This is why we need an equity officer since 1918
ubc athletics earns two unexpected wins on friday night. page 9
the ams welcome back BBQ brings firstweek to an explosive close. page 8
the ubyssey
SEPTEMBER 13, 2010 • volume 92, number iv • room 24, student union building • published monday and thursday • feedback@ubyssey.ca
officers assaulted at frat party arshy mann news@ubyssey.ca A back to school party turned ugly Saturday, as multiple police officers were assaulted while attempting to break up a large altercation that took place at the fraternity village. Police were ca l led in a round 11:30pm to handle a disturbance in the village, which is home to seven fraternities and the Panhellenic House for Sororities. According to the RCMP, the two local officers who arrived on scene were confronted by a fifteenperson brawl. When they attempted to break up the fight, they were “swarmed” in the courtyard, resulting in minor injuries. They then called for reinforcements from outside RCMP and police forces. Two people were detained for violating the Liquor Control Act, but have since been released without charge. No one was arrested for assaulting the officers. In addition, according to an RCMP media release, officers were approached by a male and informed that someone with a gun was present. Police searched the area but no gun was located. The party was called “Golf Pros and Tennis Hoes,” and was thrown by the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (DEKE), who declined to comment on the incident. Members of that fraternity have also been ordered not to speak to the media. The altercation threatens the relatively harmonious relationship that has existed between the fraternities, police and the university over the past years. “I’ve been here five years and I don’t recall anything to that degree, where we have fifteen people in an all out brawl,” said Staff Seargent Kevin Kenna, who heads the University RCMP Detachment. He also said that this is the third violent incident this week in which the RCMP has gotten involved in the fraternity village.
“We had to break up a fight there on early Saturday morning and there was another incident earlier in the week where an individual got a broken jaw, broken bones and [went] in the hospital,” he said. In a statement regarding the incident, UBC VP Students Brian Sullivan chastised the fraternities for what occurred. “The numbers were far beyond what could be managed,” he said. “The fraternities must take responsibility for all individuals they host at their parties and in their houses. Many clearly failed in this duty.” He went on to say that “UBC will work with the RCMP, student and alumni fraternity leadership, international fraternity headquarters and all those involved to address the illegal behavior displayed and ensure it is not repeated.” Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC) President Matt Parson said that he was uncertain about the actual events that occurred on Saturday. “It’s very cloudy what happened last night,” said Parson. “Of course our first priority is the safety and security of all of our members.” He claimed that the people who caused the incident itself were nonfraternity members. “It was people who were not really welcome here, asked to leave, and were causing trouble. And honestly, that could happen anywhere,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that the fraternity systems are being taken advantage of by people outside of the UBC system for the social activities that we offer.” According to Parson, the IFC will be conducting its own investigation into what happened and is also considering implementing an identification system in order to keep non-students out. He also pointed out that no gun had been found by authorities. “It was almost hearsay,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that rumours are being published really when it’s just one drunk person’s clouded recollection that’s being reported.” U
2 / u b y s s e y. c a / e v e n t s / 2 0 1 0 . 0 9 . 1 3 september 13, 2010 volume xcii, no iv editorial
events
coordinating editor
Justin McElroy : coordinating@ubyssey.ca
news editor
Arshy Mann : news@ubyssey.ca
wednesday, sepT. 15
associate news editor
Sally Crampton : associate.news@ubyssey.ca
culture editors
film society screening: get him to the greek
Jonny Wakefield & Bryce Warnes : culture@ubyssey.ca
associate culture editor
From September 15 th –19 th the UBC Film Society will be showing Get Him to the Greek, a comedy from the director of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and starring Jonah Hill • 7pm, Norm Theatre, $2.50 for Film Soc. members, $5 for nonmembers.
Anna Zoria : associate.culture@ubyssey.ca
sports editor
Ian Turner : sports@ubyssey.ca
features editor
Trevor Record : features@ubyssey.ca
photo editor
Geoff Lister : photos@ubyssey.ca
production manager
creativity kills her UBC BFA Karen Tennant presents Creativity Kills Her: an exploration of death and the female body using largescale installations of paint, fabric and resin. • 10am– 4pm, runs until Sept. 17, AMS Art Gallery, contact Kate Barbaria at sacart@ams.ubc.ca for more information.
Virginie Ménard : production@ubyssey.ca
copy editor
Kai Green : copy@ubyssey.ca
multimedia editor
ubc farm wednesday market
associate multimedia editor
Visit the UBC Farm’s weekly on-campus market, every Wednesday from outside the UBC Bookstore, featuring an assortment of fresh, organic UBC Farm produce. Cash only; bring your own bags. • 11:30am-1:30pm, outside the UBC Bookstore.
Tara Martellaro : multimedia@ubyssey.ca Stephanie Warren : associate.multimedia@ubyssey.ca
video editor
Matt Wetzler : video@ubyssey.ca
webmaster
Jeff Blake : webmaster@ubyssey.ca Room 24, Student Union Building 6138 Student Union Boulevard Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 tel: 604.822.2301 web: www.ubyssey.ca e-mail: feedback@ubyssey.ca
business
business manager
Fernie Pereira : business@ubyssey.ca
ad traffic
Kathy Yan Li : advertising@ubyssey.ca
ad design
Paul Bucci : webads@ubyssey.ca
contributors Paul Bucci Yooji Cummings Michael Thibault Jon Chiang Gerald Deo Karina Palmitesta
shiamak’s bollywood dance
digital tattoo: what’s yours?
The Dance Centre’s popular Discover Dance! Noon series leaps into a new season with Shiamak’s Bollywood Jazz. India’s top choreographer, Shiamak Davar, has revolutionized modern Indian dance through his choreography for Bollywood blockbusters and his international teaching institute. The Shiamak’s Bollywood Jazz Team, Vancouver will showcase Davar’s dynamic fusion of Western jazz and hip hop with Indian dance techniques, in a performance bursting with energy and fun. • Noon, Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie St., $10 regular, $8 for students and seniors.
Are you actively, safely managing your online presence? If someone searches for you, what will they find? Can you translate your social media skills be yond your personal life to an academic or professional setting? Are you concerned about your privacy and the way your online activity is monitored? Find out more ways to manage your digital rights and responsibilities at this one hour workshop. • 12pm–1pm, Lillooet Room 301, IKBLC, register at events. tag.ubc.ca/events/view/1069.
legal The Ubyssey is the official student newspaper of the University of British Columbia. It is published every Monday and Thursday by The Ubyssey Publications Society. We are an autonomous, democratically run student organization, and all students are encouraged to participate. Editorials are chosen and written by the Ubyssey staff. They are the expressed opinion of the staff, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Ubyssey Publications Society or the University of British Columbia. All editorial content appearing in The Ubyssey is the property of The Ubyssey Publications Society. Stories, opinions, photographs and artwork contained herein cannot be reproduced without the expressed, written permission of The Ubyssey Publications Society. The Ubyssey is a founding member of Canadian University Press (CUP) and adheres to CUP’s guiding principles. Letters to the editor must be under 300 words. Please include your phone number, student number and signature (not for publication) as well as your year and faculty with all submissions. ID will be checked when submissions are dropped off at the editorial office of The Ubyssey; otherwise verification will be done by phone. “Perspectives” are opinion pieces over 300 words but under 750 words and are run according to space. “Freestyles” are opinion pieces written by Ubyssey staff members. Priority will be given to letters and perspectives over freestyles unless the latter is time sensitive. Opinion pieces will not be run until the identity of the writer has been verified. The Ubyssey reserves the right to edit submissions for length and clarity. All letters must be received by 12 noon the day before intended publication. Letters received after this point will be published in the following issue unless there is an urgent time restriction or other matter deemed relevant by the Ubyssey staff. It is agreed by all persons placing display or classified advertising that if the Ubyssey Publications Society fails to publish an advertisement or if an error in the ad occurs the liability of the UPS will not be greater than the price paid for the ad. The UPS shall not be responsible for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value or the impact of the ad.
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This club is dedicated to helping people improve their communication and leadership skills. This evening, they will be having a humorous speech and table topics contest. Come by to watch club members deliver fun and entertaining speeches. • 7pm–9pm, Room 155, IKBLC.
thursday, sepT. 16
Room 23, Student Union Building advertising: 604.822.1654 business office: 604.822.6681 fax: 604.822.1658 e-mail: advertising@ubyssey.ca
Kenji Hayakawa Kathy Yan Li Ginette Monaco Clare Van Norden Katarina Grgic Ashley Whillans
Walter Gage Toastmasters Speech Contest
Send us your events and get the word out to the rest of campus.
events@ubyssey.ca
U theubyssey.ca
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News
editor ARSHY MANN » news@ubyssey.ca associate SALLY CRAMPTON » associate.news@ubyssey.ca
News Briefs metal rod ensnares transit system friday morning Last Friday’s morning rush became a headache for TransLink, as commuters faced up to five hours of delays for the SkyTrain. A metal rod on the tracks near Main Street Station brought an Expo Line train to a halt at 7am, forcing passengers to cram on already crowded buses. Signs told passengers at Waterfront Station that trains weren’t traveling eastbound and everyone should “expect lengthy delays.” It’s estimated that one million people use public transit in Metro Vancouver and 240,000 people take the Expo and Millennium Lines. students who cheat don’t care about the consequences
Onlookers wonder whether the cube will be a benevolent dictator as they explore its mystical interior. geoff lister photo/The Ubyssey
A different kind of cubicle paul bucci pbucci@ubyssey.ca The new Student Union Building (SUB) architects, HBBH + BH, have erected a field station in the current SUB’s south wing, called the SUB Project Design Cube. It’s built exactly as it sounds: four sleek glass wa l ls encasing working architects. And yes, they will be watching us. According to architect J. Bruce Haden, the Cube exists to immerse and integrate the architects in the life of the campus
during the design phase of the project. “It is our intention that we will be doing work out here… Site offices are common during the design phase,” said Haden. The new SUB is expected to be completed in 2014, after which the current SUB will be renovated. “This building, which was built in 1968, at a time when t he student population was 20,000, no longer fits with the mission of the student society,” said AMS President Bijan Ahmadian.
The Cube was built by Dirtt Environmental Solutions for roughly $30,000 and will stay up for at least one year. The cost of building came out of the architect fees, according to AMS VP Administration Ekaterina Dovjenko. The architects hope that students will come in and share their ideas on the design as it progresses. There will be a team inside the Cube, a screen displaying the current progress of the project, and eventually a model. “Just come in to tell us what you think and have a chat,” said
New SUB Project Coordinator Andréanne Doyon. “We wanted to make sure t hat student input and student engagement is assessed from across the board,” said Dovjenko. “You have t he workshops and you have the design charrettes, and then you have the blog, you have the Facebook page, and the Twitter—that’s all great—but then you have the face to face contact...If they have any feedback that they want to give to the architects, they can do that here,” she said U
Bigger is better: Arts’s Averill aces Deans’ Debate Yooji Cummings & Arshy mann news@ubyssey,ca A crush of students dressed in capes and bearing faculty colours poured into a small corner of the SUB on Friday, in anticipation of UBC’s annual deans’ debate. The debate was moderated by The Ubyssey’s coordinat ing editor, Just in McElroy, who quizzed the deans on topics ranging from job prospects to how useful each faculty would be in the event of a zombie apocalypse. The new dean of Arts, Gage Averill, set the tone of the debate with a quick quip about the perception that Arts students can’t get jobs and the audience responded with cheers. Dean of Human Kinetics Bob Sparks regaled the crowd with a decidedly cringe-worthy yet
charming slam poetry presentation on the inter-disciplinary value of a Human Kinetics degree and the need for a healthy body. The new Forestry Dean John Innes, who had the most enthusiastic supporters at the beginning of the debate, declared that his faculty was the best of its kind in the world. “We are the crown jewel in the crown of UBC.” Dean Tyseer Aboulnasr of Applied Sciences responded to a question about gender inequity in engineering by arguing that although there may never be an equal gender split in engineering, the women who are in the program are as qualified as the men. “The only woman sitting here at this table is an engineer,” she pointed out. When asked what animal his faculty would be, Land and Food
Systems Dean Murray Isman responded without a beat. “We’re a cow. Cows produce milk. Cows produce meat. Cows plow land. Cows do work. Cows do it all,” he said. But the debate was ultimately decided by Averill’s response to a question on why Arts students would be best prepared against the inevitable zombie apocalypse, despite their lack of tangible skills, in the headto-head portion of the debate. Averill, a specialist on Carribean musical anthropology, where the concept of the zombie originates, wowed the crowd with his intimate knowledge of all things undead. Whereas all of the other deans argued for cooperation amongst the faculties when it came to a zombie attack, it was Averill who made the case that Arts students alone were prepared to defy the zombies.
“Who better to resist the zombification process, the removal of will and soul and mind than students who possess the mind,” argued Averill. Averill won the debate, which was decided by audience applause, with Forestry and Engineering coming in as close seconds. AMS VP Administration Ekaterina Dovjenko presented a beaming Averill with a plaque. Sauder Dean Daniel Muzyka was unavailable and sent Senior Associate Dean Brian Demmels in his stead. Simon Peacock, the dean of science, decided not to participate in the debate. “While I appreciate that this event could be viewed simply as fun, I feel strongly that we are delivering the wrong message to our students, particularly new students, that we feel (even in jest) that one Faculty is better than another,” he said in an email to the AMS. U
According to a study led by UBC Professor Del Paulhus, students who cheat more likely suffer from a personality disorder than academic woes. A series of three studies published by the American Psychological Association looked at the connection between students who had cheated and students whose personality tests revealed narcissism, machiavellianism and psychopathy, traits collectively known as the Dark Triad. The studies showed students who weren’t worried about punishment were not morally inhibited or felt that cheating was a perfectly acceptable way to achieve their goals. “Incentives such as high grades and scholarships seem to activate dishonesty in these individuals,” the paper stated. “The achievement goals shared by most college students trigger cheating in psychopaths alone.” government puts two billion dollars into loan program
The federal government had to move quickly to ensure students would receive student loans, as the pre-legislated federal limit of $15 billion meant approximately 50,000 students would have been without financing for this academic year. Human Resources and Skills Development Minister Diane Finley pushed through a $2 billion extension to the student loan program when it appeard the limit was going to be breached. “The economic downturn resulted in a 10 per cent increase in student loan demand, from 2008–09 to 2009–10, as more students decided to begin or continue post-secondary education,” an HRSDC spokesperson told the Canadian University Press. The HRSDC hadn’t expected to reach their $15 billion limit until 2014-15. Finley’s orderin-council recognized the problem and that a long-term solution would need to be reached. “What this shows us is that there will have to be, sooner than we thought, actual legislative changes made to the Student Financial Assistance Act —and it will have to be made in Parliament if we are to continue to rely on a loans-based financial assistance system,” Canadian Federation of Students National Chairperson Dave Molenhuis said.
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New dean set to en-Gage arts
Ethnomusicologist to orchestrate UBC’s largest faculty ashley whillans awhillans@ubyssey.ca On September 7, Gage Averill shared his first day at the UBC Vancouver campus with thousands of fresh-faced undergraduate students, as the recently appointed dean of Arts. When The Ubyssey caught up with Averill on his second day, he was busy settling into his spacious, still half-empty office, and into the role he will hold for the next six years as the dean of UBC’s largest faculty. As an ethnomusicologist, an anthropologist of music, orchestrating one of the most diverse student populations on campus is an “ideal fit” for Averill, who thrives off of the challenges of working with different cultures, different sounds and different kinds of people. Averill’s list of unique and constantly evolving skills include playing the Trinidadian steel pan, Afro-Cuban percussion and the Irish concertina, among other things. But despite his obvious auditory interests, music was not Averill’s first career choice after graduating from high school. Instead, he began studying Forestry at the University of Washington. However, Averill soon dropped out, thanks to, amongst other things, his second year calculus final. “One of the things that motivated me to drop out was that I wanted to do things that I couldn’t do in my studies....I was t hinking of gearing up for the Olympics in kayak slalom and I wanted to play music and involve and relate music to community organizing,” he explained. After leaving university, Averill kept busy. He started the On the Horizon, the first world
Arts students: your new Dean. geoff lister Photo/The Ubyssey
music radio program in Northwest America, played in an Irish band and organized local music festivals, including the Northwest Folklore Festival, one of the largest folk festivals in the United States. While these talents did not always pay the bills, he took on jobs outside of his field of interest to continue pursuing what he loved: music and community work. “I found my life gravitated to music performance, music production, radio and a bit of study of the music I was presenting in these contexts,” he explained. “I was a lay ethnomusicologist without the degree and supporting myself in other ways—from tractor driving to
school bus driving to community organizing.” Due to an injury, these odd jobs quickly came to an end. Wondering what to do wit h himself, he spotted an ad for the University of Washington, which at that time was in desperate need of students. Wasting no time, he jumped at the opportunity to return to university to complete his BA in ethnomusicology and has never looked back. Going on to graduate with a PhD, he has since chaired the music department at New York University, worked at the University of Toronto and Columbia University, and has taught at Princeton as a visiting professor.
Regardless of his experiences working at other noteworthy institutions, Averill was honoured to be offered a position at UBC. “Having gone to school in Washington state, this was always the region that had the greatest call for me. The dynamism of UBC, its progressive nature, student body and location were all attractors,” Averill said. As far as his goals within the position, Averill says his focus is on the university experience. “A dean can help set a tone, and I would like to help set that tone and make sure that this is a place where magic can happen for students, staff and faculty—that the university is a place where we are really free to innovate, play and interact with the community,” he added. Averill is excited to embark on a learning tour of UBC, take his first kayak trip and push off into the uncharted territory that comes along with organizing the faculty. “I am looking forward to creating an educational experience that is dynamic, in sync with how students learn and that is the best we can do in the classroom. There is an inspiration role that can happen as dean, and if I am lucky it will happen and I will be able to work on important areas we want to develop.” U
I found my life gravitated to music performance, music production, radio... gage averill newly appointed dean of arts
Bookstore to rent to students katarina grgic´ kgrgic@ubyssey.ca At UBC, you can rent a dorm, a bike and a locker—now you can also rent your textbook. A new program by UBC’s bookstore allows students to rent their textbook instead of purchasing it. The program has been widely implemented in the US. UBC is the second Canadian university to try renting textbooks. The new option saves students 55 per cent from the new price of the textbook. For example, Essential Cell Biology rents for $90. The same book’s purchase price is $200. There are 25 titles to choose from for renting, most of which are used in Science courses. A textbook is intended to be rented out for a term, and due back two days after the final exam of the course the textbook corresponds to. “The textbook is expected to be returned in the same condition it was rented, though it may have some markings,” explained Rebecca Irani, the bookstore’s marketing and communications manager. She went on to say the markings could not be excessive. The only catch is that a student has to be nineteen years of age and own a valid credit card. If the book is not returned on time, the student will be charged (on their credit card) a non-return fee for the full price of a replacement and a processing fee. If the pilot program is successful, the bookstore will add more titles to the list of rentals. “So far,” said Irani, “the interest has been siginificant. We hope to expand on it and increase the rentals for the next rush period in January.” U
Got what it takes to be an intrepid journalist? Prove it by coming to write for The Ubyssey news team. arshy mann | news@ubyssey.ca
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2010.09.13/u byssey.ca / nationa l/5
national
editor ARSHY MANN » news@ubyssey.ca associate SALLY CRAMPTON » associate.news@ubyssey.ca
RCMP threaten to cut Criminology funds to Simon Fraser University David Proctor The Peak (SFU) BURNABY, BC (CUP)—After receiving harsh criticism from a Simon Fraser University criminologist over their handling of the Robert Pickton investigation, the RCMP’s deputy commissioner threatened to stop funding the department. SFU Criminology Department Director Robert Gordon told the media that the RCMP’s “arrogance” slowed the investigation of serial killer Robert Pickton’s case. On August 22, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass responded in a lengthy e-mail that was later obtained by the Victoria Times Colonist. “I would like to suggest that you should be more careful in speaking on issues where you have no direct personal knowledge or where you may not be getting accurate information fed to you,” Bass stated in the email. However, the RCMP recently renewed their contribution of $4 million for the next five years to fund the Canadian Urban Research Studies program at SFU, the status of which was called into question in the email. “The ongoing bias you display against the RCMP in [issues]
such as this have caused many of us to ask why we would want to continue to be in that partnership given this apparent lack of support from the head of the department,” threatened Bass, who originally had a hand in creating the program five years ago. The email was also copied to approximately 25 high authority figures, including top RCMP brass, municipal police chiefs and the president of SFU. The email came in response to a 400-page report released by the Vancouver Police Department on August 20 places significant blame on the Mounties over the past 10 years, further echoing Gordon’s assertions about the bungled missing-women investigation. “It was clear that the RCMP were caught f lat-footed. They were not prepared for the release of that report at that time,” Gordon told The Peak. “It’s one thing to send me a personal email chastising me,” explained Gordon. “But t he thinly-veiled threat to [pull] funding from the [criminology department] touched a raw nerve with a lot of people.” Despite the intimidating tone of the email, both Gordon and Bass have insisted his comments
were not intended as a threat to pull funding from the institute. “I figured this was a knee-jerk reaction and he would ultimately regret doing it,” stated Gordon about his first impression of the email, although he noted that he responded to Bass’ comments privately. “It was something that needed to be responded to because it touches on the very core of critical inquiry, which is what a university is usually all about. We’re not servants of the state.” During a public interview two weeks ago, Bass restated that his comments were not serious. “It was a comment I made based on concerns that had been addressed to me,” Bass reiterated in an interview on September 3. “We have no intention of pulling away from that contract. We have a great relationship with SFU.” Since the email was made public, Gordon has received numerous phone calls and emails from academics across Canada praising him for not backing down. “I have no intention of sitting in a corner and cowering because of what Gary Bass wrote to me. I will continue to advocate for what I see as important in this province—police reform. I don’t intend to stop or slow down in any way.”
Holy street corner busking, Batman!
The Dark Knight demands your respect. Eli Garlin photo/The Chord
Linda Givetash The Cord (Waterloo) WATERLOO, Ont. (CUP)— “I know [busking] is not... popular and most people, especially people in university, look down upon it,” said Toronto’s Batman. After a weekend of cheering crowds across Waterloo, Ontario as part of the 22nd annual Busker Carnival, Batman revealed the challenges and benefits of working as a street performer. Batman declined to provide his real name. Only starting in 2006, he is fairly new to the game of busking. He didn’t officially assume his role as Toronto’s Caped Crusader until May 2009. “I never planned on being a busker— it kind of fell into my lap,” he explained. The job is not as simple as it appears, with social repercussions associated with it. “I see on the internet that people think buskers are stupid and homeless,” he said.
“Yeah, I realize I’m dressed up as Batman, but I’m still a human being, that would go a long way.” Batman noted that street performances are a tradition that has endured the ages. “Busking is one of the oldest jobs in the world, right up there with drug dealing and prostitution and tax collectors and yet people think that [only] tax collectors are very traditional,” he commented. While street performances can result in negative backlash, festivals like the Busker Carnival provide a more welcoming atmosphere. “We don’t have to worry about getting kicked out and we’re treated like actual performers as opposed to scum.” Despite the job’s difficulties, Batman says it’s the only life imaginable for those inclined. “Most [buskers] would agree they wouldn’t want to spend their energy doing anything else,” he said.
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culture
editorS BRYCE WARNES & JONNY WAKEFIELD » culture@ubyssey.ca associate ANNA ZORIA » associate.culture@ubyssey.ca
On the road and on your plate Students make 3000 mile trek to see small farms first-hand Kenji Hayakawa Contributor When a group of seven UBC students and alumni wanted to learn more about the conditions faced by local farmers across North America, they got on their bikes and started pedaling. They biked 3000 miles across North America in defence of global food sovereignty. Food sovereignty is defined on the group’s website as “the right and ability of an individual or community to grow or raise an ample quantity of healthy, ecologically sustainable food.” This is a right that many believe is still not widely respected due to government and corporate policies and practices. By biking across North America, 11 riders aimed to raise awareness as well as a sum of $10,000 US to donate to farmers in Bolivia. Among the riders were UBC students Dylan S. J. Rawlyk (Science), Ilana Fonariov (Arts), Natalie Carver (Arts) and Rodrigo Samayoa (Arts), as well as UBC alumni Amelia Lukic-Kegel, Barrett Swinhart and Benjamin Amundson. The daunting 3000 mile route started in Portland, Oregon, continued through Washington, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and New York, until finally arriving in Boston. The journey was completed in 57 days. The average riding distance per day was approximately 70 miles.
Riders on the Food Tour, somewhere in the American midwest. Photo courtesy of Rodrigo Samayoa
Each night during the trip, a different local farm, NPO or NGO provided food and shelter for the riders. It also showed them the situation on the ground. Meeting with local farmers revealed the difficulties of getting locally grown options into large chain stores. For instance, Fonariov reports via the group’s official blog how a Save-On-Foods branch in Clarkston, Washington supplied their cherries, apples and peaches from California, despite the staff’s wish to source produce locally. Some major obstacles for change, according to Fonariov, are company policies upheld by grocery stores against buying directly from producers. Farmers across the continent are having difficulty finding places
where they can sell their produce, said Carver. She tells the story of two organic farmers in South Dakota: “Though Bill and Julie have astounding productivity with their produce and animals, they do not have a market outlet. Bill told us that there is no demand for their organic products and so no connection exists between them and would-be consumers.” The spiritual side of local farming also made a deep impression upon the riders. From Heavenly Hills Harvest farm, located in Grandview, Washington, Rawlyk tells the story of a farmer named Ben who started working the land just four years ago without any previous experience, as a way of addressing the issue of food security. Rawlyk writes that Ben’s
Sydney Hermant’s “After Second Nature,” dripping at the Belkin. Jon Chiang Photo/The Ubyssey
The Belkin Art Gallery’s latest showing, Here Today, Gone Today, is a weird and wonderful display featuring the work of five UBC Fine Arts grads. But like most worthwhile art, it’s recommended to view it with the insight and assistance of the guide booklet. Here Today features statues, photos, chalkboards, collages of library cards and movies. A film by Keesic Douglas, projected onto a Hudson’s Bay Company blanket, follows two men on a journey to trade the
A Day in the Life of Miss Hiccup “We just watched a woman sing to her foot,” pretty much sums up A Day in the Life of Miss Hiccup. Set on a bare stage with minimal props and set, the audience is forced to stare at the only animated object on the stage—an Asian lady named Shoshinz, garishly clad in warm bright colours and many, many flowers. Her performance lives up to her outfit.
There is very little speech, but a lot of garbled sing-alongs.
“reasons for farming have since diverged from the former, but have focused on the beauty of watching [his] efforts grow into wonderful plants.” Samayoa recounts one particularly rich evening he spent at a ranch in Twodot, Montana: “At their beautiful ranch we had some conversations about many topics including the history of the land, nearby Indian reservations, beef production, all while eating some delicious burgers they had prepared for us.” U To find out more on how to contribute, as well as for detailed, day-to-day reports of the trip, visit the Farm Tour of America’s official website at bikeacrossamerica.wordpress.com.
Belkin Gallery hosts modern MFA works
clare van norden Contributor
News Briefs
blanket back for the pelts the First Nations originally bought it with. The catch? They’re making the trip by canoe. It’s about half an hour long, though, so be prepared for a lot of hardcore standing still. If film isn’t your thing, you can wander off and check out some of the sculptural works on display, like the fourteenfoot-tall, bright orange “TeeterSlaughter,” a combination guillotine and teeter-totter. And if the name isn’t awesome enough, this is art you can actually ride, adjustable seat and all. It even has a mini-sandbox underneath if you somehow manage to fall
off. The “Teeter-Slaughter” was designed by Fan-Ling Suen. You’ll also want to check out “After Second Nature,” a sculpture so new it’s still dripping. Essentially, it’s a bunch of everyday vessels with holes poked in the bottom suspended by colourful ropes over some newspaper stalagmites. The containers—an assortment of everything from Starbucks cups to cat food tins— are filled with paint, which leaks out and splatters everything in bright colours. It’s sort of like if a giant, rainbow-coloured spider raided a painter’s garbage can and spun it all into one massive web.
“The disposability of the single serving to-go vessel has to do with time, production and atomization, which generates a lack of care,” said artist Sydney Hermant. “Or maybe it’s not that we don’t care, it’s that we don’t have time, just at this moment, to care. Through a kind of creative repurposing, I am attempting to care for these objects. By giving them a second life, I can stretch their moment out a bit, carve out some time where initially there wasn’t any.” Hermant said the concept has been kicking around in her head since 2006. She has represented this idea with plaster maquette and a video installation, before it took on its current incarnation. “My work happens through alot of trial and error,” she said. “And by allowing the ideas and materials to take long strolls before it gets to a place where it’s more at home with what it’s trying to do.” Whether you’re in the mood for deep thought or just trying to kill some time between class, the Belkin is definitely worth a look. U Here Today, Gone Today features the work of Keesic Douglas, Sydney Hermant, Fan-Ling Suen, Zoe Tissandier and Clare Yow. It runs September 3—19 at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery.
Shoshinz singing to her rebellious sock puppet foot to sleep was one of the best things I have seen for a while, and one of the many ridiculous pieces of Miss Hiccup’s life. There is very little speech in the one-woman show, but a lot of garbled sing-a-longs to epic orchestra music. Her entire day is a mesh of daily regular chores, which break into kooky, enthusiastic dance routines. I was enthralled by the sheer ridiculousness of Shoshinz, who left me utterly in stitches. If you need a brighter perspective on life, go check this out. It might make you feel better. —Kathy Yan Li What You Want In writer/director Andrew Templeton’s Vancouver, people are fucking. They’re either fucking or they’re heartbroken, and sometimes the two overlap. The city depicted in the minimalist What You Want is represented by the lives of Dave, who has returned to Vancouver after a near death experience, and a trio of characters connected by their sexual histories. Given the subject matter, it’s an accomplishment that the play never feels crude. Templeton is the ever-present puppet master, speaking to the audience in the guise of the actors about his own homecoming and struggles to finish the play. In places, it feels like What You Want is less the story of its characters, and more Templeton’s attempt to understand Vancouver’s changes in his absence. The resulting script is postmodern without being self-indulgent, and Templeton’s use of narration shows incredible restraint. The play attempts to cover too much thematic territory in a short time. Ideas of home, truth and obligation are hinted at but never fully realized. However, the dialogue is genuinely funny and the actors give sincere and enthusiastic performances. What You Want is a thoroughly engaging, modern exploration of desire, authenticity and the philosophical differences between ass men and tit men. —Ginette Monaco The Vancouver International Fringe Festival runs on and around Granville Island through September 19. The Ubyssey will run more reviews of select shows in upcoming issues.
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Your term one rock Show For roughly 30 students, Welcome Back BBQ kicked ass jonny wakefield culture@ubyssey.ca I left the Welcome Back Barbeque bruised, battered and seriously entertaining the possibility that my nose was broken. To the 30 or so people who were in the thick of it—thanks for knocking some ideas around in my head. As I was bandied about the pit, I tried to find some big critical statement I could make about Gaslight Anthem’s set. After all, it is my job to try and ascribe meaning and significance to mundane stuff like people drinking in a field. This was somewhat difficult at the time— all that was registering was that there was a rock band and people were doing silly things and I was enjoying it. I was knocked down a lot, but every time there was a friendly stranger there to haul me back into the fray. Maybe this could be a larger metaphor about the importance of helping people up when life knocks them down. Maybe rock and roll can save lives. Or maybe I was just a drunk fool and people were nice enough to try and avoid stepping on my head. At the time it seemed like a beautiful statement, but now I can’t help but remember the four dollar beer and the 2000 people who didn’t give a shit. And the cynicism kicks in. At the end of the day, there is no grand statement. I danced a lot and I had a lot of fun, and that’s what these things are supposed to be for. Some times it’s as simple as that. Most of the time, actually. We’ll spend a lot of the next eight months over-thinking a lot of things. Sometimes, though, we just need a kick to the face. U
The Menzingers and Gaslight Anthem played Welcome Back BBQ under overcast skies last Friday. geoff lister photos/The Ubyssey
Agenda for Tuesday’s staff meeting 1. Introductions 2. New members 3. Discussion of WPNCUP 4. September outreach ideas 5. NASH fundraising
Staff meetings are every Tuesday at noon in our offices. All students who have contributed to The Ubyssey three times in a semester are eligible to become staff members. justin mcelroy | coordinating@ubyssey.ca
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sports
editor IAN TURNER » sports@ubyssey.ca
Courtside Comment: Two UBC teams get big upsets Ian Turner sports@ubyssey.ca Heading out to Friday’s men’s soccer match, I hesit a nt ly checked online to find out by how much the football team was behind. UBC, who lost their first game of the year and out-scored their opponents in one game last year, were playing the nation’s No. 2 ranked team, the Saskatchewan Huskies, who the week before defeated the No. 1 ranked Calgary Dinos. 7-1 for UBC. I reloaded the page immediately. 7-1 for UBC. Wishing I had a phone with internet capabilities, I ran off to watch men’s soccer—in this case, the ninth-ranked UBC versus third-ranked Trinity Western. Early on, you could sense the game was taking a South African World Cup final turn with the amount of whistles. Five minutes in, a Trinity Western player appeared to suffer a concussion. The stands — about half filled by Trinity supporters — roared. They wanted the alleged villain, UBC defenceman Jack Cubbon, tossed out of the game. During the next play, a Spartan appeared to kick UBC goaltender Zach Kalthoff in the face. A small kerfuffle broke out. It wasn’t the only way the game mirrored Netherlands– Spain, as Spartan Rhys Volkenant picked up a yellow card in the worst possible spot: the
UBC’s Victor Marshall had one catch for 44 yards. PETE YEE/the Sheaf
penalty box. With 45 minutes played, midfielder Marco Visintin lined up to the penalty shot. “I usually go left. He was trash talking us from two years ago because one of our players missed. So I had to switch it up,” Visintin said after the game. Visintin went top right and got the goal, putting UBC up 1–0. On the sideline, Associate Athletic Director Theresa Hansen was ecstatic. UBC football was up 20-5. Hunting for a bathroom, UBC’s athletic director Bob Philip popped up behind me. He,
too, was noticeably excited by the football lead. I, too, was happy: Philip would know where the restrooms were. “You think we’re going to hold on against Saskatchewan?” Philip asked. We bantered amiably about football. At the end, I asked where the restrooms were. Philip gave directions. But the doors were locked. How this problem was resolved will not be addressed. Back at my corner of the pitch, one regular at many varsity
games asked a man for the score three times. The first time he was told, the regular told the man not to bullshit him. The score was repeated with a smile. Up two goals, UBC soccer got another boost in the thigh: for pulling a UBC’s player’s shirt, Volkenant got a yellow card. Strutting over to the TWU bench, red-carded Volkenant blamed the referee; TWU’s head coach Pat Rohla told his player to keep his chops shut because he’d just put the team under enormous “duress.” But Trinit y kept the fight up. Knocking the ball out of Kalthoff ’s hands, a Spartan pounded the ball into the net. Again, a scrum of sorts broke out. A snide comment from the Trinity bench pierced the air. A sharp glance at TWU’s bench by UBC men’s soccer head coach Mike Mosher was the retort. The goal was waved off. A few plays later, UBC seemingly bulldozed Spartan goaltender Andrew Kowan in the process of scoring their third goal. There too, a ruckus between UBC and TWU happened, but the goal counted. The final score was 3–0. By the end, the ref had handed out 12 yellows and 2 reds, as the fierce rivalry continued unabated. With the game concluded, I went back to headquarters — The Ubyssey offices — where the final football score was viewed: 31-12.
Season Preview: Men’s soccer team aims high Ian Turner sports@ubyssey.ca Most years, it’s an optimistic cliché, but this year for the men’s soccer team at UBC, it’s true: nothing less than a CIS Championship will do. “It should be to win absolutely everything. I’ve never been on a team as stacked essentially as this. Nothing short of almost a perfect season. Our team is looking very strong,” fifth-year midfielder Ryan Reynold said. That goal comes from last year’s early finish in the playoffs. After a 10-3-1 regular season, marked by a win late in the season against Alberta to gain home-field advantage, they lost in the first round of the playoffs to Alberta, 1-0. “We didn’t play to our capabilities on the day...I think it really sticks with and haunts the group of which almost everybody is back. And that becomes a real focal point...This is a year about national championships,” said UBC soccer head coach Mike Mosher. To that end, Mosher has an enviable problem: a team that is too stacked, largely because of the Vancouver Whitecaps’ new residency program. “We’ve been real benefactors of some of the stuff they’ve done over the last couple of years. That being, starting up a youth program—a youth residency program for really some of the elite players in Canada. We’re going
Excitedly, I texted The Ubyssey’s coordinating editor, Justin McElroy: “UBC beat Sask app. 30-12. Front page?” “Not front. But tease. And also: holy shit,” McElroy responded. As I headed out, I made a mental note to bring my voice recorder into the office tomorrow. I expected that the three players I’d call—running back David Boyd, quarterback Billy Greene, and a defensive line Serge Kaminsky— would be yelling and swearing profusely on the other line when discussing their victory. Sadly, that never happened. Kaminsky sounded like he was napping. Not much emotion, just a friendly “Thank you for calling me” at the end. Boyd had his two feet firmly planted on the ground. No plans for a rowdy party. Greene gave an energetic summary of the game, but didn’t have a limo tour party organized. Boyd: “When we finished the Alberta game,”—a 36-28 loss— “we were kinda nervous because we had heard what they did to Calgary. And we all know how good Calgary is.” Kaminsky: “6000 fans screaming at us, chirping at us. We all felt great. I said, these guys are not going to be talking in five minutes. We just marched down their throats. It just felt great.” Greene: “We just shocked them.” Not the expected Friday. U
scoreboard
2-0 UBC women’s soccer team won their first regular season game against the Calgary Dinos in Alberta.
1 UBC varsity team, women’s field hockey, starts their regular season this upcoming Saturday.
44 UBC’s goaltender Zach Kalthoff earned a shutout on Friday night. Michael Thibault /The Ubyssey
to field, like, six or seven of those players. We’ve had three or four over the last couple years, and now, we’ve just added, in the last couple of months, two or three more,” Mosher said. “To crack the starting 11 is no joke. If you’re in the starting 11 that’s an accomplishment. Even being number one or two off the bench is very hard to do—we were saying you could field two teams and still have a legitimate chance of doing very well. It’s very competitive,” Reynolds said. The players Mosher gets are often those who are unable or
unwilling to continue playing in the MLS or Europe. All these additions make it tough for others to climb up the ranks. “What’s tough is that we’ve seen some k ids sk y rocket, who’ve just taken off and gotten so much better, but the quality of the team this year—it’s really hard to break in. It’s a good problem to have as a coach,” Mosher said. One position Mosher doesn’t have to worry about is his last man on the pitch, the goalkeeper. I nju r ed l a s t y ea r, Z ac h Kalthoff, who played in Europe
professionally, was unsure if he wanted to play abroad again. Now he’s the starting keeper. His presence lead to a fierce fight for the backup spot. Five are fighting it out, but even with all the competition, there’s no apparent resentment. “The team has gelled really well. Most of the guys are really tight already,” said Kalthoff. “The older guys seem to take the younger guys and the new players in pretty easily. It’s a really tight bunch of guys. There’s really no egos on the team, which is much different from what I’m used to playing in.” U
yards former SFU wide receiver Victor Marshall ran for UBC against Saskatchewan on his only catch of the game.
5 hours varsity teams trained in the Student Recreational Centre last week, a place they prefer to avoid because the floor is slippery.
12 & 2 yellow cards and red cards, respectively, given to players in Friday night’s match between UBC and Trinity Western.
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Thunderbird football players’ newfound trust shows Ian Turner sports@ubyssey.ca Short a man for a drill, a student-coach loudly asked for a defensive player on the sideline to jump into the play. But it took a few more pleas until a player hustled into the practice. A snap later, head coach Shawn Olson marched over to the players on the sideline. He sternly told them they had to hop into practice if asked to. This disciplined coaching approach is central to the new culture Olson is seeking to instill at UBC football. “We as a staff are all positive coaches. Saying that, we also are a very demanding staff,” said defensive coordinator Jerome Erdman. Seven months into his new gig, Olson is pleased with his crew. “Our guys have bought into [the new system],” he said. After getting hired, Olson had a simple, clear message for his players: “Every position is wide open. As a coaching staff, we are going in with an open mind and will evaluate the talent we have at every position.” Last year’s starting quarterback Billy Greene got the message. “I had to show I was willing to work for it, put in the time and effort... He didn’t want anyone to take anything for granted and then not breed a competitive environment,” Greene said. In training camp, he again secured the starting job. It’s at the backup spot where Olson’s open-mind philosophy is apparent. Rookie Carson Williams, an Abbotsford native, appears to have secured the number two spot amid tough
UBC head coach Shawn Olson during Training Camp. Courtesy of Richard Lam/UBC Athletics
competition from a former NCAA red-shirt and five others. “Ideally, I wouldn’t have an 18-year-old as our backup, but every day we preach that we judge what we see, and in that case, he’s the front runner for the backup at this point,” Olson said in training camp. This past weekend, Williams was the second-string quarterback. It is not the only less-thanperfect situation Olson has found himself in since getting hired. In August, Olson found himself slapping paint on an unused office at Thunderbird Arena, which he then converted into an assistant coaches’ office. “Nothing can be beneath you if you expect your guys to do it. I will never ask someone to do something I wouldn’t do myself. I have to walk the walk,” Olson said. “I think it’s important that you feel a sense of pride being at this university. I mean, this university is one of the best in the
world academically. To be a football player at the University of British Columbia should mean something to these guys. And in order to make that happen, you can’t be living in a crap hole.” To instill pride into the program, he spent dozens of hours over the summer upgrading the “Heritage Room” at the Stadium. Prominently written on the wall at the front of the room are the dates when UBC won a national championship: 1892, 1986 and 1997, the year Olson was the starting quarterback for UBC. With the makeover mostly done, starting running back David Boyd feels like a rookie. “It’s been a complete overhaul and I feel like I’m in my first year,” Boyd said. “When I came in to get my gear fitted the Monday before camp started, my locker was gone.” Then there’s the new turf field: “It’s massive,” said Olson. “Absolutely massive on so many fronts. From a recruiting perspective, it’s one thing to watch
a recruit on the field and they see a pothole, or they see a nice turf field with a huge Thunderbird logo in the middle.” As for recruiting, he’s been very active. Last term, it was almost a weekly occurrence to see Olson speed-walking with a potential recruit around campus. Recruiting is exhausting and time consuming. By his own admission, Olson rarely sees his family, particularly his fouryear-old son, these days. To ease his burden, Olson lured Vancouver native Jerome Erdman from McGill University to be the defensive coordinator. Erdman, you could say, is the perfect assistant coach. He was a standout at SFU as a defensive back. He won a Grey Cup with with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1984. For five years, he coached the linebackers or special teams for the Hamilton Tiger Cats, a CFL franchise. And this über-experienced football coach doesn’t want to be a head coach.
“I have absolutely no intention to ever be a head coach ‘cause I love coaching too much. My passion is for coaching the game, and for dealing with the players. When you get to be a head coach you’re dealing with a lot of other issues,” Erdman said. In fact, after leading a nom a d i c l i f e —E r d m a n h a s coached in six different cities in Europe and Canada in the last 20 years—he’s looking to settle down. “I’m just at the stage now where I just want to teach and stay hopefully somewhere for a while,” Erdman said. And just such a mentality will help Olson lay the foundation for a successful program. “My goal is not just to win games this year. Any team can win games in a season. A lucky break. A lucky bounce...I want to have a great program.” So with a new field, lockers, offices and a plethora of recruits, what’s holding the team back from success this year? “Getting guys to become a team, having everyone gel as a team. That’s usually what determines the great teams from the good teams,” Olson said. “It’s one thing for me to keep guys accountable, it’s another thing for our captains or our rookies to say, ‘Hey man, that’s not good enough, that’s not how we do things... I think we’re getting there.” They may already be there. Following Friday’s upset over the No. 2 ranked Saskatchewan Huskies, defensive line Serge Kaminsky credited the win to team unity: “We just did our assignments. We trusted the person next to us to do their job. And we executed.” U
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Our Open House. Thursday, Sept. 16 1-5pm Interested in being part of our team? Want to see how we put the paper together? Like punch and pie? You’re in luck! Come by our offices in room 24 of the SUB, and learn how you can get involved with the vilest rag west of Blanca.
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Increased fees a necessity for the AMS of its original amount due to inflation. Most commitments held by the AMS are tied to eit her t he Canadian Consumer Price Index, or a higher increase. On top of these increases, there is a need for an increased number of staff, as the complexity and size of the organization increases. Our revenues are worth less every year.
Elin Tayyar & Jeremy McElroy Perspective You might have heard that the Alma Mater Society (AMS) is in the process of planning a referendum on student fees to take place in October. You also might have heard that they are proposing $24 in increases. And you are probably wondering why a group that lobbies against rising tuition and ancillary fees at the university is now turning around and asking you for more money. The answer is quite simple: we don’t have enough money to keep doing what we do for students much longer. The last general fee increase happened in 1982. The value of that fee is worth less than half
In 2008 we asked you to help us build a new SUB, and now we are asking for your help in ensuring the AMS’s future. The AMS executives this year have committed themselves to ensuring the financial sustainability of our 95-year-old organization, and we are coming to you today with hat in hand asking for your help. We have each put our extended health and dental coverage, worth $6000 total, towards this cause. This referendum is one of the most necessary in AMS history, compensating for fees that haven’t changed in 28 years, and introducing new project fees that
are long past due. In 2008 we asked you to help us build a new SUB, and now we are asking for your help in ensuring the AMS’s future. But we need everyone’s help. Through this referendum we are striving to increase engagement on campus, to provide more tangible services for students and to help make our campus as inclusive and accessible as possible. The AMS execs are willing to give 120 per cent, but we are only a handful of students—we need your undergrad societies, clubs, resource groups, service staff, frats, sororities and athletic teams to make this happen. But most of all, we need your AMS Student Council to commit the time and energy necessary to accomplish this overwhelmingly difficult feat. Without t he support and dedication of your student representatives, the AMS will have to rely on its stagnant fees to provide increasingly expensive services to students. We have amongst the lowest fees in the country and are struggling immensely. It’s time for us to plan for the future, and start doing more for the students of UBC. —Elin Tayyar and Jeremy McElroy are the VP Finance and VP External of the Alma Mater Society.
UBC should fully disclose information about animal Anne Birthistle Perspective Few Vancouver residents and students know UBC has an extensive animal research program. Every year, the university conducts thousands of research projects involving animals, some of which employ painful and ultimately lethal procedures. Nearly all of the research is conducted behind closed doors with little public scrutiny. According to a January 25, 2008 article published in the UBC student newspaper, The Ubyssey, “UBC is one of the largest bio-medical campuses in the country. The ACC [Animal Care Center] distributes some 100,000 creatures, both large and small, to dozens of UBC-affiliated research projects.” The paper also reported the universi-
Much of UBC’s animal research is funded with public money. ty experiments on a wide variety of animals, such as mice, pigs, sheep, non-human primates, rats and rabbits. Despite the questionable merit of animal experimentation, a growing unease with such research and breakthroughs in non-animal alternatives, the use of animals in “science” has steadily increased in Canada. Data from the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC), which oversees a n ima l resea rch, shows the numbers of animals used in research have risen from less than 1.8 million in
1998 to nearly 2.3 million animals in 2008. In February, Stop UBC Animal Research was formed by local citizens—including UBC students, alumni, and faculty—out of concern for animals at the university. Our months-long investigation of UBC reveals some of the university’s animal experiments are highly invasive. One UBC researcher, for example, has experimented on cats for 30 years. In 2008 he received a five-year, federally-funded grant for continued animal research. It is revealing and troubling what the university has sanctioned. In his papers, including one published in 2008, the researcher described how he had: —Implanted electrodes into cats’ foreheads, brains, bones behind the eyes, and neck muscles. Electrode wires were attached to a plug on a restraining device permanently fixed to the cats’ skulls. —Cut open the backs of cats to expose their vertebrae. Titanium screws were inserted into the cats’ spinal columns to inhibit movement. A restraint chamber was built around the cats’ exposed vertebra to give researchers access to the cats’ spinal columns and to fix the animals in a sitting position for recording sessions. —Implanted the devices so measurements could then be taken of spinal cord neurons without having to use anesthetic. Unfortunately, the university has been less than forthcoming about its research. UBC has yet to provide us with protocols used in animal experiments and has twice denied our request for information under provincial freedom of information law. While published
studies can be found on sites such as PubMed, information about UBC’s research—such as data, veterinary and necropsy reports, non-compliance records, photos and video—is not available. The US, on the other hand, has a far more transparent system. The National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Agriculture post comprehensive information about animal experiments online, allowing for public review of research. To make matters worse, animal research in Canada is not well regulated. Contrary to UBC officials’ assertions, CCAC guidelines are voluntary. The CCAC can release reports of non-compliance to funding agencies but those agencies have the discretion to deny funding. From its website, the CCAC notes the creation of “a voluntary control program exercised by scientists in each institution.” In addition, non-compliance records are not made available and CCAC assessments of UBC’s research are confidential, which means the public has no way of knowing if the university has violated animal care standards. Much of UBC’s animal research is funded with public money. At the very least, UBC should disclose the numbers and species of animals used in experiments and protocols used in university research. That way, students, donors, alumni and the public can make informed decisions about supporting a university that engages in activities many find objectionable and of marginal scientific utility. —Anne Birthistle is a member of Stop UBC Animal Research, stopubcanimalresearch.org.
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editorial fraternities shouldn’t have anything to hide Let us play a game. Suppose there was one group, universal to all campuses, that was seen by some as boorish, misogynistic, drunk, violent and generally lacking in basic faculties. Now pretend that there was a giant party on their property, which led to a fight, which led to an attempted assault on police officers, which led to a national story— except only the police were talking, and the situation was probably more complex than it seemed. Would coverage be fair? Would people resort to baseless assumptions? Laboured analogies aside, this is our main fear following Saturday night’s fracas: that stereotypes and biases shape people’s response, and the divide between fraternities and police continues to grow. RCMP members say they had to break up a 15-person fight. It appears officers themselves were assaulted. Things got out of hand, and the only people to blame are the fraternities themselves. But there are other facts. Each of the fraternities is a separate organization, with a separate building, so saying there was one party “with 500 to 1000 people attending” isn’t just an exaggeration, it’s downright impossible. In addition, it was UBC’s decision over a decade ago to cram all of the fraternities into one spot next to market housing and the RCMP, creating the no-win situation that currently exists. Finally, fraternities have evolved over the years. Today, they are more of a conservative networking brotherhood rather than an Animal House boozepit—Friday nights excepted. The fraternities aren’t 100% to blame here. But we don’t know both sides of the story yet. The first weekend of the year, when thousands of students are looking for a place to drink, and you didn’t have better security? A bonehead move. But after the incident occurs, not giving any comment, allowing police to shape the narrative and give everyone reign to make negative assumptions? That is foolish. We would have loved to let students know the frats’ side of the story. Sadly, they refuse to talk. U into the woods Over the past 30 months, there have been three deaths in Pacific Spirit Park. One of them—that of Wendy Ladner-Beaudry, whose body was discovered on April 5, 2009—is being investigated as a homicide. No news regarding possible suspects or motives has surfaced since then. Police have ruled out foul play in the deaths of two other women. The latter two can be attributed to one of three causes: accidental, ‘natural,’ or suicide. These deaths are tragic and shocking enough on their own. And the silence following them offers no comfort. Unless murder is involved, the RCMP are not obliged to release the identity of deceased persons, or the cause of death. And from the public’s perspective, the investigation into the homicide in Pacific Spirit Park has born no fruit. In June, after the discovery of the third body, The Province ran a headline that read, “Has the Pacific Spirit Park killer struck again?” It’s tempting to indulge in this sort of sensationalism, but not useful. No phantom killer on the loose is to blame for the tragedies of the past two years. Pacific Spirit Park is not remote, but it is isolated. Narrow trails cutting through thick forest, poor light, few nearby residents—these factors all play a role in making the park a potentially dangerous place to frequent. Someone who seriously injures themselves in such surroundings would have difficulty finding aid. And the sense of separation from the outside world the Park offers could make it an attractive place for a suicidal person to end their life. There are plenty of fairy tales where bad things happen in dark woods. Pacific Spirit Park isn’t the Grimms’ Black Forest, but the same lessons apply. There are no wolves or witches in the Park, but the darkness and the trees breed their own predators. During the daytime, it’s a fine place to jog. Recent morbid events haven’t detracted from Pacific Spirit’s beauty. Yet it serves as a reminder that just because an area looks peaceful doesn’t mean we should forget about our safety. U
maria cirstea graphic/the ubyssey
columnists
Three things I want in an AUS politician Michael Haack Columnist & AUS Councillor
transferred to the AUS because we have a plan—sometimes.
As The Ubyssey reported last week, the financial accounts of the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) were frozen. Sadly, this is just one of the many issues plaguing the largest undergraduate society at UBC. But with elections taking place later this month, here’s three things I’m looking for in candidates:
2) Start supporting clubs
1) Build a real budget Remember the AMS budget? The one with blank cheques, free-flowing cash, and no accountability? The only thing worse than that is the AUS budget—or lack of one. This cannot happen ever. If you stood outside the SUB and asked students for $5, they would say no. Why? Because students have a plan. That $5 is an extra sushi plate from Honour Roll, or a latte between classes. $13 from every Arts student gets
Clubs are integral to the university experience and need to be leveraged to effectively engage students. The AUS needs to invest more in clubs, by spreading out the wealth and the responsibilities inherent with managing money. The gap between Council and clubs needs to be bridged. The AUS election has a five percent turnout because a council of 32 people can’t effectively engage 12,000 Arts students. However, we have 26 clubs. If each one engages 50-60 students, we’re on our way to fulfilling our mandate. 3) Build integrity into AUS Council The AUS has no regulation on proxies. In fact, anyone can show up to a meeting and say they’re a proxy.
That’s a formula for unadulterated, illegitimate power wielded by individuals without accountability. If the AUS was looking for interim executives, what’s to stop a candidate from stacking the meeting with his frat buddies as proxies to get appointed? The bottom line is: take responsibility and keep each other accountable. Be councillors. We’re all friends, but when you’re at an AUS meeting, you can’t vote on motions because your friend proposes it. You literally can’t—not without seeing the back of my hand. Treat them like councillors with all the rights and responsibilities. If that means telling people “Stop fucking around and make a budget,” then do it. At the end of the day, the AUS swims or floats as a unit. Someone might have failed, but everyone else failed to supervise. Apologize, accept responsibility, expect to be held accountable and move on. That’s how you should earn your place in the AUS. U
CUS mascot selection was a load of bull Trevor Record features@ubyssey.ca Let’s face it: the embarrassingly incompetent Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) is a pretty slow-moving target these days. So we’d like to take a break from them to make fun of the supposedly über-elite Commerce Undergraduate Society (CUS). Over the summer, the CUS asked for mascot submissions, planning to hold an election to select the one they would adopt. Perhaps they should have left this to Arts—when the mascots that they received weren’t a shocking example of how woefully out of touch and unself-aware commerce students are, they were a campaign designed to make fun of Sauder. How else would you explain a llama wearing a tie? Naturally, several campus media tycoons and I combined forces to craft a well-received series on local blog AMS Confidential poking fun at them. Little did we know that the lol-train had yet to leave the station. In the “round one” election results, the winner was ‘Mr Com-Earth,’ a
grotesque anthropomorphic globe masquerading as a businessman. Despite his message of global sustainability, ‘Mr Com-Earth’ was obviously based on two pieces of clip art. In a rare moment of good taste, third and fourth place went to “none of the above.” The winner of the final round of voting was “Okima,” a business lion from a “faraway country” (Japan) who comes to Vancouver to appropriate First Nations art. Okima’s strong resemblance to internet superstar Pedobear went unacknowledged by Sauder. “None of the above” tied for third. Okima’s glory would be short-lived. In a July CUS Board of Directors meeting, the CUS decided that their second finalist wouldn’t do. Discussions revealed that they required “a mascot that represents Commerce and CUS in a stereotypical way.” So they narrowed their non-democratic choices down to BeeCom, whose emphasis on the hive mind represents Commerce students’ insect-like conformity, and Wally Street, a business bull with a dislocated jaw. Ultimately they decided that Wally best represented them, and by Imagine Day
he could be found wandering amongst the booths, terrifying younger first years. We’d like to congratulate you, Sauder: you picked an apt mascot. The bull, which represents Wall Street and is named accordingly, was bailed out by a governing body despite his unpopularity with the electorate. A self-described “big deal,” he walks around with a big cow-turd eating grin and smug sense of undeserved entitlement. No doubt Wally spends his days logisticizing away, secure in his belief that the invisible hand of the market propelled him into the top spot. So to recap: the CUS twice held and failed to accept the results of an election. After rejecting their second attempt at the democratic process, their Board of Directors then appointed a mascot they felt more strongly reinforced stereotypes about business students. Then they actually spent money on a mascot suit which seems designed specifically to frighten children and drive the average Joe far, far away from this faculty. Well, that’s one way to make yourselves look elite. U
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