March 24, 2014 by The Ubyssey

MARCH 24, 2014 | VoLuME XcV| IssuE L life is dudes since 1918

D N A P T C E F

M U I N EMO

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The all-fe m Ubu Roi ale, hilariously c is h productio Theatre at UBC aotic ’s best n in years P8

SUB OPENING DATE FINALIZED AMS announces the New SUB will be operational by January 2015 P3 UBC PHD STUDENT KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN TERROR ATTACK P3 SORTING THE GARBAGE OF UBC’S MOST WASTEFUL BUILDING P4 SHANE KOYCZAN, SPOKEN WORD POWER POET P9

STORMING THROUGH THE AGES Discover the 36-year history of the biggest intramural event in North America and meet Nestor Korchinsky, the man who started it all P6

THE MANY COLOURS OF HOLI P11 RUGBY ’BIRDS WIN ‘WORLD CUP’ P7

Monday, March 24, 2014 |

YouR GuIDE To uBC EVENTs + PEoPLE

whAt’s on

THIs wEEK, MAY wE suGGEsT...

ouR cAmpus

oNE oN oNE wITH THE PEoPLE wHo MAKE uBC

MONDAY 24 WhaT IS “SCIENCE”? 8 P.M. @ GReen cOlleGe

A cross-discipline panel ranging from mathematics to the history of biology will start an interdisciplinary dialogue about what exactly is considered science. Free

TUESDAY

PaNIC To PoWER 3:30 P.M. @ BROcK HAll

Do you find yourself nervous in social situations and worrying about life after graduation? This workshop will go over why your body acts the way it does when you’re anxious, relaxation tips and more. Register online at www. students.ubc.ca/career. Free PHoTo sTEVEN RICHARDs/THE uBYssEY

Dustin sproat (far right) went to Princeton university for his undergrad degree, where he played for the Princeton Tigers.

Dustin Sproat emerges from Dragon’s Den unscathed

WEDNESDAY 26 NoRoUZ MUSIC GaThERING 6:30 P.M @ KAiseR RM 2020

uBC Persian Club’s Norouz team will celebrate the approach of spring in their music night. Golestan Bakery will be providing pastries for the event. Event is members-only, but you can be a member at this event for $5

Kaidie Williams Staff Writer

BFA student Naomi Vogt, centre, does a superb job playing two characters at the same time — a timid schoolgirl and the large-than-life Père Ubu. She also does a stupendous job seducing the men of UBC varsity sports in some of our ubyssey videos. Photo by Stephanie Xu.

Video content Is it safe to ask a stranger to watch your stuﬀ at UBC? Watch our video to ﬁnd out at ubyssey.ca/videos.

U THE UBYSSEY

editoRiAl

Coordinating Editor Geoﬀ Lister coordinating@ubyssey.ca Managing Editor, Print Ming Wong printeditor@ubyssey.ca Managing Editor, Web CJ Pentland webeditor@ubyssey.ca News Editors Will McDonald + Sarah Bigam news@ubyssey.ca Senior News Writer Veronika Bondarenko vbondarenko@ubyssey.ca Culture Editor Rhys Edwards culture@ubyssey.ca Senior Culture Writer Aurora Tejeida atejeida@ubyssey.ca Sports + Rec Editor Natalie Scadden sports@ubyssey.ca Senior Lifestyle Writer Reyhana Heatherington rheatherington@ubyssey.ca Features Editor Arno Rosenfeld features@ubyssey.ca

Video Producer Lu Zhang video@ubyssey.ca Copy Editor Matt Meuse copy@ubyssey.ca

Photo Editor Carter Brundage photos@ubyssey.ca Illustrator Indiana Joel ijoel@ubyssey.ca Webmaster Tony Li webmaster@ubyssey.ca Distribution Coordinator Lily Cai lcai@ubyssey.ca stAff Catherine Guan, Nick Adams, Kanta Dihal, Marlee Laval, Angela Tien, Carly Sotas, Alex Meisner, Luella Sun, Jenny Tang, Adrienne Hembree, Mehryar Maalem, Jack Hauen, Kosta Prodanovic, Olivia Law, Jethro Au, Bailey Ramsay, Jenica Montgomery, Austen Erhardt, Alice Fleerackers, Nikos Wright, Milica Palinic, Jovana Vranic, Mackenzie Walker, Kaveh Sarhangpour, Steven Richards, Gabriel Germaix, Jaime Hills, Jenny Tan. Kaidie Williams, Rachel Levy-McLaughlin, Maura Forrest

MARCH 24, 2014 | VoLuME XCV| IssuE L

business

contAct

Business Manager Fernie Pereira fpereira@ ubyssey.ca 604.822.6681

Ad Sales Tiﬀany Tsao webadvertising @ubyssey.ca 604.822.1658

Ad Sales Mark Sha advertising@ ubyssey.ca 604.822.1654

Accounts Graham McDonald accounts@ ubyssey.ca

Editorial Oﬃce: SUB 24 604.822.2301 Business Oﬃce: SUB 23 Student Union Building 6138 SUB Boulevard Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1

Web: ubyssey.ca Twitter: @ubyssey

legAl The ubyssey is the official student newspaper of the university of British Columbia. It is published every Monday and Thursday by The ubyssey Publications society. we are an autonomous, democratically run student organization, and all students are encouraged to participate. Editorials are chosen and written by the ubyssey staff. They are the expressed opinion of the staff, and do not necessarily reﬂect the views of The ubyssey Publications society or the university of British Columbia. All editorial content appearing in The ubyssey is the property of The ubyssey Publications society. stories, opinions, photographs and artwork contained herein cannot be reproduced without the expressed, written permission of The ubyssey Publications society. Letters to the editor must be under 300 words. Please include your phone number, student number and signature (not for publication) as well as

your year and faculty with all submissions. ID will be checked when submissions are dropped off at the editorial office of The ubyssey; otherwise verification will be done by phone. The ubyssey reserves the right to edit submissions for length and clarity. All letters must be received by 12 noon the day before intended publication. Letters received after this point will be published in the following issue unless there is an urgent time restriction or other matter deemed relevant by the ubyssey staff. 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 ad.

On Oct. 30, 2013, Dustin Sproat, along with co-creator Kyle Hagel, pitched their hockey app Shnarped to the panel of five venture capitalists on CBC’s reality show Dragon s Den, hoping to secure financial backing for their project. It was judgment day for Shnarped, and Sproat was ready to make his case. “It was nerve-wracking,” said Sproat, and MBA student at the Sauder School of Business. “I can still remember walking up the stairs and staring at the bright lights.” Shnarped, which aims to connect professional hockey players with their fans by providing updates such as stats and news, was created by Sproat and Hagel, who were Princeton classmates, and Kamil Sikorski, who is also in the Sauder MBA program. With the app, sports fans are able to keep track of their favourite players and are also able to send them virtual fist-bumps. “Eventually we hope to help grow the game of hockey from a grassroots level,” said Sproat. Before he went into the business of hockey, Sproat was first a player of hockey. Het was born in Red Deer, Alta., where the ice rink in his backyard became his play-

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ground and his love for hockey grew. As he got older, his backyard rink was no longer enough, and he began to play junior-level hockey for the Drayton Valley Thunder. After three years, Sproat was recruited by Princeton University to play for the Ivy League school’s team, the Princeton Tigers, on a scholarship. Balancing studying chemical engineering and playing hockey proved to be a challenging combination for Sproat in his undergraduate years.

We thought we’d get smoked. Dustin Sproat Sauder MBa student on his and colleague Kyle hagel’s appearance on cBc’s Dragon’s Den.

“It was hockey and homework,” said Sproat. After graduating from Princeton, Sproat took a break from hockey and worked for an oil and gas company in Alberta for two years. But hockey would find a way to come back to him when he came to UBC to pursue an MBA and eventually created Shnarped. To prepare for their television appearance, Sproat compiled a list of all the questions ever asked on Dragon s Den and

did trial runs with his friends. He was determined to give the Dragons a deal they could not refuse. The outcome was more than Sproat expected. All five Dragons jumped on the Shnarped wagon for a grand total of $250,000 in exchange for 33.3 per cent of the Shnarped pie. “We thought we’d get smoked,” said Sproat. Since the show, Sproat says he’s gained recognition within the sports industry and downloads have increased. He says the team hopes to expand the app to multiple sports. Next Tuesday, April 2, a followup episode about the Shnarped team’s attempt to branch out their app to the NBA will be aired on CBC. Sproat says things didn’t turn out the way he wanted, but he still encourages everyone to watch the episode. Sproat’s advice to budding entrepreneurs is simple: “Do good things, work with good people and you will get good returns. Get customers to learn about your product. Find people who have validated their interest in your product. “Put yourself out there. Sometimes you’ll win, sometimes you’ll lose, but you’ll learn more in the process than from the results,” said Sproat — who is definitely winning. U

Monday, March 24, 2014 |

EDITORS WILL Mcdonald + Sarah Bigam

new sub >>

Afghanistan >>

UBC PhD candidate killed in terror attack

photo will mcdonald/THE UBYSSEY

Construction on the New SUB is planned to be completed in November.

Official opening date set for New SUB

Photo courtesy Karim Thomas

Roshan Thomas started a school for children in Afghanistan.

Building to open in January, construction to finish in November

Will McDonald News Editor

Veronika Bondarenko Senior News Writer

A UBC PhD candidate was one of nine people shot dead in a Kabul hotel attack on Thursday. Roshan Thomas, a Vancouver-based optometrist who started a school for children in Afghanistan in 2003, was working on a PhD with a concentration on curriculum studies at UBC. In addition to working in education, Thomas has provided volunteer eye treatment to refugees. On Friday, B.C. senator Mobina Jaffer, a friend of Thomas, tweeted, “In true Canadian spirit [Thomas] worked hard especially for education of Afghan girls a great Canadian who made the ultimate sacrifice.” Thomas is survived by three adult children, and was soon to become a grandmother. The attack occurred in a Kabul hotel restaurant where four gunmen opened fire. Roshan was one of two Canadians killed in the attack on the eve of Persian New Year. The Serena Hotel was considered one of the safest places in Kabul. The shooters reportedly smuggled pistols in their shoes through the hotel’s metal detector and X-ray machine. Roshan’s son Karim Thomas told CTV his mother was one month away from completing her PhD at UBC. “My mom is gone, but the ethics and values she taught not just me but my sisters and all of the students who came through the school are going to live on,” he said. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the shootings. “Canada condemns this brazen and cowardly terrorist attack on the Serena Hotel,” wrote Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird in a release. Most of the victims of the shooting were engaged on foreign aid work in Afghanistan. “Many of these people dedicated their lives to helping everyday Afghans build a better country for themselves, including education, and enhancing the role of women and girls in Afghan society. For this selfless work to be met with violence, especially on the occasion of Nowruz, just further proves the depravity of the Taliban and those who support them,” Baird wrote. U

The official opening of the new Student Union Building has been set for Jan. 5, 2015, but construction will be finished partway through November. AMS VP Admin Ava Nasiri said that while construction of the building is slated to finish sometime in November, the opening of the New SUB will be held right after students come back from winter break. Nasiri said the extra month will give staff more time to transition into the new building. “We’ve set the official building opening date on Jan.

NEWS BRIEFS New smartphone app detects fatal pregnancy condition A team of UBC researchers have developed an app that detects the symptoms of pre-eclampsia sooner than currently possible. Pre-eclampsia, a condition characterized by high blood pressure and a loss of protein in urine in pregnant women, is the most common cause of maternal death in North America and the second leading cause of maternal death globally, according to Peter von Dadelszen, a UBC professor of obstetrics and gynecology and one of the app’s developers. Pilot trials of the app are currently running in Nigeria, Pakistan and India. UBC researchers help discover source of rare ovarian cancer An international research team has discovered the cause of a rare type of ovarian cancer that most frequently strikes girls and young women. The study, which included researchers from UBC, found a genetic mutation in an overwhelming majority of patients with small cell carcinoma of the ovary. “This is a thoroughly remarkable study. Many genetic anomalies can be like a one-lane road to cancer: difficult to negotiate. But these findings indicate a genetic superhighway that leads right to this highly aggressive disease” said Jeffrey Trent, president of Phoenix’s Translational Genomics Research Institute and lead author of the study.” U

5 to allow for the move into the new building and to make sure that everything is functioning smoothly,” said Nasiri. “We also want to make sure that students know and that they’re really excited that when they’re coming back from winter break they’ll be coming back to a beautiful new building.” Nasiri said staff who have offices in the building, including AMS staff and executives, will be able to start moving their things into the New SUB in November. Everyone else will have to wait until January to see the inside of the New SUB, as the building will be closed off to the public until the official opening date.

Even though construction can be unpredictable, Nasiri is confident there will not be any additional setbacks to delay the opening date further. “As with any construction process, you can never predict a pipe burst or anything like that,” said Nasiri. “But as far as I can say, I certainly hope that there will not be any more setbacks. We’re quite confident that the building will open on Jan. 5.” “I’m really, really excited,” said third-year engineering student Nancy Chu. “I only wish that the project would be complete earlier so that I could enjoy it for a few years before graduation.”

Chu said she is especially looking forward to the new study spaces and greater variety of food choices in the New SUB. “More selection for food is always a cause for celebration in my books,” said Chu. “Hopefully they’ll introduce healthier and more affordable choices.” Nasiri also expressed her excitement about what she called the beginning of a new chapter in UBC’s history. “I’m very excited about the new building,” said Nasiri. “It’s a really nice thing for students to be excited about because it’s not often that you get to be part of the process of seeing a new Student Union Building opened on campus.” U

Rez life >>

Anti-Semitic graffiti displayed in Totem Park Sarah Bigam News Editor

A swastika with the caption “Heil Hitler” was discovered in Nootka House in Totem Park last Sunday evening, two days after the end of Israeli Apartheid Week. According to Kyle Lethbridge, residence life manager for Totem Park North, the graffiti, which was written on the chalkboard in the first-floor house lounge, was promptly removed by a residence student leader. “We take this incident very seriously and are following up as much as we can given the circumstances,” said Lethbridge. He said that since the graffiti was cleaned up before any photos were taken, the RCMP will not be able to investigate. However, Lethbridge said he has been in contact with the RCMP on how to deal with the incident. “Should we be able to identify responsibility, our intent is to determine what consequence may be appropriate, and help the individuals responsible to reflect on their conduct’s negative impact on the larger residence community,” Lethbridge said. “It makes you feel unsafe in your own home,” said Noah Kussin, an international student

file photo geoff lister/the ubyssey

The graffiti was discovered in Totem Park on Sunday evening.

from Los Angeles and a Jewish resident of Nootka. “I know a lot of other international students — you’re coming to a new country, we’re here, we want to be included, we want to be a part of everything. And to see someone do something that basically says you are not allowed here, we do not want you here, get out, whether they think it’s a joke or something that they can just do — it’s a jarring experience and it really makes you feel unsafe,” said Kussen. Lethbridge said the residence life staff are offering support to

individuals who are distressed by the incident. Nootka House president Tracey Gaydosh said this incident contrasts sharply with the regular atmosphere of Nootka. “Nootka is our house, our home, and it has been built up this year through acceptance of diversity,” said Gaydosh. “It is sad to see that everyone’s hard work to make Nootka an amazing community will be overshadowed by this act, when in reality Nootka is a place of acceptance and love and has even won a campus-wide ‘community of the month’ [award] this year.” U

4 | NEWS |

Monday, March 24, 2014

garbage >>

Student group conducts SUB waste audit

Danni Shanel Contributor

You might not think too hard about what you throw in the garbage, but one student group certainly does. On Wednesday, March 19, Common Energy held their first annual waste audit. Volunteers sorted through a day’s worth of trash from the SUB to show students what they’re throwing away. “What we wanted to do was take a waste audit of the building that produces the most waste, and make that as public as possible so that students can actually walk by and see their waste,” said Common Energy leader Veronika Bylicki. Bylicki said most of UBC’s trash can actually be recycled or composted. A UBC Sustainability waste audit in 2010 determined that although students recycle or compost about 44 per cent of waste, almost 95 per cent of it can be diverted from the landfills. UBC Sustainability conducts waste audits regularly around campus. The data from the Common Energy event will be added to UBC’s database, but it serves a dual purpose. Because this audit is public, said UBC’s water and zero waste engineer Bud Fraser, people get to see how much they are actually throwing away. “Most of our waste audits, we just do them to get the data, but the student one, because it was

standable why there is confusion,” she said. The Sort it Out bins are a part of UBC’s Zero Waste Action Plan, which aims to create a campus where “all unwanted products and materials will be treated as a resource that can be used again.” Visuals on the bins prompt students to distribute their waste between three separate receptacles, labeled for either compost, recycling or trash. This comes just a year before Vancouver plans to implement an organic disposals ban, which will prohibit the disposal of organic waste in regular garbage bins. U

RESULTS FROM the 2010 AMS WASTE AUDIT

Volunteers sorted through 24 hours’ worth of gabage from the UBC on Wednesday.

a public one, also had this idea that you could show people first hand what is in the waste, and make more people more aware,” said Fraser. To see how much waste can be diverted from the landfill, Common Energy, the largest and most active student-run sustainability club on campus, had 40 volunteers sift through trash in

two-hour shifts. Each garbage bin was weighed, sorted into compost, recycling and trash, and then reweighed. So far, coffee cups are the most likely to mistakenly make it to the garbage. “Some of it is not caring about separating the garbage, for sure, but some of it is just not knowing,” said volunteer Andrea Lucy.

photo carter brundage/the ubyssey

Lucy said students find it difficult to separate certain items, especially Starbucks coffee cups, which contain a non-recyclable plastic lid. “It’s when you start separating things that it gets really confusing for us and for the students. So it’s helping now having the visual aids in front of the Sort It Out bins, but it is completely under-

The waste audit the AMS conducted four years ago looked at garbage in the SUB in two phases: once in June 2009 and again in October 2009. The report showed that food waste makes up a lot of the garbage (41 per cent), followed by paper (19 per cent), plastics (14 per cent) and compostable dishes (7 per cent). Coffee cups (0.8 per cent) and chopsticks (one per cent) were in the lower ranges. In an interview last year, former AMS sustainability coordinator Justin Ritchie said waste audits can’t be done very often because they cost between $20,000 to $40,000 or more.

science >>

New 3D cell printing method to reduce costs and animal tests Lois Addo Contributor

A UBC research team is turning science fiction into reality. Head researcher Konrad Walus, research biologist Sam Wadsworth, master’s student Tamer Mohamed and PhD student Simon Beyer have created a new method of 3D printing — or bioprinting — that incorporates living human cells into synthetic material. “We are really excited about the potential that a technology like this has,” said Beyer. “In the near term, it could dramatically reduce the cost of drug discovery research.... It could also diminish and eventually even remove the need for animal testing in drug research.” While bioprinting isn’t new, Beyer said what sets their bioprinter apart from similar technologies is its ability to mimic the structure and behaviour of human tissue by combining many different types of cells in geometrically intricate ways. “It’s sort of like Jell-O,” Beyer said, “Because the material is solid, you can stack it on top of itself to create 3D shapes.” The mixture is then incubated to allow the cells to grow and form a connective network. Beyer said the group aims to use the technology in the pharmaceutical industry. Pre-clinical drug testing usually involves using cell cultures in a dish and animal models. “In many cases, neither of these models do

Break news

Photo Jonathan Juursema/Wikicommons

The research team is using new technology to print human cells.

a fantastic job of modelling the human response to a particular drug,” said Beyer. “As a result, around 90 per cent of drugs fail once they reach [human] clinical trials. “What we want to do is create 3D human tissue models that pharmaceutical companies can test drugs on as a way of getting a more predictive response for their drugs,” said Beyer. “We also hope to minimize, and perhaps eventually remove altogether, the need to test on animals.”

Ultimately, Beyer anticipates the applications of 3D bioprinting will expand beyond drug development into the biomedical industry. “In the longer term, it could be used for applications like wound repair, like skin grafts, and simple implantable tissues, like artery repair and grafts,” said Beyer. “In the much longer term, [it could be used] for more complex implantable tissues like organs, [but] I want to stress that whole organ replacement is still pretty far away.” U

news@ubyssey.ca @ubysseynews

Monday, March 24, 2014 |

EDIToR NATALIE SCADDEN

longboARding >>

UBC longboarders are ‘basically Batman’ Jack Hauen Staff Writer

The UBC Longboard Club was denied official club status by the AMS several years ago, and they’re perfectly fine with that. “I believe the founders applied once, but they got shut down,” says current club president Peter Jon. “There could be a number of reasons why, but it’s pretty much history now. We’ve accepted the fact that the AMS isn’t going to sponsor a club which could [be seen as] a magnet for accidents.”

The stigma surrounding longboarders is anything but flattering, but the UBC Longboarders do all they can to combat it. During any official club events, a zero-tolerance stance on bare heads is in effect — helmets are a must if you want to skate. “We’re going at high speeds, and you have to respect the road,” says Jon. “There have been two [longboarding-related] deaths this summer, and it’s because they didn’t have a helmet on, or they did something completely reckless.”

PHoTo ARJuN HAIR/THE uBYssEY

The uBC Longboard Club was denied official club status by the AMs several years ago, but that doesn’t stop members from meeting every week to shred around campus.

The club holds safety in high regard, but they definitely know how to have a good time. They meet every Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the corner of Agronomy Road and Main Mall, then have a slide jam for a few hours, hurtling themselves down the hill before throwing their boards sideways at the perfect moment to slow down and leave behind “thane lines” — the longboard equivalent to burnt rubber. “It’s a de-stresser for sure, especially in a university setting,” says Jon. “On Tuesdays it’s like, ‘Oh, man, I have all these papers due next week, but right now I’m just going to take these three hours to relax.’” But Tuesday’s jams aren’t the only events they organize. Around three or four times a year, the club takes advantage of UBC’s largely empty parkades, starting at the top and racing their way down. Last time, about 40 people showed up to the event — impressive considering the club doesn’t advertise at all. “Usually we keep it private, just so we don’t get 11-year-old kids from North Van coming here, swearing at security and getting into car accidents. There are four parkades that are really fun to skate, so we do rounds: we start

biKes >>

A dance party on wheels: Bike Rave 2.0 takes over campus

Adrienne Hembree Staff Writer

Anyone in the vicinity of the Koerner courtyard at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 21 would have been met by an invigorating scene. Flashing lights, glow sticks, loud dance music and the infectious enthusiasm of approximately 300 UBC students and their bicycles marked the starting point of the UBC Bike Rave 2.0, the second annual bike ride and dance party mashup. “I think it’s really fun to get out with a bunch of people and make some noise ... where no one’s breaking anything or burning anything,” said volunteer Mitch Mamel, who was selling custom UBC Bike Rave T-shirts. “It’s good, clean fun.”

Open to everyone with wheeled transportation, including bikes, scooters and rollerblades, prospective participants simply needed to sign up via the event’s Facebook group. Registered participants were given some time to deck out their transportation — and themselves — with free glow sticks, LED lights and electroluminescent wire. Red Bull vendors provided liquid energy for participants and excited volunteers encouraged everyone to get pumped up with the music and lights. No Sleep Productions captured the event on cameras, and Amiel de Guzman of ADG Productions provided his high-flying camera drone to capture the smiles, laughter and dance moves of the participants.

PHoTo KosTA PRoDANoVIC/THE uBYssEY

Bike Rave 2.0, the second annual bike ride and dance party mashup, was held on friday night.

Outfits and accessories ranged from brightly coloured neon wigs and clothing to footie pajamas and animal costumes. One participant wore a full gorilla suit, while a group of friends decked themselves out in neon wigs. “I think it’s exciting to see everyone come out in their colours and spirit and everything,” said volunteer Bree Fraser. The mass of cyclists rode a large loop through and around UBC campus, stopping every kilometre or so for a spontaneous rave. Event organizers attached carts to their bikes, which provided portable party sound systems. “I’ve never heard of an event just like this before,” said firstyear student Ryan Grutze, his bike decked out with green and red LED lights. On the other hand, several participants compared the UBC Bike Rave to its more well-known cousin, Critical Mass, where large groups of cyclists ride en masse, usually taking over the entire street. Critical Mass is a monthly event organized in major cities around the world to show biker solidarity and encourage the awareness of cyclists sharing the road. Fourth-year Forestry student Aaron Zwiebel did the event last year and came out again this year to support several of his friends organizing the event. A former competitive cyclist, Zwiebel is actively involved with the UBC bike community and volunteers for the purple and yellow bike fleet at the UBC Bike Co-op. He believes events like this help to unite the community and showcase the fun side of cycling, away from skin-tight lycra. “I think it’s important to affirm bicycles as not just a form of transportation, that they can be fun and a part of your lifestyle.” U

at one, race that, find out who the winners are, give prizes out, then race to the next one.” The founder of the club, now graduated, works at world-famous Landyachtz, arguably Vancouver’s most prestigious longboard makers. At the last event, the prizes included wheels, bearings, a sweater, shirts and stickers. And as anyone who longboards knows, buying those supplies can get expensive, fast. With all these events swimming with hooligan longboarders, one might think that the club’s relationship with Campus Security would be nothing short of hostile. But, perhaps surprisingly, Jon says the two get along fairly well. “I’ve never seen a conflict, ever. If security tells us to leave, we leave. Nothing to it.” Barry Eccleston, director of Campus Security, confirmed the longboard club doesn't cause trouble. “When we do come across them, if they’re getting in the way, we’ll ask them to vacate, for safety reasons,” he says. “They work with us pretty well. It hasn’t been a problem at all.” It seems like longboarders might not be such a menace after all. The club may even provide some unexpected benefits to the university.

“One security guard actually said, ‘I like you. You guys stop car theft,’” recalls Will Vause, a member of the club. “I guess if we’re skating [around cars] all the time, no one’s going to try anything. We’re basically Batman.” Vause joined the club this year, and was worried that his ability wouldn’t match that of the other members. “I got in with these guys in the beginning of the term. I showed up and said, ‘Hey, I’m a noob. Teach me stuff.’ And it went great!” He’s been a regular ever since. That’s just what longboarding does to people. Jon has certainly had no trouble finding new recruits. “I’ve yet to introduce someone to longboarding who has disliked it,” he says. “There’s something in it for everyone. I started off just wanting a little cruiser, but my friends were like, ‘No, Peter, you want this board, it’ll let you do everything!’ and then, eventually, I did end up doing everything. “You come for what you wanted specifically — I just wanted to get from Totem to class quicker — then you add onto it.” While lots of groups are vying for competitive club status within UBC Athletics, the Longboard Club continues to show that status isn't everything. U

6 | SPORTS + REC |

Monday, March 24, 2014

intramurals >>

Nestor Korchinsky worked at UBC from 1967 to 2003 and is considered “the grandfather” of intramurals by his staff.

photo reyhana heatherington/The Ubyssey

Inset: for the first decade of Storm the Wall, Korchinsky sa team wall-scaling techniques. Background: how people g

The storied past of Storm

Reyhana Heatherington Senior Lifestyle Writer

At least you could see the VW Beetle on top of the clock tower. But decades earlier, one of the engineering students’ pranks involving Storm the Wall was even more covertly devious. Apparently, the engineers didn’t think the wall height was challenging enough. “They snuck in at night and cranked up the walls, and nobody could get over the next day,” said UBC intramural programs manager Jason McManus. “The legend goes that they didn’t quite figure it out for a while. And then somewhere over the course of the day I guess they figured out, ‘Wait, the wall is too tall.’” Nestor Korchinsky, the intramural sports director at the time, confirmed the legend, describing the engineers as “inventive and industrious” and noting how the trick had been covered up with a fresh coat of paint. Tricks are simply one aspect of Storm the Wall folklore. The 36th annual UBC event is the biggest of its kind in Canada in terms of unifying a campus over several weeks. This year, it has attracted over 3,000 participants who will swim, run, cycle, then scale a 12-foot wall in front of the SUB. Some compete in five-person teams, each racing one leg before collaborating to climb the wall. Others will race alone.

The history of intramurals Storm the Wall could be used as a definition of what intramurals stand for. The word “intramural” comes from the Latin words “intra,” meaning “within,” and “murus,” meaning “wall.” The earliest records of intramural events date back to the 19th century in Ivy League schools, including a

boat race in 1852 between Harvard and Yale, and Princeton University’s baseball game between freshmen and sophomores in 1857. At UBC, intramural staff describe Korchinsky, who worked at UBC from 1967 to 2003, as “the grandfather” of their program. But his goal was never to manage a conventional intramural league. As a former university athlete, Korchinsky identified with the idea of “Stickum.” The term referred to a sticky substance that helped football receivers make catches and he was determined to adhere to the concept at UBC. “I personally got involved not because I wanted to run an intramural sports program,” he said. “I wanted to run a Stickum program.” Social cohesion through events like Storm were important for Korchinsky, who often referred to the need for a “soul” at the university. “If the university years are the best years of your life, there’s absolutely no question that how you facilitate the best years of your life, for personal development and engagement and social development and so on, is to have Stickum,” he said.

Finding the ‘Zing’ In a fitting process for an event that relies on teamwork, Storm the Wall took form after numerous contributing ideas and interactions. One year in the 1970s, some graduate students challenged the faculty to a run-swim-cycle race, and Korchinsky noticed how the event created excitement around campus. “It’s got possibilities, right?” Korchinsky remembered thinking. “But it still didn’t have the zing to it. So I kept it in the back of my head.” Then, one Monday morning in Korchinsky’s office, the wall climb component was solidified. A recreation student returned from an Outward Bound bonding retreat

that ended with the group scaling a wall in a symbol of unity. She was struck by the philosophical element of overcoming obstacles. “That’s when it all hit home to her,” Korchinsky recalled. “She started to cry.... I like people crying because it’s meaningful. So that was the anchor. So then we had the event.” The next task was bringing the concept to life, so Korchinsky went to Douglas “Buzz” Moore at in the Athletics department. “I said, ‘Buzz, we need to build a wall.’ Buzz was so busy, I don’t think he was listening. He said, ‘Nestor, just put it on my desk. What you want.’ And at the time, I didn’t really know what I wanted.” So Korchinsky polled students for input and came up with the event structure and a diagram for the wall to present to Moore. The estimated cost was $1,700, but both Moore and Korchinsky thought the other had a financial plan. Somehow, with his connections, Moore made it happen. Now the potpourri event needed a name. While at the University of Oregon for his PhD work, Korchinsky had competed in a hill run called “Storm the Butte,” and the title was a natural fit.

Complications In the event’s inaugural year, the wall was erected on Main Mall, but met a tragic end. “A group of students, in the middle of the night, took the wall, dragged it over to Totem Park and burned it. It was destroyed,” Korchinsky said. “I remember coming and driving in to UBC that morning and saw this smoldering thing. Did I think it was the wall? No. I just though someone had a barbecue.” For the first decade of the event, Korchinsky said the wall portion of the race was “hilarious” as people attempted to conquer the structure. Team wall-scaling techniques

changed over the years to the point where there are now two recommended pyramid structures to minimize danger and increase success. But as daunting as the wall can be, its swimmers that are hardest to come by, and the aquatic leg of the race always required careful supervision. One year after a lifeguard rescued a sputtering non-swimmer, Korchinsky questioned the participant’s intentions. The young man had been randomly assigned to compete with his friends as the swimmer.

It does take campus by storm. I remember being in first year and everything in residence was, ‘Oh, we’ll go storm the cafeteria,’ or, ‘We’ll go storm the varsity game.’ Kirsten Larsen UBC REC events coordinator

“I said, ‘Did you not think to tell them you didn’t know how to swim?’” Korchinsky remembered. “‘He said, ‘No, I didn’t want to disappoint them.’”

Shifting the wall Over the years, the wall’s location has varied. It started on Main Mall, moved to East Mall and “the bowl”, but the biggest change occurred around 25 years ago when the wall angle was modified to make the Iron Person categories a possibility. Competitors this year will be the first to break in two new walls; while the old walls were made of three pieces, the new ones are built from LEGO-like components that make repairs on the new aluminum and wood walls easier.

Another change is the increase in “just for fun” teams who only complete the course once. Other race categories that are made of five-person teams are competitive, club team and the brand new Harry Potter heat. The Super Iron Persons compete alone while Iron Persons get one helper at the top of the wall. Several high schools and colleges around B.C. have used the concept, and Korchinsky even received information requests about the event from as far afield as England. But he says the particular details of the wall are “irrelevant”, particularly since there is legal liability involved in providing exact details.

Staff testimonials Steve Laing, a history and political science student who graduated in 1994, was the intramurals special events manager for four years. His first of five experiences with Storm the Wall came in his second year at UBC. Laing, now a managing partner at lifestyle company Urban Rec, remembered how the campus united during Storm. “It really brought everyone together,” Laing wrote in an email from Florida. “Students and faculty from all walks of campus life participating or just watching from the grassy knoll on a sunny day on SUB plaza. The energy and buzz was incredible!” In Laing’s time on campus, Storm grew from about 400 teams to over 600 teams. When he presented the concept at conferences in the United States, the reaction was always one of astonishment. “People always were amazed that this event occurred for five days during classes with thousands of people watching and thousands more participating,” Laing wrote. He described the event as one of his “greatest experiences at UBC,” and like the emotional student in Korchinsky’s office years before,

MoNday, MaRCh 24, 2014

| SPoRTS + REC | 7

RugbY >>

UBC rugby wins the ‘World Cup’ Jenny Tang Staff Writer

INsET PHoTo CouRTEsY uBC ARCHIVEs; BACKGRouND PHoTo CARTER BRuNDAGE/THE uBYssEY

aid the wall portion of the race was “hilarious” as people attempted to conquer the structure with various go about scaling the wall in 2014.

the Wall Laing reveled in the deeper significance of the obstacle. “I was sitting up on the top of one of the walls in the sunshine looking out over the crowd watching the first Super Ironman get up the wall,” he wrote. “When he made it on his third attempt, [it] symbolized that feeling of being part of something bigger than yourself.” Kirsten Larsen, the current UBC REC events coordinator, is terrified of heights, but was coerced into taking part in Storm when she was a student. Though she was frightened, the climb was still a satisfying experience. “You actually do feel very accomplished when you finish, which I was not expecting, but it was great,” she said. “But it’s still scary, even now.” Larsen said the event became part of student vernacular even before she was involved with the event. “It does take campus by storm. I remember being in first year and everything in residence was, ‘Oh, we’ll go storm the cafeteria,’ or, ‘We’ll go storm the varsity game.’” McManus has been working in his position as intramural programs manager for 13 years, and first took part in the event in the late 1990s. Though he was self-admittedly naive about the event, the cooperative energy stuck with him. “I was the typical university student that thinks he knows what he’s talking about it. [I thought,] ‘Ah, it’s a 12-foot wall, it’ll be easy, whatever.’ And then [I realized] actually how difficult it is to go over if you don’t have a really good team underneath you.” Over three decades of Storm the Wall, competition levels have varied, pranks have been executed and wall-scaling techniques have evolved. Cycle transitions have shifted and activists have even used the gathering place as a platform for various causes. But the people

who have managed the wall have all shared a common goal to make the event happen successfully; around 250 volunteers will work at the 2014 event. This year, McManus even negotiated with film crews to ensure that shooting schedules and races can coexist. While Storm the Wall continues to be a staple of university life at UBC, Korchinsky is adamant that the structure itself was never the intended focus. “The wall isn’t the story. The story is engaging students into the university environment, into the university community.” U Around 720 teams will collaborate and individuals will work to get over it between March 24 and 27.

Intramural traditions at other universities At York university, the York Torch is awarded to the top-ranked team in York’s intramural sports program. The coveted championship, inspired by the olympic Torch, is a “massive plaque with shiny decals and a lightable torch hanging from it.” The CoRec Red Eye is a big deal at the university of Alberta. over the course of one evening and morning, 22 teams compete in a variety of recreational sporting activities testing “endurance, insomnia and survival of the fittest.” “spikeball” is popular in universities around the united states, including Harvard, North Carolina state university, the university of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and university of Maryland. Players bounce rubber balls off miniature trampolines and try to keep the balls from touching the ground.

Good things really do come to those who wait. After a bitter loss against the California Golden Bears in Berkeley in February, the UBC Thunderbirds men’s rugby squad was eager to get revenge and take back the “World Cup” for the first time in eight years. Having lost by nine points in that first leg, they’d need to take the second match by at least a 10-point advantage to win the aggregate score. Playing in front of their home crowd at Thunderbird Stadium, UBC looked unstoppable on Sunday afternoon, crushing Cal by a final score of 40-3. “I couldn’t be happier with the guys,” said UBC head coach Rameses Langston. “It’s about them. They deserved the win. They put the time in and all the hard work, and so no complaints here as a coach.” UBC opened scoring with a good penalty conversion by Bryan Tyrer. However, the Golden Bears bit back in the 34th minute with a conversion to tie things up 3-3. The T-Birds soon responded with Tyrer breaking past the Golden Bear defence, scoring the first try of the game. His conversion was successful and UBC took the lead 10-3. UBC gained massive ground when a player rolled the ball forward. The resulting penalty call gave UBC a third successful conversion by Tyrer, which pulled them to 13-3. At halftime, the T-Birds were ahead by the necessary 10 points, but they didn’t stop

PHoTo CARTER BRuNDAGE/THE uBYssEY

uBC overpowered the California Golden Bears, winning saturday’s match by a score of 40-3 to capture the world Cup for the first time in eight years.

there. Seven minutes into the second half, UBC continued dominating with another try by Sean Ferguson, which was allowed after the referees checked with each other. The conversion was unsuccessful, but the score stood at 18-3. The T-Birds would score again 20 minutes into the second half after a chain of passes led to a breakaway up the left wing. The conversion was successful this time, putting UBC up 25-3. They pulled even further ahead with two more tries and two conversions in the final 10 minutes, sealing the deal by a 37-point margin.

With both teams missing some of their top players, who are off on national duty, the T-Birds simply out-muscled and outran the Golden Bears in the final match. “A lot of respect to the Cali team that came to play us today,” said Langston. “I know it didn’t go the way they’d like, but we’ll be playing them again in the future.” U Contrary to its name, the World Cup is an annual series between the rugby teams of UBC and one prominent California university. The competition began in 1921, sponsored by the now-defunct Vancouver World newspaper.

Monday, March 24, 2014 |

EDIToR RHYS EDWARDS

theAtRe >>

In the shitter

Cast of UBC Theatre’s Ubu Roi creates perfectly choreographed anarchy for season finale Olivia Law Staff Writer

PHoTo CouRTEsY NANCII BERNARD/uBC THEATRE

The cast of Ubu Roi is unequivocally relentless in its pursuit of total theatrical insanity.

Bear fights, a live birth, murder, backhanded scheming and absolute anarchy. Père Ubu stands by watching, a smile on his face. Or her face, we should say. The all-female cast of UBC Theatre’s Ubu Roi has chosen to make the controversial absurdist play of 1896 into a graduating play for pupils at the “Jarry School for Wayward Girls.” Alfred Jarry’s original 1896 version of Ubu Roi famously caused a 15-minute long riot after the first word was spoken. However, director Ryan Gladstone’s production at the Frederic Wood Theatre ensured a positively captivated audience from beginning to end. From the beginning, as the girls in matching uniforms wandered onto an empty stage, muffled laughter escaped from the audience. The long silence while the cast looked out over the audience in wonder, awe and sometimes skepticism prolonged the anticipation for the infamous first line of Ubu Roi. It is almost impossible to describe the anarchy of the production in decidedly complimentary terms — which is a compliment in itself. Gladstone’s vision in directing Ubu Roi was to remove the audience from the world we know and to transport us to a new world — a world so strange that someone like Ubu could become king. The schoolgirl world depicted in the production is the epitome of chaos. Each scene begins and ends with the highest levels of energy and tension, and these emotions continue throughout the lengthy scene changes as we are pulled out of the world of the Ubus and back into the frenetic disorder of the school. Everything is over-dramatized in the best possible way.

poetRY >>

Wordmeister Shane Koyczan returns to UBC

Marlee Laval Staff Writer

Canadian spoken word artist Shane Koyczan has shared his words with the world. Now, he’s bringing his poems closer to home with his performances at the Chan Centre this week. Born in Yellowknife and raised in Penticton, Koyczan and his poetry have graced international stages, including the 2010 Vancouver Olympics opening ceremonies and the 2013 TED conference. His piece “To This Day,” a poetic manifesto that brings to light the long-term impacts of childhood bullying, has gone viral worldwide and generated a movement to make schools a safer place. “I hope [the poem] starts a conversation and keeps the conversation going,” Koyczan said. “When I was in school, there was nothing for that. If you were being bullied, you were on your own.” Koyczan will be performing “To This Day,” along with other works, during his two shows at the Chan Centre this Wednesday. By sharing his personal experiences through his poems, Koyczan aims to remind his audience that their emotions are valid and human. “People are forgetting how to be people,” Koyczan said. “We forget

CouRTEsY KAARE IVERsoN PHoToGRAPHY

shane Koyczan hopes his poems will remind people to be human beings.

that we’re emotional creatures. People are being shut down. If you’re having an emotional day at work, they send you home. What is that telling us about the world we’re living in? “With my shows, I like to take people back to that spot and remind them that it’s OK to feel,” he added. “To This Day,” one of the headlining pieces for Koyczan’s performances, is a narration of the day-to-day struggles that he, and so many other people, have faced throughout their school years, and continue to face in their adult lives. Koyczan is not looking for sympathy from his audience, however; instead, he wants to create a mutual sharing of experiences and an intimate, empathetic connection.

“I don’t want you to sympathize with me,” he said. “I want you to feel what I feel. Let’s connect on that level.” As an artist who has made a living through his poems for over a decade, Koyczan is a firm believer in the power of words, and hopes poetry will become a more prominent and inspiring force in the world of literature. “There’s a new generation of writers and voices that hasn’t been embraced by the publishing world,” he said. “There’s no publisher out there who’s taking a chance on some of the current voices that are speaking for the people who feel like nobody is speaking for them.” Regardless of the challenges that arise from being a poet, Koyczan hopes the upcoming generation of voices will not be afraid to speak up and tell their stories. “Have faith in yourself and just persevere,” he said. “If it’s what you love, it’s worth risking a little bit of yourself for it. It’ll take you to interesting places.” U Shane Koyczan is performing at the Telus Studio Theatre on Wednesday, March 26 at 12:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster and the Chan Centre ticket office.

Gladstone’s directorial decision to go against typecasting a more traditional all-male cast may not have been entirely his decision, but rather a product of circumstances. The BFA theatre program at UBC is traditionally dominated by women, and the decision to have females play male characters while still retaining “schoolgirl” inner thoughts and personas provides a completely different perspective on the tyranny of Ubu Roi’s world. The parallel plot lines also allow for different elements of Jarry’s original play to become humorous — something which not only makes seasoned theatregoers view the play in a new way, but also helps first-timers understand some of the more complex elements of plot and humour.

It is almost impossible to describe the anarchy of the production in complimentary terms — which is a compliment in itself. Only the two Ubus, Mère and Père Ubu (played by Sarah Harrison and Naomi Vogt respectively), have complete costumes, while the rest of the cast remain in their school dresses, adding and removing items as their characters change throughout. With so many characters, the explicit play directions provided by different cast members ensure that throughout the chaos, the audience remains completely on top of the goings-on. This produces anticipation for the numerous moments of hilarity throughout, making the audience laugh all the louder.

The 18-strong company is tireless. Charlotte Wright gives an outstanding performance, playing a mélange of Polish soldiers, peasants and Lizzie, a long-suffering crew member. Catherine Fergusson’s seamless transitions between Minnie and Prince Bougrelas are also to be noted. Like many of the company, the shifts between the amalgamation of characters are used as an opportunity for even more comedy. Throughout Ubu Roi, the audience can see how the variety of schoolgirl personae affects Jarry’s original characters. Gladstone’s program notes express the “wild ride” in taming this “beast of a play.” Indeed, the beast is fully exposed in all forms, within the more traditional Ubu Roi and also within the new side plot. Performing Ubu Roi under the pretext of a school play highlights the anarchy and ridiculousness of Jarry’s original script. Not only does the bluntness of the script shock the audience, but the chaos in, around and throughout each scene, helped by the anarchy of BFA student Sarah Melo’s set design, ensures constant surprises. The audience was hysterical throughout the two and a halfhour production. Even though many scenes depict terrible people, events and actions, the insanity and high energy levels of the cast allow Ubu Roi to build and build in ridiculousness, even though the beginning is already larger than life. Mindblowingly funny and thought-provoking in equal measures, this is certainly not a production to miss. Merdre. U Ubu Roi, put on by Theatre at UBC, plays at the Frederic Wood Theatre, 6354 Crescent Road, until April 5.

Monday, March 24, 2014

parties >>

Foxy fiesta

New Main Street venue hopes to revitalize East Van culture

photo Kosta Prodanovic/THE UBYSSEY

The Fox Cabaret was formerly home to the last porn theatre in Vancouver.

Gabriel Germaix Staff Writer

“What are you doing on Monday night?” As unsettling as the question might be, it could become quite popular in the next few weeks. While Mondays around this time of year generally mean catching up on late work and lamenting incoming finals, the Fox’s Monday night ice cream social event could become a new calendar reference for students. If you hang around Mount Pleasant, or don’t know how to use the Internet, you might remember the Fox (2321 Main Street) as the last porno theatre in Vancouver — or at least it was, until the team that managed the notorious and artsy Waldorf Hotel in East Vancouver took over. The Fox has now turned into a cabaret which will provide a more conventional venue for beer drinking.

“When we came inside here and we saw the size, I knew we really wanted it,” said Daniel Fazio, a member of the Arrival Agency, the event company that emerged from the Waldorf and revived the Fox. The Arrival team saw the potential of the rows of greasy, broken cinema chairs and kept the screen, which towers above the long, narrow and long room. “The whole room is really focused towards the performer,” said Fazio. Everything is painted black and red, creating a warm ’60s or ’70s atmosphere. “It has the spirit of a porn theatre still here ... but it’s a lot cleaner now,” Fazio said, laughing. The cabaret is currently open on an event-to-event basis, getting ready for a grand opening in April. Inside, DJ Scotty D is putting the first layer of paint on an antique-looking amplifier. He followed the Waldorf team after he first came to Vancouver to DJ. “Most of the stuff is from the

| CULTURE | 9

ideas >>

Waldorf, especially the speakers,” Scotty said. “They have got a nice vintage sound to them.” Across the street, patrons of Gene Café enjoy the sun of this early spring day. Mike and Mihela [waiting on last names but I doubt I’m going to get them] were among of the tightly-knit community that was shocked by the sudden closing of the Waldorf when the hotel’s owner sold it to a condo developer in January 2013. “[The Fox] has better chances to thrive than the Waldorf,” said Mike, adding that, unlike the former surroundings of the Waldorf, Mount Pleasant is an entertainment hub. Fazio also underlined the dynamism of the Main and Broadway area where the Fox is located. “These two blocks have such an amazing group of businesses,” Fazio said. Indeed, several cafés, vintage and new clothing stores, artist studios and skate shops give an artsy yet welcoming atmosphere to the area. The new Fox Cabaret might bring the little extra nightlife needed to take Mount Pleasant to another level. Mike and Mihela agreed over their cup of coffee. “Right now, this area just has the Biltmore Cabaret,” said Mihela. “A little variety is always nice.” They both expect an attractive lineup at the new arts and music venue. “Performers were eager to perform at the Waldorf, and they are going to follow the crew at the Fox,” Mike said. Down the street, the Rumpus Room, a famous eatery, is being demolished. Despite the ruthlessness of Vancouver’s landlords — “They had a demo clause,” Fazio said — the city still favours the creation of new cultural venues; it has even granted a new liquor-selling license to the Fox, despite the limit cap fixed by its antique liquor laws. The Rumpus Room will have to relocate. As for the Fox, it brings an East Vancouver feel slightly closer to UBC, and poses as a credible non-pretentious alternative to Granville Street clubbing. U

BIL conference an alternative to TED in Monterey, Calif. He and a group of friends wanted to hang out with TED people, even though they weren’t attending the conference, so they set up an event across the street, and 300 people showed up. “We kept doing it year after year, and now we’re on our seventh year, and I think it’s resonated here in Vancouver,” said Cummings. “We’ve got several hundred people here today. Maybe over the course of the weekend we’ll get 500 to 600 people.” The truth is, not a lot of people know about the event. Several people only found out about it because speakers like Amanda Palmer and her husband Neil Gaiman, author of Coraline , posted that they would be participating on their respective social networks. Amanda Palmer, a musician who also happens to be a former street performer, stripper and dominatrix, for a short period of time, has been speaking at both TED and BIL since last year’s event. Her presentation was entertaining and smart, but maybe there’s something about not paying thousands of dollars that makes attendees think they can be loud and obnoxious. Another issue is who gets to talk. Speakers don’t get paid and anyone who thinks they have something worth sharing can sign up to do it. Attendees might get get 20 minutes of Amanda Palmer awesomeness followed by 20 minutes of someone rambling about their dream of taxing intellectual property and giving every person in the world $10. The point is that everyone is encouraged to participate. This year, there were 64 speaking slots, and as of Saturday afternoon there were still some openings. But Cummings predicted they would only get 50 speakers this year. “This is a community event, so next year when we put this on, we want leaders from other organizations in the city to join forces and make this bigger,” he said. “This can get bigger if you want it to. It’s up to the people of Vancouver.” U

Photo Quinn Norton/flickr

Onlookers listen in at BIL San Francisco.

Aurora Tejeida Senior Culture Writer

Whether it’s for the ridiculous stage they built, the fact that tickets cost almost as much as a year of rent ($7,500 USD) or Edward Snowden’s surprise appearance via remote-controlled robot, TED has been well covered by the media. In comparison, not many people know about BIL, the “populist unconference” which happened at Five Sixty (560 Seymour St.) in downtown Vancouver simultaneous to TED last weekend. The event’s website advertises that attendance is by donation, and doesn’t specify if speakers need to register or not — the organizers encourage people to just show up. As an unconference, BIL is more chaotic in nature than its organized cousin. “I met all of the volunteers yesterday at 5:30,” said Michael Cummings, the creator of BIL, last Saturday. But starting an event in a new city always has its difficulties. “In Long Beach, we had a community and volunteers knew exactly what to do, [but] it’s taken a bit of hand holding here,” Cummings said. “We’re still trying to figure things out, but everyone has said they’re having a good time.” When I arrived at Five Sixty, coats, not people, occupied most of the chairs on the main stage. Amanda Palmer was scheduled to give a talk in less than an hour. The idea for BIL came to Cummings during the 2008 TED talks

movies >>

The anti-porn

I had anticipated I would need to adopt this particular mode of aficionado viewership since, after all, the film is so explicit that it has been effectively categorized as pornography in Turkey, where it is currently banned in cinemas. It was also briefly banned in Romania in late January. Having seen the films, however, I realize that these questions are irrelevant, since Nymphomaniac is decidedly non-pornographic. On the contrary, it is the anti-porn — it empties sex of any sentimental or libidinous attraction it might hold for viewers. Nymphomanic is the story of Joe, a middle-aged woman who finds herself recounting her sexual experiences to a celibate elderly man, Seligman, who tends to Joe after finding her beaten and bruised in a back alley. Being a self-diagnosed nymphomanic, Joe’s sexual encounters are innumerable and varied. They are divided into eight chapters spanning the course of a whopping two-volume, 240 minute run time (already cut down from the original full-length, 387 minute director’s cut — though viewers won’t miss much from the original in terms of plot). Despite the frequency and explicitness with which it is depicted on screen, it would be inaccurate to say that Nymphomaniac is a film about sex. Rather, Triers’ major success is in using sex as a vehicle to discuss just about everything but sex itself: love, death, sickness,

em>

PHOTO Courtesy zentropa Entertainment

Pictured: B (Sophie Kennedy Clark, left) and Joe (Stacy Martin, right) in one of relatively few scenes in Nymphomaniac that does not feature gratuitous nudity.

Why Nymphomaniac may make you never want to have sex ever again Rhys Edwards Culture Editor

How does one review a pornographic film? Is it in the performance? The ability to convey the act of choreographed intercourse with hirstute vigour and emotional intensity? Or is it in the formal elements: the length and girth of the all-important organs, the physical dexterity required for certain positions, and the relative variety in which a series of (ultim-

ately repetitive) movements are undertaken? Perhaps it’s even in the plot — was the premise of the carnal act feasible? Did characters feel grounded in reality, or, where appropriate, did they indulge our phantasmic imaginations? These were all questions I mulled over before attending a screening of Lars Von Triers’ latest feature, Nymphomaniac , volumes I and II, which will play at the Vancity cinema downtown for the rest of the month.

fly-fishing, Bach, gender politics, emotional manipulation, power, religion and under what circumstances it is appropriate to use a cake fork, among other subjects. Though Triers has a reputation for going out of his way to disturb audiences — as in 2011’s Antichrist — Nymphomaniac doesn’t try to victimize or titillate its viewers, unlike other famous sex-centric flicks such as Behind the Green Door, Deep Throat or even Pier Paolo Pasolini’s infamous 120 Days of Sodom. Instead, Joe’s erotic adventures, if they can be called erotic at all, are self-reflexive entertainment; tense, occasionally funny and decidedly unglamourous. Triers directs with an even hand, doling out moments of complete pathos — such as a hair-raising encounter between one of Joe’s sex partners and his spurned ex-wife and children — amid sequences of natural beauty, comedy and narrative digression offered by Seligman (played by Stellan Skarsgard). The latter are often illustrated with charming superimposed visual effects, such as math formulae, diagrams and archival footage; it’s these brief moments of respite that allow audiences to remain comfortably engaged with the plot before it returns to sordidness. Superbly played by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Stacy Martin (at different ages), Joe herself is the antithesis of the pornographic genre’s archetypal “nympho” — quiet, unassuming and plain, almost

to the point of dreariness. In her storytelling, Gainsbourg conveys a brutal indifference to morality while simultaneously managing to bring out a distant, though alienated, tenderness. In particular, Joe and Seligman’s conversations about the morality of Joe’s lifestyle are among the more interesting sequences in the entire film. Joe considers herself evil, but doesn’t accept society’s behavioural prescriptions either. “Love,” she says at one point, “appeals to the lowest instincts, wrapped up in lies.” By the film’s conclusion, audiences may find themselves re-evaluating their beliefs about the extent to which sexuality defines us — though whether for better or worse, Triers won’t say. I can find only one flaw with Nymphomaniac (aside from a plot device in the second volume which involves Joe finding work as an extortionist, which feels contrived): the injurious horrors of having to watch Shia LaBoeuf, one of Joe’s “lovers,” have sex. The gratuitousness of this offense is only outmatched by his abysmal attempts at a British accent. Also, Shia LaBoeuf is in the film. U

Nymphomaniac plays at Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour St., until April 3. Attendees can opt to pay a reduced single fee to see both films, or pay a discount fee to watch the second on a separate date after the first.

Monday, March 24, 2014 |

student voice. Community reach.

LAST WORDS

UBC’s political ‘old boy’s club’ seems to be making room for women

PArting shots and snap judgments from The ubyssey editorial board

Student waste can be Reduced Student club-initiated waste audits like the one Common Energy is doing are good, but they don’t tell as complete a story as a real, comprehensive waste audit. The downside is those are hell of expensive, which is why they aren’t done by the university or the AMS too often. But other schools manage to make it work anyway. Schools like the University of Western Ontario do audits every year, initiated by the university itself. They happen in a select campus building every month. It’ll be good if waste audits like Common Energy’s can expand past the SUB. It’ll also be good if AMS Sustainability collaborates with Common Energy in the future, which seems like the obvious thing to do. Of course, what would be best is if UBC would complete their Waste Action Plan — the one they said would be done by 2013. The new Sort It Out one-stop recycling stations are good because they have visual aids to let people to know, but still doesn’t get to the root of the problem: people think they’re too busy to actually take time to sort it out. A part of that may be because some people are from places where a single-stream recycling process is implemented, where you can throw everything in one bin and someone will take care of it in a depot. But UBC and Metro Van-

photo Radulescu/Flickr

Hillary Clinton may run for president in 2016.

Parmida esmaeilpour Op-Ed

ILLUSTRATION jethro au/the ubyssey

There’s a new app out of UBC that helps detect diseases during pregnancy, before the child is born. If only the AMS had such an app several months ago, perhaps they could have announced the opening date of the New SUB far earlier.

couver do not operate like that. They’re multi-stream, and that’s why there are separate bins for different recyclables.

Also, the SUB signs denoting what should be recycled and what can be composted are woefully outdated. Those need to change.

Basically, it comes down to complacency. Seeing a bunch of garbage in the middle as a visual display is nice and all, but it can be better. U

When ‘home’ isn’t what we think it is

Despite recent articles, research suggests home is not usually a particular place

Cary wu Op-Ed

In recent weeks, the question of how international students at UBC think about the concept of “home” has been front and centre in the pages of The Ubyssey. As a sociology PhD student at UBC who has studied the meaning of home for international students, I’d like to add some depth to the discussion based on my research. Both Arno Rosenfeld’s feature, “Going home: Chinese international students and democracy” and Jane Shi’s response, “Where is home? Problems discussing Chinese international students,” treat “home” as a physical place. Rosenfeld wrote about whether or not international students from mainland China would bring Canadian political ideas back with them when and if they returned. In response, Shi pointed out that the article operated on a false premise because it did not address the experiences of Chinese people from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada or elsewhere. In fact, home is more than a physical place. For international students, home may be or may not be the country where they originally come from. In this sense, for Chinese international students who don’t consider mainland China home, asking them why they are not bringing western values back is a logical fallacy. In my recent study of international students and their migration intentions after university, consisting of more than 200 interviews with students from more

PHOTO COURTESY WEEKEND WALKS

than 50 countries at UBC, I found that international students from different backgrounds experience “home” very differently, and most have no intention of going back — at least, not immediately after graduation. Of course, for some students, home is indeed the country they come from. When asked her migration plans after university, a master's student from Jamaica told me she loved Jamaica and intended to return. Similarly, a Chinese graduate student said: “I think of course Canada is good and chances here are good, and there are many great people here. But anyhow, I am not from here, [and] am different from local people, I think. In China, you feel you are home.” Home for him is a sense of belonging. The Chinese graduate student wants to return to his

country of origin because he does not feel at home here in Canada. However, one female undergraduate from Tanzania describes her home in a different way. “A lot of the times I tell people this, that I spend more time in Vancouver than I actually do at home. So this is home.... I mean it is reality and I think it is where you choose to build home. It is not necessarily [that] you spent all your life here so this should be home for you. It’s where you feel like you’re at home.” By building social connections and appreciating life here, she makes Vancouver home. One male undergraduate with both American and British citizenship tries to explain where he is from. “[I am] half English, half American, but I grew up in Africa and Europe, and now I’m here.

I’m a transfer student, so I was at a small liberal arts college in the US for a bit.... I was born in Uganda. I grew up there for 11 years, and then Eritrea for four years, and then France for a year and a half, and then Wales for two years. And then I did a year off of everything, and then I was at university in Maine for a year and a half. For six months I did a semester abroad in Arizona and then I came to UBC.” We may ask where or what home is for him. A female undergraduate student from Yemen shared her understanding about home in the following manner. “Home is the world. I feel like I identify with so many different countries and so many different places that I can’t call one place home. Home is where I have a bed to sleep on, for me. The term home is a huge dilemma for me.... I say ‘home’ because that’s how I can get people to identify with where I’m from and what I relate closely to, but I don’t know if I’ve ever felt at home anywhere.” In fact, more than 80 per cent of the international students in my sample have lived somewhere other than their birth country and Canada. Physically, home can be the place where they were born, Canada, or some other geographic place. Emotionally, home is a subjective feeling, deeply personal. It may not be a good idea to talk about “going home” and to ask “Where is home?” when intentional students are still searching for a sense of home themselves. U Cary Wu is a UBC PhD candidate in sociology.

This week marked the election of five positions for the UBC Political Science Student’s Association (PSSA), which is nothing significant, really. What is significant is that four of five positions went to women. This still might not seem too significant to you, unless you take note of the fact that politics has been and continues to be perceived by many as an “old boy’s club.” Less than one twentieth of politicians in the world are female, and often the females who are in politics get scrutinized for their clothing choices and are held to other irrelevant aesthetic ideals seemingly endless articles on Hillary Clinton’s scrunchies. But this week, the UBC PSSA seemed to go against the grain. This obviously doesn’t mean the glass ceiling has been broken, gender discrimination has been eradicated or that the UBC PSSA is an accurate representative sample of global politics, but it sure is symbolic. Above all, it’s a microcosm of similar events taking place around the political scene worldwide. It’s become nearly impossible to read about any political events without hearing the name of Angela Merkel, who's become a key global political figure; the chancellor of Germany was ranked second most powerful person in the world by Forbes in 2012, the highest ranking yet for a woman. Julia Gillard was Australia’s first female prime minister from 2007 to 2010, and Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became Iceland's first female prime minister in 2009. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf assumed office in 2006 as Liberia’s president, becoming the first female head of state on the entire continent of Africa. Closer to home in the United States, speculation of Hillary Clinton’s candidacy for the 2016 presidency also indicates a shift in political power demographics. Slowly but surely, this “old boy’s club” seems to be making some room for the female gender. Whether it be through overall female empowerment or the advancement of particular feminist movements, the glass ceiling is starting to see some cracks. It still seems to be subjective whether or not this shift is a good thing, however. What do you think? Do these minor changes actually depict the prospect of gender-neutral politics? Do we even need equal gender representation to make effective political decisions? U Parmida Esmaeilpour is incoming vice-president external for the PSSA for 2014-15.

PICTuREs + woRDs oN YouR uNIVERsITY EXPERIENCE

cAmpus spiRit >>

UBC Holi uBC-usTAV, the Indian students Association, hosted Holi celebrations on saturday, March 22. The festival celebrates the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring and more. Photographing Holi was hours of running around covered in a garbage bag, picking coloured powder out of every crevice of the camera, watching fingers smear paint through a lens while capturing inexhaustible expressions. Photos by Kosta Prodanovic.

Monday, March 24, 2014 |

12 | GaMES |

MoNday, MaRCh 24, 2014

CROSSWORD

PuzzLE CouRTEsY BEsTCRosswoRDs.CoM. usED wITH PERMIssIoN.

aCross 1- Encase 8- short allegorical story 15- Protective helmet 16- ohio college 17- Go along with 18- Reigning 19- Ed.’s pile 20- ___ kleine Nachtmusik 22- Kitchen gadget 23- Move sideways 25- smell foul 26- Thorny ﬂowers 29- Acclaim 31- Put down, in slang 34- Kitchen utensil 36- Young goat 37- Catbird seat? 38- Lounges 40- Lip shaped 42- Mex. miss 43- Goose egg 45- Child’s toy 46- Proverb ending? 47- Put a new price on 49- Early anesthetic 50- foil alternative 52- fret 54- Big rigs 56- Canadian gas brand 57- scale notes 60- overture 62- Be enough

65- Nickname 66- Do repeatedly 67- shaky 68- Roman household gods

down 1- Ersatz 2- witches 3- Goes wrong 4- Citrus cooler 5- Common article 6- Despised 7- Prima ballerina 8- Go (over) carefully 9- Actor Vigoda 10- sense of loss 11- Army leader? 12- Bubonic plague 13- Queue 14- ___’acte (intermission) 21- Bottle part 23- Actress Berger 24- words of understanding 25- M*A*S*H name 26- Martini’s partner 27- Musical drama, usually sung in Italian 28- small community 30- Dogpatch adjective 32- Cordage fiber 33- Point in the desired direction 35- Actress Taylor 37- Gritt y intro

39- Join a poker game 41- Boxer Max 44- Rules 47- Continue 48- Idle talk 51- Guide 53- Path 54- Pett y quarrel, ejected saliva 55- As a result 56- start of a counting rhyme 57- Decree 58- Entr’___ 59- Meets with 61- ___ Rosenkavalier 63- wetland 64- Brother’s title

MAR. 20 ANSWERS

DOUBLE SUDOKU

Here’s two times the numbers fun for those upset that the crossword gets published more often. Easy on top, intermediate on the bottom.

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PuzzLEs CouRTEsY KRAzYDAD. usED wITH PERMIssIoN.