The Cascade Vol. 22 No. 25

Vol. 22 Issue 25

October 8, 2014 to October 14, 2014

Recycling wisdom since 1993

The taste of home

Life in Agriburbia, p. 9 Abbotsford Food Show, p. 10-11 ufvcascade.ca

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NEWS 4

Opinion

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Culture

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Arts in Review

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VIFF continues

Sports & Health

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Eating fat to get skinny

Briefs

Two departments merge University advancement and alumni engagement have joined forces with marketing and communications as the university relations department.

Following UFV’s elimination of the vice-president external position, the duties that position handled have since been distributed among other UFV directors. The two departments already work closely together, and look to maximize efficiency by combining as one.

Campus makeover New paint will deck the halls over the next few years. UFV and General Paint in Abbotsford are picking out swatches to coat the campus. More info to follow.

UFV elects new chancellor Gwendolyn Point is to succeed Brian Minter as chancellor of UFV. She will be the representative ambassador for the university, participating in large events like convocation and contributing to the UFV senate. She is an assistant social work professor, and teaches First Nations studies courses. In addition to her extensive community involvement, Point holds several degrees from UBC, SFU, UVIC, and the University of Portland.

An official ceremony inducting her into the position is planned for the upcoming months.

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Colourful crustacean could cure cancer

News

News

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014

The fearsome mantis shrimp’s eyes may teach scientists how to detect cancer.

Beating the blues with Booster Buddy A new mental health app is designed to help teens and adults overcome depression. But can a computer program really have an effect on mental illness? Flip over to Opinion to see what Damian van Woerden has to say.

Birdsong is in the air UFV Theatre’s fall production promises a unique portrayal of the Great War from a Canadian point of view. Check out Vanessa Broadbent’s preview, including an interview with the director on how to set a surrealist mood in theatre.

Can’t wait to see Kristen Stewart in Clouds of Sils Maria? Check out our coverage from Michael Scoular.

The keto diet promises an exceptionally ripped body, with the slightly negative side effect of an early death.

Food, family, and the politics of eating KATIE STOBBART

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

We have an intimate relationship with food. The contents of our plates say a lot about who we are, about where and how we live. Because it’s so ingrained in our everyday lives, it can be easy to forget food is not just a source of energy; it’s also a source of political power.

As students, many of us are in the midst of a complex transitional relationship with our parents: straining away or resisting departure, at once eager to taste independence and lured back by the magic of the home-cooked meal.

The thought of Thanksgiving, for example, triggers immediate sensory memories: the warm, rich smell of my mom’s homemade dressing; the texture of moist turkey breast; and the taste of acorn squash baked with brown sugar. They’re nostalgic sensations, reminiscent of times my family ate together.

After being out on my own for two years, I’m hosting the holiday dinner for the first time, and feeling the pressure to live up to those memories.

Meanwhile, I’ve made choices about my diet that no longer Volume 22 · Issue 25 Room C1027 33844 King Road Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 604.854.4529 Editor-in-Chief katie@ufvcascade.ca Katie Stobbart Managing Editor valerie@ufvcascade.ca Valerie Franklin Director of Business Development joe@ufvcascade.ca Joe Johnson Webmaster ashley@ufvcascade.ca Ashley Mussbacher Copy Editor kodie@ufvcascade.ca Kodie Cherrille News Editor megan@ufvcascade.ca Megan Lambert

welcome that tasty stuffing packed with bread and sausage.

There’s a resonant connection between food and autonomy; learning to prepare our own meals is essential to our capacity to thrive independently as adults. But it can be a tense transition. Recently I have been taking a harder look at what I choose to eat, but I’ve found myself drawing an uneasy square around the day of my family’s Thanksgiving dinner as a day to slip back into my old eating habits. I’m justifying it to myself as a special occasion — but it’s not for the sake of childhood nostalgia.

It’s not those holiday scents and flavours standing in my way; it’s fear of alienation.

Even if I wasn’t hosting the dinner, I’m afraid it would cause a lot of tension with my family to suddenly start passing on most of the meal. I’ve already experienced some of that strain at informal gatherings, but to invoke it at a family holiday would make for a lot of awkward fork-toplate clinking, as well as the unsaid, What’s wrong with the way we eat? The way we’ve always eaten?

For one, the food we’ve al-

ways eaten has been largely a result of socio-economic status. We’ve eaten plenty of boxed food, potatoes, and fast food because it’s cheaper than eating healthily, and it’s easy to find prepared food that reflects our culinary traditions.

Putting a meal together can happen in less than half an hour, or less than five minutes in the microwave. Putting a healthy meal together takes much longer.

Who has the time to always buy fresh food and prepare it from scratch? Moreover, how many students have the

Opinion Editor brittney@ufvcascade.ca Brittney Hensman

Varsity Writer nathan@ufvcascade.ca Nathan Hutton

Printed By International Web exPress

Culture Editor nadine@ufvcascade.ca Nadine Moedt

Staff Writers breckles@ufvcascade.ca Taylor Breckles

Arts in Review Editor sasha@ufvcascade.ca Sasha Moedt

vanessa@ufvcascade.ca Vanessa Broadbent

The Cascade is UFV’s autonomous student newspaper. It provides a forum for UFV students to have their journalism published. It also acts as an alternative press for the Fraser Valley. The Cascade is funded with UFV student funds. The Cascade is published every Wednesday with a circulation of 1500 and is distributed at UFV campuses and throughout Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Mission. The Cascade is a member of the Canadian University Press, a national cooperative of over 50 university and college newspapers from Victoria to St. John’s. The Cascade follows the CUP ethical policy concerning material of a prejudicial or oppressive nature.

Submissions are preferred in electronic format through e-mail. Please send submissions in “.txt” or “.doc” format only.

Articles and letters to the editor must be typed. The Cascade reserves the right to edit submissions for clarity and length. The Cascade will not print any articles that contain racist, sexist, homophobic or libellous content. The writer’s name and student number must be submitted with each submission. Letters to the editor must be under 250 words if intended for print. Only one letter to the editor per writer in any given edition.

Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of UFV, Cascade staff and collective, or associated members.

Sports Editor catherine@ufvcascade.ca Catherine Stewart Production and Design Editor stewart@ufvcascade.ca Stewart Seymour Art Director anthony@ufvcascade.ca Anthony Biondi Production Assistant shyanne@ufvcascade.ca Shyanne Schedel

Image: Richard Smith / Flickr

martin@ufvcascade.ca Martin Castro Contributors Kyle Andreson, Sandeep Dosanjh, Remington Fioraso, Simon Grant, Ashley Hayes, Daniel Holmsberg, Jeff Nuij, Emily Skillings, Jasmin Sprangers, Alex Rake, Michael Scoular, Damian van Woerden, Jess Wind Cover image: Anthony Biondi Photo: Ben McLeod, Eric Allix Rogers, Rob Boudon - Flickr.com

funds? Filling my grocery cart with fresh vegetables and other unprocessed ingredients for a week’s worth of meals costs significantly more than it does to eat fast food or buy pre-packaged facsimiles of the comfort food I grew up with.

What we eat for cost and convenience moves from necessity to habit, and from habit to tradition. But the choice to improve my eating habits feels empowering: I feel healthier, more in control, and more mindful. Part of the intimacy we have with food is that we literally take it in and make it part of ourselves. Forgive the cliché: you are what you eat. Choosing what you eat, then, can be an expression of identity and of independence. It’s an act of autonomy.

Just as our ability to make choices is influenced by economy, choosing food (to eat local products, for example) is an economic decision.

Trying to break out of a loop of choosing and needing to choose cheaper food is inherently political. Awareness of what we eat becomes a kind of political engagement, making your own dinner a revolutionary act.

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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

UFV celebrates one-of-a-kind fire prevention campaign “by First Nations, for First Nations” VALERIE FRANKLIN

THE CASCADE

Thanks to a donation from fire prevention company Kidde Canada, First Nations homes across BC will soon be equipped with smoke alarms.

First Nations elders, government officials, and university administrators filled UFV’s Alumni Hall Friday, October 3 for the announcement of a unique fire safety campaign “by First Nations, for First Nations,” kicking off Fire Prevention Week.

Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis announced that Kidde Canada has donated $100,000 worth of smoke detectors to First Nations communities across BC. The donation follows several studies indicating that First Nations people are among the most at-risk people in Canada for house fires.

“Recent studies show that First Nations communities have a 2.5 to 2.8 times greater risk of dying [in a fire] than the rest of the Canadian population, and we need to do something about them,” said Garis.

He explained that in 2008, UFV conducted research for the City of Surrey and found that nearly 70 per cent of Surrey fires over the last 20 years started in buildings that did

Image: Valerie Franklin

“The Raven’s Alarm,” a painting by Stephen Point, was unveiled by Gwen Point at the ceremony as the fire prevention campaign’s logo. not have a working smoke alarm. The research predicted that if those homes were equipped with smoke detectors, the rate of death could be reduced by as much as 32 per cent. Garis noted that only half of the homes on First Nations reserves had a working smoke alarm at that time.

This research sparked a fire prevention movement in BC. On March 12, the provincial government partnered with the BC Fire Chiefs Association to launch a campaign to ensure that every home in BC was equipped with a working smoke alarm — particularly

for First Nations people and elderly citizens, who, Garis says, are among “the most vulnerable segments of the population.” At that time, Kidde Canada donated 5,000 smoke alarms at a value of $75,000, and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada purchased 2,500 more.

Garis reported that due to the “overwhelming response” from First Nations communities throughout BC, the number of smoke alarms grew to a total of 16,137, to be installed in 9,321 First Nations homes across 114 communities. With Kidde Canada’s most re-

cent donation of 2,500 smoke alarms, the total amounts to over 18,000.

Garis pointed out that it’s common for people to take their smoke alarms down because they can cause annoying false alarms when they’re cooking. He emphasized that smoke alarms should never be removed or disabled, and that they must be diligently replaced every 10 years.

“Functioning smoke alarms can improve response times to fires, and fire safety devices can play a crucial role in preventing deaths and injuries when victims are asleep or distracted,” he said.

The smoke alarm campaign’s logo is a painting titled “The Raven’s Alarm” by Steven Point, a provincial court judge and former lieutenant governor of BC. The original work was unveiled by his wife, Gwen Point, at the ceremony.

Gwen Point is an assistant professor of social work and human services at UFV, but also a First Nations mother and grandmother. She and her husband were involved in the inception of this campaign, and she discussed the positive impact of Kidde Canada’s donation on impoverished communities.

“Many [First Nations] families cannot afford to buy a

smoke alarm,” she said. “Are you going to buy a smoke alarm, or are you going to buy food?”

She also admired the collaboration between associations, companies, and communities that it took to create this initiative.

“No one person can do something like this alone,” she noted. “It takes an effort from all levels, from the top down and across the agencies.”

Other First Nations speakers included Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and Edwin Mountain, president of the First Nations Emergency Services Society, both lauding the initiative. Eddie Gardner (T´ít´elem Spath), a member of the Skwah First Nation and one of UFV’s elders-in-residence, also gave a welcoming statement and blessed the ceremony with a song, recognizing the importance of distributing fire prevention materials to First Nations communities throughout BC. “It’s all about safeguarding life, and it’s all about recognizing that life is sacred,” he said.

$1 textbooks an alluring, illegal option DORA LIU

THE DIALOG

TORONTO (CUP) — While Amazon’s new promotion is offering six months of unlimited free two-day shipping for Canadian post-secondary students, its target — university and college students — have found another good deal for their textbooks.

These days, students know where they can find free PDF versions of their textbooks on the internet. Some of the upcoming e-book websites like bookboon.com have pledged that they can provide legal free download of e-books and e-textbooks to the public.

However, this free e-textbook trend is still not overwhelmingly popular among students in Canada.

“It’s just because the sources

are very limited and the PDF version is not good for marking,” said Ryan, a student in the culinary management— nutrition program and a seasoned free e-textbook user who prefers not to disclose his last name.

Nonetheless, recently a vast source of these books has come from China.

The most successful online shopping platform is from China, called taobao.com (meaning treasure hunt in Chinese). It has been revealed as having numerous online book shops that sell books at an unbelievably good price.

For example, the George Brown College (GBC) Chef School bible — the Professional Cooking 7th edition — sells for $145.88 in the GBC bookstore.

On taobao.com, the PDF version only costs RMB 5 in Chinese currency which is equal to 89 cents

Canada; with no tax and no shipping cost.

The bookshop will email the book directly to you once you’ve paid, which is far more efficient than free, two-day shipping time.

To understand the incredibly well-priced e-books, I acted as a customer and had a live chat with someone in customer service from one of their bookshops on Sep. 19.

I requested to buy the “Understanding Food Science and Technology” book which is not found in its store. The customer service representative said, “if you cannot find it in our bookshop, you just go to amazon.com; if they have the Kindle version, you come tell me and I will find that book for you. If they do not have it, then sorry, we can’t help.”

I took Ryan’s last term textbooks list as a target, five books, only one couldn’t be found on

Taobao.com.

Heather Buffett, the copyright and open access librarian at GBC admitted that she has seen some of the GBC course books or manuals listed in some of the websites for free download, but she has never heard of Taobao.com.

However, Buffett stated clearly, “if I bought a book from the bookstore and I scanned it and then I put it online, I don’t have permission to do that from the publisher or from the author, or anyone that has any sort of controls over it; and then I either sell it or hand it out for free, that is illegal. The person who also purchases that copy or just downloads it, that is also (doing something) illegal.”

Buffett said she had requested the websites to remove the unauthorized e-textbooks, but GBC has never sued anyone or any website as far as she knows.

“It takes time for lawsuit pro-

cedures. We consider the cost.

For the students who use photocopies or illegal e-books, all we can do is ask them to not do it.

We have no right to arrest anyone, or to seize anyone’s belongings,” said Buffett.

It’s the same situation for the GBC bookstore.

“We cant do anything. It’s the problem of the publishers or authors,” said Che Topsy, supervisor at the St James campus bookstore.

I asked Ryan and six of his classmates separately, “will you try Taobao.com?” Each of them firmly said “yes.”

“Why not? It just like everyone downloading music illegally on the internet.,” said Hilary Cowdrey. “If I can save a lot of money from my textbook expenses, I will do it.”

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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

Science on Purpose

The beautiful, deadly shrimp that can see cancer SANDEEP DOSANJH

CONTRIBUTOR

It’s faster than a cheetah, more vicious than a piranha, it can bash through the shell of a crab in one blow … and it might just save your life one day.

The mantis shrimp is one interesting animal — both an underwater nightmare and a useful aid in perfecting the greatest cancer detection technology the world has ever seen. This shallow waterdwelling shrimp grows only to about 15 to 30 cm long, but it packs one potent punch. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to keep these animals in aquariums because they can smash through glass. They’re also aggressive and territorial, often annihilating their tank mates.

This nasty shrimp loves to eat crab, sea snails, hermit crabs, even octopus. To strike, its dual raptorial appendages, located on the front of its body, gradually pull back and latch behind muscles that keep it in place. When it’s ready to attack, the muscles release, delivering a force comparable to that of a .22 calibre rifle. The blow occurs so quickly that the water around it boils. This is called supercavitation.

What other species do you know of that kills and cooks its meal in less than threethousandths of a second? Even when the mantis shrimp misses its prey, the surrounding boiling bubbles collapse, producing an underwater shockwave that sweeps across the water and obliterates any remaining victims.

Image: Anthony Biondi

Since bringing a mantis shrimp to the operating table is inhumane, studying them must suffice.

With 500 million years of evolving under its maxillipeds (a fancy word for jaws), the mantis shrimp is believed to have the most advanced eyes in the animal kingdom.

Humans only have three colour-receptive cones. The mantis shrimp has a total of

16, and sees light waves we can’t, such as ultraviolet and infrared. Scientists are captivated by this special vision.

“According to research from the University of Queensland in Australia, the compound eyes of the mantis shrimp can detect cancerous tissue. How?

They spot polarized light, which is reflected differently in cancerous tissue compared to healthy tissue,” states TheBlaze.

Taking what they’ve learned about the mantis shrimp’s ability to see polarized light, scientists are developing a

camera that could detect cancer within humans.

“Humans can’t see this, but a mantis shrimp could walk up to it and hit it,” said Justin Marshall, a professor from Queensland’s Brain Institute.

This camera will one day, hopefully, identify cancerous tissue in a patient before even undergoing a surgery or biopsy.

Marshall imagines a world where this technology could become so refined that people could access it simply through their smartphones. The methods currently available for cancer detection are not so user-friendly, as they expose the body to radiation in the form of x-rays, CAT scans, and PET scans. Cancer is also tested by examining blood samples, inserting cameras into various parts of the body, screening, and biopsies. Theoretically, you could skip all of that, whip out your phone, and check your body yourself with total autonomy — though you might need another person to check hard-to-reach areas.

Here, we see how the complex evolution of Mother Nature and human technology can coalesce and improve treatments. This knowledge could save lives that are lost to cancer each year. Once the cancer detection app is released, we should all remember to thank the terrifying — but beautiful — mantis shrimp.

Buckle up for another referendum VANESSA BROADBENT

THE CASCADE

A bus, a blueprint, and a building kept the Student Union Society (SUS) busy at their most recent board meeting. From October 30 to November 4, SUS will hold a referendum to increase shuttle bus service between Chilliwack and Abbotsford, and to expand service to Langley. Students will have the option of increased service between Chilliwack and Abbotsford for $3.50 per semester on top of the existing

shuttle fee, and/or add the Abbotsford and Langley route for $5.45 each semester.

SUS believes the increase in shuttle service is necessary; it was noted that at least 85 students are left behind by full buses each week. Should the referendum pass, an extra bus will run in the morning and early afternoon, and the shuttle will run more frequently in the evenings. The service between Abbotsford and downtown Langley would include four to six round trips daily.

If the referendum passes, the changes will start in winter

2015.

SUS president Ryan Petersen explained the importance of increasing the service as put forward in the referendum.

“People are aware of this service, and are planning their courses around this service — and realizing that if they live in Chilliwack, they now have a viable means of transportation to Abbotsford and vice versa,” he said.

“The downside is that we’re at full capacity for a lot of the runs, which makes it difficult for those students trying to get to campus to catch their

classes.”

SUS is also in the process of creating their 2015-18 strategic plan, also presented at the meeting. Petersen explained how the plan will affect SUS’ decision-making in the future.

“This has been a work in progress for ourselves over the past few months. We’re taking time to figure out what our society is, and where we would like to see it going,” he said.

They also approved a mandate for the purpose of the new Student Union Building (SUB) that will be opening

next year. It states that the space will be “dedicated to enhancing the quality of student and campus life, and to fostering a spirit of inquiry.”

“It’s supposed to be a very special and unique place for students, staff, and alumni to go and explore the other avenues [within] post-secondary education,” Petersen explained. “We don’t want it to be another office building. We want it to speak to our membership.”

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

HeForShe does not address equality of all genders ZACH KERSHMAN THE MARK

SQUAMISH (CUP) — Equal rights for women and men are undeniably important, and UN Women’s new campaign, HeForShe, is a powerful tool in enlisting the voices of boys and men in the push for these rights. Celebrity spokesperson Emma Watson noted in her speech addressing the United Nations in New York City that, “men don’t have the benefits of equality either.” The pressures that men face to conform to gender stereotypes contribute heavily to the power imbalance in the men-versus-women-dichotomy that pervades mainstream discourse surrounding gender. But one critical component that HeForShe ignores in its campaign “to end gender inequality” is, well, any gender identity other than man or woman.

A 2011 report on the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, published by The National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, presented data on people who identify as a gender other than man or woman.

These identities included transgender, transsexual, gender nonconforming, and genderqueer, among many others. The report, which presented data on 6,450 transgender and gender nonconforming people in the United States, concluded that transgender and gender non-conforming

Image: Lilong Dolrani / Flickr

“When campaigns like HeForShe present complex issues that suddenly become the focus of massive online attention, it can be difficult to recognize their implied, and sometimes harmful, statements.” people, “were more likely to have experienced harassment at work, at school, in the doctor’s office, or on the street than to have escaped such mistreatment … and at rates far above the national average.”

Global marginalization of

women is real and demands our attention, but to have a campaign in the name of gender equality that completely ignores nonnormative genders does more to reinforce the concept of the manversus-woman dichotomy than

it does to challenge it. It must be made clear that this is not an inclusive gender equality campaign; it is a women’s rights campaign.

When campaigns like HeForShe present complex issues that

suddenly become the focus of massive online attention, it can be difficult to recognize their implied, and sometimes harmful, statements. Generally, when a good looking, intelligent celebrity tell us to do things, we do them — or at least let other people know that we agree with that good looking, intelligent celebrity. But to take something like this at face value is to give in to slacktivism.

This isn’t to say that celebrity endorsements are a bad thing; many studies done on the topic show that celebrity spokespersons garner significant amounts of public interest for the causes they advocate. A campaign’s marketability shouldn’t be the sole factor in evaluating its efficacy, it’s just important to acknowledge that good marketing doesn’t eliminate the need for evaluation entirely.

Ideally, these viral movements get people talking about global issues and these conversations will lead to meaningful change and it’s all very idealistic and beautiful, just like the celebrities inextricably attached to these campaigns. Hopefully, HeForShe’s exclusion of trans and non-normative genders will become one of its strengths in that it will spark debate about the absence of these minority groups virtually everywhere in mainstream media.

Is there a cure for depression and anxiety on your smartphone?

DAMIAN VAN WOERDEN

CONTRIBUTOR

One in five teens and young adults feel the burden of depression or anxiety — and to combat this, Vancouver Island Health Authority is trying a new way of reaching out to young people who struggle with mental health.

They have created a video game-style app, Booster Buddy, which is targeted at people who struggle with depression, anxiety, and other mental health concerns.

The app uses its interface, which is a cartoon animal, to establish a relationship with the user. The goal of this program is to build up a level of trust between the user and the cartoon character. From here Booster Buddy is supposed to help the user avoid overwhelming feelings by getting them positively started on their daily chores.

To make people use the app, Booster Buddy offers in-app rewards for completing mental

Image: Ryan Melaugh / Flickr

“Even though the app has a list of emergency contacts, it doesn’t seem to inspire human interaction.” health quizzes and performing regular daily tasks, which can be hard for people suffering form depression. These rewards can then

be spent in the app to upgrade the cartoon interface. The app also includes a list of emergency contacts, along with a calendar that

keeps track of medications and appointments.

For people who need the occasional pick-me-up, this app might be a great solution. On the other hand, does this actually help someone suffering from serious problems in the long term? Or is this a Band-Aid approach to mental health?

Even though the app has a list of emergency contacts, it doesn’t seem to inspire human interaction. Booster Buddy may be great for someone who has a struggle getting up in the morning, but it doesn’t deal with the root cause of mental health issues.

Isn’t this why we have friends, family, and relationships? Let’s be honest: even though we joke around and talk about unrelated issues with our friends, we still find time to talk about our struggles and problems. This kind of human interaction is essential for anyone going through mental health problems.

There is nothing quite as comforting as being reassured by

someone close to you. It doesn’t matter what Booster Buddy aims to fix in the end; unless we have human interaction, the app will only give a temporary solution to a much larger problem.

For many young people, mental health is a serious struggle. No one wants to admit that they are going through depression or anxiety, which causes many people to deal with these issues on their own. At the end of the day, the cartoon character isn’t real and it can’t give anyone a pat on the back when they need it.

In some ways Booster Buddy might be a step in the right direction, but their goal of improving mental health is not long-term.

Anyone thinking of downloading this app needs to keep in mind that Booster Buddy will never replace a counsellor or a psychiatrist. A day-to-day fix is not going to solve mental health issues.

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WEDNESDAY,OCTOBER 8, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

Remembering empathy in an interconnected world ASHLEY HAYES

CONTRIBUTOR

What does empathy have to do with human rights? According to Payam Akhavan, international lawyer and McGill University professor, the answer is everything. At the 2014 Vancouver Human Rights Lecture, he stated that “building a world [based] on empathy means that we must each assume personal responsibility; that we must enter into an intimate communion with those that suffer.”

In the developed world, it is remarkably easy to turn a blind eye to the poverty, death, and destruction occurring elsewhere.

I’ve been guilty of it and I think it would be difficult to find anyone who hasn’t changed the channel, flipped the page, or scrolled down to avoid the depressing stories taking place in developing countries.

When avoiding stories about basic human rights abuses, we tend to forget there could be an effect on every single one of us.

There is widespread poverty in Canada, but because it isn’t as widely promoted in the media, or doesn’t seem as bad, we tend to overlook it. As the world is so incredibly interconnected, the things affecting people overseas should affect us as well, especially when you consider how diverse and multicultural Canada is.

I never fully understood the way people in the developing world lived until I visited India last year. I worked in a slum area, stepping around animal feces and open sewers. People lived in one room, often with only one bed,

FREE FOOD

Image: Geraint Rowland/ flickr

“In entering an authentic communion with others, we also discover a profound expression of our own dignity.” – Payam Akhavan which the entire family shared.

Women stayed home to tend to the housework and the family while their husbands went to work. Kids went to school if they were lucky, but many had to stay behind because their families were unable to afford an education.

What I thought would be a

depressing three months turned out to be the most eye-opening and amazing experience. People adapted to their circumstances, for better or worse. Organizations worked at a grassroots level to help improve the quality of life for people living in these unfavourable conditions. But most importantly, I saw myself change over a

three-month period of time.

When I came home, I was angry at the people around me for being so concerned about their firstworld problems. This trip left me with a burning desire to make a change in the world, and gave me genuine empathy for those living without basic human rights.

Being empathetic to the needs of

others will prompt us to make changes that will help people across the world access the things we take for granted, like healthcare, education, and clean water.

If people are willing to take some time to learn about how people live without their basic human rights, we will have the power for real change to occur.

SEMPER VERITAS

www.ufvcascade.ca

Letter to the editor

Satire

A look back on 2014’s 14-year plan

by Chris Topia Caution: the following article’s use of English is in the class of “beyond practical application.” Those who have been in high school for the last 14 years may find this entry a little difficult to read.

It has been 14 years since BC’s universally acclaimed education blueprint was introduced.

The first set of completely immersed graduates are now out in full force across the province with wrenches in their hands and smiles on their faces. To celebrate these great times, The Cascade looks back at a couple of moments, big and small, that shed an oil light on the glorious road we have trekked and will continue to trek as the great People’s Republic of Canada.

Kindermorgangarten The first kindermorgangarteners were in for a treat on their first day of school. Children got to play with shapes, and were later instructed to place hammers with sickles. Afterward, the teacher read from the classic children’s book, The Three Practical Pigs

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and the Big Bad Nerd (written, of course, by Mother Clark and illustrated by Father Harper). After such busy activity, the kids strapped on those hard-hats and got to napping!

Kids were sent home happy and energetic with a Kinder Morgan Surprise — those hollow, egg-like chocolates with a surprise drop of oil in the middle.

The next day they would play Pin the Pipeline on the Unceded Territory.

Brain Drain Prevention Program There was a threat that a deal as ingenious as the education revamp would debase some of our population: those anti-Canadians who felt alienated by the plan, or had taken arts and humanities courses. These cretins had previously left the country en masse in the 1990s, after Grandfather Mulroney opened Canada’s doors to the world with the CanadaUnited States Free Trade Agreement (which later evolved into NAFTA). In a stroke of brilliance, Harper drafted the Brain Drain Prevention Program (BDPP).

A key tenet in the BDPP was

UFV SPEAKS

the establishment of think-tanks in Nunavut, where these people had the opportunity to do what they’re good at — fester in antiCanadian skepticism — while their raw logic and creativity was exported to China.

The reason revolution Perhaps the hardest hurdle we faced was confronting the logical fallacy that was reason itself.

As the school system started the transition from learning to earning, there were many initial criticisms of the educational reform.

Clark dealt with it the way she’s always dealt with things — with a warm smile on her face and an official statement that humbly underplays her genius.

It was perhaps the most nailbiting part of the entire 14-year plan, since it rested on those who still had the capacity for criticism within them. Thankfully, those who were angry with the transition were not angry enough to organize themselves under the banner of awful logic, and the discomfort was soon forgotten about.

Building a better future Re: “A university in name only” Volume 22 Issue 24, October 1, 2014 I am Kyle Andresen, a carpentry apprentice studying at UFV. I write this letter in response to Katie Stobbart’s recent article, “A University in Name Only”.

In that article, trade school is dismissed as not being education, only “training”, and is described as a means “to pump the trades sector with worker bees”. Trade schools do not produce more workers, they produce better educated workers.

Beyond conventional university programs, UFV offers programs in agricultural studies, dental hygiene, library technology, hospitality and trades.

Dictionary definitions aside, universities offering vocational education is the reality, and this is a good thing. Sharing resources benefits both academic and vocational schools. By progressing past some traditions, post secondary schooling is made available to more people, not just the academic elite.

There’s nothing less educational about a trades program. Chefs, craftspeople, builders, and a host of other trades are the backbone of any artistic culture. I’m no great author, but to say choosing my trade is “Trading Creativity for Carpentry” is simply wrong.

At the turn of the 1990’s BC faced “The Leaky Condo Disaster”, where uneducated building practices in new buildings devastated the lively hoods of thousands of BC home owners. This disaster is followed by a new generation of carpenters, who understand how to build better than before. We build safer and smarter, with better knowledge of architecture and science than ever before. This is the art of Carpentry. Investing in the trades is a necessary step for us to build a better future.

— Kyle Andreson, student

Are you concerned about the Ebola virus coming to Canada?

Karen White

“I’m a bit of a hypochondriac. I don’t really know much about it but any kind of disease scares me. I don’t think it will come to Canada, but if it did I think we have the medical means to deal with it.”

Malcom Tremblay “As an uneducated opinion, I’m not really concerned. I am under the impression that it will come to Canada. I feel like Canada will have a decent program in place.”

Inderpal Parmar “It’s kind of a concern because we are close to the United States, but we have better healthcare in Canada.”

Kelli Whitehead “Until it comes closer to Canada, I’m not really going to worry about it. I have school to worry about.”

Matt Stack “I’m not too concerned about it. That basically sums it up.”

Spencer Copeland “I’m not concerned because there has only been one case so far. If the number grows I’ll start to get concerned, but it’s no real threat right now.”

Daniel Arbaiza De La Torre “No, I don’t think its going to expand because it’s a controlled virus, and even if it does expand it’s not going to create massive destruction.”

Calen Froese

“I’m not too concerned Ebola will come to Canada. It probably will, but I don’t expect it to get out of hand because of the medical facilities and bacterial control we have.”

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CULTURE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

Birdsong: UFV Theatre takes surrealist approach to Great War VANESSA BROADBENT THE CASCADE

Theatregoers, expect something completely different the moment you walk into the UFV theatre department’s production of Birdsong.

Rather than preparing and warming up backstage as usual, actors will be doing this on stage as the audience is being seated.

Actor Courtney Kelley noted the choice is a unique way to set the scene.

“It’s very odd to be onstage when the audience is coming in, but it sets the mood immediately.

It shows them that this isn’t a show that you’ve ever seen before,” she said.

Director Raïna von Waldenburg explained why she chose to begin the play this way.

“I do not want to create any illusions. I want everyone who is working on the play to be onstage at all times. Stage manager, sound, all actors, there’s no one behind stage, they don’t disappear. We see the putting on of the play and the machinery in front of our eyes,” she said.

This breaking of the fourth wall doesn’t stop once the play starts, but continues the whole time, with assistant stage manager Ge-

Image: Vanessa Broadbent

Actors warm up during a rehearsal of Birdsong. The production opens October 15. neva Perkins narrating the play.

“In war there is always someone running the machine and calling the cues,” von Waldenburg explained. “She’s a storyteller telling the story. It’s not the actors telling the story by becoming

characters, because they don’t.

The story is told through the action that is told aloud [by the actors],” she said.

The most notable adaptation von Waldenburg made is that actors do not play specific char-

acters. By taking a surrealistic approach rather than realistic, the actors become disembodied from the characters, sometimes resulting in multiple actors playing the same character at the same time.

“I felt that the story is so beautiful

I’ve noticed you tend to wear skinny jeans a lot. That’s awesome. Why? Well, because I can.

day’s fashion trends are. Things like skinny jeans and button-up shirts are really big right now.

Well, [trends like that] please me. I think ... it also takes more notice of the shape of the body, because what we were into for a while there were clothes that disguised the shape of the body.

I think the human body can be pleasing, so I think that type of [form-fitting] clothes complement that.

were wearing jeans that were halfway down their butt. I hated it; I thought it was terrible.

Also, when people were wearing pyjamas to school. I hated that.

Style on Campus MARTIN CASTRO THE CASCADE

The Cascade sat down with John Carroll, resident fashion authority and English professor extraordinaire, to speak about his personal style and favourite fashion trends.

How would you describe your personal style?

That’s a difficult question. I think at times it could be described as “preppy,” but I try to avoid that as much as possible, so I try to vary it [as much as I can]. I think my style is fluid.

What’s your favourite part of your outfit?

I like this tie because I got it from a store in London. But I also like my shoes because they’re kind of cool with no heels, but they look neat.

Are you comfortable?

Oh, yeah. Absolutely comfortable. I would never wear clothes that weren’t comfortable.

How do you put your outfits together?

I sort of sometimes look at magazines, but a lot of the time I see what other people wear, and if I see something I like, I think about that. Plus, I have four young men that are in my life [whose fashion I’ve observed], that are in their late 20s, early 30s, and they’re really good fashion consultants.

Do you have any fashion advice for students?

Fashion advice for students?

No, I think that students should wear what they want to wear, and have fun with what they’re wearing.

[Students should wear] anything that they feel is expressive of who they are.

They should feel free.

What are your thoughts on today’s fashion trends?

I don’t really know what to-

What’s your favourite fashion trend?

That’s a very good question.

I would say the flapper era of the 1920s ... I was in a play two years ago [in which] we wore styles of that era. The hairstyles were different, too. It was very stylish, the men wore very beautiful suits. One thing I would like to make clear is that even though I like the fashion of that era, I wasn’t alive then.

And your least favourite fashion trend?

Oh, I think my least favourite fashion trend was when people

If you could bring back one trend from the past, what would it be, and why?

As a result of the 1960s, people [had] this sense of freedom that you could wear whatever you wanted and it was an expression of yourself, which was great, that’s a good thing. But it also tended to lead towards sloppiness. I think that before that era, men and women both put a lot of effort into looking really nice when they went out into public ... I think if we could go back to taking more care when we present ourselves in public, it’s aesthetically pleasing for everybody.

and romantic. My fear was that by mounting a production in a conventional, realistic manner that the romanticism would take over, and therefore the audience would get attached to those specific characters as if the story belonged to just [them],” she said.

Von Waldenburg’s approach to acting really shines through the performance of her actors.

“Acting is pretending to be someplace that you’re not. What I ask actors to do is to be where they are in their non-fictional reality while saying their lines, while executing their choreography,” she said. “The smashing up of these two opposites creates what I think is a really dynamic performance.”

The actors in Birdsong are enthusiastic to be part of such a unique production, which is also its Canadian premiere. Kelley explained that playing multiple characters is another choice which functions well.

“It’s definitely different and unique. I’ve never done anything like it and it’s really weird to have that disconnection, but it absolutely works,” she said.

Performances of Birdsong start October 15.

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CULTURE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

Life in Agriburbia: Flash lectures on ALR explore what it means to be a city in the country

KODIE CHERRILLE THE CASCADE

“When we saw a photograph of Earth from space for the first time, we thought: Huh. That’s all we have.”

That’s how hostess Lenore Newman — Canada Research Chair holder in food security and the environment, and associate professor of geography at UFV — kicked off the greenSPEAK lecture series about the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), titled Life in Agriburbia.

As the group of six speakers delivered unique and thoughtprovoking talks, the theme of limited space defining our unique place emerged in interesting places.

Life in Agriburbia was held on the Abbotsford campus on Wednesday, October 1, with lectures in B101 from 4 to 5 p.m.

Each speaker had 10 minutes to fully deliver their talk.

Lisa Powell, a postdoctoral fellow at UFV and UBC, provided a quick history of the ALR’s genesis. The ALR was created in 1973 with the passing of the Land Commission Act, and has since protected land intended for agricultural use. She also spoke of her own family’s struggles as farmers, threatened by ever-sprawling urban centres in Kentucky.

UFV agriculture professor Tom Baumann explained that ALR claims cannot be developed on without explicit permission from the owner of the property, but some exceptions are made. ALRs can be removed for the sake of road-building,

Image:UFV/Flickr

A gallery in B136 displays maps of Agricultural Land Reserves in the Fraser Valley. schools, hospitals, energy corridors (i.e. power lines), and religious buildings, to name a few.

Farmers are also persistently approached by potential developers to take their land off the reserve and sell it. As urban centres expand, there is more pressure for existing ALRs to be sold off.

While the audience did learn how the grip continues to tighten on the ALR as more people move out to the Fraser Valley, Life in Agriburbia was not a glum forecast for future farm life. Rather, it was a celebration of the world-class agricultural status that the Fraser Valley has retained. Kim Sutherland (agrologist with the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands) gave some impressive statistics about the kind of stuff our farms yield: the Fraser Valley is one of the world’s best producers of blueberries, cranber-

ries, and the kind of foliage that cows like. That last resource is critical — because of it, our dairy cow production is in the top 10 per cent in the world.

“Perhaps even in in the top one per cent,” Sutherland added.

Furthermore, the preservation of the ALR has led to the phenomenon of “agriburbia”: where the urban and the ru-

ral coalesce into a singularly unique environment. It’s the fertile space where “the edge defines the centre,” says Brendan Hurley, urban planner for VIA Architecture. Farm markets, foodie culture, niche markets, dialogue with Aboriginal Peoples, guerrilla gardening: these are all part of Agriburbia.

“The more urban we get, the more rural we get,” explains Hurley. “It’s a symbiotic relationship.”

How symbiotic is this relationship? The answer would be given for the next hour at the art gallery in B136, where, over wine from Mt. Lehman Winery and cheeses from various dairies in Abbotsford and Chilliwack, the audience had the opportunity to talk with the lecturers. Life in agriburbia: friendly, meaningful dialogue, held over delicious food and drink, about the beautiful place we live in.

The gallery is currently displaying maps of ALR areas in the Fraser Valley. The exhibit will remain open until Friday, October 10.

SIMON GRANT CONTRIBUTOR

Image: Simon Grant

society has released several anthologies of its members’ work.

The most recent collection, Encouragement, was released in October 2012 to celebrate member Donna Bishop.

The society has also received

Events Thursday October 9

Mental health awareness at UFV UFV’s counselling services has teamed up with the Canadian Mental Health Association to provide mental health awareness on campus. Resources for identifying and getting help for various mental health issues — depression, alcoholism, and anxiety — will be available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in B101, for students as well as faculty and staff.

Thursday October 9 Arts Major Expo Interested in learning more about the programs offered by UFV’s college of arts? Representatives from the Career Centre, the study abroad department, Aboriginal Access, the teacher education program, and various student associations will be present to give you pizza and answer your questions. For the chance to win a three-credit winter course, RVSP on the arts advice website.

Thursday October 9-18

Blue Moon reading celebrates local poetry Every once in a Blue Moon Reading Series, members of the Fraser Valley Poets Society gather to read their poetry at the Clearbrook Library. October 6 ended the reading season, which will begin again after a winter of writing in March 2015.

The purpose of the society, according its president Braden Sawatzky, is to “get together to celebrate ordinary people who write poetry and encourage others to read.”

“We want the ‘man-on-thestreet’ written poetry, and everyone is invited,” Sawatzky says.

Many members have published their own books of poetry and the

Upcoming

awards for its poetry. Bishop won the Abbotsford Arty Award for her work in Encouragement. Another member won the Gold Seal Award for Literary Excellence awarded by Trafford Publishing.

This past meeting was a spe-

cial occasion for society president Sawatzky and Bridget Porter Oldale, who shared from their newly released book of poems, titled Of Wind and Flame. While both authors focused their poems on the same theme, their different personalities created variations.

Sawatzky recognized the differences and used a simile to explain their complementary relationship.

“Poetry is like food. Some are main courses; others are the hors d’oeuvres. Bridget is the main course, and I’m the hors d’oeuvres.”

After their reading, and some time to mingle with the other poets, the microphone was opened to members and visitors. The procession of poets lasted until closing.

Return of the Half Monty

The Fraser Valley Stage presents a mash-up between Monty Python and Royal Canadian Air Farce in an interactive, musical, not-recommended-for-children variety show. Highlights include a Robin Williams tribute and a re-visitation of Miley Cyrus dance moves.

Tickets are sold in tables of six, so gather your friends for a night of fully licensed hilarity. Thursday shows are $15 and weekend shows are $20.

Friday October 10

Film night at the Reach Heroes. Giants. Villains. Wizards.

True love. You know the rest.

The Princess Bride hits the big screen at the Reach Gallery! If you haven’t seen this family-friendly classic, here’s your chance! The screening starts at 7 p.m. and is free. Inconceivable!

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FEATURE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

Fraser Valley Food Show charms Abbo

By Nadine and Sasha Moedt

W

e were greeted at the entrance of the Fraser Valley Food Show by a pair of women decked-out in rubbers and waders standing shin-deep in cranberries.

“We’re here to educate the public about cranberries and the harvest process,” presenter Geraldine Auston said, handing us some craisins. “We’ll be growing 80 to 100 million pounds of cranberries in BC alone.”

Cranberries, Auston explained, are one of the only indigenous berries farmed on such a large scale, along with blueberries and Concord grapes.

That was just one thing of many that we learned about BC farms and food.

Booths lined the Abbotsford Tradex center with a gluten-free theme this year; samples of everything from sausage to fudge were offered to attendees.

The food show is passionate: farmers and small business startups have booths where the chef is personally there to tell you about their creations. We spoke at length to Brenda Cortes, owner of Lupita Mexican Foods, about the difference between Taco Time and authentic Mexican cuisine. The hard taco shells, ground beef, yellow cheese and sour cream that we know as Mexican food is an American invention; Cortes’ creations are simple and genuine, based on the real Mexican cuisine she knows. Her store is opening

soon in Maple Ridge and, fitting with the theme of the food show, will offer gluten-free options.

Booth highlights included chocolate quinoa muffins from allergy-free Richmond bakery Wise Bites, flavoured honey from Honeyview Farm in Rosedale, samples of surprisingly tasty vinegars and oils — try the strawberry dark balsamic — from All-of-Oils, and the “Audacious” or “Intrepid Mole” coffee blends from Seasoned Gourmand Foods, a company based in Langley.

The annual Fraser Valley Food Show is always good for food inspiration. Our major takeaway: consider buying local products as an investment. Rather than taking your business to Wal-Mart, spend a little more at Lepp Farm Market or Nature’s Pickin’s. If it’s a quick fix you want, look for Surrey-based SpiceWorks Food Creations’ amazing five-minute butter chicken mix. The people you are supporting are passionate, and your purchase is usually more ethically produced. For example, JD Farms’ turkeys sell for a little more than the ones at the grocery store, but they take care to treat their turkeys well. You can even pop by and check out their turkey barn, which is part of the Fraser Valley’s self-guided circle farm tour. The beauty of buying local comes down to accountability: that of the farmer, and that of you as a consumer.

How to pronounce “gouda,” and other cheese wisdom Beyond the booths, the food show provided seminars on various food-related topics. I was drawn to a presentation on Canadian cheeses that promised a plate of samples.

The seminar, sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Canada, was given by cheese connoisseur Reg Hendrickson. We were taught how to really taste cheese: first, break or tear the cheese, smell it, place it on your tongue and let it soften, and then swish it around your mouth for a full experience of texture and taste.

Participants were given samples of seven types of cheese from Canadian cheese producers, ranging from “Tiger Blue,” produced

by Poplar Grove Cheese in Penticton, to “Boursin Pepper” from Fromagerie in Montréal. Each cheese was broken, examined, sniffed, and eaten with comical gravity.

Hendrickson also gave an introduction to pairing cheeses with other toppings, which can change

the taste entirely. Dousing bitter blue with sweet clover honey can take out some of that pungent aftertaste, or adding dried cranberry to some savoury mascarpone can create the perfect dessert cheese. Hendrickson also noted that, while wine is frequently paired with cheese, beer can make just as desirable a companion.

Some cheese works to add colour and decoration to a plate. We sampled some wine-flavoured cheese, an interesting marble of maroon and cream that looks as good as it tastes. When serving cheese at parties, Hendrickson noted that it tastes best if you take it out of the fridge 40 minutes before guests arrive, which gives the cheese time to “relax” and temper before being eaten.

Hendrickson also spoke of the importance of taking care of cheese. Students on a budget pay close attention; caring properly for your cheese can allow your cheese funds go all that much further. For stiff cheese, like cheddar

or blue, any mould can be taken off with a knife and the rest used.

Soft cheeses like cottage or ricotta will be completely contaminated by mould and have to be thrown out. Keeping cheese cold and clean (Hendrickson suggests washing your hands before unwrapping the cheese) will allow it to keep for longer, and keeping it sealed in an air-tight package like cling wrap will maintain the freshness.

Those with dietary restrictions also have options if they are careful in their cheese selections. For vegetarians, a good tip on choosing cheese without animal-based products is to check the ingredients for “microbial enzymes” rather than the animal by-product “rennet.” There are even options for lactose-intolerant cheese lovers; often during the cheesemaking and ripening processes, the lactose is removed from the cheese. Look for cheeses like brie, camembert, mozzarella, Swiss, and gouda.

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FEATURE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

otsford’s taste buds “The breakfast of champions” Kathleen Rake couldn’t help but snicker as she opened her seminar on breakfast wine.

“Now we can have wine with every meal,” she told the audience. In front of us sat four glasses of wine: white bubbly, pink bubbly (both Yellowtail), Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc (Mt. Lehman Winery), and a dark elderberry wine melomel (Campbell’s Honey). Each would be paired with a breakfast food. We started with the white bubbly.

“Never swirl bubbly,” Rake said, explaining that the natural carbonation will release the smell — in this case, fresh citrus and green apple rose. When you take a sip of bubbly, the mousse — the foam from the carbonation — will expand in your mouth.

“The citrus clears the palate and chases away fat,” Rake said after spitting her sample. As a student, I couldn’t bring myself to spit.

This wine would pair well with a rich breakfast dish, perhaps an eggs Benedict.

The pink bubbly had a sweeter berry smell. “It’s not nearly as aggressive a bubble,” Rake observed. Sip, hold, savour. It was lighter, gentler: “I can see this pairing very well with bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, and capers.”

The Mt. Lehman Chardonnay was very sweet. Any wine that has 11 per cent alcohol content or

Images: Nadine and Sasha Moedt

Just here for the beer “Wine drinkers spit. Beer drinkers swallow,” Deb Mohabir told the audience. That’s the first thing you need to know about beer-tasting.

In BC, beer is rising in the ranks; it’s become classy to order a craft beer. But that doesn’t mean beer drinkers take themselves too seriously. After telling a story about having to explain to an angry mother that a T-shirt sporting the phrase “A great day starts with a little head” was referring to the foam that settles on top of your beer, Mohabir told us that “you’ve got to do this with a smile on your face.”

With three beers in front of us — a Red Truck lager, a Red Truck

ale, and a Fruli — along with a plate of sausage, salsa, and chips, we were ready to taste and pair.

Unlike at the wine-tasting, the presenters, Rick and Deb Mohabir, weren’t telling us the proper pairing, but rather were telling us to observe how food changed the taste of the beer.

“The same beer can taste different with two different foods,” we were told. It’s far less structured than the art of tasting and pairing wine.

The spicy sausage’s fat chased away the bitterness of the ale, with the carbonation washing the fattiness away.

“Beer can clear the palate,” Rick Mohabir explained. One thing I

learned is that beer should not be served ice-cold: “Big beer wants you to be served ice cold because that’s what mutes the flavour.”

The Fruli was a delicious dessert beer, pairing well with the mango salsa. The differences between the beers were incredible with and without the various food.

“We’re here to make you guys educated consumers. What are your first impressions? What sticks around? Beers can have floral, citrus, clove, banana, spice flavours ... They are incredibly diverse,” Deb Mohabir said.

lower will be sweeter; with higher percentages, the alcohol has “eaten” the sweetness, Rake explained. With this wine, we could swirl.

“Place your hand over the glass to trap the aroma, then stick your nose in,” she instructed us. I could smell apple or melon. It tasted more acidic in my mouth, making it pair well with a rich but less fatty dish like oatmeal.

The elderberry melomel wine was the one I was looking forward to. You could smell the cranberries after a swirl. It tasted smoothly of berries with an almost sickly sweet honey flavour lingering.

“This is very much a dessert wine,” Rake observed — so how about pairing it with a dessert breakfast such as waffles, cream, and strawberries?

After the seminar I popped up to the stage for a chat. Kathleen Rake writes for the Abbotsford News in a monthly column, and has been attending the Fraser Valley Food Show for about five years now.

“It’s been fabulous this year — I’m tasting lots of new wines,” she said. “The wine- and sausagetasting seminar has been very popular this year.”

Rake invites UFV students to direct questions to her blog, Between the Vines, about all things wine.

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CULTURE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

CROSSWORD Steal this crossword

by VALERIE FRANKLIN

ACROSS 1.

6.

8.

9.

10.

“Hey, I came up with that first! Don’t steal my ______!” (4) If your act outshone everyone else’s, you’ve stolen the ______. (4) It was once believed that having your photograph taken would steal this from you. (4) Feeling romantic? Steal one of these from that special someone, if you’re bold enough. (4) Before digital TV became popular, this was stolen from unsuspecting neighbours pretty regularly. (5)

DOWN 2.

3.

4.

5.

7.

11.

Boxing Day usually has lots of these you can steal (while paying for your items, of course!). (4) Don’t let the person sitting next to you during a test steal one of these from you. (7) This famous 1970s countercultural manual by Abbie Hoffman encouraged readers to Steal This _____. (4) Taking attention away from someone else’s accomplishment is stealing their _______. (7) You can’t see, touch, smell, or taste this stuff – but it’s still a crime to pirate it through the internet. (5) You can steal up to four of these in baseball. (5)

SUDOKU

2 4

7

4 1 5 8 1 6 3

The Weekly Horoscope

1. AUSTEN 4. MARTIN 8. ORWELL 9. SALINGER 10. DICKENS 12. HEMINGWAY Down 2. ELIOT 3. MUNRO 5. ROWLING 6. POE 7. TOLKIEN 11. KING

Sudoku solution

5 2 9 7 8 3 6 4 1 4 8 3 5 6 1 9 7 2 7 6 1 9 4 2 3 8 5

1

Across

1 3 7 8 9 4 5 2 6 8 9 6 3 2 5 4 1 7 2 4 5 1 7 6 8 3 9

3 7 8 4 5 6 6 2 4 2 5 6 8 3

Last issue’s crossword

6 1 8 2 3 9 7 5 4 3 5 4 6 1 7 2 9 8 9 7 2 4 5 8 1 6 3

5 2 9 7 8 4 6 9 2 6 2 8

Star Signs from Natalie Nebula

Aquarius: Jan 20 - Feb 18: Your ability to pronounce the word “espresso” will be especially important this week.

Gemini: May 21 - June 21: Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus.

Pisces: Feb 19 - March 20: Do not be alarmed by the smell of cheese when you take off your shoes. Actually, do be alarmed.

Cancer: June 22 - July 22: Your special challenge this week: find and tame the Decepticorn.

Aries: March 21 - April 19: You will break your favourite mug.

But be not afraid; glue fixes all.

Leo: July 23 - Aug 22: Keep the windows open, even when it’s cold. Your house wants to be free.

Taurus: April 20 - May 20: Tickle not, lest ye be tickled.

Virgo: Aug 23 -Sept22: Denim is your spirit animal.

Libra: Sept 23 - Oct 22: Build a pyre. Throw in your stapler.

No regrets.

Scorpio: Oct 23 - Nov 21: Your mug will appear on television this week. Not your face, your actual mug.

Sagittarius: Nov 22 - Dec 21: That bottle of Nyquil will come back to haunt you.

Capricorn: Dec 22 - Jan 19: This week, be experimental for the sake of being experimental.

13

ARTS IN REVIEW

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

Film

The Hundred-Foot Journey is a treat for the senses BRITTNEY HENSMAN THE CASCADE

The Hundred-Foot Journey looks at two different regions of the world colliding in a compelling narrative wrapped around family and food.

After a tragic event, the tightly knit Kadam family are uprooted from their native home in India and look for a new beginning in the culinary arts.

When the family blunders their way into a small town in southern France and opens up a restaurant, their cultural differences do not go unnoticed amongst the locals.

When the lively and colourful Maison Mumbai plants its vivacious façade only 100 feet from a famous Michelin-star restau-

rant renowned for its French fine dining and etiquette, there is war to be had. Restaurant owner Madame Mallory, played

by Helen Mirren, is an ice queen who’s willing to do whatever it takes to see the Maison Mumbai crumble. It is only when she is made aware of the true culinary talent that lies within its walls that her perspective slowly begins to change.

The plot thickens when middle son Hassan, played by Manish Dayal, smiles his way into the heart of Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon), Le Saule Pleureur ’s sous chef. The entranced French chef finds herself at odds when she recognizes Hassan’s impeccable talent, but knows further friendship could put her success as a chef at stake.

The increasing tension between the family members, the duelling restaurant owners, and the blossoming love interest between the two young chefs will keep you on the edge of your seat. The cinematography of the scenic south France setting, paired with the bold colours of the Indian dishes, will leave your mouth drooling for Indian cuisine and your soul longing to explore the picturesque landscapes that compose this region.

The endearing and quaint Parisian fashion and the eccentric and lively Indian energy that streams through each scene go above and beyond, providing a unique aesthetic that will please all your senses.

This colourful culture clash is bound to make your mouth water.

Free workshops all semester Want to learn how to brush up on your writing skills? Cascade staff are happy to share their knowledge with you!

Here are some of our upcoming workshops hosted by members of our editorial staff. Stay tuned for more ...

How to Write an Irresistible Lede October 9, 7 to 8 p.m.

Room C1429

How do you write a great first sentence that hooks a reader’s attention and tells them what’s going on? Check out this workshop, hosted by Sports Editor Catherine Stewart.

Email catherine@ufvcascade.ca to register.

Finding Your Voice: Culture and Review Writing Oct 16, 7 to 8 p.m.

Room C1429

Arts in Review Editor Sasha Moedt will look at the role of the “writerly voice” in literary journalism -- and how to find yours. Email sasha@ufvcascade.ca to register.

Cultural Sensitivity in Journalism, or How Not to Put Your Foot in Your Mouth Oct 23, 7 to 8 p.m.

Room C1429

The title says it all. Hosted by Culture Editor Nadine Moedt, this workshop will help you avoid accidentally embarrassing or offending readers from different walks of life. Email nadine@ufvcascade. ca to register.

Pre-registration is required.

14

Mini Album Reviews

SoundBites

ARTS IN REVIEW

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

Moonface City Wrecker

Nick Carter, Jordan Knight Nick & Knight

Alestorm Sunset on the Golden Age

Spencer Krug, the yelping poet and composer of indie-rock bands Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown, released another collection of songs under the Moonface moniker on September 16, and it is the best thing he has done with the name yet. Continuing with the simple vocals-and-piano foundation he used on 2013’s Julia with Blue Jeans On, the songs on City Wrecker are more adventurous, occasionally incorporating the hypnotic synth arpeggiations that some feel make Krug’s earlier work as Moonface monotonous. Luckily for those folks, there is no monotony here, since the old tricks never feature for long and the compositions surprise and surprise (catch the Goosebumps theme in “Running in Place with Everyone”). Krug also moves further away from the violently surreal and obscure lyrics of his earlier work, and he’s getting better at it; lines like “don’t tie the blindfold quite so tight this time” linger long after the EP ends.

In 2011, boy bands New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys created a “supergroup” titled NKOTBSB. Jordan Knight of NKOTB and Nick Carter of BSB began working together to create the album, Nick and Knight. It was released on September 2. Nick & Knight consists of 10 tracks, including the single “One More Time.” Although the two are pop music vets, the album falls short. It is simply a construction of generic pop music, and is not memorable after an initial listen. The songs included are not catchy as previously released tracks by their respective bands.

The standout tracks on Nick & Knight include: “Switch” and “Take Me Home.” While it is nice to have something released in between individual outings by New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys, Nick & Knight is simply incomplete.

The world of heavy metal is a very complicated one. There are hundreds of unique sub-genres, and Alestorm has found their own special niche. Specifically, Alestorm is a Scottish pirate-themed folkmetal band. It sounds ridiculous, but they commit to the genre — and if you can make it past the first laughing fit, they are great fun to listen to. There are some hits and misses on this album, but most of the tracks are straight-up fun. Just don’t listen to “Wooden Leg” — it’ s an objectively terrible song.

Believe it or not, they cover a Taio Cruz song, “Hangover.” You can tell that the song was not written for them, but they make it their own.

Other points of interest are “Drink,” a great, fun drinking song with a music video. Lastly, if you’re up for an immature laugh, listen to the bonus track, “Questing Upon the Poop Deck.”

ALEX RAKE

REMINGTON FIORASO

Want to write?

Our writers’ meetings are held on Mondays at 8 a.m. in C1429.

Can’t make it?

Send us an email! valerie@ ufvcascade.ca

DANIEL HOLMSBERG

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ARTS IN REVIEW

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TV

Agents of SHIELD strikes out on its own in adventurous new season

JESS WIND CASCADE ALUM

CHARTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Sons of Magdalene Move to Pain The Soupcans Incesticide II Ariel Pink pom pom Cheap High Ego Wholesale

Caribou Our Love

Mac DeMarco Salad Days

White Lung Deep Fantasy Death From Above 1979 The Physical World Dead Soft Dead Soft Corb Lund Counterfeit Blues

Monomyth Saturnalia Regalia Flying Lotus You’re Dead!

Leonard Cohen Popular Problems Komodo Wagon Citizen Doe The Raveonettes Pe’ahi Lana Del Rey Ultraviolence Trentemoller Lost Reworks Pretty Taken There’s An Echo Now

Shuffle MATTHEW MACRI CIVLIAN

I’m in the process of setting up a development platform for CIVL Radio. I hope to recruit CIS students and build a multimedia web application for the station.

I’ve selected one of my favorite styles of music for this weeks shuffle: bass music.

Nicolas Jaar “Space is Only Noise” Nicolas is a sound engineer and music producer from Chili, with a unique take on dance music. Nicolas’ baritone quality vocals are well-matched with his arrangement. The real feature is the bass synthesizer which is engineered to perfection. Check out his LP Space is Only Noise.

DJ Rashad “Pass That” DJ Rashad, a household name in the Chicago dance community. Rashad recently passed of a drug overdose.

However, his legacy will remain untouched. Rashad is considered a pioneer of the modern footwork and juke music genres. This track captures the essence of the genre. Check out his last release Double Cup. RIP. Aphex Twin “Produk 29” Of all the music I’ve listened to, this is arguably the thickest and deepest cutting bass I’ve encountered. If you have a subwoofer, use it. This track is a visceral experience; you can feel it when you play it. Check out Syro, his latest release.

Traxman “Let There Be Rock” This track starts out with an overworked guitar sample and drags you in with some offbeat 808 toms. Just as the track builds towards a crescendo, you are greeted by the voice of none other than Angus Young of ACDC shouting “let there be sound!” You can find “Let There Be Rock” on Traxman’s latest album Da Mind of Traxman.

Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) is back for another round with Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. DC may have been producing superhero television on a semi-consistent basis over the last decades, but SHIELD is the only show that exists in the Marvel universe.

The show follows agent Phil Coulson (last seen in The Avengers shooting Loki before succumbing to severe stab wounds) and his band of elite agents as they protect the world from unknown forces made public by the events in The Avengers.

If you sat down to watch SHIELD without watching the films, you would have found a show about special agents, advanced weaponry, and supernatural threats. The first season brought us predictable scripts and, at times, amateur acting — but we also got the campy charm so characteristic of this universe.

As the second season gets underway, SHIELD picks up the pieces from its destroyed organization. Our ideas of good and evil are put into question as

Coulson’s team must navigate their new identities as wanted vigilantes while battling the real bad guys, all recently set loose by HYDRA. Much of the first couple of episodes are spent developing a scene for how each character is coping in their new reality — and some are coping better than others.

Fitz is struggling with a head injury that affects his research, and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) appears to be out of the picture, though still present in Fitz’s imagination. Is her absence a clumsy patchwork to cover for Henstridge not returning to the show? As Fitz continues to interact with Simmons, it’s clear this isn’t the case and that we will see her again (apparently as soon as October 7). TV Guide released a clip indicating she has been working in a HYDRA lab — hopefully as undercover for Coulson, because I don’t think I could handle another Grant Ward scenario.

Speaking of Ward, is Marvel going to attempt to redeem his character? His disheveled appearance and suicide attempt suggest that he may not be a complete lost cause — that he may be suffering traitor ’s

remorse. And what of Skye?

Her backstory is far from developed, and the first few episodes suggest that it will take centre-stage as a line of conflict this season. Ward apparently has things to say on the subject, so at least we haven’t said goodbye to that sexual and emotional tension.

With a more stressed-out (and potentially unstable) Coulson at the helm of SHIELD, season two promises some darker themes and tougher decisions from the man who idolizes Captain America. That doesn’t mean he can’t still crack a few one-liners that remind us why we love him.

Last season saw the release of three Marvel films throughout its run and, for the most part, was hemmed in by the events happening elsewhere in the universe. This season will have more room to grow independently, but is still building toward The Avengers: Age of Ultron, due out in May 2015.

The new season of Agents of SHIELD is already carving out its own territory in the Marvel universe. With the promise of more undercover agents, more 084, and the resurrection of SHIELD, it’s bound to be a dynamic and engaging season.

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

Cascade Arcade

Army-battling, kick-ass action in Hyrule Warriors JEFF NUIJ CONTRIBUTOR

At a glance, Hyrule Warriors appears to be just another Legend of Zelda game: you expect to be exploring dungeons and saving the princess. But in terms of gameplay, Hyrule Warriors is nothing like any other Zelda game. Instead, it follows its developers’ previous Dynasty Warriors series style. Needless to say, it’s a jump going from platforming and puzzle-solving to leading an army and fighting through hordes of enemies.

Contrary to the Legend of Zelda series, Hyrule Warriors puts you almost immediately into the action, where you can gleefully lay waste to hundreds of enemies while the tutorial barks at you — which you’ll have to get used to, because it follows you through the whole game.

The tutorial is helpful, though, since it’s hard to pay attention when you’re destroying every red blip on the map.

Hyrule Warriors also throws some classic Legend of Zelda references in, such as bosses having a weakness to a certain type of item — or in one instance, when my forces were trying to

Image: Facebook

Hyrule Warriors is even more action-packed than the typical world of Zelda. bring a dragon to the ground, we could call upon the great fairy to hit him with the angry moon from Majora’s Mask.

As with every Zelda game, the hero is Link, but you’re not limited to only him. You can play as Princess Zelda, Midna, or even

Sheik; in fact, you must play as the other characters to beat the game — you even play three missions as the bad guys, which is always fun. There is quite a large roster of characters, either unlocked through the missions or in adventure mode, and most

of that roster is female.

There are only five playable male characters in the game, three of them being evil — which, coming from Nintendo, the company that basically invented the rescue-the-princess

formula in video games, is quite a pleasant change. It’s awesome to run around as the princess just massacring everything in sight, too.

The graphics are a bit on the dull side. It looks like early Wii games, but that’s understandable, given the sheer amount of character models on the screen; there can be thousands of troops fighting at one time.

Being able to fight an army is even better when you can share that with a friend, but two-player mode has its problems, especially since one player is stuck playing exclusively on the WiiU game pad (which has much too small a screen to really enjoy it).

There is also no versus mode, which would’ve been an excellent addition.

If you’re not that into Zelda, or high-action, fast-paced beat’em-ups, then you’re probably better off passing this game by.

But if you love Zelda and want an action-oriented, light-hearted game where you feel like a complete and utter badass, then grab a copy and have a great time.

Dine & Dash

Langley’s Match pub serves up unbeatable alfredo sauce TAYLOR BRECKLES THE CASCADE

20393 Fraser Highway, Langley Mon - Thurs: 11 a.m. – midnight Fri: 11 a.m. – 2 a.m.

Sat: 10 a.m. – 2 a.m.

Sun: 10 a.m. – midnight Brunch: Sat-Sun, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

There are three passions which I hold dear to my heart: reading, writing, and eating. One of my favourite things to eat is pasta smothered in alfredo sauce, and I am admittedly one of the harshest judges of the dish — but Match Eatery & Public House in Langley passed the test.

My date and I arrived at Match and were able to sit in a booth — my preferred seating choice. The waitress was new, but she was nice, attentive, and took our orders quickly. Some might like to sit and chat before ordering, but I was starving, so her haste was very much appreciated.

I tried a Shiver for my drink; it’s a mixture of Bailey’s and ice, blended to perfection. It was re-

Image: Taylor Breckles

Match’s Szechuan chicken bites are hot and tasty, and the price is right. ally good, a bit like a mudslide — and there’s even whipped cream involved.

For an appetizer we ordered

Szechuan chicken bites. They were hot, bite-sized, and tender. I’m not usually a fan of spicy food, but these were the

kind of spicy that was literally hot instead of tongue-burning.

After a couple bites, water was still needed, but they were real-

ly good. Just don’t inhale when you put one in your mouth.

A few minutes after the appy was devoured, the entrees came. Both of us got the alfredo.

I’ve had alfredo dishes so many times my blood is probably part cream sauce, but this dish was divine.

The drinks are great, the food is great, the service is pretty decent, but what about the prices?

They’re actually fairly decent.

The drinks were $5 a pop, the chicken bites were $10, and the alfredo was $13. Altogether, not bad prices. The appetizers are admittedly rather expensive, but they are at most restaurants.

The main problem with going to Match is the fact that it’s in Langley — not exactly within walking distance for most UFV students. It’s attached to the Cascades Casino, so you can spend some time at the slots while you’re there.

But personally, I think the restaurant is worth the trip on its own.

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ARTS IN REVIEW

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

Two reviews from VIFF’s second week, plus Gone Girl

Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart star in Sils Maria; Harvard’s SEL captures scenes from Chinese transit

MICHAEL SCOULAR CONTRIBUTOR

Clouds of Sils Maria Olivier Assayas’ Irma Vep opens with a lively film production office, the soundtrack filled with prop orders, airplane arrivals, and chatter about a film director whose artistic powers are on the decline. However, his new film about the life of an actor doesn’t have a word of dialogue that isn’t part of a phone conversation (or about to be interrupted by one) until after its first fadeout — Assayas’ way of adding a few breaths between scenes.

Set totally in the present (more on how that works in a bit), Sils Maria could be described as a drama about an actor, Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) who is offered to play the older lead in a play (Maloja Snake) where she once played the younger, star-making part.

This is a work surprisingly resilient to narrative progression — Enders deliberates, but the majority of the film is spent in attempted isolation, reading the play and arguing about it with her personal assistant (played

by Kristen Stewart) on the lower foothills of the Swiss side of the Alps.

Taking place after Maloja Snake’s playwright’s recent passing (Sils Maria would make a great double bill with Alain Renais’ You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet), this death doesn’t hang over the film so much as ease it into an alternate world. The two take refuge from a world of publicity by talking about movies, their generational differences, and the blurring roles of their informal reading of the play. Much of Sils Maria comes across as a combination of the easy conversational work of Whit Stillman (a night where Stewart argues for the legitimacy of YA entertainment) with Assayas’ own background in film criticism (the silent mountain films of Arnold Fanck make a recontextualized appearance).

Binoche and Stewart give loose, open performances — the film’s tone and narrative direction seem completely free to go wherever the two might improvise; as Sils Maria eventually draws toward a conclusion, any sense of loss comes not from the details of a narrative, but the end of their performances, which Assayas elevates through a Pachelbel-scored sweep of natural phenomena.

Left to right: Stewart and Binoche in Sils Maria, a train car from The Iron Ministry, Affleck and Pike with an impeccable amber tint in Gone Girl.

The Iron Ministry A perspective completely open to the natural world guides the work of the Harvard Sensory Ethnography Lab (SEL), responsible for some of the best documentaries of the last few years (Sweetgrass, Leviathan, Manakamana). The Iron Ministry, directed by J.P. Sniadecki, works like a video corrective to Lixin Fan’s Last Train Home, which, like The Iron Ministry, was recorded on cross-country Chinese trains, all narrow aisles and crowded compartments, but focused on a single family returning home for the holidays. Snidecki’s work was recorded over three years, and is far more wide-ranging. Much of it takes place in conversations: both those that occur between passengers (from politics-debating students to religiondiscussing strangers) and take place between Sniadecki and other commuters, where his role (Sniadecki’s American) and his camera (notably the space it takes up) are acknowledged.

The SEL’s commitment is to document people with minimum interference (scenes are not staged, title cards don’t summarize) while also not ignoring the difference a recording device makes. This approach results in several moments of gradually uncovered

honesty but also performative flair: one child gives the best comedic monologue of any movie, fiction or non-fiction, this year; and as Sniadecki’s exploration of roomier, upper-class quarters gets blocked off by government officials commanding “no filming,” the work acquires some of the urgency that drove the train/class-division action film Snowpiercer, released earlier this year.

But The Iron Ministry isn’t after nearly the same kind of goal as Bong Joon-ho’s movie: at multiple points the image breaks off into abstracted motion that uses the shake of traincars and pinprick lighting of tunnels and interior artificial lamps to similar ends as the experimental passages that divide Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life or open his To the Wonder. (It’s likely that Sniadecki’s work has a more appropriate comparison, but the beauty both are after is not separated by much.)

Whether these shots or the Tibetan fable recounted by one woman that gives the work its title, Sniadecki’s documentary imparts both realistic detail and a sense of grand imagination within several rural and factory workers of an otherwise overgeneralized Chinese people.

Gone Girl David Fincher ’s Gone Girl wasn’t playing as part of VIFF, but I saw it in between screenings at the festival (simultaneous to its opening the New York Film Festival), which had the effect of including it as part of the larger dialogue that emerges between movies seen back-to-back-to-back. Gone Girl can and will be compared to seemingly any bit of relevant culture on marriage and manipulation. However, its largest debt comes from within the film world. Like the “comedies” of Stanley Kubrick, Fincher ’s humour is in tune with societal ills, distorting human problems until they offer only one way out — in this case, marriage as plot. As with his contemporary Steven Soderbergh, Gone Girl is a digital montage that picks up on political signals (domestic abuse, tragic publicity, patriarchal order) only to divest itself of any easily identifiable ideology, dipping into de Palma-like excess along the way (though, like in Soderbergh’s Side Effects, de Palma’s lurid excess becomes a cold knife in the ribs in Fincher ’s hands).

Fincher, keeping the same major creative team from The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, has not evolved beyond the slick cut-

ting rhythms and multiple timelines of that first title. Tied to the script by popular novelist Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl casts a web of references and critical observations over a slight story that is more notable for the performances it allows (Ben Affleck, smile and chin critiqued, voice and speeches perfectly mocked; Rosamund Pike, taking on roles in flashback and parallel, voiceover spilling out comedy as much as Affleck’s does his barely disguised loathing) than the large gaps it distracts from. Amidst the information overload of careers, financial setbacks, and fucking, the novelist witticisms of jokes about Proust, quinoa, and book release parties, Gone Girl’s aims are limited to calling out fakers.

Fincher is a director famously interested in “leaving scars,” but Gone Girl is a work of flattered intelligence (the twists! the scathing remarks about marriage!) to the detriment of any lasting effect it aims for.

Like Fincher ’s Panic Room, Gone Girl is immediately effective at charting suburban architecture, and, aside from some spare actorly insights (Affleck’s compulsive narcissism, Pike’s misanthropic need for silence), lousy when it comes to filling it with anything that can’t easily be piled in with the trash.

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SPORTS & HEALTH

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

How to build that “Anaconda” booty, one squat at a time foot. Continue to slowly swing the knee back and up, like you’re kneeing someone in the privates. After 45 seconds, do the other side.

Next, stay in the same position, but have your leg straight out and lift it just up and down to strengthen the hamstrings.

Caution: don’t go too high on the uprise, or your lower back could be strained.

SANDEEP DOSANJH CONTRIBUTOR

Bum, booty, butt, rear, posterior, derrière, buttocks, gluteus maximus, rump. How many more ways can you think of to say that one sexy thing? Isn’t it funny how we all seem to notice the presence of a juicy, round bum? Well, so does the mainstream media — and according to them, bigger is undoubtedly better. We’ve all seen Nicki Minaj’s new video “Anaconda,” featuring ruthless women like Minaj herself showing off their callipygian curves.

Nicki Minaj wasn’t just born with that bodacious figure — she continually works at it.

And that’s something you can achieve too, with some determination. Maintaining that fragile ecosystem of fat-to-muscle ratio doesn’t have to take long; it can start with as little as five minutes a day to get your glute muscles primed and popping.

Here are some simple, yet intense workouts that can sculpt you a firmer and rounder booty.

Ball Basher I call this one the ball basher,

Image: Tumblr

Getting a Nicki Minaj booty is not as unattainable as you may think. because that’s exactly what it looks like, except that you are parallel to the floor. Begin on your hands and knees in table-

top position, and drive one heel straight up towards the ceiling, while keeping a 90-degree angle at the knee and flexing the

UFV Rowing gaining momentum JASMIN SPRANGERS CONTRIBUTOR

Early mornings, freezing water, and aching muscles. It may seem brutal, but it’s all worth it. You’ve all seen the posters around campus trying to convince you to join the rowing team. To be honest, at first, I wasn’t too thrilled about the conditions of the sport. However, once actually trying it, I realized it wasn’t as brutal as people make it out to be.

Not only is it enjoyable, but rowing is a great full-body workout. The constant pushand-pull does wonders for your abdominal and shoulder muscles. It’s not even just the exercise that makes it appealing, but the power behind the motions. The power that you feel as your oar cuts through the water, the feeling of achievement when your team is finally in sync, eight people in a boat moving at exactly the same time, with the exact same speed. It’s exhilarating.

It’s just one month into the season, and the varsity and novice teams are already becoming noticeably stronger.

There has been major improve-

The wrong way to squat Of course there’s always the classic deep bum squats. But there’s the wrong way to do squats and the best way to do squats. Start with standing up straight, with feet hip-width apart. When you go down for the plunge, make sure your hands migrate to the front of your body in order to keep balanced. Remember to lean your back slightly forward and keep it straight at the same time.

Deliberately keep your gaze straight as well, so your neck’s not clamped down or cranked up. Continue this move for 45 seconds, or more if you’d like.

A technique that will burn your thighs faster than candlewax involves staying in the lowered squat position for 40

seconds straight. Try doing this after your set of deep bum squats. For a more difficult maneuver, try slightly going up and down, in a kind of pulsating action, while maintaining the lowered squat position.

Those buns’ll be begging for a break.

Tired of squats? Jump!

Finally, we have the jumping squats. These are designed to build strength in the gluteofemoral (butt and thighs) region as well as to get the heart pumping faster. They are exactly what they sound like. Slowly lower yourself down into the squat position, making sure your knees don’t go past your toes, and jump straight up in such a way that you land softly to the ground. It’s also fun to throw your hands in the air while you jump.

Do these exercises and soon enough, you’ll be joining Nicki Minaj working out in a Gstring, baring all.

GO CASCADES! Come out and cheer on the UFV soccer teams in their last regular season home games of the year Saturday, Oct. 11 at Abby Senior Secondary turf field vs. UVic Vikes Women @ 5 p.m.

Men @ 7:30 p.m.

Free admission

Image: Jasmin Sprangers

ment within the novice team, where they went from being all over the place, to balanced and synchronized. As far as varsity goes, times are improving, as well as the strength of the team.

The plan is to be strong enough to bring home the victory in upcoming competitions, which begin in the next few weeks.

With the varsity team heading

to Seattle for a competition, the novice team will have a home race against SFU. A final shout-out to all rowers out there: keep up the good work, sleep well, train hard, and let’s do our best to bring victory home!

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

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SPORTS & HEALTH

Navigating the world of sweeteners, from aspartame to xylitol VALERIE FRANKLIN THE CASCADE

Have a sweet tooth, but want to stay away from table sugar?

You have plenty of sweet substitutes to choose from — and each has its pros and cons.

Non-caloric artificial sweeteners Eaten anything labelled “light” or “diet” recently? It probably contained aspartame, saccharin, or sucralose, the big three artificial sweeteners commonly used across North America. Because of their chemical structure, these sweeteners release no energy as they’re metabolized, meaning that no calories are absorbed by your body. While many people find their taste disagreeable, they offer a cheap, sugar-free alternative for diabetics and people trying to cut calories out of their diet. They’re much sweeter than sugar, so less is needed, and they won’t raise your blood sugar level because they contain no carbohydrates.

And they’re easy to get your hands on — packets of sweetener are usually offered along with sugar at most restaurants and cafes.

However, there are big concerns about the safety of these

sweeteners. Critics argue that they can cause or exacerbate a plethora of illnesses ranging from migraines to cancer.

Most recently, a mid-September study published in Nature suggested that saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame may actually contribute to metabolic disorders like type-2 diabetes rather than preventing them; researchers found that after 11 weeks of being fed these sweeteners, mice displayed glucose intolerance, an early marker for metabolic disorders, because the sweeteners had changed the composition and function of their gut bacteria. Use at your own risk.

Stevia Stevia is a sugar alcohol derived from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana plant. It has virtually no calories and has little effect on blood sugar, so it can be healthy for diabetics when taken in moderation. Although it has a mild, slightly bitter aftertaste, it’s not as strong as that of aspartame, and can replace sugar in cooking and baking. It’s expensive compared to sugar, but so sweet that a little bit goes a very, very long way.

Although stevia is widely popular throughout the world, especially in Japan, the US banned it for several years in

the early 1990s due to concerns about side effects. However, the veracity of those studies was called into question, and stevia has been legally sold in the US since 1995. In Canada it’s available on grocery store shelves in powder and liquid form.

But watch out — it’s often sold mixed with other ingredients such as xylitol or glycerine, so make sure you’re buying the pure stuff.

Xylitol Xylitol is another sugar alcohol like stevia. It stands out on this list because of one unusual benefit: it’s actually good for your teeth, reducing tooth decay and remineralizing the enamel. For this reason, it’s often used in chewing gum. It has approximately two thirds the calories of sugar, an extremely low glycemic index, and doesn’t appear to cause illness in the long term.

The only catch? Due to the sugar alcohols being difficult to digest, xylitol has an unfortunate laxative effect. Proceed with caution.

Agave nectar Since agave nectar hit the sweetener scene, it’s been marketed as a healthy, plant-based liquid alternative to sugar. It’s true that it’s appropriate for

vegans and raw foodists, has no strong aftertaste, and has a low glycemic index. But there’s one big problem: it actually contains more fructose than highfructose corn syrup. As a result, it dramatically increases your insulin resistance and raises triglyceride levels, potentially leading to heart disease. It also has a similar caloric load as regular sugar, about 16 calories per teaspoon.

Just because something is marketed as “natural” doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Ignore the romantic imagery of cacti and deserts on the label, and steer clear of this one.

Maple syrup The good news is that compared to table sugar, maple syrup is full of nutrients. A 100gram serving packs a whopping 165 per cent of your daily recommended intake of manganese, 28 per cent of zinc, and six to seven per cent each of iron, calcium, and potassium.

The downside is that maple syrup is still mostly sucrose, the same stuff as table sugar.

Out of that 100-gram serving, 67 of those are sugar. You don’t have to forgo topping your pancakes with this stuff once in a while — just don’t guzzle it on a daily basis.

Honey Like maple syrup, honey is mostly sucrose; it consists of about four fifths sugar, and almost half of that is fructose. Its glycemic index depends on the batch and how it’s processed, but it generally raises blood sugar slightly less than table sugar does.

The upside is that in its unrefined state, honey contains powerful antioxidants called polyphenols. It also contains fluoride, vitamins B6 and C, and three times more riboflavin than maple syrup — but, like maple syrup, its sugar content outweighs its nutritional value. Use it in moderation.

What about all the rest?

Date sugar, coconut sugar, maltitol, molasses, erythritol — there’s a world of sweeteners out there that we haven’t even touched, and it’s up to you to decide which one is right for you. It’s usually a good rule to choose whole foods and naturally derived sugars, but do your research; while most sweeteners are safe in moderation, it’s always healthy to know what you’re putting into your body.

Bacon over bread: the keys to keto EMILY SKILLINGS CONTRIBUTOR

Bread lovers beware: yet another popular diet has demonized the carbohydrate. Are you looking to get exceptionally ripped at the slight risk of possibly dying from ketoacidosis? The keto diet offers a fat-burning solution, but only if you can live without those carb-loaded everything bagels from Tim Hortons (and pretty much everything else made of flour).

The keto diet is considerably more challenging than its relatives, the Atkins, Paleo, and South Beach plans, because it requires followers to consume no more than 50 grams of carbohydrates a day. To put that into perspective, just one plain piece of whole grain toast in the morning would be pushing your carb limit at 20 grams. Add a medium double-double coffee before class and you’ve reached a grand total of 42 grams of carbohydrates. A keto adventurer/

Image: hegyessy/flickr

The keto diet encourages you to eat a diet full of protein and fat, including eggs, fish, and best of all, bacon! torture victim would have to be wary throughout the day, as even an apple weighs in at 17 grams of those ever-scrutinized carbs.

This highly restrictive plan will force you to pass on pasta, cookies, and other typically “bad” foods, which could (and

likely will) result in dramatic weight loss. But a keto follower will also have to pass on vitamin-packed fruits, which could result in deficiencies. We see just how restrictive the keto plan is when registered dieticians such as Cara Rosenbloom from Canadian Living write that

the average person should aim for between 210 and 290 g of carbs per day.

Interestingly, the keto plan encourages full-fat options that are usually forbidden by other weight loss plans. Cheese, butter, nuts, and oils are all fully welcome on a ketogenic plate, as shown on a food pyramid chart on TheKetogenicDiet.org.

In addition, you can fill up on leafy greens and beef, poultry, eggs and the king of meat: bacon! Keto could also be the solution for those looking to cut gluten from their lives without going hungry.

As explained in Scientific American, the keto diet throws your body into a starvation mode also called ketosis. Essentially, your metabolism will begin functioning like you’re on a season of Survivor by coping without carbohydrate stores called glycogen. Instead your body uses your fat stores.

It’s hard to deny the obvious; if your body is using fat for energy, you will achieve that glori-

fied lean body.

With that hot new body you will likely be able to attract the attention of someone as equally as ripped, but hopefully lacking a sense of smell. The keto diet’s most onerous side effect may be sweet, acetone-like breath. The products of metabolising fat are ketone bodies, a waste product that your body must expel. In extreme cases, a buildup of ketone bodies will result in ketoacidosis, which is fatal. Maybe that’s the worst side effect …

If the bacon-induced abs outweigh the comfort of macaroni and cheese, maybe the keto diet is for you! Just avoid starting keto around exam time, as a student lacking carbohydrates can experience fatigue, irritability, and dreaded “brain fog.”

And like any health plan, you should probably ask someone who graduated from medical school before diving into it.

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SPORTS & HEALTH

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014 www.ufvcascade.ca

Cascades players return to old high school to impress NATHAN HUTTON THE CASCADE

This past weekend saw the Cascades men’s basketball team in action for the first time since August. It was a packed weekend with three exhibition games from October 3 to 5 against both in-province and out-of-province competition.

Probably the best part of the weekend for Manny Dulay and Navjot Bains, at least, was the opportunity to return to their old high school, Tamanawis Secondary in Surrey, and play in front of their old classmates and teachers. The competition for Dulay, Bains, and the rest of the Cascades was sub-par at best. The Kwantlen Eagles, who play the college circuit in the regular season, couldn’t stop the Cascades no matter what they tried. The discrepancy in athletic abilities and skill

Image: University of the Fraser Valley/flickr

The Cascades were able to easily defeat the Eagles 111-68. was apparent to anyone in the audience. The Cascades had 72 points at halftime, equal to their per-game average last season.

The Cascades saw a bevy

of new talent on the floor this weekend, including big men like Nate Brown and Bains. The Cascades guards also saw an improvement when Dominique Brooks hit the court, hoping to

take over the point guard position vacated at the end of last year by Klaus Figueredo. To my surprise and enjoyment, the combination of Brown and Bains on the court together was a powerhouse that the Eagles couldn’t stop. The talented hands of Brown, combined with the speed and leaping ability that Bains brought to the court, were our strongest argument to coach Adam Friesen for these two players to play together come the regular season.

Not to be outshone, Brooks showed that the Cascades will be as strong as ever this year at the point-guard position.

Brooks’ leadership was impressive considering this was his first full slate of games with the team. Another quality Brooks will bring to the Cascades is his extremely vocal nature, both on and off the court.

The Cascades ended the game against the Kwantlen

Eagles with a fourth quarter where they opened up for the first time and started attempting some very gutsy plays.

Brooks threw a series of attempted alley-oops to Bains, who unfortunately was unable to connect. The best play came from Brown, the Cascade player of the game, who grabbed a defensive rebound under the Cascades’ basket and proceeded to outrun almost everyone on the court and take it “coastto-coast” for the layup on the other side. The Cascades were able to easily defeat the Eagles 111-68.

After the game, Dulay commented on the surreal but positive experience playing in his old high school gymnasium.

“I walked in here and I couldn’t believe we were actually playing here,” he said. “It was fun, really fun.”