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VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE 13

JAN. 30 â€“ FEB. 5 | 2017

FROM DUSK 'TIL DAWN

WOMEN'S MARCH

I'M GLOVIN' IT

CapU community members partake in historic demonstration held around the world.

Shining a light on LED gloving, one of the brightest trends in EDM culture.

CONTENTS

Cover Art

News

Campus Life

Sports

Features

Arts & Culture

Columns

Humour

THE STAFF

COLUMNISTS

SYD DANGER

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FILM CREW

Andy Rice

CSU TACKLES FENTANYL CRISIS

JASLEEN KAUR ON POST-GRAD SUCCESS

MOPA GRADS AMONG WINNERS OF CRAZY 8S

REIGN VANCOUVER: CITY BEET URBAN FARM

Carlo Javier MANAGING EDITOR

carlo.capcourier@gmail.com

Marissa Del Mistro Your favourite voice of reason is back, and this time, she’ll be a voice for the people and organizations making Vancouver the best Vancouver it can be. Titled “Reign Vancouver,” this column strives to inspire and challenge the meaning of happiness, community and inclusiveness with each individual interview.

Gabriel Scorgie FEATURES EDITOR

specialfeatures.capcourier@gmail.com

ART

Fiona Dunnett ART

ART

NEWS EDITOR

opinions.capcourier@gmail.com

Zed Alexandra

Jenny Oakley

news@capilanocourier.com

OPINIONS EDITOR

Syd Danger COVER ART

Kevin Kapenda

Jessica Lio

TO JOEY, WITH LOVE

CONTRIBUTORS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

editor@capilanocourier.com

ATHLETIC STAFF ADAPT TO TIGHT SCHEDULE

Maria Centola Aidan Mouellic Communications student Aidan Mouellic has been writing for student publications ever since he began his collegiate life. In this column, he’ll be exploring ways to defeat the self-deprecating habits that we develop amidst the stressful environment of university. He’s like the human version of a Run the Jewels album, minus the bravado.

ART

Annie Chang ART

Keara Farnan WORDS

Rachel D'sa WORDS

Justin Scott

Hassan Merali

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

WORDS

arts.capcourier@gmail.com Max Ley

Christine Beyleveldt CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR

campuslife.capcourier@gmail.com Cristian Fowlie ART DIRECTOR & LAYOUT DESIGNER

WORDS

artdirector.capcourier@gmail.com

VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 13 THE CAPILANO COURIER

More wine! One of last year’s most popular columns is back to expand your wine pairing horizons. As always, Max Ley will be keeping his choices to a student-friendly budget, making the pairings ideal for your pre- and post-exam drinking sessions. Bonus: this year, Max will also be touching on the world of beer and cocktail pairings.

Leah Scheitel

Noah Penner MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

multimedia.capcourier@gmail.com Therese Guieb COMMUNITY RELATIONS MANAGER

community.capcourier@gmail.com POSITION AVAILABLE!

Andrew Yang Recent Capilano graduate Andrew Yang is now starting his adventure outside of the school boundaries. His column is sprinkled with pieces of wisdom accumulated through his unique work experiences with occasionally ludicrous events and human interactions. A boring yet practical advice for finding jobs: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

BUSINESS ADVISOR

business.capcourier@gmail.com Brandon Kostinuk WEB COORDINATOR

web.capcourier@gmail.com

THE CAPILANO COURIER is an autonomous, democratically-run student newspaper. Literary and visual submissions are welcomed. All submissions are subject to editing for brevity, taste and legality. The Capilano Courier will not publish material deemed by the collective to exhibit sexism, racism or homophobia. The views expressed by the contributing writers are not necessarily those of the Capilano Courier Publishing Society.

EDITOR'S DESK

THE COURIER IS THROWING A PARTY, YA HEARD? Andy Rice EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Thursday, Feb. 2, from 6 to 8:30 pm in the CSU Library Lounge. There will be snacks, refreshments, live music, a photo booth, award presentations and hopefully a few people as well. It certainly wouldn’t be the same without you! If you’re unable to attend the all-ages event on campus then be sure to link up with the licensed version downtown at the Portside Pub, beginning at 9:30 pm. We’ll be handing out drink tickets after the awards ceremony and making our best efforts to fill the tables with appetizers. Forget about cover, too. If you’ve ever wanted to meet a Capilano Courier editor face to face – or even punch one in the face – then this is the perfect place to do it. (Just kidding, we’re all pretty delicate.) To be honest, I really don’t know what’s going to happen on Feb. 2. We’re so used to previewing and recapping the events hosted by others that it’s an odd feeling to be in the hot-seat promoting one ourselves. And while I certainly can’t convince you to go, I think that you should. You’ve already conquered the first hurdle of student apathy, which everyone knows is reading the campus newspaper. For the effort it takes to stay on campus a little longer this Thursday, clap your hands a few times and raise a spring roll the distance between a plate and your face, I want you to know that I believe in you. We all believe in you. See you at the party! …Right…?

THE VOICEBOX with Carlo Javier

Nice blue cover! …Again You sound like you drink coffee with a straw. Does Kevin Kapenda like or hate Christy Clark? I can’t even tell anymore There are a lot more other things that Kevin “Ri-Ri” Kapenda doesn’t know if he likes or not. His ever-switching take on the premier is nothing new.

THE CAPILANO COURIER

Hassan Phills won best male athlete of the year and you know it. I demand a recount. How about you come up to the office on Tuesday at noon and recount it yourself. The Persian Students Club demand a recount as well. Cash me outside. How bow dah?

The Voicebox is back! If you have any questions, concerns or any other bitchin’ to do, text it over to our boy Carlo at 778-865-2649. “Please text me,” he says. “No one else does.”

VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 13

I was joking around with some of the Courier’s staff and contributors last Tuesday at our story meeting after the topic of our Best of Capilano Readers Choice Awards Night had come up. “I’m pretty worried about this event, you guys. I hope we still know how to throw a party!” What I really meant to say was, “The last time we hosted an event on campus, the place was less bumpin’ than a Donald Trump inauguration. Please come.” There doesn’t seem to be much staying power at Capilano University when it comes to school spirit. Things start off strong during Frosh Week and go steadily downhill from there. By the time everyone has made it to Reading Break, the idea of spending any more time on campus than they have to is met with about the same level of excitement as a colonoscopy. Our editors often like to rag on the Capilano Students’ Union (CSU) for their “unusual” choices in event planning; but they, like us, are experimenting with what works and what doesn’t. Do people like masks? Do they like getting drunk on yachts? Only time will tell. In any case, I must give the CSU my utmost respect for trying new ideas, and for keeping the faith whether 10 people or 1,000 people show up. At this point, I’d say that even parties conducted for research purposes are money well spent, so long as it means developing a better understanding of student participation at CapU. Others would disagree. To some, a campus community simply doesn’t matter – it’s a waste of time, a futile effort. Here at the Courier, we’ve been conducting our own experiments to better engage our readership. Our weekly Coffee with the Courier tent gained us a higher number of contributors and social media followers in the first semester than we had ever seen before. An interactive colouring book issue published last December saw every copy we printed get scooped up in a matter of weeks. Last month’s Readers Choice Awards offered a telling glimpse into demographics, trends and student interests. However, for all of these hits there have been misses as well. A workshop we facilitated back in 2015 told us that even free pizza isn’t enough to convince students to attend a presentation on newspaper writing. (I think four people showed up…) We even paid extra for some Panago dips, which I thought might at least bolster those numbers by two or three more. Nope. Believe it or not, free food isn’t nearly as effective as you might imagine – unless, of course, you’re trying to become a literal magnet for MOPA students. (No offense, MOPA students.) “There’s always a catch,” people think. “They’re going to try and teach me something or sign me up for a mailing list.” Sometimes we are, but often we just want to hang out or give back. That’s why we’ve decided to try our hand at event planning once again, creating something we hope will appeal to staff and students alike. Join us this

NEWS

EARTHWORKS “MOBILIZES” LOCAL GREEN GROUPS SO COMMUNITY CAN BRING FIGHT TO CLARK AND FOSSIL FUELS LOBBY Tzeporah Berman headlines evening with lecture urging citizens to keep pressure on leaders Hassan Merali CONTRIBUTOR

On Jan. 18, EarthWorks hosted a double event with the goal of connecting students who are interested in environmental activism with local organizations. From 4 to 7 pm in the Birch Cafeteria, a wide variety of non-profit organizations and community groups provided students with information on their missions and activities, ranging from environmental advocacy and recycling programs, to conservation and wildlife research. This first part of the event, dubbed “Mobilizing Resources,” is hosted annually by EarthWorks to connect students interested in doing more to protect the environment with groups working on the ground. From 7 to 8 pm, noted environmental activist and policy expert Tzeporah Berman then spoke on the current state of politics, the gains that have been made here in Canada in the last couple of years and the importance of positivity in the environmental movement. The presence of someone so highly regarded in the environmental community at

CODE OF CONDUCT DRAFT READY FOR COMMUNITY CONSULTATION Student Affairs Office seeking feedback from students regarding policy changes

THE CAPILANO COURIER

VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 13

Christine Beyleveldt CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR

On Jan, 23, Capilano University’s Student Affairs office released a draft of the Student Code of Conduct, a document which is to replace the existing Student Behaviour Policy. Student Affairs Officer Chad Johnstone initially described the Student Behaviour Policy as being more punitive in nature, and the goal was to re-orient the policy to serve as a guide for providing correctional services. In April 2016, the BC government mandated that public post-secondary institutions throughout the province develop policies addressing sexual violence and misconduct on campuses. While that policy is still in the process of being drafted, CapU took the opportunity to review its

Capilano University can be attributed to the hardworking EarthWorks team, specifically Tessa Janzen of the Outdoor Recreation Management program. As the EarthWorks student, she, along with EarthWorks faculty members, organizes educational programming about the environment for the benefit of the CapU community. “It’s [a way] you can get involved,” said EarthWorks faculty member and Geography instructor Cheryl Schreader. “Yes, it’s a good way to know who’s doing what,” added Marja de Jong Westman, who teaches Biology and is also a part of EarthWorks. “One thing I keep hearing from the students and groups that have attended Mobilizing Resources is that these groups need more young people to help.” Throughout the networking event, students from biology, geography, and environmental studies courses, as well as many other programs, listened to elevator pitches on why they should volunteer with some of the organizations. Representatives in attendance included Force of Nature, Cool North Shore, Capilano University Environmental Justice Collective, Dogwood Initiative, Wild Research, Lighthouse Park Preservation Society, North Shore Black Bear Society, the BC chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, the Nature Trust, Echo Ecological Society, and Green Chair Recycling. After students had a chance to network with the different groups present, attendees flocked to the BlueShore Centre to hear Tzeporah Berman speak. A shift from the residual “doom and gloom” feeling inevitably felt after hearing facts about the impending climate crisis, Berman astutely opined about how the environmental movement as a whole has spent too much time

pointing fingers and not enough time creating a common understanding. She referred to this as trying to weave a ‘forgiveness narrative’ – the idea that those contributing to climate change (from oil patch workers to the average citizen) should be forgiven for not knowing how their past actions hurt the environment, so we can collectively look to the future and come together as one. Berman also took time to point out the gains made in Canada since the last federal election in 2015, and in Alberta since their last provincial election in 2015. Recognizing that former prime minister Stephen Harper did irreparable damage to Canada and put us behind in addressing the long-term threat of climate change, she ironically thanked him for embodying that threat and sparking a dialogue. Referring to “moments in history where our governments fail us,” Berman urged attendees to keep up the pressure on politicians, specifically Justin Trudeau, Christy Clark and Rachel Notley. She recommends googling Oil Change International (OCI) to track the actions of different politicians in relation to their handling of fossil fuels. OCI is determined to expose the influence of oil industry money in politics, and how it affects the votes of specific politicians. The organization regularly publishes information on which companies donated what amount to which politicians, and how those politicians subsequently voted on energy and environmental legislation. As she concluded her speech, Berman acknowledged the overwhelming feeling of powerlessness that can afflict those fighting for change. “Courage is contagious. It’s such an important time in history to step up and organize, and it’s a critical year for British Columbia. What we will do in the next decade will

decide our future. It’s easy to get involved. Action is the antidote to despair.

existing misconduct policies, which include the Student Behaviour and Cheating and Plagiarism policies. The current model of the Student Behaviour Policy, which addresses unsafe or disruptive behaviours exhibited on campus, was last reviewed in 2013. After examining the policies of other institutions throughout BC, CapU came to the conclusion that the existing policy was outdated due to the lack of opportunities for student development and alternative resolutions. The University is looking for student feedback on the proposed changes, which can be submitted up until Feb. 6. The changes outlined in the policy update include the addition of new sanctions that can better address the varying degrees of misconduct. Among them is a collaborative sanctioning process, which would address minor instances of misconduct and give students the chance to learn from their mistakes in a group setting rather than receiving formal punishment. “We’ve reviewed what a lot of other institutions are doing, [and] there really needs to be an opportunity for learning and growth for students to participate in process,” said Johnstone. “So rather than having the option to let a student off with a warning or taking a punitive action against the student, this gives us the opportunity to ensure that a student who participates in our process is walking away having learned

something.” A student conduct board has also been recommended to handle cases of misconduct that can’t be resolved through collaborative sanctioning. Misconduct cases will be recommended to the conduct board when a student is unwilling or unable to reach a resolution through the collaborative sanctioning process or has repeatedly engaged in inappropriate behaviour. The increased severity of the misconduct may also speed up the referral to a conduct board. Another process has been recommended that would allow cases of misconduct to be investigated externally. The Student Affairs Officer will investigate most cases of misconduct, but in sensitive cases, an external investigator may be appointed to the case. If under formal investigation, the respondent will be notified and receive a chance to respond to the allegations against them. There are avenues for students to submit appeals as well. There is an existing appeals process for students to apply for a review of their misconduct case outlined in the Student Behaviour Policy. Currently, the appeals process required the vice president Academic and Provost to form a panel to handle the case. The proposed change is that it be placed in the hands of the Senate Student Appeals Committee, which meets on a regular basis

and would speed up the appeals process. All feedback submitted by the CapU community before the Feb. 6 deadline will be reviewed, and the final policy will take effect in May 2017. “I think the key piece at the end of the day is that it has been staff members writing the policy, and so if we’re looking to have a student-centred policy in place, we really want to make sure we’re getting that student feedback,” said Johnstone. Members of the Capilano Students’ Union (CSU) have been engaged in providing feedback, but ultimately the policy changes will affect all students, and therefore all student voices matter.

TZEPORAH BERMAN After starting out as an organizer demonstrating a logging blockade in Clayoquot Sound, BC, Berman went from activist to academic and graduated with a Masters in Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto. She is now an Adjunct Professor of Environmental Studies at York University. She was coDirector of Greenpeace International’s Global Climate and Energy Program; she also co-founded ForestEthics, which works to change corporate policy and government law in the US and Canada, and co-founded PowerUp Canada. As the recipient of numerous accolades, titles, an honorary degree from UBC, and featured expert in Leonardo DiCaprio’s environmental documentary 11th Hour, it’s no secret why those who attended, including CapU President Paul Dangerfield, described Berman’s visit as a big deal. This was evidenced by the wide array of students, faculty and community members in attendance. Everybody in the room, young and old, faculty or student, listed in reverence, in part because of Berman’s relationship to our own political environment. Coming from an activist background, she was appointed by Premier Christy Clark to the BC Green Energy Task Force in 2009, and the BC Climate Leadership Team in 2012. The next EarthWorks event will be a screening of the film The Perfect State, with co-producer Rob Butler on hand to answer questions. It will be shown January 30 at 7:00 pm in the BOSA Theatre.

Feedback can be submitted through CapU’s website at Capilanou.ca/New-StudentCode-of-Conduct.html. To submit questions or comments about the policy updates, email studentaffairs@capilanou.ca.

@CAPILANOCOURIER

CSU HOSTS SAFETY PROGRAMMING TO SHINE LIGHT ON FENTANYL CRISIS #Adulting series brings awareness to rapidly growing drug problem Carlo Javier MANAGING EDITOR

With fentanyl-related deaths rising at an alarming rate, the Capilano Students’ Union (CSU) are taking action to help raise awareness regarding the troubling crisis. Life of the Party: Harm Reduction and the Fentanyl Crisis, is the latest iteration of the CSU’s #Adulting series, a collection of talks and programs that helps students learn more about adult responsibilities

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that are not necessarily learned in the classroom. This particular one veers towards a more serious and darker issue, the distressing rise of deaths by fentanyl overdose. According to Jullian Kolstee, CSU vice president of university relations, creating a platform to discuss the fentanyl crisis was inspired by conversations in his course, Communications 433: Risk and Crisis Communication. The class included a group that based their project around the fentanyl problem, which ultimately led to a stirring discussion about the issue. “Students in the class were really concerned,” Kolstee began. “People were really concerned about the crisis and how little action is being taken and how little awareness there is about the vulnerability of everyday people and everyday students.” For Kolstee, one of the great takeaways from those classroom discussions was the overwhelming feeling of discontent among students, and the subsequent call for action. “We’re in a position as the CSU, and myself as a member of the board, to move

much more reflexively to the needs and crisis of our students and our community than the university and the provincial government,” Kolstee said. “That’s also due to the fact that, by design, we are both the students on the ground, but we’re also the legislators in a sense; we make our own rulings every couple of weeks, so its easy for us to move quickly on these things.” The CSU’s inherent grassroots nature allows the organization to interact with students and the extended community on a much closer scale than higher forms of government. Although the Life of the Party and the rest of the #Adulting series are organized on campus, Kolstee believes that these programs can create ripple effects that can resonate with the immediate community and beyond. “When we bring these conversations to campus, and bring light to these issues, I think that it not only raises awareness amongst members, but it also brings it to the attention of the university and the powers that be,” he said. Life of the Party’s harm reduction

workshop includes the participation of Stacey Forrester of the Portland Hotel Society, a Vancouver-based nonprofit that organizes the Insite safe injection site. Arts and Sciences Faculty Representative and former member of the CSU Services Committee, Ashley Kenney was instrumental in the organization of the program early in the fall semester, as well as the coordination of Forrester’s involvement. As representatives of Capilano University’s students, Kolstee believes that it is the CSU’s duty to help raise awareness about an issue that could potentially harm the livelihoods of students, “Fundamentally, our purpose is to serve our members, and to serve their best interest. We want to provide a positive post-secondary experience, but we also want to advocate and support our members in their ability to live a healthy and happy life.” Fentanyl infamously took 914 lives in 2016, including a staggering 142 in December alone.

Caitlin Manz was inspired by how diverse the march was, as well as its ability to shine a light on both women’s and minority rights. “It actually had an incredible turnout. They figure it was about 10,000 people. There were a lot of men, people representing the environmental movement, Black Lives Matter – so it became more than just a women’s march, and more of a minority rights march and a demonstration on all sorts of progressive issues,” said Manz. “The whole movement itself was empowering. Look at all the numbers that came out worldwide in all corners of the planet. There was people in London lined to the London Bridge and signs put up in Antarctica. Greenpeace recently hung a sign over the White House.” For Manz, Trump’s intention to curtail the rights of disadvantaged populations, including women and visible minorities, as well as put fossil fuel interests above addressing climate change, is why this demonstration was so timely, and the response to it that more historic. “It all has to do with Trump’s inauguration. That’s a huge part of the significance of it. The US is a big player, a superpower. Right now, Trump constitutes a threat to the rights of women, the rights of immigrants, the environment, for minorities, the Black Lives Matter movement. He’s nominated a lot of climate change deniers who are going to be in White House and that’s not a good thing, so it happened at a very crucial time.” said Manz. “He’s said he wants to reverse

the overtures of Roe v. Wade and nominate ‘pro-life’ judges to the Supreme Court. That’s really why it was so significant.” Second-year Arts and Entertainment Management student Brianna Bowerman chose to march out of disdain for the election, its consequences and those who enable Trump through passivity. “I marched in the Women’s March on Washington Vancouver because I am an angry woman. I have been drowning in emotions of grief, indignation, confusion and cynicism since Trump won the election,” said Bowerman. “I am passionate about equality, liberation and safety for all and I believe it’s time to stand up to bigots who pontificate hate, and the moderates who stand by, passive and complicit with silence. If I learned anything from participating in the demonstration, it’s that we cannot end here. This needs to be the beginning of a series of movements that call for freedom, equity, inclusion and a change in cultural attitudes.” Capilano Students’ Union (CSU) Women’s liaison Emily Solomon attended the march with her daughter, so she could show her the value of community organization and peaceful demonstration. “I think the march, for me as well as lot of [parents], was about passing the torch to the younger generation. I involve my daughter in all of the marches and causes I participate in because I want her to see what activism means in a peaceful way, and what it looks like when all those voices come together,”

said Solomon. “By the time it finally got going – things were kind of moving slowly, so there was a lot of reiterating that part of activism and lobbying is being patient and that this is what it meant to be in a march and something that is bigger than ourselves. I know that 10, 20 years down the road, she’s going to look back and say ‘I was there.’” In the days following worldwide WMW demonstrations, Trump has wasted no time attacking the rights of women, signing an executive order that prevents countries the US aids from using State Department funds to carry out abortions. According BBC News, women’s groups believe this order will disparately impact poor women in developing nations, where funds and facilities are already limited. Any efforts to mobilize against the policies above must be inclusive of all women, suggests Bowerman, and not just the dominant population in the feminist movement, which many argue contributed to Clinton’s loss last November. “When we talk about women’s rights or organize for future events, it has to be inclusive and celebrate intersectional feminism, and not just the lucrative, ciswhite feminism that materialized from culture,” said Bowerman. Though Trump and his administration are silent about future plans to curtail women’s rights, resistance of his agenda couldn’t be louder – from CapU, to Washington.

FROM CAPILANO TO WASHINGTON: STUDENTS TAKE PART IN WOMEN’S MARCH TO RESIST TRUMP’S ASSAULT ON RIGHTS

–JESSICA LIO

CapU community members partake in historic demonstration held around the world Kevin Kapenda NEWS EDITOR

Recent CapU grad and SFU transferee

VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 13

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS ON WMW VANCOUVER

THE CAPILANO COURIER

In a demonstration staged around the world, from America to Antarctica, Capilano University students sent their message to Trump, and those who want to curtail women’s rights, in Vancouver on Jan. 21. The international demonstration, known as the Women’s March on Washington, drew millions of participants in cities as far and wide as Buenos Aires, London, Nairobi and Sydney. Indeed, the march in Washington, DC alone was so popular, a New York Times article suggested that its attendance of 500,000, was nearly three times that of President Trump’s inauguration, which was held a day earlier on Jan. 20. According to The Atlantic, the demonstration, altogether, attracted measurable support from roughly four million of people around the world, with many more taking to social media to stand in solidarity with demonstrators. Participants were diverse, with people from all backgrounds and genders taking part in support of self-identified women. Their message, however, not so varied, with each voice using public demonstration and social media to tell the Trump administration, as well as those seeking to restrict women’s rights, they would not be silenced by sexist rhetoric and policies.

CAMPUS LIFE

FILMMAKER JASLEEN KAUR ON POST-GRADUATION SUCCESS

WHO YOU

Rachel D’Sa CONTRIBUTOR

Capilano University Motion Picture Arts (MOPA) graduate Jasleen Kaur has already started on her way to prosperity. Kaur is currently planning the release of her first major documentary, Maple, which covers the events surrounding the 2011 shooting death of 19-year-old Simon Fraser University student and aspiring actress and model, Maple Batalia. The idea came to Kaur in April 2016 when she contacted the Batalia family to receive support for the film. She plans to tell Maple’s story from the perspectives of those closest to her, through interviews and b-roll footage. “Although we are explaining these horrific events… the focus will be to celebrate a life that was so selfless and pure, and really explain who this girl was and why her death shook the community so much,” Kaur explained, emphasizing that the film’s story will be distinct from the way it was reported in the media by highlighting its more personal aspects. “In addition, we hope to raise awareness about the issues that she faced, such as domestic violence and gender inequality.” Filming for the documentary wrapped up on Jan. 27 when accomplice Gursimar Bedi was sentenced to just 18 months, in addition to the life-long sentencing of killer Gary Dhaliwal in March 2016. Kaur began to focus on the project after she graduated in June 2016. “I think the reason her story affected me so much was because of how similar we are,” she said. “We share similar aspirations in life, and came from the same background. What happened to her could have happened to me, to my sister, to a friend... Learning about her and her story through her family and friends has been an incredible and extremely emotional experience for me.”

CAPU’S LEARNING COMMUNITY GROWS ELS workshops will equip students with critical language skills Jessica Lio

THE CAPILANO COURIER

VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 12

OPINIONS EDITOR

Learning a new language is a unique struggle for students navigating university life. Most of us are already dealing with anxiety about the future, but students who didn’t learn English as their first language face many other obstacles. Fortunately, Capilano University’s English Learning Support (ELS) Centre is here to help students who are learning English on their journey in the academic world. This semester, the ELS Centre will be hosting a series of workshops that focus on a range of writing and speaking skills. Workshops will be held on Wednesdays from 11:30 am to 12:50 pm, the first of which took place on Jan. 25. “Writing and speaking are the two areas non-native [English] speakers have the most concerns with,” said ELS faculty liaison Rachelle Jorgenson. In particular, non-native English speakers often struggle most with oral presentations, academic debate and confidently speaking during group discussions. The workshops have been designed to help students build confidence in those areas through experiential learning and interaction with other students. When it comes to writing, Jorgenson explained that non-native English speakers often struggle with cohesive sentence structure and integrating evidence in academic writing. The workshops will aim to help students communicate clearly and concisely through their writing. ELS workshop attendees can also look forward to a session on pronunciation, an area that Jorgenson specializes in. Likening speech to rhythm and music, she explained that every language requires speakers to place stress on different words and sounds. Using clapping and singing is a fun, effective way to help

students practice pronunciation. Since peer interaction is so valuable in learning, partner and group exercises are also incorporated into the workshops. Since ELS formed in the fall semester of 2015, Jorgenson has helped to create an integral support network for students who are learning English. After many years of teaching English in Japan, she continued her journey here at CapU’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) department in mid-2014. With a mandate to help non-native English speaking students, ELS mainly provides support through oneon-one assistance with reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. Many of the ELS staff have lived in other countries around the world, making them uniquely qualified to provide the support that students learning English need. “[We] know what it’s like to speak another language, so we have that sympathy,” Jorgenson explained. “We can completely understand how difficult it is. It’s a long journey for these students.” While the ELS workshops are geared towards nonnative-speaking students, domestic and international students who feel they need support with the given topics are welcome to attend. For fluent English speakers who are interested in meeting new people, the department also hosts weekly English Chat Café meet-ups. Every Thursday from 11:30 am to 1 pm, nonnative English speakers can meet and chat with fluent English-speaking peer mentors. Students can look forward to making new friends and building confidence in speaking, all while enjoying cookies and a warm cup of coffee or tea. By facilitating communication and the exchange of ideas between students across the campus, the department is one step closer to reaching its goals. “If [students] have a chance to do these activities together, that’s creating a campus culture and a community of learners,” said Jorgenson. She welcomes students from all departments to participate in ELS workshops and attend English Chat Cafe sessions. Workshops and Chat Cafes will take place in BR 323. Additional information and a complete list of workshop dates can be found online at www.capilanou.ca/ programs-courses/eap/els.

Upon completion of Maple, Kaur plans to submit the documentary to film festivals. She also hopes to screen the film at SFU and use it as a fundraising event to put proceeds towards a scholarship in Batalia’s name. Aside from working on the Maple documentary, Kaur has been assisting Brent Hodge, the owner of Hodgee Films, with research for his upcoming documentary projects. She has also been working as a producer for cmyk Productions, a Vancouver-based production company specializing in music videos. Armed with the hopes of venturing into feature filmmaking someday, Kaur and fellow graduate Josh Richardson, who was also the Director of Photography for Maple, have been working to grow cmyk Productions. Kaur looks back fondly on her days studying MOPA at CapU. “[It] taught me everything I needed to know to be in the film industry and really understand how it works,” she said. “The classes were amazing, and the teachers were extremely knowledgeable, seeing as they had hands-on experience having worked in the industry themselves.” Since graduation, Kaur has held nothing back when it comes to her career. In fact, she’s taken some pretty big risks. “The most challenging part of the post-grad life was finally making that decision to quit my day job so that I could focus on film projects,” she recalled. “I knew that if I was willing to put the work in, that everything would work out, and it has. I want to create content that inspires, moves people, and promotes change. I still want that and strive to put all of my passion into each project that I take on. I want to be able to live my life doing what I love and I would encourage anyone else who’s trying to decide if their dream is worth jumping into headfirst, to just do it.” For more information about the documentary “Maple”, visit Facebook.com/mapledocumentary or Instagram. com/mapledocumentary.

UPCOMING EVENT Costuming for Stage and Screen information session Capilano University’s Costuming for Stage and Screen department is a bit of an enigma. It’s not surprising, given the program dwells in the basement of the Nat and Flora Bosa Centre. Behind the scenes of every Motion Picture Arts (MOPA) and every Exit 22 production, a host of talented seamstresses and tailors labour meticulously over each individual costume. Whether it’s a Victorian hoopskirt or an interpretation of Catwoman’s leather jumpsuit, several of CapU’s hands spent hours stitching it together. “[Costuming] is a unique program in Canada, and well regarded as a vital international industry,” remarked Karen Matthews, an instructor in the department. As a one-of-a-kind program, CapU costuming students have a range of opportunities available to them in stage, film and cosplay upon completion of the diploma. There will be three information sessions for the costuming program throughout the semester, the first of which will be on Jan. 31 from 7 to 9 pm and requires an RSVP. The studio will also have an open house for keen tailors to explore on Feb. 25 along with the rest of the MOPA studios. Any prospective costuming students will have the chance to meet with an instructor and at least one student to learn about the resources at their disposal, admission requirements and a breakdown of the diploma’s structure. “It is fun and they get to see all the wonderful projects and costumes that we construct for the stage and film productions and in class projects,” said Matthews. “The students are very proud of their work and rightly so.” Currently, they are hard at work placing the final touches on the 1970s-esque fashions that will be adorned by the cast of Fawlty Towers this February. Actors bring the characters on stage or screen to life, but it’s the costumes that truly bring out the essence of a dramatis personae.

CAMPUS LIFE

RAIL JAM 2017 The Uncapped Rail Jam, now in its fifth year, has become an annual event that's both fun for the campus community and an avenue for social change. This year, on Jan. 26, the Chill Foundation turned up to talk to students while the CSU served up hot chilli and CapU's skiers and snowboarders took to the rails to show off their moves.

â€“CHRISTINE BEYLEVELDT PHOTOS

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SPORTS

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAMES Blues staff are keeping their spirits up amidst hectic schedule Carlo Javier MANAGING EDITOR

Students and members of the Capilano University community may have noticed the strange abundance of home games for both Capilano Blues basketball teams. In January alone, the two teams have each played five games in the Sportsplex – a far cry from the one game they both played at home in the entirety of the first semester. Although more home games are traditionally welcome news, the imbalance in schedule does pose certain challenges to the people that make sure the games happen: the Blues Athletic Department.

“Why we were imbalanced that way this year is kind of unknown, but every year it sort of changes, so last year we actually had a schedule that was pretty good, pretty balanced for us,” said Chris Raeside, athletic events and sports development officer. “I think its just one of those things, like any other system, there’s a variation and this year has sort of had that variation that’s a little bit streaky.” Per Raeside, one of the contributing factors to the imbalance might be due to the departure of one of the Pacific Western Athletic Association’s (PACWEST) staff members. Another potential factor could be the controversial removal of varsity athletics at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and their subsequent withdrawal from the PACWEST. Regardless of reason, the scheduling has given the Blues department some challenges that the staff, admittedly, were more than ready to take on. On Jan. 14, the Sportsplex hosted a rare set of back-to-back games, as both

basketball and volleyball teams were scheduled to play at home. Normally, the basketball teams play in the evenings, with the women’s team tipping off at 6 pm and the men’s team starting play at 8 pm. On this particular day, however, the women’s team saw themselves playing at noon and the men’s team played at 2 pm. The anomaly was further compounded by the fact that both basketball teams had just played their previous game the night before. “Basketball plays the evening game, and then they play that afternoon game, so it’s a quicker turnaround,” said Raeside, “but that’s where having Jamie Johnson on board as the athletic therapist… really comes in and helps the team make that quick recovery.” For Raeside, keeping the spirits of the staff up, and proper preparation, are essential for days like these. “I try and schedule [games] as two separate events,” he said. “There are longer days, but we’re all passionate about what we do and love what we do, and it usually just happens once or twice a year, so in those days you make sure

you get a good sleep and be ready to work in the games.” Logistics, however, could still pose a problem. One of the biggest challenges that the Blues staff face when the basketball and volleyball teams are all playing at home is the changeover in set up. “Moving from basketball into volleyball, the set up for the two sports is slightly different,” Raeside said. Another challenge is the increased amount of post-game documentation the Blues have to send over to PACWEST after the games. Simply put, doubling the amount of games in a day doubles the amount of work for the Blues department. Yet, having overloaded game days never discourages the staff. “I actually kind of enjoy them because they don’t come around all the time,” Raeside admitted. “There’s an extra energy in the air, you get to spend the whole day in the Sportsplex and be around sports all day. I guess I kind of look forward to the challenge and hopefully having a good game day when it’s all said and done.”

designated player on the opposing team, they rely heavily on one another for this to be successful. This leads to the team playing as one defensively. “We play as a unit, so individual defence isn’t really our focus,” Weimer said. The Blues’ intense style of defence tends to wear teams out, something that Weimer feels the Blues benefit from. While other teams may have a strong starting five, Weimer feels that Capilano’s deep bench is one of the team’s strongest assets. “We’ve got so much depth on our team, we’re able to roll kids in every three or four minutes that are fresh,” he said. While the roster’s talent runs deep, Weimer identified one player who has been a defensive force all season. Ashley “Ace” Dela Cruz Yip may lead the league in assists, but she truly shines on the defensive end. “She’s our lockdown defender,” said Weimer. “If a team’s top player is a one, two, or a three, we put her on them. We played Douglas and she was on their three – shut her down,” he said. While this is a role many would be nervous in, Dela Cruz Yip embraces it. “For me, there’s a lot of pride in it,” she

said. She credits former Blues teammate Jennafer Palma as a role model of sorts, someone who she was able to see thrive in the same position before her. “[Palma] was always the lockdown defender… and she took so much pride in that. I think I learned a lot from her in taking pride in that and being able to say ‘hey, I kept this player who usually scores 15 to 20, I kept her to five points in the whole game,’ and that’s something to be really proud of.” Although the Blues are currently undefeated, they still must finish the second half of their season, and hope to do so emphatically. One thing the team remains conscious of is the need to stay on top of their game. “Taking it a game at a time and not looking too far ahead,” as Weimer said. “Once you’re 10 and 0 you need to figure out how to be humble,” Dela Cruz Yip added. For the Blues, however, this season has transcended basketball and has become a “family affair,” as Weimer likes to call it. “It’s everybody supporting each other, it’s all about support,” he said. This mindset is not lost on the team and contributes to their defensive strength.

“We trust in each other that for 24 seconds we can play solid defence, get the board, then we’re away,” said Dela Cruz Yip. With a loss in the finals of last year’s provincials, the girls have played with a newfound conviction this year. “We’re hungry and we’ve found our confidence and rhythm,” Dela Cruz Yip remarked. With the season looking more promising with each game that passes, the team knows they can’t forget what has gotten them this far. “Our defence, that’s the thing, that’s what it’s been this year,” said Weimer. “Our defence leads to offence, it all comes from our defence,” he added. Weimer believes that this could be the year the team wins the provincial title and advances on to the nationals. “Yeah, at this point we’re good enough to do it,” he said. “But you never know, you’ve got to stay focused, you’ve got to be ready.” This sentiment is one shared by Dela Cruz Yip. “We have every single piece. We have shooters, we have good penetrators, we have a big inside game, and our defence is even better than that – and that’s saying a lot.”

A FAMILY AFFAIR Defensive pride has Blues women’s basketball team dominating the PACWEST Justin Scott

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Having the best offence in the league has certainly been a key for the Capilano Blues women’s basketball team’s undefeated 12-0 record in the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) conference, but it is their defence that the team credits for their success. “Our goal was to be the top defensive team in the league,” said assistant coach Chris Weimer – a goal they have achieved thus far. Currently, the team allows the fewest points per game in the league, with opposing teams averaging a measly 45.9 points per game against the Blues. They are also holding their opponents to the third lowest shooting percentage and the lowest three-point shooting percentage per game this season. This defensive dominance is achieved by a full throttle and in-your-face defensive style and scheme. Although the Blues apply an intense amount of pressure on the opposing teams, they’re not necessarily hunting for steals – they simply stop teams from scoring. They emphasize high-intensity on-ball pressure that leads to other teams losing control of the games, not being able to run their set offences and getting flustered and distracted by the defensive onslaught being dished out by the Blues. “We really work on positional defence, we like the perimeter [players] to keep the ball in front of them – we don’t like getting beat off the perimeter,” said Weimer. “Our goal is to make every team uncomfortable. We try to push teams from their spots,” he added. According to Weimer, the Blues play in a man-to-man style defence 90 to 95 per cent of the time. Not only does the team feel strongest in this style, they also have a number of different presses that they run, all of which are man-to-man. While the team’s one-on-one style defence means each player is responsible for guarding a

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ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

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A STAR IN THE MAKING Tyneille Neufeld’s all-around contributions has been key to surging Blues Carlo Javier MANAGING EDITOR

backed up by her high ranking in both digs and total offensive stats. And although Neufeld states that her offence still has ways to go, her 129 kills in 55 sets played ranks second only to Sutcliffe among the entire team. Despite quickly establishing herself as one of the Blues’ budding stars, Neufeld admits that her leadership, particularly her openness to being vocal, is an aspect of her on-court personality that’s still growing. “I’m not the most vocal necessarily because I let that fall to Kira and Sarah who are the actual captains of the team,” she said, “I’m trying to be a leader on the team because Cal is prepping me for next year.” Fortunately, there are no shortages of role models on the Blues. “From Kira, she’s very good with organizing the team. On the court too she’s a dominant player, so from her I’m trying to learn how to be a dominant player as well,” Neufeld said. “Sarah, she always has the right words to say to motivate the team. So, I’m trying to learn from them.” Last semester, Neufeld performed admirably despite the workload of five courses and a shift once a week at Seymour’s Pub. This time around, with a slightly better schedule, she’s looking to be even better prepared for the final push towards the playoffs.

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As displayed by her stats and quick integration to the starting line-up, Neufeld’s transition to the Blues, and the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) conference, has been relatively free of hiccups. One of the biggest reasons to her easy move was the close-knit family culture that emanates out of the Blues program. “Obviously, there are norms to the team and everything, like you should stay connected with each other, when you want to hang out in the weekend its typically with your team,” she said. “That’s a lot of fun to have that set group of friends, that family.” For Neufeld, change is also in the very position she plays. Unlike CapU, which plays in the PACWEST conference of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), TRU played under the Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA) conference of the national league formerly known as the Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) – now unfortunately rebranded as “U-Sports”. While Neufeld plays the left side position for the Blues, her skills are augmented by her experience playing in the libero position during her stint in the CIS. On the court, the multi-skilled Neufeld cites her defence and her passing as the best aspects of her game, claims that are

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It didn’t take long for Tyneille Neufeld to start making a difference for the Capilano Blues women’s volleyball team. As of Week 10 of conference play, the third-year transfer leads the team in digs and ranks second in both kills and total offensive stats. Despite being a new face to a team full of established veterans, Neufeld managed to quickly inject herself into the team’s core rotation. For Neufeld, the immediacy of her contribution is all about her quick development of belonging to the Blues family. Before she even flew to North Vancouver, she was already messaging Blues co-captain and right side hitter Kira Sutcliffe. “Kira contacted me first actually and we developed a connection through messaging,” Neufeld said. “Right away I knew she was going to be a good friend of

mine and then, when I came out here, she was very quick to get me involved in fun group things we did.” The prospect of playing volleyball was integral to Neufeld’s decision to attend Capilano University. It was the same principle she followed when she graduated high school. Hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Neufeld spent her first collegiate year in Thompson Rivers University and played for the TRU Wolfpack. “Wherever I was moving was determined on whether I could play volleyball there or not,” she recalled. “TRU was good because they were in the developmental phase of their team, so I was able to go in there easily.” Personal circumstances cut Neufeld’s time with the Wolfpack short and led her back home to Manitoba where she spent her second year in Brandon University, a stint that also wound up being short-lived. “I wasn’t happy moving back to Manitoba and my whole family was moving out to BC… So, we kind of moved together as a family.” A sought-after student-athlete, Neufeld’s decision to attend Capilano was supported by her former coaches from TRU. “They highly recommended Cal [Wohlford] as a coach so that was a huge determining factor,” she said.

FEATURES

Who Wears the white gloves? SHINING A LIGHT ON THE WORLD OF LED GLOVING Jessica Lio OPINIONS EDITOR

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Some of the kindest people you’ll ever meet at a rave will be wearing a pair of white gloves. If you’re polite, they’ll probably give you a light show, a performance where a glover uses their hands and the colourful microlights at their fingertips to create immersive, sweeping visual illusions. Most glovers just want to make people smile, and Joshua Pilla is no different. Known to the gloving world as “Jest”, the young glover from Minneapolis, Minnesota likens gloving to a form of magic. In one of his popular YouTube videos, titled “Jest Do It”, he performs a light show with Shia La Beouf behind him yelling the infamous phrase ‘Just do it! Make. Your dreams. Come true.’ It’s the type of video that puts a smile on your face every time you see it. To any young electronic music fan, Pilla’s life sounds like a dream come true. He gets to travel, film projects with talented artists and connect with people all over the

world who love his art form. Pilla is one of 24 lucky glovers who have been invited to sponsor Emazing Lights, the LED glove retailer largely responsible for boosting the gloving world’s popularity. Gloving hasn’t commanded the mainstream spotlight in the same way as dance or magic, but the futuristic art form has managed to inspire a lively multi-million dollar industry – one that’s still growing. In 2009, just as the electronic dance music (EDM) scene was starting to gain popularity in California, Emazing Lights was launched by 21-year-old Brian Lim as a $100 startup. By 2010, Lim was making enough money to retire from his day job at Deloitte and by 2015, the company had been featured on Shark Tank and CNN was calling the company a “$13-million secret”. From a company that was gaining so much momentum, getting a sponsorship invitation wasn't easy, but Pilla’s team of glovers, Minnesota Mind Melt (3M), were up for the challenge. They worked hard to create a brand that was recognizable and respected in the gloving community.

“Gloving captures aspects of art and expression,” Pilla explained, pointing out the added element of musical synchronicity. “It requires a certain degree of skill and character in the light show performance,

Emazing Lights was launched by 21-year-old Brian Lim as a $100 startup. By 2010, Lim was making enough money to retire from his day job at Deloitte and by 2015. but more importantly, it requires constant activity within the community.” As a representative for the brand, he’s regularly hosting and attending events. He’s also filmed music videos for Pegboard Nerds, NGHTMRE and Krewella, and it doesn’t stop there. Pilla has also travelled across the country to be a part of the Facemelt Crew documentaries which showcased a group of the world’s top glovers with one simple mission: “Spread love for lights and melt faces”. And that’s exactly what they’re doing. One of Pilla’s favourite gloving memories is from the Lightning in a Bottle festival in California. He was wandering in a Kylo Ren costume when he realized he was being watched. A young couple had spotted a flash of red and blue lights coming from his hands and they were intrigued. He made his way over and asked if they’d like a light show. That night, the two young Star Wars fans got to see an exciting light sabre duel come to life in Pilla’s hands. But despite being able to create magical moments like that one, it’s not entirely easy for glovers to get across to the outside world what they really do. Due to the public perception that gloving solely exists to promote drug culture, legislation was passed in California to ban venues from allowing glovers at their events. As a result, glovers are often abused and mistreated. In the US, there have been reports of security guards physically attacking glovers and even soliciting bribes from patrons who wanted to get their gloves back. “What set Emazing apart was their commitment to [create] gloving events that gave glovers a safe space to practice and interact,” Pilla explained, expressing concern for how glovers are still treated

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by many promoters and venues in the industry. In an effort to help legitimize the art form, Emazing Lights created the International Gloving Championships (IGC), which gave the industry’s innovators a chance to inspire others to pick up a pair of gloves. THE LOCAL SCENE In Vancouver, there are no official competitions like the IGC, but the gloving community is passionate nonetheless. Dylan Todd is a 20-year-old glover and aspiring music photographer who was inspired to pick up his first pair of gloves in 2015. After seeing his first light show at a friend’s house, he knew right away that he had to try it himself. “I just sat there and thought ‘this is the coolest thing in the entire world’,” he recalled. As a dedicated music fan, he takes note of everything at a show from the stage and lighting set up to how the performers interact with the audience. The environment at a show can really make the experience special, and he can tell when the crowd is full of people who really love music. He sees gloving as a unique way to communicate with people. “It’s a different element than just going to a show and watching,” Todd said.

because of it and he’s optimistic about the community’s potential. Although he doesn’t plan to pursue gloving professionally, he wants to see glovers continue to stand up for what they love to do. “If there’s someone trying to get into it, just start,” he said. “You’ll meet so many people who want to help you.” At the end of the day, gloving is just another way for people to use their bodies to convey feelings and ideas that can’t be put into words. In the industry’s future, Pilla ultimately wants to see people being able to glove exclusively for a living. The industry is still far from receiving televised coverage, but with the art form gaining more attention in music videos and popular festivals, there’s hope for glovers to be recognized in bigger projects. We are all looking for authentic ways to express ourselves, a way to feel connected to each other and escape from the impersonal, sometimes hostile realities of everyday life. For many people, a pair of white gloves is the key.

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Similar to dance, there are classic moves that glovers have to practice every day. Whips, tunnels, flails, finger tuts and dials are the two-step, free spin, plié and moonwalk of the gloving world. Pilla described his favourite technique as one that imitates magic by “conjuring” the lights in and out of existence. He often uses conjuring as bookends for his shows, as it’s an impressive way to give the show a definitive beginning and end. “Every glover has a different flow that they’re good at,” Todd said, marvelling at how people can interpret their feelings and personality through gloving. One

person might love whips and tunnels while another could spend all day practicing finger tuts. Like so many other dedicated music fans, Todd is happy to be connected to the music scene in any way possible. It’s safe to say he’s one of Porter Robinson’s biggest fans, having seen him in concert nine times, with plans for the 10th this summer, but the music scene isn’t about competition to him. Todd wants to see the EDM community focus more on the music itself, but he’s more than familiar with the notion that electronic music, gloving and drugs go hand in hand. As someone who has never gone to a show intoxicated or used drugs, he finds it frustrating that people need to associate the two together. “If it’s about appreciating [the music] why does it matter if you’re sober or not?” he asked. Many of his peers don’t use drugs, yet the stereotype says otherwise. Pilla weighed in on the topic as well, “This is a sad and dangerous misconception because some of the greatest talents in gloving are known to be sober and responsible people,” he said. Despite the EDM scene’s reputation for promoting drug culture, it’s often overlooked that every artistic avenue has its own substance users. Pilla maintained that it’s only natural for any type of artwork to attract people who want to escape reality through an enhanced experience. The misconceptions about gloving can be discouraging at times, but Todd has still made friends all across the continent

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After seeing his first light show at a friend’s house, he knew right away that he had to try it himself. “I just sat there and thought ‘this is the coolest thing in the entire world’,” he recalled.

–ZED ALEXANDRA

FEATURES

INDUSTRY

THE CREW KEEPING TH

Gabriel Scorgie FEATURES EDITOR

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orking 12 hours a day is nothing new for Rob Hamilton. He’s been doing it since he was 15. While a student at Brockwell Secondary School, one of his friends enrolled in a nearby production program asked him to volunteer as an extra for his post graduate film. On the first day, he was a clown. Due to his tall, bulky frame, they invited him to come back the next day and work as a grip. “That was December 16 to 18 of 2008, and I've been doing this ever since.” No matter where you want to work, finding a spot in the film industry is tough. It’s a gruelling industry and, for every actor, director and writer, there are hundreds of people hard at work long before the first frame is shot, and long after the cameras are packed away. These days, Hamilton has worked his way up from grip to gaffer. “Gaffers are the heads of the electrical and lighting departments, just below the cinematographer, who is in charge of the camera, lighting and grip departments. I usually run a crew of anywhere from three to twelve people,” explained Hamilton. Though there’s no such thing as a normal work day, Hamilton said there are a few things that happen most days. As a gaffer, his call time tends to be earlier than everyone else’s. If the crew call is 7 am, his might be 6:30, and he should be there at least 15 minutes before that. “There's an adage that describes it well: "If you're early, you're on time. On time, you're late. Late, you're out." Punctuality is extremely important in this industry as you never want to be the one holding up the show.”

Once Hamilton arrives, his usual routine is to grab some breakfast and coffee before going over to the electronics truck. His second-in-command will have the truck open so Hamilton can grab his kit and head down to the set for the first blocking, which is where the director walks the actors and crew through the scene so everyone knows what they’re doing. “The rest of the day plays out different every time, but by the end we're loading the truck and handing in any time reports for the day before we head home.” Though the crew shows up early, they often leave even later. “Growing up, both my parents worked in the industry so I knew the days were going to be long,” explained Connor Sampson, who worked as a set decorator over the summer. A typical day is between 12 and 14 hours long for crew members, with only a 30-minute break six hours after call. Hamilton explained that it’s extremely uncommon for a day to be shorter than 12 hours, but not rare at all for people to have multiple days of overtime in a week. ”Seventy-hour weeks are pretty common, and my worst was a seven-day week at just under 100 hours,” said Hamilton. Though the hours seem like they’d be a deal-breaker to most people, neither Hamilton nor Sampson are all that bothered by it. “Before working as a decorator I worked in a factory making snow for films, so I was pretty used to long, hard hours,” said Sampson. Hamilton also agrees that he’s gotten used to it, and that he wasn’t at all surprised by the hours. “It's been about exactly what I expected. Due to having started on the long days while I was in high school, I've been used to them for quite a while now. There have been films that throw curveballs that you'd think experience and professionalism would stamp out, but it entirely depends on the production.” “A lot of folks come into film school or the industry in general thinking it will be easy money and not a lot of work. This is sorely incorrect. Nothing about working in film is easy – it takes years of effort to break in and be a respected, valued member of any crew you go to,” said Hamilton. “It was really scary at first, being the new guy,” added Sampson. “You don’t really know what’s going on or what you’re supposed to do. You have no experience and you’re surrounded by a bunch of people moving around very quickly.” For Hamilton, the working conditions can be quite difficult to cope with, citing the recent snowstorm that hit Vancouver in December as a really tough time. “This recent snowstorm and cold snap was a nightmare on my last show.” Both Hamilton and Sampson agree that film is one of the toughest industries to work in. Hamilton did add that although

it’s hard, it’s also “one of the most rewarding things you could ever do.”

A PASSION FOR FILM So, if you enter the industry you have early call times followed by at least 12 hours of work. This begs the question: why do people want to work in this medium? For Hamilton, he’s simply always loved film. “It drew me in because of how versatile it is as a creative medium,” he said. “My loves fall with everything from psychological horror to jazz musicals about love – within film, I can tap into anything I care about and create something.”

"If you're early, you're on time. On time, you're late. Late, you're out." What he really loved about it was that he could evoke emotions within other people. “When I first started out, I was sick of how so many movies at the time were pushing for shock emotions: ‘Oh, this character that you just met 10 minutes ago died, feel sad now.’” Over time, his goal has become to help make films that evoke real emotions in people. To make people attached to the characters they see on the screen. To bring them to life. “If I can tap into that emotional core of the audience, that soul ache when a film you love ends, I can be satisfied.” What’s unique about working on movies is that film is one of the last collaborative art forms. Each production is made of

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STANDARD

HE CAMERAS ROLLING hundreds of tiny pieces all created and stitched together by different groups of creative people. “You get to spend long days and nights with a group of strangers that grow into a family. I can name almost every single director, assistant director, cinematographer, lamp op and grip I've had the honour of working with,” said Hamilton. The creative crew behind the scenes becomes like a small family. “One of my favourite parts of the job was all the people I met,” said Sampson. “We would have a long day and all go for a drink. On a rare day off sometimes a crew member would have a friend working on another show and we’d go meet with them after they were done. It’s like a community.” What the job takes away in free time and extra sleep it gives back in memories and experience. Hamilton said that there are places in BC he only knows of because they had to drive in the pouring rain to get one shot at. “Some of the best and most interesting memories of my life are from the summer,” said Sampson. Hamilton echoes the sentiment. “Between almost being killed three times in two days on a show when I was 16, to having the entire crew hang out every day for a week after wrap because we missed each other, there are almost too many to choose. One of my favourite happy ones, however, I'll share.” Hamilton recalled three long weeks of working throughout the night – shooting in old barns, frozen fields and churches. At the end of it, the lead actress came up to him. “We had rarely spoken due to how busy the show was for the electrics department, so it was a surprise.” The actress handed him a photo face down and said she thought he might want it. Hamilton was confused, but when he flipped it over he saw that it was a crew photo from the first day of production. He had forgotten about it. “What stood out,

though, was that I was front and centre in the photograph with everyone from our crazy little family (of 30 plus) crammed into this diner smiling around me. It's my favourite crew photo, and I keep it on my fridge as a reminder of why I love what I do.”

GETTING STARTED Currently, Hamilton is still working in the film industry, going on his eighth year as a professional. Sampson is not. “It’s not something I would want to make a career out of,” began Sampson, “I would do it again, but I prefer a more standard work schedule long term.” Since the summer, Sampson has gone back to school at the British Columbia Institute of Technology and is getting a certificate in Network Security. For those looking to get their foot in the door, Sampson suggests taking the Motion Picture Industry Orientation course (MPIO) at Capilano University. “It’s a working certification that allows me to be employed if I have union status. I’m not sure about non-union films, but I don’t think they need it,” he said. The MPIO course is an extensive two-day course that prepares people for their first week on a set, teaching them the basics such as how to read a call sheet, growth and trends in the industry, its collaborative nature, demands and challenges facing production crew, job descriptions and on-set language. The course is offered about once a month. One reason that Sampson chose to work in the film industry was for the pay. “Yeah, that made the long hours a lot easier,” he said, laughing. Generally, film crews work under a union, meaning there is a base rate they must be paid. One common union is the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). According to the IATSE rate guide for 2016, trainees

and third assistants start at around $16 an hour. More senior positions can get paid up to $45 an hour, with time and a half coming after eight hours worked, double time after 12 and triple time after 15 hours. “I knew multiple people in their 30s who owned houses and cabins. Being in your early 20s and having that much earning potential can be very attractive,” said Sampson. At the end of the day, almost every crew member you’ll work with will have a love of movies and being a part of the collaborative medium. Many also work because they make good money doing it. Hamilton still loves showing up on set everyday and wouldn’t give it up for anything. “It’s a beautiful, messy, insane industry that has shaped both myself as a person and the lives of those around me and frankly? I wouldn't have it any other way.”

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–SYD DANGER

”Seventy hour weeks are pretty common, and my worst was a seven day week at just under one hundred hours,” said Hamilton.

ARTS & CULTURE

LIGHTS, CAMERA, FASTER! Capilano University’s Motion Picture Arts graduates among winners in filmmaking competition Therese Guieb COMMUNITY RELATIONS MANAGER

What would you do if you were given a budget of $1,000 to shoot and edit a short film in a span of eight days, and have it screened in front of thousands of critics and fellow professionals? This may sound like a nightmare to a film crew, but it’s the reality for the winners of Crazy 8s. Crazy 8s is one of the most prestigious short-filmmaking competitions in Vancouver. For over 18 years, the festival has helped filmmakers make a mark in the city’s booming film industry. The competition brings a unique challenge to aspiring directors, writers and producers. Executive producer of Crazy 8s, Paul Armstrong, explained that there are three rounds of judging in the competition. “There [are] the video pitch judges who watch a five minute video pitch from the teams. Then, 40 are selected to pitch in-person out of all the video pitches, and after the in-person pitches it comes down to 12 finalists then

six winners are chosen.” This year, the festival received over 200 entries and the winning teams will screen their films at the Crazy 8s gala, which is being held at The Centre on Feb. 25. Frazer Maclean, Lelinh Du, Nach Dudsdeemaytha, Heath Affolter, Thomas Affolter, Jon Affolter, Rebeka Heron, Rory Tucker and Avi Glanzer are among four of the six winning teams. They are also all graduates of the Motion Picture Arts (MOPA) program at Capilano University. Tucker who worked on Woodman, shared his behind-the-scenes experience under the budget and time constraints of Crazy 8s. “For us, we had to find a studio to shoot in, but Vancouver is extremely busy in film right now, some studios were booked for up to three years,” he noted. Maclean, producer of Anh Hung added that finding crew to volunteer for his project in a limited amount of time has been a challenge. The fast-paced competition may seem impossible to many, but the Affolter brothers who produced The Undertaker’s Son attested to the learning opportunities that one gains from the festival. “Crazy 8s is a very prestigious community. The filmmakers that have been selected in the past have gone off to do some big things so we’re just pretty honoured to be a part of that now,” said Heath. One of the most important aspects of the contest is the storyline of the films that are

TAKING THE STAGE

pitched. The team that conveys a unique storyline can set themselves apart from the others. Armstrong emphasized that the originality of the stories presented each year has continued to impress the judges – especially this year’s finalists. A common theme shared by the finalists this year was conflicts facing the globe today. Among the finalists is Anh Hung. Inspired by true stories based in Vancouver, the film follows a 12-year-old girl who is raised in a household of organized crime and slowly watches her older brother falling deeper into the criminal underworld. “It's actually quite a personal story to my director and quite a few people that she grew up with. We have kind of a unique inside look into it because this is something that no one really talks about in Vancouver,” shared Maclean. The Undertaker’s Son is a film set in the Western 1860s and tells the story of a boy who starts working with his father in their family-run mortuary where they are faced with problems that test their relationship. “We are generally drawn to these types of stories because family is essentially such an important [thing] for us growing up and even now,” noted Thomas. The films chosen as finalists fall under a variety of genres that showcase the exceptional differences that can be brought to film. Among the winners this year, Armstrong noticed that the filmmakers were able to successfully turn their

–NATHALIE DE LOS SANTOS

New production of The Little Mermaid stars Capilano alumni Colton Fyfe Keara Farnan

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CONTRIBUTOR

During his time as a Musical Theatre student at Capilano University, Colton Fyfe experienced ups and downs. However, the program did allow Fyfe to learn about himself, growing as a performer and a person. “CapU began to feel like home. I was able to come to school every day, surrounded by amazing friends. I continued to work my butt off to pursue what I love,” Fyfe said. The training he received from the theatre department’s faculty prepped him for showbusiness. Fyfe left the school to start his journey as a performer, having no clue as to where his future may lead. “There is definitely a strong feeling of community amongst the Musical Theatre program, both present and past. I noticed this feeling when I started auditioning for shows in Vancouver. I was finally exposed to others involved who were also a part of the Musical Theatre program at some point,” Fyfe explained. “I had the chance to create strong connections. Nothing will beat the feeling and level of camaraderie that you build with other people in your year. Since our program is done in cohorts over the course of three years, you really begin to feel like family. You develop lasting relationships,” he added. One of Fyfe’s fondest memories is when his Musical Theatre group performed at Rogers Arena for We Day. He recalls the feeling of looking out at a stadium full of people while performing for them. “It was

truly a special experience that I will never forget,” he said. But above that, Fyfe’s favourite experiences were those spent with friends from his program. “I find my most cherished memories revolve around the couches in the cafeteria. It’s where most Musical Theatre students perform. Whenever I arrived at school, I could find a group of my closest friends around those seats,” Fyfe exclaimed. Since graduation, Fyfe has worked in theatres as both a volunteer and performer.

The connections he made during his time at CapU have benefited him, and allowed him to get involved in the theatre industry. They also keep Fyfe informed of upcoming opportunities. “Right now I am a part of Disney’s The Little Mermaid with Align Entertainment. This show is very similar to the classic Disney film. Although it expands on some of the characters, it also has more of a musical theatre feel, unlike the movie,” he said. "I play Prince Eric. It’s a really exciting role. He is an energetic, adventurous and

conflict-driven storylines into engaging masterpieces. “I am always amazed at how they [the filmmakers] turn their stories into art. The films don't feel like they’re being preachy, they are able to still tell a story that is engaging and serves the purpose of the message,” said Armstrong. For Tucker, Maclean and the Affolters, the MOPA program at CapU helped them survive all three rounds of the competition by relying on the lessons that they learned during their time in the program. “When we were in school up at Capilano we were taught by Sean McPherson the film industry status of ‘plan the shoot, shoot the plan’. That was basically what we’ve been relying on pretty heavily for the past few weeks as we plan this,” Thomas explained. According to Tucker, no matter how intimidating the Crazy 8s may be, “if you're coming out of the Capilano MOPA program, you’re going to be fine.” Crazy 8s has seen a tremendous amount of MOPA graduates that have succeeded in the festival and advanced in the film industry. Armstrong praised the program for its academic excellence and continued support for its graduates: “I’d say a large number of our finalists are from Capilano. It has such a strong film program that has brought talented individuals to our festival.” For more information on the Crazy 8s gala, winning teams and their films, visit www. Crazy8s.film.

romantic character. It doesn’t feel as though he fits into his position as a monarch.” Fyfe views this role as an exciting opportunity. “Portraying Eric is both wonderful and challenging,” he said. “I am very excited to tackle it”. Apart from his Musical Theatre Diploma, Fyfe does not have any other university education. The best advice he can offer current Musical Theatre students is to start training and putting themselves out there. “You are the only one standing in your way. If you want to experience things, you must take a chance and audition,” he said. Fyfe has learned that although it’s hard, getting turned down is part of the industry. “Rejection is inevitable in this field. You must maintain a thick skin and have a smile on your face,” he advised. One of his biggest role models is Kevin Michael Cripps, who was one of his instructors at CapU. “His passion, and the hard work he puts into everything I see, inspire me to persevere so I can give my best performance. Sometimes, we would have to go over songs profusely – the tenors forgot their harmonies. Cripps still manages to maintain a lovely personality. He is always a pleasure to work with,” Fyfe recalled. As opening night of The Little Mermaid looms closer, Fyfe is keen to lift the curtain on his latest production. “I truly believe that this show will be a spectacle that should not be missed,” he said. By all accounts, it’s going to be a high-quality, family-friendly show that will have audiences humming along in their seats. The Little Mermaid will run from February 3 to 18 at the Michael J. Fox Theatre in Burnaby. Tickets are $39 for adults and $27 for students, with all tickets being $25 on Tuesdays. Find out more at Alignentertainment.ca.

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HOLY FUCK Canadian group are back in stride after latest release Justin Scott ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

After a three-year break from touring and a six-year gap since their last release, Latin, Canadian band Holy Fuck released their fourth studio album, Congrats, in May of 2016 and have been back on the road ever since. Congrats saw the group evolve from more abstract musical tendencies to somewhat conventional ones, all the while maintaining their signature sound. After following their 2005 debut with the self-titled Holy Fuck, the group has been merging traditional instruments, like guitars and drums, with incredibly distorted and sometimes-unrecognizable sounds, creating undefinable, yet beautiful music. While this transition was not intentional, it makes sense. Over the past three years the group’s two frontmen, Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh, have been as immersed in music as ever, working on different projects and in different positions. Borcherdt worked on several side projects and Walsh spent much of his time behind studios’ mixing boards producing and engineering for other groups – an experience he believes aided Holy Fuck while recording Congrats. “When you work with other artists and you produce other records and stuff like that, you get to see how other bands – you see where their songs are going and you’re taking their song structure and melodic sensibility and applying it to their music,” he said. “That was a big reason why I was very much engulfing myself in that world, it was to learn and take in other experiences with other people.” For Congrats, the group approached the recording of the album in a number of new and exciting ways. According to Borcherdt and Walsh, much of the group’s material is conceived during nightly sound checks

AN AWAKENING FOR VANCOUVER’S THEATRE SCENE

Noah Penner MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

and it’s like, that’s so smart, why didn’t we think of that? We were just touring, touring, touring, touring, saying yes to everything.” Rather than setting out on a huge tour to promote Congrats, Holy Fuck have embarked on a number of shorter tours. By doing so, they have not only been able to avoid the perils of over-touring, they have also begun recording song ideas during sound checks again. “Without even intending to start writing an album, we have two albums worth of jams to sort through,” said Borcherdt. “We’re like ‘Jesus, we have a double record already’.” “I would love to see a record out in 2018,” he added. For now, the group will continue touring and playing their new record for fans, all while laying the groundwork for their next offering. “I don’t think Congrats is necessarily an evolution beyond Latin, I think it’s almost like a re-thinking of all the things we could do,” said Borcherdt. “This is the Star Wars Anthology, and this [Congrats] is Rogue One,” he said with a laugh.

asks if both actors were comfortable, if any boundaries were pushed too far. Barely a minute later, the scene restarts, and they run through it all over again. Like many Broadway classics, Spring Awakening is based on an 1890 German play by Frank Wedekind. Set in the time and place it was written, the story focuses on a group of teenagers stuck in an upperclass boarding school. Lacking any modern sex education, feelings arise that they have no idea how to handle. The show’s musical numbers don’t make use of a band; the actors themselves play the instruments on-stage. Eric Seeley, a Capilano University graduate and the show’s music director, didn’t come from the Acting for Stage and Screen or Musical Theatre programs. “I was in the Liberal Studies program,” he said. Seeley originally attended CapU as a music student, but through the Liberal Studies program he was able to expand his horizons. “I was sort of all over the place, and being in Liberal Studies was great because I could take studies in the music program, and even the MOPA program,”

he explained. According to Kimberly Ma, a Musical Theatre graduate who plays the role of Anna, Vancouver is currently supporting its acting community handsomely. “Opportunities do exist in Vancouver. If anything, I’d say that the theatre scene is starting to grow again,” she said. “I think a lot of young actors take it to heart when it’s said to make your own work.” In regards to the show’s subject matter, Ma said, “It’s a show that really focuses on information and information that’s given to kids, and how sometimes hiding the truth and hiding the information from people doesn’t lead to the best scenarios.” Compared to other roles she’s taken on, “It’s definitely the darkest material I’ve had to work with. It’s definitely interesting delving into it and seeing things from a different point of view,” she said. Behind the scenes of the show is a talented crew, crafting the best production possible. Michael Methot, the show’s lighting designer, watches each rehearsal with a camera in hand, mapping out how

the show will be lit on-stage. “I accentuate the emotional value of the story while making sure, functionally, that you can see what’s going on.” When he’s not working in theatre, he makes a living in Vancouver’s evergrowing film industry. “There’s a lot of people that do a lot of effort for free, just because they love the craft,” he said. “I’m one of them.” The show’s director, Gerald Williams, recalled his theatre past with passion and enthusiasm. “I ran a theatre company for 20 years in Japan,” he said, “I hate being bored in the theatre, you know? I like the story being told to me, and engaging me in it as an audience member.” He ends his interview with a smile. He loves what he does, and it shines through into his work. Spring Awakening runs from February 7th to the 19th the PAL Studio Theatre on Cardero Street, in downtown Vancouver, tickets are $25 and students receive a $5 discount.

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Walking into the rehearsal space for Tomo Suru Players’ production of the Broadway rock musical Spring Awakening, in an otherwise inconspicuous blue warehouse in Burnaby, one is greeted with a scene set in a hayloft. Starting with one character returning another’s lost journal, it escalates into a sex scene set to an eerie musical number. It lasts for almost five minutes; every person on-stage is entirely focused, pulling the scene off without a hitch. The second it’s over, everybody bursts out laughing. The assistant director

work is the intention. “With the other records, these songs were sort of these unwieldy beasts that just sort of became what they became,” said Walsh. “There was always this desire to hone, for me now, from my perspective, to hone things in further, and this was just one step further in that direction,” he added. It’s not just their recording process that has evolved with time. Many of the group’s members have started families in recent years. While this may mean the end for many groups, Holy Fuck has simply learned and adapted. They no longer go on long tours, and allow themselves more time in between. “I think it’s smart, I think it allows for more creativity and I think you’re mentally healthier. Physically you’re definitely healthier,” said Borcherdt. “I see some of our friends who are peers… and I’m seeing them being so much smarter than we were. I’m like ‘good on you guys’, you know?” said Borcherdt. “They’ll come back [from tour] and I’ll catch up with them at a local bar and they’ll be like ‘oh, we’re just going to start writing a new record,’

THE CAPILANO COURIER

Capilano graduates thrive in a new rendition of a classic

while on tour and recorded on iPhones. In the past, the group would go on lengthy tours and return home with so much new material it could be overwhelming at times, and often led to songs that sounded like an “eight minute sprawling drone,” as Borcherdt put it. With Congrats, however, the group took a new approach to their recording process. “We booked secret shows and little opportunities where we would set up and plug in our cables in front of an audience and play a brand new song in front of an audience,” said Borcherdt. “Then we would go into the studio and lay them down, and sure enough you realize that’s a three-and-a-half-minute song – it has an intro, and a chorus, and a verse, and a bridge and everything starts to look more like familiar melodic based music.” But don’t be fooled, Holy Fuck did not put out a pop album. While Congrats may have a few more identifiable sounds and a bit less feedback on it than past releases, it is as energetic and original as ever. Perhaps the biggest difference between the latest release and Holy Fuck’s past

SHORTS: TV REVIEWS

OVERNIGHT Heat Justin Scott ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

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Heat’s new album, Overnight, has something much of today’s rock music is sorely lacking: fun. The Montreal group’s debut album is 36 minutes of electric guitars gliding over 80s-inspired synthesizers, upbeat drums and Susil Sharma’s soothing, yet often indiscernible vocals. While Overnight has drawn many comparisons to 80s British rock groups like Echo & the Bunnymen and The Psychedelic Furs, it’s no imitation – it’s not even close. Heat has created a record that organically showcases each of its member’s abilities in a seamless manner. The nine-track release not only exhibits the group’s musical abilities, but also its diversity. While there are no ballads or acoustic love songs to be found on Overnight, Heat has managed to put out more than just a collection of blaring rock tracks. On the album’s opening track, “City Lights”, Sharma can’t stop thinking of a lover. “I’m lost in the feeling,” he sings. Whether it’s love or lust is up to interpretation. The track opens with a pulsing synth, almost mimicking the way street lights fly over a car driving to someone’s house for a late-night rendezvous. “Sometimes”, the album’s second track shifts from the synthesizer guided style of “City Lights” to a more guitar-driven sound filled with melodic rhythms and energetic and echoed riffs. On the third track, “Lush”, Heat once again offer a new sound. A slower, more introspective and daring offering, “Lush” is one of the album’s top offerings. “Cold Hard Morning Light”, “Still, Soft” and the wellplaced closing track, “Chains”, are other standout tracks. Overnight is more than most bands achieve with a first record. Heat has managed to channel some of their influences while remaining individual, offering a cohesive showcase of music and having fun.

THE DRUM CHORD THEORY Matt Martians Carlo Javier MANAGING EDITOR

Matt Martians seems comfortable away from the spotlight. The 28-year-old keyboardist and producer has spent much of his career making beats for the ubertalented jazz hip-hop band, The Internet, and members of the remnants of the Odd Future collective. With The Drum Chord Theory Matt Martians throws a complete curveball and abandons the shadows to finally let the spotlight shine on himself, even exhibiting his silky falsetto on majority of the album’s eclectic tracks. Opener “Spend the Night / If You Were My GF” kicks the album off with an enthralling percussive intro, setting the tone for the impending musical adventure. “Where Are Yo Friends?” is a cross between r&b and neo-soul that seemingly addresses the mysterious break-up of the popular Odd Future squad. As expected, “Dent Jusay”, featuring the smoky vocals of Syd from The Internet stands head and shoulders above the rest of the pack, illustrating the impeccable chemistry between the two. The Drum Chord Theory almost works in reverse. Instead of showing hints of its influences, Martians’ demonstrates the layers of music he’s contributed to the works of Tyler the Creator, The Internet and other ex-members of Odd Future. Although The Drum Chord Theory is a solid debut from an oft-reclusive artist, its best songs are most definitely the tracks where Martians is able to feed off and amplify the capacities of others.

I SEE YOU The xx Carlo Javier MANAGING EDITOR

For years, The xx revelled in the atmospheric, minimalist and melancholic beats that producer Jamie xx grew famous for. After a five-year hiatus, London’s brightest trio is back with their third album, I See You, a clear departure from The xx sound that existed primarily in shadows and gloom. I See You sounds closer to Jamie xx’s solo work than it does to the band’s previous offerings. This is very much an alternative dance album, one that energizes and blossoms with exuberance, whereas xx and Coexist preferred the quiet pop tendencies of downtempo beats. Singles like “On Hold” and “Say Something Loving” introduce the band to the power of Kanye-esque vocal sampling – an additional layer to The xx sound that exhibits the sensational synergy of Jamie xx’s ever-precise percussion and Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Slim’s emotive vocals. The aptly-titled penultimate track, “I Dare You”, might be the very zeitgeist of the new xx sound. At nearly four minutes long, the song is a complete tour de force that works as a condensed narrative of how the band’s signature sound expanded over the years. Croft even sings some seemingly tongue-in-cheek words, with, “I’ve been a romantic for so long, all I’ve ever had are love songs.” Not anymore. Nearly a decade after The xx first burst into the scene, who would’ve thought that they would release the album that really made you want to dance?

CALENDAR

30 MONDAY

LIFE OF THE PARTY LIBRARY BUILDING, ROOM 195 4 PM TO 6 PM / FREE Fentanyl-related issues have dominated the news in the past year and the Capilano Students’ Union (CSU) is here to help raise awareness about the troubling crisis. Stacey Forrester of the Portland Hotel Society will be on site to run a workshop about harm reduction. If you’re free on Monday at 4 pm, attend this. If you have a class, skip it and go to this.

FRIDAY

EARTHWORKS: THE PERFECT STATE

31 TUESDAY

LIBRARY BUILDING, ROOM 143 10:30 AM TO 11:15 AM / FREE A workshop on textbook reading for university students? Doesn’t that just sound insulting? Don’t put your feelings first because this workshop actually teaches you methods on getting through your dense and monotonous books and class readings, particularly those written by Kym Stewart’s favourite researchers. *signs up immediately*

CINEPLEX ODEON THEATRE SHOWTIME VARIES / $6.99+ Some serious cult classics are slated to be shown in this super cool event. Classics like Fight Club, which is a movie about a bunch of dudes fighting in a club, Jurassic Park, which is about dinosaurs in a park and Pulp Fiction, which I’m guessing is number three in our resident film expert Noah Penner’s list of top Quentin Tarantino films.

SATURDAY

COSTUMING FOR STAGE & SCREEN INFO MEETING

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

VANCITY THEATRE 9 AM / $20 If you had to actually read one entry from this calendar, this is it: Spark FX is an in-depth presentation from industry professionals about some of the behind-the-scenes work from the biggest films and TV shows out there. I’m talking about Game of Thrones big. For only $20, you get to meet some dope people, and maybe score, as this is also a career fair.

VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY CENTRAL BRANCH 12 TO 4 PM / FREE The Human Library is a powerful, engrossing and unforgettable storytelling experience that really helps push the PuSh Festival to the next level. I should really know more about this because just a year ago, we had a field trip to this. As you can tell by now, I didn’t go. I might go this time though.

SUNDAY

DROP-IN BASKETBALL POIRIER COMMUNITY CENTRE 8:30 PM / $2 After many months of complete inactivity, yours truly will probably bePRESENTS making his return to the hardwood on this day, granted he finishes his methods assignment for Communications 499 in time. Last time I was here, I was the shortest and meanest one on the court. This time, not only will that stay the same, but I will also be slowest, rustiest and possibly most out of shape.

BEST OF CAPILANO

ARKELLS

SUPER BOWL

UBC THUNDERBIRD SPORTS CENTRE 7 PM / $26.50+ I’m not very well versed with some of the best local musicians we have, but opinions editor Jessica Lio was bumping these guys the other day and I truly enjoyed it. I would go, but then I don’t really want to travel to the ends of the earth and go to UBC’s ultra far away Thunderbird Sports Centre.

AMERICA 4:15 PM / DEPENDS The Super Bowl is amazing because it’s basically America condensed in a few hours. You’ve got some incredibly expensive marketing, the occasional amazing half-time concert, an exciting dramatic battle between a hegemonic power and a seeming Voting: underdog and the Nov. 29–Jan. 12 eventual victory of a Winners Announced: Jan. 16 white male. group of people led by a much-maligned

BEST OF CAPILANO AWARDS NIGHT

READERS CHOICE AWARDS 2016 Ballot & Details Inside

THE CAPILANO COURIER

CEDAR BUILDING, ROOM 124 7 PM TO 9 PM / FREE One of Capilano University’s most exclusive programs, and I mean that as a compliment. As a first year, I remember taking a poli-sci course that happened to be populated by “G-Stew” students. Everyone was hugging and each other on the first day, and I thought I had an entered an alternate reality or something. I wasn’t wrong.

SPARK FX

PUSH FESTIVAL: HUMAN LIBRARY

BOSA BUILDING, ROOM 031 7 PM TO 9 PM / FREE If you've ever wanted to design costumes and clothing for the great characters you see on screen, this is the program for you. If you've ever wanted to be overlooked in terms of praise for a terrific movie or play, then this is definitely the program for you. I’m actually more interested in what the basement of Bosa looks like, and especially what the folks who study there are like.

GLOBAL STEWARDSHIP INFO MEETING

FORTUNE SOUND CLUB 8 PM / $25+ I knew nothing about The Knocks when I saw this listing, but I took the wild chance on checking out their Spotify feed, and guess what? These guys are pretty decent. They have a nice vibrant style of electronic and nu-disco music, and that is also the first time I have ever used the term “nu-disco” and I have never felt more pretentious in my life.

FLASHBACK FILM FEST

BOSA SCREENING ROOM 7 PM / FREE Earthworks puts on the best events on this campus, no joke. These guys bring in real food, a ton of easy-to-digest information and you even get a notation if you attend some of the programs they put together. With Trump’s omnipresent villainy towards the environment, learning a thing or two about sustainability has never been more in demand.

TEXTBOOK READING

THE KNOCKS

LIBRARY BUILDING, CSU MEMBER’S LOUNGE 6 PM / FREE We asked and you voted. Most of you. Okay, some of you. Fine, hardly any of you. But democracy isn’t always about how many people who voted, its about who you voted for – so on this night, we’ll be celebrating some of Capilano University’s best people. I’m telling you, this is the most prestigious set of awards you’ll see.

FIR BUILDING, THIRD FLOOR 6:30 PM / FREE STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, four fields of study that I did not know existed at CapU. The STEM folks have a particular focus on the environment, health sciences and applied sciences, making it sound extra legit. I dare you to find me an engineering student here. Good luck!

BEST OF CAPILANO AWARDS NIGHT

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SCHOOL OF STEM OPEN HOUSE

OPINIONS

CREATIVITY IN THE SMARTPHONE ERA Breaking down the creative mind to build up artificial success Rachel D’Sa

My Friday evening started out like any other university student’s – with a hot cup of tea in hand and a YouTube subscription box filled with the week’s unwatched videos. I scrolled past videos titled “I’m Sorry” and “Update Vlog” knowing they’d lead to 20-minute speeches about not posting often enough and apologies about the lack of makeup or content quality. Instead, I spent the night watching comedy sketches, vlogs and endless makeup tutorials. We live in a world where it’s incredibly easy to create and share content. But even though technology has made it easier to share our creative work, does it give us time to actually grow as creative people? Living in the smartphone era has made our day-to-day lives, to a degree, more competitive and stressful. More than ever, artists and media creators feel the pressure to constantly create exciting new content. Then, there’s the added pressure to be instantly successful with audiences. Modern communication platforms can hold a lot of power over people. Some social media users even pay money to create the illusion of success and popularity, using apps like Get Followers and We Follow to acquire more followers and likes. These apps thrive on the pathetic ways people search for validation online. The idea of “the more the merrier” controls how we live our lives, including the content we create. Inevitably, artists feel pressured to sacrifice creative control for what we deem as “success”. Jeffree Starr, one of YouTube’s most popular celebrities, recently recorded a video following the “1000 degree knife”

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THE LIVELIHOOD OF BILLIONS REDUCED TO THE WEALTH OF EIGHT In a world of broken systems, something has to change Noah Penner MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

Throughout all of history, there’s been conflict between the people who have nothing and the few who have it all. The names for each side may have changed, and many proposed solutions have come and gone, but the struggle hasn’t gone away. In 2016, the American people (and, by extension, Europe) voted for social-democracy to be replaced with conservative populism, and globalization

–MARIA CENTOLA

CONTRIBUTOR

trend, in which users record themselves cutting objects in half to view the inside contents. Starr reached an incredible total of 3.5 million views and more than 130,000 likes in just a few days, by cutting a $5,000 Chanel bag in half. The video’s success, in terms of popularity and commission made from views, scores high. However, in terms of creativity, it reeks of creative obstruction. The popularity of trendy videos helps to build larger fan bases, leading to success for the creators in the form of money and admiration, but often at the loss of creative control. The idea of not filming a video because it won’t be trendy or because someone fears of losing followers leads to a stunt in artists’ growth as creative people.

Programs like Statigram display the best times to post on social media according to the times that users are most active. This software can have positive outcomes when it comes to businesses looking to manage their professional online presence, but when the everyday person begins to obsess over not getting enough likes, it’s a problem. How can people truly be creative if their content and lifestyles are based around what will get more likes and look good in photos, just to be validated and held successful to societies standards? For businesses, posting more online content can lead to more interaction with customers. Businesses lacking online presence get labelled as inconsistent and unreliable. But inactive

personal accounts also receive negative judgement from peers. People make the assumptions that inactive users don’t have “fun enough” lives to post about. In actuality, these users could very well be living a fulfilling lifestyle by society’s standards. Maybe they’re just living in the moment, a way of life that’s been lost over the ages. The smartphone era means we’re living in a world with no downtime, and our creativity suffers. We’re always engaged, always fixated on our pocketsized screens that diverge us from boredom, the source of creativity. As an avid digital technology user myself, I find it nearly impossible to turn off the bright light that’s wiping my internal creative hard drive, even now.

to be replaced with protectionism. The end goal remained the same: economic prosperity for themselves, sometimes at a higher human cost than before. Both have been tried already, and neither have fully succeeded. The core problem of inequality remains, because each solution tries to engage an inherently broken system. You can’t build off an imbalanced platform. This imbalance extends to more than just monetary wealth. Consider the eight richest people in the world. All of them are male. Six are American, one is Mexican, one is Spanish. With the sole exception of Mark Zuckerberg, they’re all older than fifty. Together, they own as much wealth as half the world’s population – around 3.6 billion people. In a world where success is promised in exchange for hard work, almost none of us fit into these specifications. Apparently, if you’re not born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you’ll never taste one at all. These inequalities extend all the way from Wall Street to Capilano University. Many, if not most students have to

take out a loan to attend school – it’s just not possible to afford it otherwise. Even for those who somehow manage to comfortably pay this off, today’s workforce isn’t exactly a welcoming place. The dream of working up the corporate ladder and being rewarded for working hard and thinking smart is dead and gone, if it ever even existed in the first place. The prospect of working a job you hate because “that’s just how the world works” is an unfair reality. Yet, somehow it’s still expected of people to grit their teeth, turn their brain off, and spend the rest of their life accepting it, all while padding the pockets of a few and being given the legal bare minimum for their efforts. This unfair reality needs to be understood, and it does not need to be respected. There are solutions at hand, from a simple universal basic income to a more radical reformation of the economic system. Today’s students are the working force of tomorrow. More than anyone, they are in the greatest position to accept, debate and implement new ideas

through whatever career they pursue. After all, history has never been steered by people who accepted the status quo as-is. Change has always started from people who thought larger than the here and now. They didn’t play the game, but changed it altogether. In a time where the keyboard is more dangerous than the pen could ever be, where the camera on a smartphone can be more powerful than even the largest Hollywood studio, young people have the ability more than ever to hear, and be heard. A world can be built where no one has to worry about whether there will be food on their plate, whether they will have a roof over their head or have enough clean water to drink. Within reach is a world where everybody has an equal opportunity to be whoever they want to be, and to live a happy and fulfilling life. The massively excessive wealth of eight men can become the necessary food, water and shelter for billions. A better, more equal world is possible – and it starts with us.

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WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE WOMEN’S MARCH ON WASHINGTON Your feminism will be be intersectional or it will be bullshit Jessica Lio OPINIONS EDITOR

Jan. 20 was a painful day for many women around the world. The following day, an estimated 4.6 million people took to the streets in more than 600 cities to demonstrate support for women’s rights and solidarity with those resisting the Trump administration. In Vancouver, organizers of the local Women’s March on Washington (WMW) brought together more than 15,000 people in the name of intersectional feminism. However, after it was brought

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to the public’s attention by Black Lives Matter (BLM) Vancouver that they hadn’t been contacted or consulted by the organizing committee, it became clear that many feminist communities have work to do when it comes to understanding intersectionality. When it comes to activists and community organizers, Vancouver is a small city. BLM is one of the city’s few groups who visibly advocate for Black, Trans and Queer folks’ issues. It’s not easy to overlook them. Anybody who has been a community organizer in the past couple of years should know that and should see the value of amplifying those voices. Anybody who doesn’t see the value should not be calling themselves intersectional feminists. To send out a non-apology saying that you tried your best but didn’t purposely exclude anybody even if it was “perceived” was just an insult. You don’t erase the voices of groups who you are claiming to support. You don’t call for unity when you are complicit in minimizing the very issues that affect people who will be most affected by the

Trump administration. There is no place in intersectional feminism for women of colour to be blamed for “dividing” the march. After WMW organizers finally posted a second statement regarding the apology they had sent to BLM Vancouver, there was a moment of resolve. Finally, the organizers had chosen to listen and really understand the voices of those who were frustrated. Finally, we could take another step towards truly intersectional feminism. But that didn’t last long. Many commenters continued to claim “I didn’t get an invite and I still marched” or “I saw lots of women of colour there so I don’t get what you’re complaining about” not understanding the importance of BLM’s official representation. Other community members still rattled on about how this march was not about individuals but rather everybody standing together. “How much do they need to apologize so one group’s feelings don’t get hurt?” they asked, claiming that their decades of activism has taught them not to be

divisive but rather to support each other. Speaking up when you don’t feel that a movement’s mission is truly being fulfilled is not divisive. What’s divisive is the refusal to listen to marginalized groups, and taking pride in doing so. It’s choosing to continue a long-standing history of people who have privilege telling oppressed folks that to get over their pain. Unity does not mean treating women of colour, Queer and Trans folks as allies of your movement, rather than those who are equally important. Unity does not mean expecting people to stand with you and show solidarity when you are not representing what they believe in. We don’t get to talk about unity without acknowledging that the feminist movement had its root in the violent oppression of people of colour. We don’t get to ask people to “move forward” and “come together” when we’ve been saying for more than three decades that feminists need to acknowledge its racism problem without seeing results. We need listen to each other. We need do better.

several words of “O Canada”, our national anthem, from “In all thy sons command” to “In all of us command”. The year before that, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced a 30 person cabinet with an equal number of men and women. Yet, neither of these actions brought instant gender equality, let alone squashed the continuous racial discriminations. Sir John A. MacDonald, Canada’s very first Prime Minister, was a prominent figure of Canadian history but what exactly did he do to deserve being the face of the $10 bill? For all the privileges he had as the Prime Minister, it still doesn’t absolve him from running a racist and misogynistic platform. Yes, it’s true that compared to modern day Canada, the country wasn’t as progressive back in 1887, but that still doesn’t excuse our ignorance towards our dark colonial past. In fact, we are just as bad as the hateful perpetrators of

racism should we continue denying the sins of our past. Instead of promoting guilt and shaming ourselves, why don’t we take the first step in appreciating our privileges and acknowledge the experiences of our fellow Canadians? Fast-forward to 2017, when segregation laws have been struck down but racism still lingers around our social infrastructures. Don't believe me? Take a look around New Westminster and you will find Neo Nazi propaganda scattered across the city. Still not convinced? How about the KKK literature that was distributed in Abbotsford just last week? Canadians have the tendency to think of these cases as isolated incidents, but just saying that these situations don’t really reflect Canadian values ignores the reality that many people truly believe Canada would be better off without multiculturalism. For some reason, there is this double

standard that if the perpetrators of crime are identified as People of Colour, they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and sometimes even face disproportionate punishment. Yet, if we see Caucasian criminals being broadcasted in media, they're portrayed as victims of surrounding circumstances and sometimes get away with a slap on the wrist (See Brock Turner and his three-month sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious girl). We still have a long way to go before we stop squabbling over whoever gets to become the new face of our money. Remember, just because you have never experienced racism it doesn’t mean racism doesn’t exist. Say, isn’t Black History Month coming soon? This could be the perfect opportunity for schools to raise awareness about who Viola Desmond is and what she stood for.

PUTTING VIOLA DESMOND ON THE $10 BILL Facing Canada’s history of racism Andrew Yang

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It’s surprising that my high school social studies class didn’t teach who Viola Desmond is, let alone why she deserves to be featured on the Canadian $10 bill next year. For those who have never heard of Desmond, she is the Canadian equivalent of Rosa Parks. Back in 1946, Desmond simply wanted to watch a movie on the main floor of a cinema, yet she was denied due to the colour of her skin. She decided to sit among the white audience anyways instead of passively accepting the discrimination. For her act of defiance against the racist status quo, she was arrested and, to add insult to injury, Desmond was charged with tax evasion even though she committed no such crime. All because she was sitting in the designated seating area for white folks. It wasn’t until in the year 2010 when Desmond finally received her posthumous pardon. See, having Viola Desmond featured on the $10 bill scores a major victory for the feminist and civil rights movement. But on the other hand, there will always be complaints about why more prominent Canadian women such as Laura Secord, Emily Carr or even Margaret Atwood weren’t even considered as candidates for our currency representatives. It would be only counterproductive the moment women start fighting each other for what recognition they can achieve in a patriarchal setting. It’s not the first time Canada made changes in the name of gender equality. Last year, parliament voted to change

–A NN IE CH AN G

CONTRIBUTOR

COLUMNS

Max Ley COLUMNIST

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Buffalo Chicken Dip + Sauvignon Blanc

It's been a rough few weeks, especially for our American neighbours. After the overly-aggressive Cheeto Tiny Hands became President of the United States, I know many Americans who've become disillusioned, upset and frankly could use a little pick-me-up. My Ohio-born and raised girlfriend, Victoria, was one of those many angry Americans, and today's food choice is a special tribute to the American Midwest: Buffalo Chicken Dip. I went into this knowing absolutely nothing about this stuff but was guaranteed that this is a classic, cheap and spectacularly unhealthy dish. Victoria had her own recipe kicking around and it was deceptively easy to put together. And for the first time ever, we here at Sip, Sip, Hurray! decided to include the recipe for today's dish so you can try it out at home! Essentially, the dip is a beautiful melting pot of Frank's Red Hot, cream cheese, grated cheddar, blue cheese dressing (or ranch) and pulled chicken. Simple, fast and deliciously decadent. So, what on earth can you pair with this diet-destroying dish? With the heavy decadence of the Buffalo Chicken Dip, something clean, fresh and dry was needed, to pair properly. With that in mind, I opted for the 2016 Matua Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Matua holds an interesting distinction as being the first New Zealand winery to produce Sauvignon Blanc back in 1974. While the clear majority of the most popular New Zealand whites are produced from the world-famous Marlborough region, today's Sauvignon comes from the Hawke's Bay region. With huge weather extremes, and its own little microclimate, Hawke's Bay is an old region with its own very distinct personality in its wines. This Sauvignon was beautiful. Big, hefty aromas of guava, lime and stone fruit are evident, while remaining clean and fresh, accompanied by a light yet fleshy mouthfeel with flavours of lime, kiwi, more of that stone fruit and pleasant acidity. This dry white has a nice, lovely finish and leaves you with tropical fruit notes lingering along the palate. I have a huge fondness for New Zealand Sauvignons and this one is pretty high up on my list of favourites. The question remains, though: whether or not this wine was the perfect pairing with the huge bowl of Buffalo Chicken Dip on the table in front of me. The answer is yes. Yes, it was. Over the course of this column, I have found certain pairings that are just amazing and perfect 10/10's, and the Matua paired with this dish was definitely one of them. We had some homemade crostini and celery sticks as dipping tools

for the dip and I tried the wine with both of those, plus heavy portions of the dip. Buffalo Chicken Dip is just an assault of cheesy savouriness. With the combo of cream cheese and cheddar, plus the blue cheese dressing and a kick of spice from the Frank's, there is a heck of a lot for this wine to fight through. The Matua was absolutely perfect in every way. Not only did it manage to cut through the fatty flavours of the dip, but the wine managed to make the whole dish lighter and far more fresh. The crostini didn't add much to the flavour of the whole dish but simply provided a little bit more texture than simply the chicken, whereas the celery provided a bit of a fresh bite that accompanied the "green" flavours of the wine. It was delicious and beautifully decadent. This is a pairing I would absolutely return to at any time. Tonight's sampling of an American Midwest classic was an absolute success. The wine made it all even better. Hopefully, great comfort foods like this one will help us get through the chaos of the next four years, and if not, wine will still make it all better. Be sure to follow me on Instagram and Twitter @sipsiphurray.

Here’s the recipe for today’s meal! Feel free to give it a try! Victoria’s Buffalo Chicken Dip 2 ½ cups shredded, cooked chicken breasts 1 ½ cups Chunky Bleu Cheese dressing (can use Ranch as well) 1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened and cubed 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese 1 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce 1 ½ tsp. Tabasco (optional) You can cook the dip one of two ways: Crock Pot 1. Combine ingredients in crock pot and cook until melted and combined (1 – 1 ½ hours). 2. Stir often. Oven 1. Pre-heat oven to 375°F 2. Combine ingredients in large mixing bowl 3. Pour mixture into a glass baking dish 4. Cook for 15 minutes 5. Remove and stir 6. Cook for 5 additional minutes Serve hot with celery, tortilla chips or homemade crostini!

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REIGN VANCOUVER Beet It Marissa Del Mistro

Disguised as an average residential property, City Beet Urban Farm continues to transform unused land into a flourishing edible landscape. The urban model has found its success by visiting houses in the Riley Park and Mount Pleasant area and intriguing homeowners with an irresistible offer: trading their backyard space for healthy and fresh produce. This summer, the farm was purchased by multi-talented and best friend duo Madeline Clerk and Elena Evans. Clerk and Evans recounted how they bonded to the Capilano Courier, laughing about the close quarters of their threemonth tree planting experience in the summer of 2012 in Grand Prairie, Alberta. With their individual attributes – Evans’ background in soil science and planting and Clerk’s business and entrepreneurial prowess – their unique set of skills intersect on their passion with connecting to the earth and providing nutritious food. In a city environment, it’s almost too easy to disconnected from where your food comes from. City Beet is striving to change that. The model applies otherwise underutilized space and connects people to where the food they eat is grown. Farm-toplate education is important and available in a city like Vancouver, with its density and interested folk. City Beet is aiming to provide the best locally-grown, nutritious food that is also very accessible. The urban farm boasts approximately 40 different types of crops and often intrigues people with unfamiliar vegetables. The farms are all within 10 blocks of each other, making biking their preferred method of transportation. City Beet is predominantly people-powered, allowing for less impact on the soil and the earth.

GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN’ On your marks… Get set… Car2Go! Andrew Yang COLUMNIST

It reconnects Vancouverites to their food, farmers and community. As the new owners, Evans and Clerk are excited to continue meeting the people of Vancouver. They receive countless compliments regarding the beauty and visibility of the green spaces and their functionality. The pair are inspired to teach, grow and challenge Vancouver about food and sustainability. “It may mean taking less time out of a day to pull weeds out to offer community support,” Evans elaborated, “but we want to make more time to talk to people and engage to explain things like what a broccoli plant really looks like in different stages of life.” The young farmers are deepening their understanding of the importance and honour to walk the lands that belong to the people before. The urban farms are

built upon Indigenous lands, belonging to the Coast Salish People. This includes the territories of Musqueam, Skxwú7meshulh, Stó:lo and Tsleil-Waututh nations. There is important history here. “It’s an ongoing understanding but it’s something to consider within Vancouver and our place in it,” Evans expressed. The pair can’t think of a better form of activism – and way to spend their timeby sharing their passion of nutritious, local and sustainable food with the people of Vancouver. CSA shares are set to go on sale in the upcoming weeks. Evans and Clerk are adding a payment plan, allowing even more accessibility. Connect with these change-makers via their Instagram and Facebook pages: @citybeetfarm or visit their website, Citybeetfarm.com.

Considering how my wallet was empty and a girlfriend isn’t one of my 99 problems, I thought it was well worth a shot anyways. My first day started on Italian Day, and people flooded Commercial Drive from Hastings to Broadway. After the job orientation, it all came down to me handing out free sunglasses and discount flyers to bypassing pedestrians. Sounds simple, right? Nuh-uh, I had to deal with all types of customers. That’s including the sourpusses and cheapskates. Here’s a first example: a guy walked in front of me and asked what insurance plan Car2Go offers and how much damage they cover. Being the new guy who was only trained with minimum details, I couldn’t give out a direct answer. Because A: that would be against company policy if I told him the specifics, and B: I wasn’t working long enough to know anyways. I apologized to the poor guy and offered to get the manager for him, but he decided to make a big spectacle by ranting how he’ll get people to boycott Car2Go services. Okay, and then what? I pretty much just let him run around and yell like a maniac. How do people even survive customer service jobs?

Another thing that caught me off guard was this particular customer fuss: A Chinese couple walked in and their two-year-old kid wanted to enter a Members Only area. Problem is, they’re not registered Car2Go members, so I couldn’t grant them entry. Suddenly, the dad yelled at me for being a racist, because he claimed that he saw me allowing a white family in (who showed proof of membership, by the way) without much of a hassle. It got even worse when his wife had to hold him back and the kid started to cry, and everybody was just staring at us. My manager checked in to see what the problem was. He asked that I apologized to the family and let the kid in the Members Only lounge anyways. Yeah… That happened… I wasn’t even mad, I was just embarrassed because it’s not worth holding a grudge over a misunderstanding (and it doesn’t help that there are still Chinese tourists reinforcing negative stereotypes in broad daylight). Besides, my co-workers and my manager were pretty cool people, and even they agreed how stupid it was that somebody made a big deal over something so trivial. Usually I deal with unreasonable customers by pretending

they’re yappy Chihuahuas. Admit it, at some point in your life you’ve fantasized about dropkicking that son of a bitch for making your life difficult. On a serious note, it’s tough to contain the unjustified anger since you’re getting flack for something beyond your control. That’s not to say that you must resort to biting your tongue. Instead, you must stand on the high ground and deny them reasons why you’re at fault. By showing how you are genuinely sorry, you will gain sympathy from your manager, co-workers and the customers around you. Worst case scenario, you rage-quit and flip out, thereby damaging your work credibility. Here’s my advice for damage control: take a chill pill and pray that you don’t get arrested. Trust me, no job is worth ruining your mental health for. Don’t forget, you’ve also got coworkers who have it just as bad, if not even worse, than you. So why not take this opportunity to network with them? Chances are, they’ll find cooler job offers and you need all the eyes and ears this city has to offer. Heck, that’s how I got a Cirque du Soleil gymnast’s phone number.

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“We will be really mindful of our water,” Evans added. “We will have a soil moisture monitor so we that can be specific with the water we do use.” As stewards of the land, they recognize it’s their responsibility to take care of the soil and maintain sustainable organic practices to keep the soil and vegetables healthy. Bringing people together is an intrinsic part of the model. The farm runs on a community shared agriculture (CSA) basis, where shareholders pay a price and are provided with fresh vegetables for, ideally, 22 weeks. “It’s exciting to get people together to pick their produce up,” Clerk said. Their unique method of pick-up takes place at The Mighty Oak, conveniently located near the growing spaces. CSA shareholders are like-minded, working towards real change in both the local and global food system.

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My resume is pretty much sprinkled with part-time jobs and one-time gigs. That’s fine by me, because in the current economy where full time jobs with benefits are running scarce, you would probably keep on searching for what’s best for you in your current living situation. Me? I’ve got nothing but time to kill and money to spend, but I certainly don’t want to be stigmatized as an entitled, lazy Millennial. So what better way to gain some practicum hours other than temporary job contracts? That’s right, I managed to land myself a sales representative role for Car2Go. I’m going to be honest with you: I wasn’t exactly a major fan of Car2Go because their Smart Cars look like cute blue marshmallows on wheels. I mean, come on, can I really pick up girls with a car that looks like it could turn into street s’mores at any given second?

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COLUMNIST

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GET ON UP Denial is delicious Aidan Mouellic COLUMNIST

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We’re all born with a genetic cornucopia that we can’t control. As mentioned in my previous column, my brain is prone to mental illness. The depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder I dance with was somehow wired into me. My family also has a genetic predisposition to being skinny. At some point in my life, I was skinny myself. For nearly a decade, I was a lithe cyclist that was more concerned about how I looked in lycra than in street clothes and I viewed food as non-consequential fuel – things change though. The term ‘comfort food’ is unnecessarily cute. Comfort eating is a socially acceptable vice that, according to my mirror, I thoroughly enjoy. As with any self-destructive behaviour, it all starts wonderfully and innocently. Sugar and fat are the most delicious drugs. When you're diving into nutritionally worthless food, it feels great – the shame afterwards, not so much. Moderation with any substance is crucial and it’s what separates healthy behaviour from self-destructive behaviour. Eating some nutritionally void food occasionally is fine – constantly resorting to food to quell unpleasant emotions is a different story. Emotional eating is something that is common knowledge, yet it’s not taken very seriously by a lot of us. I’m only now coming to terms with how I’ve

been resorting to eating garbage to feel less like garbage. You’ve all the right to label me a naive idiot. It’s not as if I was unaware of what I’ve been doing but I’m reaching the point where I’m cognizant enough to try to make changes. One thing for sure, though, is that altering my diet has proven to be much harder to accomplish than keeping my other vices in check. When food wasn't enough to take me out of the present, I enhanced my diet with another dopamine boosting agent. For a couple years, I used weed to get high almost daily – at first I thought it would be an enjoyable and productive addition to what I was already doing to deal with my mental state. If you believe the ads that the local dispensaries display, marijuana is the cure for all of life's problems. That could be the case for some, but getting drunk or high is not an optimal solution to any problem. I’ve dramatically cut back my usage and have found it to be pretty easy to do. To be fair, weed just started not being that fun anymore; it began to induce anxiety instead of reducing it, so that made it easier to cut back. Fortunately, (or unfortunately), food still tastes great, but the associated shame and other side-effects, like being fat and lethargic, doesn’t, My history professor here at Capilano University, Dr. Dennis Dubord, told us a saying in class last week that went along the lines of “change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.” It’s a telling statement and for me, tackling my unhealthy relationship with food is a step towards addressing my

–JENNY OAKLEY

psychological state in a healthier way. I’m not going to tell you what to eat because we all already know what we should be eating – less carbs, sugar, and garbage and more fruits and vegetables. The difficulty doesn't come from choosing what to eat, it comes from addressing the emotions that lead us to stuff our faces with sugary, fatty garbage. I’ve got a long way to go

but being conscious about the reasons behind our actions is hopefully going to help us make smarter decisions. It’s something which hopefully becomes a habit for me. Perhaps the best habit is being honest with ourselves to break the cycle of denial that enables us to devour the things that are only helping to hold us down – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

HUMOUR

TO JOEY, WITH LOVE

stand on the right side of this issue. People loving people – it’s one of the reasons I love you. Just when I thought I could get over you, you go and do something that makes me want to be a character in a rom-com. You make masturbation easy.

A selection of love letters to Joe Biden Leah Scheitel

Yours in what is now desperation, A damsel waiting for her knight

CONTRIBUTOR

November 5, 2008 Dear Vice-president elect Joe Biden, What an exhilarating time to be alive. With you and President-elect Obama heading to the White House soon, the message of HOPE above all else has been embedded into the American fabric. People are vibrating with optimism as the election fever climaxes all over this country. If I can sheepishly admit, I’m just as tickled as the rest of the country. The anticipation of you entering the (preferably my) oval office pulses through me with such vigour, I can hardly sleep. Listen to me gush to a man I have yet to physically meet. My mother would call this slightly desperate, and it might be. It is also needed. I need you to know how excited your rise to second-highest office in the first world makes me. I will be watching in eager anticipation of what you will achieve.

March 1, 2016 Dearest Joey,

Yours in dramatic fashion, A vibrating American

March 3, 2009 Dear Joe, Do you prefer Joe, Joseph or Joey? Personally, I prefer Joey, because it makes it sound friendlier. And let’s face it, you are the political version of Joey from Friends. That’s where two per cent of your votes came from – people who wanted to see Joey Tribbiani as Veep. What does President Obama call you? I bet he calls you Joey as well, because you guys seem like the best of friends. I saw the way he looked at you at the State of the Union address. That’s a look normally reserved for

intimate lovers or best friends. If you looked at me that way, all my orgasms would come at once, and I would be the most satisfied woman in America. I read in the news that you compare yourself to a basketball player “who does a bunch of things that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.” That’s such an articulate way to explain what you do and who you support. It’s like you’re Obama’s favourite sports bra – the one he wears everyday because it makes him feel sexier and more confident, two things vital to a healthy presidency. I must admit, Joey, my affection for you has been undying. I have tried to move on from my attraction to you by online dating, but I set profile to search for men in your age range and will only talk to them if they share one attribute with you. It has made for a rather bleak love life. It does illustrate my appreciation for you: formidable, unique and lonely. Yours in my romantic dreams, A political groupie

May 31, 2012 Dearest Joey,

Yours in yearning desire, The Kristen Stewart to your Robert Pattinson

January 20, 2017 Dearest Joey,

Yours in nothing but innocent appreciation, A sexually frustrated American

VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 13

It’s over. Your time as Veep has come to it’s climatic end, with the exact opposite of hope being inaugurated as president. It’s paradoxical that the men taking control of the White House make my lady bits recoil in fear when you and former president Obama made them dance with joy. Thank you for that. After the election, you became an Internet sensation, with a plethora of memes celebrating your boyish ways. It felt for the first time that the rest of America was beginning to realize what I knew all along – you are the best one. They fell in love with you, but remember who loved you first. It was, and always will be, yours truly. Over your eight years, I have written you a total of 417 letters, all professing my love. It pains me to tell you this will be the last time I write you, the last time I tell you how I feel, the last time I will sexually harass you with words. After America voted in a reality TV star with a penchant for sexual assault, I realized my literary advances on you might not have been welcomed and I never stopped to realize that. My desire for you was too great to thwart my advances. How heavy is the Presidential Medal of Freedom? As heavy as my heart seeing you leave the Oval Office? As heavy as my lions for you? As heavy as my words of lust? I wish you nothing but ice cream and beer for your retirement. You will continue to be the object of my affection, the man of my dreams, the hottest Veep in American history. You made Dick Cheney look like a chump, and I love you for that.

THE CAPILANO COURIER

You were in the news quite a bit this week, which prompted me to write to you. I haven’t written you in so long, as I was waiting for a response to my other letters. When a woman exposes herself to her ideal lover in such a bare way the polite thing to do is to return her desires. But alas, Joey, you prove to be more difficult to impress than my prom date. First, it’s official – you’re on the ticket for President Obama’s re-election campaign. There were rumours you would be replaced by Hillary Clinton, but Obama wanted you, which proves that the president and I have more in common than just a desire for universal health care. We both want you, but I bet our desires differ when the doors close. Secondly, you announced your support for same-sex unions, and without the blessing of the rest of the administration. From what the news reported, some staffers were upset you spoke out, as it derailed plans for Obama to announce it first, later in the year. But you, you have gumption and know it’s important to

Your appearance at last night’s Academy Awards made my heart and clitoris swell. You have become the political beacon of hope for survivors of sexual assault, an American epidemic. It is ironic when I’m applauding you for your stance on sexual assault when my letters may appear to suggest I would do that to you. Please don’t think of it as sexual assault but as a strong love that I cannot contain. Believe me, I have tried, and my shrink bill has been staggering over the past eight years. I now understand the unrequited love that has kept artists, lovers, musicians and Katherine Heigl employed for years. It is very real. With the presidential race heating up and your time in the White House winding down, I might have some reprieve from my undying lust for you. There is an animal magnetism to you that I cannot, and do not, want to understand. I just want to enjoy it. Other highprofile politicians have had affairs during their time in the White House. Hell, Warren Harding fathered an illegitimate child when he was President. If they can do it, and come away for the better, why won’t you try? My shrink says this is a bad way to think. I tell her my bad way of thinking keeps her employed. So, if nothing else, my love for you has done some good – it keeps food on my shrink’s table.

CABOOSE

HOROSCOPES

THINKING CAP

IF YOUR BIRTHDAY IS THIS WEEK:

I got you a cake, but I ate it.

LIBRA (SEPT. 22 - OCT. 23):

ARIES (March 21 - April 19):

It’s best to keep all your problems to yourself.

You’ll learn that although being stabbed in the back by a friend hurts, a shotgun to the face is much worse.

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20):

SCORPIO (OCT. 24 - NOV. 21):

Try not to take this week too seriously. Your life is a joke anyway.

It’s hard to take you seriously when you wear that cape every time you go out.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20):

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22 - DEC. 21):

Sing like no one is listening and dance like nobody's watching you from the bushes outside.

This week you’ll confirm that you are too old for laser tag.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 - JAN. 19):

CANCER (June 21 - July 22):

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Apple-flavoured Vodka does not.

At some point people are going to notice you’re directly responsible for most of the world’s problems.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20 - FEB. 18):

LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22):

Your week is going to be an onslaught of fast food hamburgers.

The most beautiful thing in the universe will flash right before your eyes. Too bad you’re blind.

PISCES (FEB. 19 - MARCH 20):

If getting in shape isn’t a good enough reason to start running, that large group of people gaining on you might be.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept. 21):

Just when everyone thinks things can’t possibly get any worse, you show up.

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Given that all of the furniture has been ripped out of the CSU Treehouse, what would you fill that space with?

"Maybe like a dining place for the coffee shop." Carissa Konesky, Third-year Global Stewardship

"Maybe something like a snooker table or table tennis. It's more active and snooker's pretty popular in Dubai. " Chitrali Sharma, First-year Business Nimisha Ojha, First-year Business

"I would probably say I'd like something similar to the closet in Zoboomafoo. They had this closet that would open up and there was this avalanche of debris that would come out." Joshua Larson, First-year Biology

"A nap room." Hunter Golden, Second-year Acting for Stage and Screen

HUMANS OF CAPILANO — DOMINIC GUIEB PHOTOS

Puzzle 1 (Hard, difficulty rating 0.67)

THE CAPILANO COURIER

5 5

SUDOKU

VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 13

1 4

7 2

2 2

"What has been your favourite life moment?"

Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Sat Nov 19 03:00:09 2016 GMT. Enjoy!

"Christmas. It's a time when everyone's smiling and everybody's together. There's just something about it, that everyone has a reason to be happy in an effortless fashion!"