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Vol 46

NAV I GATOR VANCOUVER ISLAND UNIVERSITY STUDENT PRESS

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CARSHARE CLUB COMING TO VIU

DEMOCRACY: IT’S IMPORTANT. AND FUN!

TALK IS EXPENSIVE: MAKE ART

The Nanaimo CarShare Cooperative joins thousands of similar programs worldwide by assisting residents who need to get from point A to B without adding another private vehicle to the roadways.

Let’s talk about cute YouTube bunnies cavorting with puppies. Ready to pop an ovary?

Throw some kittens in there. Got your attention? Good. What I really want to talk about is democracy. But stay with me here, okay?

Since 2000, VIU has offered Special Topics in Child and Youth Care: Introduction to Working With Children and Youth Through the Medium of Art.

VOTE!

Contents

NEWS

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Editorials

World VIU Days turns campus into cultural cornucopia

On Parliament Hill: a staffer’s perspective of Ottawa attack

Government changes regulations for international students

“Pet a Pup” Day

Gender and diversity in video games

Website promotes dialogue to encourage voter turnout

FEATURES

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Robots and how we will live with them

CarShare club coming to VIU

Point of VIU

to say nothing of the trees

We stand on guard

Café review: The Vault

Election 2014

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Talk is expensive: make art

Urban Issues Film Festival addresses “Equality in the City”

20 minutes with The Body Politic

Movie review: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Got psyched?

ARTS

Local filmmaker campaigns for funding

SPORTS

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Buccaneers cannot navigate storm

Mariners capture provincial gold

Men’s basketball dominates season opener

Odds and ends: comics, puzzles, and more

Clippers drop weekend series to Kings

Mariners open season with nail biter

Men’s soccer pick up silver

Mariners pick up weekend sweep

02 CONTENTS

Women’s volleyball picks up first home win

THE NAVIGATOR

Letters

www.

TheNav .ca THE NAVIGATOR WELCOMES READER CONTRIBUTIONS

• To submit, visit <www.thenav.ca> or email <editor@thenav.ca> All submissions must be original work of the author. Editors reserve the right to refuse submissions, and to edit for space or clarity.

CONTRIBUTORS Shanon Fenske Jenny Garceau Philip Gordon Shaleeta Harper Connor Jay CUP Tami Joseph Drew McLachlan Daniel O’Brien Mackenzie Sillem Chantelle Spicer Rachel Ward CUP Spencer Wilson

Letters to the editor should be no more than 400 words in length. The Navigator does not pay for letters. Opinions expressed in The Navigator are expressly those of the author and/or artist and do not reflect the views of The Navigator staff.

900 Fifth Street Bld. 193, Rm. 217 Nanaimo, BC V9R 5S5 T/ 250-753-2225 F/ 250-753-2257

STAFF Leah Myers Editor-in-Chief

Blake Deal News Editor

Kotarah Rivere Copy Editor

Brendan Barlow Social Media Sp.

Christine Franic Business Manager

Rio Trenaman Art Director

Ben Chessor Sports Editor

Jessica Reid Graphic Designer

Antony Stevens Web Editor

Gareth Boyce Board President

Alexandria Stuart Associate Editor

Kelly Whiteside Production Editor

Dahlia Yuen Graphic Designer

Felix Naud Multimedia Prod.

Denisa Kraus Arts Editor

Molly Barrieau Senior Copy Editor

Euodia Mutua Ad/Sales Rep

Lynne Williams Bookkeeper

THE NAVIGATOR

LETTERS 03

Editorials

In the Barbie world Leah Myers Editor-in-Chief The Navigator Life in plastic, it’s fantastic. At least it is according to “Barbie Girl,” the 1997 hit from pop group Aqua. The song, for those who are unfamiliar, includes startling PG-13 lyrics such as “You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere,” and “I’m a blond bimbo girl in a fantasy world.” In 2002, Barbie’s manufacturer, Mattel, sued MCA Records for allegedly violating the Barbie trademark and turning Barbie into a bimbo sex object. The case was eventually dropped, but Barbie’s image was being increasingly criticized, not only by Danish-Norwegian eurodance pop groups, but also skeptical mothers and women’s rights advocates who questioned the impact the doll’s image has on little girls.

In one of my classes this semester, we read and analyzed a piece by Canadian writer Marni Jackson, titled Gals and Dolls: The Moral Value of “Bad” Toys.

The core of the article examines the role of Barbie, and instead of incriminating Barbie as a sexist, demeaning image against women, the author suggests that the idea of sexism through Barbie is something that adults influence, and not necessarily the ideas that cross through children. Children use toys, such as Barbie dolls, to act out and express their ideas and feelings as they grow up and learn the ways of the

world. Barbie’s first and foremost important career, in my opinion, has and always will be play therapist.

When I was young, I was an avid Barbie enthusiast. I had a lot of fun creating different scenarios to play out with Barbie (and her associates) as my actresses. If I had a bad day at school, I could rewrite a better script and pretend it never happened.

From cutting her hair to hand sewing new outfits for the doll, I kept myself busy as a kid. If Barbie influenced a negative body image to my subconscious, I was never aware of it.

In her article, published in 1991, Jackson points out that Barbie, despite adversity, has stood strong on plastic legs since the moment she was assembled in her factory, limb by limb. Why? Because girls like her.

“But little girls are not pushovers. They know what they like and they like Barbie. Now 31 years old (but ever ageless and firm of chin), Barbie has triumphed over pedagogy, to the tune of over $500 million annually. 98 percent of Canadian girls aged four to ten have a Barbie—or four—in their bedrooms. Like Coca-Cola, she has insinuated her hourglass, bottle-shaped self into 67 countries around the world.”

Jackson also challenges the idea of things being good or bad, and how everything is a matter of perception. The concept of good toys or bad toys really depends on whose lens you’re looking through—a little girl with a cleaner slate may have a completely different view on Barbie than her adult counterpart, who is well aware of all the body image struggles women face daily. Of course, as with many complex issues such as women and body image, the problem is multi-faceted and could never be nailed down to a single factor, like playing with a doll with an unreasonable waistline.

In an anecdote about a pair of purple “girl” rubber boots,

Jackson asks if, somehow, little girls are quickly privy to an imbalance of the sexes in the world, and feel the need for concrete, gender identification as a result.

“Girls’ sense of pink and blueness also seems more acute,” writes Jackson, “more precious, although I base this only on the fact that I bought my son some plain but purplish boots that year. They didn’t bother him until he came home one day and announced he couldn’t wear them because they were “girls’ boots.” Who had decreed this? “The girls in my room.”

The other day, while scrolling though the deep dark sidebar of related YouTube videos, I came across a channel called the Checkout that discusses consumer issues, and I watched a segment on gendered marketing. Even though it’s an Australian channel, they examine many North American products such as Barbie and Lego.

Manufacturers divide their products, whether it’s toys for kids or soap for adults, to be gender-specific. For example, “Lego Friends” targeted at girls, tripled the amount of girls using Lego and scored the company a 25 percent increase in global revenue. When Dove started selling men’s products, they realized they needed to compensate for their “girly” logo, so they added Men +Care in capital letters and coloured the background a “masculine” shade of grey.

Maybe Jackson is right with her instinct that girls’ sense of pink is more acute than boys’ need for gender identity, although both sexes, at any age, seem to like being told which product is suitable for them.

I’m happy that playing with Barbie never triggered me to become a maxed out credit card shopaholic, and I’m equally content that I’ve never had a boyfriend who drove a tank instead of car, even if I can’t promise I’m impermeable to gender marketing whilst browsing the toiletries aisle.

Democracy: it’s important. And fun!

Alexandria Stuart Associate Editor The Navigator Let’s talk about bunnies. Let’s talk about cute YouTube bunnies cavorting with puppies. Ready to pop an ovary? Throw some kittens in there. Got your attention? Good. What I really want to talk about is democracy. But stay with me here, okay?

We all pay taxes. We pay taxes to our city, our province, and our country. Whether they’re buried in our tuition, in our rent, at the gas station, or at the grocery store, we’re paying them. We pay the un-buried ones too, the ones you see clearly marked on your pay stub from work, or on your tax return at the end of the year. You finance stuff, the stuff that runs this city, this province, and this country. Doesn’t it make sense that you get to have a say in how your money is spent?

On Saturday, November 15, Nanaimo residents go to the polls and vote for their local leaders. Hopefully more than 26 percent will come out this time because, frankly, that number is embarrassing. In a world where people will line up for hours and risk getting shot to vote, it’s really the least we can do.

This is a municipal election, so what does that have to do with life at VIU? The boys in Ottawa make the big decisions, so what effect could a municipal election possibly have on us? Plenty. See, it’s often the decisions that are made locally that impact us most day-to-day.

04 EDITORIALS

How many of our readers would use public transit to get to campus if it was easier? I’d happily board a bus if it didn’t involve outrageous wait times and ridiculously inconvenient connections. Know who has the power to make transit improvements a priority? Our Mayor and City Council.

Here in Nanaimo, massive amounts of money have recently been spent buying parkland. Don’t get me wrong, parkland is lovely, but how much do we really need? Is an additional $5.5 million worth enough? That money would go a long way towards implementing the city’s sparkly new Transportation Master Plan, which will make it safer to use your bike, and even provide better access to that public transit system we’ve been talking about.

These are just a couple of the things your tax dollars buy.

Those tax dollars are in the hands of city officials. If you voted for them and don’t like what they do, it’s your own fault. And if you were eligible to vote and you didn’t vote at all and you don’t like what they do, know what? It’s your own fault too.

Maybe you don’t vote but you have a really good excuse?

How about, “I don’t know who to vote for,” “It’s too hard to get to the polls,” or “My vote doesn’t count so why bother?”

Stop it. That’s all noise, it’s just hot air—do a little research, figure it out, be an adult. If you can manage to buy tickets for a hockey game in Vancouver, and get yourself there and back in one piece, you’ve got enough brains to manage this whole election thing. It’s not rocket science. Seriously, the excuses just reveal you as a lazy freeloader who doesn’t care about anyone but themselves as long as there’s a case of Lucky in the fridge for the weekend. Buck up, step up, do your duty, and be redeemed.

Have my well-reasoned arguments (and abuse) got your attention yet? There’s still time to get in on the game. According to <www.municipalelections.com>, you are eligible to

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vote in a BC local election if you are a Canadian citizen, at least 18 years old on election day, have lived in BC for at least six months, and in the municipality for at least 30 days.

Students can move around a lot though, so if you’re not sure whether you’re registered, check the handy searchable database online at <www.nanaimo.ca/votersearch/>. Not registered? No problem—do it on election day. Bring two pieces of ID to prove residency and your identity, fill in an application, and you’re good to go.

Our system runs on the first-past-the-post system, which means that the candidate with the most votes wins. If every eligible voter turns up, the results are accurate. But when only a quarter of eligible voters bother getting off the couch, the result is essentially meaningless—those elected don’t represent the wishes of the general public.

Unfair? You bet. How do we fix it? Get as many voters out as possible.

Think voting’s a downer? No way, make democracy fun: descend on the polls with a couple of cars full of friends.

Then get ice cream. Or Jäger shooters. Why not Adopt-AVoter: find a first-time or reluctant voter, or someone who faces barriers getting to the polls, and bring them along, too (then proceed with ice cream, etc. as above).

Saturday, November 15 is the magic day. Voting places are open from 8 am until 8 pm. (See the Features section for a map of voting locations in Nanaimo).

There are websites to help. For general information, go to <www.municipalelections.com>. To explore local options, visit <nanaimochamber.bc.ca> and <nanaimoelections.com>. If you’re reading this from outside of Nanaimo, your city website should point you towards local information.

So there, lecture’s over. Congratulations on making it this far. Now, I give you “Baby Bunny Rabbits, Kittens, Puppies and a Parrot” <www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZX7PMf2NIo>.

News

World VIU Days turns campus into cultural cornucopia

A photo from last year’s International Education Week DREW MCLACHLAN

Mackenzie Sillem

CONTRIBUTOR

VIU students are invited to take a trip around the world this week through World VIU Days, a week of events celebrating international education held on the Nanaimo campus.

Formerly known as International Education Week, World VIU Days is celebrating its fifth year of festivities, running from November 3 to 7.

“We want to show VIU students that the whole world is on our campus,” organizer Mackenzie Sillem said. “You don’t need an expensive plane ticket to meet people from all over the globe­—you can just step into a classroom.”

Events range from educational to entertaining, and each day will also feature live music in the upper cafeteria, performed by Eric Harper, Ryan Power, and others.

Events include “Between Worlds: Belonging in a New Culture,” an interactive workshop exploring culture shock and reverse culture shock, and is open to all students, whether they are international students or planning on moving across cultures in the future, taking place November 5 from 11:30 am-1 pm in bldg. 356, room 109.

“Authenticity in Italian Cuisine” is a discussion between Chef Marcella Ansaldo and anthropology professor Imogene Lim regarding the role of cuisine in national identity and

comparing North American perception with actual regional cuisine, which takes place November 5 from 1-3 pm in bldg.

355, room 211.

VIU field school presentations will be hosted by both nursing and geography students who studied in Nepal and Belize, respectfully, on November 6 from 1-4 pm in the Royal Arbutus Room.

The guest presenter this year will be Twesigye Jackson Kaguri, community crusader, author, and founder of the Nyaka AIDS Orphan Project, the Ugandan-based organization devoted to ending deprivation and poverty through community development, education, and healthcare. Kaguri will be speaking about “Innovative Ways to Change the World” on November 5 from1-3 pm in bldg. 255, room 211.

The week of events culminates with the World VIU Festival, a celebration of international education which will feature cultural exhibits, performances, and a world fashion showcase, all hosted by VIU students.

“Most feedback we’ve received is about the festival,” Sillem said. “This can be a very stressful part of the semester—if you arrived in August or September, now is the hardest and most emotional part of cultural adjustment. People can just come to the festival and dance or socialize. They don’t have to worry about their role as a student or anything else, but just have fun.”

For a full schedule of events, visit <viu.ca/worldviudays>.

To get involved or volunteer, email Leslie Puska at <leslie. puska@viu.ca>.

“Pet a Pup” Day Penny the French bulldog helped students shake off their midterm pressure last Wednesday (October 29) at a de-stressing event on campus at the Cedar Centre.

VIU ResTide, who hosted the event, said that petting animals is proven to relieve stress.

Drew McLachlan

THE NAVIGATOR

NEWS 05

On Parliament Hill: a staffer’s perspective of Ottawa attack CONNOR JAY

THE AQINIAN

FREDERICTON (CUP) — Danielle MacDonald was working in the Justice Building getting ready to brief the Liberal Caucus on Bill C-42, the Common Sense Firearms Act, when it all began. As the Liberal staffer was about to get into the elevator, her boss, Malpeque MP Wayne Easter, was coming up the elevator and sent her back towards the office.

MacDonald immediately turned up the volume on the TV and learned that Parliament Hill was under attack.

“Next thing you know we have a security guard in our office clearing the room, making sure there is no suspect here,” she said.

After that, many constituents called the office to check on the staff and make sure everyone was alright, said MacDonald.

While MacDonald and many others on Parliament Hill were in lockdown, police were chasing the suspect through the Hall of Honour on Wednesday morning. The suspect was fatally shot in the Hall of Honour, which runs between the Library of Parliament and Confederation Hall.

MacDonald walks that hall daily while working.

“I don’t think any of us are going to be able to walk through there without thinking or remembering the tragic events that occurred,” said MacDonald.

According to MacDonald, a lot of staffers on Parliament Hill are confused about how the gunman got through the front door.

“Everyday I walk through that door and there is a security guard that meets me there to make sure my badge is showing, to make sure my face matches the picture on the badge,” said MacDonald. “But he [the gunman] must have been pushing some force because they are good at their jobs, they are very aware, and there are always officers carrying guns in that lobby where he walked through.”

MacDonald also wonders how the gunman got that far up Parliament Hill with all of the security throughout the building.

“You pass at least two RCMP cars and a number of security [guards] and then the front door. There are at least five security [guards] standing in the foyer before you even get

to the hallway where he was engaged in gunfire.”

MacDonald said if the gunman had gotten into either of the caucus rooms, it could have been much worse.

“Every single MP was in that building. Those are not overly secure doors, those are just two doors that are soundproof,” said MacDonald.

In recent weeks, the Public Safety committee had been working to make legislative changes to increase national security. Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney was supposed to present legislation that would give the Canadian Security Intelligence Service more power Wednesday morning until the attack happened.

Despite the way events unfolded on Wednesday in Ottawa, MacDonald felt like the situation was under control and that she was safe.

“We had an exceptional team and response from security.

We had information coming through our emails to keep us informed. We had the assurance of security guards in the building who knew what they were talking about,” she said.

“None of us for a minute felt unsafe. We knew there was a threat and we knew that it was being handled. It was good to be able to feel that way.”

Moving forward, MacDonald is hoping Canadians react well to whatever information comes forward about the gunman.

“We want Canada to remain a diverse and loving nation.

We don’t want people to be suspecting of their neighbours.

We need to get to the bottom of this and we need to start learning about this reality in our country.”

Gender and diversity in video games BLAKE DEAL VIU Media Technologist Johnny Blakeborough delivered a presentation on gender roles in gaming and how women are treated in the industry, as well as the increasingly hostile “gamergate” to a packed auditorium.

Blakeborough was approached

by VIU instructor Marni Stanley and asked to do the presentation. He said Stanley thought it would be a great topic to present for one of her classes.

“This is a very important issue to me,” said Blakeborough, “but I had never considered doing something like this.”

Preparing for the presentation was a lot of work. “I had to be on top of everything related to gamergate.”

Blakeborough’s presentation covered the history of women and computers. He started off with a little known fact: women were tasked with the job of programming the first computers.

Then he eased his way into what is now referred to as “gamergate,” covering the attacks aimed at female video game critics and programmers.

The presentation focused mainly on two prominent women in the current controversy: Anita Sarkeesian and Zoe Quinn.

Gamergate is not something everyone is familiar with—it’s a “gamer culture” thing, said Blakeborough, but it is starting to make its way into more mainstream media.

“I found out about it mostly through social media,” said Blakeborough. “I was aware of some of the awful things that Zoe Quinn had been going through, but that wasn’t new. Women have had a hard time [in the gaming industry] for years.”

Blakeborough said a conversation with a co-worker had made him very angry when talking about a diatribe about the personal life of Zoe Quinn that was posted online by her ex-boyfriend.

06 NEWS

THE NAVIGATOR There is a group of people who believe there are ethical issues that need to be dealt with when it comes to women in the gaming industry.

“There needs to be proper practices taking place, yes, but no one’s personal life should be put out there,” said Blakeborough.

“I am watching people’s lives being ruined,” he said. “There needs to be a conversation about this. This is such a large topic it is hard to sum up for people. So many people know so little about it.”

Blakeborough said the public is starting to understand the

longstanding problems with gamer culture. There is a push to change the way women are portrayed in video games and the industry itself.

“The misogyny and sexism needs to change,” said Blakeborough.

It’s good that there is a large

amount of attention coming to something people were not aware of, but unfortunately it will lead to a poor public opinion of video games, he said.

“I think this is going to lead to a better time for gamers, but it is going to be rocky for a while.”

“Women and girls make and play games and they always have. The misogyny currently present in video games and games culture is being challenged by diversity and inclusivity. And the industry is changing for the better despite a very vocal minority that is attempting to hold onto the status quo of exploitation and inequity.” Johnny Blakeborough, from his lecture, October 28, 2014

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Tami Joseph

Government changes regulations for international students RACHEL WARD HALIFAX (CUP) — New government of Canada regulations make it easier for international students to work while in school but do little to help with employment after graduation. As of June 1 this year, students can work 20 hours per week off-campus while enrolled in classes during the academic school year, while in the summer they can now work full-time using their regular study permit.

The new rules mean international students can work without an extra Off-Campus Work Permit, which had been the case since 2006. Study permits now expire automatically 90 days after graduation, not on the renewal date which could be a year away as was the case with the old permits. This means those who come to Canada as students have to switch to a new immigration category once they have graduated.

The government’s worry is that, under old regulations, “foreign nationals” could say they want to study simply to get the permit and remain in Canada until its expiry, says the regulatory impact analysis statement from Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Despite the new, shorter time limit, Minister of International Trade Ed Fast said in Canada’s International Education Strategy the government wants more international students to spend money in Canada and fill empty skilled labour jobs with “highly qualified professional and skilled trades that sustain a technologically-driven modern economy.” While in school, international students collectively spend about $8 billion annually.

Changes come on the heels of a controversy at University of Regina three years ago. Two students on full scholarship at the university received deportation notices after unknowingly working at Walmart illegally, reported the Sheaf in 2012.They spent 16 months hid-

CUP LABOUR BUREAU CHIEF ing in churches in Regina before agreeing to leave Canada. Both women returned to Saskatchewan this June when new rules came into effect.

Mario Mazraany, an international student in his second year of engineering at Dalhousie University in Halifax, says he’s worried about the new regulations. He previously completed a bachelor of science at Saint Mary’s University, taking a gap year to work and save money. He recently attended sessions about work permits through

Website promotes dialogue to encourage voter turnout

his school’s international student advising centre—something he says not many students take advantage of.

“If you’re a shy international student with bad English, you’re not going to know stuff and you’re not going to understand what’s going on,” said Mazraany. More one-onone sessions with university student advisors would be helpful, he said.

Mazraany would like to stay in Canada to work and gain experience after he graduates as a chemical engineer next May.

Mazraany said the new 90-day time limit after graduation would restrict the window of time to find a job. Luckily, he said, he’s covered under the old rules, so he can stay to apply for jobs until his study permit expires almost a full year after graduating. He could also try to find a company to sponsor him—possibly a tricky task with the restricted time limit and current job market.

As of September, Statistics Canada numbers show youth employment sits at 13.5 percent,

unchanged from the previous year.

Overall, there are 6.2 unemployed workers per job vacancy, according to Statistics Canada numbers ending in July.

The government’s education strategy says its goal is to increase international student enrollment, encourage more to stay long term, and double student spending over the next eight years. International students currently pay more than three times the average tuition of Canadian students, according to Statistics Canada.

Jane Lytvynenko/Canadian University Press

BLAKE DEAL

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A new website has launched which encourages dialogue as a way to increase BC’s low voter turnout.

Patrick Lee founded <promotethevote.ca>, a non-partisan, non-profit, volunteer-run campaign in an attempt to get an increase in voter turnout for the upcoming municipal elections.

Lee said he started Promote the Vote because of his concern in the low voter turnout. “The average turnout for municipal elections is 30 percent,” said Lee. “I believe in the importance of voting; it’s something I grew up with.”

Lee said this campaign is different than others because it doesn’t directly target those who don’t vote but rather those who do.

The campaign encourages voters to go a step further than just voting. The site asks voters to make a pledge to start a dialogue with a non-voter in an attempt to get them to the polls.

The website includes resources to help get the conversation going, and Lee hopes this will help build momentum towards an increase in voter turnout.

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“Everyone knows someone who doesn’t vote,” said Lee. “People tend to respond better to someone they know.”

Lee said many people are disengaging from the voting process, all for different reasons. “I think if people can discuss their reasons and have an open dialogue it could really help,” said Lee. Although the site is mainly focused on BC right now, it is open to use by anyone. “The focus is almost only online; we are hoping to create a movement.”

Lee said although the turnout is low he is not worried about it getting worse. “Not long ago the turnout was much higher,” he said. “It’s really just discouraging.”

The website is just starting out, so he encourages people to go check it out and take the pledge.

“With elections coming up quickly it is crunch time,” said Lee. For more information, visit <promotethevote.ca> or find them on Facebook.

NEWS 07

Features

Robots and how we will live with them “Although Simon is only an upper body and head today, in the future we may see Simon in workshops and hobby stores, offering quick and accurate help to mechanics and engineers.”

FEATURES 08

DANIEL O’BRIEN

CONTRIBUTOR

Humans are social creatures, which means the greatest hurdle in truly intuitive communication with machines is their inability to generate and interpret social cues. Non-verbal communication like the position of our arms, where we look, and how we speak are all social cues that, at this point, machines are incapable of recognizing. Meet PaPeRo (Partner-type-Personal-Robot). He is about 15 inches tall and weighs almost 15 pounds, responds to his owners’ commands, recognizes their faces, and even follows them around the house. PaPeRo is not a dog or cat—he’s a small robot.

PaPeRo’s creators, NEC Mobile World, say, “Throughout the research and development we have always been cognisant of such questions as, ‘What is a robot?’ ‘What are robots to people?’ ‘What is the relationship between people and robots?’ and ‘What is life and society with robots?’” With these questions in mind, they developed PaPeRo, who has become the unofficial face of a budding new area of robotics research: social robotics.

Social robotics is the study of how robots can live with humans and help with their day-to-day lives. Although PaPeRo is still in development, he can already respond to questions using simple sentences, remember things that people have said, and sing songs. He can even learn and follow visual body language cues like responding in a peppy manner if he sees that his owner is happy. His objective isn’t to help with heavy lifting or rapid calculations, but simply provide companionship and entertainment for his owners. This is the ultimate goal of social robotics.

Although social robotics is fairly young, it is no less interesting or important than other, more publicly displayed areas of artificial intelligence (AI) development. Computers and the internet changed humanity’s lives for the better, and now, with these robots, NEC is looking to take the next step.

With further development, instead of hit and miss Google searches, we will be able to verbally ask our computers a question and receive the results we want with a far greater degree of intuition and accuracy.

In a test involving several people who wanted to lose weight, three progress-tracking methods were used: pen and paper, a computer program, and the same computer program run through a robotic head that smiled at progress and admonished the testers if they did not meet their fitness goals. Test subjects rated the computer twice as pleasant to use over pen and paper, and the robot twice as pleasant as the computer, even though the program and questions were exactly the same. Participants even went so far as to name the robotic bust, and some were even sad to see it go, hugging and saying goodbye at the end of the test even though it was no longer plugged in or responding. This result cements the very essence of social robotics: creating a machine that will be able to help people in ways never before possible, and relate to them on a very nearly human scale simply by removing the screen and replacing it with a face.

Now available to purchase, one of Intuitive Automata’s creators, Cory Kidd, says the weight loss robot (dubbed Autom), “Has a short conversation with you every day to help you keep track of your eating and exercise quickly and simply. She provides feedback, advice, and encouragement to keep you motivated. She doesn’t scold—she offers positive encouragement to help you reach your goals.”

An even more complex robot named Simon advances human and robot interaction further. Although he is only an upper torso attached to a computer by a mass of wires, Simon is able to hold a conversation and respond to body language and tones. He can even track faces in a busy room and offer friendly greetings to new people, reacting to distractions with a quick glance, and then turning his attention back to someone that is talking to him. But according to Andrea Thomaz, one of the Georgia Institute of Technology researchers working on Simon, his most impressive ability is actively learning. “Simon learns to clean up a workspace [by] learning a model for what kind of objects to put where.

The human partner hands Simon an object and indicates

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what should be done with it. The teacher can let Simon ask questions by saying ‘Do you have any questions?’ Then, Simon will scan the workspace looking for any objects that he is uncertain about. If such an object is found, this will lead to a query like, ‘What should we do with this one?’ A model is learned in just a few examples. Then, the human can hand Simon new objects and they will be sorted into their proper locations.”

Imagine a robot with this technology in a workshop, a tool that is essentially an intelligent assistant that can be built for any need. Although Simon is only an upper body and head today, in the future we may see Simon in workshops and hobby stores, offering quick and accurate help to mechanics and engineers. Eccentric tinkerers will finally be able to get the help they need in an assistant that doesn’t mind staying up until 3 am for the second week in a row.

As the technology advances and the robots become more sophisticated, the social aspect of the robots’ creators begins to shine through in their work. Researchers in America and Japan have been working on social robots, and now the differences in culture and values can be seen in the results. Social robots built in America are designed to be teammates, someone to interact with as a colleague, with expressive faces and motions. In Japan, however, users lean more towards emotionally supportive soulmate-type robots.

This likely stems from the general western desire to change our environment, versus the eastern inclination to simply fit and work well in the current situation.

As we work to make robots more human, it is a good sign that our most basic social drives begin to show in our mechanical counterparts. If we are to accept these machines as counterparts in the future, it is imperative that they are built with our social norms already in place, or we simply will not be able to understand them on a personal enough level.

Just like cultural differences between people are a hurdle, these differences are one thing that researchers can’t test for, and will ultimately determine the fate of introducing robots into our everyday lives. Selma Sabanovic, an associate professor of informatics at Indiana University, explained that although western and eastern developers are looking to create very different robots, they are essentially taking different roads to the same destination.

The ongoing rise of social robotics is a critical field of study, one that will ensure that we can move into the future aided by, rather than destroyed by, our mechanical counterparts.

Once it is understood how robots can interact with humans on an instinctual level, we will be able to create tools to help people from any walk of life with any type of task. Teaching a robot to understand how we feel will not only allow them to interact with us in startling new ways, but it will also allow us to work with them in ways never before realized.

Teaching machines to understand what we feel is not the only change that is underway. Allowing machines to express how they feel to us is another critical step towards a future of friendly plastic pals. Imagine a mobile phone that allows a grandmother to play with her grandchildren from across the country, with the help of small arms and legs, with her face displayed on the screen. It wouldn’t be as effective as a play date in person, but being able to move about in the environment and manipulate objects would allow for a nearly seamless interaction when the real thing isn’t possible.

From PaPeRo, the small companion, to workshop assistants built from the foundation of Simon’s early programming, to colleagues and supporters that will stay up until 3 am to help, social robotics is a vast field that will ultimately decide the outcome of the coming singularity, whether that’s a world covered by grey goo, or one raised to new heights of comfort and efficiency. Social robotics does not aim to take away the jobs of hardworking humans, but simply to make their lives easier, and, ultimately, to create a world where no one has to work at all because robots are capable of completing any type of task.

CarShare club coming to VIU CHANTELLE SPICER It’s all about balance. How many times have you heard someone say this recently? Whether it’s school versus personal life, a salad versus a bag of chips for lunch, or any other balancing acts that life throws at us, it can feel impossible to find harmony sometimes.

The City of Nanaimo holds a key that may help its citizens find some balance in the search for sustainability in their lives: driving a car.

We know cars are one of the major producers of CO2. Multiply that by over a billion cars on the road today, and it can be hard to justify a trip to Tofino or even a drive across town. So where is the balance?

The Nanaimo CarShare Cooperative joins thousands of similar programs worldwide by assisting residents who need to get from point A to B without adding another private vehicle to the roadways. According to The Economist, for every CarShare vehicle in use, 15 vehicles can be taken off the road. This is possible when a member-owned fleet of cars is available for use during a block of time from one hour to a full day.

Car owners are often unaware of how much time their vehicles spend parked at home or work.

Each member without a car sitting in their driveway reduces their own carbon footprint.

The CarShare lifestyle is an alter-

SHALEETA HARPER The Vault Café stands out as the bohemian hub of Nanaimo.

It’s easily spotted where Victoria Cres., Wallace St., and Albert St. intersect downtown, with outdoor patio seating made up of cozy armchairs and vintage ashtrays. In dry weather, the atmosphere is lively outside with animated conversations and the occasional acoustic guitar.

The interior is eclectic—rustic urban meets shabby-chic. Grand arched windows frame the avocado green walls, which are covered in local artwork and oddities like many pairs of antlers. A painted piano is available for patrons that are inclined to play (and they often do).

Retro (board) games lay around, waiting to be deciphered. A 1920s walnut buffet with iced water and glasses sits near the centre of the room so you don’t need to bug the staff for a free cup of water.

The Vault Café frequently hosts events like classic movie nights, open mic, live music, and literary events. They’re open to hosting activities on any available evening, so if you want to write a book of poems on the urban chic, consider holding your launch there.

The scene at The Vault Café is so vibrant that it isn’t ideal as a study hole. Come here to enjoy the local arts or to brood in the corner with pen and paper, but don’t expect the calm quiet you need to memorize biology vocabulary.

Being awesome often comes at a cost. The menu leans towards

CONTRIBUTOR counter-gourmet, with the prices to show for it, and they serve local products where possible. A bagel with cream cheese, salmon lox, capers, and red onion was $9; it was high-priced, but with a thoughtful blend of flavour and texture. The menu is as eclectic as the décor: pizza, mac ’n’ cheese, and open faced sandwiches with things like pesto and garlic cream sauce. They also offer daily baked goods, which are more affordable when you’re just looking for a snack. A slice of homemade apple pie is $4, which is actually cheaper than what many restaurants charge for pie from a box.

The beverages are only slightly more expensive than other highend cafés, but don’t tread over the $5 mark. I tried the lavender latte.

The drink was a layered experience—a delicate lavender flavour from a homemade syrup resting on a very bold and creamy latte.

It takes a moment to adjust to the unusual blend of flavours, but I enjoyed it.

Unlike other cafés, The Vault is licensed to sell alcohol, so it really is an all-in-one bohemian establishment. Several local craft beers are available on tap with more choices behind the bar.

Whether you’re into meeting people, experiencing new local talent, or just soaking up some of the funkiest atmosphere in town, The Vault Café is a great choice.

CONTRIBUTOR native to public transit. It also reduces each individual’s expenses, like the fixed costs that come with owning a car. Members buy into the fleet with a refundable, one-time membership fee that contributes to insurance, maintenance, repairs, gas, roadside assistance, and cleaning.

Recognizing these benefits, along with many other social and community benefits, the Coastal Community Credit Union recently awarded the Nanaimo CarShare Cooperative $10k through the “Building Healthier Communities Fund.”

This will help the cooperative work towards their goals for expansion of the fleet.

The City of Nanaimo has also recognized the benefits of car sharing as part of a sustainable transportation system, when coupled with use of public transportation.

Nanaimo CarShare hopes to expand enough to place two cars in every neighbourhood to provide better access to members. One of these neighbourhoods includes Nanaimo’s VIU Campus. The idea is in its infancy, but offers some exciting potential to the student body. Angelina McNamee, who is attempting to make this dream a reality, has been reaching out to students through a new club at VIU. During their first meeting on October 23, information was shared

about the program itself, globally and here in Nanaimo, as well as the direction of the club itself. Having a club on campus is the first step.

“There needs to be a show of high demand for a car on campus, as well as a show of solid support for the concept of car sharing from VIU before [the CarShare] could even begin the process of securing funds in order to purchase a vehicle,” McNamee says.

Nanaimo isn’t the only community with a blooming interest in car sharing. As of 2013, 20 Canadian organizations had over 141 thousand members sharing 3432 cars. That represents a 53.4 percent increase in just one year. Globally, there are an estimated 1.8 million members sharing 43.5 thousand vehicles. This movement, globally and locally, could lead to a complete overhaul in the way our local economies are run and supported.

Sustainable public transportation systems, as well as how we view the role our automobiles have in all areas of our lives, play an important part in that.

For information about becoming a member of the VIU CarShare Club and offering your support, please contact Angelina at <sealion@universe.com>. You’ll find more information on the Nanaimo CarShare Cooperative at <www.nanaimocarshare.ca>.

Café review: The Vault

The Vault Café is a versatile space.

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Denisa Kraus

09 FEATURES

Point of VIU DREW MCLACHLAN / CONTRIBUTOR

If you were elected mayor of Nanaimo, how would you improve the city?

Kimberley Kemmer, 26, Alumni

Antony Stevens, 21, Creative Writing

Kristen Nagrocki, 20, Business

Curtis Reich, 24, Education

“I would install a gondola that goes to “I’d promote the arts culture. I remember “I would think more on the scale of “Fix the bus system. A lot of the connecthe top of Mount Benson­­—we could going to Swy-a-Lana a while ago and environmental things. Improving transit tions don’t match up, so if you’re two seriously make some tourist money from seeing a metal deer statue. Stuff like would help that a lot by encouraging minutes late for your bus, you’re now that. I’d also make sure that the passen- that is cool, and I’d like to see more of more students to take the bus. 40 minutes late for whatever meeting ger ferry to downtown Vancouver would it around town.”

Sometimes I have to wait an hour for you were trying to get to.” finally happen.” the bus. I think that’s unacceptable for how big Nanaimo is.”

Election 2014

Voting places for the Nanaimo Municipal Election, November 15

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<nanaimoelections.com/map>

Election results from 2011 show a lack of interest in democracy. It’s alarming how little support is required to put a candidate in office. Will 2014 look any different?

Courtesy <www.nanaimo-info-blog.com/p/city-hall-news>

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to say nothing of the trees for mary oliver philip gordon contributor water-beetles in the belly of the kingfisher riverflow in the forestâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s torso how am i a whole thing without this place inside me?

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Luke Bowles Contributor

11 FEATURES

We stand on guard

ALEXANDRIA STUART

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After the attacks of September 11, 2001, Shanon Fenske, now 41, was moved to join the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and serve overseas. The lengthy application process began in 2003, and by 2009 he was on the ground in Afghanistan.

There, he lost a friend, saw many more dead, came under fire, and had a very close call under so-called “friendly fire.”

He was assigned a piece of equipment—classified—that detected improvised explosive devices (IEDs). It was heavy and made him an easy target for insurgents. “It was a risky yet inglorious job. But I was potentially saving people’s lives,” he says. The device was carried in a backpack, but “I could feel it through my body.” He experienced nausea, headaches, neck pain, as well as a buzzing sound in his head. Others using the same device reported similar effects.

On his return home in 2010, he says, “I felt good, I’d survived, I was in excellent physical shape. There were emotional aftershocks but they weren’t overtly debilitating.” After several weeks “on leave” at home, he developed pain in his groin. After seeing a doctor he was immediately admitted to hospital and operated on within days. Fenske was diagnosed with cancer and has spent the last four years coping with treatment and its side effects, some of them permanent. There is no doubt in his mind that the device he worked with in Afghanistan caused his cancer, something the military has uncategorically denied.

Unable to work due to nerve damage and mobility issues, Fenske’s attempts to navigate the Joint Personnel Support

Unit (JPSU) and access disability compensation payments, among other services, was the epitome of bureaucratic inefficiency and red tape. They denied that there was a connection between his service in Afghanistan and his cancer. (Veteran’s Affairs later admitted that there was, but failed to notify other branches of the Department of National Defense [DND]). Later, his file was accidently shredded by a clerk. “There’s no accountability for incompetence in the military,” he says. Only after moving to Nanaimo and transferring his file from the Jericho Beach branch to the Esquimalt JPSU office did Fenske eventually begin receiving the support payments he was entitled to. “I felt that the military is set up in a way that people can’t find their way through the system, especially when they’re too ill or weak to fight,” he says. In the summer of 2011, Fenske’s cancer returned and spread, resulting in aggressive chemotherapy treatment and further side effects. His battles with the JPSU continued. “A nurse or a 7-Eleven employee would be better taken care of,” he says.

Fenske’s story is not unique; many others in the military have shared similar experiences with blockades and disappointment in their search for supports after return-

ing home. It creates a culture of helplessness and despondence, he says. “Of the people I served with, I’ve lost more to suicide, here at home, than on the ground in Afghanistan,” he says.

Between 2004 and this March, the DND reports that 160 personnel committed suicide, numbers that include regular forces and reservists, but not retired soldiers, or those who have left for health reasons.

Suicides related to CAF service are extremely underreported. By comparison, 138 solders were killed in combat between 2002 and 2014, the end of Canada’s formal mission in Afghanistan.

And the death of veterans—most in obscurity—continue in 2014. At the end of their tours overseas, many soldiers find it challenging to adapt to life at home. They look to the DND for support, but many, like Fenske, are left feeling as if the military is eager to cast them aside. Sick, in pain, and tormented by the sights, smells, and sounds of war, they are left to stumble alone. Most suffer in silence. Many kill themselves.

A triathlete who served in Bosnia and Afghanistan, Stuart Langridge was a model Canadian soldier decorated with two commander’s coins. But after returning home his life deteriorated, a result of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression, and he fell into alcoholism and drug addiction. In 2008, at the Canadian Forces Base in Edmonton, he hanged

himself. It was his seventh, and final, attempt to end his life.

After 15 years of service in Bosnia, Greg Matters left the CAF in 2009 and returned to his home in BC. After a long delay, he began receiving treatment for PTSD, but it came too late. On September 8, the RCMP were called to a rural property in Prince George where, after an exchange, Matters was fatally shot. He was 40 years old.

Defense Minister Rob Nicholson has defended the Harper government’s record, pointing out that the mental health budget has been increased by $11 million a year to a total of $50 million. Yet the soldiers continue to die, largely in obscurity, out of the media eye.

Recently, one soldier’s death, Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, drew the national media spotlight. Part of the honour guard at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, Cirillo was shot and killed on October 22. A reservist serving in Hamilton from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada regiment who happened to return from Kandahar intact enough to continue serving, this soldier was shot dead. He was 24 years old. The country went into a tailspin. It was a tragedy, a cold-blooded premeditated murder that dominated the news cycle for days.

Six of his fellow servicemen also died in 2014. They died by their own hands after failing to receive the supports they needed from the military they had all served. The media barely noticed.

“I kept waiting for someone to kick down the wall and tell me that I’d been Punk’d.”

-Shanon Fenske The opening essay on the October 24 edition of CBC Radio’s Q, after the Ottawa incident, addressed the country’s servicemen and women: “A nation is grateful. A nation is thinking of you.” The nation, yes, but the politicians, policy makers, and military leaders who set and execute the DND budget need to translate those thoughts into action.

The DND is funded by the Canadian government and takes its direction from Parliament, our Commander in Chief the Prime Minister and his cabinet. It’s given priorities and must execute their work with the budget it’s given.

In the management of budgets for military activity—the so-called “boots on the ground” operations—there is no budgetary restraint, just spending. A soldier on the front line isn’t expected to requisition additional ammunition in the middle of a firefight with insurgents.

Here at home the picture is different. The bureaucrats look at the DND budget, look at what’s left after those boots on the ground are taken care of, and try to make the remaining funds fit the needs of the sneakers on home soil.

According to <woundedwarriors.ca>, 8026 Canadian Forces members, like Fenske, were released from the military because of an injury or illness that ended their military career between 2006 and 2011. Ill and injured members and veterans of the CAF have access to a variety of services, programs, and financial benefits to support their transition from military to civilian life. Support services and benefits, including those available under the New Veterans Charter, are provided, coordinated, and managed primarily by the DND, the CAF, and Veterans Affairs Canada. They appear to be falling short in their work.

Canadian Armed Forces Veterans deserve equal access to resources home and away. The budgets that accommodate unlimited ammunition aren’t so generous with medical and mental health supports on home soil.

One of the only programs in Canada to offer group therapy to soldiers, the Veterans Transition Program, operates out of the University of BC. It serves soldiers suffering from Operational Stress Injury (OSI), a broad category that includes PTSD, anxiety disorders, and depression.

It also addresses substance abuse issues. The program’s services are in heavy demand. It receives no funding from the DND. According to <rabble.ca> the gap between “support our troops” rhetoric and the miserable reality of many veterans’ lives has widened under the Harper government.

This includes high rates of untreated PTSD (a condition suffered by one in four veterans of Afghanistan), homelessness, the claw-back of benefits, failure to cover funeral expenses, as well as rampant alcoholism and substance abuse among veterans.

Today, Fenske attends VIU where he’s studying creative writing. He maintains a website about paranormal activity and folklore (under the name Shanon Sinn), and is writing a memoir about his experiences. His health has improved, as has his outlook. After years of navigating the JPSU programs, he is close to transitioning out of the military and continuing to move on with his life. Unfortunately, many of his colleagues never had that opportunity.

2014 has been an active year for soldier suicides: Cpl. Adam Eckhardt of Trenton, Ontario who was based with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry at CFB Suffield in Alberta, was found dead on January 3.

Cpl. Camilo Sanhueza-Martinez, a member of The Princess of Wales’ Own Regiment based in Kingston, Ontario, a veteran of Afghanistan, was found dead on January 8.

Lt.-Col. Stephane Beauchemin, a 22-year veteran who had been deployed to Haiti and Bosnia, died on January 16 in Limoges, Ontario.

Master Cpl. Tyson Washburn, 37, of Pembroke, Ontario, was found dead of apparent suicide on March 15.

Cpl. Alain Lacasse, 43, served six tours of duty including two in Bosnia and one in Afghanistan. He was found dead in his home in Valcartier, Quebec on March 17.

Master Cpl. Denis Demers, 44, another veteran of Afghanistan, was discovered dead, apparently by his own hand, in Petawawa, Ontario on September 12.

Arts

“Art will say things when it’s difficult to verbalize,” Heather Sanrud says. “It will say it in a meaningful, purposeful way.”

Denisa Kraus

Talk is expensive: make art JENNY GARCEAU

CONTRIBUTOR

Since 2000, VIU has offered Special Topics in Child and Youth Care: Introduction to Working With Children and Youth Through the Medium of Art. The course was designed by Heather Sanrud, a professor with the child and youth care program as well as a registered art therapist, who believes passionately in the benefits of introducing art as a therapeutic avenue in professional practice when working with people of all ages and backgrounds, either one-on-one or in group settings.

The course introduces students to the profession of art therapy. Sanrud is adamant about wanting students to know that this course does not give them art therapist credentials–it introduces them to the basic principles and a general overview of the profession and they walk away with the right tools to enhance their practice in a helping or teaching role. In addition to learning about the principles of art therapy, the class has a project where they carry out an art-based activity which provides an opportunity to engage in learnings about group dynamics as well. Sanrud recalls times when the group activity isn’t carried out successfully, “but sometimes there is more learning to be gained when it doesn’t go as planned.”

Having art experience is not necessary to enjoy the course or participate fully. It is experiential and having some level of comfort with different art materials beforehand is recommended. After completing this course, graduates will be using the skills to invite others to make art. Sanrud explains that what is required is that students “be willing to play, explore, and take creative risks.”

Even though the prerequisite list states students need to be in the child and youth care program, Sanrud feels admissions can be flexible and invites students to e-mail her if they are interested in taking the course. She highlights the cross-application her course offers. “Education students who want to enhance their art component in their salesrooms

ARTS 14

and curriculum–they want to engage with their students in a different way.” Beyond education and child and youth care students, general studies and art diploma students have taken the course and possibly benefited from the experience. The class is also open to working professionals who are interested in expanding their skill set.

Some students take the course with the intention of finishing their degree and continuing in the field of art therapy. To become a registered art therapist, one must attend a specialized post-graduate degree. Sanrud is “open to talking about what institutions and programs are available in Canada and the United States, as well as in Europe.”

Once they have completed their post-graduate studies they will need to register with the Art Therapy board within their region. Whatever your intentions are going into the course, Sanrud “encourage[s] people to use art in a therapeutic way.”

One might wonder what therapeutic art looks like, and how it can be used with others. Sanrud explains that it is process oriented, not so much product based, and “people aren’t expected to make museum-worthy art.” When guided through an art activity, the person facilitating the process is exploring what the art is trying to say.

“When you’re engaged in more traditional ‘talk’ therapy, it can take a very long time to say the situations that are or were affecting their life,” Sanrd says. “Art becomes the third entity in the room; it shows the different things and feelings in their life.”

When you consider the average $120 an hour session rates of talk therapy, having a different approach to therapeutic situations is a great tool to give to future community workers in the child and youth care field. Sanrud expands more on the process by illuminating on the role the art therapist plays, saying that they “are the objective guide” of the process.

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Art therapy isn’t necessarily sitting a person down with paint or pastels and having them draw their feelings. It can go beyond the visual into the full picture of expressive arts such as music or movement. The calendar description of this particular course specifies students will “experience the rich therapeutic potential of art making as a medium for effecting growth and change in children and youth.” What art means from one individual to the next may differ and Sanrud encourages students to be creative when thinking of the applications of the course’s theories.

As previously mentioned, the course is experiential. “Theory is learned by doing” is the last line of the calendar description. Sanrud seems to feel genuinely that the best learning comes from in-the-moment opportunities, trying skills out as you are being introduced to them.

The students walk away from the course with the activities they did throughout the semester, five individual projects, as well as five group projects. Sanrud says she has “heard students walk away saying how grateful they are to have something tangible at the end of our time together.” To have a physical representation of the course learnings is a unique experience in a theory oriented course.

Penny Case who took the course last year saw how the skills she developed seep into all aspects of her life. She encourages dialogue with her children, utilizes activities she learned through her work as well as in her current curriculum placement. She believes using art in a therapeutic manner is ideal for children and youth who have difficulty verbalizing their emotions and life challenges.

“Being able to put their feelings somewhere makes them feel good in every aspect,” Case says.

Sanrud is proud of the course she has designed and teaches. She hopes it introduces people to see the power of creating art, no matter your skill level, as well as the power of seeing art. As she says, “art is for everybody.”

Urban Issues Film Festival addresses “Equality in the City”

Courtesy of Urban Issues Film

DENISA KRAUS On Friday, November 7, VIU will host the 9th annual Urban Issues Film Festival. This educational, seminar-style event presents a variety of short and feature films on urban issues with a different theme every year. This year, five different films carry the theme “Equality in the City” and explore the topic of social cohesiveness, equality, inclusion, and citizen participation.

Planned each year in conjunction with World Town Planning Day, the festival is sponsored by the VIU Geography Department, the Geographic Students’ Union, the New City Institute, and the Planning Institute of BC North Island Chapter (PIBC).

“One of our roles is to help facilitate educational events in our region,” Deborah Jensen of the PIBC says. “It’s another way of connecting and building relationships with VIU, students, and our planning cohorts as well as getting to work with the community, making people more aware of some of the global and local issues.”

The keynote address will be delivered by Vancouver-based community organizer and activist Matt Hern, author of books on urbanism including Common Ground in a Liquid City, Stay Solid!, and One Game at a Time. In addition, general discussions will be held after each film.

Urban Issues Film Festival’s organizer and VIU Geography professor Don Alexander believes the discussions serve as “a great forum for

THE NAVIGATOR different people to get together to discuss contemporary issues of the city.”

“It’s about using film as a medium to provoke discussion,” he says.

“We usually get a mix of students, faculty, and community members engaged in a discussion after each film. People share their concerns and ideas about what Nanaimo could be doing differently.”

Rob Lawrance, environmental planner at PIBC, says the essential part of the festival is the student engagement.

“Getting the students to talk to planners and professionals and to challenge them on the issues of the day is where the real value is for me,” Lawrance says.

A pizza dinner in addition to popcorn and beverages will be available on a break between 5 and 6 pm. There will also be a prize draw held during the festival.

Individuals who wish to attend this free event must register at <www. urbanfilmfest2014.eventbrite.ca>.

Suggested donation is $5.

The festival looks to serve a good cause. In the name of social cohesiveness on a global scale, all donations received at the event will be used to help fund an ear surgery for a child in need in Belize, where VIU has maintained a field school connection.

The Urban Issues Film Festival will run from 2:45 to 9 pm on Nanaimo’s Campus in building 356, room 109. For more information on the event and the schedule, visit <www. facebook.com/urbanfilmfest>.

Local filmmaker campaigns for funding DENISA KRAUS An IndieGogo campaign for a local feature film Beyond Control seeks to reach community support and raise funds to finish post-production. Beyond Control is being produced and shot in Nanaimo.

Featuring all local talent, this psychological horror is a coming-of-age tale about a girl dealing with her past and powerful perception. Written, produced, and directed by local filmmaker Raymond Knight, the entire production has operated on zero budget. Shooting has taken over a year in order to scout and secure locations, gather

THE NAVIGATOR props, and work around the crew's varying schedule. As the project moves into the post-production stage, Knight hopes to find sponsors and to help fund the long process of editing, visual effects, sound design, and music. While a trailer video promotes the movie on YouTube, a mini-documentary including a short hip-hop stunt by Knight and his colleague Jeff Monson accompanies the campaign on <www.indiegogo.com/projects/ beyond-control>. The campaign, seeking to raise $10k, ends Sunday, November 9.

Beyond Control was filmed in nine different locations in Nanaimo

Denisa Kraus

THE NAVIGATOR

15 ARTS

20 minutes with The Body Politic DENISA KRAUS Interviewing big bands an hour before their show is an adventure.

Out of the six or more members, two are usually out getting dinner, one is still at work, and one is busy selling merch. But meeting with any member of The Body Politic is also a treat, as this six-piece progressive metal formation spends most of their quality musician time touring Canada. When they came back to Nanaimo to promote their new EP Egressor, The Nav spoke to guitarist Dan Montgomery, singer Sam Britton, and keyboardist Rob Wilkinson about the best ways to tour, the worst sound technicians, and ultimate metal girlfriends.

Navigator: When did you go on your first tour?

Dan: June 2012. We played two or three shows on a 10-day tour.

The shows were really great... On subsequent tours, the shows were more back-to-back with maybe a day of down time, whereas on that first tour it was good few days of relaxation.

Rob: The tours are getting better as Spencer (Bowman, drummer) is getting better at booking. He’s getting extremely efficient at it.

Sam: The upside and downside with Canada is that you find about one promoter per city, and they change so quickly; they pop up for a couple of weeks to do a big show and after that you never hear of them again.

There are one or two promoters that have stuck around, and when you come back to them, they try harder and harder to get bigger bands to play with you, which is nice.

Dan: The thing with this music genre is that a lot of these promoters are still kids in high school, and it’s pretty tough for them to turn a profit and get a show going, especially when you’re in Regina on a Tuesday night. So yeah, even though you get better at booking, you still have to play on some off-nights.

How is this tour so far?

Sam: Probably the best. We normally have a sound guy or someone else floating around in the van with us. Having six people in the van is a godsend, but seven people people is just uncomfortable. No one is happy when you’re squished shoulder to shoulder the whole time. We’re all big dudes—except Rob and Spencer (laughs), and when there are three of us in one row, we get frustrated a little.

Rob: Plus we’ve reorganized. We used to keep all our personal stuff and some gear with us in the van, but we’ve allocated a special part of the trailer for that. So we can stretch out a bit. We’re getting better at touring.

Dan: We’ve started to solidify a lot of relationships with people in other cities. Edmonton, for example, is like a second home for us. The turn out there will be as good as in Nanaimo, sometimes even better.

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THE NAVIGATOR It’s great. Every tour we’ve had, if we’re to think of the best show, it would be either here or in Edmonton. We’ve built up relationships with promoters and other bands as well, so we see a lot of following there, and when they come out here we make the effort to go and support them in our town.

Sam: I let them sleep on my floor.

What are the biggest pros of touring?

Sam: Fans. You have to play an area a certain amount of times to consolidate fans. If you tour once, make a huge impression, and don’t go through it again—you’re not going to have a following at all. The biggest pro is seeing all the fans you know and being able to say, “Hey, you were there six times ago and you’re still here and you buy merch every time and want to hang out.”

Dan: It’s cool to go to a city you don’t know and see people wearing your shirts at your show. And I work at Arbutus and just had a guy the other day come up and say “I’m in from Calgary and saw you play there, and heard you guys are going to play tonight so I want to see you here.”

Sam: The other big thing is bands.

We are fortunate to say that all the bands we’ve toured with are fantastic. They are now good friends to hang out with. Like the Quartered guys we’re with now, they’re amazing.

What was the most bizarre show you’ve played? (laughter and chatter) Sam: Obviously, Red Deer— Rob: Edmonton— Dan: The vegan grocery store— Sam: That was so— Rob: What about the German cultural centre in Regina? The German basement!” (laughter) Sam: That might have been the weirdest.

Dan: It was a schnitzel house factory. It wasn’t the worst show, but it was kind of different.

Sam: There were great kids, but also these meese (or mooses?) everywhere on the walls.

Dan: The most recent show at Red Deer was pretty interesting. We played at a bar which was located in a strip mall. Imagine going to a show in a bar at Country Club—” Sam: —and some guy ended up getting beaten. It was one of the shows when you think, “I don’t want to do this right now.”

Rob: The show in Edmonton was pretty bizarre. We only released our EP Egressor a month ago. People were jumping around and singing the lyrics and were excited. But some of them got maybe over-excited, and the mosh pit got pretty intense. Then Sam jumped in at the end and sprained his ankle because he slipped on some beer.

Sam: And then Dan’s girlfriend broke her nose.

Denisa Kraus

The Body Politic at the Harbour City Theatre on October 24 Dan: She can definitely do the mosh dancing, but she was kind of on the side of the pit of men flailing about and there was some stray elbow or hand that caught her and busted her nose, so we spent eight hours in the emergency room.

She sounds like the ultimate metal girlfriend.

Dan: She took it like a champ, too.

When I got my nose broken, I cried and squealed like a child.

Sam: But she was laughing, with blood everywhere...

When I was doing research on your band, two different people on two different occasions told me that your music is unlike anything they know. What do you think makes it so unique?

Sam: Rob’s keyboards I think is a big thing. You don’t have very many progressive metal bands with keyboards. We’re also kind of a blend.

Most of the guys who were in the band before us played classic rock and they’ve gone through phases of picking up styles like classic rock, really classic rock, and then they slowly moved into progressive metal with all these modern influences.

It might feel like a throwback to old styles but it’s not.

Dan: I find that when you listen to a new artist these days, you can often hear their influences on their sleeve in a big way. The big divide for me is the people who can take influences you wouldn’t think of that way and incorporate it seamlessly and make something really cool. Guys like Periphery or Misery Signals or Contortionists. Who knows what they listen to but they’re awesome.

Sam: We all went to school together for jazz. I mean, almost all, minus Jesse. So we are influenced by jazz as well. I studied guitar and played acoustic music, and Dan studied guitar. We have a lot of different styles under the belt.

Rob: Also, our songs benefit from actual composition. There are a lot of bands that lay a heavy riff on a heavy riff, one on top of the other.

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Denisa Kraus

Rob Wilkinson and Sam Britton We try to compose our songs so that each part leads to another with some kind of a flow.

posed to be sound checking us. We were all sitting up on stage waiting for him; it was brutal.

Do you have any artistic or musician pet peeves?

You have a show in a couple of hours.

How are you going to get in the mood?

Sam: There are a lot of things that drive me nuts. Most of it comes down to live shows, when people come after doors close or far too early and wander around.

Dan: Sometimes, when shows aren’t going great, you get a lot of front man antics, when they try to do crowd banter but they’re just really frustrated and go, “Yeah I need to see you all moving more! I want a circle pit!” and there are like four kids and their parents.

Rob: I don’t have a ton of peeves, but I don’t like when things aren’t mixed well, or when it’s too loud.

It’s hard to not be loud, but once, when I played with my old band, the sound was so loud that everyone left covering their ears. It was amazing, the sound guy was up there, and the band didn’t say much about it. I felt weird.

Sam: We used to have Wilson [Pascoe, sound engineer] tour with us and do sound, but the last couple of times he hasn’t been able to because he can’t leave his job. It’s amazing to see the horrible sound men we get sometimes. We had one in Vancouver who just got up and went to Quiznos when he was sup-

Rob: I’m going to light some candles and take a nice hot bath with bath salts.

Sam: I like to have some time away from the crowd, because being in there and yelling and talking the whole time makes your voice halfgone by the time you get on stage.

So I go and sit in the van for a bit with my eyes closed and breathe.

And we warm up and stretch pretty profusely. And that’s about it. I wish we did something cool, but nope.

Dan: We don’t have any pre-show rituals.

Sam: But we do the intro where the mood builds up nicely so it gives you a second to get your head right.

Rob: We have one ritual I suppose.

We gather up on stage in a circle and say a secret chant.

How secret is it?

Everyone: Top secret.

The Body Politic’s new EP is available at <http://thebodypolitic.bandcamp.com/album/egressor>.

Movie review: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Courtesy of hdwallpaper.net

SPENCER WILSON

CONTRIBUTOR

Going to see Birdman is like buying a chocolate chip muffin and then discovering, after the first bite, that it has raisins instead. It’s that special kind of bad where an auteur tries very hard to convince you of something, only to have it thrown back in their face. This is exactly what happens when director Alejandro González Iñárritu tries to convince everyone that superhero movies are ridiculous (we know, that’s why we go see them), and that Broadway is not as dignified as it appears to be.

Iñárritu has had a storied success directing films that juggle between multiple characters going through crises, and nothing has changed for Birdman. What’s different this time around is that instead of cutting between interspersing stories so that the viewer perceives a connection, the entire film is shot to look like it was done in one complete take. It’s a stunning achievement from cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, who is fresh off his Oscar win in cinematography for Gravity, and will likely garner himself another one. Unfortunately, that’s where the fun stops.

Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) is an actor known for his role as a popular superhero named Birdman. After falling off the radar, Riggan decides to make his big comeback by starring in a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver’s short story (What We Talk About When We Talk About Love). The whole play completely juxtaposes his role as Birdman, with its focus on philosophy and blue-collar life rather than the fantasy and action of his film career. Not only is he starring in the play, but he’s also directing it and he adapted the short story himself.

As rehearsals draw near to the first preview night, Riggan is increasingly dissatisfied with how the play is progressing and purposefully causes a stage light to fall on the supporting male’s head. Soon after this incident, the supporting actor’s role is filled by Mike Shiner (Edward Norton), a prestigious actor that Riggan’s manager, Jake (Zach Galifianakis), hopes to use to bring in more ticket buyers.

Mike is a completely over-the-top method actor who has already memorized the entire script and quickly suggests some changes as he and Riggan start playing around with the scenes. Mike even has a sun bed delivered to his dressing room so he can get a “red-neck tan.” The relationship becomes rocky when Mike drinks real gin on stage during the first preview night to fully get into character, and then blows up in Riggan’s face on stage for changing the bottle to water. Mike also begins to clash with the two female cast members, Laura (Andrea Risenborough) and Lesley

(Naomi Watts). Unfortunately, they can’t fire Mike because the ticket sales for the play have sky-rocketed following his addition to the cast.

During this time, Riggan’s daughter, Sam (Emma Stone), has just got out of rehab and has been enlisted to help in the production to keep her busy. It’s clear that she’s reluctant to do anything and harbours a great deal of loathing for her self-obsessed father, but she’s stuck helping to distract herself from rebounding back into drug use. He’s also visited by his ex-wife, Sylvia (Amy Ryan), who reveals Riggan’s self-centred nature to dislike people that don’t admire all of his previous work. When Riggan gets some time to himself, it is usually accompanied by a comically bass-boosted, overly-gruff voice-over presumed to be the voice of Birdman inside Riggan’s head.

The voice takes on the tone of sounding like Batman, which is an obvious reference to Keaton’s role as Batman in the Tim Burton adaptations. It could be funny if the film didn’t keep rubbing that in your face. Riggan is constantly annoyed with the superhero genre, lambasting actors (Jeremy Renner; Michael Fassbender; and Robert Downey, Jr. to name a few) that take up film roles as superheroes when he’s initially trying to find a replacement for his supporting actor. Combined with Riggan being a washed-up actor known for playing a popular superhero, it becomes increasingly clear that Riggan is basically a parody of Michael Keaton’s career, which really hasn’t gone anywhere since the height of his popularity when he was playing Batman. Keaton still does a great job despite this, although there are many scenes where it feels like he’s giving you his best crazy George Clooney impersonation rather than a unique performance.

In fact, the same goes for Edward Norton’s character.

Norton is a notoriously methodical and intense actor and absolutely gives the best performance out of the whole cast.

Like Keaton, Norton also has ties to the superhero franchise with his role as the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk (2008). This gets taken even further with Mike’s inability to work well with others, because the reason behind Norton being replaced by Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk in The Avengers (2012) was that the producers didn’t feel that Norton would be a good team actor. Of course, there is also Emma Stone’s role as Gwen Stacy in the two recent Spider-Man films.

The repeated superhero referencing and Birdman narration gets really tiresome as Iñárritu tries to paint the genre as a cheap form of escapism where it’s all action and no

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philosophy (even the last Captain America film disproves that). There are a few scenes with Riggan imagining himself flying around like Birdman, but it’s executed in such a corny manner that it can only be a deliberate showing of his contempt for the cheapness of the genre. It’s an entirely boring argument that tries way too hard to sound important by being self-reflective. Too bad the subject of monotony in action-based films was already perfectly discussed in Singin’ in the Rain (1952).

Iñárritu also attempts to make Broadway look as excessively self-important and over-dramatized as possible. Riggan is constantly being told how unfit he is to perform on the stage, especially by Mike who is supposed to represent the smugness of veteran, theatre actors. The entire cast behaves like spoiled children, and the ridiculousness climaxes in a brief sex scene between the two female co-stars that comes out of nowhere.

The allusions are constant, but the grossest of them all is in the form of a notorious theatre critic named Tabitha (Lindsay Duncan). She informs Riggan that she’s going to destroy his play, even though she hasn’t seen it, because she hates everything he stands for. Riggan picks up Tabitha’s notebook of critiques and crumples one of the pages while scolding her for labeling something that he put his heart and soul into. It’s a childish piece of writing and it makes Iñárritu look like he’s throwing a temper tantrum when people don’t appreciate his shallow perceptions on life (which he tries to pass off as clever).

Even though the shooting style of the film is interesting, it doesn’t provide any breaks between all of the tension present in the film. Everything is kept at a constant boil, making the film exhausting to sit through. The camera zooms around between characters having conversations and usually finds them in separate parts of the theatre. It’s an attempt to give the film that feeling of seeing a theatre performance where everything happens in one long take, but it just comes out feeling like a long film that didn’t utilize editing as well as it could have.

There’s room for the film to be fun if you can get over how clever it thinks it is. The constant allusions feel like you’re watching the film with an annoying friend who has seen it before—the kind of friend that keeps jabbing you with his elbow and telling you about what certain things mean to try to help your enjoyment. It points out the obvious and then expects a pat on the back. It’s immature, ridiculous, and not worth your time.

17 ARTS

Got Psyched?

On Friday, October 31, the 2nd annual Vancouver Island Psych Fest filled the Globe with experimental music, live painting, digital and organic art projections, a ghostly photography show, and inspired Halloween costumes.

Visit our photo gallery at <http://www.thenav.ca/category/arts/>

TOP TO BOTTOM Light design and haze machine mixed well with bizarre costumes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kosmischeâ&#x20AC;? synth wizard Sinoia Caves was the main music act of the night.

Painters Carly Neigum and Chantelle Spicer were two of many artists participating in live painting.

Some guests identified with their costume more than others.

Denisa Kraus

ARTS 18

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Sports

Buccaneers cannot navigate Storm

Buccaneers forward Jared Fedosoff carries the puck out of his own zone against Campbell River

Drew McLachlan

VIJHL North Division Standings

GP

W

L

T

OTL

Pts

Campbell River

17

14

2

1

0

29

Nanaimo

18

11

6

0

1

23

Comox Valley

18

9

5

1

3

22

Oceanside

19

3

15

1

0

7

BEN CHESSOR

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Early in the BCHL season, the Nanaimo Clippers have had no trouble scoring goals. The team entered a two-game road series against Powell River Kings with 76 goals in 16 games, the most in the BCHL. But the Clippers’, normally high-flying offense was silent on October 31 and November 1 against the Kings.

In the first game of the weekend, between the two teams, it was the Kings who opened the scoring. A goal by Nic Gomerich six minutes into the game gave Powell River the early 1-0 lead.

The score stayed 1-0 until the second period when the Clippers tied the game. It was a power play goal by Sheldon Rhemple, his 14th of the season, that tied the score at 1-1. But Stephen Hiff gave the Kings back their lead five minutes later, making the score 2-1.

Nanaimo had countless chances to tie the game, including a power play midway through the third period. But Brett Magnus stood tall in goal for Powell River, stopping 37 of 38 shots. Brett Lashuck added an empty net goal for the Kings, who picked up the 3-1 win.

The two teams met again the next night with a very similar result. This time it was Jeremy Leclerc who opened the scoring, giving Powell River a 1-0 lead midway through the first period.

The score stayed 1-0 until late in the second period when the Kings added to their lead. This time it was Austin Kamer scoring, increasing the King’s lead

to 2-0. The Kings did a great job defensively throughout the game, holding the normally high-flying Clippers offense to the outside for most of the game.

Late in the third period, Kings forward Curtis McCarrick rounded out the scoring. Powell River picked up the 3-0 win and the sweep of the two-game weekend series. The final shot count in the game favoured the Kings 37-29.

The Clippers could only manage one goal over the two-game weekend. Before this weekend, the Clippers hadn’t scored less than three goals in any game this season. The Clippers had scored eight goals in each of their two games prior to the weekend, and as the Clippers had picked up 8-2 and 8-1 victories over Surrey and Cowichan in their previous two games.

Despite the tough weekend, Nanaimo still sits in first place in the BCHL’s Island Division.

Nanaimo’s 12-6 record gives them 24 points on the season, six more than second place Powell River. The two wins over Nanaimo improved Powell River’s record to 7-6-0-4.

The Clippers’ next two home games are big ones. On November 7, the Clippers face the rival Alberni Valley Bulldogs for the first time this season. The next night, the Clippers host the Penticton Vees, who are currently the second ranked team in all of Canada. Puck drop for both games is at 7 pm, and tickets are only $10 for VIU students and are available at the door.

BEN CHESSOR

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The Nanaimo Buccaneers have sat in second place in the VIJHL’s North Division for most of the season. Nanaimo has even been in first for short stretches of the season. But the Buccaneers are still unable to solve their biggest rival, the Campbell River Storm.

On Thursday, October 30, the two teams met at the Nanaimo Ice Centre. The Buccaneers opened the scoring on a goal by Jordan Levesque to take an early 1-0 lead.

But the Storm responded before the period ended. Kobe Oishi, Connor Logan, and Joe Gage all found the back of the net before the end of the first period, giving the Storm a 3-1 lead after the first period.

Early in the second period, Gage Colpron expanded the Campbell River lead to 4-1. But less than two minutes after Colpron’s goal, the Buccaneers mounted a comeback. Both Carter Turnbell and Chad Bell scored for the Buccaneers early in the second to cut the Campbell River lead to 4-3. The

Buccaneers had some chances to tie the game before the end of the period, including a power play, but couldn’t find the back of the net.

The second period ended with the Storm still leading 4-3.

Nathan Brown and Jordan Levesque traded goals in the third period, but Nanaimo couldn’t tie the game. Campbell River picked up the 5-4 victory and is 4-0 against Nanaimo on the season.

A week earlier, the Buccaneers picked up a 4-2 victory over their closest geographical rivals, the Oceanside Generals. Nanaimo led 2-0 after the first period and never allowed Oceanside to mount a comeback. The Buccaneers’ victory over the Generals was Nanaimo’s 11th straight win over Oceanside dating back to last season.

The Buccaneers’ next home game is Thursday, November 6, when the Buccaneers take on the visiting Peninsula Panthers. Puck drop is at 7:15 pm. Tickets are only $8 for students and are available at the door.

Clippers drop weekend series to Kings

Clippers forward Devin Brosseau holds the puck in the Cowichan zone.

Brosseau had a goal and assist in the first period of Nanaimo’s 8-1 victory over the Capitals

Drew McLachlan

BCHL Island Division Standings

GP

W

L

T

OTL

Pts

Nanaimo

18

12

6

0

0

24

Powell River

17

7

6

0

4

18

Alberni Valley

15

8

6

1

0

17

Victoria

15

7

6

0

2

16

Cowichan Valley

16

3

13

0

0

6

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SPORTS 19

Mariners capture provincial gold BEN CHESSOR

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The Mariners’ women’s soccer team picked up a big victory at the PacWest provincial soccer championship, held October 25-26 in Squamish, capturing the gold medal. The Mariners came into the tournament the favourite to win, as the team’s 11-1-3 record gave them first place in the PacWest standings at the conclusion of the regular season.

VIU’s opponent in the gold medal game was the Langara Falcons. The game was played in very wet conditions, which made creating offense extremely difficult. The Mariners played a steady defensive game, not allowing the Falcons to mount any offense on the wet field. The Mariners took advantage of the biggest mistake during the match, a handball from a Langara defender inside the box, resulting in a VIU penalty kick. Samantha Rogers converted on the free shot, giving the Mariners a 1-0 lead, and providing all the offense in the match.

The Mariners managed to hang onto the 1-0 lead, keeping the Falcons’ offense grounded for the rest of the match.

When the final whistle sounded, the Mariners were provincial champions, picking up the 1-0 victory.

The Mariners advanced to the championship game with a 1-0 victory in the semi-finals against the Kwantlen Eagles. The game was a tightly fought defensive affair, which stayed scoreless late into extra time. In extra time, Jillian Kelly scored the only goal of the game to give the Mariners the victory.

The Mariners now move on to the CCAA National Championships, which will be held November 5-8 in Medicine Hat, Alberta. The Mariners come into the tournament as the third seed, and will open play against the host, the Medicine Hat Wranglers.

Mariners open season with nail biter BEN CHESSOR The Mariners’ women’s basketball team opened their season on a winning note Thursday, October 30, in the VIU gym. The Mariners’ opponent in their season opener were their Island rivals, the Camosun Chargers.

The Mariners got off to a hot start in front of their home fans and looked like they were going to run away with the game early. The Mariners opened up a 13-0 lead in the game’s opening minutes, and had a 20-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Chargers started to make a comeback, cutting into the VIU lead. With five minutes left in first half, the Chargers had cut the deficit to 21-15. Camosun continued their hot shooting in the second quarter, cutting the lead to 21-19 with three

THE NAVIGATOR minutes to play in the half, but the Mariners finished strong in the first half, stretching their lead to 25-19 at the half.

The third quarter was back and forth, with the two teams never separated by more than three points.

The fourth quarter started with the Mariners still in the lead by a score of 36-34. Camosun completed their comeback early in the fourth quarter, taking a 40-39 lead. With 6:30 left in the game, the two teams were tied 41-41. In the final three minutes of the game, the Chargers took the lead and held a 49-45 lead.

But the Mariners caught first at the right time, scoring the last eight points of the game, taking the game by a final score of 53-49.

Returning to the Mariners are some key players from last year’s team, which finished the season

Mariner’s Guard Jamie Macfarlane attempts a layup against Camosun with a record of 20-1, the best record in school history. Included in the returning class is fifth year Mariner Jenna Carver. Joining Carver are fourth year returnees Amanda Tapia

and Jamie Mcfarlane.

The Mariners are on the road November 7 and 8, but the team returns home the following weekend with games against Quest University

Drew McLachlan

Friday, November 14 at 6 pm, and Capilano College Saturday, November 15 at 1 pm. For more information on the Mariners and their schedule, visit <mariners.viu.ca>.

Mariners pick up weekend sweep BEN CHESSOR The Mariners’ men’s volleyball team is off to a strong start to the regular season. The team has played six games this season and has been victorious five times. The team’s lone loss on the season was against

THE NAVIGATOR Camosun in the team’s home opener on October 18 against the Camosun Chargers.

The Mariners’ most recent action was at home against the Fraser Valley Cascades on October 31 and November 1.

On Friday, the Mariners picked up a hard-fought victory. The Mariners took control of the game early, winning the first set convincingly 25-14. The second set was much closer, but the Mariners won the second set as well, 25-23. The Mariners looked to put the game away in the third set, but the Cascades

Men’s volleyball Vancouver Island University Mariners

GP

MW

ML

SW:SL

Pts

6

5

1

16:8

10

Douglas College Royals

4

4

0

12:3

8

Camosun College Chargers

6

3

3

12:10

6

Fraser Valley University Cascades

6

3

3

12:11

6

Columbia Bible College Bearcats

6

2

4

9:15

4

College of the Rockies Avalanche

4

1

3

6:11

2

Capilano University Blues

4

0

4

3:12

0

20 SPORTS

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didn’t go down without a fight.

Fraser Valley dominated the third set, winning by a score of 25-15.

The Cascades managed to force a fifth and deciding set with a 25-16 victory in the fourth set. The fifth and final set went right down to the wire, but eventually the Mariners picked up the victory, winning the set 16-14.

The two teams were back in action the next afternoon. The first set was tied early, until the Mariners went on a seven point run, opening up a big lead and holding on to win the first set 25-19. The second set tightly contested, but with the Cascades leading 24-22 late in the set, the Mariners went on a run, fighting back to capture the second set 27-25.

But unlike the previous night,

there was no frantic comeback by the Cascades; instead, the Mariners captured the final set 25-21, winning the match 3-0. With the victory, the Mariners swept the weekend series with the Cascades, winning both games.

The Mariners are currently first in the PacWest standings with a record of 5-1. VIU is two points ahead of second place Douglas Royals. However, the Royals have played two less games and hold a record of 4-0.

The Mariners are away for the next few weeks and won’t play again at home until November 21 and 22 when VIU takes on Douglas. Friday’s game starts at 8 pm, while Saturday’s game begins at 3 pm.

All Mariners’ home games are at the VIU gym.

Men’s basketball dominates season opener BEN CHESSOR

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The Mariners’ men’s soccer team opened their season with a decisive victory over their Island rivals, the Camosun Chargers. The game was played Thursday, October 30 at the VIU gym.

The game started out close, with the Mariners taking the lead from the opening minute. VIU led after the first quarter, but it wasn’t until early in the second that they started to pull away. VIU opened up a 36-26 lead with three minutes left to play in the second. A 12-3 run by the Mariners late in the quarter gave VIU a 48-29 lead heading into halftime.

The Chargers tried to get back into the game early in the second half.

Camosun scored the first 10 points of the half, cutting the Mariner lead to 48-39. But the Mariners responded before the quarter was over, increasing their lead to 16 by the end of the third, leading 63-47 heading into the fourth and final quarter.

Even with a big lead heading into the fourth, the Mariners still didn’t

let up. Instead, they continued to hammer away at the Charger’s defense, increasing their lead as the game’s final moments ticked down. When the game ended, the Mariners were victorious by a final score of 84-61.

This year’s Mariners team features some key returnees from last year’s team, which finished second in the PacWest with a record of 15-6, eventually losing to the top seeded Langara Falcons in the provincial final. Jerod Dorby, who was named a member of the PacWest all-rookie team last season, returns for the Mariners this season. Dorby is joined by local products Harrison Stupich and Jason Fortin.

The Mariners’ next home games are Friday, November 14 at 8 pm against Quest University, and Saturday, November 15 at 3 pm against the Capilano Blues.

For more information on the Mariners, visit <mariners.viu.ca>.

Jason Fortin lays in two of VIU’s 36 second half points over Camosun’s Quinn Yates Drew McLachlan

Men’s soccer pick up silver BEN CHESSOR

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The Mariner men fell just short in their bid for the provincial soccer championship. The team made it to the gold medal game, but fell to the Douglas Royals 2-1 in penalty kicks at the provincial soccer championships held October 25 and 26 in Squamish.

The gold medal match featured the top two teams in the league. The Mariners finished the regular season with a record of 10-3-2, good for first place in the PacWest standings.

Douglas finished the season in second place with a record of 8-3-4. The game was a battle of wills, as both teams were exhausted, playing their third games of the weekend.

The Royals controlled the play in the game’s first half.

After a foul on the Mariners resulted in a penalty kick, Nicolas Pineda-Graham scored to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. The score stayed that way until the second half, when the Mariners got a penalty kick of their own after Renan Rebelatto was brought down in the box. Victor Blasco converted on

Women’s volleyball picks up first home win BEN CHESSOR The Mariners’ women’s volleyball team picked up their first home victory on November 1 when VIU defeated the visiting Fraser Valley University Cascades. The victory improved the Mariners’ record to 2-4 on the young season.

The Mariners got off to a hot start Saturday against the Cascades. VIU dominated the first set, winning by a score of 25-14. The second set went right down to the wire, with both teams trading points until the

THE NAVIGATOR very end. Eventually it was UFV that picked up the second set win, 26-24.

But it was the Mariners who gained momentum after the game was tied 1-1. The Mariners came out in the third set and took control of the match, winning the set 25-17. In the fourth set, the Cascades tried to extend the match to a fifth set, but couldn’t keep up with the Mariners, who picked up the 25-15 win in the fourth set, winning the match by a score of 3-1.

the penalty kick, tying the game 1-1.

The game stayed tied throughout the remainder of regulation time. When neither team could find the back of the net during extra time, the game was heading to a shootout. But unfortunately the Mariners couldn’t complete the comeback as the Royals won the shootout 4-3, winning the provincial gold medal.

It was a shootout victory that allowed the Mariners to advance to the finals. VIU picked up a 3-2 victory over the Quest Kermodes that gave the Mariners a chance to play in the championship game. Blaze Roberts and Blasco scored for the Mariners in the victory.

Despite the loss in the gold medal game, the Mariners’ season is not over. With the semi-final victory over Quest, the Mariners booked their spot in the CCAA National Championship, which will be held November 5-8 in Oakville, Ontario.

Women’s volleyball Camosun College Chargers

GP

MW

ML

SW:SL

Pts

6

6

0

18:2

12

Fraser Valley University Cascades

6

5

1

16:6

10

Capilano University Blues

4

3

1

9:6

6

College of the Rockies Avalanche

4

2

2

7:8

4

Vancouver Island University Mariners

6

2

4

9:13

4

Douglas College Royals

4

0

4

2:12

0

Columbia Bible College Bearcats

6

0

6

4:18

0

A night earlier it was the Cascades who picked up the victory in convincing fashion. The Mariners couldn’t manage to win a set, as UFV picked up the straight set victory, winning the sets by scores of 25-14, 25-23, and 25-17 respectively.

It was the second straight week that the Mariners picked up a split

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over their two-game weekend. The team traveled to the mainland to play Capilano University Blues on October 25 and 26. The Mariners came out on the losing end of the first game against the Blues, dropping a five-set match 3-2. But the Mariners responded with a clean 3-0 victory over Capilano the next day.

The Mariners’ next home games are Friday, November 21 and Saturday, November 22 against the Douglas College Royals. Friday’s game begins at 6 pm and Saturday’s starts at 1 pm. For more information on the Mariners, visit <mariners.viu.ca>.

SPORTS 21

Odds & Ends

Comic by Jon Hiebert

Word puzzles

By Kirran Iveson

Solutions

ODDS & ENDS 22

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November

SUN

MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

SAT

05

06

07

08

Between Worlds: Belonging in a New Culture

VISFF Fundraiser

Drumming Circle

Nanaimo campus, Bldg. 356, rm. 109

Firehouse Grill, 7 Victoria Rd. (incl. drink and appetizer)

Nanaimo Association for Community Living, 83 Victoria Rd. at Cavan St.

Karma Yoga for Nanaimo Foodshare

Free

$20

$5 suggested donation

11:30 AM – 1 PM

7 PM

7 – 9 PM

OmTown Yoga Studio, 43 Commercial St. By donation 6 – 7:15 PM

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

Motel Raphael

Fringe Flicks: Words & Pictures

VIU Farmers’ Market Nanaimo campus, outside upper cafeteria

On the Dock with TJ & Oliver (No Operator), Aaron James, and Clear The Coast

7 Stories: VIU Theatre Fall Production

Harbour City Photography Club Showcase

Tuesday & Thursday until Nov. 27

The Dinghy Dock Pub, 8 Pirates Lane

Project Ghost Presents: A Haunting ft. Roberts Hall, Palo Santo & Colliding Canyons and live painting

The Cambie, 63 Victoria Cr.

Avalon Cinemas, 6631 N. Island Hwy.

$8

$12

7 PM

7 PM

16

17

16

Malaspina Choir presents: Feel The Spirit

Philosophers’ Cafe

Arlene Dickinson: Lessons from the Den

St. Andrew’s United Church, 311 Fitzwilliam St.

Mrs. Riches Restaurant, 199 Fraser St. By donation 7 AM – 8 PM

Nanaimo campus, Malaspina Theatre Bldg. 310

$20 (includes ferry)

$12 adults $10 students

7 PM

8 PM

The Globe Hotel, 25 Front St.

Country Club Centre, 3200 N. Island Hwy. FREE

$5 advance / $7 door

9:30 AM – 5 PM

9 PM

The Port Theatre, 125 Front St. $63

$20 adults $10 students 2:30 PM

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