The Runner Volume 9, Issue 6 by The Runner

Volume 09 // Issue 06

News Student Feminist Group Campaigns Against Racism

November 22 2016

Culture Meet the Multi-Faith Centreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Chaplains

Opinion Tuition for International Students is Too Damn High

THE RUNNER

Which campus could survive

the horde? KPU Professor discusses where to turn in a zombie apocalypse

find us online / runnermag.ca / @runnermag / facebook.com/runnerMAG / INSTAGRAM.com/RUNNERMAG

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02 Table of contents

staff

News | On-Campus Feminist Group Campaigns Against Racism “WOOW is trying to combat racism by standing in solidarity with the other collectives. We’re trying to make sure KPU is a warm and welcoming place,” says Natasha Lopes.

Coordinating Editor Tristan Johnston editor@runnermag.ca

culture |Meet the Multi-Faith Centre’s New Chaplains

The Multi-Faith centre is focused on reﬂecting the diversity of the KPU community’s beliefs and world views. For that reason, they have invited several new chaplains onto their staff this year: Skye Fulton, Lee Chernoff, Keith Bloodworth, and Jennifer Roosma.

Managing Editor

Connor Doyle managing@runnermag.ca

Production Manager

Danielle George production@runnermag.ca

Features |Which Campus could Survive a Zombie Apocalypse?

Art Director

Professor of Anthropology at KPU, Sam Migliore, is currently writing a book about zombies. As an expert on the undead, he tells us what campus to run to in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

Scott McLelland art@runnermag.ca

Photo Editor

Kier-Christer Junos photos@runnermag.ca @kierjunos

Staff Writer

Alyssa Laube staff@runnermag.ca

Opinions| Tuition for International Students is Too Damn High

“For one credit, international students pay $550 dollars, and one course is three credits—so for one course, international students have to pay $1650 dollars. For the same course, local students have to pay around $400 to $500.

Web Editor

Joseph Keller web@runnermag.ca

Operations Manager Scott Boux office@runnermag.ca 778.565.3801

COLUMNS| How to “Green” Your Bathroom Routine

From using ethically sourced ingredients to picking out bathroom decor, there’s always a way to be a little friendlier to the environment in your life.

#FeatureTweets

#BestPhoto

Hayley Woodin @hayleywoodin Thanks @headlinesnow and @kpualumni for the honour and support. JXN

Matthew @MogFinale

@wefoundjxn Final stretch #lastmonth #thegrind #kpu @ Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Been checking Green timbers park, brilliant sun light when it’s setting.

@moniicaxo Monica Mah Finish an entire group project by myself. #ihavetrustissues

Arbutus 3710/3720 12666 72 Ave. Surrey, B.C, V3W 2M8 778.565.3801 www.runnermag.ca Vol. 09, Issue no. 6 November 22 2016 ISSN# 1916 8241

Contributors Braden Klassen Calvin Borghardt Celesta De Roo Keith Harris Melissa Pomerleau

Nat Mussell Neil Bassan Tommy Nguyen Yuta Anonuevo

Cover

Celesta De Roo is a contributor for The Runner.

The Runner is student-owned and operated by Kwantlen Polytechnic University students, published under the Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society. The Runner recognises that our work, both in and out of the ofﬁce, takes place on unceded Coast and Strait Salish territories, speciﬁcally the shared traditional territories of the Kwantlen, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Sto:lo and Tsawwassen First Nations. Our name is inspired by the hun’qumi’num meaning of Kwantlen, which is tireless hunters or tireless runners. Just as Kwantlen is adaptable and changing so is The Runner.

Editorial 03

From The Editors

What’s Happening this week

This is not normal, this is fucked up

Nov 22 Stand-Up Comedy

Yuk Yuk’s will be presenting standup comedy nights at the Grassroots starting this Thursday. James Kennedy and James Hammond will be performing, but if you’ve got a tight 5, contact KSA Events Coordinator Matt Hunt to see about performing! 4-6, Grassroots, free.

Nov 24

Queer Voices at KPU

In this post-election period, and what some may call a post-truth world, the need for the news media to do better remains pertinent if not dire. (Flickr/Ann Althouse)

Tristan Johnston |Coordinating Editor It’s time for everyone to look at themselves and ask how we got to this place. There are so many ways to talk about the American presidential election, but one thing we should think about is the media and the way we speak to each other. Currently, some political commentators are saying that we should give Trump a chance to show himself to be a good President. Others are hoping that he turns out to be good at it. This is likely more of a defense mechanism than a feeling based in reason. There is no time to get complacent, and many people in the U.S. don’t have the slightest luxury. The news needs to be more ruthless than ever before, and everyone needs to reexamine how they approach bias.

While the Washington Post and the New York Times did great work overall during the election, it has already taken the New York Times more than a day to make note of Steve Bannon being anti-semitic, and felt that they had to write that someone else said it, rather than stating it as a fact. Many news outlets also participated in the unfortunate act of regurgitation, simply rewriting what other people have said and not contesting it. CNN played a part in this by streaming Trump’s rallies without editing them, and not taking him seriously enough or fact checking him until it was too late. This can be exempliﬁed by the tendency to allow dubious claims or outright lies to go unquestioned. Trump did this many times, and it wasn’t until late into the campaign period that news outlets started to adjust the way they used the term “lie.” For instance, Trump recent-

ly tweeted that he had spoken with Bill Ford of Ford Motor Company, and that the conversation with Ford had convinced the company to keep two factories from being relocated to Mexico, but this was never the case. Ford had no such plans to begin with, and even if the factories were to move, no jobs would have been lost, as workers would just focus on producing a different car. Regardless, even Reuters wrote a story based on Trump’s words. Even more frustrating is the media’s reluctance to label anyone as “racist,” as if the term were up for debate. It’s understandable that many outlets generally try their best to avoid being overly biased, but I think if you express blanket views towards people of certain backgrounds, you’re a racist. The New York Times recently wrote about Steve Bannon, former CEO of Breitbart, as having “divisive views about about minorities,” which

is probably the most awkward way of writing “racist,” that I’ve ever seen. If NYT is worried about libel, they should just cite the court proceedings between him and his ex-wife where he said many racist things about Jewish people. Others are saying that everyone needs to listen to each other more, and I think it’s a good idea in principle. What I mean is that people on the left need to listen to people on the right and view them as they view themselves, and vice-versa. However, if you show yourself to be actually racist or sexist in some way, it’s going to be difﬁcult for me or others to hear you. Yes, you can have issues with immigration without being racist, but such arguments come best from an economic standpoint and not an emotional or nationalistic one.

KPU Settles Case with Former Employee

News Briefs

Calvin Borghardt| Contributor A B.C. Supreme Court Judge ruled in favor of former Kwantlen Polytechnic University director of international programs and exchanges, Sandra Schinnerl, who claimed damages for wrongful dismissal against her former employer. Justice John Steeves presided over the case in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver. He determined that Schinner would receive eight day’s pay, or $3,070.77. This payment is on top of payments that KPU made as proper notice. Schinnerl was hired in 2007 at a salary a little under $100,000. She received an education leave in 2013 to

pursue doctoral studies in public policy, and when she returned to work in 2016 she discovered that KPU had terminated her employment. This was reportedly as a result of restructuring by KPU. In his summary, Steeves noted Schinnerl “was dismissed without cause” in March 2016. KPU had offered to continue paying Schinnerl her salary and beneﬁts for 10 months, though they laid out certain conditions. She had to conduct “reasonable” job searches and inform KPU if she got a new job within that 10-month period. If a “public sector employer” hired Schinnerl in those 10 months for a lesser salary, KPU would pay the difference in what she would have earned.

The judge noted that Schinnerl “did not accept the defendant’s offer” but “nonetheless the defendant paid the plaintiff as described in its offer.” Douglas College hired Schinnerl within a few months as its director of global engagement. This position paid a higher full-time salary than KPU had been paying, but Steeves noted that Schinnerl’s ﬁrst six months at Douglas College were part-time, only becoming full-time thereafter. The court decided that KPU’s obligation to pay its former employee only stopped when Douglas College offered Schinnerl a full-time position on June 13, 2016.

Pride Kwantlen is holding a ﬁlm screening and panel discussion of Laverne Cox’s documentary The T Word, which follows the lives of seven transgender youths. 4:15 - 8, Fir 128, free.

Nov 25

Movember Dodgeball

Who’s got a good heart, mad dodgeball skills, and the ability to grow hair on their upper lip? You, possibly, and if so you should sign up with seven of your best friends to compete! 4, Surrey Campus Gym, $30 per team.

Nov 28

Guitar Lessons

The KSA’s START program is going to teach you to be a star! Here’s your chance to learn how to shred on the guitar, or at least how to play the riff from “Smoke on the Water.” 10 - 4, Fir 238, free.

Dec 2

Kwantlen Wind Symphony

The Kwantlen Wind Symphony will present Songs of the Sea, with special guests from G.W. Graham Secondary School. Come on out, and let the ocean’s music take you away. 6:30 - 8:30, Grassroots cafe, free.

Dec 3 Lazer Tag

Active KSA continues to bring you the coolest ways to stay healthy with Lazer Tag at Planet Lazer. Regular tag is for philistines, but add lazers to that shit and you got yourself a party 6 - 8, Planet Lazer, $9 for students.

04 News

WOOW Campaigns Against Racism

KPU’s feminist club and women’s collective promotes acceptance Calvin Borghardt| Contributor Women Organizing Opportunities for Women (WOOW) Organizer Natasha Lopes believes that racist sentiments are becoming more common because “people are scared that their way of life is dying out,” therefore making them more susceptible to the messages of groups like the KKK and the Soldiers of Odin. Only a few months ago, the KKK began sending ﬂyers to houses in the Fraser Valley, using fear tactics to recruit new members. Soldiers of Odin, a European-based organization that has been dubbed “an extreme anti-refugee group” by the Anti-Defamation League, have recently made appearances in the Lower Mainland, including Vancouver and Cloverdale. Lopes, who lives in Cloverdale, says that she has “heard people speak in very bad tones about other groups of individuals, about other cultures, just because they didn’t take the time to learn about the culture, to listen about their religion, and they think their way of life is the right way of life,” in her neighbourhood. In response to this and other signs of intolerance and bigotry in Canada, WOOW is launching a campaign against racism. “WOOW is trying to combat racism by standing in solidarity with the

(Left) WOOW organizer Natasha Lopes, who is also the KSA Women’s Rep and VP Student Life. (Alyssa Laube) (Right) WOOW Co-founder Kari Michaels (Mark Stewart)

other collectives, so we’re trying to make sure KPU is a warm and welcoming place,” says Lopes. “We’re explaining how, if you take the time out of your day to learn something about somebody else, you’re going to realize there’s no threat to you. WOOW is just trying to make sure our community respects the individualistic rights of everybody else.” Confronting racism and bigotry can be a difﬁcult task that often leads

to heated discussion, but Lopes has managed backlash from engaging in political discourse before. “We have dealt with issues of aggression in the past…because WOOW and the KSA are both prochoice organizations, so by stating we’re pro-choice, we do get hate,” says Lopes. “I have received hate messages, I have been harassed when I table for WOOW. This has just become something that is normal when

I go out and table.” Because of that opposition, Lopes says that it’s important for WOOW to look to its allies for help in the ﬁght against racism. She has already been in contact with community groups and will be speaking to the students of colour representative about the campaign soon. She remains optimistic about the outcome of the campaign and believes that racism should be con-

fronted through open and honest discourse. “The best way you can affect any movement in society is to talk about it,” says Lopes. “By talking about it you make it normal, and by making it normal you make it easier for other people to talk about it. So by that process, you will make it easier for other students to understand what’s going on.”

Immigration Consulting Services Offered by KSA International students can get their questions answered on-campus every Tuesday Alyssa Laube | Staff Writer The Kwantlen Student Association is looking to help international students at Kwantlen Polytechnic University by offering them immigration consulting services. While the university does provide educational advising and support, including organizing events for community-building and networking, there are some questions that they cannot answer. Knowing that, the KSA has hired consultants Dani Willetts and Andrea Bastin to let KPU’s international student body know what they need to do to succeed in Canada—in school or otherwise. Four sessions have already taken place this year, each on a Tuesday, with two more planned for Nov. 22 and Dec. 6. Students can ﬁnd the KSA tabling from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm in the Grassroots cafe in Surrey and 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm in the KSA lounge in Richmond. Students are encouraged to drop into the sessions to speak with the consultants, which is completely free for anyone enrolled in classes at KPU. “Each student would sit with the provider and ask any questions that they have, and the provider will answer their questions, and help them

with anything related to their immigration and their status here in Canada,” says KSA VP Finance Rawan Ramini. “A lot of international students actually want to apply to become a permanent resident or citizens and don’t know what kind of job will give them more points towards their permanent residency.” The consultants could also help students who “get into any illegal matters that will jeopardize their staying here” by telling them what to do and where to go. Ramini is overseeing the project, although she didn’t come up with the idea alone. The last person to fill her position, former KSA VP Finance Waheed Taiwo, passed the immigration consulting services along to Ramini, who felt that they remained necessary to properly serve international students at KPU. “We have the international office where they have the international advisers, but the international advisers are not certified to consult with students [about] immigration-related stuff. What the KSA international office cannot provide, we recommend with our service,” says Ramini. She adds that she has “been working with the international office to make sure that [the KSA] is not doing the same thing that they’re doing.”

The international students office deals with matters such as studying visas, working permits, and academic scheduling. Although turnout at the dropin sessions has been less than what Ramini had hoped, those who have used the service have been asking important questions. The most common so far have been, “What kind of job do I get to become a permanent resident?” and “How do I bring other family members and friends to Canada with international student permits?” The first of those two questions is ideal for the immigration consultants, but the latter is not. When they are asked about bringing others into the country, they direct the students to the international office. To bring more students to the sessions, Ramini will be pinning up promotional posters around campus, putting the dates for future sessions online and on the KSA calendar, and spreading the word face-to-face. “We want more students to benefit from this service,” she says. “The providers are also willing to do Skype drop-in sessions so any students can access it. They can just call in. Rawan Ali, KSA Vice-President of Finance pictured in Feb. 2016. Ali is overseeing the immigration services project. (File photo)

News 05

Liberals Raise Student Loan Repayment Threshold KSA, CFS representatives argue the increase is not enough to help indebted students Calvin Borghardt| Contributor The federal government has announced that Canadian graduates won’t have to begin paying off their student loans until they are making $25,000 per year. The announcement, made by Employment and Social Development Canada, increased the minimum necessary salary by $5,000 starting Nov. 1. “I think [the threshold] could be higher,” says Alex McGowan, president and vice-president external of the Kwantlen Student Association. “I think $30,000 would be a more optimum threshold.” Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students, Bilan Arte, agrees that the change provides no reason to celebrate, as even earning $25,000 per year still puts students below the poverty line. “It’s clear from our perspective that these small reforms or tinkering to the student loan system isn’t actually initiating any widespread change,” says Arte. “If we’re going to be serious about addressing inaccessibility to post-secondary education, then we need to just eliminate tuition fees altogether and have a free system of postsecondary [education] across the country.” According to the CFS, the current

generation of post-secondary students in Canada already owe approximately $28 billion in student loans to the federal government. That figure excludes debt owed to the provincial government and other private debt. “From our perspective, [the change] fails to address the root cause of student debt,” says Arte. According to a study by Citizen’s Financial Group, millennial college graduates with student loans are now spending nearly one fifth of their annual salaries on repayments. This study also reports that many recent graduates with student loans underestimated their monthly expenditures and now expect to be making payments into their 40s. “The realities of debt are pretty hard hitting for students in our province, as they are for students across the country,” says Arte. “We know that high student debt comes from high tuition fees and we have a completely unregulated system of costs associated with attending higher education from coast to coast.” The Canadian Student Loans Program charges interest upon graduation, even though repayment isn’t due during the first six months. The government still charges interest on the loan during that time, which can cause students to owe more than their base cost because of high interest

The Liberal Government has pledged to increase the maximum Canada Student Grant for low-income students to $3,000 per year for full-time students, and to $1,800 per year for part-time students. (Tristan Johnston)

rates. These high interest rates result in a discrepancy between what’s owed

and what’s paid. The difference between the two is “proﬁt that’s collect by the federal government off of stu-

dents who couldn’t go to school in the first place,” according to Arte. Saddling young people with debt strains them financially and fails to encourage young people to begin their adult lives. Fresh graduates may not be in a position to repay their loans, even if they are earning $25,000 annually. “We can sympathize with people in that position, but also very importantly, it’s just not good for the economy to force people to find a job really quickly,” says Alex McGowan. “It’s the reason we have unemployment insurance—when you lose a job you should have a buffer of time until you have to find your next job. The KSA currently collects over $100,000 from students every year for advocacy funds and, according to McGowan, the raising of the repayment threshold is an example of what those funds can accomplish. However, student advocacy groups will continue to work towards persuading the government to do more to eliminate student debt. “It’s about whether we recognize access to post-secondary as something that should be universal, as something that is a public service,” says Arte.

UNBC Student Society Announces massive Debt Contrasting that society’s operations with the KSA’s reveals the problem Calvin Borghardt| Contributor The University of Northern B.C.’s undergraduate society (NUGSS) announced that it is $100,000 in debt at last month’s annual general meeting. Its financial troubles, which the society’s vice-president finance, Eric Depeneau, called the “culmination of many years of poor planning,” has led it to consider closing the campus pub and cutting funding to student clubs. “Very recently [UNBC] hired a new general manager and this general manger was the person that suggested that they cut a bunch of services instead of running a deficit,” explains Tanvir Singh, vice-president of student services for the Kwantlen Student Association. The Thirsty Moose Pub— NUGSS’ version of the KSA’s own Grassroots cafe—has lost an average of more than $50,000 per year. The society also owes nearly $100,000 for a program that provides subsidized bus passes to students. However, the board of NUGSS has created a four year plan that includes cutting the pay to the board and the general manager, as well as decreasing the amount that they give

Students drink in The Thirsty Moose at the University of Northern British Columbia on Nov. 14, 2016. The pub faces possible closure due to the UNBC student union’s large debt. (OVER THE EDGE NEWSPAPER/Colin Slark)

to student clubs. The society hopes that these and other cost-cutting initiatives will hold future directors accountable and prevent a crisis from happening again. “It wasn’t particularly surprising,” says KSA President and VP External Alex McGowan. “The UNBC Student Society hasn’t been operating under the practices and standards of accounting and business management that [the KSA] hold ourselves to, and that we would expect a student society to hold itself to.” Although the KSA has never had

to deal with a financial crisis like the one NUGSS currently faces, it hasn’t been without its share of difficulties. The Grassroots has operated at a loss for several years, with a $22,438 deficit in 2012. Since that year, however, the cafe has earned an average profit of $18,120, a fact which Singh attributes in part to the hiring of the KSA’s General Manager Jeremy McElroy. “For the last couple years, we’re happy that the Grassroots is running a small profit,” says McGowan. “We try to keep that profit modest and re-

turn any proﬁt we would get out of it to students in the form of lower cost of food, which is why they all get a 10 per cent discount. So really we break even.” While the Grassroots Cafe profits have ebbed and ﬂowed over the years, The Thirsty Moose Pub has operated at a loss every year since it was opened, with the exception of 2013. “Pubs don’t make money on campuses in Canada,” says Singh. “The way we run Grassroots is almost as if it was a service toward students.” The Thirsty Moose Pub was es-

tablished by the UNBC undergraduate society in 2009. Prior to that year, NUGSS had an average annual surplus of $147,644. However, the pub’s establishment in 2009—along with a Grab N Go Sandwich Shop and Degrees Coffee—lost them a total of $151,480 that year alone. NUGSS’ 2009 audited budget also indicates that they lost $137,543 in a capital fund. They amortized the debt and started paying it off with a ﬁxed repayment schedule in regular installments over a period of time, but the fund has cost them roughly $100,000 every year since 2009. Luckily, the KSA has no such fund. While KPU’s student society has had its good years and its bad years, their budgets have leveled off since 2012. In addition, all of its worksheets, audits, and budgets are online, so KPU students interested in the ﬁnancial situation of their society can keep themselves informed. “The KSA’s a well-run organization and we’re really happy to be as transparent as possible and make sure that students get the best bang for their buck,” says Singh.

06 Culture

Bodies of Film Club examines Disabilities in Cinema The club is a collaboration between KPU faculty and students with disabilities Alyssa Laube | Staff Writer Fiona Whittington-Walsh, a faculty member in Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Sociology department, organized the Bodies of Film Club to analyze how people with intellectual disabilities are represented in movies. Five KPU students joined her in the club, all of whom have disabilities themselves, to offer their critiques and perspectives on films like What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Forrest Gump, and Rain Man. The club gathered before a small audience on Nov. 10 to discuss their progress so far, including how they go about analyzing films, the findings from those analyses, and events they have taken part in. Throughout their time together, they have discovered that people with intellectual disabilities are often confined to stereotypes in film, such as being violent, childish, pitiful, or dependent. While they find many artistic representations of intellectual disabilities inaccurate and offensive, they have also seen movies that provide a realistic insight into what it means to have a disability. The five students in The Bodies

Colton Turner, Kya Bezanson, Fiona Whittington-Walsh, Katie Miller, and Emma Sawatzky stand for a photo after their presentation on the representation of people with intellectual disabilities in film on Nov. 10, 2016. (Alyssa Laube)

of Film Club—Kya Bezanson, Emma Sawatzky, Colton Turner, Christian Burton, and Katie Miller—each have different roles to play and different backstories. Bezanson, the creative leader, has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and has a happy life with both foster and adopted children. Sawatzky, whose brilliant memory has earned her the title of “the collective memory” of the club, has Attention Deﬁcit Hyperactivity Disorder and Developmental Coordination Disorder, and loves writing short stories. Burton,

the technical expert and fact-checker, “learns slowly with reading and writing” but is savvy with technology. The country music and rodeo-loving Turner is the club researcher and Miller, who has a particularly bright personality, is the emotional centre of the club. “It’s a unique thing you’re doing when you show people the difference of what actual people with disabilities are compared to what the movies are,” says Sawatzky. Miller continues, “I wanted to

help people view society in a different way and give them my insight and let them see that the media isn’t always correct … Like, we’re not asexual beings. Stuff like that.” Turner appreciates the amount of interest he has witnessed in response to the Bodies of Film Club’s presentations, and Bezanson is glad to be practicing critical thinking skills in a welcoming environment. Since they ﬁrst started watching movies together, the members have grown closer as friends than they had

ever anticipated. As a researcher and professor, Whittington-Walsh sees herself as a “humble listener” led by “honesty, trust, and mutual support,” although she too feels that bonding is essential to the Bodies of Film Club. “I like how we’re not judgemental,” says Sawatzky. “We’re very accepting and we’re very open.” Whittington-Walsh adds, “I had my own analyses of these films before we watch them, and it changes once I watch them with the group, because you guys are the experts. I’m so proud of these five young people— the Fab Five! They’re becoming leaders in the province of self-advocates.” “You guys have changed my life,” says Whittington-Walsh, to her student members. “We’re stuck together for a long time.” The Bodies of Film Club has celebrated many special events since they met, presenting films at festivals and conferences. Other exciting plans are coming up in the future as well. They’ll be attending Sprout Film Festival and the Inclusion B.C. Film Festival this year, the latter of which falls on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. At KPU, the Club will help present two films about people with autism at the KDocs closing night gala.

Meet the Multi-Faith Centre New Chaplains New Christian, Humanist, and Baha’i chaplains join the centre’s ranks Alyssa Laube | Staff Writer The chaplains at Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Multi-Faith Centre are devoted to representing and connecting with all of its students, staff, and faculty—whatever their beliefs may be. Religious, spiritual, and secular communities are welcomed into the centres located on the Richmond and Surrey campuses, where visitors seeking friendship or guidance are encouraged to “drop by for a cup of coffee or tea, some conversation, and a snack for the road.” The Multi-Faith centre is focused on reﬂecting the diversity of the KPU community’s beliefs and world views. For that reason, they have invited several new chaplains onto their staff this year: Skye Fulton, Lee Chernoff, Keith Bloodworth, and Jennifer Roosma. Fulton and Jennifer Roosma join the roster of KPU Christian chaplains alongside Gary Roosma, Ethan Vanderleek, and Samuel Lee. Chernoff joins Joann Robertson and Marty Shoemaker as a Humanist chaplain. Shoemaker, the ﬁrst Humanist chaplain to be vetted at KPU, says that the Multi-Faith Centre “really is a community in the academic environment for students who don’t necessarily view themselves as religious.” He and the other Humanist chaplains represent that group.

Keith Bloodworth is KPU’s Bahá’í Faith chaplain at KPU Richmond.

Bloodworth, who is currently on leave for personal reasons, is the Centre’s ﬁrst Baha’i representative. He plans to return to KPU in a few months. As written on the Baha’i Community of Canada’s website, the Baha’i faith “is based on the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, which emphasize the oneness of humanity, the oneness of God and the fundamental oneness of religion.” It has a following of around ﬁve million people worldwide. Although the Multi-Faith Centre does aim for diversity, there are many religions and beliefs currently missing from their team. At the moment, there are no Buddhist, Muslim, or Sikh chaplains at KPU, all of which would be useful in areas with large Asian populations such as Surrey and Richmond. Ethan Vanderleek says that he

Lee Chernoff is a new chaplain at KPU Surrey, and has 20 years of experience working as a youth mental health counsellor. KPU Richmond Chaplain Jennifer Roosma is a member of the Tapestry Church in Richmond.

and his colleagues are searching for anyone willing to occupy those vacancies—so far, to no avail. Because the Multi-Faith Centre isn’t owned and funded by KPU, its chaplains depend on external sponsorship for compensation. “A local religious or secular community needs to support and sponsor a chaplain, so that’s sort of what creates the difficulty with trying to get new people on board. There are definitely holes that we would like to fill, certainly a Sikh chaplain or a Muslim chaplain or Buddhist chaplain,” he

Skye Lynn Fulton is a chaplain at KPU Richmond. She is a trained vocalist and has an MA in communications journalism.

says. Vanderleek says that the chaplains’ leadership “is important in order to bring people together and reach out to students to encourage conversation.” For that reason, the MultiFaith Centre will continue to look for new chaplains of various faiths. In the meantime, it will continue to organize events and accommodations for religious holidays from as

many origins as possible, whether the communities are represented by chaplains or not. The Sikh holiday of Guru Nanak Gurpurab falls on November 22 and, as always, December will bring Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Human Light, and Christmas. KPU’s Interfaith Harmony Week—which aims to spread acceptance between varying religions and beliefs—is coming up as well from February 1-7. Prayer and meditation rooms are available in R1570 on the Richmond campus and Fir 305 in the Surrey campus, and the Multi-Faith Centres can be found in Room 1568 in Richmond and Fir 341 in Surrey.

Culture 07

KPU Brewing Grad wins Gold at B.C. Beer Awards Ashley Brooks’ Clover IPA the best British pale ale in the province Alyssa Laube | Staff Writer KPU Graduate Ashley Brooks walked away from the B.C. Beer Awards with a gold medal this year, making her brewery’s Clover IPA the best British pale ale in the province. Brooks, who is now the head brewer at Surrey’s Big Ridge Brewing Co., just graduated from the Brewing and Brewery Operations Diploma Program at KPU and has already made great strides in the world of brewing. She won a silver medal in the light standard category at the 2016 Vancouver International Craft Beer Awards for a Big Ridge lager and began working in the industry before she ﬁnished her ﬁnal semester at KPU. The brewery’s website describes Brooks’ winning IPA as strong, bitter, and “generously dry hopped, full bodied with a pronounced hop aroma.” Personally, Brooks describes it as having “some nice West Coast hops, hints of grapefruit and citrus” and 6.5 per cent alcohol, landing it “on the higher end of the spectrum” in the British pale ale category. She believes that the balance between the malts and the hops is what won her the award. Alek Egi, A KPU professor who instructed Brooks, says that he was “not surprised” that Brooks received

a medal at the B.C. Beer Awards, considering how studious and hard-working she was while enrolled in the program. “She was one of the ﬁrst students, if not the ﬁrst student, who found a job while enrolled in the program,” says Egi. “Academically, she was very good and had a science background with a degree in science at UBC, but the more important thing was that she was working while being a student.” A passion for beer and a hope that the program would “fast-track [her] into a good position into the industry” is what drove Brooks to KPU’s brewing program, and it seems that she has achieved that goal. She describes her education at the university as “indepth” and well-rounded. “Bringing it all together and having everything in one place was the best part of the program, especially the hands-on stuff in the brewery. With the academics as well, it’s all very nicely merged together,” says Brooks. The brewery at KPU is cutting-edge and much newer than what she is working with now at Big Ridge Brewing Co., where she brewed the gold-winning IPA. Like Brooks’ award-winning beer, KPU’s brewing program is the only of its kind in the province. There are three like it in Canada as a whole, though KPU’s on-campus custom-made brewery

makes it stand out as a gold standard. “You can really master your craft on something like that. You can hitch your numbers pretty good. It’s a very efﬁcient system and the beer’s always coming out tasting good,” says Brooks, about the brewery. Now that she’s moved on from KPU, she says that her favourite part of working with beer is being around

the beverage all the time. “If you love beer and you’re passionate about it, it’s really a great job because you get to mix in physical work with creative research on coming up with new beer styles and such,” she says. “It really gives you a bit of everything. There’s never a dull moment.”

(Danielle George)

KPU Presents The Mirror Test as Part of Thrive Week Psychology grad Kevin Kokoska’s play takes a long look in the mirror Calvin Borghardt| Contributor Kevin Kokoska concluded KPU’s Thrive Week by putting on his oneman play, The Mirror Test. The play, which was written and performed by Kokoska, is a ﬁctionalized representation of the author’s experience as a therapist during his practicum. The play’s only prop is a wooden frame the size of a large mirror, and each time he passed through it, Kokoska would switch between two characters—Kevin the Therapist and Gus the Client. “This play is ﬁction, but it’s based on my real practicum placement, which really was in California and really was at a wellness camp,” says Kokoska. Throughout the play, Kokoska uses various queues to switch between his characters, including passing through the frame and turning on his foot. The play, which is approximately 90 minutes long, required him to memorize an enormous amount of dialogue. “I’m often whacking the script against my [head] or trying to pound the lines in. That’s sometimes what it feels like, but it’s really just repeti-

Kevin Kokosa, writer of The Mirror Test. His theatre production exhibited at the Cultch in Vancouver in January. (Submitted photo: Kevin Kokosa)

tion,” says Kokoska. “Repetition and lots of walking.” The Mirror Test explores themes of self-awareness and self-esteem. Even when evaluating his own creative work, Kokoska’s ﬁxation on these subjects lingers. “I’m trying to kill the writer Kevin, almost. He’s done. His job’s done and now it’s acting Kevin’s turn, but even when I’m out there…In my mind, writer Kevin’s there,” he says.

Kokoska accepts his tendency as a writer to want to jump ahead, but he’s trying to move away from that and simply exist in the moment while on stage. “I like to use my thinking brain and I don’t like to use my feeling so much sometimes,” he says. “What I was doing before was performing my writing, but maybe wasn’t quite acting yet.” The play, which was performed

on Nov. 4, marked the end of KPU Thrive Week, a series of events focused on improving mental health and well-being. Accordingly, all profits from the performance will support mental health initiatives for KPU students. Kokoska believes the themes of his play speak to the initiatives behind KPU Thrive Week, and hopes that those in attendance learned about the importance of self-care and guidance. “I also think that you don’t need to be in a dark place to go to see a councilor,” says Kokoska. “You can go just trying to thrive.” He graduated with an MA in Counseling Psychology and is currently teaching at Native Education College in Vancouver. His next performance of The Mirror Test will be on Dec. 10 in the Orpheum Annex Theater. “[The Orpheum Annex] is a nice theater and [we’re] working really hard to make it a fun show for everybody,” says Kokoska. “There’s going to be another chance to look at yourself.”

“M2D2” Provides Hygiene Products to Women in Need Joseph Keller | Web Editor The Kwantlen Student Association, along with the on-campus feminist group Women Organising Opportunities for Women, are holding a drive this month to collect feminine hygiene products and other assorted toiletries for the Surrey Women’s Centre. The campaign, dubbed M2D2— or, the “Mighty Menstruation Donation Drive”—asks students to provide pads, tampons, wipes, and other hygiene products in closed packaging for women in need. Products can be dropped off in a box at Member Services. The campaign is not collecting money, though WOOW encourages any donors to give financial donations to the Surrey Women’s Centre directly. “We are trying to provide for these women comfortable times of the month where they know that they can be clean,” says Natasha Lopes who, in addition to being a WOOW organizer is also the KSA’s Women’s representative and VP Student Life. “Being clean is just one more step to feeling good about yourself and taking care of yourself.” The Surrey Women’s Centre is located at 10075 Whalley Boulevard and aims to provide for “women and girls escaping domestic violence, sexual assault, and other forms of gender-based violence.” The KSA and WOOW have reached out to the Centre as part of an ongoing effort to make KPU student groups more active in the community beyond our campuses. According to Lopes, people are accessing these services at shelters more and more. The need for hygiene products can provide a significant barrier for women aiming to escape poverty by providing one more regular financial expense and the absence of these resources can hinder women from being able to get back on their feet. “I wouldn’t classify this as a health crisis but it is a health issue and concern,” says Lopes. “If you get infected and you don’t have the means to help yourself or to get medication to help that infection, what do you do then?” The Mighty Menstruation Donation Drive is among the first of the KSA’s “soft campaigns.” Soft campaigns are intended to be simple, efficient initiatives designed to do good in the community without using resources or expenses associated with events. Lopes says similar soft campaigns are currently in the works.

What KPU Campus Would Best

Anthropology prof. Sam Migliore weighs in on h

Alyssa Laube Staff Writer Melissa Pomerleau Contributor

KPU Anthropology Instructor Dr. Sam Migliore discusses zombies—among many other preternatural things— in his second year anthropology course Religion, Magic and Witchcraft. Migliore’s interest in zombies came from his brother, an actor who has been in over 30 zombie projects including movies, stage plays, and commercials. Together the two are in the early stages of writing a book all about the undead. “By doing the book with him I want to get at issues of things to do with socialization. How do you learn to be a zombie and what does it mean to be a zombie in these films? How does that sort of change people to become something else on the screen?” says Migliore. According to Migliore, to be a zombie you must be changed in terms of how you think, but as an actor in a zombie movie there are many things to think about. “The idea is to figure out what is a zombie and then what type of interaction will that zombie have with people,” he says. Much like you and I, zombies come in all shapes and sizes, with a wide array of personalities. There’s the wildly horrific, bloodcurdling, rotten flesh monsters chomping at the bit to eat your brains, and then there’s the slow-moving horde that chases you into a corner, savouring every scared breath, waiting to tear you limb from limb. More recent zombie depictions, like The CW’s iZombie, even have fully functioning member-of-society-type zombies selling brains like drugs, and med students working out of hospital morgues to receive under-the-table access to all-you-can-eat brains. “I’m looking to see how those transformations and new additions might tell us something about society,” says Migliore. One example Migliore mentioned was the location of a zombie feeding ground in a George Romero film— director of icon zombie films such as Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978)—where zombies enter a mall to find their food. “We can use [that] as a metaphor to tell us about capitalism and our consumptions and our wants and desires,” he says. It’s not everyday you get to talk about zombies in an academic setting, but Migliore brings his undead fascination to work with him. Having previously weighed in on how the city of Richmond would fare in a zombie apocalypse for The Richmond News, we thought we’d ask Migliore to turn his critical eye towards KPU to find out which of the four campuses would provide students with the best refuge, should the dead begin to walk again. Regarding the Langley campus, because “It’s right on the route going out to the rest of Canada or coming in from the rest of Canada, it might be a dangerous place,” suggests Migliore. However, Langley Representative Connor Griffiths made a compelling case for his campus by pointing out the sheer amount of resources available, such as rooftop gardens, farmland and greenhouses, tools for weapons from the horticulture program, beer for bartering with other apocalypse survivors, and access to medical equip-

(Yuta Anonuevo)

Survive a Zombie Apocalypse?

how the walking dead would affect student life

ment and antibiotics from the health building. Griffiths also pointed out that the creeks and ponds around campus can support fish and provide drinking water. With the Best Western just across the parking lot there is ample room for survivors to take refuge. Due to the lower student body count, Griffiths is confident it would be easy enough for the campus to support itself through farming. Though, surely with the most students located on the Surrey campus there are enough of us to fight off the hordes, right? Maybe sacrifice a few and while the zombies are busy gorging their bellies the rest can make a break for it. VP Student Services and Surrey Campus Representative Tanvir Singh believes the Surrey campus is best for survival “due to it being a suburb. It’s not heavily populated so people have the ability to get out of the city as soon as possible.” As a result there would be less members of the community fighting for the same resources. According to Singh, the second floor of the library would be the optimal place for people to take refuge. “You’d be able to barricade those stairs and make sure people can’t go up and down. . .you could easily ladder over to the fir building so you’d have access there as well.” According to Migliore, however, it wouldn’t quite be the optimal location at all. “I think [Surrey campus] would be a worry because you have so many people there. [It] would be a good place for zombies to attack.” As for the Richmond campus, it has a few unique advantages to help increase their chance of survival. As it’s home to The Wilson School of Design, the campus likely has human busts or mannequins (for apparel design) to aid in some sort of distraction technique. Think of an I Am Legend scenario, mixed with a little puppetry magic and human sounds over the PA to lure the zombies into the Melville Centre for Dialogue just long enough to secure human refuge elsewhere in the building. Migliore suggests that the Richmond campus, being closer to water and bridges, might come in handy to protect the area expanding past campus. Lastly, at the Cloverdale campus, home of the trades, Migliore says that “maybe you can make yourself some weapons or some barriers.” Barricades will be mandatory if this campus is to survive the apocalypse, as “there’s so much glass on it, if you get more than ten zombies coming at you from any one point the glass is just going to break,” says Singh. The zombie fascination has a lot more to do with things going on in society than one might initially realize. “One of the themes in the zombie movies is that there is some kind of disease that’s spread through a bite and then people are transformed,” says Migliore. When you consider the ease of travel today and how much that can facilitate the spread of disease, you see “our fears of disease, potentially rapid spread of disease, get played out in the zombie films,” he says. “I think that all our fears are encapsulated in the zombie movies and people recognize that one way or another.” If there were to be a zombie apocalypse, would humans survive? “Just from talking to my brother, the way he puts it is, ‘Do you want to spend months dehydrated, sleeping in funny positions, in funny places? or would you rather get a bite early and then go on the winning side and not worry about anything?” says Migliore. “Just be careful out there, you never know who is going to be a zombie.”

10 opinions

Tuition for International Students is Too Damn High International students in B.C. are expected to pay up to three times more than local students Braden Klassen| Contributor Every semester, the average Canadian-born student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University is expected to shell out up to $2,200 for tuition. This is by no means an insignificant amount of money, and generally, this number is expected to rise in B.C. by a small percentage every year. As a student, I am opposed to the ever-rising tuition rates. They seem to reap few benefits for students, their families, or B.C. taxpayers. However, they do fill the deepening coffers of post-secondary institutions. Occasionally, this does translate into increased benefits for select students in the form of facility upgrades, but often times they go towards faculty salary increases and capital investments. These items don’t really help the students paying for them, especially if they’re international students. According to Stats Canada, the rate of inflation for the 2015\2016 fis-

cal year was 1.3 per cent. This means that the cost of tuition is actually accelerating past the costs of living, a discrepancy that speciﬁcally targets the ﬁscally vulnerable student class. And that’s just in B.C.—the rest of Canada saw a 3.2 per cent average increase in tuition prices. Because such a large portion of students require student loans, these increases end up being subsidized by the provincial government, who in turn pass off the expenses to taxpayers. Taxes in Canada are based on residency, not citizenship, which means that the country can tax international students who are already paying more to attend schools in B.C.. “There is a cap on local students’ tuition raises, which means that every semester there is a percentage above which the fees cannot be increased,” says Navkaran Kahlon, the international students representative for the Kwantlen Student Association. “But for international students, there is no such cap. They can increase fees for

international students any time, by any proportion. “For one credit, international students pay $550 dollars, and one course is three credits—so for one course, international students have to pay $1,650 dollars. For the same course, local students have to pay around $400 to $500, and we pay $1,650.” One might consider that an insanely unfair practice, so who can blame international students who feel like they’ve been mistreated by an unrestricted, gold-digging bureaucracy? “International students’ fees are higher, and at the same time they are paying for rent,” says Kahlon. Reportedly, they are trying to ﬁght back. Kahlon says that it could be on the KSA’s advocacy agenda, and that it’s “something we are discussing in our external affairs committee to see if something can be done about it.” The practice of arbitrarily charging international students such

a ridiculous premium on their tuition is unapologetically exploitive, reducing them to the point of being a funding source rather than a human being in pursuit of an education. This treatment of students is unfair and misrepresentative of the values of academia, as well as the Canadian zeitgeist of inclusivity, tolerance, and respect.

(Nat Mussell)

Legal Cannabis Means More Pleasure What’s the harm in pleasure seeking if we are so drawn to it by nature? Neil Bassan| Contributor As the recreational use of marijuana is legalized, to say that we must strike a balance between allowing and regulating the substance on university campuses would be to make a stale and uninteresting argument about policy. After all, we are talking about mind-altering drugs here. Unless we are masters of meditation, we continually seek pleasurable stimulus. Our minds wander, whether we think we are focused or not, to sexual arousal, love, or the gratiﬁcation of consuming our next meal or cup of coffee. Drugs are a more direct and simple avenue for achieving such pleasures. This much is clear: it is not the proliferation of weed-smoking philosophers on campus that we need to worry about as much as it is conservative folk who are intent on waging a war on drugs and shaming non-violent drug consumers into conformity. Many drug users feel that the drudgery of day-to-day life is just too boring. Many are merely pleasure-seekers or aspiring time travellers. It is a grand moral failure that the

(Keith Harris)

lives of these humans are sometimes ruined due to archaic laws and social propriety that punish and stigmatize instead of educate and heal. This applies both to illicit and legalized drugs. While tobacco and alcohol are

legal, they pose a great risk of addiction, and their use has worsened countless lives. People who use other drugs tend to be pushed to the fringes of society and humiliated for their embarrassing behaviour.

Conversely, psychedelics—some with great therapeutic potential—like magic mushrooms, cannabis, salvia, and LSD can offer us glimpses into the profound. These sublime and ﬂuid conscious states, while intensely

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introspective and occasionally useful for meditation and self-reflection, are completely unavailable to us lest we visit some dingy, lowly-lit back alley armed with cash. Since these and other drugs are typically a means to a conscience-altering end, we ought to shift our focus away from their legality and toward their effectiveness in treating pain, inspiring creativity and reflection, and generally enhancing the quality of our lives. In an effort to allow competent adults to ingest whichever substances they wish by legalizing all drugs, let us consider what it takes to do drugs sustainably. Only then may we begin to implement an intellectually honest, responsible, and ethical policy that speaks to both the potential dangers of drug abuse and the benefits of drug use as therapy, both technically and broadly. Though drugs can produce extraordinary insights, they can also inspire deadly abuse. It is for that reason that a holistic and tolerant point of view and finding and legalizing low-risk substances is valuable.

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It’s Time for Mary Polak to Resign How Canadians Can The Minister of Environment hasn’t been following Make a Difference in through, and Bella Bella proves it Trump’s America Alyssa Laube | Staff Writer

Once again, British Columbian waters have been contaminated by corporate oil under the province’s Minister of Environment, Mary Polak. A tugboat containing 200,000 litres of diesel fuel sank off the coast of Bella Bella on Oct. 13, and stormy weather has prevented experts from properly cleaning it up. According to The Heiltsuk First Nation, who have been personally volunteering to help contain the spill, the lack of manpower in Bella Bella isn’t helping, either. It seems that the government has slipped up again and are continuing to flounder in their own mess while animals and plants die and millions of dollars disappear down the drain. Meanwhile, Trudeau just approved the The Pacific NorthWest LNG, and the ozone layer’s not getting any healthier. We’re speeding toward a dangerous, overheating planet, and once again, Canada’s doing more harm than good. For many big players in the provincial government, the Bella Bella spill was a deal breaker regarding Polak. The leader of the B.C. Green Party is calling for her resignation, with MLA Andrew Weaver clearly on board, calling the Ministry’s choice in “rhetoric to describe subpar efforts to protect the environment” what it is: outrageous. In Weaver’s statement, he writes: “I now lack confidence in Minister Polak to uphold the obligations outlined in her ministerial mandate letter. As such, I am calling for her to be replaced by a minister who will stand up for the people of B.C. and the water and environment that we all rely on.” That seems fair. Over the three years that Polak has been filling her current position, she has become

You can’t give cash to Bernie, but you can donate to others Alyssa Laube | Staff Writer

B.C. Minister of Environment Mary Polak pictured in 2009. Polak is defending the Christy Clark-led government’s climate change plan against critics. (Flickr/The Province of B.C.)

known for inaction, often refusing to clearly answer questions or offer concrete solutions or apologies for her mistakes, which are many. She has seen several environmental disasters during her time as Minister of Environment. In 2014, a breach in the tailings pond dam at the Mount Polley Mine site released 4.5 million cubic metres of toxic slurry into Polley Lake, which ﬂooded and sent the waste into Hazeltine Creek, Quesnel Lake, and Cariboo River. Up until this year, citizens had to protest to halt the dumping of toxic soil above Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island, fearing that it would contaminate their drinking water. B.C. Parks have also been the source of concern lately, with trees being chopped down, ecosystems being damaged, and infrastructure falling to pieces due to a lack of security and upkeep. Those are just some of the headline-making damages. She was also criticized over the province’s new climate change plan, which fails to outline future carbon tax and emissions targets and clearly ignores suggestions made by envi-

ronmental experts. Polak’s defence regarding the plan was that Canada is in the lead as an environmental protector anyways, which is both an inaccurate description of our current status as a country and a sign of blatant ignorance of our historical environmental impact. Remember that Polak was working while Harper was in ofﬁce, and he essentially got us shunned from any environmentally-friendly initiatives worldwide for years. At least it’s understandable when a politician that is not directly responsible for the environment messes up. They wear a lot of hats, and taking proper care of the environment is complicated and nearly impossible as a proﬁtable businessman in politics. When you’re the Minister of Environment, however, you have a duty to actually do your best to keep our country clean, safe, and truly working against global warming. It’s clear that Mary Polak isn’t doing that. So to Andrew Weaver, you’re right—Canada deserves better.

Canadians hoping to buy a “Make America Great Again” hat or donate some money to Bernie Sanders will find themselves at a loss. U.S. law prohibits anyone except for American citizens and immigrants with green cards from contributing to federal politics. Contributions aren’t always cold, hard cash. “Anything of value given to influence a Federal election is considered a contribution,” as written on the Federal Election Commission’s website. That includes items like furniture, fundraising items or tickets, or loaning money to or endorsing candidates and committees. Foreign nationals, federal government contractors, corporations, and unions are not permitted to make political contributions, and contributions in the name of another and excessive contributions are banned as well. We can’t make much of a difference to American politics, short of finding loopholes in the system, volunteering, and making donations. Those are all actions we should take. Citizens in Canada can influence American politics if they’re willing to volunteer or consult for political campaigns, as the activist group Canadians Rallying Against Trump did leading up to the election. Volunteering qualifies as providing personal services for free or hosting home events in support of candidates or parties. As long as money is not changing hands across the border, the United States rarely finds an issue with foreign political involvement. There are ways to get money into the government from other countries,

however. One example is political action committees. Foreign companies with American divisions can form PACs to allow their employees, subsidiaries, and afﬁliates to contribute and donate to their party of choice. It’s not just Canadians who do this, although the country did funnel $161,000 into the election this year. Europe, Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East also gave money to either the Democrats or Republicans during the 2016 presidential race, with Europe the biggest spender at over $14 million contributed. Few Canadian companies cashed into the 2016 U.S. election, but those that did gave sizeable donations. The Grand Trunk Western-Illinois Central Railroad donated $46,500, with $32,250 going to the GOP. John Hancock Life Insurance donated $102,000, with a majority going to the Democrats, and Magna US gave $2000 to the Democrats. PotashCorp also paid $1,500 to the Democrats and $9,000 to the Republicans. The easiest method of making a difference in the United States’ political climate is donating to organizations like Planned Parenthood, which is currently at risk of being defunded by Trump and Pence. There is a message on its website which reﬂects that, stating that it is “counting on you to help us continue our work to protect and promote reproductive health and rights” at a time when “Planned Parenthood health centers and patients will face unprecedented dangers.” If you’re trying to donate to others who, like Planned Parenthood, will likely struggle in Trump’s America, consider The American Immigration Council, Black Lives Matter, Emily’s List, HIAS, NARAL, and the It Gets Better Project.

Sustainable Living: The Bathroom How to “green” your bathroom routine Melissa Pomerleau | Contributor From using ethically sourced ingredients to picking out bathroom decor, there’s always a way to be a little friendlier to the environment in your life. As with any switch to a new product or routine, work within your means and make choices that reﬂect your goals as an individual. Here are a few examples of how you can think more sustainably about your bathroom.

Oral Care

Swap out your plastic toothbrush for a bamboo one instead. It might feel a little weird at ﬁrst and you might ﬁnd yourself missing that

bumpy tongue scrubber opposite the bristles, but it’s a simple change that will drastically reduce your impact on the earth over time. Buying toothpaste is a little more challenging to source out sustainably. While there are a ton of good companies using sustainable ingredients, their toothpaste is often still packaged in plastic tubes. Aluminum tubing is available in some cases, but often companies opt for a plastic tube due to consumer complaints that the aluminum is too tough for children and seniors to use, or complaints of the tube splitting at the crease. Tooth powders or tabs can often be found in tin or glass jars. Toothpaste in this form is also among the simplest to DIY. If you’ve already

delved into the world of DIY body products, you likely already have a few of the necessary items on hand.

Feminine Hygiene Tampons and pads—are they a necessary evil? Buying organic cotton pads are one of the simplest ways to reduce your impact. However, these products are still single-use and produce a ton of waste. Reusable cloth pads are the next step up in the “green menstruation” chain. Since they are reusable, you’ll produce much less waste using this type of product. Companies such as Lunapads and GladRags sell a variety of reusable products for all ﬂow levels and accessories to keep your

supplies fresh and long-lasting. Menstrual cups—such as The DivaCup—are another common method for a sustainable approach to menstruation. The most important thing to remember when considering switching your menstrual regime is to ultimately ﬁnd the product that works best for you.

In the Shower Installing a low-ﬂow shower head is a great way to get your water consumption under control, especially if you pay for your own utilities. If you’re renting and unsure of what kind of shower head you have, consider checking with your landlord and suggesting a low-ﬂow installation.

I’ve recently put up a timer with a suction cup inside my shower to make sure I’m not spending too much extra time with the water running. I know how long the essentials of showering take me, and I make sure I’m not going over that time frame during my time in the shower. If a timer seems too rigid, pick a song or two to play and when those songs are over, so is your shower. To really keep your bathroom green, consider buying a bamboo, linen, or hemp shower curtain instead of the plastic liners and curtains available in most supermarkets.

14 Columns

Artist Spotlight: The Ruffled Feathers Unique instrumentation meets homegrown talent Alyssa Laube | Staff Writer I’ve always had a passion for brass in the music I listen to, and The Ruffled Feathers have been my local fix for years. The band’s sound is exuberant and gentle at the same time, described by front woman Gina Loes as “heavy on horns, piano-driven, upbeat, and great to dance to.” I have to agree— it’s hard to sit still while listening to The Ruffled Feathers. In fact, it’s nearly as challenging as filing them under a specific genre. Their style seems to include a bit of everything, from jazz to pop to fifties doo-wop. The band has an eclectic sound and self-appointed title of “talented weirdos.” “Eclectic, yes. Weirdos?” says Loes, laughing, “Well, only sometimes. We like to play around with different genres and challenge ourselves musically. Our songs have always drawn from various influences and have created something really unique, we think.” And they’re absolutely right, there’s nothing quite like The Ruffled Feathers. A few of the band’s influences—such as Beirut, Cat Power,

The Ruffled Feathers. (Submitted Photo)

Laura Marling, Sharon Van Etten, Paul Simon, and Sufjan Stevens— combine to create something fascinating and whimsical. The jubilant theatricality of acts like Beirut and Sufjan mingle with the calm folkiness of Simon and Marling, striking the perfect balance between over and underwhelming. Still, their varying inﬂuences aren’t the only reason for the band’s di-

verse style. The size and composition of the group plays an important role as well. Gina Loes and Andrew Lee team up on vocals, with Loes also on guitar/ukelele and Lee on trumpet. Sophia Xiang’s on keys, Paolo Brian’s on bass, and siblings Sam and Molly MacKinnon cover percussion and strings. The band has been together since 2009, and although the lineup has

changed since its foundation, their talent and ambition has stayed the same. “We’ve always been really lucky to have multiple songwriters in the band. Everyone brings something unique,” explains Loes. “I think for the most part, we all prefer to write alone. Once we have an idea that we like and are proud of, it’s a lot of fun to share it with the group and watch it

transform.” When questioned about their affinity for horns, she responded, “We like horns because we like Andrew! Andrew, you can have as many horns as you want. Go wild.” She also noted their use of brass as a way to set themselves apart from other indie bands. Lyrically, the band focuses on a few general themes: new loves, good loves, long-gone loves, travel, and mental health. The themes have been consistent, although The Ruffled Feathers have taken huge strides forward. “We’ve gone from doing things at home to recording ourselves and hiring out mixing, to working with some really talented producers. We’ve also gotten a lot more comfortable in the studio and with recording our music, and have all become stronger songwriters and performers,” says Loes. The Ruffled Feathers can be seen playing unconventional venues all over the city of Vancouver. Their albums can be heard on their Bandcamp page.

Going Global: All Trumped Up Trump’s foreign policy could be a disaster Tristan Johnston |Coordinating Editor If Trump wants to enact the changes that he talked about on the campaign trail, there could be a massive shift in the geopolitical chessboard, and it’s not good. While many consider the United States to be the most powerful country in the world, they’re not the superpower they were in the early 1990s. American ability to influence other countries has lessened, as seen in East Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. It’s not so much that the U.S. has gotten weaker, but that other countries are getting stronger, or getting a better understanding of how to play with bad cards. As you read this, world leaders are scrambling to figure out how to navigate a world with the most powerful country being run by an orange real estate developer. Already Obama is meeting with several allies and states to help them prepare. It should be stated here that it’s extremely difficult to tell what Trump’s administration could carry out, because Trump seems to change his political views every time the sun rises, and it’s not yet clear if there’ll be an intelligent-yet-hawkish statesman at the helm, or someone com-

The advent of the new American president-elect spells sullen storms for U.S. foreign policy. (Flickr/Gage Skidmore)

pletely batshit crazy like Giuliani. It’s hard to predict with any degree of certainty what he might be like for sure. If the U.S. dials back on NATO, there will be a lot of changes in Europe. One of Trump’s few true statements during the campaign was that the U.S. paid more into NATO than other countries, and that’s absolutely right. NATO recommends signatory

states to put 2 per cent or more of their GDP into their military, and the majority of Europe doesn’t do this. A U.S. withdrawal from NATO would be a big win for Russia and a huge loss for Europe. In order to make up for such a move, every country in Europe would have to shift their government income streams to the military, taking away from some of the things that make European

countries so nice to live in. This is especially worrying, considering how close Trump is to Vladimir Putin. Trump has said many good things about the Russian president, and it hasn’t been cool to say nice things about Russian leadership since Yeltsin. Another concern would be the situation in Syria. It’s very possible that a Russia-friendly Trump Admin-

Draw for the runner!

istration would take no issue moving away from their activity in Syria, enabling Russia to get their way and thus working in the favour of Assad. Trump has also expressed a desire to leave various climate agreements, such as the Paris agreement. Interestingly, Nicolas Sarkozy has suggested the idea of putting a carbon tariff on goods from the U.S. It’s hard to say whether or not the Europeans would actually implement this. As for trade agreements, it’s even harder to tell what would happen. Traditionally, Republicans are pro-business and in favour of free trade, but Trump has said many times that he wants to drop TTP and renegotiate NAFTA. Should tariffs be imposed on China and Mexico, the Peterson Institute for International Economics believes that such a move would throw the U.S. into another recession and cost the country 4.8 million jobs. Overall, the Trump foreign policy angle seems to be that of isolationism, in the same sense that Andrew Jackson was. This might have worked before the world was connected, but things are different now. Withdrawing from the world will be bad for Europe and Canada, and exponentially worse for the Americans.

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Sudoku

SUDOKU No. 161

7 2 3

6 2 2

7 7 8 2 1

5 2 1

The solutions will be published here in the next issue. Previous solution - Medium

3 6 7 2 5 1 9 1 4 solution 5 9 7- Medium 8 2 Previous 49 3 87 22 86 13 6 49 5 5 92 1 96 13 75 56 4 32 4 8 84 5 52 34 61 98 1 73 6 7 5 9 3 7 1 4 2 8 6 6 7 8 4 2 9 1 7 8 1 9 2 6 3 5 4 27 6 24 98 58 31 9 57 3 1 18 7 18 46 93 29 5 64 7 3 35 2 35 61 47 84 7 26 8 9

79 5 4

6 4 9 5 3 7 8 1 2

8 6 1 7 2 3 4 5 9

4 3 7 8 9 5 6 2 1

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For many strategies, hints and tips, visit Forwww.sudokuwiki.org many strategies, hints and

visit www.sudokuwiki.org

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tips,

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Sagittarius Capricorn 3 23 6 - Dec 7 2 Nov. 21 5 1 9 8 4 Dec. 22 - Jan 20

Aquarius Jan 21 - Feb 19

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Previous solution - Medium

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Horoscopes

4 6 1 3 7 8

7 2 3 4 5 9

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Taurus Apr 20 - May 20 This didn’t happen to you. You won’t believe how much it didn’t happen to you.

measure. If you join up early they might just make you SunPope!

To complete Sudoku, fill the board by entering numbers 1 to 9 such thatGemini each row, column and 3x3Cancer box contains every number uniquely. May 21 - Jun 20 Jun 21 - Jul 23

Leo Jul 24 - Aug 23

You understand the basic concept behind “you are The enormity of their collective spirits weighs on Foryoumany strategies, hints and what eat,” but you’ve honestly never once felt you, on a tips, point at the back of your neck where the like a flattened possum you found by the side of skin’s turned raw from rubbing. Their ghostly breath visit www.sudokuwiki.org the road. prickles the hair in your ears.

This philosophy class really isn’t so bad if you imagine it as a hell to which you’ve been eternally damned for the sin of wanting an easy couple of credits on your degree.

If you like Sudoku you’ll really like ‘Str8ts’ and our other puzzles, Apps Libra Virgo and books. Visit www.str8ts.com Sept 24 - Oct 23

Aug 24 - Sept 23 Sssssssssssssssssssad.

Buy a second monitor for your computer. Use it for nothing but to play a continuous loop of the episode of Rugrats where Tommy’s dad thinks he’s a baby.

Scorpio Oct 24 - Nov 22 Give yourself permission to fail this week. Give yourself permission to forget that you fail every week. Give yourself permission drink half a bottle of Hennessey and cry yourself to sleep.