March 8, 2016

MARCH 8, 2016 | VOLUME XCVII | ISSUE XXII I HATE INDESIGN SO MUCH SINCE 1918

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NEWS

CULTURE

OPINIONS

SPORTS

Most referendum question pass

Home-grown Juno nominees

Learn to cook, dumbass

Women’s hockey captures Canada West in three games

THE UBYSSEY

THE NEW

PRESIDENT Ava Nasiri, the 107th president of the AMS, wears many hats.

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TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016

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After coordinating the AMS’s student organizations as VP Administration for two years, Ava Nasiri has been named the next AMS president.

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EDITORIAL Features Editor Coordinating Editor Vassi Sharlandjieva Will McDonald coordinating@ubyssey.ca features@ubyssey.ca Design Editor Aiken Lao printeditor@ubyssey.ca News Editors Moira Warburton & Emma Partridge news@ubyssey.ca Culture Editor Olivia Law culture@ubyssey.ca Sports + Rec Editor Koby Michaels sports@ubyssey.ca Video Producer Tim Hoggan video@ubyssey.ca Photo Editor Kosta Prodanovic photo@ubyssey.ca Opinions + Blog Editor Jack Hauen opinions@ubyssey.ca

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On a Friday evening years ago, 12-year-old Ava Nasiri sat in her school’s gym with her classmates.

They were watching Cheaper by the Dozen and snacking on popcorn and juice boxes. She had planned that movie night along with her classmates, and it remains one of her most memorable moments of growing up.

“It was so successful that we took turns using the principle’s office phone to call our moms and ask them to bring us more popcorn,” Nasiri recalled. “Realizing the difference our teamwork created within the school and the way that it kind of broke the regular routine — to have that movie night on a Friday afternoon, to have everyone be so excited about it and have the students feel connected to each other — that definitely inspired me to keep doing things along those lines.”

That movie night was only the start of the desire to be involved in the community which Nasiri has brought to UBC. Though UBC was Nasiri’s only choice of university because she wished to stay close to her family, who live in Vancouver, she was not immune to feeling out of place.

“Did I ever think that I didn’t belong at UBC? I did. I was very lost in first year. I had no idea how to get involved,” said Nasiri. But that changed after a student running for the position of Arts Undergrad Society (AUS) VP Student Life made a classroom announcement of her candidacy in Nasiri’s first-year art history class. Nasiri ran after her and offered to volunteer, was made the candidate’s assistant, and thus found her way into student leadership and to a sense of belonging at UBC. Now in her fifth year, after planning retreats and working with clubs as the AUS VP Internal, and coordinating the AMS’s student organizations as the VP Administration for two years, Nasiri will be the next AMS president — the public face of the student society and the student body’s representative to the university.

“I think it’s the role of the AMS is to make sure that whatever community you want to belong to, and whatever that word means

to you, you have the tools you need to get where you want to be,” said Nasiri.

Nasiri encourages students who think that involvement comes at the expense of good grades to “give themselves a little bit more credit.”

“There are more hours in the day than you think,” she would say to students wondering how they can manage being involved in a leadership role on top of classes. “It’s just about you deciding that you can do it, and then planning things out accordingly.”

When reflecting on important lessons she has learned from her shortcomings in her VP Admin position, Nasiri said she had realized the value of asking for criticism after seeing the need to improve her office’s services — the website in particular — according to feedback from club executives.

“There are lots of things that can be missed when you don’t ask someone to give you negative feedback,” she said. “It might not

always be exactly what you want to hear — everything you’re doing wrong — but it’s one of the most valuable things and one of the most valuable questions you can ask.”

While excited to plan the start of her term as president, Nasiri admitted she was nervous about the unknowns she’d face on the job. “You never know what next controversy or crisis is going to pop up,” she noted. Her presidency will face certain challenges — the AMS will be operating at a $400,000 deficit because the fee raise referendum did not pass. In addition, the AMS has to hire a new General Manager to operate businesses in the aftermath of The Perch’s closing.

After characterizing herself a “people person” throughout her campaign, Nasiri extends an invitation: “I’d just love it to be known that I’m a regular student and I would love for anyone who has any questions about the AMS to pop by and say, ‘Hey,’” she said. U

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DISPLACEMENT //

Fellow in the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy speaks at UBC on refugees Sivan Spector Staff Writer

According to UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, there are around 59.5 million forcibly displaced people in the world.

Most refugees have been displaced for more than five years, which the current system in place for helping them has not been designed to cope with. Approximately 19.5 million of the near 60 million displaced peoples are refugees who have left their home country — the rest are people displaced within their own country.

Today, there are more Syrian refugees than refugees from any other country — about 25 per cent of all refugees in 2015 were Syrian. The conflict in Syria certainly has been prominent in the media, but there are, of course, refugees all over the world, including many who have fled to developing countries.

It is not unlikely that the media attention given to the Syrian conflict over others is due to the one million refugees that have arrived on European shores since the beginning of 2015. The difficulties refugees

face are enormous and are not limited to the reintegration process or trauma of the conflict they were fleeing. However, the resettlement process for the many Syrian refugees flooding into surrounding countries has become political.

“Right now, we’re seeing a lot of political football. Unfortunately, what has been largely a bipartisansupported, very humanitarian issue has now become very politicized and very securitized,” said Sarah Miller, who spoke at UBC last week about forced displacement.

Miller is an international relations professor at American University in Washington, D.C., and former Franklin Fellow in the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour’s African Affairs. She explains that leaving is rarely a choice for refugees — it is forced by violence, terror and war.

Miller is touring three Canadian cities in order to discuss refugee resettlement policies and to offer her expertise to volunteer groups to help them better support refugee integration into Canadian society.

Canada has agreed to take

25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of February. The United States has agreed to take 10,000. These are both a fraction of the 4.3 million refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict, which does not include the 10.8 million who are in need of humanitarian aid within Syria.

Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan are hosting about three million refugees and Europe about one million.

Those chosen for resettlement in the United States are often considered most vulnerable — those who are stranded at a volatile border, in need of medical assistance or subject to gender, sexuality or religion based violence. Refugees are referred for resettlement by UNHCR. Incoming refugees receive financial support for a number of months. In Canada, there are both government sponsored refugees and privately sponsored refugees. One student group that has been active at UBC is the WUSC, a program that fundraises for refugees who are students.

The program helps them not only resettle, but also continue their

studies, which are often disrupted by the conflict they are fleeing.

However, Miller said refugees lack legal, medical, physical and, in many cases, emotional protection.

According to Miller, resettlement is usually the third solution and finding a way for the refugees to return to their home country or letting them settle and work in the country that they have arrived to are preferred solutions.

Nations across Europe and North America have expressed some concerns about the huge influx of refugees in need of resettlement. The main concerns are surrounding security and economic issues. Countries worry that by letting refugees in that they will also be letting terrorists in, risking the lives of their current citizens.

“President Obama has put a lot of emphasis on the idea that refugees are themselves victims of terror,” said Miller. “Half of the Syrians resettled in the United States are children and a quarter are over 60.”

In the United States especially, there is a loud rhetoric likening

refugees to terrorists because of their religion. However, to apply for asylum in the United States, the screening process for refugees involves many steps and takes between 18-24 months.

“The security screenings are extremely rigorous, they’re among the most strict there could be. And while you can’t always screen out every possible threat, it, logically speaking, would be the worst way to try to come if you wanted to commit an act of terror,” said Miller.

Additionally, many countries in North America and Europe worry that refugees are an economic burden. However, according to Dr. Miller, refugees have proved to be extremely economically selfsufficient and often actually add to the host country’s economy by owning buisnesses. Although they rely on aid initially, most of them achieve at least 87 per cent of the new country’s average income within 10-20 years.

In Canada, Miller credits the increase of the quota of refugees in part to public support. Even in the United States, she said she’s seeing mass public support. U

AFTERMATH //

AMS referendum results: WUSC, U-Pass, Bring Back the Gal, campus culture and performance fee all pass

FILE PHOTO KOSTA PRODANOVIC/THE UBYSSEY

AMS elections passes most referendum questions

Emma Partridge News Editor

Last Friday saw the culmination of weeks of work for AMS election candidates and staff — the winners of the elections and the results of the many referendum questions also on the ballot were announced.

Questions that passed included increasing the fees allocated towards the World University Service Canada, approving the U-Pass, mandating the AMS to bring back

the Gallery Lounge, housekeeping by-law and constitution changes, changes to the health and dental plan and a campus culture and performance fee.

Questions that did not pass were a fee increase to AMS fees of $4.20 — meaning the society will face a $400,000 deficit next year — and changes to the way AMS Council handles referendum questions.

Although the majority of voters for the latter question were in favour, it failed to meet quorum.

Ava Nasiri took away the big win — the “Queen of Clubs,” as she was referred to by the elections administrator, was elected the 107th president of the AMS. On elections night, Nasiri said her only response was being humbled and honoured.

“I had no idea. Jenna is so phenomenal and amazing and talented and hard-working that I had absolutely no idea. It was hard to judge,” she told The Ubyssey on results night.

Jenna Omassi was the other front-runner in the presidential race. Nasiri was ranked first choice

by a margin of 267 votes compared to Omassi, with just a 14 per cent abstention rate in the presidential vote.

While Omassi did not win the presidency, she did win one of the five spots on Senate but later gave up this spot, which will instead be filled by councillor Daniel Lam. “It is just the right decision for me right now, allowing me to move away from the AMS and put my all into other campus endeavours to continue to support and advocate for students,” said Omassi in an email to The Ubyssey. “Senators who have been successful in their elections thus far have all the skills and expertise to continue on the projects that are most important to students and I have full faith in them.”

Lam said he felt elated at the news, but also that it came as a shock given that he had fully accepted his defeat on elections night.

“It’s a bummer I never had that sweet victory moment in the Pit where I’m crying tears of joy and frat boys are surrounding me and pouring beer over my head,” said

Lam. “But a victory is a victory and I’m happy regardless. I’m definitely looking forward to working with different senators.”

Those other senators are Samantha So, Kaidie Williams, Lina Castro and incumbent Nick Dawson. So also was named VP Academic and University Affairs.

The image of tears of joy and overflowing beer is an apt description of what followed the other victors over the course of the announcements that evening. To no surprise, unopposed candidate Louis Retief won VP Finance, at which point he announced that the first thing he was going to do is “have a couple more beers and just have a fucking good time with the new execs.”

Electing those with previous ties to the executive positions seemed to be the theme of the night. Chris Scott — a new transfer student to UBC, but one who got heavily involved right away as the vice-chair of the Student Administrative Committee — took home the title of VP Administration

despite strong competition from Alan Ehrenholz, EUS president.

“I was not expected to win, I don’t think, and it was all thanks to them,” said Scott, referencing his team of peers who helped his campaign. “I’ve been working behind the scenes for a long time so it’s nice to finally be able to take the executive position.”

Kathleen Simpson, also with more direct involvement within the executive portfolio that she was running for, took home the title of VP External. Simpson pulled off a strong performance in the Great Debate and, on results night, said that she worked through the fear of doing classroom announcements until they no longer made her nervous.

The VP races were also won by large margins each time, although the abstention rate — while normal for VP races — was much higher, at around 30 per cent.

The breakdown of votes and proportion of the student body who casted a ballot has now been made public. U

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4 | news |

TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016

GOVERNANCE //

Big BoG problems: it’s not just UBC “That would be very unusual circumstances. I cannot contemplate that being the case at UBC,” said Wilkinson. In fact, Christy Clark was asked on her visit to UBC after the documents pertaining to Guptagate were released whether or not she plans to remove any BoG members — her answer was no.

Once the Board of Governors is appointed, the government does not have a role in the governance of the university.

“There’s a well-established arrangement for university and board governance in our society ILLUSTRATION JULIAN YU / THE UBYSSEY and more particularly in British Ever wonder how governance at other univeristies looks?

Columbia. [The board] has a Sruthi Tadepalli administration, business, property political party in power at the time fiduciary duty for looking after the Senior Staff Writer and revenue of the university. of their appointment. Their job, interests of the university, and we On the other hand, academic once appointed, is supposed to respect that role and we leave it in UBC’s Board of Governors has been affairs are under the jurisdiction be working in the best interests their capable hands,” said Wilkinson. intensely scrutinized the last few of the senate. This is known as a of the university — the province For the most part the bicameral months, facing accusations of a lack “bicameral” system, in which one picks those who they feel have the system is one shared by every major of transparency, accountability and group is responsible for business experience to do so. university in Canada — Queen’s, oversight. These problems have led affairs and another for academic.

“The goal is to find individuals Simon Fraser University, Dalhousie, to calls for an external review of the The bicameral system used by UBC who have the necessary managerial McGill and Western, to name just Board of Governors and outrage from is the fundamental system used by expertise to look after a $2 billion a few. However slight differences students and faculty. every other public degree-granting budget … and to look out for the exist between the specifics of In light of this, we decided to take university in Canada, excluding the interests of the university as a appointments and the role of the a look at UBC’s governance structure University of Toronto. whole, whether it be in teaching, provincial government, leading as a whole and how it measures up to The majority of the BoG are research or in societal service such to some surface-level differences other universities in Canada. What appointed to their post by the as in training health professionals,” between them. we found was that most universities provincial government. In BC, the Andrew Wilkinson, minister of For example, in the University share the same structure, several also board’s composition and general higher education for BC’s provincial of Northern BC (UNBC)’s system have problems with transparency objectives are mandated by the BC government, told The Ubyssey in of governance, their president and and accountability and even the one University Act. This Act mandates February.

Board of Governors appoint their that’s different still has its share of that UBC’s Board of Governors The lieutenant Governor in chancellor. While UBC’s chancellor issues. have 21 members — 10 elected and Council may remove an appointed is elected by its alumni, UNBC To begin with, UBC’s Board of 11 appointed. member at any time. If a two-thirds decided its alumni pool was too Governors (BoG) is responsible The people appointed to the majority of the members of the board small to make this a viable option. for the business side of running BoG by the provincial government vote to remove a member of the The latest appointment at UNBC has a university. In broad terms, this are usually distinguished by their board, the Governor in Council may become highly controversial. means the board is responsible success in business and have remove them. The removal of a board James Moore, UNBC’s new for overseeing the management, often donated generously to the member is currently unheard of. chancellor, was very recently minister of industry with the Conservative government and gained an association with budget Notice of Development Permit Application - DP 16007 cuts and fiscal restraint — in light of this, his appointment has received a lot of pushback from the community.

According to William Bruneau, past Faculty Association (FA) president and professor emeritus in UBC’s Faculty of Education Studies, none of Join us on Thursday, March 10 to view and comment on the proposed Dentistry Courtyard this matters as much as the fact that Public Realm Improvement project. this appointment was done privately, with no consultation of the broader Date: Thursday, March 10, 2016 Times: 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM community of UNBC. He also notes Place: Lower Lobby, P.A. Woodward Instructional Resources Centre, 2194 Health Sciences Mall that such a lack of communication is the norm for the Board of Governors.

Plans will be displayed for the redesign of “When you look at the December 2 4,632m of public realm space bordered by the BoG minutes for UBC, the minutes Friedman and J.B. MacDonald buildings ; UBC are public but there is a lot that’s not Hospital ; and P.A. Woodward Instructional said. Part of the meeting is always inResources Centre. camera, private. Typically that has to do with personnel decisions and real Representatives from the project team and estate. Well, my goodness me, those Campus + Community Planning will be on hand happen to be the crucial decisions — to discuss and answer questions about this the ones that matter the most,” said project.

Bruneau. “The very ones you’d like to be public are private.”

For further information: It is not uncommon to hear Please direct questions to Karen Russell, UBC’s Board of Governors criticized Manager, Development Services for their lack of connection to or karen.russell@ubc.ca 604-822-1586 understanding of academic life.

This event is wheelchair accessible.

However, in this area, universities Can’t attend in person? Online feedback will be accepted until March 17, 2016. in Quebec fare far worse. When Bill To learn more or to comment on this project, please visit: 38 was passed in 2010, the influence planning.ubc.ca/vancouver/projects-consultations of faculty members and student representatives was reduced in all ten provincially-run universities in Quebec.

“They introduced business-style management practices … which is certainly not the way I’d like it to go,” said Bruneau.

There is only one university that does not use the bicameral system in Canada — the University of Toronto.

Public Open House

Dentistry Courtyard Public Realm Improvements

U of T has a Governing Council, which is a “unicameral” system that basically combines the Senate and the Board of Governors.

The biggest difference between U of T and UBC’s own Board of Governors is in representation numbers. Students hold eight seats — 16 per cent, comparable to the 14 percent of seats held by students at UBC — while provincially-appointed members hold 16 seats, or 32 per cent, significantly less than the 52 per cent held by provinciallyappointed governors at UBC. U of T did not always have this system of governance — it was established by the 1971 University of Toronto Act in response to student protests in the late 1960s.

“The board was very conservative and very averse to any attempts by the university to deal with student protests. [Then-president Claude] Bissel was shocked by what he saw and decided to do something,” said the Assistant University Archivist at the University of Toronto, Harold Averill.

However, even assigning joint responsibility to a large governing body containing members from the academic and business sides of the university has been shown to have its issues. Committees are of vital importance with a council so huge, and the University of Toronto has one that deals with financial matters.

“Everybody at U of T complains just as much as they do here about the secretiveness of the finance, real estate and personnel committee. But some of it has to be private — it just has to,” said Bruneau.

According to Averill, the sheer size of the Governing Council is a sticking point, as it makes the body “in some ways a bit unwieldy.”

Still, in Bruneau’s opinion, U of T’s system may still have some advantages over UBC’s.

“I’ll give you an example that makes me think that U of T may be a little bit ahead of UBC in terms of transparency. Every contract that’s over $50,000 is available online at U of T. So if the University of Toronto makes a contract with someone — a consultant, a company — that’s over $50,000, it will immediately be online,” said Bruneau. “You can get it at UBC too, if you’re patient. But too often it involves going [through] FOI requests.”

Accountability and transparency are not issues specific to UBC’s BoG. However, the problems we’re seeing now might be symptomatic of wider issues with the systems of governance available to universities.

The current system focuses on allowing efficiency, and decreasing the risk for conflict of interest in people appointed to the board. However, placing too much emphasis on these two parts can lead to unacceptable compromises of transparency and accountability.

“Boards are quite right to want to get the most bang for their buck. I want that too — I’m a taxpayer too,” said Bruneau. “But I would never want it at the expense of a really good quality education for students and first-rate research at the highest possible level — that is even more important to me.” U

// CULTURE

EDITOR OLIVIA LAW

ANTHROPOLOGY //

MoA exhibit shows generations of art, culture and stories

TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016

5

AWARDS //

The Tenors sold over 10,000 records before signing with their label.

SCREENSHOT VIA FACEBOOK

Music grads recognized at Junos Olivia Law Culture Editor

The carving style has been passed down through generations.

Sophie Sutcliffe Senior Staff Writer

In the Footprint of the Crocodile Man, the latest exhibit at UBC’s Museum of Anthropology, opened to the public on Tuesday night.

The exhibition uses the art of the Iatmul people of the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea to examine their history, culture and stories.

As well, the exhibit focuses on the damage caused by logging and mining by highlighting the risks that the Frieda mine pose to the Iatmul’s culture, economy and way of life.

The exhibit primarily featured wooden sculptural works carved

by Iatmul men. The carving style had been passed down through generations with all the artists having learned to carve at a young age from family members. The majority of the pieces featured in the exhibit were not intended to be kept in the home or used for a ceremonial reason, but were instead pieces created to satisfy the art market. For this reason, the pieces — while building on earlier works — are not copies and must convey emotions and deeper meanings while still serving their purpose of retelling the stories of the Iatmul people, which are passed on orally through generations.

Due to their cultural purpose, some of the carvings featured in the exhibit are accompanied by an explanation of the cultural practice that the work is depicting, giving a unique insight into the traditions of the Iatmul people. One of these explanations described the practice of ritual scarring of the Iatmul men to imitate the pattern of crocodile skin, stemming from the belief in ancestral ties to the crocodiles.

“He is brought to the Spirit House by his uncle who supports him as he lies across an upturned canoe whilst a village leader

PHOTO COURTESY KYLA BAILEY

uses a razor blade to cut a design on his back that emulates the marks of a crocodile,” explained Belden Minjan, a carver from the Palembei village. “The blood that runs out is his mother’s blood and when the cutting is finished, he is totally separated from his mother and has become a man.

Now he is a crocodile man.”

Other carvings are accompanied by written descriptions of the story that the carving is depicting, providing an interesting background of the art and the people who have created it.

Another prominent feature of the exhibit is the multimedia screens, which have videos of the Iatmul people creating their art, talking about their culture and also detailing the potential environmental harm faced by the area. Among these, the most noticeable is a video showing the Iatmul women as they go through the process of weaving baskets, displayed behind their art.

The art in the gallery was also accompanied by various photographs featuring the Sepik river, which display both the environmental and cultural aspects of the region. One of these photos displayed near Minjan’s work and description is a photograph of the crocodilelike scarification patterns of one Iatmul man.

The exhibit’s blending of the art of the Iatmul people with the photographs and videos of the region provided a unique insight into both the environment and culture of the Sepik river, highlighting the importance of preserving the Iatmul’s culture and way of life despite commercial interests in the area.

In the Footprint of the Crocodile Man is currently displayed at the UBC Museum of Anthropology and will be open until January 31, 2017. U

The Juno Awards are Canada’s Grammys. They are presented annually in spring to Canadian musical artists to acknowledge their artistic achievements in all aspects of music. This year, the ceremonies are at the beginning of April and four UBC alumni are nominated in various categories.

Cris Derksen, who graduated from her Bachelor of Music in 2007, is nominated for Instrumental Album of the Year for her electric cello work Orchestral Powwow. Half Cree and half Mennonite, Derksen was born in northern Alberta and was the Symphony Orchestra’s principal cello at UBC. “As soon as I graduated, I stepped away from classical [study] entirely and focused on electric cello,” she said. “I’m influenced by everything — the sounds of nature and the hip hop beats. I’m also interested in my own heritage. It’s hard to genredefine it.”

Orchestral Powwow is Derksen’s third studio album and returns to her roots – both her classical background and Aboriginal foundation.

In collaboration with Tribal Spirit, a contemporary powwow recording label, Derksen composed chamber musicstyle symphonic works around powwow pieces which she accessed from Tribal Spirit’s library.

“I wanted to put those two sides of my upbringing together into one idea, so that’s exactly what it is,” she said. “Orchestral Powwow – it’s symphonic works with powwow drums and powwow singers.”

Two UBC alumni are nominated in the same category – Classical Composition of the Year. Michael Oesterle (BMus ’92) was born in Germany and is nominated for his contemporaryclassical piece Centennials.

John Burge, (DMA ’89) has also been nominated for his piano quartet.

“The piece is romantic, it’s 20th century, it’s modern, it’s expressive,” he said. “It’s a big piece.”

For a piece of chamber music, the quartet has a remarkable orchestral sound to it, but allows for the players to maintain the sense of intimacy in the small group.

“I have the advantage in this ensemble that the performers are wonderful virtuosos on their instruments. The goal is to get beyond the technical challenges to actually make music happen,” he said. “I love writing chamber music because it’s just so intimate.

You don’t have to make nearly as many compromises as you do when writing for a large ensemble.

It’s more direct.”

Finally, Fraser Walters (BMus ’03) has been nominated for Contemporary Album of the Year with his a cappella quartet, The Tenors, for Under One Sky — an album that mixes popular covers and arrangements with original pieces. Walters began writing the title track as a theme for the Pan Am Games, reflecting on his own

experience on Canada’s national track and field team in the early 2000s.

“We’re pretty excited about the record,” he said. “The title track is an original song that we wrote and it sort of points to the fact that our songwriting was highly featured on this album.”

However, it is not only original compositions that make up the album. Listeners can expect to hear Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Bill Withers — among others — on the album, with The Tenors’ own contemporary spin.

“It’s awesome to have such a range of colours available with a range like this in the group. We’re honoured to be nominated among such incredible Canadian talent,” said Walters on his nomination category that includes Canadian greats such as Diana Krall and Johnny Reid.

The ceremonies are April 3 in Calgary and will be broadcast on CTV. U

6 | culture |

TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016

THEATRE //

Dogfight: A musical that’ll leave you reeling Katharina Friege Contributor

Three friends taking out three women as part of a wager sounds like the familiar beginning of a comedy of errors. Even though this is the premise for Dogfight, this musical is no light-hearted comedy – instead it carries heavy issues at its core.

The plot follows a group of marines who are spending their final night before deployment to Vietnam partying in San Francisco.

“Here are these young marines thinking, ‘Oh, we’re going to go off to war. It’s going to be a blast,’” said Matt Montgomery, who plays a soldier named Stevens. But that’s not what happens at all.

Based on the 1991 film of the same name, the soldiers compete to bring the ugliest or most awkward date to a “dogfight” party on their final night. One of the marines, Birdlace, falls in love with his date as the night progresses. When he returns from Vietnam some years later, he is greatly disillusioned by war and his former dreams of glory.

Dogfight was adapted for the stage in 2012 with music and lyrics

by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. It was performed in Vancouver in 2015 and won five Ovation awards, including Outstanding Community Production (small theatre) and Outstanding Direction. It returns

this year for five performances at Pacific Theatre under the helm of Chris Lam, who is returning as director.

This year, it is being brought back to the stage in an entirely new format.

“Every time you do a show, it’s completely new,” said Mark Dazlow, who plays a soldier named Bernstein. “This time around, it’s been really cool for seeing what comes out of the material just in terms of raw delivery.”

The set, designed by UBC theatre production graduate Carolyn Rapanos, is a very minimalistic one. It revolves around six multi-purpose stools, which can depict a bus one minute and a restaurant the next. With the help of hints in the script, the shifting postures of the actors’ bodies and lighting techniques, the audience is able to come to their own conclusion about where a scene is taking place.

“It’s a little bit more avantgarde … people actually have to think,” said Montgomery. “We’re telling you a story, not putting on a show,” he added. “It’s a lot more grounded and just raw.”

The story being told is set in 1963, during an era of overt sexism, racism and misogyny, but also one with an underlying force of great change. Despite its era-specific narrative structure,

ILLUSTRATION SOPHIA SLOAN/THE UBYSSEY

If you don’t hashtag, it didn’t happen.

Elysse Bell Food columnist

POSTER COURTESY DOGFIGHT

The musical returns to the Pacific Theatre for just five performances.

Dogfight tackles a host of very contemporary social issues.

“Everyone should see [the show] because it brings up things that need to be addressed,” said Dazlow. “It’s definitely important to see those things and to see how far we’ve come since the 1960s

[…] but then also see what still is going on.”

With brilliant contemporary music, a tough political message and the intimate atmosphere of live theatre, Dogfight doesn’t pull any punches and is certainly not a musical to be missed.U

ANNIVERSARY //

Celebrating 100 years of theatre with more theatre

People line up to see a spring play by the UBC Players, 1921.

Kelly Lu Contributor

UBC Players have invited audiences through everything from a magical wishing well to talk, to a famous homicidal ghost in their Centennial Celebration theatre festival, film and gala event.

Home Fire Burning is the first solo work written by Heidi Elric based on Charles Duncan who – like many others – was sent to fight in World War I and never returned.

The piece follows the three children of Charles Duncan — who is played

by Garth Barriere, a UBC alumni and a founding member of the UBC Players Club — as they travel through a magical portal to learn about the unfortunate fate of their father.

Genie Duncan (Kimberley Hornaday) has a fiery temper and is the first of the Duncan children to learn about the secret of the wishing

well after dropping a penny for her father’s safe return. Clare (Danika Enad) and Earnest (Matt Rhodes) soon join their sibling Genie on this journey.

Elric stirs up nostalgia and celebrates UBC’s 100th birthday by carefully selecting the Duncan children’s destinations to be the first plays ever produced by UBC Players Club. These destinations included Fanny and the Servant Problem in which Charles Duncan actually played the doctor in the very first production, Alice Sit by the Fire and lastly The Importance of Being Earnest.

Genie is the most troubled of the Duncan children and struggles with defining her role and responsibilities when her father leaves for war. Fanny shares similar struggles with the societal expectations and rules like Genie is.

A parallel is drawn between the two ladies as they both question what

How to live an Instagrammable Life

PHOTO COURTESY UBC ARCHIVE

and who defines their existence.

Fanny acts as Genie’s inner voice and comes back to help her through her grief. The tending fire that glows brightly in the background through the travel acts as the tether to home and reality.

Home Fire Burning is an excellent play that instills a sense of nostalgia and imagination that can be shared by the audience. Elric seamlessly wove three stories into her play and cleverly demonstrated her talent for exposition and writing.

Divine Monsters is a humorous and dark play written by Elena Kaufman. The play has a small cast of two people and a few invisible ghostly forces. Martha (Shona Struthers) is a suicidal Canadian musician who was just betrayed by her lover and feels tired of life.

Sarah Bernhardt (Amelia Ross) is a dead ghost who longs to live again and is willing to manipulate and use

Martha to achieve her means.

This play is about a clash of times and Kaufman skillfully explores the age gap between Martha, the 21st-century girl, and Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), the finest actress of the times who goes by the nickname of “Divine Sarah.”

While Martha truly befriends her new ghostly friend and confides with Sarah about her problems and why she wants to die, Sarah is plotting to switch places with Martha to live and be famous again.

The two share candid moments of exchanging secrets and singing, but Sarah’s selfish desire to use Martha is echoed throughout the play.

Phones and modern slang run through the dialogue to provide the majority of the entertainment in the play. Kaufman really emphasizes the naiveties of Sarah with regards to the modern world. Martha teaches her new friend about Facebook, technology, societal changes and new expectations in the modern world. Despite their differences, Martha and Sarah share songs that connect the two times and two cultures together.

The singing also displays the excellence of the actresses involved.

Divine Monsters is an exceptional play that explores the serious issue of suicide in a comical exchange with a famous ghost. Kaufman did an excellent job portraying the divine monster and Martha.

The centennial celebration includes a wonderful cast of actors and commendable efforts from the directors and stage crew. U

These days, it seems like the phrase “photos or it didn’t happen” can apply to just about any daily banality – getting dressed, eating or going for a walk. All of these activities and more can be documented in amateurish, pixelated glory with a shaky tap of a finger on a smartphone screen. But Instagram wouldn’t be Instagram if we were satisfied with darkly-lit, blurry photos of sunsets. The ranks of the cultural elite – the Instagram famous – spend hours each day cultivating their aesthetic. Don’t have the time for that? Here’s how to live an Instagrammable lifestyle instead so that any given moment of your life can be captured in square format, like-generating splendour.

Obtain a pet. Depending on your desired aesthetic, you might consider a majestic rare-breed dog or a cat who lounges on things that you happen to want to show off. Or you could court likes by joining the many communities of pet owners with a well-placed #iguanasofinstagram. Even if you’re not doing anything interesting, you’ve got a guaranteed photo subject 24/7.

Only buy weathered, used furniture or furniture that’s not really supposed to be furniture-like driftwood that’s been “reclaimed” into a highly uncomfortable bench. The only exception is your countertops — these should be the highest-quality, darkest grey you can find and they should practically absorb light so that anything you photograph upon them looks like a Renaissance-style portrait.

Take up an obscure hobby.

Preferably one with janky tools and equipment or — even better — something that’s been outdated for at least half a century. Photograph the tools laid out neatly on your gnarled wood dining room table and you’re good to go. Bonus points: you’ll probably only be able to find the equipment at a thrift store or flea market – voila! More photo subjects.

Only eat things that can be artistically splayed onto artisanal toast. Sorry, oatmeal is now out of the question unless you can scatter the ingredients onto a board in natural light.

Develop nice handwriting. A messy, but still-legible, scrawl will do.

Swap all the lightbulbs in your home with tinted bulbs so that photos are pre-filtered. Bonus: you can still hashtag #nofilter and this time it’ll be TRUE. Make a habit of arranging all things into neat rows or repetitive patterns. Now photograph the things. Goooood.

If all else fails, hire a professional photographer and/ or branding agency to follow you around at all times. If it comes to this, what can you do? It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. U

// SCIENCE

EDITOR KOBY MICHAELS

TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016

ANTHROPOCENE //

Humans are driving evolution around the world

From a small lake in BC researchers are learning how humans are affecting evolution.

Arianna Leah Fischer Staff Writer

The proposition that we have now moved into an epoch known as the Anthropocene — where the Earth’s geology and ecosystems are being significantly impacted by human activities — is being more widely accepted throughout the scientific community. New research from UBC on two species of the three spine stickleback further supports this transition.

All species in an ecosystem occupy a specific role, known as a niche. One of the two species fed near the shore, the other out in open water. The arrival of the crayfish sent this once-peaceful ecosystem into imbalance and what has

happened to — or rather between — these two species left scientists vexed. Instead of completely disappearing, the species began reproducing with each other at a high frequency, leaving behind a new hybrid species. This is a process known as reverse speciation. Shortly after humans introduced crayfish to a lake in BC, the two three spine stickleback species went extinct... sort of.

“It’s kind of like mixing two colours of paint,” said Seth Rudman, a PhD student at UBC’s department of zoology. “So you have red and blue, they’re separate. And all of the sudden when they start to bleed together, you end up with purple.”

Rudman and his team have documented how this

ILLUSTRATION MARY BUCKLAND/THE UBYSSEY

transformation from the two three spine stickleback species into a hybrid has impacted the ecosystem and have published their findings in Current Biology.

But this goes beyond our small lake in BC — this is a global phenomenon.

“There’s just a massively growing number of cases. In the last four years alone, there have been a dozen cases of reverse speciation, all of which have had human impacts behind them.”

Beautiful antelopes in South Africa that attract tourists from all over the world are now hybridizing.

Island populations that used to be separate have begun interbreeding, like certain ducks from New Zealand. The declining population

of wolves has led them to mate with coyotes. Environments are much more connected due to human activities, leading to a massive increase in gene flow.

The new interconnectedness of populations caused by human activities is leading to a decrease in our planet’s biodiversity. A lot of the younger species that are still able to mate with other similar species are being swamped out. Rudman believes that each species holds an intrinsic value to the ecosystem they inhabit. They represent a unique biodiversity.

Canada itself has fallen victim of reverse speciation on several occasions. A lot of its biodiversity, specifically in fish, is similar to the stickleback. Canada has been covered in glaciers up until 12,000 years ago. This makes its fish populations very young and still able to exchange genes with one another. Fish like the Westslope cutthroat trout and the regular cutthroat trout, when brought into contact with each other or if the environment is disturbed, can hybridize.

“It’s a particularly vexing situation for Canadian biodiversity.

This reverse speciation is something that people haven’t been looking at for very long. It’s hard to know if it’s happened unless you’re watching.”

Perhaps it is time for us to consider evolution in our conservation efforts before too much of our planet’s biodiversity is gone. U

ADDICTION //

Flashing lights, loud noises and rat casinos

The research helps explain why games like Candy Crush are so hard to put down.

Emilie Kneifel Contributor

Why on earth is Candy Crush so addictive? Michael Barrus, a PhD candidate in UBC’s department of psychology, and Catharine Winstanley, associate professor in the department of psychology, just published a study that may offer some insight into what makes games like Candy Crush so hard to put down.

In Barrus and Winstanley’s study, rats participated in a gambling game based off of the human-sized Iowa Gambling Task. In this task, rats are given four different options — two of

which are risky and result in less sugar pellets over time, and two of which are conservative and result in more sugar pellets over time. In 2009, Winstanley and her team published a study — the first animal laboratory experiment to successfully model human gambling — showing that, after some trial and error, rats, like humans, adopt a safe strategy and opt for conservative choices.

By comparing their rats’ environments with real casino machines, however, Winstanley and Barrus realized that they were forgetting something crucial — sound and light stimulation.

Thus, as all great science does,

PHOTO COURTESY MICHELE URSINO/FLICKR

this new study began with a question: “Should we make a super cute version of the gambling task?”

As silly as it felt at first to add tones and flashing lights to their experiment, Barrus and Winstanley encountered some shocking results.

“When we added the cues, the behaviour shifted. It was a really big shift towards risky choice.”

The shift to reckless gambling was larger than the effects they’ve seen in the same task with psycho-stimulant drugs.

When the researchers introduced a class of drugs that blocks the D3 dopamine receptor

— which has been linked to addiction — things got even more interesting. These drugs didn’t affect rats in a normal setting, but they did have an effect on rats in the environment with light and sound. These rats stopped making impulsive gambling decisions.

Not only did the the sensory cues increase risky decisionmaking, they also caused the rats’ brains to “recruit [the] whole signalling pathway” associated with addiction. This finding creates possibilities for treating gambling addiction, but it also has broader implications beyond just gambling and addiction research.

“It is just another example of how the cues in your environment could be shaping your behaviour in ways that you don’t always realize,” said Winstanley. “Your common sense tells you that the visual cues present in our world may just be orienting cues. But when we did the study ... we found that [they were] actually changing rats’ decision making.”

The response to the study has made Winstanley hyper-aware of how such stimuli affect anything from buying stocks to playing video games. “I certainly now look at my own behaviour.” Alas, even though she is completely aware that “it’s just things exploding, pretty colours and is not cognitively challenging at all,” Winstanley reluctantly admitted that she recently began playing Bejeweled and that she just can’t seem to stop. U

7

ENVIRONMENT //

Is spring early this year?

FILE PHOTO GEOFF LISTER/THE UBYSSEY

Climate change strikes again.

Taisha Mitchell Contributor

Is it spring already? With flowers in bloom and a week of sunshine, it sure feels like it.

“There is a lot of evidence from all over the world — but particularly in the Northern hemisphere and around our latitude — that springs are becoming earlier. Not only can we see that in temperature data, but also in the timing of when plants flower in the timing of peak water flow in rivers and also, indirectly, when farmers plant crops,” comments Simon Donner, associate professor in the department of geography.

As the planet warms, largely due to human activity, we will see warmer and earlier springs. Donner mentioned that, in February, the average temperature has been a degree or two greater than normal and that these warm winter and spring temperature trends are likely to be more common in the future.

Although we may appreciate warm, sunny days in February, increasingly warm winter temperatures may have serious impacts in the future.

“One of the big worries of a warmer winter is the lageffect it has on the rest of the year. If the winter is a little bit warmer, it means that a lot of the precipitation that usually falls as snow on the mountains is going to be falling as rain. If that happens, the time of the year in which the river flow and soil moisture levels peak ends up being earlier in the year.

Then that has an influence on plant growth in the summer … and a huge impact on the water available for our use.”

Donner suggests that not only should we be planning for a warmer future, but also seriously considering reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and prompting both local and federal governments to take action.

So enjoy the flowers and warm weather, but heed the warning and maybe walk to school instead of driving a few times a week. U

8 | Science |

TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016

TRADITIONAL HEALING //

First Nations clay may arm medicine to fight drug resistance Stephanie Wood Contributor

UBC research has found that Kisameet Bay clay, found on the central BC coast and used as medicine by the Heiltsuk Nation for generations, is able to kill drugresistant bacterial infections. The clay cannot be used in hospitals yet since it is an ill-defined, natural product. How does this natural treatment work and what is the next step to using the clay clinically?

This research has garnered lots of attention due to the clay’s ability to kill a particular group of drug-resistant bacterial infections called the ESKAPE pathogens. The acronym describes six species of bacteria that “escape” all antibiotic treatment and lead to increased illness and mortality in hospitals around the world.

Antibiotic resistance has increased for various reasons.

Professor Emeritus Julian Davies, who led research on the clay in UBC’S department of microbiology and immunology, attributed increasing resistance partially to the use of antibiotics on farm animals.

The drugs are used to increase animal meat production and are thus introduced to consumers’ systems.

He also points out overprescription with some hospital patients being prescribed antibiotics before infection even forms. This preventative effort actually provides more opportunity for drug resistant infections to develop, contributing to the increasingly desperate need to combat drug resistant infections.

“Just when you think you have something understood, the bugs come up with something different,” Davies mused.

The clay has been used for generations by First Nations but science is just starting to discover its medicinal properties.

Kisameet clay is all the more incredible since the substance itself remains a mystery.

“It’s a very complex structure,” asserted Davies. It is built from different-sized particles with different properties.

The composition of the clay remains unknown as well as its toxicity and precisely why it works.

The clay is currently being analyzed

by Loretta Li, a professor in UBC’s department of civil engineering, to determine its properties. Until that time, the clay cannot be used as clinically-approved treatment.

Davies maintains his optimism that the clay is not toxic because the Heiltsuk have eaten and applied the

clay to treat various maladies for years. The clay was even modestly used in Vancouver during World War II when there was a shortage of antibiotics, according to Davies.

Of course, Davies does not propose patients eat raw clay. In the lab, Davies and two students, Shekooh Behroozian and Sarah Svennson, created a leachate from the clay. Water was rotated with the clay for several hours and the particles were removed, leaving a clear solution. This solution successfully killed the pathogens.

Davies believes it is a combination of metals and minerals in the clay that disrupt the bacteria. The goal is to discover the composition

and “make a synthetic blueprint” which would be “a chemicallydefined product” that could be used in hospitals. Until then, the clay remains a naturopathic treatment, which may perhaps be used only in desperate, otherwise fatal cases.

“There are fixed ideas on how to treat diseases,” Davies acknowledged. “Most [medical] agencies don’t want to use things that are not understood.”

Also, the leachate has only been tested in a lab.

“There is a great difference between lab experiments and clinical testing,” Davies asserted. However, he believes significant progress can be made over a few years.

PHOTO COURTESY UBC PUBLIC AFFAIRS

The Center for Disease Control cites over 2 million illnesses and 23,000 deaths per year within the United States thst are due to all drugresistant infections. Concern for ESKAPE pathogens is particularly high in Europe and poorer countries.

Kisameet clay brings muchneeded innovation to fighting antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

The research also points to an interesting discourse between distrusted naturopathic treatments and approved medical treatments. This clay seems to be a conjunction of the two with a long traditional use among the Heiltsuk and a scientific journey that is just beginning. U

DEVELOPMENT //

Babies can determine social dominance by group size

Babies were surprised when smaller groups of people were dominant over larger groups.

Andrea Gonzalez Staff Writer

A new study by researchers in UBC’s department of psychology has shown that babies as young as six months may be much more conscious of social dominance in relationships than previously thought.

Even at the tender age of six months, babies can understand that individuals who are part of larger social groups are socially dominant to those in smaller groups, suggesting that the babies may be able to reason

about complex social concepts within the first few months of life.

“In many social species such as chimpanzees, lions, hyenas, lions and even insects, we see a preference towards being in bigger groups when they need to be protected,” said Anthea Pun, a graduate student in the developmental psychology program and lead author of the study. “We really were motivated by this evolutionary history to explore whether babies are born into the world with some sort of concept of number and whether they are able to

ILLUSTRATION JULIAN YU/THE UBYSSEY

use that information to understand that being part of a larger group may be advantageous to you.”

As part of the study, the developmental psychology research team in the Living Lab at Science World explored whether infants from families in the local community can infer the dominance relationship between two people from groups that differ in numerical size.

Babies were shown two different novel social groups that they were not familiar with, distinguished by colour and how many members

were in each group. Each group had the same goal of trying to cross a platform. But because they were coming from opposite directions, one had to submit to the other by backing away, which meant that they were the submissive character whereas the dominant character was able to pass successfully.

Babies were then shown two scenarios — one in which the individual from the larger group was able to get their way and cross the platform, whereas the character from the smaller group had to submit. They were also then shown an opposite scenario where the individual from the smaller group got to cross the pathway.

“Because babies are still preverbal at this age, we rely on their looking times — how long they are engaging with the stimulus in front of them. When babies see something that is unexpected or surprising to them, they stay engaged for a longer amount of time, resulting in a discrepancy if they are noticing differences between an expected and unexpected trial,” said Pun. It was found that babies looked longer when a character from a smaller group had to complete their goal at the expense of the individual from the larger group. Therefore, babies expect characters from larger groups to get their way and to be more dominant compared to

individuals from smaller groups.

“The most fascinating thing is that — although babies as young as six months of age are still really encompassed only by their family — they already have some sort of pre-prepared learning about social alliances,” said Pun. “The fact that babies thought that there were better advantages from the larger group means that they are making some sort of connection between how many people [that] are there to back you up in a social group.”

The babies recognized the benefits of larger social circles even if an individual is not the biggest or strongest in the group.

Pun hopes to continue to advance infant research to explore babies’ behavioural choices in social situations and to understand the kinds of human competencies and abilities that may have a longer evolutionary history.

“We have a number of questions beyond the fact that it is fascinating that babies understand social dominance relationships this young. Do babies themselves want to be part of these larger groups because they know that there can be some sort of advantage conferred there? We’re interested to see whether babies themselves will choose to be part of a group that is larger because perhaps they see the benefit in aligning with them.” U

// OPINIONS

EDITOR JACK HAUEN

TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016

ADVICE //

9

COUNCIL //

Ask Natalie: I hate cooking for myself AMS Decoded: March 9

ILLUSTRATION AIKEN LAO/THE UBYSSEY

viet vu

Every few weeks, your student government spends a Wednesday night to talk about a bunch of things. In most cases, what we talk about won’t affect a students’ dayto-day activity, but there are always a few tidbits that might interest you. Here’s what to watch out for in the upcoming AMS Council meeting on Wednesday, March 9, 2016.

It’s no secret that the VP External office has been working diligently over the past many years on a Broadway subway line and other transit issues that affect students.

With the previous transit policy expiring and the federal budget coming out soon, Council will be discussing the new and reviewed transit policy. This policy will direct the AMS External office to advocate for a rapid rail system for the Broadway corridor.

Election results

Divestment policy

If you haven’t heard, the AMS just had elections. The student body successfully passed the U-Pass referendum with 97 per cent approval, agreed to bring back the Gallery with 81 per cent approval, decided to double the World University Service Canada (WUSC) fee, and introduced a new Arts and Culture Fee, among other questions. The two referendum questions that didn’t pass were the $4.20 increase in AMS membership fees and the referendum question on referendums. AMS Council will be voting to accept these election results on Wednesday, after a presentation by the Elections Administrator.

Another policy that will come to AMS Council this Wednesday is the divestment policy. Recently, the Board of Governors failed to divest its fossils fuel shares in the university’s investment plans. Once approved, this policy will mean that AMS takes the stance that UBC should take all possible measures to divest from existing fossils fuel investments within five years. U

Contributor

PHOTO JACK HAUEN/THE UBYSSEY

natalie morris Advice

“Natalie, I am already past my mid-20s and still have no idea how to prepare a decent meal. I just naturally don’t have the motivation nor the interest in cooking and food at all. What worries me is that should my mom decide to step back from cooking for the family one day, disaster will strike. Is there any way to really get me learning something that’s plain dull and boring?”

You do realize how entitled you sound right now right? You’re worried that your mother will stop cooking and “disaster will strike”?

Honey, it already has. You’re a 20-something grown-ass person and it’s about time you started acting like it.

I hope you have a well-paying job because when you move out, you’re probably going to be spending a lot of money on takeout and restaurants. That right there is your reason to learn how to feed yourself. If you want to live at home and never learn any practical skills, go ahead, but don’t ask me to justify it for you.

Cooking isn’t “plain dull and boring,” and as someone who wholly enjoys food, baking and cooking, I don’t get your reasoning for not learning how to cook.

Google how to make some pasta and cut your mom some slack.

“Dear Natalie, I’m currently the most depressed I’ve ever been since I’ve come to UBC three years ago. I recently found out that one of my friends from first year, who I’ve considered a close one as well, slept with my ex-girlfriend not even a week after we broke up.

Said ex is dead to me, but I cannot believe that my friend would do such a thing.

Moreover, I’m disgusted at how our friend group has not defended my rights in any way.

It feels like they’ve all taken his side. I feel like I have no options left but to leave this friend group — and the worst part is that I absolutely did nothing to deserve any of this.”

Before I say absolutely anything else, I want you to know that what your friend did was shitty.

You have the right to feel shitty about the situation. You can even be angry.

“

You’re worried that your mother will stop cooking and ‘disaster will strike’? Honey, it already has.”

That said, exactly what “rights” were your friends supposed to defend? You obviously are upset, but what else are your friends supposed to do other than comfort you? Defend your honour? I mean, you were broken up and what your friend did was a douche move, but what do you want them to do about it? Cut off one of their friends because they slept with one of your exes? That’s something they may do if they decide to, but that’s not your “right” by any stretch of the word.

Maybe this isn’t what happened, but it seems to me that maybe the incident you’re upset about happened a while ago and you just found out? Maybe your friend group already knew

about it and already hashed that out with this friend. You can’t force anyone to feel something, including more indignant just to make you feel better about this situation. They may not be reacting in the way you think they should because they already did and worked through it.

What I’m saying is that just because your friends don’t seem like they are “defending your rights,” doesn’t mean they don’t have your back. If you need a break from your group, that’s valid. If you want to break it off with them forever, that’s your choice, but don’t blame them for something your friend did. You have options. One of them is to cool down for a bit.

“Dear Natalie, I’m worried that one of my roommates is becoming too attached to my cat. I’m moving out at the end of the term and I’m (obviously) taking my cat with me. I’m worried it’s going to upset her.”

This is one of those times you should have a conversation with your roommate no matter how awkward it may seem. Just bring up that you’ve noticed how close she and your cat were getting and remind her gently that the cat is coming with you. Chances are she just loves cats (who can blame her) and she’s getting her time in with it before you leave.

Just in case though, make sure you have all your paper records showing that the cat belongs to you. Look into getting your cat microchipped if you haven’t already. It’s better to be way overprepared than to have to scramble in the middle of a move to prove you own your own cat. U Need advice? Contact Natalie anonymously at asknatalie@ ubyssey.ca and have your questions answered in an upcoming issue.

Transit policy

Viet Vu is a fifth-year Economics major, AMS Councillor and current chair of the Oversight Committee.

His views are his own and do not necessarily represent those of the AMS or the Vancouver School of Economics Undergraduate Society.

// SPORTS+REC

EDITOR KOBY MICHAELS

TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016

10

ATHLETES //

Words by ’Birds: Chocolate chips and swimming with a frenemy

Erin (right) and Tera (left) weren’t always friends. But now they are both are graduating. Erin is done swimming competatively and Tera is training for Rio.

Erin Assman and Tera Van Beilen UBC Thunderbirds Swimmers

Editors note: Erin Assman and Tera Van Beilen are both fifth-year UBC students and Thunderbirds who will be graduating this spring. Erin just competed in her last swim meet and Tera is looking to compete in her second Olympic games this summer in Rio. Flashback five years. If you told us we would go to the same university, we may have believed you. If you told us we would be teammates, we may have believed you. If you told us we would be roommates and best friends, we would have said, “HELL NO.” Swimming is a small world, you know most of the people you race against. We raced against each other basically our whole lives, one of us just narrowly beating out the other for the win. At the beginning of high school, we started swimming in the same group for the Oakville Aquatic Club in Oakville, Ontario. At the beginning, we were friends — we had to be. Club swimming means your group is your built-in friends. You celebrated birthdays, Christmas and just about every other major holiday and occasion with them.

We moved through high school and began to find our own voices. This is where we started to butt heads.

It would be polite to say that we weren’t the fondest of each other.

From locker room banter to our individual competitive desire for attention, we never saw eye-to-eye.

As high school started to come to a close, university decisions were upon us. We were both great swimmers and could have chosen almost any school in the United States with a full ride. Instead, we both made the bold decision to stay in Canada and coincidentally both choose to attend UBC and become a beloved Thunderbird.

We became the talk of the town.

“Hey, did you hear Tera and Erin both chose UBC? How will their UBC teammates choose sides?”

“How is Vancouver going to handle these two big personalities?” “Are you SURE that’s the best decision

for you?” We replied to these questions with slight hesitation, not sure ourselves how exactly this new arrangement was going to work out.

September of our rookie year hit — we were cordial, of course.

It was always nice to see a familiar face in passing, but honestly we had no desire to actually hang out.

The occasional dinner with our fellow rookie — Rebecca Terejko — at the Vanier Caf was about as close as we got. At this point, you may be thinking, “I don’t get it. They’re teammates, how did they not see each other 10 times a week?” We had different training schedules since Tera was training towards the Olympics at the National Training Centre and Erin was training with the varsity team. This was the kind of setup that we had hoped for when we originally both accepted our offer to UBC. Our first year flew by and we were then left with the decision of who we were going to live with for our second year. Our original living arrangements fell through and as life sometimes goes, we were forced to make the best out of a “bad” situation. Tera Van Beilen and Erin Assman of Oakville, Ontario made the conscious decision to live together. Here’s our story.

Through the eyes of Erin: It was literally the day before we had to have our roommate preferences chosen. I had no one on my request list. To say I was stressed would be an understatement. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to meet new people, I did and always do. When you’re training 30 hours a week for an extremely demanding sport, you don’t exactly want your roommate to be having a party until 2 a.m. when you have practice at 5 a.m. I knew Tera, Rebecca and Heather MacLean were planning on living together. They were the perfect fit for each other — all very focused on swimming, not huge partiers and they all loved peanut butter. I gathered the courage to Facebook

message the three of them and make the request to live with them.

To my surprise, they messaged me back with a yes.

Again, Tera and I became a hot topic. LIVING TOGETHER?!

Were we crazy? My parents, sister and friends were extremely worried. They knew the history between Tera and I and they really just couldn’t see how this living arrangement could ever work out for the best. I think they had visions of us getting into a huge fight ending in strangling each other over whose cookies were better. Side note: we both make freaking fantastic cookies.

We moved into our apartment in Gage towers about a month after that fateful day and began to realize that this arrangement could really work. A few weeks into living together, Tera came up with our infamous name of “Core Four” — let’s just say it involved a little alcohol, a parking lot rooftop and the most wonderful day of the year. To be completely honest, I wasn’t the most fond of the name to start — I thought it was kind of cheesy. Yet as time went on, it became our identity, our namesake and just who we were. From then on, everyone knew us as Core Four — our coaches, members of other teams, our family. Heck, one of our teammates even got shirts made for us with “Core Four” splashed across the front and #nailedit on the back!

For the most part, living with these girls has been rainbows, butterflies and chocolate chipits, but there have been difficult times.

In case you were wondering, Tera did make the Olympics she was training for in first year. As did Heather. This was part of the reason why I was originally so nervous about living with the two of them. I am a good swimmer — don’t get me wrong, you have to be in order to be on the UBC’s swim team— but I’m not an Olympiclevel athlete. I am completely okay with this. It gives me a little more freedom to do other things that are important to me like being social (athlete-only events are the bomb).

In living with Heather, Tera, and Rebecca, I was afraid of being judged, about coming home late while everyone else was asleep, about not eating the right things, about not being as smart as the other girls and most of all, I was afraid of not being fast enough to be friends and roommates with these outstanding girls. It sounds silly, all of these things I was afraid of, and I’m sure Core Four would think I was out of my mind in saying these things. That is what’s the best part about living with these girls, they have always been my biggest fan. That is something that will never change, no matter where we live.

As told by Tera: The fact that my past frenemy became my roommate was an idea that I never thought would become reality.

Core Four consisted of four very different personalities, but we all embraced it each person for who they were. This is why I think we worked so well together. They do say opposites attract. I was known for the weird creations I made in the kitchen, my aggressively loud talking voice, always leaving the cupboards open and constantly have a good story to share or having a ridiculous story told about me.

Let’s be honest, I wouldn’t consider myself the cleanest member of Core Four. With that being said, I’m sure I wasn’t always the easiest person to live with, but I definitely made life interesting.

Erin, on the other hand, had her moments as well. She was always Ms. Organized, is deathly allergic to peanut butter (which happens to be my favourite food), would daily leave her frying pan on the stove and has always been more mature than me. These were some of the things that drove me crazy about Erin, but somehow became the things that I love about her.

Something we learned very quickly was how to pick our battles. Like all relationships, it’s about give and take. Passive-

PHOTOS JEREMY JOHNSON-SILVERS/THE UBYSSEY

aggressive dry erase board notes or harsh text messages were not the answer. Living with a person in limited space, you quickly learn how to better conduct yourself and get along with someone who may very well be your opposite.

Erin is one of the best listeners I know and I don’t think that any of our tiffs lasted longer than a couple hours because we able to communicate, compromise and cuddle our disputes away. Through our differences, we challenged one another because we really have wanted the best for each other.

We truly cared about each other’s lives. Every time we saw one another we would ask, “How was your practice?” “Did you have a good day?” “Whatcha making for dinner?” Our tiring days would often catch up to us, but praise the Lord for the our three favourite cable channels — TLC, Food Network and the Women’s Channel. We wouldn’t have survived the week without them along with our unlimited stashes of chocolate chips. And then there were the times that all four of us would congregate in our living room and catch up on each others lives. From tears of sadness that somehow always turned into tears of laughter, we could easily spend several hours chatting before looking at the clock and seeing 10:00 p.m.

— time to pack it in, up in 7 hours for practice! That’s when you know you’re living in a swimmer house.

Lights off and in bed at 10:30 p.m. AT THE LATEST. Caring for someone takes time — friendship and love doesn’t happen instantly. Good friends evolve with you and thanks to Erin, we have seen each other grow into women that we are proud of. She became the much needed “mother of the household.”

She has always kept me accountable for my actions, made me feel accepted and valued for who I am and has become my “go-to” person for advice along with supporting me in all my crazy endeavours. It wasn’t always be easy, but it was totally worth it.

Thanks to UBC, we became besties and have no regrets. U

TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016

| SPORTS+REC | 11

PLAYOFFS //

Women’s hockey capture Canada West championship Jenny Tang, Matt Langmuir and Koby Michaels Sports Staff

The UBC women’s hockey team has claimed the Canada West title.

The team took the first game in the series in a tight 2-1 victory over the Manitoba Bisons.

Thunderbird Shiayli Toni opened the scoring in the eighth minute of the first period, her first goal of the post-season off an assist from Cailey Hay and Jenna Carpenter-Boesch.

Neither side was able to score after the first period, but towards the final five minutes of the game the Bisons began putting some real pressure on the ’Birds. It was thanks to Dube’s solid goaltending and the tight defense of the Thunderbirds that UBC claimed the win.

With the win, Dube adds to her impressive stats this season, boasting a 1.00 goals against average, good for first among goalies in the post-season.

Looking to capture the title in two games, the ’Birds hit the ice again on Saturday night, but fell 4-1 against the University of Manitoba Bisons. A goal was controversially not allowed after Stephanie Schaupmeyer deflected a pass past the Bisons’ goalie.

Things looked promising from the get-go on Saturday night. Just two minutes into the game, Kelly Murray got the icebreaker for the T-Birds via a wrist shot from the point. They put tremendous

PHOTO JEREMY JOHNSONS-SILVERS/THE UBYSSEY

This is the first time that UBC has hosted the Canada West final and the second time the team has ever won the title.

pressure on the Bisons’ defence throughout the period as Manitoba had trouble getting out of their own zone.

Manitoba responded when Alana Sharman laid a beautiful pass across to Finnish Olympian Venla Hovi who made no mistake, beating the buzzer with a tying goal with just seven seconds on the clock.

The Thunderbirds came storming back early in the third period. Nicole Saxvik rushed the puck into the Bisons’ zone and made a terrific tape-to-tape pass to captain Stephanie Schaupmeyer

who, with one hand on her stick, managed to deflect the puck in.

Although the red light went on, the referee eventually ruled that the play was inconclusive and waved the goal off. Head coach Graham Thomas expressed his displeasure with the officials after the game.

“We know it was in,” said Thomas. “That’s a difference maker there. We got all the momentum, the crowd, everybody behind us when we scored that goal. We have a picture of it zoomed in — it’s across the line.

[The officials] never even talked to the goal judge.”

The momentum swung Manitoba’s way after the disallowed goal. At 7:14, Erica Rieder scored the go-ahead goal, which was followed by an Erin Kucheravy goal a minute later to put the Bisons up 3-1. Looking to solidify the victory, Venla Hovi hit the empty net with 3:02 remaining. With the 4-1 victory, Manitoba forced a winner-take-all game three.

The ’Birds and Bisons hit the ice for the third time in as many days to settle the score on Sunday afternoon. The T-Birds took an early lead when, three minutes into the first frame, UBC defenceman Celine

Tardif put the puck past the Bisons.

The ’Birds were held to one goal until, off an assist from Rebecca Unrau and Logan Boyd, defenceman Kelley Murray scored UBC’s second of the night.

The Bisons fought back, scoring their lone goal with just a few minutes left in play. It proved to be too little too late, allowing the ’Birds to capture the Canada West crown — the first time they have ever done so on home ice.

They will head the CIS quarterfinals in Calgary on March 17. It is unknown who they will play yet. U

Public Consultation – UBC Climate Action Plan 2020 UBC is in the process of developing an updated Climate Action Plan for the Vancouver campus. By 2020, we are aiming to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 67 per cent below 2007 levels.

Over the past 9 months we have been seeking input from the campus community on what actions UBC could take to achieve this ambitious target.

We are now presenting proposed actions and options the university could pursue in the new Climate Action Plan 2020 to reduce our GHG emissions, including: • energy supply options

• actions to reduce energy use in buildings

• actions around individual behaviours

• actions around UBC-owned vehicles

(e.g. building design, maintenance and operations)

• other ways the university could reduce GHG emissions

There are two ways to participate: 1 Online between March 14 – 27 at planning.ubc.ca 2 In person at the following open houses: Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 Time: 11:00am – 1:00pm Place: Martha Piper Plaza

Date: Tuesday, March 22, 2016 Time: 11:00am – 1:00pm Place: Pharmaceutical Sciences Building, Atrium

Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2016 Time: 11:00am – 1:00pm Place: I.K. Barber Learning Centre, 2nd Floor Lobby

Date: Wednesday, March23, 2016 Time: 11:00am – 1:00pm Place: Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability, Lobby

Date: Thursday, March 17, 2016 Time: 11:00am – 1:00pm Place: AMS Student Nest, Upper Agora

Date: Thursday, March 24, 2016 Time: 11:00am – 1:00pm Place: Fred Kaiser Building, Atrium

Questions? Please contact Gabrielle Armstrong, Senior Manager, Public Engagement at gabrielle.armstrong@ubc.ca or 604-822-9984.

This notice contains important information which may affect you. Please ask someone to translate it for you.

12 | GAMES AND COMICs |

TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016

COURTESY BESTCROSSWORDS.COM

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS ACROSS 1- Read quickly; 5- Spring up; 10- Mongolian desert; 14- Actress Skye; 15- “Olympia” painter; 16- Ripe for drafting; 17- In spite of; 20- First American to orbit Earth; 21- Boozehound; 22- Bony prefix; 23- Ovum; 25- Numbers game; 27- Sicken; 31- Shelter; 35- Sea eagles; 36- Go ballistic; 38- Altar in the sky; 39- ___ Lanka;

40- Title for Anthony Hopkins; 41- Fury; 42- Lower limb; 43- Chinese “way”; 44- Buffoons; 46- Actor Auberjonois; 47- Ice cream topped with syrup; 49- Falls back; 51- Take the honey and run; 53- “Sure thing”; 54- Prince Valiant’s wife; 57- Slalom curve; 59- Met highlights; 63- School VIP position; 66- Greek god of love; 67- Valleys; 68- Penn name; 69- Trial balloon; 70- Actress Verdugo; 71- Sun. speeches;

DOWN 1- Do a number; 2- Moderately cold; 3- Initial stake in a hand of poker; 4- Novelty; 5- Qty.; 6- Stadium cheers; 7- Shoe parts; 8- Rhubarb; 9- 7th letter of the Greek alphabet; 10- Male godchild; 11- Put a lid ___!; 12- Nota ___; 13- “Othello” villain; 18- “Splendor in the Grass” screenwriter; 19- Write down; 24- U.S. space probe to Jupiter; 26- Parched; 27- Bird homes; 28- Chilean pianist Claudio; 29- Conjunction;

COURTESY KRAZYDAD.COM

30- Bull; 32- Hood-shaped anatomical part; 33- ___ we all?; 34- Fads; 37- Mozart’s “___ kleine Nachtmusik”; 40- Having only magnitude; 45- Use a full nelson, say; 46- Hold back; 48- Abhor; 50- Interpret; 52- Pertaining to punishment; 54- I’d hate to break up ___; 55- Entice; 56- Epic poetry; 58- Visualized; 60- Arrow poison; 61- Rent-___; 62- Dict. entries; 64- ___ had it!; 65- Code-breaking org.;

MARCH 1 ANSWERS

a speaker series Prominent Vancouver artists from a variety of disciplines share their own experience of the role of creative force in their art. After the event, light refreshments will be provided and guests will have the opportunity to meet the presenters.

Suggested donation $20/$10 students.

COMIC PATRICK MURRY AND MIKE PAROLINI/THE UBYSSEY

Wednesdays in March at 7:30 pm march

9 Bramwell Tovey Conductor, Music Director, VSO

march march

16

Megaphone Magazine downtown eastside writers

23 Vikram Vij celebrity chef, author, TV personality

5210 University Blvd, COMIC JULIAN YU/THE UBYSSEY

(across from UBC Golf Course)

604.224.1410

stanselms.ca