JANuARy 13, 2013 | VOLuME XCV| iSSuE XXXii FEES AND TAXES SINCE 1918
PRESIDENT VP ACADEMIC VP FINANCE VP EXTERNAL
With only a month left before his term ends, AMS VP Admin Derek Moore resigns
2014 AMS ELECTIONS BEGIN A rundown of this year’s candidates — four of whom are running as a joke P3
P3 Our opinion on him leaving
P10
CUT-RATE CUISINE Inside Dine Out Vancouver, a culinary festival where frugal foodies can sample local gourmet fare on the cheap P8 P8
Monday, January 13, 2014 |
YOUR GUIDE TO UBC EVENTS + PEOPLE
WHAT’S ON
this week, may we suggest...
OUR CAMPUS
2
ONE ON ONE WITH THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE UBC
MONDAY 13 CLOTHING SWAP
11:30 A.M.–2:15 P.M. @ GLOBAL LOUNGE
The Jewish Students Association is hosting a clothing swap to celebrate Tu b’Shvat, the holiday celebrating the first trees grown in Israel. Stop by with clothes and get a free lunch. Free
TUESDAY
14
SNACKS WITH CANDIDATES
11:30 A.m.–3 P.M. @ IKB CONCOURSE
Can you believe it’s already time for AMS elections? Stop by this networking event to kick off the campaigning period and get to know the future leaders of your student society. Free snacks and hackery provided. Free
PHOTO CARTER BRUNDAGE/The Ubyssey
Roddy Lai’s office is filled with promotional materials for the election.
WEDNESDAY 15 CURRYOKE NIGHT
7 P.m.–9 P.M. @ GLOBAL LOUNGE
Need we say more? UBC Intercultural Alliance is bringing together people from all backgrounds to discuss how to make UBC more inclusive. Also, nothing sounds better than starting off a Wednesday night with free curry. Free
Pictured from left to right on the cover are Harsev Oshan, WInnie Code and Tanner Bokor, three of the four candidates running for president. The fourth candidate, Jackson Chen, left halfway through the all-candidates meeting, pictured above. Photo by Carter Brundage.
Want to see your events listed here? Email your events listings to printeditor@ubyssey.ca.
U The Ubyssey
editorial
Coordinating Editor Geoff Lister coordinating@ubyssey.ca Managing Editor, Print Ming Wong printeditor@ubyssey.ca Managing Editor, Web CJ Pentland webeditor@ubyssey.ca News Editors Will McDonald + Sarah Bigam news@ubyssey.ca Senior News Writer Veronika Bondarenko vbondarenko@ubyssey.ca Culture Editor Rhys Edwards culture@ubyssey.ca Senior Culture Writer Aurora Tejeida atejeida@ubyssey.ca Sports + Rec Editor Natalie Scadden sports@ubyssey.ca Senior Lifestyle Writer Reyhana Heatherington rheatherington@ubyssey.ca Features Editor Arno Rosenfeld features@ubyssey.ca
Video Producers Lu Zhang + Nick Grossman video@ubyssey.ca Copy Editor Matt Meuse copy@ubyssey.ca
Photo Editor Carter Brundage photos@ubyssey.ca Illustrator Indiana Joel ijoel@ubyssey.ca Webmaster Tony Li webmaster@ubyssey.ca Distribution Coordinator Lily Cai lcai@ubyssey.ca
Staff Catherine Guan, Nick Adams, Kanta Dihal, Marlee Laval, Angela Tien, Carly Sotas, Alex Meisner, Luella Sun, Jenny Tang, Adrienne Hembree, Mehryar Maalem, Jack Hauen, Kosta Prodanovic, Olivia Law, Jethro Au, Bailey Ramsay, Jenica Montgomery, Austen Erhardt, Alice Fleerackers, Nikos Wright
AMS elections are in Roddy Lai’s hands Ming Wong Managing Editor, Print
Student politics hijinks become front and centre during student government elections. It’s therefore up to the elections administrator (EA) to both police and promote during this period — making sure candidates run a fair campaign that’s free of slating, smearing and sidestepping over the election rules, and getting the word out to students, whether they are apathetic, indifferent or just uninformed. This year’s EA is Roddy Lai, a fourth-year psych major with a minor in commerce. After graduating in May, he will enter the diploma of accounting program at UBC. He got his first taste of the hustle of AMS elections in September during the VP aca-
demic byelection, after Kiran Mahal stepped down. Lai, who commutes from Richmond and gets up two hours before class to be sure he gets there on time, prefers the behind-the-scenes admin work to being in the public eye and running in the elections himself. Before this year, he admitted that he did not care very much about the elections. Now, he sees their importance. “It really hits on me that students should really care about elections because we all pay the student fees — a lot of it too.” He says that some students might see the AMS as just another high school student council — all talk and no action — but now older, he recognizes that they have power and control over what happens to the school.
In terms of policing, Lai says he’s not aware of all the controversies, but has some knowledge of how candidates in previous years have broken election rules. He doesn’t feel burdened by doling out punishments for candidates caught trying to rig the election. “You break the rules, you have to face the consequences.” He does feel the pressure to match the voter turnout of last year. 22,405 students voted in 2013, one of the highest voter turnouts the AMS has ever seen. Lai knows that a majority of those students only voted to ensure the return of the U-Pass. Without a U-Pass referendum question this year, Lai knows the numbers will go down, but will wait to see what the referendum questions will be this year. “It’s going to be a very hectic month.” U
Who’s the most interesting person on campus? Is it a student leader? Is it your roommate who speaks 12 languages including Whale? We want to find out what makes them tick. Email printeditor@ubyssey.ca.
JANUARY 13, 2014 | Volume XCV| Issue XXXII
BUSINESS
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email editors Will McDonald and Sarah Bigam news@ubyssey.ca
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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. Letters to the editor must be under 300 words. Please include your phone number, student number and signature (not for publication) as well as
Toope, AMS elections, current events
Arts, entertainment, sophistry email editor Rhys Edwards culture@ ubyssey.ca
Varsity sports, athletic reviews, milkshakes email editor Natalie Scadden sports@ubyssey.ca
Investigative pieces, longform journalism, pizza
email editor Arno Rosenfeld features@ ubyssey.ca
Monday, January 13, 2014 |
EDITORS WILL Mcdonald + Sarah Bigam
weed >>
3
MOORE NO MORE >>
AMS VP Admin Derek Moore hands in resignation
photo carter brundage/the ubyssey
The Hempology Club hopes to establish a vapour lounge in the SUB.
Hempology club has high hopes for SUB Aurora Tejeida Senior Culture Writer
UBC’s Hempology Club usually holds its meetings outside the SUB, but last week, the club booked a room in the SUB and brought a vaporizer. The meeting was a joint event staged in conjunction with the Brewery Club, which is working on infusing beer with marijuana. However, the highlight of the reunion wasn’t the beer syrup or the early stages of pot-infused alcohol, but rather the use of a marijuana vaporizer in the SUB. The reunion was a success. At one point, there were at least 25 people in SUB room 211. Outside the room, a colourful sign read: “Stay dry, get high.” Inside, a scrunched-up towel was placed under the door to keep the fumes in.
NEWS BRIEFS
Become a walking cell phone charger with new research UBC was awarded $9 million in research funding from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada on Thursday. The funding will go towards 10 different projects researching fish ecology, oil sands, energy efficient buildings, clean water and wearable electronics, such as clothes that could charge cell phones with woven-in solar cells. “We are extremely proud of the UBC researchers who have been awarded grants in these highly competitive programs,” said UBC President Stephen Toope. “These projects involve complex and rigorous inquiries, close collaboration with industry and other partners, with a sharp focus on concrete solutions for real-world issues.” A boost in boosters Canada has identified half a million additional influenza vaccine doses it could purchase to try to meet increasing demand. “The key here is that this is a normal flu season,” said Gregory Taylor, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer. “This issue is not because of increased disease. This issue is because of increased demand.” B.C. bought 1.417 million doses of the vaccine this year. As of Thursday, only 3,000 remained. These doses were of nasal spray, designed for children but usable on those up to 59 year of age. U
“This is the first time that we’ve ever done anything in the confines of the SUB,” said club treasurer Corbin Manson, a second-year Forestry student who used to canvas for SensibleBC, a group that supports the referendum to decriminalize marijuana consumption in B.C. “The [AMS] probably don’t know we have a vaporizer in here, but if you can break the barrier, that’s the first step to any of the progress that we’re trying to talk about here,” said club president Jared Barney, a second-year Forestry student. The progress Barney is talking about is convincing the AMS to open a vapour lounge in the SUB. “The plan is happening right now. We would love to get a vaporizer [from the AMS]. It’s healthier, less polluting [and] if you smoke with it indoors it
doesn’t leave any residues,” said Manson. “And it’s better than being outside in the cold and the rain.” But the AMS had no idea the club was using a vaporizer in the SUB, or even that the group smoked marijuana. “From my understanding, [the Hempology Club] is about awareness, but again, we do not condone illegal behaviour within our facility, which is the SUB,” said AMS President Caroline Wong. The AMS is not enthusiastic about the creation of a vapour lounge. “As per our handbook, any illegal behaviour is subject to potential expulsion,” said Wong. “The usage of marijuana and cannabis is illegal unless it’s for medicinal reasons.” The club members, however, remain hopeful. “I think that in the long term, having an AMS
vapour lounge would be a huge boon for the student body,” said Manson. “It all starts with getting a room here and having the AMS be aware of what we’re doing,” added Barney. According to Manson, the club made all the arrangements by the book. “We just got all our members together, did some marketing, booked a room through the AMS and it was as simple as that.” The AMS is aware, but at this moment it doesn’t look like they’ll get a vapour lounge any time soon. “To my knowledge, we have never considered opening a vapour lounge in the SUB,” said Wong. Wong said she emailed Campus Security and the Student Administration Commission asking them to do an immediate investigation of the Hempology Club. U
STUDENT POLITICS >>
Candidates confirmed for 2014 AMS elections Veronika Bondarenko Senior News Writer
The AMS has confirmed the candidates in its upcoming elections. AMS VP External Tanner Bokor, AUS President Harsev Oshan and joke candidates Winnie Code and Jackson Chen will be running for the top position of AMS president. Incumbent Joaquin Acevedo will face off AUS VP Finance Mateusz Miadlikowski and joke candidate Paul Bucci for the VP finance position. Two candidates, incumbent Anne Kessler and SUS Science student senator Mona Maleki are running for VP academic and university affairs. The VP administration race includes SUS VP External and AMS student rep Serena Ng and AUS VP Internal Ava Nasiri. Associate VP External Affairs Bahareh Jokar will run against joke candidate Philip He (running under the name Jon Snow) for the VP external role. AMS President Caroline Wong will face off against Philip Edgcumbe, Nina Karimi, Ilana Shecter, Chris Roach and Spencer Keys for two student representative spots on the UBC Board of Governors.
Photo Carter brundage/the ubyssey
Left to right: presidential candidate Harsev Oshan, joke candidate Winnie Code and presidential candidate Tanner Bokor.
Saba Mohebpour, Philip Edgcumbe, Armin Rezaiean-Asel, Anne Kessler, Nina Karimi, Andrew Lavers, Eric Zhao, Jason Kim, Pavani Gunandasa, Graham Beales, Mona Maleki, Umang Khandelwal and Chris Roach will vie for the five seats on the UBC Senate this year.
Janzen Lee, Navi Purewal, Joseph Gorman, Aaron Sihota, Dawei Ji and Jordan Stewart will be running unopposed for seats on the Student Legal Fund Society. The campaign period will begin on Jan. 14. Voting runs from Jan. 27 to Jan. 31. U
File PHOTO KAI JACOBSON/THE UBYSSEY
Soon-to-be-former VP Admin Derek Moore.
Sarah Bigam News Editor
The AMS announced the resignation of Vice-President Administration Derek Moore on Thursday. His resignation takes effect on Jan. 24; he would have had a month left in his term. Moore, who spent the winter break in Kenya, sent an email to the AMS earlier in the week saying that he was resigning for personal reasons. “It has been an honour to work with my fellow executives, students and staff at the AMS and I have sincerely enjoyed my time with the Society,” said Moore in an AMS press release. “The New SUB has been a passion project of mine for the past two years and I am excited to watch the building progress through its final stages. I have no doubt the AMS will continue to grow and develop as a new group of dedicated students are elected.” Responsibilities of the VP admin include the administration of AMS clubs, constituencies and resources groups; regulation of bookings in the SUB and AMS Art Gallery; and management of the use, maintenance and conditions of the old SUB, as well as monitoring the progress of the New SUB. AMS council will elect an interim VP admin at their Jan. 22 meeting. The interim VP will work 20 hours a week, with the rest of Moore’s projects temporarily split up amongst the other executives. Moore will work to transition this individual, who will serve until a new VP admin is chosen in the annual elections at the end of January. The VP admin for 2014-2015 will take office on March 3. This is the second time since the beginning of the academic year that an AMS executive has resigned. Kiran Mahal, elected in January 2013 as the VP academic, resigned from her post on Sept. 12 of 2013. She was replaced by Anne Kessler on Oct. 12. Moore did not respond to multiple requests for comment. U
4 | NEWS |
MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2014
CONSTRUCTION >>
Students and faculty have expressed concerns and complaints, but uBC insists the geography Building is safe and the loudest work is done.
PhOtO CARtER BRuNDAgE/thE uBySSEy
Geography Building users worried about asbestos, noise, air quality Milica Palinic Contributor
Students and staff raised concerns regarding the safety of the Geography Building at a town hall meeting on Friday. The past nine months have seen ongoing construction on the building for renovations. Attendees voiced concerns about air quality, mould, asbestos, noise, seismic safety and foul language by the construction workers. John Metras, managing director of infrastructure development, said that the building is safe. Metras also said asbestos exposure does not pose any threat.
“There is asbestos in this building. It’s encapsulated and perfectly safe,” said Metras. “When we start cutting into it, we have to use proper work procedures. Those procedures were followed through the course of this process.” However, not everyone was assured. “It’s very disconcerting when you read a memo that there’s asbestos in the walls and you can’t even put a thumbtack in the wall, and then you’re sitting in your office and a saw blade comes through and your whole office fills up with dust,” said a professor. “Tests that are done, can we not have those numbers shared with
SALE >>
Iona Building to be sold to UBC econ school
PhOtO CARtER BRuNDAgE/thE uBySSEy
the School of Economics will take up residence in this castle in September 2015.
Olivia Law Staff Writer
The Vancouver School of Theology’s Iona Building will soon belong to the School of Economics. Following a review, VST’s governing board decided the building was no longer fit for its purpose and approached UBC for a sale in 2012. The agreed purchasing price was $28 million. The purchase will be made through UBC’s endowment fund. Michael Devereux, director of the School of Economics, predicted that these funds would be recovered over the next 30 years through fundraising campaigns and sources of revenue from the Iona Building, in particular the residences that are to remain a part of the building. The property will be 87 years into its 999-year lease from UBC when the university takes possession of the building this July. In September 2015, the building will become a hub for the School of Economics. Richard Topping, principal of VST, said that since their student body is increasingly distance based and part time, the “excessive resources” of the 100,000 square-foot building were no longer necessary for the work the School of Theology was aiming to accomplish.
“Lots of our money was invested purely in the infrastructure of the building,” said Topping. “We were asset rich, but perhaps poorer in relaying our message. Now we will have more resources to hire firstrate faculty, invest in training and be more mission conscious.” According to Devereux, the size of the building is the aspect of the move which most appeals to the department, which was previously based in Buchanan Tower. “We are really happy to offer something so worthwhile to the undergraduate students,” Devereux said. “There’s access to computer space, lounge space and informal learning spaces ... we’ll be adding around an extra third of room for our department. Being under one roof will be a key defining aspect of the UBC economics program.” Topping did not take offence to the secularization of the formerly Christian building. “Both economics and Christianity are in the interest of human flourishing. There are both good and bad faiths, the same as economics.” Topping said the school will now likely be based in the two other buildings they own in the area, the Epiphany Chapel and the residence Somerville House. U
us?” asked one student, who has had trouble obtaining information about the situation in the building. “It’s really frustrating when they tell me that this is a public institution and these things should be shared and then when we try really hard to get them shared and then they’re not.” The noise has prevented some students from studying and one student even feels as if her education “has been taken away from [her].” “All you can do is laugh and cancel class because you cannot actually teach,” said Brett Eaton, an associate professor of geography. Eaton was the one who proposed having the meeting in a
letter sent to the administration this fall. As a solution, Catherine Alkenbrack, associate director of facilities planning at Campus and Community Planning, said she would look into moving classes to the Swing Space building, which is close to Geography. A graduate student said she wished there could have been more effort to relocate classes earlier in the construction process. “I think it’s fair to say that there are significant challenges and perhaps it’s even fair to say that it hasn’t gone as well as we all had hoped,” said Gerald Vanderwoude,
incoming assistant dean of facilities and human resources in the Faculty of Arts. The Geography Building was built in 1925 and is one of the oldest buildings on campus. Metras said they are looking at replacing the building entirely, but that this would cost over $30 million. “The building is on UBC’s capital priority list for the long term but it is entirely dependent on fundraising,” he said. Metras said they had hoped to complete the renovations before this term started, but they now hope to finish by February. According to Metras, most of the noisiest work is now finished. U
National
Monday, January 13, 2014 |
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE COLLEGIATE WORLD
5
drugs >>
Supervised injection sites come to Montreal Jill Bachelder The McGill Daily
MONTREAL (NUW) — Montreal will soon be home to four supervised injection sites. The sites, announced in December 2013, will include three permanent locations in already existing clinics across the city, as well as one mobile clinic to serve the Montreal area. The news comes after a decade-long struggle between the Canadian federal government and the Quebec-based organizations that have been advocating for supervised injection sites (SIS) in Montreal ever since the first site, Insite Vancouver, was established in 2003. SISs are places where injection-drug users can go to obtain clean needles and dispose of used ones. Additionally, social workers and on-site emergency medical attention are available to users if needed. These sites are part of an approach known as harm reduction, which involves programs that provide safe spaces and medical services for drug users in a nonjudgmental and non-coercive manner. Since its inception, Insite has operated under an exemption to the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, allowing it to legally provide help to drug users. Inspired by Insite, Montreal-based organizations, such as Association pour la Défense des Droits et l’Inclusion des personnes qui Consomment des
drogues du Québec (ADDICQ) and CACTUS Montreal, began campaigning for SISs in 2003. However, they were unable to obtain the same exemption that Insite was given, and thus had little hope of creating the sites. In 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that Insite was a necessary service, said Sylvain Côté of ADDICQ, a community-based organization that provides support for injection drug users. “It was a decision that said that Insite should be not only implemented but continued as an essential service for drug addicts that saves lives and that could prevent overdoses and HIV,” said Carole Morissette, public health doctor for Montreal Public Health. “For us, in Montreal, that judgement was a real boost in this situation and then gave us an opening.” This decision fueled a huge campaign for SISs in Montreal. “We campaign,” said Côté, “we did some protest[s], we wrote letters ... we demand to be included on the committee that was working on SISs, such as the public health committee of Montreal.” Côté noted that such sites are important because they create services for drug users that allow them to perform injections in a safe space, dispose of their used needles properly and obtain medical services if needed. Both they and the surrounding community benefit, with lower instances of both common diseases in users and drug usage in public.
illustration ROBERT SMITH/THE mcgill daily
Montreal will soon be home to four supervised injection sites.
“What we see is that ... people who would use the safer injection sites are people who have no place to go to inject themselves safely,” said Amélie Panneton, community organizer with CACTUS Montreal. “[This] means that usually they consume the drugs in the street, in the public domain, which is dangerous for them because we know there are lots and lots of overdoses in public spaces.” One important aspect of SISs is that they provide on-site access to medical care and give users access to a social worker if they decide
that they want to stop using, or need support. “We have lots of evaluations and research projects that can demonstrate the efficacy of safer injection sites to prevent death to prevent overdoses, and to prevent HIV ... and that help drug users to be related to the rest of the health network and have access to other services they need,” said Morissette. “The main obstacle is from the Conservative government,” said Côté, “but public health departments from major cities ... are really supporting the idea.”
The federal government’s policy on drug prevention does not favour supervised injection sites, Côté noted. They have instead chosen to focus more on increasing funding for law enforcement and preventative education, while decreasing spending on harm reduction. “They simply consider drugs as evil — people who use drugs as criminals,” Côté said. Some opposed to SISs argue that sites like these promote illicit behaviour and can lead to increases in crime and drug use in the area, a major reason behind the Conservative tabling of Bill C-65 (also known as the Respect for Communities Act) this summer that sought to make it harder to have such sites. Panneton noted that the sites are awaiting the go-ahead for funding from the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS), a process whose length CACTUS cannot fully predict. Additionally, the sites would have to receive an exception from the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, as Insite did in Vancouver. For organizations like CACTUS, the creation of these sites is a step towards reducing the harm caused by illicit drug use in Montreal. “We’ve been giving out material,” said Panneton. “We’ve been doing intervention with these people, trying the best we can. But we see that we would really need a safe injection site to help even more, that’s why we find it really really important to have multiple sites in Montreal.”
Wildlife >>
Low salmon returns make for hormonal bears Hungry bears produce stress hormones like testosterone that may make them more aggressive Adam Hayman The Martlet
VICTORIA (NUW) — A recent study has uncovered that coastal grizzly bears are more prone to hostile behaviour when salmon numbers are low. The study, conducted by the University of Victoria, the University of Calgary and the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, traced stress hormones in bears’ fur during periods when the expected salmon run was lower than average. Less salmon means greater competition for food, and the higher competition means grizzly bears could be a greater risk. The main hormone that experienced change during periods of greater competition was testosterone. Testosterone is mainly thought of as a reproductive hormone; however, according to the study, it also “facilitates behavioural and physical traits necessary to win social conflicts in fitness-enhancing situations.” “Testosterone, which we often think of as a male sex hormone, is also affected by the social competitive environment,” said Heather Bryan, one of the researchers, in an email. The study found it higher in both male and female coastal bears, as compared to other bears. Bryan said this “suggests that coastal bears have to compete more heavily for access to important resources such as salmon.” Another hormone tested in the coastal bears was cortisol.
plants, the study points out, “salmon allows bears to meet their energetic requirements more efficiently than a diet of plants alone.”
[There] has been an overall downward trend in the last 60 years with several dramatically low returns in the last decade on the central coast. Heather Bryan University of Victoria researcher
illustration beth may/THE martlet
A decrease in salmon means that bears are more prone to hostile behaviour.
Cortisol is a hormone that helps with long-term stress, recovery from stress and coping with change. Although salmon has high amounts of glucocorticoids, a class of steroid hormones to which cortisol belongs, coastal bears did not have a higher amount of cortisol in their fur samples. The fur samples were collected on a 5,000-square-kilometre grid consisting of 73 area cells. Each cell was seven square kilometres. In each cell, researchers erected a barbed wire enclosure with a 25-metre perimeter. Inside the enclosure, the researchers placed some fish oil. This is called non-reward bait. Although
bears are hopelessly attracted to the scent, when they arrive and there is nothing to eat or defend. Within a few short moments, the bears leave the enclosure. When bears pass under the barbed wire, small tufts of hair are pulled loose, and from those samples the researchers were able to find the information they were looking for. People are reminded time and time again that bears are not the kind of animal that would ever attack a human for sport or snack, but a starved bear can be dangerous. With loss of habitat and food, it could mean life or death for the bear. In November, two residents of Churchill, Man.
were attacked by a starved polar bear on the way home from a party. Another man in Quebec barely survived a bear attack while on a wilderness excursion sometime in August. These occurrences aren’t common, but bears do attack out of a sense of necessity. Salmon numbers are known to fluctuate. Pink, coho and Chinook salmon were plentiful this year along B.C.’s coasts, but this isn’t always the case. As Bryan points out, there “has been a ... downward trend in the last 60 years with several dramatically low returns in the last decade on the central coast.” While interior bears live off of a diet of mainly
When asked what could be done to increase the numbers of salmon available to the coastal bears, Bryan said, “Setting appropriate commercial fisheries so that salmon are shared among people and wildlife is important, but one of the challenges is that the exact number varies over space and time. Currently, fisheries quotas are determined based only on the needs of people, and do not consider the needs of wildlife.” There is a national strategy called the Wild Salmon Policy that recognizes there are other species besides humans that have needs for salmon, but Bryan said “there isn’t a lot of information on exactly how much salmon other species need, which makes it difficult to implement the strategy.”
Monday, January 13, 2014 |
EDITOR Natalie Scadden
6
BASKETBALL >>
T-Birds can’t slow Bears, but bounce back to take Huskies Brylle Kamen looks strong after elbow surgery, leads UBC with 2 double-double performances Casey Watamaniuk Contributor
Despite a dominant individual effort from Brylle Kamen, the UBC Thunderbirds men’s basketball team simply couldn’t slow down the University of Alberta Golden Bears in Friday night’s 77-61 loss. The Bears, who have lost just once in 11 games this season, broke out for 40 points in the paint and 14 on the fast break after UBC gave up 29 turnovers. After a collective total of five team fouls in as many minutes, the game began with a frantic energy that had free throws as first points recorded for both teams. The boys were clearly excited to be back after the break and their training in Hawaii. Points tumbled for ’Birds and Bears alike in the first quarter despite a multitude of turnovers and fouls for both sides maxing out early. A storm of breakaways saw the players flying down the court, scoring quick baskets on both sides. The high tempo continued into the half with both teams keeping the score tight at a twopoint halftime advantage for the Bears. Serious power was displayed in defensive and offensive boards made by T-Bird forward Brylle Kamen as he denied the Golden Bears many opportunities to follow through to the basket. Tommy Nixon aided Kamen in concrete inside defence, holding Alberta’s relentless offence back. Jordan Jensen-Whyte and Isaiah Solomon also showed impressive hustle in the second half of the game. The guard duo con-
sistently fed their forwards and increased the UBC score with a few three-pointers. Near the end of the third quarter, steals lead to breakaways and had the Bears pulling ahead. Alberta’s hot streak continued throughout much of the fourth quarter and the Thunderbirds responded with a tight full court press. Near the end of the game, the ’Birds were again able to take advantage of the Bears’ maxed team fouls and gain some free throw points, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Despite the loss, the silver lining for UBC was the resurgence of Kamen, who has been playing through injuries this season and underwent elbow surgery over winter break. His game-high 25 points were the most he’s scored all season, and he also nabbed 13 rebounds for the double-double. Kamen and UBC bounced back on Saturday night to hand the CIS No. 7 Saskatchewan Huskies their third loss of the year, taking the game by a score of 93-88. The T-Birds were firing on all cylinders offensively, shooting 54 per cent from the field with five guys finishing in double digit points: Tonner Jackson (23), Kamen (20), Nixon (18), David Wagner (12), and McGuinness (11). Kamen also added 10 rebounds for another double-double. With upcoming weekend series’ against Mount Royal (6-6) and UNBC (4-8), UBC (5-7) now has a good opportunity to rack up some wins and put themselves back in the playoff hunt. U —With files from Natalie Scadden
Photo kosta prodanovic/the ubyssey
UBC’s Brylle Kamen totalled 45 points and 23 rebounds this weekend with two double-double performances against top teams.
Women’s basketball drops first home games of 2014
Dramatic late comeback falls short against Canada West-leading Huskies Bailey Ramsay Staff Writer
Photo kosta prodanovic/the ubyssey
Kris Young had 24 points, seven rebounds and seven steals on Saturday night, but UBC fell 55-53 to the conference-leading Saskatchewan Huskies.
The first home games of 2014 for the UBC women’s basketball team didn’t quite go according to plan. Hoping to get some revenge against the Alberta Pandas, who returned to War Memorial Gym for the first time since knocking UBC out of the playoffs last February, the Thunderbirds deteriorated in the fourth quarter, eventually dropping what was largely a close contest 56-47. Alberta’s strong defense proved to be too much — UBC would finish the game shooting just 35 per cent from the field. “I thought we got a lot of good looks and we just weren’t finishing,” said UBC assistant coach Carrie Watts, a former UBC guard who captained the Thunderbirds to a national title in 2004. “Basketball games are a lot easier when the ball goes through the hoop, and tonight the ball just wasn’t dropping.” A scoreless game lingered for the first few minutes until Harleen Sidhu gave UBC a lead as her layup earned the first two points. Both teams appeared to be evenly matched and pushed each early on. With Alberta holding a one-point advantage in the last minute of the first quarter, UBC's Maggie Sundberg drib-
bled through the key and hit a well-timed jump shot, giving the T-Birds a small 14-13 lead. The second quarter saw both teams unable to gain a substantial lead over the other. UBC took a four-point lead towards the end of the half only to have Alberta snag it back. Alberta began the second half on a 12-2 run, but UBC was able to bounce back somewhat, keeping the Pandas within reach with the score 44-38 heading into the fourth. At that point, what was a close game fell apart offensively for the T-Birds as Alberta went on another 12-2 run to start the fourth. “I think the physical play got to us a little bit and we didn’t respond with enough power or strength,” said Watts. “I think the looks we had in the first and second half were pretty similar and the difference was they were dropping in the first half and [in] the second half they just weren’t.” The 12-point streak raised the score from 40-44 to 40-56. UBC’s offence couldn’t find the basket, while Alberta’s strong offense consistently created difficulties for the T-Birds' defensive strategies towards the end of an otherwise close game. In the final minute, UBC’s Sundberg sunk a three-pointer and Cherub
Lum hit a jumper that finished the game off at the final score of 56-47 for the Pandas. “Any time we hold a team in the 50s defensively is a good defensive effort on our part,” said Watts. Kris Young, currently seventh in the Canada West scoring race, was the leading scorer for UBC with 14 points. Harleen Sidhu was close behind with 11. Alberta took a big advantage when it came to bench points, outscoring UBC's bench 25-4. UBC was back in action on Saturday night to face the Canada West-leading University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Trailing by as many as nine points late in the fourth quarter, a dramatic comeback by UBC fell short. Down 55-50 with eight seconds remaining, Cassandra Knievel drained a three-ball to pull UBC within a bucket with four seconds left. She then stole Saskatchewan’s inbounds pass, but her last second heave fell short at the final buzzer. Young once again led UBC with 24 points, seven rebounds and seven steals. With the two losses, UBC falls to 7-5 this season and will head to Calgary this weekend for two games against the Mount Royal Cougars (1-11). U —With files from Natalie Scadden
MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2014
| SPORTS + REC | 7
HOCKEY >>
Rafter powers UBC women’s hockey with record-breaking performance T-Birds lead Canada West with 16-3-1 record, need 2 more wins to top last year’s historic season total Jenny Tang Staff Writer
There’s no stopping Tatiana Rafter and the UBC women’s hockey team, who came away with two more victories this weekend to increase their lead on the rest of Canada West. Rafter’s five points — a hat trick and two assists — on Friday night sealed her place in UBC’s record books for both the most points in a single game and the most in a season (29 and counting). Additionally, with eight regular-season games remaining, UBC needs just two more victories to surpass their alltime best win total in a season — a record they set during last year's historic season. In their first home series of 2014, the ’Birds continued their win streak and showed off their skills with solid offense and defense, capitalizing on their powerplays on Friday night and then coming up big in a shootout on Saturday. On Friday night, UBC scored on four out of their nine power plays. Rafter opened the scoring in the first powerplay nine minutes in, assisted by Nicole Saxvik and Stephanie Payne. Cougar Kendra Finch had tipped an equalizing goal past Danielle Dube with four minutes remaining in the first period. Thirty seconds into the second period, Rafter again put UBC up by a goal, scoring off Saxvik’s pass from behind the net. Rebecca Unrau later passed a mid-air shot to Rafter, who tipped it into the top of the net to complete her hat trick — her 15th goal of the season. Harheet Parhar increased the ’Birds’ lead with her first goal of the season, a weave from Sarah Casorso and Christi Capozzi to make the score 4-1 by the end of the second period. In the third period, a fiveon-three power play resulted in Hannah Heisler redirecting the puck to the back of the net for UBC’s fifth goal of the night. The final goal went to Casorso in the middle of another powerplay, and UBC walked away victorious at 6-1. UBC head coach Graham Thomas was very pleased with the outcome. “[I’m] definitely really
BIRD DROPPINGS Women’s hockey (16-3-1) Friday vs. REg: 6-1 W Saturday vs. REg: 2-1 W (SO) Men’s hockey (7-10-1) Friday @ REg: 4-2 W Saturday @ REg: 4-3 W (SO) Women’s basketball (7-5) Friday vs. ALB: 56-47 L Saturday vs. SASk: 55-53 L Men’s basketball (5-7) Friday vs. ALB: 77-61 L Saturday vs. SASk: 93-88 W Women’s volleyball (14-0) Friday @ uBCO: 3-1 W Saturday @ uBCO: 3-0 W Men’s volleyball (9-3) Friday @ uBCO: 3-0 L Saturday @ uBCO: 3-2 L FiLE PhOtO JOSh CuRRAN/thE uBySSEy
uBC”s tatiana Rafter had a hat trick and two assists on Friday night against Regina.
happy and really impressed with the team effort. We were really solid, we were all at our best.” On Saturday, the game changed quite quickly as Regina fought back. “We [have] to give Regina a lot of credit,” said Thomas. “They pushed back and made a solid game and we didn’t play as strong, especially in the first half of the game.” UBC opened the scoring with a wide pass from Capozzi, which enabled rookie Melissa Goodwin to slot the puck into the back of the net six minutes into the game. However, Regina bit back a few minutes later as Brooklyn Moskowy slipped the puck between Danielle Lemon’s legs with UBC struggling on the penalty kill. Despite some excellent chances for both sides, the goalies held their own and the 1-1 tie remained through to the end of the third period, sending the game into overtime. With the score still deadlocked, it all came down to a shootout.
Regina’s Kendra Finch was the first to tally a goal, but UBC followed with a goal from Kathleen Kahoon. A save by Lemon allowed Rafter to put the game away for UBC. Saturday’s win was Lemon’s first shootout victory of the season and her fourth in total. She made 22 much needed-saves, particularly in overtime when it could have been anyone’s game. Lemon was satisfied with the win, seeing as she lost against Regina last semester, also in shootouts. “I let in a couple of goals to Regina last time we played them, so [stopping] the shootout shots and getting the win was really satisfying tonight.” With the weekend sweep, UBC currently stand in first place in the Canada West Conference with 16 wins. They'll look to extend their lead next week when they face the University of Alberta Pandas (12-5-3) in Edmonton on Friday. U
CANADA WEST WOMEN’S HOCKEY LEADING SCORERS PLAyER
gOALS ASSiStS tOtAL
Tatiana Rafter, UBC
15
14
29
Cami Wooster, SASK
14
9
12
Kyleigh Palmer, MAN
9
7
19
Sarah Casorso, UBC
12
13
19
Meagan Vestby, MAN
6
13
18
Jayden Skoye, ALB
5
6
16
Nicole Saxvik, UBC
10
9
16
Stephanie Schaupmeyer, UBC
7
9
16
Kaitlin Willoughby, SASK
7
9
16
Maggie Litchfield-Medd, MAN
7
8
15
Monday, January 13, 2014 |
EDitOR RHYS EDWARDS
PROCRASTINATION STATION
BAD DOGE Will wacky Bitcoin spinoffs ever become valuable? Move over, Liz — we want a new face on our currency. Spinoff s of the open-source cryptocurrency Litecoin have been generating attention in the media as of late, and it’s no surprise; they are the first currencies in human history to be rooted in viral pop culture. Although artists have been riffing on money and its associated imagery for years, Dogecoin, Coinye and RonPaulCoin are among the first populist currencies that can actually be exchanged for goods and services — theoretically, at least. the popularity of these Litecoin derivatives has peaked in recent weeks due to a couple of Bitcoin-centred headlines: on Christmas day, a hacker managed to make off with several million Dogecoin (about $12,000 u.S.) by rewiring all transactions on the Dogecoin network to a single address; and last Friday, the developers of Coinye announced that, after being sent a cease-and-desist letter from kanye West’s lawyers, they had redesigned their currency so as to avoid explicitly referencing the rapper, instead replacing him with a “half-man-half-fish hybrid who is wearing sunglasses.” Whimsy aside, the ascendance of these currencies represents something more profound: the re-appropriation of currency itself. Whereas over the past several centuries global currencies were manufactured and monitored by centralized governmental treasuries and banks, Bitcoin, Litecoin and its fecund spinoff s were created by enthusiastic programmers outside the purview of institutions. they can be used by virtually anyone with access to the internet, and they require no agreements, oversight, credit history or home address; every transaction is completely transparent. in this sense, they are truly democratic currencies. Economists have major reservations about them, however. “they are quite limited in use,” said Werner Antweiler, professor of economics at the Sauder School of Business and cryptocurrency specialist. “they are essentially traded among the users of those popular websites or platforms, in which they are usable and can be exchanged between the participants. So in that sense, they’re only really useful within the very nearest scope of their committed users, and they’re not really fungible across a much wider group of users. “What’s pop culture today isn’t going to be what’s pop culture tomorrow. And so if people invest into one pop culture currency and then the pop culture changes, and that particular item disappears, then the value of all these currencies is going to disappear, because you can’t exchange them to another currency.” herein, then, lies the peculiar crux of these cryptocurrency spinoff s. they are a double-edged sword: the massive popularity of their source imagery, and the open-source platform on which they are based, has the potential to stimulate market interest far beyond that of conventional currencies, or even Bitcoin; but the transient nature of this imagery ultimately ensures the devaluation of these currencies. in the long term, the flooding of the market with wacky currency could even damage the market potential of cryptocurrency altogether. By permitting free range access to its soft ware, the developers of Litecoin may have shot themselves in the foot. Such dilemma. Very problem. Wow. U –Rhys Edwards, Culture Editor
8
fOOd >>
Full stomachs, full wallets
Dine Out Vancouver festival offers premium quality cuisine and special menus for students on a budget
iLLuStRAtiON iNDiANA JOEL/thE uBySSEy
Dine Out allows uBC students to sample some of the best cuisine in the city on the cheap — but for some of us, it’s really more a matter of pragmatism.
Reyhana Heatherington Senior Lifestyle Writer
Students are accustomed to pressure-cooker situations, but the heat will be turned up extra high on student chefs participating in the inaugural Chef Soup Experiment this Friday. Fifty top chefs from around the city will each contribute one ingredient to the soup before the public can taste samples at 12:30 p.m. on Granville Island as part of Tourism Vancouver’s Dine Out Vancouver. This year, 263 restaurants are participating in the 11th annual food festival, which offers three-course meals for $18, $28 and $38. Negar Amiri, member and sponsor relations associate with Tourism Vancouver, graduated with a marketing degree from UBC in May 2013. She says a need for balance as a university student was the reason she ended up volunteering for Tourism Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympics before eventually working for the company. “That’s why I started volunteering: to get out of the school scene, to do something off-campus,” Amiri said. Like many students, Amiri lived on campus for one year and experienced “limited” food options at UBC. She encourages students to take advantage of the affordable cuisine around the city during Dine Out. Lucas Pavan, who graduated from the Commerce program at UBC in 1994, is the festival coordinator, the “big cheese” of Dine Out Vancouver. Pavan, who majored in transportation and logistics, said apart from the special restaurant deals, Dine Out has become a more widespread affair over the last five years. “I’ve certainly changed the way the festival runs,” Pavan said. “Previously it was just a restaurant promotion, and now we’ve added the event component and it’s certainly grown and taken on a life of its own.” After graduating from UBC, Pavan worked as a bike tour guide in Europe.
He said this relationship-building work contributed to his eventual success in event planning, including the launch of Vancouver’s original street food festival. This year, Street Food City III will include a rotation of 23 food trucks at the Vancouver Art Gallery. “One of the greatest achievement for me is really seeing tens of thousands of
people that are congregating on the steps of the Art Gallery,” Pavan said. “Seeing it being attended by that number of people is really fulfilling.” U Dine Out Vancouver runs from Jan.17 to Feb. 2 at various locations around the city, and will run contests through social media during the festival.
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DINE OUT OPTIONS FOR UBC STUDENTS Restaurants near campus serving three-course meals for $18 include: Maria’s Taverna , at West Fourth and Vine, is an intimate greek family-run restaurant, where entrées alone usually range from $15–$22. Romer’s Burger Bar , on West Fourth near Cypress, is one of three Vancouver area Romer’s, created by the executive chef of Milestones. Burgers run $12–$15 here on a regular day. On campus, the Point Grill at Marine Drive Residence and Mahony’s on university Boulevard are also participating in the threecourse $18 special menus.
PhOtOS By CARtER BRuNDAgE AND gEOFF LiStER; ADDitiONAL PhOtOS ViA gOOgLE MAPS
Clockwise from top left: Mahony’s (5990 university Blvd.), the Point grill (2205 Lower Mall), Romer’s Burger Bar (1873 West Fourth Ave.), Maria’s taverna (2324 West Fourth Ave.).
MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2014
THEATRE >>
Ten years on the edge
| CULTURE | 9
BZZR >>
Pit Pub switches brew partner
PuSh festival returns to provoke Vancouver
Aurora Tejeida Senior Culture Writer
Ten years ago, Vancouver’s PuSh festival was just a series of three performances. This year, the festival’s program includes 20 main stage performances, plus a club venue on Granville Island with 12 shows, along with youth programs, conversation series’ and films. “[PuSh] is a performing arts festival that takes place over three weeks in January that presents theatre, dance, music, multimedia and everything in between,” said associate curator Joyce Rosario. Rosario graduated from UBC’s theatre department in 2003, which means she was at school when the festival’s first ever performance was happening. The first PuSh performance Rosario saw was K at UBC’s Frederic Wood Theatre in 2004. “Our program is about pushing artistic boundaries and taking risks,” she said. The shows take place in different venues across the city, such as the Dance Centre, the Vancouver Playhouse, the Frederic Wood Theatre at UBC and many more. “Every year, we add new venues to the roster. This year, one of the new venues is the Fox Cabaret, which is on Main Street — an adult theatre cinema that has been converted into a cabaret,” said Rosario. <em>
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Some of the shows are also site-specific. This year, two of them are taking place at the Vancouver Art Gallery: the Human Library, which was a success last year at the Vancouver Public Library, and The Quiet Volume. In The Quiet Volume, the performers are audience members who are instructed through headphones to interact with a series of books. The festival has grown exponentially in the last five years, not only in the number of performances, but also in terms of audience and budget. Rosario estimates that roughly 35,000 people attended last year’s festival. “It won’t be quite as big this year, just because we have different venues with different capacities at play. But it will be close to that I imagine,” she said. One of the new additions this year is a youth program available to anyone between the ages of 16 and 24. It will include a youth passport that will provide young people with the opportunity to see some shows for as cheap as $5. Club PuSh is another noteworthy addition to the festival, something of a festival inside a festival. “It’s the hub,” said Rosario. “It’s where people meet. It’s our venue for more experimental performances.” The festival also has a series of shows that focus on contemporary aboriginal artists. This year’s program includes a show
at Club PuSh called Huff, which is about residential schools. Another highlight is a screening of Nanook of the North, which will feature the famous Tanya Tagaq’s vocal talents as well as violinist Jesse Zubot and drummer Jean Martin in a rendition of Derek Charke’s original film score to this well-known silent film directed by Robert Flaherty. “It’s super exciting to be screening that film ... and [to be] seeing it in a different light then what the filmmaker had originally done,” added Rosario. Nanook of the North is at the top of the list of shows you shouldn’t miss this year, along with any performance at the York Theatre, one of the city’s brand new venues. Also in the list is Kitchen, a take on Andy Warhol films and the 60s. “It is a blowyour-mind kind of experience that incorporates film and live theatre as well as very unique elements of audience participation,” Rosario said. Along with Kitchen, shows like The Quiet Volume and Super Night Shot prove that audience participation is an important element of this year’s program. But if participation is not your thing, check out Inheritor Album by Vancouver’s own 605 Collective. “It’s the first time we’re presenting a dance company that’s locally based,” said Rosario. U The PuSh Performing Arts festival runs from Jan. 14 to Feb. 2. </em>
PhOtO COuRtESy PuSh FiLM FEStiVAL
Super Night Shot is a project by the Berlin-based gob Arts Collective. Every Super Night Shot film is shot 60 minutes before it is screened. the Vancouver screening will open the PuSh festival at the Vancouver Playhouse on Jan. 14.
CULTURE VULTURE Art Made in Taiwan, an exhibit featuring both historical and contemporary artworks inspired by traditional taiwanese culture, is currently on exhibt at irving k. Barber Centre. Designed to dispel preconceptions about taiwan, the exhibit includes artworks from the aboriginal peoples of taiwan as well as historical porcelain items, jewellery and other objets d’art. the collection
was organized by the taiwanese Cultural Society and the taipei Economic and Cultural Office. it is on display until Jan. 28. Sexy geeks On Jan. 18 at 6:30 p.m., the Cellar Nightclub (1006 granville St.) will host Nightmare After Christmas, a live burlesque show themed around tim Burton’s popular cult film. there will be a trivia contest and visitors are encouraged to dress as their favourite Burton character. U
PhOtO gEOFF LiStER/thE uBySSEy
the Pit hopes that the new brews will help attract students, though Molson is still available.
Rhys Edwards Culture Editor
After over 40 years in business, the Pit Pub is switching its brewing partner in an effort to reignite student attendance. Since the Pit first opened in 1973, Molson-Coors was the pub’s primary supplier. However, in the face of flagging visitor numbers over the past year — due to construction on the New SUB and increased local competition, among other factors — Gary Carlson, the new manager of the campus staple, decided that a switch was in order. For its last semester in the current SUB, and for the indefinite future, the Pit will partner with Labatt Breweries. “It was felt that Labatt had a really strong understanding of the demographic at UBC and the types of products that would go over really well in the pub,” said Carlson, who took over management of the Pit in October last year. “They were willing to put a lot of time
and energy and money behind promotions and giveaways.” Along with plans for increased promotional offers and events over the next semester, the switch comes with a new roster. “I’ve been hearing from the students that they wanted a change in some of the draughts, and I thought the second term was a good chance to do so,” said Carlson. The Pit’s primary house beer, which has been reduced in price, is now T-Bird Lager. Other offerings include Kokanee, Shock Top (a Belgian-style wheat ale), Alexander Keith’s Amber Ale, and two local craft beers, R &B Brewing’s Raven Cream Ale and Parallel 49’s Gypsy Tears. But Carlson notes that Molson products are still on offer. “We never do anything exclusive,” he said. “It’s just that we wanted to change our primary draught supplier in the pub. “It’s always good to change and keep things fresh.” U
Monday, January 13, 2014 |
student voice. Community reach.
10
Why education is not a right Michael sullivan
Op-Ed
illustration indiana joel/the ubyssey
LAST WORDS High-minded protest a little misguided UBC’s Hempology Club staged a protest of sorts in the SUB last week — a vape-in, if you will. Marijuana should be legal, no question, just like the government shouldn’t ban people from drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes. However, the reality is this is hardly a courageous battle. If you want to get high at UBC, you can get high at UBC. But if you want to go behind the back of the AMS — which oversees the SUB — and break the law to prove a point that doesn’t need proving, you’re going to come off as petty and childish. The club wants to set up a vape lounge in the SUB, which seems fair enough given that there are already two bars. But they shouldn’t alienate the people who control the SUB in their quest to do so.
PArting shots and snap judgments from The ubyssey editorial board
attend class in one of the most beautiful campus buildings, which up until now had been limited to use by a dwindling number of theology students. One of the best parts of UBC is its campus, and the acquisition of the building will allow the university to convert more of Point Grey’s architectural beauty into a functional part of our academic experience. The price UBC paid — nearly $30 million — will also help VST, which has been struggling with financial and enrollment issues in recent years, to continue to fulfill their educational mission. The sad part is that the VST will be losing the crown jewel of their campus. The Iona Building is an icon, and it’s always sad to see institutions forced to sell of their landmarks. There is also the irony of a school of religion being converted to a school of capitalism. Still, one academic institution selling to another seems far preferable to the VST being forced to turn to private developers or other buyers to improve their financial standing.
Derek Moore resignation too little, too late Iona Building sale happy and sad The sale of the historic Iona Building from the Vancouver School of Theology to UBC is a somewhat exciting, if partially sad piece of news. The exciting part is that starting next year, economics students and many other Arts students will get to
AMS VP Admin Derek Moore announced that he will be resigning at the end of the month. He will be resigning just weeks before the end of his term, which is a rather absurd thing to do. The odd action suggests Moore, who has been the subject of internal rumblings within the AMS for months, was pressured to resign. If that’s the case, it was clearly too little and far too
late — why would he be allowed to perform his job so poorly that he would be called on to resign just before the newly elected VP external will take his place? In the event he was not pressured to resign, it still makes little sense that he would announce that he would be stepping down effective at the end of the month. If this is in fact a case of Moore needing to step down for personal reasons because he is unable to continue in his current role, he should step down sooner than the end of the month. If whatever the issue is can in fact wait until the end of the month, Moore or the AMS should have had him continue through the regular transition process to maintain stability within the student society.
Get paid to blog! But actually Although the AMS has done little to advertise it so far, they have a pot of $1,000 to give out to students who run AMS election blogs. In the first year of the AMS’s Voter-Funded Media (VFM) program, 13 blogs participated, and were paid anywhere from $500 to $1,500 each. Last year, only two blogs vied for a measly $1,000. The money has shrunk significantly over the years, but there's still cash up for grabs, and there seems to be little competition. We try to cover the AMS elections as thoroughly and accurately as possible, but it’s nice to have other media to keep us in check and students informed. We hope more students will take advantage of VFM this year. You can apply until 5 p.m. Monday. U
ST. JOHN’S — To say that tuition is too low is an unthinkable offense to “student movement” fundamentalists, for surely “education is a right.” However, despite my own immediate interests and an excess of Canadian Federation of Students posters dangling around the Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) campus, I have come to a different conclusion. I have come to believe that tuition fees should not be lowered. Rather, they should be raised. Low-tuition advocates claim that higher fees constitute a barrier to education for students from low-income backgrounds and deter them from studying at post-secondary institutions. Although this claim seems compelling, there is no empirical evidence to support it. In 2007, for example, high-tuition jurisdictions Nova Scotia and Ontario had high rates of university participation for youth from lower-income families at 42.7 per cent and 42.5 per cent respectively. In Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador, low-tuition provinces, only 36.7 per cent and (a shockingly low) 30.1 per cent of such youth are students. However, participation rates for the top three quartiles are highest in our province. With provisions in place for student loans and grants, tuition is not a significant deterrent to education. In fact, raising tuition would allow the university to take more of wealthier students’ money, which could be used to pay for aid programs and other investments that could improve our education. It is also unfair to keep tuition rates too low. In Canada, high school graduates earn just over half of what university graduates do on average; that is, university students benefit tremendously from their degrees. Furthermore, they are the prime beneficiaries of their own educations. An investment in a degree benefits the recipient more than anyone else; graduates are in a position to eventually pay for their degrees; and the alternatives to a tuition hike are: i) no new funding for MUN, ii) more debt
or iii) higher taxes. Thus, it is reasonable to expect students to pay more. Like low-tuition advocates, I believe MUN could do better with more funding. I merely also believe the best way to get this funding is from its direct beneficiaries in the case that they can pay. Weighing a tax increase against a tuition increase is particularly interesting as it raises the question: should the general public be forced to pay for degrees that will likely make their recipients better off than average? The common sense answer is no — to suggest yes is to endorse an upward redistribution of wealth. But even if raising tuition fees provides a net benefit, do people have some inviolable right to education? Of course not. Rights are things that government can’t take away from you without first unreasonably violating your person, not things they have to give you. So, while access to education is a right, having tuition paid for is not. Furthermore, subsidized education is not a constitutionally enshrined right in Canada. And the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights does not compel signatories to axe tuition. By dogmatically suggesting that education is a right, the Canadian Federation of Students’ prevents dialogue on pragmatic reforms to Canadian education—dialogues that don’t always start and end with tuition elimination. As a student, it is not in my immediate interest to be arguing for higher tuition. But the interests of society as indicated by reason, and general principles of justice, should come above crude calculations of immediate self-interest. Public investments in education are essential. But in finding the right balances, open-mindedness and willingness to consider a variety of alternatives is essential. In this case, it seems as though a policy unthinkable to many is one that could be beneficial for most. This article originally appeared in The Muse and won the John H. MacDonald award for best opinion writing in Canadian student journalism at the Canadian University Press National Conference this weekend.
Have an opinion about something? Write for Opinions! Email editor Arno Rosenfeld at features@ubyssey.ca
Photo courtesy kick_start/flickr
Monday, January 13, 2014 |
PiCtuRES + WORDS ON yOuR uNiVERSity EXPERiENCE
11
By the numbers: who’s running in this year’s AMS elections The Ubyssey conducted a survey to get to know this year’s AMS election candidates a little better. Here are some of their answers.
Candidates by gender:
In a sorority or fraternity?
∑∑
Men: 2
2 Women:1 1
Yes: 9 No:
23
Should alleged crack-smoking Toronto mayor Rob Ford resign?
Where are their hometowns?
Yes: 25
Lower Mainland: 15 Elsewhere in Canada: 6 International: 9
No: 4 Unsure: 3
New Ubyssey staff meeting times! Wednesdays @ noon Learn how to do journalism at your campus rag!
12 | GAMES |
MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2014
SUDOKU
PuZZLE COuRtESy kRAZyDAD. uSED With PERMiSSiON.
PuZZLE COuRtESy BEStCROSSWORDS.COM. uSED With PERMiSSiON.
across 1- Dept. of Labor div. 5- Feudal estate 10- Commedia dell’___ 14- Blame 15- All together 16- Antlered animal 17- in spite of 20- type of ballot 21- Matters 22- ___-X 23- Dance move 24- Easy gallop 28- Burst of laughter 29- Brillo rival 32- the end of ___ 33- ___ Brockovich 34- Drug-yielding plant 35- Divide up 38- gather, harvest 39- Expectant desire 40- One on track? 41- Building annex 42- Skills 43- Emphasis 44- Nice notion 45- thor heyerdahl craft 46- Stupid 49- Anticlimax 54- Arterial plaque deposit 56- Draft classification 57- Clock faces
58- Actress turner 59- Marine mammal, secure something 60- Brewer’s need 61- A wedding cake may have three of these
doWN 1- Mrs. Chaplin 2- highbrow 3- Rude dwellings 4- Even ___ speak... 5- Something that occupies space 6- gray 7- Centrepiece of the human face 8- Canadian prov. 9- Catalyst’s counterpart 10- Make sense 11- Bridle strap 12- Portable shelter 13- Energy units 18- Ready to roll 19- Christmas 23- River that flows through Paris 24- training group 25- Slippery as ___ 26- Sherpa’s home 27- Snare 28- gets ready 29- Pizzeria order 30- Seeps 31- Prophets
33- ham it up 34- Banned apple spray 36- Dirge 37- More bohemian 42- Purim month 43- Most reasonable 44- Model 45- tumbles 46- Neighbor of Cambodia 47- Magazine founder Eric 48- Perlman of Cheers 49- Final Four org. 50- Electrical unit 51- Actor Morales 52- Baseball team 53- Nicholas ii was the last Russian one 55- Sprechen ___ Deutsch?;
STILL WINNING AWARDS AT 95 e
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Graphic Design: “Behind the building” by Indiana Joel Best Front Page: “UBC’s copyright crusade” by Kai Jacobson, Jeff Aschkinasi and Indiana Joel Multimedia: “8 a.m. party bus to UBC” by Lu Zhang and Nick Grossman
th
this past week, The Ubyssey picked up three John h. McDonald Awards for excellence in student journalism at the 76th annual conference of the Canadain university Press in Edmonton. Congratulations to this year’s winners: