NOVEMBER 2 TO NOVEMBER 8, 2016
VOLUME 24 ISSUE 27
New every week (except for the summer) since 1993
BE A MAN! pg. 10-11
tampered condoms pg. 3
discussing palestine pg. 14-15
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HATERS BACK OFF! pg. 16
www.ufvcascade.ca
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
EDITORIAL
Wake up call for action Finding direction in the wake of the condom crisis PANKU SHARMA THE CASCADE
It seems that too often lately we are reminded that, while generally alright in a few contexts and tolerable in most others, human beings have it in us to be truly terrible. This past week a notice was issued that free condoms offered in UFV bathrooms had been tampered with by a yet unknown individual. I’m not sure what exactly would compel someone to tamper with condoms, or really any service that is being provided to ensure the health and well-being of people in our community, but they did and it’s tragic. Yes, people make mistakes, but it takes intent and willful disregard for everyone around you to make this one. Whoever it was, I hope you face the consequences, but just as importantly, I hope you deal with whatever it was that put you in the mindset to do this. As terrible as this situation is however, it is also an opportunity to showcase some good being done by members of our community, and a platform to further promote healthy living and safe sex. There wouldn’t have been condoms to tamper with without someone taking the time and initiative to provide them. What you should take away is that seeing a need that wasn’t being met,
it was student groups that stepped up to provide contraceptives in our bathrooms. It was fellow students who thought of others and then acted on it. The free condoms were being supplied by student groups like Pride since the summer of 2014, with the Student Life department helping out recently as well. It’s great
As terrible as this situation is however, it is also an opportunity to showcase some good being done by members of our community to see that as apathetic as we might be in some ways, this is a campus where people are truly thinking of each other. It’s not ideal, but this whole situation is a wakeup call that
can lead to better services being offered in the future. This is a sentiment I’ve seen echoed by many other students, who although dismayed at the situation that led us here are adamant in continuing to support a safer and healthier culture on campus. Already the Student Union Society has committed to providing safer sex supplies in both their Abbotsford and Chilliwack campus’ during operational hours. There are plans in place to eventually have secure dispensers installed in the Student Union Building washrooms as soon as possible. It would be great to see departments on campus also put a focus on safe sex practice awareness campaigns that can get students actively thinking about their health throughout the year. While this will have immediate consequences for the individuals affected, who we should all support in any way we can, there is also the risk of a lasting damage to communal trust on campus. This isn’t the first act to damage that trust, and knowing what we know it might not be the last. Between politics, protest, and the inevitable conflict that comes from competing ideas we can often as a community find ourselves at odds as to what to do. All I urge is that we keep our eyes forward, be more mindful and careful of human failures, but also encouraging of the good we are capable of together and for each other.
News
Opinion
Culture
Arts
myUFV changes
Ditch the driving
Halloween at UFV
Young the Giant
UFV IT expands myUFV servers.
Is going carless the answer or just creating more problems?
From pumpkin carving to costume contests, Halloween festivities were a plenty.
Young the Giant takes the stage at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom.
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STAFF
CONTRIBUTORS
Editor-in-Chief Vanessa Broadbent vanessa@ufvcascade.ca
Culture & Events Editor Jeff Mijo jeff@ufvcascade.ca
Multimedia Editor Martin Ranninger martin.r@ufvcascade.ca
Managing Editor Mitch Huttema mitch@ufvcascade.ca
Arts in Review Editor Martin Castro martin@ufvcascade.ca
Advertising Rep Kayla Schuurmans kayla@ufvcascade.ca
Business Manager Jennifer Trithardt-Tufts jennifer@ufvcascade.ca
Production Manager Brittany Cardinal brittany@ufvcascade.ca
Distributor Quintin Stamler quintin@ufvcascade.ca
Copy Editor Kat Marusiak kat@ufvcascade.ca
Online Editor Tanya Vanpraseuth tanya@ufvcascade.ca
Researcher Trevor Johnson trevor@ufvcascade.ca
The Cascade is UFV’s autonomous student newspaper. It originated under its current name in 1993, and achieved autonomy from the university and the Student Union Society in 2002. This means that The Cascade is a forum for UFV students to have their journalism published in an entirely student-run setting. It also acts as an alternative press for the Fraser Valley. The Cascade is funded with UFV student funds, and is overseen by the Cascade Journalism Society Board, a body run by a student majority. The Cascade is published every Wednesday with a print circulation of 1,250 and is distributed at Abbotsford, Chilliwack (CEP), Clearbrook, and Mission UFV campuses and throughout the surrounding communities.
News Editor Joel Robertson-Taylor joel@ufvcascade.ca
Features Editor Bradley Peters brad@ufvcascade.ca
Staff Writers Emma Groeneveld emma@ufvcascade.ca
The Cascade is open to written, photo, and design work from all students; these can come in the form of a pitch to an editor, or an assignment from an editor. Writers meetings are held each Monday at 2:00 p.m. in The Cascade’s office on the Abbotsford campus.
Opinion Editor Panku Sharma panku@ufvcascade.ca
Illustrator Amara Gelaude amara@ufvcascade.ca
Michael Chutskoff mike@ufvcascade.ca
In order to be published in the newspaper, all work must first be approved by The Cascade’s editor-in-chief, copy editor, and corresponding section editor. 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. Letters to the editor, while held to the same standard, are unedited, and should be under 400 words. As The Cascade is an autonomous student publication, opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of UFV, The Cascade’s staff and collective, or associated members.
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Klara Chmelarova Harvin Bhathal Rebekah Brackett Jonas Ferencz
Volume 24 · Issue 27 Room S2111 33844 King Road Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 604.854.4529
WWW.UFVCASCADE.CA @UFVCASCADE FACEBOOK.COM/UFVCASCADE INSTAGRAM.COM/THE.CASCADE
Front Cover Design: Sultan Jum Back Cover Design: Brittany Cardinal
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
NEWS
NEWS BRIEFS UFV warns student of pin holes found in condoms
Stabbing at Abbotsford Senior One student is dead and another has been hospitalized following a stabbing at Abbotsford Senior Secondary school yesterday afternoon. Both victims were female, and the male suspect who was arrested is currently in custody. Police say he was not a student at the school. The school will be closed Wednesday, but counselors will be available to students.
Concern arises after a student was found tampering with condoms in a women’s washroom
UBC provided at-risk students with naloxone kits The Urgent Care Centre at UBC Hospital is offering take-home naloxone kits to patients at risk of an opioid overdose. UBC students who think they are at risk of an overdose can also pick up a free naloxone kit on campus from Student Health Services. With the kits comes free training on how to recognize the signs of an overdose and how to administer the naloxone. Vancouver Coastal Health also plans to equip all 14 urgent care centres with take home naloxone for patients upon discharge. UNBC students released from American jail Two graduate UNBC students who were arrested while protesting a pipeline in North Dakota have been released from jail. Nicole Schafenacker and Katriona Auerbach — along with 100 other people — were arrested Thursday during a protest against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. Concerns have been raised about the potential infringement on Indigenous rights and potential damage to the environment. Charges against the students are still pending and it is unclear when they will be allowed to return to Canada. UNBC Student Union in major debt The University of Northern B.C.’s undergraduate student society announced Thursday that they are in major debt and will make significant changes that may change the campus environment. The society, who has said they have mismanaged funds for too long, owes close to $100,000. Some potential proposals to lower the debt quotient are permanently closing the campus pub and cutting funding to student clubs. Their pub has lost money all but one year that it has been open. Wrestling wins medals UFV’s wrestling team brought home two silver medals and a bronze medal from the seasonopening Dinos Invitational in Calgary this last weekend. Brad Hildenbrandt and Ashley Coupal each won silver medals and Amtoj Dhaliwal earned a bronze.
Photo: Mitch Huttema
VANESSA BROADBENT THE CASCADE
Free condoms available at UFV’s Chilliwack and Abbotsford campuses may have been tampered with, and UFV is advising that students take caution. The university emailed a health advisory to all students on Friday afternoon, saying that the condoms “may not be effective as birth control or as protection against sexually transmitted diseases.” The university was told about the incident just before 4:00 p.m. on Friday when a student saw another student tamper with the condoms in a women’s washroom in the Student Union Building on UFV’s Abbotsford campus. “Someone else witnessed a student in a women’s washroom poking with a pin a hole in the condoms that were sitting out on the counter,” vice president student Jody Gordon said. The original report came from a third party, and an investigation of the incident has been launched. “Hopefully the witness comes forward and we can get to the bottom of the investigation,” Gordon said. “If they know who is involved with this then we need to be speaking with that individual.” “We’re concerned that there’s someone in our
community that’s hurting and as a result is being destructive,” Gordon continued. “We want to, first and foremost, make sure they’re safe and provide support, and restitution would be part of this as holding someone accountable and helping them see that this behaviour is unacceptable.” The condoms were provided by UFV’s student life department in partnership with the Student Union Society (SUS), and have been available since September 1 at the Peer Resource and Leadership Centre and all washrooms in the Student Union Building in Abbotsford, the reception of Baker House, and the Student Life lounge in Chilliwack. “Student Life provided, supplied, and made sure that they were replenished when they were empty, but they did that in partnership with the Student Union because this is the Student Union Building,” Gordon said. “We don’t want [student’s] income, or their lack of income, to be a barrier to them engaging in healthy, safe sex. We’ve always felt, and this is in support of the steps that the Student Union is taking and a number of our student clubs, that the university can also be a partner in that support.” The 250 remaining condoms have been removed and will not be replaced, but instead will be available at SUS’ offices on both campuses, as well as the reception areas of Baker House and Student
Life, during operating hours until dispensers can be installed in washrooms. “We want to bring condoms back but we have to make sure that they’re dispensed safely,” Gordon said. “The idea behind it being in the washrooms was that it’s discreet. You can walk into Student Life and grab some, but that’s embarrassing for a younger person to do that and having them in washrooms was a nice, easy, stigma-free way to ensure that students were being safe.” A statement issued by SUS on Monday says that the dispensers, which were planned to be installed in January 2017, will hopefully be in place by late November. “The Student Union was already in the process of looking to get dispensers so this was the interim solution to a long-term plan and they just hadn’t finished sourcing the dispensers,” Gordon explained. “They’ll be free and we’ll continue from Student Life to be the ones to make sure they’re stocked, so it’s a good partnership.” The health advisory, which was also posted to UFV’s website, recommended that any students concerned about their health contact their family doctor. Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to contact student life director Kyle Baillie at kyle.baillie@ufv.ca.
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www.ufvcascade.ca
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
NEWS MyUFV gets a facelift New changes made to update UFV’s online interface MICHAEL CHUTSKOFF THE CASCADE
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, the myUFV website was upgraded to a new system and a new interface. The two-year project was spearheaded by the UFV IT department and will serve as the baseline for future UFV e-infrastructure. Felix Aksentsev, manager of IT Applications at UFV, who is also project manager for the upgrade, explained that it was a necessary change. “The old program was no longer supported by Microsoft, and because it was so old the environment was no longer secure,” he said. “We take the security of students’ information seriously, which is the most important reason for the overhaul of the website.” Aksentsey also noted that upgrading the myUFV site is the beginning of multiple changes to other parts of UFV’s aging software. During the two-year period, the project had three different project managers, which slowed progress each time there was a turnover. One of the greatest challenges was to implement interface changes onto the platform. On paper, there were many opportunities to make the update, but in reality, there are only a few key windows during the year that these changes can happen. IT couldn’t shut down the site during exam week, or registration week, and had to measure the periods of low traffic to find the best-suited date. The most timeconsuming challenge was uploading student’s data onto the new platform, which was a very delicate process, as they were dealing with student’s personal information.
Kerry Friesen, the web applications analyst for the project, stated that in addition to the upgrade, there are a total of 14 servers, ensuring that the website can handle large amounts of traffic. “The servers are massive,” she said. “The myUFV website can now hold just over 1,000 students simultaneously using the site, which is more than double what the old servers could handle.” Another feature of the new website is the automatic creation of a mycampuslife profile for new students. Because their
Uniting for charity UFV staff raise money for United Way campaign EMMA GROENEVELD THE CASCADE
UFV’s United Way campaign has gone above and beyond and raised $26,491 in donations from staff and faculty, exceeding the original goal of $25,000. Leslie Courchesne, executive director of university relations said that she is “blown away by the number of charitable donations from the staff.” Courchesne explained that UFV has been involved with the United Way campaign for 33 years and although the amount of money and donors had been slipping recently, this year was a dramatic change in a positive way. UFV’s United Way campaign now has 43 donors — 16 of these donors are new. The campaign for this year was organized by the volunteer cabinet, with the UFV representatives Leslie Courchesne, Martha Dow, Caitlin Pascuzzo, Nancy Scarrow, and Tricia Townsend. The campaign went bigger this year than it ever had before.
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United Way hosted a pancake kick-off breakfast, which took place in Chilliwack and Abbotsford, and according to Courchesne, was a big success. The event also included five presentations around campus about United Way, as well as guest speaker Kim Jemmel, who shared how United Way impacted her and changed her life for the better. Through her work with the campaign, Courchesne has seen the positive impact it has on the community. “My role is very much inclusive of community relations, and UFV is really inclusive of and involved with the community,” Courchesne said. “My heart is very much touched by people’s stories and people who have faced adversity and have found help through community services and fantastic people who are involved in these services. I am humbled and thrilled to be a part of United Way.” The charity is proud of the work they have done so far in the year, and Courchesne is hoping to continue working with them in the future.
information is seamlessly transferred over, new students can instantly access clubs and events without having to create a separate account. Both Aksentsev and Friesen encouraged student feedback on the website. The IT department is currently looking at testing a mobile app for the myUFV platform. Students can contact the IT department in B building with questions, or contact Student Life for more information.
UFV payroll steady from previous year 383 employees paid more than $75,000 JOEL ROBERTSON-TAYLOR THE CASCADE
UFV’s payroll increased minimally over the last year; the university paid $73.4 million to faculty and staff in the 2015–16 fiscal year — a minor increase from $73.3 million the year before. While UFV’s payroll budget increased 0.1 per cent over the previous year, Statistics Canada claims that the average Consumer Price Index increased 1.13 per cent over 2015. In the 2014–15 year, 387 employees were paid over $75,000, however the number of employees dropped to 383 for 2015–16. This last year, 111 employees made over $100,000 up from 93 employees over the 2014–15 period. The highest-paid employee is again president and vice chancellor, Mark Evered, who made $210,028 in the 2015–16 fiscal year; a slight increase of $6,606 from the previous year. His expenses totalled $45,997 in 2015–16, up $28,570 from the previous year. Second highest-paid employee is provost and vice president, academic, Eric Davis, who made $196,214 in the 2015–16 fiscal year, up $6,004 from the
previous year. His expenses for the 2015–16 fiscal year were totalled at $8,492, down $966 from the previous year. Employees with the highest expenses were executive director of internal education, David McGuire, and manager of international education marketing, Ravinder Philips. McGuire totalled $85,120 in expenses over the 2015–16 fiscal year, up $23,509 from the previous year. His salary was $134,550, up $4,302 from the previous year. McGuire’s total compensation (salary and expenses) is the institution’s second highest, just after Mark Evered. Philips’ salary dropped $2,959, from $89,308 to $86,349 for the 2015–16 fiscal year, but his expenses increased $8,235, from $67,259 to $75,494 for the same year The university spent a grand total of $73,391,436 on salaries and $1,196,047 in expenses in 2015–16. Of the money spent on salaries, $37.3 million went to employees earning over $75,000. The rest was paid to employees making less than $75,000 and to the Receiver General (EI & CPP ER).
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
NEWS What is the deeper issue within homelessness Homelessness, tent cities, and potential solutions JOEL ROBERTSON-TAYLOR THE CASCADE
The theme of homelessness and tent cities continually recurs in the media. Although it’s a common conversation, often only a surfacelevel perspective is offered. Two such ongoing local stories are Fraser Health’s fracas with the homeless camp on one of their empty lots and the B.C. Supreme Court ruling in favour of the City of Chilliwack, granting them an interlocutory injunction to have a tent city cleared out from a downtown parking lot. A great deal of attention has been given to the “problem” and “ issues” of homelessness but less frequently to the reality of their situation. Social, cultural, and media studies professor Darren Blakeborough has spent a considerable amount of time analyzing and taking an active role in working towards helping the homeless community. Darren, whose master’s thesis was on the T.V. show The Simpsons and his PhD dissertation on professional wrestling in Canadian television, has looked closely at the reality of homelessness, not just as a problem but as made up of individuals with unique situations. He has worked on multiple projects and conducted research on homelessness and social services relating to mental health, addiction, and homelessness. What has your experience with the issue of homelessness been? It actually started in 2006. I had just started working here as a sessional instructor. I had already been a student here; I did my undergrad here and so when I came back one of the professors at the time really took me under his wing and mentored me. He was also the director of the Chilliwack social research and planning council. They got funding to do research on issues related to homelessness so it was more about social services and users of social services, which at that time was dealing with the main issues of addiction, mental health, and homelessness. He was the lead investigator, but he hired me to work for him and that’s how I kind of got into it. Then a couple of years ago the Chilliwack social research and planning council got more funding to look at homelessness and because I had been involved with the first project, they asked me to head this up, so I did. What did you focus on with this project? We did a qualitative report where we spoke with 27 homeless individuals about their experiences, why they were homeless, where they would like to see themselves in the future, what services they were using, and questions like that. It took a while to build some trust amongst them; we really had to be visible in a lot of the different areas so we were at Ruth and Naomi’s, the Salvation Army, the needle exchange bus. Whenever there were events we always made sure we were there. Once they started seeing us all the time then people would start to talk to us a little bit more. The project was primarily looking at the notion of low barrier housing. We also did a review of existing literature on housing issues and noticed that most jurisdictions in North America were adopting what’s called a “housing first” approach. It’s traditionally been that if someone is homeless and was wanting to get into some kind of housing situation there’s always been a requirement of sobriety and that they actively participate in different social programming. Go through that, get themselves squared away, and then we can think about getting you into a house. Housing first flips that around. The theoretical rationale behind it that has been demonstrated successfully in every jurisdiction that’s done it, is that in order for somebody to deal with underlying issues, whether it’s mental health, addictions, dealing with abuse and things like that, they first need the safety and security of shelter. The belief is that until they have safety and security, you can’t even begin to touch the other problems they have. So housing first has no requirements of sobriety.
This housing first program, it incorporates not just housing but jobs training and rehabilitation as well? Yup. Everything is a part of it, it’s not just a shift in how we deal with homeless or think about homelessness, it involves a shift in policy around all of those ideas as well. All the existing data shows that there’s a much higher success rate transitioning people from the streets into housing, into programming, and into employment through a housing first model than anything else that has been tried to this point. There’s a guy from the Salvation Army that we interviewed and he said that the greatest thing that could ever happen would be for him to lose his job because he was no longer needed. That summed it up for me right there. If I’m no longer needed in this position, that’s the greatest thing that could happen. Who says that about their job? What are some of the common misconceptions surrounding homelessness? When people think homeless they think of the stereotype, right? That guy with the big, bushy beard who walks around town and when you see him you cross to the other side of the street because he’s clearly insane and who knows what’s going to happen. And all stereotypes have a basis in reality, they’re exaggerations of a
“The tent city isn’t the root of the problem, it’s the visible representation of everything that has lead up to this point.” smaller truth, so while that does exist, that’s not the only one that exists. When I started writing some articles for the local paper, I took some of the interviews that we had done and tried to tell those stories, to put a human face to them, to make people realize that it’s not just that one group of people that are homeless. I got emails from lots of people. One I remember was a couple in their late 60s on fixed incomes and he said they were literally one month away from not having anywhere to live and didn’t know what they were going to do. He basically said thanks for letting people know that there are “regular” people who are having to deal with this too. What are your thoughts about tent cities? I will say, first of all, I get and totally understand the complaints that everybody has about them. They’re an eyesore, they’re full of drugs. The tent city isn’t the root of the problem, it’s the visible representation of everything that has lead up to this point. It’s not to say that it isn’t a problem — it’s obviously a problem and I would prefer not to have a tent city across the street from my house — but there are proper ways to deal with that and hopefully we’re moving in that direction. I don’t know what other choice we have, everything that’s been tried up to this point hasn’t been terribly successful.
So while tent cities are in one sense a problem, they’re not the root or cause of the bigger problem? Right, there are so many underlying issues but again, it goes back to housing first. The safety and security of shelter — housing, a roof over your head, not worrying about where your next meal is going to come from, if there’s going to be a next meal. And once you have that you can get yourself into a mindframe where you say, “Okay, let’s deal with what happened to me when I was a child, let’s deal with my addiction issues.” That was one of the things that came up in our interviews. We talked to people that were addicted and either homeless or living in precarious housing situations and who wanted help. Some of them even went to get help, but while they’re gone they can’t pay their rent and they’re not in their place so they end up losing it. They go through a detox and after a three-month program they come out and they don’t have anywhere to live and the cycle starts all over again. What sorts of things can anyone do to change this condition of homelessness? Realize that they’re human beings. I always call it soul-crushing when you go on Facebook or any news website that has a story about homelessness or addiction and you read the comments from other readers. I know there’s frustration, I get that you’re frustrated and you want something done, and the easiest answer for some of these people is, “Well it would make my life better if they were just all in jail.” You hear things like, “Well wouldn’t we save even more money if we just let them overdose; eventually the problem goes away if there’s nobody left.” I suppose theoretically that is a solution but I don’t want to live in a world where our answer to drug addiction is to just let drug addicts die so the problem goes away. You have deemed a certain group in our society not worthy of the same rights to life and happiness as you have. That’s not right on any level. As the winter months approach, what needs to be done to prevent a lot of the dangers that the cold presents to the homeless? I think government is getting on board. I know that in Chilliwack, the Salvation Army just got some funding to have emergency shelter beds so on those absolutely horrific days they will be able to set up and accommodate more people than they normally do. The Salvation Army, at least in Chilliwack, is a fantastic organization. They’ve got those big storage containers outside so the people that do come in can lock their stuff safely. So people can have their stuff locked up in these bins and then get it again in the morning and it’ll be safe and secure. They’re actually potentially accommodating pets now as well, which has always been a huge thing. So the focus is really to shift towards being accommodating, not simply saying you can only have our resources if you do what we say? Yeah, I can only talk about the people that I deal with specifically in Chilliwack, but I know that the member partners sitting at the housing first table get it. The city counsellor that’s involved in it gets it, the different agencies like the Salvation Army and Ruth and Naomi’s, obviously people like that who are front line, they get it. They understand that we need to have some kind of fundamental shift in how we deal with the homeless and policy that needs to be put in place as we move forward, and I really hope that it’s going to start happening, because we need it. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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www.ufvcascade.ca
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
OPINION
The cost of cars has gone too far JONAS FERENCZ CONTRIBUTOR
How many dollars a year does the average British Columbian spend on car payments, gas, and insurance? Too much. And those are just the direct costs; think about how much tax money is spent building and maintaining roads and bridges. Now ask yourself, why do we need those things? Is there any reason why we can’t live and work closer together? It’s hard to be critical of something you have been raised your entire life to believe is normal. It can also be a little bit embarrassing to realize you have been following something blindly for your entire life, although pretending nothing is wrong with our society would be far more embarrassing. It is the dream of so many to live in a city like Vancouver, where you can walk just about anywhere and catch a bus anywhere else. Of course, nobody is saying we could all move to Vancouver, nobody can afford that, but it’s a lifestyle we as Canadians could start to embrace in cities across Canada. If we began designing neighbourhoods based on walkability, not only would life be more satisfying, but so much money could be saved by not owning a car and instead investing in public transit. Billions of dollars could be redirected towards more beneficial programs like university subsidization or day care programs for working parents instead of building silly highways. Beyond the personal benefit, the effect on our environment would be massive. Carbon emissions would be reduced substantially and
Illustration: Rebekah Brackett
car-related deaths and injuries would no longer be a concern. Of course, bringing so many people close together would inevitably create new problems but as ridiculous as our reliance on cars is, it would be equally ridiculous to propose eliminating them completely. Farmers would still need wide open areas to grow the food needed to sustain the population, and it would be silly to ask them to move to big cities. For them, travelling by car would still be a necessity. The densely populated cities of Europe are good models of what we might strive for: many people living near each other in the city centre with wide expanses of farms just beyond its borders. Problems like these seem too large to be able to change from
an individual perspective but if everyone decided to make a change it could happen. We need to say to ourselves, “I’m not willing to drive an hour to work everyday.” We too often allow employers to bully their workers; if everyone stopped commuting to work, companies would have no choice but to relocate to cities that don’t cost a million dollars to live in. As the next generation of employees, we have a massive opportunity for change. Don’t settle for a job with a commute; increase population densities by moving towards everyone else instead of away. Let’s turn our cities into homes for people, not cars.
Countering apathy with understanding BRADLEY PETERS THE CASCADE
Canadians pay high taxes, and these taxes afford us the social services and luxuries of first world living, but why isn’t tuition funded by these sufficient taxes? As a student, this question haunts me, so I sought out the one scholar on campus whose opinion on these matters reigns supreme: Ron Dart. Professor Dart is a climber of the golden era in the ‘60s and ‘70s when beatniks pursued freedom from “normalcy” in the mountains. He is a great philosopher, humanitarian, author, and authority on political and religious issues in our university. Serving on staff at Amnesty International before coming to UFV, Dart has underground notoriety amongst UFV students, serious street cred portraying our very own campus Chomsky. Dart welcomed me into his office with a gentle handshake and, in a tone of voice reserved especially for philosophers, Buddhists, and surf bums, offered me a seat. Posters of sprawling mountain ranges and mountaineers clutching exposed rock-slabs above wild vistas covered the walls. “Excuse me if I seem a little tired,” Dart says as he reclines, “I only returned last night from two days of trekking.”
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Canadian tax rates are on par with many Scandinavian countries, equaling or surpassing those places that offer government funded, tuition-free university to its citizens. I envisioned two reasons for Canadians not receiving the same treatment. First, the fact that the International Monetary Fund estimates our government diverts approximately $34 billion in subsidies and handouts for the fossil fuel industry each year, the lion’s share of which comes from uncollected taxes — a terrible short term investment when compared to the proven wisdom of subsidizing higher education for a better educated and capable workforce. Secondly, the fact that Canada is utilizing an archaic voter system by global standards, one that suppresses voting on principals such as tuition costs and discards millions of votes from people who didn’t pick the winner of their riding. Our First Past the Post electoral system enables majority governments without the support of the majority of Canadian voters. As noted by Noah Gordon in his article “Should the Victor Share the Spoils?” published by the Atlantic, 21 of 28 western European countries use the Proportional Representation system, which gives representation for a wider variety of viewpoints and interests that reflect the citizens.
“Yes, our current voting system encourages citizens to vote strategically instead of on their conscience, and reinforces a centrist to centreright government,” Dart exclaims. “But the true issue lies deeper.” We, as students, are seemingly plagued with a deep apathy towards politics. Dart recounts asking a class whether they understand Canada’s parliamentary system when not one hand rose. Young adults and students consistently lead the country in low voter turnout. What hope is there for university students of having our voices heard amongst our countrymen when we are simply content in ignorance? University is supposed to be a place where young adults are exposed to a vast array of new knowledge and different opinions, and where we begin to consider the important issues that affect us, and the lives of others. Instead we cram for a quiz that will help us get a secure nursing job, for example, without realizing the government’s plan to cut funding to healthcare. If students continue to be apathetic towards politics, we shouldn’t be surprised when the government seems apathetic towards our desires for a more fair cost of tuition. I look at my phone; we have been in the office for nearly an hour. I step into the hallway and turn around. Dart leans in the doorway, his
small frame hidden beneath a loose button up, the only trace of mountain strength showing in his sinewy hands and the gleam of his narrowed eyes. “Have you seen those new Hobbit movies?” he asks. I wasn’t sure if this was a trick question, some philosophical quiz to be deciphered in the milliseconds before my response. I offered a tentative, “Yeah.” “Well, there’s a scene when Bilbo meets Gandalf, and is offered to go on a grand adventure,” Dart says, beginning to smile. “Bilbo refuses. He is comfortable in his hobbit hole with his biscuits, smoking his little pipe in the sun. He has two sides on his family tree, the boring Bagginses and the adventurous Tooks. Bilbo has become complacent, compliant, settled-in to the status quo. Gandalf asks Bilbo what side he is going to listen to, the Baggins or the Took? Each person has a Took and Baggins warring within, and depending on what a person chooses to listen to, they’ll lead a life that is rich, dynamic, animated, engaged in the epic issues of life, or they’ll settle into their little shire.”
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
www.ufvcascade.ca
OPINION Crossword
Across 1: To falsely implicate in a crime 4: Viking lettering 5: A corner, or an e-reader brand 6: Aerial avian appendage 7: Ancient Peruvian empire 8: Yard-dwelling little fellow
Down 1: Animated turtle boy 2: Pen name of Samuel Clemens 3: A rule-breaker, a deserter, or a Styx song
Made by Jeff Mijo
Horoscopes
Astrological mysteries interpreted by Master Moji
Aries — Mar 21 to Apr 19 This really isn’t the week to try out a new sport. New desserts are a great idea, though!
Leo — Jul 23 to Aug 22 These storms we’ve been having are an omen. A sign that water is crucial, especially for you. Please stay hydrated. For all of us.
Taurus — Apr 20 to May 20 Somebody once asked: could I spare some change for gas? I need to get myself away from this place. I said yep, what a concept. I could use a little fuel myself! And we could all use a little change.
Virgo —Aug 23 to Sep 22 It’s time to take the leap and say what’s on your mind. Just be sure you’re ready to run away afterwards.
Gemini — May 21 to Jun 20 You’ll catch someone’s dumb mistake just in time to save them from horrible embarrassment. If you’re feeling nice, you might even tell them!
Libra — Sep 23 to Oct 22 As your time of the year comes to a close, remember these words of wisdom: just as scales balance objects, your personality balances moods. Time to tip the scales.
Cancer —Jun 21 to Jul 22 Have you ever eaten crab? Did it make you feel like a terrible cannibal, given your astrological sign? That’s kinda messed up, dude.
Scorpio — Oct 23 to Nov 21 Don’t listen to any Aquariuses. We all know what they’re really up to.
Sagittarius — Nov 22 to Dec 21 School’s kind of tough sometimes, isn’t it? But keep working at it champ, you’ll get it done!
Pisces — Feb 19 to Mar 20 Sometime this week, you’ll be accosted by a pushy cobbler looking to sell you his wares. Unfortunately, he’ll just be confused when you tell him to shoo.
Capricorn — Dec 22 to Jan 19 Don’t ignore that strange sound coming from your basement. Whatever’s down there is just gaining power the longer you leave it.
SPORTS SCORES Men’s Basketball: Oct 30 UFV Cascades vs. Laurier Golden Hawks W 74-71 Women’s Basketball: Oct 28 UFV Cascades vs. Regina Cougars L 66-57 Oct 29 UFV Cascades vs. Calgary Dinos L 67-43 Men’s Soccer: Oct 29 UFV Cascades vs. Calgary Dinos L 2-0 Women’s Soccer: Oct 29 UFV Cascades vs. UVic Vikes L 3-2 Men’s Volleyball: Oct 28 UFV Cacades vs. VIU Mariners L 3-1 Oct 29 UFV Cascades vs. VIU Mariners L 3-0 Women’s Volleyball: Oct 28 UFV Cascades vs. VIU Mariners L 3-2 Oct 29 UFV Cascades vs. VIU Mariners L 3-0
UPCOMING GAMES Men’s Basketball: Friday, Nov 4 8:00 pm UFV Cascades vs. UofS Huskies (home) Saturday, Nov 5 7:00 pm UFV Cascades vs. UofS Huskies (home) Women’s Basketball: Friday, Nov 4 6:00 pm UFV Cascades vs. UofS Huskies (home) Saturday, Nov 5 5:00 pm UFV Cascades vs. UofS Huskies (home) Men’s Volleyball: Friday, Nov 4 8:00 pm UFV Cascades vs. Camosun Chargers (home) Saturday, Nov 5 3:00 pm UFV Cascades vs. Camosun Chargers (home) Women’s Volleyball: Friday, Nov 4 6:00 pm UFV Cascades vs. Camosun Chargers (home) Saturday, Nov 4 1:00 pm UFV Cascades vs. Camosun Chargers (home)
Aquarius — Jan 20 to Feb 18 Did you hear what that Scorpio said about you? Not cool.
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www.ufvcascade.ca
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
OPINION
SNAPSH
TS
Curtailed commentary on current conditions
YouTube ads strike back! Harvin Bhathal
WIND blows Klara Chmelarova
YouTube ads are arguably the worst first-world nuisance that exists. While I understand that ads contribute to YouTube’s yearly revenue, I, frankly, do not care. Whether they span five seconds, 15 seconds, or 30 seconds, YouTube ads are an annoyance that I would avoid if I could. However, that would involve not watching YouTube anymore and that isn’t happening anytime soon. I, along with the majority, eventually accepted ads as we figured that complaining about them is not going to accomplish much, but YouTube took that silence as approval and have seemingly increased the number of ads before videos. The ads have gotten so aggressive that I will repeat a video and the ad will appear again, and so much so that I would rather not watch the video than sit through a 15- to 30-second ad. An increase in ads also means the increase of 30-second ads, which are the bane of my existence. Though the hate against YouTube ads is a prime example of Generation Y’s lack of patience, I do not care. YouTube ads will forever have hatred associated with them. No thanks YouTube, I did not ask for more.
Cell phones are something we use daily for work or to stay connected to all of the people you want to stay in contact with. Therefore, you want a working phone by your side at almost all times. When living abroad it is quite high up on one’s list of necessities, somewhere between having a bed and toilet paper. It should be a pretty straightforward process. After all, what can go wrong with going to the provider booth and requesting to be their customer? I mean, isn’t that the dream of every carrier, to have someone come and want to pay for their services? Well, apparently not, and to answer the previous question, what can go wrong? Everything. First, the guy behind the counter doesn’t really understand that you don’t want a new phone device, just a new SIM card. Then when you finally settle the matter by putting the box with the new phone (maybe a bit too forcefully) back on the shelf, your own phone can’t recognize the Canadian SIM card. With an explanation consisting of I and don’t and know, you set off to get a similar scenario in most of the other provider shops, only to meekly return to the first guy and buy the phone you so vehemently declined three hours prior. Next time I am opting for buying a box of pigeons.
Don’t trip - don’t spit. Martin Castro
Too cool to have time? Martin Ranninger
So it’s Thursday and my class let out some five minutes ago. It’s late in the evening, around 6 p.m. I put all my books in my bag and try not to freak out at the fact that there are still a lot of things I have to read and write and try to learn, and they probably won’t all get read or written or learned. It’s all pretty overwhelming, but at least I find some measure of comfort in my own anxiety. If anything it’s familiar. So anyway, I’m walking down the path there between the SUB and A building, and a student is walking towards me. Fairly straightforward stuff. But then he spits on the ground, which is horrible. There aren’t many habits more offputting than spitting. It seems as if the spirit of the university agreed with me, because the spitter trips seemingly on his own spit. He doesn’t fall, it’s not a huge trip, which makes sense because he didn’t spit much. But I’m glad nature looks after itself in these snarky, passiveaggressive ways. Don’t trip, my dudes. Don’t spit.
Projects, deadlines, meetings — it’s easy to get caught up in this fast-paced world. Distractions are around every corner, just a touch away on our 24 / 7 online screens. Even from my peers, university students, I often get the response “I don’t have time,” a line that more and more people use as if it shows how busy (which certainly doesn’t mean how productive) they are. I want to read more. I want to spend time in nature more. I want to exercise more. Sound familiar? These might be the activities that you miss. Remember when procrastination became a buzzword? How many articles on how to stop procrastinating have you read? Or wanted to read. When we hear people say they don’t have time the general assumption is they must be really busy, right? It became the norm, and that’s the scary part for me. When did we accept the notion that we don’t have time because of our never-ending errands and assignments? Is that workaholism? Have we lost a sense of time and how we spend it or do we simply spend it on activities that we know have little value to us? Don’t waste valuable minutes on your Facebook feed. Don’t refresh and go even further. Disconnect. Just set up short-term priorities and goals, such as “I will read every week for three hours,” and stick to them. Learn how to be mindful about how you spend your time, and enjoy it more.
Illustrations: Amara Gelaude
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
www.ufvcascade.ca
OPINION CULTURE & EVENTS
Upcoming Events Your rundown of everything happening at UFV and in the surrounding community
NOV. 2
NOV. 7
NOV. 16
NOV. 24
@ CEP Gathering Place 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
@ CEP Library 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
@ Chilliwack Campus 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
@ UFV Five Corners 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Current Palestinian Realities talk
Multicultural Performances and displays
Documentary screening: The Iron Wall
UFV Theatre: 7 Stories (opening night)
@ Abbotsford Campus - SUB 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
@ Abbotsford Campus - B121 3:00 PM
@ UFV Performance Theatre 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Food Bank Skate
The Great Canadian Tire Money Caper
NOV. 25
Métis Day Event
@ Abbotsford Campus - B121 3:00 PM
Present-Day Newcomers Fleeing War Torn Regions @ Abbotsford Campus - B101 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
NOV. 3
New Student Orientation @ Abbotsford Campus - SUB 4:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Normandy and Flanders @ Chilliwack FVRL 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
NOV. 4
Artist Meet & Greet: Animal Parade - Jeanette Heathman
Maui Monday
@ Twin Rinks Chilliwack 3:15 PM - 4:45 PM
NOV. 8
Remembering Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack
@ Chilliwack FVRL 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Long Night Against Procrastination
@ Clarke Theatre (Mission) 7:00 PM
Feeding 9 Billion Challenge presentations @ Abbotsford Campus - SUB 12:00 PM
Book Talk with Author George Garrett @ Clearbrook Library 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Play: A Full House @ Chilliwack Cultural Centre 7:30 PM
@ Maan Farms (Abbotsford) 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Mariana’s Trench
NOV. 6
@ Abbotsford Campus - library 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
@ UFV Performance Theatre 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
The Great Canadian Tire Money Caper
Terri Clark Solo Acoustic Tour
@ Abbotsford Campus - SUB 12:00 PM
UFV Theatre: 7 Stories
Carl Peters Considers What is Creative Writing?
NOV. 26
@ Abbotsford Campus - Global Lounge 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
@ The Reach (Abbotsford) 6:30 PM
Feeding 9 Billion Challenge begins
NOV. 17
@ Abbotsford Campus - U-House 1:15 PM - 2:45 PM
Girls Night
@ Clarke Theatre (Mission) 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
@ Historic Downtown Abbotsford 3:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Sichuan Photo Show
@ Abbotsford Campus - the Canoe 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Mission Arts Council Christmas Craft Market
Christmas Tree Lighting
Scholarly Sharing: Food, Farmland and Seasonal Workers in Agriburbia
American Election Party
NOV. 5
@ Chilliwack Cultural Centre 7:30 PM
UFV Health and Wellness Fair
@ Abbotsford Campus - G building 5:00 PM - 11:30 PM
@ Chilliwack Community Arts Council 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
@ Abbotsford Centre 7:30 PM - 12:00 AM
Kin Day
NOV. 10
Dodgeball Tournament @ Abbotsford Campus - gym 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Aftermath of the Election @ Abbotsford Campus - Great Hall 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Film screening: Trick or Treaty @ Abbotsford Campus - SUB 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Let’s Talk Credit @ Sardis Library 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
NOV. 11
Remembrance Day - UFV closed
@ Chilliwack Cultural Centre 7:30 PM
@ Clarke Theatre (Mission) 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
@ Abbotsford Campus - SUB 9:00 AM - Nov 19 10:00 AM
UFV Theatre: 7 Stories
Child’s Play Fundraiser marathon
Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant @ Abbotsford Centre 7:00 PM - 12:00 AM
Chilliwack Christmas Craft Market
@ UFV Performance Theatre 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Play: A Full House @ Chilliwack Cultural Centre 7:30 PM
@ Chilliwack Community Arts Council All weekend
NOV. 27
West Coast Christmas Show
@ Maan Farms (Abbotsford) 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
@ Tradex (Abbotsford) All weekend
NOV. 22
Strengthening our Commitments to Reconciliation @ Abbotsford Campus - B101 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
NOV. 12
@ Clarke Theatre (Mission) 7:00 PM
NOV. 23
Jimmy D Lane & the LazerKatz
@ Abbotsford Centre 7:30 PM - 12:00 AM
@ Eagles Hall (Abbotsford) 7:00 PM - 11:30 PM
Coffee House Concert Series: Michael Averill
NOV. 18
You and Your Money: Financial Advice for Young Adults @ Clearbrook Library 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Lennon: Through a Glass Onion
Country Christmas Market
Country Christmas Market
UFV Theatre: 7 Stories @ UFV Performance Theatre 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
NOV. 29
Abbotsford Education and Career Fair @ Tradex (Abbotsford) 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Hosting an event you’d like to see here? Email jeff@ufvcascade.ca with the details!
Celtic Thunder
9
How the fear of femininity affects us all WRITTEN BY BRADLEY PETERS RESEARCH BY TREVOR JOHNSON LAYOUT BY BRITTANY CARDINAL
“As a girl growing up, I was allowed to play with trucks or dress like a boy. I certainly had a lot more freedom than my brother in what I was allowed to like,” said Jaleen Mackay, the president of UFV’s advocacy for men and boys club. “My brother just wanted to try wearing makeup, but my dad was so vehemently against it.”` Male gender role stereotyping, a past nonissue in lieu of the massive uphill battle for feminine equality, has slowly been creeping its way into social consciousness. Dinner tables and cafes are now fair game for discussions of masculinity, male femininity, and what it means to be a man in the 21st century. UFV recently hosted Teaching a New Masculinity, a presentation about the necessity for a deeper emotional intelligence within the male culture. This is where I met Jaleen Mackay. “I think the expectations of masculinity are to be gruff and tough, the pillar in every situation, but that’s counter productive,” Jaleen said, handing me a mug of ginger tea. It was the day after the event, in the Student Life lounge where Jaleen had agreed to speak with me about masculine gender role issues. “I think some men don’t feel like they have the complete freedom to be who they are.” This narrowing of men’s sense of emotional freedom can result in something known as Male Gender Role Stress (MGRS). “MGRS is the experience of emotional distress as a result of not adhering to or violating traditional masculine gender norms,”
writes Amy Baugher, author of Masculine gender role stress and violence: A literature review and future directions. In her paper, Baugher quantifies exactly what the expectations are within a masculine gender role: “Masculine gender role beliefs are theoretically rooted in three distinct norms: status, the belief that men must gain the respect of others; toughness, the belief that men are inclined to be aggressive; and anti-femininity, the belief that men should not engage in stereotypically feminine activities.” These symptoms of toughness, aggression, and anti-femininity can result in the victimization of the carriers of feminine traits, traits that men have been conditioned to resent. “MGRS has been linked to violence against women and gay men,” writes Baugher. “MGRS is used to control people perceived by the perpetrator as feminine.” Male violence against women in North America has become an epidemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that one in three women experience physical and / or sexual abuse, and 30 per cent of women who have been in a relationship have experienced physical and / or sexual abuse by their intimate partner. In our interview, Jaleen states, “There are a lot of specific issues that need to be tackled with men before we can address certain egalitarian issues.” Certainly, abuse against women and sexual minorities would be an example of one these issues.
Physical abuse and violence is intrinsically connected with MGRS. Stephani Granato, author of Masculine Gender Norm Adherence: Potential Pathways to Higher Rates of Male Suicide, writes that an adherence to masculine gender role norms correlates with many problematic behaviours and adverse outcomes, from alcohol and drug abuse to heart disease, depression, anti-help-seeking attitudes, risk taking, and aggression. “When men and boys’ masculine behaviours are reinforced, and feminine behaviours are punished, they are often done so in contexts that expose them to pain, humiliation, and provocation,” writes Granato. This culture of violence has far reachåphysically abused, and one in six boys are sexually abused; children who have been abused or neglected are nine times more likely to be involved in crime, claims the World Health Organization (WHO). According to WHO, boys are four times more likely than girls to be expelled from school; 97 per cent of all prisoners are male; 90 per cent of homicide perpetrators are male; 94 per cent of mass homicides are by boys, and in the United States of America a boy commits one school shooting per week. Jaleen’s sentiment, that stereotypical masculinity harbours unhealthy expectations, has a surplus of research to back it up, but more meaningful than research is her own personal experience. Jaleen witnessed gender stereotyping in her upbringing; her father
Don’t be a sissy.
MAN UP.
harboured an intense “fear of femininity” with regards to her brother. “Growing up, my brother had a strict limitation to the things he was allowed to do. He wasn’t allowed to play with my dolls or anything feminine,” she said. “My brother just wanted to try wearing makeup. I didn’t see anything wrong with that, even if he were gay, or trans, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But my dad, he was so vehemently against it.” This stifling of men’s femininity results in what Daniel Coleman refers to as “cognitive rigidity,” and when something rigid is pressed into unfamiliar territory, it can break. Daniel Coleman is the author of an academic article titled The Social Nature of Male Suicide, and has some powerful statistics that show expectations of hyper-masculinity not only as unhealthy, but also as emotionally retarding and even deadly. “There is an emphasis on constricted emotion, anger, and impulsivity within the male gender role,” says Coleman. “The traditional male gender role creates a culturallyconditioned narrowing of perceived options when under stress that increases male suicide risk.” In British Columbia, suicide is the third leading cause of death for men aged 15 to 45. In North America, 80 per cent of suicide victims are male; 40,000 men in the U.S. commit suicide
act like a man
each year. Some men become emotionally tormented when they are unable to adhere to the stifling expectations of masculinity. When pushed to the extreme, this MGRS results in suicide, and it is especially prevalent for homosexual and bisexual men. “Boys are first taught to hide their emotions between the ages of three to five through a ‘boy code’ that rewards toughness, and relies on shame to enforce a prohibition against emotional expression or vulnerability, a condition referred to as ‘gender straightjacketing,’” writes Coleman.
DON’T CRY
The implications of these gender role expectations reach all the way to our quaint university nestled in the Valley. At UFV, The Cascade recently conducted a survey to record the level of comfort students feel showing certain emotions. Results indicate that the most suppressed emotion amongst men is fear: 44 per cent male to 18 per cent female. Sadness was the most suppressed emotion for women, and second most suppressed for men: 48 per cent and 39 per cent respectively. Nearly 50 per cent of men felt uncomfortable crying in front of friends, but contrarily, men were overwhelmingly neutral or comfortable with regards to angrily yelling in front of friends: nearly 65 per cent. These stats show that even in a Canadian university, among a generation of youth that are supposed to be breaking down the divisive walls of gender stereotypes, a deeply imbedded culture of hypermasculinity is difficult to discard. Near the end of our interview, I asked Jaleen whether she had any last comments. “There is a stigma about women fighting for men’s rights, that we are against feminism,” she said. “But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I believe in equality for both sexes, and to move forward with women’s issues we really need to move forward with both men’s and women’s issues as a whole.”
“I think the expectations of masculinity are to be gruff and tough, the pillar in every situation, but that’s counter productive.” This gender straightjacketing has deadly consequences. Dr. Niobe Way is quoted on the social documentary The Mask You Live In, stating that “at exactly the age we begin to notice the emotional language drop from boys’ vocabulary, that is the precise moment we see boys’ suicide rate spike to seven times that of girls.” The effects of male gender role stereotyping are far reaching, impacting boys and men, women, children, and people of all genders.
Gender 50.0% Male
Female
40.0%
Percent
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
None
Happiness Sadness
Anger
Emotion respondents described as hiding the most
Fear
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
www.ufvcascade.ca
CULTURE & EVENTS v FASHION COLUMN
Black is the new black RACHEL TAIT
CONTRIBUTOR
Black is always in style no matter the year, season, or time of day. Just ask Lia Bänziger, who exemplifies how sophisticated one can look wearing black this season. Both classic and elegant, as well as slimming and easy to maintain, many students at UFV find the colour both practical and alluring. Lia, an international student who grew up in Switzerland and is working on a bachelor of general studies, describes her style as classic, loving elegantly simple lines and designs, but some days she just wears pajamas doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. In addition, she enjoys wearing Converse shoes on a regular basis. Lia favours black clothes because of how well they contrast with her blonde hair, and as she explained, “you can’t go wrong” with the shade. When asked if her style ever had gone wrong, she laughed before admitting that she used to always wear skater shoes when she was younger. Comparing fashion in Canada and Switzerland, Lia observantly noted that Canadian fashion tends
to be more relaxed and casual, joking that you could never wear your pajamas to university back in Switzerland. When she goes clothes shopping, Lia likes to act on impulse, not planning to look for specific items. She also admits that she likes online shopping even though she doesn’t do it a lot, explaining it’s an easy way to shop without having to try clothes on. Lia loves collecting special souvenirs, whether a piece of clothing or a unique object that will remind her of her travels. When asked if she had any fashion advice, she suggested dressing true to yourself and your personality, especially if it’s for a first impression. Wearing head-to-toe black, Lia accessorized her outfit with a unique necklace, an item she found at the Kariton Art Gallery near Mill Lake. Working there on a practicum for the Abbotsford Arts Council, she came across the beautiful piece and fell in love with it. “It’s fused glass art made by a local artist from Abbotsford,” she said. “It will always remind me of my time in Abbotsford, and working for the Abbotsford Arts Council.”
Photo: Martin Ranninger
Scaring away midterm stress UFV students get in the Halloween spirit with on campus events JENNIFER TRITHARD-TUFTS THE CASCADE / PHOTOS
Despite the gloomy weather this Halloween weekend, UFV students still found a way to make the best of the holiday with events hosted by En Route and UFV International. On Sunday night, En Route, a new student club that connects international and domestic students through travel tours, held a hybrid Halloween-Diwali event at U-House. All attendees were greeted by an enthusiastic welcoming committee at the front door, then guided into a room with Indian samosas and sweets. At the back of the room there was a table covered in plastic and topped with watermelons, cantaloupes, honeydew melons, pineapples, and a pumpkin. After an intense game of musical chairs to determine who got to carve which fruit, the participants were paired off and given butter knives to up the challenge. Preet Sahota, the club’s president, chose to expand the fruit choices as an effort to be more inclusive of people’s preferences. If someone doesn’t like pumpkins she wanted them to still participate in the event, and this way they can choose what they like. Once the fruit carvings were completed and judged the participants carpooled to Fright Nights in Vancouver.
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There’s always something exciting going on in the UFV International lounge and Monday afternoon was no exception. The clamour of Halloween-themed music and student laughter filled the lounge. Students and staff were dressed up and enjoying cookie decorating, face painting, pizza, and even dance-themed video games. Every term UFV International hires five students to work on engaging international students and facilitating comradery between international and domestic students. This year’s Halloween events were put on mostly by Sherlock Chen, a third-year visual arts student originally from China. “He designed five different [posters] and came up with the whole idea to have a Halloween selfie competition,” explained Chelsey Laird, the international education department’s coordinator of global engagement programming. The competition officially ended at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, and a total of 27 students participated by taking a selfie with the intricately designed posters around UFV’s campus and posting the picture to UFV International’s Facebook page. The winners were chosen by the amount of likes each photo received, and Thanh Ma and Ashmeet Kaur took home the grand prize with 198 likes. Runners up were Uchral Letestu and
Maryam Momtahen with 189 likes. This was Chen’s first job in Canada and he has been at it for roughly two years now. Sherlock thought the selfie challenge idea would get lots of people around campus engaged and also encourage international students to walk around the university and get acquainted with it. “Everyone loves taking selfies,” Chen said. Although it is always nice to have an event
that is packed full of people, Chen was more concerned that students at the event enjoyed themselves. “We don’t have very mature campus culture,” he said. “We are doing what we can with what we have, and hopefully we can change students’ minds about the experience and what they can get from UFV. We are proud of what we have but we should keep moving forward.”
www.ufvcascade.ca
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
CULTURE & EVENTS
Diwali celebration lights up Clarke Theatre On the evening of October 26, the Clarke Theatre in Mission hosted the annual Diwail: Celebration of Light community event. Supported by UFV’s Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies, the festival was open to people of all cultures and included a multicultural bazaar. The free event began with a buffet dinner, followed by a variety of performances from diverse cultures, including the UFV Bhangra team.
Photo: Robyn Bessenger
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
www.ufvcascade.ca
CULTURE & EVENTS v CREATIVE WRITING
Away with the Moon TANYA VANPRASEUTH
THE CASCADE
Far away Where flowers lay Where the sun shines And water streams Go silent at night The stars gaze down While you lie on the clouds Staring at a sky That never ends The birds soar by You are not afraid The lights that shine Will never go away From a world full of suffering A life filled with sorrow Suddenly, You are gone away tomorrow Sadness fills our hearts Grieving a life taken too soon But as the sun rises at dawn You’ll be gone away with the moon Your days were filled with sorrow The suffering would never end After a long journey, Heaven is where you rest Now the sun is always shining The sky looks bright and blue You are now at peace The angels sing to you. For my uncle, David Chan.
UFV alumnus weighs in on Palestine The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in the spotlight at UFV with a series of presentations. HARVIN BHATHAL
CONTRIBUTOR
In the first screening of a film and education series, UFV was host to Occupation 101 on October 19. The documentary, directed by Abdallah and Sufyan Omeish showcases the root causes of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict in a historical and political sense. Through leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalist, religious leaders, and humanitarian workers, the film details Palestinian life under a military rule that is aided by the United States government. Throughout the documentary, Zionism is established as the root cause for the conflict. In relation to Judaism, Zionism as an ideology is a modern construct of the Jewish religion. The central idea and basis of the ideology is the return of the Jewish people to their homeland of Israel. However, considering it is a construct, Zionism has come to include the development of Israel and the “protection” of the Jewish people through military force. The historic timeline of Zionism documented in Occupation 101 begins in the 1930s, when, after mass immigration due to worldwide anti-Semitism, the Jewish population doubled in the region. After the Holocaust, world opinion swayed in the favour of the Jews. The United Nations supported their national movement to the region then known as Palestine to establish the State of Israel with the UN partition plan that stated the Jews get 57 per cent of the state while the Palestinians get 43 per cent. The Holocaust enabled the Jews to establish a homeland that was already populated by another group of people for centuries, as their own. Anyone that opposed them would immediately get the label of being anti-Semitic, and after the mass genocide, being known as anti-Semitic was less than ideal. As a result, Palestinians have been under military rule for decades, treated as second-class human beings. The documentary explains children have faced the most resonant effects, showing them saying that they don’t want to go anywhere, even school, without their parents. There was an example of a child who tried to commit suicide but was stopped by her mother. Imagine, as a mother, seeing your eight-year-old trying to hang themselves because they do not think the life inhabitants of the West Bank are subject to is worth living. Everything that the Israelis have done to the Palestinians has not
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been without the support of the United States government, who aid them with $2 billion to $3 billion a year. As Israel’s largest and loudest supporters, the United States spends $10,775 per person in the state compared to only $59 per person in Mexico, Africa, and South America. Israel has been in violation of international laws, and their expanding settlements are against the Fourth Geneva Convention, yet the United States is among a few countries (including Canada) that have vetoed their infractions 40 times now. Elie Wiesel said it best: “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” Although it must be mentioned that Wiesel himself was supportive of Israel, his words are nevertheless powerful. Although not featured in the documentary as much, the support from the Canadian government may not make sense on the surface, considering the progressiveness of the Liberals, but ultimately does when accounting for Canada’s alliance with the United States. Canada supporting the Israelis in a conflict that Jeff Halper, a political activist who has been living in Israel since 1973, claims is worse than the apartheid in South Africa, feels wrong. The media in Canada and the United States portray the Israelis as a people simply wanting peace from hostile Arabs, but the fact of the matter is, they are the fifth largest nuclear superpower in the world. The screening of Occupation 101 was just one of the events that UFV’s political science department has planned, as on November 2 at 3:00 p.m. Colter Louwerse is holding a talk and discussion about current Palestinian realities in room B101 on the Abbotsford campus. In the same room, there will be the screening of the second documentary in the film and education series, The Iron Wall, on November 16 at 3:00 p.m. Philip Sherwood is a UFV alumnus who graduated in 2003 with a BA in adult education. Having travelled throughout the West Bank, Sherwood sat down with The Cascade to talk about his personal experiences and the conflict as a whole. What was the root cause for your interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? The introduction was [that] I travelled in Europe and I met many
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CULTURE & EVENTS
“The abandoned Palestinian village of Lifta. Its inhabitants were forcibly expelled by the Israeli army in 1948. Over the course of the next year or so Israeli forces ethnically cleansed approximately 750,000 Palestinians from their homes within what is now Israel. Today those Palestinians and their descendants number over 5 million and live in squalid conditions inside U.N administered refugee camps. At the top of the hill, the Israeli settlement looms over the abandoned town.” Colter Louwerse/photo credit.
Palestinians there. European people, who tend to be closer to events, are more politically conscious than [Canadians]. I realized that if I was really interested in this, I should really find out, otherwise I’m just sitting at home in Canada spouting off uninformed opinions. I went for 16 days in March of 2012 and travelled independently. Staying with Palestinian families and going to places like Hebron, seeing and meeting people changed me. They say it happens to a lot of people. Occupation 101 made it clear that Zionism is the root cause for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Could you elaborate and give your personal opinion on the ideology? Zionism, in my view, is a secular political ideology. It advocates that assimilation is impossible and that Jews need a homeland because they’re never going to be safe and accepted and be able to flourish in a non-Jewish society. The idea was fine, about having a homeland, that they deserve [one], and that they’re a people, a nationality. Where it became a problem was when the [Jews] decided that they wanted this homeland in their historic land, which was populated by the indigenous people. To have a Jewish homeland, you have to have a significant, overwhelming majority, so, what are you going to do about the [Palestinians]? Zionism is a colonial settler enterprise; it’s westerners and people from outside the region who have come in and said, “We want the land and we want to dispossess the people who are there.” In witnessing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict first-hand, what do you think you have gained as a person? I think I’ve gained an appreciation of human rights because we live in Canada and I’ve visited places where human rights are not respected. But I’ve always seen it from my position of white privilege, where [being] white gets me a pass in the area and I can leave anytime I want. We have these rights in Canada and we take them for granted. Also, an appreciation of how important human rights are, and when you see them flouted and ignored as I saw in Palestine, you see how horrible it is. I hate the duplicity as well, the double standard that Israel is a liberal democracy, yet you go
there and it’s not. It’s great if you’re Jewish but if you’re not, it’s very racist. Out of all of your experiences in Palestine, what would you consider to be your favourite? I went to Hebron on a day tour, social justice tours run by progressive Israelis in Palestinian partnership. [Hebron] is a flashpoint, the brutality of the occupation comes into focus there. We met an activist who lived in this H2 area and he took us to his cottage, and we had falafel sandwiches and talked. He lived right beside a settlement. During the talk, he said “Give us our rights and we’ll negotiate,” and that really resonated with me. In the West, we are saying that if the Palestinians jump through all of these hoops, then we’ll give them human rights. It really stuck with me. It’s like Nelson Mandela said, “The jailer and the prisoner cannot negotiate, only free men can negotiate.” How can [Palestinians] negotiate? They have to be given their rights and equality, and then negotiate. I spent an afternoon at Birzeit University, in the middle of Palestine, the West Bank. I just wanted to go to there. I was staying in a guest house in the village next door and ended up with these three university girls. One of them was assigned to show me around. One of the girls said that I had seen more of [her] country than she has. She invited me back to her mother’s house and she told me their stories. You don’t plan these things. I work as a personal historian; I help people write their memories. I was listening to her talk and someone who is 50 years old in [Palestine] has seen so much [more] than a 50-year-old here would have lived through. They’ve all got stories, and they’ve all suffered horribly. A lot of them have a great dignity and I marvel at them. The personal experiences are the ones that remain me with me, not necessarily all of the facts and figures. Those personal encounters stay with you. They are essentially the face of why we speak out and advocate, [we’re] doing it for people like them. Is there an aspect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that you think hasn’t been touched upon enough?
The complicity of the Canadian government. The American government and their involvement with the Israeli government is well documented, they give billions of dollars every year. Politicians fall over themselves on who can grovel the most. The complicity of our politicians is a story that I think needs to be highlighted. They’re progressive [but] why are they quiet? There’s an expression that we say that people are “progressive except Palestine” — P.E.P. For example, Stephen Harper was a neo-conservative but Trudeau is more deceptive in the sense that he presents himself being somewhat progressive and yet on this he’s not, and the same with Mulcair, who is supposed to be committed to social justice. What advice would you give to a person interested in the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, wanting to travel to Palestine for the first time? Go! Travel independently. Don’t go on a holy land tour. You could do all of that and miss it all; you’re just living in another world. For example, Bethlehem is in the West Bank, it’s where Jesus was born. Israeli tour buses will just zip through the checkpoints; they go right through without any hassles. They’ll drop you in a major square, which is right beside a church. You’ll take a tour of the church where Jesus was supposedly born, you buy a few souvenirs, and you get back on the bus. You don’t even know or have contact with Palestinian Christians. My advice would be to go and travel independent, and stay with Palestinian families. There’s one agency that is very good for that (Green Olive Tours), and they’re just day tours. They deserve an awful lot of credit. It’s safe. It’s not like here, but it’s safer than a lot of cities in America. There’s not random violence. The other visitors in the West Bank are from all around the world and they are fascinating. You meet all sorts of really interesting people and you meet those who are committed, who are working there as volunteers. It makes you want to up your game big time. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
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ARTS IN REVIEW TV REVIEW
Colleen Ballinger, I love you. Haters Back Off!, not so much.
Shuffle AARON LEVY STATION MANAGER
CIVL station manager Aaron Levy is two days late with Halloween tidings. Guess what he's really wishing he were shuffling about? (A Cubs world series victory.)
Bobby Pickett “Monster Mash” If you've ever been to a good bash, you know what kind of fun can be had with just the right kind of splash, and that if you don't get in on the fun, you're going to miss out on the smash! Then in the morning, try some hash (browns). Tracy Jordan (Morgan) “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah” A return to the shuffle for one of the most ebullient and cautionary novelty recordings in the history of television, this tale tells of the raucous and dangerous nature laden in having or attending a bar mitzvah for or as a werewolf. Also see: What We Do In The Shadows. Rocky Horror Picture Show “Science Fiction Double Feature” I wanna go, but I haven't personally seen much action on the Rocky Horror Halloween tip this year; has the rejuvenation of this cult classic in star-studdedremake form lessened the drive of today's youth to go out and relive the 20th century bible of freaky? Maybe, maybe not. Queen “Killer Queen” A song, written without second thought to self-referential aggrandizing, Freddie Mercury is anything but a killer; he's saved countless lives with uplifting messages of acceptance, from big bottoms and the tendency of those who have them to make the rocking world go round, to champions, and even dust biters.
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CHARTS 1
Preoccupations Preoccupations
2
A Tribe Called Red We Are the Halluci Nation
3 4 5
Sad13 Slugger Majid Jordan Majid Jordan Blessed Blessed
6
Kishi Bashi Sonderlust
7
Jay Arner Jay II
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Against Me! Shape Shift With Me
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La Sera Music For Listening To Music To
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Hot Panda Bad Pop
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Eleanore Eleanore
CONTRIBUTOR
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Cheap High Picture Disk
Based off of Colleen Ballinger’s YouTube character Miranda Sings, a flamboyant personality with peculiar pronunciation, copious amounts of lipstick, and an unusual yet admirable belief in herself, Haters Back Off! is Netflix’s first venture into the world of YouTube. In the span of eight episodes, the show takes viewers through a whirlwind of emotions that swirl back and forth rather than continuously in one direction. Despite the cartoonish tendencies, Ballinger shows the underlying theme of wanting to be accepted wonderfully through her combined portrayal and acting of her own character. The show’s character work, as a whole, is its strongest backbone. Besides Ballinger as Miranda, the show also featured Angela Kinsey as her mother Bethany, Francesca Reale as her sister Emily, Erik Stocklin as her best friend Patrick (who is not so secretly in love with her), and Steve Little as her uncle Jim. Bethany’s defining characteristics are her wrist brace for her “undiagnosed fibromyalgia,” which speaks to the person she is, her blind support of Miranda, and her Amish-esque clothing. Though her blind support of her daughter is a turnoff, it is nowhere near as bad as the support from Uncle Jim, who is Miranda’s manager. His relationship with his niece is at times perverted and generally uncomfortable to watch, which is merely one example of the show’s uncomfortable tendency to use sexual humour. If done right, sexual humour can add a great element to a show but Haters Back Off! does so in a way which makes it cringe worthy and even difficult to watch. However, the show has moments of goofiness that are undeniably funny, such as when the choir director Keith
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Phantogram Three Red Velvert Russian Roulette
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FT Island Where's The Truth
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Elephant Stone Little Ship Of Fools
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Harpdog Brown Travelin' With The Blues
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Sunday Wilde Blueberries and Grits
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Al Lerman Slow Burn
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Ghost Popestar
HARVIN BHATHAL
asks Miranda if she’s an alto or soprano and she replies, “I’m an American.” The best humour is built upon the general cluelessness of Miranda. The most enjoyable people to watch are Emily and Patrick, as the two become the show’s primary source of humanity. Miranda’s sister is shown to be the only “normal” character, or the only voice of reason. As the show progresses, the viewer gains a sense of sympathy for Emily for being victim to the unintentional actions of Miranda. Reale has an excellent portrayal of the prototypical teenager who is embarrassed of her family yet loves them at the end of the day. What the show hits to a T is the awkward teenage “romance” of Patrick and Miranda. Patrick is the shy geek in love with the girl of his dreams, who herself is awkward. Combined, it creates a pleasant mess. In a show with glaring negatives, “Mirandick” makes up for some of them. Besides their budding romance, the greatest positive of Haters Back Off! is a relatability to Miranda in the sense that we all live in a world where we just want to be accepted, whether it’s by random people, or the people we love and care for. Despite having actions that vex those around her, and the viewer, Miranda is just another person trying to find their place in the world and that in and of itself is admirable. However, the build up of the show is frustrating at times and though the ending makes up for it, it may not be worth watching seven 30-minute episodes to get to the eighth. Ultimately, people who know of Miranda Sings prior to watching will have a higher chance of liking the show, while people who do not will have a harder time adjusting and understanding Miranda’s humour. I definitely recommend watching it but I do not blame the people who stop after the first episode. It is not for everyone, that is for sure.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
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ARTS IN REVIEW MOVIE REVIEW
Like a Postlapsarian Satan, Inferno is still relevant, just not heavenly
KLARA CHMELAROVA CONTRIBUTOR
“The only way humanity can heal is through pain.” When professor and famous symbologist Robert Langdon wakes up in a bland hospital room with no recollection of where he is or how he got there, he must rely on the help of a young doctor, Sienna Brooks, in order to find out why he’s confined to a Florence hospital with a head wound. While his last memory is reading a book outside Harvard University, his mind is filled by terrible visions of suffering, war, and death. He soon discovers that his reason for visiting Florence was much more sinister than admiring the Santa Maria del Fiore. Trying to connect real life danger to the first volume of Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy: Inferno, the unveiling enigma takes viewers on a journey full of twists and well-hidden secrets. On a positive note, the movie adaptation of Dan Brown’s book is definitely one of the better creations you can watch this fall, especially the first half of the movie which sticks to the mysterious atmosphere of solving a puzzle hidden in history. It is this unique symbiosis, fusing something as modern as biochemical warfare with literary and artistic creations of the High Renaissance without allowing it to devolve into a huge ball of chaos, that works best in the movie, along with presenting a bizarre understanding of how to save humanity.
The script leaves a lot of space for afterthought, and when the movie prods you to think about it after the credits roll out, it speaks volumes. However, even Inferno was unable to dodge one big, unfortunate mistake. In cinematography you can’t build story and characters simultaneously; you either build the story on characters or build characters on the story. There is not enough space to develop both in same depth and detail. Inferno, as many other films based on books, tries to do both. And although it is not as forced as it could have been, it distorts the overall good vibe from the whole experience. Don’t get me wrong, the personas carrying out the script are key aspects of the whole plot, but they are not the centre of it. Inferno is a bigger-picture oriented tale, and as such there is no need to know that the professor has romantic feelings for the FBI agent, etc ... More so attempts like that take away from the natural flow of the story because you know they’re there just to make you feel closer to the character, but it’s unnecessary. You need to bond to the overall idea the story is trying to convey to you, which is done beautifully. Bringing in personal drama is distracting. One last lament would be that although the entire soundtrack is provided by Hans Zimmer, you only get to enjoy his magnificence at the end. With all that said, Inferno still is very much worth watching, just do not expect the grandiose finesse of the Da Vinci Code or Angels and Demons.
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
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ARTS IN REVIEW
S undBites
Two Door Cinema Club
Kings of Leon
Gameshow
Two Door Cinema Club’s Gameshow is the latest in a disheartening series of records that seem intent on taking all the bands that contributed to my interest in indie and alternative music when I was younger and stripping them of all creativity and uniqueness. Tourist History was awesome and it’s ridiculous to think that it came out in 2010. An eclectic mix of bubbly pop and disco and alternative guitar-led riffs all tied together in Tourist History to make a record that to this day I associate with Florida, because that’s where I was when I first heard “I Can Talk,” which wasn’t even a single off the record at the time, just a song I’d found.
Mini album reviews
WALLS In contrast, 2012’s Beacon was a lot more subdued. There was a lot more space between the instrumentals on the record. If anything, it seemed to be a more meditative take on the punchy, straightforward pop of its predecessor, and short of a couple tracks that come off as way too heavy-handed an attempt at melancholy, the record was passable. And now we have Gameshow. Go to an ice-cream shop and wait for a child to drop their ice-cream cone and you will see an accurate approximation of my own reaction upon listening to this record. Oh, no!
There have been great Kings of Leon albums and there have been not so great Kings of Leon albums and WALLS falls somewhere right in the middle. The band’s seventh album was also their first to debut at number one in the U.S., and for anyone that likes Kings of Leon, it’s an emotional roller coaster ride. I’ve been a consistent listener of Kings of Leon since 2008’s Only by the Night first grazed my high-school-aged ears, and from digging back into their earlier 2000s work, to keeping up with their newer stuff, it’s clear that the band’s sound has changed a lot over their career. Kings of Leon got their start as a southern blues / rock band, but you wouldn’t know that from listening to WALLS. The soulfulness that they established in their earlier albums has been traded for more of a
Martin Castro
heavy pop / rock vibe, but with vague traces of their original music weaved throughout. Songs like “Around the World” and “Wild” left me shaking my head, wondering why the band even bothered trying anything new instead of sticking with the familiar. But rock ballads, something that Kings of Leon has always been good at, like “Over” and especially “Conversation Piece,” left me contemplating life with misty eyes and, most of all, confused about how I felt with the whole album. WALLS is the first Kings of Leon album that I’ve truly felt indifferent about. I hated parts of it, loved other parts, and by the end had no idea how I felt about the band anymore. So you might as well give WALLS a chance, even if you feel the need to skip the odd song here and there. Vanessa Broadbent
ALBUM REVIEW
Chanie Wenjack and Gord Downie’s legacy Secret Path addresses the need for reconciliation MITCH HUTTEMA
THE CASCADE
We find ourselves in a lull between the final concert of The Tragically Hip and the inevitable passing of the Canadian icon Gord Downie due to his struggle with terminal brain cancer. There seem to have been many music icons that have passed away in the recent years and several others that seem to be nearing their own respective ends. Leonard Cohen taunts death and God in his recently released You Want It Darker, as he too nears the end of his life. But Gord Downie, rather than face death and stare it in the face as Cohen does, is not done living. Instead, he has authored what may be his final work, an album dedicated to the story of Chanie Wenjack, a First Nations boy who died on October 22, 1966, trying to escape on foot down the railroad tracks from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School. Downie, with this final contribution he has to make, donates it to an issue which is still so raw and unresolved, even in the face of last year’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. His work doesn't staunchly advocate for, or take a political stance on either side. Instead, he brings to light a specific narrative of the suffering of a child within the system. Downie brings his expertise in songwriting and storytelling to Chanie Wenjack's story in how
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this album originally started as a collection of 10 poems and by the end of Downie's process, he's collaborated with other artists to create a graphic novel, an animated movie, and held panel discussions surrounding the content and multimedia release of the album. The album feels truly Canadian, both overtly and covertly. Downie references freedom as a strong theme on this album, a theme that is at face value core to the American identity, yet Canada potentially has more ownership of this value due to the inclusivity and multiculturalism of its society. Even his backing audio pushes a Canadian vibe, the fade out of "Swing Set" is the sounds of Canadian geese flying overhead. Covertly, the tone of the album feels open to the wide spaces between the mountains and forests and plains of Canada; it seeks reparation and peace in content and in character. Downie also manages to catch the essence of being a kid: "And the freezing rain and the ice pellets coat the rail, so I can’t even tightrope it," he writes on the title track "Secret Path" about the train tracks that Chanie died walking down. The album draws chills each time you listen, I’m still not sure if it’s because of the winter vibes of Chanie’s story or if it’s because of the message being relayed. "Haunt them. Haunt them. Haunt them," he repeats in the chorus of the track by the same name. His tactfully executed echoes and bare piano solo on "Secret Path" are
the highlight of the entire album. I'd recommend listening to the album as a whole as each of the tracks work in conjunction with one another. The story isn't a narrative like you'd read in a book, it's told through each of the songs as a collection of poetry. Downie doesn't explicitly state each step, but the journey of Chanie as he runs away is portrayed in snapshots and anecdotes mixed with his thoughts and emotions. Downie uses his trademark matter of fact tone and vocabulary to contribute to the terse and juvenile yet raw perspective of the experience he imagines that Chanie would dealt with. In the context of the passing of Chanie, and Downie's battle with terminal cancer, lines like "I have the rest of my whole life" take on a terrifying layer of meaning. If Radiohead and Arcade Fire ever collaborate, this album probably wouldn't be too far off from what they might create. "Swing Set" is the most Arcade Fire track while "The Only Place To Be" is a little closer to Radiohead. Despite the similarities to other artists, Secret Path holds its own. This album is essential listening if you love Canada, have any interest in the Residential Schools and how that has played a role in Canadian history, or are curious about the legacy that Gord Downie is leaving.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
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ARTS IN REVIEW CONCERT REVIEW
Young the Giant lights up Vancouver
TANYA VANPRASEUTH THE CASCADE/PHOTOS
Young the Giant took the stage at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom on Thursday and Friday last week, and the show wasn’t one to miss. The American alternative / indie rock band is on the West Coast leg of a touring circuit in support of their third album Home of the Strange, which debuted this past August. The band performed two concerts at the Commodore Ballroom and the choice of venue was a wise one. The Commodore was the right size for the concert and gave the perfect atmosphere for the band. Due to the many upbeat songs that the band had performed, the Commodore’s large dance floor allowed the audience enough space to dance to the the music. In comparison to venues like the Vogue and the Imperial, the Commodore was larger but also had a more organized layout. With the stage situated in the middle, bars on both sides of the room, and tables at the side, the venue proved to be
a great place to host concerts. American indie rock band Ra Ra Riot is the opening act for the tour and the band’s performance was energetic and generated excitement from the audience. Many people cheered loudly for Ra Ra Riot and recognized many of their songs. The band had a great stage presence and interacted well with the crowd, and their style of music sounded similar to some of Young the Giant’s songs, making them a great addition to the tour as they generated excitement for Young the Giant’s arrival. Young the Giant began their set with “Jungle Youth,” one of the songs from Home of the Strange. The band’s entrance was nothing short of exciting, with their music blasting through the venue and a large array of stage lights. The band’s energy was visible throughout the whole concert, adding more enthusiasm to each song they sang. The use of stage effects complimented each song well; upbeat songs had a large assortment of colours and lights, and softer songs, such as “Firelight,” had simpler effects. When the band sang “Firelight,” the stage had soft lights, a dark background, and effects making it look
like a night sky filled with stars. Young the Giant never fell short of creating a great atmosphere of music for their fans. Their older songs generated more cheers from the audience. Most notably, songs such as “Cough Syrup,” “Apartment,” and “Mind Over Matter” had caused the most excitement. However, the band’s entire set had the whole audience dancing and jumping in the air and when the band had left the stage, the audience continued to cheer for an encore. The band returned to perform three more songs: “Amerika,” Silvertongue,” and “My Body.” These last three songs got the most enthusiasm from the crowd and were definitely one of the best parts of the night. Young the Giant gave an impressive performance and never once lacked energy throughout the night. The band never missed a beat with their instruments and vocals and sounded just as well as they did on their albums. With the band’s energy, the colourful stage effects, and the atmosphere of the Commodore Ballroom, Young the Giant’s concert left the audience cheering for more.
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ART
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
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OF THE
MONTH Submissions & questions can be sent to jeff@ufvcascade.ca
Submissions are due Friday, November 25th Limit of three submissions per person, per month Submissions must have been created with in the last year
Accepted mediums: painting, drawing, print, photography, digital art, sculpture, 3d work
Include a 50 word bio, 150 word artist statement, and image list with titles, mediums, sizes, and dates of creation
All images must be in CMYK format, 300+ DPI,in Zip file, less than 5 MB total. All files must be in PDF format.
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