January 21, 2020

U THE UBYSSEY

JANUARY 21, 2020 | VOLUME CI | ISSUE XVIII DOUGIE’S PLASTIC SINCE 1918

P / 04

P / 07

P / 08

P / 10

P / 12

NEWS

CULTURE

FEATURES

OPINION

SCIENCE

AMS boards up Clubhouse website

An investigation into UBC memes

The moon hits the eye in Italy

My partner is richer than me, what do I do?

School HPV vaccine lowers pre-cancer rates

ONE FOR THE BOOKS

// 13

THUNDERBIRDS THRASH BISONS

PAGE 2

JANUARY 21, 2020 TUESDAY

YOUR GUIDE TO UBC EVENTS & PEOPLE

SNOWBALL FIGHT IN PHOTOS

EVENTS

PHOTOS BY JAMIE ZHAO AND SALOMON MICKO BENRIMOH

MONDAY, JANUARY 20–24 ISLAM AWARENESS WEEK: RADICAL ISLAMIC HONESTY 6 TO 8 P.M. @ CHEM B150 Put on by UBC’s Muslim Students Association, this is a series of lectures intended to help folks better understand Islam and its adherents.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22 SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH: DISSOLVE 5:30 TO 8:30 P.M. @ BARNETT RECITAL HALL A play focused on the use of drugs in sexual assault, this show was created by UBC alum Meghan Gardiner and has spent 10 years touring North America. This decade-anniversary performance is FREE and will feature a post-show talkback with Gardiner, SVPRO, the Independent Investigations Office and others.

ON THE COVER COVER BY Salomon Micko Benrimoh

Want to see more events or see your event listed here? ubyssey.ca/events

U THE UBYSSEY EDITORIAL

STAFF

Coordinating Editor Zubair Hirji, Moe Alex Nguyen Kirkpatrick, Fariha Khan, coordinating@ubyssey.ca Sam Smart, Bill Huan, Brendan Smith, Diana Visuals Editor Hong, Jordan-Elizabeth Lua Presidio Liddell, Ryan Neale, Sarah Zhao, Charlotte Alden, visuals@ubyssey.ca Andrew Ha, Jasmyne Eastmond, Tianne News Editors Jensen-DesJardins, Maya Henry Anderson and Rodrigo-Abdi, Chimedum Emma Livingstone Ohaegbu, Riya Talitha, news@ubyssey.ca Sophie Galloway, Kevin Jiang, Bailey Martens, Culture Editor Sonia Pathak, Thea Thomas O’Donnell Udwadia, Kaila Johnson, culture@ubyssey.ca Diego Lozano, Keegan Landrigan, Kaila Johnson, Sports + Rec Editor Maneevak Bajaj, Tait Salomon Micko Gamble, Andy Phung, Benrimoh Mike Liu, Anupriya sports@ubyssey.ca Dasgupta, Danni Olusanya, Campbell Video Editor Speedy, Marissa Birnie, Jack Bailey Aman Sridhar, Negin Nia, video@ubyssey.ca Alex Vanderput, Tanner Opinion + Blog Editor LAND Tristan Wheeler ACKNOWLEDGEMENT opinion@ubyssey.ca We would like to acknowledge that this Science Editor James Vogl science@ubyssey.ca Photo Editor Elizabeth Wang photos@ubyssey.ca Features Editor Pawan Minhas features@ubyssey.ca

paper and the land on which we study and work is the traditional, occupied, unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

LEGAL

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

JANUARY 21, 2019 | VOLUME CI| ISSUE XVIII

McGrath, Tara Osler, Zohrah Khalili, Jonathan Harris, Harshit Kohli, Alex Wang, Lisa Basil, Myla White, Zhi Wen Teh, Zachary Tharpe, Patrick Richards, Paige Mayo, Isa Isa

BUSINESS Business Manager Douglas Baird business@ubyssey.ca Account Manager Adam McQueen adam@ubyssey.ca Web Developer Amelia He amelia@ubyssey.ca

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.

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

President Ali Zahedi president@ubyssey.ca Social Media Coordinator Luiza Schroeder socialmedia@ubyssey.ca CONTACT Editorial Office: NEST 2208 604.283.2023 Business Office: NEST 2209 604.283.202 The Nest 6133 University Boulevard Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 Online: ubyssey.ca Twitter: @ubyssey Instagram: @ubyssey

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.

2

NEWS

JANUARY 21, 2020 TUESDAY

EDITORS HENRY ANDERSON AND EMMA LIVINGSTONE

3

CONSULTATION //

Arts diplomas don’t state students’ majors.

One student senator is trying to change that LOGISTICAL TROUBLES

Charlotte Alden Senior Staff Writer

The physical difference between a UBC bachelor of arts (BA) diploma and diplomas offered by other faculties at UBC is small, but significant for many arts students.

While the diplomas for a bachelor of science and a bachelor of applied science note the major of the recipient, the BA diploma does not.

Charlotte Gilby, a faculty of arts student senator, wants that changed.

“It’s quite sad because a lot of arts students aren’t aware of it until it’s too late. They’re standing on the stage and [they see] ‘bachelor of arts’ rather than ‘history’ or ‘geography,’” Gilby said.

This idea isn’t new, according to Gilby, but has been sidelined in Senate due to work on the academic concessions policy. When she began her term in October, she took the reins on this issue.

Gilby has been working with several people within the faculty of arts, including Associate Dean Academic Dr. Stefania Burk. With the support of other student senators, Gilby recently released a consultation survey to gather more data on whether a significant amount of arts students want their degrees to be on diplomas.

The response has been overwhelmingly in favour of the change, said Gilby.

The comments from the survey centred around the major theme of wanting ownership over the work put into their degree. But

ARIEL QI

“It’s quite sad because a lot of arts students aren’t aware of it until it’s too late. They’re standing on the stage and [they see] ‘bachelor of arts’ rather than ‘history’ or ‘geography,’” Gilby said.

some students cited legal reasons, according to Gilby, saying that they wanted their majors on their diplomas to be able to prove to the government that they’re using their visa in the way they said they would.

Emmanuel Cantiller, a second-year representative in the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS), said that having degrees on diplomas is something that should be “expected.”

“When anyone graduates from

the university, they should be recognized for what they’ve done and what specializations that they undertook because it shows the progress that student made and what that student has chosen to learn,” Cantiller said.

Burk says they’re still “not exactly sure it will work.”

“The faculty of arts is incredibly large and has very long majors. So it’s really been a systems issue,” Burk said. “If you’re a double major with gender, race, [sexuality] and social justice and classical and near Eastern archaeology, it just wouldn’t fit on the parchment.

We’ve been trying to work out some of the glitches in the system.”

Another concern includes how to deal with students who have majors in two different faculties.

“Making sure that the parchment will be accurate is one issue for students who have these more hybrid degrees,” Burk said.

As for why this hasn’t happened before, she said that the system was the reason.

“There seems to be enough positive momentum and there’s been nothing that has prevented [having majors on diplomas],” Burk said. “There was no good reason other than the difficulty and complexity of it for the system.”

Gilby hopes to have the resolution passed by April, in time for it to be implemented for 2020 graduates, but they are still figuring out what the approval process would be.

“I don’t think it’s impossible ... but we haven’t heard from Senate yet,” Burk said. “Even if the approvals go through ... I don’t know if we can roll it out in a way that would ensure that things go smoothly for graduation.” U

STUDENT SERVICES //

AMS seeks feedback through Nest + Experience Survey Sabine Villaroman Contributor

For many UBC students, the Nest serves as a central hub for students to study, eat food and access AMS services.

On January 9, AMS VP Administration Cole Evans and his office launched the Nest + Experience Survey to further understand how students feel about the AMS initiatives and the facilities in the Nest.

Known as the NES for short, the survey collects data from students about their thoughts on key aspects of the Nest. It also serves as a way through which the AMS can generate actions to improve its services. The AMS is encouraging students to take 10 to 15 minutes to communicate their true feelings about the building and AMS services, with all responses being anonymous.

The Nest is also important for student clubs as it provides resources and spaces to hold regular meetings.

“It’s the student union building, so it’s a great place for people to come and partake in building a social life because university can be very stressful,” said Young Ji Kim, a fourthyear psychology student and Unlimited Dance Club president.

After closing the NES near the end of January, the AMS will analyze the data collected by tabulating responses.

Some students, on the other hand, have identified areas of improvement for the Nest and its services.

“I strongly believe that the system in which booking requests are handled, processed, and

eventually distributed could be much more organized and efficient,” said Andrea Chen, a third-year psychology student and Dance Horizons president.

Through the NES, students can describe their experiences in the

LORI JIANG

Nest and express their concerns to the AMS. Although some students may have taken surveys about the Nest in previous years, the current NES was designed from scratch.

“There wasn’t a lot of clarity

in the past iteration of that survey,” said Evans. “We really wanted to target … key areas, not only in the Nest that are important to students but also … the experience as a whole in the AMS.” The process of making the NES was generally smooth for Evans and his team, but they have been fixing minor errors while the survey remains active.

After closing the NES near the end of January, the AMS will analyze the data collected by tabulating responses. Evans will then create a report of formal recommendations and through this AMS Council will plan solutions to ongoing issues and discuss potential future projects.

“I think that a lot of the work we do should be dictated by what students are telling us they want,” said Evans.

In addition to the NES, the AMS VP Academic and University Affairs Office is working on developing the 2020 Academic Experience Survey that will focus on more widespread topics such as affordability and housing.

Overall, the VP administration believes these surveys will lead to better student support.

“We really enjoy the work that we do and I love coming to work everyday,” said Evans. “So yeah, it’s been great.” U

4 | NEWS | TUESDAY JANUARY 21, 2020 CAMPUS VIBES //

INTERSECTIONALITY //

Professors urge against ‘uncritical adoption’ of AMS moves on from Clubhouse the UN SDGs as UBC Sustainability framework website, searches for replacement

FILE JOHN QI

“When these frameworks get adopted uncritically, there’s a chance that alternative perspectives will get silenced or ignored because there’s a discretion that this is what we’re all going to work with.”

Negin Nia Staff Writer

With the presentation of UBC’s Annual Sustainability Report at the December 2019 Board of Governors (BoG) meeting, the university is outwardly making sustainability a priority. But not everyone is completely satisfied with the framework UBC is taking.

Three professors in the department of education penned an open letter to the Board regarding UBC adopting a new framework for its sustainable achievements based on the United Nation (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In the open letter, the professors urge against an “uncritical adoption of the SDGs” as part of UBC’s Sustainability framework, in order to take part in critical reflections on the UN framework.

REASONS BEHIND THE FRAMEWORK UBC believes that adopting the SDG framework will allow them to make changes beyond the university community. The 17 SDGs address interconnected global challenges including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice.

“UBC has a responsibility to effect change beyond our institutional boundaries and to advance a sustainable and just society across British Columbia, Canada and the world,” said UBC Sustainability representatives in an emailed statement to The Ubyssey.

The representatives added the SDG framework will be helpful in considering the multiple aspects of sustainability.

“There are a growing number of higher education institutions globally, which have also adopted them as a framework. They provide a helpful device to help organizations communicate and engage with their internal and external communities around work that they are doing to tackle sustainability as a broad and crucial issue of our time.”

CONCERNS AND CRITIQUES Dr. Sharon Stein, assistant professor in higher education at UBC’s department of educational studies,

believes that it is good to see this commitment to sustainability from the university. But she is concerned about an uncritical adoption of the framework by professional institutions.

“This doesn’t mean there isn’t a commitment to sustainability, but I’ve noticed that there are multiple universities and professional organizations around higher education that [have] tried to take up the mantle of the SDGs to demonstrate their relevance and engagement in the time of social challenges,” she said.

Stein explained that she learned about the framework through a contact she had at UBC Sustainability.

Alongside Dr. Vanessa Andreotti, Canada Research Chair in Race, Inequalities and Global Change in the department of educational studies, and Dr. Cash Ahenakew, associate professor in Indigenous education in the department of educational studies, they discussed their concerns with the framework through the letter.

“We were wondering what the impact of this happening would be because a lot of people tend to assume that organizations like the United Nations are universal or neutral bodies, but they are not.

Frameworks like this offer a great deal and there [are] many things to be said in its favour, but at the same time, there’s a lot of things that are left out of it,” Stein said.

“When these frameworks get adopted uncritically, there’s a chance that alternative perspectives will get silenced or ignored because there’s a discretion that this is what we’re all going to work with.”

Stein, Andreotti, and Ahenakew expressed their concerns regarding the neo-colonial patterns that tend to be reproduced when these mainstream frameworks are adopted.

All three professors agreed that in general, Indigenous perspectives on mainstream sustainability and development have been ignored, marginalized or not included in frameworks like the SDGs. “There’s a notion that the west is the most advanced and that society and the rest of the world should be following in its footsteps. This assumes several things: western knowledge and that we will continue

this extractive economic system that is not only ecologically unsustainable but also is violent,” said Stein.

“It uses the earth and other living entities as natural resources to be commodified as opposed to living relations, as many Indigenous communities stated as their relation to those things.”

The professors would like to make sure that by adopting this framework, the university will still take into account non-western ideas in a meaningful way.

“This is opposed to patterns by which certain voices are invited in and they’re conditionally included until the point where they critique the institution of the segment and tend to not be invited anymore or those conversations never really translate into any substantive change in the institutional vision,” said Stein.

Alongside the focus on Indigenous communities because UBC is on unceded Indigenous land, Stein added there should be an ethical engagement with other historically and ongoing marginalized groups and communities.

ALTERNATIVES AND IDEAL OUTCOMES Stein, Andreotti and Ahenakew hope to see a more substantive engagement with the means to adopt a framework like the SDGs. Additionally, how the university will preserve spaces for critical conversations and debates about sustainability, development and the university’s role involving the SDGs in particular.

“We’re trying to assert in the letter that it’s important to have places for these voices that would allow students, faculty, staff and community members to voice their perspectives and concerns about how the university is picking up this issue of sustainability. Also, how we can have a more pluralized and democratic approach to these issues, allowing space for discussion and conversation,” said Stein.

As for alternatives, the professors said they tend not to suggest a universal framework, as they will all have limitations. Rather, they would like a space for conversations about what these different frameworks might look like at UBC. “We would like to see the university engage these different perspectives of sustainability and development. In particular, the perspectives of historically ongoing marginalized communities including Indigenous, racialized and others, whose voices on these topics have generally been ignored or only hypocritically engaged.”

Currently UBC is still considering how it will utilize the SDGs. “We want to ensure that this framework aligns and supports the work we have already undertaken around sustainability,” said UBC Sustainability, citing recent commitments to full divestment and the declaration of a climate emergency as key examples.

“Yes, we can be part of the solution, but we have to think about how we are historically and currently part of the problem as well,” Stein said. U

FILE SARAH NABILA

CampusVibe, the company that runs Clubhouse, has found it to be no longer financially viable to continue operating their service.

Sebastian Geraldo Contributor

As of January 15, the AMS’s club and student group management platform Clubhouse is permanently out of service.

According to AMS VP Administration Cole Evans, CampusVibe, the company that runs Clubhouse, has found it to be no longer financially viable to continue operating their business.

CampusVibe has submitted a termination notice to the AMS, which effectively nulls their renewed two-year contract that was announced last January.

Evans says that the AMS is already looking for a new platform.

“First priority is to make sure that we’re choosing a system that not only supports our various clubs and constituencies and other groups on campus, but also [benefits] students as a whole at UBC,” he said.

Now that the website is down, club organizers will have to make do without a central online platform.

Evans says the AMS is working to find a replacement quickly.

“We’re hoping to get something started or find a system and get everybody ready to transition by next month,” he said. “However, we want to make sure that we do this right.”

In the meantime, most forms and materials that were on Clubhouse have been transferred to the AMS website.

BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE Evans acknowledged that there have been many issues raised by student groups about Clubhouse.

“From my perspective, a lot of clubs felt that they were more forced to use Clubhouse as opposed to seeing it as a benefit,” said Evans.

“That’s the biggest issue we’re trying to solve — how do we create a system that doesn’t feel like a burden to clubs and is actually something that they’re going to actually get use out of and they’re going to actually feel like it helps their clubs’ operations?”

Sakiko Toriya, the president of UBC BizTech, a business and technology networking organization, had difficulties

finding leadership forms on Clubhouse that could only be found after clicking through multiple pages. He also had a poor experience with room bookings.

“We had a horrible issue with room bookings for our biggest event [in November] because the system didn’t recognize our booking submission even though we submitted it in early May.” Toriya hopes that the new platform will have email confirmation and updates after submitting booking requests.

Manish Toofany has had both positive and frustrating experiences with Clubhouse in his role as president of UBC HOPE, a student-run charity that works locally in Vancouver. He found filling out administrative forms to be straightforward but was frustrated with updating membership lists.

“The platform required members to fill out waivers by logging on to their own accounts, which acted as an unnecessary barrier. This led to the membership list on Clubhouse being inaccurate relative to the actual list of club members.”

He hopes that the new platform will streamline the club member enrolment and room booking process.

UBC Game Development President Angela Lu thinks that Clubhouse had little to no information on the club succession process. Lu would like the new platform to have more information about club elections, event support and other procedures.

“Most things I learned through trial and error or I talked directly with people at the AMS. I still feel like I haven’t gotten the full picture and am currently stressed about upcoming elections,” said Lu. “Although it looks pretty, it’s not serving its function in my opinion.”

Until the AMS finds and sets up a new platform, Evans says that the AMS will transition all the forms on Clubhouse to the AMS website and that other services will be dealt with on an ad hoc basis.

“I think that this gives us a great opportunity to find a system that really works and that we can transition everyone effectively and that people are really going to enjoy using,” Evans said. U

JANUARY 21, 2020 TUESDAY | NEWS | 5 SUSTAINABILITY //

UBC requires food outlets charge fee for single-use items Georgia Yee Contributor

Starting this month, food outlets on campus have been required to charge a fee for single-use coffee cups and plastic foodware.

The decision is part of UBC’s Zero Waste Foodware Strategy, adopted in June 2019, with a goal of diverting single-use items from landfills and reducing waste. Many single-use items at UBC are not disposed of correctly, creating problems at composting facilities and degrading the quality of the recycled materials.

While the fee is being introduced for certain items, others are being phased out immediately like plastic bags, cutlery, straws, foam cups and foam take-out containers.

To replace these items, retailers have introduced more sustainable materials like wooden cutlery.

Instead of single-use items, the university is encouraging students, faculty and staff to bring their own reusable mugs, cutlery, straws and food containers.

The initiative comes after students started a petition to ban single-use plastics that received over 4,500 signatures in 2017. That year alone, 2.3 million pieces of plastic cutlery, 1.7 million singleuse coffee cups and 690,000 plastic bags were given out on campus, according to UBC Sustainability.

ELIZABETH WANG

Instead of single-use items, the university is encouraging students, faculty and staff to bring their own reusable mugs, cutlery, straws and food containers.

In a November media release, UBC promoted that it was “ditching” single-use items, but paper cups and foodware are still available at a charge. Bud

Fraser, senior sustainability and sustainability engineer at Campus and Community Planning, said that the approach will allow for a smoother transition.

“What we’ve … learned from many jurisdictions where the first step is a ban, [is that it] creates a big pushback which results in the ban not being approved or getting

quashed and [it’s] back to square one,” he said.

He added that many outlets have been reliant on single-use items for so long that they don’t have dishwashers, so they will need time to adapt.

“A lot of research shows that with this type of thing, the better approach is to take it in steps and bring everybody along at the same time,” said Fraser.

In regards to concerns about additional costs, AMS VP Administration Cole Evans said AMS businesses like Blue Chip and Iwana Taco will dock prices to make up for the tax, but the change will still bring more awareness. “[It] demonstrates to students that there is a fee associated with having to use single-use foodware items,” he said.

Many retailers on campus such as UBC Food Services or JJ Bean have already successfully implemented pricing structures to incentivize reducing single-use items. Retailers will be able to determine where money from the single-use item fees go, including using them to offset the costs of transitioning to more sustainable products.

When asked how the AMS will use the extra money, Evans said it will go directly to student services, but they are still evaluating options. U

Learn to cover a whole new world with CarletonLearn University’s Journalism to coverMaster a wholeof new world withprogram.

Carleton University’s Master of Journalism program.

tocuriosity? cover Aadesire whole new explain, worldand with Are youLearn driven by to reveal, tell truthful stories?

Master of Journalism will giveand youtell the skills to Are youOur driven by curiosity?

A desireprogram to of reveal, explain, truthful Carleton University’s Master Journalism program. stories?

Our Master of Journalism program willaudio give you the skillsmedia. to excel in the dynamic world of digital, video, and print excel in the dynamic world of digital, video, audio and print media.

Are you driven by curiosity? A desire to reveal, explain, and tell truthful For more information, or to apply, visit carleton.ca/sjc stories? Our Master of Journalism give you the skills to For more information, or to program apply, visit will carleton.ca/sjc excel in the dynamic world of digital, video, audio and print media.

For more information, or to apply, visit carleton.ca/sjc

CULTURE

JANUARY 21, 2020 TUESDAY

EDITOR THOMAS O’DONNELL

6

DRINKS//

ART //

Nosh Hunt: Snow much cocoa!

A work at the Hatch gallery.

DIEGO LOZANO

A Quick! look at student artwork at the Hatch Moe Kirkpatrick Senior Staff Writer

It’s a new decade at UBC which means nothing less than a new exhibition at the Hatch gallery.

For 2020, we’re starting off with the annual Visual Arts Students’ Association (VASA) exhibition, called Quick! a last show before I go off my rocker.

I agree. There is a lot going on in the title. I like it.

The eight works in this exhibition came from student submissions which were selected via a jury of students and alumni from the UBC department of art history, visual art & theory. Like a lot of Hatch exhibitions — which I feel very qualified to say, having covered them for most of this academic year — Quick! is both a multimedia exhibition and quite ambitious, at least conceptually.

Artworks range from video to performance — live on the opening night, January 14 — to painting to falling on rocks to a book and some fans. There are also Polaroid photographs and a Polaroid camera. And, what has to be one of my favourite descriptions of an artistic medium: “cloth, tube, spit.”

But what does “Quick! a last show before I go off my rocker.” mean?

That one’s easy. It’s the first line from a 1953 Frank O’Hara poem, “On Rachmaninoff ’s Birthday,” which can be read online. The date 1953 is important here, because Frank O’Hara wrote seven different poems entitled “On Rachmaninoff ’s Birthday.”

One of them you can listen to on Spotify. Wack! As surreal as ever, Frank O’Hara.

What the fuck at all does acclaimed American poet Frank O’Hara have to do with our AMS art gallery? Very little!

But his 1953 poem does convey a sense of frantic need to move forward. His 1968 version of “On Rachmaninoff ’s Birthday,” — which I mistakenly thought was the one Quick! was referencing — also talks about penises a lot, while a completely different third version from 1956 talks about death. These are the three loose themes of Quick!: death, sex, and moving on.

After all, it’s a new decade. We have to get moving along on it.

Can’t keep thinking about 2019 forever.

Overall, Quick! is a small exhibition with its own sort of charm. The term “student artwork” tends to evoke a range of quality, like we were still hanging up the best pieces beside the classroom door. If there is anything I can guarantee about Quick!, it’s that a lot more conceptual groundwork went into the pieces on display. Even

if I didn’t like all of the art, I still walked away from the exhibit with a few new ways of thinking about things, whether it was how to more physically interact with the medium I’m using or the intimate sorrow of reenacting someone’s dying breaths.

Quick! is a student exhibition.

I’ve been in those before. For some of these artists, this could be their first exhibition. They could have been submitted by their professors and be barely aware that their work is even in a show. They could hate all of the other artists they worked with and think their piece is better off without the thematic connections. They might just be happy that other people are coming to see their work. Or it could be none of those things.

So I wrote a poem about it.

Let me explain, just a little, before the poem. In fact, if you don’t enjoy poetry, you’re welcome to stop reading here.

This part is all for me. Have a nice day!

Why go to an art exhibit and write a poem? The annual VASA exhibition is about celebrating student artwork. Sure, I could critique this exhibition just as diligently as I would critique a show at the Vancouver Art Gallery but let’s be real, most of the people who will read this are the artists or their families. (Hi! I don’t know you!). Student art has already gone through critiques.

They don’t need me to tell them that their paint layer is too thin or whatever. This exhibition is to celebrate.

What better way to celebrate creation than to create? U

Sara Arora Contributor

DIEGO LOZANO

As a self-proclaimed chocoholic, the idea of drinkable chocolate tops my list of favourites. Heat it up and there you have it — the million dollar hot cocoa, perfect for when the weather isn’t on your side. I know — not everyone has that special someone yet, but I say why look for them when you have a drink that’ll give you that same hug from the inside? The criteria we’re looking for here is: creamy, chocolatey, frothy and it better give me that warm hug.

We’ll also be looking at the price points, because I feel your bank account calling.

Before we start — hot cocoa vs hot chocolate — what’s the difference? Hint: it’s in the name!

You’ll get your answer at the end!

TIM HORTONS

DIEGO LOZANO

The Quick of It You fall onto a rock and create the truth of falling onto a rock: it hurts. We can see it there, how it hurt, the smear of your hair, your crunched nose.

Is that all of it, then?

What if we wanted to see more? Oh, sweet voyeurism. We want to have pictures of strange men and know their names too.

Do me one better.

Tell me their favourite type of chip. The colour they associate with driving home in the rain, angry. The last time they lost their keys.

Don’t we deserve it? There is room for more here. More of an act or an admission.

We all want to see the worst parts of ourselves, flayed and strung in the opening. And someone to sit by to watch us watching ourselves.

Look, if I tell you why I loved it, will you tell me how you got here?

To rocks and polaroids and a glaze of acrylic so thin I want to touch the paper. I swear, I don’t mean anything more than love.

MOE KIRKPATRICK

Quick! will be at the Hatch until January 23.

SARA ARORA

Cozy hot chocolates from around campus.

As we all know, Tim’s is the best.

This hot cocoa was exceptionally creamy, chocolatey and frothy, ticking three of my boxes. No — that’s not where it ended — it was successful in giving me that hug and definitely economical. $2.50 for an extra large cup — sign me up. Located conveniently from my Sauder classes and the Koerner library, this is my perfect on-thego drink while simultaneously being my makeshift heater for when I forget my gloves. The signature red cup was cute and I was glad they maintained the holiday spirit even though its January. Something interesting I noticed was this didn’t taste the same as their hot cocoa mix, so visit the store for the best taste.

Regardless, for the price and taste, this drink is an all round great pick!

Rating: 3.75/5 Price: $2.50 for an extra large

BOULEVARD COFFEE This gem of a coffee joint is a stunning spot to relax, study and work. And while you’re at it, grab yourself a good cocoa. This drink was extremely chocolatey and frothy — an added plus. It was a little on the pricey side, with an 8 oz size costing $3.81. But then again, you’re also paying for the experience. The cup was iconic,

although not holiday themed.

However a big problem was that they couldn’t comprehend the hot aspect of the “hot cocoa.” In other words — it wasn’t hot at all.

Yes, I had to ask them to reheat the drink which wasn’t such a hassle, but one would expect a hot drink to begin with. Other than that, the drink and experience was wonderful! They also have refrigerated items half off after 5 p.m., so look out for the discounts.

Rating: 2.5/5 Price: $3.81 for 8 oz cocoa

STARBUCKS The last place on my list is the very basic. Believe it or not, this was my first time trying their hot cocoa, based on a recommendation from a friend.

Honestly, their cocoa was heavenly. Again, on the pricier side, but really great in flavour. I could taste subtle notes of dark chocolate in the aftertaste. But nothing out of the ordinary. It ticked all my fundamental boxes, but did it have anything that made it stand out? Nada. However, the plus point was that Starbucks has a huge range of choices and I was able to customize my drink too!

Although I personally wouldn’t purchase the drink again, I’d definitely recommend it for a try.

Rating: 3/5 Price: $4.55 for a grande hot chocolate On the whole, what disappointed me was the absence of marshmallows in all drinks.

As you probably guessed, my absolute favorite was the Canadian treasure. Even though they may not shine in the chicken strips department, they sure know how to make a damn good cup of hot cocoa. The drink excelled in ticking all boxes, plus its price is another attractive feature! If you ever manage to get yourself ou of bed early for your 8 a.m. class, make sure to hit up Tims to skip their long queues and devour one of life’s treasures all in a cup, starting your day with that sugar high.

Answer: Technically speaking, hot cocoa is made from using cocoa mix while hot chocolate uses actual chocolate. But the two terms are generally used interchangeably. U

JANUARY 21, 2020 TUESDAY | CULTURE | 7 YOUTH CULTURE//

Tag your friends: UBC meme pages build community by satirizing shared campus experiences

The logos for officialubcmemes and moist.ubc.memes

Andrew Ha Senior Staff Writer

I should be catching up on readings, but instead I’m scrolling through Instagram when I come across a video of reality star Tiffany “New York” Pollard asking “Where the f*ck my ride at?” And after last week’s snowpocalypse, this meme hits different. Where my ride at indeed? I send it to the group chat — my friends and I are all commuters — and we share a cynical laugh.

The post is from officialubcmemes and with 18.8k followers as of January 2020, it’s the most popular Instagram account for campus memery at UBC. Friends have been tagging one another on officialubcmemes’s posts since its owners — both students — started sharing UBC-specific memes in 2017.

“I think there’s just this aspect of communal suffering that we all go through,” said one of the account co-owners, who wished to remain anonymous so her identity would not be associated her with her memes. Often, people running meme pages prefer not to inject their identities for communitybuilding reasons. “I think that’s what students relate to … Yes, we are all going through this and it sucks, but it’s funny because we’re going through it together.”

Search Instagram for UBC memes and dozens of accounts appear. But officialubcmemes and fellow meme instagram page moist.ubc.memes are some of the only places you can find original, UBC-relevant content posted on a more-than-occasional basis. With memes about everything from the frats to failing classes, these accounts offer hubs for students to chuckle over shared experiences — and their owners have found a place for themselves in an often maledominated space.

STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM, NOW WE’RE HERE The two friends running officialubcmemes made memes for their high school student council, but missed meming the summer after graduating. And so, they decided to post UBC content after starting at the university. At the end of their first year, the account had only about 5,000 followers per officialubcmemes’s estimate, but that figure has since more than tripled.

“At the time, we thought it was huge and we didn’t know it could get bigger. But I think it just snowballed into something that’s like all UBC students know it,” they said.

INSTAGRAM

The administrator behind moist.ubc.memes, wishing to stay anonymous for professional reasons, was inspired to launch the account in 2017 after seeing flourishing meme pages at other schools like the University of Waterloo, where she considered attending. moist.ubc.memes has just shy of 4,700 followers, but it isn’t about clout for her.

“It was originally for me and my friends but if it got popular, that’d be cool,” she said. “I just keep on making memes … and then they just keep following.”

Coming up with memes is about striking a balance between uber-specific situations and wider campus relatability, she said.

“Sometimes I post something and I think … it’s not great, not terrible — it’s just okay. But turns out people really like it,” moist.ubc.memes explained.

One such surprise was a meme about “when the bus driver goes a little too fast at the Wesbrook roundabout” depicting a man standing at a ridiculous tilt.

Seeing new meme templates or reaction pictures sparks inspiration for both moist.ubc.memes and officialubcmemes.

Part of officialubcmemes’s process is seeing the trends but also finding her own style.

An example is her bingo meme format, which is her take on the starter-pack meme. Her favourite one is about the woes of dating in Vancouver.

When creating her next post, officialubcmemes says that she’ll come across a reaction picture that is so funny it just works.

“It just fits right perfectly,” she said. “I feel like you shouldn’t have to think about how this can become a meme — it just pops out to you.”

FUNNY HAHA OR FUNNY MISOGYNISTIC? The ease of connecting to a meme helps make the medium so popular.

“Once you get what the meme does, all you do is fill in the slots in the way that is relevant to you,” said Dr. Barbara Dancygier.

Dancygier is a professor in the department of English and a cognitive linguist who has studied memes and their constructions. Although you’ll find countless commenters commiserating with one another beneath a post about failing exams, Dr. Dancygier feels “very optimistic” about what officialubcmemes and moist.ubc.

memes post.

“It’s for venting, right? So people always address situations where they’re uncomfortable,” Dancygier said. But boy, if they’re only uncomfortable about these situations, [that’s] great.” officialubcmemes says that like anyone on social media, she feels “a great sense of validation” knowing that people enjoy her posts and have had a similar student experience.

She told me about how she recived an unexpected audience when her brother showed her parents the account, “risqué” memes and all.

But one thing she hopes people take away from her memes is simple: “I hope they think that girls are funny.”

In her research, Dancygier has found some memes to be “misogynistic,” for example, Good Girl Gina. It’s no longer in vogue, but it has a top-text-bottom-text format characteristic of the early 2010s over a stock photo of a smiling white woman. Its creators used the template to describe what an ideal girlfriend should do. Essentially, it was a way for them to complain about their partners.

Today, the guise of anonymity abets prejudiced memes that appear frequently in far-right circles.

The officialubcmemes coowners posted a gender reveal on International Women’s Day in 2019.

Much to their surprise, it’s one of their widest-reaching posts with dozens of comments in support.

“Believe it or not, we are not 2 buff white frat bros who shotgun

beers to impress girls and blast ‘Thotiana’ while we sip our IPAs like everyone seems to think we are,” reads the post caption.

Both officialubcmemes and moist.ubc.memes aren’t sure what will happen once they graduate. moist.ubc.memes, which is less active than officialubcmemes, anticipates ceasing to post after a while.

While officialubcmemes now tweets and joked about starting a TikTok account, she’s still mulling over whether she’ll want to reveal her identity and whether she’ll later want to hand over the reins to new meme blood. But for now, she knows that she wants to keep posting memes and sharing lighthearted fun.

“I just want that sense of well-being to be spread within the community,” she said. “And, you know, you do that through humour.” U — With files from Sarah Zhao

Now Looking For...

A moist.ubc.meme meme.

A moist.ubc.meme meme.

An officialubcmeme meme.

The officialubcmeme gender reveal.

YOUTH EDUCATORS! Now aged Looking Are you 17For... to 23?

Now Looking For...

LEAD FUN & YOUTH EDUCATORS! Join BLUSH, Vancouver EDUCATIONAL YOUTH EDUCATORS! Coastal Health’s sexual Are you aged 17 to 23?

health Are you promotion aged 17 to 23?

Join BLUSH, Vancouver program for youth!

Coastal Health’s sexual

WORKSHOPS ON LEAD FUN &

EDUCATIONAL relationships LEAD FUN & Join BLUSH, Vancouver WORKSHOPS ON EDUCATIONAL health promotion sexualized media Coastal Health’s sexual ON health relationships program for youth! WORKSHOPS sexual health promotion HONORARIA sexualized media relationships program for youth! sexual health AND HONORARIA TRAINING sexualized media sexual health PROVIDED! AND TRAINING HONORARIA blush.vch.ca PROVIDED! AND TRAINING blush.vch.ca visit blush.vch.ca/get-involved for more info PROVIDED! visit blush.vch.ca/get-involved for more info blush.vch.ca

visit blush.vch.ca/get-involved for more info

FEATURES

JANUARY 21, 2020 TUESDAY

EDITOR PAWAN MINHAS

8

Places to Go:

Home in the hills of Calabria

Salomon Micko Benrimoh Sports Editor

My nonno, or grandfather, Carmelo Barillaro risked a lot in his life.

He refused to fight for Mussolini and the Axis in the Second World War, opting instead to spend four brutal years as a prisoner of war in Germany.

When the Nazis surrendered, he walked all the way through the Alps to Florence and down to the

southernmost province in the Italian Peninsula: Calabria.

Carmelo wasn’t alone in refusing to join the army under Mussolini. Over 300,000 Calabrese-Americans joined the Allies in fighting the Nazis in the latter part of WWII. The regional dissent was rooted in the inherent historical and contemporary differences between the northern and southern provinces of Italy.

It’s why Carmelo risked his life again to come to Canada and

work as a railroad builder in northern Quebec and Labrador, though he eventually returned to Calabria and to his home in the comune, or village, of Mammola.

Despite the fact that many families around them were packing up and leaving for cities like Toronto, Montreal and Philadelphia, my nonna, or grandmother, was adamant on staying put. Like Carmelo, all she knew was Mammola.

Eventually, she yielded at

the behest of my aunt and they arrived in Halifax’s Pier 21 on December 14, 1960. A fresh blanket of snow along Ferguson Cove was my mother’s first sight of her new life.

Despite this being an article about going places, there’s only been talk of leaving so far.

That’s because while my family physically left Calabria, they maintained a decent chunk of Calabrese and Mammolese culture in their new home of Montréal.

From making homemade wine to hanging up sopressata and capocollo meats in garage to cure over the winter, my family brought Calabria and Mammola with them to Canada. There were so many immigrants from Mammola in Montréal that there’s still a yearly Mammolese cultural festival each summer.

Just because my mother’s family immigrated to Canada doesn’t mean they left Calabria forever. Once they were able to

JANUARY 21, 2020 TUESDAY | FEATURES | 9 afford it, they would make the trip back every few years, almost exclusively in the summer.

I first went to Mammola in 2006. Unfortunately, as a nine-year-old runt, I couldn’t appreciate it as much as I would have now and my focus was generally steered towards two things: cheering on Italy in the 2006 World Cup or, for some god-forsaken reason, watching Spider Man 2 on my PlayStation Portable.

In 2018, I went back to Mammola a second time. This time, I went with my mother, two of my uncles, my aunt and a bunch of extended family who had moved to Lazio, the central province home to the capital city of Rome.

Instead of being an annoying nine-year-old, I was a much more mature, refined and just as annoying 21 year-old history major. In the lead up to the trip, I was determined to take the opportunity to learn more about my heritage on my mother’s side and learn more about what life was like in Calabria.

I met my mother in London and, after a horribly expensive taxi to Heathrow and a bit of arguing with Alitalia staff who seemed determined to make us miss our flight, we boarded our flight to Milan.

After a short layover, we boarded a much smaller plane to take us down the peninsula to Lamezia Terme, next to the province’s capital city of Catanzaro. From there, it was a short 90 minute drive to Mammola.

This might seem like a lot of travelling for one day, but getting to Mammola today is a hell of a lot easier than it used to be. The trip from the port or the airport used to entail a six- to eight-hour car ride snaking through the mountains. The benefit today is that there’s a new highway connecting most of the province: the Autostrade 3 (A3).

The A3 took over 50 years to be built due to a number of

different delays, most pertaining to corruption involving the local mafia syndicate: the ’Ndrangheta.

There’s even a weirdly placed curve in the highway because a local ’Ndrangheta boss didn’t want it to get too close to his property.

Mammola from afar looks like a picturesque Italian village nestled into the mountains.

Getting into the actual village area, the first thing you notice is the number of abandoned apartments. Mammola used to have a population of around 30,000. Today that number sits at just under 3,000.

Despite that, we couldn’t find a single parking spot in the town square as we’d shown up at the end of August, right before the feast of the saint. Something to know about Calabria is that every village has their own patron saint and a day of feasting to celebrate them.

For Mammola, that saint is San Nicodemo and the feast falls somewhere in the first few days of September. While I had to leave town before San Nicodemo’s feast, I did manage to go the feast of San Rocco in the neighbouring town of Gioiosa Ionica.

Not a soul stayed home as thousands packed the town square, witnessing the statue of San Rocco get marched through the narrow streets. Kids sat on their parent’s shoulders as dozens of drummers herded the statue and the crowd into the village center.

It was the biggest event the town would see all year, just like Mammola’s feast of San Nicodemo. The second it ends, the exodus of Calabrians back to their new homes begin and the comuni returns to emptiness.

It’s why most of the restaurants and businesses in Mammola operate exclusively in the summer. Crowded along the street leading up to the apartment my family owns, there’s half a dozen shops selling local specialties. These shops will make almost all their profit in the

few weeks around the feast.

A big local food is stocco, a style of cod prepared by curing it in salted water from the local streams. While delicious, my personal favourite food from Mammola is ’Nduja, a spreadable pork salume packed full of Calabrese chilli peppers.

But even more enjoyable than overindulging myself on amazing food and wine was being able to do so with my family. I found myself actually able to keep up with their

conversations in the Calabrese dialect which, in all fairness, might be closer to Spanish and Portuguese than Roman Italian.

Every meal was always an occasion, be it at a restaurant in the hills next to Mammola or in our own apartment. But it didn’t feel any different than going to my aunt’s house on a Sunday back in Montréal. The way we’d all talk and laugh with each other was the same as back home.

In a way, there wasn’t

anything for me to learn about life in Mammola. When my nonno Carmelo brought my family to Canada, they didn’t stop being Calabrese all of a sudden.

Mammola and Calabria have always been a big part of my family’s identity, from generation to generation.

Mammola isn’t just a village in Calabria — it’s the culture associated with it. Regardless of where I live, home is always going to be Mammola. U

OPINIONS

JANUARY 21, 2020 TUESDAY

EDITOR TRISTAN WHEELER

10

FINANCES //

Ask Pawan: How do I talk to my affluent partner about money?

Pawan Minhas Advice Columnist

Hi Pawan, I am trying to express to my partner the fact that I don’t have a lot of money (never have), but I don’t want to make them feel bad or hate me for not being able to treat them the same way they grew up (they grew up with money). How do I do this?

As a rule of thumb, folks generally don’t enjoy discussing personal income or family finances regardless of whether they come from the lap of luxury or leaner beginnings. I bring this up first to help set your expectations for this conversation and similar ones in the future — many of them aren’t liable to be fun. That doesn’t mean they’re not necessary.

It seems you’re already set on having this conversation, which is great, but I want to get across the importance of discussing income with loved ones, for a wider audience (and in case you get cold feet).

Talking about your personal or familial finance is a pretty difficult topic nearly every time it comes up. The upside is that it gets easier the more you do it, but put a pin in that while I talk about why it’s important to get that conversation going sooner rather than later, with those you care about To be clear, I’m not saying you lead every introduction with a firm handshake and your credit score — beyond being a social pariah, you’re liable to get your identity stolen. What I am saying is that finance is a dimension that influences so many of our daily interactions, a truth people who didn’t grow up affluent are more likely to be aware of. Wealth obviously affects day-to-day choices like where to eat or how to travel, but it’s important for folks who grew up with a bit more money to spend to understand there’s a lot more to it.

Personal wealth can affect the hobbies people have, the cultural touchstones they possess and the way they think. Growing up, I

could tell you what sales were on at the grocery store that day or where and when you could swing by and score some unwatched wooden pallets for a bonfire. This is part of why it’s important to have this conversation, regardless of what kind of wealth you were raised with: it’s affecting the world views of you and the folks around you and colouring how you interact, so you might as well interrogate it and, ideally, get a better understanding of the folks you care for.

What I said earlier about this stuff getting easier with practice is true. In the beginning of my post-secondary, I was as tightlipped as they came regarding my finances. The idea of looking like a low-income schmuck really scared me, especially when I risked looking uncultured in front of a girl I liked. As a result, I found myself holding back in conversations and talking nonsense about what I thought affluent folks discussed. A few years later, I’m happy to talk about how I grew up and be more genuinely ‘me’ with folks from ‘the upper crust’ because I have had plenty of practice — for what it’s worth, finding friends who grew up in a similar way certainly didn’t hurt.

Returning to your particular question, my verdict is that talking about wealth with a significant other is largely the same as chatting about it with a friend — if not a bit more intense — though that kinda comes with the whole ‘relationship’ territory.

You’ve likely known this person for a good while and, as a result, have likely run into some of the idiosyncrasies that come from growing up in different tax brackets. They’re kind of like little wealth mile-markers on the side of a road. These wealth checks can range from a cultural reference going over your head or using some term that is inadvertently unknown to your partner. As a result, and this might be a bit of a moment for you, your partner is likely to be somewhat aware of the financial situation you grew

ELIZABETH WANG

Personal wealth can affect the hobbies people have and the way they think.

All in all, talking about wealth is something best done early.

up with, though maybe not to the same extent as you’re aware of theirs. In my own anecdotal experience, folks who come from a lower-income background are more in tune with the wealth checks that tell you if someone has money, but it can run both ways. Higher-income folks can catch on just as quick to these missed wealth checks.

The upside to this is, since you both care for each other, you’re probably running the same scripts in your heads, trying to figure out how to broach the subject while letting the other know that their income isn’t the end-all, be-all for the relationship.

Here’s my straight advice for how to get this conversation started: sit them down and get to it. Something I find useful is leading with a shared experience where one of you missed a wealth check unintentionally posed by the other to give some context for the conversation ahead. This’ll help centre the conversation on your relationship and the fact that that missed check wasn’t the end of the world, while also helping to illustrate just how pervasive wealth gaps can be in a relationship.

Ideally, you come out of this with a better understanding of your partner without feeling the need to hold yourself up to a standard you’ve made for yourself, based on what you think their childhood was like. An added

bonus is anyone you meet in university is probably living a life less luxurious than what they’re used to, so the disparity in wealth might not translate directly to disparity in standards of living.

All in all, talking about wealth is something best done early and frequently, but it doesn’t have to be a conversation that happens from the get-go. Given the prevalence of wealth checks and how annoyingly often they crop up, I find it best to get ahead of them by addressing what your upbringing

FILE MAGED

was like with whomever you’re comfortable telling. This goes doubly for the folks in the upper tiers of affluence. Navigating wealth checks can be exhausting if you’re trying to not let on what kind of financial situation you come from, so being a bit more cognizant of these wealth checks is something you can do to help reduce that burden! U Need some 2020 vision? Send your questions to advice@ubyssey.ca or anonymously at ubyssey.ca/advice.

Navigating wealth checks can be exhausting.

ELIZABETH WANG

FROM THE BLOG YELLOW //

When that water becomes snow, something special happens.

It’s a well-regarded fact that the water around UBC is some of the best tasting in the world. When that water becomes snow, something special happens. As any expert snow-taster will tell you, there is a wide range of flavours awaiting you all around campus, and the best part is it’s all free. Here’s a list of the top places on campus to eat snow.*

HONOURABLE MENTION: BY THE EARTH SCIENCES BUILDING Nestled on Main Mall, the snow near the Earth Sciences Building has a distinctly ‘sharp’ flavour to it that may not be everyone’s cup of snow, but it certainly deserves a nod. There is also a beautiful metaphor with the proximity to the Earth Sciences Building, because snow is an integral part of the water cycle.

TOTEM FIELD A hidden gem far from the usual

11

DREARY //

The best tasting snow on campus

Edith Coates Senior Staff Writer

JANUARY 21, 2020 TUESDAY

EDITOR TRISTAN WHEELER

The many phases of January

FILE JENNIFER LOSIE

tasting spots on campus, the snow out on Totem Field has complex ‘earthy’ and ‘floral’ notes which makes it a vital destination for eating snow.

ROOF OF THE NEST The altitude gives the snow found on the roof of the Nest an amazingly ‘fresh’ and ‘clear’ taste. It’s not as fancy as the previous two, but it truly nails the classic, no-bells-andwhistles taste of snow that is loved by all.

SANTA ONO’S FRONT YARD The forest location gives the snow in Santa Ono’s front yard a very ‘woody’ flavour as well as an amazingly crisp texture. While we certainly do not encourage trespassing, the fear of getting caught adds much to the entire tasting experience. U *The Ubyssey wishes to remind everyone that snow with any sign of discolouration is unfit for human consumption.

FILE BEN GEISBERG

The new year has successfully faded into the cold.

Harshit Kohli Staff Writer

Happy New Year!

This usually lasts half a month because guess what, it’s the new year and January has 600 days to spare anyway. Everyone usually stops feeling like anything is new after the hangover from the New Year’s Eve party wears off, but we all like to be hopeful, don’t we?

Then, we try to live by the ‘new year new me’ motto for a week.

Well, then school starts and all the resolutions get buried under the snow on Main Mall, unless you’re

dedicated, then it lasts for another week (yay!)

Then the classes set in, you probably love to hate your new prof — because it’s fun — and complain about it for two weeks until the course drop deadline has passed.

You’re really stuck now, aren’t you?

By now, we aren’t that far from the dreaded realization that midterms are right around the corner and that it’s probably time for you to go sob at Irving K. Barber Library. At this time, the new year has successfully faded into the cold, thin and rainy University Boulevard air. Correct me if I’m wrong, but

if you agree with me, feel free to donate to my PayPal. January, oh January. It’s really long, isn’t it. Anyhow, now the snow has melted, the rain’s back and watching people fall can’t be a pastime anymore, so maybe try playing who’s crying in the rain?

There are no rules here, feel free to plan your own adventure (even more yay!).

Well, you might be feeling all that holiday weight dragging down your sprinting-to-class speed. But it’s okay because you know what, chocolates are nice and you only live for so long to enjoy them — so I say go crazy! U

PUBLIC SADNESS //

Which buses are best to cry on? A ranking

FILE JONATHAN HARRIS

Let’s get this sob-story on the road.

Ella Meyer Contributor

There are two types of people in the world: people who have cried on public transit and liars. We all do it. You put on a song by The Fray or The Script, and you stare out the window like you are in a mid2000s music video. You just failed a midterm or got dumped or did the dumping or had a big argument or maybe the wind changed direction and you’re feeling fragile. Some planet has gone into retrograde and you’re full of bad energy. Whatever the cause, here you are, in need of a way to get to where you need to go, and also cry this out of your system.

Some transit provides a deep, cathartic crying experience, as if you were being swaddled by someone dear to you. Others make you feel like a saturated sponge being slung around a mosh pit when the house lights are still on.

Whatever the destination, I have

carefully curated criteria for what makes a good transit cry. There are four key points: anonymity, seat availability (because who cries standing up?), smoothness of journey and overall atmosphere. Bonus points can be awarded for qualities like arrival frequency or other x-factors.

Without further ado, let’s get this sob-story on the road.

SHIT TIER 7: Absolute gamble. If and only if it arrives, then you have anonymity, a seat and a tired commuter atmosphere. 3/4, solid crying route. Unfortunately, catching a 7 in the wild is a bit like seeing a rare Pokemon. More than likely, you will end up crying at a bus stop, which is stationary and undignified. 0/4, no bus found.

25: Likely to see someone you know, seat availability depends on time of day, stops fairly often

but has a good vibe. Has gotten me through some dark days.

Distinctively unreliable, though.

Sorry, old friend. 0.5/4, let the past die.

16: Not a UBC bus, I know, but I HAVE shed an inebriated, late night tear or two on it and I felt that earned a spot. Full of the diaspora of clubbers, the seats are often taken and the lights stay on while you jolt stop to stop. -1.0/4, I had to cry on another bus line to get over this one.

68: Perhaps the worst cry.

Small, crowded, full of classmates, keeps you on campus and the poor, unfortunate driver can definitely hear you. The whole thing is, like, 12 feet long. -1.5/4, I’d rather cry on the 16.

MID TIER 4: Full of people I know, *might* get a seat and jolts every 2.5 seconds because it’s an electric

bus. Reasonably chill vibes until it snaps off the cables and has to be pulled over. 0.75/4, do not cry me a river here.

14: This ranks exactly the same as the 4, for exactly the same reasons. However, it does go past my favourite cheap sushi place (shout out Sun Sushi) so that has to count for something. 1/4, mediocre.

84: The chicken strips of transit meltdown options. Not the best, never the worst and exactly what you expect. Entirely average crowds, anonymity, vibe, etc. Semispaced stops, but not quite that 44-level cruise. 2.5/4, not bad at all.

TOP TIER 33: A hidden gem for commute crying. Much less busy than the average bus (leaving UBC that is), arrives when it says it will (admittedly infrequently), has a very chill vibe and is the route of choice of exactly three people I know (i.e., nearly perfect anonymity). Bonus: It often leapfrogs the 25 so you stop less.

Unfortunately, I’ve had to start my cry at the bus stop because I can’t wait for the necessary 15 minutes at least once, so that loses some points. 3.5/4.

41: I’ve ridden this bus all of three times, but it was empty, guaranteeing a seat and no awkward conversations with acquaintances. It goes along my favourite running route and running brings me joy. That’s not congruent with having a big bus cry. 3/4, didn’t pass the vibe check.

44: My cry-line of choice for

all of my second year. Express buses always win out points for the smooth ride and I pretty much always had a seat. Bonus: West 4th gives you a view of beautiful high rises you can never possibly afford to put the “Rent will suck my bank account dry forever” icing on top of the “just kill me” cake. 3.5/4.

GOD TIER 99: Much like my first kiss, crying on this bus was not as embarrassing as I expected, however unlike my first kiss, it did not make me realize I like girls. It provided a perfect white-noise background to a seated, isolated, cathartic cryand-commute. I spent 12 glorious minutes having a sob and didn’t make eye contact with a single person I knew. During that period, the bus stopped all of four times.

Surprisingly blissful. 4/4.

N17: Unlikely to see anyone (sober) you know, always available seats, infrequent stopping for a nice smooth ride and a dark, moody atmosphere. When it’s raining just a little, you’ve got your head against a window and they shut the lights off while their driving? *Chef’s kiss.* Magnificent, therapeutic crying territory. 4/4 would cry again.

FINAL WINNER The N17. It just has the latenight je ne sais quoi that gives the ultimate sobbing experience. I think because I’m a melodramatic cry baby, if that already wasn’t self evident. U

SCIENCE

JANUARY 21, 2020 TUESDAY

EDITOR JAMES VOGL

12

STICK AND POKE //

School vaccination program effective against cervical cancer Marissa Birnie Senior Staff Writer

Women who received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in Grade 6 as part of the province’s publicly funded school immunization program had a 57 per cent reduction in the rate of cervical pre-cancer, according to a recent study.

Using data from BC’s cervical screening and immunization registries, researchers compared the rates of precancerous outcomes between women who had been vaccinated and those who hadn’t.

They focused on women born between 1994 and 2005 who had received the vaccine at age nine or later.

The joint study was published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases by researchers at UBC, BC Cancer, the BC Center for Disease Control and the BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre.

HPV is so common that most people will become infected at some point. Usually, the infection goes away on its own, but in some cases it can cause changes in cells that make them more likely to turn into cancer, called precancerous lesions. These changes can be detected in the cervix by a pap smear.

HPV is responsible for most cervical cancers.

“The dramatic success — pre-

“We have a vaccine that’s going to prevent cancer. So there’s the human side of that, not losing loved ones early.”

cancer rates dropping by over half — shows us the importance of having children immunized early to protect their lives,” said BC Minister of Education Rob Fleming in a press release.

One of the study’s authors agrees with his assessment.

“Totally. Yes. We have a vaccine that is preventing pre-cancerous

lesions that we know lead to cancer,” said School of Population and Public Health Professor Dr. Gina Ogilvie.

She expects that as more children are vaccinated, both precancer and cervical cancer rates will continue to decline.

The school-based program began in 2008. The women in the study received the quadrivalent vaccine,

known to be effective against 70 per cent of cervical cancers.

Today’s Grade 6 students receive a different version of the vaccine, which protects against 90 per cent of cervical cancers.

For Ogilvie, 57 is more than a number.

“We have a vaccine that’s going to prevent cancer. So there’s the human

COURTESY NIAID/FLICKR

side of that, not losing loved ones early,” she said.

“And then at a system level, we don’t have to spend and direct our resources to things like cancer treatments. We can use that money to do other things. It’s a massive opportunity for us and we’re very fortunate to have access to this vaccine in Canada.” U

SPORTS+REC

JANUARY 21, 2020 TUESDAY

EDITOR SALOMON MICKO BENRIMOH

13

PUNCH UP ON WESBROOK MALL //

T-Birds beat Bisons in Winter Classic slugfest

PHOTOS BY SALOMON MICKO BENRIMOH

Austin Glover celebrates as the Thunderbirds pack in one more against the Bisons at Friday’s sold out Winter Classic game.

Brendan Smith Senior Staff Writer

There was no love lost in this year’s Winter Classic.

In a critical matchup between the University of Manitoba Bisons and the UBC Thunderbirds, there was a bit of everything that you would expect in a hockey game: punches thrown, bodies flying and by the end of the game both teams had over 45 penalty minutes.

And that was just on the ice.

Fans were arriving for more than an hour before puck drop to enjoy the pre-game festivities inside the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

Some brought signs that ranged from creative (“Manito-Bad”) to expected (“Make a TikTok with me”) while others heckled Manitoba goaltender Riley Lamb with sheep noises during warmups.

And between the crowds at the beer gardens and lineups at the concessions, it was safe to say that most were in good spirits before the game started.

But despite all the madness, the T-Birds would prevail.

“It was like any other Winter Classic ­­— very emotional, very intense, both teams going at it,” said UBC head coach Sven Butenschön after the game.

The rough stuff started right away. On the first shift of the game, UBC forward Maxwell James, who had previously missed time due to injury, fired up the crowd with a couple of big hits as the T-Birds were physical on the forecheck in the early going.

The scoring opened at the 16:08 mark of the first period. Skating down the left boards, rookie forward Quinn Benjafield glided past two Manitoba defenceman and reached around Lamb to give UBC the first goal of the game, bringing all 5,500 or so people to their feet.

Late in the second period, the T-Birds added to their lead. A cross-ice pass from UBC forward Tyler Sandhu found Austin Vetterl who rifled home a wrist shot from the opposite faceoff circle. Then at 18:40 in the period, Sandhu

would score his first of the night, increasing the lead to three.

Early into the third period, things started to get interesting.

UBC goalie Rylan Toth made 20 saves on the night, but Manitoba forward Ben Dalke beat him with a quick shot on the blocker side to put the Bisons on the board at 5:14 into the period.

The momentum was shortlived, as the UBC powerplay went to work after a Bisons penalty.

With the five-on-four advantage, defenceman and team captain Jerret Smith one-timed a pass from Sandhu and the shot took a deflection off of James into the net.

Midway through the period, Manitoba replied on the powerplay.

With a crowd of people in front, Toth was unable find a shot from defenceman Adam Henry that put the Bisons back within two.

With less than two minutes left in the game, a UBC penalty gave the Bisons a six-on-four advantage after they pulled their goalie.

Without a goalie in net, UBC forward Colton Kehler was able

to give his team an insurance goal when he shot the puck into the net from centre-ice. A minute later, Sandhu would bury his second with another empty net goal to finish off what was a dominant offensive performance from the home side.

“We got some bounces today but you know you got to work hard for your bounces,” Butenschön said afterwards.

“We finished a lot of checks and I think their defence started hearing footsteps and turning pucks over and then we were able to capitalize.”

The game did not end quietly.

With about five seconds left to play, Sandhu poked Lamb after the whistle was blown. It started a line brawl that involved multiple players wrestling on the ice while players and coaches from both teams were yelling from their benches. “[Manitoba is a] hard, physical team and that’s how they play and that’s why they’ve had success this year,” said Butenschön when asked about the skirmishes at the end of the game.

This year’s Winter Classic game had it all: From big time goals to more than a few fights, the Thunderbirds were able to overcome the odds and beat the Bisons in both games.

“We were able to stand up for ourselves.”

And while their first win of the new year came in spectacular fashion, the team seemed subdued about the outcome.

Smith emphasized that they need to keep a mindset “of not being too high, not too low” and Butenschön also mentioned the need to keep “emotions in check” in order to build off the momentum from this weekend. UBC would go on to beat the Bisons 2–1 in double overtime the next day.

In the end, there was little doubt that the final result and the event were rewarding for the Thunderbird faithful, players and coaches alike.

“You know it’s Canada, you can tell how passionate everybody is [about hockey],” said Butenschön.

“It was a great night.”

“It was awesome,” said Smith, who had two assists in the game.

“I mean it was a lot of fun [for the players and] a lot of fun for the fans.

“I wish it could be like that every night.” U

WINTER CLASSIC

14 | SPORTS+REC | TUESDAY JANUARY 21, 2020

JANUARY 21, 2020 TUESDAY | SPORTS+REC | 15 PHOTOS BY SALOMON MICKO BENRIMOH, JAMIE ZHAO AND ELIZABETH WANG

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ACROSS 1. Dog-powered snow vehicle 5. Mends a shoe 10. Not new 14. Like the White Rabbit 15. Turn aside 16. “A Doll’s House” heroine 17. Model married to David Bowie 18. “Lovergirl” singer ___ Marie 19. Actor Kristofferson 20. Communications satellite 22. Strain 24. Electrically charged atom 25. Cartesian conclusion 26. Republic in central Europe 30. Garnish 34. Inwardly 35. Headgear of a monarch 37. Dixie Chicks, e.g.

38. Nipper’s co.

39. Month after avril 40. ___ the land of the free...

41. Puts away 43. False 45. Suffix with exist 46. Apparition 48. Braided 50. Louis XIV, e.g.

51. Summer Games org.

52. Go along with 56. Punishment 60. Feline line 61. Driver’s invitation 63. Prepare to be shot 64. Famous last words 65. Perform or portray 66. Airline to Tel Aviv 67. Coarse file, angry tone of voice 68. Prepares for billiards 69. 1994 Costner role

DOWN 1. Split 2. Gammy 3. Bibliography abbr.

4. Compactness 5. Diabolical 6. In excess of 7. Shelter 8. Sea eagles 9. Stopping place 10. Disheveled 11. Rifle (through) 12. Actor Stoltz 13. Morse element 21. Rocky peak 23. Dr. Dre’s genre 26. Buenos ___ 27. Remove a covering 28. Roofing stone 29. Defence covering 30. Intertwine 31. Golf clubs 32. One who cries “uncle”?

33. Pierced with horns 36. Bran source 42. Foul.up 43. Nor’s partner 44. Sets straight 45. One on the run 47. Water tester 49. Great length of time 52. From the U.S. 53. “___ grip!”

54. Goes bad 55. The last Mrs. Chaplin 56. Select 57. “Damn Yankees” role 58. Boris Godunov, for one 59. Quick sharp bark 62. Lobbying org.

COURTESY BESTCROSSWORDS.COM

U

did you know that . . .

Male sharks have two sexual organs called claspers, however they technically no penises.

— Diego L. Send your best facts to visuals@ubyssey.ca to be featured in next week’s issue!

COURTESY KRAZYDAD.COM

Apply to the Student Alumni Council! build professional networks and represent your university The Student Alumni Council is a team of student leaders that act as student representatives at alumni and presidential events, promote the alumni network on campus, foster campus pride, and execute events with alumni UBC, the university’s alumni association. Join the SAC to develop leadership skills and professional networking opportunities, both within UBC and beyond.

The SAC is supported by President Santa Ono and alumni UBC. Applications are open until January 31, 2020.

for details and registration, visit

alumni.ubc.ca/sac COURTESY KRAZYDAD.COM