Over The Edge Volume 23, Issue 8

Over The Edge

UNBC’s Independent Student Newspaper est. 1994

Home Stretch

NUgss Election Results Page 15

unbc.ca

Volume 23, Issue 8

Free overtheedgenewspaper.ca

March 28, 2017 ote-newspaper@unbc.ca

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Letters from the Colin Sl

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don’t feel quite like the Roman emperor Augustus, who is reported to have said “I found Rome a city of bricks, I left it a city of marble.” I don’t believe I did anything revolutionary during my tenure as Editor In Chief. I am not leaving Over The Edge the gleaming center of the universe, as Romans must have felt their city was during the Empire’s heyday. However, I do think I’m leaving Over The Edge better off than I found it.

Sam W

I took the reins of the paper during a year where we had an almost total turnover of staff and board members. This was not the fault of our predecessors, people graduate and move on to bigger things than a student newspaper - but it meant that we were left without experience to draw from and we had too small a team to produce content properly. Through my stumbling towards progress, I found reliable volunteers who would consistently write things for me, and coworkers who I could rely on as team members. We have a mix of new and

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t is with great excitement that I announce that I have been selected for the position of Editor-in-Chief for the upcoming 2017-2018 year! After spending my first year at Over The Edge as News Editor, I am slowly learning the ropes from current Editor In Chief, Colin Slark. Please join me in wishing Colin good luck into the future, as he graduates this Spring, and goes on to study Journalism in the Fall.

This past year, I have spent much of my time with Over the Edge as a reporter, working on bringing our readers the best and most concise information on current events around UNBC and the wider Prince George community. Some of my first and favorite work was in the Fall, covering the unveiling of a new UNBC sign written in Carrier, the translation of which had been negotiated between the university and the Lheidli T’enneh band. That day also included the signing of the first Memorandum of Understanding between UNBC and the Lheidli T’enneh. From there

Edge itors returning team members set up to work for the society next academic year, and I believe that with the structures I have helped put in place, with the experience of our returning team members, and with the determination of our new team members, next year has all the ingredients to make 2017/18 a banner year for the newspaper.

I’d like to thank several people who were pleasures to work with that made it possible for me to explore student journalism from the editor’s desk. Hannah Rizun was a conscientious coworker that did an admirable job of adapting to anything that was thrown her way, and it was a pleasure to have her on my team. I’m happy to hear that she’ll be coming back next year as Publisher, which will mark the fourth year in a row that Hannah has been involved with Over The Edge. Tierney Watkinson consistently wrote some great pieces, and has become one of the most reliable people I’ve ever known. I’m sure she’ll do a fantastic job as next year’s news editor. Sam Wall came in

I wrote an update about the work of a steering committee to improve UNBC’s sexual violence policy and procedures, the draft of which has recently been displayed in the Wintergarden for students to provide feedback on. I also had the opportunity to attend many events in the UNBC and Prince George community, such as the Backyard BBQ, the Rocky Horror Picture Show, the Transgender Day of Remembrance, Uniting with the Unist’ot’en Camp, and various local burlesque shows. Earlier in the academic year, I covered the NUGSS AGM, and was able to follow up that story by covering the recent EGM. Much of my work allowed me to explore my interests in feminist activism, such as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, the Sisters in Spirit Vigil, Prince George’s Sister March to the Women’s March on Washington, and the Women’s Memorial March on Valentine’s Day for missing and murdered Indigenous women. Some of these stories were more difficult to cover,

with the ambition and drive to learn and improve, and has become a terrific reporter.

I have no doubts that they’ll be an Editor In Chief that will make sure that UNBC receives the kind of student journalism that it deserves. Monique Gendron’s creativity has always impressed me, and I’m excited as a reader to see what kind of experimentation she’ll do with layouts next year as the returning Production Coordinator.

Multimedia Coordinator Ann Duong won’t be returning next year, and I wish her all the best in her future endeavours.

I don’t have the space to thank everyone that worked on the paper, but if you had something printed in our pages or did volunteer work for us during my tenure, know that you were greatly appreciated.

To our returning team members, and to new team members Alexandra Tuttosi and Emmanuel Drame, I wish you the best of luck at Over The Edge.

but that made them all the more worth it.

I also had the opportunity to attend NASH, the national student journalism conference, which took place in Fredericton, New Brunswick this year. At NASH I learned more about journalism overall, while being able to explore more specific writing interests with industry professionals. Being born and raised in Prince George, and coming to UNBC to major in Environmental Studies, I am excited to continue exploring my environmental and social justice interests, while working to connect with the university community and hear your diverse views. I imagine this newspaper as an ongoing communicative process, and I would love to connect with you as we work to build a modern news source. Here’s to our wonderful team of new and returning staff, and a productive and insightful future for Over The Edge!

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News

Misgendering at Service Canada Sam Wall News Editor

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wo Service Canada locations in northern BC have come under fire for inappropriately dealing with clients who are transgender. According to Northern Pride Centre President Krystal Vandenberg, a friend of theirs was misgendered by a front end worker at the Prince George location of Service Canada. In discussing this, Vandenberg learned that someone else had a very similar experience at the Prince Rupert location. Vandenberg went on to create a video about the issue, and wrote a letter to the editor which was published in the Prince George Citizen. Over The Edge connected with Vandenberg over messenger to get their thoughts on the situation, how it should be resolved, the impacts that this behaviour has on transgender people, and how citizens can support their transgender community.

less than is OK. As I stated in my video, it also causes barriers to transition if people choose to transition. This barrier can then create barriers to employment and housing.

Northern BC tends to be on the conservative side and I have known trans people [who were] rejected for jobs because their ID and gender don’t match, and since this isn’t protected yet in Canada, it is considered OK. I’ve also known people who have refused to come out as trans in Prince George because they can’t safely be who they are.”

After the video and letter to the editor were released, Vandenberg received some response

In recounting this event, Vandenberg said: “My friend went into the PG Service Canada location to change her name and gender markers on her ID. While there, the front end worker misgendered her (using male pronouns, calling her sir, etc.) as well as deadnaming (the act of referring to usually a birth name that an individual no does not go by) her. Even after being corrected and asked to use female pronouns as well as my friend’s proper name, Service Canada refused. This continued for an hour and a half. When my friend expressed being upset, the workers got upset with her and acted like she was to blame for them misgendering her.”

Issues such as this can have deep impacts on the transgender community, especially in more isolated areas such as northern BC. Vandenberg says that personal effects on transgender people can include “...isolation, anxiety, depression, etc. that statistically occurs in the transgender community.”

Vandenberg also delves into the difficulties of being transgender in a northern community: “Due to the lack of resources in Northern BC, it becomes even harder to know where trans-friendly spaces are. If a government agency is not accommodating, why should other agencies be? It sends a message to the public that misgendering and deadnaming trans people is OK. That treating them as

An email that shows the organization doing something about inequality is much more satisfying than the robotic, ‘can we talk to the individual.’ Own up to your mistake and make necessary changes.”

When asked about how they believe Service Canada should handle this incident, Vandenberg said, “Apologize first and foremost and do so publicly. It’s easy to hide behind emails but hard to recognize when your organization has made a mistake.

Be willing to undergo LGBTQ training especially with respect to trans issues.

When a front end worker misgenders or

servicecanada.gc.ca

from Service Canada: “I’ve received one email from Service Canada themselves and the other emails are from a worker. The one from the Prince George branch was a simple, ‘we would like to talk to the person involved.’

It was not much and until something active is done, I don’t view it as much. The email from the worker is more proactive and that I’m satisfied with. She is working with the Pride Network which was created to educate front end workers at Service Canada about LGBTQ issues. She has assured me that this has been brought up to Service Canada HR and has asked for input about what should be included in a training manual.

dead names someone, they need to correct themselves and move on. There is no reason to continue using the wrong pronouns and the wrong name. If these are [addressed as] an apology, it will show people that they are willing to rectify their wrongs.

Then they need to follow through.”

Finally, Vandeberg provided several suggestions for how citizens can support transgender people and help them feel safe: “Stand up to transphobia. When someone misgenders or dead names someone, correct them. If you have the privilege and platform to do so, bring inequalities like this to the

public’s eye. Educate yourself. There are lots of resource online, the Prince George Public Library has some wonderful books, and the Northern Pride Centre is always willing to help out. Don’t put the onus on trans people to educate you.

‘If you run a business, it can be something as simple making your single stalled washrooms gender neutral, or if you have multi-stalled washrooms, put up a sign saying [to] use the washroom you are comfortable with. On paperwork, let people check of the gender they are and if it is outside the binary, include an other box with a write in option.

Also allow preferred names on your forms.

Sometimes legal names and preferred names don’t match up and some laws do require legal names but that does not mean you can’t have both. And watch out for transphobic language. Things like equating men to penises or women to vaginae don’t make your space welcoming. This isn’t an exhaustive list and it is a basic list but we all have to start somewhere. Utilize the resources you have to become a better trans ally.”

5

Potential Jordan Tucker Contributor

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’ve got a bone to pick with my former high school teachers. The worst thing they ever did was tell me I had “potential”. The slightest whiff of “potential” is like crack to the awkward, acne-speckled, bespectacled teen that I was, and that I’m sure many of the readers of this fine paper are. It has a certain ephemeral quality to it, it whispers of the promised land of “success”, and some sort of opportunity to become more than what you are, which in my case was a kid who played trombone and wore wool, floor-length medieval capes to school unironically.

“Potential” meant that I was better than the population 2,000 town I had grown up in, that I would keep reaching and achieving until someone finally pressed a red-inked stamp reading “contributor” over my my forehead. I would become someone who ran things, rather than being in a constant state of running to catch up with bill payments or my own crappy decisions. Yes, indeederino, the world is run by the people who show up, and I would indeed show up. I clutched my high school transcript like it was gold and got my dirty little paws on as many scholarships as my grubby talons could clutch onto. I would head to UNBC, the land of promise. Then, I would do something.

Not sure what, but I would be Successful™.

Here’s the dirty little thing that the high school teachers don’t tell you: being Successful™ is a lot of work. My little buddies and I would trip over ourselves nightly to finish up our homework, to do our readings, to study for whatever godforsaken test we were being told would be the next hurdle we had to leap to be Successful™. And we would do it, at least partially, for the praise of whatever encouraging-eyed teacher was standing at the front of the room, cooing words about our “potential” as leaders of men, champions of the people – or failing that, assistant managers of the local A&W. Or just at least 23 and in a stable relationship before we had our first baby.

“Those who can’t do, teach,” my friend’s mother drily observed. She didn’t smoke, but she didn’t need to: her very tone compelled the air around her to move as though she was stubbing out a chain-lit

cigarette. She suggested that those who chose to devote their lives to the dreams of the next generation had somehow copped out on their own. All high school teachers were walking disappointments who were waiting on the street corner of life for Death’s taxi-cab. Their lives were mediocre, so they punished us by telling us we could be anything we wanted, in line with the aspirational messaging of our capitalistic economy. Eager little salmon, we swam upstream into university, guaranteed to end up in the same tupperware-bookended lives our parents lived, that we swore we didn’t want. The revenge of our teachers was that we would achieve the successful futures they forecasted: with our overachieving would come the jobs we wanted, the prestige we had earned. My high grades and commitment to extracurricular work would get me a lucrative dream job.

Successful™ at last! My doom sealed.

Here’s what they don’t tell you about getting a job that is hard: it is hard.

Working hard is hard. It will suck your energy and demand your mental resources and emotional resources and at times it will pool into your body like a poison, and make it do all sorts of silly things. Your back and neck will seize up and your mind will wake you up racing because you didn’t send an email to someone, or maybe you did but the tone wasn’t respectful or appreciative enough of their continued mentorship. Your weekends will be spent looking for more work to do in the hopes that perhaps you will get a complimentary note from your

boss, the workplace equivalent of an A-plus.

You will have no time or energy to see your friends and when you do all you will do is gripe about work and how little you love your dream job. But you are happy, you insist, like Emma Watson’s Belle sparrow-songing around the Beast’s castle. You can’t leave because you’ve sacrificed too much to be here – and besides, he might be handsome deep down and look at the library you’re permitted to look at. Also, the forest outside holds no guarantees but wolves and uneducated villagers who think “no” is a flirty retort.

“No one’s quick as Gaston”, indeed.

Luckily enough, behind the sheen of provinciallymandated encouragement towards high-paying jobs, there were a few teachers who managed to eek some reality into me, the smell of leftovers oozing out from beneath their saranwrapped lunches.

My middle school English teacher was a hero: she hated all of us but tolerated the classroom somewhat when we consented to reading a Midsummer Night’s Dream aloud. Her Marvel Comics disdain for everyone sometimes broke into smiles or laughter at the antics of her students. She didn’t really tell us to try, which was a welcome reprieve.

Another gem was my grade 11/12 Art teacher (I graduated a year early, because Successful™ means spending your first two years of university sneaking into bars). I forget her name but I will never forget how fed up she was with everything. She dressed like a woman who had better places to be but had found herself with a flat tire in our Jesus-obsessed town and had resigned herself to staying. I remember chattering some high-

pitched stream only dogs could hear about my future plans to save the world at her and being disappointed when she raised her eyebrow only to say, “You’re going to end up just like me.” I protested, because she seemed miserable and I was going to fix everything about everything. She shrugged, continued with a story about her divorce. The man, it seemed, had been rather rude to her, and ate all of the blueberries out of the shared tub of yogurt in the fridge. He hated his mother but somehow clung to her like a barnacle. This all struck me as very sad. Still, she pretended not to notice my presence when I skipped my math class to sally into her C block to spend time with my two friends. She left at the end of the year, citing “irreconcilable differences” with the school administration. As a parting gift, she directed our art class to make a pornographic mural of “Alice in Wonderland” on the large wall. Alice had double-D’s and period blood leaking from beneath her blue dress. A veiny pink and purple phallus tree bore the initials of two of my friends who had recently started necking. I painted a penile caterpillar on top of a cock and balls mushroom, and the hills were alive, indeed, because they looked like a pair of pornstar tits. When the new art teacher painted over it a couple of years later, I wrote an outraged email defending freedom of speech to the principal. Surprisingly, it was never returned.

I’ve been graduated from UNBC for over two years now, and if there’s one thing I can really say that i’ve learned, it’s this: your potential belongs to no one but yourself.

I can’t help but think of this one panel from a Spider-Man comic: naive Peter Parker is confronting a giant pterosaurus who was formerly a human scientist.

“With that kind of tech, you could cure cancer!” The womb-new Parker spittles and sputters. “Why are you so obsessed with turning people into dinosaurs?” The pterosaurus scientist replies, “but I don’t want to cure cancer! I want to turn people into dinosaurs!” If a psychologist could run a full analysis on that cartoon dinosaur scientist, I’m sure they would find him to be fully sane and fully self-actualized. I’m sure with my potential, I could do anything.

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Opinion

Celebrity Feminism In The 21st Century Dara Campbell Contributor

“No pop culture trend of the past few years has been more tiresome than celebrity feminism,” opens Cosmopolitan magazine’s Eliza Thompson in her article “Celebrity Feminism Has No Place in Trump’s America.”

For the most part, Cosmo occupies a space in mainstream media which fancies itself as empowering but is actually harmful to girls and women’s perceptions of femininity. The premise of the magazine is misogynistic in and of itself; like a lot of female-specific media, Cosmo acts like girls and women are primarily interested in beauty tips, fashion trends, celebrity news, and dating advice applicable only to relationships with men. (Is “38 Tips For Better Sex With Women” not a priority too?) Contrary to the magazine’s disappointing track record, Thompson’s article makes a number of important observations about celebrity feminism of the twenty-first century – namely, the fact that it lacks depth and is pretty useless to the feminist cause.

Feminism is still a taboo word, and still it has become a fashionable marketing tool.

Celebrities of all genders have taken to calling themselves feminists, a declaration that instantly makes headlines. As a society, we’ve almost made it too easy for famous people to be decorated as revolutionaries for voicing support of movement that began long before Beyoncé. Don’t get me wrong – I love Beyoncé. But there’s something inherently messed up about the fact that we prefer to digest the messages and ideologies of feminism when they come wrapped in beauty and fame. And despite that fact that the mainstream media is starting to discuss feminism more and more, this trend didn’t stop Donald Trump’s electoral college victory. Celebrity feminism may increase visibility and start conversation of feminist issues, but it can’t undo systemic misogyny and sexism. For this reason, Thompson argues, celebrity feminism must die.

Taylor Swift has been one of America’s most high-profile celebrity feminists, even though she only embraced the F-word relatively recently. She’s responsible for the ‘squad’ trend – the idea of surrounding yourself with

a hot, fabulous, strong, loyal, girl gang – and, more importantly, her music speaks to her lived experiences as a young woman. Besides the fact that her specific demographic of young, wealthy, white women is the most privileged of all female demographics, her songs are valuable in that they’re unapologetically emotional. Amongst the larger, more imminent issues, like safe and legal abortions and the wage gap, it’s still important that girls and women break down the stigma of being emotional. In spite of her contributions, Taylor Swift’s feminism is problematic because it’s apolitical, or rather, selectively political. Like many celebrities,

she’s aligned herself with feminism under the banner of well-meaning but inconsistent gestures, like using social media to publicly accept your “flaws” or celebrating other women’s expressions of femininity and sexuality. To be clear, these gestures aren’t negative, nor is the problem that celebrities are using their fame to discuss feminist issues. The problem is that the media tends

to cover celebrity feminism more than it focuses on the actual feminist work that needs to be done in years to come. Every time a charming celebrity declares themselves a feminist, we bow down to their glittery progressiveness. Another illustrious feminist icon to follow, but where are we going?

Thompson says it best when she points out that “just as white women need to start showing up for Black Lives Matter, immigration rights, and other causes that don’t directly center around them, so do celebrity feminists need to start showing up for something besides apolitical sisterhood.”

Especially after Trump’s inauguration, we must raise the bar for headline-worthy celebrity feminism. Embracing the term and getting on board with gender equality alone are not enough to justify headlines, red carpet interviews, and trending hashtags.

That’s not to say that the feminist work of celebrities is unworthy of attention, because all efforts to undo the stigma of being a

feminist is valuable to the movement. But we can’t let the chic feminism of Emma Watson and Scarlet Johannsson outshine the work Gloria Steinem, Toni Morrison, Jessica Valenti, and so on. Feminism can’t be an ideology that’s only popular when it’s embellished by celebrity endorsement.

The idea of women moving as freely and safely through society as men should be attractive enough to sell itself.

So, why doesn’t it? Maybe because society still struggles with the fact that we all contribute to a reality in which women living in ‘developed’ Western liberal democracies face systemic oppression and discrimination in the twenty-first century. It’s easy to celebrate the feminism of a trustworthy, academy award-winning actress and pretend your support of their feminism implies your own feminism. It’s much, much more difficult to acknowledge the work that must be done to destroy the deeply entrenched sexism that most of us contribute to in some way, whether by questioning the legitimacy of a woman’s sexual assault accusation or failing to recognize the racialized experiences of female oppression. Tackling these issues calls for a fundamental shift in how society perceives sexual violence and the unspoken way we prioritize white women as the blemish-free face of feminism.

Lack of intersectionality, rape culture, and other issues won’t just disappear when enough people call themselves feminists.

Of course, celebrities should continue to openly embrace the movement, but we need to start holding them, and all feminists, accountable to fighting for the cause.

Visibility of feminist issues is important, but ideology-based actions like female actors refusing to accept roles in which their male counterparts will be paid more or supporting organizations that promote reproductive rights are far worthier of headlines.

Regardless of whose actions they are, these are the expressions of feminism we should celebrate and expect from all feminists.

Opinion

7

On May 9, Vote In The Provincial Election Tierney Watkinson Team Member

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e, our generation, must become more involved.

At the NUGSS elections this year, the voter turnout was discouragingly low. Along with the released election results was the statistic that only 19% of eligible students voted.

I believe that a lot of the scrutiny placed on the outgoing NUGSS board has been unwarranted. They are being forced to deal with the consequences of poor management, miscommunication, and oversight from years past. This is the team that discovered the mistake in the first place. They were open and honest about it. Let us not forget that. Attitudes towards the outgoing NUGSS board members have been cruel, ruthless, and unnecessary.

On top of that, you cannot complain ceaselessly about the ruling party and then be apathetic come voting day. You cannot expect change to magically happen. Where are the voters? Where are the involved students? Forgive my “you” and “we” generalizations; they are partly laziness on my part, as well as purely assumptive.

By which I mean, due to low attendance at NUGSS AGMs, town halls and elections I am assuming that very few students can be bothered to become involved in campus events unless there is alcohol and a DJ (considering that we seemed to find the Backyard BBQ so much more appealing). Do drink tickets and candy need to be handed out as incentive to pay attention to policies at UNBC? It seems that pizza, at least, is not enough, because it was offered at the EGM in February; there, we struggled to meet a quorum of 106. 106, in a school of around 4000 students. Why the apathy, students of UNBC? You cannot tell me that about 3800 students were all otherwise occupied at 11am on a Wednesday morning.

It is apparent, looking that the NUGSS Election candidates, that a number of students have in fact taken initiative at UNBC. But it is not enough. A 19% turnout is abysmal. Unfortunately, it seems as though such a devastating lack of participation is a theme across the province. At the last BC Provincial Election in 2013, voter turnout was

only 52%. A mere 47.9% of eligible voters aged 18 to 24 actually cast a vote, and only 39.8% of registered voters aged 25 to 34 showed up to the voting stations. This is nowhere near enough. If you do not vote, you have no right to complain when the newly elected leader introduces policies you do not approve of.

It is time to get angry. It is time to get involved.

We need to step up. Do we expect the key to be handed to us? Maybe these superhero stories that are overwhelming the box office currently, stories about the “chosen one”, about characters who are handed powers and then are obligated to save the world for us, have in fact been more harmful than we realize. I would have hoped that these stories would inspire us to become heroic ourselves, but a sorry number of us seem content to wait for a saviour, instead.

Heroes do not exist simply because you hope for them.

Heroes exist because you become them. No one is going to hand a single person all of the answers and all of the abilities. WE, collectively, need to get up off of our asses and work for that change we keep saying we want to see.

We must quit this mentality wherein if the issues do not frighten us, we are content and do not question the ruling party.

You need look no further than immediately south of the Canadian border to see what happens when people become scared and misguided. In fact, we did the exact same thing here in Canada during our last federal election, with Harper and Trudeau. Groups of Canadians became afraid. Harper threatened values many held dear, so we the voters chose the candidate most likely to defeat him, and voted for them. People voted Liberal because

they didn’t want Harper. Down south, people voted reality-show scum because a major group saw Clinton as a threat and they wanted to prevent her ascension into power.

In Canada’s 2016 election, such an incident felt like a victory, and served as proof that younger voters could cause drastic change.

In the US, a similar phenomenon occurred but from the perspective of educated or empathetic people it had an effect that was anything but victorious. Even here in Canada, can the change inspired by the last federal election truly be called “informed”? Or were youth merely incensed blindly into action by the apparent threat of PM Harper?

We all seem to know too much about Republican and Democratic childish skirmishes in the US, simply because they have now become impossible to ignore. Americans handed that orange, ignorant felt bag the keys to their country through ignorance. Be involved in your country. Don’t leave it until it is too late.

BC Elections are coming up fast. It is too late to vote for your school representatives. If you missed the bus on that, too bad. But you can have a say about our provincial leadership.

If you don’t like any of the political party options, start to think about why that is.

Create your own party, if only to push major parties to become more aware and available. Or join a party you sort of like, and change it from the inside out. Or gather your peers and flood the current party offices with letters and emails and phone calls to let that political group know that you do not approve of their policies, you believe they need a reformation, you believe they are not listening to the public, and that you are not alone in that mindset.

Go to elections.bc.ca and make sure you are registered to vote. The Elections BC website lays out the process, rules, and dates for provincial voting so clearly that you have zero excuse for avoiding it.

Research the candidates. Look into their policies. Choose the one you believe to be best for the future of British Columbia and yourself. As of yet, the parties do not seem to have their shit together. Do not let that become an excuse for you to not vote. A vote of abstention, if that is your choice, is still a vote. An abstention carries more weight than an absence.

Come voting day, be prepared. You need one piece of government issued photo ID, such as your driver’s licence or a new health care card, OR a certificate of Indian Status, OR two pieces of ID that don’t need to have photos on them but one must have your current address listed (this piece of ID can be a utility bill, stamped mail, a transcript). If you somehow lose every piece of identification before elections happen, you can even get someone to “vouch” for you. The Elections BC website supplies a full list of acceptable IDs and tells you about the vouching process.

Important dates: Voter Registration ends April 11 at midnight. Advanced voting is available April 29 and 30, from 8 am to 8 pm, and again from May 3 through May 6. The General Voting Day is May 9.

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Student Life

How To Make The Most Of Your Summer Vacation Jade Szymanski Contributor

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s the semester starts to come to an end, you can feel the tension in the halls of professors and students alike, who can see the end of the tunnel and are yearning for the summer days where responsibilities and stresses are at an all-time low compared to the workload experienced during the school year. Whether you have plans to travel or to work this summer, everyone can agree with summer comes a happiness and a sense of being freedom that just can’t be found in September to April. Take advantage of every opportunity for fun and adventure as these summers will be the ones you look back on in the future as the golden years for prime memories. Even though four months may seem like a long time, don’t be fooled, time will go by quickly and soon it will be September once more and you will have to return back to normal life with a strict routine and schedule that will revolve around naps and pounding back coffees during the week and cheap shitty beer on the weekends.

The first step to making the most of your summer is learning to wake up early. Sure, for the first week or so take advantage of getting to sleep in while being cuddled up in your queen size bed, something that would never be a possibility back in those dingy UNBC dorm rooms. However don’t get stuck in the trap of sleeping your days away as you are wasting prime time for adventuring or earning hard cold cash. Set your alarm to wake yourself up at the same time every day so that your body gets used to it. Enjoy the early sunrises, the chirping of the birds as you take the time to make a wholesome breakfast and maybe even add some meditation to your morning as well.

Just because you’re waking up early doesn’t mean it has to be a stressful endeavor.

During the school year we are used to rushed mornings as we hit the snooze button so that we can avoid going to class for a couple more minutes. During the summer however, take your time getting ready for the day and you’ll learn to have more

positive connotations with waking up early.

Secondly, try to say yes to as many opportunities that come your way. If you want to focus your summer around work, try to apply for cool jobs that will help you gain experience and lifelong memories.

Don’t be intimidated by the intensity or distance or risk of any summer job because essentially that’s just what it is- a summer job. They’re meant to be temporary and give you experiences that can’t be found during the rest of the year. If you see a job you might be interested in, just apply. It doesn’t mean you’ll get it but it also doesn’t mean you won’t. Open your doors to as many opportunities as you can and you’ll be grateful for it down the road. If your plan is to do some travelling this summer, try new activities or foods that you normally wouldn’t do. You find yourself in a beach town, try wakeboarding or parasailing.

You find yourself in an exotic country, try some dish that has two “z”s in its name and

experience a new culture. Summer is often a time for development and growth for young adolescents as you are free to decide to do whatever you want with your time. Don’t close yourself off to new opportunities or experiences just because of fear. Fear often holds us back; use summer as your sword to break through anything that may be keeping you from experiences the finer things in life.

As I’m sure each and every one of us has different plans and expectations this summer, we do all have one thing in common; to have fun, make memories, and grow. We can only achieve this if we take advantage of every moment and opportunity. Make the most of your days by waking up early and basking in as much sunlight that the safety of your skin can handle. Say yes and be up for trying new things, without breaking any laws, as much as you can. If you have those two things in the back of your mind, you will be sure to have the best summer of your life.

Ben Long | intelligenttravel.nationalgeographic.com

Culture

9

Logan: A Review Tierney Watkinson Team Member

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o spoilers, I promise.

Full disclosure, while I have seen all of the X-Men movies except for the most recent (which directly preceded Logan), I have yet to read the comics. While (or perhaps because) I am aware of the different timelines within the X-Men Universe I feel as though I am definitely missing chunks of content.

That being said, Logan could be enjoyed even without watching all of the prequels first. Watching Logan with the limited background knowledge I may have, I absolutely loved the film.

I cried. Multiple times. Granted, it had been a long day and I was in such a mood that during a certain scene of the movie which involved horses, I nearly lost my composure completely. I’m just relieved that my group of movie-watching friends and I were at an early showing and the only person who noticed I was bawling because a horse nearly went “splat” in the middle of a film where multiple humans actually died was my understandably alarmed boyfriend, who kept an eye on me for the rest of the evening in case I started completely losing the shreds of sanity I seemed to be grasping at.

The reasons I loved the film: there are many. I cannot describe them all in detail without spoilers.

Of the points I can mention, first is the post-apocalyptic taste without the actual apocalypse. Something has happened, it seems, that has rendered the country a bleak, desolate place. The landscape is unwelcoming and harsh. This environment is a reflection of Logan’s deteriorating soul.

There is nothing but dry, choking dust and small shrubs surrounding the abandoned plant where Logan lives in hiding with fellow mutants Caliban and Professor Charles Xavier. The threat of something lurks in every scene. Thugs working in the dead of night to strip a car. Decrepit characters stumbling along a border wall. Unwelcoming fences somehow everywhere and containing, separating, always looming overhead where Logan and his companions reside.

My second reason is the flawed humanity

of these once seemingly indestructible superhero characters. Logan nearly refuses to help save an eleven-year-old child. He is physically and emotionally breaking apart and relies heavily on alcohol to numb his feelings. Professor Xavier is kept in a state of senility and locked away by Logan and Caliban because he is losing control of his powers, and thus is a threat to everyone around him. Even the character of the young girl, easy to admire for her tenacity and intelligence despite her young age, is arguably detached and alien.

Third reason: the quest that involves bringing a child to safety, a young girl who not only symbolizes hope but also has incredible powers, just like Wolverine. She is both a victim and unconventionally heroic.

What I loved the most about this film was that this female character is not sexualized.

Of course, she is only eleven, but what I really mean is that she is not “feminine” in the nurturing, emotional sense as you see girls and women often portrayed as being on television and in film. She doesn’t wear pastel colours or skirts, she wears jean jackets and pink-and-blue sunglasses she stole from a corner store. She is not dainty. She is far from helpless. She is practical, blunt, and a survivalist. She has a destination in mind and will forcibly move anything that is in her way.

She is not crying and waiting to be saved.

She is not trying to be likable. This is not a movie about a damsel being delivered--it is a movie about the bonds between old friends and strangers who share a common identity.

This brings me to my final favourite point concerning the film: the theme. Family. Love, in the face of confinement and the threat of loss. Logan, as superhero movies go, was darker, grittier, and more heart-wrenching than any such film I have seen in a long time. The over-played drama of Batman v.

Superman, for example, absolutely pales in comparison. Logan’s character does, as is obvious from the movie trailer, experience the cliche rejection of power and reluctance to take up the fight. However the Wolverine, in hiding and working as a glorified taxi driver, has understandable reasons for trying to exist as anything but a hero. He is

media.comicbook.com

not rejecting responsibility so much as he is afraid of gaining and subsequently losing something he has already had and lost--a family. The events of the past haunt him. He is trying to keep the loved ones who remain by his side, trapped in hiding with him, alive. As I mentioned before, the Wolverine is crumbling. Dr. X is suffering from a neurodegenerative disease and is potentially dangerous without hourly doses of medication. Caliban cannot withstand direct sunlight and is in danger every time he steps outside. Logan wants to abandon the girl and avoid all ties to her because he does not want to lose what little he has left. The Professor is trying his hardest to convince Logan that he can have that feeling of belonging again, of love, without the fear of loss. The film is centered around the family structure, around loyalty, around the love that a battle-weary man struggles to accept and return in kind.

The screenplay was written before the most recent US presidential election, and takes place further in the future, but the parallels between the film’s USA and the USA in reality are shocking. There is a threatening, barbed-wire barrier on the border between Mexico and the USA. The girl, introduced

as a new mutant after 25 years without one being discovered, is forced to flee to a new country because the government sees her as dangerous. America is heavily preoccupied with the idea of weaponry as well as the idea of the mutants being dangers to humanity, as though mutants were a single threatening mass and not terrified individuals who craved safety and normalcy.

The only major flaw I found within the film, or at least that I noticed even in my overly emotional state, was that the objective to get the girl to the Canadian border seems somewhat flimsy and ridiculous. I am not convinced of the power of that magic line, as portrayed in this film, but it was one of the very few things about the story that I questioned.

If my review of Logan makes you think it is a sappy film, let me debunk that for you. It is not. In addition to all of the feelings, the film contains some amazingly choreographed fight scenes, which I cannot rave about without giving spoilers.

Logan was gritty, it was thoughtful, it felt real. I highly recommend watching it.

10

Ultimate Nerdery

Tierney Watkinson Team Member

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ounded and weary, the adventurers watched as the dragon Venomfang coiled and bared his fangs in a menacing grin, preparing to attack.

His scales, glistening poison green, were stained with globules of shocking red blood that oozed from wounds in Venomfang’s flesh, wounds that were slowly beginning to take their toll.

Venomfang looked to the sky, where the gaping hole in the crumbling tower ceiling loomed far overhead. His body tensed-he unfurled his wings slightly.

The group of travelers knew in that instant that Venomfang was going to try to flee.

Penny, a powerful wizard, cried out, “I can stop the dragon from escaping!”

“But we might fail,” Sir Villanueva grunted as struggled to stand, still reeling from the dragon’s last blow. His torso was covered in burns. The dragon’s acidic poison attack had melted through patches of his once-fine clothing and blackened his armour. “We could die. And for what? An empty village?”

“But if we don’t kill him, the dragon could come back!” Malek shouted, his voice hoarse from the poison gas.”This was my home!

People will return and try to rebuild! What happens when Venomfang returns, as well?”

Suddenly, Venomfang leapt into the air. The tips of his wings brushed the walls of the tower as he dragged himself airborne.

The bloodstained, burned, half-dead companions looked to each other as the dragon lifted himself further and further towards the ceiling with each stroke of his wings.

Their weapons were as sticky with dragon blood as their armour was with their own.

There was silence for a heartbeat, the scene frozen in time as the companions came to silent agreement.

“Do it!” Amber roared at Penny, raising Light Bringer, her mace, in defiance. Triym, too, let out a roar that defied her halfling size.

Without hesitation, hands raised to the sky,

the wizard cast spiderweb, creating a net that spanned across the broken tower ceiling. The tower became darker as the strands of web knitted together, trapping the sun outside.

The spell had been cast just in time. Venomfang struggled to halt his ascent but collided with the web, his wings becoming entangled within its sticky, unbreakable tendrils.

With a roar of fury, the dragon tore his wings free and turned back to face his adversaries. The bloodied adventurers readied themselves for the end.

So went the final quest in my first Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

The first time I remember being introduced to Dungeons and Dragons, I was watching the TV series Community. My first glimpse of the game in action thus involved a bitter, elderly man doing his best to kill off the in-game character of a bullied nerd by commandeering a fictional universe and becoming a dragon tyrant. As you do.

Fast forward a few years and I am here, gifted with amazing, nerdy friends and participating in my second campaign.

D&D, first and foremost, is a group activity.

If you enjoy board games, the concept is similar but the playing field primarily exists in your own head. The Dungeon Master (DM), the player in charge of the storyline for the campaign and the omniscient higher power, is tasked with providing players with maps for references, either as drawings or via internet. These maps can be as detailed or as vague as the DM feels necessary.

The best part of this game: YOU create the character. You can be whoever you want to be. You get a choice of race (gnome, human, dragonborn…) and class (monk, paladin, rogue…), and you design your own personality. Are you a conflicted drow who is unsure of where he stands in the fight between right and wrong? A battle-worn, high elf monk? A mage of undisclosed gender with a penchant for collecting the body

parts of enemies? Your character is as simple or as complicated as you want it to be.

You and your teammates traverse a fantasy land, dictated to you by a DM, and complete quests as you delve deeper and deeper into the story. D&D, in my opinion, is effectively an interactive novel. The Dungeon Master holds the base copy of your adventure. Depending on the choices you and your fellow travelers make, different monsters, quests, and allies appear. You and your group members earn experience points together as you capture villains, complete objectives, and defeat enemies.

Truth be told, the battle scenes can be frustrating when you are just starting out, and since the quests generally center around fighting some enemy, there are a lot of battle scenarios. It is difficult to react quickly to events in the game when you are struggling to remember your weapons or spells and how sneak attacks work and oh wait which dice do I roll and how many and is this a bonus attack or an actual action and what the hell does a dexterity save mean--?

Battles seemed simple in theory to me, then revealed themselves to be much more complicated, but after my first campaign they are easily understandable if a bit more complex than I initially expected. For instance, battles are simplistic in that each player takes a numbered turn. During your turn, if you want to make a move, you roll a die to see if your character is successful.

Then you roll another die to determine damage. However, there are 7 dice to a set.

Which one you roll for damage depends on the weapon, and you add extra damage points in accordance with your character’s proficiencies and class capabilities. For example, some spells or physical attacks can reach farther or do extra damage if you delve into certain power banks. As a monk, you have a set number of “Ki” points in your power bank, and spells or enhanced actions cost a certain number of Ki points

each. This seems complicated, but the extra points you have access to or that you tack on to damage generally stay constant throughout your level. And your weapons or spells come with guidelines to refer back to until you eventually memorize the rules concerning your character. Other actions, such as “medicine” (to determine the medical properties of a plant or to heal someone, for example), are also determined by the roll of a die. To sum up, everything your character does depends on rolls of the dice.

During my first campaign, which was tailored for brand new players, the character sheets were pre-made and therefore saved me and my fellow teammates from the daunting task of godly creation. Every player has their own character sheet, created and filled out to suit each individual player’s needs. A typical character sheet is a single, doublesided page that overviews your character race/class/level, alignment, personality details, background, abilities, weapons, equipment. Only the Dungeon Master and yourself have full access to your character sheet. I learned from wiser fellow players that it is handy to attach blank pages to our character sheets, to have extra room for spell descriptions and background information. I found mine especially handy for the bountiful loot our team collected.

D&D, depending on how often your group can get together to play, is not a oneevening game. It definitely involves a level of commitment. Our starter game took many evenings and weekends over the course of six weeks to complete. Beginning a campaign just before the semester ends could be a problem if you all want to be in the same room. However, for my current campaign we have one member who lives out of town, so we play via computer.

Roll 20 is an interactive gaming website that allows you to play D&D even when some of your team members can’t quite make the regular commute. It isn’t quite

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Why you should play D&D as personable as playing without any electronics, in my opinion, but it does make long-distance playing possible. The maps on this website are absolutely amazing, too.

and leap lightly to the ground, unharmed.

The other members of this mismatched group of travelers looked on, momentarily stunned in the heat of the battle.

During the night, the group was woken by the Innkeeper’s cries of alarm.

“I cannot believe that just happened,” Torman said. The dragonborn monk shook his head in awe.

Two trolls had appeared in the night and and were working to break into the stables, intending to feast on horseflesh.

The travelers leapt from their beds, seizing their weapons and rushing downstairs to save the horses.

Two members of the group, however, remained behind.

Cloud on the Mountaintop, a tabaxi bard and Babo, a gnomish warrior hurried to a window overlooking the stables and threw the shutters open. They stood side by side at the second-storey window of the Inn, and watched the battle unfold below.

Elves, goliaths, and humans alike struggled to keep the enemy at bay. The trolls were surprisingly strong and the travelers were exhausted from their journey the day before coupled with their interrupted rest.

Someone had to do something spontaneous, something to throw the trolls off, and fast.

Babo knew what had to be done. He looked up at Cloud. “Throw me,” Babo said.

Cloud looked back at Babo, speechless and whiskers twitching, for a mere moment before jumping into action.

He ran back into his room and returned to the window in seconds, pulling on his Gauntlets of Ogre Strength and carrying Babo’s spear in the crook of his elbow. Babo took the spear in hand.

Meanwhile, the wounded goliath Vakan could be heard muttering in bitter, sarcastic tones from where he lay on the ground, “Here I lay bleeding. I stare at the sky...watch as it all leaks away. ‘It’ being my blood.”

You can imagine the DM’s reaction when a player said “Babo looks at Cloud and says “Throw me”.” The most fun was had via listening to our DM trying to figure out what die should be rolled to determine the success of chucking a gnome out of a window, considering that Cloud had a special item to help him (the gauntlets, which we retrieved as loot after an earlier battle) and attempting to calculate the damage properly.

And then everyone was flabbergasted that someone had just chucked a gnome out of a window and caused the most damage to the enemy for that entire battle. That incident involved a fair amount of metagaming.

“Metagaming” is using the knowledge you have as a player to advance your character in-game. Or talking out of character during the game, or discussing battle tactics with

other players. As a new player, it is virtually impossible to get through any battle without timing out and asking questions or clarifying actions, especially when you try to get creative. The gnome-tossing inspired a great deal of out of character discussion.

The DM, the voice of command for every campaign, was gracious enough to allow it.

If you are an actor, D&D is excellent practice.

If you’re not an actor, have no skills in acting, and have zero desire to ever be onstage, this game can still be for you. If you are a writer, I found that D&D really helps with writer’s block because it prompts you to visualize scenarios for a character of your own creation. Games are serious or fun or a combination depending on who is playing, the views of your DM, and how your team feels that day. Cliche as it sounds, the only thing stopping you is your own imagination.

I am typically shy when it comes to roleplaying or acting, but when you are playing D&D your acting skills do not matter. You just need to be able to immerse yourself into the game. When you are part of a group that has the same goals as you, it is not difficult to do.

D&D is also a great way to exercise or build upon your strategic thinking skills, especially as you level up. My only complaint with my first campaign, as someone who loves complicated and convoluted storylines, was that our actions did not necessarily lead

directly to disaster or victory depending on our choices. For instance, if we killed a captive rather than bring him/her to prison, the consequences for either action were nil.

Whether you stabbed a villain through the eye and left them to die or carried them to the nearest village for justice didn’t really effect the story as long as you made sure to obtain information from them, first. However, we were playing a beginners’ level campaign.

The social aspect is, to me, the most appealing part of D&D. I get to go on a weekly quest with friends. We spend huge chunks of time together every time we meet, working through in-game problems, thinking up tactics that are efficient and/or utterly ridiculous, and taking on enemies together. I believe it really is a game that brings people closer together. And if dungeons and/or dragons are somehow not your forte, D&D is available in steampunk, futuristic, and other themes--there are endless possibilities. You can even create your own campaign from scratch, a homebrew without the use of DM guides, and tailor a universe to your wants.

If you have been thinking about trying the game, I insist that you do so. You will not regret it.

Cloud lifted Babo to the open window, took steady aim, and then, letting out a ferocious war cry, he threw Babo with all of his might.

The gnome shot straight as an arrow towards the battle, his spear held out before him, and plummeted into the nearest troll.

Cloud’s aim was true. Babo’s spear plunged deep into the troll’s flesh. Back on the second story, the bard rejoiced to see his friend yank his spear out of the severely wounded troll

Tierney Watkinson | OTE

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Starting The Conversation On Sexual Assault Ellen Muggorsky Guest Contributor

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hen I was sexually assaulted, I was not asking for it. When I was sexually assaulted for the first, second and third time, I was not asking for it.

I would like to share this personal account with you, not to scare you or to shock you, but in an honest attempt to dispel stereotypes. I wish not to instill fear but bring thoughtful perspective to a thoughtless crime. I would like to emphasize the word crime. See, despite the fact that 1 in 3 women are sexually assaulted, some still lack the understanding of a few basic constructs so let me lay this down to you.

According to the criminal code of Canada, consent is the voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity. Consent should be a voluntary, sober, enthusiastic, informed, mutual, honest and verbal agreement.

However, even if an individual is of sound mind and body and are able to consent, does not mean that they do consent. If someone says or does something that shows they are not consenting to an activity or incapable of being able to consent, it is not consent. Also, there are other ways to show you are not consenting other than screaming no at the person. It is common for a victim to freeze under the traumatic circumstances; this is not consent. If you do not get consent, it can be sexual assault. Sexual assault is defined as sexual contact with another person without the other person’s consent. Sexual assault includes rape, forcible sodomy, forcible object penetration, unwanted sexual touching, or any unwanted or coerced sexual contact Furthermore, according to the Supreme Court of Canada, sexual assault is also dependant on both the areas of contact and the sexual nature of the act. If it violates the sexual integrity of an individual, it can be classified as sexual assault. It also depends on the satiation in situation in which the contact occurred, the words and gestures accompanying the act as well as the circumstances and if threats were present.

All of the concepts discussed above are often lost within society. The true and legal definitions and the ideas that encompass the sexual rights of every individual are

not talked about. Or misunderstood. Or misinterpreted. As a person, you are entitled to make your own sexual decisions and stop any sexual activity at any time; whether during or before. It is also your right to be able to tell anyone that you are not comfortable with the way they hug or kiss you. To ask a partner if they have been tested for STI’s. To sexual privacy, equality, emotional sexual expression and pleasure.

For me, it took me years to realize that the first time I was sexually assaulted actually counted as a crime because I didn’t know my rights or understand what consent was. Not because I didn’t believe in it, but because no one ever explained what it was to me. All I knew at the time was the incident made me feel confused and upset. I slid those feelings under the rug.

Our society has slid the sexual assault epidemic under the rug, and I’d like to challenge that.

I would like to start the conversation and more importantly the education of this true travesty created and attempt to educate sexual beings or any beings at all in a community which so thoroughly encourages knowledge and a comprehensive understanding of the world around us.

When you are a victim of a crime, it is normally an abnormal event. When you get upset, confused, angry or ashamed of the incidence, you reacting to an abnormal event.

It is normal. That’s why it’s called trauma.

I think one of the biggest problems after enduring the assault was the feelings that came. I went through them all. I was as textbook as they come in terms of a situation that isn’t textbook at all. I thought that I was being dramatic. That it was my fault and that I should be ashamed. Do you know who should be ashamed? The perpetrator, because no matter what, the only person that is at fault is them. Shame on them for not treating a human being with the kindness or respect they deserved. Shame on them for being cruel, and violating the sacred temple of the human body.

When someone assaults you, it is so easy to

think untrue thoughts. To believe what the media and what North American Rape culture taught us, because it is so deeply ingrained in the societal constructs we encounter every day. We get exposed to horrible acts and get drowned with negative news by the media which allows us to be de-sensitized to the crimes. We hear about the celebrities being accused and rarely convicted or accidentally make a new celebrity out of a disgrace to mankind that exemplified white privilege and sexism to a tee; Brock Turner. Or worse, we meme it. We poke fun and brush off pain and suffering without a shred of remorse as minute as the world’s tiniest violin.

I would like to breed understanding, and empathy. I would like to be very clear: empathy. Not sympathy. Know the difference.

Honestly, for a victim of sexual assault.

Personally, for me, nothing you can say makes it better. You can’t take it back, you can’t make it ok. The healing comes from within. You can love them and care for them and support them in whatever ways required.

But do not think it is your duty to tell them how it is. Even if you are a victim yourself, we all react and experience trauma different.

Because humans are unique, with unique personalities and perspectives. I think the biggest gift you can give someone trying to be ok after, is the ability to talk about it. To allow them to use their voice and express themselves and start the long road of healing.

One of my first steps of healing was me starting to understand that my feelings of worthlessness and shame and guilt were wrong. Some of those feelings stemmed from my own personal misunderstandings and ideas that were put in my head by media or from other individuals. I would partly like to attribute this to a common phenomenon: blaming the individual. “Oh, they shouldn’t have been walking alone at night,” “they shouldn’t have dressed like that or flirted,” “they need to be more careful, they brought it upon themselves”.

What I would like to remind is that despite the cruel culture that has been bred, the stereotypes are wrong:

We did not ask for it.

We did not deserve it.

We are not sluts.

We are worthy of respect and love, always.

For me, it’s those misconceptions that kept me quite. That kept me from feeling ok and has kept me tossing and turning at night. I was so ashamed that I let it happen because for a while I believed that it was like 1+1=2.

That if it happened to me then I was in the wrong because I put myself in a position that wasn’t safe or that I was careless enough to not remain safe at all times. I had to be a careless slut. Except, I wasn’t. I took all the care in the world. And when I did get assaulted I wasn’t scantily dressed or under the influence of cocaine and alcohol. I am so sorry that I believed this. I hate the word slut. I hate that other girls even use the word because that is a negative word which brings shames to girls who are sexually liberated and actively seek personal pleasure and express themselves in ways in which I don’t know how. I would not like to bring shame to any of the people who do engage in these activities and life choices, I know better now and I hope that this insight will help others work towards an informed level of understanding. It never crossed my mind that this crime doesn’t discriminate. Sexual assault can happen to anyone. It can happen to people with any sexual identity, processing any relationship status, no matter the age, ethnicity, personality, weight or social status.

In conclusion, it is not your fault if you were sexually assaulted. You did not ask for it and you are worthy of love and kindness and compassion. Everyone is. Your experience does not make you broken or defective and do not let it define your entire being, because you are so much more. You are the way you laugh at a good joke and the way you make other people feel. I hope that no matter what, that everyone can take away some level of perspective from this discussion and realize how important it is to treat others with respect, whether that be at school, and the gym, or in the bedroom. Let the enthusiastic yes ring in your ears every single time.

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In Remembrance of Richard Wagamese Sam Wall News Editor

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here are days when the sadness of the world feels overwhelming. When this sadness comes knocking, it is never slow or gentle, it is a rough punch busting splinters to the floor. So I write. I journal, I poem, I story. A few days ago, we lost an incredible author. A teacher, a poet, a storyteller, a journalist, and a guide. I never knew him. I only ever met him through his work, and that itself threatened to blow me clean away. He was still publishing the last of his dozen books in 2016, Embers. His first book, Keeper’n Me, was required reading for First Nations 100. The book was published in 1994, the same year my brother was born.

injustices. I was also reading a story about a man coming home. I was reading about finding a home in culture, finally, after a lifetime of confusion, of only hearing the misguided words of others. I learned of the all-encompassing loss that digs itself deeply into our collective history. It may as well alter our genetics for how the grief is

find, that probably doesn’t exist anymore.

My family only moves farther away from it all, from Ontario and Ojibway, from home and the whole mess. My brother is the only family member I share this particular complex heritage with. We feel these losses, maybe not the same ones as Wagamese, but the losses come

I was born just over two years earlier. I try to imagine the world then, and the people who read it at the time, and how it may have impacted them. I also wonder who read it, and who didn’t. What if more people read it and understood the context, of this snapshot of history, of a life story within other life stories and onward into the wider society.

Regardless, it was the first time I had read something like this and felt something stir deep inside me. For the sense that I could find healing in learning more.

Richard Wagamese was an Ojibway author from Wabaseemoong Independent Nations in Ontario. As an Ojibway person, his work resonated strongly with me. For most of my life, the word “Ojibway” is all I knew about the culture.

About the heritage whose heartstrings have been stretched over generations, over time, over nations, over a colonial history. At the same time that I was in class learning about residential schools, the Indian Act, the Sixties Scoop, and so many other Tierney Watkinson | OTE

passed down through generations, taking different shapes like real life monsters.

Except we were left without a story to tell us how to deal with those monsters. The future felt bleak and we lost our way into addictions, abuse, and mental illness.

Luckily, culture is stronger than that. His words brought a deep longing inside of me, for a home that I don’t know where to

from a shared root. I want to learn to see the beauty in our diverse heritages.

My Ojibway heritage is comparatively small, as I am also British and Scandinavian. I am white and I look it. This European heritage gives me a free pass on colonial history. Like many I didn’t understand the debt we owe to the first inhabitants of this land, and that it will never be paid off, not ever, by anyone,

in any lifetime. This is how I come to you, and I don’t aim to speak for anyone else, whether individual or cultural group. This is what his work meant to me as a cultural vagrant, as one wandering through modern Canadian life, trying to make some sense of it. So I learn. So I read. So I listen as best as I can to all those whose wisdom extends back generations, whose lives were irrevocably changed by my ancestors. If I am experiencing this, there must be others too, who feel conflicted in their pain, feel conflicted about allowing themselves to feel the pain. I will not allow myself to be ripped in two by this. So I write.

If Richard Wagamese has taught me anything, it is the healing that can happen when we learn our culture, whatever that may be.

I wish I could have met you, my social media is filling with more and more words from those who knew you.

But I know I have many more books to read.

You knew, and learned the hard way, that our histories curl into the muscles of our legs, roots tie us to places, to spaces we occupy and move through.

Georgia Straight As we walk, we carry these histories with us, they are a part of us, no matter how hard we try to run away from them.

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2017 Women’s Memorial March

fill a gap in your program

Sam Wall News Editor

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uesday, February 14th was a chilly day, with the sun easing towards the horizon by the 4pm start time for the Women’s Memorial March. The March occurs every year on Valentine’s Day to remember and seek justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women. This event is of particular importance in northern communities, as highway 16, also known as the Highway of Tears, runs through the dense forest where many Indigenous women have gone missing or been found murdered. This year, about 100 people were in attendance to pay their respects, and share their time with various speakers at the Courthouse. The event culminated in performances at the Prince George Native Friendship Centre, after a march from the Courthouse.

The event began with an opening prayer and welcome to the Lheidli T’enneh territory by Darlene Macintosh. The Master of Ceremonies, Ken Solonas, directed the speakers, the first of which was Angelique Levac. Levac runs a specialty shop downtown called Angelique’s Native Arts, where she sells Indigenous clothing, jewelry, and birch bark art. Levac spoke about her experiences with losing someone to the Highway of Tears, as she lost her sister. She reminded us that we must not give up the fight for justice for these women. Next to speak was Brenda Wilson, the Highway of Tears Coordinator for Carrier-Sekani Family Services, who spoke about losing her sister Ramona Wilson in 1994. Since then Wilson has been an activist against the growing toll the Highway of Tears has taken on Northern communities. Though it has been a long time, and a lot of work, Wilson is happy to see changes happening, such as the first bus between Smithers and Moricetown. Implementing a bus system along highway 16 was recommended at the Highway of Tears Symposium in 2006.

Terry Teegee, Tribal Chief of the CarrierSekani Tribal Council, also spoke about Ramona, as she was his cousin, and others he has lost. He emphasized the need for better legislation around violence against women and girls. Laura Nordin, Executive Director of Surpassing Our Survival (SOS), an organization that provides support for

survivors of sexual violence, spoke of the changes she has seen over the years, and how inspired she is by everyone working together on this problem. Cindy West from the Elizabeth Fry Society emphasized the importance of continuing this work, especially around raising awareness of the issues. Dawn Hemingway from Northern Fire/Women North Network also emphasized similar tenets of raising awareness and working together. The final speaker, Sarah Boyd from the Northern Women’s Centre at UNBC discussed political activism and the possibility of creating a physical memorial for the Indigenous women who have gone missing or been murdered.

With the speeches complete, the Khast’an Drummers led the crowd in a march to the Prince George Native Friendship Centre.

With most of the 100-person audience arriving in a small hall, there was a close and comfortable atmosphere as elders, children, and everyone in between shared refreshments. The evening was wonderful and inspiring as Kym Gouchie, backed up by the Khast’an Drummers, performed several powerful songs of loss, love, and community.

The Women’s Memorial March originally began in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver in Coast Salish Territories. It was founded on February 14th, 1992, when a Coast Salish woman was found murdered on Powell Street. The March is now in its 27th year of honoring vulnerable women who have been lost to all types of violence.

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15

NUGSS/Senate/BOG Election

Coming Home

Colin Slark Editor In Chief

T

he votes are in for the 2017 NUGSS Board elections and it seems that undergraduate students are looking to put in place oversight for their student government. Erik Searle, who proposed the concept of an oversight board to student at last month’s Extraordinary General Meeting in response to last year’s news about financial mismanagement and large debts the society has incurred, defeated outgoing Associate Director of Events and antiOversight Board candidate David Schroeter to become the new NUGSS President by a margin of 311 votes for Searle to 113 votes for Schroeter.

When reading results for the election, it is important to note that in a bid to reduce costs associated with paying directors, students voted in last month’s EGM to reduce the amount of directors on the NUGSS board from 11 to 8. In the race to elect a new Director of Internal Affairs, Seth Jex beat out Keaton Freel by a margin of 259 to 176. Dara Campbell beat out Kristian Jensen-Leblanc 208 votes to 87, although a whopping 147 voters decided to abstain from this race.

Chris King, who was one of the co-sponsors of the Oversight Board with Erik Searle, ran uncontested for the position of Director of Finance, with 323 voters comfirming that they wanted King for the position.

Janelle O’Meara ran uncontested for the position of Director of Student Affairs and was confirmed by 319 voters. Raychill Snider received 343 uncontested votes to remain NUGSS’ Sustainability Representative.

Kasandra Johnny-Turbide received 308 uncontested votes to switch roles from Aboriginal Representative to Women’s representative. Replacing JohnnyTurbide at the position of Aboriginal Representative is Karista Olsen, who received 312 uncontested votes.

In the referendum that proposed to raise student fees by $6.50 in order to continue NUGSS operations of the Moose, students voted overwhelmingly by a 349124 margin to approve the motion. In the upcoming year it will be interested to see how things unfold as the society receives extra funding, and as certain new board members potentially push for a greater level of accountability from the student government towards their consituents in regards to finances.

A source of concern for NUGSS in the aftermath of the election might be that a disappointing 19% of eligible voters (483 out of 2534) participated.

Coming after last year’s news about the society’s finances and after last month’s call by Searle and King for students to take a greater role in participating in their student government, it seems that students did not take this election seriously.

Sarah Green Contributor

In undergraduate Senate elections, Lauren Dohler, Marion Erickson, Steven Horianopoulos, Aaron Larsen, Hailey Massingham, and Ana Saenz were elected to serve one-year terms. Arctica Cunningham, the outgoing NUGSS President, was elected to fill the vacancy for the position of undergraduate representative on the UNBC Board of Governors and will serve a one-year term.

She sinks further Into the abyss.

No chance of return.

She floats Further from reality.

Until she sees him.

She sees his face, His smile, The way he laughs.

She sees the way He looks at her.

Like she is the only one He will ever want.

She comes back To reality, Into his arms.

She is safe.

She is home.

Over The Edge We recently made some bylaw changes. Check them out at overtheedgenewspaper.ca Have a great Spring and Summer!