The Cascade Vol. 20 No. 7 - February 29, 2012

Vol. 20 Issue. 07

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

In Friesen we trust since 1993

SUCK IT LETHBRIDGE. p. 14

Learn about your SUS candidates p.6

From the sea, freedom: a look inside the micronation of Sealand p.13

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www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S ISSUE News

Opinion

Arts & Life

Sports & Health

Abby chamber looks to the future

Cell phones versus humans

A conversation on critical consensus

Canucks bid farewell to Hodgson

Bridging generational gaps can be tremendously advantageous for all those involved.

It’s in this spirit that the Abbotsford chamber of commerce has begun an initiative to bring established members of the business community and young business people together.

For the first time in human history, the number of active cell phones has outpaced the number of humans occupying this place we call earth.

Just who’s using all these cell phones? What does this mean for the future of humanity?

Michael, Joel, and Nick discuss the advantages and pitfalls of review aggregate sites like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb. What impact do these ubiquitous sites have on consumer choices? How are they affecting movies, music, and video games?

The Vancouver Canucks traded away upcoming prospect Cody Hodgson in a deadline deal that’s leaving some fans scratching their heads. But will newcomer Zach Kassian prove enough to give the team the push to claim their first Stanley Cup in franchise history?

Read more on page 5

Read more on page 16

Read more on page 23

Read more on page 26

EDITORIAL

Start the bus, Pronghorns!

Paul ESAU THE CASCADE The ugly truth about basketball is that, for all the rhetoric about passion, skill, and courage, basketball is ultimately decided on quantitative numbers.

At the end of the night, at the end of the game, the team which has the most points is declared the winner, and the team which has the most points is generally the team which has thrown, tossed, and dunked the ball through that metal rings the most times.

This epiphany, dumb is it is, was brought home to me last Friday night while watching the UFV women’s team warm up from the second-floor mezzanine in the Envision Athletic Center. Sitting on a couch, staring through the glass with my eyes level with the rim, I watched the women cycle through one of those rare wonderful drills where shots rain down like hail, and all of them, impossibly, go in. I kept my eyes on the basket and simply enjoyed the show, aware that the most fulfilling, profound image in the game is that of descending leather and rippling mesh. It represents the assertion of dominance, the success of an offensive, the conclusion of a contest.

It represents victory and that is why all of us, even those who’ve spent our lives playing ball, cannot escape the elation. We know what a simple act, the journey of

a ball through a hoop, can mean to us and our fellow competitors, and the change it can have upon our lives.

Last Saturday was the perfect example of how the trajectory of a single shot can affect the trajectory of a game, a season, and even a legend. The Cascades men’s team, who have spent the season ranked as one of the top teams in Canada, were down by two points in the third game of a best-

of-three series against the belligerent Lethbridge Pronghorns. A speedy Pronghorn forward had just dropped a crushing layup to create the lead, and the Cascades had thirteen seconds to respond before their success story and their season came to a crashing halt.

It’s hard to recreate the tension present in that gym during the ensuing time-out, the suddenly muffled crowd and the knots of

uniform clenched in the fists of the men on the floor. It’s hard to recreate the rigid, controlled gesticulations of coach Craddock with his clipboard, or Sheldon Bjorgaard’s emotionless stare over the bandage on his mutilated chin. It’s hard, in the moment, to believe that thirteen seconds is all that remained.

Twelve and a half official seconds later Joel Friesen has the ball deep downtown, staring at the remnants of a broken play. A Lethbridge defender flails desperately as Friesen gathers himself, jumps, and hurls up a prayer to the basketball gods.

The ball rotates slowly in the air, the gleam of lights reflecting off its sweat-glistened exterior.

The gym falls to tomb-like silence as three hundred and fifty bums half-raise from bleachered seats in tortured disbelief. The players on the Lethbridge bench pause, mid-celebration, and feel the worm gnawing at the base of their confidence. They know, suddenly they KNOW...

And then there is descending leather and the rippling of mesh, and the Pronghorns are going home and UFV survives to play another day. Three games equaling 120 minutes of vicious competition and it all comes down to one play, one man, one single shot.

I’m sorry Lethbridge, I really am. You guys played well, you always do. But oh baby, WHAT A SHOT!

Volume 20 · Issues 7 Room C1027 33844 King Road Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 604.854.4529 Editor-in-Chief esau@ufvcascade.ca Paul Esau Managing Editor nick@ufvcascade.ca Nick Ubels Business Manager ali@ufvcascade.ca Ali Siemens Online Editor michael@ufvcascade.ca Michael Scoular Production Manager stewart@ufvcascade.ca Stewart Seymour Art Director anthony@ufvcascade.ca Anthony Biondi Copy Editor joel@ufvcascade.ca Joel Smart News Editor grace@ufvcascade.ca Grace Romund Opinion Editor dessa@ufvcascade.ca Dessa Bayrock Arts & Life Editor amy@ufvcascade.ca Amy Van Veen Sports Editor sean@ufvcascade.ca Sean Evans Photojournalist rebecca@ufvcascade.ca Rebecca Groen News Writer joe@ufvcascade.ca Joe Johnson Staff Writers Karen Aney, Jennifer Colbourne, Sasha Moedt, Leanna Pankratz, Alexei Summers Contributors EJ Harrow, Paige Hoblak, Arianna Lachance, Aaron Levy, Kenneth Muir, Tim Ubels Printed By International WebExpress

UPCOMING EVENTS February 29

March 7

March 8

March 12

SUS All Candidates Meeting

University Lecture Series

International Women’s Day

Daylight Shaving’s Time

There will be all candidates meeting for the current Student Union Society elections currently underway. The first of the all candidates meetings will be held on the Abbotsford campus on Wednesday, February 29, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in D117. The second All Candidates Meeting will be on Thursday, March 1, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in B119 on the Chilliwack campus. Each candidate will have the chance to give an opening and closing statement as well as answer questions from the floor.

Greg Schmaltz, a biology professor at UFV, will be speaking as a part of the University Lecture Series, on “Competition and Maternal Effect in Group-Living Birds.” This University Lecture Series lecture is free and open to all. The intent of the University lecture series is to profile and showcase the work and research of UFV faculty. The lecture will be held in B121 on the Abbotsford campus.

This year, UFV will be celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at U-House on Abbotsford campus with the help of Abbotsford Community Services, Mission Community Services, SAPNA, International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, Centre for Indo-Canadian studies, and the FSA Status of Women Committee. There will be community booths initially followed by a series of speakers.

To celebrate the beard, goatee, and the shaving of them, the Media and Communications Student Group is holding an event at AfterMath, the social house on campus. Darren Blakeborough, a media and communications professor at UFV, who is renowned for his beard and goatee, will be having it shaved off by the winner of a raffle draw ($2 for five tickets or $5 for an arm’s length). A part of the proceeds will go to the Devon Clifford Memorial Fund which provides music education for underpriviledged youth.

The Cascade is UFV’s autonomous student newspaper. It provides a forum for UFV students to have their journalism published. It also acts as an alternative press for the Fraser Valley. The Cascade is funded with UFV student funds. The Cascade is published every Friday with a circulation of 1500 and is distributed at UFV campuses and throughout Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Mission. The Cascade is a member of the Canadian University Press, a national cooperative of 75 university and college newspapers from Victoria to St. John’s. The Cascade follows the CUP ethical policy concerning material of a prejudicial or oppressive nature.

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

Articles and letters to the editor must be typed.

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

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

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

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NEWS

NDP’s Andrew Mercier speaks to the Liberals newly released budget joe johnson

THE CASCADE

From what will surely be the hotly contested riding of Langley, NDP candidate Andrew Mercier sat down with The Cascade to discuss the larger points of the recent provincial budget. Mercier is a former UFV student.

Let’s start with students. The Where’s The Funding movement, which held an event on the back steps of the Parliament building to coincide with the reopening of the legislature, was hoping to see more funding for Advanced Education. Where did the government fall with regard to students?

Well, I think where the government went wrong in regards to students is not prioritizing advanced education, at all - completely neglecting it to service their own narrow interests. You can look at the budget, a line item in it is $15 million to advertise the government’s jobs plan, which is largely a plan to create jobs in the Premier’s office, or so it seems. Right, their claiming credit for the Seaspan contract from the federal government, as well as several other things that seem to have happened fairly independent of them, but they’ve completely neglected the needs of students and skills training. And that’s going to become a major issue for us as the years progress.

As a former student that attained reasonably well in university, I graduated with first-class honors, 50 per cent of my wages right now go to debt. I mean that’s a very real issue that needs to be addressed and it’s not something I see coming from this government or this budget at all.

Families, a topic which will possibly be Premier Christy Clark’s legacy, how did they fair?

I don’t think Christy Clark will have any legacy to leave to BC families other than her hands in their pocket… Since 2001—and I’ll preface this by saying Christy Clark was a member of government from 2001 to 2005, she was a key minister under Gordon Campbell and she was the Deputy Premier—but MSP premiums have gone up 85 per cent since 2001 and what we see in this budget is another four per cent increase, because once again they have their priorities backwards.

They’re engaged in some economic wizardry to craft a deficit cutting budget, but what they’re doing is they’re having a fire sale of government assets instead and they’re taking money from working families and small businesses.

New home builders were hurt by the HST as people laid off purchases until the tax rolled back to the PST system. With this budget, the government has brought forward relief in terms of increasing the HST rebate threshold for new home purchases. But is that enough to offset most of the problem effects that were caused in the mishandling of the tax?

A: Well, I think you are right when you say the prob-

Image:Frank Bucholtz/Langley Times

Andrew Mercier of the BC New Democrats. lem with the tax is the way they handled it and the uncertainty around it. Who in their right mind would buy a new home now, when they know there’s not going to be HST applicable to it in, perhaps, 14 months. So what they’ve done—and in the Fraser Valley the real-estate industry is very important—they’ve essentially crippled it. I was talking actually to a developer creating homes for Yorkson, who’s built 80 homes that he says are sitting vacant right now, new homes. And part of the problem here right now with this “new home rebate,” is read the fine print. I don’t think any young couple, or anyone just graduating university that is going to buy their first home is going to buy a brand new home.

Most entry level homes tend to be homes that have already been lived in. And so in that way it doesn’t address one of the fundamental issues. They need to scrap the HST. It took 12 months to introduce it, there is no reason they can’t get rid of it in 12 months.

What you’re seeing is them trying to claw back the revenue from the HST to pay back the money to the federal government, because they signed a bad deal. It was a bad deal for British Columbia.

Healthcare is edging ever closer to half the provincial budget.

How well did the government service that industry?

Well there are two things going on with healthcare becoming half of the provincial budget. One of them is in fact that the size of healthcare relative to everything else has grown because everything else has been cut back so harshly. Because since 2001 the government has cut spending in several other places, which has left healthcare—which still has grown as a cost—taking on an outsized portion of the budget.

And I think there are a lot of very good empirical studies on that by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. But they’ve done a poor job servicing the public of British Columbia in terms of healthcare. I mean they’re raising

MSP again four per cent. People are getting healthcare in Tim Horton’s right now, we have Tim Horton’s healthcare in BC. And that seems to be what the Liberal policy is. And it’s funny because if you look at the fire sale of assets that Minister Falcon is having right now, what you’ll see – it’s directly linked to their short term thinking in terms of healthcare.

They’re selling a piece of land in Surrey that they bought up for the expansion of Surrey Memorial so that they’d have a place to expand it to. Now, the expansion is going ahead on another site so they’re going to sell that land to recoup that revenue. But here’s the thing, Surrey is growing so fast that in 10 to 20 years it’s going to be the size of Vancouver, they’re going to need a new hospital, and they’ve sold the land they could have built it on, right.

They’re not keeping up with the growth that’s there. And another part of the reason, just if you look at costs, they need to extend referential drug pricing. We pay 40 per cent more for drugs than Quebec and Ontario does because they drove a harder bargain than we did. And that’s a very easy thing to approach, especially when you look at one of the highest costs related to healthcare being prescription drugs, and non-prescription drugs.

The Auditor General report found that the government has failed in planting new growth for fallen trees due to the forest industry. Is there any new money to service that?

Well, what the government has done is they’ve failed to keep a proper inventory of the timber supply in British Columbia. I think the last inventory was done 17 years ago. So we have absolutely no idea how sustainable the forestry resource is right now, at all, which is completely unacceptable. This is a government that has lost 35,000 jobs in forestry. They gutted the timber sale harvest license process, they got rid of pertinency requirements within the timber sales harvest

licenses, and they’ve closed down 70 mills – or seem to have closed down 70 mills. So, that is something we can look at. We need to get a proper inventory done, it needs to be one of our first priorities – I think, in order to properly manage the resource.

They said they aren’t going to privatize liquor stores, yet, but they’re going to privatize the liquor distribution board and the hundreds of employees, unionized employees, that work there.

So, I mean, it doesn’t appear to bode well.

Premier Clark’s much touted trades mission was aimed at increasing exports to Asia. Did this budget do enough to address continued growth in that direction?

Well I think what we’ve seen is Premier Clark tout photo-ops to Asia, rather than trade missions.

I mean, let’s be frank here, I think the best two premiers for having good trade relations with Asia were probably Premier Bill Bennett and Mike Harcourt. We’ve seen [Liberals] consistently mishandle that because we need to build long, permanent, ties there rather than just go through once every couple of years and wave the flag around.

Are there any other specific measures in the budget you’d care to discuss?

Well, I think that the sale of assets is something we all need to be really concerned about. Because, once those are gone they’re not things that we can just bring back because it would take an intensive amount of capital to recreate a liquor distribution board, or anything like that. Essentially what the BC Liberal government is doing, what Premier Clark and Minister Falcon have done, is sell the house to pay for groceries. They’re trading away budgetary tools to raise revenue for one-time lump sum payments to mask their deficit ahead of the next election, which is the worst kind of politics.

The government has made it clear that retaining their tripleA credit rating was a goal of this budget. But economically, do you think a mandated balanced budget – as the Liberals have done- is a good idea?

Well, the Liberals have crafted a balance budget law that they’ve broken. Now, they like to talk a lot about balanced budgets, but if you look through their past 10 budgets you’ll find that the majority have been run on a deficit.

And that’s no one’s fault but their own when you essentially break the tools to generate revenue in government, like privatizing the liquor distribution board which brings in hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue into government coffers. I think it would behoove us to be fiscally prudent. I don’t think we’ve seen a fiscally prudent government. I mean, the HST transfer money came to us in four payments that we continued to accept, even after we knew there was going to be a referendum on it. And both Premier Clark and Minister Falcon said they thought they would probably lose the referendum. They continued to take that money. I don’t think that’s a fiscally prudent move. So, I think if we want to maintain our credit rating, we should act like fiscally prudent and responsible financial actors. Because, we need to not be afraid of decisions being made by 20-year-olds MBAs at Moody’s and Fitches because we’ve allowed ourselves to get to so much debt because of reckless government spending and failure to collect proper tax revenue, that we’re reduced to that point. If we want to maintain our credit rating, we need to be economically prudent. And they’re not doing that because they don’t have the fundamentals down.

According to the BC Government Employees Union, BCGEU, the Liberals are going to cut 2000 public service jobs over a three year span. Is that a likely figure?

Well, I mean we can’t really speculate until we see what the Liberals are actually going to do. I mean, they’ve talked about cuts.

Is there anything that the Liberals did right in the budget?

I think the Liberals fell short on many fronts. One of the things you could have potentially credited them with… let’s look at the reality of the budget. They’re raising MSP four per cent, they said that they would give small businesses a tax break – they failed to do that, they said they may raise corporate taxes if the situation merits it after having cut corporate taxes, slashed to one of the lowest rates in Canada successively over the past 10 years. And they might not do that until 2015 when odds are they’re going to be out of office. So anything they could have done on the revenue side, they failed to do, or came up with a tepid promise that they may do something at some point in the future. This budget leaves a lot to be desired, and I think the average British Columbian would say that. There’s not a lot happening here that’s not good for you or I. And the biggest thing they’ve failed on is students. They failed students. There’s nothing in there for advanced education, there’s nothing in there for student loan relief. They’re spending $15 million on government advertising, advertising their jobs plan. And I guess that’s something done right for PR firms, but it’s not something that’s done right for somebody that’s working their way through school, or for a population that takes out one of the highest student debt loads in the country.

For more of The Cascade’s interview with NDP candidate Andrew Mercier, refer to ufvcascade.ca for the full interview.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

NEWS

Facebook to be publicly traded KAREN ANEY

THE CASCADE

Most of us have it, and the ones that don’t are generally technophobes or holding out based on some inexplicable artistic stand.

Or both. Yes, it’s Facebook, the social networking tool with enough range to inspire an academy award and incite the uncomfortable “what are we” conversation just a little too quickly. Soon, it’s going public.

Facebook has officially filed for an initial public offering (IPO), meaning it will soon be publically traded. Until now, founder Mark Zuckerberg and company have steered clear of the stock exchange and chosen to remain a private company. As a result, the vast majority of Facebook’s financial dealings have been kept secret.

The desire for relative secrecy has largely inspired the move to becoming a publically-traded company, based on multiple state-

ments by Zuckerberg that he had no desire to ever go public. The reason for this is likely that once a company is publically traded, it is required to report exhaustive details of its workings to the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) – the faction of the American government that controls its countries financial dealings.

However, because Facebook now has over 500 shareholders, it is required to send these reports to the SEC anyway, despite the fact that they are currently private.

According to Section 12 of the SEC guidelines, the list Facebook would be required to report is pretty extensive. It starts with “the organization, financial structures, and nature of the business,” and goes on to cover every angle of the business including “any person directly or indirectly” involved with the issuer (Facebook). The company would also be required to compile information from its history: “balance sheets for not more than the three preceding fiscal years,”

for example.

Because Facebook is now required to report this information to the SEC regardless of their trading status, going public will not alter current operations. However, Zuckerberg will now have a bevy of stockholders to answer to. Often, stockholders want to see most of the same information the SEC does. However, Facebook will not be legally obligated to report such information to them, and are able to present said information in a manner that highlights its strengths rather than its weaknesses.

Another benefit of the move to being publically traded is that it makes the stocks employees are given worth something – as the document filed to go public states, “allow us and our employees [to] obtain additional capital.”

This makes Facebook an attractive potential employer in an increasingly competitive technological job market. The internet is now teeming with tales of graffiti artists who are now millionaires

because they were paid in worthless stocks to paint an office wall eight years ago.

So what does the move mean for the user? Principally, it means that Facebook now has a lot more pressure on it to be profitable.

From the same filing that states the company’s desire to raise capital, we know that 85 per cent of Facebook’s profit comes from advertising, and the remaining 15 per cent is from games. Furthermore, 12 per cent of that 15 comes from Zynga (the makers of Farmville). Facebook has over 800 million users, and according to the company’s filing to go public, half of these users return daily.

According to the International Communications Union, approximately 32.7 per cent of the world’s population were internet users in 2011. Given that this means less than a third of the internet’s population are Facebook users, and factoring in youth and an aging population, this doesn’t leave much room for growth.

One large concern with the

company that is being voiced by many investors is that Zuckerberg has a 58 per cent voting control over the company, maintaining full control of decisions made in the company. Though this could serve to reassure the typical Facebook user, his stake in the company currently amounts to approximately $15.8 billion, according to the IPO filing. Therefore, he stands to gain much from selling his controlling interest.

The stock will be publically traded as early as April. However, analysts are expecting that an initial boom in purchase will price the stock out of most individuals’ portfolios. Instead, look to those groups that have an existing investment in Facebook. The largest of these is The Media & Telecommunications Fund (which trades under PRMTX). They own about one per cent of Facebook’s total assets, which amounts to $1.9 billion dollars, and serve to profit if Facebook does.

Visit us online at ufvcascade.ca NEWS BRIEFS

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Russia’s Putin says not afraid after murder plot

Canadian nursing exam to soon be produced by U.S. company

Riot police break up Montreal student protest

Three killed in Canadian train derailment

KSA signs deal with impeached former directors

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin brushed off a reported plot to kill him as part of his daily burden as Russia’s prime minister on Tuesday, burnishing his macho image five days before a presidential election he is likely to win.

State television on Monday carried news of a plot by Islamist rebels to kill Putin, provoking ridicule from his opponents who said it was a crude attempt to boost the former KGB spy’s popularity before Sunday’s election.

Putin, who travels with heavy security, showed his customary swagger as he dismissed concerns about his safety, saying he had lived with such threats since first becoming prime minister in 1999, when he crushed an uprising on Russia’s southern flank.

“If you are afraid all the time then you cannot live - let them fear us,” Putin told reporters in Astrakhan, a city on the banks of the Volga River about 1,300 km (800 miles) south of Moscow, Itar-Tass news agency reported.

“People in my position have to live with such things,” he was quoted as saying. “I have lived with this since 1999 and it has been going on constantly.”

State television said the plotters, seized after one of them blew himself up in a flat in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa, had planned to plant a bomb in central Moscow to kill the 59-year-old prime minister on his way to work.

It aired video files from a seized computer that showed Putin’s heavily armed cortege of cars speeding through Moscow, complete with police outriders and dozens of cars full of heavily armed bodyguards.

SASKATOON (CUP) — Nursing students from across Canada have raised concerns as preparations are made to move to a U.S-produced standardized exam for licensing registered nurses, expected in 2015.

“The main thing is that nursing students across the country, since this announcement, have been voicing a lot of discontent and [are] upset with the decision,” said Maggie Danko, western regional director of the Canadian Nursing Students’ Association and a third-year nursing student at the University of Alberta.

On Dec. 1, most provincial nursing regulatory bodies in Canada announced that they had selected the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, an American company, to create a new licensing exam for registered nurses. The regulatory bodies of Quebec and the Yukon have not signed on.

The new exam will be written online rather than on paper, which will allow prospective nurses to write whenever they want and for a lower fee than the current Canadian Registered Nurses’ Exam costs. The CRNE can only be written on three days out of the year. These dates are chosen by the Canadian Nursing Association, which provides the CRNE. “We’re also concerned that this decision to switch to the American company has been made without proper consultation of some of the relevant stakeholders, such as students, who are the ones that write the exam,” Danko said.

It’s true that students were not included in the selection process for the new exam creator, says College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta CEO Mary-Anne Robinson.

“This is a licensing exam and typically those decisions are made by the licensing bodies or the regulators,” she said.

MONTREAL (CUP) — In a day of action on Feb. 24, thousands of students gathered in Philips Square and marched through downtown Montreal to protest tuition increases set to begin this September. The demonstration marks the start of the Quebec student movement’s general unlimited strike.

In honour of the day of action, 47 student associations, representing about 68,400 students, were on strike for the day. Currently, 44 associations, representing about 53,750 students, are on strike, and 16 associations, representing about 11,500 students, have a strike mandate but have not yet gone on strike.

The march at times numbered up to 15,000 students. The Coalition large de l’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (CLASSE) organized the demonstration, and spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said he was “totally surprised” by the turnout.

“I think we were waiting for a few thousand people and we’ve got thousands and thousands of people,” said Nadeau-Dubois.”

As of 2:45 p.m. the demonstration was trailed by between 17 to 20 police vehicles, including a van of riot police, an ambulance and a van labeled “Support logistique.”

At Berri-UQAM metro station the demonstration splintered down to about 1,500 demonstrators who continued marching towards Jacques Cartier Bridge.

“The protest technically ended at Berri-UQAM station,” said a student who wished to remain anonymous. The student said that some demonstrators wanted to continue the march.

Those demonstrators who continued reportedly marched towards the bridge — though most did not reach the bridge, according to the student.

Many of those taking part in the splinter demonstration encountered riot police near Papineau metro station.

TORONTO (Reuters) - A passenger train derailed near Burlington

SURREY, B.C. (CUP) — The interim board of the Kwantlen Stu-

in southern Ontario on Sunday, killing at least three people,

dent Association (KSA) has reached an out-of-court settlement

according to the train operator VIA Rail.

with impeached former director Balninna “Nina” Sandhu and

“There were 75 passengers on board the train at the time of the

student Gary Dhaliwal, and agreed to pay their court costs.

accident. There are reports of several injuries to passengers and

A mutual consent order was filed in B.C. Supreme Court Feb.

three fatalities,” VIA Rail said in a statement.

16, upholding the Nov. 30 special general meeting (SGM) and

The six-carriage train, which was travelling from Niagara Falls,

declaring the impeachments of 13 former directors as valid. In

Ontario, to Toronto, derailed at 1530 EST (2030 GMT).

addition, the order upheld the new KSA bylaws adopted at that

“They were in the locomotive, so at this point we know for sure

same meeting.

that they (the three people killed) were VIA employees,” VIA Rail

The consent order also overturned the placing in bad standing

spokeswoman Michelle Lamarche told CBC News.

of 26 current and former students and staff members. Members

A spokesman for the Halton Regional police was able to confirm

in bad standing would not have been allowed to run for office in

only one fatality. The cause of the derailment is not yet known.

the KSA or vote in KSA elections.

VIA Rail, which is owned by the Canadian government, said

Sandhu, the KSA’s former director of finance, and student Gary

three passengers were airlifted to local hospitals with serious

Singh Dhaliwal had filed a petition Jan. 10 in B.C. Supreme Court

injuries. More than 40 passengers and a crew member were also

claiming that the SGM was invalid and sought a court order to

taken to local hospitals.

reinstate the impeached directors and to place 14 other current

The train was reportedly leaking fuel after the derailment,

and former students and staff members back in good standing

Postmedia News said.

as KSA members.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it had sent a

According to a petition filed with the court in January, Gary

team of investigators to the site of the incident.

Dhaliwal had intended to run for office in the next KSA election.

VIA Rail said other trains in the region will be affected due to

However, in a joint statement issued Feb. 16 by the KSA and

the tracks being blocked at the scene of the accident.

Sandhu and Dhaliwal, the 26 have “voluntarily agreed not to participate in the affairs of the KSA in any manner for the next three years, including seeking office as directors of the society.”

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

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5

NEWS

Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce reaches out to young business leaders JOE JOHNSON

THE CASCADE

If your familiarity with the local Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce isn’t quite up there, then you may not be aware of a certain segment of the organization. However, there is a very real importance to the chamber for younger, driven and goal-oriented people, in order to establish the future of Abbotsford’s local business community.

The Young Leaders Mingle event was created to cater to the needs of those future business leaders. It’s just getting off the ground, and comes with an admission fee, but is it something that may very well be very useful to your aspirations if you have an entrepreneurial dream, or are simply business-minded.

Strictly speaking, it’s an event run by the under-40, for the under-40. The event’s name, “Young Leaders Mingle,” is indicative of the basic premise of anybody who has an interest in seeking other like-minded individuals and who are relatively the same age, meet and chat a bit.

Chamber of Commerce President Patrick Giesbrecht gave a rundown of Young Leaders Mingle. “So, it’s more of an end of a business day, have a cocktail or a beverage and enjoy some finger food, kind of thing. And there’s just a lot of working the room, people meeting other people, having business cards. And as far as that goes, having a lot of non-business conversations, as

Image: Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce

well, of course.” he said.

It’s not limited to only members of the chamber, either.

While there are many members who do attend the events, Giesbrecht estimates that it could be upwards of half the people there are simply individuals looking to network – which really is the goal of the event.

To those interested, “any individual involved in business, whether in ownership or as an employee in the Fraser Valley, is welcome to come to these events,” Giesbrecht explained.

And it’s the focus on the under-40 demographic that makes

this event what it is, high energy and an experience suited for a younger group of professionals.

Geisbrecht described some of the particulars, as well. “Usually there are some door prizes, maybe a contest or two, a few introductions are made, and someone goes home with some prizes of some kind.” The events last about two hours in length.

To be successful in business, it’s essential to build relationships. They’re what can either make or break a business. Giesbrecht understands this. “Business is about relationships. And the stronger, the longer term the

relationships are, the more profitable that they can be. And so, me as an under-40 business person in Abbotsford, I know and I can point to the success that I’ve had has been directly related to building the relationships with other key people, of various ages, but in particular with the people who I will be doing business with for the longest amount of time.” He stressed that, “starting young, finding other people who are using the same tools, from a technology point of view, is just a smart thing to do.”

And that’s why the idea of the Young Leaders Mingle came

about. It was a part of the chamber’s strategic plan. Having understood that the chamber was being seen as a group for older people who are already firmly planted in the city, they wanted to alter that perception. A point was made to send the message out to young professionals, and the event was created.

The first one, held at Relevention Marketing Solutions, and the most recent, on February 2 at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre, are also a way to show what your business is about. The event is organized by a volunteer business owner or even just an employee of the business, to be held on their own workplace. As over 100 people were in attendance for each so far, Giesbrecht has called it a success.

While the next event hasn’t been scheduled, yet, it is expected to take place in May or June.

However, on April 26 there will be a luncheon with three speakers from the Business in Vancouver “Top 40 Under 40” list giving speeches.

Perhaps the most important reason for students with business aspirations in having an interest in the Young Leaders Mingle event is as Geisbrecht explained: “The opportunities for networking, building relationships, meeting other people doing similar things to you in your age group, there is no other event like it in the Fraser Valley.”

Is Canada pro-choice? Tension rises in Iran and

North Korea

REBECCA GROEN

THE CASCADE

“In this speech I’m not going to say that we should take away women’s rights,” began John Sutherland at a speech hosted by UFV’s Life Link on February 21.

His speech entitled “Canada Isn’t Pro-Choice: Why I Wish it Was” attempted to shed some light on the heated abortion debate. “Why is informed choice so important when it comes to consumer goods and not when it comes to abortion?” he queries. “People are given more information when purchasing a car than when seeking abortion.” His main premise was that to be pro-choice should mean to be pro-informed-choice.

In his speech, he quoted some interesting statistics. Thirty out of every 100 possible births end in abortion, mainly to single women in their first trimester of pregnancy. Contrary to popular belief, Canada currently has no legislation surrounding abortion.

In 1969, Prime Minister Trudeau made abortion legal to women if their case was examined by a panel of doctors. In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down that law, calling on Parliament to enact a new one. Since then, however, anything that has come into Parliament even with

alexei summers

THE CASCADE

Image: Rebecca Groen/The Cascade

rumours of re-opening the abortion debate has been struck down.

To be committed to informed choice when it comes to abortion would require changes to the way the procedure is done here in Canada. First of all, legislation would have to be introduced and passed into law. This legislation would have to be followed, and in order for that to happen effectively, the “hearts and the minds of the people must be changed.” The term “pro-choice” would take on a new connotation. “Information is crucial to help women make an informed choice.”

In 2002, United States President George Walker Bush used the term “Axis of Evil” in his state of the union address, to refer to the governments of North Korea, Iran, and Iraq, which he believed were terrorist states seeking to develop weapons of mass destruction. Although Bush was criticized for his comments on these powers, it has been ten years since then, and western public focus remains firmly fixed on these three nations – there is a perceived threat, and the West anticipates violence against it and its neighbours and allies.

In recent weeks, the world has descended into a climate of fear as UN officials have been carrying out inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Talk of preemptive strikes against Iran are emphasized by UN reports condemning the Middle Eastern nation for allegedly lying to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, and not answering questions in a satisfactory manner. The nation’s cooperation with the inspections has

been heavily criticized.

The Persian nation has been suspected of being developing nuclear weapons of mass destruction for a number of years now, but officially claims to have no intentions of building atomic bombs – but rather, is mining nuclear materials for energy resources, and for research.

“Iran like any society is a multitiered society,” said UFV Political Science professor Ron Dart of Iran’s Nuclear program. “There’s always the dilemma in politics – in how you defend yourself.

There’s always the rhetoric, and there’s always the possibility.

Whether [an Iranian nuclear program] is a reality is another thing entirely.”

Meanwhile, North Korea currently refuses to let IAEA inspectors within its borders anymore.

Since 2009, it has not undergone any nuclear inspections, and is considered a rogue state by the UN. Under the rule of Kim JongIl, North Korea prided itself on its high military spending budget. It now has the fourth largest army in the world, and a budding nuclear weapons program.

Now that North Korean Communist Party Chairman and Su-

preme Leader, Kim Jong-Il, has passed away, power has been passed to his son, Kim JungUn. The North Korean political sphere has been quiet since his passing – many political scientists believe that this could be the calm before the storm, as power is transferred from father to son.

Kim Jong-Il was criticized harshly throughout his career as leader of the North Korean people as being hot-headed, and quick to react – something the West does not like to see in a man who has access to nuclear arms.

“I think the hope would be that son does not follow father, in this case. A good leader can do a lot of things if they’re a visionary leader. A poor leader just reinforces the prejudices of the past,” said Dart, on the subject of Kim Jung-Un assuming power. North Korea is expected to have Intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities by later this year – long range nuclear missiles, which will be able to target any city in the world. Currently, the range of North Korean missiles only extends to the west coast of North America.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

STUDENT VOTE 2012

Student Union Society 2012 general election candidate statements Candidates were asked a series of four questions: 1.

2. How will you improve the responsibility of the

If elected, what would you like the Student Union Society (SUS) to achieve / improve during your term in office?

SUS to enhance student life at UFV? Please elaborate.

3. SUS is the primary advocacy organization for

4. SUS has very large profile projects in its future

students, how do you plan to improve the efficacy of SUS’s efforts in these engagements?

including the Student Union Building, U-Pass commitments and future large and small concerts; what role do you see yourself taking for these projects?

All statements are directly quoted from candidates’ nomination packages submitted to the SUS Elections Committee.

President

Carlos Vidal 1 - The Student Union Building needs to start construction this year. I have been very heavily involved in getting this project back on track and can promise that we will break ground in June/July. Many departments such as CiVL, Cascade, and Student Life have been waiting long enough for new and improved workspace and I can’t wait for this finished building to make students proud! I would also like to see more funding to go Clubs & Associations. Many of them hold amazing events each year that benefit students and could easily grow with more support and encouragement from SUS. 2 - I feel that we have done a great job this past year of getting the SUS’s name out to students. More and more people know who we are and are aware of our services. It is also great to see more and more students running for SUS positions and wanting to get involved. I still feel we have a lot more work to do in representing SUS and our services at all campuses. I will commit more time to visit all campuses and hear out student concerns. I will then take these issues to our Board and to UFV to advocate for what students want.

3 - I will continue to commit representation of the SUS and of UFV students through provincial lobbying and through frequent meetings with UFV Management. Along with this, we need to represent more clearly what we are doing in these efforts. This year I helped push the re-development of our SUS website and it has made communication to our students MUCH better. However, there are still many things we are doing that could be advertised on our website/social media more, such as our “WTF!?” campaign efforts and successes, meetings with UFV Management, SUB construction progress, events, and CASA involvement.

4 - If elected as your President for another term, I will bring a level of consistency that has not been seen in SUS for a while. Having been on the Board a full year, I have already demonstrated my commitment to the Student Union Building projects, U-Pass program, and Weeks of Welcome. I have encouraged innovation and challenging the norms this year and we have seen major improvements to these programs. I offer consistency in leadership and following-through with the work that we have invested in already. I know how all of these projects function and I will carry them out the way that students want.

VP Academic

Marin Beck

engagement at the outset of studies at UFV.

1 - I would like to see student involvement in university activities, events, organizations and associations, and the SUS itself greatly enhanced; I believe improving student participation in extracurricular university events will bring greater student spirit which will create a greater sense of community at UFV.

3 - Stay actively engaged with the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, yet also become more engaged with the student body to hear their questions and concerns, and what issues they want the university to focus on – this could be done through surveys, questionnaires, and also on-campus interviews. Focusing on issues important to the student body will cause greater support and greater power behind the SUS advocacy efforts.

2 - While there is plenty of involvement at UFV, there is also a plenitude of apathy in the student body. I believe student participation in student life begins in the first years of UFV attendance; therefore in order to enhance student life I believe there is a need to focus on events/issues that will spark student

4 - As VP Academic, I see myself acting as an advocate for students in ( but not exclusive to ) areas that affect academic issues. I see myself actively engaged in order to have all aspects of student life ( from social to academic ) fully represented in order ensure responsibility in these endeavors.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

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STUDENT VOTE 2012

VP Academic

Mehtab Singh Rai 1 - When I become the Vice-President Academic I would like the Student Union Society to improve its campus presence. This would mean that as a larger entity I would like to see the SUS to be seen as more than the people who organize the Weeks of Welcome concert event formerly known as DisOrientation or just the people who hand out the U-Pass stickers. I would like the SUS to be known for its financial aid of student Clubs and Associations. While the Clubs and Associations have a large amount of selfgovernance, working closely with them would be highly mutualistic in promoting SUS services like Advocacy, Health and Dental plan, and U-Pass program.

2 - I would like to increase the responsibility of the SUS to enhance student life by making sure that the incoming directors that would fill the positions of VP Social and VP Internal work together. Having at one point been the VP Social it is important to recognize that the VP Internal deals quite closely with Clubs and Associations. As a result of this the VP Social can get a grasp of the Clubs and Associations as a result of the work done by the VP Internal. This is important because if the VP Social can work with the Clubs and Associations they will have better attendance at events and be able help coordinate the events the Clubs and Associations have in mind.

3 - While it is true that the SUS is the primary advocacy group for students at UFV.

Daniel van der Kroon 1 - The SUS must become more in-touch and engaged with its members. A healthy consideration of the appropriateness and suitability of current and alternative SUS governance models should take place.

2 - The SUS has a responsibility to consider itself a part of the broader eastern Fraser Valley community and its policies should reflect such.

They way in which I would try to increase SUS efficiency in this matter would be to try and work with the University to create an Ombudsman Office on campus. As it currently stands the University does not have a third-party truly unbiased person to fulfill the role of mediating problems between the students. Currently students have access to the Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Office and that is working fine at the moment, but it would be more appropriate for there to be an Ombudsman Office who is funded fifty-fifty; half by the SUS and half by the University. This would be to ensure that the Ombudsman Office is not loyal to any one group of people over the others.

4 - Concerning the SUB building, my major goal would be to make sure that we meet our goal of breaking ground June 2012 and opening September 2013. That project has met major delays in the past and I do wish it to be open in the very near future. With concerns with the U-Pass program it would be interesting to see whether or not it would be possible to increase service in the Lower Mainland area. The only problem with this is that it presents a monetary issue. Perhaps it would be possible to work around this. Making it possible for those who live in those areas to opt into this secondary service so they have more service in the places were they actually reside. A more realistic goal would be to try and work with the cities of Chilliwack and Abbotsford in order to have dedicated transit system between the two cities making it viable for residents of each city to attend the other Campus’ classes.

3 - SUS currently conducts much of its student advocacy through its relationships and memberships with local MLAs as well as CASA. I propose rescinding membership in CASA and focusing on improving student lives by focusing on fiduciary responsibility.

4 - I assisted in designing the U-Pass program, and look forward to continuing to be involved in its evolution I also look forward to focusing on delivering value for membership fees in relation to the SUB and special events.

VP East

Shane Potter 1 - I plan to continue to promote groups, organizations, and events at Chilliwack Campuses. Also, with the coming of the new Chilliwack Campus, I hope to work with SUS as we grow towards a larger and stronger UFV Chilliwack presence.

I will advocate towards a bus plan to connect the Chilliwack and Abbotsford campuses as many students are pushing for a connector bus plan.

2 - Clubs and events help make students feel at home at UFV. The student body is changing and what was once an apathetic commuter college is turning into a strong and diverse University student body that care about our institution. SUS has to grow with our changing student population.

Kyle Wierks 1 - The purpose of the Student Union Society is to represent the student body and to create an atmosphere where students can thrive. I would like to see SUS create a more positive atmosphere on campus where students want to spend time on campus in a friendly, engaging environment.

2 - Student culture is an important part of life at UFV. I intend to help our student culture grow by bringing, social events to the Chilliwack campus and helping plan them for Abbotsford to help build an atmosphere where students want to spend time.

Let’s build a student culture that attracts new students and makes everyone proud to be a UFV student.

3 - Connecting with the student body is something that is always a problem with any Student Union. It is not easy to know what method of communication will reach our students. However, we need to look for alternate ways to reach our students and educate them on the benefits that the Student Union Society has.

4 - Again, the SUS has to find a way to reach and educate the student body on the large projects they are taking on. With the increase in student involvement, complex issues surrounding large projects will need to be discussed in depth with the pros and cons.

3 - The most important part of our University is our student body, regardless of where they live or which campus they study at. As Vice President East, my advocacy efforts would be focused on students who either live or study in Chilliwack, Agassiz, or Hope, and I would be a loud voice for them on the SUS Board. However, as a SUS Executive I would do my utmost to be the voice for every UFV student, regardless of geography.

4 - UFV students live throughout the Fraser Valley, and the U-Pass should reflect that by having discounts at facilities around, the Fraser Valley. I hope to help take on that portfolio by expanding the amenities that the U-pass can be used for. The new Student Union Building is also very important, and I will continue to support it, while making sure that the voice of the student body is heard throughout its construction.

VP Finance

Samuel Broadfoot 1 - I will improve transit between Chilliwack and Abbotsford.; continue to make financial information available to the Board and staff; pursue greater openness in financial documentation.

2 - By supporting SUS activities and events that engage the student body and provide benefit.

3 - By efficient spending for our advocacy efforts, local and abroad (monitoring and reporting costs as they are accrued and reduce costs when most applicable and serviceable to students.)

4 - Continuing to monitor and report on the SUB project and the U-Pass to reduce costs when beneficial.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

STUDENT VOTE 2012

VP Internal

Celina Beer 1 - A quicker/more effective renewal system for clubs and associations every September; further efforts toward informing students on the benefits given by the Student Union ( i.e., promotion of the Health and Dental plans ); continue efforts toward a greater political involvement/engagement of students in their Student Union elections and SUS advocacy.

2 - By being readily available to answer student questions within 24 hours, doing my best to provide all related and necessary information to their inquiries; by keeping accurate, thorough quarterly reports on schedule as well as constructing a detailed report for next year’s Executive; perhaps by uncomfortably pushing students to buy UFV-logoed clothing at the bookstore.

Greg Stickland 1 - I want to continue the work of the current VP Internal and myself. We have been working towards improving the relationships between SUS and our recognized clubs and associations. I want the registration and fund request processes to be as clear, easy, and convenient as humanly possible. I want to strengthen our associations especially.

2 - One thing that I’ve thoroughly confirmed with my time on SUS is that knowledge is key. The leaders and presidents of our student organizations are always grateful when someone from SUS approaches them with information. Even when it’s just an E-mail telling them that they’re one step closer to registration, they really appreciate the effort on our part. More importantly, not all of our associations know about the resources available to them, I want that to change.

3 - We can achieve a greater level of efficacy by focusing on being available for students as well as working to improve already existing systems within the SUS ( like the Clubs/Associations renewal). Efficacy also needs to be tied to the transparency, so another focus for me personally will be keeping my reports/meeting minutes as detailed as possible. This way, it encourages and allows students to continue to suggest the next steps of improvements for the SUS. 4 - As a current executive member of the Political Science Student Association, we have put on a number of successful events so I understand how much effort it takes to pull off something large scale. I’ve had lots of public speaking experience hosting events and I’m also a very detail-oriented individual. I hope these skills would allow me to help shed some light on things others may not consider. In general though, I’d love to be a small part of the University’s legacy by volunteering the best way I can.

Why not the SUS?

3 - This will mostly be the job of whoever becomes our VP Academic and Community Reps. However, I hope that increased communication with our student organizations can make the voices be heard both ways.

4 - Unfortunately with my new role as VP Internal, I would have to move away from student events. If re-elected though, I plan to continue with my YouTube project. Our pilot is almost done, so everyone should watch out for that in the near future. I’m hoping this project will be a powerful platform for students to advertise and learn about campus events.

VP Social

Christian Doyle 1 - My goal is to have the Student Union Society improve its image on campus. Many students see SUS as a source for funding or for simply a stepping-stone for groups/associations. I want SUS to work its image so that they see it as a source of advocacy and aide as well as a source of funding.

2 - As VP Social it would be my task to create an atmosphere on campus that would allow students to get together, relax and have fun. UFV is primarily a commuter school, so it is my goal to make students want to stay on campus and take part in the UFV community.

3 - I would work closely with the VP Academic to promote the Advocacy Committee.

We would do this through events, handouts and posters. I want the Advocacy Committee to be as well known as SUS itself.

4 - In the position of VP Social, I would work toward events at the SUB, I would work along with our U-Pass sponsors and I would be largely involved in all concerts and events. As VP Social I would be planning and executing the Weeks of Welcome over the first few months in office and since I helped run the Weeks of Welcome last year I feel prepared for the job.

International Student Representative

Jun Feng 1 - The position that I am running for is International Student Rep. As a part of Student Union Society, I would like to improve more services and benefit to our members.

With my effort, I hope I can help our SUS achieve its mission which is creating a strong, unified student voice and to provide innovative and valuable services.

2 - As an International Student Rep, my responsibility is enhancing international students and let them involve to campus life. There are several things I would like to do: A. Help SUS build a student union building that can provide students a new environment.

B. Organize more activities to enhance student life.

C. Propagandize the programs of SUS.

3 - Efficacy is a really important problem. As a student, I believe our SUS has done good job on this problem. After I becoming a part of SUS, I will inherit this good spirit; furthermore, I will set myself as an example to others paradigmatic ground carries out my duty.

4 - The role that I am taking is making sure those projects are really good for our students and support our SUS to develop our projects; meanwhile, propagandize those projects to students. I will try my best to enable students to get maximize benefits from our projects.

Residence Representative

Sean Yusuke Webber 1 - Get residence more involved with school activities and the athletics. Simple things such as reaching out to more international students and for them to get to know us even more may be some points to improve.

2 - Make university life interesting. Give UFV a bit of a kick to it for students to be more interactive.

3 - Communication is key. Improvement can be easily made by simple communication between SUS and the students.

4 - Being in the centre of it all and part of the coordinating team.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

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STUDENT VOTE 2012

Rep at Large

Vinu Abraham

1 - I would try to improve Disability Student Services and policies at UFV especially regarding Deaf international students in order to achieve equality of education among all students.

2 - I need to inform Disabilities students of the ways they can fight against discrimination and for inclusion and equality at UFV and abroad. I believe UFV SUS and the Advocacy Committee can help me in the aim.

Vitor Carvalho

1 - I would like to engage SUS on the financial matters to make sure that they stay financial responsible.

2 - As an international student I would like to get more involved with UFV, for that I would really enjoy to engage to SUS to get to know how it works, to enhance the work performance on SUS, so students can be benefited.

Debbie Ellis

1 - I would like SUS to improve communication from the executive to the Board to its members. In doing this I would like to see the elected members go out and inform the students what is going on and I would also like students to have the opportunity to talk to its elected members at set office hours.

I would also like members of the Events Committee go out and find out what students are interested in before running events. I know personally I have gone out and talked with students and they would like to see more food events that are open to everyone.

2 - I can only speak for myself saying that I hold my fiduciary responsibility in the highest degree and that the students have the confidence in me to obtain it. I believe anyone of SUS that does not hold their fiduciary responsibility should be dealt with immediately, since it so important and the responsibility of each Board member.

3 - I personally plan on sitting on the Advocacy Committee which I have sat on and I am still currently sitting on. I have the opportunity to personally help students with issues academically and I really like helping these students and look forward to helping many more. I also have a wealth of great resources in the Abbotsford and Chilliwack communities as well as the UFV community.

Ahmed Hussein

1 - I would like to establish a health committee where we can focus on advocating for on-campus health initiatives.

2 - By assisting the office and executives as much as possible. Being on council years ago, I recall the enormous workload placed on execs and plan to assist where I can while working on several SUS committees.

Jay Mitchell 1 - I would like to see the SUS exercise fiscal responsibility in order to maximize the resources available for delivery of student services. I would like to see the SUS take an active role in reducing physical waste across campus, from operations at the AfterMath student lounge, to the enhancement of on-campus recycling, to the elimination of disposable water bottles. As such, I am running an entirely paperless campaign.

2 - I will push to see more co-operation between SUS and other campus groups (i.e.

CIVL Radio, The Cascade newspaper, UFV Student Life ). By sharing ideas and working together on student events, we should be able to increase the opportunities available for students to participate in developing their own great experiences as a UFV student.

Ryan Petersen

1 - If elected I would like to see the Student Union Society strengthen the U-Pass program, focus on financial responsibility as well as work towards improving its relationship with Clubs and Associations. I feel this can be accomplished in updating antiquated policy that the Society holds, as well as streamlining funding requisitions for Student Groups.

2 - There are many ways in which the SUS can work to enhance student life at UFV. One of the best ways I find is to give full support to Clubs and Associations, a group of highly dedicated students with the goal of following their interests, be they academic or otherwise. Their drive and dedication to their area of interest is the influence that

Rachel Waslesky 1

- To carefully examine expenses to optimize student’s needs.

- To provide a proper representation of the student body.

- To enhance students knowledge of SUS and what it represents.

2

- To look at students’ demands in relation to fees.

- To be a voice to students who suffer financially.

Nicholas Willms

1 - Through a collective effort, I hope that during my time in office the Student Union Society would be able to provide cost-effective ways for students to congregate and succeed in a university environment.

3 - I would like to make it my goal to help UFV and SUS improve Communication between any and all departments in the University. I’d like to make it my goal to improve on the communication to lessen the problem and issues students need to face when it comes to manage between departments.

4 - I will see to it that U-Pass continue and improve on its record of being a reliable and safe method of transportation and I’d like to improve on the accessibility for those students who require a little more than a standard bus. I will also like to ensure that the needs of disabled students are met within reason at any events and any other SUS related projects.

3 - I would like to increase awareness of SUS in the University, since many students think SUS is only taking care of the U-Pass. However, SUS has another important things to take care of. (Health Care Plan for example).

4 - As a student I am aware that the U-Pass does not cover the area of Vancouver for us, students of UFV. With that in mind, I would like to try to change that, so whenever students go to Vancouver, they do not need to worry about transportation . Also, I would like to help with the decoration of the new Student Union building, creating a good atmosphere for everyone.

4 - The role I plan in taking with the new Student Union Building is making sure it is accessible. I would also like to make sure student’s space is well allocated and that the AfterMath will be larger to accommodate more students. I would also make sure that both the newspaper and the radio station have space as well as space for students to meet and study. I would also like to keep the students informed on the progress of the new Student Union building.

U-Pass is now being well used and I would still like SUS to get more discounts in the communities that the students live in. I would also like to see more bus routes and improve the current bus routes. On another note, Hopefully we could get a bus going between Chilliwack and Abbostford by the end of the year.

Large and small concerts and events take a lot of work, time management and budgeting are key along with seeing what students want and when the best time for optimum turn out for these events. I have been talking with students at several campuses (Abbotsford, Chilliwack North, TTC and Aerospace) they all would like to see more food events. In some cases more involvement from SUS itself. I do plan on helping at these events and I would like to see stats on these events kept to show how successful they are, maybe to go as far as doing SWAT analyzes on them too.

Most of all I would like students to feel welcome in the Student Union Offices with an open door policy, students are the number one priority and I am hear to listen to your concerns and ideas.

3 - By taking a seat on the Advocacy Committee, I will be able to directly influence many of the events and activities for students as well as potentially lobby provincial and federal politicians for the betterment of our students.

4 - I plan on aiding the SUB project in whichever areas I feel I excel in such as finance, building design, and student concerns!

3 - I would like the SUS to maintain status as a full member in CASA, our federal lobby organization. I also want SUS to push other B.C. schools toward the establishment of an all-inclusive provincial lobby organization. As a political science major, I welcome the opportunity to meet with MLAs and MPs in order to carry our lobby efforts forward.

4 - The SUS needs to ensure that value for students is maximized through any of these efforts. I have previously worked on the SUB and U-Pass projects, and currently represent the SUS on the Mission-Abbotsford Transit Committee. I cannot reasonably support efforts which go against the responsibility of maintaining a high value to cost balance.

the UFV student body needs and it is up to SUS to help them along in their ventures whether that comes in the form of financial aid or simply guidance.

3 - Seeing as SUS already has the position of Vice President of Academics whose main job is to chair the Advocacy Committee, I see myself more as a guide to others so that they might find what resources are available to them through SUS. 4 - While the Student Union Building is a large project much of the work has already been accomplished in laying the groundwork for its construction. I wish to focus more on improving the benefits of the U-Pass for UFV students, looking into what other uses and advantages can be added to an already wonderful program.

- Enable plans of growth that do not impede with students ability to enhance their education.

3

- Improve communication and outreach to the students.

- Use information to increase interest and involvement among students.

4 - To create a balanced flow of information to allow students to make informed decisions about large SUS projects.

2 - I will improve the accessibility of information so that students can have a better idea of the proceedings of SUS as a whole.

3 - As a student and resident of UFV, I would be able to provide an empathetic view to concerns that other students may have.

4 - I would largely be apart of the processes involved in the planning and execution of large profile projects, specifically events.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

STUDENT VOTE 2012

Students take an interest in Senate sHANE potter

CONTRIBUTOR

Every year Senate elects four students to serve on Senate as Student Representatives. Once elected to Senate these students are given the opportunity to have their comments and discussions held on equal ground with the President, Deans, faculty, and staff members of UFV. According to the UFV Senate webpage, “Senate is the academic governing body at UFV which is responsible for policies concerning academic matters and advising the Board on policies of mutual interest.”

From day one all Senate members are reminded that, while they may represent different areas, all Senators are expected to work together, as equals, towards the growth and success of the university.

This election marked a recordbreaking year, with 13 candidates running for Senate’s four students positions.

Meet the Candidates Alycia Bradley Alycia is a fourth-year Bachelor of Science student, working towards a Major in Biology and a minor in kinesiology. She is currently a student representative on Senate and the Undergraduate Education Committee. She wishes to use Senate as a way to promote the common goals of the students and University.

Brad Derbyshire Brad is currently a third-year Accounting BBA student, President of ASFV, a BASA Board of Director, and a work-study student at the University’s SLG center. If elected to the Senate, he will help increase funding for the University and minimize the inhibiting waitlists UFV students face.

Brandon Moon Brandon is a first year student enrolled in general studies who plans on upgrading to his Bachelor of Science. He is looking forward to being able to evaluate programs and educational services so that fellow students and his own experience at UFV is maximized.

Deanna Waslewsky As a Senator, Deanna hopes to draw knowledge and insight from

her experiences as a volunteer at Langley Memorial Hospital and the Fraser Health Crisis Line, a research assistant in Tanzania, an executive member of the BCSA, and a student in numerous disciplines, in order to best serve the students of UFV Kabirpal Singh Gill Kabirpal wants to be the building block between the faculty and his fellow students. Kabirpal feels that nobody gets a chance to speak about their future and the academic policies but will make sure that every voice of the students is heard.

Kamal Moghrabi Kamal’s goals if elected would be to advocate changes in the campus community, to create an open line of communication between the students, administration, and executive boards, to maintain an unprejudiced opinion while representing UFV as a whole, to help encourage cultural acceptance, and to educate the students of UFV on college life and beyond.

Loanne Nguyen As an employee of the Abbotsford Community Services, Loanne has had experiences in working with people from diverse backgrounds. Loanne feels that her current study in Social Work has

provided her various skills and knowledge to represent the UFV student body.

Michael Blackburn Michael is looking towards entering into a Bachelor of Arts program as an English Major. Michael is running for senate because he would like to make a difference in our schools, help preserve moral integrity inside places of influence, and do his best to help voice the needs of the people.

Peyman Adldousti-Hagh As a graduate from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and minor in political science, Peyman would like to use his experience to represent the interest of the students at UFV. Once elected to the office, Peyman would contact a quantitative research to have intimate knowledge about the student’s academic needs.

Timothy Angeard There was no available information on this candidate.

Theresa Coates Theresa would use her Senate position to develop an effective system of communication, bridging the gap between students and administration, ensure that students are offered flexibility to de-

sign their degree or diploma paths to suit their needs, and make sure that the issues and concerns of students are heard.

Thomas Davies Thomas will take an active role, with the fellow student representatives, to ensure that the student perspective is heard whenever student interests are affected. UFV has grown dramatically over the recent years, and all parties must have a voice as further growth and change occurs.

Zack Soderstrom Zack wishes to use his previous experience as a Student Union Society Residence representative to transition into a student representative on Senate.

To find out more information about the candidates you can read about them on the Secretariat elections page: www.ufv.ca/Secretariat/Elections. htm. To vote for your Senators, go online at MyUFV between February 28 and March 2. Log into myUFV and look for the Senate elections “myUFV Surveys and Elections.” Also, check out the Board of Governors candidates on the Secretariat Elections page; voting for those candidates is also between February 28 and March 2.

The voice of reason: Philosophical advice for everyday concerns from the Student Association for Philosophical Counselling (SAPC) Dear Voice of Reason, I am 20 years old. But I’m having difficulty with having an adult-based relationship with my parents. I’m going to school to complete my degree, I work and I help out around the house.

I stay out of trouble but my parents still don’t allow me to do things that I want such as going out with friends I choose for myself, or staying out late.

I feel like they don’t trust me and I’m not sure how to gain their trust.

Sincerely, Adult Child.

Dear Adult Child, Trust is a sensitive issue involving a number of different aspects.

For example, there is believing as opposed to being suspicious; and there is being sure about a person as opposed to having doubts about them, and so on. Trust can be lost very easily, but it’s difficult to get back because you can’t demand it. You have to earn it; and others give it only when they feel good and ready. In the human world there are always at least two people involved: the individual who wants to be trusted and the person they want to be trusted by.

Of course people also say, “I can’t trust myself…” But since you’re emailing us in regards to your desire to be trusted by your parents we’ll focus on you and your relationship with them.

You say you feel your parents don’t trust you. Could it be that, instead of not trusting you, your parents just want to keep you safe? Sometimes parents worry, so they give you an early curfew, or they judge your friends as bad for you, which can all seem like they don’t trust you. And it can also feel like they’re still treating you like a child. But caring about you is not the same as not trusting you.

On the other hand, if your feelings are correct and your parents really don’t trust you, ask yourself why this has happened. Why don’t your parents trust you? Have you been untrustworthy? Have you lied, have you broken your promises to them, and so on? This kind of irresponsible and child-like behaviour can make your parents not trust you. If this is what’s happened then you have to undo the damage. That isn’t easy. You need to show your parents that you can be trusted by not lying, coming home on time, keeping your promises, and so on. This takes time and hard work.

Another important step to take is to have a conversation with your parents about your concerns.

Having a conversation with them about you wanting them to trust you, and wanting to make adult choices may bring out a better insight as to why your parents hold you back from doing things that

you want to do. The issue may or may not be a matter of trust, but of different values between you and your parents. Cultural and generational value differences in a family can often seem like trust issues.

Trust is about your parents believing that you can be your own person, without the need for adult supervision to keep you from harm. According to Immanuel Kant and other philosophers, being your own person, or being autonomous, is what makes you fully a human being. But it can’t just be demanded; it has to be earned.

Thank you and we hope this helps and if anyone reading this would like to respond to this issue specifically or anything else please request advice from the SAPC by emailing grace@ ufvcascade.ca.

Can evolution and faith co-exist?

REBECCA GROEN

THE CASCADE

The Biology and Chemistry Student Association hosted a talk last Friday with Dr. Barbara Moon, a biology professor here at UFV. Her talk was entitled: “Evolution and Faith – Perspectives on Evolution and Creationism.” She began by saying that, in contrast to Richard Dawkins’ views, there doesn’t

need to be a conflict between evolution and faith. Dawkins had said that to accept the theory of evolution means to become an atheist.

“This is not necessarily so,” she said. “The relationship between evolution and creationism is a continuum, not just a dichotomy between two incompatible choices.”

She continued, “Acceptance of evidence for evolution is not incompatible with religious faith.”

Moon explained how evolution is seen as a “fact.” She described that the word “fact” is not to be taken as in how we used the word every day. A fact is “repeatedly confirmed by the studies of multiple scientists.” Evolution would therefore be a fact because the evidence is so strong. In the scientific community 99.75 per cent agree that evolution is a scientific fact.

The one-quarter per cent remain-

ing is the creationists.

During the lecture, Moon outlined the standpoints for several creationist views, among them young-earth creationism, gap creationism, day-age creationism, progressive creationism, and evolutionary creationism (intelligent design). Explaining these provided her audience with understanding for other viewpoints that don’t necessarily focus on evolution as

explanation into the origins of the universe. She went on to describe exactly how the two could be combined. “There are many different approaches to studying science.”

Pope John Paul said, ‘Some new findings lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than an hypothesis.’

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

11

OPINION

Campaign promises and Arizona’s take on Big Brother DESSA BAYROCK

unless that candidate is championing the cause in every state – which is unlikely in cases like Arizona SB 1070, and might very well have been the final nail in Gingrich’s coffin when it came to his moon promise.

THE CASCADE

NICK UBELS

THE CASCADE Have a hard time following conversations about the American primaries?

Have no fear. Dessa and Nick discuss and debate American politics for the everyman, so even your cat can follow along!

Soon you, too, will be able to name-drop in drunken conversations with PoliSci students. Stay smart, stay informed. It might be States politics but it affects us Canadian kids too.

Nick: Gingrich’s ludicrous moon base pledge may have been such a regionally-targeted gamble, as he proposed this project while campaigning in Florida, home of NASA’s main launch site at Cape Canaveral.

At least this promise was something that seemed to be more than just a response to a debate question. Many of the candidates seem to alter their platforms on a whim to best fit what they think the audience wants to hear as a response. Do you think this is a necessary skill in running for office? Or should hopeful politicians focus on maintaining a certain consistency?

Dessa: Although Canada is bigger geographically, the States is almost astronomically larger population-wise.

Nick: Ten times bigger from what I understand.

Dessa: Right. Maybe it’s because there are so many more people per state than province that we can see some clear pandering when it comes to campaign promises; from state to state, candidates clearly alter the focus of their campaign in order to appeal to the average voter. As a candidate, you’re promising fifty different things in fifty different states.

Obviously not all of them are going to be dear to your heart and not all of them are necessarily going to get a lot of focus should the candidate get elected into office.

This is just normal politics and I’m sure it happens everywhere, to some degree. But what with the USA being so far-flung and yet so well populated, it’s easier to see in this kind of election. But whether or not it IS just normal politics, should it be? Is it reasonable for politicians to try and appeal to these different state demographics, or is it immoral? They are, after all, making a lot of promises, some of which they HAVE to know they’ll be unable to keep.

Nick: I really noticed this kind of voter pandering in the recent Arizona Republican debates. A big issue for a fairly conservative border state like Arizona is immigration.

Many of the questions posed to the candidates concerned whether

Image: Anthony Biondi/The Cascade & boodie131/Flickr

they would support a controversial Arizona state bill from 2010 that required police officers to detain anyone suspected of being an undocumented immigrant. Arizona SB 1070 essentially would mean that everyone would have to carry proof of citizenship or their passport with them at all times to avoid being arrested.

There was a lot of concern that this law would lead to racial profiling of Latino populations. A lawsuit launched by the Obama administration against the state of Arizona in the Supreme Court caused celebration among more liberal and moderate states and irked the ire of many Arizonans, who felt their state rights were being violated. This is a case where Arizona Republicans and the national electorate likely have different views, yet candidate after candidate affirmed their support for the Arizona law. Do you think this move will damage some of the candidates as they move into more moderate states? Will their words come back to haunt them?

Dessa: I want to say they’ll get called on these kind of techniques, but unfortunately I’m not sure how that would happen. Taking Arizona

SB 1070 as an example, I imagine it would be fairly easy for candidates, once in power, to half-heartedly pursue the cause. Then, especially with something so Big Brother-ish, there should be enough opposition to shut the bill down before it really even gets going.

The Arizona people who want this bill put through are basically looking for a champion for the cause that feels as strongly about it as they do – and although I doubt any of the candidates would be willing to really push it through, they’re all kind of willing to step into the champion cut-out they’re supplied with, if only for the moment.

I’m almost inclined to say the voters are as much at fault as the candidates. It’s a skill, I guess – being able to parse legit campaign promises from heat-of-the-moment, I’ll-beyour-hero-if-you-vote-for-me claims.

How does this compare to Gingrich’s claim to start a moon colony – is that any more ridiculous? At least he promised the moon colony to the whole nation and not an individual state.

problem for the candidates in two respects, I think. First, there is the problem of inconsistency between states throughout the election cycle (as we’ve already mentioned), and then the problem of fulfilling such a promise once they enter office. Such a specific measure can be incredibly difficult to follow through on once in office, and it may be politically unwise to pursue later on. The problem is that hard-core supporters will call them out on their unfulfilled promise, and opponents will point to the promise as evidence of the politician’s underlying policies.

Dessa: It’s kind of a double-bind, really.

Nick: Exactly. And you bring up an interesting point about whether this is the candidates’ or voters’ fault.

Maybe voters expect their political representatives to perfectly cater to their own personal ideas more than that of the nation.

Nick: Pledging support for the Arizona bill presents an interesting

Dessa: I would say they’re both kind of at fault. I would say it’s unreasonable for either candidates or voters to believe that extreme promises will be followed through on

to taste like genuine meat. Let’s not kid ourselves; fast-food meat isn’t any safer to eat than these test tube burgers coming from Holland.

In 2008 PETA launched an initiative for scientists to make in vitro meat – and bring it to market. Mark Post has a burger for $220,000, but according to The Telegraph, it will only qualify for the million dollar prize once the product can be sold. The meat, according to PETA, must be sold at a competitive price (as compared to other meats) in no less than 10 states. It will also be judged by a panel of 10 PETA judges; the mockmeat must have a taste and texture “indistinguishable” from the real meat.

“More than 40 billion chickens, fish, pigs, and cows are killed every year for food in the United States in horrific ways,” PETA states, explaining their huge reward for this project. “Chickens are drugged to grow so large they often become crippled, mother pigs are confined to metal cages so small they can’t move, and fish are hacked apart while still conscious – all to feed America’s meat addiction.”

The idea of in vitro meat eliminates so many reasons to feel guilty about this “addiction” (which is a perfect term for it). There will be no more cruelty. The damages to the environment inflicted by us—the forests clear-cut to make space to graze

Dessa: It’s a balancing beam act, for sure. I don’t want to excuse this behavior, but candidates are between a rock and a hard place – if you were campaigning in Arizona, would you be willing to tell your audience of tax-payers and voters that their dream bill is stupid? I wouldn’t. It might be another thing we hate politicians for, but they have slick ways of sliding out of questions they don’t want to answer for a reason; there are ways to respond that don’t put you on either side of the issue. But then again, being too slick is a quick way to alienate voters. As a candidate, you have to have a vanilla, national appeal, but still be willing to push some issues – preferably issues you actually believe in. Some of these might do more harm than help—see Santorum’s proposal to ban birth control—but at least they’re being honest, and voters have a clear idea of who they’re voting for. Maybe that’s too idealistic – like I said, it’s a balancing act for sure.

Stay tuned next week, when Sean (or maybe Dessa) and Nick tackle more American politics and issues that you don’t understand! (But don’t worry – you will. And so will your cat.)

Enter the Meatrix SASHA MOEDT THE CASCADE

The word Frankenburger is being whispered among scientists; an eerie attempt to create a mock-meat was unveiled last week. A test-tube patty made out of cattle stem cells was produced in an effort to create the very first in vitro meat. Mark Post of the University of the Netherlands has announced that the world’s first test-tube burger will be served up this October, according to Today. Expressions of disgust wash over consumers as descriptions reach ears: strips of beef muscle tissue flexed and relaxed by electrical stimulus to grow into a meat strip big enough to

eat. Something pulsating in a lab? It’s like The Matrix for hamburgers.

To be honest, as a person who eats meat, I liked The Matrix. I thought, who cares if you’re in a tub of goo and wires and not actually living?

It worked fine. And the same goes with test-tube burgers. I don’t have too much of an issue with eating something like that.

There are so many preservatives, additives and funny stuff added to an animal’s diet before slaughter, and then again to the meat after slaughter (which aren’t the choice cuts, that’s for sure), that I don’t see a problem eating test-tube meat. Both of them are fiddled around with a lot, and modified (genetically or otherwise)

cattle, the resources wasted—will all be gone.

Like I said, I eat meat. If I think about it, I don’t know how the chicken, cow, or pig was raised or what it was fed or how it was killed. What difference does it make if it’s grown like a bit of bacteria, cultured in a lab and, scientifically produced? It really is like The Matrix, except in this analogy, we’re the robots and the animals are the humans. We all know we can’t live the way we want to in the natural world the way we are. But still, we have to make some adjustments – I guess this is one way to go.

12

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Tonyopolis: the prosperous, eastern-european country you’ve never heard of TONY BIONDI THE CASCADE We all criticize those in power for not doing what we want. I can say with some certainty that we have all thought about running this country our own way at one point in our lives. Some people have taken it to the next level. Men like the Prince of Sealand, the oil rig nation off the coast of Britain, have actually appointed themselves rulers of their own land. It seems like a fun idea in theory, but I have to wonder what it must really like to run a country.

If I were the suave monarch of my own country, I would rule justly and fairly, with no taxes and an open heart to all those in need. Unfortunately, the reality is that money is the killer of all dreams. Without it, the earth will cease to spin on its axis and instead fly uncontrollably into the sun. We would all die in a

fiery wasteland of renegade idealism and famine. Since I am hereby selfappointing myself ruler of my own experimental country, I raise my taxes to something around 10 per cent.

You know, keep the trickle of cash coming in.

First of all, I need a new suit. Have to keep looking sharp – what professionals call “professional.” Bank’s a little low – maybe if I raise the tax to 11 per cent…

I hear that the poverty level has been steadily increasing. That means I need to create more jobs. Great, one more thing I have to deal with.

What if some people are injured and can’t work but need to live? Sure, I’ll just send them a couple grand every year. Keeps them smiling, I suppose. Bank’s getting low again.

Maybe I should being exporting more of something or raise taxes to 12 per cent?

Some people are beginning to

complain about the taxes getting so high. But now they want health care?

Sure, alright. But that means more taxes! (Oh. I also need a new car.

My beater broke down and I think after all my hard work I deserve a Camaro.)

Well, it seems our country is low on domestic resources and food. I guess I gotta buy wholesale from elsewhere… that costs money. Shit, I’m near broke. Okay. No biggie. I’ll just begin exporting fish and the like. That’s renewable, right? More jobs to boot! (I always win!)

Need a new house. Last one burned down. I suspect arson. That mansion on the hill sounds nice.

Make it big. Yes. Like that. Taxes up.

Domestic oil seems to be running low. I hear the other countries have lots. I’ll just jump on eBay… well, that’s expensive. It’s either that or invest more money into researching a better and more efficient fuel. Screw

it! Taxes up! Let’s do this!

Hmmm… I let things sit a while and everything begins to even out.

Numbers never lie, right? Oh. Except the stock market is crashing and our dollar is down. Okay, not going to panic. This is cool, we’ve prepared for this. I’ll just pretend I’m doing them a favour by privatizing health support or some shit. They can deal with it now. Got some extra dough back. I need more suits. Gotta keep sharp and hip, or they really will hate me.

So the economy isn’t getting better? Hmmm… interesting. If I told you that things would be okay in a few years, would you believe me?

No? Rioting? Okay… this country is getting to be a bit much anyway. I’m buying an oil rig and moving out to sea.

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OPINION

Will Greece leave the EU?

PAIGE HABLAK CONTRIBUTOR

As if the world didn’t see enough global protests in 2011, citizens of Greece remind us that 2012 may be no different.

Greece has entered their fifth year of economic turmoil and their current position has only worsened with a second bailout by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union. Riots have been taking place across Greece—particularly in Athens—as a result of the harsh demands placed on Greece by the European Union. Greece was given little choice in cutting spending; this meant reducing minimum wage and pension plans, and laying off 15,000 public-sector employees.

Greece has fallen victim to public humiliation. They feel that Germany has been unfair in requesting radical cuts in Greece’s spending.

Germany has gained an upper hand in economic affairs in the European Union due to their financial stability, and as the underdog, Greece has trouble dealing with their unyielding commands.

Greece doesn’t want to separate from the eurozone at this time.

However, with reforms being pushed upon them, they might have to reconsider.

And Greece isn’t the only country with the question of quitting the Euro on mind. The economic crisis has also hit Portugal and Ireland hard, and Italy is only now recovering. If the European Union were to separate, one country at a time, the existing European economy would change substantially, weakening the very powerful alliance.

The current situation in Greece definitely gives weight to the saying “between a rock and a hard place.” I feel the recent protests that we have seen in Greece will continue on for quite some time.

It is difficult to make suggestions for their recovery. However, I believe it’s in their best interest to stay put in the European Union. I don’t think that Greece has the strength to stand alone, independent from the EU. This alliance has helped Greece out, and that would most definitely not have been possible if Greece were to have stayed autonomous.

Greece may be in a state of chaos and feel completely embarrassed about the firm grip Germany has around their country, but they really have no choice but to follow the strict demands cast upon them. The European Union is the country’s best support system and straying away from the Union will only lead to further and more serious problems.

I feel very proud and confident when I say that I am a Canadian citizen, and I honestly feel that we live in a country filled with more opportunities than any other country in the world. I completely understand why there is such a demand to immigrate to Canada.

It is beyond good fortune to live in a country with next to no political turmoil, a relatively strong economy, an incredible health care system, a decent welfare system, and clean drinking water. My heart goes out to the citizens of Greece, who have lost not only their jobs but also their pride as a result of the uncertainty that plagues the future of their country.

But on the other hand, I feel they really have no other choice than to keep soldiering on the way they are in the EU – no matter how difficult it is to be trapped between a rock and a hard place.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

13

OPINION

“From the Sea, freedom” Inside the principality of Sealand LORD ALEXEI SUMMERS THE CASCADE

There is no doubt the world is beginning to feel smaller and smaller.

Gone are the days of expanding empires and colonization. They have faded into the distance. Here we have a new world where everything has been done – all wars have been fought, all lands discovered, and there is a real living sense that there is truly nothing new under the sun.

One maverick Englishman decided this was unacceptable.

It was a stormy night in 1967.

Paddy Roy Bates, a former Major in the British Army, stole aboard an abandoned war structure eight miles off the coast of England and took it as his own. Years later, it would claim its place as a sovereign nation—the micronation of Sealand—and he would be its prince and de facto ruler.

Bates originally took the vessel to form a pirate radio station; pirate radio stations broadcasted from outside of British territorial waters in the ‘60s, often on ships. This was a way to circumvent harsh radio content restrictions that banned the broadcasting of pop and rock and roll music on British radio waves.

In 1967, Sealand might have appeared to onlookers like a pile of rusting scrap floating in the Thames estuary in England. The oil rig that was to become the Principality of Sealand was built in 1943 during World War II. Back then, it was known as Fort Roughs. Its original purpose was to serve as an artillery station to gun down Nazi planes and rockets. There were many of these stations scattered along the coast; they were known as the Maunsell Sea Forts, named after their designer Guy Maunsell. It was nothing more than an old 1940s-era oil rig that had long since been left to the ocean. Bates saw a unique opportunity – he saw destiny, freedom and independence, and he grasped it. He claimed it as his own, and because Fort Roughs lay outside British territorial waters there was not a thing the British could do about it.

The Sealand station itself is only 10,000 square feet large, most of its space devoted to two hollow

Image: The Principality of Sealand cement cylinders which extend deep underwater. The large artillery guns on the platform have long since been done away with to make room for other projects – but that has not stopped Prince Roy from getting into skirmishes with the Royal Navy, who on a number of occasions have made uninvited excursions into Sealand’s territorial waters.

Since 1967, Bates and his family have occupied Sealand. It has drawn a lot of attention throughout the decades, and there have been several attempts to seize the structure.

Despite its small size, it is coveted by many. Sealand has been witness to naval battles, legal battles, fires, and even the royal kidnapping and ransom of Bates’ son, Prince Michael,

by German and Dutch mercenar-

ies who wanted the nation for themselves. Luckily Prince Michael was released unharmed, and was returned to his family.

The Principality has managed to stay afloat financially by selling aristocratic titles such as “Lord,” “Lady,” and “Baron” to those who would like to have something fancy to boast about at dinner parties.

The Principality also plays host to many different Internet groups who operate on Sealand by having their servers based on it, as a means to circumvent laws and restrictions they might encounter in their home nations.

Currently Prince Roy has retired his leadership role. He is old now, and after a long life of constant adventure, resides in the United Kingdom. He is succeeded by his

son, his highness Prince Michael, who has been kind enough to grant The Cascade an interview. (See opposite page.)

It’s unfortunate, but to this date no nation has ever officially recognized the Principality of Sealand in any capacity. Prince Roy claims, however, that when Germany sent a diplomat to retrieve a citizen of Germany—one of Prince Michael’s kidnappers—that the retrieval of this citizen constituted de facto recognition of Sealand. Bates also made a similar claim when he was summoned to court in Britain (regarding a firearms skirmish with the Royal Navy), that it was also in effect official recognition of Sealand by the United Kingdom.

Sealand’s story is a story about rebellion and independence. The tiny

micronation has seen it all. As Fort Roughs, the craft fought the Nazi menace terrorizing England and the rest of Europe. Next it rebelled against the BBC’s domination of the radiowaves in the UK, and finally, in 1967, it became a sovereign nation rebelling against England itself.

Its story is one about hope – hope in an age where everything has been taken and where everything has been done. Sealand stands as a way of telling humanity that, just maybe, if you were to cast your gaze upon the horizon at dawn at the right time and with the right eyes, you might find something new – something different. Perhaps one might even find the thing that so many of us scour the earth for, but so very few of us ever find – a Plymouth Rock of one’s own.

Profile of a monarch: Prince Michael of Sealand LORD ALEXEI SUMMERS

He is 90 now, and spends most of his time in the UK.

spend in England?

Four months a year.

Hello, Prince Michael. Thank you for allowing us to conduct this interview. You are the de-facto leader of the Principality of Sealand. Is this correct?

That is correct. I am the Prince of Sealand.

Tell me more about him.

He was born in 1921, and went off to the Spanish civil war for “a bit of adventure” as a very young lad. He joined the army at the start of the Second World War and fought for the King and country all over the world. Syria, Lebanon, Italy, and Africa. He was at the battle of Monte Cristo.

What was it was like growing up in Sealand as a young man?

It was a great adventure. We were under threat of attack all the time by government and other interests and kept 24-hour watch.

THE CASCADE

Where were you born?

Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex, England, United Kingdom.

What role does your father, Prince Roy, play in the Principality of Sealand today?

He only advises these days.

Also on the subject of your father, we hear very little about him today.

What has become of him? Where is he now?

Being the ruler of a sovereign country outside of the United Kingdom, but also being British subjects by birth, what are your thoughts on the British monarchy? Are you and your family still loyal to Britain and to her Queen?

Yes, we are great patriots.

How much of your time do you

When exactly was the fortress declared to be The Principality of Sealand?

On September 2nd, 1967, my mother’s birthday. The title of Princess was her present.

Who was the composer of the Sealand National Anthem?

Basil Simenko.

Sealand has been under siege many times. I heard of one incidence in particular where you were

even taken hostage by Dutch and German mercenaries.

They took me to Holland and released me at Scheviningen where I made my way back to the United Kingdom. A friend took us back a few days later in his helicopter and we slid down ropes to the top [of Sealand].

My own family, on the English side, comes from very maritime stock. Is the fishing very good around the Principality?

The fishing was wonderful years ago, but it is rubbish now. We also own commercial fishing boats in the United Kingdom.

How many people purchase aristocratic Sealandic titles in a year?

I cannot give the figures but the income from our supporters is greatly appreciated.

What does the future of Sealand look like? Word online is that there have been offers for it, and that it might change hands.

It’s not going to change hands. It will never end.

Am I then correct in assuming that your son, Prince James, will inherit the throne and the Principality?

Indeed.

How do you think England today as a society views Sealand?

We have learned to live together over the last 45 years. You have to remember – many states have come and gone in that time, and Sealand is still here.

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www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Cascades slay competition in Pac-West finals PAUL ESAU

REBECCA GROEN

THE CASCADE

PHOTOS/THE CASCADE There comes a moment in the career of every university student when it is his or her responsibility— nay civic duty—to shut up, sit down, and cheer like &*%$#&. Last weekend was that moment, and if you missed it, well, there’s not a lot I can do. I can tell you that it was the first time either of UFV’s basketball teams hosted a playoff series at home (both teams hosted this year). I can tell you it was the first time either team entered the post-season ranked in the top

ten in Canada (both did this year), but I can’t recreate the magic of what UFV President Mark Evered is already labeling the “miracle.” Still, shut up, sit down, and I’ll try to explain the pair of best-of-three series which went down at the Envision Center last weekend, and why many UFV staff and students had to spend Sunday and Monday nursing their vocal cords back into some semblance of normality.

Women’s Basketball: Defensive Domination UFV Cascades vs. U of Calgary Dinos The women opened this series last Thursday with a commanding 63-43 victory over the visiting Dinos, a victory made sweeter by the Cascade’s asphyxiation of a normally explosive Dino’s offence. Eight Cascades hit the score sheet in a confident performance punctuated by the staccato clicks of the Calgary coach’s high heels as she paced and ranted her team to a 20-point deficit.

After the game UFV coach Al Tuchscherer was optimistically cautious. “I thought we took care of business tonight,” he said, “and I thought we got the job done at this point. [But the] score is zero-zero tomorrow and if they come back and

take the next two games who cares about this game really?”

Tuchscherer may play his cards close to his chest, but his team does the boasting for him.

The Cascades came out Friday firing on all cylinders and benefited from monster performances from Tessa Klassen (34 points, seven steals in series) and Aieisha Luyken (25 points, 13 assists in series). UFV quickly cleaned up on a frustrated Dino herd by a score of 85-67, to secure a 2-0 series victory and a berth in the Canada West Final Four. The key, as always, for the Cascades was a defensive system which holds them in the game even when shots aren’t falling in the frontcourt.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

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Men’s Basketball: The Season of Friesen

UFV Cascades vs. U of Lethbridge Pronghorns The last time these two teams met, UFV head coach Barnaby Craddock and star guard Joel Friesen were ejected in what is best described as a whistle massacre. The Pronghorns are big (epitomized by six-footten, 250-pound power forward Nikola Kovac), fast, and frustratingly resilient. Kovac and his pal Daryl “Hollywood” Cooper ride an emotional game which frays tempers and bruises bodies. In short, they’re players who UFV faithful love to hate.

Last Thursday’s game played right to the Pronghorn’s strengths: it was a brutal, frenetic contest in which even UFV’s considerable physicality was battered into submission. The Cascades suffered from poor finish all night long, culminating in a missed lay-up in the final minutes that set the proverbial dagger in their collective heart. Kyle Grewal went 8-19 from field goal range, while Friesen was a heartbreaking 2-11. The Pronghorns snatched the game 87-78, and nationally fourth-ranked UFV walked off the floor facing elimination by a team that was barely .500 on the season.

“We’ve dug ourselves into a hole,” said Craddock afterward, “and there’s two things

that can happen: we dig ourselves out or it’s the end of the season. It’s put up or shut up time.”

Put up or shut up indeed.

In their hour of need, the men looked for a hero, and, at least in game two, that hero came in the form of six-foot-seven monstrosity Jasper Moedt. Accumulating 21 points and nine rebounds over the course of a 74-66 UFV victory, Moedt made Kovac seem puny by comparison. He attributed the transformation to a smarter defensive effort, and the faith of coach Craddock: “I think a lot of it had to do with the confidence that coach shows in me. Like tonight when he says get the ball in to Jasper, get the ball inside, get their post in foul trouble... A lot of basketball players don’t really relish that contact and physical part of the game... but I love to play physical... that’s what I contribute to the team.”

Saturday night, game three, is the reason that this playoff series will never be forgotten. In a game that went back and forth, up and down, and possibly sidewise, the fate of the season came down to 13 seconds, a UFV inbound, and a two-point deficit. Cascades assistant coach Adam Friesen

claims true competitors live for these kinds of moments, the chance, when all the chips are down, to take that final shot.

The play was meant to grab a lay-up or an outside three from UFV sharpshooter Sam Freeman, but instead the playoff life of the team ended up floating from the fingers of an offbalance Joel Friesen with a halfsecond on the clock.

That buzzer-beating shot, which Craddock said, “will be remembered for the rest of our lives,” gave the Cascades a 69-68 victory, and proof that, whatever happens next week in the Canada West finals, UFV is one of the top teams in the nation.

I asked Craddock after the game if he ever wanted to sub himself in to take that shot, whether there were times when he wished he could do more than draw up the play and watch from the sideline.

“Hey,” he said, laughing a little, “I want Joel Friesen to take it every time right now!”

Sorry Lethbridge, but this is the season of Friesen. Better luck next year.

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www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

OPINION

Active cell phones out number humans ANTHONY BIONDI Knows.

THE CASCADE

Look around you. Is there someone on their cell phone? It’s likely there is. But it gets better. According to the Cisco Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast the likelihood of you seeing someone on their cellphone is about to rise. They predicted that by the end of 2012 there will be more active cell phones on this planet than people.

It’s a staggering thought. How can there be more cell phones than people? Especially considering factors like children (who don’t or shouldn’t have cell phones), availability in certain countries being close to nil, and poverty. This means that some people somewhere have two or three active cell phones to themselves. The puzzling thing: what are these phones for? Who knows. Who.

And what does that mean for this planet? We all know the global network has been growing exponentially since the invention of the telephone and the Internet. We all know that our community isn’t limited to the physical, and can stretch to Russia or China. To put it simply, the possibilities with communication seem endless. According to the same survey, the amount of global monthly mobile data transfers has also been growing rapidly. So, wherever you are (within cellphone range) there are hundreds of megabytes zipping through the air in every direction, and it’s always growing.

In this fast-paced, closely-knit society, we put a lot of reliance on these tools; the load they bear increases with that reliance. We are already trying to alleviate our reliance on vehicles with campaigns to increase

public transit and go-green initiatives. However, while cars have a bad rep due to the obviousness of their pollution, what is the environmental impact of the cellphone? They still require manufacturing; they still require rechargeable batteries.

Leena Oiva, who wrote Case Study on the Environmental Impacts of a Mobile Phone, stated that most cell phones eventually end up in our landfills. As with most things that end up in landfills, they continually pollute the surrounding environment by leaking deadly toxins and chemicals. She also hints towards the impacts of this in terms of marketing. If there is a new model every year, how many of the older phones are then forgotten or trashed? It can be staggering to think about.

Alongside vehicles and other electronics, cell phones are just a piece of the puzzle. Yet as their numbers

JOE JOHNSON THE CASCADE

LEANNA PANKRATZ THE CASCADE

Image: BC GOV Photos

cation bear witness to this, you can expect to see programs and departments hit hard or even eliminated.

An educated workforce is going to be critical in the coming years, so you’d think hurting the very places that foster knowledge is a bad idea.

And since BC has the highest interest rate on student loans across the provinces, no money went to bring it down. With the discrepancy between the government’s borrowing and lending rates, they’re making a profit on the interest. The economic policy on that is questionable. The revenue stream may be going to servicing the provincial debt or paying for services, but if loans were actually given interest free, or simply just lowered from what they are now, then any extra money in the pocket of graduates would find its way into the economy – instead of those government coffers.

Families—which Premier Clark campaigned so heavily on and even based a new provincial holiday on— are also going to be hurt. The Medical Services Plan (MSP) premiums are going up again. The government keeps tapping these premiums as a source of revenue, and this time it’s a four per cent increase. Technically there is no new tax that families will be facing, but the premiums may as well be one. Generating $2 billion for the government over the next year, it’s going to cost a family of three $128; a single person will see a rise of $64.

If you’re in the market for a new home, and it will be your first home, then you can apply for a new tax

became increasingly more energy efficient as well. It may not be much, but if certain functions continue to amalgamate into single devices, then our reliance on other devices—such as iPods and the like—will lessen and be replaced with a single mobile device.

We live in a society where we always have to consider our global impact. Given the predictions and facts, it seems that impact continues to rise. But there are ways to avoid this, such as recycling and re-using.

However, as the technology grows, its own usefulness (as well as the producers and consumers) may also step up to provide a solution. All we can hope is that things don’t get any more out of hand, and that we don’t do something we can’t reverse.

The provincial prize vault: stop the prezzies!

BC budget to break the bank Last week saw the first budget from the Christy Clark’s Liberals come forward, delivered by the Minister of Finance, Kevin Falcon. But for a first budget, it was certainly one to forget. Or maybe that should read “it was certainly one that forgot.” The government forgot about making a difference for students, families, new home builders, and businesses.

However, it really has to be mentioned that the Liberal government is making its way in a world that has a fractured economic confidence, so there are reasons why spending was down. Premier Clark has been playing up BC’s “shaky economy” lately, certainly to make it easier to present the case for why the Liberals crafted the budget the way they did. In retrospect, she should’ve gone into acting instead of politics. And then there’s Falcon, who has been out to make sure that people knew that the government was aiming to retain its triple-A rating.

So, sure, the cause of prudent fiscal planning is noble. Overspending without accountability can lead to a weak province, something we can’t afford. But when many of the problems with the deficit come at your own hands, all proclamations and statements wear pretty thin.

One ugly problem in particular that stands out (like the white lids on Tim Horton’s new extra-large) are the missteps taken while transitioning to the HST. Because of the payback, we’re now facing roughly 10 per cent of the total $3 billion deficit as debt owing to the feds. The payback calls for $300 million over five years. Of course, that’s only direct costs and doesn’t factor in the indirect losses, such as the decline in expenditures stemming from those choosing to wait for the PST system to resume.

Jumping into the budget to discuss a few of the key points, let’s start with students. Institutions similar to UFV which are operating at near or over 100 per cent will not be seeing any help. That means as inflationary factors set in, we will be hit with what could be constituted as a real cut in funding. As our places of edu-

grow so do our problems with the way they’re handled. The environmental awareness blog sayiamgreen. com also raises the point that by simply charging our phones we are increasing our power consumption, and therefore raising the amount of fossil fuels and greenhouse gasses burned as a result of supplying that power. If we consider that the number of cell phones on this planet are about to surpass the global population, the amount of pollution and waste that comes as a result is only going to increase as well.

However, there is another side to this argument. Watching technological growth in recent years, electronics have been becoming more efficient and more universal. We have phones that serve as iPods, and tablet computers that replace laptops and have lower energy consumption rates. TVs and home electronics have

credit for up to $10,000. The purpose for the rebate is to kick-start the sluggish new home market. But nobody in their right mind would buy a new home when they can wait a year for the PST to come back, where they would save on the taxes. Jobs for home builders have slowed down, houses are sitting vacant, and money is not going into the economy, so something needed to be done during this time. But to be able to claim that $10,000, a new home has to be your first home. I feel it’s not too likely that people are looking for a brand new home their first time in the market.

It’s mostly for politics and show.

Finally, small businesses also received no love. It was expected that the small business corporate tax rate would be lowered to zero. Instead, it’s staying right where it was at 2.5 per cent.

On top everything else, the Liberals are also selling off Crown corporations such as the liquor distribution board. This is short-sighted plan; it’s essentially the sale of our future revenue streams in order to raise quick service for the deficit. Once a Crown entity is gone, it’s very unlikely ever to return to the fold.

Now, as I take my hands off the budget, some of you may argue that it’s unfair to criticize the government over spending cuts and raising rates. Perhaps it is; we’re in a deficit and we have to deal with it. But their plan is not the only way to go about it. I don’t have the answers, but then again, I’m only a writer and am not the one sitting in the premier’s chair.

Ever wonder where your provincial tax dollars are going? I think we all do. Idealistically, I’d like to believe they were being poured into infrastructure, hospitals, and education.

Unfortunately, ideals are not often met, and BC has proved to be no exception.

British Columbia is a very special place. It’s the province that hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, almost won last year’s Stanley Cup, and birthed legends like Rick Hansen.

However, BC is also apparently a place where Provincial civil servants are encouraged to frequently dip their little hands into a governmental treat basket: a $1.5 million program made for boosting the morale of provincial employees known as the Finance Minister’s Recognition Cupboard. This cupboard is funded directly through taxpayers’ money, and is utilized through a passwordprotected website by civil servants whenever they feel the need to give their coworkers a $15 pat on the back.

To put this little provincial morale initiative into perspective, our beloved Best Place on Earth is currently dealing with issues like overcrowded hospitals due to inefficient space and funding, underpaid teachers hounding the government for more cash flow, and a justice system in financial crisis. You may have noticed a theme here; as a province, we’re dealing with a host of problems, most of them funding-related in nature.

However, BC’s esteemed premiere is allowing civil servants to run wild in a proverbial governmental treasure trove. From an investigation into the program reported in The Vancouver Province by Michael Smyth, the gift-giving website’s FAQ section poses the apparent question, “Do I need my manager’s approval to recognize someone with the Recognition Cupboard items?” only to be answered with “No. The Recognition Cupboard is a tool to encourage frequent informal recog-

nition from leader to employee, peer to peer or employee to leader. The items within the cupboard are paid for by the ministry and are available to be used for recognition of finance employees.” Basically, this means that BC government employees are given the equivalent of free run in a department store—everything is free, all the time—at least to the civil servants dipping into the array of goodies. To the rest of us, that is our hard earned tax money showing up in a $1.5 million dollar morale booster program in such forms as chocolate, backpacks and Tim’s cards.

In a nutshell, we’re paying for the weekly coffees of John and Jane Doe from Parliament. Try to wrap your head around that one, BC-ers. This is truly the Age of Entitlement.

There once was a time when a word of gratitude or encouragement from a boss or coworker could light a fire of motivation inside any employee’s work-tired heart. Now we’re looking at governmental employees being given a program that pretty much opens the flood gates for a shower of gifts following any workplace good deed. Does it really take a Lululemon water bottle to motivate employees these days? As independent MLA Vicki Huntington told The Vancouver Province, ”If our government needs a toy box of chocolates and designer goods to motivate civil servants, we’re in more trouble than we thought.”

Our Premiere’s response to the criticism over all this governmental gifting? “A little recognition is sometimes okay for a province with a $40 billion dollar budget and 30,000 governmental employees. It’s a pretty widely recognized way to go about trying to incent employees… [who] dedicate their lives to the needs of British Columbians.”

Maybe I should start dedicating my life to the province. I could use a few gift cards, and chocolate sounds pretty darn good right about now.

Meanwhile, maybe it’s time for our civil servants to get their hands out of the cookie jar.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

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ARTS & LIFE

CROSSWORD 1

2

Leaping over days and frogs 3

4

5 6 7 8

9

10 11

12

AMY VAN VEEN THE CASCADE

ACROSS

1. In this United Kingdom country, it is considered unlucky for a child to be

born on February 29. (8 letters) 4. Frederic, a character from The ___ of Penzance, celebrates his birthday on leap

day. (7 letters) 6. In this Mediterranean country, it is considered unlucky to get married on

February 29. (6 letters) 8. In this country, tradition dictates that women can propose to their beau on

leap day. (Hint: there was a corny romantic comedy depicting this very

event.) (7 letters) 11. St. ____’s Day shares the date with leap day in order to memorialize this

archbishop of York. (6 letters) 13. Leslie Knope recently tried to throw what kind of birthday party for Gary

“Jerry” Gergich? (5, 7 letters) 14. This film won for Best Picture at the 1940 Academy Awards, held on February 29. (4,4,3,4 letters)

DOWN

2. Term used for someone born on Leap Day (other than “leap day baby,” of

course). (8 letters) 3. Gordie ___ scores his 800th goal on leap day, 1980. (4 letters) 5. For most of us, Leap Day lands in this month. (8 letters) 7. A leap year in this language is known as Shanah Me’uberet. (6 letters) 9. Much like this rare holiday, Rare ____ Day is also celebrated on February 29,

bringing awareness to over 40 countries worldwide. (7 letters) 10. According to 30 Rock, Leap Day must be celebrated by wearing the colours

blue and ___. (6 letters) 12. Archbishop ___ Tutu and 100 clergymen are arrested in Cape Town on leap

day, 1988. (7 letters)

13

14 EclipseCrossword.com

Aquarius: Jan 20 - Feb 18 Sign up for online dating. The cosmic fate winds decree that you will meet the lover of your dreams – though there is the slightest chance you will meet a 300-pound pervert from Kentucky.

Pisces: Feb 19 - March 20 You know what you can do with an Arts degree? Slowly starve to death under an overpass. Enjoy!

Aries: March 21 - April 19 The voices in my head say I should warn you not to take warnings from crazy people.

The Weekly Horoscope Gemini: May 21 - June 21 Be a green citizen. Stop doing your homework. It wastes paper.

LAST WEEK’S Answer Key Across 1. TAURON 2. BALTAR 3. EARTH 7. BOOMER 9. HERA 10. CAPRICA 12. PYRAMID 13. ROSLIN Down 1. TWELVE 2. BEAR MCCREARY 4. HUSKER 5. SO SAY WE ALL 6. STARBUCK 8. RAZOR 11. TYROL

Star Signs from the Sumas Sibyl Libra: Sept 23 - Oct 22 Spend the next week fasting underneath a tree. Buddha’s orders.

Cancer: June 22 - July 22

Scorpio: Oct 23 - Nov 21

You’re the real Slim Shady. All the other Slim Shadys are just imitating. Please stand up.

I’m telling you; you are the King of Spain.

Leo: July 23 - Aug 22

Sagittarius: Nov 22 - Dec 21

Your destiny? To catch them all.

Gotta catch ’em all.

Watch your knees. Taking an arrow to the knee is more common than you think.

Taurus: April 20 - May 20

Virgo: Aug 23 - Sept 22

Study away, but Gandalf says: “You shall not pass!”

Tu n’es pas capable de lire ton horoscope cette semaine.

Capricorn: Dec 22 - Jan 19 This is a message from the outside. Your life is actually a reality show. We have all been watching you since you were born. Escape!

Visit us at www.monktucky.com!

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www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

ARTS & LIFE

Dine & Dash: Ban Chok Dee Thai Cuisine # 102 – 5499 203 St Langley, BC 604.778.278.3088 www.langley-thai-restaurant.com Hours: Sunday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Prices: up to $16.99

AMY VAN VEEN THE CASCADE

Despite its awkward location, across the street and across the median from Langley’s Army and Navy, blocks away from the famed one-way, Ban Chok Dee is definitely not a hole in the wall that offers delicious food. Though their food is their forte, they don’t sacrifice quality atmosphere and a casual fine dining experience for it.

While some Thai restaurants may be preferable as take-out locations, Ban Chok Dee offers patrons a quality environment that emphasizes the astounding menu.

The street parking in front of the restaurant is lacking, but with Army and Navy across the street, it’s easiest to park in their vast lot and walk across the pedestrian crossing, safely. Upon walking in, there is a severe lack of room in the waiting area – one small bench by a magazine rack. Thank-

Image: Amy Van Veen/ The Cascade

fully, Ban Chok Dee does take reservations for those who want to ensure a table – especially for a larger party since space is lacking. There are a dozen tables that fill the well-decorated strip mall space, and it wouldn’t be quite so bad if two tables for two didn’t fill up the already tight space in the middle of the room. Though the owners have utilized every inch of space, they have done so with flair. The walls are painted deep, rich colours of reds and browns and adorned with intricate works of art. The wall of windows overlooking the unexciting 203 Street are given a little more oomph with

brown sheers and, most impressively, each table’s silky black table cloth is removed and replaced with a fresh one when the table is cleared. Dampened lighting and an intimate atmosphere make this the perfect dining experience for a date, a special occasion with family or a nice evening out with friends.

The food, though, is, as always, the main concern. We ordered the Chok Dee platter for only $15.99.

An assortment of appetizers, it offered a taste of everything at a fairly reasonable price. Spring rolls, golden wontons, chicken satay skewers and tord mun fish cakes, it did not disappoint. The spring

The Cascade Cookbook Sidrah Ahmad-Rasheed’s Tomato Lovers’ Chutney Sidrah Ahmad-Rasheed is with the UFV Student Life department. She graduated in June 2011 and is currently taking classes to pursue a career in Speech Therapy. She enjoys cooking and baking, but only when in the right mood.

rolls and wontons, thankfully, were bite-sized allowing little pastry-crunching embarrassment that is often prevalent with this kind of cuisine. The array came with satay (peanut) and sweet chili sauces, neither too hot to handle for even the mildest palate. Neither the spring rolls nor the wontons failed in their filling-to-pastry ratio, both packed full of vegetarian goodness and spicy pork, respectively. The chicken skewers dipped in the satay sadly ran out too quickly, and the fish cakes, although questionable in texture, were deeply satisfying in both the sweet chili and satay sauces.

We also ordered the chicken Pad Thai, a staple dish in any Thai restaurant, and one that Ban Chok Dee has perfected. Unlike Pad Thai dishes I have had in the past, the rice noodles are coated in tamarind and other spices, allowing for each bite to be delicious, not just the bites that include chicken. In fact, the chicken pieces throughout were bland in comparison to the noodles themselves, and the inclusion of bean sprouts, shaved carrots and ground peanuts added a pleasantly fresh crunch and nuttiness to each forkful.

For dessert, I tried both the green tea and mango ice creams—although they also offer vanilla and coconut—and they were scrumptious. Topped with whipped cream, chocolate sauce and spearmint leaves, the ice cream reinforced Ban Chok Dee’s greatest asset: presentation. It doesn’t take much—some garnish here, some sauce there—but that extra touch of aesthetic somehow adds to the meal.

Ban Chok Dee stands on its own in terms of Thai restaurants.

Similar to Abbotsford’s Vi-La, it recognizes the importance atmosphere, décor and dish presentation. These things, combined with quality food, fresh ingredients and reasonable prices, all add together to make for a stand-out dining experience.

Drink o’ the Week:

Honolulu Juicer

“One of my all-time favourite recipes – this can be served as a side-dish with rice or enjoyed as a snack with crackers!”

Ingredients: 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 medium onion cut finely 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 3-4 jalapeno peppers, minced/cut finely 1 green hot pepper, minced ½ tsp salt ½ tsp chilli powder 1tsp turmeric powder ½ tsp coriander powder 1-2 diced bell peppers 5-6 diced large, ripe tomatoes 1-2 cans tomato paste Directions: Add vegetable oil to a cooking pot.

Add in onions, jalapeno peppers and hot pepper. Turn stove onto high for 5 minutes, then put onto medium.

Add finely chopped garlic. Let everything cook for about 7-10 minutes. Stir well.

Add salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder. Let cook for 5 minutes.

Mix well.

Add all tomatoes and bell peppers. Cook for 10-15 minutes until tomatoes and bell peppers become tender. Stir well.

Add tomato paste. Stir well. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until desired thickness.

Serve chilled or warm. Serves 4-5 individuals. *To control spiciness add or remove amount of hot peppers.

Estimated cost: $10-$15

A sour drink with an initially flavorful punch, but a bitter and burning aftertaste.

1½ oz Southern Comfort ¾ oz dark rum 2 oz pineapple juice ¾ oz lime juice ¾ oz lemon juice Pour ingredients into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into a glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with pineapple. *Optional: Add ½ tsp powdered sugar for a sweeter taste.

Ideal for: Using up a bottle of Southern Comfort Bad for: Hawaii On The Cascade scale: C+

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

19

ARTS & LIFE

Toren Atkinson of The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets DESSA BAYROCK THE CASCADE

CHARTS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Real Boys Vacation (single) Long Weekends Don’t Reach Out Boyhood Boyhood Grimes Visions

Phèdre Fanaticus

Tennis Young and Old

Juvenile Hall Got Caught The Brains Drunk Not Dead Sleigh Bells Reign of Terror Leonard Cohen Old Ideas

Of Montreal Paralytic Stalks First Aid Kit The Lion’s Roar

glow

Cannon Bros.

Firecracker / Cloud-

14 15 16 17

Sonic Avenues Television Youth Fucked Up Year of the Tiger Sharon Van Etten Tramp

Belle Plaine Notes From A Waitress

18

Sum 41 Screaming Bloody Murder

19 20

Strange Boys Live Music The Diodes Action/Reaction

Shuffle AARON LEVY CIVL DJ/CONTRIBUTOR

Aaron Levy, a swell guy, is CIVL station manager and a huge fan of Abbotsford’s second to most recent supergroup (The Injektors—members of Blisterin’ Barnacles, Progressive Thinker—debuted last week). Real Boys’ first single, Vacation, is number one on CIVL Radio’s Earshot Charts.

Real Boys – “Single” A slick, up-tempo, studio recording of a song that muses about the Windy City, going way up north and to the coast.

Oh No! Yoko’s Everett Morris fantasizes about getting away, and it’s not something he’ll have trouble doing on an upcoming tour opening for Said The Whale. North Coast?

Real Boys – “Demo” I’ve always been a fan of those raw, early live versions of bands before they get that pristine redux and high price flavour. Unfortunately these early incarnations of what could be your future favourite bands are ironic, rarely as romantic as those ultimate recordings. I’m no homer, just a fan.

Real Boys – “Acoustic” No matter how certain I am that Drew Riekman, GSTS and Real Boys guitarist sings backing vocals on this track – he didn’t. It really sounds like him though. This is a really great version of Vacation, soft, whispered, but still with the same infectious identity as the original studio version.

Real Boys – “Live Action Fezz Remix” I’ve talked to a lot of people who are not huge fans of this.

It’s got foreground bongos to start, and only the briefest hint of Everett’s falsetto from the “Windy City” line. Wait until halfway through for the bass drop, it’s heavy and steady and, I think, pretty sweet.

The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets is a Lovecraft-inspired band consisting of Toren Atkinson, guitarist Warren Banks, guitarist/bassist Mario Nieva, drummer Jordan Pratt and bassist/ backup vocalist Merrick Atkinson.

Co-founders Toren Atkinson and Warren Banks met in class at FVC (the original UFV) and have been spreading the word of geekery and Cthulu since 1992. The Cascade recently sat down with Toren Atkinson to discuss the downside of downloading, the inspirations of Lovecraft and living on the West Coast.

When you got started as a band, obviously the world of music was a lot different. You went from handing out hand-copied cassettes to friends and family to streaming music online to anyone – do you prefer one system to another? What are your thoughts on how music has changed?

What I miss most about the way music is shared these days is the lack of album art. I still buy physical media occasionally, sometimes out of sheer convenience. But also it’s nice to have a container for an complete album that portrays the “spirit” of the band. Although a lot of my favourite bands have crappy art on their CD sleeves, other musicians, such as Radiohead or Tenacious D, carry their art through the entire spectrum from audio to visual and present the consumer with something creative that a fan can appreciate by flipping through or keeping on their shelf. That’s always been something that The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets has tried to do from our very first album, with relevant artwork, lyrics and even a glossary in our last album The Shadow Out of Tim. On our album Spaceship Zero: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack we went through the trouble of kitting up our friends in outer space gear and photographing “movie stills” from the various scenes described in the back story.

I agree that the cover art is perhaps the saddest casualty of the move to downloading. Have you ever bought an album based on cover art alone? What was the last CD you bought, if you still buy CDs? Hmmm. The 4th season DVD box set of Home Movies came with a CD which I’ve had in my car for months and months. Does that count as a CD purchase? Other than that it was the last album by The Sword (which also has great cover art). When I bought the last Invasives album I didn’t go through iTunes or buy a physical copy – I actually PayPalled one of the band members directly and had him email me the mp3s. The musicians got 100 per cent of the money.

Your band name and a lot of your material draw on the work of H. P. Lovecraft. What drew you to Lovecraft in the first place?

Apart from the hideous monsters my favourite part of Lovecraft’s work is his philosophy that mankind is an insignificant speck in the universe and should one person’s mind unlock the truth about the

Image: Used with permission by The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets

Toren Atkinson performs live with the Hillside Thickets. cosmos it will drive him or her in- of gaming and cartoon industry sane. As an atheist (mighty Cthul- nerds. hu aside, of course), Lovecraft’s philosophy that humans have no Would you ever consider moving special place in the grand scheme somewhere else? of things—that when you die you I’d live in a Romanian castle if I are no more than worm food—ap- could have a space heater and a peals not only to my rational side vampire fumigator. It would have a bitchin’ gaming room in the dunbut also my morbid side. geon.

What’s your favourite part of his Finally – your bio mentions that work or favourite story?

As for favourite story, although the band met at what was then Rats in the Walls has a special place Fraser Valley College and is now as it was the first HPL tale I read, I the University of the Fraser Vallove the grandeur of At the Moun- ley, but doesn’t go into details. tains of Madness and The Shadow How did you guys meet?

I met the Thickets co-founder WarOut of Time. ren “Comfortable” Banks in one of It looks like this mythos theme my art classes at FVC and we spent has led you to some pretty cool a lot of time playing Bubble Bobble opportunities—the Wizards of and quoting Looney Toons. Then we the Coast role-playing game, started playing Chaosium’s “Call downloadable content for Rock of Cthulhu” role-playing game Band, the whole Penny Arcade and as the gamesmaster I probably thing—what has been your fa- killed his character or at least piled vourite experience through the on the Insanity Points and gruesome injuries. Thus the foundation band?

Using rock music to enthuse for a weird monstrous rock and people about Lovecraft and other roll career was formed. nerdy things that I find interesting.

I try to use our music to promote What’s would you say was the literacy and that includes scientific craziest, oddest thing that’s ever literacy, but I don’t let that goal happened to you as a group? get in the way of our number one Lucasfilm sent a “cease and desist” letter to a gaming magazine that mandate: goofiness. ran an ad with the cover of our alHow would you say living in the bum “Cthulhu Strikes Back” in it.

Fraser Valley has affected your We should get it bronzed. work, if at all? (I mean, the pastoral, idealistic farmland seems And what five words would you kind of at odds with the idea of say best describe you as a band? singing “hymns from the house Nerdy. Unspeakable. Batrachian.

Rockapunkacthulhuriffic.

Hipof horror.”)

Considering I’ve based a lot of popotomonstrosesquippedaliomy music and art on the works of phobic. someone whose tombstone read “I Am Providence,” I would say very little! Although I suppose the West Coast has its share of spooky woods and people who look like man-fish hybrids. Am I right, folks?

What’s your favourite part of living on the west coast?

Don’t make me choose between a lack of snow and a community

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Mini Album Reviews

SoundBites

ARTS & LIFE

Sea Lions Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sea Lions But Were Afraid to Ask

With jangling guitars, shimmering production and a bold title, the Sea Lions’ long-awaited debut LP on Slumberland Records Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sea Lions But Were Afraid to Ask is full of endearingly honest pop songs about boredom, idleness and yearning for a way out of a mundane existence. The album stands as a rallying cry for the youth of the world, as lead singer Adrian Pillado crams 15 of his heartbreaking and introspective songs into a time frame of only 29 minutes. Like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Sea Lions have hints of guitar-pop inspired by traces of C-86, however, unlike their labelmates, they lack focus. This is the overall downfall of this promising debut, as the short LP lacks something to truly hold on to. There are indeed some lovely individual songs here, with “As Times Change” and “Grown Up” establishing a band that is confident in their sound. However, the band’s forever young vision is too knowingly coy, as Sea Lions fail to muster the ambition needed to push these themes further, at least on their debut.

TIM UBELS

ALBUM REVIEW KAREN ANEY THE CASCADE

Fanfarlo is an indie band based in London. It was started by two Swedish musicians – that’s right, two guys from the land that brought you Abba, Robyn, the Sedin twins and Ikea. Since its inception, the band has grown to include four new people and dropped one of the original creators. They each play multiple instruments that dot the spectrum from typical to awesome: bass, trumpet, keyboards, mandolin, glockenspiel and melodic.

Though you may not recognize the name, you probably know these guys. Well, you probably know them if you like trashy primetime television. Their songs have been featured on both Grey’s Anatomy and House. The band has been on David Letterman and Last Call with Carson Daly. Least importantly, their song “Atlas” was a high point on a soundtrack for some movie with some sort of vampire and werewolf situation.

Their newest album is called Rooms Filled with Light. For fans, it’s been a long time coming since their previous album came out back in 2009. Unfortunately, those same fans may be disappointed.

This album represents a fairly large departure from their previous work. Though it falls on the same spectrum—rocky folky pop, for lack of a more precise term—and though it uses the same general instrumentation, the instruments are used in ways that are entirely new for the group. Mandolins that previously served as rhythm tools now lead into songs with a decidedly Asian flare, violins that once were used to enhance vocals now take a back stage to other instruments and seem to have greater use in creating eerie soundscapes.

A high point of the album—if you’re not too attached to superfluous lyrics—is “Everything Turns.” It opens with some strong piano chords—the type that could open a classic rock song—but progresses immediately into a lovely and melodious line that is then carried from piano to glockenspiel to mandolin and on. What lends true interest to the track is the piano.

The strong chords repeat themselves throughout the track, underlying the piano influence like a heartbeat. However, the piano used isn’t some over-varnished showpiece. No, the piano that produced this sound wouldn’t look out of place if it came from one of those sketchy Febreeze com-

The Robert Glasper Experiment Black Radio

At the intersection of acoustic jazz and smooth hip hop rests Robert Glasper.

The 33-year-old pianist’s latest project, The Robert Glasper Experiment, embraces a fundamentally collaborative philosophy – the Experiment’s core jazz combo quartet of Glasper, Casey Benjamin, Chris Dave and Derrick Hodge feature additional artists on nearly every single track of their debut, Black Radio. The laid-back atmosphere created by Glasper allows for natural forays into soul, funk and R&B that are chockfull of seemingly improvised moments. The record is tied together by a strong feeling of organic creation. Nothing is forced, nothing is out-of-place, but there doesn’t seem to be much urgency either. Rather than challenging such an impressive assembly of artists to make something memorable and exciting, Glasper opts to create what often feels like a timid throwback record. There are moments like “Afro Blue”—sung by Erykah Badu—that manage to feel both fresh and lived-in, but Black Radio is marred by a terminal lack of ambition that renders it little more than virtuosic Starbucks-ready adult contemporary.

NICK UBELS

Field Music

Gescha

Field Music, made up of brothers David and Peter Brewis, hails from across the pond and they certainly sound like it, embodying the easy-going, pop experimentation in the UK. While there is something innately familiar about their smooth vocals, the amalgamation of different instrumentation give each track its own voice. It’s often difficult to distinguish between the songs on alt-pop albums since each one seems to settle into a similar rhythm of acoustic here, synth there and vague lyrics over yonder, but the Brewis brothers allow each song to have one stand-out element, like the church bells at the start of “A Prelude To Pilgrim Street.”

Granted, “New Town” seems to go on for a minute or two too long, but overall Field Music’s latest album makes for an ever-changing half hour listen that could easily be enjoyed on loop.

As far as I can tell, the phrase “crayon politics” is actually a clever metaphor for racism. Otherwise, I’m not sure how to label this album: the background vocals sometimes give it a very bluesy feel, the second track begins with very gospel-reminiscent strains, “Love Pirates” begins in exactly same way as “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People and the title track sounds like what would happen if Seal decided to rap. All in all, I’m baffled. But I think it’s in a good way. It thankfully lacks the choking profanity I’ve come to associate with rap, and the lyrics are surprisingly thought-provoking at times: “This life ain’t perfect, but at least we’re here.” (“Breathe”). In fact, “Love Pirates” and “Slow Build” are straight-up catchy. What’s up, rap. I think we might be friends after all.

Plumb

AMY VAN VEEN

Crayon Politics

DESSA BAYROCK

Fanfarlo – Rooms Filled with Light mercials with the blindfolds. The instrument has seen better days, but the slightly out-of-tune edge to the sound and the wavering in the tone adds interest and depth to a song that would otherwise be overproduced and just a little bit too sweet.

That feel is carried throughout the other tracks: as soon as a song approaches one cliché too quickly, it’s derailed by an added element of interest. A great example of this is the track “Dig.” It seems pretty firmly rooted in ‘80s influences: the constant, shuffling beat could definitely be coming from a keytar.

However, the sound is effectively broken up by some classically influenced piano riffs from that same piano and some violin riffs that come from the same vein. Spotted throughout the track are instances of the violin acting more like a fiddle – playing just slightly atonally, the sound adds some colour to what would otherwise be an overly trendy, overly ‘80s song.

Rooms Filled With Light isn’t anything ground-breaking. It’s not going to offend your friends if it’s playing when you start your car, but it’s also not going to change the face of music as we know it. The album demonstrates some interesting instrumentation and sound

ideas, and it’s worth a listen for that. They’re not the band to sleep overnight on the streets for in hope of purchasing tickets – they’re the group you see in between headliners at a festival because you “kind of like them.” Or, they’re the group that you see at the Biltmore, be-

cause you have an ever-present feeling of dread that the Biltmore isn’t long for this world and you want to see just one more show in it before it gets turned into a Fat Burger. Speaking of which, they’re playing at the Biltmore in April.

Enjoy.

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ARTS & LIFE

Book Review Haute Stuff Local talent: UFV’s design program and fashion show Mouseguard: Tales of the Guard by David Petersen and others ANTHONY BIONDI

THE CASCADE

THE CASCADE

Relatively unknown, yet remarkably brilliant, David Petersen’s world of Mouseguard is an entertaining read for graphic novel enthusiasts and fantasy readers alike.

Previously there have been two other books in the series of comics (compiled collections of bi-monthly comic publications). Mouseguard takes place within a pseudo-medieval setting, with a league of mice, known as the Mouseguard, that protect the kingdom from predators and invaders. The mice themselves live as they do in our own world, within hollowed trees or among the grasses of fields, and suffer their natural predators, such as birds, snakes, owls and so on.

Their daily struggles have been the continuing theme of previous iterations of the series. However, in this most recent hardbound publications Petersen has decided to let other artists and writers take up the pen and continue his world – he personally hand-picked a series of authors and artists to write him a number of tales to compile into a comic series. Petersen has his hand, though, and cameos his beautiful art and writing in this book as he introduces each of the stories told by the other authors.

This tale takes place in the June Alley Inn, as mice from different walks of life compete to tell the most provocative or entertaining tale for nothing more than a relief on their accumulating drinking tabs. Drunks, soldiers and bards come together to tell their tales and best the others. Each of their stories is told by a different writer and artist, bringing a unique and fun feel to the reader. There is a little bit of everything for everyone, from serious tales to comedy and just plain silliness. They touch on survival

LEANNA PANKRATZ

and glory, where mice fight against birds and outsmart weasels. Each is told from a unique style, ranging from moody and heavy in writing to no writing at all. It had been released previously as individual biweekly comic books before coming together into one hardbound volume, but for the amount of money it costs (and for graphic novels it is generally a bit more) it is definitely worth the read.

Upon first read through, experiencing such varying art styles throughout the book can be a bit different. It can be hard to move from one style that is well-rendered in deep blacks and heavy mood to one that is overly cartoony with a light-hearted theme.

The inn scenes try to bridge the gaps in stories together, and for the most part it does the job quite effectively. However, in a book that carries such a varying array of storytelling styles and artwork, you are bound to run into one or two stories you don’t like.

In the end, the only large disappointment with this inclusion of the Mouseguard series is the fact that it does not continue the story of the series. In fact, none of the chief characters make any sort of appearance. In the end, this book builds the world of Mouseguard from something great to the level of excellence it deserves.

New York, London and Milan’s fashion weeks have drawn to a close, and the Paris shows have just begun. For other fashion lovers like myself, I am sure it’s easy to feel a bit distanced from all the fashion genius that is occurring miles and miles away while we are inevitably stuck among textbooks and multi-thousand-word essays.

While the constant perusal of couture looks can become redundant, and the size of fashion houses can be distancing, local and new talent is constantly changing, developing and is very, very accessible. Perhaps the most exciting sort of design for its freshness and innovation, local talent is in full bloom around our campus in the form of UFV’s own Fashion Design Program. I had the opportunity to sit down with Deanna Devitt, UFV’s fashion department head since 2003, to talk about the program and their annual fashion show.

“We offer a unique, two-year program at UFV that includes a variety of core courses in design, pattern drafting, construction, textiles, history of fashion and computer-aided design,” she said.

“We offer a diverse curriculum that allows students to select from the options of applied study in different avenues within the fashion industry, ranging from marketing, technology and a hands-on approach through textiles.”

“We offer a practicum where students have one week to work at a fashion industry job of their choice,” she continued, “which includes such areas as design, retail and merchandising.”

Students who have graduated from UFV’s Fashion Design program have gone on to thriving ca-

Image: ufv.ca

reers in various aspects of the style industry, including starting their own businesses, getting involved in the business aspects through fashion merchandising and in the cases of two students, having their designs featured on the pages of Elle Canada, and interning with fashion label Diane von Furstenberg. There is a huge market out there for new talent, and UFV is proving itself to be a prime breeding ground of such.

Absolute Style is the year-end fashion show that design students put together, and is taking place this year on April 25. “Students in [the] Fashion Design diploma program work hard all year on the show. Absolute Style is unique to our program as it highlights a diverse assortment of pieces,” said Devitt. “Pieces range from readyto-wear to art-to-wear – a segment that includes one-of-a-kind garments created in the textile option of the program. These garments are a medley of fabrics that are created, transformed and embellished through techniques such

as shibori pleating and devore burnouts. The show also includes designs for specialty markets such as swimwear, coats, evening wear and lingerie.” Absolute Style also features collections created by the program’s grad students – fashion lines they have been working on since January: researching, planning and eventually producing.

In the past shows I have attended and once participated in as a model, the number one comment I heard from friends, family and other attendees was on the show’s amazing quality. Absolute Style is not typical to most university fashion shows. This is a professional, full-scale catwalk event that utilizes sound and lighting technicians from other professional-level fashion events in Vancouver. It also incorporates the talents of photographers and makeup artists, and is sponsored by names such as Shaw Media, The Abbotsford News and our very own Student Union Society. “This is one of the most exciting events of the year at our school, and our Fashion Design students have been working hard to put together a high quality, innovative, and enjoyable style experience to showcase their creations,” Devitt explained. Absolute Style is a unique opportunity to view the coming-together of a Fashion student’s creative vision. It is sure to be a striking and remarkable experience.

Tickets for the Absolute Style event are $10 for the 2:30 p.m. matinee show and $18 for the 7:00 p.m. show. UFV’s Alumni Association will host a wine and cheese reception at the evening event. Book tickets early if you wish to attend, as the shows sell out quickly. This is a UFV fashion event that is not to be missed. For more information or to book tickets, please call 604557-4073.

Silent Bonds Part Two: Cyberporn: the crack cocaine of compulsivity VIOLET HART

THE CASCADE Porn has been around for ages, from the “wanton pictures” of Shakespeare’s time to the Playboys your older brother once stashed under the bed. But the Internet has completely and irrevocably changed the realm of pornography. Long gone are the days where it was risky to obtain porn. Thanks to the Internet, porn is now plentiful, free and, most importantly, anonymous.

Even for those who wouldn’t generally be at risk for engaging in addictive sexual behaviours, cyberporn is hard to resist, which why it is often referred to as the “crack cocaine” of sexual compulsivity. The Internet has become a smorgasbord for sexual fantasy; there is literally something out there for everybody.

Children are now being exposed younger and younger to pornography via the Internet, and even with the best “nanny” software, it is difficult to control exposure. As teens and adults, access is virtually unlimited. One can only imagine the difficulty for a horny, lonely

Image: polvorilla/flickr.com

teen to resist surfing porn late at night. Still, to a certain extent, porn can play a healthy role in the adolescent’s exploration of sexuality. However, let us not forget that porn has its dark-side too and can often present unrealistic standards and sex-negative behaviours. Considering cyberporn is not likely to go anywhere, the onus is now on parents and society to make it clear what is and is not a healthy depiction of sexuality.

When excessive porn really becomes a problem is when it intrudes on the health of real-life relationships. Our society may glorify sex, but it certainly has not prepared couples on how to talk rationally about it. When partners feel frustrated and misunderstood in

bed, it is all too easy to turn to the computer in order to satisfy sexual needs and fantasies on their own.

And, even if everything is peachy under the sheets, some people just enjoy the visual stimulation of porn, but are embarrassed— or their partner is unwilling—to share the experience of watching it. In these cases, the viewer is not necessarily a “porn addict,” though they may be reliant and excessive in their use of pornography for gratification. Unlike a true porn addict, the excessive porn watcher is capable of stopping, though that doesn’t mean that their behaviour can’t be just as damaging to a relationship.

Actual, full-fledged porn com-

pulsion is a form of sex addiction.

Like the sex addict, the porn addict finds himself or herself unable to stop, even though their activities may be negatively affecting their lives. They may spend hours and hours each day surfing for porn – time away from their spouse, family or work; their addiction may eventually end up costing them their marriage or job. Yet porn becomes the addict’s outlet to deal with negative feelings, and the cycle perpetuates itself. It also doesn’t take very long to move from porn into other online sexual experiences – sex chat rooms, live webcams or cybersex, for example.

Porn addicts, like sex addicts, need to find outside help, being by definition incapable of helping themselves. The excessive porn viewer, on the other hand, is capable of taking action on his or her own behalf. In this case, it is essential to start addressing the problems in the relationship that the viewer is avoiding by turning to porn. Relationships are really just a powerful combination of sex and friendship – and if the sex isn’t working out, then the relationship in trouble.

So does porn even have a place in the bedroom? I asked local sex therapist and registered psychologist Dr. Paul James this very question. “I think that if partners are open and honest about their use of pornography,” Dr. James responded, “that it can be a tool that enhances pleasure and arousal for partners individually and as a couple.” The key words here are “open” and “honest.” As soon as pornographic activity becomes secret, it becomes a problem.

As I’ve said before, porn is a skeleton in most couple’s closet and it’s an issue that has to be dealt with maturely and openly if a relationship is to flourish. It is far too easy for a secret passion for cyberporn to turn into a dangerous obsession. There is nothing wrong with enjoying some of the truly amazing visual stimulation available out there on the Internet, but it needs to be done in a healthy, honest way.

“Like” Violet Hart on Facebook.

Check out Violet Hart’s articles online at violethartcascade.wordpress.com.

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ARTS & LIFE

CASCADE ARCADE

Why I didn’t buy a PlayStation Vita JOEL SMART

THE CASCADE With the February 22 release of the latest video game handheld, the PlayStation Vita, questions have sprung up regarding the value of mobile gaming and the potential of the market to include such a highquality device in addition to the cheaper options available both in Nintendo’s offerings and in those provided by phones, tablets, and to some degree, laptops. The PSP proved that there is a market for high-end mobile gaming, but it is limited. Although I was an early adopter for the PSP, I have opted to hold back in my purchase of a Vita.

It isn’t that the device isn’t impressive – it is. I just can’t make myself shell out that kind of money for a device I’ve never quite been able to incorporate into my everyday life.

With my PSP, many times, most of its use came to me simply as a media device – storing pictures to show friends and playing music while on the go. The best place to use such a device seems, to me, to be in those moments between classes or on public transit. While the former is very plausible to me, I found I rarely had it on me in those moments. With the latter, I found playing games would really make me car-sick – to be fair, I can’t read in a moving vehicle either.

Plus, in Abbotsford, I don’t get to

Image: www.maximumpc.com

make use of public transportation all that often.

Partly, I just find the device fits into some kind of limbo – it semireplaces the functionality of a smartphone, but not quite. Plus, as I’ve noticed with my PSP, if I can’t fit it in my pocket, it’s probably going to stay home most days. Yet, make the PSP any smaller, and the appeal of its screen and layout is lost. As well, with such a powerful device, technology simply doesn’t

make decent battery life feasible; barring the purchase of multiple batteries, it can be a substantial drawback for the device.

That isn’t to say I don’t want one.

The dual cameras, the dual touch screens, the dual analogue sticks – it has all the perks. The screen is one of the clearest and nicest you’ll find on a mobile device. Plus, and this is a big plus, the system already has about 30 games, and some of them are pretty good.

The launch lineup is a bit revo-

lutionary in that it features, perhaps, the perfect mix between huge sequels to popular gaming series—like Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Super Stardust Delta, MotorStorm RC, WipEout 2048 and a surprisingly brilliant Rayman Origins—and original titles like Escape Plan and Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack. Escape Plan, a puzzleplatformer, was perhaps the most tempting title available to me; its black-and-white, slightly-twisted art style, combined with its ma-

cabre humour, makes it a unique entry in the genre – plus it’s only $15. Did I mention it’s made by the team responsible for Fat Princess? That said, Uncharted, one of the most popular PlayStation franchises, is likely to be the title most people buy the system early for.

For $249.99, I just can’t quite justify the purchase – despite usually shelling out for new PlayStation products. It doesn’t help that Sony has also priced their memory sticks (necessary for storing games on) fairly expensively – $99.99 for 32 GB is about double what most similar cards cost these days.

It also doesn’t help that Canada is currently being offered only one of the two variations of the device.

While Japan and the United States are offered a Vita model featuring 3G, Canada is relegated to the WiFi-only model.

Yet, when the price comes down, and on the condition that some additional high-quality games begin to surface, I will almost certainly find myself purchasing one.

Though, if it’s anything like the PSP, it might be worth waiting until the system redesign, which usually brings a smaller, lighter design with additional features – all for less money. Sounds pretty good to me.

Ecological Eating: Behind the hype of certified organic KAREN ANEY THE CASCADE

Organic foods are an increasingly popular nutritional focus. Here in British Columbia, we may have a higher exposure to them: according to the last available statistic from Statistics Canada, though British Columbia accounts for just 13 per cent of Canada’s population, it also accounts for 26 per cent of organic food purchases made in Canada. However, there are some important things to understand about organic food that aren’t yet widely known facts.

First and foremost, it’s important to note that the above statistics, and any others in this article, refer to certified organic foods. In order for a food to be certified organic, it needs to be produced on a farm that has been certified as such by the agriculture faction of the government, or an entity entrusted with certification by said faction. This means that a farm must follow all organic practices for an extended period of time, then hire an individual to perform an audit stating those practices are being adhered to completely. This is a costly process: if a field has, in the past, had pesticides used on it, it must aerate for an extended period of time until the pesticides are no longer detectable. Though there is no specified length of time, it can take multiple years. Aside from the aeration process, the act of certification itself is costly. In order to become certified, a government employee—or a contractor hired by the government—must visit the farm to perform an audit. Given the varied size of farms, this can

take multiple auditors and multiple days. Because they’re government employees, they’re well compensated: one local farmer stated that he was required to pay the auditor between $45 and $50 per hour.

Because of the costly and difficult process that certification entails many farms that may adhere to organic practices and standards may not necessarily become certified. This is demonstrated in the graph to the right, care of Statistics Canada. Animals or animal products clearly represent the largest discrepancy, with close to 6000 farms following organic practices but not certified as such.

The largest amount of organic product produced in Canada, by far, is grain. The Canadian Wheat Board states that over 71,000 tonnes of wheat, barley and durum was produced in 2005. However, this industry is indicative of a problem with the production of organic foods in general. Though 71,000 tones are produced, only 16.7 per cent of that is sold in Canada. The remainder is exported, at great environmental cost. Though this provides Canada with a strong component for its agricultural industry, it also demonstrates that many certified organic farms in Canada are predominately, if not exclusively, export based. The added cost of achieving certification is far more attainable for those farms that are able to export their goods.

Further, certification is a necessity in order to market your food as organic in other countries, and is closely regulated.

Why eat organic?

The answer to that question is

somewhat hazy. Many studies conducted on organic food demonstrate the heightened health benefits and reduced risk from pesticides and processing methods. They also depict the benefits that organic farming can have on the environment.

One such report from Greenpeace found that organic growing methods produced higher yields.

This report was based on findings from the Southern hemisphere in predominately impoverished nations. In Ethiopia, chemical-free farms produced three to five times as much produce. In Brazil, maize crops grew from between 20-250 per cent. Particularly in areas of greater need, this presents a wonderful tool. However, the principles found in this report can—and are—also applied to farming in Canada, which results in higher production of goods for export and a more affluent nation overall.

Numerous blind studies conducted by non-industry experts (translation: everyday people) also suggest that organic food tastes better. One such study was done by the Washington State University. They reported that “the organic apples were firmer, tasted sweeter, and were less tart” than inorganically grown apples. The study went on to reaffirm what Greenpeace reported – further than having a more desirable taste, the farms at which the organic apples were grown reported higher yields than those that didn’t.

Many studies do find that organic food is healthier. Some report lower risk of breast cancer – pesticides are known as a carcinogen. Another study conducted

at Glasgow University found that store-bought organic soup had up to six times as much salicylic acid compared to non-organic store-bought soup. Salicylic acid has many positive effects: it fights bowel cancer and prevents hardening in the arteries. It also serves as a natural remedy to stress. So the higher-priced organic food may be better for you than the regular stuff.

However, there is no conclusive scientific evidence stating unequivocally that organic food is better for us than non-organic food. The Scottish soup study could simply be a case of healthier ingredients in the organic products, for instance. A great study to look at if you’d like to see the conflicting findings is “A Comparison of the Nutritional Value, Sensory Qualities, and Food Safety of Organically and Conventionally Produced Foods,” published by Diane Bourn and John Prescott. This piece synthesizes the results of other studies and points out flaws

in their process or findings. Their conclusion, as stated in their abstract, is revealing: “With the possible exception of nitrate content, there is no strong evidence that organic and conventional foods differ in concentrations of various nutrients.” Nitrate content alludes to pesticide residue. So, according to this study—and corroborated with the conflicting reports found in the media each day—there’s really no way to know for sure yet if organic food is truly better for us.

Making the choice to eat organic is difficult with so much conflicting information. The best practice is to carefully read the labels of all the food you’re eating: where is it produced? Where is it processed?

What does it contain, and which additives? If you’re looking to eat healthier food, yet you aren’t sure about the certified organic practices, try looking in your own back yard.

Check out next week’s issue for part two of our coverage of organic eating.

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ARTS & LIFE

Aggregating aggregates: Three takes on meta-review websites JOEL SMART

THE CASCADE

MICHAEL SCOULAR

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NICK UBELS

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Michael: As everyone familiar with the practice of assigning a numerical value to something not so easily quantified, or really, reducible to a letter grade or number at all, knows, the persistence of the weight placed on these inexact, often whimsical judgments can be a little maddening. It’s the easy way out. But for some it makes it extremely easy to see what passes the grade, what’s worth paying attention to and what is better off tossed aside. How Rotten Tomatoes, a site wholly in favour of the sanctity of numbers, became not just the first destination for those who like their movie discourse to be little more than consumer reviews, but a name synonymous with film criticism, is a something of a puzzle, no matter how much of a given it has become today. A large part of it likely stems from the desire for instant access. The dearth of insight from many newspaper balcony scribes is another contributing factor and general lethargy perhaps another. But the bigger questions here might be whether Rotten Tomatoes’ presumptive monopoly on movie-talk should be questioned.

Does the funnel of plot summaries and thumb up/downs really result in anything approaching a reliable, worthy indicator that we’ll see something worth watching at the movies, or even find simple satisfaction?

Nick: I think these sites provide a different service whether they are used before or after taking in a particular work, so let’s start by looking at the experience of a moviegoer trying to decide what to watch on a Friday night.

Rotten Tomatoes can tell them in a matter of seconds which movie has received the highest percentage of positive reviews. Of course, this means controversial films that have split the critics will wind up with a fairly low score and might be ignored by the ostensibly discerning viewer. In a world full of seemingly endless entertainment choices and limited budgets, is this a fair trade off? Should we eschew risk and put our trust in the safety of critical consensus?

Joel: Personally, I’ve always been rather wary of a critical review ending in a rating of stars or thumbs – likely because I remain unsure whether the purpose of a review is to analyse the value

of a film, or simply to say how much or little it was enjoyed. Ultimately, it seems that the review must incorporate both. Yet, when it comes time for movie night, I can’t help but check Metacritic to see what kind of number a film has received. It’s quick and if you only look at a number you don’t really have to worry about spoilers.

Perhaps easy access to review aggregate sites is actually preventing people from seeing some of the films that might have otherwise turned into cult classics. Take a film like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, for instance. The majority of reviewers didn’t “get” the film, but for others it was one of the best of the year.

To a degree we are already in a world where market research trumps the auteur film-maker; does a site like Metacritic increase the chance that some of these films without mass appeal simply won’t find the audience that they might have otherwise?

Michael: Joel, you raise a very interesting point in your example of Scott Pilgrim, because it was actually a movie critics practically fell over each other praising.

Whether people were checking the scores or the words, the movie did well critically. But this love did not spread widely, at least in a large, “definition of a hit” sense. The failure of Scott Pilgrim, I think, is not the problem of reviewers or audiences not getting the movie but rather the inevitable outcome of the result-driven, A or B dichotomy brand of thinking Rotten Tomatoes fosters. The site has entered the vernacular, is used as an argumentative tool, and is home to commenters that launch death threats at reviewers that upset perfect ratings for films they are anticipating, never mind have seen, nuanced arguments be damned.

You’re right Nick, that the site is a very helpful as a reviews’ aggregate. I can usually find a good pool of opinions on most movies, the more recent and widely released the better, and I’ve been introduced to critics I now value tremendously through their assemblage of publications and blogs with relative ease. But the “relative” is the sticking point even on this side of the site’s utility. Rotten Tomatoes is the opposite of conducive when it comes to readers who want to actually read reviews. The prominent position of everything but the reviewers that drive the site is obvious, but I also have a bone to pick with the reviewers Rotten Tomatoes chooses to uphold as the voices worth listening to. Their selection/approval process, which draws the line at large newspapers and traffic-heavy blogs, has made

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Image: screenshot of Metacritic.com

for a group of critics where the only constant is plot summary. I am not any kind of authority on all the key voices that write mainly on blogs or journals, but out of about twenty I visit with some regularity and whose opinion I value, only three feature anywhere on Rotten Tomatoes. The idea being Rotten Tomatoes should be the authority, but they place as little importance on curating critics worth reading as they do maintaining links for older reviews. If they don’t have any kind of handle on reviewers, and their so-called guidance consistently fails to correllate with audiences (I’ve found local viewerdriven sections of sites like Cinema Clock to be much better indicators as to if the average moviegoer will like what’s playing), then is there any good reason for their metric to enjoy such a glorified distinction?

Nick: Some of the most interesting critics, as you said, work outside of the major newspaper and high traffic blog system. In fact, I find many newspaper reviews to take a middle-of-the-road to positive line on most movies. In some cases, their inclusion could result in rating inflation.

Joel: My dilemma is that a film like Twilight is the absolute best thing in existence for a particular audience. Yet, no aggregate review site—RT, MC, or IMDb—can do justice to both that audience and to someone like me, who has no interest in reading the books or fantasizing over sparkling vampires.

Michael: Actually, an aggregate certainly can fill that role. A site like Rotten Tomatoes is an aggregate not just in score but in how it gathers together, in cases of new wide releases like Twilight, hundreds of reviews that can then be read independently of whatever rating the overarching site turns the various

opinions into, and from that accumulated data it can be found that yes, there are reviews from “serious” critics that don’t dismiss the movie because of its source material, Stephanie Zacharek being perhaps the most prominent example for the example you used. The 25 per cent rating means the popular voice reflects your disinterest and annoyance, but the format of the site does not shut out alternate views. It could be improved, and as your post suggests, the best use of the site is often forgotten, but it can be used for better purposes than as some kind of recommendation based on overview.

The thing that strikes me about this mindset is how it also translates over to other mediums.

Where in movies there exists this urge to look for a recommendation, however unreliable, theoretically to ensure hours aren’t wasted (find me someone who hasn’t been unenthused by a movie recommended by this method of RT scores and IMDb ratings), music seems to have transcended this problem. I’m not as intimately familiar with the music scene, but it seems to me there’s both a different approach to finding music and the way music is valued.

Nick: It is the lack of a unified scene that I think largely exempts music from this phenomenon. Aggregate sites still exist, but they have a much lower currency in online and other music communities. An illustrative example: The Oscars versus the Grammys. The Oscars—though still derided by many—are not nearly as out of touch as The Grammys. No one considers The Grammys to have any bearing on which album was really the best in any given year.

The body of music critics is not held in the same esteem as their cinematic peers. Touching on what Joel said earlier, there seems to be

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more of an expectation of individualized taste in music. Variation on the consensus seems to be encouraged and rewarded among most music listeners. Maybe it has something to do with the numbers: there are approximately 70,000 albums and 550 films released in the United States each year, meaning music fans have a much wider selection from which to pull their favourites. This also means that— other than a few big name releases—different publications end up covering mostly different albums.

Joel, what do you think the impact of aggregate sites is on video game consumption?

Joel: I think that video games are more impacted by “scores” than films are. This is because video games are rarely regarded as art. Things that people don’t appreciate about a game are rarely defended as being the “artistic expression” of the creator.

Perhaps the impact is also due to the necessary functionality of a game. For example, if the controls of a game are difficult or sluggish, the player may be convinced that the game is truly “bad” and not simply different from their tastes.

I think players expect a game review to protect them from investing a lot of money into a truly bad game. In many ways, the stakes are a lot lower with a film review.

That said, I think there is also a lot less respect for game critics. In the film world you’ve got someone like Roger Ebert; I don’t think there is anyone at that level in games. Perhaps that as well, though, makes an aggregate site seem all-the-more appealing for games – a general consensus seems more valuable than a solitary, semi-anonymous voice. As a result, I think game-makers feel a stronger push from investors and producers to create a game that will meet critical expectations.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

ARTS & LIFE

FilmReview Goon MICHAEL SCOULAR

THE CASCADE

Contrary to the way in which current events have changed, Goon doesn’t care about prodding the topic; instead it skims along its surface seeking to create laughs, existing mainly to relocate sports tropes north of the border and to serve as a star opportunity for an overeager writing-and-producing Jay Baruchel.

That’s not to say Goon doesn’t succeed at what it sets out to do, however modest that may be. Baruchel and co-writer Evan Goldberg are adept at drawing caricatures to fill out the ranks of the hockey team Doug Glatt—he of the modest aims and long reach—unexpectedly makes after a YouTubeimpressing, attendance-rousing knockout. Less successful is Jay Baruchel’s self-anointed “lovable wisecracking sidekick,” whose comedy act consists of him laughing at his own readings of 1001 Sex Jokes That Will Impress Your Friends.

Baruchel appears to be much better when not writing his own material, but his character’s self-satisfied grin follows Glatt around the league ranks, infecting an otherwise effective comedy of awkward restraint and violent indulgence.

Goon also dabbles in drama, primarily in the case of Glatt’s disapproving family, whose patriarch is Eugene Levy, and whose main complaints stem from the brutality of the “sport” and what future, if any, such an endeavour has. Lacking the foresight a timeless comedy like Slap Shot seized, these queries are discarded with a callous “Fuck your parents if they can’t get behind what you’re doing,” courtesy Baruchel. And this is the main problem with Goon.

While Sean William Scott plays the Canadian politeness up with a dumbfounded dignity that makes him as affable an enforcer as the real ones that play the game often

are, the movie refuses to even dip its toe in the real world. Slap Shot proved real concerns do not have to compromise comedy, but don’t expect any of the caricatures here to contemplate life after hockey; even in jest, don’t expect the corporate logos over the scoreboard to be questioned; and certainly don’t expect the humanity of the people devoting the best years of their lives to second tier hockey and the people paying to see them do so ever brought up. Allison Pill, as Glatt’s crush, is a misogynist cipher, and in the absence of any kind of obstacles in the movie’s first two thirds, Glatt’s family is an invented villain – a missed opportunity.

Michael Dowse, who made his name with the Canadian cult film FUBAR, establishes a comic atmosphere that carries through to the final shot. Dialogue scenes are cut short; games are condensed to a few obscured goals and slow motion-emphasized fights. It’s clear where Dowse is aiming in tone, but in going for blood splatter rather than characters with actual blood, Scott’s performance is curtailed into a mutilation for yucks. George Roy Hill was able to achieve a better balance, an intimacy with both the smooth skating and the ugly brawls on the ice that spilled over into the dialogue that at least reached for what a locker room would sound like. Newman’s line of “we’re humans, you know” is unthinkable here.

Baruchel’s brand of writing and Dowse’s direction both aid the comedy well enough—this is a funny movie once the hockey takes over and Baruchel is relegated to the sidelines—but Goon follows a formula, rather than breaking it as its renegade attitude would hopefully suggest. Glatt, after all, just wants to disappear into, and be part of, a group.

The Pipe: the most prescient film you’ll see this year VANESSA ANNAND THE MARTLET (UVIC)

VICTORIA (CUP) — If you saw a horseman decked out in his finest apocalyptic duds in your hometown, what would you do?

Give the Book of Revelations a close reading, perhaps. If you’ve paid any attention to the proposed pipeline projects that have divided this country for months (Keystone, Northern Gateway) and you’re wondering what lies ahead, what should you do? Watch The Pipe at the Victoria Film Festival (VFF).

No film at the VFF will resonate so soundly with the collective coastal consciousness as this documentary about Shell’s controversial Corrib Gas Pipeline in Ireland.

In 2004, Shell started building a pipeline from a sub-sea natural gas reserve through Broadhaven Bay. The pipe was meant to cross over land and through the village of Rossport to an on-shore processing facility, but local resistance stalled its development. “Resistance” isn’t quite the word though – it

could easily apply to a child who wraps his legs around his chair, refusing to leave the dinner table when asked. These people aren’t petulant. They’re willing to go on hunger strike, to prison, to court and out to the fields and the shore with their Border Collies to remind themselves why they’re fighting an energy monolith.

The film opens with sweeping helicopter shots of the landscape around Broadhaven Bay. These are juxtaposed with jolting, handheld camera shots of protesting Rossport villagers being roughed up by police. We’ve seen these images before – hundreds of times in sundry documentaries. What we haven’t seen is old, toothless farmers digging for crabs in their gumboots, telling us what will get to you in the end is the sadness.

We’ve seen images of fishermen on their boats with peeling paint before, too. But we haven’t seen their crates full of crabs used as a metaphor for humans’ ruthlessness towards one another. The fishermen clip the muscles in the

Image: submitted photo/ CUP wire

crabs’ claws so that the crustaceans won’t kill each other when in close quarters. Who will clip the far-reaching pincers of Shell that are choking the community? Certainly not the government, which allows the company onto farmers’ land and permits the pipeline to proceed apace without consultation. Certainly not the police, the reflective vest-clad Garda who beat protesters and board fishermen’s vessels.

It’s the age of the protesting villagers that is most affecting. These

aren’t dissatisfied youths (though there are a few young faces in the sign-bearing crowds). These are men gone soft round the middle and women with drawn faces and cable-knit sweaters. These are people who, during the winter, stand with their signs but still take a moment to straighten their husbands’ collars or cup their wives’ faces. These small, warm gestures, more than the shrieking at town hall meetings or at protests, are the moments you will realize that everything—from the smallest hand-

squeeze to the largest farm in the county—is at stake.

The only question that remains is how long it will take us to rouse ourselves to a similar state of ire and action. It’s called The Pipe, singular, but you will leave thinking of The Pipes, plural.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

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25

ARTS & LIFE

POSTCARD LITERATURE Prelude Arianna Lachance

Tremor in the Ashes the hard plastic shell. This vibrated through the floors and distracted the servant from the task at hand: fixing the old musty phonograph in the corner of the room, which had been over-cranked, and badly abused by its previous owner.

Out on the lawn, the daunting yard work and landscapes sprawled out into the great outdoors. Latticework and grape vines climbed up at an impossibly steep angle. The gardener had placed the solar lights out under trees where they would get no sunlight. They were not illuminated.

It had been raining earlier, and the moon left its kiss upon every wet blade of grass. Glistening was the dew. A bright, young, redbreasted robin hopped around, doing a little dance, and occasionally snatching a worm from the ground. She chirped – calling to her friends in the trees.

The family was now out on the lawn. The clown-faced woman piped up.

“As Uncle Adam’s attorney, I can

The Bull’s Horns “Do you know why I called you down here Frank?” Chuck French rubbed his belt with his forefinger and thumb like his hand had nothing better to do. I was sitting in his office, a routinely organized bull pen of straight columns and right angles, cleaned to the T and smelling of coffee. The kid was stiff but collected. I lit a cigarette and waited for him to answer his own question.

“Irene Mitchel. You handed her to us. How did you come up with the evidence? You never gave any indication you had been fooled by her.”

The kid was a busy body, he had the air of a man with million questions and only a handful of answers. I sat calmly, watching the show. So long as I kept quiet, the kid’s frustration would keep him talking.

“Sure, you cleaned the streets of a big time grifter. But from what I hear she worked with a partner.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if that partner were you?” He paused, continually picking at his belt, making a tap tap sound with his fingernail. I took a drag of my cigarette. “What I find funniest, is that she got away. You double crossed

I wish I could have seen you then Resent that my heart had once led me elsewhere Resent that I hadn’t learned the art of bitterness earlier But those days are nothing but chalk on the sidewalk Drenched to oblivion by torrential rains I step forward now into the white Leaving nothing behind me but empty rooms And nothing ahead but an incandescent lamp in the darkness A lamp that ignites the embers I thought had died Not an Epilogue But a Prelude

EJ Harrow Adam Ridley was dying, and his family had gathered in the foyer, exchanging insults.

Sickness festered and lurked.

Down the forsaken and unfriendly hallways there loomed a foreboding drudgery; the dregs of life drained and then spat in the face of all that is just and good in the world. Ghosts. Tenors of memories malicious and contrite stood and watched, as the butler of many years, meandered his way through the house to get to the stairwell.

The devil called him, beckoned to him. It gathered in the corners in all the splendour and glamour of its own invisible mounting terror; a coagulating inaudible shriek there emanating from the heart of swelling blackness. This was where the weird was, and it mocked him with its obnoxious silence.

The water cooler was noisy. As it let air into the large heaving several-gallon container to dispense water, it let go the sound of bubbles and pockets of oxygen rising to the surface and clanging on

I wished I could feel the sun shine How my thoughts did once wander towards the sands and shores Wished that somehow our plans would have merged Even in our past lives

clearly state that here, in the great maritime state of Maine, the attorney gets 10 per cent of every proceeding, minimum. Minimum.”

She emphasized the last word. She really did look like a clown. She wore a powder-blue business skirt and suit jacket.

“Did you ever even have a conversation with him? And anyways, that’s crud. You’re not his damn attorney,” said the man next to her.

“Yes. I spoke to him…” She paused. “Four – yes, four times. I remember them all distinctly. He was a kind man.”

“You speak about Mr. Ridley as though he is already dead,” the butler wandered in gracefully.

“Well? How is he?! How bad is it? Do you think it will be very long now?” asked the man in the black suit.

“He’s not very well, sir,” replied the servant. “As a former medical man, I can presume that he will not make it through the hour. He will pass. It will be excruciating. And you will walk off with your for-

tune. The one you came here for,” he bowed slightly.

“Say, you make it sound like we didn’t even care about the guy!” the man in black retorted.

“Past tense,” the old butler noted.

“This is all so silly,” someone whispered quite audibly.

“Dammit, would you all shut the hell up? Ridley didn’t care about you, anyways; he told me so by telegram just last week. I am sick and tired of this!” yelled the man in black.

“I’m sick and tired of you being sick and tired, buddy!” somebody blurted back.

“What’s that smell?”

The party turned and saw that the building was engulfed in flame and was burning to the ground.

Soon the only thing left of it was the old stone structure and the staircase that had once run up to the second and third floors.

“I see you’ve finally managed to get what you wanted,” the butler approached the party. His graying

mustache was now charred, and singed. Half of one eyebrow was burnt off.

“As Ridley’s attorney, and someone with a solid alibi, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said the clown.

“You don’t understand, I’m afraid,” the servant adjusted his formerly white glove. It was now black, and had a hole burned through it. “You are all written in his will. He told me so before he died.”

There was a sigh of relief. The smoke drifted westward, and the dawn peaked over the horizon.

“No. I don’t maintain that you set the fire deliberately to obtain money. But you did indeed start the fire – the fire was started, and fuelled by the sparks of hatred and greed,” he glanced at the ruins.

There was a tremor in the ashes, as the wind swept over the dust. All that was left was the shame, which was to be divided up equally, and one needs no executor for that.

Anthony Biondi

us both. What do you have to say to that?”

“I say it’s above my pay grade.”

The kid was hitting all sixes, playing hard-boiled was all I had. If he got me now, I’d be brushing my teeth in the big house. The kid may be green, but he had me by the throat.

French smiled. I noticed that the kid had no ashtray in his office, so I let the snake of ash drop off the arm of my chair. “You’re good at playing tough guy, Frank, Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to gather evidence of your work? There were a few things that had your name on them. Donald Clock was the most forthcoming, about a failed blackmail attempt some years back. He even identified you by your photograph.”

The kid waited for me to speak again. I let the silence linger. Finally he spoke up. “What interests me, is why you sold her out. She was a tough woman, no doubt.

Was she too much for you? Or is this city too small for the two of you to share the plunder? No honor among thieves, and all that.

What was it, Frank?”

I sighed. There was no point letting this continue. The law was fi-

nally at my heels, and I was tired of running. “You’re giving me an earful here, kid. Sure, if you want to convict me, then just do it. What am I here for? Confession? I have an honest job, and I mean to keep it.”

French came around his desk and sat on the edge, looming over me like a gargoyle. “Yes I heard you work at The Sun. When did you take that job again?”

“Don’t play dumb with me.

You’re the dick. Tell me when I took the job.”

French laughed, “I like your attitude, Frank. I know when you started. I even know how much you made. Wasn’t much, was it? I guess they don’t pay interns much.

So you had to subsidize your earnings by conning people with Irene’s help.” He appeared to be enjoying himself now. He had me in his jaws, and there was nothing I could do but be consumed.

“Sure. Why not?” I grunted. “It seems I don’t even need to be here.

You have all your answers.”

French looked at me and grinned. I knew a trap when I saw one. I had no irons on my wrist. He had summoned me with a phone call, and I had come in good faith.

Sure, I knew what I was into, but if they smelled smoke, best thing to do would be to tell them there was a fire.

“I put some thought into this.

I know you’re trying to go clean, Frank.” His fingers continued plucking at his belt, my eyes twitched at the sound. “I called you here to make a deal. This has been cleared by the high-ups, so don’t worry.”

“Mhmm.” I put out my cigarette on the wooden arm of the chair.

“I want you to work with me.

You are going to give me every crook this town has to offer, and you are going to do it for free.

You wanted to play stool pigeon once; well you can do it again.” He picked up the stub on the arm of the chair and tossed it in the bin.

“Anything to say now?”

I sighed. I was all wet; it was something I was getting used to.

They had me by the throat and kept me kicking. “You got me trapped, French, good job. You make a killer dick. We make this deal, and I keep working at the Sun. I help you solve your crimes, and you let me live my life. I’d shake your hand, but I’m still sitting down.”

“Good. I’m glad we understand

Art: Anthony BIondi

one another.”

“Uh huh.”

He extended his hand, palm up.

I paused, then shook it; we had a deal. I was facing the bull’s horns, and all I could do was grab hold and hang on.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

SPORTS & HEALTH

CoHo a-go-go: Canucks controversial deadline deal frightens flustered fans JOEL SMART

THE CASCADE

After fighting their way into first place in the NHL, the Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis stunned fans on February 27, Trade Deadline Day, by making some of the biggest trades in the league. Fans had their hearts in their throats after learning that promising rookie Cody Hodgson, who they’ve been watching develop for the last several years, was on his way out the door – traded to the 25th ranked Buffalo Sabres along with teammate Alexander Sulzer. Coming to Vancouver in the trade were two young Canadian players: power forward Zack Kassian and puck-moving defenceman Marc-Andre Gragnani.

The Canucks also made deals to bring in Samuel Pahlsson, a friend and former teammate of the Sedins, as well as a less significant move that brings Halifaxnative Andrew Gordon into the Canucks organization; though Gordon will likely play with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL unless the Canucks get into injury trouble.

Gillis was quick to defend his decision to bring in Kassian, a 21-year-old Canadian right winger who stands six-footfour, and weighs 228-pounds. “I think we got more balance in our line-up, more diversified,” he said. “If you look at centre ice, we’ve got a lot of strength with a lot of veteran players there and the only real power forward we have on our team with that kind of size and speed would be David Booth and we now have a younger player, who’s 21, who has that.”

Given the criticism the Canucks faced in last year’s playoffs for their lack of bigbodied grit, the moves this year to bring in both David Booth and Zack Kassian-along with Dale Weise and Byron Bitz-seems to address those concerns adequately. According to the Toronto Maple Leaf ’s prospect profile of Zack Kassian on their website, his favourite player growing up was then-Canuck Todd Bertuzzi. Kassian is also a vicious fighter who, in a February 16 fight against Philadelphia tough guy Tom Sestito, was able to drop the six-foot-five player with two powerful punches to the head.

Upon hearing the news of his trade

to Vancouver, Kassian’s anticipation was clearly evident. “I’m very excited to be part of Stanley Cup contender,” the rookie told Sportsnet, “but at the same time there’s a lot of nerves and expectations. I’m very excited and I just can’t wait to get to work.”

Kassian knows he has to earn his spot, but as the 13th overall pick in the 2009 Entry Draft, he has a lot of promise. He has even been compared to Milan Lucic.

It’s pretty clear, though, that he’s not really in the same category as a player like Cody Hodgson. Unfortunately, there just didn’t seem to be room for Hodgson to truly flourish with Vancouver, considering Henrik Sedin and Ryan Kesler have the centre positions locked up on the first two lines for the foreseeable future.

Canuck fans will inevitably experience a certain amount of self-loathing when Hodgson, with more time and space to develop, starts to really shine offensively in the next few years.

There is potential for this deal to pay off big, however, especially in the shortterm, as Kassian, Gragnani and Pahlsson all add important components for a playoff team that intends to go the distance.

Considering Pahlsson was nominated for the Selke Trophy after he helped the Anaheim Ducks win the Cup in 20062007 (and also won the Olympic Gold that year), he has the potential to really help the team defensively in the postseason. “It’s been a few years since I was in the playoffs,” he told Sportsnet, “but I know I can give everything I’ve got.”

The fact that he’s from the same city as the Sedins—and has enjoyed playing with them before—is a very positive sign. Though Montreal-native Gragnani is still developing, he will be useful in a pinch; it’s impressive that in 44 games with the worst team in the league this year, the 24-year-old has managed to wind up a plus-10, which is seven higher than second best on the team.

Though some may mourn the departure of an upcoming star they’d been so anxious to celebrate (we’ll miss you CoHo), a closer look into the deals the Canucks made ultimately suggests the team is more prepared for a shot at the Cup than they’ve ever been before. Time will tell.

Ripple in still water: The NHL trade deadline that was KAREN ANEY THE CASCADE

Jeff Carter to Los Angeles for Jack Johnson and a conditional first-round draft pick in 2012 This is an interesting one because it reunites Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. For those of you that need to be reminded like I did, they were traded away from Philadelphia to separate teams amid much controversy regarding their extra curricular bar-hopping activities. With Jonathan Quick in net, these guys have a legitimate chance at a run, so it should be interesting to see if any TMZ-like activities arise from the pressure. On the Columbus side of things, they’re acquiring a good puck-moving defenseman with good hands, though one that’s a bit of a liability because

of the frequent chances he takes.

Cody Hodgson from Vancouver to Buffalo for Zack Kassian This is the one that probably froze your Facebook and Twitter. Girls are crying, boys are cursing Mike Gillis, and hardly anyone is sitting back and thinking about it logically. First, Hodgson has been playing predominately soft minutes for the majority of this season. He’s had two great wingers supporting him constantly, and hasn’t had to battle against many first lines. Second, everyone who watched the Stanley Cup finals last year knows that the Canucks need a big gritty player to lend some sandpaper to the team when things get rough. This trade, aside from being a huge opportunity for Hodgson to play as a top-six forward, achieves both those things.

Outside of Vancouver, this is still a huge trade. Cody Hodgson is a contender for rookie of the year, and it’s incredibly rare for a rookie of his calibre to be traded so close to the deadline. Aside from that, Vancouver is number one in the NHL – it isn’t being a homer to call this the biggest trade of the season.

Samuel Pahlsson from Columbus to Vancouver for two fourth-round draft picks in 2012 This was another great move by Gillis. Scott Howson, Columbus GM, said that Pahlsson is a calming presence both in the locker room and on the ice. He’s the third line checking centre that Cody Hodgson is never going to be. He was part of an extremely successful line in Anaheim with Scott Niedermayer and Travis Moen during their 2006-2007 run.

He’s played with the Sedins in Sweden, which may help ease his transition onto a team so late in the season.

Greg Zanon from Minnesota to Boston for Steve Kampfer This is an interesting move because it improves Boston’s defensive depth quite a bit. He’s not as physical a player as many of the big bad Bruins, but he’s one of the best shot blockers in the league. As strength in the depth is one of Boston’s greatest assets, this only improves their chances in what could very well be a deep Cup run.

John Scott from Chicago to New York Rangers for a 2012 fifth-round draft pick The Rangers got the short end of the stick here. Vancouver fans should remember John Scott from last year’s playoff series versus Chicago. That was when he tried to

pick a fight with Kevin Bieksa, who instead took the road that meant he got some points for his team. Afterwards, he said to the media “when the six-foot-eight guy who can’t skate asks to fight, you say no, then skate around him and score a goal.”

Paul Gaustad and a 2013 fouthround pick from Buffalo to Nashville for a 2012 first-round pick This trade was probably the best one of the season – for Nashville, that is. They acquire some size and grit, just like they did with another trade for Hal Gill. Given Nashville’s defensive style, this means that teams playing the Predators can expect to be punished along the boards even more than before the trade deadline.

Nashville, more than any or team, came out on top this trade deadline.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012

27

www.ufvcascade.ca

SPORTS & HEALTH

Taze me out at the ball game NICK UBELS

THE CASCADE

What do you get when you combine a comically oversized soccer ball and six to eight men sporting potentially lethal electroshock weapons?

The answer is no joke, though it may come as a shock.

Tazer ball is the latest in a long lineage of increasingly “extreme” 21st century sports seemingly designed to try the patience of the public safety commissioner. Turns out volcano boarding and limbo skating just weren’t dangerous enough for some people.

The rules of tazer ball, as outlined in Ultimate Tazer Ball , are really, truly simple. While “Ultimate” implies that there was a less “extreme” original this version was based on, this reporter could find no evidence of such a precursor, bringing the legitimacy of the whole operation into question. Two teams of three (or four, the official website is maddeningly inconsistent in its tallies) attempt to toss, roll, or kick a rubber, oversized 24-inch soccer ball into the opposing team’s yawning net. The catch being that both forwards and defenders are armed with stun guns with which to shock any player in possession of the

ball into giving it up. The stun gun part seems like a bit of a cop out coming after the sport’s more electrifying title, but it turns out that tazers cause things like cardiac arrest and even death on a regular basis. Stun guns turn down the voltage considerably, but consider the insightful words of Philadelphia Kilowatts’ Jason Bornstein, “It hurts man; it doesn’t feel good. That’s why the cops use ‘em.”

The pain of getting tazed in the middle of a blitz for the goal is made evident in an endless reel of excruciating slow-motion highlights presented on the homepage of Ultimate Tazer Ball’s website. Athletes crumple to the ground mid-stride, landing in a heap of dazed humiliation.

Other rules to remember? Tackling is in, punching is out. Tazer ball is essentially a full-contact ball game plus weapons.

According to Discovery.com, the sport was invented by Canadians - which, enter obligatory “hockey wasn’t violent enough for those ‘Nucks” joke here - Leif Kellenberger, Eric Prum and Erik Wunsc, whose prior credentials include undisclosed dealings in the highly reputable world of “professional paintball.” The trio was apparently brainstorming ideas for new extreme sports when they

stumbled across this store of untapped potential.

One of the sport’s great ironies is that it is illegal in its creators’ home country. All matches are played in either the state of California or Thailand due to legal reasons, though there are teams hailing from Toronto and Philadelphia in addition to the San Diego and Los Angeles squads.

The Philadelphia Kilowatts are a particularly fearsome team to watch out for, the official website’s bio characterizing their philosophy thusly: “savage aggression and blatant disregard for the taze.”

The team and player bios smack of tazer ball’s distant cousin, professional wrestling, further suggesting the organizers are aiming for something more spectacle than true athletic contest. But there’s still the actual violence to contend with and the practitioners’ serious demeanour; it’s pro wrestling without a hint of playfulness.

So where do we go from here?

What is the next step in sports with low watchability and a high pain threshold? My suggestion: bear spray bumper pool. Investors take note.

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Fitbook: Fitocracy uses social networking to encourage active lifestyle

KEN MUIR

CONTRIBUTOR

A new social networking site has been rapidly gaining members and public attention as of late. Though still in beta, the site has been online since 2010, and it has been slowly accumulating its members through an invite-only system. The premise of the website is to turn fitness into a game, thereby motivating members to exercise more in order to get a higher score. The name of the game? Fitocracy.

Essentially, the aim of the game is to level up by gaining points, and you gain points by logging any workouts that you complete. The points and levels are as arbitrary as Microsoft’s gamer points for the Xbox 360, or Sony’s trophies for the PlayStation 3; they stand for nothing other than proof of some goal accomplished. Hilariously, as any gamer knows, acquiring these points and trophies is unbelievably addictive, and gives a strong sense of reward, even though you know the feeling is irrational. Avid gamers themselves, creators Brian Wang and Richard Talens were wellaware of this concept and applied it to workouts instead.

On Fitocracy, points are earned for every workout logged on the website, and you earn even more points by meeting the criteria for achievements, which stand as fitness goals or challenges, such as “complete five pull-ups in one set (+100 points),” or “bench press X amount (+50 points),” etc. Additionally, there are quests, which act as challenges which expire after a few weeks or so. Completing quests earns you more points. I can say from first-hand experience that the model is maddeningly addictive, to the point where I’ve become observably angry for having missed my workout; those intangible points were gone forever.

What makes this website so close to tipping into the mainstream is that it also employs the same features you might expect from any social networking site. You can add friends, join or create groups and events, message one another, and so on. The twist is that every group and event has its own leader board, making for a somewhat competitive atmosphere.

The mechanics of the website itself are still mildly clunky. For instance, your workout won’t always translate as well as it should into the log.

I once tried to enter a circuit weights shoulder program I had completed, but couldn’t figure out how to change

the repetitions option into time. After that, it told me that I couldn’t enter more than 30 repetitions for a single set. So, after some estimation on my part, my circuit weight program had to be translated into 33 sets of 30 repetitions of military press. Obviously this wasn’t ideal. You may also find the variety of offered exercises to be lacking. It was vile having to enter my eight km paddle in a kayak as rowing (they are in no way similar sports).

Furthermore, the social networking aspects of the site are much less fluid and comprehensive as competing social networks. Finally, it’s incredibly easy to cheat. There’s no way to verify whether or not you did the workout that was logged. Hopefully most people will avoid this temptation as the reward is supposed to be mostly intrinsic, meaning that there’s really very little reason to cheat if nothing is achieved. These hitches the site suffers are, however, fairly forgivable, as it’s still in beta.

I can say from first-hand experience that the model is maddeningly addictive, to the point where I’ve become observably angry for having missed my workout; those intangible points were gone forever.

Probably the worst aspect of the site is its “Become a Hero” option, which gives you slightly better features than regular users, and no ads, but requires a five dollar monthly fee.

All this did was make me aware that there were unnecessary restrictions on regular users, such as limited memory space for saved workouts.

Despite these flaws, I still highly recommend trying to sign up, as the site really will motivate you to exercise more often. It’s a lot of fun and gives you a slight push out the door; for some that may be all that’s required to go exercise.

How do you become a member?

Unfortunately the website is still in a closed beta, so you can’t get in unless you’re invited. However, each member is allowed to give out 10 invites, so even if you’re a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of someone who’s a member, it shouldn’t be that hard to get one. Personally I’d recommend just Googling for invites.

In the meantime, I’ll be going for the high score.

28

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