The Runner: Volume 8, Issue 11

VOL-08-ISS-11

Feb-16-2016

Feeling the Bern since 2009

NEWS

KSA Debates

Candidates discuss the issues before this week’s election CULTURE

Inside the Farrier Program

“You have to be crazy to be in this program” FEATURE

Fashion School Confidential

We spotlight three fashion students preparing for the big showcase in April

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

Table of Contents

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News |KSA All-Candidates Debate 04

Kwantlen Polytechnic University will not let the Kwantlen Gaming Guild book the social justice space until further notice. In the meantime, KGG members, whose club often books the social justice space (Birch 208) on Tuesdays from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., have been instructed to move their gaming paraphernalia and activities to the smaller, adjacent room, Birch 206.

The Runner is student-owned and operated by Kwantlen Polytechnic University students, published under the Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society.

Arbutus 3710/3720 12666 72 Ave. Surrey, B.C, V3W 2M8 778.565.3801

Culture | A look inside KPU’s Farrier Program 06

www.runnermag.ca Vol. 08, Issue no.11 Feb. 16, 2016 ISSN# 1916 8241

Have you ever sat on Santa’s lap and asked for a pony? Well, you might not get to bring the horses home with you, but in Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s farrier program you’ll learn to care for horses’ hooves by trimming their nails and making horseshoes for them.

The Runner recognises that our work, both in and out of the office, takes place on unceded Coast and Strait Salish territories, specifically the shared traditional territories of the Kwantlen, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Sto:lo and Tsawwassen First Nations.

Our name is inspired by the hun’qumi’num meaning of Kwantlen, which is tireless hunters or tireless runners. Just as Kwantlen is adaptable and changing so is The Runner.

FEATURES | Meet Your Candidates for the 2016 KSA Election 10

Candidates looking to be elected to the Kwantlen Student Association give you their best pitch on why they deserve your vote. Find out who’s running for what position and where they stand on the major issues concerning you.

CONTRIBUTORS Preet Hundal Danica Johnston Braden Klassen Viktoria Kampbell Aly Laube Monica Mah Renée McMillen Nat Mussell Kyle Prince Mike Zhao

OPINIONS | Compass Card Tracking May Put Women’s Safety at Risk 15

Every time you use your Compass Card, it tracks and logs your information. The name and location of every SkyTrain station that you enter or exit, and the identification number of every bus station you tap in and out at is recorded by TransLink and this information is made available for you to view afterwards via your online account.

COLUMNS | Science Explained: The Zika Virus 17 Earlier this month, the World Health Organization declared the Zika virus a global health threat, stating that microcephaly and neurological disorder incidence in newborns in Brazil “constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.”

Artist Bio Kwintin is a long time reader first time contributor to The Runner. As Kwantlen’s resident anthropomorphic eagle mascot and number one dispenser of team spirit Kwintin knows the struggles associated with being a really big bird. In an inspirational twist he started making art to make sense of the unending, kafkaesque nightmare that is his life as an Eagle thing. This cover is his first creation.

STAFF

Executive Editor

Coordinating Editor

Tristan Johnston editor@runnermag.ca

Samantha Thompson deputy@runnermag.ca @sampthompson

Photo Editor

Managing Editor

Production Editor

Percy Yeung production@runnermag.ca

Staff Writer

Geoffrey Nilson

Connor Doyle managing@runnermag.ca

photo@runnermag.ca

Art Director

Danielle George art@runnermag.ca

Web Editor

Yaunna Sommersby web@runnermag.ca

Kier-Christer Junos k.junos@runnermag.ca @kierjunos Operation Manager

Scott Boux office@runnermag.ca 778.565.3801

Editorial

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From the editor

Student Politics and You

News Briefs KPU upgrades Richmond campus crosswalk in response to safety concerns Kris Krüg/Flickr

Tristan Johnston

COORDINATING EDITOR

Last year, around this time, 473 of you showed up to vote at your student elections. Keep in mind that Kwantlen Polytechnic University has around 18,000 students enrolled across four campuses.

If my enrollment figure is accurate, that means we had a dismal voter turnout of three per cent. And I’m rounding up.

Of course, that isn’t to say that KPU students are averse to attending ballot boxes when they’re in our hallways. A few months ago, over 2,000 students voted to keep our U-Pass. Does this mean that our U-Pass provides a more tangible service than our student association?

You should vote in the next student elections because these people are elected, by you, to handle a portion of the money

that you pay when you sign up for courses. This money is in the millions, and it’s used to fund clubs (when it’s not being cut), various student activities, and improvements to quality of life. In addition, these students represent your interests when in discussions with KPU administration, as well as KSA lobbying efforts to lower student debt.

For one, the Kwantlen Student Association funds the inter-campus shuttle, though this comes from the multi-pass fee along with your U-Pass. Another is the Grassroots Cafe in the Cedar building.

In terms of clubs, the KSA is who clubs go to when they need money. The Kwantlen Gaming Guild asks them for money to facilitate events, and KMUN—before being disbanded—would ask them for tens of thousands of dollars to send members across the globe to participate in conferenc-

es. KSA executives and staff members are in paid positions, and the KSA also sends them to conferences across North America.

What the KSA doesn’t provide you with is KPIRG and The Runner, though that money does have to get passed to us through them. KPIRG lends a big hand in the annual KDocs festival, and they sometimes invite speakers to talk about social justice stuff. The Runner, under Polytechnic Ink Publishing Society, publishes the newspaper you’re currently reading, as well as Pulp, our arts and literature magazine.

However, I think that the biggest reason to care about student politics at KPU lies in the history books.

In 2011, KPU became the laughing stock of universities around the country when we had to deal with a host of illegal activity taking place within the KSA. It turned out that family

members of KSA reps that ran in 2005, who allegedly were funneling student money into their own shell companies, ran in 2011 and won. These family members then dropped the suit that the KSA was pursuing against the embezzlers.

It all came to a peak when a successful special general meeting was organized to kick the corrupt KSA out, though there was pepper spraying and fire alarms being pulled. In the end, no charges were ever laid against the former reps.

You might be like me from two years ago, coming to KPU only to attend my classes and go home immediately after, your only concern being your degree and seeing your friends. Regardless, I implore you to take a few minutes out of your day to learn about who some of these people are. If you see anyone here you don’t trust with your money, let them know at the polls.

what’s up this week (FEb. 17 – feb. 25, 2016) with Kier-Christer Junos

Weds, feb. 17

Fri, feb. 4 & Sat Feb 20

fri, feb. 19

Music@Midweek

KDocs Film Festival

Eagles versus Camosun College Chargers

Three musicians walk into a Langley campus auditorium. Take your lunch to Langley and catch a performance from singer Heather Pawsey, violinist Janna Sailor and harpist Albertina Chan.

Spend the weekend like a hipster Ponyboy and check out KPU’s official documentary film festival at the VanCity theatre in Vancouver.

Watch the Eagles throw the Chargers out of the nest on Surrey Campus. Women’s game starts at 6 p.m., men’s at 8 p.m.

Caaaaw.

12 p.m., be there.

Screenings at 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m., and 5:30 p.m.

Tickets are $5 per film plus $2 for admission, keynote address and panel discussion. Festival passes are $20.

Sat, feb. 20

mon, feb. 22

weds, feb. 24

International Mother Language Day

Social Media Presence Workshop:

Black History Month Symposium:

Sign up at arts@kpu.ca.

Event runs from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 24 and 25. Free admission.

Celebrate linguistic diversity and multilingualism on Saturday. There will be performances and visual displays for languages including Hul’q’umi’num’, Cree, Punjabi, Tagalog and Cantonese.

From 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Bear Creek Pavilion, 13750 88th Avenue Surrey.

Greg Chan will help you discover the power of your online persona. The first day is social media profile basics, and the next two are populating the profiles and launching a landing site.

Students and staff get in free. Adult admission is $5, non-KPU student admission is $2.

Celebrate Black History Month in the Surrey campus conference centre! There will be a panel discussion, drumming sessions, and a storyteller from African Stages will spin a yarn.

Kier-Christer Junos STAFF WRITER

Richmond campus students can walk a little easier now that the southwest crosswalk at Landsdowne and Kwantlen street includes a pedestrian-controlled light.

The upgrade is a response to the safety concerns posed by the crosswalk, which Kwantlen Polytechnic University identified a few years ago. For example, a student was previously injured at the crosswalk according to Karen Hearn, KPU’s executive director of facilities.

“It was directly after that coming to our attention that we made our approach to the city,” says Hearn.

Prior to adding the new pedestrian-controlled crosswalk, Hearn says the city had installed extra-large signage and painted new stop lines as extra visual cues for drivers.

Crosswalk lighting has also been improved, and some of the adjacent hedges were trimmed for better visibility.

“We just really encourage people to abide by the new crosswalk … and take the extra moment and be safe,” says Hearn.

The crosswalk cost $130,000, and those costs are shared equally between KPU and the City of Richmond.

News

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KSA Hopefuls Debate Major Issues in Anticipation of Election

Candidates argued over space and student engagement, hoping to win over voters Connor Doyle

MANAGING EDITOR While the American public continues to be inundated by a legion of politicians duking it out on television amidst the RNC and DNC primaries, Kwantlen Polytechnic University students got their own taste of political warfare in the form of the Kwantlen Student Association All-Candidates Debate.

The event, which was hosted

by The Runner and moderated by our Staff Writer and Coordinating Editor, took place on Feb. 11, exactly one week before the general election polling which will determine which of the candidates are elected. Roughly half of the candidates filtered into the Surrey campus conference centre throughout the day to engage their constituencies in the hopes of gaining a seat on council.

Though styled as a debate, the event took the format of a town hall discussion, where candidates

were allotted a set amount of time to introduce themselves to the audience and share their ideas on how to improve the KSA. Questions were fielded from those in attendance as well as via Twitter.

A live stream was available for students who could not make it out the the debate but still wanted to inform themselves prior to voting.

As with last year’s debate, a major topic of discussion was the need for student space on campus. Several students, as well as the Kwantlen Public Interest Research Group, tweeted at the candidates inquiring about the creation of a safe space, defined through conversation as an area on campus that’s wholly inclusive and free from stigma for marginalized groups.

Other student organizations, such as the Kwantlen Gaming Guild, used the discussion of space to reintroduce the idea of a long-desired clubs room, asking the candidates if they would “advocate for [a] dedicated clubs

Geoffrey Nilson space on campus.”

John Shkurtaj, who is running for a spot on council as a School of Business representative, made reference to the administration’s recent attempt to mitigate the problem of available space on campus by arguing that Kwantlen “needs to be more transparent with their information on the allocation of space.”

Shkurtaj himself is an executive of the Gaming Guild, along with Surrey campus representative hopeful Tanvir Bal. During his portion of the debate, Bal was asked about the KGG receiving complaints for appropriating the social justice space in Surrey for

KSA office and space renovations cost about $800,000 so far Student association lounges were overdue for upgrades Kier-Christer Junos STAFF WRITER

The Kwantlen Student Association has spent approximately an accumulated $800,000 across all four campuses on student association office and space renovations, according to Dec. 2015 budget actuals.

These costs are part of several ongoing renovations on KSA spaces across all KPU campuses, renovation costs incurred since at least 2012.

Student association president Allison Gonzalez says that many of the spaces had not seen much work since

Geoffrey Nilson

the 1990s and that students were not often using them.

KSA vice-president of finance Waheed Taiwo says the KSA has spent around $210,000 on Surrey campus and about $60,000 in upgrades on Richmond campus according to unaudited figures. He adds that they’ve also spent up to $140,000 in Langley and $80,000 on the Cloverdale campus.

The Surrey campus costs were more expensive because much of the KSA’s service infrastructure is on Surrey campus. Some other costs include the hiring of a project manager from the university, who has been on

club events. Bal used the opportunity to announce his resignation from the Guild, though as of press time he is still listed on the KGG website as the group’s Vice President.

This line of questioning was seen by some on Twitter as an attack on the KGG. Shortly after the debate had concluded, KPU student Connolly Twaites tweeted, “Really sad/scared to see the KGG, which makes me feel safe, get attack during the [debate].”

Another subject raised during the event was the need for increased student engagement.

Some cited a lack of effort on the part of previous KSA councillors

to raise awareness of the association’s ability to offer services for students. Others, like Shkurtaj, argued that the nature of Kwantlen’s on campus culture needed to be improved to allow for a more invested and engaged student body.

Every position on council that is currently being sought in the election was represented by at least one candidate in the debate, with the sole exception of the Women’s representative. Students will be able to vote for their preferred candidate on February 18 and 19 at any of KPU’s four campuses, and the nominees will be announced shortly thereafter.

KSA releases $4,000 for upcoming KPU golf tournament They sponsored the lunch

payroll for about two years.

Since the upgrades, Gonzalez says the KSA spaces have become more popular. The student association has added new furniture in the Richmond campus KSA lounge, for example, and relocated some of its older seating arrangements to other spots on Richmond campus, like outside the library.

Taiwo says that audited figures, on these projects and more, should be available in late March, in time for presentation at the next KSA annual general meeting.

Kier-Christer Junos STAFF WRITER

The Kwantlen Student Association has sponsored the sixth annual Kwantlen Polytechnic University Foundation golf tournament, one of the university’s largest annual fundraisers for student bursaries.

The student association released $4,000 from the “other awards” budget line item in their earmarked bursary funds to sponsor the lunch portion of the event. But a footnote says the line item is reserved for new awards as directed by KSA council.

KSA vice-president finance Waheed Taiwo says that money is still raising funds for student bursaries at the end of the day, and that’s why it’s appropriate to have released the money from those earmarked funds.

“Of all the fundraisers they do hold, this is the one we’ve always chosen to be partners in. It is one of the best levels of help for students because of the amount of money that they’ve raised,” says KSA president Allison Gonzalez.

The tournament has raised over $245,000 since its inception.

Danielle George

Culture

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Documentary on Vancouver Aquarium Incites Controversy The Aquarium rebuts, “It’s not grounded in truth” Aly Laube

CONTRIBUTOR The Vancouver Aquarium refers to itself as a “conservation organization that Canadians look to for science and facts on important issues,” but according to a recent documentary

by Gary Charbonneau, they’re failing to live up to that title.

The film, Vancouver Aquarium Uncovered, attacks the aquarium for its unfair treatment of marine mammals. It has been screened for free on Kwantlen Polytechnic University campuses and other small venues around British Columbia, as well as by theatres in Kelowna, Toronto, and Victoria. All donations given to the film, online or otherwise, “go directly to ending the cruel practice of captivity.”

“The Vancouver Aquarium can no longer call themselves a conservation centre when they have a 90 per cent infant death rate,” says Charbonneau, in regards to his findings.

“That’s absolutely unprecedented and unacceptable. If the Vancouver Aquarium was in charge of the oceans, everything would be extinct.

That’s how bad it is, and it’s not something that first started fifty years ago.

This has never changed, and there’s no suggestion that it is changing.”

While filming, he also discovered that the aquarium “didn’t allocate a penny to the marine rescue centre, which they admitted requires more

Ross G. Strachan/Flickr infrastructure,” even after receiving $100-million for an expansion.

In response to public outcry, the aquarium published a blog post stating that Charbonneau, “deliberately created an inaccurate movie that misleads the viewer.” In it, they detail each of their conservation efforts, reassuring the reader that, “these animals are well cared for and are not the ones in trouble.” Rather, it is the wild cetacean population that is truly in peril, hence why they will continue to keep some of those rescued in captivity.

Other highlights include their re-

fusal to purchase imported belugas and dolphins from drive fisheries, as well as plans to expand and improve their infrastructure. A link to their annual report is also provided at the end of the post.

The cause of death for any of the four belugas who have passed away in the aquarium’s care are not specified in the report. According to Charbonneau, the reason is clear regardless.

“The evidence is quite conclusive that it’s captivity itself [that is killing the whales],” he comments. “These animals are not meant to be in small,

concrete tanks. They’re meant to be in their own pods where they have support and they’re learning.”

“That’s what we’re pushing for with the aquaria. If they need to go to the marine mammal rescue centre because they need to be in a facility with constant monitoring, great.

They can start out there, but having them in the ocean where they can be rehabilitated properly would be much more conducive to recovery.

Those that can’t go back into the wild could still dive deep and move around. That’s all we’re asking the aquarium to do.”

As for what they’re asking of the public, Charbonneau suggests contacting the park board or aquarium and suspending support immediately.

“In the United States, the only reason SeaWorld is having to answer for the misdeeds they have spread is because of public pressure,” he says.

“I’m not asking people to stop supporting an innovative marine science centre. I’m asking them to suspend their support for this aquatic circus.”

tion, we’re hoping that candidates who are passionate about each of those realms can step forward to take the leadership opportunity available at KPIRG,” says Hosein.

“We’re looking for somebody with strong leadership skills who can facilitate the actions of the board.”

Hosein further notes that KPIRG needs directors for financial, student life, community affairs, anti-oppression and board organizer portfolios.

When asked if any previous board members were running again,

Hosein didn’t want to say anything for certain.

“I really couldn’t say,” he says.

“Nothing definite though . . . I know there are a few people in the KSA right now that are interested in running for KPIRG when we have our elections. To my understanding, there won’t be any discrepancies or conflicts with respect to each of our bylaws and regulations.”

KPIRG to seek new directors at AGM Nomination period announced Tristan Johnston

COORDINATING EDITOR

The Kwantlen Public Interest Research Group, the umbrella social justice organization at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, is seeking new directors for its 2016/17 year.

They’ve now put out the notice of the nomination period, according to Richard Hosein, the administrative and resource coordinator for KPIRG. There will be nomination packages available for pick up in the Social

Justice Room, which is located in the Birch building on Surrey campus.

These packages will also be available online. The nominations period will run from Feb. 10 to 24, and the KPIRG annual general meeting will take place on Mar. 10 at noon.

As far as advertising goes, KPIRG has purchased an advertisement in this issue of The Runner, and put notice out on their Facebook pages, which is just short of 500 likes as of press time. Hosein also says that they will be putting up posters around

campus to advertise the nominations period.

The successful nominations will turn into board positions at their next annual general meeting, where the society will aim to make bylaw changes, such as increasing the number of board positions from five to seven. They’ll also be bringing in live music in a hope to boost attendance.

KPIRG will need 50 students in the room to make these changes.

“Overall, we’re a social justice and environmental justice organiza-

KPIRG 2nd Annual

AGM & Elections General Election Nominations open February 10, 2016 at 10:00am Nominations close February 24, 2016 at 4:00pm

Thursday, March 10, 2016 12:00 to 4:00PM Conference Center, Surrey KPU with a special performance by Missy D female emcee/singer/songwriter Follow Missy D at: Facebook.com/themissyd @missyd_femcee lsoundcloud.com/themissyd

Have you thought about joining KPIRG's Board of Directors?

Here’s some info!

Nomination packages are available online at www.kpirg.ca and at the PRIDE office: Surrey KPU, Birch, Social Justice Space (2nd Floor) KPIRG office hours: Mon-Fri: 10:30am – 4:30pm Five Directors of the KPIRG Board of Directors will be elected at the Society’s 2nd Annual General Meeting.

Directors serve a one-year term from April 1, 2016 – March 31, 2017 info@kpirg.ca Twitter: @KwantlenPIRG facebook.ca/KPIRG Instagram: KPIRG

Culture

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“You’re putting your life in the horse’s hands” A look inside KPU’s farrier program Monica Mah & Kyle Prince CONTRIBUTORS

Have you ever sat on Santa’s lap and asked for a pony? Well, you might not get to bring the horses home with you, but in Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s farrier program you’ll learn to care for horses’ hooves by trimming their nails and making horseshoes for them.

Sure, it may not be the magical pony adventure you dreamed of having in your youth, but people will actually pay you for these skills.

According to Gerard Laverty, an instructor for the farrier program, the courses include, “quite a bit of what

people would consider blacksmithing,” but that the main focus is on making the shoes themselves.

Beyond the metal work, there’s much more that needs to be learned before you can deal with real horses.

Laverty himself has more experience being a farrier than KPU has experience being an accredited university.

The students will have to go through quite a few anatomy and physiology lessons before getting to handle a live animal. One of the tests even involves taking apart a dead horse’s leg and putting it back together again.

“They’ll skin them and take them apart and eventually boil a set of bones down to just clean bones, and

they’ll rebuild the leg with artificial tissues so they’ll have all the tendons and ligaments back on the leg,” explains Laverty. The idea here is that once the students have an intimate knowledge of the leg, they’ll know what to look for and have a good idea of what’s happening if something goes wrong.

And that’s just the first term project.

After that students really get their hands dirty by stepping into the blacksmithing portion of the course.

With live animals, hot forges, and a whole host of other dangers around, Laverty insists that safety is the number one concern for himself and his students. The animals are also a con-

cern; since the new students aren’t as precise as they could be, Laverty has to teach them the small margin of error.

“The border that we actually apply the shoe to is the fingernail but it’s about three-eighths of an inch thick, and if you went inside that it would be the same thing as going underneath your fingernail. That’s going to hurt.”

Although our stereotypical image of blacksmiths may call to mind big, sweaty men with the muscle required to forge iron and steel, Laverty dispels that notion pretty quickly.

Take, for his example, Desirae Delcourt.

“Desirae isn’t very tall, so you see

Monica Mah

these students that are all big six-foottall guys and they had to stand in a circle and watch her swing a hammer properly,” says Laverty.

“You have to be crazy to be in this program,” Delcourt says. “You’re putting your life in the horse’s hands.”

In spite of all the danger, Delcourt says she still loves the program and feels right at home as a farrier student. She enjoys the small class sizes and how the students all band together to form a family of sorts. Delcourt also mentions that each horse that comes in has it’s own personality and traits that you have to learn how to deal with.

“There’s a horse that comes in here that all the new people have to work with, and he whips his feet out and you swear he laughs,” she says.

“You can see him chuckling to himself.”

She also speaks to the talent of Laverty. “Gerard is one-of-a-kind, he just knows everything. You ask him anything about a horse and right off the top of his head, doesn’t even hesitate. He’s like a horse whisperer, like when you’re having trouble with a horse, he goes under there and he does it all and the horse doesn’t move at all, and you’re like, ‘Wow, I want to be like him.’”

Student groups team-up for open-mic event in Surrey KPU creatives take to the stage at the Grassroots Cafe Preet Hundal CONTRIBUTOR

Guitar-wielding warriors sacrificed their vocal chords to the heavens above. Verbally-armed poets lifted the spirits of enthused onlookers. On Feb. 4, The Kwantlen Creative Writing Guild, in conjunction with the Multi-Faith Centre, hosted an open-mic artisanal spectacle at Grassroots Cafe.

“I was trying to think of ways to make KPU a rich place for students to spend time together,” says Ethan Van Der Leek, Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Surrey campus chaplain and one of the head organizers behind this intriguing event.

Van Der Leek figured that the best way to accomplish his oftsought goal was to let students speak for themselves in the form of an open mic. This event allowed for various Kwantlen-based artists such as spoken word poets, writers, and musicians to creatively express themselves in front of their peers.

According to Van Der Leek, the open-mic format served as, “a way for people in the campus to get involved in the arts,” and to encourage students with little to no experience in performing to create something and share it on stage. To this end, he claims the choice of venue was a natural one.

“Grassroots is a great space and needs to be used more,” says Van

Der Leek. “An event like open mic is perfect, it’s a very social environment.

I just want to encourage student life and community.”

“I want students of any level of talent or experience in music and art, anyone has the chance to perform here.”

Van Der Leek worked alongside Winston Le and the Kwantlen Creative Writing Guild in organizing this event. According to Le, it “wasn’t a difficult decision” when he and his guild were asked to help.

In addition, Le claims that Van Der Leek and the Multi-Faith Centre found common ground in the way that they “both share a mutual passion for art of all kinds.” He hopes events like this will help students to “express themselves creatively in a comfortable environment.”

One of the performers at this event was Wonsucc Lee, a rather enigmatic figure in KPU lore. Lee, in the minds of Surrey-goers, is perhaps known from a profile on him published in The Runner last year, which dubbed him Surrey-campus’s resident “Guitar Guy.” When news broke out of this particular event happening it likely wasn’t a shock to many that they’d end up see this perplexing young bard emerge to entertain the masses at Grassroots.

“I consider myself a closet guitarist,” says Lee, “but I did this be-

cause I wanted to perform in front of a crowd and get a different insight into performing music. My friend and I played ‘Let It Be’ and I felt like George Harrison.”

Of course a conversation with Lee wouldn’t go unfinished without him cryptically reminding everyone that he is a philosophy major. With regards to the power of his particular craft, he claims that, “music and art in general is, in my opinion, about taking parts of people’s brains without any boundaries or socially-constructed constraints like gender, race, sexual orientation or religious beliefs, and sharing the very basic human emotions.”

According to Lee, the opportunity to portray one’s creative passions on the stage is a reason why this event was ultimately successful.

“We are only exposed to big musicians who take all of the limelight. Music and art is a thing that everyone knows, not just those with money. It’s supposed to be accessible to everyone. Art is a basic human right, you should be able to choose to express your emotions and convey your thoughts and feelings in any manner possible. Smaller events like this gives people a chance to express themselves without having the resources that a major musician would.”

Preet Hundal

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Diversity, Representation, and The Revenant An interview with actor Duane E. Howard Braden Klassen CONTRIBUTOR

“I had to go inside myself—go back into my past life of the dark experiences. I had pretty challenging times when I was young,” says Duane Howard, who plays Elk Dog in the Oscar-nominated film, The Revenant.

Howard, who grew up in Port Alberni before moving to Vancouver as a teenager, spent years living on the Downtown Eastside while dealing with addictions to drugs and alcohol, though he has now been sober for decades. Howard explains that his memories of that time were influential in his performance.

Since his time on the Downtown Eastside, Howard has earned a diploma in substance abuse counselling and has worked for years helping people across Canada overcome their addictions.

“I think that you really have to educate yourself first and get through all of your own issues before you can really accomplish anything in life,” he says.

Based on the rugged and difficult lifestyle of 19th-century fur-traders,

Kimberley French/ Twentieth Century Fox The Revenant follows real-life folk hero Hugh Glass, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, as he struggles to escape the dangerous and unforgiving wilderness of the northern Louisiana Purchase after surviving a bear attack.

The conflict of the plot is driven largely by the fierce competition and enmity between the colonial fur-trappers and the nearby bands of Arikara and Pawnee First Nations, often resulting in violent and deadly clashes.

There are a number of times when Glass encounters Howard’s character, the Arikara leader Elk Dog, who is on a mission to find his kidnapped

daughter Powqaa, who is portrayed

by Northwest Territories actress Melaw Nakehk’o.

Since its release, The Revenant and Leonardo DiCaprio have both been nominated for a plethora of awards. After receiving a Golden Globe for his performance, DiCaprio concluded his acceptance speech by dedicating his award to the indigenous communities and First Nations people that were represented in the film. This was a timely tribute that preceded the controversy over a lack of diversity amongst the Oscar’s nominees this year, and the overall underrepresentation of non-white

Hip Hop Artist Takes Aim at Street Violence Saint Soldier’s new single “A Stray” addresses what can be done to curb gang culture Braden Klassen CONTRIBUTOR

Abbotsford hip hop artist Amrit Saggu, who goes by the name Saint Soldier, published a music video to his Facebook page on Jan. 7 which accompanied the song “A Stray”, a single off of his upcoming album Duality. The song was inspired by a shooting which occurred in Abbotsford in early September of last year, when a stray bullet accidentally struck and killed Ping Shun Ao, a 74-year-old man and longtime resident in the area.

Police suspect that the intended target of the shooting actually lived next door to Ao, and that the shooting was part of a series of violent events linked to an ongoing gang war in the Townline Hill area in Abbotsford.

Saint Soldier’s lyrics in “A Stray” address some of the issues that influence young people’s decision to join a gang, or be otherwise complicit in

Saint Soldier

gang-related activities.

“I believe music can be a very powerful tool to connect with others and influence change,” says Saggu.

“In this case, I think it’s safe to assume that many kids going in this direction listen to the kind of hip hop that sends the wrong message, so why not use the same means to give them something positive?”

“I grew up listening to a lot of hip hop. In the past five years or so I’ve become far more particular as to what kind of artists I listen to, weighing more toward the ones who provide positive vibes.”

In terms of what people can do to try and help prevent younger people from being drawn towards the lifestyle in joining a gang, Saint Soldier maintains that their close friends and relatives could be the key to making a positive impact.

“It really comes down to the social conditioning of the individuals involved. Parenting plays a huge role, in my opinion. If kids weren’t

exposed to their parents desperate pursuit for wealth or ‘money equals happiness’ mentality, then perhaps they would value something greater.

Friends, music, and movies must also play a role in that conditioning.”

A devoted Sikh as well as a hip hop artist, Saint Soldier hopes for his music to spread the positive influence and lessons he has contemplated in his faith and the music he listens to.

“I’ve been influenced, in some way, by every rapper I’ve listened to.

I’m thankful for them all. My greatest influence in life is my Guru, Nanak.

He has helped me become aware of the oneness that pervades the universe. He has taught me to make every effort to cultivate this understanding within my mind and share it with the world. Which is the underlying message in most of my songs.”

“Just like war, this art form can be used for destroying or saving humanity, to a degree. It can be used to terrorize or to heal. I prefer the latter.”

racialized groups in Hollywood.

Despite the fact that people have raised this issue in previous years, the representation of non-white actors in contemporary media still remains relatively minimal, and this is especially true when it comes to First Nations people.

“They’re still on the bottom of the ladder in all areas of this industry.

There hasn’t been a really good movie out since Dances With Wolves,” says Howard. “[It’s] kind of sad, don’t you think?”

Perhaps films like The Revenant– which employed and cast a large number of First Nations people, is a

sign that these issues are finally starting to be addressed in a meaningful way.

“You have to see this movie because it is the greatest movie of all time,” Howard says. “Best director and DOP (director of photography), but also a great cast. Some of the scenes in this movie are amazing.”

When asked if he had any ideas for specific roles he would like to play in the future, Howard replied, “Yes! I would love to play a badass villain where people just hate me.”

Review: The Holy Body Tattoo & Godspeed You! Black Emperor PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Queen Elizabeth Theatre Geoffrey Nilson PHOTO EDITOR

The dancers stand on small podiums, still. Time rises from the band behind them.

The Holy Body Tattoo is a Vancouver-based dance company, founded in 1993 by Noam Gagnon and Dana Gingras, who haven’t performed in ten years.

A repetition of hands, bodies scratching at themselves, at wrists and necks, inching toward frantic.

I can’t see the musicians, there is a tall cloth screen obscuring them. An image of a wind turbine spins on the screen.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a confrontational Montreal post-rock collective, formed in 1994 by Efrim Menuck, Mike Moya, and Mauro Pezzente, who make a point to perform under the low light of film projections.

The bodies are still but their hands and arms are quick, repetitive motion.

Every so often one person will break loose from the conformity of the group. Could be as slight as a suddenly fluidity. Could be emotion.

Such darkness and joy.

When the house drops the screen to reveal the band, I notice the dancers are taking the place of the film projections, shielding them from the crowd’s direct gaze.

The band leans heavily on “Prov-

idence” from 1997’s F# A# ∞, which begins with a field recording of a man in the street: “The interest is up, the stock market’s down, you guys gotta be careful walking around here this late at night.”

Disembodied voice is a character in the sound of the band.

From where does this extreme movement emanate? It is corrosive.

Dancers bend violently at the waist, thrusting their arms forward parallel to the ground. They fight and love and clash exuberant limbs.

Over the music I can hear the dancers’ rhythmic breath and the stomps of their boots on the stage.

Guitars weave melody into intricate patterns of plectrum and delay.

After a long anxious build, one woman is silent in the middle of the stage, looking at the floor. Her hands twitch and grasp at her own body.

To the side, another woman feels the anxiety and moves to her, takes her carefully in her arms, and tries to calm her, holding tight until the movement stops.

Is it a calm in the middle of this modern chaos? Or death? Maybe it is simply feeling like there is one other person out there to help quell the loneliness in the world.

I cry in the theatre and I wonder if the stranger sitting next to me is watching. monumental isn’t simply a concert or a performance, it’s a triumph.

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All Photos by Viktoria Kampbell

Sam Stringer, creator of Vesuvius

Behind The Fabric Curtain Before the year-end show this April, we spotlight three fashion students readying for their big showcase Viktoria Kampbell Along with many of the other students developing their own fashion lines in the 2016 Bachelor of Fashion Design and Technology graduating class, Kate Schreiner is working hard to perfect her ‘Hetki’ woman’s fashion line. Although she has dabbled in men’s wear and children’s wear, her main passion is creating a women’s line with a menswear feel.

“I like the idea [of] how their designs are so simple, it’s in the little details that make it so interesting,” says Schreiner. “In the sense of little intricate details and the choice of fabric to really mesh the two in a very feminine way.”

After graduation Schreiner says she hopes to move back and maybe find a job in Scandinavian Europe where she did her student exchange in third year, saying that it was probably the highlight of her whole experience in Kwantlen Polytechnic University. “Getting the opportunity to study the program that I love and all the courses that I love, but in another country and get a completely different take on it, was really amazing.”

With her time on exchange Schreiner was able to take advantage of one of Kwantlen’s international study connections. Kwantlen has networks to five fashion institutions across the globe—London, Helsinki, Berlin, Taipei, and Melbourne—and is working on continuing to expand their exchange opportunities to connect to more schools globally. Schreiner started sewing when she was

about eight years old, and continued sewing in her high school textiles class. She was ready to head off to New York after graduation when her sewing teacher told her to hold off applying out of town because she could study locally at Kwantlen’s School of Fashion and Technology. Upon looking into it further she found that Kwantlen was close to home, would be cheaper, and had a very good program.

KPU’s fashion and technology program covers a range of industry topics, from design process, to finding the right market for your work.

“They teach you everything,” says Schreiner. “This program has been an incredible source of information, knowledge and experience. Our teachers are so incredibly knowledgeable and they have worked in the industry for years and years.”

Most teachers at the Chip and Shannon Wilson School of Design are themselves program alumni.

After gaining years of industry experience and contacts, many alumni come back and share their learned expertise with the classes, which allows students to build lasting connections with them.

Ultimately, this program is a huge network of people in the industry.

Many local companies have a handful of designers that have studied at Kwantlen and are working in the industry.

“I think that’s probably my favourite thing about Kwantlen—knowing that everyone is connected, just from being in this program,” says Schreiner.

Sam Stringer, another fourth-year student in the Fashion and Technology program at KPU, is focusing on designing formal wear for women who attend charity and black-tie events. She cites an incident from her first year in the program where students had to attend a fashion event where they didn’t know anyone and introduce themselves in the hope of establishing a connection as a particular highlight of experience at Kwantlen.

Labeling the experience as “terrible and wonderful,” she said that she did meet a lot of “cool people” through the event. As she became more comfortable introducing herself, Stringer began attending more and more events, such as Vancouver Fashion Week, and even ended up working at Fashion Week as a photographer.

Unlike Schreiner, Stringer didn’t commit to a student exchange, but instead worked at an internship here in Vancouver with bridal couture dressmaker Joanna Delaney. “That was pretty incredible,” says Stringer.

“It was just me and her in the studio all day long, so I got to learn all of her tricks.”

Delaney also runs her own business, so Stringer was able to learn a lot about how she ran her business, how she works with clients, and how she is able to simultaneously balance her home and studio.

Students in the KPU fashion and technology program spend most of their time at school. Stringer claims that, though they only have class a couple of days a week, she basically

spends from up to 15 hours a day at the school.

“I’m here a lot,” she says. “Every day, pretty much, that I don’t work.

I am pretty much never home, but I love that because you just never stop.”

Ashley Warren also works with women’s garments, but rather than dealing with the outerwear she is fo-

cusing on undergarments for biggerbusted women with a small frame, starting from 30DD to 34G. Her line, “Ginger and Flora,” is essentially for helping women of larger bust size break out of the market which is generally designed for smaller-busted women.

Warren claims she was introduced to costume design through

Kate Schreiner, creator of Hetki

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Ashley Warren, creator of Ginger and Flora music. Over the course of 13 years at the Royal Conservatory of Music she attended quite a few operas, where the costumes caught her eye and planted in her a passion for fashion.

She began sewing for fun after taking textiles in high school, but once she realized that she liked the challenge of working with different fabrics and figuring out the math for the patterns, she continued on with the class into grades 11 and 12.

When some of the girls in the higher grades were getting ready to go off to KPU, she became comfortable with the idea and asked them to share a bit of info about the program.

This then helped Warren fix her portfolio to improve her application into Kwantlen’s fashion program.

What Warren finds most appealing about the fashion design and technology program is the variety of topics her courses were able to

explore during the four years of her degree. Developing a dress project in second year, collaborating with Lululemon Labs on knitwear, working on technical outerwear jackets in third year, and then examining what they’ve done and choosing something to run with in fourth year were together just a few of the highlights of her education.

These students, along with their fellow classmates, are currently working on their final collection to show at the 2016 Year-End Fashion Show in April, but before that they held a smaller showcase for all the designers to present what they are

working on. Their show was located on the main floor at the KPU Richmond campus, where they each had about a 5 sq/ft. area to present their work to other students, media, fashion representatives, and businesses.

Walking through the showcase it was easy to see that the students were covering a wide range of markets, from the “Iridescent” Tween line by Justine So, to the mature women’s line “Nuage” by Clair Cormeau, specifically designed for women over the age of 50.

A large portion of the 2016 lines are geared towards women, but the men are not completely left out.

Fashion student Shyan Owtram is creating a stylish men’s upscale casual collection called “Athletico” for the chill-yet-trendy male. As well, student, Alissa Segal is creating “The Weaker Sex” clothing line which is geared towards both genders.

There will be a few changes to the grad show this year—rather than being at the Richmond River Rock Casino, it is set to be located at the Imperial on Main and Cordova. Although it seats the same amount of people, it will have a more “intimate” and “fashion show” feel, according to the students. There will be one show on April 6 and three shows the following day, which will be the most shows they have ever had in any year.

Each student will present two or three outfits where they will put the skills and knowledge that they have learned over the course of their time here at KPU to the test. With 37 students there is going to be an extremely broad range of product lines, which should make for a fantastic show.

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Meet your candidates for the 2016 KSA Tristan Johnston, Coordinating Editor Photos by Branden Klassen, Contributor Kier-Christer Junos, Staff Writer Preet Hundal, Contributor

Candidate statements have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Langley Campus Representative (one to be elected)

Connor Griffiths

Tyler Wenman

“I think the ‘90s one-hit wonder, Hanson sums up my campaign with this quote: ‘Mmmbop, ba duba dop Ba du bop, ba duba dop Ba du bop, ba duba dop Ba du Yeah.” Yes, my dog is a shameless way to pander for votes.

What does Kwantlen Langley need? FREE BEER, puppies, a ferris wheel, and of course a signed portrait of Beyoncé. I’ve been the only one in this campaign that is bringing up the impending White Walker invasion. It’s about time that the four campuses unite to defend the wall.

A vote for me is a vote.”

“I noticed that [in Langley] we don’t actually have a campus rep right now. So it’s disappointing to see that my campus wasn’t being represented and I thought of ways that I could help with that. I have some experience, not in council, but in working with student government and politics here. I sat on the external affairs committee, I’m very committed and . . . I’d like to go further than that. I think that if more students knew about all the diverse opportunities in the KSA, we might get some more people involved.”

*This statement was submitted via email.

Richmond Campus Representative (one to be elected)

Murdoch de Mooy

Beth Faszer

“I want to make sure that clubs and the KSA can involve everyone in the student body, especially those in Richmond. I want club spaces in Richmond in addition to other activities and events. There’s an insane change between activities [in Surrey] and in Richmond. I want to bring attention to activities to such as club days, and have more engaging activities in general in Richmond campus. This year every candidate running for this position is great. I want to bring in some new ideas and get new people involved.”

“Student councillors should promote their constituents to council at every meeting, and always actively represent them; I believe that I can do such a job as Richmond Campus Representative. I’m Beth Faszer, and I’ve been a fulltime student on Richmond campus for a year and half. I’m also actively involved as a student member in the KSA, sitting on the Student Services and Appointments committees, as well as a subcommittee dedicated to securing retail discounts exclusive to KPU students. I’m excited for the upcoming semesters, and look forward to working on behalf of Richmond! Thanks for your support.” *This statement was submitted via email.

Damanpreet Garcha

Chanel Kwong (Incumbent)

“I’ve always been into student life. I like volunteering, but I also like taking on a leadership role, and I thought [joining] the KSA would be the next step in having more of a leadership role. I feel like the most important characteristic I have is that I’m passionate. I’m doing it because I like to do it and I’m not doing it for any other reason, so I think that will make me stand out. I chose Richmond campus [rep] because I feel like Richmond doesn’t have that much student life compared to Surrey, and I hope to bring more events towards the Richmond campus.”

“I think, for me, if I try 100 per cent and tell all the students what I can do for [them], I think the students will make the right decision. I was talking to a student and they didn’t know they were paying for the dental plan for a whole year. But after talking to multiple students they felt that, wow, the KSA is not just a ripoff. I want to run because I really want to make Richmond students specifically more comfortable, who think that, ‘oh, we’re actually part of the school. We’re actually part of the community.’ I want to bring that message, that, “you belong to Kwantlen.”

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Surrey Campus Representative (one to be elected)

Arpan Chechi “Surrey campus is a big campus. There are a lot of students. And there are a lot of things that are going on. I’ve been talking to everybody, I’ve been listening to everybody’s problems before I’ve even contested for these elections. Because that’s kind of my nature, I like helping, I like being with people, I like talking with them.

I’d try to promote sports more, I’ll try bringing in volleyball, basketball, and some other sports that [people] like. We need more people, more guys and girls who can play really good. We have them but we need more so we can perform better.”

Tanvir Singh (Current arts representative) “One of my big platforms this term is to advocate for student space on campus, so I thought the Surrey rep position would be the perfect way to do that. [I would bring to the KSA] accountability, as well as good leadership and ability. Right now I chair three committees on the KSA and I’m doing a pretty good job of it. My big platforms this time are to continue working on student life, to advocate for student space, and just bring accountability to the KSA to make sure our resources are going towards the right initiatives.”

International Students Representative (one to be elected)

Zubair Ahmed

Navkaran Singh Kahlon

“I would like to bring [solutions to] the problems faced by international students. [People should vote for me] because I can . . . solve the problems faced by international students. I have certain ideas for issues that I want to highlight.”

“People should vote for me because I’m pretty confident and I don’t hesitate to take up issues. I will take all the possible issues and I’ll help them out in every possible way. And moreover I’ll do whatever I can do for them. We can help international students, it’s very hard for them to stay here so if we can arrange homestays for them that would be a good thing—if there can be some cut in fees, because they are paying three times more than local students here.”

Queer Students Representative (one to be elected)

Dilsharn “Sharn” Kaur

Ryot “R” Jey

“I’ve been with the KSA for over one year.

I’m a volunteer with START KSA and I’m a part of the street team too. If I get elected as international rep, I will be bringing everything to the table from those international students. Their issues and whatever the changes they want in the system or how they want to pursue their journey in Kwantlen. I would like to hold more events for international students as well. And along with them I want to care for every student, not just international students.”

“I’m running for queer rep because I think it’s important that Kwantlen has someone who understands intersectionality and oppression of many marginalized groups within the LGBTQ+ community. There’s also groups outside that [who] are wanting to be able to work together and make the world a better place. After I found out that the previous queer rep stepped down, I took the initiative and stepped up to host meetings during the semester, as well as having biweekly meetings in the Pride office.

I’ve been actively involved with Pride for three, four years now. If I were to change anything, I would probably get [the KSA] to be more transinclusive.”

Only four current KSA representatives

are running for re-election.

$$$

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Students with Disabilities Representative (one to be elected)

Landon Charney

Kim McMartin (Incumbent)

“I know what it’s like to have a disability and nobody listens to you. Nobody listens to your voice, nobody listens to your suggestions-no matter how hard you try. If [my constituency] has anything, comments or concerns, they can come to me. I’m a nice guy, you can tell that already. [I would bring to the KSA] a couple of new policies that could protect us disabilities students. I know a couple of people that were asking for a lot more time for exams and tests and stuff. Which we do have already, but I think it’s not enough. So I might bring that to the table.”

“Right now, we’re working a lot with DAMN, we’re strengthening infrastructure, we’re working with the president and PDEC, and a couple of other committees. We’re all getting in together so we can make it more acceptable, more safe, inclusive, and diverse for people with disabilities. I’m working a lot with Radio Free Kwantlen because I want to have that other option for students with disabilities to communicate. I’m still trying to get the disabilities collective going. I’m trying really hard with that. I don’t want to just have one person in the position. I want to have information points, I want it to be equal.”

Women’s Representative (one to be elected)

Faculty of Arts Representative (max. four to be elected)

Natasha Castela Lopes

Sarah Barahmeh

“I decided to run because I already work so much with the KSA and at the moment I reached the limit of what I can do as a student member. I have always worked for the student body and believed in it. I see the student body as my basis and my home. This is my group.

These are the people that I want to support me and I will support them back. [I would bring to the KSA] more inclusivity. Running for this position, it’s obvious that student members aren’t as present, and I want to represent those who identify as woman to come to the forefront. I want . . . to offer more opportunities and more classes and everything.”

I am currently a student who studies English and also loves all forms of art. With that passion and love as your representative and fellow Arts student I want to ensure your voices are heard and appreciated. I am well aware of the lack of resources some Arts students face.

Contact me at any given time if you ever have any questions or concerns and I will do what I can to improve your student life at KPU. *This statement was submitted via email.

Orlando Alexander Lomelino

Alex McGowan (Incumbent, current KSA vice-president external)

“There are three candidates running for four positions for arts rep. That should tell you that there’s a problem. Either the students are not aware or they’re not interested, and we really need to be doing something to change that.

Whether that’s talking or meeting with students, or campaigning with the KSA to be more visible with students—we’re going to attract more hardworking and passionate individuals. That’s the KSA I want to see. Through being more visible I want students to know that the KSA is the kind of organization that is working for them.”

“I understand the issues of arts students and I can represent those well. I’ve been involved with the arts faculty council, and as an executive of the KSA I’ve been involved with a lot of key projects that I’d like to see through.

We’re getting started with a start up business incubator to help all students who want to do entrepreneurship, I’m helping to sort of expand the role of our campaigns and advocacy work.

People should vote for me because I care. I’m going to vote with integrity, I can speak from experience, and I will put in the work required to make an informed decision every time.”

8 out of 25 positions are going to remain unfilled

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Faculty of Science and Horticulture Representative (max. two to be elected)

Gurkiran“Kiran”Johal

Nicholas Young

“I want to become a good representation for the science students, and I also want to know where, essentially, all our money from the KSA is going. I’ve been involved in KPU for quite some time, through volunteer work, and I believe you should vote for me because I will become a good science rep.”

“I used to do a lot of volunteer positions, leadership, stuff like that. I have been involved in quite a few clubs—I used to go to Langara, too. I was the president of the Anime club there.

Along with, in high school, I ran a 60-person volunteer club. I think I need to feel the water a bit about the KSA. I don’t know many particulars about exactly what they’re doing or how it exactly works, but I guess when I join it I’ll find out, and if I find anything I don’t like, I’m probably going to go ahead and just change it.”

School of Business Representative (max. four to be elected)

Rawan Ali “I want to help business students. I think that the school and the KSA have lot of opportunities for business students that the students don’t know about. I want to raise awareness about these specific opportunities that can help them with their careers and their academic path. There are free workshops for business students, there are clubs that business students can get involved in that give them connections to the working world. I’m really involved with all the clubs and I’m the vice-president of the Kwantlen Entrepreneurial Students Association. I’m with the Enactus team [and] I’m the president of the Artversity club.”

Argel Monte De Ramos “I would like to help all of my fellow business students to have an opportunity to network. I would like to make other business students aware of the resources that are already available to them. I would like to be the means of communications for them to know about these things. Let’s start with improving the KSA. They already have a lot of benefits. Let’s focus on getting them to help fellow business students.”

Amanpreet Peter Singh Bir-Bhatti “I’m hoping for an opportunity to work for the faculty as openly and transparently as possible. My goal is to help make your KPU experience rewarding and fulfilling to the utmost by providing a direct link between council and students themselves. I believe the role of a director is to represent their constituents as fairly and equitably as can be. I intend to remain reachable at all times, to answer students’ questions on request and work closely with you throughout the entire term.”

John Shkurtaj “I’ve been trying to get involved with more student activities on campus, trying to be a part of clubs. I started out as a guest on committees, but now I want to move up within the KSA and try to improve student life in general. As a rep I’d be involved in committees. There has been a lack of initiative from the chairpersons of committees. I’d like to see more responsibility placed on the chairpeople and, as a result, [I would] make committees more productive.

With my recent involvement with the KSA and the drive I have to get work done I feel that I can help push for the changes that the KSA needs.”

KPU has roughly 18,000 students enrolled.

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Compass Card Tracking May Put Women’s Safety at Risk Compass Card could provide abusive partners with a dangerous new advantage Braden Klassen CONTRIBUTOR

Every time you use your Compass Card, it tracks and logs your information. The name and location of every SkyTrain station that you enter or exit, and the identification number of every bus station you tap in and out at is recorded by TransLink and this information is made available for you to view afterwards via your online account.

Now, this sounds pretty useful if you wish to keep track of when and where you’ve spent your transit money in the past month, or if you need to figure out where the hell you went last night after drinking yourself into oblivion. By the looks of the website, it seems like this information is both permanently stored and accessible shortly after it’s recorded, so you’re able to roll back and follow a detailed itinerary of your own transit trail, even if it was recorded months ago.

Somebody stole your card and you need to track them down before they spend the rest of the money in your account? You can log in and see the last place they tapped out at, then go and find them and presumably ask them, as politely and as non-confrontationally as you can, if you could pretty please have your card back.

But what if that cardholder was you? What if someone was using

TransLink’s data trail to read where you had tapped out last, and used that information to trace your location nearest to that stop? What if that “someone” happened to be an obsessive and controlling husband, or an unpredictably violent and dangerous ex?

tered Women’s Support Services.

One of the counter replies to this is that women could just protect their passwords or prevent their partner from accessing their information. What type of person would be so obsessed with the whereabouts of these women to the point

Danielle George

Provided they have access to your account, this electronic trail of evidence that permanently records your transit route would give any potential abuser a powerful tool to help them hunt you down.

Such safety concerns were recently raised by groups like the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the Bat-

where they are constantly keeping track of where they go when they get on the bus?

The unfortunate reality is that most controlling and abusive partners are exactly the type of person that would be demanding access to these kinds of things. If they can know your last approximate loca-

tion, the assumption is that they could then easily deduce your whereabouts, like if you’re staying with a close friend, or taking refuge in a women’s shelter. In fact, there are many women’s shelters that purposefully avoid publishing their address for this very reason— but now, with the Compass Card tracking, efforts to conceal their location have been completely undermined.

Another of the counter-points that was raised in response to this issue was the idea that if someone had access to your transit account and were determined to find out where you are, there are a variety of other methods available to them, like tracking the locations on your credit purchase bill, or using a tracking app to find your phone.

But this reply just avoids the issue entirely, and still fails to adequately justify the existence of the card tracking. It’s like telling someone they shouldn’t bother to lock their door, because somebody who wanted to break into your home that badly would probably just kick the door down anyway.

Jamie Rich, who works with Battered Women’s Support Services, addressed this point in a blog post that was published on Jan. 29.

“Tracking someone’s exact location at a specific time is highly dangerous for women facing abuse, and that this problem is specific to

transit, rather than bank accounts.

By deflecting the problem away from a transit issue, this suggests that there’s no responsibility on the part of the transit system.”

As of yet, no one has actually proposed a concrete solution to the problem, but the fact remains that there needs to be one, and it needs to be implemented soon. Possibilities could range from providing women the ability to opt out of the card tracking system, to delaying the release of the information to the end of every month, to outright scrapping the entire tracking program.

“Women escaping abusive relationships already face so many barriers in breaking free of power, control and violence. Let’s not be complacent in adding another barrier,” wrote Rich.

Her response is absolutely reasonable, and from her perspective it’s the least we could do. Perhaps the Compass Card tracking will give us some huge advantage that has yet to present itself, but until that time comes, we should be prioritizing women’s safety, and trying to avoid the largely indefensible process of giving potentially dangerous abusers any additional methods to stalk their partners.

mentary.” Mostly these are classic expletives we’re all familiar with.

Interestingly, Belgium has no such thing, believing that you should have complete freedom of speech in the chamber. Some might say this idea has flaws, as in 2014 when Laurent Louis accused thenPrime Minister Elio Di Rupo of being a “pedophile.” This resulted in several representatives leaving the room in protest.

The obvious problem with heckling and shouting in parliament is the fact that it reduces the quality of debate. Elizabeth May is known to be a staunch opponent of heckling, and has said many times that she’s in favour of introducing laws to get rid of it. She mentioned this in parliament last month, but, as you might expect, she got heckled for it.

In fact, last month, Samara Canada polled members of parliament, discovering that while 69 per cent of parliamentarians believe heckling is a problem, 72 per cent of them admit to participating in it themselves.

Another problem is that some jabs have been personal, and female parliamentarians are more likely to get gender, age, and appearance-related language thrown in their di-

rection. The Samara study showed that men didn’t hear such jabs very often. Obviously, this is something that needs to change, but legislation might not be the answer.

Last month, Michelle Rempel, the MP for Calgary-Nose Hill, spoke with the Canadaland podcast. Despite having been on the receiving end of heckling, her opinion was fairly nuanced. She conceded that “people who run for office are typically passionate people, right?

There’s a certain responsibility that you carry as an elected representative, especially when many of us have more than 100,000 [people] living in our riding.”

She later said that, “the difference between clapping and that sort of stuff, and heckling is… heckling isn’t the same intent, it’s designed to silence someone else.”

I would have to agree with Rempel. The Canadian populace doesn’t like heckling, and rightly so. However, all of these men and women are elected to go to parliament and represent us, and most of the time only a handful of them get to speak during question period, typically party leaders, cabinet ministers, and opposition critics.

Sometimes the only way to get a word in is to shout across the room.

Heckling: An anglophone tradition Shouting is better than silence Tristan Johnston

COORDINATING EDITOR Every so often, someone in the House of Commons will yell something daft. It’s as if our government has their own internal comments section.

While most people don’t tend to watch CPAC, I actually enjoy tuning in to Question Period from time to time. If politics were like martial arts, QP would surely be boxing.

In our parliament, members of the opposition parties are allowed to question the ruling party via the Speaker of the House. That means Rona Ambrose, Thomas Mulcair,

and whomever else gets to ask the Prime Minister and his cabinet some difficult questions.

Most people have the understanding that parliament is the highest legislative body in the country. Our laws are created in a regal, old building with a beautiful throne for the Queen to sit on, should she ever visit. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to find a YouTube video of Justin Trudeau from 2011 calling then-minister of environment Peter Kent a “piece of shit.”

The Trudeau incident wasn’t the first time parliament had a highprofile case of heckling. The PM’s father had an infamous case of this

in 1971 where he was accused of mouthing the words “fuck off” to another member.

This sort of thing isn’t even limited to our own parliament. It’s just as easy to find heckling in other parliaments—namely the British one, upon which ours is based.

There, if you can get one of your clever insults into the record, that earns you points with the lads in Westminster, especially if you don’t use “unparliamentary language” to do so.

In Canada, the UK, and most parliamentary nations, there’s usually a list of words and phrases which are considered “unparlia-

Nat Mussell

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e t a b e D Danielle George

Mandatory Indigenous Studies Courses Reconciliation demands education Geoffrey Nilson PHOTO EDITOR

Education at all levels in Canada is taught overwhelmingly from a single perspective—that of the settler.

Following the instructions of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, in B.C. the kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum is being changed to integrate indigenous content in all fields of study and to include specific instruction on residential schools. But unfortunately, with the exception of two very recent adaptations in Manitoba and Ontario, the same inclusions have not been made at in Canadian universities. At no level is the settler narrative more obvious than in post-secondary education.

Study literature and you’ll learn the New Criticism and the modern canon. Study economics and you’ll

learn the marginal utility of the neoclassical American capitalist. Even if you study history at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, there is not a single course specifically addressing indigenous history. It took me until the fourth year of my degree before I encountered any syllabi that engaged with indigenous culture from a non-settler perspective.

The research-based culture of post-secondary education is the

perfect setting for a deconstruction of the settler narrative—yet, ironically, a university seems one of the last places to find indigenous voices. It is not a fluke that my eightyear-old daughter has learned more about Salish creation stories in her elementary school classroom than I have in my entire undergraduate degree.

Courses in indigenous studies should be mandatory for every

KPU student. Reconciliation between aboriginal people and the rest of Canada demands education but, in the simplest terms, a single course during an undergraduate degree is not adequate. Provincial governments can and should legislate curriculum changes for elementary and secondary education, but it is up to universities in Canada to integrate indigenous narratives into all fields of study.

To all the cries of “I have no interest in indigenous studies, I’m a [insert subject here] major. Why should I have to pay to learn this material?” I have one answer—too bad. It is a form of oppression to be teaching settler narratives in Canadian universities without equal representation for indigenous narratives.

The founding peoples of Canada were not only European. This country was created by a relationship of mutual understanding between European settlers and the aboriginal peoples who already inhabited the land. Canadians, both individuals and successive governments, have tried hard to forget this fact, but reconciliation will only be possible if Canada starts now. To paraphrase the words of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee: it is time to move from apology to action.

Courses shouldn’t be forced on students Kyle Prince

Danielle George

CONTRIBUTOR We’ve all experienced mandatory courses, be it English, French, something related to our degree, or the dreaded ‘Q’ requirement. But now there’s talk of adding another mandatory course to the list.

Indigenous studies courses could be coming to B.C. universities in the form of another pill to swallow. Our education should not be the government’s breeding ground. The argument in favour of placing these courses on the mandatory list is to facilitate “reconciliation,” but how many people enjoy doing what they’re forced to do?

Granted, people will learn about the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada, which isn’t in itself a bad thing—but forcing people to pay to learn about it is a step too far.

Adding the mandatory course, or courses, just highlights an already existing problem. We pay for our education, yet we’re made to take courses to satisfy quantitative requirements. For example, I had to take astronomy for an arts degree.

If somebody figures out how that, or any of the qualifying ‘Q’ courses for that matter, relates to and helps me towards an arts degree, please let me know.

An Indigenous studies course can be a great place to learn about

Canada’s history, for those who want to learn about Canada’s history. So make it optional. You’re a history major? Great, it relates to your program. You’ve got electives to fill? Wonderful, you’ve found a course you’re interested in. You’re a physics student and have no interest in history, Canadian or otherwise? You keep doing you, nobody should force you to take (and pay) for something outside of that.

Of course, there’s the objection that the Canadian government does

subsidize some of our education.

But does that mean they get to dictate what we learn? They already benefit by having a better educated population, no matter which program we decide to complete. It does not grant them the power to shovel whatever they’d like into our curriculum. If they changed it and made higher education completely free, I wouldn’t be sitting here arguing against it. Until then, they can stay out of universities.

Another option is to integrate

it into already existing courses: “Canada to 1867,” “Canada since 1867,” “History of British Columbia,” or any course on Canadian society would be a good fit for this.

The list goes on. There are so many better ways to get Indigenous studies into universities, but the best people have come up with so far is to wedge it into our degrees, regardless of what we’re studying. I say that’s a mistake.

Having more options is great, and if Indigenous studies is one of those options, even better.

Let the people who are interested in that learn about it. In fact, we should already have courses about that subject. Just don’t force it on the rest of us who are doing something else with our lives. Mandatory courses are bad enough already, don’t make the problem worse.

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Science Explained The Zika Virus Danica Johnston COLUMNIST

Earlier this month, the World Health Organization declared the Zika virus a global health threat, stating that microcephaly and neurological disorder incidence in newborns in Brazil “constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.”

When considered against other prominent mosquito-borne viruses, such as dengue and West Nile, the Zika virus has been a fairly low priority. According to the WHO, there are approximately 50- to 100-million cases of dengue annually, with 22,000 of those resulting in death, most of which are children. As a result, Zika hasn’t been a widespread threat and this virus is still unchart-

ed territory for vaccines and treatment.

Everyday more information is learned about this virus. Currently, we know it is travelling quickly via mosquitoes as well as being transmitted sexually, and through blood transfusions. The virus has been found in saliva and urine, but it is unknown if it can be contracted through these bodily fluids.

The Zika virus is a Flavavirus, and is further classified as an arbovirus. Most Flaviviruses cannot replicate enough in a human host to reinfect the next mosquito that comes by, making humans a “deadend host.” However, the Zika virus is fairly well adapted to humans, and can transmit the disease very effectively.

Zika is very effective because once the mosquito remits infected blood, the virus injects singlestranded positive RNA into its human host. This RNA is called “positive RNA” because it is very similar to our mRNA, which is an intermediate molecule between our own genome and the proteins our cells produce. Once this virus injects its genetic material, it uses its host’s cellular machinery to manufacture clones of itself. When our cell dies, the colony of new viruses is released, and this cycle continues.

The two primary mosquito species that act as vectors for the Zika virus are Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. These mosquitoes are most active during the day, and are also known to transmit Chikungu-

nya and Dengue virus.

If infected with the Zika virus, only 20 per cent of adults will experience symptoms similar to a mild flu, such as fever, skin rash, and joint pain.

The major concern with the Zika virus is the health risk it poses to the fetuses of pregnant women.

The virus is thought to be linked to a rare-neurological condition known as microcephaly, a condition where babies are born with abnormally small heads, thus small, underdeveloped brains. The complications of microcephaly include development problems, vision and hearing problems, short stature, mental retardation, and seizures.

When the incidence of microcephaly increased 20-fold in Brazil,

doctors starting running tests, and found the Zika virus in the brains of these newborns with microcephaly.

Although the virus’s exact mechanism in the fetus is unknown, scientists are hypothesizing that the virus is able to cross the placenta and cause brain damage, but the link between them has not officially been confirmed.

There are two reported cases so far in British Columbia but it is still unknown whether Canadian mosquitoes could pick up the virus from an infected traveller and spread the virus. There is a lot of money funding a vaccine for Zika, with potential of having one by the end of the year.

Runner Run-Down: Why is Everyone Mad at the National Energy Board?

Danielle George

Flint Water Crisis: Too Little Too Late?”

The switch in water supply proves more costly than prudent Renée McMillen CONTRIBUTOR

In April of 2014, the water supply to the city of Flint, originally sourced from Lake Huron, switched to the Flint River with disastrous results.

In the 18-month period that followed, state officials documented a spike in Legionnaires’ disease amongst the city’s population, but did not come to the conclusion that the drinking water could be the reason.

Within that time, the river corroded lead from inside the water

pipes before flowing into households of the families in the city.

While statistically it can be difficult to determine what causes the spike of disease in a given area, an inquiry has been filed by the state of Michigan to consider any potential criminal conduct, including negligence leading to involuntary manslaughter. On Feb. 9, Karen Weaver, the mayor of Flint, announced a $55-million plan for the city’s network of service lines.

“We’re going to get rid of these lead pipes one house at a time, one street at a time, one neighborhood

at a time, until they’re all gone,” said Weaver. The project could take up to one year to be completed.

The motivation for switching from Lake Huron to the Flint River was purely financially, a $15-million in savings. For the remaining population of Flint, they’re facing an impossible situation. Their homes are near worthless. The lead has now caused irreversible brain damage in, most notably, the children of Flint, and what could have been prevented cannot now be fixed no matter how much money the state throws at the problem.

Min Tang and Kelsey Pieper /flintwaterstudy.org

Municipal leaders argue economic vs. environmental benefits of east energy pipeline Renée McMillen CONTRIBUTOR

Oil is a touchy subject. This was again emphasized when the mayor of Montreal, Denis Coderre, objected to the development of the Energy East pipeline. The proposed project would extend the existing TransCanada pipeline through Québec to terminals in Québec City and St. John, New Brunswick, where refineries can process the landlocked oil sitting in the Alberta tar sands.

The biggest issue at hand is the risk to communities and waterways where the pipeline would be built.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the pipeline project must be accepted by local communities before the project can be approved. As of now, Coderre and the Montreal Metropolitan Community—an organization representing 82 municipalities—argue that the environmental risk outweigh any of the economic benefits.

The project has an estimated $15-billion price tag, but also has the potential to benefit Canada’s GDP by $55-billion, according to Wildrose leader, Brian Jean, who on Twitter attacked Montreal’s decision with the tweet, “You can’t dump raw sewage, accept foreign tankers, benefit from equalization and then reject our pipelines.”

Québec is being accused of short-sightedness regarding what Canadian oil in the world market could do for Canada. The pipeline

is essentially a piece of energy infrastructure that potentially benefits all Canadians. It enables western Canada to ship crude oil out to foreign markets at comparable barrel prices. Currently, the state of the oil reduces the value of our natural resource, which is why it is essential to get it shipped to refineries in eastern Canada.

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple a solution as it sounds. There are significant risks in transporting an unprocessed resource over such a vast distance. An oil spill, without factoring in long-term environmental damage, could have a price tag well over a billion dollars to clean up. A factor, Coderre argued, that did not make the $2-million the pipeline would generate annually for Montreal all that appealing.

Québec could be misdirecting a larger issue. The province benefits from Canada’s equalization act, which essentially balances the standard of living for all of Canada’s provinces financially. In true Mercer fashion, Rick Mercer made a video where he asked Québec: “Let’s get real here. Oil is the world’s primary natural resource, and Canada is sitting on a lot of it. This isn’t about Québec, this is about Canadians wanting to be in the world market. We reject our country’s resource and buy expensive barrels in foreign markets and lose out on royalties and this project could end all that, but the decision must be made—is it worth the risk?”

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Taking Back History Women in the Civil Rights Movement Samantha Thompson COLUMNIST Feminism as it stands in 2016 is under fire—and from a wide range of opponents. You’ve got people who hate women in general, you’ve got people who think that gender equality has already been achieved, and you’ve got the crown jewel of it all, the internet. Feminism, now more than ever, has been pushing to be actively intersectional: inclusive of all races, of all genders, and all identities.

This is a crucial shift, but it’s certainly far from over.

What is important to remember about feminism is that there have been fantastic women who’ve existed all throughout history, but they rarely make it into the dominant narrative because “mainstream” history is so often written by men who want to write about themselves and their own triumphs. With this column, I want to make space for the stories of those who don’t benefit from the heteronormative patriarchy, and highlight the lives of people who were taking action without widespread acknowledgement.

There is a growing discussion in academia that suggests women

Danielle George

are frequently in influential roles in activist movements, often specifically as leaders, but their integral role was often downplayed or ignored altogether. One such example exists within the American Civil Rights Movement, where Houck and Davis demonstrate in their 2009 book, Women in the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1965, that women often “led movements in their own communities, regions, and across the nation.”

Since around 1990, there has been a conscious effort by historians to seek out and record the histories of the women of the Civil Rights Movement, and though some notable gaps persist, there are growing archives in place to ensure these women are not forgotten.

Marable Manning, who has written extensively on African-American history, suggested in one of his books that, “Women are far more likely than males to emerge as the critical leaders in most working-class and poor neighbourhoods. Women activists are far more prevalent than males in the building of civic capacity.”

When we think of the March on Washington, the predominant image is the circulated soundbytes of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. However, numerous accounts have suggested that women played an integral role

Artist Spotlight An interview with Hawking frontman Tom Vanderkam Aly Laube

COLUMNIST Until last year, the members of Hawking cringed at the term “radio-friendly.” With two feet planted firmly in their math rock origins, they refused to enter the mainstream of music for the sake of artistic integrity. This year’s creation of their selftitled EP seems to have changed that mindset.

“As much as it’s considered a bad word for an indie band, we’re shooting for a more radio-friendly sound now,” says frontman Tom Vanderkam. “We had our time being hipsters and wanting to make something really artistic, but you can make something artistic without it being unlistenable to a mainstream audience. We’re trying to do that.”

Vanderkam and drummer Chartwell Kerr are original members, while bassist Chris Young and lead guitarist Saul Sitar are fresh additions to the group. Together, they’re recording Hawking’s first LP, which has yet to be titled. According to the band, the album will be a departure from their past releases for its danceability and subtle complexity.

“We are writing feverishly and working on demos right now,” says Vanderkam. “We’re about three quarters of the way done.” By summer 2016, the album should be complete and ready for marketing.

Vanderkam, who writes all of the

material, deems the LP “less weird” and “more streamlined” than their previous releases under Hawking and former names. He attributes it to “letting go of [their] math rock roots”, which they were all “very reluctant to do, as music nerds.” Now, they’re trying to “keep all of that in there, but in a way that doesn’t disturb the flow of the song.”

The album will also have several “indoor and dark themes,” another distinction from their past work.

“We used to have a lot of nature themes, but with the Hawking EP, everything took place indoors. There were no elements of nature, which I feel was probably a progression in songwriting for me. It’s also a lot more introverted and introspective than the stuff we’ve written before. I think I’ve become a much more selfaware person. It’s just growing up.”

Ironically, Vanderkam’s everchanging songwriting style was what prevented Hawking from releasing an LP sooner. “We never had enough material to put together a congruent album,” he says. “It’s difficult to walk the line between having something homogenous and something that’s way too diverse. I’m excited to see how it plays out, writing-wise.”

The group will also be touring over the summer months. Details are uncertain but will be posted on their website as they’re solidified.

to the organization of the event, yet were kept on the sidelines. There were many women who were prominently involved in the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People, and the Black Panthers, yet it is King and Malcolm X that are household names.

Ashley Farmer, who earned her Ph.D in history and African-American studies from Harvard, conducted research which demonstrated how women’s participation in the black power movement, specifically with the Black Panthers, formed new political models that allowed for the creation of spaces where women could be revolutionary figures as well. She looked at publications like The Black Panther newspaper and noticed that artwork produced by women showed women as powerful, gun-toting revolutionaries. This portrayal was important in reframing the narrative around who could be considered a revolutionary, and a leader of a movement.

One of these revolutionary women was Daisy Lampkin. Although she was not involved with the Black Panthers, she spent much of her life as an activist and organizer. She began in the Negro Women’s Equal Franchise Federation, and later joined the National Council of Negro

Women, the National Association of Coloured Women, and the NAACP as a national field secretary.

Lampkin was also the vice-president of the Pittsburgh Courier, where she worked as a writer, editor, and executive. The publication became the top circulating black newspaper in the world by the 1950s.

In the NAACP, Lampkin was a fundraiser and organizer, and helped get a federal anti-lynching bill passed. In her efforts, she focused on the local aspect. “Anytime you organize, get grassroots people,” she said.

“They’ll help you. But big shots do not help anybody. They want you to help them.”

A well-voiced concern of some in the Civil Rights Movement was that having women take vocal roles would shift the goal of achieving racial equality to one of gender. This was by no means exclusive to this movement—white feminists once also suggested (and sadly, sometimes still do) that including race would dilute a message of gender equality.

The women in the Civil Rights Movement, however, demonstrated that there are ways to reframe the narrative that intersect issues of race, class, and gender—which in the long run, arguably creates a stronger movement for any social justice initiative.

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