Confluence
The
February2012
Day of Action:
After Action Report.
-Page 1
Vacation: Lakeysha
O’Neill delivers a tale of misunderstanding and death.
-Page 7
Meet the Executive Council:
Check out your student union!
-Page 3
Get Fit: Rock your
body with the Recreaton Centre.
-Page 6
DAY OF ACTION! Andy Johnson, Editor in Chief On February 1st the College New Caledonia Students’ Union geared up for the Day of Action. The carnival themed day gave students a chance to gather in the atrium and show their support and concern for the rising student debt crisis. Throughout the day Student Union Volunteers manned a bungee run (in order to mimic the struggle against student debt), and would periodically dress up as a Sumo suit in order for students to tackle their debt sentence. Student Union representatives, as well as a few special guest speakers, addressed the CNC student body in order to make the goal clear: “Education should not be a debt sentence.” According to Michael Olsen, students living in British Columbia pay more for post-secondary overall nationally, with the average tuition approaching five-thousand dollars per semester. However, Olsen did have some bight news for CNC students, thanks to the endeavors of the CNCSU last semester, CNC students have had their tuitions frozen instead of the proposed two percent increase which happens nearly annually. Other speakers included the CNCSU’s own Jasmine Bhatti and Lelia Abubakar. According to Abubakar, “International students have been viewed, historically, as cash cows, paying almost double in their tuition fees than local students.” Bhatti raised the interesting point that, “students enrolled in trades programs, such as carpentry, have been shaped to industry, while useful; the focus is too narrow to secure employment.”
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The central atrium rung with the sound of action on the first of February
Environment Canada 5-Day Weather Forecast: For Prince George, BC. 12-18 Feb 2012 Monday, Feb 13. High of -1°C. Light wind. Tuesday, Feb 14. High of -2°C, Low of -12°C. Chance of flurries. 40% POP Wednesday, Feb 15. High of 0°C, Low of -5°C. Mix of sun and cloud. Thursday, Feb 16. High of -1°C, Low of -11°C. Mix of sun and cloud. Friday, Feb 17. High of -0°C, Low of -10°C. Mix of sun and cloud.
2012 Women Students Committee Meeting in room 1-306 (lecture theatre) Monday February 13 26 @ 3:00pm For qestions or to signup drop by your CNCSU Office 1-303
Good Night SubTerrain Andy Johnson, Editor in Chief SubTerrain issue 60 has a supplementary collection titled the Prince George Folio. In theory this is a fantastic idea in order to showcase the diversity of ideology, as well as the culture which influences such a Northern town on the brink of collapse. However, in practice this is clearly not the focus of this folio. The introduction by Rob Budde, Ph.D reads like a backhanded compliment to everyone who submitted anything to this folio. This fact is clearly illustrated by Dr. Budde when he states that this collection is “a small taste of what is going on in” the Prince George writing community, and then in the following sentence admits that “it would be unfair to characterize this selection as representative of Prince George”. These are odd sentiments when the original scope of this folio was intended to showcase new writers who have (as of yet) been published.
“The biggest problem with supplement is that most of the content does not feel genuine.” Adrienne Fitzpatrick, Josh Massy and Al Rempel have all been published prior to this publication. Fitzpatrick received the 2nd annual John Harris Fiction Award for her story “The Earth Remembers All”; Josh Massey released “We Will All Be Trees” in 2009, and Al Rempel’s 2010 release of “Understories”.
These three spots could have been given to other poets and authors such as Kael Walske, Shane Darroch or the Confluence’s own Garett Svensen. These three are just as well versed in poetry and prose and have yet to be published (which was criteria stated in the guidelines). The biggest problem with supplement is that most of the content does not feel genuine. Rather it comes off as a vanity release by an inclusive club, instead of a wellbalanced survey of new writers. This is highlighted by the fact that not one CNC student was included in this publication. Almost every piece misses the mark of reliability, reliability and authenticity. The most obvious is in Adrienne Fitzpatrick’s piece “Chinlac In Dene Means ‘Wood Floats To’”, where Fitzpatrick attempts to speak through an aboriginal voice in broken English. This is a great example of lazy writing due to lack of authenticity of voice. This story may have worked if it had been represented with the dialect of the band in which Fitzpatrick is discussing. Josh Massey is another author who is bad for this. For those who have not experienced “We Will All Be Trees”, stay tuned to Ars Litera. However, in Massey’s piece titled “Frisco Bisquits” he does make a point to avoid making the same mistake as Fitzpatrick. Instead Massey chooses to name drop fellow grad students and contemporaries in an anecdote which leaves the reader feeling like they could have accomplished much more in the ten minutes that it takes to read “Frisco Bisquits”. Primarily this comes from the language choices and syntax Massey chose to use, which makes it (at times) almost inaccessible to the average reader.
The only saving grace of this folio seems to be the inclusion of Alex Faktor’s “Survivalist” and Al Rempel’s “Butter”. Both which really seem to be culturally influenced pieces, “Survivalist” more immersed in popular culture, and “Butter” in the 1950s modern family concept.
“Almost every piece misses the mark of reliability, reliability and authenticity. ” It is too bad that this folio did not showcase other perspectives on Prince George, as was promised. Other authors include Irene Fyvie, Darcie Smith and Justin Foster. Definitely check SubTerrain 60’s supplementary issue out if you are in the mood for contrived work shopping in place of “strong words for a polite nation”.
Andy Johnson, Editor In Chief
Garett Svensen, Production Editor
Contact and Submission Info: The Confluence is looking for submissions of any type from students, alumni and staff. The next deadline is: February 24th 2012 Send letters, opinions, questions, content and concerns to: confluence.editor@gmail.com Send classified ads to: confluence.classifieds@gmail.com
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http://cncsu.cfs-services.ca/en/student-saver
Student Union Executive Committee Lelia Abubakar Chairperson
Brandon Williams Int. Coordinator
Hamsah Hussian Women’s Rep
Acts as the Union’s media spokesperson; Meets regularly with Student Services of the College and advocates on issues facing students. The Chairperson coordinates and chairs meetings of the executive committee and performs other duties as assigned as a director of the Executive Committee.
Is responsible for club development and recruitment; responsible for the maintenance of the student food bank; Helps to coordinates the services of the Union and the Canadian Federation of Students; Performs other duties as assigned as a director of the Executive Committee.
Is an advocate for women on campus and in the community and works to raise awareness of issues facing women at CNC and its regional campuses; Liaises with other campuses and community organizations about women issues; Performs duties as assigned as a director of the Executive Committee.
Is responsible for the development and maintenance of the Union’s financials. Works to ensure careful account of all monies received and disbursed by the Union. Performs other duties as assigned as a director of the Executive Committee.
Is responsible for volunteer recruitment and development; responsible for the maintenance of the Union bulletin boards; the College Relations Coordinator sits on all appeal committees of the College as the student representative as required; Performs other duties as assigned as a director of the Executive Committee.
Develops and maintains relationships with coalition partners; Is responsible for the maintenance and implementation of campaigns; Performs other duties as assigned as a director of the Executive Committee.
Alex Mackey Treasuer
Chris Prince Aboriginal Rep
Acts as an advocate for aboriginal students on campus and in the community and works to raise awareness of issues facing aboriginal students at CNC and its regional campuses; Liaises with other campuses and community organizations about aboriginal students’ issues; Performs duties as assigned as a director of the Executive Committee.
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Sheena Nicholls College Relations
Jasmine Bhatti Ext. Coordinator
Robert Chavarie Exec. Director
Assists the elected executive committee with the running of the Students’ Union. The Executive Director is the manager of Students’ Union office and operations.
Teleah Old SU Assistant
Union.
Helps to maintain day- to-day operations in the office of the Students’ Union and provides administrative support and coordination to the work of the Students’
Horoscopes
Fun & Games
Aries Don’t waste any time wondering what your lucky breaks might be. With Uranus, you can expect the unexpected. Whatever comes your way will be something that will bring hope, happiness, good fortune - and relief! Taurus Jupiter usually foretells good fortune, and this could involve love, money, health, and many good friends - new and old. If part of your good fortune involves money, be careful not to spend it all in one place. Open an investment or savings account. Check out the stock market, but don’t simply assume that money is your only gift from Jupiter.
Cancer No matter how bad things have been, go with the flow and make the most of the transition. What you think is a major disaster may only require a small effort to set straight. Don’t leap to negative conclusions. Enjoy the good times, and keep in mind that the bad times won’t really be that bad. Things work out for the best when all is said and done. Leo Feel inspired, do your best to reach your most cherished goals, and plan a future that will bring good fortune your way. You can do it if you stick by your guns. Avoid temptation, even if you have to go slowly, whatever you’re hoping for is apt to succeed. It might take longer to come to fruition, but remember the old adage: better late than never!
Gemini Whatever challenges come your Virgo Whether or not you’re satisfied with way, you will find a quick and easy solution your present situation, your circumstances so that you can get back to your projects. CNC Confluence are going to get better. This is partly because Routine is pretty much foreign to Gemini, the economy is starting to recover, and also so seek out the unusual, bizarre, and unexbecause your planets are creating better pected! Boredom may go the way of the prospects Whatever you’ve been dinosaurs. Sudoku 12x12 - Puzzle 4 of for 5 -you. Hard hoping for, you’ll be able to create it - and perhaps even more.
Sudoku c
b
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8 1
8
c
6
7
3
3
9
5
b 8
2
5
1
7
c
6
4
9 4 7
a
6
b
8
6 5
4 3
7
1
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1 3 2
6 4
c 6
1
4
Libra Saturn - planet of obstacles and delays - will be passing through your sign, and the frustration you may have to experience could drive you bonkers. This is perhaps a necessary challenge. Sometimes it strengthens your resolve to go through some hard times. Scorpio There are matters that need to be dealt with. Deep down inside, you’re concocting new possibilities, such as starting your own business or selling an innovative concept to an entrepreneur. Changes can be good for you - even if they don’t work out as originally planned. Sagittarius There is also a chance that you might return to school, perhaps to increase your knowledge in some area you’ve wanted to learn more about. This might involve your current job, or it could be that you’ve discovered a fascination with a new field and you’ll want to learn as much as possible about it. Capricorn Go for a position in an in-demand, competitive field rather than a more intellectual or artistic professional venture. Know your strengths and you are smart enough to make the most of them. Even though it’s been rough, you’ll make it happen this year. Keep climbing! Aquarius This is what you are known for most often: Honesty and truth. While these are important, use a softer touch to avoid conflict. Respect others when they’re working, let them focus on their task! Even though you tend to be very independent, go out with friends and work on creative projects. Pisces Your interests and pursuits in the arts will also benefit from your energy - perhaps you can launch a neo-Impressionist movement in painting or a more spiritual approach to music. World religions can forget their differences and work together for a greater good.
2 a
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www.sudoku-puzzles.net
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Black History Month
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CNC FITNESS 2012 FREE Fitness Classes Weight Training / Circuit Training Mondays, 4 pm to 5 pm in the weight room Come and increase your knowledge of weight training and circuit training while decreasing your circumference. Instructor: Ann Holmes Yoga Wednesdays, 4 pm to 5 pm in Room 1-501A (Bouldering room) Stretch, hold, relax, repeat! Yoga mats are supplied. Instructor: Ann Holmes Butts & Guts Tuesdays, 12 noon to 1 pm in the gym Come and work your core — front and back!
Fitness Facilities Weight Room Open Monday to Friday, 8 am to 6 pm. See Jana (1-508) to sign a waiver and get a key card (Refundable $10 cash deposit required). Squash Court Open Monday to Friday, 8 am to 6 pm. See Jana (1-508) to sign a waiver and make a booking. Equipment is available. Bouldering Wall Open Monday to Friday, 8 am to 6 pm. See Jana (1-508) to sign a waiver and make a booking. Great core workout — fun, quiet and effective. Gymnasium Come and shoot hoops, play volleyball, badminton, table tennis, fooseball or a variety of other sports. Open gym time is available every day. Check www.cnc.bc.ca/exploring/services/recreation for available times. For more information or to book CNC fitness facilities, please contact Jana: Rec Office Room 1-508 (by the gym) / 250.561.5803 / petersj8@cnc.bc.ca The Confluence 6
Vacation Lakeysha O’Neill Contributor She tucked her hair behind her ears for the fourth time that minute. It wasn’t that windy out, but she was nervous and needed something to do with her quivering right hand. Her left was holding a mug, giftwrapped and filled with packets of gourmet hot chocolate that she had bought at a café on the way from the airport. Her bag had been lost on the flight to Hong Kong. She didn’t even have a phone, and she felt cold and vulnerable wandering about the dark streets without any of her possessions. It was a good thing that she had memorized the address. It had been a long walk from the airport (really, she ought to know to bring carryon by now) and she didn’t have much cash left from the lucky money she’d received on the Chinese New Year. In fact, she had folded what was left of it into a little heart while waiting for her lunch in the café. She took a deep breath and calmed herself with the thought that she was here now. It was hard to read the address on the door in the dark, but after walking all day, she was satisfied to knock on any door. This thought was not all that calming, and
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Creative didn’t stop her hand from shaking as she knocked. She stepped back and held the mug with both hands. She prepared her best smile as she heard footsteps behind the door.
It had been a full year since she’d seen Wing Ho. They had met nearly six years ago in Singapore, and they had been meeting up on vacation since. She still had a German mark in her pocket from their vacation last year. Ho had been excited about finding it on the street. When he’d given it to her, she hadn’t known what to do with it, but she daren’t throw it away. The door opened and there was Ho. She smiled her smile. Ho jerked back and blinked. “Madison,” he said. Ha had said her name many times, but never like this. His voice was full of shock, and it was clear that this was not a pleasant surprise. “What – what are you doing here?” “You said if I were ever in the city I could stay with you,” Madison said with a determinedly lighthearted tone. “I thought I’d take you up on the offer.” She gestured towards him with the mug of hot chocolate. She had expected him to kiss her, a hug at the least. But he just stood there, staring at her.
After a moment, she said “May I?” and gestured again, this time towards the warm light of the entrance. He seemed to consider this for a moment, and then breathily replied “Yeah; yeah of course.” He stepped aside and she walked in.
Madison meant to say “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” She meant to back away and leave with the thought that the last six years of her life had been wasted... “I’ll be right back,” he said. “Please, make yourself comfortable.” He indicated the living room. Madison handed Ho the mug and obliged. She took off her shoes and moved into the other room. Ho disappeared into the kitchen. She sat down on the couch and stared at the coffee table. It was one of those wooden ones with the glass pane on top. You could put photos in it, but instead there were postcards. They detailed Ho’s years as an avid traveller. There were postcards from Munich, London, Tokyo, Egypt, New York and Cape Town. Most of these Madison recognized, but one of them caught her eye. It was a plain postcard, mostly a tea-stained yellow colour, but with a small Greenpeace logo in the bottom righthand corner. It had a black scorch mark up the front and
a piece that had been burned away along the bottom. Madison looked over her shoulder. Ho was not back yet. She could hear hm whispering to himself in the kitchen. She lifted the glass carefully and slipped the card out with her fingernail. A small slip of paper that had been under the card fell to the floor. She picked it up to replace it, but stopped when she realized what it was. It was a safari ticket from the Singapore zoo. Her breath caught in her throat. He had kept this?
But Madison never had a chance to do any of those things. Ho’s wife was holding a thick knife, and with impressive strength and accuracy, drove it up and under Madison’s ribcage.
Before she was able to form a full thought about how sweet that was, she heard yelling in the kitchen. It wasn’t Ho’s voice – it was a woman. She was yelling in Chinese. Ho’s voice rose to match her volume in panic.
The Time Police
Madison’s Chinese had never been that good. At the level and speed they were screaming, she couldn’t understand a word, but it didn’t take her long to figure out what was happening. She stuffed both pieces of paper into her pocket and stood up, offended and ashamed. A small Asian woman stormed into view. Her presence was made less threatening by her enormous round belly. The woman was still yelling something at Ho as she made her way over to Madison more quickly than she would have expected. Madison raised her hands, palms out in a sign of non-aggression, but Ho’s wife was still barrelling towards her.
Madison sucked in a breath of surprise, and a terrible pain reverberated through her. She couldn’t bring herself to look down, so she looked past the furious woman in front of her and saw Ho, his restraining arm just too slow for his wife. He
ripped his wife away from Madison, the knife shifting and causing a new wave of agony. Ho was screaming, but Madison couldn’t hear him properly. She couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t she breathe? She fell backwards, onto the ground beside the coffee table, and remained there, struggling to breathe, until she died.
Paul Strickland Contributor It’s ridiculous! A Slow Food Movement? Whoever thought of that Must have had too much time on his hands. His sketches are brilliant, visionary. His paintings are beautiful. “He’s probably living on welfare or EI! When is he going to get off his butt and find a real job?!” He fancies he’s a writer, a poet. He’s probably never done a day of hard work in his life. He’s wasting his time on things that aren’t at all useful or practical. Work must be unremitting, unreflecting. Nothing is more dangerous to society Than the over-educated idle! A man turned a business-lunch conversation to philosophy for five minutes. The Time Police came and took him away. Good riddance!
Madison meant to say “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” She meant to back away and leave with the thought that the last six years of her life had been wasted. She meant to go call the boy who had tried to pick her up in the café earlier – she still had his business card in her pocket with Ho’s. The Confluence 8
Arts & Entertainment
Ars Litera -Heaven is Small Andy Johnson Editor in Chief
Back in 2009, Emily Schultz released a “darling deception” of a book titled Heaven Is Small. Framed as an anti-harliquinn novel, Schultz presents the basic premise as such: Gordon Small gets a position with HBC, comes to the conclusion he is dead and decides to send a post-mortum message to his living ex-wife. Great premise, however there are drawbacks in Schultz’s presentation of this novel. Fisrt are the concepts, they stand out and do not seem to at all serve the 200 page conciet of Gordon Small. Concepts such as people retain the possessions they had on them at the time they died, or that HBC exists within a metaphysical realm, while still being able to publish material novels are not introduced in a way that serve Heaven Is Small, and could have easily been omitted. The meta-physical/physical world is a major distraction and requires a little explain as to why. [Spoiler Alert] At the beginning of the novel Gordon is riding a bus to his interview with HBC, about a third of the novel in, Gordon is able to leave HBC and walk around the material world. This would be fine, however Schultz changes things by the end of the book by having people sitting in their vehicles in the HBC parkade in limbo, and ultimately having Gordon run down this parkade into nothingness. While this may seem like a small thing, the question is why would Gordon 9 The Confluence
be able to leave HBC earlier in the book, yet disappear into the void at the end? Another issue present in Heaven Is Small is the pacing. While this is a minor problem, there are extended periods where the pacing slows to a grinding halt. Primarialy when Gordon is at his desk and his inner dialogue begins. At times these portions are extremely insightful,
Final Notice
Garett Svensen Production Editor I spent the previous four days in bed, sick. The schedule’s slipped on the Confluence again, and there was nothing I could do from my sickbed. In my delirious, fevered state I came to a realization though. An epiphany from my overheated mind. Allow me to share it with you: Stay the hell at home when you’re sick. I’ve been as guilty as anyone else of trying to cram in studying and schoolwork while I’m contagious. But when you look at it, taking a day or three off might be the best thing you could do for yourself and your fellow students.
however most of the time the point is made and keeps going. Even for an extended conciet, these parts drag. The characters are where Schultz really succeeds, and this is where the meat of the book really is. Every character (whether major or minor) has extremely unique and quirky personalities. One such character is Dave Daves. He is Gordon’s counterpart for most of the novel. They share a very interesting partnership, as they are wanting to disrupt the status quo of the harliquinn genre. While mostly the focus of this review has been on the negative, overall this book is pretty inventive with its concepts, has likable characters and seems to explore the more conventional troupes of the Canadian literary landscape through a unique framing device. Definitely worth a read.
First, by staying home you’re not sitting in a nice warm computer lab, circulating your freshly incubated pathogens around an enclosed space. Second you can use the time to recover, putting less stress on your body and getting back to 100% sooner rather than spending weeks in a funk of half-recovered illness.
Proud Sponsors of The Confluence
Ars Ludens -Dominon Garett Svensen Production Editor
2-4 players, 30ish minutes, Ages 13 & up, Donald X. Vaccarino.
Published by Rio Grande Games, Dominion is the most popular card game you’ve never heard of. Since its publication in 2008, Dominion has received over a dozen international awards. It has four major expansions: Seaside, Prosperity, Hinterlands, Intrigue, which can be played as a standalone game, and two minor expansions: Alchemy and Cornucopia, which add new game elements.
The basic game comes with 500 cards, a rulebook, and a handy quick-start guide with expanded card rules. The cards are roughly divided into two categories, known as the “supply” and the “kingdom” during set-up according to their type. The supply holds the big piles of treasure cards, all of the victory point cards, curses and the trash. The kingdom contains all of the different action cards you’re playing with this game.
The play starts randomly and proceeds to the left. The rules are dead simple: ABC, or Action, Buy, Clean-up. The player starts in the Action phase, when they can play an Action card from their hand. The Action cards all modify the base rules in some way, like giving you more actions or allowing you to draw more cards. The Buy phase is where you use treasure from your hand, plus bonus treasure from action cards, to buy what you can afford from the supply or kingdom piles. The clean-up phase is where you discard everything you played plus anything left in your hand into your discard pile and draw five cards. The game ends when either the pile of Provinces, the most expensive victory point card, or three other piles are depleted.
It only takes a round or two to learn, but Dominion can take a long time to master. Since you only play with 10 out of the 25 Kingdom cards at any one time, every game can have different elements, requiring different strategies, and often the tone of the game itself changes. During the course of a few 4 player games, there was a distinct shift about midway through the night from a high-value-buy-everythingfree-for-all game to a strategic, methodical, slow-paced game where we didn’t quite know who was in the lead until the very end. All we did was change out a few of the kingdom piles for new ones that didn’t quite mesh with our established strategies,
and it was like we were playing a new game entirely. There are a few minor issues with Dominion, nothing game breaking, but things new players should be aware of. Firstly is that the game comes with 500 freakin’ cards! Dominion’s a fairly simple game at its core, but the sheer number of parts in the box can be intimidating to new players. The second issue I found is that there’s a certain skill bump that can throw off inexperienced players. The game moves very fast most of the time and it can be hard to come up with a new strategy on the fly, especially as the more experienced players are constantly adapting their strategy to the other players and the luck of the draw.
I can’t stop playing dominion though. Every time I put the box away and say goodnight to my friends, I’m still thinking about new uses for cards, possible combos and different strategies. Dominion’s a lot of fun: it’s pretty easy to get into, doesn’t take a lot of time to play and has a surprising amount of depth.
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Referendum notice Voting times Monday, February 27 10 am to 5 pm in the CNC Atrium Tuesday, February 28 10 am to 12:30 pm in the TE Centre (Room 2-801 Students’ Union Lounge) and 1 pm to 7 pm in the CNC Atrium Wednesday, February 29 10 am to 5 pm in the CNC Atrium
Referendum question Are you in favour of paying $2.50 fee per semester to have guaranteed access to: CNC’s gym, weight room, squash courts, exercise classes, basketball, floor hockey, volleyball and other sports?
Who can vote? • To be eligible to vote in this legally binding referendum, you must be an active member in good standing of the College of New Caledonia Students’ Union — all registered CNC students who are taking at least one credit/trades course • Please bring your CNC student identity card or photo ID with you when you vote so we can verify that you are a member
Your voice and your vote!