The Athenaeum, issue 79.3

Acadia’s Student Newspaper, since 1874 October 25th, 2016 Issue 79.3

NEWS grad school blues page 3

FEATURES pride acadia page 5

ARTS the heming-way page 9

OPINIONS on the road page 12

ath atheditorials The Athenaeum Acadia University’s Student Newspaper Issue 79.3 ASU Box 6002, Acadia University Wolfville, NS, Canada B4P 2R5 Editor-In-Chief: Andrew Haskett Email: eic@acadiau.ca O�ce Hours: Tue & Thu 1:30-4:30 Advertising/Business Inquiries: tompkins.biz@acadiau.ca wile.biz@acadiau.ca Section Editors

Management

Arts & Culture: Sidharth Kondapuram Creative: Kelsey Crosby Distractions: Thane Mullen News: Allison Smith Opinions: Emma Hughes Sports: Zachery Craig Science: Hope Latta

Production: Adam Langille Photography: Anjuli Ripley Business / Ads: Noah Tompkins Colleen Wile Managing: Hannah Hutchinson Copy Editor Kody Crowell Editor-in-Chief Andrew Haskett

www.theath.ca

AXE RADIO - SCHEDULE Time

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

10:30 11:00

Coleman Merry? Yes plz

11:30

Boarderline Opposite

12:00 12:30 The Noah Holleman Experience

13:00 13:30

Afternoon

14:00

Wildfire

14:30 15:00

The Athenaeum is the official student newspaper of Acadia University and is published in print and online yearround 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 student-run newspaper.

16:00

We pride ourselves in publishing and participating in a diverse community, and we are more than eager to work with anyone, regardless of age, economic situation, race, creed, sexual orientation, or any other defining or diversive human trait. In the spirit of great debate we will argue with you and your opinions to the ends of the earth if we deem it necessary.

19:00

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 Andrew D. Haskett at eic@acadiau.ca There are open story meetings every Wednesday at 5pm in the Athenaeum office, room 512 in the SUB. Everyone is welcome, and we encourage you to join us!

The Athenaeum, since 1874.

Call it like you see it.

On the Cover: This week’s cover was created by Emily Ellis.

2

Issue 79.3

Friday

10:00

Some Tunes on Wednesday Afternoons

The Score

15:30

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.

We’re always looking for controversial and rowdy material that challenges society and its norms, but any material deemed offensive or hateful will be met with scrutiny. 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.

Thursday

Homegrown Haligons Alternative Beats

The Crew

16:30 Paige and Olivia

17:00 17:30 18:00

Songs and Stories

18:30 The Monday Night Show

19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30

Equalizer

The Hotbox

Seth Stevenson On A Sunday Night

Evening Chill

Rewind With Rachel

The In The Morning Show

Brad Jobe Jamz with Ian

Night Time Adventures

Andrew Glenn

The Mystery Spot

22:00

The Main

Ultrabazz Radio

Jamz with Ian

22:30 23:00

Genre Key Alternative

Blues/Folk/Country

Canadian/Local

Electronic/House/Dance

Hip-Hop/Soul/Funk

Jazz

Punk/Metal

Rock/Alt-Rock

Talk

Themed

World

Vinyl Playlist

Kathleen & Gabby

Saturday

ath athnews

www.theath.ca

GRAD SCHOOL BLUES Andrew Donaldson Contributor

As I walked out of the sixth office I had been in that day, it finally dawned on me that I had spent the past five hours on a wild goose chase. Everyone I met kept passing me onto the next person with relatively limited knowledge of what that person actually did. Well, there’s five hours I will never get back and, in hindsight, would have much rather spent doing pretty much anything else than running around from building to building trying to find someone, anyone, who could help me with my application to law school.

Now look, I get it.

I’m a 20-year-old University student who should be able to figure out a simple application form by himself, but a little help tends to go a long way with these kinds of things. I wasn’t looking for someone to hold my hand every step of the way, but I would assume that there would be someone at Acadia who could help me out should I have some difficulty. Well, it turns out that person does not exist.

I remember just three short years ago I was in the same position I am now: jumping from Website to Website trying to figure out where I wanted to apply to school. With the overwhelming amount of programs, schools, majors, and everything else, there was a University advisor at the high school to help each student comb through the weeds and figure out the right program for them.

So, being an educational institution, why is it that Acadia doesn’t have a grad school advisor? This has never made sense to me.

The amount of opportunities for students to find jobs straight out of University is enormous. We have Co-op programs, internships, job fairs and so many other great relationships with employers to find our students jobs right out of school, but what about the students who want to further their education at a graduate level?

Sure, we have a grad school fair, but if we have no idea what we are looking for, what good does that do?

It’s like going to the grocery store without a list; you walk through the aisles blindly trying to remember everything you need to make the meal, only to get home and realize you’ve forgot the key ingredient.

early in the year so I could ensure I would be ready when it came time to apply.

Now I sit with a week left until applications are due wondering whether I have done everything right and whether I am even applying to the right programs.

That’s not a very reassuring feeling for a student whose lifelong goal has been to go to law school.

Yesterday I spent six hours filling out applications and completed a grand total of zero. I probably spent half of that time simply trying to figure out the which programs apply to me. Our high schools have figured out that students need some guidance when it comes to finding the right school for them, so why has Acadia not yet figured out this simple fact? If I want to sit down with someone and ask one

The people have spoken, the votes are in, and the ballots are counted. The 2016 municipal election for Wolfville took place on October 15th and the outcome was far from the norm – 5 out of the 6 elected councilors are women. “We are a progressive town,” says elected councilor Wendy

All in all, I’m not asking for a babysitter or someone to complete these applications for me. What I’m asking for is what my high school gave me when I needed it: peace of mind.

As I sit here two weeks before applications are due, a little help would go a long way. Writing for the news paper, taking a full course load, writing an honours thesis, taking law school

admissions tests and trying to apply to a graduate program can be overwhelming at times, but being sent to six different offices to be told six different things and ultimately find out that there’s no one to help you takes the cake. I am not as upset about not having anyone to help, as I am the fact that everyone seems to think that we do have that person. It’s time for Acadia to step up and realize that not every student wants to go into the workforce right away. Just because we have a select few graduate programs doesn’t mean that students that want to pursue further education want to go into these programs nor should they get less help than those who want to work. If Acadia wants us to become “lifelong learners” as their mission statement explicitly states, they should be providing us with the means to be able to do so.

After already complaining for hundreds of words, I should shed some positive light on this situation. Every person I visited during my hunt for a graduate school advisor wanted to help me. Each and every one of the six people I was directed to genuinely cared about helping me. The problem was that helping me apply to law school wasn’t included in any of their job descriptions or competencies. Despite his or her best wishes and efforts to pass me on to the right person, there was no right person to be passed on to.

I had set aside time to sit down with someone regarding my applications

Photo by: Janani Chandramouli

THE VOTES ARE IN Allison Smith News Editor

simple question about my application, I have to make an appointment at Dalhousie and spend half a day there for something that would take a whole seven minutes if I could sit down with somebody at my own school. Why is it that I am paying thousands of dollars in tuition and other fees at a school that isn’t even equipped to help me get where I want to ultimately go. My own school, which I’ve loved for the past three years is hanging me out to dry when I need it the most.

Donavon and I couldn’t agree more. This contrasts Halifax whose council is the least equally gender representative that they have been in years with only 2 female councilors out of 16. Leading the votes was esteemed councilor Carl Oldham with 767 votes. He was followed in order by Wendy Elliot, Wendy Donovan, Mercedes Brian, Jodi Mack-

ay, and Oonagh Proudfoot.

This council is made up of three returning candidates and three new representatives, lead by Mayor Cantwell.

With an equal mix of returning candidates and fresh perspective, a previously minute female voice refreshingly liberated and a Mayor so good at his job no one will run against him, I think that town of Wolfville

is in for a prosperous term. Thank you to every Wolfville resident and politically awakened student who took

the time to ensure his or her voice was heard this election season.

October 25th, 2016

3

athnews

REEFSPIRACY???

Sarah Bachar Contributor In a satirical article in Outside Magazine entitled, “Obituary: Great Barrier Reef (25 Million BC-2016),” Rowan Jacobsen describes the tragic death of the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral structure. Rich in marine life, and stretching for more than 2,600km along the Eastern Coast of Australia, many were shocked upon reading of the Reef’s alleged death. The article has gone viral, reaching more than 1.42 Million shares since its release on October 11, 2016.

For an Obituary, it is quite entertaining, and serves to inform readers about many of the distinct historical and marine qualities of the Reef — but has one main issue: it is scientifically false.

Upon going viral, Jacobson’s article has sparked massive controversy in the scientific community through its claim that “climate change and ocean acidification have killed off one of the most spectacular features on the planet.”

According to a multitude of sources the reef is, however, still living—with preliminary findings from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority revealing, “22 percent of coral on the reef has died due to the worst mass bleaching event on record. But […] more than three quarters of the corals are still alive, in various states of health — and in dire need of being protected.” As of yet, no scientist or scientific organization has pronounced the Great Barrier Reef to be dead, and the initial article

www.theath.ca

in Outside Magazine does not offer any supporting scientific evidence to back up its claims.

Despite their outcry, the Great Barrier Reef is, scientists admit, in a state of crisis — with a report from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies revealing that the reef is at great risk of extinction, with 93% of the reef affected by bleaching (which happens when it is submerged in too warm water for too long).

This viral article could be the last thing that the reef needs, as it dismisses all of the ways in which human effort can still try to save the reef by painting it as too fargone. This type of exaggeration of the state of the Reef conveys a situation of less hope, rather than trying to mobilize the public to take actions to try and reverse the damage.

Claims such as those

by Outside Magazine have

further implications — for the Australian economy: The Great Barrier Reef generated an estimated $5.7 billion for the Australian economy as of 2011-2012, and created 69,000 jobs, all of which could be severely impacted by the viral claims of the Reef’s death.

Aside from the false claims present in the Obituary, Jacobsen does raise an interesting point surrounding the incentive by the Australian Government to paint the Reef as in better condition than reality depicts — detailing the Australian government coercion of the United Nations, wherein they successfully got them “to remove a chapter about the reef from a report on the impact of climate change on World Heritage site,” which was justified by the Department of the Environment of Australia as due to concerns over lost revenue in tourism.

By all accounts, it may be in

the Australian government’s (and economy’s) best interest to minimize the public’s knowledge of the Reef’s state.

While some see Jacobsen’s viral article as ignorant and discouraging to any efforts to save the reef, some look at this hyperbolic obituary as the very wake-up call that the world has been awaiting. Professor John Pandolfi from the ARC Centre at the University of Queensland states that, “It is critically important now to bolster the resilience of the reef, and to maximize its natural capacity to recover.”

The reef is, by all accounts, dying — but it is not dead.

So, is it a Reefspiracy? See for yourself: The original article published by Outside Magazine can be found at: https://www.outsideonline.com/2112086/obituarygreat-barrier-reef-25-million-bc-2016

Photo by: Kamryn Minors

4

Issue 79.3

ath athfeatures

www.theath.ca

SISTERS IN SPIRIT:

Campaign Calls for Action and Bridges Gap Between Two Nations Caroline Anderson, Danielle M. Cameron, Calum McCracken, Abby Newcombe, Cisco Watson Contributors

Canada is sparse, wild and largely open. So, if good fences really mean good neighbours, would having no fences mean we trust each other? No, we’re not talking about amicable CanadianAmerican relations stretching the world’s longest unprotected border. We’re talking about the two nations that exist here – at home.

It’s been a year since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau swept our nation and painted parliament red. So, what’s his report card like? Has he made good on a lot of his promises? It would largely seem like a moderate “yes.” Canadians voted for change and while they may not be seeing swift changes in every area they’d like, the country is undeniably di�erent these days.

So far, the federal government has put up $2 billion in funding toward ending boil-water advisories in many Aboriginal communities, over a five-year span.

Currently, the Liberal party the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. However, a point of contention remains the feds’ slow turnaround to apply the 94 recommendations brought forth by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; the Indigenous leaders are eager to see action.

Raising awareness isn’t easy.

You can’t force passersby to look up. “Putting more post-

ers up, putting the word out there, and saying come on out and just listen. Because there so many people out here who don’t know. They really don’t know how many of our native women are missing,” says Darlene Peters-Copeland, a community worker with Mi’kmaq Family and Children’s Services of Nova Scotia. She had a major role in organizing all these events and spoke proudly of the e�orts already taken to fix this problem, but realizes so much more needs to be done.

The following will be five nonIndigenous students’ experiences engaging with the Sister’s in Spirit Vigil and the Highway of Tears documentary screening: Calum: My colleagues and I arrived at the K.C. Irving centre, unsure what to expect. The foyer was host to a number of the Mi’kmaq community. Some were quietly conversing, calmly waiting for the proceedings to begin, while others were distributing t-shirts with the ‘Sister’s in Spirit’ emblem. The vigil began with a traditional Mi’kmaq drum ceremony, the intermittent percussion echoed throughout the grand atrium, as the guests began to take their seats. The atmosphere was one of, pensive and somber reflection as the vigil progressed. Many presenters conveyed the national urgency required to address the problem of violence su�ered by aboriginal women and girls.

Further lending their voice to the shocking number of missing and murdered aboriginal women within Canada (figures estimate that around 582 aboriginal

women are listed as missing or murdered). Following the ceremony, the audience went outside where they had prepared a rock painting station. “These rocks represent the women; the ribbon represents those of us who want to spread the word,” said Bev Walker, who ran the painting session. People were instructed to paint thoughtful words and messages of hope on the rocks and place them within the template of white shells on the grass. – Calum McCracken, B.A. Political Science at Acadia Caroline: By participating in both campus events, the Sisters in Spirit Vigil and the screening of Highway of Tears, we were able to hear personal accounts from our fellow Acadia students.

The documentary was e�ective.

But, it was the personal retelling of fellow Acadia student’s tragic experience of being sexually assaulted that stuck in the minds of theatre-goers that night. It made it real. So, if we, in our community, want to begin getting people engaged, we have to start looking at issues of proximity. What do we mean by that? We cannot focus our gaze elsewhere. We must conceive of the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women as being national, but we must also create personal connections within our local communities.

We can’t treat this issue as just one highly publicized string of occurrences – like, the Highway of Tears, but focus right here in Nova Scotia as well. – Caroline Anderson, Honours of Political Science at Acadia Danielle: It was an honour to

NEITHER HERE NOR THERE: Intersex and Pride Max Janes pride@acadiau.ca

Intersex Awareness Day is October 26th, with it’s partner day being Intersex Day of Solidarity on November 8th. Why do these days exist for Intersex folx, and why do they fall under the banner of LGBTQIA+ Pride?

What does it mean to be Intersex?

The simplest answer is that intersex people are people who were born with sex characteristics that don’t meet medical

and/or social norms for female or male bodies. To expand, this means that an intersex person could be born with chromosomes that are not the typical XX/XY setup, and there is a wide variety of combinations and additions.

Other intersex folx may have uncommon levels of hormones, or hormone insensitivities that result in di�erent sexual development in utero and/or during puberty.

So they aren’t male or female, what are they?

They are people, just like you.

Intersex people are generally as-

signed male or female at birth based on what gender medical professionals think the child will grow up to identify with.

This is not the same as being hermaphroditic, which is when an organism has a full sex of functional male and female reproductive organs They can identify with the same gender identities as anyone else, and may or may not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. They will experience sexuality in the same way as anyone else. They can be gay, straight, asexual, bisexual, or anything else.

meet Darlene Peters-Copeland.

She works incredibly hard in her community, and in so many others across this province. I was fortunate enough in my high school and university education to have learned about the many systemic injustices and barriers that continue to dog our Indigenous populations nationwide, but the education doesn’t stop at merely becoming aware. I found attending the SIS events held here, at Acadia and in Wolfville, really helped me conceive of a Canada where the lines of communication are able to connect our communities in ways they are not united right now. Fair and open dialogue is the first step to shrinking the gulf between Canada’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. – Danielle M. Cameron, Masters of Political Science at Acadia Cisco: The Moose Hide Campaign is a powerful reminder that the responsibility to help end the cycle of violence and abuse of Aboriginal women and children is bared by all. It’s grassroots movement of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal men who are opposed to violence against women. With roots in British Columbia, Paul Lacerte, and his daughter Raven, had hunted a moose near the infamous Highway of Tears.

Paul thought to use the moose hide to inspire men to become involved in the movement to end violence towards Aboriginal women and children. It was handed out to everyone in attendance was a small piece of moose hide, no bigger than an inch, to be worn in the same respect as a ribbon or a poppy. The very personal work of the creators of this campaign was clear; placed in large sandwich bags and shipped from B.C. to N.S. – each piece of moose hide cut and attached to a small piece of paper describing the campaigns purpose. This is a labour of love.

It is also a call to action for all

men, not just those within the Aboriginal and Mi’kmaq community, to recognize that they have a role to play in preventing domestic violence. The women in the audience were encouraged to give the hide to a loved one; a husband, a boyfriend, or both, as Darlene boldly noted.

The men, as far as one could see, all made a point to attach the hide to their shirts, a show of solidarity to those who have been touched by this violence. – Cisco Watson, Masters of Political Science at Acadia Abby: The SIS events and the documentary screening in town illuminated the issue of Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women in a way that I was not expecting. The vigil gave me the opportunity to make the issue more personal. Getting to connect with those here who have been a�ected by the issue, made it so much more real and brought attention to the fact that this is not something that is happening in other provinces alone, this is something happening in our own communities – right here, right now. Documentaries put faces to names of these missing and murdered aboriginal women and showed their family’s devastation and the toll it takes on the circles around them. The only way that we, as Canadians, are going to see real change on this is if we all start paying attention –listening to our Mi’kmaq community members and becoming part of the conversation. We need to pressure our institutions of influence within our society to become active and draw attention to this ongoing problem.

There needs to be an end to talk with no real action. –Abby Newcombe, Honours of Political Science, Acadia

How common are intersex people?

The best estimate that the International Organization of Intersex is anywhere between .05% to 1.7% meaning that there may be up to a few dozen intersex students here at Acadia.

children that will never benefit them medically and often will cause them to require hormonal replacement therapy as adults.

Why are Intersex people included under the banner of Pride?

Intersex people are oppressed in much the same way and by the same people as other LGBTQ+ identified folx. They are expected to adhere to strict gender standards, identities.

Unique to intersex people, they are often subject to unnecessary genital reconstructive surgery as infants and

How can I support intersex people?

Let intersex people define themselves. They know themselves best and it is not your job to assign labels to or argue their identity with them. You can also support movements to include gender recognition on federal forms, such as adding X to the F/M selections.

TLDR; You’ve met many intersex people in your life, unknowingly, and it’s okay. They experience systematic oppression and it sucks.

October 25th, 2016

5

athfeatures

www.theath.ca

IT’S NOT YOU. IT’S ASSAD. Colin Mitchell Contributor

As jets scream across the sky, a thunderous boom echoes.

Phosphorus bombs dropped by Russian fighter jets engulf entire apartment blocks in flames.

This has become the norm in Aleppo, which has been under constant siege since the breakdown of a ceasefire brokered by the Russian and American governments. The White Helmets, a group of Syrians who pull people from the rubble of destroyed buildings, look utterly defeated as they pull another lifeless body from the debris.

They do their work quickly and head back to base, awaiting another call for help on their radio.

This has become the norm in much of Syria. Since the Arab Spring, Syria has descended into a bloody civil war. An estimated 11 million people have been either killed or displaced since 2011, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. We hear these numbers every day, but have become so desensitized we simply scroll through our newsfeed. Put into perspective, imagine 85% of the population of Ontario either killed or forced to flee their homes. Or the en-

tirety of the Maritimes, nearly 2,000,000, killed or forced to leave everything. Now imagine that five times over.

Countries around the world, unable to deal with intense numbers of asylum seekers, have seen waves of racism, xenophobia, and fear spread like wildfire. Politicians like Viktor Orban, Nigel Farage, and Donald Trump are riding these waves to o�ce, using racial hatred to garner votes and create an ‘us vs. them’ dynamic. The European Union has been under tremendous strain in an e�ort to accommodate and resettle as many refugees as possible, but has su�ered severe political backlash. We saw the consequences of this on June 23rd, when the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.

This presidential debate this past week was contentious for a number of reasons, but no topics were as prominent as Donald Trump’s “locker room talk” video. In case you missed it, The Donald was caught making some horrendous comments about women while his microphone was on. Among the more o�ensive quotes were “I did try to fuck her and she was married” or “I was moving on her like a bitch” but most o�ensive of all was when he said “Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything”. Donald Trump later made a half-hearted apology and played this discussion o� as “locker room talk”. What I find more disturbing than the comments is that after Donald branded this discussion as locker room talk, a number of pro athletes such as Udonis Haslem, Chris Conley, and Robbie Rogers said: “that is not how men talk in the locker room.”

6

Issue 79.3

The war must end, and Assad must go.

There is no alternative. It’s clear that Assad has no intention of stepping down or seeking peace, and would gladly see his country ripped apart at the seams and let the rest of the international community bear the consequences. In order for this crisis to come to a close, Bashar Al-Assad must be reWhat’s happening in Syria is moved from power, whether by not just a Syrian problem. It’s a his own choice or by force. global problem. As humans, we share a collective responsibil- Here’s why. When the Arab ity to do our best to protect our Spring began, it started as fellow humans. peaceful protests in the city of Deraa. Thousands of citizens, This starts with Bashar Al- discontented with undemoAssad. For five years he has cratic and oppressive rule, stayed in power as the President came out to protest and join the of Syria, destroying his coun- tide sweeping across West Asia. try and the lives of his people. Assad responded in the only Propped up by Russia and Iran way he knew: troops and tanks. he has had the power to wan- This escalated from small pro-

LOCKER ROOM TALK Christopher Vanderburgh Contributor

tonly kill, under the pretext of dealing with “terrorists” who threaten civil order. The Syrian Ministry of Tourism even had the audacity to publish a video inviting you to vacation in the coastal town of Tartus, tanning in the sun or enjoying the crystal clear water. Less than 60 miles away in the city of Homs, civilians are desperately trying to avoid artillery and air strikes.

To deny that those types of comments are made in a locker room may be plausible as not everybody discusses sexually assaulting women, but some do. Even more men than that talk about women in a way that I’m sure they wouldn’t want recorded for the public. Let’s use D’Angelo Russell of the Los Angeles Lakers as an example. In March of this year, he secretly recorded Nick Young talking about the women with whom he cheated on his fiancé Iggy Azalea. Albeit that Mr. Young wasn’t talking about sexual assault he was openly admitting to cheating numerous times on his would-have-been future wife. If Young is comfortable talking about infidelity in the locker room, what else gets said when large groups of men are together behind closed doors?

What could truly be worse than an open admission that Donald Trump makes a habit of sexually assaulting women?

in the New England Patriots locker room while attempting to conduct an interview. The accusations against various players ranged from “verbal sexual abuse” all the way to players actively exposing themselves to Miss Olson. It was said that a number of the players at the time encouraged the behaviour and even attempted to keep teammates laughing while this was occurring. Following the incident Miss Olson attempted to report it. Team administration, players, and many others made it very di�cult for a proper investigation to be conducted. With that being said, how does all of this relate to Donald’s comment?

Considering that professional athletes have been coming out in droves saying that Donald Trump shouldn’t involve them, I have the following to voice. While I do agree that it’s unfair to simply say that only athletes do this, I do not agree with the way proathletes have responded. When I hear things like “I have spent my entire adult life in locker rooms, that is not locker room talk” – sorry, but the bullshit filter is full.

In September of 1990, Lisa Ol- While I have never played sports son, a sports journalist, was ac- professionally, I have spent my tually sexually assaulted while fair share of time in locker rooms

tests into armed rebellion, cul- step down. That being said, the minating in the full scale civil conflict’s spillover is having war we see today. the exact e�ect Russia intended: destabilizing the European In addition to brute force, Assad Union and weakening general released terrorists from pris- democratic and inclusive prinons in order to exacerbate the ciples of western democracy. conflict, thereby justifying his This is evident in politicians heavy hand. These terrorists, such as Viktor Orban, Hungawho had connections to Osa- ry’s far-right prime minister ma Bin Laden, came together who branded all refugees “a to form ISIS. This so-called public security risk”. state has resulted in thousands dead, priceless pieces of art de- Was this all part of a Russian stroyed, and the general desta- master plan to weaken Westbilization of northern Iraq and ern influence? No, but the unSyria. A man who can release intended consequences of the sub-humans capable of untold conflict are playing into Rusdeath and destruction from sian strategic security interests. prison is not a man at all. He is The political consequences of a monster. the conflict are evident in the rise in racism and xenophobia, With the backing of Russia, and the human consequences it’s clear Assad has no plans of beyond words. How can one leaving. His continued bom- look into the eyes of a starving bardment of Aleppo and bla- Syrian boy and tell him the war tant violation of international must go on to protect the lelaw and basic human dignity gitimacy of a regime that can’t are likely to continue. That is, protect him? unless he steps down or relinquishes power. The time has There have been plans on plans come, after five years of brutal made for how to deal with the conflict, for Bashar Al-Assad to aftermath of the war. Comstep aside. mittees formed, conferences held, and agendas discussed.

This can take three forms: But in order to reach those Assad voluntarily stepping discussions we must first deal down, being forced from o�ce with the elephant in the room: by powerful allies of the Syrian Bashar Al-Assad. And for Syria regime, or his forced removal to once again achieve peace, he by opponents. Considering how must leave. deeply indebted the Syrian regime is to Russia, it’s unlikely Permanently. that they would force him to and the type of talk that Donald Trump participated in is nothing new to me. While I have never explicitly heard an admission to sexual assault, I have definitely heard women spoken about in a way that is not to be repeated in polite company. What is most important to remember is that these types of discussions are not exclusive to athletes. These types of conversations I would imagine are not even exclusive to men.

“Locker room talk” was a politically convenient term for Trump to use when describing his conversation but he just as easily could have called it “water cooler talk” or any other number of locations where men are speaking with men. There will always be those who believe they’re having conversations “o� the record” that will say things that are similar to Donald’s comments in some way. There is an identifiable issue here, at least in relation to “locker room talk”.

Based on the reaction of the public, it seems that it was not generally understood that men talk about women like this, but they do. Men’s Health actually polled their readers and they came up with this: “This morning we posted a twitter poll...

asking Men’s Health readers if the type of talk in the leaked Donald Trump video is typical of conversations they have with other men. The results were sixty percent no, forty percent yes.”

So based on that, if you’re in a room of ten men, four of them are saying the same type of thing that Donald Trump said. Donald might just be right for once. To say that you don’t talk like that and people you associate yourself with don’t talk like that is completely fair and may very well be true. But this type of talk is perpetuated by denying that it happens and a “lets keep it between the boys/girls” attitude that is present amongst people of all ages.

Recognizing that private conversations are not a platform for misogyny or the objectification of men or women is the first step to ending the cycle of “locker room talk.” Perhaps it’s time to have an open and very honest conversation about the things men and women say about one another when they believe they’re talking o� the record.

You don’t have to bust any balls to stop locker room talk, all you have to do is not participate in it.

ath athcreative Help Chris McEwen “I woke staring at the ceiling. I just laid there, not moving. I just watched as the shadows danced around the ceiling. They moved so slowly but elegantly. They moved to the drum in my chest and my ears. Their forms morphing to and from, graceful creatures and beautiful monsters of the imagination. I felt my blood being pumped throughout my body. I felt full. I felt alive. Then there was suddenly a hole.”

“Where was this hole?”

“It was where your heart is supposed to be, where it is supposed to be to wait for someone to aid it to beat, where it was suppose to work and help me feel something. I felt nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Emptiness seemed to swirl in a vortex consuming everything around it—slowly spreading. I felt as if I were dying.

My internal organs were eating themselves inside out. It spread and spread and spread. I just laid. I did nothing. I couldn’t do anything. My limbs seemed to give up. My brain screamed in protest and told me to let the darkness take me whole.

It told me it would make things better.

“It wouldn’t have been so bad. My soul, my soul revolted. It refused to die out. It refused to leave this realm to go to Valhalla. It refused to stop fighting.

It still had some fight left. When the darkness touched my soul, chaos erupted. A giant mosh pit of emptiness and emotion collided. I felt the tremors of that giant combustion on my insides. The pain was intense. I cannot take it anymore.”

He had taken out his heart and had put it out there, in the air, for her to see. He had unlocked himself once more to let her in. He wanted someone to fill the vacancy in his heart. He wanted her to understand. He wanted her to care.

“You need help,” she said indi�erently yet delicately. “You need to take some Zoloft. It will make things better.”

She didn’t get the message. She didn’t take the hint. He had shown her his heart and she had paid no attention to it. She looked through like it was invisible. Like there was nothing there already. The pain in his eyes were far beyond repair. She had dropped Fat Man and he was destroyed.

“Here, I have some in my purse.”

She pretended to rummage through her purse, but in truth she knew exactly where they were. She drew it out carefully like it was a precious gem sent to earth from heaven. He took it from her shaking hands and opened the little bottle.

He got up and started walking.

“Where the fuck are you going?”

She hurried after him.

He entered the bathroom.

“What in God’s name are you going to do in there?”

He lifted the toilet seat and extended his arm. His arm slowly turned.

The pills fell into the water.

She screamed.

“What the hell!?! I was only trying to help. You’re going to pay me back for those…” She continued on as she dove to salvage some pills. He didn’t listen.

He pushed her away and flushed and flushed and flushed.

Her screaming were reduced to sobs.

He bent over and whispered into her ear: “You need help.”

He stood up and walked out the door.

www.theath.ca

As The Sun Sets Over The Sea Allison Smith As the sun sets over the sea And the sky fades to grey I fly away From turkey and talks Of what I am studying, Planning, loving, achieving I leave with a little less Less of a rock in my gut than the last A feeling I thought would never pass The plane dips and my hopes rise The fuzzy feelings of home Overwhelming my insides Back to salt air And fewer faceless stares From the town I used to call home Maybe it’s not the main street I call mine But the one that makes my heart feel Full at the time

A Halloween Scare Anonymous Trying to be silent And not show any fear With darkness as a cover For things that are too near My footsteps echo slowly Down this creaky hallway floor My only sweaty focus The haunched white figure standing in the Door.

The only way around it Is to inch past scaley skin Behind me people scream And I’m sorry God that I have sinned But the screaming turns to laughter And I break into the light We made it through the haunted house Never again do I want this freight

The lights twinkle like stars out my window And on this plane alone I am home

Photo by: Anthony Chu

October 25th, 2016

7

athcreative You Probably Won’t Like The Ending, And That’s Okay Benjamin Pierce Your eyes are brown and beautiful, it’s been longer than three years since I last saw them. No one ever tells you that brown eyes can be beautiful, everyone fawns over the depth and clarity of blues and greens. Beautiful brown eyes are softer, warmer. I didn’t realize how long I’d been held by them. I don’t remember when our eyes first met. As the flames between us danced, they blocked the line of sight, and I realized I hadn’t been breathing. Outside of my mind the moment ended. I drifted between paying attention to the conversation around me, and attempting to indulge my lust for your gaze. I aimed to lose myself in your eyes again.

Glances toward you lingered longer and were more frequent. Even now the memory of the erratic shadows cast on your soft skin by the flames is calming. You were far too pretty, in contrast to the scru�y mess I was. You were also too pretty for this place – this campground didn’t deserve you. I caught your eye again, and time seems to stop. I smiled, and you got up from the log and were lost in the darkness surrounding the fire. I stared into the flames, my thoughts still filled by you. I realized I was cold and tired, so I turned to leave.

You’re there, slight smile, those eyes. I mesh my fingers with those of your outstretched hand. You’re cold as well, and soft. I can’t tell which of us is trembling, fighting not to shiver. You take the lead, and I follow. I’m thankful the moon provides enough light that I can make out how beautiful your form is. I curse the night for teasing me with the details. You’re definitely too pretty. I realize I have no idea where we’re going, who you are, or why you’ve brought me here. I wonder why I’m not concerned when you stop. There should have been silence in the absence of footsteps. I hear breathing. It has an emotional quiver to it, a note of urgency. I realize its not mine. Our eyes meet again. I don’t stare this time. I’ve closed my eyes without really understanding why.

I don’t open them.

I can describe your eyes now, if only to myself. They look they way your lips feel. Warm. Soft. Tempting. Sexy.

Wrapped together, we both shiver. Mouths part for breath, our faces still touching. We kiss again. Your tongue presses into the part between my lips. I allow you. I understand the phrase “putty in your hands”, I’ve become it. I wasn’t sure what to expect, or why I expected anything at all. But, grinning despite gasping for breath, I expected something to happen. Your eyes echoed back the new energy, the new feelings, the electric thrill.

Cold Darkness Kelsey Crosby Her eyelids feel like iron slabs, but her body and mind won’t rest. The cold air of October leaks into her little room to battle and win against the tiny space heater she manages to shove into the corner among her mess of clothes, drafts of essay papers, and toys her son had strewn there earlier that day. She wraps the blanket tighter against her warmest pair of jeans and thickest hoodie and wonders if she really remembered to turn o� the cooktop. As sleep creeps closer to her, she hears from the kitchen the scream of her son piercing through her veins. Throwing the blanket o� her body she runs in sock feet to the kitchen to find the cooktop turned o� and no one in the room. Her heart pounding, she crosses the trailer to her son’s room, where she finds him sleeping soundly with the blanket pulled tight over his soft blonde hair.

A tiny wheeze escapes his lungs with each breath and she makes a mental note to get him to see a doctor this week. She closes his door to a crack and tells herself she was just lucid dreaming again. Climbing into her bed again, she takes a deep breath and before she can expel the entire breath, fast, hard stomps pound in her ears and her eyes tear open to the sight of her son, a smile, and the glint of a knife before it slides across her throat.

www.theath.ca

No Swimming In The Kitchen Keisha Lent it’s 4 in the morning and my head keeps thinking about the puddles on the floor from when the rain came in.

I live in a house with blood stains under fresh paint and a foundation that creaks under the weight of the secrets it holds and they’re trying to escape.

My skin is untouched that much is true but I live in a house with abuse and I watched while it brought tears like tsunamis from my mother’s eyes and listened to it as the thunder that rumbles from my father’s throat, loud enough to shake my bones and awake me from a sleep.

It slashed open the concrete of this house and I have seen the walls bleed from open wounds then it rotted and rusted every corner of the air until my lungs could not stand a chance against the waves that came crashing down the door all hearts diving in to swim with spite on the floor.

They tied their grief around my ankle and watched me drown.

Photo by: Anthony Chu

8

Issue 79.3

ath atharts&culture

A FAREWELL TO ARMS: On Love and Cynicism Sid Kondapuram Arts Editor

(Warning! Spoilers ahead!

Although the book is like 70 years old) A Farewell To Arms is Hemingway’s seminal work, and I will never sway on that regard. The book chronicles the life of Frederic Henry, an American paramedic serving in the ambulance corps of the Italian Army during World War I. He falls in love with Catherine Barkley, an Eng-

lish nurse, and a perfect archetype of a romance proceeds. Right? Well, yes. Kind of. The story is wrought with cynicism to the very end (not to say that there aren’t the parts where they gallivant around gardens or lakes, or on boats when the sun is rising or setting and it’s all serene, or at night, or something). What gets me every time I read it is the ending. There’s salient cynicism underlying the entire book – the way he talks about his future with

www.theath.ca

here, or the very nature of his job. But the ending is a cynic’s wet dream: Catherine has a miscarriage, and suffers a massive hemorrhage shortly after. Henry watches her die, and then walks back to his hotel in the rain. That’s it.

“But after I had got them out and shut the door and turned off the light it wasn’t any good. It was like saying good-by to a statue. After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain.”

It is this succinctness, I believe, that makes A Farewell to Arms the quintessential romance

story. The ending is so brutally abrupt. There isn’t much meandering on after the death, no cloying tirade about the color of her hair, or the lilt of her walk. It’s numb, and abrupt, and it is realistic. In a way, it tells us that her death isn’t the end of living for him. Things will still happen, life will still pass him by. In a time like this, there is bound to be a shade of bluntness that tints everything in life. It moves quickly, but it hammers endlessly and inevitably in time. So much so that it took Hemingway thirtyseven drafts before he settled on the canon ending.

Thirty of those were supposed to be an extempori-

zation on love, and the other six settled into clichés of cynicism. The one chosen was neither one of those, instead it settled on nonending. By being blunt and technical, it seems to evoke timelessness to the end.

I would highly suggest reading this book (even if you already know the ending, the ride is what counts). If you can, grab a copy of the one with the thirty-seven endings in the prologue. It is very interesting to peer into the head of a man chasing perfection in his work.

OUR CONNECTION THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY Humanity Viewed Through a Lens Founders of Humans of Acadia

Photographers can capture some of the most gripping moments in life with just a simple picture.

Photographs intrigue us, entice us, and beg us to peer in and know more.

Famous wedding photographer Fer Juaristi once said, “what matters is making pictures that make people feel and react to them.” Photographers can capture an entirety of a memory, a moment, or an instant all in one picture.

They can capture joy, sadness, love, despair, lust, anger, fear, and so much more. Portraits capture humanity in perhaps the most humane way.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines humanity as “the quality or state of being human”.

It is that humanity – the quality of being human – which connects us. Sharing with each other the base qualities which make us human connects us. It is humanity that brings people together.

Humans of Acadia is attempting to capture a variety of different feelings and emotions. We attempt to capture the clear impactful moments within a conversation to share ‘humanness’ across campus. It is those relatable, significant, moments, that hit us in pro-

Check out the Humans of Acadia Page At:

found ways. We speak to memories. The flood of emotion, of experience.

Sharing the experiences, humour, lessons, or stories of any one person.

Through a conversation we capture those stories to share with the online world. The stories posted are just a simple piece of the person but they illustrate the essence of what has impacted that person.

The ability for digital story-telling arises through the use the online sources such as Facebook. Humans of Acadia allows us to share the humanity throughout campus in the most piercing way. The stories can make us laugh, make us cry, make us burn with rage, or make us do all at the same time. By using an online medium sharing is not solely restricted to a human-human interaction. Humans of Acadia has the ability to be shared through computers, phones, tablets, and other online devices. These devices have previously been thought to separate us: Humans of Acadia attempts to challenge the divide. We use that which is arguably disconnecting us from reality to connect our Acadia community through our devices.

Photo by: Anthony Chu

October 25th, 2016

9

athopinions Is Grad School for You? Think Before You Jump Hope Campbell MA Student The leaves are falling, the air is growing colder, and you can almost feel the existential crisis in the air as fourth and fifth year students apply to graduate in the spring. While an undergraduate degree typically lasts a relatively short period of time – three to five years – it’s associated as being a time of fundamental development and change. I would argue that if you feel you are the same person when you finish your undergrad as when you started, you have not truly experienced and fully engaged in university. However, for those who have experienced growth and change, who have had ideals and beliefs challenged, or have developed new passions and interests, the next steps after Acadia can seem daunting and scary.

Some of you might think to yourself that the best way to avoid the harsh, cold “real world” is to stay in the academic womb and go to grad school.

Hell, you could be like me and decide an undergraduate degree at Acadia wasn’t enough and stay here for another couple of years doing a master’s program. While I would say my decision to stay at Acadia and work towards my MA was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, I would not say grad school is for everyone. Here are a list of questions to consider before deciding. This is ultimately an opinions piece, so take my advice as you will. Additionally, most of these questions are geared towards thesis and research-based master’s degree. There are plenty of non-research based master’s and grad programs out there that may not require you to ask these same kinds of questions.

1) What do I want to study? This might seem like a no-brainer. Some of you may be asking yourselves something along the lines of, “if I studied English for my undergrad, why wouldn’t I study English for my MA?” Firstly, it is possible (within some degree of reason) to take up a di�erent area of study than what you did in your undergrad.

From professional programs like law or MBAs to specialized BSc programs and many more in-between, there are many di�erent programs you could take. Generalized programs, such as an MA program in English or an MSc in Biology could

10 Issue 79.3

vary greatly in structure and content between universities.

Ask yourself what you are really passionate in and what kind of program could help you develop your skills and talents. Additionally, many master’s programs have a thesis-component to their structure. While theses vary in length between institutes and programs, they require a good deal of energy and commitment. You should ask yourself if you think you would have interest in writing an 80-200 page academic text.

2) What do I want out of my master’s degree? If you are thinking of getting a master’s for the sake of a better income or for the degree title, I would honestly suggest you consider di�erent options or at least consider taking a break from school to figure out what you are passionate about. If your only reason for considering grad school is your potential future earnings, you will be in hell. To get through a master’s you not only have to be intelligent, hard-working, and organized, but also have passion for what you are doing. Grad school can be a stressful and emotional time and without passion it is easy to be discouraged. The ‘imposter syndrome’ – the belief that you are not as smart or intelligent as you’ve tricked others into thinking you are and they will discover this any moment (and call you out as the academic imposter you are) – is extremely common during grad school. While passion alone will not save you from this feeling, it will help to keep you going when times are mentally and emotionally tough. It is common to have mixed emotions regarding your work – excitement mixed with anxiety is completely normal (that said, if your work is causing you to feel anxious, please talk to someone who you trust.

These feelings are normal and the best way to work through them is with others who have experiences the same). However, if you feel like you will be bored by the idea of research, field-work, or thesis-writing, you may want to mull over your rationale for applying to a research-based master’s. In your master’s, you may find you have the opportunities to do many things you didn’t have a chance to do in your undergrad. This can mean the opportunity to work as a Research Assistant, go to (or

www.theath.ca

even organize) conferences, publish your writing, go to di�erent university talks and events, or even just having the time to develop your writing and ideas more deeply than you could in your undergrad. These opportunities will make your time in grad school fuller and give more meaning to your work, but not every grad program will give you the same opportunities. If you can, I would recommend getting in contact with current students in your prospective grad program and find out what they think about the program structure, the academic opportunities, and the department dynamics. No one will be able to give you a better understanding of what grad life is like in a particular program than someone currently involved in that program. On the flip side, if you find yourself reading this article and unexcited about these kind of opportunities, consider what grad school would mean to you and why you are considering a graduate degree.

3) How will I finance a master’s degree? I hate the fact that this question has to be included on this list for many reasons that (probably) don’t belong in an article on why you should (or shouldn’t) consider grad school, but it would be irresponsible to not include the question of money. A research-based master’s is usually a two year commitment, you may not be able to work the summer in-between your first and second year (or if you’re used to working during the school year, holding down a part-time job may be impossible during your master’s), and for those with student loans from undergrad, borrowing more money may be more daunting. Luckily, some grad programs offer some funding for their programs if you apply early.

This varies from program to program, institute to institute. There is also the possibility for external funding – including from SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council), NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council), and CIHR (Canadian Institute of Health Research). While financing a master’s can be daunting, it is not impossible. For more information on research funding from the Canadian government go to: https://www.canada.ca/en/ services/science/researchfunding.html. Take time, talk to your prospective university and program, apply for fund-

ing externally, and apply to your potential university early.

It will take more work now, but it will save you some financial stress later. Grad school will be stressful enough without having to worry about money.

While these are some important questions I would consider if you are thinking of applying to a master’s, there are a few questions I would recommend not prioritizing when considering grad school.

1) Location, location, location. By all means take time to consider which university you want to go to, what program you want to be in, what size of classes/cohort size you want to have, program cost vs. financial aid, academic environment, cost of living, etc. These are very important questions to ask yourself. What is less important is romanticizing your surroundings.

If you find a school that is in your dream city/town/village, that is awesome. If you find one that is close to your family (or maybe far away from your folks), that is awesome too. But ultimately you need to find a program that is right for you, not a city. Your master’s will take up so much of your time that if you are not content with your program, no amount of diversions and excursions will make up for it. That being said, certain schools – particularly for professional programs – may have greater access to internship or networking opportunities than others. If that is important for your master’s or post-master’s plans, then it may be useful to consider location.

2) University name recognition. Don’t get me wrong, it is very important that you go to an accredited and reputable institution. But you also need to find an institute and program that work with your needs and interests. At Acadia, I have been very fortunate that

my theses supervisors in both my undergrad and in my MA were experience, tenured professors with PhDs. This is not the case at all universities. You may end up with a PhD student as your thesis supervisor and they may be fantastic, insightful, and simply help you grow as an academic. But they may also not have the experience to direct you in the same way that an experienced professor could.

If you find yourself in the situation that a PhD student or an adjunct is your thesis supervisor, no matter how awesome they are, be pissed o� for both yourself and for their sake. It is a fucking shameful practice too common across Canadian universities to use adjuncts and PhD students to do the work of tenured or tenuretrack professors without fair financial compensation and benefits. Just because a university is recognized globally does not mean you nor your thesis supervisor are being supported by your institute. While all universities across Canada could be doing more for their faculties, expecting PhDs and adjuncts to do the work of tenured professors is problematic for students and faculty alike.

While these two lists may not be able to tell you where to go or what to study, I hope they will give you some perspective when considering applying for grad school. Grad school is not a way to avoid the non-academic working world nor is it a prolongation of undergrad. It requires much more of you but is far more rewarding. If you can, I would recommend talking to professors and mentors you may have, talk to current and recently graduated grad students who may be able to give you greater insight into di�erent programs. Here’s wishing you the best of luck in whatever you decide to do next!

Photo by: Janani Chandramouli

ath athopinions

www.theath.ca

A Defence of the Sigil of the Confederate Soldier Alexander Murney Contributor

“To tar the sacrifices of the Confederate soldier as simple acts of racism, and reduce the battle flag under which he fought to nothing more than the symbol of a racist heritage, is one of the great blasphemies of our modern age.” – Jim Webb The humid summer air was thick with powder smoke as roughly three hundred artillery pieces, divided somewhat equally between both combatants, fought a long range duel. An advance was planned, which would hopefully bring the battle to a decisive end. Three divisions consisting of nine brigades would move forward across open ground from their concealed position behind a treeline. Their objective was a small copse of trees atop a ridgeline which the enemy occupied nearly a full mile away.

A man yells, almost silent over the roar of the guns, and roughly 12,500 men emerge from the treeline. As they stepped off, the formation immediately came under a cannonade from long-range artillery.

Drawing closer to the objective, the troops begin receiving aimed musketry and canister shot. The assaulting force, which began the attack strung out across a 1800m

line, was reduced to a frontage of only 800m as men pressed together to fill the gaps created by casualties. Yet the offensive continued.

Finally, the attackers had marched close enough to the ridgeline to break into a charge. Bayonets fixed, the force smashed into the enemy line and despite their losses managed to punch several holes through their foe’s position.

But defeat was almost a mathematical certainty: the assaulters had faced heavy attrition due to their march over open-ground, and the defenders had positioned a reserve close to the ridgeline, allowing them to quickly bring up reinforcements to strengthen their beleaguered line. As these fresh troops entered the fray, the fighting began to end as attackers surrendered or drifted back to their original positions. Roughly 50% of the assaulting force became casualties.

This bold assault occurred on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg, one of the most important engagements of the American Civil War. It has come to be known as Pickett’s Charge, after one of the commanding officers who participated in the action. And while the attack failed, it is an elegant example of the tenacity and courage demonstrated by the Confederate

soldiers throughout the Civil War. When these men marched into battle, they did so under a simple banner that has become to some a symbol of hatred and racism, following the recent 2015 attack by Dylann Roof on a prominently African American frequented church which led to the deaths of nine individuals. Following this heinous crime, images were found with Roof prominently displaying the Confederate flag.

While the Confederate battle flag has been used as a symbol for hate groups, and obviously this usage is improper and must be ended, it has other symbolic meanings that should be respected. Groups like the KKK have falsely appropriated this symbol to represent something that it is not.

First, as former US Senator Jim Webb has correctly noted, “we should also remember that honorable Americans fought on both sides in the Civil War”. Because of this, a monument to the Confederate Soldier stands in Arlington National Cemetery. It is not the case that every soldier who took up arms for the Confederacy was a slaveholding plantation owner. Soldiers came from many places; Norfolk, Portsmouth, small hamlets along the James River, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, and the communities all over the

Shenandoah Valley. But when they marched into battle, often outnumbered, they did so under the Confederate battle flag.

These men weren’t all fighting for slavery, nor even succession. Their leaders may have been, but that is an argument for other scholars. Consider the 37th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, who came from the mountains of Washington county. These individuals didn’t own slaves, most didn’t even hold property. Roughly 1500 men joined the unit when it formed, but when Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia only 39 soldiers remained in the ranks of the 37th.

More generally, the Confederate Army enlisted 750,000 men out of a total population 5.5 million. Further than 60% of this force became a causality in some form, and 258,000 soldiers lost their lives. According to Webb, “no modern army has exceeded the percentage of losses the Confederate army endured”. Regardless, the Confederate solider zealously followed their leaders into battle against a foe that was numerically superior, better equipped, and well-financed. This commitment deserves respect, and this respect can be given by honoring the emblem he carried into battle as more than a symbol of racial hatred.

WHY THE WORLD NEEDS A BETTER U.N. Colin Mitchell Contributor

Nearly 100 years ago, an old man had an idea. President Woodrow Wilson of the United States, exhausted by war and su�ering, sought to create an international forum upon which the conflicts of the future could be resolved and the nations of the world could work together harmoniously. We all know the story of the League of Nations. It didn’t have a happy ending.

In its place the United Nations was brought into being.

The Preamble of the Charter best describes the noble goals of the organization: to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and rea�rm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small … to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.”

These lofty goals laid the foundation for the post-war era. From them we saw waves of decolonization through Africa and Asia, impoverished states launch to international economic prominence, diseases eradicated and wars prevented. In our Social Studies classes of high school, we mythologize Lester B. Pearson and the peacekeeping mission he created during the Suez Crisis of 1956.

We learn about how Canada’s foreign policy is built around the concept of peacekeeping and how we’re not an aggressive nation, but how we genuinely care about the world at large.

There’s a certain disparity between our vision and our reality. The world we live in is by no means perfect, and the United Nations is not exempt. It’s been riddled by scandal, patronage, bureaucratic ine�ciency and a prevailing global skepticism that has questioned the very purpose of the organization. The world has changed immeasurably since 1945, and our international institutions have not changed with it.

The way that the UN is currently organized perpetuates the structure of world the way it was at the end of the Second World War. The Security Council- the ultimate decision making author-

ity- is composed of 15 members, 10 of which are elected on two year terms and 5 permanent members (France, the People’s Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Russia) who have ultimate veto power over any resolution that runs contrary to their national interests. The power of the veto has been used to block numerous resolutions, including preventing the establishment of an international tribunal concerning the shooting down MH17 in 2014.

Apart from the Security Council, the United Nations has a wealth of other problems. The Trusteeship Council, the body concerned with assisting former colonies (trust territories) transition into full statehood has been legally inactive since 1994, yet it still exists within the UN Charter.

The Oil for Food Programme of the late 1990s labelled the international body as corrupt, revelations of sexual assault perpetuated by UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo only reinforce that label, and the most recent outbreak of cholera in Haiti at the hands of UN peacekeepers is inexcusable.

The United Nations is far from perfect. Outside the General Assembly Hall, a quote from former Secretary General Dag Ham-

marskjold is written on the wall: “The UN was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell.” The world of 1945 is no more, and the United Nations needs to adapt to the current geopolitical climate.

Note that the title of this article isn’t ‘Why the World Needs a Strong UN’ or ‘Why the World Needs a Smaller UN’ or ‘Why the World Doesn’t Need the UN.’ The organization simply needs to be better. Better in achieving what the Charter sets it out to do. Better in realizing the root causes of conflicts and preventing them when warning signs are evident. Better in empowering women around the world. Better in promoting environmental protection and social justice. Better in raising and using its money. The United Nations needs to be better.

The work that the UN does is invaluable to the rest of the world. UNICEF has fed more than 80 million people per year, has helped more than 2.6 billion gain access to clean water, and has brought new vaccines to over 400 million children worldwide.

In 2014 alone, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) provided food, water, and shelter to nearly 12 million people. International tribunals have prosecuted

Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton called the flag “a symbol from our racist past that has no place in our present nor in our future.” Destroying history is never the answer, as George Orwell famously stated “the most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history”. The Confederate battle flag invokes a whole emotion of remembrance.

It represents the aforementioned valor shown on numerous battlefields, the duty the soldier displayed while following their leaders, and the spirit of rebellion which guided their action. Simultaneously, the flag can represent the racist institution of slavery and the horrors it invoked. Remembering the past helps prevent repetitions in the present. But it should never be used to represent hate, nor censored in a mad quest for political correctness.

The Confederate battle flag is the symbol under which many individuals made the ultimate sacrifice while trying do what they believed to be their duty. Personally, I rarely put much weight behind the term ‘cultural appropriation.’ But the story of the Confederate battle flag is an example of this phenomenon, where a symbol that once represented the values of the Confederate soldier, and has been taken to represent hate. The meaning of the Confederate battle flag must be resized, as stands for much more than racism. war criminals such as Charles Taylor and Slobodan Milosevic, and there are nearly 250 indictments out worldwide. Despite all of the scandals and mistakes, we cannot deny that the work done these past 71 years has been invaluable.

The world needs the United Nations because this progress would be impossible without it.

We cannot deny that the world is becoming more connected every day. As the speed of a text between Tokyo and Timbuktu increases, so does our sense of global citizenship. We are more than just Nova Scotian, or Canadian. In this day and age, we are truly citizens of a wider world.

The United Nations is going to be crucial in the next several decades in mediating global disputes, responding to international health crises and battling the scourge of climate change. We cannot a�ord to disengage from a world that is becoming increasingly interconnected. The world needs a better organization to lead it into the future, and that organization is the United Nations.

President Woodrow Wilson best captured the sentiment back in 1919: “We cannot turn back. We can only go forward, with lifted eyes and freshened spirit, to follow the vision. The light streams upon the path ahead, and nowhere else.”

October 25th, 2016 11

athopinions

www.theath.ca

HOMEWARD BOUND G r o w i n g O n Yo u r O w n Emma Hughes Opinions Editor The month between the beginning of school and Thanksgiving Break seems to be a blur. The first week of school is spent in a constant daze. You are left wondering how you are going to be able to manage waking up for 8:30 classes for an entire semester, why all of your due dates seem to be in the same week, and how you have made it this far with your sanity intact. An existential crisis ensues. Lower years may feel a growing excitement as Thanksgiving approaches; being away from your parents for the first time in your life can result in some type of homesickness. However, this feeling begins to change as time goes on. Personally, trips home have become a bit of a challenge. Perhaps it is because I have matured throughout my degree, or maybe it is because home no longer feels quite like it used to. As time goes on, it becomes harder to relate to a place that once sheltered you from the harsh realities of the world. While going home

can be exciting, it can also be a stressful endeavor.

When you go home, wherever that may be, it can be overwhelming. You may find yourself walking through streets that hold many memories. Your neighbors, your old school, and places you used to visit every day that seem completely unfamiliar now. What was once a familiar, every-day routine has become a completely foreign concept to you. Once you learn to live on your own, it is extremely di�cult to get back into the routine that your parents had created for you. Simple things like taking o� your shoes when you’re inside, locking the front door, and immediately putting your dishes away seem much more di�cult than they did when you were 15. After you’ve created your own routine, conforming to parental control is a The most di�cult di�cult adjustment that can parts of going home are the often lead to slight feelings visuals. You see parts of your of resentment. life that remind you so much of the past that it is di�Throughout your cult to imagine a future in time at University, you grow that same place. This feeling into the person you are is ripe with loss. You feel as meant to become. It is the though the only life you knew

IN REAL LIFE:

Post Graduation Profiles Emma Hughes Opinions Editor

The end of fourth year is upon many of us. After going home for the weekend for Thanksgiving, I received more than my fair share of “what will you be doing next year” or my personal favorite, “have you found a job yet?” Although these are important questions that many of us worry about, finding the answer isn’t a priority for some people.

Homecoming is this weekend, and as it quickly approaches, many of my old friends have returned to Wolfville for the weekend with the intention of “getting lit up” (their words, not mine). Today I had the opportunity to sit down with Peter Churchill-Smith (more commonly known as

12 Issue 79.3

first time you are able to living within the means of your own rules. You finally have the freedom to explore and express yourself on your own terms, not within the limits that had been previously placed on you by the family and friends you had in your hometown. Coming into your own is a huge part of University. Returning home can often feel like a smothering experience. You begin to understand that everyone is di�erent, and that it is okay to go against the grain for the sake of being yourself.

However, you may find that many people in your hometown do not feel the same way as you. You begin to feel trapped in between what you are expected to be and what you would like to be. Being caught between these two ideals can be overwhelming.

Do you please yourself or everyone else? Finding yourself at this crossroad can be a difficult landscape to navigate.

Peter Peta Chs), and Evan Elliot to discuss how life after graduation has been treating them. We had the chance to discuss housing, work, and party culture in the post-graduation world.

When ChurchillSmith began his education, he lived in Chipman House for two years. While at Acadia, he majored in finance and was heavily involved in many extracurriculars, his most notable being the Chipman Alumni Club.

Churchill-Smith had admitted to feeling slightly offbalance after graduating, especially since he had chosen to stay for a fifth year of his degree. One of the most drastic changes was the shift in his living situation. “You lose the feel of community when you leave Wolfville,” he started. “You struggle

to build a new foundation when you start over in a new city.” Churchill-Smith is currently working as an operations analyst for Citco Funds Services. Although this job sounds rather prestigious for someone who has just finished his education, he stated that his life is not very glamorous. Peter says that it is difficult for him to even fathom that he had been involved in the Student’s Representative Council, where he was the elected Chair. Churchill-Smith believes that the hardest transition from University to the real world is maintaining his energetic outlook on life while acting as a “corporate slave.”

Like ChurchillSmith, Evan Elliot also resided in Chipman House for 2 years. While at Acadia, Elliot studied Kinesiology and was heavily involved in organizations such as SMILE, KinderSkills and CanFair.

Elliot’s situation is different than Churchill-Smith’s.

Competition in the job

for the first 18 years of your life has completely ended. It is di�cult to accept that this part of your life may be over, especially when it feels like nobody understands that you needed to go away in order to become the person you are now. When this happens, it is okay to feel lonely, but you must also remember your value. A place does not define who you are, you do.

As you grow older, you begin to understand that home is not a place, but rather, a group of people. Your parents, siblings, grandparents, friends, old teachers, the lady who checks you out at the grocery store – it is these people that remind you of what the true meaning of home is. You may feel

like an outsider in an unfamiliar place, but the love and comfort certain people have for you should remind you of why you always go back.

When we feel discomfort at home, we must remember that a home is entirely the people whose arms are open upon your return, and that you get what you put into each situation you are placed in. Our homes helped turn us into the people we are today, and although they may be a stressful reminder of a past life, they house the people who enrich our lives with joy and happiness. The next time you go home, remember that you are not alone in your feelings of discontent, and that it is okay to be yourself regardless of what is expected from you.

Photo by: Emily Day market and post-graduate school has made Elliot’s life after Acadia rather frustrating. Elliot is currently working in a 40 hour/week unpaid internship. He believes that he is a “slave to society.” Unfortunately, this is a harsh reality for many graduates after leaving university. Elliot believes that his internship has offered him practical experience that will give him an edge when he applies to Chiropractic College next year. Although he is content with his life right now, he says that the adjustment to life after Acadia is rather difficult.

Today, ChurchillSmith says he would like to impart wisdom on future graduates regarding the transition to the real world. Both him and Elliot believe that Acadia offers students a foundation that is necessary for developing skills that will help you grow as an individual in society. This university gives students the chance to act on their individualistic im-

pulses, furthermore developing a mentality that will give them the confidence to proceed on with life after graduation. Although this transition is a difficult one to make, Peter and Evan believe that they would be struggling (more so than they are now) if they had attended a larger institution.

Acadia offers students the advantage to develop within themselves by following the example of highly notable academics. Elliot believes that everything happens for a reason, and that although his life may seem difficult now, everything will eventually work itself out. My time with these Alumni has offered me some insight into my own impending doom.

Four years at Acadia seems like a long time, but in reality it is actually quite fleeting. Churchill-Smith and Elliot both encourage current students to enjoy their time and make the most of it, although the real world isn’t all that bad, Acadia is better.

ath athscience

www.theath.ca

WISE: ACADIA CELEBRATES DIVERSITY IN COMPUTER SCIENCE Hope Latta Science Editor

On Tuesday, October 18th, WISE Acadia presented a collection of poster presentations bringing together a variety of researchers across campus. Each poster represented a unique way to look at technology and how it can be applied to di�erent fields. WISE stands for Women in Science and Engineering, and is dedicated to addressing unique issues that women in academia face. In addition, the event included a talk

by Dr. Anne Condon titled, “It All Computes: Celebrating Diversity in Computing”. The event took place in Fountain Commons, which is part of the Acadia campus. It brought together women from all scientific disciplines to discuss the importance of a female presence in academia, and to address preconceptions that people have about girls and math. Each poster brought a good topic to the conversation, and the event overall encouraged female scientists to continue pursuing their degree of choice. The following includes descriptions of some of the projects presented at the event.

Girls and Gaming: Influencing Young Women to Join Computer

Science (Hayly Thackeray) The purpose of this project was to create a curriculum for girls in Grades 7 and 8 that teaches them the basics of computer science through creativity in video game design. The creative and fun game aspect will spark an interest in this age group, influencing their decision on participating in the computer science field. The Girls Get WISE Techxpedition was held on August 18th, 2016 with the help of WISE Acadia, WISE Atlantic, the Anita Borg Institute, Open Acadia, and the Jodrey School of Computer Science. The girls learned to create their own video game in Scratch and try out some Lego robotics.

25% of the girls that attended the program said they wouldn’t have considered becoming a Computer Scientist before the event, but are now. In addition, 75% of the girls said they would continue to program after the event, 20% said they weren’t sure if they would continue to program, and 92% of the girls said they enjoyed the event overall.

New Radial (Jon Saklofske, Marc Muschler, Ian Brunton and the INKE Research Team) New Radial is a data visualization environment that o�ers an alternative digital workspace for

visualizing images and text. It encourages users to contribute to ongoing academic dialogue via connections and operates as a middle ground between large datasets and a close reading environment. Radials are circular arrangements of related nodes that play a central role in a user’s exploration, collection, curation and connection of database objects for humanities-based scholarship.

They allow users to work within a middle ground between large datasets and a close reading environment, providing an alternative scale of interpretation within a digitized framework.

Monitoring Mammal Movement Through Terrestrial and Aquatic Passageways in Antigonish, Nova Scotia Using Remote Camera Sensing (Stephanie White, Randy Milton, Trevor Avery) Nova Scotia is gradually expanding its major 100-series highways in response to safety concerns.

Highway twinning along a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway intersects with an ecologically sensitive watershed, disconnecting wildlife movement in the area. To mitigate highway impact, wildlife terrestrial and aquatic passageways were installed along with 4 km of fencing and four one-way control gates. Passageways are >50 m long, and the terrestrial passageway has a central atrium.

These passageways are the first to be studied in Nova Scotia, as well as the only to integrate both fencing and an atrium into the design.

The highway is set to open late fall 2016, providing an opportunity to study wildlife movements before construction, during construction, and after installation. The scope of this 4-year project covers monitoring the movement of mammals through the passageways using remote camera sensing with a focus on medium-sized mammals (i.e. smaller than deer).

Quantifying activity through images will be used to identify drivers of wildlife movement within the passageways. Factors under consideration include fencing, light intensity, moon phase, temperature and weather conditions.

Select factors are manipulated to identify which may have a greater e�ect, including altering light levels by covering the atrium for extended periods connected to moon phases. Findings will be used as a baseline for future passageway design in Nova Scotia.

Escaping Local Minima with Symbols (Ahmed Galila) This concept was inspired by how the brain processes sensory input.

Inputs are propagated through the network one layer at a time.

Each layer learns a certain representation of the input data. Each representation is more abstract

than the layer below. This allows deep architectures to provide better generalization. The goal behind training deep architectures is to reduce the error in the model’s output as much as feasibly possible. Deep architectures have complex error functions with many local minima. Deep models tend to be trapped in these local minima.

In addition, the following topics were explored: - Rethinking Time Course Data: Growth Curve Analysis in Spoken Word Recognition Research (Alexander Sproul, Randy Lyn Newman) -Data Mining and Machine Learning at the Acadia Institute for Data Analytics (Danny Silver) -Unsupervised Multi-modal Learning (Mohammed Shameer Iqbal) As well as many more.

The poster session was followed by a talk given by Dr. Anne Condon (a professor of Computer Science at U British Colombia). Her enlightening portion of the event discussed the di�erence between male and female enrollment in the area of computer science, and suggested some ways to combat this problem. Her discussion pulled together the importance of having programs such as WISE, and made the event even more exciting.

PLASTIC CONSUMPTION BY CANADIAN WATERFOWL Erika Holland BScH MSc (can.)

It’s a familiar story: a sunny day, you’re taking a break from studying and visiting the local park, throwing bread crumbs to the ducks and drinking a soda. Perhaps you recycle your bottle when done, or maybe you simply throw it down and walk away.

What you don’t realize is that your actions then and every day mean you’re feeding the birds more than just crumbs.

Recent studies on freshwater birds are finding that plastic wastes are finding their way into the diets of waterfowl at alarming rates, and may remain in some birds for up to a year after ingestion. Plastic release into the environment is nothing new; humans have been releasing debris into the environment since the early 1900s with studies as early as the 1960s finding plastics in seabird stomachs.

In 2015, 56% of seabird species were negatively a�ected by entanglement and ingestion of marine anthropogenic debris, and unless e�ective waste management practices

are put into place, 99% of all seabird species will likely be ingesting plastics by 2050.

Improper disposal and lack of knowledge means that large quantities of plastic debris pollute waterways and water bodies each year. Perhaps the most insidious of these are microplastics (plastic debris under 5 mm), which cannot be filtered out through wastewater treatment plants due to their small size. Microplastics can be manufactured, or created through the breakdown of larger plastics over time. Breakdown can occur with anything from red solo cups to plastic razors, and even laundry. A single load of laundry containing acrylic fabric can release up to 700,000 microplastic fibres into the environment.

Manufactured microplastics range from raw plastic granules used in manufacturing to the microbeads widely used in cosmetics as exfoliating agents.

These microbeads, < 1 mm polyethylene and polypropylene microspheres, are flushed into our waterways after a single use. The

United States alone releases 263 tonnes of microbeads per year, leading to large concentrations of microbeads in sediments of the St. Lawrence River and preferential ingestion by some fish species. Public outcry from these findings led to the United States passing the Microbead Free Waters Act in 2015 (House Report No. 114-371). This is a step in the right direction. In 2012, 280 million tonnes of plastic were produced globally, and less than half of that value was recycled. The remainder litters continents and pollutes waterways and oceans.

This debris negatively impacts marine and freshwater organisms through entanglement and ingestion, leading to injuries and death. Plastic debris also vector heavy metal contaminants and pesticides such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Once discharged, plastics can persist for anywhere from 3 to 50 years, and complete breakdown may take hundreds or

thousands of years.

Due to the mounting evidence that plastic debris is polluting freshwater bodies at greater rates than ever before, studies are needed to address issues such as freshwater bird plastic ingestion, and Acadia is stepping up to the plate. In the past two years Acadia University students have published two groundbreaking new studies looking at plastic ingestion among Canada’s freshwater birds, finding approximately an 11% ingestion rate (English et al. 2015; Holland et al.

2016), and further research in this field is ongoing.

I am hoping to build on this work by determining where birds pick up the majority of ingested debris. To do this I will be conducting dietary dissections and analyzing stable isotopes from feathers and tissues. I am requesting submissions of mallard gizzards, proventriculi, and feathers. If you, or anyone you know, hunts and would like to take part in this valuable research please contact me (at erikaholland@acadiau. ca) for further information on sampling and shipping protocols. All associated shipping costs will be covered.

References English, M. D., Robertson, G. J., Avery-Gomm, S., Pirie-Hay, D., Roul, S., Ryan, P. C., Wilhelm, S. I., and Mallory, M. L. 2015. Plastic and metal ingestion in three species of coastal waterfowl wintering in Atlantic Canada.

Marine Pollution Bulletin. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.05.063 Holland, E. R., Mallory, M. L., & Shutler, D. 2016. Plastics and other anthropogenic debris in freshwater birds from Canada. Science of the Total Environment 571:251-258. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.158 House Report. Committee on Energy and Commerce. Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015, (to Accompany H.R.1321). (114 H. Rpt. 371). Text from: Committee Reports. Available from: congress.gov; Last Accessed: 29 May 2016.

October 25th, 2016 13

athscience

www.theath.ca

WHY THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT HAS BEEN HIJACKED ... BY IGNORANCE The Department of Environmental & Sustainability Studies and The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences We are not here to argue whether climate change is real or not. Based upon facts, the overwhelming majority of the scientific community agrees that climate change is in fact real, and the idea that there is not a ‘consensus’ is simply beside the point.

We are here to talk about why the validity of climate change is in question and who, if anyone, benefits from this question. Several students and staff in both Earth and Environmental Science, Environmental and Sustainability Studies and the ASU Sustainability office, having read Elke Willmann’s article, have been moved enough by this article to collectively respond.

To call the validity of climate change into question is really to question the validity of the scientific community at large. It is important to note here, that sometimes information from this community can be misinterpreted, such as the significance behind the numbers when talking about CO2 (carbon dioxide) concentration in the atmosphere. To clarify, our Universities own Earth and Environmental Science professors Dr. Spooner and Dr. Raeside explain: “It is true that the [CO2] values are small (currently just over 400 parts per million, or 40/1000th of 1 percent to use [Willmann’s] expression). Before humans started releasing huge quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere, the air held about 290 parts per million (ppm).

Very accurate measurements of CO2 have been recorded in widely separated places (Hawaii, South Pole) since the mid-20th century and concentrations have risen from 315 ppm to the current value of 401.36 ppm.

Check www.co2.earth for

14 Issue 79.3

today’s value. While these numbers may seem irrelevantly low, they are not.”

These values are significant because even small atmospheric adjustments can have a profound impact, as Environmental Science student and Axe Radio Advancement Coordinator Luke Ehler writes: “The ocean is known as a carbon sink because CO2 readily dissolves from the atmosphere to water to the point of equilibrium. So while entire island nations may not yet be submerged, it has been well documented that the ocean is becoming more acidic due to CO2 reacting to form carbonic acid. As a result, we see massive coral bleaching events like what is currently happening at the Great Barrier Reef. Ultimately leading to the loss of some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet.”

Before the science is questioned, it must be understood.

That being said, these misunderstandings about what the science says or what the true “culprit” behind climate change is do still exist. For something as immensely huge and complex as the phenomenon of climate change, of course confusion will occur! We can sit around and argue about the mechanics of how climate change is happening for the rest of our lives but it will ultimately achieve nothing.

What perhaps is most important are the regional and direct outcomes of human activities and the global outcomes of climate change as a whole.

The uncertain future of climate, ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, invasive species movement, uninhabitable land, severe droughts, extensive erosion – we’ve heard it all, we can see it all and

we are living through the effects of all of these not tomorrow, but today. If we can agree that these occurrences are significant, and if we can agree that we as a collective species can do something to at least alleviate our own hand in the matter, then perhaps we can agree that changing our behaviour to better our world is worth our while. One of our greatest impacts as a species is global warming.

There is overwhelming scientific evidence supporting global warming, so the real question we should be asking is who stands to gain or lose from climate change scepticism and why is it even a conversation? The exposure to scepticism surrounding climate change has very serious social consequences. The public perceptions can help or hurt political, economic and social action to address climate change issues.

Climate change policies will be greatly influenced by the support or opposition of the public and their recognition to the risks and dangers of global warming. The issues of climate change scepticism present a significant challenge for government and environmental organizations that are attempting to convince people to take action against global warming.

Often people need someone to blame for a certain issue, whether it’s terrorism, theft, or murder, all these issues are fairly straightforward when it comes to who is at fault. With climate change you cannot point fingers at a person or group. No justice can be had with climate change; it’s everyone’s responsibility to make sustainable decisions for themselves and future generations.

Instead of the conversation centering on scepticism it should be centered on sustainability, the right kind of leadership is integral and implementing sustainable action and behaviour is the first step

in the right direction. In the end, this type of conversation inhibits the effectiveness of the sustainable movement.

One of the first things learned in university is how to be certain that sources are credible.

Usually, when focusing on a specific subject, one would naturally look for sources that pertain to the subject and cite experts in that field. If your car were to break down on the side of the road, the expert consultant would be a mechanic. Likewise, when you’re writing an article about climate change, the expert consultant would be a climate scientist. Assuming this is true, it begs the question, why was there not a single climate scientist cited, or even referenced, in the article in question.

The first professional to be cited in the article is a Freeman Dyson, a mathematical physicist who taught at Princeton University. He began research in the mid 1970’s into the effects of CO2 levels on agricultural vegetation (inclusively) and concluded that elevated CO2 levels is beneficial to plants. He had also been quoted from an interview with the Yale University, “certainly warming is happening. I have been to Greenland a year ago and saw it for myself. And that’s where the warming is most extreme. And it’s spectacular, no doubt about it.” Although he is not a climatologist, or an expert in sustainability and the environment, he still acknowledges warming as a very real phenomenon, something that was conveniently left out of Willmann’s article.

The second expert referenced in the article is Ivar Giaever, a physicist who specialises in solid-state physics. Giaever is a Nobel winning physicist who opened his first presentation on climate change at the 62nd meeting of Nobel

Laureates in 2012 with: “I am not really terribly interested in global warming. Like most physicists I don’t think much about it. But in 2008 I was in a panel here about global warming and I had to learn something about it. And I spent a day or so - half a day maybe on Google, and I was horrified by what I learned. And I’m going to try to explain to you why that was the case.”

Between these men and others quoted in the article, all professionals of their respective fields are not climate scientists.

More than that, they represent less than 5% of all scientists in the world that deny the reality of climate change. As students, none of us pretend to be an expert in any way, however, it would be unacceptable to hand in an academic paper to my professor with references similar to the ones Elke Wilmann referred to.

Having talked with many students around campus who have also articulated their frustration, confusion and disbelief surrounding the hoax article, I would like to thank you, Elke Wilmann, for encouraging the greater conversations to happen. The conversations of why the validity of climate change needs to occur at all, especially in the academic world, why giving a spotlight to the denial of climate change is risky and why it is imperative more than ever in the technological age that our facts come from credible sources. As students at Acadia we are taught to think with a critical mind, listen with honest intentions and speak up for what we believe to be right. We leave you with this; at the end of the day, what if climate change is a hoax and we create a better world for nothing?

ath athsports&wellness

www.theath.ca

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Hard to Stomach T h e Daniel Allen Contributor Meal Hall: it’s a space that most Acadia students know quite well and have spent at least one year relying on it for their everyday meals. At one point Acadia stood above all other small (primarily undergraduate) Canadian universities when it came to our meal hall. But this was about half a decade ago, so how does it fair today?

Well in this time other schools have not only caught up, but surpassed Acadia in this respect.

most notable example being Mount Allison, which has seemingly replaced us at the top of the list. So what is it that they are doing better? On the surface the two seem comparable, having many stations to offer variety and choice.

But with a closer look it can be seen that the Mt. Allison meal hall places much more emphasis on sustainability. They turn all their pre-and post consumer waste into compost that is tilled into the soil at their farm to grow vegetables.

They have reduced food waste by 44% and

these savings will soon allow them to purchase 40% of their food locally from NS, PEI, and NB. I’m someone who eats almost anything and everything. With that said, meal hall this year is severely subpar. The once wide variety of meal choices, where you could go weeks without seeing the same meal twice, has been replaced by a seemingly random selection with significantly fewer platters. With fewer options than previous years, and fewer flavours than last year, it’s difficult to enjoy

your meal. Sadly, the few times that meal hall does pull through are the days that campus is flooded with red-bag toting prospective students. If you are a vegetarian, finding options can be extraordinarily difficult, I know many students who have chosen to live off-campus because they felt they could get better access to healthy vegetarian options from home.

Now it is worth acknowledging that this is only a few students’ perspective and is by no means what every student thinks of meal hall. However, it does bring up the larger

point of holding Acadia accountable to ensure the food service they offer adequately satisfies the ever-changing needs and desires of the students.

Acadia was once the envy of university meal programs in Canada but it seems to have stagnated in recent years.

If other students feel that this is the case, then you should have the opportunity to give feedback and feel like you’ve been heard. After all, you’re the ones eating there everyday.

October 25th, 2016 15

athdistractions

www.theath.ca

Thane Mullen Distractions Editor

“CRYPT”OLEXOGRAPH CALAMITY Cryptograms

2

The message below has been hidden with a substitution code; each letter stands for another letter, but each instance of a given letter stands for the same letter (for example, if one of the A’s is in place of a T, then all of the A’s are in place of T’s.)

4

O _ J _ N _

D _ R _ I _

Q _ O _ G _

P _ I _

I _ E _ M _

D _ D _ I _

R _ X _

A _ B _ R _

I J _ _ B _ K _

N _ Q _ Q _

L _ Z _ D _

V O _ _ A _ E _

L _ M I _ _ G Q _ _

B _ K _ F _

V 6_ K _ D _

Q _ M _ I _

1 2 3 4 5 7

K _ L _ B _

B _ K _

I _

M _ H I 5_ _ L B 6 _ 7_

Q I _ _ H R _ 2_ B F _ _

7

2 6

9

5

9 8

8

5

1

6

3 7

1 2 8

5

4

4

6

1

U , _ J _ R _

3 6

3

9 8 1 2

9 7 4 3

7 5

4

2

Easy

Hard

4

9 8 1 2

6 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 7

2

3

4 7

6

1 2 8

7 5 Hard

16 Issue 79.3