What's in a name?

VOL. 168 ISSUE 7 JUNE 21, 2021

NEWS

OP INIONS

ART S & C ULT UR E

H UM O UR

SFU stadium delayed to Fall 2021

Stephen Curry makes how much more than the highest paid WNBA player?

Indigenous humourists discuss the power of comic relief

The daily schoolwork Grindr

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What’s in a name?

Simon Fraser and the legacy of colonialism

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Volume 168, Issue 7

Maggie Benston Centre 2900 Simon Fraser University 8888 University Drive Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6 Phone: (778) 782-5110

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COVER Shaheen Virk THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS Maya Beninteso, Van Mai PEAK ASSOCIATES Gurleen Aujla, Sara Brinkac, Tiffany Chan, Jacob Mattie STAFF WRITERS Kelly Chia, Carter Hemion, Nancy La

NEWS Biodegradable printer ink cartridges developed by students

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Meera Eragoda eic@the-peak.ca COPY EDITOR Paige Riding copy@the-peak.ca NEWS EDITOR Michelle Young news@the-peak.ca

OPINIONS Life-saving medicine should be included in BC’s Medical Service Plan

NEWS WRITERS Karissa Ketter, Jaymee Salisi OPINIONS EDITORS Dev Petrovic, Marco Ovies opinions@the-peak.ca FEATURES EDITOR Marco Ovies features@the-peak.ca

FEATURES

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Sara Wong arts@the-peak.ca

What you thought you knew about asexuality

HUMOUR EDITORS Kyla Dowling, Paige Riding humour@the-peak.ca PRODUCTION AND DESIGN EDITOR Siloam Yeung production@the-peak.ca

ARTS & CULTURE TESSEL showcases a collective of Black Canadian dancers

ASSISTANT PRODUCTION EDITORS Brianna Quan, Josh Ralla PHOTO EDITOR Gudrun Wai-Gunnarsson photos@the-peak.ca MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Karla Salazar multimedia@the-peak.ca

HUMOUR Dear Peakie returns for more advice you shouldn’t take

ASSISTANT MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Rashi Sethi BUSINESS / ADVERTISING MANAGER Yuri Zhou business@the-peak.ca 778.782.3598

Get involved!

How it works!

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The Peak is the official weekly student newspaper of SFU and is published every Monday. We're funded by a student levy and governed by a board of directors. Any SFU student can become an editor, and we hire an editorial team every semester.

We reserve the right to edit submissions for length, as well as style, grammar, and legality. We also reserve the right to reprint submissions at any time, both in print and on web. We will not publish content that is sexist, racist, or otherwise prejudiced.

We acknowledge that The Peak's office is located and our paper is produced, distributed, and read on the Unceded Coast Salish Territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), Kwikwitlem (Coquitlam), Kwantlen, Katzie, Semiahmoo, and Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish) Peoples. Unceded means that this land was never surrendered, relinquished, or handed over in any way. We recognize that the unceded land that we occupy includes not only the SFU Burnaby campus, but extends to the land occupied by the Vancouver and Surrey campuses as well.

PROMOTIONS MANAGER Julie Vu promotions@the-peak.ca WEBSITE MANAGER Reza Shariatzadeh web@the-peak.ca DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR Deby McIntosh BOARD OF DIRECTORS Kelly Chia, Pablo Clairmont, Emma Dunbar, Jacob Mattie, Angela Wachowick, Yuri Zhou

NEWS

June 21, 2021

MADE FOR PRINT

BREAD AND BUTTER

Biodegradable printer ink cartridges developed by SFU students Ink cartridges made to mitigate plastic pollution in landfills

Many ink cartridges aren’t recycled.

P HOTO : Bank Phrom / Unsplash

KAR I S SA K ET TER / / NEWS WR I TER

The raise also applies to liquor servers, who were making below minimum wage prior to the increase.

PH OTO : Brian Lundquist / Unsplash

BC raises minimum wage to $15.20 per hour Labour studies director Kendra Strauss believes at least $20 per hour is needed to meet basic needs

JAYME E SALI S I // N E WS W RI TE R

On June 1, 2021, BC raised its minimum wage from $14.60 per hour to $15.20, making the province’s base rate the second highest in the country.

In an effort to benefit nearly 400,000 British Columbians earning minimum wage, the provincial government has been annually increasing rates according to inflation by at least one dollar since 2018.

She said large companies like McDonalds, Tim Hortons, or Burger King, who pay most of their workers minimum wage “can definitely afford to pay more because they profit from this low wage model.

“When we don't pay people a living wage, we pay for the costs of poverty in other ways through other kinds of social programs,” such as income assistance.

According to the Government of BC, over 20% of the province’s workers earn below $15 per hour — 61% of that number being people in couples who must provide for their families.

Strauss said the government’s decision to increase minimum wage rates began as a result of the BC Fair Wages Commission, established in 2017 and previously chaired by SFU professor Marjorie Griffin Cohen.

In an interview with The Peak, director of the labour studies program Kendra Strauss said the minimum income needed for a worker to meet their basic living needs in Vancouver amounts to “above $20 an hour.”

She said the Commission looked at minimum wage in other provinces and found BC “had fallen behind relative to both the cost of living and other provinces.”

Because of this, she said $15.20 is a good start, but is still not enough to provide minimum wage workers a liveable payment. “The minimum wage [increase] is definitely an improvement, but it is not going to resolve the challenges for people who need to live off that wage.”

The advancement also applies to liquor servers, who were earning below minimum wage at $13.95 per hour in 2020. Liquor servers in BC received lower than minimum wage until the increase because of the tips supplementing their earnings, Strauss said.

She said situations like the pandemic — in which a predictable number of customers cannot be relied on — has highlighted issues associated with lower wage rates.

“It's actually immigrant and racialized workers who are often most concentrated in low wage jobs. And they are people who may be trying to support a family on one or two minimum wage jobs within the household.”

When we don't pay people a living wage, we pay for the costs of poverty in other ways through other kinds of social programs.

KE ND RA STRAU S S Director, SFU Labour Studies Program

Students from the SFU School of Sustainable Energy Engineering created a refillable ink cartridge system for home printers. The product, SustainInk, is designed to “turn a traditional ink cartridge printer into a reusable, refillable ink reservoir.”

SustainInk hopes to cut down on waste in landfills by eliminating the need for ink cartridges and making home-printing affordable for students.

Project lead Eddy Sanderson reported the team is using a 3D printer with biodegradable material to create the cartridges. The SustainInk reservoirs’ material can be biodegraded in 80 days in a commercial facility.

“We're looking at trying to make a different kind of ink that is based out of algae so that it's carbon negative,” added Sanderson.

According to Sanderson, many standard “printer cartridges aren't properly recycled because some of the inks contain heavy metals that [can’t] be broken down properly — a lot of them end up in landfills where they further contaminate water systems.”

Currently 20–30% of ink cartridges are recycled.

“We're trying to remove the landfill aspect.”

SustainInk is also focused on “looking at how to make printing more accessible for students because it's extremely cost prohibitive.” According to Sanderson, printer cartridges have a 700% markup in the market.

Alternative reports have stated the “average markup on ink cartridges is 1,000% to 2,000%.”

Sanderson explained once consumers buy a company’s printer, “[they’re] forced to continue to buy the same refills for that system. So it kind of strongholds you into a cycle of having to spend more than it’s actually worth.”

Their study found that the yearly cost of printing is roughly $700 of ink cartridges, whereas SustainInk could print the same amount for under $50 a year.

Ink reservoir printers start at roughly $800, said Sanderson.

This project was inspired by the shift to online learning due to COVID-19. Many of the SustainInk team members had to purchase at-home printers. They quickly found that “buying an ink refill was almost as much as buying a new printer, which is not sustainable.”

The team responsible for SynthaSift includes SFU students Akash Bains, Ryan Cordoni, Erin Flood, Alia Gola, Dana Kadoura, and Aiden Rudy.

To rectify this, the Commission advised the government to match minimum wage with liveable wages and establish timelines which led to the increase.

More information on SustainInk can be found on YouTube.

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NEWS

News Editor Michelle Young

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News Writers Karissa Ketter and Jaymee Salisi

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news@the-peak.ca

CYCLE OUT THE PLASTIC

SFU students develop laundry filter to mitigate plastic pollution Project lead Elizabeth Salvosa explained that microplastics leach out of clothes with every wash cycle

KA R ISSA KET T ER // NE WS W RI TE R

SFU School of Sustainable Energy Engineering students recently created a microplastic filter for laundry machines. In an interview with The Peak, Elizabeth Salvosa, team member for SynthaSift said it “filters microplastics from our laundry that would otherwise be introduced to the water system.”

Laundry filter products such as Lint LUV-R and Filtrol were an inspiration for the team’s development, but the team noted SynthaSift is “10 times finer,” while maintaining competitive prices.

SynthaSift team’s study found that competitor products “functioned like your dryer lint bin and do not effectively filter out smaller [microplastic] particles.”

According to Salvosa, their research report noted the “average family does 300 loads of laundry annually.”

Some studies find that as many as 700,000 microfibres and microplastics will be released after each load of laundry. These particles are spread throughout the environment via waterways — The New York Times reports “9.25 to 15.86 million tons of microplastics can be found on the ocean floor.”

Synthetic fibres also contribute to pollution.

P HOTO : Marshall Williams / Unsplash

projected usage and design before considering further development and market viability,” said Salvosa.

Conservation of Nature reports that 8 million tons of new plastic pollution enter the oceans each year.

“We have also talked to a researcher from another institution exploring magnetic mechanisms, which is promising.”

These particles “have physical effects on wildlife and humans via the food chain,” according to SynthaSift’s report.

The original prototype was created via 3D printer “using biodegradable polylactic acid, to minimize the environmental impact at each stage of design.”

Microplastics in marine life can “block digestive tracts, diminish the urge to eat, and alter feeding behavior,” according to National Geographic. All of these can harm or kill marine life, as well as restrict their reproductive abilities, further limiting the size of the population.

Salvosa said the team “researched various mechanisms for filtration, and [SynthaSift] was one of the more viable options at this point in time.”

Clothing made from synthetic fibres release particles that “do not break down completely, and natural fibres are often treated with harmful chemicals or dyes.”

The team responsible for SynthaSift includes SFU students Daisy Chen, Braden Harding, Mishak Taggart, Cyrus Urbanowicz, and Changle Yu.

Salvosa reported the development team plans on undergoing up to a year of household testing. “We want to ensure that the product is consistent with our

According to Ocean Clean Wash, clothes made from synthetic material contribute to 35% of the plastic pollution in oceans. The International Union for

The Center for Biological Diversity found that “thousands of seabirds and sea turtles, seals and other marine mammals are killed each year after ingesting plastic.”

One study reports synthetic fibre particles have travelled throughout the arctic ocean and are found in arctic zooplankton, seabirds, and marine life.

More information on the SynthaSift Laundry Microplastic Filter can be found on YouTube.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATES

SFU stadium set to open for Fall 2021 term The project is in the late stages of development CARTER HEMI ON // STAF F W RI TE R

After several delays in 2020 and 2021, the SFU stadium is slated for opening by the Fall 2021 term, according to project manager James Bremner. He did not state reasons for the delay. Another source previously told The Peak the stadium’s progress was hindered due to increased safety precautions and supply issues caused by COVID-19.

Its use for on-campus activities and events remain contingent on the decisions made by the BC Provincial Health Officer.

No announcement of the official opening date has been made. Opening depends on public health measures regarding safety at live sporting events and other large outdoor gatherings.

In a statement to The Peak, Bremner said SFU has applied for and received its occupancy certificate.

This means the stadium is now certified as a safe and complete structure by the City of Burnaby. This certificate can include inspection of architectural and mechanical integrity, fire safety, and electrical completion, to ensure the structure is sound.

The stadium has received its occupancy certificate.

Bremner plans to continue with the next steps to finish the SFU stadium. This will include “preparation work to move furniture and equipment into the stadium in anticipation for its use in the fall.”

The SFU stadium project plans to seat 1,800 people with its sightlines and covered canopy. It will also house booths for coaches, media and broadcast facilities,

P HOTO : Ahmed Ali / The Peak

washrooms, and a VIP and sponsor box. The stadium will be an on-campus home for SFU’s NCAA teams.

The project is estimated to cost between $18–$20 million. $10 million will be funded by students.

Students can view the stadium via live webcam or keep up with its Twitter and Instagram pages for updates.

June 21, 2021

In light of the recent discoveries at residential schools across Canada and the calls of Indigenous peoples to implement the 94 Calls to Action published by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015, The Peak is reproducing these calls over the next seven issues. We hope slowly publishing these calls to action will help non-Indigenous readers understand what the calls are, reflect on them, and think about the ways they can show up in allyship.

Calls to Action In order to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission makes the following calls to action.

Legacy CH ILD WELFARE

1.

We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to commit to reducing the number of Aboriginal children in care by: i.

Monitoring and assessing neglect investigations.

ii.

Providing adequate resources to enable Aboriginal communities and child-welfare organizations to keep Aboriginal families together where it is safe to do so, and to keep children in culturally appropriate environments, regardless of where they reside.

iii. Ensuring that social workers and others who conduct child-welfare investigations are properly educated and trained about the history and impacts of residential schools. iv. Ensuring that social workers and others who conduct child-welfare investigations are properly educated and trained about the potential for Aboriginal communities and families to provide more appropriate solutions to family healing. v.

Requiring that all child-welfare decision makers consider the impact of the residential school experience on children and their caregivers.

2.

We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with the provinces and territories, to prepare and publish annual reports on the number of Aboriginal children (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) who are in care, compared with non-Aboriginal children, as well as the reasons for apprehension, the total spending on preventive and care services by child-welfare agencies, and the effectiveness of various interventions.

3.

We call upon all levels of government to fully implement Jordan’s Principle.

4.

We call upon the federal government to enact Aboriginal child-welfare legislation that establishes national standards for Aboriginal child apprehension and custody cases and includes principles that: i.

Affirm the right of Aboriginal governments to establish and maintain their own childwelfare agencies.

ii

Require all child-welfare agencies and courts to take the residential school legacy into account in their decision making.

iii. Establish, as an important priority, a requirement that placements of Aboriginal children into temporary and permanent care be culturally appropriate.

5.

We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to develop culturally appropriate parenting programs for Aboriginal families.

EDUCATION

6.

We call upon the Government of Canada to repeal Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

7.

We call upon the federal government to develop with Aboriginal groups a joint strategy to eliminate gaps

8.

We call upon the federal government to eliminate the discrepancy in federal education funding for First Nations children being educated on reserves and those First Nations children being educated off reserves.

between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians.

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We call upon the federal government to prepare and publish annual reports comparing funding for the education of First Nations children on and off reserves, as well as educational and income attainments of Aboriginal peoples in Canada compared with non-Aboriginal people.

10.

We call on the federal government to draft new Aboriginal education legislation with the full participation and informed consent of Aboriginal peoples. The new legislation would include a commitment to sufficient funding and would incorporate the following principles: i.

Providing sufficient funding to close identified educational achievement gaps within one generation.

ii.

Improving education attainment levels and success rates.

iii. Developing culturally appropriate curricula. iv. Protecting the right to Aboriginal languages, including the teaching of Aboriginal languages as credit courses. v.

Enabling parental and community responsibility, control, and accountability, similar to what parents enjoy in public school systems.

vi. Enabling parents to fully participate in the education of their children. vii. Respecting and honouring Treaty relationships.

11.

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We call upon the federal government to provide adequate funding to end the backlog of First Nations students seeking a post-secondary education.

We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to develop culturally appropriate early childhood education programs for Aboriginal families.

LANG UAGE & CULTURE

13.

We call upon the federal government to acknowledge that Aboriginal rights include Aboriginal language rights.

14.

We call upon the federal government to enact an Aboriginal Languages Act that incorporates the following principles: i.

Aboriginal languages are a fundamental and valued element of Canadian culture and society, and there is an urgency to preserve them.

ii

Aboriginal language rights are reinforced by the Treaties.

iii. The federal government has a responsibility to provide sufficient funds for Aboriginallanguage revitalization and preservation. iv. The preservation, revitalization, and strengthening of Aboriginal languages and cultures are best managed by Aboriginal people and communities. v. Funding for Aboriginal language initiatives must reflect the diversity of Aboriginal languages.

15.

We call upon the federal government to appoint, in consultation with Aboriginal groups, an Aboriginal Languages Commissioner. The commissioner should help promote Aboriginal languages and report on

16.

We call upon post-secondary institutions to create university and college degree and diploma programs in Aboriginal languages.

17.

We call upon all levels of government to enable residential school Survivors and their families to reclaim names changed by the residential school system by waiving administrative costs for a period of five years for the name-change process and the revision of official identity documents, such as birth certificates, passports, driver’s licenses, health cards, status cards, and social insurance numbers.

OPINIONS

June 21, 2021

“FREE” HEALTH CARE

ACCESSIBILITY NEEDS

The shortcomings of BC’s Medical Services Plan

Disabled students deserve an accessible campus

MSP should include more services and devices to promote accessible health care

SFU fails to accommodate physical access needs

VALE NTIN A // SFU STUD E NT

Canadian health care is often described as free when compared to other countries with privatized health care, like the United States. BC’s Medical Services Plan (MSP) pays for physicians, essential hospitalization, and x-rays, but not all services are covered or subsidized. The misconception that Canadian health care is completely free overlooks the essential medical services and devices excluded from provincial funding.

Growing up with allergies, asthma, and eczema, I struggled to find affordable medicine with minimal side effects. My symptoms prompted an allergist visit to learn more about my allergies and asthma. Despite MSP covering the fees for my lung function test and skin prick test, I soon realized there was a lot they did not cover. This lack of public funding prevents patients from accessing essential medical devices.

When I first started visiting my allergist, I asked if my allergies would qualify me for one of Pfizer Canada’s EpiPens, but the allergist warned me they were expensive — approximately $120 — and instead prescribed alternative medication. Thankfully, my allergies are manageable without epinephrine autoinjectors, but for patients who cannot afford them, the consequences can be life-threatening.

Patients who need epinephrine auto-injectors experience “severe allergic reactions,” such as swelling, wheezing, and shock. They require EpiPens and hospitalization to prevent death, but provincial funding excludes EpiPens. Because there is no alternative treatment for anaphylaxis and patients should always have their epinephrine auto-injectors nearby to administer a shot within five–15 minutes, MSP’s coverage should include these life-saving medical devices.

MSP’s exclusion of EpiPens also contradicts the Canadian Immunization Guide's statement that these devices are necessary for COVID-19 vaccination clinics to have in case patients experience a deadly allergic reaction. Since EpiPens are necessary for emergencies,

Life-saving medicine should be free.

PH OTO : Jonnica Hill / Unsplash

MSP should not reserve funding for public settings, such as COVID-19 vaccination clinics and hospitals, while denying funds for patients’ private use. While not all medical equipment can be publicly funded, EpiPens are something that can be used by everyone and need to be nearby. Those who require them are not able to wait for an ambulance, which can be problematic for those residing in rural areas.

MSP’s lack of life-saving coverage does not stop at EpiPens. Rather than increasing access to hospitals, MSP’s inadequate subsidization of ambulance fees exacerbates disparities in health care for rural Canadians.

Despite high rates of illness, poverty, and mortality in rural areas, there are few medical professionals and insufficient public transportation. This contributes to the limited alternatives to ambulances. Residents in rural BC pay the same $80 ambulance fee as patients from cities, so they should be entitled to the same quality of paramedics.

However, the ambulance fees do not compensate for the slower response times of ambulances and the lack of advanced care paramedics in rural areas.

Despite MSP’s shortcomings, I am still grateful for the services it covers. After being hospitalized at an American hospital for my asthma, I realized how fortunate I am to have public health care. Without my aunt’s financial support, I could not afford my hospital bills in the States. That being said, MSP still needs to increase patients’ accessibility to medical professionals and devices. The remaining financial barriers not only prevent patients from accessing medical services but also threaten lives.

GETTING SCHOOLED

Recognizing what a university degree is and what it isn’t A university is not designed to provide you with real-life professional skills JACO B MAT TI E // SFU STUD E NT

A university is not a vocational school. It does not give you a complete set of skills needed by the labour market. The purpose of a university is to impart knowledge for knowledge’s sake. Alternatively, at levels beyond that of an undergraduate degree, it is to pursue original research and compile new arrangements of knowledge. However, universities do not build a fully job-ready individual.

This is in contrast to vocational schools like BCIT which train students explicitly in the skills needed to succeed in a specific field, prioritizing functional ability over theory.

Together, these academic institutions produce a great majority of our skilled workforce, but there seems to be some muddying of the waters about what can be gained from a certain institution.

Students seeking employment or a steady job immediately after graduation should not be at a university; they should instead be at a vocational school. The skills gained from a university degree have immense value when complementing a previously

existing set of skills, and help build the habits one needs to pursue their studies.

This manifests itself in the unpleasantly common situation of post-graduate depression, wherein almost 50% of recent graduates report worsening mental health. A decline in mental health after the hellscape of academia is hardly an encouraging concept, and it is often attributed to the feeling of “what now?” that follows graduation.

Graduates hope to apply their hard-earned skills to the labour market, find a good job, and settle into regular life. However, the rejected job applications pile up, and graduates are forced to take a job that is either irrelevant to their degree or doesn’t require one in the first place.

Such a mismatch in education and employment is defined as overqualification and is expected to occur for 20% of graduates, many of whom remain consistently overqualified for the rest of their careers.

The problem here is that people think a university degree will guarantee them a job, and this is a problem that universities are not trying to fix. More enrolment means more income, and as university rankings are often based on research output, more income allows for more research. This means a higher ranking or drawing in more students accordingly. However, this comes at the expense of undergraduate students who may be expecting a university degree to help them build a life after graduation.

This is not the case.

A university will offer career workshops and support, but it is not their purpose to teach these skills. To avoid post-graduate depression, and to understand the motivation behind the assigned coursework, it is crucial to keep perspective on the role that a university degree plays — that of a supplement, not a goal in and of itself.

Bureaucratic processes to hostile infrastructure make SFU’s accessibility less than adequate.

P HOTO : Kriti Monga / The Peak

ANO NY M O US

I’m an undergraduate student who lived on campus for two years out of necessity. I live with disabilities that affect my balance and can make walking great distances exhausting. Even when the campus isn’t a labyrinth of construction, it’s a maze of stairs and broken elevators. SFU is an accessibility nightmare for people like me.

Even before the additional barriers from SFU’s careless choices since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the administration was failing to address many disabled students’ needs. With the inaccessibility of the Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL), departments lacking compassion, and a failure to consider disability justice in its planning, SFU already routinely ignored us.

CAL’s accommodation process is lengthy, can include financial barriers, and requires more time and energy than students have between semesters. Even with documentation, accommodations are sometimes inadequate and may be denied altogether. Much of the documentation must be done by specialists, who can take months to see and who may not complete forms in a timely manner or at all.

Even when students get accommodations, SFU’s campus is incompatible with many students’ needs.

SFU’s physical access guide has not been updated since 2002. It does not reflect today’s campus and student needs. Our administration should be ashamed. With constant renovations, elevators are often closed off without notice. Even when elevators break unexpectedly, it can take some digging to find where to report issues.

Many accessible washroom stalls and entire single-stall washrooms have been closed for social distancing. For students who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids, it’s especially important to keep these washrooms accessible. I need frequent and urgent access to washrooms, especially with symptoms including incontinence and urgency. It’s frustrating as a non-binary disabled person to lose access to gender-neutral washrooms and have most other stalls closed off.

Living on campus, I would often have to make urgent washroom stops when just walking to the store and back, but lost that access when SFU chose to close many single-stall washrooms during the pandemic.

I need SFU to make an effort to prioritize student and faculty needs before they bring more students back to campus, and to communicate changes to the buildings that especially impact disabled people.

I’m exhausted with SFU’s carelessness when it comes to disabled students, but not surprised.

Disabled students are not disposable, and SFU needs to recognize that.

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OPINIONS

Opinions Editors Dev Petrovic and Marco Ovies

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opinions@the-peak.ca

ASIAN EXCLUSION

South Asians need a separate liberation movement General Asian liberation movements largely centre East Asians

ME E RA ERAGODA / / E D I TO R-I N-CH I E F

I can’t tell you the number of times a white or East Asian person was surprised that I, a Sri Lankan, am also considered Asian. Whenever Asian Heritage Month comes up, I know the majority of representation will go to East Asians, with barely any representation of Southeast and South Asians. This marginalization, along with the different struggles we all face, is part of the reason I think South Asians need a separate liberation movement.

In the Harvard Kennedy School Student Publication, Dr. Kevin L. Nadal explains, “Since the inception of the Asian American Movement, Filipino Americans, South Asian Americans, and Southeast Asian Americans have consistently vocalized feelings of marginalization and exclusion.” All “describe a common narrative that ‘Asian’ usually refers to East Asians,” leading to feelings of invisibility.

The marginalization of South Asians makes sense when you learn that the Asian American liberation movement was started by East Asians. It only included South Asians after Indo-Americans fought to be included in the term “Asian American.” The centring of East Asians is evident through references to “Yellow Power” and solidarity with Black liberation through signs reading “Yellow Peril for Black Lives.”

These ideas are also in the mainstream through posts such as Sayan Grover’s (@sgrover484) on TikTok. In a recent video, they say, “South Asians should stop trying so hard to be included in the ‘Asian’ label.” They say the label “Asia” is an orientalist construct created by colonists to group together diverse sets of people under one umbrella, erasing the differences in our struggles.

They point out the majority of South Asians don’t face COVID-19-related racism, while the majority of East Asians don’t get profiled as terrorists.

Asia's diversity means it can't be reduced into one movement.

When pandemic-related hate crimes began against the Chinese community and anyone else perceived as Chinese, posts calling to “Stop Asian Hate” began circulating. I had people reaching out to me to make sure I was doing OK, despite sinophobic racism not affecting me.

P HOTO : Wachiwit / iStock

When pandemic-related hate crimes began against the Chinese community and anyone else perceived as Chinese, posts calling to “Stop Asian Hate” began circulating. I had people reaching out to me to make sure I was doing OK, despite sinophobic racism not affecting me. Asian and Pacific Islander heritage month fairly centred around the fight against COVID-19 racism, and it makes sense that it did.

The struggles East Asians and South Asians face are both valid. But it’s clear that, even if there is some overlap, they’re different struggles and need different movements. As Grover mentions, white supremacy hyper-fetishizes East and Southeast Asian women while it masculinizes South Asian women. Growing up, I remember seeing Brown girls mocked for “having mustaches” and non-East Asian men talking about having “yellow fever.”

When I first came to Canada, there was a civil war in my country. Ignorant white strangers, upon finding out I was Sri Lankan, would ask if I was a Tamil Tiger (insurgents fighting the state). Without understanding the legacy of colonialism or the state-mandated genocide against Tamil Sri Lankans, they reinforced the stereotype of equating Brown people with danger. After 9/11, the first Islamophobic murder was of a Sikh American man, Balbir Singh Sodi, who was perceived as being Muslim.

His murderer then targeted a business owned by a Lebanese American and an Afghan home.

While South Asians are not a monolith either, a separate South Asian movement would give us a greater chance to be able to talk about oppression against South Asian women, caste and class-related issues, the “terrorist” stereotype, hierarchies in Asia, and more.

(NBA) player and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) players, respectively.

constant battle between listening to my declining mental health or continuing training out of fear of regressing skill-wise. With that said, it is not surprising that mental illnesses have a higher prevalence amongst female athletes. A study of 465 Division I female athletes found that almost 30% demonstrated signs and symptoms of depression.

We can and must work in solidarity with East and Southeast Asian communities, as well as other communities. But we can’t fight for our own liberation if we insist on being lumped into this movement that was never founded with us in mind.

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

The amount of inequities female athletes face is ridiculous Women in sports are faced with numerous additional challenges that result in mass inequities MAYA BENI N T E S O / / SF U STUD E NT

Content warning: Mention of eating disorders It’s 2021 and, to be completely honest, I am fed up with the inequities faced by female athletes. If you have ever seen the comment section on Instagram accounts of professional female athletes, you know exactly what I mean. As an athlete, I can, unfortunately, attest to the additional financial, physical, and mental challenges that accompany being a woman in this field.

For instance, in Canada, there is a wage gap between cis men and cis women, but this phenomenon is not exclusive to traditional careers. This wage gap is even worse in the world of professional sports. For instance, let's compare the salaries of the highest-paid National Basketball Association

Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry is being paid a little over $43 million for the 2020–21 season. In contrast, the highest-paid WNBA players, like Elena Delle Donne and DeWanna Bonner, made only $221,450 for the 2020–21 season. For those of you who don’t want to do the math, do not fret, I’ve done it for you: Curry makes approximately 194 times more than his female counterparts. Want another number? Curry makes approximately $41 million more than all seven of the highest-paid WNBA players combined (and I rounded that number down). That is ridiculous.

Additionally, cis women experience issues with body image; according to the Canadian Women’s Health Network, 80%–90% of women do not like the way they look, and being a cis woman athlete only exacerbates this issue. These athletes have to endure an absurd double standard because they are seen as women before they are athletes and are pressured to be dainty and feminine. More muscular women are perceived as “manly,” even if being muscular is needed for their respective sport.

If female athletes were to conform to a dainty and “feminine” body type, they either would not be able to sustain rigorous training, or their physicality would not be up to their given sport’s standards. This makes for a depressing cycle of never being up to par with one of the aforementioned standards. In short, we can never win.

Being an athlete as a woman has resulted in some of the most mentally trying times of my life. It has always been a

Stephen Curry makes approximately $41 million more than all seven of the highest-paid WNBA players combined.

Women in sport are not only susceptible to depression, but a myriad of other mental health risks. According to the National Eating Disorder Association, disordered eating impacts an estimated 62% of female athletes in aesthetic (dance, gymnastics, etc.) and weight-class sports (horse racing, wrestling, etc.). Additionally, they are 35% more likely to develop anorexia nervosa and 58% more likely to develop bulimia nervosa.

Starting the conversation on the pay gap, body image, and mental health of cis women athletes is crucial in making sure they are treated fairly. An athlete’s gender should have no impact on how much they are paid or how they are treated. These conversations are necessary to make sure all athletes, regardless of gender, have the same opportunities.

Features

How can we talk about decolonization when SFU is named after a colonizer?

Decolonization cannot happen when we’re still praising colonizers

9

Content warning: mentions of antiIndigenous stereotypes and violence against Indigenous peoples Simon Fraser “The Explorer” was born in Mapletown, Hoosick County (modern-day so-called New York), and he lived from 1776 to 1862. In 1792, Fraser entered the fur trade with the North West Company (NWC) — which is a name you might recognize if you ever took a “Canadian” history class. After working his way up the ranks, the NWC asked Fraser to travel westward and find the Columbus River.

Instead, Fraser stumbled upon what is now known as the Fraser River.

During his two journeys on this river, Fraser documented his findings through journal entries and letters sent to his employers. While we don’t have the original journal he wrote in 1808 about his famous trip to the sea, we have a fair copy compiled by an unknown author of his journey. This has now been widely accepted as “true” BC history, due to Western knowledge valuing written accounts over Indigenous oral history.

But if you actually read Fraser’s 1808 fair copy journal, it very clearly places Euro-American culture above that of Indigenous peoples.

Fraser stated that the Indigenous peoples he met “seemed rather stupid, and not much inclined to satisfy our desires.” These Eurocentric assumptions play into the establishment of huge misunderstandings between settlercolonial and Indigenous relations that have only grown over the centuries.

Indigenous peoples were quickly assigned the role of “The Other” in the racial order that placed Euro-American culture above others.

While most Indigenous peoples were described as “savage” in his accounts, this was not the case for all. Some territories were described as “plentiful” where Indigenous people were “hospitable” and “happy” to see him. In other words, the places that were seen as safe and welcoming were really places that would not get in the way of colonization.

Throughout his journal, there is little to no consideration of Indigenous territories, clearly shown by Fraser referring to the land he “discovered” as “New Caledonia” in honour of where his mother was born in Scotland.

Written by Marco Ovies Illustrated by Shaheen Virk

Just by giving this territory a European name, Fraser promoted a colonial

narrative that ignores Indigenous rights and titles.

By using Fraser’s biased 1808 fair copy journal, he is elevated to the status of a “hero” rather than a man sent to expand business operations. It doesn’t help that Fraser’s name seems to appear everywhere in our modern age. The Fraser River, Fraser Lake, Fort Fraser, Simon Fraser Elementary, The Simon Fraser Bridge, and, of course, Simon Fraser University are all named after this colonizer. This just reinforces the idea that European expansion was a positive process and completely neglects the historical accounts of Indigenous peoples.

Yet we still place these colonizers on a pedestal over and over again. We have a bust of Simon Fraser on a literal pedestal in New Westminster along the Fraser River.

While it is known as the Fraser River, there were Indigenous peoples living along that water long before Fraser was even born. The river has also gone by many different names such as Lhta Koh (which means the confluence of many rivers in the Dakelh language) and the Stó:lô (a Halq’eméylem word for river).

It is only now known as the Fraser River because David Thompson, one of Fraser’s NWC colleagues, named it after him.

It’s great that Canadian governments and institutions want to talk about decolonization, but how can they do that when they still celebrate colonizers that brought so much violence to Canada? More specifically, how can an institution named Simon Fraser University talk about decolonization when it’s named after a colonizer?

These conversations seem empty to me when we are still looking up to these colonizers as heroes.

Governments and institutions talk about decolonization in a reactionary way.

With the discovery of the unmarked gravesites at the former Kamloops residential school, every institution is offering their apology as if they are surprised by Canada’s violent history. But I already see the outrage and despair everyone was feeling start to dissipate as government officials let this fade into the background — just like the rest of Canadian history. It’s time for us to really look around us and actively take efforts in decolonization. And maybe that should start with a name change.

It’s time to bust myths about asexuality Being asexual is a-okay!

Written by Carter Hemion

Content warning: mentions of sexual assault Asexual people are believed to make up at least 1% of the world’s population. By comparison, 1% of the world is about the same amount of people who have red hair, or about twice as many people living in Canada today. Despite this, asexual people are barely represented or talked about in media. When they are, they’re often misrepresented, and misinformation spreads far.

The definition of asexuality is a lack of sexual attraction. Asexuality can exist on a spectrum, which can include asexuals, gray-asexuals (folks who are largely asexual but still have sex), and demisexuals, the latter of whom usually do not experience sexual attraction but may on occasion.

Conversely, allosexuality refers to a sexual attraction to others. The umbrella term allosexual can include heterosexuals, homosexuals, bisexuals, and pansexuals, among others. Allosexuals experience sexual attraction to others frequently, while asexuals experience little or no sexual attraction. Both asexuality and allosexuality exist on spectrums and are experienced in a variety of different ways, yet myths continue to spread about asexuality.

Myth: Asexuals cannot love Asexuals are often stereotyped to seem cold, anti-social, and emotionless in media. However, a lack of sexual attraction is, well, nothing more than that. While people of any sexual orientation can be aromatic (experiencing no romantic attraction), that is not true for every asexual. For those who are aromantic, they can also experience non-romantic and non-sexual love for people in their lives, sometimes forming dedicated platonic relationships.

Many asexuals date, fall in love, and get married. Some have children, whom they also love. All asexuals make friends and love the people in their lives, just like allosexuals can.

Myth: Asexuals never have sex Some asexual people can and do have sex for a variety of reasons. Some may enjoy the intimacy of the experience or choose sex as an act of love for their allosexual partner(s). Others may just enjoy physical arousal, or they may simply want to partake in the activity. Asexuality does not mean that a person cannot have sex. Some asexuals are sex-repulsed, some enjoy regular sexual activities, and many others fall on a spectrum somewhere in between.

Asexuality also does not equal anti-sex attitudes, and asexuals can be sexpositive without experiencing sexual attraction or partaking in sexual activities.

Myth: Asexuals don’t experience arousal Despite a lack of sexual attraction, some asexuals do have a libido, and most can experience physical arousal. An asexual person may masturbate, consume pornographic content, or have kinks, fetishes, or fantasies without it changing their sexual orientation. While many asexuals may not be as likely to partake in these activities as often as allosexuals (or at all), involvement in these activities has no bearing on sexual orientation.

With all the misinformation about asexuality out there, it can be easy for some people to think asexuals never experience oppression or discrimination like other members of the LGBTQI2S+ community. Asexuals experience harassment because of the negative beliefs that asexuality is unnatural and a choice. Asexuals are sometimes even rejected by the LGBTQI2S+ community.

Because of dangerous bigotry and false beliefs about asexuals, people of other identities commit sexual assault in violent attempts to change asexuals’ sexual identities.

To connect with other asexuals or learn more about asexuality, see the Asexuality Visibility and Education Network at http://asexuality.org/.

Asexuality is as normal and natural as any sexual orientation. It does not qualify as any kind of sexual dysfunction or mental illness. For the majority of asexuals, it is not a phase. There is nothing that makes asexuality unnatural or unhealthy; it is just one way of identifying sexual orientation.

Myth: Asexuals are all closeted homosexuals Because of a prevalent false belief that asexuality does not exist, people can assume that those identifying as asexual are lying about their sexual orientation. While it can be safer for some people to stay in the closet, identifying as asexual can be just as dangerous as identifying with other LGBTQI2S+ identities. Asexuals are not lying, and they need to be believed about their identities without question.

Myth: Asexuality is a choice Being asexual is not a choice. While some people may choose to be celibate or abstain from sex, that isn’t the same as being asexual. Asexuals are not necessarily virgins, anti-sex, or avoiding sex entirely. Asexuals can choose to abstain from sex, but that is not the same as someone who has sexual attraction avoiding sexual activities.

ILLUSTRATION: Maple Sutontasukkul / The Peak

Myth: Asexuals don’t experience oppression or discrimination

Myth: Asexuality is unnatural or an illness

ARTS & CULTURE

June 21, 2021

BY N ANCY L A

Food for Thought:

Dumplings and dragon boats

Dive into the cultural and personal significance of food

In June, my family celebrates a special festival called Duanwu Jie in Mandarin. Known in English for its common name, the Dragon Boat Festival, Duanwu Jie is a day to celebrate an ancient story with dragon boating and the consumption of a special glutinous rice dumpling called zongzi.

Vancouver’s Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival at False Creek is home to one of the biggest paddling competitions in North America, and I was one of the youth racers during my high school days. Though I’ve paddled on a dragon boat team for three years, I'm embarrassed to say I had never delved into the festival’s history. I know the origin story of the festival involves a water spirit and rice being thrown into a river, but for more information, I consulted someone I consider an expert on the topic: my father.

My dad told me the festival came from the Warring States period in China. A young politician named Qu Yuan was exiled by the emperor of Chu after proposing a plan the emperor didn’t like. Several years later, the empire of Chu lost a war to its neighbour, the Qin, and had to surrender. Qu Yuan, hearing the devastating news, drowned himself in a river.

To appease Qu Yuan’s spirit, the people threw rice into the water to feed him. Unfortunately, there was a dragon in the water who would intercept before Qu Yuan could get to it. After several centuries of this, Qu Yuan got annoyed and came back to the people

— in his spiritual form — and taught them how to wrap rice in leaves or bamboo stalks. This was so the dragon couldn’t steal the food. Zongzi then became a common food to eat during the festival.

There are many ways to prepare zongzi — one can boil them until they’re cooked, or take a modern approach and use a pressure cooker. They also vary by region: Shanghai has its own take on zongzi using different soy sauces, or there’s lye water zongzi with its delicious chewiness. Zongzi can house various combinations of filling, such as pork belly, mung beans, and cured egg yolk. There are also sweet zongzi stuffed with red bean paste or Chinese dates. Its ubiquitous greenish, glutinous rice and wrapping made of leaves are iconic in Southeast and East Asian cuisine.

Zongzi can be consumed year-round, but there is a very special feeling to consuming them as you watch racers speed to the finish line to the sounds of rhythmic drumming on the water on False Creek's water.

There are several explanations for dragon boat racing during the festival. One is that dragon boating was a form of military training — trust me, paddling is more exhausting than it looks. Another is that it was a way for the people to ask the dragon god to watch over their rice crops. Either way, dragon boat paddling and zongzi became intertwined with Qu Yuan and his story, and it is an integral part of the Duanwu Jie East and Southeast Asian communities celebrate today.

ILLUSTRATION: Alyssa Marie Umbal / The Peak

Carter Hemion

MONDAY MUSIC: SONGS TO QUESTION YOUR GENDER TO

STAFF WRITER AND GENDERFUCK

With gender in the spotlight this Pride Month, music often reflects the experiences we have as genderdiverse and questioning people. These artists express their complicated relationships with gender, and sometimes that is just what we need to hear as we find our own gender identities and expressions.

Courtesy of Say-10 Records

Courtesy of Elmo Sexwhistle

“I / Me / Myself”

“Genderfuck!”

By Will Wood

By Elmo Sexwhistle

Do you ever get the feeling your gender is harmlessly but aggressively running in circles, like a little hamster in a wheel? Yeah, me too. Reflecting on his own experiences questioning his gender, Will Wood sings to us that “it’s been a point of contention between myself and this body that they stuck me in.” In an extravagant, avant-pop style, he declares: “you’d wish I could be your girlfriend, boyfriend.”

Meanwhile, you just wish you knew what you wanted your identity to be.

For anyone whose gender experience is far too vast for the binary, the feral energy of “Genderfuck!” is for you. Elmo Sexwhistle is an indie industrial rock artist with a queer touch. With lyrics as exasperated with gender as I am, the artist sings “I am a genderfuck / I’m a boy, I’m a girl, I just make it up.” If that doesn't describe the fight some of us have with gender labels, I don’t know what does. Have no gender!

Collect genders like a crow collects shiny things! Nothing matters!

Gender feeling like an emo throwback? Check out “Love, Me Normally” by Will Wood

Gender feeling like a handful of sand? Check out “Boxes” by Elmo Sexwhistle

Courtesy of Ryan Cassata

Courtesy of 808465 Records DK

“Gender Binary (Fuck You)”

“I Think I Finally Love Myself”

By Ryan Cassata

By She/Her/hers

There should be no requirements to fit any gender, and stereotypes about any identity are frustrating. Ryan Cassata’s opening lines say it simply: “I’m gonna wear girls clothes when I want to / I’m gonna wear boys clothes when I please.” There’s no need for you to express yourself in any certain way to prove yourself. Hell, wear anything that fits your body. Just try to stay away from fedoras, please.

Maybe you’ve been questioning for a while, or you’re questioning again. Let this song fill the air around you as She/Her/hers belts out, “I may always harbor some doubts / but mostly I feel fine / fuck that I feel fantastic.”

Hold on to the parts of yourself that feel right. While “no one really gets to choose the person they are,” you are finding yourself and there is no timeline for learning about your gender. Besides, gender isn’t everything.

Gender feeling like a ghost? Check out “The Witches Made Me Do It” by Ryan Cassata

Gender feeling like a hunk of concrete? Check out “Gender Is Boring” by She/Her/hers

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ARTS & CULTURE

Arts & Culture Editor Sara Wong

|

arts@the-peak.ca

STAND UP

Dakota Ray Hebert and Kliph Nesteroff talk about humour as a way of healing An in-depth look at the life and legacy of Indigenous comedy

K E LLY C HI A // STAF F W RI TE R

Content warning: Racial trauma, genocide The Vancouver Public Library featured Dakota Ray Hebert and Kliph Nesteroff in a discussion of Indigenous comedy history in North America. Hebert is a long-time Indigenous comic from Saskatoon, co-hosting the show Crazy Like a Lynx on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

Nesteroff came into this conversation with Hebert as a comedic historian, having just published the book We Had a Little Real Estate Problem. The book is a thorough history of Indigenous peoples’ work in comedy, hoping to shine a light on their legacy and influence.

Hebert and Nesteroff discussed Hebert’s experiences as an Indigenous comic and the immense history of Indigenous comedy as a way to heal and to expose colonialism.

Having watched a lot of stand-up comedy as a kid, Herbert was particularly inspired by Craig Lauzon. Hebert would watch the Indigenous comic on the Turtle Island Festival, an Indigenous comedy festival airing on television. Lauzon was the first comic she saw that incorporated both acting and comedy, which made her believe comedy was a truly viable dream. “He was pretending to be a wrestler, dressed in his Indigenous garb, and he was telling the story about the stereotypes [of Indigenous peoples] in Hollywood.”

Check out the Laughter as Medicine in Indigenous Comedy event.

Eventually, Hebert became close friends with Lauzon, who inspired her to talk authentically in her work about her experiences as an Indigenous person.

When Hebert began performing as a comic in Saskatoon, her approach was one of confidence. Her attitude was: “I feel ready, so therefore I am ready.” According to Hebert, “In comedy, [that’s] not always true.” Hebert did a few open mics where her friends attended. Hebert joked she felt successful because she didn’t know whether her friends were laughing at her or with her.

Hebert's experience in comedy has also required fighting against stereotyping of Indigenous peoples.

She criticized comedians like Don Burnstick, who infamously used racial slurs in his work and played into these stereotypes. Hebert recalled the harm of these stereotypes in her early life as well. As a 10-year-old, she needed to get headgear. When her white friends found out it was mostly covered by her Status card, they ostracized her for it. Experiences like this pushed Herbert to internalize a lot of racism growing up.

“I think [this humour] doesn’t serve anything other than to make crappy white people feel better about their own racism, and it doesn’t help further our work in trying to be seen as human beings,” she said.

P HOTO : Vancouver Public Library via Facebook

Nesteroff added We Had a Little Real Estate Problem sucker punches the reader in the beginning. “It is a book about comedy, but it starts off talking about things like the doctrine of discovery and colonization [ . . . ] It gets into that idea of comedy being a counterbalance, or a way to transcend the most tragic of things,” he explained.

The two lingered on how necessary and appropriate comedy was in heavy moments about history and colonization, especially with the discovery of children’s remains at the Kamloops residential school.

“I think [comedy] is 100% necessary to heal and to move on,” Hebert said. The news was overwhelming, but she also found it fueled her motivation to continue her comedy to buck against the government’s incompetency.

While Hebert said “there isn’t any humour in genocide,” she says there is humour found when considering the “bumbling” people that continue to make calls and remain in power.

The event can be viewed on Facebook Live. Dakota Ray Hebert and her work can be found on Facebook and other social media platforms. We Had a Little Real Estate Problem by Kliph Nesteroff can be ordered from Indigo and other bookstores across Canada.

DANCE REVOLUTION

TESSEL: a short film highlighting Black Canadian excellence from coast to coast Esie Mansah provides an emotive look at history, justice, and resilience

makes for a hard-hitting video that shows how much the artists have to offer. It also emphasizes why their voices matter when addressing the need for a diverse cultural landscape.

Not only are the performers conveying their individuality and key messages through choreographed routines, TESSEL’s strategic cinematography also draws attention to the broader connotations behind its symbolism. A particularly compelling moment early on is when Yvon "Crazy Smooth" Soglo looks out into the distance, slowly making a fist, while a narrator says, “What I used to tolerate, I don’t anymore.” From this action, a sense of anguish, as well as a strong determination to be seen and heard, can be felt. Simultaneously, it helps set the tone for a raw, honest compilation of artistic and emotional expression.

I always appreciate art that initiates dialogue about representation. It is an impactful way for people to express themselves, and it creates continuous learning opportunities for audiences. TESSEL, a powerful short film by esteemed choreographer Esie Mensah, does just this. The piece discusses the unique experiences of Black Canadians while referencing history. It considers how long-standing, but evolving, perceptions of their worth have influenced their lives in modern society.

The film’s theme of resilience is beautifully demonstrated, and it is undertaken in both direct and unexpected ways. A meaningful example is the generational significance of “resting,” which is a topic I had never come across until now. The artists explain how slavery meant resting was not an option for Black people. Therefore, taking the time to rest is what their ancestors would have wanted for themselves and what the following generations deserve to have. The resiliency in this respect is profound. These artists inform the rest of Canada how they absolutely have the right to claim something that has been historically and repeatedly stolen from them.

From racism and social change to self-love and mental health struggles, TESSEL encompasses all of these topics. The 14 featured Black Canadian artists each showcase emotive body movement — using different styles of dance like tap and hip-hop — and engage in reflective narration. This combination

TESSEL encompasses so many arguments, emotions, and creative pieces in a 15-minute video. Viewers will see a refreshingly authentic take on the social climate for individuals in the Black Canadian community, proving that current efforts of activism efforts are just the beginning.

TIFFAN Y C HAN G // P EAK ASSO CI ATE

14 artists team up for this innovative new project.

PH OTO : Felix Russell and Tony Tran

HUMOUR

June 21, 2021

QUIZ!

What niche characterized your queer adolescence?

Yeah, I think I'll pretend my experiences encompass everyone's on the spectrum Written by Kelly Chia

Illustrated by Van Mai

Have you ever realized you were queer and then realized the signs were definitely there when you were a teenager? This quiz will take you back to those endearingly embarrassing days.

Warning: doing this quiz may induce memories of songs you only know because of Glee.

1. How did you spend your precious weekends?

A

2 a.m. at a Denny’s with your class of 30 as well as your stage crew, screamsinging the lyrics to the musical you just finished. It’s a tradition, okay? Don’t look at us like that.

B

You planned a picnic with your three best friends and baked a small cake to celebrate nothing in particular. Persephone herself would probably smile down at you!

C

You're playing Stardew Valley mods because you need a little ~ variety ~ in your farming simulators.

2. What quote still makes your heart soft?

A

“ . . . And you know what they did? They danced!” You will never forgive Hadestown for destroying you inside out. Never.

B

“When my time comes around / Lay me gently in the cold dark earth / No grave can hold me down / I’ll crawl home to her,” because Hozier makes you scream like an actual feral wolf.

“We accept the love we think we deserve,” because as soon as you read it, you knew you would reblog that same damn quote with 50 different PicMonkey-edited sunset photos just to feel the sweet, sweet angst.

C

3. What outfit would you don to face the bitter dungeon of high school?

A

A baseball shirt and leggings, the most comfortable thing you could find in your closet.

You need a flexible outfit for all the finger guns you’re going to make that day.

B

A short-sleeved mustard yellow blouse with a long maxi skirt dotted with flowers. You are hoping to be mistaken for an actual peony by a cutie walking by.

C

A worn red plaid button-up, jeans, a beanie, and black boots. Your Sleeping With Sirens shirt was in the wash, unfortunately. (They were also an unfortunate pick for your emotional support emo band, kid.)

4. Pick the Greek myth that hurt you the most.

A

Orpheus and Eurydice. THEY WERE SO CLOSE!

B

Medusa, because you were tricked into believing that she was the villain for such a large part of your life.

C

Patroclus and Achilles. Madeline Miller has your heart in knots for writing a love so tender.

If you picked mostly As, you were a theatre kid!

If you picked mostly Bs, you loved cottagecore!

If you picked mostly Cs, you were deep into fandom communities!

You really didn’t anticipate how much you’d grow to love your dusty high school theatre and the shows you found, but here you are.

This is true even if you spend every moment as an adult embarrassed because of it.

If you see one more frog in round glasses, you might start crying. You call your messy table maximalism, and you don’t think your poetry is really poetry. Your Spotify is pretty much a shrine to the one pop queen you’ve decided to worship and music you’d consider dancing barefoot in the forest to.

The copious amounts of plants that you’ve adopted and named currently have the best shot at your inheritance.

Your villain origin story began when your favourite shows queerbaited characters right before your eyes — that, and you likely had a Homestuck phase. You feel a little betrayed by the internet for turning you into a gremlin, but you know that you can never find the same familiar kind of disastrous fandom energy anywhere else.

Are you disappointed by how invested you were in a show that glorifies the founding fathers of America? Do you have a target with Ryan Murphy’s face on it? Maybe, but you found your goofy family in this room filled with asbestos. And you have every right to belt those sad Waitress songs all you want!

And most importantly, your playlist has songs that make you feel the most queer emotion of all: yearning.

Now? You’re an adult that plays Dungeons & Dragons because you want your character to develop and grow in the way you wish your favorite characters did. And you definitely play an elf or a tiefling.

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14 HUMOUR

Biology students asked to download Grindr for research purposes Professor misidentifies bears as, well, bears

CARTER HEMI ON // STAF F W RI TE R

Biology students are claiming new identities after their REM 420 professor mistakenly assigned them a gay hookup app for homework.

Borne out of a misunderstanding about gay connotations for words like “bear” and “otter,” Dr. Gayle Rain-Beau’s mistake caused students committed to learning about wildlife taxonomy to rethink their understanding of the course. As a result of this profound academic endeavour, various students started nicknaming themselves “Cub4Daddy,” “B0ttm RN,” and “discrete ottr,” all words “appropriately related to animal instinct,” according to some students, but “completely and utterly wrong” to others.

Raine-Beau gave students the assignment of downloading Grindr over a Canvas email on June 8, though it took several days before the class group chat realized what had happened — many prepared to leave the assignment until the day it was due were in for a wild ride, so to say.

Raine-Beau said assigning her students Grindr was “an honest mistake,” which she “regrets very much.”

On June 13, Raine-Beau posted a public statement from her Notes app on Instagram. It read, “I overheard my students talking excitedly about seeing bears just 69 feet away from them with the app, and I couldn’t just let that pass by [ . . . ] I now have grown from my mistake, and I am sorry students were offended by the incident. I’m sorry if my words were taken out of context.

It was not my intent to harm, but I did not invent the culture.

Thank you.”

Students met Raine-Beau with a variety of responses. One student known by screen name “Cub4Daddy” stated with a wink he “had no idea that’s what the app was for.” He also disclosed that his midterm paper would be on bears, but did not specify which kind.

However, some SFU students have been deeply offended by the assignment. Raine-Beau’s TA Woody Cox reached out to The Peak personally to give a statement. He said, “I am offended to see a queer hookup app shared with so many students. It’s horrifying and offensive. How am I supposed to know who’s actually gay here? You think I wanna meet someone just to find out they’re a girl? And one of my students?”

Another student, Anita Hoal, claimed the assignment was “very creative and educational.” She said, “I learned a lot about mating techniques and the kind of primitive animal instincts that survived through evolutionary developments.”

She excitedly cited observations of “physiological arousal and perhaps even new evidence of mammalian lordosis behaviour in male Homo sapiens.”

SFU administration has declined to comment, but noted they would be sending out an email in two to three weeks regarding the assignment.

Humour Editors Kyla Dowling and Paige Riding

D E A R

|

humour@the-peak.ca

P E A K I E Written by

Sara Brinkac, Peak Associate and Knower of All

Dear Peakie, I’ve been trying to find the perfect barbecue to buy for the summer.

My budget is about $5. Please help.

Sincerely, Broke Bloke Hi Broke Bloke, buying presents for your dad is tough. But don't worry; with my worldclass advice, you’ll finally get that “I love you” you've so desperately been looking for. Now, I know you think you have to buy your dad a “proper grill” for the summer, but that’s just a lie spread by Big BBQ. During my time as head chef at the world's most premier five-star Michelin restaurant, I strictly used the “Open Flame” method and grilled my way amongst the greats.

Originating in 420 AD, the “Open Flame” method was first discovered by vikings during a routine town pillaging. The warriors felt a tad peckish. They quickly realized, not only could they roast a beautiful steak anywhere they pleased with the houses all aflame, but the controlled BBQs Sven was selling in their village were a total scam. So go ahead and give your dad that $5 bill as kindling, Broke Bloke. This summer, you will be giving your dad the most effective and portable barbecue on the market.

Dear Peakie, I've just realized I don't have an adequate villain origin story for when I eventually snap and take down SFU. What should I do?

Signed, Foolella de Vil Hi Foolella, it’s tough to see such a growing disparity of villain backstories in our current economy. Fortunately for you, I spent about five years of my youth as a certified Evil Mastermind. While I was chairman of the Villains for World Domination board, my dear friend Jeff gave me some great advice that I’d like to share with you: every villain backstory must have a sympathetic element. Whether it be the cruelty of society or the cruelty of your ex-wife divorcing you and taking your hard-stolen money, a villain has to go through a soul-removing event. Perhaps you once failed a final exam because a construction site blocked your path and made you late. From that day on you vowed to erect meaningless construction sites all over SFU to make everyone feel the same frustration you felt that dreaded day. Now you scrawl your name across campus haunting innocent bystanders, laughing in the face of completion dates, and making sure every SFU commuter knows the evil villain “Ledcor.”

Dear Peakie, I've gotten so used to texting people during the pandemic that I keep saying things like "LOL" and "poggers" when I talk to people in real life. Help!

Signed, Bestie Hey Bestie, I'm sorry to say you are suffering from what we in the medical field call “Reverse Dictation.” While it is common to use talk-to-text to tell your phone what to say, prolonged exposure to LED keyboards can flip this cognitive function. When this happens, your phone begins to tell you what to say. Thankfully, your case is still in early stages — I once treated a man in stage-four Reverse Dictation who could only speak in 1s and 0s.

Whenever he went to sleep, he would hum the Windows shutdown jingle. It was tragic.

Currently, the most effective treatment is what we call “irony.” For this to work, however, you really have to become a fully ironic person. That means dabbing, whipping, saying “ya-yeet” while throwing things, and playing Pokémon GO like 2016 never ended. Throw it all to the wind and no one will be able to tell what is social ineptitude and what is scathing commentaries on society. All the best Bestie and remember: if it's not cool, it's ironic.

HUMOUR

June 21, 2021

Your Weekly Horoscopes

June 21–27 Written by Paige Riding

ARIES — Mar 21–Apr 19

LIBRA — Sept 23–Oct 22

Everyone shuns you for the water containers piling up in your room, but what about the unabashed fake scenarios you fall asleep to each night? Thirsty doesn’t even begin to cut it, but I’m sure you can imagine what might.

Some guy in an IKEA parking lot once told me, “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.” In your case, love kinda looks like a tall, glasses-endowed hunky cook. It’s, uh, it’s the Colonel from KFC. Maybe close your eyes and turn off your mind next time.

TAURUS — Apr 20 –May 20

SCORPIO — Oct 23–Nov 21

Do you press the toaster lever down again in shame when your toast doesn’t toast enough, or do you suffer with slightly crisped bread? Why don’t all toasters toast toast to the same toastiness? Who the hell made toast a verb and a noun? After typing “toast” that much, I’m not even sure it’s a word at all.

Make a splash this week, Scorpio! Go to a lake that’s way too cold to swim in, dip one toe in, and then throw Leo’s failed Play-Doh concoction in to make them cry instead.

GEMINI — May 21–Jun 20

SAGITTARIUS — Nov 22–Dec 21

Allergies scaring you and others during this pandemic?

I’ve heard chasing a double Fireball shot with a snort of freshly cracked black pepper can help clear your sinuses. And your schedule. Because you’ll be dead.

In a world full of Times New Roman typers, be an Arial one. Kind of annoying, but not bad enough for professors to really do anything to change you. You’ve broken the code. You’re dismantling higher education’s hierarchical structure as we speak.

CANCER — Jun 21–Jul 22

CAPRICORN — Dec 22–Jan 19

They never said falling in love was easy, but neither is mutually raising your eyebrows and trying to reach the outer edge of your bottom lip with your top teeth.

Oh my god, with a look like that, maybe it is easy falling in love . . .

You’re such a calm and collected sign. If I told you mischievous is actually pronounced “miss-chee-vis” and there is no extra “I,” you wouldn’t bat an eyelid. What if I also told you babies don’t develop tear ducts until three months, so that explains why Pisces is always trying to make up for lost time?

LEO — Jul 23–Aug 22

AQUARIUS — Jan 20 –Feb 18

If you find yourself getting distracted during lectures, try buying a little tub of Play-Doh and fiddling with it.

You’ll have no idea what your TA said, but you’ll end up with a dragon-turned-snake. Not a failure, but a happy accident. Right?

Accidentally closing all the tabs you were using is the least of your worries this week. You can restore them all quite easily, but can you now see your nose at the bottom of your vision since I pointed it out to you?

VIRGO — Aug 23–Sept 22

PISCES — Feb 19–Mar 20

We’re heading back to school in person during your season. Honestly, I’m so glad it’s yours and not Leo’s. They’re still mad about their lack of Play-Doh skills and I just couldn’t handle more uncertainty about university.

The stars are showing me idioms to help you out this week, Pisces. They’re really lending me a hand. But one in the hand is worth two in the bush. But don’t beat around the bush. Also don’t beat a dead horse. But maybe hold your horses.

15

16 DIVERSIONS

Business Manager Yuri Zhou

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business@the-peak.ca

CROSSWORD Across 1. Manage 5. Fork features 10. Grain tower 14. District 15. Perfect 16. Declare openly 17. Cheeky 18. Fix 20. Highway curves 22. Hermit 23. Compass dir.

24. Wise about 26. Poked fun at 28. Coffeepot 30. Appraised 34. Heavy weights 36. Fasting season 37. Gazes 41. Voyaging 42. Beginning 44. Falling sound 45. Hi 47. Certain 48. Sad drop 49. Showed (a movie) 52. Shed tears 53. Showy 56. Store

SUDOKU

58. Cow's cry 59. Avoid 63. Fable's lesson 66. Irrelavant 69. "____ Lisa" 70. Group of players 71. Wash cycle 72. Fruit drinks 73. Carbonated drink 74. ____ out (narrowly defeated) 75. Politician ____ Gingrich Down 1. ____ Cod 2. Mineral deposits 3. Office staff 4. Corroded 5. Spasm 6. Adored one 7. Infamous emperor 8. Acquire by labor 9. Rains ice 10. Fri. follower 11. Climbing vines 12. Unattached 13. Had 19. Crawl

21. RR terminal 25. Norwegian capital 27. Proficient 28. Provo's state 29. Stood up 31. Sight or smell 32. Result 33. Howard ____ of radio 35. Mexican sauce 38. Conducting contact 39. Lion's sound 40. Peppy 43. Be abundant 46. Group of eight 50. Worship 51. River barrier 53. Skips 54. Juliet's beloved 55. Roaming tribesman 57. Caesar, e.g.

60. Parched 61. Bell sound 62. Relieve 64. Again 65. Endure 67. Med. group 68. Was first