October 30, 2014

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Opinions : Katic vs . Vu on th the AGM e outcom . e of

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october 30, 2014 | VoLuME XcVI | IssuE xIX Why am i a dog? since 1918

Making

History

Quorum reached for the first time in over 40 years as students come together during the AMS AGM. P5

Thursday, OCTOBER 30, 2014 |

YOUR GUIDE TO UBC EVENTS, PEOPLE + CAMPUS

EVENTS Friday

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ONE ON ONE WITH THE PEOPLE and buildings that MAKE UBC

31

the calendar halloween

9:00 p.m. @ koerner’s pub

The Calendar is hosting two Halloween parties this year, one for all ages and one 19+. Both parties promise good times, cool costumes and great people.

Tickets $20

Sat-sun

1-2

PHOTO cherihan hassun / THE UBYSSEY

Siân Echard is a English literature and medieval studies professor who has a focus on Arthurian literature.

ubc t-birds swim meet

saturday 10:30 a.m. - sunday 3:30 p.m. @ ubc aquatic centre

UBC is hosting the 2014 Odlum Brown Colleges Cup | Pacific at the UBC Aquatic Centre this weekend. Come cheer on the ’Birds at this Canada West competition. Free

Saturday

1-30

movember

November 1 - 30 @ ubc/all over the world

Take advantage of your annual opportunity to see how you look with a stache with (relatively) little risk of being made fun of. Raise awareness and money for men’s health and look stylish with your grown or drawn-on stache. Free

ON THE COVER Making quorum at the AGM was one of the best displays of activism at UBC in years.

-Photo Cherihan Hassun

editorial

STAFF

october 30, 2014 | Volume XCVI | Issue xIX BUSINESS

CONTACT Editorial Office: SUB 24 604.822.2301

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Austen Erhardt Opinions & Blog Editor

At first glance, UBC prof Siân Echard appears to check off a number of boxes of the stereotypical university academic.

She’s an English literature and medieval studies professor, and has spent hundreds of hours poring over centuries-old manuscripts, translating texts from ancient languages and deciphering meaning in pre-modern prose and poetry. Spend five minutes in one of her classes, however, and you’ll quickly see what sets Echard apart from her peers and the mass media portrayal of her profession.

For Echard, the study of old and middle English goes beyond Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales. One of her areas of focus is Arthurian literature — texts based on the story of the legendary King Arthur. In her classes, students reading aloud middle English poetry and writing with quills on parchment is as common a sight as her lecturing.

My parents were interested in castles and cathedrals and Roman ruins and all that kind of stuff … so it was kind of a backdrop to my growing up.”

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Siân Echard is a prof of the round table

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Siân Echard UBC English and medieval studies professor

Echard grew up in Ontario in an academic family. Her grandfather passed away when she was very young, and her parents decided to spend their summers in Wales to be with Echard’s grandmother. Though many know the story of Arthur solely through Disney animations, movies and children’s stories, the Arthurian myth — or history, depending on who you ask — is a significant aspect of Welsh and Britannic culture; a culture in which Echard was immersed for much of her life.

“Because [her parents] were academics, summer was very

long. Even once we were in school they would just take us out of school in May and we would live in Wales. So it meant that I spent most of my childhood summers in Wales. My parents were interested in castles and cathedrals and Roman ruins and all that kind of stuff … so it was kind of a backdrop to my growing up,” Echard said.

Echard started at Queen’s University unsure of what, exactly, she wanted to study.

Interested in history, languages and English literature, she was torn between the subjects that she had come to love growing up and was just beginning to explore in an academic context.

I love the beginning of a project, when you have just a vague idea and you start digging into archives to see … or you don’t even know what you’re looking for and then you have that ‘aha’ moment, and suddenly you think, ‘oh, that’s it!’”

“Then when I was in university, in my second year of undergrad ... I took a history course, taught by someone who I later discovered was a graduate of the program that I would go on to do (the Centre for Medieval Studies at U of T). And it was a standard, early-Middle Agestype course. But, it was interdisciplinary. So we read literary works, we did some art history.

It wasn’t just history,” Echard said. “That was the point at which I decided that I would do medieval studies. I ended up doing literary studies within medieval studies, partly because I liked languages so much.”

Echard is bilingual, speaking English and French, comfortable with German and literate in Latin and medieval Welsh. She also knows basic conversational modern Welsh and, impressively, can easily pronounce Llanfair­ pwllgwyn­g yllgo­gery­chwyrn­ drobwll­llanty­silio­gogo­goch — the verbose name of a Welsh train station.

Echard’s role as a professor is twofold: her time is split between teaching and researching.

“I love the beginning of a project, when you have just a vague idea and you start digging into archives to see … or you don’t even know what you’re looking for and then you have that ‘aha’ moment, and suddenly you think, ‘oh, that’s it!’ And all the stuff that didn’t make sense suddenly makes sense,” she said.

Although the manuscripts that Echard studies tend to be, at minimum, hundreds of years old and carefully protected and preserved, that doesn’t mean that they’re completely off limits. Echard’s first up-closeand-personal experience with a manuscript was when she was a graduate student at U of T, with a famous book called the Hunterian Psalter.

Though Echard has greater access than many people through her academic position, she pointed out that undergraduates can get involved, too.

“Here at UBC, Rare Books & Special Collections is open to anybody with a library card.

You just have to obey their rules and put your stuff in a locker and all that. But we have some really interesting old books at UBC that you can ask to see!”

Echard said.

When it came to selecting her favourite text, Echard chose the 4,000-line Alliterative Morte Arthure as her favourite poem, but struggled to narrow it down to a single book, ultimately identifying Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy — and appendices — as her ‘stranded on an island’ reading material.

Ultimately, for Echard, the best part of her job is the teaching and constant interaction with students.

“I love teaching. I’m very happy to be at a research university, and I really enjoy research.

I can get lost in the library for hours … But in terms of day-today rewards, teaching is the one from which — because there’s always feedback and because it always changes, even if you’re teaching the same thing over and over again, students never react in exactly the same way — you just get constant feedback.” U

Thursday, OCTOBER 30, 2014 |

EDITORS Jovana Vranic + Veronika Bondarenko

3

research >>

UBC professor studies rehabilitation of aboriginal inmates David Nixon Senior Staff Writer

A UBC professor wants to change the way we look at criminal rehabilitation.

UBC nursing professor Helen Brown has received roughly $150,000 in funding from the Movember Foundation to study the effect of replacing idle time of male aboriginal inmates with work aimed at giving back to impoverished children and families.

“You can teach someone employment skills and do rehabilitation post-release,” said Brown.

“But the vision here is deeper than that … when you give to others you develop the kind of self worth that is at the root of rehabilitation.”

The Movember Foundation’s Men’s Health & Wellbeing Innovation Challenge announced on October 20 that $2.2 million would be spread across 15 winning projects for “creative and innovative ideas that [aim] to disrupt longheld assumptions about men’s health, focus on positive elements of masculinity, and get men to take action with their health.” Among the list of recipients like “Beer League

Doctor” and “Hockey Fans in Training,” Brown’s project sticks out as one of the more interesting applications of this goal.

Brown was invited to join the project by retired Ferndale Warden Brian Lang. He spearheaded the project and has been working on it for seven months already. Brown received a lot of raised eyebrows over it — the project treats the inmates as co-researchers, and she called it “almost more activism” than research. But that’s exactly why she wanted to do it, even though it was outside of her field of expertise.

There are 25 men currently involved in the project across three sites in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region. Jobs for the men involve making furniture, toys, cultural items and growing food. All of it is sent to the most impoverished First Nations children and families in B.C. Those children have begun writing to thank the inmates as well, which Brown says has further motivated the men. This element of helping others is integral to the project.

Why aboriginal men? “It’s tackling a significant issue of over-representation,” Brown said.

photo thomas hawk/flickr

UBC nursing professor Helen Brown is helping aboriginal men in prisons rehabilitate themselves by giving back to their communities.

Statistics Canada reported in 2010/2011 that 20 per cent of federal inmates in custody were aboriginal. It’s 27 per cent for Provincial and Territorial prisons. In the overall Canadian population, First Nations account for about three per cent. Another report in 2003 showed offence rates for aboriginal males were at 58 per cent, while non-aboriginal rates were 42 per cent.

“The normal methods of rehabilitation are not working for these men,” said Brown.

Now, with funding from the Movember Foundation, Brown will study metrics such as early release dates and repeat offences among the men over two years and see if the new strategies have an impact. Those metrics are a long way off, but already she has heard and recorded testimony

from the men in the program which has both moved and impressed her.

“Some of them have had horrific lives,” said Brown, “but I’ve met some very articulate, thoughtful people who are on a path now [and] they’re going to be a force when they leave in terms of what they’re going to do and who they want to be. It’s really amazing to see that.” U

NEWS BRIEFS

languages >>

University of Alberta President to become Distinguished Fellow in Residence at UBC

Mark Turin is advocating for the preservation and revival of Canadian First Nations languages

Current University of Alberta president Indira Samarasekera will be coming to UBC in 2015.

Samarasekera, who has been president of U of A since 2005, will be joining UBC’s Liu Institute for Global Issues as a Distinguished Fellow in Residence. Samarasekera, who has a Masters in mechanical engineering from the University of California and a PhD in metallurgical engineering from UBC, also served as Vice President Research at UBC prior to beginning her position at U of A. UBC holds town hall on fee increase proposals A consultation was held on October 28 at 10 a.m. in the SUB Ballroom to provide students with detailed information about the proposed 2015 international tuition and residence fee increases.

UBC Vice Provost and Associate VP Enrolment and Academic Facilities, Angela Redish, led a presentation outlining the details of the university’s proposals, and later, along with VP Students Louise Cowin and representatives from the UBC Board of Governors, answered questions posed by students in attendance. Only about five students were present at the town hall’s peak.

The next public meetings on the topic of fee increases are planned to take place next week. According to Cowin, UBC will be sending out broadcast e-mails to inform students of when they can take part in consultations. Until then, students are encouraged to voice their opinions and ask questions online at UBC’s Consultations’ site. U

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UBC professor hopes to bring more aboriginal language study to UBC Mateo Ospina Staff Writer

A UBC anthropology professor is hoping to bring aboriginal languages to the forefront of language study at UBC. Mark Turin, who is chair of the university’s First Nations Language Program and a registered student in the same program, has an academic background in studies of endangered languages around the world. He is currently working towards a future in First Nations studies that focuses on a partnership between the university and indigenous communities.

The First Nations Language Program currently offers opportunities to study languages such as Cree, Kwak’wala, Nle’kepmxcin and Dakelh Dene. In order to expand the program’s curriculum to include more indigenous languages, Turin has immersed himself in the language and cultures of aboriginal peoples from the wider B.C. area to work directly toward the goal of reviving these languages that have only a few speakers left.

“We’re probably seeing the last generation of fluent speakers of many of these languages,” said Turin.

While there are intense efforts aimed at the documentation of these languages both as a historic reference and as part of a cultural preservation, preserving languages with a very limited number of speakers presents a number of challenges.

“The challenges now [are] that we have a generation of people that want to transmit their knowledge except they are getting older and are forgetting and have never had someone to speak to in their languages,” said Turin.

Turin hopes that the university, which is situated on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the hən ̓q ̓əmin ̓əm ̓-speaking Musqueam people, will become a centre for a progressive and community-focused study of First Nations culture and languages.

photo courtesy alejandro Yoshizawa

UBC professor Mark Turin is dedicated to the preservation of aboriginal languages.

Still, Turin also said that there are some differences of opinion with regard to how these languages should be taught and studied.

“Some communities feel they should remain oral because a written form gives them [a form] they were never meant to have,” said Turin. “Other communities believe that writing gives a longer chance of success.”

According to Turin, the increased research in First Nations Languages has allowed UBC to offer a course on the hən ̓q ̓əmin ̓əm ̓ language that fulfills the Arts language requirement. Turin hopes that this relationship between UBC and the languages of First Nations People will allow for more such courses to be taught at the university.

Turin said that, aside from being important for the pres-

ervation of aboriginal culture, studying First Nations languages can also give students the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of Canada’s history and cultural identity.

“The singular achievement of our species, which is language, it’s power and orality and performative brilliance, is something we don’t celebrate enough,” said Turin. U

4 | News |

ThursDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014

health >>

new sub >>

UBC doctors recommend increased AMS planning new sustainability features in the new SUB education, vaccination against HPV Kelley Lin Staff Writer

UBC doctors recommend getting vaccinated against HPV.

Kari Lindberg Contributor

UBC doctors Melica Nourmoussavi and Lily Eghdami are trying to promote the knowledge and education around the HPV vaccine.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection that can lead to cervical cancer in women. Scientists have known about HPV’s link to cancer for decades, but the first vaccine that protects women against the disease was authorized for use in Canada in 2006.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization currently recommends that girls ages nine to 26 receive the HPV vaccine to decrease the risk of cervical cancer in the future.

As such, a number of UBC doctors are questioning why many people are choosing not to vaccinate their children when a vaccine is readily available.

Nourmoussavi who, along with her colleague Eghdami, is a resident in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at UBC said that when she asks patients why they have not vaccinated their daughters, the most common response is that they were not aware that the vaccine was necessary to protect against cervical cancer.

“Most parents and daughters want to get educated on it,” said

photo courtesy lily eghdami

Noumoussavi. “They are actually very interested. It is just overcoming that lack of knowledge.”

Nourmoussavi also said that the best way to increase knowledge about the vaccine is to push both elementary and high schools to include information on HPV in the school’s health education.

“When education occurs around other forms of cancers, HPV should be lumped in with it as well,” said Nourmoussavi.

Still, Nourmoussavi said that one of the barriers to increased education about the virus may stem from its somewhat taboo nature as an STI. But as it is estimated that over 75 per cent of Canadians will come into contact with this virus in their lifetime and 10 to 30 per cent will become infected with it, getting the vaccine before becoming sexually active will offer the greatest protection from cervical cancer.

“You can essentially assume that that your daughter is going to come into contact with this virus at some point in her life,” said Nourmoussavi.

The vaccine is also recommended for all women who are under the age of 26, as it can still protect against some strands of HPV. Nourmoussavi encouraged UBC students to talk to their family doctors about how they can best protect themselves. U

The AMS hopes to make the Nest the most sustainable student union building in North America.

As part of this plan, the new SUB is expected to have many fun, modern and environmentally-friendly sustainability features.

“This is why it’s cool to be at a university because we can start doing weird things that you couldn’t do at a regular municipality. I guess that’s kind of the spirit of the new building,” said Chiyi Tam, AMS Sustainability Coordinator.

Tam said that there will be a number of designs in the building that aim to be both sustainable and appealing to students.

In order to make the building more appealing to students, the designs have been chosen based on student contributions across all faculties. One of these student-driven projects is a mobile charging station constructed by engineering students that will allow students to pedal a stationary bike to charge their electronics.

According to Tam, the main sustainability objective of the AMS with this new SUB is to bring to life the idea of a “closedloop building.” Like the “farm to table” concept, a closed-loop building focuses on reusing resources and allowing the cycle of compost to garden, garden to restaurant and restaurant back to compost.

There are also hopes to bring interactive sustainability to a regional scale by adding cutting-edge composters, incorporating rainwater into its water system, utilizing greywater (water that has been used for washing and cleaning) for flushing toilets, replacing air-conditioning with open windows and natural

photo Courtesy Dialog Designs

The New SUB is expected to have several new sustainability features.

cooling processes and even a new rooftop restaurant featuring ocean-wise food made in-house to the new SUB. Additionally, the AMS is working on improving the social components of the new building by bringing more light and connecting spaces for students to interact in.

“Buildings that just made you feel like it was more airy,

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more glass, more modern and sustainable [help] you behave accordingly. That’s the more sustainable and practical approach,” said Tam. In hoping to meet its sustainability goals, the AMS is also modernizing the Nest’s composting, water, food and overall sustainability systems before its official opening, which is slated for the spring term. U

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Thursday, OCTOBER 30, 2014

| NEWS | 5

AMS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Will McDonald Coordinating Editor

Over 500 students assembled and voted to oppose UBC’s housing and tuition fee increases on October 28.

For the first time in over 40 years, the AMS Annual General Meeting reached quorum, and students used the opportunity to pass seven motions opposing the housing and tuition increases.

The motions included having the AMS organize protests until the Board "votes down" the proposals for the housing and fee increases as well as the student society providing support for student groups who oppose the fees.

Motions to oppose the housing and tuition hikes, as well as lobby the provincial government for more post-secondary funding passed with little debate. A motion requiring the AMS to organize protests brought about more discussion.

Arts Undergraduate Society President Jenna Omassi said that the AMS should not be organizing protests as a society, but rather representing student concerns and interests to the university.

"The AMS as a body is not structured to organize protests and to be organizing movements like this," said Omassi. "The AMS is here to advocate on your behalf."

Omassi also raised concerns that organizing protests would jeopardize the AMS's ability to negotiate with the university. “If the AMS starts organizing student protests, how long is it going to be before the university stops inviting us to these meetings?" said Omassi.

Other students argued the AMS should not be afraid to oppose the university, and should do what students want, which is organize more protests.

"I think we all clearly demonstrated that we're against these hikes," said student organizer Gabriel D'Astous. "Why don't they mobilize us and organize us to create strength at the negotiation table?"

D'Astous also said that a stronger and more proactive stance from the AMS is necessary to create change within the university.

"Let's create that strength, let's mobilize students, let's get protests going, let's have the AMS represent our voices and let's do this," said D'Astous.

The motion to lobby the provincial government for more tenants rights also brought about debate.

Some students argued that Student Housing has the ability to change the residence contracts without warning, and doesn't always act in tenants' best interests.

"Students here at UBC have a closer relationship with the university and can impact more closely what the residence contract looks like as opposed to having to go above all those places to the provincial government in order to lobby for any changes that you might want to have," said student Joaquin Acevedo.

Others, including VP Academic and University Affairs Anne Kessler, argued that moving the responsibility to the provincial government would only create more bureaucracy and make it difficult for students to advocate on their own behalf.

"I have had a couple of meetings this year already with Andrew Parr, the head of Student Housing and Hospitality Services about the contract and the answer has been absolutely no to any changes that we suggested at all," said Kessler.

"Not that I don't think it's worth exploring that avenue, I think that we need to go bigger."

The motion on tuition is expected to go to the Board in November while the housing motion is expected to be approved in second term.

All of the motions passed at the meeting will be brought back to AMS Council next Wednesday. U -With files from Veronika Bondarenko

7

Motions brought to the

Officially oppose the international tuition fee increase

Officially oppose the housing fee increase Advocate to the provincial government to ensure tenant rights’ within university housing Advocate to the provincial government to increase post secondary funding

Support student groups opposing the fee increases

Organize student protests

<em>

</em>

Inform major media outlets of the motions presented

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 |

STUDENT VOICe. COMMUNITY REACH.

last words >>

Illustration julian yu/the ubyssey

LAST WORDS

PArting shots and snap judgements from The ubyssey editorial board

agm ambivalence For the first time in over 40 years, the AMS has managed to meet quorum and get 500 students to show up to the SUB Ballroom to pass policy that binds the AMS to take a strong stance in opposing the proposed housing and tuition fee increases. And that is amazing!

Given the disappointing turnout at the first Town Hall meeting, we remained skeptical until the last minute. When quorum was briefly lost near the beginning of the meeting, we anxiously held our breath until more people were brought in and quorum was reached again.

Many of the proposed motions were passed unanimously, though the degree to which some (if not most) students fully understood what was going on is debatable.

It’s tough to be the opposing voice

when you’re surrounded by a sea of 500 “ayes,” and questionable how educated a person’s vote can really be when the reading of the motions and what debate there was was almost inaudible to those standing in the back.

While no more than a handful of students showed up to the Town Hall held just two hours before the AGM, there was no shortage of would-be speakers at the AGM. It’s unfortunate that more people, especially those who are very involved in the protests and #IAmAStudent movement, didn’t come to the Town Hall. Criticizing the notion of negotiations in favour of more active activism is a fair argument, but it’s weakened when the prospect of negotiation hasn’t even been explored (like at the Town Hall with influential UBC officials such as Louise Cowin, Andrew Parr and Angela

Redish present.)

The value that UBC will place on what comes out of the town halls is, as yet, unknown — but that doesn’t mean that they, as the most obvious channel for discourse with the university, should be ignored entirely. Though there were many at the AGM who wanted to make their voices heard, and many who did so successfully, formal meeting procedures were not exactly followed. Speaking up is great, but so is trying to keep the meeting somewhat organized and waiting for recognition from the Chair before proposing motions and calling them to question. We get that, in part, the rapidity resulted from concerns about losing quorum, but that doesn’t mean that debate and procedure should be completely sacrificed, either.

That said, for a campus that often seems to lack the true sense

of community found in smaller universities, Tuesday’s events are remarkable. The students — or at least, 500 of them — have spoken.

Hopefully the university will, accordingly, come to understand the seriousness of the anti-fee increase movement and how driven they are to achieve their goals.

halloween costumes Halloween is coming up this weekend, and to avoid donning an insensitive ensemble, we’ve got some safe, but still fun, costume ideas for you.

There’s always a trend of people poking fun at current events and celebrity scandals on Halloween, but The Ubyssey wouldn’t recommend it. So instead of dressing up like Amanda Bynes this year, why not throw on a one-of-a-kind, handmade car-on-the-stairs getup? <em>

</em>

6

You’d be the life of the party. Just don’t get stuck on the stairs.

On the theme of getting stuck, you could also hit up parties dressed as Parker the Pigeon, who was trapped in the Bookstore for a weekend. People dress up like superheroes all the time — so why not the brave, noble Parker?

Other suggestions from around our office include Arvind Gupta, a student protester, ArgyleMan, Mount Gandalf, the Gage towers highline, bus loop guy, Andrew Parr’s wallet, the AMS AGM (just run around with some friends yelling “YAY”) and the AMS AGM dogs.

Once you’ve got your wicked UBC-inspired costume on, head on over to President Gupta’s house for some Trick-or-Treating. We did it at Toope’s house in previous years, so we’re just hoping Gupta carries on the tradition. U

Dissenting opinions on the events & outcome of the AGM Successful motions were a momentous occasion in the history of UBC politics

gordon katic Letter

Tuesday, October 28, 2014 could be remembered as one of the most important days in the history of politics at UBC. Over 500 students packed a room to attend the Annual General Meeting of the AMS, our student society. The AMS reached quorum for the first time in 40 years, and they voted — unequivocally — to organize campus protests until the university backs down on their proposed hikes to student housing and international tuition.

This is not the first time that students have expressed anger over rising tuition.

They voted on this issue two other times since my first day at UBC, just six years ago.

In both cases, an overwhelming majority of students — about nine out of 10 — told the AMS one simple message: you need to lobby for lower tuition.

The AMS’ response has always been to ‘play nice.’ Administration after administration has avoided real activism; they decided to plead from the table, rather than shout from the streets. What has this pleading got us?

Tuition fees have risen each year that I’ve attended UBC. Across Canada, they’ve grown fourfold between 1990 and 2010, far outpacing inflation. At the same time, class sizes have ballooned, student debt has skyrocketed and public funding to post-secondary education has plummeted. You know the story already — at least, nine out of 10 of you do.

The American abolitionist Frederick Douglass said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them.”

Tuition is not slavery, but there is still an important lesson in these words. They are as much an inspiring call for emancipation as they are an astute analysis of the dynamics of social change. In short, Douglas’ lesson is that we must make demands.

Tuesday was not a call for lobbying, it

was a call for resistance. Tuesday was not a call to write reports, shake hands, build relationships or ‘engage stakeholders’; Tuesday was a call to demand our right to an affordable education.

However, there will be a backlash. People will tell us that our impolite demand could “burn bridges,” or “set us back.” People will tell us that our demand is too unrealistic, or not suited to an organization such as the AMS. People will tell us that our demand is “dangerous,” as the president of the Arts Undergraduate Society said at least half a dozen times in her short statement at Tuesday’s meeting.

These people have not merely forgotten the history of social movements, from abolitionism to feminism — these people have forgotten the history of this very campus.

UBC was built by a demand.

In 1922, 1,200 students marched over 10 kilometres from Downtown Vancouver to Point Grey, demanding that the provincial government build them a suitable campus. Today, this day is remembered as the Great Trek.

These students did not write a detailed report on the feasibility of expediting construction on the unfinished campus, they did a ‘sit-in.’ They did not call the education minister’s executive assistant to ask if they had some time to in the next couple of weeks to discuss structural deficiencies within the existing laboratories, they hand-delivered 56,000 signatures to the House of Commons. They did not convene an AMS committee in order to draft a strongly worded letter, they formed a giant “UBC” out of their own bodies.

Following the Great Trek, the government voted to immediately construct the Point Grey campus.

On October 28, 1922, we demanded a better UBC. This October 28, 92 years later, we did the exact same thing. The first demand built us a beautiful campus, the second demand could build us an affordable one.

Katic is a is a Master’s student in the School of Journalism. U

Voices were silenced in the name of a symbolic win

Viet Vu

Letter I’m disappointed at what happened at the Annual General Meeting of the AMS on Tuesday.

I’m not disappointed at how we were able to reach quorum — it was awesome that so many students cared and showed up to the meeting. As an international student, I oppose the tuition fee and residence fee increases and it was quite amazing to see that a lot of students care about that issue and I appreciate them showing up.

I’m disappointed because people did not stop for a moment and consider what they were voting for, the implications of what they were voting for and how it could affect students in the long run.

Most students believed that what they were voting for was right — that the AMS should be organizing protests, that the AMS should be providing resources for the student protests.

It was mentioned many times during the AGM that AMS was “scared” of fighting the university, that it was afraid it will damage the relationship it has, that talking to the university is not a solution.

I beg to differ. Two years ago, the bachelor of international economics degree was proposed with an exorbitant domestic and international tuition. The student bodies (the Economics Students Association, Arts Undergraduate Society, the AMS and the International Students Association) sat down with the university to express their concerns.

And what happened was that tuition was lowered. It was because we asked the university to justify the cost increase and told them exactly why not all of the items proposed could not be justified.

We sat down with the university, we talked, and it actually worked. Magic? No. It was because the mentality wasn’t that the university was an evil corporation. We went into the conversation believing the university to have been out of touch with the student body. A protest may have been beneficial to

our case, but ultimately, it was the student representatives meeting with the university that made change happen. So that’s the same approach I tried to suggest we take on Tuesday (along with Jenna Omassi and some others) citing how, in 2003 and 2004, tuition increases were decreased because the AMS negotiated with the university and showed the university how some of the fees didn’t make sense.

My points were taken as defeatist and were quickly dismissed. Then, before any other students were able to question the motivation, implication or the wording of this motion, the question was called to a vote by two students. At this point, no one knew what they were voting for. No one, including me, knew what the implications were for passing these motions. Being at the back of the room, I did not even hear what the exact wording of the motion was — I just knew it was about AMS organizing protests.

And the voting happened. Green papers flew to the sky and no one had stopped to consider what passing this motion would mean.

And it passed. I was amongst the few who raised the orange card to show my opposition.

Many might tell you what happened at the AGM was democracy — that students mobilized and voted on an issue they care about. It definitely was a form of democracy. Whether it was a thoughtful decision is another question — considering the combination of debate domination and open voting (that implicitly bullied students to “go with the herd” for fear of standing out. This actually did happen in the AGM), it was much less democratic than it should have been.

So, I’m disappointed because all that intention to do good was spent passing something without fully understanding what it is or what it will do. And I’m worried that it will spread the AMS’s resources even thinner than they already are, making the AMS’s negotiation process much less effective than it could have been.

Viet Vu is a fourth-year honours economics student and president of the Vancouver School of Economics Undergraduate Society. U

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 |

EDITOR Jenica Montgomery

7

This is not okay: Culture is not a costume “Cultural appropriation is a difficult and convoluted concept”

Jenica Montgomery Culture Editor Halloween is the time when people have the opportunity to escape into a fantasy realm, to become something they’re not on a regular basis.

For many, this means donning a costume for one, or multiple, night(s) and embodying a new and exciting persona. For others this is a night of dread; a night whereupon their peers dress up as something that disturbs them.

Culture as a costume has been a problem not only throughout North America, but on UBC’s campus specfically. It was only last April that the AMS responded to an issue involving a native headdress that was worn at Block Party celebrations, hoping to create a safer and more inclusive environment. Following the fashion styles prominent at large scale music festivals, a UBC student was seen wearing an indigenous style headdress, leading to backlash from students, AMS staff and student groups.

Halloween presents a time when people believe it’s acceptable to replicate the traditional dress of a cultural group for the sake of fun. This includes, but is not limited to, Indigenous headdresses, Arabian costumes, samurai and geisha outfits … The list goes on.

“Halloween is a touchy area that you know students want to party and see it as a holiday, but it’s also a time to reflect and take the opportunity to discuss,” said Nicole Aleong, Academic Affairs and Journal Coordinator of the UBC Anthropology Students’ Association.

This year, the Equity and Inclusion Office is hoping to curb some of this accidental – and sometimes not accidental – insensitivity. Their campaign consists of posters that state: “culture is not a costume. At UBC we do not mimic racial groups. It’s a matter of respect.”

Students who dress as a particular racial group for Halloween are crossing a line, essentializing and objectifying a cultural, ethnic or racial group. The Equity and Inclusion Office hopes the poster campaign will remind students that dressing as a particular group is offensive and insensitive.

“The intention of this poster campaign is really to reiterate the message and reinforce the message that in fact this practice is not appropriate, it is not just funny,” said Director of Intercultural Understanding Strategy Development Alden Habacon. “In fact some people take really serious offence to it, and critically, often times it’s quite racist, often times it’s quite misogynist, but because it’s guised in fun, it seems like ‘we can get away with it, I don’t mean it seriously.’”

To continue this dialogue the UBC Anthropology Students’ Association (ASA), in collaboration with the UBC Sociology Students’ Association (SSA), is hosting a “Big Talk“ panel called Unpacking Halloween on October 30. At this panel, panellists and attendees will discuss the topic of culture as a costume.

“I came up with this idea for having a critical and frank discussion on cultural appropriation around the time of Halloween because of some of the recent issues that have been going on on-campus and off-campus, like headdresses being worn at music festivals,” said SSA co-president Avi Ames.

“I wanted to bring people together to try to understand why it’s problematic and how to conceptualize cultural appropriation,” said Ames.

The panellists at the event include Renisa Mawani, a sociology professor; Charles Menzies, an anthropology professor; and Leonora Angeles; a professor with the institute for

And for some reason [Halloween] seems like at time when people feel like it gives them license to almost take advantage of this opportunity to caricature culture, race and ethnicity, in ways that are so obviously inappropriate.”

Alden Habacon UBC’s Director of Intercultural Understanding Strategy Development

gender, race, sexuality and social justice.

The ASA and SSA hope that their panel discussion will create a dialogue about cultural appropriation and its effects.

Cultural appropriation is a difficult and convoluted concept but can be understood as the deliberate taking of aspects of other cultures and incorporating them into one’s own.

“I first learned about cultural appropriation in Art school,” said Habacon.

“Cultural appropriation, for me, is really just the inappropriate and insensitive taking of someone’s culture and essentially objectifying it and removing it from its context, and turning it into a kind of object you now use and manipulate.”

At a multicultural campus like UBC, racial essentialization and dressing in a culturally themed costume is a heavy issue that many students should reflect upon this Halloween.

To essentialize a cultural, ethnic or racial group is to reduce said group to one characteristic or stereotype and claim that that characteristic or stereotype represents a diverse and multifaceted group.

“And for some reason [Halloween] seems like a time when people feel like it gives them license to almost take advantage of this opportunity to caricature culture, race and ethnicity, in ways that are so obviously inappropriate,” said Habacon. “But for some reason … this time of year it seems for some reason to be socially acceptable for some.”

Habacon noted that while shopping for their Halloween costumes, students should be mindful of their costume decisions.

“As a basic rule of thumb, if you can just apply that kind of ‘don’t go there’ sense about dressing up as other peoples culture, race or ethnicity, you’re totally safe,” said Habacon. “Secondly, dress up as whoever you want, but keep in mind that you don’t have to dress up as their ethnic, racial or cultural identity.” U

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 |

EDITOR jenica montgomery

8

opera >>

Film >>

Reconnecting with history UBC Opera’s production of The Bartered Bride coming to campus this November in The Inquiry Film

PHOTO courtesy UBC Opera

UBC opera’s production of the Bartered Bride is coming this November.

Olivia Law Staff Writer

PHOTO courtesy Linda MacCannell

The Inquiry Film followed the Berger Inquiry in the Northwest Territories.

Chloë Lai Contributor

Almost 40 years ago, while on a break from her work on the Berger Inquiry in the Northwest Territories, then CBC reporter Drew Ann Wake went to a backyard barbeque in Vancouver.

Sitting with friends, Wake shared her experiences of the hearings that were being held in the northern communities by indigenous peoples who were against the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline.

The Berger Inquiry was a unique project, a “mixing of traditional academic expertise and expertise of lived experience in the communities.”

That’s when, Wake recalled, Arthur Pape “shot to his feet and yelled ‘I’m going to make a movie!’”

Pape, filmmaker Jesse Nishihata and their crew, accompanied Wake to Colville Lake, 50 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. The resultant documentary, The Inquiry Film , followed John T’Seleie and UBC Law professor Michael Jackson as they went “out into the bush” to help people in extremely remote areas prepare to speak before Judge Thomas Berger. Some were old enough to remember the signing of treaties in 1921, others were in their mid-twenties. Some spoke in their own languages, while others stated their case in English.

“What has been said by our people … it’s been said for a long, long time. It’s just never had a place where it could come out,” T’Seleie said in the film.

In what Wake called an “explosion of emotions rather than structured narrative,” Nishihata layered the Dene voices over footage of their interaction with the stunning natural environment — canoeing through icy water, hunting caribou, smoking fresh fish. His message is clear: this community’s identity is deeply rooted in the land.

The Inquiry Film won the award for Best Documentary at the Canadian Film Festival that year.

Then it disappeared, until five years ago, when Professor Jackson dug up his copy. Around <em>

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the same time, Wake rediscovered some of her audio recordings from the Inquiry. The pair teamed up with photographer Linda MacCannell and returned to the Northwest Territories. They digitized the “three half-hour reels” of film in the archives, restoring the elders’ voices to their communities.

“And that’s how the film has revived,” said Wake.

Equally important to the revival of the original film is its role in the creation of the Inquiry exhibit. An interactive media experience, Inquiry combines the historical footage of the speeches made by Dene elders with digital elements, such as video animation. Exhibition participants flip through scrapbooks containing interview summaries from individuals involved in the Berger Inquiry. MacCannell’s photographs from 2009, of the community leaders who originally spearheaded the resistance to the pipeline, are hung just above eye level, “to give a sense of these people and their power.”

Introduced to Wake’s new media project by Professor Jackson, Amy Perreault, strategist for Aboriginal Initiatives at UBC’s Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology, was immediately struck by the importance of the exhibit. She and Wake brought it to Allard Hall in 2012, and have worked closely together ever since.

“The Inquiry is coming back full circle into the classrooms,” she said, referring to the fact that many of the major participants in the Berger Inquiry, including Wake, Pape and Judge Berger himself, have personal connections to the university. “In some ways it’s part of UBC’s history.”

Since its inception, Inquiry has been exhibited in 32 venues.

Wake said that it will travel to another 12, in Canada, the US and possibly Britain. When will it rest? In 2017, on the 40th birthday of the release of Berger’s report, until then, it continues to evolve as its dedicated creators strive to carry the voices of the northern First Nations communities to the world. U

Opera at UBC is in fine form.

After successful performances of The Florentine Straw Hat and The Cunning Little Vixen last season, they are back with a new performance of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride in the Old Auditorium.

A tale of love and bargaining, The Bartered Bride tells the story of how, after a late surprise revelation, true love prevails over the combined efforts of over-ambitious parents and a scheming marriage broker, in a festive bohemian Czech village.

Designed by Jeremy Baxter and Alessia Carpoca, with costumes from Czech performance companies, The Bartered Bride has a plethora of talking points, but perhaps the most notable is the music. It is striking with its bold changes of mood, use of traditional folk melodies and memorable tunes and rhythms.

Conducted by Norbert Baxa, the UBC Opera Ensemble and members of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra will present Czech composer Smetana’s masterpiece

for just four performances at the UBC Old Auditorium.

Although the majority of the cast didn’t come together until September, several of the lead roles have been working on the challenging score since May, even performing the opera for their tour of the Czech Republic in July. Director Nancy Hermiston stressed the benefits of performing the opera to its homeland. “This is, for the Czechs, their national opera, which is so dear to their hearts, it’s really great. It’s so nice to bring it back home.”

Most singers are accustomed to French, Italian and German operas, so the challenge of singing in Czech was addressed early on. Learning pronunciation from Czech vocal coaches has meant that students have been mistaken for locals after performing on previous tours. “We try to be as clear and as authentic with our languages as possible, so it has to be a really high quality, understanding every word that they say, and every word that everybody else says to them, and basically every word in the score,” said Hermiston.

The Bartered Bride, although written in the 1800s, provides a lively, fun, comedic storyline, filled with strong and independent characters. “It’s great fun,” said Hermiston. “Mařenka is a really independent girl, really the modern Czech woman — very strong, very independent.”

Mařenka, the female lead, is played by Allyson Hopp and Laura Miller.

The rehearsal process is long, but effective. Singers first must learn their own parts, with assistance of teachers in the style of the music, the technicalities of the melodies and the language, and then rehearsals are taken to the stage with pianists.

“Once you get on the set it’s a totally different process,” said Hermiston. “All of a sudden you’ve got doorways to contend with, you’ve got more space to make your entrance, you’ve got different levels, all kinds of things which affect how you breathe, how solid you feel.

You’ve got to incorporate all that into your singing and not get distracted.”

It seems as though opera is one of the most finely detailed art forms. UBC’s production is double-cast for all the main roles, largely due to the high number of singers enrolled in the opera program in the school of Music.

“You cannot be a good performer if you do not go on stage.

You have to jump in and do it, because there’s such a difference between performing in studio to being on the stage, in the heat of battle,” said Hermiston. “It’s a whole different world.”

And a whole different world it shall be. Performances for The Bartered Bride begin on November 13 and run for four shows. U

Notice of Development Permit Application - DP 14036

Public Open House

National Soccer Development Centre You are invited to attend an Open House on Wednesday, November 12 to view and comment on the proposed new National Soccer Development Centre located within Thunderbird Park in the Athletics Precinct.

Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2014 Time: 4 :00 - 6:00 PM Place: Commons Room, MBA House, 3385 Wesbrook Mall Plans will be displayed for the proposed new 3,400m2 National Soccer Development Centre, a joint project between UBC Athletics and the Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club.

Representatives from the project team and Campus + Community Planning will be available to provide information and respond to inquiries about this project.

For more information on this project, please visit: planning.ubc.ca/vancouver/projects-consultations For further information: Please direct questions to Karen Russell, Manager Development Services karen.russell@ubc.ca 604-822-1586 This event is wheelchair accessible.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014

| culture | 9

film >>

Don’t forget, Canada has horror films too

PHOTO cherihan hassun/the ubyssey

Professor Mathijs is a well known cult cinema enthusiast and teaches cult cinema here at UBC.

Lawrence Neal Garcia Senior Staff Writer

Canada isn’t always the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of horror. And yet, Canadian horror films are perhaps the most original and exciting of the genre, a fact that goes largely unrecognized. The Canadian Horror Show series, a retrospective of Canadian horror gems through the years (which runs from October 29 to November 1 at Vancity Theatre), will attempt to correct that.

Co-produced by the Shivers Film Society and the Vancouver International Film Festival

Society, with a special talk from UBC film studies professor Ernest Mathijs, the series runs over four days, offering nine varied, frightening selections — from Faith Healer (1988), an episode of a television spinoff of Friday the 13th directed by David Cronenberg, to Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004), a sequel to a female werewolf cult film, to Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010), a horror-comedy that serves up guts, gore and laughs in equal measure.

Canada’s influence in the genre goes back to the ‘tax-shelter era,’ a filmmaking boom in

the 1970s and 80s spurred by the introduction of 100 per cent Capital Cost Allowances (CCA) for investment in Canadian feature films. That filmmaking explosion produced blood-soaked slasher classics such as Prom Night (1980), My Bloody Valentine (1981) and Visiting Hours (1982) — all of which are part of the retrospective — and influential body horror films such as David Cronenberg’s Scanners (1981) and Videodrome (1983). It’s telling that the top search suggestion for Scanners is ‘head explosion.’

“Canadian filmmakers were at their peak, and had a huge

influence on the entire genre that people are unaware of,” said Vince d’Amato of the Shivers Film Society, who is in charge of the series programming. Even the slasher sub-genre, of which the American film Halloween (1978) is commonly regarded as the first, began with Black Christmas (1974), a Canadian independent film.

While audiences flocked to the films, many of which became top-grossing horror flicks, the Canadian government — which had funded many of them — was less taken with the output.

When Canada first introduced the tax-shelter laws, it was largely in the hope of creating celebrated, critically acclaimed prestige pictures, said d’Amato.

“When they did it and got The Brood and Videodrome and My Bloody Valentine instead, they were embarrassed that it didn’t work out, which is a shame because in many ways some of those films are superior to the other films.”

Government response notwithstanding, Canadian horror remains a potent force in the genre. “[The tax-shelter era] put down the seeds for … a generation of genre filmmakers that have blossomed within Canada and made these Canadian films,” said Ernest Mathijs, whose talk traces the rich lineage of Canadian horror: from the early tax-shelter films, to sequels such as Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II, to later films such as Ginger Snaps and Cube, and even to the recent television series Orphan Black (not incidentally created by the same people who made Ginger Snaps 2) — all of which

contain what he termed the “Canadian horror aesthetic.”

Mathijs noted that it’s also a lineage that is often marginalized, but still remains original, exciting, and most importantly, terrifying — attributes that he hopes the series will showcase.

“If you compare [the Canadian horror film industry] to the size of the horror film industry in the US, it’s still marginal. But it’s got one big advantage, and that’s the quality that it offers.

And what we’re trying to say in the Canadian Horror Show series is: this is not new,” said Mathijs.

“Orphan Black is now celebrated and everybody says: ‘Wow, look what the Canadians can do!’ Well, I’m sorry, but we’ve been doing this for 30 odd years, if you just trace it back properly.”

As for why Canadian filmmakers are so good at making horror films both Mathijs and d’Amato point to the strong documentary filmmaking tradition, which in turn led to more realistic, and more terrifying, horror.

“You can trace that to literature too,” said Mathijs. “Margaret Atwood said that the one things that Canadians are better at than Americans is the art of survival, because we’re up north. It’s a matter of life and death … and I guess that sort of trickles through into the aesthetic.”

So whether you’re a lifelong horror fan like d’Amato and Mathijs or just a casual filmgoer looking for a Halloween scare, the Canadian Horror Show series is sure to have something to offer, because the best in Canadian horror is also the best of the genre.

After watching some of these films, that’s something you’re not likely to forget. U

halloween >>

All you need is your imagination to carve an amazing pumpkin

Gabriel Germaix Staff Writer

On the street, a car passes by, hauling a cart of finely carved pumpkins, takes a turn and drives into the cold and rainy night. Halloween season is here.

With the end of October comes a checklist. The triptych “find a party, find a costume, find a pumpkin” seems to be a well-rooted North American tradition, and even if trick or treating is not that relevant on campus, residents still keep creating landscapes of jack-o’lanterns, a special treat for the eyes. The welcoming village of Fairview Crescent has already started to see smiling orange faces pop up on the porches, and stocks at grocery stores are depleting quickly.

As big as it is in Vancouver, pumpkin carving is virtually non-existent overseas. However, last year’s winner of the Faculty of Applied Science carving contest agreed to give some valuable advice to students who were not fortunate enough to grow up in a Halloween-loving family.

Last year, the winning prize was divided between two teams.

One of the team’s consisted of Kristen Cassidy, the Alumni Engagement Administrative Coordinator in the Development and Alumni Engagement department for the Sauder School of

Business, and Tarn Khare, for a winning piece depicting an owl on a branch in front of a carvedout moon. According to her, carving is more about inspiration than technical skills.

“We didn’t have anything except for a big knife,” for the contest her team won, she said.

“The only thing you need is imagination.”

A few things still have to be kept in mind.

First of all, the choice of pumpkin, if the design depends on the size then make sure you take a big enough pumpkin, the texture of it should be very firm.

“I usually go for a medium sized one with a good face on it, no bumps or imperfections,” said Cassidy. Seeing the splendidly thin eye of a cat collapse into a gaping hole because the material was too soft is not the best feeling.

Cassidy advised against using a stencil on the pumpkin.

“You can use it to figure out the space of the pumpkin,” she said, but by no means should the outline be followed as an exact blueprint. Printing a drawing does not work in a satisfactory way either, because of the irregular surface of the 3D object that is our beloved orange squash.

As important as the technique is the idea behind the pumpkin.

As new movies come out, inspiration is forever renewed. Jack-

PHOTO courtesy spencer wright/flickr

Carving pumpkins is a low-cost Halloween activity that you could participate in.

o’-lanterns of previous years pictured minions of the animated hit Despicable Me in numbers.

This year, experienced carvers might follow the Frozen frenzy or try characters from Guardians of the Galaxy or other popular hits

from this year.

“It is fine to make a traditional one,” said Cassidy. “The more unique or fun are the ones you bring your own creativity to.”

Who knows what scary faces will welcome the students who

dress up and try to extort candy from their neighbours this year …

The Applied Science’s Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest will take place on October 31 at 12 p.m. at the Fred Kaiser Atrium. U

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 |

EDITOR Jack Hauen

10

Thunderbirds >>

T-BIRDS 5-ON-5

Mitch Benkic

Tanya Motsi

Stephen Abosi

Swimming

Track & cross country

Track & cross country

Julia Hawkins

Harmen Kuijten

Track & cross country

Field hockey

Gregarious Greeks 1. Which fraternity/sorority are you in, and what motivated you to become part of the Greek system at UBC?

Phi Delta Theta. I was ... rejected from first year housing, and I was able to find a place to stay inside one of the houses.

Alpha Gamma Delta ... I stayed because I met a great group of women who made me laugh and shared many of my interests and passions.

Sigma Chi. As an international student I was looking for a ‘family away from home.’

I felt inclined to make the most of my university experience — ’cause you only get to do this once!

Coming from the Netherlands, this is also the first time I have ever been to Canada. As such, I was motivated in join Sigma Chi.

2. Is the brotherly/sisterly bond stronger in your fraternity/sorority or on your team?

An extremely tough question, but if I were to pick one above the other ... I would say my bond is closer with the team.

While I’m really close with teammates who do the same events as me, as a whole, my sorority has a stronger bond.

Stronger in the fraternity. It feels very much like a family; we spend a lot of time together.

The sisterly bond I’ve experienced has been stronger in my sorority than on the track team.

The brotherly bond at Sigma Chi is very personal and strong, and I see my teammates more than six times a week so that makes us very close.

3. What does a typical Saturday night look like for you?

Late night “business” meetings with my two good friends Jack Daniel and Alexander Keith.

I usually get together with some friends and either go to A.Y.C.E or have a few rousing games of Cards Against Humanity.

Playing video games at home or catching up on work. My Saturdays are my me days. #RoxySundays

Either a night out with friends, staying in, preparing for a meet or cramming at the library.

When I don’t have a game I usually go to Sig either to attend a party or just to hang out and have a good time.

4. Who throws better parties, your team or your fraternity/sorority?

Even the best party a sports team could throw couldn’t compare to the worst Greek party.

If I do choose to go out, my best nights are spent with a mixed crowd of Greek and varsity friends.

100 per cent the fraternity. The resources are virtually limitless with a fraternity.

Well I’m actually the person in charge of parties for my sorority, and I like to think I throw a pretty rad semi and semi-formal.

The frats generally throw more parties — it’s especially crazy during September — but my team also throws amazing parties.

5. What Greek god or goddess are you most like?

I believe I’m most like Zeus based primarily on my relationship with Yuri Kisil, who I would [compare to Hercules.

I like to think I’m pretty wise, and I’m pretty good at time management and juggling all my activities, so I’m probably most like Athena.

Hermes. Zero to 100 … real quick.

I’m at the gym right now and the girl I’m training with said Artemis, the female god of the hunt, primarily because I’m good at javelin?

I think I would be like Apollo, the god of music and the sun. He was an intelligent person and also an eager sportsman.

great trek >>

UBC’s Great Trek 2014 was cold, difficult, and totally worth it

The historic race was tough, but free pancakes at the end made it all worth it.

Emma Raines Contributor

The morning of the UBC Great Trek started off like any other day.

Just kidding, it started out with rhythmic drumming at 5:30 a.m.

So between my half-asleep stupor and apparent inability to sync a watch, I ended up at the start line 30 seconds before the gun went off — success.

The Great Trek is a 10km individual / 2.5km relay race that loops around Main Mall to celebrate the 1922 student march that resulted in the creation of this wonderful campus.

It was part intimidating and part inspiring to start the race with such blazing fast runners — the male winner finished in a time of 36 minutes. I realized that

I was soaking wet about halfway through lap two, and had to sadly ignore the wonderful water station volunteers each lap. I was waterlogged enough as it was.

A few minutes before I realized there was not a dry part of my body, I started running with an awesome girl who turned out to be a fourth-year computer science major, and there was no way I could have run as fast as I did without her. Every time she surged in front of me, my competitive instinct would kick in and I would have to keep up. She ended up propelling me to finish a whole two minutes faster than my goal time.

Those speedy little relay runners helped a bit, but the fact that they only had to run a quarter of the distance as the rest of us made me curse them more than latch on

PHOTO courtesy rachel von hahn

for inspiration.

Post-race festivities involved free smoothies, granola bars and a never-ending pancake line (to be expected). I walked around in a daze for a while waiting for the endorphins to kick in — and they did, just as my body decided it was no longer necessary to stay warm. I was lucky to have a fun Running Room stretch session to keep my mind off of my frozen limbs — in the flexibility contest I was doomed from the start, but by some miracle I balanced long enough on one foot to win a Running Room gift certificate.

An excuse to wander around a running store for hours and spend money? Twist my arm.

Thank you, Great Trek, for a seriously fun morning and a major ego boost. U

Learn to identify B.C.’s abundant fungi, as well as common poisonous and edible species.

Where: Allan Yap Biodiversity Theatre inside the Beaty Biodiversity Museum.

When: Saturday, November 1 from 2:15-5:15 p.m.

Price: free with a student ID.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014

| sports | 11

volleyball >>

Mac McNicol takes lessons learned in Korea back to UBC

Volleyball program in Suwon, South Korea has attracted many Thunderbirds over the years

PHOTO cherihan hassun/The Ubyssey

UBC volleyball player Mac McNicol trained in Korea over the summer, thanks to a rich relationship between UBC and Sungkyunkwan University.

Noah Derksen Contributor

At 6’8”, third-year UBC volleyball player Mackenzie McNicol is an impressive specimen. With athletic abilities engrained into his genetics, he is already a step ahead of the competition. Even with his physical gifts, McNicol has taken every opportunity to better himself as a volleyball player, including a 24-day venture to South Korea for additional training this past summer.

UBC men’s volleyball head coach Richard Schick commends McNicol’s commitment to the sport. “Mac’s a guy that you can see the enjoyment in his face on the court,” said Schick. “He’s always looking to get extra reps. I almost have to tell him not to come to stuff.”

Besides being a full-time varsity athlete, McNicol is also enrolled as a full-time student in UBC’s computer engineering program within the Faculty of Applied Science. “I fix a lot of computers right now, and do tinkering with stuff like that,” he said. “I thought it’d be a good thing to get into, it’s something I enjoy and do on the side anyways.”

However, being a student, in arguably the toughest undergraduate faculty, along with being a varsity athlete, is not an easy feat.

“It’s definitely a challenge,” said McNicol. “It made me learn how to learn on my own, just with how much time you’re spending away from school.”

Throughout the season the volleyball team keeps up the workload. With both individual and team practices, along with weight room and video sessions, McNicol estimates he spends between three and four hours each day in direct training. Once the regular season begins, the team will travel away from Vancouver an average of once every two weeks, causing the athletes to miss a good portion of Thursday and Friday lectures.

Needless to say, time management is key.

“You don’t have time to be wasting,” said McNicol.

McNicol’s technologically savvy nature found him a position with a network engineering company back home in Calgary this past summer. It was beneficial for McNicol to gain some experience in the workforce, as this summer was the first of his university career that he was not training with the Alberta provincial team. This was due to a lack of teams that are offered past a certain age, rather than of McNicol’s own choosing.

In the summer of 2013, he joined Team Alberta to compete at the Canada Summer Games in Sherbrooke, Quebec, where the team ultimately won the tournament gold. McNicol held a prominent role in the team’s success.

Despite having not trained with the provincial team this past summer, McNicol did not allow himself any time off. In preparation for the 2014/15 Thunderbird season, he hit the weights almost every day. “I’d come back from work, go to the gym for an hour or two, then come home and go to bed,” he said. “I was trying to get stronger. That’s where the game is going — being as big and as strong as possible.”

But he wasn’t away from the court for too long. Midway through the month of July, McNicol hopped on a plane at the Calgary International Airport that would take him to Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) in the city of Suwon, South Korea, approximately 30km away from Seoul.

The UBC men’s volleyball program has had a rich relationship with SKKU over the span of approximately 30 years. Instrumental to this relationship has been Han-Joo Eom, who earned his masters degree and PhD from UBC in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and was a former SKKU and Korean National Volleyball Team athlete. Eom retired from the Korean professional volleyball league and came to UBC in 1985 to pursue academics. While at UBC, he played on former UBC head coach Dale Ohman’s team for

one year, and acted as an assistant coach to Ohman for some time after. Ohman was at the helm of the UBC program for 25 years prior to Schick’s inauguration as head coach, and saw the program to its most recent national title in 1983.

Since Eom’s time at UBC, the men’s volleyball team has visited SKKU once every four years, and have hosted the Korean team in the middle of that cycle. This January, the SKKU volleyball team will visit Vancouver to train with and play against the Thunderbird team in a weekend series, ceremonially marking the 30th anniversary of Eom’s initial visit to UBC. Eom, who has a PhD in applied statistics, is currently the Dean of Physical Education at SKKU. Additionally, as a result of Eom’s relationship with the men’s volleyball program, UBC has sent athletes to train with SKKU over the Canadian summer break while the Korean team is in the midst of training. One of the most notable of these athletes is former men’s volleyball standout Jared Krause.

Krause has excelled following his time at UBC, playing with the Canadian National team and professional teams in Denmark, Belgium and Greece. He took the trip to Korea following his third year at UBC. “The Korea trip really opened my eyes to different playing styles and strategies,” said Krause.

“Their style is heavy on ball control and repetition. The discipline they bring to the game — it toughens you up mentally.”

Both Krause and McNicol noticed a more technical focus in the Korean style of play when compared to Canadian volleyball players.

“Technically they’re very skilled,” noted Krause. “It’s drilled into them from an early age, and they definitely put in the hours.”

“Everything they do is precise; it’s more about precision than power,” added McNicol.

This development of skill is achieved through six to eight

hours of intensive training each day for five or more days a week.

The training revolves around rigorous repetition of specific volleyball movements and skills, seeking to instil the proper techniques and physical contacts into muscle memory. The SKKU team also implemented cardiovascular exercise heavily into their training, despite volleyball being a sport that requires quick and explosive movements more than cardiovascular abilities.

“We did a lot of running,” McNicol said. “In a normal day I would get up at 6:30, we’d go for a four kilometre run to warm up, then breakfast. You’d go to the morning practice of usually three or four hours, lunch, then another three to four hours of training.”

McNicol acknowledged the work ethic of the Korean athletes.

“It was motivating, how they worked so hard everyday,” he said.

“It made me want to work harder.”

Another discrepancy between the two university programs is in the balance between athletics and academics.

Traditionally, athletes of Canadian post-secondary institutions attend university in order to earn a bachelors degree — to help them along a specific career path — in addition to a pursuit of continued athletics. Although there are a number of university athletes that go on to play professionally in their respective sports, such as Krause, the vast majority of athletes will retire following their five years of eligibility and settle into an alternative career. In the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), the governing body of university sport in Canada, all athletes are required to be enrolled and pass a minimum of nine academic credits or three courses per term in order to maintain athletic eligibility. These types of academic requirements have only recently been implemented in the Korean university league. With education systems being entirely different in South Korea, former UBC head coach Ohman notes that athletes have

often not taken classes since they were young.

“Essentially in elementary school these kids have to choose if they want to be an athlete or they want to be a student — you can’t do both,” said Ohman.

Although the academic requirements of SKKU athletes have increased over the past few years, from McNicol’s vantage point, the players still hold athletics as the utmost priority, with academics as an afterthought. “You’re not there to get an education, necessarily,” he said. “You’re there to prepare to play professionally.”

For this focus on athletics from such a young age, Ohman estimates Korean volleyball players will have put in over 10,000 hours by the time they reach the university level. Compare this to the approximation of 1500 hours of a Canadian athlete who has played volleyball year-round since middle school.

This variance in developmental training between cultures is evident in the Korean’s possession of an enormous amount of skill at a relatively young age. Historically, the SKKU team has defeated UBC in a gross majority of the team’s match ups, with the Thunderbirds prevailing only a handful of times.

The living arrangements at SKKU were also quite different than McNicol has been accustomed to at UBC, with coaches and players all living under the same roof. “I think almost every sports team [at SKKU] lived in the same dorm,” he said. “There were four or five guys per dorm room, and the coach and the assistant coaches lived there as well.”

Additionally, the athletes have a hired kitchen staff that prepares meals for them at certain times throughout the day.

All in all, McNicol notes the experience as being exceptionally positive and worthwhile.

“It’s made me appreciate [volleyball] more. For them it’s kind of like ‘do-or-die’ — it’s a lifestyle.

Whereas for us, everyone is here because they love the sport. It was humbling.”

“He does look a lot more comfortable on the floor,” said Schick.

“He seems more focused and driven; he looks good so far.”

McNicol has undergone tremendous development through his two years at UBC, which he indicates is due in large part to the Thunderbird coaching staff. “I’ve been really lucky with Rich and [assistant coach Matt Lebourdais] letting me pursue what I want to pursue,” he said. “They’ve let me make mistakes and work it out in order to get to where I am now.”

Following his five years of eligibility at UBC, McNicol intends to pursue volleyball at a professional level. “I’d like to play overseas for a couple years, if my body holds up — knock on wood.”

Schick has always seen the potential in McNicol. “When you can get the work ethic, the strength, and the growth — the sky’s the limit.”

Now the starting right-side for the Thunderbirds, McNicol and the UBC men’s volleyball team have begun the 2014-2015 regular season and are looking strong.

“Our team this year has really high expectations; we have to keep demanding that we improve,” said McNicol. “I’m really excited to see where we go.”

Be sure to follow McNicol and the UBC men’s volleyball team on their quest for excellence in the 2014-2015 season. U

12 | games |

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014

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Oct 27 answers

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