The Runner: Volume 7, Issue 20 by The Runner

Relatively awesome since 2009 VOLUME-07-ISSUE-20 / AUG-11-2015

Einsteins in the 21st Century Addressing barriers to women in science

Cuts to KPU Rec

Couchsurfing Pros and Cons

Kinder Morgan and KPU

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

Table of Contents

W : runnermag.ca

News | They Said No: What’s next for Surrey transit post-plebiscite? 04 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

www.runnermag.ca Vol. 07, Issue no. 20 Aug 11, 2015 ISSN# 1916 8241

Cover Art: Amanda Paananen is from Ontario and is currently completing her degree in psychology at KPU. She has done work with Pulp Magazine, Misfit Lit and The Runner, through her photo and writing contributions.

CONTRIBUTORS Joseph Keller, Sharon Neb, Awais Mushtaq, Preet Hundal, Rosaura Ojeda, Katheryn Morrison, Scott McLelland, Hira Matharoo The Runner recognises that our work, both in and out of the oﬃce, takes place on unceded Coast and Strait Salish territories, specifically the shared traditional territories of the Kwantlen, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Sto:lo and Tsawwassen First Nations. Our name is inspired by the hun’qumi’num meaning of Kwantlen, which is tireless hunters or tireless runners. Just as Kwantlen is adaptable and changing so is The Runner.

EDITORIAL DIVISION Coordinating Editor / Tristan Johnston editor@runnermag.ca

Executive Editor / Samantha Thompson deputy@runnermag.ca @sampthompson

“I was of course disappointed, but not surprised,” Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner told The Runner while reflecting upon that the results of the Metro Vancouver transit plebiscite, which revealed the people of her city were overwhelmingly against the “Yes” campaign.

CULTURE | Brewing Students Keep Something Special on Tap 07 The horticulture tent at the KPU Langley farmer’s market on July 15 featured little boxes teeming with colourful KPU produce, but finding people who truly cared was difficult because a tapped cooler of free beer was under the same tent. It’s not just any beer, either. This is beer crafted by science and the horticulture faculty in the new brewing facility on Langley campus.

FEATURES | Cuts to athletics programming blindsides student athletes, coaches 10 The KPU Eagles will fly no more, now that their funding has been cut—and that means the university will no longer be in competitive varsity sports after the end of their final seasons. But it doesn’t necessarily spell the end of competitive sports at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

OPINION | The media sends ambiguous messages about women’s sports. 16 Media coverage for sporting events is often different when it involves female athletes, typically highlighting gender rather than talent or skill. Coverage for the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup held here in Vancouver was no exception.

COLUMNS | Balancing Power in the South China Sea 18 Disputes over naval territory have been a consistent struggle in the South China Sea since the end of the Second World War. For several years, Japan and China have both claimed ownership over a set of islands between the north of Taiwan and the south of Okinawa.

Managing Editor / Connor Doyle

Production Manager / Kenny Chui production@runnermag.ca

#BestPhoto

featuring Kwantlen’s finest

from KPU (@kwantlenu on Instagram) Matches with the grey skies today #KPU #Kwantlen #happy thursday #campuspics #Surrey #SurreyBC #kpusurrey #blackwhiteandgrey #rai nydaysarewelcome #muchn eededsprinkles

Art Director / Charis Au

Photo Editor / Amanda Paananen photos@runnermag.ca

Web Editor/ Yaunna Sommersby @yaunnarae

Staff Writer / Kier-Christer Junos @kierjunos

Staff Illustrator / Danielle George

BUSINESS DIVISION Operations Manager / Scott Boux oﬃce@runnermag.ca / 778.565.3801

Correction: In Vol. 7 issue XIX, we wrote that Alan Davis said “AIESEC,” when he had actually said “ACE-IT.” We regret this error.

Editorial

W : runnermag.ca

From the editor 77 Days of Election.

Tristan Johnston Coordinating Editor

CNN is the news channel of choice for my parents. I often suggest they watch CBC so that they can actually understand what’s happening in their own country, but they would still rather watch American politics. I think it’s because American politics is much, much more entertaining than whatever we could hope to have in Canada. Some of us like to laugh about the anti-Trudeau attack ad that says “nice hair though,” but it won’t compare to the theatre of Donald Trump. Nor have we had a recent Prime Minister with comparable oratory skills to Obama. For this reason, they watched the Republican debate live, and merely PVR’d the Canadian one. So now that the writs of election have been dropped, my parents will hopefully pay attention to Canadian politics for the first time since 2011. Yes, it will be the longest election since 1926, but 77 days is nothing like what you currently see in the United States. The moment a President gets elected there, they’re already talking about the next election, and that discussion grows louder and louder as time goes on. President Obama has another 17 months or so in of-

fice, and they’re already holding Republican debates. I can’t blame them in regards to entertainment. During the debate, Megyn Kelly of Fox News noted that Trump had called various women “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals.” To which Trump replied “only Rosie O’Donnell.” I can’t remember anything from the Canadian debate that even came close in terms of entertainment value. Though to be fair, Canadian politicians have less room for messing around, with possible exception to Elizabeth May, whose party only has one seat. With our electoral system, losing 5 per cent of the popular vote can cost you 11 per cent of your seats. Trudeau knows that a terrible debate performance in 2011 from Ignatieff arguably cost his party 43 seats and 18.91 per cent of the popular vote, and the good performance from Jack Layton likely brought NDP to official opposition status. When my father watches CNN, he seems to enjoy watch-

ing American politicians saying incredibly bizarre things, which Canadian politicians kinda do once in a while. Sure, you might remember a weird exchange back in September between Tom Mulcair and Paul Calandra, where Mulcair asked a clear question about how long Canadian Forces would be involved in Iraq, Calandra replied by asking the NDP if they supported Israel. Strange as the situation was, such displays are rare in Canadian politics. Also, no one watches CPAC. One of the concerns brought by opponents of Harper’s recent move is how expensive this election will be. Typically, a 37-day campaign costs roughly $375 million. All of those people hired by Elections Canada need to be on for much longer than usual. Parties are also able to spend more money, and with changes made to the

Elections Act, this means they can spend up to $50 million. I don’t like this, but guess what, it’s much, much better that the people pay for politicians rather than massive private businesses, as happens in the United States. Not only this, but American elections cost billions of dollars, and in the case of Hillary Clinton, a lot of that money comes from banks. I happen to be a big fan of our shorter, 37 day long elections. Politicians should spend most of their time doing their job, drafting and creating legislation to hopefully make our country better, or travelling to other countries to improve our global position. But maybe, maybe with a longer cycle Canadian politics will become a little more interesting, as long as leaders actually show up to debates. However, I don’t see much of this happening. Only a handful of my 20-something year old friends seem to care about Federal Canadian politics. Maybe Trudeau or Mulcair should pull an Obama and go on The Daily Show, but none of them watch the Rick Mercer Report. If we want to get people my age, and by extension, people my parents age to become engaged, Canada needs to produce another Pierre Trudeau, whom my father readily voted for at each opportunity.

What’s up this MONTH! with Yaunna Sommersby! AUGUST 11 to August 24, 2015 Tuesday, August 11 Stress Relief Week – Surrey Campus The KSA wants to help you relieve some of that exam stress. Stop by the Surrey Main Attrium to meet some therapy dogs, grab some fruit and tea and learn some from your peers to help you get through summer exams. All students are encouraged to stop by. 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., Surrey Campus Main Attrium. Free.

Wednesday, August 12 KPU Science World Speaker Series – Kent Mullinix Agriculture and horticulture students should definitely take advantage of this talk from Institute for Sustainable Food Systems Director, Kent Mullinix. Heavily involved in research surrounding sustainable agriculture and food systems, Mullinix will be talking about how we can make these systems work in the 21st Century. 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., Science World at TELUS World of Science. Free.

Friday, August 14 KSA Full Council Meeting Want your voice to be heard in the student community? Attend the KSA Full Council Meeting to find out what has been going on in the Kwantlen community and make your voice heard. Share your ideas and talk with representatives from the KSA Board of Directors and KPU Senate. 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., KPU Surrey Campus, Cedar Building 2110. Free.

Tuesday, August 18 Summer Tours of the Orpheum Have an interest in the entertainment industry? Want to learn more about how Vancouver is involved? The Orpheum summer tour is a perfect chance to learn a little more about Vancouver’s rich history in the arts and entertainment industry. Take a walk through the BC Hall of Fame and enjoy the National Historic site. 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Orpheum, 601 Smithe Street at Seymour. $10.

Wednesday, August 19 Health Care Assistant Program (HCAP) Information Session Learning to become a health care assistant may not be as daunting as it seems. Attend the information session to ask questions and learn what the program has to offer you as a student. 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., Langley Campus South Building Room 1804. Free.

Friday, August 21 Dinos After Dark 2 If the recent success of Jurassic World is an indication, the world is still fascinated by dinosaurs. Science World is hosting this after-hours event to allow people to take a journey through their new exhibit and talk with visual effects artists who worked on Jurassic World. Just don’t channel your inner Dr. Ian Malcolm and remind everyone there is usually running and screaming when dinosaurs are involved. 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m., Science World. Ages 19+, tickets for sale online.

Saturday, August 22 Tomato Festival – Trout Lake Farmers Market Venture out to the Trout Lake Farmers Market to celebrate the veggie – er, I mean fruit – that goes best with fries. Enjoy tastings, learn new recipes and take a look at all of the elaborate displays. 9:00am - 2:00pm, Trout Lake Farmers Market. Free.

Monday, August 24 Writers Festival: Louise Penny talks about her new novel Author Louise Penny is talking about her newest novel, The Nature of the Beast. A new entry in her Inspector Gamache series, Beast follows nine year old Laurent Lepage. Hear what she has to say about her newest book, mystery writing and the journey of being a writer. 7:30 p.m., Vancouver Playhouse, 600 Hamilton Street at Dunsmuir.

News

W : runnermag.ca

NoKM@KPU action group to continue efforts against memorandum in fall semester Information sessions are on the table.

Danielle George

Kier-Christer Junos Staff Writer

Kwantlen Polytechnic University president Alan Davis made it clear at a public forum early July that the memorandum he signed with pipeline firm Trans Mountain will, indeed, remain signed. But that’s not stopping KPU community efforts to keep the pressure on. The signed agreement that creates a $300,000 bursary for environmental protection students is contingent on federal approval of Trans Mountain’s pipeline. Davis’s challengers aren’t impressed with the agreement, seeing it as a large infraction on academic freedom and an overall irresponsible move. Davis believes the agreement was signed in “good faith, for the right reasons,” we reported. Justine Nelson, a KPU alumnus from

anti-pipeline group PIPE UP says that she’s “Not confident that he’s going to change his mind.” “But I am confident that we can put enough pressure on him through the student body and faculty to convince him it’s not a good idea to keep the memorandum,” says Nelson. “And that’s what our goal is.” Looking forward, the plan is to educate students in the form of information sessions on all campuses and generally provide resources to those unaware of the agreement’s details, according to Nelson. She says that future information sessions are being rescheduled for the fall semester because students are busy nearing the end of the summer semester, and there’s really not a lot of students around. Still, she’s finding that the message is getting through. “I find that once people understand what’s going on with the proposal, they’re each against it,” she says. “I’ve yet to come

up to somebody … [who] is still strongly for having the memorandum after they learn all the facts about it.” Concerning current environmental protection technology students, who probably won’t receive the fruits of the agreement in their time, the action group has yet to gauge their thoughts. “We haven’t had any conversations with students from EPT yet … I wouldn’t be able to comment on that at the moment,” adds Nelson. “But we’re hoping to do outreach to them.” Besides these, the initial community group that mobilized against the agreement—including PIPE UP, Kwantlen Public Interest Research Group (KPIRG), and the Kwantlen Student Association, under the banner “No KM@KPU”—continue to hold planning sessions in the social justice space on Surrey Campus to catch up and plan

their next moves. Meanwhile, in a Google Groups thread, KPU faculty members Bill Burgess and Duncan Greenlaw are drafting versions of a common statement for KPU community activists to adopt. “The [memorandum of understanding] associates KPU’s name with a proposed bitumen export pipeline that is widely opposed for the significant risk it poses to land, water and climate stability,” says a clause in the draft statement from July 27. “On the key issue of carbon emissions the MOU places KPU on the wrong side of history. It undermines our institutional policy on sustainability.” The draft statement continues, “This MOU is contrary to the interests of our university. We ask that KPU formally withdraw from this arrangement.”

They Said No: What’s next for Surrey transit post-plebiscite? Surrey Mayor to press ahead with transit improvements.

Sam Pangan

Joseph Keller Contributor

“I was of course disappointed, but not surprised,” Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner told The Runner while reflecting upon the results of the Metro Vancouver transit plebiscite, which revealed that the people of her city were overwhelmingly against the “Yes” campaign. It was a setback for the new mayor’s plans to deliver on a campaign promise, but not the end. The plebiscite, which asked Metro Vancouver voters whether or not they’d support a 0.5 per cent sales tax to fund transit expansion and improvements across the region, ended with a 62 per cent decision in favor of the “No” side. While not legally binding, the results ensure that if these improvements are to be made, the additional funds will need to be found elsewhere. The mayor’s lack of shock was not

unique. At the best of times it’s not easy to convince a majority to willingly pay higher taxes. Despite a significant advertising push by the well-funded “Yes” campaign, the “No” side was able to take control of the public narrative early in the campaign and never let go. The “No” side was well supported by local businesses and antitax groups. A large amount of attention was heaped on the publicly unpopular TransLink, and they didn’t help their own case with a string of bad PR incidents. Add to that Metro Vancouver’s already high cost of living and it became clear early on that the question wasn’t if the plebiscite would fail, but by how much. “I believe if you were to ask folks you’d find there was a lot of support for our vision,” says Hepner. “But I think the no [side] turned it into a discussion around the agency delivering transportation as opposed to the plan and a way to fund the plan.” Despite the result, Hepner, who was

elected last fall on a platform to bring light rail transit to Surrey, remains unfazed and determined to make the project a reality. The result has not changed the mayor’s thinking that the city’s growth over the next few years will require significant improvements to the transit system. She points out that the last significant upgrade to transit infrastructure in Surrey was completed in 1994 and since then the city’s population has more than doubled. “How can we ever suggest that sitting still [on transit improvements] makes any sense at all?” asks Hepner. “[Congestion issues] have to be fixed by a large urban system for a large urban city.” The federal and B.C. governments have each committed to providing one-third of the funding required for Metro Vancouver transit enhancements. A “yes” vote would have secured the last third needed to fund the project. Even before the plebiscite began Hepner spoke of a “plan B” for securing

that last third. Since the result, Hepner and other involved parties have engaged in “exploratory discussions” with three interested outside parties regarding the possibility of securing financing for the project from the public sphere. Hepner emphasizes that her primary goal is to ensure that light rail, the project this region has made a priority, “does not stall.” The mayors’ council is split on the idea of seeking private financing for the regional funding portion of the light rail project. Despite this, Hepner cites the time lost to the months-long plebiscite as reason to continue moving forward on the project while exploring all options. As she acknowledges, time is of the essence. “We have never come this close to having the approvals of both levels of government for this project as we are right now and I can’t let that slip away,” she says.

News

W : runnermag.ca

Bank of Canada cuts key rate in the midst of a weak economy Loonie drops to lows unseen since 2009.

Kier-Christer Junos Staff Writer

In July, the Bank of Canada cut their target for the overnight rate to 0.5 per cent in a move to stimulate the economy amidst steady shrinkage and falling oil prices over the first half of the year. Call it a recession, and the BoC isn’t looking positive for the rest of 2015. Major banks cut their prime rates in response to the central bank’s announcement. Now the cost of borrowing money is a little cheaper, and financial investments have lower payoffs. Businesses and producers can finance their physical capital, like new bulldozers or buildings, and at a cheaper rate too. With these lower costs considered, firms can essentially produce more, and when more things are produced, gross domestic product goes up. “It’s a stimulative move for the economy,” says Lance Shandler, a KPU economics professor. “It’s not a huge move, but it’s hopefully designed to do that.” Just a crash course on the overnight rate: It’s the rate that commercial banks lend and borrow to each other so they can settle their books every night and maintain their reserve needs. They don’t need to keep massive reserves because a lending protocol at the central bank lets banks get reserves whenever they need them. Also financing reserves costs money. But since the central bank lends and borrows at rates marginally crappier than 0.5 per cent, it’s more econom-

ic for banks to deal with each other, so they do. The central bank also targets inflation, which indicates how much you’ll pay for, let’s say, a loaf of bread. The higher it is, the less your paycheque is really worth because you end up buying less with every dollar. Right now, inflation is at one per cent, and you’re thinking, “That’s low, so that’s pretty good.” Then you might be alarmed that the target is two per cent and that’s the way the central bank is trying to move things. But a higher inflation also makes labour cheaper for firms, meaning they can produce more. It’s not as simple as saying the move by the BoC is good or bad. Shandler doesn’t see it as irregular. “Well, for one thing it’s a rate that can be changed every six or seven weeks, so it’s not a massive change and it’s not an irreversible change,” says Shandler. On the energy side of the economy, namely the oil and gas industries, the country is losing and some of those energy firms are projecting major layoffs. “That has had a significant negative impact on the economy,” says Shandler. He adds that the oil and gas industries are, “Sidelined because, well, there’s no point of adding to our supplies when we can’t sell what we’ve got. So all the drilling and the exploring and all of that kind of activity, which is often left to the more junior companies, tends to be reduced, and that negatively impacts people’s incomes.” It’s a big deal in Canada because oil is one of the country’s biggest exports. So if the world price of oil is dropping, the country’s

earning less on a major export. Enter the interest rate cut. When interest rates are lower, money supply in the economy is bolstered in a way, so technically money is easier to acquire—less rare, if you will. That’s part of why the loonie has dropped to rates not seen since 2009. Relative to you, a package of steel guitar strings from California is more expensive today than it was in June; you have to compensate

even more for the much more expensive U.S. dollar. But from the perspective of another country, our currency is cheaper to buy. So, Canadian oil ends up being cheaper for other countries. It’ll take about six to eight quarters—or one-to-two years—for this interest rate cut, called expansionary monetary policy, to make its full effect on money supply. But its effects can be felt immediately.

Danielle George

Love in this Club: Cricket Returns to Kwantlen Kwantlen Cricket Club to open for new semester.

Joseph Keller Contributor

With recent slashes made to the Kwantlen Polytechnic University athletics budget, it’s been something of a bleak summer for KPU athletes. Athletes looking to fill the gap left by the varsity teams may find their answer with KPU’s newest club, dedicated to the Commonwealth’s favorite sport. Having gained approval from the Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) this

past June, the Kwantlen Cricket Club (KCC) hopes to establish a recreational environment for both experienced cricket enthusiasts and those looking to learn a little about the game. Although cricket is the world’s second most popular game, the club will be bringing the sport of cricket back to KPU for the first time in years. This incarnation of the cricket club was founded by club president Kamil Fernando. Fernando was first exposed to cricket in his native Sri Lanka, where cricket is one of the most popular sports. He has been playing the game since he was 14 years old and even

Sharon Neb

co-founded a team in high school. “It’s something I grew up with,” says Fernando. “Some kids play soccer, some kids play rugby, I just stuck with cricket.” Canada is one of the few Commonwealth countries without a strong cricket tradition. Despite this, the game has a strong following in the Lower Mainland largely due to the region’s South Asian community, many members of which have brought cricket to Canada after growing up with the game in their native countries. As of now the KCC holds meetings on Thursdays to talk about the game and lay the groundwork for the club’s future activities. The club hopes to practice using the cricket facilities at Sullivan Heights, while early game plans include KPU tournaments in mid-August and early September. The KCC plans to keep their first few activities within the walls of KPU, while the club establishes its presence within the university—however, in the long term the club hopes to compete with other cricket clubs in the Lower Mainland. “Our long term goal is to create a team and actually compete [outside of KPU],” says Fernando. “For now I’m just going to keep everything within Kwantlen.”

While the sport has been absent at Kwantlen for the past few years, this will not be the first time the university has played host to a cricket club. A previous incarnation of the club was disbanded in 2013 amid allegations relating to the then ongoing KSA scandal and alleged misuse of $2,300 in KSA funds as reported by The Runner in 2013. This new incarnation of the Kwantlen Cricket Club is in no way affiliated with the previous cricket club or anyone involved in the allegations. As of now the club has around 10 members, most of whom have backgrounds with the sport, but the KCC is looking to increase its membership quickly. The cricket club welcomes members of all experience and skill levels, and the club’s cricket veterans are eager to help those new to the game to learn and develop their skills. “It’s all about enthusiasm,” says Fernando. “Join my club, let’s play a few games and have fun.” A club page for the Kwantlen Cricket Club will be online soon. Students interested in getting involved with the KCC should check the Kwantlen clubs webpage for more information and updates as they become available.

Culture

W : runnermag.ca

A Fun, Interactive Future For KPU Student Life The KSA events coordinator plans to “Bring something new.”

Kier-Christer Junos Staff Writer

Technically, Rachel Huibers creates experiences for thousands and thousands of people. Huibers is the recently hired events coordinator at the Kwantlen Student Association, with her trial days passing by in June. She’s working a job that entails enabling and promoting student life at Kwantlen Polytechnic University—which, with its commuter campus reputation, might require a bit of the Midas touch. Huibers says her job is, “Huge to student life.” “I think university is hard, any type of post-secondary education is difficult and it’s stressful,” says Huibers. “It’s time-consuming and it’s one of the biggest changing moments in people’s lives.” She adds that it’s important to grow in

education while taking advantage of opportunities to decompress, like any kind of fun, campus event. “I think it really helps build relationships in college and university,” says Huibers. Huibers has already helped organize a barbeque at the Cloverdale campus—which featured a bean-eating relay race—and a Canada Day event for international students. But it likely wasn’t even the biggest Canada Day Huibers organized, as Huibers previously worked as the promotion and events manager at a radio station for six years, and helped organize Canada Days, multicultural events and large concerts for big-label acts. And while the upcoming Fall Welcome Week probably doesn’t need to accommodate thousands of fans “stoked to see Theory of a Deadman,” it’s a big project of hers. The week is potentially going to be carnivalthemed according to Huibers. Besides that,

she has a “big Halloween monster bash” in the works, too. “I was hoping to bring something new,” says Huibers. “Basically I’m here as the fun aspect—to bring different events, but ones also more interactive and just fun, instead of always throwing so much info at students.” Huibers says she’s confident with her job, smiling and exuding excitement as we interviewed her under the solar table on the Grassroots patio. Still, she can see the inevitable challenges. “I think one of the biggest challenges is that I haven’t been in university for a little while, so I feel slightly out of touch—although I am still young,” says Huibers. “I do feel slightly out of touch with exactly what students want. So right now I’m basically soliciting a lot of student groups, like student life and stuff like that to say, ‘Hey, what you are you interested in? what would you like to see on campus?’”

What she’s getting from most students is a need for events that do less educational/ info inundation, and simply more fun. She says a lot of the events organized for students are “very education-based,” and while she acknowledges the importance of those, “The consensus across the board has been: we want to see more fun events that we can just come to and enjoy without anyone soliciting information to us,” says Huibers. As for the entire commuter-campus situation, Huibers thinks the solution is a matter of, “Integrating things that make students want to stay. So that’s where the whole soliciting advice from students comes into play,” she says. “I’d like to see students after they’re done classes that, instead of leaving, they check out that really fun event that’s going on, that they really want to get involved in and participate in.”

Kwantlen’s Multi-Faith Centre Expands to Surrey Campus New centre opens for KPU’s spiritual needs.

Joseph Keller Contributor

With a student body as diverse as that of Kwantlen Polytechnic University, any faithbased service offered by the institution needs to be all inclusive. This is the line of thinking behind KPU’s multi-faith centres. Billed as, “A coalition of diverse faith communities offering students, faculty and staff an open door, an open mind and an open heart of spiritual care and advocacy,” the centre has been on the Richmond campus since 2011 and recently expanded to the Surrey campus this summer. Ethan Vanderleek is one of the multi-faith centre’s Christian chaplains. Vanderleek came on board to run the new centre this past May as part of a partnership between KPU and his church. “[The centre] is a chance to think through and act out how our different religious traditions interact with our studies and the life of a student on campus,” says Vanderleek. The multi-faith concept is one that emphasizes religious inclusivity and diversity. This means fostering an atmosphere wherein students of various faiths can discuss their differences in an open and respectful manner. Particular focus is put on examining the traditions of various faiths within the context of modern university life. “There’s no going back. We now live in a secular world,” says Vanderleek. “So trying to understand how to move forward and be faithful to religious tradition while also owning up to the realities of contemporary life. That’s exactly what the multi-faith centre is here to discuss.” “We can celebrate each other’s differences while still trying to deepen and more thoroughly understand our own particular traditions as well,” says Vanderleek.

Rosaura Ojeda

This inclusivity isn’t limited to religious students. The centre operates with the understanding that many students seek to better develop their worldviews from a secular standpoint and that these secular worldviews can still contribute to, as well as benefit from, inclusion in the multi-faith conversation. “We’re excited and delighted to include secular worldviews and philosophical

traditions that don’t necessarily identify with one of the major world faiths and religions,” says Vanderleek. At this time there are four Christian chaplains and two secular humanist chaplains across the centre’s two locations. The inherent issue with a multi-faith centre only having chaplains from one religion is not lost on the chaplains and so the centre is actively searching for representatives

of other faiths to join the team. As part of this search, last month the centre invited members from the various religious and secular humanist groups around the Lower Mainland to come learn about the multifaith centre in hopes of attracting new chaplains from these groups. The event drew representatives from several religious traditions including Islam, Buddhism and others. This event and others like it helped to open a dialogue which Vanderleek hopes will result in more collaboration with a wider range of faiths. “It’s a challenge when a multi-faith centre is just starting up to try to stir up interest from a diversity of religions and secular backgrounds,” says Vanderleek. ”But we as a centre are working hard towards an increase in diversity and inclusivity.” Currently the multi-faith centre hosts a weekly teatime at the Surrey campus centre. The teatime is held from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. on Thursdays, and offers students a chance to speak with the chaplain and see what the centre is all about over tea and refreshments. Other scheduled regular programing and events are currently being planned to begin with the fall semester. The centre will also be hosting a multimedia festival in February. As of now, Vanderleek’s primary focus is trying to better establish the centre’s presence at the Surrey campus and encourage students to get involved and participate in the conversation. “We’re here to support students, so our goal is to increase students’ spiritual and mental health,” says Vanderleek. “The idea is to connect with more students and to help them enrich and deepen their religious worldview on campus.” The Richmond multi-faith centre is located in R1570 and is open Tuesdays from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Surrey centre can be found in Fir 305 and is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Culture

W : runnermag.ca

Brewing Students Keep Something Special on Tap Trying to stay sober at a university beer tasting.

Kier-Christer Junos

Kier-Christer Junos Staff Writer

The horticulture tent at the KPU Langley farmer’s market on July 15 featured little boxes teeming with colourful KPU produce, but finding people who truly cared was difficult because a tapped cooler of free beer was under the same tent. It’s not just any beer, either. This is beer crafted by science and the horticulture faculty in the new brewing facility on Langley campus. The ad hoc bartenders from the department poured their brews into generous mini cups far deeper than any petri dish found in the biology lab. Two varieties were served: an ale and a lager. Few thirsts remained unquenched. “I’m not a beer drinker so, they sort of all taste the same to me,” laughs Elizabeth

Worobec, Dean of Science and Horticulture. She says she’s more of a wine person. “I am. The faculty would shriek, but they know that…” The brewery program just saw their premiere batch of students through first year, and now, Worobec says the next hurdle is fitting the following group in with the newly brewed second-years. The facility isn’t gigantic, after all, so the department had to be creative with timetabling. The new brewing facility on Langley campus is a humble, humid, hoppy-smelling space lined with sophisticated chrome tanks, row upon row. Some were the size of soup pots, others were taller than you could see over. Worobec says their grand opening is scheduled for mid-September. Bustling, goggled students waved hello when horticulture faculty member Michele Molnar gave a tour of the facilities. “A lot of the students we have right now

are homebrewers, so they’re familiar with this sort of equipment,” says Molnar. “But with coming to the program, they’re able to hone their skills and understand why things happened the way that they did because they understand the science of it.” Students will really have to get it right by next year, when instead of faculty-produced beers featured at the farmers market, it’ll be their signature brews on tap. “Most of them have their head in the stars,” says Worobec. “They just can’t wait to have their own beers that they can call their own.” The school of business is also at the bar, during the first fermentations of this program. Worobec says the department is currently working with a business instructor who wants to—as a student project—have students do marketing for student beers. “In the first term it’ll be the business students sort of coming up with the global plan, and the second term it’ll be the senior [brewing] students with their own internal plans,” says Worobec. “And hopefully they will work with the business students and come up with something.”

Brewing students in their first term would have to do a marketing and promotion course too, for the sake of learning the business of beer. And in this specific province, the business is obviously booming. The scene is prolific enough these days that, for one, CBC Radio Vancouver often has a beer columnist show up to talk about new beer trends. Last time, apparently “sours” were in, a special type of beer that is intentionally acidic. It’s a good time to be a brewmaster in British Columbia. KPU does plan on selling their own beers, but Worobec says they firstly teach “the business of selling beer.” Even if the university decided to quit school to become an evil beer monolith, with grimacing Alan Davises on every cap, their facility is plenty smaller than your average microbrew—which if you look at it in this context, probably isn’t that micro after all. KPU could never produce at a competitive rate like its neighbours. In fact, Worobec says some of those neighbours comprise an advisory committee for the program. And it’s probably for the best. How else would they steal the golden lager recipe?

Kier-Christer Junos

Pride Kwantlen Marches in Vancouver Pride Parade KPU represented at B.C.’s largest LGBTQ event.

Joseph Keller Contributor

Members of Pride Kwantlen took part in the festivities at the annual Vancouver Pride Parade on Aug. 2 to represent and celebrate Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s LGBTQ community. As with previous years, Pride Kwantlen members drove a float in the yearly parade. Spearheading Kwantlen’s participation in the event was Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) queer representative Kayla England. Pride Kwantlen began preparations for the parade as far back as December, and over the course of half a year held several planning and brainstorming sessions, drawing students from both its own membership and from the KSA itself.

“Pride Kwantlen is a collective of students who identify as queer, and it’s a safe space to meet and to share their feelings and to gain resources if they need anything,” says England. The Vancouver Pride Parade is the largest event of its kind in B.C., held largely to celebrate diversity and inclusivity in MetroVancouver’s LGBTQ community. It’s also well known for its eccentric and electrifying atmosphere. “It is so much fun,” says England. “You get there and you get together with everybody and you’re just so full of spirit. It’s an overwhelming experience to see everyone cheering you on and it’s really inspiring to see how many people are there supporting the cause.” Of course this year’s parade requires a new and original theme. After bouncing around a few different ideas for 2015, Pride Kwantlen selected a genderbending super heroes’ motif. Pride Kwantlen members have designed their own costumes for the event including, but not limited to, gender-bending riffs on Harley Quinn (or Harley Queer) and Wonder Woman. Driving the float Katheryn Morrison was none other than

Kwantlen president Alan Davis, who was also involved with the parade last year. “The theme of this year’s float is gender and gender fluidity,” says England. “So then we all started talking and played off that idea, and we ended up coming up with genderbending superheroes.” Pride Kwantlen’s involvement in the parade comes as the result of the efforts of plenty of people involved with both the KSA and Pride Kwantlen, but England specifically singles out a couple of people for their role in the organization process. Josephine Wong was instrumental to the application and logistics process, while Kari Michaels was important to the float’s creative direction. A key difference for Pride Kwantlen’s plans this year was an emphasis on keeping the display simple. In years past the group’s plans have ballooned to the point of becoming expensive and difficult to manage. This year more importance was placed on personal creativity by Pride Kwantlen Members. “We really wanted to come up with something that was a little bit more simple that we could do a lot better, rather than something bigger that we couldn’t do as well,” says England. “So we thought we could keep it simple and everyone could

Katheryn Morrison

have as much fun as they could with the costumes.” The emphasis on simplicity proved to be worthwhile as the project ended up being completed with a mere $500, well below the original $2000 budget. Pride Kwantlen was also involved to some extent with Surrey’s Pride Day, but was unable to be involved with Langley’s events due to restrained resources. In the future, members hope for greater support from the university to provide more for KPU’s queer community. At the top of the wish-list is to one day have a full-time queer representative on staff. “If we could get more resources we’d love to be involved in a lot more things,” says England. “I feel that there are a lot more events and a lot more resources we could be providing to students.”

W : runnermag.ca

SEPTEMBER 2015 Sunday

Monday

Tuesday KPU Welcomes U: 08:00-16:00, KPU Langley KPU Welcomes U: 08:00-17:00, KPU Richmond KPU Welcomes U: 08:00-19:00, KPU Surrey KSA Welcome Week/Kwantlen St. Market Sneak Peek: 11:00-15:00, KPU Richmond Kwantlen Gaming Guild–Club Meetings: 15:00-16:00, KPU Surrey KPU Science World Speaker Series–David Burns, organic food to pipeline crude: 19:00-21:00, Science World at TELUS World of Science

KPU Womens Soccer–KPU vs. Langara College Falcons: HOME, 12:00-14:00, Newton Athletic Park KPU Mens Soccer–KPU vs. Langara College Falcons: HOME, 14:30-16:30, Newton Athletic Park

KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Rise & Shine Yoga: 07:00-08:00, KPU Surrey KSA Welcome Week: 11:00-15:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Betterbody Bootcamp: 12:00-13:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Hip Hop: 12:00-13:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Basic Yoga: 13:00-14:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Small Group Personal Training: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Betterbody Bootcamp: 16:30-17:30, KPU Langley KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Yoga: 17:30-18:30, KPU Langley KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Yoga Flow: 17:30-18:30, KPU Richmond

KPU Club Days: 11:00-15:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Krav Maga: 11:30-13:00, KPU Richmond Take 30–Counselling Services: 12:00-13:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Core Yoga: 13:00-14:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Jiu Jitsu: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey Kwantlen Gaming Guild–Club Meetings: 15:00-16:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Basic Yoga: 17:30-18:30, KPU Surrey

KPU Womens Soccer–KPU vs. VIU Mariners: HOME, 12:00-14:00, Newton Athletic Park KPU Mens Soccer–KPU vs. VIU Mariners: HOME, 14:30-16:30, Newton Athletic Park

KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Rise & Shine Yoga: 07:00-08:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Betterbody Bootcamp: 12:00-13:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Cardio Kickboxing: 12:00-13:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Hip Hop: 12:00-13:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Basic Yoga: 13:00-14:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Jiu Jitsu: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Small Group Personal Training: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Taekwondo: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Betterbody Bootcamp: 16:30-17:30, KPU Langley KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Yoga: 17:30-18:30, KPU Langley KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Yoga Flow: 17:30-18:30, KPU Richmond

LinkedIn Photobooth: 09:00-16:00, KPU Richmond Kwantlen Gaming Guild–Richmond Revolution: 10:00-18:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Krav Maga: 11:30-13:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Cardio Kickboxing: 12:00-13:00, KPU Surrey Take 30–Counselling Services: 12:00-13:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Core Yoga: 13:00-14:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Jiu Jitsu: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Taekwondo: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey Leadership Workshop–Volunteer 101: 13:30-14:30, KPU Surrey Kwantlen Gaming Guild–Club Meetings: 15:00-16:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Basic Yoga: 17:30-18:30, KPU Surrey

Volunteer Expo 2015: 11:00-14:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Krav Maga: 11:30-13:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Cardio Kickboxing: 12:00-13:00, KPU Surrey Career Services–Resume Workshop: 12:00-13:30, KPU Richmond Take 30–Counselling Services: 12:00-13:00, KPU Surrey Who You Are Matters!–An Exciting New Career Series: 12:00-15:00, KPU Richmond Co-op Info Session #1: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Core Yoga: 13:00-14:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Jiu Jitsu: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Taekwondo: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey LinkedIn Workshop: 14:00-15:00, KPU Richmond Kwantlen Gaming Guild–Club Meetings: 15:00-16:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Basic Yoga: 17:30-18:30, KPU Richmond

LEGEND Fitness and Recreation Club Events Inclusivity and Wellness Food and Fun! Varsity Sports Music Skills and Career Building KSA Events Other Great Events! Volunteer Opportunities

KPUstulife

KSAcouncil

@KPUstulife

@KSAcouncil

W : runnermag.ca

2015 2016

kpu.ca/campuslife

EVENTS CALENDAR Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

KPU Welcomes U: 08:00-16:00, KPU Langley KPU Welcomes U: 08:00-17:00, KPU Richmond KPU Welcomes U: 08:00-19:00, KPU Surrey KSA Welcome Week: 11:30-13:30, KPU Tech Tea & Treats–KPU International: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey Kwantlen Gaming Guild–Club Meetings: 15:00-16:00, KPU Richmond KPU Womens Soccer–KPU vs. Capilano University Blues: HOME, 17:00-19:00, Newton Athletic Park KPU Mens Soccer–KPU vs. Capilano University Blues: HOME, 19:30-21:30, Newton Athletic Park

KSA Welcome Week: 11:00-15:00, KPU Langley

Kwantlen Entrepreneurial Student Association– Club Meeting: 12:00-14:00, KPU Surrey

KPU Womens Soccer–KPU vs. Douglas College Royals: HOME, 13:00-15:00, Newton Athletic Park KPU Mens Soccer–KPU vs. Douglas College Royals: HOME, 15:30-17:30, Newton Athletic Park

KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Rise & Shine Yoga: 07:00-08:00, KPU Surrey KPU Club Days: 11:00-15:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Krav Maga: 11:30-13:00, KPU Surrey Music@Midweek–Saxophone & Piano Duo: 12:00-13:00, KPU Langley KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Taekwondo: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey Tea & Treats–KPU International: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey Volunteer Opportunity–Shoreline Cleanup: 14:00-16:00, KPU Surrey Kwantlen Gaming Guild–Club Meetings: 15:00-16:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Basic Yoga: 16:00-17:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Betterbody Bootcamp: 16:30-17:30, KPU Langley KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Yoga: 17:30-18:30, KPU Langley KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Relaxation Yoga: 17:30-18:30, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Yoga Flow: 17:30-18:30, KPU Richmond

Leadership Workshop–Volunteer 101: 11:00-15:00, KPU Surrey KPU Club Days: 11:00-15:00, KPU Langley KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Belly Dance: 12:00-13:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Betterbody Bootcamp: 12:00-13:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Zumba: 13:00-14:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Small Group Personal Training: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey

Group Volunteer Opportunity–Richmond Food Bank: 10:30-13:30, Richmond Food Bank Leadership Workshop–Characteristics of Effective Leaders: 12:00-13:00, KPU Surrey Kwantlen Entrepreneurial Student Association– Club Meeting: 12:00-14:00, KPU Surrey Can’t Stop the Serenity Fundraiser–Women Organizing Opportunities for Women: 18:00-20:00, KPU Surrey

Group Volunteer Opportunity–Aboriginal Pow Wow: 10:00-22:00, KPU Surrey

KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Rise & Shine Yoga: 07:00-08:00, KPU Surrey LinkedIn Photobooth: 09:00-16:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Krav Maga: 11:30-13:00, KPU Surrey Music@Midweek–Guitar: 12:00-13:00, KPU Langley Explore Arts!: 13:00-16:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Taekwondo: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey Tea & Treats–KPU International: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey Kwantlen Gaming Guild–Club Meetings: 15:00-16:00, KPU Richmond KPU Marketing Association Speaker Event: 15:30-17:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Basic Yoga: 16:00-17:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Betterbody Bootcamp: 16:30-17:30, KPU Langley KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Yoga: 17:30-18:30, KPU Langley KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Relaxation Yoga: 17:30-18:30, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Yoga Flow: 17:30-18:30, KPU Richmond

Sustainable KSA Electronics Recycling: 11:00-14:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Belly Dance: 12:00-13:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Betterbody Bootcamp: 12:00-13:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Zumba: 13:00-14:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Small Group Personal Training: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey Leadership Workshop–Volunteer 101: 13:30-14:30, KPU Richmond

Kwantlen Entrepreneurial Student Association– Club Meeting: 12:00-14:00, KPU Surrey

Sensational Saturdays–Interpreting Course Outlines & Using Learning Aids: 10:00-11:30, KPU Surrey Sensational Saturdays–Effective Reading & Note Taking : 12:00-13:30, KPU Surrey Sensational Saturdays–Using Study Time Effectively & Preparing for Tests: 13:30-14:00, KPU Surrey Sensational Saturdays–Time & Task Management and Personal Organization: 14:00-15:30, KPU Richmond

KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Rise & Shine Yoga: 07:00-08:00, KPU Surrey Volunteer Expo 2015: 11:00-15:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Krav Maga: 11:30-13:00, KPU Surrey Music@Midweek–Voice, PIano & Bass: 12:00-13:00, KPU Langley Career Services–Resume Workshop: 12:00-13:30, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Taekwondo: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey Tea & Treats–KPU International: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey LinkedIn Workshop: 14:00-15:00, KPU Surrey Kwantlen Gaming Guild–Club Meetings: 15:00-16:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Basic Yoga: 16:00-17:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Betterbody Bootcamp: 16:30-17:30, KPU Langley KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Relaxation Yoga: 17:30-18:30, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Yoga: 17:30-18:30, KPU Langley KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Yoga Flow: 17:30-18:30, KPU Richmond

OCTOBER 2015 Volunteer Expo 2015: 11:00-14:00, KPU Langley KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Belly Dance: 12:00-13:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Betterbody Bootcamp: 12:00-13:00, KPU Surrey KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Zumba: 13:00-14:00, KPU Richmond KPU REC FITNESS CLASSES–Small Group Personal Training: 13:00-14:00, KPU Surrey Leadership Workshop–Volunteer 101: 13:30-14:30, KPU Langley

CONTINUED AT KPU.CA/CAMPUSLIFE

Group Volunteer Opportunity–Surrey Food Bank: 09:00-13:00, Surrey Food Bank Kwantlen Entrepreneurial Student Association– Club Meeting: 12:00-14:00, KPU Surrey Indoor Soccer Tournament: 12:00-17:00, KPU Surrey

KPU Womens Soccer–KPU vs. Quest University Canada Kermodes: HOME, 13:00-15:00, Newton Athletic Park KPU Mens Soccer–KPU vs. Douglas College Royals: HOME, 15:30-17:30, Newton Athletic Park

Check the full list of Campus Life activities at kpu.ca/campuslife for the most up-to-date schedule of times and locations. To add your event to the calendar, please email sld@kpu.ca.

Features

W : runnermag.ca

Cuts to athletics programming blindsides student athletes, coaches But there may still be hope for competitive sports at KPU.

Kier-Christer Junos Staff Writer

The KPU Eagles will ﬂy no more, now that their funding has been cut—and that means the university will no longer be in competitive varsity sports after the end of their final seasons. But it doesn’t necessarily spell the end of competitive sports at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. As fruit of information sessions and meetings with student captains, vicepresident of students Jane Fee says it’s a move to leave PACWEST, the regional sport authority that she says has, “Very strict regulations.” Even more, she says the “real reason” is to spread $750,000 of funding from 92 student-athletes to students across all campuses who have been demanding more services. “Our plan is to stay in various versions of competitive sports, and we need students to help tell us what those should be,” she says. Following discussions with PACWEST, KPU said on their website July 9 that they, “will complete the 2015/16 varsity season in all four sports for our 92 student-athletes across soccer, basketball, golf and badminton.” “At the end of the 2015/16 varsity season, our athletics program will cease to exist in its current form.” Students felt blindsided by the university’s decision, finding out with no consulta-

tion. Some were under the impression that the department was actually receiving support, since there were at least two new hires in the last two years. The athletics offices in Cedar building are empty now, with nothing but carpet warming the floor. Women’s soccer co-captain Jessica Anderegg was just sitting down to study for an exam when her coach Julie King texted her, asking if she was free for a call. “All of athletics, they’re gonna get rid of it?” Anderegg asked, recounting the conversation. “Yeah.” Student athletes have since mobilized towards a resolution, which includes starting a petition to see the move reversed and, “Work together towards a solution that everyone can accept.” More than 1,200 people have signed the petition as of press time. After the announcement of the cuts, the university hosted an information session specifically for coaches, student-athletes and family members in the Surrey campus conference centre, so people could ask questions about the change. “My big concern was the girls being able to play, and I think we’re still gonna be able to play this season out—and it looks like the powers that be have committed to that for

Danielle George

this season,” explained King following the information session. “So right now that was my priority which, is good news. I mean, not good that the sports clubs are likely to be gone, but the reality is for me that getting this season played was so important.” Otherwise, “It was them informing us on why they made their decisions,” says King. “I’m very annoyed, angry, disappointed. I feel like student athletes, who work extremely hard, have not even been thought about in this whole process.” The Runner was not permitted inside the session, which went over the allotted time, so KSA president Allison Gonzalez followed up afterwards. She spoke at the session on behalf of students. “What it seemed like to me was [KPU] just wanted to hear from the students and they really wanted to begin dialogue,” says Gonzalez. “It seems to me KPU’s purpose from the forum was to get a yes-or-no from the students on whether or not they would play out this year.” Jane Fee spent most of that forum answering questions, the answers to which are still surfacing, she says. She met with team captains in late July in light of the forum. “We’ve absolutely confirmed with students both at the forum and the meeting yesterday that we’re not giving up competi-

tive sports,” says Fee. “We’re giving up the PACWEST.” “That may have been a fault of the messaging and I take full ownership of that.” Fee says that this particular regional sport authority, like many others, has been increasingly expensive to participate with. “What’s true is that the budget for varsity athletics—not just at KPU, everywhere—is on the increase. There’s more travel involved, especially for teams in this part of the world. Travel is a big part of the budget.” The Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC) in Ottawa, inaugurated in 1973, released a 2010 report exploring the trends of sport in Canada. Apparently, the amount of money that Canadians spend on organized sports has increased, even though participation has decreased. Besides the financial constraints of being in PACWEST, Fee says the league is structured with rules which, with some being very fair, can also be financially prohibitive. A member school could not, for example, have only a men’s soccer team for the sake of protecting women’s sports. This means a member must launch two teams. Also, PACWEST doesn’t allow a team to be in multiple leagues, which is a cost-cutting measure that Fee says could be on the table after leaving PACWEST. A cached membership eligibility bylaw accessed on PACWEST’s website— which was under maintenance as of press time—confirms the rules that Fee talked about. Fee says the plan is to find another league or leagues in which to reinvest the competitive side of the athletics department, while spreading the “fixed budget” for the department over all campuses—campuses with students which Fee says have felt neglected for the sake of Surrey campus. She says these complaints come daily, and that spreading the money is, “The real reason for doing this.” “One of the things we heard loudly and clearly through that process was that Surrey was being treated a little bit like our main campus and other campuses were not feeling as engaged in the university, and the students weren’t feeling as engaged in the life of a university.” On the notion that this was a budget efficiency move, Fee says, “I wouldn’t say efficiencies, I would say it’s about alignment of budgets.” By “alignment” she refers to the way they plan to meet the goals of Vision 2018 and its conjoined academic plan—plans based partly on what money exists, and what financial capital doesn’t.

Features

W : runnermag.ca

Ninety minutes gone and one last season of extra time Is this the final whistle for the KPU Eagles?

Kier-Christer Junos Staff Writer

When centre-defender Jessica Anderegg was a rookie in 2012 she received two calls on a Friday in September. The one in the morning, from her former KPU soccer coach Don Sparks, told her to be ready for Saturday’s game, assuming she’d be mostly a benchwarmer. Sparks said they were considering “un-redshirting” her for the weekend, the red shirt being what signifies someone as a practice player. All year she had been donning her scarlet and remaining tethered to the bench during game time. But this Friday, so many Fridays removed from when she started playing soccer at the age of six, was different. It was the eve of Anderegg’s birthday, and the Friday before a formative game day. All her years of practice would finally be put to use. The second call came that evening, when former captain Brittany McNeil told Anderegg that, in fact, she’d be starting defender. “Oh crap.” “Don’t worry, I’ll be there in the back,” McNeil told her. “Just listen to me and you’ll be fine.” Team—it’s both singular and plural. The plural part is inherent in the culture of the varsity teams at KPU, meaning that for these athletes, there’s always someone there on campus. And not just to meet at practice, either. But things are changing, right now. In early July, KPU announced massive funding changes to the athletics department, citing the financial hardships of participating in regional sport authority PACWEST, and the duty to accommodate more diverse inter-campus demands for athletics services. KPU will leave the league after playing a final season in soccer, basketball, badminton and golf. After the KPU Eagles fly the coop, it’s hard to tell what’s next. Will KPU athletes be able to stand together as they transition into the ambiguous futures of their historic sports teams? It was 1999 when KPU Eagles basketball launched. People were scared of the world ending. Anderegg was probably gearing up to play soccer for the first time as a child, not knowing she would play for a women’s soccer team that would become BCCAA provincial champions in 2009, placing bronze in nationals in the same year and becoming provincial champions again in 2010. But good players aren’t without great leadership. When goalkeeper Chantalle Bracken joined the KPU women’s soccer team, for example, her coach Julie King didn’t even know if Bracken would make the cut. Bracken was in the back of a charter bus with her soccer team, riding 15 hours to Edmonton after a breakdown in Kamloops, when King told her that she, “wasn’t sure if she was

gonna have me on the team.” But King saw potential as long as she worked for it. And Bracken was willing to work hard to reach her expectations. Her team had to play hard to break expectations, too. Last year, Bracken says the team had a bunch of new rookies and that nobody really saw KPU as a “scary opponent.” One day, at the end of their season, the women’s team played a game against the Quest Kermodes. Coaches King and Joan McEachern—McEachern, by the way, played on the Canadian national team from 1987–1995— told the team they had to win the game to qualify for provincials. Everyone was high-strung, everyone was pushing. Despite playing an excellent technical game, Eagles and Kermodes were still tied 0–0. Five minutes left before the last whistle. Goalkeeping coach Amelia Ng and coach McEachern shouted from the bench, “Okay, settle down, settle it down, hold onto it, hold onto it!” And the players on-field didn’t know what their esteemed coaches were talking about, because in their minds they Needed. To. Win. But when the final whistle blew the game was a draw, leaving the women’s team deflated. McEachern came up to them as they receded back to the bench. “Girls, you’re going to provincials,” she said. “What are you talking about? We needed to win!” “Oh no, a tie was fine, we just wanted you guys to play good!”

Bracken says that on that day, the team had never been more happy. A lot of the student athletes, Bracken and Anderegg included, at least initially came to KPU purely for varsity sports. Anderegg was working in a gap year between high school and her first-year of university, when she would eventually take “a couple of random courses,” still unsure of what she wanted to do. Then a friend of Anderegg’s on the soccer team and her field hockey team told her to get in touch with soccer coaches. Anderegg wouldn’t be going to school if it wasn’t for that. She says that she, “probably would’ve dropped out after the first semester,” if she didn’t make the team, and that the only reason she was taking general studies for two years was so she could have enough credits to play. Then there’s the battle of keeping the actual department up, financially and as a public entity. Oftentimes athletics teams hold fundraisers, sometimes in the form of bake sales, and they’ve organized food drives and volunteered their time to bring assistance to those living in the Downtown Eastside. “I think we’re all scared,” says Bracken, who we spoke with under the gazebo at Surrey Main. Coach McEachern walked by. “See you later?” she asked. “Oh, yeah!” Bracken had a soccer team meeting and practice shortly after.

“We know if they break us up, we’re not all going to the same university, we’re not all going to be playing on the same team … it’s just … unimaginable,” says Bracken, at a loss for words. Teams are already losing players, even some that were recruited for the new season. “We recruited seven new players this year,” says Anderegg. “And all seven of them were recruited to play soccer. They were choosing between schools because they wanted to play, and they chose KPU because of the culture we have here.” “They’re saying, ‘oh… I’m probably not going to stick around if there’s no team.’ So for the younger players, yeah, most of them will probably go to other schools,” adds Anderegg. All four teams still have a final season coming, and in this uncertain time, student athletes have realized that this could be their “last chance to put it on the line.” This impending recycling of KPU athletics seems to have galvanized the will of the athletes. There’s nothing to lose. For the women’s soccer team, that means winning nationals, that means proving something to themselves and, ultimately, it means proving something to KPU administration.

Danielle George

Features

W : runnermag.ca

Getting women in the lab

Gender inequality painfully evident in STEM fields.

Amanda Paananen Photo Editor

There is no doubt that women around the world are highly underrepresented within the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math). In Canada, despite representing nearly 40 per cent of all STEM graduates, women only constitute 22 per cent of the workforce in STEM fields—a mere two per cent increase since 1987. The gender disparity is even more noticeable when comparing annual wages, with women in STEM making 7.5 per cent less than their male peers. It’s possible that part of the issue can be attributed to a lack of female role models. According to Statistics Canada, women make up only 12 per cent of all full-time professors in the fields of Natural Sciences and Engineering, and according to a study commissioned by the Council of Canadian Academic entitled “Strengthening Canada’s Research Capacity: The Gender Dimension,” when including Computer Science and Mathematics, that number shrinks to as low as 9 per cent. Unfortunately, statistics this incongruent only begin to show the results of the gender bias in STEM fields. Researchers at Yale noted an even uglier trend in a randomized double-blind study comprised of 127 biology, chemistry, and physics professors from participating American universities. The faculty were asked to assess the application of a student applying for a laboratory manager position. Unbeknownst to the faculty participants, they were all rating the same application— randomly assigned either a female or male name. Overwhelmingly, participants of both genders favoured the male student’s application, stating he was more “competent” and “hirable” than his identical counterpart. They even went as far as to offer the hypothetical male student a higher salary and more mentoring opportunities. These results make it clear that much needs to be addressed in order to encourage more wom-

en in science. Sometimes the bias is not so subtle. Take the case of Nobel laureate Tim Hunt, who recently inspired public outrage after remarks he made during the world conference of science journalists in Seoul, Korea. While attending a Women in Science lunch, Hunt addressed the group of scientists and journalists by stating, “Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they are in the lab. You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticize them, they cry.” He went on to further suggest that sex-segregated labs were the best solution to this problem. The incident comes directly off the heels of a scandal surrounding science journal PLOS ONE. When evolutionary scientists Fiona Ingleby and Megan Head investigated the role of gender bias in academia, they discovered that women with PhDs in biology published significantly fewer articles than their male colleagues. They attributed the phenomenon to underlying gender biases, and submitted their article to PLOS ONE for review. Ironically, their submission was rejected by an anonymous reviewer who suggested that the authors collaborate with a male co-author, “in order to serve as a possible check against interpretations that may sometimes be drifting too far away from empirical evidence into ideologically biased assumptions.” The reviewer (of unknown gender) went on to further rationalize that, “It is not so surprising that on average male doctoral students co-author one more paper than female doctoral students, just as, on average, male doctoral students can probably run a mile race a bit faster than female doctoral students.” Such blatant sexism is usually reprimanded quickly, and indeed both Hunt and the unknown reviewer have been penalized for their behaviors. Within 24 hours PLOS ONE issued a state-

ment of apology and, amidst public outcry, removed the reviewer from their database. Sadly, however, most instances of gender bias are far more insidious. Despite the myth that women simply forgo career aspirations in lieu of having a family, it is the pervasiveness of casual, everyday sexism that discourages women from entering or maintaining careers in the STEM fields. Joan C. Williams, a professor at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law, along with some of her colleagues, surveyed 557 female scientists about their experiences in the workplace. They discovered that 34 per cent felt the burden of “feminine roles,” such as a responsibility for organizing meetings and bringing coffee, whereas 53 per cent reported repercussions for presenting “masculine traits” like being assertive or outspoken. Perhaps most shockingly, 64 per cent of the women had to demonstrate more proof of their competence than male peers, 64 per cent had their dedication to the job doubted and lost opportunities after having a baby, and 35 per cent reported at least one instance of sexual harassment at work. It is precisely these more insidious forms of discrimination that limit women in the STEM professions. In April 2015, two prominent Canadian scientists, Judy Illes and Dr. Catherine Anderson, resigned from the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame selection committee due to the fact that there has not been a female nominee in two years. In fact, the Hall of Fame was created 24 years ago,

and since that time only 11 out of 60 inductees have been women. According to Anderson, a professor in the faculty of medicine at UBC, women are less likely to be nominated because of innate biases. She notes, “Men are more likely to nominate men, so if we actually want to recognize the best of the best, we need to actively encourage women to apply.” Illes, a professor of neurology and the Canada Research Chair in neuroethics at UBC (one of only 461 women out of 1,650 who hold this prestigious position), states that she has been trying to address flaws in the nomination process for the past two years; suggesting the organization focus on how it advertises. “We were assured that there would be a change over the past year and there wasn’t,” she says. So, what does it take to effect change? In response to Hunt’s comments about women being too distracting and emotional to work alongside of men in laboratories, female scientists from around the world have united, tweeting under the hashtag #DistractinglySexy. UK’s Vagenda Team initiated the trend with a call to arms, asking female scientists to upload on-the-job photos of themselves together with the hashtag. The trend garnered over 10,000 tweets in only a few hours. Though tongue-in-cheek, it is movements like this, in conjunction with bolder actions like those of Illes and Anderson, that will create the awareness necessary to address the underrepresentation of women in the STEM fields.

Amanda Paananen

Features

W : runnermag.ca

The Pros and Cons of Couchsurfing You might save thousands, but it’s not for everyone.

Tristan Johnston Coordinating Editor

“Hello, Tristan? That’s quite a big bag you have there.” This is what David said to me when I showed up at his apartment in the middle of Paris last year, next to the “Hotel du Ville” Metro station. I had never met him in—person before this—the only contact we had was two or three messages sent back and forth on Couchsurfing.com. I stayed with David for a few days. He made some really good food and I got to practice speaking French. He even showed me around his favourite neighbourhood. None of this cost me any money. Pretty good for one of my first times staying with a stranger. Many of my friends are surprised when I tell them that I managed to travel around Europe a few months ago for 23 days, with only four of those nights spent in hotels. The rest were free. Couchsurfing is similar to a social network or online dating site, in the sense that you set up a profile—the more detailed the better—and set yourself up to meet other people. For many people, this concept is unnerving. In an attempt to address this, Couchsurfing uses a reference system where users can leave a positive or negative reference about their host to encourage or warn future visitors. There’s also a neutral option, but it isn’t used often. If someone has at least 10 positive references, chances are high that they’re a good person to stay with—but always make sure to read their entire profile and make the final call yourself. While in Paris, I ran into a pair of South Africans who were travelling around Europe: Dané du Preez and Christiaan Olivier. They chose Couchsurfing over hostels for a number of reasons. “We have a low budget . . . You expe-

rience different cultures and meet a lot of new people and they have something new to teach you,” says Olivier. “And you get to know more people Couchsurfing, you can make friends for the future,” says du Preez. They note that another plus is that compared to a hostel, you’ll tend to meet people from outside the country you’re visiting. That’s likely not the case with Couchsurfing. “The mentality is different,” says Olivier. “In a hostel, there’s a financial reason, while in Couchsurfing there isn’t any. People genuinely want to help you and make a connection.” Paris, where I met them, was only their second surf. Their first was in Brussels. “[We had a] very nice experience,” says du Preez. “We asked the guy at 10 o’clock at night if we could stay with him and he said yes. We got it at around 11 p.m., we talked and he was very nice.” The benefits of Couchsurfing are primarily that you can stay somewhere for free, and meet someone that calls the city home. You’re in a foreign city to absorb the culture, and this is made easier if you are already staying with a local. Your experience will always be different, too—in my experience you get somewhere between a free hotel with free food and a nice person to chat with, or a free hotel with a tour guide. However, there’s always a catch with these things. While Couchsurfing is free, you get what you pay for. Even with 10 positive references, it can be difficult to get a place to stay. For any given city, you should send out somewhere between 10 to 30 requests a week before you go, and hopefully one will stick. Statistically speaking, Amsterdam is easily the hardest place to Couchsurf, and given my experience, this is absolutely true. Conversely, Montreal was one of the easiest. However, I’m a male, and there’s a surprising number of hosts who will only host women. Thus, it’s a lot easier if you’re female, but again the emphasis is to make

sure you read their profile. I can’t speak for what women may have to deal with, but oftentimes women Couchsurfers will stay with other women, or travel with a friend/ partner. Even then, if you get a place, it might not be the most convenient location. While I was in Paris, I had the good fortune of meeting someone who gave me his place for four nights while he went away on business, so long as I took care of his cats. His apartment was luxurious, but it was in La Defense, and a 20-minute walk from the nearest Metro station. When I stayed for my first night in Oslo, my female host had her boyfriend stay the first night with her. While I didn’t think anything of it, she explained to me a few days later that she did that in case her guest was a weirdo. Du Preez was in the same boat. “Obviously you’re worried, but because I travel with Christiaan it’s not that bad for me. But I know some of my friends did it, and their experience wasn’t that nice. If I was travelling alone, I wouldn’t Couchsurf, personally. If I was alone, I’d be too scared.” I stayed with Jen Gebhardt when I was in Berlin. She took some time to show me around Mitte, the area of the city that she lived in. With 50 positive references, I asked her about her experience Couchsurfing as a woman. “The first two years, I was just a host,” she says. “I’ve surfed New York, Boston, Chicago twice. Philly, Edinburgh, one night in Köln, yeah about seven times, but I’ve hosted at least double.” “I had one dodgy host. He left a neutral reference on my profile, but I had a really bad feeling while I was there. I left after the first night . . . instead of three nights. I left him a neutral reference after debating it for a long time, and he had a very good profile, but I could just tell something was off.” Danielle George “I had two or three or four people pri-

Danielle George

vately messaging me saying they had seen the reference I left for him, and that they agreed with me . . . which lead me to thinking ‘Wow, that’s rubbish. If you had left a reference, I would have never ended up in that situation.’ But . . . nothing bad happened, I trust my intuition. I was very unhappy with that experience. It was the only bad experience I had in regards to surfing.” “I’ve stayed with males before. I was in a house with lots of guys, sleeping in the living room. I’ve never felt unsafe and I’m really easygoing anyway,” she elaborates. “So it wasn’t the fact that I had to share a room with him, just that he was creepy. It just showed me that the system didn’t really work. You need to have a way to leave confidential messages as well. This way people wouldn’t have to worry about losing their perfect scores.” Gebhardt is referring to the fact that all references you make or receive are public. If you leave a negative reference for someone, that host/surfer will see it, and can reply to it if they want to. “I already had 50 positive references, so I didn’t really care.” She’s unsure of the alternative. “I have to stay with a girl or a couple to make sure I’m safe? That’s not the way it should work.” From a hosting perspective, Gebhardt gave some tips on why she might reject a request. “Why would I accept your request if you have no references and an empty profile? You might as well walk up to somebody on the street and ask them if you can stay with them.” Regardless, Gebhardt found that her experience as a surfer was positive overall. “Everyone else was not just fine, I would say that 90 per cent of my hosts were… Incredible. So much so that I’m friends with some of them still, and visit them occasionally.”

Culture

W : runnermag.ca

Khatsahlano Throws A Street Party Like No Other One of this year’s organizers gives us a glimpse inside the festival.

Preet Hundal Contributor

Ten blocks, eight stages, more than 50 performers and thousands of people in attendance—on July 11, the Khatsahlano Street Party became one of Vancouver’s largest outdoor events since the 2010 Winter Olympics, half a decade ago. Just one of the many people who made the event possible was Terence Dorras-Donnelly, notable for being both a behind-thescenes organizer and an on-stage performer. As the drummer for Ladner-based band Dirty Mike and the Boys, Dorras-Donnelly claims that the Street Party’s greatest attribute is its sheer scale, in that it allows small town bands like his to “get some new fans” by having access to larger venues. “With almost 120,000 attendants, it’s almost guaranteed to have some fresh ears to hear us for the first time,” he says. When he’s not drumming with Dirty Mike or the rest of the Boys, Dorras-Don-

nelly is employed by his father at John Donnelly & Associates, the primary organizing entity behind the Khatsahlano Street Party. In addition to hoping that the event sparks similar large-scale outdoor events across the Lower Mainland, Dorras-Donnelly also believes the success of this year’s Street Party will allow John Donnelly & Associates to draw even more acts next year. Dirty Mike and the Boys appeared alongside a number of Canadian indie acts at the festival, including Kelowna’s Van Damsel, Vancouver’s Dark Blue World and Port Coquitlam’s Chersea. The headlining act of this year’s festival was Yukon Blonde, a steadily rising band from Kelowna that has reached its level of relative fame by appearing at events such as this one. Featuring local bands was one of the primary goals of the festival, Dorras-Donnelly claims. The fact that so many B.C. groups received exposure to such a large collection of people benefits not just the bands themselves, but the entire indie music and artistic scenes of the province.

Dorras-Donnelly believes that, in addition to the opportunities for up-and-coming bands, “One of the best parts about Khatsahlano is the opportunity it provides to small artisanal businesses.” He claims that the organizers of the festival go beyond the call to feature “people who craft and create really cool and unique products,” and that the event “gives them a chance to reach out to many people in a short time”. Some of the more interesting, niche businesses that he claims thrive at a festival like Khatsahlano include Point Two Designs,

managed entirely by UBC graduates, which sell uniquely designed maps of cities, and Parrotphernalia, a company owned and operated by a single woman who sells one-ofa-kind pieces of jewelry made of bird feathers. This year’s Khatsahlano Street Party was seen as a resounding success, both in the eyes of organizers and assuredly in many of its visitors. The festival continually proves to be a cornerstone of B.C. culture, and enthusiasts like Dorras-Donnelly expect nothing but bigger and better things in the future.

Photo courtesy of Dirty Mike and the Boys

Scarlett Jane—The Every Woman BanD

“The universe was telling us to start a chick band. And that’s what we did.”

Scarlett Jane / Press Photo

Awais Mushtaq Contributor

Scarlett Jane might sound like the name of a jazz singer, wrapped up in a beautiful red dress and crooning torch songs in a blues bar for a dozen candle-light patrons. Or maybe she’s the folk singer at the head of the movement, rearranging traditional ballads at sit-ins to keep the protesters’ spirits up. Scarlett Jane could be both of these women, and so many more. So says Andrea Ramolo and Cindy Doire, who performed as the band Scarlett Jane at the 38th annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival at Jericho Beach Park. Although both highly accomplished and talented musicians, Ramolo and Doire did not get involved with music as young as you might think. “We didn’t start music so early, we kind of dabbled in the arts and both of us have university degrees in languages and literature,” says Ramolo. “I actually grew

up as a competitive dancer, went into acting and then I went into music.” As for Doire, her father bought her a guitar as a teenager, but it wasn’t until many years later that she actually entered the music scene with the release of her first album. Doire’s premiere solo effort was in French, while Romolo’s was in English—a division that proved to be both a draw and a complication for their eventual collaboration. “We have kind of been growing and evolving at the same time,” claims Ramolo. “But we never got to hang out together because I was touring east to west and she’d be over in France, so we sort of created these mini friendship duo tours when times were slow with our solo touring,” says Ramolo. As a result, the two musicians ended up locking themselves in a garage in the country for weeks at a time where they “learned all of each others’ material” and how to back each other up on tour. While the act of collaborative songwriting was something the two naturally carried out over the course of years, the impetus to form

a duo act came out of something difficult that arose simultaneously in their lives. “There was one particular summer when we both left our partners, and they were pretty monumental breakups so we just thought the universe was telling us this is the time to get together and start a chick band. And that’s what we did,” says Ramolo. “Our partners at the time were playing music with us individually, so we ended up leaning on each other and we’ve been together ever since.” As in great musical fashion, both escaped to Mexico in 2011 and began writing music. This time, though, they wrote with the idea of performing as a duet in mind. Their collaborative energy seemed almost second nature to them, though as Ramolo explains, “There’s always hurdles in any relationship or marriage, so Cindy and me are kind of like life partners at this point. There are things we go through that any major relationship goes through, and now songwriting comes more easily to us.” The name Scarlett Jane itself came out of an understanding about female duality.

“It’s kind of like in one voice and one heart and one mind, even though we’re two women,” explains Ramolo. “So we created this persona of every woman—Scarlett is the passion, the sensuality and fury, all of the minor key songs we’re so drawn to. And then Jane is the every woman like Jane Doe—the strength behind everyone.” Although the band’s persona is female, the music is designed to be accessible to every gender as the duo write songs about such universal topics as love, loss and belonging. As Doire points out, “We actually pull from many different genres. It’s one cohesive sound with many different elements that we’re constantly resolving over time.” As a continuous touring schedule and a recent trip to Cuba ended with the duo planning the release of their second album, Scarlett Jane’s candid and vulnerable approach to music is something which continues to connect with audiences. For Doire, their connection with others, “Comes from a real place, and that’s a huge part of who we are, as artists on this journey.”

W : runnermag.ca

NOW HIRING! photo editor

join the team! Strong candidatesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; qualifications will include a knowledge of Photoshop and Indesign, Lightroom, photography skills, leadership abilities, organization skills and an ability to work whithin deadlines. Preference will be given to KPU students.

The position is paid, and those interested should submit a resume and portfolio to editor@runnermag.ca

Opinions

W : runnermag.ca

Amanda Paananen

Protecting B.C.’s Freshwater, the Wrong Way Petition to charge corporations more for groundwater is misguided.

Joseph Keller Contributor

As temperatures soar and British Columbia’s drought carries on, and as restrictions on water use become ever tighter, many B.C. residents have been understandably shocked and angered to learn that multinational corporate giant and literal manifestation of Satan Nestlé continues to legally extract the province’s groundwater for practically free. While Metro Vancouver’s water supply is becoming critically low, the province charges the food and beverage multinational a measly $2.25 per million litres taken out of the ground. $2.25! Not much higher than the price Nestlé gives us when they sell the stuff back to us by the bottle. Fortunately, the internet is here to save the day with a petition that will force Nestlé to pay more for our precious natural resource. Surely the power of internet outrage will save us all! Well, not quite. Upon further inspection this issue turns

out to be a great example of why it’s important to be critical and learn the facts before taking action. Why? Because the aforementioned petition, if heeded, could do far more harm to our ownership of our natural resources than good. Corporate control over our nation’s drinking water has been a serious issue for some time. The 2008 documentary Blue Gold: World Water Wars warns that as water becomes more and more valuable on the global market, corporations will try to gain control of freshwater sources, making water a commodity rather than a free-flowing human right. It’s a legitimate and worrying issue, particularly in Canada, the most freshwater-rich country in the world. The $2.25 figure comes from the Water Sustainability Act, which was passed by the BC legislature last year and actually raised the price from just $0.02 per million litres. This fee doesn’t include the considerable overhead it takes to actually extract the water. It’s also important to note that this price is a fee for accessing the water, rather than a

price to purchase the water from the province. That last part is a very important distinction because to actually sell the water would make it a tradable good, a commodity. Currently, Nestlé is allowed to extract, clean and bottle the water at its own expense but it doesn’t own the water. One can think of the price paid for a bottle of water as payment for the service of providing the water in a convenient package rather than buying the water itself, similar to how we pay to have water pumped into our homes. Changing the way we allow companies to extract water by allowing them to purchase it at a market rate could open the door for corporations to start buying up water, which would give them far more control over our water sources. Nestlé knows this, which is why the company has been publicly supportive of potential legislation that would have it paying more but receiving ownership of water. This petition could backfire horribly. This isn’t to say that B.C. shouldn’t be getting a better deal out of Nestlé’s ex-

tremely profitable bottled water business. B.C.’s $2.25 administration fee is currently the lowest charged anywhere in Canada, with Quebec charging $70 per million litres and Nova Scotia getting as high as $140. It would not hurt the province to look into this administration fee as long as it remains an administration fee. There’s no reason why Nestlé’s exploitation of our home’s natural gifts can’t work in our benefit. So does this all mean that Nestlé’s ethics have been unfairly judged by the populous? Hell no. Many of the company’s other business practices reach cartoonish levels of evil. From its horrendous environmental record, to its practice of marketing infant formula to mothers in developing countries based on false and misleading claims, Nestlé is one of the most boycotted companies in the world and it’s well earned. However, it’s important to be careful with how we act on our outrage. Misled action might just play right into corporate hands.

Apasciuto / Flickr

Female Athletes Aren’t Treated with Equal Dignity The media sends ambiguous messages about women’s sports.

Yaunna Sommersby Web Editor

Media coverage for sporting events is often different when it involves female athletes, typically highlighting gender rather than talent or skill. Coverage for the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup held here in Vancouver was no exception. While traditional sports reporting will cover scores and player statistics, and won’t necessarily highlight gender specifics, other stories will veer into more subjective territory, covering in detail a female athlete’s looks, her style on and off the field, and personal relationships, more so than we see in coverage about male athletes. On June 22, Sports Illustrated contributor Andy Benoit responded to a tweet from his

executive editor, Mark Mravic, and claimed: “Women’s sports in general not worth watching.” At the time, the FIFA Women’s World Cup was still ongoing and the United States had not yet claimed their title. There was backlash surrounding Benoit’s comment and it even prompted Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler to reunite for another “Really!?!” sketch on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Benoit has since deleted the original tweet and issued an apology. Sports Illustrated recently released a new issue that features members of the U.S. women’s soccer team individually on 25 different collectible covers. However, this, in combination with Benoit’s comments, sends a confusing message to audiences and young athletes. The publication is celebrating these women and honouring their achievement, yet Benoit only had to issue an apology on

his personal Twitter. While Benoit clearly is not the only voice of the publication, it feels as though Sports Illustrated is doing damage control through publishing these new covers. They are attempting to portray these women as strong, accomplished athletes— yet their hair and makeup is perfect, as if anyone could really look like that while working towards winning a world title. The media is a strange, fascinating part of our society. With social media and the digital era, it’s easier for the media to reach and influence audiences. Typical gender roles and stereotypes are still perpetuated in the media and thus influence how people view themselves. Magazines and online media platforms are not the only forms of media guilty of promoting gender norms when it comes to sports. CBS News New York did a segment on the historic ticker-tape parade that was

held for the U.S. women’s team, in which reporter Weijia Jang asks a parade goer, “So it is good to play like a girl?” What exactly does that mean? The connotation of doing something “like a girl” often suggests weakness, lack of coordination, or a slower, lacklustre performance. Campaigns such as the United Nations’ “He for She” and Always’ #LikeAGirl are trying to change the negative connotations often associated with feminism and being “like a girl” by empowering people to make a change. Nevertheless, the media still sends confusing, mixed messages about gender roles. Trying to become inspired, finding out who you are and following your dreams is hard enough at a young age without the influence of a system of media that doesn’t quite know what it wants to say.

Opinions

W : runnermag.ca

Vote for Me or the Terrorists Will get You: Fear and the 2015 Election Let’s keep some perspective when we head to the polls.

Joseph Keller Contributor

One thing you may notice as the election season ramps up is that there’s been a lot of talk about terrorism. This isn’t particularly surprising, simply because terrorism (and fear of terrorism) has been something of a theme for more than a decade, and the rise of ISIS in the Middle East has only inflamed this. According to a recent Pew Research Centre survey, Canadians are so afraid of terrorism that the threat of ISIS tops climate change and economic instability on the list of our greatest concerns. Of course our politicians have noticed and so we have an election focused on who will best protect us from the boogeyman of the day. This is unfortunate because Canadians and our representatives are being distracted from issues that are far, far more likely to actually affect Canadians. Let’s get one thing out of the way: ISIS needs to be wiped off the face of the earth. The so-called Islamic State is a gang of murderous thugs and rapists who have twisted faith into an excuse to cause untold misery in an effort to establish a fascist state that would cause even more misery. As far as direct threats to Canada go, however, ISIS is nowhere near the top of the

list. ISIS will fall to the collective world powers long before they can seriously set their sights on Canada, and our law enforcement is well-equipped to deal with the occasional splinter group at home. The damage being done by ISIS is happening and will continue to happen far away from Canada. We should keep the perspective that any mission against ISIS needs to happen out of a sense of justice for the atrocities committed and not out of our own paranoia. These facts have not stopped Canadian politicians from using our fear of ISIS as a political tool. The Conservative party’s main talking points took a sharp turn from their economic stewardship to Protecting Canadianstm as soon as the Canadian economy started trending

downwards. The party has even gone so far as to use footage from ISIS propaganda videos in their ads to hammer home the fear. It’s not just the Conservatives; Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party was so afraid of being labelled “weak against terrorism” that they opted to support the Tory’s extremely controversial anti-terror/privacy legislation C-51, despite expressing grave concerns about many provisions of the bill. Perhaps politicians in the West learned long ago that the most reliable way to win elections is to use people’s fear, rational or otherwise. ISIS may be what our

representatives have focused their minds on but it doesn’t need to be what decides our next government. When we head to the polls in October we should consider the issues that will actually affect the health of our home over the next few years. We should vote to maintain the ecological health of Canada. We should vote to keep our healthcare system efficient and affordable for all. We should vote for responsible drug policy. We should vote for affordable housing for Canadians and economic growth. We should vote to maintain our right to privacy in the digital age. When all’s said and done, whichever party forms the government will have a responsibility to keep Canadians safe, but we shouldn’t vote for any party with only one issue in mind. The aforementioned Pew Research Centre survey found that 58 per cent of Canadians are “very concerned” about the threat of ISIS. It’s my hope that these Canadians will take a step back and consider what else they are “very concerned” about before making their decision.

Charis Au

The ‘Green Pope’ Just Might Save the Catholic Church Pope Francis’ encyclical is a move in the right direction for the church.

Joseph Keller Contributor

When Pope Francis released his unprecedented encyclical this past June, he did more than just provide a valuable tool for those fighting for sustainable energy solutions. He may have also made an important step toward saving his Church from its ongoing decline. For the uninitiated, an encyclical is basically an official decree from the Church to all followers that highlights official interpretations of church doctrine. In this encyclical entitled On Care of our Common Home the pope lays out over the course of 180 pages his marching orders for Catholics to better protect the planet for future generations. The document lays out in no uncertain terms the Church’s position that climate change is real and a threat to humanity. It condemns the “cheerful recklessness” displayed by political and industry leaders towards the health of the planet, and ultimately calls for Catholics and non-Catholics to take action while laying out some suggestions on how to do so. To understand why taking the right stance on this issue could be so important for the Catholic Church’s future we need to understand how the last decade has gone so wrong for the Church. When respected face of the Church Pope John Paul II passed

away in 2005 it was hard to imagine his successor could fill the shoes of the beloved leader. As it turned out, he couldn’t. Pope Benedict XVI never had the charisma of his predecessor, though he was in great need of it when the Church became implicated, once again, in numerous child abuse scandals. During these years, for many the Church brought to mind images of corruption and moral hypocrisy to the highest degree. It didn’t help that so many of the church’s positions on social issues were seen as tone-deaf to the realities of modern life. It became difficult for young Catholics to identify with an organization that seemed more preoccupied with fighting homosexality and life-saving safe sex techniques than the real moral issues of our time. As a result, many

Catholics (such as myself) chose to disassociate ourselves from the Church during those years with some (again, such as myself) stepping away from theology altogether. Membership plummeted in the West and it began to look like the Church would eventually fade into history. Enter Francis. In 2013 Benedict became the first Pope to step down in nearly 600 years. Almost immediately from his selection to the papacy Francis proved to be a breath of fresh air for the Church. Francis put a greater emphasis on alleviating poverty and inequality and put pressure on leaders around the world to do the same. Taking a far more progressive mindset than his predecessor, Francis has even taken a more liberal approach to the issue of LGBTQ rights (relative to the Catholic Church, anyway). Under Scott McLelland

Francis’ leadership the Church has become far more relevant to modern morality and this focus on environmentalism is part of that. Unsurprisingly, the Church has proven to be highly compatible with environmentalism. It doesn’t take much searching to find scripture that supports an obligation to take care of the planet. For example, Jeremiah 2:7 “And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.” Despite its falling numbers in the West, the Church still commands a significant influence with many industrial and political leaders counted among the faithful. Speaking of political leaders, by clearly laying out an official position on climate change, the Church has (partially) removed a powerful tool from the hands of climate change deniers. For decades Christian theology has been used as justification for denying humanity’s influence on the health of the planet despite shaky-at-best support from scripture. Now, the largest sect of Christianity has outright condemned this line of thinking, making this tactic that much more refutable. The Roman Catholic Church has been on the wrong side of history so many times. By taking a stance that will inspire its faithful to work towards protecting our planet, the Church is on the right side of history, this time.

Columns

W : runnermag.ca

Going Global

Balancing Power in the South China Sea.

Tristan Johnston Coordinating Editor

Disputes over naval territory have been a consistent struggle in the South China Sea since the end of the Second World War. For several years, Japan and China have both claimed ownership over a set of islands between the north of Taiwan and the south of Okinawa. The Japanese call them Senkakushima while the Chinese call them Diaoyu. Regardless of ideology or history, it’s not the physical islands themselves that are valuable, but the area that surrounds them. In the case of Senkaku/Diaoyu specifically, there’s an abundance of oil and plenty of viable fishing area. “They have claimed a lot of smaller islands, some of them are maybe 20 by 20,” says Shinder Purewal, a professor of political science at KPU. “It’s not simply an island, it’s the resources surrounding them. It’s a really big deal to them.” In international law, countries have rights up to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from its coast. This would mean that whoever owns the Senkaku Islands would control 430,084 square kilometres of fishing waters, and whatever else is underneath it, namely oil. The largest of the Senkaku Is-

lands is only 4.3 square kilometres. Vancouver International Airport sits on at least 10 square kilometers of land. Japan would be extremely interested in an expanse of oil, given that their country has very little in regards to natural resources, needing to import most of them. While China has a lot of resources compared to Japan, they have 1.3-billion people who need them. At the same time, Japan is trying to build up its military. This move is especially interesting due to the fact that Japan isn’t even supposed to have a military. After WWII ended, the Americans occupied Japan and had a hand in crafting their constitution. Article 9 states that: Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of bel-

ligerency of the state will not be recognized. The way the Japanese have since worked around this rule was to have their own “selfdefense force,” which has seen increasing use outside of Japan and their waters. For the most part, their military has been restricted to UN Peacekeeping and small deployments in Iraq. Moves like these could later brew into a full blown security dilemma. However, Purewal likens it more as a balance of power issue. “It’s more of a balance of power issue there. Smaller nations like the Philippines and Vietnam, they’ve fought wars with the Americans now and they see them as natural allies because the Americans are interested in checking Chinese power.” Despite the Americans not ratifying the United Nations C o n ve n tion on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), they have disagreed with China in their territorial assertions. Rosaura Ojeda Note that the United States patrols global naval trade routes with their massive navy, and would prefer things

stay the way they are. “The Chinese are trying to reserve one thing they believe they need, what they call a Blue Water navy,” says Purewal. “They should be able to move anywhere to protect their sea lines. And their sea lines are almost becoming global—just like the Americans, they believe that these are their spheres of influence. The Chinese are thinking that if we are bringing oil from the Middle East, then their sea lines begin from the Strait of Hormuz. And therefore the Indian Ocean is a sphere of influence.” China’s desire for a Blue Water navy can be seen in their recent purchase of a Russian aircraft carrier. For a military su-

perpower, having an aircraft carrier is a big deal, as they can be used to project force anywhere in the world as mobile military bases. “My conclusion is that the Chinese are not going to give up that easily,” says Purewal, who believes that the Chinese are viewing the current situation as a test. They have aspirations to becoming a true superpower that can project its force anywhere in the world. However, if they get checked in their own backyard, a mere 200 kilometres away from their coast, what hope do they have of being able to maneuver around the world?

Bank separation law returns to American congress The Return of Glass-Steagal comes from Democrats and Republicans.

Tristan Johnston Coordinating Editor

Early last month in the United States, Republican John McCain and Democrat Elizabeth Warren announced that they were going to work together to pass a new version of the Glass-Steagall Act, otherwise known as the Banking Act of 1933. For the Americans, and the rest of the world by extension, this is a big deal. Simply put, the law is meant to separate investment and traditional banks from each other. This means that risk-taking investment banks cannot access commercial banks’ chequing and savings accounts. It can be easily argued that this malleability between banks was one of the direct causes of the 2008 credit crunch. Originally, the Glass-Steagall Act was passed in 1933 after the Great Depression, also by a Republican and a Democrat. Elizabeth Warren, in an interview with business news channel CNBC, argued that after 1933, “We had 50 years following the passage of Glass-Steagall, in which we had a tiny number of bank failures. That whole boom and bust cycle from 1797 to 1933 went away. In that period of time, we built a strong and robust middle class. What happened is, we started chipping away, and part of the chipping away of that was loading up the banks with more and more risk, get them more and more integrated and get them bigger and bigger.” What Warren was referring to was the

beginning of “Reaganomics” and the political culture of de-regulation. Before Ronald Reagan was elected president of the United States, the country was experiencing a decade of stagflation, or increased unemployment in combination with inflation. Reagan addressed this with further deregulation, and tax cuts that greatly benefited the wealthiest one per cent. The last breath of Glass-Steagall was in 1999, when Bill Clinton signed the Gramm– Leach–Bliley Act into law. It allowed any one institution to act as investment bank, commercial bank and insurance company. Such legislation made way for the expansion

of banks that were “too big to fail.” Thus, most of the Glass-Steagall legislation was gone, and risk taking investment banks had access to savings accounts covered by FDIC insurance, which protects regular people up to $250,000 in the event that a bank failure occurs. Such a program is similar to the Canadian version, the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation. In Canada, it’s illegal for banks to take such risky maneuvers. RBC Capital Markets doesn’t get to touch your RBC account, unless you have something arranged with them. Same for BMO Capital Markets and TD Securities. This is because we have more regulation in Canada in regards to banking, and you can tell when you compare our economic performance to American and World

performance in 2008. This has to do with the Bank Act, which prevents banks from getting too big and separates bank into different tiers. Schedule I banks are the big ones that you likely have an account with: TD, RBC, Scotia, BMO, CIBC. These banks are tightly regulated, and are only entitled to help from the Bank of Canada. Ultimately, these are the first murmurs of financial reform, and it’s hard to say whether or not anything will come from this, but it’s reassuring to see American politicians coming together from both sides of the aisle. A lack of regulation and unchecked risk-taking are among the reasons the United States fell into dire economic straits back in 2008.

Hira Matharoo

Procrastination

W : runnermag.ca

Show us your story #runnermag Your picture could be selected as our featured photo!

Horoscopes Sagittarius Nov. 23 - Dec 21

Capricorn Dec. 22 - Jan 20

Worried your myopic and mildly sexist joke won’t get enough internet traction? Go ahead and put a totally unrelated picture of a Minion beside it. Instant cleverness.

Anytime you’re caught in an awkward conversation just slap the person, scream “SEE YA IN THE FUNNY PAPERS!” and make your getaway.

I know what you did and I forgive you.

Pisces Feb 20 - Mar 20

Aries Mar 21 - Apr 19

Taurus Apr 20 - May 20

You yourself are just the pedestal for that ugly hump at which we stare.

I mean, didn’t they say all they needed to with the first Alvin and the Chipmunks trilogy?

Beware the Dowager Countess. She doesn’t have any real power, but she’ll get you with a sly retort so sharp your self esteem will look like Swiss cheese.

SUDOKU No. 128

Medium

6 3 5 8 4 1 2 7 9

8 4 7 6 9

3 8 5 4

6 1 4 2

3 2 5 4 1 1

Previous solution - Easy

5 5

Aquarius Jan 21 - Feb 19

8 7 4 3 2 9 5 1 6

9 1 2 5 6 7 4 3 8

4 9 3 2 1 6 8 5 7

1 8 6 7 5 3 9 4 2

5 2 7 4 9 8 1 6 3

3 5 1 9 7 2 6 8 4

2 6 8 1 3 4 7 9 5

7 4 9 6 8 5 3 2 1

Gemini May 21 - Jun 20

To complete Sudoku, fill the board by entering numbers 1 to 9 such that each row, column and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely. For many strategies, hints and tips, visit www.sudokuwiki.org If you like Sudoku you’ll really like ‘Str8ts’ and our other puzzles, Apps and books. Visit www.str8ts.com

Cancer Jun 21 - Jul 23

For a brief moment you forgot that Rob Schneider and Pauly Shore were different people, and that was the greatest half-minute of your life.

You’re drawn subterranean like a mole. You wish you could plant yourself seedlike into the earth and grow anew. Maybe that’s why you envy the dead.

Hi, Monica!

Virgo Aug 24 - Sept 23

Libra Sept 24 - Oct 23

Scorpio Oct 24 - Nov 22

Cats are the closest living relative to If you start now, you will become one raptors. Remember that and you’ll with the pumpkin come October. make it through the weekend.

The solutions will be published here in the next issue.

Leo Jul 24 - Aug 23

Well this is it. Turning to your university newspaper’s horoscopes section for life advice. The lowest you’ll ever sink.

CROSSWORD Across Across

1. Nae sayer? 1. Nae sayer? 5. Spoiled child 5. Spoiled child 9. Swiss city on the Rhine Swiss city on the Rhine 14.9. Hindu lawgiver Hindu 15.14. Long fish lawgiver Long fish 16.15. Diciembre follower Diciembre follower 17.16. Dentist’s request 18.17. Home of the Bruins Dentist's request 19.18. Mr. Home Moto portrayer of the Bruins 20.19. ApeMr. Moto portrayer 22. Multicolored 20. Ape 24. Smack 22. Multicolored 25. The beginning Smack 26.24. Outcast The beginning 29.25. Kingdom Outcast 31.26. Water vapor 32.29. ___Kingdom shui 33.31. “As Water if!” vapor 36.32. RR ___ stop shui 37.33. Power "Asplug if!" transformer 40. Weep 36. RR stop 41. Big bang cause 37. Power plug transformer 42. Iowa State city 40. Weep 43. Encore! bang cause 45.41. TheBig Hilton, e.g. Iowa State city 47.42. Infuriate Encore! 48.43. Swindle 51.45. NotThe fooled by e.g. Hilton, 52.47. Inhibit Infuriate 54.48. Eyelash cosmetic Swindle 58.51. Accumulation fluids Not fooledofby 59. Side 52. Inhibit 61. ...___ saw Elba 54. Eyelash cosmetic 62. Beer mug Accumulation of fluids 63.58. 1975 Wimbledon winner Side 64.59. Interpret ...___ saw Elba 65.61. Emcees 66.62. Bluey-green color Beer mug 67.63. Dextrous, lively 1975 Wimbledon winner

64. Interpret 65. Emcees Down 66. Bluey-green color 1. Problem with L.A. 67. Dextrous, lively

2. Crime boss 3. Doozy 4. Republic in N Africa 1. Problem with L.A. 5. The land of Israel 2. Crime boss 6. Summary 3. Doozy 7. Everything 4. Republic in the N Africa 8. Nicholas II was last Russian one 5. The land of Israel 9. Satan 6. Summary 10. Assumed name 11. ___-Croatian 12. ___ the side of caution 13. Lerner’s partner

Down

24 26

42 45

40 44

7. Everything

21. South American ruminant 8. Nicholas 23. Proverb II was the last Russian one 26. Hey, you! 9. Satan 27. Env. notation 28. 10. Hire Assumed name 29. away 11. Drive ___-Croatian 30. creatures 12. Tolkien ___ thetree side of caution 32. 13. Renown Lerner's partner 33. Final Four org. 21. South American ruminant 34. Not a dup. 23. Proverb 35. Actress Daly 26. Palm Hey, fruits you! 38. 27. Tirades Env. notation 39. 28. Food Hire store 44. 45. 29. Recluse Drive away 46. seastree creatures 30. Vast Tolkien 47. covering 32. Tooth Renown 48. madeorg. 33. Newly Final Four 49. Resulted in 34. Not a dup. 50. Fencing blades 35. Actress Daly 51. D-Day beach 38. Sports Palm fruits 53. figure 39. Carpeting Tirades calculation 55. 44. The Food store 56. back end of something 57. 45. Helper Recluse 60. Siam 46. End Vastforseas

47. Tooth covering 48. Newly made

54 60

55 61

49. Resulted in 50. Fencing blades 51. D-Day beach 53. Sports figure 55. Carpeting calculation 56. The back end of something 57. Helper 60. End for Siam

our Next Issue

BACK TO SCHOOL Are You Ready?

W : runnermag.ca