The Argosy, November 3, Vol. 146, Iss. 9

NEWS

ARTS & CULTURE

SPORTS

OPINIONS

New mental health strategy at Mt. A (Pg. 3)

Rocky Horror remake underwhelms (Pg. 11)

Mental health and athletic success (Pg. 7)

Calling for more services and less stigma (Pg. 14)

Eating the crow since 1872

Mount Allison’s Independent Student Newspaper

COVER: NELLIGAN LETOURNEAU, BUTTERFLY KISS BYE, OIL AND ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2016.

November 3, 2016 Vol. 146, Iss. 9

02 NEWS

EDITOR: CATHERINE TURNBULL & NAOMI GOLDBERG | NOVEMBER 3, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

MENTAL HEALTH

Fifth annual Elephant in the Room speaker series hosted at Mt. A

Students voice their experiences fighting stigma around mental illness

STUDENTS SHOW THEIR SUPPORT BY LISTENING. ADRIAN KIVA/ARGOSY

HANNA LONGARD Contributor Last week the fifth annual Elephant in the Room united the university community around students’ shared mental health and illness experiences.

More than 120 people attended the event, which was organized by student-led group Change Your Mind.

Inspired by the Elephant in the Room Anti-Stigma Campaign created

by Mood Disorders Canada, Change Your Mind is passionate about giving students the opportunity to fight stigma and work towards community acceptance of those with mental illness. The event requests that the privacy of speakers be protected and thus minimal quotations are used in this article.

Five students told their stories.

Leo Gertler, a second-year English student, shared his thoughts about what it means to receive or seek mental health help. According to Gertler, access to mental health services is heavily influenced by class structures, and this plays out in the education system. He believes that in order to make services more accessible and less oppressive, people living with mental illnesses can form their own support structures among

themselves.

Bryaunna Williams, who is in her final year of psychology and sociology studies, discussed her history of borderline personality disorder, eating disorders and self-harm.

Williams’ words spoke to individuals who are seeking meaningful and beautiful life moments amidst the challenges of day-to-day mental illness.

Laura Penney, a third-year environmental science student, performed a monologue she wrote about schizophrenia. It exemplified the necessity of recognizing and respecting the humanity in others no matter what they are going through.

Penney explained that in dealing with the uncertainty of mental illness, love and other forms of support can help individuals live and grow despite these challenges.

Laura Medicoff, a fourth-year biology and psychology student, shared her experience of being in a psychiatric ward and discussed the harmful stigmas surrounding them. However, she said that through her experiences she “came to see [the psychiatric ward] as a bit of a reset button, where you can leave all your baggage at the door, whether it be work, school, or relationship problems, and just

CAROLINE KOVESI SHARES HER ELEPHANT. RYAN MACRAE/ARGOSY

LEO GERTLER SHARES HIS ELEPHANT. ADRIAN KIVA/ARGOSY focus on getting better.” Medicoff found the psychiatric ward to be a compassionate environment that supported and did not judge those with mental illness.

Caroline Kovesi, a fifth-year sociology student, outlined her experiences with anxiety,

“I HOPE THAT SOME OF WHAT I SHARE MIGHT RESONATE WITH YOU AND HELP VALIDATE YOUR EXPERIENCE ALONG WITH MINE.” perfectionism and depression.

Kovesi sought to reach out to fellow students. “I hope that some of what I share might resonate with you and help validate your experiences along

with mine,” she said.

Kovesi discussed the intertwining of these mental illnesses and how their daily manifestations differ from existing stereotypes of mental illness.

She said it is important to her that people living with mental illnesses find solidarity with each other and recognize the immense strength and resilience they have in facing mental illness every day.

The speakers’ stories ignited supportive community dialogue.

Third-year biochemistry and international relations student Shayla Baumeler said that “the diverse speakers at Elephant in the Room gave perspective of the [degree to which] mental illness affects our friends and family, and made everyone feel connected in some way.”

Rachel Sneddon, a third-year history student, said that Elephant in the Room was “a place where people with mental illness could open up and express how they felt, such as

STUDENT WATCHES FROM ABOVE. ADRIAN KIVA/ARGOSY

Penney’s honest visual representation of schizophrenia.”

After the closing words, the audience was invited to stay and share their thoughts of the event over refreshments. Some individuals took the opportunity to share their “elephant in the room” with others by way of a photo booth.

Elephant in the Room provided the opportunity for some students with mental illnesses to find solidarity through representation. For others, the event was an opportunity to support their peers and gain understanding. According to thirdyear economics student Johnny Skinner, “it was really thoughtprovoking and helped me understand that you never know what someone is going through.”

Disclaimer: Hanna Longard is a member of Change Your Mind and an organizer of the Elephamt in the Room event.

NEWS

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MENTAL HEALTH

03

New mental health strategy from Student Affairs

Mount Allison introduces new mental health initiatives on campus JILL MACINTYRE News Reporter Mount Allison’s department of Student Affairs has implemented a new mental health strategy. As a result, several new initiatives and services have been introduced to campus. These include the addition of a part-time psychiatrist, mental health first-aid training for more residence staff, the appointment of a new mental health educator and a new mental health website.

While the strategy is unique to Mt. A, it is based on a framework developed by the Canadian Association of College and University Student Service Providers (CACUSS) along with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA).

According to Anne Comfort, director of accessibility and student wellness at Mt. A, the aim of the strategy is to create “a systematic approach to addressing mental health and wellness on campus for all of the community.”

The new part-time psychiatrist will be available to students as of mid-November. Students with a referral can book an appointment through the Wellness Centre.

Psychiatrists generally provide more specialized care than counsellors or psychologists, especially for individuals with multiple mental illnesses and/or medications.

Melissa Baxter has been hired as the campus mental health educator.

Baxter has worked for seven years with the CMHA. Her role will be to promote positive mental health initiatives and awareness on campus through workshops, pet therapy and other events.

Baxter also wants to work with student groups to promote the destigmatization of mental illness on campus. “Stigma is still a significant barrier in accessing mental health services,” she said. “Awareness of available services can also be an issue – people can’t access services if they don’t know about

them.”

Students living with mental illness often face unique struggles that are not always addressed at an institutional level. Though there are pre-existing services in place, such as psychologists or advocates at the Meighen Centre, not all students know of or feel comfortable accessing these services due to social stigma.

Access to services is often

dependent on a concrete diagnosis.

This can be difficult for students from low-income backgrounds, as sessions with a clinical psychologist can be between $100 and $150 per hour. Under the MASU insurance

plan, students can access up to $1,000 for counselling services, raised from $600 in the 2015-16 academic year. Up to $750 is also allocated for taxi transportation to and from appointments. Even though psychologists are available here part-time, many students travel

to Moncton or elsewhere due to wait times or needing a specialized psychologist.

Caroline Kovesi, a fifth-year sociology student living with anxiety and perfectionism, believes that more could be done to support students living with mental illness.

Kovesi said that while many

professors have been accommodating of her needs, the structure of many courses should better reflect the reality that many students live with mental illness.

She stressed that some faculty members do not provide accommodations for mental illness.

“I have encountered significant

ableism and sanism over my time at university from professors. When you hear that from someone you look up to and are trying to learn from, it’s incredibly invalidating and has had a serious impact on how I think about myself,” Kovesi said.

Kovesi would also like to see extended hours for mental health services, full-time psychologists and support groups run by counsellors, in addition to the new initiatives.

Month-long wait times to access counsellors or psychologists, which has been the standard in the past, can pose a risk to students with immediate needs.

Kovesi believes that in addition to mental-health first aid, residence staff should also be trained in suicide crisis intervention.

Hanna Longard, a third-year biology student and executive member of Change Your Mind, said that we need to promote an open dialogue on campus about mental health and illness.

“I think in university a lot of things come to the surface,” Longard said. “It’s an environment where there are so many life changes and different pressures that can cause underlying mental health issues to arise or further isolate those already living with mental illness.”

Longard said that “Mt. A is good at creating mental health awareness,” but added that “historically, [it has] fallen short in the ability to meet demands for mental illness support.”

Though the new strategy and initiatives offer significant changes, it remains to be seen if the concerns and needs of students living with mental illness will be properly addressed.

ABOVE ILLUSTRATION: A PART-TIME PSYCHIATRIST WILL SOON BE AVAILABLE ON CAMPUS. HAILEY GUZIK/ARGOSY

IMMIGRATION

Requirements for immigration outlined in information session

University graduates well-suited to immigration programs LEO GERTLER News Reporter Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held an information session last Friday for international students interested in staying in Canada after graduation.

The session also included a speaker from the New Brunswick Provincial Nomination Program (NBPNP) and covered a variety of topics, from how to immigrate to Canada to the particulars of navigating that process.

“It was very helpful as it cleared some of my doubts,” wrote Saurabh Kulkarni in an email. Kulkarni, a third-year political science and sociology student from India, plans on immigrating to Canada post-

graduation. He wrote that the session “has cleared my thought process about which way to go, and about how I can make use of my experiences and education in order to immigrate faster.”

The presentation explained that university students are particularly well-suited to the new Express Entry programs offered by the government.

These programs accept applicants who will be working or have been working as skilled labourers in management, trades or professional careers. Each program requires 1,560 hours of work experience within one or two years, in addition to a formal language evaluation in English and/ or French.

International students can

have hours counted toward this requirement in certain circumstances, but only if they are full-time students.

International students are allowed to work 20 hours per week during the school year, and regular full-time hours during scheduled breaks, such as summer holidays. However, one cannot count hours worked during the school year toward the Express Entry programs’ work experience requirement.

Kulkarni, who worked full-time last summer, was satisfied overall with the straightforwardness of these requirements. “However, I feel international students who have studied at a university in Canada should be exempt from English or French testing requirements,” he

wrote. “Four years in Canada are enough to learn either or both of those languages.”

Kavana Wa Kilele, a women’s and gender studies student from Kenya, was less optimistic about the requirements. Though she does not currently have any plans to immigrate, she feels there is a lack of support for foreigners living in Canada.

“The culture is welcoming, yes, but the structures that exist are isolating.

You have to be able to actually live here, you have to be able to get a job,” Wa Kilele said. “When I was looking for a job it was like I was told ‘just figure it out yourself!’”

Wa Kilele also described difficulties obtaining a social insurance number, which is necessary for employment

in Canada, due to a printing error on her student visa.

“All the criteria I have to meet to be allowed to stay in-country are taxing. I don’t think they’re making it easy for me to stay here,” she said.

International students like Wa Kilele pay double the tuition of Canadian students, which can make having a source of income imperative to maintaining their legal status in Canada.

Regardless of these barriers, students like Kulkarni are excited about immigrating to Canada. “I am proud to say that I have two homes, and that I am patriotic about both Canada and India. I look forward to being a Canadian citizen and a productive member of the society.”

04

NEWS

NOVEMBER 3, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

MENTAL HEALTH

Student-led mental health groups aim to break down stigma KAVANA WA KILELE News Reporter Because finding a balance between schoolwork, employment and extracurricular activities can put a strain on students’ mental health, three student-led groups are doing their best to help. ACID, Change Your Mind and Jack.org create spaces for students to listen and talk about their respective experiences with mental health.

ACID is the Association of Chronically Ill and Disabled Students. It works to represent those students at Mt. A and make the campus more accessible.

Although ACID does not focus primarily on mental health, it does work to ensure that students with both physical and mental health issues are included in policy making, said Olivia Aurait, president and cofounder of ACID. Recently, ACID worked to include harassment against disabled students in university policy.

“For us it is much more about making sure people are included in policies,” Aurait said. “If you are

going through a depressive episode, that should be treated in the same way as a flare-up of a physical illness.”

Aurait said ACID tries to address the disparity in the treatment of students who experience different illnesses. “That is really what we focus on: making sure that people are treated the same if they have a chronic illness, whether that is mental or physical,” she said.

ACID also advocates for improved services at Mt. A. “A lot of these things do go hand-in-hand. If you are physically disabled you are much more likely to have some kind of mental illness,” Aurait said.

Change Your Mind is a group whose mission is to transform the Mt. A campus into a welcoming space where community members can talk openly about mental health.

They hope to facilitate discussions on the importance of mental health and what can be done to better address it at Mt. A. “I see it as a student-led youth empowerment group on campus that relates to mental illness and stigma relating to that,” fourth-year student

This Week at MASU council DELANEY LOSIER Contributor

THE VOGUE CINEMA

Council voted in favour of the motion that the Mount Allison Students’ Union deduct $500 from the surplus and deliver the money to the Vogue Theatre’s fundraising commitments. Councillors stressed the importance of continued student support for the Vogue Theatre to ensure that it does not close and that student money has gone to a sustainable cause.

RENOVATIONS TO THE POND

MASU President Ryan Lebreton spoke about preliminary discussions held on the drafting of a proposal for renovations to the Pond. This project will extend over the next few months and will be guided by student consultation. The proposal will include full renovation figures and will circulate to a variety of stakeholders in order to ask for funding.

YEARBOOK

All the pages of the 2016 Allisonian Yearbook have been approved and sent to print. Copies will be arriving by mid-November.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Presently, the collective bargaining process between Mt. A faculty and administration is at a standstill until the Provincial Conciliator releases his report. Once this is released, it will be passed on to the Minister of Labour, who will make a decision on how the province would like to move forward.

Acting Provost Jeff Ollerhead and Mary Emma MacNeil, MASU vice-president academic, are looking into the possibility of meeting with both negotiation parties.

WELLNESS WEEK

MASU VP Student Life Anthony Maddalena and MASU Health Services Coordinator Tierza Petersenhave planned a Wellness Week from Nov. 21 to 25. The MASU is currently waiting on confirmation of partnership with the Wellness Center.

ENERGY EAST PIPELINE

Students from Mt. A’s environmental activism class GENV 4101 gave a presentation to MASU Council on their campaign against the construction of the Energy East pipeline, requesting that Council endorse their campaign.

The group is opposed to the pipeline’s construction due to the numerous environmental threats it poses and the Indigenous Treaty rights it violates. The Students’ Administrative Council suggested that the students speak with Policy, Research, and Archiving Officer Lily Falk to create a specific policy regarding environmental sustainability. The group has also created a survey for students to answer regarding the pipeline.

Jenna Speichts said.

Change Your Mind hosts a variety of events throughout the year. Last week, they hosted Elephant in the Room, a speaker series on mental health.

Change Your Mind offers dog therapy during the exam period.

While students wait to see the dogs, they can relax in a stress-free zone where they can make stress balls and colour.

They also offer a peer support group. “In terms of getting help, that is how my journey started,” fourthyear student Bryaunna Williams said.

“If I didn’t go to support group in third year, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

Jack.org is a national network of students and young leaders that works to eradicate stigma and educate people about mental health. “We are really focused on educating people on what mental health is and how they can nurture it. That is what Jack. org is all about,” fourth-year student Shaelyn Sampson said.

Jack.org’s Mt. A chapter hosts an event every month. Last week, they

put on event called Spooky Stigma.

They had people talk to them about stigma, Sampson said, because they noticed that although people knew stigma was bad, they did not know how it functions.

“That is what we tried to educate people on...they can take the fiveminute conversation that they had with us and hopefully learned something from, make the domino effect and translate that to somebody

else,” Sampson said.

Some other events that Jack.org plans to host include a stress-free carnvial, a Giving Tuesday event, a paint night and perhaps a coffee house that will be co-hosted by Change Your Mind.

“We still have leaps and bounds to go before we can really fill the gap that is accessible mental health services to students,” Sampson said.

PUPPY LOVE. ADRIAN KIVA/ARGOSY

GOVERNANCE

Interim Provost Ollerhead likely to be appointed for two-year term Ollerhead lists Indigenous knowing as a priority NAOMI GOLDBERG News Editor Interim Provost and Vice-President Academic and Research (Provost) Jeff Ollerhead has applied to permanently fill Mount Allison’s provost position.

According to the position profile, the provost “is responsible for the effective planning and management of the academic affairs of the university.” The provost is also expected to develop, maintain and support “teaching and research excellence, quality academic services and an environment conducive to effective learning and personal growth for both students and faculty.”

Former Provost Karen Grant went on medical leave last year, after which she resigned from her position.

Grant was the provost during the collective bargaining negotiations in 2014. During this time, the faculty council voted 60-1 in support of a motion of non-confidence in Grant and University President Robert Campbell.

After Grant’s departure, Campbell appointed Ollerhead as an immediate replacement while the search for a new Provost took place. Ollerhead has 10 years of experience as dean of science and was a professor in the geography and environment department.

Because Campbell’s term as president will end at the end of the 2017-18 school year, Campbell and the selection committee he assembled decided not to put out an external call for applications. Campbell said it would be difficult to find an external provost if the incumbent didn’t know who their boss, the president, would

be for most of their term.

Considering the unusual circumstances, the incumbent will only hold the position for two years, from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2019, whereas the provost usually serves a four-year term.

Campbell put out a call for internal applications to fill the provost position on Oct. 3. Ollerhead was the only applicant.

On Tuesday, a public meeting was held at which Ollerhead presented his priorities as provost to the university community. Members of the selection committee and of the Mt. A community were then invited to ask him questions.

Ollerhead said Indigenous knowing would be one of his priorities. “As the provost, I take some personal responsibility for thinking about how to guide and move that agenda along,’’ he said. ‘’I see it as my responsibility to take the year of Indigenous knowing and make it into the decade of Indigenous knowing.’’

Ollerhead said there are many ways of doing this, starting with hiring Indigenous staff and faculty, ‘’decolonizing’’ our existing curriculum and implementing new courses.

When asked about his position on fossil fuel divestment, Ollerhead said, ‘’I support the goal [of environmental sustainability], [but] I don’t know that I support the mechanism.’’

Divest organizers said they do not believe it is possible to Indigenize the university without divesting.

Ollerhead listed supporting experiential learning, maintaining the viability of academic programs

and diversifying faculty as other priorities.

When asked by a community member why he wanted the job, Ollerhead said, “It’s not that I don’t want the job...but it’s not the job I was seeking. But I’m willing to do it.’’

Brad Walters, a geography professor, asked Ollerhead about his leadership style and its accompanying strengths and weaknesses. “My biggest strength is that I’m not wedded to any particular solution,’’ he said. “I’m more interested in outcomes and less interested in how I get there. That does sometimes get me into trouble.’’

He went on to talk about consultation. “I have a strength around consultation, and I have a weakness around losing patience with consultation,’’ he said.

According to MASU VicePresident Academic Mary Emma MacNeil, who sits on the selection committee, the committee will practise Mt. A’s standard hiring procedure. This typically includes a one-on-one interview with the candidate, a public forum like the one held on Tuesday and a debriefing after the forum. “The evaluation process is quite confidential for the protection of the candidate,” MacNeil said.

Campbell said Ollerhead will be evaluated in terms of the priorities he presented at the public meeting, as well as on “the committee’s understanding of the complexities of the position, the burdens of work, the context of things.’’

Campbell said the selection committee has not discussed Indigenous knowing in any of their meetings.

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GOVERNANCE

Students concerned about lack of diversity in university administration

Positions are male-dominated and predominantly white EHSAN NOORI Contributor Some students have expressed concerns about the lack of diversity in Mount Allison’s governing body.

The administration continues to be male-dominated and there is no racial diversity within the senior administration, making it difficult for some students to connect with them or for the administration to fully understand the needs of all students.

Shannon Power, an organizer of Divest MTA, stressed the importance of having diverse perspectives in decision-making bodies. “I feel like [the administration’s] focus on financial interests and not on the lived experiences of marginalized peoples comes from a lack of diversity,” Power said.

Divest MTA has been lobbying the university’s governing body for three years to take Mt. A’s investments out of the fossil fuel industry.

“I honestly feel like members of the administration come from such privileged backgrounds that either they don’t understand the gravity of what is happening to people as a result of climate change and our complicity in not stopping it, or they simply don’t care,” Power said.

Multicultural Organization and Social Arena for International Cooperation (MOSAIC) member Saniya Korhalkar said that “the lack

of diversity in the administration is often an overlooked issue” that needs to be addressed. She added that she would feel more connected to the administration and its decision-making procedures if the administration were more diverse in race and gender.

Adam Christie, director of student life at Mt. A, said that the student population has become increasingly diverse in various ways over the past two decades. He said that, given its size and location, Mt. A has done well in attracting students from other provinces and from abroad in recent years.

Christie pointed out that currently about 30 to 35 per cent of students come from outside of Atlantic Canada and nearly 10 per cent are international. He said that “for a small university in a small town, we do a good job on the diversity front.”

Christie added that diversity of all sorts is as important within the staff and faculty, as it is within the student body.

“The more we can work toward achieving that, the more we are reflective of today’s reality and of our student population,” he said.

The university does not keep statistics about the diversity of its staff or faculty. Human Resources Consultant Katherine DeverePettigrew said that Mt. A is not a federally regulated institution and

does not need to keep such statistics.

“We are not required to keep self-identifying data in regards to employees, nor do we ask applicants to identify themselves in the application process,” she said.

Devere-Pettigrew explained that staffing at Mt. A happens without favouritism or discrimination. She said that staffing processes almost always involve search committees, which she said “tend to be diverse.”

Devere-Pettigrew said that “a lot of diversity is not necessarily apparent” and not always easy to recognize, adding that knowing the staff on a personal level makes one recognize the various forms of diversity better. “[I have worked] here for over nine years and I know people who have worked here and speak different languages, have different disabilities or come from different cultures, and not all of those things can be pointed to by an observer as diverse criterion,” she said.

She added that there are no specific measures in the hiring processes in regard to the diversity of staff.

Devere-Pettigrew said that search committees often hire the most qualified candidates, regardless of the applicants’ backgrounds.

This Week at Faculty Council NADIYA SAFONOVA Politics Reporter

Mount Allison’s faculty council advises the University Senate on policies related to terms of admission, requirements for degrees and authorization of degrees, along with any policies within the responsibilities of the President and the Board of Regents. This council is comprised of all professors teaching one full course (or two half-courses), professional librarians, directors and instructors of physical recreation and athletics, and senior administration members of the university. The chair of faculty council is the University President Robert Campbell. The following summary is from the Oct. 27, 2016 faculty council meeting.

POSSIBLE CHANGES TO THE ACADEMIC COMPUTING COMMITTEE

There has been a proposal to make changes to the academic computing committee, which oversees every aspect of academic computing related to teaching, research and creative activity. This is part of a longer process of the committee’s restructuring, which will eventually be taken up by Senate. Right now, however, it is only in the discussion phase. Since the creation of Computing Services – Mt. A’s resource for help with technical issues ranging from campus printers to student email accounts – the committee no longer serves administrative purposes, which may cause problems for faculty.

Different faculty members require different software, and some believe that the academic computing committee needs to have a greater administrative role to reflect the needs of faculty members.

05

This Week in New Brunswick CATHERINE TURNBULL AND NAOMI GOLDBERG News Editors

OLAND RE-ACQUIRES PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE

The New Brunswick Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial for the conviction of Dennis Oland in the second-degree murder of his father, Richard Oland.

Richard Oland was found dead in his room on July 7, 2011. The jury had originally found Dennis Oland guilty, but he has now re-acquired the presumption of innocence. The appeal panel said that the trial judge had wrongly instructed the jury regarding a key piece of evidence. Oland was released on bail on Oct. 25. A $50,000 surety was required, which was paid by Oland’s uncle. According to the CBC, the Crown could decide not to retry Oland if there is no longer a reasonable prospect of conviction. If Oland is tried a second time, his case will likely be heard by both a judge and a jury again.

CANAPORT LNG’S 90 PER CENT TAX BREAK CANCELLED

The Gallant government announced that they will be cancelling the 2005 tax deal that gave Canaport LNG, which is owned by Irving Oil Ltd., a 90-per cent discount on its property tax. The tax break, which was supposed to last until 2030, will be repealed, effective next year. According to the CBC, Irving Oil currently pays $500,000 in taxes on the Canaport parcel, whereas the property’s assessed value is $299.4 million. Without the discount, Irving Oil would pay over $8 million per year in property taxes. It is still uncertain whether or not Irving will appeal its change in tax assessment. In the meantime, the new revenue will be held in a trust account. Once the process is finalized, the revenue will be given to Saint John and other entitled local governments.

RESIDENTS ASKED TO FOREGO CLOWN COSTUMES

Memramcook posted a notice on Facebook recommending that residents not dress up as clowns on Halloween night due to recent incidents. In September and October, individuals dressed as clowns have been spotted all over the Maritimes, particularly in Nova Scotia. The incidents appear to be part of a larger trend already existing in the United States, where individuals dressed as clowns have been scaring children and pedestrians. In Nova Scotia, police, the government and teachers have been working together to put an end to the incidents. Schools in New Brunswick’s francophone districts asked children to avoid wearing clown costumes to school on Halloween day. Canadian Tire removed clown costumes from their shelves all across Canada.

FIRE AT IRVING OIL REFINERY UNDER INVESTIGATION

At 1 a.m. on Sunday morning, one of the larger towers at Irving Oil’s refinery in St. John caught fire. Emergency responders joined the refinery’s fire brigade to extinguish the flames and were on the scene for seven hours. Officials say that Irving Oil will proceed with an investigation into the cause of the fire. Kevin Comeau, platoon chief at the refinery, said it is believed that the incident was caused accidentally by a worker. None were injured.

NEW BRUNSWICKERS APPOINTED TO FEDERAL SENATE

Among nine new senators appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, two are from New Brunswick. Under the Trudeau government, the process to appoint senators is now nonpartisan. Nancy Hartling, one of the New Brunswickers appointed, will be sitting as an independent. Hartling ran a support centre for single parents in Moncton for 34 years before retiring. René Cormier has experience in the Acadian and Canadian theatre communities and is the current president of the Societé Nationale de l’Acadie. Both senators applied, were vetted by an independent committee and were ultimately selected by the prime minister.

RESTRUCTURING OF THE GRADUATE STUDIES COMMITTEE

The composition of the graduate studies committee (GSC) is under review in an attempt to disentangle policy-making from administrative responsibilities. Currently, the committee is mandated to make policies, not to do administrative work. In the last three years, however, the GSC has not presented any new policies to Senate, and the academic calendar has not been updated. In April 2016, a previous external review was conducted on the GSC, and it was suggested that the committee be replaced with a graduate program committee and a graduate operations committee. The departments found this suggestion to be onerous, so the goal is now to keep and restructure the GSC. This process is still under discussion and will eventually be brought to Senate.

DISCUSSION OF COURSE WITHDRAWAL WITHOUT PENALTY

Currently, under regulation 10.4.3 of the current academic calendar, students who wish to withdraw from a course after the cut-off date must submit an application to an academic dean for approval. Over time, the deans have seen an increase in the number of these requests. There is no official statistic, but the estimate presented at council showed an increase from half a dozen withdrawal requests per term to “dozens and dozens.” The majority of these withdrawal applications are due to health issues, personal issues and other general circumstances that are currently not being properly assessed by the University. As Vice-President Student and International Affairs Kim Meade said, “most of the cases that come to my attention for late withdrawals have been for serious mental health reasons.” Currently, academic deans are being asked to decide whether the responsibility to preside over such matters is appropriate, considering many deans’ minimal expertise in making decisions regarding students’ mental health.

Council discussed the possibility of moving the course withdrawal deadline to a date much later in the term, such as the last day of classes or the first day of exams – this is still up for discussion. In this model, there would still be an add-drop period of two weeks at the beginning of the semester. Students would have until the end of the semester to withdraw

...continued fom Left from a course and a “W” would appear on their transcript, but they would not be penalized academically. This model would allow students to decide whether or not they can complete a course rather than having to present personal issues, such as those related to students’ mental health, to a dean in order to withdraw. present personal issues, such as that of mental health, to a dean.

06 SPORTS & HEALTH

EDITOR: DAVID TAPLIN NOVEMBER 3, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

BADMINTON

MENTAL HEALTH

Mounties seeking national recognition

It takes a whole village to raise a healthy mind

Not a backyard sport HAMZA MUNAWAR Sports Reporter

the team to beat. “I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish this year as a team,” Scott said. “Our team [has] a lot of depth that other teams in the league struggle with.”

Scott said that “the most notable growth in the program has been the team-building.” This is important, as badminton has not only a team component, but an individual component as well. “[The] expectation is to win the conference again this year, for the ninth year in a row, and send as many players [as possible] forward to nationals,” Morrissey said.

The Mounties are currently ranked fourth in the country. “The team at Mt. A is quite strong, as the results can show,” Morrissey said.

At the annual Canadian Nationals, Canadian players are not the only ones showcasing their talents.

Nationals has expanded its horizons to include exchange students who have played at the international level from countries such as China, South Korea and Japan. These countries are badminton powerhouses and have been producing the world’s top players for years. The fact that

Mount Allison’s smallest varsity team has been nearly unstoppable in the Atlantic league for almost a decade.

This year, the badminton team looks to build upon their continued dominance at the national level.

Team captain Jaryd Morrissey said many people do not see badminton as a serious sport. “The sport generally has the reputation [of] a backyard game played at the cottage,” he said.

The team’s season kicks off on Friday. They have retained several key players from last year’s championship season. Leading the Mounties are captains Olivia Adams and Morrissey, both hoping to continue as top players in the league. “Badminton at Mt. A has been very strong within our league for the last eight years and we’ve built a reputation for it,” Morrissey said.

The team has no players graduating this year, which is typical for a rebuilding team, not one making another championship run. Head coach Steve Scott said that everyone in the league sees the Mounties as

Canadian players can compete with these players speaks to the high level of caliber at Canadian colleges and universities.

Once the Atlantic championship has been played, Mt. A’s team is set on sending the top player in each category (singles, doubles and mixed) to represent the league at the national level.

This can divide a team, as only eight players will be sent to nationals.

Athletes have to compete not only against league players, but against their own teammates.

The Mounties have a team-first mindset. “The team has a great family atmosphere,” Adams said.

By now, winning in Atlantic Canada may be old hat for the badminton team. However, the Mounties have not won hardware at the national level since 2014, when the team brought home the bronze medal in mixed doubles. Additional morning practices have been added to their training schedule with the hope of achieving high results at nationals.

“We’re going for much more than just the Atlantics,” Adams said.

SNAPSHOT OF THE WEEK

Basketball season tips off

Proactivity required to support the rise in mental illness across Canada RILEY HIGDON Contributor

Every year as September rolls around, students from across Canada prepare for another year of school. For many, this involves moving away from the comfort and security of home and toward many new stressors.

The unfamiliarity of student life, a demanding academic workload and new social environments can loom over us all. As a result of all these stresses, undergraduate students have been identified as the highest-risk group for mental illness, according to Maclean’s.

The number of university students diagnosed with mental illness has been steadily increasing. Approximately 25 per cent of students experience mental health problems, with the most frequent diagnoses including stress, anxiety and depression.

Suicide rates on university campuses are also on the rise. A recent study by the Globe and Mail that surveyed 30,000 post-secondary students from across Canada indicated that approximately 9.5 per cent of university students in Canada have seriously considered taking their own lives.

With issues of mental health more prominent now than ever, various universities have sought to provide more resources for their students.

Schools are recruiting mental health professionals and incorporating their services into on-campus health centres. Different training program services are provided to staff and faculty members at many Canadian campuses.

These programs seek to equip university employees with the necessary skills to deal with emergency situations and identify at-risk individuals with whom they might be in contact on a daily basis.

The implementation of these programs creates a support system

available for all students in need of mental health care and demonstrates a collaborative, campus-wide effort.

At Mt. A, private and confidential counseling services are provided between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Evening after-hours clinics will be available soon. A psychiatrist, who will be joining the mental health team later in November, can be visited with a physician’s referral and will be covered under a provincial medical card.

On campus, certain university

“UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFED AS THE HIGHEST-RISK GOUP FOR MENTAL ILLNESS.” staff and faculty members have been trained to make up a support group known as the Student of Concern Case Team (SOCCT). They have been established as a resource for individuals to anonymously identify students who they consider potentially at-risk due to mental illness.

For students interested in being educated on mental health support on campus, mental health first aid training is available through the Mt. A disability advisor, Matthew Kalichuk.

Positive mental health cannot be built by a medical clinic alone.

Community support, education and working to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness are crucial in influencing and encouraging the wellbeing of healthy minds.

Working together to combat mental illness contributes to the creation of healthier and more functional communities.

MT. A’S MEN’S TEAM EARNED ITS FIRST VICTORY OF THE SEASON OVER ST. THOMAS. THE WOMEN LOST BY ONE HEARTBREAKING POINT TO THE TOMMIES. SAM THOMSON/ARGOSY

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL MEN’S BASKETBALL ST. THOMAS (A) 62 - MTA (H) 61

ACAA

UNBSJ St. Thomas Holland MSVU UKing’s College Mount Allison Crandall

GP 1 1 0 0 0 1 1

W 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

ST. THOMAS (A) 75 - MTA (H) 85

L 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

PTS 2 2 0 0 0 0 0

ACAA

MSVU Mount Allison Crandall Holland UKing’s College UNBSJ St. Thomas DAL AC

GP 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1

W 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

L 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1

STFX(A) 7 - MTA (H) 1 MTA(A) 2 - UPEI (H) 4

PTS 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0

FOOTBALL MTA (A) 17 - STFX (H) 65 ACADIA (A) 10 - SMU (H) 3

AUS

W

L OTL PTS

St. Thomas 5 Saint Mary’s 5 UPEI 4 StFX 3 Moncton 2 Dalhousie 1 Mount Allison 1

AUS

StFX Mount Allison Acadia Saint Mary’s

0 0 2 3 2 4 5

GP 8 8 8 8

1 1 0 0 2 1 0

W 7 3 2 2

15 15 10 9 7 4 3

L 1 5 6 6

PTS 12 6 4 2

SPORTS & HEALTH

THE ARGOSY | WWW.ARGOSY.CA

MENTAL HEALTH

Letting go of the ideal student

07

Culture of perfectionism places added stress on mental health

DELANIE KHAN-DOBSON Contributor There is immense pressure at Mount Allison to be a perfect student. This ‘perfect’ student is someone with top marks and a vibrant social life, who is involved in extracurricular activities and is physically active – all seemingly without having a mental breakdown.

This school year, for the first time ever, I am not involved in any extracurricular activities. To some, this could be seen as damaging, especially in my final year at Mt. A. However, upon unburdening myself

of the activities I was involved in to seem like a perfect student on paper, my mental health has never been better. Still, I can’t help but wonder: Will this be detrimental to my image once I graduate?

Is the pressure to be perfect specific to Mt. A? Emilie Yammine, a fourth-year honours student in chemistry, believes Mt. A’s culture of perfectionism is rooted in the university’s small size. This can make it seem as though everyone is acquainted with one another – even though they may not be – which in turn makes Mt. A appear more competitive than it is.

From my own experience, these pressures increase an unhealthy tendency of comparing my every action to those of others. Online, it can be especially hard to ignore. On Instagram, for example, it seems like everyone has it together. The fear of missing out on the weekend, combined with a constant flow of assignments, essays and reports, makes it seem as though students need to push themselves to their

breaking point to fully participate in university life.

“It’s less of a pressure and more of an expectation. It’s just expected that you’re going to go out Friday and Saturday night and then go to library at 10 a.m. and spend the day at the library to get a good GPA,” said Rebecca Butler, a third-year international relations student.

At times, students’ obsession to be perfect can have a lot to do with appealing to future employers.

Activities that seem to benefit future success can take priority over creative outlets that can help improve mental well-being. Personally, I stopped going to the gym because I couldn’t justify the lost studying time. Butler decided not to be part of the improv team this year to focus on being involved in things that could benefit her on paper when applying to grad schools, even though being in the improv team often made her happy.

Maggie McGraw, a fourth-year sociology student and president of the Mt. A Rose Campaign, spoke about the pressure to be involved with

extracurriculars. “[It’s like] being stuck between a rock and a hard place, as you want to be able to have free time to do what you like but you also can’t have nothing on your resume.”

Interviewing people for this article made me reinforce the very habit I am writing about: comparing myself to others, wishing I was more involved and feeling like a failure because I am not.

The correlation between perfection and profitability

is something that is unsettling to me. It appears that there is immense pressure on students to make choices that will benefit their future employment or entrance into grad school. This is a good reminder that as students, we cannot take this too seriously.

Personal growth and participation in activities that do not benefit future employment are essential to making students discover who they want to be, outside the realm of monetary value.

MENTAL HEALTH

Tackling mental health Expectations of mental toughness conflict with mental wellbeing DAVID TAPLIN Sports and Health Editor From long bus rides to early-morning practices and everything in between, a student athlete has a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it.

“There are nights when you get back from a travel game at one in the morning and you haven’t finished assignments that are due the next day,” said fourth-year student Matthew Poole, former Mounties soccer player.

In between all the assignments and game scores, an athlete’s mental health is often ignored. Fourth-year swimmer Laurel White believes that although mental illness can show physical symptoms, they largely go unnoticed. As a result, athletes are pushed to perform despite issues they may have with their mental state. The idea that “it’s not a big deal [and] you can still swim the race” is prominent for many athletes, White said.

Issues of mental illness come in stark contrast to ideas of mental ‘toughness’ that are perpetuated through athletics. As former football player John Bulman said, “Coach always stressed the importance of mental toughness, being able to overcome and grow in flexibility to deal with situations that aren’t expected.”

For some, this idea of mental strength can stigmatize those facing problems with mental health.

Athletes who speak out about any struggles they are going through

could risk having their mental state and ability to perform questioned.

The expectation to exhibit mental toughness can take a toll. “It’s almost like you live two lives. You have the player and you have the player off the field,” said fourth-year football player Jesse Myers. “Even when you’re not mentally tough, you don’t show it.”

“I was one of few guys on the team who was open about [mental illness] when I played. I heard people call me

“NOTHING IS EVER GOOD ENOUGH...YOU KIND OF JUST BRUSH IT OFF” crazy, refer to me as the odd guy out,” said Bulman.

In contrast to popular belief, mental illness and mental toughness are not mutually exclusive. “People need to realize that [having] depression, anxiety, PTSD or some other kind of mental disability is completely separate from being mentally tough.

You can have three mental disabilities and be mentally tough on the soccer field and you can have none and not be mentally tough on the field,” Poole said.

Athletes are constantly striving for perfection and seeking the impossible. This need to be perfect comes at a cost. “Nothing is ever good enough,” Myers said. He added that this takes a toll on him, but “you kind

of just brush it off.”

With high expectations both on the field and in the classroom, there is little time in athletes’ schedules to deal with mental illness. White has seen her peers struggle with such issues. “It gets to the point that it’s taking up so much headspace [that] you combust.”

White expressed frustration with the process that students go through to access professional counselling at Mt. A. “I don’t want to go through three people to talk about my problems – nobody listens and [everyone] just refers you to someone else,” White said.

This process is made even more difficult for students and athletes who have to match up limited availability for services at the wellness centre with an already busy schedule. “They are available if you go through that process, to get to that person. But sometimes people fade out [through that process],” White said.

On the topic of a possible solution, White discussed the opportunity for a service that is free of referrals and allows athletes to sign up for times that fit with their schedule. This system already exists, with much success, to provide physical support to athletes through physiotherapy. “I think it would be worth the cost,” she said.

YOU CAN’T DO EVERYTHING. IZZY FRANCOLINI/ARGOSY

Interested in writing on sports?

Passionate about health and wellness?

WE ARE LOOKING FOR CONTRIBUTORS ENGAGE CRITICALLY WITH ATHLETICS, NUTRITION, CAMPUS RESOURCES, HEALTH AND WELLNESS AND MORE! EMAIL ARGOSY@MTA.CA WITH YOUR NAME AND CONTACT INFORMATION FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT HOW TO GET INVOLVED!

08

ARTIST PROFILE SHAUNA GASS Fourth-year fine arts student Mental illness is something I often address in my work. My approach is more therapeutic – I like to represent phrases that I repeat to myself or methods that I use to cope with anxiety and depression. “Relax, Breathe, You’re Okay” was a bracelet that I made for myself last year when my symptoms started to worsen.

It really helped to have this reminder with me at all times. It’s so easy to forget to take care of yourself when you are living in chaos. Most of my work concentrating on mental health is done through prints and patchwork. I choose these methods because they are small and intimate; I’m able to make multiples of the same images so that I can reach out to more people. It’s important for me to make art that makes me feel good, and I’m hoping it does the same for others.

ABOVE: “PILL PATCHES,” EMBROIDERY THREAD AND FELT, 2016.

RIGHT: “RELAX,” SILKSCREEN, 2016.

SHAUNA GASS/CONTRIBUTOR

09

10 ARTS & CULTURE

EDITORS: MIRELLE NAUD MALLORY BURNSIDE-HOLMES NOVEMBER 3, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

ARTS AND CRAFTS

Felting frenzy at the Owens

MAKER MAKER leads community felting workshop

MAKER MAKER PARTICIPANTS TRY THEIR HANDS AT FELTING. SAVANNAH MILEEN HARRIS/ARGOSY

MARISSA CRUZ Arts and Culture Reporter The Owens Art Gallery’s MAKER MAKER workshop series continued with a tutorial on patch felting run by artist Kaeli Cook on Wednesday, Oct. 26. These two-hour-long workshops occur once every month, with the aim to explore handmade practice in an approachable setting.

Upon arrival, what initially seemed to be an ambitious number of tables and seats were set up in the gallery.

But the room filled quickly, and

eventually there weren’t enough places for all attendees.

Lucy MacDonald, curator of education and community outreach at the Owens, emphasized that these workshops are short in order to be unintimidating and accessible to a variety of people.

“They are projects that you can do in two hours or less – that is our saying,” MacDonald said. She added that another goal of the workshops is to expose people to the handmade in different ways. “We hope to show [attendees] a variety of ways of

working,” she said.

MAKER MAKER highlights the value of handmade goods and makes them accessible to the Sackville community. In our postindustrial culture, handmade goods are increasingly popular. This resistance to mass production values craftsmanship and process as much as the final product. This is a refreshing and wholesome idea that contrasts the immediacy of commercially produced goods.

Home to many artists who specialize in handmade practices,

Sackville provides community members with the rare privilege of learning from artists in intimate workshop settings. “The knowledge in making we have in our community is pretty incredible,” she said.

Primarily a potter, Cook also practises other handmade crafts like sewing, knitting (according to MacDonald, she makes the best socks) and felting.

MacDonald said that Cook could lead several workshops because of her vast experience in handmade crafts.

Cook has created official mugs for

the Town of Sackville and opened her pottery studio for viewing during Art Across the Marsh. If you haven’t actually met Cook, you might have had coffee from one of her mugs at the Black Duck.

For some time now, Cook has been using textiles through felting, a method she incorporated into her practice because it was something she could do while relaxing. “It’s nice to do at the end of a long day,” Cook said, calling it an excellent activity to help students unwind and de-stress.

At the Owens, the repetitive action of felting soothed the attendees who sat at my table. Needles punctured coloured wool scraps, binding them to patches that would soon become a works of art. The sound of the needles passing in and out of Styrofoam filled the gallery with comforting white noise.

The fun, portable and playful workshops attract a large number of people who vary in age and experience. November’s workshop will focus on the creation of pompoms. Be sure to get there early to reserve a seat.

BIOLOGY

Sackville’s little sacs of pathogens Professor Vett Lloyd speaks on ticks and the spread of Lyme disease EMMA BUSH Contributor Mount Allison houses the largest tick bank in North America, which is in large part due to biology professor Vett Lloyd’s work in Lyme disease research.

On Wednesday, Oct. 26, Lloyd discussed her research and its importance in a public presentation called “Tick Talk,” which addressed the topics of ticks and tick-borne diseases. Lloyd paid special attention to the topic of Lyme disease, on which her research is focused.

“The worst things that we had to worry about [in local Health and Safety committees] 20 years ago were pigeons. Now it’s ticks, because of the diseases that they transmit,” Lloyd said.

The number of people who encounter ticks has been increasing yearly, which has led to a subsequent increase in the number of Lyme disease cases both in New Brunswick and internationally.

“In North America, infections [of Lyme disease] are six times more frequent than infections of HIV,”

Lloyd said. “That’s a lot!”

One of the difficulties in addressing the rise in Lyme disease is that the current testing processes are limited and frequently fail to diagnose patients appropriately.

An inflammatory disease, Lyme can lead to arthritis, neurological and cardiac disorders. It is spread by a corkscrew-shaped bacteria known as Borrelia burgdorferi. The unique shape distinguishes them from other bacteria, since “they can corkscrew or drill through the solid tissue of your body unlike normal passive bacteria,” Lloyd said.

The drilling capabilities, enabled by their unique shape, explain why the Lyme bacteria affect joints in particular.

Since the Borrelia bacteria love eating lipids and fats, Lyme disease can cause neurological damage due to the depletion of those nutrients in the brain.

“They will crawl up nerve tracts to the central nervous system,” Lloyd said. “Then they will make their way up to the brain.”

Lloyd stressed that ticks are full of bacteria and described them as “bags

of pathogens” and “walking sewers.”

Ticks spread the bacteria when they attach to skin.

“They shove their forked mouthbits into you, but they squirt out a local anesthetic while doing it so that you don’t feel it,” Lloyd said.

“They only like the solids in the blood though, so they spit the watery parts of the blood back into the body cavity, along with the bacteria that they had in their bodies...You are the tick’s lunch and toilet.”

Not only is Mt. A’s tick bank the largest in North America, it is also the only one available to academic researchers in Canada. The bank, funded in part by the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, contains several thousand ticks. Though most come from the Maritimes, some ticks in the bank originate from Europe, South America, and across Canada. The bank was started in 2012.

The bank allows for the collection of information on the DNA, proteins and collection sites of these ticks. All of this information is used in Lloyd’s lab.

People from New Brunswick, P.E.I., and surrounding provinces

send Lloyd ticks they have found on themselves or on their pets to be tested and identified. Free of charge, this testing both advances research and enables people to know with more certainty if they should be worried about contracting Lyme

disease from their tick bites.

Lloyd’s current research projects look at Lyme disease in dogs, cats, humans and wildlife reservoirs.

Next year, she hopes to expand her research to Lyme disease in horses as well.

TICK TOPS UP ON BLOOD AND BACTERIA. JEFF MANN/ARGOSY

ARTS & CULTURE

THE ARGOSY | WWW.ARGOSY.CA

FILM

Let’s not do the Time Warp again

11

Humdrum riffraff replaces thrilling theatricals in Rock Horror remake

ROCKY REMAKE LACKS ICONIC RED LIP SCENE. SAVANNAH MILEEN HARRIS/ARGOSY

WILL PELLETIER Arts and Culture Reporter If you haven’t seen it yet, the remake of the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show might have you shivering in antici…pation. The tribute, however, directed by Kenny Ortega (High School Musical), has received generally negative reviews since its Oct. 20 debut, and I can’t blame the critics.

While the producers used an almost identical script, the film (unnecessarily titled The Rocky

Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do The Time Warp Again) still felt utterly lacklustre. While the individual acting performances were generally acceptable, the thrilling songs that made the original such a hit were disappointing in the remake.

Two of the original film’s most iconic songs, “Time Warp” and “Sweet Transvestite,” were completely sapped of energy in the tribute. Gone were the exciting, daring falsettos from the original “Time Warp.” The sickening costumes, awful setting, and overcomplicated dancing were

all misguided deviations from the Jim Sharman-directed original.

One of Ortega’s more interesting choices was to cast Laverne Cox as Dr. Frank-N-Furter. While her performance was magnificent at times – for example, during the schmaltzy finale – often it was simply underwhelming. Lazy cinematography and an odd use of props severely stunted Cox’s rendition of “Sweet Transvestite,” particularly her boring entrance by way of an outof-place hydraulic crane lift. She was more an imitation than an innovation of Tim Curry’s portrayal of FrankN-Furter, despite having a lot of flexibility to shape her character.

Another problem with the film: It wasn’t live. Unlike other network reproductions, like Grease Live!, this new Rocky Horror Picture Show was pre-taped. An intrusive faux-audience cried out callbacks and performed fan rituals (throwing rice/toast/hot dogs in response to certain lines, wearing newsprint as a rain hat) on behalf of the real audience. This contradicted the traditional real-time authenticity of Rocky Horror, a major reason for

the show’s continued success. The false excitement is not only confusing to Rocky Horror “virgins,” but also soul-crushing for old-timers.

Part of the allure of Grease: Live! was the cast’s ability to consistently offer quality performances throughout every song and bit of dialogue. It even went on to win five primetime Emmy awards – a level of prestige I doubt this new Rocky Horror will achieve.

So, if it wasn’t live, and had minimal script changes, why did Fox produce this movie in the first place? The long black pauses between scenes – meant for advertisements – suggest: money.

Although there were several glaringly apparent problems with the production, it still had a few positive aspects. Adam Lambert’s rendition of “Hot Patootie Bless My Soul” was fantastic, and arguably better than the original. Reeve Carney’s portrayal of Riff-Raff wasn’t always perfect, but it was undoubtedly interesting and fun to watch. Ortega somehow managed to keep the running time shorter than the original.

Sal Piro, president of The Rocky Horror Picture Show Fan Club since

1977, was cast in a minor credited role – the wedding photographer.

Ivy Levan’s “Science Fiction/Double Feature” intro was delightful, to say the least, and more accessible to new viewers compared to the original red lips.

Despite the film’s many faults, it was still a stimulating experience. Any Rocky Horror fan might appreciate the remake – despite the flaws, it isn’t terrible compared to remakes of other cult films (Ghostbusters). Remember: it’s not easy having a bad time – even frowning makes your face ache.

Editor’s note: Due to a miscommunication, reporter Will Pelletier watched Rocky Horror Picture Show and its remake back-to-back from the comfort of his own dorm room, instead of attending the viewing at the Vogue, as was originally intended. Our apologies to Will, for making him endure such an experience – obviously the request “Can you cover Rocky Horror?” was much too vague – and to the Vogue, for not including a story on its fabulously well-attended and mirthful, as usual, annual screening of the holiday classic.

THEATRE

Rebuilding burnt bridges in small-town drama

“Marion Bridge” addresses issues of childhood trauma and family bonds CHELSEA DOHERTY Arts and Culture Reporter Daniel MacIvor’s touching play, Marion Bridge, perfectly captures a troubled family dynamic as it follows three sisters who return home to Cape Breton to be with their dying mother.

The eldest sister and nun, Theresa (Alex Duchemin), returns home with Agnes (Jane Rempel), the alcoholic middle sister, and Louise (Gabrielle Gagnon), the youngest and most eccentric. Once reunited, the sisters evaluate their current situations and try to resolve their childhood traumas.

Marion Bridge shows that while life brings its own hardships, the bond of family can remain steadfast.

I had already seen Marion Bridge on multiple stages before I saw it on Thursday, Oct. 27 in the MotyerFancy Theatre. In this staging, I was especially interested to see how young actors would take on the task of playing characters much older than themselves. Ultimately, this staging was a mediocre attempt at exploring the relationships between family and small life in Cape Breton.

Marion Bridge begins as Agnes arrives home to her mother late at night. In a monologue, Agnes explains a recurring dream of drowning at a beach. Performed by Rempel, this is the first – and best – of the three monologues that give insight into each sister’s character.

Unfortunately, midway through Rempel’s monologue, a backstage crew member was visible on stage, diverting the audience’s attention.

Anna Shepard, a fourth-year drama student at Mt. A, said, “During scene

changes there would be tremendous gaps where assistant stage managers would be moving things that were not necessary and halted the energy of the play.”

The pre-existing tension between the sisters and their dying mother quickly becomes evident after all three return home. The sisters fall back into old habits and old arguments.

“Gabrielle [who plays Louise], had some really great moments,” said Shepard. “[Her acting] was something that I really enjoyed.”

Although I’m a stickler for ageappropriate casting, I don’t believe that experience necessarily comes with age. When this production’s actors interacted with each other, they kept tension and emotions high.

Unfortunately, the actors did not successfully develop their characters throughout the play. Because the dialogue was written for older actors, this execution was less than convincing. This may have been a result of time constraints when working with a big text.

“Even though we were cast last spring, we didn’t receive the scripts until September,” explained Duchemin. “[Director] Cordula Quint kept all of the dialogue and wanted us to have it memorized exactly. Age difference was difficult.

I had to work on walking differently than normal, but we didn’t have much time to change our voices or adapt accents to suggest a difference in our ages.”

Often performed with minimal set design and props, MacIvor’s play allows audience members to experience his writing intimately

rather than being distracted by over-the-top sets. Mount Allison’s production went too big with the set, preventing the audience from paying attention to the heart of the story.

The gigantic, attention-grabbing set design failed to bolster the intimacy of the sisters’ interactions.

While aesthetically beautiful and impressively crafted, the set – picture a life-sized doll house with a living room, kitchen, dining room and upper floor – was impractical for live theatre, since the living room and kitchen were actually built into the frame of the house. When characters interacted inside of these rooms, they could not be seen because the set was in the way. This problem was particularly apparent during their private monologues.

Traditionally, if actors are interacting off-stage, they speak loudly from backstage to imply that they are in different rooms of the house. In this production, however, certain audience members could see

the actors while others could not.

This made it unclear whether the audience was supposed to see the actors interacting physically, or if their exchanges were just meant to be heard.

Although music and sound engineering helped set the tone for each scene, there were many rookie mistakes that could have been avoided. Calls for transitions almost always arrived late, scene transitions lasted too long and were overcomplicated, and the scenes meant to evoke the most emotion stagnated to the point that audience members lost interest.

“The pacing of the show was very strange – it was very similar throughout the dialogue,” said Shepard.

I asked a variety of audience members for an interview for this article, but was faced with a great deal of hesitancy. Shepard offered a reason for this: “In general, I feel there’s an issue

in the drama department where we’re too scared to criticize others’ work and too hesitant to say what we didn’t like, or what could be changed so we can work better [in the future]. This [show] is a perfect example, where a professor is directing a show and everyone feels that they shouldn’t say anything directly to them. No one wants to [give their opinion], but feedback is something we need in art and in an institution of learning art. A lot of people think that if they say something negatively about the show that a professor worked on, [the professor] might get mad at them. It’s a fear we all have.”

Duchemin said she enjoyed the experience of working on “Marion Bridge” and the hard work put in by the cast and crew. “We’re all friends [outside of the show.] I think that’s why [Quint] cast us. Because she knew that we could all act well together as sisters. There were no problems during the run, everyone in the cast and crew got along.”

JANE REMPEL (LEFT) AND GEBRIELLE GAGNON (RIGHT) RECOUNT CHILDHOOD MEMORIES. PAUL A DEL MOTTE/SUBMITTED

12

ARTS & CULTURE

NOVEMBER 3, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

POETRY

Library Card

I feel

“To Do”

Kennedy Lundberg

Kennedy Lundberg

Amber Tucker

Today I signed a library card

I owe you innumerable apologies

Before the next sun rises

I clipped it to my keys, so I could always be prepared

For things I can’t apologize for

My bed must be made, and

The entire province of New Brunswick is new to me

Because when the line between

Never climbed into again. I must get myself

I am reminded because I now hold a “powerful tool”

Me and what is just a part of me

Out of here, seek different vistas, the other side

That is a privilege is a responsibility is a burden is

Blend, I mistake chemistry for choice

Of the highway, clasping her bronzed hand

“Stephanie’s Ponytail” at 9:37 on a rainy Tuesday morning

And try to seal myself back

(she’s a prophetess she

When I really should be in Psychology instead of the public

Together with salt water and

who mirrored no surprise but

library

An abundance of oxygen

smiled my own image back to me).

But sometimes a regression is better than a power and a point

But failing, I find myself

Because “The first to come was the teacher.

Pressed against your back

I never broke

She had shaved her head and she was bald.”

Hoping to breathe in breath

Any bones I admit it. Nobody

So I stared until she gave me a B

Giving you puddles

Else’s, or my own. A damn

I eat the Kinder Surprise that I bought for myself

With the thought that you will jump

Timid child. I’m

And set the disappointment on the shelf for someone else

And forgive my needing,

Regretting this, now. So

In celebration, I count on my toes the number of times I have

My gluttony, stealing your air and

smiled today

Using the gentle rise and fall

(in spite of their slapping my knuckles

And leave the bitter realization alongside the egg

To build a steadiness

with a Bible) I will

Because nothing is ever as wonderful as you remember it

That welcomes sleep

Find myself a gay little

I would give anything for a banana Minigo and a spoon

Alleyway cardboard condo

And a memory of my “nice little ponytail coming right out

And sing there For the next hundred years or so,

the back”

I’ll embrace anyone who comes to my door.

Instead I have my 19th birthday and a piece of carpet

I’ll wash away their envy with fresh

Thanks to Robert Munsch Pomegranate juice. I fear I might grow old.

This one consciousness I know Is doing its best to wake up, To savour the kiwis shipped thousands of Miles and the coffeebean berries roasted (by children, I guess) in Brazil. Doing its best To get out of lineups

to breathe

(the luxury of a monk), to blow Locks of hair out of her eyes, To tell her

with pen paper touch that I somedays

Really believe I might be – Courageous ( just enough for that). Gotta make sure I get my borders broken, before the next sun rises.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY HAILEY GUZIK

EDITOR: SHANNON POWER | NOVEMBER 3, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

OPINIONS 13

THE ARGOSY

My experience working for a small business in Sackville TINA OH Contributor

I am writing in response to the Argosy’s former article on student employment in Sackville, particularly at Coy Wolf Bistro and Black Duck Café. I have been “working” for Coy Wolf for over half a year – and the philosophy behind the meaning of “work” is an understatement. Sarah Evans and Alan Barbour, the owners of Black Duck and Coy Wolf, are like family to me and have treated me as such. They are mentors and friends who embody the characteristics of what I think the ideal small business should look like in a small town. I urge readers of the Argosy not to be misled by the experiences that were reported on in the former article, as they are clearly not representative of all former and current employees, such as myself.

My mother is a chef; my sister is a food writer; and both of my grandparents are organic farmers.

I have been raised on the principles of food culture, aiming my best to incorporate Michael Pollan’s

food rule, “Eat food. Not too much.

Mostly plants.” There is a special and particularly rare satisfaction in meeting two extraordinary people who exemplify this philosophy in a rural community like Sackville.

As a waitress working at Coy Wolf, I have not only been trained as a storyteller in the food we create, but have been encouraged to be a meaningful part of the rituals that Coy Wolf wishes to demonstrate in this community. Sarah and Alan have taught me to love the sacraments of food to an extent I have never understood before. I am serving line-caught mackerel, Cap-Pelé duck, and aged porchetta, but it is so much more than that. They teach me how to be a better person – to source my food in an ethical way and foster relationships with local farmers and artists.

I have worked in several finedining restaurants in Edmonton, and I have never been treated with more dignity, respect and love than I have at Coy Wolf. I have worked for chefs who have smashed plates on my feet in anger, cussed when

I made mistakes on orders, and belittled me to release their built-up stress. Never once have I been treated with disrespect at the Coy Wolf by any member of senior management.

I take great pride in working for a business that offers health and dental insurance to their employees, generous and fair compensation for both back and front of house and the encouragement to take time off work to explore other opportunities.

As someone who is balancing three jobs, nine committees and four boards – on top of a full-time school schedule – I am so thankful for their flexibility and understanding of my other commitments.

Whenever I dine or work at Coy Wolf, I am lucky to be a part of a service that dedicates itself to the often neglected and abused philosophy of slow and local. Coy Wolf’s rhetoric is a privileged one; its farm-to-table foundation is a blessing that is unique to this part of the province.

Through my mother, food photography, and the chefs who have yelled at me during service, I have witnessed the sincerest relationship

w w w. a r g o s y. c a

Independent Student Newspaper of Mount Allison University Thursday, November 3, 2016 volume 146 issue 9

that exists between people and food.

How we – as chefs, cooks, waitresses, sommeliers, busboys – convey this metaphor is the riddle that I am so enamoured by. As an avid disciple of this local and slow movement, I humbly believe that Coy Wolf and Black Duck demonstrate this in actual and ethical practice.

As I continue to foster my own love affair with food, I recognize the sacred reverent of living in rural New Brunswick – including certain privileges like driving to Joe Cassie’s seafood to buy a case of Malpeque oysters, getting up at 9 a.m. to go to the Farmers Market to buy a carton of eggs from Portage Pork and having dinner with a friend at table 20 at Coy Wolf on a Friday evening. If cooking is the epitome of human existence, then dining is the greatest ritual we will ever know. If food means community, then food means culture and living.

How rare is it that we have business owners in Sackville who demonstrate this philosophy?

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

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THE ARGOSY is published by Argosy Publications, Inc., a student run, autonomous, apolitical not-for-profit organization operated in accordance with the province of New Brunswick.

THE ARGOSY is a member of the Canadian University Press, a national co-operative of student newspapers.

ISSN 0837-1024

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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 | Adrian Kiva PHOTOGRAPHERS | Ryan MacRae, Savannah Harris ILLUSTRATION EDITOR | Jeff Mann

MENTAL HEALTH

Learning to love Elephant in the Room

The anti-stigma event provides a space for sharing, validation and understanding

ILLUSTRATORS | Andreas Fobes, Izzy Francolini ONLINE EDITOR | Monica Zahl

REPORTING staff NEWS REPORTERS | Leo Gertler, Kavana Wa Kilele, Jill MacIntyre POLITICS REPORTER | Nadiya Safonova SPORTS REPORTER | Hamza Munawar

CAROLINE KOVESI Contributor Last Wednesday I left Elephant in the Room in a blissful haze of acceptance, love and validation – but my feelings about the event have not always been this warm. The anti-stigma student speaker series began when Change Your Mind, the group that organizes it, was formed during my first year. I remember how much hype surrounded the first Elephant in the Room event, and how very uninterested I was in hearing from other people about their mental illnesses. I didn’t see the relevance of others’ stories to my life, and subsequently, I chose not to attend.

I don’t recall exactly why I decided to go to the event in my second year, but I believe it had something to do with regretting not having heard one of my closest friends speak the year prior and having begun to recognize how much the event had meant to them. Sitting in Tweedie Hall, I was overwhelmed by the degree to which others’ experiences spoke to my own. People I had never met were describing my life with such precision, it was all I could do to hold back my tears until the event concluded.

But I also worried that if others who shared my diagnoses had “gotten better” and I had not, perhaps I was somehow “doing my mental illness wrong.” I left the event feeling very emotional. As I tried to manoeuvre through the crowd to leave and find some privacy, another member of my residence – who later joined the Change Your Mind executive with me – spotted my distress and offered to walk me home. In retrospect, I realize that this too is part of the Elephant in the Room experience: finding solidarity in those who understand without explanation. I joined the Change Your Mind executive the following year and have been a part of it now for three years.

As a graduating student, I finally applied to speak at this year’s Elephant in the Room. It was a long time coming. I considered the risks briefly: diagnoses shared through event promotion would remain online long after, possibly jeopardizing job prospects. It is not the first time I have weighed these risks. As my comfort with being vulnerable online has grown, so too have the number of warnings I receive from wellintentioned friends, family members and others. But I will almost certainly always live with mental illness and am unashamed to admit it. And while risks do exist, my privilege lessens them significantly. We only strengthen stigma by staying silent.

The opportunity to share my story in front of a willing audience and, in doing so, help break down stigma – the effects of which I know all too well

– made the decision to speak at this point in my life an easy one.

I am accustomed to hiding my struggles with mental illness, and I pay my psychologist to listen to them. To have over one hundred students and staff come by choice on a weeknight to bear witness to my story, in its uncomfortable and messy truth, was heartwarming and transformative beyond words. Over one hundred people showed up for my fellow speakers and me, and for one another. We shared a space in which we could speak openly and candidly about the realities of living with mental illness without judgment.

We listened, and we healed.

These numbers are telling.

Elephant in the Room creates something essential that seems to be lacking elsewhere, both on campus and in our lives. Last Wednesday I felt seen, heard, accepted, validated and perhaps even understood. Thank you to all those who took part in that.

I hope you felt the same. And to my fellow speakers, thank you for your vulnerability, and thank you for your teaching. Elephant in the Room has come to occupy a special place in my heart and I hope the event will continue for many years to come.

ARTS & CULTURE REPORTERS | Chelsea Doherty, Marissa Cruz, Will Pelletier

OPERATIONS staff BUSINESS MANAGER | Tessa Dixon AD MANAGER | James Lantz CIRCULATIONS | Katharyn Stevenson

CONTRIBUTORS Robert Burroughs, Rebecca Butler, Sebastian Carrera, Shauna Gass, Riley Higdon, Delanie Khan-Dobson, Caroline Kovesi, Hanna Longard, Delaney Losier, Kennedy Lundberg, Kevin Melanson, Ehsan Noori, Tina Oh, Samuel Thomson, Amber Tucker COVER | Nelligan Letourneau

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.

JEFF MANN/ARGOSY

14

OPINIONS

NOVEMBER 3, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

SELF-CARE

When self-care becomes self-destruction

Dominant notions of appropriate stress-coping mechanisms can result in unhealthy behaviour

NBSA ADVOCACY

In defence of student mental health ROBERT BURROUGHS Contributor

REBECCA BUTLER Contributor I spend most Sundays asleep. After a long week working and a long night partying, I grant myself permission to spend the day locked away napping and snacking with Netflix by my side. I free myself of the guilt that accompanies an unproductive day with the simple excuse that I am exercising self-care. I push responsibilities aside in the name of my own ‘well-being’ and in doing so fall prey to the rhetoric of the self-care movement. This behaviour exemplifies a widespread occurrence of students allowing shared notions of what defines appropriate stresscoping mechanisms to force them into unhealthy habits.

The self-care movement dominantly promotes the prioritization of one’s health and happiness. Lifestyle blogs release lists that outline how to love yourself by exercising mindfulness, eating kale and attending Pilates classes. But within the university environment we see a divergence from this.

Students rather define self-care through self-destructive modes of behaviour. Drinking, napping, eating unhealthily and boycotting the gym

Redaction On Oct. 27, 2016, the Argosy published an article in the opinion section titled “Halloween: Not an excuse to be racist.” It has since come to our attention that this article took several ideas and phrases from an Everyday Feminism article titled “What’s Wrong with Cultural Appropriation? These 9 Answers Reveal Its Harm” without attributing proper credit to the article’s author.

In light of this, the Argosy redacts the article and apologizes for the use of uncredited information.

THE DECISION OF WHETHER TO GO OUT CAN BE A TRICKY ONE. ADRIAN KIVA/ARGOSY and library are popular behaviours exercised by individuals set on practising self-love.

As students, we work extraordinarily hard to do well at Mount Allison. These academic efforts should certainly be balanced with relaxation to avoid overwhelming stress. But the problem lies in the stark contrast between the extreme ends of the spectrum. We force ourselves to stay in the library for eight hours straight, then see it as justification for drinking a whole bottle of alcohol.

When we uphold the belief that work and pleasure are mutually exclusive, we are motivated to find solace in the pursuit of non-academic avenues. While this can be beneficial, in some cases it discourages those

passionate about their work from putting in their all. Each Friday, the familiar interaction of someone pressuring a friend to spend their evening at the bar instead of at the library can be heard on campus. In these cases, people are made to feel as if they’re not treating themselves with adequate care and respect for prioritizing long-term goals over short-term enjoyment.

This approach to self-care is also problematic because it upholds inadequate coping mechanisms.

If self-care is understood through the aforementioned behaviours, problems go unaddressed and undealt with. Skipping out on the library to sleep then becomes a mode of putting off stress rather than managing it.

We should be mindful that what

we call self-care mechanisms can become harmful and destructive. I will admit that I sleep all morning to rest, but I sleep all afternoon to fend off the stress of the impending week.

Beyond health, it all boils down to the simple fact that we all love and care for ourselves differently.

We should not let stock-templates of what works for others determine what works for us. It would benefit us all to redefine our own senses of balance and self-care. By focusing on moderation and personal benefit, we redefine our understanding of selfcare and limit the number of people at the bar only because their friends guilted them out of studying.

To reflect the evolving demands of the New Brunswick Student Alliance’s members, this year our board has made the conscious decision to continue challenging how we interpret our mandate and what accessibility means to this and future generations of post-secondary students. As a result, our members can expect a variety of student issues – some less traditionally recognized than others – in our primary advocacy document this year.

Among these is what we consider one of the most crucial issues affecting students today: their mental health.

Students are dying on our campuses, and many more feel like they do not have access to resources to problerly address their mental illnesses.

That is why we will be asking the New Brunswick government to double their spending on mental health over the next four years with targeted funding set aside for oncampus services.

Our members are the future of New Brunswick’s communities; their wellbeing is essential to the continued efforts to combat economic oppression, to the growth of our cultures and to the financial sustainability of our healthcare system. We will be unabashed in our defence of their well-being.

Robert Burroughs (’13) is the executive director of the NBSA, a student advocacy organization representing over 12,000 students from four universities in the province.

INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

Mental health advocacy: more than fighting stigma It is essential that students fight for adequate services and support on an institutional level

SEBASTIAN CARRERA Contributor Maclean’s annual rankings of primarily undergraduate universities ranked Mount Allison’s mental health services an appalling 19th among the 19 universities listed. Beyond doubt, there will be steps taken by the MASU and the Mt. A administration to act on this. The urgent need of improved mental health services will be unquestioned on paper, but the lens through which the university administration evaluates “adequate” measures to address mental health

will likely be incompatible with the realities of human health.

If there is one thing we can learn from the Mt. A faculty strike of 2014, or the more recent Harvard strike, it’s that now more than ever, universities are a business first. The privatization of higher education has heavily oriented research and policy toward profitability, exacerbating inequalities rather than rallying the vanguard of societal change.

I had the opportunity last week to hear the experiences of a few Mt. A students living with mental illness at Change Your Mind’s Elephant in the Room. With every story, it became clearer that I could never configure a “mental health strategy” on my own for the variety of experiences and concerns that exist in this community. By the end of the event, I was reminded of how important it is to hear the experiences of others living with mental illness, but I was also left somewhat disappointed. The

state of Mt. A’s mental health services had not been mentioned once, and although it wasn’t under the purview of Change Your Mind’s goals that night, it should have been.

Sympathy and awareness are necessary components to any advocacy, but they can be weaponized, sometimes inadvertently, against vulnerable communities. Corporations like Bell, Apple and even BP have all made visible efforts to “raise awareness” toward issues such as mental health, LGBTQ rights and environmental responsibility. Their op-eds and campaigns paint an image that conveniently masks institutionalized exploitation and discrimination.

Meanwhile, customers looking for a product branded with an ethical spin have their feelings of guilt satiated, knowing they purchased a product from a company owned by someone who said some nice things they agreed with.

This is what the Mt. A community must be wary of and actively oppose.

It may be bad for business that Mt. A places last in a national mental health services ranking, but the business model of the university is also incongruous with providing the substantial services needed. Students come to this school at a vulnerable and formative time in their lives, often stripped of support systems they previously relied on. Young adults are the age cohort with the highest rate of attempted suicide, and suicide is the second leading cause of death among Canadians aged 20 to 24. If Mt. A’s services and policy are to be changed, it must be to an extent that can contend with this reality.

I admire the courage of students who come forward with their experiences, but we cannot allow our stories to be co-opted into superficial policy changes that take on a mere appearance of responsibility.

EDITOR: MARK CRUZ | NOVEMBER 3, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA

AMATEUR

Self-love, self-loathing and my porn history

HUMOUR 15

An Argosy editor makes vague correlations between his mental health and XXX videos MARK CRUZ Humour Editor “How are your ejaculations?” This was a question posed by my therapist during my first session. I laughed, not really knowing how to answer. When I came home and thought about it more, I realized just how much I didn’t like myself, to the point that I denied myself even the most natural of urges.

Last fall, I dropped out of school.

Diagnosed with a “major depressive episode with moderate anxious features,” I left Sackville unsure that I would ever go back. I was ignoring so many problems and stressors for so long that they all came crashing down at the beginning of my third year.

The catalyst for all of this, however, was the breakup with my long-term, long-distance girlfriend. I cheated on her. I became uncomfortable, even ashamed, of my sexuality. This wasn’t totally limited by the scope of the breakup. Reach: As a biracial Filipino cis male, I’ve realized that I had internalized a lot of racism that had been projected onto me growing up. In North America, Asian men are constantly desexualized, while Asian women are hyper-sexualized.

Consider this: How many sex scenes in Hollywood films can you think of that feature Asian men in a nonjoking way? Bad example, maybe, but I don’t think Jackie Chan gets any action in all three of the Rush Hour movies.

Masturbation helped me reclaim some of that sexuality. I looked back at my browser history during my depressive episode to see what kind of

porn I was into at that given moment.

And the results spoke volumes. I apologize if these videos seem pretty tame; I was somebody who eagerly anticipated the annual release of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue until I was well into high school, so my exposure to the zany stuff has been limited. Though I don’t watch much these days, I still look back fondly on these videos for helping me through a particularly difficult time in my life.

“College couple fucks passionately” Videos like this one characterize my porn consumption during the offset of my depressive episode. It features a couple in a college bedroom (shitty posters and all) who seem to genuinely care about each other and their physical needs. There are even a few tender laughs and jokes shared during intercourse. These homemade XXX vids reflected my insecurities at the time – I was missing physical intimacy and companionship. Sigh.

During this time, I was particularly self-vindictive. I didn’t allow myself to use lubrication, as I feared that I might actually enjoy myself. My penis was extremely chafed during the first month of my diagnosis.

“Remy Lacroix fingers her butthole” ‘Solo’ videos were another important aspect of my healing process. As my depressive episode started showing signs of remission, my engagement with online porn became less tied to my emotions. From what I know of the porn industry, it often involves the exploitation of women. I was still upset by how I had

treated my partner, and traditional heterosexual porn made me feel like I was deriving pleasure from the mistreatment of someone else. I was looking for something that didn’t have the gendered power dynamic that characterizes a lot of porn. I think that I believed that solo videos were a way of denying the “male gaze.” But c’mon, Remy is wearing tube socks in the video. If there is one thing we know about the male gaze, it’s that there will always be tube socks.

“Girls Do Porn: Episode 104” The holy grail. Shangri-La. This video isn’t one I’ve actually seen, I’ve only watched a 12-second GIF of its content. The audioless, looped clip depicts a doggy-style scene atop a yoga mat. One of the actors in the film looks a lot like my all-time celebrity crush Jennifer Connelly, so, naturally, I had to find the source.

And oh, how I have searched; my quest for Girls Do Porn: Episode 104 has been like trying to find El Dorado.

Maybe the video isn’t actually that hot, but I’ve decided that, come hell or high water, I’m gonna find it.

Maybe ‘happiness’ is analogous to that lost episode of Girls Do Porn ­‑ I can’t really be sure if it exists or if it’s out there waiting for me. Does it even matter? I find solace and comfort in this search. My belief in ‘happiness’ and Girls Do Porn: Episode 104 proves that I’m human. I’m capable of hope despite feeling so sad and hopeless. I’m somebody worthy of love, friendship and affection.

That said though…anyone got a torrent?

MARISSA CRUZ

PERSONALS CHAD, 21.

TYLER, 22.

SEEKING MILF WITH G CUPS. CAN FULFILL EVERY FANTASY. WILL BE THE FATHER TO CHILDREN THAT HE NEVER HAD. WON’T MAKE EMPTY PROMISES: WILL BE AT EVERY GRADUATION, EVERY BALLGAME. BLONDE.

NICE GUY SEEKING LONELY YOUNG WOMEN: BULLSHIT TOLERANCE, SELF-AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE OF “NAVIGATING SPACES” ARE ALL PREFERRED. WANNA SEE WHERE THINGS GO? TEL. 1-506-242-1052

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