October 24, 2019

OCTOBER 24, 2019

The Sheaf Publishing Society

VO L . 1 1 1 , I SS UE 1 0 The University of Saskatchewan’s main campus is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis.

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YOUR UNI VE R S I T Y O F SAS K ATC H E WA N ST UDE NT NE WS PA P E R S I N C E 1 9 1 2

At a glance: NEWS

University extends deadline for greenhouse gas reduction 2

SPORTS & HEALTH

Vaccinations 101: Pharmacy students bring a nuanced perspective 6

FEATURE

Dr. Google doesn’t have a degree 8-9

CULTURE

Books Unlimited serving campus students for 30 years 10

OPINIONS AI: the great?

next

literary 13

An STI testing awareness sign hangs in the waiting room of the U of S Student Wellness Centre on Oct. 18, 2019. | Victoria Becker/ Photo Editor

Play it safe this cuffing season Midterms aren’t the only test you should consider taking this semester.

ERIN MATTHEWS OPINIONS EDITOR

While the temperatures are beginning to drop, the cases of sexually transmitted infections are still on the rise in the province. The Saskatchewan Health Authority declared an outbreak of syphilis and HIV this past June, a recent example that follows the rising rates of other infections over the past 13 years.

When was the last time you got tested?

STIs are an insidious problem that continues to grow, despite the best efforts of health care officials. Many of these infections — like chlamydia and gonorrhea — can rage on without any outward symptoms while others like syphilis and HIV can have very ambiguous symptoms that often mimic other illnesses.

Sex — and the infections it can bring — still carries with it a heavy stigma and people are still often uncomfortable talking about their bodies, the sexual activities they engage in and the status of their overall sexual health. This leads to

people being undereducated about basic biology, not understanding the risk of exposure or simply being too anxious to seek help after an unprotected sex act.

There are movements within Saskatchewan to normalize STIs and educate the public about the microbes that are behind these infections.

Syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea are all caused by bacteria and can be cleared up with a course of antibiotics. However, there have been reports that some strains of gonorrhea may have developed resistance to the common antimicrobial treatments — leading to fears of a potential untreatable superbug circulating through populations.

What happens if these infections are left untreated? While chlamydia and gonorrhea may not kill you, they can lead to inflammation of internal organs, which can cause sterility and significant pain.

Syphilis, on the other hand, has three stages of active disease and a middle period where you can be symptom free for

decades. When the final stage kicks in, it leads to systemic organ damage and neurosyphilis — the cause for many historical cases of “madness.” Syphilis will kill you if you don’t treat it and it won’t be a pleasant way to go.

HIV, HPV and herpes are all chronic viral infections that can be passed on to your partner.

There are several ways to protect yourself from these three Hs. The HPV vaccine gives protection against nine strains of the virus that can cause cervical and penile cancers. In fact, the vaccine is so effective, we may be able to one day eliminate these types of cancers. Many antiviral medications can make HIV and herpes infections harder to transmit durings sexual encounters.

In the past few years, there has been better access to a prophylactic HIV drug known as PrEP. If taken daily, it can be 99 per cent effective against preventing an HIV infection. The drug is a major step forward for sexual health initiatives.

Continued on pg. 14

Huskie athletics update Catch up on the latest developments for football, soccer, hockey and volleyball.

TANNER MICHALENKO SPORTS & HEALTH EDITOR

Football What a weekend it was in the Canada West football conference. The first-place Calgary Dinos lost to the fourth-place Manitoba Bisons while the second-place Alberta Golden Bears fell to the fifth-place Regina Rams.

Given the upsets handed to the top two teams in the conference, the Huskies had an opportunity to claim first place in the conference. All they had to do was beat the last-place University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

The dogs entered the fourth quarter at UBC with a 12-point lead but surrendered 13 unanswered points in the final frame. With six seconds remaining in the

game, the Huskies attempted a 49-year field goal that was unsuccessful, handing the massive upset to the hometown Thunderbirds.

Now heading into the final regular-season weekend of the year, plenty of playoff implications are on the line. The top four seeds, all of whom have already clinched a playoff berth, are separated by just one game. Calgary leads the conference at 5-2 while three teams, including Saskatchewan, are tied for second place at 4-3.

The Huskies are at home to face Alberta this week. If they beat the Golden Bears, they will secure a home playoff game.

Continued on pg. 5

NEWS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Nykole King editor@thesheaf.com NEWS EDITOR Ana Cristina Camacho news@thesheaf.com SPORTS & HEALTH EDITOR Tanner Michalenko sportshealth@thesheaf.com

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In face of increases, university extends deadline for greenhouse gas reduction Emissions at the U of S have gone up by 7.8 per cent since 2006-07.

CULTURE EDITOR Tomilola Ojo culture@thesheaf.com OPINIONS EDITOR Erin Matthews opinions@thesheaf.com STAFF WRITER Noah Callaghan staffwriter@thesheaf.com COPY EDITOR J.C. Balicanta Narag copy@thesheaf.com LAYOUT MANAGER Aqsa Hussain layout@thesheaf.com PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Victoria Becker photo@thesheaf.com GRAPHICS EDITOR Shawna Langer graphics@thesheaf.com WEB EDITOR Minh Au Duong web@thesheaf.com OUTREACH DIRECTOR Sophia Lagimodiere outreach@thesheaf.com AD & BUSINESS MANAGER Shantelle Hrytsak ads@thesheaf.com BOARD OF DIRECTORS Mikaila Ortynsky Laura Chartier Matthew Taylor Sonia Kalburgi Tyler Smith

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Mission // The mission of the Sheaf is to inform and entertain students by addressing issues relevant to life on campus, in the city or in the province. The newspaper serves as a forum for discussion on a wide range of issues that concern students. Written for students, by students, it provides unique insight into university issues through a student perspective. The staff of editors, photographers and artists collaborate with volunteers as student journalists to create a product relevant to students on the University of Saskatchewan campus.

Land Acknowledgement // The Sheaf acknowledges that our office is built on Treaty Six Territory and the traditional homeland of the Métis.

We pay our respects to the First Nations and Métis ancestors of this place and affirm both the importance of our relationship with Indigenous peoples and students at the U of S and our commitment to recognize and remain accountable for our collective history.

U of S council members vote to pass a motion at the University Council meeting on Oct. 17, 2019. | Victoria Becker/ Photo Editor

ANA CRISTINA CAMACHO NEWS EDITOR

The university has proposed a revised plan to reach their greenhouse gas reduction targets by 2023, passing over the 2020 deadline established by their Climate Plan.

The change comes after the University of Saskatchewan reported greenhouse gas emissions higher than would be expected for one year before the deadline. The university’s 2012 Climate Plan committed the U of S to reducing their emissions by 20 per cent from 2006-07 levels by 2020; instead, the numbers for the 2018-19 fiscal year show a 7.8 overall increase.

The Sheaf received this data in a statement from Greg Fowler, the U of S vicepresident finance and resources. Before these numbers were known to the public, Irena Creed, associate vice-

president research and newlyappointed special advisor to the president on sustainability, announced an increase in emissions to the members of the University Council during the Oct. 17 meeting.

“We are a growing campus so overall we are increasing our greenhouse gas emissions, but on a per metre basis we are reducing them,” Creed said.

Creed was referencing the 13 per cent reduction in greenhouse emissions per metre at the U of S in 2018-19 that accounts for the growth of the university since the 200607 baseline. In this aspect, the university has stayed the course since their most recent Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report in 2016, where they reported a 13.3 per cent reduction per metre.

The university anticipated that the growth of campus over the years would result in higher emission rates, which

was taken into account in the 2012 Climate Plan projections.

The 20 per cent reduction commitment under the Climate Plan is not measured on a per metre basis.

The next step for the university is to develop a sustainability action frame in the near future, which Creed discussed at the meeting. The process will include taking account of all the sustainability initiatives currently in development by the university that will result in big emission reductions in future years.

“We want to move quickly and that’s why we are using the language of an action plan,” Creed said. “Our timeline is ambitious. We plan to present our sustainability action plan to University Council for endorsement in the fall of next year.”

The plan will be developed in the context of national and international sustainabil-

ity benchmarks, according to Creed, so that the U of S’s performance in sustainability stacks up to universities around the world.

“At this point, it’s all in. We want to do it strategically and perhaps surgically, but we want to be the best at doing this,” Creed said.

A council member raised the concern to Creed that a lack of resources at the university will limit sustainability initiatives. Creed responded that she has discussed the topic with the university Provost Tony Vannelli and that resources will be allocated for sustainability goals.

“His comment to me was ‘Yes, we are in a financially insecure environment, but there is money for priorities and sustainability is a priority,’” Creed said. “I am confident that this is a priority of both the president and the provost and that action will be made.”

CORRECTIONS In the Oct. 17 issue of the Sheaf, the article “The Sheaf presents: Your Saskatoon-University MP candidates” incorrectly stated that Conservative Party of Canada candidate Corey Tochor did not respond to the Sheaf’s request for an interview. He responded and is now included in the online version of this article (...but he got in anyway so no harm done).

We apologize for these errors. If you spot any errors in this issue, please email them to copy@thesheaf.com for correction.

Legal // The Sheaf, published weekly during the academic year and periodically from May through August, is an incorporated non-profit that is, in part, student-body funded by way of a direct levy paid by all part- and full-time undergraduate students at the U of S. The remainder of the revenue is generated through advertising. The financial affairs are governed by a Board of Directors, most of whom are students. Membership in the Sheaf Publishing Society is open to all undergraduate students at the U of S, who are encouraged to contribute to the newspaper. Absolutely no experience is required!

The 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 Editor-in-Chief has the right to veto any submission deemed unfit for the Society newspaper. In determining this, the Editor-in-Chief 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 libellous material.

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NEWS

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International group known for extreme protests holds small rally in U of S Bowl A peaceful protest of around 30 participants raised awareness to address the mass-extinction climate threat.

NOAH CALLAGHAN STAFF WRITER

Though Extinction Rebellion is known for its disruptive "civil disobedience" demonstrations globally, Saskatoon’s rally differed greatly.

On Oct. 18, the environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion Saskatchewan held a climate action rally in the University of Saskatchewan Bowl. The rally was organized by Claire Card, a U of S faculty member who ran as an MP for the riding of Saskatoon–University. She says the event was not political, instead it was focused on bringing everyone’s attention to the climate emergency and the actions needed to address it.

“These are peaceful protests and they’re meant to raise public awareness,” Card said.

Extinction Rebellion has received media attention and scrutiny for staging a series of disruptive protests globally.

Most recently, the group has caused major traffic disruptions in Canada with some activists even scaling and shutting down bridges during rush hour in Montreal and Vancouver, leading to some arrests.

Saskatoon’s rally did not attempt to recreate these dramatic protests in any way.

Rather, the protest featured Indigenous prayer and dance as well as a street theatre performance to prompt people into acting in accordance with a global crisis. Card says this change in tone away from disruption was intentional.

“As an organizer, I felt the tone should be more inclusive

Climate activists perform a die-in demonstration in front of the U of S Peter MacKinnon Building during the Extinction Rebellion climate action rally on Oct. 18, 2019. | Victoria Becker/ Photo Editor

of our Indigenous knowledge and that there may be a time and place for [civil disobedience],” Card said.

Arnold Naytowhow, a Métis man who works at the Saskatoon Indian & Métis Friendship Centre, was asked by the group to say a prayer and the Treaty 6 acknowledgement at the rally. He says that it is important for Indigenous people to continue raising awareness of the climate emergency.

“I remember my Elders telling me that it’s going to get worse, and it’s here already,” Naytowhow said. “There’s a lot of forest fires, storms and

floods, and we’re not used to it but we’re going to have to get used to it.”

The street theatre performance at the rally was led by fourth-year urban planning student Lia Storey-Gamble.

The act involved 20 participants holding signs of endangered animals and ecosystems circling an inflatable globe before a man dressed as a personification of extinction eliminated each of the species.

Following the performance, the demonstrators laid on the steps of the Peter MacKinnon Building for a die-in protest reminiscent of other Extinc-

tion Rebellion demonstrations.

Storey-Gamble says that it is important to raise awareness in Saskatchewan because the province is not impacted by extreme events like hurricanes, making the threat of climate change easier to ignore. The street performance was also featured at the Global Climate Strike in front of City Hall last month.

“We’re hopefully going to get some people to start thinking about it and how our actions affect every other living creature on the planet,” Storey­ Gamble said.

Card also feels that raising public awareness of climate change is especially challenging in Saskatchewan because too many people are in a “misinformation fog,” believing that it is not a threat.

“We have a huge corporate lobby that is fighting the truth … and flooding the public with doubt over things that are essentially existential threats, not only to ourselves but to so many species that we rely on,” Card said. “They’re ignoring the evidence-based, peer­ -reviewed science from thousands of scientists who told us the truth.”

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Brazilian students help to restore a national museum from afar With international support for the restoration lacking, the Brazilian community takes matters into their own hands.

ANA CRISTINA CAMACHO NEWS EDITOR

Brazilians all over the world felt the tragedy of the burning of the National Museum of Brazil in September 2018. Those living in Saskatoon were no different.

“It has a very special sentimental aspect for me. Since I was a small child, I knew that museum and I was fascinated,” Elizabeth Freire, a founding member of the Brazilian Association of Saskatoon said. “The museum was an important part of who we are.”

Freire and many other members of the Saskatoon Brazilian community joined the Brazilian Students' Association of the University of Saskatchewan in planning a way to support the restoration of the national museum. After four months of organizing, the group raised $1,325 on Sept. 28 with an on-campus fundraising event featuring traditional Brazilian food and a raffle. The prizes were donated by supporting organizations like the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Saskatchewan Museum and Remai Modern.

Moisés de Jesus Ferreira Silva, a graduate student and BRASA

U of S organizer, says the event went off without a hitch.

“It was the best energy ever.

We had people from all ages, not just students and it was amazing to see everybody together having a great time with good food and good music,” Ferreira said. “But it was not only about fun, everybody was there to help a great cause.”

As students, Ferreira says the fire was particularly a tragedy for the group from an academic standpoint. The national museum was the main natural history museum in Latin America. The 200-year-old building housed a collection of more than 20 million artifacts, an estimated 90 per cent of which were destroyed in the 2018 fire. The collection included the oldest human skeleton ever found in the Americas.

“This is a cause that speaks a lot to us, especially as students.

The National Museum of Brazil was not only a museum, but also a research institution,” Ferreira said. “Nobody died, fortunately, but lots of people spent their whole lives collecting and studying these artifacts, so it was many many lives lost to this tragedy.”

“Imagine spending your whole

career studying an object and overnight it’s not there anymore,” José Alvim Berkenbrock, a graduate student and BRASA U of S organizer added.

The restoration process has received some support internationally, as have the scientists who lost their lives’ work in the museum. The Smithsonian Institution in the United States, for example, offered 14 of these scientists use of the Smithsonian’s labs to continue their research.

However, the help has not been enough. Around May, when BRASA first started planning the event, only $280,000 had been raised for the Museum’s restoration; around 1 per cent of what the total project will cost.

At the time, the destructive fire in the Notre Dame Cathedral of France had only happened a few days earlier but had already garnered much greater international support with a $900,000 raised in donations.

It was this comparative lack of support for the restoration of a Brazilian museum of national and global importance that prompted the student group to action.

“In a short span of time, [Notre

Photo by Alejandra Fonseca, Vice-President Student Affairs (GSA)

Dame was] able to raise a huge amount of money. That didn’t happen with our museum,” Ferreira said. “That’s why we thought about doing our small part here as the Brazilian community to help in the reconstruction process.”

The fundraiser’s goal was “to raise money of course, but it was also to raise awareness,” according to Berkenbrock. The group seems to have achieved this. The event was reportedly attended not only by Brazilian students and community members, but also by people who found out about the national museum through BRASA. The group even

received ticket-price donations from people who were not able to attend but still wanted to support the cause.

Freire says the Brazilian Association of Saskatoon was happy to help the students in the fundraiser. She adds that the event showed what people can do for the causes that matter to their countries even from afar.

“What we learned in this process is that lots of Brazilian groups are doing these mini efforts to send money to Brazil. It is a work of a million of us,” Freire said. “It shows that we can be far away from our country, but we think about it.”

Student union looks ahead with “The Path Forward” USSU president hopes the strategic goals will help students understand the union’s direction.

KIENAN ASHTON

This year, the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union executive has something new up their sleeves. “The Path Forward” is a set of four broad strategic goals that are intended to shape the union’s activities for the year.

The goals are to promote education, revitalize community, decolonize systems and facilitate leadership. Having strategic goals is not something typically expected of the USSU. The executive worked on drafting the goals over the summer before releasing it to students in late September.

Regan Ratt-Misponas, president of the USSU, says “The Path Forward” will hopefully help students get invested in the USSU’s activities.

“My thinking was that if we had a strategic plan, something that we can all get behind … then it might help us to not only keep organized and keep on the path so to speak, but also to ensure that students saw where we wanted to go,” Ratt-Misponas said.

Ratt-Misponas refers to the goals as “fluid,” meaning that “you can direct them in a lot

4 / NEWS

of ways.” The goals are broad enough that many different issues can be addressed under any of them. Ratt-Misponas thinks that this “gives [them] room to operate.”

In order to promote education, the USSU intends to support students’ rights as they continue to advocate on behalf of students at all levels. For example, this year marks a revival of the Saskatchewan Student Coalition, with Carlos Muñoz Pimentel, vice-president academic affairs of the USSU, as its vicepresident. The organization seeks to lobby the provincial government on behalf of postsecondary students.

At the federal level, the USSU is involved with the Undergraduates of Canadian ResearchIntensive Universities. Aside from general student advocacy, this organization is notable for having been behind an open letter addressed to the leaders of the federal political parties, signed by the USSU, among many other student unions from across Canada.

To revitalize community, the USSU is focusing on outreach to engage with the student body.

The executive is also planning to create opportunities for students to meet with them and share concerns with initiatives such as their continuing Face-To-Face campaign. They hope to create a culture where they encourage and celebrate students’ achievements on campus.

On the front of decolonizing systems, the USSU is aiming to increase conversations and formal relations with Indigenous and Métis communities.

They aim to evaluate “how our practices can be improved to be more inclusive and reflective of our campus.” They also intend to hold the university administration and governments accountable in regards to decolonization.

The logo for “The Path Forward” takes the shape of a medicine wheel. Ratt-Misponas says that this is because the USSU wants to “pay respect to the Indigenous people of these lands” and “to show students that we’re looking at this holistically.” The colours on the wheel are the ceremonial colours of the USSU Indigenous Knowledge Keeper Joseph Naytowhow.

“He offered this and allowed us to use his colours that he uses in

Supplied by Joseph Naytowhow/ Made by Mỹ Anh Phan

ceremony,” Ratt-Misponas said.

Finally, to facilitate leadership, the USSU plans to examine the barriers that prevent students from taking on leadership roles.

They want to encourage students to participate in the USSU at all levels: in their centres, committees, student council or by becoming an executive member.

When asked about whether or not he thinks that the USSU

should continue to have strategic goals in the future, RattMisponas was in favour. He says that the strategic goals help to round out the existing USSU vision, mission and values.

“They complement each other; they almost work together,” Ratt-Misponas said. “I don't have a say in those years to come … but I do encourage it. I strongly encourage it.”

SPORTS&HEALTH

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Huskie athletics update Catch up on the latest developments for football, soccer, hockey and volleyball.

TANNER MICHALENKO SPORTS & HEALTH EDITOR

Continued from cover

Women’s soccer The Huskies are playing great soccer at the most opportune time of the season.

Maya Gabruch scored a goal in each game of the final regular-season weekend that saw the Huskies defeat the first place MacEwan University Griffins on Oct. 19 and settle for a tie against the Alberta Pandas on Oct. 20.

Gabruch finishes the season as the team’s leading scorer with nine goals, which is second-most in the conference.

“It is a breakout year for her, she has just been unbelievable,” said head coach Jerson Barandica-Hamilton. “It’s been a team effort, but she has taken it to the next level and we are so happy because we knew she had it.”

The Huskies will now look forward to hosting a quarterfinal match against the winner of the play-in game between the University of Victoria and the University of Lethbridge.

Barandica-Hamilton was pleased with his team’s ability to avoid participating in the play-in game, earning a bye as the second seed in their division.

“It is huge. It is something that has been our target. Not a lot of people gave us credit and thought we would be here,” said Barandica-Hamilton.

The Huskies have lost in the quarterfinal round in each of the past two seasons. Home field

Huskie women’s soccer team celebrates a goal against the MacEwan University Griffins on Oct. 19, 2019. | Supplied by GetMyPhoto.ca/ Huskie Athletics

advantage should help the team break that trend.

“It is not our end goal. We are happy to accomplish step one, which is to host [the quarterfinal game], but we are not content,” said Barandica-Hamilton. “We want to go out and see how far we can take it with this young group.”

Men’s soccer Similarly for men’s soccer, they too are coming together to play their best soccer at just the right time.

As winners of six straight games, the Huskies are undoubt-

edly the hottest team in the conference heading into the playoffs.

The second-place Huskies will host their quarterfinal game on Oct. 26 against the third-place Victoria Vikes.

The dogs have not advanced past the quarterfinal round since 2014 with three consecutive losses in the opening playoff round since then. Their leading scorer, Nikolas Baikas, will look to lead the Huskies to a deep playoff run.

Women’s hockey The Huskie women’s hockey team sits at .500 six games into

their season. Last weekend in Lethbridge, they split the weekend series with the Pronghorns, winning 2-1 in game one and losing 2-1 in game two.

Fourth-year Huskie forward Bailee Bourassa has just one goal this season but not for a lack of effort. Bourassa’s 25 recorded shots on goal is the most by any skater in the conference.

It is too early to begin to predict how this season will look for the Huskies as they sit tied right in the middle of the conference in fourth place.

This team will stay on the road for their next weekend series, visiting the third-place Calgary Dinos on Oct. 25 and Oct. 26.

Huskie fans will have to wait until November to see them play at home.

Men’s hockey

U of S Huskies forward Kohl Bauml sits on the bench during the first period of the Canada West hockey action at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon on Sept. 28, 2019. | Heywood Yu

Huskie men’s hockey is finally back on the right track.

The Huskies returned home from Alberta with a winless record through the first two weekends of the season. But they took care of business against the Lethbridge Pronghorns, winning 5-0 in game one and 8-3 in game two.

“We got some pucks in the net, which is something we have not been able to do since game three of the Canada West final last season,” said head coach Dave Adolph.

The Huskies took 20 penalties in their first two games of the season. At Alberta, they took 11 penalties over the two-game series. Against Lethbridge, they

displayed much better restraint, taking just four penalties in game one and none in game two.

“Well it is a focus, it really is,” said Adolph when asked about his team’s discipline.

“It comes and goes — can’t score but we’re disciplined, can score but we’re undisciplined.

I don’t know, hockey’s a funny game,” said Adolph.

The Huskies will stay at home for their next weekend series against Calgary on Oct. 25 and 26. Adolph’s team will look to reach .500 with two wins against the Dinos.

“They are big, they are strong,” said Adolph. “They play a real, real sort of grinding game which we do not, so we are going to have to learn [how] to do that.”

Volleyball Men’s and women’s Huskie volleyball kicked off their respective seasons on the road last week in Calgary.

The women’s team earned a weekend sweep against the Dinos, dropping only one set to Calgary over two games. Emily Koshinsky led the Huskies with 28 kills.

For the men’s team, they split their weekend series with the Dinos, losing game one 3-2 and winning game two 3-1. Dylan Mortensen lead the team with 41 kills over the first weekend of the year.

Both Huskie volleyball teams will come back to campus for their home opener against the UBC Thunderbirds on Oct. 25 and 26.

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SPORTS&HEALTH

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Vaccinations 101

College of Pharmacy students bring a nuanced perspective on vaccine hesitancy alongside modern medicine.

BRITTANY SCUTCHINGS

NIKOLA VIDOVIĆ

Brittany Scutchings,

to the potential adverse effects when vaccination programs are successful.

When successful, we see a drop in disease rates to the point where it fades from our collective conscience.

When there is no tangible link to the harsh realities of a disease, one basically eradicated by the vaccine, there is a tendency to begin scrutinizing the adverse effects of vaccines rather than the benefit they have provided.

This loss of confidence can lead to a dangerous decrease in immunization rates, creating an opportunity for an outbreak of a vaccine­ -preventable disease. Globally, we saw a 300 per cent increase in measles cases through the first three months of 2019, compared to last year.

Perhaps the strongest driver of anti-vaccine rhetoric has come from the internet, where professional­ looking websites are sharing misinformation.

third-year pharmacy:

Nikola Vidović, third-year pharmacy: The development of vaccines is a rigorous process that includes multiple phases of human clinical trials, progressively increasing the subject count. The last trial contains thousands of subjects with varying levels of health.

Once trials are complete, Health Canada is responsible for verifying the safety, efficacy and quality of all vaccines for human use. Once approved, federal bodies and manufacturers all carry the responsibility of monitoring the drug and ensuring its safety.

We know that in countries where vaccination rates are high, disease rates are low, and vice versa.

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/G

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sE dito r

Brittany Scutchings:

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I am no stranger to the anti-vax community. Being raised by a mother who believed in traditional medicine resulted in a ban on common medicines such as Tylenol and Advil. In the present day, there is no way to live without the pharmaceuticals that help eradicate my migraines.

The measures in which my mother took to avoid “Big Pharma” were quite astounding — even going so far as to send me to a chickenpox party in third grade, hosted by a neighbour.

The purpose of the party was to catch chickenpox while avoiding the need to vaccinate.

This is essentially a poor alternative to vaccination, ensuring that kids get chickenpox before adulthood as it becomes more dangerous later in life.

Mom’s skepticism came from a place of love, although rooted in fear, making this topic a difficult one as my career in pharmacy is on the horizon.

After being accepted into the college, my mom cried on the phone.

Rest assured, she heard my argument that there is no better pharmacist than one who understands that western and traditional medicine can coexist.

Having this experience illuminates the struggling relationship with vaccines that many patients face today.

The anti-vax debate is a compelling battle between the head and heart, and it’s especially tough considering the misinformation and anti-vax propaganda on social media.

As young health care professionals, it is our responsibility to share the facts of the subject.

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ng La

Here in Canada, diphtheria rates before and after vaccination programs do a great job of illustrating vaccine effectiveness. Diphtheria is a respiratory infection that can result in serious complications; up to half of patients can die from the disease if they are not treated.

The highest number of annual diphtheria cases was 9,010 in 1924, prompting a routine infant immunization program across the country a few years after. From 1992 to 2012, just zero to four annual cases were reported.

The diphtheria example is just one of many you could point to and prove vaccine effectiveness. In short, vaccines keep yourself and those around you healthy.

Vaccination programs can also create a phenomenon called herd immunity, where the vaccinated population provides protection to those who have not been vaccinated. This is especially important for people who may not be able to be vaccinated due to being immunocompromised. This herd immunity effect contributes to an estimated 2-3 million prevented deaths worldwide each year.

From an economic standpoint, immunization programs make sense. They are one of the most cost-effective disease prevention strategies available to us — better to prevent cases than having to spend valuable healthcare resources treating cases in the hospital as they develop.

However, as Brittany’s own childhood experience displays, anti-vaccine rhetoric is still present among parents.

There are a couple things to consider here — for one, some people are squeamish around needles. This general aversion can make it easier for people to find a reason not to get vaccinated or have their children vaccinated.

Another factor to consider is the shifting of focus from the benefits of vaccines

In order to get over the mental mile it can take to get vaccinated, one must address the common fear of needles. Rest assured, there are things you can do to help defeat needle phobia.

Small things can make a big difference, like looking away during the injection, laying down if you tend to get dizzy or bringing a friend to hold your hand. You can also request a topical numbing agent be applied, although this may come with a price and it may take some extra time, so plan accordingly.

Post-vaccination self-care is the best course of action — take it easy for the rest of the day. Some common side-effects you may experience are pain, swelling or redness where the shot was given, fever, chills, fatigue, headache or muscle and joint aches.

These side effects are common and are a good sign that your body is starting to build protection, otherwise known as immunity against a disease.

Never hesitate to talk to your pharmacist or healthcare provider for all your vaccination-related questions or concerns.

Your student health plan offers an annual $150 for vaccinations. Students can visit the student wellness center, a local pharmacy, a walk-in clinic or a physicians’ office to get vaccinated.

SPORTS&HEALTH

WWW.T H E S H E A F.COM // @ U SAS KS H E A F

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This just in: Sleep is not for the dead If you are awake for 20 consecutive hours, your brain performs as if you are legally drunk.

ALAYNA MOXNESS

With midterm season in full swing, students are pushing to finish assignments and prepare for tests. Finding a way to balance daily responsibilities with added items on your to-do list is a challenge, not to mention the hope of maintaining some sort of social life.

The truth is, there is never enough time in a day to accomplish what we want. Instead, we have to prioritize, and unfortunately, sleep is often on the chopping block.

Most students can relate to self-induced sleep deprivation that is ingrained in university culture, studying into the early hours of the morning and foregoing the few hours on the pillow altogether. This does not stop once you are out of school with ‘hustle culture’ encouraging more work and little rest as the formula to success. What makes matters worse, this is something that you can often hear being bragged about.

But what does that mean for students today and well beyond the fall term?

Studies show that sleep deprivation is a leading cause of underperformance in classes. Roxanne Prichard, a sleep researcher and professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of St. Thomas, points out how harmful poor sleeping habits can be.

“Bad sleep is a better predictor of who will and won’t succeed academically than is binge drinking and marijuana use,” said Prichard in her 2014 TEDx Talk.

It has actually been found

that the brain starts to show signs of impairment at hour 16 of being awake, and your brain performs as if it was drunk by hour 20. This is caused by a six per cent reduction in glucose reaching the brain, depriving it of the fuel it needs to function properly. Thinking, learning and memory — what school is all about — is closely linked to these glucose levels.

By now, you know that sleep is necessary for the optimal function of your body.

It helps to increase energy levels, boost hormone function, speed up metabolism and improves the immune system. For the biology lovers out there, it is the anabolic state to recover from the body-breaking catabolic state. Sleep does wonders for brain function and has been proven to improve memory and learning as that is when memory consolidation occurs.

Simply put, sleep will help students perform better.

Without sleep, you are stacking the odds against yourself.

Monica E. Hartmann and Prichard conducted a study involving over 55,000 university students. They found that for every night a student did not sleep enough, it showed they were 10 per cent more likely to have their GPA drop by 0.02. Throughout the term, the damage adds up.

Transitioning from immediate consequences to long term, there is a notable concept known as sleep debt.

Many students are all too familiar with financial debt — and as it turns out, your body is counting, too.

What that means for students is every time you

spend those extra three or four hours past your routine bedtime cramming for that midterm or working on that assignment, you’re adding to a deficit your body cannot easily recover from.

Imagine this: you normally go to bed at around 11:00 p.m. and wake up at 7:00 a.m.

Midterm week rolls around again and for the last four nights, you have gone to bed after 1:00 a.m. That is a full three to five hours of deficit every night for four nights.

Math is not my strong suit, but I know that could mean up to 20 hours of sleep debt collected over one week.

If this happens consistently without adding those extra hours to sleep soon, people can go into a state of longterm sleep debt or even chronic sleep deprivation. Shawn Stevenson, author of Sleep Smarter, lists the concerns of long-term sleep deprivation as increased risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, cancer, obesity, mental illness and allcause mortality.

Sleep is not as optional as we think. The hours dedicated to hustle culture over our health will catch up with students faster than they think.

The effects of lack of sleep exist now and are working against you. For advocates and experts like Prichard, they are fighting to make sleep education and awareness a priority.

“There is definitely room for improvement in educating students about sleep,” Prichard said.

Now it is your turn. We would like to know about your sleep habits. Are you lacking sleep, and how is that impacting you? Tweet us or send us an email.

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SPORTS & HEALTH / 7

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(Mis)Information overloa your symptoms SHAWNA LANGER GRAPHICS EDITOR

With the rise of the internet, it is incredibly easy for those with computer access to go online and search for any information that might be relevant to them. This access is both a blessing and a curse.

We live in a time where people feel criticized for not knowing what steps to take to make lifestyle changes to improve their lives. This criticism often boils down to, “it is not a lack of resources, it’s your lack of resourcefulness that stops you,” a phrase from Tony Robbins. But what if you were told that a lack of resourcefulness is not the problem?

The perils of Google searches The very first thing many people do when they are concerned about their health is to go to “Dr. Google.” Searching online for solutions to health concerns can produce neverending results that are overwhelming.

Resources, strategies and advice for any given health concern often present sources that contradict each other and information that is not based on science. A lot of the information and product advertisements aren’t likely going to help you change anything but your bank account balance.

Most health information searches commonly show websites such as WebMD, which may appear more reputable than other sources, despite disclaimers stating they do not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

So if you are not getting medical advice, what are you reading?

You are getting “health information” — which is not personalized to individual circumstances.

However, if health websites call this “information” rather than “advice,” it protects them from any liability issues.

Let's say that for the last two weeks you feel like you cannot catch your breath — like everytime you take a breath in, it gets lost somewhere on the way to your lungs. So you go online and do a quick search to see if there is anything you can do that might help.

You find some WebMD articles — perfect, there should be some solid advice there, right?

They do work closely with doctors and health experts to keep

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content up to date and accurate to help you live a healthy life. But again, they don’t claim any liability over how their advice affects you.

Some of the search results tell you that you may be experiencing anything from allergies to heart failure to panic attacks to obesity — all of which have completely different courses of treatment. Should you practice meditation, start an exercise regime or immediately go to the emergency room?

One of the health articles you land on says you are probably experiencing some allergies — it fits pretty well so you go with the recommended treatment. Maybe you can make things better by changing air filters, staying indoors during peak pollen times and washing your bed linens once a week.

This change brings you some comfort for a week, you feel more relaxed, but then you find yourself feeling the same symptoms again. Maybe your breathing difficulty is part of a bigger, more complex issue.

The Band-Aid you put on your bullet wound came off and you are exactly where you began — sitting on Google trying to figure out why you don’t feel well again.

Maybe it’s because the one symp-

tom you identified is not the only one and you do not even realize it.

Health needs a holistic approach To provide health advice based on one symptom, one internet search or one component of a person’s wellbeing may not even be addressing the underlying issue.

Health is a state of being with a multitude of interconnected factors that all influence one another. Rather than a single factor, illness or condition a person may be experiencing, a true picture of a person’s health focuses on the person as a whole.

The complexity of an individual’s health increases the elaborate nature of publishing medical information online. Regardless of how this information is labelled as advice or not, users are likely to see the information as advice, and use it to address any concerns.

Although health may be complex, using a search engine is not.

It can take less than two minutes and you can search from the comfort of your home rather than waiting hours in a walk-in clinic to see a general practitioner.

You type in what you are look-

ing for information on and you get thousands — if not millions — of results. However, when searching for information online, you cannot type enough words in the search box to get the whole picture.

Everything you read online in regards to your health is not necessarily applicable to you. Informational posts and programs for health or behaviour changes are not personalized, and in many cases, not effective for a lot of individuals.

Blogging doesn’t make you a health expert With anyone from educated professionals to influencers and bloggers sharing information online — and your social media acquaintances spreading it — you are being overwhelmed with health information. And how do you know where this information is coming from or what it is based on?

Although these posts may be well-intentioned, the unfortunate reality is that there are dangers of following impersonalized advice. Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook are common networks for health, fitness and diet information, but these posts often lack information to help you determine if it is safe or ap-

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FEATURE

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ad: Don’t Google search In a world full of information, how do we know what to trust? propriate for your personal use.

Some influencers have millions of followers on social media, allowing them to share information with people across the world. Rather than legitimate credentials, these influencers carry followers as their badge of legitimacy, which can lead to a false sense of trust.

The ability to share health‑ related information across large platforms has the potential to positively affect many people, but the information shared can easily be taken out of context, misrepresented, misinterpreted and omit pre-screening protocols that may indicate increased risks for some people.

Numerous posts of testimonials from clients, before and after photos, lists of health benefits and positive personal experiences encourage readers to follow the same behavioural changes in hopes of positive results. In spite of testimonials describing an individual’s positive experiences with any given lifestyle change, the effects are not necessarily the same for everyone.

Some social media platforms commonly used for sharing this type of information also run the risk of portraying a highlight reel rather than real life. It’s not like you are going to have influencers promoting a product or behaviour associated with negative reviews or subpar results.

Lifestyle changes are not meant to be polarizing. They are not meant to create change overnight and they are not meant to be overwhelming and exhausting. But if you do not have the right background to discern between evidence-based practices and trendy health fads, this is exactly what these changes can become — overwhelming and exhausting.

Just consult a health professional While you do not need a medical degree to share accurate health information, it is more common for those without certifications to share inaccurate recommendations, and can be difficult for those without proper education to determine whether or not the information is accurate.

Credentials often give you an associated title but a title

doesn’t give you credentials.

Consider health and wellness coaches, counsellors and psychiatrists for example.

While health coaches and counsellors may have varying levels of health education, their titles are not protected, meaning anyone can claim that title without formal education. There are still counsellors and health coaches out there that are consulting with clients in optimal ways, but it means that there is a higher likelihood of running into some not-so-reputable self-proclaimed professionals.

Psychiatrists, however, are highly regulated. To be a practicing psychiatrist in Canada, you must have a medical degree, specialist certification in psychiatry and a license to practice in your province. This means that seeing a psychiatrist guarantees a high level of health education and training.

If you dig deeper into your breathing difficulties during a visit to your general practitioner and they recommend you see a mental health professional because they believe you have anxiety, who would you want to see?

Would you want to see a health coach that may or may not have training, or a psychiatrist that you know has required training?

If it is the case that you are experiencing anxiety, you are not the only one on campus — and you wouldn’t be the only one not using professional consultation for anxiety management.

According to the 2019 National College Health Assessment, 70 per cent of University of Saskatchewan students reported feeling overwhelming anxiety at any time within the last 12 months. Yet only 26 per cent were treated or diagnosed by a professional for anxiety.

What about the other 44 per cent reporting feelings of overwhelming anxiety without professional treatment? Are online resources and self-proclaimed professionals helping them cope, or leaving it to lay dormant?

With certifications and degrees not being a be-all, end-all of getting legitimate consultations and accurate information, these certifications do provide more regulation and specific science-based guidelines for clinicians to follow.

Without knowing which titles are protected and which people have proper and legitimate

training rather than a weekend course, this can be difficult to navigate.

There is a great deal of science-based information available at our fingertips, if you know where to find it. This information can be used effectively as a guideline for helping to make lifestyle changes, but it cannot be your only source of information.

Consult your physician, certified personal trainers, registered dietitians — consult anyone with legitimate experience and knowledge on health and health behaviours. Without consulting with professionals, you are putting yourself at risk to do more harm than good.

With the extensive free resources available on campus and within Saskatoon, it’s guar-

anteed that you can find something better than generalized results.

When in doubt, throw Google out — or at least throw out the blog posts and untrained professionals and take a look through journal articles. Better yet, go speak to someone who is trained in healthcare who can help you understand what is going on.

All graphics by Shawna Langer/ Graphics Editor

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“Simple” textbook trading policy secret to local bookstore’s longevity The owner of Books Unlimited feels at home after serving campus students for over 30 years.

Simplicity is what drew Lyle Fitzgerald to purchase Saskatoon business Books Unlimited in 1988. Located across from campus on College Drive, his policy for trading used textbooks makes it easy for both students and his store to make a profit.

Fitzgerald says that he has always loved books. He began his new career when the bookstore went up for sale across from the University of Saskatchewan, where he graduated from in 1976. Although he didn’t have any experience, he quickly learned from the previous owners how to run the established business.

“All I ever wanted was to just run a nice little quiet business and make a living, and it’s done that,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s almost like a retirement job right now — half the time I’m sitting here having coffee and yapping with customers.”

Fitzgerald’s trading policy allows students to put their used textbooks on his shelves at the price they want — capped at 75 per cent of the new cost — for up to 13 months. Students still own their books and can take them back at any time, but if they sell, he takes a 25 per cent cut.

“So I’m in the same boat with my student clients. If they

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make money the store makes money, and if they didn’t I didn’t,” Fitzgerald said. “And it gives me incentive to try and help them as much as possible because I’m helping both of us at the same time.”

Fitzgerald says talking with the customers has been his favourite part of owning the store, and he could not have gotten “better clientele” than “friendly and honest” university students.

Over the three decades that Fitzgerald has owned Books Unlimited, he has seen the demographics of his customer base shifting with the university’s internationalization.

When he first started, it was mostly “prairie kids” but now he enjoys getting to learn more from his increasingly diverse customer base.

“I was a history major and I’ve always loved learning about the countries of the world and meeting people from all over,” Fitzgerald said.

Another change the bookstore owner has seen is textbook publishers increasingly using access codes that force students to buy new. Although he has always thought textbooks were “outrageously priced,” Fitzgerald relies on feedback from his customers to find out which earlier edi-

Owner of Books Unlimited, Lyle Fitzgerald, poses at the entrance of the store located on College Drive in Saskatoon, SK on Oct. 18, 2019. | Victoria Becker/ Photo Editor

tions can still be used.

“Students tell me when professors say, ‘We can use that earlier edition,’ or ‘No, we can’t.’ And then I’ll pass that information on to other students that come in,” Fitzgerald said.

Besides seeing how textbooks have changed, many students are increasingly selling their textbooks online through Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji.

Fitzgerald has adapted to

this change by encouraging students to cover more ground by putting their books on his shelves while advertising online.

“When the student brings the book here, the product goes up for 13 months to get them through the year’s cycle,” Fitzgerald said. “Since different books sell at different times of the year, they can take their book back anytime.”

Fitzgerald still runs his store by mostly by the same

pen and paper method he has always used. He admits that if he was starting a business now, he would have to learn new technologies but he enjoys being “very laid back” instead.

He says that he could have retired years ago but would rather spend his time running the store for a few more years.

“My memories will always be with this place here, and after 30 some years, it feels like home,” Fitzgerald said.

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CULTURE

WWW.T H E S H E A F.COM // @ U SAS KS H E A F

Let’s talk about aces, baby Oct. 20 to 26 is Ace Week, so let’s clear up some misconceptions.

CHELAINE KIRSCH

Asexuality is a sexual identity describing those who experience little to no physical attraction and/or desire for sex. “Ace” is short for asexual.

There are a few different types of asexuality. While “asexual” in itself is a fine title, many people identify as graysexual, meaning they experience sexual attraction rarely or in very specific situations. Or demisexual — they can sometimes experience it after establishing an emotional connection with another person.

Both terms fall under the asexual umbrella, and all three are represented by the black, gray, white and purple striped flag.

It is worth noting that asexuality doesn’t define a person’s romantic interests. Asexual people can still be in romantic relationships — sexual or non-sexual.

Alternatively, people with no interest in romance are aromantic, or “aro” for short.

A person’s romantic orientation reflects on who they’re interested in having a relationship with while their sexual orienta-

tion reflects on who they’re physically attracted to. Everyone has both a romantic and sexual orientation, but the two types don’t necessarily align. All in all, there is no one way to be ace, and acknowledging the diversity within the ace community is another reason why Ace Week is important.

Ace Week began in 2010 with a different name, Asexual Awareness Week, but the same mission — to increase awareness and build a community for ace people.

With such a low percentage of the population being ace — estimates hang around one per cent but there aren’t conclusive findings to back this — and because of its intrapersonal nature, asexuality is one of the lesser understood sexualities.

In fact, because so few people know about it, many asexuals grow up without understanding themselves. Awareness is not only for the ace community to inform the general public but also for people who could potentially identify with it.

A lack of ace media representation also contributes to people’s

lack of knowledge. Although Netflix-original BoJack Horseman has been a game-changer due to its portrayal of asexual, entrepreneurial oddball Todd Chavez, it has received some backlash for using Todd primarily as comic relief.

Despite a lack of on-screen dialogue regarding the matter, the most well-known asexual is probably Spongebob Squarepants. Creator Stephen Hillenburg once called him "almost asexual" in response to a controversy regarding Spongebob's orientation.

While yes, he is a sponge — insert spiel about asexual reproduction here — Mr. Squarepants has no love life. And his parents’ relationship counters the idea that romantic attraction is impossible for his species — he’s simply aromantic and asexual, or aroace for short.

While there doesn’t seem to be any official Ace Week events in Saskatchewan, there are many ways to be involved in the ace community. OUTSaskatoon has regular ACE Space meetings and asexual people are welcome at the USSU Pride Centre.

Samantha Langer

Some aces wear black rings on their right middle fingers to identify themselves in public — the rings symbolize asexuality and act to instill a sense of community in the wearer. Building off from this calling card, aros have a more obscure variation of this where they don white rings.

For those avoiding in-person interaction, the internet is also a wonderful contributor to the ace community.

Asexuality Visibility & Education Network, or AVEN, is the largest online platform for aces — an excellent source of information and means of connecting with others.

Was Joker really necessary?

Joker has been garnering controversy and negative attention since it was announced.

Instagram / El_basilyo

AMBER ADRIAN JACKSON

As the hype around Joker continues to grow, there is a need to critique and deconstruct the film.

In the United States, and specifically New York, movie theatres have been ramping up security. Multiple theatres have stationed armed guards and uniformed police officers outside of screenings of this movie.

This heightened security is due to the memory of the 2012 shooting in a theatre in Aurora, Colorado during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises. Regardless of the reason, if armed guards

are deemed necessary at a movie theatre, maybe the creators should reconsider the message of their film.

Joker’s movie trailers portray Arthur — who later becomes the Joker — as living a life filled with rejection, loneliness and abuse from strangers, implying this to be the reason he turns to violence.

The movie’s problem lies here, in the idea that it is acceptable to turn to violence if you feel you have been mistreated. Hurting others is not a natural or acceptable progression from feeling hurt yourself.

Take men who kill women

and girls for rejecting their advances, for example. These men feel entitled to having their advances accepted so rejection is seen as mistreatment and a death­-worthy offence. The absolute worst thing this movie could do is validate violence based on those feelings.

The question of who will watch this movie and see themselves in the titular villain also needs to be raised.

Arthur is portrayed as a poor man with severe mental illness and an abusive childhood. This is portrayed — along with his feelings of rejection and isolation — to be the trigger for his violence.

But these life circumstances occur more often than most would like to believe. If every poor, mentally ill or abused individual was destined to take the same path as Arthur, no society could be sustained.

When Gotham’s budget is cut, Arthur is left without access to social work or medication. This is a real-life tragedy that happens regularly. But the solution is not and should not be shown to be hurting innocents.

Joaquin Phoenix — who plays the Joker — is an undeniably talented actor, and that is what

makes his performance all the more dangerous. We are not supposed to see Arthur as a hero, but we are meant to sympathize with him.

Joker trailers ask audiences to empathize with a man who faced rejection and resorted to violence because he wasn’t able to deal with it. I don’t want to sympathize with angry men who lack the emotional intelligence to deal with their feelings of inadequacy without using violence.

Perhaps the most chilling line of the movie comes in the third act, when Arthur proclaims “What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash? I’ll tell you what you get. You get what you fucking deserve!” before shooting a man in the head on live television.

This type of rhetoric already exists and it has cost women their lives. Adding more of this into the world is irresponsible filmmaking. Even without a political critique, the film itself may be unnecessary. Not every villain needs a tragic backstory. Some are scarier even when they don’t have them.

This unpredictability was part of what made Heath Ledger’s

Joker so chilling. Audiences didn’t know what he is going to do next or why he was doing it.

He lacked a detailed backstory but not complexity.

There is a clear sense of an awful past, but we are not asked to sympathize with him. He is unquestionably the villain of The Dark Knight, and he is unquestionably terrifying. Ledger’s Joker is complex without asking for pity.

There was a way to write Arthur’s story without asking the audience to sympathize. It is easy to point out the idealization of violent and abusive men in pop culture, from Fight Club’s Tyler Durden to the Harry Potter franchise’s Severus Snape.

Durden is not supposed to be a person that audiences cheer for, but he has become a staple in the mind of violent frat bros everywhere. So what are we supposed to expect when we are asked to sympathize with a mass murderer like the Joker?

From both political and cinephile perspectives, no one asked for this movie. There have been enough incarnations of the Joker, and there have been enough incarnations of subpar men that we are meant to pity.

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World lacks decisive action despite rise of internment camps in China and US It can be hard to fathom how the world let atrocities happen — until you see it repeated today.

TOMILOLA OJO CULTURE EDITOR

When Germany began using concentration camps to continue the mass killing of Jewish people on a larger, more efficient scale in 1941, it was not a secret to the rest of the world.

National newspapers from all over the world, such as London-based The Times, The Montreal Star and the New York Journal-American, covered the horrific news trickling out of Germany — Nazis were mass murdering Jewish people and the death tolls were rising to over one million.

By 1941, British intelligence agents were tapping into classified German radio transmissions, and Alan Turing had cracked the Enigma Code. There was no doubt that the word was out about the Nazi killing camps.

However, the world was tentative in their interference with Nazi Germany.

The aforementioned newspapers reported stories but rarely put them on the front page or delved into just how terrible the atrocities were. The United States tightened its immigration laws.

Despite the lack of action while it was occurring, we pledge today to never forget the Holocaust.

We continue to teach about it in history classes, watch specials about how survivors are doing today and ask ourselves the same question: how could the world let this happen?

Regardless of what Holocaust deniers might say, the truth is that it did happen, and it happened while the world was watching. We don’t need to ask ourselves how it occured because it’s happening again today — and once again, we are not taking decisive action.

History is repeating itself just outside of our line of view. China has forced more than one million ethnic Uyghurs into so-called “re-education” camps in Xinjiang, a formerly autonomous region in northwestern China.

This has been happening since 2014.

The Chinese government states that the camps are to fight terrorism, extremism and separatism through vocational training at “boarding schools.”

Despite these claims, reports coming from China say that people are being interned without a trial or charges laid against them. There are reports that the women in these camps are being unknowingly sterilized, and that forced labour from the camps is being used to make clothing that

is then being shipped to the US. There are also reports of organ harvesting.

Uyghur Muslims and other minorities are facing cultural genocide and being instilled with communist party propaganda.

China continues to deny the existence of these camps despite the overwhelming proof that states otherwise.

Closer to home, American migrant detention centres are garnering attention for their treatment of children and inhumane conditions. Reports of cramped cells, dehumanizing conditions and disease outbreaks come from these camps.

Though the US has a history of detaining migrants from Central America — records go back to the 1970s — the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy allows no exemptions for detention.

As of May 2018, at least 2,300 children had been separated from their parents. Children as young as three years old are appearing in court alone for their own deportation hearing.

At least seven children are reported to have died in custody of the US Customs and Border Patrol since 2018.

Conditions are exacerbated by people like US Department

of Justice Lawyer Sarah Fabian, who says that soap, toothbrushes, blankets and beds were not specified as sanitary and safety necessities for detained children.

The lack of action against these violations of human rights mirror the world’s apathy to concentration camps almost 80 years ago. Despite all the history we learn and annual days of remembrance, here we are again being apathetic to the suffering of others.

Britain stays silent as to not jeopardize the new blossoming free trade agreement with China. When President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau met, it was to discuss trade deals, and no mention of the migrant camps was made. Trump continues to cut aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador despite the people pouring out of these countries.

Though the United Nations ambassadors from 22 countries signed a letter condemning China’s detention of Muslims, 37 more signed a counter letter in support of it.

There are many factors to be considered when looking at our apathy issue. The Holocaust was the culmination of years of hatred and one man who put it all in action. Just like with Jewish

people during World War II, negative propaganda surrounding immigrants in America, Muslims and other marginalized groups is taking hold of our media.

We so often see negative and divisive rhetorics perpetrated in political situations, painting them black and white and using certain groups as scapegoats for their problems. This is where the seeds of hate that lead to actions of mass hate are sown.

Civilians could also do with a wakeup call. The fear of the ‘other’ behind the internment of Jewish people during World War II is present today for Muslims.

Are our prejudices really worth the lives of over one million innocent people?

It’s a tight situation. China and the US are two huge trading powers on a global scale with control that reaches far beyond their physical borders. However, we know that there have been solutions found in seemingly impossible situations in the past — such as reworking entire economies and societal structures to support war efforts during the world wars.

We cannot let history continue to repeat itself like this, especially while the effects of our past mistakes are still being mourned.

Max-alph

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An AI could do it better: What does the future of fiction have in store?

OPINIONS

Will artificial intelligence be the new face of the literary world?

DELANE JUST

As an English major with an interest in creative writing, I am no stranger to people commenting on the viability of my future career options, but I recently heard a new one when a random stranger asked me what I was going to do with my degree.

“I don’t think there’s much of a future in being an author.

Artificial intelligence will be able to write better books soon anyway,” this stranger told me. It made me upset, a little angry, and frankly, a little scared. Could AIs really write books and eventually replace authors altogether? I decided to investigate.

We’ve all talked to a ChatBot back in the day or perhaps heard about the AI that wrote Harry Potter fan fiction. But an AI writing a full novel? Is it possible?

Apparently, it is. In 2018, the novel 1 the Road was published. This novel was written entirely by an AI which had been trained to write prose after it was fed different types of written work, including poetry and science fiction, that were written by human authors.

This allowed the AI to “learn” the writing style so that it could output similar language. It was then brought on a roadtrip from New York to New Orleans in 2017 where it picked up language from various conversations, scenery and GPS locations.

It eventually produced choppy texts which creator Ross Goodwin compiled into a novel.

So machines can generate text. But is it good? Not really.

While 1 the Road makes for an interesting thought piece or work of art, it still relies on Goodwin’s intervention to actually turn machine gibberish into a collection of prose.

The story begins with this cryptic line: “It was nine seventeen in the morning, and the house was heavy.” Not bad. But is it a masterpiece of literature? Even with thousands of literature examples to use as inspiration, will machines ever write in a way that surpasses the human creative mind?

The main thing holding machines back from taking over the literary world is perhaps the limitations of the machine itself. While it seems that AIs excel at understanding and creating patterns, they do not have the capability to understand the implications underlying the use of certain words and poetic form. They just don’t get the nuance of storytelling. They can string together sentences, but the narrative lacks depth and meaning — it’s devoid of humanity.

Plus, as they need to rely on pre-existing texts in order to produce work, could a machine ever create something truly new and groundbreaking?

An AI could produce a novel in a paint-by­-numbers sort of way, but could an AI think up the concept of James Joyce’s modernist’s masterpiece Ulysses or Italo Calvino’s postmodern meta-narrative If on a winter’s night a traveler?

Can an AI truly capture the creative innovations and complex emotions of the human mind? I’d like to see it try.

Tim Arman’s 1962 “Infinity of Typewriters+Infinity of Monkeys + Infinity of Time = Hamelt” on display at the Remai Modern’s opening of the Sonnabend Collection taken on Oct. 4, 2019. | Erin Matthews/ Opinions Editor

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OPINIONS

T H E S H E A F P U B L I S HI NG S OC I E T Y // OC TOB E R 24 , 2 0 1 9

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Three ways to derail yourself and how to avoid it By avoiding these traps you can rise above self-sabotage.

ERIN MATTHEWS OPINIONS EDITOR

There are a few common mental traps that we seem to fall into around the mid-semester point. Our motivation wanes as the relentless workload starts to chip away at our positivity.

While it might be impossible to avoid these traps entirely, one can manage to escape without too much damage.

Self-doubt While we can’t be confident all the time, especially when we are attempting new things, crippling self-doubt can derail our success in no time. So how can we escape the cycle of doubting ourselves?

Remind yourself of your successes. You have tried new things before and have succeeded countless times so try to focus on your wins. Don’t let the thoughts of every time you tripped over your feet creep in and try to tell you differently.

Self-doubt might be the most insidious trap because it can lead to intrusive thoughts that affect our performance. Be confident and recognize that we need to fail in order to learn

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and grow. Don’t be afraid of learning new material, taking a difficult class or trying a new activity. We need a challenge in order to succeed.

Perfectionism The cousin of self doubt — a perfectionist ideal has the ability to derail us just as fast.

The need to always be perfect differs in a key way from selfdoubt — you know you can do the task but you don’t know if it will be flawless.

Why is that an issue? Well if you have perfectionist tendencies, then you need it to be perfect or it doesn’t count. It’s just not good enough. Perfectionism can lead to you over studying, over thinking and severe anxiety. Tackling perfectionism is difficult because it’s an insidious trap that slowly devours us.

Check in with yourself and find the driving force. Is it because you are entering into a competitive program and need to secure funding for grad school, or is it because you have a self-driven contest to be the best?

Whatever the reason is, try to get around the “all-or-nothing” end game and focus on benchmarks that you need to hit and why these goals are important. Perspective is everything. Chances are, if you ease up on yourself, your performance isn’t likely to plummet. In fact, giving yourself a chance to breathe might even improve it.

Procrastination We’re all guilty of procrastinating once in a while, but this third trap can be our biggest obstacle for a successful year.

Taking a mental health day to watch Netflix isn’t a bad thing — a break is sometimes the best thing we can do for ourselves as being “on” all the time can lead very quickly to burn out. Taking care of ourselves is not procrastination, even if it means that we are putting work

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on the back burner for a day.

Procrastination is the intentional avoidance of a task and is usually wrapped up in anxiety, self-doubt and habit. We put off that painful task — whether it’s our statistics labs or that essay we really need to get started on — because we either feel anxious about the task or because we have zero interest in it and just can’t bring ourselves to look at it.

It might take time to get over your procrastination habit or quell your anxiety, but by restructuring how you tackle your study time and homework habits, you can eventually claw your way out of the trap.

Get organized, set a timeline and incentivize yourself.

When you find what is able to motivate you, it will be easier to get out of the procrastination habit. If anxiety is holding you back, your first step might be to pin-point exactly what is causing your stress.

In the end, the better you know yourself, the easier it will be to spot these traps and avoid self-sabotage.

Play it safe this cuffing season.

Midterms aren’t the only test you should consider taking this season.

ERIN MATTHEWS OPINIONS EDITOR

Continued from cover Still, the number one way to prevent sexually transmitted infections is by using barrier devices, yet more and more people are opting out of using condoms. For example, studies have shown that PrEP users are engaging in unprotected sex more frequently — a troubling finding. While the threat of HIV infection decreases significantly, the risk of infection from gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis and herpes stays the same.

Unprotected sex happens, but the best thing you can do is get tested afterwards. The Student Wellness Centre of-

ten conducts a campus wide blitz to increase awareness of STIs and increase access to testing. All you have to do is pee in a cup and hand it back in a nice discrete paper bag to the volunteers. You’re all covered, right?

Well, not exactly. This kind of test is great for detecting really common STIs like chlamydia and gonorrhea, but it can’t tell you if you’ve come in contact with something like syphilis or HIV. You are going to need a blood test for that.

If you are sexually active, it’s critical that you get tested frequently. Sex is an important and rewarding activity in our lives so make sure you are keeping your sexual health a proirity for yourself and your partners.

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DISTRACTIONS

A U of S art student explains their ‘Art Cycled’ project to peers and spectators at U of S Place Riel on Oct. 17, 2019. | Victoria Becker/ Photo Editor

A U of S art student explains their ‘Art Cycled’ project to peers and spectators at U of S Place Riel on Oct. 17, 2019. | Victoria Becker/ Photo Editor

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