Vol. 4 Issue 09 by The Runner

๴ᑗ THE

VOL. 04 ISSUE 09 01.24.2012

THE NEW YEAR ISSUE

NEWS AND CULTURE FOR THE STUDENTS OF KWANTLEN POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY

YEAR OF THE DRAGON PAGE 8

SFU VS CFS

LAWSUITS

SFU GIVES CFS THE BOOT PAGE 3

FIND US ONLINE

FORMER KSA FIGHT BACK PAGE 4

WWW.RUNNERMAG.CA

ORGANS

WHY DONATE THEM PAGE 6

TWITTER.COM/RUNNERMAG

BEER

CARIBOO BEER AT KPU PAGE 10

FACEBOOK.COM/RUNNERPAPER

page two | January 24 2011 | vol. 4 issue 09

The Runner | www.runnermag.ca

Scan here to watch a video and learn more. Balayez ici pour regarder une vidéo et en savoir plus.

“I’ve always enjoyed helping others. Now I have the opportunity to do just that. Whether helping out with ﬂood relief, or building a school where there was none, I know I’m making a difference.” 2nd Lieutenant JAMES KIM

JOIN US

« J’ai toujours voulu venir en aide aux autres. Et c’est exactement l’occasion qui m’est donnée ici. Que ce soit en participant aux efforts de reconstruction après une inondation ou en érigeant une école où il n’y en avait pas avant, je sais que je peux faire une différence. » Sous-lieutenant JAMES KIM

ENGAGEZ-VOUS

www.runnermag.ca | The Runner

NEWS

vol. 4 issue 09 | January 24 2012 | page three

CFS

Simon Fraser Student Society ofﬁcially ends CFS membership I

Delegates at the national CFS semi-annual general meeting in November 2011. ANTOINE TREPANIER/CANADIAN UNIVERSITY PRESS

DAVID DYCK THE PEAK

BURNABY, B.C. (CUP) — After three years of conflict and more than $450,000 in legal fees, the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) has officially left the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS). The membership issue goes back to 2008, when 66.9 per cent of SFU students voted to leave the CFS. The CFS, which is the largest student lobbying organization in Canada, contested the referendum’s legitimacy, and the SFSS has been dealing with a series of legal disputes ever since. Although a court date had been set for Feb. 12 for a lengthy and expensive trial which was expected to last approximately six weeks, the dispute was settled out of court in late December. Both parties released a short statement that described the settlement as “amicable.” “As part of this resolution, it is agreed that the membership has ended,” the statement read. “The agreement was motivated by a desire on the part of all parties to resolve all outstanding issues.” It further stated that neither party would make any public statements regarding the settlement. There was no mention made of the amount of the settlement. B.C. Supreme Court judge Richard Blair, in an official court document released in August 2010, explained that he was unable to reach a conclusion about the case at that time, citing an overwhelming amount of evidence. Blair advised that either a second referendum be conducted, or that the dispute should be settled out of court, as either option would be more financially feasible than going to trial in February. Late last year, the SFSS board argued that the society was running a projected deficit as a result of the pending lawsuit, for which funds had to be set aside in the event the case was lost. The loss of the trial could have resulted in a payout of approximately $1.5 million in unpaid membership fees to the CFS, not including legal fees. The dispute began as a result of a 2008 referendum question, which the CFS claimed was not done in accordance with

CFS bylaws since it was performed by an SFSS-appointed independent electoral commission and not the CFS-mandated oversight committee. They argued that the referendum was not considered to be legally binding, and that the SFSS’s acceptance of it breached their contract. J.J. McCullough, chief electoral officer for the independent electoral commission that was appointed by the SFSS, oversaw the 2008 referendum. In an interview with The Peak, he stated that he was still unsure if legal separation was the best route for the union to take, financially. “If you hate the CFS to a really intense degree, you still have to be able to look at these things from [the perspective of] a cost/benefit analysis,” said McCullough. “The question is: how much more than half a million have we paid on this whole battle? ... I think you can only really judge student politics in terms of the short term, and on the terms of how much student fees are being extracted from students right now to pay for some myopic political feud. That’s the kind of thing that concerns me.” McCullough did admit that, were the numbers in favour of the SFSS, settling would probably be the right choice. Although the amount of the settlement has not been disclosed, the total amount spent by the SFSS on legal fees from the beginning of the dispute until November 2011 was $454,149. “I’m glad that it’s over,” said former SFSS president Ali Godson. Godson’s term was from 2010 to 2011, but she served in other capacities in the SFSS for several years prior. Godson ran for, and won, the position of university relations officer in 2008, with a pro-CFS platform. She told The Peak that there was no mention of a settlement during her time on the board. She pointed out that most of the current board, with the exception of Internal Relations Officer Jordan Kohn, were not a part of the original CFS dispute in 2008. In a contentious 2008 referendum, Kwantlen students voted 56 per cent in favour of remaining as members of the CFS.

page four | January 24 2012 | vol. 4 issue 09

NEWS

The Runner | www.runnermag.ca

KSA

Impeached director of ﬁnance sues interim Kwantlen Student Association board Dispute headed to court; KSA elections temporarily on hold.

MATT DIMERA NEWS EDITOR

Recently-impeached Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) executive Balninna “Nina” Sandhu is attempting to undo the results of the Nov. 30 special general meeting (SGM) where she and 12 other directors were kicked out of office. Sandhu, the KSA’s former director of finance, and student Gary Singh Dhaliwal filed a petition Jan. 10 in B.C. Supreme Court claiming that the SGM was invalid and seeking a court order to reinstate the impeached directors and to place 14 other current and former students and staff members back in good standing as KSA members. As members in bad standing, the 26 are currently not allowed to run for office in the KSA or vote in KSA elections. According to the petition filed with the court, Gary Dhaliwal intends to run for office in the next KSA election. At that Nov. 30 meeting, more than 350 students voted unanimously to remove Sandhu, Harman “Sean Birdman” Bassi, Nipun Pandey, Parminder “Bobby” Padda, Jaspinder Ghuman, Tarun Takhar, Shivinder Grewal, Money Dhaliwal, Gaven Pangly, Simmy Grewal, Kamalpreet Dha and Jagraj Hayre from their elected KSA positions. Sandhu and Dhaliwal have also asked the court to set aside the new bylaws that were passed at the meeting and to prevent the current KSA board from holding new elections until the court case has been resolved. The day after the SGM, Sandhu accused the meeting’s organizers of not allowing her and the other ousted board members to speak in their own defense. “We were barred,” she explained to The Runner Dec. 1. “Ask the petitioners of that meeting why we were barred from the meeting. I’m a student. I’m an elected official. I was barred from the meeting.” “Someone told me I wasn’t allowed in. He said you’re not allowed to get in. They

Nina Sandhu, impeached director of ﬁnance, outside of the KSA ofﬁces, the day after the Nov. 30 special general meeting. MATT LAW/THE RUNNER

wouldn’t let us register,” she said. “If I was let into the goddamn meeting, I could have said my statement.” According to the court petition filed by Sandhu and Dhaliwal, none of the impeached board members attempted to sign in. However, the impeached director of operations, Nipun Pandey, told The Runner Dec. 1 that he was able to register for the meeting, but claimed that he had been refused entry. Sandhu, Pandey and former director of external affairs Bobby Padda all said at the

Student Gary Dhaliwal outside the KSA’s Nov. 30 special general meeting where he was put in bad standing. MATT LAW/THE RUNNER

time that their supporters had been too intimidated to attend the meeting. The court petition also specifically mentions that all of the impeached board members and all of the students placed in bad standing are South Asian. None of the allegations made by Dhaliwal and Sandhu have been proven in court. The court dismissed an application Jan. 13 to expedite the case. In a second application, heard Jan. 17, Sandhu and Dhaliwal asked for a court order to prevent the new KSA board from bar-

gaining with their staff’s union, from signing or changing any contracts, and from calling any elections until the case had been resolved by the court. That application was withdrawn when the KSA’s legal counsel then agreed that the new board would not take any “extraordinary actions - out of the ordinary course of business until the application or interim relief is heard on a preemptory basis.” Sandhu did not respond to an email request for an interview before deadline. The new KSA board has not yet filed their statement of defense.

www.runnermag.ca | The Runner

NEWS

vol. 4 issue 09 | January 24 2012 | page ﬁve

OUTBREAK

Student journalism conference goes viral More than 75 student journalists fell ill at national conference in Victoria.

DYLAN WILKS NEXUS

VICTORIA (CUP) — It spread very, very quickly. Just one person likely hadn’t washed their hands properly; that’s how a norovirus-like illness infected more than 75 delegates attending the Canadian University Press national conference at the Harbour Towers Hotel and Suites in Victoria, B.C. “It’s highly likely that a student brought it in,” said Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) spokesperson Shannon Marshall. “There were no reports of illness from the hotel staff at all [before the conference], and our health protection officers have ruled out food poisoning.” Norovirus isn’t a pleasant experience. Sufferers feel like death. Symptoms include nausea, headaches, muscle aches, vomiting and diarrhea. It’s a common cause of gastrointestinal illness — what used to be called simply the “stomach flu” — and spreads very quickly. Anyone can get it because of how easily it’s transmitted. The virus can survive on surfaces, and touching any contaminated surface and then touching your mouth can spread it. Exposure to those who have vomited due to the virus can also contaminate others. The trouble started as Chris Jones, a writer for Esquire, gave the final keynote speech on the evening of Jan. 14. He noticed delegates began getting up to leave while he was still speaking. After the speech ended, event organizer Jason Schreurs approached Jones and informed him that people had left due to illness. The severity of the situation didn’t become apparent to Jones until much later. “After the speech, I talked to quite a few people and shook a lot of hands,” said Jones. “I went to bed because I was pretty tired and jet-lagged. And then Jason called at 11 o’clock to see if my wife and I were okay.” They were, but it didn’t last. “About five minutes later, it was just the most calamitous vomiting of my life, and there was just no holding it back. I was puking out of my eyeballs; I was screaming at the toilet.”

Since he was only ill for about 20 minutes before feeling better, Jones thought he had simply been food poisoned. But when his wife returned from the hotel lobby she came back and let him know that it wasn’t food poisoning at all. The national conference had gone viral. “I gotta tell ya,” Jones recalled. “I have never puked like that — and I went to college.” Delegates left Jones’ keynote to bus to the gala event at the University of Victoria’s Vertigo nightclub. On one of the buses, delegate Brennan Bova from the Fulcrum in Ottawa had someone vomit on his head. Twitter exploded with reports of illness from delegates. There weren’t just a few people sick; there were dozens. Conference organizers quickly cancelled the gala event. Management at the Harbour Towers and B.C. Ambulance Service notified VIHA that conference delegates were getting sick. People were vomiting in elevators and on stairwells — it was getting messy. Conference co-coordinator Kristi Sipes understood how the virus could have spread so easily before people became aware of what was happening. “In the midst of the crisis, you can touch things and not know,” she said. “Our advice was that from all indications of the illness and the way that it presented itself, that it was a noroviruslike illness,” said Marshall, “and because of the nature of norovirus, in a generally healthy population such as the students at this conference, the symptoms will resolve on their own within 40–48 hours of onset.” There’s no treatment for norovirus. According to Marshall, most people will recover within two to three days after becoming ill. But they will continue to be contagious for up to 48 hours after their last symptom. On the morning of Jan. 17, Sarah Petz, a delegate from the Manitoban who had made it all the way back home from the conference without experiencing symptoms, reported via Twitter that she had become ill as well. “I really thought I was in the clear until this morning,” said Petz. “I woke up feel-

ing fine, but at about 11 I started to feel queasy and cramping. I’ve been vomiting. I’ve been rather violently ill.” By the end of the day on Jan. 17, all delegates and volunteers for the conference had checked out of the hotel. Many had waited days to leave to allow symptoms to subside. While WestJet and Air Canada provided flight re-bookings to some affected delegates with no added fees, at least one delegate was turned away at the airport and returned to the hotel. More than 75 delegates, 15 hotel staff and two speakers became ill throughout the ordeal. More have fallen ill since their return home. And despite the outbreak of

a norovirus-like illness, most who attended still considered this year’s conference to be a resounding success. Petz, who has attended CUP national conferences since 2009, said that this one stood out for her. “It was definitely an amazing conference. I think anyone that goes to the conferences will tell you that they’re so valuable for your progression as a journalist.” She laughed, and added, “I was kind of joking to one of my friends that the puking now was totally worth the conference before.”

Canadian University Press national conference delegates wait for bus rides back from the cancelled gala event at UVic on the night of Jan. 14, just as the norovirus outbreak was being ﬁrst reported. DYLAN WILKS/NEXUS

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NEWS

The Runner | www.runnermag.ca

HEALTH

B.C. Organ donors wanted The number of organ donors in B.C. is on the rise but more are needed.

MATT LAW MEDIA EDITOR

For many university students, their own mortality is the last thing on their minds. Making the decision to become an organ donor is something few young people think about and even fewer know how to do. Five years ago, BC Transplant established an online registration system in the hopes that it would appeal to a younger, tech-savvy generation and promote athome discussion about the subject. “I see the 20-25-year-olds as being the ambassadors,” said Dr. Greg Grant, provincial executive director for BC Transplant. Young people, said Grant, are often more understanding of the idea to become

an organ donor and often act as a translator for parents whose first language is not English. While the number of organ donors in B.C. has been on the rise, only around 18 per cent of the population has registered with BC Transplant. In 2011, 285 people received organ transplants in B.C., while 432 were left on the waiting list – some waiting for over five years. Often, young people receive organs from much older donors, which can lead to other health problems and shorter life expectancy for that organ. Which is why, said Grant, it is important for young people to think about becoming donors.

“When you are 18-25, you haven’t had long enough to really abuse a lot of things,” said Grant. Younger, healthier organs can offer a better chance at life for the recipient. But the choice to become a donor isn’t something as easy as a click of a button. It is something that needs to be discussed with family members and loved ones. This discussion is something Grant hopes the web registration system will promote. “When we’re faced with a family in the intensive care unit that’s wondering about what their 25-year-old would want, they know on paper that this is what they want,” he said. Grant hopes the online system will also make the organ donation process more ac-

cessible to other cultures. “Your culture influences, in some way, your ability to get a transplant,” he said. People from all cultural groups should become organ donors because there are often problems with tissue compatibility. “It depends on what your tissue type is. If you’re in the main-line population, your tissue type may be compatible with a whole bunch of people. If you’re from a smaller cultural group, you may not be well represented in our donor group,” said Grant. Over the next few months, the online registration system will be updated to offer a number of different languages For more information on organ donation and the registration system, visit transplant. bc.ca

www.runnermag.ca | The Runner

EDITORIAL

vol. 4 issue 09 | January 24 2012 | page seven

OPINION

Laws like SOPA will kill art

The Runner is student owned and operated by Kwantlen Polytechnic University students, published under Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society. Arbutus 3710/3720 12666 72 Ave. Surrey, B.C. V3W 2M8 www.runnermag.ca 778-565-3801

Vol. 4, Issue no. 09 Jan. 24, 2012 ISSN# 1916-8241

EDITORIAL DIVISION: Co-ordinating Editor / Jeff Groat editor@runnermag.ca / 778-565-3803 Culture Editor / Kristi Alexandra culture@runnermag.ca / 778-565-3804 News Editor / Matt DiMera news@runnermag.ca / 778-565-3805

CENSORED Critics argue the proposed legislation is heavy-handed and opens the door to government censorship.

Production Editor / Antonio Su production@runnermag.ca / 778-565-3806 Media Editor / Matt Law media@runnermag.ca / 778-565-3806 SENIOR WRITERS: Senior Culture Writer / Chris Yee

BRENDAN TYNDALL CONTRIBUTOR

In protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), on Jan. 18, Wikipedia cut access to its English language page for 24 hours in an effort to raise awareness of the proposed bill. Wikipedia saw the bill as not only extremely damaging to its organization’s existence, but as something that had the potential to ruin the thing we love most about the internet: its vast supply of free knowledge and art, and the ability to distribute and share it with others through platforms like Facebook, YouTube, MegaUpload, Flickr and Twitter. Luckily, for the sake of internet users and artists everywhere, SOPA was killed on January 20. The bill, which was proposed by the U.S. House of Representatives, aimed to impose mandatory penalties for any foreign website distributing copyrighted U.S. material. Rather than targeting users who upload copyrighted content, the bill proposed to sanction the hosting website itself, without any sort of court proceedings. Any site or company associated with the offending site, or even search directories that link to the site would have also faced the same sanctions. What’s more shocking is that

the conditions of the vaguely-worded bill would have applied to any site where users are able to upload their own content, which in turn would have had catastrophic results on the way we distribute and consume art. Supporters of SOPA are mainly those involved in the distribution end of the music and movie industries. What these companies are trying to do is to make the internet more like radio or television, where the flow of content is dictated by the production companies rather than by the masses. The internet is the one place where the user should be generating the content, not the massive corporations who hoard most of what little money there is to be made in the arts business. What these companies fail to realize is that people being aware of art they otherwise would never find, something made possible by it being shared freely on the internet, is better than work going unnoticed. This wider exposure no doubt leads to more fans in the long run. Without the free exposure afforded by the internet, today’s artists would be missing out on the most effective way for them to easily distribute their content. The companies supporting SOPA argue that online piracy takes money away from the music, book and film industries. What

these corporations need to realize is that by saturating the market with crap and not offering people any alternative choices, as well as charging way too much money for this crap, major record labels and film production studios are forcing people to pirate music, as it is the only affordable way for people to consume the art they want. In a world where the major labels control the airwaves, television screens and movie screens, and massive corporations that are completely removed from the artistic process control what content gets through to the masses, an internet where art can be shared freely and openly is necessary for art to prosper. Thankfully, SOPA died in Congress, no doubt a result of protest from organizations like Wikipedia. However, if this is an indication of how the future of the Internet will look, citizens, as well as independent musicians, filmmakers, writers and artists have good reason to be afraid. We must follow Wikipedia’s lead and do what we can do ensure that in the future other bills like SOPA are not passed. The internet should be a place where art and knowledge can be shared freely and openly without fear of repercussion.

Senior Entertainment Writer / Mike Shames Senior Features Writer / Lliam Easterbrook CONTRIBUTORS: Jacob Zinn, Brendan Tyndall Cover Photo: Matt Law

BUSINESS DIVISION: Operations Manager, Ads, Classifieds DJ Lam ops@runnermag.ca / 778-688-3797 Office Co-ordinator / Victoria Almond office@runnermag.ca / 778-565-3801

Funds are collected by the university and channelled to PIPS via the KSA.

Year of the

Dragon

KRISTI ALEXANDRA CULTURE EDITOR

Kwantlen’s office of international students and scholars has taken it upon themselves to host Chinese New Year celebrations for the Surrey and Richmond campuses. The relatively new department—OISS was just up and running in July of 2011—has a host of activities to help ring in the year of the dragon at Kwantlen. “The year of the dragon is very special for the Chinese because the dragon is a symbol for China. The dragon represents luck, power, things like that,” OISS coordinator, Isabel Chan enthuses. Chan says that she contacted the KSA and student life about sharing in the Chinese New Year celebrations, but they, unfortunately, had no plans to go ahead with a celebration. That might, after all, be for the better considering the role the OISS plays in the university. “We try to educate Kwantlen about the international community and different cultures,” says Chan. “So, activities that we have are not just for international students, everyone is welcome.” From Jan. 23 to 27, the office will be open to anyone who wants to stop by and get some traditional Chinese treats. It will also be host to two craft workshops, one on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at the Surrey office (G2005) and another on Friday, Jan. 27 at the Richmond office (1565). “We have our international student assistant who will teach people to make some traditional Chinese crafts using the red pocket,” says Chan. “In China when people are married, they give out money in the red pockets and they give it out to children. What we are planning to do is give out the red pockets as well, but of course we can’t give out money, so what we’re going to do is we’re going to put chocolate coins and also a blessing in the envelope and give it to students.” Along with the workshops and Chinese treats, the OISS aims to educate Kwantlen on the Chinese New Year by having a poster displayed for the week that will explain the history of Chinese New Year and the significance of the year of the dragon.

PAOLOPHOTO/FLICKR - PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KRISTI ALEXANDRA

page ten | January 24 2012 | vol. 4 issue 09

CULTURE

The Runner | www.runnermag.ca

ON CAMPUS

Cariboo beer hits Kwantlen café I

KRISTI ALEXANDRA CULTURE EDITOR

The Grassroots café may be getting a new beer very soon. Cariboo, from Pacific Western Brewing, could be replacing the Sleemans and Okanagan beers that are currently sold at the Surrey Campus café and lounge. Adam Rhode, manager at the KSA-run Grassroots café, says he hasn’t yet solidified a deal with Pacific Western Brewing, but it’s likely to happen. An order may be placed with Cariboo once the current keg runs dry, he says. Nathan Griffiths, event management representative for Pacific Western Brewing and former KSA marketing and communications coordinator, says Cariboo is offering three types of beer to the Grassroots café. “There will be three products available: honey lager will be on tap, the genuine draft—the green cans—will be sold in cans, and the pale ale will be in cans as well,” he says. Rhode says that if the Grassroots goes ahead with the deal, there’s a possibility that the cans might go down in price from

the bottles and cans of Sleemans and Okanagan, which are currently sold at $3.95. The price for the draft beer, however, will stay the same. “Our draft really can’t get much cheaper,” he says. At $2.75 per sleeve of draft beer and $4.10 per pint, students can’t complain. Along with getting Cariboo into the café, Pacific Western Brewing will be offering a tasting to take place within the next two weeks. “We’ll be doing a tasting of Cariboo and the other lines that Pacific Western offers, such as Nature Land, which is our organic line,” Griffiths says. Mike Finch, a criminology and psychology student, says it would be a bad move to take away the existing Sleemans beers. “The cheaper price is nice, but I prefer the taste of Sleemans over Cariboo,” Finch says. “I would prefer to see all three in at once, more variety. It’s kind of annoying to have to choose the same beer over and over,” he says. “Part of going to a bar, especially if you’re a beer drinker, is that you want different types.” MATT LAW/THE RUNNER

ON CAMPUS

CAMPUS MOMENTS YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS...

Chinese New Year: Year of the Dragon, Jan. 23 - 27 (various events) You celebrated the Chinese New Year with the Kwantlen Student Association, but you may not have had the educational experience that the ofﬁce of international students and scholars is offering. OISS is hosting two tea parties and craft workshops on Surrey campus. “It’s time to have our ﬁrst tea party in 2012! Our theme for this time is Chinese

new year! Come and learn how to make traditional Chinese art with other students. We will have food and beverages available too,” reads the OISS website. The events will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Friday, Jan. 27 at 3 p.m. at Surrey Cedar G2005.

Miss Representation viewing and conference, Jan. 25 (4:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.) The department of academics and career preparation presents ﬁlm Miss Representation. “The ﬁlm challenges the media’s limited and often dispar-

aging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difﬁcult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself,” reads the conference website. Included in registration is a light dinner, a keynote speech by Dr. Anne Lavack, a screening of the ﬁlm and community dialogue. Attendance is free but you must register to attend.

Music @ Midweek, Jan. 25 (12:15 p.m. - 1 p.m.) This week’s installment of Music at Midweek at the Langley campus auditorium features Burce Henczel and mu-

sic for percussion. Admission is free.

Fourth annual Student Leadership conference, Jan. 28 (9 a.m. - 5 p.m.) Kwantlen’s fourth annual student leadership conference includes three workshops, two keynote speakers and networking opportunities. Enhance your educational experience at Kwantlen by attending the eight-hour event. Admission is $21.50. You must register in advance.

www.runnermag.ca | The Runner

CULTURE

vol. 4 issue 09 | January 24 2012 | page eleven

VINYL

Vinyl Dust-off: Temple of the Dog The sonic archaeologist brings you his latest finds from excursions into ancient record bins. This week explores a little-known Seattle supergroup.

LLIAM EASTERBROOK SENIOR FEATURES WRITER

5/5 RECORDS

I’ve been searching for Temple of the Dog since I first started collecting vinyl five years ago. It’s been that elusive and ethereal record, the one I could never find, let alone get a glimpse at — anywhere. For me it has been the holy grail of vinyl, the one I’d berate my friends about — like I was mad I couldn’t have it — during our “if you could have one record pressed on gold vinyl” conversations (a vinyl record pressed in gold will never tarnish or deteriorate, I’ve been told). And now I own the bastard, finally. This particular pressing is green, not immortal gold — but I like the idea that every time I spin it, it dies, so I’d better enjoy the life out of it while the needle can still fuck the groove, you know? Temple of the Dog was formed in 1990 as a one-off tribute album for late Seattle Mother Love Bone singer Andy Wood, who passed away a few months before, from a heroin overdose. Wood was Soundgarden singer/songwriter Chris Cornell’s best friend and roommate at the time, and after Wood’s death, Cornell gathered members from Mother Love Bone (Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament) and other Seattleites (Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, Shadow guitarist Mike McCready) and newcomer, unkown surfer/vocalist Eddie Vedder, to record songs he had been writing as a tribute for the late Wood. The result of those brief and sombre sessions is a record of unflinching sincerity, terrible loss and incessant brooding. It’s as if Cornell has carved an epitaph for Wood — candid themes of isolation, drug use, and pain — into a weary, universal headstone that knows them all too well. If you’ve lost someone to darkness, Temple of the Dog will likely trouble and sadden you, move and uplift you, rattle and sober you. And sometimes you need a record like that. “Say Hello to Heaven,” the bluesy opening track, is the song Cornell first penned for

Wood after his death. Cornell, the unknowing friend, reveals the limited ways people allow us to know them. He sings, “He hurt so bad like a soul breaking/ But he never said nothing to me.” Often people only let us in so far, no matter how much further they want or need to let us in. Some wall or mask is always there, in all of us. Some of us are just better at breaking them down in ourselves, for others, and in others, for ourselves. “Times of Trouble”, a piano ballad about Wood’s heroin use, is a lament on the drug’s deteriorating effects, the physical paralysis, the mental anonymity behind the veil of euphoria. Cornell croons, “When the spoon is hot/ And the needle’s sharp/ And you drift away/ I can hear you say/ That the world in black/ Is upon your back/ And your body shakes/ So you ditch away/ And you close the shades.” Cornell’s relent is the psychology, the despair that forces the drug, not the drug itself: “Don’t try to kill your time/ You might do it/ Then you can’t change your mind/ You’ve got to hold on to your time/ Till you break through these/ Times of trouble.”

TOTD is not all demise and reprise, however. “Reach Down” is anthemic grunge — “You’ve got to reach down, and pick the crowd up” — while Hunger Strike (Vedder’s first studio recording) is a stab into gluttony and social inequality — “I don’t mind stealing bread from the mouths of decadence/ but I can’t feed on the powerless when my cup’s already overfilled.” The album’s closing track, the beautifully crooned “All Night Thing” is about short, one-time loving, harkening back to the broad theme of the mystery and boundless abyss that lurks in the human condition, the masks we wear and are afraid to peel away, because what lies beneath is bare, soft and exposed: “And if it’s an all night thing/ And we fall like a tear falling to the ground/ I’ll never come around/ And you’ll never hear a word from me.” For me, Temple of the Dog is a poetic revelation into the brevity of life, the ever-impending, ever-impeding melancholy that seems to come with artistry, and a touching account of life taken too fast. Play it Loud. Play it Proud.

page twelve | January 24 2012 | vol. 4 issue 09

CULTURE

The Runner | www.runnermag.ca

LIVE

Steel Panther goes balls-out at the Ballroom

JACON ZINN/THE RUNNER

JACOB ZINN CONTRIBUTOR

There was more red lipstick, teased hair, pierced nipples and leopard print than necessary at Steel Panther’s Jan. 12 night show – and that was on just the men in the audience. The Los Angeles hair bangers came up to Vancouver for the first show of the band’s sold-out two-night stand at the Commodore Ballroom, and they brought the essence of ‘80s glam metal with them. After the Iron Maiden-inspired “In the Future” intro, the band burst onstage with “Supersonic Sex Machine” and “Tomorrow Night” off their new album, Balls Out. With gusto in his voice and a bulge in his pants, lead singer Michael Starr kicked off two sexist-but-laughable songs: “Asian Hooker” and “Gold-Digging Whore”. “There’s something that’s missing in heavy metal today,” said Starr. “It’s called heavy metal today.”

The 990 fans in attendance responded with the horns (and some with the shocker). “Also, bitchin’ chicks in music videos,” added bassist Lexxi Foxxx somewhere between adjusting his hair in a hand mirror and reapplying pink lipstick. “Bitchin’ chicks and ripping guitar solos,” added Starr. The crowd sang along with “Community Property” and security scrambled to keep up with the crowd-surfers during “Turn Out the Lights”, both from 2009’s Feel the Steel. Throughout the night, the boys in Panther saw more topless women (and a few dudes who looked like ladies) than any hair metal group today. Oversexed girls sat on their boyfriends’ shoulders with their tops pulled up, reaching for Starr’s spandexed crotch. Midway through the show, guitarist Satchel took centre stage for a six-minute solo on his red Kramer Pacer, which includ-

ed licks from “Flight of the Bumblebee”, Van Halen’s finger-tapping “Eruption” and Dick Dale’s surf rockin’ “Misirlou”. “How many people think we should lock the doors and play until five o’clock in the fucking morning?!” asked Satchel to an enthusiastic crowd. Continuing their humorous chauvinism, Steel Panther performed the air guitarfriendly “It Won’t Suck Itself” and “Fat Girl (Thar She Blows)”. While they aren’t exactly role models – “We all dropped out of high school, we know what’s good for you,” said Satchel – they know how to have nothing but a good time. They toned down the atmosphere for the ballad “Weenie Ride”, with drummer Stix Zadinia leaving his riser for a keyboard up front. Some couples embraced to the inappropriate slow jam, but that quickly changed once the band started the contrasting “Just Like Tiger Woods”.

On the metal upswing, the band kicked it ‘80s style with “Eyes of a Panther” – one of their few tracks that isn’t explicitly comical. Starr jumped down from the stage and shrieked the lyrics with sweaty, die-hard fans at the barricade. They carried the energy through the rest of the set, performing the Bon Jovi-esque “Party All Day (Fuck All Night)” to a floor of raised fists and banging heads, followed by the debauched “17 Girls in a Row”. Instead of leaving the stage and returning for an encore, they cut through the BS and ended the show with the balls-to-thewall, moshpit-inducing “Death to All But Metal”. Not one metal head left the Commodore without ringing ears (and possibly herpes) from Steel Panther’s powerful 90-minute performance, and if past tour schedules are indicative of the future, they’ll sell out another Vancouver concert before the year’s end.

CULTURE

www.runnermag.ca | The Runner

vol. 4 issue 09 | January 24 2012 | page thirteen

YOUR DAD

Stuff your Dad likes: Dad beer Jacob Zinn can’t give you fatherly advice, but he can teach you armpit farts.

JACOB ZINN CONTRIBUTOR

The existence of beer has been documented in ancient Chinese, Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, dating as far back as 9500 BC, but dad beer dates back to the ‘70s. That’s when your old man started drinking Schlitz, Blatz and other obscure brands that ended with zs. At the time, kegs were only beginning to catch on and bottles and cans were still the way to go. You can bet your dad and his friends tailgated outside hockey games in your uncle’s wood-panel Volkswagen hippie van, and polished off a twofer of Pabst Blue Ribbon back when PBR wasn’t hipster alcohol. He may never admit it, but your dad could also shotgun with the best of ‘em. His share of the liquid gold was gone before the first solo of Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” came through the eight-track player. And you know that game 99 bottles of beer on the wall? He invented it. Your dad laid the foundation for beer pong, kegstands and Animal Housestyle fraternizing – all while double fisting bottles of Carlsberg. Heck, he was the inspiration for the most interesting man in the world. Nowadays, he may still drink Bass or Hacker-Pschorr if he can find them at the liquor store. Sure, he also tried Budweiser, Coors and Miller Genuine Draft as a young man, but those aren’t the classic beers he loved. He doesn’t care about the “wassup” ad campaign. He wants to stock his mini fridge with that smooth, refreshing, easy-drinking taste he had when he was your age – and he won’t settle for light beer. You may have never heard of his favourite lager, but from the way he tells you about it, you know it puts your cervezas and silver bullets to shame. Or, maybe you’ve tried any of these relic beverages and scowled at the fermented aftertaste. That just means you’re either used to crappy beer or haven’t had a man’s beer before. It’s an acquired taste, so acquire some taste, pick up a six-pack of Spaten and have a drink with your dad in his shag-carpeted rec room (because his old-time watering hole is probably a Walmart now).

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page fourteen | January 24 2012 | vol. 4 issue 09

CULTURE

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LIFE

The value in dumpster diving A journey to the centre of the trash heap.

JAYMIN PROULX INTERROBANG

LONDON (CUP) — One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. This idiom is proving its value with the cult of dumpster diving: a free, do-ityourself method of collecting food from the dumpsters of restaurants, supermarkets or one’s neighbourhood trash bins. Sound gross? Maybe. But it is also environmentally friendly and avoids those grocery bills that loom over students’ heads every month or so. Maggie F. (last name withheld to protect privacy) is a former Fanshawe College student who took to dumpster diving with a vengeance. Not one to be afraid of nosy onlookers, Maggie has been active in dumpster diving since she first lived in London in 2009. She now lives in Oakville. “I’m not one to actually ‘dive’ into the dumpsters,” she explained. “[That] can be dangerous. There could be a lot of things in there that could potentially cause bodily harm: glass, needles, anything broken. So if I’m ‘diving’ at a large dumpster, like outside major grocery stores or apartments or student housing, I try to just pull garbage bags out or up high enough so that I can untie the bag and see what’s inside.” Maggie explained the ritual of a diver: never dump the bags out! Part of being a dumpster diver is being respectful and not leaving a mess. Maggie is a vegan and follows a holistic way of life. While living in Toronto, she found that there was an abundance of organic markets that tossed away good quality organic food. Most of these markets would mark their bins with “organic waste only,” so it was simple to spot and scavenge. “These places throw away food that they can’t sell because it’s not beautiful. Most people who shop at organic places are fairly affluent; they will pay for the best. So if it doesn’t look perfect it gets thrown out — even though I’ve paid for

stuff in worse condition!” “Freeganism” is the term used to describe part of the culture of dumpster diving. According to freegan.ca, “Freeganism is a way of life based on the belief that almost all work and monetary exchanges within a capitalist economy contribute to myriad forms of exploitation such as worker abuse, animal exploitation, hunger, ecological destruction, mass incarceration, war, inequitable distribution of resources, commodification of women and almost all issues addressed by social, ecological and animal rights advocacy groups. It is a combination of ‘free’ and ‘vegan’ and espouses a philosophy of living an ideal life.” Part of the fear of dumpster diving is the dirty image it conjures. Why would you eat garbage when you can get food from the store? Maggie laughed when asked this question. “Why would you pay money for something that’s perfectly good and safe to eat when you could get it for free?” Point taken. “Dumpster diving is fun, interesting and necessary,” she explained. “I think in our modern world, where you can walk into a store and find almost anything you want at any time of the year, we’ve really become desensitized. We don’t ever have to wait for anything — for example, fruits and vegetables coming into season. We don’t have to hunt or gather like our ancestors, like some cultures still do. “I think there’s an innate survival instinct in us that’s engaged by dumpster diving. There’s something in us that drives us to search for food and the way our culture is now, we’re missing that,” she added. “I also love the adventure of looking for good food; you never know what you’re going to find, so that’s exciting too. Some days I’ll find enough food to last me all week, other times maybe just a day or two.” Maggie admitted to falling on some hard times, which is why she began in

GABRIEL AMADEUS/THE RUNNER

the first place. But now, she said she believes she’ll always do it. “Based simply on principle, there’s no reason for all this food to go to waste. “It makes sense to keep up this as a lifestyle choice,” she continued. “Not only is it a good financial decision for me, it’s an

ethical choice too. To choose to use what has been thrown away rather than continuing to feed into the wasteful system of overproduction and underconsumption makes sense. Like I said before: why keep buying and wasting when you can use up what already exists?”

PROCRASTINATION

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STARS

vol. 4 issue 09 | January 24 2012 | page ﬁfteen

EFF YOU, GEORGE LUCAS - BEN HORNE

AQUARIUS Jan. 21 - Feb 19

LEO July 24 - Aug. 23

Don’t answer the door if a drunk girl comes looking for Chad Kroeger at 1 a.m.

Watch out for poop in your food. Eating it could have dire consequences.

PISCES Feb. 20 - March 20 It’s true. You do sound like a velociraptor when throwing up in a garbage can.

VIRGO Aug. 24 - Sept. 23 You will ﬁnd comfort sleeping on the ﬂoor after a strangely violent bedtime encounter.

SMART ZONE

LIBRA Sept. 24 - Oct. 23

ARIES March 21 - April 19 Keep your underwear locked up. You never know when someone might take it.

Before you try and cram 12 people in an elevator, think of what could go wrong with this situation.

SCORPIO Oct. 24 - Nov. 22

TAURUS April 20 - May 20 Never trust your friends with roast beef sandwiches. They are evil sandwich stealers.

GEMINI May 21 - June 20

Always travel with someone who has tiny nipples. They could save your life. The nipples, not the person.

SAGITTARIUS Nov. 23 - Dec. 21

If you make a blanket fort you will get power, women and beer.

CANCER June 21 - july 23

Buy yourself a Darth Vader pancake mold because, hey, you deserve it. Plus you get Sith pancakes... awesome.

(CUP) — Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com. Used with permission.

Eat potatoes, bacon and sausage for breakfast. Repeat for the next four days.

CAPRICORN Dec. 22 - Jan. 20

Watch out for girls who scream when excited to see their friends. They can cause severe tinnitus.

Across 1- Filth; 5- Artful; 8- Soprano Gluck; 12- Cop _ ; 14- Cancun coin; 15- London jail; 16- Hackneyed; 17- Language of Pakistan; 18- Cornerstone abbr.; 19- Consist of; 21- Prepare to eat, in a way; 23Classiﬁed items; 24- Bingo!; 25- Leb. neighbor; 26French form of kick boxing; 30- Actress Woodard; 32- Beethoven dedicatee; 33- Act of impelling; 37Cover; 38- _ and the Night Visitors; 39- Emaciated; 40- Disease of rabbits; 42- Gravy, for one; 43- Prehistoric chisellike tool; 44- Beginning; 45- Attorney’s org.; 48- Spar; 49- Dada pioneer; 50- Bog; 52- Astonishment; 57- Against; 58- Civil disturbance; 60- Tall and thin; 61- Parody; 62- Buck follower; 63- First name in cosmetics; 64- Achy; 65- Mohawk-sporting actor; 66- Makes a row?;

Down 1- Not fem.; 2- As far as; 3- A type of bake; 4- Seaweed; 5- Shrivelled, without moisture; 6Acid; 7- Young; 8- “A Death in the Family” author; 9- Wears well; 10- Like an unprotected sweater?; 11- Tree of the birch family; 13- Add ﬁzz; 14- Cat; 20- Chemical ending; 22- British nobleman; 24- A, as in Athens; 26- Denomination; 27- Baseball family name; 28- Antidote holder, maybe; 29- Take _ at (try); 30- At full speed; 31- Convocation of witches; 33- Mingle; 34- Markers; 35- A single time; 36- Russian no; 38- Airmail letter; 41- Bumpkin; 42Flexible; 44- Bruins great Bobby; 45- Accumulate; 46- Swindle; 47- Moving; 49- Car; 51- Bird of prey; 52- Smoke deposit; 53- Impetuous; 54- A big fan of; 55- _ -Ball; 56- Baby blues; 59- Discount rack abbr.;

page sixteen | January 24 2011 | vol. 4 issue 09

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