The Sheaf, September 26, 2013

U of S rodeo club looks to rope in more members and interest.

Sports 6

THE sheaf

26 September, 2013 • The University of Saskatchewan student newspaper since 1912

U of S Space Design Team enters Mars rover competition.

NEWS 2

Education key element to incorporating aboriginal culture on university campuses

Quebec wants to limit religious symbols in the workplace.

OPINIONS 15

Local artist embraces influences in handmade art show.

CULTURE 9

ANNA-LILJA DAWSON Prairies and Northern Bureau Chief

SASKATOON (CUP) — University campuses are populated with students of various backgrounds that come from many different cultures. As universities continue to diversify, the need for cultural awareness is becoming of greater importance than ever before.

Universities in Canada are reporting increasing numbers of aboriginal students and many are advocating the support of aboriginal culture and ceremonies on their campuses.

Aboriginal student associations alongside university administrations invite their broader campus communities to partake in pow wows, pipe ceremonies and local sweats. When hosting any of these ceremonies, the University of Saskatchewan communicates through email not only to inform students, faculty and staff of these events, but to provide some initial information about the ceremony and its protocol.

In 2012, the U of S created the Indigenous Voices Program to educate and develop staff and faculty members’ knowledge of aboriginal culture as it may apply to them at the university.

The program was well received and has proceeded past the pilot period. To celebrate, the U of S hosted a pipe ceremony on Sept. 3, 2013.

Controversy arose when the Sept. 13 issue of On Campus News, the U of S news service, published an editorial critiquing the pipe ceremony for “marginalizing women” and for not being an inclusive ceremony.

Assistant professor of English at the U of S, Kevin Flynn, authored the article titled “Honour traditions but with inclusive ceremonies” after receiving the email inviting him to attend the pipe ceremony.

The email included seven guidelines to pipe ceremony protocol. Four of the seven guidelines concerned women, saying that women “on their

moon time” — menstruating — should refrain from participating in the ceremony but are welcome to sit outside of the circle. Women were also advised to wear skirts that cover their ankles, not to step over anything and not to sit cross-legged.

Despite the article stemming from an event that promotes aboriginal culture on the U of S campus, Associate Dean of Aboriginal Affairs in the College of Arts and Science Kristina Bidwell said this incident shows that there is still work to do with educating the campus community about aboriginal culture.

“This is not just a case of one professor, there are a lot of people in Saskatchewan and on campus that don’t know very much about aboriginal culture, [or] aboriginal ceremonies,” Bidwell said. “And that’s often what leads to misunderstandings.”

Citing a series of six public discussions regarding the Idle No More movement held from February to April by the university, Bidwell said that now is the time to take

CODY SCHUMACHER/GRAPHICS EDITOR

advantage of people’s attention to the matter of aboriginal culture.

President of the Indigenous Students’ Council Terri Favel led a forum for all students at the U of S who felt they were affected by the article. At the forum, students expressed interest in positive, educational responses to the article such as having a female traditional healer come teach about women’s moon time and cultural awareness training for staff and faculty.

Rheana Worme, a U of S student, was supportive of sharing information and letting the public know that students are open to educating and answering questions about aboriginal culture.

“We are open to teach our culture to everyone,” Worme said at the forum. “We’re not exclusive at the [Aboriginal Students’

Centre], we’re open to all kinds of students and faculty. There are proper resources here and they should be accessed by everyone.”

Shawna Cunningham, director of the Native Centre at the University of Calgary, said their aboriginal student population — two per cent of all students have identified as aboriginal — is significantly lower than the U of S, which averages just under eight per cent.

With a smaller aboriginal community on campus, Cunningham said that most information regarding ceremonies is shared by word of mouth in a non-public way.

The U of C’s Native Centre has aboriginal awareness training sessions where elders come to campus and teach about cultural parallels between aboriginal and non-aboriginal culture.

2

NEWS

U of S grad takes on Northern Gateway

THE sheaf Editor-in-Chief: HenryTye Glazebrook, editor@thesheaf.com Production Manager: Samantha Braun, layout@thesheaf.com Senior News Editor: Anna-Lilja Dawson, news@thesheaf.com Associate News Editor: Scott Davidson, associatenews@thesheaf.com Photography Editor: Jordan Dumba, photo@thesheaf.com Graphics Editor: Cody Schumacher, graphics@thesheaf.com Culture Editor: Nicholas Kindrachuk, arts@thesheaf.com Sports Editor: Kim Hartwig, sports@thesheaf.com

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

Opinions Editor: Travis Homenuk, opinions@thesheaf.com Copy Editor: Christine Warner, copy@thesheaf.com Web Editor: Carter Bryden, web@thesheaf.com Ad & Business Manager: Shantelle Hrytsak, ads@thesheaf.com Board of Directors: Pete Yee, Matt Chilliak, Jenna Mann, Dan LeBlanc Index Photo: Jordan Dumba/Photo Editor Office Numbers: Advertising 966-8688 Editorial 966-8689

The Sheaf is non-profit, incorporated and studentbody funded by way of a direct levy paid by all partand full-time undergraduate students at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S). Membership in the Society is open to undergraduate students at the U of S, but all members of the U of S community are encouraged to contribute to the newspaper. Opinions expressed in the Sheaf do not necessarily reflect those of the Sheaf Publishing Society Inc. The Sheaf reserves the right to refuse to accept or print any material deemed unfit for publication, as determined by the Editor-in-Chief. The Sheaf is published weekly during the academic year and monthly from May through August. The Editor-inChief has the right to veto any submission deemed unfit for the Society newspaper. In determining this, he/she will decide if the article or artwork would be of interest to a significant portion of the Society and benefit the welfare of Sheaf readers. The Sheaf will not publish any racist, sexist, homophobic, or libelous material.

Corrections • In our article, A new testament to the Bible as literature, we wrongly referred to the book of Revelation as the book of Revelations. We apologize for the error.

• In Shakespeare gets the viral treatment, we wrongly credited to accompanying photo to Jordan Dumba when it should have been credited to wikimediacommons. We apologize for the error.

• If you discover any errors in this week’s issue, please forward them to copy@thesheaf.com

SCOTT DAVIDSON Associate News Editor

Tomas Borsa wants to know why the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline is generating so much controversy.

Since July 2012, Borsa, a recent graduate of the University of Saskatchewan’s political studies program, has been hitting the road in B.C. and Alberta to see first hand what the potential impacts of the proposed pipeline would be. The project is tentatively titled Line in the Sand.

Over the last 15 months, Borsa and his team have collected 11,000 photos, over seven hours of video footage and scores of audio recordings and physical notes. He hopes that the project will eventually lead to a book and a short documentary film by next summer.

Northern Gateway is a proposed 1,170 kilometre oil pipeline from central Alberta to the B.C. coast. If completed, the pipeline would carry 525,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Alberta’s oil sands to the coastal city of Kitimat for export to Asian markets.

But Borsa says Northern Gateway is not just another pipeline. With the passing of Bill C-38 — an omnibus budget bill — by the Harper government in June 2012, the environmental review process for developments like Northern Gateway was significantly weakened, making it easier for future projects to pass regulatory bodies.

The proposed route goes through some of the most pristine wilderness in B.C. and tunnels through two mountains. Additionally, the pipeline would require oil supertankers to navigate coastal waters known for rough conditions and unpredictable weather.

“It would not be a matter of if an incident were to occur; a spill will occur. It’s just matter of when and where,” Borsa said.

The route also crosses a number of important aboriginal hunting and fishing grounds. Unsurprisingly, Borsa said that the highest opposition they encountered came from B.C.’s aboriginal communities.

“It’s about a lot more than economics or the environment for them,” Borsa said. “Their entire traditional cultures are at stake here.”

According to Borsa, one of the most meaningful experiences in the project so far was when he and his team were invited to go fishing with several First Nations, including the Wet’su’wet’en, the Nakazdli and the Nadleh Whut’en. Borsa said this allowed them to see first hand the way of life that is potentially threatened by Northern Gateway.

TRISTAN BECKER

Tomas Borsa, left, and Skylar Flavelle interview Des Nobels, a fisherman from Hazelton, B.C. An overwhelming number of people that Borsa encountered in B.C. were against Northern Gateway. However, in Alberta the prevailing attitude was quite the opposite.

It’s about a lot more than economics or the environment for them, their entire traditional cultures are at stake here.

Tomas Borsa U of S Grad

“Everywhere we went in Alberta, there was at least some degree of support, but more often than not, it was just total indifference,” said Borsa.

When the project began, Borsa was accompanied by U of S students Tristan Becker and Skylar Flavelle. Since then, Becker and Flavelle have developed other commitments and have left the project.

However, Jean-Felipe Marquis, a graduate of Concordia University and a contractor for Vice magazine, has joined with Borsa.

With the addition of Marquis, Borsa has hopes that the final Line in the Sand project could be translated into French to reach a greater audience.

The initial plan for Line in the Sand was not to prove any specific point of view. Instead,

Borsa said that they set out to see what was behind all the “imflammatory reporting” about Northern Gateway and to see if the controversy was really pitting the economy against the environment.

Since the project began, he said his perspective on the pipeline has changed.

“When we first started out, I was naive to the reality of the project’s implications.

Now, I would say that there is no way I could possibly support the pipeline going forward.

There’s just too much at stake,” Borsa said.

Going forward, Borsa has big plans for Line in the Sand. With a Kickstarter campaign beginning soon, the dream of a book and documentary film could become a reality sooner rather than later. Borsa added that for every two dollars donated to Line in the Sand they would plant a tree along the proposed route of Northern Gateway.

On Sept. 27, Borsa will be speaking at the Cultures of Reconciliation conference at the Mendel Art Gallery. The conference is co-sponsored by the Mendel and the U of S and covers a range of artistic, academic and activist approaches to contemporary aboriginal issues.

After the conference, Borsa will be heading back out on the road for October and most of November to continue his project in B.C.’s interior.

Anyone interested in keeping up to date with the project and the issues it pertains to can follow Borsa’s blog at lineinthesand.ca.

U of S Space Design Team aims for the Red Planet ERIK LaBINE

The surface of Mars may seem light years away, but the University of Saskatchewan Space Design Team is bringing it a little closer to home.

The group's latest project, which began in early September, is to design and build a Mars rover — a space exploration vehicle designed for travel on the surface of a planet — for the 2014 University Rover Challenge. As part of the challenge, university students design, build and test their own Mars rovers.

The average 225 million kilometre distance to the Red Planet makes testing rovers on real martian terrain a challenge in itself. Fortunately a suitable substitute has been found a few kilometres off of a dusty road in rural Utah, where the challenge will be hosted by the Mars Society — a non-governmental organization concerned with promoting human exploration and colonization of the planet.

“This project is based on the concept that in the future a settlement on Mars or the moon would have a large quantity of robots working for the residents,” said USST President Justin Gerein.

Gerein said the competition focuses on tasks that would be difficult for humans to perform

on Mars due to the planet's harsh environment.

On Mars, temperatures can drop to below -100 degrees Celsius, very little oxygen is in the atmosphere and there is no ozone layer to shield ultraviolet rays. The tasks include delivering materials to a certain location, sample collection, location analysis, traversing challenging terrain and equipment maintenance.

The USST’s rover is being designed to be controlled in real time much like rovers currently in use, Gerein said.

This is not the USST's first experience with rover construction. Over the last year-and-ahalf, they were occupied with a similar contest, the Annual Lunabotics Competition, hosted by NASA. The team spent nearly a year working on their entry to the lunar rover competition.

Unfortunately, NASA chose not to invite teams from outside of the U.S. due to lack of resources, said Gerein.

“It was very disappointing news to the team, especially due to the work that was lost,” Gerein said.

Gerein remains optimistic about the group's chances in 2014, saying that a lot of work from their previous project will be applicable to this new Mars rover challenge.

“We learned a large amount about robotics,

The USST recently launched their first high altitute weather balloon. and [we] will be in a very good position as we jump into the next project,” Gerein said.

Even so, there is much work left to be done and the USST has begun its annual recruitment drive for students to join the team.

J. KUBICA

Although the group is based in the Engineering Building, the USST is open to students from any college and has members from the colleges of Engineering, Arts and Science, Medicine and Edward’s School of business.

NEWS

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

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Prime Minister Harper pushes Kelowna pipeline PATRICK VAILLANCOURT — The Other Press (Douglas College)

VANCOUVER (CUP) — Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in Kelowna, B.C. the weekend of Sept. 14 for a national caucus meeting and to meet with residents opposed to the proposed pipeline projects in the western-most province.

Although details of Harper’s agenda while in the province have not been disclosed, there is a broad consensus that the trip to Canada’s West Coast was to make a big push in support of building the Keystone and Northern Gateway pipelines, as well as expanding the existing Kinder Morgan Pipeline.

The Keystone Pipeline, which has been the focus of intense media attention and scrutiny over the last year, will take bitumen products from Alberta’s oil sands to refineries in Texas. While none of the components of the proposed Keystone Pipeline are to be built in B.C., aboriginal leaders across the country have been vocal in their opposition to it, citing negative environmental impacts.

The Northern Gateway Pipeline project proposes a 1,170 kilometre twin pipeline from the oil sands to the port of Kitimat, in northern B.C. Opposition to the Northern Gateway Pipeline is focused on the company Enbridge, which has a relatively poor

JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS, VANCOUVER SUN

Prime Minister Stephen Harper addressing attendees of a barbeque in West Kelowna on Sept. 20.

In 2007, the Kinder Morgan pipeline was ruptured accidentally by sewer contractors working for the City of Burnaby, causing an oil spill that forced evacuations and damaged homes and marine wildlife, as well as resulting in traffic disruptions for months after the spill was contained.

Environmentalists and First Nations leaders opposed to the pipeline say that the government is meeting with them purely as a formality, while the Harper government contends it is consulting with all interested parties.

The debate, especially with regards to the Northern Gateway pipeline, has also led to somewhat frosty relations between B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Alberta Premier Alison Redford; relations which have warmed significantly since their respective election victories.

The Prime Minister’s office has directed senior cabinet officials to travel to B.C., starting on Sept. 23, to engage in a public opinions campaign which they hope will win them greater support for the building of the Keystone and Northern Gateway pipelines and the expansion of the existing Kinder Morgan Pipeline.

record on pipeline safety and security. The proposed flow of oil makes pristine areas of the province potentially vulnerable to oil spills. The oil would be carried onto tankers destined for Asia.

The proposed expansion of the Kinder Morgan Pipeline, however, strikes at the heart of those living in the province’s lower mainland. The current pipeline, which was

designed to transport crude oil but now carries refined product from the oil sands, ends at the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, B.C. The expansion, which proposes to twin the pipeline, is meant to accommodate nearly triple the amount of oil — from 300,000 to almost 900,000 barrels per day — to oil tankers in the Burrard Inlet. The oil is then exported to oil-hungry markets in Asia.

ANNA-LILJA DAWSON Senior News Editor

College of Pharmacy and Nutrition celebrates centennial year

Eerie manuscript leads professor to receive grant

Horses shop like humans researcher says

U of S professor to lead $3.6 million poultry research team

Centennial celebrations for the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition kicked off Sept. 20 with a short program on the steps of the the Thorvaldson Building and a tailgate party prior to the Huskies’ homecoming football game.

The School of Pharmacy welcomed its first class in January 1914 after being established the previous year. A one-year program was offered for students to receive a certificate in pharmacy until 1916 when the optional four-year Bachelor’s of Science in pharmacy was established.

In 1921, the school became the College of Pharmacy. A four-year Bachelor’s of Science from the University of Saskatchewan became the minimum requirement to become a registered pharmacist in the province in 1946.

The Division of Nutrition and Dietetics was established within the college in 1987.

Seven years later the name of the college was changed to the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition.

In the last 100 years, over 4,400 students have graduated from the college.

After finding a manuscript at the British Library in London with the how-tos of conjuring ghosts, Frank Klaassen from the University of Saskatchewan will be furthering his research in the history of magic.

The found manuscript said ghosts of the recently deceased — preferably children — are the easiest to summon. The conjurer must also dig up a body from a graveyard and create a concoction from the heart and a finger.

Magic from 100 years before the date of the manuscript was incredibly different and focussed heavily on conjuring angels and demons.

The drastic change in magic is what intrigued Klaassen and led him to apply for funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Klaassen was awarded $53,000 to research a book on magic dating from the late Middle Ages to the 17th century.

Students helping Klaassen with his research will be able to learn 16th century handwriting.

Klaassen is an associate professor of history with an interest in the history of learned magic and studies of manuscripts, ancient writings and inscriptions.

University of Saskatchewan Associate Professor Philip McLoughlin and his colleagues have found many similarities between humans and horses in “shopping” behavior.

Sable Island National Park Reserve, off the coast of Nova Scotia, is known for being the home of the wild Sable Island horses.

Six years into a 30-year-long research project, McLoughlin and his team study population growth, individual exposure to population density and sex ratios, movement and dispersal patterns, among other things, of the Sable Island horses.

McLoughlin said horses chose feeding areas based on the vegetation type and how many horses were also in the area.

Likened to human shoppers frantically choosing the shortest check-out line and deciding on which store to shop at based on travel time and how busy the store may be, horses show similar behavior when “shopping” for habitat patches.

McLoughlin said the horses move to other areas of the island as competition rises with increasing horse population.

University of Saskatchewan news briefs University of Saskatchewan professor and researcher, Henry Classen, has been awarded $3.6 million to lead a five-year long research project to better the poultry industry.

The research program is funded in part by the Industrial Research Chair in Poultry Nutrition, which is a part of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and a number of Saskatchewan organizations that represent turkey, chicken and egg producers.

Classen specializes in poultry welfare and management, animal and poultry nutrition, growth related disorders and feed ingredients.

Much of his research has resulted in reducing production costs while improving poultry well-being.

For over 30 years, Classen has been fostering relationships with Saskatchewan producers and has been recognized a number of times in Canada and the U.S. for his work.

As a result, the poultry industry has called upon him to create protocols and to conduct research to address concerns of the industry.

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4

NEWS

Campus crime report

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

Ensuring student safety a priority in campus residences KAYLA PENTELIUK

Incidents at the University of Saskatchewan involving Protective Services from Sept. 15 - 21, 2013.

Tickets officers issued: • 28 Consumption of alcohol in public • 3 Driving an unregistered vehicle • 3 Consumption or possession of alcohol in a vehicle • 2 Disobeying traffic sign • 2 Minor in possession of or consuming alcoholic beverage • 2 Minor presenting false ID to enter premises • 2 being intoxicated in public • 1 Unaccompanied learner driver • 1 Display of an unauthorized plate • 1 Speeding • 1 Drive left of center of highway

With almost 2,000 people calling the University of Saskatchewan residences home, student safety and security is an important aspect of resident life.

The question is, how secure is living in residence and what preventative measures are taken to keep resident students safe?

Located on and off campus, College Quarter, McEown Park, Voyageur Place and Grad House are the four residences that house a significant number of students each year.

Associate Director of Consumer Services George Foufas said security is a priority with such numerous people coming in and out of the buildings.

On moving day, all residents have their student cards coded for exclusive access to the particular residence they will be living in. Key-card access prevents intruders from coming into buildings.

Each residence has security cameras, is well lit and has Protective Services (formerly known as Campus Safety) patrolling the grounds from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. every night.

The residence office and resident advisors collaborate with Protective Services on a regular basis to keep students safe. Regular reports are sent back-and-forth concerning incidents in the residences, which keeps all parties informed.

“We work very closely with Protective Services on campus and we promote the

fact that students can call them if they have any issues. Sometimes it’s as simple as someone getting locked out of their suite, but sometimes it’s something more serious,” Foufas said.

Protective Services play an integral part in monitoring the activity of students in residence. Harold Shiffman, manager of finance and administration for Protective Services, said any of the resident life staff, such as residence assistants, can be notified if there is a problem.

“Resident advisors tend to do a lot of the walking around and general patrolling of the area, because they know everybody and are comfortable talking to the people in residence,” Shiffman said. “If something gets out of control, or something needs criminal investigation, then that’s when we step in.”

Shiffman said the residence halls are not “crime-ridden” and have a low crime rate. Most of the incidents reported at the residences occur in their parking lots, especially in the U-Lot where both thefts of personal property and break and enters are common occurrences.

“Theft is really common in the parking lot. That’s the number one place where thefts occur in residence. Where there are cars parked, there’s usually a lot of theft and people breaking into vehicles,” Shiffman said.

Protective Services recommends removing personal items from vehicles when parked in any of the campus parking lots to avoid break-ins.

There are many things students can do to ensure their safety while living in residence, such as locking doors, making sure they are properly shut, only letting people they know into the residences and keeping their key card in a safe place.

Additionally, all residents are encouraged to get to know the people in their residence hall to assure a heightened sense of community and safety.

First-year engineering student Emily Farago, a resident of Athabasca Hall in Voyageur Place, has had a positive experience in residence so far.

“I really do feel safe in residence. They make it clear who to contact if there is a situation that needs to be resolved.

We have our personal RA’s number, the number for the RAs on duty and can also contact Protective Services if we need to,” Farago said. “No matter what, there is always someone I can call if there’s an issue.”

Above all, the community aspects of living in residence have made Farago feel comfortable and at home at the U of S. “My experiences living here have been really good so far,” Farago said. “I really love it here.”

Other reports: • Protective Services issued two 24-hour driver licence suspensions and responded to three medical calls and one collision.

• A suspicious male was reported in the Murray Library.

• A vehicle was broken into in Stadium Parkade and some items were stolen.

• An assault was reported in a residence. The incident is still under investigation.

• A male was arrested in Edwards School of Business for causing a disturbance.

• Four people were arrested for being intoxicated in a public place. One was transported to the Saskatoon Health Region’s Brief Detox Unit and the other three were released to the Saskatoon Police Service.

• Saskatoon Fire and Protective Services was called to a fire reported in a Loraas bin on Veterinary Road.

STEPHANIE MAH

SPORTS

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

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New interactive wellness program launched KIMBERLEY HARTWIG Sports Editor Campus Rec and the Fit Centre have joined together to launch a new program it hopes will help students reach their wellness goals. The program, Healthy U Interactive, is an upgraded version of Rec Pac, the system previously used to keep track of students’ physical activity and wellness.

“Healthy U is basically the same idea but just brought into the digital age,” said Lynn Orsak, Campus Rec Program Assistant for Healthy U Interactive.

“The program is an online health and wellness platform developed by Total Health Interactive [which] focuses on engaging students into activities that will improve their overall health,” said Shawn Rempel, client service manager for Healthy U Interactive.

Rec Pac was very time consuming for the students who used the program and for the staff who entered the data. Healthy U will be much more efficient and user-friendly.

“It’s all online [and] you do it on your own time and it logs your points for you. It’s super easy to use,” said Orsak.

Beginning Monday Sept. 23 students can create a Healthy U account. To start using the program students go to the Healthy U Interactive website, which can be accessed through recservices.usask.ca under the get fit tab. Students will click on the link, enter their Network Services ID and change their password. After changing their password, students will be able to log into their person

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wellness account.

“From there you can track your fitness, you can track your nutrition — basically any healthy goal that you have it will help you track it and help you stay motivated and stay on track,” Orsak said.

There are many things students can do with Healthy U, including logging their own fitness activities or taking part in individual or team challenges. Students are awarded points for the activities they complete, logging their nutrition and their motivations.

“If you’re looking to beef up your biceps and you want to log that in you get points for that. If you’re goal is to take 10,000 steps in a day, you can get points for that too,” she said.

Students can win prizes like water bottles and towels for reaching a certain amount of points. Points can also be redeemed at the online store for discounts on things like heart rate monitors, pedometers or training programs.

The program offers students many ways to improve their overall wellness and allows for them to individualize their experience.

“Each student can choose how they best utilize the system. Some may use it as a goal setting tool, others may use it as a resource tool as we have an extensive library of health and wellness related resources including recipes, while others may use it to track their progress,” Rempel said.

“It is designed to be quick, easy and fun to use, with a goal of facilitating student enjoyment and success.”

Healthy U doesn’t just provide students a place to keep track of their activities and their progress but also tries to educate students about wellness through a newsletter.

“They’ve got everything from study habits to how to start an exercise routine and build that into your lifestyle. There’s stuff about living with roommates — basically anything that you could run into being a student on campus,” Orsak said.

Users can choose how often they would like to receive the newsletter or can opt out of it all together. The newsletter also includes different tasks which students can earn extra points for completing.

One major improvement made through Healthy U is accessibility. In addition to the web-based platform students will be able to access their account through the My Healthy Compass app for Android and IOS devices, making it easy for students to log their fitness anywhere.

“If you’re cooling down on the treadmill and you want to log your activity right there

and you’ve got your phone on you, you can literally do it in 30 seconds,” Orsak said.

Developers are hoping that Healthy U Interactive will be one more tool students can use to help improve their overall health and fitness. Orsak sees the program as most helpful for keeping students on track with their goals as it shows students how far they have come.

“I think it’s a really good tool to increase motivation,” Orsak said. “I know lots of times you start off really great in September and then back again in January and you’re really excited about being healthy and getting into routine but then you get bogged down with school work. I think just having that little bit of extra motivation will help students a lot with reaching their fitness and healthy living goals.”

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Huskies bring home win KIMBERLEY HARTWIG Sports Editor

The Huskies football team returned to Griffiths Stadium with a bang on Friday night, defeating the University of Alberta Golden Bears 39-17 during the homecoming game. The Alberta Golden Bears came in as the third best scoring team in the conference but were overpowered by the Huskies’ strong defense. The Dogs are now 3-1 on the season and sit second in the Canada West standings.

The home team dominated the opening quarter, immediately pressuring the Bears’ offence and posting 19 unanswered points to the board .

On the first drive of the game, Bears quarterback Ryan Schwartz was sacked by Joel Sutter for a loss of nine yards. Schwartz would be brought to the ground eight times over the night.

Pushed deep into their own territory, the Bears surrendered a safety and the Huskies had their first two points.

On their opening drive the Huskies displayed their offensive strength, bringing a seven play 54-yard march downfield into the endzone. The drive was capped off by a nine-yard pass from quarterback Drew Burko to running back Dexter Janke in the endzone.

After earning a single point off Denton Kolodzinski’s punt five minutes later, the Huskies were up 10-0.

The Dogs would put even more distance between themselves and the Bears when Burko connected with receiver Mitch Hillis for a 20-yard pass. The touchdown was Hillis’ first in the conference. In the following drive the Bears would find themselves once again pushed deep into their own zone and would concede another safety, giving the Huskies a 19-0 lead.

JORDAN DUMBA/PHOTO EDITOR

Spectators at Friday’s homecoming game were treated to a stellar display of Huskie defense and offence in a convincing 39-17 win over the Golden Bears.

The second quarter would see the first signs of life from the Bears’ offence. Stephen Fabian opened the quarter with a field goal to finally put the Bears on the board. The momentum didn’t stay with the Bears long, as another sack by Seutter led to a fumble which the Huskies recovered. In the ensuing drive Kolodzinski would hit a field goal of his own from 32 yards out.

The Bears would score their first touchdown of the night on their next possession off of a 60-yard run into the endzone by Ed Ilnicki.

At the end of the half the score was 22-10 for the home team.

The Huskies would find the endzone in the 13th minute of the third quarter when running back Shane Buchanan brought the ball into the endzone after a nine play 70-yard drive.

The Huskies’ touchdown would be the only tally added to the board during the quarter.

The Bears would score their second and final touchdown in the fourth quarter when Schwartz ran one yard into the endzone. Four minutes later Buchanan would run 29-yards

into the endzone to add another seven points to the scoreboard for the home team. Before the night was over, Kolodzinski would kick a 33-yard field goal to secure the Huskies’ win 39-17.

Ben Rush was awarded defensive player of the week for his contributions to the Huskies defence. Rush recorded 3.5 tackles including 2.5 sacks and also recovered a fumble.

The Huskies take on the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Saturday Sept. 28 in Vancouver.

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SPORTS

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

Dog Watch: Theo Dow KIMBERLEY HARTWIG Sports Editor

Theo Dow is ready to take over the reigns as Huskies wrestling team captain.

The fourth-year arts-and-science-student from Smithers, British Columbia is taking the lead after the departure of Ryan Myrfield.

Dow is looking forward to leading the squad this year and knows he can turn to Myrfield if he ever needs advice.

“It feels great [to be captain]. Ryan’s a good friend of mine. I’m sure I’ll be asking him for some mentorship later on in the season,” Dow said.

Wrestling is an individual sport where each athlete takes to the mat alone, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t look to each other for support and encouragement. Dow sees cultivating this atmosphere as one of his most important tasks.

“Being captain of an individual sport means you have to bring people together,” he said. “You have to make sure everybody participates. Even though it’s an individual sport it’s still important to get the team bonding aspect.”

Dow also thinks it’s important for teammates to push one another to reach their highest potential.

“If you’re going to the gym by yourself everyday it’s boring; there’s nothing around you pushing you to do it. If there’s just two

of you, you might not work as hard. But if everybody’s there you’re going to work as hard as you can,” he said.

A positive team atmosphere is one of Dow’s favourite things about the sport and about being a Huskie. The camaraderie amongst the team can be seen in their aftermatch ritual.

“Win or lose you have to give a high five to everybody on your team,” he said.

Dow’s most memorable Huskie moment

JORDAN DUMBA/PHOTO EDITOR

came after a big win when he was still new to the squad, but what really made it special was the support he felt.

“In my first year Canada West was held here in Saskatoon. I was still new to the program and I wrestled really well and I came [in] second place,” he said. “That was a huge moment for me. I had my grandparents in the stands as well as aunts and uncles, all my teammates, family and friends. It was awesome. Everyone was cheering really loud

and it was a really happy moment.”

One thing Dow wants people to know about wrestling is just how inclusive and accessible it is. There is almost no cost for equipment and there’s only a small registration fee to pay. Wrestling is also one of the few sports where disabled athletes compete with ablebodied athletes. One of the most successful NCAA wrestlers, Anthony Robles, was born with only one leg.

“Wrestling [puts] a big importance on letting anybody wrestle,” Dow said.

Dow started wrestling at a young age and credits his first coach with helping him become successful and to stay involved in the sport.

“I had a very good wrestling coach in my hometown, [Mike] Richey,” Dow said. “He got me out when I was quite young [and] I did a couple months of a kids’ wrestling program. Once I came to high school [Mike] came and said you have to come back on the team. I came back and I wrestled for him and I really liked it. When I was looking at universities I knew I wanted to wrestle.”

There are many reasons why Dow loves to wrestle but there’s one trait in particular that helps him succeed on the mat.

“I’m a gritty guy,” Dow said.

Students can watch the wrestling team grapple for mat supremacy at the Huskie Open on Nov. 24 and at the Canada West Wrestling Championship on February 7-8.

Rodeo club wrangles success KIMBERLEY HARTWIG Sports Editor

The University of Saskatchewan rodeo club finished hosting its second rodeo this past weekend in Martensville, Sask. The club held its first ever rodeo at this time last year.

The club competed against teams from across Alberta including ones from the University of Calgary, the University of Lethbridge and the University of Alberta.

There were 20 riders who competed from the U of S and 124 competitors in total.

Riders took part in 10 events during the two day event which was also the first rodeo of the season. Female riders competed in barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying and breakaway roping while male riders competed in bull riding, saddle bronc, bareback, calf roping and steer wrestling.

Female and male riders also came together to compete in team roping.

Competitors were able to compete in as many events as they wished, the only

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stipulation being that they must be enrolled in nine credit units worth of classes throughout the year.

Rodeo club co-founders Shelby Clemens and Katie Dutchak were very proud of how the team competed. The duo started the club in 2011 and have seen it grow from a few founding members to the 35 that now make up the group. Unlike many of the other teams who competed, the U of S rodeo club does not have a coach and is completely student run.

“Everything that we do, we’ve made ourselves,” said Clemens.

Whereas other clubs are able to keep their livestock and horses on campus and have facilities to practice in, the U of S club has had to find their own way. Last year the team practiced and kept their horses at Prairieland Park. The club is now riding out of Lazy T Stables but the situation is still not ideal.

“For the guys who ride the rough stock, which is the saddle bronc, bareback and bull, there’s really nowhere for them go,” Clemens said. “A lot of it is you find your own place to [practice]. It’s self motivated.”

Despite not having the resources available to other teams, the rodeo club is thriving and continues to generate interest. One thing Clemens and Dutchak want students to know is that the rodeo club is not just for experienced riders. The pair hopes anyone who is interested will come see what the club has to offer.

“We have people from all walks of life that are on the rodeo team,” said Dutchak.

“People that have never ridden or like the idea of it or know of friends that do it, they come and they help out and get involved. It’s for everybody.”

Some brave newcomers even had their first competitive experience at last weekend’s rodeo.

“We have quite a few people that this was their first rodeo which was super exciting for us,” said Clemens. “We’re all about growing the sport.”

BRITTANY SUNDBY PHOTOGRAPHY

The fledgling U of S rodeo club has hosted two successful rodeos since its inception in 2011.

Many students may be unfamiliar with rodeos and what they entail for both riders and livestock. While some may feel that rodeo animals are mistreated, this is far from the truth.

“Anybody that’s from a rodeo community knows how much work you have to put into keeping rodeo animals in top form,” said Clemens. “That’s your athlete. They come first before everything.”

“It’s horse first; it’s animal first,” said Dutchak.

Working with an animal is something that Dutchak loves about competing in rodeos.

Dutchak, who has played many sports and also wrestles for the Huskies, sees the humananimal interaction as what sets rodeoing apart from everything else she has done.

“I love the adrenaline. That is a totally different adrenaline rush,” said Dutchak.

“You’re working with a 1,200 pound animal that could do whatever it wants and it’s choosing to listen to you. To know that your

horse is working for you and listening to you, that is such a fulfilling end of the day when you and your horse did so well together.”

Clemens and Dutchak hope that more students will continue to join the club and experience rodeoing first hand. They want to see the team become more formidable and established and perhaps one day even have a coach.

The two both competed in the high school rodeo circuit and had the opportunity to go down to schools in the states in order to continue competing. Instead, they decided to stay in Saskatoon and, rather than lament on the lack of a university rodeo club, they created their own.

“We want to see [the club] keep going and keep growing,” said Clemens. “We want to keep drawing kids from the high school rodeo circuit up to Saskatoon. We want to see kids come here.”

SPORTS

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

Men’s soccer splits campaign against Dinos KIMBERLEY HARTWIG Sports Editor

The Huskies men’s soccer team came away with one win and one loss after this past weekend’s series against the Calgary Dinos.

The two teams traded scores with the Dogs posting a 1-0 win in the opening game on Saturday and the Dinos taking the second by the same margin on Sunday. The Huskies are now 4-2-0 on the season while the Dinos are 3-3-0.

Saturday’s match would see both teams unable to score due to both strong goalkeeping and defense until the second half when the Huskies would break through to score the lone goal.

Neither team would be able to convert their chances during the opening half. The Huskies had the best opportunities to score, with Garrett Peters and Luigi Bekwayo both sending balls just wide of the net. The Dogs outshot the Dinos eight to four during the half but Dino’s keeper Jordan Unreiner was able to turn away all shots that came his way.

In the opening minutes of the second half, the Dinos saw their best chance to score.

There was a scramble in front of the Huskies net but the visiting team could not get the ball past keeper Michal Bandula.

The winning goal for the Huskies came in the 73rd minute off a free kick. Striker Brett Levis was awarded the free kick after being tripped by a Calgary defender. Jordian Farahani took the free kick and sent the ball

into the high right corner out of the reach of Unreiner.

The single goal would be enough to seal the victory. The Huskies outshot the Dinos 15-5 and Bandula recorded his third shutout of the season, helping the Dogs to their fourth win.

A single goal also proved the difference in the second game but this time it would be the Dinos turn to come away with a close win.

The Dinos were able to score early in the first half and the Huskies were not able to reply.

The Dino’s goal came when Jaron Broom knocked his teammate’s free kick into the Huskies net during the eighth minute.

The home team had opportunities to tie the score, taking 10 shots, but Unreiner was up to the task and made two saves during the first half.

The Huskies saw their shots land just off the mark, the ball was sent wide three times and hit the crossbar once.

The Dogs had a chance to level the score in the final seconds of the game when a corner kick bounced off a head and toward the Dinos’ net but Unreiner once again came through with a save.

For the second day in a row the Huskies outshot the Dinos by a sizeable margin, 16-7, but this time they were not able to find the net.

Both Bandula and Unreiner recorded three saves for the day but it would be the one shot to sneak past Bandula that would make the difference this time.

Jordian Farahani scored the winning goal in the Huskies 1-0 triumph over the Calgary Dinos.

EVAN NEUFELD

Women’s soccer team holds on to undefeated record

JORDAN DUMBA/PHOTO EDITOR

After both of their games ended in ties this weekend, the women’s soccer team remains undefeated.

KIMBERLEY HARTWIG Sports Editor The Huskies women’s soccer team escaped with their winning streak unscathed after posting two ties this past weekend. The Huskies are now 3-0-2 on the season and hold third spot in the Canada West division.

The Dogs first faced off against a team that they had never beaten, the Trinity Western University Spartans, on Saturday Sept. 21.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw after neither team was able to grab hold of a lead during extra time.

The two teams were unable to find the net during the first half with keepers performing well for each squad. Huskies keeper Cara Santaga made two diving saves and Spartans keeper Rachel Bedek also held tough in net, allowing zero goals.

The Spartans struck first in the second half when Natalie Boyd netted a free kick into the top left hand of the net in the 55th minute.

The Huskies replied with a goal of their own off of Erica Parenteau’s free kick.

From here both squads would display strong defense with no real scoring opportunities coming until the closing minutes of the game.

The Huskies sent two shots off the crossbar, including one off captain Leanne Mylymok’s foot which bounced off the bottom of the crossbar directly into the hands of Bedek.

Canada West Standings

Upcoming Games

Men’s Football

Women’s Soccer

Men’s Soccer

GP-W-L 1. Calgary 4-4-0 2. Saskatchewan 4-3-1 3. Manitoba 4-2-2 4. UBC 4-2-2 5. Regina 4-1-3 6. Alberta 4-0-4 *Top four teams qualify for playoffs

GP-W-L-T 1. Alberta 6-5-0-1 2. Calgary 5-4-0-1 5-3-0-2 3. Saskatchewan 5-2-0-3 4. UBC 5-3-2-0 5. Victoria 5-2-2-1 6. Regina 5-2-2-1 7. UFV 5-1-1-3 8. Trinity Western 6-2-4-0 9. Mount Royal 5-1-3-1 10. Manitoba 5-1-4-0 11. Winnipeg 5-0-3-2 12. Lethbridge 6-0-5-1 13. UNBC *Top six teams qualify for playoffs

Prairie Division 1. Alberta 2. Saskatchewan 3. Calgary 4. Mount Royal 5. Winnipeg 6. Lethbridge

Men’s Football • Sept. 28 in Vancouver vs. University of British Columbia Thunderbirds at 2 p.m.

Oct. 4 vs. University of Calgary Dinos at 7 p.m.

GP-W-L-T 5-4-0-1 6-4-2-0 6-3-3-0 5-2-2-1 6-1-4-1 6-1-5-0

Pacific Division GP-W-L-T 1. UBC 6-5-1-0 2. Victoria 6-4-2-0 3. UFV 6-3-3-0 4. UNBC 4-1-2-1 5. Trinity Western 6-1-5-0 *Top three teams from each division qualify for playoffs

7

The Huskies would come dangerously close to tasting their first defeat of the season when Krista Gommeringer headed a ball towards the net but it hit the crossbar and deflected high in overtime, allowing the game to finish at 1-1.

On Sunday the Huskies took the field against a fellow undefeated team, the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

The match would end in 0-0 stalemate.

The Thunderbirds outshot the Huskies 10-7 in the match but Santaga held her ground in net, making four saves, while Thunderbirds’ keeper Alyssa Williamson made two.

This was Santaga’s second shutout of the season.

The Huskies best chance to score came in the 82nd minute when Daniela Fuenzalida shook off defenders in the Spartan’s box but her shot sailed just over the crossbar.

The Spartans would see their own chances foiled in the 62nd minute when Santaga kept a ball from reaching the net and in the 78th minute when Huskies defender Jennifer Miller blocked another shot.

With neither team able to break through both teams remain undefeated on the season.

The women’s soccer team will defend their undefeated record this weekend against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns and the University of Calgary Dinos.

Men’s Hockey Sept. 27 vs. University of Regina Cougars at 7 p.m.

Women’s Soccer Sept. 28 vs. University of Lethbridge Pronghorns at 12 p.m.

Sept. 29 vs. University of Calgary Dinos at 12 p.m.

• Oct. 5 in Calgary vs. Mount Royal University Cougars at 12 p.m.

• Oct. 6 in Edmonton vs. University of Alberta Golden Bears at 2 p.m.

Women’s Hockey Oct. 4 and 5 vs. Mount Royal Cougars at 7 p.m.

Men’s Volleyball • Sept. 27-29 in Calgary at the University of Alberta Open

Men’s Soccer • Sept. 27 in Vancouver vs. University of British Columbia Thunderbirds at 7 p.m.

• Sept. 28 in Langley vs. Trinity Western University Spartans at 7 p.m.

Oct. 5 and 6 vs. University of Alberta Golden Bears at 2:15 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball Oct. 4 vs. Briercrest College at 8 p.m.

Home Game

8

CULTURE

Orange is the New Black reads even better than it plays

CHRISTOPHER DEMARCUS — THE CASCADE (UNIVERSITY OF THE FRASER VALLEY)

ABBOTSFORD (CUP) — Orange Is the New Black, a Netflix hit this year, is based on a 2010 memoir of its same name. It’s the story of Piper Kerman, an ex-con who is sent to prison on international drug smuggling charges.

Fans of the show have been hooked on the outrageous events that occur during Piper’s 15-month term in federal prison but, like most book-to-film adaptations, a lot gets lost in translation. At the book’s core is a brutally honest story of universal love, female solidarity, and the absurdity of North America’s justice system.

Between drug running and prison, Kermen spent a decade producing and writing infomercials; she is no stranger to the craft of storytelling. Unlike the show, there are no cheap, wacky punchline plot points. The book’s humour is smarter. The characters are more enduring. And the main subject is not the prisoners, but the justice system.

The novel is more complex, less complicated and moves with a different flow. The Netflix show employs a kind of pop “lipstick lesbian” chic that’s not in the book. Piper’s direct account takes a more authentic approach to romantic relationships and friendships. Lesbian prison rape is not as predominant as the show would have us believe; rather, the main threat is rape from the male guards with inflated egos. As Piper’s lawyer puts it: “The hardest thing will be chicken-shit rules, enforced by chicken-shit people.”

Reading Orange Is the New Black is as informative as it is touching. Piper shows

SHOW STILL

Piper’s fellow inmates: Nicky Nichols (Natasha Lyonne), Suzanne Warren (Uzo Aduba), Tricia Miler (Madeline Brewer) and Alex Vause (Laura Prepon). us the bureaucratic labyrinth of the criminal justice system, right down to the strip searches she is subjected to every time she requests face-to-face time with visitors. Prison policy is designed to dehumanize each convict in order to control the prison population. All of these policies are applied equally, despite the “real world” social status of each prisoner. A 70-year-old woman is ordered to shovel snow in zero degree weather. A rich suburbanite housewife is required to fix the electrical in a dilapidated pump house.

Ethnicity is a big social divider, but Piper becomes aware of her own irrational judgement of race and class while in prison.

Every woman is equalized by the same

oppressive restrictions.

The book cuts deeper than the show. It’s about women loving women on both a platonic and romantic level. It’s about how communal sisterhood can help the individual endure. It’s got some big messages, not tampon jokes.

Piper Kerman has a love for literature, too.

Novels and letters were tools for her to stay in touch with the outside world. Fun references to a multitude of literary works are carefully placed throughout.

Lean and strong writing with little unnecessary exposition builds a smooth non-fiction narrative. The words shine with honesty. It’s superior to the show. Read it.

and upon his wife’s death in 2009 he began painting the scenes he previously captured on camera. While self-taught, there is an energy and passion behind Sharma’s work that brings out the sentimental value of this exhibit and the discussion of other ways of life.

Other pieces featuring locations important to Sharma include the Northern Lights in Saskatchewan, a cliff face in New Mexico that currently serves as a bird sanctuary and the sand dunes in Africa. He also paints portraits of family members, working from photographs to help capture images properly.

Sharma’s passion for anthropology and the human condition shows in his art, as he works to capture the human condition and the cultural context of the images. The paintings contain villagers going about their lives — working in the fields, maintaining the store, women caring for their children or gossiping in the afternoon.

More importantly, it presents a way of life that has been fading with the increase of social media and fewer chances to socialize among neighbors and peers. It is a change that Sharma is critical of, saying that, “it’s like naval gazing all the time, and that has cut down on social discourse.”

He also shows concern about political and public issues within India, especially increasing rates of crime and assault. Despite these issues, however, he appreciates the unity among the many different groups in his home country and the complexity it contains.

The village depicted in the gallery show does not exist as is; it was modernized and incorporated into Dehli as the capital expanded, growing from a small farming community to a center of over 20,000 people.

Focus has shifted from farming to building rentals and shopping as the need for space increases, but there is still a core community that persists through older residents and younger

generations of the original population. And most of Sharma’s work focuses on that core — the spirit of communication and community that has persisted even today.

One piece features an elderly shopkeeper, over 80 years old, who Sharma described as still biking to work every day. Another piece shows women gossiping as they watch their children, reminiscent of Sharma’s own life in a small town and poor family.

“India is a land of contrasts,” Sharma said.

“You have very rich people… but you have a lot of people who are dying, who are starving… and unless you provide a balanced picture of the country, you have a five-star chauffeur in an airconditioned car view of India.”

There is a lot to discuss in Sharma’s work, much of it from the stories and lifestyle it presents. In both the village-inspired paintings and Sharma’s more personal works, one can gain a sense of nostalgia for the things that have faded away, changed or have otherwise been lost.

But with discussion and a rebuilding of what it means to be a community, perhaps some of those feelings can be regained.

Sharma occasionally hosts a radio program on CFCR 90.5 FM, playing classical music from Northern India. His next show will play on Saturday, Oct. 26. Sharma is also working on a course in Asian civilizations, which is planned for next year, and a proposal for language classes in Hindi and politics and globalization in South Asia.

People and Places in My Life, Research and Travels to India and Within North America is currently hosted in the Frances Morrison Public Library on the second floor gallery. It will be displayed until Oct. 3, 2013. Works in the gallery are available for sale, with the exception of some family portraits.

Life expressed through art

KATLYNN BALDERSTONE

People and Places in My Life, Research and Travels to India and Within North America is an art show by University of Saskatchewan professor, Satya Sharma. While the show focuses on his experiences in a small village in Delhi, other pieces show friends, family members and significant locations in Sharma’s life.

The exhibit features several of Sharma’s oil paintings, which depict people and places in a village near Dehli, India. He has studied the village for over 50 years, taking note of how it has changed and modernized over the years.

Over this time he took thousands of photographs,

SUPPLIED

Satya Sharma’s works on display: “An Old Shopkeeper” (top) and Afternoon Gossip. (bottom).

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

Upcoming Events Thursday, Sept. 26 •Authority Zero at The Fez • Jealousy Mountain Duo at Paved Arts • Keys N Krates at Louis’ • Wolfen Rabbits at Woods Alehouse Friday, Sept. 27 • Pure Sugar Reception at Gordon Snelgrove Gallery • No Joy at Amigo’s • Premier Saskatchewan’s Fine Wines Spirits and Speciality Foods Festival at TCU Place • Les Miserables at TCU Place • Cara Luft at Village Guitar & Amp Saturday, Sept. 28 • The Bros. Landreth at Village Guitar & Amp • Lady Deathstryke at Louis’ Sunday, Sept. 29 • Five Finger Death Punch at Credit Union Centre • Overture at Delta Bessborough Gardens Monday, Sept. 30 • Eamon Mcgrath at Vangelis Tuesday, Oct. 1 • World View at Affinity Gallery • Brushstrokes of Watercolor Depicting Nature’s Beauty at Meewasin Valley Centre Wednesday, Oct. 2 • Drake at Credit Union Centre • Indigo Girls at Broadway Theatre

CULTURE

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

9

Snelgrove Gallery exhibit looks to rediscover handmade art NICHOLAS KINDRACHUK Culture Editor Master of Fine Arts student David Dyck, who is in his final exhibition, has put together an eccentric collection at the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery called Pure Sugar.

The show contains a dozen structures from the mind of Dyck, all unique with a

handcrafted and complex feeling. One of his creations even moves when people walk by due to its motion sensor. All structures take on a life of their own as they are separated far from each other in the gallery. Each one is open to analysis and an individual search for meaning.

A large inspiration for the exhibit came from the work of Marchel Duchamp,

SUPPLIED BY DAVID DYCK

David Dyck’s version of the “Broken Arm Apparatus.”

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creativley take an everyday item like a shovel and hang it on a wall challenging others’ conception of art. Duchamp titled the shovel piece “Broken Arm Apparatus,” which Dyck pays homage to in Pure Sugar with his own version of the piece — a broken shovel transformed to support an arm.

“I was shovelling my lawn like everyone does, shovel froze into the snow and just snapped. [It was] like an art historical reference before my eyes,” Dyck said.

These pieces by Duchamp were known as the Readymade collection. While challenging perceptions of art, they also looked to explore consumerism in 1915. Almost 100 years later, the art world has strayed away from making physical art.

“I took a redemptive kind of idea towards the Readymade, it was an important time for art and for the completely consumerized time it came from. Handmade objects are a way to question that consumer society, which I feel is necessary,” Dyck said.

Some pieces, like one installation that sees a bicycle simply hanging from the wall, present a more nuanced idea of the artist’s views. It is all a way of challenging the viewer and having them decide just what it is and what these various pieces mean without any input from the artist.

The works explore Dyck’s background in mechanical engineering from a course he took in Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST) — a course and eventual job that he got involved in due to external pressure to have a practical career.

“A lot of people in the field have the naive idea that they’ll be engaged in these grand designs or creating rockets. Instead I found myself in this day-to-day job that was just repetitive, [it] just wasn’t doing it for me. Just kind of burnt myself out on it,” Dyck said.

Dyck was always a person who enjoyed

SUPPLIED BY DAVID DYCK

A numbered piece that moves when it sense motion.

tinkering and making unique objects, something he had from his childhood.

“My dad had a garage and was always in there tinkering,” Dyck said. “If we broke our bikes we couldn’t take them in to get fixed; he’d make us do it ourselves”.

Growing up without a television likewise opened a lot of free time for Dyck to be creative and work on making his own contraptions.

While Pure Sugar embraces his love for creating, it also explores Dyck’s shift into the artistic world from his engineering background, showing his deep respect and understanding from artists in the past.

Most of all, Dyck wants those who view the gallery to draw their own conclusions and explore what these creations mean to them.

He describes the exhibit as “pure molasses,” but leaves it up to the viewer to turn it into pure sugar.

Pure Sugar runs until Sept. 27 at Gordon Snelgrove Gallery. There will be a reception held on the final day from 7 to 10 p.m.

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Pride and p 10

FEATURE

RACHAEL BREAUER — The Peak (Simon Fraser University)

BURNABY (CUP) — Over drinks last week, a friend was shocked to hear that I’d experienced homophobia in Vancouver and was even more shocked to hear that it wasn’t an isolated incident. I don’t know whether to chalk this up to well-meaning NIMBYism (Not In My Backyard) or the fact that I have some pretty sweet straight friends. Either way, I’m here to be the kill-joy and inform you that yes, homophobia does still exist — even in fair Vancouver.

You’ve no doubt heard about the kids in Sullivan, Indiana trying to have a “traditional” prom. Yes, I know, this isn’t about Vancouver, but hold on. I’ll get there.

This one kills me. If you live in a town that’s so backwoods that it feels the need to have a no-gays-allowed dance, then just have your regular prom. I’m sure the number of intolerant assholes in attendance will be sufficient to keep the gays at home.

There’s a reason Valentine’s Day queer prom nights like the “People’s Prom” are so popular in Vancouver: a lot of LGBT teens didn’t feel comfortable going to their proms.

Now as adults, they revel in the opportunity to dress up as they would have liked, get bad pictures taken in front of a Hawaiian sunset backdrop and drink legally spiked punch.

This story has died down a bit and some students have defended their high school, saying that the group organizing this is a fringe group of fundamentalists. They have continued to affirm how accepting their school is, even as a neighbouring school’s special-ed teacher, Diana Medley, has publicly stated that she doesn’t think gay people have a purpose in life, compared being gay to being disabled and then said that LGBT kids attending prom is “offensive.”

Dave Springer, the no-gays-at-prom group’s school’s principal said “a girl could go [to their prom] with another girl if they didn’t have a date or that was their choice.”

The rhetoric here of “choice” and Springer’s initial hope that this hypothetical girl is just a sad loser that would rather go with a girlfriend than a real live choice-making queer negates his attempt at acceptance.

I know for these small town kids that’s about as good as they can realistically hope for but, for the love of rainbows, they deserve better and shouldn’t have to settle for disdainful tolerance from their mentors.

Across the globe next year, Sochi, Russia, will be hosting a cast of queer athletes for the 2014 Olympics. Despite my general feelings surrounding the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, I will admit the Pride House they had for queer athletes was a definite high note, showcasing the need for acceptance and normalizing acceptance in sports.

Presumably, though, we won’t be seeing any of those at Sochi. A handful of regions in Russia, including St. Petersburg, recently passed legislation that made LGBT “propaganda” aimed towards minors illegal.

This ambiguous legislation means that anything that equates being gay with being normal is illegal and assures that even in areas where having sex with someone of the same sex is legal, Russian youth will know that being LGBT is icky despite being legally protected. Maybe the kids from Sullivan should have a destination prom in Russia (though everyone knows that Communists

are worse than gays!)

In an issue that hits closer to home, The Owl, the University of Regina’s pub, came under fire last fall when a trivia host saw fit to use homophobic slurs. A student wrote an op-ed piece in the student newspaper, The Carillon, and then the student received backlash for saying that the host’s use of the word “faggot” made him feel isolated and afraid.

It’s hard to imagine this happening at any school’s pub. I haven’t spent a ton of time at such venues by any means, and while I’ve definitely heard choruses of “Ugh, gaaaaaaaayyyyyyy!” coming from individual tables, I still can’t imagine language like that getting used by an event host. But maybe that’s my own willful NIMBYism acting up.

Vancouver hardly has a clean rap sheet when it comes to hate crimes. In 2009, Shawn Woodward left Ritchie Dowrey permanently brain damaged because he hit on Woodward — while at a gay bar.

“He deserved it. The faggot touched me,” Woodward said after sucker-punching Dowrey in the back of the head on his way out of The Fountainhead. Woodward was convicted of a hate crime, but after serving a year-and-a-half is now out on day-parole and living in a North Vancouver halfway house.

In 2008, Michael Kandola broke Jordan Smith’s jaw in three places after he hurled homophobic slurs and punches at his face.

Smith was walking down Davie Street, holding another man’s hand, prompting the attack.

“Why are you faggots holding hands?”

Kandola rhetorically asked while the attack was underway.

Kandola’s 2010 trial was a landmark case for the LGBT community. It is one of the first times an attack was deemed a hate crime in a court of law, despite the Vancouver Police Department treating numerous previous attacks as hate crimes.

I remember feeling a hollow victory when I read the news. Yes, we’d gotten the hate crime designation which established a legal precedent, but how excited can you be over a gay bashing?

The statistics on sexual-orientation based hate crimes are pretty dismal in Vancouver.

They topped the charts in 2010, accounting for 26 per cent of the sexual orientationmotivated hate crimes committed. The VPD has stated that these hate crimes have been on the decline since 2010, with 2012 being an all-time low, but some question the reliability of statistics. The Transit Police Force, for example, had no reported gay bashings on file as of September 2012, despite there having been attacks reported to news sources.

Hesitation to label something homophobic or hateful seems to be gaining popularity. It took a Twitter outrage last year for Aaron Poirier to be taken seriously when he was harassed for being a “fag” by another YMCA patron in the lockerroom. Despite the fact that the man threatened to punch Poirier and then harassed Poirier and his partner on a second occasion, the YMCA was happy to allow the harasser to maintain his membership based on a second-chance protocol.

“We view this as an opportunity to teach the individual in question about appropriate behaviour and acceptance of all people regardless of their sexual orientation,” a YMCA spokesperson said initially. After pressure from the community, however, the

Educating yourself and others about the effects of homophobia is something in which we all must participa

prejudice

ate.

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26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

PORTABLE NETWORK GRAPHICS

YMCA offered an official apology and will be undergoing queer competency training.

This is a sad example of one of the problems that I believe is reinforcing homophobia.

There isn’t a lot of room for straight people to ask genuine questions to LGBT people about all things LGBT without being told they’re assholes simply for asking. I feel for you, straight people. I know you mean well when you’re asking those questionable questions; I can see you working up the nerve to ask them for weeks before you do, asking them in your head first in those awkward silences in our conversations.

In defence of those who refuse to answer your questions, the first time someone asked me, “how did you know?” the conversation devolved into, “so you’ve been with men?

You’ve had sex with men? Oh, well, then you’re not really gay.”

When a former boss asked me, “how do your parents feel about this?” (for the record, they were more phased by me losing my keys one night than by my coming out), she concluded the conversation with, “well, if it was my child I’d have a big problem with it.” You can imagine the derisive look that accompanied that last bit. While you might not be a raging homophobe, we can’t always tell.

Many of us don’t want to answer your questions in case they’re a smokescreen for disapproval. But then again, how are you supposed to learn if you can’t ask questions?

Qmunity — a centre in Vancouver providing resources, supports and programs to the queer community — offered their services in the YMCA case, but unfortunately there isn’t always someone willing to slog through how-to-not-be-a-homophobe 101 with the commoners.

I’ll throw you a freebie: stop saying “gay” or calling people any variation of “faggot.” I know many think of this as queers and libbers being overly politically correct. “I don’t mean ‘gay’ like ‘homo,’ I mean it like bad,” some defend.

Guess what idiots: that’s not how homophones work; it’s how homophobia works. “Gay” used colloquially stems directly from a conception of queerness as bad, other and generally unacceptable. You might support queer rights, but if you’re still dropping gay bombs, you’re creating a space where queers — like me — feel like they aren’t welcome. We can’t tell that you mean gay as in “bad” (again, that’s not a thing) and not gay as in “don’t-act-like-that-around-meor-I’ll-break-your-jaw.”

All it indicates to us is that the space you’re occupying when you talk like that is somewhere we might get bashed for being ourselves. It’s The Fountainhead in 2009 or the YMCA last year. It’s somewhere I nurse my one standard drink all night long, sit stiffly and leave as early as I can, vaguely concerned someone might decide it’s a good night to rape me straight.

Fortunately I’ve never been physically harmed for being queer, which isn’t all that surprising. I don’t necessarily read as queer, so I’ve had it pretty easy. I have hair long enough to pull back in a ponytail, I prefer dresses as formal wear, and if I’m not feeling too lazy I’ll schlep on some make-up before I leave the house. Still, I’m unfortunately no stranger to getting harassed — usually as a result of the company I keep.

I don’t really like holding hands with my

partners in public anymore. Nothing takes the joy out of being in love and holding hands on a crisp autumn day like being stuck walking downtown during crawling rush hour traffic and having an SUV full of men screaming “DYKES!” at you and your girlfriend.

You can’t physically remove yourself from the situation without running away while someone screams hateful epithets and onlookers gawk silently at you. Yeah you’ll want to scream back, but what do you even say? And if you do fight back, what next?

I didn’t want to end up the lesbian Jordan Smith — a male Vancouver resident and victim of gay-bashing back in ’08 — so I did nothing. Thinking about this still makes me furious.

Transit at night is another fun one. It’s easy enough for straight-looking me to navigate, but I’ve received far too many text messages along the lines of “some guy on the bus is threatening to ‘kick my tranny faggot ass’ and it’s all I can do not to drag him off the bus and beat the hell out of him,” from my exgirlfriend, who got referred to as “sir” more often than “miss” or “lady” in public.

I once encountered a drunk guy getting on the bus. The first thing he did was warn some other dude on the bus not to suck his dick. He continued on like this for a while, treading on the precipice of incoherence, making jokes about various riders being “butt-fucking fags” and asking who wanted to suck his dick until his trailing eyes locked on my visibly queer female companion who had responded, “Yeah, buddy, I’ll suck your dick for sure.”

“Look at this guy, what the fuck even are you — man no,” he gestured to someone we couldn’t see.“Look at this fag. No shit, you’ll suck my dick. Gross!” Around this point the bus driver told him to sit down and shut up and he more or less did before stumbling off a few blocks later.

While anti-climactic, I can’t forget this.

I was sure this was the night I was either getting gay bashed while intervening or left screaming and helpless while my ex got her face beaten in. At the time I thought it would never end.

In reality this all played out in five minutes.

It was early enough that some guy was with his eight-year-old son on the bus. There were only a handful of empty seats. No one said or did anything to this guy. We all just let it happen.

What is going through people’s heads when they scream homophobic slurs in public? I can’t say I’ve ever had a chat with someone who’s done this, so I don’t have an answer but only more questions. Do they hate queers? Do they think it’s a joke? I don’t know what motivates people to act or be homophobic and I don’t feel like we are any closer to figuring any of this out.

What is obvious is a disconnect between what’s legally and socially acceptable and how people view their words and actions within this paradigm of permissibility. While Vancouver is certainly leaps and bounds ahead of some places, it isn’t without fault.

Just because you aren’t a bigot doesn’t mean they don’t exist in droves and a see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil approach is sadly missing its fourth tenet: do no evil.

I really hope we come up with more solutions soon, because I really miss holding hands.

BRIEF:

Queerapalooza returns to U of S campus

UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, MCKAY FAMILY FONDS

The “Queeristorical” walking tour will end with a recreation of this photo titled The 99 year kiss.

SCOTT DAVIDSON Associate News Editor The University of Saskatchewan's annual LGBT pride week celebration, Queerapalooza, will return to campus with events running from Sept. 30 to Oct. 8.

“Everyone needs to know that we’re a very diverse campus. As much as you’re walking down the street and thinking you’re not surrounded by other gender identities or sexual orientations, you are. And we need to be able to celebrate that and know that this is a respectful campus community,” said U of S Students’ Union Pride Centre coordinator Jack Saddleback.

The Pride Centre will be working with a number of campus student groups including the International Students and Study Abroad Centre, the Aboriginal Students’ Centre and the Gamer’s Club, to bring students a number of events over the week.

Queerapalooza kicks off with a gender inclusive pipe ceremony at the Native Law Centre. The event comes on the heels of a controversial On Campus News op-ed piece titled Honour tradition but with inclusive ceremonies by assistant English professor Kevin Flynn about gender rights in traditional ceremonies.

“We’ve been planning this for a while and it just happened that this individual [ Flynn] had wrote something and the next pipe ceremony happened to be gender neutral,” Saddleback said.

Other events planned for Queerapalooza include a showing of the documentary Call Me Kuchu, a global peace village in Upper Place Riel and a “Queeristorical” tour of campus that ends with the recreation of an iconiciconic photo of two women kissing.

The week closes out with their “Pretty in Pink Party” that will double as the 16th anniversary celebration of the Pride Centre.

The party will include a drag show, cake and an appearance by Mr. Gay Canada, Danny Papadatos.

The Pride Centre has also planned several post Queerapalooza events.

For those who missed the first “Queeristorical” walking tour, there will be a second tour on Oct. 6. The Queer as Folktales: Local Legends on Screen film festival takes place in the Murray Library on Oct. 8.

The festival features short films from four Saskatchewan filmmakers including David Geiss and Fiji Robinson.

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CULTURE

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

U of S grad student Gale Hagblom talks comfort and artist exploration WILLIAM LOUISON For Gale Hagblom, who has spent nearly her entire life being busy, painting is the one thing that she can do to put a moratorium on her daily bustle.

She’s a mother, wife, daughter, friend, volunteer, former pre-school teacher and full-time graduate student, but still manages to find time to escape to her well-lit, spacious studio in the exhibition area of Saskatoon

GALE HAGBLOM

An example of Hagblom’s colour exploration.

She also studied at the Nova Scotia College of Arts Design University, of which she has many fond memories.

“I had wonderful mentors,” she said.“They forced me to go out of my comfort zone and experiment with the canvas.” This prodding from her professors might have removed some of her control over her work, but it encouraged her to be spontaneous.

“Nature is spontaneous,” Hagblom said.

“We can only interpret that spontaneity because art is a celebration of nature. With my art, I’m trying to reproduce my experiences.

It’s about me expressing myself.”

Having people enjoy and appreciate her work is really just an added bonus.

“I really do paint for myself,” Hagblom said. “If I don’t, then it doesn’t work. There’s no sincerity to it.”

Hagblom has dabbled in other mediums, like ceramics and jewellery crafting. She does understand, though, that she only has limited time each day for her creative pursuits, which forces her to focus on things she loves.

“It’s like picking a subject,” she said. And

and delve into what she describes as “a direct interaction with the canvas”.

“I always had an interest in art,” Hagblom said of her former years at Hugh Cairns Elementary and Walter Murray Collegiate.

“I had a skill — a talent — that was pointed out by several teachers.”

Referring to a specific memory, Hagblom recalls a teacher who took her aside and said, “It’s really difficult for me to teach students like you because you don’t appreciate the talent that you have. It’s wasted on you.”

Hagblom admits that it did take her a long time to fully recognize her talent.

Hagblom began her university career studying fine arts at the University of Saskatchewan, but eventually headed off to the Banff Centre for their arts to take a program in graphic design. What she learned in this program would inspire her to create a series of paintings she refers to as The Matrix.

The Matrix paintings are her exploration of colours, lines and shapes — a type of abstract art that contrasts her many tranquil landscapes and powerful animals.

for her, there’s a lusciousness, longevity, pliability and versatility when painting with oils.

“I’m always underestimating myself,” Hagblom confessed when prompted if she likes her paintings. In recent years, she has learned to not be so hard on herself.

“I’ve had wonderful feedback throughout my life,” she said with a smile and a look of gratitude. “I just wasn’t mature enough to appreciate it before. I’m in my ‘50s now and it’s taken me that long to finally reach a point where I’m comfortable with myself and my skill-set.”

She may indeed be in her ‘50s, but a gleam in Hagblom’s eye shows she has no intentions of slowing down anytime soon. She’s always looking for the next opportunity to showcase her magnificent creations, exploring the possibility of expanding to galleries in other cities. She’s also returned to the U of S as a full-time student, working her way towards a masters in geography and planning.

Check out Hagblom’s gallery at Calories Restaurant on Broadway, where it will be on display until Oct. 5, or at galehagblom.com.

World Rivers Day Festival 2013 informs and entertains NICHOLAS KINDRACHUK Culture Editor The river that flows through the heart of Saskatoon is well celebrated, is used to keep the city beautiful and is a primary source of energy. What many people living here don’t realize is that it is one of the most endangered rivers in Canada from a study done by the World Wildlife Fund.

World Rivers Day Festival 2013, which takes over Frienship Park on Sept. 29, is looking to show everyone just how badly the river needs taking care of if the city continues to rely on it. It is an event that goes on internationally, but was stepped up in scale in Saskatoon with the state and importance of the river.

Administrator for Saskatchewan Ecoorganization Amber Burton is looking to provide the information that people need to carry on sustainable lives in a fun, informative event. The organizers hope to deliver the information in a form that gets people excited about helping the city rather than sitting through a long lecture.

“One thing people always agree on about the city is that they enjoy the river valley.

If they recognize that then they’ll want to conserve it,” said Burton.

The event begins at 8:30 a.m, perfect for those early risers who’d like to go explore some of the natural scenery that surrounds the river. Later risers can go to afternoon family yoga starting at noon to get the day going.

An event that has Burton most excited is the interactive water fair, which is held from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. This is where many of the organizations who are helping to save and preserve our river will be out for those who wish to learn more. These are the groups that the Eco-organization believes need to support of Saskatonians in order to keep the river sustainable.

Burton hopes that this will be a great way for people to get involved with various groups and give them much needed volunteers.

To make the fair interactive, there are going to be trivia sheets that can only be completed by visiting each area. Once the answers are all found the sheet can be handed in for the potential to win prizes such as paddling lessons from Coldspring Paddling, an interpretive tour for 10 at Meewasin Valley as well as other smaller items.

Meewasin will also be hosting river walks that will take place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. to show the true beauty and use of the river to those who may have taken it for granted over the years.

A view of Saskatoon that World Rivers Day Festival looks to celebrate and preserve.

One final event will see volunteers assisting in in cleaning up the river, put on by Trash Dashers Saskatoon. The first step to keeping a sustainable water source is by keeping it clean and usable for a long time to come.

There’s set to be live music and spoken word presentations throughout the afternoon

+

including musicians The Paddlewheelers.

World Rivers Day Festival 2013 is sponsored by Meewasin Valley and City of Saskatoon. For more information, visit econet.ca. In the event of rain ,the festival will be held at Grace Westminster United Church on Broadway.

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CULTURE

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

13

Elvis Costello looks to wake up the ghost of his lost career MADISON TAYLOR

Is Costello a ghost of his former self?

HEINEKEN JAZZALDIA

The past hand-jives its way into the present in Elvis Costello & The Roots’ new album Wise Up the Ghost. Using a fusion of 1950s rockabilly and contemporary electronic, Costello fortifies his reputation as a musical chameleon — though one that lacks direction.

With an illustrious 30-plus year career under his belt, Costello has come a long way from his 1977 debut that iconized him as “that guy that looks like Buddy Holly”. After blending, redefining and otherwise rebelling against the confines of genre for so long, the only question that remains is: is there anywhere left for Costello to go?

What initially catches the eye about the album is not the sound, but the cover — a play on Allen Ginsberg’s classic poetry volume Howl. But if this is an attempt to declare the album as being as radical and groundbreaking as Ginsberg’s poetry, Costello may need to cash in a reality check.

Opening on an upbeat yet cacophonic note, with the song “Walk Us Uptown,” Costello warbles alongside a jumble of sounds

including what appears to be the adjustment of volume on a MacBook. The entire album continues on this confused, time-warped note that is reminiscent of the infamous Jay Z/Gatsby scandal earlier this year.

The enjoyment of such contrasting sounds in the same song is certainly an acquired taste, much like boxed wine or Marquis Hall coffee. By attempting to bring the hazy, bluesy glamour of the past into a fast-paced and unforgiving present, Costello creates an overall discordant sound that is saved by a mere handful of standout tracks. The beauty of Costello’s music lies primarily in his lyrics, which do not take center stage or even stage right in Wise Up the Ghost.

The entire album exists as a poor caricature of what could have been. It appears Elvis Costello’s musical prowess came with an expiry date. Wise Up the Ghost may live on as ambient music played dimly in the background at coffee shops and bookstores, but has fallen flat in its attempt to live on in the hearts of listeners.

Perhaps it’s time for Elvis Costello to lay his career to a much overdue rest.

The importance of public art SARAH JACKSON — OVER THE EDGE (UNBC)

PRINCE GEORGE (CUP) — Anyone who has ever seen Cirque du Soleil will agree that it is an awe-inspiring experience. I had the incredible experience of seeing it for free in a revamped airport hangar in Quebec City this summer.

I arrived an hour early, joining a line that stretched further than the eye could see along a dock beside the St. Lawrence River. The sun set over the crowd as we waited, bubbling with anticipation.

The woman standing next to me told me how much she enjoyed living in Quebec City.

She had lived in Ontario and in Montreal for years, but Quebec City — which is classified as a United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization world heritage site — is the city she wants to live in.

Later that night, standing mere feet beneath swinging acrobats in the cool dark, I understood exactly what she meant.

What is the true value of art and architecture? A commonly held assumption in our society is that function is often more important than beauty. Yet, we have to wonder to what extent this is really true.

Think about your favorite city and about what it is that makes it that for you. For me, it is all about the impression I get from public spaces and the feeling those spaces create.

Walking through the famous cities of the world, it is the architecture and art that makes an impression: the curve of the buildings, sculptures, street musicians and parks.

The first thing a city does when it is looking to revitalize the downtown is make it more aesthetically pleasing. After all, beautiful places attract investment. Take Vancouver, B.C. with its modern, shapely skyscrapers and gorgeous parks. Wherever you go in downtown Vancouver, the mountains seem to loom in the distance and the gorgeous blue ocean is within walking distance.

But public art is also controversial. Like anything else that involves people’s tax

One of Saskatoon’s many notable public art installations. dollars, critics question its value and complain about the cost, especially if it is something they do not like. Cities are expressions of ourselves and we want them to reflect that.

According to David Staples of the Edmonton Journal, most major cities in Canada have a program that ensures one per cent of tax dollars goes to public art. This program demonstrates the importance of public art from a political perspective.

In April of this year, British Culture Secretary Maria Miller, argued that in periods

of global economic austerity, policy-makers have to look at the economic value of public art and culture. Her shadowing culture secretary, Harriet Harman, added that “arts and culture are about much more than the economy: they’re about a sense of identity, of community, and the potential of each and every individual.”

Every person who has ever played at a piano recital with trembling hands or covered themselves in paint at a summer camp understands the value and thrill of creating

JORDAN DUMBA/PHOTO EDITOR

and participating in art. It is an intrinsic and often under-looked part of our lives.

The longer I live, the more I learn to value art. It is something we can all contribute to, from supporting local artists to learning to become one. Everything can be art if it is seen from that perspective: a well-crafted sentence in an essay to the way we move about the world. It is just about becoming aware of the art that exists all around us and within us.

14

OPINIONS

The truth about the morning after pill

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

Not all cultural ceremonies are discriminatory

CODY SCHUMACHER/GRAPHICS EDITOR

CASEY BALON The Emergency Contraceptive Pill (ECP) has proven to be a controversial topic of discussion.

Many students understand its purpose, but do we all really know its ins and outs? Having the straight facts can empower you to make educated decisions regarding your own health.

Based on the grounds of moral or religious beliefs, each pharmacist can choose whether or not to receive the training that enables them to prescribe and educate on ECP. It is important to note that pharmacists who do not possess ECP certification are ethically obligated to direct you to an appropriate local pharmacy which will be able to provide you with the service — because every woman has the right to access emergency contraception.

When referring to the clinical definition of contraception, the term encompasses the prevention of pregnancy. Interception refers to the prevention of uterine implantation of a fertilized egg. Emergency contraception is described as any form of birth control which is used after intercourse, but before implantation, and is a woman’s last opportunity to potentially prevent pregnancy.

Since April 2005, the product Plan B has been available in Saskatchewan without a prescription.

What many individuals may not be aware of is that the active ingredient in Plan B, levonorgestrel, is a synthetic progestin which is also contained (at lower levels) in birth control pills. It is most likely that Plan B works through a combination of actions: it temporarily stops the release of an egg from the ovary, prevents fertilization and prevents a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus.

In order to be most effective, Plan B is intended to be taken within 72 hours after suspected contraceptive failure or unprotected sex. The earlier it is taken, the higher the possibility that it will be effective. What may seem obvious to some, but still important to note, is that emergency contraception does not protect against sexually transmitted diseases.

The average age of a woman seeking ECP is 25. With this in mind, access to such is an issue that has and will continue to impact our student population. Many of our university’s students face more than enough pressure from external sources, including pressures from family, friends and society as a whole.

Where students should not encounter pressure is upon interaction with their health care providers. Your health and safety are their first priority. Health-care professionals are there to help you — to help you to better understand and to empower you to better your own health.

Knowledge is power. Having the correct information at your disposal can aid you in making informed decisions for yourself. This, in turn, can enable you to become an active advocate of your own health.

JORDAN DUMBA/PHOTO EDITOR

Jack Saddleback speaks to a crowd about Professor Flynn’s controversial article in On Campus News.

NATALIE DAVIS Professor Kevin Flynn of the University of Saskatchewan’s department of English showed a serious lack of judgement in his controversial article regarding the policies of an aboriginal pipe ceremony to which he was invited.

After reading in the invitation email that women during their “moon time” were discouraged to participate in the ceremony, Flynn took it upon himself to write an article in defence of these seemingly excluded women for the Sept. 13 issue of On Campus News.

However, prior to writing the article, Flynn failed to question any aboriginal women participating in the ceremony to get the inside scoop.

A member of faculty at the university neglecting to research his opinion before writing on a topic as sensitive as this one is unsettling to say the least. Further, a male professor traipsing his under-researched thought train into feminine matters is doubly ignorant.

Along with the fact he wrote in favour of assimilating Caucasian societal values into aboriginal traditions — which is behaviour smacking of the ignorant attitude that led to the advent of the Residential Schools — Professor Flynn seems to have hit the money for offending a culture.

That said, Flynn was contrite after receiving copious amounts of enlightening feedback on his piece from all sorts of people, including

aboriginal women on campus and leaders in the aboriginal community showing him the error of his ways. He quipped during an interview with CBC radio on Sept. 19 that “you learn something new every day,” after stating that he had done “very little research” before he wrote in a brusque and unapologetic tone.

He states that he wrote in this tone of voice deliberately, in order to encourage debate and introduce the possibility to adapt ancient traditions to more modern views on acceptance for all groups and genders of people.

The pipe ceremonies in question are a crucial part of aboriginal culture. Aboriginal peoples use the holy tobacco plant to communicate with the Great Spirit, cleanse themselves and solidify deals and agreements among each other. They participate in these sacred pipe ceremonies in order to get closer to their creator through the use of ritual tobacco smoking.

This ancient practice was used as a means of communication between the first European settlers and the Aboriginal peoples who lived on the land when they arrived. The settlers occasionally dishonoured the practice and used it to manipulate Aboriginal peoples of Canada.

Though Professor Flynn meant well and only raised the issue out of dislike for exclusionary behaviour anywhere on campus, he wrote from an ignorant perspective that is arguably more damaging to the Aboriginal peoples concerned.

Unbeknownst to him, the guidelines that Flynn received in his email have been put in

place out of respect for women during the time when women are considered most spiritually powerful because they have the potential to bring forth life.

The request that women not participate during their “moon time” was for the reason that their powerful physical state could interfere with the proceedings, not because they would deem the sanctified objects of the ceremony “filthy,” as Flynn suggested.

There has been an outpour of adverse reaction from the students and staff on campus following the publication. Heather Magotiaux, Vice President of Advancement and Community Engagement at the university, sent a mass email to all students and staff on the morning of Sept.

19 regarding Flynn’s article, apologizing for the insensitive language used.

“Universities value freedom of speech, even when that speech reflects a perspective that conflicts with institutional values. All members of our community are equally free to express their views, although I would hope we would each do so in a spirit of respectful debate and with the goal of deepening our own understanding,” Magotiaux said.

Professor Flynn sought to ignite debate with his strong wording and controversial statements, which he undoubtedly succeeded in doing. However, a man in his position within the campus, should have chosen a less provocative route and approached the issue more delicately.

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OPINIONS

15

Say no to child brides

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

HAILIE NYARI

Recently, an eight-year-old girl died in Yemen. Normally, this story would not blanket news channels like CNN, CBC and CTV because of the frequency that it happens across the world. What if I told you that the same girl died on her wedding night from internal bleeding after her marriage to a man of 40?

What’s the big deal though, right? Young moms are all the rage now; they have become a source of entertainment for our generation to look up to. It seems like the younger the mom, the more publicity they receive. Music television has certainly made this kind of culture glamorous.

And yet, media was outraged by the story in Yemen. Twitter, Facebook and CNN exploded with people who were disgusted and an outcry was set forth to end the practice of marrying children to adults all over the world. Some media followers claimed that Yemen is a sick culture that allows children to marry at the age of eight; others begged the question of why to cause a commotion if it is a part of a culture that has survived for 100s of years.

Pause for a second.

It is unbelievably troubling that it took the death of this innocent eight-year-old girl to bring forth the outrage against child marriage. Children have been passed off for brides to enhance a family’s situation for centuries. It seems that only when something bad happens, society takes note.

I agree, it is outlandish that a child of eight is married to a man five times her age but I wonder how many other girls were married at a young age. How many other young girls suffered from abuse and a lack of education? To die on one’s wedding night from internal bleeding is a death to

which no one should ever succumb.

It seems to be a habit of society and the media to only care when something bad happens in extreme forms. This little girl gained no attention by being married off to

a 40-year-old but did create headlines when she died.

Now, we as a society and mediabased culture look to Yemen to account for the actions of those involved. The

terrible reality of this situation is that this impoverished nation needs to sacrifice everything, including their children, to survive.

It’s not right and it’s not okay but it’s the simple truth. Focusing on this poor child’s death is only worthwhile if the problem at hand is dealt with and prevented. Her death won’t be for naught if changes are made to prevent future deaths like this one.

Our culture is so focused on publicizing our teen moms, making them into entertaining shows, that we don’t focus on the girls who do not have a choice. It’s ironic that we don’t hold our teen moms accountable for their actions but we will hold a whole culture responsible for trying to survive. Something is wrong here.

The simple truth is that child marriage is far from right. All girls deserve a choice in their lives, whether it has to do with what education they choose or with whom they choose to spend their lives. Girls need to be given these choices.

Western culture has not helped create an environment or awareness that assists girls who are less fortunate to thrive or to gain rights as women. Instead, we produce shows and images of women that if anything encourages the opposite.

Indeed, the ultimate downfall of our society is that we have not extended our knowledge and power to those who need it. Instead, our culture has clearly taken advantage of our position in the world, and neglects those who often need us most.

Hopefully Yemen has learned something from this terrible event and will make efforts to change their political and cultural systems to prevent the future deaths of young girls.

Quebec elicits cultural controversies MATTHEW CHILLIAK

The Quebec government is at it again, raising the contentious issue of cultural identity within the province in their proposed Charter of Quebec Values.

The nationalist-separatist Partí Quebecois government is attempting to introduce a piece of legislation that would ban all public government employees from wearing overt religious symbols at the workplace.

If passed, the charter would prohibit public day care and hospital staff, teachers, school staff, police officers, judges, prosecutors and municipal staff members from wearing any visible religious symbols.

Of course the ban would not be extended to elected government officials who feel they are above the laws they seek to create, but that’s another issue. This ban would include symbols such as but not limited to: burkas, yarmulkes, niqābs, turbans, hijabs and large crosses.

The official reason given by the PQ for this ban has been that it will support a secular society in which the separation between religion and government will be advanced. Even this justification would not suffice as decent enough reason to restrict the rights and freedoms of individuals to express their religious affiliation.

The point is moot. The reality of the proposed ban isn’t that it seeks to promote secularism.

Rather, the premise of secularism is being used as a veil for what is really an attempt to protect and entrench Quebec’s francophone majority in the province’s cultural identity.

With a large French-speaking majority in Quebec, there is a persistent feeling that the francophone Quebecois culture — which is

CODY SCHUMACHER/GRAPHICS EDITOR

mainly Catholic — is at risk of fading away.

In the past the threat was English-speaking North-American culture and now it is the vast mix of cultures and languages brought about by immigration from across the world.

This ever present sense of cultural annihilation has lead Quebec to legislate the use of all language to encourage the use of French, as well as to form referendums on the very existence of Quebec within the Canadian federation.

With support for separation now at a historic low, Premier Pauline Marois’ PQ government is searching for a new boogeyman to rally francophone-Quebecois nationalism. The new targets for the PQ are the recent immigrants, with whom the French language is not so popular.

The veiled attack on immigrants and their perceived risk to Quebec’s francophone identity is nothing new, despite the increase of its magnitude.

In the early ’90s there was a case of school girls being expelled for wearing their hijabs to class. In another instance, the Quebec Soccer Federation banned players from wearing turbans on the field under the premise of safety until pressure from FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association forced them to reverse the ban.

The recently proposed Charter of Quebec Values will most definitely target the religions of recent immigrants more so than the dominant Catholic religion.

The ban on religious symbols will only apply to large crosses worn, but fails to specify how large is too large. It also ignores the fact that thousands of streets and towns in Quebec are named after Catholic figures, that there is a large cross that sits on a hill overlooking Montreal and that Quebec’s provincial National Assembly has

a large and impossible to ignore cross hanging over it.

The cross in the national Assembly will not be removed because it is supposedly part of Quebec culture since it bears witness to Quebec’s history, according to Quebec’s Citizenship Minister Bernard Drainville.

It is no surprise that francophone Catholics in Quebec support the ban, as the onus on them appears to be lightest. They merely have to wear smaller, less visible crosses if working in the public service sector, while individuals whose religious symbols aren’t as easy to hide, such as a turban, will be forced to choose between their religion and their job.

It is somewhat surprising, however, that Quebec’s civil servants union, with 47,000

CODY SCHUMACHER/GRAPHICS EDITOR

members, supports the ban. Though to their credit, they’re true to their secular premise in that they also want to remove the cross from the National Assembly.

Of course, not all citizens in Quebec are cool with the proposed ban. In Montreal, where immigration is significantly higher than the rest of Quebec, opposition to the ban is strong. There have been protests numbering in the thousands in the city as well as opposition voiced by all of the city’s candidates in the upcoming mayoral election.

As one of Canada’s major immigration destinations, Montreal could once again prove to be a hotbed of cultural identity tension.

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OPINIONS

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

I’m not cool enough to be a nerd FATUMA ADAR Becoming nerdy has become not only acceptable but also adorned; people have drawn a line in the sand to make sure that you can easily spot the fakers.

I’m using nerd as an umbrella term, as I’m sure you’ve heard what might distinguish a nerd from a geek or from a dork. Alas, if you feel like you fall under any of the stereotyped sections, congrats, you are a full-fledged nerd — unless of course you’re a girl.

So you’re not the most popular person on the planet. Your hobbies kind of make you an outcast and expressing your love for varying fandoms causes some to look upon you in judgment — so what? It’s not you, it’s just the presence of your ovaries.

I’m sorry, did you think that was heading somewhere else? Oh, you thought I was just talking about the conventional geek. That gentleman in suspenders with a stuffed backpack of science and math books, that dude with unwashed hair and a Lord of the Rings t-shirt or that guy in your class that plays an anime character from a series you probably haven’t heard before. Are you noticing a trend?

In 2013 we have turned things upside-down.

It’s cool to be uncool. You can let your geek flag wave free! You can’t take the sky from me! But tread lightly; this can only apply to certain kinds of geeks.

What better way to get a guy’s attention than dressing up like Black Widow? You think food is a way to a man’s heart? Nope. Try telling him that you are down to watch Dragon Ball Z while you wait for the new Avengers trailer to release.

Want to get him real worked up? Ditch your girls’ night to play Call of Duty in nothing but your jammies.

Sadly, this is the only context to which nerdy girls are received — in contrast to a nerdy guys.

If a geeky guy meets another geeky guy they immediately bond over wherever their fandoms cross. An elitist geeky guy meets a geeky girl and deep down he thinks she can’t tell the difference between a sonic screwdriver and an 11-inch wand with a phoenix feather core.

Girls have a hard time confessing their geeky traits because that exposes them to the automatic scrutiny of the all and powerful nerd gods. When this first happened to me I completely didn’t notice. I thought I was just being asked about my love for a fandom. But in retrospect I could tell I was being quizzed.

I identify myself as a huge fan of science fiction. Notice that I had to say “I identify,” almost like that minority box you might check when filling out paperwork. That’s because if I was to say “I am a fan of science fiction,” I

MIKE TREMBLAY

might as well have volunteered my love for The Hunger Games.

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You’d think that if we as people made the huge movement of turning the term “geek” from a scrutinized insult into a glorified honor that we would learn to be a little more inclusive.

Women can be geeks, and in their own right.

We may not have watched every season of Pokemon but heck we might remember liking Misty as a character and think she’d make a great costume for an event or Halloween. Some would think it was for attention, an excuse to bind two things men can’t resist: a hot body and nostalgia over a TV show. Why is it, then, when she can’t name all of the legendary Pokemon she’s an attention-hogging slut in a midriff?

I couldn’t call myself a nerd for a very long time. I was more comfortable calling myself a “dork” because it was the more noncommittal term. A way to say, “I’m nerdy but I’m not trying to be cool about it.” I never watched the first seasons of the original Dr. Who. I still have yet to grasp how Dungeons and Dragons works. I grew up watching Sailor Moon, Card Captors and Yu-Gi-Oh but God forbid I watched Lizzie McGuire instead of Beyblade.

If it wasn’t bad enough coming from guys, women themselves are beginning to turn on their fellow lady geeks. Saying that the “fake nerd girls” are the ones making it worse for them.

SourceFed Youtube contributor Meg Turney said in a video response to the topic, “It makes people uncomfortable [about] participating in our community” — because that is what you risk

destroying when I feel like I need prerequisites in order to join what’s been referred as a “boys’ club.”

I think the bigger question lies in the suspicion of all the naysayers out there. Bob “MovieBob” Chipman said late last year in a podcast called The Original Geek Girl, “if there really are these fiendish scheming fake geek girls running around out there pretending to be the real thing, why would you be mad about that?”

This is exactly what these critics should be asking themselves. If you are indeed a real geek then you should see this as an absolute triumph.

Not only does this allow the secret geeks to reveal themselves, but also you’ve helped bring people into the culture.

At the Calgary Comic Con a geek asked Wil Wheaton to talk into her camera and give a message to the her daughter about why it’s awesome to be a nerd. In the four-minute video on YouTube, which I recommend everyone to watch, he says “It’s not about what you love but how you love it.”

It’s not about getting all the references in this article or about having a certain reproductive system. We are not only the geeks the Nerdverse deserves, but actually what it needs right now.

Although winter is coming, we’ll still live long and prosper until all is well.

I know. I’m a nerd — but I’m also a girl.

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

My gluten-free cupcake is healthy, right?

NAOMI ZUREVINSKI Gluten-sensitivity seems to be spreading like a mass epidemic in North America these days. But there is more to the diet than consumers and health nuts realize.

Refusing doughnuts on the basis of “I don’t eat gluten” doesn’t even cause people to question whether a person is actually allergic to it or if they’re just consciously cutting it out of their diet. Either way, if you ask for a gluten-free menu at a restaurant you’ll get one. In fact, it’s difficult to find a place to eat that doesn’t make accommodations for the gluten-sensitive consumer.

This trend took flight back in 2011 with the release of Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis. Davis nicknames modern wheat as “frankenwheat,” bluntly stating that it is poisonous and contains addictive properties that can be comparable to that of heroin.

He goes on to state in his book that consuming modern wheat can cause obesity, hypertension, ADHD, dementia, diabetes, asthma, arthritis, autism and more. No wonder everyone’s terrified of gluten — I’d rather not have drugs, monsters and lifethreatening illness for breakfast.

In the midst of this craze, asking someone who’s gone gluten-free what is actually wrong with wheat will usually generate an unimpressive answer of “it’s geneticallymodified,” or the even less convincing, “it’s bad.” Unless you’ve actually read Davis’ book or done your own research, it’s hard to know what the real problem is here.

To start, gluten is a protein found most commonly in wheat, barley and rye. It’s the stuff that gives dough its elastic texture and it’s used as an additive in many consumer products. So if you actually want to avoid gluten, you’d better start looking for it.

It goes beyond just saying no to morning bagels and dinner rolls. Salad dressing, soy sauce, processed meats, blue cheese, hot dogs, couscous, licorice, canned soups and beer are just a few examples of the surprising places where it’s hiding.

For people who have an actual glutensensitivity or Celiac disease, it’s easy to understand how tedious this can get. In severe cases, one morsel of gluten can cause a serious autoimmune response in the small intestine, producing inflammation. From there, chain reactions of very uncomfortable symptoms occur such as bloating, heartburn, constipation or stomach cramping.

Now the majority of today’s glutensensitivity problems come from the development of modern wheat, also known as semi-dwarf wheat. In the latter part of the 20th century a man named Dr. Norman Borlaug developed hybridized wheat.

This hybridizing technique meant that the offspring of one strain of wheat was mated with parents of a different strain, leading to Borlaug’s exceptionally high-yielding semidwarf wheat.

The semi-dwarf wheat is stockier and shorter — a teeny 18 inches compared to original wheat’s height of four-and-a half feet. This allows the wheat to mature quicker, leading to a shorter growing season and enables more wheat to be produced in less time.

Today, semi-dwarf wheat comprises 99 per cent of all wheat grown world-wide.

This means that the wheat we eat today is vastly genetically different from the wheat that our great-grandmothers ate.

The semi-dwarf wheat undergoes significant structural changes through the process of hybridization, making it almost unrecognizable from the original wheat.

Now that’s all great and factual, but the real problem here is that this semi-dwarf wheat was never actually tested for human consumption; it simply replaced original wheat without testing and was assumed safe.

Therefore the alterations done on wheat that the majority of us consume make it harder for the human body to break it down.

Increasingly there has been more research released showing links between consuming semi-dwarf wheat and health problems. This concern points to the increase in people who are beginning to diagnose themselves as gluten-sensitive, leading to reports of improved health once it’s eliminated.

The Canadian gluten-free market saw an annual growth rate of 26.6 per cent between 2008 and 2012, putting the 2012 revenue at 450 million dollars. The best sellers in the industry are gluten-free snacks, breads, cereals and prepared foods.

According to the National Purchase Diary Group, a Canadian global information company, the interest in gluten-free menu items has increased by 137 per cent in Canadian restaurants over the past three years.

Obviously not everyone is simultaneously realizing his or her long-ignored gluten intolerance. And if you’ve been eating wheat your whole life the concept probably seems like complete bullshit. For some it may be a genuine health concern, but for others I am strongly suspicious that it is being received as a fad diet.

It’s safe to say that this trend is both annoying and right up there with instagramming pictures of the salad you had for lunch and hashtagging it #vegan or #foodporn. Or taking before and after side shots of your stomach giving yourself the self-loathing hashtag of #fitgirl or #bigboy.

Ironically, as I write this I am enjoying a piece of leftover gluten-free pizza. I confess that after doing my own research, I ditched the gluten over a year ago. Maybe I was actually gluten-sensitive all along, maybe not. Regardless, I feel so much better now.

I have way more energy than I used to and my asthma has also disappeared (goodbye rescue inhaler!) However, in addition to saying no to gluten, I also adopted different health habits at the same time: more veggies, more exercise — the type of habits your mother would approve of. So I don’t think dumping gluten can be the only thing to credit my improved health.

The biggest problem I see is when people stock up on President’s Choice gluten-free mini chocolate brownies, and expecting dramatic health benefits or weight loss. Let me tell you something, honey; those glutenfree goodies are not only packed with the same preservatives that regular ones are, but they are also loaded with potato starch and rice flour — neither of which are beneficial to your health. It’s just simply a company seeing an opportunity for profit and responding to consumers.

Eating gluten doesn’t necessarily make you unhealthy but going gluten-free doesn’t necessarily make you healthy either. Before you join the club and throw out your Wonder Bread, I recommend reading up on it a little and seeing if you really want to commit.

The gluten-free diet is definitely a lot more work than it sounds and isn’t something to be taken lightly as a quick path to health.

Frankly, there’s no such thing. But to each their own. And healthy or not, I’ll stick to my gluten-free cupcakes — nobody said anything about giving those up, did they?

OPINIONS

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Letters to the Editor A different viewpoint

The response from Aboriginal Peoples around campus after Kevin Flynn’s viewpoint was shared in On Campus News has ranged from anger to frustration to empathy: anger that someone would speak against First Nation traditional protocol, frustration that these ignorant viewpoints still exist, and empathy in finding a like-minded person on campus.

I received the same email inviting staff and faculty to the pipe ceremony on Sept. 3 and, as a Metis person not familiar with First Nation ceremony protocol and etiquette. I appreciated the statement “if anything makes you uncomfortable, or is contrary to your own belief system, observe the protocols in the manner that is right for you.” Nowhere in the email does it allude to women on their “moon time” as rendering sacred objects filthy.

I can only assume the application of western beliefs and values to interpret the protocol are more in line with Abrahamic conventions than Indigenous. Several times the email encouraged people to consult with a cultural resource person for further clarification. Perhaps if this would have been done there would be an honouring of diversity, not a call to treat everyone the same (which is not inclusive, as per the comment to substitute “student with disability”). A cultural resource person may have been able to explain how women are revered and honoured in Indigenous cultures and it has been western ideology that has marginalized and oppressed women.

Whenever we are welcomed or invited to participate in a cultural or religious activity that is not our own, do we not accept that there are certain aspects we will not believe in or be able to participate in?

Do non-Jewish people attending a synagogue not follow the protocols and etiquette during their sacred ceremonies? Do non-Catholics accept Eucharist if it is not part of their belief system? It is unlikely someone would enter a mosque without first finding out proper protocol or etiquette. Is this too much to ask of others to follow First Nation protocol during their sacred activity?

I am thankful that conversation has been initiated because now we can address the ignorance that exists in our own academic community.

M. MacLean Faculty, SUNTEP Saskatoon

Dear Editor, Professor Kevin Flynn of the University of Saskatchewan faculty is to be commended for doing what every university's primary role is: promoting critical thinking and stirring debate.

His recent article in the university's On Campus News did exactly that by rightly questioning an ancient Cree First Nations’ custom that excludes menstruating women from participation in a traditional First Nations ceremony.

Not surprisingly, Flynn's assertions were used as fodder for on-campus "wannabees" desperate for anything they can manufacture into a platform from which they can get the names and faces into the news.

There's an excellent Cree term that the pathetic arguments of Flynn's detractors deserve. It's "kiyam," which when translated declares disdainfully "who the heck cares?"

While I support the efforts of Flynn's detractors to debate, they must do much better to have me care. I think the large majority in society agrees with me about this.

Dr. Denis Hall, M.Ed., Ph.D. CODY SCHUMACHER/GRAPHICS EDITOR

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HUMOUR

26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

Campus Chat If you had to go on a date with a celebrity, who would it be?

Johnny Depp

Rachel from Suits Rylee Lukey

Channing Tatum Youhanna Boctor

Cat Power Rebecca Mann

Fernando Kowal

Crossword

Fake News DAN

SMBC-COMICS.COM

City councillor strips for fun

There have been heated debates during the last two city councils meetings in Saskatoon over new legislation that would allow strip clubs within the city limits.

So far, the council has been unable to make a definitive decision on the matter. However, there are internal issues at hand here.

Pat Lorje, who is currently city councillor in ward two, has made it known she wants the legislation to pass — especially because stripping is a hobby of hers.

“You may not look at me and see stripper written all over me. I know I’m no Demi Moore in Striptease, but I know my way around a pole,” Lorje told reporters.

This news came as a surprise to Mayor Don Atchison, who couldn’t believe one of his councillors took part in such activities.

“I dress conservatively, I act conservatively, and I like to be around conservative people,” said Mayor Don. When confronted with Atchison’s distaste for her hobby, Lorje fired back with a sassy grace that only a sophisticated stripper could achieve.

“Well, Donny isn’t much fun now is he?

Besides, he’s never complained when I’ve shimmied around at our Tuesday afternoon council dance parties,” Lorje said with a wink.

In an unexpected publicity stunt, exmayoral candidate Clay Mazurkewich held a press conference in the empty lot where the 2nd Avenue McDonald’s once stood to speak on the matter.

“I give Lorje my full support. If the woman wants to dance, let her dance! I’ve got a pocket full of loonies ready to go,” Mazurkewich slurred.

Lorje appreciates all external support, and hopes Atchison and the rest of her conservative council members will hop on board soon.

While Lorje refused to divulge her stripper name, it is rumoured that she’s known as Busty McFly in the stripper world.

Comics 26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

HUMOUR

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MIKE T.

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26 September, 2013 • thesheaf.com

September 30 - October 5, 2013

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