Febuary 9, 2012 (12 pages)

Always broke, all the time SINCE 1918

February 9, 2012 | VOL. XCIII ISS. XXXIX

MAKE IT T BETTER B BETT BET ETT TTE T TT TE TE TER ER R Our annual Pride Supplement is here

U

THE UBYSSEY

P6

BATTER

UP UBC’s softball and baseball are ready for the new season

P5

SAFE P3 How your campus food is kept edible

HOW NOT

TO BE AN ASSHOLE AT THE OPERA

(and other important cultural events)

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2 | Page 2 | 02.09.2012

What’s on 9 THU

This week, may we suggest...

Our Campus

One on one with the people who make UBC

CONCERT>>

Songs Unsung: an Evening for Rumana Monzur: 6:30pm @ GSS Ball Room

Last summer, Rumana Monzur was attacked and blinded by her former husband, and since then she has been struggling with the challenges of her new life here in Vancouver. A special concert will begin at 8pm in the Roy Barnett Hall. This concert will feature performances by the Lungs and Limbs Ensemble, with songs composed specially for the event by the Composers’ Collective. Tickets available by donation at GSS main office. All proceeds will be donated to the Rumana Monzur fund.

10 FRI

TENNIS >>

11 SAT

THEATRE >>

Davis Cup: 2pm @ Doug Mitchell Arena UBC will play host to the Davis Cup this weekend, the height of international tennis competition.

No. 2 ranked Canada will take on the No. 1 French team in a series of matches that run through Sunday.

12

SUN

V-DAY >>

Vagina Monologues: 7pm @ Freddy Wood Theatre Part of UBC V-Day, the awardwinning play is based on V-Day founder/playwright Eve Ensler’s interviews with more than 200 women. The piece celebrates women’s sexuality and strength with humour and grace.

13 MON

GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

Goldfarb tried teaching, but found his place in the archive. “I much prefer this job, where people come and ask me questions.”

The AMS’s walking encyclopedia Kalyeena Makortoff

The Drawer Boy: 8pm @ Dorothy Somerset Studios The UBC Players Club presents The Drawer Boy by Michael Healey, directed by Mike Mackenzie. The lines between theatre and life, memory and reality become blurred in this comic and moving modern Canadian classic about the power of storytelling. Playing Feb. 8–11 at 8pm and Feb. 12 at noon. Members: $5.

Non-members: $10. More info at

THEATRE >> Problem Child and The End

of Civilization: 7:30pm at the Telus Studio Theatre Theatre at UBC presents two one-act plays from Canadian playwright George Walker’s Suburban Motel series. Dystopic and gritty, the action takes place in seedy motel rooms that stink of desperation. For more info, visit theatre.ubc.ca.

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Got an event you’d like to see on this page? Send your event and your best pitch to printeditor@ubyssey.ca.

THE UBYSSEY Febuary 9, 2012, Volume XCIII, Issue XXXIX

EDITORIAL

Coordinating Editor Justin McElroy

coordinating@ubyssey.ca

Managing Editor, Print Jonny Wakefield printeditor@ubyssey.ca

Managing Editor, Web Arshy Mann webeditor@ubyssey.ca

News Editors Kalyeena Makortoff & Micki Cowan news@ubyssey.ca

Art Director Geoff Lister

art@ubyssey.ca

Culture Editor Ginny Monaco

culture@ubyssey.ca

Senior Culture Writer Will Johnson wjohnson@ubyssey.ca

Sports Editor Drake Fenton

sports@ubyssey.ca

Features Editor Brian Platt

features@ubyssey.ca

Copy Editor Karina Palmitesta copy@ubyssey.ca

Video Editor David Marino

video@ubyssey.ca

Senior Web Writer Andrew Bates abates@ubyssey.ca

Graphics Assistant Indiana Joel

BUSINESS

CONTACT

Business Manager Fernie Pereira

Business Office: Room 23 Editorial Office: Room 24 Student Union Building 6138 Student Union Blvd Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 tel: 604.822.2301 web: www.ubyssey.ca

business@ubyssey.ca

Ad Sales Ben Chen

advertising@ubyssey.ca

Accounts Sifat Hasan

accounts@ubyssey.ca

Webmaster Jeff Blake

STAFF

Andrew Hood, Bryce Warnes, Catherine Guan, David Elop, Jon Chiang, Josh Curran, Will McDonald, Tara Martellaro, Virginie Menard, Scott MacDonald, Anna Zoria, Peter Wojnar, Tanner Bokor, Dominic Lai, Mark-Andre Gessaroli, Natalya Kautz, Kai Jacobson, RJ Reid, Colin Chia, CJ Pentland, Ming Wong, Laura Rodgers

ON THE COVER

Geoff Lister/ The Ubyssey

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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.

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News Editor

“As a young kid, I was the guy who knew stuff,” said Sheldon Goldfarb. “I was the walking encyclopedia. And I realize, that’s the job I have now.”

Goldfarb is the AMS’s archivist.

It’s a wide-ranging job with lots of responsibilities, but simply put, Goldfarb is the one-stop shop for almost anything student union related. He can spout off the society’s bylaws, cite its constitution and tell you about the bowling alley that used to be in the SUB. Goldfarb has taken a meandering path in life—going from aspiring novelist to radical journalist, from attempted revisionist in English Civil War history to expert on the author William Makepeace Thackeray.

But before his academic career took off, a 17-year-old Goldfarb was writing novels. His first was an allegory on the Vietnam War entitled Charlie’s War. It never took off, but he kept dabbling in

writing. While getting a BA in history at McGill, he worked for four years at the Daily, the student newspaper. He’s quick to point out that he did not agree with the Maoists that sat on the editorial board.

“We worked back in the day where you would sit in the office and write columns; we didn’t really interview people, because we knew all the answers, even without asking,” he said with a laugh.

After graduation and a few junior reporter jobs, Goldfarb went to England to try a Master’s in history. But he realized he was more of a moderate than he originally assumed. He was trying to do radical history, but realized that the evidence did not support his Marxist view of the English Civil War. “In the end I gave it up and I stopped being a Marxist and I couldn’t continue that degree.

I gave that up and came back to Canada.”

After another brief attempt as a novelist, Goldfarb went back to

school, got an MA in English at the University of Manitoba and pursued a PhD in English, this time at UBC. After a brief stint as a sessional lecturer in introductory English courses, he realized he didn’t want to stand in front of students who didn’t necessarily want to hear what he had to say.

Finally, he enrolled in archival studies at UBC, taking a workstudy position in the archives with the AMS in 1994, before being permanently hired as the student union’s official archivist in 1996.

But he wasn’t done with his dreams just yet. In 2005, Sheldon got his first novel published— Remember, Remember. It’s a book for young adults set in the Victorian era, and follows a 14-year-old protagonist who finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery. Goldfarb happily points out that UBC library carries a copy.

“I’m doing now what seems like my destiny, you might say. This is who I am. I like answering questions and that’s what I get to do.” U

News

02.09.2012 |

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Editors: Kalyeena Makortoff & Micki Cowan

ORGANIZATIONS >>

Golden Key honour society holds regional summit in Vancouver Will McDonald Staff Writer

When high academic achievers receive the Golden Key membership invitation in the mail, many are excited to be recognized for their work. But others are unsure what exactly the society does and why it costs $90 to join. Last weekend, some students attended the Society’s Canadian Regional Summit to find out.

UBC student Sophia Piche was one of those students. “I think a lot of

people don’t really know what they do,” said the third-year Engineering student, who is also a Golden Key member. “To be honest, this [summit] is the only thing I’ve actually done with them.”

Golden Key is an international honours society with more than 400 chapters and 2 million members in 8 countries.

Students in the top 15 per cent of their programs are sent a letter, signed by UBC President Stephen Toope, which encourages students

to pay the fee and join. According to an interview with The Ubyssey from December 8, 2011, Toope’s involvement is minimal.

“I actually have no involvement, I’m not a member of the society myself, and all I’ve done is sign a letter,” he said.

Although Golden Key does offer services such as networking and scholarships, it is up to the students to take advantage of them. According to their 2009 annual report, they generated $491,538 in revenue in

Canada that year. Of that money, the society spent $298,186 on Canadian students, with $41,226 dedicated to member benefits.

Last week, around 130 delegates attended the Vancouver summit to learn more. The event was hosted by the UBC and SFU chapters of Golden Key. Public relations coordinator Stephanie Snowden explained the purpose of the summit.

“It gives regional chapters a chance to come together and connect with each other, and also attend

FOOD >>

Food inspections keep UBC food safe Micki Cowan News Editor

Every day, thousands of students eat at food outlets in the SUB, the Village and across residences on campus. What they may not realize as they’re digging in is how much work goes into ensuring the food they eat is safe.

Restaurants at UBC are inspected several times a year by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCHA). The inspector will check food and fridge temperatures, make sure equipment is working properly and that there are no health risks, like rodents. These reports are then published on the VCHA inspection website for public viewing.

Angelo Kouris, the VCHA manager for health protection, explained that routine checks can expose a variety of problems, but most of them are not high-risk.

“I would say that 50 per cent of your inspections show up non-critical inspections—things like some structural repairs, things that are not critical or going to make the public ill.”

In the most recent inspections, a number of establishments around didn’t pass the inspection without infractions. Vera’s Burger Shack, for example, is on its fourth reinspection. But Kouris said this is not uncommon. “There’s always repairs, cleaning type of situations,” said Kouris.

If the infractions aren’t fixed by the next inspection, they’ll face more frequent visits by the health authorities.

When asked about the fourth re-inspection, Vera’s owner of the past four months, Jagdish Kular, explained that the issue was a broken sink.

lectures with industry executives,” she said.

“It’s this massive networking thing, so you can connect with people from different programs.”

According to UBC attendee and fourth-year cell biology and genetics student Deepak Bhangu, many Golden Key members are unaware of what the society offers.

“A lot of people don’t use it at all.

When I got in, I was like, I’ve got to figure out what this thing is and how I can use it.” U HEALTH >>

“Early Alert” joins UBC mental health initiatives

JOSH CURRAN/THE UBYSSEY

Maitrayee Dhaka Contributor

DAVID ELOP/THE UBYSSEY

While minor infractions are common, there has not been a shutdown of an AMS food outlet in the past 21 years.

However, he said he was confident the fourth inspection would pass, “no problem.”

Kouris said that closures only occur with serious infractions.

“It could be a number of things [that] are wrong. It could be that there are pest problems, combined with poor food handling, combined with poor sanitation, and therefore the three infractions make it an unacceptable risk, so therefore we close the restaurant down.”

In the SUB, many of the food outlets are run by the AMS. Bill Anderson, AMS assistant food and beverage manager, said management performs daily checks and all outlets have their FoodSafe certification.

“Throughout the day we check

out temperatures...We do routine checks to the hour, to the day, to the week, to the month,” he said.

And their diligence has been relatively successful; in Anderson’s 21 years working for the AMS, he can’t recall a closure.

“I probably would say the one concern was we had some hot water issues...they came in and our hot water tank wasn’t up to snuff and they just said this has to be taken care of and if it’s not taken care of, we’re going to have to close you down,” said Anderson.

“We got on the phone right away to [UBC Plant Operations] and they had someone over here in 15 minutes.”

The latest inspection reports confirmed what Anderson said was

the hardest to maintain—the fridge temperatures.

Although the inspection at the Pit Pub Burger Bar passed, a small infraction was given when the freezer measured at -10 degrees C instead of -18 degrees C. “According to staff, it was just stocked and, therefore, the door was left open,” the report on the VCHA website said.

The inspection information is currently only available on the VCHA website, but Kouris said it’s not likely that establishments will be required to post their inspection reports in their restaurant anytime soon, as is the case in cities such as New York.

“If it’s bad enough, it will be closed,” said Kouris. U

Queen’s medal goes to UBC alumnus

New UBC study analyzes female “sexual dysfunction”

UBC researchers hone in on cell internal guidance system

National poll suggests more family benefits wanted

UBC alumnus Barney Ellis-Perry was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal on February 6. According to The Vancouver Sun, Ellis-Perry was one of 60 Canadians awarded the medal in celebration of the 60 th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s ascent to the throne.

Ellis-Perry, who convocated in 1987 from UBC and now lives in North Vancouver, was awarded the medal for his social engagement and community service, notably with Volunteer Canada. Volunteer Canada works to increase and support volunteerism through programs, projects and national initiatives.

A study by nursing PhD student Cindy Massaro looks to find out how “sexual dysfunction” is affecting the decisions and behaviours of women in bed.

The study gauges the medical industry’s medicalization of female sexuality, including the production of sexual enhancement drugs.

“Unfortunately, many women have accepted the mythology that they should be able to experience an orgasm with vaginal penetration alone,” said Joy Johnson, a UBC nursing professor. “This is simply not the case, and the pharmaceutical industry will inevitably take advantage of this misinformed state.”

UBC researchers have discovered the molecular pathway that enables cells to find and flag fragments of pathogens infecting a host. The discovery of the pathway in molecule CD74, published in this week’s edition of Nature Immunology, could help immunologists investigate treatments that offer better immune responses against cancers, viruses and bacteria, and can lead to more efficient vaccines. “This could ultimately lead to a blueprint for improving the performance of a variety of vaccines, including those against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria,” said UBC biologist Wilfred Jefferies, whose lab conducted the study.

A new national poll has shown that most Canadians think it is a good idea to reallocate budget increases from medical care to benefits for families.

Led by UBC Human Early Learning Partnership professor Paul Kershaw, the poll shows that 60 per cent of Canadians agree or somewhat agree that “compared to what is spent in other areas, Canadian governments do not do enough for families raising young kids today.”

“Despite having all the amenities of modern life, two thirds of Canadians resist the idea that today’s families have it easier than in the past,” said Kershaw. U

News briefs

UBC has launched an initiative to better serve student mental health.

And while there are plans to roll out a number of programs over the next two years, the first phase of an Early Alert System (EAS) is going live this month.

“The Early Alert would not [be a] substitute for good judgment,” explained Kirk Beck, a psychologist for UBC’s Counselling Services.

“It is an infrastructure that identifies concerns as early as possible and tries to direct [students] to appropriate resources. It wouldn’t replace a consultation or a referral, especially for the high-risk students.”

The first phase of the EAS has trained academic advisors and staff in student services such as GoGlobal, International Student Advising and Career Services. They give students referrals to anything from counselling services to financial aid.

The larger mental health initiative will go further than a similar program that already exists in UBC residences.

“Universities are invested in the priority of mental health and [well] being. We want to not just focus on the top tier but also on the bottom foundation to ensure wellbeing for all students,” said senior director of student development and services, Janet Teasdale.

A joint initiative between Counselling Services and the student health centre will provide depression screening.

“Invariably we find that depression is the most common representation on campus to our centre,” said Beck.

As phase training continues, Teasedale said confidence is growing. “The response from faculty and staff has been, ‘I know what to do now.’ It’s a bit of a relief.”

In terms of privacy, Teasdale stressed that student information will never be relayed in an email but be maintained in a data system for a certain period of time. U

4 | News | 02.09.2012 SCIENCE >>

Redfield: bringing biology to the net

Laura Rodgers Staff Writer

A tiny bacterium, a massive media frenzy and a UBC microbiologist may have managed to drag the field of biology into the age of Web 2.0.

Rosie Redfield normally does her work on bacterial genetic uptake, but for about the past year she’s been in the eye of a massive media storm. The attention began two years ago, when she began questioning what could constitute the basic building blocks of life; this could now mean a change in the way biology research is done.

In late 2010, there were rumblings about a ground-breaking discovery in the field of astrobiology, a field that hypothesizes about what life could look like on other planets.

A team funded by NASA and led by a young researcher named Felisa Wolfe-Simon found a bacterium in an arsenic-laden lake that, WolfeSimon claimed, was using arsenic in place of phosphorus in its DNA. Redfield’s initial response was skepticism, which hardened into disbelief as she began to read the research paper as it was published in the journal Science . With misgivings about the techniques Wolfe-Simon and her team used, Redfield took it upon herself to criticize the research’s claims.

“I wrote a blog post...I expected maybe three or four people to read it...It was quite a surprise when the whole thing went viral and I found

Rosie Redfield is at the forefront of a new era of science transparency.

this enormous groundswell of support coming from other scientists.”

The backlash against the initial paper was swift and large. “Pretty much everyone with the expertise to evaluate the work [saw] it as deeply flawed,” said Redfield.

The media kept paying attention to scientific consensus as it evolved, but Wolfe-Simon and her colleagues didn’t respond to any of the criticisms publicly. NASA spokesperson Dwayne Brown rebuffed CBC News, saying, “WolfeSimon will not be responding to

individual criticisms, as the agency doesn’t feel it is appropriate to debate the science using the media and bloggers.”

As more scientists continued to criticize the original paper’s claims, Redfield decided to obtain a sample of the bacterial strain and test for herself whether it really could incorporate arsenic into its DNA. And, due to the ongoing public interest, she reported day-to-day results of the experiments on her blog, RRResearch.

“I took the project on partly

ALEXANDRA DOWNING/THE UBYSSEY

because of a sense of, well, somebody should do [the experiment], and partly as a way to demonstrate that you could do science in the open,” she said.

When her lab had enough results to confidently write a paper stating that there was no detectable arsenic in the bacterial DNA, they submitted it to Science , but also to arxiv.org, a free and public website that also allows open commenting.

Physicists have long used arxiv. org to post and discuss scientific papers, but use of the site is almost

unheard of in the field of biology.

“Every single [high-energy physicist] puts their paper on the arxiv before they put it in a journal,” said UBC physics researcher James Charbonneau.

UBC microbiologist Steven Hallam confirmed Redfield’s claim.

“Normally, during the peer review process, most [biology] journals ask for an embargo, so you’re not talking to the press...If you post it on an open-access server, that breaks the embargo.”

The response on the website was a surprise. “People actually downloaded the manuscript and read it and started posting comments, [providing] really good peer review,” said Redfield.

Did the whole debacle herald a new era of science being discussed as it happens, with the public, over blogs and Twitter feeds?

Redfield is unsure. “There’s a potential for big change, [but] most people are still thinking the same way they’ve always thought,” she said.

Still, she encourages other researchers to similarly discuss their work as it unfolds.

“On the average, [openness] is beneficial...My goal is to let people see that it’s easy to do that, it’s valuable, it’s not dangerous.

“I want to do science out in the open...to sort of nudge people to say, ‘Yes, I could do this differently.’

To expand their sense of what’s possible.” U

Sports

02.09.2012 |

5

Editor: Drake Fenton

BASEBALL >>

Big shoes to fill for UBC’s baseball team With the departure of three pitchers to MLB, T-Birds looking to fill the gaps

COURTESY OF RICH LAM/UBC ATHLETICS

Arshy Man Managing Editor, Web

With fewer experienced arms in their rotation, UBC’s baseball team is hoping to find a way other than pitching to win games.

“That’s the big question mark,” said coach Terry McKaig when asked how their pitching rotation will hold up.

Last year, the T-Birds won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) West conference title, but got knocked out of the second round of the NAIA playoffs, finishing the season with a 31-17 record.

And many of those games were won from the mound; the T-Birds posted a 2.91 team earned run

average last year, the lowest of any squad in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.

But during the off-season, the team lost three of their starting pitchers—Brandon Kaye, Eric Brown and Sheldon Mcdonald—to the MLB draft, while closer Shawn Hetherington moved on to the Calgary Vipers.

“To lose four seniors, and those were our three starting guys, and then Hetherington was an all-region closer the last couple of years, I can’t tell you that you just pick up where you left off,” said McKaig.

He maintained that although the pitching staff is younger, they have a strong recruiting class.

“These are good kids and good arms. But they’re not going to have

the experience that those four guys did last year,” he said.

“We have some guys on the mound that can really win us some big games—David Otterman, Danny Britton-Foster, Miles Verweel—these are returners that had good years all last year.”

Otterman said that he’s looking forward to having a larger presence in the rotation.

“I’m definitely going to have to carry a bigger role this year with those guys gone, losing those four guys to professional baseball. So I’m willing to take the brunt of the load now as one of the returning starters.”

A left-handed third-year from Coquitlam, Otterman had a 3.00 ERA last year, with 35 strikeouts in 45 innings.

He said that he’s heartened by the fact that former teammates like Kaye and Brown got drafted into the majors.

“Everybody’s goal here is to move on and play at the next level and they showed that that’s possible,” he said. “So it gives guys like me hope.”

McKaig said that although he’s confident in his pitching staff, he expects offence to be the team’s strongest asset.

“I’m sure there’ll be some days where we’re not treated to the great pitching that we’ve had,” he said. “[But] our offence can take a big step forward versus the last couple of years and I think they can win us some games.”

And one of the players that will be leading the offence is left-fielder Blake Carruthers.

Carruthers led the T-Birds with a .315 batting average and 38 RBIs last season. He was also named an NAIA Scholar-Athlete, awarded to players that demonstrate excellence on the field and in the classroom. “[That was] a nice acknowledgement of being a student-athlete [and] of being able to excel at both parts,” he said.

He pointed to the team’s mix of youth and experience as an asset going forward. “Our guys are definitely up to the challenge,” he said.

“We got guys like [Otterman] who are coming back from a pretty good sophomore year and looking for guys a little bit younger to lead the pack, and it’s going to be exciting.”

The T-Birds season begins with the Lewis-Clark State Tournament in Idaho this weekend, which will be followed by away games in California next week. U

Players to watch

GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

Danny Britton-Foster Fourth-year Right-handed pitcher 2010-2011 Stats 5.28 ERA 20 strikeouts 2 saves .310 batting average

SOFTBALL >>

‘Birds still building toward a breakout season

COURTESY OF RICH LAM/UBC ATHLETICS

Nic Roggeveen Contributor

Practice five days a week, weight training three days a week and no one to play until now.

The UBC women’s softball team expects all of their hard work to pay dividends in the upcoming season.

“I definitely think that we’ll be dominant,” said team captain Jesslyn Hodge. Her coach, Phil Thom, and teammates share her high expectations.

“This year we have four good pitchers so we expect to be very

competitive,” said Thom, but he added that the T-Birds will have their work cut out for them. “It’s tough this year, because we’ll face some very tough teams. We play 12 or 15 games against teams ranked in the top 15 in the nation.

“We’re going to play Oregon Tech twice this year, they’re the defending national champions. Later on, we’ll play San Marcos and they’re the No. 2 ranked team in the nation.”

Now that their biggest rival, SFU, has moved on to the NCAA, the Thunderbirds are the only Canadian team left in the National Association

of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

In addition to the prospect of facing a number of top-ranked opponents, the team also faces a gruelling travel schedule. Of their 44 games on the calendar, 36 of them are on the road. Incredibly, this will be an improvement over the past two seasons, as the team has only played one home game during its varsity existence.

While the amount of travel is demanding, it creates incredible team chemistry.

“We bus almost everywhere this year, to Idaho, California, but honestly it’s one of the best parts of the season,” said Hodge. “It makes the team closer and I think it makes us play better on the field as well.”

“The road trips are awesome,” said third-year pitcher Nicole Day. “It’s really what builds team chemistry and character.”

Team chemistry will be important as 7 new faces were added to the 16 player roster. Thom, who has been with the team since its inception in 2009, expects a lot from Hodge, Day and the rest of his returning cast, and is also excited by what his new recruits have to offer. He hopes that the fresh faces contribute to and complement a team that has traditionally been strong defensively.

“We’ve always had really good defence. Hopefully our batting comes through and our defence

will hold the other teams, and keep us in it,” said Thom.

Despite all the obstacles the team faces, including still not having their own field to play on, Thom has lofty goals for his team, which has qualified for regionals in both of its two years as a varsity sport.

“The goal for this season is to win enough games to qualify for regionals. To get ranked in the top 25 would be a great goal for us too, and show that the kids are improving,” Thom said. “We hope that down the road we can win a regional and qualify for a national.”

“Being in our third year, we definitely have increased expectations, but you have to remember we’re a relatively new team,” said Hodge.

“We had an over .500 record last season, in our second season, which was huge. Hopefully we can build on that and get an even better record this year. We’ll be playing a lot of top ten teams, which will be a real test for us, but it’ll be good because when we’re on our A game we can give them a run for their money.”

“I think we’re going to have a really good season,” said Day. “We have a really strong program. We work together really well. We train really hard all year and everyone is excited for the season.”

The UBC softball team will face Simpson University today in Reddit, California. U

GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

Jesslyn Hodge Fourth-year Shortstop 2010-2011 Stats .295 batting average 27 RBIs 24 home runs 25 runs

6 | Feature | 02.09.2012 “I don’t know what it’s like to be picked on "[Thevideo] fails to understand the for being gay. But I do know what it’s like to grow basic concept" of the campaign, adding that up feeling that sometimes you don’t belong. It’s message only works if delivered by openly gay tough. And for a lot of kids, the sense of being alone or people. “And there's a shortage [of queer people] on the apart —I know can just wear on you. And when you’re Conservative side. You can't do these [videos] if you're not teased or bullied, it can seem like somehow you brought it an out, gay person."—NDP MP Randall Garrison • “Let's on yourself— for being different, or for not fitting in with not pretend the gay community has no rifts. I think that the It everybody else.”—Barack Obama • “I want to add to the Gets Better Project at its core is a good idea. The gay promise chorus of voices rising up against the kind of hatred and failed me. I went from being ostracized by my straight ridicule that led to the senseless and heartbreaking suicides of classmates in high school to being ostracized by many white Asher Brown, Seth Walsh, Billy Lucas, Tyler Clementi and gay men in an urban gay enclave. [It's important] to be aware Raymond Chase in just the past few month in this country. And and critical of the very real probl ems and deficiencies the those are only the names that we’ve got to know. There are current gay community has in its inability to make that gay countless other teens and young adults who are struggling to find a promise accessible to everyone who falls under the rainbow sense of identity and belonging in a chaotic and often unforgiving banner." —Blogger Jason Tseng, Below the Belt • "There is world. To you I say: it gets better. There is help to be found. There are actually no path to change in this vision. Promoting the places to turn, there are people who will listen.” —Zachary Quinto • illusion that things just 'get better' enables privileged folks to “I have a message for any gay and lesbian teens out there — and, I’m do nothing and just rely on the imaginary mechanics of the being told, also bisexual and transgendered — really, anybody who’s American Dream to fix the world."—Blogger Rebecca being picked on. It sucks. I agree. When I was in 7th grade, I Novack, Queerwatch • "For someone on the brink of suicide, remember being picked on all the time, and I got called queer a lot, another person — who for all appearances has very few and it was just, sort of, the word that got thrown as a weapon at problems in their life — telling you that ‘everything will get people when I was a kid, and this is the most hurtful thing that I better’ comes off as a hollow, and possibly even cruel, think the bullies could think of calling you and I didn’t like it; and assurance. It serves no other purpose than to make the one day I had a revelation because a friend of mine, Pat, who depressed person feel even more isolated because it demonalso got picked on by the bullies was called a queer by one of the strates to them that no one understands his or her suffering."bullies — a big jock — and Pat, instead of flinching or running Michael Veldman, The Tech, MIT • ”Basically the YouTube project away, turned around and said, ‘Yeah, I am a queer. Kiss me,’ and suggests support for queer youth has to stay 'on message' and 'upbeat'. the bully said, ‘What are you talking about?’ And he said, ‘I am a Dissent and diversity does not seem to be encouraged. This is borne out by the queer. You called me a queer, and I am a queer. Kiss me, I’ll prove it,’ vast numbers of videos being uploaded by white university-educated gay men, and the bully didn’t know what to say; and he just turned around and in comparison to those from women, transgender people, and working-class walked away quietly, and I was stunned. I couldn’t believe the magic people, and people from diverse ethnic backgrounds." —Blogger, Quiet that Pat had just worked. He had somehow figured out that if you don’t Riot Girl • “No one actually knows if things are going to get better; give power to the words that people throw at you to hurt you, they don’t nobody can see the future. But it's important to believe that they will, hurt you anymore and you actually have power over those people. And because it might be the only coping mechanism for dealing that’s a lesson that I am grateful to him for, for my entire life...People get with otherwise unbearable pain. If every day is terrible, and nicer, too.”—Stephen Colbert • “It gets better. It really does, and you worse than the day that came before it, the only thing to do may be thinking what does Tim Gunn understand about my is to hold out for the "better" one. To act as if it's around anguish and my despair about how I’m feeling, about my the corner, somewhere, eventually. However, if we particular time and place in the world, right now? Well, I’ll keep telling suicidal people that their situation will share with you, as a seventeen year old youth who was in quite "get better" without actually taking any steps to improve a bit of despair, I attempted to kill myself, and I’m very happy it—if we don't provide support and medical care for today that, that attempt was unsuccessful. —Tim Gunn people with depression; if we don't help people who • "When a 13- or 14- or 15-year-old gay kid kills himself, are being abused to find a safe place; if we don't make what he's saying is that he can't picture a future with sure that the systematic, community-wide abuse of The Ubyssey’s Pride enough joy in it to compensate for pain he's in now.

GLBT youth is eliminated—then belief alone can wear —Dan Savage • ”I haven't lived your life. But when I Supplement • Produced with thin.” —Sady Doyle, The Atlantic • “It promotes graduated from college, I was a schoolteacher, and I metro-centric and anti-religious sentiment. By aligning Pride UBC watched what happens in hallways, on sidewalks, their bullying with the religiosity and ‘small-town out in the schoolyard. I watched mentality,’ Dan and Terry tacitly kids who pushed, who bullied. I reinforce the belief saw how much (especially rampant in pain some kids queer communities) could inflict on that the religious and other kids. the rural are more —Elizabeth bigoted.—Blogger Warren • femmephane •

It gets

Make it

Better.

Is the “It Gets Better” campaign an empty promise, or an effective way to combat homophobic bullying?

Ludmila Andréa Contributor

Upon first glance, it is difficult to see what would foster opposition to the It Gets Better campaign. The internet-based outreach program, created by Dan Savage, aims to prevent suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and queer (LGBTQ) youth by conveying the message that the difficult circumstances they may be experiencing will one day improve.

But there are many who wonder whether merely telling LGBTQ teens that “it gets better” will be enough to help them through their current struggles. Instead, should we be asking what can be done to lessen these struggles and consequently make it better now?

This year, UBC Outweek intends to bring this idea to the forefront, reminding individuals to be conscious and accountable in answering the call to make things better.

“I respect the effort,” explained Janice Stewart of the women’s and gender studies department. “I think the message of hope is often very significant. Does it make a significant difference?” That, she said, is “hard to tell at this point.”

Anne-Marie Long, creator of the Positive Space campaign at UBC, agrees that

Get informed! UBC Outweek this year is from February 6–15 although the It Gets Better campaign “may have been noble in its intent...to reach out to youth who are struggling with bullying, identity development issues and suicidal thoughts, it is not good enough.”

Katherine Fobear, a Liu Institute scholar in women’s and gender studies, argued that “there remains a lack of discourse on other factors that cause violence and discrimination to happen to LGBTQ youth.”

The truth of the matter is that for many LGBTQ individuals who experience daily struggles, knowing that things may one day be better is simply not sufficient. For this reason, the UBC Outweek team has been somewhat disillusioned with the It Gets Better campaign. For one, it has no active agenda.

“[It] promotes complacency within LGBTQ youth in exchange for the prospect of a better future,” said Outweek’s coordinator Adrian Diaz. “Another name for the It Gets Better campaign could have been the ‘Deal With It’ campaign.”

Diaz said that the Outweek team “kept discussing this issue and asked ourselves, ‘What can we do?’”

They eventually settled on Make It Better, which focuses on addressing issues at hand and working actively to overcome them.

“There is a sense at UBC that it is a fairly safe place and I think that is overall pretty accurate,” said PhD student Hélène Frohard-Dourlent, whose doctoral work focuses on anti-homophobia practices in BC secondary schools. However, she said that

there are many LGBTQ issues that still need to be addressed.

“Gender issues are still a big problem on this campus,” said Frohard-Dourlent, alluding specifically to issues for transgender students, such as the lack of gender-neutral washrooms on campus. “[We] like to think of ourselves as open-minded and liberal, yet we often lose sight of things that we do that actually reinforce sexual and gender stereotypes.”

Alongside Outweek’s efforts, there are other ways that UBC students can take part in addressing the problems that LGBTQ students face.

The Positive Space campaign is intended to help make UBC more receptive to LGBTQ individuals. Long, the creator of Positive Space, emphasizes the importance of “speaking up when you see injustice. Doing the self-work to address one’s own privilege to help better enable one to see these barriers is also key.”

“Making sexuality and gender education a part of the teacher-training program also goes a long way,” said Stewart.

Most importantly of all, Forbear said, “The message needs to be brought out that violence against sexual and gender minorities is a huge problem that implicates everyone, not just LGBTQ-identifying individuals.” U

02.09.2012 | Feature | 7

UBC alumni provide alternative to Davie St

ALEXANDRA DOWNING & GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

Alexandra Downing Contributor

Every club in downtown Vancouver seems to have its share of uncomfortable newcomers.

One can often find them standing against the wall, afraid to mingle yet secretly hoping someone will pull them onto the dance floor.

But these struggles were nowhere to be found at SPIT, a monthly queer event held at the ANZA Club in East Vancouver. Though the party is temporarily being hosted by the W2 in Gastown, the sense of community was apparent as regulars and newcomers alike danced and mingled last Friday night.

SPIT emphasizes sex positivity, diversity and self-expression. Partygoers can be seen in anything from standard clubwear to extravagant costumes, dancing together as DJs lean over their computers and psychedelic projections flash overhead. Burlesque-style performances and the notorious “make-out room” also add to the excitement, the energetic atmosphere continuing into the wee hours of the morning.

“There’s an all-accepting vibe to the nights. I highly doubt anyone ever leaves feeling judged,” said Jay Douglas, a regular DJ for the parties.

Davie Street has come to the point where it’s not fulfilling the role it’s supposed to...SPIT straddles the line between party and community event.

—Mike Kushnir, SPIT co-producer

SPIT originated three years ago as the brainchild of Vancouver natives Michael Kushnir and Quinn Peters, former UBC students looking to create a queer party for their East Van neighbourhood community.

“We were having beers in 2009 on Commercial [Drive] and basically asking ourselves, ‘Where have all the hot guys gone?’” said Kushnir. “[We] jokingly suggested that we should make a party for all of them to come to.”

The party was dubbed SPIT in the spirit of gender neutrality and sex positivity. “It’s

meant to be a little bit provocative,” said Peters. “We wanted something that speaks to the character of the party.”

The aim of the party was to offer an event that catered to the East Van LGBTQ community while being affordable and close. “One of the things we wanted was to provide quality entertainment but we also want to make it affordable and accessible for everyone. We actually have an economic non-discrimination policy, so no one gets turned away,” said Kushnir.

SPIT also offers volunteer and paid positions to those who want to become involved with the parties, seeking to break down any barriers attendees might face.

While the vast majority of LGBTQ events have been held in the downtown community surrounding Davie Street, the community has become stagnant, according to Peters and Kushnir. Gentrification in the area has caused many LGBTQ youth to move to the Eastside in an attempt to avoid skyrocketing living expenses.

“It used to be the case that downtown was very broad and it regenerated itself because people were leaving and coming in,” said Kushnir. “Now it’s gotten to the point where it’s gotten so expensive to get started there.

So if you’re one of the people in the community who has been there a long time, you’ve gotten really integrated into that scene, but if you’re not one of those people it’s very hard to break into that scene.”

Exorbitant cover costs and gender-based segregation in many Davie Street bars and clubs have also left many LGBTQ youth looking for different options.

“There are so many people who grow up in [places like] Prince George and Fort Saint John, and they end up moving to Vancouver where they can be with other liberal people so they can express themselves and be whoever they want to be,” said Kushnir. “And if they’re queers they’ll tend to gravitate toward Davie Street, but Davie Street has come to the point where it’s not fulfilling the role it’s supposed to.”

Friday night’s turnout was the largest in SPIT’s history, and although the parties continue to grow, Peters said that he would like to continue their collaboration with ANZA. “We have offshoot parties, we do a series of Pride parties, but SPIT is very special because it has that kind of community. It straddles the line between party and community event, and that’s something we worked really hard on creating.” U

Culture

02.09.2012 |

8

Editor: Ginny Monaco

OPERA >>

UBC Opera plunges into the eerie realm of Rusalka

Jenica Chuahiock Contributor

Nowadays every fairy tale has dozens of adaptations, but few could ever beat the original.

This week, UBC Opera brings back the Czech masterpiece Rusalka by Antonín Dvorák, one of the earliest versions of The Little Mermaid story.

Based on Czech folklore, Rusalka is the tragic love story of a water sprite who falls in love with a human prince. This story was later adapted by Hans Christian Andersen in the 1800s, and more popularly by Walt Disney Studios in 1989.

But unlike the more popular versions of The Little Mermaid, Rusalka as an operatic piece is noticeably more sinister, combining Czech folklore with Dvorák’s ethereal music.

“I grew up on fairy tales and princesses, so it’s such a privilege to be able to play the original version of The Little Mermaid,” said Kaleigh Harrison, who plays Rusalka. “[Rusalka] has a darker side to it, and that comes out of Czech mythology and storytelling. But it’s got a lot of the same heart that The Little Mermaid story has that we’re used to, and many of the same characters”.

Even with some differences, Rusalka along with other variations of The Little Mermaid is still the story of a young woman asserting control over her heart and destiny, regardless of what consequences that entails. “I think the darker story of Rusalka is great,” said Kwangmin Brian Lee, who plays the prince.

“There are a lot of talks now saying that these Disney princesses are giving the wrong idea of what women should be like, and Rusalka is totally opposite. I think that’s

Contributor

GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

Jihwan Cho plays Vodnik in UBC Opera’s production of Rusalka, the original tale of The Little Mermaid.

something all of us should really feel, that women are very independent. Their fate does not go about changing because of the men, but because they are the individual.”

“What Rusalka does is try to transcend her own fate as a water nymph into the human world, which is the destruction of the natural order of things,” added Scott Brooks, who plays Vodník. “That’s the essence of tragedy and everyone has to suffer

for it. [Here] you have someone from the spirit realm trying to get into the human world, and what it points up is just how many of the same mistakes we’re capable of making.”

Romance, betrayal, redemption and tragedy are ultimately what make Rusalka an honest portrayal of doomed love.

“It’s pretty exciting to be part of something so big,” said Gabriele Thielmann, the concertmistress for

Rusalka. “[That] means a lot people here, and across the world.”

“We’re otherworldly in this piece,” said Nancy Hermiston, director of UBC Opera. “We’re in the human world, and we’re in the fairy tale world of Vodník and Rusalka, so it’s larger than life.” U Rusalka will be playing in the Chan Centre on February 9, 10 and 11 at 7:30pm, and on February 12 at 2pm.

MOA closes Hiroshima exhibit with One Thousand Cranes Contributor

“Two generations of Japanese have seen this play,” said Tama Copithorne, project co-director for One Thousand Cranes.

The Bunkaza Theatre Company from Tokyo is coming to UBC to perform One Thousand Cranes, a play by Ren Hisa based on UBC alumnus Colin Thomas’s original production. The plot centres on two children: Sadako, a Japanese girl with leukemia from the Hiroshima bombing radiation, and Buddy, a Canadian boy who grows up with a fear of nuclear war.

The title One Thousand Cranes comes from the folk belief that if a person is able to fold 1000 paper cranes, their wish will come true.

In the case of the real-life Sadako Sasaki, she was unable to fold the cranes before her death. Her friends and family created a memorial in Hiroshima, Japan, where paper cranes are still hung in her honour.

The play blends the story of Sadako with the fictional Canadian boy, Buddy.

The Bunkaza Theatre Company originally performed One Thousand Cranes from 1985 to 1989. The play was revived in 2009 in response to a request by those who had seen the

FIX: The Story of an Addicted City, a decade later Grace Qiao

THEATRE >>

Rebekah Ho

DOCUMENTARIES >>

earlier production as kids and wanted their own children to see it.

The production is the closing event for the Museum of Anthropology’s series of symposiums, cultural concerts, academic lectures and film screenings coinciding with the exhibition Hiroshima by Ishiuchi Miyako.

“The translator of the play heard about the exhibition and contacted me, saying, ‘Please invite our theatre group, because we have this perfect piece…and we would love to come and perform it in conjunction with the exhibition,’” said Copithorne. “Cultural events always start with ideas and then you find the funds to make it possible.”

The script was translated into Japanese by Toyoshi Yoshihara and will be accompanied by English surtitles. “What’s [happening] on the stage is very obvious. If you don’t understand the Japanese language, you’ll understand the story from what [the storyteller] gives you,” Copithorne said.

“In a way, this is an experimental performance to present foreign language speaking.”

Copithorne was the first Japanese exchange student to attend UBC, and the former director of the Japanese program for International Communication at

COURTESY OF UBC THEATRE

One Thousand Cranes will be preformed in Japanese with English surtitles.

Simon Fraser University.

Interwoven throughout the Hiroshima programs are themes of peace and war, particularly nuclear war issues. The community is not only encouraged to attend the events but also to “understand what kind of world we live in today” through the programs.

“When we started working on this, there was no Fukushima,” Copithorne added. “It couldn’t be a better time to bring this group, because this is a story about children’s fears and concerns about nuclear issues, and as adults, we should be listening to children’s voices.”

A few school groups, most of

which have Japanese language, global issues or world history educational programs, are invited to attend the dress rehearsal on February 9.

“We would love these kids to come because it’s about what they are saying,” Copithorne said. “[One Thousand Cranes] describes so vividly the threat of nuclear age through children’s voices. They are very honest and powerful voices, and we must humbly listen to them.” U One Thousand Cranes runs Feb. 9, 10 and 11 at the Freddy Wood Theatre; tickets are $32 for adults and $24 for students .

“[Michael] Ondaatje once called me Canada’s most famous addict.”

Dean Wilson shared this anecdote with students in the Norm Theatre on Tuesday evening after Cinema Politica’s screening of FIX: The Story of an Addicted City. Wilson, the ex-president of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), is a central figure in Nettie Wild’s 2002 Canadian documentary.

“After that, I called up my mother and said, ‘Hey! Look, something became of me!’” Wilson joked.

After 33 years of battling addiction, Wilson has proudly maintained two years of sobriety at the age of 49.

Humorous, knowledgeable and very articulate, he spoke about the film that documents his and others’ arduous journey to bring a safe drug consumption site to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside—all while battling his own addiction with heroin and struggling with the daily dealings of death on his city blocks.

The camera follows Dean Wilson and his love interest, VANDU’s passionate and spiritual sober organizer, Ann Livingston, as they lead street addicts in demanding from the city proper attention to Vancouver’s most sick and vulnerable.

The film ends with the unanimous (although somewhat reluctant) passing of the Four Pillar Approach action plan by city councillors in 2001. After Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen’s championing of this approach, which included harm reduction strategies, Insite was opened in 2003 as North America’s first—and highly controversial—legal safe injection site.

“I really respect Philip,” Wilson said. “At one point, he was really against us; once he figured things out, he changed his mind and that cost him dearly, personally and politically. For a politician to admit wrong is a big thing. “[Philip] really is a decent man. I can’t think of a higher accolade to give someone.”

Nevertheless, Wilson said that today, the battle is not yet won. The gritty depiction of life on the streets in Wild’s 2002 film is a reality that is both steadfast and dynamically changing. The streets are cleaner and overdose deaths have dropped significantly, but the people are still sick with addiction.

“What’s happening on the ground right now is most people smoke rock rather than inject cocaine [which has recently become more popular on the streets].” Wilson’s next goal is to outfit Vancouver with a safe inhalation site, stating that the harm reduction model should be more inclusive. In fact, Insite was built with ventilation equipment for a supervised inhalation room, but all proposals of opening the service have been rejected.

“We may not be dying of HIV or overdose, but what aren’t we dying of?” Wilson asked. “I use [the film] as a tool to engage people who don’t think the way I think.” After touring for the movie and attending several other speaking gigs, Wilson rarely does public talks anymore. But he makes exceptions for students.

“I want young people to have all the information to make a rational decision,” said Wilson, “and I don’t care whether they support me or not, I just want them to have all the facts.” U

02.09.2012 | Culture | 9 MANNERS >>

How not to be an asshole at a classical concert You can enjoy the finer aspects of historical music without your cell phone

coughing and sneezing or if you’re having problems with your bowels,” said Cox. 5. Wait to clap until the end of a multi-movement work, as indicated by Roman numerals in the program. Cox believes the silence between movements is part of the music itself. “It’s very hard to start the fourth movement…if you’ve just

Rheanna Buursma Contributor

“The music that orchestras play… it’s all dead white guys,” said Gregory Cox. Cox is a trombone teacher at the UBC School of Music. He’s also a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and has made a career performing music by “dead white guys.”

The musician has recognized a growing ignorance of concert etiquette. “I think some of it is television and computers. People don’t have the same attention span.

The idea of sitting quietly...being introspective, tend not to be things which are necessarily valued.”

Adam Da Ros, a UBC student majoring in opera performance, echoed that sentiment. While performing in China with the UBC Opera ensemble in 2009, Da Ros attended an opera where an audience member was speaking very loudly throughout the performance. Da Ros was shocked when the conductor stopped in the middle of an aria to scream at the man. “It was like this shouting match, and we don’t speak the language, so we had no clue what happened.”

A recent YouTube video of a violist interrupted by a cell phone has increased awareness of the importance of concert etiquette.

And while the soloist concludes by improvising on the Nokia ring tone, not all performers will shrug off a

It’s very hard to start the fourth movement...if you’ve just had people screaming and yelling.

I think it’s hard for the conductor to get back in the groove.

Gregory Cox Trombone teacher at UBC For the love of God, turn off your cell phone in the theatre.

disruption. A startling contrast is an audio clip of Broadway singer Patti Lupone stopping during the musical Gypsy to shriek at audience members for taking photographs.

While performing a noon hour recital several years ago at UBC, Cox also experienced an interruption. “I was literally two bars into the first movement...when right in the front row someone opened a Coke can.”

Cox can laugh about the experience, but both Cox and Da Ros agree that there are a few general rules people should be aware of when attending a live performance. “The music is immediately accessible, but in terms of clapping between movements or curtain calls, that’s where people get confused,” explained Da Ros. 1. Arrive early. Most venues request that audience members arrive

GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

30 minutes prior to the beginning of the performance.

2. Avoid jeans. “You don’t have to wear a coat and tie, but you should dress nicely,” said Cox. 3. Turn cell phones off and stow them away. DO NOT put cell phones on silent or vibrate. Often, preset alarms will still go off.

4. Don’t come when you’re ill.

“You shouldn’t come if you’re

had people screaming and yelling. I think it’s hard for the conductor to get back in the groove.”

6. Don’t take pictures or make a video. In addition to being both rude and distracting for audience members, it’s actually illegal.

If you’ve set aside the time to enjoy a performance, then take the opportunity to unplug and be fully involved in the performance. “Just relax and enjoy the music,” said Da Ros. U

Opinion

02.09.2012 |

10

Editor: Brian Platt

School boards and anti-homophobia Perspectives >> Trevor Ritchie

Seven classes

EUS president Dan Olson

Century of mocking by Ubyssey

DAVID MARINO/THE UBYSSEY

The Last Word Parting shots and snap judgments on today’s issues Some reluctantly nice words for the engineers It’s E-Week, the time of the year where the engineers of this campus drink, dance, chant and create stuff.

Wait, they do that every week.

The difference is that this week is a public celebration of their faculty and their history of being a group that often makes UBC a lively and interesting place to be.

Last year, we marked the occasion by insulting them, in the grand style of Ubyssey editorials of decades past, branding them “hairypalmed troglodytes with less social intuition than graphing calculators” who “should spend this week reflecting on what a sad shade of its former self their faculty has become and plan an act of havoc that will regain them a fraction of their departed glory.”

They did not enjoy this editorial, to put it mildly.

Now we’re not going to start up a debate from last year again, but we will point out that engineers were once the Big Men on Campus, and had a unsurpassed reputation for caring about UBC. They often did it in very sexist and boorish ways, but they wanted to engage with campus.

Recently the engineers became more focused on their own community, to the exclusion of the rest of campus. This was one of the things we were lamenting in our disparaging 2011 editorial.

This year’s group of Engineering Undergraduate Society executives has made their desire to spread their particular brand of engineering cheer across campus a priority.

They want UBC—and not just other engineers—to know of their ingenuity. We are happy to see this.

They are, they are, they are the engineers—and we hope that they continue to make UBC a more interesting place to be than it would otherwise.

But still, as of this writing, it’s been three years and counting since you hung a Beetle from something. Time’s a-wastin’.

Golden Key’s dubious endorsement Last weekend, the UBC and SFU chapters of the Golden Key Honour Society held a regional summit in Vancouver. For many of the society’s members, this was the first Golden Key event they had attended—ever.

While some students at the conference had a vague idea what they were doing there (networking, or something like that), others admitted they didn’t know what it was, even after paying the $90 membership.

This makes it somewhat sketchy that the society is endorsed by the president of our university, who said he has little involvement aside from signing the letter. Since students at UBC receive personal messages from Toope very rarely, he should consider the impact of his endorsement on students paying the fee and joining an organization they’ll probably have little to do with.

An invitation to join a society?

Not so special. But an invitation signed by your university president? That becomes infinitely more attractive.

High school students do need to know that it gets better In our Pride supplement this year, we have an article about why many people involved in the LGBTQ community are skeptical of the It Gets Better campaign, arguing that it encourages a level of complacency.

We don’t necessarily disagree with that, but we also think it’s important to point out that it makes a big difference who the audience is. University students will be much

more able to assert themselves and draw on the resources available to them on campus.

Some high school students are also able to do this, but it’s understandably much more difficult for them—even if it’s just because they’re young and inexperienced.

For that reason, then, the It Gets Better campaign provides high school students with a message that university students can sometimes forget needs to be said: high school is not going to be the rest of your life. Once you get out, there are all kinds of opportunities and community resources that you didn’t have access to before.

In fact, this message is something that many other high school students need to hear as well.

Do some research before stuffing your face The Ubyssey office is a cesspool of bacteria, various fungi and likely a few unique pathogens undiscovered by science. Which is why if The Ubyssey decided to start a restaurant, students would be welladvised to check out its inspection records online, which we would most certainly fail.

However, what students may not realize is that many of the food vendors on campus also have some pretty disgusting things going on.

Given our general segregation from the rest of the city, most students don’t have many choices about where they want to eat during the day. This makes it particularly important to get a sense of which restaurants are serving you safely prepared food.

Some cities, such as Toronto, have food inspection records clearly displayed in every restaurant so that customers know what they’re getting into. But until Vancouver adopts something similar, students should go online and find out exactly what they’re putting in their mouths. U

To be queer in Vancouver is to be relatively lucky; we respect each other and we are fortunate enough to live in a city with a large queer community and the amenities needed to help ensure the health and safety of the members of the community. I firmly believe that Vancouverites on the whole are accepting of the queer community, that no matter how one identifies and presents themselves in public, we have the opportunity to be respected and accepted.

But these are rights that we have earned over time, and they’re rights that we need to continue protecting. The right that matters most to me is our right to receive an education free from discrimination and hostility.

The Vancouver School Board (VSB) was a pioneer in this regard.

They were one of the first school districts in British Columbia to create a comprehensive LGBTQ policy, including explicit protection for LGBTQ students in the district code of conduct, in the exact same way that the board also protects religious expression and racial diversity.

For students who are already dealing with the everyday problems of being a high school student, being attacked for an integral part of who you are is unnecessary and cruel.

This past year was an election year in Vancouver. Two NonPartisan Association candidates for the VSB, Ken Denike and Sophia Woo, came under attack from progressive groups and other school board members after video surfaced of them misrepresenting the policy. They promised to oppose any attempt to bring in a policy with special LGBTQ protections—despite the fact that such a policy had been in place since 2004.

Denike and Woo were still elected as trustees on the VSB. The 2011 election showed us that even now, protections and rights that the queer community thought safe are coming under attack from those who do not believe these protections are needed or valid in our society.

While the VSB is a leader, it is also mostly alone. Of the 60 school districts in British Columbia, only 15 have any sort of policy meant to address homophobic or transphobic bullying. We should not accept the idea that your level of protection from queer bullying and discrimination depends on which city or district you happen to live in. More work needs to be done to ensure that everyone, regardless of who they are or how they present themselves or how they identify, has the ability to grow and be nurtured by our education system.

The VSB policy was created because a few people saw a need that was not being addressed. A similar policy in Burnaby was created by a small group of people who did not accept doing nothing as an answer to intolerance.

These are district-wide policies that specify a zero-tolerance atmosphere for homophobic and transphobic terms in the school system, and also encourage staff to integrate queer themes where appropriate to the curriculum.

Statistics have shown that members of the queer community are more likely to be bullied and more likely to attempt suicide. Many UBC students were not born in Vancouver, and some still live in other cities. Look to see what your district has as their policy, and fight to create one if there is not one already in place. The only way we’re going to stop hearing about queer youth suicides is if we work to prevent the causes.

Change can come, and it does not have to wait. Each of us alone can start action to help make life a little bit safer for students who truly are in need. U

Letters on the “E” cairn and Gage South Our cairn is fair game, but spare the environment

April is not the next Gage South consultation

Walking down East Mall the other day, I was disgusted to see the Engineering cairn (the big E) area covered in paint.

It wasn’t the paint on the E, but rather the whitish-purple paint splattered on the road and flowing into the storm drain nearby that disappointed me.

Us engineers always get a good laugh seeing the paint and dildos that decorate our cairn, but if it means polluting the water system, I would ask that next time, those responsible simply revert to poking fun at our social awkwardness and assignment-plagued weekends.

Re: “BoG postpones Gage South consultation report,” February 6

—Christian Hajen, Civil Engineering 3

There is one correction to your story on the Gage South report.

The next steps outlined in the Board of Governors report include a second round of consultation in March.

This round of consultation is in addition to the public hearing.

See the C+CP website for a timeline: planning.ubc.ca/vancouver_ home/consultations/gage_south_/ public_consultation.php.

—Kera McArthur, Director, Communications and Public Engagement Campus and Community Planning

Scene

02.09.2012 |

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Pictures and words on your university experience

HUMOUR >>

What to consider in broad-based admissions

New admissions system must take into account firmness of handshake, “chillness” Warnes World Bryce Warnes UBC is extending its broad-based admissions policy beyond Arts and Commerce to every faculty at the university. This is great because UBC will start accepting people who aren’t just good at school but good at LIFE. I may be biased, though. The only reason I was even admitted to Arts (despite my dismal average) was because of my nine-year stint as a competitive ice sculptor, after which I donated all my winnings to villages in Africa, where there is barely any ice at all except for blood diamonds.

Can we take this to its logical conclusion, though? It is excellent that UBC will soon be filled with students who play classical stringed instruments and spend their weekends hand-spooning gruel into the mouths of disadvantaged community members. But if we’re stretching our scope beyond academics, we might as well go all out and really try for the best.

“Shoot for the moon, and even if you land in the gutter, you will be

looking at the stars.” —Oscar Wilde.

Here are some categories that I think need to be included on UBC applications.

•Chillness. How chill is the applicant? Does s/he know how to “hang”? Are they decent at Mario Kart? If you go over to their place, will they make nachos? Dry nachos, or cheesed? Is guacamole a possibility?

•Handshake. It doesn’t matter if you’re the most distinguished astro-mathemetician (or whatever) in the world. If your paw goes cold-fish when you are introduced to international dignitaries, you might as well just burn that space math degree. Ideally, applicants’ handshakes would be evaluated by firmness, pump-action, eye contact and dampitude.

•Haircut. If the applicant is unable to select a skilled stylist/barber and coordinate with them to obtain a cut that is both contemporary/edgy and complementary in regards to their head shape and facial structure, then do they really deserve to be going to university? Would the world not be better off if the applicant moved back in with their parents, got a low-ranking position at A&W (i.e. assistant lettuce

INDIANA JOEL/THE UBYSSEY

While extra-curriculars are important, a well-rounded UBC student must be able to make a mean plate of nachos and endure horrible pain.

shredder) and discarded all dreams of upward social mobility? Points deducted for visible roots.

•Justin Bieber irony level. Does the applicant like the Biebs ironically, post-ironically, or post-post-ironically? Proto-ironical Biebs love = verboten. Is the applicant “like totally

over” Justin Bieber? No, they’re not.

That is a lie.

•Pain tolerance. Testing apparatus: car battery, alligator clips, stop watch, loud radio.

•Raps. Applicant must rap along to Biz Markie’s 1989 laugh-hop hit “Just a Friend.” Points added or

deducted for cadence, vocal timbre and comedic grimacing. Final grade determined by whether applicant really meant it.

Are these demands reasonable? You bet. Let’s make UBC the best school in the world! GO THUNDERHAWKS! U

12 | Games | 02.09.2012 44- Third sign of the zodiac 46- Prima ballerina 48- Comedian Carvey 50- Fix beforehand 53- Lottery 58- Leb. neighbor 59- New Rochelle college 60- Man with a van, perhaps 61- Currency of Turkey, and formerly of Italy 62- Bender 63- Clarence’s accuser 64- Roman poet 65- Additional 66- Bird homes 67- Shrivelled, without moisture

Puzzles 1-4 Sudoku #1 - Easy

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(CUP) — Puzzles provided by BestCrosswords.com. Used with permission.

Across 1- Just !

5- Ski cottage 10- Casino game 14- “Whip It” band 15- Early computer 16- Bedouin 17- Rat18- Goddess of love 19- Not many words 20- Martini liquor 21- Hater of humankind

23- Gulp down 25- Follow 26- Diners 29- Audition 33- Serf 35- Nun wear 37- Layer 38- Garage sale sign 39- Renaissance fiddle 40- Amenable 41- Early hrs.

42- Closes 43- Be of one mind

1- Maxim 2- Take hold 3- Missionary zeal 4- Barracks bed 5- Hebrew tribe member 6- Addition column 7- Actress Merrill 8- Haggard 9- Glad all over 10- Justly 11- Cartoonist Peter 12- Coarse file 13- It’s blown among the reeds 21- Mongrel dog 22- “Java” trumpeter 24- Neighbor of Cambodia 27- Greek fertility goddess, flightless bird 28- Fine fur 30- Burdensome 31- Peter Fonda title role 32- Actress Daly 33- Dutch name of The Hague 34- Salinger girl 36- Of the highest quality 39- Harness driver 40- Eyeball © 2012 KrazyDad.com

42- Break, card game 43- Broadcasts 45- Think 47- Musical dramas 49- Compensate 51- Aluminum-bronze coin of Iceland 52- Commerce 53- Locale 54- Fleece 55- Daily Grandson of AdamPuzzles by KrazyDad, February 7, 2012 Sudoku 56- Alamo rival 57- Etta of old comics 61- Acapulco article

Sudoku #2 - Easy

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BE ALERT!!!! (The world needs more lerts ...)

Sudoku #3 - Intermediate

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Sudoku #4 - Intermediate

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2 7 4

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