MARCH 30, 2022
VOLUME 30 ISSUE 06
Overworked and underpaid since 1993
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Slave Day: school spirit days gone wrong 5
UPCOMING TWO PER CENT TUITION INCREASE
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ZAIRA RAMIREZ LUIS
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SHORT DOCUMENTARY OSCAR NODS
VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
Copy Editor Maecyn Klassen maecyn@ufvcascade.ca
News Editor Rachel Tait rachel@ufvcascade.ca
Features Editor Andrea Sadowski andrea@ufvcascade.ca
Digital Media Manager Jeff Mijo-Burch jeff@ufvcascade.ca Photographer Laura Ayres Production Assistant Aayush Bhatia Staff Writer Allison Holcik Staff Writer Anisa Quintyne Distributor Gurtaj Dhami
Sports Editor Teryn Midzain teryn@ufvcascade.ca Arts in Review Editor Danaye Reinhardt Danaye@ufvcascade.ca Production Assistant Niusha Naderi Illustrator Iryna Presley
Illustrator Lindsey Roberts
CONTRIBUTORS Lauren Blakemore Caleb Campbell Chandy Dancey Olivia Daniel
WWW.UFVCASCADE.CA
@UFVCASCADE FACEBOOK.COM/UFVCASCADE INSTAGRAM.COM/UFVCASCADE Volume 30 · Issue 06 Room S2111 33844 King Road Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 604.854.4529
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 other Wednesday with a print circulation of 800 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. Pitch meetings will be digital for the remainder of the semester. Please email managing@ufvcascade.ca to be put on the assignment email list. 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 200 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. The Cascade is published on the traditional, unceded territory of the Stó:lō peoples. We are grateful to be able to work and learn on this beautiful land.
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Illustrator Brielle Quon
The Shuffler Aaron Levy
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Opinion Editor Kait Thompson kait@ufvcascade.ca
ARTS
Culture & Events Editor Steve Hartwig steve@ufvcascade.ca
OPINION
Production Manager Elyssa English elyssa@ufvcascade.ca
CONTENTS NEWS
Creative Director Elyssa English elyssa@ufvcascade.ca
FEATURE
Business Manager Tarini Sandhu tarini@ufvcascade.ca
Managing Editor Sydney Marchand sydney@ufvcascade.ca
CULTURE
Executive Editor Andrea Sadowski andrea@ufvcascade.ca
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12 Snapshots.......8
17.......Study Break
NEWS UFV mask policy changes......3 March Senate Recap......5
4...... Professor Profile 5......Humanitarian aid scholarship
OPINION Editorial.......6
6.......Rising gas prices
Sex and Relationships.......7 CULTURE Zaira Ramirez Luis......12
13....... Cascade Kitchen
Benefits of swimming.......14
13....... Campus Fashion
Divining Helios.......14 SPORTS 15....... Athlete Q&A
Varsity recap......15
16....... F1 Recap
Replacing Michael Masi......16 ARTS Turning Red......18 Documentary Shorts Oscar Nods .....19
19......Chatting with Danielle Ryan
VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
news@ufvcascade.ca News Editor — Rachel Tait
NEWS
UFV //
Masks are no longer mandatory to wear while attending UFV campuses Restrictions lift as masks are no longer a requirement at UFV RACHEL TAIT On Mar. 11, 2022, UFV made it optional for students, faculty, and staff to wear masks on campus. Until then, it was mandatory for everyone attending UFV in-person to wear masks due to the continual presence of COVID-19. According to an interview with the director of communications, Dave Pinton, UFV decided to make masks no longer mandatory in response to Dr. Bonnie Henry’s repeal of B.C.’s face mask mandate on Mar. 11. Pinton said, “As the university has done throughout the pandemic, and with consultation with several internal departments, UFV followed the direction and recommendations of the Public Health Officer (PHO) and implemented this order. The first day of the new order was Friday, Mar. 11. following the order and leaving masks as a personal choice allowed those who wanted to wear a mask that option. “It is important to note the mask decision, and others concerning the health and safety of the UFV community, are not
the sole responsibility of one individual, nor one department,” said Pinton. “Committees that are concerned and connected with student health, safety, and support; business continuity; academic continuity; facilities and maintenance; and other key and related portfolios are consulted and directly involved in these important decisions.” According to Pinton, “UFV has trusted and acted on the advice of educated and experienced public health officials and scientists when implementing our pandemic measures with the constant goal of protecting students, faculty, and staff while allowing education to continue” When asked about any additional safety precautions that are being taken by the institute to ensure public safety for students, faculty and staff, Pinton said that “While many of the layers of health measures have been repealed by the PHO, some are still in effect; UFV continues to follow these current orders.” Pinton further explained that “over the course of the last two years, UFV has implemented the layers of health measures recommended by the PHO, the Ministry
of Advanced Education and Skills Training, and WorkSafe B.C.. These measures have included ensuring ventilation meets ASHRAE (the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
"While many of the layers of health measures have been repealed by the PHO, some are still in effect, UFV continues to follow these current orders." Engineers) standards; installing plexiglass barriers; adhering to all required COVID cleaning protocols; following physical distancing guidelines and capac-
ity limitations; installing additional hand sanitizing stations; wearing masks (when mandated); following vaccination card requirements in prescribed areas; promoting vaccination; delaying in-person classes; and, of course, moving to remote learning when required by the PHO.” When asked about services and supports available for those uncomfortable with this change, Pinton said that “student services are always ready to assist students who may be facing difficulty or a crisis at UFV. UFV employees should consult with their supervisors if they are not comfortable with the mask mandate.” “If Fraser Health or the PHO informs UFV that case numbers are rising,” said Pinton. “Then UFV will follow the appropriate and science-based direction from these health experts. The university has demonstrated our ability to move quickly in enacting measures that will help prevent the spread of the virus.” “As we have done many times since 2020,” said Pinton, “UFV is prepared to act quickly should that be deemed necessary by provincial health authorities.”
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VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
NEWS
NEWS BRIEFS
Record-breaking heat waves in Antarctica and the Arctic This past week, both Antarctica and the Arctic were hit with massive heat waves that increased the average temperature for this time of year by 40°C and 30°C. Scientists say that these events are “unprecedented,” as the two poles typically experience different seasons than one another, and that these extreme weather events are therefore strong signs of climate change. While both poles experience fluctuation in temperature throughout the year, the current temperatures are very unusual for the current seasons and have since broken temperature records. - Sydney Marchand
ICBC customers set to receive a rebate to offset high gas prices The B.C. provincial government announced that ICBC will be providing drivers with a one-time relief rebate in response to the recent surge in gas prices due to the conflicts in Ukraine. ICBC drivers with basic auto coverage will be eligible for a $110 rebate, while commercial ICBC drivers will be able to receive $165. The rebate is estimated to pay out $395 million dollars provincewide. Eligible drivers will not have to apply for the rebate but should expect to receive their payments between May and June. - Sydney Marchand
Column //
Professor Profile: Eric Spalding talks new projects while on sabbatical Communications professor Eric Spalding gives insight to new projects while on sabbatical RACHEL TAIT Professor Eric Spalding is an associate professor in the School of Culture, Media, and Society at UFV. He is currently on a year-long sabbatical working on various projects and will be returning in the Fall 2022 semester. He has been at UFV for 28 years and holds a doctorate in communications. He began his journey in 1994 as a part-time instructor before becoming a full-time faculty member in 1998. He recently agreed to sit down with The Cascade to discuss his current projects. Since you are on sabbatical, are there any projects that you are currently working on that you're passionate and excited about? The sabbatical is a real perk of this job and I must say that I consider myself fortunate to have this job where I get to talk about in class the things that I'm most interested in. With regards to the sabbatical, indeed, this is my third sabbatical. I think it's every eighth year that you can apply to get a sabbatical. And in return for getting the sabbatical year off, in this case, you promise to to accomplish certain tasks. And so, I promised that I would write two articles; they're both going to be on popular music with a Canadian focus. I'm [also] a guest editor for Scholarly and Research Communication for a special issue. That's going to be about communicating scholarly knowledge through online videos. I’ve been doing a lot of copy editing and translation work for the Canadian Journal of Communications, and I've been doing this since the 1990s. I do all the copyediting for the French language submissions, and that's many of the abstracts for the journal. I'd like to brag that I'm the only author who's had fresh material in every issue of the Canadian Journal of Communication since the 1990s — almost every issue. I am a certified member of the Society of Translators and Interpreters of British Columbia, and I have been since the 1990s. I've done a lot of translation work over the past 25 years. Are there any projects directly connected to UFV that you can talk about? Nicola Mooney is an Anthropology instructor in my department, and we are
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Photo courtesy of Eric Spalding
planning to team teach a course this fall for the first time on Punjabi popular culture. I feel that she's really the person who's got the in-depth long-term exposure to Punjabi popular culture. I consider myself more of a fan and perhaps playing more of a supporting role towards what she's doing. It's going to be quite exciting. And I'm going to try to immerse myself even more in Punjabi popular culture in the forthcoming months to prepare for this course.
over again, in the sense that I can develop my confidence about the material over a long period of time and make micro-adjustments to every course I teach as I teach them, based upon what seems to work and what seems to not work. My confidence level increases with these five courses, because I can anticipate the types of questions that students will ask. And over time, I feel more and more prepared to answer those questions.
How did you both decide to collaborate on this project?
When you return from sabbatical, what do you hope to accomplish at UFV?
Nicola Mooney knows that I've cultivated an interest in Punjabi popular culture for going on ten years now. We talked about it and she thought it might be a good idea to get me to collaborate with her on developing this course because it's going to be an ANTH / MACS course, and it's a way to bridge our two areas of knowledge: the anthropological perspective of exploring Punjabi culture and the [media and communications studies] perspective, which I'll bring. [It will focus on] some of the underlying theories that we can apply to popular culture as it is made by and for Punjabi individuals. Are there any other classes that you'd like to continue again, or create? Well, I have my five classes that I like to teach and I'm used to teaching all of them for at least ten years now. I really like to teach the same classes over and
My personal focus is always the courses that I teach. To be honest, everything else that I do for UFV is a subsidiary or supportive of teaching my courses. What I hope to accomplish during my sabbatical is tinkering with my courses and trying to update them. Now that I have a bit of free time, for instance, there is a new fourth edition of the journalism textbook for MACS 235 [Introduction to Journalism in Canada] and I've gone through all my PowerPoints to adapt them to the changes in the fourth edition. I hope that when I start in September, I'm ready to teach with updated course material and I can focus on trying to do my best as an instructor in those courses. This interview was edited for clarity and length
VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
NEWS UFV //
March Senate Recap: Two per cent tuition increase and proposed certificate in Halq’eméylem presented to Senate ANDREA SADOWSKI Senate is the academic governing body of UFV, with the university president and vicechancellor Joanne MacLean as the chair. They are responsible for making decisions on everything academic, including: approving new courses and programs, approving changes to programs, and setting entrance requirements and the academic calendar. The Board of Governors, which looks at the business side of the university, is advised by Senate on matters of mutual interest. All at the university are welcome to attend Senate’s public meetings, held once a month. Senate makes decisions that impact the daily lives of both students and faculty. This article will recap the main agenda items of the hybrid Senate meeting on Friday, March 18, 2022. The main item on the agenda for March’s Senate meeting was the 2022-23 draft consolidated budget presentation made by
chief financial officer Jackie Hogan. A point of interest for students in this budget presentation was the two per cent tuition fee increase for both domestic and international students. Notice of this fee increase, however, is not on the publicly accessible budget draft linked in the Senate’s meeting minutes. This tuition inflation aligns with a recent UBC Board of Governors agenda item that announced a two per cent increase in their tuition fees as well. Student fees account for UFV’s largest source of revenue, making up 46 per cent of the budget, with government operating grants following closely behind at 42 per cent of UFV’s revenues. Since the start of COVID-19, UFV’s international student enrollment rate has dropped. However, this budget optimistically anticipates these enrollment rates will begin to increase again as restrictions begin to relax. International student tuition and
fees make up about 21 per cent of UFV’s revenue. Salaries and benefits of staff and faculty account for UFV’s largest expense at 73 per cent of all expenditures at $116.95 million, with 29 new positions added into the 202223 budget. Some of these positions reflect UFV’s budget priority of “Indigenization and Reconciliation,” with one new support position within the Indigenous Affairs office, a faculty position to support the newly proposed graduate certificate and diploma in Halq’eméylem, and one other “Indigenous hire” in science. Some other positions that were added in this new budget are: a new faculty position in Social Justice and Global Stewardship, a director in the Centre for Environmental Sustainability, a director of student academic support, another practicum coordinator, and a tenure promotion advisor and faculty mentor. In her presidential report, Joanne Ma-
cLean announced this to be a “historical” day in Senate, as the proposed graduate certificate and graduate diploma in Halq’eméylem was presented during the in-camera portion of the meeting. “I think of it as a really noteworthy day in that this is UFV stepping up in our opportunities to be a part of engaging Indigenous language instruction and preservation,” said MacLean. This part-time program’s purpose is to preserve and revitalize this endangered language that currently only has one fluent speaker left. There is already an intermediate proficiency certificate in Halq’eméylem offered at UFV, but this certificate was created after seeing a need for learners to advance their proficiency in the Upriver Halq’eméylem language, and seeing a growing demand for learning this language, as HALQ 101 and HALQ 102 had waitlisted students for the first time in winter 2021.
UFV //
UFV funds new humanitarian aid program ALLISON HOLCIK UFV International has proposed a pilot initiative to assist students fleeing humanitarian crises around the world. The International Emergency Fund, (IEF), is designed to help refugees learn in a safe environment where they can focus on their education, instead of trying to survive in their war-torn countries. The IEF will provide two select students with the opportunity to study at UFV by covering the cost of their tuition and housing as well as their relocation to the Fraser Valley for two years. This funding will foster further inclusion, compassion, and understanding to the struggles of those fleeing from humanitarian crises in their home countries. UFV International associate vice president, David McGuire, said that the IEF has been proposed for a two year trial run which, if successful, could turn into a continued scholarship. UFV’s IEF was inspired by the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) Student Refugee Program, which seeks to support refugees in continuing their education. WUSC is a student-led committee that sponsors two refugee students a year during their first year in Canada, providing them with financial support and assistance in getting integrated into the
community. This program is funded mostly in part by the $2 levy every student pays in their student fees each semester. According to a UFV International representative, any humanitarian crisis refugee could be eligible for the IEF, with funding determined on a case-by-case basis. The goal of this funding, which will be the first UFV International scholarship focused solely on humanitarian aid, is to “help those whose health and safety are being jeopardized in areas of conflict and catastrophe.” Currently the IEF is in its pilot stages, with more information to come in the next few months. UFV International has partnered with many programs and departments across campus, including the Office of the Registrar, the University Advancement team, and Student Services to bring the IEF to life. Their focus right now is determining the criteria of eligibility for refugees and developing the policies that accompany a scholarship. So far, UFV International has worked to access the necessary funding for the program, which they hope will support two students for two years. Next, they are looking to connect with students who need this sort of support. This will happen through international consulates, who will be contacted in the next few weeks by the university.
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VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
OPINION
opinion@ufvcascade.ca Kait Thompson — Opinion Editor
Editorial //
Channeling your climate rage into action But that action doesn’t necessarily mean making pretty protest signs ANDREA SADOWSKI I suffer from an overwhelming amount of climate dread, rage, and anxiety on a daily basis. This negative energy has caused me to not want children out of fear of the world they are going to be born into, it has me feeling shame over every purchase that contains plastic or endangers some species’ habitat, and has left me with a feeling of hopelessness over the state of the world that I cannot shake. If you are keeping up to date with the more and more fearinducing reports the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is releasing, you may have the same thoughts as I do. Their sixth assessment report was released at the end of February. According to Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC, “This report is a dire warning about the consequences of inaction.” The report makes
clear that those “people and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit.” The planet is locked in for a guaranteed 1.5° increase over the next two decades, which will cause severe and irreversible impacts to society. So, now that you know that we’re basically screwed, what is there to do? I suggest, instead of drawing creative protest signs that will inevitably be thrown out later, or getting angry with strangers over social media, or limiting your diet to solely food you foraged or grew yourself, you spend time with the earth we are slowly but surely killing. Spending time in nature, really absorbing Mother Earth’s energy, will reduce a lot of the stress and anger you feel over these climate reports, and you’ll leave the experience more inspired to keep fighting for her. Multiple studies have shown that spending time in forests and within nature helps reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and
boost our immune systems. Spending time in nature can help you focus better and improve your directed-attention, can heighten your self-esteem and improve your mood, and even reduce your cortisol and blood glucose levels. It has even been shown that just a view of a natural setting can help post-operative hospital patients recover faster than if their view contained just urban infrastructure. There are so many ways to interact with the great outdoors, be it hiking up a mountain and taking in the entire landscape or honing in on the details by learning tree or mushroom identification; just find something that you can get lost in. Once we learn to appreciate, love, and draw our inner peace from nature, we will go above and beyond to help protect it. Our sixth iteration of The Zine will be up for grabs on Apr. 13, and its content is centered around climate change. It has been a joy to curate this Zine and pore
over all the beautiful submissions from contributors who are largely brand-new to The Cascade. It will cover a wide range of climate topics from protecting old growth forests to saving coral reefs to salmon conservation through the mediums of visual art, journalism, and creative writing. It is meant to not just educate readers about the effects of climate change in the Fraser Valley, but to help them appreciate the beautifully healing aspects of nature that we will be devoid of if the global powers continue their “exponential growth.” It is meant to inspire an awe that provokes readers to make a change. Pick up a copy of The Zine when it hits newsstands on April 13, and take some much needed time away from your computer screen today to be healed by the comforting embrace of Mother Nature.
World //
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its economic impact on skyrocketing gas prices Gas prices make an indent in Canadian history ANISA QUINTYNE There are certain truths about the world we can’t really deny: water is wet, the sky is blue, and gas prices remain a dent in every car owner’s wallet. By far, our province is probably the unluckiest when it comes to rising gas prices. B.C. isn’t the only province that has fallen victim to the absurdly high inflation rates—Newfoundland, the Northwest Territories, and Quebec have taken the hit as well, with B.C. reigning supreme as the most expensive province for gas prices across the entire country, leveraging at about 194.2 cents per litre to date. It’s taken a toll on Canadians for the worse, with some residents forced to adjust the budgets of their living expenses at the demands of this record-high gas increase. There is an eerily dystopian attitude to the situation in having to ration
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your spending for the day once confronted with the choice: should I pay for gas or for food? Do I risk not making it to work tomorrow, or do I have to skip out on lunch for another day? This is a reality for many Canadians working paycheque-to-paycheque, barely making ends meet with the necessities they need to live. No one should confront the painstaking decision of whether their hunger should go unchecked another night. But as gas prices increase daily by the dollar, Canadians are forced to deal with this reality head-on. So, how have we reached this point? Why is gasoline so expensive? Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hasn’t just impacted the political climate in Europe. While the war continues to devastate millions of homes, displacing families and taking over 1,000 civilian lives, its echo has ricocheted across the earth while proving just how damaging these events can actu-
ally be. Geopolitical tensions have caused a ripple in the world’s international supply chains, with Canada imposing heavyset sanctions on Russian oil. Not only do these penalties influence the rising number plastered on gas stations, but with Canada’s ban on any form of trade with Russian fossil fuels — the nation known for producing 11 per cent of the worlds total crude oil — there’s no surprise that prices go up and astonishingly up. In fact, the worldwide effects are irreversibly harmful. Russia makes up about 7 per cent of the world’s global supply chain in crude oil, having honed 40 per cent of Europes’ gas under their provision. It’s like poisoning a water well and wondering why the nearby village is so sick the following day. With claims that these intense oil sanctions are not actually harming Russia, but instead serving as a meaningless punishment for their rampant aggression, Russia
will maintain its conflict with Ukraine as the nation decimates any worldwide relations with the west that it once had. The increase in gas prices isn’t the only inflation to come from this conflict, however; a global food crisis is being felt throughout the world as well. Russia and Ukraine are responsible for maintaining a combined 12 per cent of the world's caloric intake in wheat, barley, and other agricultural goods. This won’t be the end for some time, or the last we hear from our national economy fruitlessly adjusting to geopolitical disputes overseas. An increase in gas prices is one of the many, smaller consequences resulting from the RussianUkraine conflict. The repercussions of war are chaotic as they are inevitable, and we can only hope that the world doesn’t catch fire under its weight.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
OPINION Column //
Sex & Relationships: Love bombing When love comes too fast, it’s not love, it’s emotional manipulation ANDREA SADOWSKI I have been known to declare my love for someone mere hours after our first kiss. It’s a toxic trait of mine to confuse those initial “butterflies” with love, when in fact it’s just a rush of serotonin and dopamine that our brains release when we are initially getting to know someone. It’s something that I am learning to grow out of as I try to take my time in relationships, knowing from experience that relationships that usually start out with intense heat and passion quickly erupt into flames shortly after. Recently, I had a boy declare his love for me after knowing him for a mere three days. I was initially shocked when this boy told me he loved me, and obviously spouted out the only response that I could think of at the moment, which was “I love you too.” This boy sent me cute “good morning” texts, asked to see me everyday, constantly gushed words of affirmation over me, only to break up with me just ten days later over text because I wouldn’t give him blow jobs on-demand. Love bombing is a very common tactic used by narcisscists in a relationship to gain control over their partner in order to manipulate them. In Portuguese and Spanish there is a word for when you are trying to win someone over: “conquistar.” Directly translated, it means “to conquer.” Showering your would-be partner with kind words, gifts, affection, and more can help someone conquer their love interest. Once their partner has been won over and has declared their love in return, they be-
gin to see subtle shifts in the person who once showered them with affection and start noticing their more abusive and manipulative tendencies. The main way to tell whether or not someone is love bombing you or actually loves you, I think, is simply the amount of time you have known each other for. To quote the book I’m reading for my anthropology class, Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God by Jonah Blank, “real love, the kind that lasts, does not burst out uncontrollably, like weeds in a garden. It develops quietly, over many years.” Yes, this boy exemplified everything I wanted in a relationship: the cute texts, constantly saying how beautiful I am, always making time for me in an effort to make me feel loved and adored. But these all came drastically sooner than the healthy amount of time it takes to develop these patterns. The boy told me we were “twin flames” mere days after knowing me and made me delete the app we met each other on together. I became completely enraptured by him. I spent every day with him for two weeks straight, ignoring my own needs in order to serve him by doing things like cleaning his insanely dirty kitchen or buying him bedsheets because the boy was sleeping on — I kid you not — a naked mattress. This is where this behavior can turn into emotional abuse and psychological manipulation. The excessive amount of love you are receiving makes you believe that you need to reciprocate this love in return by doing favors for the partner who you believe is so insanely in love with you, often at the expense of your own wellbeing.
Illustration by Brielle Quon
The relationship ended as quickly as it started, and that is usually how it goes with love bombers. Once they’ve gained control over you, the abuse and gaslighting will heighten. If you are still refusing to fulfill certain “needs” of theirs even after they have tricked you into loving them, they will try to take control back by ending things as swiftly and cruelly as they can. In my case, it was over a long, unintelligible text message that said things like “it’s not my fault I want a satisfying blow job … I need a girl that's a freak.” While it was devastating to come to the
realization that this boy was not in fact my “twin flame,” but rather a narcissistic manipulator (something I should've already realized given that he called himself a “shaman” and a “sage”), it was clear that I dodged a bullet. If you personally identify with any portion of this article and think that perhaps your new partner’s deep infatuation with you could be more insidious than just those blissful honeymoonfeels, I have just one word of advice for you: run.
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BRIEF BITS OF BITE-SIZED BREVITY
SN S AP HO TS
CURTAILED COMMENTARY ON CURRENT CONDITIONS
Illustrations by Iryna Presley
Soundtracks do wonders for concentration My breakup with coffee A few years ago I did what most people would describe as insanity: I gave up coffee. Yes, I went from drinking six cups a day to deciding to completely cut it out of my diet; cold-turkey, all-or-nothing, throw-all-my-chips-on-the-table, I just cut it out. I’ll be the first to admit that there is nothing better than that first sip of coffee right in the morning. The sudden jolt of life that hits your system after a fresh cup of joe is simply incomparable to water or any other kind of morning beverage. And although I credit my love affair with a dark roast with a splash of oat milk for getting me through my many procrastinated assignments, deep down I knew it
was causing me more harm than good. I could almost predict how many caffeine-induced panic attacks I would have each week and how many nights I would lie awake at night unable to sleep because I was too anxious about tomorrow’s todo list. My hands were constantly shaking, my stomach was an acidic mess — and yet, at times, it felt like my saving grace. So don’t call me crazy for giving up this glorified beverage. Sure, some people might be seemingly fine with consuming copious amounts of caffeine, but I was not one of those lucky few. For now, I’ll stick to decaf.
Whenever I sit at my desk, I find that video game soundtracks help me concentrate. It started a few years ago. My first introduction to this recursive little process was sometime at night. I was struggling to finish an essay, and I just remembered hearing somewhere that Nintendo music increases your focus, because, well, that’s the whole technique to beating a game: the music is meant to help you focus. So I went to look for a Mario Kart playlist. It was funny at first; I didn’t really take it seriously. Who knows? Coconut Mall hits different past 12:00 a.m. What I do remember is suddenly
being more immersed in my homework than usual. Right now, I’ve fallen into a nostalgia-shaped hole listening to the Minecraft soundtrack on repeat. It’s taken up most of my music now. I won’t be surprised if my Spotify Wrapped at the end of this year is composed entirely by C418 and Lena Raine. It’s just so good. If you’re struggling to focus on a project or an assignment, or struggling to fall asleep, the Animal Crossing soundtrack does wonders as well.
Anisa Quintyne
Sydney Marchand
The Huntress Read in a David Attenborough voice and narration
Time for you to go back to the places you will be from I’m moving this week, and the experience is bringing up a lot of unexpected, complicated emotions. Stress is huge, of course; I spent four hours on Friday just packing up my books with my mom, who must have been a Tetris champion in another life. While it’s a relief to be started on the massive process of packing up my tchotchke-stuffed room, I’m really starting to worry about storage in the tiny suite I’ll be moving into. I’m also moving back to my hometown, which I swore I’d never do, so there’s a sense of being drawn back into a spiral to nowhere that I really have to work on fighting. Even
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though I’m absolutely thrilled beyond belief to be moving out on my own for the first time, I’m already mourning the loss of my easy, laughter-filled social life; my roommate’s staying in Abbotsford, and I know I’ll miss our evenings together more than I can possibly fathom. This move is a good thing, I know, and it’s exactly what I’ve been dreaming about since I was first entering adulthood, but I never expected it to pull my feelings in as many different directions as it has.
Maecyn Klassen
It’s a Friday night and The Huntress, a calico cat, has been fed all three of her daily meals of highly particular wet cat food, but the scent of a pepperoni and mushroom pizza that the humans of the house bought is much more pleasing to The Huntress. She descends from her favourite window sill, tired of her evening neighbourly watch, and begins her hunt. The humans sit on their couch, plates in hand, and watch the rectangular moving picture that shows her favourite murder mystery and distracts the humans from her prowling around the large table in the center of the room. An opportunity arises as one of the humans in a blue removable layer of
fur places his meal dish on the table and relaxes. They are unaware that The Huntress, with her expertise in stealth, has used her tri-coloured coat to blend into the quilt strewn over the sofa’s seat. She waits for the perfect timing, gliding like water over the quilt, onto the smooth surface of the table, and strikes. A human hand comes out and bats The Huntress away. “Mosey, fuck off,” it says, and takes the pizza away. Foiled, The Huntress chastises in a series of annoying high-pitched, judgmental and angry calls that the humans are too primitive to understand. No longer amused and hungry, the Huntress stalks off to find the human’s cleanest stack of laundry to sleep in.
Teryn Midzain
VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
Feature //
Slave Days: school spirit days gone wrong The Fraser Valley’s dark history of imitating slavery as a form of entertainment By Olivia Daniel
Slaves Days in Chilliwack during the 1950s and 1960s
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wice a year, Chilliwack teens and teachers would partake in a school spirit day known as “Slave Day.” On the first day, boys got to own a fellow girl student. The next day, girls would be the fictitious slave owners. Teachers arranged imaginary slave auctions, where students would be “sold off” to do domestic chores and humiliating acts, which caused unnecessary harm to the pupils. The students and staff that wrote their weekly school summaries for The Chilliwack Progress were hyperaware of the disturbing nature of the festival, yet they did it anyway. These rituals occurred during and long after the civil rights movement, so how did the Fraser Valley not get the memo? Did they not learn nor care about the intergenerational trauma of Black people and Indigenous people across the globe? For several decades, Chilliwack Senior High School (CSHS), Sardis Senior Secondary, and other small schools seemed to be stuck in a bigoted timewarp. I discovered the following newspaper clippings in a history course, Local History for the Web (HIST 440). The only parameter I was given by the professor was that the final paper must be related to the history of education and schools in the Fraser Valley. Amidst the early period of COVID-19, I began to search the local digital archives. Since I had just finished my essay “Underneath or Covered in Soot: The Ku Klux Klan and Ritualized Racism in Abbotsford during the 1920s,” I was determined to uncover more hidden histories of hate. I did not expect to find a multitude of newspaper clippings of children pretending to be slaves. Many readers may find the historical descriptions below uncomfortable. Historians like Cheryl Thompson and Emilie Jabouin insist institutions across the nation must uncover evidence of racism to dismantle historically rooted prejudices. As a public historian, I feel a responsibility to share my findings with my community and to guide readers through feelings of moral shock. There is some literature about slave auctions as a form of working-class entertainment. But historians have overlooked primary sources found in public schools. The only group that seems to be interested in this phenomenon is online journalists. As far as I am concerned, there seem to be few historians that are interested in this ritual. This article will take a multifaceted approach to deconstruct the implications of “Slave Day” in Chilliwack high schools. To do this, I refer to historiographies of slavery in Canada, blackface, and other forms of plantation entertainment.
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Slave Days: Teens reenacting fictitious slave auctions So far, the earliest record of “Slave Day” Underneath the moonlight, enslaved in Chilliwack is in the Feb. 6, 1957 issue peoples would gather around in a ring of The Chilliwack Progress. In bold text, the and sing cautionary songs of white people column reads: “Slave Day! Well now, this or other life experiences. This mockery is a weird idea.” Let’s break this down: it is of singing while performing chores is a “weird idea,” because slavery did occur disturbingly reminiscent of how actual in the so-called “Great White North.” enslaved people spent their leisure time. The only retro picture of “Slave Day,” Since Canada has a short growing season, plantations were not built in this nation. so far, is in the 1956–1957 CSHS yearbook. Instead, enslaved people and indentured In this photo, there are two young girls servants in Canada laboured in the “big holding books; behind them is a very houses.” The Chilliwack Progresscontinued eccentric young man. Above the crowd of to state that “the Y‑teens are going to sell students is a sign that reads “Slave Day.” tickets to the boys one day: the next day Underneath the “S” is a feminine stick one of those tickets entitles any boy to figure with a rope around her neck; at enslave any girl to carry his books, do the other end of the rope is a menacing homework or practically anything — stickman. This crude, immature drawing illuminates some of the subconscious understandings of slavery. There are two interpretations of the rope. Firstly, this could be a leash that represents obedience and ownership over young girls. The more disturbing interpretation is that this rope is a noose, to symbolize lynchings of enslaved people of colour. Historians argue that blackface and other forms of colonial mimicry in the early 20th century was a part of “plantationthemed entertainments.” Robin W. Winks posits in his book The Blacks in Canada that “many small Ontario towns … would regale youngsters with tales and songs of during school hours.” A later entry on Feb. 20, 1957 expands on slavery down on the old plantation.” In the Jan. 29, 1958 edition of The the tasks the liminal slaves accomplished: “As for what the boys made us do on that Chilliwack Progress, it was announced fatal Thursday of last week — we cleaned that for the “first time there has been a out lockers, covered books, sang crazy slave day” at CSHS. There were two of songs, did crazy things, ran errands, these school spirit days set up: one for helped the janitors, wore the boys’ coats the boys and one for the girls, so every around and generally were the big joke of child had a chance to be both a slave and the week.” Here, school children mocked slave-owner. This event was planned for the way enslaved labourers would be Jan. 31 by division 95; here is the written tasked with domestic chores to preserve summary of the event: “at 8:30 am girls the manor. Another odd practice in this in all grades who have previously bought ritual is that children “sang crazy songs.” tickets for 15 cents each may hand these
“school children mocked the way enslaved labourers would be tasked with domestic chores to preserve the manor”
tickets over to different boys, commanding them to carry out whatever tasks the girls choose. Boys — the slaves — have no choice but to obey but may refuse to do two things at once. When the task is completed, the boy returns the ticket to the girl.” The second event, planned by the Y‑teens for the schoolboys, wrote a list of possible tasks that could be done, such as “carrying books, cleaning out lockers, covering books, polishing shoes, holding the water fountain faucet, and all sorts of other things.” Theater historians Joseph Roach and Jason Stupp state that white people playing as slaves is a form of disembodied history. Any historical reality of slavery in Canada is “emptied” by these performances. However, there is a history of white people using slave-trade auctions as entertainment venues. There is a discrepancy between both the 1957 and 1958 news columns. The 1958 article declared the festival occurred for the “first time.” But according to the archives, this is false. The 1957 article seems to be the first written record of a “Slave Day” in Chilliwack. This could be a miscommunication between local editors. It is also plausible that this could be the start of the smoke and mirrors around “Slave Day” in Chilliwack. Although the concept of play-pretend slave auctions was presented as a new-fangled pastime, historically, slave auctions have been a form of entertainment. Anthony Pinn, professor of African-American religion and constructive theology, theorizes that slave auctions were a ritual whereby white people “made” African Americans into a “historical material.” Both slave purchasers and those that could not afford to buy human beings watched these auctions as spectacles. Historian and academic Saidiya Hartman suggests, “Those observing the singing and dancing and the comic antics of the auctioneer seemed to revel in the festive atmosphere of the trade and thus attracted spectators not intending to purchase.” This mixing of different social classes created a white “racial fraternity and privilege” based on plantation imagination. This obsession with human ownership “through the ritual transitions of the marketplace” created a space where reality and fantasy merged, where white people transcended class, played a prescribed role, and maintained white supremacy.
Why then? For many nights, I stewed over the possible decade when “Slave Day” began. The late fifties seems like a perplexing time for all of this to start; the civil rights era was brewing over in the States, segregation was slowly breaking down, and slavery had long been abolished. During the writing process, I asked myself constantly, “why then?” It wasn’t until I submitted my first draft of my paper for HIST 440 that I found another clue. One late night, I watched the Youtube video “Defunctland: The History of the Terrifying Splash Mountain Predecessor, Tales of the Okefenokee.” In this twenty-minute documentary, Kevin Perjurer summarises the creation of Disneyland’s roller-coaster Splash Mountain, based on the controversial film Song of the South (1946). According to Perjurer, Walt Disney was inspired by Joel Chandler Harris’s novel Uncle Remus (1881). As a young boy, Harris avoided the Civil War and lived on Joseph Attison Turner’s plantation in Atlanta. During this time,
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Harris listened to African people enslaved by Turner, who told him folklore that taught life lessons using animals. Perjurer notes that “Harris latched on to these stories and even more so the storytellers; he felt that he had a connection with the enslaved people because of the hardship he had endured for the way he looked and sounded despite, in reality, their plights being incomparable in every sense of the word.” Later, Disney acquired the film rights to create a live-action movie based on the racist book. In Song of the South, Uncle Remus (played by James Baskett) gives Johnny (Bobby Driscoll) life advice through the southern landscape of Okefenokee, accompanied by cartoon characters Br’er Rabbit, Br’er Fox, and Br’er Bear. Shortly after the film was released, progressive Americans were outraged at the “fortification of the South and the master/slave relationship.” In 1956, Song of the South was rereleased in Technicolor for theatres with no backlash. A year later, Chilliwack Senior High School had its first “Slave Day” celebration. I believe this is not a coincidence. In this reboot, advertisements focused heavily on the anthropoid
“In June of 2020, several BC news outlets exposed the story of Rosedale Middle School’s Slave Day festival in 2009.” characters rather than the live-action portions. This marketing campaign massproduced records, marble games, Golden Press books, and a Br’er Rabbit’s Scotch Tape Contest to win a trip to Disneyland. Apparently, there was also a “Song of the South Half Sheet School Poster” meant for classrooms. It is unclear how much of this memorabilia was available in Canada. Although there is no record that Song of the South played in Chilliwack during the 1950s, there was a showing of the movie on Sept. 12 and 13, 1947. This proves that the community would have known about Song of the South. This musical was re-released several times in Chilliwack throughout the latter 20th century. During Christmas week of 1973, the Chilliwack Paramount Theatre held a
“The Purr-fect Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Funfest,” which featured showings of both The Aristocats and Song of the South, (oddly enough, both films depict racist imagery). On Nov. 22 and 23, 1986, Song of the South was shown yet again at the Chilliwack Paramount Theatre. Based on these findings I have two suggestions: firstly, “Slave Day” was inspired by the Song of the South’s
misrepresentation of slavery. Secondly, each reboot revamped the relevancy of the school spirit day. Each decade that the film was re-released, it reenforced false histories of slavery and white nostalgia. Adaptation theorist Linda Hutcheon suggests the constant rebooting of plantation fiction allows for the “ubiquity and longevity of adaptation as a mode of retelling our favourite stories,” What is dangerous about this type of storytelling is that it creates what Tara McPherson refers to as “cultural schizophrenia.” This type of media conveys “The Deep South” as both “the site of the trauma of slavery and also the mythic location of a vast nostalgia industry.” Stories like Song of the South fixate on certain aspects of the south to heighten nostalgic memories and feelings without revealing uncomfortable histories. This is one of the many reasons why “Slave Day” was so extremely toxic for teens. The history of slavery and intergenerational trauma should never be taught through games or poorly written animated movies.
“Aristocrats and Song of the South,” ad from The Chilliwack Progress, December 24, 1973.
VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
The Chilliwack Progress used sarcastic and belittling language to address the slave children. In the Mar. 29, 1967 issue, Rhiannon Jones wrote a summary of the spring festivities at Sardis Senior Secondary. Jones advertised “Slave Day” in her column: “Grade 12 girls, beware! Slave Day is approaching. On April 6th and 7th all Grade 12 girls will be rounded up to be herded into the gym to be auctioned off (sounds absolutely terrible, doesn’t it?).” Two themes jump off of this page: this festival is a parody of white slavery and a mockery of actual slavery. The phrase “It sounds absolutely terrible, doesn’t it?” needs to be unpacked. Yes, it does “sound terrible,” because slavery actually occurred. People in 1967 would have been fully aware of slavery and the civil rights movement. However, the subtext of “it sounds” suggests it is hypothetical, that slavery in Canada “sounds” terrible but didn’t really happen. This sentence awkwardly acknowledges that there is a history of slavery and how “it sounds terrible,” yet it does not mention anything about slavery. There is an alternative meaning for this text: it has a sarcastic tone which suggests it is meant to be a joke. White working-class people use racist humour to make themselves feel superior. It could also be a way to “replicate the romanticized social order of slavery.” On May 7, 1969, there was yet another “Slave Day:” “This year the boys were slaves and for the price of a ticket the girls had sole command of them, within the limit of the rules. I saw quite a few boys trying to do song and dance acts and I even saw one boy crawling around on his hands and knees calling for his ‘mommy.’ All this went on during noon hour but there was still some action in classes (at the discretion of the teachers). Any boy who did not comply with the girl’s demands or any girl who gave impossible commands could be booked into kangaroo court….” This entry follows a similar pattern: It occurs during the spring; requires a fiscal entry to participate/own a child; one student of the opposite sex owns another student temporarily; acting slaves would be forced to sing, dance, and clean. However, this entry introduces new information. The festival occurs in three parts: There was a slave auction, slave and master role-play session[s], then a fictitious court to serve punishments. It also mentions that some children refused to perform certain tasks…. Why would they refuse when this is a school-wide spirit day? The clipping continues: “My sentence was to eat a peanut. That may sound easy, but it isn’t…when you must eat the shell also. Someone else had to run around the gymnasium twice and another person had to keep yawning until someone else could be induced to yawn and so the sentences ran on.” Children who either refused to participate or were too demanding were put on a mock trial. Two classmates then choose punishment: eating challenging foods, mental manipulation (yawning), and forcing physical actions. Before the emancipation, actual slaves were physically, sexually, and mentally abused or murdered for either their slave master’s amusement and/or to evoke a sense of fear in other enslaved peoples. Those who could not forage on the manor were forced to eat “pot likker,” a vegetable-based broth. Many enslaved children were malnourished and had “shiny bodies and extended bellies.” The news confessional closes, being grateful the festivities were over: “The two days were a tremendous success, but I am glad slave day comes only once a year.”
Okay, now what? Newspapers.com, the digital depository for The Chilliwack Progress, has 55 entries on “Slave Day.” These newspaper clippings range from the 1950s to the 1990s. Since there is no historical literature on fictitious slave auctions in public schools, there is a lot to uncover. All of the articles above were written from the perspective of white children who did not realise they were partaking in colonial mimicry. This play-pretend festivity has caused controversy within the community. In June of 2020, several B.C. news outlets exposed the story of Rosedale Middle School’s “Slave Day” festival in 2009. A photo of the “Student Auction” page in the Rosedale Yearbook was posted on @ BlackVancouver’s social media account. Underneath some photos of students, the caption reads: “During Rosedale’s 2nd annual “Slave Day,” grade 8 and 9 Leadership students were auctioned off. In total, they were able to raise over $450.00 for our school. Rosedale students could buy slaves… [who] carried books, wrestled, dressed in crazy costumes, committed outrageous stunts to please their masters and the crowd.” After the backlash, the superintendent of the Chilliwack school district wrote an official apology letter. One key phrase from the letter is the following: “As a school district, we don’t have all the answers. We make mistakes. And we need to learn from them.” If this statement were true, the school would have done their research. All it took for me to uncover these stories was to search “Slave Day” in the digital archive. Pretending like the school district “didn’t know” contributes to the legacy of white supremacy and settler colonialism. The event lasted several decades in Chilliwack schools; how could anybody not notice that? Let’s not pretend to ignore racism.
“Chilliwack Paramount Theater,” ad from the Chilliwack Progress, November 22, 1986.
“Aristocrats and Song of the South,” ad from The Chilliwack Progress, December 24, 1973.
“Sounds absolutely terrible, doesn’t it?” The 1960s
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VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
CULTURE
culture@ufvcascade.ca Steve Hartwig — Culture Editor
Community Spotlight //
Zaira Ramirez Luis on portraying the body’s limit through assemblage art An interview with UFV alumna Zaira Ramirez Luis ANISA QUINTYNE With her latest exhibit I Was the Storm showing at the Kariton Art Gallery, Zaira Ramirez Luis was chosen by the City of Abbotsford and the Abbotsford Art Council to be the 2021 “Go Play Outside” Artist in Residence. With this phenomenal shift forward, Ramirez Luis conceives the natural world through inventive, skillfully crafted assemblages that navigate her intimate expressions of identity. The artist who influenced her creative mind was her grandfather, who was an artisan in Venezuela. “He made bronze sculptures, and as a child I started becoming curious about how the process of making objects and forms worked,” recalled Ramirez Luis. While watching him create these sculptures in his studio, Ramirez Luis became wholly fascinated with the artistic process, which soon carved a new path for her sensational pursuit into artistry. While pursuing her passion to create, she went to the Cristobal Rojas School of Visual Arts and gained a diploma in graphic arts. Meanwhile, her passion rekindled in the form of other mediums as an incredibly versatile creator. “My UFV teachers Grace Tsurumaru and Alex Duff have been fundamental in my creative processes.” Ramirez Luis said. What truly sparked her influential journey through the arts, however, was Marisol Escobar. “She was a very important woman in the scene of pop art, so I really admire her.” Ramirez Luis said, while flipping through several pictures of Escobar’s immersively beautiful sculptures. “In South America, she really reached all those topics about our folklore and our culture, she
Sacred-box
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also worked with Andy Warhol.” “[Escobar] had a grasp on female topics, family topics, Venezuelan topics and South American topics,” Ramirez Luis continued. “Marisol, even though she didn’t have any kids, took the topic of family and tried to show it in her artwork. Most of my assemblages are inspired by her–my assemblage art is a response to her work. I’m trying to revive that assemblage movement that’s kind of dead in art. I don’t see that practice a lot. People tend to practice more digital work, but assemblages are more challenging. They reject that work; so I’m trying to revive that medium, that technique.” This riveting impulse to revive a genre that has succumbed to digital media is a cause that motivated Ramirez Luis. “One of the main topics that I’m working on right now is conditions. I’m trying to embrace my conditions as a woman, as a worker, and as a mother.” Ramirez Luis said. “I like to work with nature, especially now that people have different views about gender, about politics and technology. People are very separate from nature, but we’re all part of nature – so I always embrace my conditions.” She pointed to her chest. “I believe in gender. I am a feminist artist. I believe in the power of women.” The corporeal form is a major part of her artistic vision. Ramirez Luis seeks to stretch the human body to its limit. Her representations mostly feature anatomical parts of the human experience. “In my assemblage pieces, I always try to represent the physical body,” explained Ramirez Luis. “I include mouths, hearts, nudes, and that’s the way I try to represent the female form. I really try to defend that in my work. I work with body, with expressions. Sometimes I like to explore
parrot copy
you should draw some branches. (Photos courtesy of Zaira Ramirez)
my interior and my exterior.” Ramirez Luis brought out an alluring sculpture of a glossy red heart, with patterned holes around the carving. With expressive insight into her creative work, she described the plans for her future project. “In my grad show, I’m going to represent my conditions as a worker by using repetition. I’m challenging my body. Through multiple digital exposures, I repeat movements in the workhouse I used to do la-
One-tree-one-lake-are-not-enough
bour for. I represent extreme movements that I used to go through as I worked in those conditions.” “The main role as an artist is to make people think, to question, to argue, to get you out of their comfort zone and think, ‘Oh my goodness, this is not right!’ It’s to reflect on the big world around you and create a problem, to question your experiences as a person and your position in this world.”
ceramicstellar
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
CULTURE Column //
Cascade Kitchen: Chickpea Salad
Column //
Campus Fashion: Jump-suit right into spring Dress to impress in a one piece RACHEL TAIT
Chickpea Salad. 2022. (Sydney Marchand/The Cascade)
SYDNEY MARCHAND The Cascade Kitchen is a student-run food column that brings you budget-friendly recipes and cooking tips. Check back bi-weekly for something new to try in the kitchen, or if you want to see your own recipe featured next, get started by reaching out to culture@ufvcascade.ca. Looking for more plant-based swaps? Instead of the typical chicken, egg, or tuna salad sandwich, try mixing it up with this chickpea version. Chickpeas are high in fiber and contain almost 15 grams of protein per cup, making them a great filling and nutritious meal or snack option. I like to make a big batch of this to have over a few days. It’s super easy to prep and can last up to a week in the fridge. Cook Time: 10 minutes. Serves: 3 Ingredients: 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained ¼ cup red bell pepper, diced 2 Tbsp fresh dill, minced
2 medium dill pickles, diced 2-3 Tbsp mayonnaise or vegan alternative 2 tsp yellow mustard 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar ½ tsp onion powder ½ tsp garlic powder Salt and pepper to taste Method: 1.
2. 3. 4. 5.
Add the chickpeas to a mediumsized bowl and mash with a fork. I like a bit of texture to mine, but you can mash them as much or as little as you like. Add the red pepper, pickles, and dill to the mashed chickpeas and stir to combine. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients and then add to the chickpea mixture. Mix together thoroughly. Enjoy with crackers or dressed up on a sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes.
This spring, step out in a nicely polished jumpsuit in a daring colour or a classic neutral shade to embrace the warmer weather. Versatile and classy, the jumpsuit can add effortless style and bold fashion statements to a person’s wardrobe. Jumpsuits are flattering pieces that can be dressed up or down, depending on the occasion. This fashionable one-piece is a style that finds its way back in-season repeatedly and is worth investing in. A nicely tailored jumpsuit can elevate an individual’s look from a casual daytime look into a fun night out with friends on the town. The word jumpsuit is defined as being “a one-piece garment consisting of a blouse or shirt with attached trousers or shorts.” Originally made for more utilitarian purposes, jumpsuits were designed for parachuters in 1919. According to Vogue, jumpsuits were made more popular by a fashion designer known as Elsa Schiaparelli in the 1930’s. During the Second World War, the more boxy and masculine boiler jumpsuits were more widely worn by women who worked in munitions factories as a uniform. Since then, jumpsuits have changed from practical uniforms into more stylish fashion statements made in different cuts and fits. This spring, floral patterns, animal print, lounge knit styles, and boiler utility styles are emerging on the racks in big brand stores, giving a fresh look to an old classic. A jumpsuit made from lace and chiffon materials can serve as a substitute for an evening gown, while a cotton twill utility boiler jumpsuit gives an effortless, more functional, chic daytime look. Although more promi-
nent in women’s fashion, the jumpsuit is a popular unisex style and has been worn by iconic women and men such as Princess Diana, Elvis Presley, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Jumpsuits come in a variety of colours, fabrics, and patterns. They can be long or short sleeved, have a belt, be form-fitting or loose. A wild leopard print jumpsuit paired with a black moto jacket, aviator glasses, and black boots or heels looks sophisticated and is a powerful print that will make the outfit stand out. Jumpsuits can also be great workout or loungewear attire, especially if they are made from a lightweight jersey knit material or French terry. A nice vibrant colour can also help brighten up an outfit and can look great paired with a lace kimono. As the days grow warmer and longer, investing in a well-made jumpsuit can be beneficial to one’s closet by adding more variety and options for the wearer. Jumpsuits can be sexy, comfortable, pretty, fancy, or plain, with a variety of styles, fits, and lengths. Jumpsuits can be found in the most cutting-edge fashion brand stores in the mall or in a local thrift shop for as little as fifty cents. So, try out a fashionable jumpsuit and see where life will take you in a one-piece outfit.
Illustration by Lindsey Roberts
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
CULTURE Lifestyle //
The secret to a longer life Overcoming fear of water to gain confidence LAUREN BLAKEMORE I think it is a universal idea in our culture to contemplate how we can live longer. Many people I have met have questioned the passion I have for aquatics, but at the same time, they have never asked me why it is such an asset. Swimming has many unique benefits that other sports do not have for a wide age range of individuals. It is considered to be one of the most critical life skills to have. Particularly in British Columbia, drowning still occurs because many individuals do not maintain their skills or never learned at all. It is also considered to be the third leading cause of unintentional death in Canadians younger than 60, with approximately 500 deaths in Canada per year. The challenge is that this is continuing to rise because people overestimate their abilities in and around water.
It is critical to remember that swimming is a life skill. Young adults may find it embarrassing or frightening to learn to swim, but the success in doing so, even though it requires patience, can make an impact on your life story. Swimming will build confidence and it is excellent exercise. While learning to swim is more common for people born in Canada, many young adults often overestimate their abilities and stop learning and practicing. As a swim instructor, I have witnessed the decrease in learners after the age of 15 and heard many stories of individuals that regretted never learning or giving up the skill. Often, we get our children to learn because it is a transitional skill in childhood and because it is a popular activity, which gets forgotten as they get older and busier. Not only does swimming help change your mindset around the water, but it can also have physical and mental benefits,
toning your muscles and delivering significant cardiac benefits while not adding any pressure on your joints. That makes this form of exercise beneficial to anyone. The CDC report on health benefits of swimming shows that swimming is beneficial for those with arthritis, mental health issues, diabetes, and heart disease. Swimming is easier on your muscles and joints than land-based cardio exercise, so you are able to exercise longer. I would encourage everyone to learn or practice their skills in the water because it can save your own or someone else’s life. Swimming helps build confidence, and learning to swim can improve your self-esteem. Another challenge is that when people overestimate their abilities, they forget to teach their children safety around water, only focusing on swimming to have fun. So kids and young adults develop a love for the water, but when something dangerous happens, they don’t have
the skills to help. Yes, loving the water is excellent, but it is very different from respecting it. Safety around water includes learning self-rescues, how to rescue another drowning swimmer, and the danger of different aquatic environments. As someone who works in the aquatic industry, I highly recommend the LifeSaving Society’s “Swim to Survive” program. Whether you take classes at a local pool, look for a private instructor like myself, or ask a friend to teach you, it’s recommended that you have three tools in your tool kit: the skills to roll over in deep water (float), tread water for one minute, and swim 50 meters. How many people, if truly put to the test, could say they could do that? So while learning or practicing swimming might not be “cool,” its benefits could help you and others live longer, and who doesn’t want that?
UFV Event //
Divining Helios: Reflecting on their growth as artists and looking forward to whatever may come The visual arts diploma show featuring Noelani Leon and Aislynn Davey ANDREA SADOWSKI If you check out UFV’s S’eliyemetaxwtexw Art Gallery between now and Apr. 7, you will be able to immerse yourself in the works of the two artists graduating this semester with a visual arts diploma, Noelani Leon and Aislynn Davey, in their show Divining Helios. The gallery is packed full of the best pieces they created over the course of the past two years, with assignments and passion projects using media of all kinds. It is an excellent example of the vast portfolio of art that students can create during their time as students in the School of Creative Arts (SOCA) at UFV. As the only two graduates from the visual arts diploma program this semester, Leon and Davey had the gallery all to themselves and used the space as fully as they could — yet they still had to take out many pieces because there were just too many to choose from. Davey thanked SOCA faculty members Davida Kidd and Chris Friesen for their help in narrowing down the pieces and deciding the layout for the show, as well as Aimee Brown who helped with all of the lighting. “All four of us came together and laid everything out and we had to eliminate a lot of pieces,” said Davey. “There was a lot of work. They said that this is one of the
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most packed shows the gallery has had.” The pieces range from assignments that they did in their very first semester of school, up until their keystone pieces; this allows viewers of the gallery to see just how far the students have come and the advancement they’ve made as artists. The piece in the show that Leon was most proud of was a giant self portrait that symbolized the rut that we all found ourselves in during the pandemic. “It represents how the pandemic has affected me, because I’m sure it’s affected everyone differently, but I found that I kind of lost track of the days as I was staying inside all the time,” recalled Leon. “It’s repetitive, like in the background there’s a bunch of calendar pages that all say the same day. It’s all February 2, which is Groundhog Day. It’s kind of like the trauma of experiencing the pandemic and the anxiety of it, but also coping with humour. Like the movie Groundhog Day, every single day felt the same for me. I thought it was cool to integrate that into a self-portrait.” Divining Helios uses imagery of tarot cards, an aesthetic Leon and Davey chose as symbolism for imaging what the future holds for them as artists and welcoming the new journey that is to come. So, what does the future hold for these
Divining Helios. 2022. (Andrea Sadowski/The Cascade)
two budding artists? “I’m probably going to just continue making art as a hobby,” said Leon. “[I’ll] try to do some freelance work, build a career for myself, and continue practicing and mastering my skill.” Davey might pursue her Bachelor of Fine Arts, or try to get into movie set and prop design. When asked what advice they would
give to students who are just starting out and entering the Fine Arts program, Davey responded, “Don’t sit next to someone and compare your work to them.” Leon offered, “Definitely embrace the process of learning instead of being frustrated with where you are; just think about how it’s going to help you in the future as you continue on and stay hopeful.”
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
sports@ufvcascade.ca Teryn Midzain— Sports Editor
SPORTS
Recap //
Spring arrives with golf tournaments and UVic’s annual soccer kegger TERYN MIDZAIN The first storms of spring have come and graced us with their presence, bringing that exciting feeling one gets when they start to plan their perfect garden for the spring and summer. It is a time of reflection and action in sports, as much as it is a time spent nurturing a garden to life. The fall teams will be reflecting on this last season and are already making moves to prepare for a strong upcoming season. With the return of spring comes the return of golf to the Cascades game schedules that see our women’s team on a solid podium-finish run against some tough teams. Baseball is coming around the first corner of April, and the Cascades soccer teams got to play one last hurrah in the Keg Spring Cup. The Cascades soccer teams played in the UVic Vikings’ Keg Spring Cup on Mar. 19
and 20. The Keg Spring Cup is an annual two-day non-conference tournament hosted on Vancouver Island and showcases some of the best regional university-level soccer teams while offering a final farewell to the seniors on the team. It also offers coaches the chance to scout players and fill in their team lineup for the upcoming fall season. Unfortunately, the women’s team took two losses the weekend of the Cup: one against UVic, the home team, and a final loss against the TWU Spartans for a fourth-place finish. The men played two epic matches — a good return to form for the Cascades men, who made it into the Canada West Final 4 last season but suffered two losses in the playoffs, particularly a brutal 0-5 loss at the hands of UVic. The Cascades men came out strong at the Kegger, winning 2-0 against the hosts, UVic Vikings, in their first game. Then, a brilliant final game against the TWU
Spartans led to a Taylor Richardson hattrick and went down to the wire even in the shoot-out that ended in a 4-3 Cascades win. This crowned our men’s team the Keg champs. Golf returned earlier in March with a series of podium finishes this month. The men’s team tied for first place with UBC, and the women’s team finished second at UVic’s shoot-out on Mar. 6 and 7. The women took third place at the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate (RMI) on Mar. 15 and 16. and another huge third-place finish at the UCSC Spring Invite on Mar. 26 and 27, just behind George Fox University and Pomona-Pitzer. Lucy Park led the Cascades women’s scoresheet in both tournaments, shooting 11 over par after a choppy back nine at the RMI, but she had a great round on Mar. 27 at the UCSC Spring Invite. After a rough couple of bogies in the first three holes, Park found a rhythm and birdied four out
of six holes to end the front nine two under par. However, a trio of bogies tarnished a near-perfect back nine that brought Park to her one-over-par score and tied for individual third overall for the weekend. UFV will host its own tournament, the UFV Spring Invitational, on Apr. 2 and 3 at the Chilliwack Golf Club. The UFV baseball team kicks off their season this weekend in Kamloops to play against the TRU Wolfpack on Apr. 2, followed by hosting them at Fairfield Park in Chilliwack the next day on Apr. 3 at 1:00 p.m. There won’t be any shortage of baseball this summer semester with lots of home games through the months of April and May for those of us students who relentlessly tire ourselves with summer school. The entire UFV Athletics schedule can be found online at cascades.ca/calendar.
Athlete Q&A //
Josh Gagnon: A legacy in the making A volleyball player who has his sights set on Team Canada TERYN MIDZAIN This last fall season marked the first year that the Cascades volleyball teams played in the Canada West league. While it was a rough season, it demonstrated that UFV is only just beginning their legacy — a legacy that Josh Gagnon, the Cascades men’s volleyball defensive left-side hitter, is excited to grow. Gagnon is well on his way to achieving his goal of one day playing on Team Canada, after having represented Canada in the Under 21 Beach Volleyball World Championship in 2021. Playing volleyball on the world stage is in Gagnon’s blood, as his father, Terrance Gagnon, was a member of Team Canada’s 1992 Olympic volleyball team. So, what was having a friendly fatherson game of volleyball like with your father being an Olympic athlete? Oh, he never let me win. Not in anything. I had to earn the wins. I had to win the win. And eventually, when I did, it felt a lot greater. It helps that I am so competitive; well, my entire family is competitive. But he has the same personality [as me]: lighthearted, still very intense, but able to have a laugh and not just gripping intensity.
But I think that him never letting me win taught me how to lose gracefully, but also when I did win, I earned it, and it was much sweeter. When the team got our win, we earned that win. It has been a tough year for us, with lots of ups and downs, and we were so close many times and saw so many improvements throughout the season. It was such a great feeling when we won. What technique in volleyball have you worked on with your father the most? He challenges me a lot on passing because he was an incredible passer. If he sees something from an outside perspective, he’ll let me know: “You’re dropping your arms a little bit.” Stuff that subconsciously, I won’t even notice. He’s said to me before, and it continues to be true, “if you can pass and play defense, you’ll always be on the court.” We used to spend a lot of time [practicing] in the summers; we’d set up a net in the grass, my mom and my dad, him standing on a box, would just hit serves at me while they both just watched and fixed my passing. If I was doing something wrong, we’d stop and completely break down the passing and just work back up until I can do it without thinking.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from your father? The ability to make a mistake and shrug it off and get ready for the next serve. Growing up, he was the first person I talked to after every game, and I just picked it up and learned that from him. When I struggle to shrug off some mistakes, he’ll still be there to help me not think about them, and remind me sometimes that “you have passed so many balls in your life, your muscles know how to do it; get your head out of the way and just do it.” Is that ability to shake off mistakes something that the UFV team struggles with or needs to work on for the fall season? Yeah, I think that we as a team could learn to do that better. We start our games off strong. We come out of the gates rolling, then one mistake happens and we let it weigh us down. We don’t brush it off as quickly as we could. Then the mistakes and points pile on us instead of just the one. Honestly, I just think it’s an experience thing. We’re a young team, and will keep being able to keep the pressure on and just keep doing our job.
With your dad’s reputation and experience, do you feel any pressure or weight on your shoulders to perform and play exceptionally well? You know, I really haven’t thought about that. My dad has never pressured me to follow in his footsteps. I put pressure on myself to live in those shoes, step into them. But at the same time, yeah, it’s nice to do these things, try to live up to something, and say this is our family, this is what we do. But in the end, I’ve still done all these things for myself and my legacy. What’s the next goal you want to achieve for both yourself and the team? It’s really ambitious to say, but you might as well get your goals down on paper. I want us to beat Trinity Western; they’re one of the best. I want UFV to be a team that others hate to play against because we’re so damn good. For myself, I think two Olympics from now is when I’ll be in my prime, and whether it’s beach or indoor, I plan to be there. Interview has been edited for clarity and length
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
SPORTS Formula One //
F1 Recap: Starting off with a bang and two prancing stallions 2022’s opening races have set a high standard for what’s to come MAECYN KLASSEN Racing fans, I am delighted to announce that Formula One’s 2022 season really is living up to all of the hype. The first two races, held in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, have completely shaken up expectations, standings, and pre-season predictions. Each race deserves several pages’ worth of incoherent screaming, but here’s a short breakdown of the standout results instead. Bahrain’s race was an explosive start to the season, proving just how much the new car standards have upset the status quo. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc started on pole position after coming first in qualifying (a stellar result for Ferrari, who’ve been struggling to achieve their former glory for the past few seasons), followed by 2021 world champion
Max Verstappen and Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz, who started second and third respectively. Disaster struck for Red Bull, however, and by the end of the race, three out of four Red Bull-powered cars had retired from the race entirely, including Verstappen. This was a huge shock after Red Bull’s strength in the 2021 season — as was Ferrari’s one-two finish, with Leclerc holding first and Sainz second. A midfield standout was Zhou Guanyu, 2022’s only rookie, who finished his first F1 race in an excellent 10th place. Finally, the American team Haas, which was consistently at the bottom of the standings several years in a row, burst back onto the scene with their drivers in fifth and 11th place — an absolutely mindblowing improvement. One week later, the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix proved Bahrain wasn’t a one-off kind
of excitement. Red Bull bounced back, with Sergio Perez taking pole and Verstappen starting fourth, the teammates separated by the two Ferraris. A dramatic crash on lap 17 took Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi out of the race, and a mistimed pit stop dropped Perez down to fourth, where he finished the race. Latifi wasn’t the only driver not to finish the race, however; two cars never even started, and five more were taken out sometime during the race. Kevin Magnussen, Haas’ last-minute replacement for ousted driver Nikita Mazepin, rocketed his way to ninth, wrenching the place out of Pierre Gasly’s hands for another phenomenal finish for Haas. After a dismal qualifying session, Hamilton climbed from 16th to sixth place, after which he slid back to twelfth following a messy safety car, fought his way back to 10th, but couldn’t eke out
anything higher. Verstappen, on the other hand, treated viewers to a nail-biter of a finale, claiming first place after a tense battle with Leclerc that ended with the Red Bull driver just 0.5 seconds ahead of the Ferrari. At the risk of predicting too much, too soon, 2022 is shaping up to be a legendary battle between old and new. Ferrari, arguably the biggest legend of the sport, has largely dominated the first two races and begun to reclaim their honour after some disappointing years. Red Bull, though no longer strictly a newcomer, still has a little of that new-car smell; they stumbled badly in Bahrain, but they’ve already begun to regain their footing and hold position near the top. This is the kind of battle fans have been hoping for, and we can only hope the rest of the season lives up to these opening races.
Formula One //
Messy Masi and the replacements The first two races of the 2022 F1 season show not just what there is to come for the cars and racing, but how the show will be handled as the new Race Directors take over for Michael Masi TERYN MIDZAIN The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (or FIA; the governing body for Formula One) announced on Feb. 17 that Michael Masi would not be continuing his tenure as race director for Formula One, and announced the hiring of Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas, who will share and alternate the role of race director through the 2022 season. The race director heads a team called race control during an F1 race, and race control’s whole job is to monitor every part of the race (from the drivers on track to the crews’ activities in the pit lane) for safety and regulation purposes. The FIA’s decision on the new race directors follows months’ and races’ worth of questionable decisions, including Masi’s messy handling of the safety car regulations in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which is a direct cause of backlash and negative views of the sport. Masi’s controversial decision was described as tarnishing the reputation of the championship and the sport. Masi’s decision and application of the safety car at Abu Dhabi was wrong, and directly affected not just who should have won that race, but every car and team who had goals and aspirations other than
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first place. Masi’s decision showed that if a team principal pressures enough, then rules, regulations, and team strategy, a lot of what makes the sport of Formula One so great, can all be tossed out the window. So yes, Masi had to go. More importantly, the FIA had to do something to show that issues were being addressed and that support for all the teams was going to be a focus for the 2022 season and onward. The solution of having two race directors comes with initial skepticism. More voices could lead to more inconsistencies as to why and when certain rules are applied; however, it’s better to be unsure about why and when inconsistencies happen because of the different directors agreeing on what is fair, than to know the answer is because of which team was asking the single race director, which, under Masi, was becoming a problem. Wittich and Freitas, the new race directors, come with years of experience in racing and race control. Wittich was previously the race director of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), a German grand touring car racing series, and served as the director for Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships, both of which are leagues designed to have a lower financial entry point for teams and often serve as the training grounds for future F1 driv-
ers. Eduardo Freitas served as race director for the World Endurance Championship (WEC) for close to ten years. Freitas has worked in numerous positions throughout the automobile championships, starting as a mechanic, a steward (someone who helps the race director oversee the action on the track), and then as race director in multiple automobile championships and the GT World Challenge Europe (a league designed for modified road cars) before his time at the WEC. Freitas is respected and appreciated among the referees and officials for being strict on rules, especially on the rules that regard safety. Guiding and advising Wittich and Freitas as senior race advisor will be Herbie Blash, who has been in and out of the Formula One scene since the late 1970s, and has a history of being on the Brabham F1 team, which was infamous for bending or breaking rules such as adding watercooled brakes, running a lighter car, adjustable suspension, etcetera. Blash will provide an old-school appeal and sense of honour to the F1 Championship with his experience as an advisor and director under previous race director Charlie Whiting, as well as his knowledge of most of the teams’ principals ever since they themselves were just starting out in the sport. Wittich has shown his experience and
handling of the safety regulations throughout the first two races, especially in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend with crashes in Qualifying on Saturday. There was a yellow-flagged crash from Williams Racing driver Nicholas Latiffi, and an immediate red flag and full session stop after HAAS driver Mick Schumacher took a nasty crash into the walls that saw him in hospital and out of the race Sunday, that Wittich oversaw and handled the Schumacher crash on track personally. Taking the time to talk to the safety crews to make sure the oil and gas spills were properly cleaned, even when the racing paddock thought the track was safe enough. Sunday was an epic scrappy race that saw another crash from the great Canadian disappointment, Nicholas Latiffi, that had Wittich and the stewards deploy a quick safety car. Each position was a battle to hold and overtake throughout the entire race and saw how close these new 2022 cars get to each other. A handful of quick and decisive penalties were clearly understood and uncontroversially upheld keeping each heart-racing second of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix thrilling from lightsout and to the chequered flag, which is what Formula One is all about.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
STUDY BREAK Crossword //
Made by Steve Hartwig
ACROSS
DOWN
4. The “Spring _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.” This melt raises water levels in lakes and rivers.
1. Longer days give us more of this, uplifts our spirits with its brightness.
5. Places to plant seeds and reap what you sow.
2. Much needed Vitamin D comes from exposure to this
6. An outdoor place at a restaurant to eat and drink.
3. Too many of these make for a wet spring (2 words).
8. These are commonly found on recreational properties or at the lake. 9. People take these to get away for spring break and summer.
6. A packed lunch to enjoy outdoors or at the beach. 7. A place to get fresh air
10. “_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Day” is supposed to predict the coming of spring. 11. Abbotsford festival that showcases these flowers.
Sudoku //
LAST ISSUE’S
ANSWERS: Across: 1. Daylight 2. Sunlight 3. Rainy Days 6. Picnic 7. Outdoors
Down: 4. Thaw 5. Gardens 6. Patio 8. Cabins 9. Holidays 10. Groundhog 11. Tulips
Horoscopes // Your weekly life predictions as told by Shiva the Sage. (Happy early April Fool’s, my astrological rascals.)
Aries — Mar 21 to Apr 19 Your horoscope this week can be found under Cancer.
Leo — Jul 23 to Aug 22 Sorry, I think I made a mistake. Gemini has your horoscope.
Sagittarius — Nov 22 to Dec 21 Hey, dude. Your shoelaces are untied.
Taurus — Apr 20 to May 20 I’m having some technical difficulties. Bear with me and find your horoscope under Virgo.
Virgo —Aug 23 to Sep 22 Refer to Aquarius for your horoscope this week.
Capricorn — Dec 22 to Jan 19 Error 404. Your horoscope can be read under Taurus.
Gemini — May 21 to Jun 20 Actually, check Sagittarius for your horoscope.
Libra — Sep 23 to Oct 22 My apologies, but your horoscope can be found under Leo.
Aquarius — Jan 20 to Feb 18 You’ll want to see Libra for your actual horoscope.
Cancer —Jun 21 to Jul 22 Try again. Your horoscope is actually under Pisces.
Scorpio — Oct 23 to Nov 21 Sorry, your horoscope is under Capricorn.
Pisces — Feb 19 to Mar 20 Oops, I think there’s been a mistake. Look at the Scorpio horoscope for yours.
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VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
ARTS
arts@ufvcascade.ca Danaye Reinhardt — Arts Editor
Film //
CHARTS 1
Maylee Todd Maloo
2
Basia Bulat The Garden
3 4
SHUFFLE AARON LEVY CALENDER OPERATOR
Talk about not being topical; CIVL Station Manager Aaron Levy calls this edition biographically-chronologically new music, like in High FiBig Thief Dragon New Warm Moun- delity. Basically, I recently watched the Mac Miller Tiny Desk NPR video tain I Believe In You and it’s better than referencing international diplomacy. Tanya Tagaq Tongues Mac Miller - “Donald Trump”
5
Julie Doiron I Thought of You
6
Mitski Laurel Hell
7
Teen Daze Interior
8
Adam Ruzzo Mac Miller - “Small Worlds” The Land, The Sea, The People “I’m building up a wall ‘til it
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waitin’.” Echos of so many before Adam Klassen When You Were Young (sin- and sure to be since — creative and visionary geniuses guarding gle)
The first of the Mac-tunes to make it out of the lab, and the last of this trove that I laid ears on, since I somehow never came across it in high school when it came out. Is it ironic, post-modern, or just prescient? Pretty catchy regardless, turns out.
break. …I don’t wanna keep you
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The Legendary Ten Seconds The Musical Almanac 2022
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their inner turmoil, whether to protect their own perfectionist, shamefully self-reflective egos, or to protect their fans’ and lovers’ instead.
Nathan Peebles Dopey Me
Mac Miller - “What’s the Use?”
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Tymo The Art of a Mania
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“We colder than the breeze / but the breeze ain't flowin' like me, mf, hol' up / You don't need to hol' up, yeah / And I can show Crown of Madness you how I seem, what it is, what The Void it truly might be.” Hold up. What on Earth?! Thundercat’s nimble Beverly Glenn-Copeland fingers and Mac’s flow… mopping Keyboard Fantasies Reithe drool magined
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Colin James Open Road
I’ll never know what it felt like to see or hear this song or this perOK Vancouver OK formance both before and after Never Perfect Miller’s passing, since I’ve only discovered it well after that time, Lisa Leblanc but the anti-nostalgia of this choEntre toi pi moi pi la corde rus under the strings and sadde bois (single) ness of his life’s story from here is heartbreaking. Opek Corners
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Annihilator Metal II
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Camera Obscura Two Inversion of the Unseen Horizon
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Mac Miller - “2009”
Why Turning Red was turning heads Analyzing the themes of Pixar’s new animated movie, Turning Red ALLISON HOLCIK Even before Turning Red came out on Mar. 11, people were already questioning the themes and topics that were shown in this latest animated children’s movie. Since its premiere, there has been a lot of attention called to the film, but it has retained its highly positive message, with a 94 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This movie is a coming of age story set in 2002 Toronto, with some very era-appropriate features, but also some new topics that have not been featured in past Pixar films. Turning Red follows the story of 13 year-old Meilin Lee as she navigates “adulthood.” Meilin and her friend group start to go through puberty and experience womanhood. Unfortunately, Mei finds out that her maternal line has been cursed to turn into a red panda every time they feel intense emotion. This poses a problem since emotions are a huge part of puberty, but she has to keep them under wraps to maintain the perfection that her mother demands. As someone who is neither a small child nor a parent, animated movies are pretty hit or miss for me. Turning Red had some awesome themes that I loved as someone with a uterus. I have never seen a children’s show so much as mention periods, so watching the clear connections between Mei’s panda and that time of the month was heartwarming. I am so happy to think that young children will have a better understanding of periods and I love that it was presented as a normal part of life, even though the panda thing is obviously not quite so normal. Turning Red’s creation team was headed by Chinese-Canadian director Domee Shi, who also worked on the Academy Award-winning animated short film Bao. There are many hints of Shi’s directorship, from the Lee family eating bao for dinner to the similar animation style. A key goal of Shi’s throughout the creation of the movie was true Chinese representation that did not fall into common steryotypes. Shi focused on the shared experiences of Asian families and the dynamics that come with intergenerational families. She also wanted to portray Mei’s mother as more than just the stereotypical Asian mom who is looking for perfection from her daughter. One of my favourite parts of Turning Red was Mei’s friend group. It features three other girls, each from a different cultural background and with their own unique styles. They get
along even though they have interests entirely separate from the group. Best of all, the character of Miriam resonated with me as a masculine/androgynous-dressing person. As a thirteen year old, I was a total tomboy, so I loved seeing a young girl who wore something other than pink and dresses. Another part of Mei’s friend group that I liked was the inclusion of Tyler. Once the class bully, Tyler becomes part of the gang after they discover his secret love of 4Town, the girls’ favourite boy band. Tyler joins the group, but he is not made into a love interest, and there is not any message about him being mean to Mei because he likes her. I was so happy to see another form of friendship being shown in the movie, and that Tyler’s bad behaviour was not just blown off. Turning Red offered a branching-out from the typical themes of an animated film. It covered puberty in an informative and funny way that made it seem natural, if scary at the beginning. The friendships that were featured were heartwarming and unique. The movie also featured the boy-band-obsession and Tamagotchis of the 2000s, which was an awesome touch. Overall, Turning Red had some great themes that desperately needed to be included in coming-of-age movies, the experiences of thirteen-year-old girls were spot on, and the representation of ChineseCanadians, from the perspective of Domee Shi, was refreshing
VOL. 30 // ISSUE 06
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
ARTS Local Artist //
Local artist makes a name for herself on country radio
From dairy farmer to country artist, Danielle Ryan chats about her breakout into the music industry SYDNEY MARCHAND Born and raised in Pitt Meadows, singersongwriter Danielle Ryan is making a name for herself on country radio. After receiving a Top-6 spot in the 2016 Canadian Country Music (CCMA) Discovery program and winning the Country Music Television (CMT)’s Chevy From the Tailgate Contest, Ryan secured a deal with 604 Records and hasn’t looked back since. There is no doubt that her passion for songwriting and curating fun, entertaining tracks will get her far in the industry. Mar. 2 marked the release of Ryan’s most recent music video, “Take Me Back,” and the track has been getting lots of attention on local radio stations and from country music fans. With her top single “Weather Man” hitting over 100K plays on Spotify and nearly 150K views on Youtube, Ryan is no doubt quickly becoming a fan favourite. “This was such a fun video to create,” she said when discussing her recent music video. “I hope that it makes you guys smile too.”
“I guess you could say that it was kind of by accident,” Ryan said, explaining that she didn’t always strive to be a part of the music industry. As a child, she sang with her church choir and picked up musical theatre before scoring a spot on a kid’s TV show. “I made it on the show and from [there, I] started pursuing music because I loved it so much. I never really sat down and thought about pursuing a career in music. It was something that just kept building. New contests and opportunities kept coming and I just kept rolling with it. “I don’t remember ever sitting down and saying ‘I’m gonna be a musician,’ and I don’t remember ever saying I want to quit. Mostly because I had bought too much gear by then and wouldn’t know what to do with it.” As a songwriter, many of her songs are influenced by the people around her and the experiences she encounters. “[I’m inspired] by things I experience, what my friends experience. Relationships and fallouts. My day-to-day. Sometimes I just hear something in a TV show, or someone
says something about their boyfriend, and [that] inspires a whole entire song.” Ryan reflected on the importance of authenticity and not being too critical of yourself when trying to break into the industry. “Always be honest. This is something [that] someone told me from the beginning and it was probably the most helpful advice. It’s really easy to fudge the truth to make yourself look better but it will just hurt you in the end. [Next] is to not give up. I know it’s lame to say, but I even look back on songs that I created a couple of years back and I can see just how much I’ve grown. There’s a perfect time for everything. And I think if you stay at it long enough, eventually something will happen for you.
Danielle Ryan. (Karolina Turek)
“The music industry is a funny thing. There’s no set way on how to make it. You just kinda roll with the punches and pray that you meet the right people.” Be sure to follow Danielle Ryan on her socials @DanielleRyanMusic and check out her website www.DanielleRyanMusic.com to get updates on any upcoming events and new music announcements.
Film //
Appreciating short documentaries at the Oscars DANAYE REINHARDT The 94th Academy Awards took place on Sunday, Mar. 27. The Oscar-nominated short documentaries feature true stories of homelessness, a sports prodigy, bullies, Deaf football players, and a newly married Afghan refugee — with The Queen of Basketball taking the win. Audible - Matthew Ogens - 39 min Audible follows the life of Amaree McKenstry-Hall, a student at Maryland School for the Deaf. Matthew Ogens, the film’s director, spent 12 years trying to create a student-focused documentary before Netflix greenlit the project in 2019. The film primarily tells the story of McKenstry-Hall and his school football team, who lose after a 42-game win streak. But the film also dives into McKenstry-Hall’s rocky relationship with his dad, who left his family after McKenstry-Hall lost his hearing as a toddler; the suicide of McKenstry-Hall’s close friend; and the anxieties and hopes of entering the hearing world after graduation. The documentary is different from any movie I’ve seen because the majority of the film is spoken in American Sign Language. With a slower pace and subtle music, it’s an exploration of Deaf culture and student life. Lead Me Home - Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk - 40 min In this documentary, co-directors Pedro
Kos and Jon Shenk tackle the issue of homelessness in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. They interview dozens of individuals who have found themselves homeless from a variety of factors — high rent, abuse, family rejection, and mental health issues. It was striking to see shots of tents and sleeping bags contrasted with shots of high-rise apartment windows and SUVs. The world of homelessness is not severed from the rest of us. Their subjects include pregnant women, individuals with jobs, and young families. The film not only shows the typical portrayal of homelessness — doing laundry at the laundromat, packing their belongings in grocery carts — but also shows these individuals experiencing moments of joy and normalcy, such as reading books, dancing, and being in love. It’s vulnerable. It’s humanising. In the credits, they show a list of all the individuals they featured — putting a name, a real person, to the faces of homelessness. The Queen of Basketball - Ben Proudfoot - 22 min - WINNER Lucy Harris was a three-time national college champion, an Olympic silver medalist, and the only woman drafted by the NBA. Director Ben Proudfoot recorded her story in a 22-minute documentary about her life and her short basketball career. And if Shaquille O’Neal and Steph Curry are two of the executive producers, you know this is a player worth hearing. The film shows close-ups of Harris tel-
ling her story, filling the frame with her confident smile and her natural storytelling, along with televised game coverage, black-and-white photos, and newspaper articles. Harris played with Delta State University and eventually with Team USA in the 1976 Olympics. Harris was the first female player to score an Olympic basket. The documentary itself is not a grand piece of media, but its simplicity allows Harris to shine through. She shows a mix of confidence and complete humility as she speaks and laughs. She’s a woman who knows her worth. “I have good memories about basketball,” she said simply. Three Songs for Benazir - Gulistan Mirzaei and Elizabeth Mirzaei - 22 min Three Songs for Benazir tells the story of Shaista, a young Afghan man living in a Kabul displacement camp. He struggles between his dream of joining the National Army, making quick money through opium harvesting, and starting a family with his new bride, Benazir. Directors Elizabeth and Gulistan Mirzaei, an Afghan-American couple who personally know Shaista, chose to make this documentary to show a more hopeful and resilient narrative of life in Afghanistan. “This mix of joy and sorrow, forever existing simultaneously in Afghanistan, is something we have tried to capture in our films,” they wrote in a blog post. An interesting creative choice was to jump four years after Shaista tried to join the National Army. It takes a surprising
turn to an addiction treatment centre; without the context of those four years, the change in thematic content left me with many questions and not enough answers. The film could have reached its full potential if they had chosen to feature more of Shaista’s journey to that centre. Regardless, it shows the committed love between husband and wife, and the resilience of Afghan people. When We Were Bullies - Jay Rosenblatt - 36 min Disclaimer: As the film is released on the day of this newspaper’s printing, I didn’t have the opportunity to watch this film. This documentary follows Jay Rosenblatt as he remembers a childhood bullying incident from 50 years ago. The filmmaker decides to track down his classmates, all of whom were involved in the bullying, to hear their perspectives and memories of the schoolyard incident. “I remember the circle and the chanting,” one woman said. What emerges is, supposedly, a deeper understanding of bullying, complicity, and memory. However, not everyone agrees with Rosenblatt’s tone and message. For some, it felt like Rosenblatt’s intentions were to make himself feel better, or that the incident was too narrow for the audience to connect with. Regardless, the documentary’s creativity and theme allowed When We Were Bullies to find its way towards an Oscar nomination.
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Note:
Some of these events require tickets, and most are online. If something catches your eye, take to the internet for more details, including those about social distancing measures for in-person events.
UFV Events Sports Community Event
march Divining Helios @ S’eliyemetaxwtexw Art Gallery, 12:00 - 5:00 p.m. Student Research Day @ Evered Hall, 10:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Yoga 4 Self Care @ CEP, A2106, 12:05 - 12:50 p.m. Zumba @ Abbotsford, E150, 12:05 - 12:45 p.m. Total Fitt @ Abbotsford, E150, 1:10 - 1:50 p.m. UFV SUS Public Board Meeting @ Online, 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Drop in Basketball @ Abbotsford, North Gym, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. The Workshop: Sex Ed @ Abbotsford, A264, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Remembering the Coqualeetza Occupation @ CEP A1457, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. UCM Thursday Gathering @ Abbotsford, A402, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Performance: Santana @ Abbotsford Centre, 8:00 p.m. UFV Theatre Presents Pericles by William Shakespeare @ Abbotsford, D105, 7:00 - 9:30 p.m. Drop in Soccer @ Abbotsford, North Gym, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Nietzche Reading Group @ Online, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
april Divining Helios @ S’eliyemetaxwtexw Art Gallery, 12:00 - 5:00 p.m. UFV Theatre Presents Pericles by William Shakespeare @ Abbotsford, D105, 7:00 - 9:30
Exhibition Tour @ The Reach Gallery, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. UFV Theatre Presents Pericles by William Shakespeare @ Abbotsford, D105, 2:00 - 4:30 p.m. Abbotsford Canucks vs. Laval Rocket @ Abbotsford Centre, 7:00 p.m.
Abbotsford Canucks vs. Laval Rocket @ Abbotsford Centre, 4:00 p.m. Fraser Valley Symphony @ Matsqui Centennial Auditorium, 3:00 5:00 p.m.
Divining Helios @ S’eliyemetaxwtexw Art Gallery, 12:00 - 5:00 p.m. Yoga 4 Self Care @ Abbotsford E105, 12:05 - 12:45 p.m. Drop in Badminton @ Abbotsford, North Gym, 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. Drop in Goal Ball @ Abbotsford, North Gym, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Drop in Basketball @ Abbotsford, North Gym, 9:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Campus Rec Culture
Divining Helios @ S’eliyemetaxwtexw Art Gallery, 12:00 - 5:00 p.m. Yoga 4 Self Care @ Abbotsford E105, 12:05 - 12:45 p.m. Strength & Conditioning @ Abbotsford E100, 11:25 a.m. - 12:05 p.m. Drop in Spikeball @ Abbotsford, North Gym, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Total Fitt @ Abbotsford E150, 1:10 - 1:50 p.m. Drop in Volleyball @ Abbotsford, South Gym, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Divining Helios @ S’eliyemetaxwtexw Art Gallery, 12:00 - 5:00 p.m. Yoga 4 Self Care @ Abbotsford E150, 12:05 - 12:45 p.m. Drop in Badminton @ Abbotsford, North Gym, 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. Student Psychology Association Weekly Meeting @ Abbotsford, D122, 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Drop in Pickleball @ Abbotsford, North Gym, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Agriculture Technology Open House @ Agriculture Centre of Excellence, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Celtic Illusion @ Abbotsford Centre, 7:30 p.m. Circle K Weekly Meeting @ Abbotsford, A233, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Drop in Badminton @ Abbotsford, North Gym, 8:30 - 10:00 p.m.
Yoga 4 Self Care @ CEP A2106, 9:00 - 9:40 a.m. Divining Helios @ S’eliyemetaxwtexw Art Gallery, 12:00 - 5:00 p.m. Zumba @ Abbotsford E150, 12:05 - 12:45 p.m. Yoga 4 Self Care @ CEP A2106, 12:05 - 12:50 p.m. Total Fitt @ Abbotsford E150, 1:10 - 1:50 p.m. Drop in Basketball @ Abbotsford, North Gym, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. UCM Thursday Gathering @ Abbotsford, A402, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Drop in Soccer @ Abbotsford, North Gym, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Nietzche Reading Group @ Online, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Abbotsford Canucks vs. San Diego Gulls @ Abbotsford Centre, 7:00 p.m. Theatre Student Info Session @ Online, 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Abbotsford Canucks vs. San Diego Gulls @ Abbotsford Centre, 7:00 p.m