Over The Edge Volume 24 Issue 5

Basil Hassoun| OTE

Over The Edge

UNBC’s Independent Student Newspaper est. 1994

Senate and BOG election, pg 3

Columns, pg 6

Site C responses, pg5 Volume 24, Issue 5

Poetry, pg 15 Free

overtheedgenewspaper.ca

January 23, 2018 over.the.edge.unbc@gmail.com

This March has come to encompass many societal issues, with a focus on protesting systemic misogyny.

Like many people, I was unfortunately unable to attend my local Women’s March, but I watched as photos popped up on my Facebook feed of fierce leaders and fresh-faced activists marching through the Prince George civic plaza.

Looking at photos from other Marches, I came across someone holding a sign that said “Trans women are men.” This is deeply

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Next deadline: January 31, 2018

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to like us on Facebook. For more information, please visit our website www.overtheedgenewspaper.ca.

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Every year, we provide employment as editors, designers, and managers to students with a passion for journalism and are always looking for motivated individuals to work and volunteer in our collaborative environment.

Over The Edge offers competitive advertising rates for space in our print publication as well as online.

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Over The Edge is the University of Northern British Columbia’s independent student newspaper. Our office is located on the 2nd floor of the NUSC building in room 6-350. We are an equal opportunity publication which represents students in the UNBC and Prince George community.

Our publication supports student writing by welcoming news, arts, sports, culture and opinion articles, as well as photography, comics, and creative writing submissions.

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privileged women does not speak for women at all. I ask that we remember we are unified in our goals of gender equality, but we must recognize our differences, and how privilege can allow us to silence others without realizing.

Read up on the concerns of people different from you, attend Pride and Black Lives Matter protests with the same vigour, and listen and learn when to take a backseat. For many of us, resistance is an everyday act not contained to one day of activism.

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Over The Edge

Many issues that affect women are not simply because they are women, but because they are women of colour, or Black, or Indigenous, or immigrants, or are also poor, disabled, transgender, or queer. By bringing up these issues I seek not division amongst the Women’s March, but more inclusivity, for a March that centres the voices of the most

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his past Saturday, Women’s Marches were held in various cities around the world, including Prince George. This is the second year of Marches, held in protest to Trump’s presidency, and his actions against women and other marginalized groups.

concerning. Some may argue that trans rights issues have no place in a Women’s March, but without discourse on trans issues, hateful signs such as these are able to rear their ugly heads.

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News

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Campus Elections Coming Trevor Ritchie & Arctica Cunningham Contributors

UNBC | unbc.ca

O

ver the last two weeks, students have been canvassing UNBC, seeking signatures to be elected to Senate and the Board of Governors. The students running for election to these campus institutions deserve your attention and are our representatives to the university, where many of the decisions that affect students most are made.

These candidates will be seeking your vote in the coming weeks, and they’ll be coming to you with promises of how they will make this school a better place. Listen to them, but ask them about the issues that you’re most worried about and how they plan to address the issues that affect you.

The Senate is where decisions are made regarding academic life at UNBC. Recently, the Senate has focused on changes to different courses and degree programs, as well as several changes to scholarships that are offered to both undergraduate and graduate students.

Beyond the Senate is the Senate

committees, which do most of the legwork in changing policies. Our student Senators have positions on each of these committees, which focus on areas as varied as course descriptions, to determining when classes are offered during the week, to how students are admitted to the school. Senate determines our relations with other universities and the partnerships we have around the world, and the Senate has a hand in determining how our tuition and other revenues are spent in the school.

The Board of Governors (BOG) is one of the decision-making bodies for the university, responsible for financial matters and university policy. Many decisions are made in collaboration with the university Senate as well.

Being a member of the Board of Governors gives an interesting insight into the high-level decisions that are made at the university, affecting day-to-day activities and future plans for the school. There is only one

representative for undergraduate students (and one for graduate students), so you bring a very important voice to the room.

The BOG only meets every 3-4 months, but the meetings run from 9am to 3pm and it is very important that you attend all meetings. You will also be placed on one of the BOG Committees (Governance, Finance and Audit, or Human Resources) which meets two days before each Board Meeting, for about 2 hours. There is a lot of material to read before each meeting, but it makes your job in the meeting a lot easier if you spend the time closely reviewing each agenda item in advance! It can also be intimidating to speak up in meetings, but all the BOG members truly do value the opinions and perspectives of the student representatives, so don’t let your nerves keep you from speaking your mind!

Overall, it is an incredible learning opportunity and you play an important part

in shaping UNBC’s future.

Find out how this year’s crop of candidates plan to represent students’ needs and respond to the issues important to students as a collective. Our current Senators and Board of Governor representatives have worked together to pursue greater student involvement in the decision-making process, and have opened more opportunities for the student body. Working together, the Student Senators made sure that changes to course and degree requirements were simplified to ensure the changes benefit students as well as faculty, and our student Senators have been doing important work at the committee level to protect our interests. But we should not be judging our Senate candidates based on past work, and should be prepared to give new candidates our time and a chance to prove themselves as representatives.

Give these candidates the time to speak out and make sure you take the time to vote.

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News

What Happened at the November Senate Meeting Trevor Ritchie Contributor

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n Wednesday, November 22, Senate met for the last time in the calendar year. Proposed changes to the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology program were brought back for consideration again, and were approved without amendment. The changes affect the math courses that are accepted as part of the degree program, and will not affect any current students in the program.

Under the approved changes students in the Biochemistry program will no longer be able to take MATH 105-3 and MATH 152-3 as their math requirements for the program, and will have to take MATH 100-3 and MATH 101-3 instead.

A significant number of course descriptions were changed in the Integrated Wood Design Program, with the main change being to reorder some of the courses required for the program.

Many of the Integrated Wood Design classes had their course descriptions changed, but these changes did not impact what the courses would cover, and were mainly to ensure uniformity of how the courses were explained.

The admission requirements for the Integrated Wood Design program have also been changed, and the changes were made to clarify the English language requirements for entry. Under the fourth point in that section of the program description it indicates that other test scores accepted by the university will be accepted for entry into the program, not just the specific English language proficiency exams noted earlier in the policy. This was done to demonstrate that more than just the listed language exams would be acceptable, so as to

not limit students from applying who haven’t taken any of the listed English exams and don’t meet the requirements for an exemption from the policy.

The academic calendar for the 2018-2019 year was discussed and approved. This includes which days will be statutory holidays and the number of professor contact hours would be on each day of the week.

These changes will be part of the 2018-2019 student calendars.

Due to the number of statutory holidays on Monday, there are only ten instructional Mondays in the Fall 2018 semester, three less than the standard number of instructional days for each of the other weekdays.

Changes to the Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting were made to reflect the fact that only a single body represents accountants, and thus it is unnecessary to certify accountants for Chartered Accountants or Certified General Accountant positions that no longer exist. The program itself has not been changed, but it no longer refers to Cas and CGAs as these professional bodies do not exist in Canada any longer.

The Bachelor of Commerce in International Business was changed to reflect changes in two INTS courses, which have new names and course descriptions.

The program also allows for a third option with the introduction of INTS 220/ECON 220 – Global Economic Shifts along with the new INTS 100-3 Introduction to International Studies and INTS 210-3 Globalizations. The rationale behind these changes was to provide more choice for

students to fulfil their graduation requirements, as these courses may not be taught each year.

UNBC is also involved in the creation of a new Pre-MBA program in partnership with Tianjin University of Technology, where UNBC professors would teach a condensed set of curriculum to students at Tianjin University of Technology in order to prepare them to join the UNBC community the following year as MBA students. The proposed program would be cohort-based, with new sets of students being brought into UNBC each year by Tianjin University of Technology.

This is a pilot project being discussed and has not yet been confirmed, but it is hoped that this could become a template used with other universities to help increase enrolment at the university in the medium term.

Of note is that the successful completion of the Pre-MBA program would guarantee acceptance into the UNBC MBA program in the following academic semester, which has the potential to impact enrolment from other sources.

Several senators expressed concerns with the academic freedom of faculty sent to Tianjin to teach UNBC curriculum to Chinese students, and were concerned that agreements made with Tianjin University of Technology may not be sufficiently able to protect the rights of UNBC faculty while teaching abroad. UNBC President Dr. Daniel Weeks reiterated his strong support for protecting the rights and safety of UNBC professors teaching as part of this program, and will be working

to ensure that there remain solid guarantees protecting our faculty in the final agreement between the two schools.

The Senate Committee on Scholarships and Bursaries provided information on a number of scholarships that will become available during the 2018-2019 academic year. These scholarships will be made available for students to read through on the university scholarship website, and are generally for undergraduate students.

News

5

Responses to Site C, a Mega Project in Modern Time Eric Depeneau Contributor

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ecently, the NDP’s official decision on Site C, a new hydroelectric project on the Peace River, was revealed to be approval.

The dam has been a contentious issue since it was first discussed more than fifty years ago. Today, with every major party in BC, the BC Liberals, NDP and yes, even the Greens, having a hand in bringing the project to fruition one may find themselves forced to accept that for one reason or another, at one time or another, a majority has decided that the dam’s completion is the way forward.

While the dam’s approval may be in the best interest of the province in the long-term, it is unlikely that this approval is in the best interest of the NDP here and now. While those currently working at the site are no doubt relieved to find they will not be losing their jobs over the holidays, the long process taken to arrive at this decision is likely to have taken a toll in a region where the NDP have found little support.

Only a few months ago in May of 2017, NDP Peace River (N and S) candidates Rob Dempsey and Stephanie Goudie achieved 973 votes or 6.65% and 2,102 votes or 24.06% respectively. Compared to their Liberal running mates Mike Bernier and Dan Davies

with 6,634 votes or 75.94% and 9,707 votes or 66.31% respectively.

How future NDP support fairs in the region will be interesting to monitor but the Site C decision is likely to be a small factor.

except to cast doubt amongst the world’s investors that B.C. is a good place to do business and create jobs.” Strong words but perhaps not unexpected from the other side of the building.

will last or if other issues, such as proportional representation, will help the NDP to retain supporters is a question that will be seen in the coming months as the NDP work to promote other initiatives.

The official opposition has also not taken this approval as an opportunity to congratulate the NDP. Andrew Wilkinson, party heavyweight and frontrunner in the BC Liberal Leadership Race responded to the decision, “six months ago, a clean energy project to supply B.C. with renewable and affordable electricity for a hundred years was well underway, employing thousands of workers hard hit by the low price of oil, and supporting northeastern communities like Fort St. John. And then the NDP became government.”

Wilkinson suggests that the steps taken by the NDP, initiating a further review process, “provided few conclusions and no recommendations” and that the NDP, “dithered on Site C’s fate while thousands of workers wondered if they would be able to afford to buy presents for their kids this Christmas.” Concluding “the NDP will not be getting a pat on the back from me. Six months of uncertainty has had no impact

Comments that are undoubtedly more concerning to the NDP are originating from within their own camp and highlight disagreements between the parties’ union and environmental grass roots. Many longtime supporters, volunteers, and donors are flocking to show their dissent for the Site C dam approval. Dr. Steve Gray, chair of the Peace Valley Solidarity Initiative, and NDP member in the riding of Esquimalt-Metchosin, commented on the messages he has received, “we’ve seen people calling for the termination of the dam, and people saying that they plan to leave the party and stop their fundraising activities if this goes ahead.” Gray writes that as this news was breaking and in the months leading up to this decision, “we began to receive copies of letters and realized hundreds, if not thousands of NDP supporters were angry and worried about the Site C dam . . . that kind of situation [doesn’t] seem very good for the party.”

Whether these feelings of betrayal

With geotechnical issues, cost concerns and timeline questions still not definitively answered it is likely that Site C will be an ongoing challenge for the NDP to manage in the months and years ahead. While there is likely to be pain in the near and medium future, Site C’s approval has demonstrated that the age of ‘province building’ and mega projects is not over. Emerging from the figurative shadow of the dam will be an ongoing project for the NDP moving forward.

My personal opinion? Site C will not significantly impact the NDP politically. Few swing voters are likely to see this as the issue that makes or breaks their faith in the NDP and in a region with polling numbers as rough as they have been it will take more than a begrudging approval to earn support. For the NDP faithful currently upset with the government, in time this approval will likely be accepted as an uncomfortable part of being government and forgotten by the next cycle.

BC Hydro | bchydro.com

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Columns

For the Love of Sex: Trustworthy, Ethical, Sexual Life Advice Pollyanne Marie Columnist

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ast year at this time, I was recovering on my mom’s couch. No, I didn’t have a New Year’s hangover, I was depressed and trying my best not to attempt suicide. I count myself very lucky to have had friends and family who care about me, who went out of their way to keep me safe from myself. I’ve struggled with ups and downs like this for as long as I can remember, especially post break up.

A year later and my mother still holds her breath when she sees it’s me who is calling. In January 2017, this burnout was sparked by a discovery of infidelity. My monogamous, live-in partner had been cheating on me.

I felt the frustration of broken trust in him, and of course in myself for not seeing it sooner.

Failed monogamous relationship after relationship weighed on me, its heavy chains attached securely to my self esteem.

I grew up believing what a lot of people do, that the relationship escalator is the way to “happily

ever after.” Hell, that “happily ever after” is even a thing. Has anyone else noticed that we’ve been running up a down moving escalator? I did that once when I was a kid and I still remember how much it hurt to fall on those grating metal stairs.

I’m planning on hitting Barcelona on my own for a few days and hopefully Paris as well. I also just found out that my favorite Vancouver based band, Peach Pit, is touring and performing in London while I am there. It just keeps getting better and better!

So I went home to my mother.

I licked my wounds and for the first time since I was 14 years old, I started taking antidepressants. At first I was pretty stoned and nauseous but after about a week I leveled out and started to feel kind of normal...something I really didn’t have lot of experience in.

I can see clearly now how much of my pain was coming from the image I had of myself as “not good enough” because I couldn’t hold together a steady monogamous relationship. I couldn’t make them last. When I finally started to let that go and give myself and others the freedom of movement in love, to allow the fist full of sand to open and gently appreciate what remained, I found peace.

Now, a year later and I am on a ferry from Victoria on my way to a BDSM conference in Burnaby, with my Vancouver Daddy! Next weekend I am hitting London, England. Attending LAM (The London Alternative Market) with a young, good looking Sugar Daddy I’ve been chatting with on Seeking Arrangement. We may head off for a weekend in Amsterdam if everything goes well, which I think it will.

Of course it’s a daily practice, and I thank god everyday for my medication but realize that it’s not as easy as just popping a pill for everyone. My dad has been on antidepressants for years and he still struggles. I personally have done a lot of self work along with taking medication. I would never advise it as a first choice or be all end all in recovery. I quit drinking,

smoking weed, doing drugs, I’ve meditated and exercised regularly, changed my diet and studied the psychology of what I was going through. I don’t doubt that the combination of all of these things, including seeking professional help quite regularly over the years, and now taking the right medication is what has allowed me to be where I am today.

Looking at myself one year ago in comparison to now is like night and day. I can tell you that the biggest change has surely been my self esteem. I see relationships differently, I see commitment differently, I see love differently!

I have found a freedom I didn’t know existed, an allowance and trust in change. I no longer push against the swell. I feel content, centered, living more gracefully in the ebb and flow of what life gives and takes away.

I’ve opened my life to myself to try new things and be proud of who I am and life has come right back with supportive like-minded people.

I hope that this new year brings you love, support and freedom, dear reader. That you feel more self-assured to speak your own truth and to walk away from anyone who doesn’t have your best interest at heart. Remember, I am always here to cheer you on or chat if you are needing to reach out to someone. As Kimya Dawson sings “Send me an IM I’ll be your friend.”

I’m going to be conducting a few interviews for the next edition.

As always I am open for your questions and comments via askpollyannemarie@gmail.com.

Shutterstock

Keep it kinky, and keep it consensual.

Columns

7

Professors A to Z Talk: The Cornerstore D

earest Students,

Professors A to Z were asked about a storied UNBC institution: the late, great, and greatly lamented Cornerstore, an institution not known by new students, but much missed by those of us who’ve been around long enough to love the tasty salads and snacks that used to be sold there. So let us share some foody tales of this icon of UNBC life.

The Cornerstore was a much loved space in the WinterGarden (currently the space used by the Career Centre). You could find all manner of good things, from locally produced cookies (even now, the memory of the Bread Guy’s cookies cause tears of loss to rise---- give us a moment), to original sandwiches, to fair trade coffee, to aspirin, to Canadian alternative magazines, and

cleaning supplies, jammed in to a too small space with long lineups when you were late for class.

And then one day, it was gone….

At the time, there was much speculation that its closing was a response to pressure brought

by Chartwells (UNBC cafeteria contractor) to shut down a competitor, or that there was a plan to convert the WinterGarden in to a fast food court and the space was required for another use. The reality, however, is a bit more depressing: the store was closed due to a decline in sales (we KNEW that we should have bought more giant cookies!!!).

Here’s what Mardeana Berg, the Retail Services Manager for the UNBC Bookstore and Cornerstore, has to say about this beloved lost corner of UNBC: “The Cornerstore was created in the early days of the Prince

George campus, as a small convenience store to be operated by the Bookstore. Over time, in response to growing need, its hours of operation were expanded and product lines were added. A second location, called Food for Thought, also opened later, in the Teaching and Learning building.

During this time, we were able to bring on a local baker who was a regular feature at the Farmers Market: The Bread Guy. He eventually expanded his assortment to lunch and snackto-go that was made fresh and delivered daily. Although we had fulfilled campus needs at the time, we were facing some issues that came with changing times.

Food for Thought did not have the expected customer traffic needed to break even. So while it was subsidized by the Bookstore for the short term, it was not feasible for the long term. We closed it

in the 2010/2011 school year.

The Cornerstore started experiencing a steady decline in sales. In addition, the space and staffing levels were not sufficient to support expanding services. The decision was made at the end of the school year in 2015 to close the Bookstore run operation (aka the Cornerstore) and to provide some convenience items within the Bookstore, as well as convenience food items from retail food service outlets on campus. Although The Bread Guy was invited to continue with those outlets, he decided to reduce his baking workload and pursue other employment.”

Ah, Corner Store, we miss you.

Professors A to Z wish you the very best this semester! Don’t forget to send us some WTF questions care of OTE, and we’ll do our best to get answers!!!

Monique Gendron | OTE

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NASH 80

NASH 80: How to HaHa & Sexy Journalism Alexandra Tuttosi Team Member

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eam members of Over The Edge had an opportunity to attend a national conference on student journalism, called NASH. Emma Overton and Alex Huntley from The Beaverton hosted a presentation called “How to HaHa.” They talked about the difference between fake news and satire. According to them, fake news is when readers are unaware that it is fake, and believe that what they are reading is real.

Whereas with satire, readers know that what they are reading is fake.

In satire, the writing mimics the newspaper style/language and allows the reader to have a good laugh. Some ways to write good satire is to reverse, or exaggerate, the situation or transport the situation into a different environment. To practice these concepts, Emma and Alex had the audience split into groups and see who could come up with the best satire news headline.

The best headline was, ‘The world is getting a handy from Hickok.’

For those who do not know who Hickok is, his full name is Wild Bill Hickok. He is one of the well know gunfighters during the 1800’s.

For satire news by Alex and Emma, watch the Beaverton on Comedy Wednesday nights.

Arshy Mann and Eternity Martis gave a presentation titled “Sexy Journalism.” In his writing, Arshy Mann focuses on LGBTQ issues.

He wrote a piece on the ability of all genders to have consensual sex with each other. He even interviewed Justin Trudeau, and asked him about this concept; the result is hilarious. Eternity Martis, on the other hand, writes on anything and everything to do with the physical act of sex;

she even wrote a piece about her own sex life. During their presentation they talked about key topics such as sex, sex workers, sexual violence, and the sexual movement, and how these concepts interact with journalism On sex, we learned that STI’s (sexually transmitted infections) are not only normal, but they are very common. One in five people have a STI and don’t know it.

There is such a thing called a HIV nondisclosure, which says that those with HIV, or a STI, must tell partners, or future partners, or else their partner can take them to court for not telling them.

There are different kinds of sex workers, whether it is stripping, adult film making or prostitution.

Not all sex work is exploitative.

In fact, many students turn to sex work to help pay for their tuition. Their stories often turn out to be labour related.

Like sex workers, sexual violence victims are diverse. They are often marginalized and misunderstood.

This does not only happen to undergraduate students, for example, it can also happen to grad students/ teacher’s assistants. Since they depend on a great recommendation from their supervisor, they are often pressured into situations, which are uncomfortable, to finish with their degree.

For the sexual movement, there is no singular voice for a community, such as the LGBTQ community. Journalists should focus on the experience of multiple people and build a view based on that—not just one person. This limited view can lead to stigma and a negative view of the community.

NASH 80

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OTE Provided an Opportunity for Writers via NASH 80 Tierney Watkinson News Director

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arlier this month, the Over The Edge team was given the opportunity to travel to Toronto to participate in NASH 80, a student journalism conference involving student newspaper groups from across Canada.

Our Editor in Chief Sam Wall, Production Coordinator Monique Gendron, Advertising Coordinator Alexandra Tuttosi, and myself had the amazing privilege to attend this year’s event. After a long, late-night-and-sweaty airplane experience followed by the longest cab ride I have ever endured, we arrived at the conference hotel in Toronto.

The same evening we arrived in Toronto, Lee Maracle, a Coast Salish author as well as an instructor at the University of Toronto, gave acknowledgement to the conference being held in A Dish with One Spoon Territory and spoke of her own journalistic experiences during the Opening Ceremonies. Keynote speakers throughout the conference included Ginella Massa, the first news anchor in Canada to wear a hijab on broadcast news; Robyn Doolittle, the journalist responsible for “Unfounded,” the investigation into Canadian police forces and their investigation methods concerning sexual assaults; and Desmond Cole, who gave a moving speech about the portrayal of race and accountability in the media.

NASH attendees were treated to seminars presented on a number of topics. I heard an impassioned speech, given by human rights journalist Zein Almoghraby, about avoiding one’s hero complex when reporting

on war-torn countries. The fact that only 1.05% of Canadian media featured Indigenous people or topics was the subject of another informative panel by Hannah Clifford (of Journalists

given by Willow Fiddler (Oji-Cree, Anishinaabe reporter with APTN), transfixed as she told of past and recent tragedies experienced by fly-in communities surrounding Thunder Bay, and explained

he expressed not only a deep dedication to each story he writes but an unconditional desire to be fair to the people portrayed in his stories. An inspiring speech

by Shireen Ahmed, about the difficulties she has faced as a Muslim woman reporting on sports, helped open my eyes to the multiple barriers that continue to exist within the media. Rachel Nixon shared the innovative ideas behind Discourse Media, an organization that seeks to collaborate rather than compete with other journalists to share important information with its audience.

Many, many other talks given at the event by a plethora of people who work in all areas of the media provided listeners in attendance with advice on landing that first job, how to avoid lawsuits when uncovering breaking stories, how to start your own podcast, photography tips and ethics, what to avoid when signing contracts with potential employers, and other informative segments.

NASH 80 sent me home with a brain bursting with information and possibilities.

I fully encourage anyone with an interest in journalism, television, and all areas of writing to join us here at Over The Edge and take part in future opportunities such as NASH.

Tierney Watkinson | OTE

for Human Rights) and Lenny Carpenter (with JHR’s Indigenous Reporters Program). I listened to two members of the Beaverton writing team, Emma Overton and Alex Huntley, explain their wit and mission to a crowded, eager room. I watched the presentation

the importance of reporting on local communities. Nick HuneBrown shared the story of his own beginnings, working up the ladder from being a young graduate camping in his parents’ living room to becoming an award-winning feature writer;

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Culture

The Truth Behind All-Inclusive Resorts Jade Szymanski Contributor

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s the first month back at university comes to a close and reading week quickly approaches, it’s only natural to be reminiscing on the tropical getaway you had in December to avoid the snow, or on the upcoming trip you and your pals have planned for February.

Personally, my boyfriend and I escaped to Cabo San Lucas last month as we decided to ditch the cold Canadian Christmas for something more sizzling and sultry. We decided to book a week at an all-inclusive resort, as having it be our first international trip together, we thought that it would also be the safest option considering our limited knowledge of the area. While we had an amazing time catching rays, drinking bottomless dirty monkeys, riding camels, and posing like cacti, there are a lot of things behind the scenes of allinclusive resorts that the public doesn’t always think about.

Before I begin bashing the exploitation of all-inclusive tourist destinations, I am not denying that I had an absolutely peachy vacation, and the fact is that for most of these destinations, tourism is their main source of economic income. That being said, while tourism is their main industry, many residents have no other option but to find employment with one of these resorts, and as these resorts must hire bountiful amounts of housekeepers, bartenders, chefs, and concierge staff, it is typical that all of the workers only get paid minimum wage or even less than. For this reason, we made sure to tip every worker we had an interaction with; the sweet ladies who made our beds each morning, the waiters who recommended the best options on the menu, and the bartenders who introduced me to dirty

Cruccuris Resort

monkeys. We noticed that not many people at the resort would tip however, as the common and untrue thought is that the price of the all-inclusive would cover fair wages for the Mexican workers.

Another large problem with these tourist-destination towns is that locals often jeopardize their own culture and traditions in order to cater to the visiting tourists. Personally, I saw this manifest itself in the types of souvenirs that were being sold; countless vendors were selling sombreros that were decked out in NFL team logos and colours, as

well as decorative skulls plastered on shot glasses and keychains which are now exploited as a common souvenir but is a sacred and traditional symbol for the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead. Furthermore, the music played at the resort throughout the day would be absolute garbage tunes like Pitbull and Katy Perry and could be heard from your room even if you had all your doors and windows closed shut. Once or twice a day they’d play actual Spanish music, which was a pure delight but would quickly be exchanged for some

more Americanized cacophonies.

Tourists who pay for everything in advance have little incentive to go anywhere else, hire local guides, eat in local restaurants or pay entry fees to see local natural or cultural heritage. This means that the resort, which is typically owned by an overseas company, yield most of the tourists’ cash, leaving little behind in the local community, who are the most negatively impacted by the presence of tourism. My boyfriend and I made a large effort to not spend all of our time within the resort, as we decided to take a tour of Todos Santos, a small town about an hour outside of Cabo San Lucas. On our tour we got to encounter local art museums, purchase a traditionally-made blanket directly from the woman who made it, experience the best and most authentic guacamole and margaritas when we had lunch at a restaurant which was highly praised by the locals, and explore the vast geography of coastal desert when we went on a camel tour. These activities allowed us to experience a better taste of Mexican culture, while also economically contributing to the locals.

All in all, tourists looking for cheaper ways to vacation cannot go wrong by choosing an allinclusive resort, as the personal benefits are huge. However, it is also important to consider the economic and cultural impacts that this form of tourism has on the locals. While I’m glad we got to experience the all-inclusive lifestyle once, I don’t think I’ll be staying at one again. Instead, finding retreat at a locallyowned hotel and more cultural accommodations will have more positive outcomes for more stakeholders directly involved in my next international vacation.

Culture

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I’ve Never Been to the North Kieran Ball Contributor

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lot of people in Prince George look surprised when I tell them I’m from Ontario. A lot more people look a lot more surprised when I tell them I’m from Toronto. “Wow, it must really suck here compared to the big city, huh?” Not really. Toronto will always be my hometown, but Prince George has really grown on me since I’ve lived here. The community is better and I haven’t been flipped off one time while driving.

I lived in Toronto for my entire life up until August, 2017. The metropolitan centre of Canada is basically a hipster New York City and we only have one NBA team. It can be very streamlined.

Everyone likes the Leafs. All the radio stations play Drake.

We think it gets really cold.

Prince George is an interesting little piece of British Columbia I didn’t know existed until the Summer of 2016. BC’s northern capital is a visually beautiful affair in every season. You can see the mountains from almost everywhere. The trees grow up high and you can see almost every star in the sky at night. Winter starts early and it snows like crazy. It gets cold here, for real. It always reminds me of a conversation from Game of Thrones.

“You’ve never been down South.”

“I’ve been to Winterfell.”

“That’s the North.”

Being in Prince George feels a little bit like being beyond the Wall. I’m not scared of White Walkers but I am a lot more aware of bears now. The city feels a little bit like it’s out of Fargo or Stranger Things, though

Hawkins, Indiana wouldn’t ever get the winters that Prince George gets. You can’t walk much because of it. You can walk everywhere in Toronto. I think I’ve walked a total of two hours in four months of being here.

In a lot of strange ways, I feel like I’m still in Toronto. Though the scenery changes, the people don’t change much. Even 4,500 km from my hometown I feel like I know some of the people I share classes with even if I don’t ever talk to them. People are still obsessed with Supreme and Yeezy. People still like basketball, sometimes a little too much, I mean, come on.

I realize we’re in a bit of a blow off class but you already know the Warriors won. People still share bad memes on community facebook pages. People still post wildly incriminating things on their snapchat stories.

If pressed about what I miss the most, I’d have to say the food. I only had to walk like ten minutes to get some really good sushi and twenty to get frighteningly cheap hangover-cure brunch.

Chicken and waffles, man, for $5. Another thing I miss about Toronto is not getting into my car and thinking I smell like farts. Shoutout to the pulp mill.

But Prince George is a great city. It’s a community I’m really happy I’m able to be a part of.

I’ve learned how to harvest potatoes and change tires and the handshake that’s just a little different from the one I know from Toronto. I had a raspberry plant that I loved even though it died. I co-own a dog that looks like an actual bear. Just about the best thing is that when I tell people I’m from Toronto, they think I’m exotic.

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Culture

Hamilton, Theatre and Truth Tierney Watkinson News Director

I

listened to the soundtrack of Hamilton: An American Musical over and over again while I was tree planting. Sometimes I heard that album two or three times a day. If I planted a certain number of trees by the time I reached “The Reynolds Pamphlet”, I knew I was on a roll that day.

Somehow, after months of multiple replays of the album, and a full year since my friends first

Hamilton is entertainment, not a school lesson. Even so, that raises an important question: How many changes should we allow to historical narratives in the name of entertainment?

Every avenue of storytelling we enjoy has portrayed some form of historical alterations for the sake of genre or public interest.

Where is the line between fact and fiction? Can history be

entertaining and relatable.

An easy example of a key difference between the musical and reality concerns the romantic implications between Angelica Schuyler and Alexander Hamilton.

“Satisfied” is a powerful song about regret and missed opportunity. In the play, Angelica is immediately enamored with Alexander; she feels that she has finally met her intellectual

Angelica’s own happiness, and also emphasizes the plight of women whose sole purpose in life was to climb the social ladder or at very least marry into financial security. Later in the musical, the fictional Angelica tells Alexander that she has found a husband: “I am sailing off to London / I am accompanied by someone who always pays / I have found a wealthy husband / who will keep me in comfort for all my

Joan Marcus | Playbill

introduced me to the musical, I am still listening to Hamilton. I am sure that everyone around me is tired of hearing about it.

However, after doing some quick research, I now know that certain events shown in Hamilton are exaggerated, rearranged, or imagined entirely.

Certain events in history, even certain characters, have even been omitted completely. These changes are discussed openly

by Lin Manuel Miranda, the creator. They are not hidden.

No one is trying to lie about the real Alexander Hamilton’s past.

entertaining without alterations?

The series of events in Hamilton are, for the most part, displayed only slightly differently in comparison to the actual story of Hamilton. Pivotal moments in history are relatively unchanged, if some assumed dialogue is added. That being said, I am pretty sure that late 1700’s Americans were not having rap battles or singing hip hop music to each other—a fact that surely leaves a huge chasm in the concept of joy during that time period in North America—but Hamilton is, again, meant to be

match. But, Angelica sings, “I realized / three fundamental truths at the exact same time.”

These truths: she cannot marry someone of lower status than her in good conscience, because she is the eldest daughter in a family with no sons; she is, in the moment, certain that Alexander is only speaking to her because of her own family’s higher social standing and does not want to be naïve; and finally, and most importantly to Angelica, her younger sister Elizabeth (“Eliza”) is already in love with him.

The song centres around her love for her sister, and how it eclipses

days.” A poignant, historical truth to this song is revealed by those few lines: women were not expected to be in love with the person they married.

Coming back to reality, Angelica was, in fact, married before she ever met Alexander Hamilton.

She may have loved Hamilton, but she also loved her real-life husband; they eloped in order to marry, fearful that Angelica’s father would not approve of their love match. Therefore while “Satisfied” is emotionally true—passing up a relationship that Angelica could have been truly happy in is terribly heart

Culture wrenching—it doesn’t follow the historically accurate timeline.

Angelica also had two brothers, meaning she was not the sole, or indeed even primary person within her family burdened with the responsibility of maintaining the Schuyler family’s social status.

later. Eliza’s fairy tale is not as perfect as we or Angelica would wish for her. The problem with historical alterations comes with the question of how high we are willing to place “fact” on the historical pedestal.

Does a beloved play have the potential to alter our views of history, our understanding of the past? Of course it does.

Here, the musical’s point was not to alter history but to develop plot, create a damper for the We only have what people fairytale-romance of Eliza and thought to record, to write Alexander, and to make the down—records that were audience more emotionally destroyed are lost forever, invested in certain main characters. Miranda also sought to because memories die with the people who held them. Hamilton’s fit the situation of a multitude of “true” story has been pieced women existing within that timetogether by his own writings, period into a single narrative, and Angelica was the perfect vehicle.

Angelica of the play does not sing just for Angelica Schuyler.

She represents all women of her time.

(Presumably, the youngest Schuyler sister did not inspire Manuel enough to host the entirety of such a narrative, beyond tacking Peggy Schuyler onto the tail end of songs as she trails after her sisters.

Alas, Margarita “and Peggy” Schuler Delfont Mackintosh Theatres gets only a few, if memorable, lines.)

While the song is not completely historically accurate, it still has great emotional pull: a missed opportunity for a life with someone you love, in a world where love is second to marriage contracts. The audience is made to feel torn between being happy for the newly-weds, and empathizing with the extreme regret Angelica must harbour for feeling as though she cannot allow herself to be truly happy.

Angelica’s plight becomes even more heart-wrenching when we watch Eliza, who seems to have gotten lucky and married for love, be betrayed by Alexander

by letters to him, and by the written memoirs of his wife, Eliza. How honest is a dead man’s story? Often in history, we have the facts but we do not have many of the in-betweens, the emotional filler; thus the gaps become subject to speculation.

Are we trying to make the story more bearable by enjoying historically based art and entertainment that has been altered by our own cravings for action, mystery, and romance?

Is it acceptable to completely or even subtly change portrayals of moments in history to make a better story, a more interesting

narrative, or a more beautiful tragedy? What exactly do we need to connect emotionally to history? How far are we allowed to deviate from the truth?

Whether or not the real Angelica was actually attracted to Hamilton, despite her marriage, is greatly speculative—she was close to Alexander, but while her letters to him and even other people wherein she speaks about Hamilton could imply romantic attachment, they could also merely emphasize her grasp of wit and sarcasm. And do not forget that two Schuyler brothers were cut entirely from the narrative of the musical so we

could feel pity for its Angelica, trapped in a box created by the societal norms of the time.

“Satisfied” is not the only part of Hamilton in which history is somewhat left behind. However, the dates depicted within the play are correct. The Battle of Yorktown was in 1781. Burr did shoot Hamilton (no, this is not a spoiler—Burr admits this during the first song of the play) on July 11, 1804. The play remains true to the core beliefs and historical actions of the characters, if it does skip over a few minor instances and add romance where there might have been none.

13

Hamilton sought to be different.

It climbed its way up in notoriety to become a Broadway hit despite not being entirely conventional.

It is a racially diverse cast portraying historically white characters, opening a new door for theatrical possibilities and breaking perceived racial barriers.

Modern music and humour also make the characters, who are stuffy old men in certain retellings, become alive and more relatable to a broader audience and thus allow us to remember that these were once living, breathing people.

Alexander Hamilton of the play is a young immigrant, born impoverished and seemingly doomed to die, who writes and fights his way to a legacy, a young man who goes from living hand-to-mouth to being George Washington’s right-hand-man. And that is the truth.

Should we be able to change history for the sake of entertainment?

My first thought would be a solid “no”.

However, I believe that Hamilton succeeded in something extremely notable: people who watch this musical want to learn more once the curtains have closed and the final note has faded away. They search sources for expansions on the story that, to them, has become beloved.

They discover the historical alterations and learn about them as well as from them. Perhaps the real question lies in which parts of history we hold most sacred— the people of the past and what they must have felt, and in turn how they make those of us in the present day feel, or the dates and orders in which things happened.

14

Culture

Trapped on Planet Earth James Eckstein Contributor

A

s the possibility of a manned mission to Mars becomes more and more plausible, scientists may soon be presented with another issue that could further complicate their journey. The amount of space debris orbiting the Earth is growing at such a rate that it may soon become impassable for spacecraft.

But what is space debris and what is its importance today and its significance for residents of Earth?

There are a lot of objects orbiting the Earth, so how is space debris classified? Space debris, or often called space junk, is the term used to describe any man-made object in orbit that no longer serves any useful function. The size of this debris can range anywhere from out of commission satellites the size of school busses down to the smallest of chips of paint. NASA has currently tracked just over 20,000 pieces that are larger than a standard size softball and over 500,000 pieces the size of a dime or larger. However, there are millions more pieces of debris that are too small to be tracked.

Almost all space debris will come from one of three sources; collisions, erosion, or decommission. The largest of debris will result from the latter, simply old equipment that no longer serves any purpose. There are currently no viable means of returning this equipment back to Earth to be properly disposed of. Erosion is the wear and tear of equipment in space from various sources Reid Wiseman | NASA

of radiation and impacting micro particles.

This leads to the very tiny non-traceable debris such as paint chips. The remainder of space debris comes from collisions between active equipment and space particles or ironically, other pieces of space debris.

All space debris orbiting the Earth is contained in one of two different layers, either geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) or low Earth orbit (LEO). GEO takes place approximately 36,000 kilometers above mean sea level. This zone typically contains older derelict satellites or decommissioned equipment. LEO is the orbit around the Earth with an altitude of 2,000 kilometers or less.

It is almost exclusively only space debris found in LEO that poses concerns for scientists as this is the area where most vital satellites function and where all manned missions occur. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are constantly tracking and staying alert for debris. Even the smallest of debris can travel with speeds up to 28,000 kilometers per hour and cause substantial amounts of damage, potentially risking the safety of astronauts aboard. NASA and the Department of Defense can track space debris to approximately 2 inches in size, giving astronauts enough time to take evasive action. Currently there are virtually no means of getting rid of any space debris in either orbit which may lead to a

phenomenon known as the Kessler syndrome.

Also called the Kessler effect, the Kessler syndrome is a theory created by NASA scientist Donald J. Kessler in 1978. He stated that if we continue to release objects into orbit with no means of disposing of them, space debris in LEO will continue to grow as more and more collisions occur. These collisions will create more space debris that will then in turn result in even more space debris through more collisions. Kessler then stated that if these collisions continue to grow at such a rate that it would eventually create a field of space debris that covers the entirety of LEO. Not only could this field stop future spacecraft and equipment from ever leaving Earth’s orbit, but it may also entirely disrupt global communication for everyone on Earth.

This could result in massive losses in internet and telecommunications on a global scale.

Looking back, NASA and others have realized that they did not plan far enough into the future and are now starting to face the consequences of putting so much equipment into space so quickly without any plans of disposing of it properly. While they have recently started working on projects to try and reduce the amount of debris, some such as Kessler believe it is already too late.

The Arab Spring of Conflict

Culture

15

The Bitter Cold

Emmanuel Drame Team Member

Sarah Green Contributor

The guns still blaze; mothers cry out in despair

The big night is here.

Children are growing up on a daily meal of trauma;

As her mother waves goodbye,

Their dreams are just as broken as their unrepaired toys

She wonders what it will be like.

The world has moved on so fast

The lights.

Like the minisode coverage from global media

The music.

Rushing to cover the next action hit news

The people.

Our conscience have forgotten all about them

Her white-blonde hair shines

As war nourishes whatever is left of their hope

In ringlets Past her shoulders.

What a rushing wave of change the Arab Spring has left in its wake

Her white dress

Generations will hail the courage of unity and stand in awe of human will

Looks angelic

The powerful have embellished truth ordinary people will never know by disguising their motives for influencing change where change has made the Ordinary victims of their own servings Ali sends his greetings from Misrata, everyday could be his last.

Amira waves her dirty palms to avert that sniper while standing on a hill in Ar Raqqah.

Rafikh hugs his mom and family as he boards a truck in Aden; His destination could be anywhere except Yemen Too many tales to tell but too little ink and paper To reach a world numb to conflict Our empathy has become limited to the length of a documentary about conflicts, or a breaking news that breaks the sentiment with an ad Our air of peace has tranquilized our will as constant bombardment with news about conflicts

In the moonlight.

It’s snowing.

The only covering she has Is a gauzy, White shawl.

She didn’t expect The bitter cold.

-They must have walked by her Countless times.

Her body Blends into the snow.

When they find her, The only colour is on her lips.

The deep red Stark against the ghostly figure.

now carry the hashtag, “Normal”

Her skin is pale blue.

I am just one more person with enough influence as my mind can allow the tip of my

The light left her snowy grey eyes

Pen scribble my sheet of paper with frustrations I aim at our lack of will. I hope a Dove with a

She never made it to the dance.

Branch of peace in its beak will come to our rescue.

We all make up the numbers that will Count when we say them out loud together. From the comforts of a rented room somewhere on

Days ago.

Instead, She was claimed by The bitter cold.

planet Earth, breathing in the air of peace, I report back to you, my world, live from the Arab Spring of Conflict. http://angieaway.greggall.com/

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The Last Word

Now is the winter of our discontent.

-William Shakespeare

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