OCTOBER 18, 2021 The University of Calgary’s independent student newspaper Vol. 61, Issue No. 2 THE GAUNTLET NEWS: VOICES: ARTS: CJSW HOSTS THEIR FUNDINGANNUALDRIVE BLACK ANTI-RACISMASSOCIATIONINCLUSIONPROMOTES CIFF: FILMFAVOURITEEDITORS’PICKS p. 3 p. 9 p. 12-13
Contributors Pamela Freeman // Sebastian Vasquez Gutierrez // Nicholas Cervania // Rodrigo Verney Lopes Castello Branco // Riley Stovka // Nimra Amir // Andrea Silva Santisteban Fort // Furor Arma Ministrat Room 319, MacEwan Students’ Centre 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, AB T2N http://www.thegauntlet.ca1N4
News Assistants: Luis ArmandoEnobongSanchezDiazUkpong
Layout Editor: Ramiro Bustamante layout@thegauntlet.caTorres
WHAT ' HAPPENINGS
The Gauntlet is the official student newspaper of the University of Calgary, published monthly throughout the year by the GauntletPublicationsSociety an autonomous, incorporated body. Membership in the society is open to undergraduate students at the U of C, but all members of the university community are encouraged to contribute. Stories under the Opinions and Voices sections contained herein are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily represent the views of the entire Gauntlet staff. Editorials are chosen by the majority of the editorial board. The Gauntlet is a forum open to all U of C students but may refuse any submission judged to be racist, sexist, homophobic, libelous, or containing attacks of a strictly personal nature. We reserve the right to edit for brevity. Grievances regarding the Gauntlet follow a three-step process which requires written decisions from the Editor, the GPS Board of Directors, and the Ombudsboard. The complete Grievance Policy is online at: thegauntlet.ca. The Gauntlet offices are located on Treaty 7 land. The Gauntlet is printed on recycled paper and uses an ink made from the blood of the editors’ hands. Please read each article in reverse to break the incantation for it to be recycable for the astral plane.
The one thing we can be glad about though is the university’s mandate to push for a safe, COVID-free en vironment. With the implemen tation of COVIDSafe Campus, hopefully our return to a normal campus life is something we can expect soon.
Voices Editor: Aymen voices@thegauntlet.caSherwani Voices Assistants: AnjaliJenzelleChoudharySalazar
News Editor: Sophia Lopez Julieanne news@thegauntlet.caAcosta
Online Editor: Masoud Karimi online@thegauntlet.caFatemi
W e’re now almost two months into the fall se mester and we’ve heard time and again how the university is not conducting the necessary consultations to meet the needs of Whilestudents.most of us are excited to be back, with hopefully some sports and other campus activities to look forward to, it has been hard for many students to settle into this new semester when last min ute changes have constantly been made. From changing class formats past the deadline, to not providing enough clarity to qualify for the UPass, students — internationally and locally alike — have had to face the consequences of the universi ty’s poor communication skills.
The month of October is also known here as midterm season — a time of year where textbooks, pan icking, and sleep deprivation are all we know. With municipal and SU by-elections this month as well, it’s a lot for most students to take in while balancing their school work and Students’jobs. priority should be on their coursework and their safety should be paramount when making changes to the university environ ment. We want to trust the univer sity to keep students’ best interests in mind, however, when tasked with conducting student consulta tions, they’ve failed to capture the authentic student voice. We need the university to take into account the real-life implications of tuition increases, failed UPass activation and class scheduling.
– Sophia Lopez Gauntlet Editorial Board
Cover Photo by Valery Perez Twitter: @GauntletUofC Instagram: @gauntletuofc Online: www.thegauntlet.ca
With all the last minute changes, students call on the university for better communication
The Golden Spatula – Sylvia Lopez For going above and beyond helping the visuals team, we appreciate her. Her beautiful graphics will forever be appreciated and we hope to see more of her work in the future.
Visuals Editors: Megan Koch Valery visuals@thegauntlet.caPerez
MASTHEAD Editor-in-Chief: Cristina eic@thegauntlet.caPaolozzi
EDITORIAL
General Editors: Ava general@thegauntlet.caRachneetZardynezhadRandhawa
While it might seem like an easy fix from behind a computer screen, the lives of students depend on structure and stability. Given the pandemic, we know that structure and stability have been hard to come by for students. So while these first two months have been a whirlwind of emotions, make sure to take time for yourself and prioritize your mental health above all things — especially if the university’s idea of mental health outreach is a lengthy email sent at 10 p.m.
Business Manager: Gurman business@thegauntlet.caSahota
Hume explained how about $250,000 comes in every year from the funding drive, and that the radio station accepts donations via their website, phone call or simply by stopping by their space at the uni versity. The different levels of dona tions are available on their website, which are incentivized with differ ent “We’remerchandise.verythankful for any pos sible donation that we can get,” he said. “[Donations] go right back into the station, its broadcast and essen tially all non-staff related costs.”
The Birthday Wishes club recent ly won the 2020-2021 Community Service Award for the SU’s Club Awards during the COVID-19 pan demic. Despite the restrictions placed throughout the year, Birth day Wishes still worked to give back to the community without physically being there, as they’d done for many years.
Birthday Wishes can be reached via Club Hub and are also looking for new executives for those who are interested in being more involved.
As a partner to this organization, Birthday Wish es throws birthday parties for kids while giving back to their families with gifts of encouragement.
“It exists to highlight underrepre sented, local, Canadian artists, inde pendent businesses and community initiatives,” said Hume. “The funding drive itself is a really good way to highlight those aspects of CJSW.”
Hume encourages anybody — re gardless of experience — to volun teer for CJSW, as there’s always a place for everybody with different opportunities to get involved.
“We’re always happy to see new faces,” said Hume. “You don’t need any kind of experience in terms of broadcasting or radio in any capac ity. The more involved you are, the more opportunities there can be.”
There are many clubs who strive to make a difference on campus and bring students together and the Students’ Union (SU) Clubs Spot light event focuses on clubs promot ing “Community and Belonging” for the month of October.
“Birthday parties online isn’t as exciting because through the com puter, communicating the same excitement and energy is very difficult. During the online envi ronment, we managed to come up with plans such as Valentine’s boxes [and birthday boxes] which we give to parents and their children,” said Yuan. “Hosting birthday parties in-person right now is still a little bit difficult due to personal restric tions, however, there are a lot of things that we’re doing to help oth er different family-based homeless Theshelters.”club can usually be found in Science B, where they host most of their fundraisers in partnership with Crave Cupcakes in order to be able to fully fund and host their birthday party events. Birthday Wishes hosted their meet and greet on Oct. 7, but Yuan noted that their club is always looking for new members to join.
Sophia Lopez News Editor
CJSW radio station hosts annual funding drive
The University of Calgary Student Radio Society (CJSW Radio) is hosting its annual funding drive from Oct. 22–29 to collect donations that go towards the quality of the radio station’s broadcasts.
RADIO GA GA »
The CJSW funding drive theme this year is radio and colour. Hume ex plained how this theme was decided by the staff because of the diversity the station has always had and con tinues to advocate for.
COURTESY MICHAEL GRONDIN COURTESY MICHAEL GRONDIN
“The goal really is to keep this sta tion alive and broadcasting at the quality that we have been for so long,” he said. “CJSW, for a long time, has been a home for so many differ ent, vibrant, colourful and unique interests, communities, genres and underrepresented arts.” Hume expressed his gratitude for volunteers and how his experience at CJSW has allowed him to make life-long “Anybodyconnections.who’sever donated or supported CJSW or gotten involved — thank you for doing that because it’s made my life better. It’s given me a home and it’s given a home for a lot of other folks,” said Hume.
“Brenda’s House is actually part nered with Children’s Birthday Mir acles,” said Yuan. “Through them, we work together to host birthday parties with them.”
Birthday Wishes club fundraises to help families STUDENT SUPPORT » You can get cool merch by participating in the drive. A cool CJSW pin for your jacket. COURTESY BIRTHDAY WISHES CLUB
The CJSW funding drive takes place from Oct. 22–29. To get involved, contact the volunteer coordinator at office@cjsw.com. For information on the funding drive, how to donate and more of what CJSW has to offer, visit their website.
The pandemic has caused the fund ing drive to look a little different compared to previous years. Before, Hume discussed how most of the funding drive process occurred on campus, but now CJSW has struc tured it so volunteers can be pres ent at the radio station or help out “We’reonline. giving everybody the space that they need to feel safe,” he said. “So instead of the usual call on the phone and then [coming to] pick your stuff up — which you still can do — we also have the option of making sure that you can do it on line, and then we can ship your stuff to you so that everybody’s keeping a safe distance and is comfortable.”
Julieanne Acosta News Editor
Editors: Sophia Lopez & Julieanne news@thegauntlet.caAcosta@GauntletUofCNEWS » OCTOBER 18, 2021 | 3
Matt Hume, marketing development director at CJSW, went into detail on the importance that CJSW has when it comes to creating community within Calgary. He explained how the fund ing drive will allow CJSW to continue providing quality content produced by U of C students and people outside of the campus community.
Birthday Wishes prides itself on providing underprivileged chil dren from financially insecure homes with a birthday party. They have been a long time partner with Brenda’s House which aims to help families with nowhere to turn with living accomodations.
The Gauntlet had the opportunity to interview Andy Yuan, a fourth-year accounting student at the Universi ty of Calgary and co-president of the Birthday Wishes club on campus.
SYLVIA LOPEZSocial media can have a large impact in youth’s mental health.
NEW STUDY SPACES » MENTAL HEALTH »
“What are some of the underlying anxieties or fears that you might have,” Fuller asked, “that you’re really relying on your phone for that are interacting and affecting those meaningful and personal mo Fullerments?”recognizes the importance of technology in remaining connect ed to family, friends and the out side world, especially during times of isolation and loneliness during the pandemic. Social isolation has been both a cause and perpetrator of poor mental health over the last year and a half. Our devices, however, are present ing a barrier to connection as we re turn to socializing in person. Reach ing for a phone during any moment of pause can speak to a reliance on it that may affect an individual’s mental health and relationships.
The Alberta Blue Cross’ Feelings Over Phones campaign hopes to bring awareness to the impacts of smartphone use on mental health in young adults. Through a variety of social channels, they are bringing awareness to underlying daily habits surrounding phones that can affect an individual’s overall well-being.
“This is a critical time for the school to expand in support of our strategic growth and bold vision and will add significant capacity for unparalleled learning, innovative research and meaningful community engage ment,” said Dr. Jim Dewald, Dean of Haskayne School of Business.
If you or a loved one are looking for mental health support, the Al berta Blue Cross care navigation page provides assessment tools and publicly available services. At the University of Calgary, the Wellness Centre provides services for students.
The Alberta Blue Cross has seen a lot of engagement with the cam paign and are leaving the webpage — with all of its tips, tricks and tools — open after it ends on Oct. 10. They hope to continue bring ing awareness to these habits, as a behavior cannot change if we are not aware of it.
The new building is named after Ronald P. Mathison “who made a transformational gift to Energize: the Campaign for Eyes High,” ac cording to Haskayne’s website.
“[If the campaign] creates a bit of a different thought [...] a bit of a different intention, that’s what success is to us,” Fuller said.
4 | OCTOBER 18, 2021 news@thegauntlet.ca
The campaign suggests some tips to reduce phone usage when with loved ones, including keeping phones out of sight and setting them to silent. “This is above all nothing to vil lainize technology, we absolutely rely on technology more than we ever have before,” Fuller said. It is important to be aware of how phones remove us from engaging and connecting, and Feelings Over Phones is just one way the Alberta Blue Cross recognizes this.
Pamela Freeman Volunteer
They also hope to continue bring ing awareness to the mental health resources featured. Fuller ex plained that people can use them to find resources no matter where they are on their personal health journey. The services aim to be ac cessible, personal and flexible.
“The campaign is kind of tonguein-cheek,” said Melanie Fuller, the Director of Wellness at the Alber ta Blue Cross. It relies on the very technology it is trying to change our relationship with.
There is decreased relationship satisfaction when phones are present, and these negative effects are noted for the person using the phone and also the people being ignored. The social connection or emotional regulation that phones may seem to provide can take away from those same benefits provided by the people around you.
There are links to headversity, an app to build resilience, and More Good Days, a text based mental health service. Fuller says the cam paign is not about lecturing, “but it’s a fun way to bring awareness” to the broad effects that small habits have.
Mathison donated $20 million for the construction of the building.
Consisting of four-stories and 10,000 square feet, the project is estimated to have a total cost of $90 million dollars of which almost half will come from donations. In 2022, the project received both $2 million and $1 million in donations from the Viewpoint Foundation and Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) Alberta, respectively.
Luis Armando Sanchez Diaz News Assistant Mathison Hall is part of the Haskayne School of Business’ expansion project which aims to meet the growing demand of people seeking to enroll in their programs.
The project is set to open to the Uni versity of Calgary community in late 2022, and will bring back business classes to the Hayskane complex. It will also have new study and learn ing spaces available for the more than 3,600 business students.
latepletedbeHallMathisonsettocom-in2022
“There is a lot of research that’s in dicating that it’s not really creating the same meaningful connections,” Fuller explained. “They are still feeling this distraction with their device, they’re not really interacting in meaningful and personal ways with their peers.”
The campaign features a website for self-assessment and reflection on phone use. An Instagram filter gives users a gentle way to nudge friends to put down their phones.
By using environmentally friend ly architectural features, Mathison Hall will “meet the requirements of the CaGBCs [Canada Green Coun cil Building] Zero Carbon Building Standard and LEED Platinum cer tification for Building Design and Construction,” reads the University of Calgary’ Sustainability website.
“Individuals may not know the im pact that it has on their friendships or on their own personal well-be ing,” Fuller said. Instead of provid ing connection, phones can distract from quality communication and use can lead to more feelings of anx iety and isolation.
To learn more about the project, click visit the University of Calgary’s website.
Alberta Blue Cross campaign raises awareness for youth mental health
THE STUDENTS’ UNION Complete listing of student events, concerts and more: www.su.ucalgary.ca/events OCTOBER 2021 Nominate an (EPIC) teacher Teaching Excellence Awards “This guy is a MATHEMATICAL UNICORN” E=mc2 x2+y2=(a+b)(a-b) (a+b)3x2-2xy+c=a+2ab+b x+y2=(6a+9b)(2a-b) SUTEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARDS Anonymous student, 2019 Nominations accepted until Oct. 22 at 4:30 p.m. www.su.ucalgary.ca/tea suuofc
Although this is the fourth install ment of the Dabbe series, what I personally love about this film is how it balances rationalism and logic with our primal fear of the unknown, particularly through the exploration of witchcraft in the Muslim world. And while I should warn you that this does not fall under your typical haunted hous es and ghosts genre of horror, the introduction of the notion that it is humans you should fear is what makes this film so great.
It’s no secret that horror movies are reflective of the cultural fears that their target audiences harbour — this is one of the many reasons why American horror movies, full of exorcisms and inverted crucifixes, just don’t hit the same for viewers that simply have grown up fearing other things. Being a Muslim my self, one of the most chilling horror movies I’ve come across is Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn, which is a 2013 Turkish horror movie that leaves you waist-deep in the world of blood magic, summoning jinns, and all the religio-cultural taboos that our parents used to scare us with if we misbehaved. The film is shot as found footage that is curated by the protagonists — a jinn exorcist named Faruk and a skeptical uni versity psychiatrist named Ebru, who firmly believes that there is always an empirical explanation for any supposed supernatural occur rence. Together, the two travel to a Turkish village that is afflicted with unexplainable birth defects and now a murder that many believe to be the result of jinn possession.
Aymen Sherwani Voices Editor S omething that never fails to amaze me is the number of people that refuse to watch foreign-language films because they find subtitles inconvenient or — somehow — are perfectly content with cookie-cutter American films that offer a regurgitation of the same perspectives time and time again. There’s nothing wrong with curling up on the couch and watch ing an American cult classic from the ‘80s, or binging ten years’ worth of Marvel movies in one weekend. That being said, where Hollywood is falling short to tell bold and cul turally nuanced stories is where international films are beginning to really shine on the silver screen. For the sake of spooky season being in full swing, below is a range of my favourite spooky foreign-language films that I feel provide an opposi tional gaze to the traditional Holly wood lens and challenge the narra tives that are thrust onto them by American film narratives and the cultural stereotyping that affects people on a day-to-day basis.
Spirited Away (2001)
Editor: Aymen voices@thegauntlet.caSherwani@GauntletUofCVOICES » 6 | OCTOBER 18, 2021
Argued to be director Hayao Mi yazaki’s magnum opus, Spirited Away tells the story of a young girl named Chihiro, who gets trapped in the spirit world after her par ents get turned into pigs — a metaphor for the culture of over consumption that followed close ly behind the Americanization of Japan. Other spirits in the film are metaphors for greed and cannot remember their names anymore as they have lost their connection to the natural world that has been destroyed in favour of industrial ization. Despite how heavily this film subverts American norms, it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003 — Mi yazaki refused to attend the Os cars and accept the award, saying that he “didn’t want to visit a coun try bombing Iraq,” which is quite fitting with the broader themes of this timeless animation.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
Foreign-language films to add to your watch-list
BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS »
SYLVIA LOPEZ
The Studio Ghibli films are available on Netflix.
If I were to encapsulate the es sence of this Persian film in three words, they would be “unconven tional feminist horror” — even then I feel like I wouldn’t be giv ing the Iranian-American director, Ana Lily Amirpour, her due credit. Not only is this film so much more than the conventional comingof-age feminist film in which the white female character breaks free from the shackles of the American patriarchy, it also defies the nor mative borders of your run-of-themill horror flick. Shot in black and white, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is rife with symbolism and is centred around a Persian female vampire who hunts rapists and abusers at night in the streets of Iran — all while wearing a chador. It allows the viewer to subvert their view of what a woman is like in the Muslim world — docile, oppressed and resigned. The film uses the idea that women shouldn’t stay out too late at night in fear that they may encounter predatory men and instead tells the tale of a woman who uses her femininity to lure and incite fury on such men. When I’m watching horror movies, I usu ally don’t end up rooting for the “monster,” but this film pulls into question who the monster really is in the end.
Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn (2013)
“We will continue to be very flex ible with international students.
STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS »
Around the World: Is the relocation grant enough?
MATT JAMESInternational students have been on the receiving end of the university’s lack of preparation.
OCTOBER 18, 2021 | 7thegauntlet.ca/category/voices
Another concern that many stu dents had was the lack of infor mation about the grant itself and the misconceptions about student eligibility. Mohit says that he was “unaware of it at first” and later as
Some students made the decision that they would like to stay [on cam pus] — even if their classes were all online — so we contacted over 300 students, asking ‘Hey, you just landed?’, ‘What are your plans?’ and notifying them that we’ll be ready when they’re ready,” she added.
Considering how international students don’t really have many options outside of either spend ing thousands of dollars on return flights or just making the best out of the situation, many are choos ing the latter. A silver lining on all of this is the amount of work that Residence Services has done in accommodating international stu dents in settling into on-campus housing. When asked for a state ment on what Residence Services is doing to support international students at this time, Lakshmi San garanarayanan, Associate Director of Residence Services, emphasized that flexibility is key.
The Relocation Grant is barely a quarter of the financial costs that completely went down the drain for international students. Contrary to popular belief, not all international students are affluent socialites that have money to burn — that mis conception is made glaringly clear through the University of Calgary’s lackluster effort in righting their own wrongs against them.
“They supported me when I landed in Calgary at 11:00 p.m., when ev erything was closed, they were able to let me into my dorm the next day,” says Mohit. Despite the lengths that Residence Services is going to in order to make the living experiences of in ternational students less miserable, as well as the introduction of the Relocation Grant, the university administration should be taking a greater degree of accountabil ity with regard to international students. Even though Residence Services and the university work separately, they should get into an agreement to provide more com pensation to students who traveled all this way to stay most of their time in their dorms.
Unfortunately, none of their classes were changed on the 20th, so they took the flight to Calgary. Despite living on-campus, Harsimaran’s university experience is still very much an online one as they, like many other international students right now, “spend most of [their] time in the dorms” rather than in Theclass.
Sebastian Vasquez Gutierrez & Aymen Sherwani Volunteer & Voices Editor O n Aug. 23, classes were switched back to online-learn ing without prior warning to in ternational students. Making the commute from halfway across the world, they were expecting in-per son learning this semester. Many international students had already paid for plane tickets and could not cancel or rebook on such short notice. For instance, Harsi maran Singh — a first-year Inter national Relations student from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — is one of many students who are now suffering the financial consequenc es of the mismanagement of cam pus COVID-19 restrictions. Harsi maran, who had all three of their classes switch to online learning during their flight. “The university announced that the majority of the classes will be in-person and all the changes will be done before Aug. 20th,” they said. “I planned to fly out on the 23rd or cancel my flight in the that case all classes went online.”
Relocation Grant was an nounced for students like Harsi maran, who were affected by these last-minute changes. While ap plications closed on Oct. 1, many students still await a response on whether they are eligible for finan cial aid. The bursary itself is $1,000 dollars for international students, which is not nearly enough when compared to the travel and quar antine costs accrued by students travelling from the other side of the world. For instance, Mohit Singh — a third-year Mathematics student from India — stated that the entire cost of his trip was over $4,000 dol lars for flights and hotel expenses since, due to Canadian travel re strictions on India, he was not able to take a direct flight to Calgary.
All of these things that [have] hap pen[ed] were not in their control.
sumed that he was not eligible to apply anymore, citing the fact that he got into one in-person class.
Midterm season is one of times in a student’s semester.
Schedule your entire semester: This seems relatively straightfor ward, but in my opinion, schedul ing is a twofold process. I like to create a weekly reading schedule, with the required materials list ed for all of my classes alongside personal reminders for when they should be completed to ensure that I’m on track to being prepared for the exams. At the same, your monthly semester-long schedule should include all of your aca demic and work deadlines to give you a holistic picture of when you should start preparing for each as signment or exam. However, when it comes to the nitty-gritty details of when to start studying — play it safe and give yourself a one-and-ahalf to two-week window. This is more than enough time to prepare for a midterm. Even if you haven’t been consistent with your readings, giving yourself a two week headstart on studying rather than starting the night before can make or break your grade. With COVID-19 restrictions looming overhead as a constant threat to this academic semester, we should all be preparing for the worst.
Year One: Helpful tips on surviving midterm season
t’s that time of the year again. We’re officially kneedeep in midterm season and — contrary to popular belief — no amount of multi-coloured highlighters and cursive head ings can save you from the in evitable horde of assignments, papers and exams coming your way. And that’s speaking from per sonal experience as a bright-eyed first-year whose pretty notes and digital pens did not save me, un fortunately. I know what it feels to think that you have your life together during the semester only to be slammed, day after day, for a month and a half,barely make it out alive at the end of the semes ter, wondering where your high school study habits failed you. Shifting those gears was one of the most monumental changes in my life, so here are some habits that I developed and still use to this day to survive midterm season.
the most stressful
Sometimes, they’ll throw out a passive-aggressive thank you to the students that did show up be fore commencing their lectures, but if they’re out for blood, they’ll heavily base the exams on those lectures. What people don’t real ize early on is that going to classes isn’t just for taking notes. If your courses are more writing-based, take the time to observe your pro fessors and truly understand their perspectives on the lecture mate rial. This will serve you well during paper-writing and essay-based ex Makeaminations.noteof what professors em phasize and what you observe to be their ideologies. Subsequently, engage with the course through that framework. Basically, regur gitate their thoughts and opinions onto paper when it comes to shortor-long answer questions — while you will often find professors that you fundamentally disagree with, when it comes to a letter grade, rather than trying to debate a pro fessor, it’s better to let them know that you’re picking up what they’re putting down in lectures.
Create a reward-based study sys tem: As a first-year university student who was gifted throughout their whole academic career, there was nothing more mentally debilitating than adapting to my first semester at university. Should you not pos sess the habits needed to keep on top of your grades, burnout will hit you like a truck. In the aforemen tioned monthly schedule, make sure to set aside days every month for yourself to do anything but work or studying — maybe head out to the mountains for a refresh ing summit hike or go brunching with your besties. I entered uni versity priding myself on how lit tle sleep I was getting or how I was so busy that my first meal was at 5 p.m., but that kind of lifestyle led me to get sick every other week, with dark circles beginning to live rent-free on my face. Rewarding yourself with a weekend dedicated to what you love motivates you for work and academics. It also allows you to explore the person that you will transform into in the years to Whatcome. also helps is dividing up your readings by page numbers, and telling yourself something like, “if I read 15 pages today and tomor row, I’ll go out the night after.” It leaves you feeling like you deserve to go out, rather than constantly being anxious about piling dead lines that will ultimately be un avoidable. Slowly working away at your readings and rewarding your self for the little things is key here.
Aymen Sherwani Voices Editor
Actually go to your classes: I might be alone in saying this, but sometimes I genuinely feel bad for my professors when it’s the mid dle of the semester and lecture halls are barely half full anymore.
COURTESY COTTONBRO FROM PEXELS
I
STUDY TIPS »
8 | OCTOBER 18, 2021 voices@thegauntlet.ca
All individuals must be able to grow up with visible positive role models. This need is amplified in groups such as the Black commu nity, where traditional media has historically neglected to highlight admirable individuals who the community could emulate. The members of the BIA serve to high light these role models as well as exemplify that role themselves.
“As you continue to learn about the impacts of anti-Black racism, not just institutionally but also personally, it would really help you as an individual to grow and see the world in a more compre hensive light. It betters not just the life of people around you but also your individual life when you understand and contextualize the world around you,” he adds.
“One thing I’m really proud of is just how much we’ve grown in one year through virtual events alone and the way we’ve been able to im pact so many communities and so many people,” says Bam.
OCTOBER 18, 2021 | 9thegauntlet.ca/category/voices
Being 19 months into a global pan demic may have many of us feel ing accustomed to new routines, but there are concerns about com munity isolation and difficulty in communication that remain. For BIA, which was founded in a pe riod of deep social unrest during the beginning of the pandemic, the challenges were undeniably a barrier to progress. Bam, the or ganization’s secretary, tells us that a lot of what they do is communi “Itty-driven.requires us to connect with all sorts of communities in Calgary. We found that we couldn’t really do that because of the pandemic.”
Bam speaks to the importance of university students individually working towards being actively “Peopleanti-racist.tend to be apprehensive and a bit defensive when learning about anti-Black racism. I think the most important thing is to not walk into anti-racism training with a defensive block,” he says.
The BIA can be reached through different social media or email. COURTESY BIA
However, the resilience and pas sion of the organization allowed them to overcome these challeng es and create a real impact — de spite the odds.
Anjali Choudhary Voices Assistant I n a time of an overwhelm ingly large number of social media warriors and perfor mative activists, taking the first step to implementing actionable activism in everyday life requires a tremendous amount of dedica tion. This is especially true for mi norities and BIPOC folk who must often act at the forefront in advo cating against the struggles they face every day. However, despite the many struc tural and personal challenges, true advocacy leads to unfathom able change. All you need to do is be willing to show up. Accord ing to Keren Harrison from the Black Inclusion Association (BIA), their organization did exactly this through their “ability to get to gether and say ‘This is what we want to do,’ and actually do it.”
Along with the city, the choice to be actively anti-racist systemically and as a personal choice and in their structures and daily lives falls on the University of Calgary and its students. The board of directors of the BIA, all having experienced the university firsthand, unanimously agree on the need for more meaningful and substantial anti-racism work.
INCLUSION CONVERSATION »
The normalization and wide spread dissemination of this pro posed anti-racism training would provide all students and faculty with a baseline similar skillset, normalize and encourage discus sions and critique of racist insti tutions and create an overall safer environment for Black students and other students of colour.
Organizations, cities and indi viduals alike must always strive to further progress and improve their engagement with anti-rac ism strategies. However, there is a stark difference between being complacent due to the significant amount of work that has already been done, and refusing to create meaningful change in the first place.
One of the BIA’s proudest accom plishments is the creation of its Post-Secondary Application Bursary.
The BIA is an inclusive and inter sectional organization focused on furthering anti-racism work and promoting and amplifying Black voices, struggles and successes. In an interview with the Gaunt let, founders of the BIA — Bohlale Bam, Keren Harrison, Ganiyat Sadiq and Ornela Thieba — high lighted their successes, goals and views on anti-Black racism within WithCalgary.their current mandate of pushing for anything and every thing that uplifts Black people Calgary, the BIA was built on the life experiences of the founding members and their desires for an inclusive future for themselves and other youth throughout the city. As part of this inclusive fu ture, BIA president Sadiq says the organization “promote[s] the Black excellence that [they] have and show that being Black is not always about the struggles.”
As a diverse and completely in clusive organization, the BIA is ac tively recruiting new volunteers, a board of directors position, and special committee members. They believe in continually diversify ing themselves in creating a base of different races, genders, sexual orientations, cultures, and more. They believe its strength lies in Reachunity. out to the Black Inclusion Association through their social media on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. They are also available to speak over email at gmail.com.blackinclusionassociation@
According to Thieba, Head of Committees, the BIA “recog nized that there was a lack of work that was done here in Alberta, in Whilegeneral.”there are many structur al and institutional reasons for a lack of progress on addressing racism, Thieba narrows it down to one specific issue within Alberta. They noted that since immigrant and BIPOC populations are still relatively recent arrivals in Alber ta, little research has been done on demographics and race-based data is Thiebalacking.saidthat there aren’t many organizations that know each oth er or who collaborate between each other. The BIA acts as the “glue,” according to Thieba, that brings those organizations to gether.
Emphasizing the need for more widespread anti-racism training, Sadiq claims that “anti-racism work should be a life skill.”
The Black Inclusion Association’s continued hope for a more inclusive Calgary community
University of Calgary master of arts alumnus Mike Thorn is back with his newest collection of short stories, Peel Back and See. This fiction collection follows Thorn’s de but novel, Shelter for the Damned, and is his second collection of short stories after his debut, Darkest Hours.
“But, if I can also offer some much-needed pessimism or skepti cism in the midst of these dark times — that kind of clings to people’s un conscious or subconscious — that’s great too,” he adds, jokingly.
Thorn is currently completing a PhD in creative writing at the University of New Brunswick. However, reflect ing back on his educational career, he remembers his U of C years fondly and shares some advice for aspiring “Persistencewriters.
is key. Discouragement and rejection are just built into the structures and the fabric of everyday life. It’s important to find a way to fold those rejections into your creativity. I also think it’s just really valuable that, as writers, we are kind and generous towards each other, and that we do our best to support each other,” he Peelsays.
Back and See will be available on Oct. 29 through JournalStone. For more information on Thorn and his previous works, you can visit his web site or follow him on Instagram and Twitter @mikethornwrites.
“I experienced several heartbreaks in that period of time, and I had some traumatic experiences that shook the foundations of my worldview around trust, relationships and human inter action. There were stretches between 2018 and 2021 where I felt physically, emotionally and spiritually broken, and I found fiction, in particular, was a very cathartic and productive medi um through which to navigate those feelings,” says Thorn. Considering the experiences and emotions that inspired this collection of shorts, it is only appropriate that Thorn navigates them through the horror genre. “I’ve just always felt at home in the horror genre,” says Thorn. “By virtue of its inherent excesses, it allows writ ers to, very overtly and combatively, address uncomfortable subject mat ter in a way that is perhaps less intui tive to other genres.” Discomfort was a central experience with Peel Back and See. Though Thorn wanted to be respectful of the traditions of the horror genre, he also used this experience to depart from its “Whenboundaries.youhave the wide open world of a fictional medium, you can allow yourself to explore, to be a little bit reckless and go to some really uncomfortable places. Peel Back and See probably goes fur ther, in terms of my discomfort as a writer, than either of my previous books. We’ll see how readers feel about that, but it was liberating for me,” he says. Despite coming back from his debut novel, short fiction has always had a certain appeal for Thorn. “I enjoy the element of concision — the practice of fine-tuning one focused idea. My short stories are usually centered around one concept, one image, one feeling,” Thorn ex Theplained.stories in the collection are to be approached as stand-alone piec es, however they can be themati cally interconnected. Like any creator, Thorn’s primary hope is that his readers are able to connect with his stories, that they are convinced of the realism of the worlds he has created, and that he is able to provide an escape through his stories.
U of C alumus Mike Thorn releases new collection SPOOKY READS » COURTESY MIKE THORN
ARTS & CULTURE » 10 | OCTOBER 18, 2021 Editors: Ava Zardynezhad & Rachneet general@thegauntlet.caRandhawa@GauntletUofC
Thorn wrote the collection between 2018 and 2021, and he considers it his darkest and most personal book to date.
Ava GeneralZardynezhadEditor
Nightcrawler : An unemployed petty-thief living in L.A., Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllen hall) finds work as an independent videographer, filming footage of accidents and violent crimes to sell, freelance, to local news stations. However, Lou’s desire for success grows increasingly rampant and his methods become increasingly un Whileethical. not an outright homicidal psychopath like Bateman in Amer ican Psycho, we’re shown that Lou’s mental state is far from stable. Sim ilar to Bateman however, Lou is driven to perform immoral acts to achieve the idea of success perpetu ated by the American Dream.
Lou’s mental state is the result of the perpetuating fallacy of the Amer ican Dream. His obsession with it and his success is an all-consuming sickness. This drives his actions and choices, culminating in his sabotage and betrayal of people close to him in favour of his own fortune.
Worth Your Time?:
With a fragile ego stemming from his consumer-defined identity, Bateman finds himself surrounded by those who are also defined by the products they consume. On the surface, he’s identical to them all, indicated by the number of times his identity is mistaken throughout the film.
MOVIE MARATHON »
American Psycho presents the idea that our belongings can de fine us and Nightcrawler shows us the radicalization of a flawed idea of success within a material soci ety. Fight Club, however, demon strates the theory that the Ameri can Dream is a lie — one that has brainwashed us into being pos sessed by our possessions. Three movies that illustrate the modern failure of the American Dream
COURTESY IMDB Christian Bale (left) in American Psycho Scene from Fight Club
Nicholas Cervania Volunteer T
FightClub :
The protagonist (Edward Norton) of Fight Club begins the movie as the picture of success within the American Dream. With a well-pay ing job, he’s able to pay for a ful ly-furnished, high-end apartment to store all of his possessions. As far as consumerism is concerned, he has it However,all.this materialistic suc cess means nothing. He still feels empty and still suffers from in Returningsomnia. from a business trip, he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and comes home to find his apartment and all his belongings destroyed in an explosion. Deject ed, he calls and meets Tyler at a bar where Tyler tells him they are the byproduct of a lifestyle obses sion led by consumerism. Togeth er, they form the Fight Club and eventually Tyler forms an organi zation known as Project Mayhem.
In a homogenizing culture set forth by the prospects of the American Dream, what sets Bateman apart is his debilitating psychosis — some thing that’s partially representative of his unhappiness despite his ma terialistic success. Despite achiev ing the success promised by the American Dream, Bateman is un able to obtain the fulfillment prom ised with it.
Project Mayhem is an anti-materi alist, anti-corporate organization. Through increasingly anarchic methods, they aim to free society from the shackles of materialism brought on by the ideals of the American Dream.
AmericanPsycho :
OCTOBER 18, 2021 | 11thegauntlet.ca/category/arts
he American Dream de scribes one the founding philosophies of the coun try. In the land of equal opportunity, everyone has the chance to become rich and successful — and therefore happy — but only if they work hard enough. The only limit to your for tune and fulfillment is your own goals and aspirations. But, with the American Dream be ing inherently materialistic, con sumerism becomes a clear byprod uct of this ideology. The American Dream speaks not to family, friend ship or camaraderie, but purely to dollars and cents in the capital-con centrated economy.
Lou’s constant pursuit of what he passes off as an extraordinary work ethic borders on insanity and the methods he employs for his suc cess are far from ethical. With the exception of the empty, soulless in terior he tries to hide, he perfectly embodies the desperate passion for success that self-help books and motivational propaganda pass off as something to strive for.
How does the American Dream hold up today? Does this ideology have a darker side? Is the American Dream broken? Was it even true to begin with? That’s the idea I want to explore in this article with the fol lowing films.
American Psycho is a commentary on the superficial upper-class men of 1980s Wall Street, obsessed with a particular picture of success. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) works as a successful investment banking executive. Every night, however, he falls victim to his psy chotic fantasies, committing more violent murders than the night be Despitefore. his psychosis and mental illness, Bateman is a man charac terized by his material possessions. His apartment, his business cards, his healthcare products and his ability to obtain a reservation at an exclusive restaurant are all defining points of his personality.
Nightcrawler is a story surround ing the dark side of the American Dream and the lengths someone in doctrinated by its ideology would go to in order to achieve it.
COURTESY IMDB
Scene from Sanremo
Rachneet’s Pick: Titane After reviewing a total of 28 films both in person and virtually at this year’s CIFF, it was nearly impossi ble to choose my absolute favour ite selection. It was incredibly difficult to choose just one after conquering oh-so-many. I decided to opt for a selection that was unique to me and provided the most artistic and cultural value. As a reminder, it’s not always so much about the crit ics choices, awards, accolades and prizes. For some of these films, I know they’ll be quickly picked up by Netflix and Amazon Prime af ter their premiere regardless of how they were ranked and rated by the audience. My top pick was Titane, winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2021 and also the 2021 Telus Audience Choice Award for the Late Shift category. This makes sense con sidering this was one of the cou ple of shows that were sold out at CIFF
12 | OCTOBER 18, 2021 general@thegauntlet.ca FILM FESTIVAL »
The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) has come and gone for yet another year bringing with it perhaps its most diverse show case of films featured to date. De spite ongoing provincial restric tions they opted to put on both dazzling virtual and in person dis plays and special events at three venues including Eau Claire Cine plex, the Globe Cinema and lastly a brand new location at Contem porary Calgary. It’s obvious now that we’ve become certified and official movie buffs after critiqu ing from a collection of 175 multigenre and short films from Canada and around the world — alongside attending the innovative Indus try Week and fabulous red carpet events galore. So be on the lookout for these upcoming hot releases and grab a bag of buttery popcorn and a stash full of candy for a fun movie night in or out.
The film is also composed of a lot of silence. But what’s wonderful about it is that you get to experi ence existence through the noise that exists within the silence. Cinematographically, the film is super well-composed. The loca tions are beautiful and nostalgi cally-charged. The film just sucks you in and makes you want to stay a while. Sanremo is the kind of film that lives with you for weeks, even months, after watching it. Overall, this film was an over whelming emotional experience and is one that I will go back to time after time.
Ava RachneetZardynezhad,Randhawa & Ramiro Bustamante Torres General Editors & Layout Editor
Calgary International Film Festival: Editors’ Pick
Ava’s Pick: Sanremo Now, I only got to watch a few films at CIFF, and I loved all of them. They included major award winners, Canadian features and international hits. But, although I thoroughly enjoyed and was equal ly intrigued by all of them, none quite touched my heart like San remo. This quaint, little Slovanian film was a cathartic experience. It wasn’t necessarily a plot- or char acter-driven story. Rather, it was a collection of feelings. Written and directed by Miroslav Mandic, the film follows Bruno, an elderly man with dementia who lives in a longterm care facility, as he develops a relationship with another resi dent, Duša. The film is told in frag ments that seem somewhat unre lated and at times achronological. In this film, Mandic experiments with the concepts of memory and time through various themes and visuals. Through visual manipu lations, he tries to parallel our ex perience to Bruno’s — our vision is foggy when he’s confused, our view is dimmed when he’s lost. But nothing beats Sandi Pavlin’s portrayal of Bruno. He takes us through the span of emotions that his character experiences from joy to loneliness to panic to con fusion to excitement. Even if you don’t understand what’s going on at times or what you’re supposed to be taking away from the actions or dialogue of a scene, one thing is for certain — you’re experienc ing a whole spectrum of emotions that you can’t describe, only feel.
COURTESY CIFF COURTESY CIFF Titane had some showings after the festival had ended.
OCTOBER 18, 2021 | 13thegauntlet.ca/category/arts
The overall plot focuses on Alexia, a young girl that gets into a car ac cident with her family who, upon a post-surgical procedure, has a ti tanium plate fitted in her head and begins to develop a strong admira tion for all things automobile as a child. Flash forward to her being older in which she’s now a hyper sexed showgirl at a motor show, still displaying her head scar from that traumatic car crash many moons ago. And now comes the convoluted part. It’s almost dif ficult to explain but she not only has a selective affinity for cars or vehicles, but is sexually attracted and active with them and in fact becomes knocked up by one with its hybrid child. It’s like a reverse Transformers — like if there was ever a prequel to the series of the origins of Optimus Prime and its back story of becoming a robotic life form that has both biological evolution and technological en gineering. Anyways I’m getting sidetracked — pun intended — but you get the gist. I have to admit I’ve never been a fan of horror but what I appreciate about the film is that it’s a thriller with a sprinkle of scary and definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat. I don’t think I’ve squirmed so much while at the movies. Not to give too much away for spoilers but I think it’s due to the plot transitioning from being all about violent serial killings to a dark comedy about a dysfunction al family and their everyday blun ders. This was totally unexpected and an intentional choice by the director who explores themes of sexuality, gender identity and par enthood in a horrific way — just in time for the spooky season of Hal loween.
Ramiro’s Pick: Drive My Car
I was lucky to watch seven films and one shorts package from this year’s selection, but the film that caught my attention the most was Drive My Car. It was one of the films only offered in-person at the Eau Claire Market Cineplex. The film directed and co-screen writ ten by Ryusuke Hamaguchi was a wonderful work that brought two characters together as they learn to process their grief and guilt. Primarily in Japanese, with other languages spoken like Kore an, Cantonese and Mandarin, the theme of communication is es sential to the plot as it surrounds actors working on the play Uncle Vanya by Chekov and a short story by one of the characters. The continuous reflection of the characters between themselves and the characters in the play re ally deepens the interactions on screen. Yusuku Kafuku is the main character of the film and he has been praised for his rendition of uncle Vanya due to his experience and ability to give himself into the character. After heartbreaking betrayal and tragedy hit his life, he steps down from his role and decides to join a festival where he helps cast and direct Uncle Vanya. This decision brings back the past he thought he had dealt with, especially when he meets a young chauffeur that is assigned to him for the duration of the fes tival. A whirlwind of accusations, confessions and an arrest ensues for the rest of the film. The use of Uncle Vanya to represent and re flect the characters’ personalities and issues was what really made the film amazing for me. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who gets the chance to see it. It has won a few awards and has screened in Cannes 2021 and To ronto International Film Festival This2021.years’ CIFF was a great in-per son comeback and we hope to see more of it in the coming years. While there were more films that we would’ve liked to include, we feel these three really captured the expeience for us.
COURTESY CIFFCharacter Yusuku Kafuku (left) in Drive My Car
Rodrigo Verney Volunteer University of Calgary volleyball fans can set their eyes on the beginning of November as sports are finally reopening again. The 2021-2022 season is full of excitement for the men’s and women’s varsity volleyball Theteams.men’s varsity team already be gan the season without a break as their first matchup was with the Mount Royal University Cougars on back-to-back home games on Nov. 5 and 6. The crosstown battle is a much awaited dispute between the two teams. From the last time these two met, Calgary has won six times.
Even though the season will be ex clusively divisional play, the situa tion is set to change once the post season arrives. The first round of the playoffs, set to begin in March, will feature three four-team pools that will fight for the six available spots in the second round. They will then be divided into two pools with the top two teams guaranteeing a spot on the Canada West Final Four. The team looks stronger than ever even if a few athletes are entering their fourth year. The core is still the same and the team has been train ing following the COVID guidelines for well over a year now. They have focused mostly on developing their bodies and their resistance during their time away from the court. This is why they seem to be at the top of their game. It goes without say ing that with so much time without proper playing time, they are eager for a win in November.
Women’s volleyball team excited for a new season.
“The beautiful thing about sports is that regardless of past achievements there are a lot of different things and you will always do everything you can to walk away with the W [victory]. There is excitement, but that is not exclusive to our team,” she said.
SPORTS & LIFESTYLE » Editors: Ava Zardynezhad & Rachneet general@thegauntlet.caRandhawa@GauntletUofC 14 | OCTOBER 18, 2021
The longest winning streak was three matches in a row. The Dinos have an overall record with 14 wins and 10 losses facing the Cougars. There are some changes to better fit the COVID return-to-play guidelines. The main difference of this new for mat is that the Dinos will play with in the province for the entirety of the regular season. Hence, there will be many repetitive matches. The socalled “18-match” modification will have the Dinos going up against the Cougars, the University of Alberta and MacEwan University. Each of these teams will face the Dinos six Thetimes.University of Calgary will host men’s volleyball games for the ma jority of the first half of the season as they will be having Mount Royal University and MacEwan Universi ty coming to visit. The first half will end at the University of Alberta on Nov. 26 and at Mount Royal Uni versity on Dec. 3. The new year will see the return of the Dinos as they match up against the University of Alberta Golden Bears. Not long after, they will be having the University of Alberta Pandas on Jan. 21.
SPIKE & TOSS »
The women’s volleyball team will also have to endure more battles on the return to court games. The atmo sphere for their return is electric as the team had a great run last season. As a result, the excitement for their return will be present throughout campus. Even though they won’t be starting their new season on their turf, every Dinos fan will be cheering them on wherever they’ll be. Their first matchup will be the Uni versity of Regina Cougars on Friday Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. The Dinos have had a great run against them in the past, winning 51 games of their total 64 since 1988. The excitement is not unique to the fans, as the players are also ecstatic about putting their jer seys back on and defending Rex, may that be at the University of Calgary or beyond it. However, the newly appointed head coach for the women’s volleyball team, Christine Biggs, is looking to bring an impact to the court and won’t let the team dwell on the past too much.
COURTESY DAVID MOLL
Dinos volleyball returns for a new season
A great start to a new season. Men’s volleyball team is hyped.
Having the first game on the road can be quite a mood kill, but Biggs is confident that the players’ hunger for a win is much bigger than the venue they will be playing at. “One of the things that we will try to do this season is make that nine-bynine [the court] our own wherever we are. It doesn’t have to have a Dinos logo in the center of it for us to feel like it is ours to defend,” she said.
Calgary saw their 2020 run being cut short by the Brandon Univer sity Bobcats at the quarter finals of the Canada West playoff. Finishing their last season participation with a losing record, the Dinos are ready to turn a new page and show Canada that they are still a force to be reck oned with.
COURTESY DAVID MOLL COURTESY DAVID MOLL
A team, however, is only as strong as its weakest piece. To honour the hard work we saw last season, it will be necessary to have the same team chemistry and leadership present on the last season of play. Biggs was able to see this passion and drive on the training the Dinos were able to have under the new Practice Guide lines that Alberta passed. Biggs went on to say that each piece has “been a leader at different points during this process of getting back to Theplay.”women’s volley team will re turn Nov. 5 after playing this past weekend. They will be playing the Mount Royal Cougars after the 40 day hiatus, a much awaited match up. Biggs assured us that the focus during October will be to work on the feedback they will have after this weekend and on the lowlights of their first couple of matchups. We are all excited and hoping for a safe and fruitful return to action from both teams. The University of Calgary has a great winning re cord in many varsity sports and it is an immense pleasure to be able to contribute to the history of the champions that this university so proudly upholds. From the fans and campus members, we would like to wish them all good luck.
OCTOBER 18, 2021 | 15thegauntlet.ca/category/sports
For now, the Dinos will look past their pre-season tune-up towards the regular season, which for them starts Oct. 15 as they host the Uni versity of Manitoba Bisons at the Father David Bauer Arena.
the second, when the Cougars cap italized on a James Shearer tripping call, to make it 3–2. Another daz zling backdoor pass found a Cougars blade and then the back of the Dinos net to tie the game at the four-min ute mark of the second period.
What looked like the beginning of a rout slowly began to change as the Cougars found some life towards the end of the first period thanks to a Mount Royal goal that cut the defi cit to two. The Dinos penalty killing woes veered its ugly head again in
At the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex on the Tsuut’ina Nation, the Dinos got off to an electric start just eight min utes into the first period. Dino’s for ward Josh Rieger, who had snapped his stick on a failed one-timer at tempt and had dashed back to the bench to retrieve a new one, flew into the zone and caught another one-timer, blasting it past the Cou gars netminder to make it 1–0 Dinos.
The Dinos would add two more goals by the way of forward Tim Vanstone and defenceman Brendan DeJong, three minutes apart, to quickly make it 3–0 before the sev en-minute mark of the first period.
When asked what accounted for the difference in play from the night before, coach Howell had a simple “Iresponse.thinktonight especially we fol lowed the game plan a little better, we didn’t chase the game we stayed on top of [it]. We stayed on top of the puck for the most part and we didn’t hunt for things, we just let it come [to us]. Tonight we played a little harder with a bit more bite and Thisjump.”pre-season series was a tale of two teams. One that took undisci plined penalties and pushed its ail ing penalty kill to its most extreme breaking point. And another with such explosive displays of offensive virtuoso, that the opposition could barely look at the scoreboard before they noticed they were down a hand ful of goals. But both versions of this Dino’s squad have one thing in com mon — they’re inexperienced.
If coach Howell challenged his team to step up and take the action to the Cougars in the second game of the home and away, they took his chal lenge to heart.
Of course, it took a fluke play, a wide drive to the net by Jake Gricius who flicked it towards the net and off the Mount Royal goaltenders back to break the 3–3 stalemate and ice the game for the Dino’s, with five min utes left to play.
MY LUCK »
The Dino’s powerplay didn’t fare any better. In their two attempts on the powerplay late in the game, the Dinos failed to capitalize on their chances and couldn’t close the dis tance between them and the Cou gars. The final score ended 4–1, with the Dino’s only goal coming via Jake Gricius, who was on the receiving end of a picture-perfect back-door pass from Jaeger White, at the 11:30 mark of the second period.
PUCK
Riley VolunteerStovka Regardless if it’s the preseason or regular season, the rivalry between the Dinos and the Mount Royal Cou gars men’s hockey teams, is alive and well. The first of two games played be tween the clubs, hosted by the Dinos at Winsport Canada Olympic Park, began slowly with the action and tension equally building to a burst. It started with a boom. At the six-minute mark of the first period, a Cougars forward crushed a Dino defender along the boards near the home team’s bench. In a flurry, Di nos D-men, Ryan Gagnon and Josh Rieger jumped to their downed teammates’ defence, inciting a scuf fle that resulted in both teams tak ing offsetting minor penalties for roughing, with the Dinos taking an extra for jumping the Mount Royal Theattacker.Cougars would use their first of many opportunities on special teams to score the first goal of the game. In fact, special teams were an Achilles heel for the Dinos. Three minutes into the second period, the Dinos would take another penalty that ended with the puck in the back of their net. Six minutes would pass before the Dinos would take another minor, this time for elbowing. The Dinos would successfully kill this penalty but in the ensuing seconds following its end, with tired penalty killers still on the ice, the Cougars snuck a skater between the Dinos defenders and walked in, undefend ed to score Mount Royal’s third goal of the game.
The third and final frame of the weekend saw little action. The Di nos and Cougars traded shots, but none of them were challenged to score. It was an uncharacteristically quiet period of hockey for two teams that had previously showcased their long-standing bad blood.
COURTESY MRU ATHLETICSDinos vs. Cougars starts an exciting new season.
“We have so many new guys, they’re learning about our team and the league [...] just getting to know what Canada West hockey is all about — it’s heavy, it’s hard, it’s fast,” said Howell. “We’re not the biggest team but I think if we can skate and be on top of teams, we’ll create [an] of fence that way.” Sounds like a winning formula to me, coach.
“Mount Royal did a really good job. They’ve recruited well, they play fast and they play well. We weren’t great [...] I thought we kind of backed off,” reminisced Dinos Head Coach Mark Howell after the game. Howell, who’s been behind the Dinos bench since 2009 and has a career record of 181-127, knows exactly what it takes to win in USports hockey and looked to kickstart his team into a higher gear for game two.
Dinos split series with Mount Royal as the season looms
For instance, during the 2021 Sum mer Olympic Games in London, they asked Team Canada athletes, including medalists, support teams and coaches before the games, to come up with the top three words they used to define themselves as they were walking into the opening ceremony. They put it to a vote and collected the results to uncover the top five popular buzzwords to de fine the team: “Relentless,” “Fear less,” “World Class,” “Proud” and These“Unbreakable.”incredible words were spoken each time a team was announced giving swagger to the chosen del egates. So ask yourself — what are the five words that define you?
During a second exercise called “What You See Is What You Get,” Tewksbury gave a few volunteers a paper clip attached to a string and asked them to visualize. He asked the volunteers to shut their eyes and use their imagination to foresee the paper moving in different directions. This is visualization.
SPORTS » COURTESY FRANS VAN HEERDEN FROM PEXELSMix brain and brawn for ultimate success.
“When you do that, you are connect ing to the little neurons and the elec trical signals that go down into your muscles that help you to visualize ex actly what you want,” said Tewksbury.
The first, as a Mind-Body Connec tion, the second as the WAIT tool and lastly three key and powerful steps that you must adapt to as a “Wemantra.have somewhere in the area of 60,000 thoughts a day. And of those thoughts 80 per cent of them are about ourselves. So we’re super self-absorbed,” said Muir. “Twothirds of those thoughts are often negative in nature. So that means, in theory, we could be having some where in the area of 32,000 nega tive thoughts about ourselves a day.”
O lympic gold medallist and social justice activist Mark Tewksbury and his business part ner, Debbie Muir — a former Olym pic and Canadian national synchro nized swimming team coach — gave tips and tricks on learning how to build a growth mindset for resil ience in the face of adversity. The webinar Creating a Winning Mind set in Uncertain Times was broad cast on Sept. 24 as part of the Alum ni All Access event. The Gauntlet attended the virtual event to learn more about the how and why of improving oneself utiliz ing a results-oriented approach.
This is what Muir calls the thought “Whatcycle. you’re thinking, whether it’s positive or negative, they become your deep-seated beliefs about what you can and can’t do. And then that access is only so much of your potential. And based on the poten tial that you’ve accessed, you go out and you do some actions and those actions produce a result. And then that result usually reinforces what the initial thought and belief were,” Muir continued. “So each step we took, actually started to shift what was that sub conscious thought holding me back as a negative, suddenly either be came neutral, eradicated or became a positive because we were working on it.” said Tewksbury.
“Power words can take you out of what might be a limiting thought cy cle, and then allows us to start to do other things so that you can create positive thought cycles,” Muir said.
Secondly, write yourself a script. This was a tactic Tewksbury learned from a sports psychologist which al lows you to hone in on your focus and a personal secret weapon of his. After determining your pow er words you take these favourite words and write out how you are go ing to be performing on the day of a big event. The trick is to read it over and over again and eventually start to visualize it. The script eventually be comes a mantra of sorts.
Be sure to check out Tewksbury’s and Muir’s website, Great Straits Academy for further programming and digital courses including semi nars and training.
WEBINAR
16 | OCTOBER 18, 2021 general@thegauntlet.ca
Creating a winning mindset in uncertain times
Rachneet Randhawa General Editor
“What we’re challenging you to do is look for ways to identify what your thoughts are, then fit them into that cycle and make sure that the thinking that you have is accessing your full potential,” Muir said.
The last part of the webinar focused on tying everything together using three key tools to bring your thinking to the surface and practice creating a winning mindset for yourself in any and every circumstance: Power Words, Scripting and Visualization.
The webinar closed off with a live Q & A from the audience, including more helpful tips on dealing with difficult situations, extenuating circumstanc es, reinforcing good habits, adopt ing a proactive and results-oriented mindset and failing forward.
Asking yourself what exact purpose do your thoughts serve, and are they helping to empower you are also helpful strategies.
Tewksbury mentioned the powerful effect of choosing five simple words, which helped create a winning cul ture not only for the many years he’s been a professional athlete but also for his time during the Olympics.
This is what’s known as the WAIT tool — or “What Am I Thinking” tool — in which you are put in a new position of being proactive and changing negative thoughts into something empowering.
“So first of all, use the weight tool,” said Muir. “It’s incredibly powerful. In the space of five seconds, you’re going to bring unconscious thinking to the surface and then be able to do what you want.”
For starters, their entire process can be categorized into three key parts.
Reusable shopping bag: Those handy plastic grocery bags are a usual culprit, and with that, our pesky habit of hoarding and tossing them. But let’s face it, those oversized reusable plastic bags you can purchase for cents on the dol lar at the grocers are tacky and over time become flimsy. Instead, we recommend reusable bags that fold into a cute little pouch that you can place in your purse at all times. Our alternative is the Chico Bag Original Tote, a signature allin-one reusable bag that is made from 10 per cent recycled polyes ter — that’s right, recycled soda bottles — with a convenient slip Unlikepouch.
Reusable cotton rounds: Cotton rounds are a staple of any decent skincare routine — they are a dream in removing makeup, nail polish or simply exfoliating your skin before cleansing. But your daily use can pile on quickly. Even using a couple of days adds up to 730 tossed out per year. Yikes! Did you know it takes nearly 20,000 litres of water just to produce a single kilogram of cotton according to the Water Foot print Network? An eco-friendly al ternative is to use reusable versions which can be washed, dried and used again for a longer period. Our alter native is the Mini face rounds from Kitsch made from 100 per cent nat ural fibres, chemical-free and fully biodegradable and comes in a conve nient waterproof travel pouch, which will encourage you to go minimalist. They are made from organic bamboo and are ideal for both your skin and the environment and replace those wasteful disposable cotton rounds. For those of you obsessed with sani tation — no frets. Simply toss a hand ful of these into a laundry mesh bag on the delicate cycle and you are good to go. You’ll also be saving a lot of cash in the long run, perfect for your much-needed Starbies run. Shopping sustainably doesn’t have to be a boring chore or overpriced -— it can be a convenient pastime where you invest in products and services that align with your values. These are our hot recommendations for October, but feel free to play around with the materials and de signs that are the most suitable for your needs. Until then, keep calm and eco on. swaps for FROM
PEXELS
October 2021 REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE » COURTESY POLINA KOVALEVA
Being mindful of where you shop can help the environment.
Let’s face it, as busy university stu dents we are usually overwhelmed, and don’t have the spare time to run errands. That’s why we want to make your daily chores less of a hassle while remaining stylish and opting for ethical consumption.
those who have a campus meal plan or still live at home and enjoy home-cooked meals, oth er students have to create meal plans. You have to eat, but most of us find ourselves time-strapped to do meal prep. However, if you be come intentional and budget time for prepping, why not do it as a sustainable foodie and reduce your impact on the environment?
Reusable straws: So, by now these have become pop ular thanks to foodies and social media influencers that advocate for sustainable living. And it makes sense — by now you’ve probably seen the plastic straw in a sea turtle’s nose video that went viral. Although many fast food outlets have started to swap out paper straws rather than plas tic, grabbing a package of reusable straws will come in handy. There are three main versions — bamboo, steel, silicone and even rice-based ones which are compostable. We rec ommend a set of steel straws, as they are less prone to breakage and easier to clean with the mini brush that ac companies it. Our recommendation is the Stainless Steel 8mm Straws from the Klean Kanteen which are made with safe and flexible silicone tips and pair up nicely with smooth ies, juices and ice coffees galore. This brand is known to be the pioneerof BPA-free stainless steel beverage containers, including water bottles and advocating in the early days of the Go Green Movement. Steel cutlery set: Again, we recommend steel com pared to other material varieties, as it’s the most durable and easiest to upkeep and clean. Now is the best time to invest in one of these por table cutlery sets to know you are making a positive impact. There are also disposable non-plastic options, like bamboo versions, that can be composted after use. Our alternative is the Mizu Cutlery Set by tentree which includes a stainless steel fork, spoon, knife, chopsticks and straw all wrapped in a cute and convenient pouch. Best of all, no toxic additives are 100 per cent BPA-free and zero waste. Grab one and help reduce your eco-footprint while dining in Mac Hall or residence. Your skincare needs are essential. But on overload mode during the semes ter, especially when midterms and finals hit, we tend to forget to do selfcare even as simple as washing our face properly let alone maintaining a proper skincare routine. Why not feel good about yourself by reducing your everyday disposal of waste by investing in a reliable product know ing that you’re leaving an impact?
OCTOBER 18, 2021 | 17thegauntlet.ca/category/lifestyle
Sustainable U: Sustainable
Reusable food wraps: It’s difficult to have our three square meals a day as students on the go, juggling multiple responsibilities. Meal prepping and preparing your lunch is a healthier and cost-effec tive way to stay in good shape. Say goodbye to those pesky plastic Ziploc bags and boring brown paper lunch bags, which were so yesterday, by grabbing a set of beeswax wraps that are plant-based and compostable for day-to-day use. Super-versatile, they are not only good for your sandwich but can also wrap fruits, veggies and act as a cover to be used to wrap over bowls and plates to preserve fresh ness and replace plastic and dispos able plastic wrap. Our alternative is the cult classic and popular Beeswax Wrap from The Beeswax Wrap Com pany that offers one of many fun colours and designs to choose from. As a certified B-Corp, 10 per cent of proceeds are donated to charitable initiatives including the Beekeeper’s Association.
Rachneet Randhawa General Editor H ave you ever wondered how you can reduce your daily waste and reduce your eco-foot print to live a more eco-conscious lifestyle? Greenwashing has be come a popular buzzword and is defined as false advertising in which a company’s products and policies are deceptively used to persuade the customer that they are environmentally friendly when they in fact are not. But it can be difficult to navigate with all the convoluted vocab like “chemi cal-free,” “natural,” “non-toxic” and more. For this month’s sustainable swaps we’ve put together a quick cheat-sheet you can refer to for your everyday eco-friendly needs and ones that can help you start to vote with your dollar while adher ing to the triple bottom line — peo ple, profit and planet. We’ve neatly divided our top picks for students into three key themes: On the Go, Kitchen Essentials and Skincare.
Co-read with someone: One last tip is to read with a friend or family member. Tell a friend or relative to start reading the same book at the same time. This way you keep track of your progress and have someone to talk to about it. If it is safe to do so, you can also join a book club. This pastime can be an opportunity to socialize with people with similar preferences as Iyou.hope these tips will help you to continue with this great hobby. You don’t have to be overwhelmed, either — reading is something that should be therapeutic and fun for you. So don’t push yourself and en joy it.
Try a new genre: One of the main causes of book slumps is boredom, which is why I think it is important to be diverse in your reading. Look for new au thors and unexplored genres. Be conscious of what and who you read. You can also ask a friend for recommendations. Lastly, another thing I try to do is to change the place I read in. A different setting can provide the feeling of being new and novel.
A ccording to the Urban Dic tionary a reading slump is, “a reader’s worst nightmare; not being able to pick up a book and read be cause you just can’t, you just can’t read.” I define a reading slump as a situation which tends to occur every few months, in which I feel unmotivated to read. In this article, I wanted to share my main tips to deal with them and inspire you to continue with this great habit.
GOOD READS » COURTESY EMILY FROM PEXELSReading can feel like a chore even when you enjoy it.
Re-read some of your favourite books: We all have comfort reads. One thing I recommend you to do to combat a reading slump is to look for those books that could help to remind you why reading is enjoy able. You can also create traditions like rereading certain books at Christmas or reading part of a se ries once a year.
Watch a movie adaptation:
18 | OCTOBER 18, 2021 general@thegauntlet.ca
Andrea Silva Santisteban VolunteerFort
I think one way to inspire you to read, when feeling unmotivated to do so, is to see what movies that are based on books are coming out soon. That way, you can set a goal to read a particular book before its movie comes out. You can also look at what movies are already available that you find interesting and search for their corresponding books. I think this is an interesting approach to reading. Many people tend to read fiction and imagine in their head the plot as a movie. It could be fun to compare the movie to what you have already pictured.
Go to the bookstore or library : An entertaining and peaceful way to spend an afternoon could be go ing into a bookstore or library. As a student, going to the Calgary Public Library, for example, is an afford able way to access books. It is based on a system of interconnected li braries from which you can borrow books, ebooks and audiobooks. You can also request and “hold on to” a specific read you want to be sent to your nearest library. This way, you can see new options in an orga nized and quiet place. Another way to browse more safely is to create a Goodreads account and see the new releases of the week. Reading does not have to be an expensive activ ity, especially with the resources available. Be prepared and create a TBR (to be read) list: I believe that one tactic to combat book slumps is to prevent them in the first place. I love to have a list of at least five new books of each of the genres that I like to read. That way, I have options for every mood I might be in. This allows me to limit the options available. Many times, we can feel some decision fatigue because of all the books at hand. This can be prevented by having a predetermined list of options.
Andrea’s Book Nook: Reading slumps and helpful tips on how to overcome them as a student
Sweaters: Sweater vests are officially mak ing a comeback this fall and, in my opinion, are slowly ushering the 2016-era, chunky-knit car digan out the door. Whether you pair them with a t-shirt or a dress shirt, they are easily one of the most iconic fall statement pieces right now — but are in tight-com petition with the highly-adored turtleneck. It’s really easy to look frumpy in a turtleneck, but to achieve a more elevated look, in vest in a cashmere or wool piece that has a flattering cut, which follows the contours of your body but also leaves room for comfort. While we all gravitate towards neutral and dark tones in the fall, keep your eye out for some stun ning sage green pieces this year as well.
Tops: You really can’t go wrong with a classic black or white tee, or longsleeve. These can be elevated with some statement pants, or kept ca sual with sweatpants on the days when we prioritize comfort over making a statement. Definitely go for the cheaper options here as no one will be able to tell the differ ence between a $5 and $50 plain tee anyway. If you’re dramatic like me, you’ll get a sleek and form-fit ting bodysuit that gives off an air of luxury when worn on it’s own under some trousers, or even toned down with an oversized cot ton dress shirt and jeans.
Bottoms: Two words — leather pants. They will single-handedly transform every outfit you wear from muted to magazine-worthy. Obviously, they’re not an everyday piece and are definitely not projected to be around forever, so don’t feel bad about not breaking the bank for a pair that costs over $100. The most important thing you should know is that pants should always be tailored to your body and not the other way around, so shop around for the cut that best suits you rather than chasing unflatter ing trends. Whether we’re talking about iconic leather pieces, pat terned trousers, or light-wash jeans, the most flattering cuts on anyone are paper bag waists, straight legs, or anything slightly oversized that offers the wearer both style and mobility.
FAB FINDS FOR FALL »
Campus Style: Curating your fall campus wardrobe
Footwear: The shoes you choose to wear out will make or break your entire outfit so, obviously, try to devi ate from your everyday Converse pair this season. For a casual look, you really can’t go wrong with the Nike Air Max ‘90s. Not to mention how great they are for sprinting to class on the other side of campus within 10 minutes. If you’ve been a fan of the leather ankle boot, it’s time to move on to better things in life like mid-calf leather boots that are reminiscent of Daphne from Scooby-Doo and a much more groovy time in the fashion world. But if you choose to die on the hill that is ankle boots, I sug gest opting for vinyl or latex in stead of leather this season for a more cutting edge aesthetic.
Aymen Sherwani Voices Editor I t’s that time of the year again. The leaves are turning yellow, the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back and the crisp autumn air carries the hopeful, yet cozy, promise of growth and ambition as we once again step foot onto campus af ter over a year. It’s time to give it your all as in-person classes roll back around, but it’s only natu ral that you also put your best fashion foot forward and make a statement with a gender-neutral capsule wardrobe that will last you through the winter, too.
Dress to impress this fall. VALERY PEREZ
OCTOBER 18, 2021 | 19thegauntlet.ca/category/lifestyle
Outerwear: 2021 is the Year of the Shacket. Whether it’s a thick, plaid and woolen, or a sleek oversized leath er one, shackets are making their stand this year and look amazing when they’re paired with a fitted turtleneck and mom jeans. A time less alternative, however, is a nice houndstooth or dark plaid blazer for a more dark and earthy aca demia look. The reigning cham pion of fall will always be a long wool coat — while most people opt for a standard camel colour, I personally prefer a rich, chocolate brown. It’s style-versatile, elegant and seamlessly blends into your winter wardrobe — I would rec ommend investing in actual wool that will last for years rather than a cheap-feeling polyester replica from H&M or Zara that will collect lint within the season.
Nimra VolunteerAmir
20 | OCTOBER 18, 2021 Editors: Ava Zardynezhad & Rachneet general@thegauntlet.caRandhawa@GauntletUofCOPINIONS »
Despite these somewhat promising initial relations, tensions between European settlers and Indigenous peoples substantially worsened in the following year. As the Mi’kmaq were among the first peoples in North America to encounter European settlers giv en their proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, they suffered depopulation and socio-cultural instability rather quickly. This resulted not only from diseases like Smallpox but religious conversions to Christianity, trea ty violations and a full-fledged war over the Halifax territory. European settlers had no claim to the territo ry that Mi’kmaq held, as they were Mi’kmaq moose hunting grounds, a religious pilgrimage site and at the meeting point of vital waterways.
Governor Edward Cornwallis, the founder of Halifax, retaliated against the persistence of the Mi’kmaq land claim by offering a bounty for the scalps of Indigenous peoples — a major reason his controversial stat ue placed in downtown Halifax was voted 12-4 to be removed in 2018 by the regional council.
VALERY PEREZSome believe that the historical origins of Canadian Thanksgiving are problematic.
The fact that the colonists had sur vived as long as they did is owed to the Mi’kmaq, since it was the Mi’kmaq that had taught them how to appropriately gather food based on the area they were located at — for example, their ice-fishing tech niques. Further, by serving as inter mediaries, the Mi’kmaq had even enabled the colonists to participate in fur trades with groups in the West.
In Canada, Thanksgiving honours the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who invited the local Mi’kmaq to a feast in Port-Royal on Nov. 14, 1606. Hosted as part of the broader “Order of Good Cheer” dinner party series, this feast was intended to supply colonists with enough meals to prevent any fur ther scurvy and malnutrition. It is at the first Thanksgiving that Marc Lescarbot performed the first European play in North America, Le Théâtre de Neptune en la Nou velle-France. In the play, the Indig enous peoples had not only sworn total allegiance to colonial leaders but even recognized the sovereign ty of the Europeans. These events unquestionably exposed the true intentions of the European settlers at this feast as establishing the “In dian” role as inferior.
Historians estimate that the Mi’kmaq population was reduced by half in the 16th century.
Nevertheless, Thanksgiving was not fully implemented in Canada until the 19th century when politi cians and businesspeople involved in advancing Confederation grew increasingly concerned with na tion-building. Canada needed an identity and the preferred image by those in power was a white, Protes tant nation that would marginalize the claims of Indigenous peoples and other immigrants from Asia and TheEurope.establishment of cultural insti tutions like Thanksgiving by Parlia ment was crucial in this regard since it reinforced Canada’s white, Prot estant image by emphasizing fam ily and religious devotion, while si multaneously trivializing the unjust dominance of Indigenous peoples like the Mi’kmaq, where the holiday Yetoriginated.likeallother groups, Indigenous peoples are not a monolith – there are varying opinions on Thanksgiv ing. Some communities regard the holiday as a National Day of Mourn ing for Indigenous peoples that have been killed over decades of violence and Parallelmistreatment.tothisview is the belief that Thanksgiving serves as a day of protest against the oppression that Indigenous peoples continue to ex However,perience. other Indigenous peo ples hold that the practice of giving thanks for the bounty of the land preceded the arrival of Europeans in North America by thousands of years. In this way, Thanksgiving today is just a continuation of their Theceremonies.Haudenosaunee, for example, express their thanks every day. The Thanksgiving Address, or Gano:n yok, they observe daily acts as a re minder to appreciate the intercon nectedness of all areas of life. Whatever approach through which you choose to observe Thanksgiv ing, we must do so with a thorough understanding of the historical context it originated from. While the reality is much more brutal than the stories we are comfortable with, it acknowledges the struggles that Indigenous peoples were faced Wewith.must give thanks for the food we consume, the Indigenous lands we inhabit and for the Indigenous people who have historically ac commodated settlers and immi grants — without their generosity and guidance many of us would not be here today.
The general origins of Thanks giving in the West are often romantically depicted as the sharing of a feast between European settlers and Indigenous peoples to com memorate the first successful har vest season — mainly with pump kins, potatoes, corn and turkey. This narrative is regarded as a beautiful story about how people, despite their differences, came together as one. However, like most of Western history, this narrative has been di rected by white people to erase the atrocities that they have committed against Indigenous peoples.
GOBBLED YOUR LAST GOOBLE »
What is Canadian Thanksgiving really about?
Ramiro Bustamante Torres Layout Editor T he return of Beakerhead was short but nevertheless excit ing. There was a hesitant return of the usual interactive events this year but the organizers have been able to make a comeback that at tracted a sizable crowd. “It’s really important for us to show up this year. It’s been chal lenging for all nonprofit orga nizations to figure out how to maneuver and adjust during the pandemic,” said Jennifer Martin, interim-CEO of Beakerhead. Due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases and new provincial restric tions, many events had been post poned or cancelled altogether. In 2020, the Beakerhead festival was not Thisheld.year, the festival was held at the south parking lot of Eau Claire Market alongside the Calgary In ternational Film Festival (CIFF) on Sept. 24. Old Beakerhead fa vourites could be found during the festivities like “Steely T” — a giant turtle contraption with pro trusions that would spout flames. Nibbles — inflatable lit-up bunnies — also made an appearance that day where some last saw them at the UCalgaryStrong Festival 2019 courtesy of Beakerhead. Amongst the many attractions where folks were encouraged to “wonder” around and discover, the Universi ty of Calgary’s Faculty of Science had a presentation, performing various science demonstrations. “How can we do something high ly visible that many people could take in and experience and engage with and still be sensitive to our conditions?” said Martin. During the one-day festival, there was a special event called THE AS CENT. The feat of scaling 39 floors of Devon Tower — across from Eau Claire Market — was performed by DAVID, a giant metal marionette that had two supporting cables to hoist it up and fifteen other cables for the puppeteer and operators to articulate the marionette. DAVID is the largest marionette in North America at a height of 34 feet. The event was observed by the crowd below and people at home had the opportunity to watch via livestream, as DAVID ascended from the side of Devon Tower through the evening, culminating to reach ing the summit and celebrated with fireworks. “DAVID is a Canadian art piece, a group called The Underground Circus created him. He’s been in other situations before — this is not his first time, but it is his first time climbing a building. So the amount of engineering that went into making that work is amazing. [You] think about the engineering and the art of the puppeteering. That’s exactly what Beakerhead is all about.” said Martin. The STEAM-inspired festival that Bea kerhead had this year is one for the books. ascends downtown tower
MARIONETTE MADNESS »
COURTESY CIFFFireworks celebrates DAVID’s ascention.
SCIENCE » Editors: Ava Zardynezhad & Rachneet general@thegauntlet.caRandhawa@GauntletUofC OCTOBER 18, 2021 | 21
Beakerhead 2021: DAVID
Horoscopes: Perfectly normal Halloween costumes
SPOOKY SCARY SIGNS »
Be on the lookout for some ghoulish BOO-ty.
(MarchAries 21 - April 20)
(SeptemberLibra 23 - Octo ber 22)
You will be in the spotlight this year by being the spotlight. You find a way to carry multiple spotlights around you, but the issue will be that you need to plug everything in so everyone can only know it’s you if they need the plug.
Inspired by a certain Young Adult novel series, you try to find out what kind of costume materials are flam mable but also won’t burn you. You will be considered a fire hazard and a danger to everyone around you.
(FebruaryPisces 20 - March 20) As a tribute to your sign, you choose to go as a reverse-mermaid. You use the biggest sequins you can find to create a beautiful fish head and flip pers for your arms.
You coordinate with Capricorn to wear an anatomically correct horse costume where you each take either the front half or the back half. You won in a battle of wills with Capri corn and got the front half.
You want a costume that is both sexy and spooky. A sexy ghost is what you decide on — the ingghost.with-fishnet-stockings-kindwhite-sheet-ofsexyParentswillgiveyoumenaclooks
(AugustVirgo 22 - September 22)
(NovemberSagittarius 23 - Decem ber 21) You’ve spent all your time making sketches and drawings for the per fect costume and those will be all you have to show for it. To make up for your lack of costume, you will throw on your fanciest clothes and will get complimented all night — but you’ll know this was not your vision. (DecemberCapricorn 22 - January 20) You coordinate with Virgo to wear an anatomically correct horse cos tume where you each take either the front half or the back half. You lose in a battle of will with Virgo and get the back half. (JanuaryAquarius 21 - February 19) Trying to stand out this year, you de cide to get as many skull decorations as you can. Your costume will be the Skull King as you tie and glue skulls together to make an exoskeleton for yourself. It will be terrifying and no one will come to your house.
(JuneCancer22 – July 22) You decide to wear old, white bed sheets like a toga with wreaths in your head to resemble the Greek gods and goddesses. You will end up emulating Dionysus and may over share to your visitors your lack of preparedness. Next year aim for a sexy Gandalf costume.
HUMOUR » Editors: Ava Zardynezhad & Rachneet general@thegauntlet.caRandhawa@GauntletUofC 22 | OCTOBER 18, 2021
You will start dressing up as a mad scientist but then decide that you would actually rather be a plague doctor. Unfortunately, as you’re transitioning between costumes people will start coming to your door and you’ll have to open it midchange.
Ramiro Bustamante Torres Spooky Spectator
VALERY PEREZ
You’re a low-effort type of person and also feel no pressure to dress up. This works against you as the matching tracksuit that you decide to put on will make people think you’re dressed up as an exhausted student, telling you how accurate it looks — especially with your dark circles standing out. (MayGemini21 – June 21) You try to choose a good costume that would make a good impres sion, so you decide on being a giant pumpkin. You use cardboard and pa per maché to create it and leave it in the garage for the time being, but it doesn’t make it to Halloween night, just like Cinderella’s carriage.
When you’re giving out candy this year, what should you wear?
(JulyLeo 23 – August 21)
(OctoberScorpio 23 - November 22)
(AprilTaurus21 - May 20)
OCTOBER 18, 2021 | 23voulnteers.thegauntlet.ca/get-involved/ CHECK OUT OUR STAFF HALLOWEEN PLAYLIST FOR SPOOKY SONGS & TUNES
There’s a big di erence between chicken & chickpeas. If you want to eat well, you need to understand protein. Not all proteins are created equally, so to make healthy choices, it’s important to have all the facts. Chicken 45mg2.6g0gINGREDIENTS: 1 FAT: 22.5g22.5g2.6gPROTEIN: CARBS: SODIUM: Per 100g serving of average raw chicken breast Chicken FAT: CARBS: SODIUM: Per 100g serving of average simulated chicken breast Plant-based Plant-based 320mg11g9gINGREDIENTS: 20+ PROTEIN: 17g Learn more at chicken.ca Visit chicken.ca to learn more about the di erent types of protein and find some healthy recipes everyone will enjoy. Canada’s Food Guide suggests filling a quarter of your plate with protein, and since the average Canadian needs about 25g of protein per meal, lean meat like chicken makes the most nutritional sense. CMYCYMYCMYK Gauntlet-Comparing Chicken_Plant-based Protein.pdf 1 2021-10-07 12:32 PM
