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UBCO’s Student Newspaper

Nov. 14, 2011 | Vol. 23 Issue 6

...in our plums since 1989

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The Phoenix |

IN THIS ISSUE

November 14, 2011

Room 109, University Center 3333 University Way Kelowna, BC Canada V1Y 5N3

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thephoenixnews.com Phone: Fax:

250-807-9296 250-807-8431

Coordinating Director: Christina Vân artdirector@thephoenixnews.com Editor-in-chief: Alex Eastman editorinchief@thephoenixnews.com

Business Manager: Brendan Savage ads@thephoenixnews.com

News

Copy Editor: Gavin Gamache copy@thephoenixnews.com

News Editor: Terence Cheung news@thephoenixnews.com

Features Editor: Cameron Welch features@thephoenixnews.com

Arts Editor: Amber Choo arts@thephoenixnews.com

• Conservatives’ election scandal • O ensive advertisement in • • • •

Features • The use of so-called “study drugs” is on the rise among university students. McGill’s Shannon Palus investigates, talking to students and medical professionals about this phenomenon and the attitudes surrounding it.

downtown Kelowna Improving Canadian exports Paul Martin on the G20 U-PASS referendum: Yes or no?

Report on food bank statistics

Sports • • • • •

UBCO vs UBC Van From the attack line Athletes of the week Heat provincial medalists Athletes of the week

Sports Editor: Kevin Ilomin sports@thephoenixnews.com

Opinions Editor: Janelle Sheppard opinions@thephoenixnews.com

Humour Editor: Brendan Savage

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Arts

Opinions

UBCSUO

humour@thephoenixnews.com

Photo Editor: Hanss Lujan photo@thephoenixnews.com

Distributor: Andy Wang Contributors: Alison Brodie, Sarah Bryant, Emily Geen, Tyler Gingrich, Gordon Hawkes, Brianna Hill, Alexa Kingsmith, Steven Liu, Ruminique Nannar, Lisa Nunes, Daniella Estrada Perez, Shannon Palus Logan Saunders, Murissa Shalapata, Jessie Shopa, Tom Wilson Production assistants: Scott Paeth About the cover: Our Opinions Editor shows her support for Movember, Prostate Cancer Awereness Month.

The Phoenix is the UBC-O students’ free press. Editorial content is separate from the Student’s Governing Body (UBCSUO) and from the institution at large.

The editorial staff encourages everyone to submit material to the Phoenix but reserves the right to withdraw submissions from publication for any reason. “Any reason” could be material deemed to be sexist, racist, homophobic, or of poor taste or quality.

The Phoenix

will not publish materials which condone, promote, or express actions which are illegal under current laws.

This does not include articles which provide an in-depth examination of both sides of a controversial subject (e.g. legalising marijuana).

We welcome letters: Letters should be typed, doublespaced, under 300 words, and either left with or mailed to the Phoenix office. Your name and phone number must be included. Anonymity may be granted at the discretion of the editorial staff of the Phoenix.

Electronic Submissions:

Submissions on disk should

include a hard copy. We ask that you save contributions on disk in “Text Only” or “RTF” formats, or attach documents to an email.

The Phoenix is published, in part by: The University of British Columbia Students’ Union Okanagan (UBCSUO) and is an active member of the Canadian University Press

www.ubcsuo.ca

www.cup.ca

• • • • • •

Review: Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto Top Model too cheesy Reasons to avoid horror lms Anthony Bourdain in Vancouver TV and its in uence Man Booker Prize: biased?

• • • •

Against the Occupy movement Movember is upon us Letters to the editor Gingrich on fair trade

• Haunted by student debt • U-PASS referendum info

NEWS

Terence Cheung news@thephoenixnews.com

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Conservatives plead guilty to election scandal Court rules that the Tories are to pay $52,000 in fines Terence Cheung News Editor

The Conservatives have made a deal with the prosecution to drop the charges against two Tory senators and other Harper administration oficials in a court case regarding a 2006 election scandal . The Conservatives are accused of overspending and exceeding the budget approved

by Elections Canada. Harper’s government pleaded guilty in not complying with spending limits as well as failing to areport expenses.

According to Steven Chase’s article in The Globe and Mail, “The plea bargain spares Conservative insiders such as Senator Irving Gerstein and Senator Doug Finley from facing trial, a spectacle that would have put a very public face on accusations against Canada’s governing party of wrongdoing in campaign spending.” As a result, the Conservatives were ined $52,000.

However, even though the Harper administration pleaded guilty, they have still not admitted their wrongdoings, “We acknowledge there were some administrative

mistakes and we are paying for those through a modest ine; the practice in which we engaged in were legal and ethical,” said Pierre Poilievre, a Conservative MP. However, prosecutor Richard Roy stated on Thursday that “a political party violated the Act.” The Tories were allegedly involved in an “in and out” scheme that allowed the party to bypass the election spending cap through allocating some expenses to the individual candidates in 67 ridings.

The Conservatives have fought Elections Canada in another civil suit arguing that they have abided to the law in which they won the right to appeal. In March, the Tories suffered a blow when the federal court ruled against the Harper administration. The federal judge announced that “it was reasonable” for the Chief Electoral Oficer to be discontented. The Conservatives stated that the Chief Electoral Oficer had no right to “refuse rebates to candidates.” However, the court ruled that the Conservatives’ inter-

The Supreme Court of Canada (Ottawa). pretation of Elections Canada’s power “would weaken compliance with the limits set by Parliament on the amount of money that candidates may spend on their election and can recover by way of reimbursement from public funds.”

Conservative spokesman Fred

DeLorey said that the plea bargain was a “big victory” due to the fact that four of the accused Tory oficials are now free of charges from the scandal. The New Democratic Party (NDP) MP Jack Harris said that it was “laughable” because “they pleaded guilty to spending more

Photo byBearingrrr (flickr)

than they are entitled to spend and, they also pleaded guilty to iling false claims so how that can be a victory I don’t know.” Harry also mentioned that the only victory the Conservatives achieved was that they postponed the plea bargain until after the May 2nd federal election.

Controversial ad in downtown store Advertisement seems to promote the use of drugs Terence Cheung News Editor

The reindeer culprit in question at Steve Johns Shoes LTD. Photo by AM 1150 Radio

A shop named Steve Johns Shoes Limited has displayed a controversial Christmas advertisement in which a reindeer appears to be taking drugs in the form of white powder. This has sparked a dispute in the city about whether the advertisement is promoting drugs.

The store is located on Bernard Avenue with storefront windows saying “ho ho ho, let it blow.” In addition to the white powder on the table, there also appears to be a razor blade as well as a rolled up dollar bill.

In the interior, a Christmas tree is decorated with bags of white powder on its branches. Residents in the city have been infuriated and have stated that it is very inappropriate.

When Paul Barrett, a pedestrian walking down Bernard Avenue saw the store’s advertisement, he took pictures of the display. “It was kind of appalling,” Barrett said.

“It was basically set up with what looks like cocaine hanging from

baggies in a Christmas tree,” said Paul. “Other than the Christmas tree, it has got nothing to do with Christmas. I looked for signs to see if maybe it had some kind of message against drugs and I did not see that. It was more for drugs and about how you do these drugs and I was quite appalled, I do not know what it is advertising but it is certainly not advertising shoes, there are kids that are walking by this. It is a very low window. It is saying basically, this is what you need to do cocaine,” Paul continued.

When CHBC News asked the shop’s employee where the owner was, they learned that Steve Johns is currently in Mexico. The employee named Maryanne Litzenberger, said that even though the reindeer advertisement was appalling, it is possible that Steve Johns was going for the shock factor. “It is supposed to be a shock, I guess that is what he was after and that is what he got: it is shocking. It is awful,”

said Litzenberger. After learning that the display created controversy, the employee took the ad down.

However, the woman did not answer whether the ad was indeed promoting the use of drugs or not.

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The Phoenix |

NEWS

November 14, 2011

Canadian export sector shows strong growth Canada’s trading power is recovering from recession Steven Liu Contributor

Canada’s trade balance received a surplus beginning in September that broke a sevenmonth string of monthly deficits, reported by Statistics Canada on November 10th. A 4.2 per cent increase in overall exports means that the country attained 1.2 billion dollars as compared with a deficit of 482 million dollars in August. Imports, on the other hand, fell 0.3 per cent.

After the report’s release, the Canadian dollar rose to 98.21 cents US during the afternoon. “Even in times of uncertain global growth, Canadian exporters get the odd ray of hope,” said Emanuella Enenajor, a CIBCWORLD Markets economist. Enenajor claims that the trade figure will contribute to a rebound in thirdquarter growth, eliminating worries that Canada may fall back into a recession. Enenajor predicts that growth will come at an annualized three per cent.

Meanwhile, Shahrzad Mobasher Fard at TD Economics said that it “presents another upside risk to our economic growth forecast of two per cent in the

Cargo ship exporting goods out of Canada. third quarter.”

It should be noted that growth decreased by 0.4 per cent in the second quarter. Exports in Canada rose to 39.7 billion dollars, being an all time high since October 2008 and Statistics Canada reported growth in six of the seven sectors. According to John Morrissy’s article in The Ga-

Photo by theseoduke flickr

zette, “Energy exports rose 11.3 per cent to $9.6 billion, while automotive exports climbed 5.6 per cent to $4.8 billion and industrial goods and materials rose 3.4 per cent to $10.47 billion.” However, it should be emphasized that the gains of September are a result of the rise in prices which rose up to 3.9 per

cent, with volumes only increasing by 0.3 per cent. More so, economic analysts do not expect the statistics to carry through into the following months.

Economist Derek Holt from Scotia Capital said that “much of the month’s strength resulted from an end to temporary refinery shutdowns and the accom-

Provincial

Local

panying one-time surge in energy exports.” Sherry Cooper, an economist from BMO Financial Group said, “With the global economy slowing into Q4, don’t expect trade to repeat its strong performance.” Canada also lessened its reliance on the United States (the country’s largest trading partner) as exports to other countries increased by 2.3 per cent (11.5 billion dollars), a five-month consecutive increase.

Morrissy’s article also mentioned that a “An accompanying 0.7-percent rise in imports resulted in Canada’s trade deficit with countries other than the United States falling to $3.1 billion in September from $3.3 billion in August, the lowest level so far this year.”

The country’s surplus over the United States rose to 4.4 billion dollars in September from 2.8 billion in the month of August, increasing five percent to 28.2 billion which is the highest value since January 2011. Meanwhile, imports to the country lowered one percent to 23.8 billion dollars.

News at a glance International

Photo by SheepGuardingLlama

National

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An activist says anti-government crackdowns have killed at least 13 people across Syria. This came as a result of Human Rights Watch’s suggestion that Syria be suspended from the Arab League.

The organization alleges that the Syrian dictatorship under Bashar al-Assad is committing crimes against humanity. The Syrian Human Rights Observatory in London said that ten people had died including a defecting soldier and a 63-year-old man, with three other murdered in Deraa. The UN has estimated that at least 3000 people have been killed since demonstrations began.

Photo by PaddyWac

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On Friday, November 11th, Canadians gathered at Ottawa to commemorate the soldiers that have sacriiced their lives for their country. PM Stephen Harper and Gov. Gen. David Johnson will appear in the National War Memorial to lay wreaths. Thousands of people are expected to attend the memorial that ends with hundreds of poppies on the tombs of soldiers. A huge oil painting portrait called the Portraits of Honor is to arrive in the War Museum of Ottawa that includes 157 military personnel that died in Afghanistan. A tree is to be planted for every soldier killed in Afghanistan.

Photo by dcollie

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A BC man has claimed that he has spotted and ilmed the Ogopogo in the Okanagan Lake. Like most evidence that tries to prove the existence of these creatures (Loch Ness, Big Foot, Yeti), video and pictures are often shaky and obscure. The BC man (Richard Huls) is a believer in the Ogopogo and insists that there has to be at least something residing inside the waters of the Okanagan Lake. Since the 1860s, there have been over 1000 sightings as well as an expedition sponsored by Japan’s Nippon Television in an attempt to search for the Ogopogo.

Photo by aloha nico

Campus

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Andrew Aurie Jefferson, a convicted rapist from Calgary, was expected to come to Kelowna after his release from prison on the 10th. However, due to a change of plans, he was instead released to the town of Mission, B.C. This change came at the last minute.

Jefferson previously served a ive-year prison term due to the violent raping of two women in 2006 in Calgary, earning the epithet “The Falconridge Rapist”.

Calgary RCMP are to remain in close contact with the Mission RCMP regarding Jefferson. Jefferson cannot leave Mission unless approved by the RCMP.

Photo by campusandcommunityplaning flickr

Support services workers at UBCO have reached an agreement under the government’s net-zero cost mandate. According to Wayne Moore’s article on Castanet, the new agreement includes a two year contract involving more than 300 workers that provided wide range of services such as teaching assistance, library, faculties, housing, administration and student services. To this date, two-thirds of the more than 300,000 workers under the Government Service Employees’ Union in the province have renewed their contracts under the net-zero mandate.

November 14, 2011

NEWS

The 2010 G20 summit, hosted in Toronto, features participants from the major economies of the world.

| The Phoenix

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Photo by The Prime Minister’s Office (flickr)

Paul Martin confident in the success of G20 Summit Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney appointed as Chairman of Financial Stability Board Terence Cheung News Editor

During the G20 summit, Paul Martin says that he found the meeting “heartening” and that a closer monitoring of the commitments expressed is needed. The meeting, held in France, has seen an agreement in which Italy’s economy would be administered by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

The decision to have Italy’s economy and inance be governed by the IMF and EU is billed as a measure to prevent the country from falling into same debt crisis as Greece. “Italy is the elephant in the room; it’s a horse of a different colour. The indebtedness is so large, the problems are so large, and they have to have an assurance that [Italian Prime Minister Silvio] Berlusconi is going to carry through.” said Paul Martin, a participant in several G20 meet-

ings and former Prime Minister of Canada.

In addition, Martin said that IMF’s suggestion of surveillance of the Italian economy as “a major step forward.” According to CBC news, Italy’s borrowing rate exceeded six percent this week. In general, “there were a couple of things that are really quite heartening” Martin continued. The cancelling of a referendum on a Greek bailout scheme proved to be a success. The other accomplishment of the summit is the empowerment of the Financial Stability Board in which it now has the added responsibility of monitoring global banks.

The G20 communiqué expressed that the Board is likely to “improve its capacity to co-ordinate and monitor [the G20’s] inancial regulation agenda” as well as

having greater inancial autonomy. In an interview with CBC, Martin said that the strengthening of the Board’s power and responsibilities was one he previously pursued.

Likewise, the former Prime Minister also mentioned his satisfaction with the appointment of Mark Carney (Bank of Canada governor) as the chairman of the Financial Stability Board. “Even more important is the fact that Mark Carney has been named to head it, because Mark Carney has made it very clear that he is taking this job on, and will make sure the Financial Stability Board is to ensure common minimum standards and strengthen the degree of global national regulation with co-ordination in banks,” said Martin.

Martin took the opportunity to

express that Canada’s employment rate is likely to depend upon the development of other countries due to the increasing integration of the world economy. In order for the Canadian employment rate to increase, the former Prime Minister said that the objectives and success of the G20 summit is crucial as the stumbling of the Greek and Italian economies may produce undesired consequences in Canada.

“The fact is our job market in Canada was affected by the tsunami in Japan; our automobile market is being impacted by the loods in Bangkok, in both those cases, you had the provision of auto parts that form part of the cars that we build here,” said Martin.

Overall, the G20 meeting promised to reform various policies of the inancial sector that include

improving farm productivity, reform energies and subsidies, and the creation of more jobs for the younger generation, according to CBC news.

The participants of the G20 summit include inance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s twenty major economies. The representation of the European Union consists of the President of the European Council as well as the European Central Bank. The G20 organization was originally proposed by the Canadian politician Paul Martin, and attempts to tackle major inancial problems of the world through means of cooperation and consultation. Due to the success of the 2008 Washington G-20 summit, the meeting has replaced the G8 as the main economic entity for wealthy nations.

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The Phoenix |

NEWS

November 14, 2011

Will U vote for the U-Pass?

A referendum is set on November 18th Tom Wilson Communications Supervisor, City of Kelowna

The U-Pass vote is on the 18th.

Photo by Hanss Lujan (The Phoenix)

At a Nov. 18 referendum, students from the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus will be asked to cast their votes regarding a fee increase for their Universal Bus Pass (U-PASS).

“If you are a UBC Okanagan student and you like your U-PASS, be sure to get out and vote Yes on November 18,” says Mike Kittmer, City of Kelowna Active Transportation Coordinator. “Even if you don’t use your U-PASS often, you beneit from the program. Just imagine what it would be like if more students drove instead of taking the bus– you’d see more cars on the road, increased commute times, fewer available parking spots and possibly higher parking fees. Nobody wants that!”

In 2007, UBC Okanagan students voted for a U-PASS program to be instated as part of

their student fees, and there hasn’t been an increase in the cost since. Currently, the UBC Okanagan U-PASS costs students $45 per semester ($50 per semester, minus a 10 per cent subsidy from the University) for unlimited transit trips.

The proposed fee would see students paying $54 a semester ($60, minus the 10 per cent UBCO subsidy).

The November referendum will determine whether students are willing to pay this new fee as part of the 2012 general transit fare increase; an increase that is necessary to support future transit improvements and cover ongoing operational costs.

“Since the U-PASS was voted in at UBC Okanagan, we have made tremendous advances in the state of our transit system and service,” says Kittmer. “We know that the system is not per-

fect, but improvements are being made regularly. All Kelowna Regional Transit partners remain committed to improving the system to ensure it will better serve our community and students.”

Voting takes place on Friday, Nov. 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Student Union Boardroom of the University Centre Building (room UNC 105). Advanced polling occurs on Thursday, Nov. 17, in the same location, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For a full list of transit enhancements and UBC Okanagan U-PASS referendum information, check out the U-PASS page located at kelowna.ca/transportation. To see what the City of Kelowna and Kelowna Regional Transit partners have planned for the future, see the Central Okanagan plan at: bctransit.com/transitfuture

More than 30,000 Canadian students seek food bank support every month: Report Four percent of post-secondary students seek assistance from food banks Briana Hill CUP Ottawa Burueau Chief

OTTAWA (CUP) — HungerCount, an annual study of food banks and food programs in Canada, found that in 2011, an average of 851,000 individuals were assisted by food banks each month— and four per cent of them were post-secondary students.

“Four per cent means that there [are more than] 34,000 students every month that are going to a food bank for help,” said Food Banks Canada executive director Katharine Schmidt.

“It’s a group of people in this country that is important to us.

Educating our young people and preparing people for their futures is important, so to know that we’ve got about 34,000 Canadians who are walking into or getting help from a food bank each and every month, who are postsecondary students, I think is a large number.”

Since 2008, overall food bank use in Canada has increased by 26 per cent.

“The reality is that someone using a food bank could be your neighbor, it could be a friend, it could be a family member, it could be somebody you sat next to on the bus on the way to school—really, it could be just about anyone,” suggested Schmidt.

“The reason people end up at food banks is because their income is not high enough to cover the cost of basic needs.”

Two per cent of those receiving assistance from food banks cite student loans or scholarships as their primary source of income.

The cost of housing, job quality and accessibility to employment insurance are all barriers students face, according to Schmidt.

Food bank use has increased on campuses as well. According to numbers from the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa, the number of people using their food bank has increased from 259 in 2007 to 3,534 in 2011.

“It’s amazing because ten to ifteen years ago, there weren’t campus food banks, and I think the majority of campuses now have food banks,” observed Schmidt.

“It’s interesting how they’re helping to service those that need help with some really creative ways to do it so that there isn’t a stigma— and it allows students to get some help with a lot of dignity.”

Beyond being a student, there is no set of eligibility criteria to access the SFUO food bank service.

“We ask that in order for stu-

dents to have access to the food bank that they produce a student number—it’s really simple. We don’t ask for a lot of details or a lot of speciications, just that they can prove that they’re a student here, [or] that they’re an employee,” explained Chris Hynes, SFUO food bank employee.

Hynes and his coworkers are currently collecting information about who accesses the food bank service on their campus. They have found that students with dependents are more likely to be regular clients.

Fundamentally, food bank services exist to provide help to those in need. Both Schmidt and Hynes invited any students who need assistance to seek it out.

“If you’re struggling and you need it, make the phone call, send the email depending on your food bank, and just get some help, because it’s important—no one’s going to judge you and it will make a difference for you,” encouraged Schmidt.

“Students shouldn’t have to choose between paying tuition, paying rent, and buying food,” said Hynes.

To ind a food bank near you, visit: www.foodbankscanada.ca

A food bank provided by Best Buy.

Photo by Best Buy Canada

IF IT’S GREEN...

JUST GO! People who take transit are three times more likely to meet the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada's suggested daily minimum of physical activity.

– Journal of Public Health Policy, 2009 “Transit and Health”

www.bctransit.com

EVENTS & GAMES

Brendan Savage humour@thephoenixnews.com

NOV 14TH-NOV 28TH

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SOLUTION

THE BEATDOWN @ Minstrel Cafe & Bar Nov 15th, 2011, 8:00 PM Minstrel Cafe & Bar, $5 cover Fan of French Reggae? This band’s from Montreal, eclectic city, it might not even be French!

Foucault Goes to the Animal Research Center Nov 16th, 11:00 AM UNC 334 , UBCO Campus Graduate Student spotlight series featuring Lindsay Diehl lecturing on everyone’s favourite theorist.

German Film Society screening: Nosferatu Nov 16th, 12:30 PM SCI 337, Science Building, UBCO German expressionism at it’s inest. Drop in if you’re a fan or a ilm student.

Just for Laughs - British Invasion.

Nov. 17th, 7:00 PM Kelowna Community Theatre The Capital One Just For Laughs Tour, Hosted Steve Patterson and his British comedy troupe.

Songwriter Circle Nov. 18th, 7:00 PM Streaming Cafe Do you write music? Here’s your chance to show it off because you’ll never get You-Tube famous.

The Shrugs w/ Moondog Uproar @ Doc Willoughby’s Nov 4th, 8:00 PM Doc Willoughby’s Live music is live music, get out there and enjoy it! It’s 10 bucks at the door, so bring 30 to get a buzz.

Matthew Good live at KCT Nov 5th, 7:00 PM Kelowna Community Theatre If you’ve got about $45, you can check out one of Canada’s veteren rockers—plus he hates the Juno Awards! That’s cool! Right?

Malarkeys at the Bike Shop Cafe Nov 19th, 7:00 PM The Bike Shop Cafe Live Celtic music from The Malarkeys with music from their irst album ‘Bloody Brilliant’. Yum! And it’s free, take that!

FCCS Visiting Artist Series: Ken Gregory Nov 21st, 6:00 PM Kelowna Community Theatre Check out this Winnipeg based artist and his technological take on DIY art and performance.

Rockets Home Game: v. Prince George Nov 23rd, 7:05 PM Prospera Place Come buy a ticket and cheer on the boys as they take on those damn pesky Cougars.

The Equity Ofice Presents: The Fair Trade Fair Nov 23rd, 10:00 AM- 4:00 PM Fipke Building Foyer, UBCO Come learn, discover, and buy from a variety of Fair Trade retailers.

UBCO Heat vs U of Brandon Nov. 26th 2011 UBC Okanagan Gym Men’s basketball action as the Heat take on the Univeristy of Brandon Bobcats. What’s with all the feline team names?

Crossword ACROSS Across 1- _ lift?; 6- Seine feeder; 10- Attempt; 14- Approvals; 15- Heath; 16- River in central Switzerland; 17- High-speed separator; 20- Monetary unit of Afghanistan; 21- The Younger and The Elder; 22- All there; 26- Regain strength; 30- Fate; 34- Plunder; Writer Hento 36- Asian holiday; 38- Become less intense, die o 39- DC bigwig; 40- Subway turner;

DOWN 42- “... _ the cows come home”; 43- Cry _ River; 44- Taoism founder; 45- Caution; 49- Listener; 50- IRS IDs; 51- Considers; 54- Freight weight; 56- Naive; 64- Buenos _ ; 65- Area of 4840 square yards; 66- Musical drama; 67- Actress McClurg; 68- Norse god of thunder; 69- Water vapor;

Sudoku

© 2008 PageFiller Ltd. and Associates (www.page ller.com) Used with permission.

Down 1- Big Apple sch.; 2- Conger; 3- Cornerstone abbr.; 4- German article; 5- Quickly, quickly; 6- Beaten egg dish; 7- Charged particle; 8- Drunkard; 9- Be human; 10- Adventurous expedition; 11- Lacking slack; 12- Jason’s craft; 13- Apians; 18- Swearword; 19- Rapper born Tracy Marrow; 22- Herring type; 23- Semitic language; 24- Kathmandu resident; Prepare a book or lm for release; 27- Filmic; 28- Son of Judah;

COMICS

29- Large container; 31- Chemical ending; In ammation of the ear 33- Wrestling hold; 37- Ages between 13 and 19; 39- Big rig; 40- Pouch; 41- Small children; 43- Mire; 44- Vive _ !; 46- Branching; 47- Pointed end; 48- Hogwarts attendee; 4 51- Type of ranch; 52- Children’s author Blyton; 53- Actor Morales; 55- Sgts., e.g.; 57- Covering for the head; 58- German pronoun; 59- Hit sign; 60- Appropriate; 61- Driver’s aid; 62- Baseball stat; 63- Block up;

Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com (http://www.bestcrosswords.com). Used with permission.

Kyle Lees

FEATURES

Cameron Welch features@thephoenixnews.com

GETTING BY or GETTING

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HIGH?

For many, “study drugs” are part of every day life.

Shannon Palus Photo by Ncole Stradiotto (The McGill Daily)

MONTREAL (CUP) — “I hate that people take ADHD medications to study,” Katie Ellston* says to me. We’re halfway through our irst round of raspberry blondes at Brutopia. It’s the end of summer.

She begins telling me about a side of so-called “study drugs” that I had never quite stopped to consider. “I’d give a million dollars not to have to pop a pill every day,” she says.

The tale of the student who takes ADD/ADHD medication sans prescription is, to the modern day university student, a familiar one. Alex (an anonymous friend of a friend, or a character in a news story) is a great student, but needs more time for studying, the soccer team, and partying. Alex inds there are meds that improve concentration and keep you up all night. (“Yeah, that’s exactly the type of person who drives me nuts,” says Ellston.)

Alex buys the medication, probably the short-acting Ritalin or Dexodrin, from a friend who has both ADHD and a prescription that provides them with more pills than they need.

Alex has a few sweaty, red-eyed nights, but has plans to work at Goldman Sachs and live in a nice lat downtown. The drug will wash in and out of Alex’s system and leave not a trace.

We know this story by now.

If you don’t take concentration meds, you know how to get them, and if you don’t know how to get them, you go ask your friends — if you bet someone $5

that you can ind a pill in the time it would take you to read a newspaper cover to cover, you’d probably make easy money. A recent editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal explains that an estimated 5 to 35 per cent of students abuse prescription stimulants. The editorial is titled “Time to address stimulant abuse on our campuses,” and calls for the de-normalization of their use.

The adults don’t think we’re all right.

Legitimate need But Ellston is not like Alex.

During the school year, she takes a pill every day. She’s had a prescription for Concerta — Ritalin’s long-acting cousin — since she was diagnosed with ADHD at 15.

“It’s a hardcore drug,” she says.

She feels that people who take “study drugs” to try to get ahead in academics don’t understand that. When she goes across the border to the U.S., she can only take so much of the drug — one pill for every day she is traveling — with her and she has to be carrying a doctor’s note. Further, she feels that people taking the medications casually trivializes her illness, which is part of her everyday life.

Concerta, like the other medications commonly used to treat ADD/ADHD — also like caffeine, or cocaine — is a stimulant.

That is, it increases the amount of dopamine in the user’s brain.

With Concerta, Ellston experiences many of the physiological

The McGill Daily

aspects of an addiction. On days during the school year when she does not take her medication — when she forgets or wakes up after 10 a.m. (if she takes it later than this she cannot fall asleep at night) – she experiences headaches, nausea, and slight depression, much like a cocaine user coming off a high or a coffee addict running too late for work to pop by Starbucks. During the summer, Ellston chooses to go off Concerta, and she has up to a week of nausea and depression.

She referred to this period of time as “detox.” “Detox is hell,” she added. She’s going to start taking Concerta again next week, she tells me, once classes start gearing up. “I’ll basically be high for a couple of days.”

Concentrate on risk Concerta produces the same effect in people with ADD/ADHD that it does for people without, though the improvement in concentration is more dramatic for people who have a clinically diagnosable dificulty concentrating. Scientists aren’t exactly sure how it works though. The literature is littered with the words “might” and “probably.” The thinking goes that upping the amount of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain — which ADD/ADHD medication does — improves concentration. People with ADD/ADHD may naturally have less of these neurotransmitters, the conventional wisdom goes, which is probably why tak-

ing Concerta can bring them up to the level of concentration that most people experience without the help of drugs.

All stimulants have the effect of improving concentration to some degree. Robert Franck, the Clinical Director of McGill Mental Health Service, says that, more than once, he’s had patients come in with concentration problems that turn out to be ADD/ADHD, and has realized that they have been unconsciously self-medicating by drinking tons of coffee. (“There are lots of reasons people drink coffee,” he says, when I, in a moment of hypochondria, mention that I drink tons of coffee.)

Like Ellston, he doesn’t like the fact that students take medication for concentration without a prescription. Though the drugs are relatively safe, they come with a suite of risks and side effects, and their use should be carefully monitored by a health professional — one who knows what other drugs you’re on, too.

Hypertension, arrhythmias, and psychotic episodes are the more extreme bad things that can happen from taking ADD/ ADHD medication. The CMAJ editorial rattles these off, and adds that, though rare, overdoses are “potentially lethal.” These are all true and valid reasons not to abuse ADD/ADHD medication, explains Franck. “But scare tactics don’t really work,” he says.

Further, it’s not just potential physical harm that makes him concerned about medication being used to study. Franck explains that taking drugs as a band-aid

solution to, say, anxiety about not being able to complete all your assignments during inals, is to ignore other problems and to potentially mask clinical anxiety or depression. Franck’s motto is, “medication when necessary, but not necessarily medication.”

From 100 thoughts to 50 When Ellston was diagnosed with ADHD — a process of elimination of sorts — the medication was the last step of her treatment plan, and remains just one part of her regimen. In addition to taking the drug, Ellston sees a therapist every week. Through the Ofice for Students with Disabilities, she’s allowed four hours instead of three to complete exams, and a short break to walk around during an exam. She also gets to bring in a idgeter — a small object like a koosh ball or a bean bag that she can play with.

She knows her own study habits incredibly well. She doesn’t work on any one assignment for more than half an hour at a time.

“The information won’t stick if I try and make myself,” she says.

She has a CD-case style binder with hundreds of DVDs in her apartment; she loves unwinding in front of the television on Saturdays by watching Harry Potter ilm after Harry Potter ilm. “But, see, that takes a lot of concentration. So even when I’m watching movies, which I love, I’m also painting my nails, and checking my email, and texting. I’ll take breaks to just walk around my

November 14th, 2011

apartment.”

She describes the feeling of having ADHD as like having 100 different thoughts going on in your head at once, popping around and soaring off on their own little orbits. “When I’m on the drugs, instead of 100 thoughts, I only have 50. And when one tries to go off on a tangent,” she says, moving her hand away from her head, “I can feel it being pulled back. It’s like it hits a wall.” It’s not that she’s not herself on the drug, it’s just that her thoughts behave in a different manner. “Being on the drugs is like running down a hallway, and not being on them is like running through a ield.”

Doing drugs to achieve It’s odd, but the fact that these are prescription drugs with a medical use hadn’t quite settled in my mind before now. Perhaps it’s because of stories that have been popping up in the media over the past few years — each taking the tack that study drug abuse, like hooking up, smoking pot, or using the internet, is a new trend hitting the continent’s youth. Perhaps it’s because I went to a high school illed with overachievers who went on to universities that boasted as much of a problem with ADD/ADHD medication abuse as they did with any other drug. Though I’ve never taken Ritalin or Concerta, it’s never occurred to me that I should have any qualms about doing so — not even the basic concerns that come with smoking pot now and then.

It’s not even treated like a recreational drug in the crowd I run with. It’s not done for fun — it’s done to achieve.

According to Alan Desantis at the University of Kentucky, I’m not alone. He’s spent the past handful of years facilitating interviews with hundreds of students, and has found that, for some, taking the medication sans prescription was less of a concern than drinking beer or smoking cigarettes. For some, ADD/ ADHD medication doesn’t carry the same weight as party drugs.

In his research he found that students use a number of arguments to justify their lax use of the medication, including that they only take it during inals, that they are self-medicating for concentration problems, and what Desantis referred to as the “I’m-doing-it-forthe-right-reasons” argument.

“No, they’re deinitely a drug!” says George Bellwood*, a McGill student without ADHD who took Concerta about eight times last year. “Yes, eight, I think. I’m

Ritalin is one of the “study drugs” that students are using to stay focused for long nights.

Photo by FGMB (flickr)

thinking about this in terms of the number of major assignments,” he says, counting on his ingers.

For Bellwood – who has also done cocaine, pot, and MDMA – the study drugs are a tool to be used during long nights of working that come free of particular health or moral concerns.

Scare tactics referencing potential death do not work on him.

Concerta is long release, so it allows Bellwood to work overnight. He’ll drink two or three cups of coffee in the evening, settle into the Arts computer lab, and get to work on a paper.

Around two A.M., when the coffee stops being enough, he’ll pop a pill. The metallic taste of the Concerta hits his tounge, and will stay there in his mouth for a while (“like licking iron,” he says). He’ll feel jittery, sweaty. His mind will feel clear, he explained, making a desk-clearing gesture with his hands. And then he’ll work.

He dispels my notion that these drugs offer a sort of trance. “Is it like kicking a soccer ball around for hours? That kind of focused?”

I asked.

“Oh God no. You don’t lose track of time. You’re really aware of the next step.” He drummed the table with his index ingers.

“And you don’t want to be doing the work. You just are.”

He’ll continue in that robotic haze, one task, and then the next, and then the next. By four a.m., there are only three students left, at least one of them asleep. “It’s so fucking bleak in that room, with those luorescent lights.”

The janitor comes in at seven, signaling the rest of the world has moved onto the next day.

Trading the present for the future Bellwood plans on going to grad school when he’s done at McGill — he explains that for his ield, he has to. (George also asked that his real major not be used).

His normal facial expression is a sort of cheshire-cat grin, which makes him seem at once eager and carefree. He talks about history — citing paradigms and scholars — the way other people talk about TV shows. Last semester he got a 4.0, started a journal, edited a section of a campus newspaper, had a part-time job, and, though he insists his social life was cut in half, still went out every Saturday or so.

“What, how to you do all that?”

I ask him. “The drugs!” he says, his hands lying into the air. What is it that I thought I was interviewing him about?

The drugs are a prop he hopes he will cast aside when he’s inished hopping along the stepping stones to a successful future. But he can’t say when that will be.

“When you’re in grad school?

When you’re working an entrylevel position?” He’s not sure, he just sort of knows that there will be a time in the future when the work will pay off, a spot in life where the things on his to-do list can be accomplished without him breaking out in a chemically induced sweat, accomplished with room left over for seven hours of sleep and a substantial social life.

Sitting in Franck’s ofice, I outlined Bellwood’s reasoning: wanting to go to grad school, wanting grades and extracurriculars to be a tangible currency he can exchange

for a job after graduation, and knowing meds can help a person do more and do better. Shouldn’t we take a leg up in the world when we can? (In fact, this was before I irst talked to Bellwood — these concerns are near-universal amongst a certain kind of highachieving student.)

“I would say, to those people, why do you feel you have to study so hard?” Franck says. Wanting to get ahead in life does not necessitate medication – you can be organized and reasonable about what you take on. But it’s not just that: Franck thinks doing drugs to wend one’s way through undergrad amounts to cheating yourself out of the things that you actually enjoy in life. These are the things — whether coding, reading, playing soccer — at which you might end up being successful, the activities you love so much you can sit and do them for hours and lose track of time.

“That, that is the kind of attitude that I fucking hate,” says Bellwood, when I bring up Franck’s argument. “It’s actually really harmful, that kind of faux naïveté.

‘Why are you studying so hard?!’

Theoretically, this is the point of attending a university.”

This brings up a much larger reality: that it’s a dream world, of sorts, a strange pocket of society illed with bright people, 24hour study facilities, 24-hour coffee shops, and an endless tunnel of hoops to jump through. There are small, lickering lights dotting the tunnel — if I can just pass this midterm, just make it through inals, just get my diploma — that make it seem like ad hoc solutions, like one more all-nighter, or two,

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9

or eight, could be enough. We’re judged by our peers, by the numbers that stare back at us from our transcripts, by the test score requirements on grad school information pamphlets. Perhaps most importantly, for Bellwood and for many of us, we’re here because of reasons that are genuine and innocent: because we love academia, because we want to grow up and be happy and prosperous.

Doing well in academia can bring us those things, and drinking coffee and popping pills can bring us success in academia. It seems like such a simple transaction, like magic.

But, to Franck, to the adults, you have to learn to live within the constraints of the real world.

Franck explains “university is a wonderful opportunity to develop understanding — not just academic, but how to feel good about yourself, how to manage time, and to develop coping strategies.” By popping study drugs, Franck believes, you set yourself up in a lifestyle that is unsustainable and potentially soul-sucking, one that’s not based on doing the things that make you happy, but on the things that you feel society — or the job market, or your parents, or your peers — want out of you. Still, he sympathizes with the plight of the George Bellwoods of the world. He knows the heat of the loodlights turned on students these days. That’s why he thinks people like him — adults and MDs — need to work harder to educate students about the perils of study drugs, and about ways to cope without the drugs.

Ellston agrees. She’s studying high school education. When on ield experience (a sort of mandatory internship for education students), she’ll often have a child or two in her classroom with ADHD. She feels she can effectively teach these kids in a way that teachers without ADHD can’t. “They’ll do things like stand up in the middle of class and start walking around, and their teacher will say, ‘no, no, sit down,’” she explains. Instead of becoming frustrated and disciplining them, or singling them out, Ellston can empathize: “I’ll talk to them about it, and say, ‘if you need to stand up during class, stand up. I need to do that too sometimes.’”

She wants to teach for a few years, and then go into educational policy, where she will design curricula, and play with the way the classroom is structured, making it a more friendly place for kids who have different learning styles, whether they are diagnosed with a disorder or not. She loves being able to do that. *Names have been changed.

SPORTS

Kevin Ilomin sports@thephoenixnews.com

| 10

UBC vs UBC: Vancouver still top dogs between campuses Heat volleyball wins one of four games vs. sister campus during historic weekend Kevin Ilomin Sports Editor

Chandler Proch sets up Kendra Wayling for the attack.

Photo by Vanessa Hodak

FRIDAY NOV 4

Heat Stats

Women UBC hunderbirds (3-0) defeats UBC Okanagan (1-2) 3-1: (25-22, 25-17, 16-25, 25-15) UBC Okanagan (1-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Brianna Beamish 9-0-0; Myrte Schon 7-3-1; Alex Basso 6-0-1; Katy Klomps 5-0-1; Kendra Wayling 4-0-5; Chandler Proch 2-1-0; Jill Festival 2-0-1; Kate Dejong 2-0-2; K Gouldsborough 1-1-0; Emily Carroll 1-0-0; Totals 39-5-6.0.

(Assists) - Chandler Proch 33.

(Dig leaders) - Kendra Wayling 13; Alex Basso 12; Myrte Schon 9; Chandler Proch 8 Men UBC Okanagan (3-0) defeats UBC hunderbirds (2-1) 3-1: (22-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-19) UBC Okanagan (3-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Riley McFarland 25-1-4; Nate Speijer 17-2-3; Brett Uniat 9-1-1; G. Niemantsverdriet 6-2-3; Mark Broome 2-0-9; Preston Tucker 0-0-3; Totals 59-6-13.5.

(Assists) -Preston Tucker 53.

(Dig leaders) - Jeremy Fostvelt 13; Riley McFarland 12

SATURDAY NOV 5 Women UBC hunderbirds (4-0) defeat UBC Okanagan (1-3) 3-0: (25-18, 25-12, 25-16) UBC Okanagan Heat (0-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Alex Basso 7-0-0; Myrte Schon 5-1-0; Jill Festival 3-1-0; Emily Carroll 3-0-1; K Gouldsborough 2-0-0; Katy Klomps 2-0-1; Chandler Proch 2-1-2; Kendra Wayling 1-1-1; Kate Dejong 0-1-1; Totals 25-5-3.0.

(Assists) - Chandler Proch 20.

(Dig leaders) - Lenia Schmidt 8; Alex Basso 7 Men UBC hunderbirds (3-1) win 3-0 (27-25, 25-20, 25-21) over UBC Okanagan (3-1) UBC Okanagan Heat (0-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - G. Niemantsverdriet 12-0-4; Riley McFarland 9-0-4; Nate Speijer 7-1-1; Brett Uniat 4-1-5; Mark Broome 1-1-2; Jon Russo 1-0-0; Jeremy Fostvelt 0-0-1; Preston Tucker 0-1-0; Totals 34-4-10.0.

(Assists) - Preston Tucker 29.

(Dig leaders) - Preston Tucker 10; Jeremy Fostvelt 8

The University of British Columbia made history over the Nov 4/5 weekend when both of its varsity volleyball teams met at the UBC Okanagan gymnasium for back-to-back games Friday and Saturday. This was the irst time in Canadian history that a single University has ielded two separate clubs from different campuses to compete against each other in the same league.

The women’s teams were up irst the Friday night, and the Heat had a steep challenge ahead in taking on the fourtime defending CIS champion Thunderbirds. The Heat went down two sets to none when head coach Steve Manuel made a few lineup changes and strategic adjustments that resulted in a third set blowout 25-16 to keep UBC Okanagan alive.

Of his tweaking, Manuel said that “making some changes in our lineup during the third set made them change what their game plan was. They had to look for different people to do different things. That made a huge difference.”

Still, veteran experience and a plethora of talent on Vancouver’s side of the net allowed for quick adjustments and an adaptability that saw the Thunderbirds down the Heat 25-15 in the fourth and inal set behind a 9-2 run to close out the game. The run was credited to the Thunderbirds’ outside hitter Kyla Richley, a ifth year player who plays for the national team.

She “stepped up and took over the match,” commeted Manuel.

“They [the Thunderbirds] have that ability.”

The team made efforts to regroup and play harder Saturday night, as Manuel noted the night before that “We need to come out tomorrow [Saturday] and play more like we deserve to be playing against this team, and I don’t think we did that today. We came out and played timid most of the time and let them dictate the play. Our only adjustment will be in how we approach the game and take it to them a little bit more and make them work harder for it.”

Whether it was lingering nerves and timidity on the Heat’s part, or just the sheer experience and talent of the Thunderbirds, UBC’s Vancouver

campus dominated the women’s Heat team Saturday night in a three-set sweep, during which the Heat never cracked 20 points (see stats at left).

Coach Manuel had this to say after the game: “UBC Vancouver came out really well and we just couldn’t get it going.

We played against a very good team... they’re a very experienced team with older players and [with that experience they] bring along with them some intimidation; we played with that intimidation tonight.”

This is the middle of the extremely tough start to the Heat’s schedule; in their irst two weeks they played the then-ranked number six in the country and split, and this past weekend they played against the best team in the nation and came up short.

The men’s team brought a lot of noise during their irst game with the Thunderbirds. After dropping a close 1st set Friday night, they brought it back and won three straight to stun the Thunderbirds and move to 3-0 heading into Saturday. The Thunderbirds just didn’t seem to have an answer for heavy hitters Nate Speijer and Riley McFarland (17 and 25 kills, respectively). As a team, the Heat also recorded six service aces.

“I think we put a lot of pressure on them from the service line so they couldn’t really get

into a rhythm offensively,” commented Heat head coach Greg Poitras. “We just had too much ire power for them.”

He went on to say that he thought the Thunderbirds would need to “block better,” and his forecast was more a foreshadowing, because the following night the Thunderbirds came back to stun the Heat in a three-set sweep where they did in fact block much better (see stats at left) and had seemingly igured out how to disrupt the rhythm of the Heat’s attackers.

Speijer, who headed into Saturday’s match leading the league in kills (61), was certainly not himself, only managing 7 total.

McFarland, who had 51 going into the match and 25 alone versus the same Thunderbirds, was held to only nine.

With his key players struggling, Heat head coach Greg Poitras elaborated on the game: “Near the end we had to make a change. A couple of the guys who were performing for us last night weren’t performing for us tonight. [UBC Vancouver] proved that we have to come out hard; they made two big changes in their lineup and the guys who came off their bench were game changers.”

An historic weekend institution-wide, across two campuses and over 400km, but the Thunderbirds still rule the roost.

Nate Speijer goes airborne to attempt a kill.

Photo by Vanessa Hodak

November 14, 2011

SPORTS

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Heat bring home provincial soccer medals After hosting PACWEST men win bronze while women nab silver Kevin Ilomin Sports Editor

UBC s Okanagan campus was proud to host the 2011 PACWEST Provincial Championships for soccer at the Nonis turf during a busy Heat weekend with ve UBCO teams all competing over the course of three days. Behind huge support from the home fans, both soccer teams made it to the medal rounds to bring home some hardware. Let us take a look back at the thrilling nishes for each team s medal winning match.

Men

Thomas Simkins leaves UBCO as men’s soccer’s alltime leading scorer.

Photo supplied by Heat Athletics

The Heat were able to jump out to a 3-0 lead and held on until a 3-2 score at the whistle to clinch the bronze medal over the UNBC Timberwolves. This is the irst provincial medal for the team since the school rejoined the league back in 1992. The Heat improved from a 2-9-1 record in the 2010 season to provincial medalists under the direction of Dante Zanatta in his irst campaign as head coach for the team.

Heat fourth year forward Zach Donaldson-Hall scored on a bullet of a shot after a scramble that put the Head ahead to a quick 1-0.

Shortly after, irst year forward Andrew Pinguelo sent a cross to fellow rookie Andrew Hauser, who easily inished on a chance with the keeper caught out of position.

The Heat wouldn’t relinquish the pressure on UNBC as Hauser

Women

Marissa Klees.

Photo supplied by Dylan Lenz

notched another goal before the 30 minute mark when the ball found his foot off a rebound, putting it back in on a low shot that UNBC’s keeper couldn’t get to in time.

The Timberwolves attempted to mount an offensive in the second half, but the Heat were able to weather the storm behind keeper Spencer Brown, who made a number of clutch saves to keep their cushion even after two goals scored against.

All-time leading Heat career goal scorer Thomas Simkins wrapped up his career at UBC Okanagan pleased with the way it ended.

“It’s nice to have some success in my last year of eligibility,” he said. “The program is heading in the right direction with Dante and Tom at the helm. I’ve made some great friends that will probably be friends for the rest of my life. It’s really helped school go by.”

All three of the team’s ifth year players are from the Westside and graduated from Mount Boucherie Secondary. Spencer Brown, the PACWEST First Team All-Star keeper for the Heat, said he enjoyed his career as a Heat soccer player.

Heat head coach Dante Zanatta is thankful for the contributions of his veterans but is already looking forward to building on this year’s success for next season: “For the graduating players it was wonderful that they could inish off their career with some success. Our goal is to build into a full time program with strength and conditioning in the spring.”

Improving upon last season’s showing, wherein they made it to the Bronze medal match and won, the women’s team made it all the way to the inal and, though falling short, are proud of their hard-earned silver medals.

The Heat led the league in regular season wins going into the playoffs, and fairly cruised to the Final against valley rival Thompson Rivers University. Both teams dug in hard, entrenching themselves and throwing everything they had at each other, and the match even-

The Heat men’s soccer team poses excitedly for their snapshot with their new hardware.

Photo by Dylan Lenz

The women’s team is still smiles after a long tournament and extended Final.

Photo by Wilson Wong

tually had to go into extra time with the score tied up at 1-1.

The WolfPack eventually triumphed, though, when their Championship MVP, midielder Alanna Bekkering, scored the winning goal in the ninth minute of the irst overtime half.

The Heat dominated play for most of the irst half with numerous chances to score; third year midielder Emily Braun got the ball at the top of the 18 yard box and ired a bullet that just went wide to the right. Soon after in the 40th minute, fourth year fullback Sharon Kersey

had a free kick that resulted in a scramble in front of TRU keeper Emily Edmundson, but the Heat couldn’t ind the net.

It took the Heat until the 88th minute before they were able to inally scratch a goal across as second year forward Lindsey Briggs managed to inish on a scramble in front of the net.

UBC Okanagan had a brilliant chance to tie the game in extra time as well when irst year midielder Anna Merino had a good look at the goal but her shot went just wide a few seconds before the inal whistle blew.

Thompson Rivers coach McManus could not be more positive about the Heat. “UBC [Okanagan] came out great.

They’re a super team; they pressured us a lot. This game staked up very highly. It’s great for TRU and great for the players; I’m very happy with the results.”

UBC Okanagan placed two players on the tournament all-star team as first year Hayley Carlson was named best defender for the tournament, while third year Taylor Sarchet was named best midfielder.

12

The Phoenix |

SPORTS

November 14, 2011

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Preston Tucker and Lindsey Briggs Kevin Ilomin Sports Editor

Preston Tucker

I never understood why birds cluster on electrical wires in the rain. Do they use the natural oils on their feathers to repel the rain, drawing the heat up from the electrical current to keep themselves warm?

Instead of huddling in some tree? Ah. I answered my own question. In my mind. That’s good enough.

—Christina Vân Photo by Hanss Lujan (The Phoenix)

Fifth year co-captain and starting setter Preston Tucker gets the nod over teammates Nate Speijer and Riley McFarland in this edition of Athlete of the Week. Both Speijer and McFarland dominated in the opening weekend of play versus the Wesmen, and also in the November 4th matchup versus the UBC Thunderbirds. However, both outside hitters were handled in the following match as the Thunderbirds walked away with the weekend split.

Where his teammates have had highs and lows already in this very young season, Preston has remained an unwavering constant for his team. As of the writing of this article, he leads the conference in assists, averaging 11.00 per set.

Tucker’s experience and voice of reason often act as a calming and focusing beacon for his often energetic teammates.

Preston sustained a foot injury at the beginning of summer break after last season and did not play for the preseason, opting to rehabilitate it as best as he could while irst year recruit Jonathan Russo illed in admirably. Despite the in-

Preston Tucker sets for his teammates. jury and rehab, Preston has shown little to no sign of wear and tear, or of being a step behind in his usual game. You can be certain to

Photo via Heat Athletics

say that his resolve, determination and, above all, his consistency for his team has been a major factor in the Heat’s early success.

Lindsey Briggs No, the women’s soccer team didn’t win the inal versus TRU. However, Briggs’ touch in front of the net during a scramble deep in the 88th minute of the gold medal match was the prayer and miracle the Heat needed to stay alive and keep up their chances.

No, the Heat did not score again in the extra time the game would merit, and yes, that meant the Heat would be donning silver instead of gold around their necks.

But second year forward Lindsey Briggs gets this edition’s nod for Athlete of the Week for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, the team was without their leading scorer in Kirsten Dodds, and obviously struggled because of that. Briggs, being another high scorer on the team, did what scorers are supposed to do: ill that void and provide muchneeded offense for her team.

Secondly, her goal in the eleventh hour of a match that had already looked like the end of the Heat’s campaign was symbolic of so much of the team’s story over the past few years. The Heat women’s soccer team have found themselves down and almost out many times over since Head

Lindsey Briggs works the ball up the eld.

Photo supplied by Heat Athletics

Coach Claire Paterson took the helm a few years back, but the girls have never stopped ighting, never stopped digging within themselves, and they have always found a way to get better and inch forward—even if by inches.

No, the Heat women didn’t make it all the way this year. But they got closer. And next year, behind more inspiring plays and performances like Lindsey’s, they might just make it that extra inch they need.

November 14, 2011

SPORTS

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CALLING SPORTS FANS!

From the Attack Line

Would you like to see more coverage of YOUR favourite sports and events?

Or feeling adventurous enough to write your own article?

Jesse Shopa

Email your requests or articles at: sports@thephoenixnews.com

Contributing Heat Analyst

Two weeks have passed since the beginning of Heat volleyball in the new CIS environment. Let’s take a look at where both teams currently stand.

Women It would appear coach Steve Manuel is stuck between a rock and a hard place. A struggling Jill Festival and a productive Brianne Beamish present quite the challenge for Manuel in the weeks ahead. It’s a dilemma that many coaches face over their tenures: does Manuel respect the veteran Festival and allow

her to play through the slump? Or does he “shorten the leash” of Festival and possibly start Beamish?

Currently, Beamish is hitting .322 off the bench, while Festival is hitting a dismal .083 as a starter.

How Manuel chooses to handle this situation could determine the rest of the season for the Heat women.

Men So far, the Heat men are proving why it is never a smart decision to take a team’s performance in the preseason and draw conclusions about how they will perform in the regular season. I admit that I was one of the skeptics that believed a mediocre preseason would translate to an equally mediocre regular season, however, the Heat have proved myself and a lot of other doubters wrong. And we couldn’t be happier.

A 3-1 start to the Heat season has led UBCO to a national ranking, which is quite the achievement for a team that has only been a part of the CIS for two weeks. How have the Heat come this far so quickly you ask?

Two reasons: 1) The Heat have minimized errors.

2) The Heat have displayed a multi-dimensional offense.

Currently, the Heat have committed 75 errors, which places them roughly in the middle of the CIS pack at 13th in the nation. Reducing unforced errors has been an area of concern I have preached about over and over regarding this team, and there is no doubt their success so far this season can be attributed to a focused dedication to error reduction.

The Heat have also shed their offensive style of rising and falling behind the play of Nate Speijer.

Riley McFarland has emerged as a huge threat on offense and currently sits at ifth in the nation in terms of total kills. Niemantsverdriet, although quiet offensively in the irst four games, has shown signs of progression as he rebounds from a nagging offseason injury. This multi-faceted offense gives the Heat lexibility in their offensive attack, and has been an important factor regarding their success this season.

Heat volleyball keeps rolling, and you can expect “From the Attack Line” to be there for every set, dissecting every bump, set, spike and serve.

Jesse Shopa has stepped in as the Phoenix’s newest Heat analyst. Each issue he will present his take on anything and everything to do with Heat volleyball in this column. Make sure to check back next issue for your dose of the HEAT!

Also, Be sure to follow on Facebook: from the attack line Twitter: @AttackLineUBCO tumblr: attacklineubco.tumblr.com

at!?

UBC Wh

for live updates at games!

ARTS

Amber Choo arts@thephoenixnews.com

| 14

America’s Next Top Model creates ‘stardom’ at a cost Top Model scraps some high fashion for ineffective cheese Emily Geen Veteran Contributor

Is it just me, or is the current cycle of America’s Next Top Model getting a bit... bad? Yes, you’re probably thinking, “Emily, it was always bad. There is no way a reality TV show can be considered quality entertainment by any intellectual standards.”

And yes, I agree with you. I am totally guilty of being addicted to watching mind-numbing television to soothe my brain after a treacherous day in the classroom. In any case, Tyra Banks’ hit series has taken a plunge into the deep end of “bad” TV, if you ask me.

Why only now, in its 17th season? It looks like Tyra inally decided it was time to switch things up. The current cycle is reffered to as the “All Star” edition. Instead of a regular casting, models from past cycles who did not win were invited back based on their fans (the models who garnered the most attention from the public during their cycle, in other words). The result was not surprisingly a smattering of some of the biggest divas and drama queens. Strategic, if you ask me, considering half the fun of watching Top Model is for the ierce cat-ights.

Now, all of this would have been only a subtle change to Top Model, but nothing about Tyra Banks is subtle. You see, the models aren’t just competing to be the ultimate fashion model in America anymore. They are now competing to be contemporary “stars”—meaning they do almost everything (sing, dance, design perfume, act). Most imporantly though, they are competing to uphold a brand. Each model consulted with a strategic brander early in the season to determine what “word” they should shape their public personas around in order to be someone who “sells”. For example, the lesbian model, Kayla, got the word “free”, and the aged Christian model from cycle one, Shannon, got “trustworthy”.

During panel, the judges heavily consider how well each model is exuding their brand in their performance.

My biggest beef this season is just how lame the challenges and photo shoots are. A couple of episodes ago, the models were challenged to impersonate other reality TV stars. They were dolled up as either Snooki or NeNe and posed on the back of a motorbike. Although Jay Manuel encouraged the girls to “keep their model” while embodying these less-than-serious characters, the results were total cheese.

In a more recent episode, the girls were assigned tunes that it their “brands” and were challenged to write lyrics to match.

To add a little extra “challenge,” Tyra had them incorporate the words “Pot Ledom” into their lyrics. What does that spell?

Top Model backwards, of course (sigh). They then sang their lyrics in a recording studio. Thank goodness for modern sound technology—the voice quality had to be rather synthesized to prevent ears from bleeding. And then to top it off, they perform in a short music video, sidelined

by Tyra herself along with Youtube phenomenon Keenan Cahill decked out in neon spandex and feathers. The intention for these mini-music videos was for them to “go viral” on the web, making these models into “huge stars.”

The result of all this is, not surprisingly, quite tacky. In the past, America’s Next Top Model has actually churned out some decent talent into the public eye. In seasons 15 and 16 the focus became more “high fashion” featuring a prize with Italian Vogue and André Leon Talley as a regular judge. Now it seems that Tyra’s efforts to force feed “stars” to the public have gone too far, almost reversing the effect and making these women come across as prematurely washed-up reality stars.

This cycle, the Top Models do some singing , brand making, and acting. Wait, what? Why? Photo by Emily Geen and The CW, Bankable Productions

Models who were previously eliminated are back for this cycle.

Photo by The CW, Bankable Productions

Eliminated models:

Still in the running for Top Model:

Brittany Brower, Sheena Satana, Isis King, Camille McDonald, Bre Scullark, Kayla Ferrel, Bianca Golden, Alexandria Everett

Shannon Ratliff, Lisa D’Amato, Dominique Reighard, Allison Harvard, Laura Kirkpatrick, Angelea Preston

November 14, 2011

ARTS

| The Phoenix

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Why I have never watched a horror movie Five reasons to ditch the scary and embrace unsoiled pants Logan Saunders Contributor

The annual Halloween festivities have now passed us. Everyone (should) have suffered through a weekend of being sober and went out at night in their regular clothes as opposed to being ghouls, vampires, Super Mario, or Antoine Dodson.

Because the festivities have passed, I must make a confession: I have never watched a horror movie. I have not seen Halloween, Friday the 13th, nor Nightmare on Elm Street. And especially not Scarecrow. So the natural question everyone asks a twenty-year old male who makes such a confession is “WHY HAVEN’T YOU SEEN ONE? ARE YOU TRYING TO BE ALTERNATIVE HIPSTER? YOU THINK YOU’RE COOL TO BE A HORROR VIRGIN? OOoooOOOOO.” Okay, it’s never gone to that extreme (that’s reserved for when I say I haven’t drunk alcohol). So allow me to outline the reasons why I have never watched a horror movie:

1) THE CONCEPT OF HORROR FILMS MAKES NO SENSE The intention of a horror movie is to scare the feces out of you. I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer to leave a theatre with

a clean pair of pants. And that ills my potty joke quota for the month.

2) FEAR OF INCURRING INSOMNIA The last thing a third year university student needs is one extra item of stress to worry about as they meet the Sandman. How can I sleep if I have to worry about due dates, extra-curricular activities I have committed myself to do, terrible jokes I wish to incorporate into a presentation for Anthropology, AND Freddy Kreuger waiting to hunt me down in Dreamland? I have a tough time itting in more than six hours as it stands. I want to look forward to lying on a Parakoopa amongst a pile of luffy clouds with Ness.

I’d rather not dream about being with Michael Myers... or Michael Myers.

3) WHAT CAN I GAIN AS A PERSON FROM A HORROR MOVIE? NOTHING! I walk down the street alone at night and every few steps I do a 180 degree turn to ensure I’m not being followed. But is that really enough? Or, “wow guys, I didn’t learn you could still be conscious when a pick axe lodges into your skull. Do I want these pieces of

information to be cemented in my brain for the rest of my existence? No, I’d rather know that 1066 is when the Battle of Hastings occurred and The Situation being invited to my comedy roast should be avoided at ALL costs.

4) FEAR OF A TEMPORARY OR OTHERWISE PERMANENT PERSONALITY CHANGE If I am expected to embrace gore and violence, does that mean I myself will become violent? If someone makes me angry, should I digest it for a few days before I grab a scythe from my parents’ garage and just go ape shit on campus? According to the Charter, “Everyone has the right to at least one, but not exceeding two, slash fests in their lifespan.”

Crap. I’d better choose wisely.

5) I COULD BE DOING MORE PRODUCTIVE THINGS INSTEAD Why watch a scary movie when you can learn the Moonwalk?

Why not invite friends over to play Mario Party2? Why not watch and support an independent ilm instead? Raise money for cancer?

Stop procrastinating and lippin study BEFORE the morning of the exam? Stalk your friends on Facebook?

Do scary movies give you the heeblie jeeblies?

Logan Saunders explains why being scared is no fun.

Photo collage by Hanss Lujan (The Phoenix)

American chef, author and television personality Anthony Bourdain visits Vancouver Murissa Shalapata Contributor

Bourdain on stage.

As a self-proclaimed foodie, I would like to think that my palate has two sides: a benign side as represented by the simplistic David Rocco, and an adventurous side represented by the intrepid Anthony Bourdain. I was fortunate enough to see Bourdain speak at The Centre in Vancouver.

If you happen to tune in to the Travel Channel as often as I do, you will be familiar with Bourdain’s food-based travel show, No Reservations. He has also written many books ranging from cuisine to memoir to a ictional mystery novel; however, the book

Photo by Murissa Shalapata

that launched him to the top and gave him my dream job was his irst non-iction book, Kitchen Conidential. Published in 2001, it depicted the culinary roughhouse of the New York chef scene to which he belonged until he wrote an essay for The New Yorker called “Don’t Eat Before Reading This”.

Bourdain, described as the Kerouac of the kitchen and—in my opinion—the television world, then reached stardom with his best-selling books and eventual television shows, No Reservations and The Layover (to air November 21st).

His Vancouver appearance was no letdown and more humorous than the Just For Laughs Kelowna show. It was a casual event with Bourdain talking about his travels with the occasional video clip, including new footage, to provide examples.

For instance, the Travel Network will not allow drugs to be shown on their programs. Bourdain explained how he eludes the red tape. He cut to a clip of the Jamaica episode with a local’s face shown from the nose up. A mysterious smoke surrounded the man’s head and was emerging from an unknown source at the bottom of the screen. His point: avoid showing the substance.

Bourdain also covered the more controversial aspects of travel and today there is no shortage of destinations with oppressive politics, especially when an American camera crew is trying to capture every moment. Egypt provided a breeding ground for

controversy with government oficials trying to control what the No Reservations crew ilmed, including the average Egyptian diet, which consists mainly of watery lentils and bread. Not only was the government afraid of revealing their poor diet to the world, they were also fearful of the nation’s reaction, as No Reservations is aired in Egypt.

Bourdain ended the evening with a Q&A. Of all the questions asked that night, one stood out in my mind: “So, what is Canada’s culinary representation to the world besides maple syrup and bacon?” Not surprisingly, Bourdain responded that Quebecinspired cuisine is the next trend permeating the New York food scene. Anthony Bourdain attributes this movement to Chef Martin Picard, among others, who owns the popular Au Pied De Cochon restaurant in Montreal, which offers rich foods such as duck, pig’s head for two, and foie

gras of all kinds, including the curious creation of pig’s feet stuffed with foie gras.

Emerging from the Bourdain lecture with a deeper understanding of the importance of food in a community, I now question how Kelowna is fairing when it comes to trends, ingenuity, and creativity. Although we have some great restaurants, such as RauDZ, Bouchon’s, Waterfront Restaurant, and The Terrace at Mission Hill Winery, to name a few, I cannot name one place that is bold enough to create something that would rival pig’s feet stuffed with foie gras. But then again, this reveals something very profound about our community where the majority demographic consists of the over-ifty crowd and the most unique idea I have seen so far is the traditional bannock dish being served in West Kelowna’s Kekuli Cafe. But in today’s economy only the most lavourful survive, and Kelowna’s inest are safe.

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November 14, 2011

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE SEXUAL

TV media and its disturbingly influential power Teen Mom and Jersery Shore do it right... and wrong Sarah ‘Archaic’ Bryant Sex Columnist

Teen Mom: A popular show on MTV that I frequently watch for entertainment and research purposes.

Jersey Shore: A popular show on MTV that I am ashamed to say I frequently watch… for entertainment and “what not to do” (research) purposes.

When I irst caught an episode of Teen Mom (the second season), I was on the fence as to whether it a) gloriied teenage motherhood by putting ill-informed decisionmaking on television and essentially making parenting look easier than it is, or b) depicted the reality of the challenges and struggles of growing up as a kid raising a kid. I was leaning more towards (a) at the beginning, but now that I have seen a season and a half, and watched the episodes with Dr. Drew and the “16 and Pregnant” series, I do believe that shows like Teen Mom could be seen as multimedia presentations of sexual health education.

Here’s the thing that bugs me about it. On the show, the girls say things like “well, at least my child loves me” and “I NEED someone to love me.” Having a baby is not a healthy way to replace a hole in a woman’s heart. First of all, a lot of these moms don’t plan for these babies properly, and their desperate mindsets are very clear when watching the show. Secondly, it feels like the girls are using their children in a frantic attempt for sureire love. If you want something that loves you for the sake of illing a void, get a dog. Dogs love everyone! If you don’t think you can handle a dog, get a ish.

Here’s the thing that I like about it. The show’s cast is a group of girls who all fall under similar categories. They misused birth control, they are struggling to complete and pay for college, they have lacking or unhealthy relationships with the fathers of their children, and they are essentially stressed out. I mean, we all get stressed, but imagine being 17 or 18 years old and stressing about yourself, your inances, your education, AND your child and all the business that is involved with him/her! I admire women who can raise children at a young age, but we should be advocating birth control and its majesty. None of these teen mothers have said (at least not in the episodes I have seen), “oh I planned to have this child at 16 years old.” I couldn’t imagine it, to be honest. As much

The show Teen Mom has an educational spin to teach and encourage viewers about sexual health. as I love babies for very short periods of time when they aren’t screaming, hellllll no. At 18 years old, I could barely take care of myself! Quite some time has passed and I feel the same way!!

On Teen Mom, there is also a couple that decided to give their child up for adoption. When comparing this teen mother to the ones that opted to keep their children, one can see that there are options that can positively inluence your life, such as adoption.

Teen Mom is an interesting show that talks about teen pregnancy and the realities of raising a child as a young adolescent. At the end of each episode, a website is shown that gives facts and tips on how to be in control of your sex life. I like this. Options. Options for Sexual Health.

Here’s the thing that bugs me more. MTV, I love you. You are good for a laugh and you play some stupid shows that I just can’t get enough of. You do, however, play a show that goes out of its way to show me everything I shouldn’t teach someone about sexual health education. How do

you do this? With an eccentric gem of a show called Jersey Shore.

Despite the fact that I watch this show, I follow the complete opposite of what they preach (guys: sleep with everything that moves; girls: drink a lot and put out). The reason I think it is okay for ME to watch this show is because I am an adult who is educated and aware of her sexual rights and responsibilities. Younger individuals, however, are heavily inluenced by the media. When I hear that a 13 year old watches Jersey Shore, I cry tears of blood and fear.

Do I think MTV needs to get rid of Jersey Shore? Not necessarily. I like my mindless television programming. What I do think needs to be done about Jersey Shore is give it a rating of at LEAST 14A. 18+ even.

There is way too much careless drinking and sexing on this show to make it okay for children to be inluenced by it. I just hope they use condoms anyways.

Alternatively, how about the cast of Jersey Shore advocates for LifeStyle condoms? Every person in the world would use a con-

dom if players like the guys on Jersey Shore used them! I think all celebrities should advocate for birth control. Those ladies have so much power. They should use it wisely! Much like charity fundraising and the like, MTV stars should advocate for birth control and not drinking and driving.

That’s ONE thing Jersey Shore does right: I never see them drink and drive. They always hop in a cab. Thanks friends. Arrive alive, don’t drink and drive!!

So Teen Mom is slightly awesome for educating about birth control by promoting health oriented websites at the end of the show, and Jersey Shore is not so awesome because of sexualized gender stereotyping that COULD negatively influence our youth.

Sarah’s words of wisdom: The things you see on television are meant to entertain you. Don’t let the media guide all of your decisions, especially if they revolve around sex. Let educated sources and credible experts help you make your own. Also, use condoms. And spermicide.

Photo by MTV

The

Sex Scoop The good: The media’s awareness of healthy resources

The bad: Assumptions that sex is required when some chick smiles at you.

The sexual: Everything on TV!

November 14, 2011

ARTS

| The Phoenix

A critical look at the Man Booker Prize White bias and class disparity dictate the finest in fiction Alexa Kingsmith, Alison Brodie, Lisa Nunes, and Daniela Estrada Perez Contributors

On October 18th, 2011, British author Julian Barnes was awarded the Man Booker Prize for Fiction–an award that, according to its spokespeople, “promotes the inest in iction by rewarding the very best book of the year.” But how, you may wonder, is the winner of this prize chosen? Who gets to pick a book and declare it the very best book of the year?

How do the judges make such a decision? Behind the Prize’s bombastic, carefully staged inale and its spectacular gala dinner lurk the politics of selection and exclusion. There are numerous contributing factors, but in order to address these issues more easily, one can divide them into politics of language, class, and nationality.

In order to address the issues concerning language, it is pertinent to take note of the Prize’s core ruling principle: only novels written in English are eligible for nomination. If the Prize claims to “promote the inest in iction by rewarding the very best book of the year,” it seems problematic that only books written in English will be considered. So why English? The Prize does not seem to offer an answer to this question; the rules simply specify that English translations of works written originally in other languages are not eligible. This implies that in order to be the author of the “very best book of the year” one must be literate in English. This proves to be problematic as so many authors are excluded by this one principal rule.

To address the politics surrounding nationality, the Prize rules state that “any full-length novel written by a citizen of the Commonwealth, the Republic of Ireland or Zimbabwe is eligible.” Which leads one to wonder, why is this limited to such a small group of countries? This restriction excludes the majority of writers around the world from nomination, and causes one to infer that those outside of the above-mentioned clique of nations are somehow incapable of writing ine iction. It is also interesting to note that the small group of authors that are eligible due to their ethnic backgrounds; over half of Prize winners have been British.

Finally, it is important to consider that the list of eligible writers is reduced even more by authors’ class standings. Most people involved with the Prize, speciically judges, administra-

tors and board members, have received educations from upperclass universities. For example, Barnes, this year’s award recipient, attended Magdalen College, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. Therefore, it is fair to infer that the novels promoted by the Prize as the most superb exemplars of literary production only deal with a very narrow range of ideas and experiences—those of an extremely small, privileged elite.

“...when people— judges, authors, or commentators— speak of the Man Booker Prize, they usually fail to mention its rigidly exclusionary agenda.”

Kingsmith, Brodie, Nunes, and Perez, Phoenix Contributors

On top of all this controversy, another issue seems to inluence the so-called ‘objective’ nature of the Prize. The Prize is sponsored by the investment company Man Group plc. A sponsorship of this nature may seem harmless; however critical theorist Graham Huggan explains how such a sponsorship may be problematic: “In a global cultural economy controlled by huge multinational companies, the corporate sponsorship of the arts has become an indisputable fact. […] As state subsidies of the arts have dwindled, alarmingly in many countries, corporate sponsors have emerged to dominate the literary/artistic scene.” Thus, by sponsoring The Man Booker Prize, the Man Group plc. has the power to inluence how the prize is run. This draws parallel, to the issue of class mentioned earlier, because this large corporation has such an inluence on the Prize, the group of eligible authors may be further discriminated upon according to a corporate, elitist bias.

One may wonder, why is all this an issue? Why should liter-

ary biases like this bother us?

One of the major reasons that this is a problem is due to the false perception surrounding the Prize. For example, when people—judges, authors, or commentators—speak of the Man Booker Prize, they usually fail to mention its rigidly exclusionary agenda. Most often, these people will proclaim that whichever novel has been chosen as the winner is indeed the best of the best, suggesting that it has been selected not because several layers of discriminatory practices have rendered most other works ineligible, but because it’s the epitome of literary excellence. This is apparent in the case of the most recent winner, Barnes. On choosing his novel for the shortlist, judge Gaby Wood said, “It seems to be the most obvious book on this list. It’s a quiet book, but the shock that comes doesn’t break stride with the tone of the rest of the book. In purely technical terms it is one of the most masterful things I’ve ever read.” More alarmingly, judges have even stated that the winning novel offers us insight into the deepest recesses of the human soul, presenting us with a pristine, vivid picture of human nature. Referring to Barnes’s novel, head judge Stella Rimington stated, “We thought it was a book that spoke to the humankind of the 21st Century.” In these quotations, it is clear that the views and values of upper middle-class Commonwealth citizens have come to dictate what is to be considered a picture of human nature. What about those of us who are not white? Not middle class? Can one novel truly have the power to speak to all of humankind?

While considering these questions it is hard to believe that every year these extremely narrow sets of experiences and ideas are selected by white (upper) middle-class British judges as well as sponsored and mass-distributed by multinational corporations to ultimately end up on our bookshelves. This consequently reinforces 19th-century ideals about English as the one and only language in which “the inest in iction” can be written.

Despite the presence of these books on our shelves, most consumers’ cultural visions of humanity will never enjoy such a wide dissemination, since the vast majority of us would be ineligible to even be longlisted for the Prize.

Julian Barnes recieved a Man Booker Prize this year.

Photo by Ellen Warner

IF IT’S GREEN...

JUST GO! Transit creates 70,000 jobs with $10 Billion a year of economic impact in Canada.

– Canadian Urban Transit Association, 2011

www.bctransit.com

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ARTS

November 14, 2011

Coldplay’s new album cover for Mylo Xyloto.

Photo by EMI Music

Coldplay releases Mylo Xyloto The new album focuses on concept, but loses out on lyrical strength Rumnique Nannar Contributor

Coldplay’s sound just got a brand spanking new makeover! Undergoing an ‘Enoication’, (they coined it irst) with their producer Brian Eno, the new album from Coldplay is surprisingly groovy and electro-pop heavy. After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus since Viva La Vida, a selfconscious attempt at varying their sound by leaning on sitars and artiness, this new album is typical Coldplay wrapped in a new package.

From their smash debut with Parachutes and then their forays into commercial indie rock with X&Y, Coldplay is a very self-aware band relying on the soulful lullabies of Chris Martin coupled with Johnny Buckland’s pilfered but hook-laden riffs. Similarly, we all know what we’re in for when we listen to a Coldplay album: instantly catchy songs with that subversive dreamy edge that sets them apart from the rest of their peers. The band is entering their second decade in the music world, and like their heroes U2 who made Achtung Baby during their

second tenure, Mylo Xyloto aims for those lofty ambitions.

The attempt at a concept album, with two lovers with the eponymous album names set in a futuristic dystopia, is plain from the interludes named ‘M.M.I.X’ with robotic noises peppered in throughout. Yet what sets this album apart from the generic sound from Coldplay is their willingness to embrace and try out electro-pop music. As Chris Martin noted in an interview, “We have Justin Bieber and Adele to compete with and they’re much younger than us.” This conjures up frenzied band meetings of Coldplay trying to top the giant that is Bieber and his imminent conquest of a Christmas album!

Certainly, the band has come up with an album that proves their detractors wrong, that they can diversify their style with graceful panache. Although the band just does not make political comments, in their own goofy way, they attempt to voice their concerns. The

lyrics bluntly tell us that a repressive regime is in charge warning ‘they’ve got one eye watching you, be careful who it is you’re talking to’ in ‘Major Minus’. However, in this urban futuristic dystopia all the lovers have to do is to wholeheartedly embrace some Coldplay rock: “I turn the music up, I got my records on, from underneath the rubble sing a rebel song” in the rollicking ‘Every Tear is a Waterfall’. Attempting a less eloquent parable of ‘the kids’ versus ‘The Man’, Coldplay does not succeed on all fronts.

The problem is the concept itself, as it is a thin premise overladen with Martin’s clichés and happy slogans. The songs have bare hints at an interesting storyline which worked for Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs but just does not mesh well with the music here. Coldplay must be given some praise for attempting a concept album, but along with mixing up their style, it seems that the lyrics were left behind and underdeveloped during their sessions.

Musically it is all there with the cascading guitars, the woah-oh choruses, and the earnestness that made us fans of Coldplay in the beginning. This is the bog-standard Coldplay attempting to be the cool art kids in the over-commercialized pop scene. The embracement of pop music to give them some street cred alongside Bieber deinitely works.

The slick synthesizers and R&B bass lines, which are used to boring effect in regular pop songs, are integrated so well on songs like ‘Paradise’ and ‘Charlie Brown.’ Some of the songs would be completely at home at an Ibiza rave, which is so unusual for a Coldplay song, but the way all the elements mesh together make it sound seamless at times. The standout song for me has to be ‘Princess of China’—one of the darker songs on the album—featuring a fabulous cameo by Rihanna,, which sounds amazing. The synthfuzz sound alongside Buckland’s potent riffs sounds smooth together.

Yet the R&B sound, which would

be more at home on Rihanna’s turf, is fully improved by Martin having fun with the track.

It is odd to say, but slower songs— usually the band’s strengths—suffer this time around, and sound out of place on such a fast-paced album like this. Tracks like ‘Up In Flames’, with Martin whining to Bee Geesstyle falsetto, feel like a vestige of their boring and sappy side coupled with naff lyrics, which does not gel on an album with ambitions of dispelling their harshest critics.

Mylo Xyloto is a mixed bag of songs which revamp the Coldplay song model, but the album could have been so much more if the band had decided to spend less time on a limsy concept and more on perfecting their sound as they needed to, making the lyrics a little less cheesy! However, Martin and Co. need not fret that their fanbase will defect to the Bieber brigade; they do bring the noise and a fresh new sound that does work to an extent. Have a listen!

OPINIONS

Janelle Sheppard opinions@thephoenixnews.com

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Moustaches and Movember Hairy lips cause mixed feelings as November breeds ball support Janelle Sheppard Opinions Editor

nd my own way to support Movember while Dylan Ranney sports his real stache in true 70 s porn star fashion.

Welcome to Movember, formally known as November. It is a month of the irst snow; fuzzy festive feelings; and the pitter patter of students feet rushing to study for upcoming midterms, exams, and projects. Something else exceptional happens in Movember as well: the moustache.

It is an ultimately surreal experience to wake up one November 1st, and see patchy little lip sweaters beginning to grow on the intrinsic upper lips of the men I know. Don’t get me wrong; I am a big supporter of facial hair, as well as a proponent for the ight against prostate cancer. In fact, if I could, I would grow myself an intermittent lip cap for the cause. I was, however, interested to know other womens’ opinions on the Movember movement.

Generally, I found females to be in—reluctant—support of moustaches. “It is some ine lip insulation for the cold winter months,” says one confronted woman.

She did, however, express sexist concerns as well. “When will it be cool for women to participate in Movember? Our lips are cold too.”

Excess concern is raised when I consider those of my male friends with girlfriends. Does a moustache cause detriment to a thriving relationship? “Having to constantly remind myself that my boyfriend is NOT my dad adds an interesting dynamic to my relationship,” says a female in partnership with an enthusiastic Movember supporter. Many women seem appalled by the notion of November face furniture, as if those fuzzy

lavor savers will jump off of the men’s faces, and tickle our upper lips. Inconceivable.

But hold on a moment, women; calm down. Shouldn’t we be in support of this cause? What woman can be contrary to a moustache whose primary purpose is to raise awareness, and support a cure for prostate cancer. Opposing anyone’s moustache in the month of Movember is basically expressing “I hate testicles!”

My roommate states, “I think that growing a moustache in Movember is the one time of year that men and pubescent boys can take advantage of looking like a 70’s porn star and be widely accepted for it. So, as long as you are not my boyfriend, grow a mo and share in the mutual hate for ball cancer.” This is getting closer

to the unconditional support that balls need this time of year.

My personal opinion on the moustache is quite high. Yes, I admit that I ind it kind of gross to see snot mops hovering above the mouths of my male friends, but I also see a certain element of integrity in it. I appreciate the moustache because it takes a certain level of self-conidence and a great deal of courage to grow one.

Movember has become a brilliantly organized movement with distinct purpose that can apply to everyone. Because whether you acknowledge it or not, balls effect us all. They are essential to life.

So, when a man sacriices a bit of his handsomeness to support something so fundamental, I gain respect for him.

Also, Movember has some un-

Photo by Janelle Sheppard

oficial rules that contribute to my favour for the movement. Various versions of these rules can be easily found via Google. My favourite is, “Each mo bro must conduct himself like a true country gentleman.” How can we complain about a cause that supports both testicles and chivalry?

So, women, support the men that choose to nobly ight for their balls with their upper lips. Men, grow those lady ticklers strong, even if it ends up looking like the rear end of a dead squirrel.

And heck, it is almost winter.

Let’s keep this movement up in the interest of warmth. Post Movember, support Decembeard, next comes Januhairy, after that Februhairyier!

Four months of ball supporting, chivalric country gentlemen!

Angry at the world? Tell us.

Letters to the editor should be no longer than 300 words, opinions submissions should be 400-600 words.

Send your articles to: opinions@thephoenixnews.com

IF IT’S GREEN...

JUST GO! It costs $9500 a year on average to own and maintain a car.* Save money – take transit! *Canadian Automobile Association, 2010, “Driving Costs”

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OPINIONS

November 14, 2011

Take a stand against greed Illustrating a flaw in the occupy movement Gordon Hawkes Contributor

There’s a group of greedy individuals in Lower Manhattan who think that they deserve more than their fair share. Their selishness blinds them to the fact that most people on the planet have drastically less than they do. They appear to be concerned only with themselves. They live a life of privilege and luxury, oblivious to those who have nothing; they live in comfort while others starve. These men and women ought to be called to account for their greed, for their selish regard for only themselves.

If you want to ind these men and women, head straight for Wall Street…. and then continue on another block to a place called Zucotti Park.

This is the home of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, which has as one of its many slogans, “We are the 99%.” This phrase is meant to unify us in solidarity against the 1% (nothing brings people together like a common enemy), The 1% are the rich and the powerful who control most of the wealth and resources while the 99% slave (if they’re lucky enough to have a job) to make ends

meet. The 1% are the unscrupulous corporate fat-cats who, aided by corrupt politicians, hoard vast mountains of cash while the rest of us are forced to smash our piggy banks in order to collect enough pennies for bus fare to get us to the local food bank.

Far be it from me to make fun of poverty. The crushing weight and hopelessness that accompanies real poverty deserves our compassion, and, more importantly, requires us to act.

But the sad irony of the Occupy protests, and what makes them almost laughable, is that they’re based in North America… one of the richest parts of the world.

North America accounts for only six per cent of adults in the world, but held 34 per cent of the globe’s household wealth in 2006. In that same year, Canada’s net worth per capita came in at $70,916 US and America’s net worth per capita was $143,867 per person. By comparison, Ethiopia’s was $193 per person and the Congo’s $180.

The United Nations Development Program released statistics which

state that at the end of the 1990’s, the ifth of the world’s population in the richest countries—which includes both Canada and the US—accounted for 86% of world GDP, while the bottom ifth accounted for 1%.

Let me put that another way: the poor, hard done by, downtrodden 99% here in North America have a share in 86% of the world’s wealth, while the same amount of people elsewhere in the world have a share in only 1%. And the 99% in North America wants more? In 2005 one required a little over $2200 US in assets to be included in the top half of the world’s wealth distribution.

That’s a Macbook laptop, an iPad, and an iPhone for good measure.

(Much like those being used by the protesters.)While there can be greed amongst the 1% (Bernie Madoff comes to mind), there can just as easily be greed amongst the 99%.

We need to stop taking the Occupy Wall Street Movement and its hypocritical brand of Marxism seriously. Instead, we need to wake up to our responsibility as the top 20% to seek justice for the real poor in this world.(hint: it’s not us).

Occupy protestors in downtown Kelowna.

Photo by Ainsley King (Contributor)

Fair trade. Why bother?

Tyler Gingrich Peace Seeker

Fair trade co ee is already widely available. Why not everything else?

Illustration by Janelle Sheppard (The Phoenix)

Much of what drives the way we do things is the pursuit of having more. Our culture produces and consumes in big ways!

We’re told that our value, as people, has to do with what we can produce, and our value as members of society has to do with what we consume. And, generally, more is better.

In 21st century, western Canada: we live in a society where “choice” is held up as of utmost importance. I would say that choice is important, but I would also say it is probably not of primary importance. We also live in a competitive society; while competition can motivate some to grand achievements, it is also not always the best way to go about doing things.

Now, what does this have to do with fair trade? Fair trade has to do with the exchange of goods where the producer gets a bigger part of the inal-sale amount. That is, there are many products that we consume regularly where the producer only gets a small portion of what the product costs on the shelves of most of the stores where we shop. It may be that

the producer is a farmer growing a crop, and they would sell to a distributor who is more interested in lining his pockets than giving a reasonable price for the harvest.

Fair trade seeks to curb this exploitation of people and the items they produce.

Coffee is a good example of a ‘fair trade success story’. Not all coffee is fairly traded, but it is more available now than ever before. People asking questions about where the roasters got the beans has led to alternative markets for many producers and better prices for their harvest. This is often achieved by a closer connection between producer and seller, and sometimes a smaller proitmargin for the seller (as you may note when shopping for fairly traded products, they cost more).

On Wednesday, November 23rd, there will be a “Fair Trade Fair” in the Fipke foyer, organized by students working with the Equity Ofice on campus.

Merchants from around Kelowna, including Ten Thousand Villages, will be offering fairlytraded products for sale in a preholiday shopping event.

We—each of us—have choices to make. We often choose what will have the least impact on our wallets, but we also must factor in the impact on others’ lives when we buy things. And, while we may choose to shop at the most ‘competitively priced’ store, we might also consider the business practices of that merchant—do they pay their employees fairly? Do they pay a fair amount to the producers for the products they sell in their store, or is someone’s life being eroded because of exploitation?

There are so many ways in which we might change our habits as consumers. to start, we can choose to have fewer things; buy locally produced goods, organically grown foods, electronics that can be upgraded or recycled, shoes made in union factories, clothing made in Canada. It is hard work being a ‘conscientious consumer’—it means being aware of more than the commodity itself. It means being aware of what, and who, is a part of it. To start, we can each choose to shop for fairly traded products. Then, what if we were to become a Fair Trade campus?

November 14, 2011

EDITORIALS

| The Phoenix

21

LETTERS

Kelowna’s foul elite Why let the old boys’ business network control Kelowna? Under the business regimes of former mayors Jim Stuart and Walter Gray, the business elite was awarded special VIP status and treated like royalty. Ongoing catering, pampering, and gloriication uplifted the business heroes to conidently swagger around Kelowna with a sense of entitlement. So, with their business licences and pockets illed with land titles, members of the privileged business elite think and act like they own Kelowna, including the public’s inalienable common and natural assets.

A miracle occurred. At the last city election there was a big turnover on council. For the irst time in the modern history of Kelowna, the old boys’ business network didn’t get its way. Its big downtown prize of the Milroy Highrise CD21 Plan was turned down because the monstrous highrise plan was lawed, too complicated, and unworkable. It required almost all the landowners to agree with the plan and to cooperate and synchronize fully. In denial, the business elite’s dreams and illusions of riches and fame went up in smoke.

With their narcissistic egos bruised, members of the elite remain in a foul, vindictive mood.

On their hit list they include most of those on council who turned the CD21 Plan down. This is unfair and unjust because it was the public who purposely voted for those on council to have the unworkable CD21 Plan killed. Clearly, the business elite does not respect the democratic will of the people being upheld by council. Obviously members of the arrogant elite only care about themselves, proit, and

their business empires.

Some of the business elite have formed a “Four Change” group to get their way. They seek to load up and dominate the council with pro-business, pro-development, pro-growth candidates. They endorse former councillor Carol Gran who had one of the worst absentee records while on council. They strongly endorse new impressionable candidates Gail Given, Colin Basran, and Gerry Zimmerman as well as their loyal incumbents Luke Stack, Graeme James, and Andre Blanleil.

Naturally, waiting to be anointed mayor for the ultra-business council is former mayor Walter Gray. He pledged that if he is elected mayor, Kelowna’s doors would be jammed wide open to provide bargains for developers. Reports indicate he wants to revisit the unworkable CD21 highrise plan. For more business subsidies and gifts would the public’s Cedar Ave. parkland be sacriiced, sold off, privatized?

Having an unbalanced council slanted and favouring the minority elitist business network which places itself above the interests of the vast majority of citizens would move Kelowna backwards. Felllow citizens, be not deceived by the “Four Change” group’s false and misleading proopaganda. It appears its agenda is full freedom for the old boys’ business network to exploit Kelowna and to siphon the public’s common and natural assets. So, when voting, it is wise to disregard the elite’s endorsements for the good of yourself, your family and Kelowna’s future.

Yours truly, Robert Cichocki

Don’t make me turn this zeitgeist around Mike Straus’s gesture just as empty as Darren Sim’s Gavin Gamache Copy Editor

When I first heard a week and a half ago that a contributor to The Phoenix would be critiquing Darren Sim’s cross walk, I felt vindicated; I had found the stunt unimpressive and cheap.

I’ll beat around the bush a bit here and say that the feature article in that issue by Cam Welch touched on the idea (accurate or not, I don’t know) of contemporary teens who appropriate cultural touchstones to appear “tasteful” or “fashionable”, without any introspection into the quality of the work, nor their own tastes. There’s a wonderful word for this concept, but I enjoyed his tooth-brushing metaphor all too much to share it with him: simulacrum—essentially a synonym of “likeness” where superficiality is emphasized—as in “the image that those teens present is a simulacrum of the image of a tasteful, fashionable adult”. Sim’s crosscarrying jaunt across town had the same hollowness: it had all the trappings of a piece of performance art, but what exactly was it trying to communicate?

I really couldn’t come up with anything, except embarrassment for my status as an atheist in Kelowna being represented so farcically.

Imagine my disappointment, then, when in the course of my duties as copy editor, I actually read the critique. Here was another simulacrum: lip service paid to freedom of speech, then

complete ignorance as to what it stands for. Despite his flowery words at the beginning of his article, Mike Straus’s invitation for his readers to determine “whether or not Mr. Sim’s reenactment shows that he has sufficient understanding of Christianity to criticize it,” is bald-faced elitism: only those who understand Christianity have the right to criticize it now?

Again, I’m not saying that Darren Sim’s art wouldn’t benefit from a less superficial approach than “I’m being offensive!”, but the right to criticize does not come with prerequisites. Last year, I ran across a quote that speaks to this in a blog comment: “Freedom of speech to say what is right, what is accepted, what is elegant or what is a jolly good joke is not much of a right.

Freedom of speech has to be the right to say the wrong, the contentious, the ugly and the downright witless jape.” As far as I can tell, these words were of the poster’s invention, so I’ll credit it to “Simon Too”, on jackofkent.blogspot.com, October 4th, 2010.

October 2010 is an unlucky month for Straus’s exposition, because it was also in that month that Dr. Jonathan Sarfati gave a talk at UBCO, which I attended.

During the Q&A period, a philosophy professor stood up and tried to deflate even the largest of Sarfati’s logical fallacies, but was drowned out by jeering

from some members of the creationist camp in the front rows, and loudly threatened with a headlock by one of them. The professor sat down soon after, Sarfati opting to allow physical intimidation at his lecture.

So when Straus says that “[our] right to free speech [...] has not been significantly threatened

by Christians in the last generation,” he ignores the fact that people exercise self-censorship for the sake of personal safety, which in my experience has been threatened more often by theists than by atheists (your mileage may vary). This also offers a solution to Straus’s next question, “why don’t you have a rational discussion with me and other Christians[?]” Those that choose not to argue rationally with you just might be fed up with the irrational response they’ve received in the past. It wouldn’t be the route I’d take, but it’s no skin off my back— ouch, too soon Darren?

My own answer would be this: how can we have a rational discussion about Christianity if the only tone we can take towards it is that of reverence?

The idea behind Blasphemy Day is that religion does not warrant special treatment; it is no less a viable target of critique than politics, economics, literature, art, current events, or anything else you or I might comment on.

The comment doesn’t even have to be all that good.

Kelowna is not a corporation I was recently shocked and quite frankly disgusted at reading that mayoral candidate Walter Gray refers to the city of Kelowna as a “corporation”.

While most of us do not understand the inner workings of a corporation, we know what one is: a business. A money-making enterprise that sees everything and everyone as a proit or a loss, a beneit or a deiciency, a shareholder or a non-shareholder. And while of course there are corporations functioning within Kelowna, these businesses do not make up the city, nor should they be the primal concern of our governing bodies.

So I’d like to remind Walter Gray and all electoral candidates that Kelowna is, irst and foremost, a community. It is a group of people who have come to call this piece of the earth home.

Not proits. Not employees.

Not shareholders. People. And this is who our governing bodies are in place for—the people.

The families and facilities that make Kelowna a vibrant, healthy community. A community that is looking to create long-term sustainability, not short-term proits. A community that is a home, not a workplace. A community that looks to our grandchildren and asks how we can

better the world for them, rather than looking to old-guard politicians to ask how we can make more money.

And to the community of Kelowna: a reminder as you go to the polls that a government functions primarily for youthe citizen. It is a body that is there to represent your interests and concerns, your family and friends, your well-being and safety. Let us continue to look to those people who will best represent us as citizens in this beautiful community.

Sincerely, Melissa Shea

Send your articles to opinions@thephoenixnews.com

University of British Columbia Students’ Union Okanagan (UBCSUO) Annual General Meeting (AGM) ***The Annual General Meeting is held annually by your Student Union is a matter of procedure to keep compliant with the Societies Act and the University Act by accepting the Auditor’s Report and the Executive Report of the following year. It is a meeting of strictly business and procedure.

Bylaw #XIII a)

When: Where:

The Annual General Meeting shall: i) be held in the fall semester; ii) be advertised in the campus newspaper in the last scheduled edition before the meeting; iii) be advertised no less than two (2) weeks in advance on 11"x17" paper posters, which shall include the proposed agenda, time and place of the meeting, on no less than 10 bulletin boards; iv) have a quorum of five percent (5%) of the membership or fifty (50) members whichever is less.

Wednesday, Nov 30th 2011, AT 12PM til 1PM Theatre UNC 106 - University Centre Building

AGENDA 1) Call to Order 2) Recognition of Okanagan People’s Territory 3) Ratification of Chair BIRT Zachary Crispin, BC CFS Chairperson be approved as Meeting Chair 4) Approval of Agenda 5) Approval of Minutes from the 2010/2011 AGM 6) ***Annual Audit Report Prepared by Barb Sutton, Kemp Harvey Hunt Ward Presented by:

Mark Norris, UBCSUO Organizer

***This is an Audit Report prepared by an external accountant firm of last year’s numbers and the book keeping practices from the 2010/2011 year.

BIRT the Audit Report for the 2010/2011 year be accepted.

BIRT Barb Sutton be appointed as the auditor for the 2011/2012 fiscal year.

7) Budget 2011/2012 Presented by:

Kirk Chavarie, UBCSUO Financial Coordinator / Executive Chair Mark Norris, UBCSUO Organizer

8) ***Executive Report 2010/2011 ***This is a report of the last year’s board’s actions given by the new board of 2011/2012 Presented by:

Kirk Chavarie, UBCSUO Financial Coordinator / Executive Chair Sarah Martinuik, UBCSUO Internal Coordinator Curtis Tse, UBCSUO Services Coordinator Neetu Garcha, UBCSUO External Coordinator

9) Question Period 10) Adjournment

If you have any questions about the Annual General Meeting Please call or email Kirk Chavarie, Financial Coordinator / Executive Chair financial@ubcsuo.ca (250) 807-9281

ubcsuo pages

Haunted... by debt?

photo shoot Foyer your students’ union - local 3 cfs contact external@ubcsuo.ca

YOUth should be Voting in Municipal Elections As it has always been the priority of the Students’ Union to promote voting and political awareness, this year we lobbied to have an advanced polling station on campus and for the first time Students at UBCO will have just that on November 16th. This small change will immensely change the voice students have had on municipal issues. Giving more access to the polls and building student awareness around the importance of voting could fundamentally change how municipal elections are run and who gets elected. Most residents might be surprised to find out that municipal elections can come down to a matter of 400500 votes. Because the field of candidates is always so large, the election can be decided by a very small number of votes. Unlike years past, UBC Okanagan students haven’t been a target audi-

ence for local politicians squarely based on the fact that student voter turn out is so low. But with such a change, they might think twice. With student issues such as transit, affordable housing, and student employment on the line this election is more important than ever. The Students’ Union has conducted a survey of candidates on the issues that matter to students and will be doing an information campaign during the week of the election to let you know what they said.

Advanced polling will run from 8 am to 8 pm on Wednesday November 16th in the UNC building.

-Tom Macauley Director at Large at UBC Students’ Union Okanagan CFS Local 3 Macauley@ubcsuo.ca

Watch your back, because it’s that time of year. Who knows when a witch or vampire will pop out from behind the next corner you walk past! Halloween with YOUR Students’ Union is quite the treat with awesome events and campaigns. On Friday, October 28th the Well Student Pub hosted the Well Halloween Party where students dressed up and celebrated this festive occasion socializing and rocking out to great music. On Sunday, October 30th, the UBC Students’ Union Okanagan (UBCSUO) the Horror Movie Night took place, showing a movie voted on by students through UBCSUO social media. The Haunted

by Debt event on Halloween day is focused around the campaign Education is Right, which aims to lobby the Federal Government on issues relating to the chronic underfunding that has left colleges and universities relying on record high tuition fees, putting post-secondary education out of reach for many ordinary Canadians. This event doubles as a soft launch of the National Day of Action happening in early February where Students’ Unions’ across the nation will be putting on creative demonstrations and events in efforts to ‘capture the media’ for a day and raise awareness about the issues fought for by the Education is a Right campaign.

Another campaign that the UBCSUO and specifically the University Political Action Committee (UPAC) have been working on include the Rock the Vote campaign educating students on the importance of voting, especially with the upcoming municipal election on November 19th. There will be a polling station set up on campus for students to vote on November 19th and the advanced polling station will be on campus on November 16th from 8am-8pm in the UNC 105 UBCSUO Boardroom.

To learn more about any of the campaigns run by the UBCSUO and/or to get involved, join the UPAC! Contact Neetu Garcha, External Coordinator for the UBCSUO for more information and to join.

To be kept up to date on campaigns, services and events run by YOUR Students’ Union don’t forget to join our Facebook group: UBCSUO, ‘like’ our Well Student Pub page: The Well, follow us on Twitter @UBCSUO and check out our website: www.ubcsuo.ca.

Neetu Garcha External Coordinator external@ubcsuo.ca

UBCO s ags at half mast on November 11th, 2011 as part of the university s Remembrance Day ceremony.

Photo by Hanss Lujan (The Phoenix)

Like Your U-PASS U-PASS Referendum The U-PASS is an affordable four-month bus pass for UBC-O students.

Beginning September 2012, the cost to each student would be $54 per semester ($13.50 per month).

The U-PASS makes transit more accessible to students resulting in fewer cars on the road. Even if you do drive you benefit from shorter commute times and more available parking. On November 18, vote YES.

R Vote Yes! November 18, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

University Centre Building (UNC 105) Advanced Polling: Thursday, November 17, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Bring your student card to vote.

Scan with your smartphone to learn more

Kelowna Regional Transit Partnership BC Transit | City of Kelowna | District of West Kelowna District of Lake Country | Regional District of Central Okanagan