March 9, 2016

DON’T FORGET TO VOTE

IT’S GETTING HOT IN HERE

IT’S FILM FEST SEASON!

Election process explored

Moving forward with a campus sweat lodge

Kamloops Film Fest flicks reviewed

As the next student election looms, we take a look at TRUSU’s elections process • Page 2

One student’s initiative has brought TRU closer to having its own sweat lodge • Page 2

Our first round of reviews is in! Festival flicks reviewed for you • Pages 6-7

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SO HOT RIGHT NOW

‘PACK LEAVES TRACKS

Fashion fanfare at 2016 Mosaic Fashion Show

GERARD GORE FIRES OFF A JUMP SHOT. (TRISTAN DAVIES/THE OMEGA)

WolfPack men go to CanWest final four

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t has been a year of firsts for the TRU men’s basketball team and that trend continued this past weekend when a pair of wins helped them book the program’s first ever ticket to the Canada West final four.

It didn’t come easy for the ‘Pack as they were stretched to the limit by a strong University of Regina Cougars team, with the best-of-three series staying close right down to the final buzzer.

The series got underway Thursday night and it was Regina that would take the opening game by a score of 102–94. The story of the night was defence, specifically TRU’s struggles with keeping the Cougar’s high powered offence in check. The ‘Pack committed to playing a zone defence in the match, a strategy that leaves space on the perimeter and dares the other team to beat them from the three point line. Unfortunately for the ‘Pack the Cougars were able to do just that.

“When you give up 60 points in the second half you know you aren’t going to come away with a victory. I have to give Regina credit, they did shoot the ball (well),” said head coach of the ‘Pack Scott Clark after the loss.

Morgan Gee models fashion by Vancouver designer Dixon. (Tristan Davies/The Omega) • Page 8

CONTINUES page 11

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THE OMEGA

MARCH 9, 2016

NEWS

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Election process explored as TRU prepares to vote Jim Elliot NEWS EDITOR Ω TRUSU’s general election is just around the corner. Students will have the opportunity to vote for their student representatives on March 30, March 31 and April 1.

Nominations, which require the signatures of 10 other students to be recognized, open on March 9 and close on March 22.

Once the nomination period closes, an all-candidates meeting will take place to inform candidates about campaign rules and processes. TRUSU’s Electoral Committee has rules about campaign finances and promotional materials.

Each candidate must disclose their campaign finances at the end of the campaign to ensure they comply with the campaign spending limit set by the Electoral Committee, which is usually between $50 and $100, said TRUSU Executive Director Nathan Lane.

“It’s designed so that we can say that people have equal access to materials, that you don’t win the election because you’re able to spend $6,000 and the other person isn’t,” Lane said.

The Electoral Committee tracks all campaign promotional materials used, both to ensure they are not over the expense limit and that they are not libelous or offensive.

Candidates can begin campaigning on March 23. Candidates are not permitted to receive resources from any campus organization or club and current Board of Directors members are

not allowed to provide Students’ Union resources to any campaign.

Candidates are not allowed to campaign in any business or service owned or operated by the Students’ Union, off-campus, in a class period without the permission of the instructor or in any location where alcohol is served.

TRUSU still uses physical polling stations, despite a trend towards online polling at other universities. In the case of TRUSU’s and many other student government elections, candidates are not allowed to campaign directly in front of the polling station. At universities that have switched to online voting, stopping candidates from directly influencing voters as they cast their ballots is more difficult to do.

At UVic they have been using online polling for five years, but still retain a rule against candidates loitering at polling stations. The Martlet, UVic’s campus newspaper, reported that during campaigning for their 2016 general election, which concluded on March 4, one of the candidate slates set up their own polling station on campus with a laptop connected to the online polling.

Online polling has had a positive impact on voter turnout, which is something TRUSU has struggled with in recent years.

The 2015 election had a turnout of only 9.4 per cent, but TRUSU has no plans to do anything drastic to improve that number.

Lane said that voter turnout numbers come down to the number of candidates running and how actively they campaign.

Big steps taken towards a sweat lodge on campus

MGODISEO/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Wade Tomko NEWS EDITOR Ω TRU may soon have its very own sweat lodge thanks to one student’s initiative.

Sweat lodges, which are common to many North American First Nations, are similar to European saunas, though the typically dome-shaped sweat lodges are made from natural materials and are used for prayer and purification.

Though there has been talk of building one on campus for years, it wasn’t until last year that the process of bringing a sweat lodge to campus finally got going.

Jordan Robinson, a fourthyear Ecology and Environmental Biology student at TRU, came up with the idea last year after questioning why there wasn’t a sweat lodge on campus.

Robinson consulted with Vernie Clement, Aboriginal Mentor and Community Coordinator.

“I asked Vernie one day, ‘Why

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isn’t there a sweat lodge around?’ and he said, ‘There is no reason why there is not, why don’t you make one?’” Robinson said. “So it just kind of got me going. I went around to all the Deans of the school to ask them permission and before I knew it I was standing in front of the Chief’s Council asking permission. And it just snowballed from there.”

Although the project has received some funding already and has been approved by many elders in the Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc community, the project is still awaiting approval from the university, said Executive Director of Aboriginal Education, Paul Michel.

“It is not final approval until we get everyone at TRU approving and also all of traditional community approval,” Michel said, noting that there are various stages of approval that the prospective sweat lodge must go through.

After receiving a $20,000 grant from TRU, Robinson hopes that the sweat lodge gets approved sooner rather than later. Already, several

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key locations fitting for the sweat lodge have been identified, but no place in particular has been chosen yet.

“One of the suggestions was right here, right behind the Gathering Place,” Clement said. “It is not something that is normally traditional though. They usually aren’t out in the open like that, in a high-traffic area. They are usually in a sacred area, so that is one of the concerns we need to address.”

On top of this, Robinson said that the next step will be to work with Kamloops Fire Rescue to come up with a fire protocol for the sweat lodge as well.

Another hurdle that must be overcome before the sweat lodge gets its final approval is how it will be run and who exactly will run it, Clement said.

“They are all run differently by different First Nations and by, actually, different sweat lodge keepers,” Clement said. “Every sweat lodge is unique. Some of them follow different protocols, depending on where they are from.”

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NEWS

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Wade Tomko NEWS EDITOR Ω The Kamloops chapter of the Council of Canadians brought the award-winning documentary, Fractured Land, to TRU’s Irving K. Barber Centre on March 1.

Directed by Damien Gillis, who was present at the screening, and Fiona Rayher, Fractured Land follows the story of Caleb Behn, an indigenous lawyer of the Dene Nation, in his fight against the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry in B.C.’s far north.

Gillis started filming for Fractured Land in early 2011. At the time, the character who would come to be the documentary’s main focus acted simply as a guide for Gillis and his team in exploring the land used for oil and gas development in north-eastern B.C. “We went on a little scouting mission with the fellow that went on to become the central character of our film. We didn’t even know that yet, we were just getting to know him and he was taking us on a tour having known the area,” Gillis said. “We got to see his world and it was soon thereafter that we realized there was a real story there and that it would make a lot more sense to

tell a human story rather than an issue one.”

Originally an oil and gas officer, Behn entered law school after learning that despite his arguments against drilling operations on his people’s lands, the oil and gas conglomerates in the area would succeed no matter what.

Behn would eventually become a star and a voice for the unheard in B.C’s north, speaking at anti-fracking demonstrations in Vancouver and Calgary. He even travelled as far away as New Zealand to consult the Maori people after their successful halting of a major Shell Oil fracking operation in their territory.

Though the film specifically follows Behn in his fight against fracking, which is where a high-pressure water, sand and chemical mixture is injected deep in the earth to release gas trapped in rock deposits, it also speaks to broader issues within the oil and gas industry in general, Gillis said.

“Only 0.1 per cent of our provincial revenue comes from the oil and gas sector,” Gillis said. “It is way less significant than we are led to believe.”

Gillis, who has been following trends in the oil and gas industries for years, believes focusing on fossil fuels is a “foolish

endeavor,” especially given that the supply of these resources is not endless and that the environment can no longer handle such abuse.

Furthermore, Gillis believes that institutions like TRU should start moving away from training students, specifically trades students, for jobs in the oil and gas sector.

“You can do all the training you want, but if the job isn’t going to be there at the end of the day, then you have kind of wasted everyone’s time and a whole lot of money,” Gillis said. “And you’ve also given false hope or false promise to a young student who is looking to build a career for the future.”

Instead, Gillis said, TRU should be adopting programs to train students in renewable energy fields or helping to retrain existing energy sector workers from the oil and gas industries for the renewable industry instead.

“It doesn’t take very different skills,” Gillis said. “A welder can weld a pipe or he can weld a wind turbine together. An electrician can wire up an oil sands plant or he can wire up a solar installation.

So if you are gonna build programs in a school, and it takes a few years to do that, I’d rather see it going towards something that has got a real future to it.”

You don’t have to sit in school to stand among greatness.

By Levin C. Handy (per http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpbh.04326) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Documentary explores consequences of fracking

MARCH 9, 2016

Students put in a long night Nikki Fredrikson CONTRIBUTOR Ω At 2 a.m. while most students were sleeping, others such as myself were participating in the Long Night Against Procrastination (LNAP). I found myself at this event for two reasons: I had assignments that I needed to finish and more importantly – the event provided free pizza.

Who doesn’t love free pizza? The LNAP is an event held twice a year to bring the procrastinating students of Thompson Rivers University together in an overnight work session.

The event is held in the TRU Main Library from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. with multiple information sessions, activities and Writing Centre tutors on hand to help students get through their work.

“Students have commented they get a lot done but it’s also valuable to see that other students have also left things for the last minute and are asking for help and needing help and you’re not alone doing it,” said Elizabeth Rennie, TRU’s Instruction and Outreach Librarian.

After a few hours of working on assignments I found myself in need of a mental break and stumbled upon Kenna Sim, a fourthyear sociology student who was taking a break from her own

assignments. Sim has attended the LNAP twice now and said the event “was good motivation.”

“I don’t usually work at night so it motivated me to get it done,” Sim said.

After I finished chatting with Sim, I went upstairs to start working on this very article but on my way I almost tripped over a bright yellow bean bag.

Sprawled out on the bean bag was TRU baseball player Frank Fisico, catching up on some reading for his Children’s Literature course. He was reading Peter Pan. Fisico said the event was perfect for fitting assignments into his busy schedule.

“There’s seminars and people here to help. It’s a good working environment. You see everyone else doing work and it’s monkey see, monkey do,” Fisico said.

“Plus you can’t argue with free pizza.”

After I talked with Fisico I went and got more pizza. I realize now that I should have taken Sim’s advice when it comes to having a game plan for the event.

“I recommend that people come prepared with an idea of what you’re going to do. It’s hard when you show up and don’t know what you’re going to do,” Sim said.

At this semester’s LNAP event I got most of what I wanted to accomplish done, however, I did

not make it to the 6 a.m. survivors’ breakfast. The LNAP is an event that challenges students to be productive and get the help they need from faculty and each other. The event also creates a community among the approximately 200 attendees. Students will have the chance to attend LNAP again when it runs next fall.

› Thomas Edison: The world’s most extraordinary failure never gave up.

Thank goodness.

open. online. everywhere. go.athabascau.ca/online-courses

Writing Centre tutors Annie Slizak (also Omega Copy Editor), Yueqi Wu and Scott Turner. (lower) Writing Centre coordinator Jenna Goddard. (Annie Slizak/The Omega)

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TRU residence takes on anti-binge drinking initiative B.C. government pledges $400,000, students asked to “drink with class” Jim Elliot NEWS EDITOR Ω The B.C. government, in partnership with UVic’s Centre for Addictions Research and the Canadian Mental Health Association, has undertaken an initiative to promote a healthier drinking culture on B.C. campuses.

The government pledged $400,000 to fund a project co-led by the University of Victoria’s Centre for Addictions Research and the Canadian Mental Health Association BC Division, Health Minister Terry Lake announced on Feb. 29.

“Helping to shift the culture towards moderate use at this pivotal point in a young person’s life can help set them on the right track,” Lake said.

The National College Health Assessment survey was completed for Canadian campuses for the first time in 2013. It indicates that among postsecondary students who reported drinking the last time they socialized, 26 per cent had seven or more drinks, and 39 per cent of students who drank alcohol in the last year said they later regretted something they did when drinking.

According to the announcement, researchers from the Centre for Addictions Research and the Mental Health Association will work with key groups on campuses such as student leaders, students in residence and those in their first year in order to create a healthier drinking culture.

“The investment in changing the culture of substance use on

postsecondary campuses currently supports locally-developed, centrally-supported projects at 11 institutions,” said Dan Reist, an assistant director at the Centre for Addictions Research.

The examples of existing resources listed in the announcement included the “Drink with Class” campaign at TRU. “The Drink with Class initiative is an effort to foster positive drinking habits with our students in residence from day one,” said Brandon de Krieger, a Residence Life Coordinator at the TRU residence.

De Krieger said that Drink with Class takes the form of educational campaigns focused on being a good host, post-party chats with residents and new training for Residence Advisors.

“In my first year, there were stories of residence advisors needing to stay up all hours because parties kept being moved throughout the night. In my third year, when Drink with Class was first introduced, it turned around so that residents were willingly telling resident assistants about parties and asking for help in keeping those parties under control,” said Hailee-Jean Lindgren, a TRU Residence Advisor.

According to de Krieger, since the program’s inception two years ago, residence assessments indicate that 30 per cent of residents have changed their drinking habits.

“The culture two years ago was not as healthy as it is today. We are educating our students about alcohol a lot better now than we

did back then,” he said.

De Krieger said the campaign tries to harness the positive aspects of drinking alcohol. “We don’t tell students what not to do, instead we try to grow the behaviours that we’d like to see,” de Krieger said.

The government’s announcement came with assurances that the on-campus initiative is just one part of a process of “modernizing B.C.’s liquor laws.” Some other initiatives mentioned in the announcement include minimum drink prices at bars and restaurants and enhanced Serving It Right training for people serving liquor. On March 4, the province issued a press release saying that “any time is a good time for a cocktail in your hotel room” and that hotels would now be able to serve liquor 24 hours a day.

Kamloops woman building the tiny house of her dreams Dominique Bayens CONTRIBUTOR Ω Does size matter? It’s the age-old question, but when it comes to housing, Melanie Hewer doesn’t think so.

Hewer has brought the tiny house movement to Kamloops, a social revolution where people choose to live simple and sustainable lives by building homes the size of the average bedroom.

“My girlfriend about 10 years ago had a garden shed made, and it was just this cute little cottage and I just stared at it all the time when I was there. I thought, God, if it was a bit bigger I could live in this,” she said. “And then about five years ago…I saw online Tumbleweed Tiny Houses and I was addicted.”

Hewer is building her dream tiny house on her property on the North Shore, with over 600 people following her journey on her Facebook group “Melanie’s Tiny Home Journey -- SERENDIPITY.” “Once I move in I am going to move it to a different property. A few people I know have land, out of the city limits and they said ‘there’s room for you and your tiny house,’” she said.

Hewer said the reactions from family and friends had been mostly positive with people donating items and offering their time to help build the home.

“They see my excitement… different people think ‘wow it’s cool, but it’s not for me.’ I’ve lived in big houses, I’ve lived in small houses. I prefer small. I don’t use what I have, it’s just wasted space,” she said.

Hewer does admit, however, there will be some things that she won’t let go of easily.

“I am a blanket person. Every couch, every chair has a blanket on it. That one will be hard, and clothes,” she said.

Though she is looking forward to getting back to basics.

“I’m not much for cooking, I’ll bring my freezer with me, my Crock-Pot, make soups and vegetables and can them. I used to do that a lot but I haven’t done that in years, life’s just too busy,” she said.

Hewer said building more tiny houses would be an asset to the Kamloops community, giving people the opportunity to return to a more sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle.

“We’re so far away from the natural foods and nutrition, and the exercise of it. We’re just busy drinking coffee, driving around, going to the grocery story when you could spend five minutes to do it at home,” she said.

She also sees tiny living as a way to avoid mortgages and debt.

“The younger generation, if they could do this now when they’re young, build it themselves…It will save you millions of dollars over the years. Stay debt-free, don’t go into all this debt because it’s killing everybody. It’s hard on your relationships with your spouse, with your parents, with your kids.

It infects you, your whole life,” she said.

Hewer wants more people to join the tiny house revolution.

“You don’t need any special talents or expensive tools. If you want to do it you’d be able to,” she said. “Do your homework, YouTube has everything you need.”

“It would save you a lot of money over your lifetime, if you could spend 5 years as an adult, even with your spouse, even children, it would save you so much money,” Hewer said.

An interior view of Hewer’s tiny house under construction. (Tristan Davies/The Omega)

KFF IN REVIEW

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MARCH 9, 2016

KAMLOOPS FILM FESTIVAL

IN REVIEW While the Kamloops Film Festival celebrates its 20th year, The Omega continues its tradition of reviewing as many KFF flicks we can attend.

Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World Dirs. Charles Wilkinson, Tina Schliessler Stars Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Guujaaw

Reviewed by Marlys Klossner The Kamloops Film Festival got started with a bang with a sold-out showing of Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World. The line for pass and ticket holders went down the block and they decided to host a second showing a half hour after the first in the second theatre to accommodate all the people. At the showing they announced they would do the same for The Lady in the Van on Saturday, for which they also expected a soldout showing.

Haida Gwaii is a beautiful documentary. The stunning sweeping crane shots of the island and close-ups of the amazing wildlife and people are on par with big budget documentaries like Planet Earth. There are a few shaky-cam moments that break the general camera style, but they only serve to bring the viewer and the film back down to Earth.

Haida Gwaii starts by showing you some of the issues facing Haida Gwaii, how it has addressed them in the past and the people from different walks of life that are working to keep Haida Gwaii’s environmental integrity.

The film touches on the historical

relationship between settlers and the Haida Nation, sustainable energy, food production and much more without sounding preachy. Instead of leaving you feeling negative, as many documentaries advocating social action do, Haida Gwaii feels more like a celebration of the place. In the film Haida Gwaii is almost a Shangri-La where people have figured out how to make a living off natural resources without depleting them.

The documentary makes great use of quiet, something many talk docs fail to do. Everything you hear in the film is selected with care, which gives it more significance. It is told through the voices of people on Haida Gwaii, and does not rely on a narrator.

The final scene is incredibly moving as we see the different people we meet throughout come together to erect a totem pole that we watched get carved periodically throughout the film. The swell of positive emotion you feel watching everyone celebrate afterwards is enough to make you want to move there and join the good fight.

Snowtime!

Regression

Dirs. Jean-François Pouliot, François Brisson Stars Angela Galuppo, Mariloup Wolfe, Lucinda Davis

Dir. Alejandro Amenábar Stars Ethan Hawke, David Thewlis, Emma Watson

Reviewed by Natalie Stewart

Reviewed by Marlys Klossner

Snowtime! follows the story of the initially-reserved Luke, an 11-year-old boy who uses his bugle and natural leadership skills to lead his classmates in the ultimate snowball fight. The film is well-scored and beautifully-animated, with lively and colourful visuals and a premise that practically runs on its own. It would have been a delightfully silly winter romp if it were not assaulted with drama that would be considered dark even in a movie for adults.

The film pitches more jokes in a minute than its characters do snowballs, but on the whole it still manages to make both child and parent feel more uncomfortable than entertained. The humour is composed mainly of stilted and unapologetic pablum, and the awkward (for the audience) romance between Luke and Sophie ranks near the top of the movie’s cringeworthy efforts.

It’s hard to hear an 11-year old boy deliver any pickup line that ends with him wiggling his eyebrows and asking a girl if she wants to “give him a ride” without being at least a little creeped out. Additionally, Luke’s crush is marketed toward an entirely separate group of kids than the very young audience most of the movie’s jokes work for.

Snowtime! can’t decide if it’s for fourand five-year-olds who want to hear fart

jokes, or 10- and 12-year-olds dealing with a first crush, and fails miserably in trying to please both.

Either way, most of the film’s genuine entertainment occurs when it forgets its stilted setups and simply allows its characters to act naturally, bouncing off of each other’s personalities and behaving like kids instead of miniature, stereotyped adults.

The constant barrage of comedic attempts do at least add up to some comedic momentum, only to derail it with a blast of heavy tragedy from left field. In a film for a younger audience where simply being socially awkward is sufficient to make a character sympathetic, Snowtime! piles on heartrending backstory with no real preface or follow-up, making the tragic revelations feel more like an unexplained sucker punch than a dramatic moment, and switching from rambunctious fun to heavy pathos so quickly it risks giving its audience whiplash.

The finale of the movie drives home its simple moral, “war and hurting each other is bad,” with a disturbingly mature calamity which shifts the film’s tone so quickly its gears grind.

Snowtime! is a visually beautiful film, and the jokes that do work work well, but it can’t be entertaining until it learns how to balance.

This is a public service announcement: Regression is NOT a horror film. I repeat, Regression is not a horror film. Now on with the review.

Regression stars Ethan Hawke as a detective investigating a rape claim

by Emma Watson’s character. With the help of regressive hypnosis from David Thewlis’ psychoanalyst they realize there may be some bigger evil at play: a satanic cult.

Because of the trailer and marketing, and because Regression is being billed as a horror/thriller film worldwide, I spent three quarters of the film marvelling at its tonal issues before realizing that this was what the whole film was like.

Regression could be an okay crime thriller that’s a dramatized case study of the satanic panic of the ‘90s if it actually recognized that that is what it is.

I would love to blame the marketing team, but it is clear that they are not the only ones at fault in this blatant case of trying to dupe horror audiences into paying for tickets.

Looking at it with the expectation of horror, you’d think the shock twist would be a dramatic reveal at the end, spurring the climax. Instead

Regression starts out with a clear The Crucible-like vibe, and if you were caught off guard by the twist, you weren’t paying attention. Anyone with the most basic knowledge of the satanic panic already knows that it was all unprovable, so the opening title card saying that it is based on true stories of that time already tells you the result.

Regression feels like an hour-long TV special true crime dramatization, or an episode of a procedural cop show that’s not quite gritty. There are a few creepy visuals and some mediocre jump scares, but no real horror.

There aren’t any moments where you are actually scared for any of the characters.

The acting is fine all around, but with the cheesy dialogue and glaring tone/genre issues, it’s hard to appreciate.

The worst offenders in the break in tone are the out of place buddy cop moments between Ethan Hawke’s detective and David Thewlis’ psychoanalyst. One of the secondary character cops is also used as a punchline every time he comes on screen, which also doesn’t fit the tone at all. Regression is a very confused movie.

KFF IN REVIEW

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Mustang Dir. Deniz Gamze Ergüven Stars Günes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Tugba Sunguroglu

Reviewed by Marlys Klossner By partaking in a game of chicken with some boys on the way home from school, five precocious girls in a small Turkish town unknowingly change their lives forever.

When a neighbour tells their grandmother that they were engaging in obscene behaviour, the girls find themselves prisoners in their own house.

Their warden, an uncle, grows increasingly conservative and protective over the girls.

At first the girls make the best of their situation. Although they are extremely bored, they manage to entertain themselves with each other’s company. However, their uncle and grandmother plan to marry the girls off, and as the sisters are separated, their situations become more bleak.

Mustang is simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking. As the happiness in the sisters’ lives starts to diminish, the shining light is the hope and resilience of the youngest sister, Lale, who we follow throughout the film.

Lale and her sisters’ rebellious spirits shine even as their uncle forces them into more restrictive traditional gender

roles in order to save the girls’ reputations and find them husbands.

The sisterhood between the girls is palpable and you can’t help but fall as in love with them as they are with each other. Each of the young actresses does an amazing job, and their relationship feels real.

Although primarily a drama, Mustang has some amazing comedic moments, the best of which is an unexpected reaction from their aunts after the girls sneak away to attend a soccer game.

As the girls struggle to deal with their separation and the sexual obligation forced on them by marrying at a young age, the tone of the film starts to shift, and the comedy seeps away.

The first wedding scene we see is a raucous affair full of celebration and excitement. Later, a wedding scene begins in the same way as the first, but you can feel that the tone is entirely different. This comparison is one of the many reasons Mustang works so well.

The spirit in the girls in the film is inspiring, as much as what happens to them is sobering, leaving you with a bittersweet, yet satisfied aftertaste.

7

Victoria Dir. Sebastian Schipper Stars Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, Franz Rogowski

Reviewed by Jonathan Malloy Beginning with a rush of epileptic, pulsing lights we are introduced to the title character in the one-take wonder of director Sebastian Schipper’s crazy vision. The crux of the film is based upon the outstanding fact that the film is one continuous take: no cuts, no time to breathe. An achievement in both cinematography and reinvention of the action-crime drama, the film’s inconspicuous start of light and dark reflect the literal highs and lows that the characters feel throughout the 134minute runtime and present a visceral and realistic take of a possibly new style of filmmaking altogether.

Following Victoria from a lonely nightclub to a run-in with a group of bad boys on the wrong side of the law, the film is an endearing and brisk ride that uses its first hour to build the minimal love story between two strangers before thrusting them into a heist and escapade around early-morning Berlin. The nightclubs pop and the streets rustle with early risers, all the while the night sky begins to explode with colours as the sun makes its way into the sky.

This fantastic vision would cease to exist without the virtuosic cinematography of Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, who won for his work on the film at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival. The camera dips in and out of cars, runs

between cover and scaled buildings, all while keeping the story and action beautiful and fully realized. While some missteps do tend to occur, such as a shaky cam or looking at the wrong subject for a moment, the fact that the film is so easy to follow rests heavily on his (probably sore) shoulders.

While praise is due for the entire cast in bringing the world and vision together, Laia Costa as the Spanish immigrant Victoria takes hold of the film as its emotional and gravitational centre. Her nuanced performance is nigh short of perfect as we see her drunk on the prospect of connection and of breaking out of her manicured shell. As she descends deeper into the Berlin underworld and later into the morning, the pure range of the actress’ performance shines bringing a welcome humanity to the character.

While not a perfect film, Victoria stands as a breath of fresh air in the annual release of the explosion-heavy multi-film brawl that the general audience has come to know for action entertainment. Victoria brings a nuanced, heart-pulling character study about loneliness and desperation, and the same desperation the crew must have felt in trying to complete the film under such strict regulations. Don’t blink or you’ll miss a moment, and you definitely don’t want to miss out on this one.

The Lady in the Van Dir. Nicholas Hytner Stars Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent

Reviewed by Veronica Kos The Lady in the Van is a very quirky British film about the true story of senior Miss Shepherd who parks her van in the driveway of younger playwright Alan Bennett and then proceeds to live there for 15 years.

Miss Shepherd, played by the incredible Maggie Smith, is a bitter old woman who often goes months without a shower. She provides the majority of the humour in this movie, as she still presents herself as a well-mannered English woman, yet uses Bennett’s driveway as a lavatory and has a van for a house.

Alan Bennett, played by Alex Jennings, is a loner and wishes he had a more interesting life to write about.

Through the film we see he is a kind man as although he finds Miss Shepherd’s presence in the neighborhood a nuisance, he cannot help but offer her some help. To the annoyance of the residents, Miss Shepherd constantly re-parks her old van in front of different households in the respectable neighborhood of Gloucester Crescent.

Bennett, who often does his writing by the window facing the street, is frequently interrupted by Shepherd’s doings, along with the occasional hooligans who taunt her. Before the neighbourhood gets a chance to kick Shepherd out, Bennett offers his driveway for her temporarily in order to give her time to make a plan. As time goes on, temporarily turns into permanently,

and Bennett is too passive to change that.

Their relationship throughout the years is hilarious, as Shepherd is still quite formal yet very sassy, and Bennett is always passive while caring.

The film has a bit of darkness underneath it, as Shepherd’s reasoning for living in a van is because she is on the run. Bennett doesn’t find out until after her passing that Shepherd had falsely believed she was to blame for a man’s death in a motorcycle accident.

She lives the rest of her life devoted to praying for forgiveness and hoping no one finds out. It is also quite unsettling when you realize this movie is a true story, and Miss Shepherd was a real women who lived like this for 15 years.

It is one of those films that leaves you thinking about how insane it is that some people have lives like this, while you are sitting in a movie theatre watching it all for amusement. The only negative factor about the film would be that some scenes drag on for quite a while without much happening, but when one realizes this film is a true story, it is to be expected that this woman’s life could not have been a series of huge dramatic events.

The film seems to be aimed at an older audience, although younger generations are bound to enjoy its humour as well. The theatre’s majority was filled with seniors who often howled with laughter at the different scenes.

James White Dir. Josh Mond Stars Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi

Reviewed by Jennifer Will Interesting, dynamic and stylistically claustrophobic, James White is a character-study-style drama that was directed by veteran producer Josh Mond for his debut film about emotions. This film is depressing and could seem to lead you nowhere if you don’t look closely.

It portrays such raw and uncontrolled emotion from a man who just cannot deal with his pain in a functional way.

The film follows James White, the title character played by Christopher Abbott, as he stands disconnected, drunk and on his way to his father’s funeral. As far as the narrative goes, the film uses a minimalist style never straying far from James’ fierce presence. Constantly bobbing in and out of control, he never receives the break he believes is in order.

For a film about the constant looming threat of familiar death it never fears displaying the wretched depression that comes with sickness and the needs to fulfill obligations. James’ mother, a disorientingly frail performance from Cynthia Nixon, who has recently been re-diagnosed with cancer anchors the film showing the kindred spirit of a once bright flame snuffed out by the unfortunate tolls of reality.

If I haven’t made it abundantly clear, this film is relentless in its depiction of

depression, almost to a fault, as each character is wrung through the mud and brought out into the light just to have the storm clouds roll in and make an even bigger mess of the situation. The immaturity brought upon by the child stuck in a man’s body that James wades through life with can be infuriating to watch as you wish for him to realize the need to mentally mature. This realization comes with the understanding that he is in the modern version of purgatory.

James is literally unable to escape the torments of a lonely childhood and therefore surrounds himself with people as emotionally and mentally immature as he is.

The cinematography by Mátyás Erdély is frenzied and up-close. The film is composed of tight shots, rarely giving any of the characters room to breathe or deal with the constant stress pushing them forward. From shot to shot he ceases to give any of the characters the space they desperately need. In conjunction with the outstanding techno-piano score by Scott Mescudi (who also plays the role of James’ childhood friend Nick), the film relentlessly stirs in the mind of the viewer even as the credits begin to roll.

ARTS

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2016

MOSAIC

FASHION SHOW

ON DISPLAY Models and designers were on display on Friday, March 4 for the third annual Mosaic Fashion Show in TRU’s Campus Activity Centre.

To read more about the show, see our photo gallery and story online at truomega.ca.

TOP LEFT: Brianna Medeiros wearing Genesis Fashion and Beauty Company.

BOTTOM: Morgan Gee (left) and Ali Webster (right) wearing Dixon.

Comedians yuk it up for the MS Society Greg Kettner and Winston Spear perform in Kamloops’ Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Comedy for a Cause event Marlys Klossner ARTS EDITOR Ω Greg Kettner is an accomplished comedian who has opened for Norm MacDonald and raised tens of thousands of fundraising dollars for various causes.

Kettner’s set felt down to earth. The lighting onstage and in the audience was very similar, allowing him to actually make eye contact and giving the set a down-home feel. Kettner used some of his experiences as a

comedian as joke fodder, including an occasion where he was asked to step in after Whose Line Is It Anyway alum Greg Proops bombed and left minutes into a pricy corporate gig.

In stark contrast to Kettner, Winston Spear came out of the green room fully in character.

He danced up to the stage to Funkytown by Lipps Inc. Spear’s persona is a hilariously neurotic, stiff character who often does a bit of a twitchy moonwalk.

His comedy style also differs from Kettner’s, as Spear jumps right into enacting all the

various voices for some zany parody commercials. His style was less story-based, and focussed more on independent rapid-fire bits with an occasional throwback to a previous joke.

Spear closed the show with a comedic freestyle dance, an outlet for his stage persona’s nervous energy.

Between the two, there was something for everyone. Unfortunately, “everyone” was only about half the expected audience size.

The event was well-produced with lots of different options to

support the cause. Apart from ticket proceeds there was a silent auction, 50/50 tickets, door prizes and a balloon popping game. Prizes up for grabs included apparel, gear and even getaways, all while giving money towards helping those struggling with Multiple Sclerosis.

“The MS Society of Canada has a dual mission, because there is no known cure or cause yet, so while we do focus on trying to find the cure for MS and find out what causes it we also help people suffering from MS today to help lead a fulfilling life,”

fundraising coordinator Katrina Harding said.

The next fundraising event the MS Society will host will be the Scotiabank MS Walk on Sunday, May 15.

“It’s a great show of support from our community to everybody with MS, not just in Kamloops but the whole surrounding area. The Kamloops and area chapter supports as far away as Merrit, Salmon Arm and Williams Lake, so everyone can come out, have a fun time and support those living with MS,” Harding said.

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Theatre review: The Love of the Nightingale Veronica Kos CONTRIBUTOR Ω For anyone unfamiliar with the original Greek legend, The Love of the Nightingale was a shocking play. What begins as a story of two kingdoms and their families quickly turns into a dark theme about rape and abuse.

The theatre was quite full, only having about a dozen or so empty seats left for their first Thursday night showcase.

Although the play is based on the ancient Greek legend and takes place during that time, the dialogue was relatively easy to understand.

The audience effortlessly followed along with the story, especially when it took a more serious turn.

The play begins in ancient Athens during wartime. The King of Athens makes a deal with the King of Thrace, Tereus, by allowing him to marry one of his two daughters, Procne. Procne isn’t happy about leaving her sister, Philomele, and her home, but obeys her father.

Once they arrive in Thrace, Procne has a hard time connecting to the people and culture and asks for the King to retrieve her sister for company. This is when the play really begins to gain some depth.

Tereus travels to Athens once again to collect Philomele. While on

the ship returning back to Thrace, it becomes increasingly apparent that Tereus is attracted to Philomele and has a plan to do something about it. Philomele is first unaware of his intentions, but as time goes on, Tereus admits his feelings towards her. She is appalled and rejects him.

Out of anger, he rapes her. After the act, Philomele threatens to tell his whole kingdom about the kind of man he really is. Out of fear, Tereus cuts out her tongue.

At this point in the play, the audience fell into a dead stillness, in which no one repositioned or moved at all in their seats. The onstage relationship with Tereus, played by Kuup Peters, and Philomele, played

by Avery Reid, almost made one uncomfortable, simply because they did such an astounding job.

It’s so uncomfortable because it’s suggested throughout the play that although this is based off a Greek myth, it is real in today’s society. It is quite difficult to separate oneself from a reenactment of something that occurs far too often in real life.

Reid’s portrayal of a weak, violated woman is heartbreaking to watch.

However, Peters’ character appears to be one with more depth, as he claims love for Philomele yet his actions display the opposite. Peters does an incredible job of portraying such a dark character.

The biggest aspect of the play that

leaves the viewer unsettled is the ending. According to myth, the story ends with the gods turning Tereus and the sisters into different birds.

Philomele becomes a nightingale, relating back to the title of the play.

The conflicts are never resolved, but instead paused. It leaves the viewer unsatisfied, but mirrors how these situations most likely end in real life.

By the end of the production, many audience members had nothing but positive feedback on the performance. The Love of the Nightingale is not a light Sunday afternoon production, but instead a striking performance of an old tale about an issue still prevalent today.

Eric Molina/Flickr Commons

A weak return with “Fuller House” With second season coming, redemption possible Jennifer Will CONTRIBUTOR Ω Nostalgic and quirky are two words that best describe the first season of the long-awaited Fuller House.

The classic “Everywhere You Look” theme song traditionally performed

by Jesse Frederick was replaced with a modernized (yet horrendous) version performed by Carly Rae Jepsen.

The season includes things that no Full House fan could have seen coming, like Danny Tanner taking selfies and saying “you girls should be more like Kimmy Gibbler.”

The series follows DJ Fuller (formerly known as DJ Tanner) who now has two sons and has been recently widowed. DJ’s younger sister Stephanie Tanner, her childhood best friend Kimmy Gibbler and Kimmy’s

daughter all move in to help DJ raise her boys. Many of the episodes mirror plot points of the original show. Basically, Stephanie is the new Jessie and Kimmy is the new Joey, but divorced and with a kid. The show tries hard to replicate the cheesy family fun that fans had with Full House, but with more of an edgy adult feel. With references to alcohol, partying and sex, it attempts to appeal to a more mature audience.

The first three episodes were almost unbearable, but it got a little better as my expectations came crashing down.

However, no real plot starts developing until the last couple episodes where DJ has to choose between her first love, Steve Hale, and her co-worker at the vet clinic.

The show makes many references to Full House as well and acknowledges the fact that it is a reunion show.

They also reference the Olsen twins, who declined returning as Michelle for the series, with perhaps one too many jabs about how they are too busy with their “fashion empire.”

Jackson and Max Fuller, DJ’s kids, were the worst thing that came out of this revival show. Unlike the cute and charming kids we got from Full House, these kids were annoying and a pandering reminder of the millennial audience it’s trying to reach.

Fuller House has some nice and even some enjoyable moments that are downright nostalgic and fantastic.

However, most of the time it feels like a bad Disney Channel show, with forgettable and weak characters. As a fan who grew up watching Full House, this Netflix reboot was a complete disappointment but held promise for redemption in the already confirmed season two.

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SuperZeroes to the rescue in latest from Chimera Theatre The play takes a comical look at less-than-useful super powers and what it really means to be a hero Marlys Klossner ARTS EDITOR Ω Chimera Theatre’s comedy SuperZeroes takes us to a near future in which society is organized into a class system based on superpowers, or lack thereof. The cast of characters we follow all have the willpower, but not necessarily the superpower to go with it.

For example, one of the characters cut from the show was a man who was 10 per cent bulletproof, which

means his weakness was 90 per cent of bullets.

The kid-friendly show promises to be a hilarious and visually-entertaining play with lots of action scenes and fun costumes.

Superpowers can be a difficult thing to portray, especially onstage, where practical effects can only take you so far. The creative choreography of the scenes that do involve powers is engaging and as believable as can be in any superhero story.

Like most science fiction, the issues in the play draw a direct

parallel to the struggle between economic classes that we see in real life, and pokes fun at it.

“There’s a lot of parallels that you can see in your day-to-day lives. It made it easier as an actor to imagine that because you just place it in society right now, so that was really cool in the character-building process,” said Shelyse Cameron, who plays powerless human Morgan Anderson.

Cameron’s character is part of a ragtag team that bucks the system including the ambitious Samuel

Brooke Ballum as Samuel Summers fights off robbers in a fantasy sequence at the beginning of the play. (Marlys Klossner/Ω) Summers played by Brooke Ballam, who has a flair for the dramatic, and Lily Leblanc played by Jessica Buchanan, who comes from a line of super successful supers and wants to live up to her name. The play follows Summers as he monologues through life finding that being a hero is more about having character

and determination than actual physical (or mental) abilities.

“It’s very visual and fast-paced.

Not only do I demand acting from my actors, but they are also exhausted by the end of it. There’s so much movement and action and fighting.

It’s awesome,” director Brittany MacCarthy said.

COMICS & PUZZLES

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MARCH 9, 2016

Puzzle of the Week #18 – Alphabet Split The letters of the alphabet have been divided into three sets.

Each letter is in only one set. Determine the membership rule for each set.

{A, C, E, F, H, J, L, P, U} {B, D, G, I, O, R, S, Y, Z} {K, M, N, Q, T, V, W, X}

This puzzle is based on the form of capital letters. It is possible to argue the sets should be a bit different. If you come up with an alternative split that is close, if you explain the differences clearly, it will be counted as correct.

Hint: This particular puzzle is based on trying to make the letters fit into an everyday form that is not usually used for displaying letters.

This contest is sponsored by the Mathematics and Statistics department. The full-time student with the best score at the end of the year will win a prize. Please submit your solution (not just the answer but also why) by noon next Wednesday to Gene Wirchenko (<genew@telus.net>). Submissions by others are also welcome. The solution will be posted the Wednesday after that in my blog (http://genew.ca/). Come visit the Math Centre (HL304): we are friendly.

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SPORTS

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Men’s basketball advances to final four Cameron Doherty SPORTS EDITOR Ω With their backs up against the wall in the Friday night match-up TRU was able to pull out a victory to extend their season, they took down the Cougars 90–85. With the defence playing better, TRU was able to jump out to an early lead thanks in large part to the play of Volodymyr Iegorov.

The Ukrainian forward led the ‘Pack with 32 points on the night. With Regina battling back TRU was able to make clutch-free throws down the stretch to clinch the win.

In the third and deciding game, TRU, despite a late surge from the Cougars, was able to hold on for a 86–73 series-clinching victory. For the second game in a row TRU jumped out to a large lead early, but yet again the Cougars showed great resilience to battle back and keep the game close. Coming up big in what could have been the last games of their CIS careers were Reese Pribilsky, who scored 27 points, as well as Josh Wolfram and Gerard Gore who each chipped in 15 points of their own.

Basking in the afterglow of the victory, with the fans still cheering in the background well after the game was over, fifth-year player Gerard Gore talked about how he was able to play his best game of the series when it mattered the most.

“I just came out and decided that I was going to do everything possible to help the team. I’ve struggled with foul trouble the past two games and I came out poised and ready to do

Volodymyr Iegorov gooes up for a layup. Iegorov led TRU with 32 points Friday night. (Tristan Davies/The Omega) whatever I can to help the team out,” Gore said.

While most of the scoring throughout the series was put up by the veteran players on the ‘Pack it took a full team effort all season long to achieve everything that TRU has this year.

“This is a big step for us, last year we fell short. The three seniors: myself, Josh (Wolfram) and Reese (Pribilsky), we came out at the start

of the year and pushed the younger guys. We told them that we’ve been getting better every year and they followed us, stuck around and we’ve all done a really good job all year,” Gore said.

TRU now heads to Calgary for the Canada West final four where they will do battle with the University of British Columbia, and either the University of Calgary or the University of Manitoba.

When asked if his team would have a chance to soak in the glory after Saturday’s dramatic victory Clark’s mind was already focusing on the next task at hand.

“It’s a little celebration but it’s more just a time to take a breath. Take Sunday off and Monday we’ll meet for some video, practice Tuesday, Wednesday, a walk-through Thursday and we’ll get set to play Friday and Saturday next week,” Clark said.

With UBC hosting the CIS final eight national championships in late March, the Canada West conference will most likely send three teams to the tournament. A strong showing this weekend could continue TRU on the record-setting path they’ve been on all year with a first-ever berth to the national championship.

TRU is back in action Friday night with a game against the UBC Thunderbirds.

Former TRU player lands pro tryout Cameron Doherty SPORTS EDITOR Ω

Women’s team knocked out Cameron Doherty SPORTS EDITOR Ω The season is done and dusted for the TRU women’s basketball team, after they lost two straight games in a best-of-three series against the University of Alberta Pandas.

After finishing the season second in the Explorer Division, TRU received a bye through the first round of the playoffs only to come up against the Pandas, a team that finished the year with 17 wins and third place in the extremely competitive Pioneer Division.

“Alberta is a very good team and have a lot of skill and experience with their guards. We are going to have to really focus on keeping them in front of us and not getting beat off the bounce, as well as challenging all of their shots. So a big key is defence,” TRU guard Emma

Piggin said before the series began.

Unfortunately for TRU, both the defence and the offence went missing for the team in the series opener. They trailed the Pandas from beginning to end, eventually losing the game 77–48.

It would have been easy for the ‘Pack to hang their heads and just go through the motions after a devastating loss like that but the team battled back and refused to go quietly in the second game of the series.

Playing much better on both ends of the court, TRU took a two-point lead into halftime and kept things close throughout the second half of the contest before eventually falling 62–56.

“I was really proud of our girls in how they competed after a tough loss last night. There are some great people in our program and their character showed tonight,” said

head coach Scott Reeves after the loss.

In what was their last game with the ‘Pack, graduating players Kassie Colonna and Taiysa Worsfold led the way offensively with 20 and 15 points respectively.

Worsfold was a leader both on and off the court for the ‘Pack throughout her five years with the team. She finished her last season with the team fourth in scoring.

Colonna provided a vital inside presence for the ‘Pack during her time with the team. The 6’ 2” forward led the team in scoring, rebounding and blocks this year.

Also graduating from the ‘Pack this year are Sarah Malate and Jenna Quinton. Malate was one of the most dangerous three-point shooters for the ‘Pack, while Quinton played in eleven games this season before suffering a career-ending injury.

For five years Oriol Torres was an offensive dynamo for the TRU men’s soccer team, and now the man from Barcelona has his sights set on continuing his career at the professional level.

Attending an open tryout put on by Whitecaps Football Club 2 (WFC2), Torres was just one of many players that took to the field at Simon Fraser University, hoping to impress the coaches and earn a shot at making the team.

Torres was able to stand out from all the rest and was the only player offered a spot at the WFC2 training camp when the open was finished.

John Antulov, Torres’ coach for five years while he was with the ‘Pack, pointed out the fact that Torres is “a very technically gifted player,” as well as how well he has adapted to the more physical aspects of North American soccer as reasons for why Torres is such a strong player.

Now the hard work begins for Torres as he has a limited time

in pre-season to prove to the coaches that he belongs with the team full-time and earn a professional contract.

WFC2 is the affiliate team of the Major League Soccer (MLS) team Vancouver Whitecaps. With the players on WFC2 being the first in line to be called up to the Whitecaps, a strong showing with the team could see Torres playing in the top soccer league in North America.

WFC2 plays in the United Soccer League (USL), the third tier of North American professional soccer. The league is primarily made up of other teams that are aligned with MLS organizations.

Antulov also feels as though the accomplishments of Torres reflect very well upon the WolfPack.

“It does wonders for our program. With Ryan Glanville being a Canada West all-star and Oriol getting this opportunity it shows we’ve got quality players and it does a lot for our program, showing players that if you come here it’s not just school but there’s an opportunity for you to go further in soccer as well,” Antulov said.

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