The Cascade Vol. 24 No. 12

VOLUME 24 ISSUE 12

APRIL 7 TO MAY 11 2016

Keeping our noses to the grindstone since 1993

HOW UFV LETS DOWN STUDENTS REPORTING SEXUAL ASSAULT 路 PG. 10-12 Editorial 路 PG. 3 Provincial government legislates separate policy 路 PG. 13

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www.ufvcascade.ca

THURSDAY, APRIL7, 2016

CONTENTS

Culture & Events

Arts in Review

Fear and loathing after graduation

Getting dirty at Holi 2K16

Big Ups: In A Million Years

UFV athletics held their annual awards banquet in recognition of a stelar year

of sports.

Alex Rake takes a look ahead at life outside after UFV.

Throwing paints at one another and having a good time doing it.

Martin Castro finds Big Ups latest album humorous, even though it wasn’t meant to be.

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8

15

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News

Opinion

Celebrating athletic achievement at UFV

CONTRIBUTORS

STAFF Editor-in-Chief Michael Scoular michael@ufvcascade.ca

Opinion Editor Alex Rake alex@ufvcascade.ca

Illustrator Sultan Jum sultan@ufvcascade.ca

Managing Editor (interim) Glen Ess glen@ufvcascade.ca

Culture & Events Editor Glen Ess glen@ufvcascade.ca

Webmaster Tanya Vanpraseuth tanya@ufvcascade.ca

Arts in Review Editor Martin Castro martin@ufvcascade.ca

Multimedia Editor Mitch Huttema mitch@ufvcascade.ca

Production Manager Brittany Cardinal brittany@ufvcascade.ca

Staff Writer Sonja Klotz sonjak@ufvcascade.ca

Production Assistant Danielle Collins danielle@ufvcascade.ca

Advertising Rep Kayla Schuurmans kayla@ufvcascade.ca

Business Manager Jennifer Trithardt-Tufts jennifer@ufvcascade.ca Copy Editor Kat Marusiak kat@ufvcascade.ca News Editor Vanessa Broadbent vanessa@ufvcascade.ca

Ekanki Chawla Michael Chutskoff

WWW.UFVCASCADE.CA @UFVCASCADE FACEBOOK.COM/UFVCASCADE INSTAGRAM.COM/THE.CASCADE

Joel Robertson-Taylor Pankaj Sharma Terrill Smith

Volume 24 · Issue 12 Room S2111 33844 King Road Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 604.854.4529 Cover Design: Sultan Jum

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.

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.

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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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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

EDITORIAL

NEWS BRIEFS

EDITORIAL

We care because you care With reports of sexual assault, UFV will have to respond in a new way — but how?

Senate to review changes to Bachelor of Arts degree ABBOTSFORD — UFV Senate will be reviewing a significant item for approval at its next meeting: new requirements for Bachelor of Arts students. The proposed changes, recommended by the Academic Planning and Priorities Committee, include a mandatory second language, requiring students to complete scientific literacy and quantitative literacy earlier in their degree, and the completion of an ePortfolio through Blackboard, with sequential requires for each year of the four-year degree. Should the changes be approved, they will be implemented in the Fall 2017 semester.

Chilliwack North demolition continues CHILLIWACK — As crews take apart the old

Illustration: Sultan Jum

MICHAEL SCOULAR

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

campus in Chilliwack on Yale Road (building A is the most recent), students in the theatre department are watching with interest what happens to the potential incoming construction, which would construct a new residential housing project called Midtown.

Craig Toews, the executive director of campus planning, says that, in the potential sale of the property to the group that would construct Midtown, UFV is considering the proximity to the still-existing theatre building and how it would be impacted by the changes.

“UFV [would] retain some of the sidewalk and landscaping as a buffer between the two properties,” he writes in an email.

“It’s not a done deal,” says David Blain, the director of planning and engineering for the City of Chilliwack. “Any work you do, we tell UFV, we tell everybody, is at your risk — rezoning is not guaranteed, it’s up to council.”

Blain refers to the rezoning proposal, required for construction on Midtown to start, that will go soon go before city council.

Council will consider a variety of factors, with a major one being how the proposal fits into Chilliwack’s official community plan.

Blain says that the proposal appears to be consistent with that plan — and that, since UFV still owns the property, students with questions should direct some of their concerns in that direction.

“There’s the one public hearing that occurs, so that’s the main opportunity to speak to this bylaw,” he says, when it comes to the city council side of the issue.

The date of the public hearing is April 19, at 3:00 p.m. A special meeting for theatre students with Toews and Jacqueline Nolte, the dean of arts, at the Chilliwack North campus is also scheduled for April 15 at 2:00 p.m.

The morning after I finished writing the feature story you see in the middle of this issue, the CBC reported that students at the University of Brandon who report sexual assault are required to sign a “behavioural contract” that tells them not to talk about the assault once it becomes a formal complaint, except to counsellors. After the CBC’s report, the president of that university announced it will no longer be used, that there had long been discussion to no longer use the contract, and that it regrets using them for so long — they were “not helpful” and “inappropriate.” But at one point, enough people thought it was a good idea that it was added to an official university process.

Here at UFV, a similar document, one that is slightly less limiting and uses less casual language, exists. While it is not a legally binding document, and students who report are not technically barred from reporting their stories to, for example, the police, the effect, whether intended or not, is one of silence. Yes, universities have to respect the privacy of all their students, and yes, the majority of students at UFV are above the legal age, and can expect to be treated as adults. However, for a student separated by only a couple years from high school who has possibly never had any experience reporting a criminal act, if they are experiencing trauma, not completely sure of how their words will be taken but absolutely sure that they will be picked apart, confronted in ways they dread, to be faced with a pile of paperwork, and for that paperwork to section off the world into people you can and cannot talk to, giving the student no choice in the matter, is about as unhelpful as it gets.

This is just one part of the story, part of the process, but it contributes to the overall reluctance to speak about harassment and assault, the idea that to approach an institution with a formal complaint is a frustrating process likely

to end in defeat — something anyone who’s followed similar stories at other campuses in North America knows about.

Here’s the thing about this story: The Cascade did not seek this story out. In a word, you can’t: reporters should not be coaxing information out of anyone not yet ready to speak about this, and seeking out a “best-case scenario” when reporting sexual assault, as just about everyone saw with the Rolling Stone story from two years ago, isn’t the right way to go about things either. But what did happen here is that, without intending to, reporters, including myself, at the paper heard about people who had been affected.

We heard about it in lineups, in conversations that started out on unrelated subjects, we heard about it in the cafeteria, in coffee shops, at a festival in Vancouver when we brought up that we go to UFV. Now, as you’ll see in the article, not all of these people were comfortable going on the record to talk about it in a newspaper. They were not subject to any fact-checking or formal interviews, and so technically this is hearsay, these are just conversations, and not proof. But the statistics show that for everyone that does speak up (such as the person who went on the record for the story in this issue), there are others who don’t.

How did the reporting happen? Well, we spoke to students, some of them former students.

They told us what they experienced. Working from what we know about institutional practices across the country, we noticed a clear pattern — UFV does not look to be vastly different from other universities. I’m not sure why, except for believing in the language of marketing, we would have expected anything else — no university is simply special or exceptional, but they are different.

That difference can come from leadership.

The next step in the reporting was interviews with administrators, who, if you write for the news section of The Cascade, partly because of UFV’s smaller size, you end up seeing pretty frequently. In the questions and responses that

will come from this article, there are often two tendencies: analyzing the survivor’s stories for inconsistencies and weaknesses, and looking for someone to blame for any injustice. I can’t control how people will feel about this reporting, but I do think that both of those approaches are flawed; they’re too easy. As the mass of reporting on sexual violence at universities shows, there is nothing simple about this: changing leadership, changing policies, adding awareness campaigns, even reporting on this does not offer a long-term solution. But what we know is that we can’t get to long-term solutions until the basics are covered.

Universities will, it seems, never be the first to talk about anything potentially negative that happens under their watch. They will always follow, in the case of public universities, legislation from above, and, it seems, only move with slow deliberation, caught behind the masses of contradictions that can come from making a decisive decision to change.

But, because of the timing of the provincial government’s decision, we know that some change will have to happen. Institutions like to dwell as little as possible on mistakes, they like to “learn from them” and move on to something new, to turn that mistake into an opportunity, maybe. And so one is before them now: people that work at UFV, including the ones who directly handle complaints, have, if they want to quantify them, probably hundreds of responsibilities — priorities mean some of them get less time than others. As this becomes a priority, because of new legislation, what parts of it will get more or less attention: the policies, the politics, the people who lose sleep because of this, ideas like equality, communication that isn’t just trumpeting success, the language we use, the signs we see? There’s a lot of unknown territory here for UFV. In its response, the university can follow the path of damage control we’ve seen at other institutions reacting to the news that, no, not every student feels safe and supported here.

But students know: we need something more.

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THURSDAY, APRIL7, 2016

NEWS

In fifth year of plan, UFV surpasses goal for energy reduction SONJA KLOTZ THE CASCADE

Buildings change year-by-year at UFV, but how can an institution keep this up while improving its output from an environmental standpoint?

This is one of the questions UFV’s Centre for Sustainability has been asking since 2011. Along with facilities and project management staff, they’ve been able to make some headway in terms of reducing the institution’s carbon footprint.

“What you don’t see, and you have to give facilities credit for this, is all the upgrades they are doing in all the buildings,” says Pat Harrison, chair for the Centre for Sustainability, who also instructs in the biology department. “Of course not all the buildings are up to snuff yet, [but] I think, behind the scenes, people don’t realize they have these new sophisticated controls on some of the buildings.”

These controls are meters, some visible in hallways, that help facilities determine the amount of energy used in each building of Abbotsford and Chilliwack campuses. The data collected from them is then added to a monthly report.

“In those reports, we work with Puma Database software — a data gathering tool that’s managed by Prism engineering,” says Mark Goudsblom, director of facilities and project management. “Not every building is separately metered but we’re getting there.”

The goal is to also have a meter for every sub-user — the departments that are estimated to use more energy within a given area of a building. For example, in the Student Union Building, facilities has put a sub-meter at the Canoe as a way to provide the Student Union Society the exact data of how much energy the campus restaurant uses per month.

Overall, UFV’s energy usage has decreased significantly, over 10 per cent since 2011-12.

“I would say that we’ve done a good job on energy reduction,” says Alyssa Bougie, coordinator assistant for the Centre for Sustainability. Bougie points out that UFV surpassed its target for reduction — 10 per cent by 2015, and has decreased energy consumption by an addition seven per cent in the last year alone.

Plans can change drastically when it comes to the budget allocations for green campaigns, advocacy, and awareness building initiatives.

“From my perspective, we are a little behind the game; I think we’re doing really well for what we have,” Harrison says. “We have basically zero

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budget and we operate with the grace of several components. One of them is the dean of sciences, who has given me a small budget and has given me a release so I can work on it. And facilities definitely, by hiring Alyssa and having a small budget for it.”

The sustainability programs consist of three different components: the GreenSpeak seminar series, campaign initiatives (National Sweater Day, Turn It Off Week), and Green Team events.

One recent campaign initiative was Waste Audit Day. “We did a waste audit, and we are working now with the agriculture program to see if we can use a composter and divert all of our paper towels to a composting stream that can go out to the composter,” Goudsblom says. “From the full audit they did, there’s about 50 per cent of UFV’s daily waste generation ... about 364 lbs.”

Interestingly, only 66 lbs of the audit was considered “true waste,” with 34 lbs of bags mixed in with different plastic items, and 75 lbs of paper towels.

“If we can just take one of those out and divert into the appropriate stream, we can actually have a significant impact on the carbon footprint production,” Goudsblom says. “We are taking a two-fold approach: One is increase composting and compostable materials into the right stream which we’re paying for.” The other part of the approach, Goudsblom says, would involve using the compost as fuel for the agriculture program at UFV. UFV hired a new energy manager, Blaire McFarlane, at the end of March to oversee energy consumption and monitor the types of energy use that occurs, whether it would be electricity, natural gas, or other forms of energy. That way, there is a professional that is always collecting the necessary data to determine the next goals and steps to reducing energy consumption costs and gas emissions to zero, thus making the institution environmentally and financially sustainable.

Part of the Green Team’s outreach is about building awareness.

“That’s something I think [will be] the focus should be for the next couple of years for the university,” Goudsblom says. “I think we’ve done a lot of the high level stuff, and we continue to do light-fixture changes and LED changes, but I think the more energy awareness we create under students, staff, and faculty as we go through the years will help keep the trend going towards energy savings, and the reduction of carbon neutral gases.”

Photos: Valerie Franklin

Refundable Beverage Containers 3%

Mixed Paper 6% Metals 1%

Cardboard/ Boxboard

6%

True waste 18%

Disposable Coffee Cups

9%

Garbage bags 10%

Mixed Plastics 4%

Compost 22% Paper Towel 21%

Only 28% of what we found in the waste was actually garbage 10% of that was the bags that the waste was carried in.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

NEWS Athletics awards banquet recognizes the best of the past year in sports VANESSA BROADBENT THE CASCADE

Photos: Miranda Louwerse

There’s life after graduation. At its annual awards banquet last Tuesday, UFV’s athletics department tried their best to not let student athletes forget this.

“If you search the internet, you’ll find countless articles on why people should hire former student athletes,” Steve Tuckwood, the director of athletics and campus recreation said to the audience of student athletes, coaches, and staff. “I think that UFV offers each and every one of you the opportunity to excel academically and athletically and be a wonderful prospect upon graduation.”

The athletics department hosts the banquet every year to award the year’s top achievements, recognize graduating athletes, and encourage those returning next year.

UFV president Dr. Mark Evered continued Tuckwood’s argument by sharing the results of a survey.

“There’s nearly a million jobs going to become vacant in B.C. over the next decade and at least 80 per cent of those are going to require people with post secondary education,” he said. “One of the top attributes that all these employers were looking for, regardless of what kind of employee they needed … was the ability to work as team,” he said. “We talk a lot about leadership, sometimes we forget about the skills of teamship that are so vital.”

Other than talk of getting hired after graduation, the event featured the usual annual awards.

While most teams took something home, athletes for the men’s and women’s basketball teams were awarded the 2015-16 athlete of the year awards.

Fourth year guard forward Kayli Sartori took home the award following her most successful season, where she won the Canada West women’s basketball scoring title with an average of 18.4 points per game, all while maintaining a GPA of over 3.5. Sartori was also named a division first team all-star and a national second team All-Canadian. Sartori was one of three finalists for the award, including Tristan Corneil (soccer), and Hannah Dirksen (golf ).

“Kayli is a player that has undeniable talent — I’ve

known that ever since she stepped on our court when she was a 13-year-old in our Junior Cascades program,” said Al Tuchscherer, head coach of the women’s basketball team. “The thing that’s probably the most rewarding to see in her is not the on-court stuff, but just how she’s embraced the academic side of things, embraced being a better teammate this year, and embraced being a better leader.”

Kevon Parchment was awarded the male athlete award, with the other nominees being Adam Chaplin (volleyball) and Connor O’Dell (golf ). Parchment, the men’s basketball team’s only graduating player, finished off his final season with division first team all-star and defensive player of the year honours, and was also the first UFV men’s basketball player to be named a national second team All-Canadian.

“Kevon’s had a great four-year career with us [and] he definitely saved his best for last,” said men’s basketball head coach Adam Friesen. “He’s been terrific, he’s impacted the game in so many different ways. In all my time as a player and as a coach, I’ve only seen a couple guys that could impact a game quite as much as Kevon.”

Rookie of the year awards went to Taylor Claggett (women’s basketball), Gurneet Dhaliwal (women’s soccer), and Brady Weir (men’s soccer).

Amelia Worrell (women’s basketball) and Nick Bruce (men’s volleyball) were recognized for their academic efforts and took home the female and male individual academic awards for their GPAs of 4.22 and 3.91, respectively.

Worrell’s high GPA contributed to the women’s basketball team’s cumulative GPA of 3.0 in the fall semester, which gave the team the president’s shield team academic award.

Athletes were also recognized for community involvement.

Hailey Kendall (women’s basketball) and Risa Venuto (women’s soccer) were both awarded the outstanding community award for their involvement on campus, while Riley Dueck (men’s rowing) won the Jen Simpson leadership award.

Shelby Beck looks back on five years with the women’s soccer team VANESSA BROADBENT THE CASCADE

How do you feel that this year went?

It ended early. It obviously didn’t go the way we planned it to. The year before, we had a really good season, we expected to do exactly the same thing, and we lost unfortunately in penalty kicks. It was a devastating year, but for the first time ever we were in the top 10 rankings in the country for the whole year. That was huge for our program.

What attracted you to UFV? I liked that I was close to home. I’m from Langley and a few girls that I played with when I was growing up, they decided to go to UFV as well, so we all went together — they unfortunately left for different reasons earlier than I did.

What attracted you to soccer?

I played every single sport — my family’s a big sports family. I was actually in gymnastics and soccer. I just fell in love with being outside, playing the game, and never went back.

What are you going to miss about playing for UFV? A lot of things. I’m definitely going to miss the girls. I’m definitely going to miss the competitiveness. Unfortunately, there’s no level for girls when you’re done university that is that competitive, unless you try and go play pro, which was an option, but I’ve decided that I need to finish my schooling first. I’m trying to be smart about it because, unfortunately, girls don’t have a lot of money in sports.

How did you find time to balance school and soccer?

It definitely can be challenging at times, but our coach is very good. He always wants us to get the best possible grades we can.

I think it definitely forces you to be a better student. We practice every single day and then games are on the weekend, so you have to do it, you have to find time. You have to be very dedicated to make sure that you’re getting your schoolwork done. It can be stressful, but I think it’s actually made me a better student. I

wasn’t the strongest student in high school and I came to university and found what I like to do. People are looking up to the older girls, and you have to do well. It forces you to do better.

Do you have any favourite moments playing for UFV? Last year we went to nationals and in our playoff game, the semi-finals, we beat Alberta 1-0 and I scored the winning goal and that sent us to nationals. That was definitely a big moment for me. Obviously, I couldn’t have done it without everybody else on the team. We played amazing that game.

I think that was just a moment that I’ll never forget, scoring that goal and having everybody run at me, and being so excited and knowing that we worked so hard to get there. I’m really glad I got to at least experience nationals once in my five years. Not a lot of people can say that they got to go.

Do you have any plans for after graduation?

I was supposed to go play pro this year. I was supposed to leave school and go and play in

England and Australia. I definitely would still love to try and pursue that when I’m done school. I think I just have to be a little mature and realize that I do need to finish school.

What’s the point in giving up now?

I feel that if I went away, I probably wouldn’t have come back and I would have regretted that. I’m hoping that I can do something like that when I’m done school. If not, I’m definitely going to travel and experience life and see what else is out there. With my degree, I’m hoping that I can get a good job with it.

How do you feel about attending UFV but not playing on the team?

It will be weird. I think I’ll be involved for as long as I can. My coach has said, “Feel free to come to everything, I value your opinion.” He still asks me about certain players and stuff. I could potentially see coaching in the future as well, which would be great because I obviously want them to do well.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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THURSDAY, APRIL7, 2016

NEWS At presidential search forum, debates about decisionmaking and questions about the future MICHAEL SCOULAR THE CASCADE

A forum originally intended to elicit ideas about what UFV’s next president should look like, according to a nine-item questionnaire, broke out into a debate about the merits, construction, and process of the search for candidates.

Led by Barry Delaney, the chair of the Board of Governors, and Liana Thompson, the director of continuing education, the meeting in Abbotsford was the first chance for many faculty, staff members and administrators to ask questions about the process. Brent Cameron and Craig Hemer, both from Boyden Global Executive Search, the firm organizing the process, were also present to answer questions.

Delaney opened the forum by attempting to close off topics of discussion not stated on the questionnaire. “[The Board of Governors] made the decision of the composition of the search committee, that’s not up for debate,” he said. “We’ve made a decision on how the process will unfold — the Board has decided. That’s not up for discussion.”

However, after some early comments on theoretical candidates and their potential values (indigenizing the academy, entrepreneurial spirit, gender and racial diversity, fundraising), the discussion swung in the direction of those two topics: the process, which will not disclose candidate names to the public, and the committee composition, which was decided in pri-

vate by the Board.

“We feel that it is a good process,” Delaney said. “We have good representation from all the stakeholder groups on the committee.”

In his reading of a lengthy, prepared speech, Sean Parkinson, the president of the facultystaff association (FSA) pointed out that no members of the Fraser Valley community are on the committee. The composition of members was also questioned — faculty, staff, and students combined on the committee do not make up a majority. And Don Miskiman, a faculty member in the school of business, questioned how the FSA was not part of the selection process for faculty or staff members, while the Student Union Society (SUS) was for two student positions, one of which is the incoming SUS president.

“We see them as completely different,” Delaney said.

The two Boyden representatives then stepped in to explain the reasoning behind the search process, describing it as a hybrid of an open process, where shortlisted candidates meet with the community and people they would work with, and a closed process, where the decision is made in private. Cameron said that, based on Boyden’s experience with presidential searches, open forums tend to be “overwhelmingly unhelpful” due to the broad range of responses, and that, when candidates know it is an open process, they sometimes choose to withdraw their application.

“What we’ve found is we haven’t lost any-

body in the hybrid,” he said. In this format, “stakeholder” groups will be allowed to meet with candidates in one-hour meetings where they will have the opportunity to ask questions.

Cameron estimated that there would be six to eight groups at UFV, including administration, the FSA, and the alumni association, but added that the exact groups and the number of members from each group would be up to the committee to decide.

Hemer pointed out that the usual rules of applicants and interviews for a job do not necessarily apply for a high-ranking position like president, which is part of why the process will not be open.

“Very good candidates will evaluate this university as much as you’re going to evaluate them,” he said. “It’s not simply supplicants, these are not just applicants — ‘Please take me’ — they have options. Good candidates have options.”

Discussion of a future president, rather than the current process, then resumed, with multiple faculty members pointing out the areas in which UFV is currently lacking.

“I am desperately excited that we will find someone wanting to make a difference, that I’m excited about being an ambassador to this institution,” said Martha Dow, the department head for social, cultural, and media studies. “I haven’t seen that kind of leadership here in a while. A good leader surrounds themselves with people that will administer and will manage.

A leader is a leader, that’s why I haven’t met

many in my lifetime. It’s something special.

I’m hopeful.”

Stephen Piper, a faculty member who teaches sociology and in Latin American studies, added to the comments of multiple speakers before him who were frustrated with UFV’s direction.

“I’m glad that the issue of morale was raised, because frankly, I’ve never seen worse morale at a university previously in my life than we have here right now,” he said. “I think that reflects the administration over the past 10 years, which has been increasingly closed and increasingly secretive, things being imposed, things being decided behind closed doors. I think we need someone who will be open … [and] someone with serious ideas, someone who will not be carried away once again by the flavour of the month for three years before we change course again and go off in another direction. I’ve seen too much of that here.”

Hilary Turner, the English department head, stressed the importance of a president who is able to keep communication open with the provincial government.

“I would like to see a president who is an advocate on our behalf towards government,” she said.

“I think we have a rather woeful record of compliance with government, and I think a great deal could be done to have more of a voice at Victoria.”

Photo: Mitch Huttema

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www.ufvcascade.ca

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

NEWS

With academic violations, education may be the key to preventing fake education VANESSA BROADBENT JOEL ROBERTSON-TAYLOR THE CASCADE

In a summary of academic misconduct from the past year at UFV, there were 66 cases of cheating at UFV, 33 of plagiarism, one of aiding and abetting, and one of falsification of a record or document. Additionally, the majority of the violations occurred in the fall semester.

“It’s an interesting question, and I wish I had all the details or answers to that,” says Susan Francis, the director of academic integrity, trying to explain the pattern of violations. “Typically we will see a larger intake of students in the fall semester, so that could definitely contribute to the higher numbers.”

The summary also states that 38 per cent of violations were committed by domestic students, compared to 62 per cent committed by international students. Francis suggests that this could be a result of varying academic misconduct standards in different countries.

“Academic integrity can mean different things around the globe,” she says. “There’s

different standards, different norms. Basically, students that are coming into UFV or Canada may not be fully aware of what our expectations are here.”

In order to build awareness surrounding academic misconduct, Francis, along with UFV’s department of academic integrity, is working on new informative strategies. Some of these include presenting at new student orientation and international student orientation, as well as class visits and presentations, academic integrity workshops, and possibly even an educational video.

“Basically, [we’re] just trying to get that word spread throughout the university and how best to do that often times is through technology,” she says. “Instructors could show this video in classes and create dialogue and interesting discussions with students about the importance of academic integrity.”

Francis also hopes to create an online tutorial to guide students through the policies. “[It’s] a long-term goal that I have,” she says.

“This could be something that all students are required to do, where they have to go through this online workshop and there can be testing

at the end.”

While Francis and the department of academic integrity are spearheading the campaign, they are working with other departments and programs in the university as well.

“We’re collaborating with other departments, such as the academic success centre, student services, the library, international education — just working together on how to best educate students and get the message across,” she says. “We also present at new faculty orientations, letting them know about academic integrity and the process and the policy, and asking that they discuss it with students in their classes as well.”

At this point, Francis is unsure when any of these projects will be in place.

“It will take time just to research what avenues are out there, whether it’s an already built program that we bring in, or if we create something of our own here at UFV,” she says.

Punishment for academic misconducts is dependent on the violation. In most cases, getting caught for plagiarizing or cheating will result in a zero on the assignment. However, it is possible to receive a no credit for the course, re-

sulting in a failure of that particular class. “Of course, it depends on the case and the circumstances,” Francis says.

Despite the efforts to curtail all forms of academic misconduct, it continues to surface each semester. As with any rule or law, this doesn’t put an end to the misconduct completely.

“Oftentimes, students have a full course load, they have families, they’re working — just the stress of it can cause them to go down the wrong paths,” Francis says, suggesting that the motivation behind violations isn’t necessarily a malicious one. The reasons for cheating or plagiarizing can vary: from pressure to keep a certain GPA, pressure from family or friends, or a lack of confidence.

Regardless of reparation, academic misconduct is considered to be prohibited because it negates the efforts of the institution to educate. Any number of reasons could be listed as to why it’s wrong, but at the end of the day it simply doesn’t benefit the violator other than through the gamble for a better grade — unless grades are considered a currency.

the

CASCADE is hiring!

Every year, thousands of students walk across UFV campuses, performing countless deeds, thinking countless thoughts.

Think you know how to cover this “student culture”? Think you have an opinion on any of it?

We’re currently hiring for the position of Culture & Events editor and Opinion editor — this position continues through the summer into next year. Applications should include a resume, cover letter, writing sample (and photography sample for Culture editor applications).

Deadline for applications is April 15 emailed to michael@ ufvcascade.ca

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www.ufvcascade.ca

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

OPINION Youth elector habits: Who cares, why, and when will it matter?

PANKAJ SHARMA CONTRIBUTOR

When talking heads and detractors lather ointment on their Berns during segments of televised political commentary, their free fingers will often point at the crowds of enthusiastic millennials. “As excited as they seem and as much as they tweet,” the commentators will snidely lecture, “we all know that at the end of the day they WON’T VOTE.” I mean, it’s a fair assumption to make. In comparison to other age groups, the majority of the 18-30 age group does not traditionally make it out on voting day and this phenomenon has been growing throughout the decades. And because young people don’t, pollsters and policy makers shift their attention elsewhere. Parties and candidates develop platforms that appeal to the demographics that vote in order to increase their chances of being elected. Over coffee and Facebook feeds, the youth respond, bemoaning the state of politics and how no one truly represents them. Perhaps some may make a principled and conscious decision to not vote. Or perhaps most of these youth don’t have an opinion at all on the state of politics or government. They don’t want to. They don’t care.

It’s funny though, because while our age group is among the most vocal when it comes to social issues and calls for change, there seems to be a disconnect between how we view the world and how we view the tools and mechanisms that shape that world. And the fact that we aren’t a monolith — that our competing identities, backgrounds, and level of education differ — means that there isn’t a catch-all solution. This complicates

how we approach mending that disconnect.

There are many angles that we can take in an attempt to explain youth’s voting disengagement: distrust of politicians, detachment from society and community in general, and a structure of government that does not adequately reflect the outlook of the people. Some could argue our generation is too self-absorbed to care about politics.

Despite these speculations, our generation demonstrates some hope. Now, it’s impossible to take credit for the past federal election, but anecdotally I witnessed many more first time voters in our age group than ever before. In fact, the buzz on social media this past federal election was deafening.

Defeating Harper was both trending and borderline memeing. Statistically, those who vote are more likely to continue to vote throughout their lifetime. So, those first-timers from November will very likely be voting again. Hopefully they will be doing so during next year’s provincial race.

Elections BC definitely has (a completely non-partisan) interest in seeing more young people voting; hence, they funded UFV’s IDS course this semester. The purpose of the research conducted within the course is to identify unique ideas to recommend to the chief electoral officer. The surveys have so far revealed that UFV students are active voters. A forum will be held on April 22 at 10 a.m. in the Student Union Building’s Great Hall that will present the further findings in greater detail and offer the community an opportunity to discuss the topic.

Disclosure: I am a student in IDS 400.

VOTE?

Illustration: Danielle Collins

Graduation and the fear of ending up a loser ALEX RAKE THE CASCADE

Graduation approaches. Are you afraid?

Because I’m afraid. Of course there’s always going to be something scary about entering a new phase of life, but that’s not what freaks me out. In fact, that particular scariness excites me.

What I fear is that, after this university thing is all over, I might discover that I’m actually a loser.

I’m afraid I’m not good at what I studied. I’m an English major, and I’ve had plays performed and poems published, and I’ve received awards while working at this newspaper, and sometimes I get As in my classes. But I’ve also been rejected and rejected and rejected again, and sometimes I get Cs. How can I make a career out of writing if my reception is so inconsistent? And I know for a fact that my stuff could be absolute trash and somebody will still like it, because people are weird. How can you know you’re good without fishing for criticism? How can I sell myself as a skilled writer if my writing is so capable of rubbing people the wrong way? I fear I might have to get a job in some area that won’t take advantage of my skills and interests in order to survive,

which is exactly the life all the novels I studied taught me to avoid.

I’m afraid I’m under-prepared for fending for myself. Both of my jobs at ***The Cascade and the library depend on my enrollment in a

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Illustration: Danielle Collins

university program; once I’ve graduated, they can’t use me. So immediately I am faced with a quest for a new job that will pay for rent, food, phone, and all that stuff the modern person needs in order to exist. In movies, university is made out to be the one thing students do, but in reality there’s not enough time to focus on just studies because in order to pay for those studies a person needs a nearly full-time job. Their studies then suffer because of the time that one has to dedicate to their job. Being out of university with as-good-as-they-can-be grades and no job, I have no idea what employer is

going to give a shit about what I’ve supposedly accomplished in the last five years in a time where paying for things like copy-editing and poetry seems absurd to many consumers.

I’m especially afraid that I’m losing an excuse. I explain away my constant exhaustion as being the result of working two jobs in two different cities while carless and going to school full-time. You can’t expect me to get anything done in a timely manner while living such a life!

But what if, when school is no longer an issue, I discover that I’m actually just lazy? There are times I know I could get something important

— like my taxes or my driver’s licence — done but I opt instead to fall asleep to Netflix with half of a pizza on my chest. I have no way of knowing if that kind of decision is a move against stress or a move against responsibility until my schedule gets less demanding.

So I’m afraid that, after all my work here, I’ll turn out to be just another loser with a liberal arts degree, having to justify to the blue-collar corner of my family what all the money and time I spent was actually supposed to grant me, now that I’m living jobless in my parents’ basement, besides some vaporous “experience” and a lot of stress-related physical and mental health issues.

Then again, I know that kind of rhetoric is bullshit produced against the way employmentspecific post-secondary education is advertised.

There are people out there who need people to write and edit and organize content in an interesting, digestible way. Of course there are, and of course I can do that for them. I will put in the work to find them; I’m going to eat, dammit. But I write this not because my rational brain knows that my skills are useful and important, but because my emotional brain knows there are others who feel the same fears when they sit down and think about what they’re doing with their lives.

Know that you aren’t alone. You are afraid of being a loser, but so what? Life continues and so will you, probably.

www.ufvcascade.ca

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

OPINION S SAFE SPACE

UFV already safe Terrill Smith

L.A., N.Y., and B.C. Alex Rake

On March 2, a message of “TRUMP 2016” appeared in chalk on a sidewalk at Atlanta’s Emory University.

In response, students told school officials that the chalk messages made them feel “afraid.” Meanwhile, University of Michigan students felt so unsafe by proTrump chalk messages that they called the police.

When did university students become so oversensitive and emotionally fragile? Universities have historically stood as bastions of free expression and forums for open discourse, but this is seemingly no longer the case. Students now demand feelingsprotection and safe spaces to shield themselves from opinions they disagree with. That innocuous political speech like “TRUMP 2016” could actually make students feel unsafe is particularly concerning.

Even at UFV, a few students feel unreasonably unsafe. A recent initiative proposed by UFV to create a rainbow sidewalk was criticized by some as creating a false sense of safety for LGBT students.

But here’s the thing: UFV is already a very safe place, with a distinct Harassment Prevention Policy in place to help protect students from bullying and discrimination. That some students demand further protection from opinions that hurt their feelings is not only outrageous, but also unfortunately typical of the modern university experience.

Los Angeles. New York. Los Angeles. New York. And sometimes Texas.

These are the only places that exist. When online articles talk about what to wear for what season, what kinds of foods you ought to eat, and how to take advantage of your surroundings in general, they tend not to mention how to deal with massive hills and constant rain. Advice is not designed for British Columbia.

And movies and books tend to be set in L.A. or N.Y., if not in a fictional small town. The mythology of these places grows exponentially as media set in these cities inspires further media set in these cities. I find this disappointing, too, because I never get to see stories about my own experience. Then, when things are set in Vancouver, it tends to feel forced, like “Why not just set it in New York where the mythology happens?”

This is the bias towards these places at work. How to fight it? Tell more stories about this place, and find a way to make its setting integral. Talk about how to live in a city on the side of a mountain under endless rain. Los Angeles, New York, Los Angeles, and New York can shove it.

Curtailed commentary on current conditions Illustrations: Danielle Collins

Canadian Literature kicks ass Martin Castro

The pain of being an overworked student Glen Ess

If Canadian authors don’t get a bad rap, they’re ignored by the majority of secondary school English classes and mainstream bookstores in Canada. For example, I recently picked up Michael Ondaatje’s The Collected Works Of Billy The Kid. I’ve only read the first couple of paragraphs, but holy shit was I floored by the raw, unflinching vividness and immediacy of Ondaatje’s imagery.

“Tom O’Folliard screaming out onto the quiet Fort Sumner street, Christmas night, walking over to Garrett, no shoulder left, his jaws tilting up and down like mad bladders going. Too mad to even aim at Garrett. Son of a bitch son of a bitch, as Garrett took clear aim and blew him out.”

Guys, Michael Ondaatje’s work is a freaking godsend to the literary world. So is Margaret Atwood’s, and Matt Rader’s, and countless others.

Nowadays, teachers have to struggle to prove to students that reading is cool, and then that poetry is cool. They do this by showing students stuff like William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming,” all ominous, all grandiose.

Yeats is cool. But we should focus also on the seemingly unending wealth of creativity that’s come from our own backyard.

We should promote Canadian literature, not just because it facilitates our identity, but also because Canadians write some of the most kick-ass lit out there.

I hate having to work. Which is why it’s depressing that I work so much. I wish I was a lazy millennial.

But instead I have two jobs, school work, volunteering, and every now and then I try to maintain a social life. And I wish I could just cut all of that out and live, sedentary. I’m constantly checking my schedule and the upkeep and communication leads to stress, anxiety, and utter terror that I’ll forget something. It’s brutal balancing shifts at work, classes, more work, meetings, online meetings, phone meetings, Skype, Facebook, telegram, whatever. It’s too much work, too much pressure.

But here’s the thing: even though the amount of work freaks me out, I still wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world. I like my job(s), I like my classes, and I like all the things I do outside of those things.

But I recognize the fact that I need to cut back on something, and I’m sure other students have to make that same decision too. I think next semester I’ll only work one job, and maybe volunteer more casually, rather than try to juggle 30 different things over the course of a week.

Panama Papers: The sweetest little opinion ALEX RAKE

THE CASCADE

Here is my opinion on the Panama Papers: you need to check them out.

You need to understand that this is a real thing that exists in the same finite world as you.

You need to resist the media’s attempt at making this revelation all about Putin, because Russia isn’t the only country represented in the papers.

You need to be engaged with this or else nothing will ever change.

You need to check out the Panama Papers, but that’s just my opinion.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

www.ufvcascade.ca

FEATURE

Nowhere to go

At UFV, unreliable support and a culture of silence for students who report sexual assault

wow a mother fucking title for your dirty tator tots

Photo: Mitch Huttema

MICHAEL SCOULAR THE CASCADE

There is nothing simple about surviving sexual violence, nothing simple about speaking about it. Articles, interviews, panels, reports, policies try to explain it and deal with it, they try to teach words to make it understandable — because everyone knows, but not everyone truly tries to understand sexual violence, question their role in it.

Erin* was, as she walked toward administrative offices on a Monday morning, sure of the role she was responsible for: she was going to report a case of sexual harassment and sexual assault — though at this point, she was not thinking of cases or policies or procedures; she was a witness, she was going to find a way to speak out, she was not going to allow what happened to her and a friend happen again.

Like many first-year students, the list of administrators, staff, and faculty Erin knew at all, let alone well enough to confide in, was short. But she knew a departmental staff member, someone she had talked to before about what she wanted to do, where she was going: while Erin wasn’t completely sure whether she wanted a degree in science or to complete a trades program, she knew she planned to study at UFV. An academic scholarship had helped with tuition, and based on her first completed semester’s grades, Erin knew she belonged at university. Erin talked to the staff member one-on-one, no audio recorder, no preparation besides the idea that she would say everything, as it happened, in order. When she finished, the staff member talked to the head of the department, whose office was nearby.

The department head asked for a summary, a written list of the main points that would be brought forward in a formal complaint — a

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list that would then be delivered to the Student Services office at UFV, where it changed from an account, a request to be heard, into a case to be investigated.

“I was maybe a little too trusting,” Erin says.

Academic studies, enrollment numbers, and polls all reflect the same thing: no matter how they are portrayed in the media, no matter how many mistakes they may make, universities are respected, they convey authority on the people that work for them, they are still keepers of knowledge. This is part of the reason UCFV applied for university status late last decade — the name means something. But at UFV, while staff and administration undergo workplace training and are made aware of policies, firsthand awareness of and experience talking to students who share stories of sexual violence is low.

When the CBC started conducting a national survey of colleges and universities, asking them for the number of sexual assault findings, UFV reported zero. When they asked for an updated number last month, after Erin’s case had been completed, the number was still zero — zero for the past six years. Kyle Baillie, the director of Student Life (a departmental name), says that is because the CBC asked for “findings,” which UFV took to mean not formal complaints from students, but substantiated cases.

“A low number or a zero could mean a lower rate of sexual assault at that institution, but it can also mean a school is not doing enough to encourage reporting,” writes CBC reporter Lori Ward. The CBC has previously reported that while a university with a higher rate of reported sexual assaults may look bad, what it often suggests is a place where students feel comfortable enough to bring those complaints forward. At UFV, where not many students live

in residence, campuses are relatively small, and controversy rarely attracts public interest, it is easy to think sexual assault doesn’t happen here.

Yet the province of Ontario’s 2015 action plan to stop sexual violence and harassment includes these statistics: “In Canada, out of every 1000 sexual assaults, only 33 are reported to police and only three lead to conviction.” The lack of trust in officially reporting assaults that already exists, when combined with a university where sexual assault does not appear, to the average student, to be anywhere on the institution’s radar, naturally results in a place where the numbers and the stories do not line up.

Erin didn’t know all this. For one thing, she was reporting sexual violence to an authority, and she was able to do so almost immediately after it happened. Her mind, still processing the immediate effects of trauma, was on how to be as clear as possible about what happened.

While complaint documents and media reports summarize accounts into charges, infractions, single points on a list, Erin was remembering, repeating what happened in detail that would fill pages. The students Erin named in the formal complaint and the specific details of Erin’s allegations can’t be printed here out of respect for confidentiality. All the students Erin named declined to be interviewed for this article. While each report of sexualized violence is unique, there is an overall consistent narrative that is impossible to avoid — you’ve either heard it first-hand from friends or family members who are comfortable talking about it; second-hand, from radio programs, social media, newspapers; or in the kind of overheard stories that, by the time they reach us, have acquired the tone of dread. In this case, the story was complicated by the fact the assault and harassment happened off-campus. Most students, over the course of

their degree or certificate, will travel or meet off-campus for academic or extracurricular reasons — group projects, research tours, field assignments, conferences, festivals, visits to archives and other universities. While on one of these, Erin alleges that she was repeatedly groped and verbally harassed by multiple male students, and that her friend Claire* was, in addition to these same attacks, raped.

There are inevitable questions that follow any invocation of sexual assault — how did it happen? What was each student’s behaviour like? What evidence is there? Was alcohol involved? Why did Erin wait until the Monday after to tell anyone? What’s the relation between broad statistics and UFV if there’s just one story?

The short answer is, while readers always become investigators of a kind when looking at stories that involve allegations and crimes, this is an article about what happened at UFV in response to a complaint, and how that affected students, and so we will not be going through exhibits, testimonies, and interrogations and reaching a verdict. If you want a printed story of surviving sexual violence and experiencing police investigations and criminal court, there are many stories out there. But there aren’t any about how UFV is or isn’t prepared to help students who want to be heard.

Erin was not sure how to feel as she left the offices at UFV. “They implied that they would take care of the situation and take care of us and everything was going to be okay,” she says.

She hadn’t expected words of support — she was expecting neutrality at best — but she was given the names of counsellors ready to help her recover, she was told the matter would be taken very seriously, and, after Claire shared her account, the male students she named were suspended and banned from campus.

www.ufvcascade.ca

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

FEATURE Early Sunday morning, before they returned to Abbotsford, Erin says one of the male students pleaded with her not to report anything — now, it felt to her like justice was going to be seen through.

This is not the first time a student has felt this way. There is no way of knowing how many students, exactly, have, but when it comes to documents at UFV that aren’t sealed away and unviewable due to confidentiality, the oldest story on record dates back to the November 14, 1996 issue of The Cascade. Written by Taryn Thomson, here is the story, reprinted in an abridged version: The next step in Erin’s case followed this account exactly: the appointment of an external investigator, which is based on a set of procedures followed by administration when students make complaints. When a student makes a complaint, it begins a process that, depending on where you ask, “At first they thought it was just them. They didn’t want to rock the boat. “Teamwork” in the Social Work program is vital. They wanted to keep the team together. But after months of being followed in their cars, after resistance to many unwanted advances, after flinching from hands that had no business rubbing backs, after being called incessantly at home, and after being shown offensive drawings of naked women, 14 female students had withstood enough.

After getting virtually no support from their own department, the women went to the student union, who suggested they file a formal sexual harassment complaint. An external investigator found that of the eight women who ended up making formal complaints, seven had definite sexual harassment charges to lay. [UFV president] Peter Jones had the final say, however, and he decided the following: 1) The person guilty of harassment should have a formal record on their school file, but this record may be removed once the guilty person finishes his degree.

2) The guilty person may want to take a year off (which the person did).

3) The guilty person must undergo some education about sexual harassment.

Why is UCFV protecting this man? Why do serious complaints by seven women result only in a slap-on-the-wrist for the offender? This man is going to be a social worker ... if he is allowed to continue on the path to being a social worker, I want there to be a clear and permanent record on his file that tells everyone what he has been found guilty of.

One woman I spoke to said that having to do a seminar in front of the class when the main in question was in the room reduced her to tears.

He made her so uncomfortable that she could not get on with the task at hand. And next September, this main will be back in the social work program, working toward his degree. Justice? I think not.”

Photo: Mitch Huttema

can take anywhere from 18 to 45 days. The process follows this order: an investigation, a hearing, a decision meeting, and then a chance to appeal.

All complaints are handled by the office of Jody Gordon, the vice-president in charge of the student services portfolio at UFV, and decisions typically fall to her. In Erin’s case, Gordon was not able to disclose who the investigator was, beyond that it was someone external to the university.

“I can delegate some aspects of my authority for that policy,” Gordon says. “So in some cases, Kyle [Baillie] is the investigator, and he is reporting information back to me. Or in other cases, he then appoints an investigator. Sometimes our head of security is the investigator, and then we’ve [also] had outside people hired to be the investigator.”

Gordon makes sure that the same person isn’t

handling two steps in the process between the investigation, the decision, and an appeal, but the decision is always made by either Gordon or Baillie.

Students are given documents to prepare them for the process, and can seek additional support from the Student Union Society’s vice-president external, but there is no ombudsman at UFV, no sexual assault centre, and students are not allowed to have legal counsel when they are interviewed by an investigator — these proceedings aren’t legally binding.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t a substantial amount of catching-up to do for complainants: reading and understanding policies, an interview process, the burden of proof required for a case to be proved. On that last note, UFV looks for a balance of probabilities, which is used in most civil cases — the complaint needs to be more likely true than not — rather than proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Gordon notes that UFV’s policies are not intended to replace the judiciary process. “Outcomes for complaints are based on whether or not the policy has been violated, not whether or not a criminal code offense has occurred,” she writes in an email.

Erin was given a document to prepare her for the interview process: a four-page, single-spaced, bullet-point list of things to be aware of during a 90-minute interview. Erin says her interview went an hour longer than that, and, coming a week after her initial complaint, she was feeling fatigue and stress along with the trauma of her experience.

“I looked at it, but it didn’t really prepare me for the interview,” she says. “I wasn’t given the questions [ahead of time], and there was a lot of things I had to sign even though it was a non-legal document. It went by so fast, and I was so tired and so run-down by saying the story over and over again.”

One of the document’s instructions was to not share the story — in order to preserve

“At UFV, where not many students live in residence, campuses are relatively small, and controversy rarely attracts public interest, it is easy to think sexual assault doesn’t happen here” confidentiality. “It is expected that the details of the student conduct investigation will be kept private and confidential among those directly involved in the case or investigating/managing the case,” it reads. “Participants in a conduct investigation are asked not to discuss the case with other students, instructors or colleagues.

Breaches of confidentiality may be considered an act of misconduct, and may result in disciplinary action.”

There is an allowance for talking to a support person, but Erin found that the restrictive language put her in a difficult bind.

Talking to people about it: difficult. Not talking to people about it: in a way, worse. At this point, Erin had told her parents, her boyfriend, her best friend, and the university. The list specifically restricts talking to instructors, but Erin was falling behind in her classes — writing papers about fungi and sourcing bibliographies seemed pointless and impossible to place as a priority while she tried to

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

www.ufvcascade.ca

FEATURE The current policy Sexual harassment and assault complaints are ruled according to the Non-Academic Student Conduct policy. The policy covers everything from stealing library books to illegal drug possession and, in the absence of a separate assault policy, also covers, in an overlapping way, sexual harassment and assault. One regulation (3.7) defines harassment by referring to another policy. Two parts of another regulation (3.8) state that students “shall not threaten the physical or emotional well-being of faculty, staff, students, or others at the university” and “shall not assault or use unauthorized physical force or contact upon another individual.” And one other part of 3.8 states that any violations of the Criminal Code of Canada fall under the policy as well.

From 2012-15 at UFV (a public report, which was obtained through a Freedom of Information request, does not cover any years before this period), there have been 23 complaints under the harassment regulation: one that applies to threats, 10 that apply to physical force or contact, and six that apply to the Criminal Code. (Some complaints apply to more than one type of violation.) However, not all of these complaints were found to be violations after an investigation, and there is no indication in UFV’s reporting which were found and which were not. As well, if we use the harassment policy as an example, those 23 cases could have been discrimination, bullying, or harassment — the actual level of students reporting sexual harassment and assault could therefore be several or none of these, and the university has not yet taken steps forward to clarify or better explain its data to students.

make sense of what was happening — and telling instructors the truth seemed more appropriate than not.

And the list also includes the restriction of other students: some of Erin’s friends from her graduating class at high school had begun attending UFV at the same time she started.

A contact from the university checked in with Erin daily, to make sure she was doing relatively okay, but over time, the tone of communication changed, then stopped abruptly.

“I was texting [the contact], but then he started questioning whether I was telling people or not,” she says. “Then the school just stopped contacting me. It was two weeks of — “oh my gosh” — being concerned and giving support, and then after that I was left on my own.”

During the weeks that followed, Erin grew more suspicious of the process and support she had been given. When she compared her interview experience with Claire’s, she observed that the questions they were both asked seemed to focus on their behaviour, and appeared to contrast their version of events with more benign explanations taken from interviews already conducted with the male students. Erin also learned that her contact at the university was no longer working in the same position, and no update or explanation had been given directly to her. Finally, Claire told Erin that she had seen the other students back on campus — their ban had been lifted without anyone notifying Erin. At this point, Erin had dropped her courses to try to recover — the semester was lost, education-wise — but she was still on campus to meet with her counsellor, to see friends, and to use the campus library and gym.

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“I was thinking, the decision’s already been made, you let them back on campus and you’re still waiting a month to tell us what’s going on [at a decision meeting],” Erin says. “They didn’t notify me or keep tabs on what’s going on.”The

“I’ve never felt so silenced, I felt so small, like I didn’t have an impact. I wasn’t involved, I didn’t know what was going on.” decision meeting was called over two months after the formal complaint process was started

by Erin. In it, Erin learned that most of the complaints of harassment were not substantiated because of “insufficient information.” Some, however, were, including two instances of “assault or unauthorized physical force or contact.” For this, the students received a written reprimand.

For Erin, who wanted the male students’ actions to have larger consequences that would prevent them from walking free — there is the possibility one or more of them might become teachers or mentors in the community — this was devastating.

“I’ve never felt so silenced, I felt so small, like I didn’t have an impact. I wasn’t involved, I didn’t know what was going on,” Erin says. The experience was bad enough, she adds, that neither she nor Claire have any interest in spending more time on the appeal process or going to the police,

where the process might be more rigorous, but would have to start from scratch — “She doesn’t trust the school, she’s just trying to forget about it,” Erin says. “I don’t think they quite get the impact that this had on us.”

Constable Ian MacDonald, the public information officer with the Abbotsford Police department, acknowledges that there isn’t a high conviction rate for sexual assault cases, and that for many the attention of a criminal trial isn’t something they will want to go through — or will benefit from. But he says that the APD does have a different philosophy when people come forward with stories of sexual violence.

“I try to line up as much as I possibly can with victims,” he says. “First and foremost, we like to say as a police department, ‘We believe you.’

There will always be somebody out there who will be a disbeliever. But we have to begin at a point where we believe.”

MacDonald adds that, as it is not the only way for people to heal or to create change in their community when it comes to sexual assault, coming forward to authorities is not something people should feel pressure to do.

“If taking them through a court case is not what they want, and having to see their accuser isn’t what they want, and they don’t want to go through that, it doesn’t make them a coward,” he says. “It doesn’t mean they’re serving a far inferior purpose, it’s called choice, and because the wrong happened to them, they should have that.” *Names have been changed to protect identities.

With files from Megan Lambert and Katie Stobbart.

A way forward?

Legislation and student organization suggest different ways, better responses Meanwhile, one student group at UFV is trying to take steps toward change on campus.

Student groups spreading awareness about consent and advocating on behalf of survivors of sexual violence are nothing new at many universities in North America, but the Yes Means Yes club, which hosted its first event last month, is the only one of its kind at UFV. Mikayla Sherry, the club president, was direct when she talked about why the club needed to be founded. “We started it because our friend last year, she was sexually assaulted at UFV and, to put it pretty bluntly, the system here failed her,” Sherry said at the event, referring to a separate case from Erin’s. Sherry added that her friend dropped out of UFV due to the lack of support here.

The club is currently organizing events,

www.ufvcascade.ca

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

Photo: Mitch Huttema

panels, and is working with Student Life on a website that would compile information for students — currently there is no centralized page on the UFV site for students to know how to report a complaint of any kind. The page would also have a link so students can begin the process online.

More critically, the club is also trying to share ideas for how to improve the complaint process at UFV. This process is likely to change within the next year following premier Christy Clark’s announcement that she would support passing a bill that would require all universities and colleges in British Columbia to develop standalone policies for sexual assault — and also to work on preventing sexual violence through education and improved resources and support for survivors. The bill, which was introduced by Green Party representative Andrew Weaver, was based in part on similar provincial legislation introduced last year in Ontario. An action plan, titled, “It’s Never Okay,” was followed by an act, which was passed on March 8 of this year.

“Without a legislative requirement to develop a policy, we risk continuing the status quo where institutional optics are sometimes allowed to trump student safety,” Weaver said as he addressed Clark during Question Period.

Jody Gordon, the vice-president for student services, was part of a working group at the Ministry of Advanced Education, where sexual assault policies and practices were analyzed — this work existed separate from the new bill.

“Regardless of whether Bill M205 passes, it is important that we have stand-alone (visible/ easily accessible) sexual assault protocols in place for prevention, awareness and response,” she

writes in an email.

Kyle Baillie, the Student Life director, says he is currently waiting to see what the bill will actually look like when it is passed. Clark said that she would support the bill in some form.

“I’d certainly look forward to working with [Weaver] on finding a way that we can either pass this bill or amend it and pass a similar version to it in our legislature,” she said, before adding that she could not set an immediate timeline for when that could be expected to happen.

“Without a legislative requirement to develop a policy, we risk continuing the status quo where institutional optics are sometimes allowed to trump student safety.”

“I recognize, along with the member, that this is an urgent issue,” she added. “We will work with him on it on an urgent basis and try and get something passed with respect to changing policy as soon as we possibly can.” The provincial legislature remains in session this year until November 24.

“If the province decides to legislate something, you would hope that there would be resources to implement it, otherwise it would

be challenging,” Baillie says. Baillie adds that different universities in B.C. have different resources available — where some campuses have police units or facilities with devoted resources for sexual assault survivors, UFV has nothing of the kind.

There are also some criticisms of the Ontario plans. Janet Morrison, the vice-provost for students at York University, writes in the Toronto Star that the emphasis on policy updates does not cover all student needs.

“Colleges and universities must be empowered to distinguish between a report of sexual violence — which is formal and involves an expectation that action will be taken against an alleged perpetrator — and a disclosure of sexual violence, in confidence, for the purpose of accessing resources,” she writes, adding that a focus on numerical reporting under the same, old system is not going to create a clearer picture of what students are experiencing, and how that can be fixed.

In the Varsity, the student newspaper at the University of Toronto, Ellie Adekur, a student organizer with a group called Silence Is Violence, says that mandating sexual assault policies with student input has, if anything, had a detrimental effect on students being able to create change.

“The university has continuously shut down different forms of student organizing that shed light on the realities of sexual violence on campus, and has worked to co-opt movements on campus by offloading surveying work onto students, and wrapping them up in committees that have no real decision-making authority at the university,” she said.

Baillie sees there being four key elements in

the sexual assault response process that need to be addressed at any university: education, reporting information, complaint processing, and support afterwards. But Baillie also says UFV already fulfills those requirements.

“I think we address all of them with our current policies,” he says. “Depending on what the provincial government came forward with, there’s a very real possibility they could come forward and we could say, ‘We’ve got all of these.’”

Baillie also notes that the Student NonAcademic policy is up for review in December of this year. “We have a new draft of the nonacademic policy that, I think, does some really good things,” he says. “But depending what the province says, we may have to rewrite it.”

Should the province pass Weaver’s bill this year, at UFV a new policy would go to the Board of Governors for approval — currently the goal is for the policy to be in effect for Winter 2017.

For the immediate future, Baillie has been invited to speak on a panel organized by the Yes Means Yes club, which will be held this Friday, April 8, at 2:30 p.m. in the Student Union Building.

With files from Sonja Klotz

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

www.ufvcascade.ca

CULTURE & EVENTS SUS awards night recognizes student involvement on campus EKANKI CHAWLA CONTRIBUTOR

Last Wednesday, the Student Union Society (SUS) held an awards night to honour student volunteers and clubs or associations. While the SUB filled with students, faculty, and members from the community, the lobby buzzed with activity, people helping themselves to the delicious snacks and refreshments served.

The night started off with a welcoming speech from Thomas Davies, SUS’s outgoing president, and Jody Gordon, UFV’s vice president of students. Davies and Gordon said that UFV is anything but “boring,” and proceeded to highlight the numerous events held for students on campus every day.

SUS then recognized all the individuals who had volunteered with SUS throughout the academic year.

For every five hours any student had volunteered with SUS, one ballot was entered into a draw. Prizes included UFV hoodies, $25 gift cards, an Xbox, and even a one-year subscription to Netflix. One student was even lucky enough to be drawn twice and go home with two UFV hoodies.

The event also featured keynote speaker Craig Kielburger, co-founder of Free the Children and Me to We. Kielburger caught everyone’s attention with a short story about Iqbal Masih, the young man who inspired him at the age of 12 to start building schools around the world. Kielburger continued sharing his stories and experiences with other inspirational individuals, from being interviewed by Oprah and her vowing to assist him with his early dream of building 10 schools, to Kielburger’s interactive pencil-breaking story about Gandhi’s lessons of peace. He kept the audience engaged with some light humour and a strong stage presence. Kielburger left students with an increased perspective of the difference they can make.

UFV alumni Kelly Chahal, now an Abbotsford

City councillor and dedicated community volunteer, announced the volunteer of the year award. Of the four nominees (Mohit Bassal, Sahil Chawla, Arash Tamber, and Tanya Vanpraseuth) the plaque was awarded to Sahil Chawla. Chawla was recognized for founding the Circle K International club and his immeasurable hours put towards SUS, clubs, and the UFV campus at large.

The club or association of the year award was presented by Terry-Lynn Stone, a UFV alumni and current executive director of the Kamloops Brain Injury Association. She announced the four nominated clubs: E-Sports Valley, thestudent psychology association, the Arab club and Circle K. The Arab club took home the prize and was recognized for their weekly events where students of all ethnicities and experiences gather to learn about new countries and topics. The Arab club was also the first UFV group to address the Paris attacks of last November, as well as the organizers of a donation drive to support Syrian refugees resettling in the Fraser Valley over the Christmas break.

The excellence in leadership award was announced

by Brian Minter, UFV’s former chancellor, who player a role in the transition of the Fraser Valley College into a degree-granting university college. Minter recognized the three nominees: Heather Campbell, Gurvir Gill, and Heather Kardos. The award recipient was Heather Campbell, the president of the nursing student association (NSA). Campbell spearheaded the nursing orientation for new students.

The night ended with a closing speech from Davies and Sukhi Brar, SUS’s incoming president for 2016-17.

The room quickly emptied out, while a few lined up to catch a few words (and pictures) with Kielburger.

Not everyone in attendance went home with a prize or reward, but everyone hopefully left with an increased motivation to inspire others on campus.

Photo: SUS Facebook

Staying safe and sane during study sessions SONJA KLOTZ THE CASCADE

Ever wonder what people mean about the need to stay healthy during the stressful times towards the end of yet another term? Up until now, I just rolled my eyes when I heard about the value of health and wellness and asked people whether or not they would like to take some of my workload for me if this was so important. Little did I know that my utter exhaustion and lack of healthy eating and exercise would catch up to me.

Two weeks ago I had a slightly embarrassing fall on Monday morning. Two days later I was diagnosed with a minor concussion and was strongly advised to withhold myself from any mentally-stimulating tasks such as reading and writing.

Although I am lucky enough to not have any

Correction

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final exams this semester, I pushed myself to the limit, working much harder on final projects and assignments, which has led to many sleepless nights and some poor eating habits over the course of this semester. But after my enforced brain break, I was able to be more productive and methodical in completing my assignments. I was able to use that time to begin planning how to tackle these last few weeks of gruesome papers and projects.

If you are similar to myself and not the type to eat a mini snack, exercise, or take nap breaks, let me suggest two things that have helped me at this time of the school year.

Often when I study I have to listen to music.

As you have probably heard countless times before, listening to certain genres of music can be more hindering to the study processes than we’d like them to be. That said, if it is something

that really gets you pumped and ready to learn, then I personally think that it is completely fine to listen to whatever helps you focus.

While studies have shown that some types of music can impair your ability to study, those same studies have shown that specific genres are able to help concentration levels.

Video game soundtracks routinely pop up as the most effective form of study music. This is due to the fact that video game soundtracks are purposefully designed to be background noise and not attract attention.

The second thing I cannot stress enough is the value of sleep. Yes, I know some of you may be sighing because of how often students find themselves working into the wee hours of the morning. In all seriousness, however, our brains need breaks. No matter how many things we have going on, it is not worth letting ourselves

stumble through exhaustion and potentially get a concussion from it.

But fatigue is only one of several problems that can arise from a lack of sleep. It can also cause students to fall ill easier, a decrease in hand-eye coordination, greater weight fluctuations, and most concerning of all to a student, impaired cognition, leading to lower grades and poorer academic performances. In the long run, that all-nighter you’re pulling might actually cause more problems than it solves.

I fell because I was exhausted and was just not focusing on what I was doing. Sleep is a powerful drug that can prevent us from experiencing setbacks in our daily lives, no matter how miniscule or major they may be.

In an article titled, “Exhibit conrasts the beauty of nature with the destructive hands of humanity,” two pieces created by Chantelle Fawcett and Megan Naples were misattributed. Fawcett created “Capitalist Tree,” and Naples created “Organic.”

www.ufvcascade.ca

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

CULTURE & EVENTS Holi event celebrates diversity at UFV JOEL ROBERTSON-TAYLOR CONTRIBUTOR

Think of a celebration where everybody is seen as equal, everyone there for the pure enjoyment of the event. All of those people outside the SUB throwing coloured powder at each other last Thursday were doing this as they celebrated Holi, an Indian cultural event that takes place on the full moon day of the Phagun month of the Hindu calendar.

This year, the event began with thrilling dance performances inside the SUB atrium before it moved outside into the welcomingly sunny day’s open air on the SUB’s south side lawn, aka “the dead marshes.”

Fortunately, the ground was mostly dry and perfectly suited to being the scene of the powdered paint tossing — a sort of free-for-all battle of colour to break down cultural and racial barriers, with everyone leaving a winner because they all look the same. The idea is that by throwing the coloured gulal powder at each other, everyone becomes multi-coloured, though uniquely patterned.

This year saw a bigger turnout than previous years, organized collaboratively by the hip hop club, UFV international, UFV India, the Arab club, Oxfam, and featuring music by CIVL Radio. Beyond the colour throwing and the dancing, there was music, food, and henna art. The colour-powder throwing exhibited such an enticing energy that even people walking by, entirely unprepared for the mess, joined in enthusiastically.

Shyna Kandra, one of the event’s organizers said, “When I see so many people from various backgrounds having tons of fun on the day of, it makes all the effort very worthwhile.” The celebration was obviously well enjoyed by everyone who was there.

Photo: Aziz Alfadel

Celebrating One Year of Service!

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Photo: UFV Flickr

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

CULTURE & EVENTS Art on Campus returns for third year in a row GLEN ESS THE CASCADE/PHOTOS

Springtime here at UFV sees the trees blossoming, students spread out on the green, and for the third time, sculptures set around Abbotsford campus.

The project, which runs until April 12, is a means through which sculpture and extended media students exhibit their work. The class, “Sculpture and Extended Media II,” works alongside facilities staff to scout locations on campus, and then develop their artwork to interact with those spaces.

Each of the works is unique, with a large number of different materials being used by the class, from the metalwork in Jesse Klassen’s “Offering” to the bamboo sticks used by Peter Nicholson in his piece, “The formation of galaxies.”

Art on Campus serves to showcase the talents of UFV’s students especially when combined with sunshine, makes the Abbotsford campus much more strange and appealing as students prepare for finals.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

CULTURE & EVENTS

UPCOMING EVENTS APR 8

Speakers panel: Gender based violence 2:30-4:30 p.m. @ SUB

What Ifsters

6:30 @ The Reach

APR 9 APR 11

12th Annual Arty Awards

6:30 p.m. Matsqui Centennial Auditorium

1st annual conference for Summit: UFV Undergraduate Journal of the Arts 12:00 - 4:00 p.m. @SUB

Photo: Lena Yacyshen

APR 12 APR 27

SUS AGM

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. @SUB

Absolute Style 2016 2:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. @SUB

Photo: Kendra Schellenberg

“Don’t Be Afraid” say BFA grads GLEN ESS THE CASCADE

APR 28 APR 28 -MAY 01 APR 29 -MAY 5 APR 29 -MAY 20

BC Heritage Fair at UFV

9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. @Envision Athletic Centre

Emerging Directors Showcase

@Chilliwack North Campus

GDD Grad Show @SUB

BFA Grad Show

@Abbotsford Campus

Every year to mark and celebrate graduation, the bachelor of fine arts (BFA) program develops an exhibition for the work of those graduating students. This year’s exhibition, “Don’t Be Afraid,” will run April 29 through to May 20.

Visual arts professor Grace Tsurumaru’s Senior Studio II class were kind enough to describe some of their works.

Lena Yacyshen: “My project is called “Visions of Arcadia” and it’s a photo series that focuses on how radically different the West Coast electronic music festival scene is, how tight knit it is and how completely different it is from the every day.

There’s a lot more than just the music to it, and that’s what I’m trying to show.”

Qahraman Yusuf: “I am working on a sculpture installation called “Prison Cell” and it’s based on my self experience on being in a prison in Syria in 1992. I was a political activist and I’m trying to bring this topic up in an abstract way.

With Syria at the top of the news I thought it would be maybe something interesting.”

Brad Ott: “The work I’m doing is titled “Contact” and it’s taking a look at the shame that surrounds the queer community, it’s trying to normalize the idea of seeing a same sex couple.”

Photo: Lena Yacyshen

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

www.ufvcascade.ca

CULTURE & EVENTS

New student publication to host conference

Big Bang falls flat GLEN ESS THE CASCADE

UFV’s newest student run publication, Summit, will be hosting what they hope to be the first edition of an annual first conference on April 11. The academic journal caters to students in the humanities and social sciences, and is the first publication here at UFV that recognizes the excellence students display in research and essay writing. According to Valerie Franklin, one of the journal’s organizers and editors, “Currently there’s no way for students to get published or have their academic work recognized at UFV, and I think that’s part of the process of post secondary, having your work recognized for it’s excellence. Especially if you’re going to graduate school.”

Terrill Smith, the other main organizer, notes that publications like Summit are something UFV has previously lacked, especially when compared to other universities. According to Smith, “Most universities do have these sort of things, and a lot of people talk about how UFV lacks in community, and I think that it’s up to students to build it ... this is our contribution to building an academic community.”

Smith also believes that by making publication easier for students to access, the conference will also encourage an academic dialogue between

18

student authors and their peers. “Although students can get their work published, they might have to go to a different city, or a different province, or even country to do that, depending on their subject of study,” he says.

Summit hasn’t required much in the way of funding, and what has been required has been funded by the college of arts. “Other than the actual conference, we haven’t had to spend money on anything too enormous,” Smith says.

The journal will be published online, rather than having a print edition. “At least for this year we’re just publishing online because it’s the pilot year,” he says.

With both Smith and Franklin graduating this year, it remains to be seen if Summit will live up to expectations and becomes an annual publication. Based off of student’s responses, both have high hopes for the journal due to the surprisingly high number of submissions Summit received. “In total we have 20 authors,” Smith says. “We had a much higher turnout than I was expecting.”

The conference will run next Monday in the SUB from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Editor’s Note: both Valerie Franklin and Terrill Smith have contributed to The Cascade.

GLEN ESS THE CASCADE/PHOTOS

For the past five years, the biology and chemistry student association (BCSA) have come to view the “Big Bang” as their flagship event. Last Friday saw the fifth iteration of the Big Bang held in the Student Union Building (SUB).

While the event drew in a crowd that was only slightly smaller than last year’s version, which was held at Aftermath, it felt far smaller due to the vast spaces of the SUB. The event featured a bar and lounge area in the atrium, live music in the central section of the Great Hall, and food service in the Canoe’s lobby. This splitting of the event meant that none of the three spaces featured much in the way of crowds, or atmosphere. As a result, the event felt flat.

All three bands (Coastline Pilots, Marry Me, and the Deadset), as well as student / rapper Josh Goodman, struggled to fill their section with students. With students moving in and out of the hall to get a drink or food, or sitting down and talking with friends, the largest crowd any of the musical acts raised numbered a paltry 20 students. While the music was still audible outside of the Great Hall, it lacked any of the intensity or emotion of a live show.

According to Gagan Mahil, one of the event’s organizers, the event was dogged with problems. “We honestly didn’t know if we had the capacity to throw the Big Bang this year,” he said. “It’s much later in the semester, and we’ve all got term papers, lab finals, and exams to worry about.”

Mahil also stated that while the event felt more sparse, that it was due to the new setting of the SUB. “If we had this number of people in Aftermath [the event’s former location], it would have felt packed,” he said. “We’ve got a lot more space here [in the SUB] and everything’s more spread out. I think next year it’ll be organized much differently.”

With the Big Bang being the latest in a series of larger scale events thrown on campus, it’s clear that student groups are still acclimatizing to the new building. The search is still on for an effective way for students to host large events in the SUB.

www.ufvcascade.ca

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

CULTURE & EVENTS Punk rock comes to the SUB GLEN ESS THE CASCADE/PHOTO

Last Saturday saw the SUB play host to its first punk show.

Following hot on the heels of Friday’s “Big Bang,” which also featured live music. The “I don’t know punk rock show” was organized by Red Tape productions, who have also been responsible for shows at the Church Basement in downtown Abbotsford, as well as CIVL radio and the Pride Collective.

The show featured performances by the Silent Screamers, Nic Fit, REDS, Like Bears, and to close the show, student rapper Josh Goodman.

With the Vancouver-based REDS being the only band from outside the Fraser Valley, the event served as an effective demonstration of the Valley’s punk rock scene.

Openers the Silent Screamers were evocative of metal / punk hybrids such as Discharge and the Misfits.

Nic Fit fell more in line with an earlier form of punk rock, such as Dead Boys and the Ramones. If Nic Fit lead singer Holden Milne had longer hair, he could have passed off as a Joey Ramone impersonator — Milne’s performance was eccentric, over the top, and highly enjoyable.

REDS were similar to Nic Fit, though their experience meant their approach to the show was more restrained, the quartet hardly breaking a sweat through their set.

Like Bears served as an interlude, as they followed the three more aggressive acts. With pop influences and a more happy-go-lucky vibe, the Chilliwack-based band featured an impressive cover of George Michael’s “Careless Whisper.”

The night’s closer, Josh Goodman, an aspiring hip-hop artist, also performed at the previous night’s Big Bang. While his act was very different from the rest of the night’s lineup, it was a reminder of the Valley’s musical diversity.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

www.ufvcascade.ca

ARTS IN REVIEW TV REVIEW

Shuffle AARON LEVY CIVL STATION MANAGER

Aaron Levy writes a shuffle featuring some of Glen Ess' favourite songs!

Breakbot "Baby I'm Yours" A song that's been excellently sampled/covered/mixtaped by Cadence Weapon and Shad on the Tron Legacy Mixtape by two of Canada's most revered and adhered to backpacker rappers.

A true to form Edbanger stable staple, and a French countryman of Daft Punk, just a bit groovier and less electronic.

The National "Start a War" Not a huge fan of this band, as I've so often mentioned in these shuffles, but this song is simple, steady with finger picks and melodic shifts, and ominous language about walking away and being cautious about actions that may or may not start war.

Gregory Pepper ft Noah 23 "House on Wheels" I'll be shocked and appalled if you can find this one on the internet anywhere, because I sure can't! Housed on the second local music compilation we put out when I was in Guelph, Ontario with CFRU, this song's guest spot from Noah 23 really packs a wallop. Glen likes.

The Gypsy Kings "Hotel California" In honour of the not quite as recent but still fairly top of mind loss of The Eagles' Glenn Frey, here's my favorite rendition of the only song most people born after 1995 will know by The Eagles. I'm obviously much more fond of Bamboleo, but beggars can rarely choose.

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CHARTS Jordan Klassen Javelin

1 2

Dodgers Orphans, Fools, and Thieves (single)

3

Striker Stand in the Fire

4

Rococode Panic Attack

5

Suede Night Thoughts

6

The 1975 I Like it When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It

7

Oh Village Ocris

8

Mogwai Atomic

9

Cheap High

10

Picture Disk

Operators Blue Wave

11

New Groovement The Orange Album

12

Atodaso S01 Ep1

13

Basia Bulat Good Advice

14

Amon Amarth Jomsviking

15

Anthrax For All Kings

16

Wolfmother Victorious

17

Tricky Skilled Mechanics

18

Wintersleep The Great Detachment

I want to believe: A non-review of X-Files ALEX RAKE THE CASCADE

I tried. I really did try to binge-watch all of X-Files before watching the new season. I thought I could do it before the semester was over. I thought I was a hero of The Cascade’s Arts in Review section. Today, in this last issue before the summer, I realize that I never got that far, that I am no hero.

I got to season seven, which is a bit before the show apparently went to shit, replacing Agent Mulder and Agent Scully with two other dodos nobody cared about.

I was really excited to get to see those dodos deal with government conspiracies, aliens, and ghosts. My heart breaks that I won’t get to report to you how awful it was.

My heart also breaks that I won’t get to report to you what I thought about the new season, because I haven’t seen it.

So what can I do with this review? Tell you how awesome the first seven seasons of X-Files continue to be? You don’t want to hear that, because that’s what everyone tells you.

It’s true that you’re not going to find another show that so masterfully balances the monster-of-the-week format with its continuous and complex overarching plot. You’re not going to find another show that is so funny, so scary, and so mind-bending all at once. You know this already. Go read some other review if you want to hear more.

There’s nothing I can say except that keeping up with pop culture is difficult. There is so much media begging for attention. “Watch me,” the TV shows say, “Watch me or you’ll never understand what your peers are talking about.” I’ve got work, I’ve got school, I’ve got to sleep once in a while, but if I ignore this voice I am haunted by the possibility of missing out on this generation’s Shakespeare.

I need to stay awake and consume and consume and

consume cultural content.

Even if I know the show doesn’t appeal to me, knowing that the rest of the world has seen it lands me in the category of pop-ignorance; not having seen all of How I Met Your Mother, for example, has made me a tedious member of many conversations. And so not having seen the new X-Files makes me anxious about my social life, as if I now have to avoid talking about the show as a whole in order to not come across as an ignorant poser, even though I sincerely love it. I know this anxiety is stupid because that’s not how I view other people who haven’t seen the entirety of the same shows as me, but the anxiety exists nonetheless.

There must be some way to assuage this anxiety. Some solution, other than actually binge-watching the shows that everyone’s talking about or giving up on media entirely, exists. Maybe we need to find more to talk about in reviews and in social settings than ranking what shows we’ve seen, what books we’ve read, or what games we’ve played. These things say something about life — they aren’t life itself. So I propose that rather than watch a show and tell people to see it ad nauseum, we shoot for a different conversation.

Let’s not talk about how good a show is so much as what the show is trying, even if unintentionally, to tell us. “X-Files” is a true statement, but a better conversation would be that it has a lot to teach about being open to the mysteries of subjective experience and not taking the words of authority at face value. These are ideas anyone can chime in on, so the discussion becomes inclusive rather than an exclusive stream of inside references.

So, watch the show or don’t. It’s amazing, but don’t worry about it either way. If “the truth is out there” like the X-Files title sequence suggests, you’re just as likely to find it living your life normally as you are jamming the entirety of a decade-old TV show into your schedule.

www.ufvcascade.ca

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

ARTS IN REVIEW ALBUM REVIEW

Before A Million Universes is still funny, but it shouldn’t be MARTIN CASTRO THE CASCADE

I’m not crazy about punk. It’s something I enjoy in small, strategically-placed instances in my life. However, Eighteen Hours of Static, Big Ups’ debut record, was one of the most enjoyable punk-influenced projects I’ve listened to.

Mostly because it’s funny. But the thing is, it’s not intentionally humourous.

Take “Justice,” the track that introduced me to Big Ups. There’s a lot of tension present throughout, the bass is choppy, and a guitar line rises and falls continuously — the whole thing increases in tension endlessly. And over top, in as lethargic a tone of voice as anyone could think of, vocalist Brendan Finn drones lines like, “We’re all walking through a no man’s land, but no one understands there’s a war on our hands,” and “Everyone’s so used to being used, that it means nothing on the front page news.”

These are the kind of bored, uncharacteristically lucid, dissatisfied quips The Simpsons’ Nelson Muntz would utter deadpan, staring at the camera, right before pointing at someone’s misfortune and laughing: “Haw-haw.”

And after 30 seconds of this, the instrumental kicks into high gear, and Brendan, instead of half-moaning, starts screaming over and over again: “Everybody says it’s getting better all the time but it’s bad! It’s bad!”

It’s really funny. The unexplained aggressiveness of the simple chorus has a lot of humour to it. Yeah, there’s most likely a commentary behind it, and it’s punk-ish. But really, all we get is a man screaming, at the top of his lungs. “I’m angry! I’m not happy with things! It’s bad! It’s bad!”

A lot of that unintentional playfulness is missing from Before A Million Universes.

Album opener “Contain Myself ” is still as full of the same angst as Eighteen Hours, and the same lackluster repetition of depressive lines is used as pre-chorus material, but the delivery and instrumentals are all quite earnest. Most of Before plays out

like this; seriously.

There’s still humour on the record: tracks like “Capitalized” are a less bleak show of levity, mostly in their arrangement, first all funky bass which is driven on relentlessly by drums, highlighting the angst in the chorus — all screams, all feedback.

The instrumental, which is probably meant as a dig at the uniformity of normal songs comes off as a joke. I initially thought the entire record was just a more musically grounded version of its predecessor, though one in which the oddball lyricism got replaced with a comical amount of angst.

That’s what we get in Before A Million Universes: angst. Even when things are relatively calm, bass is used as a kind of marching band beat, it’s a sign of things to come. We know the track is going to devolve into dissatisfied howls and cacophony, we just don’t know when. The tension is ridiculous. We can barely hear

the vocals in “Posture,” for example, until the chorus rolls around and things start getting yelled at us. We’re either straining to pay attention to the separate components of a track, or can’t escape them. There’s seldom a middle ground.

“Knight” is the most straightforward track, but only because it’s straight punk. Vocals are pretty reminiscent of Sid Vicious.

But halfway through the track, the tempo cuts down to half its original measure, and we’re thrown into the angsty cacophony we’ve become accustomed to. Something’s gonna happen. We brace ourselves, It’s gotta happen.

And then the track just peters out into silence.

It’s a practical joke: we’re being fucked with. Or at least that’s how it seems.

Our expectations are being played with to a comical end that isn’t intended. Throughout the entire record, we’re presented with either total apathy, or angst, anger, and dissatisfaction, and the interplay between the two comes off as a joke: now I’m angry, now I’m sad, now I’m angry, now I’m sad.

On “Knight,” we expect one of the two. We’re building up to something and we’re either going to get really angry or really sad: we’re an emotional teenager storming away from the dinner table, complaining, “I’m just not understood!”

And unfortunately, despite Big Ups’ sincerity in presenting these emotions, the simplified and unexplained manner in which they do so is actually pretty funny.

Before a Million Universes is a weird listening experience, because it’s so earnest in its unquestioning dissatisfaction with literally everything that it becomes comical, and then we’re implicitly asked to sympathize with, or at least appreciate, this giant mess of auditory and lyrical dissatisfaction.

We’re supposed to also get angry, but instead of eliciting anger from me, it got a laugh. It was only after someone pointed out that Big Ups do indeed take themselves seriously and that this record is actually earnest that I realized it wasn’t just a big joke; it’s just really, really angry.

Somehow, it’s still kind of funny.

ANIME REVIEW

Aldnoah Zero has zero originality GLEN ESS THE CASCADE

I’m a simple man, I enjoy watching giant robots beat the crap out of one another, especially if the robots are vaguely grounded in reality. This is a formula that’s been perfected in the Gundam franchise, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Macross. All of these series included semi-realistic robots fighting wars. It’s a staple of the mecha anime genre. But each of those took a unique approach to that basic, simplistic plot line. They were more than rehashed retellings of each other. Unfortunately, Aldnoah Zero fails to be anything other than a proto-typical Mobile Suit Gundam plot.

All the basic elements for the original Mobile Suit Gundam’s plot are in place in Aldnoah Zero: the technologically advanced, aristocratic, yet resource-starved space colonists invading a corrupt, stagnant earth, and in the middle of all this, a high school

student falls into the cockpit of a giant robot and turns out to be a military genius.

While this litany of superficial similarities to Mobile Suit Gundam are present in several other series, from Gundam spin-offs such as Seed, to as other shows like Full Metal Panic! and Macross; it’s most egregious in Aldnoah Zero, which offers practically nothing new to the genre. Right down to characterization: for example, protagonist Inaho Kozukai is just as flat and emotionless as Mobile Suit Gundam’s Amuro Ray, and his rival, traitorous Slayne Troyard, is a cardboard cutout of Char Aznable, just without Char’s iconic mask. The duo constantly feud over a Martian princess, who annoyingly eventually ends up marrying a character introduced in the final arc with no previous foreshadowing.

The only standout feature of Aldnoah Zero is the mecha designs of the Martian military, with no two mecha sharing similarities.

However, even this ends up being a weakness, as no matter how different the machines are, they are all defeated by the protagonist in the same rote fashion: new Martian machine shows up with new abilities, supporting protagonists are beaten mercilessly, Inaho comes up with some plan which references applied physics, puts it into play and wins without a scratch.

After 24 episodes, you’d expect the formula to evolve, but even in the series finale, when you’d expect the status quo to change, it really doesn’t. The audience is still treated to the same unexciting routine. In comparison, the original Gundam series, which Aldnoah Zero models itself after, ends on a thunderous note, with characters dying all over the place and political upheaval. Aldnoah Zero does none of those things. But it does look pretty. Which is a plus.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

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ARTS IN REVIEW

S undBites

Title Thug Young

Kiiara

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Slime Season 3

Young Thug’s latest release, Slime Season 3, sees him refine his already individual style of delivery over eight tracks. Despite the relatively short length of SS3, it’s still plagued by a few tracks that could be considered throwaways, like “Worth It” and album closer “Problem.”

Once we get the fact that Thugger isn’t lyrically at his best on this project out of the way, (although he’s not at his worst — we can at least understand what’s being said), it’s a much easier project to stomach. Opener “With Them” is reflective of both the project’s spacious instrumentation and the kind of lyricism Young Thug brings to the

Mini album reviews

Low Kii Savage table, seeing how the first lines we hear on the entire record are, “She suck on that dick on the plane / and I just called her airhead.”

It’s interesting to note that Young Thug’s at his best on this project when he’s crooning as opposed to straight rapping, although tracks like “Memo” strike a good balance of both: the pre-chorus rapped, while most of the chorus is sung.

Overall, Slime Season 3 gives us a collection of tracks that, while more cohesive than Young Thug’s previous efforts, is still lacking in narrative and lyrical terms. But growth is growth, I suppose.

“Gold,” the first single from 20-year-old Kiiara’s debut, low kii savage, was released in a timely manner. Spliced vocals and reverby percussion and bass complete a minimalist chorus which I wouldn’t be surprised to find, two months from now, has taken up the mantle from tracks like Major Lazer and MØ’s 2015 release, “Lean On” as a breakout summer anthem.

While the rest of low kii savage reflects the millennial trend of sensationalizing oversimplified emotions (See: “Feels,” both the track and the expression), it might not suffer as much as one would think. After all, the record won me over, and I’m critical of releases which are purposely vague or don’t engage with their

Martin Castro

Atomic

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Martin Castro

Sia

Mogwai

Post-rock heavyweights Mogwai have changed a lot since their 1997 debut Mogwai Young Team, and while they haven’t let go of their trademark guitar tremolos, they have heavily incorporated synthesizers into their work. Atomic, originally recorded as the soundtrack to Mark Cousin’s documentary, Atomic: Living in Dread and Promise, builds upon Mogwai’s 2014 release, Rave Tapes, which featured heavy synthesizer use.

Atomic conveys a sense of a gruesome dystopian future, and when compared to the other soundtracks Mogwai has produced, Zidane: a 21st century portrait and Les Revenants, it becomes clear that Atomic is more identifiable as a Mogwai record. Rather than being a side project by the band between records, Atomic feels and sounds like a natural next entry into

audience in ways at least slightly different from the Top 20.

It’s perhaps because the lyrical component of this record is so touched-up, and so lacking of any actual message, that I can easily ignore it and think of Kiiara’s voice more as another instrumental component rather than a lyrical one. And the end product — watery, synthetic, and metallic — is, although not groundbreaking, masterfully executed.

Pop is pop is pop, but at five tracks, low kii savage gives us enough auditory breadth to appreciate it based solely on its aesthetic offerings.

This is Acting their discography.

Atomic’s quiet moments create a more optimistic, ideal vision of the future, particularly in “Are you a dancer” and “Ether.” But when the guitars begin to screech and cymbals crash, it’s a disquieting anxiety that comes to mind: “SCRAM” and “Bitterness Centrifuge” in particular highlight the nerve-wracking unease of an age when nuclear destruction was only the press of a button away.

Whether or not you’re a fan of Mogwai’s earlier work and feel that they’ve lost their way in experimentation, or you approve of their willingness to dive into something new and get lost in it, Atomic will surely be considered amongst their best work.

In today’s pop world, many artists tend to stick to a certain theme and rely on their writers to pen them a smash hit. Despite many songs becoming commercial successes, one might wonder what the compositions that didn’t make the cut sound like.

This is where Sia’s This is Acting comes in.

The singer-songwriter’s album consists of rejected pieces written for today’s top artists: from Rihanna, to Adele, or even Katy Perry.

Don’t be discouraged by the somewhat harsh description of the album though. This is Acting is far from sounding like unpolished studio sessions or early demos. Sia’s diverse

vocal talents are evident throughout the album; each song sounds drastically different from the one before it, and Sia herself sounds like she’s singing from different perspectives. Even though she is attempting to embody the sound of different artists, her personality still shines through each song, and makes it her own. The amount of talent it takes to switch between different styles is insane, and Sia makes it seem effortless on her part. She turns each song into a diamond in the rough, and who knows? Maybe some artists are wishing they didn’t reject her masterpieces.

Michael Chutskoff

Glen Ess

www.ufvcascade.ca

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016

ARTS IN REVIEW ALBUM REVIEW

Charles Bradley continues to impress with Changes GLEN ESS THE CASCADE

Charles Bradley is the definition of a late bloomer, releasing his first album, No Time For Dreaming, in 2011 at the age of 63. Now, 30 years after he started singing in New York City clubs as a James Brown impersonator under the name of “Black Velvet,” Bradley releases his third album: Changes.

While the past five years have seen the 67-year-old grow into one of the leading characters in the soul revival — alongside the likes of Lee Fields and Sharon Jones — Changes sees Bradley more comfortable and at ease than at any point across his previous two releases. There really isn’t anything new or innovative happening across Changes — as an album it’s very much in line with the rest of Daptone Records’ catalogue: soul and R&B music that you can picture being played during the ‘60s.

Part of this is due to the stellar work of Bradley’s backing band, the Menahan Street Band, who serve as the Daptone’s house band. Featuring powerful bass lines, and guitar chords on the upbeat, coupled with wailing horn work, you can almost picture the band writing the soundtracks to blaxploitation films like Shaft and Super Fly. The Menahan Street Band lay the foundations, and it’s due to these foundations that Bradley’s unique flourishes can come to the fore. With his ragged voice and occasional James Brown-esque exclamations, Bradley

takes the listener on a journey through Changes, from the loss and longing of the album’s title track, to the sermonlike “Change for the World” in which he admonishes humanity for its abuse of the planet, and preaches for the next generation to take more care of it. Particularly interesting is “Things We Do For Love,” as it, unlike the vast majority of Bradley’s work, isn’t as comparable to the works of James Brown or Al Green. Instead it’s more along the lines of a Mungo Jerry song, if Ray Dorset, Mungo Jerry’s lead singer, had a voice that sounded like glass shards mixed with whipped cream instead of his smooth, softer voice.

Whether or not Bradley is adding anything new to the musical world, or simply retreading the musical paths followed by the soul musicians of a bygone era, it’s clear now that there is a growing revival of the soul music community. Instead of Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding, we have Sharon Jones and Lee Fields; instead of a young Isaac Hayes, we have Leon Bridges. And this isn’t a slight on these current artists, they are all talented musicians, but it is clear that their style of music is, at its heart, a repetition of past works. There is no innovation, no building off of these past works, unlike the likes of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Mariah Carey, who took soul music and from it, crafted the R&B of the ‘80s.

Bradley’s music is an extended ode to the works of James Brown, Al Green, and Otis Redding. But while it may not be original, or cutting edge, Changes continues to solidify Bradley as a bona fide star.

ALBUM REVIEW

Zayn Malik grows on Mind of Mine TANYA VANPRASEUTH THE CASCADE

Zayn Malik, former member of popular music group One Direction, released his debut album Mind of Mine last month. At first I, and many other people, were skeptical of Zayn venturing out on his own as a solo artist. Fans weren’t used to the image of Zayn separate from One Direction.

However, single "Pillowtalk" gained a lot of popularity and established Zayn as a solo artist.

"Pillowtalk" is one of those songs overplayed on the radio and definitely meant to be a "pop" single with catchy, repetitive lyrics and a good beat in the background. It’s a single that, even though you know it’s repetitive and slightly similar to rest of the songs on the radio, you can’t help but turn up when it comes on.

"Pillowtalk" definitely gave Zayn a different image from his One Direction days. One Direction singles like "What Makes You Beautiful" and "Night Changes" are also catchy pop songs just like “Pillowtalk.” But Zayn’s single has a much more mature, edgy sound with heavier beats that are definitely targeted towards an older audience whereas One Direction's singles

had a simpler sound targeted towards a younger audience.

Many of Zayn’s lyricis focus on love and relationships. However, not all of his songs are simply upbeat pop music with meaningless lyrics that some pop singles contain. Songs like “Truth” show more emotion. “Don’t know how many times / I’ve had to say this to you / This ain’t my scene,” he sings. “This wasn’t my dream / It was all yours / All of course / I got caught up in this game,” showing a certain depth to him that wasn’t as visible while he was in One Direction.

It is definitely interesting to see an artist who was once part of a group venturing out on their own. Mind Of Mine may not be the most amazing album out there right now, but it is certainly an album with great songs and has a lot of potential to build Zayn’s career as a solo artist. In my opinion, it’s a good album that differentiates him from One Direction and I have a feeling that Zayn won’t be one of those artists that leave a group and drop off the map. In all honesty, I might even like him better now as a solo artist than I did while he was in One Direction because now, with his individual music, we can understand Zayn more as an artist.

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Photo: Mitch Huttema