Acadia’s Student Newspaper since 1874 Febuary 26th , 2015 Issue 77. 8
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Entrepreneurship is for Everyone Megan Stanton Contributor
The Acadia Entrepreneurship Center wants everybody to be an entrepreneur. They believe that entrepreneurship is going to solve the problems of the world, and they want to help. The center offers a variety of services to students and community members. The Athenaeum Acadia University’s Student News Paper Issue 77.7
The business development center provides innovation and business support in partnership with the university. Their launchbox program helps foster ideas and help entrepreneurs plan for the future. The center wants to promote this entrepreneurial spirit in students on campus. They hope to see intercurricular, cocurricular and extracurricular programs to sus-
ASU Box 6002, Acadia University Wolfville, NS, Canada B4P 2R5 Editor In Chief: Stephanie Bethune email: eic@acadiau.ca SUB room 512 EIC Office Hours: Sunday 2:00-5:00 Advertising Enquiries: mark.pound@gmail.com Business Enquiries: 116765m@acadiau.ca Jocelyn Wilkie Editor In Chief Jalen Sabean Stephanie Bethune Will Cann Section Editors Andrew Haskett Art: Riley MacKinnon Christian Vail News: Alex Quesnel Opinions: Tess Pooran Contributors Megan Stanton Sport: Laura Jeha Stephanie McGlashan Production Manager Kerri-Anne McFarland Megan Stanton Aaron Barrett Photo Manager Ben Creaser Robin Lawson Sarah Mackinnon Copy Editor Lexi Dutnall Trevor Braxton-Barto Julia Smith Online Manager Hillary Jones Deirdre Campbell Alyssa Gerhardt Advertising Manager Elizabeth Muggah Mark Pound Lesley Frank Business Manager Brittney Pulsifer Robyn McMillan Laura Cooper Staff Writers The Athenaeum is the official student newspaper of Acadia University and is published in print and online year-round at theath.ca. The opinions expressed herein do not represent the Acadia Students Union or the staff of the Athenaeum, they are held by the individuals who contribute to the Athenaeum as essential members of our completely studentrun newspaper Articles submitted will be published at the discretion of the editorial board. If there is content that we feel will not add to the philosophy, dialogue, or tone of our newspaper, it will not be published. That being said, all of our staff members look forward to working together with writers to improve their quality of writing, and to make sure the Athenaeum remains professional and well-rounded. The Athenaeum may accept submissions from any student or member of our campus, present and past, and is always looking for more writers and photographers. If you are looking for coverage of an event or story, would like to notify us of a complaint or correction, or would like to submit a letter to the editor, contact Stephanie Bethune at eic@acadiau.ca There are open story meetings every Saturday at 6pm in the Athenaeum office, room 512 in the SUB—all are welcome, and we encourage you to come!
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Entreprenuership Profile: Sustain Your Body Fourth year Kinesiology student, Skylar fines and Acadia Alumni Alina Bychkova want you to get healthy. Their youtube channel Sustain Your Body is designed to convey messages about the importance of physical activity and nutrition in a way that is funny and entertaining. They aim to get more people to enjoy a healthy lifestyle and give them accurate information to do so. Their shows hange from video parodies to simple exercise at home/work videos. Skylar states that “from our university backgrounds we have learned just how much nutrition and physical activity can have an impact”. Although many of university students believe they have knowledge of what health is and how to be healthy they are
tain entrepreneurship on campus. Intercurricular programs are classes like Venture Creation from the business school and classes offered in community development. Acadia Entrepreneurship is also working on bringing more classes in partnership with the university. Cocurricular programs are ones that combine both the program the students are in and outside work. If students are interested they can sign up to be partnered with a relevant business that needs help in their area of expertise. This could mean valuable experience and problem solving skills for the students involved. And finally are the extracurricular programs like launchbox. These often misinformed. The sustain your body duo seek to teach the truth about health. While in the early stages of developing their channel Alina and Skylar felt as if there was little help available to them. Now though Skylar credits Acadia TV’s, Dave Sheehan and his kinesiology professors with helping them stay motivated. It wasn’t until they got in touch with the LaunchBox program offered by the Acadia Entrepreneurship Center that they could reflect on what successes they had had and see their next moves. The duo want to see their business grow from just a youtube channel into a health information network. Somewhere anyone can go to get reliable health information to create the lifestyle they desire. As well the pair want to travel the world spreading health awareness to a greater audience. They believe that education is the first step towards making good choices. Sklyer believes that “for students that have an idea burning inside and they can’t find a way to formulate it or how to take it on, it is best to bounce it off people. Not just your peers, Facebook is a great way to communicate with people all across Canada and find out an average perception of your idea.
programs might not have anything to do with a student’s degree but they can help them on the entrepreneurial path. Students are the leaders of the future. They have valuable insight and ideas. Fostering and sustaining an entrepreneurial environment will allow for them to see their ideas reach full potential, and possibly change the world. If you have a bright idea don’t let it wait, go talk to the entrepreneurship center and get some guidance! 5th Floor of Patterson Hall or email: entrepreneurship@acadiau.ca Don’t be discouraged, you will always find people that dislike or maybe even hate your idea. Get a partner, if you can find a solid team to support the idea, you might be able to split the work into more manageable portions.”
Entreprenuership Profile: Campus Compass Have you ever been lost on campus? Do you find it frustrating that you can’t easily find a room in a building? This trio of computer science majors has come up with the easiest and quickest way to find your way around the Acadia Campus. Sam Coleman, Tyler Joudrey, and Brad Jobe, have been involved with Campus Compass since its inception in September 2014. Campus Compass is a map director y that you can text. When continued on page 3
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The Our Food Project Evolution of Efficiency in Stephanie McGlashan Contributor
This research focused on a case study of the Our Food Project. It used a qualitative, interpretive design to explore the understandings, concepts and good practices that organizations can employ in a network approach to facilitating a shift to a more sustainable community food system based on providing for social, economic, and environmental health. Semistructured interviews and small focus groups were the primary method of data collection. These were conducted with community food activists across Canada and key stakeholders of the Our Food Project who are working to develop positive food environments. The motivation for this research stems primarily from a passion for food. Food has and always will be a central aspect of my life. It serves as a key element of social situations, health and wellness, education, extracurricular activities, and hobbies and past times. Food security and sustainability
Popular Management Books
Kerri-Anne McFarland are two topics I am both interContributor ested and involved in and this research effectively combines them. Program: Bachelor of Business received, or the length of a meetAdministration with Honours & ing. My current manager at the time did not have a response on The research findings revealed Co-op, 4th year that there are innumerable prob- Thesis Topic: Evolution of Effi- how to measure the management lems within the existing industri- ciency in Popular Management teams performance efficiency. al system interfering in the shift Books This led to further investigation towards a more desirable future for the environment, society and I discovered my topic while I was about the concept of efficiency, economy alike. Three major on my first co-op work term, where the use and practice of themes were identified through working with a corporate finance efficiency has become central the coding process for the inter- team at a bank in downtown To- to operations and procedures of view content provided by partici- ronto. I observed that it was con- organizational strategy. For this pants. These include problems of sidered common knowledge to study, the concept of efficiency the industrial food system, what know the performance efficiency has been considered a multi-diconstitutes a desirable future, of a call centre based on the calls mensional and multi-definitional and good practices for food se- per week, the time spent on each social construct that is applied to curity organizations. Overall, it call, and if a goal was attained. the physical world. Efficiency is comes down to consolidating the Whereas the performance ef- considered a concept, a notion, multitude of grassroots organiza- ficiency was not as easily deter- a rationale, and a practice sitions and various other groups, mined for the management team multaneously based on the conindividuals and government, to due to a lack of standard criteria. text it is used in. This research become an even stronger voice. It would be unrealistic to consider will demonstrate how the conFood security initiatives should managements’ performance effi- cept of efficiency has evolved strive for active engagement and ciency through standards such as since 1930 by selecting popuinvolvement in the food system the number of meetings attend- lar management books written by all. continued on page 4 ed, the number of phone calls
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234. To us, our idea solves the inefficiency of finding your way you need to find a building on around campus.” campus, or a room in the maze that is the BAC upper floors, The trio started developing their you text your campuses unique product in Venture Creation, phone number with the place a course offered through the you’re looking for. The texting school of business at Acadia, service will respond with a map taught by Dr. Michael Sheppard, directing you to that spot. who has also been involved with Campus Compass as a mentor Brad says that their inspiration throughout. As well, we are incame from their own experi- volved in the Launchbox startence of being lost in Acadia’s up/incubation program hosted buildings “Our main inspiration in the Patterson building. was a common problem that all Campuses have: finding where Brads advice on those looking to go is never an easy one step to start their own business “An process. In the example of Aca- idea will never become a reality dia, to find room 234 in the unless you make something of BAC, you have to log onto the it. If you have a business idea, wifi, search the Acadia web- you need to stop talking about site for a map of the BAC, and it and start working on it to crethen painstakingly search that ate something great.” map for the 2nd floor and room
Sergio’s inspiration hit him while on a trip home to Guatemala. While grocery shopping he wished that the coffee he could buy at home was available to him year round. He wants to work to promote the Aroma Maya brand and put Guatemalan coffee in the forefront of consumers minds. Sergio attributes the networking opportunities and connections available through being an Acadia student as a stepping stone to his success. The connections made through Acadia Entrepreneurship Aroma Maya is a coffee bean and Acadia social media have company run by Acadia Business helped him reach out to those who student Sergio Garrido. He brings can offer insight and guidance. ethically sourced and organically grown coffee products in from his The future for Aroma Maya looks bright. While it currently has native Guatemala. The microclimates of Guatemala wholesale deals, with Pete’s at all lend various flavours to the beans, locations and is sold at Fez Cafe leading to what Sergio believes is in Wolfville, Sergio hopes to see Aroma Maya available in its own a higher quality cuppa’ joe. cafe’s soon.
Entreprenuership Profile: Aroma Maya
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Exploring The Price is right Nunavut’s Citizenship Gap Aaron Barrett Contributor
Ben Creaser Contributor
Ben Creaser is a fourth year politics major from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. His honours thesis research has been focused on understanding the role of citizenship in Nunavut. Ben has had a long standing interest in Canadian politics and wanted to focus on Nunavut, as it has been largely understudied compared to the rest of Canada. He is looking at the concept of citizenship in regards to what we owe one another and not simply what the state owes to its citizens. Nunavut in particular is unique in Canada because of its Inuit culture and history. Ben is evaluating whether the institutions governing Nunavut should better reflect the traditional Inuit belief systems. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit or IQ is the Inuit knowledge system that the Nunavut public sector has been trying to integrate into its practices since the territory came to be in 1999. There has been some success in this endeavour including an IQ education curriculum and attempts at an Inuit judicial program. By and large however there has been little success in differentiating the Nunavut public service from other Canadian provinces and territories. Inuit employment in the Nunavut public sector also only hovers around 50% where as Inuit make up around 85% of the total population. He says he is also hoping to offer some ideas as to how to improve the employment situation. Ben is interested in working in the public service after university and is looking at pursuing a Master’s of Public Administration.
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Aaron Barrett is a forth year politics student from Toronto, Ontario. Throughout his honor’s thesis, he contemplates the relationship between capitalism and climate change. Specifically, Barrett considers two opposing types of environmentalists’ theoretical approaches to combatting global warming. On one side of the debate stand free market environmentalists. For these individuals, neoclassical economic theory is the root of the solution to the climate crisis: they reason that applying neoliberal principles to the environmental effort is the key to reversing global warming. On the
other side is the growing field of experts, each of whom have made it his or her life's work to debunk this “myth” and convey that there exists no true solution to climate change under the current capitalist system. These progressive environmentalists seek to conceptualize a mass movement away from humanity’s economic and social structure and towards a more sustainable system. With this theoretical framework in mind, Barrett argues that although capitalists present viable free-market based short-term fixes that would partially mitigate climate change, the only way to avoid both eco-
Analyzing Modern Resistance Sarah Mackinnon Contributor
Sarah Mackinnon is from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia and is in her fourth year at Acadia finishing up a Politics degree and a minor in Histor y. She plans on taking the next year to breathe and do some minor traveling before heading back to school in the Fall of 2016. Her thesis is focused upon protests as a form of resistance and analyzing the criteria of what makes a protest ‘successful’ or a ‘failure’. Her project is aimed at re-positioning protests within a bio-political framework and her work mobilizes Michel Foucault and his work. Using this framework, she has selected the protests or riots in Ferguson, MO and the Occupy Wall Street movement. These two cases focus upon a different political issue but both highlight the question of effective resistance in a contemporar y political economy.
The Ferguson riots were criticized by the mass media as being “excessively violent” and ultimately non-useful as their goal of indicting Darren Wilson was not realized. Occupy Wall Street has been described as a “failure”, “fad”, and an overall “frenzy”. Yet at the same time both of these movements transcended the borders of their respective origins and sparked an international conversation. In an age of social media and communicative technologies, protests are essentially never located in one space alone and are worth examining. TIME magazine named its annual Person of the Year in 2011 to be The Protestor, yet mass media was quick to respond with criticism, arguing that it was a year of failed protests. Through mobilizing Foucault and the core concepts of power and truth effects, I have
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nomic and environmental catastrophe is to break with capitalism and change the fundamental relationship between man and nature. Accordingly, Barrett explores Australia and Canada’s experience with one such freemarket strategy: carbon pricing. He reasons that in both countries, artificially attaching a price to the damaging pollutant has effectively reduced carbon emissions while barely affecting the economy. By highlighting the ferocity with which politicians and interests groups have fought the implementation and maintenance of a national carbon pricing scheme in Australia and Canada despite its proven effectiveness, Barrett underlines his thesis that capitalism and true sustainability are incompatible. worked to re-examine these moments of mass dissent and the underlying processes at work to get at the question of what constitutes effective resistance. continued from page 3 by business school academics and business/ management authorities. The sample of books was selected to view the evolution of the concept of efficiency from a longitudinal perspective, specifically looking at how the definition has changed, the perceived importance has changed, and if there is a convergence of one dominant view of the concept of efficiency. The analytical theory includes discourse analysis, which examines the popular management books and how they were written through style, descriptions, word choice, and linkages to the context of the society that in which they were written. Along with a post structuralist view where the text can have unlimited meanings as there is no single purpose of the text. Research is still being conducted, no confirmed findings at this time.
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Ecofeminism and Who am i? Mount Polley Lexi Duntall Contributor
Lexi Dutnall is a fourth year Environmental and Sustainability Studies honours student from Vancouver, BC. The aim of her research is to create a more productive way to look at or understand environmental issues. She chose to conduct a case study on the Mount Polley Mine disaster in northern BC. The theoretical framework used to conduct this analysis is loosely based on ecofeminism (the marriage of the environmental movement and the feminist movement). Media sources from the first two weeks of the event are then analyzed using the Critical Discourse
The Role of Rap Alyssa Gerhardt Contributor
My research investigates the significance of rap music in the African Nova Scotian context by examining Black rap artists’ experiences growing up in various local communities and their views on the contemporary rap scene. My research also provides an understanding of racial, gender, and class dimensions of the rap subculture as well as how Black participants view their music and experiences. This topic is important to the field of sociology and cultural studies because there is an absence of academic literature on both contemporary African Nova Scotian culture and the rap scene in Nova Scotia. I approached my research using a standpoint epistemology and methodology; my intention is to preserve the subjects’ voices in my work. I used a qualitative research
analyzed. This method “moves inward towards social change” by investigating the researchers exJulia Smith periences to gain insight into the Contributor complexity of a cultural phenomWhen I was sixteen years old I enon was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Ever since the diagnosis I Postmodernism, social construchave tried to distance myself from tionism and narrative therapy the label and become “normal”. also influence my exploration as However, for this thesis I chose to I focus on: how I internalize and unpack and study my experiences, externalize bipolar disorder; how thoughts, and feelings of being la- this diagnosis alters my view of beled with a mental illness. I ex- my self; how different worldview plore this topic by using a quali- lenses shifts what perspective I tative method: autoethnography. have on my behavior. I hope that Autoethnography gives space to my research will “evoke response, unpack and explore the complexi- inspire imagination, give pause for ties of lived experience rather than new possibilities and new meanreducing and limiting experiences ings, and open new questions and so that they can be measured and avenues of inquiry”
Analysis framework. A media analysis is more equipped to provide a better-rounded version of the story, as it is able to highlight the gaps in the representation. Finally her research applies the conception of ecofeminism put forth and the media analysis to create broadened understanding of Mount Polley. The goal is to reconcile the theoretical and practical realms of understanding in the hopes of creating a more accessible and holisHillary Jones tic way to look at environmental Contributor problems. Upon graduation Lexi plans on returning to Vancouver Can creativity help us cope with an event to perceive predictabilour stressful lives? ity, and therefore make meanto work. ing, is a creative process. MakThrough clinical psychology, ing meaning by reevaluating the method of six semi-structured in-depth interviews. My sample Hillary Jones is motivated to fur- ‘why’ of an event requires a novel consists of six rappers from the ther our understanding of how interpretation and is effective in African Nova Scotian community; to achieve well-being. Specifi- helping us feel better; meaningthere is an equal representation cally, she is drawn to research on making is creative by definition. of males and females. My thesis boosting resilience in our stressexamines a number of different ful lives. Research has shown theoretical frameworks includmeaningfulness is positively asing: popular culture theory, subsociated with well-being (Ben- Hillary’s ‘Protective Creativity cultural theory, critical race and feminist theory, and postfeminist Ari, 2011; Frankl, 1966; Park & Model’ states that creativity imtheory. I took an interest in this Gutierrez, 2013). This led to the proves meaningfulness and subtopic because of my love and re- question of what can be done to sequently psychological well-bespect for Hip-Hop culture and rap enhance meaningfulness. It is ing. To test this, undergraduate understood that meaningfulness participants were randomly asmusic since the age of nine. is achieved through perceiving signed to either a creative or My findings indicate that commu- predictability in the relation- control group to evaluate the nity plays a central role in African ships between events in one’s effects of engaging in a creative Nova Scotian rap music. The Nova life (Proulx & Inzlicht, 2012). activity on meaningfulness and Scotian rap subculture is made up Having a sense of understanding well-being. Results showed that of many different cliques, and is of why things happen the way after only a few minutes, creative therefore fragmented. There is a they do and what effect various engagement increased meaningdesire for a collective movement events will have is what is under- fulness in participants relative to due to Nova Scotia being disrestood as meaningfulness. Ques- the control group. It is expected garded in terms of musical opportunities compared to larger urban tions surrounding meaningful- that given more time, this incentres. There are also noted ra- ness are perhaps most relevant crease in meaningfulness would cial, class and gender dimensions when a trauma goes against our improve well-being. This study of the scene; for example, there is expectations, forcing us to ac- suggests creativity may provide an indication that women are mar- tively create a renewed sense of a low-cost, highly accessible, ginalized in the scene and face meaning. Given that creativity is time-efficient means through additional challenges and barri- understood as something that is which individuals become better ers that their male counterparts novel and effective (Runco & Jae- able to face inevitable stresses in do not, especially in terms of the ger, 2012), the process through life. pressures on appearance over skill. which an individual reinterprets
Protective Creativity Model
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Horoscopes The Nesoi Visiting Horoscopist
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Pisces: February 19 - March 20
You are an emotional creature Pisces, your instinct lets others shine while you support them. However, this month the stars are aligned for you big debut!
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Aries: March 21 - April 19
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Leo: July 23 - August 22
Your creativity will peak near the end of the month when the Sun, your guiding star, will meet with Neptune. The full moon makes this month one of romance for you Leo, and you will take your current relationship to the next step. If you are single, you may very well meet someone at an upcoming social gathering, so make sure to look your best.
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Virgo: August 23 - September 22
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Libra: September 23 - October 22
Your attention to detail makes your work impeccable, but be careful not to be over-critical of yourself in your quest to find perfection. Mercury is retrograding in your house of health matters, and will bring an opportunity for success in fitness, so if you are hoping to get started at the gym now is the time to do so.
You are an ambitious risk-taker that has high expectations for yourself. With Mars aligned with Venus this month you Mercury is no longer in retrograde, which is good news will find many of your long-term plans clicking into place. for you! Take time to be social (vil anyone?) and don’t be Focus on your friends this month, some of them may really afraid to speak your mind, even if it’s a controversial issue. need your help right now.
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Taurus: April 20 - May 20
Your strong personality can result in stubbornness, but this month it is ok to stand your ground, as your sign is one of the luckiest in the celestial band. Harness this positive energy into any projects you may have, or finally make a move on that special someone you have been crushing on. The stars are on your side!
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Gemeni: May 21 - June 21
The sphere of finances and business are in your favor this month, and will lead to career success. Now is the time to apply for any job positions you are interested in. This full moon will also receive a beam from Uranus, the planet of surprise, and some unexpected good news will add a special zest to your life!
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Cancer: June 22 - July 22
Although you often take the back seat and allow family and friends to shine, this month Mars enters your fame and achievement sector allowing you to sparkle. All this newfound attention may leave your partner feeling neglected, so plan a surprise for them near the end of the month to reignite the flame. 6
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Scorpio: October 23 - November 21
You are in for a spicy month, Scorpio! Take your natural passion and use it to overcome obstacles in your personal and professional life. Romance is in the stars, don’t be afraid to that special someone how you feel.
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Sagittarius: November 22 - December 21
You are like a cat with nine lives! You will go through a period of reinvention. Over the next month, expect your love life to be extra spicy! I encourage you to embrace your spiciness, Sagittarius, you will not be disappointed with the results.
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Capricorn: December 22 - January 19
You tend to have trouble opening up, but the new moon will bring clarity in your personal life. Be spontaneous. Open up to a friend. Great things will come your way.
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Aquarius: January 20 - Febuary 18
You are one of a kind, Aquarius! Take advantage of Mercury moving out of retrograde and embrace your unique soul. You are a good friend, but remember to take time to treat yo’ self. You deserve it.
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Word Search
Immanence. This is not a test. There are no right or wrong answers. Only what is found. Newness, if you will. Something that is indebted to the milieu of the nowness. There are words—I assure you this much. Maybe not words. No… Actually, they are more like Beings/experiences/ feelings. What is your life right now? What defines your present? This won’t be easy. This will be fun, and different, and painful, and sad, and terrifying. This will be something familiar and something foreign. And I hope that you find solace in this.
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Febuary 5th, 2015
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Hooking up at acadia Will Cann Staff Writer
The stereotypical portrayal of college life is similar to the portrayal of a rock star. A lot of sex, a lot of alcohol, and a lot of time spent not going to class or doing schoolwork. Obviously these stereotypes are accurate to some extent – people have sex, people get drunk, and people don’t go to class or do school work – if you look at Yik Yak (which is pretty much a location based, anonymous form of twitter in case you’ve never heard of it), almost every post is related to sex, alcohol and drugs, or schoolwork. When thinking about how many people hookup with others, I figured somewhere around 60 percent of students hooked up regularly. Interestingly, according to research done by a group of sociology students, that number is almost the opposite. About 70 percent of students say they rarely, if ever, hookup. I used to live in a house on Gaspereau Avenue. On Saturday nights around the beginning of first semester and around the end of second semester, my roommates and I would sit outside and have a few drinks. One of the highlights of these nights was watching people walking to and from the ‘Vil. We’d see people come very close to throwing punches at one another, we watched people fall into the bushes on the opposite side of the road, we heard one person talking on the phone, almost in tears because of how much she wanted Kraft Dinner. The most common thing we saw, however, was how many people walked back with someone of the opposite sex. We never counted any numbers, and it’s kind of silly to try to make an estimate, but it sure felt like a lot of guys went home with a lot of girls. Obviously, as bystanders, we didn’t know the relationship of the two the people. Maybe they were good friends and one was just walking the other home, maybe they were a boyfriend and girlfriend, or maybe they had just met at the ‘Vil and were on their way home to play a rousing game of hide the sausage.
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One of the interesting things about the study done by the group of sociology students was their definition of a hookup: they didn’t have one. Instead, in the survey that was circulated among the student population, one of the questions asked what the responder considered to be a hookup, and proceeded from there. Ask a group of friends what each of them considers to be a hookup, and you will likely get as many different responses as you have friends. Maybe it’s some light making out on the dance floor, others will say that a hookup is sex, and nothing less. The other issue that the researchers ran into was not only what people considered a hookup, but also with whom the person hooked up. For example, some responders who claimed to be in relationship also claimed to have hooked up more than a hundred times in the past year. Presumably these people were counting a hookup as a hookup with their boyfriend or girlfriend (otherwise, the relationship might be a little bit less than a relationship). There was also the question of whether intercourse with a “friend with benefits” constituted a hookup. The answer to this question probably varies from person to person. Some would say that a hookup is with someone you don’t know, and is generally in the form of a one-night stand. Just over 1000 Acadia students responded to the survey that was circulated in first semester. Those who responded were from a wide range of faculties, years of study, and there was close to an even split among males and females. There were a few responders who did not identify as male or female, though there was not enough such responses to represent a statistically significant set of data. As a result, this group was not counted in the study. With the results of the survey in hand, the researchers separated themselves into two groups. One
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group chose to look at the sexual scripting of hookup culture. The other group chose to look at the “orgasm gap” – the inequity between males and females in heterosexual encounters. For both projects, the findings are part of a preliminary analysis, and further research and analysis will follow, as part of preparation for two conferences that the researchers will be presenting later this semester. Sexual scripting is the idea that for every action by a male towards a female or vice versa, is met with a reaction by the other party. Sexual scripting is especially hard to explain because a lot of it involves non-verbal communication, and it is usually a relatively drawn out process. It’s pretty rare that a guy or girl will walk up to someone and profess his or her desire to sleep with that person. To think of this outside of sexual encounters, consider scripting within a normal conversation. Most people don’t walk up to strangers on the street and begin the conversation by asking their opinion the current political landscape. There are conversational rules that we have developed over time. Conversations usually begin with a greeting, and gradually move forward into more in-depth conversation (or it doesn’t, and the conversation ends relatively quickly). Thinking of sexual scripting in terms of a conversation, there is usually some form of a greeting, followed by varying degrees of escalating intimacy (or not, and the encounter ends quite quickly). Another part of the study of the sexual scripting analyzed the influence friends have on a person’s desire to hookup. The study found that 4.4% of women hooked up more due to the influence of their friends. For males, 12.2% of men hooked up more due to friend influence. This led to further investigation into masculinity, and the pressures felt by men due to friend influence. The numbers were especially high among varsity athletes, with athletes hooking up twice as often as non-athletes, and well over half as many athletes felt pressured into hooking up with someone when compared to nonathletes. Males also feel pressure to perform as the expected sexual agent – in other words, initiate and take control of the sexual encounter. This results in a trend of men feeling obligated to reciprocate any sexual advances made by women. For example, the survey
found that if a female buys a drink for male, the male feels pressured to further escalate the encounter. The research into the “orgasm gap” has found that women are experiencing fewer orgasms than men, this being the result of gendered power imbalances. Furthermore, social pressures and stigma create this gap, but also make women more susceptible to depression following hookups. These statistics are only true in encounters involving heterosexual partners. In situations in which women hookup with women, there is no such gap. This is likely due in part to the process in which males and females are brought to orgasm. The perception is that the process for males to orgasm is pretty straightforward. For females, on the other hand, the process for achieving a female orgasm involves some otherworldly knowledge, as well as a complex system of levers and pulleys. Obviously this is an exaggeration of the situation, but the belief that males are easier to bring to orgasm than women definitely exists. This research was carried out by a group of sociology students, as part of the requirements for a sociology class taught by Dr. Zelda Abramson. The class is a senior seminar in research design and methodology. This year, Dr. Abramson decided she wanted to look at hookup culture for her class. The survey was created by the students, and was followed by papers written on the responses. Initially the class was only supposed to last for one semester, but with the relatively unexpected success of the survey and subsequent analysis, Dr. Abramson offered to continue the class in second semester. The research has been accepted for presentation at two conferences in this semester, and is also being sent to journals for publication.
Every movie about college life has some portrayal hookups (along with many other – probably illegal - things). The belief among many people is that everybody is hooking up all the time, though recent research completed by some of our students has shown the opposite. Most people are hooking up rarely, if ever, and 78 percent of women, and 70 percent of men reported that would rather have a relationship than a hookup.
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Napping through the Summer ®
Elizabeth Muggah Contributor
My name is Elizabeth Muggah and I am a fourth year nutrition student originally from Sydney, NS. This summer past I got paid to do a lot of Napping ®. In the summer of 2014 I completed my second Co-op work term at the Acadia Centre for Sensor y Research of Food. For those of you who are unware of the centre it is located on the fourth floor of Huggins Science Hall in the Nutrition and Dietetics department. As you may have guessed the Sensor y Centre investigates the sensor y characteristics of food products including taste, texture, smell and appearance. The centre conducts both academic and industr y research. Sensor y evaluation of food is an extremely important step in the development of new food products. Surprisingly sensor y evaluation is often overlooked by food companies, especially smaller operations. Simply stated, if your product is not well liked by the majority of consumers, people likely won’t purchase your product. During the course of the summer I worked with Professor Matthew McSweeney, who is the director of the centre, to perform a sensor y study.
controlled testing environment. There are a number of ways to do this, such as performing the sensor y testing under a red light so that testers are less likely to be influenced by the colour of a food product. Proper sample presentation is also extremely
important to create an unbiased testing environment. For example in sensor y testing three digit codes are most often used to label the test samples. This because two digit codes such as 87 maybe the number of your favorite hockey player, and four digit codes such as 1967 maybe the year your favorite team last The first part of my work term won the Stanley Cup. People was spent at The University of tend to place meaning on two Guelph where I worked under and four digit numbers. Dr. Lisa Duizer, one of Canada’s leading sensor y scientists. Dur- When I returned to Acadia I put ing my time there I was plunged my new skills into action. Prointo the world of sensor y evalua- fessor McSweeney and I ran a tion of food. At Guelph I learned Napping ® trial. Napping ® is the basics of sensor y evaluation. a rapid sensor y method that is This included learning a vast time and cost effective. This amount of terminology to de- testing method is ver y simple. scribe sensor y attributes. These The participants eat food samattributes include terms such as ples and indicate on a large piece sweet, sour, green, gritty, adhe- of paper (40cm by 60cm) how sive, musty among many, many similar or different they perceive the samples to be. This is done others. by placing them either close toI also learned about how senso- gether or far away from each r y scientists go about creating a other. The Napping® method is often combined with a method
called ultra-flash profiling were subjects are asked to write descriptors next to where they have placed the products indicating the product attributes. Now the question, what is done with this data once it is collected? Each placement is measured using a good ol’ meter stick and inputted into a fancy computer program called XLstat to be analysed using a statistical treatment called Multiple Factor Analysis (MFA). Basically this treatment (MFA) is used to analyse both qualitative and quantitative data. The descriptive
data collected from the ultraflash profiling is first grouped into categories, for example the terms sandy and gritty would be grouped together because they are describing the same attribute. These terms are then tallied. When the data from the placement of the samples is combined with the data from the ultra-flash profiling and analysed using MFA creates a map like graph that can be used to interpret the difference between food products. The products we choose to investigate were Artisanal and Commercial gluten-free, wholegrain bread products. They were chosen because of the current interest in gluten-free and locally produced products. We used 3 samples purchased from a commercial box store and 3 samples purchased from local bakeries (within 100 km). Our study also compared the results of experience and inexperienced participants. There were 24 partici-
pants that took part in our trail, 12 of these participants were experienced in sensor y evaluation of food having participated in sensor y studies previously. The other participants were novices. In order to evaluate performance a duplicate sample was used in the testing. Needless to say, we got some pretty interesting results. The results showed that using this rapid sensor y method the experienced and inexperienced participants performed similarly. This helped to support that claim that Napping ® is a meth-
od that can be utilized with novice participants. The results also displayed that generally commercial gluten-free bread was associated with more favorable sensor y characteristics. Through a survey it was suggested that the participants preferred to purchase locally produced products. This suggests that their results may have been biased had they known the origin of the samples. I have already had the opportunity to present my results at the event: Celebrating Inquir y in Food, Nutrition and Dietetics in November. Soon the manuscript for the study is going to be submitted to various academic journals and will hopefully be published. In the meantime I’m starting work on my honours thesis which will be supervised by Professor McSweeney. We are hoping to investigate the sensor y perception of beer by women, there will be more details to come.
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Understanding Food Insecurity Dr. Lesley Frank, Brittany Pulsifer Contributors
Starving, poor, struggling students. Why has this become a socially accepted norm? Are students unable to access nutritious, culturally acceptable foods after paying for tuition, school fees and housing accommodations? Research has shown that the rising cost of tuition at many universities, and the high cost of living expenses are putting an increasing burden on students’ finances, leading to poor access to healthy foods. Is this true for Acadia students? To answer these questions, I am com-
pleting a research project along with Dr. Lesley Frank regarding students’ access to food while at Acadia University. This project is posing two research questions: What is the prevalence and outcomes of food insecurity among Acadia University students?; and how do Acadia University students experience food insecurity in this particular environment? The quantitative portion of my research will utilize an online survey to measure the level of food insecurity among Acadia University stu-
dents. The qualitative portion of my research, which is comprised of interviews and a focus group, will examine the experience of accessing food while being a student at Acadia University. Tell us what it is like to adjust to feeding yourself while at university. Do you worr y about being able to afford food, eating cheap food, or needing support from family to keep food in the cupboard? Do you have children you also need to feed? Interested in being interviewed about student food access? It is important to hear from different types of students to get a full picture of these issues, we need undergrads, graduate students, men, women, international students, parents, students with roommates, working students, and those on student loans. So
University Student Mental Health Laura Cooper Contributor
Mental health help-seeking is a particularly complex process, as many external and internal factors influence whether or not an individual decides to seek help. My thesis project was inspired by the desire to better understand Acadia students’ mental health help-seeking behaviour, and to ensure adequate support is provided to meet students’ mental health needs. I sought to explore how students decide how to handle psychological and emotional problems, with the hope of generating findings that could be used to better tailor mental health support on campus to students’ needs. This topic is particularly relevant in light of the recent Ath articles “Go Die Somewhere Else”, and “Acadia Student Service Response to ‘Go Die Somewhere Else’”.
dia students who completed the “Student Mental Health HelpSeeking Survey”, here is an indepth look at the project: Firstly, archival data from Acadia’s Student Resource Center is being investigated to determine usage trends in the past 10 years. Preliminar y results show a cycling trend in usage rates (with peak usage around November and March), and encouraging signs of an increase in both new and returning clients in the past year. These trends will be explored further, with particular attention to the recent spike in usage.
Secondly, a survey was administered to the Acadia student body to determine the major contributing factors to mental health help-seeking and nonhelp-seeking. At the beginning stages of data exploration, some If you are one of the 949 Aca- interesting results have been
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found. Of the 949 students who completed the survey, 23.4% indicated they had a diagnosed mental illness. It is important, however, to consider that individuals with vested interest in mental health are more likely to participate, and logically this may be an overestimate. Even still, this number is sizable. When asked to rank who individuals would be most likely to reach out to if they were struggling with a psychological or emotional problem, students most often responded with their romantic partner (29.8%), family (29.3%), or friend (24.8%) as their go-to confidante. Twentyfive percent of respondents had
consider sharing your stor y at a confidential interview with Brittany Pulsifer-sociology graduate student. Contact her at brittanypulsifer@acadiau.ca Please fill out the on-line survey. Regardless of where you live, who you live with, or your food situation please take about 5 minutes of your time and provide information on students’ access to quality food in this rural setting. Doing so will build an understanding of the link between food access and wellbeing as well as help improve food security on campus. Please watch your email inboxes for the link to the survey and be sure to fill out the form at the end for a chance to win $200 of AXE CASH. used the Counseling Services offered at the Student Resource Centre. More analysis is being conducted on satisfaction rates of current mental health support, and specific barriers to seeking mental health care—particularly for those with responses indicative of mental health problems. Together, it is the hope that these findings will assist Acadia’s Student Service personnel in a) better understanding the current mental health environment; b) ensuring an appropriate amount of personnel are available to meet the mental health needs of students; and c) determining what particular factors are influencing mental health help-seeking and nonhelp-seeking among Acadia students. If you would like to hear more about this research, or have any specific suggestions on improving the mental health support on campus, please feel free to contact the Acadia Mental Health Society at 113787o@acadiau.ca, or Laura directly at 110779c@ acadiau.ca.
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Greenlaw Honoured at minor basketball day Jalen Sabean Staff Writer
This past weekend signified what it means for Acadia Athletics to give back to the community. After travel complications delayed the final home basketball games of the season, the Axemen and Axewomen eventually matched up with the UPEI Panthers on Sunday February 22nd at War Memorial Gymnasium. The event provided a venue to host Tim Hortons Minor Basketball Day and also marked the end of an era as Acadia honoured retiring Axewomen Head Coach Bev Greenlaw for his seven years of service.
seven years as Axewomen Head Coach. In that time, Greenlaw has led his teams to many accomplishments on the court, and has taken the program to new heights. It was under Greenlaw’s rein that the Axewomen captured their first ever AUS Championship during the 2011-2012 season, also ending a 60 year title drought for the team. That same year he was named Coach of the Year in the AUS. While that was a magical season, it has been Greenlaw’s continuous effort to As Acadia Athletics continues to make the program consistently be highly involved with the com- competitive that will have a longmunity, Minor Basketball Day lasting impact. provided an opportunity to give back to some of their youngest It was a very touching moment supporters. Minor basketball play- for all those in attendance, as the ers were encouraged to attend the celebration included many people games by offering them free ad- close to Bev, such as current and mission for wearing their team’s former players, assistant coaches, jersey to the game. Numerous lo- and most importantly of all, his cal basketball organizations were life partner Sylvia Hamilton, who represented in the crowd during has been there throughout his both games, with players of all coaching journey. The introducages joining their teammates in tion given by Acadia Athletic Dishowing support for the Axemen rector Kevin Dickie was a true inand Axewomen. Some local high dication of just how much Coach school players also joined in and Greenlaw has meant to Acadia. Acadia helped the Horton High Dickie also noted that Greenlaw’s School Division 1 Boys team raise passion for the game was evident money by allowing them to run a in the energy he coached his fi50/50 draw during the day. Some nal game with. Acadia President of the younger minor players were Ray Ivany then presented Bev and especially ecstatic after the game Sylvia with lifetime passes to the when they got the opportunity to Athletic facilities and all Acadia receive autographs from their fa- sporting events, MLA Keith Irving vourite Axemen and Axewomen presented a letter of congratulation, and finally the captains of players. the current Axewomen team gave After the first game of the day, their coach a teary-eyed congratuin which the Axewomen suffered lation, before he said a few words a hard fought 74-66 loss, Acadia himself. He pointed out that one took the opportunity to show of the proudest parts of his tenure their gratitude for everything at Acadia has been the number of Coach Greenlaw has given to the athletes he has coached who are Athletic department, the Univer- featured on the African Heritage sity, and the community over his Month banner that hangs at War
Memorial Gymnasium, and the success they have had in “the real game” of life, with some of them going on to law school or becoming success businesswomen. His speech included some very sweet and heartfelt words for Sylvia, and while he did not want to mention a lot of names for fear of forgetting someone, he was certainly sure to acknowledge that the people he has had the opportunity to be around are what has made his career great. Greenlaw mentioned that he doesn’t think he could recall his win-loss record over his entire career but that he feels he has had a positive impact on a lot of people over the years and “those are the real W’s”. A very nice touch by the athletic department was providing the crowd with signs to hold that read “THANK YOU BEV!”.
Photo Credit: Acadia Athletics would “benefit Acadia’s women’s team and the community at large”. Heaney’s evaluation was spot-on, as Greenlaw’s time at Acadia has benefited so many individuals in the community.
In addition to his community involvement during his time at Acadia, Greenlaw also had strong ties to the local community prior to joining the Axewomen program. He was a beloved high school coach with the Horton High School girls’ basketball team from 2003-2007, improving their program in much the same way he has done at Acadia, and winning two NSSAF Division 1 Provincial titles in his time with the Griffins. It is also no surprise that Greenlaw got his start in coaching with the Halifax Community YMCA, an organization focused It was a fitting day to honour the on making a difference in the Axewomen coach, as Greenlaw community. himself has been a major contributor to the community and While it has not been the chamto minor basketball. He has cre- pionship-contending season of ated an Axewomen program with basketball we are used to at Acastrong community involvement dia, it was good to see the year and also played a major role in end on a different kind of high helping found the Jr. Axewomen note, with both teams cheered basketball program, which has on by a crowd of minor basketseen many young ladies grow as ball players, and a heartwarming basketball players and as indi- salute to one of the best coaches viduals. It is through the numer- Acadia has ever seen. Going forous basketball camps and clin- ward we can be confident of one ics Greenlaw has ran in the area thing; there will continue to be a that he has created an unmatched mutual support between Acadia connection to the Annapolis Val- Athletics and the local communiley basketball community. All the ty. Coach Greenlaw may be startwonderful things he has done for ing a new chapter in his life, but the community have lived up to the culture he has created with the expectations placed on him the Axewomen will only continue when he came to Acadia. Former to grow. Acadia Athletic Director Brian Heaney, who was responsible for Find more articles and content hiring Greenlaw in 2008, said at like this by following @AxesForthe time that adding Bev as coach Change on Twitter.
Febuary 26th, 2015
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CANADA NEEDS TO LEARN ITS BLACK HISTORY Tomi Gbeleyi The Brunswickan (Univeristy of New Brunswick)
NEW BRUNSWICK (CUP) — Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and Malcom X are historical figures well known to many university students as leaders who fought against inequality and racism. Names like Marie-Joseph Angélique or Olivier Le Jeune, however, will likely not ring a bell. These two people were slaves in Canada and are part of Canada’s multi-faceted black histor y. Marie-Joseph Angelique was a female black slave who burned half of what was known as Old Montreal, and Olivier Le Jeune was a boy younger than eight years old who came into Canada from Madagascar as a slave but died a free man.
treal Gazette that he believes Canadian knowledge of black histor y in Canada is incomprehensively focused on the Underground Railroad because of Canadians’ “unconscious resistance” towards examining their own histor y. “It’s convenient to know about that, and if a Canadian does know a tiny bit about black histor y in Canada, they’re likely to trumpet the Underground Railroad,” Hill said in the interview.
Many are unaware that Canada also bears the shame of participating in slave trade. Both slaves and free blacks had to continuously fight against extreme discrimination and racism while living in Canada. Some were Award-winning author Law- lynched for suspected theft, and rence Hill recently told the Mon- others were deceived into a life
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of domestic work that was little and students in the Maritimes more than slaver y. should be aware of the histor y of their own countr y and provThe Maritime provinces have ince. Many are unaware of major particular significance to Black events in Canada, including the Histor y Month in Canada. The major exodus to Sierra Leone in first major influx of blacks to 1792 and the creation of a small Canada occurred in Halifax af- community in the city of Haliter the American Revolution- fax called Africville, which was ar y war in 1783. Black Loyalists populated almost entirely by came with other Loyalists to the African Nova Scotians and subMaritimes, but ultimately left to sequently destroyed by the Halcreate the city Freetown in Si- ifax government in the 1960s. erra Leone due to the extent of Africville inhabitants continracial discrimination they faced ued to protest the demolition in Canada. of their community in the 1980s and 1990s. Ver y few attempts have been made to provide an impartial The municipal government of account of Loyalists in Canada. Halifax has since apologized The approach taken is often pa- for the destruction of Africville, triotic or genealogical; thus, and the government of Canathere is little information on the da established a $250,000 Afmaltreatment they meted out to ricville Heritage Trust in 2010 blacks, both slave and free. to preserve the histor y of the community. Now, the rest of As opposed to focusing on the the countr y just needs to get on histor y of African-Americans, board and learn about black hiswhich is important, educators tor y in Canada.
African Nova scotian Affairs Community Voices A series of 6 programs highlighting and documenting people and places that are promoting and advancing African Nova Scotian communities 12 Febuary 26th, 2015
Grants and Contributions Helping to fund innovative solutions for self-reliance and sustainable development for African Nova Scotians and their communities. for more information visit ansa.novascotia.ca
N.S Brotherhood Initiative Aimed at adressing specific health care needs of Africcan Nova Scotian men, by creating culturally specific health clinics.