THE ARG OSY
FEATURE
NEWS
ARTS & CULTURE
SPORTS
Mi’kmaq activists protect Shubie River (Pg. 2-3)
Mt. A students arrested in climate action (Pg. 4)
Guide to ghosts Sakville (Pg. 12)
The horror of concussions in sports (Pg. 7)
Stumped since 1872
in
Mount Allison’s Independent Student Newspaper
COVER: EVAN FURNESS, HOLLOWS, INK ON PAPER, 2016.
October 27, 2016 Vol. 146, Iss. 8
02 FEATURE
EDITORS: SYLVAN HAMBURGER & TYLER STUART | OCTOBER 27, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
INDIGENOUS RESISTANCE
Mi’kmaq water protectors defend Shubenacadie River from Alton Gas project
Proposed natural gas facility challenged by Indigenous resistance and regenerating river TYLER STUART & SYLVAN HAMBURGER Editors-in-Chief
poison everything,” Clair said. “It’s not just a Native issue, it’s everybody’s issue. We all have to stand together.”
“Grab the cake!” someone shouted, as the Mi’kmaq water protectors rushed to higher ground. The river was rising. We arrived at the truck house, the site of the activists’ resistance, just as the tide began to rise on the banks of the Shubenacadie River, an estuary of the Bay of Fundy. On Sunday, Oct. 16, we spoke to the water protectors who have been there for over two months blocking the construction of an Alton Gas natural gas storage facility. Annie Clair, a mother and grandmother from Elsipogtog First Nation, has been active at the truck house since early October. Clair has spent a handful of nights at the encampment and opposes the Alton Gas project because it threatens the river and the wellbeing of future generations. “The reason why it’s so important is because the earth needs water, trees need water, and if they’re going to start doing all this stuff it’s going to
Alton Gas Natural Storage, a subsidiary of the Alberta-based AltaGas, is attempting to construct an underground storage facility that would hold 100 to 170 million cubic metres of compressed natural gas. The facility is being developed on the bank of the Shubenacadie River near Alton, N.S. The project’s completion requires flushing out the salt caverns beneath the banks of the river. Alton Gas has proposed to divert the resulting salt water, known as brine, into a holding pond before releasing it into the Shubenacadie. The proposed caverns will be up to 1,000 metres deep. Many Indigenous people in the area claim they were not informed of the provincial and company consultation periods. Public input on the project was accepted by the provincial government from Nov. 23 to Dec. 6, 2007. Less than two weeks later, the project was approved by the Nova Scotia Minister of Environment.
THE PROJECT
In September of 2014, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs issued a press release opposing further construction of Alton Gas’ $100-million facility. Despite living within a few kilometres of the construction site, Cheryl Maloney, a member of the Sipekne’katik First Nation, had not heard about the project until reading the press release. “That was the first time I ever heard about the project. That was the very first time a lot of people heard about the project,” said Maloney, a spokesperson for the truck house activists and president of the Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association. A group of water protectors, including Maloney, demonstrated for two months in 2014 and spent Treaty Day, Oct. 1, of that year raising awareness about the project beside the highway. The Sipekne’katik Band appealed for an injunction this year to challenge Alton Gas’ claim that it had undertaken adequate consultation with the band. In August, when a judge postponed the hearing until November – two months after Alton
Gas was scheduled to begin brining – they decided to act. “So once we knew that it was pretty much a loss, we just said, ‘You know what? We’re going to come over. We’re going to set up our truck house here,’” Maloney said. “We wanted to bring the media and the community together at the truck house to see the actual river that we are trying to protect.”
THE TRUCKHOUSE
In August, water protectors gathered on the bank of the Shubenacadie to build a truck house – a structure protected by the Treaty of Peace and Friendship 1760 and used by the Mi’kmaq people to trade and fish. From the road, the encampment is hidden by a dyke that runs along the river. As we approached the dyke, we passed a Mohawk warrior flag flying in a meadow. Children ran around the truck house below as we walked along the dyke. A blue fence, which the company erected after the water protectors arrived, stood between the construction site and the encampment. One woman had brought a cake with brown icing that read, “Celebrating the Shubie River.” Each time we looked back at the water, the tide was higher than before. In the early days of the resistance, dozens of people came to help and express solidarity. “Even before we knew we needed something, it would just show up,” Maloney said. “People brought boats, canoes, tents, woodstoves – things we didn’t ask for or even know to ask for.” Kevin Tiley, a carpenter from Halifax, took three weeks off work to help construct the truck house in late August. Tiley said the site has become a rallying point for a community of people who are concerned about the local ecology. “This is along the sames lines with any community that is being pushed around by big corporations and big business,” he said. “They’re basically having their rights stomped on.” As we arrived at the encampment,
we watched one of their boats, which had unmoored in the storm the night before and floated up-river, return with the tide. Many of the protectors joked that this was a good analogy for how difficult it would be to flush brine out of the river. Mother Bear, from Unama’ki First Nation, has been spending nights at the truck house since Sept. 4. Two to four water protectors guard the camp every night, while security guards hired by Alton Gas sleep on the other side of the fence. Mother Bear said spending the night on the river is an immersive experience. “It’s warm and comfortable, it’s calm, your mind doesn’t think about anything else,” Mother Bear said. “It just goes with the river, then it comes back.” The truck house has provided a sense of purpose to many involved in the resistance. Karlyn O’Hanley, who commutes from Cole Harbour to spend time at the encampment, said the action has given her a sense of direction and belonging. “We’re not here for power, or money, or prestige. It’s cold at night, it’s wet, but it’s life and it’s the earth and it needs to be supported,” O’Hanley said. While Alton Gas owns the property, the construction site and the truck house are on unceded Mi’kmaq land. Because of this, Maloney questioned the legality of Alton Gas’ activity. “We have aboriginal title over this land. We don’t need to go to court to prove it. This is Mi’kmaq territory, most importantly. And anybody here is here based on the strength of their relationship with the Mi’kmaq,” Maloney said. “Right now, Alton is trespassing on unceded territory.”
THE RESISTANCE
Water protectors claim the proposed release of brine into the river would threaten the Shubenacadie ecosystem. Mother Bear, an inshore fisher, said the brining threatens her constitutional right to fish in the river. She is concerned that the project will damage the fish habitat and adversely affect the migrating geese and ducks
Continues on pg. 3... TOP LEFT: MI’KMAQ AND WARRIOR FLAGS FLY ON THE BANK OF THE SHUBENACADIE BOTTOM LEFT: WATER PROTECTORS RUSH TO SAVE SUPPLIES FROM FLOOD BELOW: ALTON GAS SECURITY GUARDS SITE RYAN MACRAE/ARGOSY
EDITOR: CATHERINE TURNBULL & NAOMI GOLDBERG | THE ARGOSY | WWW.ARGOSY.CA
NEWS 03
ABOVE: CHILDREN PLAY ON DYKE OVERLOOKING THE TRUCK HOUSE RIGHT: WATER PROTECTORS HARRIET ANNABELL THIEBAUX AND MARTIAL THIEBAUX OPPOSE THE CONTSRUCTION OF THE STORAGE FACILITY RYAN MACRAE/ARGOSY
...continued from pg. 2 that fly through the region. “Water is precious,” Mother Bear said. “Water is our life.” As a declaration of their treaty rights, protectors have set eel traps along the mixing channel dug by Alton Gas. By removing the traps, Alton Gas would be infringing on the Mi’kmaq people’s right to fish. Within weeks, the traps were buried as the channel filled up with mud. “The river is already healing itself,” Clair said. As we spoke to protectors, a small stream of water began to trickle through the grass – the tide was rising above the river bank. One man told us to start moving equipment to higher ground. As the river continued to rise, people started scrambling, picking up food and supplies and carrying it to the top of the dyke. Within minutes, the entire camp was under nearly a
foot of water. “Alton [Gas] science that says, ‘We can mix in this and send it out to sea,’ is being challenged by Mother Nature herself,” Maloney said while overlooking the flooded camp from the dyke. “They don’t know this river. Their scientists are just academics. They do not know what we know.” Maloney said that it would be naive to think that Alton Gas’ interest in the area is limited to storing natural gas that has been hydraulically fractured elsewhere. “Nova Scotians need to wake up. This is fracking infrastructure. We’re going to have pipelines coming offshore in and out of the U.S.,” Maloney said. She added that this infrastructure could encourage future provincial governments to lift the moratorium on fracking. The purpose of the truck house
is to block the construction of the storage caverns. Harriet Annabelle Thiebaux, a 75-year-old woman from East Hants, N.S. who is new to activism, blocked the driveway to the Alton Gas property for two weeks – making it impossible for trucks to enter the construction site. “I disapprove of this company,” Thiebaux said. “I disapprove of the whole industry.”
THE RIVER
We approached Yanic Breton, an 11-year-old Mi’kmaq water protector, while he was trying to keep his new puppy Mukwa out of the mud. Breton likes to spend his weekends and holidays at the truck house. We asked him why he was there. “To prevent them from fracking and from putting all the bad stuff like – I forget what it’s called.” After asking if he meant brine, he said,
“Yeah, something like that, and they’re going to put that in [the river]. Well we’re trying to stop them and we’re going to win the battle.” A week after we visited the camp, Alton Gas announced that it would postpone its construction of the storage cavern until 2017. Many at the truck house attributed this decision not only to their resistance, but to the river itself. Maloney said that the buildup of mud in the mixing channel made it difficult for the company to continue construction. “Honestly, I knew they weren’t going to be able to work. We were just waiting for them to admit [it],” Maloney said on Monday over the phone. Many of the water protectors interviewed felt that their actions were in line with the ongoing mobilization of Indigenous communities across
Turtle Island (North America). From Muskrat Falls, N.L., to Standing Rock, N.D., Indigenous land defenders and water protectors are resisting industrial exploitation. “The people are coming and the people are waking up,” Clair said. “We don’t have much time left, so it’s happening everywhere. There’s a reason.” As we left the camp, the water had already begun to subside. Water protectors shared the rescued cake and homemade meals. Spirits were high, and no one seemed phased by the flooding. They did not return their supplies to the camp, as they knew the tide would breach the bank again that night. “It’s amazing because the tide’s up high now – it’s a hunter’s moon,” Mother Bear said. “The channel, it’s so powerful.”
DECOLONIZATION
Marie Battiste on overcoming dissonance Colonial history a continuing factor in education
LEO GERTLER News Reporter Marie Battiste presented her lecture, “Decolonizing and Indigenizing the Academy: Toward Cognitive Justice,” as part of the President’s Speakers Series on Monday. Battiste, a Mi’kmaq scholar and professor at the University of Saskatchewan, called for a systematic approach to ending what she called “cognitive imperialism.” The lecture drew on personal experiences, family history and a wealth of scholarship. Battiste formed a complex but accessible narrative of how colonialism takes place in the education system. “[Colonialism is] seen in Aboriginal peoples’ languages lost, in their being viewed as having no contemporary significance whatsoever for education,” she said, “[and] in the discourses and texts which represent dominance, obscuring what is erased and ignoring the current racism. “The curriculum is silent on Aboriginal knowledge,” Battiste said. “It’s a shield of domination.” The only model of scholarly success in a Eurocentric education, according to Battiste, is that of assimilation. As a result of this, said Battiste, Indigenous students experience
dissonance. They are forced into an educational experience where they must try to survive in a Eurocentric world while still grappling with a lack of connection to their indigeneity. Battiste outlined how this educational model is a manifestation of intergenerational and ongoing forms of marginalization, translating to “a deficit in education for First Nations peoples.” She went on to say that this dissonance can only be overcome by an ambidextrous epistemology, an approach to knowledge which accepts both Western and Indigenous sciences. Battiste said that the provincial and federal governments, in consultation with Indigenous communities, are required to educate students on Treaty rights and Indigenous issues. “The Supreme Court of Canada has said that wherever there is a substantive Aboriginal and Treaty right, there is also imbedded in that right the incidental constitutional right to teach that right. Educational institutions need to teach it,” she said. “Provincial and federal laws have to be consistent with Aboriginal and Treaty rights; that creates Indigenous knowledge as a constitutionally protected right, and that is the
supreme law of Canada.” Citing both the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal peoples, she explained how everyone must be involved in the process of indigenization. “Even if you cannot see yourself or your family as having benefitted from this past, being part of these
school systems, these governance systems, [the TRC] asks you today to understand where you are exactly today is where you need to begin to think about your role and complicity in the future of Indigenous peoples. “All of us have become implicated in the subjugation of Indigenous peoples,” Battiste said. She also said that this is not necessarily a negative thing, however. “This realization
MOUNT ALLISON COURSES MUST BE DECOLONIZED. SAVANNAH HARRIS/ARGOSY
can be a springboard for action and greater consciousness.” “We all have been a victim and a beneficiary of the same education system, and few of us are privileged with the knowledge of how to achieve a decolonized education,” she said. “We must be all critical learners and healers in a wounded space.”
04
NEWS
OCTOBER 27, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
CLIMATE ACTIVISM
Mt. A students arrested in act of civil disobedience
“Climate leaders don’t build pipelines” CATHERINE TURNBULL & NAOMI GOLDBERG News Editors Youth from across the country gathered in Ottawa on Monday to tell Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that climate leaders don’t build pipelines. Along with our peers from across the country, we took part in a voluntary act of civil disobedience on Parliament Hill. Ninety-nine youth were arrested and subsequently charged with trespassing for climbing over an erected police barricade. According to protest organizers, Climate 101 was the largest act of student climate civil disobedience in Canadian history. This protest was organized in the hope of enabling youth to engage in civil disobedience when they return to their respective communities. We were protesting the proposed expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline, which would add 980 kilometres of pipeline running from the Alberta tar sands to Burnaby, B.C. Trudeau has until Dec. 19 to make a final decision on the proposed project and has so far hinted that he will approve the expansion. The pipeline has been fought by Indigenous peoples of the Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish and other First Nations and their allies for over two years. The organizers of Climate 101 focused this particular direct action on youth engagement. Forty-five per cent of Canadians aged 18 to 24 voted for Trudeau in the 2015 election. Trudeau’s platform promised progressive climate action, and his self-appointment as Minister of Youth seeks to show that he is taking the opinions of youth seriously. In order to uphold the 2015 international agreement solidified in Paris to limit global temperature increases to two degrees celsius, 80 per cent of the world’s remaining fossil fuel reserves must be kept in the ground. Expanding the Kinder Morgan pipeline is incompatible with this goal. Mandatory for all those participating in Monday’s arrestable action was a five-hour training session the day before, held on the
University of Ottawa campus. The training was led by experienced climate activists affiliated with 350. org, an international organization that organized Climate 101. Although we were prepared for multiple situations, no one knew exactly what the action would entail. Trainers created role-play scenarios in which they acted as police officers and we practised techniques of police interactions. These included de-escalation tactics, a vital aspect of non-violent, direct action. We were taught a song that would ground us in the face of potentially tense situations. One of the organizers of Climate 101 was Mount Allison alum and Divest MTA founder Lauren Latour. Latour felt empowered by this act of civil disobedience. “It was obviously intimidating, but I was proud to be standing beside people who are fierce and powerful and excited,” she said. “We’re very hopeful that going forward, Trudeau will start to reform his actions and will start to walk the talk that he has spouted so freely and so easily. It’s time for him to start living up to his promises.” The protest began at Ottawa U, where more than 200 people attended a rally in support of the action. Indigenous activist Clayton ThomasMueller led the rally, which featured the Ottawa River Drummers and a smudge ceremony. “Climate leaders don’t build pipelines” was the message written on the large banner that led our march to Ottawa’s downtown core. Youth held signs featuring messages such as “keep it in the ground” and “reject Kinder Morgan.” Protesters of all generations attended the march in support of the action. For a march to be considered legal, protesters must declare their intent to law enforcement in advance. This march was undeclared. As Climate 101 made extensive use of social media before and during the action, police were aware of our protest and were present at the outset. Even as we marched, we did not know where we were going. Atiya Jaffar, a digital campaigner for 350.
TOP RIGHT: STUDENTS ASK TO PASS. BOTTOM RIGHT: PROTESTERS DELIVER A MESSAGE TO TRUDEAU. BELOW: PROTESTER BEING ARRESTED. ROBERT VAN WAARDEN/SURVIVAL MEDIA
org, said before the protest that it was important not to share details of the action itself. “The participants still don’t know what the route is, the organizers still don’t know what the route is, we’re going to make decisions on the go,” Jaffar said. “We know the government will try to reduce the impact of this action if everything is publicly communicated.” Jaffar added that social media played an overwhelmingly positive role in Climate 101. “I think the most important thing is storytelling,” she said. “A lot of us are in this movement because we’ve heard a really powerful story, and I think social media gives us access to so many people all at once. It allows us to really own our narrative and own our story.” After marching for an hour, we arrived at Parliament Hill. As the organizers signalled that we would be moving into the arrestable part of the action, our group separated into two parts. Youth who would be risking arrest moved forward toward the gates, while the rest of the protesters cheered from across the street. The police were blocking our chosen entrance to Parliament Hill and would not let us pass. We chanted “Hey Trudeau, just say no!” and “Listen Justin, to climate justice,” to the tune of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” as we changed our course. We successfully made our way in from another entrance, but faced a barricade halfway up to the parliament building. The situation intensified, and in order to ground ourselves, we broke into song: “They told us it was over, they told us the world gets colder, they told us too much on our shoulders, but we believe that we will win.” This song was shared with Divestment groups across the world by the Dream Defenders, a migrant justice group in the U.S. The message was passed through the group that crossing the barricade would lead to arrest. We linked arms and moved closer together, making our way to the police line. In rows, we came face-to-face with police officers directly across the barricade. They asked if we
understood that we would be arrested if we crossed over the fence. We each affirmed our understanding and expressed our intent to deliver our message to the prime minister. One at a time, we pulled ourselves over the metal fence and were placed under arrest. “You are under arrest for mischief. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” Two police officers escorted each of us to a makeshift processing area. Some students were searched. Many of the officers introduced themselves and asked about our respective universities and programs of study. In turn, protesters explained their reasons for participating in civil disobedience. The first line of youth to cross the fence were handcuffed as they were led away, but most of us were not. Civil disobedience, which has historically been a means of resistance in several social justice movements, is not always treated peacefully by the police. In choosing to participate in the action, we knew the implications of possible arrest would likely not be severe for us because of the privilege we hold. Because we were able to make this statement without fear for our livelihoods, we decided we had a responsibility to act where others would have been more vulnerable. Racism, sexism and xenophobia in law enforcement are factors that affect individuals differently. At the Standing Rock resistance in North Dakota, Indigenous activists have been subjected to pepper spray, strip
searches and dog attacks by police and security. Climate 101 organizers affirmed the importance of standing in solidarity with those of our peers who face this discrimination both at Climate 101 and in climate movements across the world. On a Facebook post, SadiePhoenix Lavoie said that of the 99 protesters arrested, she and two other Indigenous people “were the only ones that got roughed up by police.” “We remained peaceful the entire time,” she posted. Although we were told we were being arrested for mischief, which is a criminal charge, we were charged with trespassing. One at a time, we were handed a paper that stated that we would not be welcome on Parliament Hill for the next three months and were escorted off the premises. Gabriel D’Astous, Climate 101’s Ottawa organizer, sees Climate 101’s victory as extending beyond Trudeau’s decision on Dec. 19. “So many students and youth got to partake in civil disobedience, get arrested for the first time and get trained to do it properly, and hopefully in an environment that was relatively comfortable and relatively supportive,” he said. Climate 101 was successful because it enabled students to “head back to their campuses and have that experience and be jazzed about civil disobedience and what that looks looks like, what that entails and hopefully organize civil disobedience at their campuses.”
NEWS
THE ARGOSY | WWW.ARGOSY.CA
05
LEFT: PROTESTER BEING LED AWAY BY POLICE. RIGHT: MARCH IN THE CITY CORE. ROBERT VAN WAARDEN/ SURVIVAL MEDIA
TOWN
Trash talk
New waste management system introduced in Sackville
JILL MACINTRYE News Reporter
CAMPUS POLITICS
New MASU Bursary Plan Mt. A’s financial aid (or lack thereof) NADIYA SAFONOVA Politics Reporter Mount Allison students feel discouraged by the university’s scholarship and bursary program. Many incoming students who have received entrance scholarships lose them within their first year of study. The Registrar’s Office stated that they do not track statistics of scholarship retention. Tina Oh, vice-president external affairs for the Mount Allison Students’ Union (MASU), said that despite the lack of statistics, most students are already familiar with difficulties in retaining their scholarships. “We don’t even need to find the statistics for it because of the fact that we’ve all lived it,” she said. The MASU’s Academic Affairs Committee is working toward creating a bursary, from the union’s budget surplus, to balance what they say is the inaccessibility of the university’s financial aid program. The registrar’s office states that a 3.7 GPA is required to retain an entrance scholarship, a standard that is equivalent to the 80 per cent average required for high school students to initially qualify for the scholarships. According to Oh, Mt. A ignores that there is much more to student life than academics. Especially with so many transitions at the beginning of university, Oh said, “it’s extremely unreasonable to hold such a high GPA in your first year.” To keep a scholarship, students are also required to take five courses per semester. For those students who need to work during the school year, it is not always possible to keep a full course load. Oh said that while the university gives out a lot of money in the form of entrance scholarships, there is not a sturdy financial aid program for students after their first year of study. Scholarships for upper-year students are far more scarce than entrance scholarships. To be eligible for a Mt. A scholarship, students must not currently hold an entrance scholarship, must be taking a full course load and must keep a 3.7 GPA. Qualified students are automatically considered, but only the top students in each program are awarded a Mt. A scholarship, which makes it inaccessible to many. Fourth-year commerce and economics student Kathleen Cowie graduated from high school with an average above 90 per cent but lost her scholarship in her first year at Mt. A. She applied for bursaries each year but was always rejected despite not having enough money to pay for school. “Good part-time jobs for students are very hard to find [in Sackville],” Cowie said. “I am up to six little part-time jobs right now and that is just going to contribute to rent and food.” Fourth-year history and geography student Cassie Eveland, who left high school with a 93 per cent average, also lost her scholarship in her first year. Eveland worked two full-time jobs in the summer after her first year, but was still unable to cover tuition costs. She then got a job at McDonald’s, where she works an average of 36 hours per week. “Working so much does take away from my study hours, but if I didn’t work, I wouldn’t have enough money to go to school,” Eveland said. The MASU hopes to help alleviate some of the financial stress that students experience by creating a needs-based bursary. While there is no money set aside in this year’s budget for this bursary, Oh will be presenting this resolution to MASU council for approval. If approved, this bursary will come into effect next school year. Meanwhile, the MASU will keep advocating for the university to make financial aid more accessible to students, especially returning students.
MARLEY CADDELL Contributor n Oct. 24, residents of Sackville O began the transition to a new threestream waste management procedure from the current wet/dry system. Eco360, a regional waste management commission, will implement the new system throughout southeast New Brunswick. This new method will require residents to sort trash into three categories: organics, waste and recyclables. Many students and residents have voiced concerns and questions regarding the success of the wet/dry system in recent years. Sackville town councillor Alison Butcher believes the new method is more intuitive than the wet/ dry system and will help prevent unnecessary waste. “I see the new system as a positive change. We all have a responsibility to look after our planet. The [three]-bag system will mean less garbage going to the landfill, and that’s a good thing,” she wrote in an email. “The two-bag system really was fatally flawed – it went under the assumption that all waste would fit into two clear-cut categories,” Butcher said. “What about diapers, used paper plates, empty yogurt tubes, or aluminum foil that’s been used for barbecuing?” The new three-stream system will likely be more familiar to many students who come from out-ofprovince. Having grown up on Prince Edward Island, where a similar three-
stream trash system exists, third-year environmental studies student Caitlin Gallant is excited about the change. “My roommates and I are all from different provinces,” she said. “We would literally have fights in the kitchen about where garbage goes.” Gallant said that effective garbage management is one of the most significant ways to create environmental awareness at the local level. “It’s not a glamorous topic like ‘Save the Polar Bears’. It’s not an issue that people want to talk about, but we deal with it on a daily basis,” she said. Geography and environment professor Leslie Kern also found the wet/dry system counterintuitive when she moved to Sackville from Ontario. “Moving here, I found it confusing that all of the recyclables and garbage went to the same place,” she said. Kern said that because of this, she believes the wet/dry system impacts how much waste goes into landfills. According to Kern, “over time [the three-stream system] will become intuitive, but there’s going to be a steep learning curve for the first month or two.” Third-year student Tina Oh has been working for the past two years to integrate the three-stream system into the town’s garbage management system. Oh said that Eco360 “has been working quite extensively with the communities within [their jurisdiction] to make sure that the system is a good alternative to the two-stream.” Oh highlighted the importance of the town’s role, noting that it needs to provide “a very productive and efficient educational campaign for
residents to know how to sort their garbage.” According to Oh, this could include informational pamphlets, garbage bags and consultation sessions. Even under the new system, businesses and apartment complexes will still not be responsible for sorting their trash. Anna Mairs, a fourth-year geography student studying the local waste management system, said this lack of accountability is a major issue. Under a Sackville bylaw, only residential buildings have to sort their trash, excluding apartments with more than four units. “Neither the landlord nor the town provides separate dumpsters [for the different bags], so all of the waste from these apartment buildings isn’t being sorted even if individual residents are [sorting],” Mairs said. According to Gallant, this “is a huge structural failure.” She said that it is unnecessary for apartments and corporations to be exempt from sorting garbage. Oh stated that Eco360 and the Town of Sackville could provide incentive to landlords to purchase multiple dumpsters, provide penalties through the distribution of fines or refuse to pick up improperly sorted trash. Students looking to reduce landfill waste should purchase green bags for compostable organics, blue bags for recyclables, and clear bags for waste. Organics will be picked up weekly, and recyclables and waste will rotate on a two-week schedule. More information about the new system and downloadable sorting guides can be found on Eco360’s website, eco360.ca.
THE CURRENT GARBAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM IS COUNTER-INTUITIVE. ANDREAS FOBES/ARGOSY
06 SPORTS & HEALTH
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
EDITOR: DAVID TAPLIN OCTOBER 27, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Hockey team seeks playoffs success Mounties set for success
New season marks the beginning of a new tradition
TOP: MT. A ALUMNI SUPPORTING THE TEAM AT THIS SEASON’S HOMEOPENER. BOTTOM: MOUNTIES LOOK TO COMPETE NATIONALLY THIS SEASON. RYAN MACRAE/ARGOSY
HAMZA MUNAWAR Sports Reporter This season, the Mount Allison women’s hockey program is growing and changing faster than new head coach Warren Mason can skate. Due to the growth of former head coach Zach Bell’s family, a replacement was necessary. Former assistant coach Mason took over the head coaching position, while Bell took the assistant position. Throughout the past five years, the pair has had a powerful dynamic, the result of filling their coaching roles in a friendly, relaxed manner. This is highlighted by the perception that
the team views them as “co-head coaches,” forward Kara Anthony said. “There has been more to deal with being head coach, but it’s been really good,” Mason said. “[Mason] is very goal-oriented. There is one communal goal, and that’s something we’ve never had. It was always known, but never vocalized,” Anthony said. The team’s objective is to qualify for nationals. In a league where any team can win on any given night, it is more than possible. Mason’s objectives are “to get better every single game, find things to continually get better [at], and if we do that, we will reach our end goal.”
“There is a lot of parity, there [have] already been upsets to start the season, and teams you thought would be leading the way are not. It’s only a couple of games in, but it’s clear that if you don’t show up, you’re going to lose,” Mason said. Last year’s MVP, Keri Martin, returns in goal for her final season. “[Martin] is always solid, the team can always rely on her,” captain Mackenzie Lalonde said. This factor is huge in a league where the little things matter. With “such a tight league, we can easily lose a game by not giving it 110 per cent,” Lalonde said. Lalonde looks to lead by example, giving it her all in her final season with the Mounties. Not only have the Mounties built a veteran team to reach their goals for the season, but the program has done a great job to prepare for turnover in the following year. With six players leaving after this season, the program has recruited multiple forwards to commit to the team. This will create a balance to continually foster the growth of the program. This past weekend, Mt. A hosted its first annual alumni reunion, which was beneficial for the hockey team. “It’s really important to see where these players have gone in their lives, and how successful they’ve been, as they are new role models to learn from,” said Mason. For its players, hockey is much more than just a sport, and the yearly reunion exemplifies this. “I think [the reunion is] a great idea, and when I graduate and I’m an alum, it’ll be something I look forward to because of all the friendships I’ve made, and to be able to reconnect with them after so many years is amazing,” said Anthony. The hockey team is about more than just winning. “It’s about the growth of the individual people in the room, watching them come in and seeing where they are now. You smile and you laugh, and it’s amazing to watch the people they turn into, and it’s really nice, to be a part of that,” Mason said.
Season spikes off Nov. 5, first home game Nov. 12
DAVID TAPLIN Sports and Health Editor In the 2013-14 season, Mount Allison’s varsity volleyball team missed the playoffs with an underwhelming record of nine wins and 12 losses. In response to that disappointing season, coach Paul Settle looked to revamp the program by overhauling his roster. The changes resulted in some initial division on the team, which hampered early results. “Last year we had 10 rookies and five returning girls, so it was kind of like we were trying to work our way into their group,” said fourth-year setter Madison Archibald. “By the end of the year we had definitely come together as a team, and I think that’s part of the success at playoffs.” Last year, the volleyball Mounties finished the season with a respectable 12 wins and nine losses and won their quarterfinal matchup against University of New Brunswick Saint John, before losing to Mount Saint Vincent University in the semifinal. Settle, who is now in his fourth year of coaching, described last season as a positive year, but was blunt about his expectations for this year. “This year we have a goal of [finishing with] 15 [wins and] six [losses],” Settle said. “We are gunning for a top-two finish.” This past off-season, Settle raised the training expectations for the team in order to achieve this goal and build the program. “We’ve instituted a strength training program, and the ones that have worked at it are still here today,” Settle said. One result of these new expectations is that the volleyball Mounties have a smaller roster than in past years. Of the 10 rookies from last year, four have returned to the team this season. The team is going into this season with a 10-player roster. “Last year we had 15 girls on the team, [but] a lot of people didn’t get to see the floor. You can’t work 15
girls onto the floor,” Archibald said. This year, all of the players will be expected to contribute. “Literally any of these girls could be in the starting lineup. It depends on who we are playing. Everybody has their own role on the team,” Archibald said. Second-year setter and 2015-16 Mounties rookie of the year, Lauren Wentzell, referenced competition in practice as a key to the team’s success. “We were all rookies, so we were all fighting for those spots and we all knew that,” she said. That competitive spirit fostered in practice has been carried on by those rookies, who now return as veteran players. “This is the more dedicated group, I think, the ones who really wanted it and wanted to work for it,” Wentzell said. There are still some questions heading into the 2016-17 season. With the graduation of star middle Sydney Umlah, players unfamiliar with that position are stepping up to fill the role. This transition is made even more difficult by the critical importance of the middle position in any team’s defence. “Moving girls into those positions, I don’t think [the middle position] is going to be ready for the beginning of the season exactly,” Archibald said. As this group of players continues to develop and grow, Settle sees success in the team’s future – if not this year, then next. “I would hope that we would be taking a trip to nationals [next] year. If we play well this year, we do have some very good athletes and I think we could pull off an upset,” Settle said. The coach’s confidence in the team comes from his belief in his players. “This group of girls is a fantastic group of girls. They pay attention, they’re wanting to get better,” he said. When asked about the team’s goal of competing for a top-two spot, Wentzell said, “Attainable, yes – will we do it? I don’t know. I will definitely work for it, and so will everyone else.”
CROSS COUNTRY
Mountie cross-country team wraps up a tough season MADALON BURNETT Contributor
The cross-country team’s ACAA season came to an end this weekend, with exciting results for both the men’s and women’s teams. With the season now over, fourth-year co-captain Connor Lane attributed the team’s dedication to the success they experienced this year. Everyone aims to improve with each race, and there is no way to do this without sticking it out and getting through each practice. The results of the men’s team this year speak to the importance of dedication. On Sept. 16, the team was relegated to second place. By the championship on Oct. 23, the cross-
country Mounties had the foundation and training to win the championship – highlighted by several successful racers’ finish at the top of the pack with some blisteringly fast times. The championship meet was hosted this year by Holland College in Brookvale, P.E.I. The Mounties competed against teams from five different Maritime universities and colleges. The men’s team came in first place in their eight-kilometre race and the women’s team finished in second place in their five-kilometre race, coming up just short of victory against a strong Dalhousie Agricultural College team. “It didn’t help that some of our top female runners were ineligible to run due to league rule changes,” said coach
Steve Scott. In order to be eligible to compete in the championships, runners had to participate in two out of three races. The entire men’s team had a strong championship meet, with exceptional performances from Lane and Andrew Linton. “Everyone worked hard all season and put together a fantastic championship race in typical Mount Allison fashion,“ said Scott. Races were hosted by Holland College, Université Sainte-Anne and Dalhousie Agricultural Campus. “My favourite course was in P.E.I.,” said fourth-year runner Anna Mairs, who participated in all three prechampionship races. “I love it because it is humbling and keeps you guessing if you’re on the right course or just
running through some woods,” Mairs said. Being on the cross-country team allows students who love exercising and being outside to meet likeminded people. “Running gives me energy when I’m tired, calms me down when I’m stressed, and never fails to remind me of how beautiful the world is and how lucky I am to be a part of it,” top Mt. A women’s finalist Beth Torrance said. The team strives to maintain a welcoming attitude that encourages success but minimizes stress. “This season was a really awesome experience, one that I haven’t really gotten from sports I’ve participated in before,” said second-year runner Carly Penrose, who joined the team
this year. The team emphasizes that participation is valued over physical results. “[Our] team is full of such great people [who] create an atmosphere which makes races not causes of nerves and worry, but challenge, excitement and genuine fun,” Penrose said. The end of the season always brings some disappointment, as it marks the end of official training sessions. “I am already looking forward to next year!” said second-year runner Shae Scully. The cross-country team plans to continue to run together for fun for the rest of the school year. Anyone who is interested in joining the team can email team co-captain Maddy Burnett at mdburnett@mta.ca.
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SPORTS & HEALTH
THE ARGOSY | WWW.ARGOSY.CA
HORROR
The horror of concussions
The helplessness, fear and misunderstanding associated with an all-too-common injury
KEIFER BELL Contributor
class – it was pretty bad,” Beland said. Concussions were hardly talked about 20 years ago, but have since become a major issue and concern in sports, causing long-term damage to athletes’ brains and mental health. “I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next 10 to 20 years, someone developed technology to grade the severity of a concussion,” Baxter said. “It’s not like a sprain, there’s no grade one, two or three. I think the next step is diagnosing them better.” Approximately five to 10 per cent of athletes will experience a concussion, according to the Sports Concussion Institute. Collision sports, including football, rugby and hockey, are more likely to cause concussions, yet other sports like basketball and soccer are seeing an annual increase in the number of concussions. Kiersten Mangold, a member of the Mt. A women’s basketball team and recipient of the 2015-16 ACAA rookie of the year award, talked about a concussion she experienced in 12th grade. “It was a really bad headache, just kind of foggy. I wasn’t able to focus on things for a while. I felt a lot more sensitive to stimulation like noise and light for two weeks or so,” Mangold said. Mangold discussed how the road to recovery was difficult and took longer than expected. “You need to really take your time with it. Take things in smaller steps, and expose yourself to little bits at a time.” Repeat concussions are dangerous and often occur when a player returns to sport before having fully healed and properly rested. Decisions to return prematurely are often caused by pressure from teammates, coaches and even some students’ parents, who are paying for their athletic experience. Also, in most cases, injured players do just want to get back out there and play. The problem
With the help of crutches, a knee brace and enough rehabilitation, you’ll bounce back from a torn ACL. With a cast on for four to six weeks, you can get over your broken arm. But what treatments are available for concussions? You look and even feel fine at times. There may not be an x-ray to tell you how bad the injury is, but inside your skull are damaged brain cells and chemical imbalances over which you have no control. There is no predicted time frame for when you will recover – if you recover at all. Robbie Baxter, a fifth-year biochemistry-commerce double major and member of the Mount Allison football team, suffered a concussion during training camp this year. “I was going to block a guy, I was slightly out of position and tried to get my head across his body, and his shoulder went right to the side of my head. Next thing I knew, everything was just spinning. I felt super dizzy and out of it…The symptoms lasted three to four weeks. I just felt super foggy. Nothing felt clear. I felt almost like I was watching everything happen instead of actually living it,” Baxter said. Although this was his first diagnosed concussion, Baxter does not believe this is his first. “I’ve had one diagnosed concussion, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I had a couple of other minor ones that only lasted a week or two and that I didn’t really think about, especially in high school,” Baxter said. Hannah Beland, a first-year sociology student on the women’s basketball team, also has a history of concussions. “After my second concussion, my symptoms were way worse than the first one. They lasted more than a month and a half. I couldn’t watch TV, I couldn’t even be in
WOMEN’S SOCCER
CONCUSSIONS CAN RESULT IN BRUISING AND SWELLING OF THE BRAIN. IZZY FRANCOLINI/ARGOSY
is, once someone gets a concussion, they are twice as likely to get another. After two, they become even more prone to a third. The scariest thing about concussions is that a “full recovery” is often not possible. When does a player call it quits after suffering too many concussions? Is sport their hobby, or are they pushing to make it a career? Is it worth compromising one’s long-term health and quality of life? The true horror of concussions is how damaging they can be to what matters most – your brain.
MEN’S SOCCER
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
STFX (A) 1 - MTA (H) 1 STFX (A) 7- MTA (H) 0 MEMORIAL (A) 6 - MTA (H) 0 MEMORIAL (A) 1 - MTA (H) 1
AUS
Cape Breton Memorial Acadia StFX UNB Dalhousie UPEI Moncton Mount Allison Saint Mary’s
GP 11 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 10 10
W
10 9 7 5 4 3 2 2 1 0
L
1 1 0 1 4 6 6 7 7 10
T 0 0 3 4 2 2 3 2 2 0
PTS 30 27 24 19 14 11 9 8 5 0
AUS
Cape Breton Acadia StFX Dalhousie UNB UPEI Memorial Saint Mary’s Moncton Mount Allison
GP 11 10 10 11 10 11 10 10 11 10
W 8 7 6 5 4 5 2 1 1 0
L 2 1 1 0 1 5 5 7 9 8
UPEI (A) 5 - MTA (H) 1 DAL (A) 1 - MTA (H) 3
T
1 2 3 6 5 1 2 2 1 2
PTS 25 23 21 21 17 16 8 5 4 2
FOOTBALL
AUS
W
St. Thomas 4 Saint Mary’s 3 StFX 2 UPEI 2 Moncton 1 Dalhousie 1 Mount Allison 1
AUS
SMU (A) 9 - MTA (H) 39 StFX STFX (A) 33 - ACADIA (H) 29 Mount Allison
Saint Mary’s Acadia
L OTL PTS 0 0 2 2 2 2 3
GP 7 7 7 7
0 1 0 0 1 1 0
W 6 3 2 1
11 9 6 5 4 4 3
L 1 4 5 6
PTS 12 6 4 2
08
09
10 ARTS & CULTURE
EDITORS: MIRELLE NAUD MALLORY BURNSIDE-HOLMES OCTOBER 27, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
MUSIC
An evening with the Tesla Quartet
Performance, teaching and outreach with Mt. A’s quartet-in-residence
TESLA QUARTET’S MUSICIANS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: ROSS SNYDER, SERAFIM SMIGELSKIY, MICHELLE LIE, AND EDWIN KAPLAN. DARIO ACOSTA/PHOTOGRAPHER
EMMA BUSH Contributor Internationally renowned string quartet, Tesla, wowed audience members last Friday with a performance of high classical music. The scores ranged from Haydn and Brahm to Janáček, whose piece recounts a murder through the voices of the four stringed instruments. The quartet is Mount Allison’s
Marjorie Young Bell string quartetin-residence. The quartet’s residency is supported by a fund that was established to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mt. A’s first Bachelor of Music degree and the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Marjorie Young Bell Conservatory of Music. The quartet is made up of violinists Ross Snyder and Michelle Lie, cellist Serafim Smigelskiy, and violist
PHOTOGRAPHY
Edwin Kaplan. Snyder founded the original group in 2008 at Juilliard. As the only remaining original member, Snyder has watched the group evolve and develop into what it is today. The quartet takes its name after electrical engineer and physicist Nikola Tesla. “[Tesla] talks about experimentally harnessing and transmitting the earth’s natural forces as history and that’s what we try to do with music,” Snyder said.
Described by classical music magazine The Strad as “technically superb,” the group draws their inspiration from each other and mentors like the Takács Quartet. “You will hear [one of the others playing] and will get so excited because what they are doing is so cool,” Kaplan said. “It just makes you want to be even better too.” Tesla discovered the opening for a string quartet-in-residence at Mt.
Community images focus on the environment The Argosy thanks everyone for their photo submissions, more of which can be found at
www.argosy.ca
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY SAVANNAH MILEEN HARRIS, MATTHEW FYFE, ALAA RATMI AND RYAN MACRAE
A when they saw an advertisement shared on Facebook by the Banff Centre’s competition director of music activities. Having all come from different metropolitan areas in the United States, the move to smalltown Sackville was a big change, but one that they felt happy about. They are also excited to be travelling in the upcoming months. “We are going to [Europe] very soon, and to parts of Asia in the new year,” Lie said. Snyder said that the group was excited to be “playing [one of their favourite composers] Hyden’s pieces in parts of Europe where he would have played and even written them.” Other exciting updates for the Quartet include arranging a debut album and starting a Facebook live stream, a project that entails performing and answering fan questions once a month. The quartet also performs outreach work in places such as soup kitchens and children’s hospitals. “We promote educating younger audiences and younger players,” Lie said. “They are our future audience.” As a word of encouragement to Mt. A students, Smigelskiy shared one of the best pieces of advice that he ever received: “There’s a very high chance of you failing at something that you’re not passionate about, so why not go ahead and fail at something that you are passionate about?”
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THE ARGOSY | WWW.ARGOSY.CA
POLITICS
11
Students speak on American election
American and non-American students alike engage in political discussion WILL PELLETIER Contributor As American citizens prepare to flock to the ballot boxes on Nov. 8, anxiety over who will be our southern neighbour’s future head of state is rising. After nearly a year and a half of a constant barrage of political debate and discussion from popular media outlets, celebrities and friends, voter turnout is expected to break records. Even a small Canadian campus like Mount Allison’s cannot escape the political frenzy. American-born student Maureen Abegdibi said she will probably begrudgingly vote for Hillary Clinton. She echoed a common concern among many disenchanted voters, claiming to not be “comfortable with all of her policies, with her history, with her as a politician and as a moral person,” but she thinks that “the alternative is much more dangerous.” She added, “I’d most definitely feel more inclined to vote [for Bernie] Sanders.” Abegdibi felt that the rise of populist candidates Donald Trump and Sanders highlighted a broken political system. “Sanders happened because Democrats were sick of the establishment. Trump happened because Republicans are sick of the establishment.” She said that the fundamental difference between ex-Democratic candidate Sanders and current Democratic nominee Clinton is their approach to dealing with the American political system. “[Clinton] is interested in being a part of the system, whereas [Sanders] recognized that there was something
wrong with it, and wanted to take it apart,” Abegbidi said. “I think what he was saying really resonated with a lot of students, so that’s part of the reason why he had so much support last year.” Libertarian party nominee Gary Johnson and Green party nominee Jill Stein have spent considerably less time in the public spotlight than either Trump or Clinton. Abegdibi said that while it would be nice to incorporate more parties into the electoral process, she believed that as the two-party system currently stands, a vote for Johnson or Stein would be a vote wasted. American student Isabel SearsSurface embraces the idea of voting for third-party candidates during smaller elections. “It’s ridiculous to have those parties only visible during the presidential election but keep them invisible for smaller elections. People forget that voting thirdparty at the local level, like school boards, mayoral positions, [or] state representatives, can be very valuable.” However, Sears-Surface felt that voting third-party should “definitely not [happen] at the federal or presidential level, because all that is doing is splitting the vote.” “In American elections, what tends to happen when you split the vote is that you get something you’d want even less,” Sears-Surface said. While most students at Mt. A are not American and cannot vote in the upcoming election, many still have a lot to say. Canadian fourth-year student Liam St. Louis stated he would happily vote for Clinton. “She’s an impressive woman,” St. Louis said.
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES SPEW STAR SPANGLED BANTER AND THROW BLOWS HIGH AND LOW. IZZY FRANCOLINI/ARGOSY “She strikes me as someone who will know how to deal with dysfunctional American politics.” St. Louis felt particularly drawn to Clinton due to her greater political experience compared to Trump. “American politics are broken, and being able to navigate [the political system] is the only way to get anything done. I think she’ll move the Democratic party leftwards and forwards,” St. Louis said. “So in a way, she’s actually less ‘establishment’ than you’d think.” Second-year Canadian student Riley Barrett said he would vote for Trump if he were an American citizen. Barrett felt that Clinton’s
precedent of lying and manipulating the system was enough to get him to support the Republican candidate. “Frankly, I think that Hillary will lie through her teeth to get people to vote for her,” Barrett said. “People don’t really look at the email scandal, but it’s a great example: the sheer fact that she would get a subpoena, and for her to then delete 30,000 of them and whitewash them…it’s so suspicious.” Barrett felt that despite his weekly gaffes, Trump’s aggressive and emotionally charged approach to public speaking was enticing rather than off-putting. “He’s said things I would have never said to people in
real life, but I do think he doesn’t try to hide his true opinion like Hillary does,” Barrett said. “It doesn’t bother me that he’s not politically correct – he’s saying things that are already on people’s minds, and more importantly, what’s on his mind.” Considering the implications of Clinton’s countless odious scandals and Trump’s setbacks after tripping over his own controversial sound bites and inflammatory rhetoric, this exhausting presidential election presents voters with a very difficult decision, the result of which will reverberate far beyond the United States.
FOOD
Plant-based diets: not the cure-all for climate change Combating the current eco-crisis requires comphrensive action and understanding CORINNA PAUMIER Arts and Culture Reporter In a world full of environmental destruction where glucose-fructose rules with its sweet, sweet savour and factory farming is rampant, it is not surprising to see people shifting toward a diet that excludes animal products in the name of eco-friendliness. This movement has gained popularity, and it is now a common conception that vegetarianism and veganism is the dietary revolution that climate change activists need. People often misunderstand what vegetarian and vegan diets entail and exclude. Vegetarians omit meat and obtain nutrients from fruits, vegetables and animal byproducts such as cheese and eggs, while vegans refrain from eating all meat and animal byproducts. The reasons people may choose to alter their diet can vary from health issues to ethical concerns. “I started [eating vegetarian] because I was researching the environmental impact of the
agricultural industry, especially beef, [which] has huge impacts in terms of land usage and the release of methane gas,” said Anna Jamieson, a third-year Mount Allison student involved with the on-campus group Eco-Action. Fourth-year student Kathleen Cowie began her vegetarian diet differently. “I became a vegetarian when I was 11. My sister and I thought the easiest way to become a vegetarian was to have a competition to see who could be one [to last] the longest, and now we’re both still vegetarian,” Cowie said. The production of animal meats and byproducts significantly contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions and the overall degradation of the planet. However, of total global greenhouse gas emissions, animalbased food production doesn’t break 20 per cent. While 20 per cent is a significant amount in million metric tons of carbon dioxide, choosing to omit meat from your diet is not the most effective way to combat climate change. Eating a plant-based diet can allow
people to live more sustainably, but a eco-friendly subsistence is fully effective only when implemented alongside other choices that combat climate-change. “At what point are you doing it just…for a status symbol? At what point do you turn your attention to eating local?” said Cecilia Stuart, a third-year Mt. A student. “Is it really better to be vegan if you’re getting almond milk, taking B12 pills, [and] consuming nutritional yeast when you could be turning your attention to trying to find local eggs and making connections with local farmers?” Compared to other small towns, whose limited access to local produce creates both physical and economic barriers to a more eco-friendly diet, Sackville offers residents an impressive, well-functioning farmers market every Saturday. The market allows buyers to minimize the distance their food travels (thereby decreasing additives to global emissions) and support local businesses. “Since I moved to Sackville I definitely make a conscious effort to go to the market every week... [and]
buy all my produce on Saturday, if I can,” said Katharyn Stevenson, a fourth-year Mt. A student. “I think it goes beyond being a vegetarian or a vegan, especially living in a small town. [It involves] support[ing] local farmers and growers in our own community, because a lot of people who are selling at the market each week, that is their livelihood…it adds a special relationship to the food you’re eating.” While it is important to be passionate about food and care about what goes into your body, the
ultimate way to champion a vegan or vegetarian mindset is to also be considerate of the other choices you are making. Choosing to abstain from eating animals and animal-based products does not absolve someone of their other environmental responsibilities. The cars we drive, the plastic we use, the miles our organic avocados travel and non-divesting university we attend – all of our everyday consumer habits – must be considered if we wish to create a sustainable world and food system.
BREADS, BEETS AND VITAMIN B-12: A VEGAN’S BOUNTY. JEFF MANN/ARGOSY
12 ARTS & CULTURE
OCTOBER 27, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
SCARY STORIES
Ghosts of Sackville: a guide Students not the only directionless souls roaming town
ABOVE: GHOST STORIES NEVER DIE. LEFT: WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN, GHOSTS COME OUT IN SACKVILLE’S PICTURESQUE WATERFOWL PARK. ADRIAN KIVA/ARGOSY
CHELSEA DOHERTY Arts and Culture Reporter Looking for a fright this Halloween? Most Mount Allison students know the story of the Hart Hall ghost, but there are a few other spirits lingering around town that paranormal thrill seekers should be aware of. Here’s your ghost hunter’s guide to a few popular haunts around Sackville.
Hart Hall Haunting
Hart Hall was built in 1910 as part of the pre-existing Mount Allison Ladies’ College. Originally, the building contained a dormitory, gymnasium, swimming pool, classrooms and an apartment for the College Principal. It is the oldest academic building on campus still in use. While it currently houses many academic departments, it is also home to Sackville’s most well-known ghost. The ghost of a former Mt. A voice professor is said to haunt the building. While some believe Ethel Peake (1875-1954) died of a heart attack at the age of 69, others say she committed suicide by hanging herself in her office on the third floor of Hart Hall. Through an email correspondence, Emily Jewer recounted her friend’s encounter with Peake, which occurred sometime between 2006 and 2007: “[Jewer’s friend was] working late one night in the darkroom in the basement of Hart Hall. There was an old boombox that we would play tapes and CDs on. She was the only one in the lab that night and had the music up pretty loud, when it
VACANCIES AVAILABLE FOR GHOST GUESTS. ADRIAN KIVA/ ARGOSY
suddenly got quieter… she went over and turned it up. A few minutes later it got quiet again. She went back over and turned it up again. The boombox had a dial on it to control the volume. So after turning it up again she stood and stared at the dial and watched as it slowly turned itself down until the music was muted.” Based on many accounts, Peake’s ghost does not seem to be meanspirited. However, one incident that occurred in 2012 indicates otherwise. Last summer, Mt. A student Rebecca Lawrence took a brave group of first-year students on a ghost tour throughout Sackville. Lawrence recounted the story to the Argosy: “When I was in first year [in 2012], there was a male [student who]...went into Hart Hall at night to find the ghost. Somehow this [student] ended up falling down a flight of stairs and broke his leg. When he later told the story, he said he fell backwards right before he was about to gain access to the third floor. He said it felt like he had been pushed - he used to laugh about [the Hart Hall ghost pushing him]. He broke his leg very badly and suffered a concussion…and was in a wheelchair for a long time. But a lot of people took [his story] seriously because he was a strong guy, and for him to just fall backward seemed strange.”
who were working on the Avard Dixon building. Two of the workers were injured, and Emile Fougere died from the fall. In a Sept. 1994 issue of the Argosy, it was reported that many bystanders believed the “Zoom Boom” the workers were on was unsafe, and therefore caused the accident. The most disparaging part of the incident is that Occupational Health and Safety Inspectors were on the scene at the time of the incident. Today, if you face the side of the building closest to the Music Conservatory and look up to the top-right corner, you will see the engraving of his name, birthdate and date of death. His fellow stone masons placed the brick where the tragic death occurred. If you spend an evening in Avard Dixon, you might hear Fougere’s ghost. Students have reported hearing loud noises when the building is empty. “When I was a second-year, I was working in Avard Dixon. A group of us were working a scene for a drama class project,” Lawrence said. “We all heard a really loud banging sound – it sounded like something had just fallen in the next room. I didn’t hear the ghost story until the next summer when I was giving a tunnel tour.”
The Bard of Waterfowl Park
During the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Canadian poet John Thompson was a beloved faculty member of Mt. A’s English department. The story of his wandering ghost is not as frightening as it is sad. Thompson was a known alcoholic and suffered from episodes of depression. He died at the young age of 38. The cause of his death remains a subject of debate, some believing his death was a suicide. On the night of Thompson’s death, the tenants living below him heard muffled choking and cries. He was discovered shortly after in his apartment unconscious and was later pronounced dead at the Sackville Memorial Hospital. The autopsy did not provide conclusive evidence that Thompson had killed himself. Soon after his death, his house burned down without evident cause. With no home to go back to, Thompson’s spirit has been seen late at night wandering Waterfowl Park, one of the places he often frequented after an evening of drinking.
Horse spooks at Marshlands Inn
Some of the scariest paranormal encounters in Sackville have been
with the spirits of horses. Marshlands Inn was built in 1850 by William Crane. In 1935, Herbert W. Read and his wife, Anne Smith, turned the property into an inn and operated it until the 1980s. At a time when the horse and buggy was a common mode of transportation, the fields behind the Marshlands Inn allegedly housed stables where sick and suffering worker horses were euthanized. If you find yourself spending a night at the Marshlands Inn, Lawrence and locals suggest going for a walk into the back field. Once you have walked far enough, they say you will be overcome by a fear or dread so powerful you will begin to walk back towards the safety of the Inn. When you begin walking away, the sound of trotting will follow close behind, and when you stop, the trotting will stop. You will want to run back to safety, but if you do, the sound of a galloping horse will follow. Because the Inn spans over 80 acres, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact location where you will be overwhelmed with this dread. However, witnesses say that the trotting will start regardless of when you decide to turn back.
Avard Dixon Apparition
On Aug. 16, 1994, a front-end loader backed into a sandpile, tipped over, and went into the “Zoom Boom” – a telescopic basket attached to a motorized machine that is used for construction work at great heights – that was holding three stone masons
ON A DISCRETE PLAQUE, EMILE FOUGERE IS COMMEMORATED. ADRIAN/ARGOSY
ARTS & CULTURE
THE ARGOSY | WWW.ARGOSY.CA
13
DIY: holiday latte
FOOD AND DRINK
Unsettling the table Haunted by the spectre of Aramark
ALEX LEPIANKA Contributor In the next few years, Mount Allison’s new Centre for Environmental Innovation will welcome a number of environmental scientists to Sackville’s research community. Precedent suggests that the University will host an opening gala to celebrate the Centre and our leadership in environmental innovation. It is equally likely that Aramark, the corporation responsible for supplying all food on campus, will cater the event. Regardless of the Centre’s purported benefits, the fact that the University holds ties to companies like Aramark means that, from its very inauguration, the Centre will house a contradiction. The meaningful contributions the Centre will make to the development of our regional economy and our status as an innovative hub are complicated by our partnership with this multinational corporation. Aramark earns about $15 billion per year from food-service operations in schools, hospitals and prisons, making large-scale food supply artificially cheap and efficient. If the Centre is to shed any light on our condition within a changing
environment, we must consider the total network of practices that constitute our daily lives – including how we obtain our food here at Mt. A. The lack of current discourse on such issues makes me doubtful that even a Centre for Environmental Innovation will motivate this necessary task of self-reflection. My skepticism owes to the fact that the University is unable to correct even the hypocrisies that do receive public criticism. It would be a great surprise if Mt. A, for example, officially acknowledged the duplicitousness of funding a Centre for Environmental Innovation while investing in the fossil fuels industry. Even then, the ethical carelessness of the University as an institutional investor receives much greater public, administrative and media attention than the moral responsibilities of the university as a dining-service provider. In most cases, the only official mention of our dining services comes in the form of quick praise before banquets. Otherwise, as will be the case at the Centre’s opening gala, our food providers remain ghostlike – the unnoticed bearers of cantaloupe slices and oatmeal cookies. While our dining services make commitments to sourcing local food
and minimizing their environmental impacts, our dependence on Aramark and other massive food providers like PepsiCo, Sysco and Nestle conceals the grim truth that we are unable to feed ourselves. From a fiscal perspective, the costs of organizing our community to grow, procure, cook and serve our food are too great to be undertaken by either our school or our region as a whole. To feed ourselves, we rely on large-scale agricultural operations, globalized networks of supply and efficient corporate structures. In turn, the food industry’s tremendous ecological damages have become essential to the way we eat. Innovating the food system does not require technological, scientific, or policy-based improvements to existing industrial networks. Rather, innovation requires that food production become a local and community-focused affair. It is impossible to counter ecological damage by working with the very corporations that obscure the value of local food. Any institutional effort that does not work toward making our food system a local, sustainable and accessible affair cannot be praised as environmentally innovative.
SKIP STARBUCKS – SHAKE ‘N’ SPIKE YOUR OWN LATTE. ADRIAN KIVA/ARGOSY
KEEGAN HILTZ Contributor Ah, autumn – the season of colourful leaves, crisp breezes and seasonal treats like mulled cider and pumpkin pie. Since Thanksgiving is over, you’ve probably got a couple extra cans of pumpkin purée in the pantry. An easy solution to this waste-notwant-not dilemma is to mix up a pumpkin spiked latte – the drink Starbucks wishes it could serve. Ingredients: - 3 GENEROUS TBSP PURE CANNED PUMPKIN PURÉE - 2 TBSP CREAM - 1 TBSP MAPLE SYRUP OR SWEETENER OF YOUR CHOICE - ¼ TSP EACH OF CINNAMON, ALLSPICE AND CLOVES - 40 ML WHISKY OR BOURBON
Combine ingredients plus 3 ice cubes in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously until everything is smooth, without any lumps of pumpkin. If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, a coffee thermos works just as well. Pour the drink into a glass and enjoy while it is still frosty. This recipe has a lot of room for variation. I used coffee cream, but other kinds of cream, or even just some extra milk, work just as well. Make it a pumpkin martini by using equal parts pumpkin, cream and vodka. Or, for a pumpkin caipirinha, use equal parts white rum and pumpkin and swap out the cream for 2 tbsp lime juice. For a fall punch, shake together equal parts bourbon, pumpkin, and lemon juice, then pour over ice and top with ginger beer. Enjoy any of these drinks at a Halloween party or while watching a scary movie. For a more authentic Starbucks experience, misspell your name in sharpie on the side of your cocktail glass.
ARGOSY FUNDERS’ MEETING WANT TO HAVE A SAY IN YOUR STUDENT NEWSPAPER?
Agenda - Editor-in-Chief ’s budgetary report - Election of student board members
Thursday November 3rd, 4:00pm Room 386, Wallace McCain Student Centre
14 OPINIONS
THE ARGOSY w w w. a r g o s y. c a
Independent Student Newspaper of Mount Allison University Thursday, October 27, 2016 volume 146 issue 8
EDITOR: SHANNON POWER | OCTOBER 27, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
STAFF EDITORIAL
Mount Allison must divest from fossil fuels
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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
AT HOMECOMING, DIVEST MTA ACTIVISTS CALLED ON THE UNIVERSITY TO TAKE THEIR INVESTMENTS OUT OF THE FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY. SHANNON POWER/ARGOSY
THE ARGOSY Editorial Board
COPY EDITOR | Claire Henderson-Hamilton
PRODUCTION staff PRODUCTION MANAGER | Hailey Guzik PHOTO EDITOR | Adrian Kiva PHOTOGRAPHERS | Ryan MacRae, Savannah Harris ILLUSTRATION EDITOR | Jeff Mann ILLUSTRATORS | Andreas Fobes, Izzy Francolini ONLINE EDITOR | Monica Zahl
REPORTING staff NEWS REPORTERS | Leo Gertler, Kavana Wa Kilele, Jill MacIntryre POLITICS REPORTER | Nadiya Safonova SPORTS REPORTER | Hamza Munawar ARTS & CULTURE REPORTERS | Chelsea Doherty, Marissa Cruz, Corinna Paumier
OPERATIONS staff BUSINESS MANAGER | Tessa Dixon AD MANAGER | James Lantz CIRCULATIONS | Katharyn Stevenson
In 2013, a group of students at Mount Allison started Divest MTA. They joined thousands of activists from across the globe calling on their universities to divest all endowments from fossil fuels. In the last three years, the movement has repeatedly been dismissed by various decisionmakers at Mt. A. Divest MTA’s efforts highlight a widespread disregard for the concerns and well-being of students and the planet.
Cultural appropriation trivializes and perpetuates racial oppression
Meagan Chaput, Keegan Hiltz, Alex Lepianka, Kevin Melanson, Sarah Noonan, Will Pelletier COVER | Evan Furness RUNNING DOODLES | Louis Sobol
PUBLICATION board
Leslie Kern, Owen Griffiths
DISCLAIMERS & COPYRIGHT The Argosy is the official independent student journal of news,
opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of
KAVANA WA KILELE News Reporter
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.
an attempt to uphold objectivity – a stance that disregards the need for moral opposition to climate injustice. We can no longer justify this neutrality. The theme of this issue is “Environmental Horror.” We find it horrific that senior decision-makers are willing to defend Mt. A’s morally corrupt investments in the name of practicality and business as usual. For this reason, the Argosy supports the students who are calling for Mt. A to divest from fossil fuels.
Halloween: not an excuse to be racist
Keifer Bell, Madalon Burnett, Emma Bush, Marley Caddell,
of Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. The
violence. As a settler colonial state, Canada has accumulated wealth at the expense of Indigenous peoples and their land. This university claims to value Indigenous knowledge, a system of understanding that is rooted in reciprocal relationships with the land. By refusing to distance itself from an industry that threatens the unceded territory on which Mt. A rests, the senior administration not only erases this knowledge but reveals its willful complicity in colonialism. In past years, the Argosy has remained neutral on this issue in
CULTURAL APPROPRIATION
CONTRIBUTORS
opinion, and the arts, written, edited and funded by the students
The fossil fuel industry has exploited the earth for over a century. Now, as climate change intensifies, the need for substantive change is more pressing than ever. Climate change cannot be understood only as an ecological issue – we must recognize its social ramifications. It enacts violence on the world’s most vulnerable populations – worsening food insecurity and displacing poor and racialized groups from their homes – all in the name of corporate profit. In Canada, we are far from innocent in the continued perpetuation of this
Three Mount Allison students walk into the Pond on Halloween. The first is wearing a Burka, the second is dressed as Luke Cage – blackface included – and the last dons a feather headdress with a suede top and pants. Of the three, who has best executed cultural appropriation? Cultural appropriation refers to the adoption of elements of one culture by members of another. These elements are exhibited outside of their original context and often against the expressed wishes of representatives of the originating culture. Cultural appropriation trivializes violent historical racial oppression and allows the dominant group to exploit a culture while remaining prejudiced against its people. Things
that are “too ethnic” for people of colour (POC) become “cool” for white people. It allows some people to take credit for things that creators were never credited for. A great example of this is rock and roll. Elvis Presley is seen as the king of rock and roll, a genre that originated from blues. Initially, black artists shaped the blues, but in the 1950’s, racist white people were clear that they didn’t want to support a black artist – that is where Elvis comes in. Sam Phillips, the record executive who discovered Elvis, exemplified this perfectly when he said, “If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars.” Cultural appropriation allows white people to do freely what POC were and are actively punished for doing. It prioritizes the feelings of privileged people over justice for marginalized people. Whether seen or unseen, cultural appropriation of any kind is extensively harmful. Often, those from the dominant culture reduce cultural elements, which have deep meaning for the original culture, to nothing more than “exotic” fashion. This allows appropriators to temporarily play an exotic other
without experiencing any of the daily discriminations faced by those within the appropriated culture. Another example of this is black hair. This week, I saw a post on Facebook of a girl in single braids with a tag line that read, “blacks should thank us for making black culture desirable. I’m sorry white girls just do it better.” Meanwhile, POCs still face discrimination for wearing their natural hair. Black hair is still considered “unprofessional” and “inappropriate.” Traditionally black hairstyles are considered “edgy” or “interesting” on white people, but on black people it is seen as too subversive. We must always be aware of the power structures that inform our daily lives. The hard truth is that cultural appropriation is a top-down power dynamic. The dominant culture, which is rooted in white supremacy, takes elements from cultures that have been systematically oppressed – the cultures of POCs. If you don’t want to be responsible for blatant racism, then educate yourself. There is literature on the harms of cultural appropriation and how to avoid it, so it is important that everybody takes the initiative to learn
(and unlearn) discrimination that leads to cultural appropriation. With Halloween around the corner, we as Mt. A students must be aware of the implications of the costumes we choose. Culture is not, nor will it ever be, a costume. It is okay to want to take part in a culture outside your own, but you must be thoughtful about your interactions. Learn how to balance exchange and respect. Dressing up as another culture for Halloween will never be respectful. There is no such thing as a proper execution of cultural appropriation – all three Mt. A students are in the wrong. Cultural appropriation is racist. There is no excuse.
EDITOR: MARK CRUZ | OCTOBER 27, 2016 | ARGOSY@MTA.CA
THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION: ANY RESEMBLANCE TO REAL PEOPLE OR
HUMOUR 15
EVENTS IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL
“Banned from Club P”: A Tragedy
MARK CRUZ Humour Editor SCENE 1 Curtains rise. Old Larry’s parking lot, an unseasonably humid evening in October. The weather matches the fervid excitement of the line outside: Youth wait excitedly afront the objectively shitty bar. Muffled music comes through the onyx fake-brick walls of the bar. Enter Mark and his friends. MARK: Showing slight signs of intoxication. …ahhhh, this line is crazy. BOUNCER: His commanding voice is heard from offstage. We are over capacity! You guys need to back up! Back up! MARK: Jokingly to his friends. Maaaaan, this guy is a narc! He revels in his own obnoxious behaviour. Louder now. Don’t listen to him everyone! He’s a narc! Fuck this! Enter Bouncer. BOUNCER: Irritated. Shoots a steely eyed glare at Mark. Hey! MARK: Notices the attention of Bouncer. Cautiously continues his roguish behaviour, louder this time. Naahhhh, this guy is a narc! BOUNCER: Anger flashes, fiery in his eyes. Testosterone courses through the veins on his brow. Alright buddy. He steps forward, grabs Mark by the shoulders and shoves him violently several times to the door. MARK: Jokingly, but with an undercurrent of resentment. Agh! Are you being for real right now, are you joking… Laughs nervously during altercation. Friends get involved, stepping between the two gladiators. BOUNCER: Unreasonably irate – testily. Flexing. Get the fuck out of here. Leave! MARK What the fuck… haha what did I even do? It was a joke buddy, c’mon. BOUNCER Just leave…Go. JUST GO. Mark laughs nervously with his pals. Exit Mark and friends. End Scene 1
SCENE 2
SCENE 3
Curtains rise. The scene is like before, though the line has thinned considerably. Ten minutes have passed. The Bouncer is seen under fluorescent lighting, continuing to diligently check IDs. Enter Mark and friends. MARK: Hopeful and smug in his approach. Hey man, it’s cool if I come in now? BOUNCER: With a sudden look of contemptuous hostility. No. Nope. You can’t come in. MARK: Why though? I literally did nothing— BOUNCER: Obstinately. No, fucking leave. MARK: Haha, this is bullshit! You have no reason— BOUNCER: Power-tripping. Aroused slightly by his dominance in the situation. Alright— Steps forward quickly. Grabbing Mark’s throat, he throttles and pushes him across the parking lot. They are close enough to kiss. Friends and strangers leap into action to pull him off. MARK: Shocked. Suddenly tense. Crotch swells. What the hell! Shaking, voice quivering. You can’t just grab people like that. What authority do you have? BOUNCER: Breathing heavily. Pleased with his show of strength. What authority do YOU have? MARK: Now aware of a growing audience, stands up straighter. Deepens voice. Oh fuck off, look at this guy, the bouncer for “Club P”— BOUNCER: Interrupting. His vanity piqued – confidently. Straight-faced. At least I have a job! Folds arms, visibly proud of his masculinity. MARK: With a hearty confidence. Smiling. Holy shit. Hahahaha. You actually just said “at least I have a job.” Are you for real? Looks desperately for approval amongst his friends. Let’s get out of here. Exit Mark. End Scene 2
Mark and friends exit bar. It is clear that Mark has found a way into the club undetected. His demeanor smug and pleased as he walks past his aggressor. The bouncer follows him outside. BOUNCER: Twiddles green sharpie with a macho sensibility. You’re on the ban list. You can’t come back. MARK: Laughing. Sarcastic. Oh no, what will I do… Aside Hmm. Don’t you cry. Goddammit, don’t you cry! Don’t let him see you cry. Inflicts a blow against his own arm, hoping to stifle his sadness. I don’t even think I wanted to go into that shitty bar. Was my virtue simply folly? He did violate my personal space, yes. But what difference in character do I have from this brute before me? Under different circumstances, he could have been friend, not foe. Maybe even more than friends... Quietly. Perhaps he is as broken as I am inside. His head hangs, kicks at asphalt. He is aware of his aloneness. The parking lot is now empty. Walks slowly away, across parking lot. Looks back longingly at the Bouncer. Opens mouth as if to speak. The words do not come. Sighs, then continues into the darkness alone. Exit Mark. Lights fade.
FIN.
BY MARISSA CRUZ
Cruz’s latest drama examines the fragile male psyche
BY SARAH NOONAN
! calling all funny people !
WE ARE LOOKING FOR CONTRIBUTORS ILLUSTRATIONS, COMICS, DOODLES, WRITING EMAIL ARGOSY@MTA.CA WITH YOUR NAME AND CONTACT INFORMATION FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED!