Opportunity Enochs

Results from the 2015 SFSS election

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FIRST PEEK

There was a time when, upon realizing that my degree would remain incomplete after four years of study, I felt inadequate.

I had set a goal to complete my undergraduate degree within four years. Under the best circumstances, I would have had another two years — more likely three — before I could convocate. Right now, I am in my third year.

The reason for this feeling of inadequacy stemmed from a personal preoccupation with the four-year degree; since high school, I have considered the fouryear degree to be standard, ordinary. To devote any more time to a degree is less than ordinary would be a mediocre undertaking.

Granted, I have switched programs twice, and am doing so a third time — going from a BFA to a BBA, then to a BA. I am now considering abandoning this in favour of completing an unrelated degree.

But with each change in program came an exhaustion, a sense of academic failure.

This sense was compounded when I observed my colleagues nearing completion of their degrees, some already preparing to convocate after a little over three years. I felt like I was dragging my heels.

However, I’ve come to several realizations that have enabled me to — quite frankly — grow up and see that simply powering through my first degree choice would have been an adolescent decision.

Through my repeated failed excursions into other fields, I have begun to recognize the value of a missed experience.

University — and your twenties in general — provides you with one of the very few opportunities in life to try new things and screw up. You’re intelligent enough to fail at something and really take away from the experience, all while being young enough to get away with it relatively unscathed.

Thus, if the consequences are so light, take a chance to discover your interests. It is easy to be comfortable with what we perceive to be our preferences. But in reality, our

interests are so foreign even to ourselves. You might be able to maximize your interests within a particular framework, but you’ll remain unaware of the existence of a larger, more accommodating one.

I recognize that some people truly do find a very particular affinity with the course of study that they had originally embarked upon. If you get away with finishing your degree in a timely manner, without ever craving more or falling to second thoughts, I applaud and envy you.

But recognize that it was as much a matter of chance as of anything else, and, provided with a different set of cards, you would have only limited yourself by sticking to what you originally chose to do.

If all you have to lose is a bit of time, to feel a little behind based on the expectation of completing 120 credits in four years — a degree being something which is ultimately arbitrarily quantified anyways — you might as well take the time to extract real, personal value from it, and to discover the framework that might shape the rest of your life.

Don’t take your original course of study for granted. Remove yourself from what is comfortable and take a chance on something different; you have time.

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NEWS

March 30, 2015

news editor email

Leah Bjornson associate news editor news@the-peak.ca

Melissa Roach

The results are in, amigos: Enoch Weng has been elected as the SFSS president for the 2015/2016 year.

“I don’t even know how to feel. Just so loved,” Weng told The Peak after his fellow candidates had let him down from their shoulders amid chants of “Enoch, Enoch!” He immediately excused himself, rushing off to shake the hands of the other presidential candidates.

The only independent presidential candidate, Weng received 858 votes, winning by a margin of 220 votes over second-place finisher Zied Masmoudi, who received 638. The two were

followed by Erik Hadekaer (605), Kayode Fatoba (500), and Johnny Aether (125).

Masmoudi embraced Weng after hearing the results, telling him, “I know it’s in good hands.”

The elections saw 12.08 per cent voter turnout — the highest percentage since the 2009 elections,

Please visit the website for more information: www.talk.go.kr Contact information: Consulate General of the Republic of Korea 604-­681-­9581 vanedu@mofa.go.kr

excluding years which asked students to vote on referendum questions related to the U-Pass.

The REAL slate were the big winners of the night, with 10 of their 16 candidates elected.

Four executive positions were won by significant margins. Brady Wallace was elected

the new VP University Relations with a total of 1,356 votes, just over three times as many as runner-up Ally Van Poa. Barbara Szymczyk claimed the VP Finance position with 1,550 votes, doubling opponent Karan Thakur’s 742.

The new VP Student Life is Deepak Sharma, who triumphed over opponent Hassan Liaquat with a total of 1,470 votes to 809.

Darwin Binesh will take over the VP Student Services position with a similar margin of 1,481 votes to opponent Shery Alam’s 828.

Described by Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Oscar Sanchez as the “quadrangle of love,” the four candidates for the VP External Relations position fought a close race. Ultimately, Kathleen Yang emerged victorious with 804 votes, 152 past runner up Blossom Malhan.

All three referendum questions passed, resulting in the establishment of Health Science Undergraduate Student Union (HSUSU) as the official Faculty Student Union (FSU) by a 96 per cent approval rating. Students also voted in favour of reallocating portions of the Space Expansion Fund Levy to the Membership Fee Levy as well as for

targeted funding for the SFSS Emergency Food Bank Program, passing by 59 per cent and 76 per cent respectively.

Weng’s fellow presidential candidates had nothing but kind words for the president-elect.

“I just remember sitting in the debates and getting constant high fives and fist bumps from Enoch, and the whole time he’s been so supportive and happy,” Aether noted.

Hadekaer reiterated that this just felt like an average Thursday night for him, and was excited for what the new board has in store for the summer: “As a solid team, they’re going to take this board and move it towards where it should be going.

And I’m thrilled about that.”

When asked how he felt, Masmoudi told The Peak, “Feeling good, actually. Almost my whole team won, so REAL represents.”

He continued, “I’m sure that [the board is] going to accomplish great things.”

The Peak caught up with Weng, who, teary-eyed, was making the rounds and thanking his fellow candidates and supporters. “I’m feeling very overwhelmed. I’m so thankful for everybody,” he said.

Weng surely has big dreams for the year ahead, but for now, his plans are simple: “Tonight, we’re going to go to my house and just watch Disney movies all night. And that’s how we’re going to celebrate.”

NEWS

After almost a year of negotiations with SFU, the university’s Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) has voted overwhelmingly in favour of the option to take job action this summer.

In a vote held between March 24 and 26, 92 per cent of TSSU voting members voted against the current offer from the university. Their previous collective agreement expired on April 30, 2014.

As a result, the university’s teaching assistants, tutor markers, sessionals, and English language and culture interpreters will now decide whether to engage the strike vote to commence job action, or choose to wait.

Should the union choose to engage in job action, they would be putting pressure on the administration without withdrawing their services,

A week of events related to green issues, called Reinvest in Our Future Week, was held by the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) last week to generate conversation about environmental issues on SFU campuses.

The events were held in conjunction with SFU 350, Sustainable SFU, SFPIRG, and the Wilderness Committee.

For SFSS VP Finance Adam Potvin, the week was an opportunity to bridge the gap between proponents and opponents of fossil fuel infrastructural expansion. He hoped that with a deeper understanding of the issues, the community could engage in more productive dialogue.

“I’ve always been frustrated at the lack of understanding between the two sides,” explained Potvin.

March 30, 2015

therefore retaining their wages.

However, they must hold an additional vote should they wish to initiate a picket line and withhold all services.

Since February of this year, there have been 15 bargaining sessions between the two sides, with neither reaching an agreement. “Without some additional pressure, it is the opinion of the contract committee that no progress can be made and we will be forced to accept the employer’s concessions,” stated the TSSU website.

“Our members have spoken with a unified voice, and they are demanding that SFU’s administration engage in serious, good faith bargaining to address their concerns,” said Derek Sahota, spokesperson for the TSSU, in a press release.

Sahota referred to the current agreement as “a broken system,” which he believes SFU could easily repair at no extra cost.

The TSSU’s Chief Steward, Reagan Belan, outlined what she felt were the key issues facing the union: job security for sessional instructors; benefits and equity for continuing language instructors at Harbour Centre; priority

“I felt like there was no real middle ground, and I thought that both sides [the right and the left] were kind of talking past each other.”

He continued, “What I want to see is a more nuanced approach that seeks to combine realising that oil is a necessity [. . .] but at the same time there needs to be an effort to steer our community towards renewable energy.”

The week kicked off with an event titled Visioning our Future on March 23. Students and community members discussed what they wanted to see in our community’s future, both economically and environmentally.

Tessica Truong, environment rep for the SFSS, was particularly impressed by the dialogue at this event. “At first the tone of the conversation was a bit pessimistic [. . .] but soon it moved to [defining] what SFU’s role could be, not just as a research institution but a hub of innovation,” she explained.

Later in the week, community members and SFU students gathered in the Maggie Benston Centre to discuss issues related to the proposed Kinder Morgan Pipeline

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Guest speaker Gwynne Dyer engaged an SFU Woodward’s audience in a difficult discussion on March 25, titled “The New World Disorder?”

Following instances of war in Libya, Iraq, and the recent conflict in Ukraine, is the world getting out of control and heading towards violence, chaos and another cold war?

Dyer gave a more positive spin to the issue, emphasizing it is “not as bad as it seems.”

access to teaching assistant work for graduate students; and equal pay for equal work for all teaching assistants.

“Most teaching assistants balance the responsibilities of their jobs with full-time work as graduate students, while many sessional instructors maintain several jobs to earn a living,” said Belan in the release.

The TSSU held a Special General Meeting (SGM) on March 27 to ratify the vote and elect members to a strike committee, who will decide the union’s course of action in the upcoming weeks.

expansion through Burnaby Mountain. For Potvin, this event was what he had been looking forward to most.

“The Kinder Morgan dialogue is probably the marquee event in my mind,” he said. “I think just because it’s so applicable to SFU and the SFSS.”

Some of the topics on the table included how to engage SFU students in the SFSS submission to the National Energy Board (NEB), environmental concerns, and the NEB consultation process. Terry Waterhouse, SFU’s chief safety officer, was also present to discuss concerns around the tanker farm at the bottom of Burnaby Mountain, among other things.

The week of events culminated in a panel discussion on Thursday afternoon where students and staff

Although the university was unable to give an updated comment before press time, their “Labour Issue” web page published the following statement early March 27: “We understand that TSSU members have voted in favour of a strike. The University remains committed to a negotiated settlement that can only take place with both sides at the bargaining table, striving to achieve a new collective agreement.”

The statement continued to note, “Even with a strike vote in hand, the union can elect to return to the bargaining table and resume negotiations.”

discussed The Role of the University in Society: Divestment as a Case Study, and a talk on Friday called “How does climate change impact my health?”

Students in the Divest SFU movement have been pushing the university over the past several years to shift its investments from fossil fuel companies to other, more sustainable sectors.

To keep an open dialogue on these issues, Potvin explained that organizers wanted to brand the event as a “Reinvest” rather than “Divest” conversation: “We’ve kind of wanted to focus more on the proactive side of things. Rather than the whole, ‘Rah rah down with oil,’ it’s more ‘Rah rah let’s look at renewable energy.’”

Truong commented on the overall intent of the events: “I think what will emerge from the conversations is what students want.

What are they concerned about.

And I think those will definitely be included within our submission [to the NEB this September].”

Beedie School of Business held the fifth annual Opportunity Fest at SFU Surrey campus on March 26.

The festival gave students a chance to display their innovative projects and ideas, and be recognized for their work. The judges also selected several winners who received prizes for their efforts.

Students were offered a twoday NVivo for Windows intensive training program over March 27 and 28. The workshop was created and facilitated to build students’ knowledge of NVivo qualitative data analysis software.

It thoroughly explained the use of NVivio from the set-up step to the final report and presentation step, and gave aspiring researchers a chance to practice using the analysis software.

6 NEWS

Last week was ME Week at SFU, bringing free food, puppy time, and wellness workshops to students on the university’s different campuses.

The initiative was held from March 23 to 26 and aimed to promote mental health awareness. SFU’s Hi F.I.V.E. club collaborated with the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) and Health and Counselling Services to bring a variety of mental health-oriented activities to the SFU community.

Hi F.I.V.E. is a movement that originated at SFU and has since spread to campuses across North America, which “aims to eliminate stigma towards those who are experiencing mental health distress or illness.”

Erika Horwitz, Associate Director of Counselling, summarized the goal of Hi F.I.V.E.: “We want people to stop thinking of ‘them’ and ‘us;’ the ‘mentally ill’ and ‘us.’ To really understand that just like you have physical health and you may get sick with the flu or a virus, it’s the same with mental health.

“You can be doing great at one point and not so great at another.”

Jennifer Hoffmeister, a Hi F.I.V.E. organizer, spoke to The Peak about how she hopes the week’s events can help to reduce stigma around mental health issues. “A lot of it is awareness,” she said. “We kind of don’t perceive mental health as something we need to talk about.”

Hoffmeister hoped that events during the week might help spread the word about

March 30, 2015

In cooperation with the Graduate Student Society (GSS), the board moved to hire a Research Assistant to assist the societies in researching and preparing their submission to the National Energy Board regarding the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline.

Both groups applied for and received intervenor status in the last year, and will work with the Research Assistant to formulate their submission, due by September 1, 2015.

mental health issues on campus, as well as the resources available to students.

However, she pointed out that stigma is a barrier to receiving care. “People shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it,” she said.

“You can’t get help if you’re not going to talk about it.”

On Monday, Hi F.I.V.E. set up tables in the Southeast AQ to promote the event and distribute information about the various services offered by Health and Counselling, the Canadian Mental Health Association, and the BC Psychological Association. Tuesday saw a pancake breakfast that had a turnout of over 1000 students.

Hoffmeister said with a chuckle, “I think we spent almost [one and a half ] to two hours flipping pancakes and serving pancakes.”

On Wednesday, professionals gave massages to stressed-out students and a drop-in yoga session

was offered. In Saywell Hall on Thursday, students played with puppies brought in by Health and Counselling Services staff.

A highlight of the week was Thursday’s Careers Night in Mental Health event. The event gathered six professionals working in mental health fields to speak about their own careers as well as respond to students’ questions and concerns about mental health on campus.

The organizers for ME Week were enthusiastic about how the event was received by the student community. “It kind of opens up the opportunity to talk

to students about [Hi F.I.V.E. and Mental Health],” said Hoffmeister. “We actually have the opportunity to speak with them about something that, if we just walked up, they might not be normally as receptive to.”

They also noted that turnout for careers night was triple what they had last year for the same event.

Friday was proclaimed a “Day of Kindness” at SFU, culminating in a Kindness Party in Convocation Mall. Horwitz noted, “There is very good research that has found that kindness and compassion is very good for mental health, for the person giving and the person receiving.” Hi F.I.V.E. handed out coffee and cookies, inviting students to “pay it forward.”

Horwitz summed up the day’s intent: “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

The SFSS voted once again to increase the number of hours available to the chief electoral officer (CEO), Oscar Sanchez, so that he can finish the 2015 SFSS elections.

On March 11, the board voted to increase Sanchez’s billable hours from 150 to 200, since he had already worked 143 of the 150 allotted to him.

Sanchez asked for another 100 hours to be added “to be safe.” “We’re still dealing with outstanding infractions, we’re backed up on paperwork, we’ll have to do all the budgeting for next year,” he said. “There’s still a substantial amount of things that need to be done.”

Board approved the increase in the CEO’s hours from 200 to 300.

NEWS

When asked how their event was going, organizers from Free the Children SFU replied: “Quiet, but good.” Unlike most events, quiet was a sign of success for the team, considering they were leading students in a vow of silence on SFU’s Burnaby campus last week.

Participants pledged to refrain from speaking for 24 hours “in solidarity with children whose voices are not heard and rights are not upheld around the world or those here at home

Louis Riel House residents lobby governors Shortly after the meeting began, students from Louis Riel House (LRH) arrived to advocate for affordable housing on campus. The students have been mobilizing since the university announced it would officially close the residence in August due to issues with maintenance and the presence of mould in the residence.

Teresa Dettling, a student and single mother living in LRH, shared her concerns that this closure would leave her unable to afford to live on campus.

Board chair Bill Cunningham

March 30, 2015

who are bullied,” according to the Free the Children website.

Event organizer Selena Van Aert told The Peak that the point of the vow was “taking a silent stand so other people don’t [have to].”

She explained the meaning behind refraining from speaking for the 24-hour period. “It kind of is symbolizing how these girls who don’t have the right to education, how they aren’t able to speak out about it, they just have to go along with what their life is about [as decided by others],” Van Aert said.

Thousands of students at high school and university campuses around the world take the pledge every year to go silent for 24 hours, as a show of support for the rights of girls living in poverty.

SFU’s Burnaby campus is no exception. Van Aert brought attention to why SFU students should be concerned about events such as the Vow of Silence. “I think it’s important for SFU to know about it because we are so privileged to be here and have education and have everything that we have here,” she continued. “Having the awareness shows everyone how lucky they really are and how there are so many who aren’t.”

Members of the club collected pledges during the week of March 23, inviting students

thanked the students for attending, and mentioned that the Board would be discussing the issue later in their session.

Undergraduate representative on the board Deven Azevedo brought up the issue in the open discussion, asking the board what “additional support” mentioned in their official statements the university is providing residents.

Associate vice president students Tim Rahilly replied that they are meeting individually with students. Rahilly added that the building is being closed due to health concerns, not plans to gentrify the site.

Annual Operating Budget approved The Board of Governors approved SFU’s budget and financial

to take the vow on March 26 in West Mall. Organizers also sold boxes of Dunkin’ Donuts and took photos of participants with their hands placed over their mouths with the word ‘silent’ written on them.

Free the Children SFU has been raising funds over the past two years to build a school in Haiti. So far, they have raised

plan for the 2015/2016 year at their meeting last Thursday, for a total budget of $482.1 million.

In his President’s Letter, Andrew Petter wrote, “The operating budget is balanced and seeks to protect program quality, maintain research support and ensure access for qualified students in the face of funding cuts and other fiscal challenges.”

However, the university does anticipate a $2.9 million reduction to the government grant as a result of reductions at the provincial level.

Board members discussed the impact that increased tuition fees have made towards a balanced budget, but representative June Francis cautioned the board against depending on these students beyond their means: “We

approximately $5,000. “We’re hoping to be able to raise, and we will, that $10,000 to build that school,” Van Aert commented.

do not want to be an institution that is elitist and exclusionary.”

Consultation with students policy revised Azevedo brought several revisions forward regarding Bylaw 10.15 concerning Consultation with Students on Tuition and Fees Policy after “a number of opportunities for improvement were identified by students and their elected leadership.”

Chardaye Bueckert, SFSS president, Abhishek Nanjundappa, GSS university relations officer, and Azevedo worked with vicepresident academic Jon Driver and vice-president finance and administration Pat Hibbitts.

The revised policy stated that the university will invite students

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When asked how she felt about having to stay silent for 24 hours, Van Aert replied, “I think it will be really hard. [. . .] Communication is what we’re doing throughout most of the day.

“But at the same time I’m excited because I’m able to let people know about this issue that’s going on around us in the world,” she concluded.

to budget consultations, as well as establish a website to disseminate information about proposed tuition fee increases.

Responsible Investment Committee offers inaugural report The newly formed Responsible Investment Committee reported on the university’s commitment to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment and to incorporate environmental, social, and corporate governance considerations into its investment decisions.

Committee chair Julia H. Kim stated, “This issue is one that tends to elicit a lot of strong opinion and emotions, and this committee will provide a forum for that discussion.”

8 NEWS

SFU students brewed up some healthy competition last Friday in a craft beer marketing contest held by SFU and Central City Brewing and Distilling.

As part of its plan to launch the Simon Fraser Brewing and Distilling Corporation this spring, the two organizations launched a competition to design the first brand of beer sold

by Fraser Brewing.

The competition asked entrants to design “light lager that is easy-drinking, ‘gateway’ beer” meant to guide customers who tend to drink “mainstream” beer into the craft beer market. The beer also had to cost less than $10 per six pack of cans.

Tim Barnes, VP of Marketing and Sales for Central City and one of the judges, said that the

March 30, 2015

goal of the night was “to engage with the student population, to get an idea and a plan together for the new beer.” He continued, “We wanted to integrate with students and have students give us their ideas on what they thought would be great beer.”

Barnes was joined on the judging panel by Steve Dooley, executive director of SFU Surrey, Mike Volker, executive director of SFU’s Innovation Office, Darryl Frost, the founder and CEO of Central City, and Gary Lohen, the Central City Brew Master.

The contest’s conclusion was held at the SFU Surrey Campus Mezzanine on last Friday, following a week of presentations by the competitors. The week highlighted the work participants had done over the past

months, and they were evaluated based on four criteria.

First, a business plan submission that detailed product category, the target consumer, and recommendations on the product’s price, promotion, placement and packaging.

Second, a 10 to 15 minute presentation for the judges’ panel.

Third, a creative concept — a “brand idea and story behind the beer” — to give the product a unique flavour. And fourth, a creative brand name for the beer.

Four groups presented in the finals on March 27: Beaver Lager, Semester Ale, The Explorer, and one team that presented two beers, Slackline Lager and Frisbee Ale. Overall, Barnes said that The Explorer team stood out for their comprehensive business package.

The Explorer team was comprised of students Carmen Javier, Tiana Lo, Jagroop Gossal, and Muhammad Atif Saad, all of whom are students in event organizer and SFU professor Sarah Lubnik’s BUS 338 Foundations of Innovation course. According to Lubnik, the team “played on

Simon Fraser’s importance in BC history at the same time as referencing SFU’s image as a campus of explorers and adventurers.”

“We still may not use the exact name of the beer, but we liked their plan. Their plan was really good,” commented Barnes. “The competition was less about the beer name and more about building a really strong business plan.”

The Explorer was not the only winner, as Barnes stated that the runner-up presented a “great beer label design, which we may actually use.”

The Simon Fraser Brewing and Distilling Corporation will now move into production of its first beer, and is already planning to release a second beer in 2016.

UQAM threatens striking students with suspension and expulsion

Joe Fresh contributes $1 million to Ryerson’s fashion centre Fashion students at Ryerson University rejoiced as the Canadian brand, Joe Fresh, announced its donation to and collaboration with the university’s fashion program to “create a new fashion innovation centre: The Joe Fresh Centre.”

The centre will provide students with access to workspaces, mentorship programs, and seed funding, which will “[put] Toronto on the fashion map may happen a lot sooner than later.”

Third-year fashion communications student Katy Sun noted, “We’ve got some really talented people here that are passionate about what they do. As students, most of us probably don’t have the funds to start our own business, so it’s a great opportunity.”

Administration at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) have announced intentions to take an assertive approach against students who took to the streets of downtown Montreal last week to protest increasing tuition fees.

Nine students were informed that they could potentially “face either one-year suspensions or [. . .] outright expulsion as a result of actions committed during protests on campus over the past two years.”

Although UQAM has a history of political activism, one of the students threatened with expulsion, Justine Boulanger, explained that such a threat is unprecedented. “It’s the first time the university has issued notice of disciplinary action for political activities,” she said.

With files from The National Post

Rotten food served at Memorial University triggers social media outcry Pictures of mouldy lemons, undercooked pork chops, and dead flies in tacos served at Memorial University’s dining hall are among the images that students have been posting on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Imgur.

Dining hall meal plans are mandatory for students living in residence, and cost over $2,000 each semester.

MUN dining services claim that the social media posts may not accurately reflect the issues that should be brought directly to their attention. However, students claim they “regularly bring issues to staff’s attention — and the list of sub-par food experiences can’t be brushed off as social media hype.”

With files from CBC

With files from The Ryersonian

OPINIONS

March 30, 2015

opinions editor email

Adam Van der Zwan opinions@the-peak.ca

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THE LEFT SUMMIT

Are you an SFU student or faculty member who needs some relationship, student, or SFU-related advice? In 150 words or less, send your issues anonymously by visiting the-peak.ca/professorpeak. Your entry could be published in our next issue, along with some helpful advice from Professor Peak!

British Columbia has the highest cost of living of any province in the entire country and the second highest rate of poverty, yet the provincial government remains complacent about poverty reduction.

Recently, BC Jobs Minister Shirley Bond announced that after being stagnant for several years, the minimum wage would be raised by 20 cents to a measly $10.45 per hour. For the sake of comparison, once these changes go through in September, BC will have the lowest minimum wage in all Canada except for Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Even with the new increase, an individual with a full time job being paid the minimum wage and with no dependents will be $5,000 short of the poverty line if living in Metro Vancouver. We must ask ourselves: In what world does a “minimum wage” not provide for the most basic and “minimum” standard of living?

The minimum wage is an integral part of any poverty reduction plan. It is meant to help the commonly-termed ‘working poor’ — individuals who may work tirelessly at one, two, or even three jobs and yet barely manage to scrape by the poverty line, especially if

responsible for multiple dependents. These individuals are not impoverished because they do not work hard, but rather because the wage floor has been set disproportionately low in comparison to the poverty line.

A robust minimum wage is not meant to replace government welfare programs targeted towards the unemployed, disabled, or elderly. Nor is it meant to replace socialized medicine and subsidized transportation.

Rather, its purpose is to provide a predictable basic income for workers who are less in demand.

It is a bastion of a healthy economy; the minimum wage gives consumers income to spend and contribute to the economy, rather than making them rely on assistance programs.

There are multiple progressive minimum wage systems worth considering in creating a policy that works for BC. For instance, in Australia, a country with lower than six per cent unemployment, the minimum wage is set at $16.87 (Australian dollars). The Australian system is flexible and progressive in that the high minimum wage is only for workers above the age of 20.

Those who are younger face a progressively lower wage, a policy which is quite rational.

There is no justification for a 15-year-old to make the same wage as someone 10 years older with far more financial burdens.

Another possible approach would be a separate minimum wage for municipalities with higher costs of living. This is already in place in prosperous US cities such as Seattle and San Francisco, who have pledged to implement municipal minimum wages set at around $15. The status quo in which the province imposes a “one-size-fits-all” solution does not consider discrepancies in costs of living. Allowing municipalities to set their own minimum wage would allow each city a wage that corresponds to its own unique living expenses.

I can recall with a heavy dose of nostalgia the days when I earned minimum wage hanging clothes in a dusty old thrift store. While $10.25 was plenty for myself, I remember one co-worker in particular who worked a day shift at the store and a night shift in the fast food industry just to scrape by a living for her and her two sons.

For too many people, the current minimum wage is a sore excuse for actual poverty reduction. It is time the provincial government takes concrete steps to ensure that all BC residents can put food on the table.

DEAR PROFESSOR PEAK: Since moving away from my parents’ house, I’ve noticed many problems in life that I feel have stemmed from my relationship with my mother: self-image, jealousy of others with power, and the like. I’ve improved my ability to talk to friends and other family members about issues that I have with them, but when it comes to talking to my mom, I just can’t do it, especially considering she lives across the country now. I want to be open to her, but I can’t just bring it up on a phone call out of nowhere!

How do I resolve these feelings? ––– SINCERELY, ROCKY RELATIONSHIP DEAR ROCKY: I actually had a similar experience around the time that I left home. It was difficult to discuss any problems I had with both of my parents after I left — a problem that has resonated with me for almost my entire adolescent and adult life. It’s definitely not a great feeling to feel barricaded from this kind of relationship with a loved one due to hard feelings, past negative experiences, or just a prolonged lack of contact.

A couple of things have helped me mend my relationship with my loved ones, and hopefully they will help you too. The first is to realize that your mom loves you — you are her kid, and while there may be difficulties, there are also feelings love and support, even if you two don’t outwardly express them to one another.

Also, some time away from your mother may be key! You mention that she now lives across the country, and this distance may actually benefit you. After having lived away from home for a few years, I was able to experience the world for myself, to formulate my own perspectives, and to develop a certain maturity that I was bereft of when living with my parents. This gave me the confidence to overcome some of my hard feelings and talk with my parents.

If you’re still anxious to talk with your mom, remember that inaction feeds anxiety.

Give yourself some distance, then step out of your comfort zone and make an effort to connect. She may just reciprocate the response and surprise you! Relationships with loved ones can be tough, but if you’ve recognized the divide and are open to mending it, I have confidence that you and your mom will be happy in the end. ––– PROFESSOR PEAK

10 OPINIONS

But where’s the hit homegrown Canadian programming in all of this? I can’t remember the last time a friend recommended that I watch the latest show the CBC picked up, and whenever I do happen to catch an episode of Murdoch Mysteries, the camera-work, lighting, dialogue — well, all of it seems just a bit

tackier and less professional than what I’ve grown accustomed to.

Canadian TV has failed to truly resonate with audiences and churn out highly entertaining content over the years. Of course there are the rare exceptions, such as Trailer Park Boys, but if there is a Renaissance happening, I think we ought to be a part of it.

Canadian programming has been lacking in part because one of the CBC’s mandates is to “reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences.”

That sounds great, but there are only so many Alberta references I’ll get when I watch Little Mosque on the Prairie because well, I’m not from Alberta. The mandate places predetermined constraints on TV writers, limiting how inventive they can get with their stories.

To create compelling programming also means likely offending viewers. A good portion of our original programming funnels through the CBC, and as a public broadcaster, they’re not really in the business of pissing people off. Finally, you often need money to make good television, but when you and the rest of your Canadian brethren haven’t proven you can make

March, April, May: the spring semester is coming to a rapid end and the time for course registration is upon us. Another term where we must face the challenges of schedule accommodation for our institution as we attempt to meet their demanding prerequisite requirements.

These prerequisites are often topics that are not of interest to us and are typically seen as a means to an end.

As irrelevant as these courses may be, they are highly publicized

and promoted by the university.

Everyone is familiar with classes that meet our WQB requirements, regardless of their minimal appeal. What is not advertised, though, are directed study course opportunities.

As students who are supposedly “engaging the world,” we need to be aware of opportunities that encourage us to take education into our own hands and be given the opportunity to resist the conformity of a conventional university classroom.

Directed studies are available in every department that I have researched. English, education, business, sciences, and mathematics all allow for these opportunities. They are typically accessible for third- and fourthyear undergraduate students.

TV’s golden age is upon us. The small screen has become a more incisive storytelling medium than ever before. Just ask Walter White, Don Draper, or Frank Underwood.

Finally, creators are using the multiple-episode structure to their advantage, delving deeper into character arcs, constructing complex story lines, and providing a highly satisfying and distinct viewing experience from that of the silver screen.

March 30, 2015

great TV, no one will trust you with a big budget.

It’s time to take risks, shell out some cash, and join the movement, Canada.

We are the HBO generation. We grew up watching dark, sexual, nuanced, creative television that explore themes that resonated with the human condition. To engage us, you’ll need to start taking risks. Less of the traditional ‘you can watch it with your grandma’ programming, like Murdoch Mysteries, and more “stylized, smart and sexy,” like BBC’s Sherlock.

Moreover, if you want to document our history and culture as the CBC does, you need to do so in a compelling manner. Boardwalk Empire, with its story about Prohibition-era America and the criminals and politicians that ruled it, will be talked about for years to come. If Canadians are to watch programming that tells our story, we need to create honest, thought-provoking drama, no matter how risky and expensive it may be.

Finally, it’s about national pride. We have our authors, our comedians, and our pro

athletes. It’s about time we have our TV, too.

The sense of pride we feel when our writers produce great work and the rest of the world watches may just do more for Canadian solidarity than another period drama based in 1900s Toronto can.

There’s a generation of Canadian actors, directors, storytellers ready to tell stories more passionate and challenging than we’re used to, and it’s about time we fully support them. After all, it’d be a damn shame if their homegrown talent is never put to use.

Yet when students register for their courses, directed studies have a minimal course description that make them seem confusing and unappealing. SFU describes these courses as “independent reading or research in topics selected in consultation with the supervising instructor.” Snooze.

students are more likely to experience less success, which in turn may set back the amount of time it takes to complete their education and allow the institution financial gain.

Directed studies, on the other hand, are geared toward what the student is interested in learning.

They leave room for creativity and independence, and with this added motivation, a student can succeed in all of his or her directed studies courses.

This semester I had the privilege to partake in an empowering directed study within the Faculty of Education. I have been able to take control of my own education by

reading articles that are important to me. My particular directed study meets once a week in the Highland Pub, where we discuss social issues in education. We also have the opportunity to mentor students during office hours, a deeply engaging educational experience.

I have the freedom to choose what I study and eventually compile a final project that is useful and relevant, rather than an academic paper that will only see the recycling bin.

I have never been so impassioned by a course in the five years that I have been a student at this institution. Directed studies provide a much-needed escape from the monotony and stress of regular coursework.

I recommend them to all students at SFU.

Perhaps this ambiguity is due to the university’s concerns with the quick success of too many students. While SFU encourages academic success, it also encourages students ‘take time’ to complete their education. Under the regular class-structured system,

OPINIONS

Let’s talk about breasts.

Earlier this month, a Vancouver woman, Kristen Hilderman, was shamed by a flight attendant for breastfeeding on the plane without a cover. A similar event took place in a Manitoban mall only days before. While feeding her child, Tara Léger was asked to move into a washroom, despite the fact that she was discreetly nursing where she was.

Both women reported feeling attacked and humiliated by those who called their breastfeeding to the attention of those around them, suggesting that what they were doing was “offensive.”

Cue the eyerolls from the large community of people who

I’ve been drinking my coffee black since the beginning of last summer. It was a tough habit to get into! Straight, black coffee can be painfully bitter, though once I acquired a taste for the drink, I’ll say that waking up to a fresh-pressed pot of black-gold is absolutely terrific. I’ve decreased the intensity of my heartburn problems, and have contributed to the less rapid deterioration of my health — all while loading myself up with the wonder drug, caffeine.

think that public breastfeeding is either a non-issue, or that asking women to “cover up” and “take it elsewhere” is an appropriate response.

But the truth is that standing up for public breastfeeding is incredibly important in the struggle for gender equality. To shame a woman for breastfeeding publicly sends the message that they should self-consciously hide what they are doing.

To nurse a child is not about publicly displaying your breasts.

It’s about nourishment. Mothers aren’t looking to make a statement or expose themselves — they simply want to feed their children.

Breastfeeding is completely natural, and is proven to have many

But, I’ll admit, there is the odd time that I decide to add a bit of sugar in my morning cup o’ java, and when I do, it’s ecstasy.

A mouth-gasm of enhanced, sweetened flavour that sends my brain into a buzzing overdrive.

Sometimes I’ll order that doubledouble, just to give myself an extra kick. Adding sugar once in a while, and in small doses, ain’t no biggie, and it gives me a simple something to indulge in from time to time.

health benefits for newborns, yet too many women are ogled at and receive rude comments.

Every day we see sex on TV and underdressed models on the covers of magazines. If the society we live in has no issue advertising the human body, why do so many people feel uncomfortable with mothers who breastfeed? The short answer is that, when the female body presents itself in any sort of nonsexual way, the general public doesn’t seem to know how to react.

A c c o r d i n g to Léger, mothers have to overcome “humility hurdles” when it comes to nursing.

If that’s the case, then the last thing we should do is go out of our way to shame them. The idea that breastfeeding is in some way a personal offence is ridiculous.

It’s high time we start respecting them and their bodies, instead of accusing them of indecency.

The truth is that breasts are not objects to be romanticized and sexualized; they are a part

of the body that serves an important role in terms of child upbringing. A woman should never feel ashamed for using them for this purpose.

Breastfeeding in public is not the problem; how we think of the

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female body is. It’s their choice where to breastfeed, and it’s up to them to decide what their child needs. I sure wouldn’t want to eat my lunch in the bathroom, and I doubt mothers want their babies to either.

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8Rc My grandma used to spoon four heaping teaspoons of sugar into her coffee cup. She’d also have two cups per day. For those like me who have trouble with math, that’s eight heaping teaspoons of sugar in the morning!

My grandma obviously had blood sugar levels of steel, and I’ve never been able to understand how people can consume so much sucrose without keeling over from cardiac arrest.

So, if you’re one to add coffee to your sugar, here are some facts

11

March 30, 2015

you learned in your high school biology class: sugar contains fructose, and too much of this can destroy your liver, which means you could die. Overloading your liver can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which means you could die. Sugar also causes insulin resistance, which leads to type II diabetes, which means you could die. Sugar also leads to cancer, which means . . . wait a sec, did you just read my mind?

In short, don’t die. Keep away from all that sugar!

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12 OPINIONS

The U-Pass program has been extremely beneficial for students all over the Lower Mainland, but with the ongoing transit referendum, the future of the program may be at risk.

According to the U-Pass website, and from an SFU City Conversations event I was part of with the chief negotiator for the program, the current contract with TransLink for our U-Pass prices ends next March and will need to be re-negotiated. However, if the referendum does not result in a ‘yes’ vote, the U-Pass program may likely cease to exist.

As students, it is crucial that we become involved in our community by voting in this referendum. The Metro Vancouver region is our home and many of us will continue to live here beyond graduation, and we have a responsibility to the place we live. We pay thousands of dollars at university to invest in our future careers; it only takes minutes to register online, and mail in our ballots to invest in the future of our home.

In order for the U-Pass program to continue, students must come together and vote ‘yes’ for better transit. At the City Conversations event, Jonathan Cote, the Mayor of New Westminster, stated that this vote seems to be a method the Mayors’ Council is using to see if the public is invested in transit improvements for the region.

This would be so that municipalities and the province will be even more invested in transportation needs. According to Cote, the tax increase is not a major funder of the projects, but rather an indicator of our commitment to transportation — a necessity we must be willing to invest in for the future.

Unfortunately, this measure of community commitment would backfire if the referendum results in a ‘no’ vote. Discussion at the event surrounded how the Mayor’s Council will take this as a message from the region that we do not care enough about a healthy, sustainable, and congestion-free region to invest in transportation.

March 30, 2015

This message could also undermine future U-Pass negotiations, since current funding has fuel tax for our transit system’s services maxed out.

Past incidents, such as a U-Pass price hike a few years ago, have shown how TransLink, under higher political authority, may not maintain subsidized fares for students if they need more money to increase services.

From a business point of view, it makes sense to charge students more for the services they are using if we take no action to try and make our services better.

However, we can avoid another U-Pass price hike — or even losing the pass altogether — by voting ‘yes,’ the tax money from everyone in the Lower Mainland will go towards actually increasing services throughout the entire region, so there will be even more accessibility, hours, and places to go with our shiny blue U-Pass.

We shouldn’t take what we have for granted. We have U-Passes thanks to the hard work and advocacy from students like us. Let’s be the next group to do something beneficial for all students.

Monica Lewinsky returned to the public stage to speak about her very public scandal at the TED Conference Truth and Dare on March 19.

“At 22, I fell in love with my boss. At [. . .] 24, I learned the devastating consequences.” It’s no secret that Lewinsky was publicly and globally humiliated by Internet users due to her sexual relationship with then-president Bill Clinton.

“I was branded as a tramp, tart, slut, whore, bimbo, and, of course, ‘that woman,’” she recalled from the comments posted online.

Lewinsky’s ‘slut-shaming’ experience was one of the first of many experiences women have had online since 1998. But this type of web-shaming is only one of the forms of a bigger, more prevalent issue: cyberbullying. This issue is responsible for similar recent events, including the leaked nude photos of female celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence and Kaley Cuoco.

Cyberbullying is a problem that needs to be addressed due to the exponential damage it has caused, not only to women, but to all genders. However, we can counteract this issue through simple online compassion.

One mustn’t forget the other notable and devastating occurrences of women’s privacies being infringed upon online, due to desensitized online hatred. Look no further than British Columbian Amanda Todd’s suicide, provoked by the online abuse she received from posting a topless photo — a tragedy that could have been prevented if more online users had actively

recognized the sensitive situation, and stood up against this harassment.

Unfortunately, cyberbullying has become incredibly prevalent in our society. According to a study by Internet security firm MacAfee, at least one in three teenagers are now bullied online in America. Moreover, online anonymity allows for hatred that often targets women, minorities, and LGBTQ individuals. Because of this, Lewinsky is now calling for a revolution, and I stand behind her.

Comment sections, forum posts, and personal profiles have become the public battleground for what seems like a neverending spread of hate. With social media platforms failing to offer protection, cyberbullying also stole away lives like that of Nova Scotian Rehtaeh Parsons.

While our government needs to create laws that make this a crime, the reality is that changes must be made directly through web users.

We have the power to affect real change on the web, and to fight the disassociation between the real person and the virtual profile that cyberbullying causes. The Internet has become a bystander society that continues to permit this behaviour — since the consequences that occur from such behaviour in the real world often do not apply, this online culture has projected a deafening silence that blocks the pleas of real person’s pleas behind the screen.

Though, it is easy for us to become upstanders within our bystander society: we just have to counteract the negativity by making the personal choice to empathize with our friendly comments, rather than remain desensitized.

“Empathy from one person can make a difference,” Lewinsky advised. “Compassionate comments help abate the negativity.”

With so many suicides and so much harm caused by cyberbullying, the least you can do is to click with compassion.

March 30, 2015

COMMUNITY PHOTOS March 30, 2015

ast Thursday night, candidates and friends gathered in the Maggie Benston Centre at midnight to hear the results of the 2015 SFSS election. Emotions ran high and the room filled with tears and cheers as a new board of directors emerged.

The big winner of the night was president-elect Enoch Wong, whose celebration plans fell in line with his entire campaign: heading home to watch Disney movies.

photo editor email

Brandon Hillier photos@the-peak.ca

13

A look at some of SFU’s most not

HONOURS BY THE N

table Honorary Degree recipients

NUMBERS

16 ARTS

Provocative and dramatic, British playwright Sarah Kane’s Blasted was met with hostility and outrage upon its 1995 debut. The play was originally condemned for its use of absurd brutality (in one scene, for example, one of the characters sucks out another’s eyes). But it quickly became a historic piece of theatre.

In commemoration of its 20th anniversary, Pi Theatre is presenting the second-ever professional staging of Blasted in Canada. Despite its legacy, the play has only been staged a handful of times in all of North America. North American producers have been largely unwilling to confront the ambitious theatricality and courageous acting that the play demands.

Ferenc Fehér The Vancouver International Dance Festival presented a diverse line up of artists this year, and offered many free shows as well as ticketed events. Hungarian choreographer and performer Ferenc Fehér’s work, Tao Te, was one of the free shows at the Roundhouse Community Centre.

Along with Balázs Szitás, Fehér’s choreography was full of deliberate movements that had the two dancers running and tumbling around the stage, throwing and pushing themselves off of each other without losing momentum. It was striking to see how well his performance conveyed the speed of traveling through life on our chosen path.

The structural device of Fehér’s dance theatre piece is represented

March 30, 2015

Artist Director Richard Wolfe and the Pi Theatre have endeavoured to bring the conversation surrounding Blasted to Western Canada. The play continues to generate controversy due to its intense violence, but it is also demanding and highly theatrical on an artistic level.

in the program by a quote from Martin Heidegger: “The lasting element in thinking is the way. And ways of thinking hold within them that mysterious quality that we can walk them forward and backward, and that indeed only the way back will lead us forward.”

Philosophically and physically complex, Tao Te was both a beautiful study of Heidegger’s concepts and an impressive piece of choreography. With limp limbs, the dancers’ vigilant, stilted movements were intriguing and thought-provoking as they moved through various sequences, including an aggressive wrestling bout.

Fehér says that, to him, “thinking and choreographing are mirrorimages of each other since they refer to the same secret.” His unique combination of freestyle dance and martial arts, coupled with his interest in philosophy, made for a multifaceted work of art.

Out Innerspace and 605 Collective Another double bill show featured two local dance companies who have grown together over the years, Out Innerspace and the 605 Collective. They both presented works-in-progress that highlighted their strengths.

“The play is about the link between intimate violence and the institutionalized violence of war,” explained Wolfe. “The violence is not a glorification of violence, it is not for entertainment, but [Sarah Kane] was showing that all war is a nightmare.”

Out Innerspace’s style is cinematic, dark, and full of complex facial expressions. The seven dancers in this piece stayed in a tight group and moved as one being during most of the piece. The work was choreographed and performed by company founders David Raymond and Tiffany Tregarthen, in collaboration with Laura Avery, Ralph Escamillan, Elissa Hanson, Arash Khakpour, and Renée Sigouin.

With animalistic intensity, they slinked around the stage in aggressive, complex formations. What I love about this company is their ability to create complex characters

The play opens with a disturbed man’s brutal seduction of a young woman in his hotel room. The wrenching domestic scene is interrupted by the arrival of a war-hardened soldier — an event that blasts open “the metaphorical door that stands between us and institutional violence,” Wolfe explained.

Still, the play portrays the profoundly sensitive side of humanity. “It is a love story, too,” Wolfe described. “There is a real sense of need [for] compassion and human contact.” The play is the convergence of the most horrific, malicious acts with the desire to be loved.

Written when Sarah Kane was only 23 years old, Blasted was the first of five plays she wrote before the her suicide in 1999 at the age of 28. Her influential work deals with love, desire, pain, torture, and death.

Wolfe’s production features daring and brilliant actors Cherise Clarke, Raresh DiMofte, and Michael Kopsa. Acclaimed set

and narratives through their unique movement. One particularly innovative moment was when a few of the dancers formed a large talking mouth from a combination of different body parts.

The group of dancers seems to be fighting and avoiding some outside force during the piece, while also dealing with some parallel internal conflict. The work is a comment on the oversimplification of good and evil, and begins with a short monologue which says “you are good” and “we could not do this good without you.”

designer Drew Facey confronts the challenge of creating a set capable of exploding each show, while Simon Fraser University alumnus Remy Siu will provide sound design.

After the performance, audience members are invited to mingle in Pi Theatre’s adjoining lounge. “The play doesn’t give answers, it just makes you think and makes you feel,” explained Wolfe. “We want people to come down after the show and have a couple drinks and talk about the experience.”

People who are interested in dangerous art and polished aesthetics will enjoy this non-traditional performance. “There is high theatricality, there is fantastic acting — the play is electric,” described Wolfe. “If you like theatre [that] you will be engaged in, then you’d enjoy [Blasted].”

The 605 Collective has long been one of my favourite dance companies, and I am looking forward to seeing the full length version of Vital Few next year.

Choreographed by Lisa Gelley and Josh Martin and performed along with Hayden Fong, Jane Osborne, Odile-Amélie Peters, Jessica Wilkie, and Sophia Wolfe, this work-in-progress explores the theory that it only takes a small number of people in any group to effect change.

Playing on the constant codependence and interrelationship between the dancers, this work was a fascinating study of how one small change has a much larger ripple effect. They dance as a collective while also allowing each dancer’s distinct style to shine through, and there is no leader as they all lead the group at some point.

The dancers are highly aware of each other throughout the piece, knowing exactly when to pick up where another left off with impeccably smooth transitions. They were autonomous from the group while also being highly dependent on them. The 605 Collective has always created movement in a collaborative way, and this work explores this concept beautifully.

ARTS

Tim Johnson’s Home is a computer animated science fiction-comedy film about an alien invasion with an interesting twist. Themes such as friendship, accepting differences, and finding a place of belonging are blended with a good dose of humour in this fun-filled kids’ movie.

Home begins when an alien race, the Boov, uses an antigravity special power to captivate and transport humans to a distant desert planet in order to take over Earth. Unlike most members of his alien race, Oh (Jim Parsons) is an overly enthusiastic and lovable Boov who naively believes that everyone is his friend.

In reality, Oh is strongly disliked by fellow Boov, a feeling that is only augmented by his serious blunder: Oh accidentally invites the entire galaxy, including the Boov’s enemy alien race, to his housewarming party.

Banished from the Boov and attempting to run away to a Boovless spot on Earth, Oh runs into a feisty human girl named Tip (Rihanna) who escaped captivity and now longs to reunite with her mother. Although Tip is

March 30, 2015

initially repelled by and distrustful of Oh, both eventually develop a friendship and unite to find Tip’s mother — and save the planet while they are at it.

The hero of the movie is Oh. His use of incorrect English (possibly correct in Boov language) in statements such as “can I come into the out now?” or “my warming-ofhouse party” are sure to draw laughs and ‘awws’ from the audience. Jim Parsons’ voicing of Oh further adds to the character’s likeability.

One of the most amusing scenes in the film comes when Oh is unable to stop his body parts from bursting into dance when he is first introduced to human music.

Although the storyline is fairly simplistic and mostly geared towards young children, the film provides deeper messages that adults will surely pick up on. In one scene, Oh tells Tip that the Boov were informed that the human race was backwards and needed the Boov to liberate them, an obvious reference to colonialist ideologies.

In Home, acts of friendship and understanding are what lead to viable solutions to the world’s problems. Tip and Oh team up to find Tip’s mother and fix Oh’s mistakes, suggesting that this may be the only way to build a sustainable home.

All in all, Home is an adventurous ride, with an important lesson on friendship to teach its young and mature audiences alike.

Walk the Moon from Ohio brought their energetic, danceable music to the Commodore Ballroom on March 22 as part of their Talking is Hard tour, and showed us all why it’s sometimes important to just shut up and dance.

With colourful neon lights, red-streaked hair, and plenty of synth, the show felt like an ’80s throwback — in a good way. I also really enjoyed lead singer Nicholas Petricca’s relaxed performance style. Their entrance song as they took the stage was The Lion King’s “The Circle of Life,” and it set a peaceful mood that remained throughout their set. Their stage presence and Petricca’s carefree dancing also exuded positive energy that crossed over to the crowd.

Petricca must be into yoga or some other relaxing hobby. At one point, he asked the crowd to take a few deep breaths with him, and also did a group activity where he had us pull in all the “bullshit” and things that make us angry, tired, or sad, and pull all that stuff up and out through our fingertips to let it go.

Honestly, I think more bands should employ yoga techniques in their stage show. It focused the audience and loosened us up to dance without a care in the world.

On “Different Colors,” the band showed off some great electric guitar riffs, and reverbed

into the very catchy “Tightrope.”

The ’80s synth vibe continued for their fist-pumping, anthemic “Down in the Dumps.”

The band also showed their range with higher-pitched, echoing voices paired with chilling synth, while “Up 2 U” had a much heavier sound with hard rock influences.

Petricca described the song “Avalanche” as “a song about taking life by the balls.” This track is incredibly catchy, and reminds me a lot of Athlete’s “Superhuman Touch,” perhaps because it evokes the same inexplicably cosmic, uplifting feeling.

The empowerment continued as Petricca got the crowd

17

to jump in unison with “Jenny” and put our hands up to “I Can Lift a Car.” They saved “Shut Up and Dance” as their last song before the encore, and came back to do a surprisingly great cover of The Killers’ “All These Things that I’ve Done.” It was a treat to sing “I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier” with the enthusiastic crowd.

I think “Anna Sun” is still their best-known song, so it makes sense that it was their final song of the night, allowing some of their bright, energetic attitude to stay with us long after the show was over.

18 ARTS

Last Wednesday, I had the pleasure of visiting the Vancouver Art Gallery and seeing its three stunning exhibitions: Cézanne and the Modern, The Poetics of Space, and Unscrolled.

On the first floor of the gallery until the May 18, you can find impressionist paintings collected between the 1940s and ’50s by Henry and Rose Pearlman.

As indicated by its name, this exhibition is focused largely on works done by painter Paul Cézanne. Working with materials such as watercolours, Cézanne pushed his bright colours outside of his sketched lines as a reaction

March 30, 2015

to the complexities of real life — he was building his works out of pure colour.

All of the pieces on display in this collection showcase artists who were reacting to the invention of the photograph — once real life could be captured in that form, painters

and sculptors began to challenge themselves to create their own vividly colourful and often over-exaggerated impressions of life.

The Cézanne exhibition features works that cannot be found anywhere other than this tour collection — they are usually housed at

Princeton University. I would recommend checking this exhibition out for the rare opportunity to see this stunning collection.

Until April 6 on the second floor of the gallery you will find Unscrolled , which includes a collection of works by 10 currently active post-modern Chinese artists who are both challenging and working within confines of traditional Chinese art and history. I found this exhibit extremely stunning; all the works pushed boundaries in their own way to create memorable pieces addressing Chinese culture and heritage.

In one room, you can find an interactive piece entitled Bang by famous Chinese activist and artist Ai Weiwei. This piece is made up of almost 900 antique chairs that were traditionally found in Chinese homes due to their resilient structure and ease of creation.

Needless to say, Bang is completely breathtaking. Visitors are free to walk through the art and interact with it as it tells a story of Chinese culture now lost.

2015 METRO VANCOUVER

TRANSPORTATION AND TRANSIT PLEBISCITE

Elections BC is administering the vote-by-mail plebiscite from March 16 to May 29, 2015.

You can vote if you are:

■ A Canadian citizen ■ 18 years of age or older, on or before May 29, 2015 ■ A resident of B.C. for at least six months, on or before May 29, 2015 ■ Registered to vote in B.C. ■ Living in Metro Vancouver You can ask for a voting package to be mailed to you by calling 1-800- 661-8683 or online at elections.bc.ca /ovr. You can ask for a voting package until midnight on Friday, May 15, 2015.

Elections BC must receive your completed ballot package before 8 p.m. on Friday, May 29, 2015.

Visit elections.bc.ca or call 1-800-661-8683 for more information.

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On the third and final floor, until May 24, you can find The Poetics of Space, an exhibition curated around the investigation of space and our place within it. The artists featured in this collection range from historical to current. Because of this, each piece or set of pieces is unique. The viewer is given a wide range of styles, mediums, and outlooks via the varying perspectives of each artist.

It is clear that while each of the current exhibits at the Vancouver Art Gallery are able to stand alone, they all benefit from one another’s themes and reception.

A walk through the gallery starts with some of the early beginnings of the rejection of standards and practices in art and the world. You are then led into a new age of self-reflection that looks back while striving forward, and you end with varying perceptions on the world around us and the ways in which artists throughout history have challenged our perspectives. What a wonderful way to spend a day.

ARTS

March 30, 2015

Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel, Inherent Vice is a labyrinth with no way out; the more you think about its plot and try to piece together all of its clues, the more the solution eludes you.

The point is to become immersed in its conventional setup and the lunacy of its journey through a mad and corrupt world. The film unfolds like a ’70s conspiracy thriller where everything leads “straight to the top” (think

Having dropped his debut album last October and opened for major hip-hop talents including MGK, YG, and Hopsin since, Dkay is a rapper to watch out for in Vancouver’s local hip-hop scene. His fun and energetic music, along with his promotion of the city, have given his name a lot of buzz within Vancouver, and he’ll be opening for big-name Atlanta rapper Waka Flocka Flame on April 9 at Venue.

The Peak: How excited are you to perform with Waka Flocka Flame?

Dkay: I am pretty excited moving forward with this show; there is going to be a lot of high energy and I like that. Waka Flocka is for sure one of the bigger artists I’ve opened for and that’s [. . .] got good energy because the crowd’s really excited.

P: When you are on stage performing, what type of vibe do you like to give off?

D: I’ve been MCing and hosting parties for a really long time,

so I have a good ability of reading the crowd and trying to keep the energy high and keep them interested. I like to bring my audience through a story, and I give a little introduction before each song so that they know what they’re expecting and they can feel a vibe off the song before it starts.

P: Who are your biggest influences as an artist?

D: I would say there’s a mixture of 50 Cent and Nelly. Those dudes made me really want to start rapping. Since I’ve been rapping I’ve been influenced by Drake, YG, Ty Dolla Sign, and Lil Wayne. You know, it kind of changes as the music changes.

P: Do you feel you fit into a subgenre within hip-hop?

D: I would definitely say that my sector is not defined yet.

Every region has their own style: East Coast, West Coast, the Bay Area — even Toronto has a developing sound. I’m trying to do the same thing and put Vancouver on the map, and come out with something that’s unique.

P: Being from Canada, have you found it tougher to sell yourself as a rapper and artist?

D: To be honest, I actually find that Canada is the least receptive to my music.

In the United States and different countries they are used

to having different outlets for music, so they are less picky. In Vancouver they support their local artists, but they also want to hear music from major artists that don’t come from the city.

P: Where do you see yourself within the Vancouver hip-hop scene right now and in five years?

D: I am about to put out another EP in a year. In five years, I hope to be an established mainstream hip-hop artist in Canadian and American markets, hopefully overseas as well, and I’m trying to set up my own record label called Leftside Music Group, but I’m the only artist on there right now. I’ve got a couple different producers and songwriters working for me right now, but I’m hoping to sign other artists once I blow up.

P: Referring to your song “Friend Zone,” what advice can you offer to the fellas struggling with the friend zone?

D: The reason it comes up is because guys are a little bit shy and nervous, and don’t really know how to put their true feelings on the table. And that’s when guys get put in the friend zone. If guys put their genuine sides forward, a decent girl’s not gonna shut that down. I think we gotta stop worrying about being embarrassed and just go for it.

Chinatown ), except that Inherent Vice offers no solution to the mystery or reprieve from the paranoia.

Doc ( Joaquin Phoenix), a private investigator, is looking into the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend’s millionaire boyfriend, who has a girlfriend, who also has a boyfriend. The story has even more friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, non-friends, and people who are just downright unfriendly. Oh, and things get much more convoluted than that.

The film also jumps from one moment to the next without disclosing how we got from point A to point B. Anderson’s movie seems to be about as stoned as its characters and as hungover as the time period it depicts. This is deliberate: regardless of whether or not you agree with Anderson’s unconventional vision, you have to marvel at

19

the uncompromising nature of his intent.

What were we talking about? I don’t know. Forget it.

Inherent Vice features an enormous ensemble cast who play exaggerated caricatures of 1970s archetypes in a dense plot with hippies, prostitutes, drug dealers, dirty cops, and rich men gone crazy, creating a hallucinatory world full of distinct individuals (and memorably over-the-top performances from Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, and Martin Short).

In order to enjoy the film you have to get lost in each individual moment and not worry about where the plot is heading.

The viewer is never given a gateway into any of the characters’ experiences through stylistic flamboyance, as in other films about druggies. Anderson avoids point-of-view shots or any subjective visuals but rather plants his camera down and simply observes these whackjobs. He’s creating a sense of time and place where the characters are trying to hold onto a lifestyle that is fleeting.

If taken as a plot-driven procedural, Inherent Vice would be a frustrating mess with one-dimensional characters and underdeveloped plotting. Taken as a period piece, it fascinates in almost every moment.

The film initially immerses you with its genre conventions, which recall the paranoid thrillers of the ’70s, before it subverts their formulae and leaves you lost in its insane world without any coherent resolution.

By the time the credits came, when I was airlifted out from the labyrinth, I found myself eager to return.

There has to be an answer to the mystery. There has to be someone at the top pulling all the strings — right? Or has the movie just made me as paranoid and stoned as hippies losing touch in the ’70s?

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SPORTS

Adrian VanderHelm is the first member of SFU’s men’s swim team to qualify for the NCAA Div II National Championship — a feat he topped by also becoming the first male All-American swimmer at SFU. All in his freshman year.

“It didn’t really sink in until I got there and I started to see the level of competition,” reflects Adrian on his experience at the national championship. “Coach Liam [Donnelly] is not really one to congratulate, or be very buddy-buddy with you, but he gave me, we call it ‘the Liam Donnelly side hug,’ he gives you a pat on the back. It’s a big deal, if he does that, it’s like, ‘Woah, he gave you a hug.’”

Despite his early success at SFU, Adrian was a late bloomer to the sport of swimming.

“It’s my sixth year. I haven’t been swimming that long — most people start when they’re a lot younger, I only started [competitive swimming] in grade nine.”

In high school, Adrian struggled with his body weight. “When I was in grade eight, I was 5’7” and 220 lbs, I was a really big kid,” he remembers. “I was always pretty good at swimming, so my mom heard how

March 30, 2015

swimmers were super ripped, and she was like, ‘maybe he could try that and see if he liked it, and maybe it would help with his weight.’ [. . .]

So I tried it and I was very good at it.

“The biggest struggle I still have is nutrition,” he notes. “I log my food every single day, I count calories, I count certain nutrients I take in — and I still have trouble keeping my weight down.”

While Adrian notes that there is a history of weight issues in his family, he was reluctant to attribute it to ‘bad genes.’

“Some people say it’s in the genes, but I don’t like to look at it like that, because then it’s like, ‘Oh, I’m just going to be fat,’ and I’m like you might as well try [to lose weight],” he explains.

With swimming, Adrian has found an avenue to get in shape, noting that he is now at a “comfortable” 187 lbs.

“You always hear people say, ‘swimming is the best exercise, it’s a full-body thing,’ but it really is true,” he says. “Not only is it a full body workout, it burns a lot of calories fast, and it’s fun for me — I don’t know if other people find

it fun. It also is very calming — if I’m ever stressed for school I’ll go for a swim, even if I already swam twice that day.”

Exercise, however, wasn’t the only thing Adrian found in swimming. He also attributes a newfound confidence to his sport.

“I was shy, I had trouble with I guess you could say bullying — I don’t like that word — but people picking on you and people calling you fat or ‘fattie.’ It hurts and it sucks, but in the end it makes you who you are,” Adrian says.

“That’s the best, being able to come from people making fun of you and letting that drive you [. . .] You can’t let it push you down. I kind of rose above it and showed them what I was made of.”

When the time came to decide on where to go for university, Adrian narrowed it down to three choices: University of Victoria, University of Toronto, and SFU. Ultimately, the American collegiate atmosphere drew him to SFU. “The people in the States just race like crazy. It’s nuts; you go to a swim meet and there’s more people watching than a Canadian hockey game — and it’s swimming, nobody even watches swimming,” he says.

sports editor email

Austin Cozicar sports@the-peak.ca

The move from Barrie, ON was tough on the business student. Though he joined three “best friends” from Barrie who were already at SFU, he admits the first few weeks were a real challenge.

“I’m really close to my family — three brothers, two wonderful parents — it’s tough. I [saw] them dayin and day-out, my mom cooks my meals, my dad talks to me everyday, and we just hang out because my dad works from home. We’re just a really close family.

“All of a sudden, just not seeing them at all, it was really tough,” Adrian continues.

“In October I had kind of a breakdown, I had a week where I was like, ‘I want to go home, this is not for me,’ [. . .] I almost failed my first math midterm, that was the big thing, ‘What am I doing here? I don’t belong here,’” he notes.

But things quickly got better.

“After I had an interview with SFU SportsDesk [an SFU Athleticsproduced web series], and having them want to interview me, talking to people, and being part of the leadership in the school in my first year, all that stuff [came] together to show me that people wanted me to be here and I wasn’t just here because I wanted to be here,” he says.

“Then having those three friends from Barrie back from my hometown rooted me, and I was able to feel like I was kind of like at home.”

Now, he finds a sense of comfort at SFU, with a family of sorts in his team, and a new place he can call home.

“When I went home for Christmas, I went home [to Barrie], but I started to think to myself I want to go home — back to BC. And it’s weird, I’ve only been here for six months.”

SPORTS

March 30, 2015

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Men’s golf achieved their second NCAA tournament victory last Monday and Tuesday at the California Baptist Invitational in Corona, CA. John Mlikotic led the team with a total score of 214 (-2) in four rounds of golf, despite opening the tournament with the highest Clan score in the first round. He shot 70 (-2) and 68 (-4) in the final two rounds, and placed second individually at the tournament. Mlikotic’s effort won him the GNAC Golfer of the Week award. “We are not firing on all cylinders right now so to come away with a win in this tournament against many of our rivals tells me the team is starting to believe in itself,” head coach John Buchanan told SFU Athletics.

Track and field were honoured with Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) awards on Tuesday. Senior Lindsey Butterworth, who achieved the women’s 800-metre title at the national championship, was named the GNAC Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year. Freshman Paige Nock was voted the conference’s top female freshman, while graduate student Jennifer Johnson was named the GNAC Female Newcomer of the Year.

Last Monday, Clan basketball star Erin Chambers was named an honourable mention for both the 2015 Daktronics/Division II Conference Commissioners Association Women’s Basketball All-American team and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-America Team. This marks Chambers’ second straight appearance as an honourable mention on the WBCA AllAmerica Team.

Jovan Blagojevic and Alan Koch returned to Terry Fox Field for one last preseason game for the Whitecaps FC2 on Saturday, March 21. Despite Oregon notching the first goal, the former SFU men’s soccer midfielder and coach guided the FC2 to a 3–2 victory over Oregon State University.

Blagojevic scored the gamewinner in the 84th minute.

The FC2 began their regular season against the Seattle Sounders FC2 on Sunday.

Last Wednesday, SFU Athletics announced Joe Paopao as the newly hired offensive coordinator of the SFU football team.

Paopao, a native of Honolulu, HI, is no stranger to the BC football scene, having spent seven of his 11 seasons playing in the CFL with the BC Lions before multiple stints on the BC Lions coaching staff, including one season as head coach in 1996. He has held coaching jobs on various CFL teams, serving as the head coach for the previous Ottawa franchise, the Ottawa Renegades, for all four seasons of its existence from 2002–2005.

Nicknamed the “Throwin’ Samoan” for his ability as a quarterback, Paopao has also coached at the university level, serving as the offensive coordinator for the Waterloo Warriors from 2007–2011 before being named the university’s head coach, a position he held for two seasons before returning to the Lions as a receivers coach in 2014.

SFU head coach Kelly Bates had first-hand experience working with

Paopao on the 2014 Lions coaching staff, where Bates was the running backs coach and draft coordinator.

“I know what Joe’s about,” he said. “Joe has many accolades, many accomplishments, he’s got a wealth of football knowledge, but the thing that drew me to Joe, and the thing that makes him the perfect hire, is that he cares about people. His actions prove that day in and day out.

“He will have a positive impact on everyone that he runs into and he works with in this program,” Bates added. “I felt like it was a steal to get him, and I think this place is fortunate we have him.”

Paopao hopes to bring stability to an institution that has lacked a consistent coaching staff for the last few years, with three different head coaches in three years and a different offensive coordinator each year since 2011.

“I’m their fourth different offensive coordinator in four years, [the team is] getting four different messages, four different philosophies offensively, and it can’t be easy,” Paopao noted. “I’m sensitive to that. They’re tremendous young men, but they’re still human beings. When you’re 18, 19, 20, 21 — it’s not easy when there is constant turnover.”

Both Paopao and Bates emphasize the importance of developing the student athletes as human beings.

“I’ve been coaching a long time, been in the pros for 30 years, it’s like my ninth year in university, so I understand what it takes,” Paopao said. “It takes patience, it takes being consistent with the message to student athletes — and I enjoy the process, having sent four of our children to university. I get it.”

Part of Paopao’s plan is to make sure that the student athletes are excelling academically. He notes his belief that this will also help the team on the field.

“We’re going to have to trust in the things that Bates is trying to implement, which is you’ve got

to go to class, we’ve got to make sure they get the tutorial help they need,” he continued. “That’s a big investment in them by the university throwing a scholarship, and their parents who are investing in their future. We also believe that next four to five years are going to influence the next 40, 50 years of their life.

“In our game, each play lasts anywhere from three to five seconds, that’s all,” Paopao continued.

“So before that and after the ball is snapped, that’s where being a good student and being disciplined mentally [comes in].”

The goal of the SFU coaching staff is to get the team to being a competitive force in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, as SFU has not achieved a winning record since joining the NCAA. In 2014, SFU actually had less wins than the season before, going from a relatively low three wins to just two. Paopao acknowledges that it’s not going to be an easy task, and it won’t happen right away.

“It’s like building a house, I mean it doesn’t happen in 10 minutes or 10 days,” he said. “It’s no different than starting university. In your first year, nobody graduates, there’s a process to it — you have to see how things work in it, but you have to keep working at it.”

22 SPORTS

Last Monday, six Clan football graduates headed to Edmonton to participate in the CFL regional combine. The players hoped to receive an invitation to the national combine the following weekend, where two SFU football players — wide receiver Lemar Durant and defensive back Matt Isherwood — were directly invited.

Unlike last year, where both players invited from SFU received an invite to the national combine, none of the six — running back/ defensive back Chris Tolbert, wide receiver Bobby Pospischil, wide receiver Kyle Kawamoto, defensive lineman Kristian Lawrence, running back Cole Tudor, and wide receiver Bibake Uppal — received an invitation.

The six players were tested with six drills: bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, short shuttle, 40-yard dash, and the three-cone drill.

The Clan alumni did particularly well at the three-cone drill, with Pospischil and Uppal claiming first and second overall times respectively. Five of the six players finished in under eight seconds.

“I felt I performed well at the vertical jump; my broad wasn’t as

March 30, 2015

good as I would’ve liked it to have been, but I still performed decent at that, my three-cone drill was second best at the combine so I felt pretty confident about that, especially at my height,” Uppal told The Peak in a phone interview.

However, the 40-yard dash was a point of struggle for much of the Clan delegation, according to Uppal.

“I think everyone was in the same boat as me, they felt like they should have performed better for the most part,” he said. “[It] seemed like most of the people at the combine were pretty disappointed at what they ran. [. . .] There were a couple of guys who ran pretty fast, but for the most part, it seemed like everyone ran a little slower than they would have liked to.”

Kawamoto also achieved the second overall score for the short shuttle drill.

TSN’s Duane Forde, who had listed Pospischil and Uppal as athletes to watch, wrote, “[Pospischil] tested well and got open during one-on-ones, but had a rare bad

tournament to crown the champion. The first matches will start Tuesday, April 14 after the international break ends. Here are my predictions for the round of eight:

The Champions League quarter-final participants were determined March 19, and the announcement provided us with a slate of quality matchups, including a rematch of last year’s final and yet another match between players Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi.

Reaching this round is a very big deal for these clubs — only five more weeks of games remain in the 21-week

These two teams always seem to face each other; they met in the round of eight in 2013 and were in the same group in this year’s tournament. Despite pulling off a thrilling last-minute upset against Chelsea in the round of 16, PSG are the clear underdogs against Barcelona. Both teams won at home during the group stage, and PSG will also be without Ibrahimovic for the first leg, as he got a controversial red card in their last match.

But after Messi’s performance

SFU wrestler Oscar Balaqui was crowned the 50 kg Canadian National Junior champion for the second year in a row. Balaqui has spent the season as a redshirt, having won last year in his senior year of high school. 2015 Clan signee Nolan Badovinac achieved second place in the 84 kg category. At the senior nationals, sophomore Josh Kim placed fifth. On the women’s side at the juniors, freshmen Tiffany Hibbert and Payten Smith earned silver medals, and Ashley Osachuk and Abby Lloyd earned bronze.

day catching the football. With his smaller stature already working against him in the scouts’ eyes, he needed to be almost perfect.”

For the athletes, not being invited to the national combine is certainly disappointing, and makes the path to being drafted in the CFL tougher. But Uppal is still optimistic about his future.

“A couple of coaches spoke to me after the combine, and said they were looking at me, so I’ve got to just stay at it, keep training, work on the things I feel I didn’t perform well in; and the ones

I did perform well in, I need to work on those as well,” he said.

He noted that the event gave him a glimpse of what he needed to do to be drafted by a CFL team.

“Being in that atmosphere testing is not the same as when you’re at home working on those numbers, [when] you’re more comfortable. [It’s] a little bit more pressure, you don’t get very many attempts at certain things, so you’ve got to make sure you’re consistently doing well,” he said.

“They say this is one of the deepest drafts in years, so it’s helpful to see the guys I’m going to be going up against in the draft, and certain things they’re good at that I need to improve at. It’s always good to learn off other people’s games.”

against Manchester City at the Camp Nou, how could you go against him?

with too much depth to go out in the quarter-finals.

Juventus vs. Monaco Porto are heavy underdogs against a very strong Bayern side — one that demolished Shaktar Donetsk 7–0 at home.

Bayern also have an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga, which means they can afford to rest some key players and put all of their effort into the match. But Porto are in good form, having won or tied every game so far in the competition, something that neither Bayern nor Real Madrid can say. Porto striker Jackson Martinez will be back after missing the last leg with an injury, but it won’t be enough against a fantastic Bayern side

Juventus fans will like this draw, as they are facing the lowest-ranked team left in the competition. Monaco fans will also like this draw, as they avoid the four heavy favourites in Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid. Juventus will be the odds-on favourites in this matchup, but will be without influential midfielder Paul Pogba, as he is out seven weeks after being injured in their last match against Borussia Dortmund. Juventus are stronger defensively than Arsenal, but should be cautious not to underestimate Monaco like Arsenal did at home.

Clan softball went one for four in Montana, playing the Montana State UniversityBillings (MSUB) Yellowjackets in two doubleheaders over Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22. The Yellowjackets outscored SFU 32–13 over the four games, with the only victory coming in the second game on Saturday in a 10–9 result — the other games the Clan were held to two or fewer runs in the rest of the games. “[MSUB] came out with energy, scored runs early and shut down our offence. The games were all but done early from an emotional point for us,” head coach Mike Renney told SFU Athletics.

Probably the biggest matchup of the quarter-finals sees a rematch of last year’s final between two bitter rivals.

Although on paper Atletico Madrid is the lesser team, Atletico seem to have had Real Madrid’s number since the final, having won four games and drawn two against them since, including a 4–0 thrashing in February. Real’s recent form has not been very good, and it will be interesting to see what manager Carlo Ancelotti does to try to repair the situation. Atletico barely got through to this stage, having to win on penalties. It will be a very even matchup, but I think Atletico can pull off an upset here and advance.

DIVERSIONS / ETC

Across 1- Protracted 5- Clublike weapon 9- Related to the kidneys 14- Bacchanalian cry 15- ___ about (approximately) 16- Actress Verdugo 17- Infringement 19- Spoil 20- Historian 21- Holmes’s creator 22- Restless 23- Maize 24- “___ had it!�

25- Tank 28- California border lake 31- Loses color 32- Conger 34- ___ all-time high 35- Feels for 36- Gather, harvest 37- ___ Moines 38- Chest or closet material 39- Vends 40- Ornamental shoulder piece 42- Eureka!

43- Grating LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

March 30, 2015

SFU Public Square presents Catriona Strang and Michael Turner at Lunch Poems at SFU on April 15, SP LQ 6)8 +DUERXU &HQWUH¡V Teck Gallery (515 W Hastings St.). Free admission, no registration required. For more information visit www.sfu.ca/publicsquare/ lunchpoems Ad text: MATH GOT YOU SCARED? WORRIED ABOUT THAT UPCOMING FINAL? Contact Scott Cowan for all your Math/ MACM tutoring needs. Competitive rates, extensive experience and great past reviews! scottc@ alumni.sfu.ca f13 Are you Gay, Bi-sexual or just not

44- Least fresh 48- Perfect Sleeper maker 50- Star-shaped 51- Sleep disorder 52- Essays 53- Doctrine 54- French summers 55- Noteworthy achievement 56- Poke fun at 57- Hamlet, for one 58- Building additions

7- Codger 8- East ender?

9- Snappy comebacks 10- Comic Boosler 11- Singer Sedaka 12- Actress Heche 13- Back muscle, briefly 18- In play 21- Prescribed amounts 23- Apple juice 25- Unit of weight in gemstones 26- Lively dance Down 27- Oscar winner Patricia 1- Burton of “Roots�

28- Wee bit 2- Sheeplike 29- To ___ (perfectly) 3- High times?

30- Clasp for a door 4- Freezing 31- Like old jeans 5- Accompanier of 33- CD forerunners means and opportunity 35- Salsa singer Cruz 6- Licorice-like flavoring 36- Reality

23

sure? Need a safe place to talk?

HOMINUM Fraser Valley is an informal discussion and support group to help gay, bi-sexual and questioning men with the challenges of being married, separated or single. Our next meeting is 7:30 pm on Friday, February 27th. For information and meeting location, call Art 604-462-9813 or Don 604-329-9760.

The Peak puts on super fun trivia at the Highland Pub on the last Monday of every month and the March edition has a theme: SeinIHOG 7KDW¡V ULJKW D VKRZ \RX DUH probably too young to have seen when it aired live. But no matter, you and your pals should come down and drink some beers while you answer fun questions. Plus, there are prizes for everyone!

38- Shortened 39- Biblical verb 41- Concurs 42- Comfortable 44- Dutch painter Jan 45- Stand used by painters 46- Pilfer 47- Trials 48- Graf ___ 49- Sicilian resort 50- Mex. miss 51- ABA member 52- A Kennedy

EVENT LISTINGS ARE FREE FOR SFU STUDENTS AND STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS. SEND THE DATE, TIME, LOCATION, NAME, AND A 15 WORD DESCRIPTION TO CLASSIFIEDS@THE-PEAK.CA

24

HUMOUR

March 30, 2015

humour editor email

Jacey Gibb humour@the-peak.ca

tions. However, when posted online, the piece received several accusations that the opinions article

was biased and didn’t belong in a publication meant to incite further dialogue.

“I can’t believe how clearly biased this article is,” one online commenter posted via Facebook.

“The newspaper’s staff have no right to make educated endorsements based on previous professional

experiences with candidates running in the election. Who the hell do they think they are? I might not have any experience with running a newspaper, but I think I know how a newspaper should be run.”

The piece in question was a collaborative effort between 12 of the newspaper’s staff members; informal votes were anonymously cast, compiled, and then elaborated on to create digestible information for interested readers. According to sources, the staff’s intention had been to mimic what most major

newspapers already do and use its extensive prior knowledge of the candidates to vocalize who they thought would perform best as part of the SFSS board.

“I bet The Peak are just endorsing whoever they’re all friends with,” said another online commenter. “It’s very unreasonable that they didn’t endorse my friend, who’s also running. If they can’t endorse both their friends and my friends, then they shouldn’t be endorsing anyone at all. How is that reporting objectively?!”

Concerns were also raised about whether a newspaper should be allowed to print the article and file it online under the opinions section, since it’s clearly just an opinion and some people might somehow mistake it for news.

“What if someone reads this, doesn’t realize that it’s an opinions article [. . .] and blindly follows the endorsements?” Another commenter said, as part of a 859-word post. “People are totally unable to develop an opinion without having it spoonfed to them, so this puts the non-endorsed candidates at a huge disadvantage.

“It’s not about the extensive objective reporting they’ve done in previous issues, like their election special. This one article has made me lose total respect for the whole publication. Forever!”

Aside from a short, supplementary post the aforementioned Facebook update, The Peak has yet to officially comment on the negative feedback, but sources say the staff hopes people can learn to think for themselves and not blindly follow what they read, regardless of how it’s being presented to them.

Overdramatic newspaper headlines and misleading presentation of information to the public could lead to the eradication of multiple species on Earth, according to a local expert.

The warning comes from Chandler Finks, a tenured professor of sociology at Simon Fraser University.

Finks, 55, claims that the kind of sensationalizing and “quote cherrypicking” that more and more media outlets are practicing can often “distort” the bigger picture and “could lead to problems” down the “line” — including the end of all life on this planet, assumedly.

“I think it’s interesting how some newspapers present the facts,” Finks wrote in an email response to The Peak’s inquires. “You never know when someone’s going to blow things out of proportion.”

While Finks failed to elaborate on what these aforementioned “things” are, we can assume that they will have an overwhelming impact on every one of Earth’s living organisms, including all plant life, animals, bacteria, and even humans. Elaborating further, if this trend of deliberately presenting “the facts” in a misleading way continues, Finks believes this will cause all of these entities to “blow” up and leave our planet devoid of life.

These and several other shocking words are just part of Finks’ 200-word email, which was leaked by The Peak last Thursday.

In the email, Finks’ main criticism of the media was focused on

whether “newspapers” are doing enough to ensure that incorrect data doesn’t lead to mass panic or to the general realization that everyone one day will die, no matter how much you might try to deny or avoid any mention of it. Finks goes on to say that death is “inescapable” for humans, which is just stating the reality — but isn’t reality scary when you start actually thinking about it?

The answer is yes.

For mankind, it would appear the writing’s already been on the wall for quite some time. In 2014, the Madagascan dwarf hippopotamus was declared officially extinct by International Union for Conservation of Nature. Back in 2011, the western black rhinoceros was also declared extinct, though no individual of the species had actually been recorded for five years.

While Finks does not specifically mention either of these

animals in his email, they can be seen as prime examples of what is to come for the rest of Earth’s inhabitants if proper “proportion” is not maintained by media outlets.

As for when this seemingly unavoidable fate is likely to

manifest, Finks is reluctant to say, but suggests that we might “never know.” In the meantime, the best humans can hope for is accurate reporting in the news and an end to media over-embellishing every single unimportant detail.

Jacey Gibb Humour Editor SFU’s student paper is facing criticism for publishing an opinionsrelated election article in the newspaper’s opinions section.

The article, which appeared in the March 23 issue of The Peak, was titled “The Peak picks their 2015 SFSS candidates” and included endorsements for six candidates running in the then upcoming Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) elec-

HUMOUR

Good work, team! That’s an official wrap on another Burnaby Heights Neighbourhood Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. This event wouldn’t have been nearly as successful without all of our volunteers. Every one of you really gave it 110 per cent this year, the kids all seemed to really enjoy themselves, and I’ve already had some good feedback from a few of the parents.

Also, it’s probably unrelated, but I thought I’d mention it anyways: I noticed that my stockpile of precious velociraptor eggs seems to have misplaced itself sometime in the last few hours. Has anyone seen my dinosaur eggs? They’re large, sort of an off-eggshell white, and whenever you hold one, you get the overwhelming feeling like you’re playing god.

The last place I remember seeing them was in the rec centre supply closet. I was busy counting them, as someone with two dozen velociraptor eggs often does, when Francine

March 30, 2015

asked to help with a particularly nasty streamer entanglement outside. When I came back, my pile of eggs was missing. Does anyone remember moving them?

Perhaps you saw them on the floor and moved them onto a shelf so they weren’t a tripping hazard?

Or maybe someone shuffled my dinosaur eggs out of the way so he or she could have easier access to the beautifully watercoloured eggs I prepared for the Easter egg hunt? Nope? You sure you didn’t accidentally move them, Carol? Just checking.

I also hate to bring it up, but I wish that you guys had followed my instructions and hid all of the Easter eggs instead of just some of them. There’s no point in us having leftovers because it’s not like we can save them for next year’s hunt. Judging by how many Easter eggs are left in the supply closet, I’d say you guys hid less than half of them.

Like, a lot less than half. Not even a dozen, or maybe even fewer?

Try to remember, folks: this holiday isn’t about us, it’s about making the kids happy. And you know what makes kids happy? Finding watercoloured eggs on the ground and putting them in a little pastoral pink or yellow basket. If that’s not Easter, I don’t know what is.

After talking to you all here, I think it’s pretty clear what happened here. We have to acknowledge the reality that someone, Carol, likely mistook the genetically modified raptor eggs I’ve been working on for the last 10 years for the $5 chicken variety that I spent an hour decorating with stripes and polka dots.

We don’t have to panic, though.

Not yet. The eggs aren’t set to hatch for a few more days, so that should be enough time to find out who took them home, trade the raptor eggs for the decorated ones, and verify that it was klutzy Carol who accidentally used the wrong eggs. Sorry, I mean figure out who moved them.

Well this whole event went from fun to none fairly quickly here. Everything should work out okay though. The only real threat is Carol’s incompetence.

Sorry, Carol. We were all thinking it.

Non-humans of SFU

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26 HUMOUR

March 30, 2015

HUMOUR

Start things off with what’s known as the “rescue process.” First, assess the scene and check that there are no immediate threats that could put you at risk of being totally over this party. Once it has been determined that the party is salvageable, you should focus on the “primary emergencies”; if someone looks near the breaking point or like they’re about to start a fight out of sheer boredom, they are a primary

The more people there are in a room together, the higher the risk of one or more of those people having pungent body odour.

When left untreated, an individual’s stank can severely bring down the mood of a party and may even lead to some attendees saying they

March 30, 2015

emergency and should be assisted first. After that, you can take care of “secondary emergencies,” or people who are clearly not enjoying themselves but are still managing to force a smile.

Note: Assessing the situation is the first and most important step. If a party is clearly beyond saving, there’s no sense in endangering your own social life by also becoming a victim.

have to work in the morning and leaving early. Help the affected smelly person to the nearest sink and run warm, soapy water over the stink-infected areas. If the odour persists even after being washed, call emergency party services and inform them of the situation.

One of the most important things to know about Standard Party First Aid is the “recovery position.” After checking for primary and secondary emergencies, do a visual assessment of which attendees are the least attractive. (Anyone below a five on the hotness scale should be noted but this can be a sliding scale, depending on the number of people at the party.) Approach

In severely boring cases, a person can actually fall asleep while standing up and injure themselves by toppling over. If you see someone continuously yawning and with their eyes less than 10 cm open, they could be at risk of passing out. Quickly recite them a joke you read on the Internet or talk about how your friend’s friend once hooked up with Quentin Tarantino and it was apparently

the >5s one by one and inform them that you know Standard Party First Aid and you’re here to help the party. After they’ve given their consent, gently help the person to the floor and roll him/her onto their side so they are facing away from the rest of the party. Once they’re in the recovery position, ensure they are comfortable and move onto the next person.

as weird as you’d think it would be. Your main goal is to keep the person awake until a Flip Cup tournament can be organized or someone suggests ordering pizza.

Note: If you’re too late and the person has already collapsed from boredom, help move them to another room and inform the host.

They’ll regain consciousness later on when the party is either picking up or officially winding down.

27

If you spot someone openly trying to flirt with another person but they keep choking up and making things awkward for everyone, you may have to intervene.

Encourage the bumbling individual to bend slightly at the waist and repeatedly hit his or her upper back, flat palmed, until all of the dumb anecdotes and cheesy pickup lines have been successfully forced from the person’s airway.

Note: To verify that a person is completely out of boring things to say, have them say a few sentences and listen for any references to their new addiction to juice bars or cliche jokes from early ‘90s SNL skits. If present, it’s possible you will have to reapply another cycle of open-palm hits in their back. Repeat until signs of a personality begin to emerge.

If you notice a person has been constantly checking his or her phone all night, they might be suffering from broken social skills and will require your immediate attention. Using a piece of fabric, wrap the person’s dominant hand and tie the ends into a knot behind his or her neck. Ensure the fabric is tight and the hand

cannot escape. While this won’t prevent someone from checking their phone entirely, it will at least slow the process until they finally leave or their phone dies.

Note: An arm sling may also be necessary if the person is always showing other attendees pictures of his or her kids, even without prompting.

28 LAST WORD

orry if my title tricked you into thinking this was yet another narrow-minded jab at the liberal arts. But I think there is a very good reason to distinguish between the piece of paper you receive from a man in a silly hat at the end of your long four (or five or six) years at university and what you actually get out of it.

It didn’t used to be that way, of course — a bachelor’s degree used to be like the golden ticket into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, except instead of a lifetime supply of chocolate and a psychedelic factory tour, you got to reproduce a comfortable middle-class existence in a sterile, white-collar office job. But those days are over.

S

As I near the end of my undergraduate career here at SFU, the frequency of belligerent questioning I receive has increased proportionally. In different forms, they invariably ask, “What the hell kind of job are you going to get with a sociology degree!?”

It didn’t start out this way.

These same people were perfectly happy when I was a bright-eyed UVic engineering freshman with a clearly-defined path to a wellpaying job. But that discourse shifted significantly when I decided to walk my own path into the SFU sociology department.

I get similar responses when I tell other arts students I’m a sociology major, but an arts degree isn’t about the grades you get,

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Brad McLeod features@the-peak.ca

it’s about how you develop as a person. It’s about the things you learn, and the people who help you learn them. This all sounds cheesy, but bear with me.

The things I’ve gained aren’t exclusively job skills. They are life skills that produce better, more critical citizens who engage with society in both the public sphere and in their everyday life.

I hear people enjoy lists, so let’s give that a try. Here are the top four things I’ve gained from my liberal arts education:

There’s an often-quoted saying that anthropology is about “making the strange familiar and the familiar strange” — but I want to extend that to the arts as a whole. An arts education pushes the boundaries of possibility. Instead of stopping at questions of “what?” and “how much?,” I’ve learned to ask the big question: “why?”

The academic questions I explore everyday tend not to be instrumental. They aren’t aimed at market-rationalized goals of profit, or even to accomplish a specific, defined outcome.

Of course, society needs people like that. We need scientists to discover the empirical nature of existence, engineers to build things based on those discoveries, and environmental scientists to study the effects. But we also

need people to question what’s behind those innovations.

The only way I actually got better at thinking critically was by being critiqued myself. In fact, I hope you use our Facebook comments section after you finish reading to do the same.

Arts students have their own comments section: each other.

Upper-level arts courses tend to be small and discussion-based. This has been ripe terrain for engagement with wildly different perspectives than my own.

The only way I’ve developed critical thought has been through the ruthless critique from my fellow classmates. These are people who grapple with the same questions I do, yet produce radically different conclusions. Simply put, my peer groups have made me a better thinker than I ever could have been alone.

Most arts courses I’ve taken overlap. A communications

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course might discuss Marx, while a history class might invoke hegemony. Instead of staying isolated within our respective disciplines, arts has allowed me to draw upon multiple perspectives to understand the world.

Arts are the venn diagram of university studies. In my degree I’ve been able to explore the intersections of history, the human mind, rhetoric, society, culture, and ethics. Only by bringing these all together have I been able better understand the world around me.

I read a lot. Pages and pages every day. Some of it’s fun, some not so much. But it’s almost always challenging, and that’s fantastic. Being able to read a vast amount of text, understand it fully, pick out the important concepts, and write something actually worthwhile about is something I do almost every day.

Being able to articulate my thoughts, feelings, and desires fully has been the most liberating experience of my life. And I wouldn’t give that up for anything.

I’m aware that this is an incredibly privileged position to take on higher education. Most people I know are buried under mountains of student loan debt, and don’t have the luxury to pay $7,000+ a year in tuition to

simply become better thinkers — myself included.

While most arts degrees do not have specific, defined career paths built into them, that’s not really the point. Rather, they create a foundation to build their lives upon. And in the age of precarious neoliberal ‘flexible’ labour, maybe this is a good thing.

Labour market demands change constantly, and many technical skills become obsolete overnight with parallel technical advancements. Instead of specialized vocational training good for working one specific job in one specific industry, an arts education has allowed me to develop an adaptable skill-base of writing, researching, communications, and analytic skills that can applied to a plethora of contexts. So far, I’ve applied them to education and digital communications analysis, benefiting enormously from these skills.

And while I may not graduate to a six-figure salary immediately, I know I’ll be okay in the long run.

But even beyond that, my education has allowed me to interrogate the market logic ideology that pervades our culture — instead of asking “how much can I make?,” I instead ask “how can I make a difference in society?” Ultimately, the track laid out by my arts education is not clear-cut. It’s a twisted path of curiosity, questioning, and exploration. But I’ve learned that that’s the best way for me to develop as a person. I have embraced the chaos. I recommend you do the same.