STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
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FIRST PEEK
June 2, 2014 · Volume 147, Issue 5
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FIRST PEEK
Beer and university go together. They just do. Who hasn’t stayed up late, pint in hand, cramming for a physics final or a history essay? And just try and tell me you’ve never shotgunned a can or two to celebrate afterward. There’s a reason that college kids drink a lot — beer helps when it comes to making social connections, de-stressing, and having fun with your classmates. Some of the best friendships I’ve made at SFU have been struck over a couple of brews, and I’m sure plenty more will be in the future. It’s not just the social side of university, either. Beer has been proven to help with your schoolwork; it lowers your focus, sure, but it also increases your capacity for creative thought and innovation, giving you the bright ideas that eventually turn into presentations and research papers. And though I’ll be the first one to admit beer has its fair share of adverse health effects, there are plenty of positives to balance it out: it’s proven to be heart healthy in moderate doses, helps to lower your cholesterol, and can even
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stave off dementia and Alzheimer’s. In women, it might even lead to better overall cognitive function, according to the 2006 American Heart Association report. So why doesn’t SFU have more beer on its Burnaby Mountain campus? Sure, we’ve got a bar. The Highland Pub, which has been around almost as long as The Peak, is actually a pretty decent watering hole. Hell, they’ve even got Driftwood’s Fat Tug on tap, one of the best craft beers in BC.
But let’s be honest: the food is subpar, the prices are nothing to write home about, and it’s been hemorrhaging student funds for years. It’s no Central City or Steamworks. Compared to its sister campuses in Surrey and Vancouver — both of which are surrounded by a wealth of great pubs and liquor stores — Burnaby just doesn’t cut it in the beer department. Investing in more beer on campus isn’t just a good thing for students who are looking to take the edge off after a hard day of classes — it’s also an important step towards building the supportive student community that
SFU sorely lacks. As the poet John Ciardi once wrote, “Fermentation and civilization are inseparable.” More pubs and beer mean more get togethers, which means SFU students getting to know each other and striking up friendships. There’s nothing like a rowdy pub night to unite a group, and we all know that SFU is a few fries short of a Happy Meal when it comes to student solidarity. SFU is a great school, but it’s got a reputation as a “commuter campus.” This is just a nice way to say that, once people’s classes are over, they just go home. Beer gives people a reason to stick around, and it helps foster an environment where people feel like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves. In a way that simply going to the same school never can, beer has the capacity to bring us together. Okay, okay, I know I’m still talking about beer here. I don’t want to go overboard — for some, beer will never mean the same thing that it does to me. But I do think one of the first and most important steps towards turning SFU Burnaby into a more welcoming place for students, both new and old, is a little wheat, barley, and hops. Now, who wants to split a pitcher? You can follow Max Hill
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NEWS
This summer, four SFU communications students are taking a trip around the province to advocate for more sustainable practises. The BC Used Oil Management Association’s (BCUOMA) Summer Ambassador Tour has sent the co-op students in teams of two on a 17-week endeavour to raise awareness on how to recycle as many things as possible. On the tour — which began during the second week of May — the teams have been reaching out to different BC businesses, residents, and other industry associations to educate
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them about which materials can be recycled and how to dispose of them properly. The first team is made up of Therese Mah and Susan Zhang and the second team, “Mo’ Waste, Mo’ Problems,” includes Tori Romano and Tiffany Lau. In a phone interview from Salt Spring Island, Romano and Lau shared their experiences so far with The Peak. Lau said that to her, it “seemed like a really meaningful opportunity,” since it gives her the chance to experience the beauty of nature while simultaneously working to preserve it. For Romano, the main message she wants to get across is that everyone is capable of making a difference — and in ways they may not expect. “I think a lot of people don’t realize a lot of products they have and a lot of packaging they have can be recycled,” said Lau. The two expressed that although it is their objective to educate the public, the tour has been a learning experience for them both. “We’ve learned a lot about what we can recycle, like
Leah Bjornson associate news editor news@the-peak.ca / 778.782.4560
WORLDCUP 2014 old medication, car batteries, oil, and tires,” said Romano. As a presentation tool, they bring along a few jars filled with material in its various phases of being recycled. The three jars show how oil goes from being used and dirty, to being cleaned, and, finally, how it is
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turned into small pellets that are sold to be used in plastic products. According to Lau, this helps to get people to be “enthusiastic about seeing what their products actually turn into after being recycled.” They also offer retailers pamphlets and signage geared toward informing the public about what can be recycled at certain locations. This is meant to discourage people from dropping off materials outside after hours. Despite the free service, many people are worried about being charged a fee for dropping off uncommon recyclable materials, such as used oil or antifreeze. This poses a problem to the organizations that accept them, because materials left outside are at risk of contamination. One stop on their tour was a London Drugs in Duncan, which has its own recycling centre that accepts used batteries stored in sandwich bags. Some other highlights for the pair have been visiting places like Home Hardware or recycling depots, where mass amounts of recycled materials are accepted regularly. Romano said they were encouraged by the energy of the people working in these places: “Everyone we speak to seems to be very passionate about what they do. It’s really great to see that, in general, people are just really enthusiastic about making this a big movement.” You can follow Melissa Roach
Melissa Roach
Representatives from the Pakistani Student Association approached board on Tuesday with a request for $1,230.12 to finance their Social Night, to be held Friday, May 30. The funds would be used in part on $560 worth of food, $209 for instrument rentals, and $224 for tablecloths and runners. SFSS president Chardaye Bueckert cautioned the board against setting a dangerous precedent by granting the funds, as policy dictates that financial requests first go through Granting Committee before reaching the board. Furthermore, board only received the PSA’s request on Monday — the night before the meeting. Nevertheless, because Granting has not yet met this semester, board passed the motion to grant the PSA $1,110 for their social night, after reducing the request for tablecloths and runners by $114.
Board voted in favour of pursuing certification for the Student Union Building at the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold level. Policy states that the SUB project must be LEED certified, and Build SFU has already begun designing the building to meet or exceed the LEED Gold level rating. The LEED green building rating system considers factors such as water efficiency, energy efficiency, and material selection when assigning a ranking. When asked by board members why they were not pursuing a Platinum level certification, Build SFU general manager Marc Fontaine replied, “It would not be possible for us to achieve platinum. There are points we can not receive on the scorecard, because we’re not reusing the building, for example.”
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NEWS
Following the popularity of last year’s SFSS concert events, this year’s board of directors is bringing not one, but two competing concert proposals to the table. VP student services Zied Masmoudi was the first to bring forward a motion to approve a 2014 Fall Kickoff event, as well as to appoint himself as the project lead. Masmoudi’s event, the 2014 Fall Kickoff, would occur on Friday, September 12, from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. in Convocation Mall. Based on four pillars of financial and social efficiency, sustainability, accessibility, and diversity, the event would feature different kinds of music: one, to be decided based on public desire, cost, and production means; the second, electronic dance music (EDM), which would be played later in the evening. The proposed budget for the event totalled $76,250, with $35,000 allotted to headliners and artists. It also suggested that revenues would total at least $77,000, with an expected crowd of 1,700 to 2,000 people. When asked where the money for the concert would come from, Masmoudi suggested that they borrow from other funds and return it after earning sponsorships and revenues. The board decided to table Masmoudi’s motion, electing to listen to the other proposal from VP student life Kayode Fatoba before coming to a conclusion. The other proposal in question is Culture Kickoff Fest 2014, which Fatoba pitched as a concert, but also tied into other facets of SFU culture such as Build SFU, the bookstore, and the various clubs and DSU’s on campus. “This isn’t just about a diverse genre, but enhancing the event to have more attractions,” Fatoba explained in the proposal. The event would also feature sports activities, activities in the AQ, food trucks, and games such as “Pie your prof!” The proposed budget for the Culture Kickoff Fest 2014 is $68,427, with $33,500 allocated
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for artists from different genres. The estimated revenue is $140,500, with $63,500 expected from ticket sales. Although both presenters reiterated that neither proposal was set in stone, discussion quickly became heated. Not alone in her confusion was Chardaye Bueckert, SFSS president, who said, “I’m a little taken aback that [the proposals were] never mentioned until now, considering it’s such a large endeavour.” VP university relations Moe Kopahi immediately brought up his concerns, suggesting that the executive members had not followed proper procedure in pursuing their concert proposals. “I’m going against any proposal coming to me here because board should not be dealing with this right now. We have a committee for it, the [events] committee should take care of this stuff,” said Kopahi. “This is a waste of board time.” Furthermore, Kopahi asserted that those involved had already begun contacting university officials, for which they had not been given a mandate. Masmoudi explained that, since the events committee had failed to meet, he had taken the initiative to begin planning because “these projects need to move as soon as possible.”
Kopahi continued, saying that the competition between the two proposals had resulted in mediocrity: “These two proposals are rushed. They’re rushed because they want to get to the table as fast as they can. To be honest with you, they both sucked. They both really sucked.”
In an attempt to bring both sides together, Kopahi put forward a motion that would task Fatoba, Masmoudi, and himself to investigate hosting a large kickoff event in the fall. The motion failed. The board also failed to come to an agreement as to which event to pursue, voting against Masmoudi’s motion in order to discuss for another week. When the meeting time expired, Masmoudi — along with other board members — refused to stop talking. He exclaimed, “This is bullshit!” He then turned to Bueckert and said, “Point of order, you
need to stop directing where the votes should go, and you need to stop making suggestions as to what we should vote for.” Bueckert replied, “That is not a point of order.” In an official statement sent to The Peak after the meeting, Fatoba, Masmoudi, and VP external relations Darwin Binesh explained, “The next step is not finding a ‘compromise’. It is about finding the most efficient way of allocating the board’s resources, to best provide the intent of both proposals to our membership.” “The discussion was never about choosing one side or the other as an ultimatum,” the statement read. Both proposals will be brought back to board on Tuesday, June 3, to be discussed further.
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3580 East Hastings St, Vancouver (604) 618-8200 www.RobinWongPhotos.com
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6 NEWS
A report from SFU’s Centre for Dialogue discusses how governments and communities should approach reconciliation of injustices. The report sums up the findings of Reconciling Injustices in a Pluralistic Canada, a dialogue held on January 23, 2014. According to the media release, it involved “communities affected by a wide range of injustices, including Indian Residential Schools, the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act, the Komagata Maru Incident, the Japanese Canadian Internment, the social and legal exclusion of LGBTQ Canadians, and Canada’s refusal of Jewish refugees from the Holocaust.” The report discusses issues such as making clear “the intended beneficiaries of reconciliation [processes], as well as the groups that are accountable [to these beneficiaries],” the necessity “for the process of reconciliation to empower those who have been historically disempowered, and for society to recognize the historically harmful roles of power.”
Robin Prest, a program analyst with SFU’s Centre for Dialogue, was quick to state that the report is “not a cookbook.” He continued, “We’re really
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careful to be aware that every injustice is unique and every injustice requires a tailored response, but there are a lot of shared principles.” According to the report, most participants viewed education as being essential to the process of reconciliation, stating that, “Participants wanted the full history and scope of past injustices to be acknowledged without revisionism.” It also stressed the importance of doing more than just apologising, and the importance of dialogue. Prest said it does not matter whether it is the community or the government that brings up reconciliation, but he stressed that the process shouldn’t necessarily be a combative one. “Often in the past, it has been [with] heavy negotiations back and forth, and backroom deals. It should, in an ideal world, [. . .] be collaborative,” he said. He also pointed out the government’s reactionary process, stating that many reconciliation efforts came after a lot of protest or even court cases, using the example of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. “[It] has done tremendous work [. . . it] has been very effective in many ways but just the fact that it came out of a court proceeding rather than a voluntary process [. . .] is somewhat problematic,” he said. Prest notes that while reconciliation of previous injustices is important, it is also necessary to stop current ones, such as the police handling of the Pickton case and the treatment of the LGBTQ community: “It’s important to make sure we’re addressing stopping injustice, because it’s difficult to talk about healing and talk about togetherness until we’ve actually made sure the injustice is finished.” “This isn’t just an academic exercise to talk about injustices; it’s not just about things that happened 100, 200 years ago. [. . .] Canada will, in all likelihood, continue to experience injustices into the future, no matter how well intentioned Canada is,” Prest concluded. “We still need to look at this as something that is forward looking.”
Rising sea levels are a global issue, but research shows the danger is greater closer to home. Karen Kohfeld, SFU assistant professor and Canada Research Chair in Climate Resources and Global Change explained, “We can expect a global sea rise of 70 to 100 centimeters if we do nothing to change our carbon emission. If we do something about it, we can reduce it to about 40 to 60 centimeters.” Vancouver is one of the more threatened cities, and mayor Gregor Robertson is calling for more aid from the federal and provincial governments to help save the coastal city from the impacts of rising sea levels. According to Global News, a local study estimates $25 billion worth of real estate will be at risk from sea level rise in Vancouver by the end of the century.
“The low-lying areas will be most affected,” Kohfeld said. “If we look at just our global topography in places like Vietnam, any place that has a major industrial port by the sea, will be affected by this. The southern coast of North America and the east coast of North America will be affected.” Preventative work is already underway in some places around the world. Kohfeld continued explaining that, for example, New York and Tokyo are likely to spend billions to erect dikes and other defenses. However, not all cities can afford this. Kohfeld said, “[For] other places in the world, island nations around the globe, this a serious concern. Whenever we have international climate treaty meetings sponsored by the UN, the island nations are always there because part of the problem is it is not just looking out and seeing the sea level rise. It is that when the sea level goes up, and you have any kind of storm coming over top of that, that’s when you see the large problems.” Recent findings have shown that a key glacier in west Antarctica is melting, which researchers suggest will contribute to an additional sea level rise that
may reach a couple of feet in this century. According to Kohfeld, the outlook seems bleak: “One of the studies suggest it is beyond the point of return for this particular glacier. The concern there is that where that glacier is located, it is kind of a lynch pin for all of western Antarctica, that ice sheet. The question is, ‘How stable is the ice sheet behind that glacier?’”
In particular, for BC, the extensive dike system would have to be modified. “If we are to account for a one metre sea level rise, one option would be to raise those dikes. That is very costly,” Kohfeld warned. Kohfeld reflected on mistakes of the past and asked, “What should we have done already?”
NEWS
June 2, 2014
Mathewes explained, “To give you some background, palms are very important climate indicators. We are particularly interested in the climate of this period called the greenhouse earth, which was the warmest period since the extinction of the dinosaurs in the last 65 million years. This was around 50 to 53 million years ago.” SFU professors Rolf Mathewes and Bruce Archibald, among others, have gained critical insights into climate change while investigating 50 million-year old palm beetle fossils. In establishing the existence of palm beetles during this period, the team was able to hypothesize as to the existence of palm plants — the beetles’ food source — even without fossil evidence of the palm plants themselves. Mathewes summarized, “Finding [the beetles] basically proved that there had to be palms, even though we did not have the fossils.” Furthermore, their existence proves that during a period of global warming in the geological past, there were mild, frost-free winters in North America.
He continued, “In the Eocene greenhouse world, the whole world was very warm and almost tropical everywhere, except for some of the upland areas.” Because the palms cannot survive in regions with significant frost days, the existence of palm beetles in North America indicates moderate temperatures. The team investigated fossils from a number of sites in central British Columbia, in an area
called the Okanagan Highland. In the Okanagan Highland, fossil lake deposits formed during a period of mountain building and volcanism that preserved plants, flowers, and insects, among other things. “The fossil record is wonderful,” Mathewes said. Mathewes has been making fossil collections for over 30 years. Archibald discovered beetles called bruchines in these collections; it was in these collections that he found a set of beetles of a certain family called palm beetles, which feed only on the seeds of palm trees. Archibald researched and found one specimen, and thought there must be more. He “found three sites, possibly a fourth, that have these palm bruchine, which span about over a 1,000 kilometres of latitude from northern Washington to Smithers in the center of BC, and everywhere in between,” Mathewes said. Looking at climate change clues in the distant past, the team hopes to provide greater insight into the future as the world increasingly experiences the effects of global warming.
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At the most recent board of governors meeting on May 29, the board opted to approve a concurrent bachelor’s-master’s program in the School of Computing Science. A concurrent program will allow students to work on the two degrees simultaneously, since credits from courses required for both will apply to each degree. The motion read, “that the University Relations Committee of the Board of Governors, acting under delegated authority, approve the Full Program Proposal for a Concurrent Bachelor’s-Master’s Program in Computing Science in the School of Computing Science within the Faculty of Applied Sciences, effective Fall 2014.”
Celebrations for SFU’s 50th anniversary are planned to take place from September 2015 to May 2016. To date, the university has raised $26,268,286 during its fundraising campaign for the event. The celebration will include many smaller initiatives, a ceremony, a “possible founder’s ball on September 9th, a special (re)convocation in October 2015, a strong arts and cultural program, a global week of welcome, and a Burnaby community/lifelong learning festival.” In a report filed by the committee for information, some of the goals of the 50th anniversary celebrations are outlined as serving to foster a strong sense of community across SFU campuses, to strengthen connections with external partners, and to promote SFU’s vision and reputation as “Canada’s most community-engaged university.”
that cry during the earlier test match at the SFU tennis courts on May 21, prompting the PSA to change venues last minute. The new playing field — its boundaries marked by paper cups — catering, and notifications to the participants of the change were all arranged and finalized half an hour before the start of the first match. The crack of the cricket bat sent the ball skyward, interrupting the murmurs of the crowd as their eyes followed players hustling to catch it. Knocked by the superb Hassan Khattak, the hit added to the excitement felt at SFU’s Pakistani Student Association’s (PSA) Cricket Day Tournament. The PSA hopped from location to location on May 24 — with little time to prepare — in order to make their tournament as playable as possible. A mere eight hours before the daytournament, the location of the pitch had to be changed from SFU’s tennis courts to the nearby Westridge pitch, just down Burnaby Mountain. “The bounce was not good!” exclaimed PSA president Shery Alam. Alam says players echoed
Cricket is the most popular sport in Pakistan, having first been introduced by the British during their colonial rule of British India. Hosting the cricket tournament fit within the PSAs mandate, which is to promote Pakistani culture, cuisine and way of life, and to promote multiculturalism at SFU. The club was eager to provide a venue for its top players,
including Abdul Majid and Aman Saini. “They were the PSA’s motivation and responsibility to provide a tournament better than last year,” said Alam. Participants on the eight teams competed all day while loudspeakers provided commentary on the match, occasionally ringing the chosen theme music of teams after a run or a wicket was scored. Of the two finalist teams, the All-Stars celebrated to “Josh-e-Junoon” and the Victorious Secret to “Welcome” — the Cricket World Cup theme song of 2003. The spirit of fun and use of multicultural music added to the type of community through cricket that the PSA had hoped to produce, said Alam. As the day continued, players milled around and laughed, unconcerned about the length of the tournament, the earlier clouds, or the location change. Many participants joined in, playing and dancing with the black and white husky dog known as “The Great Gatsby” — an unofficial mascot of this and many other events. Alam was eager to recognize the over 70 sponsors, players,
volunteers and spectators who attended the event. The rays of the evening sun continued to shine on the attendees of the match until late in the afternoon, many of whom had arrived as early as 8:00 a.m. Zainab Bukhari, the PSA’s VP external, thanked everyone in the neighbourhood who stopped and watched the tournament in the day: “We are about community and involvement [. . .] anyone is welcome to attend!” On Friday, May 30, the PSA awarded the tournament trophy and medals to man of the tournament, best bowler and best batsman. The All-Stars won the tournament, but the PSA considered the day to be a victory for everyone who participated in terms of community building. Alam himself did some umpiring, but still had time to conclude with The Peak: “Before our journey at SFU is over, before we graduate, Karan [Thukral, PSA’s VP of finance] and I have a challenge: for SFU to approve and have cricket equipment on campus for future students to use.”
SFU Emergency Response Exercise
Wednesday, June 4 Safety and security is a top priority at SFU. This Wednesday SFU will be testing our Emergency Response Plan in a full scale emergency response simulation exercise event in partnership with the RCMP. Do not be alarmed if you see unusual activity in marked areas of our Burnaby campus
including a realistic depiction of emergency response activity by first responders including the RCMP, BC Ambulance Service and SFU, hear mock gunshots or sirens, or see actors who are wearing make-up to appear injured. This is all part of the exercise. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
www.sfu.ca/june4 Be Safe. Be Alert. Be Informed. Have you created or updated your SFU Alerts profile recently?
If you have not signed up, we encourage you to login to myInfo (for faculty and staff), or the Student Information System (for students) to get started. If you have already signed up, this is an excellent opportunity to ensure your contact information is up-to-date: www.sfu.ca/sfualerts
“Twenty years from now if you enter the supermarket, you would have the choice between two products that are identical. One is made in an animal, it now has this label on it that animals have suffered or have been killed for this product. It has an eco text because it’s bad for the environment and it’s exactly the same as an alternative product that has been made in a lab. It tastes the same, and is the same quality; it has the same price or is even cheaper.” – Dr. Mark Post
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OPINIONS
In early May this year, attention was drawn to one of the frequently overlooked areas of life where women still face injustice. Within biomedical research, as well as general health awareness, women across the globe have been receiving the short end of the stick. It recently broke that labs across North America have only been running tests on male rodents. The explanation for the discrepancy in gender representation was that researchers were worried that the reproductive cycles and hormones of female test subjects could cause differing results. According to the New York Times, clinical trials carried out by manufacturers still underrepresented women in their research. I am fairly certain that for every female rat experiencing varying hormones from their male counterparts, there is a human
The idea of assessing privilege was not born on social media; it has existed since the mid-20th century and was popularised among academics in the mid1980’s. However, it has been resurrected in recent years among the general population as a tool for mediating online discussions, usually those that center around oppression and the various ways for dealing with it. The Internet is an amazing tool for sharing ideas, but it also removes all barriers between people. Anyone can effectively weigh in on any topic, which makes it difficult to establish safe spaces for discussion.
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opinions editor email / phone
Joel MacKenzie opinions@the-peak.ca / 778.782.4560
woman experiencing differences as well. The contradictory logic tells us that women have not been receiving the care and attention they deserve, but are rather, as Jill Becker of the University of Michigan puts it, “simply a variation on a theme.” Women also face frequent discrimination in terms of heart health: they are largely misdiagnosed when going into cardiac arrest, either by healthcare professionals or themselves. This is primarily due to a lack of knowledge about their different symptoms when having a heart attack.
The classic Hollywood scene in which one drops a glass and grabs their chest before falling to the floor is a male-specific depiction of cardiac arrest. In fact, according to the American Heart Association, many women have a less dramatic experience, with little chest pressure, but often with nausea and shortness of breath instead.
This is where the need for the phrase “check your privilege” comes in; while many, such as the author of last week’s article, “The meaning of privilege,” view it as a put down or brusque conversation-ender, in reality it is simply being told that the various privileges you experience have impacted you in such a way that you are unable to be a constructive participant. The “check your privilege” movement is such an incendiary topic because it tells us that not everyone has something inherently valuable to add to every discussion. While this perhaps contradicts everything your parents, teachers, and Western society has ever taught you, it is painfully accurate. Many of us have grown up in the era of Twitter fights, ridiculous Youtube arguments, and hate speech under the guise of “dude, it’s a free country,” and are unfamiliar with the idea of simply listening and supporting
Misconceptions in health should not be taken lightly. To protect women’s health there needs to be more recognition of the facts. According to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), heart disease kills five times as many women than breast cancer. Yet breast
cancer research receives approximately $500 million more in funding, because breast cancer is depicted as a greater threat to women. In today’s world, gender bias can be hard to identify because of how far our society has come in terms of equality. But the truth
is there is still more work to be done. Misdiagnoses and unforeseen side effects are dangerous to the long term and immediate health of women. Women are not simply a variation of men. Research needs to include all the variables, including gender.
those who are central to a discussion. Becoming defensive and combative in response to being told to check your privilege derails all useful discussion, and means that people must waste time and resources reassuring privileged groups that they are not all horrible people, while simultaneously defending themselves from hate speech.
Caucasian students” or use white heterosexual cis men as scapegoats is unfounded; part of white privilege is enjoying a mainstream media culture that is incredibly sympathetic to any suffering at the hands of a cruel minority. A prime example of this would be Tal Fortgang, Princeton student and author of “Why I’ll Never Apologize for My White Male Privilege,” which was published by Time and went viral. Obviously having privilege does not make you a horrible person, nor does it invalidate all of your efforts and successes. It can depend heavily on context, and the weight various privileges carry differs around the world. However, it is not meant to be used as a pass/fail system; when used correctly, this movement is a lot more nuanced and impactful than many believe. Do not look to random online quizzes or memes for a legitimate application of the term.
While it is true that we all should take the time to examine our own privileges, the reality is that our society has had a rigid and complex hierarchical structure for hundreds of years, and the “obvious groups” that are “targeted” by the “check your privilege” movement are generally very well deserving of constructive criticism. In a learning environment, where discussion is so heavily emphasized, it is important that participants realize the systematic and institutional benefits they experience, and how these may have shielded them from certain realities faced by others. One of the most valuable parts of checking your privilege is realizing that not everything is about you. Once this is accepted there are infinite opportunities for learning, growth, and cooperation.
This can discourage many from discussing issues at all, let alone attempting to bridge the gap between minority groups and mainstream culture. The idea that the movement would be used to “silence
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DIVERSIONS / ETC
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G Across 1- ___’acte (intermission) 5- 1970 Jackson 5 hit 8- Get an A, say 12- Truth ___ 14- Golfer Aoki 15- Assist, often in a criminal act 16- Garlic sauce 17- Horrors! 18- Delude 19- Buy an insufficient quantity 21- Timmy’s dog 23- Hi-___ monitor 24- Large 25- Listening device 26- Stealthy walk 30- Training group 32- Role player 33- Apprehension 37- Enlist again 38- Whoopi’s role in “The Color Purple” 39- Aha! 40- Occurring without transfer of heat 42- Boldness 43- Horselike African mammal 44- Not disposed to cheat 45- “Car Talk” airer 48- Hit sign LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION
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49- Mai ___ 50- End of a threat 52- Capable of commingling 57- Record 58- Woody plant 60- Sign up 61- The very ___! 62- Rip; 63- “Cheers” waitress 64- People in general 65- Wholly 66- Abound Down 1- Name of Isaac’s eldest son in the Bible 2- Dresden denial 3- Stepped 4- Dominion 5- Pale 6- Outlaw
7- 30th president of the U.S. 8- Cushions 9- Misuse 10- Photographic tone 11- Point in the desired direction 13- Reflecting surface 14- Chits 20- Nectar collector 22- Farming prefix 24- Fundamental 26- Skater Lipinski 27- Chilled 28- Spitting sound 29- Mineral used as a gem 30- Eyelashes 31- Perrier rival 33- Paris subway 34- Wight or Man 35- Revivalists
36- Frobe who played Goldfinger 38- Fine sheep leather 41- Mamie’s predecessor 42- Pronounced with the larynx 44- Holds 45- ___ I can help it! 46- Madrid museum 47- Drive away 49- A wedding cake may have three of these 51- Escaping fluid 52- Repast 53- Monogram ltr. 54- Highland hillside; 55- Solitary 56- K-6 59- Fam. member
Do you want to hear your voice on the radio?
To attend various music events? To have fun? Then CJSF radio is for you! Join CJSF 90.1 FM as a volunteer and take a 45-minute orientation tour WR OHDUQ PRUH DERXW LW 'URS LQ RQH RI WKHVH WLPHV WR ¿QG RXW ZKDW \RX can do and learn at your campus radio. (We’re in TC216 right over the Burnaby campus main entrance.) 1st Friday of the month at 3pm 2nd Tuesday at 4pm 3rd Thursday at 3 pm Hope to see you there! 4th Wednesday at 6:15 pm
14 OPINIONS
It’s summer, and North Americans are once again collectively nodding their heads and wiping their mouths in agreement with one fact: mangos are wonderful. The national fruit of India and the Philippines comes in dozens of varieties, each a different shade of green, red, yellow, and orange. I’ve spent many a year avoiding any mangos with red or green colour. In our part of the world, they’re most often placed next to their golden counterparts, specifically champagne mangos. Red/green mangos are usually harder and stringier, and
have bigger pits than the yellow ones. If you lived your life like me, I tell you now, you’re living it half-heartedly. Red/green mangos don’t melt in your mouth. They aren’t sweet as honey. You have to work for their secrets. But unlocking them comes with loving the tango of sour and sweet, and loving the range of experiences that come from the different flavours, including variations of mild, rich, and woody. You get the satisfaction of not needing perfection, whatever that is. You get reality.
There’s something about champagne mangos that’s just a little too perfect. Too smooth. Too soothingly sweet. I’m not suggesting we boycott these delicious freaks, at all; I’m suggesting we don’t settle for perfection. Especially not human-made perfection. Champagne mangos came about from selective hybrid breeding among other mango varieties, the same selective hybrid growing that created the parapple and the limequat, and that led to the virtual annihilation of all but one variety of banana. I’m not saying this fucking
with nature will be a straw that will result in breaking the earth’s back. Not necessarily. I’m just reminding you that nature has done a pretty good job of providing a slew of its own plants with their own delicate, mysterious, fulfilling, wonderful qualities, ones that create inspiring experiences by virtue of not being perfect. Just like the rest of life. Don’t cut out champagne mangos completely. Just try to enjoy them along with as many other types as you can get your hands on. And don’t settle for “perfection.”
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June 2, 2014
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OPINIONS
With Barry Trotz having just been hired by the Washington Capitals, some are likely to say that the Canucks missed out. Trotz coached the same team for 15 seasons, and was a seemingly good communicator, able to do so much with so little. However, I am relieved by the hiring. I certainly cannot say he is a terrible coach, and if he did become Vancouver’s guy, I would certainly cheer for his (and the team’s) success. But on paper at least, he seemed like the wrong guy for the job. Everyone knows the Nashville Predators, Trotz’ previous and only NHL team, are horrendously boring. Every time they played the Canucks, the Predators guaranteed a defensive snoozefest.
June 2, 2014
Many like to point out that Trotz did what he had to, playing such a boring game due to the talent he had. However, the Predators have had star players such as Shea Weber, and their GM, David Poile, was GM of Team USA for the 2014 Winter Olympics, a highly offensive team. Although a lack of talent probably comes down to how much money (or lack thereof) the owners put into their team, the firing of Trotz and hiring of Peter Laviolette indicates that the owners saw a problem in Trotz’ offensive game. It should be noted that Trotz’ Predators missed the playoffs more often than they made them (by a slim margin), and only once made it past the first round. And us Canucks fans should remember this, as it was the Canucks who knocked them off in their 2011 Cup run. So I was skeptical when Trotz’ name was bandied about as the frontrunner to be Tortorella’s successor. A main reason for keeping Tortorella, after all, was his previous playoff success; his replacement should
be a guy who is similarly offensively minded. And again, that is not to say that Trotz didn’t have his advantages. He was the coach of a team for 15 years straight. Regardless of being a southern expansion city that probably doesn’t care too much about winning, a coach usually gets canned before 15 years. Usually before five.
Someone clearly thought he was getting the best out of that team, regardless of the system being played. His longevity also indicates that he is a good communicator and had a good repertoire with the team, unlike Tortorella, who many see as an inefficient communicator, and someone who loses a team after a relatively short period of time.
Concerning his offensive game, I’m sure Trotz can adapt his style to be more aggressive; with Washington he will have to. Most coaches coach the systems they have to, and with Ovechkin, maybe Trotz will be the one coach who can drill a system in that is defensively sound and accommodates Ovechkin’s skill (as opposed to Dale Hunter, who, if I recall correctly, stifled Ovechkin’s offense with a highly defensive system). Who knows? Maybe the Capitals will become an elite team under Trotz’ leadership. But for now, I am pretty happy that he is not the coach of the Canucks. I no longer have to remain cautiously optimistic about another defense-first coach.
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ARTS
BAWA SINGH’S GARDEN A poem 2630 lines long
By
Dr. Gurdev S. Boparai An e-‐book at Amazon/Kindle for $5
June 2, 2014
arts editor email / phone
Tessa Perkins arts@the-peak.ca / 778.782.4560
ARTS
How many men does it take to deliver a full electro-rock show with guitar, vocals, and electronic effects? For Canzino ( Jesus/Zeus Cancino), the answer is one. His solo production pushes our understanding of what music can be with its smooth fusion of electronica, alt-rock, DJ, and looping techniques and elements of basically any and every genre in the book. His songs are packed with heavy guitar, unpredictably enchanting melodies, illustrative vocals, and are all-around full of energy and emotion. Zeus has been playing music for half of his life. His father, after noting the uncontrollable energy he had when it came to playing instruments, put him in classical guitar lessons at the age of 12. Zeus noted, “Although it was a great experience, it was torture at first. I didn’t learn how to properly read music until much later, because I had a good ear so I could listen to something and then know how it was supposed to be played.” When he was in high school, his teacher and mentor, David Mills, pushed him to branch out into different musical avenues: everything from choir to jazz band, percussion to base. “It forced me to peel apart the layers of music — it kind of blew my mind,” explained Zeus. The unique blend of instruments and influences has shaped Zeus’ sound. “[It] allows for way more possibilities of what I can do. It’s definitely good for me because I have so many ideas.” All of these ideas began to grow and, after high school, Zeus branched out from his rock-heavy roots, “went to a few parties,” and became interested in DJing. He stumbled upon a korg kaossilator (a device he now often uses for looping). Having both guitar and DJ equipment at hand stimulated him to think about how he could incorporate both into his music, and figure out “how it was all going to work.”
June 2, 2014
He didn’t really find an answer to that question until he saw Super Tall Paul (musician/ MC/motivational speaker/magician etc.) at Shambhala festival. This was a game changer for Zeus, who admired Paul’s “fluid presence on stage and his ability to truly interact with the audience.” Zeus recalls, “He would be clicking buttons, playing the ukulele and beat boxing simultaneously and I was just thinking ‘this guy’s so nutty!’ It struck a chord in me.” This pushed Zeus further into figuring out how sound blending and performance could work. He added, “[Paul] raised the bar in terms of presentation, to enhance the experience we have with the technology.” This is what Zeus strives for in his live show, in which nothing is pre-recorded; the organic unraveling of the music is important in his work. Another importance Zeus has found as a musician is listening back to his old material. He explains that this act of reflection is “self-meditating because when you’re going through rough times,
sometimes you get stuck in your own head. Going back to old songs — it’s like finding an old scroll written in the distant past and you can sort of figure out why you were writing that in the first place — creating is what you are feeling in that moment.”
As for the future, Zeus is hopeful about “working with other DJs and moving forward with genre mixing.” He finds value in flexiblility and trying new things, because “you may not like that genre, but there’s certain aspects in every kind of music that you can pull from to create your unique sound.” It’s this go-with-the flow attitude that has opened up space for so much musical exploration. He notes that “because plans never work out the
way you want them to,” he tries to “keep this ideal of planning for 60 per cent of whatever you are going to do and then just wing it for the remaining 40 per cent.” Zeus is currently working on his catchy single, “In Real Life,” which he just finished writing a few weeks ago. He is recording it in studio as opposed to all of his previous recordings, which have been at home. “I really want to make it shine,” explains Zeus. You can also see Zeus busking on Granville Street and Commercial Drive in the summer months, as well as playing gigs around the city. If you are interested in exploring and pushing the boundaries of genre, sound, and performance, Canzino is definitely someone to check out. He has a refreshing approach to music that is forward thinking and open to possibilities. He clearly follows his own wise words: “Learn the rules first, bend them, then play your own game.”
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Musicians love to write about heartbreak, but Sharon Van Etten doesn’t just write about it; her music and her voice will make you feel the pain of a heartbreak with every note. She even captivated Justin Vernon of Bon Iver who covered one of her most heart-wrenching songs, “Love More,” from her album Epic. Van Etten stands alongside confessional female musicians like Lady Lamb the Beekeeper and Angel Olsen. After releasing Tramp in 2012, the record that put her in the spotlight, Van Etten is back with her fourth album, Are We There. This record contains plenty of the raw honesty of her first album, Because I Was In Love. Are We There outshines her previous records with its sense of completeness, yet it still carries the melancholic aspect of her music. Are We There opens with “Afraid of Nothing” which features a heavy, welcoming piano intro with swelling, wavy vocals that pull you in instantly. Van Etten’s musical exploration shows in “Taking Chances,” “You Know Me Well,” and “Break Me,” with drum loops, heavy guitar chords, and organ solos. “Every Time the Sun Comes Up” is also unique as it first emerged as an Omnichord demo. The gripping and confrontational lyrics, the careful assembly of dense post-rock guitars, the agitated beat, and her hauntingly powerful voice in “Your Love is Killing Me,” create an emotional implosion where Van Etten lets all hell break loose. The record transitions to a mellow feel carried by her whispers that express screams in “Our Love,” along with the long piano pieces of “I Love You But I’m Lost,” and “I Know.” Are We There celebrates desolation; the arrangement of music and Van Etten’s captivating voice create its dark spectrum. In the rawness of her lyrics, you can hear the struggle to find the balance of being true to yourself, in relationships as well as the world.
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HUMOUR
June 2, 2014
humour editor email / phone
Brad McLeod humour@the-peak.ca / 778.782.4560
HUMOUR
SURREY - A local man is very regretful of his behaviour last night after he woke up to discover he had had drunkenly gotten in touch with several emergency services the previous night. Don Kelso, a local college student who had recently gotten out of fairly long-term relationship, is having to face the consequences of his actions after he reached out to firefighters and police in a vulnerable state at a friend’s house party. “I told my friends to make sure I didn’t call any of my exgirlfriends last night, I said no matter how drunk I get, stop me from calling anyone I’d regret the next morning,” Kelso told The Peak. “I guess I just kind of assumed that would include calling an ambulance to ‘fix my broken heart.’”
aft Punk’s 2013 hit song “Get Lucky” is expected to once again claim the title of “song of the summer” in 2014 according to music experts from Kalamazoo University. Although there has to date never been a song to achieve this status back-to-back, the Kalamazoo researchers have advised everyone looking to make bets on this year’s SoS to choose “Get Lucky”. They have also said that they will be more than happy to take your bets should you choose to take their advice as they say the choice is a no brainer. The group says that beyond its catchy nature, the fact that it won’t have to compete with Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” makes it a lock and they can’t foresee anything else possibly being released that could overtake it.
June 2, 2014
According to his phone history, Kelso made over 15 calls to 911 between 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., which he both “deeply regrets” and “is being fined over 1,500 dollars for.” “It’s so embarrassing for the cops to have to hear me in that state,” Kelso explained, shaking his head. “Now they know what a weak person I am, I’m never going to be able to live this down.” While Kelso is upset that the police, the fire department and ambulance workers will now look at him as a weak man, and will probably not trust him in an actual emergency situation, he claims that everything he said was just a mistake, and there was no truth to it. “I just drank a little too much, that’s it,” he said. “No, there wasn’t actually a fire in the living room, and no, I wasn’t really having a heart attack, and finally no, I am not really in love with officer McCormick . . . that’s obviously just a bunch of drunk talk with absolutely no truth to it.” Despite rumours that there is something between Kelso and officer McCormick, Kelso is trying his hardest to prove that everything he did last night was a dumb mistake.
“I’ve apologized profusely for my idiocy to all the emergency operators I called and they’ve all been pretty understanding,” he said. “I don’t know if they really mean it though, they’re still charging me for falsely calling them out when they could have been dealing with real situations, that seems a little petty to me.” Although the police, fire department and ambulance workers have all agreed that the worst part is that they were unable to assist in the several actual emergencies that happened last night, for Kelso that’s only a minor concern.
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“Sure I’m embarrassed that ambulance workers had to listen to me try to describe where exactly in my soul I was dying while a man really was dying a block away, but for me the worst part is that everyone knows about it now,” he explained. “I’d be fine if this was just a stupid thing between me and the emergency service workers I contacted but they had to go and let everybody know, it’s awful for me.” One of the people who found out about Kelso’s “embarrassing” calls was his ex-girlfriend
Stephanie who was really taken aback by his alleged behaviour. “I was thinking of getting back together with him, if he had called last night I probably would have, actually,” she said, thinking back. “But now there’s no way, he really proved to me that he’s got a lot of growing up to do, I mean, who drunk dials these days? If he had texted 911, this whole thing could’ve been avoided.”
new study from a group of self-proclaimed “failure” scientists has found that 10 out of 10 waste of space human beings suffer from some sort of mental depression. This data was collected after a 12-year study in which all of these same scientists were the test subjects. While they have not been able to explain why depression
seems to be so common among so-called “pieces of trash excuses for humanity”, the scientists did say that information could probably be found by researchers who weren’t “utterly hopeless.” They also stated that decent scientists could’ve come to this conclusion after only a few hours instead of 12 years and that they should probably just go to bed and stop trying to do science.
20 LAST WORD
The lives of seven young people were taken in Isla Vista at Santa Barbara City College on May 23, and if you haven’t been paying attention, you should be. There is more to this incident than gunman Elliot Rodger’s personal struggles, which have been the main focus of the media reportage on the event. This tragedy was the result of multiple cultural and societal issues in the Western world, including gun control, mental illness, and, most troubling of all, violent misogyny. If mental illness was the gun in this crime, misogyny was the bullet. We can’t focus solely on Rodger’s mental state as the cause of these deaths. Rodger’s extreme resentment towards women may have been worsened by his illness, but it was fueled by a culture that encouraged his attitude, and has encouraged the attitudes of countless other killers and abusers. Examples of this sort of poisonous cultural trend are everywhere: the “friend-zone,” pickup artists, online stalking, and even catcalling from vehicles and bars. Though our society teaches us that this behaviour is normal, these are situations in which women are being treated as objects that men have a right to use, not as human beings who have the right to their own bodies. The idea that these sorts of actions are okay comes down to the feelings of entitlement based in deeply ingrained misogyny. I’m not saying that every man shares these views, but there are enough to justify misogyny as an issue of serious concern. This is evident in popular culture, social media, our language, and in the reality of how women are still treated every day when they walk down the street. No one should ever feel afraid to turn a romantic overture down, and no one should ever feel entitled to another individual’s body because of their gender. Yet the reality is that
features editor email / phone
Max Hill features@the-peak.ca / 778.782.4560
I and countless other women have felt afraid when being pursued by pushy men because we know that violence can, and often does, occur. Harassment will never be a sign of appreciation or flattery, and being put on a pedestal for display is dehumanizing and scary. Avoiding groups of men on the street when I am alone at night and pretending not to notice inebriated leers when I go out with my friends has become second nature for me, and I know I’m not the only one. I am afraid to stand my ground because I don’t want to be targeted; no woman should have this expectation put upon her. This isn’t the way that things should be, and both men and women need to play their part to change this norm. Elliot Rodger felt like he was owed a woman’s affection. This isn’t only because of his mental illness; it’s also because he internalized the way our society portrays both femininity and masculinity, with dangerous results. Misogyny in our culture doesn’t only affect how men tend to view women — it also affects how men view themselves, and each other. Rodger resented women for rejecting him, and men because, in his eyes, they had been given something that he deserved as well. The culture promoting this definition of masculinity is evident in the body building blogs and pick up artist sites that Rodger frequented. This alpha male culture — one he claimed to be a part of in his Youtube videos — is deeply intertwined with misogyny as it associates femininity with weakness, and masculinity with strength. In his videos, Rodger seems desperate to prove himself as manly by showing off his power and dominance, in an attempt to fulfil the expected gender role our society had presented him. The hashtag campaign #YesAllWomen was created in response
to the incident — it’s meant to allow women and men to share their thoughts on misogyny and the role it plays in their everyday lives. It has also allowed individuals to show support to the women killed and injured in the incident, and all those who’ve lived through violence and abuse. Some have claimed that feminists are using this tragedy to promote their cause, as if it’s a bad thing. It isn’t. This is an opportunity for our culture to reflect on the damage misogyny causes for all of us. Because this isn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened. And, sadly, it probably won’t be the last. The most well known Canadian equivalent to the Santa Barbara attack is likely the 1989 attack at École Polytechnique in Montreal, when Marc Lépine murdered six female engineering students because he was denied acceptance into the school and resented women for occupying nontraditional roles that he felt entitled to. But it doesn’t stop there — violence against women in Canada is a huge issue, and Statistics Canada released data last year which indicated that Canadian women are 11 times more likely to be victims of sexual assault than men. Something is obviously wrong here. Misogyny is still shaping the attitudes and actions of individuals, and women are being mistreated emotionally and physically as a result. If nothing else, we should respond to this tragedy by re-evaluating our societal and cultural norms, and asking ourselves: what can we do to make sure this never happens again?
June 2, 2014