The Carillon - Volume 65, Issue 21 - March 23, 2023

the carillon

the staff editor-in-chief holly funk editor@carillonregina.com

business manager thomas czinkota business@carillonregina.com

production manager shae sackman production@carillonregina.com

advertising manager holden norrie ads@carillonregina.com communications mehrnoush bahramimehr comms@carillonregina.com

web manager jaedyn whittal web@carillonregina.com

multimedia/graphics editors multimedia@carillonregina.com safal gangwani graphics@carillonregina.com lee lim copy editor aurel dumont copyeditor@carillonregina.com

news editor gillian massie news@carillonregina.com

a&c editor wren gessner arts@carillonregina.com

s&h editor vacant sports@carillonregina.com

op-ed editor hammad ali op-ed@carillonregina.com

distribution manager sun sidhu distribution@carillonregina.com

staff writer amina salah

staff writer victoria baht

staff writer vacant news writer josh king a&c writer will bright s&h writer sophia stevens contributors

matthew merifield, justin passmore, katlyn richardson, vinnet sharma

board of directors holly funk, thomas czinkota, will bright, hammad ali, shae sackman, and amina salah

the paper

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The Carillon is published no less than 11 times each semester during the fall and winter semesters and periodically throughout the summer. The Carillon is published by the Carillon Newspaper Inc., a non-profit organization.

land acknowledgement

The Carillon is written on Treaty 4 territory. As such, staff recognize that we are living, working, and telling stories on and of Indigenous lands. We recognize that we are on the traditional homelands of the Cree, Saulteaux, Nakota, Lakota, and Dakota peoples, along with the homeland of the Métis nation. The Carillon understands that it is pointless to acknowledge the land on which we work without demonstrating our commitment to telling stories and prioritizing voices that further the return of this land to its sacred place.

the manifesto

In keeping with our reckless, devil-may-care image, our office has absolutely no concrete information on the Carillon’s formative years readily available. What follows is the story that’s been passed down from editor to editor for over sixty years.

In the late 1950s, the University of Regina planned the construction of several new buildings on the campus grounds. One of these proposed buildlings was a beltower on the academic green. If you look out on the academic green today, the first thing you’ll notice is that it has absolutely nothing resembling a belltower. The University never got a belltower, but what it did get was the Carillon, a newspaper that serves as a symbolic bell tower on campus, a loud and clear voice belonging to each and every student. the people’s friend; the tyrant’s foe

The University of Regina Students’ Newspaper Since 1962 march 23, 2023 | volume 65, issue 21 |

URSU disqualification p. 3

bubble tea barista p. 5

through the flames p. 6

I would strongly doubt anyone paying attention right now could claim the present moment isn’t trajectory-defining for the university and everyone involved. We’re seeing disquiet, discontent, and disunion in abundance, and while the current path is troubling there are always people working to trailblaze into hope.

Whether you’re looking to get informed on campus events or you’re seeking an encouraging break from reality, this issue has stories that will soothe both wants and needs.

Illegitimi non carborundum. holly funk editor-in-chief featured photos cover.........................lee lim, manip by safal gangwani

A presidential candidate in the URSU election was disqualified last week and appealed the decision, but it appears the judgment stands.

If you enjoy the skill and showmanship of bartenders but you’re looking to skip the alcohol, Victoria Baht recommends IHADay where the bubble tea’s served with pizzazz.

Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom is one of many films featured in this year’s Human Rights Watch Film Festival, depicting both the trauma of war and cultivation of hope.

outstanding competition p. 9

The U of R’s dance group returned from a competition in Guelph where they impressed in every area. Paige Baker, Hayden Wagner, and Kayla Weir outline their inspiration for and experiences with dance.

imposter Indigeneity p. 13

In the wake of criticisms on Vianne Timmons’ claims of Indigenous ancestry, Aurel Dumont recounts personal struggles with Indigenous identity and the harm of claims to it for selfish gain.

AGM & angry students p. 14

On this last page of op-ed, student contributors Matthew Merifield and Justin Passmore voice having felt disrespected and disregarded at URSU’s AGM.

URSU president candidate disqualified

Sometimes all it takes is one oversight to turn an election run belly-up

holly funk editor-in-chief

Danish Hasan learned he was disqualified from the University of Regina Students’ Union (URSU) election minutes after Tejas Patel’s win as president was announced live at the ‘Rock the Vote’ party. The unofficial results of the election show that Patel received 682 votes of 1,961, while Hasan received 896.

Hasan was also running for the presidential seat on URSU’s executive board and, having been involved in university organizations for several years prior, he was hoping to enact change. “Things are screwing up and I know exactly why, so I might as well step up,” he said when asked why he ran.

Hasan maintains it was a shock for him to learn of his disqualification, as he was given no demerit points during the campaign period itself. The following day, he filed an appeal with the elections committee, made up of Chief Returning Officer (CRO) Ebenezer Fordjour along with a public elections officer (PEO) and a student elections officer (SEO).

Fordjour explained that “once a decision is made by the CRO in relation to anything re-

lated to a candidate’s behaviour in an election, they have the option to appeal the decision with the Electoral Committee.” The PEO and SEO discuss the appeal with the CRO and relevant parties, then each come to a decision. If the decision is unanimous between the two, it carries even if contrary to the CRO’s original ruling. If the two disagree, the CRO gets the deciding vote.

“Specifically with that process,” Fordjour noted, “it is a process that really looks at not so much the rational or the thought process or the thing that went into making a decision, but rather whether or not the electoral bylaws and policies are being upheld and are found to be within good order when a decision is being made.”

Fordjour said he could not speak on the specifics of this appeal, but mentioned the committee’s discussion and voting processes were over and “did not have to be split. It was a unanimous decision, so I just want to put that out there.” Hasan later confirmed that his appeal was denied, and he remains disqualified for “breaching privacy policies.”

On March 13, 2023, an email was sent to several students titled “IMPORTANT – URSU Elections Danish” which includ-

ed a lengthy message from Hasan with campaign information and encouragements to vote, as well as two documents. One was titled “Danish How to Vote” and contained detailed instructions for student members of URSU who wanted to vote in the election this year. The second file was titled “Danish Candidate Profile,” and contained a list of Hasan’s campaign priorities and aims were he to be elected URSU president.

An email chain was submitted to the Carillon which shows Hasan and Fordjour briefly discussing Hasan’s email days before it went out. The start to the CRO’s response on March 11 reads: “This can be used as generic info to students to vote. But you will have to remove your personal campaign information if you would like to send this out.” This campaign information was not removed from the email.

In addition, in order to personally contact students, candidates in URSU elections must collect contact information using the “Template for Collecting E-mail Addresses and Phone Numbers” which is appendix 3 in URSU’s Election and Referendum Bylaw document. Several students who did not consent to receiving emails from Hasan – some of them also staff at the

ChatGPT hits 100 million users

Other tech companies struggling to keep up

ChatGPT has been taking over the world. Since its release, ChatGPT has passed 100 million users and become a social media phenomenon.

ChatGPT is a chatbot created by the company OpenAI, which has some affiliation with

Microsoft. In many situations, the chatbot is able to mimic human text remarkably closely, surpassing previous attempts at chatbots. In January, the Carillon covered the potential impact of ChatGPT on undergraduate students due to concerns about the chatbot’s

ability to write passable university-level essays.

Since then, the arms race has taken off with artificial intelligence (AI) writing detectors proliferating, only to be outdone by chatbots such as YouWrite which purposefully add minor mistakes to sound more human.

David Akinmade, a graduate student at the University of Regina who studies some of the computer science behind chatbots, says the “technology is only going to get better as time goes on.” Akinmade thinks “people need to come to accept that.”

Indeed, the popularity of ChatGPT has spurred new competitors, and old competitors have received increased attention due to the newfound popularity of chatbots.

Potentially the biggest competitor will be Google’s Bard, a conversational chatbot similar to ChatGPT. Though Bard has been slow to the game, only reaching pre-release in early February while showing embarrassing inaccuracies at a demo event. Meanwhile, Microsoft has started testing incorporating ChatGPT into its Bing search engine, Edge browser, and Skype. Other free options like YouChat have also been competing for the market share alongside paid options like

Carillon – did receive the email in their uregina.ca account inbox on March 13.

When asked how candidates in future elections can avoid being disqualified, CRO Fordjour stated that “URSU is a multi-million dollar public corporation. Nowhere else in the world would we have board members governing a multi-million dollar corporation

who have little understanding of their policies and bylaws and how to enforce them and run them, right? [...] We want to make sure that we are grooming participants in the right direction, which is: learn the bylaws and the policies before you even possibly get elected. That’s probably the best way to make sure you even get there.”

JasperAI and ChatSonic. More specialized versions have been popping up as well, such as SocraticAI, which is meant to help tutor schoolchildren.

More recently, ChatGPT has also moved to make a premium version, which will give users priority access to their servers during busy hours.

Amid the capitalistic competition, David Akinmade is worried about how to democratize the use of AI, pointing out “inequality is rising and spreading.” Akinmade says that if AI is restricted behind the current leaders of the industry, “it’s only going to broaden that gap.”

Akinmade believes a first step in democratizing the use of AI is making the knowledge about how they work more available. “People need to be educated about how to build large language models.” Beyond just the understanding, people also need to democratize “the ability to build these models.”

Though people may not be learning how to build AI, some surveys show that people are becoming more familiar with them.

Fishbowl, a small social media company aimed at professionals, surveyed their userbase and found that the number of participants using ChatGPT at work from early January to the end of

January had grown from 27 per cent to 43 per cent. Of those who had used it, about 70 per cent had not told their boss. They also found that a common use was for sales and marketing.

While these new AIs are proliferating, Akinmade is not the only one concerned about equity. The cost to build and run chatbots is expensive and requires a lot of energy. OpenAI hasn’t released enough information to get an entirely accurate number on carbon dioxide emissions from ChatGPT. Although, technology writer Chris Pointon on Medium made an estimation based on the processors used, runtime per response, reported traffic to the site, and average carbon emissions per watt of electricity in the Western US. He found that, as of February 20, ChatGPT likely released around 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide a day.

Akinmade says that he is “optimistic about large language models,” though he acknowledges that it is people who ultimately “decide the future” of AI, and says we need to “address that quickly.”

This is one fight I want to see. Image: created with the assistance of DALL-E

Scientist who illegally gene edited children released from prison

The geneticist who created the first gene-edited human babies was released from prison late in 2022.

History was made in 2018 when Chinese geneticist He Jiankui surprised an international genetics conference with his announcement that three gene-edited humans had been born. Jiankui’s actions were quickly condemned by many at the conference and soon by academics worldwide. Shortly after, Jiankui mysteriously disappeared.

Nearly a full year later, Jiankui reappeared in Chinese courts, charged with illegal medical practices alongside two collaborators. One day before the world would learn of an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan caused by an unknown virus, Jiankui was sent to a Chinese prison.

While we have learned much about that novel coronavirus in the last three years, the full extent of what Jiankui did is still unknown. Though, most experts agree the CRISPR technique described by Jiankui is not safe for use on human embryos. Three years later, there is still no information from a third party on the children’s condition.

The only information released about Jiankui’s experiment, outside of the scientist himself, is his trial by the Chinese government, which found him guilty of illegal medical practice but released little other information due to concern over the children’s anonymity.

While he was not charged with breaking informed consent, some bioethicists have called into question the adequacy of the informed consent that the parents received. In a January 2020 editorial in the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, Dr. David Shaw analyzed the informed consent documents used in the experiment and found notable omissions from the documents. Shaw concluded “the participants in this study were clearly misinformed about the study’s purpose, as well as being subjected to considerable pressure (via free IVF) to take part.”

children had a father who was an HIV carrier and that the gene editing was meant to prevent the children from accidentally becoming infected by their parent.

According to the Pennsylvania State University medicine department, when a father is on antiretroviral drugs, the risk of infection to the child is only 0.16 out of 10,000 and additional safety measures can reduce the risk further. Given the minimal benefits for the child, some have looked to other factors as motivators for the gene editing.

HIV also carries a severe

telligence.

While much of the information from Jiankui’s trial is secret, it was announced that he forged ethical documents and misled the doctors who performed the in-vitro fertilization.

Three years after all these questions were raised, COVID-19 continues to plague us, and Jiankui is out of prison and released into the world again.

Upon release from prison, Jiankui started a new biotech firm. Its aim is to cure Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) in humans through gene editing.

21 that Jiankui lied on a visa application to Hong Kong and had it revoked. He is now the subject of a criminal investigation by Hong Kong authorities.

On February 20, he posted an outline of his plan to cure DMD for approval from an ethics committee. It follows a similar path to his previous attempt at gene editing. Like before, his plan involves mouse and monkey trials before moving onto human trials. The final planned stage is a phase II/III clinical trial with 50 DMD patients. However, there is no evidence in the plan to edit

into a person with only a needle and the AAV would get CRISPR safely into a person’s cells where it would then release it.

On February 11, Jiankui postedon Twitter a picture of himself with two DMD patients, saying “with gene therapy, 3-yearold DMD kids should be able to live an almost normal, full life in future.”

Jiankui deleted all of his Twitter posts detailing his plans for DMD by February 23. No statement was released on why he deleted the information, though it came shortly after his story be-

It is known from Jiankui’s original conference talk that he edited a gene known as CCR5. The change he made in the gene confers immunity to the most common variant of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

Jiankui claims that the edited

social stigma, and some have pointed to the stigma as a motivator behind the gene editing.

Commenting on Jiankui’s manuscript of his experiment in the MIT Technology Review, Jeanne O’Brien asked “Did the study provide a genetic treatment for a social problem?”

Previous research has also found the change Jiankui made

Since his release, Jiankui has given several talks about human gene editing at international conferences, though has refused to speak on his previous actions. He’s even posted his talk about how CRISPR gene editing makes human lives better to TikTok.

In 2018, when Jiankui first presented his work on the gene-edited babies, he defended

embryos. Based on a proposal Jiankui has released, he plans to use Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) as a carrier for CRISPR which will target the gene that causes DMD. The previous experiment involved directly inserting CRISPR into human embryos.

AAV is a group of viruses that are common in the human population and are generally

gan picking up media attention. Jiankui’s plan for DMD also seems to be building off a famous 2015 experiment wherein mice with DMD were injected with AAV carrying CRISPR and had significant positive changes in their health.

to the CCR5 gene significantly improved the intelligence of mice. While Jiankui denied using the gene editing to improve intelligence, he did admit to being aware of the mice studies on CCR5 that showed increased in-

it saying he was “proud” of his work. In 2023, Jiankui told reporters with the Guardian that he “acted too quickly,” though, even when asked directly, stopped short of apologizing for his work.

It was reported on February

thought to be harmless. Previous research on gene editing has posited using AAV as a capsule to transport CRISPR into cells.

The advantage of the approach is that a solution of CRISPR inside of AAV could be injected

The DMD therapy that Jiankui plans to develop is more in line with other gene editing clinical trials around the world. For example, there are currently clinical trials that use CRISPR to cure sickle cell anemia and a form of vision loss known as Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis. Unlike Jiankui’s 2018 experiment, these clinical trials do not gene edit embryos, and aim to cure a condition the patient already has. The clinical trials also only target certain cell types and tissues for gene editing rather than making changes to the entire person, meaning that genetic changes would likely not be passed on to offspring.

Much has changed since December 30, 2019. A novel coronavirus became endemic. Has human gene editing become endemic as well?

news writer

He Jiankui has plans to gene edit again

Is anyone going to stop him?

Illustration: Lee Lim

“

While much of the information from Jiankui’s trial is secret, it was announced that he forged ethical documents and misled the doctors who performed the in-vitro fertilization.”

– Josh King

arts & culture

IHADay: a combination experience

victoria baht staff writer

In downtown Regina, located at #105 2300 Broad Street, I recently found a café and bubble tea bar like no other. This café, inside a cozy building, is known as IHADay. You can find bubble tea, coffee, mocktails, and desserts, all of which are served with a special twist! The owners and the servers in the store take the time and dedication to use bartending skills to make your drinks.

I stopped in at IHADay for the first time. I discovered them on Instagram due to the fact that they did their soft opening just over a month ago. I thought it would be a great time to drop by and see what this new local business was all about. As I took time to drop by, I enjoyed a nice

stay in. I wanted to do a coffee shop, but I also wanted a chill place to socialize and enjoy your drink, and who you are with.”

Now that we know the history, the inspiration, and why it is designed the way it is, let’s take a moment and recognize two important parts of the business: the product and experience. When I walked in, I was welcomed and given my individual menu. It gives off a dine-in experience as you can take the menu to the side, decide and debate what you are going to get and all the additional toppings you desire. Based on the menu, they had plenty of options for bubble tea. They have some classics that you may recognize, such as milk tea, matcha tea, and brown sugar. They also have some coffee to enjoy with a double shot of espresso. They may even have specials, depending on the week.

beverage, talked to the owner to get coverage about this business, and got the full experience (which I can tell you from the conversation I had with the owner is important).

I will first start by talking about the history and the inspiration of this location. Ray Chien, the owner of IHADay, wanted to tell me a bit about its history and the reason why this store location is set up the way it is. Chien recently opened a bubble tea shop back in 2017 and was working as a barista. According to Chien, the main inspiration for this new location was drawn up because “sometimes being a barista can be boring, and not too many ideas you can put into [the process] when making bubble tea. I wanted to create art using something to create coffee and bubble tea. So, I started to use a style like bartending.” On social media, we often find bartenders making special drinks and cocktails that contain alcohol. Not everyone can or wants to drink alcohol, so why should they be left out of the bartending experience? Chien noted this as part of the inspiration for the shop, and I fully agree that it is a unique experience and has an atmosphere that’s not typical in Regina businesses.

Not only does the owner own this business and run it, they also helped design the store. “When I designed this store, I designed everything. I wanted an environment where people would like to

I enjoyed a strawberry bubble tea with added bubble toppings and coconut jelly. This drink is exceptionally good, some of the best bubble tea I personally have ever had. Whenever I have bubble tea, it normally comes too cold or with lots of ice. Not this one. It is a very nice drink, smooth, and had the perfect ratio of toppings as well.

As the owner started to make the drink, I got to see the magic happen. It started off with just making a basic drink, and while I was watching, I got to see the cup be shaken aggressively, be thrown over the shoulder, tapped on the counter, and end with a super smooth pour. It was very cool to see and left a good impression. For me, it was good to see the owner take their time making my drink while using fresh ingredients that just added to the taste and the experience.

This is exactly what Chien wanted from his business. After the conversation I had with Chien, spending time in the environment, and tasting the product, I personally say his claims match the outcome. I enjoyed my time down at IHADay and I plan to be back soon! I hope you Carillon readers take some time to go and check out this café and bubble tea bar. It is not just about the drink, it is about the vibes, experience, ingredients, and performance.

Where else will you find a bubble tea bartender?

Here you can be treated to both a drink and a show!

Photo: Victoria Baht

“I wanted to create art using something to create coffee and bubble tea. So, I started to use a style like bartending.”

– Ray Chien

Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

The Human Rights Watch Film Festival presenting unique perspectives

amina salah staff writer

The Human Rights Watch Film Festival (HRWFF) is an important source that focuses on storytelling. It gives a glimpse into the various issues that plague our world. This gives creators the opportunity to create content that means something to them, content that allows them to shine light on important issues and raise awareness for these issues. This is ultimately how we are able to foster change. Without awareness, there is no growth and introspection.

There are many documentaries that are available to watch this year. They focus on a wide range of issues, such as climate change, food, migration, and more. There is something for everyone, depending on your interests. In a world booming with content, it is important to use our access to such content by educating ourselves on important matters and understanding how they hold power over humanity.

Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom is a 2022 documentary film that was written and directed by Evgeny Afineevsky. The film premiered during the 79th Venice

Film Festival. The documentary focuses on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is a unique documentary, focuses on the war from the perspective of Ukrainian citizens, and it highlights the struggle and battle for independence in the face of Russian aggression.

The film provides a historical background of the war by exploring Russia’s relationship with Ukraine over the years. It transitions to the events of 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and began giving support to rebels in eastern Ukraine. Ultimately, this is what led to the conflict in which thousands of civilians lost their lives.

The documentary features interviews with Ukrainian soldiers, activists, politicians, and citizens. What makes it unique is that it gives citizens the opportunity to recount the war and offer their own personal beliefs on the issue. This highlights the bravery and sacrifice of citizens who are going through something so brutal and horrific. War is not pretty. It is mentally, physically, and emotionally taxing. It takes a toll on the lives of people. It changes lives. It leads to intergenerational trauma

that is extremely difficult to overcome. Furthermore, war displaces people and separates families and loved ones. This is the cruel reality of war: crippling loneliness in a world where you are separated from your family, friends, country, and everything you have ever known.

Freedom on Fire is a must-watch documentary. It is important to understand the war in Ukraine and its complexities. Russia and Ukraine have a long history be-

tween them. This documentary seeks to educate viewers by offering a view of the intricacies of war. The website for the film, freedomonfire.film, states “It is an exploration of the courage of the Ukrainian people, fiercely determined to stand their ground until ‘the last drop of blood.’”

The documentary is interesting because it highlights how horrific events can serve as the domino effect to unite people on the journey to defending their

A poetry book that I’ll need a while longer to fully finish digesting Cradle and Spoon packs a unique punch

While I normally read books front-to-back and then put them down for a while, the poetry book Cradle and Spoon by Kate Spencer demanded more from me. I swept through it – in varying orders –three times in two days.

There are three chapters of poems in this book, ending with an appendix (more of an essay,

really). In this appendix, Spencer outlines the inspiration taken from confessional poets who “believed that their art should engage not only with their own, often troubled, psyches but also with their historical moment.”

Spencer expands later that this collection “aims to respond to confessional poetics – affect,

pathology, and the body – but the collection is also conscious of postmodernism, how it shapes interpretation, and most significantly, Julia Kristeva’s theories that build on Freud’s work.” While Spencer appears to have placed more weight on Kristeva’s writings, a Freudian tone is evident through the poems and blindly obvious in the appendix.

Spencer states the collection is an exploration of mood, specifically melancholia, which is done through toying with combinations of the symbolic and the semiotic. The symbolic, associated with masculinity in this work, represents form without meaning when separated from femininity. The semiotic, associated with femininity, represents meaning without form when separated from the masculine.

Throughout Cradle and Spoon, Spencer uses fixed form structures frequently, sprinkling in some well executed glosa throughout, but also includes lyrical and prose writing. This breadth of style adds depth to the intimate confessional element of the poetry, equipping the reader with multiple lenses to witness through. Given the focus on moods and pathology, this structure also humanizes the speaker uniquely.

A story and its characters can easily be stripped of humanity once the story is reduced to what can be relayed by ink on a page. A poet holds their own story as semiotic, and must find a way to relay what they experience to others using the symbolic: letters used to form written word. This sharing of accounts immediately

own country. Many people have chosen to flee the country, while others have chosen to stay and fight for it. Many cultures focus on the importance of dying in the land where you were born. They believe that this is the best way to leave your mark on your world. It is better to pass away in a place that feels like home to you rather than a different, cold, and scary world that is unfamiliar to you. That is the terrifying thing about war: facing the unknown.

shaves countless details from the true semiotic nature of the idea, but without this adaptation the idea cannot be passed.

Spencer’s choice to adapt experiences with so many methods under the same cover makes it more difficult for the stories inside to become dehumanized because it challenges the idea that a person can be understood through one lens, one symbol, one confession. Multiple adaptations of the idea are always required, and even then, you’ll only ever get part of the picture.

Symbols are objects used to represent ideas, so it follows that symbols can be objectified and stripped of their humanity. Cradle and Spoon resists this deprivation because throughout the collection the reader is kept uncertain of the object. Our human impulse to take in information and sort it into clean-cut categories is challenged because nothing occurs in isolation.

I do have one grammar complaint I’d like to make among all this praise. Normally, I like to read poetry out loud, at least the first time I’m going through a new book, but in several poems the comma splices meant I’d have to read the same three lines three times to understand where the story was headed. There is an example of this in “Blood Sister,” a poem where the speaker reflects on joyful memories made with someone dear in the midst of life’s low points. Here is the second and final stanza:

“Begin again, nothing new, cold

coffee and the slight fever reminder: its getting worse, the lack is hungrier, but your brown skin, in humbling memory, sends rekindled reason to my feet, and I meet each breath, less depressed, alive because you loved me all those years ago.”

The sentiment in this passage is stunning and it calls back to themes from poems earlier in the collection, but I had to read through several times to pick up on that because the form interrupted me. Ironically, as I write this, I realize that Spencer could have done this intentionally, choosing to engage with the symbolic as form without meaning.

Reviewing bittersweet memories is an experience with much emotional range, and sometimes in a processing period you can recognize the event – what it is that actually happened – without being able to unpack the meaning just yet. It’ll keep popping up and you’ll keep turning it over until one day the right approach hits, and the event “nothing new” begins again.

I would wholeheartedly recommend reading through Cradle and Spoon whenever you find the time. Moreover, I would recommend you claim Spencer’s ability to humanize accounts, that you begin to recognize what appears to be a symbol is only ever one facet of the full thing.

Everyone has the power to draw others together or tear them apart.

Photo: Tumisu via Pixabay

There’s so much going on in the cover and the poetry!

Photo: Holly Funk

holly funk editor-in-chief

The world of documentaries

A whole new world of television

amina salah staff writer

Over the years, documentaries have gone from acting as formal ways to gain information to a whole new form of entertainment. Documentaries are special in their ability to take real-life stories and plaster them on the big screen with all the flaws, quirks, and complexities of human nature. Documentaries provide a source of raw and often unfiltered content. They allow us to see our world through the lens of others and understand the different perspectives that exist across the globe.

Furthermore, they are extremely diverse and multifaceted in the various genres viewers can choose from. There are documentaries ranging from pop culture commentary to nature, politics, social dilemmas, science, and more. The rise of streaming services has created a world where documentaries are watched by millions of people all over the world. Netflix rose to the hype early on, creating its own documentaries. As a result, the streaming platform provides hundreds if not thousands of documentaries ranging a wide array of issues.

One of the earliest documentaries I remember watching from Netflix was Fyre Festival. This was a documentary that went into a music festival turned into a disaster. It showed how easily we are all influenced, and the power of greed. Ultimately, this documentary portrays the love of money and how it is the root of all evil.

During the early stages of the pandemic, many of us were quarantining at home. This was the perfect time to catch up on old shows, binge new shows, and watch some documentaries along the way.

Enter Tiger King, a brilliant documentary about an eccentric group of people in the big cat world. We were introduced to people such as Joe Exotic and Carol Baskin. Joe operated his own zoo full of what he called ‘ligers,’ a mixed breed made up of a lion and a tiger. Carol was introduced as an activist who was fighting for animal rights. This was one of the most watched documentaries in 2020. It changed the world of documentary-making, and most importantly, it was a big moment for pop culture. You could not go anywhere without hearing people talking about Tiger King and Joe

Exotic or scroll past memes about the documentary. Fast forward a few years later and we were blessed with the one and only, The Tinder Swindler. This was a very interesting moment because the dialogue shifted into relationships, red flags, and how to avoid them. Unfortunately, the women in the documentary were

flix. Upon its release, more than 20 million people watched it. This documentary followed Steven Avery, a man who was convicted of murder in 2007. Steven claimed he was innocent right from the beginning. What I loved about Making a Murderer is its ability to provide the harsh reality of the justice system. It showed

down. All we are left to do is speculate, and speculations can only go so far when you do not have all of the facts. As a result, this case remains unsolved to this day. The Staircase is a beautiful documentary because it shines a spotlight on just how complex the American justice system is. One documentary that left

perfect for that. I enjoy watching them because I love learning about all the different creatures that live on our planet. Additionally, I love being able to see diverse and secluded parts of our world we wouldn’t normally be able to see. Nature documentaries allow you to bask in the greatness of our planet. It makes you

blind to the red flags. Watching this documentary was almost philosophical for me. Many of us are frantic about red flags, but sometimes we are blind to them because perhaps red is our favourite colour. It’s something to reflect on. To this day, the phrase “my enemies are after me” is something everyone who watched will chuckle about.

We cannot talk about documentaries without exploring the complex world of true crime. Making a Murderer is one of the earliest documentaries on Net-

the good, the bad, and the ugly. Furthermore, the focus on wrongful convictions was pivotal to the narrative of the documentary. This is a cult classic because it highlights the flaws within the American justice system.

The Staircase is another cult favourite documentary. It introduces the story of Michael Peterson who was accused of murdering his wife. Despite this, Peterson maintains innocence. This is an unsolved case. Unfortunately, we will never know what truly happened and how the events went

me sleepless for many weeks was The Nightstalker. This documentary featured the case of Richard Ramirez, his victims, and the detectives who would eventually hunt him down. The brutality of Ramirez’s crimes was incredibly disturbing. The documentary is extremely graphic and it focuses on many traumatizing and triggering subjects, so I would advise anyone who wants to watch it to be careful.

If you are looking for a break from the daunting true crime genre, nature documentaries are

realize how small we are in the grand scheme of things.

I particularly enjoy David Attenborough’s documentaries and his style of narration. Our Planet is one of the most powerful nature documentaries I have ever seen. There are many scenes in it that will make you bawl your eyes out, such as the realities of climate change and how harsh they can be on animals. It is sombre and insightful, but above all, it is breathtaking. Seaspiracy is another documentary that highlights important issues such as overfishing, plastic pollution, and climate change, among other things.

Moreover, there are many documentaries on Netflix about famous legal cases. Some honourable mentions are Don’t F**k With Cats, newly released MH370 The Plane That Disappeared, Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, and Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey

All in all, the world of documentaries is deep and diverse. Its many genres and styles offer something for all viewers, depending on their interests.

Documentaries are truly timeless.

Photo: Shutterbug65 via Pixabay

“Watching this documentary was almost philosophical for me. Many of us are frantic about red flags, but sometimes we are blind to them because perhaps red is our favourite colour. It’s something to reflect on.

– Amina Salah

Sims 4 family dynamics

Enjoy more diversity in your sims family

Years expansion pack, which gave more for teenagers, but still not a lot for families.

Without a doubt, the greatest expansion pack for The Sims 3 was Generations. There was something special about all the new family build mode items. You could push around your baby in a stroller and there were home videos you could record. It was incredible.

Then, we got The Sims 4. At launch, The Sims 4 didn’t even have toddlers. We just had object babies that would age up straight into children. Then, a few years later when we did get toddlers, we still had object babies. Even the pets from the Cats & Dogs expansion did more than babies.

Sims players have been begging for years for babies to be more than objects. They have been begging for more content for kids and families. Most recently, we finally got the High School

Now, we’re finally getting more content for families, and we’re getting babies that aren’t objects.

On March 14, a free base game update was released introducing the ‘Infant’ life stage, a stage between babies and toddlers. The object babies will still exist, but they’ll age up into infants. The object babies are now referred to as ‘newborns,’ and they get some upgrades too.

For newborns, there is finally a new baby bassinet. We’ve had more than one for a while, but they’re all for occult sims. And even though you can put a human baby in one, you must buy it beforehand. There is also a skin tone upgrade. Before this new update, newborns only had three skin tones they could be; now they have all the same options as other sims. Their eye colour also

changes to match what it will be when they grow up. Newborns visually look so much better with this update. There are also new interactions with new animations. Before the update, any time you

you don’t know why your baby’s crying and you have to feed them, change them, and rock them all in a row while putting them down in between, it takes a long while. If you have the Seasons expansion, your newborn will respond to ex-

is to either be friends or be in a romantic relationship with them. Your sim won’t be pregnant at all while getting a science baby. They’ll just come home with it and no pregnancy stage will occur.

– Will Bright

wanted to interact with the baby at least twice in a row, you had to put down the baby before the second interaction started. When

treme weather if they aren’t sheltered. Finally, you can leave your baby out in a snowstorm like you could in The Sims 3. There’s also a new interaction for babies called ‘entertain’ that’s only available for kids and toddlers.

Back to infants: the create-asim feature for them has brandnew options, and some old favourites we’ve seen for toddlers. There are about six hairstyles released so far for infants, mostly shorter hair for the younger age group. They can also have birthmarks that can fade or stay as they grow up. Something that I’m really excited about is baby helmets that help shape the infant’s head. Not only that, there are those cute baby glasses that hook around the back. There are six traits total for infants: cautious, sensitive, calm, intense, wiggly, and sunny.

Remember that this is just what happens in create-a-sim –what about in the actual game?

First thing’s first, your infant can pick favourites. They can form attachments to their parents or other caregivers, both positive and negative, depending on how often they’re cared for. Depending on their attachments, their moodlets can change. If they trust their caregiver, they’ll cry less, but if they don’t, they’ll cry more. If they form an attachment with a sim, they’ll gain one of three traits: top-notch infant, happy infant, or unhappy infant, which can change how they interact with other sims as they grow up.

Your infants might also not like certain baby foods. You have to try out the different kinds to see what your infant likes and what they don’t like. The build mode for infants comes with toys that they can play with, and other child sims can play games with infants. They also sleep in cribs compared to the newborn’s bassinet and the toddler’s bed. That doesn’t mean they’ll fall asleep easily; you have to try and get your infant to sleep.

With the new update, they’ve finally added a new pregnancy option: surrogacy. In the game they call it a ‘science baby’ and you can have one as a single parent or a couple. It costs 1200 simoleons and all you need to make a science baby with someone else

What about the new family-themed Growing Together pack? What do we get with that?

Well, adults can have midlife crises. When they get the notification for it, you can choose to have them follow it or not. If your adult sim works, they can also get a workplace rival to fight against for promotions. Maybe your sims will lose their job since that’s a new feature coming with the pack. They can also get burnt out; if your sims spend too long doing something, they’ll burn out and need a break.

Additionally, there are three new social events that are family themed. There’s the family reunion where you can bring anyone from your family tree, a baby shower to celebrate the new bundle of joy joining the family, and the slumber party event for your kids. The pack even comes with sleeping bags for the event.

Something else simmers have been begging for comes to us with the pack: family dynamics. People have always wondered why when you make sims in create-a-sim, they always have good relationships with each other. With this update, you can list them as distant, difficult, jokesters, or close. It’ll change how your sims interact with family members.

More than that though, is a new compatibility system. Sims can be socially compatible with each other, or they can have low compatibility. This can change how sims interact with each other and make their interactions negative or positive more often.

With the new pack also comes a new world: San Sequoia. I know it sounds similar to San Myshuno, but there are no apartments in San Sequoia. This world resembles the city of San Francisco. It comes with 3 neighborhoods and 12 lots.

There’s still probably a lot of surprises coming that we won’t know about until later on. If you’re a Sims fan, make sure you get this update and you check out the new pack if you love family gameplay like I do!

Can you spend more hours in the sims than Will?

“

We’re finally getting more content for families, and we’re getting babies that aren’t objects.”

sports & health

Outstanding competition for U of R dance

up to grade 12, then she completed her dance exams, and after high school she found the U of R dance team.

The University of Regina’s dance team recently returned from Guelph, Ontario for the University Dance Challenge. The dance competition consisted of the team hitting the stage with disciplines in tap, lyrical, hip-hop, jazz, and contemporary; all in categories of solo, duos, and small group sessions.

The team hit the stage strong, hard, and competitively. In each area of the competition, dancers came out with scores of either superior, high superior, or outstanding. Even all the small groups came back with a score of outstanding!

Baker also started at the age of four and, at first, things were rough. She did not like dance. As she grew older and moved around Saskatchewan, she rejoined and danced to all sorts of styles and started to gain a love for the sport. Baker joined the U of R dance team at the end of 2020 and has been involved since.

Weir has been dancing for about 15 years and has been working through almost all the disciplines that her school of dance offers. Previously, she spent time dancing at Martin School of Dance.

by yourself, and the nice thing about dance is there is no real right or wrong way. You can just play music and dance however you want to but still be able to express and release how you are feeling,” Baker summarized beautifully.

All these women are driven by emotion to dance. Let’s transition into what feelings they had this past weekend when dancing in this competition. It was a hard one for the University of Regina’s team.

Almost all the other schools that they competed against this weekend were dancing as a part of their degree, which differs from our university’s team makeup. “Lots of the girls we were

all came together with positivity. “It all came down to your mindset because we have such a big dynamic, and team dynamic really helped.” Baker mentioned that even when individuals were competing against each other in the same solo competitions, the dancers didn’t let the goal of winning come between them and their teammates.

“Even soloists who competed in the same category against others, whoever gets first, yay! Whoever gets second is also good! […] It eliminates that individualist view.” Regarding what Baker said, this team especially highlighted working together as a team for themselves, and not passing judgment based on who

tion, and let’s also appreciate our own.

After getting to know a bit about the mindset, dedication, and work that went into this weekend, I wanted to understand how each of them feels about their own performance in certain categories. Each of the small groups came out with a final mark of outstanding, which is the highest category you can fall under.

When asked how dancing in a duo compares to solo performances, Baker said “One thing you learn is how big you must make things on stage and still acknowledge those around you. You have to line up with what they are doing, have the same expression and energy, and look like one.”

Now that we have a feeling of how the team did, let’s get a bit of an insight into the competition itself. Paige Baker, Hayden Wagner, and Kayla Weir from the dance team all sat down for interviews. To start us off, they wanted to tell us their history in dance and what got them into dancing at the university level.

Wagner started dancing at the age of four at Dance City, and took part in all the styles. She loved it and did all the way

Now that we know how each of these girls got to dancing at this level, let’s learn why each of them dance. Common themes from the responses of all three stated they dance as it allows them to express feelings and emotions and escape reality for a while. It is a way to tell stories in a dramatic way, so they each use it to show and share what they are feeling.

“Escape from all reality and all of what is going on, […] dance is somewhere you can go and be

competing against are going to school, dancing every day to get a dance degree, diploma, or arts degree. They train every day, whereas for us, it is something that we do on a Sunday. Other things come before it. My degree – my homework – comes before dance, whereas for them, dance is their homework,” Baker noted.

That is some scary competition by the sounds of it, though that did not stop our team! The University of Regina dance team

won or lost, just being proud.

“It does not matter what the other teams are doing. It does not matter how amazing they are. We have to do this for ourselves, and we should not compare ourselves to other people. […] Being able to appreciate how amazing other people are and separate ourselves and appreciate ourselves too,” Wagner said. How does that not make you want to be a part of this team? Let’s appreciate others’ forms of art, work, and dedica-

Weir not only danced in a solo and duo performance, she choreographed both, which is big. “For a solo, I just kind of found that because I was doing it by myself, I had to do it for myself. I didn’t really care what the judges thought of it or others. […] At the end of the day and in the moment coming off stage, I cared about how I felt good about it and with my own heart.”

Joy and pride abound as team members recount their challenging but successful time in Guelph

victoria baht staff writer

“

Lots of the girls we were competing against are going to school, dancing every day to get a dance degree, diploma, or arts degree. They train every day, whereas for us, it is something that we do on a Sunday. Other things come before it. My degree –my homework – comes before dance, whereas for them, dance is their homework.”

– Paige Baker

Cougars sweep track and cross country meet

How many records can be beat in one competition? Turns out, quite a few…

sophia stevens s&h writer

The Cougars track and field team finished strong in their last competition at the U Sports Championship in Saskatoon. The men’s team finished sixth in the country with 34 points, and the Cougar Women’s team finished ninth with 22 total points.

The meet saw amazing individual and team performances by the Cougars. There were additions to the Cougars’ medal collection as the Cougars won 11 Canada West medals at the Canada West Championship. On day one of the U Sports competition, Cougar sprinter Usheoritse Itsekiri (Dushos) defended his U Sports Championship title in the 60-metre dash with a time of 6.61 seconds, which broke his own U of R record.

Storm Zablocki finished his rookie season with a bronze medal in the 60-metre dash with a time of 6.71 seconds, which is also his personal best. Joely Welburn won her sixth U Sports medal with a silver in the pentathlon. Welburn was fifth after the shot spot, but won both the long jump and 800-metre to move her up to second in the final standings. Her 800-metre time was also four seconds faster than her previous best at the U Sports meet.

The men’s 4x200-metre re-

lay team qualified for the finals with a second faster time in the preliminaries at 1:28.62. On the second day of competition, Welburn took home another medal, earning a bronze medal in long jump. She has won a bronze in 2020 and silver in 2021 in long jump. Welburn now has seven U Sports medals across her four sea-

Taylor named

sons with the Cougars.

The Cougar’s 4x800-metre men’s team just missed out on a podium finish, with a fourth-place finish time of 7:35.63. At his first U Sports meet, Jonathan Podbielski ran the 1000-metre, finishing in seventh place with a time of 2:27.16. Logan Fettes became the first-ever Cougar to compete in

the heptathlon, where he finished eighth with a total of 4729 points.

Other highlights of the day include Kaila Neigum who finished seventh in the 3000-metre with a time of 9:42.95, and Erika Stockhorst who placed eighth in long jump with 5.64 metres.

On the last day of the meet, the Cougars had a thrilling victory

in the men’s 4x200-metre relay. The team finished with a time of 1:27.74, breaking the old University of Regina record of 1:27.98 which was set back in 2011. This first-place finish is the first time ever that the University of Regina has won a national gold medal in a relay event. When asked about the final of the 4x200-metre, U of R interim head coach Chad Kichula said “It was an amazing event to watch, and the other teams brought more speed early [sic] than we had anticipated. Duchos got us off to a quick start, Storm really tapped into his speed on the back straightaway to keep us on the inside lane, and Logan and Brett were able to hold off the challenges. It was an absolute storybook ending for these guys.”

Can’t

coach of the year

Illustration: Lee Lim

Kichula continued, saying “We showed the country that, pound for pound, we are among the best track and field teams in the nation. I’m so proud of not only our veterans for their leadership and performance, but for our many rookies that stepped up. Dushos and Joely, in particular, were standouts and will undoubtedly go into the books among the greatest U Sports athletes of all-time.” The Cougars showcase their amazing heart and talent at the U Sports Championship and the Cougars continued success is still to come.

The women’s basketball head coach was elected by his peers and credits the support surrounding him

For the second time in his 17 years as head coach for the Cougars women’s basketball team, Dave Taylor was voted in as Canada West Coach of the Year.

This award is selected by all coaches in a single league, which Taylor noted as a strength. “The Can [Canada] West is done by a vote from the coaches in Can West, so that’s why it’s nice – it’s my peers voting me in.”

Taylor started pitching in with the women’s basketball team 30 years ago when Christine Stapleton was head coach, continued assisting while Jeff Speedy was in the role, and credits his current

position in part to consistency and determination. “I’ve been around a long time but it’s just taking advantage of the opportunities that were there, and then really just staying with it.“

Taylor was not shy about the low points through his journey, but noted they were not weathered alone. “The first two years that I started as an assistant coach we were weak, and then Christine did a really good job recruiting, building up, [...] and got to the point in her second-last year where we won the national title in 2001.”

“We’ve got a really good staff

of assistant coaches,” Taylor added, referencing the current team.

“Wayne Morrison’s been around for a few years now and Carly Graham, a former player of mine, helps. We’ve added a full time assistant coach this year, Michaela Kleisinger, who had played for us and then did her master’s at Alberta. Having a really strong staff helps, obviously.”

In addition to help during practices and on the court itself, the head coach noted that his family has played a large role. “It gets forgotten sometimes with coaches, but I’ve got a really strong support system at home

with my wife and kids. Coaching involves a lot of sacrifices, partially on their end, so it’s funny. I kind of get the award, but it’s really based on having great staff, a supportive family, and great players. I’m the one who gets it, but if none of that stuff is in place, it doesn’t happen.”

Taylor strongly emphasized the team’s role in his win, noting the “bittersweet” feelings this year because the last time he won this same award, the team also made it to nationals. That being said, he noted an impressive jump in track record:

“We were 8-8 last year in conference, and this year we go 17-3.”

“It looked like a big jump,” he continued, “but I think a lot of people knew [to expect] that based on last year, we had so many rookies last year. We were still a young team [this year], but I think people expected us to be better; I don’t know if everybody expected us to be as good as we were.”

Despite this season having come to a close, Taylor mentioned that next year’s team will begin their off-season training this spring. He explained this involves three to four weekly sessions of strength training and conditioning, and the players must find time to practice shooting independently.

“That’s obviously the Regina players,” he specified, “the play-

ers who go home just have to find places they can do the same thing. Versus in-season, where we’re five times a week practice or games [sic], we’re still doing the weights, still doing the shooting. So you know, in-season we’re probably [meeting] twice as much.”

The off-season training was noted as one main reason for the team’s recent improvement. Taylor said that previously “the teams still trained in the off-season, but it wasn’t as much. It’s like every sport, and even the kids growing up have just done more. My alumni always bug me when I say that the basketball players [now] are better, and I don’t mean that they’re better – they just grew up playing it earlier. [...] if those players were doing the same type of training these are now, they absolutely would more than fit in.”

Taylor has clearly put considerable thought and care into his coaching approach over his decades in the position, and the Cougars women’s basketball team’s track record is just one display of his effort. Keep your eyes peeled for the announcement of next year’s game schedule.

Dave Taylor pictured riling up the roster for yet another win.

Photo: Arthur Images holly funk editor-in-chief

Major League Baseball’s top contenders

The Major League Baseball (MLB) season is just around the corner. As spring training continues, it will be interesting to see which teams stand out and continue to impress going into the regular season and which teams are able to adapt to the new rule changes within the game.

The MLB starts almost every season with new rule changes, and this year is no exception. The rule change that has started during the preseason included a pitching clock, which has made the pace of the game significantly faster. The preseason statistics have shown that games are now 25 minutes faster, and that there are more singles, stolen bases, and runs being seen in each game.

This all speeds up the game and adds a new dimension to the pace moving forward. It will be interesting to see which teams adapt well to the new rules, and which teams may fall behind due to the increase in speed. In understanding which teams may adapt better, it is important to break down the top teams in the MLB. Here is a breakdown of the top teams going into the regular season.

Houston Astros

Last year, the Houston Astros won the World Series after the Philadelphia Phillies took a 2-1 lead in the series. This was the Astros’ second World Series win in six years. However, the Astros 2017 World Series championship has brought much controversy in the past few years, since it was alleged that the Astros cheated by sign sealing during the postseason.

Sign stealing in baseball is considered cheating because the batter will then know the type of pitch being thrown at them. In response to the allegations against the Astros, fans were not the only ones who were upset, as many players from other teams felt anger and frustration towards the Astros. Baseball fans and players still have a bitter taste in their mouth when it comes to the Astros and their World Series wins.

This new reputation has not altered the Astros’ playing abilities or capabilities. However, the Astros have lost some of their key players this offseason. Although the Astros’ roster has been impacted, the roster remains strong in almost all aspects of the game. Their only major concern going into the season is their depth at the

pitching position, since injuries and players leaving have plagued the team going into spring training. However, the Astros are still considered the top contender going into the 2023 season.

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees also look strong going into spring training. The Yankees have a strong roster going into the regular season, with a potential battle at shortstop to ensue. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Oswald Peraza, and Anthony Volpe are all contenders for the starting shortstop position going into the regular season. The Yankees have also seen strength in its Minor League players, who have been able to contribute to the team in recent seasons.

Jasson Dominguez is a player the Yankees are keeping an eye on going into the season, and has been a non-roster invitee for the Yankees during the Major League camp. Infielder DJ LeMahieu appears healthy after undergoing surgery in the offseason for a broken bone in his foot that he sustained during the second half of last season. LeMahieu’s health will be an important factor for the Yankees and their depth in the infield. The difficulties for the Yankees positionally will be figuring out who to play in left field, since the options are currently limited. This will add more pressure to Yankee Manager Aaron Boone in determining who will be the most effective in left field.

The Yankees will only be adding two newcomers from last year’s roster, Carlos Rodon and Tommy Kahnle. The few roster changes will help the Yankees stay more consistent since they know the strengths and weaknesses of their teammates going into the season. The New York Yankees are still top contenders for the 2023 season and hope to improve from last year when they lost in the American League Division series 4-0 to the Houston Astros.

New York Mets

The Mets have seen massive moves this offseason, never before seen in Major League Baseball history, as the Mets committed $361 million to winning the World Series. Mets owner Steve Cohen has come out defending the historic spending spree, saying that the idea to spend a lot this offseason was a way to bridge strategy in keeping the organization competitive until the Mets’ Minor League team can develop

sustainable and future talent.

When asked about the offseason moves at Clover Park, Cohen said “I made a commitment to the fans. It wasn’t a short-term commitment. When I do something, I don’t do it halfway. When I’m in, I’m all in. I don’t accept mediocrity well. And so, I have a certain high expectation. If it requires me to invest in this club, I’m going to do it.”

The Mets are currently looking for a president to replace San-

dy Alderson who is now an advisor to Cohen. One of the Mets’ big moves included the team acquiring pitcher Justin Verlander, who played for the Astros from 2017-2020 and in 2022. The Mets look strong heading into the season, with several superstar players filling the vacancies of several previously key players.

It’s extremely hard to predict the World Series champion in baseball considering that each

team plays 162 games a year, 81 at home and 81 away. The risk of long-term player injuries to key players during the season is likely. However, it will be interesting to see how this season plays out. The 2023 Major League Baseball season will begin on March 30 with the San Francisco Giants versus the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves versus the Washington Nationals.

sophia stevens s&h writer

As we approach the official season’s start, reviewing rule changes and preseason is key

“I made a commitment to the fans. It wasn’t a short-term commitment. When I do something, I don’t do it halfway. When I’m in, I’m all in. I don’t accept mediocrity well. And so, I have a certain high expectation. If it requires me to invest in this club, I’m going to do it.”

– Steve Cohen, owner of the New York Mets

URSU in dire need of upgrade

katlyn

contributor

If I were to concisely describe my experience at URSU, I’d simply say that it was ‘a time.’ I have seen URSU as a student before and after sitting on the board, and of course saw what was being done while I was on the board. I was remarking to a friend that there is nothing like election season to show me how little the average student understands how URSU works within the university, and how it functions in general as a non-profit organization.

Unlike most non-profits, URSU does not solely rely on grants or donations as their major funding, but rather on student fees which are then distributed between themselves and the various campus centres based on prior agreements. URSU also has very little power on the various university committees it sits on, with the exception of the disciplinary and appeals committees, where the entire role of URSU members is to provide the student perspective and to help guide various judgements, keeping in mind the interest of the student body at large.

Based on my experiences, the biggest change I saw that went in the right direction was implementing interviews with the URSU general manager for executive candidates. Prior to this, there seemed to be issues with the workload being too great and students graduating before the end of their term. As a result, we dropped down to two executives. Despite this issue, it was the most functional board that I have seen at URSU. The board was asking to be more involved and tried to hear as many voices as possible. We even had some laughs together. I think if that board had even one more year, there could have been more steps in the right direction.

The board that immediately followed was the one that made me really evaluate what I’m willing to deal with. Amidst the gaslighting, belittling, and manipulation tactics displayed by certain executives at the time, there was little room left for respect for each other. There were times where it felt like it was two separate groups, each of which wanted the other gone at all costs, to the point that it went nuclear. I left not only because I was being burned out as if I was candle that had gasoline dumped on it, but also because my mental health was tanking due to how little I felt respected. I had taken advice from someone I really respected and thought about my own needs. I managed to still get a bursary for students with disabilities pushed through (of which I received zero credit for – thanks execs!) to help with the impact of COVID-19.

COVID-19 had its impacts on all three terms I held in various ways. In my first term, it was the sudden switch to

online delivery of classes and board meetings. At that time, URSU policies did not fully reflect meeting in an online space, so new expectations were slowly adapted and applied. During my second term, when I chaired the governance committee, we were implementing updates that were both generalized and reflected virtual meetings. The group I originally had on that committee were honestly incredible, and

formed. Even when things got tough, getting through seemed doable. I am still in contact with some of these people, and seeing them reach these big life milestones makes me want to cheer for them.

Getting back to the board work, I didn’t get involved in any internal committees this time but focused on external ones like student appeals and the discipline committee. These committees are actually

ing a similar model, referring to those who have experience being part of a specific group by asking the representative in the room directly (which, in the case of an inexperienced member or a neurodivergent representative, allows more confidence in sharing experiences and thoughts). Regarding this year’s election, I did not vote. I hold more faith in the staff of URSU than those who were running for positions – especially with a certain email sent to students. From being involved with URSU, I know the limited amount of power held, so often campaign promises are just going to fail no matter how much work is put into them. I tried getting a student centre that was targeted to students with disabilities and is fully accessible, but in the end it went nowhere because the university was not even willing to provide resources for it, and we got bounced around until I gave up.

I loved getting to work with them. It was like a breath of fresh air in comparison to board meetings where so many of us were dropping away like flies.

My final term was significantly better. There were still a lot of remaining wounds from the previous year that affected returning members, but there also seemed to be more of a support network that had

where URSU shines brightest. Being able to provide the student perspective is incredibly important, keeping in mind the perspective of both the defendant and the entire student body. I also came to grasp how much some professors really care to educate, and how many weren’t afraid to point out when the university was being unfair. URSU could really function well by follow-

URSU has never been in a position where it can significantly impact all students. The free pantry, the fridges, and URSU thrifts are the biggest impacts URSU can have because it’s using the power held. With URSU having such a disconnect from students, being basically unheard in the big decisions and relying so heavily on staff to bring ideas to life, there’s no surprise that URSU is having engagement problems in all regards.

richardson

The students’ union leaves much to be desired

This drawing feels like fiction, because that last option is often altogether missing these days Illustration: Lee Lim

“

From being involved with URSU, I know the limited amount of power held, so often campaign promises are just going to fail no matter how much work is put into them.”

– Katlyn Richardson

Vianne Timmons and imposter Indigeneity

And she’s supposed to make me feel inspired?

copy editor

Vianne Timmons, president of Memorial University of Newfoundland and former president of the University of Regina, is on a six-week paid leave of absence following criticisms of her claims of Mi’kmaq heritage. In a 2019 interview with CBC, she said her great, great grandmother was a Mi’kmaq woman who moved to Nova Scotia and married a Timmons. This is why she considers herself of Mi’kmaq heritage. But in that same interview, she admits she “wasn’t raised in Mi’kmaq culture.”

Despite this apparently limited connection to Indigenous ways of living, Timmons was awarded the Indspire Award in 2019, an award given to Indigenous Canadians who inspire their local communities and show young Indigenous people that they too can succeed. According to Canadian Geographic, Timmons was specifically given the education award for working to create “a safe, accessible and supportive environment for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis students” at the University of Regina.

Ellen Turpel-Lafond and Carrie Bourassa – using claimed Indigeneity for selfish gain. I don’t think Timmons has ever intended to help the Mi’kmaq or broader Indigenous communities through the gains of her claimed Indigeneity. And if she has helped or will help, I don’t believe it’s proportionate to what she gets or has gotten for herself.

But now that I’ve clearly stated my position and hopefully won’t be misconstrued as a Timmons sympathizer, I need to also explain why this case and many other cases of claimed Indigeneity are complicated. Indigeneity isn’t a yes-or-no kind of thing.

forming me that my Métis lineage had been confirmed and my membership accepted. Enclosed was a membership card with my picture and my name. Printed on the back of that card was a declaration that the card bearer is the beneficiary of the collective rights of the Métis people of Canada. I remember kneeling on the floor, smiling and crying. I remembered the times I told my friends in elementary school that I was Métis just for them to dismiss me with “no you aren’t, you’re White.” And how could I say they’re wrong? I couldn’t possibly be both, right? Colonialism delivers on its promises. But in that moment, looking at that letter

used selfishly and against reconciliation. Some members of my own family sought their Métis status solely for the possibility of tax advantages or other financial benefits. And I’ve heard those same family members say deplorable things about Indigenous people; even my grandma, who was raised by people who fought for the Northwest Resistance at the Battle of Batoche. How can you be racist toward yourself? I’d doubt such a thing could happen if I hadn’t seen it for myself again and again.

At first, I didn’t know what to do with all of this. But eventually, I figured out that the first step was admitting I was lost. I had

I’ve been a Métis student at the University of Regina since 2016, and I’ve never felt any inspiration or help from Timmons.

To make my position clear, I am against what Timmons has said and done. She is yet another figure acting in the interests of colonialism and settler culture – others in recent memory being Mary

It isn’t just skin colour, it isn’t just language, it isn’t just ways of living or knowing, and it certainly isn’t just blood quantum. Indigeneity is complicated. And I know this because of my own struggles with my Indigenous identity.

I’ll never forget the day I got the letter from the Métis Federation of Canada in-

and that card, I felt validated. As I embraced and reflected on my Métis identity, I understood more and more my lifelong feelings of confusion and inner conflict.

I don’t know if I’m part of the lost generation or the found generation of the Métis, but I’m Métis enough to have seen firsthand how claims of Indigeneity can be

to accept being led back to where I’m from by those who are still there. For me to find out who I am, I have to let others help me. We all heal together.

As I live with this internal conflict, Timmons accepts awards for her supposed Indigeneity with open arms. She has shown no tact or nuance in discussing her Indigenous heritage. It’s all for show. If she knew the pain I’ve endured, if she really felt the indescribable hopelessness that Indigenous Canadians bravely face every day they’re alive, she wouldn’t have waved the Mi’kmaq flag so haphazardly. As Bob Dylan said, “Don’t stand in the doorway / don’t block up the hall.”

That’s exactly what Timmons has done. She’s taken up space where real Indigeneity is supposed to be. She’s preventing reconciliation. I could never represent in words the fear that your people will be erased, so I won’t try. But what Timmons has done makes me that kind of scared. Such pretenders will occupy so much representation that soon only a hologram, an illusion void of any substance, of Indigeneity will remain. No spirit.

In an interview with CBC regarding the current situation with Timmons, Miawpukek First Nation Chief Mi’sel Joe suggested a roundtable discussion between Indigenous leaders and students. I think Chief Joe’s recommendation isn’t only the best way forward, but it’s also exemplary of Indigenous ways of healing. We all heal together. The only way for us to overcome these conflicts is to work and think together. That means Timmons, those who support her, those who are against her, those who aren’t aligned, settler people, Indigenous people, and even new Canadians coming together and talking it out.

To me, it almost doesn’t matter –emphasis on almost – if Timmons has Mi’kmaq heritage or not. What matters is that she has misrepresented and acted against Indigeneity. It would be wrong for us to shun any and all people who identify as Indigenous but are yet separated from their history, language, and culture. I think many Indigenous Canadians can relate to the struggle of getting back to who they are. However, watching oneself receive the healing that others need more and doing nothing to change that is a kind of heartless that I cannot relate to. Canadians have a duty to uplift Indigeneity. Timmons only seems interested in uplifting herself.

Try as she might, those Prada boots are on thin ice. Illustration: Lee Lim

If she knew the pain I’ve endured, if she really felt the indescribable hopelessness that Indigenous Canadians bravely face every day they’re alive, she wouldn’t have waved the Mi’kmaq flag so haphazardly.”

– Aurel Dumont

AGM turns into fiasco

Painfully long, confusing, and downright insulting

matthew merifield contributor

I attended the University of Regina Students’ Union’s (URSU) Annual General Meeting (AGM) on March 2 of this year, and it’s not something I’ll soon forget. Going into the meeting with some fellow members of UR POLIS, I was anticipating a lively meeting where all of the motions presented in the agenda would be discussed and voted on. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

To start off, the meeting was plagued with technical errors that URSU couldn’t seem to get their heads around, and it prevented the meeting from getting started by around half an hour. After the meeting finally began, there were issues in ratifying the speaker for the meeting, and the voting system delayed it even further. At this point, I was already frustrated with the mismanagement of an AGM they had immense time to prepare for.

Next, the executive committee presented their year-end reports to everyone in attendance. There were some shocking revelations in those presentations that caused a bit of an uproar in the Zoom chat while it was going on. The revelation that URSU had lost over $700,000 in their budget while the Owl pulled in just over $200,000 was bad enough. We also found out that URSU salary expenditures were over $1.1 million, an amount that has almost doubled since pre-COVID numbers.

After the budget, by far the worst part of the meeting was when we finally began to vote on agenda items. Before we even began, a motion to remove unnecessary and unconstitutional motions that would take up much needed time during the meeting was voted down. It became clear after this that URSU was pushing the meeting time

in an attempt to not vote on important motions later in the agenda that would advocate for oversight of their actions. Instead, they wasted the time of every student in attendance, and pushed motions like the CFS funding that goes directly against referendum results provided by the students

At this point in the meeting, we had

already gone an hour over the time scheduled, and had only voted on three of the 24 total motions in the agenda. I was exhausted, and so was everyone else there. URSU had waged a war of attrition on the students and managed to pass the motions they desperately wanted to by confusing and tiring the voters. Before the CFS motion, one of the other attendees asked to recess the meeting on the basis that we had already gone so far over time, but the URSU executive vehemently fought against it in an effort to ensure their motion would succeed. After the motion went through, after a ton of debate and legal confusion from URSU, another recess was called and URSU had no problem ending it there.

screen ensured only the most patient made it into the meeting when it finally started.

Image: FiveFlowersForFamilyFirst via Pixabay, manipulated by Lee Lim

URSU not respectful of students

The recent AGM continues to raise a range of concerns

When it came to the University of Regina Students’ Union’s (URSU) Annual General Meeting (AGM) on March 2, 2023, I started wondering throughout the AGM if URSU is truly a democratic institution anymore. I was slightly aware of the issues and concerns surrounding URSU prior to the AGM, but that still did not prepare me for what I saw at the over four-hour-long URSU AGM, which only ended on page 4 of the AGM’s 26-page agenda.

Right at the beginning, there was nothing but issues. It took 45 minutes for them to set up a vote to decide on a chair for the AGM, a vote that they originally wanted to execute through having students use the reaction function on Zoom – which disappears after 10 seconds and would involve over 200 students, I may also add. Then, when a student named Tayef mentioned that this meeting should be done in person to make it easier, the URSU Vice President (VP) of student affairs decided to respond to that concern by saying “let’s meet then, Tayef…” Having a VP of student affairs respond to a student’s question like that publicly made me question if URSU truly cares about the concerns of students.

Prior to the AGM, I noticed some issues with the executive committee in regard to section 3.3 Conflict of Commitment of URSU’s Conflict of Interest and Conflict Policy, which pertains to members of the executive committee requiring the board of directors’ permission before accepting external or additional employment. The issues I had was how the president of URSU mentioned having a second job in a press conference at the Legislative Building a few weeks prior to the AGM, and how I noticed a few months ago when shopping in te south end that URSU’s VP of operations and finance was also working a second job in the area I was shopping.

When I voiced these issues and asked if the board was notified after the VP of operations and finance’s presentation, neither the URSU president nor the VP of operations and finance answered my question. Instead, URSU’s general manager (GM) did so, saying the president was misquoted without saying what she meant, and not even addressing my comment on the VP of operations and finance. This kind of dismissal really showed to me how seriously URSU takes their own policies and student issues, by brushing one part of my concern away without properly answering and not even addressing the second part.

When it came to the vote on resolution 1.3, the resolution on withheld dues of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), the flaws with URSU became even more apparent. Right before the resolution, a student called a motion to recess due to the AGM going past its listed end time and because a good amount of students had already left the meeting. The URSU admin and executive committee spoke out against this motion, citing that they needed to get through all the motions, and they even brought in ‘legal counsel’ to tell students that URSU could get sued if they do not pay CFS.

The motion to call recess ultimately failed and the discussion around resolution 1.3 began. This discussion around resolution 1.3 is where I very greatly questioned who URSU represents. The chair of the AGM decided to silence a student speaking out against resolution 1.3 by saying her concern that resolution 1.3 will keep us with CFS is really just a question, and when the student asked if she could make it a question then, the chair told her to go to the back of the line to speak.

It is worth noting that the chair of the AGM was with the CFS for 5 years and

Their willingness to end the meeting after that point proves that the meeting was not held to make student life better or to hear our voices. This meeting was held so URSU could go over students’ heads and spend our student fee money on projects and promises that we don’t want. With a meeting so dreadfully unorganized and frankly embarrassing, URSU needs to take a step back and realize that they no longer have any respect from the student body. Something needs to fundamentally change in the organization, or I am certain that students are going to have more to say about it soon. Having spoken with colleagues, fellow students, and friends, one thing is clear: URSU is not working for students anymore, and we are tired of being taken advantage of.

It’s a good thing to have every voice heard, but perhaps not all at the same time.

7 months as per her LinkedIn account, thus showing URSU did not care about the conflict of interest in regards to resolution 1.3. This chair of the AGM also temporarily disabled the Zoom chat at the start of the AGM, and made a ruling of only three speakers for and against a motion while claiming it came from Robert’s Rules, which it does not. After the passing of resolution 1.3 is when I decided to call a motion for a recess with the same rules as the previous recess motion that did not pass. This time it passed, showing me it was not all the motions they wanted to get through, but just one specific motion.

Illustration: Lee Lim

Overall, this AGM just ultimately made me believe that URSU is no longer a democratic institution that represents the students of the University of Regina, as they seem not to care about the issues students have, nor about their own policies. But hey, at least the GM of URSU advertised a CFS job within Saskatchewan at the end of the AGM! That’s more advertisement than they have done for a lot of student events!

The amount of time people had to wait at this

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