The Argosy, March 23, Vol. 146, Iss. 19

THE ARG OSY

NEWS

ARTS & CULTURE

SPORTS

OPINIONS

Student activists occupy campus (Pg. 2)

T&L hosts boilerroom dance party (Pg. 12)

Men’s basketball compete at nationals (Pg. 7)

Divest Mt. A escalates action, rhetoric (Pg. 14)

We <3 winter camping since 1872

Mount Allison’s Independent Student Newspaper

COVER: SYLVAN HAMBURGER, UNCOVER, 2017.

March 23, 2017 Vol. 146, Iss. 19

02 NEWS Students occupy academic quad, call for divestment

EDITORS: CATHERINE TURNBULL & NAOMI GOLDBERG | MARCH 23, 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

CLIMATE JUSTICE

WILL BALSER News Reporter

On March 20, 7:00 a.m., approximately 40 Mount Allison students set up tents in the academic quad in front of the R. P. Bell Library, announcing their intention to occupy the space until their demands regarding fossil fuel divestment are met.

Divest MTA has organized an indefinite occupation, demanding that the university cut all financial ties with the top 200 publicly traded fossil fuel companies over five years.

Campus security and facilities management have spoken with

students, presented a list of rules that the encampment must abide by, and agreed to keep the chapel open all night for the use of campers.

Lauren Latour, Divest MTA organizer and returning Mount Allison environmental studies student, said the occupation is a significant step toward convincing the university administration that divestment is in the best interest of students and the institution.

“This university has promised to provide for its students as best it can, and one of the most important ways it can do that is by divesting from fossil fuels,” Latour said.

Tina Oh, another organizer

with Divest MTA, says the current occupation is a reaction to the administration’s unsatisfactory response following February’s Board of Regents die-in. Approximately one month ago, students disrupted a Board of Regents meeting, lying on the ground of Tweedie Hall and announcing that they would remain until their demands were met. The Board decided to adjourn their meeting and did not sign Divest MTA’s list of demands.

As of Tuesday evening, facilities management and campus security have reached out to the protesters, but the administration has yet to formally engage.

“I tweeted out to President Campbell several times, and also to Kim Meade, vice-president student life,” Oh said. “[Meade] did make an appearance today [Tuesday], but only because, I think, we had asked, ‘Where are you?’”

Fourth-year student and Divest MTA organizer Jamie Dalgleish, who is participating as a protester, said this was the largest direct action Divest MTA has done so far, and she is excited to see the results. However, she noted concerns over President Campbell’s limited remaining time at Mount Allison: “It could be either really easy for him to say ‘yes, Mount A should divest,’ but at the same time,

Timeline of events on the occupied quad: MONDAY 7:00 a.m. - Divest MTA organizers began setting up their tents and the camp amenities - a kitchen tent and a large tarp-covered area in the centre of the encampment for gatherings.

10:20 a.m. - The occupation was officially announced.

Emma Hassencahl led a land acknowledgement and Jacob Demers led the group in a round dance and chant.

4:30 p.m. - Mark Nicol held a “Mourning of the Earth” event.

Participants were lead in a group meditation to honour their love and sorrow for the Earth.

6:30 p.m. - A dinner of chili and cornbread was served to the protesters and the community.

7:30 p.m. - An environment-themed “eco-poetry” reading was held, with both protesters and community members participating.

TUESDAY 11:00 a.m. - A “teach-in” was held with protesters, students, community members, and professors as an environmental education event.

5:30 p.m. - Annie Clair, a water protector from Elsipogtog gave a presentation and facilitated a discussion about climate justice.

6:30 p.m. - A dinner of rice and dahl was served to the camp and community members.

7:30 p.m. - An open-mic was held during an evening of music for the camp and community.

At the time of print, students continued to assert that they would be at camp “as long as it takes” for the university to reconsider their stance on divestment. Further updates on the occupation will become available on the Argosy website.

it could be easy for him to push it off to the next president.”

Third-year student and protester Jacob Demers set up his tent at 8 a.m. on Monday morning and stayed through the night along with many other protesters. “It was a little cold last night [Monday], but as long as you’re well prepared it’s not that bad,” Demers said. Despite the winter weather, Demers said the camp is “really welcoming.”

“There are people stopping by, and we’re getting great media attention”.

TOP LEFT: STUDENTS AND PROFESSORS READ ECOPOETRY. TOP RIGHT: MARK NICOL LEADS A MOURNING FOR EARTH ACTIVITY. BOTTOM LEFT AND RIGHT: PROFESSORS AND OTHER GUEST SPEAKERS SHARE THEIR WISDOM. RYAN MACRAE/ARGOSY

NEWS

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LOCAL

Town of Sackville to implement “Buy Local” campaign

Community seeks new opportunities to support local business

JILL MACINTYRE News Reporter Located in the agricultural heart of New Brunswick, Sackville offers many opportunities to buy local food and produce. The Town of Sackville is now gathering feedback about the implementation of a “Buy Local” campaign. Buy Local movements have been gaining traction across Canada in the past decade due to a growing sense of discomfort surrounding industrial agriculture.

Ron Kelly-Spurles, manager of tourism and business development for the Town of Sackville, is the current point-person for the future campaign.

After attending a conference in Miramichi on economic development in rural communities, Kelly-Spurles began reaching out to local businesses and organizations to gather information on buying local in Sackville.

A five-question online survey, which can be filled out via the Town’s webpage, has been launched. Over 45 individuals and businesses have filled out the survey to date.

“For some communities in the Maritimes that don’t have a lot of obvious resources, it’s a way to keep wealth in the community and build off of what’s already here,” he said.

After the survey closes at the end of the month, Kelly-Spurles will evaluate the results and reach out to local actors who have indicated interest in helping lead the campaign.

“I think that there are a lot of students who are interested in the idea,” he said. “Sackville businesses depend so much on the student population, and I think if we were able to encourage students and offer opportunities for education on why it’s important to buy local and how it can be economically feasible, we could potentially get a lot of student support.”

Tina Oh, a third-year PPE student, is passionate about buying local products where possible.

“I think when given the choice, everyone would choose to buy a local [product] over something that’s been flown in. But the barrier is that oftentimes buying local is really inaccessible [due to its cost],” she said. “If a campaign is pushing for buying local, then the campaign has to do equal work to make buying local more accessible. I think that’s a priority.”

Kelly-Spurles noted that buying local can have a positive environmental impact and reduce our carbon footprint by minimizing the travel associated with buying non-local food. He also said that local farmers tend to use simpler,

less-invasive f a r m i n g techniques in comparison to large agricultural corporations.

Elizabeth Copeland, a community activist and mature Mt. A student studying English, said that corporate agriculture, or “agribusiness,” can create environmental harm.

“Food is cheap at many grocery stores because it is farmed in ways that are LOCAL PRODUCE DRAWS IN MANY MARKET-GOERS. JEFF damaging MANN/ARGOSY to the environment,” she said, referring to chemical environmental and human cost for fertilizers and pesticides. “This means its production.” we are eating these toxic chemicals Copeland also said that buying ... Many kill insects, including local is often unaffordable for many pollinators like bees and butterflies, individuals, and would like to see without which we are in deep trouble. a push for neighbourhood gardens So [we] pay less for food now and pay as well as a subsidy from the town later in health costs.” for low-income families to buy local Oh also noted that many local produce. farmers grow produce organically, The Sackville farmers’ market, but cannot advertise their products which has indicated interest in the as such due to the barriers associated Buy Local campaign, is also working with certification. For many farmers, to make local food more accessible it can cost thousands of dollars to to low-income residents. According test soil for any pesticide residue and to Michael Freeman, manager of receive official organic certification. the farmers’s market, getting people “With local farmers who [grow] a who experience food insecurity to smaller amount of produce, they are attend the market can be an issue. To actually using organic [methods] combat this, Freeman implemented but aren’t able to sell it organically a market dollars program, funded because it costs too much to get their through market merchandise such as farm certified, so I’m much more of bags and lunch boxes. an advocate for local food than I am “We take the profits from that and for organic food.” roll them into a program, where we Copeland also said that a lot of issue [farmers’ market gift] cards to produce in chain grocery stores the Tantramar High School that now come with a human cost, even if has its own food pantry for students, it is cheaper. Under the Canadian as well as to the refugee response Temporary Foreign Worker coalition,” Freeman said. “We ended Program, some major agricultural up raising over $3,000 to put into producers that supply chain grocery these groups, and what we’ve seen is stores hire migrants for multithat it actually brings people out to month contracts to work on farms market who aren’t used to shopping and in greenhouses. Many migrant at market.” workers experience precarious labour Freeman also acknowledged that conditions, financial exploitation and there are limits to private fundraising human rights abuses as a result of this for this program, which could program. become an initiative for the Buy Local “I grew up in a farming community campaign. and watched many family farms go under because they could not compete,” Copeland said. “If it isn’t made locally, we do not know the

03

The past few weeks at MASU council NADIYA SAFONOVA Politics Reporter

ACADEMIC REGULATIONS The add/drop dates for course registration have changed. Adding courses is still limited to the first two weeks of classes, and withdrawing from a course with no penalty is now possible until the end of the fourth week of the term. No penalty means that the withdrawal will not appear on the student’s transcript.

Past the four-week point, students may withdraw themselves from a course on Connect up until the last day of classes. The result will be a ‘W’ recorded on their transcript, but this will no longer require a Dean’s approval. A ‘W’ does not signify that the course was failed and does not affect the student’s grade point average, it simply means that the student withdrew from the course after the fourth week of the term.

STUDENT REFUGEE PROGRAM The Student Refugee Program currently sponsors one refugee a year, paying for them to pursue an education at Mount Allison. The program supports them until they reach financial independence and makes it easier for them to receive Canadian citizenship. The Refugee Program referendum passed with an approval rate of 88 per cent. This means that Mt. A will be doubling its number of refugee students. Instead of one student every two years, the program will now admit one student every year.

MENTAL HEALTH SUMMIT Mt. A’s first Mental Health Summit was held on March 11 and was organized by Mount Allison Student Affairs, the Wellness Branch of the Department of Social Development, Mt. A’s Jack.org Chapter and the MASU. While attendance was low, the event received positive feedback. Organizers will make use of postsummit surveys to make recommendations for next year’s summit.

RACISM POLICY On March 15, the Board of Regents Student Affairs Committee met to conduct a final review of the Racism Policy. Adam Christie, Director of Student Life, is making final edits. The committee will vote on the policy this week, so the policy can be brought to the next Board of Regents meeting in May.

FALL READING WEEK A survey is available online for students to rate and review the fall reading week.

Its committee is looking for feedback for revision to better tailor the reading break to students’ needs.

SPRING ELECTION RESULTS For the 2017/2018 academic year, the newly elected senators are as follows: Kiera Stel and Noah Fry for Art Senators, Andrew Moreira and Everett Patterson for Science Senators, and Nigel Verret and Rachel Hanakowski for Social Science Senators.

Stel, a returning Arts Senator, said, “I hope to help increase research opportunities for arts students. This year, there’s been a committee working on this issue. There seems to be a real disconnect between how many students are interested in research opportunities relevant to their major program and what is available at Mt. A. I hope that next year, I can help to promote this issue more to try to find a solution to it.”

Stel will also be helping the incoming Vice President Academic Affairs transition into the new job by helping the new senators adapt to their positions.

2017 VALEDICTORIAN The elected valedictorian Isaac Gazendam said, “I’m so full of gratitude towards my peers for choosing me to represent them at convocation. I was super stoked but so surprised when I heard that I had won. All of the candidates were wonderful, and I know each of them would have done an incredible job.

I’m excited to hear from people over the next couple of months about their thoughts and feelings on loving and leaving Mt. A and Sackville. I can’t wait to start writing the address and look forward to sharing it with everyone in May!”

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NEWS

MARCH 23, 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

LABOUR

Negotiations between Town of Sackville and employees at standstill

CATHERINE TURNBULL News Editor For two weeks in a row, members of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 1188 and other local CUPE divisions have rallied at Sackville Town Council meetings in opposition to the offer proposed by the town’s collective bargaining negotiating team.

On Monday, March 13, over 50 union supporters held signs in protest in front of Sackville Town Hall.

The union’s concern is with the consideration of seniority when part-time or casual workers apply for permanent positions. CUPE 1188 says the town’s offer erases this consideration of seniority. Its campaign to renegotiate has been called “Seniority Matters.”

Marcos Salib, CUPE national representative, said seniority is a major union concern. “Some may not

realize that erasing considerations of seniority opens up the door to a lot of political connections and friends hiring friends,” Salib said.

Salib said the town’s only response to the union’s concern is to stand by their negotiating team and assert that they want to “hire the best candidates out there.” Salib noted that the union has no control over whom the town hires, but that many potential parttime employees are attracted to job postings if they know that they would be accumulating seniority for a later permanent job. Salib said the exclusion of this clause “has absolutely no financial value for the town.”

Salib said other Sackville CUPE divisions were concerned that their employers would try to bring in the same kind of exclusion of seniority to their negotiations.

John Higham, mayor of Sackville, said the town is following due process

as directed by the negotiating team and that council stands behind the decisions of the negotiating team.

Higham said he thought the offer was a very generous package and was surprised that the union membership hadn’t thought so.

Higham said there are misconceptions about the wording in the offer. Salib said he did not think there were and that all union members had been given transparent access to the final offer.

CUPE 1188 is asking to return to the bargaining table. Since no more negotiation dates have been set, it is in the purview of the appointed conciliator to decide whether or not to declare an impasse in his report to the provincial government. If an impasse is declared, the union may choose to strike or the town might choose to lock out its employees.

Compiled by KAVANA WA KILELE News Reporter TAX BILL ERRORS AFFECT 2,400 HOMEOWNERS The New Brunswick government has miscalculated the property assessments of 2,400 homes. In these cases, the ensuing increase in homeowner taxes has exceeded the legal limit of 10 per cent. Donald Arseneault, minister of post-secondary education, suggested that New Brunswickers become more informed about what constitutes a property value assessments. Human error was to blame for these miscalculations, according to Service New Brunswick.

Some homeowners received tax bills that had increased by 20 to 40 per cent.

Arseneault said the mistakes this year were not as bad as in previous years.

Andrew MacLean, the provincial NDP’s Director of Organization, called for a review of the property tax system saying that it is “broken, incomprehensible and unfair.” David Coon, leader of the Green Party, sees the whole situation as an attempt to distract New Brunswickers from the shifting of the property tax burden from big industry to the majority of New Brunswickers. Arseneault said Service New Brunswick has flagged the issues and is sending proper corrections to affected homeowners.

BIG TAX HIKES HIT LANDLORDS Landlords all over New Brunswick have been trying to cope with increases in property assessment costs. Some increases, reaching more than 50 per cent, could mean higher rent rates for thousands of apartment tenants. In New Brunswick, apartment buildings, unlike owner-occupied homes, are not protected by a 10-per-cent cap on property tax increases. This means there is no limit on how much a bill can increase in one year. According to Katie Beers, a student union vice-president at the University of New Brunswick, property tax increases will make education less accessible, as students will have to pay more in the way of rent, and some may not have enough for tuition.

REWARD FOR INFORMATION ON JAMI SPRINGER INCREASES The major crimes unit of the RCMP is investigating the disappearance of Jami Springer, who was last seen walking on McLaughlin Drive in Moncton on Aug. 31, 2016. Previously, a $10,000 reward, raised by family and friends, was offered to anyone who had information on Springer’s whereabouts. Now, an added $2,000 reward has been offered by Crime Stoppers. Anyone with information about Springer’s whereabouts is asked to contact Codiac RCMP or Crime Stoppers.

ARREST MADE IN MULTI-PROVINCE CARGO RING Ralph Leblanc of Memramcook, N.B., turned himself in to the RCMP in Shediac in connection with a multi-million-dollar cargo theft ring. Leblanc, a 53-year-old man, is allegedly part of a criminal organization that stole over five million dollars’ worth of goods. This includes tractors, luxury cars and food products. In total, Leblanc was allegedly involved in 80 thefts in New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. Last week, a nationwide warrant was issued for Leblanc and two Quebec men in connection with the thefts. Leblanc turned himself in to the RCMP on March 16. Three million dollars’ worth of stolen goods have been recovered.

CUPE UNION PROTESTORS RALLY OUTSIDE OF SACKVILLE TOWN HALL. SAVANNAH HARRIS/ARGOSY

NEWS

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COMMUNITY

A year in the life of the Sackville farmers’ market manager NAOMI GOLDBERG News Editor

Michael Freeman was hired three years ago by the Sackville Farmers’ Market as the organization’s first manager. At the time, the market had been newly incorporated as a nonprofit, having previously been run by the former owner of the Bridge Street Café.

After three years, Freeman is leaving the job, and Paul Merrigan, a Sackville resident and Mount Allison alum, is taking over. Over the past few years, Merrigan has been a stay-at-home parent for his two now teenaged sons. He has also been responsible for coordinating Midnight Madness for several years now. Merrigan moved to Sackville in 2004 with his partner Stacy and their sons Caleb and Tolkien. Merrigan and his partner met in 1995, when they were both Mt. A students.

The Argosy sat down with Freeman and Merrigan to talk about the challenges and favourite parts of the job.

Naomi Goldberg: What are some of the challenges the market has faced over the past few years?

Michael Freeman: The biggest issue is: How do we create more opportunities for small businesses, for agriculture, but other food businesses as well? How do you make food accessible to people, make it affordable, but also give producers a fair price? This is something that farmers’ markets can do because we’re direct marketing.

One of the things the market has been working on for the whole three years that I’ve been here is finding venues that work. We have a really great summer venue now. Our winter

venue is really functional, with Bridge Street Café, Ducky’s and the lot behind the Painted Pony, but people don’t like that it’s so spread out. We keep hearing, when we do surveys, that people want it to be in one place, because it will feel better and it will be more accessible. You can’t get a stroller or a wheelchair in [Bridge Street Café during market hours], because it’s too crowded.

One of the hot things now is the new public health regulations that came into effect back in April of last year, although the enforcement is starting now for us. Challenges there have been getting the information to people, because the regulations are complicated. For a lot of our vendors, the official languages of Canada – French or English – are not their mother tongue. So understanding what they mean by, you know, quaternary ammonium testing strips – what the hell is that? That kind of stuff has been a bit of a challenge, but we’ve been working through it.

I think things are going to go pretty well once inspections start in April.

The tricky thing is that the health department has an enforcement role, and our job is to provide a platform for vendors. At this point the relationship between us and public health is really new. We haven’t really defined whose role it is to do the capacity building, do the training for vendors. Fortunately, I’ve had hours, so I can sit down with people and, where needed, find a third party who can translate into Mandarin or Italian so we can work through those documents. A lot of markets our size and smaller are really struggling to find the time and energy to do that.

We still don’t understand what the criteria are for producing certain products, or the criteria are very complicated. Things like canning

05

or thermic processing are going from a situation where there were no regulations to a situation where the regulations are quite rigorous.

It’s going to take time and energy from the coordinator, the vendors and hopefully public health to get information, as well as financial resources, such as kitchen upgrades and lab processing fees for those vendors to adapt.

NG: What are some of your favourite parts about the job?

MF: It feels like it has been my home for the past three years. And it’s funny to say this, because I didn’t care about this at all when I first started, but the way we develop businesses.

Essentially, this is the easiest place to start a business in Sackville. The kind of cliché that I use is, “all it takes is an idea and a hot plate.” Once I leave my job, I want to start a taco stand at the market, and I don’t have that much capital, and most people in Sackville [don’t]. It’s a way that you can get in there, try new things, do direct market research. You’re encountering people and seeing what they like, what they don’t like, and I think that that’s really important.

When I moved to town four years ago, Bay of Fungi started growing mushrooms in their basement, and now they’re selling to a couple of different grocery stores; they tried the Dieppe market for a while, now they came back here. They started growing from donated coffee grounds from the Black Duck, and now they’re a full-scale farm. And there are other people doing that too. That’s the best thing about the market.

Aside from being the biggest weekly event in Sackville – aside from maybe elementary school – it’s also the most diverse thing that happens

THE FARMERS’ MARKET HAS GROWN OVER THE YEARS. IZZY FRANCOLINI/ARGOSY in Sackville. If you spend as much time as the market manager spends Charlottetown. When people like you here every Saturday, you will hear or me travel, one of the things we’re five different languages spoken here thinking is, ‘let’s check out another at least, which in a town the size farmers’ market.’ of Sackville in New Brunswick is incredible. That’s really important to PM: I’ve been going to the market me, and to Sackville.” since I was a Mount Allison student in the mid-’90s, back when it was NG: As the new market manager, in the basement of [what is now what are some projects you would the Jean Coutu]. It’s gotten much, like to take on? much bigger now. We’ve continued, when we travel, to look for markets.

Paul Merrigan: “One of the things It makes sense, then, that if you’re a that I’ve always loved about the regular market-goer in Fredericton, market in Sackville is that it’s if you’re here for a weekend, and dynamic, it’s constantly changing. It’s you know that there’s a market, a matter of harnessing that change then why wouldn’t you come here? and making it a constant. If you only Market-goers are a huge percentage come here every few weeks, it’ll be a of our overall population and we completely different experience and do travel – we’re not always in our you’ll run into different people.” hometown. The market-goers who are in Charlottetown or Halifax, if MF: One of the reasons we hired they’re passing through on a Saturday [Merrigan] is because we asked a morning, even if they’re en route [to] question about marketing, and what somewhere, [I want to] work on [he] would do to market the farmers’ making sure that those people come market, and [his] answer was that to the Sackville farmers’ market.

Sackville is in this great place, two hours from Halifax, two hours from With files from Cecilia Stuart

SCIENCE

Science student profile: Garrett Muir FINBAR SHIRLEY Contributor

Garrett Muir is a fourth-year honours chemistry student from Halifax – a confident, intelligent young man whose interests and grit have taken him to some fascinating places in his pursuit of research. Muir secured summer research grants for the past two summers, allowing him to stay in Sackville and work on his thesis. Muir’s research entails finding environmentally friendly uses for the waste produced from making biofuel.

Biofuel oil is an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels.

One third of the Canadian food industry’s production is organic waste. According to Muir, the oil produced by heating the organic waste from this industry is extremely corrosive and cannot be used directly in a car or anything similar.

In order to be viable, the oil must go through a process called “upgrading.”

However, this process also produces waste products. Khashayar Ghandi, Muir’s honours supervisor, and Mount Allison alum Alex Cormier came up with the idea to make the waste product extremely reactive so that it could be used in chemical reactions. The question that Muir had to take on was, “what can we do from here?”

Using computational chemistry, Muir – with the help of Gaussian, a software provided by the university – was able to witness in real time molecular transformations that his professor had predicted.

“This computational chemistry was awesome for me. As a second-year student I knew nothing about it going in, but it was so phenomenal that I had a wonderful time in it,” Muir said. He explained that the method was difficult to learn, but that he thought it had turned out well.

Muir then went out looking for uses of this side product. After

scrolling through Wikipedia looking at molecules, he stumbled upon a molecule called diamino pelargonic acid (DAP). This molecule is found in most bacteria and activates the body’s immune response.

The molecule is very difficult to produce from bacteria, but Muir theorized that he could make DAPs from this waste product. After long hours of calculations and computational chemistry, he was on the cusp. He could make the molecule, but couldn’t purify it.

“The long, long-term goal is to potentially take this stuff and turn it into a drug that’s a generic immune system activator,” Muir said.

In theory, a drug of this nature might eventually be able to be used to combat cancer. That said, possible drawbacks to this kind of drug include accidently activating the immune response so that it attacks the body due to a disguised infection.

It could also prevent the body from

MUIR’S HONOURS WORK IS IN MOLECULAR CHEMISTRY. RYAN MACRAE/ARGOSY responding to threats by itself, thus inducing a dependence on the drug.

Muir explained that his method of synthesising DAPs is much cheaper than alternatives, as it doesn’t require expensive catalysts. He hopes that industries will take on his research

and develop this at a higher scale, as he is leaving this research behind him to study in B.C. after graduation.

Muir will be presenting his work along with other honours students all day on Saturday, April 8 in Dunn 113.

06 SPORTS & HEALTH

EDITOR: DAVID TAPLIN MARCH 23, 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

HEALTH

Finding a balance between safe and social Overconsumption of alcohol can be dangerous, but there are ways to drink responsibly

THE MANY FACES OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION. LOUIS SOBOL/ THE ARGOSY

RILEY HIGDON Contributor Binge drinking is a big part of university culture for many students.

Alcohol consumption can ease social tensions and be healthy – in moderation. After a long week of classes, many students enjoy a few alcoholic beverages to unwind.

However, overconsumption can lead to many complications.

Underage heavy consumption of alcohol can have long-term effects on the brain and impede educational achievement throughout adolescence and into adulthood.

Mount Allison campus liquor policies are sent out to the student body at the start of the academic year.

Residence alcohol policies underwent changes at the beginning of the current academic year, and the new regulations restrict underage drinking more than they have in previous years.

These efforts have been enforced by eliminating the option for underage students to purchase drinks at residence parties.

Second-year Campbell Hall residence assistant Keely McGill states that the new rule enforcements came as a shock to many residents who expected to come to university and be free of rules concerning alcohol in residence. However, from a house staff standpoint, McGill believes that this has kept a lot of students safe over the course of the year.

Campbell Hall President Emma Miller also provided valuable insight.

“I believe it has been accepted fairly well by the second years, seeing as it hasn’t affected them, as they are now of age. However, the policy had always been there, just practised incorrectly, and I think it is awesome to see how the residence executives have adapted and accepted this policy into their residence parties,” Miller said.

However, Miller also pointed out some of the potential issues associated with the new regulations.

“I do also see some negative aspects.

Unfortunately this new way of running parties leads to more binge drinking, so I think more alcohol education is in order,” Miller said.

Adam Christie, director of Student Life and international services, is a member of the Liquor Policy Review Committee and is supportive of the recent policy changes.

“It is a change in culture, but we feel strongly that we need to be looking at everything we are doing and looking through the lens of harm reduction and education. We have been working hard with house staff and executive members to promote a positive, fun environment while balancing safety, education and responsibility,” said Christie. “It was a timely and necessary move and definitely one in the right direction.”

While we may think that alcohol can help us relax, we should be aware that it can also contribute to depression and anxiety and exacerbate stress. Alcohol is a depressant that can change our immediate behaviour and potentially trigger long-term mental health issues and psychological disorders.

While having a fun night out with friends can be an energy booster and a great way to socialize, be careful not to rely too heavy on alcohol to improve your mood. It may be the

start of a vicious cycle.

A few drinks and good times with friends can be a big part of the social aspect for university students, and these times should be embraced.

However, it is important to keep in mind that overconsumption on a single occasion or over a long period of time may eventually place strain on essential organs like the heart. This includes physical damage associated with strokes, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats and stretching and drooping of the heart muscle.

Additionally, excessive consumption can cause complications to other regions of the body, such as the liver, pancreas and immune system, and may increase the risk of developing various types of cancers.

When drinking regularly, we can develop a high alcohol tolerance.

To keep a healthy mind and body, it is important to keep track of how much alcohol you are consuming on a nightly and weekly basis. By occasionally cutting back and taking days off from drinking, we can discourage risks of alcoholism. It is also important to reach out and find alternative ways to enjoy yourself and relax with other activities to avoid falling into a routine of alcohol dependency.

CLUB SPORTS

Mt. A hosts the first Club Sports Banquet Student athletes collaborate to establish a new awards ceremony for club sport teams

PRESIDENT CAMPBELL SPEAKING AT THE PAINTED PONY WHERE THE AWARDS WERE HELD. PAUL LYNCH /MT. A ATHLETICS

HAMZA MUNAWAR Sports Reporter Mount Allison Club Athletics celebrated its first awards ceremony on March 15, marking the beginning of a new annual tradition. The Club Sports Banquet gives an opportunity to celebrate accomplishments of Mt. A athletes who are not on varsity teams.

“This time last year, we thought it would be cool to have something similar to the athletic banquet,” said fourth-year biochemistry major Brynn Aucoin, one of the event’s organizers and the president of the field hockey club.

The event brought together the

eight club teams: cross-country, curling, dance, field hockey, lacrosse, rugby and ultimate frisbee.

“I thought it was good for the clubs to show solidarity for the Mountie athletes who do not participate in varsity sports. Being on a club team is a lot of work and it is fun to recognize each other’s successes,” Maddy Burnett, a member of the cross-country club, said.

Burnett also helped organize the banquet, along with student athletes Cydney Kane, Maddy Burnett, Connor Lane, Katie Horseman, David Hall and Katie Gordon.

Organizers teamed up with the support of both the athletics department, who donated the awards

for the evening, and the MASU. In an effort to support local business, organizers chose to host the banquet at The Painted Pony.

Athletes arrived at the venue in semi-formal attire. Both University President Robert Campbell and Athletics Director Pierre Arsenault gave opening remarks and recognized the accomplishments of the athletes.

Following the speeches, attendees presented the team awards, given to two to three athletes from each sport.

The cross-country awards were given to Connor Lane and Anna Mairs.

Lane was awarded most improved runner and Mairs’s received the “Low Impact” award, in honour of

her claim that running in snow has a low impact, keeps her stress levels low, and is super fun.

Curling’s most improved player was Sarah Doak and its MVP award went to Krista Nix. Field Hockey had similar awards presented, awarding Kelly O’Brian with defensive player of the year, Tessa Craig with midfielder of the year, and Anna Shepard with offensive player of the year.

The award for most improved player on the women’s rugby team went to Eva Gourdji, and the MVP award was given to Katie Horsman.

Men’s rugby team member Tristan Elliott was named the most improved rookie and Blake Lawrence received “Tight Five of the Season.”

Explaining Lawrence’s award, teammate Erik Oliver said, “As part of the ‘tight five,’ Lawrence is our prop – he is an integral part of the force and push of the pack.”

Ultimate frisbee presented Brandon Llewellyn with “Latest Career Start,” poking fun at his joining the club late but still having a strong impact within the team’s depth charts.

Claire Genest received the “Hot to Trot” award because she was the first student athlete ever to message senior club team members over the summer to inquire about how the club functioned and tryout details.

Lastly, the dance team presented three awards, with Veronica van Dalen awarded strongest technique, Jenna Henderson awarded strongest

performer and Sophie Robidoux awarded greatest overall contribution.

After each team presented their awards, there was an intermission during which the athletes could select a dinner choice from the restaurant and share a meal and drinks with members of the other clubs.

“The event meant a great deal to us because we all got the recognition for the hard work we put in despite not being varsity,” said Gourdji, a third year psychology student. “Overall it was lovely to have the opportunity to share a meal and drinks with our teammates, but also meet other athletes and hear about their season and success.”

Once dinner was completed, the eight major awards were given out.

The two biggest awards, male and female athletes of the year, were presented to Matt Fyfe of crosscountry and Julia Hunter of curling, respectively.

Another highlight of the evening was that not only did the Mountie Pride backdrop make it to the Painted Pony, Mt. A athletics photographer Paul Lynch was also in attendance to capture the evening.

“It was super fun, and it was a huge success,” said fourth-year biochemistry major Dana Mills of the ultimate frisbee team.

The club banquet had it all, and it will be an event that future athletes will look forward to year after year.

SPORTS & HEALTH

THE ARGOSY | WWW.ARGOSY.CA

MEN’S BASKETBALL

07

Mounties make presence felt at nationals

Despite going 0-3, the Mounties make a name for themselves as a hardnosed opponent DAVID TAPLIN Sports and Health Editor After a successful season that saw the Mt. A men’s basketball team post a 17-4 record and ended with them playing for an Atlantic title, the team earned its first-ever berth to the CCAA national championships.

Hosted at Holland College, the national tournament is made up of eight teams from across Canada. Mount Allison entered the tournament as the eighth, facing off against Ontario’s champions, the undefeated Sheridan College Bruins.

Head Coach Steve Chapman spoke about the team’s approach to a tournament in which they would be considered heavy underdogs. “This kind of opportunity doesn’t come along everyday,” he said. “[We] know we have a huge challenge ahead of us, but our guys are confident. I don’t think we have any awe of Sheridan or anyone at the tournament.”

On Friday night, the Mounties tipped off against the Bruins. Before they could settle into the game, Sheridan’s Paul Williams slammed home a thunderous putback dunk, setting the tone for the level of play expected at nationals.

The Mounties eventually found the score sheet and ended the first quarter on a 6-2 run. Throughout the game, the team struggled to sustain any momentum or put pressure on the Bruins. In contrast, the Ontario champions shot the ball with relative ease after some first-quarter struggles.

A 19-0 run halfway through the second quarter gave the Bruins a lead they’d never relinquish, as the Mounties’ turnovers and inefficient shooting, no doubt a reflection of their opponents’ playing level, cost them the game.

Despite a lopsided 91-61 final score, the Mounties did not back down from a team that was favoured to win the whole tournament.

“We realized we weren’t the most athletic team and definitely not the most skilled team, so we had to make up for it somewhere,” fifth-year forward Alex Chisholm said. “We showed a lot of grit and toughness.”

The team’s tough attitude was on full display when they suited up against the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Trojans

ROOKIE SEONGWOO PARK HAD AN IMPRESSIVE 10 POINTS IN 13 MINUTES AGAINST SHERIDAN COLLEGE. PAUL LYNCH/MT. A ATHLETICS fewer than 13 hours after their loss to Sheridan.

The Trojans had shot 56 percent from the three-point line the night before in a 103-113 loss to the Holland Hurricanes. The Mounties knew they would have to bring their defensive toughness if they wanted to win.

The Mounties held the Trojans to eight points in the first quarter, before SAIT found their offence with 35 points in the second quarter. It was in the first half that the Mounties’ defensive intensity spurred a reaction from SAIT. “We were just playing tough,” Chisholm said. “We pissed them off and they didn’t like it.”

Tempers reached a breaking point, with both teams receiving technical fouls. Members of the SAIT coaching staff joined in the trash talk, directing it at Mountie rookie-of-the-year Thomas LeGallais.

“We kind of took that personally.

A coach should never go at a player – you’re a grown man. I wouldn’t say things got out-of-hand, but that increased the intensity and made us want to beat them that much more,” Chisholm said.

The game was back-and-forth

throughout and the Mounties cut the SAIT lead down to two points at the end of the third quarter, before SAIT pulled away. The final score was 8875.

The loss eliminated the Mounties

“WE WERE JUST PLAYING TOUGH. WE PISSED THEM OFF AND THEY DIDN’T LIKE IT” from any medal contention. On Saturday, they faced Ontario’s George Brown Huskies with pride on the line. The defensive intensity of the first two games was absent from the outset for the Mounties and George Brown was able to come out to a quick start, scoring 31 points in the opening quarter.

Tempers once again flared as Mt.

A brought their intensity back on defence, spicing up the consolation match. Mt. A once again struggled to shoot the ball, ultimately costing them a chance for seventh spot as the Huskies never relinquished their opening lead. The final score was 9574.

Despite going 0-3, the Mounties were able to compete against the best teams in Canada. For a team that was not ranked at any point in the season, nationals were about more than just winning.

“When Chapman came in this year there was a reputation of Mounties basketball being soft compared to other teams, and one of the main things he wanted to do, and we wanted to do, was change that,” Chisholm said.

The team that had been blown out by Holland College by 40 points earlier in the season refused to roll over on the national stage. A brand of

basketball the Mounties did not show in their regular season came out at nationals.

“It’s been in progress all season long – we’ve played pretty tough all season. I think this weekend we took it to the next level, and I think the culture has changed,” Chisholm said.

The lessons learned at nationals will serve the team well going forward, as they look to build off the experience and return to the nationals in years to come.

BOTTOM LEFT: IN HIS LAST THREE GAMES OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL ALEX CHISHOLM AVERAGED 9 POINTS. BOTTOM RIGHT: ALEX CHISHOLM COMING TOGETHER WITH SHERIDAN’S NICK CAMPBELL. PAUL LYNCH/MT. A ATHLETICS

BY LOUIS SOBOL

10 ARTS & CULTURE

EDITORS: MIRELLE NAUD MALLORY BURNSIDE-HOLMES MARCH 23, 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

THEATRE

Mt. A falls to demons and dark magic

Students stage gripping production of Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus at Motyer-Fancy Theatre

DEMONS WRITHE AS THEY ANTICIPATE DR. FAUSTUS’S IMMINENT FALL TO HELL. PAUL DEL MOTTE/SUBMITTED

EMMA BUSH Arts and Culture Reporter Last week magicians, angels and devils were seen gliding, crawling and scrambling across the Motyer-Fancy Theatre’s stage in a production of Dr. Faustus. Christopher Marlowe’s 16th-century play tells the story of a German scholar who, dissatisfied with the conventional forms of knowledge available to him, decides to dabble in magic and the sinister arts. This ultimately leads him to sell his soul to the devil and consent to go to hell in exchange for power and protection during his lifetime.

Dr. Faustus was made up of both an ensemble and a main core of four actors: Sabrina Stace, Iris Smithd’Agincourt, Matthew Cross and Mark Nicol.

Written in 1588, Dr. Faustus is an Elizabethan tragedy that focuses on themes of good and evil by representing heaven and hell as real places. Given the period in which it was written, its language is similar to what is found in Shakespeare’s plays.

“It was hard for me at first [to learn the old language],” third-year drama student Stace said. “It was hard to get your head and tongue wrapped around it all … but once you did, it [was] not that hard to memorize.”

She compared it to learning song lyrics due to the lyrical rhythm of Early Modern English.

Stace played three roles in this production: Wagner (Faustus’s servant and companion), the good

angel and the bad angel.

Enacted in a simple setting with no intermission, the play’s staging was a nod to the way it would have been performed originally. However, this version differed from original productions in significant ways, particularly in its overt portrayal of sex and sexuality. The evil spirits and demons were costumed provocatively, embodying themes of temptation and lust in their physical

can be seen when Faustus (played

by Cross) falls for the temptations of sinister magic and cries out, “What will be, shall be! Divinity, adieu!

These metaphysics of magicians, and necromantic books are heavenly!”

Dr. Faustus was written at a time when audience members would have understood heaven and hell as literal realities. As such, the play concerns itself with issues of self-gratification, such as Marlowe’s longing for

than it is to go to heaven after death. “[Watching this makes] you see the world a different way,” Bamford said.

Stace agreed with Bamford, adding that there is “[An] importance to being taken into another world … and [being encouraged to grapple with] what temptation and power can do.”

Stace also discussed her approach to acting in the show. This play is an important component of the work

“WHAT WILL BE, SHALL BE! DIVINITY, ADIEU! THESE METAPHYSICS OF MAGICIANS, AND NECROMANTIC BOOKS ARE HEAVENLY!” movements and interactions with one another on the periphery of the stage’s main action, creating an atmosphere of sultry impurity.

Dramatic lighting and smoke machines produced a sense of claustrophobia as Faustus gradually drew closer and closer to his ultimate demise and descent into hell.

English professor Karen Bamford teaches both Shakespeare and Marlowe at Mt. A. “Marlowe is a great playwright but is underperformed because he happens to be overshadowed by Shakespeare,” she said. She believes that despite its relative obscurity, Dr. Faustus is an enjoyable play to experience.

“It is easy to understand [and] the language is beautiful,” she said.

Marlowe’s literary craftsmanship

material wealth and sex, themes prevalent and poignant both now and during Marlowe’s lifetime.

Bamford believes it is important for these older plays to be performed for and by undergraduate students. “We only experience the present moment and contemporary culture over and over again. Because of this we are temporally challenged. We rarely step outside of the mental world that we live in,” Bamford said. “If you have a chance to watch a play from the 16th century, you are forced to expand your understanding of humanity and the human condition.”

Bamford added that Marlowe wrote this play as a “fascinating study in self delusion,” seen when Faustus convinces himself that it is better to collaborate with the devil in life

going toward her independent study, which is required for her drama major.

“In this study, [I wanted to] put a focus on actor wellness,” Stace said, referring to both the physical and mental aspects of acting and how they impact an actor’s self-efficacy and abilities. Part of the work for her independent study involved detailed journalling about her acting experiences.

An important part of rehearsals included the art of blocking and moving. “Blocking is creating stage pictures [and] running a scene to see where things go and to polish them, [while] movement rehearsals are all impulsive and improvised movement,” Stace said. Emphasis on contact and group movement

encouraged the cast to come together and unite their ideas and actions.

Well received by horrified and amused audience members, Dr. Faustus dramatically depicted the ensemble of gasping and contorting demons as they surrounded the four core actors. Imbuing guilt and pleasure in Faustus’s interactions with the devil and his henchmen, the performance caused audience members to feel the strangely satisfying emotion of being simultaneously entertained and slightly disturbed.

The play closed with Faustus dying and going to hell. As the lights went down, the ensemble of demons moved among audience members, creating the sensation that all those present had fallen to hell along with him.

“I enjoyed the play,” third-year PPE student Hamza Munawar said. “It was better than I thought undergraduate students would be able to accomplish. I was impressed at how convincing and physical the acting was.”

Third-year drama student Erik Garf was also impressed with the production. “I was completely immersed in this production of Dr. Faustus and was awestruck to see the incorporation of flashy costumes and stylized movement in what seemed to be an attempt to adapt Marlowe’s Elizabethan tragedy for a contemporary audience.”

ARTS & CULTURE

THE ARGOSY | WWW.ARGOSY.CA

GRADUATION

11

The art of the valedictorian address

Candidates discuss what they desire to hear on Convocation day

VALEDICTORIAN ADDRESSES GRADUATES ON CONVOCATION DAY. JEFF MANN/ARGOSY

WILL PELLETIER Arts and Culture Reporter

With the slowly rising temperatures, lengthening days and upcoming finals-season panic, spring’s arrival feels imminent. For many senior students, spring brings something else to look forward to: graduation. Apart from the speeches and distribution of diplomas, an important part of the collegiate graduation tradition is the valedictory address.

Last week, the 2017 grad class voted for their valedictorian from a pool of six candidates: Tierza Peterson, Isaac Gazendam, Ryan MacRae, Brooke Cheeks, Sarah Murphy and Mitchell Gunn.

It was announced last Friday evening that Isaac Gazendam will be writing and presenting the valedictorian speech at this year’s convocation ceremony on May 15.

“I wanted to be valedictorian

because I’ve had the privilege to meet and connect with such a wide variety of my peers over the last four years,” Gazendam wrote in an email to the Argosy. “University was in no way an easy ride, either for myself or for most of the graduates who will be sitting in Convocation Hall this May. It was challenging on many levels and I think we often forget or minimize this amazing accomplishment.”

Gazendam hasn’t decided precisely what his approach will be to deliver his message, but he remains open to ideas. “Every single person has had a different experience during their time at Mount Allison, and so I would hope to reflect both the diversity of our experiences and also all that we have in common. I want to celebrate, reflect, and inspire us to take with us what we have built and learned as we move outward and onward from Mount Allison and Sackville,” Gazendam wrote.

One of the other valedictorian runners plans to provide Gazendam with input. Sarah Murphy, who majors in anthropology, wants to hear a speech that celebrates Mt. A’s close-knit community.

“Our experiences here have really been tied to the people that we’ve

met, people who have been teachers to us [as both professors and peers].

Leaving here is daunting because we don’t know if we’ll have that familiarity in our next step,” Murphy said. “The tools we’ve gotten from our experiences at Mt. A will help us recreate that wherever we go next.

That’s something I’m definitely going to speak to Isaac about.”

Despite how keeping spotlight on congruity was emphasized by each candidate in their pre-election campaign speeches, disagreements arose amongst the candidates about how the speech should be written and what aspects should be focused on.

Petersen, who is graduating with an honours in biology, suggested that differences between arts and sciences students are too great to be ignored.

“They choose only one valedictorian, and there are two different ceremonies, one for the arts and one for the sciences. I felt that it would be a concern if an art student was talking on behalf of a science student,” Petersen said. “Our experiences through our degrees have shaped who we are. I wouldn’t be the same person if I was an arts student. As a science student I’d want somebody who understood my experiences of

staying in the lab for three hours, or doing research for hours on end.”

However, differences over the purpose of a valedictorian and the valedictory address were few.

Mitchell Gunn, who is graduating with a double major in English and psychology, expressed his dissatisfaction with the run-of-themill model of the typical graduation ceremony.

“So much of what happens at convocation, like putting on the gowns and crossing the stage, is really part of a checklist. They’re all nice, formal things, but they’re not necessarily done for you. They’re done for the University,” Gunn said.

“I think the valedictorian address is … all about us telling our story and reliving our experiences. The valedictorian’s job is to tell that story the best they can.”

Students and family members can anticipate that Gazendam’s speech will take into consideration opinions like Gunn’s. “We are graduating into an increasingly uncertain world, and I would love to provide my peers with a message of hope, recognizing that we are prepared to take on any challenges life throws our way,” Gazendam said.

CLUBS AND SOCIETIES

Dance Society: more than only dance

Students discover therapuetic choreography and forge friendships through Dance Society MARISSA CRUZ Arts and Culture Reporter We have all experienced dance in one way or another – whether you are a nightclub enthusiast taking centre stage at Club P, a slow swayer at a T&L show, or a private midnight mover in front of the mirror, dance is an expressive, self-reflexive and engaging experience.

As the semester draws to a close, we can take a breather from our own dancing and take a seat in Convocation Hall to watch the Mount Allison Dance Society show all of us up in its impressive annual showcase.

Not to be confused with varsity dance, Mt. A’s Dance Society offers recreational classes to students while the varsity dance team is an internationally recognized competitive dance group. Talking to some of those involved in the society, it quickly became evident that these are both special groups.

Third-year student Sarah Levandier has been dancing since she was five years old and can’t imagine her life without it. “To me, dance is all about being part of something bigger [than yourself] and something that brings so many people together in a positive way. I think that is really special,” Levandier said.

As Dance Society President and vice-president of varsity dance, Levandier is excited for the showcase because the event has consistently been a huge success. “It is so exciting

to see so many creative ideas all come together in a display of dance. The passion and the energy brought to the stage by all the dancers is so positive and [the executive] are so happy to be part of it.”

Second-year student Noah Perry has been a dancer for 10 years and plans to continue his dancing career.

For Perry, the Dance Society has a strong sense of camaraderie, which has made his university experience a positive one.“We create a family,” he said.

Dance has been a mentally restorative and healing process for fifth-year sociology and philosophy student Caroline Kovesi. Kovesi explained how dance helped her deal with deep depression last winter and how it has continued to act as a positive outlet for her. “Dance means everything to me. There’s no other way to put it. It is the only thing I have that lets me get out of my head, and one of the few things in my life that lets me experience true joy. I need to dance,” she said.

Since the song “Not Ready to Make Nice” by the Dixie Chicks had a great influence on Kovesi’s healing process, she knew that she had to choreograph a piece to it for the Dance Society.

“It is the most personal piece I’ve ever choreographed, and the process of coming up with the movement, sharing it with my dancers through teaching, then actually dancing it with them has been more healing than any therapy I’ve done,” she said.

Kovesi explained that she

choreographs works of art, that these dance pieces are not solely for fun.

The emotional and mental labour put into pieces is as intense as the required physical effort, she finds.

It’s easy for someone with no formal dance training but a desire to join the society’s family to get involved. “Dance Society is such a warm, welcoming society. As a member of the executive team, it’s our duty to keep it that way so that people aren’t intimidated, but excited to join,” Perry said.

The society offers beginner and advanced classes to satisfy everyone’s experience levels.

Levandier encourages people with no experience to join. “Whether you are continuing a hobby or trying it for the first time, there is no pressure to be the best. It is all about having fun and learning new things,” she said.

Mt. A is lucky to witness and have access to a group so dedicated to its art form. The Dance Society continues to keep its rhythm and its collective energy has us wanting to join in. The end-of-year showcase will take place on at Convocation Hall on Friday, March 24 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, March 25 at 2 p.m.

On behalf of the society, Perry hopes to see you there. “All of our dancers have been putting blood, sweat and tears into this performance, and it’s going to be absolutely fantastic.”

DANCERS EXPRESS WITH MOVEMENT WHAT WORDS CANNOT. MOUNT ALLISON ARCHIVES/ SUBMITTED

12

ARTS & CULTURE

MARCH 23, 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

MUSIC

Humble performers induce heavy hangovers

Zack Bruce and Justin McKiel join forces for one of Thunder & Lightning’s busiest nights TYLER STUART Editor-in-Chief My Saturday hangover simply refused to subside. After drinking approximately 11 gallons of water, inhaling a mountain of hash browns and popping half a bottle of Advil, the throbbing pain behind my right eye continued to dance down my neck. It was a pain, I realized around dinnertime, that IPAs and cigarettes alone could not have induced. No, this kind of pain could only have spawned from the deafening silence that follows an evening of melodic palpitations with Zack Bruce and Justin McKiel.

Friday’s show, which showcased McKiel’s work for the first time and featured two cameos, turned Thunder & Lightning’s typically quiet bowling alley into a dancefloor swarming with students, townsfolk and visitors alike.

McKiel started off the night with a melodic mishmash of disco and bassheavy dance music, playing directly from his collection of records, then sampling some throwbacks in his own hybrid creations.

Closing McKiel’s set, Mark Cruz made a much-anticipated cameo following his recent release of “Stay The Nite,” a soulful, lusty tune with an unmistakable nod to Prince. As if the room were not already hot enough, Cruz, performing under the

stage name Playboi PT, serenaded In that time, the duo produced and it was going so horribly. Because us from atop a speaker. Shirtless recorded a song with Sadie Donahue, everyone was dancing so hard, we under a navy blue vest, he belted out a third-year music student at Mt. A. couldn’t play our set properly,” the auto-tuned power ballad while At the show, Donahue, who is used McKiel said. “It was kind of stressful somehow simultaneously holding a to performing with either a guitar or in that way. Next time we’ll have a rose in his mouth. a band, danced on the speaker as she little fence or something.”

In the evening’s second set, Bruce sang their cover of JoJo’s 2006 synthy Bruce and McKiel have been and McKiel joined forces and zapped hit “Like That.” making music together for several the already-grooving “It’s a super hot song, bodies into a frenzy. but they remixed it in Given the totality of the a way that was kind of bellowing drops and silky dancey, so that was fun,” transitions that had the she said. room pulsing, I could It wasn’t until emcee understand someone Reuben Matthew mistaking its originator announced that Bruce was for some dulcet deity. Yet, performing next with a at the front, fiddling with solo set that I remembered knobs and toggles in a I was supposed to report labyrinth of electronic “WON’T YOU STAY THE NIGHT?” CRUZ CROONED TO FAINTING FANS. on the show. I had been equipment, stood the MALLORY BURNSIDE-HOLMES/ARGOSY dancing non-stop for two almost comically well over an hour, and humble-looking performers, smizing any subsequent effort I made to months now, sending samples back sheepishly through their moppy hair stoically observe the proceedings was and forth at their leisure. But when at the writhing, worshipping horde. swallowed up by the churning crowd.

Bruce arrived in Sackville from The dancing disciples moved If you’ve ever had the pleasure Montreal last Tuesday, they worked so unabatedly that they bumped of witnessing Bruce play live, then together incessantly after their day into the DJ table a few times and you’ll know that writing about the jobs, putting in more than 30 hours unplugged some of the musical experience is a futile endeavour. before the show. equipment, causing the sound to Bruce, who grew up in Sackville, “The majority of our time spent cut out momentarily. Other times, studied sound engineering in Halifax. together was not preparing the set the track would skip backward 10 Now a member of GIRTH, he also in a performance way – we only seconds, and McKiel and Bruce composes and produces his own really did that the night before – it had to frantically reconnect and work and has started performing in was mostly producing the music reprogramme the devices before the Montreal. He and McKiel intend to with each other,” McKiel said. “We songs ended. make more music together in the definitely took on too much, but that “It was kind of a compliment that future. was what was fun about it.”

Bruce’s set was both sleek and brazen, a refined concoction of rapid and sometimes syncopated beats, tumbling bass lines and undulating transitions that let us sway to catch our breaths before convulsing once more. I could be wrong, but I believe it was during this part of the show when the mosh pit formed. And let me tell you, nothing brings together a community quite like shoving acquaintances to the beat of Bruce’s incendiary earworms.

The night was one of the busiest T&L has seen all year.

“It seems that Zack and Justin particularly were kind of scratching an itch musically that we don’t really get [to see performed] live that often in Sackville,” Cruz said.

On the verge of spontaneous combustion, I eventually crawled out of the pit and stepped outside for some thermal relief. My wet hair stiffened as friends smoked on the sidewalk, where we could hear the muffled drone still commanding bodies on the dance floor.

“Tonight brought everyone together, which I feel needs to happen more often,” Matthew said.

It was one of those nights I’ll look back on in 10 years and, in nostalgic amnesia, pretend happened every weekend. Walking home, the imminent pain of the morning was the last thing on my mind.

DO-IT-YOURSELF

Owens hosts DIY session on hand-carved stamps

SMILES AND STAMPS AT THE LATEST MAKER MAKER SERIES HELD AT THE OWENS ART GALLERY. SAVANNAH FORSESY/ARGOSY

OPINIONS 13

EDITOR: SHANNON POWER | MARCH 23, 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

CAMPUS

A case for more parking spaces Mt. A lacks adequate parking for students and other commutors

MIKAILIA SHAW

Contributor

As a Mount Allison student, I am extremely fortunate to live close enough to campus to be able to walk to classes if I so choose. However, if you don’t live close to campus, or if you’re going to get a coffee before class, finding a place to park is like trying to find a table on the main floor of the library during exam season – nearly impossible. Although I’m not certain of the exact date that the parking lots were built, I am sure cars are more popular now than they used to be.

There are seven parking lots on campus that are designated for student drivers. These lots range in size and accessibility. The largest of these lots are Campbell and Thornton & Edwards, which are used both by students who live on campus and commuters. Since moving off campus, parking has climbed to the top of my frustration list.

I don’t know how many times I have been driving back from Tim Hortons’, with only 10 minutes until class starts, and I end up being late because of the lack of available parking, passing through Dunn,

Hillcrest, Thornton & Edwards and more with no luck. The next logical option is street parking, right? Wrong.

Parking on the streets of Sackville for more than two hours during the school day can earn you a ticket from a bylaw officer. So, often, students turn to testing their luck by parking in spots not marked out on the pavement lines. Although most of the time, illegally parking this way still allows cars to pass freely through, the school reacts to this by towing said vehicles, sometimes without warning.

Technically, the school has no obligation to give notice before towing an illegally parked vehicle, as it is outlined in Policy 7605: Parking and Vehicle Access Policy. However, if they are continuously having to tow multiple vehicles at a time, isn’t there a larger issue at hand? Does Facilities Management believe that students are willingly parking what is often their sole method of transportation in an atrisk space because they have the extra money kicking around for the tow?

In the grand scheme of university life, parking should not be a source of stress for students, yet it is. Despite all the staggeringly apparent signs that the parking situation is bleak, there has been no response from the school. There are no plans to improve this situation, or at least none that have been made public.

Although I am not certain of the perfect solution to this problem, something has to be done. The parking lots are not going to become emptier, and more students will likely be bringing cars in years to come. Students don’t have the time

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Independent Student Newspaper of Mount Allison University Thursday, March 23, 2017 volume 146 issue 19 Circulation 1,000 Since 1872

on Unceded Mi’kmaq Land 62 York Street W. McCain Student Centre Mount Allison University Sackville, New Brunswick

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EDITORIAL staff EDITORS-IN-CHIEF | Sylvan Hamburger, Tyler Stuart MANAGING EDITOR | Cecilia Stuart NEWS EDITORS | Catherine Turnbull, Naomi Goldberg ARTS & CULTURE EDITORS | Mallory Burnside-Holmes, Mirelle Naud SPORTS & HEALTH EDITOR | David Taplin OPINIONS EDITOR | Shannon Power HUMOUR EDITOR | Mark Cruz COPY EDITOR | Claire Henderson-Hamilton

PRODUCTION staff PRODUCTION MANAGER | Hailey Guzik PHOTO EDITOR | Savannah Harris PHOTOGRAPHERS | Ryan MacRae, Savannah Forsey ILLUSTRATION EDITOR | Jeff Mann ILLUSTRATORS | Louis Sobol, Izzy Francolini ONLINE EDITOR | Monica Zahl

AFTER SNOWSTORMS, PARKING SPACES CAN BECOME MORE DIFFICULT TO FIND. NICHOLAI TOFFSKI/ARCHIVES.

REPORTING staff NEWS REPORTERS | Will Balser, Kavana Wa Kilele, Jill MacIntryre POLITICS REPORTER | Nadiya Safonova

or money to handle the reality of campus parking much longer, so I urge the Facilities Management at Mt. A to enact change on this front.

SPORTS REPORTER | Hamza Munawar ARTS & CULTURE REPORTERS | Chelsea Doherty, Marissa Cruz, Corinna Paumier

OPERATIONS staff BUSINESS MANAGER | Tessa Dixon

THE ARG OSY

FUNDERS’MEETING

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THURSDAY MARCH 30TH, 4:00 PM ROOM 386, WALLACE MCCAIN STUDENT CENTRE

AD MANAGER | James Lantz CIRCULATIONS | Katharyn Stevenson

CONTRIBUTORS Paul del Motte, Will Traves, Kevin Melanson, Finbar Shirley, Cara Mackenzie, Mikaila Shaw, Divest MTA COVER | Sylvan Hamburger

PUBLICATION board Leslie Kern, Owen Griffiths

DISCLAIMERS & COPYRIGHT The Argosy is the official independent student journal of news, opinion, and the arts, written, edited and funded by the students of Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of The Argosy’s staff or its Board of Directors. The Argosy is published weekly throughout the academic year by Argosy Publications Inc. Student contributions in the form of letters, articles, photography, graphic design and comics are welcome. The Argosy reserves the right to edit or refuse all materials deemed sexist, racist, homophobic, or otherwise unfit for print, as determined by the Editor-in-Chief. Articles or other contributions can be sent to argosy@mta.ca or directly to a section editor. The Argosy will print unsolicited materials at its own discretion. Letters to the editor must be signed, though names may be withheld at the sender’s request and at The Argosy’s discretion.

Anonymous letters will not be printed.

Comments , concerns, or complaints about The Argosy’s content or operations should be first sent to the Editor-in-Chief at the address above. If the Editor-in-Chief is unable to resolve a complaint, it may be taken to the Argosy Publications, Inc. Board of Directors. The chairs of the Board of Directors can be reached at the address above.

All materials appearing in The Argosy bear the copyright of Argosy Publications, Inc. Material cannot be reprinted without the consent of the Editor-in-Chief.

14

OPINIONS

MARCH 23, 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

DIVEST

Our university, our planet, our future

My queer body

We have waited four years for a response on fossil fuel divestment; we wait no longer

CARA MACKENZIE Contributor

DIVEST MTA ACTIVISTS AND SUPPORTERS HELD VARIOUS EVENTS TO EDUCATE ABOUT AND CALL FOR FOSSIL FUEL DIVESTMENT. LAUREN LATOUR/SUBMITTED

DIVEST MTA ORGANIZERS Contributor It’s no secret that Sackville is cold in March. The sun rarely shines during the day, it snows sporadically, the wind blows hard and cold and at night, the temperature falls well below zero. Despite these harsh conditions, student activists have occupied campus since Monday.

We are students, all of whom have heavy course loads, extracurricular responsibilities, and our personal wellbeing to care for. We are students spending our days outside together with community members, professors and Indigenous leaders.

At the camp, we spend our days talking, reading, chanting, singing, listening and yes, sleeping. We do this because for four years now, our voices have gone unheard by this university’s administration.

Fossil fuel divestment has been a topic of conversation at Mt. A since the fall of 2013, when students founded DivestMTA and challenged this university to live up to its claim of being a leading institution in the fight against climate change.

Last month, approximately 60 students disrupted the Board of Regents meeting, calling for the same things that DivestMTA has been demanding for the past four years: Invest in our future, divest from fossil fuels. We ask that this university place itself on the right side of this historical battle against the injustices, violence and oppression that climate change causes, and cease its investment in the very industry that, if left to its own devices, will undoubtedly cause our demise as a species.

Following the die-in on Feb. 3, university administration doubled down on its rejection of fossil fuel divestment, citing the

same reasoning it always has: This institution’s fiduciary responsibility to financial stakeholders is paramount to all else, and fossil fuel divestment puts this at risk.

This reasoning is fallacious. Not only is there no evidence to back up the claim that fossil fuel divestment would be detrimental to endowment fund returns (hundreds of universities, pensions, churches, abd cities have divested with negligible changes to financial returns), but, frankly, Mt. A’s responsibility is not first and foremost to donors.

Its responsibility is to us, to the students who fill the lecture halls, labs, libraries and residences. We are this institution’s most important stakeholders, and we demand divestment. For Mt. A to do anything less is to commit millions to death at the hands of the fossil fuel companies it so dearly refuses to give up.

We do not act alone. We are

part of a movement that in Canada alone is comprised of thousands.

The climate justice movement is expanding rapidly, including social justice organizations, Indigenous communities, religious groups and yes – student divestment activists.

There are 30 Canadian universities with student-led fossil fuel divestment campaigns and just last month, we got our first win. Université Laval was the first Canadian university to commit to divesting its financial holdings from the fossil fuel industry, and it will not be the last. Although Mt. A will not be the first university in this land we call Canada to move to divest, we know that it cannot deny the reality of climate change forever. We believe that Mt. A will divest because we must. We must believe that this institution has the wherewithal to concede to the expertise of its PhD-anointed faculty, and the ethical and moral

challenges posed by its student body.

That is why we brave the cold.

That is why we participate in die-ins. That is why we circulate petitions, write op-eds, tweet and post to facebook and wear orange felt squares on our coats. We don’t do this because it’s fun (though, to be sure, building relationships and learning with and from one another is enjoyable in a myriad of ways). We do this because we must. Because fighting for fossil fuel divestment is fighting for climate justice and a future in which survival is possible.

If you haven’t already attended a meeting, signed the petition, or joined in a conversation about fossil fuel divestment, now is the time to do so.

Now is the time to act, to engage, to bring about this positive change and urge this university to do the same.

Because it’s not just possible, or even probable – it’s already happening.

STUDENTS CAMPED OUT IN FREEZING TEMPERATURES DURING THEIR OCCUPATION. SALLY FAULKNER/SUBMITTED

My queer body will not bend to your cis white ableist capitalist heteropatriarchy that abuses this earth and its people. My queer body is a vessel for my queer heart and mind, neither of which you are allowed to have or break. My queer body is absolutely magical even though I have not always known this. Even though I have spent most of my life failing to understand or appreciate it, my queer body remains. My queer body is here and it is hairy. It is angry most days, yet remains capable of love.

My queer heart, body, and mind are capable of love when they have not always received it from myself or this world. My queer body is tired, and happy, and sensual, and frustrated, and it loves chocolate. My queer body is not an inclusivity addendum: it is included in my presence and being, in my thoughts, feelings and speech. I cannot be separated from it. And I love that. I love my queer body—or at least I’m learning to.

I love all the things it can and can’t do, all of its flaws and imperfections and the weird and wonderful things it makes me feel. So my queer body demands revolution. It demands nuanced understandings of self-love and goodness. It demands to be in the forefront of society’s mind, not relegated to an afterthought.

My queer body demands radical, difficult, and utterly life-changing conversations surrounding it. Not just my queer body but all bodies.

This is the revolution we deserve.

HUMOUR 15

EDITOR: MARK CRUZ | MARCH 23, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

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THURDAY, MARCH 23

SATURDAY, MARCH 25

Interdisciplinary Conversations Location: Owens Art Gallery, 4:30pm

MTA Dance Society Presents: Uprising Location: Convocation Hall, 2pm

Therapy Dogs Location: Tweedie Hall, 4-6pm

Guest Lecture by Dr. Gould: Dementia-Friendly Environments Location: AVDX Rm 112, 7pm MASU Presents: Stress Free Evening Location: 2nd Floor Student Centre, 4:00 - 6:00pm

FRIDAY, MARCH 24

The Space Between: Performance by Kevin Morse Location: Brunton Auditorium, 7:30pm *Reception follows at 8:15pm at the Owens Art Gallery for Dan Steeves’ exhibition opening.

Graduation Preparation Series Location: Dunn 108, 2pm Free Yoga at the Commons Location: Sackville Commons & Coworking, 5:30pm MTA Dance Society Presents: Uprising Location: Convocation Hall, 7pm Motherhood / Little You, Little Me / Fear Agent Location: Thunder and Lightning, 10pm Grad Class PUB CRAWL 2.0 7:30pm-2:00am

Sackville Farmers Market. Bridge Street. 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

MOSAIC Banquet Location: Jennings Hall, 7:30pm Tickets: Students $12, Adults $15 Goth Night w/ DJ Jaredactyl Location: Thunder and Lightning, 10pm

SUNDAY, MARCH 26

Most Likely to Succeed: A film screening Location: Vogue Cinema, 2:30pm

MONDAY, MARCH 27 Conduct Becoming CD Release Concert Location: Ducky’s, 7:00pm

The Riotous Film Society Presents: Moonlight Location: Mount Allison Library Theatre, 7:30pm

TUESDAY, MARCH 28

The Art of the Graphic Novel with Meags Fitzgerald Location: Owens Art Gallery, 7:00pm

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29 Zachary Lucky // Tom Terrell Location: Thunder and Lightning, 8pm

ARTS AND CULTURE REPORTERS (3) NEWS REPORTERS (3) POLITICS REPORTER SPORTS REPORTER

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR ILLUSTRATIONS EDITOR PHOTOGRAPHERS (2) ILLUSTRATORS (3)