the carillon the staff
editor-in-chief editor@carillonregina.com
holly funk
executive director business@carillonregina.com
jacob nelson
production manager production@carillonregina.com
morgan ortman
advertising manager advertising@carillonregina.com
ty cote
technical editor tech@carillonregina.com
shae sackman
multimedia/graphics editors multimedia@carillonregina.com graphics@carillonregina.com
sarah carrier rooky jedege
copy editor copyeditor@carillonregina.com
aurel dumont
news editor news@carillonregina.com
sara birrell
a&c editor aandc@carillonregina.com
hannah eiserman
sports editor sports@carillonregina.com
vacant
op-ed editor op-ed@carillonregina.com
sarah nakonechny
distribution manager distribution@carillonregina.com staff writer
hammad ali
staff writer
gillian massie
news writer
liam o’connor
a&c writer
jorah bright
sports writer
victoria baht
web writer
vacant
this could be you!!
vol. 64
kyle anderson
contributors
board of directors holly funk, lindsay holitzki, joseph holoein,, dustin smith, jacob nelson and cassandra byblow (honourary member)
the paper
227 Riddell Center University of Regina - 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK, Canada S4S 0A2 www.carillonregina.com Ph: (306) 586 8867 Printed by Star Press Inc, Wainwright, AB The Carillon welcomes contributions. Opinions expressed in the pages of the Carillon are expressly those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Carillon Newspaper Inc. Opinions expressed in advertisements appearing in the Carillon are those of the advertisers, and not necessarily of The Carillon Newspaper Inc. or its staff. 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 four territory. As such, the 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 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 speaking to our commitment to telling stories and prioritizing voices that further the return of the land to its place sacred place in the cultures of those that live here. 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 September 23 - September 28, 2021 | Volume 64, Issue 5 | carillonregina.com Anyone else feeling a little riled up with this chilling nip in the air, our pointless (and pricey [and poorly-timed]) election, and seemingly endless waves of COVID? I know we are, and we’ve channeled it all into this issue of the Carillon. There are a few less of us around than normal, so we’d love for you to keep in mind that we’re currently hiring a sports editor, a news writer, and a staff writer. Applicants need only have a fair grasp of English grammar - we’re happy to teach the specifics beyond that. The writers who find this work most fulfilling are those who are naturally curious, and who are looking for ways to expand their writing beyond current abilities, so please reach out if that sounds like you! My sincere thanks to all the current staff and contributors who’ve been helping to make sure we have a quality paper to publish. We’re only on issue five of twenty-four this year, but we wouldn’t have made it even this far without your consistent passion, so I’m grateful and cannot wait to see what else we’ll get to publish in this volume of the Carillon.
news
Prabhjot Singh Katri
news
p.3
The presumptive homocide of a Sihk international student is leaving many questioning and wondering what’s next.
Housing platforms
arts
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With housing becoming more and more of a distant drea, Sara Birrell and Liam O’Connor go over an increasingly overlooked aspect of our society and the election.
p.7
Dig into process over craft, sharing work, designing material for interpretation, and how to manage feelings if you’re someone who tends to think their writing doesn’t deserve to see daylight.
op-ed
sports
sports
Ava Hoffman
Holly Funk Editor-in-chief
photos
cover....jason lueng manip by sarah carrier news...............................jose antio gallego news........................................chris robert a&c........................................ava hoffman sports.....................................marco verch sports....................................martin lostak op-ed...........................................tory tran
Vaccines on campus
p.11
The Carillon spoke with the Dean of Kinesiology and the Director of Sport on vaccine policies and enforcement with student-athletes and visitors using facilities.
Geocaching
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Like a techy hide and seek, geocaching is an an activity so wholesome, you won’t mind all the leaves you’ll be picking out of your hair after.
Burnout
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U of R students describe what’s impacting their well-being as many undergrads head into their third consecutive remote semester. Fifth, if you count spring/summer (and we do)
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editor: sara birrell news@carillonregina.com the carillon | sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
Homicide of international student leaves Sikh community shaken Prabhjot Singh Katri mourned in Truro
hammad ali staff writer In the early hours of Sunday, September 5, police in Truro, Nova Scotia responded to a 911 call where they found a 23-year-old man with life-threatening injuries from a sharp weapon outside an apartment building on Robie Street. The man later died of his injuries. While Truro Police did not initially name the victim, several people in the town of 12,000 identified him as Prabhjot Singh Katri, a young man who had migrated to Canada in 2017 on a study visa from the Bukkanwala
the incident was returning to his apartment from his job as a taxi driver, according to Jatinder Kumardeep Singh, a friend of the victim. Singh added that there are only a handful of Indian international students in Truro, and most share the same social circles. Currently, the Indian community in Truro is feeling extremely unsafe. Other friends of the victim point out that nothing was taken from Singh, and even his phone was still on his person, which they believe rules out robbery as a motive. Friends of the victim feel this was definitely a hate crime, and have expressed concerns that the fact that Singh wore a turban may have drawn attention to him.
as a homicide, and had detained an individual who was questioned and subsequently released from custody without any charges related to the homicide. However, police said this individual remains a person of interest in this case. Police have not released any other details about the case. They have met with family and friends, as well as representatives of the Sikh community of which Katri was a member. MacNeil said he cannot elaborate why he thinks the larger community is safe, but said he is comfortable with where they are in the investigation and that adequate resources are being dedicated to the case. Truro Mayor Bill Mills also feels there is nothing
person. He was the youngest of three siblings, and is survived by his mother and two elder sisters. A candlelight vigil was held on Friday, September 10,, starting at Truro Mall and ending in the apartment building where his body was found. Speaking during the vigil, his sister Rajveer Kaur said that members of the family had moved to Canada in search of better opportunities to support their family back home, and expressed hope that her family gets justice for this murder. Simardeep Hundal, president of the Maritime Sikh Society, said the Sikh community is in shock and also fearing for their safety. She said friends of the victim who saw him
best to ensure justice for the victim’s family. In a separate statement, the Maritime Sikh Society said it is satisfied with the direction of the investigation, and asked community members to be patient and have faith in the system. Fareed Khan, founder of Canadians United Against Hate, said that taxi drivers are particularly vulnerable to instances of hate crime. The incident has left an impact on Sikh communities all across Canada. Sikhs have always stood out because of the prominent turbans Sikh men wear, and this is not the first time the community has been on the re-
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Friends, co-workers, and neighbors of the victim describe him as a pleasant, hard-working person. He was the youngest of three siblings, and is survived by his mother and two elder sisters. – Hammad Ali
village in Moga, Punjab, India. Truro police chief David MacNeil confirmed that Khatri was the victim on September 7. Singh had completed his studies, was on a work visa, and was applying for permanent residency in Canada while working two jobs to help support his family in India. He lived with his sister and brother-in-law, and on the day of
In an update on Tuesday, September 7, MacNeil told the public that Truro police have no information on a motive that they are releasing at this time, but do not believe there is any ongoing threat to the general public or other international students. No reason was offered as an explanation for why police don’t think there is any danger to the public. Truro police are treating his death
as of yet to indicate racism was a motive in the crime. Friends of the victim have started a fundraiser get his body back to India, where his mother lives by herself and relied on the money Katri used to send back home since his father, a soldier in the Indian Army, passed away in 1999. Friends, co-workers, and neighbors of the victim describe him as a pleasant, hard-working
injured are traumatized, and that young Sikhs in Truro who are juggling work, school, and other commitments already are definitely feeling very anxious about the situation. The town’s mayor has announced that counselling services will be made available to community members. Friends and family, and the community at large, have expressed trust that the Truro Police are doing their
ceiving end of hate crimes. Prabhjot Singh Katri was just 23. He was working hard, and by all accounts a pleasant person with many friends and well-wishers. It is disheartening that his life came to such a brutal end, and we sincerely hope his family finds some solace through the perpetrators being brought to justice.
Jose Antonio Gallego Velasquez
A devastating loss.
sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
carillonregina.com | the carillon | 4
news
Federal election was a travesty and a disgrace More empty promises
sara birrell and liam o’connor news editor and news writer [Editor’s note: This article was written while the editor was in a state of rage and disgust.] Young Canadians are looking at a bleak future for a multitude of reasons, and the housing crisis is undeniably one of them. Although there are no good outcomes in a colonial election in a fake country on stolen land, Monday’s election results, which saw hundreds of millions of dollars spent, millions of people inconvenienced, thousands of students, disabled people, Indigenous people, and people without cars disenfranchised during the fourth wave of a mismanaged pandemic, only for the balance of power to shift barely at all, were particularly hard to swallow. If there were any such thing as justice, Trudeau’s vanity election would have cost him. If there were any justice, we would have seen [REDACTED]. But there was no justice on Monday night because our government can’t bring justice, it can only withhold it, and as such, we will be stuck once more with a Liberal government, probably one that is prepared to declare COVID over and the time of “fiscal responsibility” upon us as soon as ICU capacity increases enough that they consider it possible. Whatever promises were made about housing will be forgotten. Students, renters, single parents, women, basically everyone who does not own wealth or come from wealth will continue to be immiserated, will continue to be subjected to humiliating background checks and invasions of privacy, will continue to see their housing given or withheld on the whim of capitalists, protected from unjustifiable evictions or screening processes only by negligible laws in cities that will let them freeze to death on the streets before it allows a single unit of non-market housing. Politicians are liars, and capitalists are liars, and anyone who thought that something might change was fooling themselves. According to the Economist, Canada is now the
number one most expensive housing market based on rental rate, and the number three most expensive housing market based on income. In Saskatchewan alone, the average price of a home went up 13.3 per cent from 2020 to 2021, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. Twelve per cent of Canada’s GDP is tied up in real estate, so neither the government nor the corporations that own the government will ever consent to any intervention that might lead to the real estate market shrinking, although most of the major parties were more than willing to throw a bone to the xenophobes and the racists by making a bogeyman out of “foreign real estate investors,” even though when it comes to real estate speculation, land and property ownership, and the oppression of poor people and renters in this country, the call is coming from inside the house. But let’s just review what the major parties
the building and operation of social housing units offered at below-market rates in the province would be a welcome development. Unfortunately, the platforms of the federal parties are still too focused on market incentives in the hopes that private builders will solve the affordability crisis for us. Having governments own and maintain affordable housing units could provide real affordability, address discrimination in rental practices while also incorporating energy efficiency and sustainability to reduce renters’ utility bills as well.” “Affordability” is a word that gets tossed around with great frequency by politicians both inside and outside of election season, but in practice it means very little. By definition, affordable housing is housing that is affordable to people whose household income is at or below a (somewhat arbitrary) median set out by the government. Most lenders and
the average Canadian the average policy maker is. All of this – everything that happened on Monday night and the carelessness that the Prime Minister showed for our lives in sending us out to do this during a pandemic, the pathetic campaigns leading up to it that seemed to come from parties unwilling or uninterested in any sort of governance at all, the summer of forest fires and murdered children and brutal state violence against homeless people – is malicious and intentional and it cannot and will never be voted out. Key aspects of 2021 federal party housing platforms: Liberals: -Everyone deserves to be able to own a home and with housing and rent prices going up, it is becoming increasingly unclear how they will do that. However, they have a three-part plan that is supposed to address and solve this. -A commitment to making
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Twelve per cent of Canada’s GDP is tied up in real estate, so neither the government nor the corporations that own the government will ever consent to any intervention that might lead to the real estate market shrinking. – Sara Birrel and Liam O’Connor
put on offer, what feeble promises they made, and what weak and pathetic returns we have been given. The housing crisis played a key role in the 2021 federal election, and Simon Enoch, director of the Saskatchewan office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, spoke to the Carillon about housing in Saskatchewan. When asked about what problems people face in Saskatchewan and what the possible solution could be, he said, “Saskatchewan has a lack of affordable housing stock. Provincial programs to incentivize developers to build affordable units have not been very successful. Having the federal government play a much larger part in
renter’s advocates say you should be spending no more than 30 per cent of your income on rent, but what the fuck good does “should” do you when you’re working for minimum wage and the average rent for a one bedroom in your city ranges from $900 to $1900? What does affordable mean when you can’t work? The only truly affordable housing is free housing but so many people in this country have been so inculcated in the Protestant work ethic that they have brain worms that make them think that people don’t have the right to live in a safe, secure home. The housing platforms offered by the major parties, which are listed below, show how absolutely divorced from the reality of
1.4 million new homes aimed towards making more affordable housing for the struggling middle-class. -Directly from the Liberal’s website, “Invest $4 billion in a new Housing Accelerator Fund which will grow the annual housing supply in the country’s largest cities every year, creating a target of 100,000 new middle class homes by 2024-25.” -Allow you to choose between share equity or a loan that is only repayable at the time of the sale. This would let the homeowner keep any of the increase of value of their home over time. -They promise to crackdown on foreign investment by banning any foreign money from buying
nonrecreational, residential property in Canada for the next two years. NDP: -One in three Canadians is a renter and the NDP commit to making more affordable rent rental units that will be built across the entire country. -They want to create 500,000 new, affordable, and quality units of housing in the next 10 years. In tandem with making new units of social, community, and affordable housing, there will be thousands of jobs created. -Another priority is to double the New Home Buyers tax credit to $1500, also reintroducing 30 year-term mortgages that will allow people to pay back in smaller monthly amounts, which in theory will give the homeowner more money to spend elsewhere. -Their plan for foreign buyers is to put a 20 per cent tax on the sale of homes to anyone who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Conservatives: -Plan to build 1 million new homes in the next three years. -They want to make mortgages more affordable by allowing seven-to ten-year mortgages for first time buyers and lenders. -They want to investigate money laundering and eliminate it because it is partially responsible for driving up home prices, especially in British Columbia, also banning foreign investors who do not live in Canada from buying homes for two years. -In general, they want to remove unnecessary roadblocks for first time buyers to get mortgages. Greens: -Will declare housing affordability and homelessness as a national emergency. -Establish a national standard for rent and vacancy controls, as well as a national moratorium on evictions. -Create an empty home tax for foreign ownership and crack down on money laundering. -Make 300,000 non-market, extremely affordable, and non-profit housing over ten years. -Require 30 per cent of all units in developments must be extremely affordable and accessible for disabled people in specific. Chris Robert via Unsplash
The government hates you.
sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
carillonregina.com | the carillon | 5
news
Climate forum shows the possibilities for addressing climate
Lib win means more of same
liam o’connor news writer [Due to the Carillon’s print schedule, all Saskatchewan races had not been called as of press time.] On September 13, the Council of Canadians held a climate change forum in Saskatoon via Zoom where candidates running in the federal election discussed various topics related to the environment and environmental policies. The four candidates there were Jeremy Fisher (Communist Party), Claire Card (NDP), Dawn Dumont Walker (Liberal Party), and David Greenfield (Green Party). The Conservative Party and the People’s Party, both of which advocate for more pipelines and have downplayed the seriousness of the climate crisis, a were notably absent. Although the Liberal Party’s baffling victory in the face of offering nothing but what they have failed to provide when they held majority and minority governments before means that there will be little change in how the federal government approaches climate, the forum demonstrates what matters to Saskatchewan residents when it comes to the crisis. The first question of the night addressed oil and gas lobbyists. Candidates were asked if they will stand up to the lobbyists and champion legislation to end fossil fuel subsidies/ all new fossil fuel permits. Card said, “we have committed to removing fossil fuel subsidies and reaching at least a 50 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. And we have to have the goal of reaching net zero by 2050.” She continued to explain that the NDP don’t want to leave people unemployed, but
Markus Spiske via Unsplash
No need to worry about climate if we get nuked first.
rather the opposite, and bring in more jobs by green initiatives. She also pointed out that Canada will start to feel the effects of climate change soon and agriculture will be hit hard if we don’t act fast. Greenfield and Fisher were the only two candidates who stated that they were anti-pipeline and would cancel all future projects. In fact, Fisher took it one step further and said “we think oil and gas executives that knew about the climate crisis and what they were doing to the environment ahead of time should be put in jail. Corporations should be heavily fined for participating in this apocalyptic practice.” Fisher elaborated and discussed how the Communist Party would adopt a people’s energy plan, consisting
chamber since there were no right-leaning parties present. The candidates agreed that it may be a slight example of preaching to the choir, but at the same time the right-leaning parties simply didn’t show up. Attendees were also reminded of March 2021, when delegates at the Conservative Party’s policy convention voted in favour of denying climate change. Candidates at the forum were also posed the question “do you believe that nuclear power can be part of an ecologically sound energy future? What do you believe Canada should do with its nuclear waste from various sources, like uranium mine tailings and reactors?” There was a consensus among most of the candidates
Most importantly, we have to stop producing the waste.” Meanwhile, Walker thought nuclear power should be kept in the back pocket of the country as a “plan D”. She said, “we have to work as hard as we can to optimize our hydro, our, you know, solar power, which I don’t even think we’ve really even tried to do as much of that as we can.” She also said, “nuclear industry would like to put a lot of that waste on First Nations land. And that’s, that’s always a terrible idea, and gives you an idea of where the mindset of the industry is.” An issue voiced by one of the audience members was that people in Saskatchewan are adamantly opposed to using nuclear energy to reach Canada’s climate
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[Indigenous people] are people that actually care about their environment, and the impact that they have on it and it would be nice if white settlers would start listening to them. – Mark Fisher
of public ownership and control of all energy and natural resources, including extraction, production, and distribution to compensate the Indigenous peoples and communities affected by the tar sands. Fisher announced that the Communist Party would slash the military budget by 75 per cent because they are, federally, Canada’s largest polluter. The candidates were asked their next question by an audience member who was wondering if the Zoom call was an echo
that nuclear power would have to be phased out completely because while it is “green” it leaves a lot of waste behind in the form of tailing ponds, which stick around for a very long time. Greenfield suggested that we need to keep an eye on the nuclear waste by monitoring it indefinitely. As for how to store it, he said, “the post-reactor waste needs to be stored safely below the surface but not deep down, say within about 500 meters of the surface. It needs to be monitored and repairable storage.
goals and asked how the Liberal candidate would represent that belief if elected. Walker responded by saying, “on behalf of Saskatchewan, if that is not what Saskatchewan wants or needs, then I would definitely not vote for it. I think that when I decided to join the Liberal Party, I didn’t think that I was going to be giving up my ability to have opinions on things.” One of the last questions asked candidates to discuss what their thoughts were on companies like Cameco having a positive
image and if they would be held accountable for back taxes they owed. Fisher said, “well, that’s how they like to gloss over all of our eyes, is by sponsoring and funding these big events or putting their banners all over, you know, rider games and things like that. It’s a joke.” Card from the NDP said, “I feel that, you know, we could point to the fact that corporations, large corporations haven’t been paying their fair share in taxes and were reduced by the conservatives on large corporations in 2015.” Another important topic that was covered was how each candidate would, “ensure peoples lands and knowledge are meaningfully included in climate action plans and planning processes?” Card started the discussion by stating, “the New Democrats have fully stated that reconciliation is at the heart of everything we do. And we’re committed to indigenous rights and indigenous people’s ability to protect the land the waterways, and biodiversity. And we want them to be included in a way that they’re treated as full and equal partners in all major decision-making processes.” Fisher thought that stating reconciliation being a priority was not enough and vowed to abolish the RCMP. He said, “there is no future for Canada without the guidance and knowledge of indigenous peoples here. We need their help to survive the coming climate crisis. These are people that actually care about their environment, and the impact that they have on it and it would be nice if white settlers would start listening to them.”
sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
carillonregina.com | the carillon | 6
news
Regina brewery bans racist antivax patrons Wide support for this action hammad ali staff writer On the afternoon of September 11, the Regina brewery Pile O’Bones took to social media to announce that the previous afternoon, their establishment decided to refuse service to and ban two anti-mask and anti-vaccine protesters. The social media post added that there is recent video footage of these two individuals
lute gestures at the brewery staff, and threatened to organize future protests in front of the brewery. The social media post mentioned that Pile O’Bones stands with the victims and survivors of the residential schools, including those experiencing intergenerational trauma, and racists are not welcome at the Pile O’Bones brewery. The post was greeted with substantial support from the people of Regina. We got in touch
them as the people who had destroyed the “Every Child Matters” memorial on the steps of the Legislature that Thursday afternoon. Morrison mentions having seen the video on social media and being appalled that someone would destroy a memorial to mourn the victims and survivors of residential schools. Further, these two individuals, also known to be anti-mask and anti-vaccine, were bothering some of the other
ble all over the city ever since the beginning of the pandemic. Earlier, when these individuals started protesting at hospitals, Pile O’Bones came together with other local businesses and sent gift cards to employees working in the ICU in all the hospitals in Regina. Morrison added that while these individuals and others like them have been unpleasant and unreasonable in the past, in more recent times they have also been
banned individuals have threatened to protest at the brewery in the near future. In fact, Morrison adds that this is the reason why the brewery decided to post about the incident on social media: to make sure patrons are aware of why the brewery might suddenly be a site of more frequent protests. Morrison finished by sharing some thoughts on the social roles he feels are expected from a local business. “It’s delicate, trying to
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The dictionary tells us that reconciliation is a noun, but in Canada, it’s a verb. We all need to think about what we can do – what actions we can take – to move reconciliation forward. – Josh Morrison
destroying the memorial on the steps of the Saskatchewan Legislature meant to commemorate the discovery of unmarked and mass graves at residential schools across the country, including in Saskatchewan. The individuals refused to leave and had to be escorted from the premises, at which point they shouted anti-Semitic slogans and made Nazi sa-
with Josh Morrison, the director of operations for the brewery, to learn more about the decision, what led to it, and what they anticipate in the coming days. On the afternoon of Friday, September 10, Josh Morrison and his wife were sitting at a table at the brewery. When the two individuals in question walked in, the couple immediately recognized
patrons. This led to Morrison and his wife deciding that they were going to refuse service to these two people. When asked if there had been any past issues with these two, or others, Morrison said that the brewery specifically has not had issues with them. However, it has been evident that some people have been causing trou-
very openly racist, and should be recognized as such. We asked Morrison what the reaction has been from the community in Regina or Saskatchewan in response to their decision, and he mentioned that there has been an overwhelming show of support – not just from the city and the province, but across Canada. As for negative reaction, the
find the right place to be an ally to Indigenous people. We think about this all the time – what can we do to contribute to reconciliation? Throwing out racists is easy. The dictionary tells us that reconciliation is a noun, but in Canada, it’s a verb. We all need to think about what we can do – what actions we can take – to move reconciliation forward.”
Jason Leung via Unsplash
Shunning racists good, actually.
arts & culture
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editor: hannah eiserman aandc@carillonregina.com the carillon | sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
[…] poetry collection holds space and invites creativity Poet Ava Hoffman chats about inspiration and how one should approach her work
shae sackman tech editor Ahead of the November release of Ava Hoffman’s book of poetry [...] by Astrophil Press, I had the pleasure of asking questions about her work and an approach to poetry that I have been watching for months on her Twitter account @st_somatic. Glimpses of Hoffman’s latest work caught my attention immediately due to its painstakingly crafted presentation. Reading in a linear fashion is often difficult for me, and the poetry leaking out of her account as the book was being finished harnessed the way I tend to look at a written page – as a whole; like taking in a scene. “Often you get taught that words and images are different things. But a letter or a word is just a weird, tiny image, and pictures can tell whole stories all by themselves,” explains Hoffman. “There is not a real difference – we just pretend that there is. My work is writing that is arranged and combined with images in order to be pretty, like a picture. I do this because I like this better than words or images alone.” If you ‘read’ in the way that I do, you are often left just a little bit bereft. Instead of scanning for content, I find myself lost in the physical shapes of words, a page’s white space, and the blossoming relationships between the shoulders and spines of H’s, M’s, and
Ava Hoffman
S’s. To me, it seems like a mistake when what you are left with is just a sentence. But in conventional writing, the result of looking too closely at the individual letters that make up the words obliterates the scene that the image taken in all at once presents. It looks wrong. Hoffman’s work offers both thoughtful and engaging content to devour and a beautifully constructed scene. “When you read
cess from the audience – even if the result of that engagement is a sort of puzzling feeling. “[O]ne of the biggest influences on me has been watching documentaries and doing research into the realm of painting and visual art: Understanding the more open-ended and open-minded approach visual arts fields have had relative to the publishing industry, as well as visual art’s prioritization of process over craft has greatly expand-
work. To offer that so freely is not an easy choice. Hoffman shares that “[a]nother difficult part of writing[,] I think[,] is sharing work. I’ve worked through a lot of this, but I think you see so many writers out there hoarding their writing because they don’t think it’s good enough or it’s quite yet ‘done.’ They take less risks with getting stuff published or might never submit a poem again if it gets rejected by a magazine.”
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When you read my work, I often want you to feel like you have read something new and exciting, maybe dangerous, like a book of occult spells. – Ava Hoffman
my work, I often want you to feel like you have read something new and exciting, maybe dangerous, like a book of occult spells. I want the poems to feel as if they are “opening” something, rather than closing – to offer you a space to think and reflect and create along with my work.” This reflection is a key component of Hoffman’s work. No matter how the reader takes in the work, it requires active pro-
ed the way I think about writing and the things that I will allow myself to consider ‘good enough’ writing to create and publish.” The prioritization of Hoffman’s process is tangible when you look at the poems. You cannot ignore it. The process is quite literally directly addressing and guiding you. The process is so well-honed and instructive that it is presented to the reader as a part of the
I asked Hoffman to consider what a step-by-step guide for approaching her work might look like, and the artist has crafted the following instructions for you: 1. Look at the poem. Don’t read it – but think about how it is shaped. What images are there, what textures are there, how are the pieces of text oriented? If you start by appreciating my work as something visual – like a painting – you have already “read” it
correctly before reading a single word. 2. Once you have looked at it, if you would like to read it, start reading it. Feel free to read the texts or elements of a given page in any order you prefer. Feel free to skip bits you want to skip. The text is yours now, and you get to choose how to read it. 3. If there is something in the poem that makes you feel strange, ask yourself why that is. If something feels confusing or unresolved, learn to derive aesthetic enjoyment from that lack of clarity or resolution. 4. Contribute to the poem by defacing it with your own thoughts, ideas, and images. 5. If the work meant something to you, let me know by sending me an email or message on twitter. Next week’s Arts & Culture section will contain part two of my interview with Hoffman, focusing on the process of creating […], what that process was informed by, and the importance of presenting the styles, forms, emotions, and experiences of trans people. You can reach Ava Hoffman on her website (https://nothnx. com/), and on her Twitter (@st_ somatic). You can purchase […] at Astrophil Press on November 1, 2021 (https://www.astrophilpress.com/titles)
sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
carillonregina.com | the carillon |
arts & culture
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On creating when it feels impossible
An exploration of pandemic induced creative burn-out and how to replenish creativity
jorah bright arts writer Creating art can feel like an absolving of our sins; to harness the ability to create instead of destroy. There is something beautiful in being able to create, and it’s something that all people are capable of. When the pandemic first hit, it felt like an opportunity to cultivate artistic talents: to learn a new instrument, pick up a new medium of drawing, or write a book. As time went on and we spent hours and hours in our homes, the fire to create and make something new started to burn out. Many artists, whether new to the craft or experienced, began to see their art change from March 2020 to today. Composer and sound designer from British Columbia, J.B. McCarthy said, “since the onset of the pandemic, my music freelancing career has been very up and down. At the beginning, what with everything being shut down, my work became very infrequent, and I struggled. There was a point where it was a few months where I hadn’t written a single note.” When talking about his music now, compared with before the pandemic, McCarthy said, “My work before the pandemic was good in my opinion, but it began to stagnate in terms of creativity. I would also load up the same string libraries and piano libraries only to end up writing the same type of
The Digitial Marketing Collaboration via Unsplash
Gotta get those face proportions right on that larger-than-life human head…
music over and over again. I knew this was bad, but it got the job done and I got paid so why would I change? I’ll tell you why, because I was bored. And if I was bored with what I was doing, why would I expect anybody else not to be.” From there, McCarthy goes on to describe something that revolutionized his creative practices: he took on a 30-day new music challenge. “I wrote something new every day,” McCarthy says, “stretching my mind until it
was fresh and wonderful. Now I have this new arsenal of sounds, harmonies, styles, and ideas that lead me to make better and more tailored music decisions.” He was able to change and expand upon the things he already knew to make something new and exciting that will help him when making more music in the future. Despite art being something that once brought joy to many artists, our collective creative drive during the pandemic dropped.
Creating can begin to feel like a chore. It can feel like you’re battling yourself and your creativity for the sake of productivity. Of this, McCarthy said, “When I finish a piece of music […] my immediate thought is: okay, what’s next. I of course relish in the fact that I did a good job, and the client likes what I did, but I usually have something next up on the docket that needs my attention.” Every piece of art means something. Whether it’s simply
a character illustration, a landscape, a song, a poem, or anything, it means something. All the art they’ve created amalgamates into what their craft means to them. “What my music means to me, is story, McCarthy says. “Every single piece of music I have written, and really that has ever been written, has a story. When I write for a film, my music caters to what’s happening on screen, whether it’s to fully establish how a character feels in the moment, or to give the action that momentous drive it craves, it’s all meant to tell a story. I love it when people listen to my music and they tell me it sounds like it could be in a movie, or that my titles make perfect sense. That’s because it’s all part of the plan. I name things and I write things to provoke specific emotions from my audience and as long as I can nail that, I’m a happy camper.” For those who used to love creating and still facing burnout, know that it’s okay. It doesn’t make you any less of an artist or a creator. And when you’re ready to create again – not when the world tells you that you should be ready, but when you feel ready – go forth and make something beautiful. J.B. McCarthy can be found at rangersound.ca. His new album, In the Midst of Disorder, is available at jbmccarthy.bandcamp. com/album/in-the-midst-of-disorder.
Clothing brand feature: Basic Bleach
It’s environmentally friendly to repurpose clothes – and totally punk rock hannah eiserman arts editor Repurposing clothes has become extremely popular in the last few years, whether that be done in the form of thrift-flippers, vintage sellers, or even people who sew dresses out of old sheets from Value Village (because yes, I’ve seen that done.) Someone’s drive to repurpose can be anything: from wanting to combat fast fashion and help offset its environmental destruction, to making a little extra cash, to wanting to conserve old pieces that are now coming back into fashion and/ or make them over to fit a certain aesthetic. It’s definitely the latter for Saskatoon company Basic Bleach, who specialize in “punk rock bleach-outs.” Basic Bleach does a little bit of everything: Leigh describes her stock as “all very random” but that “every piece is one of a kind.” Leigh has “done everything from dresses, jeans, jackets, but predominantly tee-shirts” since the business’s inception in 2017. Leigh calls herself a bit of a “tee shirt hoarder” and was inspired by stylist Christian Benner (@christianbenner on Instagram). The repurposing model of her brand came from accidentally bleach-staining a Slayer teeshirt (one of her favourites) while working as a hairstylist and being upset that it was ruined. Then, she realized it didn’t have to be:
“I was just like ‘wait, I’ll just fuck it up!’” Some more bleach, a couple of holes, and her shirt had a new life. After that, she said everywhere she went people asked where she got it. It gave her the idea to post a status and see if anyone would be interested in buying that style of shirts – and “the feedback was astronomical.” The company really began in her personal collection. She was able to clear out a ton of shirts she didn’t wear anymore while building her brand at the same time. “And then it grew ex-
ponentially over the years,” Leigh says, “which was really cool.” The places that one shirt has taken her and Basic Bleach have been “pretty wild.” When asked if she’s planning to expand, Leigh says she’s really just happy it keep it where it is. “It actually got a lot larger than I had ever [anticipated it to get,]” she says. What began as “just kind of a fun, killsome-time art project [because] I wanted to see some people wear a cool fit” truly just escalated. “The first batch of tee shirts I put out was like, put in stores right away.
I sold stuff out of there for years, up until like last year.” Basic Bleach has gotten its name across Saskatoon quite handily. Leigh has gotten a ton of great experiences out of her company: “I’ve had [my clothes] in three businesses in town, I’ve done fashion shows, photo shoots.” But as of right now, Leigh says that she’s “kind of taken a bit of a hiatus in the last year and a half or so. I just haven’t been feeling the same way about it.” Particularly over the pandemic, bleached items have become a
Nate Callaghan
A TV with the logo for Basic Bleach painted over it and some models sporting merch. Do you think that TV still gets HGTV?
trend in every day fashion, not just in the punk scene. This has been leading Leigh to consider how to shake it up. “I’ve been wanting to do something different,” she says, “because unfortunately, I feel like COVID turned everyone into a DIY professional.” Leigh doesn’t want to say that this is bad, adding that being into DIY is a pretty cool thing that she supports. “I’m definitely not the first or last person to throw bleach on fabric,” she says, but that’s why she wants her business to do something different. And Leigh has already found her innovation for Basic Bleach! For fall, her big plan is releasing a small line of bleached-out trench coats. “I’m a big trench coat guy.” She says with a bit of a goofy giggle. “I think they’re really dope.” Her boyfriend had overheard her talking about that plan and offered up a coat of his for experimenting. “He was like ‘I want you to fuck it up for me,’” Leigh says, and “‘let’s see what your vision is,’ and it turned out phenomenally.” Now, Leigh is “out on the hunt for some vintage trench coats in various shapes and sizes” to add to her line. If all goes according to plan, Leigh will be “plugging those out sooner rather than later, hopefully.” Her creations can be found on Instagram @basicbleach_ and we’ll certainly be watching out for those sick trench coats she plans to roll out!
sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
carillonregina.com | the carillon |
arts & culture
9
We need to talk about Evan Hansen
We might forgive Ben Platt for playing a 30-year-old teenager, but you know what we don’t forgive? Racism.
jorah bright arts writer TW: Suicide Dear Evan Hansen, the highly acclaimed musical that premiered on Broadway in 2016 won six Tony Awards, has been adapted into a film version that will be coming to screens next week. On September 9, the film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and ushered in mixed reviews. The film release and changes made to the script have caused people to think about the Broadway show in a new light. The story follows a young teenager with a broken arm, Evan, who’s diagnosed with social anxiety. The plot is largely focused on the letters he writes to himself based on his therapist’s advice. Sounds all well and good, right? Here’s where it starts to go downhill. One letter is believed to be the suicide note of Connor Murphy because Connor stole the note from Evan. This causes Evan to weave an elaborate web of lies that he eventually gets stuck in. Evan makes fake emails with the help of his friend Jared, showing that he was best friends with Connor (which is a lie, they never knew each other) and that Connor was abusive to his family. He goes on to make an organization called “The Connor Project” with a classmate named Alana where he continues to lie. Then, he dates Connor’s sister Zoe, and lies to his single mother, Heidi, about his friendship with Connor. The original letter gets posted and the Murphy’s get blamed for Connor’s death before Evan confesses about his lies. In the end, Evan is forgiven and accepts himself. Several things were changed
for the movie, including new songs and the removal of major ones. The most notable being the song “Good For You,” sung by Alana, Jared, and Heidi about their anger over Evan’s lies. The new film adaptation took out the major song that exposed the character’s anger over Evan’s actions. In the musical, Connor’s parents storm out when they find out what he’s done, but there’s no huge outburst of anger and he gets forgiven in the end. No one except the Murphy’s and Evan’s mom find out that Connor’s suicide note was written by Evan and that they weren’t actually
HUNCHING HIS SHOULDERS an act of sabotage that’s near avant-garde.” What made this worse still is that there was another actor who could’ve easily done the role well and is still a teenager. Andrew Barth Feldman, who is currently 19, played Evan Hansen on Broadway in 2019 at just 16 years old. Feldman’s performance was acclaimed by musical theatre lovers everywhere. So why did they cast Ben Platt? Many believe Ben Platt’s casting to be nepotism. His father, Marc Platt, is a producer for the film. In an interview with Holly-
Alana Beck, was the only person of colour in the main cast of the original Broadway production. In the original readings, however, Alana was played by a White actress. As one might assume from this, there is no regard for Alana’s racial identity in the script, anywhere. Alana is highly involved in “The Connor Project” – more involved than Jared and Evan. When Evan ignores all of his work, Alana is the one that has to do it. Alana has six titled roles for “The Connor Project” that she mentions in the show. Despite this, Alana still doesn’t know that Evan’s been
“
When you take a step back and look at the situation, it’s clear that two White men are conning one Black girl. They are using her for her skills, her intelligence, and her drive, while simultaneously threatening her academic career and future. – Jorah Bright
friends. Evan graduates and he doesn’t have to face the consequences of his peers knowing. The first thing people noticed when the trailer dropped on May 18 of this year was how old the main star Ben Platt looked. Platt originated the role on Broadway when he was 23, but in the film at age 27, it’s difficult to believe he’s a high schooler. Allison Willmore, a film critic for Vulture and New York Magazine, wrote on Twitter “If there were any chance of making this character look like something other than a monster, it rested on emphasizing his raw youth, which makes the casting of an OBVIOUSLY GROWN MAN JUST
wood Reporter about the history of Dear Evan Hansen, Marc Platt said, “There was, thankfully, a lot of interest from a number of studios to make the movie, and all of those studios were interested if it could be done timely, with Ben portraying the role.” Based on this quote, it seems that the movie wouldn’t have been made without Platt. He all but confirmed this in an interview with the Zach Sang Show when he said, “Were I not to do the movie it probably wouldn’t have been made.” Unfortunately, this is the least of Dear Evan Hansen’s problems: a conversation needs to be had about the production and racism. Kristolyn Lloyd, who played
lying about Connor. In what little we know about Alana’s character from the musical, she’s very academic and hard working. We learn right away that she does a lot of volunteer work and internships, presumably to boost her resume. When you take a step back and look at the situation, it’s clear that two White men are conning one Black girl. They are using her for her skills, her intelligence, and her drive, while simultaneously threatening her academic career and future. Alana could’ve lost everything if the public found out Connor’s suicide note wasn’t real. Platt even said in the interview with Hollywood Reporter that Alana is a plot device in the
movie. “It was really important to the writers to understand why Evan and Alana connect, apart from her just being a really useful plot device later in the show.” We know that Alana gets a deeper and more well-rounded character, as well as her own song ‘The Anonymous Ones,’ but Platt confirmed she is still just a plot device to help “The Connor Project.” When it came time for the movie, the creative team had a meeting. Not much is known about what this meeting was about, but what we do know is that all the BIPOC who were involved in the show were invited. Lloyd was at the meeting and posted the following on her Instagram story: “I wish I could say they hired 20 black people but in actuality there were only 10 of us in that meeting. 10. Out of 80-90 people. 10. Including: Stage management, production team, creatives, producers, cast, musicians, Marketing/Publicity. 10 were black. All were actors. Help.” Not one person involved in the show behind the scenes is a person of colour. Beyond that, whatever was discussed in that meeting was subsequently ignored. This was confirmed by English actor Alex Thomas-Smith who understudied for Evan and Jared on the West End when they tweeted, “I tell you this, it do take nerve to listen to 20 black people share their experiences of racism and trauma in your show, to then go and whitewash your movie lol but what do i know,” (4) in September of 2020. If this article, and the movie’s 46% on Rotten Tomatoes, aren’t enough to sway you from watching, Dear Evan Hansen premieres on September 24.
Wikimedia Commons
A headshot of Ben Platt captured long enough ago that he almost looks young enough to play a teenager (but still not quite).
sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
carillonregina.com | the carillon |
arts & culture
10
Why Netflix’s satire The Chair misses the mark In summary, let’s just not make Nazi jokes
hannah eiserman arts editor Spoiler warning: Netflix’s The Chair. Netflix has pumped out a limited series that is so delightfully up my alley I’m actually wondering if they read my mind! I’ve been yearning for some more (read: better) shows that focus on campus culture, and particularly, academia. Netflix did me one better and gave me both of those themes, plus it’s focused on an English department! And since no one has responded positively to my frantic questions of ‘but have you seen The Chair yet?’, I’ve decided to monopolize a page of A&C to make sure I get to talk to someone about this. The Chair focuses on fictional Pembrooke College’s newly appointed chair of the English Department, Dr. Ji-Yoon Kim (Sandra Oh.) Dr. Kim is not only the first woman of colour to ascend to this position, but she is also the first woman, period. She sets out to make radical change in her department, which consists of Dr. Elliot Rentz, an older White man and Melville scholar who is put in a tumultuous co-teaching arrangement with Dr. Yaz McKay, a young, increasingly popular Black woman who is also a Melville scholar; Dr. Joan Hambling, an under-appreciated female Chaucer scholar, whose office has been doomed to the basement of the Rec facility; faculty “heartthrob” novelist Dr. Bill Dobson; and another older professor, whose name I don’t even remember, because his sole character trait was falling asleep everywhere and farting. The Chair, however, is not the academia-focused show I was expecting. It was certainly not glamourizing the environment or pandering to the rise of the “dark academia aesthetic.” Rather, it set out to be an honest critique of the system of academia and the people in it. Now, this is a welcome
Davide Cantelli via Unsplash
Auniversity library that’s so warm and cozy it makes you go: “Crap! Did I miss the deadline for that paper?”
angle in my opinion, because though I love academia and plan to spend my whole life in it, I can’t do so without acknowledging there are very glaring, inherent flaws in the system. As a spoiler alert, though – this is not a rave review. (‘Do I contradict myself ? Yes, I do. I contradict myself.’) Despite bringing all the qualities I love in a TV show – mother-daughter dynamics, unconventional family dynamics, books, and campus culture – The Chair fell short of
unconventional. I also loved Joan, played by Holland Taylor, whose entire plot arc mostly focused on her negative teaching evaluations – particularly her discovery of a disturbingly sexual review on Rate My Prof, a website for anonymous (and often harsh) student reviews of university faculty. She gets onto the site after being told she needs to review her teacher evaluations and see how to better appeal to her students (or risk being fired, little does she know.) Taylor is a joy in
course, takes the Ultimate White Man Response™ and blames anyone but himself, but particularly, cancel culture. I get that Bill is meant to be insufferable, and that his insufferable-ness is part of the critique at hand, but it’s how his storyline concludes that’s the frustrating part. That conclusion is that Bill is ultimately, after taking down everyone around him, fired for his actions – but never sorry, except sorry for the demise of his career. He spends the whole show
“
Regardless of if you think ‘cancel culture’ goes too far sometimes, I just don’t understand why a professor wouldn’t want his students to feel comfortable and safe in their learning environment? But then again, I’m also not a White man, and I’m not comfortable and safe everywhere I go. – Hannah Eiserman
a lot of my initial hopes for it. This happened for a multitude of reasons: mostly because it played into a will-they-won’t-they romance of two heavily stereotyped characters and made the other more interesting plotlines take a backseat to their dalliance. But to start out, here’s what I loved. First of all: Ji-Yoon’s daughter Ju Ju – which is quite ironic, because in the show about academia, the person who doesn’t like children loves the only child most? I love her very dark and disturbing tendencies that frighten everyone around her, I love her snarky attitude, and I also love the representation she offered. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a show where a child of Mexican heritage is adopted by a Korean single mother. As frustrating as it was at times, I loved her dynamic with her mother because it was so
any program she appears in, and this was no exception. Then there’s Sandra Oh – who doesn’t love her? Her presence on screen always feels like a warm hug, no matter who she’s playing. However, I did find her character to be – most of the time – insufferable, because “blinded by loyalty to a White man” is my absolute least favourite personality trait. But of course, the show would have ended after only a few episodes if she would have done her job and disciplined Bill in the first place. And Bill was the absolute worst. As an actual human person, I simply cannot understand how one can be accused of being a Nazi and have any response other than “I am so, so sorry. I do not agree with anything the Nazis believed and I’m so sorry I hurt any students with my action.” Bill, of
trying to schmooze and prove to everyone he’s not a racist, instead of just simply apologizing. Regardless of if you think “cancel culture” goes too far sometimes, I just don’t understand why a professor wouldn’t want his students to feel comfortable and safe in their learning environment. But then again, I’m also not a White man, and I’m not comfortable and safe everywhere I go. And let’s be honest, he wasn’t doing a bang-up job of that before the incident either! One of his opening scenes is one where he rolls up to class drunk and accidentally opens a video file of his topless, pregnant, recently deceased wife in front of his whole class. I could fill my whole section this week talking about how horrible Bill is, but instead I’ll move on to what they could have done better.
I think that’s The Chair’s greatest flaw, however, is too many plots and not enough time. I think, personally, the storyline between Dr. Rentz and Dr. McKay, the warring Melville scholars, held the most promise and potential for exploring a real problem in academia: challenging dominant perspectives and adjusting to how students learn best in a radically changing world. The storyline of Ji-Yoon and Bill, and Bill’s subsequent disgusting behaviour, overshadows all the good that’s being done. JiYoon falls hard into the “career woman who is so busy she has no time for family” stereotype and Bill falls hard into the “sexy novelist who thinks his charms will get him out of everything” stereotype and nothing is really done to break these stereotypes. Oh, sorry, Bill actually doesn’t sleep with his students, so that breaks the stereotype! Not. Ultimately, Ji-Yoon loses her job as chair and returns to being a professor where she is implied to be much happier and have more time for her troubled child Ju Ju, and Bill realizes his students are important after all, and declines settlement money to get back into the students’ good graces – while doing zero work to prove that he actually isn’t a racist! Take a class on anti-Semitism or do something else that’s performative at the bare minimum, Bill. Dr. McKay leaves for a job at Yale and the department loses its only person of colour other than Ji-Yoon. If Ji-Yoon can’t end as Department Chair, however, I will say I’m happy that Joan, who eventually speaks out about being offered $10,000 less than her colleague for her first teaching position, ends up with the job. It’s still a step towards addressing some systemic wrongs, just like the show itself. However, The Chair really just feels to me like two steps forward, one step back.
sports
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editor: vacant sports@carillonregina.com the carillon | sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
Vaccine disclosure for campus rec and fitness Dean of Kin and Director of Sport share on mandates, policies, and accommodations
holly funk and gillian massie editor-in-chief and staff writer The University of Regina’s campus facilities are back open and running again for the fall semester, though not all feel comfortable accessing what they are being charged for. Many faculty members are welcoming students and staff back into the Kinesiology Building of Health and Sport to proceed with different physical activities. While some students have eagerly awaited the re-opening of campus facilities, others are hesitant – or simply unable – to return. We are well into the fourth wave of COVID-19 and have been for weeks, yet the Government of Saskatchewan has only recently begun re-implementing safety precautions to help stop the virus from spreading. As of September 17, the provincial wide mask mandate was reinstated in all indoor public spaces, including schools. There is not currently a vaccine option for children under age 12, which was thought to put them at higher risk, and which we are now seeing confirmed in their climbing infection rates. Campus facilities could potentially be a hot-spot for COVID-19 transmission with many individuals wanting to use athletic facilities. As of October 1, students and faculty must be fully vaccinated to be able to return anywhere on campus, or else submit to rapid testing once every two weeks. U of R students can upload proof of vaccination onto UR Self-Service which can be submitted as a PDF through the Saskatchewan Health Association website.
Massie interviewed the Dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Harold Riemer, who explains the vaccine mandate for students and staff: “First of all, for our students anyway, and the faculty and staff on the campus who make use of the facilities, any of the general things that are in place by the University are in place for those individuals too. So that includes the vaccine mandate, which will require everyone to either be vaccinated or submit themselves for testing.” Funk interviewed Lisa Robertson, Director of Sport, Community Engagement, and Athletic Development, to learn more on policies specifically for stu-
the faculties, off-campus members to our facilities – they will have to show proof of vaccination. Until then, we have a masking mandate anyways so we already have a higher level – or had a higher level – of expectation than the rest of the community had. We didn’t lift our masking. The only exemption was our student-athletes when they were actually actively engaged in the field of play. So now we are moving towards an October 1 – or shortly thereafter – system. I don’t know what that system is yet, it literally just happened, so we’re working on that.” Campus facilities always mandated mandatory masking within facilities except if you are
health and privacy. “It’s really tricky because if you’re storing any of this information, it has to fall under HIPAA privacy rules – medical privacy rules. Which what we’re doing with our student-athletes does fall under HIPAA, it’s all handled through our medical team, but general campus? I’m not sure how that’s going to be managed.” While a potential solution could be found through their ticket system, there are ideas elsewhere. “It sounds like the province is doing this QR code where it’s like scan-and-go, so [the information is] not stored, it just gives whoever scans it a red light or a green light and then the informa-
“
It’s really tricky because if you’re storing any of this information, it has to fall under HIPAA privacy rules – medical privacy rules. Which what we’re doing with our student-athletes does fall under HIPAA, it’s all handled through our medical team, but general campus? I’m not sure how that’s going to be managed. – Lisa Roberston
dent-athletes and non-students who choose to visit and use campus facilities. “Prior to the health announcement the province made, the campus did not have a visitor vaccination policy in essence. As of public health orders, we are going to have to move in that direction.” The switch, while hectic, won’t be entirely foreign, as Robertson mentioned they already had more restrictions in place than required. “The whole campus, but specifically for our fans,
swimming in the pool or in the showers. While using facilities other than the pool, such as the Fitness Centre (FC), masking is required. Mandatory masking is essential to keeping individuals safe, as it has been shown to decrease COVID-19 transmission rates, which seem to only climb with each new variant. Robertson explains that when it comes to policies in this area, the specifics are ever-changing, and it is difficult to establish plans that respect both everyone’s
tion is deleted.” Robertson said, but made sure to explain that nothing is set in stone as of yet. “This is an immensely complicated and immensely cumbersome process at times, and everybody – not just our university and our sports teams – we have no map to follow, so we’re all learning as we go.” With intermural and other esports back up and running, athletes will need to mask on the bench, but will not be required to mask while participating. “Our
student-athletes are exempt from that because we put a vaccination policy and we are collecting that information,” says Robertson, referencing the August 13 mandate for those on varsity sports, varsity clubs, or living in reference to be vaccinated. Referees and other game officials will be required to mask during all interactions. “[W]hat we are not requiring is for people who are actually participating in sport, like on the court itself. That mask will not be required for our external render groups. But on the way to the court, or off the court or sitting on the sidelines, all sorts of things, mask is required.” Reimer expanded. With many of the sporting teams and intermural taking place soon, fans are encouraged to come down and show their support for their teams, keeping in mind masking and proper social distancing is still required. Another way student-athletes enjoy more flexibility from these measures made in -advance is through an accommodation process that was created for those unwilling or unable to get a vaccine. Without the accommodation, Robertson says “If you’re unwilling to disclose your status, you are assumed to be unvaccinated, and we treat you as unvaccinated. You can still go through an accommodation request, but you cannot participate if you don’t disclose and/or go through the accommodation process.” Accommodations were applied for using a comprehensive application, and as they were only offered for religious or medical reasons, they required a religious or medical professional to sign off. (Continued on page 12...)
Marco Verch via Flickr
Call it “record of immunity” and nobody bats an eye, but say “vaccine passport” and everyone loses their minds.
sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
carillonregina.com | the carillon | 12
sports
Vaccine discourse (cont...) holly funk and gillian massie editor-in-chief and staff writer (Continued from page 11...) “We struck a committee,” Robertson explained, “a multidisciplinary committee from our campus community that meets; we’ve met once a week for the past two weeks to review the accommodation requests […] We have accommodated all of the requests to date, and they have to remain under stricter protocols as unvaccinated student-athletes.” The downside to these accommodations is that they only apply within the university’s specific jurisdiction, so there is no guarantee unvaccinated athletes will be able to travel and play elsewhere at present. “Provinces that we compete in have vaccination requirements, other schools have vaccination requirements, and I have to sign off that I’m sending vaccinated student-athletes,” Robertson said to expand on the reasoning behind their mandates. “If I don’t know if you’re vaccinated or not, I can’t sign off on you […] Wherever our student-athletes are going, whatever
Daniel Schludi via Unsplash
Hey, it’s that vaccine picture again...
their policy is supersedes any accommodation we have provided.” Aside from vaccinations, rapid testing, and mandatory masking, cleaning protocols will continue as usual. Cleaning protocols have been set in place since the beginning of the pandemic and take place routinely throughout each day. Within the FC, patrons
are required to wipe down their own equipment, a job which is then followed up by an employee. Students will still be required to pay the athletic and recreation fee, even if they choose not to use the facilities for this year. The fee also applies for students who remain in remote locations, and have no feasible way of coming
to Regina to use the facilities they have been charged for. The fee remains at $98 per term. Riemer explains why faculty and admin feel the fee is necessary for the Health and Sport building: “[T]here’s a lot more that is paid for by the fees than just access to facilities. I mean, that’s certainly part of it, and it
facilitates access to the facilities or even the programming for students. But it is the way that the university has chosen to pay for varsity sport and recreation on this campus. And so it was, and it’s been, a mandatory fee, with the exception of those two semesters following the start of the pandemic, and it was reinstated in January and continues this summer, and continues into the fall.” Students who choose not to or are unable to return to campus facilities are also provided with an array of remote physical activities on the University of Regina’s Recreation Services website, and workout challenges are posted throughout the year. Going into the winter months, an outdoor rink will also be ready for students to hit the ice and race around. As COVID-19 cases continue to spike within Saskatchewan, keep an eye out for changes in regulations. The Government of Saskatchewan officially makes and changes the rules to keep the public safe, and some of their changes have only been very recently re-implemented. Campus facility rules and regulations could be subject to change at any moment.
Mosaic stadium COVID requirements It doesn’t matter how you spin it – 33K unmasked people is a bad idea right now
victoris baht staff writer
The football season has been among us for the last couple of weeks. This is the normal time of year when you can hear Mosaic Stadium loud and clear from miles away. Now, the question a lot of people have been asking and wondering is: should there be enough people in the stadium to make it sound like the thirteenth man never left if COVID-19 cases are rising? The Roughrider game schedule is shorter this year compared to other years, but they seem to be having a lot of home games this season. The schedule this year has involved home games against: BC on August 6, HAM August 14, OTT August 21, WPG Sept
5, TOR Sept 17, CGY Oct 9, EDM Nov 13. With this many home games and Mosaic stadium holding up to 33,000 people, some have wondered if these home games may be one of the leading causes of why COVID-19 cases are going back up once again. The game regulation and guidelines have been changing since the season begun. The Carillon is going to talk you through the steps of how the game has changed for both players and the audience. The Carillon talked to Kody Kranhenbil who works for ProAv, a business that is best known for their ability to meet requirements for agencies and events. They meet new standards of excellence and people to give clear, bright images for the audience.
Kranhenbil explained to the Carillon that, in order to work on the field, you must get a rapid COVID-19 test, and double vaccination is strongly recommended regardless. A person’s test results must be negative for them to work the rest of the game. If a member of that working team (Pro-Av, or any other business that is allowed on the field) has to leave the field for any reason, they would need security assistance to use private stairs. While the teams are on the field, they are required to remained masked and socially distanced as much as possible from the coaches, refs, staff, and the other CFL teams. When the games started, fans had no requirements they had to meet in order to attend a game. Now that COVID-19 cases have
been growing in the province, the requirements to attend the Saskatchewan Roughrider games have been changing. When you attend games, you can see right away that bathrooms are being cleaned at least every game quarter – which is encouraging! They also have hand sanitizer and masks available to fans. At the game I attended, masks were required anywhere you could not see the sun. This means you must wear a mask in the washroom, in the stairs, inside hallways, suites, and just anywhere you can not see the sun. Now, starting at the game on September 17, fans will need to be fully vaccinated or they will need to provide a negative COVID-19 test to be able to attend the home games. If you are not fully vaccinated, you will need
that COVID-19 test to be negative for 48 hours before the game. If you are not fully vaccinated and want to get a vaccine, they also offer vaccinations at Mosaic stadium. Different people have mixed feelings on whether the games should be going because of the rising case numbers. Although now that these requirements are in place, fans may feel safer to go. Going back to Roughrider games is an exciting moment for our society getting back to normal. Hopefully, if we have these guidelines in place, the cases will go down and we can have more exciting events for multiple people to enjoy.
Jim Hoffman via Flickr
O Canada we stand on guard (with watermelons on our heads).
sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
sports
carillonregina.com | the carillon |
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Fall football and the RMF
The Carillon talks minor football and gives an outline of games for those who want to follow
victoria baht sports writer
The fall season is around the corner – some may say it is already here. Normally when we think of fall, we think of the leaves turning yellow and brown, the sunset coming sooner in the day, the crisp air in the morning and evening, and pumpkin spice everything. But the most exciting one of them all is the football season! Two weeks ago, on September 9, the National Football League (NFL) began their season. Today, we are going to talk about the game of football and teach you what football really is, and we are going to talk about a league/organization that operates in Regina – Regina Minor Football (RMF). We are going to be talking about American football, which means that there are tackles, field goals, and touch downs – not the European football (our soccer) where there are slide tackles, goalies, and goals. The football that we are talking about today is the football that uses the CFL rules, just for younger age groups. A game of football consists of four 15-minute quarters. The goal of the game is to reach ten yards before getting tackled down, or
going out of bounds. Players can reach those ten yards by running with the ball, throwing the ball, and passing off the ball to another teammate. If a team doesn’t make it that ten yards, they have two more chances, and on the last chance they can choose to run again or kick the ball to the other team. If a team does make the ten yards successfully, they keep run-
ning until the player with the ball is down or out of field. Once they reach that goal, the team keeps aiming for ten yards until they get to the end zone. Once a team brings the ball to the end zone, they are awarded a touchdown, and in a touchdown a team can shoot for a field goal or a safety. Now, these are the rules that the Regina Minor Football
League follows. This league works out to have five groups of players: the Mighty Mites (under 10), Atom (under 12), Peewee (under 14), Bantom (under 16) and the Victorias (all girls team). If you haven’t noticed, the teams go until the age of 16, which means that kids can no longer play in the league after about grade 10. This way, the league gets them ready
Marco Verch via Flickr
The most skin you’ll ever see in the Carillon.
for high school teams and games. Once they are in grade 10, they can try out for high school teams with more experience. This also allows the grade nines to have that additional year, if they choose, before going up against the bigger players in grade 12. The RMF league normally runs their games on the weekends. That means if you want to take your little ones over to go and see a game to see if they want to play, you can do that! Or you can do it for yourself before asking them, to avoid the fear of your kid getting crushed to pieces. It will be okay – football is a team sport, and they have pads to protect your kids as much as possible in a full-contact sport. Let’s say you go and watch a game, and your kid really wants to join. Sadly, the fall season has already started, but there is a spring league! This league runs from mid-April to mid-May, so you still have time to get your kids excited and pumped for spring season. It’s fall, which means you can still take them out to go play catch, run some drills, get them ready for the season – and get yourself in the fall spirit!
Activities for the introvert: geocaching Have no fear, geocaching is here gillian massie staff writer Looking for something contactless to do this fall? Don’t like people? Like being outside? Well, if you answered yes to any of the above, geocaching is the answer for you, my friend. Think about all the scavenger hunts you went on as a kid – some could have been during Easter, or some could have been set up at birthday parties. Geocaching takes this to the next level. It takes scavenger hunts global by using a GPS system where you have to seek out each of the cache stations. Unlike the scavenger hunts you went on as a kid, geocaching is a give-and-take prize event.
When you find each of the stations, you have to take what is in the container and then put something of yours in to replace it. The beauty of geocaching is that even if you are studying remotely this semester, there are geocaches all over, so you can still participate even if you are not on campus. All you have to do is download the Geocaching app, lace up your shoes, and get tracking. Geocaching breaks down into a few simple rules: when you find the geocache, don’t re-hide it in a different location – others will not be able to find it! Take the item within the container and leave another one, then sign the guest book and put everything back into the container, making
sure it is hidden but not buried. These rules are set in place to so that geocaching goes smoothly for others – so that fellow geocachers don’t travel all the way to the location to find nothing. Finding caches depends on a couple of different values; terrain, which means how complex the landscape is to get to the container; and difficulty, which is how easy it is to find the cache. Some caches can be tricky, such as multicaches or puzzle caches which rely on doing more steps for one go. Geocaching shouldn’t be all about finding extravagant treasures – but it is exciting when you find something that is really cool. I have seen different items such as buttons and stickers on the small-
er scale, all the way to larger-scale items such as Pez dispensers to small strings of Christmas lights. Try to steer clear of things that are just garbage – nobody wants your Starbucks coffee lid – leave something small such as a poker chip or a hair clip. In order to geocache, you do not need to break the bank to get your cache items. Look no further than Dollarama or Walmart for small items that you think would be good to receive. If you want to create your own geocache station, you can become a volunteer by registering on the Geocaching app. It is recommended that you find 20 different geocaches before you plant your own station, just to get a feel for proper placement and
good hiding locations. After that, you need to find out the proper GPS locations and put them close enough to monitor the location regularly. For more information, head to the Geocaching website, where you can find more information under the heading “Geocache Container.” The University of Regina has piloted an intermural “geocaching” challenge from January to February and March to April, which has proven successful. The third challenge attempt will go from October 4 to November 15, where individuals can compete and be entered into a draw to win different prizes.
The peoples’ pocket-sized pastime.
Martin Lostak via Unsplash
sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
carillonregina.com | the carillon | 14
sports
Fall rec: Oxygen Yoga & Fitness Studio Learn what’s offered, how, to whom, and more…
victoria baht sports writer The cold weather is coming, which means that working out outside is not going to be as enjoyable anymore. So, let’s say you love to work out in 30 degree Celsius heat and you are not ready to let go of working out in that heat all year long – turns out you no longer have to. The Carillon did an interview with Rachel Suttill, the owner of Oxygen Yoga & Fitness Studio, who has kept it running for five years. Oxygen Yoga ran Karma Week last week, so this interview dives into both Karma Week and the studio itself. What is the Oxygen Yoga Studio? “Well, the Oxygen Yoga & Fitness is not your typical yoga studio. We are an infrared studio that offers a blend of yoga and fitness classes for everybody, and every body. No matter what you are in the mood for, a relaxing stretch or a leave-it-all-on-the-mat sweat session, we have the class for you.” What is Karma week? This is the opportunity the studio gives to the community for a week of free classes, where they encourage new and old visitors to come and enjoy a class. It also gives the opportunity to members to bring a friend along. Suttill’s highlight of this week is that “It is so fun to see people experience the studio for the first time. It is so much fun. Our entire staff gets so excited for this week every year!” What is something everyone should know about having a membership at Oxygen? “At Oxygen we are obsessed with the idea of our commUNITY. As soon as you walk through the doors, you feel welcomed and supported. It won’t take long until
Dylan Gillis via Unsplash
My type of yoga is more the style of the grinch video (pls look it up), but this’ll do.
you feel all the reasons our members say, ‘I Love My Life!’ at the end of class.” How do you guys get the infrared heat and what are some basic steps you take to run a class? First off, the studios are heated to 38 degrees Celsius, and they do that by using a ceiling panel system. Keep in mind this is not humidity heat, it is a good heat. Now, when you first walk into the studio, you can feel the heat difference instantly. Although Suttill added that “Once you get
movements, and they create a safe and effective class for you to participate in with any fitness background. The studio is ready, the instructors are ready; what steps do members have to take before taking a class? First, anyone interested should create an account through Mindbody or the Oxygen App and purchase the introduction offer, currently priced at $19 for three class during your first week. Before your first class, the studio will give you a call to make sure
relieve the effects of chronic stress in several ways. This class is designed to release tension and teach the fundamentals of yoga. You will leave feeling refreshed and relaxed. (60 minutes) Fast & Furious Fusion – get ready to sweat! This dynamic fitness fusion class combines a blend of exercises to sculpt the entire body using props like hand weights, yoga blocks and Pilates balls. This is one of our more challenging fitness classes, but we offer tonnes of modifications, so you leave feeling challenged but
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Well the Oxygen Yoga & Fitness is not your typical yoga studio. We are an infrared studio that offers a blend of yoga and fitness classes for everybody, and every body. No matter what you are in the mood for, a relaxing stretch or a leave-it-all-on-the-mat sweat session, we have the class for you. – Rachel Sutthill
moving, then you begin to feel the benefits that the infrared air provides.” Not only is it 38 degrees Celsius in the room, but because they use infrared heat it manages to increase your core temperature by one degree. A little goes a long way for a really good sweat! The heat also increases your metabolic rate, and can reduce chances of muscle soreness after a workout – an amazing feeling. The heat is great, the health benefits are great, and the instructors have a signature method – the Oxygen Method – which is where you feel safe between transfers of
you bring the following supplies: a yoga mat, water bottle, towel, and comfortable clothing. They also like to make sure that you are trying a class you’re really interested in. What are your top three classes that people should sign up for in their introduction week so that they can see what they are getting themselves into? Suttill had a few things to say about her studio, broken down by the classes offered: Deep Stretch & Relaxation – this class uses poses that help
successful. (60 minutes) Freedom Flow – This is our version of a vinyasa flow. Freedom Flow is a fun and dynamic class that gradually works its way into a flowing sequence, linking the breath and various yoga poses together. You will finish feeling energized, calm, and ready to face your world. This class is open to all, with flows that help you connect and tap into your inner strength. (60 minutes) Now, as we all know, COVID-19 is active in Regina everyday. What do you guys do to keep your members and your
instructors safe? They say the safety of the “commUNITY” is top priority, and as someone who’s gone to their classes, it definitely feels that way. The Oxygen team works together by checking members temperature upon arrival, always social distancing in the entire building, the staff set-up, sanitizing and putting equipment away after class, following all public health orders, and they also will need proof of vaccination starting October 1. What are some future events that you guys are going to be hosting? There are a variety of workshops coming up this winter and fall to help create their community. Specifics to look forward to are Yoga Alignment Essentials and Yoga Nidra. If someone wants to try out the studio after reading this article, what’s their next step? Give the Oxygen Studio a call at (306)-522-9642, or email them at reginanorth@oxygenfitness. com. The team would be happy to help you and hear about your goals, interests, and hopefully find some classes that work for you. Why should you join Oxygen Yoga & Fitness? By the sounds of it, the real question is why should you not? You have the heat to feel like summer never left, and we all know we need that living through winter in Saskatchewan. They have a strong “commUNITY,” multiple classes to choose from that are at all different levels, and best of all – it’s fun. I hope you go ahead and get a true feeling of working out at Oxygen Yoga & Fitness.
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editor: sarah nakonechny op-ed@carillonregina.com the carillon | sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
The untold story of medication
Being on medication isn’t the easy way out, it beats you up before it considers making you better
Content warning: talk of medication use/misuse and unpleasant side-effects. For those who don’t know what it feels like going through the experience of being on medication, let me give you a sneak peak of what that feels like. There are many people who are on some kind of medication, whether that be for anxiety, depression, ADHD, etc. I want to make one thing clear before I move forward : taking medication does not mean that someone is weak or broken or taking the easy way out. Going through the process of taking medication and constantly evaluating how you are doing and how your body may be reacting is a full-time job. This is not something that is easy, and I raise my hat to anyone else who has or still is experiencing this process. Finding medications that work for you is a very individualistic process. What works for one person may not work for another person and it may take you a lot longer to find what works for you as a result. It is also important to note that while some people can get by with using medication only, others may need to pair it with counselling which is a valid experience and option as well. With that all being said, it’s time for the real reason I’m bringing this to your attention. If you know someone who is experiencing the process of determining which medications work for them, be kind to them as they go through this. This is not something that is fun for anyone to go through and adding to their discomfort will not be useful. What is it like going through this process? I’ve alluded to the fact that it is hor-
Sharon McCutcheon via Unsplash
Don’t go crying over spilt medication, at least it’s not milk.
rible, and that entails a variety of potential physical symptoms among other battles that you have to fight with. Some of the physical symptoms can be the urge to over or under eat, disruptions with sleeping patterns, changes in mood or general behaviour, heart palpitations, among so many more other possibilities. Each medication comes with its own special set of potential
side effects and if you need to take more than one kind, those mixtures can cause different symptoms to appear as well. Now — if you’re lucky, these side effects only last for the first couple of weeks. However, they will reappear every time you need to change your dosage. Once you go through the pain and hassle of dealing with the side effects and upping your dos-
age ,and then dealing with the side effects again, you may be out of luck and find out that this specific type of medication doesn’t actually help you. Guess what that means - you’re back to the drawing board to do it all over again. This process is long and it’s exhausting, and I know I am not the only person who is tired from having to deal with it. It can take people years to figure out what they need, which means a new round of side effects every so often as things are changed and modified. What else is a major concern when working with prescription medication? Some of these concerns surround the topic of misuse. Whether it happens intentionally or as a result of what is prescribed, this can be harmful to some patients as well. We have all heard the tragic tale of a young star athlete having to go in for surgery, getting prescribed an opiate temporarily to help with pain management after surgery and as a result, they become addicted. That can happen with a variety of prescribed medications. It is so important to be careful and to talk openly with your physician and other mental health professionals if you’re worried that this is something that may happen or is happening to you. Although medications are something that can be extremely useful in treating a variety of illnesses, disorders and physical ailments, the process of using them is a nightmare.
sarah nakonechny op-ed editor
What’s worse burnout or isolation?
Students are still feeling the effects of last year, how are we supposed to cope with another term?
Starting a new term means that we should all be well-rested, ready to learn, and actively engaged in what is happening in both our classes and the wider university community. This sounds like a nice dream, doesn’t it? The ideal situation. A fairy-tale you could even argue. What are many students currently experiencing when entering this term? Burnout. Exhaustion. Feelings of being overwhelmed, stressed, and isolated. This isn’t the way that it’s supposed to be, and yet, here we are. I asked peers how they would describe their first two weeks back in the swing of things and I fear that these answers are not uplifting in the slightest. Individual K.L describes his term as being busy, overwhelming, and repetitive. We are feeling as though we are doing the same things day in and day out without that needed change of scenery or pace to break up our day. It feels as though we have been doing the same thing for the last 18 months and haven’t had a chance to stop and take a needed break. Another individual V.B., states that the term is already discouraging due to the lack of connection provided in the online environment. You would hope that with how long we have been living in this virtual state of interacting that we would have figured out more effective ways to do so than having so much of it provided in asynchronous formats with message boards and forums as the only options for a chance to interact with other people in your courses. Why is this such a problem? Well, the
first issue is that the feelings of being isolated are only increasing. For many of us, going out and interacting with people outside of our bubbles is still a very high-risk gamble that we cannot take. This makes meeting new people extremely challenging and going outside of our regular four walls extremely nerve-wracking. These feelings
of anxiety can be isolating in themselves, as it is harder to find people who still feel the same way that you do. Seeing photos and videos of countless people going out and interacting in groups while feeling like one of the only people who are not partaking in that is difficult to sit with. Another major problem that these
Tony Tran via Unsplash
Whoever said that you couldn’t learn anything through osmosis was a liar.
opinions bring forth is the idea that student burnout is only going to grow as the year moves forward. There are many reasons for this potential growth and increasing severity of burnout. Many students didn’t take the breaks that they were used to getting in the summer from course work as there are many who chose to enroll in Spring or Summer courses, as it didn’t appear as though there was much else to do in the meantime. For those who were able to go to work or get a summer job, they were working in a way that they weren’t used to. Many who lost their jobs or were laid off were excited to get back to work and as a result ran the risk of overworking themselves at a higher rate. We have not had a chance to rest. We are tired, scared, and feeling defeated when being forced to look at the many weeks staring us in the face for this term. It is not an easy time to try and slow down, as we are expected to push through. We are also unable to push the same way, as we are still tired from 18 months ago. Try to be kind to yourself moving forward in the next few weeks. This term is going to be more challenging than the others. We are now all at different stages where we used to be in the same place at the beginning of this all. Stay strong friends, and do your best to lean on whoever you can.
sarah nakonechny op-ed editor
sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
op-ed
carillonregina.com | the carillon |
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Your comments are not wanted here
We do not need to be told to eat more, we recognize how small we are and pointing it out won’t change that Content warning: eating disorders, body dysmorphia. When you meet someone what are some of the first things you notice about them? Their height? The colour of their hair? Maybe their skin tone or complexion? And we all know damn well that you take into account their size and how much you think they weigh. We hear about how hard it is to move through the world as a larger individual and the comments and jokes that are made at their expense. I would like to recognize that their experiences are valid and that what they are forced to deal with from the world is unfair and cruel. I’m here today, however, to talk about the other side of the spectrum. I’m here to speak on behalf of the girls who are told that they “need to put some meat on their bones” or that they “better be careful or they might blow away.” For all the individuals who have people ridicule them for being tiny and accusing them of caring more about their size than they do about anything else- we are more than just the “skin and bones” of the world, and this is how your words hurt us. Looking at the media nowadays and seeing what we should look like is hard for a small person. Seeing that you should have a big ass, large chest, and curvy hips is not something that exists for most of us. Without resorting to extreme measures and permanently altering your body, it is very difficult to try and look even kind of like the women we are told to idealize. It is not a matter of losing weight or changing how we eat. For many in this situation, there is not much you can do. You can eat whatever you want and however much you want, try to build muscle as intensively as
possible, and you will still not be able to get to where you want to be. Media aside, there is also the endless ridicule and comments from those around us - from the older generations trying to force us to eat more and telling us we look like walking skeletons to people our age making comments that they’ll break us or think it’s fine to carry us around at random. These are just a few of the things that you’re forced to deal with on a daily basis. The worst thing to deal with is people
Genetics is a fascinating thing, and sometimes that just makes you smaller than other people. Metabolism is also a funny thing that works faster for some people and not for others, which is okay. There is no need to go and point it out just because we are not set up the exact same way biologically. Now, for some, the reason behind our size is much more serious than just the speed of our metabolism works. As we know growing up, a lot of people have that baby weight, and some shed it later than
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We are more than just the “skin and bones” of the world, and this is how your words hurt us. – Sarah Nakonenchy
telling you that you should be grateful and that they wish that they looked like you. Now, I know what you might be thinking: you should take this as a compliment and be happy about it. Why should we be happy with all of the descriptions we obtain being about our size? Or happy that it is viewed as acceptable to comment on openly, and that ridiculing or harassing someone for being smaller than you is seen as justifiable? It’s time to shed some light on the mystery behind our size. Starting off with the basics, for many it is just the way they are.
others. Those who end up shedding that weight a little later than their peers oftentimes get ridiculed and bullied for their size. When they do eventually shed that baby weight it can be hard to stop wanting to shed more and more weight. The ugly head of body dysmorphia may make an appearance and let me tell you it is so much easier to think that you are still that chunky little kid that was made fun of in elementary school than to realize that you are a tall, thin adult. Trying to see yourself the way you truly are now and not the way you used to be months or even years ago is
one of the most challenging things to do. If one cannot shake the feeling that they are larger than they are, this can spiral into the risk of developing an eating disorder by limiting or refusing to eat, overexerting oneself through excessive exercise, the use of laxatives, intentionally making oneself sick, and so on. There are so many different ways that we can harm ourselves, because even though the rest of the world is telling us that we’re small, we still think we need to be smaller. What’s even worse is when people start to tell you that you look good and compliment the way you look. This confirmation is all you need to know that what you are doing is right and that you should keep going so you can look better. They will only keep telling you that you are an inspiration or telling you that they want to look like you until you no longer exist until you need a feeding tube and someone to monitor what you are ingesting and ensure that it stays down until you end up looking like the skeletons that are hiding in your closet. Stop commenting on how small we are. Whether you think it’s helpful to sing our praises or are ridiculing us because you would like to be the same size as us – you do not know why we are this way and you do not know the harm that is caused as a result of this. It is mentally exhausting and the physical repercussions may be catastrophic. Just let us be - and for the love of God, don’t offer us a sandwich.
sarah nakonechny op-ed editor Thought Catalog via Unsplash
sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
carillonregina.com | the carillon |
op-ed
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Sharing your opinions for more than spare change
Perspective of why one of our own shares his opinion and why he continues to do so Despite the demands of work, school, and life in general, I make an effort to keep up with the world around me. This also means I often form opinions about the world as well that I would like to think are well-informed. If not, or if I am missing nuances that a domain expert would see more readily, sharing my opinions for public consumption seems like a good way to get some dialogue started with others. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, newspapers and magazines will often pay me to share opinions, and a little extra cash is always welcome. Since moving to Canada, I have also often had the opportunity to write on topics like moving to a new country, adjusting to life on a college campus and more - topics on which I have more than a little experience and can reasonably expect someone to benefit from having read my experiences and perspectives. I am also, like almost everyone that is paying attention to the world around us these days, rather full of what I myself would consider righteous indignation at the state of the world. For a good part of the previous year, I had been contributing regularly to Op-Ed in both the Carillon as well as a newspaper back home. This was due partly to the fact that working from home gave me a little more flexibility with my time, partly because – again, full disclosure – it brought in some extra funds for a rainy day, and lastly in part because I care about everything that is going on in the world around me. A year ago, if someone asked me which of these reasons was the most important, I would be hard pressed to identify one. I am aware that it sounds cynical, but I am also doing my best to stay honest. We are all prone to biases. When
telling our own stories, each of us is the self-effacing hero who is simply doing the right thing. Mindful of this bias, I would much rather err on the side of sounding too cynical, even about myself. However, something changed in the span of the several months during which I continued to write for both newspapers. One morning, as I sat down to write about the plight of the farmers in India, something dawned on me. I had something concrete and specific to say about farmers in a faraway land. Farmers who were being
occasion, a throwaway comment by someone on social media got me thinking about how higher education back home is not a level playing field. I bit my tongue and refrained from starting an argument online, and instead wrote about it for the newspaper back home. I like to think that this way, I was spared the frustration of a social media debate that would leave neither side better informed or in a better state of mental health. Did the person whose original comment know that they would get me thinking about this and eventually would
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I have always considered myself a bit of a misfit, but for at least one part of one day, something I wrote brought me closer to my peers from a different time and place. – Hammad Ali
oppressed by a government that appeared to be more interested in protecting the interests of private corporations in the capital than farmers in the small villages of Punjab and elsewhere. I remember sitting down to that piece, trying to make an argument from a purely materialistic standpoint about why we should care. I remember feeling that my words might well make a difference. Since then, I have written on many other topics that are of paramount importance to me personally. On at least one
that read what I wrote for a national newspaper? I doubt it. Even if they did, did it change their mind or make them feel a little more empathy for others? I also doubt that. Regardless, I also feel that it does not matter. I was not trying to win a debate or convince someone to change their mind and agree with me. The best explanation I can offer for what I was doing is that there were a thousand tangled webs in my head and writing them down as a coherent flow of ideas seemed therapeutic. Well, what is that good for? I have also
found that it is good for a few things, actually. This past February, I wrote about childhood in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. I poured my heart out into the piece, painting a picture of the longing, the nostalgia, and the odd sense of loss with which I think of the city I once called home. Once it was in print, I shared it with peers, school friends who had also grown up in the same city and are now spread all around the world. For the next little while, as they all read and shared their appreciation, I felt seen, understood, and empathized with in a way that does not happen very frequently. I have always considered myself a bit of a misfit, but for at least one part of one day, something I wrote brought me closer to my peers from a different time and place - all because I decided to write about a home, we all left, and none can return to ever again. So, I continue to write about deeply personal opinions because it helps me find a calm place in my own mind. I continue to share my opinions on pretty much everything under the sun because if even one person reaches out and says what I wrote resonated with them, it makes me feel a little less invisible. William Nicholson said “We read to know we are not alone”. A personal favourite author, Neil Gaiman, once wrote that decades after he is gone, his words will survive and tell his children and their children’s’ children about this time here on earth. In a way, I understand them now.
hammad ali staff writer LinkedIn Sales Solutions via Unsplash
Another group of hipsters thinking if they share their views in a coffee shop that makes them more interesting.
sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
op-ed
Holding multiple identities
carillonregina.com | the carillon |18
Trying to hold onto identities is like grasping sand, impossible to do but a task we try nonetheless
Shae Sackman
What do you do when you are rudely confronted with how another person sees you? How is it that a large part of what makes up our identities ends up being a rough averaging of impressions others have gleaned from our actions and then made some sort of decision on? What if the perception a person has of you is completely wrong? What if you yourself don’t know who you are? What if you can’t know who you are? This very briefly outlines some of the problems with conceiving of ‘identity’ as something that a person has or possesses in some concrete and measurable way. Even when allowing for the fact that identity shifts and changes through time and experience, the concept is still not flexible enough. It remains not quite useful enough. Just a little bit too small. Last year’s unfashionable winter coat with tattered notes to self in the pockets. If the possibility of identity not having a specific, defined set of possibilities and options is a hard concept for you to dismantle in your mind, consider trying to ‘have’ a river. Or think about how you might go about ‘owning’ or ‘possessing’ light as your very own. Attempting to control or limit these changing, moving substances is like wrapping your fingers around a palm full of sand and increasing your grip. It escapes your grasp. Even if you somehow trap and contain it, the substance cares not for the space it is being forced to occupy. Identity is kind of like that. Letting people believe that identity is stable and completely quantifiable, consisting of certain sets of types and kinds that can be neatly explained is a disservice. It serves to falsely limit what we can think of
or what we can experience of ourselves and of others. The fake boundaries the concept of ‘an identity’ enforces also work to create a sense of exclusivity. You can be this, but not that. One but not another. The evidence of this kind of limitation is plain to see in peoples’ attitudes towards trans people, towards disabled people, toward people who experience psychological disorders or who are neurodivergent; to people who do not feel particularly pressured to be one specific way or another; to people who cannot be one thing or another. The tedious work of having to spend time
tionales and stories to tell myself why this false limit is necessary - defended its usefulness, propped it up with the theoretical good I could see that it provided. I have used this limitation against others. The inspiration for these 1000 words of typed out confusion and frustration come from an experience I had quite a while ago that I am not entirely sure what to do with. It is something that I have pondered every day since it happened. It has bothered and perplexed me so much that I have spoken about it with friends, even when they are entirely baffled as to why it bothers me.
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Letting people believe that identity is stable and completely quantifiable, consisting of certain sets of types and kinds that can be neatly explained is a disservice. – Shae Sackman
‘proving’ the people we are to those who can see us or even to ourselves is placed squarely on the one who should be trying to do their best to let the sand just rest in their palm. I have tried to quantify who or what I am in ways that make sense to others and myself for my entire life, just as everybody else does in their lives. I have put endless time into being the ways that grant me access to the sorts of things I need and tending to those ways of being out of necessity. Along the way, I developed reasons and ra-
The story goes that a thoughtful gesture found its way to me. Time was dedicated to this gesture. Effort was expended. Ideas were considered, words were written, and intention was applied in a measured and specific way. But this gesture included something so at odds with any sort of identity that I can even conceive of that my receiving the gesture produced a visceral discordant reaction - the physical movement of a mangled note on a violin. To be so ruthlessly and mystifyingly assigned a one-dimensional
identity that cannot possibly contain any part of who or what I am remains an experience I am not sure how to hold. If it helps, picture this article as me, cupping this spikey, incongruous sand of this identity in my palm and attempting not to force it into some other shape that makes more sense to me – a shape that suits me better or one that feels more useful. Lately the loud, jangly twang of a tone this experience has produced within me is finally settling. I have not been able to reconcile it. There is no way to solve this situation, as it is not a problem. There is not a conversation to be had with the person who provided the gesture, and there is not likely a lesson to be learned here. But the sand is relaxing into the cracks and lines in my fingers as I loosely hold it and consider it with a baffled look. As it turns out, doing away with the attempts at being neater or tidier in who or what you are shows others that they can do the same. It helps to show that knowing who you are might be limiting who you are in some ways. There is a lot more potential when everyone’s hands aren’t crushed around the grains of sand, they’ve managed to find for themselves. You have no right to what someone else thinks of you. But you have no right to any sort of measurable or quantifiable identity, either. So go out there. Contain multitudes. Fuck around and never really find out.
shae sackman tech editor
graphics
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editors: sarah carrier, rooky jegede graphics@carillonregina.com the carillon | sept 23 - sept 28, 2021
