Community is Key

     As someone who received detention in College for talking too much during lectures, it comes as no surprise that Chris Palliser decided to set his sights on a career in radio.

     Palliser grew up in Victoria and studied radio and television at Camosun College. He is currently a morning host on Virgin radio station. He is passionate about Vancouver Island and bringing the feeling of community to radio. He’s also not averse to enjoying his occupation.

     “I started having fun and enjoying what radio really is which is community, local and it’s just having fun. I’m trying not to work, that’s my goal in life.” He says.

     Just like anything, Pallister started off his career in radio small. He first got a job in Fort McMurray then worked his way up to The Beat 94.5 in Vancouver.

     “I threw my name in the hat for The Beat and got evenings and weekends there.” He explains. “I was twenty-five or twenty-six, so I was living the dream being on this big radio station in Vancouver and having a great time.”

     After spending ten years in Vancouver, he found it difficult to make connections with listeners in such a large community. Palliser realised moving back to Victoria was the best option for him and his family.

     “It’s harder to please everyone in Vancouver because there’s so many people, whereas over here if you have one common goal and one common message and that’s community, I think you can win.” He says.

     He eventually landed the gig on Virgin Radio with Brittany King for the morning show. Having to converse with someone else provided a whole new work environment for him.

     “It’s interesting to do it with a co-host now because I was a solo on air presenter for the last 15 years, so having two personalities in a room adds a whole other element to it.” He explains.

     Palliser goes on to say lots of planning goes into radio to keep the listeners entertained. It involves lots of writing and planning what is going to be discussed.  

     “Every morning we’re prepping the show and writing out how we’re going to talk about things.” He says. “Every break has to have a message. A beginning, a middle and an end. Just like writing.”

     Even though people are getting more digitalized, Palliser has hope for radio and television in the future. He mentions even though the environment has changed, with podcasts becoming the main attraction, he thinks it will continue to thrive.

     “Radio has changed big time and unfortunately there’s a lot more layoffs it seems in both tv and radio, but it’s kind of like newspapers, where they’re fading but I don’t think it will ever die.” Says Palliser.

Club Promoter to Business Owner

     When Steve Webb worked as a club promoter, he never thought one day he would start his own company and open Victoria’s only classic arcade room.

     Before starting his company at Metropol Industries INC (an event poster service), he worked as a promoter for various local clubs; however, he found himself frustrated with the range of talent being brought in. He was seeing the same bands over and over again and wanted something different, so offered to assist booking the bands. As a promoter, Webb would be responsible for going out and putting up flyers for clubs on large poster cylinders around town.

     “At that point, the basic operation was to cover the entire cylinder with a single poster.” Says Webb.

     Through working with many club owners, Webb came to know the people who created the posters. Webb realised they were spending a tremendous amount of time and money trying to compete for a certain amount of space on these cylinders.

     “There were far more clubs out there then right now in live music venues. I would say there was about fifteen clubs battling for space on these cylinders.” He explains.

     Webb decided to approach all the night clubs and convince them to give him the poster contracts and he would fight for equal representation for everybody. This meant putting up a poster on every second cylinder with everyone receiving the same coverage. Although the city loved the idea, individual promoters didn’t. Because all of this took place before social media, this was the only way night clubs could get the word out concerning the various events taking place.

     Eventually Metropol started to pick up, eventually printing their own posters, getting their own cutter, making business cards for people, and creating stickers.

     “In response to what people asked for, we continued to offer more services, hired more people, and got different locations. We opened a shop in the west shore which started doing large formats and making signs. It just kept snowballing.” Says Webb.

     Aside from printing posters, Webb has always been fascinated with classic arcade and pinball machines and he’s always been interested in opening his own arcade one day.

     “Metropol slowly allowed me to purchase the machines until I basically had a warehouse full of them.”

     Since Webb’s hobby has been collecting arcade machines, he turned this into his second business by opening Quazar’s Arcade in November of 2018. It is known as Victoria’s only classic arcade and pinball room.

     “If you’re not doing something that you enjoy, it becomes exponentially more difficult. You have to be able to find the joy in what you’re doing. When owning your own business, you’re required to put in more hours than the average person, and you have to invest more time than the average person. Most people don’t have to put their own money into their jobs, and if you run a business you have to come to terms with that.”

Protect the Oceans

     The ocean is the heart of our planet. It provides us with the fresh air we breathe, the food we eat, and the climate we live in. Today, it is struggling to function because of actions humans unknowingly take upon it.

     There are many reasons why humans need the ocean to survive. An article in The Guardian Newspaper mentions that oceans absorb carbon from the atmosphere and help reduce the impact of climate change. With fossil fuels being admitted into the air every day, it becomes difficult for oceans to absorb carbon from the polluted air. The FAO explains how oceans also affect the weather by evaporating water from its surface creating clouds as a part of the water cycle. This is vital for drinking water, wind and thunderstorms. It also helps produce “monsoon” which is prevailing winds blowing up from the oceans bringing in rains and storms which is what many people rely on in South Asia. The ocean is home to viable food sources for many people around the world. This doesn’t just include sea creatures, as the Oceanpreneur says, “humans have traditionally used algae and sea plants for cooking sushi, seaweed pancit in Philippines, sea grapes, dulse, etc…” Even though creatures in the ocean are a viable food source to many people, it is also home to thousands of species that depend on it to survive. It’s a whole different world below us that we have yet to explore.

     Marine life is struggling to survive due to global warming changing the temperature of the water. But there are other things humans don’t take into consideration like overfishing, ocean acidification and plastic pollution. Overfishing has been a huge problem to the health of the ocean and marine life. Marine Science Today explain how in the past, fishing was more sustainable because fisherman didn’t have the resources or technology. Although today it has turned into a multimillion dollar industry. This has resulted in pushing our oceans so far to the limit, that they are on verge of collapse. This will affect all marine life and cause fishman to go out of business if they don’t cut back on the amount of fish they exploit. Ocean acidification is another cause affecting the entire world’s oceans and marine life. ThoughtCo explains “as the acidity of the oceans increases, it will have devastating impacts on marine life, including plankton, corals and shellfish, and the animals that eat them.” The last, but definitely not least, is plastic pollution. It goes without saying that plastic is dangerous to ingest, so imagine thousands of sea creatures consuming it everyday. Marine in Sight explains, “while plastic thrown into landfills contaminates the soil and groundwater with harmful chemicals and microorganisms, the effects of marine pollution caused by plastic are immeasurable. Just like on land, even in the oceanic areas, the effects of plastic on marine life has started to be felt.”

     Clearly the ocean is essential to humans and marine life, so we should do our part to protect it before it’s too late. National Geographic has many great ideas about what we can do locally and around the world to help protect oceans. They mention taking part in beach clean-ups and involving others is a great way to help the ocean and marine life. Using fewer plastic products and recycling should be a no brainer. An enormous amount of plastics end up in the ocean, disturbing habitats and killing thousands of marine animals. Always remember to carry a reusable water bottle, store food in non-disposable containers, and bring reusable bags when shopping. Support organizations working to protect the ocean. Find a national organization and consider giving financial support or volunteering for hands-on work or advocacy. Since we live on Vancouver Island, we’re so lucky to be close to the ocean, therefore joining an environmental organisation and partaking in beach clean-ups is a great contribution. National Geographic adds, “Whether you enjoy diving, surfing, or relaxing on the beach, always clean up after yourself. Explore and appreciate the ocean without interfering with wildlife or removing rocks and coral.”

     We need clean and healthy oceans to support not just our own health and survival, but also the sea life. Think about which threats to the oceans concern you the most and do your part in the community to help out. We can all make a difference by taking the time to protect our oceans. Now is the time to take action!

Benefits of Free Tuition by Emma Bouck

     There are many reasons why tuition should be offered to students, not just in British Columbia, but around the world. Free tuition is good because it gives students opportunity for future careers that will benefit our society without the stress of paying back large loans.

In Finland, education is regarded as a fundamental right for all citizens and considered fair for everyone to have an equal opportunity. As well, many places around the world are slowly realising how much students are struggling with expenses. According to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,

“As of the 2015-2016 school year, at least nine countries offer tuition-free public higher education. For example, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, and Poland have free college education. So free college has proven to be a popular idea.”

The UK, although not free, offers monetary relief. Research found on the website “Should College Be Free? Here's What You Need to Consider” states,

“…Payment is deferred until after graduation, and every graduate is automatically enrolled in an income-based repayment program. So graduates only have to pay an affordable percentage of their incomes once they start earning above a certain threshold.”

In British Columbia students pay for their tuition, supplies, room and board. Some students need to drop out because they can’t afford to pay these expenses for all four years of school. This results in students dropping out of potential careers, which hurts our economy. As stated by Hunter Throndsen,

“It is a matter of fairness and equality. If we want the best and smartest people to succeed, then what is known as "the great equalizer" should be more accessible.”

In 2017 former president Barack Obama created a budget proposal stating the federal government would cover 75% cost of tuition for two years, and the remaining 25% would be covered by the states.

"We have to make college affordable, because no hardworking student should be stuck in the red." Says Obama. This idea could also work in Canada with the federal government paying a portion and the provinces contributing the rest.

In conclusion, countries like Finland that offer free tuition consider it a fundamental right to give everyone the opportunity for an education and a future. Students in British Columbia and around Canada pay approximately $7,000 per year on tuition alone. This doesn’t include schooling supplies or room and board. Obama’s vision on lowering education cost is still viable today and could make a huge impact to student’s futures. If nine other countries around the world offer free tuition to their students, then why shouldn’t Canada be offered the same?

References:

Dickler, J. (2016). Obama: We have to make college affordable. Retrieved on February 15th, 2019 from: https://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/12/obama-we-have-to-make-college-affordable.html

Should College Be Free? Here's What You Need to Consider. (2019) Retrieved on February 15th, 2019 from:  https://www.trade-schools.net/articles/should-college-be-free.asp#other-countries

Throndsen, Hunter. (2017). Why College Tuition Should Be Free. Retrieved on February 15th, 2019 from: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/college-tuition-free-millennial

Why is education free in Finland? University of Eastern Finland. Retrieved on February 15^th, 2019 from: https://www.uef.fi/web/mns/tuition-and-scholarships/why-is-education-free-in-finland