The Cascade Vol. 23 No. 6

Vol. 23 Issue 6

February 18, 2015 to February 24, 2015

Embiggening the picture since 1993

Take the

Fashion gets the scissors

The two-year fashion design diploma is being suspended, to be eventually replaced

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Writing Centre alumna weighs in A former student who worked in the Writing

Centre says peer mentoring won’t be effective

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guesswork out of SUS elections

Postcards against racism New project will let students anonymously share their thoughts on racism at UFV

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p.15 ufvcascade.ca

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NEWS

News

University of Toronto instructors prepare to strike TORONTO — Sessional instructors and teaching assistants at the University of Toronto are planning to strike on February 27, the Toronto Star reports.

Instructors have been lobbying for raises, as they make an average salary of $15,000 per year. The university states it cannot increase pay because of the provincial wage freeze. The low-income line in Ontario is $23,000 per year. The university has looked at restructuring classes to accommodate the strike; however, some professors are arguing that this violates academic freedom.

Mission mayor calls for more regulation of grow-ops MISSION — Mayor Randy Hawes noted at a council meeting this week that the number of grow-ops in Mission is high, the Mission City Record reports. The complaints are leading to suggestions of a system where homes were inspected regularly for electrical safety. The mayor says the controversial Public Safety Inspection Team (PSIT) was a problem because of how it functioned as a cost-recovery program. Hawes compared the situation to the one in Surrey, where an initiative saw dramatically improved results in four years. Police state there are 670 grow-ops in Mission — almost equal to the 687 in Abbotsford, which has a larger population.

Student Union Society (SUS) all-candidates meeting CHILLIWACK — SUS is running elections for new faculty reps and executives. An all-candidates meeting will be hosted by The Cascade at 11:30 a.m. in A1424 on Thursday, Februrary 19 at Chilliwack’s CEP campus. Candidates will discuss their campaigns and plans for the future of SUS. Another debate was hosted on Tuesday of this week in Abbotsford by CIVL Radio. Students can vote online through myUFV from February 23 to 26.

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Opinion

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Culture

8

Arts in Review

18

Bad News is good music

Sports & Health

19

Stopping the stigma

news@ufvcascade.ca @CascadeNews

UFV administration visited an extraordinary board meeting over reading break.

Middle class woes The Conservative government has suggested that “middle class” means households that pull in $120,000. So where does that leave the rest of us? And what will happen as wages continue to go down and prices continue to go up? Ekaterina Marenkov weighs in.

Et tu, Brute?

Suits take the place of togas in UFV’s latest theatre production of Julius Caesar. Katie Stobbart interviews director Bruce Kirkley about his modern take on history’s most infamous assassination.

Andy Shauf, touring for his album, the Bearer of Bad News, played to an unusually hushed crowd in Vancouver — ­ but the silence was because the audience was spellbound, writes Mitch Huttema.

A new mental health awareness club hopes to spread understanding about mental illness at UFV. Sasha Moedt has the story.

UFV, SUS should be schooled in student consultation KATIE STOBBART

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Lack of student engagement seems to have been a theme this year at UFV, and many circular discussions among members of its community have been fuelled by the question of how to fix that.

In a previous editorial, I suggested it might be a failure to “leave the office” on the part of those students who are participating in campus organizations or people making decisions at an administrative level. However, I think there’s a bigger factor: a presumption made by those in authority, whose responsibility is to represent the UFV community, that their own interests always align with the desires and needs of the people they represent — specifically students.

A number of recent decisions

by UFV administration reflect poor consultation of students or solicitation of our involvement at all. The UFV 40th campaign, for example, did not come across as a celebration of UFV’s progress as an institution or of its history.

Rather, it was a marketing scheme to enhance the reputation of the university via empty slogans, expensive but poorly attended parties, and semi-staged photo Volume 23 · Issue 6 Room C1027 33844 King Road Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 604.854.4529

Editor-in-Chief katie@ufvcascade.ca Katie Stobbart

Have a news tip?

Let us know!

www.ufvcascade.ca

SUS supports Academic Success Centre

News

Briefs

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015

Managing Editor valerie@ufvcascade.ca Valerie Franklin Director of Business Development joe@ufvcascade.ca Joe Johnson Production and Design Editor anthony@ufvcascade.ca Anthony Biondi Copy Editor kodie@ufvcascade.ca Kodie Cherrille

opportunities.

While I agree the reputation of an institution is important, an institution’s reputation should be built on its actual good qualities, not on pricey marketing campaigns.

But that could be forgiven, had there been some tangible benefit for students, had students been asked how they wanted to be represented as a collective, or how best to celebrate the community to which they have chosen to belong.

With the newer 2025 planning initiative, UFV’s effort to involve students is a fumbling one at best.

The haste with which a course has been adapted and suddenly offered mid-semester seems suspect; the way information was disseminated was highly unconventional, with a private email sent to a number of Student Union Society (SUS) and student association representatives before the opportunity was broadcast via normal communication channels; and coercing students to participate by offering free credits does not enable inclusivity.

The handling of the Writing Centre’s ending was equally botched.

For the record, it is an ending.

There will no longer be a “Writing Centre.” The people who currently work there will News Editors megan@ufvcascade.ca Megan Lambert michael@ufvcascade.ca Michael Scoular Opinion Editor alex@ufvcascade.ca Alex Rake Culture Editor nadine@ufvcascade.ca Nadine Moedt

no longer fill that capacity, nor the space, nor do the same work elsewhere. The services to be offered in that space will be inherently different from the ones currently offered there. I have already said my piece on administration’s decision to close the Writing Centre, but a new point has been raised that merits address.

Their plan is to have 30 to 40 upper-level student peer tutors in the Academic Success Centre.

This is unrealistic to the point of laughable. You couldn’t get 30 to 40 students generally to stand in front of a free (for the audience) concert in the middle of a sunny weekday in the middle of UFV’s main campus during UFV 40th events. What makes the administration think that amount from a much narrower pool of students is going to line up to work as peer tutors?

It doesn’t matter if you offer pay or free course credit or CCR credit, for whatever that’s worth.

The story I hear and experience everywhere at UFV, across the board, is that applicants for such opportunities are sparse at best.

Had students been consulted on the feasibility of this plan, we might have told administration that.

Peer support has a place, and maybe it works well at other institutions, but the Writing News Writer vanessa@ufvcascade.ca Vanessa Broadbent Varsity Writer nathan@ufvcascade.ca Nathan Hutton Production Assistants shyanne@ufvcascade.ca Shyanne Schedel eugene@ufvcascade.ca Eugene Kulaga

Arts in Review Editor sasha@ufvcascade.ca Sasha Moedt

Advertising Representative jennifer@ufvcascade.ca Jennifer Trithardt-Tufts

Interim Sports Editor sasha@ufvcascade.ca Sasha Moedt

Contributors Celina Beer, Martin Castro, Jasmin Chahal, Raymond Kobes, and Ekaterina Marenkov.

Video Editor mitch@ufvcascade.ca Mitch Huttema Webmaster ashley@ufvcascade.ca Ashley Mussbacher

Illustrations Wayne Chin Cover image: Anthony Biondi

Centre is one of the things that makes UFV remarkable. Why would we aim to be like other institutions when what we have works, and even makes us a better choice?

This week SUS passed a motion in support of administration’s decision to close the Writing Centre, with part of it expressing their disappointment on UFV’s failure to properly consult and communicate with students.

UFV has published a repentant blog post admitting its faults in that department, presumably to secure SUS’s approval.

However, by passing that motion without consulting students, SUS did the same thing they chastised UFV for.

While UFV administration needs to improve its practices in regards to communicating with students, it’s also a given that their loyalty will be with the institution first. But SUS’s mandate is to be for the students; the way they so quickly passed this motion betrays that.

Until people in positions of power who speak and act on behalf of others at UFV start to invoke the vox populi, student engagement is not a reality.

Why should students build a community when it’s clear the people making decisions on their behalf don’t care what they think?

Printed By International Web exPress 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.

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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Tailoring programs to fit the market UFV suspends its fashion design diploma and considers new interdisciplinary degree MEGAN LAMBERT THE CASCADE

UFV’s fashion design diploma has been suspended and will stop accepting applicants as of Fall 2015.

Dean of the college of arts Jacqueline Nolte explains the diploma went through a program review, and its potential discontinuation comes down to a matter of low enrollment. “[The] program review explicitly stated that the diploma had its purpose,” she says.

“They basically said it’s become progressively irrelevant, as degree programs better prepare grads to enter into the labour force, and we’ve seen that with the declining enrollment of the past five years.”

Students currently enrolled in the program will be able to finish, as the courses necessary for completion will be offered until 2016 and some of the more popular lower-level classes will be available to fine arts students as electives.

As it stands, the diploma has three concentrations: textiles, technology, and marketing.

Recent graduate Kassandra Poleshuk, who took the textiles option, says the program helped her to begin her career after she graduated.

“They really did prepare us

for the real world, because this is what it’s like,” she says.

While the two-year diploma enrollment dwindles, UFV is looking at restructuring fashion design into an interdisciplinary degree — which may include a business component. Making the program interdisciplinary could increase enrollment, allowing students to incorporate a fashion design minor into their existing degree.

“Any degree being designed these days has to be as flexible as possible to accommodate students from multiple access points,” Nolte says.

She explains that the two-year structure of the program put too much pressure on students.

A longer degree similar to the one at Kwantlen Polytechnic University would give them more time to hone their skills.

“We were, as a university, being very demanding of our students, and they were taking tremendous stress to produce a fully-fledged fashion design show at the end of their second year with a portfolio,” Nolte says.

“By comparison, Kwantlen students produce a fashion design show at the end of four years — far more time to refine their skills and be reflective and to build up the lower-level modules as they work.”

Image: Megan Lambert

Toreky-Paziuk attended UFV because of its infrastructure for working creatively with textiles.

However, Poleshuk says while the structure of the program was intense, it prepared her for the harsh reality of the business.

“When you’re in the fashion industry, you’d have to work on your spring collection and [at] the same time [be] thinking of your fall,” she explains.

She notes that half of her class had dropped out by graduation because of the intensity of the

program.

“It really does take a certain type of student to work for that because it does put a lot of pressure [on students], but that’s what it is,” she says.

Current student Katalin Toreky-Paziuk says that after Capilano University’s fashion design program was cancelled, her only local option that offered what she was looking for was the

diploma at UFV. “The reason I didn’t go to Kwantlen … is because I was told the closest thing to a textiles program would be here,” she says, “so I didn’t even look at Kwantlen, which is closer to me, because I live in Surrey.”

Nolte notes that a decision about the new interdisciplinary degree will surface within the next year.

Mystery over gravel pit lot ends #ufvprobs CORRECTIONS On February 4, 2015, The Cascade published in the Food on Campus feature: “Road Runner, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.” However, the correct hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

On January 28, 2015, The Cascade published that “both of the knives carried by Martin and Holmberg are hunting knives designed for slicing — Holmberg uses his to skin moose in the fall.”

Holmberg’s knife is a folding utility knife, and Martin skins moose in the fall. Quotes by each were also misattributed to the other.

Image: Megan Lambert

Each week, @ufvprobs documents the weekly grievances of UFV students on Twitter. The biggest one besides the Tim Hortons line? The gravel lot outside C building, where pot holes and sudden dips lie between students and safety. According to campus planning executive director Craig Toews, the reason it isn’t paved is because UFV has other plans for the space.

“That’s the site of another capital project,” he says. While he could not confirm what project specifically, UFV’s highest priorities, pending funding, include a new building, dubbed “Digital HUB,” to be constructed in Abbotsford, and expansions to the SUB and/or C building for classroom space.

The Cascade apologizes for any confusion this may have caused.

The online version of the article has been corrected.

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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

SUS announces support of Writing Centre changes VANESSA BROADBENT

THE CASCADE

The Student Union Society (SUS) held an extraordinary board meeting on February 11 (over reading break) to hear from UFV administration about their decision to change UFV’s Writing Centre into an “Academic Success Centre.”

SUS met with VP students Jody Gordon, director of teaching and learning Maureen Wideman, and director of communications Dave Pinton to discuss the Writing Centre’s change to the Academic Success Centre.

VP external Dylan Thiessen noticed the issue has caused concern in many students.

“About a couple weeks ago, both myself and Ryan were contacted by students, faculty, and alumni expressing concern about the closing of the Writing Centre,” he said.

Although the closing of the Writing Centre was briefly discussed at the previous board meeting, Thiessen felt that the discussion raised more questions than answers — the most prominent regarding the reassignment of faculty.

“The main concern lies with the fact that the current five or six full-time professional tutors are being replaced by peer tutors,” he

Image: Megan Lambert

The operation model for writing support for students is changing, which UFV defended before SUS. said.

Gordon said the Writing Centre is not closing, but is becoming an Academic Success Centre. While it will employ peer tutors, there will still be a faculty co-ordinator and two staff positions held by instructors with master’s degrees.

“That part of the centre still [has] the level of support that people see in the Writing Centre right now,” she said. Gordon thinks peer tutoring in the Academic Success Centre will be valuable for students.

“We don’t just learn and absorb

information from faculty, we learn from each other,” she said.

SUS was presented this information by administration in hopes that they would support the decision to create the Academic Success Centre, and therefore share that information

with students. The SUS board did come to the conclusion that they tentatively support the decision, but are disappointed with the “level of communication and lack of active consultation in the decision-making process,” as stated in their motion.

SUS president Ryan Petersen explained that he felt there could have been better communication on UFV’s part.

“It’s understandable that they are in a rather delicate position dealing with contract agreements with individuals — they need to be rather tight-lipped on that,” he said. “On the other side, I think the Student Union and the membership at large would have liked to see a larger, if not consultation, then at least information about what was happening to the centre.”

Despite the lack of communication, SUS still supports the changes in the Writing Centre and released a statement that they are “currently optimistic that the Academic Success Centre will be able to serve a greater number of students than the current model and can meet the needs of students throughout their university careers.”

Tuition-free course to include students in UFV 2025 planning Modified, groupwork-oriented Philosophy of Education course will begin meeting this week MICHAEL SCOULAR

THE CASCADE

As part of UFV’s 2025 initiative and committee, a new, tuitionfree section of Jeff Morgan’s Philosophy of Education course has been opened up. It will begin meeting this week, though new students are still allowed to join until Friday, February 20.

The course will run as a modified version of EDUC / PHIL 362: Harry Brighouse’s On Education will still be used as the course text, but supplementary readings will be relegated to an optional recommended list in favour of the same resource materials the 2025 visioning committee will be reading as it produces UFV’s Education Plan for 2016-20.

“The difference will be primarily that in a regular course I focus on K-12 education with some talk about higher education, whereas in this course will be mostly about

higher education with very little about K-12, and really the only reason we’ll talk about K-12 is as it relates to higher education,” Morgan says.

Morgan says that while this is a course with a different aim and audience, as its final projects will compose the bulk of the course’s assignments (replacing the standard midterm, final exam, and academic paper) and directly passed to the committee, its evaluation and structure will still be based in a philosophically disciplined approach.

“I don’t consider them focus groups, because that implies that I’m asking the questions,” he says. “… The analogy would be when I take in a group of students or a few students and do independent studies.”

This focus on UFV’s education policy follows a forum hosted by provost and VP academic Eric Davis, where the idea of “2025” was used to spur criticisms of UFV’s current place in the world

of academia. The initiative’s statement of purpose compared current shifts in public views of universities to the death of the Catholic Church’s “monopoly of knowledge” in the 16th century.

Davis said that rather than an alarmist tone, this should be an opportunity to improve the institution.

Among the “student engagement mechanisms” discussed in the forum, this course, organized at the administrative level by Ken Brealey, the college of arts’ dean of faculty, is one that is attempting to improve the scope of voices heard by planning groups.

“Historically, students have generally not been part of UFV’s educational planning process, except to the extent [that] obviously it is student interest that has caused departments to put certain ideas or wishlists into the five-year education plan,” Brealey says.

Davis suggested that courses like these could become more prominent at UFV, reminding forum attendees that accreditation is coming to mean

“The committee must be capable of liberating itself from unquestioning obedience to the authority of custom and the dogmas of the past.” a great deal less than evidence of produced work at university or elsewhere. “[Grades] don’t really tell you anything,” he said, adding that “we’re hearing calls to replace departments and traditional disciplines with a new set of problem-focused disciplines.”

The way of the future, according to the forum and

committee consultation goals, may have a different set of ideals and projections.

“The committee must be capable of liberating itself from unquestioning obedience to the authority of custom and the dogmas of the past,” reads another excerpt from its statement of purpose.

Brealey says the timeline of this course, beginning in midFebruary, will allow it to provide student input as changes are discussed, as opposed to after the fact. “[The course’s] schedule will be worked out with [Jeff Morgan] for the balance of the winter and possibly the first part of the early summer semester,” he says. As of last week, six students had “expressed a direct interest.”

Brealey says he expects “no more than 10 or 12.”

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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Prof Talk

“Makes it sound like a Wild West — it wasn’t that bad” Physics professor Peter Mulhern on the teaching dynamic at UFV before it was a university MICHAEL SCOULAR THE CASCADE / PHOTO

What brought you to UFV? I was doing the standard route that most people did when they do their PhD, and what happened is all of a sudden we had a downturn in the economy — you can probably identify with that these days — and the number of university research positions just plummeted. Well, I didn’t just enjoy the research, I actually did enjoy the teaching.

At that time, it was considered sort of a second-tier approach.

But I thought, “You know? I like this.”

I think I’m better in a position like this than I would’ve been elsewhere, and I came here the same year that we came from Fraser Valley College to the University College, so I spent over 15 years on various committees working on the development of the place, and that was a lot of fun.

What sort of things did you do on the committee?

Probably the single biggest thing I was on was chair of academic standards for the best part of a decade. And back 20 years ago, everything was very much, “We have no idea what we’re doing, let’s just work with a few basic ideas: what’s good for the students?”

Money was actually in the bank, as it were. You have a bunch of students wanting to do astronomy classes? You know, we can find some money for that! And we’d run a class for six people. Which you don’t see happening anymore. But the thing was there was student demand. We figured what they wanted, we put it there.

Were there rules in place for getting people in at that time?

No. So we made them up, pretty much on the fly. Makes it sound like a Wild West — it wasn’t quite that bad. There were guidelines, so there was a technique for handling the bulk of the stuff, but the upper levels, which were brand new, we could do pretty much want we wanted, provided we could show it was good for the students. And that was actually a wonderful time.

The relationship between students and professors allowed for those kinds of decisions?

Yeah! With only about a halfdozen students who are always in the same class, we got to know each other very well. You

Peter Mulhern came to the Fraser Valley as the institution transitioned from FVC to UCFV. wouldn’t even think, back in the early 1990s, of not taking your entire upper-level class out for a beer after the final exam. It was a fun time.

What did you start teaching when you first came here?

I first arrived doing nothing but physics. Usually a few first-year classes, but mainly the applied upper-level classes: electronics, optics, especially. Most of my work was in experimental physics, so building stuff and making stuff work. And those are important skills for any scientific professional. It’s great to know the theory, and I’m not going to say anything bad about studying the theory. But that’s a huge different thing when you can go into your own home and say, “The lights aren’t right,” and then rewire part of the house as necessary.

That’s actually one of the things I’ve seen. It used to be two-thirds of my students would come in with hands-on experience. It was two out of 36 this term right now.

Is that because of the change in high school learning?

To a large extent. Plus, more students are living in apartments — they don’t have the garage that their parents used to do work in. I started working on woodwork when I was about six, seven years old. That was true for pretty much everyone who is an old fart like me. And I used to do my own car work. Everyone did, because no one could afford to go to a mechanic, so if you’re a grad student, you knew that about one weekend a month, the

hood of your car was going to be open, you’re going to be pulling something out to repair it.

Has that changed how you teach now?

I can’t assume as much handson experience as I used to, so I’ve gradually taken out a lot of the theory from my lectures in engineering classes and replaced it with, “How does a lathe work?”

“What’s a milling machine, and why would you use it?” Things which kids would have come in knowing 20 years ago, they don’t now. So I have to adapt to that.

Would you say there have been any particular colleagues or students that have been helpful or influential in what you do?

Most certainly the answer is yes.

I will say right now we used to have some people in our senior admin. Barry Bompas is the name that comes to mind right away. He actually was the head of personnel at the time, but he controlled a lot of the purse strings.

Bill Cooke, the registrar. He was wild. Was the first registrar, retired a few years ago. He had the same attitude. You’d walk up to him and say, “I’ve got students who are faced with this problem.”

He’d say, “Sorry, I can’t do a thing because university regulations say this.” You’d wait five seconds.

“And here’s how you talk to get those regulations changed.”

And we ran this institution, from before the time I arrived, I assume, up until about five, 10 years ago, until we got university status, on, “You give us a good reason for fixing a problem, we’ll

make sure it gets fixed.”

There were a few students, particularly in that first cadre, who were very competent at what they did. And if you were willing to sit down over a beer and talk with them, they would tell you what we should expect from other students coming in, and we would modify our classes accordingly. We weren’t doing things the same way as a UBC or a UVic would. We were addressing — kids were coming in from these high schools, they were strong in this, let’s take that one step further. And we’ll make sure they have all the stuff for grad school, we didn’t shortchange them, but we’d give them that extra little bit. For a lot of my senior courses, particularly in electronics, I left the last month of the term open for, “Well what do you want me to cover?” And we would do things that were at times graduate-level electronics, simply because the students had the interest.

What kind of things have you worked on in your own research?

In 1999, one of the very superb instructors we had here, Normand Fortier, left to go to TRU. He was running our engineering transfer program.

I was the next-most qualified person, so it ended up in my lap.

And for the last, almost 15 years, that has become a raison d’être for me, because this is where I can make a difference. I have spent time at major institutions, spent time in local industry, asking, “What do you need, if you wanted to hire one of our

students over the summer?” And I’ll find out what they’re looking for or what they don’t care about, and all my first-year engineering classes are now based around these bits of feedback. They still follow the original curriculum in principle, but definitely they are very hands-on, applied, here-iswhat-you-need-to-know-if-youwant-a-job-style courses. ­ You mentioned the possibility of becoming too insulated — what kind of relationship is there between the physics department and the sciences and other areas of the university?

It’s healthy. There was an old joke at UBC: if you looked at the way the windows opened, they came up like the door on the cannons in the old pirate movies, and it was because we were always firing back and forth at each other. That is not true here.

It is certainly true that I have friends in many departments, not just in the sciences. And that is very useful for keeping the boundaries down as much as possible. I will spend time in the office of the current chemistry department head, usually talking about movies and stuff like that.

It builds up rapport, and all of a sudden he’ll say, “I need X” — he knows to talk to me, he knows my specialty, and we’ll work back and forth.

You mentioned there’s a lot of things students don’t have anymore, is there anything the newer generation of students has that surprises you?

Their ability to interact with other students is better than it used to be. I don’t want to make this sound worse than it is, but there was a lot of intolerance between students of people that were different in any way, shape, or form. And I’m not talking about racism particularly: “You went to a different school than I did.” That was enough to exclude people from groups 20 years ago. “I was taught this, you were taught something different, I’m not going to interact with you.”

That was amazingly common back then — it wouldn’t be the majority of students, but it was common enough I had to address it. That’s not an issue right now, and that’s a big improvement.

The social maturity of students has improved greatly over the year.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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OPINION

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

SNAPSHOTS

Image: Eugene Kulaga

Shut up and take my money!

Curtailed commentary on current conditions

Image: Eugene Kulaga

Wait for it ... encore!

Image: Anthony Biondi

Image: Wayne Chin

Anti-terror or pro-control?

Punctuality equals respect

Martin Castro

Mitch Huttema

Raymond Kobes

Ashley Mussbacher

Summer is almost upon us, which means that music festival season is almost upon us, which means that I should start saving up every last penny I make because festivals are about as expensive as anything short of a car or a house. The price for one ticket to Sasquatch Music Festival this summer is $350. This doesn’t include gas money, sleeping arrangements, food, booze, and everything you promised yourself you wouldn’t forget but still did. Having been to festivals before, I know that the end price will be closer to $500. Knowing full well that my wallet can’t take the hit, I still made my decision to buy tickets to either Sasquatch or Pemberton long ago. Why? Because I’m a sucker for music, and because these lineups are to die for, and because what’s $500 in additional credit card debt next to tuition and reg fees?

Why, oh why, does it have to happen at every show with more than 25 people at it? The band leaves, and then returns after the crowd screams and shouts long enough to lose their voices and their dignity. While they yell, the band does some sort of secret pow-wow backstage which is never mentioned afterwards. Do they take the time to stroke their egos as their fans beg for them? Or, do they use the screams as a confidence booster so they can return and do the same thing they were just doing? I just don’t understand why it’s necessary every time from every band. It’s probably some sort of rite of passage when a band has fans that are passionate enough to call them back out after they leave, but, however sentimental it may be for the band, it often comes across as cheap and overdramatized. Down with the encore; bands should do their best and kill it the whole show.

In the wake of two terrorist attacks on Canadian soil, the Conservative government has set an anti-terror bill before parliament.

Bill C-51 gives the Canadian Security and Intelligence Agency (CSIS) a trove of new powers to seemingly use at whim. Many Canadians will agree that there is a threat of terrorism, but the main concern is whether this threat justifies these new measures.

Are we as citizens willing to compromise our individual freedoms for the potential of disrupting terror-related ploys? CSIS would be changing from an organization strictly focused on information-gathering into an active force to disturb and interfere with possible terrorist activity. This is all very subjective for security officials, who could now detain suspects for little to no reason.

At the very least we should be concerned with the police-like powers being given to CSIS. At its worst, our individual rights will be severely compromised.

Everyone knows at least one person who can never be on time. No matter what the occasion — whether it’s a shift a work or a date, they seem unable to make it within a reasonable time-frame. I’m probably not the only person bothered by this, especially if it’s a frequent occurrence.

When I arrange a time to meet with someone and they are late, it tells me that they believe their time is more valuable than mine. In other words, they do not respect me enough to be punctual.

Being on time is a commitment, and one that many people seem unable to make.

Being late speaks to an inability to manage priorities. Ultimately, it is disrespectful.

New definition of “middle class” doesn’t reflect reality EKATERINA MARENKOV

CONTRIBUTOR

Looks like the only “middle class” household is the fictitious one made up by the Conservative government.

The Conservative government’s current budget report redefines the term “middle class” to ideally mean a family consisting of a set of parents with two kids, living in a house close to the city, and, most importantly, making together a steady yearly income of at least $120,000. Meanwhile, the reality is that most homes average somewhere between the $60,000 and $85,000 mark — clearly nowhere near the $120,000 standard.

These outrageous, unattainable digits come from a report which contains no thumbnail sketches for reference and seems to completely disregard the previous year’s report, which

Image: Kat R / Flickr

“The typical 25- to 34-year-old is now making wages that are 11 per cent lower than they were for the same-aged person in 1976.” stated that the average middleclass income was $100,000. My household must have missed the

20 per cent salary increase memo.

They are seemingly drawing numbers out of a hat. MP Peggy

Nash said in an interview with The Canadian Press that “the Conservatives are out of touch with the average family ... by claiming they’ve increased their incomes that dramatically over the last few years.” The increase in wages doesn’t match up to the rapidly increasing housing prices.

For example, in 1997, the average price of a house in Canada was $150,000. Today the average price estimates $400,000. Housing prices have more than doubled, yet wages have only gone up an average annual rate of two-and-ahalf per cent.

This isn’t about getting rich — it’s about surviving. With this hollowed-out definition of “middle class,” the gap between the rich and poor is more significant than ever.

“It’s getting harder to reach the middle. The typical 25- to 34-yearold is now making wages that are 11 per cent lower than they were

for the same-aged person in 1976 — even though their education levels are higher,” states Paul Kershaw, policy professor at the University of British Columbia.

This particularly affects the young; the typical middle-aged worker today makes a salary anywhere between three to seven per cent higher than they did three decades ago when housing was half the price, which means they are steadily getting richer, whereas the generation currently entering the workforce is earning nothing but a heavy debt.

This burden means we’re working more for less, and for longer. Is there a solution to this? Unless a wage increase that involves more than decimal percentages comes along, the gap between the rich and poor will continue to grow until the middle class dissolves into one of those two groups. Spoiler alert: it’s probably going to be the latter.

7

OPINION

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Op-ed

The Writing Centre: save the instructors, save the service CELINA BEER UFV ALUMNA

UFV has decided to cut off one of its student services, the Writing Centre (WC), and replace it with a peer-tutoring-based Academic Success Centre. Many students feel the university is cutting services; the university claims the WC is just being repurposed — that the help will remain the same.

As a former student, I decided to contact The Cascade because I realized I was the closest thing to a peer tutor, having worked at the WC for most of my UFV career.

Being at the WC gave me the opportunity to see the common student’s struggles and work alongside the instructors. I saw a lot; I learned a lot. Because of this experience, I feel comfortable giving my opinion on the WC’s disappearance: professional instruction gives the Centre more than just a mature instructor.

There is no way a student will be capable of producing even a fraction of the service that is currently available. UFV executives are kidding themselves if they think otherwise.

The first reason is obvious.

The WC staff is composed of professors while the new centre

will be composed of peer tutors.

The instructors are experienced.

They already know that one professor has unreasonably high standards, so they provide extra appointments. They know nursing students have limited availability but are desperate for help with papers, so they expand their hours. They know BUS 100 students will struggle with their enormous group report, so they provide a project-specific handout as well as impeccable examples of the finished product.

The second reason instructors are integral is less obvious. At the WC, a student can pick up citation guides and pamphlets on various issues, including avoiding plagiarism and how to write an annotated bibliography.

These handouts are popular with students and their PDFs on the UFV website can provide assistance when writing an APA paper (originally thought to be an MLA paper) the night before a due date.

These handouts are created, discussed, and maintained by WC instructors to reflect common issues and stay current. As English professors, the instructors can communicate with their colleagues regarding academic standards, and as WC staff they

Image: Megan Lambert

receive resources and information about new writing trends.

A former friend at Queen’s University has even told me that she gave our UFV handouts to her students because she found them so helpful. In other words, these resources are gold and UFV has a small fortune. Without the instructors, I am uncertain that these resources will continue to be accurate and available.

Not only do WC staff have exposure to the struggles of aspiring paper-writers, they can make students aware of technical program requirements, master’s degree applications, and resumé dos and don’ts. They give class presentations and projectbased workshops, advise other

Letter to the editor

Re: It’s time to #SaveUFV and save the Writing Centre As a UFV honours alumni and returning student, I must say that I am deeply concerned about the issue of the Writing Centre (WC) closure. I was particularly appalled by Mr. Brown’s op-ed that informed us that the senior administration at UFV makes more money a year than the premier of BC This is deeply unsettling in light of the cuts we’ve seen these past years. Yes, we must hold the BC government, who has cut $50 million in funding to our schools, accountable, but at the same time it is also our duty to hold our own university government accountable for the way they respond to such cuts. Cutting essential student services and none of the administrative fat is not a way to move forward.

However, UFV continues to insist that this change has

nothing to do with budget constraints. In this case, it raises the question why we would substitute writing professionals for peer tutors. Students do not go to university to be instructed by other students; we are paying to have a professional level of instruction. Peer-tutoring should be an addition to this model, not the model itself. It’s even worse when one considers the difficulties of navigating proper style guidelines, such as MLA or APA. Writing a paper requires much more than a little clarity and panache. Each field has its own specific requirements that the writing instructors can help us navigate. Expecting an undergraduate student acting as a peer-tutor to have this level of knowledge is absurd.

Therefore, though the UFV administration is trying to make

it seem otherwise, the Academic Success Centre will in no way offer the same quality of services we are used to. Streamlining various academic services into one centre is not a bad idea in itself — it’s the service changes that have UFV students all riled up (#SaveUFV).

The palpable contempt for faculty and students shown by the administration is another issue, as is their attempt to mislead students into believing that there has been no fundamental change in services. It’s a funny thing about education … we’re not stupid. We’d thank certain administrators to remember that.

Jennifer Colbourne Student Rep. for the College of Arts Council

professors on their own marking struggles, and facilitate the annual writing prize competition.

While tutors are capable of picking up skills and noticing trends, a two- or three-year stint will not be enough time to build this knowledge or facilitate faculty needs.

Finally, I believe the instructors are an important part of the “writing service” because I tried to do their job and failed. For three years I handled appointment scheduling and facilitated a couple student questions as a front desk person. As I became more comfortable, I tried to get more involved; I tried formatting strange citation styles, sharpening introductory paragraphs, and

consoling crying students, but my naïveté overpowered my ability with each challenge. I knew no matter how many papers I had written or classes I had taken, I was still a student trying to learn the same things. The WC taught me how to be a better writer but, as a student, I was not going to master writing instruction.

VP academic Eric Davis claims that this service is not being “cut.”

If all goes as planned, this is the surface truth. Even as a student I provided help. My issue is with the illusion that peer tutors can replicate what professional instructors have built and maintained.

If the UFV administration genuinely believes in keeping the WC service intact, the new centre needs a new structural plan that retains the same professional help. If we save the instructors, we save the service.

If administration goes through with their decision, I would like to take this opportunity to wish Nadeane, Dana, Shurli, Gloria, Kim, Faye, Graham, and all the past and present instructors, good luck. Thank you for giving your time and providing us with a home for so long. We all know you deserve better.

8

CULTURE

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Drama brings history’s most famous assassination closer to home UFV’s upcoming production of Julius Caesar blurs the boundaries between the past and the future KATIE STOBBART THE CASCADE

“What if Caesar were a general who managed to eradicate terrorism from the world?”

It’s a hypothetical question at the centre of UFV’s upcoming production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, directed by Bruce Kirkley. The production will take a futuristic approach to the historical drama with suit jackets in place of togas and conference call conspiracies.

The performance will be set about 15 years from now, whereas Caesar’s assassination took place in 44 BCE: closer to us in time, yet still unreachable. The aim is to cast a new light on the events of antiquity.

If someone discovered a way to rid the world of terrorism, that person would become beloved of the people, Kirkley speculates, and the ramifications of that could play out similarly to even the very distant past.

“Those in power, like Marc Antony … see this opportunity to seize this moment and crown Caesar — this commander, this great general — as emperor of the West and this kind of real global government. Then there are those quite honourable Romans who want to preserve and maintain the republic — the democratic republic,” Kirkley explains, projecting the events of the past onto the imagined almost-present.

“In a way, that actually helps us today maybe make sense of

Image: UFV Theatre / Facebook

Julius Caesar incorporates elements of technology with live action in a experimental new style of theatre. those events of over 2,000 years ago, where you have these Romans conspiring to assassinate someone who has actually done all these amazingly heroic things for the state,” he says.

Kirkley adds that the West today holds similar political ideals as Rome did when Caesar was murdered, and that the story may be an important reminder that democracy is not a given.

“We’ve all grown up with democracy,” he says, “and we forget sometimes that the democratic experiment has only been around for a few hundred years — not that long in the whole course of human history.

“It’s not a foregone conclusion

that democracy will just keep going now from here on. Democracy and the freedoms that we have are something we have to remain constantly vigilant about.”

Placing events even a stone’s throw into the future means the cast and crew will be using more tech than the playwright could have imagined.

In the conspiracy scene for example, which features the Roman conspirators plotting via conference call, most of the actors are not onstage, but up on the catwalk in camera stations.

Live images of them are projected onto five onstage panels as well as three screens above house left and right.

The combination of live action with technical elements not only builds the future within the theatre; the contrast exposes a commentary on the way historical events are delivered to a nontheatrical audience in the time of their occurrence. Kirkley suggests the contrast between live action and remote (but still live) images echoes the way media interrupts the immediacy of warfare, for instance.

“The contrast happening [is] quite interesting … between those events that are very much mediated [via technology] and other events in the play which are just live actors interacting with one another. In addition to creating re-

mote images of warfare, we have actual fight choreography and the actors are actually engaging in hand-to-hand combat.”

Added to that, Kirkley says, is the fact that live theatre itself is form of mediation.

The performance will blend past and future, with actors speaking the lines as they were written in the first folio of Shakespeare’s play but acting out the scene with futuristic set, costumes, and props. Many of the images and symbols used, however, are historical. So the influences behind the design also weave time periods together.

Kirkley says the main source of inspiration for the clean and simple future elements come from the film Gattaca. Symbols of the Roman Republic, the flag and victory wreath, are incorporated into the play, and a Stalinist or Soviet style of propaganda is used, with animations added to give it a place in the future.

“It’s that sense that in many ways the future is often a reinvention of things that have already been,” Kirkley says. He also says one of the most exciting parts is getting to experiment with something not many theatres have tried: that unique approach to incorporating technology with live theatre.

“I’m not saying we’re breaking new ground, but we are kind of out there on the vanguard … of a new way of working with theatre and live performance.”

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

FEATURE

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10

FEATURE

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Meet your SUS candidates

By Vanessa Broadbent

Vote online through myufv.ca from

Other board positions include: • • • •

February 23 to 26.

Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Faculty of Access and Continuing Education Representative Faculty of Applied and Technical Studies Representative School of Graduate Studies Representative Senate Representative

as well as additional non-voting member: •

Ex-Officio

Voting ‘no’ If the majority (over 50 per cent) of votes for a candidate are ‘no’, that candidate will not be elected into the SUS board of directors. SUS may choose to hold a by-election for the option for students to choose another candidate — but they are not obligated to unless the board consists of less than three elected members.

Thomas Davies

Ricardo Coppola

President candidate

Vice-president internal candidate

Fourth-year accounting and finance major, economics minor

Fourth-year anthropology major, Latin-American minor

Campus involvement • Current vice-president internal • Involvement with UFV committees (e.g. learning environment design, and student health and safety on campus) • Board member, business administration student association (BASA)

Campus involvement • SUS budget committee • SUS food bank organizer • SUS receptionist • AfterMath floor manager • Latin American club president • Oxfam executive • Student association of international development (SAID) member

What does the position that you are running for do?

President is responsible ultimately for overseeing everything. The key to the president, in my mind, is they really have to have a pulse and have a finger on every single thing that’s going on, but refrain from getting involved in any one project deeply because then you lose sight of the perspective.

What appeals to you about the position?

I’ve come to the point where I’ve had a great experience within my very specific portfolios and as VP internal. I feel like a bigger perspective is a good fit for me.

How do you address the lack of student engagement on campus?

Over the next year of course, we have the Student Union Building opening up, that’s going to radically change the environment and the feel of this campus.

Weeks of Welcome has often gone well, but we’ve let that slip as time goes on because we haven’t kept things going and engaged.

There’s going to be some simple things such as an executive blog or president’s blog.

There’ll be videos explaining the different services, talking about opportunities on campus.

I’m also looking to revitalize the event structure a little bit to really put focus on well-planned, professional-run events that students are going to know about

and want to be at.

Do you have any specific projects or bylaws you’re hoping to implement?

On the governing side of things is taking another look at our elections policy to see how we can adjust some things to try and help facilitate more candidates, more engagements, [and] how we can give some flexibility to the chief electoral officer. I’m not promising any big new project, but I’m instead going to guarantee that we will provide excellence in our service areas and there will be improvements in all of the services that we offer.

Is there anything that SUS has done in the past year that you have not been happy with?

We sometimes have lacked proper information-sharing and transition, and details. That’s something I want to ensure doesn’t continue to happen, that we have the documentation, the process, and the information for people to always improve instead of doing the same thing over and over.

What have you done with SUS that you’re most proud of?

I’m incredibly happy with the continued improvements in our financial management, our financial controls, and our financial transparency and the budgeting process. Our clubs and associations handbook came out this year, [and there were] improvements with the shuttle bus. I am also very happy with something which is traditionally outside what the VP internal would typically do: my involvement with [the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations]. I was elected to the secretary of the board of directors, so one of the executive positions of the organization.

How would you describe the role of SUS? What do they do?

[SUS’s] motto is “for students, by students.” I know sometimes it doesn’t come across, or sometimes decisions are made and questions arise from students, and I feel like we could do a better job on that, but I think the intention is to help students. Their services are the shuttle bus, the health and dental, the U-Pass.

We run the food bank, [AfterMath], and all the clubs and associations.

What appeals to you about the position you are running for?

It seemed like it needed a few changes. I believe we need to work on our transparency. Our documentation, even though it’s available to students through our website, it’s not much advertised. If the information’s out there, people are going to be able to work more with the society.

How do you address the lack of student engagement on campus?

I help in clubs. I also organize events like the food bank open mic. The Latin American club, usually we have small gatherings for people to get to know more about the culture. I think there’s this idea that this campus is a commuter campus, which is true, but we also have a lot of people who do live here [and] would want to participate given the chance.

Do you have any specific projects or bylaws that you want to implement?

I really don’t want to focus on new things. We introduced a lot of things last year with the new building, the extension of the shuttle bus to Langley, the IT [referendum] that just happened. There’s going to be a lot of things that need organizing. We need a good foundation before we can move into anything else.

Is there anything that SUS has done in the past year that you haven’t been happy with?

Before I started working on the food bank, it was under somebody else. I understand why the person could not give more time to organizing it, but it was not managed well. Maybe in the future, if we have those problems we can solve them before they become too large.

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FEATURE

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Sukhi Brar

Dylan Thiessen

Vice-president external candidate

Vice-president external incumbent

Third-year exercise science major, psychology minor

Third-year political science major, history minor

Campus involvement • Resident assistant at Baker House • Student rep, UFV board of governors • Formerly on senate standing committee for academic planning and priorities • UFV 2025 visioning committee What does the position you are running for entail?

There’s an advocacy part that’s working with lobby groups. On campus, VP external is in charge of making sure students have access to services and to maintain services like the food bank, financial assistance, and advocacy. I’d say the third piece is events.

What appeals to you about this position?

I looked at my experience and what I can bring to the table, and I looked at the position and what the responsibilities are and I also looked at how things are run now. We’re doing great on [advocacy], but I would like to see more on the events side of things. I’d like to see more of a balance on that portfolio.

How do you address the lack of student engagement?

I’d like to strike up an open forum first off to bring different departments to the table. First off, discuss what it is that students want to

see on this campus, but then facilitating that and having students involved in the process of putting on those events.

Do you have any specific projects or bylaws you want to implement?

For the events part of things, I want to see more people involved in that process. Why aren’t organizations working together? A lot of the challenges we face are common to all of us, so why not come to the table and talk about it?

What have you done with SUS that you’re most proud of?

Because of my involvement on the board, my biggest piece of that has been to weigh in on what [SUS] is doing, and to respect other people’s opinions. I think what I’m most proud of is that I’ve learned to disagree, but also to see other people’s point of view, even if I disagree. I am one student voice.

Is there anything you wish you had done differently?

I wish I had been a little more comfortable to engage in discussions right from the start. It gives other people the courage to come forward and say things, or a perspective that other people don’t have.

Campus involvement • VP external for the Student Union Society • Volunteered on the SUS advocacy committee How would you describe the role of SUS? What do they do?

There are certain things like student events and student support that are right on the surface of services and are things that students see, like Weeks of Welcome, U-Pass, or AfterMath — but we have a huge political role. We meet with UFV administration on a regular basis and ensure their plan for UFV is what we believe aligns with student interest. We also advocate to provincial and federal governments through our respective advocacy organizations for a more affordable, accessible, and higherquality post-secondary service for students.

What are you hoping to do in this position this year?

The two biggest things SUS in general has coming up this year is the opening of the new building and the federal election. I think the opening of the new building is going to be a wonderful tool of engagement, whether that’s encour-

aging students to vote in a referendum or election or using it for events. Then the federal election — the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations already has a Get Out the Vote campaign, which SUS is planning to participate in.

Is there anything SUS has done in the past year that you are not happy with?

I can’t really think of much at all. Certainly at our board meetings we’ve tried to plead our case and the board may buy it, [or] the board may ask us to rethink it.

What have you done with SUS that you’re most proud of?

I hope I have introduced at least a higher level of political engagement on campus. That’s something that I definitely want to continue.

Is there anything you wish you had done differently?

Event planning has never really been my thing, but I think I’ve picked it up a fair bit. It’s certainly not something I dislike, but I think I tend to focus on the political, not necessarily to the detriment of the events aspect of the portfolio. I think [I would] find a better balance in the future.

Jennifer Janik

Ekaterina Marenkov

Aboriginal rep candidate

Arts rep candidate

Second-year indigenous studies major (upon program approval)

First-year English and philosophy double-major

Campus engagement • Socializing in the aboriginal room How would you describe the role of SUS? What do they do?

From what I understand, they’re there to support students and be in the best interest of students and try to bring in programs the will benefit the majority of students. Like the shuttle bus, it opens more doors so students can come to Abbotsford to take courses instead of being stuck in Chilliwack or having to pay the gas to come.

What appeals to you about this position?

I’m hoping to eventually major in indigenous governance so eventually I want to be in a leadership role for the aboriginal community.

This is definitely a way to get that work experience and be able to represent the aboriginal people.

How do you address the lack of student engagement on campus?

I think I definitely want to. Being the aboriginal rep, trying to get aboriginal people more engaged because a lot of us kind of hide back in our aboriginal room — that’s our comfort zone. I think I want to encourage them to step outside of their comfort zone and meet the other student population, and see what else is out there and what else is offered [by] promoting it a little more.

Do you have any specific projects or bylaws you’re hoping to implement?

Maybe an aboriginal awareness day or something to bring more of the aboriginal culture into the school. We’re on Stó:lō territory. It’s unceded territory and a lot of people don’t even know that, here in British Columbia. If you travel somewhere else like Europe, you experience the culture, so why not experience the culture here?

Campus involvement • Contributes to The Cascade How would you describe the role of SUS? What do they do?

[SUS] is here for the students rather than the university, I would say. I think it’s to make student life better for the students in any way that they can.

What appeals to you about this position?

Other than it being the only position I’m suited for, I thought it would be a good way to get my voice out there to the students and hopefully do better things.

How do you address the lack of student interest on campus?

I did notice that was quite the issue because I’m the only one running for this position. I think it’s an issue with all stu-

dents, definitely UFV being a commuter campus. The new Student Union Building definitely had an idea of changing that — they believe with this new building in place that students will stay longer on campus. We’ll have to wait and find out.

Do you have any specific projects or bylaws you hope to implement?

I wish I could say yes to that at this point, but at this point, no. Other than becoming more engaged and having more people into arts, I guess not really.

Anything else you want to share?

I like to think of being new as an advantage — a fresh face, fresh start, fresh perspective. I’ll be able to implement change without being stuck on old views. I think that can be an advantage.

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FEATURE

Derek Ward-Hall

Sahil Chawla

Professional

Faculty of sciences rep Faculty of health

studies

Ria Geluk

rep candidate

candidate

sciences rep incumbent

Third-year HR major, communications minor

First-year biology major,

Third-year nursing program

Campus involvement • Student Life CCR program assistant • Campus engagement work-study • Board of directors for The Cascade

Campus involvement • Member of the BCSA • UFV pre-med association volunteer • UFV Circle K club president • SUS events committee and SUS clubs and associations committee member

Campus involvement • Former president, vicepresident, and treasurer of nursing student association — currently rep at large • Former co-chair of the CRNBC student rep program

How would you describe the role of SUS? What do they do?

It’s a student-led society. Basically, SUS is an organization that wants to help students get the best university experience they can.

How would you describe the role of SUS? What do they do?

They’re involved in CASA, so they advocate for us on a federal level. They also try to get students engaged through associations and clubs, so they try to create a fun atmosphere on campus to give them the opportunity to get together and make groups and focus on their interests.

How would you describe what SUS is? What do they do?

The Student Union is your voice on campus. They are your advocates, they’re your first-line defense if you need to go up against the university for anything, and they’re also here to try to make your life as comfortable as possible while you’re here.

What appeals to you about this position?

I really want to get to know more of the ins and outs of SUS and maybe try to make things a little better for all students, not just professional studies students.

How do you address the lack of student engagement on campus?

As the campus engagement work-study co-ordinator, right now we’re trying to do different types of events. I’m doing classroom presentations ­ — I’m going from classroom to classroom talking about campus engagement, why students should get involved, and that they can earn CCR on top of that.

The only way to really change things is to have a massive culture change. My theory is that it’s a four-year plan: you start with a brand new crop of students at new student orientation, and then with every subsequent new student orientation over the next four years you make more changes so we can change the culture around here.

Do you have any specific projects or bylaws you want to implement?

I have to research more about what they actually have control over before I can decide what I want to go for.

chemistry minor

What does the position you are running for do?

I voice the thoughts of science students ... [They] come to me and they can let me know what they think and what needs to be changed. I can [also] talk to them and let them know the changes that are coming. I can help voice [their] thoughts and make a difference on the board.

How do you address the lack of student engagement on campus?

We could hold seminars for students depending on what career they’re going into, basically just perfecting small skills. It wouldn’t only be open to science students; it would be open to everyone to engage with more students on campus. We did that at Baker House, actually, so that’s where I’m getting the ideas from.

Is there anything that SUS has done in the past year that you haven’t been happy with?

It’s only my first year so far, so I’m learning as I go. [I’m a] part of the SUS committees as well, so I know why they’re doing it and how it works out. About Weeks of Welcome, if students complain that we didn’t get enough food, they don’t understand that we had a certain budget where the money was allocated to.

What appeals to you about the position?

I thought it would be a really good thing to have faculty of health sciences students on the board and be able to create a bit more of a connection between [CEP and Abbotsford]. I think it’s been a bit disjointed because SUS is mainly in Abbotsford.

How do you address the lack of student engagement on campus?

I’ve just been trying to connect with class reps and students from the different health care students and just let them know about my position.

Do you have any specific projects or bylaws you’re hoping to implement?

I would like to have a bit of an event where there will be a few different associations connecting on an event. I feel as the health sciences rep, I may be able to help connect people.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Joshua Wilke Faculty of sciences rep candidate Third-year computer information systems major, languages minor Campus involvement • President of modern electronic arts appreciation club (upon approval) • Computing students association (upon approval) • Lab monitor Why do you want to get involved with SUS? I don’t think many people from CIS run, so I thought, “Hey, why not represent a section from the school that isn’t quite as vocal as they should be?” I have a lot of friends in the other science [programs], so I get to talk with them and see what they’re thinking about too.

What appeals to you about the position?

I think it’d be good to have kind of a little bit more in the say of what’s going on. It’s a fairly small board, so if good issues are being brought up from the science community, things could be changed around here.

How do you address the lack of student engagement on campus?

I feel that UFV is very segregated. There’s very little interaction outside of your groups. I would

like to see events coming together where it’s not forced, it’s just come be who you are, talk with some people you might not normally meet.

Do you have any specific projects or bylaws you’re hoping to implement?

The coffee room on the second floor of D building. It’s been shut down for two-and-a-half years now. This coffee room will be easier for our students to go get refreshments, but also promote a little more student community. As far as a computer sciences centre for people to drop in when they’re having issues, I’d like to see more resources for those types of students.

Is there anything that SUS has done in the past year that you haven’t been happy with?

To be perfectly honest, the way events are done. They can be good, but the way I hear about them is after they’ve happened or during. Maybe if I knew, I’d like to have shown up. The other thing is bylaws [and] how those are introduced. A lot of people think they don’t need to pay attention so they just gloss over it.

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CULTURE

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

“I must be a mermaid”: Pecha Kucha night celebrates doing what you love NADINE MOEDT THE CASCADE

UFV’s first Pecha Kucha night, themed “doing what we love,” found an auditorium filled with enthusiastic students and community members.

Pecha Kucha is a fast-paced presentation style where speakers show 20 slides with 20 seconds per slide; the MC describes it as being similar to a TED talk, with a focus on “what inspires us as humans, [and] what inspires us to create.”

The night started with a reception in the S’eliyemetaxwtexw art gallery, and featured a mix of branding projects focused on creating a sense of community, as well as typography portraits by UFV’s graphic and digital design students. Attendees were able to bid on the portraits for the duration of the event.

The presentation featured 16 speakers, whose backgrounds varied widely; entrepreneurs, filmmakers, artists, and museum curators all spoke on how to find your dream job to the backdrop of PowerPoint presentations.

UFV grad Alisha Reddens spoke on her art, which focuses on a childhood afflicted with epilepsy. Inspired by the artist and sculptor Louis Bourgeois, the founder of confessional art, Reddens works in an autobiographical medium, centring on a fear of losing control of one’s body and a fear of the unknown. She hopes

Image: flcikr / Imroze Deol

UFV’s latest Pecha Kucha showcased successful creatives. with her work to raise awareness about epilepsy.

Other presenters included Cherlandra Estrada, who talked about her initial “erroneous career path” and how she “stroked and spattered [her] way through self-doubt” through a transition from a job in sales to a full-time artist. Estrada now works for the Reach gallery as a curator, among other passions.

The MC entertained throughout with interjections of overlyenthused introductions: “What up, hometown hero!”

Several presenters used their time on stage to instruct students on how to go about finding and pursuing their passion. Mike Boronwski, who works at the District of Mission in civic engagement and corporate initiatives, inverted the claims of many of

the speakers by arguing that we should not do what we love as a career, but rather “bring what [you] love into what [you] do.” If we do what we love as a day job, we will “grind what we love into dirt” and be unable to use it as a hobby or means of pleasure.

Despite the MC’s claim that the night had “brought the creative community of Abbotsford” together, many of the presenters had a background of marketing, slick entrepreneurship and digital storytelling. Quotable quotes were quoted — “The most important brand I’ve ever built is myself” — and success stories were told with an air of self-congratulation. One presenter began by saying that when she was growing up her “dreams were bigger than most,” and left the audience to watch unattributed

Upcoming

“inspirational” quotes — the type of stuff written in gel pen on a 10-year-old’s schoolbooks.

“I must be a mermaid ­— I have no fear of depths and great fear of the shallows,” said one. “She believed she could so she did,” another went.

Some presentations were more entertaining and amusing than instructive, which kept the night from being overly selfcongratulatory. Krista Hesketh, otherwise known as “the Blonde Jedi,” spoke to her various Star Wars crushes and her love of connecting with other Star Wars fans online through her popular YouTube channel. Her slides displayed a mixture of screenshot selfies and pictures of Star Wars fandom.

The more homegrown presentations escaped the slickness of the marketing; Simran Bains talked about blueberries and her work at Westberry Farms, which has been in her family for generations.

The night was a success on many counts: crackers with boursin were served, buzzwords were dropped, and networking occurred. Abbotsford mayor Henry Braun even showed up — or, as the MC put it, “HB [was] in the house.” However, for the creative person who hopes to one day do what they love, the night proved to be a little too careerist and slick to fully address the individual’s search for life purpose and passion.

Events February 19

PlentyofFish visits UFV Have you ever wondered how dating sites match up prospective lovers? Thomas Levi, a senior data scientist at dating website PlentyofFish.com, is visiting UFV to explain the math behind the magic. Come out to B101 Thursday at 2:30 to find out what math has to do with finding your one true love.

February 21 Ruth Derksen UBC instructor, author, and recipient of Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal for History Writing Ruth Derksen is giving a talk on her new publication Daughters in the City at the Clearbrook library on Saturday at 2 p.m. The book chronicles the experiences of Mennonite women who were forced to flee Stalin’s Russia, finding refuge working as maids in Vancouver. The afternoon, which is free to the public, will include a reading, lecture, and traditional Mennonite treats.

February 24

Competitive Scrabble reigns at ESA’s word game day

Mesa Latina!

Taking a Spanish class and need some help? Interested in learning more about Spanish culture?

The Spanish Student Association is offering a weekly social for all UFV students. Come out Tuesdays to A233 from 1 p.m. to 2:20 for a variety of games, contests, a study group, and interesting conversation!

February 23-26 2015 BFA silent auction

Images: Martin Castro

English majors flexed their vocabularies at the English Student Association (ESA)’s February 6 word game bonanza in U-House, which included competive Scrabble, Balderdash, and Once Upon A Time, served with Scrabble tile cookies and coffee.

The long-anticipated annual bachelor of fine arts silent auction has arrived! If you are looking for unique, local, and relatively inexpensive artwork for your walls, the BFA silent auction is the place to go. The auction, which takes place in the S’eliyemetaxwtexw Art Gallery in B136, is a fundraiser for the BFA grad show. Come out to support our BFA grads and bid on artwork, T-shirts, gift certificates and much more! Winners will be contacted by March 2.

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STUDY BREAK CULTURE

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

CROSSWORD Globetrotting

by VALERIE FRANKLIN

ACROSS 2.

4.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Cheap hotel alternative, if you’re okay with sharing your room with strangers. (6) Two-dimensional image you’ll need to find your way around a strange city. (3) Two-wheeled alternative to walking. (4) Catching a ride with a stranger. (11) You might come home with one if you travel to a sunny locale like Mexico. (3) Mountain guide for hire, especially in the Himalayas. (6) Water-traffic corridor you can go boating on, especially in Venice. (5)

DOWN 1.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Leave the camera and Hawaiian shirt at home or you might be mistaken for one of these.

Expedition to see animals in their natural habitats. (6) Paris is approximately 5,000 _____ away from the Fraser Valley. (5) Little black booklet necessary for travelling over international borders. (8) Two-strap shoulder bag worn by students and travellers alike. (8)

SUDOKU 1. DUST 6. SMOKE 7. CHARCOAL 9. STEEL 11. CLOUD

7 2 6 5 5 4 6 6 9 2 3

7

4 3 8 3 1 2 2

DOWN 2. SILVER 3. DOVE 4. MERCURY 5. IRON 6. SLATE 8. ASH 10. LEAD

2 6 7 4

The Weekly Horoscope

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

ACROSS

1 7 6

Sudoku solution

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

3

Last issue’s crossword

9

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

1 4 5 2 8 9 4 1

Star Signs from Moira Mysteriosa

Aquarius: Jan 20 - Feb 18: You’re getting burned out. Watch kitten videos on YouTube until your faith in humanity is restored. Astrologer’s orders.

Gemini: May 21 - June 21: It’s spring at last. Frolic like the glorious forest nymph you are!

Pisces: Feb 19 - March 20: Invest in the most expensive workout clothing you can find. That’ll make you go to the gym for sure!

Right? ... Right?

Cancer: June 22 - July 22: Keep watching the skies for answers.

Trust no one.

Aries: March 21 - April 19: Be kind to others — allow your next-door neighbours to use your new sink.

Leo: July 23 - Aug 22: Life advice: never read aloud from the Necronomicon in a dark room when creepy violins are playing.

Sagittarius: Nov 22 - Dec 21: Pizza is lucky for you this week. Treat yo’self!

Taurus: April 20 - May 20: Prepositions are unlucky for you this week. Don’t use them in, under, beside, above, or around your essays!

Virgo: Aug 23 -Sept 22: Your budgie will squawk sweet nothings in your ear — but it is up to you whether there is wisdom in them.

Capricorn: Dec 22 - Jan 19: You will find answers carved into your desk. But do not use them on your exam, for that is cheating.

Libra: Sept 23 - Oct 22: Sweatpants are your spirit animal.

Scorpio: Oct 23 - Nov 21: Remember, your inner strength is not measured by the amount of hot sauce you can eat.

15

CULTURE

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Postcard project opens dialogue on racism and race at UFV JASMIN CHAHAL CONTRIBUTOR

“Silence about race is a deterrent to people coming forward [with their stories],” says Satwinder Bains, director of UFV’s Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies.

In an effort to challenge this silence surrounding race, UFV’s Race Anti-Racism Network (RAN) is launching an on-campus project that will draw on student, faculty and staff stories to paint a picture of what racism on campus really looks like.

RAN, whose primary mandate is to raise awareness about racism and race-related issues at UFV, has been hosting on-campus events and dialogues since 2006.

Their latest project comes as an attempt to engage the UFV community in issues of discrimination and racism. After reading break, postcards will be dispersed across campus upon which students, faculty and staff will be able to leave an anonymous message about their own stories or thoughts on

racism. The postcards will be made available at key campus locations, including the library and cafeteria, and can be dropped off at the Abbotsford Library, Chilliwack Library and Mission Oreg area. You can also submit an opinion or story outline at: www.ufv. ca/ran.

Once collected, the RAN team will analyze the stories brought forth and develop a report based on the recurring themes. Intend-

ing to search for themes of safety, discomfort, and human rights violations, the team will use the data as a launching point for further research into solutions for the issues at hand.

The postcards themselves will be set up for display on March 19 as part of a visual presentation at the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

While racist vandalism at UFV

Image: RAN

may come as a shock to a university community that generally takes pride in its diversity, the silence surrounding such issues has been a difficult obstacle to overcome, and incidents have occurred at UFV, according to Bains.

“There have been racial slurs written on U-House [in the past],” she said.

Prior to the launch of this project, racism or discrimination-related issues on campus have been

tackled through private inquiries.

Bains, an organizer for RAN since its inception, recognized the difficulty in finding a “voice” for experiences of discrimination without open community dialogue.

She also recognized the importance of this project for victims of discrimination who may feel unsafe or uncomfortable voicing their stories publicly. The anonymity of the project will ideally open the doors for dialogue that would otherwise be difficult.

Stressing the importance of each and every story, Bains encourages the UFV community to “deeply reflect on issues of race on campus.” Each story adds a critical piece to the puzzle of community unification.

For more information relating to the project or Race Anti-Racism Network, contact Satwinder Bains at satwinder.bains@ufv.ca or Sharan Sandhra at sharanjit. sandhra@ufv.ca or call 604-8516325.

Road tripping to reconciliation

Aboriginal cult comedy Smoke Signals weaves humour into a story of broken families and forgiveness VALERIE FRANKLIN THE CASCADE

Road trip movies are a dime a dozen — but it’s not often you see one told from an aboriginal point of view.

A dozen students and faculty gathered at the Global Lounge on February 4 for a screening of the 1998 independent film Smoke Signals, hosted by the sociology anthropology undergrad society (SAUS) and the aboriginal students club. Based on Sherman Alexie’s short story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, the film is a dramatic comedy rooted in realism and the kind of gentle, self-deprecating humour that makes you smile rather than laugh out loud.

The story follows two young men from the Coeur d’Alene reservation in Idaho: Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Evan Adams), a geeky young storyteller who wears unstylish suits and neat pigtails, and Victor Joseph (Adam Beach), an angry rebel whose violent, alcoholic father left his family when Victor was a boy. When news comes that his estranged father has died, it’s up to Victor to travel to his father’s trailer in Arizona to settle his affairs — and Thomas

insists on tagging along.

“Think of this as an aboriginal road [trip] movie,” says Michelle La Flamme. “It’s a standard American trope, yet these characters are from a reserve and they learn a different set of things along the way.”

Neither of the main characters has ever left the rez before, and as they venture into the outside world for the first time, the casual racism they encounter provides a startling counterpoint to the film’s humour: “What kind of Injun are you?” asks a police officer in disgust on finding out that Victor doesn’t drink alcohol.

But the heart of the story is the aching, cathartic journey Victor must go on to forgive his father for abandoning him as a child in order to come to terms with his grief.

“It’s a unique male bonding story with a father-son relationship that needs to be worked through,” says La Flamme. “It’s beautifully done, realistically portrayed.

The longing, the need for a father figure, is moving, powerful.”

Smoke Signals is notable for not just having almost all aboriginal actors but also an aboriginal screenwriter, director, producer, and technicians. Perhaps in part because of this, it’s developed a minor cult following; La Flamme notes that people have even

dressed up as Thomas and Victor for Halloween.

Before the screening of Smoke Signals, another film was shown: Savage, a five-minute short depicting a young aboriginal girl being separated from her mother and taken to a residential school. Told through haunting music and dance, the short film made a powerful statement about the breaking of families and the longing for reunion. While Smoke Signals is vastly different from Savage in tone, Victor’s simultaneous hatred and grief for his father reflects the same themes of involuntary estrangement and longing: “Did he ever talk about me?” he asks his father’s neighbour in a rare moment of vulnerability.

Gradually, with the help of Thomas’ insight, Victor overcomes his anger and grows to understand that his father left because his flaws were making his family suffer, not because he didn’t love his son.

“Victor finally realizes that his dad has always had him as a core part of his identity, and that’s the beginning of his grief process,” says LaFlamme.

Following the film, La Flamme led a roundtable discussion, asking each viewer about their impressions of the film. Responses ranged from questions about the

symbolism of hair-cutting, an important motif throughout the film, to comments on the funny yet touching dynamic between Victor and the puppyish but wise Thomas, whose penchant for innocently asking tactless questions lands him in trouble more than once.

For most attendees it was their first time seeing the film, but Morris Prosser, president of the aboriginal students club and aboriginal representative at the Student Union Society, has seen it several times. He notes that its realistic portrayal of painful issues like alcoholism and poverty has a unifying power on its viewers, especially if they have aboriginal roots.

“We say we’re all connected to each other,” he says. “Any native person who watches [Smoke Signals] will get a sense of understanding.”

And while the film’s main story is an aboriginal narrative, La Flamme points out that its poignant theme of reconciling the flaws in our parents with our love for them is one that transcends race.

“The story of a fractured relationship with a parent, especially a man’s relationship with his father, has universal resonance,” she says.

CAMPUS FILM SCREENING LISTINGS Friday, February 20, 12:00 p.m.

Akeelah and the Bee (112 min.)

Presented by UFV International in B223

American spelling bee/inspirational teacher drama from 2006 features Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett in supporting roles. Roger Ebert described it in his four-star review as a movie where the actors transcend the conventions of the story, a competition story that speaks back to a winning-obsessed culture.

Upcoming: Brazil in Black and White (2007) on February 26; Norteado (2009) on March 3

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ARTS IN REVIEW

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Albums

Lupe Fiasco’s Tetsuo & Youth delivers fresh rap with whimsical, tight verses MARTIN CASTRO CONTRIBUTOR

CHARTS 1

B.A Johnson Shit Sucks

2

Viet Cong Viet Cong

No! Yoko 3 Oh Pinhead’s Paradise

4

Ariel Pink pom pom

5 Melted Ziptripper John Misty 6 Father I Love You, Honeybear

7 Quarterbacks Quarterbacks Caves 8 Sinoia Beyond the Black Rainbow

9 Various Mint Records Presents: Hot 10

Heroes Anna and Elizabeth Anna & Elizabeth

11

Cheap High Idle

12 TVSeedsOn The Radio Bee & The Buzz13 Queen kills

14

Stalk To Me Bahamas Bahamas Is Afie

Bear 15 Panda Panda Bear Meets the

16

Grim Reaper Death From Above 1979 The Physical World

B-Lines 17 The Opening Band

18 Siskiyou Nervous

Shuffle

AARON LEVY

CIVL MANAGER / HUMAN HAIRDO

CIVL Station Manager Aaron Levy needs the rest of Canada to show UFV some respect. Truth bomb.

Run the Jewels “All Due Respect” The song title implies that this song celebrates respect, and the garnering of it. However, in actuality, the song’s chorus discusses the fact that the top tag team for two summers get no respect! Turning the tables on the game, Blink 182 / Aquabats / Transplants drummer Travis Barker guests on this latealbum standout.

South Park “Blame Canada” Really, my desire to include this number is derived from my memory of the early Cartman quote, “Respect my authori-tie!”, as he so aggressively repeats to his friends and neighbours in the beloved program’s inaugural season of broadcast on Comedy Central. Cartman was three-wheelin’ around just like a boss.

Aretha Franklin “Respect” This is a song originally written and recorded by Otis Redding (Dock of the Bay) in 1965. Franklin, though, turned the R&B world on its head with her 1967 version, which included the famed chorus where we learn to spell and find out the meaning of respect.

Madonna “Express Yourself” You have to express yourself so you can make him express how he feels, so baby then you know your love is real (paraphrased), so you can respect yourself. This is one of Madonna’s biggest hits, not to be confused with “Human Nature.”

Its lyrics: “Express yourself, don’t repress yourself.”

Beastie Boys “Sure Shot” MCA on Ill Communication’s “Sure Shot”: “I wanna say a little something that’s long overdue / The disrespect to women has got to be through / To all the mothers and the sisters and the wives and friends / I want to offer my love and respect to the end.”

Lupe Fiasco’s Tetsuo & Youth is, in terms of lyrics and length, a very dense record. But for all its content, T&Y holds the listener ’s attention with an eclectic selection of tracks.

The aptly-named “Mural” is one of the most impressive songs on the record. Over crashing cymbals and piano trills (starkly different production from what most hiphop producers put out), Lupe throws a barrage of highly visual lyricism at the listener, seamlessly jumping from one image to another. Fun fact: at 1337 words, “Mural” is probably longer than most highschool essays.

Lacking a chorus, “Mural” is one jaw-dropping nine-minute-long verse, during which free-association and wordplay are used to paint stunningly clear and entertaining images: “Overweight taster of kings’ food that kills crews / oblivious feather-weight baker who autographed cakes whenever his quill moves over your meal / you simple as a Buddhist monk in a temple standing in some heel groove with the abbot, practicing stillness / real still ‘til he realizes his realness / defeats Samsara, achieves nirvana and brilliance.”

“Blur My Hands” is a perfect synthesis of rap and soul, an amalgamation evident throughout the record. Featuring a sung chorus which is more R&B than rap, the track also includes wordplay and alliteration in abundance: “Can’t match wit with warriors ... / Similarly can’t mix matchsticks with forests … I match matchsticks with wicks.” The R&B aesthetic is carried over to “Dots & Lines,” which starts with a hilariously surprising banjo solo.

Yup, A banjo solo. “Dots & Lines” announces its presence via bitchin’ banjo solo. The tune is laid-back and features a sublime chorus, as well as immeasurably appealing violin. As much an R&B track as its predecessor, “Dots & Lines” also delivers some poignant and impressive lyricism: “To make gold from garbage, is not the alchemical point of this math / but truth be told, it’s the pursuit of gold that turns the goals of men into trash.”

“Prisoner 1 & 2” follows (of which only part 1 is noteworthy). Lupe spits rhymes in as warm and soulful a way as I’ve ever heard: “Love is looking over various errors, and hate is habitually accelerating terror everywhere.” A cello and violin form the backbone, culminating in the bridge between parts 1 and 2, incorporating a violin

riff, stomping of feet, and the rattling of a cell door being closed. The track’s almost as soulful as a gospel song.

“Little Death” is pure R&B. Each verse represents a different religious paradigm and the way it clashes with politics, separated by a beautifully sung chorus courtesy of Nikki Jean.

“No Scratches” follows “Little Death,” and both work together as the album’s peak.

“Chopper,” arguably the most commercial hip-hop track on the album, has seven different rappers each delivering a full verse, layered over an oscillating bass humming throughout with a synthesizer reminiscent of a siren. Even with all the different rappers, the nine-minute track works flawlessly.

“Deliver” sees Lupe in top form, speaking on how the “pizza man don’t come here no more” (read: peace of man don’t come here no more). Both “Madonna” and “Adoration of the Magi” work off of each other ’s strengths, and are two of the most memorable and entertaining tracks on Tetsuo & Youth. These are two of the most soulful choruses on the record, featuring immaculate verses peppered with poignancy. Lupe has pulled out all the stops.

American Beauty / American Psycho is no blast from Fall Out Boy’s past EKATERINA MARENKOV CONTRIBUTOR

Last month Fall Out Boy released their sixth studio album, American Beauty / American Psycho. Since their return from hiatus two years ago, Fall Out Boy have been releasing music that’s out of touch with their grungy, emo-kid roots. They have instead gone for more of a jock-jam genre, which makes it great for an empowering work out at the gym, but leaves you nostalgic for what they used to be.

One of the great things about American Beauty / American Psycho is that the songs are similar in theme and composition, apart from the title track. This

album is significantly more vulnerable than the rest because the band is taking a risk and evolving their genre, trying to find their footing again in the musical world after such a long break. That risk sets this album apart from the previous five — in both a negative and positive way.

The one negative aspect about this album is that it’s not the old Fall Out Boy everyone remembers from middle school.

Gone are the days of sentencelong titles and sick guitar riffs. When it comes time for the chorus, the guitar melody gets lost in the midst of all the other noise. It’s also important to note that, for many of the songs, the drums are switched

out for electronic sounding beats which somehow make the music feel less authentic.

I probably should have seen all these little changes coming because the evolution of Fall Out Boy from punk to pop has been evident since as early as their third album, Infinity on High (2007), which released tracks much brighter in theme than their earlier albums.

Some things don’t change though. Patrick Stump’s vocals shine through just like they did in 2001, marking Fall Out Boy’s unique style that makes the album worth listening to.

Overall, I would have to say the band did a noteworthy job with this fresh album.

17

ARTS IN REVIEW

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Book

The Deep is about as deep as a wading pool ANTHONY BIONDI THE CASCADE

There are some books that you treasure forever — you wish them no harm and treat the pages as if they were made of solid gold. Then there are some books where you can drip nasal effluence onto them without caring.

The Deep by pseudonym Nick Cutter is fundamentally flawed from its meagre beginnings.

The story follows a veterinarian who is off to find his estranged, scientifically minded brother as he struggles to find the cure to a debilitating plague known as the Gets. The novel quickly takes us from South America to the Pacific Ocean over the Mariana Trench, and down to the bottom of the sea shortly after that. The bulk of the novel takes place in an underwater environment (not unlike Michael Crichton’s Sphere).

There the main characters encounter otherworldly horrors dredged up from other novels in the same genre. Worse, the chiefest of blunders committed by this novel is not this copypaste strategy from other nov-

Image: thebooksmugglers.com

The Deep borrows its flashback structure from Stephen King’s It. els: it’s the story’s poor pacing and inability to hold a narrative thread.

So often the plot is derailed from critical events and pushed into long, drawn-out flashbacks that only serve to superficially add bulk and weight to the story. Apparently, according to

some reviewers on Goodreads, the flashback structure of this novel borrows a lot from Stephen King’s It. The flashbacks tell of the brothers’ disturbing family history, all the while trying to splice in moments of horror that can be related to the events in

the underwater sea base. These flashbacks are spliced into any situation, whether it be midconversation or during riveting horrific events. This often causes the reader to lose the thread, or at least become somewhat discombobulated.

That being said, most of the novel’s events are propelled forward by use of chapter cliffhangers. Most chapters are no longer than three pages long, and often the action is split over several chapter blocks. This becomes quite frustrating to read.

In a lot of ways, it’s a cheap trick to keep the reader interested from beginning to end.

Characterization struggles throughout this novel — ­­ a surprise considering how few characters there are. In the undersea base where the bulk of the action takes place, only a handful of characters are presented: the main character, his brother, a submarine pilot, one other scientist, and a dog. This paltry cast would work fine under most circumstances, but through the bulk of the novel, each one (save the main character) serves only to fulfill a role of advancing the eeriness of the

story.

The secondary scientist is stereotypically mad from the get-go, foaming at the mouth and spouting vague nonsense through a locked hatch. The brother, as well, seems to be the stock brooding misunderstood genius type that has no friends and is all-around socially inept.

Almost all of the characters, despite their well-drawn histories, seem to be two-dimensional.

The only character I found myself caring about was the pilot, a typical badass military woman, simply because she’s the only one that isn’t being a total pain in the ass for the entire book.

From an author that seems to have such critical acclaim for his “first” novel Troop, his latest book seems to miss the mark entirely. It draws from too many sources without putting any sort of creative spin on them.

Instead, it just borrows and fumbles. If you are looking for a daring undersea psychological horror, read Michael Crichton’s Sphere, of which The Deep seems to borrow a lot from. It’s a much better read, and far more rewarding.

Dine and Dash

Gian’s is the best Indian cuisine in town SASHA MOEDT

THE CASCADE

Abbotsford is full of authentic and colourful restaurants.

Sushi, pho, Thai, Italian, busy little bistros, cute coffee shops, dimly lit pubs, character diners — we’ve got it all, and we’ve got it good.

One cuisine Abbotsford does very well is Indian. And Gian’s Indian Cuisine is definitely the cream of the crop.

I went with a couple of friends recently, having heard good things about the buffet. Unfortunately we went for dinner, and the buffet is only for lunch (11:30 – 2:00). I was looking forward to the buffet because I’m a bit of a newbie when it comes to Indian cuisine, and I like the idea of grazing and trying new dishes.

As an alternative, I shared a dinner for two. We ordered mild, because I’m not a heat person (and yes, I know I’m missing out). The issue with ordering the dinner for two is

Image: Facebook

Gian’s Indian cuisine is the cream of the crop. that they can only bring out the order in one heat level — my friend would have preferred medium. My third friend , who’s a heat-freak, ordered a butter chicken entrée as spicy as he could go. Interestingly, the heat wasn’t enough for him.

If you’re a hardcore spicy-heat person, maybe Gian’s isn’t for

you.

My dinner included papadums, veggie samosas, butter chicken, aloo ghobi, basmati rice, naan and dessert. It was $27 for two, and it was definitely enough for two hungry students.

The papadums were nothing special, kind of like the Indian

version of breadsticks. It’s a dry, thin bread that tastes like it’s made with sesame, and maybe spiced with cumin. There were two mysterious but delicious sauces — one was green, very spicy, and was definitely made with cilantro. The other was red, milder, and very sweet. We munched on the papdoms for a while, and our food came out promptly.

Veggie samosas always feel to me like a more exciting Cornish pasty. The samosas we ate were a little bland with the mild heat order; I dipped it into the sauces meant for the papadoms.

The butter chicken and aloo ghobi were delicious. The butter chicken had barely any heat; the sauce was so creamy and rich. The chicken pieces themselves were a little dry, but it was still the best butter chicken I’ve had in an Abbotsford restaurant. The menu describes the butter chicken as made in “heavenly spices” — I agree.

Yum! The aloo ghobi (cauliflower and potatoes cooked in

a curry sauce) was cooked just right, so that the cauliflower was firm but soft.

The naan is definitely something to rave about. They came out so hot and soft, with just the right amount of butter. You don’t even need to order the garlic naan; the regular naan is fantastic on its own.

Our meal finished with a dessert, just fruit served in sweet, light cream. It was a very good way to end a spiced Indian meal — smooth, creamy, and sweet.

Gian’s impressed me. The service was good, my water was always full, and the server was always available. The place has clean, classy interiors with roomy booths. While the prices aren’t so good that you could go every week (It was about $18 per meal for us), it’s worth it for good food and good service.

You’ve got to treat yo’self once in a while, and I highly recommend Gian’s to be the place you go.

18

ARTS IN REVIEW

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Film

Overambitious storytelling brings Jupiter Ascending down to Earth ANTHONY BIONDI THE CASCADE

“Satisfactory” is not a rating I’d ever like to give anything.

It’s neither good nor bad — just locked in a purgatory of mediocrity. However, satisfactory is how I’d best describe the Wachowskis’ recent film Jupiter Ascending. It’s not that it’s in any way badly conceived — it just suffers from poor execution.

The film is ambitious. It aims to build an entire galactic culture and society centred on a substance that can grant the human body a form of immortality. Their society functions on a marketable fountain of youth, essentially, manufactured by harvesting human bodies from “seeded” planets such as Earth.

The substance is manufactured by a single family, whose Queen recently passed away, leaving the enterprise in the hands of her two sons and one daughter.

The plot of the movie focuses on the inheritance of the sons, as they squabble to take control of their mother ’s resources. This is where Jupiter (Mila Kunis) comes in: she is the reincarnation of the Queen, and therefore the sole inheritor of her estate.

Of course, problems arise as the two brothers try to take that in-

heritance back.

The Wachowskis portray the galactic society and its ruling family quite well. Throughout the movie, it feels very elaborate and expansive, even though we are limited to the view of the one aristocratic family. The visual design of the universe is well-articulated and stunning.

It feels fresh and futuristic. To top it off, I felt that the characters that inhabited both Earth and the universe beyond were well-developed and great to follow.

The villains especially came across very strongly, even more so than some of the main characters, maybe due in part to the large amount of screen time awarded to them. They felt distinguished and equally enjoyable — with the exception, perhaps, of the sister of the two main villains, who remained sadly forgettable.

However, this film falls short because it’s too ambitious. Jupiter Ascending would have been better off as two films. There is simply far too much crammed into a mere two hours and eight minutes. Even though the characters were strong, they were never given the screen time they needed to really develop.

The same could really be said for the plot. The film jumped too quickly from moment to mo-

Image: facebook

Jupiter Ascending stars Mila Kunis as Jupiter, the reincarnation of a Queen. ment. Characters’ stories and development became rushed and confusing. There was never enough build-up to justify certain characters’ choices. The film tried to cram in several story arcs into one film, which left each one only a limited time to quickly build up and resolve.

The result was weirdly episodic. In a way, each member of the noble family was given their own story to be told within the movie. It would begin with a capture, a meeting of the villain, and some climactic action

involving Caine (Channing Tatum) flying in to the rescue.

It became both repetitive and frustrating.

Due to the limited time, so many characters remained forgotten. Despite the strong leads, the supporting cast seemed strangely anonymous and forced-in. By the middle of the film, Jupiter seemingly acquired a whole ship with a crew, which belonged to Sean Bean’s character. None of the crew was introduced; only the ship was named. Throughout

the rest of the film the ship and crew are given epic Mass Effectstyle suicide missions, and we are expected to care about them.

But we don’t. There just wasn’t enough to care about. Even by the end of the film I barely knew who any of them were.

To top it off, because of the rush, certain arcs were not given the world-shattering impact they should have had, which maybe they would have had if the movie were split into two.

For instance, there was no real visual or immediate danger to the planet Earth. The story was building up to a harvest of Earth for the youth juice, but that moment sadly never came.

The harvester never advanced, the Earth was never close to destruction, and it was only ever talked about. Sure, there were choices made by the main character that affected how Earth would be treated, but none of them felt immediately threatening.

All in all, Jupiter Ascending showed great promise. As a two-parter it could have been amazing, but as it stands, it’s only satisfactory. It had beautiful visuals, a really great premise, and well-developed villains and main cast, but ultimately its two-hour length limits it from becoming what it should have been.

Concert

Andy Shauf with Holy Mum captivates Fox Cabaret audience MITCH HUTTEMA THE CASCADE

Andy Shauf blessed Vancouver with his presence on Thursday February 5 while on tour in support of his new album The Bearer of Bad News, which was released February 3.

Shauf achieved a feat with his performance that is nigh myth in the city of Vancouver: famous for never shutting up during performances, the Vancouver crowd was silenced on Thursday night as Shauf coaxed out honeyed melodies from his freshly stocked repertoire of tracks.

Seconds after arriving onstage, Shauf kicked into song with “Wendell Walker” from his new album, and the venue fell under his spell. The silence was so perfect that a ripple went through the crowd threequarters of the way through the song when the gentle clinking of bottles sounded clearly from the bar.

The atmosphere of the show matched the silence. The venue allowed fans to be mere feet from the performers with no barricade. Onlookers sat crosslegged on the speakers at the front of the stage with many others leaning in over the edges of the stage.

As ever, Shauf gathered up the heartstrings and captured the sympathy of his listeners with the debut of two unreleased melancholic melodies, “Lick Your Wounds” and “Early 2 the Party.” Each of these songs offered his usual smooth sounds but were punctuated with heartbeats of silence here and there, creating a powerful effect.

Between songs, Shauf attempted to converse with his audience, offering a perfectly timid, shy, yet cheerful dialogue. In an attempt to make conversation while he tuned his guitar, Shauf asked if the audience had any questions. One fan yelled, “How do you eat your Oreos?” at which Shauf chuck-

Image: Mitch Huttema

Andy Shauf was shy yet charming during audience interactions. led but didn’t answer, due to it being a long, not really interesting, and barely funny story.

Closing out his show with another new song, “Martha,” Shauf and his companions left the stage without warning.

As per tradition, the audience screamed, yelled, and shouted for him to return. However,

Shauf held out and left the audience screaming and hollering for an encore for what seemed like too long. Some nearly started to give up hope when he emerged once again, this time alone. He took up his guitar and requested from the audience what they would like to hear.

After he had crooned out one

final tune with his instrument, he bowed and left the stage. As the satisfied crowd started to thin, Shauf appeared within it talking with fans and offered a much appreciated personal connection one by one with an eager line up of fans.

Also performing with Shauf was Vancouver band Holy Hum. Comprised of Andrew Lee and four other sound-makers, their music combined the ethereal sounds of Sigur Rós with the build and progressive style of Deadmau5 to churn out pleasantly drawn out masterpieces of sound.

Three of them crouched over a table topped with a jumble of cables, mixers, laptops, and keyboards as they prepared for the crowd a feast of sounds combined with the looped guitar riffs from Andrew Lee and pounding beats of the drummer. A welcome surprise, the band played a 45-minute set that seemed like one long, musical meal.

www.ufvcascade.ca

Upcoming games February 21 UFV Cascades volleyball Both teams face CBC on the home court. Women play at 6 p.m., men play at 8 p.m. at the Envision Athletic Centre.

Intramurals For drop-in intramurals, all you need is your campus card. Registration isn’t required. All games are held in the North Gym, E105.

February 21

Dodgeball tournament Bring your campus card, a toonie and some friends for some dodging fun! 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in E105.

Register for the tournament at http://www.ufvcascades.ca/rec/intramurals.

February 23

Volleyball

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SPORTS & HEALTH

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015

Safe Space

Mental heath awareness club comes to UFV SASHA MOEDT THE CASCADE

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, 20 per cent of university students are affected by mental illness — yet the dialogue around it is choked up with stigma, shaming, and misinformation. Safe Space is an open discussion about mental illness and health on campus. Questions or stories? Email sasha@ufvcascade.ca.

Mental health has never been on the long list of student groups and associations at UFV. On a campus that’s all about open discourse, safe zones, and healthy student life, its absence came as a surprise for Harsh Sidhu.

“One in five Canadians are affected by mental illness, roughly, and teens to adults is where the peak is, and yet it’s not openly talked about,” Sidhu said.

Sidhu is taking initiative to fill that void at UFV with the mental health awareness club (MHAC). As president, with his fellow students Gagan Rai, Gurpreet Bhangoo, and Ajay Sharma as vice-presidents, MHAC’s goal is to break through the stigma around mental health issues, and open up the dialogue on mental health and wellness on campus.

Image: righttojoy.com

The first MHAC meeting, which took place the Tuesday before reading break, drew about a dozen students. The small group discussed the stigma around mental illness, specifically in the media, and its causes — including lack of understanding.

“People tell you to change your mind frame — that kind of thing. Get over it, heal yourself. You don’t see someone lying in bed with a broken arm, and someone coming up and saying, ‘Heal yourself,’” Sidhu said.

The lack of understanding leads to a lack of proper support for those affected by mental illness.

“It’s just another illness ... and yet people think it’s something outrageous when someone says they have mental health issues.”

The floor was opened up to attendees’ feedback and ideas about how to reach the student body. Students pitched the idea of workshops with counsellors, posters, and social events.

They also brought up how to become more inclusive — such

as branching out to the Chilliwack campus, and reaching out to UFV’s 800 international students.

Like many advocates for mental health, Sidhu’s motivation for starting MHAC is personal.

“For two years I’ve had depression and anxiety and I’m still dealing with it today,” he says.

“It’s pretty hard to talk to people about it. Especially having guy friends, trying to talk about it, they’re all like, ‘You’re supposed to be tough!’ That’s what society tells you — be tough. It’s hard to talk about it.”

Sidhu explains that his personal experiences dealing with his mental illness made him passionate about the issue. His personal goal is to provide a space for students to come out and share their own experiences.

“We’re not here to counsel you,” he says. “We’re just here to hear you out if you have nowhere else to speak you mind in a [judgement]-free space.”

MHAC will have regular meeting times, which are yet to be decided. For more information on to get involved with MHAC, email mhac.ufv@ gmail.com.

All you need is a campus card and hand-eye co-ordination. 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. in E105.

February 23

Basketball Drop-in intramural basketball, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

February 25

Pickleball

Men’s Basketball Game Score UFV vs. UNBC W 77-71 UFV vs UNBC L 69-57 UFV vs TRU W 83-62 UFV vs TRU L 76-69 Men’s Volleyball Game Score UFV vs COTR L 3-1 UFV vs COTR L 3-0 UFV vs CAP W 3-1 UFV vs CAP L 3-1

Women’s Basketball Game Score UFV vs. UNBC W 88-75 UFV vs UNBC W 85-51 UFV vs TRU W 70-57 UFV vs TRU L 58-54 Women’s Volleyball Game Score UFV vs COTR L 3-0 UFV vs COTR L 3-0 UFV vs CAP L 3-0 UFV vs CAP W 3-0

Drop-in intramural pickleball, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

February 25

Soccer

Drop-in intramural soccer, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The Cascade is seeking a Sports Editor!

If you love writing as much as you love sports, this is the job for you.

We’re looking for a creative, organized self-starter with excellent communication skills. Must be currently enrolled in UFV classes to apply.

Send your resumé, cover letter, and writing sample to valerie@ufvcascade.ca by March 1.

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SPORTS & HEALTH

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Senior’s Night bids farewell to basketball graduates NATHAN HUTTON THE CASCADE

Valentine’s Day weekend marked the final home league game for four veterans of the Cascades basketball scene. The Cascades celebrated with Senior’s Night, honouring Jasper Moedt, Sarah Wierks, Kadeem Willis, and Celeste Dyck’s contributions to their teams.

Jasper Moedt Major: Criminology Position: Forward Memorable achievement: Moedt secured the Canada West title for rebounding at 10.7 boards a game.

Quotable: “Athletics gives you a platform to do more with your life if you use it properly, and I hope that’s a lesson that a lot of guys learn.”

Jasper, an Abbotsford native, played at Yale Secondary and was coached by UFV head coach Adam Friesen’s father. At the end of last season Jasper finished his degree but remained with one year of eligibility left. He decided to come back and finish his fifth season off strong. After the ceremony, Moedt commented, “I don’t think it will set in for me that I am really done at UFV until our playoff run is done.

There is a lot of basketball to be played this year for us.”

Sarah Wierks Major: Kinesiology Position: Forward Memorable achievement: Wierks easily established herself as the strongest rebounder in Canada West history, with 307 rebounds in a season. She set herself apart with 81 more rebounds than the closest contender for the position of top rebounder.

Sarah Wierks, the younger sister of former Cascade Nicole Wierks, was always known to be a dominant player in the frontcourt with her sister. She is key on the starting line. Her impact on the team was something that coach Al Tuchscherer praised over the course of the season, noting that her fifth and final year was particularly strong.

“Sarah has just led us all season,” he said. “She has had a real breakout season this year ... Through the middle of the season there she was really carrying us for a while.”

Celeste Dyck Major: Business Position: Point guard Memorable achievement: Dyck played the facilitator role of the point guard to perfection and finished top 10 in the CIS in assists among all players — a remarkable when you consider just last season she was averaging only 12.4 minutes per game.

Quotable: “I’d rather have assists than points. For me, I like to set up my team-mates more than score buckets.

I’ve always been [one to] pass first, score second.”

Prior to her fifth year Dyck had spent the majority of her career coming off the bench in the back-up point guard role; she started only one game last season. This season, put in the starting point guard role, Dyck responded enthusiastically. Her assist record stands to show her strong sense of team play.

Kadeem Willis Major: Business Position: Power forward Memorable achievement: Willis was second in scoring among players who started five or less games. He scored 12 points per game in only three starts. Willis was first in rebounding among players who started five or less games. He pulled in 121 boards.

Quotable: “We just try to keep each other level-headed, humble, and we try to make each other better every day. If it’s in the classroom or on the court, we’re pushing hard to become successful.”

Kadeem Willis is the only graduating player who didn’t spend his entire career at UFV. Kadeem joined the Cascades last season after playing at Lakeland College in Alberta. This year, with a stronger Cascades team, he didn’t complain about a new role often coming off the bench, but instead flourished on and off the floor.

“I love playing in this gym, I love playing in this atmosphere — I’m going to miss it a lot,” Kadeem said the night before his final game.

Image: Northfield Mount Hermon / Flickr

UFV’s rowing program is hard work with a high payoff NATHAN HUTTON THE CASCADE

The beginning of February means buckling down for the winter semester for many UFV students.

For the UFV rowing team, it means that they are less than a month away from their home regatta on March 7 and the beginning of the spring season. Varsity rower Riley Dueck shares his thoughts on the rowing program to shed some light on UFV’s mysterious water sport.

What got you into rowing?

I was playing competitive volleyball through high school and I thought that that was what I really wanted to do.

[But] through grades 11 and 12, volleyball really changed — it just didn’t happen [to give me] what I wanted out of it, and I realized it definitely wasn’t a part of my future.

I thought about rowing as an option and it became a reality.

I knew UFV was the school I wanted to go to, I had what I wanted to study ... it also just so happened to have this cool rowing program. I thought, “Oh, I might as well join.”

“It is really a sport where the effort that gets put in is really the reward that comes out.

It is more than a great workout. It’s temporary, excruciating pain for long-term gain and reward.”

It was something that you don’t get to do every day. It’s an experience that is almost exclusive — not every school in the world has a rowing program, and not everyone has the chance to try the sport.

Why is rowing not as wellknown as other varsity sports?

I think a huge reason people don’t know we have a rowing team is because we can’t row in the Abbotsford gym at UFV. Our location is in Fort Langley.

Another reason people don’t know who we are [is that] we have two races a semester.

Both we had last semester were far away; one was in Calgary and the other [was in] Seattle.

Sometimes there will be a race at Burnaby Lake or something.

So I’d say that those are probably the two biggest reasons.

[It’s not that] we aren’t popular but [that we’re] not known.

There is the occasional person who does know about our novice program. We want to make sure that everybody knows that they can try it. It is called “Learn to Row.” We are taught by the varsity athletes and get to know other athletes and people. That is how I started,

through the novice program, and you get integrated into being a varsity athlete.

Basketball, volleyball, and soccer are like your classic go-to university teams. [But] I think what appeals to me about the sport [is] it is such a cool experience and you don’t get to try it every day.

What would you want students to know about rowing at UFV? The learning curve is high but it is hard work. It is really a sport where the effort that gets put in is really the reward that comes out. It is more than a great workout. It’s temporary, excruciating pain for long-term gain and reward.

That is another reason I like it so much — not necessarily for the push, but for the team aspect. The effort and hard work that goes into it is huge.

You go through so much with your team. I am thinking back

to our winter training session.

Week after week you’re going through hard workouts; you’re pushing yourself to the limit almost every time you go on the rowing machine. [So] you go through a lot with these people and it brings you together.

Is there anything else you would want people to know about rowing?

Anybody that has the smallest lick of time and thinks a new sport would be kind of cool, they should absolutely look into our rowing program. It is not necessarily the biggest thing in the world, when you look at UBC’s novice program where they have hundreds of people and end up cutting a tonne. Our [team] is smaller, the coaching is one-on-one, and we really get to build good athletes out of specific people.