- © peter te first to make the grade tween February and May to teach kids to re- sist drugs and the pull of peer pressure. “You guys have completely exceeded my expectations,” Martin said. ‘““You’re beyond what I expected.” The students participated in their gradu- ation by réading their personal essays: and performing skits, sharing with the audience what they had learned about drinking, smok- ing, drugs, and peer pressure. Principal Cheryl Sebastian was happy to have the DARE program in the school. “The kids worked very hard,” she said. They are the first public school students ‘to graduate from the program in the commu-" nity. © program, she’s looking to interest more pub- lic schools next year. “We'll keep on in the public schools as long as they want us,” she said. president of the BC Lions Society for Children with Disabil- ities and Easter Seal Operations, will make the announce- ment at city hall on Wednesday, June ! at 11:30'a.m. the Easter Seal Services of Terrace. Call Marilyn Davies at 635-6311 or mpdavies@telus. net THE NORTHWEST Science and Innovation Society hosts a - ' regional seminar at the Best Western Terrace Inn June 15. | World with Technology.” popular podcaster and business technology futurist. Martin says that although only private ‘schools have previously participated in the mercialization in Rural BC conference held in 2004, the day also includes presentations by area innovators and the soci- ety’s first annual general meeting. sion is $25, which includes lunch. Marilyn Davies, the project’s chair, and Stephen Miller, The Spirit Bears project is a public art contest benefitting Tech talk in Terrace The seminar’s theme is: “Excelling in an On-Demand — Keynote speaker Tod Maffin is a national broadcaster, A follow-up event to the Promoting Innovation and Com- Go to www.nsis.ca or call 635-6244 to register. Admis-