SEPTEMBER 4, 2018 VOLUME 11, ISSUE 1 KPU’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
O T S K K C O A O B EB H T ta Ge
t tar s ng o r t s
NEWS
KSA Planning By-Election, SGM for Fall Semester
r ste e sem l l fa s ' r yea s i h to t
CULTURE
Behind the Pages of Pulp's Latest Issue
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OPINIONS
Animal Rights Activists Are Correct to Criticize Rodeos
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
STAFF Editor in Chief
Aly Laube editor@runnermag.ca
Managing Editor
Connor Doyle managing@runnermag.ca
Staff Writer
Braden Klassen staff@runnermag.ca
Community Reporter
Ashley Hyshka community@runnermag.ca
Production Manager
Sarah Kraft production@runnermag.ca
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NEWS
KSA Planning By-Election, SGM for Fall Semester
The Kwantlen Student Association is working on a number of initiatives to elect new members, bolster committee meeting attendance, and update the association’s bylaws before changes to the B.C. Societies Act come into effect this November.
FEATURE
Successes and Failures in Student Representation at KPU
In many ways, the KSA and the university at large, can be proud of what has been done to make KPU campuses more inclusive and equitable. But as members of the student association will themselves attest, there is still much work to be done.
CULTURE
Behind the Pages of Pulp's Latest Issue
Chelsea Franz, Pulp’s managing editor, says that putting the issue together was a learning experience for all five of its new editors. One of her goals is to help create a tighter community for students at KPU by encouraging them to explore the literary and visual arts.
OPINIONS
Buck the Chilliwack Rodeo
Rodeos are exploitative by nature. In them, animals are used as a source of entertainment, and in the process they are exposed to levels of fear and stress they would not have experienced otherwise.
Photo Editor
Kristen Frier photos@runnermag.ca
HASHTAG KPU
Post on Twitter or Instagram about or around KPU and you could be featured! Art Director
Nicola Kwit art@runnermag.ca
Web Manager
Alex Rodriguez web@runnermag.ca
Operations Manager Scott Boux office@runnermag.ca 778-565-3801
CONTRIBUTORS Marcus Barichello @RESLUS Leah Rosehill
COVER BY Kristen Frier
Fall Semester 2018
Arbutus 3710/3720 12666 72 Ave. Surrey, B.C, V3W 2M8 778-565-3801 www.runnermag.ca Vol. 11, Issue no. 1 September 4 // 2018 ISSN# 1916 8241
Student Publication Fee opt-outs are available in person from Sept. 6 - 30. Student ID and proof of registration and payment is required. PIPS Office: Arbutus 3710, Surrey campus
Hours: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday to Friday Phone: 778-565-3801 Email: office@runnermag.ca
All submissions to The Runner are subject to editing for style, quality, length, and legality. The Runner will not publish material which the editors deem to be harmful or discriminatory. The views expressed within the publication are not necessarily those of The Runner staff or of the Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society. 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 KPU is adaptable and changing, so is The Runner.
EDITORIAL
FROM THE EDITOR
WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS MONTH
It’s tuition time again; here’s who your money goes to Aly Laube | Editor in Chief The birds are chirping, the province is on fire, and it’s time for a brand new semester at KPU. This year our student body is bigger than ever, which means tuition dollars are rolling in. Yet very few of us truly know how our money is used or who exactly spends it. The university accepts your tuition and collects all fees, but after that it follows an elaborate framework for funding student groups and organizations. Most of that funding goes to the three biggest on-campus groups: the Kwantlen Student Association (KSA), the Kwantlen Public Interest Research Group (KPIRG), and the Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society (PIPS), which publishes The Runner and Pulp. The Kwantlen Student Association is your student government. It receives the most funding after the university and has a council, an executive team, and a long list of committees that help determine how its money should be used to best benefit the student body. The executive team and the councillors are elected by KPU students, and they regularly meet and organize events, campaigns, and external initiatives on behalf of all who go to school here. The KSA also offers a health and dental plan, which you might have noticed on your tuition bill. The extended health plan costs $85.00 per year and dental costs $110.00 per year. The multi-pass, for student-commuters, is $51.00 per month. Technically, all fees paid to KPIRG and PIPS come through the KSA, which is responsible for remitting the money to the appropriate organization. It also sets aside funding for the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), most commonly recognized as the source of years of legal trouble and drama with the Kwantlen Student Association. The CFS receives $1.00 per credit from KPU students, up to a maximum of $ 8.98 per semester. Although the association has tried to
SEPT. 10 NOMINATIONS FOR KSA BY-ELECTION
Are you interested in representing your fellow KPU students? Do you want to improve the culture and governance at this university? Does following Robert’s Rules get you feeling all tingly inside? Consider running for a position on KSA Council. Open at 10:00 am,
all campuses and online, free
(Nicola Kwit) terminate its membership with the federation several times over the years, the KSA remains a paying member of the CFS. In fact, it is now one of two student unions in B.C. represented by the CFS, and KSA President Caitlin McCutchen is currently sitting on its executive team as a rep. for B.C. students. It’s a strange situation, as McCutchen herself admitted in an interview with The Runner at the end of June. The Kwantlen Public Interest Research Group is an organization that advocates for social justice at KPU through local programming. Like the student association, it receives a per-credit fee ($0.80) from students—or it did, before the KSA voted to revoke its funding in April. KPIRG was the subject of controversy this year after filing a notice of civil claim against its own founder for allegedly defrauding the research group of about $112,000. The accused, Richard Hossein, has not responded to the allegations other than giving The Runner a “no comment” in March. The KSA decided to withhold the funding students pay to KPIRG “until things get sorted out with them,” as said by McCutchen. So, while
you’ll still be paying fees to hypothetically fund a research group on campus, that money won’t be used by the Kwantlen Public Interest Research group for the foreseeable future. The Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society is the organization that you pay for the production of on-campus publications—The Runner, the newspaper you’re reading now, and Pulp, KPU’s literature and visual arts magazine. PIPS receives $0.75 per credit from students, and our budget also accounts for the potential creation of new student publications. If this is your first time reading the newspaper, welcome! We hope you enjoy the issue. Our job is to know what’s going on in the university community and report on it, but we also cover stories on the municipal, provincial, federal—and sometimes internationa—levels. We’re also hoping to focus on video publishing this year, so you might see our reporters around campus with cameras and microphones. Our office is located on the third floor of the KPU Surrey library, and if you’re paying a fee to PIPS, you’re a member of our society. Don’t be afraid to say hi or email me with any questions you might have. Best of luck with fall 2018!
NEWS BRIEF
One.KPU is the New Online Portal for Students and Faculty
Braden Klassen | Staff Writer
This fall, KPU is launching a new online software tool that will give members of the university community an easier way to access applications, websites, and information relevant to them. One.KPU will help students organize and centralize online resources like their student email, library and course websites, campus maps, online self service, Moodle, Wordpress, and a number of other tools. The different resources and apps are all organized into tiles on the home page that resemble the interfaces used for tablets and smartphones. KPU Vice Provost Jane Fee says that the university has been working to redesign its online applications for months, since receiving feedback about the older system. The
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inspiration for the new system originated from one used at Indiana University, which they named One.IU. “It looks a lot like what you see when you look at your smartphone screen,” says Fee. One.KPU will help the university communicate with students, faculty, and staff through the app instead of email. A common issue with effective communication at KPU is that community members don’t check their university email accounts often enough, or that the messages that are sent aren’t useful to them in particular. “We’ve had a lot of feedback about our lack of ability to communicate with people and tell them things,” says Fee. “We can print posters and put them everywhere, but lots of students don’t read the posters because they might not be on campus very often, so this
technology will help.” For example, if KPU has an important announcement concerning students’ registration, it might only be displayed once students attempt to access the course registration guide from the One.KPU menu. In the past, this would have only been communicated via a mass email blast. Using One.KPU, students are more likely to receive messages that are relevant to them. The system also gives KPU analytical feedback about which aspects students generally use and which they don’t. Fee says that One.KPU may be accessible to alumni at a later stage in its development. The university will be asking students for feedback about the system in mid fall, when features will be added or changed depending on how useful they are.
SEPT. 10 - 13 WELCOME WEEK
The first event of the semester is also often the biggest. Don’t miss out on your chance to see all that KPU has to offer on display, especially the tables for the student association and Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society. 11:30 am - 2:30 pm,
each day on a different campus, free
SEPT. 12 ARTS SPEAKER SERIES
Dr. Nancy Norman will be discussing the importance of having a smooth transition from Kindergarten to elementary school from an ecological systems perspective. She will emphasize key facilitators and barriers for typically developing children and for children with complex learning needs. 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm,
Surrey Cedar Boardroom 2110, free
SEPT. 15 BIKE THE NIGHT
Join Active KSA at HUB Cycling's Bike the Night and be one of more than 5,000 riders for Vancouver’s only official night ride on city streets! Experience the beauty and energy of nocturnal Vancouver at its best—by bike. 6:00 pm - 9:30 pm,
Concord Pacific Place, free for students
SEPT. 17 KWANTLEN IMPROV
Kwantlen Improv returns for a brand new semester of drop-in workshops! Yes and … a member of famed Vancouver-based improv troupe the Fictionals, Daniel Chai, will be leading the workshop! Yes and … come on by to have a great time with your fellow students! 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm,
KPU Surrey Birch 250, free for students
SEPT. 17
CANTONESE OPERA SHOW
Take a behind-the-scenes look at Cantonese Opera! The Vancouver Cantonese Opera will be showcasing a makeup demonstration and answering any questions about their process. The showcase will end with a performance in full costume. 10:00 am - 2:00 pm,
KPU Surrey Arbutus Gallery, free
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NEWS
KSA Planning By-Election, SGM for Fall Semester The student association hopes to increase membership and update its bylaws before the end of the year Braden Klassen | Staff Writer As new and returning students descend on campus like gently falling leaves, the Kwantlen Student Association will be working on a number of initiatives to elect new members, bolster committee meeting attendance, and update the association’s bylaws before changes to the B.C. Societies Act come into effect this November. The By-Election Nominations for the association’s by-election will open on Sept. 10, giving students a chance to run for a position on KSA Council. The available seats are for the positions of Academic and Career Advancement Representative, Arts Representative, Design Representative, Health Representative, Trades and Technology Representative, Tech/Cloverdale Campus Representative, and Students with Disabilities Representative. There are also two positions available for Business Representative. The nomination period will close on Sept. 25. Voting in the by-election will take place on Oct. 10 and 11. Caitlin McCutchen, KSA President & VP External Affairs, as well as the association’s women’s representative, says that getting involved in student politics can be a formative experience for students. “If students want to do it, they should look at it from the perspective that they’re gaining skills and having experiences,” she says. “I’ve learned so much about how universities are run and how non-profits run and how to plan and execute events.” “It’s an opening for when you want to do something and commit to it,” adds VP University Affairs and Senate Representative Murdoch de Mooy. “There’s a whole world of different possibilities that you’re introduced to and have the option to take advantage of.” Students who are elected to council are responsible for representing the interests of various constituencies and are involved in event planning, campaigns, policy, and community outreach. “You shouldn’t apply for this or run with the assumption that it’s going to help your resume,” says McCutchen. “It’s about the experiences. It’s meeting people on campus. It’s getting involved and knowing more about what’s going on around you. It’s contributing to student life and to student advocacy.” Joseph Thorpe, VP Finance & Operations and Queer Students Representative, says that since he joined the KSA in April 2017, it has helped him connect with the student community both at KPU and across Canada. “You get to meet people who have similar interests to you,” he says. “You make friends that have the same ideology as you and you have that support.” Thorpe included job descriptions in the nomination packages for the executive and councillor roles so that students who run know what will be expected of them if they’re elected. He says that students in faculties like design or health are likely to have heavy course loads and may not be aware of the time necessary to be a member of council. “Even when I was Queer Rep, at first I didn’t realize how much work it was until I actually got on [council],” he says.
Kwantlen Student Association representatives meet for the monthly Council meeting, Aug. 24. (Braden Klassen) Increasing Committee Attendance KSA Arts Representative Natasha Farris, who chairs both the appointments committee and the student life committee, says that a lack of understanding about the responsibility that comes with being appointed to a committee has caused many students to be unable or unwilling to attend monthly meetings. “Our current application process asks if the applicant has any related prior experience, and some people just write, ‘Yes,’” she says. “Or it asks why they would like to join the committee, and they answer, ‘Because it sounds like fun.’” Farris is working to modify the committee application process by separating and tailoring each form specifically to individual committees. Members of KSA Council say that the current catch-all application form is lacking in specificity and information. According to a presentation made at an appointment committee meeting on Aug. 17, “many students tend to check off every single committee in their application form when they may have varying interest levels for each.” The minutes from that meeting also detailed how new members may not have a full understanding of what each committee is responsible for. “There are individuals who have been members for a long time and have either never shown up or haven’t shown up in a long time; this applies to both student members and council members,” the minutes read. “Some people may have never been told that they were on a committee ... as committee chairs may not have access to their emails.” “I’ve sat in committees for two years,” says McCutchen. “There have always been students who don’t show up, and we’ve identified that as a pretty substantial problem this year. A bunch of us are sitting down and trying to work through this so that it will be a lot smoother going forward.” Students who are appointed to committees but don’t attend the meetings can make work more difficult for other committee members
and prevent students who would like to be involved from being appointed. According to de Mooy, this behaviour “really affects the work of the entire committee [and] drags everything down.” Committee and Council meetings are held on one Friday per month, generally between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm, which can conflict with some students’ school or work schedules. This prevents some members from consistently being able to attend the meetings. Farris says that the appointments committee and the KSA at large are actively looking at options for removing committee members who are non-communicative and absent from three or more consecutive meetings. “If we have an idea [and] if only two people show up, then those two people are the only people developing that idea instead of the whole committee. It really slows down everything. There are less eyes for reviewing things, so more mistakes can happen,” says Farris. “We just want to correct it and get it back to where it once was.” By the end of September, all committee member positions will be open and current members will have to to be reappointed to retain their position. This means that most committees will have open positions for students who wish to apply. The Special General Meeting The KSA will be holding a special general meeting on Nov. 14, at which students can vote on a motion to update the association’s bylaws. In November 2016, a legal framework that not-for-profit organizations had to comply with in order to operate in B.C. called the Society Act was repealed and replaced with the Societies Act. Organizations functioning under the previous act were given two years to update their internal bylaws to account for this legislative change. The deadline for completing this transition is Nov. 28, 2018—exactly two weeks after the KSA will attempt to adopt its updated bylaws.
If the members at the special general meeting vote against the motion to approve the changes, or if the minimum quorum of 200 present members is not met, the bylaws can not be updated and the KSA will miss the deadline. De Mooy, who has been working with others to update the bylaws, says that it’s vital for the changes to be approved at the SGM. While he is confident that KSA staff and services will continue to operate normally no matter what, he says that failing to adopt the new bylaws would largely impact members of council. As per KSA regulations, which are distinct from its bylaws, council members and studentat-large members of committees are given honoraria for attending meetings and fulfilling their role requirements. KSA representatives are paid $75.00 per attended regular and special meeting of council to a maximum of six meetings, or $450.00 per semester. Representatives are paid another $50.00 for attending standing and special committee meetings that they are members of, to a maximum of five meetings, or $250.00 per semester. Representatives who serve as chairpersons of a committee are paid $75.00 per attendance, to a maximum of five meetings, or $375.00 per semester. KSA Executives are not paid attendance honoraria, but receive a bi-weekly stipend of $1200 dollars. The association is currently looking into whether these stipends are also subject to termination if the bylaws are not updated. However, the terms of distributing these honoraria are only written in the KSA’s regulations, not its bylaws, which is a requirement of the Societies Act. If the bylaw changes are not approved on Nov. 28, the KSA will lose the ability to pay Council and committee members to attend meetings at a time when absenteeism is already an issue.
NEWS
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Surrey City Lab Connects Students with Civic Policymakers The partnership will facilitate hands-on courses about local issues, policy, and urban planning Braden Klassen | Staff Writer Students interested in Surrey’s urban development will soon get the chance to work directly with city staff to create proposals for community-based projects. A new collaboration between KPU, SFU, and the City of Surrey called Surrey City Lab will offer a series of multidisciplinary, civic-related courses to students over the next three years. Students will focus on issues unique to Surrey and work alongside city staff to co-create projects relevant to municipal strategic planning. Proposals for the projects will ultimately be presented at Surrey City Hall, and will potentially be implemented by the city across its communities. KPU students in particular will be focusing on the Newton area. The collaboration, which will cost $138,000 over three years, is being supported by equal funding from all of its partners. Heather Harrison, a philosophy and policy studies instructor at KPU, is coordinating with the university and the city in order to facilitate these courses. “We’ll be working closely with the city’s neighbourhood team, bouncing ideas off of them and getting some constructive feedback on what the students are working on,” she says. A major focus of the City Lab partnership is placemaking—the idea that communities benefit from having publicly-available areas
where people can gather and interact with each other, which is a growing area of interest for modern urban planning. “Students are identifying possible areas where they could create space, and then they have to have an idea of how to create that space,” says Harrison. Having students address placemaking in Newton is particularly timely, as Surrey is working to complete a final draft of its new community plan for the area. Students will be able to work with this plan for the duration of their courses, giving them an opportunity to watch their vision for the community become a reality. In a news release, Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner called the project “a unique opportunity that will allow for a student experiential learning initiative focused on City of Surrey priorities and challenges.” The Surrey City Lab partnership was inspired by CityStudio, an organization which connects the City of Vancouver to local post-secondary institutions so that students can offer their input on city planning priorities. Students in the CityStudio programs learn from faculty and city staff about the process of proposing city development projects and about aspects of community building like culture, education, and sustainability. “Surrey in itself is going through huge changes, especially concerning population growth,” says Harrison. “And whenever you have that, it can present challenges.”
Surrey city staff will work with KPU students to develop neighborhood project proposals within the framework of the Surrey City Lab partnership. (Braden Klassen) Diane Purvey, the dean of the arts faculty at KPU, says that the Surrey City Lab courses will give students a chance to see if they like working on civic-minded projects in areas of public policy. “The students are the future of Surrey. They’re an important voice,” she says. “The city gets to try things out with the students and hear directly from them, which I think can be a valuable asset.”
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The classes are being offered by the policy studies program as POST 2900, a three-credit course which will take place on Fridays from 2:00 to 5:00 pm and, in the spring semester, as a six-credit course from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. “The challenges and the opportunities that students will encounter will be an important piece of their education,” says Purvey. “They’ll be able to take that learning into the workforce afterwards, if they choose so.”
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NEWS
Trinity Western University Revokes Mandatory Signing of Community Covenant for Students
The covenant, which prohibits sex outside of heterosexual marriage, must still be signed by TWU staff and faculty Ashley Hyshka | Community Reporter Nearly three months after losing its legal battle in the Supreme Court of Canada, Trinity Western University is once again making headlines because of its community covenant. The Christian university, based in Langley, B.C., revoked its controversial community covenant on Aug. 14. According to the TWU website, the “Supreme Court of Canada decision was a contributing factor in this decision, but certainly not the only factor." Before this, all TWU students were required to sign the covenant, which is viewed by critics as discriminatory towards members of the LGBTQ+ community because it forbids sexual relationships outside of heterosexual marriage. It is for this reason that the Law Societies of British Columbia and Ontario took the university to Canada’s Supreme Court, which ruled that the societies had the legal right to refuse accreditation to TWU’s proposed law school. Although disappointed, TWU respects the Supreme Court’s decision and believes that, above all else, Christian faith is at the core of the university’s identity. “We want to ensure that TWU continues as a thriving community of Christian believers who clearly demonstrate that we are a welcoming environment for students from all perspectives, who wish to learn from a Christian viewpoint and underlying philosophy,” reads a statement on the school website.
Kwantlen Student Association Queer Representative Joseph Thorpe believes that making the community covenant optional for students is “a step in the right direction” for Trinity Western. “I had a few LGBTQQIP2SAA friends who attended TWU and had to sign the community covenant, and they felt that it was very demeaning and discriminatory,” wrote Thorpe in an email to The Runner. The community covenant still exists and students may still choose to sign it if they wish. For faculty and members of the university’s staff, signing it will remain mandatory. Greg Millard, the chair of KPU’s political science department, said in an email to The Runner that the case of Trinity Western University was interesting to him because it considered both religious and LGBTQ+ rights. “Both sides felt that fundamental rights were at stake,” says Millard. “Once people define something as a right, it tends to become non-negotiable for them—unlike a lot of more day-to-day issues, where we'll generally accept trade-offs and compromises.” Whether or not TWU will continue to push for the creation of its law school is unclear. However, both Millard and Thorpe believe that, if it does, TWU could once again run into legal trouble for requiring its staff and faculty to sign the covenant. The B.C. Law Society’s motion denying accreditation to the TWU law school stated
Trinity Western's controversial community covenant led the Supreme Court of Canada to rule against the accreditation of the university's proposed law school on the grounds of discrimination. (Braden Klassen) that discrimination against administrators, employees, and faculty based on sexual orientation or gender expression would not be tolerated. Therefore, according to Millard, it’s reasonable to assume that the BCLS will continue to refuse accreditation even though TWU lifted the requirement for students. “It is still discriminatory, and from a human rights perspective, very problematic,” says Thorpe. “In normal hiring and employee
rights, it is illegal to discriminate or terminate employment based on one of the protected grounds within human rights legislation. While religious freedom is also a right, it is wrong to oppress people based on something that they cannot change.” When contacted by The Runner for an interview, a TWU representative declined to comment.
Professors Who Are Arrested for Political Activism Have Limited Job Protection Collective agreements prevent them from being fired, but they may still be punished for their advocacy Marcus Barichello | Contributor Despite the recent court ruling against the Trans Mountain pipeline proposal, the controversy surrounding the project rages on. Anti-pipeline protesters continue to demonstrate against the project, and more and more people, including university professors, are joining the picket line to voice their frustrations. In June, Susan Lambert, a retired teacher-librarian for the Burnaby School District and a former President of the B.C. Teachers Federation, was arrested for violating an injunction by engaging in a sit-in at the gates of Kinder Morgan. Examples like Lambert’s raise question about the consequences for instructors who are arrested, and sometimes even convicted, for engaging in political activism. Jeffrey Shantz, a criminology professor at KPU and a long-time political activist for environmental, anti-poverty, and labour issues, says that the threat of a professor losing their job for this reason is incredibly small. “For university professors, we have academic freedom protection and that’s pretty basic,” says Shantz. “Within the more traditional, larger research [institutions] like UBC or SFU, for example, you have a more ironclad commitment to academic freedom and that might be protected through things like tenure protections.”
Shantz adds that, at KPU, instructors are protected through a collective agreement. “When they sign that agreement, they’re saying, ‘Yes, we recognize that we don’t withhold the right for faculty to engage in potentially controversial research or scholarship, or to express controversial findings of their work,’” he explains. “Likewise, for teachers, you’d be talking about protections that would probably be in place through a collective agreement through the teacher’s federation.” The job security of instructor-activists is also protected informally, through agreements that are both unwritten and unspoken, Shantz feels. “If a university professor gets arrested at the gates of Kinder Morgan … it’s going to be difficult for a university employer to fire them for that because the university would then become a pariah within the academic community,” he says. However, universities can still punish instructors if they disagree with the actions they’re taking outside of the workplace. These punishments are just less noticeable to the general public. “[Academic protection] doesn’t stop universities from punishing faculty in different ways,” says Shantz. “They’re not going to come out and say ‘You’re fired because you were arrested at a protest,’ but they might work to ensure that you don’t get a sabbatical. They might work to ensure that you don’t get
KPU Criminology instructor Jeffrey Shantz. (Braden Klassen) professional development funding … or they give you crappier classes to teach at crappier times of the day.” “It might not have a material impact in a big way,” he continues. “But it can just make life miserable for faculty members to a point where they feel like they have to kind of self-censor.” Shantz himself has been arrested and convicted for his political activism in the past, but still engages in protests and demonstrations.
He encourages other instructors to do the same. “As academics, we’re supposed to disseminate our research. We’re supposed to publish. We’re supposed to put our work out in the community for the public good,” he says. “For me, activism and demonstrations and protests are part of that. That’s the work of dissemination.”
Student Snapshot Four students man the ever-important refreshment table at KPU’s freshman welcome week. First year students are welcomed with open arms and waffles and hot dogs and popcorn - oh my. Wonderful activities also encouraged newcomers to mingle and make new connections. (Kristen Frier)
Bella Reddy, Beatrix Pascual, Anam Waqar, and Liv Lang lounge at a picnic table in the campus courtyard. (Kristen Frier)
William Curr, Katherine Charlton, and Rebecca Vantil hang out and eat waffles together. (Kristen Frier) Sukhchain Singh Dhillon, Gurdeep Gill, and Lovepreet Singh seem excited for first year. They “mustard” up the courage to “ketchup” on their studies and they are ready to “relish” the KPU first year experience. (Kristen Frier)
Students plays chess, blow bubbles, and play Jenga. Lots of fun activities in the courtyard at -freshman welcome week. (Kristen Frier)
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FEATURE
Successes and Failures in Student Representation at KPU Members of the Kwantlen Student Association discuss campus life and advocacy Ashley Hyshka | Community Reporter
Kwantlen Polytechnic University has a diverse student body. It welcomes folks of various nationalities, ethnicities, genders, ideologies, and sexual identities. Representing these groups, however, has always been a challenge for members of the Kwantlen Student Association, which balances the day-to-day duties of student governance with advocating for a sizeable and widely-dispersed student populace. In many ways, the KSA, and the university at large, can be proud of what has been done to make KPU campuses more inclusive and equitable. But as members of the association will themselves attest, there is still much work to be done. LGBTQ+ Representation Joseph Thorpe, VP Finance & Operations and Queer Representative for the KSA, describes student life at KPU as “barren.” He points to hectic school schedules, a lack of student resources, and the fact that KPU’s student body is split between four commuter campuses as primary reasons for this. Currently, Thorpe is the only member of the Kwantlen Pride Collective. With the opening of Pride Kwantlen’s space in KPU Surrey’s Birch building, and an influx of new students expected this fall, Thorpe’s goal is to recruit more members at this year’s Welcome Week from Sept. 10 to 13. He also wants to hold events on various LGBTQ+ holidays to help educate students. “When people join university, it’s a time of growth and a time of self-discovery, and if there’s not an active pride collective, or there’s not an active amount of students who understand what you’re going through, it’s harder to navigate your way through university,” he says. Thorpe feels that the best action for a student feeling underrepresented at KPU can take is joining KSA Council. “[Council is] going to be supportive in what you want to do compared to being a random student just trying. You have avenues,” he says. According to Thorpe, all KSA executives are working together to improve student life this year, as opposed to letting the student life executive worry about it on their own. “We have money that we can use towards events and fundraisers and advocacy, so we have the support. All you have to do is join,” says Thorpe. Women’s Representation Like Thorpe, Caitlin McCutchen—who serves as the President, Vice-President External, and Women’s Representative for the KSA—is optimistic about the upcoming school year and is
hoping to increase engagement from students. “While we do have challenges, and it has always been our goal as the KSA to have more engagement, I feel like we do have more students on campus,” she says. “There is more opportunity for engagement for student life than there has been in previous years.” McCutchen says that the women’s collective currently doesn’t exist because it has no active members. Last year, she says that it was comprised of “a really good group,” but due to many of these members graduating, the activity of the collective is in limbo. One of McCutchen’s goals for the new year is to reestablish the women’s collective, starting with a consent campaign that will be launched during Welcome Week. Through the campaign, she hopes to raise awareness of both the collective and the women’s center, which will be used to host meetings and events. “I’m only one person. I can’t think of all the ideas and all the events, so I really hope to find a team this coming fall that is really interested in bringing feminist voices and feminist events to campus,” she says. According to McCutchen, several feminism-based events have been planned for the fall. She hopes that these events will help spread the word that the women’s collective will soon be back, fully active, and in need of new members. “Misogyny is still alive and well on all campuses,” McCutchen says. “We’ve come a long way, but there’s misogyny, there’s rape culture, [and these things] are all so prevalent on campus. I think it’s important to have like-minded people around you and spaces where you can be a feminist.” Indigenous Representation Sarah Strachan, the KSA’s Indigenous representative and the chairperson of its external affairs committee, believes that engaging with the Kwantlen First Nation and representing Indigenous students at KPU go hand in hand. “At the moment, I don’t think students are represented well,” Strachan wrote in an email to The Runner. “I believe there around 250300 Indigenous Students at KPU and I personally know about 10 of them.” Despite KPU being named after the Kwantlen First Nation and residing on its land, Strachan believes that most students don’t know about KPU’s Indigenous history and community. That, and the fact that KPU’s Elder in Residence, Leykeyten, can only be on campus once a week, is hindering Indigenous representation and education, she says. Strachan’s plans for the fall semester include hosting two events per month on different campuses. One event will revolve
around arts and crafts, and the second will feature Indigenous speakers, writing, and media. “I am beyond excited for this new year and I hope that, as we reach out to all the campuses, I will finally get to meet our Indigenous population,” she says. She also believes that, because the university acknowledges that it is on unceded First Nations territory during events and meetings, these same acknowledgments should be made in the classroom to educate students and better represent Indigenous students. “This is our land,” said Strachan. “Our ancestors were here for a very, very long time. We are family. We are important. We have a voice. We can make changes. I would like to see us work together and build a strong community.” Strachan encourages students to personally contact her and inform her of events relating to Indigenous representation that they would like to see at KPU. Vegetarian and Vegan Representation Richard Macmillan, a fourth-year policy studies and sustainability student, operates the Let’s Be Compassionate club, which advocates for animal rights at KPU. Macmillan says that there’s a sizeable vegetarian and vegan population at KPU, particularly on the Surrey campus. He describes becoming vegetarian as “an amazing step,” but believes that switching to a vegan lifestyle is most beneficial for supporting animal rights, environmentalism, and one’s health. “Our main focus is drawing attention to what happens to farm animals every day in slaughterhouses [and] in modern farming— so giving them a voice,” he says. Many vegan and vegetarian students are hindered by the food options provided to them on campus. At KPU Surrey, for example, their choices are mainly limited to what’s available at the Grassroots cafe. While Macmillan is appreciative of the support that Sodexo has offered him—including the introduction of “Meatless Mondays”—he feels that it’s still not enough. According to him, progress is restricted on this front because of the limited number of food vendors Sodexo utilizes. For instance, he notes that the Sodexo-owned Tim Horton’s on the Surrey campus only began stocking soy milk last semester. “I would give Grassroots, like, a B+ and I would give Sodexo probably, like, a D,” he says. Still, Macmillan commends KPU for being supportive of his initiatives and accommodating his events. Let’s Be Compassionate is planning several fall events, including a Veg Expo during Thrive Week in late October. The expo will feature an endurance athlete speak-
er, an undercover farm investigator, and cooking and yoga demonstrations. Macmillan says that it’s easy to get new students to sign up for the club, but challenging to keep them as active members. His focus for the upcoming semester will be on student outreach, film screenings, explaining the differences between veganism and vegetarianism, and handing out vegan ice cream. Students of Colour Representation Students of colour, particularly international students, represent a large portion of KPU’s population. Munir Dossa, KSA Students of Colour Representative, says that the university does “a fairly good job of representing students of colour on campus,” but that there is still room for improvement. Students of colour and international students often struggle to balance how much to adhere to their own culture with how much to embrace Canadian culture. With the influx of international students to KPU in recent years, Dossa says he witnesses this struggle often. Dossa himself was born in Canada, but his parents hail from Pakistan. He says that he understands the challenges that his fellow students endure. “You have to integrate a certain amount, but you don’t want to lose what makes you unique, or what makes your culture so valuable and important,” he says. “How do my cultures fit in this mosaic? [It’s about] finding yourself, finding your balance against everything else.” To this end, he appreciates the KPU Bhangra Club, which he views as a testament to embracing one’s own culture and sharing it with other students who may be unfamiliar with it. Dossa says that one of the key elements of representing students of colour is having a diverse KSA Council. He would like to see the creation of a designated space on campus where students can comfortably engage with KSA councillors. He would also like to see the KSA host events designed to inform students of the student association’s purpose. Personally, he wants to hold bi-weekly screenings of films and television shows featuring people of colour in lead roles. Dossa says that past events like this were well-attended and effective for creating a welcoming and productive atmosphere on campus. “If you improve student life and you want to get people to stick around more and have more fun here, you can easily talk to them about other things and more complex issues,” he says. “It’s important to continually strive to get voices heard, and specifically underrepresented voices heard. It’s a challenge, but it’s a challenge that’s worth taking.”
Sarah Strachan, the KSA's Indigenous Representative and the chairperson of the External Affairs Committee. (Submitted)
Left to right: KSA VP Student Life David Piraquive and VP Finance & Operations Joseph Thorpe. Thorpe is also the student association's Queer Representative. (Ashley Hyshka)
Richard Macmillan of KPU's Let's Be Compassionate club. (Ashley Hyshka)
Munir Dossa, KSA Students of Colour Representative. (Ashley Hyshka)
10 CULTURE
Behind the Pages of Pulp’s Latest Issue
Thanks to an all-new editorial team, the issue displays the talent in KPU’s arts and literary scenes Braden Klassen | Staff Writer Pulp, the student-run literature and arts magazine for KPU, has offered readers a diverse showcase of poetry, prose, and visual artwork since its launch in 2012. The magazine’s latest issue—its 16th overall, published just in time for the fall semester—came together through the collaborative effort of a brand new team of editors from a variety of creative backgrounds. Chelsea Franz, Pulp’s Managing Editor, says that putting the issue together was a learning experience for all five of its new editors. One of her goals for Pulp is to help create a tighter community for students at KPU by encouraging them to explore the literary and visual arts. “It’s hard to be pursuing a career in arts because it takes a while for you to accept that that’s your role in society, to tell yourself, ‘I am an artist, and that’s what I’m going to do,’” she says. “You need something to validate you, to tell you that you’re on the right path and that you’re doing something worthwhile. You have the talent. It’s not just something in your head.” Mariah Negrillo-Soor, a third-year creative writing student at KPU whose poem “Zodiac Sign: Pisces” appears in the issue, says that submitting to Pulp has helped her become more confident as a writer. She also feels that it has helped connect her with other writers and artists at the university. “I think a lot of writing—it gets better the more experiences you have, not just in your own life but with others, talking to people and getting to know their stories and listening to
Chelsea Franz, Managing Editor of Pulp Magazine, reads the newest issue in the Surrey campus courtyard. (Braden Klassen) what they have to share,” she says. “I like the combination of the art and the different styles of work that [the editors] chose. I recognized a lot of people’s work and some names of people who I’ve worked with before.” “Zodiac Sign: Pisces” was originally an assignment on open-form poems that Negrillo-Soor wrote for a class on poetic forms and techniques. “All year we were writing more traditional forms of poetry that had very rigid structures, meter, and rhyme schemes,” she says. “It was
fun to write, and a lot more fun to read aloud. A lot of the lines go unexpected places.” According to Franz, Pulp is already looking into some new possibilities for the next issue, such as accepting video submissions and incorporating multimedia artforms into the magazine using the HP Reveal app. In the long-term, Franz says that the team is also looking at increasing the number of times that Pulp will be published per year, potentially releasing multiple issues per semester and
narrowing down the content in each issue to focus on specific themes or artforms. “We’re working to get it up to its full potential,” she says. “There are so many things that Pulp can do to have a strong and beneficial impact for artists.” Pulp will be hosting an official launch event for the new issue at 5:30 pm on Sept. 6 in the KPU Surrey Cedar Conference Room.
Kwantlen Creative Writing Guild Hosts Chapbook Making Workshop Local poet Kevin Spenst led the student-organized event Kristen Frier | Photo Editor The Kwantlen Creative Writing Guild, a club for writing students at KPU, hosted a chapbook-making workshop with Surrey-based poet Kevin Spenst on Aug. 20. Chapbooks are small paperback booklets which typically contain self-published poems or short fiction. Making and distributing them is an inexpensive way for emerging writers to publish their work. Jennifer Pham, the Kwantlen Creative Writing Guild’s president, says that chapbook making is a “niche” skill that KPU’s writing program barely touches on. Having handmade chapbooks creates a “level of intimacy” between the writer and the reader that she believes is unique. Beyond simply sharing the words they have written, a writer has physically touched and created the book, making it a more personal literary experience for those enjoying their work. For students, chapbooks can serve as either a standalone project or part of a larger manuscript or portfolio. They can be used as a networking tool to get a writer’s work out to the public in an accessible format; They don’t take long to read and provide quick insight into the creator’s style. At the three-hour workshop, all of the materials needed to make the chapbooks
were provided for an entry fee of $5.00. Light refreshments were also provided. “The turn out was pretty fair,” says Pham, “I am hoping for more [engagement] at our events in the future.” Participants were taught how to bind their books step-by-step by Kevin Spenst, a local poet with an extensive history of publishing chapbooks. He also provided those in attendance with ample opportunity to enrich their work using their own creative flair. Flip Flop Faces and Unexpurgated Lives!, one of Spenst’s many chapbooks, was printed and distributed by publisher JackPine Press, but was hand-sewn and bound by Spenst and his co-creator Owen Plummer, according to Pham. Even in widely distributed books, self-binding is not a lost art. Spenst, whose other works include Ignite, Jabbering With Bing Bong, and over a dozen chapbooks such as Pray Goodbye and Ward Notes, has a history of visiting KPU as a speaker for various events. His next work of poetry, a chapbook called Upend, will be published soon by Frog Hollow Press. The workshop on Aug. 20 was the first event from the Kwantlen Creative Writing Guild with Pham as president, but it will likely not be the last. There are plans for future workshops to be held on campus regarding performance and “visual poetry.” The guild
Kevin Spenst visited the Surrey campus to show students, alumni, or anyone with an interest in poetry how to make their very own chapbook. (Kristen Frier) also hopes to, in the near future, engage participants with interactive workshops that are as captivating as they are educational. If you are a creative writing student, literature enthusiast, emerging poet, or someone
looking to try something new, attending one of the guild’s events or weekly meetings is a good way to start forging new skills and creating a network of like-minded individuals.
OPINIONS
11
Let’s Talk About Sex Toys, Baby
Don’t feel the need to beat around the bush; self-pleasure should be shame-free Aly Laube | Editor in Chief Girls are expected to talk about boys—in particular, the sex they have with boys—but very rarely do our coming-of-age stories include sharing the intimate relationships we have with our own bodies. Growing from kids into women, we’re very seldom encouraged by those around us to discuss the details of our sexuality unless they revolve around expectant male partners, what we can do for them, and how well we can do it. When we do end up having that inevitably phallocentric chat, our conversations usually focus on how well we did at pleasing him, how he acted afterwards, and how we feel when the deed is done. This expectation often perseveres from youth to young adulthood regardless of our sexual preferences or, potentially, gender identities. A woman talking about touching herself, and how she feels about doing so, is still too taboo to bring up casually. Ask to peek inside the bedside table of a woman in your life and you’ll likely see the blood rush to her cheeks. Writing for Bustle, Jaleesa Jones says she was 14 the first time she lied about self-pleasure, responding “of course not!” when a friend asked her over the phone if she had ever masturbated. Hannah Travis of Odyssey shares a similar story, recalling how baffled she was that boys in her high school “could talk unabashedly about masturbation and porn without receiving the judgmental looks directed [her] way when [she] spoke openly about sex.” Personally, I was 15 the first time I bought a sex toy and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. It was cheap and I was working part-time, so I ordered it from China, got it gift wrapped by Amazon so that my parents wouldn’t see what was inside, and waited
two months for it to show up at my door. It was a hot pink dildo made of some terrible plastic and it was completely and utterly useless. Although it came with all the bells and whistles—and even had colourful LED lights inside—physically, it did nothing for me. What it did do, however, was impress my long-distance boyfriend. So I kept it, reserved it for steamy Skype sessions, and then threw it away years later when I got a partner who told me that dildos were “gross” and “made him uncomfortable.” Tossing it out wasn’t very feminist of me, but neither was keeping a toy that I absolutely hated just because it got my guy’s rocks off. Reflecting on the argument that led me to ditching the dildo did inspire me to examine my own relationship to self-pleasure, though. Now, I have a whole arsenal of tools that I adore and wouldn’t throw out for the world. It’s fun to have accepted that part of myself, but more than that, it’s freeing. As women in today’s world, we’re still somewhat expected to serve and not be served—especially in the bedroom. A woman’s appetite for pleasure is often seen as selfish and narcissistic. Ironically enough, that changes when this desire is incited by a man—to give into sexual urges at the hands of a male partner is an act of servitude, more of a sacrificial notion than an indulgent one, and that makes it okay in patriarchal culture. We should be allowed to be greedy when it comes to our own pleasure. That isn’t to say that it’s inherently progressive to get yourself off every day, or to have any sex drive at it all. What is progressive is being able to talk about anything relating to sex, love, and pleasure at all in an environment that’s consensual, safe,
(Kristen Frier)
and free of shame.
A Tale of Two Cities: Choosing Between L.A. and Montreal Where can a young creative-type go to make the most of her art degree? Nicola Kwit | Art Director One of the realities of being a millennial is the idea of “moving where the work is.” Most people in my life have done just that. Personally, I’ve done it twice. Yet, once again, I find myself having to hunt down cities that actually like artists and want to hire us. Cities like this are few and far between, and right now there are two on my radar that could not be more different from each other. Comparing them is like comparing old Britney Spears to old Sum 41—both have their pros and cons, but they’re just so different it makes your head spin. This is the challenge I’m facing with having to choose between Montreal and Los Angeles. One is still in the home of maple syrup and year-round toques, and the other is in the home of Cheetos and Presidents who look like Cheetos. Both, however, have plenty of opportunities for people who work in creative fields ranging from games and animation to graphic design and publishing. If you need work, somewhere is always hiring, and both cities greatly support freelance artists and creators. So this past summer I decided to pop by both of these cities to check them out. Here is a rundown of what I learned as an artist looking to move. Coming from somewhere like Vancouver, which is actually a very small city, Los Ange-
les can be overwhelming. It’s huge, and having a car is a basic necessity there because, once it gets dark, the city can be dangerous and transit is known to be unreliable. When it comes to work, though, Los Angeles is packed with opportunities. The city has a “hustle” vibe to it that can easily rub off on you. People are working so hard around you that it inspires you and pushes you to work as well. This also means that the networking culture is all-encompassing, and it feels like everyone you meet just wants to see how you fit into their lives as a “connection” rather than a friend. Despite that, the weather is great, food and gas is cheap, and with so many creators across different industries working there, creativity oozes out of Los Angeles. The atmosphere in Montreal is very different. It’s the one place I’ve been to in North America that really reminds me of Europe. The pace of life is slower than that of Los Angeles, and most people you’ll see there are just going about their day, doing their own thing. It’s also far safer and more peaceful than L.A. Now, there are less jobs available there than in Los Angeles, and most are in the gaming industry since there are many game companies in Montreal. There’s also a strong theatre presence in the city, though, and there are lots of independent galleries and publications to get involved with.
(Nicola Kwit) The biggest downside to Montreal is the impending winter that the Starks keep yammering on about. As someone who struggles with that kind of weather, the idea of moving there kept me on my toes. The vibe of Montreal is amazing, but it is missing the hustle that I
feel artists can feed off of in Los Angeles. So which city does the young creative type pick? Personally, I’ve chosen Los Angeles, at least for the time being. Like I said, we need to go where the work is, and that’s what I am going to do. Pray for me.
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OPINIONS
Protecting Yourself from Data Breaches Just Got Personal Even if you aren’t being targeted, you’re always at risk of being hacked Alex Rodriguez | Web Manager Hackers may not be specifically targeting you, but if they are targeting a larger business or service that you use, you are still at risk of having your personal information leaked or sold to the highest bidder. Companies may claim that their online security is invulnerable but, in reality, that is not the case. While many companies do focus heavily on their security infrastructure, smaller businesses tend to lack the funds, knowledge, or awareness to do so. For the majority of you, your email account is the most important one to keep secure. This is because, if you forget any passwords on other online accounts, you can reset them using your email as proof of ownership over your accounts. If a malicious hacker has access to your email, they can shut you out from all of your online accounts, making it a breeze to impersonate you online. This would be akin to identity theft, with unimaginable potential damages to your reputation, work, communications with friends and family, or anything sensitive you keep saved on the Cloud or in your emails. If you have a Google account and want to quickly make sure you are the only one with access to it, there’s a nifty account activity and security page that Google provides to check the location, times, and device types of anyone who has logged in. One thing to note
here is that the city listed with your devices may not be entirely accurate, as it is estimated based on the physical location of your internet service provider. If it shows access from the next city over, you are probably fine, but if it shows access from a different country, it’s probably best that you change your password and manually revoke account access from that device immediately. When security professionals talk about the act of cracking passwords, they aren’t talking about opening a web browser and trying to sign into an account thousands of times. They are talking about making millions of attempts at decoding a string of text called a hash. A hash is a special type of encryption that websites use to store your password. It’s special because it is mathematically impossible to reverse this encryption, which prevents the company and their employees from being able to view your passwords. The only way to decode it is with a brute force attack. Brute forcing is when a hacker tries hashing every single combination of letters, words, numbers, and symbols until they are given a hash that is the same as the one found in the website’s database. Making sure you use long and complex passwords consisting of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and symbols will reduce your likelihood of being hacked. Once a hacker has breached a company’s security and starts downloading their databases, it will
(Leah Rosehill) only be a matter of time until they have your passwords. Having a stronger password will take the longest time for the hackers to crack, with the most complex passwords potentially taking months. This gives you time to adequately secure your account and change your password before it can ever be discovered. I highly recommend that you use different
passwords or variations of your passwords across all of your online accounts so that, if a single password becomes exposed, you don’t risk losing your other accounts. Educating your family and friends about the threat of data breaches as well as the precautionary measures they can take is an ever growing importance in the world we live in.
OPINIONS
13
Buck the Chilliwack Rodeo
Animal rights activists are correct to criticize rodeos for their inhumane treatment of animals Braden Klassen | Staff Writer Earlier this month, The Fraser Valley Animal Rights Association staged a peaceful protest at the Chilliwack Rodeo. The Association drew the support of actor and outspoken animal right activist Pamela Anderson, who called for an end to “rodeo cruelty in Chilliwack” on Twitter. The reason why the Chilliwack rodeo was singled out is because it continues to host events like calf-roping and steer-wrestling, both of which are considered to be less humane than other rodeo events because of the suffering they cause to animals. For context, the Cloverdale rodeo banned these events in 2007, after the Vancouver Humane Society publicly campaigned against them. But some say that’s not enough. Over the last decade, the public has been paying more attention to animals being used for entertainment, which has led to meaningful change. It’s no longer legal to include elephants in circus acts, or to capture cetaceans for the purpose of keeping them in aquariums or performing at places like SeaWorld. Banning events like the Chilliwack and Cloverdale rodeos seems like the next logical step. Rodeos are exploitative by nature. In them, animals are used as a source of entertainment, and in the process they are exposed to levels of fear and stress they would not have experienced otherwise. You’re kidding yourself if you think the reason a bronco or a bull
is frantically thrashing around is because it’s having a great time playing in the mud with a person clinging to it, repeatedly kicking it in the ribs. These horses and bulls are not the wellgroomed star athletes that rodeo culture presents them to be. They’re animals being thrown into situations specifically designed to scare them for our amusement. It’s sadistic. One of the arguments that rodeo-lovers raise in response is that the animals used are treated well compared to general livestock. Veterinarians constantly and meticulously monitor the health of rodeo horses and bulls to ensure that they are fit enough to be used in competition. However, this does nothing to mitigate the pain and fear they feel in the moment, and it doesn’t guarantee that they will leave the rodeo injury-free. The VHS found that, since 1986, at least 60 horses have been killed at the Calgary Stampede in chuckwagon races alone. I have been to a few rodeos before, and I'll admit that it can be a thrilling experience. The fun of watching an unpredictable event alongside thousands of other spectators, the classic conflict between humans and nature presented in a gladiatorial stage, the danger of contending with a 1,500 pound animal going berserk—it can be exhilarating. It’s also much more affordable than Cirque du Soleil or catching Drake at Rogers Arena, and in an age where live entertainment is becoming more and more expensive, it’s nice
(@RESLUS) to avoid ponying up hundreds of dollars for a few hours of fun. Still, it highlights one of the more baffling aspects of people's attitudes towards the treatment of animals: how we decide which ones deserve their rights protected and which ones we're happy to ignore and let suffer. In 1970, British psychologist Richard Ryder coined the term “speciesism”, referring to the tendency to arbitrarily discriminate against certain species regardless of its capacity for
intelligence. People would be shocked if rodeo calves were replaced by golden retrievers, for instance, despite our collective agreement that both species have the ability to experience suffering. There’s a reason why animal abuse is illegal. If the sight or thought of a panic-stricken animal desperately running from someone trying to force it to the ground and tie it up doesn't disturb you on some level, maybe you should ask yourself why that is.
Talking About the Orcas Won’t Be Enough to Save Them Recent news about suffering killer whales should incite us to take action Ashley Hyshka | Community Reporter Last month, my boyfriend and I vacationed in Victoria for the first time. While sailing to Vancouver Island, I peered over the edge of the ferry at the ocean below, silently wishing to see a black dorsal fin breaching the surface of the water. Though I didn’t see one, it got me thinking about how much we really care about B.C.’s orca population. The number of orcas who inhabit the waters off the coast of the Pacific Northwest has dwindled to only 75, and there have been no new births documented since 2015. The risk to this already endangered population has made worldwide headlines. An orca named J-35 carried the body of her dead calf around with her for 17 days straight. Her mourning had many on social media comparing her actions to those of a bereaved human mother grieving the loss of her baby. Many commenters shared their own personal stories of dealing with the loss of their young children and how they empathized with J-35. Another orca named J-50 made headlines due to her emaciated and sluggish state. CBC reported that researchers attempted to feed the three-year-old orca chinook salmon and injected her with antibiotics in an attempt to save her life. When it comes to helping these animals, I urge you to take your advocacy beyond lip service. Rather than claiming to care about the southern resident orcas, take action.
There are several things one can do to help protect this population, the most important of which is learning more about them. Did you know that killer whales are not whales at all, but rather the largest members of the dolphin family? Killer whales are apex predators and among the most intelligent creatures on Earth. Their lifespans rival that of a human’s. Most populations live in highly complex social structures called pods, many of which—including the southern resident population—are matriarchal in nature. The southern whales’ primary food source is salmon, but according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “chinook salmon stocks are currently lower than historic levels, putting Southern Resident killer whales at risk for decreased reproductive rates and increased mortality rates.” One thing we can do to address this is supporting salmon restoration efforts. Fisheries and Oceans Canada suggests that Canadians learn where orca habitats are in their area, which activities are destructive to them, and how they can “reduce their impact in these areas.” They also encourage reporting marine mammal incidents like injuries, entanglement, or harassment to their tip line. The Wild Killer Whale Adoption Program, orchestrated by the Vancouver Aquarium, provides the unique opportunity to “adopt” an orca. From these donated adoption fees, 70 per cent directly funds research initiatives on killer whales.
(Flickr/Christopher Michel) Go whale watching off of British Columbia’s coast to appreciate these remarkable creatures in their natural habitats, not in a tiny concrete tank. Keep in mind that noise from vessel traffic can disrupt orca communications, so when out on the water, keep your
distance or try land-based whale watching. You say that you care about the welfare of the southern resident killer whale population— but are you prepared to prove it? We must act before the population dwindles to zero.
14 COLUMNS
Artist Spotlight: Smithy Ramone With her solo debut, Lauren Smith hopes to lift a lifelong curse Aly Laube | Editor in Chief As much a nod to Joey Ramone as it is a means of self-discovery for Vancouver musician Lauren Smith, the debut of Smithy Ramone promises to deliver an energizing burst of bop-along punk. The EP, Cursed, will come in a zine that follows the ill-fated life of Smithy Ramone, a leather-clad bassist who learns from a psychic that she’s being flanked by two dark energies who followed her from a past life. How Smithy handles this revelation is the theme of the zine and the EP, a package deal that will be distributed from Canadian comic stores and shows of the local band Jock Tears, Smith’s other Vancouver project. “There is a thin veil between Smithy Ramone and Lauren Smith. This book does follow closely what went down this last fall and winter,” she says. “There’s some big stuff that goes down that is a little out of this world, but that’s kind of what makes it fun.” The story of the bassist who discovers that she’s cursed truly did originate from Smith’s own life. Over the past few years, she has seen psychics in three different cities only to receive the same bad news. When she met the first of them in 2012, she was told that she was a “real bad dude who murdered his love” in a past life. “Then she said I have a curse in my love life,” says Smith. “And I was like, ‘Well, this is horrible,’ and she’s like, ‘Don’t worry, I can heal you. Tonight I’ll meditate on you.’” When the first healing didn’t work, the psychic said that she would need to light one white candle per day for 60 days—for the price of $10.00 per candle—to lift the curse. “I was like, ‘Uh, cheque please! I’m out of here. I’ve gotta go,’ so I left,” she says. “But I left with this rain cloud over my head, like,
‘Well, shit. Now what do I do?’” She turned to the internet, hoping to rid of the curse herself, to no avail. Then, on two later tours, she was told that she was cursed by psychics in Toronto and San Francisco. Having recently lost her job of 10 years, her bandmates who moved away, and her confidence in being able to live a curse-free life, Smith decided to go solo. Smithy Ramone came to her for the first time just under a year ago as a means of expressing “feeling cursed, feeling hopeless, [and] exploring songs about failed relationships.” The zine and EP also tell the tale of how Smith found her favourite leather jacket, which she picked up at London’s Camden Markets while travelling with a band. When she got home, she realized that she had left her jacket in a living room in Brussels. “I was so heartbroken and I woke up one day and I wrote this song, venting about my leather jacket, and I was like, ‘I’ve actually just got to go back and get this thing,’” she says. “So I wrote the comic book. I wrote pretty much the whole record …. Got my leather jacket, put my jacket on, and went back home.” Naturally, this experience inspired a song on the EP entitled “Magic Leather Jacket.” When it comes to the sound of her debut, Smith says she was inspired by “the simple sweetness of Joey Ramone [and] the threechord love song.” She also wants to emulate the non-stop, high energy performance style of The Ramones, despite performing her set as a solo artist, and the tenderness of artists like Buddy Holly and Julie Doiron. Cursed will be released twice: once in Brussels, where her 100 copies were printed, and once in Vancouver, where she’ll hold a release show in October. It will also be available digitally and through cassettes.
Lauren Smith of Smithy Ramone in her magic leather jacket. (Aly Laube)
Afterthought: What Proportional Representation Means for B.C. Overhauling the electoral system will likely bring sweeping changes to the province’s political landscape Braden Klassen | Staff Writer On Oct. 22, eligible B.C. voters will receive voting packages that will allow them to determine whether the province will drop its current electoral system—first-past-thepost—and adopt a new system of proportional representation. This is the province’s third attempt at electoral reform, following similar referendums posed in 2005 and 2009, both of which failed to pass. Though the specifics of implementing PR are a little complex, the idea behind it is very simple: voters should have more individual agency to choose who represents them in government. FPTP sometimes works against this, granting parties power disproportionate to the number of votes they received, and failing to represent the views of voters because of where they live. A major argument against PR is that it increases the chances of creating minority governments that need to form coalitions to be effective, which slows down the processes of passing legislation. That’s probably true, but FPTP isn’t especially effective at preventing minority governments either. FPTP has resulted in 13 minority governments over the course of Canadian history, including three consecutive minority governments which lasted from
2004 until 2011. B.C.’s current government is an example of a productive minority that works despite political disagreements, and John Horgan’s support of PR signifies that the NDP is willing to continue working with the Green Party in the future. The amount of power given to the Greens provides the strongest example of how FPTP can work against similarly-minded voters spread across a large area. In the 2017 election, the Greens received about 332,000 votes, representing 16.8 per cent of B.C. voters. However, because Green voters are more geographically spread out than Liberal or NDP voters, they only ended up with three seats in government out of a total 87. This means that because of FPTP, 16.8 per cent of voters in this province are only represented by 3.4 per cent of MLAs. Those three seats represent a little over 41,000 people, meaning that, if 290,000 voters across the province had thrown their votes into the garbage instead of a ballot box, the election outcome would still be the same. Because of FPTP, the voices of 290,000 people were completely ignored. Smaller parties like the Libertarians and Conservatives, as well as independent candidates, would also have a much stronger chance of being elected. This would diversify the options for voters who are disillusioned
The political landscape of B.C. may change dramatically if proportional representation is implemented. (Braden Klassen) with the larger parties. While outspoken critics of PR like Bill Tieleman argue that it would open up the possibilities for extremist parties to gain power, taking a look at B.C.’s political climate suggests otherwise. The Libertarian, Conservative, and Christian Heritage parties of B.C. were the only other parties that received more than 1,000 votes each in the last election—a
drop in the bucket compared to the Liberal and NDP parties, which received almost 1.6 million votes combined. If you have strong feelings about B.C.’s voting system and how it defines our democracy, consider participating in the upcoming referendum from Oct. 22 to Nov. 30. It has the potential to make lasting changes to B.C. politics.
PROCRASTINATION HOROSCOPES
Sagittarius
Capricorn
Aquarius
You’re taking names, sure, but you’re not doing much with the names that you’re taking.
If you’re feeling sick maybe you have a demon inside you. You can always swallow a snake to find the demon, and then the snake will eat the demon and you won’t be sick anymore, but then, yeah, how do you get the snake out?
Hack your toaster to access interface options that were disabled at the toaster factory for being “too wicked.”
Pisces
Aries
Taurus
You trusted me to have good opinions and I have instead today presented you with a nefariously bad take. You have been S C A M M E D.
You are the leader that Papa John’s needs right now.
Play it cool. Remember your training. Lie about having a “work thing” and hope your ever decreasing circle of friends doesn’t spend the whole night making fun of you in absentia.
Gemini
Cancer
Leo
Go to the crossroads at the centre of town. You will find a man with a birthmark on his face the exact shape of East Timor. Go to East Timor. You will find a man with a birthmark on his face the exact shape of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Go to Bosnia and Herzegovina…
Eat cheese and live forever. Eat cheese = never die.
When will you invite Waluigi to this party? How long must we suffer without our horrible purple spaghetti man?
Virgo
Libra
Scorpio
After all your great success, your various honours and accolades, the one legacy you leave on this earth will be a faded plaque that reads “met many dogs.”
Any stupid shit you say can sound legit if you have enough friends agreeing loudly with you.
These horoscopes were not intended to refer to any one person directly, Beatrice.
Nov. 23 - Dec 21
Feb 20 - Mar 20
May 21 - Jun 20
Aug 24 - Sept 23
Answers to last issue's sudoku
Dec. 22 - Jan 20
Mar 21 - Apr 19
Jun 21 - Jul 23
Sept 24 - Oct 23
Jan 21 - Feb 19
Apr 20 - May 20
Jul 24 - Aug 23
Oct 24 - Nov 22
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