Athenaeum 76. 8

Acadia University’s student newspaper since 1874.

January 28th, 2014 Issue 76.8

-THE-

INTERVIEW ISSUE

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We’re going in the street: an account from Egypt Jacob Verhagen News Editor

It is now the third year since popular uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East changed many of the power structures of that region, often called the Arab Spring. In particular, it has been exactly three years since the January 25th uprising began in Egypt which would oust President Hosni Mubarak. The region has gone through much instability throughout the time since with successive leaders, oustings, various constitutions, and protests. The events have fostered both profound optimism and extreme cynicism in those both inside and outside Egypt.

On the third anniversary of the initial uprisings that swept the country I spoke with Fady, a fourth year pursuing his Bachelors of Science at Acadia. I wanted to know what he recalls when his country began this massive shift three years ago.

Where in Egypt were you born and raised?

I wasn’t born in Egypt, I was born in London, England. While my parents were travelling, I lived in London for 3 months and then I grew up in Alexandria.

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What is Alexandria like in comparison to Cairo, culturally?

It’s a smaller city in terms of population for sure, and in terms of space. I would say it is a little bit more relaxed, you can compare Toronto to Ottawa for example.

When did you leave Egypt?

I left when I was 19, so that’s 6 years ago in 2008. I went to Italy for 9 months, and then I went back to Egypt. In 2009 I came to Canada for

a few months, and then I went back to Egypt. And from early 2010 I left Egypt and never went back.

Why did you leave Egypt?

I left Italy first because I was bored and I was a teenager and I was a little bit of a crazy teenager. But then when I came to Canada it was purely because I did not want to join the army. There is mandatory service.

Why didn’t you want to serve in the army?

In the beginning, I was open to the fact that I might have to join the army for six months or so, so that would be okay. But when I started to look more into the relationship between the army and the government and I discovered that they are completely separate organizations, they have no influence on each other. The military is in control of everything. It turns out the military has it’s own land that extracts minerals, they export minerals, and the

money goes into their pockets. They have factories that fabricate something we are all familiar with—Windex!

That’s one of the big things they do there, and the people who are working there, are the people who are serving in the mandatory military service.

So you would have just been more of a worker?

>>Cont. on pg 3

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the athenaeum Tuesday, January 28, 2014 Issue 76.8 ASU Box 6002, Acadia University Wolfville, NS, Canada B4P 2R5

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news >>Cont. from pg 2 I would have been more of a slave, and it’s interesting because people don’t look at it that way at all. It is not a point that is presented as an objection to the military service in Egypt, whatsoever.

So this is a known fact?

There is a guy named Hank Green, if you look up Hank Green, Egypt Explained, you will find he provided a very good explanation for people who are not familiar with this situation at all. The military actually controls more than 40% of the economy. They own a vast piece of land in the Western desert, that is rich in minerals, all sorts of minerals, gold and natural gas, which they export, completely owned by them. And, it is not owned by one person, it is owned by the Military Supreme Court, which has, I don’t know, 20 some people. They also have control over the Suez Canal so most shipping across the continent is going into the military, for providing security.

It is a gang, a very organized and sophisticated gang, of armed people living in the country holding lots of the country, and enslaving people to build their pyramids.

Not that that is what actually happened when building the pyramids, that is a common misconception.

How did you leave Egypt?

You can’t leave Egypt if you have a mandatory military service, you can’t. The only way to leave Egypt is to provide proof that you’re going to study somewhere else so you go to the recruitment center. The recruitment center is in the middle of the desert, the sun is right on top of your head, it works from 8 AM to 2 PM. It’s got a line that is so long it would extend from the Dykes to the top of the hill at Acadia. I had to stand there for three days and never reached the front until I gave one of the soldiers there two

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cigarettes to bump me to the front.

That’s just how it works. So I got the signature and I left.

for 15 days, they were sleeping on the streets protesting that was 2009 and early 2010.

Were there any signs before the Arab Spring had occurred, that this might have been fermenting?

What do you remember about when it began?

Ah this is a very good question. In Tunisia there was this guy, Mohammed Buazizi, who burned himself to death.

In Egypt there was another guy named Khalid Said, that guy was a normal person, he lived two apartments away from my parent’s place. I knew him.

We used to play counterstrike all time at an internet café. Then he went to university and I didn’t see him for a long time and didn’t know what was up with him. Then one day there was a big noise in the street, so we went out and he was drowning in his blood, his face was completely busted into pieces, skull shattered, his eyes were out and it was really bad. Two or three undercover police bashed and killed him and threw him out in the street.

Everyone always knows undercover police, they shave their heads and they come from South Egypt, they wear certain clothes so everyone can identify them as secret police. Why they did it is the interesting part. They said that he was a drug addict selling drugs.

What actually happened was he had a video, taken in one of the police stations, of the sheriff of the area and all his officers standing in an office and dividing piles of hash. So they killed him. They were unlucky because this guy was a blogger and he was very active in the community.

He was known in this area. He had a blog running and with some very controversial ideas. He was a person who shouts against the government and he had lots of activist friends, outside and inside Egypt. I stress outside Egypt because that’s the important part. People took pictures of his body and the pictures were circulated everywhere. Protests started, people set up camp in my area

It gives me goose bumps when I think about it, but after all that happened it gives me sadness because the people who did all this were either arrested or thrown out of the country, or got depressed and stayed in their houses forever. They didn’t expect society to be in that much ignorance, in this swamp of nothingness. The moral values people hold seems to be only drawn according to their individual gain not from care and understanding for each other

On the 24th of January 2011 while I was back in Canada, at night, I received a call from one of my friends and he was saying, “We are going in the streets, tomorrow.”

I said “What do you mean you are going to the streets?”

He said, “Look at They were scared that Khalid’s Facebook page [We are all Khalid Said],” what was going to happen I said “I knew the guy, he was my friend when would not be shown I was a kid!” He said, “Ya but look at the to the rest of the world comments, look at what they’re saying, look at so the government how many people are following the page!” could just kill the people He tried to boost himself through talking to me. He You can see the difference in the two was afraid, he had no idea, he knew he times, the protestors used to clear was going out and he was either going the square after shouting all day long, to get killed, or arrested and raped. I not sleeping, walking out all night mean literally raped, I’m not saying and making sure that everything is cleaned and that everything is good. that figuratively.

I said “Okay man, I’ll be following Egypt doesn’t recycle or have compost factories and there all dumped into the the news tomorrow.”

A couple friends of mine in Cairo ocean. In the protests people stressed who had cameras took live feed of on cleaning, it should show people what was happening the whole time. what they’re focused on. What was They were scared that what was going important was not who is or isn’t in to happen would not be shown to the power, but that we keep things running rest of the world so the government correctly, keeping ourselves healthy could just kill the people. Plus another and that’s important, on the 30th of channel called Al Jazeera did beautiful June nothing like that. work taking footage of what’s going Do you think it’s a good thing on, on the spot coverage.

No one had any idea that this would Mubarak is gone? work, no one thought it would work at I didn’t believe Mubarak would get the time. knocked out because Mubarak was You’re giving me goose bumps part of the Supreme Court, and he was close to them. I was wrong. I didn’t right now. think they would turn their backs on him and side with the people. Of course, they didn’t do it out of love

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for the country or anything, they did it out of their interests.

Morsi’s also gone, that’s a bad step… not that I like the Muslim Brotherhood… but I would have loved to see Morsi taken down by the people and not the military. If the military was out of the picture I would have been really happy for Morsi to be out.

Since living in Wolfville, and receiving information from the West and from your friends, what would you say are the biggest discrepancies in information?

Most of the [information] that comes through media channels in Egypt is no good. What the military did is arrest Al Jazeera reporters and banning Al Jazeera in Egypt. Why did they do that? So there’s no legit channel to get information from.

There’s no other organizations at this point it all goes through blogs and through YouTube.

You can be cynical about everything going on now, because everything seems to be going the wrong way: the military is back in power, which is miserable and terrible, education isn’t fixed, the economy will be the same, so it seems like things are either coming to a halt or things are slowing down in terms of progress, unless a big boom happens like the 25th of January and people decide to say, alright let’s do this again. Let’s do something young men can look at and say, “God I wish I was there,” if that doesn’t happen I don’t think there’s a hope.

There’s no hope the military government will be good, there’s no hope in the military to do good stuff for the country. That’s not going to happen, even if it seemed like that may be the case. What’s really important right now, in my opinion, is for people to realize that dissolving the Military Supreme Court is necessary in order to prevent the old regime, Mubarak’s regime that is, from coming back to power.

en.ria.ru

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The death of the liberal arts?

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UNB strike continues Jacob Verhagen nEw Editor

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The strike has become a worry to students as it sets fears that a continued walkout will threaten their own job prospects.

”

Cully Simpson

hailey winDer staff writEr There is a fear we all have: what am I going to do with this degree? We come to university for a variety of reasons—for most of us it was the next logical step in pursuing our intended career paths. I came to Acadia in the fall of 2011 with the hopes of getting my degree in biology and going on to medical school because that seemed acceptable. Even if I did not get into medical school having a degree in the sciences seemed lucrative. We all have that droning voice in the back of our heads that reminds us of all the jobs in the sciences. But what if you do not enjoy it? What if you are taking this degree just to get the supposed employment, comfy salary, and the nice car? Is it worth it? Unsatisfied, I made the decision most parents are terrified their children will make. I transferred into the liberal arts.

In a recent article published by The Telegraph that ranks the top 12 degrees for finding jobs post-graduation I found the usual suspects: engineering, biology, business administration, and mathematics. To my dismay—politics was nowhere to be found. Not all hope was lost though. I stumbled across a reference that stated historical and philosophical studies ranked 10th on the list. That seemed to contradict almost everything that I have come to understand about job opportunities for liberal arts students. The Telegraph explains that, at least in the UK, “85.4

percent had landed jobs or further studies within six months of finishing their degrees”.

With odds like those, a liberal arts degree does not seem to be a total waste of time and money. However, according to the Ontario Universities Application Centre, enrollments in Bachelors of Arts degrees have decreased at a steady 5% each year since 2006. The Telegraph does fail to mention whether those 85.4 percent of graduates are satisfied with their employment or if they even got jobs in the field of their interest.

Forbes Magazine (and take this with a grain of salt) published an article in 2012 entitled “A Liberal Arts Degree Does not Correlate With an Easier Life,” by contributor, and liberal arts educated, Maura Pennington. In the article, Pennington discusses an interesting idea: “There are no longer any natural rhythms or movements for our species,” the species of the liberal artist. Ultimately, Pennington argues that liberal arts majors will succumb to accepting the first menial and uninteresting job that crosses their path out of necessity for paying off bills and loans. However, this cannot be true of only liberal arts majors—I have met biology, chemistry, business, and education students who spent the first few years after graduation outside of their field.

Steve Mason, renowned psychologist and columnist for the Huffington Post puts it starkly: “The problem here is that people don’t understand the difference between education and training.” What we are forgetting, as

a society, is that education should be more than just a stepping-stone to get the dream job, the fat salary, the fancy car, and the beautiful home. Education should be about opening your mind, learning how to think critically about this ever-changing world, and pushing your comfort zone. The value of a liberal arts education “is to be found in the quality it adds to life” says Mason, “it expands rather than limits horizons as it replaces faith and belief with reason and logic.” This article is not meant to undermine the importance of the sciences and professional studies. If you want to be a doctor or a lawyer or an accountant or a teacher or whatever else—do it! So long as you enjoy what you are doing, there is no shame in pursuing the degree of your choosing, whether that is physics, history, French literature, politics, mathematics, or geology. Time at university should be spent pursuing interests and discovering new ones.

After all, how do you really know that you do not like philosophy if you have never taken a course?

In a recent interview with Dr. W hitehall, associate professor and graduate coordinator for the Department of Politics, a number of issues were addressed concerning the way that universities, in general, are treating liberal arts: So, why are the liberal arts dying?

The arts are not dying—they are not even being let to die—they are being killed.

How is it that the arts are being killed?

We should not be thinking that it is a passive process that leads to [...] the death of the arts. People are making important decisions that are having profound effects on the nature of the university. They are not taking responsibility or ownership of these decisions. Instead, they hide behind the apparent randomness, naturalness, and inevitability of the change.

Can you comment on the stigma towards the liberal arts, in specific, the fear (real or not) of the potential lack of job opportunities after you get your degree?

There is no convincing evidence that says that an arts degree is useless, or that usefulness should be measured in terms of your ability to get a job with a title that mirrors your degree. The arts give you [the] opportunities and freedom that a skill or information based degree often limit. It is mostly marketing and the illusion of self-making that shapes this debate; it has little to do with the importance of the arts or sciences.

I may not be leaving this place knowing exactly what I want to do—but I will have spent four incredibly powerful years learning how to think for myself and beyond the textbook. It has been said by Steve Mason: “The bottom line regarding a well-rounded, liberal arts education is that it has nothing to do with any kind of bottom line.”

The faculty at the University of New Brunswick are reaching the end of their 2nd week of striking since they collectively walked on January 13th. The CBC has cited that the faculty of the university were hoping that the university would bring their salaries in line to those of other schools in the country . The strike has become a worry to students as it sets fears that a continued walkout will threaten their own job prospects. Will Russell of the UNB Law Student’s society asked for government intervention for the strike writing to the department of labour “we urge you take action without delay, before the long term prospects of students are seriously It is clear that the parties are in a deadlock. No resolution will be reached without third party resolution.”

The strike is getting wide support from professors across the country and the Canadian Association of University Teachers has given the strikers a 1 million dollar donation. Not all professors are happy with the situation Assistant Law Professor Leah Theriault has lashed out at her colleagues claiming that they are acting like children, “They’re making buttons.

They’re having cookies. They’re having parties and, you know what?

This is a serious issue,” A former student at UNB has speculated to the Athenaeum that there may have also been problems with professors being overburden with teaching duties and not having time to do research.

The strike may seem foreboding to Acadia University students as the collective bargaining agreement reached by the university with the faculty ends on June 30th, 2014. Previously Acadia has had two strikes in its history, once in 2004, and again in 2007. The negotiations begin around May or June and will hopefully be an issue of discussion this coming Student Union election.

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Lunch with Liesel: a meal hall interview Darcie Slater Contributor Most students at Acadia have lived on campus at some point during their degree, and this requires them to eat at meal hall. Meal hall has become a topic for debate, with one side complaining about having few healthy options available to students, while others have stated they were perfectly content eating at meal hall and able to make good food decisions. To get a professionals opinion on the matter, Professor Liesel Carlsson of the Nutrition and Dietetics department agreed to have lunch at meal hall and give some comments on the food available.

Professor Carlsson grew up in a household that emphasized cooking and eating real foods. Once she got into high school, her interest in nutrition blossomed. As she was an athlete, she developed a particular interest in sports nutrition. Professor Carlsson obtained a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition with Honours at Acadia University, and went on to do a Masters of Applied Human Nutrition at Mount Saint Vincent University. She is now a registered professional dietician, and teaches many courses here at Acadia including Human Nutrition, Food and People, Sports Nutrition, and Nutrition Education. Therefore, Professor Carlsson was obviously a qualified choice to interview about the availability of healthy foods at the Acadia dining hall.

When Professor Carlsson was studying at Acadia, she ate in dining hall, and stated she had no problem finding healthy food. “It’s not like meal hall was crappy back then and now it’s really awesome; it’s just that they’ve made it sexier.” At the time, dining hall had stations where they served

food, a salad bar, and a cereal bar; she was able to walk in and eat what they served or make her own food such as a salad, and she never felt as though meal hall could not offer her good healthy choices that fueled her body. Even as she learned more about nutrition through her classes, she still did not struggle to eat meals full of sustenance.

Even then, many other students would complain about the food quality and gaining the freshman fifteen. “Why didn’t I gain the freshman fifteen? Why was I always sustained?” If anything, the only difficulty Professor Carlsson had with meal hall was that it was only open during certain hours.

The discussion then turned to our current dining hall and the food Professor Carlsson had chosen for lunch: a chicken wrap, yogurt with berries, and water. After seeing the options, Carlsson said, “You should be able to find something that is tasty, meets your dietary needs, and fuels your body.” Healthy choices are clearly available, so why do people still believe they are so hard to come by? “You should not have to take a university level course in nutrition to make good food choices. Ideally, these are things you learn at home. You have to be involved in food; not everyone has to love cooking, but you shouldn’t have to

study in a didactic lecture hall. That’s the wrong way to learn about food.”

Professor Carlsson emphasized that the options are there, and while students do not h ave t o a l way s choose them, they should have those skills to not only see the grill or pizza station. People love to complain about meal hall, because they love to complain about things they do not have to work for. If you made lunch at home, it would take an hour to make it, eat it, and clean up, compared to meal hall where you can be in and out in less than twenty minutes. When considering how Kelsi Barr busy a student’s life is, many students are not going to have time to prepare full, healthy meals, and therefore are eating better in meal hall than they are at home. Why do people complain? Well they are not going to bash the food they made for themselves. You never hear a student say, “Wow, that pasta I made for myself last night really sucked.”

“So, what’s the solution then?”

Professor Carlsson had no problem finding food that is reasonably healthy and meets her needs. Why do people still love hating on meal hall, and why do students gain the freshman fifteen?

Professor Carlsson speculated that this might have to do with freedom

of choice. If they are accustomed to eating well at home and not having those unhealthier choices available to them, they might go straight for those options away from home. A lot of students may have grown up eating healthy, but suddenly they have the freedom to choose. They would not choose to make a wrap, or a salad, or the homemade soups over the onion rings and classic fast food-style foods.

However, if meal hall got rid of those fast food options, they would have a hurricane of angry students to deal with. Chartwells keeps it because people want it; people eat it. These fast food-style foods are probably what people go for most when they are at dining hall, and if students were not choosing those options, meal hall would not offer them. “Their job isn’t to manage your nutritional health; ultimately, their job is to make money.

Obviously they have policies in place on the quality, freshness, and taste of the food, but it’s a business. They have to sell what people are eating.

Otherwise they would be gone. It’s a competitive world.” Meal hall caters to its main consumer: students. Not all students have the same diet at home, and Chartwells has to take this into consideration when they are planning their menus.

Another possibility that we discussed was the idea that the freshman fifteen might have nothing to do with meal hall, but instead caused from late night snacking on fast foods and increased consumption of beer and other high caloric alcoholic beverages. Three hundred calories per pint of beer really adds up. But if the freshman fifteen isn’t about meal hall, if it is about Scott Skins, pizza, and beer; are people eating good food in meal hall? Good food choices are available at dining hall. It is up to you as a student to make those healthy decisions.

Venez nous rejoindre encore cette année à la Table française!

Venez discuter en français avec nos lectrices du Québec et de France tous les jeudis à partir du 9 janvier entre 11h30 et 13h00 à la table française dans la salle 325 du BAC. Apportez votre sandwich si vous voulez, ou venez nous rejoindre même si vous n’avez pas faim. Caroline, Julie, et Hana seront là pour bavarder avec vous en français, et ce sera à la bonne franquette. Elles vous parleront de la pluie et du beau temps : des livres, du cinéma, de la musique, des actualités, et de l’histoire, comme vous voulez. Ne manquez pas cette occasion de pratiquer votre français! Qui que vous soyez, étudiant, professeur, personnel de soutien, membre de la communauté locale, vous êtes toutes et tous les bienvenu-e-s!

Come join us again this year at the French Table!

Come and practice your French with our lectrices from Quebec and from France every Thursday between 11:30 and 1 p.m., starting Thursday, January 9th , at la Table française in the third floor lounge of the BAC (325). Bring your lunch with you or come and join us even if you aren’t hungry. Caroline, Julie et Hana will be there to chat with you in French about anything and everything: books, cinema, music, current news, and history, whatever interests you. Don’t miss this opportunity to practice your French. Students, professors, support staff, members of the local community, everyone is welcome!

creative

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THE NATURE of

< <

B Y

S A R A H

Now

W I L L

The jingle of birds The faraway hum of cars and trucks On the highway, not too far from here, I A M S > > Sitting on the porch with an aged cat Curling her decrepit spine into my lap, She is purring, for now.

But this cat is old, And it’s getting colder outside, As municipal workers are Busy raking away the leaves from the gutters Before they melt and become one again Meanwhile, the birds Circling above the yard Form a circuit Like the cars on the highway The jingle and zoom, the forced rush It’s all far away, at this moment on the porch, For now.

THE NATURE of

< <

B Y

S A R A H

Now

W I L L I A M S

> >

Kelsi Barr

WATER Meredith MacEachern

There is a place – a distant reach Beyond any bank or light-drenched reef A skittish coast, A calloused shore, A northern sea.

Where tired continents begin to kneel and the water knuckles up, Black and wrinkled, rearing, cracked Shrugs icy bones along its back – Where the world ends, startled, against water edged in steel.

This sea has teeth and crippled hands and twining hair, that when it tangles, bites and tears, Nets the fish and reins in seals, Anchors whales, and steals between the teeth of polar bears.

You must plunge your hands into the bleak cold, and grip, screaming Her streaming hair – Comb it out, with wind and sun and She becomes A glacial retreat, a smoky plane.

The curve of an ulu Seals sun and beach The fish, released, are silver in her veins.

Unknotted now the sea looks up, one grey and whiteless eye, through cataracts of ice spreads unfingered hands and stares into the iron-bellied sky.

Mira Chiasson

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SIRENS

(a man long gone)

A

By: Kelly MacNeil

day like any other, a man, weathered with age, sits on a bench in the shade of an old weeping willow. He reaches his left hand into the pocket of his faded windbreaker. Seeing this, birds descend from the surrounding trees to the ground near his feet. He pulls out a loaf of half-stale bread and breaks it into tiny pieces, dropping them to the birds gathered around the bench.

He sits and watches, drinking in the peaceful and serene setting of the park.

Drawing a deep breath he rises from the bench with a short grunt and a creaking and crackling of bones. The birds scatter in a flurry of feathers and disappear into light blue sky. The large gilded gate looms over the winter weary trees as the park fades into the distance. He shuffles down the road, passing men in suits and ties moving to and fro from their jobs, and women in their high heels clacking down the sidewalk. A second glance is not spared. He moves down the streets at a slow pace, block by block, passing men, women and children, never

making an impression, not warranting a second glance. Business district to ritzy neighbourhoods, ritzy neighbourhoods to suburb communities, suburb communities to the projects. Mixmatched houses and old broken down cars, angry dogs and reclusive people.

A siren wails in the distance as he limps down an unpaved side road and comes up to a house, once a vibrant shade of white, now, weathered and old like its owner. A key enters the lock and the door scrapes open.

The smell of stew and cheap air fresheners wafts out the door and mixes with the sharp winter’s air. The door scrapes shut and the street is silent once again. Drawing open the blinds he lets the dying light of winter into his aging abode. Outside nothing moves.

The sirens still wail, cutting through the air like a knife. Limping across the room he leafs through a crate of LPs and pulls out a beat up jacket holding a well-played jazz album. He eases up the volume until the screams of sirens dissipate and retreat, overpowered by jazz trumpeting. Tapping his foot along to the backbeat he makes his way across his living room to the stew pot on the stove. Grabbing a bowl from his sink he fills it with steamy broth and makes his way back into the living room. He picks his cat up out of his recliner and places her on the floor.

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He sits down, blows on his stew and begins to slowly sip it through pursed lips. He falls asleep in his recliner after finishing his stew, the scratch of the record lulling him and comforting him.

The chorus of sirens in a never-ending stream floats through the air.

A thump in the night wakes him from his sleep and the crack of a pistol is the last sound he hears. Time slips away and his life passes before his eyes.

He sees the death of his youngest brother in the heyday of his youth. He sees his mother, now dead and buried, in the kitchen of their old farmhouse, baking her famous cherry pie. He sees his lonely graduation from college.

He sees his father’s funeral in the cold month of December. He sees his lovely wife and his children all grown up. He sees birds, in the park, fluttering through the air. He sees people fade and fall after rising so high. So many events pass through his mind. Deaths, births, ends and beginnings. A smile flutters across his face and he relaxes in his chair. Memories overwhelm the pain as he falls asleep one last time.

Sirens wail and cut through the winter air. His cat meows in the corner as a man dressed all in black runs down the street. The sirens cry in the night, the only mourner for a man long gone.

Kelsi Barr

Waterways Mira Chiasson

Water’s ways Create Sculpted wood and Polished bone, show Etched in stone, Extinct waterways Water whispers its way Springs, source to sea, Runoff to river to Waterfall Falls through rifts Soaks down Becomes Underg round waterways, where Water’s ways, unseen, Still persist

Water listens to Ocean whisperings Answering an ancient calling With time, tide, Water’s atoms Carve out continents Recycle dinosaur excrements Cycle back Defying geographies Transcending boundaries Water’s ways remain Through states, Through time, Waterways

Mira Chiasson

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8

Acadia grad spreads Awesome in Halifax Emily Kennedy Staff Writer

Mike Kennedy (’05) is not your average guy. A graduate of Acadia’s Bachelor of Business Administration program, he has gone on to receive his Chartered Accountant designation, only to tur n away from these responsibilities to take on a new role— spreading awesome in the Halifax area. As the Co-Dean and founding member of the Halifax Chapter of the Awesome Foundation, Kennedy brings a refreshing outlook on life, in an otherwise negative-filled world.

When I spoke with Kennedy, I was interested to find out if there were any links between his Acadia experiences and where he finds himself today.

It turns out Kennedy acknowledges much of his success to his four years in Wolfville. Feeling like a part of the community, both on and off campus, provided the perfect exposure to combining creativity and risk-taking, he believes this is where he gained the confidence he needed to take on his duties for the Awesome Foundation, along with several other initiatives he has been a part of over the years.

Kennedy believes that the support of professors and students paved the way to a safe environment to experiment with various ideas, stating “I don’t think you’d get the ability to get hands on experience, as a student, if it wasn’t for Wolfville.” He also shared some advice he was given in relation to how to make these things happen revealing, “Someone once told me that you can accomplish anything that you want in the world, as long as you’re not married to getting credit for it.” Although Kennedy has often received credit for his ideas, they usually are not selfseeking, but rather recognition for his dedication and hard work.

Kennedy also noted the importance of this shared bond between Wolfville and Acadia, and how it has enabled the town to become one of Canada’s most progressive. Kennedy also attributed this to former mayor, the late Bob Stead, who he felt “did incredible leading things in public health, and in terms of community engagement,” which reflect the possibilities that can be created from these interactions between students and community members.

Kennedy reflected on his time serving as the Vice-President of Finance for Acadia’s Students’ Union, suggesting this role allowed him to be viewed as a peer amongst university administration, while becoming a mentor to his fellow students. This, he suggests, was the highlight of his time at Acadia, as it was “awesome learning practical work experience.”

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His role with the ASU allowed him to create an important network, which he still relies on regularly when in need. An example of this is with his involvement with Halifax’s own Hope Blooms, an organization comprised of at-risk youth who began a community garden and salad-dressing business. Kennedy first connected with this group through the Awesome Foundation, where they won a grant to help boost their business. When they were preparing for their Dragon’s Den audition, Kennedy put together a group of colleagues who formed a mock-Dragon’s Den. This included one of his greatest Acadia connections, a fellow alumnus by the name of Bruce Phinney. This experience left Kennedy and the other members of this mockpanel completely inspired, while giving these youth the opportunity to hone their skills for the real thing, which proved to be worthwhile, with their $40,000 deal.

The positive attitude that Kennedy proudly displays is almost infectious, beg ging the question, what has enabled him to achieve this level of contentment? He credits his Mom as the reason for his positive mind-set claiming she “taught from a really early age, the positive benefits of giving back.” Kennedy followed this by revealing, “it’s almost selfish, I think, in some respects, too. You’re usually getting more from it than the people that you’re giving time or resources to.”

This opened up the discussion to how he hopes to instill this same attitude in others, offering “I think the best thing I can do is just encourage people to pursue their own path and sort of take some risks along the way, in order to build their own confidence.”

When I asked Kennedy about how he maintains this level of positivity day after day he shared that “I think trying to be involved and surround myself with people who are positive.

I don’t know if it’s a psychological phenomenon or just kind of a book written around it but, you’re kind of a by-product of the 10 people you spend the most of your time around. So just encourage people to surround themselves with people that are positive, that’s what I do, and it’s worked well for me.” This is truly the essence of Kennedy’s mentality.

In the last year, Kennedy was responsible for bring another form of awesome to the streets of Halifax in the form of all things bacon.

Co-owner of the Canadian Bacon Cookhouse, Kennedy and business partner Louis Brill have dedicated their entrepreneurial skills to a delightful menu of “great buns, bad puns and delicious bacon sandwiches,” as well as chocolate covered bacon found in their bright pink ‘trough’ on the Halifax waterfront. Doors are expected to open on the May long weekend, for the 2014 season, and patrons can expect some new and exciting menu items.

This year, Kennedy is focusing on starting another new business, which he is keeping under wraps, and putting the skills he as learned to more strategic use in order to offer the most to his extracurricular activities.

To learn more about the Awesome Foundation Halifax or the Canadian Bacon Cookhouse, check out http:// awesomehalifax.com or http:// canadianbaconcookhouse.com.

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Life after Acadia: Alix’s story Stephanie Brown Staff Writer My overarching goal with this column is to showcase the variety of experiences that students have here at Acadia, so that we can be assured that there is not a singular right way of going about getting a degree. After giving it some thought, I realized I had to interview my roommate from the previous year, who surprised us when she decided to take a year off school and move to Spain. It was a decision that I am sure many others wish they could make, so with Alix telling her story my hope is that even one person out there who is frustrated with their situation realizes that they are not stuck.

was balancing on a tight rope, waiting to fall off at any moment.

How did your time at Acadia match up with what you expected and how did they differ?

opinions or one that you made on Language and Culture Assistants of your own?

Spain. I am now living in Madrid and absolutely love it, the city is vibrant, I finally got the courage to take a the food is amazing and I’m learning year off of post-secondary after Spanish as fast as I can and finally feel excited to work hard for something that I know I truly want. And as for my French teacher at the University of Calgary who told me I would never learn a second language… “Bésame el culo blanco,” everyone learns in different ways and so what if I have to move to a different continent to finally cross something off my bucket list, I’m doing it!

What is it that you do in Spain?

Tell us a little about yourself !

My name is Alix Nicole King. I grew up in a small village in Southern Alberta called Warner and now live in a quiet little city, Lethbridge. I have a passion for nutrition, I love to run, skate, and be surrounded my people I love.

Why did you decide to come to Acadia? What were your initial goals for your time here at Acadia?

I first came upon Acadia as a prospect for my 3rd year of post-secondary.

After trying a year at community college in my home town Lethbridge (also working part time to make money), and later transferring to the University of Calgary I was craving to see something I’ve never seen before.

Only having been out of Alberta a couple times to explore Canada, it seemed like the optimal way to satisfy my “duty” of going to school while at the same time satisfying my traveler’s itch. I expected to get in and get out, start my degree in Nutrition and in three years be graduated with diploma in hand and start a career, as a dietitian or to keep my options open, maybe go back to school and get a masters to work in Public Health Care. I think a lot of people come into university with an expectation that it will be like in the movies, drinking, partying, sex, carefree times, friends, gym everyday (of course! I have to make sure I’m looking good when I meet Mr.TallDark-Handsome, right?) and straight A’s (easy).

But this dream phase soon came to a screeching halt. I had a great time meeting new people, exploring a new province, and starting a new program, but university is demanding, and you need to be prepared to give it your all.

That means physically, mentally and emotionally. I think this is partially why young people have a hard time delivering their full potential because for me at least, it was asking way too much of my 22-year self. I felt like I

I loved my program and I know that I could live a happy life dedicated to a career in nutrition, but I did not expect how much of a toll it would take on me. I perfected the “not now, later!” mentality. That can only work for so long until you start feeling the effect of neglect to other needs you have that exam week doesn’t let you take time to deal with. I became overwhelmed, I started dropping classes because of the workload, struggled to maintain friendships with people from back at home and at university and most importantly with myself. I felt disconnected with my thoughts; thinking “Why am I doing this? Is this really what I want?” and instead of hearing my own voice I would hear a dozen others telling me what the “right” thing to do would be and why. I found myself not happy in university any more, and felt that I was letting an amazing experience pass me by. I literally found a diamond in the rough with Wolfville. The sense of community is unrivalled, and at Acadia I was blessed with intelligent and passionate professors, campus life such as clubs and sports teams and I knew that I had to come back with an appreciation for what university could offer.

How and why did you decide to make the change and move to Spain? Did you seek out others’

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I had a train wreck of a semester.

My grades were less than par, I had anxiety coming out of my ass, and my confidence was shot. I was mad at myself for not reaching my potential that I knew I had, and at that moment I made a conscious decision that if I was going to make a change it had to be now, and I had to make the decision for myself. I confided in a couple people after thinking things over myself and decided to talk with the head of the languages department for opportunities to study abroad. I’d heard of other people doing it so it was worth a look. I’ve always wanted to learn a second language and had attempted twice at taking courses at university, one resulting in a teacher telling me I just wasn’t “cut out” for grasping the concept of a second language. But after contemplating the idea of going to university in a different country, I still felt unsatisfied and knew that at this time in my life all I really wanted was to free myself of graded learning and understand what it means to live my life and learn at the same time, free of judgment, a marking schematic, and most importantly let my curiosity be my compass for my learning objections. So that was when I went back to the Head of the Languages Department and explored something a little different, teaching abroad, and this was how I was introduced to an amazing opportunity through

I have the best job in the world right now. I am an English Teacher Assistant.

My only job is to talk English with my grade 4 classes all day. I also get to practice my Spanish with them, and if I do well they give me a standing ovation, which is a great way to keep my spirits up (they should consider this technique in university). I get paid to play games, give presentations about myself, and talk to niños about weekend plans.

And my kids are amazing, everyday I’m taking notes on life lessons from them; they speak their mind and could care less about what your opinion is, curious about absolutely everything, laugh at the smallest things, and completely and utterly let their emotions , whether that be sad, happy, angry, embody them. I am currently working in the town Colmenar Viejo, at an elementary school. Every morning I am excited to go into work.

university classes and group work in these particular moments) and you find your stride. Every day I get better and better at teaching kids and I am so proud at how far I’ve come in such a short period of time. It reassures you that you can do anything you want if you’re not afraid of falling flat on your face, just get back up and do it better next time. When you move to a country that no longer speaks the one and only language you have ever known, you have to learn to throw your hands up and accept uncertainty.

What would you tell yourself in your first year of Acadia knowing what you know now?

If I could write a letter to my freshman self I would start with RELAX. Try your best and slap a smile on your face because life is too incredible and too short and there are way too many amazing things to be happy about to try and carry the world on your shoulders.

Do you have any plans for the future? What do you see yourself doing within the next few years?

I see myself going back to Acadia and graduating with my Nutrition and Dietetics degree, minoring in Spanish and if all goes as planned (which it never does but I’ll try my best), I would love to specialize in child obesity prevention and be an active participant in stopping childhood obesity. But if that doesn’t pan out I’ll be a cartoonist!

What advice would you give to Do you have any regrets about your fellow Acadia students? time at Acadia or your decision to go to Spain?

It’s okay to let your experiences shape you, good and bad. I think that the My mother always told me to never life that we choose to live should leave have regrets; that we do our best in a map on our soul. So keep your heart the situation and with the knowledge open to challenges and trust yourself that we have at the time, and hindsight that whatever you decide to do, if every is always 20/20. But when I return step of the way you are genuine and to Acadia will I go about things pursue what you love, your life will fall differently? Absolutely. I’ve learned into place. Let go of the need to plan to appreciate the “process,” the process and love the fact that you have no idea of learning about yourself, about what you will be next year. Maybe I’ll learning what you like, what you stay in Spain for another year, or if I don’t, finding friends and losing them, feel ready come home I’ll finish what watching yourself grow and embracing I started at Acadia. All that I know is every success and failure as part of life! that we should all be more afraid of the concept of knowing exactly what life Has your time in Spain changed you has planned for us, and the moment in any positive or negative ways? things become too predictable we will want the excitement that comes along Being in Spain has changed me in with the uncertainty of university to an incredible way. I struggled with come back. living a balanced and happy life and since my time here have so much clarity on my priorities in life and what genuinely makes me happy. I have learned to value myself and my opinions, to not be so hard on myself.

I had never taught in a school a day in my life and was petrified when I first started, but you quickly start drawing from your experiences (appreciating

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The best of CES 2014 4

Playstation Now

Playstation Now is not exactly a gadget—but for gamers, this online game streaming service was the most important announcement at CES this year. Sony had purchased the cloud gaming service Gaikai in 2012, but it was not until this year at CES that we knew what for. Not only does Playstation Now effortlessly solve the backwards compatibility problem, but now Sony just may have the Playstation 4’s killer app—the thing that will make gamers want to reserve space for it under their TV.

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niraJ nitheananDan sCiEnCE Editor CES is a very different show today than it was 10 years ago. Although people put a lot of attention on the announcements from major players in the industry such as Samsung, LG, and Sony, lately, independent companies and startups have the ones shaking things up.

But this year, thanks to an impressive turnout from companies like Sony and Valve, CES 2014 felt like a big, important show again. Combined with the usual presentation of interesting, exciting, and unorthodox independent projects, and you have got one of the best CESs in recent memory.

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Here are the 10 best gadgets from CES 2014: Samsung Galaxy Note Pro

This massive 12.2” tablet is Samsung’s answer to both the iPad Air and the Surface 2. Samsung has taken Android and placed what they call the Magazine UX on top of it. While I am not so certain the new home screen interface is necessarily the best for “professionals,” it takes the best parts of Windows 8’s live tiles and is a big improvement over most of Samsung’s typical TouchWiz Android skins. The Note Pro also includes the Note 3’s excellent stylus to make for a big tablet that is fun to interact with and write on.

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3Doodler

This Kickstarter darling made its big public appearance at CES this year and the result was quite exciting. This 3D printing pen takes all the modeling out of 3D printing and opens up creating objects to pretty much everyone— including kids. While you might not be able to do quite as much as you could with an actual 3D printer, it is a heck of a lot of fun to play with for only $99.

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Mophie Space Pack

There are always an insane amount of smartphone accessory companies at CES, but few of them manage to capture the attention of audiences.

Then there was a Mophie Space pack. This iPhone 5/5s case not only charges your phone with additional battery, it also adds 32GB of storage to your device. The Mophie lets you drop your videos, pictures, and documents straight into its storage and even lets you play videos right from it. Not only that, the Space Pack is designed beautifully and surprisingly does not add a lot of heft to the phone.

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Steam Machines

The desire to break into the home console market has been growing among both consumers and companies for years now, whether it is from independent Android consoles like the Ouya or big rumored living room takeovers from the likes of Valve or Apple. This year at CES was where ValveCEO Gabe Newell finally lifted

the lid off of the first generation of Steam Machines. The amount of computers on display was a bit shocking—as was the announcement that the consoles would range from anywhere between $500 and $6000.

While many of these models still feel like prototypes in many ways, there is no longer any question of whether or not Valve is actually serious about the living room market. They are—and Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have reason to be paying attention.

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LG’s Curved TV

The whole curved screen shtick has quickly become the great gimmick of 2014—that is, until LG showed off its 105” OLED 4k TV that just happened to have a nice flexible display on it. The curvature to this massive, gorgeous television feels just right— and unlike the curved displays on their smartphones, actually enhances the

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experience. This might be another product that will not be hitting Best Buy shelves anytime soon, but that does not take anything from the fact that LG has made an immersive and interesting television.

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Sony Xperia Z1 Compact

Smartphones aren’t really much of a thing at CES anymore because most of the big manufacturers now save the unveiling of their flagship devices for their individual conferences and press events. However, Sony quietly brought what might be their best smartphone in years to the show: the Xperia Z1 Compact. Despite the silly name, the Z1 Compact feels like the latest Xperia but with a very high quality camera. If this device eventually makes it to US market and is available at carrier stores, the excellent camera and accessible form factor might just make it the early frontrunner in the 2014 Android scene.

Oculus Rift Crystal Cove

The Oculus Rift is one of those prototypes that just keeps getting better and better each time we see it.

This year, Oculus showed off their new prototype, the Crystal Cove. This new hardware takes care of nearly all the problems I noticed with the original—most notably the motion blurring, the resolution, and the lack of head tracking. Now armed with a camera that tracks the movement of your head in space (think Kinect here), the Oculus Rift’s experience is now that much more immersive. I can not wait to see what Oculus ends up shipping customers—all I know is that it feels like it is getting awful close.

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Sony 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector Sony’s most peculiar and most exciting announcement this year was the Ultra Short Throw 4k Projector. Due to the surprisingly short distance the projector sits from the wall and the incredibly sharp picture, this 4k projector feels like the future of not only projectors—but TVs as a whole.

Pebble Steel Smartwatch

The Pebble Smartwatch made near the top of best mobile gadgets of 2013 lists —and for good reason. It was the first—and perhaps the only—smartwatch that made sense for the average person that does not want strangers staring at their wrist while walking down the street. The Steel is not just a 2014 update to the original model—it is Pebble’s next step toward reaching the mainstream market with their device. Both the leather and aluminum straps look and feel fantastic—and while they are no Rolex, the update might be enough for those who do not wear a watch every day.

Job Opportunity part-time

Stock Clerk Receive and stock merchandise and inventory at the location Clean the store at opening and closing Team player with excellent customer service skills Will assist customers with carry in and carry out of merchandise

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Resumes to customershopperevaluator@live.com

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Golden moment

Chicken Soup for the University Student’s Soul

Sarah Mackinnon Staff Writer

Over the holidays Mike Cazzola, Liam Heelis, and Chris Owens won gold at the International University Sport Federation (FISU) Games with Team Canada, composed entirely from the Atlantic Conference. The team went 5-1 overall, losing to Kazakhstan in the round robin but defeating them 6-2 in the final to win the championship.

The 26th Winter Universiade were held in Trentino, Italy. The international sporting and cultural festival is held in a different city every two years.

International hockey is said to be an adjustment from hockey in North America. The Axemen explained that they had a bit of an advantage with the transition because they are the only university team in this league that plays with Olympic sized ice, whereas the other players had to adjust to the larger ice. A challenge, however, was the tighter refereeing. This was clear with the high number of penalties in the games, specifically in the game against Ukraine and the final versus Kazakhstan. “Communication was difficult too, a lot of referees you don’t know where they’re from so you can’t always understand them” explains Owens.

The three Axemen were delivered the news of landing a spot on Team Canada with a call from the head coach Gardiner MacDougall, the head coach of UNB. Who was the first person they told the exciting news to? For Mike Cazzola and Chris Owens it was their teammates. Owens was at Brett Thompson’s house when he got the call so he was the first to know, followed

by Owen’s girlfriend. Cazzola was at the library in a study group when he received the call so teammate Dylan Anderson, who was studying with him, was the first to hear. Heelis immediately called his mother after getting the call, saying that she was as excited as he was. The team that they were now officially a part of was composed of players solely from the Atlantic University Conference—all teams that the Axemen play against regularly.

Coming together with a team for one tournament is unique and finding that chemistry is something teams can have trouble with, but coming together with players they are accustomed to facing off against was no issue according to the three Axemen. Heelis said: “It was definitely weird to begin with, playing with guys that you play against all year but as time went on we really jelled as a team and came together and it was a big part of our success.” Furthermore, a number of the players were not strangers, explained Owens, from Newfoundland. Four other guys on the team were from Newfoundland and

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there were quite a few from Ontario as well, where Cazzola and Heelis hail from. In addition, many of the guys on the team played Major Junior, and as a result most of the players had come across each other previously in their careers.

Team Canada had a fantastic tournament overall. Their first game was against Japan, whom they defeated by a whopping score of 12-1. Cazzola had a goal and five assists in that game alone, while Owens registered two assists. Heelis unfortunately got a game misconduct seven minutes into the game due to a kneeing penalty.

Canada proceeded to play Ukraine next and dominated with an 11-0 score.

Cazzola had a goal and an assist while Heelis got on the board with a goal and two assists. The following game was against the last team for them to play in their pool, Kazakhstan. Canada got on the board first in the first period, but the second period saw Kazakhstan get three straight goals. The third period saw each team get on the scoreboard once more but ultimately, Canada walked away with their first loss of the tournament placing them second in their pool. “We knew that when we lost to Kazakhstan that we had kind of just coasted into that game. After pumping a couple of teams we thought it was going to be the same and they really surprised us” Owens explained.

Moving forward, the Canadians took on the Slovaks in the quarterfinals and left no questions unanswered, winning 6-0 with Heelis netting his second goal of the tournament. The Canadians knew that their real challenge was ahead, according to Owens, playing against Russia in the semi-final. “We knew the Russians were a huge test, they were a great team and afterwards once we beat them we knew we were going to come ready for the final,”

said Owens. The game against the defending champions was not an easy one. Canada went up 2-0 with a goal in the first and third periods, but Cazzola explains that Team Canada never felt comfortable even with a two-goal lead: “We kind of dominated the play but you could just tell that if we made one mistake…they were so offensive and they had so much skill.” Russia scored to put it within one with a little under two minutes left and seconds later Team Canada took a penalty. Team Russia was then on the power play for the last minute of the game and pulled their goalie making it a pretty stressful minute, according to Cazzola, but Canada pulled through it. “It was like any other Canada vs. Russia series or game—really, really intense. You could tell from both sides that there was a tension automatically on the ice. It was Canada vs. Russia—the adrenaline was going and it was really neat to be a part of,” says Heelis. All three players said that beating the Russians was their favorite memory from the tournament (besides winning gold) because of that intense rivalry. “Beating the Russians, there is always a rivalry no matter what level of hockey with Canada vs.

Russia” Cazzola said, agreeing with the intense rivalry. Heelis adds that another favorite memory was after the game: “Besides from the hockey aspect, the best memory, or moment that I’ll never forget, is us all singing the National Anthem together. Eric Faille from the University of Moncton grabbed the microphone, as the arena did not play the Canadian anthem. So we all went to center ice and sang the anthem and that was amazing.”

The final challenge was the gold medal game; a rematch against Kazakhstan and Team Canada was ready. Kazakhstan struck first fourteen seconds into the game, but Canada did

not wait long to answer. Cazzola got his team on the board first, and the team scored twice more before the first twenty minutes was through. Canada scored twice in the second period to go into the third period leading 5-1.

They scored once more in the third period with Owens getting the assist before Kazakhstan struck back on the power play with eight minutes left in the third. The third period in particular was chippy and rough with multiple game misconducts being given out.

However, with a score of 6-2 Team Canada defeated Kazakhstan and took home the gold medal. With the win it is Canada’s fourth FISU title after claiming bronze in 2011.

Looking forward? First the three players have to finish their exams.

They left for the tournament on December 7th—long before exam period ended. Their professors were very accommodating, says the Axemen, some fit their exam in early while others postponed them for when they returned to school, and they are still finishing them up. The Acadia Axemen are having a terrific season so far, currently in second place in the Atlantic conference. They have 15 wins so far this season and 5 losses, with only 2 of those being in regulation. When asked about how playing over the break affected them as instead of resting like their teammates the Axemen were clear that it was no big deal. “We’ve all played junior hockey so we’re used to playing 68 game seasons and coming here it’s 28 games so we enjoyed playing over the break. It probably actually helped us because we stayed in shape” explains Cazzola.

The Acadia Axemen have a home stand next weekend when they face off against UPEI on Friday night and then against St. Thomas Saturday night.

Puck drop for both games is at 7 pm.

When you are sick, sad, or even just missing home nothing is as comforting as a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

Something about the steamy broth and noodles is just good for the soul. This version, a take on Vietnemese Pho, is heavy on the broth, lightened up by using rice noodles, and kicked up by the addition of chili and ginger. Ginger has been shown to reduce nausea, stomach upset, gas and bloating, and migraines. Chicken bone stock has been shown to have positive effects on immunity, digestion, and contains essential minerals and amino acids that fight inflammation. In addition, a little spice, such as the chili in this recipe, has been known to fire up metabolism. This soup consists of pantry staples that you are likely to have in your kitchen, and you can even use any leftover chicken you have kicking around. That makes this recipe easy on the wallet, which I think we can all agree is also pretty good for the soul.

Chicken Noodle Soup Serves 2 2 L of chicken stock 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast * 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 tsp of chopped fresh ginger 50g of rice noodles 2 spring onions finely chopped 1 c of canned or frozen corn 2 tsp of soy sauce 1 handful of fresh cilantro, chopped (optional) Siracha chili sauce, to taste 1. Pour the stock into a large pot and add the chicken, ginger, and garlic.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken and shred into small pieces using two forks.

2. Return the chicken to the pot along with the noodles, corn, half the spring onions, and soy sauce. Simmer until the noodles are tender (this will only take about 2-3 minutes) Serve in bowls and garnish with the rest of the green onions, chopped cilantro, and Siracha. * If you have leftover chicken, such as a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket, you can use this to make the soup too. Just add the chicken in with the other ingredients after the broth, garlic, and ginger has come to a boil.