February 6, 2020

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FEBRUARY 06, 2020

The Sheaf Publishing Society

VO L . 1 1 1 , I SS UE 2 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

In Medias Res: A beginning to an end? The future of this campus journal is in question as it nears its 25th anniversary. CHELAINE KIRSCH

In Medias Res — for those unfamiliar with Latin, it means “in the middle of things.” For St. Thomas More College and on-campus creatives, In Medias Res is a means of showcasing literary and artistic merit. It’s more than a Latin phrase: IMR is a student-run liberal arts journal. And it’s my baby. Last year, the editorial board had four members and was facing the ever-looming question: should we call it quits? Former editor-in-chief Emily Roberts had inherited the club from her older sister Hannah. But with one other returning member and only two gained, it became apparent that the workload wasn’t feasible for the few people involved. So instead of publishing two issues in a year, we published one. And as we approached the submission deadline for that issue — watching the creative writing submissions trickle in from the general student body — I learned that I was the only member both capable of and interested in returning the next year. IMR’s status had reached “critically endangered,” and I

Mitch Rohrke, left, Chelaine Kirsch, and Linda Hayes, right, stand for a photo at St. Thomas More College in Saskatoon, SK on Jan. 20, 2020. | Heywood Yu

was the line between this status and extinction. I think you, as readers, know which decision I made. I knew that in taking up In Medias Res, I was stoking embers. While IMR is open to anyone university-affiliated — professors, staff, grads and

undergrads — it’s been run by a handful of undergrads for a number of years, and the bulk of its submissions stem from us. But it didn’t start this way. Just as Athena sprang from Zeus, IMR was the brainchild of two former STM professors, the Corrigans. The publication

was to serve as a forum for intellectual discourse relating to their teaching areas — philosophy and literature. The journal was first published in 1995 and has been published every year since. I recently looked through the three oldest surviving copies of IMR, and I was surprised

Celebrating the few among many: A look into the Oscar film nominations Why do most of the nominations come from the tail-end of the year? VICI HERBISON

Let’s be real — 2019 was a great year for film. So why doesn’t the 2020 Academy Awards represent the vast and diverse catalogue of brilliant films released last year? While a majority of films this year do deserve their nominations, it’s hard not to look at the Oscars list and lament over the snubs. We see so much love for Joker, The Irishman, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 1917, but not one nomination for great films like Uncut Gems, Dolemite Is My

Name, Booksmart and The Farewell. How do these egregious snubs happen while 88 out of the 124 possible nominations went to the same 17 films? Within the prejudiced system that is the film industry — which almost exclusively rewards white men for creating white male stories — there are two less discussed but problematic components that impacts a film’s possibility to be nominated: Oscar campaigns and Oscar season. Studios often rely on Oscar campaigns in order to promote their films to the Academy. Through lobbying, parties,

screenings and even circulating potentially damaging rumours about their competition, studios can spend an upwards of $10 million on their campaigns. A studio wants their product to be profitable and being nominated or winning awards can help a film make money. A studio that has the financial privilege to hire strategists and create an Oscar campaign can potentially influence Academy members. Wonderful films that deserve recognition but can’t financially keep up with big-budget Oscar campaigns are frequently left in the dust. Oscar campaigns can get pre-

cious Academy votes, but which films do people remember the most at the end of the year? Often, it’s the movie that is freshest in their minds. Traditionally extending from late fall to the end of December, Oscar season is the time when studios release the films that they think are awards contenders. When cinemas are overloaded with often very good films all vying for prestigious nominations at the end of the year, it can be difficult to remember the great films released earlier on in the year. Continued to pg. 11

to see that many of the contributors haunt our campus still — as staff and faculty, of course. This includes St. Thomas More’s president Carl Still and at least three English professors — Sarah Powrie, Celene Sidloski and Sheri Benning. Continued to pg. 12

At a glance: NEWS

4 ISC stands in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en Nation

SPORTS & HEALTH

5

NBA review: A refreshing uncertainty

FEATURE

8-9 Black History Month: Microaggressions, injustice and solidarity with Indigenous people

CULTURE

11

OPINIONS

12

Posthumous music: The new norm in hip hop Mental health in the RCMP


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February 6, 2020 by The Sheaf - Issuu