The Cascade Vol. 21 No. 8

Vol. 21 Issue. 8

www.ufvcascade.ca

March 6 to March 12, 2013

Eating our Brussels sprouts since 1993

Labour of Love Agriculture means a little tender, loving care at Abbotsford’s One Love natural farm p. 10-11

Bif Naked talks about the resilience of women p. 6

A case for baseball (instead of hockey) p. 17

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S ISSUE Opinion

News

Arts & Life

Sports & Health

SUS elections begin final stretch

Viagra for women?

Silverstein’s poetry in still life

Cascades take on legendary fowl in Final Four

Prepare yourself! Student Union Society campaigns are among us. Voting begins March 11 and runs to March 17. Look to pages 4 and 5 for more candidate statements and Nick Ubels’ coverage of the latest all-candidates meeting. The more you know, the better prepared you are to vote.

After the wild success marketing the magic pill for middleaged men, pharmaceutical companies are vying for a spot in the female sexual disorder market, with questionable ethics. Nadine Moedt writes on why this is bad news for the psychological and sexual health of women everywhere.

Inspired by Shel Silverstein and her natural surroundings, Chrissy Courtney snapped the prize-winning shot for the Photography Club’s photo contest.

Nick Ubels talks to Courtney about photography, the artistic process and her future projects.

UFV sent a packed fan bus to UBC last Friday to witness history in the Canada West men’s basketball championships. Paul Esau and Jasper Moedt bickered merrily almost the entire time as the T-Birds narrowly avoided being plucked and roasted by a beat-up Cascades squad.

pg. 7

pg. 16

pg. 4-5

EDITORIAL

pg. 18

When to say no to unpaid gigs Nick Ubels THE CASCADE

Like so many other starry-eyed hopefuls, I started a band in my freshman year.

Starved for music venues and promoters that would give us the time of day, we naively agreed to play a show for a production company called Supernova. These were the terms of the deal we accepted: the band was responsible for selling tickets to the “showcase” concert at $10 a piece. Twenty or so artists were crammed onto the same bill and asked to compete against each other for the most ticket sales. The incentive? Set times (both length and placement) would be determined by which band sold the most tickets. It was unpaid. We were promised only exposure in exchange for our trouble.

We sold 20 tickets, a modest but respectable amount for an upstart act who’d only played two or three shows, especially considering the relatively high asking price. It was a number that we hoped and assumed would at least guarantee us a reasonable set length. After all, we had coerced our unwitting friends and family to come all the way out to Vancouver to support our new venture.

The day of the show arrived and we were handed a sheet of paper with our set time: 15 minutes including set-up and take-down.

And as for that big exposure they

had promised? There were perhaps five people in the crowd that we hadn’t personally invited. The promoter had not promoted, simply booked the show and asked us to do the rest.

Supernova pocketed an easy $200 and we packed up and left, just another young band fleeced by a skeezy promoter who preyed on our lack of experience to turn an easy profit. We were disheartened and disillusioned. It made it easier to spot these sort of gigs worth turning down in the future, but it was far from the last time we encountered this kind of situation.

The balance between the value of exposure and compensation, experience and pay is a contested one in every creative field. For those of us who want to make it in journalism or other creative fields, we’re asked to commit time and energy to unpaid internships and supposedly career-advancing “opportunities” that are to our benefit. And frankly, unpaid labour is hugely beneficial to the companies providing said opportunities.

This is nothing new. To some extent, internships and volunteer experience have always been a part of these freelance-driven industries. But there comes a point at which an exchange of money for services needs to enter the equation.

It’s a conversation many newcomers are afraid to have when

discussing terms of freelance contracts. Not so much when it comes to veteran journalists like Nate Thayer.

In a recent blog post, Thayer included the verbatim email correspondence between himself and an editor for The Atlantic, a U.S. magazine with a readership of over 13 million. The editor asked Thayer to retool a blog post of his for inclusion on their website with zero compensation.

The request is absurd and insulting to an established writer with 25 years of experience. These problems are not unique to The Atlantic, but indicative of bigger problems in the field.

Because so many people are willing to work for free, it makes it more and more difficult for anyone to make a living by writing.

The same goes for music producers, graphic designers, photographers and other vocations that require years of experience and sometimes specialized training to carry out well.

There are many of us arts majors for whom graduation is little more than a giant, looming question mark. We face the uncertain prospects of a shaky job market in which the work of those with soft skills is consistently devalued. Entering these fields, we will certainly have to do some pro bono work to find our feet. But there’s a point at which you have to pony up and ask for money for the thing you hope to become your

Editor-in-chief nick@ufvcascade.ca Nick Ubels Managing editor amy@ufvcascade.ca Amy Van Veen Business manager joe@ufvcascade.ca Joe Johnson 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 news@ufvcascade.ca Dessa Bayrock Opinion editor opinion@ufvcascade.ca Nadine Moedt Arts & life editor arts@ufvcascade.ca Sasha Moedt

Image: Amanda Koop/UFV alumnus

Rushing to set up during the band’s 15-minute time slot. livelihood or else risk not only your own career, but those of everyone else in your field.

Dangerous and romantic notions of the underpaid, povertystricken writer still carry weight with the credibility police. While it’s true that you shouldn’t entertain false notions of wealth when you’re doing something you love, paying the bills is something that needs to be addressed.

The creator determines the value of their work by assigning it a price. And eventually, the free work needs to stop.

UPCOMING EVENTS Mar 1-8

Mar 8

Mar 8

Mar 13

Referendums everywhere!

First apocalypse of 2013

Bif Naked for International Women’s Day

CIVL opens the mic

Is a referendum really an upcoming event? The answer is probably no.

But exercising your voice is important. Do you want a bus between Abbotsford and Chilliwack, or don’t you? Do you want to increase the fee and service of the Health and Dental program, or don’t you?

Log into myUFV and a link to the polls should be staring you right in the face. It’ll be there until March 8.

Get your Nerf gun and four of your favourite friends to fight the undead hordes on campus once again this Friday.

The madness starts at 5 p.m. and food will be available for a donation.

Bring your top game – the zombies are coming for your brains.

Punk rock queen Bif Naked will be on campus this Friday to talk about fighting cancer and sexism. Come to B101 at 3 p.m. for a free documentary, refreshments and a lecture. Tickets can be picked up at the library or B377 at the Abbotsfor campus. More information at ufvtoday.ca.

Volume 21 · Issue 8 Room C1027 33844 King Road Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 604.854.4529

Do you have poetry/ prose/ukulele tunes that are dying to be heard?

Well, does CIVL have the event for you. Head to AfterMath around 7 p.m. or so, and step in front of the microphone to present your heart to the world.

We’re listening.

Sports editor sports@ufvcascade.ca Paul Esau News writer jess@ufvcascade.ca Jess Wind Photojournalist blake@ufvcascade.ca Blake McGuire Varsity writer Jasper Moedt Staff writer Katie Stobbart Contributors Emily Gorner, Jeremy Hannaford, Aaron Levy, Kate Nickelchock, Ashley O’Neill, Ryan Peterson, Jasmine Proctor, Melissa Spady, Tim Ubels, Griffy Vigneron Printed By International Web exPress The Cascade is UFV’s autonomous student newspaper. It provides a forum for UFV students to have their journalism published. It also acts as an alternative press for the Fraser Valley. The Cascade is funded with UFV student funds. The Cascade is published every Wednesday with a circulation of 1500 and is distributed at UFV campuses and throughout Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Mission. The Cascade is a member of the Canadian University Press, a national cooperative of 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, MARCH 6, 2013

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NEWS

Students building a rocket, trying not to blow up JESS WIND

THE CASCADE

What better way to understand rockets than to build one yourself?

This is the question students Wade Labelle and Orrin Malacko asked themselves before setting out to construct their own rocket.

Labelle is a former UFV physics major who recently transferred to SFU to finish his program and Malacko is a third-year engineering student at UFV. Together, they are putting their skills and passion for rockets into the project.

“Who doesn’t want to build a rocket?” Malacko asked. “Rockets are just cool.”

The students got in touch with former NASA scientist Dr. Joseph Resnick to learn how to build their rocket. He sent them a paper with the necessary formulas

and equations. Although it was helpful, they decided that an experiment would give them their answers faster.

“We’re going to put it in the back of [Malacko’s] truck and test the aerodynamics that way,” said Labelle.

Malacko described the science of the hyperfuel engine that will go into the rocket.

“You have your little metal tube, reaction chamber, and you have your fuel ... in our case we’re using RP1 rocket fuel,” he explained. “It burns and you enter your oxidizer and that’s what makes the—.”

Here Malacko stopped his explanation to make an enthusiastic explosion sound.

The finished product is expected to be almost three feet tall with a fuel chamber of about 14 inches. They could calculate the

projected height prior to launch, but again, they are more excited to simply test it out.

“You have to solve a differential equation, a variable mass problem. Which we did in Physics 221, but then what we didn’t do is add on drag,” explained Malacko.

Instead, they plan on strapping a Go-Pro camera to the rocket to film the height of the launch.

Building rockets is not a free enterprise; the canister of nitrous oxide that they plan to use for their oxidizing agent could cost them over $300.

Labelle appealed to SFU after hearing that they had funded student projects in the past.

“I sent out an email today, made it all formal and nice, hoping they’d give us some funding,” he said.

Malacko is also planning on seeking assistance from UBC to

Bridging the transit gap

test the rate of the rocket’s exhaust velocity, something that generally costs money to accomplish.

Projects of this magnitude are not uncommon among engineering students, but Malacko explained that most people avoid building rockets.

“A rocket is typically not done because it might blow up and people frown upon you exploding things in your back yard,” he said.

The launch won’t be in one of their backyards. They hope to negotiate with a Chilliwack farmer in order to conform to standard safety regulations for rocket launches.

“What you actually need, when you exceed 3000 feet, which I sure hope we exceed, you need a three kilometre radius of nothing,” explained Malacko.

The project isn’t for school, but

that’s not why they’re building the rocket. The hands-on experience is invaluable for their hopeful careers in rocket science.

“That’s the dream; [to be] a rocket scientist at NASA hopefully,” said Labelle, who is looking forward to putting rocket building as a hobby on his resume.

At this point there is no set date for the launch. They plan to work on it for as long as it takes.

Malacko explained his one goal for the finished product.

“Hopefully it goes up. That’s a good goal. I want it to go straight up and not off somewhere. The best rocket scientist of all time, Wernher von Braun, when he made the V2 rocket for Nazi Germany he failed a lot. He’s a pretty smart guy, so I don’t know what that means for us,” he laughed.

Routine maintenance uncovers leak in B101 JESS WIND

THE CASCADE

Image: Blake McGuire/The Cascade

SUS president Shane Potter maintains hope for an Abbotsford to Chilliwack transit system.

KATIE STOBBART THE CASCADE

Most of us are aware that transit is a more sustainable transportation option than driving a car.

In the Fraser Valley, however, transit service does not always meet the needs of users – especially in the case of UFV students, who reside in a number of spread-out communities including Surrey, Langley, Mission and Chilliwack. The reality is that for the majority of students, using transit is not currently a viable way to commute to and from UFV or between campuses.

In a currently-running transit referendum, SUS is asking students whether they support a $6.75 semesterly fee in order to bridge the transit gap between the Abbotsford and Chilliwack campuses.

SUS VP academic Dan van der Kroon is also a part of UFV’s Students for Sustainability, which is currently running a pro-bus campaign.

“If successfully implemented and utilized by UFV students, the Abby UFV to CEP shuttle bus will help to pull a lot of cars off the road,” Van der Kroon says.

“It will be a practical step towards improving local air quality and redirecting [the] money

that people spend on their cars in other ways that support the local economy.”

BC Transit recognises the need for regular, rapid regional and inter-regional transportation. In its draft Transit Future Plan for Abbotsford–Mission, which was to be presented to the councils of both cities by the end of February this year, the transportation corporation noted that “around 27,000 trips are made between Chilliwack and Abbotsford each day.”

The draft, developed based on the feedback of both cities’ residents and UFV students, includes plans to establish the routes that students require over the next 25 years. However, it is unclear how soon those plans will be actualised, and many students have expressed a need for interregional transit services sooner rather than later. In order to make transit an efficient transportation option, van der Kroon says, there needs to be a quick connection to Translink services in the west, and to the Chilliwack campus in the east.

“I have always maintained that regional connections need to be the priority,” van der Kroon says, “as those regional trips are the ones that cannot be completed

without a car, whereas many local trips can be completed via a combination of cycling, walking, and ride-sharing.”

If students vote in support of the semesterly fee, the shuttle bus to and from Chilliwack would be approved on a short-term basis.

If the Fraser Valley transit system introduced such a route in the future, UFV and SUS would not renew their contract with the shuttle bus service, and the fee would likewise lapse.

“If the route … has good ridership and the public service doesn’t take the step of implementing this connection, I would be very surprised and disappointed,” van der Kroon notes.

“They would be unable to hide behind uncertainty over the cost viability relative to existing transit services.”

The proposed Chilliwack–Abbotsford transit fee would cover part of the shuttle service cost, and the university would contribute the remaining 40 per cent of funding.

Students are able to vote on the transit referendum via myUFV until March 10, and more information about both the proposed bus and the current referendum can be found at the SUS website at ufvsus.ca.

It started with a hole in the drywall.

Soon came the tarps and garbage cans, and now the ceiling is missing.

By now, students and faculty alike have probably noticed the construction zone that has taken over the entrance, stairwell and lower floor of B building outside the B101 lecture theatre. The project started out as a routine building renewal initiative that was being conducted at various locations on the Abbotsford campus.

“The initial project was called post-tension cabling,” explained UFV’s executive director of facilities and campus planning, Craig Toews. “The slab has a series of high tension cables running through the concrete in a web ...

That type of system needs regular maintenance and repairs as the cables fail.”

The university received capital funding from the government in the fall for building maintenance and rehabilitation, under the stipulation that they spend it by the end of March. This project is only one of almost 40 projects facilities is working to complete by the end of the month.

It wasn’t until they opened the ground near the entrance to B building that they discovered the crack.

“We dug away the patio, and lo and behold we found a crack in concrete that was at the edge of the theatre box,” Toews explained. “We had the structural people [and] the engineers take a look at it. They right away deemed it wasn’t a structural fault, so safety factor was right away taken out of the question.

But it was definitely a water penetration issue – so a big crack.”

The trickle of water that was seen coming into the lower foyer in B building last month was minimal compared to what the crack could have caused.

“The water membrane that was over the crack was holding up quite well, because the crack was quite long. If the water membrane had failed, we would have

Image: Anthony Biondi

B101 leak is a budget drain.

had water pouring down that wall,” Toews described.

He went on to explain that the unique placement of the theatre, underground and between the foundations of A and B buildings, led to the crack.

“It’s very non-typical of a building design, having a box like that sub-surface [and] between a couple buildings,” Toews said. “Not so much do other buildings experience that.”

When it comes to leaks, UFV is no stranger; it’s hard to forget the sheets of plastic that protected many of the library’s books last year. Toews stressed that the leak in B building is not related to the one in the library.

“The library is a roof technology that is now meeting its end of life, and we’ve just got a roof that needs to be replaced,” he said. “That’s not a crack failure; that’s just a roof that’s worn out.”

The post-tension cabling project will use roughly $200,000 of the $1.1 million UFV is currently investing in general building renovation and improvement. Of that, the leak by B101 will cost roughly $20,000 to repair.

“It was appropriate when we had it open for the post-tension that we tackle that at the same time,” said Toews of the crack and subsequent leak. “It was a good use of money and use of time ... kind of coincidental, but also very convenient to tackle it all at the same time.”

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

NEWS

IN BRIEF BC post-secondary cuts delayed, but deepened VANCOUVER (CUP) — Budget cuts for universities and colleges in BC are less this year than expected, but the Liberals plan to cut even deeper in the years after.

Their rationale for the cuts is that schools can save a lot of money by centralizing services and contracts. The Liberals are cutting $5 million from post-secondary operating budgets this year, then $20 million the year after and $25 million more the year after that — easing back from the previous plan of a $20 million cut this year and $30 million the next.

Unions have been wary of the centralization plan from the start, fearing it could lead to job losses. As it stands, the province promises plans won’t impact any existing collective agreements with workers.

Former aide to Canadian PM dumped after child porn comment OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office quickly distanced themselves from former Harper aide Tom Flanagan on Wednesday after the political commentator said viewing child pornography did not harm others.

At a seminar at Alberta’s University of Lethbridge on Wednesday, he took issue with the Conservative “jihad” on child pornography. “...you know a lot of people on my side of the spectrum, a certain side of the spectrum, are bent on kind of a jihad against pornography and child pornography in particular, and I certainly have no sympathy for child molesters, but I do have some grave doubts about putting people in jail because of their taste in pictures,” Flanagan, a political scientist at the University of Calgary, told the seminar on Wednesday night.

Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez dies from cancer CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez died on Tuesday after a two-year battle with cancer, ending 14 years of tumultuous and divisive rule that won him passionate support among the poor but hatred from business leaders and wealthy Venezuelans.

The flamboyant 58-year-old had undergone four operations in Cuba for a cancer that was first detected in his pelvic region in mid-2011. He vanished from public view after December 11 surgery that resulted in complications and respiratory infections.

“It’s a moment of deep pain,” said Vice President Nicolas Maduro, his voice choking during a live TV address.

Candidate statements Editor’s note: These statements were submitted on time for last week’s issue but were omitted because of an error on our part. We offer our sincere apology to the candidates and voters for this oversight.

Rep at Large If elected, what would you like to achieve or improve in your position?

The Student Union Society must stabilize its financial position to ensure the security of current services, and allow for the development of new ideas. We should never have a situation as with AfterMath this year, where the budget is horribly wrong and there is no useable contingency funding. We must build up a restricted capital reserve fund that generates income for SUS and gives the Society long-term security. I want to work with the VP Finance and the Finance Committee to assess the stability of our

If elected, what would you like to achieve or improve in your position?

I’m a political science major, so I’m primarily interested in working on SUS policy issues during my term. I think there are a number of areas where current policy and structure could be improved, and am looking forward to bringing in some strategic reforms in

THOMAS DAVIES

operational budget, that of AfterMath, and the state of the Health/ Dental and UPass fund. There is always a trade-off when budgeting, but I believe we can continually find ways to better use student’s hard earned money.

Students made their voice heard: AfterMath is a desired service. SUS currently subsidizes operations by more than $100,000, and is one of the largest budget items. That money could be spent on other student services.

Students have a responsibility to support the service they campaigned for in Fall 2012. The SUS Board also has a responsibility to make AfterMath as financially

viable as possible. Large deficits subsidized by SUS have become the norm, but I want to reduce that amount as much as possible without compromising its service to students.

In addition to building financial stability, I want to look at the UPass situation, simply due to the volume of student complaints I hear. With the My Safe Ride Home deal phasing out, the plan theoretically has a bit of leeway (though finding any specific data on the UPass funding on the SUS website is difficult.) I want to look at this with an open-ended approach. Let’s see what the funding situation is, if any efficiencies

JAY MITCHELL

the upcoming year. I’m definitely no Preston Manning, but “I love that word REFOOOOOOORM!”

Are you currently involved in or planning to be in any organizations, clubs or teams outside of the Student union Society?

I’ve been involved with CIVL Radio since the campaign to establish the station, and have been

working with the CIVL Tech group for the past few months.

I also frequently co-host CIVL Unrest on Fridays from noon to 2:00, spreading the joys of heavy metal to the masses. I like joining in when there’s CISSA/Video Games Club/Tabletop Games Club gaming days, and have been involved with the Media & Communications student group in the

can be achieved, how value can be assured for all students, and if it is feasible for students to optout.

Are you currently involved in or planning to be in any organizations, clubs or teams outside of the Student union Society?

In addition to this role with SUS, I am running for one of the General Representatives positions with BASA for the 2013/14 term. I do not plan to be significantly involved with any other groups within the university.

past. Since I’m a bit of a nerd, I’m probably not going to be on any campus teams-- I’d rather leave that to the excellent talent in our Athletics department!

Just another regular board meeting DESSA BAYROCK THE CASCADE

The morning began in a tuckedaway boardroom on the ground floor of the new CEP building, as SUS reps filtered in clutching Tim Hortons to-go cups and toasted bagels. Due to start at 9:30 a.m., things got off to a slow start and at 9:45 a.m., the meeting was called to order.

Guests from Visual Arts Students Association (VASA) including students and instructor Shelley Stefan asked for support for the Bachelor of Fine Arts grad show. This is an event that SUS donates to every year, and will be coming up later in the year.

Guests from the new UFV Carpool Club presented their plans to introduce a better carpool system for students at UFV, and asked for funding to market their ideas on campus to help the program get up and running.

Guests from the Biology and Chemistry Students Association (BSCA) raised concerns about the funding they received for this fiscal year. Due to miscalculation, they received less than they were promised last summer. President Shane Potter says that this par-

Image: Nick Ubels/The Cascade

Thursday’s all-candidates meeting in Abbotsford was followed by a Friday regular board meeting at Canada Education Park. ticular problem is one they’ll be dealing with during board reform over the summer, and SUS will form an ad-hoc committee to deal with BCSA’s problem in particular.

VP social Chris Doyle and AfterMath manager Brad Ross waxed poetic about St. Patty’s day events planned for this year.

Regular semester funding was

approved for the 8-bit Adventure Club, the Tabletop Games Club, the Video Games Club and University Christian Ministries (UCM).

UCM also requested funds to send members to two conferences. Their request for $305 to send 10 members to “World Views” conference was turned down, but their request for $310 to send five

members to $310 to the annual Provincial Summit for Christian Ministers was approved.

SUS also approved a funding request for a printer cartridge (at a cost of $213.98) for the Library Information Technology Association.

The Students of Philosophy were given $44.87 to fund a student coffee meet-and-greet.

The most hotly-debated topic of the morning was who to send to the annual Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) conference. VP academic Dan van der Kroon, absent, is required by job description to attend. Discussion quickly turned to the feasibility of sending more than one representative, and possibly the whole board; since this is the year that SUS will have to decide between full membership and non-membership, rep-at-large Jay Mitchell suggested that SUS send as many reps as budget allows. The decision was tabled, to be approached at the next meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 11:17 a.m. and the next regular SUS board meeting will be held on the Mission campus on the morning of March 15.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

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NEWS

Candidates compare contrast platforms in brief Abbotsford debate

Thirteen SUS board hopefuls look to stand out from the pack NICK UBELS THE CASCADE

CASA membership, budget reform and improving the relationship between the student union and other campus groups were the top items of discussion at last Thursday’s first SUS board of directors all-candidates meeting, held in Abbotsford.

Attendance was sparse, but that didn’t stop candidates from engaging in a spirited debate about issues relevant to UFV’s student body.

Each of the student candidates present offered a brief opening statement about their qualifications and goals for their term.

This year’s field of candidates is top-heavy, with 10 students vying for six executive positions and only 11 candidates running for 10 available representative positions.

There are no candidates running for accessibilities representative, Chilliwack representative or international representative for the 2013/2014 year.

Spotty meeting attendance from hopeful candidates

Only 13 of 21 candidates were present for the entirety of the meeting. Debbie Ellis and Jarret Bainsbridge were unable to make the meeting due to other commitments, but sent statements to be read out loud in their absence.

Rep-at-large candidate Jay Mitchell and aboriginal rep candidate Harrison Depnar made brief appearances due to class commitments.

Notably absent were VP social candidate Zack Soderstrom, VP academic candidate Zera Gregoire and SUS veterans Dan van der Kroon and Jun Feng, who are both running for rep-at-large positions.

A three-way president

race

for

Incumbent president Shane Potter is squaring off against current VP social Chris Doyle and ex-accessibilities rep Mehtab Singh Rai for the top job. In their opening statements, the three presidential hopefuls outlined the important points of their respective platforms.

Doyle, who spoke first, described his four goals: to create a better relationship between the SUS and the university, to increase student involvement, to progress construction of Student Union Building and to protect the operations of the student pub.

“We need to get [students] involved every step of the way,” he said, “so we don’t have issues like we did this year where students are unaware of issues that come up, such as AfterMath.”

The campus lounge has been under heavy scrutiny after years of exceeded budgets and mismanagement, and was allotted emergency funds last November to keep the sinking campus pub afloat until the end of the fiscal year.

Doyle insisted that the campus institution is a valuable service for students and the UFV community.

“I want to be fair to AfterMath,” he concluded. “That’s where we

Candidates speak out at last Thursday’s meeting. have a lot of our employees, a lot of our staff. I think we have to acknowledge that fact and respect that.”

Potter, who was elected as VP east in 2012 and became interim president last fall, said that the society has not grown with the university.

“The Student Union Society has become stagnant,” he said. “What we need is a representative government of community leaders.”

In order to address these issues, Potter says he’s planning a budget reform that will allow for student input much earlier in the process and a restructuring of the student union board of directors to include clubs and associations representatives in the voting process.

“All I’m asking is for is the student body is to allow me to continue,” he said. “I will create change, I will make the Student Union Society a better place and I will bring the student union society back to the students.”

Mehtab Signh Rai was elected as accessibilities representative in last year’s fall by-election, but gave up the position to serve as the Cascade Journalism Society’s president. He put board member accountability, SUS-student body relations, board reform and government advocacy at the top of his agenda.

“What I’d like to do is guarantee is that any candidate carries out the duties as described in the SUS governing manual,” he said. “I would ensure that we lobby our provincial government to eliminate the interest students incur on their BC student loans and to increase the core funding to our institution.”

Rai is a philosophy major and has also previously held the SUS position of interim VP social.

Vice-presidential candidates focus on reform, accountability and student engagement

Incumbent VP finance Ryan Petersen is running unchallenged, and cited his long history with the student society and recent work in as reasons for his election bid. His plans for the next year include continued work with the university’s finance department.

Petersen’s closing slogan received the strongest applause from the gallery mostly made up of other candidates.

“A vote for me is a vote for beards, bow ties and fiscal responsibility,” he said.

SUS newcomer Kristianne Hendricks described her experience with Oxfam and UFV’s Stu-

dents for Sustainability as important to her decision to run for VP academic. She said that she would reach out to students by setting up a regular meet and greet booth outside Tim Hortons.

Returning VP internal candidate Greg Stickland, whose main responsibilities would include board governance, leapt from behind his seat to offer an abbreviated PowerPoint presentation outlining his plans for board reform to better membership accountability.

Stickland said that many students get confused when attempting to get in touch with their student union because of confusing accountability practices. He pointed to a diagram of the board’s current reporting structure in which most other VPs report to VP internal and exclaimed, “Not efficient!”

His reform proposal featured a return to a more hierarchic system which he says would allow for greater director accountability. There would be one president, a second level of two or three vice-presidents, a third level of officers, and a fourth level of reps and volunteers.

VP social candidate Nick Willms said his goals for the semester include unity between Chilliwack and Abbotsford campuses, a higher sense of SUS awareness among student body and better weeks of welcome events. In his closing statement, he promised to bring students “puppies and fireworks.”

Willms provided no details about this plan.

In a submitted statement Debbie Ellis, the single VP east candidate, apologized for not being able to make the meeting and said that her number one reason for running for VP east is to address students’ daily concerns.

The position of VP east will take on added significance this term as there are no candidates running for Chilliwack representative.

Addressing the CASA membership conundrum

SUS membership in the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) was downgraded to an associate membership last year to allow the society a cheaper membership fee for one year before making a decision to either return to full-membership or drop out together.

CASA is a national lobbying group that brings student interests to the federal government, mainly through arranging meetings with government representatives on behalf of Canadian stu-

Image: Nick Ubels/The Cascade

dents. The membership fee isn’t cheap, and the candidates are divided as to whether SUS should remain a member.

Most of the representatives said that they would need to do more research before deciding on a position, or that the vote should go to student referendum with a dedicated fee attached in order for continued membership.

Doyle and Willms both said that the SUS is not yet ready to be a full member, instead stating that SUS should focus on local lobbying efforts.

“We need to focus on local and provincial lobbying before we can extend that far,” Doyle said.

Potter said that his position on CASA has “swayed” since he joined the board, from a completely opposed stance to seeing the benefit in membership. He said that a mandate would have to come directly from the students via referendum.

VP internal candidate Greg Stickland said he feels that CASA is more effective than its counterpart, the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) because it focuses on meetings and practical work rather than large-scale protest.

“It’s much less sexy, but it’s more effective,” he said.

Stickland expressed some uncertainty over membership due to financial concerns.

Presidential candidate Rai was the only presidential candidate to take a strong stance on remaining a member of CASA. “I think we’re ready for it,” he said. “I think we should engage it.”

VP academic candidate Hendricks, whose primary responsibility would be advocacy efforts including CASA-related activity, also deferred to a possible student referendum.

When pushed to give a definitive personal take on the membership question after the debate, Hendricks said she needed to do more research.

“At this point in time, I don’t know enough about CASA to be able to say that I could give the right vote for UFV today,” she said. “What I want to do is first learn everything I need to know and bring that to the students. I think it’s very good to have an overarching governing body that is lobbying with us so we have a stronger voice, but whether CASA is that voice, I don’t know yet.”

Representative candidates speak about qualifications and proposed projects

Aboriginal representative candidate Harrison Depner made

a brief appearance to provide his opening statement. He said he plans on using his skills and knowledge gained in the position in the last half term to continue to represent the interests of aboriginal students in the student union.

His opponent Ashley Camille criticized the disconnect between Abbotsford and Chilliwack students. She said her goal is to not only connect aboriginal students, but connect them to SUS. Natalia Deros, candidate for clubs and associations rep, said she wants to raise the profile of campus groups through advertising, a better flow of information about campus events to campus media and a redesign of the clubs and associations page to include regularly updated information.

She also said that semesterly registration requirements for clubs and associations make it difficult for these groups to continue to operate in an official capacity.

“I suspect that many campus clubs are technically defunct because they forget to apply,” Deros said. “I think that Oxfam UFV is technically defunct because of this.”

She also said that she would work to ensure a smooth transition of these groups from the jurisdiction of Student Life to the jurisdiction of SUS. The field of representative-atlarge candidates introduced many newcomers to the SUS board, including Renee Czarnecki, Thomas Davies, Stephanie Martin and Sarah Gabor-Martinez.

Davies’ involvement in the external budget committee piqued his interest in the SUS board of directors. He said his work with two non-profit organizations in Chilliwack has provided him with valuable procedural and organizational management skills that he would bring to the position of representative-at-large.

Fiscal responsibility and addressing the concerns non-Abbotsford and Chilliwack residents have with the U-Pass is another one of Davies’ main goals as rep-atlarge.

Gabor-Martinez said her pet project as representative-at-large would be making UFV the country’s fourth fair trade campus.

“Honestly,” she said, “it’s an awesome thing.”

Two candidates are getting involved on campus earlier than most. Czarnecki is in the second semester of study at UFV while Martin is in her first. Czarnecki cited her work in helping start a club as motivation to join SUS, and Martin noted her work in a non-profit organization in Chilliwack.

Fellow representative-at-large candidate Jarret Bainsbridge, in a statement submitted in his absence, pointed to his leadership in the Movember UFV Facebook page, which helped raise $547 for prostate cancer research.

The Chilliwack all-candidates meeting will be held on Thursday, March 7 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in room A2416 of the CEP campus. All students are welcome to attend and are encouraged to ask the candidates any questions they may have.

Polling runs from March 11 to 17. New directors will take their positions on April 1.

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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

SCIENCE ON PURPOSE 3D printed car challenges the status quo

ASHLEY O’NEILL CONTRIBUTOR

Three-dimensional printing is becoming an increasingly-popular option for manufacturing solid objects.

This technology is already being used in some industries for some ground-breaking innovations, such as 3D printed teeth implants for use in dentistry, and pens that eject quick-cooling plastic that allows for physical 3D drawings.

However, another area that 3D printing is making is mark is a little more unexpected: the automotive industry, where we could soon see a breakthrough in 3D printed vehicles.

Jim Kor, engineer and founder of Kor Ecologic, has finally made his vision come true: with his

team he has developed the world’s first 3D printed automobile. His first creation, called the Urbee, is a three-wheeled and two-passenger vehicle that is both lightweight and aerodynamic. Instead of a traditional assembly line of robotic arms and metal frames, their printing facility consists of plastic-spraying printers. The vehicle is printed from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) thermoplastic, and is sprayed into shape by the printers – one microscopic layer at a time.

The only non-plastic parts to the car are the engine and the internal metal framework. The Urbee’s current engine can only produce 10 horsepower so the designers are seeking a manufacturor to build a hybrid engine for market production.

On top of the internal frame, molten polymer is sprayed into the different shapes of the vehicle section by section until the final product is achieved. The process takes quite a long time, with just one part taking a few hundred hours to form. The Urbee took almost four months to manufacture.

The team programmed the machines to spray the plastic automatically once a design is uploaded, so no human supervision is required in the process. This is called “lights out” manufacturing, and it’s quite common in modern industries for an entire warehouse to operate on pre-programmed instructions.

Kor said in an interview with Wired magazine that he wanted to take all the small parts that make

up a big car and make them a single large piece – so everything in the car will be one “part.” As a result, the vehicle will be lighter than an average car; the plastic used is just as strong as steel, but a plastic printed car is much lighter than an average car of the same size. For comparison, the Urbee only weighs 1200 pounds whereas a Mazda 3 is around 3046 pounds. As a result of a lighter body, there is less weight to push and the driver gets more kilometres per litre.

Wired also notes that when Kor prints the car’s dashboard, he’ll make it with the ducts already attached. This eliminates the need for joints and connecting parts since what would usually be dozens of different parts ends up being one piece of printed 3D

plastic.

Even though production takes a long time, the designers take pride in the precision and ease of design 3D printing technology allows them. The process allows Kob and his team the flexibility needed to adjust thickness and rigidity in specific regions of the car.

The Urbee is still in early stages, but Kor and his team feel accomplished to just have made the first official prototype model. In the future we can expect an even more efficient combination of hybrid engine and design elements that aim to exceed safety standards and affordable pricing for 3D printed automobiles.

Punk rock artist Bif Naked Flash mob at to talk at UFV International ESL centre Women’s Day JEREMY HANNAFORD CONTRIBUTOR

Griffy j. vigneron CONTRIBUTOR

Cancer survivor and Canada’s straight-edge punk rock queen Bif Naked will be coming to UFV on Friday to talk for International Women’s Day. The epitome of feminine strength, Bif Naked toughed through chemo while still touring and, at the time, caring for a husband at home.

Now she is often asked to be motivational speaker due to her resilience throughout cancer treatment. Bif describes the treatment as the best thing that could have happened to her, mainly because of the understanding she gained of other women, including herself.

Always on tour before treatment, Bif says she was very isolated. She never ventured into the bar scene, and was surrounded by mainly men – whether members of the heavy metal bands she played with, the crews or her own band members.

“I didn’t realize how isolating it was until I was in cancer treatment with all these other women,” Bif explains.

In today’s world, women often work thanklessly, raising children, working full-time jobs, cooking, cleaning and caring for others. Bif doesn’t make light of this, believing in the power of all women.

“They do it with love, because it’s how we’re built,” says Bif. “Women are resilient; women do it all because they can.”

At UFV’s International Women’s Day event on Friday, the documentary Miss Representation will also be shown at 3 p.m. before Bif Naked speaks.

Lisa Morry is UFV’s Faculty and Staff Association status of women representative, and was the organizer for the event.

“It talks about media and body image and how woman aren’t

Image: Bif Naked

Punk rock queen Bif Naked will speak at UFV on March 8. taken seriously,” Morry explains.

“If we portray woman as being objects, how can we take them seriously in business and government?”

Bif says she’s concerned about how she may have negatively affected women in the past.

“There’s part of me that has to come forth as a women and go, oh my god, how did I contribute in the half-talk? How did I contribute to making anybody feel excluded or making myself, even portraying myself, as a sexual person – you know? Should I apologize for that? Do I feel guilty about it? I have to take responsibility for my share, for my part in that.”

On the other hand, when it comes to a mosh pit, with people puking or blowing snot on you, Bif says many of the women would take off their shirts just like the men did.

“You were in a bra, all the guys had all their shirts off. It was a sweaty mosh pit, and we were running around in our bra or our equivalent. And there were some girls with their shirts off too, that said, ‘Oh yeah, screw you, your shirt’s off, my shirt’s off,’ and it was totally not sexual.”

There is, however, a problem with this, Bif explains.

“In our society and in our culture, no matter what, women will be sexualized, regardless of what they’re wearing, or what they’re doing, or what the original intention is behind it in that moment.”

“That’s nothing we really can control. What we can control is our level of shame,” says Bif. Bif will be talking more about women in our society on Friday, March 8. Meanwhile, she encourages everyone to celebrate the women in their life, even if in simple ways.

“I just hope that they really embrace the celebration that it’s for, you know? International Women’s Day. Just Google it, go online, get educated.”

Miss Representation is free for everyone, and plays at 3 p.m. on Friday in B101 on the Abbotsford campus. For refreshments and to see Bif Naked lecture afterward, a ticket is required. Tickets are free for students with student ID, and $10 for the general public.

You can pick the tickets up in the library or the Faculty and Staff Association office, in room B377 on the Abbotsford campus.

Since the early years of UFV, the English as a Second Language (ESL) department has assisted students with the English language. In recent years, the ESL department has opened an ESL help centre, to offer further assistance with homework and assignments.

Last week the centre held an open house event that included many faculty members, free food and a flash mob.

The ESL Centre assists both those enrolled in the ESL Program, usually international students who have enrolled at UFV as well as non-ESL students who still recognize English as a second language.

Currently, over 500 students are officially enrolled as ESL students at UFV. For any student to access all of the courses provided by UFV, they need to meet the university’s English language entrance requirement. The ESL department offers programs and assistance for these students to obtain this by passing English WG84 with a C+ or higher.

But the centre’s staff not only helps those enrolled in ESL programs; they also assist any student just looking for help with their homework. Similar to the Writing Centre, the ESL Centre helps to improve English vocabulary skills in writing, reading and speaking for any student that asks for help.

In an interview last Friday, Alicia Friesen, Bob McGregor and Balraj Sumra discussed the program as a whole as well as how their open house event went. Back in April of 2012, the ESL program tuition became free for all students requiring their services. This was done to help draw in more students who needed their services, but may not be able to afford them.

Students, faculty and staff who look at items posted on the bulletin boards across the campus may have seen a black and

white photo of a rather frustrated woman stacking books on her head. This is an advertisement for students who need help with their English Language Studies.

But despite the engaging photo, Friesen, McGregor and Sumra all believe that there are still more students out there who don’t know about the ESL program. They have other posters up around the school, but they understand that the best way to help other students know is by word of mouth. This is why they decided to hold an open house.

The open house was a great success. It drew over 100 people into the tight little area around the ESL department, lab and centre. The crowd included newcomers as well as current ESL students. Department members from both Abbotsford and Chilliwack were present, and representatives of the Abbotsford Community Services and members of WorkBC also appeared.

The purpose of the open house was to raise the awareness about the free tuition, as well as meet the ESL team and discuss the programs in depth. A big surprise was a flash mob that appeared outside the centre: ESL Students Cardoso, Lais Maia, Michel Fonseca and Nathalia Goncalves (as well as ESL faculty member Celeste-tina Hernandez) broke into dance and song with great enthusiasm, and captured on film by ESL students Diego Barreto and Luciano Monteiro. Edited together with Deigo’s music, Diego’s video was uploaded online shortly after the event and can be found at the ESL Centre website, at ufv.ca/eslfiles/html/video.html.

ESL students and coordinators alike want UFV students to know about the great services that the ESL Centre offers. Hopefully, they say, word-of-mouth will pass quickly and more students struggling with English can ask for help.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

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Curtailed commentary on current conditions

SNAPSHOTS

OPINION

KATIE STOBBART

NICK UBELS

A Coca-Cola mystery

The hypocrisy of cultural snobbery

The art of unfriending

Justin Trudeau: our 23rd Prime Minister?

The Coke is always cheaper on the other side of campus.

That is to say, it’s cheaper as long as you’re on the second floor of D-building at UFV, where you can buy a refreshing carbonated beverage (or uncarbonated, if you prefer) for the low price of $1.75.

Nestled across from the “Area of Refuge” between buildings B and D is the holy grail of vending machines for cheapskate soda-buyers like myself; every time you buy a bottle of soda from that particular machine, you save up to 75 cents.

Most of the machines on campus charge a whole toonie for the same products. The cafeteria charges $2.29 and the lounge in A-building charges $2.50 for a bottle of CocaCola. Imagine my indignation, having purchased a cool drink in the cafeteria one day, walking outside the door, and discovering that about six feet away, I could have saved 30 cents (the penny is rounded up now).

Maybe that doesn’t seem like a lot of money, but I’m sure those dimes and quarters are adding up nicely in somebody else’s pocket.

Here’s my question: Why?

It is a favourite pastime of many Westerners, myself included, to pick out and joke about the seemingly bizarre or inane elements of foreign cultures of which we have little understanding. We glibly scoff at the weirdness of Japanese game shows or soap opera plots of Bollywood films.

To the extent that this can be seen as engaging with foreign cultures, it’s not a bad thing. It all comes down to how it’s handled.

Talking about foreign pop culture phenomena is both a productive and enjoyable activity, but I worry that focusing too much on these things might make us lose sight of the traditions and major works that make up the backbone of other nations’ cultures.

To wit, would any other North Americans be really comfortable with anyone taking Justin Bieber and Twilight as cultural ambassadors? As the best we’ve got to offer?

I’d hardly concede that there is nothing of value in the breadth of popular entertainment, it would just be a shame to let what is popular become a guarantee of quality.

To that point, by all means, enjoy the kitsch value of that David Hasselhof music video that’s so popular in Germany, but remember that it doesn’t represent the fullness of German culture.

That awkward moment you see someone you know in the grocery store and your immediate instinct is to pull a U-turn in the canned vegetables aisle and hide by the toilet paper for a while.

Do you really think that person should still be your friend on Facebook?

You go out of your way to avoid saying a quick “hi” with the possibility of small talk, but for some reason it’s okay for them to see every detail of your life from the photos you took of your last trip to what you had for breakfast in a dream. Really?

The art of unfriending can be a tricky one. You have to know when the appropriate amount of time has passed since you last had an actual word exchanged between the two of you but you also have to make sure you will not be seeing that person in the near future.

However, it can also be a cleansing way to spend an afternoon. According to Facebook, the average friend count is about 190 people and with more and more people turning their face-to-face interactions into “I’ll add you on Facebook,” this count is continually going up. But Dunbar’s number—the limit of meaningful relationships a human being can have—is only 150. The solution? Purge!

After all, why do you want to share the inane details of your life with someone you would hide from in the grocery store?

I consider myself a political junkie. I would go for a political science major but I want to be employable after I graduate. In my free time, I enjoy following up on the latest in politics. I have been watching with some interest Justin Trudeau’s run for leader of the Liberal Party. Before I go further, in no way am I endorsing Trudeau.

Lets face it though; his run for the leadership has people talking. The media seems to be more fascinated about his celebrity than his past accomplishments. Just recently, political pundits commented positively on Trudeau’s performance at the last debate held in Halifax.

There are plenty of remarks regarding Trudeau’s lack of skills or substance, but they hardly hold up under any sort of scrutiny. Marc Garneau on the other hand, has a very distinguished track record of accomplishments. Garneau went to space and was the head of the Canadian Space Agency. If it was accomplishments that mattered (and they should), why couldn’t Ignatieff win an election? Let’s not forget about Stéphane Dion and his Green Shift. What Trudeau has is the ability to connect with voters and get people talking. He draws crowds. Even Brian Mulroney has warned not to underestimate him.

The real test for Trudeau is how well he is able to handle himself against the political might of the Harper Conservatives. At least Trudeau has people talking. If he is able to get young voters interested, that is not such a bad thing.

AMY VAN VEEN

STEWART SEYMOUR

Image: photoscott/flickr.com

Sexual satisfaction not for sale NADINE MOEDT

THE CASCADE

Sex is up for sale in the world of psychiatry, and pharmaceutical companies are buying in. After a successful campaign promoting the widespread popularity of Viagra as a “cure” for erectile dysfunction, the race to dominate the female sexual disorder market has begun.

According to Dr. Allen Francis in Psychology Today, a recent addition to the list of top 10 most problematic disorders in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM) is the Female Sexual Arousal and Female Orgasm Disorder (FSD). The disorder has been portrayed in advertising by pharmaceutical companies as being misleadingly common; every woman is unhappy with her sex life and has a sexual disorder, the campaign suggests and there is a pill to fix her.

FSD is a very real disorder. It is characterized in the DSM 5 as per-

sistent problems with sexual response and an inability to become aroused or orgasm; decreased libido and pain associated with sexual stimulation are both symptoms of FSD. This disorder, however, shouldn’t be placed under the umbrella of easy cures through drugs.

The factors that contribute to FSD are widely varied. Everything from stress and fatigue to a confused gender identity can be a cause of this disorder; childhood sexual abuse and ongoing abusehas been closely linked to sexual dysfunctions. Distorted sexual expectations and beliefs—often due to an overexposure to unrealistic pornography—are another factor.

Curing FSD is much more complicated than simply popping a pill. With any of these cases it would be extremely unhealthy psychologically to simply mask the problem, rather than find help.

Speaking to a psychologist or counsellor is the best way to find the root of the problem and solve it there.

Image: www.lexafem.com

Female sexual disorder pills shouldn’t be used as a fix-all.

What I find irritating is the underlying assumption that if a woman can’t become aroused or reach orgasm, she is at fault and needs some medication to “fix” her. Often the problem isn’t her at all – it’s an issue of communication

and trust between a woman and her partner.

The advertisements that exude the belief that the best way to deal with these problems is to seek a magic fix-all are both harmful and misleading. They suggest that you

can generalize the female sexual experience. In reality, every woman has individual preferences and different psychologies; it is ridiculous to put the entire female sex together into one broad category.

The Female Sexual Disorder section in the DSM-5 has been overhyped and unethically used.

Of course there are some women who could genuinely benefit from drugs that ease this disorder. But it is a small market that is being exploited within an inch of its life at the expense of women who are being told that their unsatisfying sex life is in fact their own physical problem, rather than a problem with their relationship or psychological well being.

The only people pushing these drugs are a nasty mix of greedy, disease-mongering salespeople and lusty, obtuse males.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

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OPINION

Safety dance: Sex is inevitable, protection is not DESSA BAYROCK THE CASCADE

I learned about sex when I was 12.

I was at a sleepover. It was one of those conversations that preteen girls whisper to each other when the lights are out, pretending to be asleep so the chaperoning parents don’t hear.

The conversation turned to boys, who had kissed who, who would kiss who if they had the chance.

Of six or seven girls, I think only one of us had ever had a boyfriend.

About half of us knew the down and dirty reproductive truth, and I was not one of them. We all listened as the eldest explained it in the most biological terms she could muster.

It was gross.

Looking back, it was also not entirely correct.

That was a decade ago, and however cliché it sounds, the world has changed a lot since then. When I was 12, my internet time was strictly regulated and supervised. There was no chance to take a peek at Wikipedia and get my facts straight, no shady webpages triggering pop-ups offering Russian brides that might give me a better idea of the in-and-outs, so to speak. What my generation learned about sex, we learned from each other. Secret, gleefullywhispered conversations. Notes

Image: hellocoolworld.com

The cover of the controversial sex ed flip-book released to students in Nanaimo. passed from desk to desk depicting diagrams, crude in more ways than one.

Even in a world where preteens have internet access nearly 24/7, I suspect that there is still a great deal of misinformation being passed surreptitiously from desk to desk. That’s how kids work – anything gross is also fascinating, and what’s grosser than sex to a 12-year-old?

My first official sexual education class wasn’t until three years later, and I was still foggy on a lot of points. Condoms? Birth control pills? Even the logistics of the act itself didn’t quite make sense. A lot of kids my age knew far more than I did, but even the most knowl-

New Office of Religious Freedom not right for Canadians EMILY GORNER CONTRIBUTOR

It may not be a fighter jet, or a $16 glass of orange juice, but the Harper Government’s new Office of Religious Freedom is bound to cause some disagreement among Canadians. The general reaction seems to be quite reproachful; Christians and atheists alike are questioning where the money for the office is coming from, and if it’s worth the cost.

Although these are legitimate concerns, I think the main problem with the new office is presented clearly in its placement within the foreign affairs department.

That’s right, the new office is not aimed at promoting religious freedom here at home, but at promoting Canadian “values” abroad.

The mandate states that the office will “promote Canadian values of pluralism and tolerance.”

When I hear any politician speak about promoting our values elsewhere, all I can think is: call me crazy, but I think other countries might already have their own set of values. True, there is violence in foreign countries due to religious differences, but it seems questionable that there should be a specific office dedicated to religion, when our foreign policy is already focused on equality and human rights. An office specific to religion has foreign intervention written a little too blatantly on it.

There is also some concern for the fact that Harper himself is a Christian, and this office may be a show to impress his conservative, right-wing voter base. This concern will be put to the test soon, as there has been a call for the new office to send their ambassador, Andrew P.W. Bennett, to Tibet.

A recent plethora of self-immolations in protest of the Chinese government, including protesters

as young as 17, has been attributed to religious oppression. However, the issues in Tibet are also very political, beyond simple religious discrimination. While the Harper government is getting very cozy with the Chinese government over trade deals, whether or not they send Mr. Bennett will reveal just what this new office is about.

Whether or not this office turns out to be a purely rights-based effort, or a politically-motivated show of Harper’s commitment to Christianity, it will still cause concern that the money being spent on the office could be spent on other things more beneficial to Canadians. While the circumstances in Tibet are tragic, it seems unlikely that Mr. Bennett will make much of a difference in a political struggle that has been going on for upwards of 100 years.

While our government is paying for this new office to promote Canadian values elsewhere, freedoms and beliefs are being shoved under the rug at home.

The pipeline company Enbridge forges on with its plan to build the Northern Gateway Pipeline, despite cries of outrage from First Nations bands all across the territory which the pipeline will cross.

In fact, the Coastal First Nations group has been forced to withdraw from upcoming hearings due to a lack of funding. Is protecting natural habitats not a huge part of the First Nations’ spirituality? Is that spirituality in itself not considered a religious minority?

Until the Harper government is willing to recognize all religious minorities—especially the ones still struggling within Canada— the Office of Religious Freedom will appear as a federally-funded missionary group that only recognizes freedom to its own religion as a basic human right.

edgeably of us didn’t have all the details right. We sat in our desks, pretending to be bored or asleep, secretly absorbing every detail.

Sex was still pretty gross, so we were still pretty fascinated – but we definitely didn’t want to seem fascinated.

This past month, in the generally quiet island town of Nanaimo, school kids were given flip-books demonstrating how to put on a condom. No words, just a step-bystep pictorial guide that began at the flaccid stage, showed a penis becoming erect, a woman rolling a condom onto the member, and then the sexual act itself.

This, obviously, pulled some outraged parents out of the wood-

work. One mother complained that her son was only 13, and that the flip-book both confused and frightened him.

Well, mom, I think that might be the problem right there.

Educating your child about sex is not encouraging them to have sex, and that’s a crucial difference that seems to get brushed over.

Whether you like it or not, one day your kids are going to grow up and do it. Wouldn’t you rather them know how to protect themselves?

Teenage pregnancy is a terrifying and worrisome trend. How are parents supposed to raise children when they’re just children themselves?

You might want to protect your kids from the gross idea of sex as long as possible, but the truth is they’ll find out about sex one way or another – be it Wikipedia or the schoolyard. Facts and myths about the act are circulated regularly and indiscriminately as kids tease and gross each other out.

But one crucial element is missing from these impromptu sex-ed lessons, and that’s protection. I knew what sex was long before I was introduced to the idea of a condom. It took even longer for me to learn about the pill, and to this day I’m not entirely sure how an IUD works.

Teaching kids about sexual protection has to be a pre-emptive strike, and whether you sit your kids down to talk about it or hand them a flip-book doesn’t matter. Sooner or later kids turn into teenagers and teenagers turn into adults – and somewhere along that path they’re going to start doing it.

No matter when it is, they should know how to take precautions. It might be sooner, it might be later, it might be on their wedding night – but sex is inevitable.

STIs and teen pregnancy, on the other hand, is not inevitable – and these are the things we should be teaching kids. Sex they can figure out for themselves, but it’s our job to teach them to be safe.

Why the board needs to be rebuilt SHANE POTTER SUS PRESIDENT

The Student Union Society (SUS) has become stagnant; we have not grown with the university. In 2008 when UCFV became UFV, a full-fledged university, we started attracting a different calibre of students. I can say, as a student in my fifth year, the maturity, drive and engagement of our students has grown exponentially. Students are looking at our government composed of 19 elected officials and asking if we can do better. In my board reform I am proposing the following principles.

Open Committees The five major committees of SUS are Governance, Finance, Events, Advocacy and Strategic Planning. In the new board reform structure the committees will be open to non SUS board members (regular students who pay SUS fees). This will create a type of government that is from the student body, or bottom up, rather than board members just informing students of their decisions.

The committees will be chaired by a SUS board member but there will be up to eight SUS non-board members. An open government will improve the disconnect from the Society to the students as ideas will come in from individual students not board members.

Broader voting representation The new Board structure will have voting members who are student leaders involved in Associations, Clubs, Senate and Board of Governors. This will allow greater control by students who engage in the Student Union. This greater cross section of the student community will be tasked with overseeing the mandate of the SUS along with keeping the SUS executive accountable for their decisions

Image: Meghan Macdonald/SUS

SUS president Shane Potter signing the SUB contract. and work output. Also, by having students in a broader range of activities on campus, it will give us a greater understanding of student needs. Too often SUS has leaned towards one group of students or another, with wide consultation, we can represent the entire student population.

Open Government Coupled with Budget reform, which opens up the budget creation process to the student body and open committees students will be able to engage the government at all levels. This will allow the students to actually see, take part, and digest the changes that are happening in government.

This will be done through informing students about upcoming decisions and opening up more town-hall and student collaborated discussions.

Competitive Elections By lowering the amount of paid SUS board members and increasing the student leader participation competitive elections are forced, creating an accountability

structure. Instead of 19 students applying for 19 student union society positions, many of the smaller positions will be replaced with Association, Club or other involved students. There will also be a stronger focus on student hired positions for student positions such as Finance. This will allow successful candidates to be organized based on credentials rather than political campaigning ability. Most of the Society’s positions will still be elected; however, students can feel confident that there is some control and accountability over major positions like Finance.

The ideas behind this board reform are not new; many student unions through their growth are instituting, or have already adopted, similar models as we are proposing. We are just at a crossroad with the Student Union where our students need us to change. The board reform will be a positive change. To learn more about the board reform please see the SUS website (ufvsus.ca) or show up to the next General Meeting at the end of March.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

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www.ufvcascade.ca

OPINION

The ghosts of UFV DESSA BAYROCK THE CASCADE

We’ve all seen them lurking around the halls, staring accusingly at students and faculty alike.

“I’ve been here since fall 2011!” they tell anyone who will listen.

“What, did you just forget about me? Am I going to be stuck here forever?”

Most students scurry by without a second glance, and in all truthfulness it’s not their problem. These spectres of semesters past hang around for months after they expire, clogging halls and trying to get the attention of anyone who will listen.

I’m talking about posters – the ones advertising events that have passed, cars and textbooks that have already been sold, and op-

portunities with deadlines months ago. They’re everywhere. Once you notice them, you can’t stop seeing them.

I am the Haley Joel Osment of 11”x17” paper. I see dead posters.

They’re everywhere.

When I’m putting up posters of my own, I make an effort to remove any that are unspeakably old. Passersby glare at me, thinking I’m after the pushpins, or maybe that I’m trying to cut down on the number of posters competing with my own. Can’t you see these aren’t current? I want to yell. This lecture was two months ago! This deadline for application was last week!

So although I often dream of going on a rampage, traversing the halls and ripping down posters, I can never get up the nerve. Secu-

Resume of truth

rity would probably haul me away.

So here I am, resigned to tearing down posters as sneakily as I can when I think no one is looking. I feel a little like a criminal, but also a little like Robin Hood – I’m taking action and effecting change, one poster at a time. Maybe there are students out there who secretly breathe with relief that they are no longer being invited to all-star wrestling three months after the event took place, and lift a silent thanks to me.

On the other hand, I have to wonder who should actually be tearing them down. The janitorial staff? Security?

I’m sure we could institute a policy that would hold students (or student groups) accountable for taking down their own propa-

ganda once it stops being relevant, but is that really necessary? Are we honestly so lazy that we’ll leave posters up on the walls for months at a time?

And is no one willing to be my Little John and help a Robin Hood out?

At the risk of mixing my metaphors, you—yes, you—are contributing to UFV’s ghost problem.

Now let’s dust off our Ghostbusters credentials, remember that we’re adults and take our own posters down when they’re no longer pertinent.

It’s because of these out-dated eyesores and over-crowded hallway walls that the new building at CEP campus is a poster-free zone.

There are maybe three cute little bulletin boards in the entire build-

ing, that’s the only place posters are allowed. In the entire building.

This is what we’ve come to. We can’t clean up our own mess, so the parents have taken away the toys. We can’t colour inside the lines, so Mom and Dad have taken away the crayons.

Maybe UFV’s next building will be entirely poster-free, without a single measly bulletin board to its name. That’s certainly the way we’re going.

At this point, accosted by the ghosts of ancient advertisements every time I walk to class, I wouldn’t be surprised.

10

www.ufvcascade.ca

Keeping the balance: growing

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

food the natural way

by Sasha Moedt

Photos by Blake McGuire

This little shed greets newcomers on the farm

The Methods

T

One Love Farm

On Organic Farming

B

I

arrive at the farm on a wet weekday morning. It’s only a few minutes drive into the countryside from UFV’s Abbotsford campus, but it feels like I’m in a completely different world. The wooden sign standing before me reads “One Love Natural Farm,” and beyond it stretches the farm, muddy and rugged in the steady grey rain.

The farmer, Chris, meets me as I wander down a path between rows of raised soil beds. “Welcome to One Love farm!” he says.

The first thing I thought upon meeting Chris was that I couldn’t imagine him doing anything but organic farming. Rugged and serious-looking, with dreadlocks and a shy smile, he fits into the landscape.

“Things are waiting for spring right now, lots of little stuff coming up. The spinach I planted in August is starting to flesh out now,” he says, and gestures over to the raised beds with the recognizable green leaves growing nicely in their row. “I haven`t grown much on the coast at all, so it`s nice to know I can have chard right up to mid-January and kale pushes right on through.”

Chris originally lived in the BC interior.

There he began growing in Lilloet and Anderson Lake before moving to the West Coast about 10 years ago. “I did a lot of colder winters there so there wasn’t much question about planted stuff over winter, so I’d just take the winters off.” But here Chris is pretty pleased with his chard and kale. “I get kale customer and chard customers all winter long, so I’m learning what grows well here in the winter,” He started One Love a year-and-a-half ago, quitting his job and leasing the one-and-ahalf acres.

We walk over to the shed where Chris shows us his walk-behind tractor. “Last year I didn’t have anything, I had a little rototiller I rented from Home Depot once a month maybe ... It’s going to be a good year for One Love farm. I’m going to produce a lot.”

We move down the main path bedside the raised beds, where in the summer and spring, vegetables will grow and flourish. Some rows are covered with hay, others are bare.

“This is all my garlic,” he says. “That’s planted in October and harvested in August ... These beds are for peas, leeks back there.”

The beds are laid out precisely where they should be and Chris has a map of it in his head. “It’s all planted – I know exactly where it is. I do the raised bed system. It makes sense to me to have your areas where you’re grow-

ing and your areas where you’re walking.”

Chris explains that with a raised bed system he can use other methods, instead of using a machine to constantly break up the soil. Once the weeds are under control, cultivating can be done using cover-crops and inter-planting, or just by hand. “Ultimately it would be nice to just keep that soil structure intact, disturb it as little as possible and just add nice compost every time you plant something.”

We pass the compost heap – Restaurant 62 on McCallum and Marshall buys One Love veggies and gives their compost back to fertilize soil for more veggies. We pass to the next field over. Holes are dotted on the ground.

“Voles, Chris explained. “They’re crazy!

This is their active time, they should hopefully subside.”

Over on the next field is a long greenhouse – thick plastic sheeting pulled over arched metal bars to create a sturdy structure. Chris explains that he’ll be building another one, next time with wheels. “You can actually move it from season to season; it’ll be on a track, to cover different crops at different times.”

Inside the greenhouse, we stoop down as Chris proudly shows me “a smorgasbord of salad” – tomatoes, Italian chicory, wild arugula, radishes, lettuces, big globe artichokes, onions, you name it. Of course everything is small, tiny buds, but it’s easy to imagine the thick carpet of greens that will soon grow.

It’s a start—a vision—and Chris’s enthusiasm is infectious.

eing an organic farmer isn’t easy.

There’s no cheating. But it is possible to support yourself, Chris explains.

“People are putting value on food again,” he says. “Otherwise it would be difficult to compete with Save-On and Costco. You can buy potatoes there for 50 cents a pound whereas in the summer I’m charging $2 a pound and that’s still cheaper than what you can get fresh potatoes for at the market. People are tuning in.”

Organic certification is a difficult process – especially for farmers just starting up. Chris tells us that to be officially organic—which he is not—you need money and lots of paperwork.

“I’m always organic no matter what, whether I have that piece of paper or not.

Customers can come to the farm and they can see what’s going into into their food,” Chris says. “It’s one of those things where you don’t get yourself certified, you get that field certified.”

Chris initially leased the land for three years – but it takes a couple years to get certified, and he wasn’t sure if he could commit to putting the time and money into certifying a field that might not be his. But after a couple of successful seasons, Chris is extending his lease to 2019 – and becoming certified is something he’d consider.

“It’s something I believe is important; accountability should be there, and I believe in some sort of certification,” Chris says. “I’ll get there.”

Of course, as a farmer just starting up, you don’t have a ton of money, so it’s a hard thing to do. And it’s one thing on a long list.

“I’ve got to build the greenhouse,” he says.

“Money goes into that first!”

here’s one question that always comes to mind about organic farming: what do you do to make it work? I always imagine my plants withering away in the garden without a bit of Round-Up or slug bait.

Chris explains that there are three main things we use chemicals in farming for: feeding and warding off disease and insects. The feeding includes nourishing the soil and fertilization. The disease might be fungus, blight or weeds, and the insects might be something like wireworms.

Chris explains that he doesn’t necessarily look at plant nutrition as feeding. “I rarely have time to actually feed soluble nutrients – I do make compost teas. And my tomatoes, they’ll get some organic liquid nutrients at key times. But I strongly believe in health of the soil, so every time I plant something I put fresh compost on the soil. I’ve got mixed powders and minerals that go into the soils; I’m always giving back.”

Chris says it’s all about keeping a system healthy. “I try and deal with it as a holistic thing.”

This goes for all parts of growing plants.

“You’re always going to have insects and bugs – but if you use something to kill all the one insects you don’t like, unfortunately you’re killing all these other insects that you do like, that are good.”

“So you lose a few carrots,” Chris says, “big deal, the whole is healthy.”

Chris explains that the most important thing is just this: keeping the balance, and making sure that all parts of the whole are healthy – especially the soil.

Another technique for encouraging healthy soil is cover crop. As we walk over a thick bed of clover, Chris explains the two main uses of cover crop: one is to stifle the weeds, the other is to add organic matter to the soil for erosion control.

“You don’t really want to leave bare soil for very long,” Chris says. “The sun and the rain is hard on bare dirt. Inter-planting can be cover crop too, where you’re basically using it as weed suppression in the bed.”

For example, Chris explains, wireweed sometimes gets in his potatoes. Wireweed doesn’t like mustard seed. “So basically when you plant the potatoes, you plant the mustard seed.You mow it in and hill the potatoes with it and it deters the wireworm.”

Soil is a living thing – there’s life in it.

“All these beds are thriving, happening support beds for these plants. You just plug in your seeds to this live thing and they will flourish for the most part. Except,” he says with a laugh, “when there’s [a] huge amount of wireworms and they’re really hungry and they want to eat all the roots of your onions, and you lose a big patch.”

But in this we see another important technique: diversity. Chris grows over 200 varieties of plants, and there is a very slim chance of everything being attacked by wireworms or otherwise. “Two or three things might be lost, but if I’m planting five different types of broccoli, one variety might be susceptible, but another might not be.”

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

www.ufvcascade.ca

A Vision

Inside the greenhouse, plants thrive.

m.

O

“I try and deal with it as a

holistic thing ... This soil is a living organism, and you just keep treating it well and

making it a healthy balance” Raising Generations

T

he way we grow plants has changed to satiate consumer wants. Plants are bred specifically for a certain quality—everything from size, colour and texture—and variations are being lost. This, Chris explains, is the difference between two kinds of growing: open pollination and hybridising.

Open pollination is essentially letting plants pollinate each other. “It’s naturalized, it’s a stabilized variety,” he says. The gene pool is varied, Chris explains.“So generally there are older varieties that are open pollinated and stabilized – basically what will happen is the plants can pollinate each other and then you have a seed that you can plant next year.”

On the other hand, hybridising plants means taking a couple of plants and breeding for a certain trait. This isn’t bad, of course, if you’re breeding for nutrition or taste,” Chris says. “But if you’re only planting hybrid seeds ... if you’re growing only hybrid plants, you’re not allowing the gene pool, you’re just kind of stifling the gene pool.”

Chris explains that if everyone just stopped growing open pollinated, and just grew hybrids for a couple of seasons, we’d lose many varieties.

“We already have lost tons and tons of varieties because those varieties don’t get grown, they get cross-bred and then diluted out. That’s why it’s important to also grow open pollinated stuff. But hybrids have their place.”

Chris grows a few hybrid plants—customers, after all, expect things like nice big broccoli heads, and hybrid plants can provide these features—but he is well aware of the importance of open pollination.

Hybrid plants, being bred with only a few traits, cannot continue on healthily and have more seeds – but open pollination seeds can grow for generations and generations because of their biodiversity. These are called Heirloom or Heritage varieties. They have stories.

Chris is planting his own story: a purple fava bean that he grew in the Kootenays.

“I originally got the seed from West Coast seeds, but I probably grew it for 10 years straight and then I didn’t grow anything for eight years ... and I just found, in my stuff, a purple fava bean. So I planted it this year. They’re a pretty solid bean, so it might sprout. So that would be my legacy, my bean legacy,” he laughs.

11

UFV’s Michelle Rickaby helps out in the greenhouse.

Invaluable Knowledge “

The wireworm is a common pest.

T

he plants taught me and the old-school magazines,” Chris laughs. He tells us that he’s no expert. “I know I’m learning everyday and trying new techniques because that’s the way I am.”

“But I’d have loved to have someone teach me and show me the ropes, learn from their mistakes,” he says. Michelle Rickaby, International Education program coordinator at UFV, was the first person who called Chris and set up a time to volunteer to work with him. “It was amazing. I knew she was coming, so I had these things set up for us to do, and we got them done. At the end of the day I felt like I got a lot accomplished. I felt that she took something from it – she’s a gardener, and she wanted to learn more about gardening as well. It was a great experience, and I’d love to make it happen more.”

Chris informs me that he’d be very willing have people come and help him and learn during the process. “I’m open to other people – they have different insights and observations. I’m fully open to it ... For me I get everything I can accomplished, but I fall behind. If I could have someone – if I could have help sometimes that would be mutually beneficial, that would be wonderful. If I did have more help, we could make this place amazing.”

Chris considered having a volunteer day, where a group of people might come to learn about the farming process. Otherwise, a person who wanted a more intimate knowledge of the land might have an internship type of relationship. It would take time, Chris says.

“Someone who really wants to learn farming, organic farming, that’s the only way you really learn – spending time with the plants.”

ne Love organic farm is young, but Chris has a vivid image of what the place might become. It would be his dream to have “a really functional, tight, a raisedbed farm.”

“The soil’s beautiful, and you just plug in your veggies,” he says. “Have a nice rotation happening of all the crops and have the nice companionship of plants growing all year round.”

A greenhouse is in the vision. He’d like a geodesic dome greenhouse, with wind or solar powered lights so he could do his starts— the first step in growing a crop—there.

Currently, he does his starts at his home in Abbotsford. Chris would want a workshop area in the greenhouse perhaps as a place for people to learn.

That’s the big picture – but for the next couple years, Chris is going to focus on having that functional, healthy farm, with everything under cultivation and everything in a cycle.

“My corn this year, I’m going to plant the nasturtiums all along it, ‘cause I love nasturtiums, the flowers are great and they’re a great insect deterrents,” Chris describes enthusiastically, “so [for] my whole corn patch, just the edges are going to be soft with these nice mounds of nasturtiums.”

“I just want this place to be visually stunning, a paradise of wonderful, most beautiful vegetables you can find anywhere. That’s what my vision is.”

The going is slow right now, but as we move into the spring season, things are going to become alive at One Love. Come May, the vegetable stand will open, from 3 to 7 p.m. on Fridays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.

As an incentive for UFV students, Chris says that they would enjoy a 10 per cent discount, so be sure to take your student card along for your next visit.

12

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

ARTS & LIFE

CROSSWORD 1

2

Vegetables, guys. Vegetables.

ACROSS

3

4

5

by AMY VAN VEEN

4. This green or purple leafy vegetable is a common ingredient in Dutch cuisine,

most notably borecole. (4 letters) 5. With multiple varieties, from Bunny Tail to White Icicle, this vegetable often

shows up in salads and soups. (6 letters) 8. Much like ogres, this vegetable has layers. (5 letters) 9. This vegetable will make your feces pinkish in hue. (4 letters) 10. Popeye loves to eat this stuff straight from a can, but most people prefer it in

a salad or wrapped in pastry. (8 letters) 11. Although parading around as a vegetable, this juicy rouge plant is actually a

fruit. (6 letters) 13. Iceberg, romaine, butterhead, looseleaf, summercrisp, stem, oilseed. These are

the kinds of ____ I know. (7 letters) 14. This leafy green, also known as salad rocket, is that harsh tasting surprise in a

plate of mixed greens. (7 letters)

6

7 8 9 10

DOWN

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1. Eating too many of these will make it look like you’ve been in a tanning studio

for too long. (7 letters) 2. ____, the magical fruit ... you know the rest. (5 letters) 3. Italian ____ is formally known as radicchio and has a taste that is mellowed

when cooked. (7 letters) 6. This vegetable has a heart. (9 letters) 7. This dangerous vegetable caused a famine in Ireland that we still speak of

today. (6 letters) 9. Many adults still think this vegetable looks like little trees. (8 letters) 12. Two ____ in a pod. Or in a bed. Or in a shed. Depending on how you grow

and store them. (4 letters)

12 13 14

EclipseCrossword.com

LAST WEEK’S Answer Key Across 7. THEGODFATHER 9. TITANIC 10. BENHUR 11. RAINMAN Down 1. CHARIOTSOFFIRE 2. ROCKY 3. CASABLANCA 4. THESOUNDOFMUSIC 5. BRAVEHEART 6. GONEWITHTHEWIND 8. ANNIEHALL 9. THE ARTIST

The Weekly Horoscope Star Signs from Swamp Bob Aquarius: Jan 20 - Feb 18

Gemini: May 21 - June 21

Libra: Sept 23 - Oct 22

Your good Canadian manners will be your downfall when you offer to hold open the door for the hungry mob of zombies, who seem to have difficulties grasping the simple mechanics of door handles.

The zombie hordes, hungry for human brains, will have little interest in you. Your momentary relief will quickly giveaway to indignation.

I have seen a meteor passing by Jupiter, which can only mean one of two things: you will have problems interacting with the only friends you have (your cats) or you will discover your shirt is on backwards. P.S. your cats will turn into zombies and try to eat you.

Pisces: Feb 19 - March 20

Cancer: June 22 - July 22

Scorpio: Oct 23 - Nov 21

You will avoid the entire zombie apocalypse, not through perseverance or careful planning but simply based on the fact you let yourself get addicted to Toddlers in Tiaras and not leaving your house for several weeks.

You will survive the zombie apocalypse when after an 18-hour bender on Coke Zero your brain synapsis misfire, causing you to suddenly understand how to weaponize the potato.

You will accidently start a Zombie apocalypse when you feed your friends a combination of downers, pixie sticks and Red Bull, while forcing them to watch My Little Pony Friendship is Magic for several hours.

Aries: March 21 - April 19

Leo: July 23 - Aug 22

Sagittarius: Nov 22 - Dec 21

You will miss the upcoming zombie apocalypse when you eat some bad shellfish at “Bert’s Bait and Sushi shop.”

You will sell out your friends to our new zombie overlords to secure a place in their new Utopia for the undead.

Taurus: April 20 - May 20

Virgo: Aug 23 - Sept 22

Your grand visions of fighting off the zombie invaders with a chainsaw in one hand and battle axe in the other will be cut short when you are taken out by a zombie Pomeranian behind the local 7-Eleven.

Capricorn: Dec 22 - Jan 19

You will discover the arrival of the zombie apocalypse during a late night campus game of Humans vs. Zombie; the irony will dawn on you for the few moments it takes for your new zombie acquaintances to reach your hippocampus.

You will be the first to notice the onset of the zombie apocalypse. Your first clue comes when the Wal-Mart greeter attempts to empty your cranial contents with a melon baller.

New beginnings await when you discover the forgotten memoirs of Alis B. Tolkas My time with Cesar Augustus and Pies.

Cascade Arcade

One game. One screen. One hundred players.

JOEL SMART tHE cASCADE

Think back to the excitement you’ve felt sitting in a theatre amid a sold-out group of strangers waiting to see the premier of a highly-anticipated movie; now picture that crowd taking part in the action, playing the experience together – becoming teammates.

Imagine if you could mix the thrill of a massively multiplayer game like World of Warcraft— where dozens of real players can cooperate to take on extreme challenges—with the electric charge that comes from sitting next to your teammates. Sure, with laptops, it’s possible to play in close proximity. But, it would be on a whole different level if you could play a game with an entire theatre full of people, each person part of the action on a massive screen. Not

Image: Jeriaska/Flickr

only is it possible, it’s a reality.

Described by Gamasutra as a highlight at the New York City games festival IndieCade East, the world’s first 100-player laser game caught the attention of the gaming world with its fresh approach.

Created by British developer wallFOUR, the game is called Renga.

Along with its theatre-screen and massive local multiplayer, Renga is also quite innovative for its use of laser pointers as controllers. By shining their laser onto the screen,

each person in the theatre is able to interact with the game. The goal?

To help the game’s struggling protagonist to rebuild his ship, defeat the nemesis and return safely home. To steer the ship and keep it out of harm’s way, players need to collaborate by shining their lights at certain parts of the ship to cause it to move in that direction. As Gamasutra describes the gameplay, “Consensus by laser.”

While admittedly the story is cliché and the actual gameplay may not seem that enticing on paper, the focus on teamwork really drives the experience. In order to have success, multiple groups of people need to work together to simultaneously solve situations as they arrive. According to Dorkshelf’s Eric Weis, even the smallest tasks in the game require the cooperation of at least three players – and there can be dozens of tasks

requiring attention at any given time. That means people need to solicit help and order commands to be successful – something that escalates as the hour-long game reaches its climax.

“One hundred players shout and scream at each other as the atmosphere builds to its joyous conclusion,” John Sear of wallFOUR told Gamasutra. “They arrive as an audience; they leave as a team.”

Renga isn’t actually the first theatre-operated massively multiplayer video game, however. In 1991, computer engineer Loren Carpenter created a game of Pong where two halves of a large audience took control of a respective Pong paddle. Each audience member was given a wand with a red and a green side. Green moved the paddle upwards, red moved it down. A computer system measured all the responses at once – so

if the left side of the auditorium all turned their wands to show red, the left paddle moved at maximum speed to one side. In order to succeed, some players would have to turn their paddles to green to slow the paddle’s movement at points in the game. Only by working together could they coordinate to hit the ball. Amazingly, the group of strangers were able to do just that, suggesting that non-hierarchical, democratic governance is truly possible.

While neither Renga not theatre Pong are likely to go mainstream anytime soon, they are welcome additions to the world of gaming.

They show us that there is so much potential for this medium. If theatre gaming continues to evolve and gain momentum, we could be in for a very wild ride.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

www.ufvcascade.ca

13

ARTS & LIFE

UFV Theatre presents The Merchant of Venice GRIFFY J. VIGNERON

contributor

Belmont is the heart of romance, deceptive appearances and friendship, while Venice is the portrait of law, business and the role of money. The two settings serve as focal points for differing themes in the third play for the 33rd theatre season at UFV: The Merchant of Venice.

Societal class, mercy and culture are also examined. And of course, like most of Shakespeare’s plays, it comments on the complexity of the human condition.

The play, a comedy, follows in particular three main characters: Shylock, Antonio and Portia. The wealthy noble Portia (played by Rebecca MacEachern-Eastwood) is now seeking a suitor. Antonio (played by Gabriel Kirkley) is a merchant, out of money at the time, who seeks a loan for his good friend Bassanio to be able to pursue his love interest, Portia. The third character Shylock, played by Ron Jackson, is a moneylender who offers to loan Antonio the money required interest free. However, this is only if Antonio agrees to offer up a pound of his own flesh should one of his merchant ships not come in with the money to be repaid.

As a comedy, the play delves into its sometimes dark and sometimes controversial themes with

a sense of humour. Bruce Kirkley, the play’s director, explains the controversial, anti-semitic aspects as being inherent to the perspective of the rich upper class during Shakespeare’s time. Oppression often occurs in history when one social group is dominant over another, and it’s important to keep this in mind. Bruce doesn’t wish to cover over the original perspective, and he also sees the bigger

Image: UFV

picture.

“The play is a comedy, and I believe needs to be treated with a light touch. You don’t want to burden it with too much heavy moralizing,” he explains.

Bruce Kirkley has chosen 1912, the era of la Belle Époque, as the time period. Bruce describes the era as a time where many high class citizens still lived in a dreamlike state of bliss, unaware of the

Film Reviews

Dark Skies JEREMY HANNAFORD

CONTRIBUTOR

While watching Dark Skies, I couldn’t help but think about the horror genre in general and how it has skyrocketed in both popularity and box office revenue. I thought about all the tricks and scares that films like the Paranormal Activity series, Insidious and others have used to lure people in and make themselves memorable. All of them were better than this movie.

Dark Skies follows the similar path of all scare-at-home movies, with a bizarre and lame attempt to freshen up the series. The idea of being scared in the one place you should feel safe is literally slamming into your in the face in the opening minutes. For some kicks, I imagined that I had seen no information about this film pertaining to trailers or advertisements. What I saw was in fact the exact same formula that I had seen time and time again over the past few years.

A cantankerous family begins to experience strange and chilling events in their house. From puzzling item stacking in the kitchen

to the younger children speaking with an unknown being, one would believe that they are in fact watching a horror film based on a ghost or demon.

So when it is revealed that the mysterious entity harassing the family are aliens, everything we were lead to believe makes no sense. When we begin to rethink about everything that had happened prior, we are left with only one conclusion. That E.T. has come back and is a massive jerk! Everything that made sense as a spiritual horror film is torn to sunders when faced with the psychical reality of alien beings and the film doesn’t seem to care. Appearing and disappearing, unable to be seen on camera and effecting the local wildlife are signs we have seen that point to demonic forces. Now they point to aliens, apparently.

This cut and paste story line really shows how studios are trying anything to make people come see the same type of movie over and over again. The lack of originality is evident as we watch things get progressively worse and worse for the characters. Surprisingly enough however, despite being a

90+ minute feature, it moves along incredibly slow. Due to the predictability of the script and rather mundane characters, this makes what should be a quick thrill a snail race. The random acts of harassment or bodily control just seem silly when you know that aliens are behind it all. Their rather complicated acts of terror truly act as filler until they finally attempt their kidnapping of the family.

Before the film starts, we are given a quote, quite possibly the most famous quote in all of science fiction literature. From Arthur C. Clarke, the quote reads as “Two possibilities exist; either we are alone in the universe or we are not.

Both are equally terrifying.” Never does Dark Skies ever reach the same impact and intense thought provoking tension as this quote.

This film doesn’t embrace this logic, nor does it even question the ideology of its intent. They literally just slapped it in at the beginning to try and create tension without actually understanding what they were putting into the film.

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wars and dramatic political changes that would occur in the world soon after. It was a time period that could be related to the class-oriented world that Shakespeare would have lived in.

The costume direction goes along with the 1912 setting. Jaclyn Singh, the costume designer, describes her designs as being influenced by Downton Abbey, Titanic, and Art Nouveau. For Belmont outfits, especially for the ladies, the costumes are intended to be dream-like, elegant and very romantic, while Venetian outfits are more business oriented.

As the head technician, Mark Sutherland is involved in sets, lighting and sound. Helping to train a lot of the crew on all the equipment, he is especially astounded by the quick aptitude of the crew this time around.

“They’re dedicated, they’re focused and they’ve got a professional standard about them that is really encouraging from my perspective,” Mark exclaims. “In fact we were able to accomplish things much faster than we have on some of our other productions.”

Sanday Tait, the production manager, describes the play as being more accessible than many of Shakespeare’s other works. The plot, and everything that happens under it, is easy to follow. Unlike

much of Shakespeare’s work, the situations are still relevant and are experienced by people even today. “The language in it is also very, very accessible,” Tait says. “I would say if you want to get a taste of Shakespeare, or if you’re a little afraid of Shakespeare, don’t be, because this one is one of his easier ones to understand.”

Bruce Kirkley is enthused about how well the play has come along.

“Everything is coming together beautifully, and I think we’re all looking forward to presenting this fascinating play to audiences.”

The Merchant of Venice starts Friday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the theatre on the Chilliwack North campus at the corner of Yale and Airport, and runs until March 23.

There are two half-price previews March 6 and 7, and two matinees March 13 and 14. Ticket prices run from $10 to $22, except for the matinee on March 17, which is a pay-what-you-can event. You can buy tickets from the UFV theatre box office on the Chilliwack North Campus, or over the phone at (604) 795-2814.

The truth behind my Pinterest boards AMY VAN VEEN

THE CASCADE

Pinterest has given me a false sense of self.

Either that or it has given me an alternative self. One that posts deliciously complicated recipes and renovation plans for a home that I do not own.

For those who are not aware of Pinterest, it’s a vortex of distraction that sucks you into its bowels until you don’t realize that three days have passed. It’s essentially a giant virtual pin board where people post relevant links to any number of categories, from do-ityourself (DIY) to cars, photography to science/nature, travel to fashion, fitness to gardening and everything in between. You can follow or be followed, just like any other social media site that uses stalker terms we don’t seem to question.

Even though my pin boards are posted to with the best of intentions, my Pinterest self looks a lot craftier than my real self.

Certainly, as I look over my pins I see a plethora of recipes that I have done. And there are a lot of e-cards that I did in fact make me chuckle when I saw them. But the real lies come with the DIY pins.

Do-it-yourself headboard with stretched canvas and handwritten passages from favourite novels? I do not have that. I did Modge-Podge pages from Thomas Hardy’s Return of the Native to the inside of a $9 lampshade that only worked after multiple failed starts and expletives yelled at an innocent glue container.

A chunky, cozy hand-knit blanket perfect for cold winter nights that apparently I pinned twice? I did not do that. I did once yell out fourth-grade versions of curses

when I tried to make a circle rug for a Barbie house that looked more like a mini yarn monster vomited up something that did not agree with their stomach.

What about ombre wall art made from a collection of winestained corks? Well I do have a jar that’s slowly being filled with corks from the bottles of wine I buy that aren’t twist-off, but it looks more like a memento to a life of a wine-o than anything crafty.

The biggest reminder of how my real self differs from my Pinterest self are the DIY sewing projects that stare at me from my Pinterest board and from the bottom of my closet. Turning a dress into a skirt is a lot easier said than done, I tell my computer screen as if reasoning with the talented blogger I’m trying to emulate. Instead of a dress turned to a skirt, I have a dress cut in half with a zipper missing, pulled seams I don’t know how to fix and a bag of rags staring up at me every time I open my closet doors to pick out something made by someone who actually knows the logistics of sewing patterns.

My sewing “process” usually includes me staring at an piece of clothing, working up the guts to take a scissor to it and then having no idea what to do with the now destroyed article that it goes back in the bag of other destroyed shirts, skirts and sweaters to be saved for another day when I feel like going from crafty to disappointed.

But maybe that’s okay. My Pinterest followers see me constantly pinning pins that I will never do and they don’t judge because they do the same thing.

At least that’s what I tell me and my Pinterest self.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

Mini Album Reviews

SoundBites

ARTS & LIFE

Shake Some Action!

Full Fathom Five

Matt and Kim Lightning

Fuelled by melodic hooks, steady beats and rich harmonies, Full Fathom Five, the latest release by the Seattle-based Shake Some Action! is a raw and high-energy set of guitar-oriented power pop. Australian lead singer James Hall, who plays every instrument on the album, channels Oasis front man Noel Gallagher’s lookat-me attitude and remains content to stick three or four chord songs, stealing from all the right songs that have been banged out since the Mersey Sound era of the 1960s. “Nothing Can Stop Me Now” has the “Ooh la la” backing vocals you’d expect during a Scooby-Doo chase montage, while “I Don’t Know What To Say” evokes the early material of the Liverpool songwriting duo of Lennon and McCartney. Not shy about celebrating their influences, their name being a direct reference to a classic Flamin’ Groovies track, Hall demonstrates harmonies and jangly guitars reminiscent of both the Merseybeats and The Beatles. He writes pop tunes in that classic style that create the illusion that they have always existed and always will, which often makes it difficult to identify what separates Full Fathom Five’s great tracks from its mediocre ones, because both exist here.

Quirky indie couple Matt and Kim’s fourth full-length album Lightning, was written and recorded in their apartment on Grand St (Brooklyn).

An unapologetic power pop infusion, their sound is a clap-along styled electro-indie dance party. Matt Johnson’s unique vocals, awkward syllable emphasis and preppy keyboarding make for an odd, yet enjoyable listening experience. Kim Schifino’s drumming provides the attitude and the punk, on top of her additional back-up vocals. Together they create the overall fist-pumping, waves of euphoria and confusion-sprinkled experience that is a Matt and Kim record. This particular album features tempo changes between songs that don’t always hit the mark, but as with any “do-it-yourself ” band, Matt and Kim are still growing as artists. Tracks like “I Said” and “Much Too Late” muddle themselves in to a ball of saturated electro-poppunk that strays away from the crisp and “stuck in your head for months” synth riffs found in the first half of the album (“Let’s Go” and “It’s Alright”).

Matt and Kim still have an evolving career ahead of them. The unevenness found in Lightning is merely a personal touch, another refreshing quality of this couple.

Tim UBELS

Melissa Spady

Adam Green and Binki Shapiro Self-titled

Local Natives

Hummingbird

Duet albums at best break from the song single direction of pleading, lamenting and imagining possibilities to conversations, narratives in the making through variations in structure or verse-chorus rules broken altogether. Adam Green and Binki Shapiro take on the roles of Nancy and Lee (the alignment with this precursor is unmissable, but it’s a fine standard to imitate), improving on The Moldy Peaches or matching the highs of Little Joy, their previous partnered recordings in their separate careers. Harmonizing, cowritten, the under-half hour of their selftitled album is only minorly composed of call-and-response, choosing instead singing alongside or alone - though the songs where difference comes out are full of distance, (“Pleasantries,” “What’s the Reward”) even then there’s more to point toward both being on the same page. There is no crowding for space – if anything the album can seem underwritten or unvaried at times. However, what’s valued here is space between words, musical breaks, before the return to a couplet that, underscored by acoustics and soft backbeats and swelling strings and bells, balances earnestness, wary optimism and unfooled clarity; there isn’t a single track that ends in ideals here, only the impossible reversal of farewells and fades of repetition.

Unsure of what to expect with Hummingbird, and a huge fan of their debut release Gorilla Manor, I put off jumping into this album. When they broke out in 2010, the music was not only fresh and innovative, it was also enchanting and transcendent with lead singer, Kalcey Ayer, floating his voice along the psychedelic indie rock instrumentals while waiting until the rising harmonies join in. Finally after taking the plunge into Hummingbird, it’s safe to say that a lot of what was great with the first album carries over. There are some elements that are missing, though. Found here is a band that’s grown past their youthful touches they once introduced.

And while I would have appreciated some of that to continue, it’s understandable that they’ve progressed. In the end this is an excellent album, and while listening to it late at night, I can’t help but feel that this is the perfect time to really experience the tracks rush over you. Some of the notable songs include “Mt. Washington,” where the lyrics opt for simplicity and the hook has an incredible drive. Perhaps the personal favourite, though, is where Ayer rises to some beautifully high notes in “Three Months.”

Michael Scoular

JOE JOHNSON

Album Review

Josh Ritter – The Beast in Its Tracks NICK UBELS

THE CASCADE Moments of personal crisis can sometimes be as much a catalyst for unaffected creativity as they are tremendously trying. For Josh Ritter, that crisis came in the form of his recent divorce.

The Beast In Its Tracks is his response to not the fraught, tempestuous demise of a relationship, but the murky aftermath. From the opening notes of the track one, the brief and beautifully-lo fi “Third Arm”, Ritter finds himself pursuing someone who resembles his ex, but gives up when he realizes that “she didn’t have your eyes.”

He focuses on this moment of transition, the tenuous beginning of a new relationship as another fades away, as a guiding principle.

Sharp pangs of memory interrupt the mending of Ritter’s freshlybroken heart and cause him to doubt his new love. Whether this is a true-to-life scenario or not is less important than the implications of this persistent juxtaposition to Ritter’s recovery process.

The record is filled with this sort of quiet heartache as new and old romantic interests compete for his attention. Most of the songs address his ex-wife in the second person, focusing on getting over and moving on. His new partner abides patiently in the shadows as he tries on different narratives to help him understand and re-frame his expired relationship.

In true Josh Ritter fashion, he doesn’t dwell on bitterness, but pushes forward through his sadness with what this time amounts to a sort of hollow good humour.

He mostly eschews the caustic bent that plague many similarlythemed records (see Bob Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks or Beck’s Sea Change). Nevertheless, there are moments of vitriol that bleed through in his weakness, like the chilly “Nightmares” in which he calls out his ex-wife for being untrue or the gospel-inflected “The

Appleblossom Rag” where he sings “I’m such a fool/ for things that sing/ so sweet and sad/ and are so goddamn cruel.” It’s a little startling to hear the clean-cut Ritter swear. The uncharacteristically foul-mouthed admission carries that much more weight for its unheralded arrival. Ultimately, through these phases and others (including the regressive reunion dream of “In Your Arms Again”), Ritter arrives at an optimistic conclusion, parting amicably on the late-album benediction “Joy To

You Babe” in which he says farewell by way of a sincere wish for the best.

Musically, his previous records have married folk fundamentals and sweeping embellishments, but this album is muted and understated, complementing the rawness of the lyrical content. The instrumentation is mostly limited to voice and acoustic guitar, with occasional bursts of percussion and haunting, ambient organ sounds.

This stripping away where there used to be dazzling arrangements reveals the disarmingly simple strength of Ritter’s song writing, both musically and lyrically.

When The Beast In Its Tracks was announced, Josh Ritter referred to these songs as “rocks in the shoe.” They’re not always pretty, but these hardened nuggets were clearly important for the 36-yearold to write and let go.

“Hopeful” is the most fully-realized arrangement here, but tellingly the weakest song. It ambles along with a clear-eyed countryfolk step powered by a plodding snare drum like an outtake from Wilco’s hit-and-miss Sky Blue Sky that should have stayed off this record, too.

For all the imperfections and missteps which stem from its unyielding emotional honesty, The Beast In Its Tracks might be Ritter’s most gripping and convincing record to date.

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ARTS & LIFE

The Q&A: Brett Wildeman JASPER MOEDT

THE CASCADE

CHARTS

1 2 3 4 5 6

Classified Classified The Bicycles Stop Thinking So Much WETYUO TTHNDFLLTHNGS Minnesota Nice The Basement Sessions

Shuffle AARON LEVY

CIVL STATION MANAGER

CIVL station manager Aaron Levy was dismayed at the “C + Averaaaaage” chant from the UBC crowd this past Friday as the Cascades battled the Thunderbirds on UBC endowment lands. Here are some songs that encapsulate how he feels.

This Hisses Anhedonia

Needles//Pins Getting On Home b/w Picture My Face

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Pissed Jeans Honeys Yacht Club Nonnavera + Flash Woodpigeon Thumbtacks And Glue Iceage You’re Nothing

Elephant Stone Elephant Stone Close Talker Timbers Minotaurs New Believers PVT Homosapien All Out Panic Pig Hayden Us Alone Moon King Obession II Holobody MTL

Cee-Lo Green – “Forget You” ‘Nuff said? I don’t go to UBC, nor did I attain my degree at UFV, however I get a bad feeling in my mouth when people behave as if stereotypes and generalizations are used against a certain type or group of people. Am I too sensitive about this? You decide.

David Bowie – “Suffragette City” A song about ... well, I’m not really sure what it’s about ... but the Suffragettes fought long and hard to see women (A) recognized as people and (B) awarded the right to vote.

As if you need to “award” said right to people. As if you insult students trying to learn.

Kim Stockwood – “Jerk” To whom it may concern: This song is simple. The chorus?

“You jerk, you jerk, you are such a jerk, there are other words, but they just don’t work.” Yeah, Stockwood isn’t exactly as popular as Anne Murray or trendsetting as Feist, but hey, if the shoe fits, wear it.

Mariana’s Trench “Fallout” Doesn’t this song just completely and utterly suck? Well guess what, it was written

by UBC grad and this band’s frontman Josh Ramsay, also responsible for such golden nuggets as “Call Me, Maybe.”

Okay, so I like that song, and I like “Celebrity Status” apparently too, but only from UBC Lipdub.

The Fraser Valley will be treated to some West Coast talent this month as Brett Wildeman and West My Friends take their The Mainland Ho! Tour to local venues to showcase their individual sounds. The combination of musical styles nicely represents the laid-back lifestyle that the West Coast is so well known for. The tour itself was named after each artist’s need to sail to reach the rest of BC as Wildeman is based out of the Sunshine Coast and West My Friend is a Victoria-based band.

For music fans looking for a raw, down-to-earth style, Brett Wildeman is a musician that delivers just that. After taking a listen through some of his work, a casual listener can hear the honesty in Wildeman’s voice. When asked how he would describe his musical style Wildeman professed that it is “pretty stripped and pretty raw. It is nice to have it polished but not too polished where it loses its authenticity. I think I kind of fall into the roots folk singer songwriter acoustic genre if there is such a thing.”

Any casual music lover can appreciate the simple honest rhythm that is brought to Wildeman’s music. In a world where auto-tune and overproduced music has become king, listening to this brand of music is refreshing. Wildeman comes across in a very genuine fashion, citing his inspiration in

Image: Brett Wildeman

music to be something very simple: life.

“I write a lot of songs about everyday experiences,” Wildeman explained. “Whether it is experiences friends have gone through or stories my grandma had told me. Life inspires my music, whether its stories people share or experiences I pursue. It is amazing what inspires songs and song writing.”

Wildeman was also very humble in describing what separates him from the rest of the musical world. “I write honest music; I write music that people can relate too. I am always trying to tell a new and unique story that hasn’t been previously captured.”

For the new fan, recommended listens include “1 Year Pass,” “October 25,” “Old Woman’s Mind,” and “Roosters on the Red.” Each provides the fan with a story and new aspect of Wildeman as an artist.

But in the end Wildeman said there is no replacing live music.

“Come check us out at a show.

Live songs are always better than recordings.”

Wildeman and fellow musicians West My Friend are coming to the Fraser Valley in the coming week. Dates of interest to UFV students include March 12 and 13 when the tour will hit Chilliwack and Abbotsford. On the 12th, the bands will be in Chilliwack to play at TractorGrease ($10 cover) and in Abbotsford on the 13th at Champion Jacks ($5 cover).

Getting to know: West My Friend Musical Influences: The Decemberists, Black Keys, Mother Mother, Punch Brothers, Bob Dylan, Owen Pallett.

Musical Style/Genre: indieprog-third-wave-folk-quirkypop-roots-music.

Biggest inspirations outside of music: Trees, bicycles and the ocean.

What separates us as musicians from the rest of the world: I dunno ... we don’t make any money?

Songs We Would Recommend: “Tic-a-Toc,” “Saturn Maybe,” and “Take It Slow.”

Discussions Below the Belt

Fornication conversation returns to Baker House KATE NICKELCHOK

SEX ED NIGHT CO-FOUNDER Questions: (A) How big is a big penis?

(B) Who is more prone to STIs, girls or guys?

(C) How much lube should I use?

These are only a couple of the roughly 200 anonymous sex questions asked over three years of Baker House’s Sex Ed Night. (Answers found at the bottom of the article).

Last Monday, UFV’s Residence Services hosted its third annual Sex Education Night: a peer-topeer conversation that goes under the covers to talk openly about bodies, intimacy, relationships and, of course, sex.

The event was started by myself and work-study students from UFV Pride and the Human Rights and Harassment Office in 2010 as an interdepartmental solution to the lack of sexual health and LGBT services at UFV. Since then, the event has evolved, attracting more students, different questions and new hosts each year.

This year’s Sex Ed Night was scheduled close to Valentine’s Day, as Baker House’s follow up to the romantic fervour of February. Even on a midterm-season school night, the event drew about 20 students. That is a typically good turnout for Sex Ed Night, although the event has attracted up to 60 attendees in the past, most of whom saunter in with shy curiosity but leave with big smiles, new information and free condoms.

“We had an amazing turnout,” says resident assistant (RA) and event co-organizer Chelsea Dueck,

“And as always, we as the hosts learnt a great deal! I’ve gone to the [Sex Ed Night] for three years and have always had a great time.”

Like Dueck, co-host Sarah Mazzantti also became involved as organizer after positive past experiences, “I attended Sex Ed Night in the past and found the information very helpful! Personally, hearing some of the information out loud really hammered home some topics I was unfamiliar about.”

The design of Sex Ed Night is to give residents a chance to ask their burning questions anonymously.

The answers are then thoroughly researched and presented on by peers in a relaxed and friendly environment. “Sex is a topic that isn’t always openly discussed,” explains Mazzantti. “I wanted to create a safe environment where people could listen and talk about sex and relationships. I wanted people to have a good experience talking about a wonderful thing.”

The underlying goal is developing a respect for and confidence in one’s own body. Letting student concerns lead the conversation steered it away from the fear tactics that often dominates teenage sex education.

Questions have ranged form the extremely personal—like asking advice on how to wait for sex, how to practice for your first kiss or what to expect when losing your virginity—to the slightly more sexperimental world of BDSM and the various (and not always suggested) uses of honey.

Despite its enthusiastic reviews, every year the Sex Ed Night raises institutional eyebrows as to how to address such a touchy subject.

This year, for example, the event’s

anonymous question box was moved from the residence’s high traffic front desk lobby to a halfhidden mail enclave out of worries it would cause offence.

There is currently no university service where students can seek advice on sexual health outside Sex Ed Night. Additionally, until a recent SUS initiative, we were probably the only secular university in Canada that didn’t have condoms freely available on campus. The repeated successes of Sex Ed Night should prompt UFV to adopt some of the event’s mentality: making resources and information available to students is empowering, both to the community and the individual.

As Baker House alumnus, and repeated Sex Ed Night participant, I’ve been consistently energized and enlightened by the event.

Come for the laughter and free candy and leave with knowledge made for better and safer sex!

Answers: (A) A “big” penis is about this big (picture different individuals holding their hands varying lengths apart depending on personal preference). The average size in Canada is considered between four to six inches, but leading studies show: it’s more about the motion of the ocean than the size of the ship.

(B) Girls. An unfortunate byproduct of having internal genitalia.

(C) Depends on preference and situation but a good bet is about a nickel-sized dollop you should then rub and warm between your hands before use. But as the saying goes, the wetter the better.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2013

ARTS & LIFE

Visual arts student draws inspiration from Shel Silverstein and natural surroundings for prize-winning photo

Image: The Cascade

Chrissy Courtney demonstrates how to operate a medium format camera.

NICK UBELS

THE CASCADE

Any elementary school library worth its salt has a modestlysized selection of Shel Silverstein books on hand. Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light In The Attic, familiar black and white hardcovers filled with drawings and poems, are still consistently popular titles for early readers populating many North American primary schools because of their sophisticated simplicity, laid-back humour and sharp moral sensibility.

Yet amid the noise of growing up, these well-loved works have quietly receded into many a messy shoebox of childhood memories.

For visual arts student Chrissy Courtney, the process of revisiting one of Silverstein’s most famous poems yielded fertile creative ground.

Courtney’s black and white interpretation of “Jimmy Jet and His TV Set” has won her the top prize in UFV photography club’s photo contest as well as publication in the 2013 edition of UFV’s visual arts and literary magazine, The Louden Singletree.

Her image depicts Jimmy, played by her husband Grant, sitting on the ground of an overgrown courtyard, staring transfixed at a large console television with knobs and dials and a vacuum tube screen.

Courtney explained that she selected the vine-covered courtyard near her Clayburn home to represent neglect that can arise from media obsession.

“Maybe this was a house once, but now all he has left is his TV,” she said. “Jimmy watches TV every day and then he eventually becomes the TV. It consumes him.”

The third-year Bachelor of Fine Arts student says the project was for a Photography III assignment, which asked students to craft a single frame narrative. Courtney was drawn to Shel Silverstein’s work because of its unique character.

“I find there’s sort of this moral backbone behind it,” she said.

“Even though it’s for kids and it’s funny, there’s always something

beyond what’s on the surface.”

The shot was captured using an old medium-format camera, which requires the photographer to hold the device lower than eye level and look down into the viewfinder. It’s a fascinatingly anachronistic piece of filmmaking equipment that Courtney added to her collection as a gift from her mother.

Courtney said she spends nearly 70 per cent of the time she’s working on a photography project in the planning stages. This early investment helps ensure that she is able to work more efficiently when time is of the essence in a shoot or in the development lab. With this particular shot, the planning included setting up the right studio lights and proper tripod positioning as well as selecting a location and finding the TV at the centre of the image.

“The hardest part is coming up with the idea,” she said. “For the longest time I wanted this photo to look like he was lifted and flying or being absorbed into the TV, but I wasn’t sure how to create that without [digital] manipulation.”

The entire composition was created using exclusively analog equipment. It’s a rewarding process, but one that requires a lot more heavy lifting than digital photography.

“With digital, everything is done for you,” she explained.

“But with film, you actually have to take into account the kind of shot you want. The depth of field and the lighting is always an issue or it produces a different effect. Developing it yourself gives you all the tools you would use in Photoshop, but you’re doing it by hand.”

Courtney’s work goes beyond photography to include drawing, painting and printing with an eye to working in clay sculpture in the near future. She said that nature and the natural beauty of the region have influenced much of her recent work and crop up as common motifs.

“I’m just trying to figure out a series for my painting class and I’m drawing mountains so that’s the influence of what’s going on,” she said, pausing as rain began falling more heavily against a nearby window. Courtney smild and continued, “where we live.

The rain.”

Her other recent projects have included a print media piece commenting on genetically-modified foods and a photography series focusing on the unknown ingredients present in the food we consume. She said that she is often concerned with the natural, something evident in a piece like her reading of “Jimmy Jet and His TV Set,” which shifts the focus toward obsession with artificial beauty at the expense of natural beauty, a message that resonates as well today as when Silverstein first published his original poem in 1974.

Dine & Dash

Dine and Dash: Say Cheese 9199 Glover Road, Langley, BC 604-866-2538 Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Mondays Prices: Up to $8.49

AMY VAN VEEN

THE CASCADE

Fort Langley has a new eatery in the neighbourhood and they serve one thing and one thing only: grilled cheese.

Say Cheese, has all the charm of a food truck with all the reliability of a stationary location. They fill what used to be the Fort Toy Box location, which means the space is small – hardly enough room for both sandwiches and customers, but they find a way to make the take-away system work.

I braved the Sunday crowds to finally get a taste of specialty grilled cheeses I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since I first saw their “coming soon” sign a few months ago. Employees described the shop as a “fishtank” because their line-up of four panini presses sits right in front of the large window where passersby stop and stare as their eight differ-

ent sandwich options are put together and grilled.

Soon those passersby began filing into the small standing area in front of the counter waiting for a chance to have their own red and white paper cone filled with potato chips, a grilled cheese and a pickle.

The menu appeals to a variety of tastes and budgets. Students— especially students of the local high school and university—have the classic option of a Kraft single on white bread with chips and a can of pop for $5 including tax.

For those who want a little more oomph in their sandwich, though, Say Cheese does provide more than just Kraft.

They have caprese, butter chicken, chorizo, cranberry turkey (which they adorably named the “gobble gobble”), Hawaiian, sundried pesto chicken and the Sicilian. They also offer soup of the day, which on the Sunday I was there just happened to be tomato basil, for only $2.49. Most of their sandwiches are $7.99, except for the chorizo which is $8.49.

Like anything in Fort Langley, the price includes the experience, but for under $10 I would definitely make my way back to Say Cheese to try out each and every sandwich. I had the butter chicken with cilantro and mango chut-

ney, but I also stole bites from my friends’ selections – the sundried pesto chicken and the gobble gobble. It took a lot of self-control not to just eat all three sandwiches and shrug off the protests in the name of article research.

Local ingredients made on Langley’s A Bread Affair bread rivaled Roasted Grape for freshness. And the employees were both friendly and efficient. It would be difficult remaining chipper in such a small space with only one open door to ventilate the cheesy air and an endless stream of meandering Sunday customers coming in and out, but the three employees there did an excellent job. They even kept the waiting horde’s attitude up by asking where people were from, chatting with students and apologizing profusely for the unfortunate loss of debit connection.

The clincher for me was when wannabe customers popped in, saw the “cash only” sign, nipped down the street to the bank machine and squished in with the crowd to get their hands on a specialty grilled cheese.

I wonder how soon too soon would be to go back for another one.

FASHION DOCTOR

Pastels

JASMINE PROCTOR

CONTRIBUTOR

Believe it or not, it’s March already. All of a sudden, it’s time to strip away those depressing thoughts of February and look forward to the prospect of warmer and, unfortunately, wetter weather (if that’s even possible). Spring is soon to be on its way, and as we shed away the layers of our winter coats, slowly but surely, the dark colours of winter will also fall away with them. In their place, then, is where you can find pastels.

Pretty much a season staple for spring, pastels are effortlessly girly and feminine, but this season, the trend is taking on a different feel with cotton candy colours and innocent patterns. With new colour palettes ranging from beautiful minty greens to fresh, stand-out lilacs, the spring 2013 trend channels vacation chic with a little bit of old school charm. On the spring/summer 2013 runway, designers like Chloe and Charlotte Ronson dressed their models in these shades in the form of loosefitting tops, A-line dresses, and cut-off bomber jackets. The looks screamed spring, with a light and bubbly feel, that can instantly lighten up any winter-time blues that might still be lingering.

In the retail world, pastels are creeping into everything from blazers to peplum shirts. Le Chateau’s spring collection features a gorgeous light mint blazer that I am absolutely in love with, which is a part of their new “mint fresh” line. As well, Forever 21 showcases everything from high-waisted capris to lace-collared cardigans in an array of different pastel colours, from all spectrums of the colour wheel. My favourite one out

Image: KaraReichart/Flickr

Pastels can work in the transition between winter and spring. of them all is this delicious light green shade that they’ve cleverly called “celery.” The line has a faux leather moto jacket in this hue that has an almost pearl-like sheen to it that I cannot wait to get my hands on.

If you want to try this trend out, there are literally so many ways you can not only pull it off this season, but also make it work year round. For right now, try something simple, but stand-out like a pastel-coloured cardigan over a simple white button-up, or wear the hue in the form of a skirt. A maxi skirt works great for this trend, especially if the fabric is sheen and light, giving your look an airy and elegant feel.

Pairing pastels is easy, too. All you need to remember is to wear white, and lots of it. As well, black can work, but only if you’re careful about what aspects of your outfit are black. A general rule of

thumb would be to keep the pastels up top, and do black on the bottom. This creates symmetry to the outfit, and doesn’t make the black the main focal point. If you want to do a pastel on the bottom, then do white or a lighter shade on top, though I would stay away from trying to mix different pastels together unless you’re completely confident: it’s a tricky thing to accomplish.

To wear this trend for all seasons, stick with a minor item, like a clutch or a pair of oxfords. Make it something that you can easily work into any season’s outfits.

Even adding something as simple as a pair of pastel-coloured stud earrings could add the femininity of this trend to your outfit, no matter the season. It’s a timeless trend that can work at all times of the year by adding just a touch here and there.

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SPORTS & HEALTH

Why America’s favourite pastime trumps Canada’s bloodsport MICHAEL SCOULAR tHE CASCADE

When William Faulkner wrote of the “pattern, design almost beautiful” of hockey, “that second before ... [disintegration] and dissolve,” not only was his a perfect picture of the spectatorship of a sport, but the volatility of being in love with one.

Choosing Faulkner as a goto hockey quote over any of the thousands of faces that have appeared over the years on TSN, CBC, or voices on the radio, is probably the obvious undergraduate thing to do, but it’s an outsider perspective of something that opens up re-evaluation. It’s a moving away from expected authorities to the period after growing up with a sport – being impressed by family tradition, national identity, what’s “in” at school. It’s now about choosing interests, values, reasons of our own. We begin to try to rationalize what we like and face rejecting the rest – either that or ignore the questions of why we watch.

Hockey is said to be free, not bound to the rigidity of plays like football and baseball, more chaotic and physical than basketball. Yet it falls, through strategies, through this lack of form, into the most basic, uninteresting structures of power play formations, passing lanes and endless rotation. From the 12 years I followed hockey closely, the hun-

Art: Anthony Biondi

dreds of games and memorized names and tendencies didn’t add up to a single team but patterns of play that could be, yes, almost beautiful in their conforming (the Sedins doing what they do) or breaking (to the point where “broken play leading to a goal” is a pattern in itself). But that also gives the dekes and garbage goals and glove saves of highlight reels a predictability – it’s been seen before. Hockey lives in the replay, it can’t be caught fully the first time, and so much of it then depends on television direction.

Already much hockey strategy has the objective of stifling creativity, so perhaps it’s fitting there’s often nothing that even approaches an attempt to convey the speed and attractive qualities of the game as seen on television. Distant pans cut to behindthe-glass bodychecks, while the only moving camera tracking a

breakout defenceman. In the one situation when it would better to see the ice in its entirety, the television camera restricts vision, keeps the game conventional, closed-in and stale.

The biggest push away from hockey is in its culture. The sport Faulkner praises for the “excitement of speed and grace,” “not from the crude impact of a heavier fist” if it exists, is rarely described in similar terms. The argument surrounding fighting, of pacifists and those flipping between the game and UFC, is not something that can be resolved, but can it be enough to say that hockey fighting doesn’t even stand up on merits of being a “good” fight? It’s marked by overextending and blindly swinging and grabbing and awkwardly falling, not as something more realistic and messy, but staged and pointless. In the same way, none

of the all-too-frequently life-altering injuries could be said to come from a result of a “good” hit. The physicality of hockey is more closely associated with sounds, with selective memory, than with the actual sloppy, childish menace of the thing itself. And this is praised and valued.

To compare baseball to hockey is to risk that same mentality – that one is tougher, that the athletes of one sport aren’t even athletes. It’s a mixture of defensiveness from fans of a less popular sport and false bravado.

But this relies on another television twisting – the knowledge of the sport through highlight reels.

The emphasis of home runs and diving catches, although exciting, falls into that same trap of predictability and replay. Where baseball lives is in between, the so-called “boring” parts where “nothing’s happening.”

Baseball broadcasts aren’t groundbreaking, but they don’t have the problem of failing to show – everything is before and visible, the pitcher-catcher-batter relation clearly defined and observable. When runners reach base, the imperfect but still effective solution of splitting the screen, showing multiple perspectives, with base-running coaches in the background, cuts to managerial direction and the different plate positions all held on the screen until the last possible second, when the pitch is released, the early jump of a steal-

ing runner or stop at the realization of a strikeout just registering at the corner of the frame.

A friend that helped re-introduce me to baseball offered one observation that also helped when it comes to season and game length: with a game every day, there is less dwelling on the past, an allowance for losses because every team will with such a packed schedule.

What it also means is just more to watch – there are those that try to see everything, but the overabundance means that there’s the routine of there always being a game on, to turn on for a few innings as inoffensive backdrop for an evening of trying-to-butnot doing homework. Baseball extends through days, timeslots and pre-conceptions. Surely the greatest experience of watching hockey is playoff overtime when the game doesn’t end until a goal, with no commercials to interrupt.

With baseball, there is the possibility for this with every game.

Every half-inning is defined this way; it could be over in regular 1-2-3 fashion, or take an hour, with nothing to break in and advertise. Sure, there’s always the signage in sight, and required broadcaster mention, but it’s a pleasant feature, and better yet an outcome of the eternal possibility in baseball – a sport unrestricted by time, where victory is always an open chance.

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SPORTS & HEALTH

On the road again Cascades fall to Thunderbirds on UBC turf in Men’s CIS West semi-finals library? But back to the game. The men came out really strong in the first quarter defensively. There is nothing I love more than watching Klaus Figueredo dog UBC’s Doug Plumb on defence. You could see the frustration clear as day on Plumb’s face as Figueredo happily ran him down all over the court with apparent endless energy.

Image: University of the Fraser Valley/Flickr

The Cascades get pumped before hitting the court. They’d taken lot of hits, but were still fighting.

PAUL ESAU and JASPER MOEDT the cascade

Last Friday, UFV sent a fan bus out to UBC to witness the Canada West Final Four clash between the Cascades and the UBC Thunderbirds. The bus was populated by such prestigious figures as Mark and Maureen Evered, Rocky Olfert, and even @goUFV’s own Anne Russell, which of course meant The Cascade sent its scurviest scalawags, Jasper (@ Jasp_8) and Paul (@Cascade_Sports).

They traveled deep into enemy territory in the search both for some quality basketball and cute Vancouverite undergrads. Even though the Cascades lost 68-61, at least the search for good ball was successful.

Paul: So I first wanted to congratulate whoever had the idea to rent a bus and ship a bunch of Cascades fans to the game. I don’t know where Point Grey is, let alone how to get there at night in the rain. And I’m also thankful to game coordinator Alicia Hurley for stopping the bus in the UFV parking lot to pick up this idiot Cascade sports editor who didn’t realize that 4:30 p.m. was the time the bus was leaving. Though I still think that, if you’re over 6-foot-2, a charter bus is a form of torture not transportation. Of course if Jasper hadn’t made me sit next to the window ...

Jasper: First of all, congratulations on nearly missing the bus.

I figured my sports editor would be able to tell time. Secondly, seniority rules on bus trips. I have logged my fair share of hours on a bus travelling, you’ve got to do your time squished up against the window, kid. The ride out was painful either way, but it gave some diehard fans a good chance to discuss the keys to the game.

In the end we decided that without Sam Freeman (broken rib) we were going to have a tough time putting up points, and that we would need a big night from Kyle Grewal. It is incredibly tough to win a playoff game on the road, especially without your leading scorer.

Paul: Well, I guess I can concede your seniority in terms of

Image: Kai Jacobson/The Ubyssey

Klaus Figueredo against Winnipeg on Saturday. long bus trips. I mean, it is a long Greyhound ride back from the University of Alberta ... But I agree that without Freeman we weren’t supposed to have a prayer against that UBC squad. UFV had what, nine active players coming into Friday? I checked the box score and only seven players actually saw the floor, and that includes only four guards. I’m amazed James York could drag his sorry butt off the court after a performance with that much heart, and I’m not going to discuss the unspeakable joy I felt at watching Andy Khaira swatting shots back to the foul line. That man is a gem, I would buy him a drink any day of the week.

Jasper: You must be mistaken.

I don’t think athletes drink. You would do better offering him a protein shake since that man is a monster. As we found our seats and the building filled up I could quickly see that the 100 strong group of UFV fans was not going to be enough to drown out a sea of UBC supporters that reached 2000 plus by mid-first quarter.

As the game began every fan in the building could sense the playoff intensity in the air. Every action on the court was greeted by cheers or an outrage that shook the building to the rafters. It was an amazing environment for a sports fan.

Paul: Considering the average attendance at most CIS games, it was refreshing to have that many

fans under one roof. Of course, there are always irritations when you have to get close and personal with fans of the other team.

The UBC mom in front of me with the cowbell was pretty aggressive (but I’m sure I gave as good as I got). More problematic was the moment I had to hold CIVL Radio’s Aaron Levy into his seat after a bunch of wet-behind-theears UBC first-years started chanting “C+ average!” from across the court. Levy was about to make a friendly retort (something about “daddy’s money”) when I did some quick math, realized we were outnumbered by several orders of magnitude, and saved him from being clonked in the noggin with a cowbell. I mean, if Aaron and I had got involved in a scuffle I have complete faith that UFV president Mark Evered (who was sitting a couple rows back) would have waded in after us, but while I’m sure Dr. Evered has an impressive jab-hook combo I didn’t like his chances against the two angry mothers in front of us. So ultimately, good judgment prevailed.

Jasper: So much testosterone!

Why can’t we all just get along?

I just came to enjoy a sporting event and UBC fans start chanting their letter grade at me. I wasn’t sure how to react! I mean, I don’t think advertising your “C+ average” is something you want to be doing. Maybe spend fewer nights in the beer garden at sporting events and more nights in the

Paul: After Figueredo went 12-12 (four threes, two twos, and six foul shots) on Feb. 24 against Saskatchewan I was hoping coach Friesen would start him against UBC and I wasn’t disappointed.

Now with Freeman gone it was an easy choice, but I’m still proud of any man who can miss half the season with a shoulder injury and come back in such fine form.

And speaking of surprises on this team, what do you make of Manjodh Dulay’s game? Is there anyone on this squad who is not overperforming under coach Adam “The Physicist” Friesen?

Jasper: Coming back from what he went through is no easy task.

To play with the level of confidence Figueredo has played with is a testament to his resilience and determination, definitely deserving of respect! Although I wish his name was easier to spell. The guy is a real pain to write about.

Dulay has played really well this year. He has had a pretty phenomenal rookie year contributing to one of the top teams in Canada.

For a guy who was relatively unknown coming out of high school he has really put his stamp on the team this year. Coach Friesen has worked some wonderful magic with the guys. He seems to have a way to instill confidence in all his troops, a quality that many coaches don’t have at the university level. Instead of instilling fear in the guys in order to get them to buy into his vision Friesen has shaped his vision with the team, creating something that all the players want to be part of.

Paul: To be honest, at the start of the year I didn’t think this Cascades squad would even make the Final Four. I was looking down the roster and after Freeman, Grewal and York it got sparse pretty quickly. Combining that with a first-year coach and the loss of two core players to Alberta seemed (to me) like a recipe for a disappointing season and a quick playoff exit. As a former varsity player yourself, what did you

see in this Cascades squad that prevented them from crumbling under the pressure? I mean, with the recent eligibility suspension, the Freeman injury and the loss of Blackman at Christmas, it almost makes sense that they would crumble. How do they keep defying the law of averages?

Jasper: It would be fair to say that on paper that Cascades did not fit the bill to even be present in the Final Four. They have been given so many reasons to give up, and frankly you would be hard pressed to find someone outside of that team who would blame them for falling apart. But the beauty of basketball is that it is a team game and no single player can win a game by himself. I think it comes down to two factors for the Cascades. Firstly, they have that solid core of seniors who have heart. You could see it in every possession on the floor on Friday night. Grewal and York plainly and simply cared more than anyone else on the court.

Heart is not something that you can train; either you have that passion or you don’t. The second factor is that coach Friesen has done a magnificent job making this team his own. Instead of a team that was missing guys from last year and hurting because of losses Friesen moulded a new identity and gave the guys a reason to play. When you play on a team that is fully committed and really believes what they are playing for you are much more likely to have success.

Paul: Well Jasper, I think we’ve probably crossed the line from unbiased journalism into blatant cheerleading, but with a squad like this year’s Cascades to root for, who can blame us? It’s not often that you get a team with a story like this one, a story that warms the cockles of a sport reporter’s heart.

It almost makes me want to make one of those Hollywood sport movies. You know, cast Akshay Kumar as Kyle Grewal, Chris Rock as Klaus Figueredo, Zac Efron as James York ...

Jasper: And Jay Baruchel as the annoying sports editor who follows them around ...

Paul: Yup, something like that.

Scoreboard Men’s Basketball (Canada West Final Four)

Women’s Basketball (Canada West Final Four)

Mar. 1 UFV vs. UBC L 61-68

Mar. 1 UFV vs. Regina L 77-84

Mar. 2 UFV vs. Winnipeg L 84-90*

Mar. 2 UFV vs. Alberta W 68-57*

*Eliminates UFV from CIS playoffs

*Qualifies UFV for CIS Final Eight starting March 15 in Regina

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SPORTS & HEALTH

Extinguishing the flame: Abbotsford Heat reported to be on the move TIM UBELS

Heat losses over the years:

CONTRIBUTOR

Are the Heat set to be snuffed out in Abbotsford? According to Don Laible of the Utica ObserverDispatch, the answer is “yes.” Last Sunday, he reported that the Calgary Flames’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat, are set to pull up stakes at the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre and set up shop in the Utica Memorial Auditorium in New York next season.

Abbotsford is currently in the fourth year of a 10-year revenue sharing agreement with the Flames and Heat franchises, which guarantees the team’s owners annual revenue every season. However, the Heat have not been generating any profit, losing money the past four seasons while playing out of Abbotsford. In fact, the organization has sustained deficits of a combined $3.58 million since 2009.

With the Abbotsford taxpayers committed to subsidizing any monetary losses incurred by the franchise, the speculation is that the group interested in moving the franchise to Utica must be submitting a deal to the Flames that is equally or even more appealing than their present agreement with Abbotsford. It’s possible that this rumoured deal comes with the assurance of a healthier AHL market, as Utica fans have been without a minor league hockey team since 1993, when the New Jersey Devils moved their affiliate to Albany, and are potentially

2009-2010: $450,000 2010-2011: $1,370,000 2011-2012: $1,760,000 2012-2013: ??????????

(Numbers as reported on October 31, 2012 by the Abby News.)

Art: Anthony Biondi

itching to get hockey back in upstate New York.

The blog report has since been removed from the Utica ObserverDispatch’s website, and Flames management has denied reports about the relocation of the team to Utica, saying that they are currently committed to their re-

lationship with the Abbotsford Heat. However, buzz continues to rouse the sports community in the Fraser Valley. The Flames AHL affiliate has a history of drifting from town to town ever since the franchise acquired its own minor league club back in 2005. Starting in Omaha back in

Flames add toughness in McGrattan and Testwuide, but nearly throw away draft picks TIM UBELS

CONTRIBUTOR

Despite having a five-day break between matches, the Abbotsford Heat organization had an eventful final week of February in the front office, being involved in two depth trades by the Flames and one close call for the future of the Heat franchise. But let’s start with the positive transactions.

On February 25, the Flames acquired power forward Mike Testwuide from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for prospect Mitch Wahl, who has not played the same since taking a huge hit from Aaron Volpatti in his first year with Abbotsford. Testwuide, who was immediately assigned to the Heat, is considered a team player, brought in by Flames’ management in order to add some much needed third and fourth line depth at the NHL level. In 161 career AHL games, Testwuide has picked up 70 points and 168 penalty minutes, but has struggled offensively this season, with only two goals in 19 games with the Flyer’s affiliate the Adirondack Phantoms.

Later in the week, the Flames exchanged veteran Heat defenceman and alternate captain Joe Piskula for enforcer Brian McGrattan, who has since been recalled by the Calgary Flames. McGrattan, who spent the 2009-2010

season in a Flames jersey, picked up a goal and three assists along with 86 penalty minutes in 34 games with the Flames that season. An intimidating presence on the ice, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound tough guy adds a lot of grit to any lineup he’s a part of, once posting an absurd career high 551 penalty minutes in 2004-2005 while a member of the Binghamton Senators.

Both these moves change the dynamic of the Heat lineup, trading finesse and strong defensive skills for toughness. The Piskula trade is a big loss for the backend of the Heat, which was already notably thin, and will have to rely more heavily on its younger players for a calming presence on defence.

Then came a real head scratcher of a transaction. The Flames attempted to sign Colorado Avalanche forward Ryan O’Reilly to an offer sheet which would pay him $10 million over a two year period, an offer which the Avalanche had one week to match or O’Reilly would become the newest member of the Flames and potential top line centre.

Or would he?

According to Rogers Sportsnet, if the Flames were successful in their attempt to sign O’Reilly to an offer sheet, the forward would have to pass through waivers before he could report to the Flames.

This meant that the Flames would

have lost a first and a third round draft pick to the Avalanche, all while another team could have snatched O’Reilly while he was sitting on re-entry waivers. For an aging Flames team without a solid pool of prospects to spare, this oversight could have proved disastrous for the team’s future if it had gone through.

Although the Avalanche matched the offer sheet within 24 hours, Flames GM Jay Feaster claimed that the report from Sportsnet was mistaken, contending that, “Prior to tendering the offer sheet for Ryan O’Reilly we, as a hockey operations department, examined whether there were any impediments to our successfully securing the services of the player including, but not limited to, his having played in the KHL after the start of the current NHL season.”

Whether it was a good move or not, a potential disaster was avoided because the Avalanche matched the offer tendered by the Flames, preventing the hockey world from seeing the first casualty of the new CBA agreement the NHLPA and NHL spent half a season negotiating.

For up-to-date coverage of weekend home games, visit ufvcascade.ca

2005, the Flames affiliate moved to the Quad Cities in 2007 and made one final move to their current destination, Abbotsford, in 2009.

Despite the majority of sources now denying the rumoured move to New York, the logistics make sense for the Flames to be looking at a different location for their affiliate. Although currently located within a negligible distance of the big league club, the Heat consistently finish at the bottom of the league in terms of attendance, in spite of being located in a hockey-crazed community. In the four postseason games held at the AESC during the 2011-2012 season, the Heat drew an average crowd of 2389 in an arena that can hold up to 7046 fans. Although attendance has increased since the beginning of the lockout, the Heat still sit fifth from the bottom in league attendance. The only time

Abbotsford locals fill the arena to capacity is when the Vancouver Canuck’s affiliate Chicago Wolves come to play, demonstrating a potential solution to Abbotsford’s attendance problems and the taxpayer’s financial nightmare: having the Vancouver Canucks affiliate in Abbotsford.

Currently in the final year of a two-year contract with the Chicago Wolves, the Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini, who currently doesn’t own a minor league affiliate, has long been rumoured to be interested in acquiring an Abbotsford-based team to act as the Canucks’ farm team. This move could potentially spark interest in a dormant fan base that has resented the affiliate of a division rival playing in the Canucks’ backyard. An Aquilini-owned franchise would let the Canucks keep a closer eye on their affiliate’s hockey operations and have access to quick call-ups, not unlike the situation in Toronto, where the Leafs play within walking distance of the Marlies.

As we approach the summer and the end of this shortened NHL season, Abbotsford taxpayers may see the dominos fall in a deal that would see the end of a disastrous financial arrangement between the Flames and the town of Abbotsford and the beginning of a profitable venture with a Canucks organization, whether the Heat end up in Utica or another city.

Women’s varsity basketball team win bronze in Canada West division

Photo: UFV

Historic first-time berth to national final eight tournament.

NICK UBELS THE CASCADE

After falling to the University of Regina Cougars 84-77 in the CIS Western conference semifinals on Friday, the Cascades women’s basketball squad rallied back for a historic victory in their bronze medal match up against the University of Alberta Pandas in Calgary Saturday night.

The Cascades were trailing by eight points by the end of the first half but went on to defeat the Pandas by 11 points to secure

their first-ever inclusion in the CIS final eight tournament to be held in Regina. The victorious squad celebrated as the sound of the final buzzer sealed their 6857 lead. UFV’s women doubled the points tallied by Alberta in the fourth quarter, outscoring them by a dominating 30-15 points.

Kayli Sartori and Nicole Wierks lead the Cascades in scoring with 17 points each.

The third-ranked Cascades will hit the road with their eyes on a strong national showing next weekend in Regina, from March 15-17.

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Caloric computation for the pyro in us all MELISSA SPADY CONTRIBUTOR

In a calorie-obsessed society, I often find myself over-hearing conversations in eating establishments or grocery stores that leave me feeling either confused or distressed.

I was once in a store stationed next to a cinnamon bun dispensary, and I wondered out loud how the employees avoided the temptation with the smell of delicious baked goods wafting over. One employee stated matter-of-factly that, “each serving has over 1500 calories!” Everyone laughed and I stood there like they’d started speaking Dutch. “Is that a lot?” I replied, and was met with a hailstorm of judgemental looks from all around.

For those who don’t know the intricate calorie system, that’s roughly a whole day’s worth in one go. I had no idea at the time.

It felt like I was missing out on a conversation happening nationwide.

Calories are, in the most basic terms, food energy. If a human is a machine, then calories are the gas that keep us going. If you aren’t getting enough, you will start to shut down. If you’re getting too many, you’ll struggle to work efficiently. Either way ... not

Spady attempts to burn her French fries ... for science! good.

The current way to figure out your recommended daily calorie intake involves math formulas and estimating your activity level. Start by figuring out your BMR, “Basal Metabolic Rate,” or in layman’s terms: how many calories your body needs for basic functions like breathing. So if you don’t get up and move (ever) this is the only formula you need.

Image: Matt Knott

For (adult) women it’s 655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years), and for men, 66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years). To estimate your percentage of activity, range yourself in between 20 (everyday movement) and 60 (athletic training) per cent. So it would look like this: (original formula) + (BMR x activity percentage) =

your recommended calorie intake to maintain your current weight.

If you want to lose weight, reduce that number (talk to your doctor first) and if you need to gain weight, up that number.

Reading that made my head spin. Math? That’s for chumps!

There has to be a more badass way to find out what my body needs instead of doing math or reading labels. I did some digging and found a different way: food calorimetry, which involves burning food to release its energy.

Setting things on fire? That reflects my inner badass. Except for one crash and burn attempt at a lab science, I’ve never spent much time in a legitimate laboratory. I went on my adventure to the root of “food calorimetry” all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Safety goggled-up and donned in a lab coat, (with supervision) I set up the experiment: a food sample (french fries) placed underneath a beaker of water with a thermometer in it. According to the lab write up, measuring the temperature change in the water and using a much smaller formula I could tell how many calories my food is worth.

What’s wrong with this scenario? Apart from my inexperience and general lack of science skills, the experiment doesn’t ac-

count for two major things. First, if we absorbed all of our food and didn’t, ahem, expel our waste the calculations would be correct, but since we do, this overestimates how much is absorbed into our bodies. Second, if we use the metaphor of humans as engines, experiments like this and BMR calculations don’t account for the other things we require to survive. Think of fibre, minerals and water—things that don’t have a caloric number—as if they’re oils and fluids. Although necessary to function, they usually go unaccounted for in the general upkeep of the whole.

In the end, my fries refused to set on fire, and I got zero reading on my thermometer. The final thing wrong with this scenario: I wasted delicious food, and for failed science no less! I think I’d rather leave the science to the professionals, and gratefully stay out of the calorie-counting conversation.

Special thanks to Matt Knott for making sure I didn’t set myself on fire, Jane Webb for graciously allowing me access to her lab equipment, and AfterMath for providing the food sample.

Sheldon Kennedy: champion of the vulnerable PAUL ESAU

THE CASCADE

If you had been abused by a relative, a teacher, a stranger or a coach ... would you speak out?

In a world which tends to stigmatize the victim along with the perpetrator, the answer to this question is often “no.” It’s often too hard, too painful, too risky or too vulnerable for individuals to admit they’ve been violated, even if their courage could save other young people from a similar fate.

Sheldon Kennedy knows first-hand how difficult it is to admit to being abused. As a former NHL player he understands how little the sports world wants to discuss such abuses, or even admit they exist.

Kennedy was at UFV last Wednesday on Pink Shirt Day as part of the President’s Leadership Lecture Series. He discussed his role in bringing his former coach, Graham James, to justice for abusing dozens of his players including Kennedy himself, and the role he has taken to bring attention and prevention to sexual abuse, bullying and domestic violence.

Speaking on a number of issues, Kennedy addressed aspects both of his personal story and the programs and institutions he is helping to found. One of the most important questions asked of him was similar to the title of his 2006 book Why I Didn’t Say Anything. Kennedy answered the question, why he hadn’t spoken out sooner, with an eloquence that was obviously the result of a momentous personal journey.

“I was playing with the Calgary Flames at the time [when I decided to make the accusation],” Kennedy explained, “and my wife was pregnant with our daughter.

I kept seeing Graham James outside our locker room because he was coaching the Calgary Hitmen at the time, and there were always these young guys hanging around him. So I thought, well if nobody else is going to do anything than I need to do something here ... I knew if I didn’t do something then I would never be the dad or the person that I wanted to be.”

Kennedy was also careful to note that telling his story was only the beginning of his journey, rather than the end. While people often assume that accusing James somehow “solved” the issue, Kennedy explained that when victims finally speak out they are actually at their “most vulnerable.” He said, “I think we’ve learned to live to a certain way with the trauma that was inflicted on us as a kid ... you take all of these feelings that are coming outside of the treasure box that you kept all your secrets in, and they’re coming out upside down, sideways and what else, and all you want to do is shove them back in there but you can’t get the lid closed. So now you got to deal with this stuff.”

One member of the audience asked Kennedy how he had managed to “deal” with his past, citing her own experience with abuse and her difficulty moving beyond it. Kennedy responded by saying that “for me it was taking the risk to trust again.”

He explained that without trust it is impossible to recover from the trauma of abuse, and, while it’s extremely difficult, healing was about rediscovering how to trust those around him.

In the years since helping bring Jones to justice, Kennedy has embraced his role as an advocate, and even been awarded an honourary doctorate from UFV in 2012.

Two days before his speech to the UFV audience, one of his projects, a child advocacy centre, opened in Calgary. This centre, combining child and family services, Alberta Health, a crown prosecutor’s office, and a police presence all under one roof, fulfilled a part of his vision to make dealing with abuse and violence an easier and simpler process.

Kennedy’s ultimate goal is to “empower the bystander” to have the judgment and knowledge necessary to recognize warning signs and report them. “Perpetrators and pedophiles operate on our ignorance and our indifference within our communities,” he explained.

In Kennedy’s eyes, all of us have the responsibility and the ability to protect the young and vulnerable around us.

Yes PLease!

That’s right – in about one hour (the time it takes to apply) you could have a good chance to win a scholarship or bursary.

Apply for a scholarship or bursary today.

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