THE ARG OSY
NEWS
ARTS & CULTURE
SPORTS
OPINIONS
R. P. BELL LIBRARY SPRAY PAINTED (PG. 2)
7 MONDAYS LAUNCHES 23RD ISSUE (PG. 9)
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TO HOST NATIONALS (PG. 10)
REDISCOVERING L’ACADIE (PG. 11)
No glass in the halls since 1872
Mount Allison’s Independent Student Newspaper
COVER: BEN MORTON, PERSEUS, SILKSCREEN PRINT, 2016
May 11, 2017 Vol. 147, Iss. 1
02 NEWS
MAY 11. 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
VANDALISM
“DECOLONIZE” spray-painted on Library which the painted messages were visible to the student body, the few photos taken spread across several social media platforms and sparked a campus-wide discussion. Fourth-year student Osama Al Nammary said that the act caused him and others to feel unsafe while on campus and at the library. “While I do not want to discredit the important message, there are different ways of sending that message,” Al Nammary said. Following the community’s initial reactions came speculation about who wrote the message, principally targeted toward Indigenous students and Divest MTA organizers. Divest MTA is a climate justice group demanding the university cut all financial ties with the fossil fuel industry that has included the topic of decolonization in many of their communications. In response to the allegations, Divest MTA organizer Naomi Goldberg said, “Divest MTA, although suspected of spray-painting the message, neither organized nor carried out this act. Although we wouldn’t have chosen this tactic, we don’t know what the person or people who did it have been through, and we respect that someone might have felt compelled to do this.” Fourth-year student and Indigenous Affairs Intern Emma
Hassencahl said that she was not surprised by how quickly the message was removed, and that her first thoughts concerned who would be blamed. “My initial thought was: Are they going to pin this on Indigenous students? And then my second thought was: No, I think they’re going to pin it on divestment.” Hassencahl also expressed skepticism toward the part of the graffiti’s message. “I guess I’m failing to see the steps toward decolonization in any university setting, because the academy is a system that has been in place for hundreds of years, and that’s not going to be undone. So I agree with the “lip service” statement, but decolonization – I don’t believe that will happen here.” D i r e c t o r of Facilities Management Neil MacEachern said, “In terms of graffiti, we generally try to remove it as quickly as possible. Once we’re made aware of it, we will actually put a process in place to make sure it’s gone within 24 hours at the latest. Mainly because it is, in essence, vandalism, because it is damage to buildings.” MacEachern also noted that it took four to five workers approximately two to three hours to remove the message.
“ I AGREE WITH THE ‘LIP SERVICE’
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT REMOVING “DECOLONIZE” FROM THE FACE OF THE R.P. BELL LIBRARY. RYAN MACRAE/SUBMITTED
WILL BALSER Contributor On the morning of Thursday, April 6 many students arrived on campus to see two messages reading “DECOLONIZE” and “ENOUGH LIP SERVICE” spray painted onto the facade and sidewalk of the Ralph Pickard Bell Library. The writing was removed by facilities management by noon that day. Though there was no official statement published by the administration to the university community, The Argosy received the
following on the day of the incident: “Mount Allison’s Facilities Management department received a report just before 8 a.m. on Thursday, April 6, of graffiti on the Ralph Pickard Bell Library as well as on the sidewalk in front of the library. The University aims to remove graffiti as quickly as possible in order to minimize damage to buildings. In this case, there was potential for significant damage to the building because the graffiti was written on sandstone, and it was removed by shortly after 11 a.m. “There have been a couple of instances this year of graffiti
appearing on campus. In each case, the graffiti was removed. Graffiti or vandalism involving offensive text or images would be investigated and appropriate action taken. The University would also consider communications to the campus community in such a case. “If students were responsible for defacement of property, provisions in the Student Code of Conduct would apply. If the vandalism was committed by someone outside the Mount Allison community, it could be referred to the RCMP.” Despite the short period during
STATEMENT, BUT
DECOLONIZATION – I DON’T BELIEVE THAT
WILL HAPPEN HERE”
With files from Naomi Goldberg
PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH
Search for new university president underway
Once Board of Regents approves mandate, advertisement of the position will be made public
CATHERINE TURBULL Contributor Mount Allison University President and Vice-Chancellor Robert Campbell will complete his term in June 2018. The process to find the next university president, facilitated by the Board of Regents’ presidential search committee, is currently underway. The Board has additionally contracted the consulting services of managing partner Anna Stuart through the executive search firm Knightsbridge Robertson Surrette. In March, the committee offered students, staff and faculty an online survey through which they can communicate feedback. According to Ron Outerbridge, the chair of the Board, this online survey will remain open for the duration of the search process. On April 28, university constituents were sent a private link to a draft of a mandate for the position. The mandate states that its key elements “have been developed from feedback provided through the consultation phase of the search […] from all members of the Mount
Allison community – faculty, staff, students, administrators, alumni, unions and associations, and key donors and stakeholders.” The mandate includes an outline of expectations for the next university president and a profile of an “ideal candidate” which includes experience and qualifications as well as competencies and personal attributes. Among other things, the mandate outlines that the next president should “actively engage with the full Mount Allison community,” “continue to differentiate” the Mount Allison experience, “establish, lead and work with the academic leadership team,” “lead, encourage and support programs and initiatives that invite, enhance and embrace the diversity of ideas, cultures and peoples within the Mount Allison community,” and “pursue and support active engagement and inclusion of Indigenous communities and ideas at Mount Allison”. This mandate will become public after the draft is approved at the Board’s May meeting. The public advertisement of the position will be managed by Stuart and the
Knightsbridge firm, according to Outerbridge. Stuart will facilitate interviews and develop a transition plan for the incoming president as well as continue to help manage community input. Mount Allison Students’ Union (MASU) President Sara Camus is the student representative on the presidential search committee. In an email to the Argosy, Camus outlined the MASU’s suggestions for the new university president, which included doing a better job of facilitating conversations between faculty, staff and students, “acknowledging strike baggage” (referring to the 2014 faculty strike), and facilitating conversation within the “complex political and social systems at Mt. A”. Camus acknowledged there have been conflicting opinions about the MASU’s relationship with the president and administration. “This is always a challenge for the MASU because the turnover rate is so high,” Camus wrote. “Some executive teams believe that to be autonomous, the MASU should not have working relationships with the administration.
Other executive teams believe that the students prosper when the two teams have open and constructive communication. A lack of consistency in these views can damage these relations.” Camus told the Argosy that all updates concerning the presidential search will be brought to the Students’ Administrative Council. In an email to the Argosy, Outerbridge wrote that “the specific role of the President has not changed fundamentally since the last search. However, the context in which the University operates has greatly evolved, and this does impact our process and of course the final selection of the appropriate candidate.” Outerbridge cited this context as the reason for the committee’s inquiries for community feedback. “Our current process is designed to reflect the needs of the University community today,” Outerbridge wrote. “This includes a committee reflecting faculty, students and staff points of view, a commitment to actively encourage community feedback, and a thorough search
process which includes promotion through traditional and online media as well as direct outreach. We have also committed to keeping the community updated as the process unfolds.” In the April 6 issue, the Argosy asked students and faculty what they were looking for in the next university president. This article can be found online, at argosy.ca. According to the Mt. A website, early recruitment of candidates will commence over the summer. The Board committee will search for and interview candidates in fall of 2017, and will present their recommendation to the Board in winter of 2018. The Board’s executive committee will make the final decision. The incoming university president is expected to begin their term on July 1, 2018. Outerbridge, Stuart, and Camus have opened their emails to student, staff and faculty comments. Their respective email addresses are below. routerbridge@mta.ca mtapresidentsearch@kbrs.ca masmasupresident@mta.ca
NEWS
THE ARGOSY | WWW.ARGOSY.CA
STUDENT JOURNALISM
03
David Taplin recognized for contributions to student journalism Crake-Sawdon awarded to Argosy’s sports and health editor of 2016-17
MIRELLE NAUD Editor in Chief Fourth-year double major in history and political science, David Taplin is the recipient of the Crake-Sawdon award in student journalism for his substantial contributions to the Argosy’s 2016-17 sports and health section. Fascinated by the interrelationships between historical events and current politics, Taplin incorporated his academic interests in history and storytelling to his involvement in sports journalism. “[Sports journalism] articles are really fun articles because you get to learn more about the athletes involved, the stories behind the sports...the history of the sport. There [are] always stories to tell,” Taplin said. Before acting as a section editor, Taplin had never contributed to the paper, but had read the sports and health section and seen room for improvement.
“I wanted the [sports and health section] to be more in depth,” Taplin said. “I really wanted a sports section that people would read, because I didn’t feel that people read it.” A longstanding sports spectator and avid reader of sports journalism, Taplin envisioned refurbishing the sports and health section by pushing for more involvement from contributors and interviewees and strengthening its health-oriented sports coverage. Taplin’s interest in health-oriented sports coverage can be traced back to his basketball career in high school. After being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, Taplin discovered that connections formed with his high school basketball teammates gave him a sense of control over his personal life. Since then, Taplin has held a keen interest in the healthrelated aspects of sports, a fascination that has substantially influenced his coverage of sports and health in the Argosy. One of the most memorable
stories Taplin wrote profiled Mountie football broadcaster Steve Ridlington, whose involvement in broadcasting dates back to 1974. “[Ridlington] was such a wealth of knowledge. [It’s rewarding] just seeing the passion for college sports that he brings and the enjoyment he gets out of [broadcasting],” Taplin said. “He had really cool ideas about what Sackville means as a community,” Taplin said, referencing Ridlington’s sense of community that spans from Mt. A’s athletics teams to the greater Sackville community. Taplin explored this interconnectedness through his own sports and health journalism. Taplin would like to thank the students who recommended his work to the Crake Foundation, the numerous sports and health section contributors, his section reporter Hamza Munawar and the support he received this year from the Argosy staff. In the fall, Taplin will return to
TAPLIN MADE POSITIVE CHANGES TO SPORTS AND HEALTH SECTION. ADRIAN KIVA/ ARGOSY Mt. A for a fifth year to complete a Post who passed away in 2001, course-based honours in history. the annual Crake-Sawdon award Established in the honour of recognizes Mt. A students who have William Boyle Sawdon, an editor of significantly contributed to print the Argosy and the Sackville Tribune journalism.
DIVESTMENT
Board of Regents accepts responsible investment recommendations, rejects divestment CECILIA STUART Contributor On April 26, Mount Allison University issued a press release announcing the Board of Regents’ approval of several recommendations made by the Responsible Investment (RI) subcommittee, a subsidiary of the Board’s Nominating and Governance committee. These recommendations are the result of a year-long deliberation process sparked by a report calling for the creation of a policy regarding socially responsible investing (SRI) submitted to the Board by Divest MTA in early 2016. The Board’s executive committee approved five main recommendations concerning responsible investment: to update applicable investment policies to consider environmental, social and governance factors (ESG), provide University donors with the option to invest in a fund that excludes or limits investment in certain sectors, become a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI), make a list of the underlying stock and bond holdings of the University’s pooled funds publicly available, and produce an annual report on responsible investment. Divest MTA began calling on the University to divest – to remove its holdings from the top 200 publicly traded coal, oil and natural gas companies over the course of five years – in 2013. In February 2016, the group submitted a formal report to the Board calling for the creation of a procedure to evaluate the social impact of new investments.
The report recommended that the university establish a SRI committee to advise the Board on issues of socially responsible investment. In March 2016, the Board’s executive committee established terms of reference for a RI subcommittee with a less specific mandate that allowed them to focus on matters of responsible investing rather than socially responsible investing. Divest MTA expressed frustration with the broadening of the subcommittee’s mandate, stating in a press release that it “allowed the subcommittee to reframe larger questions of ethical responsibility in terms of conventional forms of shareholder engagement that do not lead to meaningful change in investment practices.” According to the University’s recent press release, the RI subcommittee looked into the possibility of divestment, but concluded that it is incompatible with the Board’s understanding of fiduciary responsibility. The subcommittee ultimately recommended against divestment, and the Board accepted this recommendation. According to Canadian trust law, “the university as trustee of [endowment] funds is not permitted to apply its own values if those reduce the effectiveness of the funds,” said Bruce Robertson, a professor in the classics department who sits on the Board and was the faculty representative on the RI subcommittee. Robertson believes that the limitations of trust law can be overcome by giving future donors to the University the option to invest
in ethical funds, as recommended by the RI subcommittee. “[The establishment of an ethical fund] is a kind of drip-by-drip divestment,” Robertson said. “We can encourage future donors to strongly consider this option.” Divest organizer Alex Lepianka said that adherence to trust law “perpetuates a legal institution that is fundamentally racist and classist and is for everything that the university, as a public institution, should be against.” He does not see the RI subcommittee’s recommendations as substantive. “[The recommendations] are in fact quite superficial and do not address the root issue, which is the inability of anybody but administrators to decide what the university does and the principles against which it measures itself,” Lepianka said. “[Divest MTA is] trying to rebuild the decision space from the ground up. We are trying to get rid of these structures that have allowed us to hold investments in the fossil fuel industry in the first place.” The report submitted by Divest MTA requested that any established committee make sufficient efforts to include the University community in their deliberation. The RI subcommittee had one student and one faculty representative, Willa McCaffrey-Noviss and Robertson, respectively. However, McCaffreyNoviss resigned midway through the process, citing her lack of knowledge surrounding investment as her reason for doing so. McCaffrey-Noviss was later replaced by Lepianka, as per her recommendation. “While I do think it was hard for me to be a good representative
on the [sub]committee, I am not sure whether that was because of inaccessible governance structures or if it was because I was not the best person for the job considering my lack of knowledge of investment, so I stepped down and allowed a student with more knowledge on the issue to take over,” McCaffrey-Noviss wrote in an email to the Argosy. Robertson said that while some of the reports the subcommittee looked at were long and complicated, members of the subcommittee had resources such as Vice-President Finance and Administration Robert Inglis and representatives from the University’s financial consulting firm to answer questions they may have had. Lepianka believes that the inclusion of a student in the subcommittee “is more symbolic than anything else.” He expressed dissatisfaction with the dynamics of the RI subcommittee meetings and said that the majority of each 90-minute meeting was devoted to the administration’s interpretation of reports or policy, with little time allotted to critical discussion. “Even if you have a student member who is able to keep up with the technical discussion that is being had...how can you call it meaningful engagement when 75 minutes out of a 90-minute meeting are being taken up by the administration?” Robertson and Inglis both felt that having a student on the subcommittee was beneficial. Inglis said that the subcommittee made attempts to consider student and faculty voices, citing a panel on divestment hosted in 2016 and a meeting between subcommittee members and Divest
MTA in September 2016 as examples. Inglis said that he is looking forward to implementing the recommendations of the RI subcommittee. “I don’t see any friction on a level of willingness,” Robertson said. However, he also noted that the establishment of a new ethical fund is a great deal of work. “I think we as a community have to not be excessively impatient.” McCaffrey-Noviss was also optimistic about the results, writing “these are great wins, but I also hope to see greater movement in this direction.” Lepianka feels that the subcommittee’s recommendations do not sufficiently address the issues raised by Divest MTA. “The decisions made by the Board do not at all reflect the principles we have been advocating for....Our primary concern is to radically change the mentality that is behind all of these governance decisions,” he said. “What we’re seeing right now is an insulting and unwavering commitment to a status quo that is fundamentally unjust.” The Board also approved three recommendations from the governance operations subcommittee, which was struck at the same time as the RI subcommittee. These recommendations include making Board meeting minutes publicly available, encouraging continual professional development and training for Regents, and committing to hosting at least one open meeting (meaning any individual can attend) per year.
04
NEWS
MAY 11, 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
INDIGENIZATION
Faculty express desire to pursue indigenization and decolonization Year of Indigenous Action begins with “Days of Action and Reflection”
CECILIA STUART Contributor MIRELLE NAUD Editor in Chief On May 2 and 3, Mount Allison hosted a series of panels and discussions entitled “Days of Action and Reflection” to review the university’s work toward indigenization and decolonization over the past year. The event, geared toward faculty members, allowed educators and administrators to reflect on the success of the Year of Indigenous Knowing and set goals for the Year of Indigenous Action, which began on May 1. The event began with a talk by Chris Hachkowski, principal of Aboriginal Studies and assistant professor at the Schulich School of Education at Nipissing University on Monday night. Hachkowski highlighted the importance of evaluating the inherent Eurocentrism of postsecondary institutions, building relationships with Indigenous communities and reevaluating the university’s definition of success to match that of Aboriginal communities. While numerical measures can define success at the administrative levels of universities, they fail to resonate as meaningful measures of success to Aboriginal community members, according to a series of conversations facilitated by Hachkowski and other researchers at Nipissing. The results of their study indicate that administration and faculty members at universities should create learning environments that emphasize community building and the individual’s journey of identity building should they seek to indigenize. The following day, over 50 faculty members gathered in Tweedie Hall to share their experiences with the University’s attempts at
indigenization over the past year. Planning for the event began in late fall of 2016. According to Jeff Ollerhead, provost and vice-president academic and research, organizers wanted the event to occur between the end of winter exams and before convocation in an effort to draw the largest number of faculty members. The lack of student involvement as a consequence of the timing was a weakness of the event identified by VP International and Student Affairs Kim Meade. “Obviously, the event was really
“CHANGE IS POSSIBLE. I’VE SEEN CHANGE. THIS DAY WE’RE HAVING RIGHT NOW WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED WHEN I CAME HERE FOUR YEARS AGO” geared toward faculty, and from the participation you can tell the timing worked,” Meade said, referencing the faculty high turnout. Maritza Fariña, a Spanish professor who also spoke on one of the event’s panels, was impressed with the number of faculty in attendance. “It’s very uncomfortable to talk about decolonization of knowledge…. When something makes you uncomfortable, it’s easier not to face it,” she said. Throughout the course of the event, many discussions centered around the issues inherent in decolonizing a space like a university, which has historically relied on colonial knowledge structures. Geography professor and event panelist Leslie Kern believes there
is a paradox in decolonizing the university. “Is it even possible to do that in a way that would meaningfully reflect what decolonization means to Indigenous people?...I’m not sure that we would recognize [this institution] if decolonization was truly the end goal,” she said. Fariña emphasized that the knowledge upon which the university is founded comes from the perspective of the colonizer, and that the process of decolonizing this knowledge system begins with learning from the colonized. “To decolonize the knowledge at a higher education institution, we will have to walk a very, very long and uncomfortable... road,” she said. Sociology professor and panelist Lori Ann Roness spoke about the limitations of decolonizing through curriculum changes and the need to expand our understanding of indigenization. “Indigenous students don’t need to take a course on being oppressed,” she said. “And while I can’t speak for Indigenous students or people, I imagine that a safe place means a place where they feel welcome and where they see themselves in all aspects of the institution.” Andrea Beverley, a Canadian studies and English professor, acknowledged the discomfort that many event participants felt talking about indigenization in a space where most individuals are highly privileged. “We might feel, justifiably, that talking about indigenization at the institution is a fad, that it’s PR, that we’re just heading toward tokenism, that we’re always calling on the same students,” she said. “We might think sometimes that academia and Canada might be irredeemable project[s] because they are so fraught and so problematic. Why can we expect change when we haven’t seen substantial change following many other moments of resistance and calls to action?” However, Beverley pointed out
that the willingness of faculty to engage in this discussion is indicative of the possibility of change. “Change is possible. I’ve seen change. This day we’re having right now wouldn’t have happened when I came here four years ago,” she said. Several speakers highlighted the necessity of hiring Indigenous faculty in the ongoing process of indigenization. Emma Hassencahl, a Maliseet fine arts student and Mt. A’s Indigenous Affairs intern, said that although she is skeptical of the project of indigenization within the University, she believes that hiring Indigenous professors is an important step toward making campuses more welcoming to Indigenous students. “Even if I don’t personally understand where indigenization is going, I think that it’s something we should keep striving toward to ensure that Indigenous students feel comfortable and safe,” she said. Some participants and panelists felt that continually asking Indigenous people for their participation in a project of decolonization could overlook their interests, particularly if the project is for the sake of nonIndigenous people only. “We keep saying that it’s important to have the participation of Indigenous peoples in the project of decolonization, yet we also have to ask ourselves why Indigenous people want to be involved in the project of decolonizing Mt. A,” Kern said. “Why should people invest their time, knowledge, emotional
labour and so on into decolonizing a colonial institution? What do we have to offer in return?” By the end of the second day, many faculty seemed hopeful about the ideas and goals that arose throughout the discussions. Fariña believes that the event showcased “the first steps to something that will come.” She highlighted that the work of decolonization should not be limited to faculty, and that students should commit themselves to asking questions. “It has to come from [students],” she said. As potential steps forward, Ollerhead referenced institutionalizing a fund for field trips, creating an Indigenous Advisory Circle composed of students and community members and organizing a similar event of reflection for students in the fall. In addition, Ollerhead mentioned an Indigenous hire is currently high on the agenda of the University Planning Committee. The prospect of decolonizing an institution steeped in colonial structures and values is undeniably a complicated and long-term project, but one that many faculty members expressed an eagerness and desire to pursue. “It’s about doing something every day,” Fariña said. Martiza Fariña recommended that those interested in the discussion surrounding indigenization and decolonization read Chief Dan George’s “A Lament for Confederation.”
FACULTY PARTICIPATE IN GROUP ACTIVITY OF BRAINSTORMING PLANS FOR THE YEAR OF INDIGENOUS ACTION. SAVANNAH MILEEN HARRIS/SUBMITTED
SCIENCE 05
MAY 11, 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
STUDENT RESEARCH
Science student profile: David Hall
Honours physical chemistry student explores nanoparticles and the world of the unseen
HONOURS CHEMISTRY STUDENT DAVID HALL BESIDE AN ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE. RYAN MACRAE/SUBMITTED
KATHERINE REISS Contributor The Mount Allison graduating class of 2017 is composed of numerous outstanding students who are already making valuable contributions to the scientific community. One such person is David Hall, a fourth-year honours chemistry student whose project exemplifies the important student research being conducted at
Mt. A. Hall has had an interest in science since he was a teenager “I always liked solving problems. It doesn’t matter what they are, I just like to figure things out,” he said. This excitement of discovery led Hall to do research for the last two years in chemistry professor Vicki Meli’s physical chemistry lab, research that has culminated in his honours thesis. A recipient of the Marjorie Young
Bell Research Award, Hall stayed in Sackville last summer to focus on his honours research in nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are particles between 1 and 100 nanometers in size, or as Hall put it, “they’re the middle [structure] between molecules and bulk materials.” They are also an area in which a lot of new and exciting research is currently taking place, because the manipulation of the size and shape of nanoparticles
allows chemists to control a material’s properties. “While there is a lot of research on the subject, there are still numerous obstacles to overcome until we see widespread use [of these materials],” Hall said. For his honours project, he investigated making nanocomposites – specifically how “capping agents affect nanoparticle integration into polystyrene.” Capping agents are molecules that surround nanoparticles to keep them small by preventing them from aggregating. Polystyrene, a plastic polymer, is a common ingredient in many materials, most notably Styrofoam. “Essentially,” he said, “understanding this effect will be another variable we can use to make better nanocomposite materials.” Hall said the hope is that by being able to subtly affect materials and control them, one day nanocomposites could be used in electronics, in nanotechnology, as detectors or for various other purposes. Hall’s post-convocation plans include moving to Toronto to pursue his master’s in environmental chemistry at the University of Toronto. There, Hall will work with chemistry professor Hui Peng on establishing more efficient techniques to identify the physical interactions between environmental chemicals
and cellular proteins. While this will be a new area of research for Hall, he has always been interested in multiple facets of chemistry, which explains why he “bounced around the chemistry department” at Mt. A from “organic chemistry to nanochemistry and now to environmental chemistry.” The unique nature of Mt. A’s programs provided Hall with many opportunities, which has been a key part of his success. Hall said that he “was able to [use] $200,000 instruments” while completing his thesis, while “some schools won’t even let you do that during a master’s.” Giving students this hands-on approach to research as well as training on and access to multiple instruments is one of the reasons Mt. A produces such experienced undergraduates, Hall said. Speaking about his supervisor, Meli, Hall said that “[she] does a wonderful job exposing undergraduates to various aspects of chemistry.” Hall noted that the entire chemistry department is incredibly supportive. In addition to his honours work, Hall was the president of Mt. A’s men’s rugby club, a member of the local Moncton rugby team and one of the Mt. A’s student refugee program coordinators.
LYME DISEASE
Funding granted to Lyme disease laboratory New interdisciplinary network of students and faculty to tackle Lyme disease research
PERCY MILLER Contributor On May 5, Mount Allison opened the doors of Flemington to Lyme disease patients and their families as well as a range of students, faculty members and media personnel for an exciting announcement. Biology professor Vett Lloyd introduced the creation of the Mount Allison Lyme Research Network, which consists of 14 faculty members from various disciplines and nine students who have been awarded Independent Student Research Grants (ISRGs) for the upcoming summer. The purpose of the research network is to attempt to create solutions to a variety of challenges surrounding Lyme disease. Emma Bush, a fourth-year honours biology student and recipient of an ISRG, welcomed everyone to the event and introduced University Provost and Vice-President Jeff Ollerhead for opening remarks. On behalf of the university, Ollerhead expressed his appreciation to all in attendance, especially those with Lyme disease and their families who travelled to Mt. A specifically for the event. Bob Doucet, Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation (CanLyme) New Brunswick board member, expressed his gratitude and excitement about the work in progress at Mt. A. Much of the funding for these research projects
is being provided by CanLyme. Doucet noted that the multifaceted issues surrounding Lyme disease will require “critical thinkers and an engaged community.” As Doucet went on to explain, Lyme disease research needs to address “political,
philosophical, and commerce-based aspects” of the problem as opposed to solely biological approaches. These elements, he said, are things “the Lyme community needs.” The research projects being undertaken by students this summer include, among others, examining the effectiveness of tick repellents, researching Lyme disease in horses and creating a better means of online communication about Lyme disease. A short speech from Lloyd elaborated on her own experience with Lyme disease and how this
network of researchers has grown immensely. Lloyd said that through her own diagnosis and recovery from Lyme disease she noticed a significant “knowledge gap.” Both Lloyd and Doucet noted in their speeches that diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease in Canada is a long and arduous process, due to lack of knowledge in medicine but also financial, political and public advocacy concerns that are not being addressed. Lloyd then acknowledged and thanked her students, saying “it was students from my lab that helped me get to my appointments to receive the treatments I needed.” Lloyd said that when she began her Lyme disease research at Mt. A after her recovery, “it was somewhat of a side project.” However, Mt. A has since become a major Lyme disease research centre in Canada. Lloyd outlined three important aspects of the new research network. Firstly, “the quality of expertise [of the faculty involved] is top notch” and the students bring a great deal of “energy, passion and commitment” to their respective projects. Secondly, Lloyd highlighted the importance of the project’s interdisciplinarity and noted that there will be contributions not only from the biology and chemistry departments, but also from areas like philosophy, commerce and religious studies. Lastly, Lloyd noted
that this research will be “ethical and patient driven,” emphasizing that first and foremost this research aims to make advancements for patients in the Lyme disease community. To conclude, Lloyd thanked the members of the audience with Lyme disease for their trust in the faculty and student researchers. Once again, Bush spoke to the audience and thanked them for their
presence. This portion of the event was followed by refreshments and tours of the biology labs in which the tick-based research is being conducted. This gave members of the public a chance to see samples of ticks and to converse with students who are involved in the research process – an eventful start to Mt. A’s Lyme Research Network.
COMMON TICKS OF THE NORTHEAST. LOUIS SOBOL/SUBMITTED
06
CENTREFOLD
The final batch of gairdners – the last 20 fine arts students to have worked in the old Gairdner building – pay homage to the history of the fine arts program in this year’s graduation show at the Owens gallery. While the well-used Gairdner studios were quickly forgotten following the opening of the state-of-the-art Purdy Crawford Centre for the Arts, the space continues to resonate with many of the graduating artists three years after the departmental move. The show, entitled The Last Gairdners, explores the interplay between place and identity in a gallery space that remains uncluttered and inviting despite the quantity and variety of work on display. You can hear the show before you see it – an audio mix of song birds, traffic and train horns – intertwined with the rhythm of a heartbeat. The task of locating the varied origins of these sounds is temporarily forgotten as you sidestep scattered circular photos that have spilled from Savannah Harris’s photo collage located halfway up the stairs to the upper gallery. For a moment, the euphony of sound creates an appropriate backdrop to the assemblage’s allusion to the entangled interplay of nature and human intervention. The relationship of influence shared between individuals and the spaces they occupy feels omnipresent in The Last Gairdners. While the displayed work varies substantively in form and concept, the artists are united by a shared experience of place. From the ecology of the marsh to the relationships fostered in town, life in Sackville has both altered and been shaped by the work of these grads. Fine arts professor and fourth-year coordinator Adriana Kuiper worked with the Owens gallery director Gemey Kelly and preparator Roxie Ibbitson to lay out the show. Kuiper said while the diverse scope of work posed a challenge, “it’s not that hard to put together a show when you’ve got a lot of good work.” Kuiper, who taught most of the graduates in their first studio course in the Gairdner building, said it has been exciting to see the artists’ work develop during their time in Sackville. “A lot of the work is about people’s experiences,” said Kuiper. “I think that’s what people tend to make work about when they’re in school.” Kuiper emphasized that the work on display is only a small portion of the what the graduating artists have been working on this year. “It’s just one viewpoint of a much larger body of work,” she said. Alexandra Louwagie built upon her personal experiences and relationships in Sackville to create “This, The Way Nothing Stays,” a series of communicative gestures that expose the subjective internalization of individual experience. Louwagie used Christmas lights to install the last three lines of a love poem around Sackville – the documentation of which can be seen in the show. The lights now exist as a beacon in the lobby of the Owens, reminiscent of the shortwave radio towers that once surrounded Sackville, and transmit a recording of Louwagie’s heartbeat to a radio in the gallery space above.
MAY 11, 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
“For me, place is much more about the people you know and what you do in a time in a place,” Louwagie said. “I reference this in my work by pointing to specific things about a place – so the love poem is about the space between two people, but then putting those words out into the place that I’ve inhabited for this time.” The show includes a range of work that focuses on changing notions of self and identity; Some question gender and beauty norms, while others speak to the impact that relationships have on one’s understanding of self. For Shauna Gass, the distorted memory of a relationship ending is showcased in “Parting Ways (a café in New York),” which consists of two embroidered portraits – one of Gass left slightly unfinished, the other a frayed depiction of an indiscernible partner. Through the use of humour, a series of oil paintings by Madison Bragg, “Now You See Me,” and a large-scale drawing by Izzy Francolini, “Venus,” bring attention to the body as a site of inquiry and conflict. Bragg’s paintings situate food in relation to the body to wittily address questions of sexuality and desirability, while Francolini distorts normalized conceptions of beauty in a depiction of the goddess of love and fertility. The show’s exploration of identity continues with the inclusion of self-portraiture, once a requirement for all graduating fine arts students, in Melissa Brunet’s empowering “Two Pieces of a Self Portrait” and Emily Outerbridge’s drawings of her teeth, “Self
THE LAST GAIRDNERS
FINE ARTS GRADUATING CLASS FINAL SHO TOP ROW, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: HAILEY GUZIK, ANDREA WILSON, JENNIFER FRAIL BOTTOM ROW, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: JEFF MANN, SYDNEY EMBURY, EMMA HASSENCAHL & ROBERT MCDERMOTT BACKDROP: BEN MORTON PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY JEFF MANN
SYLVAN HAMBURGER | THE ARGOSY | WWW.ARGOSY.CA
Portraiture,” which confront long-held insecurities concerning appearance. Likewise, Ben Morton incorporates himself into the mythical animation “Glimpse,” in which an obscured Morton appears in a variety of costumes and colourful scenes. Akin to Morton’s work, the show’s other animation, “In Chrysalis,” is autobiographical in nature. Its creator, Nelligan Letourneau, uses the persona of an injured butterfly confined to its bedroom to describe her experience with the immobility associated with breaking her foot as well as feeling trapped in a small town. In this way, the metamorphosis of the butterfly, from cocoon to flight, acts as a timely metaphor for graduation. “I think that being trapped in my bedroom was kind of equivalent to being trapped in Sackville – a small enclosed space, like a safe place that is really comforting but at the same time a place that you need to get out of to experience things,” Letourneau said. “I’m ready to leave Sackville at this point, so it’s the perfect time for me to have stumbled across this body of work.” Other work in The Last Gairdners plays with the practice of documenting everyday life. Sydney Embury addresses obsession in relation to the aforementioned feeling of confinement in “End of Season 22,” in which the creation of a knitted collage reflects time spent watching TV and listening to audiobooks. Likewise, in the 100 drawings that make up “Studies,” Kevin Melanson subtly challenges the prescribed values placed on commonly overlooked everyday objects through humorously distorting them. Naomi Millier’s “cultivating chaos” and Andrea Wilson’s “Propagation” stand out as ruptures in the orderly layout of the gallery space. While Millier’s collaged drawings of bodies and plants are reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” Wilson’s felted microorganisms provoke a disturbed satisfaction as they spread from the far corner of gallery. A substantial portion of the work in the show references
CENTREFOLD
07
specific places that have impacted the associated artists. For Alexander Schoeffner and Jen Frail, memory is the focus in their investigation of site-specific experiences. Schoeffner’s paintings, “The Golden Palace, Ottawa” and “The Finer Diner, New York,” attempt to evoke emotions associated with landmarks, or in this case restaurants. Frail uses sculpture to visualize her memories of a playful childhood – a series of swing seats stand motionless while the frames from which the seats hang complete an “around the world” maneuver. Hailey Guzik’s installation “Crossing” ensures viewer participation through the use of sensors. The work uses an assortment of objects, including canvas, a projector and a fan, to reference the train crossing on the outskirts of town where Sackville meets the marsh. With the approach of each new viewer, the depictions of grass and wind become disrupted by the arrival of a train. The work of both Robert McDermott and Jack Kinnie speaks to specific landmarks that they have encountered during their time at Mount Allison. McDermott’s photographs of decaying New Brunswick structures, “On the Edge of Fading Away” and “I Can’t Help But Remember What Was Left Behind,” speak to the societal changes and the associated disappearance of heritage that he witnesses while driving around the Maritimes. Meanwhile, Kinnie highlights a local hidden favourite with the sculpture “²quarry,” a half-destroyed and weathered piñata that hangs on a rusted chain from the gallery ceiling – perhaps the remnants of a bygone party in the old excavation pit turned watering hole. With the amount of work in The Last Gairners, visitors will surely need a moment to sit down, take a break and contemplate. Jeff Mann’s “Park Bench” not only offers weary art patrons a view of the entire show while they rest their legs, but is equipped with bucket speakers that amplify sounds reminiscent of Waterfowl Park. As the sound of a semi-truck on the highway transitions into the honking of a goose, the unsuspecting sitters are challenged to question their ingenuous perceptions of the natural world. The official opening of The Last Gairdners takes place on Saturday, May 13 at 3:30 p.m. Longstanding printmaking technician Dan Steeves will supply the opening remarks, speaking to the graduates’ place in the rich history of the department. Following this, graduating student Emma Hassencahl will complete a dance performance in her regalia. The performance is associated with her work “Amalhocossawiye (She colours fancily),” a video piece that incorporates audio of her Maliseet grandparents recounting the colonial ban on Indigenous culture and the reclamation of their traditions. Hassencahl said that when she came to Mt. A four years ago, most people were not aware of issues facing Indigenous communities. “They didn’t know about the sacrifices that Indigenous people have to make on a daily basis and I couldn’t get past the feeling of culture shock,” she said. “I choreographed [the dance] so that it would tell a story or suggest a transition of healing to empowerment.” While many of the graduates have already started to move away from this small town on the marsh, The Last Gairdners will stay on display at the Owens until June 25.
MOVE ONWARDS
OWCASE ON DISPLAY AT THE OWENS PIECES PICTURED IN ADDITION TO THOSE MENTIONED CAN BE SEEN ON DISPLAY AT THE OWENS GALLERY UNTIL JUNE 25. OFFICIAL OPENING ON MAY 13, WITH OPENING REMARKS AND PERFORMANCE.
08 ARTS & CULTURE
MAY 11, 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
FASHION
First Sackville, then the world: Vintage shop Little Cat’s Bazaar hits the road
LITTLE CAT’S BAZAAR SHOP OWNER ANAHID CHUJUNIAN (RIGHT) AND BUSINESS PARTNER KATHARYN STEVENSON (LEFT). RYAN MACRAE/SUBMITTED
REBECCA BUTLER Contributor Described by shop-owner Anahid Chujunian as “a tiny safe space chock full of carefully selected new and used clothing and accessories,” Little Cat’s Bazaar has been filling the wardrobes of Sackvillians with stylish vintage and pre-worn threads for a few years now. But this summer, Little Cat’s is packing up shop and hitting the road. I sat down with Chujunian and her current business partner Katharyn Stevenson to hear more about what’s in store this summer for the homegrown business. Rebecca Butler: What are your plans for the summer?
Anahid Chujunian: “I needed to find a way to keep Little Cat’s going without having a storefront, so I suggested to Katharyn that we try taking Little Cat’s to festivals and markets.” Katharyn Stevenson: “After some planning we decided it was possible, so we made a schedule. But we’re kind of in an ongoing process of planning as we go.” AC: “Ultimately, it’s super sweet because we’re both very interested in attending music festivals and travelling.” KS: “And we’re able to reconnect with people that used to live here in Sackville but have moved away. So it’s nice to have an excuse to travel and
see your friends, and also be able to hang out at a musical festival and be in that atmosphere.” RB: What’s your experience on the road been like so far? KS: “We just started a couple weeks ago, and it’s going pretty great so far.” AC: “So far we’ve been to Fredericton, where we went to Flourish Festival and had a pop-up shop at a store called Modern General. And then we went to Saint John, where we did Quality Block Festival, which was put on
throughout the ECMAs.” AC: “In Sackville, it really is a lot of the same people that shop at Little Cat’s, so it’s been really exciting for me to have a broader and new customer base.” KS: “It’s really cool to see how many people are actually interested in seeing what the store does, but have never really gotten the chance to get to Sackville.” AC: “Also, it’s much more exciting. We know what we need to do and
“SO MANY GOOD THINGS START IN
SACKVILLE BECAUSE YOU HAVE SUCH A
SUPPORTIVE BASE
AND SUCH A STRONG COMMUNITY”
what our job is, but we never really know what will happen until we’re all set up. It’s been going super well so far, so we’re in good spirits and we’re happy about how it’s going. I think it’s only going to get better as we work through everything.” RB: Where do you see the shop a year from now? Five years from now? AC: “The short answer: I have no idea. I want to open up a much larger storefront, where I can be open all year round. I’m still not sure what next year holds for me, or whether or not I’ll still be in Sackville. But I’m happy that I built Little Cat’s in Sackville because Sackville is a community that has allowed me to develop this shop through trial and error in a safe space. And I’ve learned so much. Where else could you open a small business, and learn so much with so much support? Sackville has very much been the best place for me to start.” KS: “Wherever Anahid goes, I think the support of Sackville will follow her. So many good things start in Sackville because you have such a supportive base and such a strong community, and people will really rally around you if you want to make something happen for yourself. Whether I’m still involved a year, or however many years from now, I think all of us here in Sackville will be supportive of Little Cat’s wherever Anahid ends up.” Their next adventure sees Chujunian and Stevenson travelling to Charlottetown for the P.E.I. Thriftspotting Pop-Up Flea Market on May 20. But you can catch Little Cat’s Bazaar this weekend in Sackville at a pop-up shop at Thunder & Lightning. For more information and for inquiries about shipping any items that may catch your eye online, check out Little Cat’s Bazaar on Instagram and Facebook at @littlecatsbazaar.
FOOD
Unsettling the table: Working for food ALEX LEPIANKA Contributor
As it will be for many other students, my graduation from university has been followed by part-time work in food service. As part of this transition, new ways of working will replace studious labouring, a change that will involve new requirements imposed by law rather than classroom authorities. In confronting occupational safety codes and, for me in particular, food safety regulations, day-to-day tasks become shaped according to liability issues and the dictates of the law. Like study, food work is allowed to be creative and passionate only once certain requirements are met, but beyond the regulated world of work and study lie more freeing ways of
working for and with others. Undeniably, artisanship and love can inform how we serve food for others, but this artisanship survives at the outskirts of the food industry—in small, local businesses that blur the line between employment and the pursuit of passion. Between these outlets of love and the indifferent, industrial food-service machine (which comprises everything from Sysco to Aramark to McDonald’s), public health regulations bridge a great distance, but in doing so assume an equality of work across the foodservice industry. In other words, these regulations treat small, cooperative projects between growers, chefs, servers and entrepreneurs as equal (in motivation and content) with the work being done across massive
chains. But, with this assumption comes the risk of losing sight of the important differences between the possibility of nourishing out of love and passion, for and with others, and the reality of an impersonal system of industrial-scale food production. The alternative to the strictures of food safety regulations is not, however, a sick dystopia where rats and microorganisms make regular dining-fellows. In spite of our deep concerns, our present regulatory culture is unable to prevent regular outbreak; A dystopian reality is not our future, but our present. Regularly, we mistake disease and putrefaction as calls for tighter, more severe regulation when in fact these instances ought to serve as reminders that public health is too often
secondary to industrial interests. Food made out of love is nourishment and comes with a responsibility not only for the health of others, but also for our collective wellbeing. To mistake industry-wide outbreaks of foodborne illness for regulatory failure is to lose sight of the deep commitment smallscale producers often hold to their communities and ecosystems. The narratives that we tell about food safety often dull the sense of interdependence that arises from relying on the good trust of others for livelihood. Our relationship to food service is impoverished if we are unable to think about responsibility and safety without immediately reverting to law and regulation. The prospect of an unregulated
environment is fearful because we currently depend on law to reign in the destructive negligence of industrialscale food operations. By holding on to this fear, we lose sight of another possible world where regulation would be altogether unnecessary – where food and food-work would involve reciprocal relationships of care between neighbours, friends and co-citizens. Of course, rethinking serving and nourishing others is not just a day-dream of seasonal parttimers like myself, but a worthwhile project for all of us who partake in the world of work. Unsettling the Table is a column dedicated to exploring the intersections of food, justice and social life.
ARTS & CULTURE
THE ARGOSY | WWW.ARGOSY.CA
STUDENT PUBLISHING
09
7 Mondays: A labour of levy and loooove Since 1995, Mt. A-founded journal showcases student photography, prose and poetry
MALLORY BURNSIDE-HOLMES Contributor 7 Mondays is the only journal in Canada of its kind currently in production. Student edited and funded, the annual journal contains the writings and photographs of Mount Allison students. For many, 7 Mondays is the first place aspiring writers and photographers get to see their work printed. This weekend celebrates the launch of 7 Mondays’ 23rd volume. Flaunting a beige cover and the original logo, the first issue of 7 Mondays came to campus in 1995. The endeavor was initiated by Anna Greenwood and Judy Halebsky. One of the editors, Elin Elgaard, was “wife of then poet, Mt. A English professor and longtime head of the English department, Michael Thorpe,” wrote fine arts professor Thaddeus Holownia in an e-mail to the Argosy. Holownia has been instrumental
memory spell #11: on driving Karissa LaRocque 7 Mondays, 2015 issue
your hands on the steering wheel like his were; with less knuckle and more straying to knock out a melody on the top of my thigh I realised you could never drive a full circle I realised we already moved along the same fixed circuit equidistant, but fearful fuck odes to that summer evening– a failure to get at you, to move past the suggestion of intoxicated parabola and I didn’t mean to rest my head on your shoulder for so long (a trick in my bag of affections) I just meant for you to feel the weight in the journal’s production since 1996 and continues to fulfill the role of photography editor and production manager. “That year [1996] the editors were Laurel Douma, Anna Greenwood, Judy Halebsky, Mark Purdon and Andy Taillon. [The journal was] printed in an edition of 300 copies with the support of the Students’ Administrative Council and the Sackville Film Society,” Holownia wrote The journal began to print student photography in its third year of production. “500 copies were published and the funds came from the Marjorie Young Bell Fund, the Crake Foundation, the Sackville Film Society, the President’s Office, the SAC and the English department,”
Holownia wrote, emphasizing the community support that sustained the journal in its early years. By the time the sixth issue was published, the journal was fully funded by students through a levy that remains in place today. Karissa LaRocque, who graduated from Mt. A in 2015, was the journal’s editor in chief in 2014 – the year of the journal’s “infamous referendum disaster,” as LaRocque described it. With a lack of student support for the levy, the journal was suddenly confronted with the possibility of going out of print. In an e-mail to the Argosy, LaRocque wrote, “while it was frustrating to deal with some of the negative opinions about why students shouldn’t support the fee levy for the journal, it was nice in the end to not only pass the levy, but to also help MASU realise they needed to amend some of the contradictory language in their bylaws on referenda.” LaRocque is referring to inconsistent MASU policy regarding requirements for passing referenda. MASU operational procedures, according to Mt. A alumnus Daniel Marcotte, stated that “referenda only need to achieve a simple majority of 50 per cent plus one to pass, unless they are constitutional changes, in which case they require a twothirds majority.” In comparison, the constitution, which has primacy over procedural bylaws, only stated that “a two-thirds majority is required for referenda to be ‘deemed binding.’” In 2014, the motion failed to pass based on Constitutional referenda requirements despite achieving the simple majority vote. In previous years the referendum had been passed based on the procedural bylaw of simple majority. In a second vote, conducted after many discussions and phone calls with lawyers, the referendum passed with 12 counselors in favour and two opposed. LaRocque is currently completing her masters in English at Concordia,
in an email to the Argosy. “My time spent working on 7 Mondays helped me to step outside of my departmental bubble. Most of the editors were from disciplines
Elocutioner Milo Hicks
7 Mondays, 2016 issue They assume their stations over-armed and under-dressed swallowing hard syllables by the handful forging them into bullets that roll off the tongue past gallowed teeth and guillotine lips their associations still attached raining terror on bodies and politics alike even the Incorruptible shot his mouth off when betrayed by subjects and predicates loaded verbs wielded to lethal ends by executioners who summarize without ceremony the lives of others yet history forgives eloquently those who survive. other than English. Working closely with the fine arts department through Thaddeus made the journal feel like a truly collaborative effort,” Hicks wrote. Hicks spent three years on the 7 Mondays editorial team, her last as co-editor in chief with Emily Crompton (’16). “That year [2015-2016] we managed to do a lot of outreach into
the community. Along with a writing group that met weekly, we worked with Marilyn Lerch, Sackville’s poet laureate, for National Poetry Month. Myself and some of the other editors were able to go into the local schools to chat to students about poetry and writing,” Hicks wrote. Currently completing a master’s in English at McGill University, Hicks is researching embodied consciousness in modernist and contemporary experimental short fiction. She plans to pursue a PhD in the United States in 2018. The weekly writing group Hicks referred to was initially established by then creative writing and English theory professor Geordie Miller who has since passed the baton to 7 Mondays. During the school year, the Egg Timer Writing Club meets once a week at Thunder & Lightning Ltd. to explore creative writing using a plethora of short timed prompts ranging from “write only words that start with ‘T’” to taking a crack at a six-minute sonnet. Countless students have submitted their works to 7 Mondays over the years, but not all are selected for the journal. The editorial team reads and critically discusses every anonymously submitted poem and short fiction piece. A piece of writing needs a unanimous vote of approval in order to be accepted. Holownia independently selects photography submissions. Norman Nehmetallah (’15) had multiple poems published in 7 Mondays during his time as a student at Mt. A. “I liked having some poems published in 7 Mondays. My neighbour, Maria, even framed one,” Nehmetallah wrote in an e-mail to
the Argosy. He currently works as the digital and production manager at Coach House Books in Toronto. Fine arts student Kevin Melanson (’17) has had writing and photography featured in multiple issues of 7 Mondays. “I think it’s a great journal, and even though some of the things that are put in it aren’t really my cup of tea I think it’s good for students to be able to be in a professional (and juried) journal,” Melanson wrote. Melanson is graduating this
crescent Milo Hicks
7 Mondays, 2015 issue Today, I thought I heard the train go by. But when I looked There was only a small boy And a large organ Brawling discordantly. weekend with a major in fine arts and plans to pursue an arts career based out of Sackville. Like any small, independent journal, 7 Mondays has had to overcome many obstacles on top of the hard work and critical thought that its annual production necessitates. But to be certain, there is no feeling like holding the finished product you helped create in your hands or seeing your work in its pages. 7 Mondays now prints 1000 copies per year and you can pick up your very own copy of this year’s 23rd edition inside the Ralph Pickard library
Wing Biddlebaum Emily Crompton 7 Mondays, 2016 issue
I have sometimes dreamed of endless horizons but I have never seen the sea; I can only imagine it like the brine, like sauerkraut and salted pork. So tell me then about the way the ocean moves against the shore–– and I will tell you how, in my glass, my trembling hands beat out the waves. works with the Committee for Equity and Visibility in Academia and a certain slumbering Canadian journal planning a comeback. The continuation of 7 Mondays provided LaRocque’s successor Milo Hicks (’16) the opportunity to experience “one of the most rewarding parts of my time at Mt. A,” she wrote
STUDENT IMMERSES SELF IN ONE-OF-A-KIND STUDENT JOURNAL 7 MONDAYS. ANDREAS FOBES/SUBMITTED
10 SPORTS
MAY 11, 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Mounties success brings nationals to Sackville After successfully hosting the ACAA playoffs, Mount Allison and Sackville are ready for nationals players. In the 2014-15 season, head coach Matt Gamblin led the team to the national tournament hosted that year across the country at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, B.C. Erin Steeves, a third-year biology major and small forward, was a part of that team and went to nationals in her rookie year. “[We had] eight or nine first years that year, so obviously [it was] a new team,” she said. “I didn’t expect for us to [go to nationals] just being such a new team.” The Mounties shocked St. Thomas University in the 2015 conference semi-finals and secured a spot at nationals, squeaking out a narrow win against a team they had lost to all year.
IN HER THIRD YEAR AT MOUNT ALLISON, FREDERICTON’S OWN SARAH MCGEACHY WAS NAMED A FIRST TEAM ALL-ACAA ALLSTAR. PAUL LYNCH/MOUNT ALLISON ATHLETICS
DAVID TAPLIN Contributor This past March, Mount Allison hosted the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) basketball playoffs, pushing the MacCormack Gymnasium to capacity with hundreds of fans taking in the action throughout the weekend. The success of the tournament was not limited to attendance, as both the men’s and women’s teams showcased the growth they have undergone in recent years. The women’s team fell to a more experienced Mount Saint Vincent Mystics team in the semi-finals, while the men’s team qualified for nationals
by reaching the final, where they lost to Holland College. While no banners were raised, the results confirmed that both teams are indeed among the elite of Atlantic Canada.
“EVERYONE IS ON THE SAME PAGE AND KNOWS WHAT OUR GOALS ARE” “I think in the past three years we have really developed a good team atmosphere and a culture that
everyone has bought into. Everyone is on the same page and knows what our goals are, and we are all working hard to reach those goals together,” third-year guard and biology major Sarah McGeachy said. Following the success of the conference playoff both on and off the court, it was announced that Mt. A will soon be taking its turn at hosting a national tournament. The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) women’s nationals will be coming to Sackville in 2018. The Mounties will receive an automatic bid to the tournament, but this will not be the first experience at nationals for many of the team’s
“THE ATMOSPHERE OF...SUCH A HIGH LEVEL OF BASKETBALL I REALLY THINK BROUGHT THE TEAM TOGETHER” The team entered that national tournament as the eighth seed, going up against the top teams in the country. They posted a 0-3 record, but held their heads high with respectable results. “It was a really great experience. The atmosphere of...such a high level of basketball I really think brought the team
together,” Steeves said. Since that tournament the team has continued to grow, becoming a top team in their conference. New additions such as second-year forward and CCAA All-Canadian Kiersten Mangold and this year’s ACAA rookie of the year Jill Harris are indicative of the program’s continued growth. “It’s awesome for us to have girls that can come in and make an impact in the league right away. It allows [us] to continue moving forward without taking any steps backward,” McGeachy said. For the Mounties, the automatic bid to nationals won’t be a distraction from their regular season. “Our goal has always been to bring back a banner,” Steeves said. “I think if we focus on our final goal of us winning our championship, we can really prove that we deserve to be at nationals.” With three still remaining from the team that went to Nanaimo and a roster full of players who have experience with the consistently high level of play that is expected at tournaments, the team looks set to not only host nationals, but be a strong force as well. “Going into nationals with a more experienced team, one that’s grown over the years, will definitely benefit us,” Steeves said. The championship will be held from March 14-17, 2018 in Sackville. For the players who travelled to Nanaimo, the tournament will be a bittersweet end to their university careers. “I can’t wait for next year, [to be] able to finish out my university career with my friends and family there to watch,” McGeachy said.
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OPINIONS 11
MAY 11, 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
ACADIENTÉ
Cul-de-sac dans la ville de sac: From dead end to discovery
On rediscovering, understanding and embracing Acadian identity
THE ARGOSY w w w. a r g o s y. c a
Independent Student Newspaper of Mount Allison University Thursday, May 11, 2017 volume 147 issue 1 Circulation 1,000 Since 1872
on Unceded Mi’kmaq Land 62 York Street W. McCain Student Centre Mount Allison University Sackville, New Brunswick E4L 1H3
XAVIER GOULD Contributor I came to Mount Allison in order to escape the confinements of my Acadian culture. I had grown to resent the Acadian flag, anthems and everything in-between. I thought that by rejecting my language and my upbringing, I would find something better at this English university. Five years later, who knew that in attempting to sedate my very culture, I would find something better: a deep pride, developing understanding and never-ending curiosity for l’Acadie. If I were to do it all over again, there are three things I would do differently to avoid pain, rejection and alienation. So listen up Acadians, because here are three things I learned on how to be a kick-ass Acadian in an English town. One, during your time here, do not turn your Acadienté into a joke. Of course, your close friends, if they are lucky, will visit your home town where your mom will force them to speak words they’ve never spoken. You’ll have a few laughs over it. Embrace that. This isn’t a joke, it’s a type of sharing, and it feels incredible. It’s something special, and you shouldn’t have to share it with everyone. If you find yourself stumbling on your words in a tutorial or in front of a group, your first thought might be to break into the standard “Awh, I’m Acadian,” but don’t. In those situations, ask yourself if making others feel good
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TALKING TO OTHERS IS ESSENTIAL FOR UNDERSTANDING ACADIAN HISTORY AND CULTURE. LOUIS SOBOL/SUBMITTED at the expense of you feeling less awkward is minimizing your culture or not. If so, I challenge you to change that. Instead of making a joke, feel that discomfort, embrace it, find the words you’re looking for and move on. Two, there are so many books on l’Acadie. Pick one up. Honestly, just pick up anything Acadien and read it. We might learn about the deportation growing up, but that is not enough. Understanding the beginnings of our culture is as important as understanding the genocidal parts of it. Read up on treaties, stories, legends and most importantly, talk to people. Acadian people. Mi’kmaq people. English people. People who played a role in the very foundation of our rebel culture. The people that were, for the most part, written out of our textbooks. Ask them questions
and learn from them. Three, there aren’t many of us here in la ville de sac, so you’ll often find yourself in situations where you are the spokesperson for l’Acadie. I know that’s daunting, especially when you’re still learning yourself, but don’t panic and don’t be afraid to speak up. Keep in mind though that
“MOST IMPORTANTLY, TALK TO PEOPLE...ASK THEM QUESTIONS AND LEARN FROM THEM” sharing a few pictures of le quinzou des fous might not be wrong, but is not enough. We have such a rich history, and Sackville is part of it, so speak up!
In speaking up, though, you’ll find people with different perspectives on our history. Listen to them, but never let them silence you. Five years later, the burning maris stella in my heart drives me to further research, love and stand up for my Acadie. I am so grateful that despite my efforts, I was not able to sedate this part of my life, and I hope you don’t either. For the future Acadien(ne) s who walk the rainy streets of Sackville, you need to know that you don’t have to wait until the end of your degree, or wait for someone to accuse our culture of being phony, or wait for someone to say our ancestors were traitors to speak up. Don’t wait, because you might end up mourning the person you could have been at this school. Halle ta frame, ouvre un livre, pis baille-y ca!
EDITORIAL staff EDITORS IN CHIEF | Adrian Kiva, Mirelle Naud
PUBLICATION board Leslie Kern, Owen Griffiths
CONTRIBUTORS Will Balser, Mallory Burnside-Holmes, Rebecca Butler, Emily Crompton, Mark Cruz, Andreas Fobes, Xavier Gould, Sylvan Hamburger, Savannah Harris, Milo Hicks, Karissa LaRocque, Alex Lepianka, Ryan MacRae, Percy Miller, Shannon Power, Katherine Reiss, Louis Sobol, Cecilia Stuart, David Taplin, Will Traves, Catherine Turnbull COVER | Ben Morton
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,
East Coast Kitchen Party 9 p.m./Jennings Dining Hall $10 students/$22 general (incl. in grad bracelet)
SATURDAY, MAY 13 The history of music at Mt. A 11 a.m.-12 p.m./ Brunton Auditorium Little Cat’s Bazaar pop-up shop 12-8 p.m./Thunder & Lightning Ltd.
FRIDAY, MAY 12 Tunnel tours 4 p.m. and 5 p.m./University chapel Transfiguration Day/Kurtis Eugene/ Blue Lobelia 9 p.m./ Thunder & Lightning Ltd. $8/PWYC
Allisonians at War dramatic reading 1:30-2:30 p.m./Motyer-Fancy Theatre Maudie (film) 2 p.m./Vogue Cinema (also May 14) Mt. A trivia 3-4:30 p.m./The Pond
Fine arts graduating students’ exhibition opening reception 4 p.m./Owens Art Gallery Cactus Flower/Fake Buildings/ Building Confidence Through Play 10 p.m./Thunder & Lightning Ltd. $8/PWYC Garnet & Gold Gala 10:30 p.m./WMSC $10 (incl. in grad bracelet)
Tintamarre presents Refuge 4-5 p.m./Motyer-Fancy Theatre
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
Pre-baccalaureate dinner 5-6:45 p.m./Jennings Dining Hall $16/complimentary for grads
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
Baccalaureate service 7:30 p.m/Convocation Hall
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MONDAY, MAY 15
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
SUNDAY, MAY 14 Alumni Chapel Service 11 a.m./University chapel Grad brunch 11 a.m.-1 p.m./Jennings Dining Hall $10 (incl. in grad bracelet) Convocation weekend recital 2-3 p.m./Brunton Auditorium
Morning Convocation (Msc, Bsc, BComm) 9:30 a.m./Convocation Hall
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Afternoon Convocation (BA, BMus. BFA) 2:30 p.m./Convocation Hall
12 HUMOUR
THE COLLEGE DROPOUT
MAY 11, 2017 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
NEW MEDIA
CON WEEKEND
The prodigal son returns for his salutatorian speech
TRILL WAVES PICTURED: TWO GRADS READY TO TAKE ON CON WEEKEND!
CHAD CRUZ Graduate SUPPPPPP. WILL THE REAL CHAD CRUZ, PLEASE STAND UP. I’M GRADUATING WITH A MAJOR IN COMMERCE AND A DOUBLE MINOR IN BANGING CHICKS AND CHUGGING BEERS. HERE’S THE SKINNY BROTENDO: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO MAKE YOUR CONVOCATION TRULY FORTUITOUS. HA. ONE MORE TIME! 1. MILFS/DILFS EVERYWHERE: EVERYBODY IS OVER FORTY AND HORNY. IT’S LIKE FROSH WEEK ALL OVER AGAIN! 2 LISTEN TO GRADUATION ALL DAY LONG: BECAUSE NO OTHER ARTIST CAN RELATE TO YOUR UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE BETTER THAN MR. KANYE WEST HIMSELF. 3. GET DAY-DRUNK AT THE NEW CRANEWOOD: THEY WILL PUT BAILEYS IN YOUR COFFEE IF YOU ASK FOR A “VEGAN PIZZA ROLL.”
4. BRING A FLASK TO THE CONVOCATION HALL: YOU AREN’T CROSSING THAT STAGE WITHOUT YOUR OLD FRIEND JACK DANIEL. 5. SAY GOODBYE TO ALL YOUR BOYS FROM WINDSOR HALL: NO WAY YOU’LL ALL LOSE TOUCH! 6. SHART YOURSELF IN THE GRADUATION ROBES: PEEEE-YOOOOOO. 7. BAG-TAG CANADIAN TREASURE PETER MANSBRIDGE: DOORKNOB! HAHA FUCKING LOVED HIM IN ZOOTOPIA. 8. GET APPREHENDED BY E.S.S.: THEY STILL WON’T LET YOU IN THE POND WITHOUT A STUDENT ID, FUCKKKK. 10. STUMBLE BACK TO RESIDENCE: PEE ON ANY BUILDING BUT THE CHAPEL BECAUSE ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE YOU.
11. PASS OUT IN THE HALLWAY: NO RA’S MEANS NO FINES! THAT MUST BE HOW IT WORKS. 12. DISCOVER THAT BY ATTAINING A DEGREE AT MOUNT ALLISON, YOU ARE COMPLICIT IN THE SAME CAPITALIST FRAMEWORK THAT YOU SPENT FOUR YEARS CRITIQUING AND CONDEMNING. IN FACT, YOUR “CONSUMPTION” OF A POST -SECONDARY EDUCATION ONLY FURTHERS THE CLASSIST NOTION THAT UNIVERSITY (AND THE OPPURTUNITIES IT PROVIDES UNDER CAPITALISM) SHOULD ONLY BE AVAILABLE TO THOSE WHO CAN AFFORD IT. 13. WAKE UP, REALIZE YOU AREN’T EVEN GRADUATING: HA. VICTORY LAP BABY. 14. TRAVEL FOR A BIT MAN: PROBABLY GO TO THAILAND OR SOMETHING.
PARENTS’ CORNER RELATE TO THE KIDS BUZZWORDS - fammmmm - intersectional - lit - colonial - ting - refer to any place as a “space” - refer to any person as a “body”
CONVERSATION STARTERS
TRILL WAVES
To-do checklist Have dinner at the Marshlands Inn. Assure your son that you are “totally cool” if he brings a girl back to the residence room. Take a few out-of-focus pictures on your iPhone 4.
“I called it from the beginning: Clifford killed Jason Blossom. It was so obvious, considering the influence that Twin Peaks has on Riverdale. Oh yeah, I love Twin Peaks too.”
Get unreasonably defensive of your son’s English degree, assert that “it’s the best tool in getting accepted to med school these days!”
“DAMN. is probably Kendrick’s best album since Section 80. That beat change on ‘DNA’ is tooooo much, man.”
Send off a few work emails.
“By not divesting from fossil fuels, the adminstration is commiting violence against the student body at an institutional level!”
Scorn yourself for checking out your son’s friends.