Interurban Walk Safer’s tough start: We reported in a previous installment of this column that 20 years ago marked the start of the Walk Safer program at Interurban. Unfortunately, our March 20, 1995 issue had a story updating readers on how things were going… and they weren’t good. “People aren’t as interested in volunteering [at Interurban] as they are at Lansdowne,” explained Gaileen Flaman, who was then the director of Walk Safer. Fortunately, they made it through the tough times and Walk Safer is still running at both campuses today.
Wasn’t funny then, not funny now: On the topic of Walk Safer, the news story “Prankster targets Walk Safer” in this issue detailed how Walk Safer’s director and coordinators at the time heard a “young male voice, calling for help, using cliche terms and sounding really emotionless,” while patrolling, said Gaileen Flaman, Walk Safer director. It sounds either really creepy or really stupid, but either way, the young man stopped his joking as the two approached. He was never seen, but a report was filed and Flamen reminded students that “personal violation is not a joke.”
Digital debates: These days you can’t throw a lonely guy at another lonely guy without a debate raging out about whether it’s best to listen to music on CD, vinyl, or your computer. And whileÉ yawnÉ that debate is fascinating, let’s put things in perspective for a moment: in this issue, 20 years ago, our writer Esme Friesen took time out of her review of Stereolab’s most recent album to poke a bit of fun at people who at that point were already going off of CDs. “For all those converted to digital, what are those equalizers on your fancy stereo systems for now, anyway?” she asked, before adding, “Don’t worry, they still make CDs, and they are available in Victoria.”