Capilano Courier / Volume 48 / Issue 1

VOL UME

48

NORTH VANCOUVER, SEPTEMBER 8TH 2014

ISSUE

N O . 01

Stimulated Studying The Highs and Lows of Academic Doping OVERPAID PROFS

FERGUSON FIGHTS

CAPYOU DEBUT

TOSS YOUR SALAD

CAPILANO Courier

VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

capilanocourier.com

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News

A+C

Features

OpiNiONs

COlumNs

CaleNdar

CabOOse

Rewind Habitat

A Tale of Two Fests

Environmental Concerns

Getting Iced

Varts: They Exist

September Sir Elton J

Climbing Your Soulmate

Leah Scheitel Editor-in-Chief

THE CAPILANO COURIER.

@capilanocourier

VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

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The Staff

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@capilanocourier

Therese Guieb News Editor

of this refreshed summer glowin' university newspaper

Andy Rice Managing Editor

Alva Tee Arts + Culture Editor

Andrew Palmquist Production Manager

Faye Alexander Features Editor

Cheryl Swan Art Director

Gabriel Scorgie Opinions Editor

Carlo Javier Lifestyle Editor

Ricky Bao Business Manager

Brandon Kostinuk Web Editor

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

Katherine Gillard, Tasha Salads, Kevin Kapenda, Jeremy "Unicorn Hands" Hanlon CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS:

Ksenia Kozhevnikova, Vivian Liu, Taylor B. Lee, Haley Smith, Olliemoonsta, Crystal Lee, Megan Collinson, Kelsey Holden, Guillem Rovira, Arin Ringwald, Cristian Fowlie, J.R. Pinto, Dominic Guieb

To advertise in the Courier’s pages, please contact our Advertising Director, Andy Rice, at 778-855-9942 or advertising.capcourier@gmail.com. We are proud to offer discounts to non-profit organizations and North Shore customers. A full media kit with sizes, rates and deadlines is available on our website, CapilanoCourier.com.

The Capilano Courier is an autonomous, democratically run student newspaper. Literary and visual submissions are welcomed. All submissions are subject to editing for brevity, taste, and legality. The Capilano Courier will not publish material deemed by the collective to exhibit sexism, racism or homophobia. The views expressed by the contributing writers are not necessarily those of the Capilano Courier Publishing Society.

Letter From The Editor Leah Scheitel, Editor-in-Chief

to the dying days of summer “Know your worth. People always act like they're doing more for you than you're doing for them.”

- Kanye West.

As I’m writing this, I’m sitting on my porch, bathing in sunlight as a white and fat cat snores loudly beside me. Sipping on gin and juice and thinking of words to meld together – it’s more like a scene out of a Woody Allen movie rather than work, but alas, this is what I do. Welcome to my Thursday afternoons.

September isn’t the most popular month, mostly because it symbolizes the death of summer. And it’s not that fall, orange leaves or pumpkin pie are bad things – far from it actually. But early September is difficult because summer isn’t yet dead, but quickly wilting away. And it’s hard to concentrate on a new class and give it your full attention when the sun is making it too hard to see the chalkboard. It’s this odd limbo time when sundresses and BBQs make more sense than accounting class does. My current office space is the perfect example of this.

I, along with most university students (not public school kids, but that’s an entirely different rant), had their first day of class last Tuesday. Pencils were sharpened, glasses were cleaned and loose-leaf paper was unwrapped as I got ready to ‘really take it seriously this year’. This is a promise I make to myself at the beginning of every semester, and it often gets broken in the first week, when I realize there are new episodes of The Mindy Project on Netflix. But this time, the promise didn’t survive past the first class. I found myself not being able to sit still, with my leg shaking so hard that students across the room felt a rumble. Nausea overcame me and I felt worse than I do after a three-day bender. I was also wondering if there was any way I could score some Ativan on campus. (Ativan wouldn’t have helped me concentrate and study. For information on study drugs and their side effects, definitely read this week’s cover feature.) All this was because of BFIN 286 – Personal Finance.

Although there were some cute guys in the class, and the professor seemed pleasant enough, the half class I survived felt more like a lecture on spending from my mom then it did like a class I would enjoy.

This probably added to the stress – my mom and I don’t argue a lot, but when we do, it always stems from financial issues. Instead of buckling down or powering through it, I bolted from class at the next possible chance, and it was right after forming the groups we would be working in for the semester.

“You guys don’t mind if I leave, do you?” I pleaded immediately after the introductions, “It’s not like you need me here for this one.”

“It’s the first class,” one of the guys responded, “the first one.”

“Exactly, these ones aren’t that important anyways.”

I left in such a hurry that I left my scarf behind. The departure was still worth it.

This is a bad sign. To have a near panic attack during the very first class of my last year of university is comparable to seeing an omen from death in the bottom of a teacup. After years of essays, final exams, and – the worst – group projects, I’ve arrived at the apex of it only to start choking before the decent. Granted, I’m being overdramatic, but that is a characteristic of mine when stress seeps into my life. Ask one of my close friends and they will tell you exactly how annoying this trait can be.

The stress is most likely a symptom of sadness that summer is dying. But I have to admit that the school has made a solid attempt to make the transition from summer to school easier. This week has been a collective effort from the CSU, teachers, and students new and old to make it a little more fun.

I have taken advantage of the macaroni and cheese truck twice this week, and on both occasions, it was a little bowl of cheesy happiness. And the Courier staff talked about the Dis-Orientation social fling for a good week before the event. I think Carlo Javier even bought a new hair-do for it, or at least bought the latest issue of GQ for inspiration.

Without a doubt, my return to the Courier office has been the one thing that has eased my sadness about the return to campus. After weeks and months talking about Volume 48 and the improvements we wanted to try, it’s here. We are doing them. In the history of the Courier , there has never been an EIC to keep the title for two years in a row. I’m the first, and although I know more about the job and how to do it, it’s still nerve-wracking because I want to do better than last year. With more experience and an overly-talented staff, I should be able to do better. And I’m going to try by making a promise: I vow not to spell Kanye West’s name wrong. It’s the best promise I can make.

It’s great to be back. Ask any of the staff, and they will be just as excited as I to be back in ol’ Maple 122, right beside the dumpsters, drinking coffees and talking about topics, issues and stories that matter to students. Come hang out – Tuesdays, at Noon, in Maple 122. We will supply the story ideas and coffee. All you have to do is enjoy them.

tweets FrOm their seats the VOiCe bOx

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with

Andy Rice

The Voicebox is back, ready to humbly respond to your questions, concerns, and comments about anything. To inquire, just send a text to 778.855.9942 to anonymously "express" and "voice" your "opinion" and "thoughts" on any "subject" or "issue". And, as long as it's not offensive, we will publish it here, right in the Voicebox. It's a win - win, or whine - whine - whatever way you look at it.

God @TheTweetOfGod I don't really know what I'm doing.

Anna Kendrick @AnnaKendrick47 I'm still hoping that I grow up to be Keira Knightley. #FingersCrossed #DreamBig Capilano University @CapilanoU That @CapStudentUnion really knows how to party #SummerSpree @LosDorados

Dude wtf happened to all the stories on ur website? It’s 4 am and I wanna read about Bulcroftttt.

The CSU gave out free breakfast the other day. What will it take to have this every Monday?

Probably more program cuts.

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Cap Students' Union @CapStudentUnion Save big bucks by buying and selling your textbooks from fellow students though the CSU! http://www.csu.bc.ca/ booksale/ #CapilanoU

I was just thinking the same thing, until I stood next to a girl waiting for the bus with a hairlip more like Tom Selleck in Magnum P.I. than anyone out of 90210. I’m pretty sure she was on her way to Cap, but she cursed me out and ran away before I could finish my SnapChat. The students at Cap are pretty babely though, I must admit, although, you ain’t seen nothing until you show up at a Courier story meeting!

Skye Modera @SkyeModera In other words, I'm having @REELMacCheese way too much this week if such a thing is possible.

Is this year’s Voice Box going to be as bitter as it was last year? That guy really seemed like he needed to retire…

Don’t worry, our dear Scott Moraes is now residing comfortably at an assisted living facility in Florida. These days, he spends most of his time working on his memoirs, searching Yelp for negative reviews on White Spot, and attempting to sue anyone who knocks on his door. I’ll be much nicer, I promise.

Little India @LittleIndiaBand @CapilanoU @CapWelcome thank you for having us!

Faye Alexander @thecellardoor_ #wtf is this shady traffic on the LOW ROADS?! This would not be a problem if kids were back in school - am I right? #teachersstrike Eugenie Bouchard @geniebouchard To whoever plays 'Genie in a Bottle' on Arthur Ashe @ usopen when I walk on and off court: I love you.

Kristi Alexandra @kristialexandra At what point in your journalism career do you stop cringing when you listen back to your interviews? I'm going on 4 years over here...

Steve Burgess @steveburgess1ep 3 Please! If we do not settle the BC teacher's strike it will mean more children interviewed on TV news saying "I like skool." #bced

T H E C A P I L A N O C O U R I E R . VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

However you choose to sober up in the morning is none of my business, but there happens to be a funny story that answers your question. Leah, our Editor-in-Chief, was getting renewal emails all summer from GoDaddy.com and wondering who had been signing up for porn using her credit card. She ignored each and every one until I gently informed her that GoDaddy.com was actually a web hosting service and that they probably took our site down because we didn’t pay our bill. Let’s just say the Courier has some GoDaddy issues to sort out right now, but we’ll be fully back up and running soon.

Is it just me, or are the people on campus way hotter this year? It looks like Cap imported their student body from 90210.

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NEWS

THERESE GUIEB NEWS EDITOR

NEWS@CAPILANOCOURIER.COM

Wiping the slate clean DUST SETTLES IN CSU/CFS SAGA Therese Guieb × News Editor Between Mar 24 and 28, Capilano University students underwent a referendum to vote whether or not they were in favour to stay as a member of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), both nationally and provincially. The CFS is a national student organization that was created to unify the voice of student unions across Canada to address different issues. The CSU was one of the first five founding members of the organization, after joining in 1981.

“Over the years our experience with the CFS led us to a relationship where we weren’t really getting a whole lot of our membership with them,” says Brittany Barnes, president of the CSU, “Our membership fees were in excess of about $80,000 a year. The campaigns that they

used weren’t campaigns that we took part in for various reasons and we really questioned a lot about the internal working of the organization.

It was very hard to get information about budget from this organization,” she adds. Individual members and students of CapU initiated the referendum because they wanted to open up a conversation about the school’s membership with the CFS. “You have to get 20 per cent of your membership to sign a petition for the national CFS and then 10 per cent for the provincial CFS… That’s actually a requirement for the referenda to move forward,” explains Barnes.

The petition was granted in March and the CSU decided to take the official position that opposed membership with the CFS because they represent the student body. “Things got pretty intense to say the least... But in the end of the day, we had complete faith in our students that they would make a decision that was best suited for them,”

notes Barnes. Approximately 17.6 per cent of the student body came out to vote and 77 per cent of them voted to leave the membership for CFS BC and CFS national. “We weren’t given any correspondents from the chief returning officer of the referenda…We had a scrutineer who we appointed to count the ballots…That’s how we were able to get those results,” she continues, “That led us to go to the semi-annual general meeting in Ottawa during the month of June because we hadn’t heard anything from the CFS.” The CSU was officially removed as a member of the CFS national on June 30 and the CFS BC on Sept. 1.

Since leaving the CFS, the CSU has joined the Alliance of BC Students (ABCS), which is a nonpartisan post-secondary advocacy group representing student unions from 10 different institutions.

The advocacy group doesn’t charge any membership fees and is based on a cost-sharing method.

“We really see the value in working with other schools. We think that it’s absolutely a fundamental part of the student union. You have to have a relationship with other student unions so that when you’re discussing with the government or any other stakeholder, you’re speaking as a bigger student body,” explains Barnes.

Aside from joining ABCS, the CSU will also be attending the annual general meeting of the Canadian Alliance of Students’ Association (CASA) this November in Ottawa. CASA is a national advocacy group that represents 22 student unions across the country. “It is our priority moving forward to really strengthen our relationship with other student unions,” continues Barnes. “We’re exploring an alternative organization on the national scale and we’re also just simply building our relationship which doesn’t require us to be a part of an organization at all.”

bustin' caps

UNIVERSITY EXECUTIVES AND AMRIK VIRK ACCUSED OF BREACHING SALARY CAPS

Katherine Gillard

THE CAPILANO COURIER.

VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

× Writer

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In March, David Eby, education critic for the NDP asked Amrik Virk, Minister of Advanced Education in BC to release the salary caps for post-secondary institutions in the province at the Budget 2014 Estimates Debate for the Ministry of Advanced Education. At first, Virk denied that there was any overpayment, but after releasing the documents it was evident he had lied. Although Virk agreed to release the documents for 22 schools, he has only released information on three schools. Eby released the documents to the public this past summer and the numbers are staggering.

According to the documents that were collected by the Public Sector Employers’ Council (PSEC), executives at Capilano University, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, University of the Fraser Valley, and Vancouver Island University have been notably overpaid. CapU President, Kris Bulcroft has been overpaid by $14,763.97 in the past three years.

But the more staggering numbers come from the vice presidents at CapU, who have been overpaid between $31,794-$162,910 in the past three years.

The salary cap at CapU is set at $225,000 a year for the President and $156,000 for Vice Presidents.

CapU is no stranger to money problems, hav-

ing made major cuts to programs and funding in the past few years. Jennifer O’Keefe, a graduate from CapU’s studio art program, that was cut, was intimately involved when David Eby was looking into CapU’s executives’ salaries.

“The announcement of cuts occurred three days before the end of term: our coordinator, under gag order by the admin, leaked it to all the students and staff that our program was going to be cut.

Apparently, the admin wanted her to wait until their graduation to break the news,” says O’Keefe.

O’Keefe and other students began a petition and collected 7,000 signatures in an effort to save their program. CapU was cutting $3.1 million in programs and cancelling 211 courses. According to O’Keefe, the university didn’t even have a clearly stated plan. O’Keefe and another student, Michaela Hanemaayer, began investigating CapU’s budget.

“After more research in the library archives, Michaela and I stumbled upon the Conceptual Development Plan for the University, a document that discussed international student housing in the northern part of the campus. The studio art building, the jazz building and the parking lots were also in the yellow zone for future redevelopment,” reveals O’Keefe.

“I was later sent a video of the North Vancouver District Council meeting where the admin had

introduced the plan. When questioned by the District Council about how they planned to fund the projects, they said that they had no funds. Why would the administration spend $76,462 on a plan which they had no known budget to work with?” she points out.

Alongside the cuts at CapU, other schools are facing their own budget issues and only three of 22 university budget caps have been released.

This leaves room for the NDP to continue questioning Amrik Virk and they have also asked for his resignation.

“The sense that he has hidden these numbers, he has originally denied that there was anything going on at Kwantlen when he was intimately involved creates an issue of trust and I think that is also central to this. How can you trust somebody to be the minister of advanced education when he was caught breaking the rules?” says Kathy Corrigan, spokesperson for the opposition NDP. “We are still very concerned about the fact that a report by the government into the actions at Kwantlen Polytechnic University indicated that Mr. Virk clearly was involved in breaking the guidelines, that he was directly involved and he was in a leadership position. So that is a real concern to us and that is essentially why we have called on his resignation,” she adds.

For now, the question remains as to what will be

done by CapU’s executives now that these reports are out in the public.

“Well, I would hope the president and VPs would take it upon themselves to pay back the amount that was overcompensated to them,” argues O’Keefe.

“One would imagine that a responsible Board of Governors and administration would have made sure that executive compensation was within the legal parameters of government regulation,” notes Corrigan.

“Is this merely incompetence or indicative of a deeper issue stemming from the questionable ethics and accountability practices belonging to our government and those in positions of power? How can we expect our university’s executives to uphold the rules, if our government is failing to monitor and enforce regulations in this province?” she adds.

Corrigan is hoping for more information and promises that the NDP aren’t going to back down.

“We are going to continue to ask questions about compensation caps, we are going to continue to try to get the information,” says Corrigan, “We think it’s ridiculous that we are now being told after the initial promise by Mr. Virk in estimates back in March… Why are they trying to hide these things? The public has a right to know, students have a right to know, taxpayers have a right to know.”

news

rewind habit LOCAL ESTUARIES UNDERGO REHAB Faye Alexander × Features Editor The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF) announced this past June that they would be funding a large estuary restoration project on the Burrard Inlet. Two of the estuaries are located in North Vancouver, along Mosquito Creek and Seymour River, as well as an additional site in Stanley Park, Beaver Creek. With HCTF forking up $200,000, the goal is to transform the estuaries back to their original state as flourishing habitats that are home to an array of native fish and wildlife.

The HCTF has decided to invest the proceeds of creative sentencing which resulted from the 2007 oil spill in the Burrard Inlet, wherein three companies pleaded guilty to exposing Burnaby waters to 234,000 litres of crude oil. One thousand two hundred metres of shoreline were affected and as well as countless aquatic wildlife and seabirds. Since 1993, HCTF has been established as a trust fund and recipient of creative sentencing along with the 2007 spill.

The Burrard Inlet has quickly become a highly industrialized area over the course of 50 years and is only gaining momentum as Vancouver continues its urban sprawl. Yet despite the Lower Mainland becoming a flourishing metropolis for both people and businesses, it’s also home to a diverse aquatic environment that has suffered due to the industrialization of the inlet. The HCTF

along with partners such as the Squamish Nation and Sea Span have joined forces and put up the funds to resurrect these integral parts of the inlet to bring the fish back to the rivers.

According to the United States of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “an estuary is a body of water formed where freshwater from rivers and streams flow into the ocean, mixing the seawater.” It’s a vital point of the ocean’s eco-system, most notably to the lifecycle of salmon that swims through the estuaries each year to spawn upstream, which is almost a symbol of west coast wildlife. With rehabilitation of Mackay Creek already complete, the estuary restoration project has moved to the Seymour River Estuary.

The rehabilitation project hopes to allow salmon safe passage through the Seymour River Estuary, which has been desecrated over the years while neighboring an industrial work yard. The estuary is located beneath the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing, which is just a short drive from Capilano University. The North Shore’s Seymour River Estuary has been widely recognized as one of the deadliest aquatic corridors in North Vancouver and only a small percent of the original habitat remains intact. It’s a passage not only for salmon, but char and trout as well.

“The changes will be a boom to our salmon, as the lower Seymour River and estuary environment represent a critical transition in the salmon life cycle,” explains Brian Smith, hatchery manager at the Seymour Salmonid Society. The estu-

× Taylor Lee

ary is being cleaned up and made safer for its river dwelling inhabitants with the help of graduates from the BCIT Ecological Restoration program led by Dr. Ken Ashley. “We’ve been removing invasive plants and creating some sheltered areas so the fish are better protected when coming through the estuary. Most of the salmon never make it out because they are such easy prey for birds and other predators in the area,” explains Greg Reel, a volunteer for the restoration program. “We hope to see a mass improvement for next year. Time will tell.”

According to a three-year study done by the Seymour Salmonid Society, 78 per cent of salmon die in the estuary. This contributed largely to the heavy industrial development in the area. Salmon always return to their original spawning grounds, and they swim through the estuary on their way back out to the ocean waters after their annual

spawning. “The gradual shift from fresh to saltwater is crucial,” explains Smith, “This imprints a signature of the birth river.” The estuaries have been dredged throughout the industrial developments and the recent renovations to the CN Rail neighboring the habitat makes it difficult for young fish to safely get back to the open sea.

On Aug. 28, the HCTF declared that the “Seymour River Estuary is well on its way to being restored to an important transition ground for fish.” The estuary has been reshaped and renovated to make it safer for species in the area to thrive again. Pollution and contaminants as well as invasive plants have been removed from the estuary to create a safer habitat all around.

More project updates will be released this September.

T H E C A P I L A N O C O U R I E R . VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

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arts + Culture

ALVA TEE ARTS + CULTURE EDITOR

ARTS@CAPILANOCOURIER.COM

A TAle Of Two Festivals LARGE SCALE EVENTS ARE A SOURCE OF WORK AND PLAY Gabriel Scorgie × Opinions Editor Every summer, fields, parks and stadiums around the world get converted into weekend-long campgrounds for festival season. This year, BC played host to the Squamish Valley Music Festival and the Pemberton Music Festival, which made its return after a six-year hiatus.

In order to make sure a festival is ready by the time the thousands of concert-goers begin crashing the gates, a large crew of labourers works long hours leading up to opening day.

“I helped construct the staging and initial setup for both festivals,” says Joshua Manimtim, an employee for Riggit at Pemberton and Kian Concert Sound Services at Squamish, two companies hired to help set up the festivals, “We'd set up up trussing and lighting and the riggers would bring them up and hang them.”

Due to crew availability and time restrictions, most festivals only start setting up the week before they begin. “I was at each festival for around a week. Three to four days in advance prior to opening and the shifts were twelve hours usually, sometimes turning into double shifts,” says Manimtim.

“A lot of the guys there [at Pemberton] were working three days straight by the time we’d arrived.

They set up hammocks underneath the stage and slept there all week.”

The hard work and hours spent setting up the video equipment, sound, and lights translated into gorgeous stages and special effects for the attendees

× Olliemoonsta to enjoy. From giant screens with cities burning down for Eminem’s “Lose Yourself ”, to lasers and flashing lights on Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven”, each performance was visually astonishing. “The stage for Eminem had the craziest, most advanced technology I have ever seen,” says Kevin Nicholson, an attendee of both festivals, “They had a cannon above the stage for sound effects.”

Manimtim admits that “being a part of the crowd and knowing that you built this and people are now enjoying it was pretty great.”

Despite being less than an hour and a half in driving distance from one another, both the Pemberton and Sqaumish festivals managed to maintain their own unique feel. Manimtim describes most people as being very friendly and open at

both, adding that Pemberton felt like a real festival while Squamish was more of a frat environment.

“Pemberton, being a three to four hour drive away [from Vancouver], perhaps attracted more of the dedicated festival-goers, much like with Shambhala… Squamish is around an hour to an hour and a half, with shuttles from Vancouver every day, so a lot of the crowd was mostly from Vancouver while at Pemberton the crowd came from all over the world – at least, from the people that I met there.”

The way Pemberton was set up was much easier for people camping than it was at Squamish, says Nicholson. “At Pemberton, you could stand in the middle and see the whole festival, everything was so close. At Squamish, if you were camping, some people had to walk for half an hour just to reach the gate of the festival; everything was spread so far apart.”

Manimtim believes that the party atmosphere at Pemberton and Squamish played a role in bringing everyone together for both weekends, “Hippies and vagabonds were praised and heralded for their talents, stories and lifestyle at the festivals,” he says.

“I guess it was partly due to the amount of drugs in each festival that was done.”

Nicholson shares Manimtim’s sentiments.

“Every morning you would wake up in this happy haze, knowing there was a whole day of partying and music ahead of you,” he recalls.

However, when the festivals were over, the acceptance seemed to leave with it. “When it all ended they were outcasts once more and deemed too estranged and weird to participate with the normal people again.”

Nicholson and Manimtim agree that they preferred the lineup at Pemberton over Squamish, though Manimtim was surprised by how good the performances were by the Squamish artists.

“To be honest, I didn't think the line up at Squamish was as impressive as the one at Pemberton,” he says, “but the standouts were Bruno Mars, because I didn’t know he was such a brilliant musician, having no preconceptions of him besides knowing he was a huge pop star, and Sam Roberts. I'm a huge fan of Sam Roberts.” At Pemberton, notable acts were Chance the Rapper, Frank Ocean, and Fly-Lo. After the festivals ended, Nicholson and Manimtim were able to come back to Vancouver and enjoy the rest of their summer at home.

However, according to Manhimtim, it was a different story for the rest of the setup crew. “After the festival is done, it’s not like they get a vacation or break or anything,” he says, recalling one guy from Montreal who mentioned he has a house there but hasn’t been home in over a year. “All of them had to work another festival down in South Dakota the next morning which was another two weeks of what they had just done at Pemberton.

Most of those guys had been on the road for six months straight.”

Both Pemberton and Squamish were successful by many standards — attendees partied like crazy and musicians played their hearts out. In the end, however, it’s the crew behind the scenes that makes each of these massive summer events into the larger-than-life spectacle that festival-junkies have come to know and love.

Show us your Tuts THEATRE UNDER THE STARS FEATURES CAPILANO ALUMNI Andy Rice

THE CAPILANO COURIER.

VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

× Managing Editor

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Every summer, the Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park plays host to Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS), a unique Vancouver tradition that recently wrapped a successful 68th season. For up to 40,000 patrons each year, TUTS is a destination for live outdoor entertainment. For hundreds of local musicians, technicians and actors, it’s a rite of passage within the industry, not to mention a summer job for many Capilano University students, both past and present.

The backstage area at the Malkin Bowl has been lovingly vandalized by a who’s who of Vancouver talent, dating back to the 1980s when the first Sharpie touched its walls. With two fulllength musicals taking place every summer, the signatures are numerous, but among them, the pink spray-painted designation of Mike Allen seems to glow a little brighter than the rest: “The Mike Allen. Sound. Jesus Christ Superstar/Annie Get Your Gun ‘08.”

Prior to his current days in Capilano University’s jazz studies program, Allen spent a summer in the audio booth learning how to mix vocals and care for his fledgling dreadlocks. Six years later, he took the call to return, this time to play woodwinds in the orchestra for Legally Blonde. The production ran from July 12 to August 29, in between alternating nights of Shrek the Musical. For Allen, that meant 25 performances, dozens of flute solos, and countless opportunities for backstage mischief.

“It’s a pit full of mostly 20-something year old musicians so you can imagine the sense of humour is very mature and definitely not juvenile,” he jokes. “I think I’ve made more dick jokes this summer than I have the rest of the year combined.

And knowing me, that’s a lot.”

It isn’t hard to imagine how a small room full of 11 trained improvisers might be prone to a little stir craziness after playing the same parts night after night. And while Allen assures they never messed around at the expense of the show, he and his bandmates did find plenty of ways to keep each other entertained. “It was to the point where we all knew the show so well that we’d be looking at each other across the pit and lip-syncing to everything that was happening on stage,” he explains, “Maybe there wasn’t too much brass or too much woodwinds in a song so you know, we’d look at each other and we’d try to crack each other up.”

CapU’s music and theatre programs have supplied TUTS with a fair share of performers over the years, including many alongside Allen in this year’s productions. “I think I was the only Cap person in this band, but in Shrek, Nikko Whitworth was playing bass, Peter Serravalle was playing guitar, Jesus Caballero was on drums, and James Huumo was doing keys,” says Allen.

In addition to students, TUTS is also home to many veterans of the Vancouver musical theatre scene. “We had a couple guys in the pit who have been playing TUTS for 10-plus years,” says Allen.

“There’s totally a bunch of people where their thing is musical theatre and you see it again and again on every different show.”

× contributed Within his own career of performing and composing, Allen says he considers musicals to be more of a necessary evil than a passion. “Personally, I sort of have a love-hate relationship with musical theatre,” he admits, “It’s a guaranteed pay cheque and it’s steady work which are both rare in professional music, but at the same time it’s usually a really big time commitment because in TUTS you’re playing every other night for two months and in other musicals you’re playing every single night for like three weeks straight or something, so you end up turning down other gigs which might be more creatively satisfying… There’s not much room for interpretation or anything, so I’ve definitely been feeling a little antsy about my lack of other gigs over the summer.”

Still, a gig is a gig and Allen did his best to look the part. Mirroring the pink spray paint that marked his initial participation in TUTS, he gave his fingernails a similar treatment prior to opening night. “There’s actually a scene in the play where one of the characters asks Elle, ‘Okay do you want me to paint little gavels on your nails for your big trial?’ Elle says ‘No, no I want everyone to take me seriously,’ so he says ‘Okay, classy lawyer pink it is.’

So I did that and then it was really funny. Everyone in the band loved it, everyone in the cast loved it, and then I realized that I don’t own any nail polish remover, so I was stuck with them for two weeks.”

After that, Allen was nailing the woodwind parts in more ways than one — and in the orchestra pit at TUTS, that’s all that really matters.

arts + Culture

need for tweed LOOK OUT FOR SOME DASHING CYCLISTS Carlo Javier × Lifestyle Editor What’s better than voluntarily and collectively doing something for a good cause? Looking really,sharp while doing it. This is exactly what Vancouver Tweed Ride offers its participants.

The relatively young event originated in London back in 2009. In contrast to the function’s youth is the rich and lengthy history that inspired the collective bike ride. The “Tweed Run,” as it’s called in London and several other cities, was inspired by the Tweed Cycling Club and a few other dress-themed bike rides that populated England more than two decades ago.

Though only in its second lap, the Vancouver Tweed Ride has the potential to be one of the more popular gatherings in town. It certainly will be one of the sharpest ones, if not the sharpest.

“A couple of years back, Phillip Ireland, co-coordinator of The Vancouver Tweed Ride, was reading The New York Times when he saw an article about the England Tweed Ride,” begins Daniel Patching, co-coordinator of the event, “He approached me and asked ‘why doesn’t Vancouver have something like this?’ We then got a group of exceptional people together and started organizing a ride for Vancouver.”

The Tweed Ride’s goals are simple yet substan-

× Haley Smith tial: raise money and awareness for a local nonprofit charity, help advocate the presence of biking in urban areas, and recreate the essence of the past where gentlemen and women alike dressed fashionably, just because. As for the fabric, the inspiration came from both fashion, and function.

Once considered as a traditional but unadventurous fabric, tweed has experienced resurgence in recent catwalks. It has been made its mark on television, becoming a staple wear in the popular and critically acclaimed period drama Downton Abbey.

“Tweed is a superb fabric because it’s moisture resistant and durable,” explains Patching, “Many businessmen would dress in tweed in cold climate regions such as England, Scotland and Ireland, where tweed fashion found its calling. Cyclists would bike to and from work in tweed and from classic pictures we became inspired,” he continues.

Since 2009, the original tweed ride has expanded to several dozen cities around the world. Last year’s inaugural event in Vancouver drew 120 riders, and raised over $9,000 for charity.

“This year, the Vancouver Tweed Ride will be donating its proceeds to Power To Be, a charity that provides inclusive and accessible adventurebased programs designed for youth and families with a disability or a significant life-barrier,” says Patching. “On any given day with Power To Be, one could find themselves kayaking in Deep Cove, or practicing yoga in Stanley Park. We are proud to be sponsoring such a great charity that consistently thrives to make a difference in the lives of people who need support,” he adds. Power To Be (short for Power To Be Adventure Therapy) helps underprivileged families by use of naturebased activities. Their vision is to create a community “where the power of nature is accessible to everyone.” The local non-profit organization operates in both the lower mainland and Victoria, and through its two-pillar system, Power To Be is able to not only aid families, but also assist in

creating a sustained relationship with the families and youth whom they work with.

One of the two main pillars of the organization is Adaptive Recreation. Through this measure, the organization enacts its nature-driven activities such as hikes, kayaking or canoeing. The other comprehensive program that Power To Be utilizes is its Wilderness School. Through the school, youth members are able to join three-year programs that advocate positive social development, as well as receive any supplementary support they need in their lives. Members are put into positions where their leadership skills, confidence and cooperation can be honed. The school provides more than 40 program days per year and includes numerous outdoor-based functions.

This year and moving forward, Patching aims to have more participating riders from the city’s biking community, “There will be live music, photo booths, boxed lunches and much more,” says Patching, “I don’t want to give it all away!”

With the undeniable popularity of biking culture in Vancouver, the Tweed Ride seems to be in a good position to grow bigger, and on a good autumn day, the weather and tweed will just make it all the more fitting.

new additions in port moody CENTENNIAL APPLEYARD CELEBRATES GRAND OPENING Alva Tee × Arts + Culture Editor

Port Moody’s own Cultural Services department also plays a part in integrating the arts of the community together. The division began in 1995 when the city hired its first Cultural Services coordinator, just as two of Port Moody’s most used buildings — the Civic Complex and the Inlet Theatre — opened to the public. Today, Cultural Services helps to manage rentals and activities at the Inlet Theatre, the Galleria, and the stage at Rocky Point Park. The department also supports a variety of local arts and culture groups, including the Port Moody Arts Centre Society, Port Moody Heritage Society, ArtsConnect, and now the Centennial Appleyard House as well.

Gole says her favourite part of the opening of the Appleyard House was “the wonderful com-

munity of artists and people of all ages with an appreciation of art, as well as the desire to become a participant.”

She adds that in completing the project, the Port Moody Arts Centre Society has achieved its goals to add the studio space downstairs and make improvements to the existing Arts Centre building as well.

“It’s all to allow us to bring more arts and music programs, and more exhibitions, to our communities… Community is important to us.” Gole expresses. “This space was funded – in part – by the community, and is for the community to enjoy.”

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Port Moody is known as the "City of the Arts."

Small as it may be, both arts and culture are greatly valued and celebrated there. The Port Moody Arts Centre, located in the old city hall building, has been a gem of the area since it opened its doors in 1999, and an expansion named the Centennial Appleyard House was officially unveiled on Sept. 6, 2014.

Instead of building from the ground up, however, a piece of history was relocated and renovated to become the new addition. As hinted by the name, the structure was once the home of Frederick Appleyard, who was a partner in one of the local sawmills and served as a city councillor in 1917. The style is known as a Foursquare Edwardian.

In 2006, then-owner Oliver Schneider had applied to redevelop the land and to demolish the house. Local developer and restaurateur, Fred Soofi, bought it and moved it across the street where he renovated it as a private home. When Soofi sold the house, another restaurateur bought it and remodelled it into the Heritage Pizza Company.

Following the approval of TransLink’s Evergreen rapid transit line in Fall 2011, the house was purchased by the province and then gifted to the city.

After the different journeys and different purposes the building has taken on, the city designated the house to be for the Arts Centre. The city and the Port Moody Arts Centre Society then worked together to secure a federal grant from the Ministry

of Canadian Heritage to add the house to the existing Arts Centre as a Centennial project.

“We have retained and respected part of Port Moody’s history, while creating a modern space that will be enjoyed for generations to come.” says Pamela Gole, communications & events coordinator for the Arts Centre. “The Port Moody Arts Centre is a volunteer-led, not-for-profit organization.” Although the organization works regularly with the City of Port Moody on projects, the two are independent of each other.

With the Centennial Appleyard House as the newest addition to the Port Moody Arts Centre, there will only be one thing that separates the two.

“This is the Appleyard Parlour, which is the main floor of the house. Mostly it will be used for programs or gallery functions, a rental venue for private or corporate functions, or even just as a community gathering space,” explains Gole. “It will be a great place to hang out and have a coffee while your child is in art or music class.”

The building’s official opening took place from 10:30 am to 1 pm on Sept. 6. A ribbon-cutting ceremony with the attendance of federal, provincial, and municipal politicians was followed by guided tours, tent activities, an Appleyard gallery exhibition, refreshments, and performances from local artists. Many Port Moody residents had the chance to see the facility up close and tour the now-completed renovations.

Port Moody’s main cultural facilities, such as the Arts Centre, the Inlet Theatre, and the Port Moody Station Museum are all woven together by the common goal of stimulating, educating and motivating engagement with the arts. Seeing a musical, taking a drawing class, or learning about the history of the city can all be easily done within the community.

× City of Port Moody contributed

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THE CAPILANO COURIER.

VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

FEATURES

FAYE ALEXANDER FEATURES EDITOR

S P E C I A L F E AT U R E S @ C A P I L A N O C O U R I E R . C O M

an Environmental concern WHY WE SH0ULD BE MORE ALARMED BY ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS Leah Scheitel × Editor-in-Chief

× Crystal Lee

tal disasters can be, and exactly what it will take to recuperate. “One of the first nation chiefs in the area has said that we won’t know the impact for at least another four years, because of the cyclical nature of the salmon that will come back in four years time after the run has been so effected right now,” Herbert says. “It’s those kinds of stories.

What is the real cost here? There has been talk of the cost to the mining company, but what about the cost to all the people there who have had to buy bottled water because they don’t have water.

What’s the cost of all the government intervention in the area so far? Right now, it’s looking like we are on the hook for that as taxpayers.”

While mainstream media does a proficient job of covering the facts and primary consequences, Borsa believes that more reporting can help explain the impacts of environmental disasters.

“The best way always is to not take some top down approach and write an op-ed from 1,000 kilometers away. Actually going there and engaging with the people who are effected is always going to be the best way to do it,” he says. “Most of the coverage I have seen has been written in the abstract and deals with kind of vague micro-economic factors and then makes predictions about how perhaps in the future, policy will change.

But there is no actual engagement on the kind of

ground level. No one is going door to door asking people to lay out what exactly it means for them and their family on a much more intimate level.

And I think engaging with people directly and trying to broadcast the human element, it’s just a lot easier to understand.”

With the arrival of guerrilla journalism and anyone with a smartphone now being able to take video footage of a spill and upload it to the Internet, people are better able to see the first-hand impacts of spills and what they do to the water streams and natural habitats.

What makes the media so pertinent to environmental issues is that the more coverage it receives, the better off. As natural disasters and weather changes are felt across the entire globe, disasters and concerns about the environment should be talked about on a global scale.

“We are one planet so the climate change that is created in the Alberta oil sands affects BC just as much as it affects China or anywhere else.

Just as China’s environmental impact affects us,” explains Herbert, “I think we need to learn lessons from environmental disasters, but also environmental good and environmental protection initiatives internationally. It seems that Alaska is now paying attention to the Mount Polley spill because of proposed mines that could effect some

"The public often doesn’t hear exactly how harmful the impacts of environmental disasters can be, and exactly what it will take to recuperate."

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On Monday, Aug. 4, BC suffered its worst environmental disaster in recent history. Five hundred million cubic meters, the equivalent of 2,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools of mining waste and sludge seeped into the water streams around Mount Polley, located in the Cariboo region just south of Quesnel. A wastewater pond, or tailing pond, as they are known, breached. The tailing pond covered four square kilometers, and in four days, the pond was emptied into the streams and waterways surrounding the area, including the salmon-bearing Fraser River. And yet for an environmental disaster of this scale, it has raised alarmingly few eyebrows.

While there has been demand for inquiries about how this was allowed to happen, there has been little else. Residents of BC are seemingly more and more used to environmental damage, with waste and sludge perpetually washing up along BC’s coastline. At least this is what Tomas Borsa, a Vancouver-based environmental journalist believes.

“When there is a disaster this scale, there are so many different angles that you can come at it from,” explains Borsa. “There is obviously the environmental side of things, but when you put at risk someone’s food source, when you’re essentially destroying the tourism to that area, when roads are washed out by toxic tailing pond sludge, when people are forced to be laid off unexpectedly, there are so many other effects and I think it’s being treated as just another environmental disaster, and so the standard feelings with the clean up, but I think that’s just really only telling one side of the story.”

Borsa believes that the social and cultural ramifications of a disaster of this size are as great as the environmental ones, yet they don’t receive the same media attention or discussion. “[Neskonlith] is a band that continues to fish and hunt really heavily in that area and a couple days ago, a report was released saying allegedly that the salmon drawn from that pond is safe to consume. But the Neskonlith Band leadership has told all the band members to continue not fishing, not eating the food, not hunting in the area because they don’t trust that report, and I don’t blame them one bit. I personally wouldn’t want to be eating that fish. So it’s just – yes it is seen as an environmental disaster and the effect of that is seen on a political, social, cultural, and economic levels too because they can’t be relying on this staple food source, they can’t sell it – they basically lost the keystone species to that culture.”

NDP Environment Critic, Spencer Chandra Herbert, agrees that the public often doesn’t hear exactly how harmful the impacts of environmen-

of their salmon-bearing rivers, which right there, is a pretty big red flag because it could mean that they could have an international commission get involved and rule on BC mines and economic development in that area because of potential lack of care for how our development effects Alaska.”

Just as the Mount Polley spill received little attention south of the border, the US has some issues that we in Canada hear very little of. Currently, there is a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico the size of Connecticut. Because of the growth of algae and other bacteria, there is no oxygen in the area, and it has essentially killed all the marine life. Although it doesn’t directly affect BC, Borsa believes greater attention should be brought to issues like these.

“People are increasingly beginning to understand that the environment is not interested in drawing political, national boundaries. If there is a spill in Japan, well it’s all very nice that we deem a particular territory as Japan, but the effects of that wander freely and follow tidal currents and end up in what we call California,” he says. “I think Fukushima was the first time that I saw an awakening, I guess you could call it, where people began to see things as interconnected as opposed to kind of compartmentalized or as somebody else’s problem. As far as Mount Polley goes, there is definitely going to be some ramifications for Canada as a whole. If that water was to get into aquifers, it’s really quite impossible to tell where water goes once it gets into an aquifer and so it’s anybody’s guess as to who is going to be taking that water eventually.”

Overall, it is a combined effort of journalists, policy makers, industry workers, and the general public to ensure that the impacts of environmental disasters are understood, controlled, and learned from.

“Journalists are pretty restricted in how much change they can actually enforce once that thing has been uncovered. And I think that’s where law needs to take over, or policy makers need to take the initiative. Because the momentum can be built by really good media coverage, and can be accountable to their mistakes, but I think there does come a point, a kind of threshold where simply talking about it is not going to lead to tangible change, and that’s where a politician or somebody in a position of power," Borsa explains, "I would say it would be lovely if the CEO of a company who has been cast in a negative light — would just take the initiative, be proactive and say ‘well you know, we recognize what we are doing now isn’t as good as it could be and we are going to take the necessary steps, even if it goes into our bottom dollar, to make the changes we feel have been articulated by the public and by journalists.”

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FEATURES

FAYE ALEXANDER FEATURES EDITOR

S P E C I A L F E AT U R E S @ C A P I L A N O C O U R I E R . C O M

Dope as Hell Study Drugs: the Science, the Risk, and how CapU Might Help You

× Ksenia Kozhevnikova

Carlo Javier × Lifestyle Editor

THE CAPILANO COURIER.

VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

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Procrastination is widely defined as the act of delaying something in favour of less important activities. It’s also believed to be the number one cause of panic, stress and failure amongst post secondary students. In turn, academic-induced stress can be considered one of the biggest explanations for what drives students to partake in academic doping.

Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine are three of the most well-known types of psychostimulants used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). All three are widely known by university students as pharmaceutical drugs used as performance or cognitive enhancers, more commonly known as “study drugs.” These so-called study drugs have gained popularity and notoriety for amplifying an individual’s ability to focus, ward off distractions and even lessen the need and desire to sleep and eat. The heightened focus then allows students to cram extensively for an impending test, read chapter after chapter or finish a few thousandword essay – sometimes all in one night. However, the motivation to use prescribed psychostimulants doesn’t end at the quest for better grades – just like any other kind of drug, Ritalin, Adderall and Dexedrine have been subject to recreational use and abuse.

The Science Behind the Pill Psychostimulants are meant for the treatment of ADHD and sometimes narcolepsy. “Basically what they do is they increase the release of dopamine and norepinephrine, which is kind of like adrenaline, but it’s a neurotransmitter rather than a hormone,” begins Dawson Bremner, a pharmacist and pharmaceutical student at the University of British Columbia. This supplementation of dopamine lev-

els is necessary for someone with ADHD because their brains produce less of the chemical. What makes dopamine so important is that it helps regulate the control of the brain.

“It increases the release of those and also helps prevent the reuptake. Dopamine and norepinephrine together, combined they are involved in [sic] and so by increasing both it increases cognitive function of attentiveness,” adds Bremner.

People with ADHD struggle with inattention and hyperactivity, the widely known symptoms include an inability to focus for an extended period of time, the inability to remain idle and impulsiveness. For adults, the symptoms can be different, as they may include anxiety, chronic boredom, difficulties in controlling anger and procrastination.

Although procrastination is arguably the single most widespread habit among post-secondary students, it doesn’t necessarily mean that every student classifies with ADHD. Yet, students will still use drugs prescribed for patients, despite not having the proper cause, at least a medical cause.

Part of the appeal of Ritalin, Adderall and other medicines of the same nature is the way they boost the attention span. In this day and age, students are more likely to refresh their Facebook or Twitter newsfeed before they read the next chapter in their textbook. As well, students are more inclined to read a quick mindless list on Buzzfeed before they write their thesis.

According to a research done by Assisted Living Today, the rise of social media has significantly shortened the average attention span. What used to be 12 minutes has been more than halved to five. Further study showed that students who were asked to give up their smartphones for 24 hours struggled with phantom phone vibrations and fidgeting and restlessness. The general atten-

tion span has undoubtedly shifted. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre, 87 per cent of the near 2,500 American teachers asked felt that modern technology was building an “easily distracted generation with short attention spans.”

The big question about the use of study drugs is whether they actually work. It’s a given that using Ritalin or Adderall the night prior to an exam will allow a student to study efficiently for a prolonged period of time. “They also cause a stimulant effect that causes you to be more alert and will wake you up,” Bremner says about psychostimulants.

In an article published in the Globe and Mail , Simona Chiose conducted a wide-ranging student survey to examine the prominence of study drugs across Canadian universities. One anonymous biology student from UBC attested to the benefits of study drugs. “If you look at learning not as just trying to get a higher grade and get a higher placement in a course, it actually might be increasing the rate that you are gaining knowledge and intelligence from this university,” said the student.

Ben Santo, a CapU graduate, and ADHD patient disagrees with the effectiveness of study drugs, citing one simple reason - these psychostimulants are intended for treatment of ADHD, and if someone without the condition were to frequently use them, their dopamine levels would only become unnatural. “Adderall, what that one does is it tricks your brain to thinking that its getting a big dose of sugar, and if you have ADHD, this brings you the dopamine levels of a person without the condition,” he says, “But if you’re not ADHD, then you have the normal amount, and then you’re producing way too much dopamine, and that gets you high.” Although the use of study drugs is considered to be very common, its effects

doesn’t necessarily ‘unlock the brain,’ as most students might assume, “For the most part, there are clinical trials where they showed a bunch of students, half of them took a test on the drug and the other half took the test with a placebo and there was no improvement in test scores,” says Bremner, “The main effect of it is usually for people who are bad at studying, it won’t actually improve their memory or anything like that, all it does is it will allow the person to actually sit there and focus.

You know the people who keeps checking Facebook, they get hungry or they want to go leave, it also allows them to pull all nighters.” he adds.

Simply put, study drugs work exactly the way their name suggests: they temporarily improve attention span and they decrease the need for food, sleep and the simple act of taking breaks. Ultimately, the students who procrastinated will still have to do their work.

“It doesn’t make you smarter or anything like that, it just allows you to study for longer, with more focus,” Bremner says.

The Keyword in 'Study Drug' is Drug Ritalin is not only the most well-known medication used for ADHD, it’s also the most commonly prescribed. The controversy with Ritalin is when it starts to be used recreationally, or as a cognitive enhancer. It’s a stimulant, meaning it can cause unwanted transformations in the brain over extended period of use, there’s another infamous stimulant that has a similar effect – cocaine.

According to the genetics lab of The University of Utah Health Sciences, 10 to 30 per cent of cocaine addicts have been diagnosed with

ON the Cover

KseNia KOzheVNiKOVa Ksenia Kozhevnikova is a recent graduate of the IDEA Program at Capilano University.

She has been known to wow all of Couriers staff with her talent and skill. Her passion for creating does not go unnoticed and we are KK fans! Thank you KK, we owe you a kiki!

"There’s another infamous stimulant that has a similar effect – cocaine."

Getting Help at Cap, and For Cap As with any kind of substance abuse, be it with gateway drugs, alcohol or hard drugs, treatment comes as the most important phase. There are many facilities available for anyone struggling with substance abuse. Clinics and specialists that

are sprawled throughout the Lower Mainland help provide much needed care for those who are battling addiction. It just so happens that none of these facilities are at CapU. “We don’t have such a specialized area to combat substance abuse, and most of the time when people have some kind of substance use issues, they also have some kind of medical or health concerns,” explains Keith Lam, who works at CapU’s counselling department. In short, CapU doesn’t have a medical facility that is strictly meant for students or other people on campus who might have problems with addiction. Instead, such issues fall in the jurisdiction of the Counselling and Learning Support department.

“We don’t have that kind of support to provide any kind of treatment or intervention,” he begins, “Most of the time what might happen is that, when someone who might have a problem, they come here and if they have a certain kind of substance abuse issue - marijuana or alcohol - our role quite often is to facilitate and support the student to find the kind of treatment that they need and also when they come back, provide support and help maintain progress.”

The lack of a specific program to help students who may be struggling with addiction doesn’t necessarily mean that CapU is rendered completely unequipped to deal with such problems.

Addiction, by default, is one of the many issues that the counselling department can help students with, just without the luxury of a medical facility. “When someone really has a problem, often there may be health concerns, and usually for a good treatment, the facility will have support through medical – and unfortunately, we don’t have that,” Lam reiterates.

very dangerous. The academic pressure that may contribute to students taking study drugs is understandable, but this is also something that can be alleviated without the use of chemicals. Although CapU doesn’t have the proper medical equipment to help treat students who struggle with substance abuse, the school does have a very capable learning support department that can help students who may feel overwhelmed with schoolwork. “We do personal counselling, career counselling, and academic counselling,” says Lam, “We have a learning specialist, we have a lot of learning workshops and tutorials throughout the year, many of those topics are related to study skills, note-taking, how to study for an exam, and things like that.”

For any student who may be struggling with academics due to a certain kind of learning disability, they can approach the Disability Services Department for a more specialized assistance. “The disability services here are the ones who provide services to students who have some kind of learning disability,” adds Lam. On the other hand, the use of psychostimulants or study drugs for reasons of getting high has more of a moral issue. Many people in the world suffer from ADHD and recreationally using medicines that are designed for their treatment is disrespectful. For people like Santo, it doesn’t only harm the health of those who abuse the drugs, but it also creates a perception to those who need it. “The fact that people are taking it to get high, it gives a bad name to the people who actually need it,” expresses Santo.

"The academic pressure that may contribute to students taking study drugs is understandable, but this is also something that can be alleviated without the use of chemicals."

T H E C A P I L A N O C O U R I E R . VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

ADHD, furthermore, the same research found that 30 to 50 per cent of adolescents in treatment centres admit to abusing Ritalin.

How similar are they exactly? The two drugs work very similarly to one another, they have their fair share of similarities in terms of chemical structure and both cocaine and Ritalin directly affect dopamine and norepinephrine levels. “It could be attuned to a mild version of cocaine,” says Bremner.

The big difference between Ritalin and cocaine is the method of intake. Unlike cocaine, Ritalin is not addictive – at least when prescribed and taken as instructed. The chemical process that ensues upon swallowing a pill like Ritalin, takes much longer to manifest compared to injecting or snorting something like cocaine.

As for Adderall, there’s another recreational reason for its growth in popularity – parties. “Adderall is a big one for going out to party,” begins Bremner, “Basically, like things like MDMA, there are amphetamines that also cause euphoria and that’s where a lot of the effects come from. But when you’re using a regular amphetamine, it’s kind of like taking a prescription level of speed. Speed has a lot more side effects and is very, very potent, but a study drug is like a milder amphetamine, so people get stimulated from them, they’ll be able to stay awake and they can actually go out and party for longer.”

Other issues that the counselling department can help students with include anxiety, relationship difficulties, eating disorders and depression.

The department also doesn’t keep any records or statistics that shows how many people come in for drug problems.

However, the lack of tools doesn’t mean that CapU is not aware of the increasing popularity of study drugs. “I think study drugs are quite different, as to how people, for example, use marijuana or alcohol,” begins Lam. “Most of the times, people see these as kind of a social thing to do, and there are some people who also enjoy it. There are also people who fall into substance abuse because of something going on in their lives.”

The counselling department can offer one-onone sessions with students who feel like they’re having a growing problem, but sometimes, that growing problem itself becomes an obstacle.

Young people can be sometimes too shy or even ashamed to get help. “From what I see, if they’re too shy to talk to professionals, most likely they would come to us directly. We try to have some information in the office, or in the hallways, so they can discreetly get some information on their own,” says Lam. As a testament to modern society’s increasing dependence on technology, Lam admits that quite possibly the best and certainly most accessible immediate help is in the palm of student’s hands. “Assuming that some students start to have some concerns, they probably would start looking at the Internet for information – if they’re too shy or they don’t want people to know, that’s usually where they would start looking for help.”

Like any other drug, when taken without prescription and in high dosages, study drugs can be

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opinions

GABRIEL SCORGIE OPINIONS EDITOR

OPINIONS@CAPILANOCOURIER.COM

gettin' iced CHARITY CAMPAIGN PROMOTES LAZY ACTIVISM Leah Scheitel × Editor-in-Chief

× Cristian Fowlie

At this point, it’s nearly impossible to have not

seen someone get dumped with a bucket of ice water. Everyone from celebrities such as Patrick Stewart to five-year-old girls are taking the ALS Challenge, which is intended to raise both awareness and money for the ALS Foundation. The campaign has been trending on all social media outlets for weeks. But the campaign has also raised a few eyebrows, with critics questioning the motives behind the participants and the quality of the campaign.

The rules of the Ice Bucket Challenge are quite simple: you get nominated by your peers to par-

ticipate in the challenge. If you choose not to accept, you donate $100 to the ALS Foundation. If you do accept, you videotape yourself throwing cold water over your head and post it to social media sites with the hashtag #IceBucketChallenge.

As well, you are meant to donate $10 to the ALS Foundation, and nominate others, perpetuating the challenge. Using social media platforms as the primary channel of communication is clever and the reason this campaign has had such success.

Social media has enabled the public to essentially brag about how thoughtful and charitable they are, even though the video means that people would

rather donate less in public and get more Facebook likes than donate more privately.

While the intention behind the Ice Bucket Challenge may be genuine and good-natured, it raises social issues, such as the prominence of social media in our daily lives. Grassroots activism has been replaced with hashtag activism, where people can easily spread the message of a campaign without knowing anything about the charity, message or impacts. Instead of researching the initiative to see if their morals align with the campaign, with a couple of clicks, people can pass along a message, cite their opinions, and feel like they’ve done their Good Samaritan act for the day.

In an opinion article in Maclean’s, Scott Gillmore argued that the ALS challenge is promoting “slackitivism”, where people can too easily preach about a topic that they have limited knowledge and information on, doing it primarily for the Facebook likes and re-tweets. “The ice bucket’s ubiquity rivals other famous charitable stunts like Movember, Livestrong, and the infamous Kony 2012,” wrote Gilmore. As a society, Gilmore argued, we have finite resources and income to give to charitable endeavors, and we should be pickier about where those resources go. To date, the ALS challenge has raised nearly $100 million for research and now their biggest task is figuring out how to spend all of that money. It’s like giving one teenage girl a $100 million shopping spree while her peers enviously watch her try and spend it all.

Gilmore has a strong point. ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, though it is more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, after the famed baseball player who died of it in the 1940s. It is an extremely rare condition, claiming around 600 lives per year in Canada. Compared to

other diseases and global concerns, such as AIDS, cancer and world hunger, it affects considerably less people. You have a greater chance of getting hit by a dump truck on the street than getting diagnosed with ALS, yet there is no hashtag campaign to raise awareness for crosswalk etiquette.

What Gilmore and other critics of the campaign are arguing for is more personal awareness. It’s all well and good to share a video or donate to a charity, but the money and message will go further with more intention behind it. Instead of donating to a charity that most of us didn’t know about a month ago, do some research and donate to one closer to you. Give to your local animal shelter or food bank. Hell, if there is ten bucks burning a hole in your pocket, go to the corner of Hastings and Main and buy any one of the homeless people there a meal. The money and awareness will be more appreciated in your local neighborhood and communities than it will with your online one.

Some people have taken the ALS challenge and made it their own. Pro skier, Tanner Hall, used his nomination to give bottled water to the community of Ferguson, Missouri, which is suffering from riots after the police shooting of an innocent African-American teenager. Leonardo DiCaprio, along with members of a first nations band in Northern Alberta, embarked on the challenge, and nominated the head honchos of different oil and gas corporations to do the same. DiCaprio nominated Prime Minister Stephen Harper. DiCaprio not only helped the ALS Foundation but also used the opportunity to highlight larger social, political and environmental issues. I’d give 100 bucks to ALS to see Harper dump some ice over his head, and I’d pay even more if I was the one who got to dump it.

Madhouse in ferguson WHEN RACIAL TENSION REACHES A BOILING POINT Kevin Kapenda

THE CAPILANO COURIER.

VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

× Writer

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On Aug. 9, Michael Brown, an 18-year-old AfricanAmerican, was shot dead by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, a largely black suburb of St. Louis. The event was met with outrage by the community, African-American leaders and North American media — mainly because Brown was unarmed at the time of his death. Most police shootings in North America don’t get much media coverage, unless the shooting involves a white cop and an unarmed black teen. Like in 2012, when an unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a volunteer law enforcement officer. Many leaders in the Black American community, as well as the media, have made Ferguson their “Ground Zero”, as they did in Miami, Florida in 2012. Riots and violent demonstrations have also erupted in Ferguson, as they did in Miami two years ago. Due to increased media coverage, the shooting of Brown has once again re-opened the debate surrounding police violence against minorities, as well as the current role of firearms in policing and North American society.

But the biggest story in wake of Brown’s death is perhaps the way Ferguson City Police have handled unwanted media attention.

When Brown was shot and killed, the media and the community didn’t know much about what had happened, aside from the fact that Brown was shot by a police officer and he was unarmed. The following day, civil rights leaders such as Benjamin Crump converged on Ferguson, to denounce the shooting as murder and an unnecessary use of lethal force in a city plagued with racial tension. Ferguson's population is nearly 70 per cent black, but its police force is only five per cent black. Crump, Brown’s parents, and the media had been putting pressure on Ferguson Police to reveal the name of the officer responsible and the circumstances surrounding Brown’s death. The police force failed to respond to those demands until Aug. 15, citing that in the days since the shooting, the police department and its officers had been receiving death threats. On the 15th, Officer Darren Wilson was identified as the officer who shot Brown. By that time, Wilson had fled Ferguson, likely for safety reasons.

When the media and civil rights activists showed up in Ferguson, combined with violent protests, the Ferguson Police Department decided to respond to the protests by arresting anyone who was in the downtown corridor at night — including members of the press. To subdue the massive crowds in Ferguson, police dressed in riot gear and employed crowd control weapons like tear gas and

rubber bullets. In media reports by Grantland and CNN, Ferguson Police reportedly justified their military-like use of force by claiming that the press was insinuating violence and riots by giving demonstrators attention. The outrage demonstrated by the media towards Ferguson Police eventually forced Ferguson’s mayor and the Missouri governor to implement a town curfew, and enlist the help of Missouri State Police and the National Guard to take over policing operations.

Michael Brown had been described by CNN as a smart and innocent teen that was going to college after graduating high school, the first in his family to do so. And yet, on Aug. 15, the Ferguson police department released a video of Brown and his friend robbing a corner store only moments before he was shot, the same day they finally released the name of the officer who shot Brown. Perhaps they thought that if they could make Brown look thuggish, they could somehow justify his encounter with police that day.

While many activists groups or leaders like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples (NAACP) and Reverend Al Sharpton would like to stop seeing young black men die at the hands of police for reasons that may or may not be racially motivated, many supporters of the US’s violent law enforcement culture have voiced

their support for Officer Darren Wilson by creating Facebook fan pages for him and holding rallies in his honour, where they are even selling “stand with Wilson” t-shirts. These groups have told the media that they support Wilson for the time being because he has not been found guilty of any wrongdoing and may have acted in self-defense.

While much of this episode has focused on the death of Michael Brown, his death has again sparked key debates all over the US about why there is still so much police violence and brutality against African-American men in America. The US jails more of its own citizens than any other country in the world and black men are over-represented in the US Criminal Justice system. Furthermore, they are most likely to be targeted or stopped by police officers when driving or even walking, like Brown and Martin were doing when they were killed. At Brown’s funeral, Rev. Sharpton told the media that the African-American community must work together to end the perception that their boys are criminal so that police in America will stop assuming that young black men are armed and or dangerous.

opinions

GM-no's OPINIONS VERSUS FACTS ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS Alva Tee × Arts + Culture Editor People worrying about genetically modified foods need to “chill out”, according to a recent YouTube video posted by well-known American scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

After all, people have been genetically modifying foods for tens of thousands of years now and no one seems to have dropped dead from that as of yet. If anyone has ever had a drastic experience with food, it’s been because of overconsumption, or allergic reactions. Even beyond that, most people who like to complain have not done their research on GMO foods and not everyone sees the pros to it before bashing the entire idea.

“I’m amazed how much objection genetically modified foods are receiving from the public,” said Tyson in the video. “It smacks of the fear factor that exists at every new emergent science, where people don’t fully understand it or don’t fully know or embrace its consequences, and therefore reject it.”

People think “manmade” and automatically

associate harmful chemicals and only that. But this is why learning to pick which GMO foods are good is a smart idea. As long as it is done in moderation, it’s not supposed to be harmful to humans at all. And in reality, the sciences behind GMO foods help create foods that are better resistant to weeds, pests and other diseases, which is useful because it lessens the need to use pesticides and chemicals.

Of course, it is acknowledged that back in the days of cave men, the world did fine without GMO food. However, our world is constantly changing and everything around us adapts with it.

So many different food items are imported from around the world and GMOs help keep food fresh to and from that item’s destination. This allows people to try different food from around the world. If putting GMOs into someone’s body were such a big deal, it would be illegal. With the right research and everyone being aware of what they’re consuming, people wouldn’t have as much to freak out about because they’d have the choice of deciding what gets put into their body.

After all, it is required that manufacturers list all

ingredients on the packaging.

It’s undeniable that some food does taste better after being modified — even healthy foods like fruits and vegetables. They get bigger, better and it often makes for easier intake. Genetic modification is the reason a lot of our foods can be seedless, sweeter, and juicier. Tyson makes a point of comparison between wild apples and modified apples saying that Red Delicious apples are much sweeter than those that grow in the wild and that’s a big reason why people love them so much.

If after being educated, people decide that the GMO-free life is the way to go, then so be it. Just like being vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free, it’s simply the lifestyle one chooses to live. Though living that way is not a necessity in having a longer life — unless you’re allergic, no harm can come as long as it’s being done healthily. The amount of organic food stores and gluten free bakeries to exist has gone up in the last few years.

People like having options. Even with these items being more expensive, most that are open are very successful — the price people will pay for this style is a high one. But in Tyson’s opinion, “prac-

tically every food you buy in a store for consumption by humans is genetically modified food.”

Whether the reasoning behind a gluten-free and organic life is because of allergies or because it’s a fad that seems to be trending recently, it is no secret that it has become a societal norm. If you walk into any restaurant nowadays, not only will they have vegetarian menus, but many have gluten-free menus as well because they know this will help them make a better profit as it tends to such a large amount of patrons’ needs. In the service industry, decisions are made with the customer’s best interest in mind.

Read up on what you’re putting into your body, and make your decisions on what you eat based on that. For what it’s worth though, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the European Commission all agree with Tyson on the safety of GMO foods. “So we are creating and modifying the biology of the world to serve our needs,” Tyson pointed out. “I don’t have a problem with that.”

just the tip CANADA'S FIRST NO TIPPING POLICY SHAKES THINGS UP Faye Alexander × Features Editor

× J.R Pinto individuals serving will be directly affected. There are very few jobs where people get to walk away at the end of the night with cash money. Restaurants with no tipping policies will have to get smart on how to appeal to young servers – because what could possibly trump cash as a reason to get into serving in the first place?

This is not BC’s first experience with ‘no tipping’ though. Throughout the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, many restaurants took it upon themselves to remove a tip option and opt for a mandatory 18 per cent gratuity to all bills. It could be that with the world at our collective restaurants, and many other cultures not being “in the know” about the expectation of Canadian gratuity (although 18 per

cent was a little high, no?) – it took all the fuss and muss out of tipping. No headaches, no one pulling out a calculator with a look of exasperation across their face. If tipping is to be expected, maybe we should no longer call it a gratuity and set a standard across the board to ensure servers are getting their fair share. Unless ‘no tipping’ policy restaurants truly begin to pay their servers and kitchen staff liveable wages, which in BC should be $15 per hour, let them have their tips. It’s the reason they are smiling at you. It’s the reason they warn you your plate is hot. They work hard, and they are working hard for the tips.

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Dining out in the city is hard to avoid. Vancouver is peppered with eateries ranging from dicey dives to high class, five star restaurants. When ordering a roll of sushi takes less effort than cooking up your own culinary delight — and is likely less expensive too eating out can quickly become a habit of convenience. However, despite the endless options there is one unavoidable expectation at the end of your meal: the tip. Even on shaky service, it is expected that one should tip 15 per cent to their server. As most professional servers will tell you, they are in it for the tips, not the refillable bread.

Victims of terrible servers are frowned upon when they don’t dish out a tip at the end of a poor restaurant experience. Tell any server you know that you’ve considered withholding a tip and be prepared for a tongue-lashing – tipping is expected.

However, this North American sensation may be getting tired because now some restaurants are eliminating tipping altogether. Smoke and Water restaurant in Parksville, BC was the first in Canada to implement a ‘no tipping’ policy back in May. Prior to opening, owner David Jones referred to tipping as a “broken business model” in an interview with the Province. Instead, Jones increased menu prices at his eatery by 18 per cent, with the intention of paying both his kitchen and wait staff better hourly wages. By just raising the menu prices though, it doesn’t seem totally fair to say that tipping would have been completely eliminated – more so that the restaurant had found a way to gain control over the gratuity and distribute it how they see fit.

Working in the service industry is no easy feat — it requires a lot of smiling through dinner rushes, high-maintenance diners and the occasional screaming infant. The majority of waiters and waitresses are paid the absolute minimum hourly rate, and are reliant on tips to bump themselves up to a reasonable living wage. Yet, the cost of tip-

ping is on the rise. While 10 per cent used to be standard, it has risen to 15, and is slowly ascending to 18 and even 20 per cent. “Eighteen to 20 per cent is easily the norm. Some people tip 25 per cent… Fifteen per cent is the bottom line here,” said Janet Watson, an Alberta-based etiquette expert in an interview with PostMedia News. Therein lies the issue. Gratuity is exactly that — a gratuity.

A monetary tip is supposed to be a gesture of appreciation of good service, not a widely accepted societal norm.

While Smoke and Water had strong intentions to become Canada's premier no-tip policy restaurant, Jones quickly had to shelf the idea due to customer backlash. The expectation of a tip and any concerns customers may have had about that were suddenly overshadowed by the sudden loss of control in determining both its amount and recipient. During the three month trial, Jones was pleased to offer his staff “livable” wages at $10.50 to $11 per hour as a result of raising menu prices – but can anyone really deem those wages, which are only slightly above minimum wage, liveable considering the cost of living in BC? Although Jones was confident that his ‘no tipping’ business model would draw customers and staff to his eatery, he wasn’t able to find the right recipe to sweeten the deal for customers or potential workers, considering all the other options available to them that tip.

For students who are looking to pay their bills with part-time jobs, serving has always been an excellent option to optimize on the limited hours students have the ability to work without compromising their grades. Serving allows these workers to have some control over the money they earn, and an ability to go out with cash in hand. Offering charming service inspires patrons to tip handsomely – no one is tipping their Home Depot cashier for being pleasant. Tips are the main motivation for people to enter the service industry.

It’s the ultimate perk, and it makes all those late nights and break-free shifts worthwhile. By taking tipping out of the equation, the motivation for

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columns

LEAH SCHEITEL, COLUMNS EDITOR

EDITOR@CAPILANOCOURIER.COM

tasha salads tosses your salad QUEEF EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY fluids, or substances they emit, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, he's probably not going to see you as anything other than a regular human being – even a sexy one at that. I would go so far as to say that a man who gets turned on by queefing is also more likely to be in tune with his feminine side.

Take it from Tasha – if this guy wants to speak the language of your labial region, don't fight it. He's not a weirdo, he's just a rare breed. Casual fling? I think you should re-evaluate this one.

Tasha Salads × Columnist

Tasha Salads is an expert in all things sexy. She has more used lingerie than all of Leonardo DiCaprio’s ex-girlfriends combined. And she’s here to answer your dirtiest, darkest and raunchiest questions.

Tweet @tashasalads to air some dirty laundry.

If you're shy, send her a PM and she’ll use a pseudonym to answer your question.

@QueenLaQueefa says: I've been casually sleeping with this dude from work. One night after some intense doggy-style sex, I queefed in front of him quite loudly. He got really turned on and started talking to my vagina in a low voice. Is that weird?

Ah, vaginal flatulence. The queef can present a tough situation to navigate, especially in the context of a casual relationship. For many women, queefs, also known as varts, can come suddenly after intercourse or exercise and with all the force of a blaring trumpet. Clench up like a nun and you still won't be able to stop the flood of sound. This can and often does lead to a painfully awkward moment, whether it’s a queef shared between sexual partners or before an audience of middle class MILFs in

× Megan Collinson

downward dog position. Most of the time, there's no passing off a queef for a mere fart, either. The obvious lack of rotting egg odour is a dead giveaway – unless you're into inserting eggs into your pussy and taking them out a few days later. But, I digress.

The sounds that come out of your delicate vagina should not be a source of embarrassment, shame, or awkwardness. If we only tunnel a little deeper into the actual mechanics of the queef, it doesn't take a detective to figure out that the penetrator is part perpetrator, at least in the case of varts emitted after intercourse. Your guy showed his true colours in not merely acknowledging, but embracing your vaginal music and I see this as a highly favourable sign. If you decide to keep this guy around, your orifices are pretty much covered. Whatever sounds,

@BurtonCummingsTooSoon says: I got with this super sexy girl. But when we have sex I always come fast. I've never had this problem with anyone else. I've tried masturbating more but it doesn't seem to make me last longer. What should I do?

Most guys have a PEE (premature ejaculation experience) at some point or another. It's more or less normal. In response, their partners stroke their hair and tell them it's okay while secretly wishing they were still getting pounded. Makes you wonder if it's only a matter of time before this girl that you've liked for a while goes looking for a man who can last for a while. What do you do?

Good fucking question. I don't have a pecker so I have no idea what makes a man arrive too early at the sexy party. When a woman comes too early, she just goes for a double header. Luckily, I can make educated guesses about this kind of stuff for cheaper than a certified sex therapist, so here goes nothing.

You claim that this gal is the only one who you've

had a PEE with. You also mention that you've liked her for a while. Perhaps the many freaky-deaky fantasies you had of her before you got together made the real-life her seem too good to be true. No doubt when you found yourself with her for the first time, you were a tad nervous. You wanted to perform. But like any normal person in a situation that's too good to be true, you fucked it up hard – or should I say, soft? It's okay.

There is no bonafide cure for this kind of thing, but there are some things you can do other than get callouses on your hand from masturbating too much in order to try to build up your tolerance.

Popular self-help remedies include preventing yourself from getting too excited by thinking about something sexually unappealing while banging your girlfriend. Your boss? Maggots? Dog poop? Being totally honest, I don't know how the hell anyone could think about these things intentionally during sex. When I have sex, it's to reinstate my faith in humanity after I've stepped in dog poo.

Personally, I would also look into your thrust speed. If you're going like a jack-rabbit, try slowing things down. Some men even try to pull out when they feel they're on the brink of a PEE. If that doesn't work, well, start saving your pocket money for psychoanalysis.

too nietzsche GETTING SMASHED WITH MARIO Jeremy Hanlon × Columnist

THE CAPILANO COURIER.

VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

Jeremy Hanlon is a mastermind in all things off the beaten path. Some of his interests include instant music trivia, moustache cultivation, and wheeling around the office in a swivel chair. With his column, he will explore the world of the niche, and why underground communities are often the most welcoming.

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When I arrive at the UBC classroom, it's already 6 pm and the place is bustling with activity. This is the first time I’ve arrived for such an event, though I’m familiar with the scene. I’ve spent cumulative days on forums and watching videos, and I’ve received a fair amount of guidance from friends therein. All around, the room is filled with CRT TVs and GameCubes, while hurrying between the stalls are students with controllers milling around asking if anyone is up for “friendlies”, or discussing the merits of “waveshine” or “chaingrab”. Throughout, you can hear the terms “SHFFL”, “wavedash”, and “L-cancel”, as well as “Johns” and “Fox dittoes, no items, four stock on Final Destination”. This is my first Super Smash Bros Melee Tournament.

Super Smash Bros Melee (SSBM for short) was first released for the Nintendo GameCube system in the fall of 2001, and yet its appeal and popularity has hardly diminished 13 years later.

I first played it at a friend’s house when we had

parties for our soccer team, and it quickly became our favourite game to play. We would stay up until the next afternoon, seeing how much longer we could play with our “winner stays in” rule. Since then, the game has acquired a large competitive following and has received praise for its deep mechanics and incredibly high skill cap.

The top players in the world are able to reliably perform advanced techniques in the game, some being reliant on precise timing within 1/60 of one second. Winners of larger tournaments can often net up to $15,000 in prize money for a two-day tournament.

The game plays like a mix between a street fight and a sumo match, where the point is not so much to hit an opponent until their life runs out, but more to make sure you can knock them off of the stage so that they can’t return, with each hit increasing how far opponents are thrown. To aid in doing so, there are numerous characters that a player can choose, each with their own characteristics. Some are slow heavy hitters, while others are quick but relatively weak. In casual play, there are also numerous stages with environmental hazards and spawning items that can be used to gain an edge. I say ‘casual play’ because in competitive settings, these stages and items are almost always banned, as they’re perceived as lowering the skill factor of the game, and placing a larger emphasis on random chance.

The thing that really ties the scene together is the community. Without it, the game would likely not have maintained its popularity. I asked Nic Wickman, who is heavy into the Smash scene, why he played, and his response was suc-

cinct: “The game itself is fast-paced, open-ended and has a lot of room for personal expression and creativity. Other than the game itself, I still play it because of the great community. Most of my best friends I met through Smash, or have brought into Smash.”

There are a few different ways that people get involved in competitive Smash. For me and most others my age, there was always a Nintendo 64 at a friend’s house where we could spend hours playing the first Super Smash Bros whenever our moms weren’t trying to get us to go outside and offset vitamin D deficiency.

“I played the original game on the N64, and then graduated to Melee when my brother and I got a GameCube. After playing it for a couple years, one day I searched it up on YouTube and saw how much better some people were. From there, I was led to Smashboards, and started talking to some of the competitive players in BC,” Wickman explains.

In addition to being a Smash Bros forum, Smashboards was the de facto online resource for competitive Smash Bros information, and though now the site is rather less active than it once was, it still has countless resources to help a player get on their way to upping their game immensely.

Another resource now is Smashwiki, particularly if a player wants to learn about all Smash games, and not specifically Melee. There one can find information on every character in every game, and their movesets, with point-by-point breakdown by the frame.

If after reading all this, you find yourself encouraged to learn more about Smash Bros, and

maybe even sign up for a tournament, I highly recommend it. The community is particularly accepting of new players, and the metagame is constantly evolving, even now. And the best part is that it’s never too hard to find a game near you.

“Ninety per cent of the Smash happens in people’s basements and living rooms. That other 10 per cent is events,” continues Wickman, “The best way to get more involved is to find your local Smash scene on Facebook or Smashboards, show up to a tournament and make as many friends as possible.”

Maybe if you show up to the next tournament you can even make friends with me, and wouldn’t that be dandy. I’m famous. You can tell because I have a published column in a newspaper with a swanky illustration of my beautiful face beside my name.

× Guillem Rovira

columns

House of common sense MARIJUANA STANCE BOOSTS TRUDEAU POPULARITY

Kevin Kapenda × Columnist Kevin Kapenda has been the Courier’s unofficial political correspondent for the past two years. This year, we just made it a bit more official. Through his column, he will be delving into the world of politics and highlight what students should pay closer attention to. He’s doing the hard political work so you don’t have to.

In British Columbia, marijuana legalization has been a hot topic since 2000, when Vancouver resident Marc Emery founded the provincial Marijuana Party. Emery registered the party in the 2001 and 2005 provincial elections, earning him national attention for his pro-pot activism.

Since his political beginnings, Emery’s message had been viewed as taboo and unimportant by most political observers, until the Liberal Party of Canada decided to integrate pot legalization into their platform at their 2012 convention. Since 2012, and the election of Justin Trudeau as party leader a year later, marijuana use in Canada and its potential legalization under a Liberal government has been thrust into the political spotlight, causing all types of problems for the current Conservative government, which is appearing less and less libertarian by the year.

Since coming to power in 2006, the Harper government has tried to make itself look as libertarian as it can be by lowering taxes for business and individuals, signing international free trade agreements and promoting religious and cultural

freedom across the country. While Canadians enjoy many liberties, the Conservatives continue to argue that buying recreational marijuana shouldn’t be one of them. The Tories believe that non-medicinal drug use is detrimental to society and shouldn’t be promoted or encouraged to be sold, like it would be if legalized. Furthermore, the government also argues that if pot were sold in local stores, it would be easier for kids to obtain the drug. “Trudeau’s plan will make marijuana more accessible to kids and promote recreational drug use”, wrote Harper in party mail-outs published by the Huffington Post.

While Conservative supporters may agree with their leader, it’s no secret that Harper’s pot stance has irritated thousands of progressive voters, in cities like Vancouver and Victoria, who don’t usually vote blue anyways. This issue may be one that progressives have on Harper, because unlike most of his positions that often attract split approval, marijuana legalization is a policy almost all British Columbians agree on. These facts are very troubling for the Conservatives, because they will need to win roughly 25 seats in BC if they hope to be re-elected next year. Charles Moore of the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal wrote “six out of every 10 Canadians support marijuana legalization, with support strongest in BC.” Moore also went on to write that this is troubling news for Harper because most of his caucus comes from Ontario, Alberta and BC, in that order, and a severe loss of support in the province would see his government defeated.

Since becoming Liberal leader, Trudeau has made many gaffes, including ones related to his party’s position on recreational use of marijuana.

His own personal use of the drug has come into question by Conservative politicians, as well as his

× Kelsey Holden

relationship to pot activist Marc Emery. In fact, rumours suggest the two have even smoked together.

While it’s unclear how close they are, Emery has agreed to campaign for “his friend” Trudeau next year, while his wife, Jodie, is attempting to run for the Liberals in the ultra-progressive federal riding of Vancouver East. In addition to “Emery-gate”, the Tories have also accused Trudeau of promoting cannabis use to minors, while he visited schools to talk about marijuana legalization and other key policies. The latter has since been communicated to the public in televised attack ads and printed mail-outs targeting all groups. Those mail-outs even go as far to say that marijuana could be potentially sold in local corner stores like candy, if the Liberals are elected.

Many political commentators though, including Moore, find the Conservative Party’s fear mongering on the topic tiring and self-damaging, because the Liberals are promising to adopt an

alcohol-like model to regulate and tax the sale of cannabis. Some pundits even believe that the Prime Minister’s position on pot legalization might be the policy that’ll defeat his government in next year’s election.

The system that the Liberals would implement if elected, as outlined by Moore, would be similar to the one already being used south of the border in Washington State and Colorado, where adults 21 or over (US age of majority) are allowed to purchase cannabis for recreational use from licensed retailers. Furthermore, if elected to government, the Liberals would use tax dollars collected from pot sales to fund scientific research and the production of educational materials to inform youth and adult Canadians on the dangers and risks associated with cannabis use.

As of now, most polls and surveys suggest that the Liberals have a slight edge over the Conservatives, which is not out of sort for a party that has ruled for almost a decade. In a recent post published by poll analysis site Threehundredeight.org, surveys show that Trudeau is uncharacteristically leading over Harper in BC. Trudeau’s left-wing rhetoric and willingness to embrace issues Harper has avoided for years, like pot legalization, may be why he continues to lead over the Conservatives.

Trudeau may not be the smartest federal leader in next year’s election debates, but you don’t have to be an economist or lawyer to debate the merits of marijuana legalization, or many of his other positions on aboriginal issues, environmental regulation and arts funding, ideas that seem to be slowly winning over Canadians.

staff editorial THE HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR SUMMER VACATIONS

Courier Staff × Still Summer Lovin'

Andrew Palmquist // Short Shorts Once upon a time there was a season named Spring. It was said that Spring came from a season named Winter, and it’s earlier predecessor, Autumn. Long ago people recall the days of a season lost. Lost in the times of late nights and later days, boozy turns on bicycles, booty poppin’ short shorts and sand. Everywhere. This season was known as Summer. I have had the chance to live through summer a few times. Each summer held its own stories and memories. This last Summer past held bike trips up and around Vancouver Island, eating well with strangers. But they weren’t strangers for long. Staying up until sunrise then falling asleep just to be awoken by grumpy park rangers.

Faye Alexander // Single This summer I decided to give up on dating. That's right, I deleted my Tinder app and removed my lonely heart’s club dating profiles from the wildly uncharted internet. I started looking at men with such indifference that they've practically disappeared from my radar. I replaced dating with white wine and brie parties. I was the queen of Pinot Grigio and totally ignored the fact I am lactose intolerant to enjoy a sickening amount of "fancy" cheese. The pain was worth it because I've never looked more refined. I attended tantric sound meditations and decided to get pet rats. I'm going to name them Grim and Spaghetti. It has been the best summer ever and boys are overrated — except Carlo. He's “boyfriend material".

Gabriel Scorgie // Maybe Single?

I thought it would be a good idea to make my return to Vancouver Island, a place I haven’t been since my brief stint living there in 2012, to catch

up with old friends. I thought I’d be able to do a four-day tour of the island, starting in Victoria and ending in Nanaimo, crashing on friends’ couches along the way. I was wrong. The tour ended in the same place it began — at an ex-girlfriend’s house in Victoria that she shares with two other girls and one of their boyfriends. The house was a massive party house and the next four days were spent in a haze of drugs, alcohol and strobe lights. It wasn’t the trip I had planned — it was better.

Therese Guieb // Buff & Hungover If there were two things that would summarize my summer, it would be tanning and alcohol. It was a Jersey Shore summer indeed, with every day starting off with getting some gains at the gym, then going to the beach to work on my tan and ending the night with booze. I was so obsessed with looking good that my makeup was more caked up than usual, my clothes were ridiculously tight, and selfies were taken in every angle. EDM was all I listened to and for a girl who only worships old rock, blues and indie music that shit was way out of the spectrum. I guess I took Faye Alexander’s Do’s and Don’ts of Summer guide way too seriously.

Carlo Javier // Boyfriend Material Every summer, people put their minds and bodies into work. Everyone talks about getting back in

shape or losing those last few pounds to get into an acceptable beach body. I did. I boxed. Yeah, boxing, the sport, the one where you hit people and get hit. I did well in my first few sessions. Maybe it’s because of my Filipino heritage, or maybe it’s because of my low centre of gravity. However, when it came to the point where I had to learn to defend myself, all things I learned went to waste – so much for ‘wax on, wax off.’ I didn’t want my face to get hit, and when it did, I cried. It’s true.

I’m not making this shit up.

Leah Scheitel // Shingled Out One beautiful morning in July, I woke up in someone else’s tent and with gnarly blisters growing on my left wrist. “Well shit,” I said out loud, “I got shingles again.” That’s right – again. I’ve had shingles twice before the age of 30. When I explained this to the doctor at the walk-in clinic, he seemed perplexed. “Jesus girl, what’s so stressful in your life?” he asked. If only I knew, dear Doctor, if I only fucking knew.

T H E C A P I L A N O C O U R I E R . VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

We haven’t been here the past few months, and we’re sure that you have missed us. Over the summer, some of us rode bikes, others of us drank a little too much, and one of us got shingles. Here are a few highlights and lowlights of our summers. Tweet us yours @capilanocourier. We’re dying to know what you were doing this summer.

Hot dogs with ketchup-stained shirts. Forgetting what time it was all day until it got dark. Moving laundry day by day after day after day. Making new friends who disappear as quickly as they enter your life. And then one day it got grey. It felt as if summer was over. But it’s not — it’s just “Sweater Summer.”

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art shorts

ANDY RICE ART SHORTS EDITOR

MANAGER.CAPCOURIER@GMAIL.COM

GOB APT 13 Faye Alexander × Reformed Punk On Aug. 26, GOB dropped a brand new album with New Damage Records – after seven years of radio silence. GOB is one of those bands you keep expecting to disappear, but in true Canadian rock fashion, they just keep trucking down the TransCanada highway, spewing those signature whinges and whines to anyone still keen on listening. Although today’s millennials may not have been around long enough to understand the nostalgic significance of early pop-punk hits such as “Soda” and “I Hear You Calling”, Generation X&Y strip mall punks of our nations suburbs were born of these blasts of teenage angst. But GOB formed in 1993 - that’s over 20 years ago. The question is whether there is still a place for pop punk in popular music today, in particular GOB. Haven’t all the mid-late 90s pop-punk outfits gone on to get corporate haircuts and raise well-mannered children? The great thing about Apt 13 for GOB fans, is that it is unmistakably GOB. It’s like a genuinely sweet form of arrested development.

The album flows like a skip through a better time,

when pop-punk was ruling the radio and everyone owned a Blink-182 poster. Recorded in their bassist Steven Fairweather’s parents’ basement in White Rock, it’s deliciously local. “Terpsichore” is a catchy finger-snapper and driven by melodic verses. Another track to look out for on Apt 13 is “New York”. With two of GOB’s members now permanently residing in the big apple, this reflective song gets about as deep as GOB is capable of going – a perfect moment of moodiness on an otherwise light album. Tom Thackers' vocals go surprisingly Morrissey-esque on “Standing There” with muffled power chords driving the melancholy number forward. There are plenty of yippy riff-driven tracks, and what they lack for musical complexity, they make up for in punk whimsy – just check out “NIL”, which is just an acronym for “not in love”. It seems like rock n’ roll is in a slump – Lorde just won the VMA for best Rock Video, and a world where “Royals” is considered a “rock anthem” is majorly ghastly. Pop Punk is now so far from trending, it will be pretty cool to like it again — in an ironic way — within the next six months. So get this album now – it’s the hippest thing you could do.

New Pornographers BRILL BRUISERS Andy Rice

THE CAPILANO COURIER.

VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

× Managing Editor

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When it comes to the New Pornographers, it seems as though absence makes the art grow fonder.

Their newest release, Brill Bruisers, is the Canadian supergroup’s first album in four years, but is one of their best of the past decade. The members are now pushing 50, but the octet sounds refreshed, rejuvenated, youthful, and happy. AC Newman has said himself that he wanted to make a record to celebrate his recent emergence from a period of personal difficulty. He’s succeeded here, with a little help from his friends. Brill Bruisers is as much a cinematic wall of sound as it is dynamic, maintaining a cohesive feel even in spite of the band’s four contrasting lead vocalists. Without a doubt, there is a distinctive musical blend and production value that sets a New Pornographers record apart from an A.C. Newman record, a Neko Case record, a Dan Bejar record, or a Katherine Calder record.

Newman continues to handle the lion’s share of vocal duties as he’s often done in the past, but the others aren’t far behind with their own numbers.

The album opens with a catchy title track that graced North American radio waves leading up to the album’s Aug. 26 release. As the other 12 songs unfold in order, listeners are introduced to the rest of the band’s front line. Even Bejar, perhaps the

most idiosyncratic vocalist of the bunch, manages somehow to blend in. On “War on the East Coast” his Vancouver roots are cloaked by a sound that’s evocative of British new wave, a refreshing variation but one that’s still not askew within the overall songscape. The album is both polished and human. During the backgrounds on “Spidyr,” Case comes in early on the line, “I want you,” audibly muttering a self-deprecating “Fuck” a second or two later. It’s an endearing moment for anyone who manages to catch it. Effects and vocoders are used heavily but economically throughout Brill Bruisers. Instead of dating the band’s delivery, they add a modern touch, especially on “Backstairs,” which channels Daft Punk in a big way. Ambient and captivating with synths oscillating and arpeggiating off in the distance and bass gently pulsing in the background, it’s a definite highlight of the record. One can hear the influence the New Pornographers have had on other bands since their 1999 formation (looking at you here, Mother Mother.) Many of Canada’s current indie darlings seem to be branches from the mighty oak that is the New Pornographers. And if Brill Bruisers is any indication, the octet will continue to gather rings and inspire many young saplings to come.

how to dress well

FORTUNE SOUND CLUB, AUG. 26 Carlo Javier × Lifestyle Editor If there ever was an award for the most unique stage name in the music industry, then Tom Krell, more commonly known as How To Dress Well, is an easy shoo-in for contention. Having been an underground sensation in the R&B scene, Krell has made a name for himself with his experimental sound — playing around with lo-fi effects, a lush mix of electronica and a noticeable influence in the style of early 90s R&B. Despite the plethora of elements in his music, his most important weapon remains as his most personal – his voice. With three studio albums, 2010’s Love Remains, 2012’s Total Loss, and his most recent offering, "What Is This Heart?" Krell just might as well enter his name into the hypothetical contest for the best voice in R&B. After his Aug. 26 show at Fortune Sound Club, his case has only gotten stronger. His set list remained true to the purpose of his tour – to promote his latest album. This meant the exclusion of crowd (and Internet) favourites such as “Ready for the World,” and the song the audience frequently called for, “& It Was U.” However, this

wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Right off the bat, Krell showcased his evocative range, unleashing his powerful voice and passion in the set opener, “A Power.” He followed this with a quick chat with the audience about how his sound guy was unable to make the show due to border issues. The incredibly friendly Krell even revealed that two members of his band were born in Vancouver. He also had the crowd yell “Happy Birthday Michelle!” dedicated to his mother, whose birthday he missed.

When “Repeated Pleasure” was played, the crowd’s energy only went higher - the irresistibly danceable song was undoubtedly one of the night’s highlights. Also standing out was the sweet and emotional “Set it Right,” a track from his 2012 album which lists personal shout-outs and dedications to the many people who have been important figures in his life. But it was his encore that really made the show. Despite, and admittedly, not fully knowing the lyrics, Krell belted out a mesmerizing a cappella cover of Whitney Houston’s “I Look To You.” Krell revealed that it was only the second time he has ever done that, and the first one was a mess. The second attempt alone was worth the price of admission.

Beck

DEER LAKE PARK, AUG. 19 Faye Alexander × Features Editor The sun was dimming over Deer Lake Park as the crowd slowly began to rise from their picnic blankets and meander magnetically towards the stage. With Beck’s initial success stemming from the 90s with the breakout feat Mellow Gold, it was an eclectic gathering of fans ranging from toddlers sporting protective earphones to loafy 60-somethings sprawled out on the grassy knoll that spills

down towards the lake. A mass exodus from the beer garden and Beck appeared in a leather jacket and signature shades — a timeless mythological creature. He took the mic and dove into “Devil’s Haircut”. Right out the gates, this was serious. A ticket to Beck is comparable to a ticket to a melodic zoo: a pass to experience a musical chameleon, who continues to change his colours even after over 20 impressive years in the spotlight. With his catalogue now spanning two decades, the show was a thrill-filled overview of his colourful career.

The beautiful summer day drifted to a balmy summer night, with Beck never missing a beat in delivering his offbeat poetry in whimsical rhymes accompanied by his own brand of funk. Beck played between genres like a seasoned veteran, bouncing between country influences, funk, full-blown rock and deeply mournful slow-movers. The energy amped up with performances of “Loser” and “New Pollution”, and hearts melted with his stunning performance of “Lost Cause”. The encore was a perfect blend of “Sexx Laws”, “Debra” and “Where

It’s At”. The only major criticism of the set is that it was far too short. With Beck continuing to grow as an artist, experimenting with new sounds and genres, an hour and 45 minutes slips away in a second. He could have played another five hours and never lost his captivated audience. It was a surreal experience from one of the most underrated artists of our time.

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First Courier Issue Variety of Locations All Day $ - free

Ice Cream Social M 08

Fox Cabaret 8 pm $ -free

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Corduroy Lounge + Bar 10 pm $5

Movie Mondays M 08

Your House Whenever $ - free

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Pick up a brand new copy of the Capilano Courier as it begins its 48th volume. In it, you’ll find stories about drugs, sex, and rock n’ roll (but seriously, it has all three topics). Fall in love with the new Campus Culture section and its editor, Carlo Javier. And if you play your cards right, Carlo will fall right back in love with you.

Who says you can’t dance on Mondays? The Fox Cabaret hosts their weekly Ice Cream Social, featuring music from the doo-wop days of the 50s and 60s. DJs Cam Dales, Trevor Risk and Tyler Fedchuk spin the tunes that our grandparents made out to. If you’re lucky, you may just get to continue their tradition.

This is the ultimate competition of Rock Paper Scissors in Vancouver. Hosted by comedian Scott Patey, contestants sign up for a round-robin RPS tournament and to get ridiculed in a loving manner by Patey’s quick-witted jokes. I won the entire competition once, and got $50 and a large amount of pride for winning a game of complete chance. Believe me, you’ll never feel more like a winner.

Mondays are slightly depressing for everyone involved. A case of the Mondays can be contagious and bring down co-workers and fellow students.

To cure the Monday blues, I suggest watching a movie at your house, surrounded by snacks and a glass of wine. This week, I suggest Office Space, the cult-comedy hit from the 90s. Watching this will make you appreciate your co-workers so much more!

Story Meetings

Katy Perry

Drank

Alex Maher

Courier Office (Maple 122) 12 pm $ - we pay you

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Rogers Arena 8 pm $40+

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Bismarck Bar (526 Abbott) 9 pm $3

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The Keefer 9 pm $ - Some fancy martinis

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Wanna make a little extra pocket change? Come write for the Courier! We pay for all submissions, and usually have treats and such to share. Each Tuesday, we gather in our office (aka – Maple Dumpster) and pitch out stories for writers to pick up. If you grab one, you could be making upwards of $100 for your work. That, and we are just super fun people to work with! And our production manager, Andrew, is a total babe.

A little secret – my karaoke go-to is “Hot N Cold” and I still enjoy that song. I have made people leave the bar while belting it out on more than one occasion. If Katy Perry is a guilty pleasure, then Rogers Arena may be a better place to belt out her songs off-tune than a karaoke bar.

As a student, you have to come up with new and creative ways to drink without it costing next semester’s tuition. Bismarck Bar can help. On Tuesdays, everything on tap is just $3. It costs more money to get to Richmond on the bus than it does for a pint on a Tuesday night. So screw Richmond, stay in Vancouver, and get drunk for under $10. Perfect.

Local musician, Alex Maher, graces the Keefer stage every Tuesday night, and his voice is what baby kittens would sound like if they could sing.

He also plays the sax and guitar, and is the kind of guy your grandmother would love. His mix of covers and originals combined with specialty martinis from the Keefer’s menus will make you feel sexier than a bath with a Kenny G album.

French Toast Breakfast

Exercise

Mingler Wednesdays

Rococode & Young Liars

Creekside Community Centre 7 – 9 am $ - cheap breakfast

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CapU Sportsplex 8:30 am – 11 pm $ - free

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Grouse Mountain 6 pm $ - A taxi home

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Fox Cabaret 9 pm $10/12

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Cobs Bread is raising money for kids by making breakfast for you! 100 per cent of the money raised at the breakfast will go to the Breakfast Club of Canada, which provides breakfasts for kids across the country. There will also be guest speakers and more French toast than you can imagine. Sounds like the perfect hangover cure.

Did you know that there is a full gym on campus, open to all students? Seriously, all you have to do is show your student card and maybe change into some old Umbro shorts, and you can work out for free. Screw fees anywhere else. Also, it’s where most of the campus hotties hang out, so it’s worth it just for the eye candy alone.

If you only want to hike if there is a promise of a cold beer afterwards, this is for you. Saunter on up the Grind with pals and other hikers. At the top, there is cold Granville Island beers, a warm lodge, and a DJ waiting to welcome you. This may be a good way to impress your next Tinder date with just how athletic you are.

If finding indie music that no one else knows about is your jam, then check this out. The Fox Cabaret presents a night with two local indie bands, Rococode and Young Liars. I haven’t heard of either of these bands, which automatically means they are good. Just imagine the PBR drinkers and denim vests.

Cheryl Swan's Birthday

New International Student Mixer

Jim Gaffigan

VGH Bike-apalooza

Any Place & Every Place All day long $ - An endless supply of ice cream

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CSU Library Lounge 3 – 8 pm $ - free

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Orpheum Theatre 7 pm $45 – 70

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Blusson Spinal Cord Center 3 – 6 pm $ - free

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It’s our girl Cheryl’s birthday. She’s the brilliance behind all of the art direction seen in these pages.

She has also drawn my face on three different occasions, with every portrait looking better than my actual mug. So cheers to Cheryl – may your art and burps continue to grace the Courier office for years.

The CSU will be packed with people for a social event welcoming new international students to our campus and Vancouver in general. The event is hosted by the Centre for International Experience, and is by invitation only. So buddy up to someone with an invitation or just find somewhere else to study that night.

If you like food, parenthood, and jokes about food and parenthood, this guy may be your new favourite joke maker. Famed for poking fun at himself for being an overweight dad, Jim Gaffigan spills his jokes at the Orpheum. The presale code for tickets is “bacon.” If the ticket is a bit steep, you can do what I’m planning and check out one of his specials on Netflix.

VGH is hosting a bike fair, featuring bike experts from different shops, all offering tips on how to bike in the city year round. Exhibitors include MEC, Denman Cycles, and Arc'teryx, among others. As our Production Manager, Andrew, preaches, bikes “keep the fun between your legs.”

Maniac w/ guests

Sax on the Beach

Whistler Beer Festivals

Yanni

Biltmore Cabaret 8 pm $10

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Blue Frog Studios, White Rock 8 pm $35

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Whistler Village All Day $ - a bad hangover

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Queen Elizabeth Theatre 7:30 pm $90+

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Los Angeles band, Maniac, plays an early show at the Biltmore, and from their description on their website, it sounds pretty cool. They were even finalists in LA Weekly’s “Best Live Band in LA” award, and award nominations are cool. They are joined by Wimps, a punk trio from Seattle that likes skateboards. Boys on boards + punk music = perfect Friday night.

Terry Hanck apparently knows how to play the sax, and he wants to play it for you in White Rock.

His latest album “Look Out” has been hot on the R&B charts with its 50s jazz sound. If you’re visiting your grandmother in White Rock, this is worth checking out afterwards. We both know she’ll be fast asleep before Jeopardy ends.

Whistler Village hosts an annual four-day beer fest. Featuring seminars on the history of craft beers and trade events, it’s likely to combine education with intoxication. And if Andy Rice had the day off, there is nowhere else he’d rather be. Check out Whistler.ca for all the details.

Apparently this guy has produced over 40 albums, but I still had to google him. And according to Google, his real name is Yiannis Chryssomallis, he’s a pianist, and he has a bachelor of psychology.

Who knew?

Whitecaps vs D.C. United

Roller Derby Saved My Soul (Fringe Fest)

Let's Get Smashed - a Nintendo Party

Frankiw Valli & the Four Seasons

False Creek Gym Various Times $14

Cedar Cottage Pub 5 pm $ - new finger calluses

Hard Rock Casino 8 pm $110 and up

BC Place 7 pm $25

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I know remarkably little about soccer. I’m not even sure where D.C. United is from. For all I know, it could stand for “Disney City” and the Whitecaps are facing off against a bunch of players dressed up as Disney characters. Actually, I would probably pay 25 bucks to see that. Can we make that happen?

This one-woman show is about a nerd in her 30s, who lives in her basement watching Buffy reruns.

She discovers roller derby and finds a new confidence and lust for life. If I’m not careful, this will be me at 30, except instead of Buffy, it will be reruns of Gilmore Girls.

Let’s Get Smashed is a monthly mash up of Nintendo generations. Featuring different games from a variety of different gaming systems, this is the perfect way to dig up childhood memories Mario 3 marathons while overdosing on Doritos. Or was that just my childhood Saturday nights?

Ever wonder what bands with a couple of hits do with themselves decades after? They play at the Hard Rock Casino in Coquitlam, of course.

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, famed for their hits “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Walk Like a Man” are still belting the tunes out, nearly half a century after their debut in the 60s. Surely the costumes will be worth the trip to Coquitlam.

Food Cart Fest

Kits Farmer's Market

Cannibal: The Musical (Fringe Fest)

Elton Fucking John

Firehall Arts Centre 3:15 pm $10 - 12

Rogers Arena 8 pm $50 - 205

False Creek 12 – 5 pm $ - a new belt

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Every Sunday, Olympic Village plays host to over 20 food carts from around the city, offering basically any kind of food that you could crave. Want to try tacos with a fancy doughnut? There is seriously no better place. There is also live music and ping pong tables, allowing for a little exercise so you can enjoy more food after.

Kitsilano Community Centre 10 am – 2 pm $ - fresh basil

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As mama says, eat your veggies. And if you have to eat them, they are better fresh than out of a can with a green giant on it. Check out the Kitsilano Farmer’s Market for local fruit, veggies, and canned goods. And remember to bring some cash as it’s a better currency than debit at markets.

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This musical is from the mind of Trey Parker, the genius who brought us South Park and Team America. Hailed as the “first intelligent musical about cannibalism”, it’s surely to be as twisted and graphic as any of Parker’s other work, which means I will be there, front row, laughing harder than anyone else.

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Elton John, the king of all things fabulous, is gracing Rogers Arena. It will likely be the ultimate karaoke challenge, with the entire audience belting out their best renditions of “Rocket Man” and “Daniel ” along with him. Maybe you’ll even find out the real lyrics to “Bennie and the Jets”, yet proceed to sing whatever words you want.

Please someone, buy me a ticket.

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CAp you

CARLO JAVIER LIFESTYLE EDITOR

CARLO.CAPCOURIER@GMAIL.COM

street party shines in the rain ORIENTATION DAY A SUCCESS DESPITE BAD WEATHER Carlo Javier × Lifestyle Editor

For the first time in recent memory, Capilano University assembled a comprehensive orientation day — one that’s closer in spirit to what other institutions would call “Frosh.”

The CapU Street Party (CUSP) brought food trucks, contests and musical performances, among other things, all with the goal of kicking off the school year with a bang. Organized by a board composed of both members of staff as well as students, the Street Party provided tents and booths for many of the school’s associations, clubs and other collectives.

“Primarily, the Special Events and Ceremonies department played a role but Marketing, Communications and Facilities were also great assets,”

begins Skye Modera, one of the lead student coordinators of the Street Party. “Students included student employees and volunteers who assisted the manager of Special Events and Ceremonies, and also affiliates from the Capilano Students’ Union.”

Several student collectives, such as Canadian Outback Adventures, also participated in the event, particularly by managing spaces that were utilized in one of the event’s premier attractions: The Goosechase Games.

In past years, CapU’s orientation day has been regarded as simple, sometimes even as lacking.

Leading up to the event’s 2014 kickoff, members of the planning committee made it their mission to not only provide a comprehensive orientation for new students, but also an event that returning students would want to come and experience.

“For this year, we wanted new and returning students alike to feel welcome to join in on celebrat-

“While we weren’t thrilled that it did rain on the day of the event, it seems as though the rain added something extra,” Modera begins, “We’ve heard through our social media for CUSP that people used the rain to their advantage and had extra fun because of it. Students decided to swim in the pit of the Wrecking Ball game as it accumulated water, or used it as a slip ’n slide.”

Overall, Modera and the rest of the coordinators agree that seeing people compete in challenges, as well as simply getting to know the university, were highlights. Despite the rain, which was no light drizzle, thousands of people attended the inaugural Street Party, which certainly was a welcome success for the school. It also didn’t hurt that many prizes were given out, and that the mac and cheese was really dope.

ing the start of the school year, and to know that CapU appreciates them. We feel that CapU is a great place and that all students should feel welcome and start their year in a fun, engaging way,” Modera explains.

Coordinators of the Street Party revealed that over 1,000 students participated in the Goosechase alone. They also estimate that the number represents only a quarter of the total students who came to the Street Party. “The turnout was great.

We planned for weeks on end, putting together contingency plans in case it was to rain – as you know it did,” Modera says.

Rain became quite arguably the only hindrance to an otherwise successful event. Students who were in line for the food trucks certainly wound up soaked, and a picnic space across the Cedar building ended up empty, but many other outdoor spaces remained busy for much of the day. × Carlo Javier

MEET CARLO

× Carlo Javier

DEM PANTS THO

HE'S YOUR BOY FOR ALL THINGS CAP. YOU'LL

SEE HIM EVERYWHERE

ON CAMPUS WITH AN EAR TO THE GROUND, LOOKING FOR COOL THINGS TO COVER IN OUR BRAND NEW SECTION,

MAAARRIACHI AMIGOS

CAPYOU.

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POP N' LOCKN'

DO

YOU HAVE A UNIQUE EVENT COMING UP?

DO

YOU KNOW OF AN EXCEPTIONAL

INDIVIDUAL WE CAN FEATURE?

DO

YOU KNOW NOW YOU

× Dominic Guieb

THE CAPILANO COURIER.

VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

...YOU MAY EVEN SEE HIM ON TINDER. (SWIPE RIGHT!)

CARLO? DO!

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caboose

CARLO JAVIER LIFESTYLE EDITOR

CABOOSE@CAPILANOCOURIER.COM

vacation romance Faye Alexander × Features Editor

It seems like all my female friends find their soul mates on vacation. Considering the size of the habitable earth and the nearly seven billion people mucking around it, it's likely that your “perfect match” is somewhere other than wherever it is you happen to be. It’s practically science… that, or irony. To find true love you have to be willing to travel, drink cocktails that feature tiny umbrellas, and know how to say “yes” in at least four languages. So I concluded that the perfect man for me must undoubtedly be at my next getaway location, just beyond the airport.

Vacations are the perfect scenario for finding meaningful relationships. People become the unbridled romanticized versions of themselves. When you remove the stresses of daily life from the equation, of course we are all the most attractive versions of ourselves. Being away from home, away from what’s familiar, means you’re forced to open yourself up to new experiences. I can barely open myself up to trying a new coffee at Starbucks. Most of the time without a wave of anxiety crashing into me from over the creamers.

During a trip to Mexico, I started to take my coffee black for no particular reason. I would buy canvases to paint on my balcony deep into the balmy Spanish nights. The thing is, I don’t really like my coffee black, I just like the sound of ordering it that way. And painting in the dark isn’t conducive to great art work, FYI. Despite being open to new experiences, no one came to romance me there. Surrounded by cups of black coffee and paint-stained jeans and tank tops – my Mexican lover never appeared.

I had an idea in my mind of what would transpire: He was going to be sensitive and own a pashmina scarf. He was going to roll his R’s inside my mouth and sob softly when I would reluctantly head back to Canada. We would write passionate love letters that would oftentimes border on erotic. The distance would eventually be too much. I’d question his commitment, his fidelity.

He would question mine. Anger, jealousy, a sea of sexually-driven emotions — then silence. It would end as quickly as it had all begun. You know what they say about Spanish men — almost too much passion for a “healthy” relationship, but the connection is utterly potent even

when he is yelling at you over tequila tumblers.

Pure romance.

After failing down south, I set my sights for a more uncharted holiday to better my chances. Mexico is a tourist trap anyway, and I’m competing with a thousand other basic girls drinking their coffee black who are on the exact same mission as me. Let’s not kid ourselves. Europe has been done, Thailand is passé, Japan is xenophobic, and I don’t suggest the Middle East. Instead I turned north towards the final frontier – the widely untraveled landscape of Canada’s Yukon Territory. I had always harboured a fantasy for lumberjacks and my first experience with a bearskin rug. The Yukon seemed like the perfect opportunity to meet some burly man with a beard as thick as a beaver pelt and shoulders as wide as a mountain.

I had an idea in my mind of how this would transpire: I would go to the local Yukon watering hole on a chilly Friday night in July. The bartender would slide into my view handing me an oversized pint of Yukon Gold, refreshing and glowing in the light of the blazing wood-burning fireplaces scattered around the bar. He’d gesture toward a man who looked a lot like a sexy Paul Bunyan wearing a red flannel button-up and massive boots the size of two small canoes. He’d wink at me, ask if I’d like to venture outside to check out his new axe, and the rest would be history. I’d spend the rest of my vacation lying barely clothed on a table he whittled himself from one evergreen. I’d eventually grow suspicious that he stole most of his charm from the film adaptation of The Notebook, but I’d cancel my return flight anyway.

In preparation, I booked myself a manicure, a hair appointment and had a day of laundry dedicated to only my most seductive (yet classy) ensembles.

I analyzed my accessories and threw a fit when I couldn’t procure my best Cowichan. How is someone supposed to bed a lumberjack in the great white north without a Cowichan? I filled my makeup bag with all the essentials to be ready for whatever dates and exciting nights lay ahead of me on the tundra.

Someone once told me you never know when you’ll meet your future husband, so the best advice is to look your merry best - even if you’re just running to the grocery store for mayonnaise.

× Arin Ringwald After arriving, my driver enthusiastically informed me that the Yukon has two Starbucks locations.

There is also a bar where you can order a drink with an actual dead man’s toe in it. I jotted down the details in my journal and glossed my pout for my final destination: Carmacks.

Carmacks boasts a population of 380 people.

I googled it. There is one General Store, a bank that is solely open on Tuesdays, and there are more bears walking along the boardwalk than people. I wouldn’t let that deter me. Every morning I would wake up, blow dry my hair, and scout the dirt roads for my Prince Charming who was surely just playing hard to get. Donning a full smokey eye at 11 am was not faring well for me - the four people I did see only came to stare from the middle of the streets. I began to feel like an alien creature hungry

for love, starved for the fantasy of a man who may never find me.

I spotted a grizzly bear, mountain goats, drugsmoking locals and feral dogs — but my soulmate never appeared to me. Instead I found myself taking in the sights, hiking uncharted mountain passes and enjoying my coffee with cream and sugar overlooking a quiet nowhere — the most magnificent landscapes I’d ever seen just billowing out ahead of every road I travelled.

Maybe my soulmate wasn’t my favourite male fantasy, but the place itself. My affair with the white north was a love affair. No love letters, but it was etched in my memory for always. The lumberjack could just be a metaphor, right?

T H E C A P I L A N O C O U R I E R . VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

19

shotgun reviews CAMPUS PROS + CONS

DOGWOOD BUILDING

CAPU'S BIGGEST SECRET

HAPPY HOUR

HOORAY FOR INTERNET

Alva Tee // Arts + Culture Editor

Faye Alexander // Features Editor

Gabriel Scorgie // Opinions Editor

Carlo Javier // Still available, ladies

Here at CapU we have a beautiful school surrounded by the lovely essence of nature. Most of our buildings are named after different kinds of trees, or after exactly what they are used for. Dogwood, however, is not a type of tree, nor is it what the actual building is. It is a simplistic flower, and even in its name it does not belong. Dogwood is a tiny-ass “building” that sits at the top of Cap. While in class, you will enjoy not only the lovely voice of your professor but also the barking of the dog pound that is right beside it, as well as the yelling of the drama kids that frequently take over the building. But fret not, if it all gets to be too much, you can take a break and chill out at the cemetery which neighbours the building, er — portable.

Dogwood, as my friend once put it, is the asshole of the school.

Most university students get pretty busy, what with text books and group assignments clouding up their social calendars — but on Fridays, I suggest you take a step outside and get to a dumpster quickly. Be sure to wear your best lipstick and take the extra time that morning for some hair primping. Once you get past the aroma of rotting chicken fingers and salty garbage, it’ll be worth it. Why? Because Capilano University’s best kept secret is the gorgeous garbage men who do the rounds on our woodsy school grounds. Not only do these garbage men boast rugged good looks and manhandle trash with the grace of a stag, their jobs pay extremely well. If you’ve started the school year looking for love, I suggest you start flashing your goo-goo single eyes at these strapping, garbagetossing studs. They make more money than most people with psychology degrees. Everyone is going to be jealous of your new boyfriend. He has a career, he gets a great benefits package, and he can afford to buy your textbooks.

University is hard, stressful and sometimes boring.

You know what’s easy, relaxing and fun? Drinking!

We’ve all had the late afternoon three-hour philosophy lecture that would be much more entertaining if we started the class with a bit of a buzz.

Even the awkward physics teacher would appreciate students finally laughing at his “What did the thermometer say to the graduated cylinder?” joke.

Unfortunately, CapU doesn’t have a student pub and if students want to alter their brain chemistry on campus, their only current option is smoking weed in one of the trails or carrying around a flask keychain. Nobody likes the Dogwood building, so why not tear it down or renovate it into a hipster, craft beer-selling bar and watch all the music, art and theatre students build bar tabs more expensive than their tuition. One or five drinks between classes would bring the student body together in a way that hasn’t happened since the CSU gave out free chili.

You wouldn’t believe the rough challenges the CapU Internet has faced in the past few semesters.

For a time, it was undoubtedly the number one source of frustration and awkward YouTube-led presentations in classrooms. In fact, it went so bad that for a while, a now-defunct Facebook group was created to aid the call for better connectivity at this institution. Well, it’s a new day, and oh the things you can do. You no longer need to log in and out of the Wi-Fi each time you close your device. You’re now able to show your funny video clip to liven up your presentations, without waiting for it to buffer. You can also continue neglecting your studies and finish your current favourite show on Netflix with no conscience of slowing down the Wi-Fi. But, just like what Rocky said, it ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. To maintain the feeling of nature in that little forest between Maple/ Bosa and the rest of the school, connection will be completely invalid. Also invalid in that area is the security post. What you’ll find there instead is poor reception. So if you get attacked, run, but don’t run towards the Courier office.

sudOKu : COmplete the sudOKu aNd tweet a phOtO OF it tO

the hOt Chart WITH

//

THE

STAFF

REASONS WHY YOU’RE HERE // YOU DIDN’T GET INTO UBC OR SFU

THE CAPILANO COURIER.

VOLUME 48 I SSUE N O . 01

PILE OF CATS // MEOWNTAINS

20

JUGGLING // I DON’T HAVE THE BALLS ACUPUNCTURIST // TECHNICAL BACKSTABBER COFFEE ON CAMPUS // NOT AVAILABLE FRIDAYS TIRED STUDENTS // RESISTING A REST PETER PAN THROWS A PUNCH // BUT IT NEVERLANDS STUDY DRUGS // WHAT WOULD LANCE DO? ALS ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE // WHO'S AL? FIND LOVE // GET TINDER

@CapilaNOCOurier. ChaNCes are yOu will wiN sOmethiNg COOl!!