NOVEMBER 13, 2018 VOLUME 11, ISSUE 6 KPU’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Learn in London, Rome, Barcelona, or Marrakech KPU's field schools can take students to these cities and more next year
NEWS
KPU Administration Considers Offering Bachelor of General Studies Degree
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CULTURE
Slamapalooza Competes in Canadian Festival of Spoken Word
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OPINIONS
The Lack of First Aid Equipment at KPU Could Prove Deadly
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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
Production Manager
Sarah Kraft production@runnermag.ca
Graphics Editor
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NEWS
KPU Admin Considers Offering Bachelor of General Studies By 2020, Kwantlen Polytechnic University may be accepting students for its first Bachelor’s degree in general studies, the concept for which was endorsed by the university’s Senate at the end of October.
CULTURE
Slamapalooza Competes in Canadian Festival of Spoken Word The KSA released $6,400 from its budget so that the four poets could attend the spoken word festival, and so that the team’s coach, Simon Massey, could support them in the competition.
FEATURES
Students Can Learn in London, Rome, Barcelona, or Marrakech Field schools give students the opportunity to advance their education in beautiful, unfamiliar places, and next year Kwantlen Polytechnic University is offering four of them to choose from.
OPINIONS
The Lack of First Aid Equipment at KPU Could Prove Deadly
“I wound up having to go across the street from the campus to a little pharmacy and had to buy needles from them,” says Whitehouse. “[The first aid staff] basically told me, ‘We can’t do anything to help you.’ If they can’t provide basic care, then what are they there for?”
Kristen Frier graphics@runnermag.ca
HASHTAG KPU Web Manager
Post on Twitter or Instagram about or around KPU and you could be featured!
Alex Rodriguez web@runnermag.ca
Operations Manager Scott Boux office@runnermag.ca 778-565-3801
CONTRIBUTORS Yuta Anonuevo Thomas Buecking Fernando Cilento Lisa Hedmark Tristan Johnston Nic Laube Jessica Limoanco Samantha Mayes Sobia Moman Kayci Roy
COVER BY Samantha Mayes
Arbutus 3710/3720 12666 72 Ave. Surrey, B.C, V3W 2M8 778-565-3801 www.runnermag.ca Vol. 11, Issue no. 6 November 13 // 2018 ISSN# 1916 8241
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 recognizes 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 EDITORS
Conservatives shouldn’t fear a perceived liberal bias in student media Connor Doyle | Managing Editor In my time with The Runner, I’ve had the good fortune to work with a lot of talented young writers. Most frequently, I enjoy reading stories from students who can write with both passion and contemplation, who can read extensively on a topic before delivering an opinion that is at once fiercely held and well-informed. All students are capable of delivering stories like this, though there is one group whose opinions I’d like to hear more often: conservatives. Truth be told, though our newsroom is teeming with writers of varying backgrounds and differing ideologies, we do largely skew left in our beliefs. While it would be shockingly easy—and more than a little cliche—to chalk this up to an inherent liberal bias in student media, I can tell you firsthand that that’s not the case. In fact, most editors of campus newspapers I’ve spoken to say that they long for well-read, reasonable conservatives to provide complimentary or dissenting opinions to their regular coverage. But here’s the crux: Nobody’s looking to publish problematic shit. Now, I’ll be the first to say that “problematic shit” does not wholly belong in the realm of the conservative—plenty of racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic things come out of the mouths of liberals. If student newspapers have any sort of bias it’s not for liberal thought, but for socially conscious or progressive thought, which is not and should not be a partisan thing. As former Runner editor Tristan Johnston is often heard to say, there’s nothing about wanting small government or balanced economies that should make one opposed to women’s rights or same-sex marriage. Unfortunately, the “conservative” opinions that are most often pitched to us are
NOV. 15
Curatorial Studies students in the fine arts department invite you to attend this event, which will feature a video screening, an art exhibition, and a popup art display. 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm,
KPU Surrey Spruce Gallery, free.
NOV. 16
MOVEMBER DODGEBALL The Runner and its readers would benefit from hearing the opinions of thoughtful, well-informed conservative writers. (Kristen Frier) not about politics; they’re about petty oppositionalism. Rather than taking a critical eye towards the promises of the Liberal Party or discussing the financial realities of opposing the pipeline expansion, we get pitches about how the “white man” is under siege on campus, or how “snowflakes” are ruining the country. Occasionally we get pitches based on hateful bigotry, but the less attention paid to those views, the better. Conservative writers shouldn’t see themselves as the devil’s advocate. Their job should not be to challenge liberal bias, but to provide their unique take on any given subject, regardless of whether or not they hold a minority opinion. Like all writers, they need to start by reading up on the topic they’d like to write about, filter that information through their own distinct worldview, and then convey their take to the reader in a thoughtful way. Student newspapers would benefit from publishing more of this type of conservative writing. I’m sure our right-leaning readers would like to see their views reflected in the
paper, and our left-leaning readers can learn more from the arguments they disagree with than they can from the ones repeating their own opinions ad nauseam. For conservative writers thinking about getting involved with The Runner, we would love to have you. We would benefit from having your opinions in the paper, but consider modelling yourself after Andrew Coyne rather than Margaret Wente. If you’d like to read some KPU-centric conservative opinions, I’d recommend searching through our website for Tristan Johnston’s work. In the last year he’s written pieces on cultural appropriation and free speech that are both well-informed and leave room for peaceful discord between level-headed people. I don’t always agree with Tristan’s work, but as an editor, I don’t have to. I only have to make sure his writing is responsible and relevant for our readership, and Tristan’s stories always are. It’s a pleasure to disagree with him, and if you’re sensible and credible in your writing, it’ll be a pleasure to disagree with you too.
International Students Discuss Success, Challenges at Spotlight Seminar Panel Five of KPU’s international students spoke as part of a panel discussion at the Surrey campus on Oct. 31. The discussion centered on each student’s unique experience with coming to Canada to study. One key takeaway from the event was that the panelists—each from a different country— were drawn to Canada because of its diversity. Most of them had heard that it was possible to feel accepted in Canada due to the many cultural communities already established here. The panelists also spoke about the challenges they have faced while studying abroad. One panelist, Heo Yun Young, said she had a difficult time reading and writing in English and, like many international students, had to work on her language skills every day. Fernando Cilento, a panelist from Brazil, feels that instructors should check in with international students more often to help them adjust to their new life in Canada. Like Young,
WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS MONTH CURATORIAL STUDIES PRESENTS:
NEWS BRIEF
Sobia Moman
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he believes that many international students may not feel comfortable in class because they typically are not wholly familiar with the language in which they’re being taught. Arshdeep Boparai, an international student from India who attended the panel, echoed Cilento’s point. She feels that both instructors and students should make an effort to help international students feel more welcome in the classroom. Although she enjoyed her first two years at KPU, she also has a hard time affording the high cost of tuition while still achieving good grades in school. Another panelist, Gunjanpreet Kaur, spoke about how, after she arrived in Canada, she was “totally by [herself] and had no contacts and no relatives” to make the adjustment easier for her. This struggle was difficult for all the panelists, and they predict that the same is true of many other international students. Salvadoran Panelist Roberto Leiva, too, talked about his struggle with being alone and about overcoming certain difficulties without
the support of another person. Through this, he says that he “learned more about [himself] and others” and is still “widening his perspective” on all aspects of his life. Daniel Cole, a panelist from Nigeria, said that his most significant challenge as an international student is balancing school and work. He was not familiar with this lifestyle when he was in Nigeria, and says that while adjusting was difficult, he eventually “got used to how to manage [his] time.” Another major concern mentioned at the panel was the financial pressure that international students feel when paying for tuition at KPU. Cilento addressed this issue as being “the biggest challenge for [him] and probably a lot of [international] students.” He says that he “really admires international students” because of the sacrifices that they make to be at KPU, adding that “families are struggling as well” to support their kids financially.
Active KSA and KPU Sports and Rec. are teaming up once again to host a dodgeball tournament in honour of Movember. Prizes will be awarded, so don your game face—moustache and all—in order to win the tournament! 4:00 - 7:00 pm,
KPU Surrey Gymnasium, free.
NOV. 20
KPU TRADES AND TECH CAREER FAIR
Are you looking to find a job in the trades industry? Visit KPU’s Tech campus to meet with employers and learn about the various employment opportunities that await you. 10:00 am - 2:00 pm,
KPU Tech, free.
NOV. 20-23 REVIVE YOUR SPIRIT WEEK
KSA Indigenous representatives past and present are hosting a series of events on the Surrey campus to help revive your weary spirit. The events will create safe spaces for Indigenous students to take care of themselves and meet with other members of the student body. Various times,
KPU Surrey, free.
NOV. 22 BELLYDANCE CLASS
Every Thursday, the KSA’s Science and Horticulture representative is offering you the chance to learn the delicate art of bellydancing. 12:45 - 1:45 pm,
Birch 250, free.
NOV. 23
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE DISCUSSION
As part of Restorative Justice Week, take some time to learn about how restorative justice can address and prevent sexualized violence within post-secondary institutions. 6:00 - 9:00 pm,
KPU Surrey Cedar 1205, free.
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NEWS
KPU Administration Considers Offering Bachelor of General Studies Degree If established, the program will largely target adult students who have taken a “non-linear path to education” Aly Laube | Editor in Chief By 2020, Kwantlen Polytechnic University may be accepting students for its first Bachelor’s degree in general studies, the concept for which was endorsed by the university’s Senate at the end of October. Separate from the Bachelor of Arts, Major in General Studies degree that’s already being offered, the Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) is specifically designed for “those who have taken a non-linear path to education or have extensive work experience and wish to complete a Bachelor’s degree,” according to the program concept in the Senate minutes. The concept further clarify that the degree is “particularly targeted to KPU students, adult students over the age of 25, and transfer students who do not currently have a degree.” Diane Purvey, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, says that she has been thinking about introducing a BGS at KPU for a while. When Faith Auton-Cuff became an associate dean in 2016, she “took up that charge and has been the one working on it since then, and has been shepherding it through its various processes,” Purvey explains. “One thing we want to make clear right now is that it’s a concept,” she adds, noting that the proposed paper still needs to be approved by the KPU Board of Governors in January before program development can be considered. After the approval, it will have to go through the province’s Post-Secondary Institution Proposal System, where it will remain available for public commentary for 30 days. From there, the university will respond to the comments made on the document and move onto putting together the final program proposal.
“We’re happy about this, we’re excited about it, but we’re very respectful of the fact that there’s still a lot to do and a lot of approvals that need to happen,” says Purvey. The future of the program is looking promising so far. Auton-Cuff says that there has been “full faculty consultation” on the concept paper for the BGS, and that it has been approved by all of the Dean’s councils. When it reached the university’s Senate, there was only one comment made on the document before it was approved unanimously. The defining factor of the BGS degree is that it is intended to be accessible to wider demographics than the average KPU student, with a particular focus on adult learners. “We suspect that most of the students will be older, who do have those experiences and credits from other programs, who will come in here to complete their degree, and those are not necessarily the students we have right now,” says Purvey. A memorandum of understanding between KPU and Thompson Rivers University developed around two years ago has allowed the university to offer competency-based learning, which requires an arts advisor to assess students for having their prior educational and professional experience transferred into credits. Students can also use prior learning assessment on a course-by-course level if their portfolio is approved. “Because of prior learning assessment, KPU look at this body of work and [it] will be evaluated for credit,” explains Auton-Cuff. “[The university] will then say—maybe given the amount of credit that has been awarded with my body of work thus far—how many credits do I still need to do to actually end up
Diane Purvey, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and Faith Auton-Cuff, Associate Dean, are hoping to implement a Bachelor of General Studies degree at KPU. (Aly Laube) completing a degree?” She adds that the Bachelor of General Studies will give students a tremendous amount of flexibility to choose which courses they take to meet their degree requirements. “The wonderful, beautiful thing about this is that there’s no new curriculum,” says Auton-Cuff. “It’s really based on curriculum that has already been developed by faculty
and approved by faculty councils, and so students have a choice of a huge, vast array of courses.” A student sub-committee of the faculty council, which has also just been developed, will also be reviewing the project proposal when it is prepared. Until then, KPU administration will be reviewing, consulting on, and revising the proposal for the degree.
KSA Previews Draft Budget for 2019
The VP Finance and Operations discusses the potential changes from this year’s budget Braden Klassen | Staff Writer At a council meeting held on Oct. 26, the Kwantlen Student Association reviewed the preliminary details of it 2019 budget. KSA VP of Finance and Operations Joseph Thorpe presented the draft budget to council, indicating a few of the changes made so far and speaking about what students can expect to see from the association’s finances over the upcoming year. It will be a while until the final budget draft is complete, and any of the adjustments discussed in this article are subject to changes. Some notable differences between this year’s budget and next year’s include an increase in funding for the student union building budget from $306,000 to $353,000, as well as an increase in funds for the Steve Nash Fitness World membership under the Multipass program. Through the KSA Multipass, students can have access to $5.00 monthly passes to Steve Nash Fitness Worlds in the lower mainland. Due to an increase in fees for this offer, the budget expense grew by $60,000 for the membership, totalling at $460,000, though revenue from the sales of the pass offset that cost. “Member services tracks how many students buy it. We actually run out of passes [fre-
quently],” says Thorpe. “We buy a bulk amount of passes and we always eventually run out. It’s such a huge discount, so people go crazy for it.” The $47,000 allocation for SUB funding will go into a restricted capital fund that covers various building costs as well as the salary of the future project manager. “Now that it’s rolling and the SUB is coming, it’s a bit more relevant because this was untouched for years,” says Thorpe. KPU students will be able to review the budget and contribute to its adoption at the KSA Annual General Meeting in the spring. Thorpe says that student feedback and input about the document is important, and he has been tabling across all campuses to engage students as part of the consultation process. He adds that he will continue to reach out to students until the budget is finalized, and that they are welcome to approach him with feedback or suggestions. “You want student input. I’m a student too, and I want to ask, ‘What do you want?’ This is your money. I want people to email me or come meet with me,” he says. Several minor changes were also made to the budget, including merging the line items for KSA-led events with other events as well as providing extra funding for the peer sup-
Due to an increase in membership fees for Steve Nash Fitness World, the KSA raised the Multipass budget by $60,000. (Kristen Frier) port program. The START volunteer group will be receiving an additional $2,000 for volunteer appreciation and another $1,000 to fund training. There will also be an increase in financial support for student orientation initiatives due to an expected five per cent increase in student intake. A line item for funding KSA executives’ attendance at the Northwest Student Leadership Conference was changed to accommodate travel expenses to an annual Canadian
Alliance of Student Associations conference. “[The NWSLC] wasn’t very useful for personal development, so the execs said, ‘This is not worth the cost,’” says Thorpe. “So then we changed it to the [funds for attending] CASA, depending on if students agree to join in the referendum.” Funding for this was increased from $7,000 to $8,000, which Thorpe says could cover the cost of two or three students attending CASA-hosted events in Ottawa.
CULTURE
Slamapalooza Performs in National Competition Members of the KPU slam team went to Guelph to perform with poets from across the country Kristen Frier | Graphics Editor Attending the Canadian Festival Of Spoken Word (CFSW) is a longstanding tradition among poets from across the country. The annual festival is held in a different city each year, and for 2018, poets gathered in Guelph to compete against one another. They also attended workshops, panels, and showcases designed to help them hone their craft. The team sent by the Kwantlen Student Association to represent KPU’s monthly slam competition, Slamapalooza, has four team members: Chelsea Franz, Tawahum Bige, Mariah Negrillo-Soor, and Ainslie Glass. They came in 14th overall—a pretty impressive placement considering that the team didn’t have as much time to prepare for attending the festival as they would have liked. Naaz Sidhu was originally the fourth member of the Slamapalooza team, but was unable to go to Guelph and unfortunately had to step down. A slam competition was held in October to find a fourth member, as teams need at least four poets in order to qualify for CFSW. Mariah Negrillo-Soor won the impromptu competition and joined the team just in the nick of time. “She handled it beautifully,” says Franz, regarding the stress of being added to the team at the last minute. “She stepped up so well!” “Hopefully next year we can have a team that forms with enough time to practice as much as the Toronto Poetry Slam,” adds Bige. The team from Toronto ultimately won the national competition, and although Slama-
palooza wasn't able to take home first place, they did place higher than the UBC Slam, their local competitors. “I was amazed by how Slamapalooza worked together,” says Bige. “We had mostly new poets, and some who hadn’t competed a lot still managed to fully memorize poems.” Franz, Bige, and Negrillo-soor are all students at KPU. Glass, however, is a high school student attending Burnsview Secondary and is only 16 years old. This is not unheard of for Slamapalooza; the team has brought younger individuals along with them before, specifically from Burnsview Secondary. Glass says that “CFSW was the most inspiring and empowering event [she had] ever taken part in.” “I’m so grateful to Kwantlen for giving me this opportunity,” she adds. The KSA released $6,400 from their budget so that the four poets could attend the spoken word festival, and so that the team’s coach, Simon Massey, could support them in the competition. Bige emphasizes that the team feels “so much gratitude to the KSA for funding [the] trip and letting student leaders rep KPU in the national poetry scene.” The intention behind sending the team to a festival of this calibre is, in part, to create a community between like-minded creatives so that they can share ideas and create new works. KPU’s poets feel that they were able to enjoy this during this year’s Canadian Festival of Spoken Word.
From left: Naaz Sidhu (previous slam team member), Ainslie Glass, Chelsea Franz, and Tawahum Bige. (Yuta Anonuevo) “It was very eye-opening,” says Franz. “I have a lot to apply to the work I’m doing at Kwantlen now.” Bige also took part in the festival’s Underground Indies, a four-round, head-to-head competition. 24 of the top poets pay $50 to enter, with the winner taking all the money and earning bragging rights. Bige was one of the top six poets of the Indies, making it to the third round. “I am very proud of our team and hope to be a part of this again next year,” he says.
Instructors from the brewing program came in second for their 50/50 German wheat beer Braden Klassen | Staff Writer
From left: KPU Brewing instructor Martina Solano Bielen, lab instructors Jon Howe and Derek Kindret, and instructors Dominic Bernard and Alek Egi. (Submitted) fermenters,” says Kindret. “Early in the summer, we started brewing wheat beers. Our main inspiration for this beer style was our collective love of Hefeweizen as a group of brewers.” He adds that, after their first batch of 50/50 Hefe, he and the other brewers agreed that they were “onto something.” “We tried to design the recipe after a traditional Hefeweizen, with a grain bill of at least 50 per cent wheat malt, hence the 50/50 name,” he says. At least 10 other alumni from KPU’s brewing program were involved in creating award-winning beer entries, including five which took first place in their respective categories. “Why I think this is a huge success for us—
KSA Indigenous Reps Hope to “Revive Your Spirit” in Late November Kristen Frier | Graphics Editor
KPU Brewing Takes Home Silver Medal from the B.C. Beer Awards KPU’s Brewing and Brewery Operations program has recently been recognized by the BC Beer Awards for their entry in the German wheat beer category. Brewed by lab instructors and program graduates Derek Kindret and Jon Howe during the summer months, the “50/50 Hefe” was awarded second place out of several entries in the popular category. The German wheat beer, also known as a Hefeweizen, beat every other submission in the province except for the Sundown Hefeweizen by Sundown Brewing Company Ltd. Hefeweizens typically harbour light and sweeter flavours like banana, cloves, or even bubblegum, and avoid bitter flavours. This often leaves them between 10 and 15 international bitterness units (IBUs), which is relatively low. “It was unfiltered and hazy with a higher amount of carbonation, which is typical of wheat beers,” says Kindret, who graduated from the program in April. KPU Brewing and Brewery Operations Chair Alek Egi says that the BC Beer Awards are considered the most important and prestigious awards in the province. There are more than 150 registered breweries in B.C., many of which submit a number of entries for different categories. This year alone there were more than 1,000 submissions to the competition. “When we were designing recipes for the BC Beer Awards, we based some of our decisions off the yeast we had in stock and in the
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winning something like a provincial award—is because we only have one shot at it,” says Egi. “We make one batch and then we send it to a competition, so it’s not something that we can continuously brew and keep improving.” The beer was in such high demand after it received the award that they quickly ran out after serving it to attendees at the event. Unfortunately, there is no more left for those who were interested in tasting it. “Our batches are relatively small, and this beer was brewed a couple of months ago. We saved a small keg for the awards ceremony, and of course we won the award and the beer was popular so we ran out,” says Egi. Kindret adds, “On a hot summer day nothing beats a good Hefe.”
A lot of post-secondary students feel overworked. This can seriously affect their overall academic performance and, more importantly, their mind and body. To address this, the Kwantlen Student Association’s Indigenous Students Representative, Sarah Strachan, along with former Indigenous Rep. Samantha Davis, are hosting a series of events from Nov. 20 to Nov. 23 entitled “Revive Your Spirit Week.” The festivities will be strategically taking place right before final exams to give students the opportunity to take care of themselves during a particularly stressful period. “When Samantha brought this up we thought it was a really great idea,” says Strachan. “Especially since it’s the week before final exams are starting.” There will be a workshop on the first day from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, during which Davis will show participants how to press their own bath bombs. A mini drum decorating workshop will take place on Nov. 21 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, and on Nov. 22, students will learn how to make their own essential oil rollers from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Finally, on Nov. 23 from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, there will be smoke signals followed by a hangout where the KSA will do their first authorized smudging session. “I don’t know if it’s been done before,” says Strachan, regarding the smudging on campus. The need for self-care is particularly relevant to Indigenous students, which was factored into the planning of this event. As the Facebook event for Revive Your Spirit Week states, “Indigenous peoples statistically have shorter life spans than non-Indigenous peoples. One of the causes of this is the unfortunate event of suicide.” Because of this, the events taking place as part of Revive Your Spirit Week are intended to encourage students—Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike—to pay attention to their physical and mental wellbeing. Throughout the events, snacks will be provided by the KSA in the Aboriginal Gathering Place on the Surrey campus. “Honestly, I’m just excited about the whole thing,” says Strachan, adding that the KSA hopes to continue engaging students with these types of events in the future. For students itching to get involved beyond Revive Your Spirit Week, there will be a cedar bracelet making workshop on Nov. 26 and a lunch coming up on Dec. 4 to mark the triumphant end of the semester. To find out more, check out the Revive Your Spirit Week page on Facebook or follow the KPU Aboriginal Gathering Place on Facebook to keep up to date on upcoming events.
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FEATURES
KPU Students Can Learn in London, Rome, Barcelona, or Marrakech Through field schools, they can study food, design, art, and culture in cities around the world Aly Laube | Editor in Chief
Field schools give students the opportunity our relationship to it better.” contemporary art exhibition, held once every If that doesn’t appeal to your taste, so to to advance their education in beautiful, unfatwo years as a showcase of the best of global miliar places, and next year Kwantlen Poly- speak, you can consider going to Barcelona contemporary art.” and Marrakech. In these two locations, stutechnic University is offering four of them to With each of these trips comes a study-atdents will explore the most impressive archi- home component on KPU campuses. During choose from. If you’re interested in learning about holis- tecture in the cities, including the Sagrada this period, the field schools will feel like the Familia and El Badi Palace. tic food systems, you can travel to Rome, the first few weeks of a normal course, albeit with The school website reads, “Through these Eternal City, to meet with experts in food and more anticipation and excitement than you agri-business design (of course, you’ll be able excursions we will gain insight into contextu- might find in an average classroom. Prices al and cultural history of the regions, as well vary for each, but there are several scholarto visit wineries, cheese production labs, and olive oil consortiums too). This one will be as personal, community, and global issues ships available to students who need them. taking place from April 20 to May 4 this year, related to design and the built environment.” If you’re interested in reading about those, and applications are open until Dec. 15. Applications for this are open until Dec. 1, check KPU’s “Funding Your KPU Global Iryna Karaush, a KPU instructor and and the trip lasts from May 1 to May 16. Learning Experience” page online. researcher in food design, has spent years The nature-based Amazon Field School is Dorothy Barenscott and Elizabeth Barnes studying how to avoid food-based crises. This back again this year. For anyone compelled by are running the London & Venice Biennale pursuit brought her to Rome, where the field the idea of immersingthemselves in the jun- field school together, but it isn’t their first school’s host, an international food study gle, paddling down rivers, and taking a break time teaching abroad as a duo. They also organization called Gustolab, is based. from modern technology, this might be the brought art students to Paris and Documenta “We’re looking at food systems from the per- program for you. The Runner wrote about it in 2017, which they said was a huge success. spective of design, agriculture, and business in December of last year and spoke to Farhad According to Barenscott, many of the stu… and with Gustolab, [students] can see what Dastur, an instructor for the program. dents who participated in that field school happens in the world with food design and “It’s going to bring you back to a much have gone on to graduate and thrive in their food research and what it takes to save the more ancient place that humanity has always arts careers, claiming that they were inspired planet, basically,” she laughs. “A simple task!” known but very recently has forgotten,” he by their experiences studying abroad. They will also study the slow food move- said. “I just believe that these kind of expeBarenscott, who specializes in contempoment based around “local food, local tradi- riences are really powerful, transformative rary art, is particularly interested in the art tion, and how to reduce the footprint of the experiences in a student’s educational jour- market. Barnes is a studio painter inspired commercial food industry." ney, and I want to be part of that.” by late modernist 60s abstractions who also “It originated in Italy, basically in Rome. According to Dastur, some of the concepts teaches drawing. What happened was it was a resistance to they explored as part of past field schools “Our curriculum is London art, post-war, commercial food, because the comfort food include “problems of climate change, of hab- which will begin with the pop art movement that comes from chains and commercial food itat loss, of cultural extinction with Indige- in London, which actually began in the late was overclouding or pushing away farmers nous peoples in the Amazon, of how we can 50s,” says Barnes. and local food, which Italy didn’t want to tol- balance stability with economic developBarenscott adds, “Most importantly, we’re erate,” she says. “That’s a movement we have ment.” Unlike the other three field schools up looking at the intersection between the now experienced in Vancouver.” for grabs after the new year, this program is worlds of art, the worlds of fashion, and the Slow food isn’t all they will be studying, only available in 2020, but those interested worlds of consumerism and music.” however. Karaush sees food as a unique medi- can reserve their spot online now. Most third-year fine arts students will um, and as such, there is plenty of room to Making its first appearance at KPU this already be qualified for the two courses being year is the London & Venice Biennale field offered through the field school, although explore within it. “You can see fashion through food. You can school, which will whisk students away into “strong first and second year students” will also see social relations through food so easily. the world of fine art and globally renowned be considered if they prove that they can write You can see how we’re connected and how museums and exhibitions. From June 1 to at a third-year level. The instructors highlight we’re disconnected with our cultural food,” 20, the group will spend time in London and that “the most important is a willingness to she says. “I think that should be the key point: Venice, studying contemporary and classic travel and a degree of independence,” as those artists and eventually attending the Biennale, in the program will have most evenings free to to explore the culture, to explore the city, and most importantly to see what we’re missing described on the field school’s website as explore and learn on their own time. in our culture, what can make our food and “the world’s most anticipated and attended “The course is sort of the anchor, meaning
that Elizabeth and I work through the ideas raised in this course both within the context of the art history class and then when it extends into studio,” says Barenscott. “But the act of travelling and seeing actual works is something that you cannot compare to studying in a classroom.” She adds that “most students sign up for art field schools not thinking so much about the exhibition, but that’s usually the thing that ends up being their favourite event.” “You might sign up for London and Venice as a bonus, but you might find Venice is the thing that blows your minds the most,” she says. Barnes adds, “You might find going to the museums, knowing this art history and having it fresh, and then going to Venice and then seeing what’s going on right now is really great.” Students tend to choose to go to London in particular because of its identity as an “incredibly dynamic and fast-changing city.” With the impact of Brexit still resonating in England, and constant demoviction, gentrification, and construction similar to what can be seen in Vancouver causing stress and disruption among citizens, it is also a city in transition. “There’s a ton of interesting conflict and anxiety in the city, and as a result fantastic art is being produced to respond to all of these shifts and changes in London. London is also one of the centers of the art world,” says Barnes. Applications for the London & Venice Biennale field school close after Jan. 31. A maximum of 25 students, including those from both in and outside of KPU, will be accepted, and those who would liked to go are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. To find more information about the cost of attending each of these field schools, contact an instructor or determine whether or not you’re eligible using guidelines laid out on KPU's website. Good luck and bon voyage!
One of Banksy's art pieces in the streets of London. (flickr/Tim Fuller)
Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is an impressive architectural landmark that will be visited by field school participants. (Flickr/Luca Zappa)
Students who embark on the Rome field school can visit the Colosseum. (Flickr/Storm Crypt)
When in Rome, students can also enjoy the city's decadent wines and cheeses. (Flickr/Brandon Newendorp)
On Nov. 5, Dorothy Barenscott and Elizabeth Barnes provided information to fine arts students about next year's London and Venice Biennale field school. (Kristen Frier)
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FEATURES
Dropping the Myth of Objectivity in Journalism Two student journalists discuss the causes and perception of media bias in the news Aly Laube | Editor in Chief & Braden Klassen | Staff Writer After decades of vehemently defending the objectivity of the news, journalists are starting to talk more openly about their own biases. Two writers from The Runner had a conversation about why this is only starting to happen now, how journalistic biases can be claimed by ethical journalists, and what makes dropping the objectivity myth important. Aly Laube: People are talking about fake news. People are arguing a lot about what the truth is, whether there’s such thing as objective truth in the media that you can trust, how you can identify good journalism—all of those things have been talked about for a long time, especially since Trump started publicly attacking journalists. As journalists, we kind of have to acknowledge the fact that we carry our own intrinsic biases, and that there is no such thing as complete objectivity in the news. It’s something that we talk about a lot in journalism school but I don’t think a lot of people do talk about that. I think there’s this idea that journalists are frauds because we claim to be objective even though it’s very clear that we’re not.
What do you mean when you say “bias” when it comes to journalism? What is bias to you? AL: The way that we see the world as people influences what we see in the stories that we take, what we see as valuable in the world. If I were an upper-class, straight, white man who was very invested in economics and understood economics and came from a family that valued those same things, I might have very different political beliefs, and I would support totally different policies because my values would be different, so I would likely cover those stories. Braden Klassen: I think you have a good point when you say that it comes from your own background. I think, for a lot of people, their idea of bias is more geared towards somebody having an agenda, and I don’t think that necessarily is always the case. Like you said, you can only write well about what you know, and just because you’re writing about a specific topic doesn’t mean you have some specific intention or motivation behind that. It’s just what you’re capable of doing.
Do you think journalists can be objective at all? AL: I don’t think objectivity exists—not really, especially not in the media. There’s so much information out there that you have to be selective in what you present to your audience. By the very action of deciding what is and isn’t important, that’s a subjective decision. You can’t really escape that. Which quote you think is most impactful, that’s subjective. Who you choose to talk to is subjective. All these things you put together for an article depends on how you see things, where you place value, so I don’t think it’s really possible. I think journalists should strive for objectivity and strive to not allow their biases to inform their writing altogether, unless it’s an opinion piece, but I don’t think a completely objective article is even possible. BK: I agree. There’s a difference between the objectivity of facts and how those facts are rep-
(Jessica Limoanco) resented. The process of taking a fact and turning it into something that you can communicate to people inherently introduces subjectivity to it. You can have a story with three facts and it’s the simplest thing to write, but you still have to introduce order to those facts. You still have to present them in some kind of linear fashion, and that alone is your decision. So as journalists, we always have to be trying to be as close to the truth as possible in our reporting, but it’s never possible to do it with 100 per cent certainty. AL: Statistics, numbers and figures, and the ways that they’re presented, those things can be manipulated. Most people see those things as facts because, technically, it’s true. You ask five people, "Yes or no?" and three said yes and two said no. That’s a fact. But the questions you ask, the way you present that, what you omit, the way that you measure things, that’s also all kind of subjective. That also influences the way that you would read that information. BK: There are articles like, “Millennials have higher issues with mental health,” and it could be because incidents of people reporting their problems has grown, as opposed to there being some sort of epidemic of mental health problems. People could just be more open about it. It’s the same thing with sexually motivated violence and hate crimes—higher rates of reporting do not necessarily indicate higher rates of occurrence. It's just that people are more likely to talk about it. It’s the classic mistake of confusing correlation with causation, and it’s easy to manipulate and present as “evidence.” How has the portrayal of journalistic biases changed over time? AL: Journalists being attacked and forced to defend themselves recently has kind of segregated the media in a big way. The reporting that’s being done about Trump and about his government has sort of forced people to be up front about their beliefs and to take a stance in opposing something. I think that’s easier for journalists now because he represents a threat to democracy for them, so they feel more comfortable with being outright about calling him names or saying, “This is a lie,” and putting their cards on the table. I think that an increase in diversity in the newsroom is a huge thing. Again, 20 years ago, you’re going to have mostly straight, white guys in the newsroom who are talking about issues that pertain to straight, white guys who don’t necessarily disagree with each other very often, whose readership probably isn’t going to disagree with them very often, and now there’s a lot more contradiction. By the sheer act of having so many different writers with so many different opinions in
the same workspace, that contrast makes the diversity of opinions so much more obvious. BK: I think people’s expectations of what the function of the press is has changed over time too. A dry delivery of facts, data, etcetera, that’s essentially what I think the news should be, but more and more people are being able to choose which sources they get their news from, which sort of writers they want to follow, which issues they wish to follow. Because of the digital age and advertising in media, newsrooms have had to adapt to that in order to survive and continue to make money. People are more critical, and assume that there’s some political slant to any sort of publication, which isn’t true, but it’s becoming more true as people make money off of that kind of stuff, like online subscribers. It’s becoming lucrative to regurgitate people’s opinions back to them and present that as news or truth or fact. I think that’s a departure from what the actual democratic function of what news is, but it’s also what’s keeping the industry alive, which can be frustrating. AL: What I think makes professional journalism so important is that there is a set of standards and principles that you have to follow. BK: Exactly. There are laws that support this in some countries, even. AL: Here in Canada, you can’t be libellous. You can’t deliberately go out of your way to slam somebody if there’s no basis, no proof. Journalists record their conversations. They make sure they have facts, or at least evidence of something being said if they’re going to quote it; having editors look at your writing to make sure that it reads well, that it’s accurate, and organized in an easily consumable way. These things are really important. Having a professional system to go through before an article gets published is really crucial. That doesn’t make it objective. It just makes it as objective as it can be. BK: We’ve got, on one hand, the BBC, and on the other hand we’ve got InfoWars. That’s kind of the difference you’re describing here. There are legitimate standards that journalists need to uphold, otherwise you can just say anything. Either way, you can make money from doing it, or gain popularity. People will actually take some things that Alex Jones says as fact, and it’s kind of dangerous. Is Alex Jones a journalist? AL: He’s not a journalist, I don’t think. I might call him a reporter. BK: He reports things. Who else is going to talk about the lizard people? We need him. We need the fifth estate. AL: He’s an engaged community member. That’s what he is. But if you’re going to be a journalist, you have to do your due diligence. That’s the entire point of going to school for journalism.
You learn how to be good at not running your mouth and misguiding people and misrepresenting information. Those are things you cannot do as a journalist. When I talk to people about this, as someone who works in a newsroom, I get frustrated sometimes because I understand how many different levels an article has to go through before it goes to print, and I think that a lot of the time the general public, especially in the fake news era, has this understanding of journalism that’s like, “Joe Schmoe goes to an event. He takes a few very selective voice clips. He goes back to his computer. He click-clacks for 20 minutes and then he presses ‘publish.’” That is really not the way that it works. I think people assume that individual journalists have the agency to say whatever they want, when in reality, it’s the individual journalist, it’s the many editors that they inevitably have, it’s their coworkers and peers that set those standards as well, it’s the people that they talk to, and it’s their training. There are so many other things that go into an article being published, and so many different steps to make sure that misleading things are not being published. BK: And your credibility is on the line too. It’s their job and they’re a professional. They gather facts and they verify evidence. AL: Exactly, because if you get found out as a journalist who’s publishing lies, your job is in the toilet. Now you don’t have a career anymore. Congratulations. You published one article that was fake and now you’re screwed. There’s so much care that goes into professional journalism. Most of the journalists I’ve met want so badly for their work to be good. They want to inform people in an accurate way. They want to be part of democracy. BK: And it’s competitive, too. AL: Super competitive. And you put so much work into it. Are people imagining that journalists are just a bunch of angry, nothingto-lose crazy activists? BK: Kind of—that they’ve got axes to grind and they sort of sit around all day thinking about how to shit on Doug Ford. I mean, I think I spend a little bit of my day doing that, but not all day. Just be honest. If it’s your opinion, put it in the opinion section. Don’t represent your opinions as facts. AL: You can totally write an opinion piece. Journalists write opinion pieces. If you do have an axe to grind, you can grind it. BK: Yes, but grind it in the axe-to-grind section, not in the nice, already-sharp-axesthat-don't-need-no-grinding section. This article has been edited for length and clarity.
OPINIONS
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Governments Need an Answer to Automation Countries without social safety nets face a serious risk as technology replaces jobs Tristan Johnston | Contributor In the lead up to the 2016 presidential election, when then-candidate Donald Trump toured the Rust Belt—the region of the United States most economically dependent on manufacturing and coal—he told citizens there that immigrants and regulation were taking away their jobs. He was wrong. Robots and energy yields were largely to blame. Jobs that are primarily accessible to high school educated citizens are vanishing due to automation. In some respects, this is a good thing. Some products will become cheaper, less humans will be at risk, and the environmental cost is likely to be lower, especially with less truckers on the road. However, telemarketers, fast food workers, cashiers, taxi drivers, and others are at great risk, and this could have a strange effect on immigration. Many immigrants arrive to North America with almost nothing, and rely on working their asses off in low-wage jobs so that their children can become doctors and engineers. Without those jobs being available, that experience may start to disappear. While nearly everyone reading this article is in university, or already has a degree, there’s a massive part of the population that simply can’t seek post-secondary education, whether due to economic limitations or other reasons. The political right will claim that you just need to work harder to succeed, but the kinds of jobs that allow you to do so are vanishing. The left will claim that you can train anyone to do anything with enough support, but that’s also wrong. Even Marx and Engels conceded that the absolute elimination of poverty isn’t possible.
Granted, not every automated job that’s created results in a human losing their job. Some critics worried that McDonald’s allowing its customers to order through touchscreen displays would leave people out of work, but instead it enabled workers already employed by the company to focus on keeping the restaurant clean and making sure food met quality standards. Doctors especially seem happy to adopt automation into the workplace, and not even for procedures. Many doctors in Canada and the U.S. are bogged down by paperwork, sometimes spending two hours with paperwork for every one hour with patients. Most doctors will tell you that they just want to interact with their patients. If they could have a machine that would take their notes and keep their records for them, they could be much more efficient. This is another example of how automation does not necessarily have to result in jobs lost, as long as governments prepare properly for its integration into the workforce. Governments need a response for this in order for their citizens to adapt readily. One option for them to consider is universal basic income, an idea which shows some promise, but is an economic pandora's box. Tests for how basic income could work have been done in small communities, as well as a pilot project in Finland, but the effects are still unclear. There’s also no agreement on what the specific model should be. Does everyone get a stipend? Just the poor? Even if we do find a properly socialized solution to deal with jobs vanishing, we still need to contend with the fact that human beings aren’t meant to sit around all day doing nothing.
(Nic Laube) Some governments are inherently more equipped to address the problem than others. In this sense, the United States is clearly one of the least prepared, with a complicated set of checks and balances, as well as a political culture that has been skeptical of government
solutions since the issuing of its Declaration of Independence in 1776. Countries with an acceptance of social housing, socialized medicine, and low-cost or free university are far more prepared. As are those with traditional cultures of artisanship, which robots can’t replace.
Stop Writing Stereotypical LGBTQ+ Roles TV writers aren't doing any good by forcing marginalized characters into their shows to appease audiences Kayci Roy | Contributor According to the GLAAD Media Institute, more queer characters than ever are joining the casts of some of today’s most popular TV shows. This means that members of the LGBTQ+ community can get excited about seeing someone who shares an identity with them on screen. However, accompanying this increase are even more negative and stereotypical depictions of LGBTQ+ characters throughout the media. In particular, many TV writers are utilizing stereotypes to create tokenized characters who only technically fulfill the audience’s demand for more representation. Shows like Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Sierra Burgess is a Loser depict stereotypes of gay men—with high-pitched voices and effeminate mannerisms who serve as the “gay best friend”—to easily fill secondary roles and falsely boost representation on the cast. Few shows have deviated from these conventions, but failing to do so leaves the impression that all queer people are the same. Ambrose Spellman (Chance Perdomo) from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is an example of a token character created solely to appeal to audience expectations of diversity. A new addition to the Sabrina the Teenage Witch story, the casting description for Ambrose calls for a man who is African-American or East Indian specifically, referring to him as
the pansexual cousin of the main character. Ambrose's ethnicity and sexuality are never made an important plot point in the show, and his character is largely based on the aforementioned gay best friend stereotype. He’s useful when needed and is fun and simple in personality, but can easily disappear when he isn’t helpful to the main character. Spellman’s creation was likely only for the purpose of satisfying audience demand for representation, and as a result his character feels flat and even unnatural in the show’s storyline. In contrast, Orange is the New Black is one of the best shows for its depictions of LGBTQ+ characters and their importance to the plot. Characters like Alex Vause (Laura Prepon), Poussey Washington (Samira Wiley), and Sophia Burset (Laverne Cox) are dynamic and significant characters. They are women exploring their sexualities and gender in ways that are realistic rather than stereotypical. The show’s writers have created interesting, informative, and empowering stories that don’t feel like the show is just trying to meet its diversity quota. Instead of forcing LGBTQ+ roles into scripts to complement the main character, writers and directors should be working harder to create queer characters that are interesting and have their own stories. Through these characters they can even explore issues in the LGBTQ+ community. A lot of people are unaware of the troubles that queer people face every day, but by relating these charac-
(Thomas Buecking) ters to the real-life struggles of the people in the queer community, TV writers can help create understanding for people who don’t have the first-hand knowledge. Any stereotype will be applicable to certain people of that community, but they should
never be seen as applicable to the community as a whole. Constantly perpetuating stereotypes places entire groups of people into very small boxes, making the increased amount of representation in TV yet another hurdle to climb over instead of something to be excited about.
10 OPINIONS
Politicians Unfaithful to Their Partners Will Likely Be Unfaithful to the Public Kayci Roy | Contributor It seems like infidelity, once a rare topic of discussion, now plagues our media. Whether it’s a famous politician, singer, or actor, being unfaithful to a partner has essentially been normalized these days. You can tell that the times have changed by comparing scandals from the past and the present. It took the world a long time to get over what happened between Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton, while rumors of Donald Trump cheating on his wife failed to surprise many people. That’s not simply because the public tends to expect these kinds of things from Trump. They just tend to expect it from anyone in power now. In smaller communities, however, claims of infidelity can be much more consequential, as in the case of musicians accused of cheating. Inside close-knit fan bases the voice of one upset person can easily make waves, but I believe that what happens in an artist’s private life should, for the most part, stay private. The same should not apply to politicians. If someone holding or running for a political office is found to be unfaithful, it makes sense to link their disloyalty to their life partners with their proclaimed loyalty to their work. Furthermore, whether or not their cheating is made public can determine whether they win or lose an election. Sexual affairs in celebrity relationships don’t have the power to impact the public like that. It’s also important to note that, when it comes to sex scandals, infidelity and sexual assault should be seen in two different lights. When a person commits sexual assault, action should be taken against them, whether they’re a common citizen or in a position of power. When someone steps outside of their monogamous relationship to have an affair with another consenting adult, it can cause a lot of emotional harm, but none of the parties involved are in danger and a crime has not been committed. Politicians like Trump shouldn’t be sitting in office if they have been accused of cheating multiple times. If they can’t stay faithful to the partners they have built their lives with, how can they be trusted with the fate of their country? We should recognize that infidelity only matters when it pertains to those who can change the way we live our lives. Politicians have the power to govern the economy, laws, and many other important aspects of society. Keeping them accountable for their actions shows that we won’t stand for our leaders sweeping their shortcomings under the rug, and that we expect them to stay faithful to the public that they serve.
Students Should Stop Romanticizing Sleep Deprivation I’m tired and it’s not okay
Lisa Hedmark | Contributor A study published last year by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) shows that the best way to maximize performance on final exams is to study and get a good night’s sleep. For students entering their midterm exam season, it can be difficult to identify if your classmates are suffering from exhaustion and sleep deprivation. Make sure to check in on your friends who seem distant or exhibit a change in their regular personality to ensure that they’re okay. As students, we need to stop romanticizing sleep deprivation and start taking care of ourselves and our tired friends. I’ve never experienced sleep problems until this semester, and the closer and closer midterms got, the more trouble I had focusing and falling asleep. This sleep deprivation led to increased anxiety and depression, as well as difficulty retaining the information that I’d just spent hours studying. I got to such a point of desperation that I contacted my family doctor for medication. Walking around the halls at KPU, you’ll often hear remarks like, “I only got three hours of sleep last night,” or “You slept? This is my second all-nighter.” Comments like these are even more common in the weeks leading up to midterms and final exams, but school work alone is not to blame for students’ lack of sleep. According to the AASM, “Among the rea-
sons for these changes in sleeping patterns are increased part-time working hours, pulling all-nighters to finish a paper or cram for an exam, and watching television at bedtime.” Turning your brain off after feeding it full of information can be difficult, but there are steps you can take to ensure you make it through exam season with sufficient sleep and time to study. The following tips are provided by the AASM to help students get the most out of their sleep: Go to bed early. Adults need about seven to eight hours of sleep each night. If you have trouble falling asleep, get out of bed and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy. Stay out of bed unless you’re resting. Don’t study, read, watch TV or talk on the phone in bed. Only use your bed for sleep. Limit naps and wake up at a reasonable time on the weekend. According to the AASM, it’s best to go to bed and wake up at the same times on the weekend as you do during the school week. You’ll also want to avoid caffeine in the afternoon and at night. It stays in your system for hours and can make it hard for you to fall asleep. Dim the lights in the evening and at night so your body knows it will soon be time to sleep. Let in the sunlight in the morning to boost your alertness. Take some time to “wind down” before going to bed. Get away from the computer, turn off your TV and cell phone, and relax quietly for 15 to 30 minutes. Eat a little, but never a large meal right before bed.
The best way to succeed in school is to get a good night's sleep. (Flickr/vic xia) Enjoy a healthy snack or light dessert so you don’t go to bed hungry. I was losing precious hours of sleep due to mental health issues, which ultimately led to fighting more with my partner, a loss in appetite, and persistent depression and paranoia. Unfortunately, sleep is not always something you can “catch up on.” It is a habit you build and maintain throughout the semester.
The Lack of First Aid Equipment at KPU Could Prove Deadly A diabetic student was left to fend for herself as her blood sugar levels rose on campus Kayci Roy | Contributor Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s lack of staff and proper medical equipment at its on-campus first aid office has the potential to be dangerous for students and staff with chronic illnesses. The experience that KPU student Tae Whitehouse had with the office on Sept. 18 shows that the university needs to take steps to ensure that everyone on campus can feel safe in case of an emergency Whitehouse has type 1 diabetes, a chronic disease which prevents her body from producing insulin, the chemical responsible for regulating sugar levels in the body. Because of this, Whitehouse has to wear a pump that administers the hormone into her system throughout the day. On the rare occasion that the pump stops working, she has a limited window of time to inject insulin before her blood sugar levels grow fatally high. On her way to class, Whitehouse noticed that her pump had failed and, estimating that it had been about an hour since she had previously injected insulin, knew there wasn’t much time to act. Unfortunately, running to the first aid office on campus didn’t help her. She had to wait for one of the busy first aid attendants to arrive, and shortly after was told that the office doesn’t carry insulin or syringes. “I wound up having to go across the street from the campus to a little pharmacy and had to buy needles from them,” says Whitehouse.
“[The first aid staff] basically told me, ‘We can’t do anything to help you.’ If they can’t provide basic care, then what are they there for?” According to a report by the Canadian Diabetes Association, one in four Canadians live with some form of diabetes. Without proper medical care, many students with diabetes could, like Whitehouse, be in danger. Materials that are as easy to obtain as insulin and needles should be available in the first aid sections in all schools and at public events to help diminish that risk. Medicine for diabetics isn’t the only thing missing from KPU’s first aid supplies. Painkillers like Advil or Tylenol and Naloxone kits are also unavailable on campus. Currently, students in pain are forced to travel to off-campus facilities to get the help that they need. Whitehouse encourages the university to consider how many of their students could be at risk without access to these kinds of treatments on campus. She predicts that there are more people who could urgently need medical attention at KPU than “a lot of people in charge realize.” “Something as basic as Advil or insulin syringes … is an absolute necessity for people who have medical needs,” she says. “Putting rules around basic medical care as a first aid centre for an entire university full of people with various disabilities and illnesses—that is super counter-productive for them to do.” Having to wait for a first aid attendant, as
The first aid office on the KPU Surrey campus is located across from the bookstore. (Kristen Frier) Whitehouse did on the Surrey campus, can also be hazardous. In situations where students require immediate medical attention, it can be perilous to be forced to wait. However, the first aid attendants who do work on the school grounds are often busy with some of the hundreds of students that spend time on the campus every day. In order to ensure the health and safety of KPU students, the school needs to recognize and implement changes to the first aid system so that those with health concerns can focus on their learning instead of wondering if they’ll survive a medical emergency.
COLUMNS
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Artist Spotlight: Jock Tears
Frontwoman Lauren Ray and bassist Lauren Smith talk playing punk with a soft side Aly Laube | Editor in Chief If any band in Vancouver puts the “fun” in “fundamental human rights,” it has to be Jock Tears. The band’s self-description as “sweet, mean, and everything in between” has proven to fit them nicely over the two-or-so years that they’ve been together. During that time, the band has stayed consistent with their approach to writing honestly about misogyny, funny stories from their lives, and the ever-present theme of making mistakes and laughing loudly and publicly at them. Those who have seen Jock Tears live know that, on stage, the group is all smiles. Lauren Smith beams from behind her bass, often breaking into laughter after playing the last note of one of their brief but bold songs. Dustin Bromley beats the hell out of his drums and Spencer Hargreaves thrashes with his guitar while a singing Lauren Ray tumbles, somersaults, and jumps around the room. She’s even been known to stage dive and climb up the sides of the venue, building permitting. This unruly energy is part of what makes Jock Tears so fun, and the vulnerability it requires of its members helps them stand out from the herd. Smith, Ray, Hargreaves, and Bromley have ditched the hard-as-nails persona expected of punks in exchange for unashamed, unadulterated, down-to-earth sensitivity. They’re not afraid to be silly and real with a crowd or to shout about how sexism affects them through energetic, experience-fuelled punk.
The members of Jock Tears during their Canadian tour last year. (Submitted) “We’ve kind of taken off our leather jackets and it’s just us smiling and bouncing around, even if we make a fool of ourselves,” says Smith. “We’re kind of letting ourselves be exposed by wearing a smile while we’re playing these songs, laughing after every song, giving each other a hug on stage.” “We want to write songs that are very honest and empowering and fun, but we also want some little rippers in there,” adds Ray. “We want to get a little nasty in there. We want to see this pit open up. We also want to see people shed a little tear. It’s fine. It’s all part of life.” Ray’s lyrics get straight to the point, with lines like “I’m really not trying to hear / You call me a sweetheart” and “Life’s a beach and
then you die / What is it with all these guys?” Her words are scrappy, blunt, and meant to be relatable rather than inherently political. “I’m just telling the truth as best as I can tell it. We all know what it’s like when people don’t take you seriously,” she says. “It’s about stuff that’s really upsetting a lot of the time, stuff that has made it so I can’t get out of bed some days. Then I can get out of bed and shout about it, and hopefully other people relate to it. That’s the best.” By “being a goofball and being a rascal” on stage, Smith says that Ray defies what many anticipate from a female-fronted band: a singer who is “hot and powerful or hot and yelling.” “I’m a big Riot Grrrl fan, but how cool is it to,
instead of pushing everyone away and being detached, bringing everyone in? Rush the stage. Somersault with us,” she says. “I think it’s harder to be warm and inviting and kind than it is to be detached and cool.” Jock Tears barrels through their two-minute songs, through everyday struggles against sexism, and through the expectations of what a so-called feminist band ought and ought not to be. With the release of their latest record, bad boys, the group is preparing to embark on a tour with Adrian Teacher and the Subs that will take them through Texas and California this March.
In Post-Election Brazil, Hate Overshadows Reason
“Us against them” narratives led to the election of Jair Bolsonaro Fernando Cilento On Oct. 28, Jair Messias Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party was elected president of Brazil with 55 per cent of valid votes. His opponent, Fernando Haddad of the Workers Party, left the race with only 44 per cent of valid votes. That’s a difference of about 10 million votes, though around 42 million people choose to give up their vote by either not going to the polls or by voiding their ballot. Similar to the 2016 race in the United States, this year’s election in Brazil was fueled by fake news and the demonization of opposing candidates. Supporters of both Bolsonaro and Hadded made the political climate on social media a hostile environment, spouting hate-driven moralistic speeches about how supporting the other candidate could lead to disastrous consequences. Bolsonaro, who openly spent his campaign publicly urging the "extermination" and “exile” of his opposition, became a victim of the same hate he grew infamous for inciting. On Sept. 6, he was stabbed during a campaign rally by a person linked to his opposition—an assassination attempt that almost cost him his life. All the hate driven towards Haddad, on the other hand, came from the public rejection of the Workers' Party. This came partly due to the economic recession that the country experienced during their time in power, and partly due to corruption scandals involving import leaders of the party such as Lula da Silva. Even with strong opposition movements to Bolsonaro, such as the #Elenao
(“Not him”) protests on Sept. 29, Haddad could not detach his image from the Workers Party stigma, which cost him his victory. To a large portion of the Brazilian population, the vote for Bolsonaro was an anti-establishment vote, even though Bolsonaro himself has made a living in politics since 1991. As an international student from Brazil, I have close friends who voted for him due to that belief. However, the biggest drive behind Bolsonaro’s popularity was his tough stance on crime, much like the one taken by Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines. In a country where almost 60,000 people were murdered last year, according to data retrieved from the newspaper Globo, it’s understandable how Bolsonaro came to o power, however dangerous history has proven his sort of populist speech to be. Authoritarian regimes have always gained force by feeding off of chaos, from the Italian fascism of Mussolini to the Chilean regime of Pinochet. On a personal note, I find the idea of a person like Bolsonaro being Brazil’s president frightening. I have always voted and will continue to vote against any politician that endorses torture, execution, or dictatorships regardless of their ideological position or party membership. When, in 2014, I took part in protests to the actions of Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party, I was hit by gas bombs. But I was not tortured, exiled, or killed, as were members of the opposition during the period of Brazil’s military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985—a period which Bolsonaro has exalted in recent years.
Brazil's newly elected president, Jair Bolsonaro (Flickr/Jeso Carneiro) As for the Brazilian left, they too are to blame for Bolsonaro’s election. Haddad’s campaign media was mostly spent likening Bolsonaro to Hitler and otherwise labelling him a fascist, creating even more fear and division, as if the political environment there wasn’t already saturated by both. This only helped Bolsonaro consolidate his own right-wing narrative of being the antithesis of the left. I myself am very disappointed with the Workers Party leaders for failing to articulate a response to the rise of Bolsonaro, by insisting on Haddad's candidacy—even though they were aware that he was being rejected in earlier polls—just to maintain their historical position as hegemonic leaders of the Brazilian left. If space had been given to center-left can-
didates such as Ciro Gomes (Democratic Labor Party) or Marina Silva (Rede), whose polls proved that they had a better chance of beating Bolsonaro in the second round, the election outcomes could have turned out differently. As for whether Bolsonaro is going to be a new version of Augusto Pinochet in South America, it is still too early to say. I have to admit that the past few weeks in Brazil look like something out of a George Orwell novel. However, the most important task at hand for Brazilian people now is to find a way to live with and respect each other despite the outcome of the election. It is a healthy, democratic right to oppose an elected government. We all can do that without manifesting prejudice against those who think differently.
PROCRASTINATION HOROSCOPES
Sagittarius
Capricorn
Aquarius
A comprehensive list of things to do in Vancouver when you’re dead: 1) haunt the Georgia Viaduct, 2) possess Nardwuar.
Assert your dominance by referring to your friends exclusively by their student ID numbers.
You will become unspeakably rich when you pen Taylor Swift’s next big hit: “Drag Me, Jabronis”.
Pisces
Aries
Taurus
There exists a man known to the world only as “Big Jim.” All the magazine writers fear this man, as he is a master of the figure four leg lock. I regret to inform you that you have just become the latest entry on Big Jim’s Patented Shitlist.
Based on a quick study of your astrological symbols, you were born in the back of a boxcar in 1890, the son of a feral dog and a haunted phonograph.
This week you will be the target of multidimensional Luciferian beings as a form of divine punishment for the time you said Baphomet could “eat your entire ass.”
Gemini
Cancer
Leo
CNN is now reporting that you are a “low rent toadie,” and NBC has confirmed that you’ve been described by multiple sources as having “no life whatsoever.” The world is watching.
You will forgo the cash prize to see what’s behind door number two. But there is only infinite nothing behind door number two. No door number two in fact exists. There’s never been a door number two and it doesn’t look like there’s such a door in the making.
When you finally get your hands on that Hattori Hanzo sword you will become more powerful than that dishonourable manager at Walgreens could have ever imagined.
Virgo
Libra
Scorpio
After your third meditative vision, you will begin developing romantic feelings towards a goblin that vomits mac & cheese.
Beware the octopus devil of the trees! The terror of all the loggers and the forest rangers.
The almighty eye at the epicentre of the universe is fixed squarely on your contemptible head, pilgrim. Give it a show before it blinks.
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SUDOKU
Look for the answers in the next issue of The Runner.
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