APRIL 7, 2021 | VOLUME CII | ISSUE XIII YOUR STUDENT PAPER SINCE 1918
U THE UBYSSEY
2 | APRIL 7, 2021
Culture Editor Danni Olusanya
News Editor Andrew Ha
News Editor Charlotte Alden
Visuals Editor Lua Presidio
Coordinating Editor Pawan Minhas
E D I T O R’S N O T E
Video Producer Josh McKenna
Photos Coordinator Jasmine Foong
Akshay Khandelwal Alex Chua Alicia Kuo Alicia Margono Amy Shandro Angelo Aguilar Maurer Anna Riminchan Anupriya Dasgupta Arian Sadigpour Ariel Qi Armaan Kara Arnaud Dione Arumaan Dhillon Audrey Fox Benjamin Morrison Benoit Dupras Bernard Ordiz Bianca Santana Bill Huan Blossom Cheng Brendan Smith Brian Deng Britt Runeckles Caylie Warkentin Cecilia Lee Charlene Chiu Chimedum Ohaegbu Christine Seo Claire Campbell Coral Santana Dana Turdy Danica Torrens
Opinion + Blog Editor Sam Smart
Features Editor Bailey Martens
Science Editor Myla White
Oftentimes UBC feels like an investment fund, a property trust and a housing company wrapped up in a trenchcoat, pretending to be a university. It can feel like UBC isn’t for you. That ain’t the case. Underneath the bureaucracy and between the ‘Admin cares <3’ emails, there’s something worth enjoying. There are communities you never would’ve thought could exist, and might never exist outside of the few years you’re here — it’s just a matter of getting to them. COVID-19 has bodied just about everyone, and every group on campus needs new blood and some reinvigoration, and that’s your job for next year. Don’t let folks forget what it’s like to be present. If you’re one of my fellow grads, the road ahead is, in a
word, fucking terrifying. Revel in surviving these last 56 weeks, take a breath, grit your teeth and give it all you got — that piece of parchment Ono signs means exactly what you make of it. This next year is in flux and it’s all right to be scared, just mind what you’re doing in response — it’s too easy to stick your head in the sand and ignore the tough stuff, like our ailing planet and systemic problems. With that degree you’re getting, though, it’ll be that much easier to fight those big battles, so keep your focus. It’s only fitting to end my time at The Ubyssey with a cliché, so here’s one that’s kept me trucking: nothing worth doing comes easy. — Pawan Minhas Coordinating Editor 2020/21
Sports + Rec Editor Diana Hong
thank you to all our contributors Darcy Bandeen David Collings DJ Sandhu Dorothy Poon Dorothy Settles Eden Anbar Eisha Sharda Eleni Vlahotis Elizabeth Wang Ella Chan Eloise Faehndrich Emily Leung Emma Livingstone Evelyn Ashworth Fariha Khan Farzeen Ather Fernanda Villaseñor Flora Mendes Gabriel Robinson-Leith Gabrielle Bonifacio Grace Jenkins Grace Nie Grace Wang Guneet Pooni Harshit Kohli Helena Minsky Hye-seon Jung Idaresit Thompson Ilerioluwa Okusi Jacob Earley Jake McGrail James Vogl
Jane Diokpo Jared Yu Jeevan Sangha Jessica Li Jiaqi Zheng Jingyu Hu Joanne Chi John Carr Jonathan Harris Joshua Azizi Karolina Skupien Kathleen Jeanne Haryanto Kelly Lu Kennedy Tuccaro Kevin Jiang Kristina Jenei Kyle Delgatty Kylla Castillo Lara Radovic Lauren Ebert Lindsey Palmer Lisa Basil Maddison Zapach Makafui Hortense Amouzouvi Maleekah Ar-rahiman Mandy Huynh Maneevak Bajaj Manya Malhotra Marissa Birnie Melanie Mpanju Menghan Gao Meriwether Morris
Michelle Iwama Mike Liu Milena Carrasco Nataly El-Bittar Negin Nia Nick Pang Oliver Zhang Paige Mayo Peter Jiang Phillip Resnick Priya Bhat Rachael McDaniel Rachel Cheang Rae Jourard Raneem Zaitoun Raphael Cardenas Regina Hipolito Reva Nambiar Rissa Kei Chua Riya Talitha Rohit Elias Roula Farag Sabine Villaroman Sabreena Shukul Sal Sabeel Shaik Salomon Micko Benrimoh Samantha Chen Sampriti Manna Sanjana Subramanian Sanya Malik Saphiya Zerrouk Sean Kanaganayagam
Sean Roufosse Semeion Wong Shanzeh Chaudhry Shereen Lee Shuya Pan Sonia Pathak Sophia Collins Sophie Galloway Stephanie Blain Suzuno Seki Tait Gamble Taman Mohamed Tavleen Kaur Thea Udwadia Theresa Wong Thomas O’Donnell Tiffany Wong Tomila M. Sahbaei Vera Sudakova Victoria Lee Vihaan Soni Wade Zhang Waylon Ng Yasmina Seifeddine Yon-Jun Kim Ysabel Gana Zachary Johnston Zainab Fatima Zohrah Khalili
APRIL 7, 2021 | 3
U THE UBYSSEY
VO LU M E CI I | I S S U E X I I I
E D I TO R I A L
BUSINESS
Coordinating Editor Pawan Minhas coordinating@ubyssey.ca
Business Manager Douglas Baird business@ubyssey.ca
Visuals Editor Lua Presidio visuals@ubyssey.ca
Account Manager Forest Scarrwener advertising@ubyssey.ca
News Editors Charlotte Alden and Andrew Ha news@ubyssey.ca
Web Developer Keegan Landrigan k.landrigan@ubyssey.ca
Culture Editor Danni Olusanya culture@ubyssey.ca Sports + Rec Editor Diana Hong sports@ubyssey.ca Video Producer Josh McKenna video@ubyssey.ca Opinion + Blog Editor Sam Smart opinion@ubyssey.ca Science Editor Myla White science@ubyssey.ca Photos Coordinator Jasmine Foong photos@ubyssey.ca Features Editor Bailey Martens features@ubyssey.ca
S TA FF
We wish to acknowledge that we work, learn and operate the paper upon the occupied, traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples, including the xʷməθkʷəy ə̓ m (Musqueam), Sḵwx w ̱ ú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and səl i̓ lwətaɁɬ/ Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh).
L EG A L The Ubyssey is the official student newspaper of the University of British Columbia. It is published every Tuesday by The Ubyssey Publications Society. We are an autonomous, democratically run student organization and all students are encouraged to participate. Editorials are chosen and written by the Ubyssey staff. They are the expressed opinion of the staff, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Ubyssey Publications Society or the University of British Columbia. All editorial content appearing in The Ubyssey is the property of The Ubyssey Publications Society. Stories, opinions, photographs and artwork contained herein cannot be reproduced without the expressed, written permission of The Ubyssey Publications Society. The Ubyssey is a founding member of Canadian University Press (CUP) and adheres to CUP’s guiding principles.
1,8 2 5,3 0 7 page views since M ay 1, 2020. Bea ting las t year by over hal f a million, t ha t ’s t he highe s t year l y coun t we’ve had in f i ve year s .
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of our v iew s c ame f rom new us er s .
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FROM THE WEB
The Ubyssey accepts opinion articles on any topic related to the University of British Columbia (UBC) and/or topics relevant to students attending UBC. Submissions must be written by UBC students, professors, alumni, or those in a suitable position (as determined by the opinions editor) to speak on UBC-related matters. Submissions must not contain racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, harassment or discrimination. Authors and/or submissions will not be precluded from publication based solely on association with particular ideologies or subject matter that some may find objectionable. Approval for publication is, however, dependent on the quality of the argument and The Ubyssey editorial board’s judgment of appropriate content. Submissions may be sent by email to opinion@ ubyssey.ca. Please include your student number or other proof of identification. Anonymous submissions will be accepted on extremely rare occasions. Requests for anonymity will be granted upon agreement from four fifths of the editorial board. Full opinions policy may be found at ubyssey.ca/submit-an-opinion. It is agreed by all persons placing display or classified advertising that if the Ubyssey Publications Society fails to publish an advertisement or if an error in the ad occurs the liability of the UPS will not be greater than the price paid for the ad. The UPS shall not be responsible for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value or the impact of the ads.
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A NN UA L GENER A L MEE TING:
Financ ial up da te M arc h 31, 2020 – M arc h 31, 2021 To the members of the Ubyssey Publications Society (UPS), As the Business Manager for the UPS, I would like to thank all members for their support throughout this difficult pandemic year. One year ago, the BC government and the university put pandemic restrictions in place, which severely restricted activities on campus and radically altered university life. Online classes and distanced learning became the norm for most students, as campus access was restricted for many members of the student population. This presented many challenges to The Ubyssey team and forced many changes to the way the publication conducted its affairs. Throughout, The Ubyssey continued to produce quality journalism and strived to meet all of its objectives while keeping the university population informed of all newsworthy events. We decided early on to move our focus to online publication of the paper while limiting print to one edition per month. This policy was prudent both financially and environmentally and remains in effect until further notice. Early in the summer of 2020, we realized that the effects of the pandemic would have detrimental effects financially as well. Advertising revenues all but vanished and the percentage of those choosing to opt-out increased, putting further strain on the budget. As a result, The Ubyssey utilised federal subsidies to help cover the cost of operations. Programs including Canada’s Emergency Wage Subsidy and Emergency Business Account (CEBA) were utilized,
covering 80 per cent of losses attributed to advertising shortfalls. In all, some $120,000 in loans and grants were obtained. The Ubyssey’s operating budget for FY 2020/21 ending August 31, 2021 was $435,000. To date we have spent $250,000, with a further $125,000 projected for April through August, bringing our total expenditures at year end to $375,000. Through CEBA, we incurred an operating loan of $40,000, leaving a net operating gain of $20,000. This will be used to offset projected advertising losses through to the end of FY 2022. We anticipate that it will take 12–18 months to recover lost advertising revenues and restore operations back to normal. The loan will be repaid in full by December 2021. Overall, The Ubyssey is in a solid fiscal position and is ready to resume normal operations once pandemic restrictions are lifted. Adjustments to the budget will be made to compensate for shortages and monies will be allocated as appropriate while striving to balance the books. As a non-profit entity, we are obliged to provide transparency to our membership on budgetary matters and will make available financial information to members who seek a more detailed breakdown of expenses. I can be reached as noted on this page and would be more than happy to discuss the business side of The Ubyssey, on request, by any member of the UPS. Sincerely, Douglas Baird UPS Business Manager
4 | APRIL 7, 2021
THE TO P STO R IES OF THE YEAR M ARCH 13
Starting March 16, UBC classes will transition online for social distancing story by Henry Anderson + Emma Livingstone file photo by Shamit Rahman
Over a few days, COVID-19 turned from something that led us to wash our hands more often to something that changed our academic lives for an entire year, and counting. On March 13, UBC announced that classes would be online for the rest of the term starting Monday, March 16.
A P R IL 4
Students, faculty express concerns about online exam invigilation amidst COVID-19 outbreak story by Maneevak Bajaj + Jessica Li file photo by Zubair Hirji
UBC’s Proctorio problem began when faculty scrambled to plan the virtual delivery of their final exams in April. As concern grew among students over their privacy and discriminatory algorithmic remote proctoring software, Proctorio sued UBC IT employee Ian Linkletter, a vocal critic of the company, for sharing Proctorio training videos. Court dates for what Linkletter has called a “groundless” case are set for later this spring. In March 2021, UBC appeared to quell longstanding concern after the Senate banned the use of remote proctoring software effective immediately — but some professors say they’ve found a loophole by turning off Proctorio’s video options and appear to still be using the service for April exams.
M AY 8
Four T-Birds land spot in 2020 CFL Draft
story by Diana Hong + Mike Liu photo by Saman Shariati
The 2020 Canadian Football League Draft was held in April 2020 with some of the top football prospects in Canada available to be selected. For four Thunderbirds, Trivel Pinto, Stavros Katsantonis, Jean Ventose and Tom Schnitzler, this marked the first step in their professional journey.
M AY 26
Behind the face mask: How COVID-19 amplifies antiChinese sentiments at UBC
M ARCH 16
UBC students and faculty navigate the new environment of online teaching and learning story by Shanzeh Chaudhry photo by Zubair Hirji
Students and faculty have now spent over a year working and learning through a screen. In March 2020, instructors had a weekend to shift their courses online in response to the growing COVID-19 pandemic. UBC started online classes on March 16, and the campus has been largely closed since. On May 11, 2020, the university announced a mixed in-person and online course delivery for the fall, although the 2020/21 school year ended up being all online for most students. After the go-ahead from the province, the university is pointing towards much more in-person instruction for the fall 2021 term but nothing has been set in stone.
story by Andrew Ha file photo by Elizabeth Wang
M AY 2 2
Cheating, ghosting and dating over the phone: IGTV Series VirtuaLove wraps up Season One story by Evelyn Ashworth photo courtesy VirtuaLove
The first few months of the pandemic felt like a weird fever dream. As classes were moved online, a group of UBC students took it upon themselves to create a reality (Instagram) television show. The show ran for 2 relatively successful seasons, each with 12 contestants. In this article, The Ubyssey followed up with the contestants about their experience on a series that was just as dramatic and binge-worthy as the show that it was based on.
UBC students spoke to The Ubyssey at the beginning of the pandemic about the noticeable exacerbation of anti-Chinese sentiments on campus. According to the 2019 AMS Academic Experience Survey, over half of Chinese students reported discrimination. But students are fighting back via #HATEISAVIRUS as many believe that a cultural shift is needed.
APRIL 7, 2021 | 5 JUNE 29 JUNE 1
Santa Ono makes anti-racist commitments after Black Lives Matter protests story by Oliver Zhang file photo by Yiyang Wang
After George Floyd’s death sparked worldwide anti-racism protests that spread to Vancouver in May, President Santa Ono made a series of commitments to address systemic racism at UBC including bias training for security officers, diversification, consultation and more. Ono’s promises followed allegations from a UBC grad student that he was racially profiled by Campus Security in June, an incident reminiscent of another alleged racial profiling at a humanities conference on campus in 2019. As sinophobia gained greater attention amid COVID-19, Ono referenced both anti-Black and anti-Asian racism in further statements on anti-racism. “UBC itself is not immune to racism and injustice,” he said. “As a university, we need to make it crystal clear that racism and bias have no place in our community and that we have zero tolerance for it.”
UBC researchers develop first locally-sourced biodegradable N95 mask story by Roula Farag photo courtesy Paul Joseph/UBC
In an effort to address the high demand for personal protective equipment in the wake of COVID-19, researchers at the BioProducts Institute developed potentially the very first locally sourced biodegradable N95 mask in the entire world. The mask, named the Can-Mask, is composed of an active and a passive component. The active component filters the air particles and allows for breathability whereas the passive component is thicker and prevents air from getting through. Not only is the mask biodegradable, but the fibre material provides more comfort when in contact with skin. The mask is just one of the ways UBC researchers contributed to the fight against COVID-19 throughout the year.
story by Diana Hong photo UBC Athletics
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Canada West and U Sports announced on this day that no conference competition would happen during the first term of the 2020/21 season. This included football, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s rugby 15s and women’s field hockey.
Playing on Hard Mode: Being Black at UBC story by Arnaud Dione illustration by Lua Presidio
After the calls for racial justice echoed around the globe, The Ubyssey ran a series of personal essays called Black Voices Matter, in which Black students detailed their experiences at the university. In this essay, Arnaud Dione, former president of the UBC Esports Association, wrote about the pressures he felt running the club as a Black man. “Being Black at UBC means you probably don’t have a professor that looks like you and you won’t be sitting next to someone who looks like you. Most importantly, you naturally stand out. But not in a good way.”
J U LY 3
JUNE 8
Canada West and U Sports cancel 2020/21 first-term team competitions
J U LY 7
Indigenous Voices: Students on their experiences at UBC JU NE 20
Board Chair Michael Korenberg resigns following criticism over ‘regressive’ liked tweets story by Charlotte Alden + Andrew Ha file photo by Alex Nguyen
Within days of President Ono’s anti-racism commitments, Board of Governors Chair Michael Korenberg was found to have liked tweets criticizing modern anti-fascism movements and the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests. While Korenberg said he supported the Black Lives Matter movement, he gave different reasons for liking the tweets in different statements: to The Ubyssey, he said he was unaware his likes were publicly viewable, and to PressProgress, he said he used Twitter likes to mark posts he’d read or wanted to read later. Korenberg later apologized and resigned from the Board on June 20. Nancy McKenzie replaced him a month later.
story by Bailey Martens + Danni Olusanya photos by Sophie Galloway
To celebrate Indigenous History Month, The Ubyssey spoke to five Indigenous students about their experiences at the university. Speaking on the importance of the Longhouse as a place on campus, fifthyear student Sotera Mader said, “The Longhouse is the most, open accepting space I’ve ever been not even on campus, but ever. We all are from different nations and have our own tradition. ... It’s a place where I feel comfortable, experiencing these cultural things that I never got to when I was a kid.”
6 | APRIL 7, 2021
AUGUST 27 J U LY 2 7
Noisy, nosey and nurturing: An analysis of Vancouver’s non-emergency line during COVID-19 story by Edith Coates + Myla White illustration by Arrthy Thayaparan
As Vancouver settled into a ‘new normal’ of physical distancing, telecommuting and taking classes online, these new patterns affected everyday life and the operations of the city. The Ubyssey analyzed the content data on the city’s non-emergency phone line, available through Vancouver’s open data portal, to catch a glimpse of how things on a municipal level were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Total interactions in March and April 2020 decreased from what they were in March and April 2019, and the total number of “complaint” interactions wasn’t that different. However, there was a decrease in interactions relating to events, filming, traffic and transit, and an increase in interactions relating to noise complaints, homelessness, donations and volunteering.
J U LY 2 9
UBC strives for inclusion — but nearly a third of buildings are inaccessible to disabled students story by Bailey Martens illustration by Lua Presidio
UBC has an accessibility problem, including in the Centre for Accessibility. According to UBC’s Wayfinding program, 49 buildings out of the 189 on campus are inaccessible. Of the 140 remaining, 50 have no information. One student said there is not a day that goes by where they are not hindered by campus accessibility barriers. For some that means hauling themselves up stairs, navigating steep ramps or being trapped when elevators don’t work. Director Janet Mee said that the centre is aware of the issue and has moved to a new location. But the new location will only be physically accessible on the main floor, leaving many disabled students behind once again.
Behind the Barrier: racialized students in the province face tiered access to health care services
story by Danni Olusanya + Dorothy Poon illustration by Lua Presidio
BC health care is not a universal experience. People of colour often face language barriers, cultural assumptions and underlying biases.
SEPTEM BER 19
Housing insecurity surges with the COVID-19 pandemic. I thought I was immune. story by Bailey Martens illustration Lua Presidio
“I have struggled to reconcile my difficulties in obtaining housing with my immense privilege. I have always had friends who would drop everything to swoop in and make sure I was okay. I have never slept on the street or in a shelter. But I cannot count how many times the sun has been setting and I still don’t know where to go.”
SEPTEM BER 24
Scientists in ecology and evolutionary biology divided on navigating academia as BIPOC story by Mandy Huynh illustration by Ysabel Gana
AUGUST 2
Playing on pause: Resilient UBC performers face changes to the music scene amid COVID-19 story by Charlotte Alden illustration by Rae Jourard
When the pandemic hit, clubs and music venues were among the first to go. The Ubyssey spoke to DJs, musicians and performers about the adjustments they made as a result of physical distancing restrictions.
In response to racial inequalities in the field of ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB), six scientists, some based at UBC, penned a letter directly to students who identify as Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC), offering advice based on their lived experiences within academia. The article outlined ways whiteness permeates the field and gave tips to current BIPOC EEB students and researchers for easier navigation of academia. However, the exact path to overcoming the barriers within academia as BIPOC is a topic of debate, and a group of Black women researchers based in the United States wrote a response to highlight their own perspectives. In the end, the researchers suggested students follow whatever advice felt most comfortable to them.
APRIL 7, 2021 | 7
OCTOBER 24
SEPTEM BER 28
AMS Events pub crawl during second wave an ‘error in judgement,’ AMS president says
A ‘constant state of exhaustion’: Students, faculty face workload increases due to the pandemic
story by Jackson Dagger file photo by Joshua Medicoff
stories by Jared Yu + Sydney Cristall illustration by Tony Jiang
AMS Events failed to encourage students to follow public health guidelines by hosting a Halloween pub crawl in October, sparking community criticism. The pub crawl led to a full committee review of the AMS Events reporting structure that’s still underway. Execs said they didn’t know the pub crawl had been planned at all — but one exec did in fact know about it. VP External Kalith Nanayakkara is currently in the middle of a conflict of interest investigation around his events company ThePlug Vancouver, which co-hosted the pub crawl with AMS Events. The committee finally released a decision in April, saying that Nanaykkara was in an “apparent” conflict of interest, but not a real one.
Students and faculty tried their best to adjust to the new online school environment, but those efforts came with high workloads and burnout. Surveys taken throughout the year reported an 150 per cent increase in workload for many professors. Professors and graduate students also experienced a significant decline in research output due to campus closures and the time sink of translating in-person classes to an online format. Undergrads also reported increased workloads and feelings of burnout that have only worsened as the pandemic raged on. Issues such as time-zone differences and declining mental health characterized the 2020/21 school year.
NOVEM BER 25
Flickering lights and endless loading story by Theresa Wong + Sanya Malik photo by Jasmine Foong
With the shift to online learning, some UBC students struggle to meet remote-learning technology requirements.
OCTOBER 20
Monkman's Shame and Prejudice gives us a chance to re-learn history through an Indigenous perspective story by Evelyn Ashworth image courtesy Museum of Anthropology (The Daddies, Kent Monkman, 2016)
From August to January, the Museum of Anthropology hosted Kent Monkman’s Shame and Prejudice, an exhibit that set out to share the Indigenous perspective of Canada’s colonization. Evelyn Ashworth wrote on her experience attending the exhibit. “In the past few months, I’ve had to reexamine my own history and my ancestors’ involvement or complacency in the horrors committed against Indigenous people over the past 150 years. That’s why it meant so much to me to attend ... and remind myself how much I have to unlearn from my history classes and relearn through the Indigenous perspective.”
NOVEMBER 12
Students vote in an extraordinary snap provincial election held during the pandemic story by Charlotte Alden + Andrew Ha file illustration by Aiken Lao
On October 24, students headed to the physically distanced polls after Premier John Horgan called a snap provincial election in September. Critics speculated that the move was to take advantage of the BC NDP’s record high approval ratings during the pandemic. Horgan and his party affirmed their power, winning a majority of seats in the legislature.
8 | APRIL 7, 2021
JA N UA RY 8
UBC professor using virtual reality to revitalize Nisga'a language story by Stephanie Blain photo courtesy Elahe Rajabi + Quincy Wang
Dr. Amy Parent, an assistant professor in UBC’s department of educational studies and citizen of the Nisga’a Nation, whose Nisga’a name is Noxs Ts’aawit (Mother of the Raven Warrior Chief), led a project which aimed in part to share knowledge of Nisga’a language and culture through virtual reality technology. Virtual reality offered a unique opportunity to include necessary context that would not otherwise be possible from a classroom or from outside Nisga’a territory. “I see the VR tools as being helpful for urban Nisga’a people because it can create a connection to our land and to our language. Land is pivotal in shaping the development of our language, cultural behaviours, stories, laws and protocols,” Parent said.
FEBRUARY 10 JA N UA RY 28
When students are stressed, they turn to games: UBC professor explains psychology behind gaming story by Michelle Iwama illustration by Lua Presidio
Between the Zoom calls, the constant stream of Canvas notifications and all the emotions that come with living through a global pandemic, UBC students have turned to video games as a way to escape the stressors of everyday life. UBC professor and registered clinical psychologist Dr. Amori Mikami explained the psychology behind why students are turning to video games to escape from reality.
Four T-Birds selected in the 2021 Canadian Premier League U Sports draft story by Mike Liu file photo by Salomon Micko Benrimoh
It was a successful month in January for the UBC Men’s soccer team, with four Thunderbirds picked in the two rounds of the 2021 Canadian Premier League U Sports draft: Thomas Gardner, Christopher Lee, Victory Shumbusho and Jackson Farmer.
FEBRUARY 13
UBC forges ahead with tuition increase proposal despite student concerns about the pandemic FEBRUARY 3
During the pandemic, the human–dog bond is as strong as ever story by Joey He illustration by Lua Presidio
A UBC study found that as social isolation became the norm, adoption rates for dogs surged. Data showed that as social restrictions became more strict, more people were adopting and fostering dogs. Meanwhile, there appeared to be no change in dog abandonment rates despite initial concerns that they would increase. According to Dr. Stanley Coren, a professor emeritus in UBC’s psychology department who was not involved with the study, dog companionship can even counteract the harmful effects of social isolation, such as depression and other psychological symptoms.
story by Tina Yong file photo by Patrick Gillin
Like clockwork, UBC put its annual proposal to increase tuition to student consultation in January — and students weren’t happy. Many were concerned that UBC was taking advantage of them during the financial precarity exacerbated by the pandemic. While the annual fee hikes are largely accepted as fact and are likely to be approved in April 2021, the AMS and student Board of Governors reps are asking UBC to better plan its tuition model for future students. “Don’t claim that you care about your students when you just see us as walking chequebooks,” one student said.
APRIL 7, 2021 | 9
M ARCH 4
No private jets or unlimited bank accounts. Being a sugar baby is not what you think.
M ARCH 31
T-Birds invited to participate in the Canadian Football League Virtual Draft Combine
story by Paloma Green photo by anonymous
story by Mike Liu file photo by The Ubyssey
Local sugar babies say that the public has the wrong idea. They addressed the stigma that still exists, how it is not as luxurious as it may seem and the inherent dangers. While most agree it is not for everyone, one sugar baby expert said the pandemic is not a hindrance to getting involved. According to Seeking Arrangements, 71 UBC students used the app in 2020. This places the school 17th out of all Canadian schools for users.
Five players from the UBC Men’s Football team, Nick Cross, Ben Hladik, Elliot Graham, Isaiah Joseph and Lliam Wishart, were invited to participate in the Canadian Football League (CFL) Virtual Draft Combine. The CFL announced the changed format earlier in 2021, after cancelling last year’s season due to COVID-19.
M ARCH 25 FEB R UA RY 17
Dr. Amie Wolf fired, sends threatening email amid Indigenous heritage scrutiny story by Charlotte Alden photo by Jasmine Foong
A story that initially appeared to be about an Indigenous adjunct professor criticizing the university for interfering in her decolonization teaching turned into a story of a professor with a dubious Indigenous heritage doxxing 12 students online — likely the same students who she said weren’t receptive to decolonization education. Dr. Amie Wolf’s story defined the beginning of the year as critics as far as Nova Scotia questioned her identity and motives online. UBC fired Wolf in February.
‘It doesn’t feel like a safe environment’: First years criticize UBC’s handling of COVID-19 cases in residence story by Tina Yong file photo by Claire Campbell
Residence has been open throughout the pandemic, but some students say safety protocols of first-year residence have been dodgy at best. Residents have reported a lack of physical distancing, frequent parties and little enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions. UBC introduced rapid testing in first-year residences in February, and several floors of Orchard Commons and Totem Park had COVID-19 exposures in March. UBC doesn’t release campus COVID-19 data, so there’s no public information on how many cases have popped up in residence.
M ARCH 27
Stop Asian Hate: Learn more about Asian and Pacific Islander communities story by Tina Yong + Gabrielle Bonifacio illustration by Lua Presidio
In light of an uptick of racialized violence against the Asian and Pacific Islander community, Tina Yong and Gabrielle Bonifacio compiled a list of resources as an entry point to learn about the systemic violence many of these groups have endured since long before the pandemic.
10 | APRIL 7, 2021
S T O R I E S T H AT K E P T OUR HEADS UP In a year in which a lot of us have been isolated, overworked and let down consistently by the ever-changing state of things, the Blog section has tried to be a place where people can read things that will cheer them up, or at least give them a little laugh. Here are some articles that kept our heads up throughout the past year.
U BC Improv did a rendi t ion o f ‘ T his is how I w in’ and Adam Sandler no t ice d
I deas f or celebr a t ing your gr adua t ion f rom home story by Jonathan Harris illustration by Maya Rodrigo-Abdi
story and photo by Sam Smart
On May 18, 2020, Adam Sandler and the Safdie brothers noticed when UBC Improv posted a video where they acted out the famous “This is how I win” scene from Uncut Gems. Not only was the video hilarious, but the fact that Sandler and the Safdie brothers saw it, liked it and responded to it was pretty wild to witness. THE Adam Sandler saying a group of UBC students is good at acting? Truly life changing and a good distraction from all the shit that was going on in May.
Ten ver y reas onable sugg e s tions for t he St uden t St r a tegic Plan story by Thomas McLeod file photo by Will McDonald
What better way to keep your head up than to think of the ways the university could improve the student experience? Staff writer Thomas McLeod could think of a lot of them. The idea that UBC could make the school song be “745 sticky” by 100 gecs was enough to keep me going. I’d also love some contractually mandated pep rallies, a more disgusting Pit and free plants to boot. The possibilities are endless, and maybe they’re not so far-fetched? Only time will tell.
H ow to make t he mos t of t he holiday s w hen you’re s t uc k a t home alone story by Iman Janmohamed + Hannah Dam illustration by Iman Janmohamed
With tougher COVID-19 restrictions coming in place during the late fall and early winter, a lot of us spent the holidays alone for the first time. We usually have the expectation that the holidays are a cheerful and happy time, so the idea of spending them alone was deeply upsetting to many. Staff writers Iman Janmohamed and Hannah Dam teamed up to write a guide to spending the holidays alone and gave us ideas like blasting Christmas music, doing arts and crafts and lighting a shit-ton of candles. They made sure we knew that the holidays were no less special when spent alone by reminding us of the traditions we can all enjoy no matter who we’re with.
Blog contributor Jonathan Harris gave graduating students a few ideas about how to make their graduation day a bit more special when experiencing the first-ever remote graduation ceremony. There wasn’t a lot you could do then — BC’s phase two of reopening had just started and we were still mostly keeping to our households. So with ideas like throwing a Zoom graduation party to learning “Pomp and Circumstance” on the kazoo, we could see the sillier, happier things we can embrace while we’re stuck indoors during what is supposed to be an important milestone in our lives.
H ow to make f r iend s in online c las s e s story by Kaila Johnson file photo by Geoff Lister
In October we were realizing how difficult it was to make friends online. So staff writer Kaila Johnson wrote a guide for making friends in Zoom classes to help us all get out of our isolation a little bit and reach out through our screens to make connections. We learned that showing the class your dog really does make everyone like you a bit more and that sometimes all it takes to start a friendship is to say you like the plants on someone’s bookshelf. It was nice to see that in the least ideal circumstances, the ability to stay connected and support one another hadn’t left us.
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LOOKING AHEAD IN PHOTOS L alaine A lindogan Early this year, my friend excitedly climbed up an old boxcar at Train Wreck Trail in Whistler. I ache for a maskless, reckless, free-spirited grasp onto rusty metal fragments without the fear of catching deadly germs. I ache for spontaneous exploration in the wild without worrying about how crowded the viewpoints might be. I long for that sweet human interaction outside of my household, my tiny social bubble, even if the other human yells at me to “get down from there!”
Zubair Hir ji
Eliz abe t h Wang I’m looking forward to hanging out and reading under the cherry blossoms once on-campus events resume and facilities are reopened!
This photo was taken at the first peak of the Chief after a short hike. To me, this photo represents getting through the slog of the pandemic, all the awfulness of the situation and coming out on top.
M eli s s a L i In the throes of a bustling Imagine Day crowd, birb basks proud and round at the fountain. I eagerly await another rendezvous with this majestic creature in the new year.
Zubair Hir ji
I s abella Fal s e t t i I’m looking forward to exploring more of Vancouver’s outdoor spaces. I’ve missed the beautiful mountain views and the tang of the ocean breeze.
From Locarno Beach, this photo was taken the first day I met my new friends at the beach. It represents meeting new people, enjoying new experiences and connecting with the people around us.
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W I N N ER O F T H E 2021 U BYSSE Y SCI EN CE SCI - FI CO M PE T I T I O N
T H E S K Y I S FA L L I N G Wor d s by Ava M c Brear t y Illu s t r a t ion by A r iel Q i
T
he bird stares back up at us, but with that dead, shiny look. I pull Sam away ’cause he’s fixing to touch it with his chubby little hands. “Is he dead?” he asks. “Yeah, he looks dead.” A halo of dark blood around his head, that’s all. “He fell out the sky, didn’t he?” I crane my neck. The sky’s burning blue but I can’t see any birds up there. Just black spots when I stare into the sun. Papa said I’ll go blind doing that. Then I’ll see black spots and nothing else, forever. “Maybe he forgot how to fly,” I say. The sun’s hot and dripping in our eyes. My hair’s already dry, though we just came from the pond. We gotta go slow, ’cause Sam forgot his boots and won’t go back to get them. Now the rocks bite at his feet and make them bloody. “Don’t touch him, Sam. Maybe he’s sick.” Sam’s poking at the feathers with his toes. They look nice and soft but they smell like burnt rubber. The cicadas haven’t stopped screaming since the bird dropped on the ground in front of us and died. Sometimes the sound makes me want to curl up under my blanket and scream. But most of the time I like it. “Linda! Look, there’s more of them! They’re all falling.” A flock of birds near the edge of the field, raining down. Sam breaks away from me and I follow him through the giant, rubbery stalks. Now that we have Crop-Bots, the wheat gets bigger and bigger every year. One day it will cover up the whole sky and we’ll never find our way home. “Look, Lin! There’s one here. And here too!” I find Sam and he’s picking up the birds and putting them in a pile. “This one’s dead. And this one’s dead.”
They’re everywhere. All over the yellow field. Like their wings all stopped working, or something. “Sam hey, don’t touch!” “I’m tryna find the alive ones.” The sun drips off my skin, hot and sticky. “Let’s go home, Sam. We gotta tell Papa there’s dead things in the field.” I can’t see the house, only smoke billowing up from the stacks. We follow the white veins towards home. Sam doesn’t say anything but I can hear him following behind me, panting in the sun like a sick dog. His feet probably hurt but it’s his fault for leaving his boots. The other kids were being nasty to him. If I were him I’d have thrashed them, but Sam, he just ran away. Maybe I should carry him. When I turn around he’s got one of those damn birds in his arms again. “Hey! I told you not to touch them!” I lunge at Sam but he crouches down, curling his body around the bird so I can’t get it. “But he’s alive a little bit. Look.” He moves his elbow and I can see a small watery eye in the knot of his arms and legs. Black with a ring of white all around, then black again. I straighten up lightning-quick cause I can hear a dull whistling in the air over the screams of the cicadas. A Crop-Bot, somewhere close. Me and Sam spy it at the same time, bent over Sam’s pile of birds. “Hey!” I yell. “What’re you doing?” The bot straightens up — sun pouring off metallic arms and legs. I think it’s surprised we’re even talking to it. There’s isn’t much reason to talk to something without a mouth. It stops in front of Sam, reaching a giant hand towards
APRIL 7, 2021 | 13
his chest — two long fingers and a thumb. Sam lets the bird slowly roll from his arms. The Bot traps it in the iron cage of his hands. It’s not that unusual for a Crop-Bot to clean dead things out of the field, but I get a funny feeling. It starts pushing inwards with its thumbs. “Stop!” I’m so startled I start screaming my head off. “What’re you doing?” The bot looks at me from somewhere deep in its lifeless metal head. The force is too much for the bird’s delicate little bones. The flesh starts to separate under its fingers. “Stupid robot!” I feel my heartbeat in my arms, knocking. Counting the footsteps home. But I can’t stop watching. A silvery knob in the centre of the bird’s chest, that the Bot grips between finger and thumb. It starts to twist. One, two, three, four turns. Then he throws the bird into the air. A rustle of wings. Beating shadows. Sam starts laughing. The bird twists and turns in the sky, flapping crazy, sailing. “How did you do that?” Sam cries. The Bot wags its head from side to side. It moves on to Sam’s bird pile, hands rusty with blood as it releases more birds into the wind. “I wanna try!” Sam cries. “Gimme!” He rips the last bird out of the Bot’s hand and plunges his little fingers into its chest. “Gross, Sam.” I get a funny taste in my mouth, watching him do that. Why didn’t Papa tell us about the wind-up birds? We know all about the super-wheat. Rocketship corn, tomatoes the size of my head. We all gotta eat. Papa always tells us we’re the luckiest kids in the world. But why the birds? “Where did all the real birds go?” I ask. The bot’s face stays smooth — a silver plate. “What d’you mean, Linda?” Sam asks. He still has that stupid, delighted smile dripping down his face. “There were real birds here, once. I know it. We used to feed them at the pond! I remember, you found a blue robbin’s egg once, Sammy, nestled at the foot of a corn stalk.” “I can’t remember.” Sam starts twisting the little gear in the bird’s chest. “You were too little. It was before we re-irrigated, when the wheat only came to my waist. We brought the egg home and put it under a white-hot lightbulb.” “Why?” “So it could hatch, stupid.” I wonder if the robot has a little gear too. “But what happened to it?” “Well, we convinced Papa to buy us all this stuff for it. Lights, expensive birdseed. A cage with a little pink swing.” I watch a kaleidoscope of ants twisting at my feet. “So?”
“Well, I stayed up all night waiting for it. But it never hatched. For weeks and weeks. I just wanted to hold it, make it warm with my hand. But one day, while I was playing with it, I dropped it on the floor. I saw the little body inside, and the skull. Like it was covered in glue.” I cried and cried that day. Would I always be so careless and selfish? Papa always tells me that I don’t appreciate all we have. All of humanity’s achievements, leading up to my life right now. He says I’d just cry it all away. Drown the whole world. “Why do the wind-up birds have blood, Linda?” It’s all over his hands now. “Maybe they used to be real birds.” Sam smiles full of teeth. The bird starts flapping its wings in his arms, fighting to get loose. He finally lets it free. “Papa fixed them, so that they’ll live forever.” All of a sudden I feel sick, the cicadas screaming and screaming all around. I start patting my body everywhere, tearing at the skin like a rabid animal. “Hey, what’s a matter?” I don’t answer, just keep scraping and scratching, running my fingers against my neck, and chest. Looking everywhere for that little silver knob. “Hey, stop it! Linda!” “Leave me alone!” I push past the Crop-Bot deeper into the field. Already my skins stings. Sam’s crying now, his face melting in the hot sun. “C’mon, let’s go home Linda.” I try to shove Sam off but he jumps on me like a wild monkey, not letting go. We tumble into the dust. A mess of elbows and legs. I let my body go limp and watch the fingers of smoke curled up against the sky. It was only a bad thought. I wind it up and let it float away. I can hear Sam snivelling beside me. I almost forgot he was there. He’s so small, just like the chubby little angels in cartoons. Papa’s gonna kill me. “Sorry for scaring you,” I say. His feet really are bloody. I feel bad for making him walk so far. My dress is already ripped, so I tear a piece off to wrap it around his little feet. He watches me out of big dark eyes, cheek to dirt, thinking I’m gonna go crazy again any second. I brush the dirt out the bloody flaps of his soles. I’ll think of some way to make it up to him. I’ll carry him the whole way home without even taking a break. I feel much better thinking about how I’ll take care of him. When I find it, it’s tucked into his sole, halfway between his heel and toes. A little silver key. U
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L A S T W O R D S:
W H Y THE FUCK A R E YO U R E A DIN G ‘S H R O O M S 1 0 1,’ A N A R T IC L E W E PU BLISHED FIVE YEARS AGO T he Uby s sey Edi tor ial
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t any given moment, there are anywhere between 5 and 20 people reading an article we published almost 5 years ago called “Shrooms 101: a beginner’s guide to magic mushrooms.” It’s The Ubyssey’s top article almost every single week. It frequently gets over 10,000 views per week, according to our analytics. It’s catapulted Science to become the second most-read section at our paper, and it often beats out some of our most important and scandalous breaking news stories. The numbers don’t lie. And they spell shrooms. As we write this article on Saturday, April 3 at 12:15 p.m., 12 people are reading the article. On a Saturday at noon. This is the time that people are usually eating lunch or going for a nice afternoon walk. So what is this article? This article is a very basic guide to what shrooms are and how they affect your brain. That’s it. It’s about 600 words long, it doesn’t have an accompanying photo, it doesn’t go that in depth and again, it was published five years ago. So why are so many people reading this article? How are people finding it? The majority of readers are coming from a search engine. When looking at analytics for the past 30 minutes of page views, 48 people clicked on the article and the vast majority came from Google. And as of 12:39 p.m. on April 3, all 15 readers
appear to be coming from the United States. The search engine optimization keywords for the article on the backend are simple. Shrooms, magic mushrooms, tripping balls, UBC. So why does it come up as the first or second result on Google when you search “How to do shrooms”? The other top result with that Google search is a Leafly article about preparing for a shrooms trip for the first time. Leafly is a much more wellknown website by the many cannabis partakers out there that might want to venture into another hallucinogenic drug. Even weirder, when you use DuckDuckGo, which is a search engine that doesn’t use any tracking or personalized curation to provide search results, the article shows up on the first page. We have so many questions. We need answers. Why are so many people reading our shrooms article at any given time? Will this article result in even more people reading it? The thought of this article plagues The Ubyssey’s editorial board and staff weekly. We constantly reference the article’s infamy. It takes up so much mental real estate among current and past Ubyssey writers and editors. By all means, keep reading the article if it helps you or makes you happy. Just know that we see you, we know what you’re doing and it haunts us. While you’re at it, maybe read another article? We publish other good stuff too.
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TOP SINCE LINES INTELLEC T UA L FE ATHERWEIGHT S SINCE 1918 TIRED SIN CE 1918 BOG CHAIR MIN HA S SIN CE 1918 USING GLORY HOLE S SIN CE 1918 SHROO MS 101 SIN CE 2016 SINCE 1918
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LESSONS LEAR NED
In many ways the pandemic has changed the way that we have lived, worked and studied this year. While we have all attended UBC, we have not attended it from the same place. Rather, we have learned from thousands of separate places, connected through nothing but our computer screens. So we asked you, as we learned a part, what are the lessons that we can reflect on, that we can keep with us as we move forward.
Iman Janmohame d Sil vana M ar t inez Notes to self: • A rough, sandpaper-like year will leave you smoothed out (not without shedding some skin… or friends). • Make face masks a wardrobe staple item. Hope your friends follow trends. • When eating out(doors), grab a jacket. Restaurant food is not worth your shivering. • When four walls close in on you, go for a walk. Recall the blood flowing in every step. • Stretch. Reach for your toes. Feel your back arch away from your toes. • Ground yourself, either on a desk chair, a park bench or a bus seat. • Every so often, take a few minutes to smell the flowers (not only to check for symptoms of COVID-19). • Call your mom. • Start a playlist from scratch. • Buy a ukulele. Singing to four chords will make you feel better. • Do not shy away from tears. • Or fears (not irrational with a deadly virus out there). • Make your boundaries loud and clear. Forgive yourself for the times when you didn’t. • Erase everything before 2018 in that resume • Resume your Netflix show. • Medi(t)ate beteen your 2019 plans and your 2020 hardships. • Refresh LinkedIn. Don’t put yourself down over entry-level jobs that require five years of experience. • Charge your computer for a Zoom meet-up... and for graduation day.
M anya M alho t r a I always knew social media could be toxic, but I only understood the true extent of its toxicity and the impact it had on me last year when I was trapped inside my increasingly suffocating pandemic-induced virtual bubble. The unconditional hatred spewed on social media was like a rite of passage for many of the faceless usernames that inhabit the virtual world. The negativity that was spread, especially back home in India after the death of a famous actor, was infectious. It was difficult for me to go about my day without being plagued by pangs of sadness or bursts of anger. On one such day of selfdoubt and extreme uncertainty about the future, I decided to undergo a long-contemplated digital detox. I could not let the negativity overwhelm me, because then I would never be able to truly experience the positivity. The pandemic taught me that sometimes it is okay to take a break, it is okay to do what you think is best for you. At the end of the day, pandemic or not you have to make sure the person you look at in the mirror is happy.
The simple rite of passage of having your bio and photo posted on a UBC Class of [Insert Here] Facebook page was the first time I felt like a UBC student. Ever since then, feeling like a university student hasn’t come naturally. Instead, it’s been something I have sought out through Instagram pages, Facebook groups and countless Discord servers. Connecting is terrifying, especially when you’re unsure. Unsure about the safety of your loved ones, your mental health and how you’ll never be able to have that first-year university experience. Being perpetually afraid of missing out, in addition to being isolated from everything and everyone, allowed me to explore university from the safety of my childhood bedroom. Of course, at first, it was awful. Classes via Zoom. Friendships through DMs. But putting myself out there was easier because I could hide behind my screen. Behind a screen, UBC was my oyster. I sought out pearls in every class, club meeting or online event I clicked “Going” on. I, unlike many other first-year students amid this pandemic, was able to catch a sliver of university because of my FOMO. Through a screen, I connected to people I wouldn’t have otherwise. Connecting to Zoom calls never got easier, but connecting with others did. Connecting is difficult when things are uncertain. But this uncertainty made connecting all the more worthwhile. So when asked, what is the greatest lesson you’ve learned from COVID-19, it’s to always test the waters, you’ll never know when it’ll be the perfect temperature.
T ianne J ens en - De s Jar dins When the pandemic first began, I would get up without the help of an alarm, have a leisurely breakfast, peruse my bookshelf and then select which fantasy world I would be escaping into for the day. In the first month of lockdown, I’d spent more time watching heists unravel between lines of print than I had being present in my own mind and body. A few more months went by and I still hadn’t processed how the pandemic was affecting me mentally or physically. Then, school became my escape and I would fill my days with five upper-level classes, rewriting perfectly good essays just to avoid real life for a little while longer. Near the end of March, I finally spoke with a psychologist. She explained that stress and anxiety don’t just disappear — they will eventually have to be felt. As I work on setting boundaries and learning to listen to my burnt-out body, I think it’s important to remember that it’s okay to feel scared. COVID-19 is real, and being afraid of catching it or passing it on to loved ones is a valid reason to be nervous. Feel the fear, just don’t let it control you.
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H E’S T H E M A N crossword by Andrew Ha
1
2
EPISODE 19: SARCOMA IMMUNOTHERAPY
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CREATED BY THE UBC CANCER ASSOCIATION'S AWARENESS TEAM
ACROSS
DOWN
1. Chomp 5. ___ day, per doctor’s orders 9. Entices 14. Clarinet cousin 15. Brooklyn Nine-Nine captain Raymond 16. Ready follower 17. 62-across, by trade 19. Rapper Minaj 20. Handy lang.? 21. Job hunters prefer not hearing them 23. His counterpart 24. Passing trend 25. Bus alternative 27. Dorm icebreaker topic 30. What a naïve first year might call 62-across 36. Lazy person’s Evo 37. Québecois earth 38. Stay in your ___ 39. Spreads, as seeds 40. Molded golden block 41. Eastern continent 42. Aha moment result 43. Barbz, to 19-across 44. Notorious Ginsburg 45. 62-across might play one 47. Makeup artist’s cheaper choices 48. The email suffix UBC students desperately want 49. Shoddy shelters, with lean 50. Rep.’s adversary 53. CiTR silence, maybe 57. Designer inits. 60. Potato state 62. UBC’s head honcho, or the theme of this crossword 64. Vegetable that’s caramelized 65. Saxophone kind 66. ___ to, like synonym 67. Actor’s Oscar earner 68. They’re often ordered à la mode 69. Sulk
1. Pearl Fever order 2. Nile bird 3. An utter idiot 4. Slippery swimmer 5. Utterance after checking final grades, perhaps 6. Film ___, Hollywood crime stories 7. Unfinished threat, following or 8. Ltr. subject announcer 9. Miniature tree 10. Hereditary director Aster 11. 2.54 centimetres 12. Stoner’s puff 13. Precedes both fry, crazy 18. House M.D. actor Epps 22. Eight groupings 24. Used textbooks Facebook group phrase 26. Minsk is its capital 27. What comes out of the Chan Centre 28. Humble home 29. Any precious rock 30. Box bought at Honour Roll 31. Church keyboard 32. Right’s opposite 33. Pre-roadtrip step 34. Come together 35. Casual agreements 37. Paper format? 46. It’s usually out 47. Nickelodeon explorer 49. A first year might have an empty bottle of this on a shelf 50. Christian of the cloth? 51. "No capes!" Incredibles stylist 52. Mall where you might bump into 62-across 54. Office lingo’s "Now!" 55. Spanish surrealist 56. Poker pay-in 57. She isn’t related, 62-across would say 58. Salon sound 59. ___ wolf 61. Wash, wild prefix 63. Fruit preserves