30 minute read
Police and COVID-19
THE EDITORS 2020-2021
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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HUGH GODMAN
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SENIOR COPY EDITOR
CASEY HEBERT
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COPY EDITOR
JUSTINE TREMPE
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LAYOUT EDITOR
JESS LAPENNA
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BUSINESS MANAGER
JUSTIN BRANT
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NEWS EDITOR
CASSIE MACDONELL
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OPINIONS EDITOR
SAFIA HAFID
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FEATURES EDITOR
JEREMY AUDET
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ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
BRIDGET BOUCHER
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SPORTS EDITOR
DAVID ROSSITER
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ECONOMICS & BUSINESS EDITOR SAMY CAUVET
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GRAPHICS EDITOR
LEEA REBECA RUTA
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SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATORS
FIONA DORAN & MACKENZIE HOLMES
PHOTOGRAPHER THERESA GRAHAM
THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS Shayne MacDonald Andrew Phillips Rebecca Campbell
Sydney Wilson
Virginia Rufina MarquezPacheco
Manu Bissonnette
Pascale Desmarais
Marlene Canue
Nathaniele Pelletier
Regulations have been changing rapidly and often without warning due to the uncertainty of the virus. Last week, Premier François Legault called on police forces across the province to be less lenient on people disregarding social distancing directives. Along with these changing regulations comes increased power given to police.
The Quebec police force was recently given the power to skip a step when issuing fines to those in non-compliance with social distancing, meaning that fines no longer have to be processed by the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions in Montreal. In addition, police have the power to obtain “telewarrants,” a power the police have had since fall, which allow them to quickly gain permission to enter homes to enforce lockdown restrictions. Police in Quebec can use a phone or fax machine to get a warrant by a judge to enter a home they believe is acting against public health directives. Typically, the warrant would take a few days to arrive, which does not make sense for police who want to break up gatherings and parties the same evening. Police have the right to ask for proof of residency, and if refused entry, obtain a telewarrant.
While granting police more powers during a public health emergency is necessary to implement certain rules, it could also lead to race-bias discrimination, the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations in Montreal explained. Other advocates are raising the same concern about the telewarrant measure, with Michael Bryant, executive director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association Citizens, telling Solomon during an interview for the Solomon Show his concerns. “Studies have proven over and over that Black, Indigenous, and people of colour will too often be the targets of these telewarrants, that’s just been in our history in Canada and racial profiling by telewarrant is a real threat,” Bryan said. He does acknowledge that the decision to extend these powers is difficult to make as there is not enough known about COVID-19.
One student speaks about a recent time where they didn’t realize a specific regulation was in effect. “Rules are changing so fast. Yesterday I was sitting outside in the quad doing some work with my roommate. I was wondering why the quad was empty since it was such a nice day until campus security asked us to put our masks on, even though we live together and are outdoors. I understand that campus security is just doing its job, but it’s crazy how uncertain all the rules are,” says one student. One day after this incident, on April 9, Bishop’s sent an email explaining that masks are required when doing activities with others outside.
From March 30 to April 5, the Sherbrooke Police issued 32 reports for non-compliance with the curfew. For the same period, 16 reports were issued for illegal gatherings.
Cassie MacDonell, News Editor » thecampus.news@gmail.com
Police and COVID-19: are they allowed to do that? Cassie MacDonell News Editor
Bishop’s professor Jason Rowe: Co-Investigator of NASA’s
Pandora mission Cassie MacDonell News Editor
Since 1958, NASA has studied everything from moons to planets and stars, constantly contributing to our modern knowledge of space. Still, common, burning questions remain, namely about the presence of life beyond Earth. Jason Rowe, PhD, Associate Professor at Bishop’s University and the Canada Research Chair in Extrasolar Planet Astrophysics, takes us a step closer to answering this question with his research in discovering and characterizing exoplanets, which are planets that orbit a star outside the solar system. Last week, he was named the Co-Investigator and a primary space team member of the proposed NASA Pandora mission to learn more about exoplanets, which could mean crossing another significant step in the quest to find life. Rowe is receiving the help of Kelsey Hoffman, PhD, Visiting Scholar at Bishop’s, in addition to their students and collaborators from NASA, universities, and research institutes. The principal investigator is Elisa Quintana of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre.
Pandora is one of four missions selected for further concept development under NASA’s new Pioneers program, which strives to conduct astrophysics science at a lower cost using smaller-scale missions. After additional definition, these four concept studies will be reviewed before being approved for flight. Pandora is a small satellite, or SmallSat, that will study 20 stars and their 39 exoplanets in visible and infrared light. An issue that past planet-hunting telescopes faced, including the Kepler Space Telescope that Rowe previously worked on, are stars that get in the way and give the impression that some transiting exoplanets have atmosphere characteristics that, in reality, belong to these stars. Pandora aims to separate the characteristics that belong to a star versus which belong to a transiting exoplanet, helping scientists be certain they see the correct observations. By finding out more about these characteristics, scientists can get an idea of what the planet is like and whether it may be habitable.
The Pandora mission is not the first time Rowe collaborated with NASA. Rowe was awarded the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement medal during his time with the Kepler Space Telescope team, a mission that revealed the presence of more planets than stars in our galaxy. Rowe later joined the SETI Institute as a research scientist and member of the Kepler Science office, where his continued work on exoplanets led to the discovery of an Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of a nearby star, earning him a second NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement medal during his tenure.
COVID-19 claims another graduating class Shayne MacDonald Contributor
Add the class of 2021 to the list of graduating classes that have been undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the second year in a row, the graduating students of Bishop’s University will have an unorthodox conclusion to their Gaiter careers. In times of the unusual, students will once again have to test their resilience and their resourcefulness to find new ways to celebrate the end of their academic journeys.
Luckily, just as they have been doing all year for various events, the Bishop’s University Students’ Representative Council has stepped up to give the class of 2021 a somewhat proper send-off. The SRC’s Director of Events, in tandem with an assembled Grad Formal Committee, prepared a virtual Grad Formal that was attended by students through The Gait’s Twitch stream on April 9. The evening consisted of an awards portion and a slideshow to highlight the time spent at Bishop’s by the class of 2021.
One of the people behind the SRC’s efforts of the past year is Director of Events Amelia Krallis. Krallis has faced the challenge of organizing events such as Orientation Week, Winterfest, and most recently Grad Formal in the age of COVID-19. Krallis shared her thoughts on the job done by the SRC in the last academic year. “After a year of compromise and creative solutions, I believe we’ve been very successful in each of the events and projects put on this year.”
On April 7, Grad Formal bundles were distributed to all those graduating students who registered for one. The free bundles provided by the SRC through alumni donations consisted of a three-course dinner, wine, and several decorations to make living rooms as close to the normal Grad Formal as possible. Krallis spoke about the job done by the 2021 Grad Formal Committee: “The Grad Formal Committee has put together a wonderful bundle to set up each student house with the ingredients to make their own dinner and decorations for a memorable, at-home Grad Formal.”
The class of 2021 is fortunate enough to receive this effort from the SRC to at least salvage some “feel-good” moments as their time at Bishop’s dwindles to a close. Graduating student Cedrik Moore spoke about this unusual end to his time at Bishop’s. “Losing graduation to COVID-19 is a heavy and painful blow to the end of my academic career. There’s an air of disappointment and unfulfillment of not being able to properly say goodbye to dear friends, teachers, and the best university in the world.” This is a sentiment that is no doubt shared by several graduates this year. Moore also spoke about the efforts by the SRC this past year and what it has done for him. “As for the SRC, while definitely limited in what they can realistically do, I believe that they have done their best in attempting to bring some light into these murky times… I am very pleased with what they have managed to do this year.”
The class of 2021 will savour every possible feel-good moment that remains at Bishop’s, which includes a special and unique Grad Formal for 2021. There exists a silver lining that can be found by spending that moment with only those closest to you. This year’s graduating class will march into the world, no doubt with a new appreciation for the little things in life.
To the class of 2021, remember how you entered; be proud of how you leave.
Contents of Grad Formal basket provided by the SRC. Courtesy of Shayne MacDonald
Slow vaccine rollout in Quebec and Ontario Andrew Phillips Contributor
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the light at the end of the tunnel was the COVID-19 vaccine. Finally, Canada has arrived at this point with four vaccines approved in the country: Moderna, Pfizer-BioNtech, AstraZeneca, and Janssen. Despite the approval, the distribution of vaccines has been slower than anticipated.
In Canada, only 16 per cent of the population has received a vaccination dosage, a low number compared to 33 per cent in the United States. According to the Canadian COVID-19 vaccine tracker, 6.2 million Canadians have received at least one dose, and of the roughly 10 million doses delivered in Canada, only 68 per cent have been administered. As of April 7, 746,667 Canadians are fully vaccinated, with 43.5 per cent residing in Ontario. Nineteen per cent of the Quebec population has received at least one dose.
As more vaccines are delivered and administered, eligibility to receive the vaccine changes. In Ontario, Phase 1 began in Dec. 2020, which allowed only the vulnerable and their caregivers to receive a vaccine. Phase 2, which started this April, saw the vaccine available to older adults, people in high-risk settings, frontline workers, and other populations at risk of illness. Phase 3 is set to begin in July 2021 and will have the vaccine available province-wide for those who want to be immunized.
Quebec has been administering doses based on priority groups. Priority groups began with vulnerable people and workers in health care and social services. Next were isolated communities, retirement home residents, and retirement home workers. The next requirement was age, beginning at those 80 years old and above, then 70 and above, and finally most regions of Quebec are now 60 years old and up.
There are mixed opinions about when vaccines will be available to everyone. Some people feel that past vaccine distribution delays are proof that the current schedule will not be followed. When asked about his opinion of Ontario’s plan to have vaccines available in July to anyone that wants one, Bishop’s student Ryan Maxwell was skeptical. He felt that the changing government promises made it “hard to know what to believe anymore. Dates keep on changing, and the rules and regulations as well. I’m not worrying about the date anymore; I will just be ready to receive it whenever they decide it’s available.”
Should you be eligible to receive a vaccine in Ontario, visit Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine website and book your appointment. Once you input your postal code, you can select which group you fall under and the website will direct you to the next steps.
To receive your vaccination in Quebec, go to the Quebec COVID-19 vaccine website and select the option to make an appointment. You will be directed to another website to select your health care request and input your postal code to receive the next steps.
“ Land Acknowledgement. We acknowledge the Abenaki people and the Wabanaki Confederacy, the traditional stewards and protectors of the territories upon which we are learning. In performing land acknowledgement, we make what was invisible visible, and invite the land, the First Nations people, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into our conversations. This act of naming - of inviting something into language - is an underlying principle of advocacy and lies at the heart of higher education. The etymology of advocacy is ad (to add) + vocare (call or voice): the origin of the word’s meaning is to give voice to something or to call out in order to initiate dialogue. The “ad’ prefix makes explicit the importance of multiple voices - and by extension multiple perspectives. In this sense, advocacy compels us to acknowledge a diversity of thoughts and opinions as a starting point rather than as an ideal outcome. In institutions of higher learning, we have a responsibility to honour spaces for emerging and established voices to engage in productive, respectful, and sometimes even uncomfortable conversations where individuals are safe to speak truth to power, explore and challenge dominant ideologies, and call out injustices and inequalities in order to imagine new ways of existing.”
Safia Hafid, Opinions Editor » thecampus.opinions@gmail.com
Rebecca Campbell Contributor
Bishop’s University has opened their bursary eligibility to students with disabilities, but they will not tell
you that.
For several semesters now, I have been working with the Student Accommodations and Accessibility Services (SAAS) team; the support I have received from them has been integral to managing my disability while enhancing my academic success.
Yet, the financial hardship faced by many students during COVID-19, including myself, threatened my ability to return to school. Fortunately, I was awarded a bursary to alleviate some of this financial stress, and I returned to Bishop’s in the fall. For this semester, winter 2021, I decided to take a reduced course load in order to better manage both my disability and my education.
Through my province’s student loan program and SAAS, students with disabilities are often eligible to take as few as two courses while still maintaining full-time student status.
However, the Bishop’s scholarship program does not recognize the full-time status of students with disabilities. In fact, Bishop’s revoked my financial aid when I registered for under 12 credits in order to prioritize my health.
At that point, I realized that Bishop’s University had arranged their financial support program to exclude all students with disabilities who required a reduced course load. This exclusion gives preference to students without disabilities while discriminating against accommodated students pursuing higher education.
I was absolutely furious and indignant at the removal of my funds based on this prejudiced policy. This turn of events marked the beginning of an email chain between Jamie Berwick, the Bursar; Stine Linden-Anderson, the Dean of Student Affairs; and me, regarding this university’s discriminatory policies towards students with disabilities.
I was first notified by Berwick that I would be offered half of my original scholarship in recognition of my fulltime status. I accepted this compromise since I was taking fewer courses, but I emphasized to Berwick and LindenAnderson that my exception did not address the school’s financial discrimination against students with disabilities.
A four-month correspondence, spanning from December 2020 to March 2021, resulted in the university adapting the application process to include students approved for a reduced course load through SAAS.
This alteration is an important and necessary step towards equity and inclusion for the Bishop’s bursary and scholarship program. However, the administration has since done almost nothing to notify new and current students of the change. Furthermore, the website still indicates that eligibility for bursaries is dependent on enrolment in 12 credits, regardless of accommodations.
Minimal effort was made by the administration on Feb. 25 to deliver written evidence of this policy change to students. Berwick and Linden-Anderson sent an edited version of a previous email explaining the application process for bursaries and scholarships for returning students. The original email did not include the application for scholarships and bursaries for students with disabilities and failed to make the adjusted full-time status explicit.
This new email, while addressing the new eligibility requirements, left the important additions to the “FAQ Section” of the email, which requires students to thoroughly read through the entire email. Since the financial aid eligibility adjustment only applies to students with accommodations, it seems like an easy solution for the school to have SAAS notify all registered students of this update. Why did the university not put more effort into relaying the new eligibility to students with disabilities?
It feels all too intentional that there was not more effort on the school’s behalf to ensure students with disabilities had pertinent information regarding financial support. Financial hardship can be a barrier to education for many, and Bishop’s University owes its students equitable support in the financial aid program, especially during a time like this. It is too common to overlook marginalized groups, and there is a reason that Bishop’s University promotes a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. However, I am forced to ask, is it all smoke and mirrors?
Changing the application process to remove the ableist bias will not do any good if no students are informed of the change. You cannot apply for funding you do not know is available. It is essential that students hold Bishop’s accountable for their exclusionary policies and demand that Bishop’s University’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion move beyond their welcome brochure.
This all begs the question: is bureaucracy at Bishop’s preventing an equitable, diverse, and inclusive school while maintaining the status quo?
Rethinking phone use
Sydney Wilson Contributor
Since the global pandemic began, my screen time–mainly on my phone–has increased by almost 50 per cent.
I grow more and more horrified every Sunday when I receive the notification about how much time I have spent looking at my phone. It becomes even worse when I see that I am spending approximately two hours a day on social media, usually due to procrastination from schoolwork.
As much as I appreciate my phone, my laptop, and the technology around me, I find that they cause a lot of damage as well.
One of the issues surrounding social media is the content–there is so much of it, which keeps your attention for longer periods of time than intended. I tell myself I will only use my phone for 10 minutes; the next thing I know, an hour has passed.
These apps are designed to keep users focused on the content in front of them, after all, trying to keep their attention for as long as possible. Even when I try setting screen time on certain apps that I use the most, I often simply turn it off, drawn to yet another interesting thing.
It must be acknowledged that many businesses are now on social media. This can be good and advantageous. I have applied to certain jobs through social media and bought products I have seen from advertisements. Businesses use consumer data to target customers on social media with advertisements they might not realize impact them.
Quite honestly, I do not think most consumers realize the social media site they use sells their data to companies in order for them to create targeted ads; the more time people spend on social media, the more available data there is. As a business major who understands the marketing tactics behind these ads, I find it quite interesting. When most people learn this, though, they find it creepy instead.
For me, when I take a break from schoolwork–which, due to the pandemic, is almost all on my laptop–I use my phone and scroll through social media. While this is a “break” from my laptop, I am still looking at a screen.
Then, I wonder why I am not sleeping well at night. I already know the problem, however; I spend too much time in front of a screen during the day and limited time away from technology.
Personally, I cannot wait for in-person classes again, seeing as I will be able to participate in human interaction rather than just talking to people on my screen. Overall, I use technology a lot; it is a large part of my life, as it is for most people.
Still, I feel like this much screen time is beginning to exhaust me. The answer is clear: I need to start taking more breaks away from technology and rethink my phone use.
Courtesy of Sydney Wilson
We can do better
Secularist nation misses the point on autonomy
Justine Trempe Copy Editor
As I was taking a walk a few weeks ago, I saw a beer can lying in a tree hollow. Only a few months earlier, last fall, someone had planted a beautiful purple flower there. The contrast shocked me, so I interrupted my walk to throw the can away, saddened at the lack of respect. But I rapidly shoved the event in the back of my mind, along with trashed houses and high people peeing on my professor’s lawn after a night at the Gait.
However, during Easter weekend, I once again came across lawns full of beer cans and cigarette butts. The porch of a house in Little Forks was packed with laughing people, apparently with no health-safety measures whatsoever.
The Bishop’s party culture creates an overwhelming lack of respect for the rest of the Lennoxville community and for the town, which has not stopped with the threat of the pandemic. To quote former editor-in-chief John Greenhow in his retelling of Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” (a dystopian short story hidden under the promise of a utopian community): “Here in Lennoxville, [students] know, they will be able to drink until they can’t, mate passionately on the dancefloor of any bar, and—above all else—never be held accountable for their actions.” Former student Guenevere MacDonald also wrote in a 2016 article: “School spirit is often used as a reason to excuse away behaviour that would be frowned on in civil society. At Bishop’s, it has become an acceptable defence for an endless list of infractions and less than exemplary behaviour.”
Little seems to have changed since they wrote these words many years ago. In the past few months, Lennoxville got more COVID-related tickets than any other Sherbrooke borough: Sherbrooke’s Public Safety Committee President Danielle Berthold told The Record that, out of 97 infractions given in Sherbrooke between Feb. 22 and March 1, 35 of them were given to Bishop’s students, who still do not seem to care. As Greenhow explained it, “Bishop’s is a place of joy and a place of fun, and one thing there is none of is guilt.”
I don’t mind some drinking and partying. We are young; we can enjoy it. But we should not forget to respect the people in this community who don’t come from money, who have to work part-time jobs to make ends meet, who need their sleep to get good grades, who do not have the luxury of avoiding the effects of the pandemic, and who can’t afford to party their 20s away.
Even before COVID, I cannot recall how many times I had to knock on a neighbour’s door to tell them to turn the music down in the middle of the night or how often I had to pinch my nose while passing Animal House on my way to class so I wouldn’t have to smell the waves of day-old alcohol and trash soaking the grass. In short, it negatively affects the day-to-day life of students who wish to academically perform and live in a clean and productive environment: “Bishop’s best and brightest is selected to suffer, silent and alone, so that the rest may thrive in luxury,” said Greenhow in his dystopian metaphor.
The party environment also creates a plethora of consequences in the community. Landlords in Lennoxville are hesitant to put money into their buildings as they know the floors will be ruined with alcohol, the doors forced, and walls scratched. Students then have to face a shortage of affordable housing of good quality. Let’s not even get into how this overall encouragement to party fosters rape culture, toxic behaviours, and often negatively impacts mental health in the long run. We’d be here all day.
I love Bishop’s, and I love its community. But I’m tired of avoiding its ugly side. I believe that we can do better. Can we?
As of April 11, 2021, France has officially banned the wearing of religious head coverings, including the burqa, hijab, and yarmulke, under the guise of secularism. As a secular nation, France has deemed that the wearing and promotion of religious symbols are to be prohibited, joining the ranks of other secular nations (or provinces) such as Quebec and Sweden among others who have also banned religious symbols.
At first glance, this might seem like a neutral stance towards religion: the wearing of a crucifix is also prohibited, for example. But upon closer examination, it becomes clear that this new law is just a facade for the anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and overt misogyny running rampant in France.
The banning of the hijab and other Islamic head coverings is the main focus of this bill, with parents waging war on teachers who wear the veil under a battle flag of protecting impressionable students from the so-called misogynistic values of wearing the hijab.
And yet, no such war has been waged against Christian nuns, who remain permitted to wear the habit, a similar garb to the hijab which covers the hair in order to promote modesty and devotion to God. The argument against the alleged suppression of women which the hijab promotes also quickly falls through under the slightest examination: one cannot argue for the promotion of the autonomy of women while simultaneously interfering directly with the autonomy of women.
It is one of the most revered laws in Islam (in Western countries, at least) that the wearing of the hijab and other head coverings is a choice. It is up to the woman whether she wants to wear such a veil. By banning the wearing of this veil under the masthead that the veil promotes the subservience of women, one ignores the autonomy of the woman in question. France, in theory, tries to “liberate” women, but it actually takes their freedom away by stripping them of the choice to wear the veil.
One might also recall just a few years ago when Quebec banned face coverings in 2017 under the guise of religious neutrality, including prohibiting the wearing of religious headscarves such as the hijab, while simultaneously lobbying for public Catholic schools to remain open with the support of the taxpayer’s dollars, regardless of whether said taxpayer is Catholic or not. How is that for religious neutrality? The arguments against face coverings in the past have included that wearing one makes it hard to verify one’s identity. This argument becomes moot in the age of COVID-19, where everyone wears a face mask, and yet there have been no remarkable upticks in cases of fraudulent identity. As such, this new law passing in France banning the wearing of religious veils really boils down to one point: France does not care about the liberation of women, but rather promotes the stripping of women’s autonomy in support of their deeply rooted Islamophobia.
A purple flower planted in a tree hollow on Connolly Street, Lennoxville. Courtesy of Justine Trempe
Bridget Boucher Arts & Culture Editor
Jeremy Audet, Features Editor » thecampus.features@gmail.com
Spring cleaning with BU Outdoors Club
Jeremy Audet Features Editor
Courtesy of Theresa Graham
On the morning of Saturday, March 27, you may have noticed a few people ambling around the streets and parks of Lennoxville’s student village, gloves on hands, garbage bag in one. The Bishop’s Outdoors Club organized a typical “Spring Cleanup” event, encouraging people to pick up litter and trash around the area that was scattered in the streets and green areas.
With the melting snow, the winter garbage emerged from hibernation, and suddenly, like every spring, plastic bags, old McDonald’s containers, broken glass, and even a box of a new TV set littered the ground around every corner. But the problem does not stem solely from irresponsible passersby who discard their disposable materials freely. Walking around Lennoxville’s student village at any point during the year, one would notice that many of the dumpsters and common garbage bins are overflowing.
Anika Malone, BU Outdoors club lead, says that “half the garbage we picked up is right outside of dumpsters. We’re not getting trash picked up enough, not regularly enough. The trash flies out of dumpsters.”
Owen Baker, BUFF-nominated director and published photographer, is the photographer and director of marketing for the club. He echoes these complaints: “A lot of dumpsters are already full to the brim. They don’t get picked up enough.”
Georgia LaPierre, a member of the club who participated in the cleanup, argues that students could definitely do a better job at keeping their neighbourhoods clean: “It gets significantly worse when people drink outside and the weather gets nicer. People have been super careless about the garbage around, and it’s gotten worse this year because of COVID. We’ve had no other option than to see each other outside. There are tons of masks around; people aren’t being conscious of the garbage they are using, and they’re not disposing of it properly.”
Still, LaPierre recognizes that the city does not empty the bins enough: “It’s on the individual to be more conscious about their garbage consumption, but the garbage is blowing out of the bins right outside of people’s houses. If the city picked up our garbage more often, there’d be less garbage. A lot of the garbage we picked up was household litter that people put in their bins; it’s not their fault that the bins are full.”
Then, there’s the issue of composting. Most homes in the student neighbourhood do not have composting bins, either because the landlord does not want to implement it or because the city would not pick up the bins. “There’s no composting here. We tried to petition our landlord last semester, but he says every time they’ve tried composting the students don’t take care of it. A solution would just be a centralized composting bin. It can be done by the town, even in Square Queen. People would definitely do it,” says Malone.
As club lead, Malone was thrilled with the turnout. “It was so good. We never know what to expect with COVID, and this was a less organized event. But we saw a lot of new faces and we ended up with about 40 bags.”
For her, the bigger solution requires a change in lifestyle. “At the core of everything, picking up garbage all boils down to the fact that we need to have less trash. We picked up 40 bags of trash, but it’s only going to another landfill. How can we reduce that from the get-go?” Malone says her apartment has been focused on reducing waste in recent months, recycling and composting on their own terms instead, and as a result, they haven’t needed to take the trash out in three months.
Owen Baker argued that picking up trash wasn’t hard at all, even enjoyable, and should be done more often: “It should definitely be a thing that we do more often, not just after the spring. It’s always a good time to pick up garbage without organizing it. It would be a good activity which just makes you feel productive. Everybody’s benefiting from it.”
Making mead with Bishop’s Bees
By Virginia Rufina Marquez-Pacheco Science & Technology Contributor
This past year has certainly changed student life. Without being able to meet in person, clubs and societies have had to get creative in order to keep club involvement steady. It is great to say that Bishop’s students have not been lacking in creativity. An example of student initiative and adaptability can be seen in the meadmaking workshop hosted by Bishop’s Bees.
Yes, you heard right: the club Bishop’s Bees hosted a mead-making workshop entirely online. Although it may sound like a recipe for disaster, it actually turned out to be a really good drink. The club essentially organized small mead kits that included a mason jar, a custom lid and stopper, and champagne yeast. Each kit cost $10, covering the workshop and material costs. Students were only asked to supply some honey (which they could also purchase from Bishop’s Bees).
Armed with all the required ingredients at home, students were ready to begin. During the video call, the leads and a member with experience in mead-making first gave a short, but very interesting, introductory presentation on this ancient drink. Then, the main event followed a step-by-step process to making mead. It was like watching a live cooking show. The recipe was roughly as follows: 1. Pour honey into the mason jar 2. Boil water 3. Pour the water in the mason jar and dissolve the honey 4. Wait for it to cool to room temperature 5. Rehydrate the champagne yeast for five minutes 6. Add the rehydrated champagne yeast to the honey water along with three raisins 7. Add the custom lid and place the stopper on it 8. Place it in a cool dry place out of direct sunlight 9. Wait…
For how long? Fermentation usually takes around 4-6 weeks. This means that it’ll soon be time to check on what has, hopefully, become mead.
From the perspective of a student who had never fermented anything before, this workshop was a great introduction and was easy to follow. It was also a lot of fun. I have been waiting excitedly as I watched my yeast turn the sugar into alcohol. The Bees have provided a light in these trying times for the students who participated in the workshop. Hopefully, this can be repeated next semester as well—perhaps even in person!
A jar of fermenting mead. Courtesy of Virginia Rufina Marquez-Pacheco
All eyes on the SAFS Club Manu Bissonnette Contributor
On Friday, March 19, almost 200 people united at the Cégep de Sherbrooke to protest climate change and political inaction. The protest was held as part of the Fridays for Future movement initiated in 2018 by then 15-year-old Greta Thunberg. Here at Bishop’s, the responsibility of its promotion fell to the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (SAFS) Club, one of Bishop’s newest and most underrated clubs.
As the main promoters of the protest at Bishop’s, the SAFS Club participated in organizational meetings, represented Bishop’s University and its student body at the table, and helped prepare informative content for outreach. They also attended the strike on March 19 to show their support to the cause.
The SAFS Club was founded in early 2020 by Karina Kramer, an Environmental Studies student who is now one of its three co-leads, along with Sara Watson (Neuroscience) and John Noble (Environmental Science). The club was created as an extension of the new Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems program, established in 2019 by the Department of Environment and Geography at Bishop’s. As Kramer explains it, the club “was started […] to resemble this program and provide students with engaging, educational, and interactive activities that relate to sustainable agriculture.” In addition to providing hands-on learning to SAFS students, the SAFS Club also takes upon as its mission to “spread awareness […] to students who otherwise wouldn’t know about [sustainable agriculture],” says Noble.
The SAFS Club is currently undertaking the Maple Syrup Project, for which it is leading a small production of maple syrup directly at Bishop’s Educational Farm, “a place to learn creative solutions to sustainability challenges in food systems.” Located in the woods at a walking distance from Bishop’s, the farm contains tapped maple trees from which the SAFS Club collects sap that they will then transform into syrup. As the SAFS Club’s main project, members and co-leads of the club currently go to the farm multiple times a week to continue the production process.
