April 8, 2015

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Volume 24 – Issue 27

April 8, 2015

www.truomega.ca Ω @TRU_Omega

RDB 6 RANG DE BASANTI 2015 PAGE 6

Second sorority gets recognized on campus, p. 5

Law student team hits the ice to represent TRU, p. 11

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NEWS

April 8, 2015

Planting the seed for gender-neutral washrooms Current LGBTQ representative says goodbye, leaving the fight for the next in line Ashley Wadhwani ISSUES EDITOR Ω

Megan Graham, LGBTQ representative, took on the TRUSU position in late October of 2014. With her short run as LGBTQ rep coming to an end in less than a month, the pride awareness week served as more than her first and last big project at TRU, but as an introduction to gender-neutral bathrooms on campus.

“I had heard little bits and pieces about it from the other, surprisingly present trans community here in Kamloops and on campus, who don’t fit in that binary male/female washroom kind of thing,” Graham said. “So one of the things I wanted to tackle was [that] we need to have this conversation, we need to start talking about gender-neutral washrooms.”

For Graham, this is a concept “every other university has,” and seemed like an easy transformation for the bathroom stalls already in most of the bathrooms on campus.

Graham proposed gender-neutral washrooms to TRUSU in conjunction with an information event, hoping for the possibility of a trial run for the washrooms with information on why they are important. According to Graham, this was met with hesitation by the committee, as there were several other factors to consider.

“So in my brain I am just piecing together all of the problem solving,” Graham said. “And not considering the attitudes of people on campus, the policies, the fact that that the washrooms were just upgraded, and so maybe [TRUSU] doesn’t want to do it right away.”

As a result, pride awareness week served to inform TRU students on non-binary gender and sexuality.

“It was a compromise and a goal,”

Graham said. “The people working with TRUSU are really supportive, but may not fully understand all of these pieces, but that’s what my job is.”

Graham looks at her position as an advocate for an invisible population – including students who aren’t outright vocal about their sexual orientation.

“You’re advocating for them and supporting them as a group and then you have to deal with the entirety of the rest of the campus in trying to get [students] understanding why it’s important.”

Looking into the future, the newly elected LGBTQ representative Julian Simpson, who begins his position in May, plans on picking up where Graham has left off.

“When Megan first introduced the idea I was simply amazed and astounded by it,” Simpson said. “It’s something I myself struggle with, being a two-spirited person who doesn’t always fit into the male/female box.”

Simpson believes that another pride awareness week should take place at the beginning of the year to ensure information is again provided for students. For Simpson, he agrees with having a trial on gender-neutral bathrooms, specifically the bathrooms by the TRUSU desk for reasons of safety.

“There’s a lot of fear and speculation from the people I’ve talked to – a lot of heterosexual women – they’re scared of having gender-neutral washrooms just because of their safety,” Simpson said. “Gender-neutral bathrooms should be near a place where help is easily accessible.”

For Simpson, gender-neutral washrooms are going to be a top priority as well as re-introducing the rainbow crosswalk with longer lasting paint and pushing for a pride

Artwork by Rae Imeson

parade during both semesters. Similarly, Simpson plans on introducing a transsexual remembrance day for November 2015 to campus.

“I want to hit the ground running with this. We have this energy, we

have this media response right now and a lot of people are talking about it,” Simpson said. “It’s our time now and we need to take action now. We need to keep this ball rolling and moving.

“I’m not going to let this fall to the wayside. This is a major thing. I myself would love a gender-neutral washroom so I’m fighting for myself and for everyone else who wants one too.”

Montreal’s anti-austerity protest leads to four arrests Andrej Ivanov

THE CONCORDIAN (CUP)

MONTREAL (CUP) – The anti-austerity protests have been turning progressively more violent this year. The biggest one of the year – with tens of thousands of protesters on the scene – ended in violence on Thursday afternoon after a long standoff with the SPVM on the corner of Beaudry Street and Maisonneuve Boulevard.

The scuffle started once while protesters were marching in the opposite direction of traffic and were met with a row of raised bicycles on the street corner. SPVM ordered the students to head south on Beaudry St. and maintain the peace. The protesters chose to stand off with the police.

Some 200 people opted to attempt a non-violent sit-down but were quickly deterred by their peers.

Officers gave multiple warnings to protesters to head south, which the protesters met with jeers and yells to let the crowd pass. The tension was palpable, from all sides. It re-

mains pretty unclear as to who reacted first but the crowd broke as the riot police intervened. Tear gas was fired multiple times down Beaudry St, filling it with smoke, but no stun grenades and flashbangs were deployed. There were not only students in the crowds, but also city employees—such as firefighters— and families. According to CJAD, some children as young as 12 years old were seen. They said on the radio a young girl who came to the protest with her father had been spotted after the fray of tear gas, “crying and clearly distraught.” The demonstrations continued throughout the streets for at least another hour, wherein police were trying to disperse all the various groups that had divided from the initial leviathan march.

The Concordia University faculties on strike gathered at half past noon in front of the Hall Building.

When most had gathered, they were encouraged to grab the free sandwiches offered by the People’s Potato. As the protesters headed over to the Square Victoria, McGill University’s protesters and a group

of high school protesters all joined the ranks. By the time the group arrived to Square Victoria, the crowd was at least one thousand strong.

An SPVM officer said they had expected about 400 people to show up from Concordia’s side and that he did not expect a group of two universities and high schoolers to show up.

The crowd that filled all of Square Victoria was impressive. CJAD 800 reported throughout the day anywhere between 15,000 to 25,000 people were estimated to be present. The SPVM declined to give out their exact estimate.

The march was preceded by several talks, including from the leaders of syndicates and the leader of ASSÉ, Camille Godbout. The protest started in peace and the police presence was not felt as predominantly at first without the usual officers skirting the sides of protesters. Despite that, a police chopper appeared overhead within minutes.

Students walked up University St, heading for Sherbrooke Street. The march seemed very linear, as they walked down Sherbrooke all the

A standoff with the police led to firing tear gas on April 2. (Andrej Ivanov/The Concordian)

way to St. Denis St, where they walked up to Cherrier St and under the Berri Overpass.

Overall, the biggest demonstration that the city seen has successfully dwarfed it’s 2012 predecessor, not only by it’s sheer impressive

size, but also by being one of the most violent ones this year. Tear gas and riot police notwithstanding, it ended with only two tickets, one for wearing a mask and the other for aggressive behaviour. No arrests were made.

THE OMEGA

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 27

The Omega Thompson Rivers University’s Independent Student Newspaper Published since November 27, 1991

3

2014-15 STAFF SAY THEIR GOODBYES

From all of us at The Omega: Thank you for reading!

www.truomega.ca /TRUOmega @TRU_Omega /tru_omega

EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Sean Brady @iamseanbrady editor@truomega.ca NEWS EDITOR Alexis Stockford @AlexisStockford news@truomega.ca ISSUES EDITOR Ashley Wadhwani @ashwadhwani issues@truomega.ca SCI-TECH EDITOR Ryan Turcot @RyanTurcot sci-tech@truomega.ca ARTS EDITOR Kim Anderson @K_AndersonSays arts@truomega.ca SPORTS EDITOR Tayla Scott @taylascott3 sports@truomega.ca

Alexis Stockford

Kim Anderson ARTS EDITOR

SPORTS EDITOR

Despite the rows of this year’s paper lining the office right now, it’s hard to believe our last issue is here. Part of me feels like I’ve just settled in as news editor, and I would be lying said I wasn’t a little disappointed about passing the torch.

In other ways, I’m excited about moving on. This last year has been an amazing experience for me, not only in my own writing but in learning how to manage other people and help their writing grow. I’m proud to have been part of such a great team and I know that the lessons I’ve learned here will follow me after graduation.

Eight months of asking prying questions, pointing a camera a little too closely in people’s faces and writing sassy columns pulling far too much detail from the real world have drawn to an end. This year brought me closer to my TRU family and the Kamloops art scene as a whole. Thank you for teaching me to push my boundaries and obliterating my comfort zone. Thank you for listening to my midnight epiphanies and heartfelt musings.

I’m leaving post-secondary with an unprecedented level of drive and confidence, all thanks to my work here.

After a great year as sports editor, I have to thank all the athletes, coaches and athletic staff for giving me great interviews. Everyone was kind and some people put in a special effort to help me out, which I appreciate.

I also need to thank The Omega staff for making Monday pitch meetings my favourite night of the week. Lastly, a huge thank you goes to my editor, Sean Brady, for mentoring me and helping me improve my writing, photography and ability to know what a story is.

The year flew by, and I wish it hadn’t.

Rachel Wood

Ashley Wadhwani ISSUES EDITOR

SCI-TECH EDITOR

I applied for The Omega last September on a whim, not knowing what I would get out of the position or the amount of new things I still had to learn. Over the past 27 issues I’ve had lots of ups and downs, but in the end I came out with countless new skills.

I want to thank all of my fellow editors for being so great to work with. I value everything I’ve learned from you. I also want to thank Editor-in-Chief Sean for having confidence in me (regardless of how many times a week I ask about photo sizing). I can’t wait to return in the fall and continue this adventure for another year. Until then, have a wonderful summer!

How the hell do you write a lead for this? Cheesy clichés aside, with each edition of The Omega, there’s a group of individuals who work their asses off so that every Wednesday there’s a new paper on the stands – and I feel so fortunate to have been alongside these other editors. My position has allowed me to dive deep into a few of my greatest interests and meet some of the coolest students. Thank you to anyone who fell for my “it should only take 10 minutes” act and still stuck around well after that 10 minutes was up. It’s not goodbye, it’s see you soon!

During the two semesters I’ve been around, I’ve spoken to a group of students who built their own drone company, a student who helped build a new mental health app, and a number of students and faculty researchers that have made great strides in developing new knowledge of our world.

The work that some students and faculty are doing on campus blows my mind, and it’s been my pleasure to give them the exposure they deserve. Even though I’m leaving, I hope to continue hearing about the latest and greatest ideas to come out of TRU in the years ahead. Thanks for reading my work!

NEWS EDITOR

Tayla Scott

COPY EDITOR Rachel Wood @rachelwoood copy@truomega.ca CONTRIBUTORS Carli Berry Martin McFarlane Sierra Rae

PUBLISHING BOARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Sean Brady INDUSTRY REP Christopher Foulds FACULTY REP Charles Hays STUDENT REP Kim Anderson STUDENT REP Mason Buettner

PUBLISHING Cariboo Student Newspaper Society (Publisher of The Omega) TRU Campus House #4 900 McGill Rd, Kamloops, B.C. V2C 0C8 Phone: 250-828-5069 Advertising inquiries: accounts@truomega.ca

COPY EDITOR

LETTERS POLICY

FROM THE EDITOR:

Literary and visual submissions are welcomed. All submissions are subject to editing for brevity, taste and legality. The Omega will attempt to publish each letter received, barring time and space constraints. The editor will take care not to change the intention or tone of submissions, but will not publish material deemed to exhibit sexism, racism or homophobia. Letters for publication must include the writer’s name (for publication) and contact details (not for publication). The Omega reserves the right not to publish any letter or submitted material. Opinions expressed in any section with an “Opinion” label do not represent those of The Omega, the Cariboo Student Newspaper Society, its Board of Directors or its staff. Opinions belong only to those who have signed them.

COPYRIGHT All material in this publication is copyright The Omega and may not be reproduced without the expressed consent of the publisher. All unsolicited submissions become copyright The Omega 2014.

Ryan Turcot

Sean Brady

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

In the 2014-15 school year, The Omega produced at least 210,000 words in more than 300 stories, along with hundreds of photos. It did this in 27 issues with seven staff and 26 contributors.

The quantifiable side of this past year’s paper is only part of the story, though. Over the past eight months, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some awesome, hard-working and talented people. There’s little better than helping someone publish a story they’re proud of, and that’s something I got to see happen a lot this year. Everyone who helped out with the paper – staff and contributors alike – did an awesome thing by adding their voice to their student newspaper.

Your student newspaper is a great place to find your voice – not just the voice that your professors want, but your actual voice. Whether you’re digging into university governance and student politics, peeking through the curtains to the back stage of the arts scene, looking into the lives and motivations of student athletes, showing the world what student life is like, or just putting your own thoughts on the page, you’re contributing to something that records the life and times of those at TRU and in the broader community.

You’re creating a slice of life that might one day get looked back upon. You are, as they say, writing the first draft of history – and all you had to do was show up and be willing to try. To your benefit, you got your name in print, another line on your resumé and maybe something to show your proud parents.

To everyone who worked at The Omega this year, to all contributors, to those who took the time to speak with us or write in, and to all of our readers: Thank you. Ω

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ARTS

April 8, 2015

ANDERSON: ON FEARING FEAR

Post-secondary is a strange safety zone. Just go through the motions and don’t make too much noise and you’ll graduate in four years (give or take) with a tightly wrapped, neat and shiny degree. If you’ve slid by doing the bare minimum, the only pressure you’ve felt is the cold sweat before an exam or the anxiety to

meet a paper deadline. University makes toiling away quietly under the radar remarkably easy.

Of course, there are opportunities to push yourself, but those tasks aren’t handed out to just anyone. You have to seek them out. This, more than anything else, mirrors the magical and far-away notion of “the real world.”

Being able to balance heavy commitments and endless responsibilities while tackling big tasks that appeal to your passions and interests is the true test of your resilience. This is when the real pressure is applied.

The pressure is “the fear.”

The fear can cause self-doubt, panic and too often, forfeit. The fear is powerful. The fear can knock the wind out of you and pummel you with closed fists while you’re down.

The fear causes the questioning

of abilities and the re-thinking of choices.

As powerful as a hurricane, as sudden as an earthquake and as unforgiving as a flash flood, the power the fear holds is immeasurable.

You’re waiting for the silver lining, so here it is: you can harness the fear. You can wrestle and overpower it.

But first, consider why the fear is so powerful. Much like the boogeyman, the fear is only as strong as we allow it to be.

The fear pollutes our psyche instantly and aggressively because we care deeply about our future. Reflect on why you feel the fear. Is it the possibility of failure? Failure is a badge of honour. Failure proves that you had the courage to grapple the fear one on one.

We learn the most about our true

selves after a crushing defeat. Pick yourself up, get that eye stitched, ice that lip and have a drink of water because the bell for round two is about to ring. The fear is pacing in its corner, eyeing you up.

As beaten down, exhausted and winded as you may be, do not show weakness or vulnerability while sparring with the fear. Stay on your toes, hit first and strike hard. Throw a chokehold on that wiry bastard.

Be ruthless. Be relentless. Be unmerciful. Watch it tap out and slip away from consciousness.

Stand tall, be proud and celebrate your victory. You’ve won. You were brave enough to challenge the devil that stops the chasing of innermost dreams and passions.

You went head-to-head with the twist in the pit of your stomach, the little voice in your head that spins

WE'RE HIRING!

lies about your abilities and only exists to make you feel inadequate.

You conquered the demon that prevents people from reaching their full potential.

If all that is standing between you and your wildest dreams is the thuggish fear, why wouldn’t you take it on? The fact is, many people scrap their dreams because of the fear of the fear.

My solitary wish for my fellow fourth-years as we go through the motions in our last week as students and saunter into the “real world,” is to never forget your own power.

Disregard anyone and anything hindering your ascent. Choose what you want and pursue it relentlessly.

Ride bravely into battle. Tackle your demons and obliterate self-doubt.

After all, the only thing we have to fear is nothing. Nothing at all.

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LOCAL BREWS IN REVIEW

Red Collar Brewing Co. Carli Berry

CONTRIBUTOR Ω

As a newbie to the craft beer world, I didn’t know what to expect when I went for a tasting at the Red Collar Brewing Company a few weeks ago. What I was surprised to find was how different the beer tasted. JP Lancaster, who does sales and marketing for Red Collar, explained their craft is different than regular beer like Molson Canadian, or Budweiser because it’s unpasteurised, unfiltered and uses different hops that add unique flavours.

IPA (6.25 per cent) Rating: 3/5 Not as hoppy as a west coast or Okanagan IPA, this IPA is based on a traditional English style, according to Lancaster. This golden beer has a light hoppy taste, which is crisp and refreshing. The flavour doesn’t overpower the senses.

Mild (3.8 per cent) Rating: 3/5 Dark malts and fruity hops gives this beer a grapefruit flavour. Lancaster said it’s historically a working person’s pint because its alcohol content is low and it’s based on the beer of the 1600s. I found the Mild to have a funny aftertaste also mimicked in its smell. This dark beer wasn’t what I expected because of its colour.

Dubbel (6 per cent) Rating: 3/5

The Dubbel is also a dark beer that contains traces of chocolate and coffee within its hops. According to their website, the Dubbel is based on a “Belgian Trappist style beer.” The coffee and chocolate flavours were prominent in this beer with a hint of toffee in the aftertaste. I found the Dubbel to be thick and overpowering in flavour.

Tripel (9 per cent) 4/5 The Tripel is my personal favourite. Watch out for this light coloured beer’s higher alcohol content. It’s sweet without being overpowering and leaves a delectable banana-like aftertaste in your mouth. Its mild scent doesn’t give away the beer’s flavour. It’s clean and sweet.

Märzen (5.2 per cent) Rating: 2/5 This lager is golden brown in colour and crisp to taste but nothing stands out. It reminds me of a Budweiser, other than its slightly sweet taste. There are no outstanding flavours and there isn’t an obvious smell. Its style originated in “the 16th century and is now most common in Salzburg, Vienna and Munich,” according to the Red Collar website.

Overall, the different beers gave me a new experience. Although I didn’t like the taste of all of the beers, all of them carried a twist.

These beers are available at select stores in Kamloops or at Red Collar on Lansdowne St.

NEWS

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 27

5

C-51 changes don’t go far enough, TRU professor says Law prof still not sold on proposed, now amended anti-terrorism bill

Protesters marched from Cathy McLeod’s office to Victoria St. on March 14 as part of the national “Day of Action.” (Sean Brady/The Omega)

Alexis Stockford NEWS EDITOR Ω

A TRU law professor isn’t budging in his criticism of the federal government’s new anti-terrorism bill, despite amendments made last week.

Robert Diab, who has previously criticized Bill C-51 for what he calls a lack of oversight and an expansion of power for Canada’s intelligence agency that Diab believes is too close to the power of a secret police force, said potential changes made during the House public safety committee’s clause-by-clause review do not address flaws in the legislation.

“Given the nature of what’s been described, the amendments are not substantial … I think the real ques-

tion for the future is whether the concerns raised by civil libertarians and others about the potential misuses of this bill, whether in fact they will be born out and to what extent,” Diab said.

Four amendments were accepted after the review, all previously announced by the Conservatives.

Dozens of opposition amendments, including amendments by the NDP and Green Party that would have seen more oversight built into the bill and stricter guidelines for the gathering of confidential information, were also presented, but not accepted.

Among the accepted changes, the public safety minister’s authority over airlines was narrowed, government sharing of confidential information

must be done “in accordance with the law, including any legal requirements, restrictions and prohibitions,” and a new clause clarifies that CSIS does not have “any law enforcement power,” including the ability to arrest.

A fourth amendment struck the word “lawful” from the clause protecting advocacy and protest from prosecution under the bill. Critics of C-51 have previously argued that the words “lawful protest” would exclude non-violent but technically illegal advocacy, such as the recent Burnaby mountain demonstrations, putting a chill on civic engagement.

While Diab said it was good to hear that there would be amendments to the bill, he added that he does not feel striking the word “lawful” from the exemption clause pro-

tecting protest will make much difference in practice.

“The more significant change that [the bill] makes is that it allows for a much broader scope of information gathering and sharing, not on the basis of a kind of conventional threshold like the likelihood that the information is necessary or relevant into an investigation into an offense, but simply whether the information falls within the mandate of the information gathering body,” Diab said.

“There are little to no safeguards in terms of relevance, reliability, accuracy of information – no requirement for caveats or qualifications in the uses information can be put when it is shared with others or with other foreign governments and agencies.”

Measures allowing more information sharing between government organizations and the “lawful protest” clause, both of which were amended last week, were driving concerns in the recent “Day of Action” protests that took place across the country.

TRU student Nikki Ford, who helped organize Kamloops Day of Action demonstration last month, feels some of the issues critics have raised are being listened to, but added that amendments to bill may be meaningless without oversight to avoid misuse of powers.

“How are we supposed to know if they’ll implement [the amendments] and act on it? There’s no guarantee and there’s no authority to be a watchdog of CSIS either,” she said.

“That’s the one thing we were kind of asking about this bill too – who’s watching the watchdog?”

The more things change the more they stay the same Diab also raised concerns on one part of the bill that was not up for change: a clause allowing CSIS to violate Charter rights or other Canadian law, excluding physical harm or

violation of a person’s sexual integrity, with a secret warrant issued by a judge.

“I mean, this is completely unusual; this is completely extraordinary is really what it is,” Diab said. “You might say, ‘Well if it’s really that troublesome, someone will just challenge its constitutionality and it’ll be struck down,’ but the trouble is how is anyone going to challenge it when this kind of warrant is always obtained in secret?”

In its submission on Bill C-51, the Canadian Bar Association formally protested the measure, stating “it is untenable that the infringement of Charter rights is open to debate, in secret proceedings where only the government is represented. Parliament should not empower CSIS or judges to disregard the constitutional foundations of our legal system.”

In a previous email to The Omega, local Conservative MP Cathy McLeod defended the bill, saying “The proposed legislation will provide Canadian law enforcement and national security agencies with additional tools and flexibility to keep pace with evolving threats and better protect Canadians here at home.”

“CSIS could only take reasonable and proportional measures to disrupt threats,” she continued. “To do this, CSIS would consider the nature of the threat, the nature of the proposed measures and the reasonable availability of other means to disrupt the threat. Intelligence services in most of Canada’s close democratic allies have had similar mandates and powers for many years.”

Both statements received from McLeod above are exact copies of statements made in earlier press releases by the federal government.

The amended bill returns to the House of Commons the week of April 6.

Broader horizons for new sorority Alpha Phi Eta becomes TRU’s only internationally recognized sorority on campus Alexis Stockford NEWS EDITOR Ω

Women looking for Greek life on campus now have another option. TRU’s newest sorority, Alpha Phi Eta, recently became the university’s only internationally recognized sorority, joining 23 other chapters of the Kappa Beta Gamma sorority in North America.

“We decided to kind of hit the ground running, so to speak, and it kind of took off under our feet and became something even bigger than we had planned in such a short period of time,” Alpha Phi Eta co-founder Kasahra Atkins said.

The fledgling sorority has 12 members.

According Alpha Phi Eta member Ariel Ceresney, she had no interest in joining a sorority until this semester, but joined the new sorority out of friendship to Atkins.

“I had seen the tables for the other sorority and I just didn’t see much of an interest in it,” she said. “I don’t know. I didn’t get that great vibe from the girls, so I didn’t think I wanted to be involved in something like that, but knowing Caitlin and Kassy [Atkins] in other clubs, like Gamer Club going to play Werewolf every week, I figured they would be the kind of girls I would like to join and help them accomplish something like this.”

Co-founders Atkins and Caitlin Burneiuk founded Alpha Phi Eta this semester with the main goals of going international and getting involved with bigger community projects than TRU’s current sorority. Atkins added that they chose to join Kappa Beta Gamma, which was founded in 1917, for its history and values.

“As a sorority is all about sisterhood, it’s all about the connections and communication with people all over the place … We now

have all of these women that we can call or go to or if we’re ever stuck somewhere, who are there to support us, so a huge thing about being in a sisterhood is having that support,” Atkins said.

TRU’s longstanding sorority, Zeta Beta Psi, says they are also applying to become internationally recognized, but hope to join the National Panhellenic Council, an international organization of sororities, as a separate entity.

While the new addition may be a potential rival for new recruits come September, Zeta president, Laura Howard, says she is excited to have another sorority on campus.

“I don’t see an issue with it. As the Zetas, we try to get out into the school and even out into the Kamloops community, but as two sororities, we can be more effective in that – showing students Greek life and, I don’t know, it gives more options. I think it’s better this way that we have two,” she said.

Alpha Phi Eta members Ariel Ceresney, Caitlin Burkeniuk, Kasahra Atkins and Martina Doucet above their street chalk ad. (Alexis Stockford/The Omega)

6

FEATURE

April 8, 2015

RANG DE BASANTI 6 TRU students celebrate love, happiness and unity

By Kim Anderson – ARTS EDITOR Ω

“T

here is no religion or face behind the colour. It is all equal when you are full of colour, that is the best part. There is no discrimination,” explained Chirag Sehgal, president of the TRUSU

India Club.

TRUSU India Club,TRU, countless volunteers and community members worked together in organizing RDB6, or Rang De Basanti 6,TRU’s sixth celebration of Holi.

Holi, the festival of spring, is a celebration of love that could not have arrived at a better time for weary students.As the semester wraps up, many are running on the fumes of what used to be motivation.A festival celebrating unity and happiness was the perfect way to shake things up.

“They’re showing interest. Students really enjoy it. It’s before final exams, so it’s kind of relaxing. You go and play, get tired, have fun,” Sehgal said.

A crowd of students gathered on the grass in front of Old Main and tossed handfuls of coloured powder at each other to the pulsating sounds of a live DJ. Some taught traditional dances, while others raced around tossing the vibrant powder on anyone who looked too clean.

The energy of the event was contagious. Pearly smiles marked the faces of the many participants. In between grabbing fresh bags of colour from members of the TRUSU India Club, students darted around, dancing, hugging and wishing each other a happy Holi.

Seasoned Holi professionals and newcomers alike took part in the lighthearted celebrations with unbridled enthusiasm.

TRU students and RDB6 first-timers Sam Matt, Chynna Tobias and Laura Howard all heard of the event on Facebook.They agreed that social media is the best way to reach students and spread awareness about on-campus events.

The trio didn’t know what to expect, but by the end were covered head-to-toe in a rainbow of colours.

Authentic Indian food provided a break in the festivities.After eating, the participants jumped right back into the celebrations.

Trang Nguyen, another Holi first-timer had nothing but praise for the event.

“It was my first time joining in on this type of event. Holi was really awesome. Friends and families could spend time with each other, learn about Indian culture and try delicious food. It is the festival of colours and happiness,” Nguyen said.

Despite being a newbie to the colour play, Nguyen and her friends jumped right in and were, like everyone else, coated in colour.

“I thought it would take more than an hour to clean. It was pretty quick actually, around 40 minutes to clean all the colour out,” Nguyen said.

After the crowd dispersed, the DJ packed up and the event drew to a close, the only evidence of the party was a brilliant mosaic of powder that covered every sidewalk square and blade of grass in front of Old Main.

“The main significance of this festival is victory over evil,” Sehgal said.

Indeed, Holi brought victory over end of semester fatigue.

Students took a few hours to forget about exam stress and to enjoy a celebration of unity and happiness.

When distinguishing items like clothing, hair and skin colour are hidden beneath layers upon layers of colour, everyone is equal. Inhibition, fear or uncertainty is literally thrown to the wind, along with handfuls of vibrant greens, reds and blues.

Rang De Basanti 6 reminded this arts editor of our shared humanity, diversity and above all else, love.

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 27

FEATURE

7

Rang De Basanti 2015 Photos Kim Anderson/The Omega

8 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Finding proof of a parallel universe Marissa Evans

THE CORD (CUP)

A group of physicists believe the restarting of the Large Hadron Collider this spring could lead to proof of parallel universes.

Mir Faizal, visiting professor in the physics and astronomy department at the University of Waterloo, has written a paper with fellow physicists, Mohammed M. Khali and Ahmed Farag Ali, which predicts the LHC particle accelerator could create miniature black holes.

The paper works off the theory that the collision of particles at extremely high energies will produce miniature black holes. However, Faizal explained that if extra dimensions exist, the energy scales at which these black holes will be lowered because these extra dimensions would have gravity flowing into them.

This energy level is what will be created in the LHC. Therefore if the LHC creates mini black holes, it must indicate the existence of extra dimensions because these holes would not otherwise form at this lower energy level.

“If you do have extra dimensions, there is a possibility of parallel universes,” Faizal added.

To calculate this energy scale, they are using a new theory of gravity called rainbow gravity. If these mini black holes are created it will prove both the validity of the rainbow gravity theory and the existence of extra dimensions.

According to Faizal, this theory posits that gravity acts differently on particles of different energies.

“If we don’t find them we still know that one of the things — maybe that extra dimensions don’t exist, or they exist at energy scales much higher than what we are anticipating, or that we need a modification to rainbow gravity,” he said.

He continued that what they mean by “parallel universes” is not what most people think of when they refer to parallel universes.

“Usually they mean something like what is called the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics,” he explained.

“It is where everything is actualized.

So an alternate dual reality.”

Under this interpretation, every action a person partakes in has two possi-

April 8, 2015

bilities. For example, if you lift up a cup, in another universe you don’t lift up the cup. But Faizal is against the many worlds interpretation, and is referring to something entirely different when he talks about parallel universes. He used an analogy to explain.

“A line is a one-dimensional object — there is just one way to go on a line.

You can have many parallel lines drawn on a piece of paper, which is a two dimensional object. Now your lines will never meet.”

If you stack the paper it will have height, which is a third dimension, and the lines still won’t meet. In the case of parallel universes, time is the fourth dimension.

“There are higher dimensions and our universe just forms like a sheet in these dimensions,” he continued. “The idea is if that is true then there is one force which can leave our universe and flow out into that dimension — this is gravity.”

Faizal said he has enjoyed doing his research in Waterloo and specifically at UW. “It’s a very friendly department, I would say,” he said.

“As well as a lot of scope of research.”

Future Shop closes doors across Canada

Some locations to convert into Best Buys over coming weeks

Angela Espinoza

THE OTHER PRESS (CUP)

On March 28, shoppers across Canada learned Future Shop had closed 66 locations, with another 65 to be rebranded as Best Buys.

No prior public announcements had been given about the brand’s closure, with “This store is permanently closed” signs on Future Shop doors serving as notice. Reportedly roughly 500 full-time and 1,000 part-time jobs were lost as a result of the closures.

CBC reported numerous staff did not know about the plans until the morning of the closures, with some staff being offered other options with Future Shop’s parent company, Best Buy. Other staff were reportedly told they’d have to “reapply” to Best Buy to continue working.

In an open letter from Best Buy Canada, Best Buy president and CEO Ron Wilson made comments about the closure. “Any decisions that impact our people are never taken lightly; our first priority is to support them through this change. I want to express my appreciation to the employees who are leaving, for their contributions to Best Buy Canada.”

The reason provided in the open letter for the closures was that in an already competitive market for sales of electronic items, Best Buy found their financial situation

would benefit by removing the Future Shop brand and focussing solely on promoting Best Buy locations. However, in the meantime, there would be an increase in costs as numerous former-Future Shop stores are restructured and staff numbers are sorted out.

“As a result of today’s announcements, Best Buy Co., Inc. expects to increase its capital spending by up to $200-million over the next 12 to 24 months.”

“Due to the transitional nature of the majority of these costs, the company does not expect this negative EPS impact to continue into future years.”

Earlier this year, Target closed all of its Canada-based locations after sales numbers were not being met, amongst other reasons.

Sony stores across the country announced their closure soon after. Clothing store brand Jacob is also in the process of closing its 92 store locations in Canada, while Reitmans announced closures of numerous Smart Set locations in November 2014.

Meanwhile, Ontario’s Comark Inc. is in the process of closing Ricki’s, Bootlegger, and Cleo locations while the parent company is working on a restructuring plan for it businesses.

Those with Future Shop gift cards can still redeem them at Best Buys, as well as those wishing to exchange or return previous Future Shop purchases.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 27

9

Apps of the week: learn recipes, languages and find local deals want to cook, but you know you don’t want what you know how to cook? The app also has themed collections and menus that you can browse through until you find that “oh, that’s a good idea” recipe.

There is also a “trending” feed that shows you the most popular recipes and, of course, if you already know what you want to cook but don’t know to cook it, you have the option of just searching for a recipe.

Ryan Turcot

SCI-TECH EDITOR Ω

BigOven

Android, iOS Free (the app, not the food)

New Wave Advertising Group put out this app to…well, advertise stuff.

But, it is a local app, and it was aggressively pushed onto my Facebook feed through sponsored posts, so I became a bit curious and checked it out.

Its core function is to serve as a coupon app. Its main feed gives you coupons towards places like restaurants, golf courses and yoga studios. There are actually some decent deals in this app, like “buy a round of golf for yourself and bring a friend along for free” at the Eaglepoint Golf Resort.

If this app stopped at that, I would accept it for what it is and call it a slightly useful app. Unfortunately, it also tries to be an events calendar, contests listing, news and

radio aggregate, and weather app and fails miserably at doing most of those things.

The weather function just takes you to The Weather Network’s website, but in SmartLiving’s halfbaked, ugly web browser. The “news and radio” function does the same thing but takes you to sites like Kamloops this Week or Radio NL instead.

The events listings are fairly well curated for what they are, but the listings themselves are only brief summaries of the event with links to another website at the end. Ugh. The coupons are the only good thing about this app and, from what I can tell, the only part of it that’s actually profitable for the app developer. They really should have stopped there.

SmartLiving Kamloops

Elizabeth Arden (neé Florence Nightingale Graham), 1939 (b/w photo) / Creator(s): Fisher, Alan, photographer / [Public domain], via Library of Congress

Maybe you enjoy cooking and want to expand your horizons.

Maybe you’ve never cooked in your life and just want to break from the dreaded “freshman 15” this summer.

Either way, BigOven has your back. It’s a recipe app that does exactly what it should: inspire you to cook something new. And it solves most of the major roadblocks that would impede your imagination.

Have random leftover ingredients you don’t want to waste, but doubt would play nice in the same dish? Challenge accepted. BigOven gives you the option to combine up to three ingredients as the starting point in your search for a recipe.

Maybe you don’t know what you

ginning lessons or take a placement test to try to jump ahead to more advanced content.

From there, DuoLingo gives you lesson plans to help you build up your new language skills. The plans vary from five to 20 minutes a day, depending on how much time you’re willing to commit to learning the language.

The exercises have enough variety to stay interesting. Sometimes a sentence is written down in a language and you have to translate it to English. Sometimes the app will play audio of a sentence and you have to repeat it back in that language.

While I’ll admit I haven’t mastered any new languages yet through this app, it’s a promising tool and I’d personally like to start using it more this summer.

Android, iOS Free

DuoLingo

Android, iOS Free

For what it costs (nothing) DuoLingo is a pretty powerful tool to get you started on a new language. It currently teaches Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Irish, Danish, Swedish and Turkish.

When you first start the app, you can either dive straight into the be-

Food security assessed in Kamloops

Farmers and scientists weigh in on city’s local agriculture scene Martin McFarlane Sierra Rae CONTRIBUTORS Ω

Could the City of Kamloops sustain residents exclusively on local food sources? According to the director of the Kamloops Food Policy Council, the answer is no. Kamloops is too dependent on food shipped from outside the area rather than local sources, said director Dave Whiting.

Whiting, whose background is in natural resource science, said that climate change makes food security an issue.

“The stronger our local food system, the less vulnerable we are to climate change impacts,” Whiting said.

TRU ecologist Lauchlan Fraser said that Kamloops needs more small, local farms in order to increase food security and to lessen its environmental footprint, but it would still be vulnerable to climate change.

“One of the issues with climate change is unpredictable precipitation patterns and increased drought,” Fraser said.

A drought in the Kamloops area could lower harvests and would require food produced elsewhere to be shipped into the city, he said.

Ted Blackwell, owner of Blackwell Dairy, said that with the amount of commercial food production in the area, Kamloops has enough food to sustain itself.

“In overall dollars and volume, we are probably sustainable now,” Blackwell said, adding that there is potential to expand the agricultural sector.

“There’s a lot of room for growth that just needs the entrepreneurial spirit of people getting out there and figuring out how they can help the sector.”

Commercial-scale food security has recently been promoted through Kamloops Farmland Connections, a conference in March supported by the Kamloops Food Policy Council, Whiting said. It connected potential local farmers with landowners so they can look at starting their own farm businesses.

According to a City of Kamloops report on its Agricultural Area Plan, there are 13,023 hectares of land in the city of Kamloops, and over 500,000 hectares in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District designated as Agricultural Land Reserve.

Its uses are restricted to developing farms and ranches among other ag-

ricultural uses.

Whiting said that there are several programs designed to promote small-scale urban agriculture and food security, including the local farmer’s market, community gardens, the Gleaning Abundance Program, and Gardengate. These programs create community and connections in between different groups of people who are all interested in the local food system, said Herman Hothi, farmer and owner of Nu Leaf Produce Market.

“People have a hunger. Not just for food, but for community,” he said.

Hothi said he is optimistic about the future of local farming and sees food security as being a possible goal for Kamloops.

“Kamloops is farmland. The potential is huge,” he said.

“Our only limitations are those which we set up in our own minds, or permit others to establish for us.” › Elizabeth Arden: Self-Made Maven In a time when women dare not wear make-up or run their own businesses, Elizabeth daringly did both. She was not a trained chemist, yet she pioneered the concept of scientifically formulating cosmetics. She was not a business graduate, yet she created a global empire. Curiosity and drive were her teachers; the world, her classroom.

We think Elizabeth would have simply adored AU, giving people all over the world the chance to make their mark, on their terms, in their time. Beautiful.

open. online. everywhere.

Learn more at business.athabascau.ca

A TRU ecologist wants better food security for Kamloops. (Rajesh_India/Flickr Commons)

10

COMICS & PUZZLES

April 8, 2015

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SPORTS

The Omega Ω Volume 24 • Issue 27

11

New law student hockey team working to put TRU’s name out there Tayla Scott

SPORTS EDITOR Ω

First-year law student Nathan MacDermott said he wasn’t surprised when the hockey team he and fellow student Richard Wong created drew the interest of over 30 hockey-loving TRU law students.

“It’s Canada’s game,” MacDermott said. “We get a bad rap for being in law school and being lawyers it seems, so we’re trying to build a rapport.”

The team, still unnamed, received an invitation in early March from the University of Alberta to attend a law hockey memorial tournament for a law alumnus who passed away.

“UBC couldn’t go and every other

school has a law hockey team, so we thought we would get one going just to be a part of that,” Wong said. “It’s kind of good because we met a lot of guys there and got the name out there for TRU and showed that we can compete and that we’re normal people and can have a good time.”

The team received club status from TRU Society of Law Students in March and got busy fundraising to support practices, games and travel accommodations.

“The biggest hope of setting this up in the first place was to extend our reach locally as well as nationally,” MacDermott said. “When a lot of our students went to interviews in Alberta this year people were saying ‘TR-who?’”

“It’s almost embarrassing to apply for

a job and people are wondering where you’re from. This is extending the reach of TRU and TRU law,” MacDermott said. “That’s what we need. We’re a small school. We need recognition to promote ourselves to get future opportunities elsewhere.”

The team is made up entirely of law students, except for Cam Weir, who is a business student and former WolfPack hockey player. Weir, along with the rest of the team, wore borrowed WolfPack jerseys at the tournament in Alberta.

MacDermott, the team’s goalie, and Wong, a forward, plan to continue building the team next year. MacDermott expects more students to return from the summer with hockey gear so they can play on the team.

But there are still some obstacles to

face before it’s smooth skating for the law students.

“We would like to continue our relationships with the other schools and the sponsors but we need substantially more money to do that,” MacDermott said. “Our law school is one of the most expensive in Canada so everybody’s pretty strapped for money and hockey’s expensive.”

MacDermott applied for the team to become a club under TRUSU, but believes liability will be an issue that could keep them from gaining club status.

Associate Dean of Law and sports law professor Jon Heshka suggested a possible solution.

“It is entirely understandable that a student union would be concerned about their exposure to liability,” Hes-

hka said. “If that was a consideration factored into the decision to reject the application then the use of a waiver might serve to ameliorate the hockey club’s position and assuage TRUSU’s concerns about liability.”

MacDermott has contacted TRUSU with this suggestion is currently waiting to hear back from the union.

Even without club status under TRUSU, MacDermott is dedicated to building the law student hockey team.

“For next year we want to play more often and practice more often. It would be nice to extend what we have of informal games [against local] lawyers into somewhat of a league,” MacDermott said. “We plan on going to the tournament annually now, since we’ve been extended an annual invite.”

TRU has a new kind of hockey team, one made up of law students trying to build TRU’s reputation. (Julia Roos/Submitted)

As the school year wraps up, soccer gears up

WolfPack soccer teams are adjusting for intense play and new league formats Tayla Scott

SPORTS EDITOR Ω

After a tough first season of CIS play, both WolfPack soccer teams are training hard and getting ready for their new league formats next season.

When the WolfPack women hit the field in September, it will be in a new league format with a 14-game regular season. The WolfPack women will be placed in a division with three other teams: UBC Okanagan, the University of Northern British Columbia and the University of Alberta.

The team will also see interlock play against the other division in the pacific region and four teams from the prairie region.

Women’s head coach Tom McManus said his team has never played an Albertan team in the regular season before, and has never played teams from Saskatchewan or Manitoba, either.

While McManus is excited for the new variety of opponents, he isn’t expecting any easy wins.

“If everybody goes in thinking this will be easy, it’s not going to be easy.

We’re going to struggle with it if we go in with that thought,” McManus said. “We’re going to have to go in hard and really play as hard as we can all the time.”

Although McManus was glad for the move to CIS, he said the women

had a tough time adjusting to the new speed of the game.

“I tried to explain to them exactly what it was going to take. I think some listened but some didn’t,” McManus said. “They were kind of like deer in the headlights.”

But with their first year of CIS play under their belts, McManus expects the women to be better prepared, even with the loss of team captains Emily Edmundson and Bronwyn Crawford.

For next year’s team captains, McManus has his eye on midfielder Emily Oliver and forward Jaydene Radu.

“They’re both very well respected by the players and very well respected by the coaching staff. They don’t fluff off or say ‘oh I can’t make it’ or show up at the last minute. They’re there and they’re ready,” McManus said.

“I’ve got a good feeling about the two of them.”

So far McManus has three new recruits signed: two midfielders from Kamloops and a goalkeeper from Richmond B.C. “I’m looking to definitely come out of our division in a playoff situation and my goal is to make it to nationals,” McManus said. “I think that we do have the experience and the team.”

WolfPack men’s soccer had a tough time adjusting to the new speed of CIS as well, but they’re currently training hard and hoping to make a comeback.

The men won’t see regular season

Jaydene Radu seen here, will be a new team captain in soccer’s 2015-16 season. (TRU Athletics)

changes, but their post-season will now have the top four teams from each division play each other in a crossover format, with a final four advancing from there.

Team captain Travis Froehlich likes the new post-season format, but would prefer a more inclusive range of opponents in the regular season.

“I think it’d be cool to fly over to Saskatchewan and Edmonton and play those games during the regular season. It’s nice to go somewhere new and kind of experience it,” Froehlich said.

Although the team only has one new recruit signed so far, midfielder/ forward Mitchell Popadynetz, Froeh-

lich said his team might regain some players that left before their eligibilities expired.

The soccer schedules have yet to be released, but because the women’s regular season has changed and the men’s hasn’t, it will likely mean separate travelling schedules for the teams.

12

April 8, 2015