Issuu

Vol. 20 Issue. 10

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

Born this way since 1993

Gender Bending with PRIDE! p. 12

A Gentlemanâ€™s Sport: Fencing p. 23

Too Late To Save Our Three Per Cent? p.7

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S ISSUE News

Opinion

Did your vote count? Grace Romund dishes on the SUS election. She provides a complete breakdown of vote numbers, vote scandals, and the victorious candidates. Say ‘hello’ to your 2012-2013 SUS directors!

Read more on page 21

Surveys, weasels, and other important matters Paul ESAU THE CASCADE Let me first of all say that I am deeply grateful to the 339 of you who filled out our survey on my.ufv. Ironically, that’s roughly as many responses as there were votes cast in the last SUS election, but you know what they say about dead horses. The editors and I here at The Cascade have studied your responses carefully, we have laughed, we have cried, and we have, in certain instances, been very, very confused. Yet overall, you’ve given us some very useful input which we plan to act on immediately. Some of you will be happy with our action, some of you won’t be, but I’m going to try my best to explain the logic behind our decisions. The Sex Column Contrary to what some of you were fearing (or hoping for), the question about the appropriateness of the sex column does not betray a desire to remove it from The Cascade’s content. Violet Hart’s column is an obviously controversial part of our publication, and we simply wanted to give UFV students an opportunity to directly comment on the matter. The result, for those who are curious, was roughly two to one in support of the column and its content, which was about what we expected. Those who considered the column inappropriate by and large argued that the column violated a standard of decency and professionalism to which The Cascade

should be holding itself. I’ve discussed this in previous articles so I won’t go into detail here, but the fact of the matter is that a “standard of decency,” much like the argument concerning an uncrossable “moral line,” is entirely relative. If The Cascade were to conform entirely to my moral line, there would be no sex column nor a single F-bomb in this publication. If it were to conform entirely to the moral line of Violet Hart or Johnny Roddick... what you hold in your hands would become a remarkably different paper. The Cascade is a forum in which a number of standards, moralities, and ideologies mix. It is a compromise, and, as with any good compromise, it is going to leave all parties a little frustrated. The Hard Cash One of the questions in our survey asked what our paper should spend money on if we had more money. While finances are always tight in student organizations like The Cascade, this is not our subtle way of asking for more money from the student body (nor would we buy yachts if we did). We simply wish to know how to prioritize the funds we do have. For example, if you compare the publication before you to those of March 7 or earlier (anything but the one with the Kony 2012 cover) you will discover a significant difference in the quality of the paper upon which it is printed. We accomplished this upgrade by renegotiating with our printer, and we’ve found that it provides a noticeable improvement in image definition and color quality.

This semester we’ve also maintained a consistent 20-24 page weekly publication that averages 4 pages longer than last year’s Cascade from the same period. Overall, we are working hard to do our best with the resources we have. Environmental Questions Many of you who took our survey expressed concern over the environmental impact of The Cascade, and especially the number of copies that find their way into recycling bins every week. Regrettably, part of the nature of print journalism is a high amount of paper waste by consequence of the short lifespan of each issue. Yet I would argue that The Cascade and International Web Express (the company which prints our newspaper) are attempting to make print journalism as green and efficient as possible. Web Express currently holds FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification, which means that it and every company handling the product in the “chain of custody” between the forest and the printing press meet strict environmental standards. The company also fosters a commitment to recycling all paper, cardboard, wooden pallets, plastics, aluminum plates, and ink used in the printing process. Similarly, we here at The Cascade make sure that every copy of our paper that we replace with the newest issue is immediately recycled. Having a physical paper is integral to our organization, yet we are also strive to be as ecofriendly as possible.

Weasel Jokes There are some of you out there who were very supportive of our inclusion of weasels in our survey, and some of you who said very unkind things about our professional abilities. I’m sorry you feel this way, but there are times when the sacred duties of journalism call us to write surveys about weasels. We are, after all, a subversive campus newspaper. Final Notes Your survey responses have also given us a number of other goals to move towards in the coming weeks, including incorporating content from UFV faculty and community members into the paper, and really focusing on covering campus events (this weeks cover is evidence that we are listening). We’re sorry for not including “abstention” options on the appropriate multiple-choice questions (this made things difficult for some of you), or a “I’m a celibate nun” option to balance the “monk” in the question about the sex column. Finally, I personally am sorry for the article on the Cascades basketball teams in the February 29 issue, in which the two CIS teams are said to have been playing in the “Pac-West finals” instead of the “Canada West finals.” I’ve been aware of that particular mistake since March 1, but I was under the illusion (an illusion your survey responses have deprived me of) that nobody else had noticed.

Volume 20 · Issues 10 Room C1027 33844 King Road Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 604.854.4529 Editor-in-Chief esau@ufvcascade.ca Paul Esau Managing Editor ali@ufvcascade.ca Ali Siemens Business Manager ali@ufvcascade.ca Ali Siemens

Online Editor michael@ufvcascade.ca Michael Scoular Production Manager stewart@ufvcascade.ca Stewart Seymour Art Director anthony@ufvcascade.ca Anthony Biondi Copy Editor joel@ufvcascade.ca Joel Smart News Editor grace@ufvcascade.ca Grace Romund Opinion Editor dessa@ufvcascade.ca Dessa Bayrock Arts & Life Editor jen@ufvcascade.ca Jennifer Colbourne Sports Editor sean@ufvcascade.ca Sean Evans Photojournalist rebecca@ufvcascade.ca Rebecca Groen News Writer joe@ufvcascade.ca Joe Johnson Staff Writers Karen Aney, Sasha Moedt, Leanna Pankratz, Alexei Summers Contributors Taylor Johnson, Teila Smart, Paige Hoblak, Kenneth Muir, Nick Ubels, Tim Ubels, Nadine Moedt, Brad van Haastregt Printed By International WebExpress

UPCOMING EVENTS March 27

March 27-30

March 29

March 30

A roundtable on BA curriculum

Fraser Valley Regional Science Fair

Student Microlecture Series

Martial Arts Demonstration

A roundtable sponsored by the College of Arts BA Task Force will be taking place Tuesday March 27 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. at UHouse on Abbotsford campus. The roundtable is intended to develop some ideas on how to increase the creativity and ingenuity of the BA curriculum at UFV. Four panelists will be discussing BA curriculum: John Carroll from the creative writing department, Bruce Kirkley from the theatre department, dean of Trades John English, and Shelley Stefan from the visual arts department. Refreshments will be provided.

Remember the days of big poster board science projects? Take a look at what kinds of whacky science experiments elementary and secondary school students from around the Fraser Valley are doing these days. A wide variety of science projects in the form of reports, demonstrations, and models will be on display in the Envision Athletic Centre in the south gym from March 27 to 30. The top projects of the fair will be awarded prizes at a ceremony on Friday March 30 at 4 p.m. in the Envision Centre in the south gym.

Microlecture series are well-known to UFV as mini-lectures in which scholars have just two minutes to state their name and outline the major points of their research. It’s a way to learn about as many of the various research projects funded by UFV as possible in a short period of time. The research that will be showcased at the upcoming microlecture series event will be that of students. On March 29 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. UFV students will be giving short presentations on their research at UFV in the Roadrunner lounge in A building. Following the lectures there will be a period of discussion and networking.

Each week, on Friday afternoons, the Japanese Culture Club offers various cultural activities to all UFV students. On March 30 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. the Japanese Culture Club will be hosting a martial arts demonstration at U-House. The Japanese Culture Club enjoy sharing their culture with anyone who is interested in coming out to their events. It is also a fun way to meet new people of different backgrounds as you learn about their culture.

The Cascade is UFV’s autonomous student newspaper. It provides a forum for UFV students to have their journalism published. It also acts as an alternative press for the Fraser Valley. The Cascade is funded with UFV student funds. The Cascade is published every Friday with a circulation of 1500 and is distributed at UFV campuses and throughout Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Mission. The Cascade is a member of the Canadian University Press, a national cooperative of 75 university and college newspapers from Victoria to St. John’s. The Cascade follows the CUP ethical policy concerning material of a prejudicial or oppressive nature. Submissions are preferred in electronic format through e-mail. Please send submissions in “.txt” or “.doc” format only. Articles and letters to the editor must be typed. The Cascade reserves the right to edit submissions for clarity and length. The Cascade will not print any articles that contain racist, sexist, homophobic or libellous content. The writer’s name and student number must be submitted with each submission. Letters to the editor must be under 250 words if intended for print. Only one letter to the editor per writer in any given edition. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of UFV, Cascade staff and collective, or associated members.

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

NEWS

Athletics director hosts info session:

The case for the Campus Recreation Fee MICHAEL SCOULAR

THE CASCADE

If the Athletics and Campus Rec Fee referendum does not pass, Athletics director Chris Bertram will be very disappointed. “We’d just be who we are, and is that good enough?” Athletics director Chris Bertram asked. “[It would be] a missed opportunity, a gap at this institution that other universities are doing.” A low turnout did nothing to dissuade the motivated Bertram along with Susan Francis from Student Life, who hosted an information session regarding the proposed campus recreation fee and referendum ahead of the March 19 to 21 voting period. Some of the topics discussed at length during the session were: the cost to students, potential benefits of the fee, and what to do about those who don’t or won’t care either way. Bertram understood that asking students if they approve introducing a new fee is “a tough sell” and hoped to dispel misin-

Image: ufv.ca

formation, pointing out that as Continuing Studies courses don’t count for university credits, they would not have to pay the fee. For International students, Bertram said that should the fee be introduced, it would be at the domestic rate. As of Winter 2013 semester would be when the increase would take effect. Despite these assurances, newly-elected SUS VP east representative Shane Potter pointed out that those promises were not in official writing, and not part of the wording of the question being posed to students.

The question of whether or not students can take another fee increase remained. Many UFV students struggle to pay their current tuition and fees even though the rates are lower than the national average. Bertram noted that the three per cent cut was not a number agreed upon lightly. Many other institutions with similarly competitive sports teams, such as the University of British Columbia, Thompson Rivers University and Vancouver Island University have similarly titled, higher fees, some of which were not as openly presented to students. Of these examples and others, with similar fees, a four per cent fee was one of the lowest percentages on the scale of comparable examples. There is an apathy that surrounds UFV and this is an issue both in terms of the vote (the five per cent turnout threshold the vote must pass is hardly a given) and the overall student body (UFV is an institution where degrees, not activities and interaction, are the main, if not only, pursuit). Bertram and everyone hoping to pass this referendum

and promote campus recreation are trying to combat this apathy and attract the interest of students. Questions of how any additions, as a result of the influx of funding, would relate to or tangibly benefit many students uninterested in sports came up repeatedly, but Bertram illustrated the situation as one where the status quo can only result in disinterest. The additions have the potential to create opportunities for involvement and build school spirit. “We’re not saying this is a cure-all for apathy, we’re saying it’s one way we can deal with it,” Bertram said. As for the immediate benefits, Bertram stated that “There are a lot more problems than those four teams.” The volleyball, golf and rowing teams have been on the brink of altogether elimination this past year. However, if the referendum passes, that particular problem could be “immediately solved,” and the athletics department could operate without running a deficit. Francis mentioned that in or-

der to get the best representation of student opinion, every effort would be made to spread information on the vote during the voting period. Laptops, additional flyers, and more of an oncampus presence would supplement the online information that has been the main source for the referendum’s information so far. Asked how things would proceed should the fee be approved by student voters, Bertram elaborated on how a contract would need to be drawn up and a meeting between SUS president Carlos Vidal and UFV president Mark Evered would happen to discuss the formation of a Discretionary Fund Committee, which would decide on the allocation of 50 per cent of the income from the new fee. Twenty-five per cent is earmarked each for varsity athletics and campus recreational activities. Should things go smoothly for Bertram and others, the Athletics and Campus Rec Fee would take effect in the fall.

Conservative government passes controversial crime bill joe johnson

THE CASCADE

The Canadian government finally came through with their promise. The very publicized and controversial omnibus crime bill, “Safe Streets and Communities Act,” made its way through the House of Commons just days before Prime Minister Harper’s 100 sitting days declaration was about to expire. The passing of the bill was a given, considering the Conservatives hold a majority. Nevertheless, the final count to put the bill through was 154 to 129. Ed Fast, MP for Abbotsford, Minister of International Trade, and the Minister of the Asia Pacific Gateway, had this to say to The Cascade, “I am very pleased that our Conservative government has finally been able to pass its comprehensive crime bill. We have re-balanced our criminal justice system to return the focus on the victims of crime and potential victims of crime.” Contained in the omnibus bill is a collection of nine smaller bills that had previously failed to pass when the Conservatives governed with a minority government. A few of the larger points that were encompassed are the mandatory minimum sentences— which will see the growth of as little as six marijuana plants be included, a doubling of the maximum jail time for the production of schedule II drugs, extended maximum sentences for child predators and sex offenders, and a change to the leniency of the pardon system—now referred to as “record suspensions.”

image: London Summit

Other changes will include a greater chance of youth crimes being considered adult along with name bans becoming easier to lift, a limitation on a judge’s ability to grant house arrest, crime victims will have a greater say in parole decisions, terrorism victims will be granted the ability to sue those responsible, and there will also be changes to the decision process of international prisoner transfers, as well as greater protection for foreign workers. Fast addressed what a few of these laws, with drugs in particular, will mean to BC. “We believe that the protection of the public, and not the rights of violent and prolific criminals, should be our top priority. In BC, the production and distribution

of illegal drugs has increased dramatically, resulting in increased gang violence. By cracking down on drug traffickers rather than on recreational drug users we are making the streets of our communities safer places in which to live work and raise families.” Regarding the stronger sentences for child sex offenders, Fast commented, “We have also toughened up prison sentences for those who sexually assault children and those who use and distribute child pornography. That is the least we can do for the most vulnerable in our society. “At the same time, our legislation also recognizes that rehabilitation of drug users needs to be part of the solution. That’s why our legislation also allows a judge

to suspend the prison sentence for trafficking of a drug addict who satisfactorily completes an appropriate drug rehab program.” Of course, the bill still needs to clear the Senate before it can be ratified – which is where it’s at now. However, with the Senate also largely Conservative, it is expected that it will go through rather quickly. While the bill is something that the Conservative party feels passionately about, it has also received considerable criticism Some have said that parts of the bill suffer from little to no previous review, meaning that the measures may not adequately address the needs. Other aspects that were reviewed, and had recommended changes, did not ac-

tually see those alterations implemented. Another cited problem is how it fails to address the underlying roots of crime, while maintaining a narrow focus on increasing our number of prisoners. There’s also the displacement of those sentenced who may be moved into prisons far from their families. People living in remote areas of the country, such as aboriginal Canadians, will be mostly affected by this. Of course, the mandatory minimum sentences are also a hot topic as opponents to the bill cite how these sentence types have failed elsewhere, such as in the United States. And now with the Canadian government having done its part with the legislation, it’s left up to the provinces on how to implement and pay for the bill – creating another point of contention. The most vocal province has been Quebec, where they’re going so far as to openly imply that they’ll act on weakening the various provisions. “Although to address the provincial concerns, the federal government will work alongside them,” Fast said. “As for how the province will adapt to the enactment of the provisions of the bill, we will work closely with the province to ensure that the aims of our legislation are achieved.” How things will play out in the adoption of the bill by the provinces, how it’s adapted to by the courts, and what direction it will steer Canadian law, will all come to fruition in due time.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

NEWS

Gerda Peachey did not kill the sex show ALI SIEMENS

THE CASCADE Gerda Peachey has been a household name in Abbotsford in the last few months. From the mayoral elections to the issues surrounding the Taboo Naughty but Nice Sex Show held at the Abbotsford Tradex, as well as the impending lingerie football league, Peachey’s name has been featured in the media alongside these events. When the sex show was cancelled a few weeks ago, media groups contacted the hosts of the sex show, Canwest, and asked why they would be bypassing Abbotsford in their upcoming tour. While the difficulty of obtaining the appropriate liquor licensing was one issue, the next appeared to be Gerda Peachey. However, the show must go on and the sex show is in fact visiting Abbotsford, and Peachey’s beliefs did not effect the removal or reinstatement of the show. Unfortunately for Peachey, her name was used and her words were misquoted in a series of media broadcasts.

“I have never in 67 years seen my name and face featured this prominently. Most of what I read about myself was hate-filled, filthy vitriol, Peachey said. “Nice people, these taboo fans.” In an interview with Sean Libin vice-president of Canwest, Peachey’s name was brought up on several occasions. Peachey’s main concern with this broadcasting through The Abbotsford News was that she had never met nor spoke to Libin, leaving her curious as to why he was speaking about her when the issue revolved around a liquor license. When asked why Libin felt it was necessary to use Peachey’s name, he responded to her via e-mail saying, “what you need to realize is I

was answering specific questions posed by the media that were specifically directed about you. For example, ‘if you could send a message to Gerda Peachey, what would you tell her?’” Peachey viewed this debacle as a charade that increased free advertising for the event. Unscathed by the media’s attention, Peachey still stands firm on her beliefs, despite the insults and critiques she has received from the community. When asked if she will advocate against the sex show in the future, Peachey answered, “I regard the taboo show and the lingerie football as degrading, demeaning and destructive to the lives of women. If you demoralize women, you also cause grievous harm to their children,” Peachey noted. “I am not generally apathetic about these things.” Above all, Peachey felt her name was used to bring attention to the event. She said, “It worked so well for Canwest. All the show participants, who would be out of money, could direct their anger at me, not Canwest.”

All the cool kids are doing it...

Come write for The Cascade! Meetings on Monday at 8:30am in C1429 OR e-mail Ali: ali@ufvcascade.ca

NEWS BRIEFS

Image: freeaussiestock.com

Image: Sergei Karpukhin/reuters

Air Canada faces challenges from Aveos, pilots

Analysis: Canada farms fear consolidation, not foreigners, in Viterra bid

image: B.C. Gov Photos

Greece receives first tranche of new bailout aid

Post-secondary presidents claim B.C. budget will mean service cuts

Image: wired.com

Students threatened with arrest for leafleting in UBC building

MONTREAL/TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada’s biggest airline faced

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - For most of the past year,

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece has received the first 7.5 billion euros

VANCOUVER (CUP) ¡ª B.C.’s university and college presidents

VANCOUVER (CUP) ¡ª A small protest elicited a strong reaction

another day of labor complaints on Tuesday as laid-off workers

western Canadian farmers have braced for the rush of competi-

($ 9.9 billion) of aid from its new EU/IMF bailout, with the bulk of

believe that service cuts will come if the provincial government

from security at the University of British Columbia’s Alma Mater

with a company that services Air Canada planes took their

tion that will follow the end of the Canadian Wheat Board’s

the payment going to repay bonds held by the euro zone’s central

cuts funding to post-secondary education.

Society (AMS) Student Union Building (SUB) last week.

protest to its Montreal headquarters.

69-year-long monopoly on grain marketing in August.

banks, government officials said on Tuesday.

A letter signed by the the presidents of the 25 publicly funded

A group of about half a dozen students were told they would

Workers from Aveos Fleet Performance Inc, some of whom only

Now, they’re preparing for the possibility of seeing less than

The International Monetary Fund and Greece’s euro zone partners

universities and colleges in B.C. argues that it is “unrealistic to

be arrested if they continued to hand out leaflets protesting the

recently worked for Air Canada, pelted passing cars with stones

expected.

last week approved a second 130 billion euro ($172.15 billion)

assume that the [funding] reductions contemplated by Budget

Canadian military presence in Libya.

and debris after Aveos halted operations, laid off workers and

The fertile region’s biggest grain handler, Viterra, said on

rescue to keep the debt-choked country afloat through 2014.

2012 can be achieved without implications for service levels.”

“I feel like our perspective is really being actively silenced by se-

filed for bankruptcy protection.

Thursday it had hired advisers and set a process to vet takeover

“We received 5.9 billion euros from the euro zone and 1.6 billion

This contradicts the government’s claim that the $70 million

curity,” said Arielle Friedman, one of the students at the protest.

Separately, the airline’s pilots, angry after the federal govern-

interest, the first sign of a much-anticipated frenzy to take or

euros from the IMF,” a finance ministry official told Reuters.

funding gap can be overcome through administrative savings

The protest was taking place in front of a Canadian Forces booth

ment passed a law to prevent a strike or lockout at the airline,

build a position in the western Canadian wheat market as it

The official said Greece would use this money to pay 4.66 billion

and that neither student services nor research would be

at a job fair being held in the main concourse of the SUB.

said they were challenging the legislation in court.

opens to competition for the first time since World War Two.

euros to the European Central Bank and other euro zone national

affected.

An AMS security guard at the scene confirmed that they had told

Aveos, once the in-house maintenance division at Air Canada,

But whether farmers will win or lose from the transaction

central banks for the capital amount of a 3-year bond which

“It is critical for Government to understand that the $70 million

the students to stop handing out the leaflets or else face arrest.

secured bankruptcy protection on Monday, blaming main

depends heavily on who buys the former farm cooperative,

expired on Tuesday. The amount will also cover about 200 million

reduction to institutional grants over the last two years of the

“If you don’t stop doing it, that’s when I said you have to leave

customer Air Canada for a liquidity crisis. It laid off more than

which has a commanding 45 percent share of rural elevator

euros in interest on the same bond, with the rest going to cover

fiscal plan, combined with five years of unfunded inflationary

the building and if you do not leave the building and stop

1,200 workers, and told other employees not to return to work

storage - the backbone of the supply chain for getting crops from

budget needs, the official said.

pressures, creates a strain on the operations of post-secondary

handing out leaflets then we will have to use other force to get

until further notice.

the world’s No. 8 grain grower to global markets.

In the largest debt restructuring in history, private creditors have

institutions,” reads the letter addressed to Advanced Education

you to stop,” she said.

Neither Aveos nor Air Canada could be reached for comment,

Unlike the cool Canadian response to some big deals involving

taken losses on their Greek bondholdings, but not official creditors

Minister Naomi Yamamoto.

The security guard went on to say that because of AMS policy, if

although Air Canada said on Monday that a disruption at Aveos

foreign bidders, western Prairie farmers aren’t vocally worried

such as the ECB, meaning Athens must still pay out coupons and

The letter also expressed worries that post-secondary was the

the protestors wanted to hand out leaflets, they would have to

would not affect its day-to-day operations.

about whether Viterra retains the Maple Leaf stamp.

maturing debt.

only sector that received an overall funding reduction.

make a booking with the AMS.

About 300 protesters set up near the Air Canada and Aveos

They’re far more concerned with ensuring that the move toward

The parliament is scheduled to ratify the bailout deal later on

“We are very concerned that the Provincial Government is not

“It’s not about their cause, we have nothing against that. It’s

headquarters in an industrial neighborhood in Montreal. Some

a freer market isn’t compromised in the final furlong.

Tuesday, as expected.

aware of the measures the post-secondary sector has under-

[the] policies right now.”

threw eggs, rocks, wooden planks and Christmas lights at cars

“There’s a fear on our side that an existing multinational like

A government spokesman said Athens would name a new finance

taken in the last number of years in response to significant cost

According to one of the recruiters, the protestors were handing

headed toward the airline’s facility. One man was arrested, given

Cargill that’s already in this country would buy them and take

minister to replace Evangelos Venizelos on Tuesday or Wednesday.

pressures and no increases in institutional operating grants.”

out leaflets to people who were trying to get information from

a ticket and released, according to police at the site.

away a lot of competition” among handlers vying for farmers’

Venizelos quit on Monday to lead the PASOK socialist party to

The presidents did, however, praise the government for provid-

the booth. This made it difficult for people to get to the booth

Rehan Sheikh was one of the laid-off workers at the protest. Like

grain, said Alberta farmer Lynn Jacobson, president of Wild Rose

elections scheduled to take place by early May.

ing more money for capital maintenance and that the overall

itself, and also clogged up the hallway for people that were

many colleagues, he was an Air Canada employee until recently

Agricultural Producers.

($1 = 0.7552 euros)

funding would stay stable for the next year.

trying to pass by.

- in his case, only three weeks ago.

Swiss trader Glencore, a respected and sometimes feared name

Michelle Mungall, the NDP’s critic for advanced education,

“We told them basically that if they didn’t give us space for

Sheikh said he was told last year that he had to choose between

in global metal and oil markets, is teaming with Canadian farm

stressed the importance of the letter.

people to come to our booth, that we would talk to security. So

the airline - where he would likely have been laid off soon - and

retailer Agrium and No. 2 grain handler Richardson International

“This is unprecedented,” she said. “This has never happened

we did,” said Corporal Evan Clark.

Aveos.

Ltd on a bid that would break Viterra into several chunks, accord-

before in B.C.’s history, where all of the presidents of public

Friedman said that the protestors had told AMS security that

ing to industry sources.

post-secondary institutions come together in a unified voice

they would move elsewhere in the SUB in order to be less

to express their dismay and what I interpret as their lack of

intrusive, but that security insisted they could not hand out

confidence in the Liberal government and the minister.”

leaflets anywhere in the building.

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

NEWS

SUS Board of Directors decided for the coming year GRACE ROMUND

THE CASCADE

The votes are in. Student Union Society (SUS) elections have come to a close and the SUS Board of Directors for next year has been decided. While SUS president Carlos Vidal was reelected for another term, as many of the current board members will be graduating this semester, a whole roster of new faces will be seen in the SUS office in the upcoming year. The most strongly supported candidate in this year’s election was SUS president candidate and incumbent Carlos Vidal who was running uncontested after VP social Wyatt Scott backed out of the race near the end of the campaigning period. Vidal won his position with 318 votes – the most votes for any one candidate this election. Vidal seemed happy and eager to continue his work with SUS upon hearing the results of this year’s election saying, “I am very excited and very thankful to all UFV students who voted for me in this year’s General Election. It strengthens my confidence that students are happy with my leadership and I am looking forward to serving them for another exciting year.” Just like Vidal, all of the other candidates who ran uncontested won their positions too. VP finance Samuel Broadfoot will be taking care of all things financial

Carlos Vidal has been elected to a second term. at SUS for another term. Current residence representative Christian Doyle who ran for VP social will also be staying on the SUS board for a second term, although in a different capacity. Taking up Doyle’s old position, residence representative, will be Sean Yu-

Image: SUS

suke Webber. Jun Feng will be international students representative. Additionally, all representative-at-large candidates running yes or no campaigns won their spots on the board: Vinu Abraham, Vitor Carvalho, Debbie Ellis, Ahmed Hussein, Jay

Mitchell, Ryan Petersen, Rachel Waslesky and Nicolas Willms. Abbotsford-Chilliwack connector bus advocate and recentlyelected student member of the Board of Governors Shane Potter won his SUS board position as VP east with 198 votes, while his opponent Kyle Wierks received 116 votes. Even after standing out against what VP internal candidate Celina Beer had argued as environmental posters, Greg Stickland won the position of VP internal with 154 votes. Beer received 134. The poster issue was mentioned in the SUS Elections Committee’s (EC) General Election Report as the only minor issue during the election. No one raised a formal complaint of the posters to the EC. The report mentioned only “an informal e-mail enquiry,” but no formal complaint. Lastly, of the three candidates that ran for VP academic it was Daniel van der Kroon who will be fulfilling the position in the upcoming year after winning the election with 104 votes. VP academic was the closest race in this year’s election. Mehtab Singh Rai, current representative-at-large who has been working closely with current VP academic Kate Nickelchok on the Where’s the Funding? campaign among other projects, lost to van der Kroon by four votes with 100. VP academic candidate Marin Beck received just 77 votes.

UFV Prof skis Everest at Whistler

UFV professor Ron Dart, former manager of Parks Services Abbotsford John Laframboise and British mountaineer and UFV exchange student Jonathan Mitchell skied the Peak to Creek run in Whistler six times in succession Thursday, March 8. By skiing the approximately 5000 feet Whistler run six times, they skied the equivalent of Mount Everest (30,000 feet) and can now say they skied Everest at Whistler.

CIVL asks only for $2 increase in next referendum

alexei summers

THE CASCADE

The upcoming CIVL Radio referendum, set to take place at the end of March, has been generating a lot of discussion between students around the UFV campuses. The proposal of this new referendum is a compromise from the campus radio station’s previous referendum, which failed to pass by a slim margin in December. CIVL attributes the failure of this earlier referendum, which only lost by seven per cent, to two major factors. First, there was a lack of student involvement in the campaign. Secondly, the referendum was bundled up with another referendum that was being proposed by the Student Union Society (SUS) at the exact same time. When asked what is being done differently this time to make sure the referendum goes through, CIVL station manager Aaron Levy said, “We’re not relying on SUS anymore.” “We relied on SUS last time because we were busy, and I wasn’t sure how else to do it, and we were told we could just do it with them,” he said. “I think that really hurt us in the referendum – being on the same ballot.” The campaign carries on; the future of CIVL radio largely depends on the results of the referendum. The decision ultimately rests in the hands of the student body. Some students, when confronted with the question of the upcoming referendum, have reacted with strong feelings of anger, and annoyance, according to a recent survey put on by CIVL. Others were more willing to listen. “We’re asking now for half as much money as we were asking for last time,” Levy noted. “We were asking for a $4 increase last semester, and now we’re asking a $2 increase. It will still allow us to hire a full-time staff member, and give us a cash flow on top of that. I’d like to say this is something we will never stop doing, but if we stop getting money in—if we’re losing money, and we’re providing free services, that we could otherwise be charging for—we’re going to have to at some point look at our budget, and start asking the student groups and university departments to pay for the services we provide. That idea is a nightmare for me, I don’t want it to happen.” More information about the CIVL referendum can be found at CIVL.ca/ Vote.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

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NEWS

NDP critic for Advanced Education visits Trades and Technology Centre joe johnson

THE CASCADE

This past Friday, Michelle Mungall, Advanced Education and Labour Market Critic for the NDP, visited various post-secondary institutions in the area escorted by Wyatt Scott, a vocal NDP member and UFV student. One of her stops was at UFV’s Trades and Technology Centre (TTC). Mungall’s purpose for the visit was two-fold: first, to get a better understanding of what the TTC has to offer and, second, to have an open roundtable discussion with Trades students. Mungall and Scott were given a personal tour of the TTC by dean of Trades John English. With their first stop being the professional training kitchen, she spoke with a few culinary students. Then after some words, and the enjoyment of a delicious aroma, it was quickly off to the automotive shop – a massive training workspace. It was here that Mungall had a chat with one of the few female students around.

Image: Wilson Wong

“To see her there with all the guys and being treated like an equal amongst her peers, it’s wonderful,” said Mungall. Mungall commented “[Women are] 50 per cent of the population but only 18 per cent of the apprentices. For example, most women are concentrated in hair dressing, there’s a few more women in the culinary arts, a few more women in welding, but overall we are an

incredible minority in the trades. And so, when I saw a few women in the automotive program, I thought, ‘that’s a great step forward’.” Next up was the welding shop, then the carpentry shop, and finally the tour was wrapped up in the electrical shop where Mungall was given a few tips on wiring. Overall, Mungall was quite impressed with what she saw.

“It was fantastic. It’s a really great opportunity for me to see what is going on in the campuses, in the classrooms, in the shops…” And the personal touch of having English there wasn’t lost on Mungall. She mentioned it was “a really great opportunity then to be able to talk to the dean as we tour the school, and to see his perspective of what’s going on and the work he’s doing as the dean.” As the tour concluded, Mungall and Scott then moved onto the student roundtable. At the table were approximately 15 students from various programs, such as Hospitality and Tourism, Architectural Drafting, Automotive, Carpentry and Culinary Arts. “I always think it’s important to hear from students about their top of mind issues and what their experiences are, and going to class and taking on apprenticeships here at the trades school,” Mungall said. “And so, what I was hoping to accomplish was just to hear from them and hear what was going on for them.”

And that’s what she did. One of the main topics was apprenticeships, and how some programs don’t offer them when maybe they could, such as in Architectural Drafting. Other things that came up were program improvements, such as how to address real-world work experience in the Drafting program. How education is financed was a hot issue. While Mungall brought up some NDP initiatives such as the reintroduction of a needs-based grant and the possible elimination of student loan interest rates, students spoke on how they’re currently paying their way through their educations: student loans, working through the summer, and full and part-time work while attending to their courses. But ultimately for issues that affect students, on top of contacting and speaking with politicians of any stripe, Mungall stressed that “young people need to have their voices heard in government. And the only way that’s going to happen is if they start voting.”

The voice of reason: Philosophical advice for everyday concerns from the Student Association for Philosophical Counselling Dear Voice of Reason, I am a third-year student, and have kept my grades up until this semester. I just got a midterm exam back in a course which I need to graduate. I did terrible on it. I am devastated; all my years in university are wasted now. My GPA is wrecked and I will never get into grad school. I feel like a complete failure. Sincerely, Devastated Student Dear Devastated Student, Midterms are a really stressful time. The pressure can be overwhelming when we set educational goals and they are not met. I would like to reply to your issue using some logic and identifying some fallacies. You might be apprehensive at first, try to approach the material with an open mind. Our thoughts influence how we approach and respond to situations. This is where irrational and/or unjustified beliefs can affect how we feel and our worldview. I am first going to write out your claims (which, in logic, are called premises) and end with your conclusion. We will then determine if your conclusion follows from the premises. 1) Did really badly on a mid-

term exam. 2) I need this class to graduate. 3) This class is required for graduate school. 4) My GPA is wrecked. 5) Now I will not get into grad school. 6) Therefore, I am a complete failure. In logic, a deductive argument establishes its conclusion with certainty. Plus, the conclusion must make explicit what is already contained in the premises. When you look at this argument the premises (1 to 5) do not make explicit that you are a complete failure. It is important to recognize that the arguments we present to ourselves and others are valid which means that an argument is valid if, and only if, it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false. When the arguments we present to ourselves are invalid, they can be the cause of stress; it also inhibits creativity in finding alternate solutions and perspectives. I also wanted to illustrate some fallacies in your thinking. When you said, “I did really badly on this midterm, now I will not get into grad school”–this is “black or white” thinking. One poor grade on a midterm is not enough to inhibit your chances for grad school. Plus, when you go from bad midterm grade to my “GPA

is wrecked” and then to “I am a complete failure” it’s aptly called a “slippery slope” fallacy because there is no reason to believe that a bad midterm grade will inevitably lead to you being a complete failure especially since a significant number of other events would also need to be present to establish that conclusion. Lastly, the “fallacy of composition” is present because your educational success cannot be reduced to one bad midterm grade. Addressing problems from a logical perspective may seem impersonal and not the advice one might expect from a counsellor. However, a lot of emotional disturbances are created from our own thinking – especially evaluative beliefs, which can be irrational and unjustified. Once these irrational and unjustified beliefs are recognized, solutions can be explored – like talking to your instructor about your grade. Possibly see if there is something more you can do; you still have the rest of the semester. We hope this helps and if anyone reading this would like to respond to this issue specifically or anything else please request advice from the SAPC by emailing grace@ufvcascade.ca.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

OPINION

By the time you read this, it is probably too late DESSA BAYROCK THE CASCADE

Do you want to pay an extra $72 a semester? Somehow, I don’t think so. Doesn’t matter. By the time you read this, it’s probably too late; you’re going to have to. It’s hard, as a student, to keep up with everything that’s going on at UFV. There are a million things that I wish I had time for. Trying to fit everything in is a monumental task – it’s hard enough to keep up with this week’s reading, let alone politics. Given how little time students have to spare, I can’t find it in me to be surprised that so few students pay attention to the my.ufv sidebar pleading us all to vote in some election or another. Senate? Board of governors? SUS? Referendums? Who has the time to even begin to be informed about this stuff? Trust me, I once counted myself foremost among the forces of voter apathy. I’m well acquainted with the excuses we tell ourselves to try and feel better about not being informed. It’s easy to convince ourselves that one measly little vote won’t matter in the long run. “I don’t really know what’s going on!” you might mewl, “I just didn’t have the time to get to

know the candidates/issue!” Well, UFV students, I’m here to tell you that you have more than likely dropped the ball on this one. I’m talking about the athletics referendum, which, unless you read this issue in the first twelve hours after its printing, you are too late to vote in. How many of you even knew there was a referendum going on, let alone what it was about? In your own defence, it wasn’t very well advertised. I would wager this is on purpose. The athletics department has more than enough students to pass it by themselves, whether or not any other students vote – so, naturally, as they have the

most to gain from it, there haven’t been any posters, major advertisements, or reminder emails to the rest of the student body. It ran from March 19 to 21, and if it has passed, each UFV student will pay the equivalent of three per cent of their tuition. For a full-time student, based on four upper-level classes, that’s somewhere in the region of an additional $72 every semester. I’ll repeat myself: do you want to pay an extra $72 a semester? I’m pretty sure you don’t. But did you care enough to vote? Somehow, I don’t think so. This is the direct result of voter apathy. As I write this, the votes haven’t even begun yet.

But given the short voting period (thanks, again, to the athletics department) and the nearly complete lack of awareness, I have little to no hope that the referendum will be defeated. Last semester, CIVL wanted an extra $4 from each student – and we were more than willing to scream about that. You know why? Aaron Levy, the guy keeping CIVL running, did UFV the service of raising awareness himself: he, and a group of other volunteers, went around to classrooms to spread information. They were completely above-ground with what they wanted and why; they gave every student a chance to develop an opinion on what was going on. Inevitably, some students disagreed with that particular referendum; in this particular case, the informed student body, as a result, voted the CIVL referendum down. Athletics, in contrast, has kept this on the down-low, and as a result I am absolutely sure they’ll get their 72 bucks a semester out of each of us. That equals out to over three quarters of a million dollars a year. And we don’t even know what they’re going to do with it: the budget they’ve presented is maddeningly vague and keeps changing. And you haven’t even heard the

best part: since the fee is a percentage rather than a set amount, if the cost of tuition rises, so does the fee. Not only are they dipping into your wallet now, but they’re making sure they’ll be able to dip into it in the future. Like I said, despite the fact that, as I write this, the vote doesn’t open for another two days, I am almost absolutely certain that this referendum will pass. I’m going to do everything in my power to stop it, but I don’t think it’ll be enough. The Cascade ran an article about it last week; I;ve been posting about it incessantly on facebook.; I’m writing this article to our future selves right now. But no matter how wrong I think this referendum is, I am only one person. I’m going to get as many of you to vote as I can – but I still don’t think it’s enough, and as you read this, it will probably already have passed. Sure, I’m being pessimistic – but I think deservedly so. I would love nothing better than to run this article and be told after its publication how very wrong I was. But I truly think voter apathy will get the better of us; maybe now, $72 poorer every semester, we’ll learn the painful lesson.

“One time... for one man... to sleep in.” Where’s the male nudity? SASHA MOEDT THE CASCADE

ANTHONY BIONDI THE CASCADE We’re all acquainted with the old “spring forward, fall back” routine: the give and take of daylight savings time. To be honest, I don’t even remember what the real time is anymore. All I know is that when it comes to this wonderful day in spring, sometime in mid-March, I lose an hour of precious sleep. As it so happened this year, it fell onto a day in which I was only getting six hours anyway. Let me say that I felt it. To most people this may not be a big deal, but I take my sleep very seriously. Don’t mess with me in the morning. So when did this vicious cycle even begin? According to an article by CBC News, it started a hundred years back in a little land called Germany. They wanted to use the earlier rising sun to their advantage, so they would be awake during more daylight hours in the spring. This

concept spread like a disease across countries and oceans, until half the world was infected. Now, in this day and age, we Canadians have to suffer oddly changing clock hours and a frustratingly short night in the spring. I suppose it sounds fairly reasonable. It does, in some ways, save on energy consumed for lighting, but it’s still annoying. I, for one, would love to see it abolished, so that my clocks and schedules could continue unhindered year round. I wouldn’t have to be accidentally late for appointments or work those two days of the year. I never know when the clock is going to change; by some miracle I barely manage to keep up with its coming. So you must imagine my fury when I learned that Saskatchewan, a province in our own country, has not recognized daylight savings in over 40 years. They have not turned their clocks back or forward in so long that I bet

they don’t even know what it would be like to suffer these days of fatigue and exhaustion due to sleep deprivation. I swear, the more I hear about Saskatchewan the more appealing it sounds. I would love for the rest of this country to follow suit and just abolish this silliness. Sure, there are energy-saving benefits to having daylight savings in effect, but is it worth it? As far as I know, most households have tons of electrical thing-a-majigs running all day long anyway. An hour of a few lights won’t hurt that badly. It may be selfish of me to think this way just to keep myself asleep for an extra hour for one day of the year. But in all honesty, I really need the rest. I propose an action here. Perhaps with the right petition or some such thing, we could shut down the whole process and just stick to the one time. Think of the motto: one time for one man to sleep in one night of the year. It would be glorious.

If a movie promises nudity, do you think it’ll be of a woman or of a man? Chances are we’re going to see a woman, her breasts, maybe a full frontal – but rarely will it be a male. I’ve sat down to numerous movies promising nudity, and have been treated to only a few shots of male bums. Meanwhile, the camera sensually pans the female’s entire body. Where are the penises? I feel like the male body is sort of hidden from us. (Besides, of course, that ubiquitous penis drawn on bathroom walls.) I didn’t get to see a male penis on a screen until I watched a documentary about circumcision. Circumcision! And trust me when I say it wasn’t sensual! I’m not talking about porn here; I’m talking about the regular, mainstream movies you see showing at Towne Cinema on Tuesdays. I’m talking comedies like 30 Minutes or Less and action-drama flicks like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I feel something is wrong. Why are there no penises? Am I watching the wrong films? The women in the audience get to sit and think “Oh. She’s prettier than me,” as the lead actress gets naked. How about the actor? Can’t he follow suit? To be honest, I’m not actually looking for more male nudity in movies. I’m looking for a guarantee: if I have to sit and watch the flawless breasts of some beautiful woman, I get to see a piece of a flawless man. Why should only some of the audience to be treated to the female body, while the other members get nothing but some bare bums? I’ll tell you something: bums are not hot, because both men and women have

them. I want to be in an audience of men who are sitting and think “Oh. He’s bigger than me,” for once. Why should I suffer and not them? Maybe in North American society, people think that women look better naked than men. Maybe that‘s why male full frontal is shadowed or just barely covered: the audience’s imagination would make the penis more aesthetically pleasing than it really is. But I really don’t think that sentiment has any truth to it at all. This mindset in itself is sexist: women should be beautiful, men should be capable. Men must be the buyers: their intelligence earns them wealth and standing in society. Women must be the sellers: their beauty attracts men with wealth. It doesn’t matter, then, if men are hideous below the belt, does it? They just have to be intelligent, capable, and wealthy. In North America, all women have to initially attract men is their beauty. So this means that, in our society, movies show a woman’s naked body to prove her worth as a female. The sensual camera pan isn’t just to please the audience; it’s a display of character for the female actor. She is beautiful: she is worthy. Her physical appearance reflects her mind. This is characterization within the movie. Men don’t need a full frontal; their worth is demonstrated by their wealth and intelligence. Why are women’s characters and worth judged by their appearance? What does your body have to do with your mind? Absolutely nothing. The inequality of male and female nudity in movies is sexist. I’ll be very happy if I start seeing more penises, and not even because I like them.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

iPad? More The hellish last month of the semester like iWait PAIGE HOBLAK THE CASCADE

ANTHONY BIONDI

THE CASCADE

Well folks, it’s that time of year again: when all your old outdated last year’s technology gets its annual update. Isn’t it great? My favorite part is when I buy a piece of expensive electronic equipment and I have to buy a whole new one in a year just to keep up with all the cool features that should have been in the model I bought. I still remember when the first iPad came out. I had just bought a new iPod (since the death of my last one). I loved the touch series; it was my favorite. It had just been upgraded to containing a high definition screen, front and back facing camera, and a microphone. I was so excited. So when I saw the iPad I naturally thought, “Huh. A big giant iPod that I don’t need”. And to be honest, I was right. It had no front facing camera, it was bulky, and it had a mediocre screen. Then came the iPad 2. It gained the front facing camera that my iPod already had (though the camera’s quality was quite poor), and upped its processing power, etc. Not to mention it got thinner. It was kind of cool, and by that point, a year later, I was mildly intrigued. But it was still not a justified purchase. Sure it could double as a laptop, and tablet PCs were gaining momentum in the market for that purpose. It was small, lightweight, and could do work for me. Not to mention it had some cool apps. Still, I knew that if I were to buy this, it would be replaced by something better in a year. Sure enough, there is now the NEW iPad, apparently too cool for a number. This is the definitive version, the decisive marker in the life of this tech tool’s history. I must admit it looks cool, and, after all, looks are what this iPad is all about. It has a crazy hi-def screen. So many pixels in such a small area. Call me a cynic, but I still have no interest in this device. I have a laptop, I have an iPod. What would I need an iPad for? Sure, it looks cool and has cool functions, but in the end, the inevitable iPad 4 will blow it out of the water. All I know is that patience is a virtue in the game of buying Apple devices. The longer you wait, the better the purchase. Who knows, maybe the iPad 4 will function as a personal gaming console, or be able to take phone calls. The only thing I really know for certain is that it is not up to my expectations of what $700-800 should get me. I would love to have an iPad, don’t get me wrong. I think they are wicked cool, and the big screen trumps my iPod by a long shot. But the iPad is almost an unnecessary luxury that is replaced too frequently with better models, to the point that it just isn’t worth it. There might come a day when it becomes amazing, but I do not believe that this is it.

It’s in the campus air like rain clouds in the sky; its presence cannot go unseen. It is the most daunting time of year and it never fails to have me question why I do this to myself. The library and computer labs become ridiculously packed with overtired, anxiety-ridden students. It’s the last month of school and everything that you managed to get away with leaving unfinished or unread up until now is suddenly catching up to you. I’m confident every student is familiar with the panic associated with the last month of classes before summer. The stress that goes along with final exams and papers is sometimes unbearable. There is always a moment during this time where I feel like I am going to collapse, but something seems to keep me going. My mind is experiencing overload, and not only does this have a personal

impact, but it also influences my behaviour and relationships. Let’s just say it might be better to just stay away from me… The doubts during this time lead me to contemplate the incentive for success. What is a BA really even good for? Why do I need a degree when it won’t necessarily land me a job? Is four years of stress really worth it in the end? These questions spin through my mind. When I am up at 5 a.m. trying to cram-study for my finals, the benefit seems to be extremely unworth it. On the other hand, I believe that students have a sense of determination unlike any other. Students have the imagination, tenacity, and tools to change the world for the better. We work hard day and night just to get a few steps closer to our ultimate objective: achieving our dreams and feeding our minds with knowledge. It is scary to think that we will only ever know a fraction of our field considering several years of hard

research and study. This, however, is reassuring to me considering it would be a very mundane world if we could easily access all knowledge. During the last month of the semester every year I always hear a voice inside my head, navigating me through the hell. This little voice is the same one that enables me to dream big despite what reality may have me believe. This voice is the sound of everyone who has ever told me that I cannot work a job that both pays and I am passionate about. This is the voice of society’s doubt, trying to persuade me to ignore my potential. This voice is what pushes me every year when I’d rather do anything but study, read or research. I feel as if this voice will be the key to my success, helping to constantly remind me how badly I want to achieve my dreams and career aspirations. That said, I have been given no promises regarding what my degree will do for me. Finding a job in my field might prove to be even more

OPINION

difficult than the economy had me believe. My degree may only collect dust on my book shelf, but what I do know is that these years, when I look back on my life, will probably be my best. I have been given the freedom to learn what I want without restriction, fuelling my ongoing quest for knowledge. With the last few weeks of school closing in on us the last thing we can think of is the future benefit this hell will lead us to. Let the thought of everyone who ever told you that you couldn’t do something be the force that carries you through this month. We must to try to remember the cliché of keeping in mind the destination rather than the journey. Our university experience will prove its worth in time; every minute and every penny spent will lead to something much greater, even without the guarantees.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

OPINION

Putin’s “democracy” involves him being president forever ALEXEI SUMMERS

THE CASCADE

On March 4, 2012, the Russian Federation held its latest Presidential election. As a result of this election the Russian people are once again in shock as Vladimir Putin once again emerged victorious – surprise, surprise. There were innumerable claims, far and wide across the outstretching mass of land known as Russia. Mass allegations of election fraud, ballot stuffing, bribery, and other such crimes surround the election – all, apparently, to secure Putin into office. Putin’s United Russia party won the election by a landslide of 63.64 per cent of the vote, with the Communist party now headed by Gennady Zyuganov coming at a not very close second of 17.14 per cent. Mikhail Prokhorov’s Independent party secured 7.94 per cent of the votes. During the campaign for Putin’s presidency, protesters took to the street, 138,000-strong. They were led by Alexey Navalny, a man who commands enormous respect of the Russian people – many of whom believe the election results were illegitimate. Navalny is a Russian lawyer, a political activist, and a young charismatic leader who inspires the people the same way that Lenin once did in the days of the Bolshevik revolution. It is his belief that Putin’s government will not last, and that it should not last; he’s stated he will do whatever it takes to bring down Putin’s government through peaceful means. Navalny was jailed unjustly because of his role in the protest, but has sworn

Image: World Economic Forum modified by Stewart Seymour

that he will not stop his actions to oppose Putin’s regime. I will not say Putin is a bad man; I do not know him on a personal level. He seems to me to be quite the outdoorsman and the sportsman, and he is certainly very stoic, and very Russian. On a personal level I like that, and relate to that. His politics, however, bother me. Putin is a man who denies Russia’s dark past and he seems to despise Russian culture, wishing to form something else altogether. He him-

self is an ex-KGB man, something he is not proud of. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he said he never truly believed in the communist ideology, but simply went along with it. Yet he also despises the west, and will do anything to blame the west for nearly anything. He came under fire recently when he publicly announced that he had been working closely with Russian President Medvedev all throughout his presidency. This has largely been interpreted as puppetry: Medvedev

Crashing consequences KEN MUIR

CONTRIBUTORS At around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, February 5, the van driven by Dawson Spencer, aged 17, swerved into the oncoming lane on Dewdney Trunk Road in Maple Ridge and slammed headlong into a Honda Civic, driven by a UFV student. There were two passengers in each vehicle. Dawson was pronounced dead at the scene. Crystal Weaver, a passenger in the Honda Civic, was pronounced deceased later at hospital. Dawson at the time had only a learner’s permit (L) and the driver of the Civic only a novice driver’s permit (N). The driver of the Civic and the two passengers of Spencer’s vehicle were sent to hospital in critical condition, but survived. These facts are unbelievably tragic. The drivers of both vehicles lacked experience and disregarded the restrictions of their licenses, which are in place to prevent this exact kind of accident. Two teens are now dead; their potentially bright futures are scrubbed away because of poor decisions. It’s somewhat difficult to truly fault the N driver of the Civic; of those of us who have been that age, a good 90 per cent of us probably disregarded the “one passenger only” rule at one point or another.

When I was in high school, I remember there being an amazing number of presentations on the dangers of drinking and driving, or even just driving in general. It was hammered into our brains. There were seminars given by paraplegics who had killed their best friends because of single mistakes made. I remember thinking, how could anyone handle that guilt? Knowing they’ve taken someone’s child? How would I ever forgive myself? It made me retch. I couldn’t dream of ever placing myself in a situation where such a tragedy might occur. It’s worth mentioning that I attended Garibaldi Secondary, the same high school, as the teens in question. As such, it leads me to believe that they would have seen the same lectures, the same presentations, as I did. It makes me despair. If teenagers have been educated in the potential consequences of driving recklessly, have seen first-hand the devastation it causes, and still choose to make those same mistakes, what can be done? What can be done to further prevent these kinds of accidents when those involved were fully aware of the potential aftermath? Two peers of the deceased in the question have decided to take affirmative action. Andy McComb and Connor Schuchard, in light of the accident, created a non-profit group called Friends Against Drunk Driv-

ing (FADD) to warn others to drive safely, and to support those who have lost loved ones. They, too, have recognized that these disasters still occur, even though teens have been educated to avoid it. They believe it’s because everyone thinks they’re going to be the exception to the rule: “But while we have spent the last 13 years sitting through assembly after assembly of personal testimonies, seen article after article, story after story, it hadn’t happened to us. There were a few close calls and near misses, but for us, it was always ‘Everything is going to be okay.’ Today, it happened… Today, we are the quotations in the article that people will read and then forget about after they turn the page. Today, we look back and wonder how we could be so blind.” These are humble words. I hope that those of you reading don’t forget them; don’t think you’re going to be the exception. Don’t forget that when you drive, you take the safety of yourself and others in your hands. You alone are responsible for what happens next. If you want to support FADD or simply wish to find out more, you can visit their Facebook group: F.A.D.D. Friends Against Drunk Driving.

merely someone he’d used to circumvent the law that no president can serve three sequential terms. During Medvedev’s presidency, Putin extended the presidency terms so that the next president of Russia would be able to serve two consecutive six-year terms if they so wish. This means, with Putin now elected, he could be in office until the year 2022. Putin first took office from the President Boris Yelstin in 2000. He served his term until 2004. He was

then reelected and served his term until 2008. If in the year 2018 he is reelected again, Putin will have served in office for 18 years. For a supposedly democratic new Russia, this is starting to sound a little anti-democratic. And with talk of ballot stuffing, foul play and election fraud, it’s certainly starting to sound a little like the game is rigged. Russia faces a painful future with such a man at the helm. Putin doesn’t seem to want to relinquish his claim to the Russian presidency. We are once again reminded of the days of the Tsar or the days of the Supreme Soviet, where no progress could be made because of bad leadership. These systems could have worked – but it all depends on the man who is the supreme leader. Putin’s Russia is a scary place. Journalists are shot daily for saying the wrong thing, or printing the wrong thing. Politicians are regularly assassinated under circumstances of extreme secrecy. Almost usually they’re found to have had a convenient little accident. It is a dangerous place to live. The next Russian Federation elections—if it is still called that by the time of the voting—will be held in 2018. Putin will once more take office on May 7, 2012, as the official President of the Russian Federation, and we might be stuck with him for a long, long time. Will Putin lead Russia into ruins? No. Russia is already in ruins. But can he allow this bright phoenix of flame to rise from the ashes?

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

ARTS & LIFE

Dine & Dash: Bubble World (Guildford)

137-10090 152nd Street Surrey, BC 604.585.3399

Hours: Monday to Thursday and Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.; Friday and Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. Prices: all menu items under $10.00

KAREN ANEY THE CASCADE

Bubble tea. It’s a trend out of Asia that’s found a home in our melting pot of a province. The cute cups and sealed plastic covers—often with cartoon characters—make excitable folk everywhere squeal, and its thick straws and little balls of tapioca strike fear into the heart of anyone with a gag reflex. Some bubble tea joints—like Bubble World in Guildford—offer food as well as bubble tea: snacks and dinner to nibble on while you enjoy your drink that might as well be a meal all by itself. Though Bubble World is a chain of bubble tea establishments, each location offers unique items and services – for example, most do not serve the full menu of food that the Surrey location does. We visited the restaurant on a Thursday night just before 10 p.m., and there was a 20 minute wait for a table. Waiting wasn’t a pleasant experience: this place is loud, and the proximity to the often-opened door (with nothing to block the cold air) combined with an apparent lack of heating equated to a very chilly wait. When it came

time for us to be seated—there was an empty table and it was our turn—the hostess started to seat someone else who had just walked in the door, despite the list of people already waiting and the people themselves sitting directly in front of her. It took speaking up and mentioning that we had been waiting 20 minutes already for the table to be given to us (which was slightly embarrassing, as we had to cut off other guests), yet the hostess still seemed reluctant to seat us. This wouldn’t have been a huge deal – both my guest and I have been long-time service industry employees, and don’t irritate easily. However, once we were seated, it took another 20 minutes for our order to be taken. Three other people were seated, had their orders taken, and in one case their drinks delivered, before we were even approached by a waitress. Even then, we had to flag her down ourselves by leaning out of the booth and calling “excuse me,” as her eyes were determinedly locked on the floor while she walked through the tables. At this point, our patience as diners was starting to fade, but hunger overrode any plans to go elsewhere. Our drinks and food (delivered one item at a time, with breaks in between) thankfully came out fairly quickly after that, given how busy the restaurant was. For drinks, we ordered opposite ends of the spectrum: for one, a honey green tea with pearls and mango stars, and for the other, a hot honey logan tea with ginger – yes, this bubble tea establishment

Image: bubbleteareviews.blogspot.ca

serves hot drinks. Conveniently, they’re marked on the menu with a steaming mug next to items that can be served hot. The drink was tasty, served in a mini French press with actual pieces of ginger in it. We asked for less ginger, and recommend you do the same – even for a ginger lover, the drink was quite strong. The cold drink was ordered as a gauge: anyone who has had bubble tea before knows that it’s easy to find a sickly sweet concoction that would elicit lectures from your dentist. However, it’s a little more difficult to find something to satisfy those of us who prefer our tea to taste like – well, tea. The honey green tea was nice – a somewhat muted tea flavour, and what tasted like a honey-flavoured syrup. It wasn’t overly sweet, but it wouldn’t satisfy those who love

a strong tea taste. However, the pearls and the mango stars were great – a nice consistency, without the slime that accumulates on the pearls of some bubble tea locations. We ordered two food items, the first of which was “Coconut Toast” ($3.95). This was a thick two-inch piece of toast, slathered with condensed milk, topped with coconut, and then broiled. The result was delicious, if a little difficult to eat without utensils (none were offered, and the servers consistently dropped things at our table and left without giving us a chance to ask). The second item was the “Deep Fried Fish Fillet with Noodle in Soup” (sic) ($7.95). This dish was of excellent value: on the side were four fish filets, battered with lots of Panko bread crumbs. This resulted

in a light coating that wasn’t overly oily. With the fish, they served what tasted like a lemon pepper mayonnaise, which was the highlight of the meal – chock full of flavour, and a perfect complement to the light filets. The soup was adequate: warm and flavourful, with thick noodles and an assortment of vegetables. For those who have dietary concerns, this probably isn’t the restaurant for you – and this last dish is an example of why: no description of the dish was offered on the menu (aside from the name), yet the soup was also served with what seemed to be chunks of some sort of beef. This questionable meat wasn’t alluded to at all on the menu, and while it was tasty enough that it didn’t offend this particular customer, their practice of not offering menu descriptions is sure to alienate some others. Even this error would have been forgivable if the service was enough to compensate – but it’s nearly impossible to track down a server to question, and when you do, the likelihood of them being able to answer you is slim. However, while the service is bad enough that it is certain to stay on your mind after you leave, the food is adequately tasty and a fairly good value. The portion size was easily large enough for two people to share, and the food was unique enough that it may be worth the visit. If you’re an adventurous eater and don’t mind having to fight for service, it’s worth checking out.

Easter weekend in the Rocky Mountains... apr 06 - 09 (no school on friday)

4 days from only $335* (the 1St full circuit rockies tour of the year) includes: - 3 nights hotel - 4 free meals - nightclub & pub entrance - central hotel in banff - road hockey in the rockies - canada’s best sightseeing - and so much more!!!

...come make a new best friend To Book or for more information please visit www.westtrek.com, call us at 604.408.9378 or email lee@westtrek.com

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

FEATURE

Dude looks like a lady...

ALI SIEMENS

TEILA SMART

THE CASCADE

Songs such as “I’m Sexy and I Know It” and “Born This Way” were blaring from inside AfterMath on Thursday, March 15, as UFV students gathered for the King and Queen Drag show, put on by PRIDE, and co-sponsored by AIM (the Anti-Ism Movement), CIVL radio and AfterMath. The evening was emceed by the charming and hilarious Mimi Marcel, also known as SUS rep-at-large Ryan Petersen. With over 100 people packed inside the campus pub, gender-bending students dressed to impress and showcased their many talents in a show that wowed the judges. From pie making to swing dancing to poi spinning, each contestant made their mark and had the audience clapping and laughing with delight. Sitting proudly behind the judging table

PHOTOS

was Student Life programmer Martin Kelly, head of Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Curtis Magnuson, head of Fashion Design Deanna Devitt and the guest of honour, UFV president Mark Evered. During the Q&A, Vera, the ‘50s housewife, was asked what her thoughts on world peace were; her stereotypical response,“I don’t know, I’ll have to ask my husband,” had the audience in stiches laughing. Billy Joe, the hunter redneck, proceeded to shock and appall the audience with his over-the-top sexist answers, while the sleezy French prostitute Fiona LeBlanc definitely pushed a few lines herself in the way of political correctness. As for Carla Black, a character parodying Ke$ha, she spent the show mostly too “wasted” to do anything but seductively

move and shake her hips. At the end of the evening, two participants were crowned Queen and King of the contest: Vera, the endearing housewife portrayed by Finn Nevill, and Jimmy with his wife Joelle as consort, the swing dancing couple played by Jennifer and Joel Colbourne who likened themselves to Charlie Chaplin and Julia Roberts. One of the goals of PRIDE is to disassemble social stereotypes. By bending their gender, they took pride in themselves and had a night of fun dressing as the opposite sex. There were even a number of audience members who showed up cross-dressed to show their support. Above all, though, PRIDE put on a successful event that left attendees smiling.

Above: Billy Joe advises the men in the audience to make sure the woman they choose has wide hips to bear their babies. Below: PRIDE coordinator, Victor E. (Teila Smart), with emcee Mimi Marcel (Ryan Petersen) and AIM leader Jack Lumber (Katherine Palmateer)

Above: Jack April wears his sunglasses at night. Below: Judges, left to right: Curtis Magnuson (Human Rights & Conflict Resolution, Deanna Devitt (Fashion & Design), Mark Evered (UFV El’Presidente), Martin Kelly (Student Life)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

FEATURE

Above: The dutiful Vera shows students how to make a pie for their husband.

Above: Carla Black Ke$has it up with her sexy moves.

...lady looks like a dude

Below: Celeste is sexy and she knows it.

Above: The Winners! Drag King Jimmy with his consort Joelle, and Drag Queen Vera.

Above: Jimmy and Joelle prove they’re a swingin’ couple. Below: The contestants eagerly await Mark Evered to crown the night’s Drag Queen.

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

ARTS & LIFE

Drink o’ the Week:

The Cascade Cookbook Rebecca Groen’s African Peanut Soup

Rebecca Groen is the president of UFV Life Link and is also a first year social services student. Her club hosted a debate last week, which was a great success! She loves cooking, but only if she has the ingredients for it.

Bed of Roses

“A versatile vegetarian recipe that can be adapted for meat lovers too! One batch makes 10 servings, so it’s freezer friendly!”

Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 medium onions, chopped 2 large red bell peppers, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes, with liquid 8 cups vegetable broth or stock 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon chili powder (optional) 2/3 cup extra crunchy peanut butter 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice Directions:

No roses were harmed in the making of this strange, tangy red drink.

1. Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat. Cook onions and bell peppers until lightly browned and tender, stirring in garlic when almost done to prevent burning. Stir in tomatoes, vegetable stock, pepper, and chili powder. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

1½ oz. Jägermeister 2 oz. lemon juice 1 oz. grenadine ½ oz. lime juice

2. Stir in rice, cover, and simmer another 15 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in peanut butter until well blended, and serve.

Pour ingredients into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake. Pour into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry and lime. Image: James Vander Horst

*You can also use chicken stock instead of veggie. As well, chunky salsa instead of diced tomatoes adds a nice kick! Make with spiced chicken for a full meal. Estimated cost: $15

CASCADE ARCADE

Ideal for: Romance Bad for: Gardening On the Cascade scale: B+

Poetic Journey offers metaphor to get lost in JOEL SMART

THE CASCADE

Pool

+ SCHOOL = OPEN LEARNING Canadian students are working to save money for tuition. This summer, learn while you work by enrolling in online and distance courses. Ê

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The latest game by design auteur Jenova Chen and his small studio thatgamecompany is an unforgettable experience rife with metaphor and insight. While the downloadable PSN game, Journey, features just one real task—the literal quest to scale an enormous mountain in the distance—the experience can be read like a poem; each moment is applicable to your own struggles and accomplishments. What kind of adventurer are you? Do you have time for those you meet along the way? What you make of it is up to you; one step at a time. Journey is not an especially challenging game, nor is it a long one, but that was entirely by design. While some have criticized the $15 game for its short two-to-threehour length, the pacing and design is highly focused – no elaborate prose necessary. Setting it apart from other games is its unique take on multiplayer. Though essentially a single-player game, a second player sometimes pops into the game as a companion – though there is no way to communicate with them. Whether they function as competition, an aid, a fellow explorer, or a pest is entirely open for interpretation. Only once the game is complete do you see a list of those you encountered along the way. Intriguingly, the multiplayer levels out the difficulty, with the companion player working to solve the same task as you. It keeps the game’s pace flowing. Additionally, it ensures the game will feel different on each play through – increasing replayability. Beyond using the left analog stick to move the veiled protagonist forward through the vast

Image: cdn.whatculture.com

world, only two buttons are required to control its actions: one button to sing, the other to float. The camera can be swung left, right, up and down through the controller’s Sixaxis motion control. Though the process is intuitive, the camera can also be controlled with the right analog stick. Despite the temptation to expose many of the beautiful and striking moments that propelled Journey into my all-time favourites list, it would be an injustice to describe them to someone who had not yet gone through the game his or herself. This is a journey you need to experience for yourself. Composer Austin Wintory developed the soundtrack, a threeyear process that took constant collaboration with the game’s designers. Sometimes rich and beautiful, other times haunting, the orchestral score sets the tone perfectly. Due to the short length, simple controls and intuitive gameplay, Journey should not be relegated to

gamers alone – it can be enjoyed by young and old. Siblings, parents, even grandparents should be encouraged to try it out. In the process, they might learn something they didn’t know about video games – or about themselves. Though the puzzles in the game are fairly straight-forward, the act of completing them can feel, at times, intoxicating. The attention to detail is evident from start to finish. There are also enough hidden items to make playing through the game multiple times a rewarding experience. Journey truly is a masterpiece. Though there are some who will inevitably miss the point, or find the game lacking, what it offers is worthy of praise. Through its encouragement of childlike exploration, sheer will and careful selfreflection, thatgamecompany has created something intangible and timeless. It is the kind of depth that ensures Journey will stay with you long after you’ve put the controller down.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

ARTS & LIFE

CROSSWORD

Once upon an Old Testament

JENNIFER COLBOURNE THE CASCADE

ACROSS

1 2 3

2. Moses broke the stone tablets from God when he saw the Israelites worshipping a golden ____ (4 letters) 3. The ascribed author of the Pentateuch (5 letters) 5. This king ordered Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the fiery furnace (15 letters) 8. Elijah was taken up by a _____ of fire (7 letters) 10. The hairy twin of Jacob (4 letters) 11. Adam and Eve’s abode (4 letters) 12. Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of _____ (4 letters) 13. The second plague of Egypt (5 letters)

DOWN

EclipseCrossword.com

Aquarius: Jan 20 - Feb 18 You’re a firework. Make ’em go “AH!”

Answer Key Across

1. Thames 5. Waterloo Station 6. Wimbeldon 8. Hyde Park 9. Harrods 10. Trafalgar Down

1. Samson slayed an entire army with an ass’ _____ (7 letters) 3. A food tasting like honey that was sent from heaven to the Israelites in the desert (5 letters) 4. Winged beings whose bodies are covered with eyes (8 letters) 6. David put her husband on the front lines of battle to die so that he could marry her. (9 letters) 7. Noah’s ark came to rest on Mount ____ (6 letters) 9. Jael murdered Sisera by hammering him through the head with a ____ ____ (4, 3 letters)

LAST WEEK’S

The Weekly Horoscope Gemini: May 21 - June 21 Rejoice and love yourself today, ‘cause baby you were born this way.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 7.

Tube London Eye Globe Saint Pauls Westminster Buckingham

Star Signs from the Sumas Sibyl Libra: Sept 23 - Oct 22 Don’t stop believing.

Pisces: Feb 19 - March 20

Cancer: June 22 - July 22

Scorpio: Oct 23 - Nov 21

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.

I’ve got a feeling tonight’s going to be a good, good night.

Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone.

Leo: July 23 - Aug 22

Sagittarius: Nov 22 - Dec 21

Look at the stars. See how they shine for you!

Sell the kids for food.

Aries: March 21 - April 19 Somebody told me that you have a boyfriend that looks like a girlfriend that I had in February of last year. Taurus: April 20 - May 20

Virgo: Aug 23 - Sept 22

Happiness is not a fish you can catch.

A little less conversation, a little more action please.

Capricorn: Dec 22 - Jan 19 Party rock is in the house tonight.

Visit us at www.monktucky.com!

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

ARTS & LIFE

Q&A: Young Liars Shuffle

CHARTS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Topanga Oceans

BRAD VAN HAASTREGT

CIVL DJ/CONTRIBUTOR

Brad van Haastregt is the host of Haters Gonna Hate every Tuesday from 11 a.m.1 p.m., bringing the University of the Fraser Valley the best indie rock from Canada and around the world. Old Mare was a recent guest on the show to discuss their EP You Deserve More

Grimes Visions Django Django Django Django Tennis Young and Old

Primal Fear Unbreakable

“Pistols at Dawn” – Old Mare

Boyhood Boyhood

If there was ever a song built to be the theme song of a newage spaghetti western, this would be it. The lyrics take you through a story which is bound to end in a shoot out at dawn.

Gross Misconduct The Disconnect Shearwater Animal Joy

“Jealous Heart” – Old Mare

The Brains Drunk not Dead Islands A Sleep & A Forgetting

Bronx Cheerleader Real Punks Don’t Sing About Girls

12 13 14 15

Band Of Skulls Sweet Sour Fanaticus Fanaticus Harma White Reptile

Korallreven A Dream Within A Dream

16 17 18 19 20

Frankie Rose Interstellar Xiu Xiu Always Ketamines Spaced Out Crystal Castles Not In Love (single) Sleigh Bells I Want Revenge

The classic story of two people in an overbearing relationship. Our main character comes to the conclusion he is being over protective and he tells his lover “you deserve more,” which happens to be the EP’s title— coincidence? I think not.

“Flood of ’48” – Old Mare

Lead singer Chris Janzen, driving around Abbotsford one day, noticed that someone had thrown away an old Red Cross box; after some creative googling, he discovered there was a flood in 1948. “The Red Cross is coming/ emergency supplies/ to help those whose lives/ were overcome by the tide.”

“Waiting” – Old Mare

Sitting and waiting at the local

Greyhound station for a lover, this song takes a closer look at the conditions that surround it. For some this song is the greatest, and for others it could have been left on the cutting room floor.

Image: Ian Azariah

JOE JOHNSON THE CASCADE

Young Liars are one of the fresher bands to begin their ascent of the Vancouver music scene, having recently released their EP Homesick Future. An indie synth-lover’s dream, their music is composed with a throwback kick to New Wave while infused with a mix of contemporary pop and house music. Front man Jordan Raine (vocals and guitar) took the time to speak with The Cascade about the EP and life as part of a young band. The rest of Young Liars is composed of Angelo Ismirnioglou (guitar), Wesley Nickel (Keyboards), Ty Badali (drums) and Andrew Beck (bass). The whole story from your bio about how Young Liars came together in a dark Algerian bar in the streets of a rioting Paris had me going for a while. But how did the band really develop? Well, we came together slowly over, I guess, six months. I was playing with the drummer and bass player in another band. And then our guitarist/singer decided he would leave and so we kind of just continued to jam for another six months or so, not really doing a lot, just coming and getting together and playing music. And then we were like, “Okay, let’s actually make a band … we’ll just replace the guitar player” and so we actually put out a Craigslist ad because we had pretty much exhausted anyone we knew who had the same vibe and same interest in music. And so we ended up connecting with Angelo. We were rehearsing in Maple Ridge at the time, even though none of us lived there—Andrew’s aunt had a small studio out there— and so Angelo came out from downtown and I think we bonded over the fact that we loved the Bloc Party … then we continued with Angelo as a four piece, and then we brought Wes in to do some recording, originally, because he did some engineering stuff back in the day. And then eventually, as we did a couple demos with him … we were like, “Why don’t we get a synth player?” and Wes was a great fit – we all got along real well. And so, he ended up joining us … I guess that was in April of 2010. How would you classify your sound? I think what we usually say is something like “electro indie pop something.” We really have no idea. We tend to let people do that for us. I guess the EP is straddling those lines, kind of a little bit electronic, a little bit of pop – there’s not really a lot of rock in there, but there’s a little bit of that. But we

like synth sounds, we like electronic sounds, and we like effects and glitching stuff out and things like that. But we also like really well laid out pop music. So, we try and blend that as best as we can. I find you guys to be pretty synth heavy, and at times even a New Wave kind of sound from the ’80s. Are there any bands from that time period that have influenced you guys? Yeah, I think we probably take a bunch of influences from that. I think we all kind of like the New Order, Joy Division, Talking Heads, that whole vibe and you know … less synthy but like the Smiths as well, but that really cool pop sound. Have you guys ever tried experimenting with any other types of sounds? Oh yeah, all the time … I find it actually a lot easier just to write random[ly]. You know, sit down at a piano … and just kind of go. Then it turns up sounding a lot more spacey and experimental, and then usually we’ll take that and we’ll bring it to the group … and then, “What are the chords here? Let’s change this, let’s change that.” As far as making those tracks leap onto the album, we might end up doing stuff like that interlude-y stuff on the album. But we’ll see. We’ll see when we get there. The Vancouver indie scene seems to really be kicking it into high gear with some really top notch bands right now. What’s it like being a band in a city that’s fostering such great music? It’s really cool to see so many good bands coming up because it’s encouraging, and it’s challenging everybody … and the more we challenge each other and push each other, then the better the whole scene will get. I think things like The Peak and The Peak Performance Project are encouraging people to get together and actually put [in] effort ... and become a really interesting, unique group. There are so many resources out there now, too. It’s just really cool to see that. When I was in high school there were not nearly this many interesting groups out there. There just seems to be, like you said … an explosion of really cool bands that are coming out in Vancouver now. I feel like, “Okay finally, it’s beyond metal, and it’s beyond the Nickelback sound.” We’re kind of moving and growing a little bit. What’s life like outside of the band? The life of a band these days seems to be: live a completely

normal life, work a day job, and keep yourself super busy, and at night you play music and you play shows ... I think a lot of bands are in a place where they’re not at a place where they can do their music full-time, but they just pour every last minute they have into it. And I think that’s kind of where we’re at right now. The video for your single “Colours” is pretty sweet. How did that come about? The idea came from the label. They said “okay, we want a lyric video” and we never thought of doing a lyric video before... I’ve seen a lot of lyric videos that I wasn’t a fan of. I think if you Google “lyric video” you can find a lot of pop/punk type videos, and it just kind of seems a little bit – not too interesting, at least not to me. We ha[d] some footage from a previous shoot of us from a couple of concerts, and a music thing that never came to fruition. And so, that’s where you get the silhouettes look, and so we processed that, and in the back of all the lyrics is us playing music … I love that effect of text with video behind it … it’s really cool to have it out there. I’ve got very, very quick and sometimes not the most understandable lyrics so people appreciate it – being able to understand what I’ve been saying. What’s your favourite track on the EP? It kind of shifts for me, usually it’s which[ever] is my favourite to play live. And I’d probably have to say my favourite is “Newton, Forgive Me.” I guess it’s something to play live for me, for whatever reason. I enjoy it. Nettwerk is a very intriguing record label. How is it being signed by them? They are really awesome to work with. All of a sudden you sign on, and you’ve got this whole house full of people who are passionate about what they do, and they’re very good at what they do. And so we’ve got people doing all these things that we suck at – we’re not good at publicizing ourselves; we’re not good at organizing video shoots. You know, all this stuff that we aren’t really able to do on our own if we tried. It would take us forever. And when can we expect a full album to drop? We are hoping—let me be optimistic—and say out this summer for the full length.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

Mini Album Reviews

SoundBites

ARTS & LIFE

Ketamines Spaced Out

Julia Holter Ekstasis

Young Liars

Homesick Future EP

Real Boys Real Boys EP

On the surface, the Calgary-based Ketamines seem like another reverb heavy and eccentric drug band that yearns to be like Deerhunter. Given, the name of their album is Spaced Out and the word ketamine means a hallucinogenic painkiller used only in emergency surgery. However, if you pay close attention to the composition of the album, you’ll find a set of solid songs held together by fluid grooves all recorded by a confident band. The album starts out loose, manic and garbled, evoking the essence of 1960s psych-pop, but Ketamines really hit their stride on Spaced Out’s second half, where their display of influences get surprisingly more varied. “Evil Intensions” is a Ramones-like threechord assault on the listener; and “No Grand Design” has an upbeat surf rock groove reminiscent of Dick Dale and the Daletones. Ketamines boldly goes with the flow, as they run with their instincts to make what they do look easier than it really is. Their album is currently available for download on their Bandcamp webpage.

Unequal parts electronic pop, jazz and ambience, Julia Holter’s Ekstasis stretches her significant vocal talents through genre and instrumental experimentation beyond her first LP Tragedy from last year. Holter’s sparse soundscapes usually consist of not much more than a beat, her voice, the air and her voice again and again, layering and falling apart as songs progress and fade. Ekstasis’ frequent tonal shifts are at first take bizarre, but become the defining voice of the album; Holter isn’t content to let a song dwell in one register, exist in only languor or vocalization, and so Ekstasis’ tracks take on the feeling of electronic modular improvisation, one minute modern chiptune, the next holy worship (and then there’s “Goddess Eyes II,” which is essentially both.) Moving from the perfect pop opening of “Marienbad” through the pure contemplation of “In the Same Moon” to the winding concluding “This Is Ekstasis,” Ekstasis is an album where songs turn more unrecognizable, strange and wondrous with each listen.

Stepping into the Vancouver music scene with their debut Homesick Future EP, Young Liars is looking to establish a place for their synth-heavy, New Wave infused pop/house mix. After listening to the seven tracks for nearly three weeks, it wouldn’t be unexpected to become a tad tired of their sound. But with Young Liars, that’s not the case. In fact, it’s the opposite. With Jordan Raine on lead vocals, his unique lyrical talent, and that superb synth, the band has found a unique place in the industry. The first track right off, “Echoists,” really shows what this band is about. With a tempo set perfectly, it highlights Raine’s penchant for leaning on influences from the ’80s. Of course, “Colours” is the lead single and acts as a showcase for the bands eclectic lyrics. Another standout is “Navigator Island” which is probably the calmest track, while my personal favourite “Newton, Forgive Me” is more of an anthem and would be great for the club scene. If you want to do yourself a favour, put this EP on repeat and just take in their unique talents.

The Real Boys’ self-entitled EP is full of high-energy, good-for-summer songs that will make you want to dance; listening to Real Boys is sure to make you forget those pre-exam blues. Within seconds of listening, the band’s chemistry can easily be heard in this energetic and carefree album. Their lyrics will not have you sulking in your last relationship’s despair, but rather have you thinking about all the random moments in life that have the power to put a smile on your face. Real Boys epitomize a group of friends having a great time at doing what they do best. Every one of the six songs exerts liveliness with original vocals and captivating instrumentals, which feature some excellent screaming guitar licks. These songs are definitely meant to be heard live, though; their energy is clearly restricted by the constraints of the studio. Fortunately, students will have a chance to hear them live at their EP release show at U-House on March 23 (free for students). Real Boys is sure to impress live music lovers.

TIM UBELS

ALBUM REVIEW NICK UBELS

CONTRIBUTOR

“In the squares of the city, in the shadow of the steeple Near the relief office, I see my people And some are grumblin’ and some are wonderin’ If this land’s still made for you and me.” – Woody Guthrie, 1940 Bruce Springsteen closed his headlining set at this year’s Southby-Southwest music festival with a cover of this song, dustbowl-era troubadour Woody Guthrie’s abiding folk classic, “This Land Is Your Land.” It perfectly captures the spirit of his latest album, which situates Jersey’s favourite son in the tradition of populist American folk singers like Guthrie and Aunt Molly Jackson, who sang about the human cost of a failing economy with equal parts empathy and indignation. Springsteen is more acutely troubled by issues of economic inequality and unfulfilled promises than ever before. The widening gap between the myth of the American Dream and the reality faced by the working and middle classes in the midst of this recession is a problem that underscores most of the songs here. More than just an angry protest record—though there are times when the Boss’s righteous fury is electrifying and powerful—Wrecking Ball both af-

flicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted with tales of working class romance (“You’ve Got It,” “This Depression”), hard-scrabble spirituality (“Land of Hope and Dreams,” “Rocky Ground”) and by turning small town economic devastation into mid-tempo drinking songs (“Death to My Hometown”), foot-stomping folk anthems (“Easy Money”), or ballads about quiet courage in the face of uncertainty (“Jack of All Trades”). An album of hymns, anthems, choruses, and ballads, Wrecking Ball is Bruce Springsteen’s most urgent, uncompromising and successful collection of original material since 2004’s Devils and Dust. “We Take Care of Our Own” establishes this hard-bitten disposition before the record’s first lyric is uttered with a tense electric guitar wavering uncertainly over a dramatic, thundering floor tom and snare riff. Springsteen’s signature Telecaster leads the rest of the band into a livid battle anthem condemning a neglected social contract, Bruce spitting lyrics like “From the shotgun shack to the Super Dome/ There ain’t no help, the cavalry stayed home.” The track brings to mind the Phil Specter wall-of-sound approach of Springsteen’s early records, replete with bombastic orchestral flourishes, chiming bells and shouted backing vocals. Wrecking Ball can be loosely divided into three movements: the political rage of “We Take Care of

MICHAEL SCOULAR

JOE JOHNSON

PAIGE HOBLAK

Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball Our Own” gives way to a series of dusty folk songs which artfully relay political truths through honest, character-driven stories before the record concludes with a trilogy of spirituals. The album’s centrepiece is its title track; ostensibly about the demolition of New Jersey’s Giants Stadium in 2010, “Wrecking Ball” also works as both an apocalyptic call-to-arms for the downtrodden (“Hold tight to your anger/ and don’t fall to your fears”) and a personal manifesto. It possesses the same bloody-knuckled desperation and desperate hope that has made Springsteen’s best music since 1978’s Darkness on the Edge of Town so enduring and cathartic. At the song’s climax, he dwells on the cyclical nature of economic security and life itself, importantly repeating “Hard times come and hard times go/ Just to come again.” Fittingly, Springsteen freely draws on music born out of economic hardship to propel these tales: Celtic, American folk, East Coast R&B, soul, country, and gospel in addition to the usual strains of heartland rock. This diversity of styles is striking and effective, though there are a few tracks that don’t quite hit the mark musically. “This Depression” and “Rocky Ground” play it a little too safe, coming across as lacklustre and tame next to the wealth of captivating and dynamic music to match the message elsewhere on the album. Still, Wrecking Ball re-

affirms that Bruce Springsteen’s ardent conviction, dramatic song craft and vivid storytelling are often a potent cocktail. There are moments on this album with enough intoxicating, life-and-death urgency to match that exuded by a much younger, scruffier-looking punk from New Jersey. Yet his lifelong pre-occupation with death and hardship now has an even greater weight earned by age and adversity. “Land of Hope and Dreams” is anchored by a soaring solo by late E Street Band sax player Clarence “Big Man” Clemens, the soul of Springsteen’s legendary backing

combo. In the liner notes, Scooter eulogizes his friend in typical Springsteen fashion: “Clarence doesn’t leave the E Street Band when he dies. He leaves when we die.” His self-made elegy is a powerful and rare brimming-heart moment where private loss and public despair bleed together in spectacular, widescreen fashion. But as the album’s hoarsely whispered coda reminds us, “we are alive.” Another brief vision of that same, scruffy 20-year-old wildly speaking impossible promises into our ear. We can see the way that times have changed, and know they’ll change again.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

ARTS & LIFE

Book Review Ellen Hopkins – Perfect TAYLOR JOHNSON

CONTRIBUTOR

Ellen Hopkins has spiced up poetry in her latest book, Perfect. Yes, dear readers, poetry, but please don’t run quite yet. I guarantee this is not your Romantic poetry or structured sonnet. By using the viewpoints of four troubled teenagers as a back drop, Hopkins has taken parental expectations, school pressure, sexuality, addiction and, above all, the desire to be perfect, and thrown it all over the pages. Her simplistic wording not only paints an image in your mind, but has printed the image on the page. A reader can read the text backwards, forwards or even starting from the middle and working outwards and can still understand the message completely. The typical-protagonist, popular high school senior Cara is troubled by her twin Conner’s recent attempted suicide (see Hopkins’s companion novel Impulse for Conner’s full story). The cold, detached parenting style of her mother makes home life a business deal; success will grant Cara rewards and benefits, but failure by her mother’s standards is deemed unacceptable. At school Cara must maintain a high GPA, popular baseball star boyfriend and a busy social life. She is unable to admit that she is tiptoeing on edge of sanity. Hopkins takes our interpretation of high school royalty and breaks it wide open, allowing readers to imagine their pressures and torments, which others were unable to comprehend by looking on the outside enviously at “Miss Popular.” Sean, a star in baseball, has lost the one thing that mattered most in his life: the love of his life Cara. In one terrible night Sean has driven her away to another beau and must now watch as her life unravels. Love-struck and angry, he puts all his attention into bulking up for college ball in the coming year. However, when addiction spikes and side effects kick in Sean must decide if his ego is the only thing his actions have tainted. A new side to the male mentality, Hopkins exposes weakness, venerabil-

ity and desperation – things one would not typically expect from jocks and manly-men. Relatable and realistic male readers looking for an intriguing read can find satisfaction in Sean’s story. Independence to follow one’s dreams no matter the boundaries is the focal point of Andre’s story. The privileged Andre lives the perfect life, with a nice car and a house fit for a movie star. However, soon talk of university and medical school kicks in at the dinner table. Andre must decide if following his artistic passion is worth turning his back on the expectations of his successful plastic surgeon parents. A new girlfriend spikes emotions Andre has never felt before. She pushes him to fight for what he wants and determine whether the consequences are worth it in the end. Whether looking for closure to a lost dream or inspiration to follow those of your own, a reader can find passion or be inspired to find passion in reading Andre’s story. Frail and wilting Kendra has been left heartbroken by her love, Conner. This trauma, however, has transformed passion into a promising modeling career. With a few less pounds, as well as a nip-andtuck and readjustment, Kendra is well on her way to the perfect body. She hopes that with this perfect body, the perfect life will soon follow. Kendra loses sight of her own addiction and is faced with losing everything she has worked for. Tragically, Kendra’s story is probably similar to those of many young girls with eating disorders. A reader can find compassion and understanding by reading her story; they can dive into the mind of a theoretical character faced with real life disease. Unafraid to test boundaries, Ellen Hopkins’ most recent book has revamped poetry and addressed it to a modern young audience. As with her other works, Hopkins takes the everyday struggles of real people and exposes the underlying disasters we all try desperately to hide. After having read this brave address to the issue of perfection, I found Perfect a perfectly realistic rendition of teenage struggle.

Haute Stuff Justin Merluza Interview: Merging Cathedrals and Couture LEANNA PANKRATZ THE CASCADE

Providing “wedding gowns to the unconventional bride,” Vancouver-based bridal designer and UFV Fashion Program graduate Justin Merluza believes in making a statement. His fashion line Just_inCouture mixes unexpected and bold elements to create wedding dresses like no others – “art pieces, showstoppers, and gowns which bring out a bride’s personality.” Justin utilizes an intensely creative spirit and strong drive to succeed. I had the opportunity to ask him a few questions about his experiences navigating the fashion world, and came away inspired by his raw talent and passion. When did you first become interested in fashion? When I was young, I would watch my grandparents make bolts of fabric into tailored suits and wellfitted gowns. I was always surrounded my fashion. My mother was a beauty pageant contestant when she was young, and browsing through the old photo albums, I would see the fabulous dresses she would wear. I suppose I was born with fashion in my blood. What basic skills did the UFV Fashion Program teach you, and how have they contributed to your career? I learned so much in the two years that I was in the fashion design program. I did, however, come into the program with the knowledge of how to sew and create patterns. The biggest skill I have learned is to time manage. This is a two-year program in which really there is no time to sleep or eat. The fashion industry is just the same, everything is always changing, and if you stop and breathe, you will be left behind. Describe your bridal line. My bridal line is a mix of soft elegance with a touch of edge. I strongly believe that a woman should not just put the predictable white dress on because it is her wedding day. She should be able

Image: Justin Merluza/facebook.com

to express her personality through her dress. Who is your ideal customer? My ideal customer is someone that wants to showcase her personality through her dress – someone who is not afraid to step outside the box that is the bridal world. There are so many women who believe that getting married means the perfect white dress. I ask, why be part of the stereotypes associated with a wedding? Step outside the box and look great, feel great and be yourself. What is your creative process like? When I meet a client that wants a dress done, I like to meet her and get an idea of the vibe she wants for her big day. I then design a dress that I feel would work for her and her distinctive tastes. It’s about the bride in the end, and having the chance to design oneon-one with the bride is amazing. What inspires you to design? I am inspired by a lot of things. But what really gets me pumping is a clash of two worlds. This year I am designing a collection which brings hard rock chic and soft, elegant, flowy gowns together. This collection will include see-through ball gowns with leather studding and floral patch work. The elements are very edgy, but the silhouettes are soft and graceful. This outcome is what inspires me [to]

bring two different worlds that would normally never work and mash them up to create the world that is Just_inCouture. Who are a few of your favourite fashion icons or brands, and why? I admire Lazaro for the elegance that beautifully showcases a woman’s body and John Galliano for the element of surprise he brings with his unique silhouettes. But most importantly, it is the women on the streets. Fashion is all around us, and it’s the day-to-day women that inspire me most, rather than the women in magazines. Women look in these magazines and see perfect women and fabulous dresses, but there is often disappointment upon finding the dress, and realizing that it doesn’t look the same. I keep real women in mind for inspiration, and I design for them. Any advice to those pursuing a career in fashion design? If you live and breathe fashion, you are fashion. Fashion school is not always the answer. Take the first step and just go! So many designers graduate every year, but only the ones that live the fashion lifestyle will succeed. Always remember to let yourself shine in your designs, because that’s the first thing people will notice.

OXFAM: Black Gold TAYLOR JOHNSON

CONTRIBUTOR

Have you ever wondered where things come from? More specifically, have you ever wondered where coffee comes from? No, not the friendly barista behind the counter at Starbucks who’s making your vanilla latte (which is much needed after staying up all night writing that paper you should have finished a week ago), but rather where that lifesaving cup of “wake me up” came from originally. On March 14, OXFAM and Fair Trade Vancouver presented a film in order to make students more aware of the need for fair trade products. The very heart-touching film Black Gold hit the audience hard, allowing viewers to see the day-to-day struggles of a coffee grower in Ethiopia. Where on average a coffee-grower makes a meager eight pennies a day, big-name coffee industries make

an average of $80 billion a day. The film followed fair trade coffee advocates from cooperative farms to the small-hut auction houses to the big name houses in New York City, where the prices of coffee are decided. After the film, speaker Sasha Caldera presented his SFU-based fair trade movement, explaining how SFU and UFV can make campuses advocates for human rights and equality. Caldera explained step-by-step how easy it is for a small change like buying fair trade coffee to have a bigger impact globally. Every purchase of fair trade products cuts out the “middle man”—who takes a portion of profit from the farmer— and allows farming communities to build the schools and wells they need. If the equality movement isn’t enough to sway your coffee taste buds, then perhaps the price will. Caldera explained that the price of fair trade products is on average

Image: Rebecca Groen

the same, or a few pennies more, then the products we already buy. Making UFV a fair trade campus might not save the world right away—even though we wish it was that easy—but it will definite-

ly demonstrate our compassion for equality everywhere. So the next time you decide to buy a cup of coffee, take the time to ask “where did this come from?” It might just convince you

to swap out one of your daily coffees for a fair trade brand. For more information, visit http:// fairtrade.ca/en/get-involved/ fair-trade-campus.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

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ARTS & LIFE

FilmReview Salmon Fishing in the Yemen LEANNA PANKRATZ THE CASCADE

Director Lasse Hallström (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Casanova, Chocolat) set out to adapt Paul Torday’s 2006 political satire Salmon Fishing in the Yemen into cinematic form. However, the finished product falls far short of Torday’s original intent. The film revolves around Dr. Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor), a fish expert, and Harriet ChetwodeTalbot (Emily Blunt), a Sheikh’s female representative. This particular Sheikh has a penchant for fishing, and Harriet is passionate about making his dreams of a fisherman’s paradise in the Middle East come to pass. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen deals with all the consequences of such a plot, and does not fail to explore the tentative romance between the male and female leads, turning what was originally an absurdist political satire into something more along the lines of a pseudo-political romantic dramedy. Performances by both Blunt and MacGregor are commendable, subdued, and believable. Their ability to attain a sense of urgent poignancy in very minimalist scenes—such as the sending of an email, or a small, telling glance—without resorting to on-

screen histrionics is a sign of actors who truly know their craft. The will-they-won’t-they relationship depicted by the two in the film is described by The New York Times as a “polite, but discreetly charged connection,” and that is perhaps a perfect summation of the tone achieved by the excellent twosome that is Ewan and Emily. MacGregor significantly tones down his trademark roguish Scotsman fire to button into the anxious, stuffed-shirt character that is Dr. Alfred “Fred” Jones. Blunt’s Harriet is restrained, but does not fall into the category of a buttonedup British female heroine that she could have easily fallen into. In short, Salmon Fishing is a film that utilizes two great talents. It is unfortunate, however, when grand performances are inhibited by a lackluster film. The broad, sweeping characters portrayed are plundered by a frankly unbelievable and forced storyline that often finds itself stuck in a sort of purgatory between serious political drama and whimsical romantic comedy – an unfortunate appeal to audiences that will leave them more confused than riveted or emotionally involved. It resorts to cute, awkward moments of romantic tension, and the depiction of a caricatured, mystical Middle East that only serves to heighten

its predictability. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen could have been smart if it only had figured out what it wanted to be. The concept of a near impossible feat—the idea of farmed salmon being released into a makeshift fishing paradise—could be related to the impossibility of Harriet and Fred’s relationship; can or can’t it be achieved? That would have been the romantic comedy route. The implications of political shifts due to such lofty goals could have also been explored deeper, creating what could have been a political drama. The original 2006 novel is lightyears away from the film, both in tone and plot development; the book is an absurdist political confection that is best likened to a modern day P.G. Wodehouse work. The film could have followed suit, and would have been stronger for it, but ends up rather forgettable in its departure from the original piece. It becomes instead a stock romance with political undertones with plot twists and subplots that grow more confusing as the film goes on. “Fundamentally unfeasible,” says Alfred Jones of the idea to fish for salmon in the Yemen, and that same statement could be applied to what this film set out to accomplish.

Discussions Below the Belt Hairy pits, hairy pubes and the hairy place patriarchy puts us JOHNNY RODDICK THE CASCADE

A story coming out of Sweden caught my attention in the wake of International Women’s Day. During a live TV broadcast of a singing competition, cameras briefly captured the unshaved armpit of a woman in the crowd as it panned across the audience. According to The Local, the TV show’s 4.1 million viewers weren’t ready to let it go. A screenshot was posted online and in just a few hours it had gone viral. Before long her identity was known. Lina Ehrin, a 32-year-old librarian, was soon unceremoniously cast into the spotlight, as comments about her choice to not shave began to turn ugly. In an interview with The Local she expressed her astonishment towards the online bullying. “I can’t believe a little bit of hair is such a big thing,” she said. Feminist bloggers and political activists have also been weighing in. A demonstration by around 40 women baring their “unshaved” armpits was held to protest the hateful comments. “We need to show that this is a form of oppression based on a beauty norm and controlling the female body,” said Anna Ga-

Image: CortneeB/ Flickr.com

gliardo, in a subsequent report by The Local. While the story took place in Sweden, it’s not hard to imagine a similar situation taking place in the United States or Canada. Armpits happen to be one place on the body that almost every female has chosen to keep perpetually hairless. Whether it be for personal ideas of hygiene, comfort, or a fear of being harassed, the conclusion seems to be that hairy pits are unacceptable.

Postcard Literature: Call For Submissions Would you like to see your short fiction published? The Cascade is looking for original flash fiction to grace the pages of this fine publication. Submissions may touch on any theme or topic.

If it were only armpits, though, it might be a little easier to take. But it isn’t. Instead, the pressure on women to go through hair-removal rituals has grown substantially over the last 20 years. It’s become somewhat of a taboo for a woman to have any body hair at all – including pubic hair. For most of human history, the sight of a woman’s pubic hair was a sign of her sexual maturity. It wasn’t until pornography in the

‘90s began to feature the shaven look that men began to favour it. Women soon began to follow the trend, and due to the already-entrenched beauty norms surrounding body hair, it quickly reached critical mass. The pressure and expectation put on women to shave (or wax) is enormous. It’s also multi-faceted. Not only do men generally expect women to shave, women expect other women to shave. Suddenly going to the beach or pool means a full-body inspection or the risk of humiliation. What started out as a fashion choice soon transformed into faulty notions of cleanliness (believe it or not, hair isn’t inherently dirty). As a result, women have even more things they need to “fix” about their natural bodies on a daily basis before society will accept them as beautiful. I can’t imagine devoting that much time and brain-power to such a task. It’s all part of a growing selfreflective anxiety imposed on women to compare and compete for their worth through their appearance. It’s in the media, it’s in the fashion industry, and it’s in our social circles. Increasingly, us men are being driven down the same road – and unfortunately

that doesn’t make the situation any better. The solution, it seems, is a conscious effort by both men and women to out-think it – to reclaim our bodies by taking back control. “I want women’s choices regarding their bodies to be respected as their own,” sex documentarian Liandra Dahl explained on her blog. “I am irritated not by someone’s preference for no hair, but by a person indicating that all women should do what they prefer.” Ultimately, it isn’t that people need to stop shaving, if that is what they prefer. Instead, we must choose to reject the idea that it is unclean or disgusting if someone chooses to go the natural route. In an age where razorblade companies like Gillette and Venus are sponsoring our children’s sex education pamphlets, it is more important than ever that we question these beauty norms. If you want to see how armpit hair can be both sexy and a glorious “fuck you” to the system—or if you just want to see if you can stomach the sight of a beautiful woman with hairy armpits—try checking out the community-run body-positive blog hairypitsclub.tumblr.com. Let’s take back control of our bodies; Women are hairy, get used to it.

Submission Guidelines:

- We’re not sticklers for genre. As long as it’s good, we’ll consider it.

-Subject line should include the name of the work and the author

- Please inform us if your submission has been previously published.

-Submissions should be attached as a Word .doc.

- Submissions can come from UFV students, faculty or community members.

-All works must be under 1000 words. Show us what you can do in a limited amount of space. What we like: - General fiction is preferred, but humour and satire are also appreciated.

Response time will typically be one week. Please email all submissions to: alexei@ufvcascade.ca

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

ARTS & LIFE

UFV gathers for South Asian Readers and Writers Festival NADINE MOEDT

CONTRIBUTOR

The seventh annual Ehsaas South Asian Readers and Writers Festival took place at University House this past Wednesday, March 14. UFV’s writer-in-residence Anosh Irani hosted the event and was one of four authors reading to a fully-engaged audience. Irani opened the evening with a selection from his second novel, The Song of Kahunsha, which follows the lives of several abandoned children in Bombay struggling for survival amidst the racial rioting of 1993. A central feature of his reading was the description of a beggar without arms and legs, someone Irani had actually witnessed in the Mombai train station. The image had a powerful effect on the audience, as expressed by several members in the questionand-answer period that followed the readings. Following Irani, Surjit Kaley, a Canadian poet and resident of British Columbia, read from her newest book of poems Colours of My Heart. Kaley’s poems reflected the very real lives of immigrant women whose stories are, as she puts it, “no fairy tale to tell.” Kaley colours

her emotions; avoidance is a “dark grey,” and shame is “pitch dark blackness.” Her poetry weaves together Indian mythology and the modern Canadian experience for all women, providing an insightful illustration of adversities all women face in this world. UFV English instructor Rajnish Dahwan then introduced Dr. Paul Sunga. In addition to his degree in medicine, Sunga’s long list of credentials includes experience as a teacher, journalist and medical advisor in a rural town in South Africa during the press blackouts – a result of the anti-apartheid movement of the mid-1980s. This experience provided the inspiration and material for his second novel, Red Dust, Red Sky. Sunga read the first few pages of his novel, which explores the experience of a young girl growing up under the South African racist system and the conflict between traditional and scientific attitudes related to the HIV epidemic. Interestingly, Sunga noted that the whole idea for his novel came to him in a dream. Sunga also gave the audience a preview of his latest, work-inprogress The Age of Wealth, a novel described by Sunga as “semicomedic,” which dramatizes the

plight of several economic advisors in Kenya who are abducted by their ostensible guides. Sunga read his account of the abduction, which is humorously described by each of the abductees. Their individual socio-economic status is analyzed in detail in a very tonguein-cheek manner. Last to read was Fauzie Rafique. Published in both Pakistan and Canada, Rafique is a seasoned and controversial writer. Rafique read first from her 2007 novel Skeena, a work that spans 30 years, detailing the life of a Muslim-Canadian woman. Rafique explored the cultural differences and changing environment throughout Skeena’s life, recounting the cultural and religious influences that shaped her. Rafique’s narrative is quirky; Skeena arrives in Canada, meeting her husband for the first time, and in Skeena’s words “it was unfortunate that I was expected to sleep with him too.” Skeena’s story provides an interesting and thoughtprovoking glimpse into the the mind of a Muslim woman. Rafique read several of her poems from her collection of English and Punjabi poetry titled Passion Fruit. Ending the night on a lighter note, Rafique read a poem called

Image:Rebecca Groen

“The Sharia Compliant Bra,” which described an argument between a Muslim fundamentalist mother and her daughter over the purchase of a padded bra, during which the mother sentences her daughter to washing her mouth out with soap “five times a day for seven years.” During the discussion that followed the readings, Rafique was asked whether she had a price on her head after publishing such a satiric poem. In

response, Rafique agreed that the heavier the oppression, the “better opportunities for counterattack and satire.” UFV is fortunate to have the resources of the Centre for IndoCanadian Studies which hosts this festival. It is a pleasure to to be reminded of how much talent exists in our various communities, and for both writers and readers to be given the opportunity to listen and learn.

POSTCARD LITERATURE The Return I fingered the bruise on my temple. The counter at the bar had done a number on me, but I was learning to ignore the pain. It was Detective French who was hurting my head now. He had questioned me until sunrise about the fight. I guess I said all the right things; he drove me to the parking lot where my jalopy waited. All I got was a slap on the wrist and a stern warning. But that’s what friends are for. He seemed more preoccupied with the body at Lost Lagoon. He told me to head home and get some rest. Sure, I’d get some rest. There was only one problem: every time I closed my eyes I saw her face, dead and grey. Her name was Molly Brooks. It was a shame she had to die for a woman she didnt know. She was anything but Irene Mitchel. She led a clean life and an honest job. I laughed bitterly. Irene was a poison, plain and simple. I lit a cigarette as I reached the door of my car. I was about to put the key in the lock when I heard the click of heels behind me. I felt my guts tighten. This was trouble I could not avoid. “Where are you going, stranger?” Her voice was soft and melodious. I turned to face her. She was beautiful, like always, wearing a custom tailored red wool jacket below her shoulders and a slate skirt that rose above her knees. Her hair was curled and dark under a blue Sunday hat and her eyes sparkled. I could almost feel the smile on her lips.

“You had best turn around and keep walking,” I sneered. “You’ve gotten cold, Frank. It’s been too long. I thought it was time I found you.” Her smile was soft and caring. It was almost believable. “Good, you found me. Now go find someone else.” She took a step forward, her heels clicking on the concrete. “But it’s you I want, Frank. You sent me to Toronto. You were the one that turned me in.” I winced at the truth, though my conscious spared me any hard feelings. “I was hurt at first, but I got over it. I went, and you cleaned up. Still, you owe me, Frank.” “I owe you nothing.” She smiled, her red lips like neon signs in my eyes. She took the cigarette out of my mouth, put her arms up over my shoulders, and kissed me on the mouth. I let her do it. “I want you to let me stay with you. You are the only one I can trust here.” “Some trust. I’m the man who turned you in. That’s quite the favor for a man like me. Hotel’s are too good for you now?” “I don’t like hotels.” “Bullshit. Why are you even in Vancouver?” I held her out at arm’s length, keeping her distant enough to talk to without tempting her lips a second time. “I missed this town, Frank. Toronto just wasn’t the same.” “You’ve got a better reason than that. Someone was killed last night bearing your description. Who are you hiding from?”

Anthony Biondi

Art: Anthony BIondi

She immediately took a step back from me, her gloved hands thrust into her coat pockets; she looked frustrated and lonely. “Will you just let me stay with you? It’ll blow over in a week or two.” “I want to know what I’m getting myself into, before I drop a key in your hot hands.” I watched her closely. She was flustered and pacing. This was not the woman I remembered. A car backfired along Hastings and Irene jumped. If she was afraid, what could that mean for me? Nothing

good, I was sure. “I messed up in Toronto. It’s a different city, Frank. I think someone followed me home.” Her voice was slight; meek as a whisper and shaken with fear. “Please let me stay with you. I’m safer that way. It’ll blow over, I promise.” She had me between a rock and a bottle of scotch. I wanted to tell her she was no safer with me, that she should skip town again, but my mouth was dry and empty. “Fine.” I was a sucker, all right. All it took was a kiss and a shaking at

the knees. I couldn’t walk away knowing that she could be killed. I don’t send dames off to die. No way in hell. She thanked me and I let her into my car. I thought of French. He would have my head if he knew. Sure I was their stool pigeon, but not this time. French would find out there was a killer on the loose. But not until I had ditched the dame. It was some kind of stupid, but it was better than hitting the big house. Irene was back, and all I could do was take her home.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

SPORTS & HEALTH

Sedin line may be last chance for Raymond JOEL SMART

the cascade

A Sedin slump that has begun to cause serious concern has led to lineshuffling by coach Alain Vigneault. For many, seeing Mason Raymond paired with the twins was about as baffling a move as could be imagined, yet it served several purposes. First, it kept the second powerhouse line of Kesler, Higgins and Booth intact. Second, it allowed Alex Burrows to inspire and collaborate with Jannik Hansen – two players with a bit of a similar spark. Yet, perhaps most importantly, it gave Mason Raymond an inspired chance to define his own fate; while he hasn’t been hurting the team too much, his production this season has left a number of fans calling for his permanent banishment.

Raymond has an almost unmatchable speed – an attribute that got the attention of most Canucks fans when he first joined the team at the start of the 2007-2008 season (when, by the way, he first played on the top line with the Sedins). While he had just nine goals and 29 points in 42 games that season, just two seasons later he

wowed Vancouver with a 25 goal, 53 point performance. That production dropped significantly the following year when he managed a respectable 15 goal, 39 point season. While that was enough to draw ire from the pickiest of fans last year, things have gone from bad to worse for Raymond this season. Though he is a plus-eight, he has scored just eight goals, and managed only 16 points this year. Granted, he returned from a serious back injury and has yet to play 50 games this season. It doesn’t help, though, that Raymond seems to have a proclivity for getting “grade A” chances – then spoiling them. When he isn’t falling down or dropping his stick, he’s fanning on a shot at an open net (the comedic/annoying guy sitting behind me at the recent Canucks-Jets

game kept calling him “No-Stick Raymond”). Sure enough, in his first game with the Sedins in the recent line-matching endeavour proved the point – mishandling a breakaway pass in what would inevitably lead to a 5-4 loss against the Phoenix Coyotes. Yet, I won’t be the first one to throw Raymond under the bus. Scoring hasn’t been the biggest problem in the Canucks recent slump – being scored on has. As evidenced from his plus-minus rating, Raymond isn’t the problem. He’s not taking penalties either. Granted, he’s going to need to find his game in a hurry if he wants to stay on the first line, but I’m also not convinced it couldn’t happen. With the healthy cushion the Canucks have in the Northwest Division, it isn’t a bad idea to experiment with line combinations now, before the real

“chess matches” begin. If Raymond can find some success on the first line, that’s an option Vigneault will be glad to have if the Sedins start to struggle in the postseason. It’s also an important moment for Raymond. He knows that his opportunity to play—or at least the size of his paycheque—is at stake. He is currently in the last season of a two-year $5.1 million contract ($2.5 last year, $2.6 this year). He’s going to need to start proving his worth now if he wants to find a place on the roster next year. With two of the best hockey players in the world at his sides, it might be just the kind of chance a motivated player needs to succeed.

NHL to Saskatoon? Population says no Vancouver(GVA)

Saskatoon

Population: 2, 313, 328

Population: 260, 600

Heat Report: playoff berth in the balance image: Martin Krzywinski/Flickr

KAREN ANEY the cascade

Hockey is a winter sport. You play it on ice. Ice doesn’t fare well in the summer. So, yeah, it’s a winter sport. However, this hasn’t stopped the NHL from placing teams in the sunbelt – the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, et al. Last year, we saw the end of the Atlanta Thrashers, who became the Winnipeg Jets. This year, we’re seeing another sunbelt team, the Phoenix Coyotes, head down the same path as the Thrashers. But where will they end up? Rumours suggest many places; perhaps chief among them are Saskatoon and Seattle. Rather than taking what someone said on Twitter as gospel, let’s take a logical look at whether or not those cities can feasibly host an NHL team. Each year, Forbes outlines and reports the worth, income, and operating budget of each team in the NHL. The teams are then ranked according to value. This year, the original six teams (Toronto, New York, Montreal, Detroit, Boston and Chicago) are ranked as numbers one through six. Barring unforeseen circumstances (for instance, if the Detroit Red Wings contract some mad octopus disease that then wipes out the entire city), this isn’t going to change. Keeping that in mind, let’s look at the next three teams and see what they

have in common: those teams are the Vancouver Canucks, the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. How do these teams sell tickets and stay successful? One common trait? They’re populous cities. The Greater Vancouver Area is home to 2,313,328 people (according to the 2011 census). Metropolitan Philadelphia has 4,008,994 residents (according to the 2010 census). Metropolitan Pittsburgh houses 2,356,285 people (according to the same census). Seats available in the arenas are 18,890 in Vancouver, 19,537 in Philadelphia, and 18,387 in Pittsburgh. This means that each team has a fairly low person-to-seat percentage: 0.81 in Vancouver, 0.78 in Pittsburgh, and 0.48 in Philadelphia. This means that organizations can charge a premium price, because they have a large audience to target for sales. The bottom three teams in the league are the Phoenix Coyotes, the New York Islanders and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Islanders are somewhat of an anomaly: though there is a large population in their area, there are also two other NHL teams within driving distance to contend with. This includes an original six team. Translation? They don’t have much of a chance to sell out tickets. Phoenix, on the other hand, has a low population—1,445,732 citizens at the last census—and a relatively

image: Dipendra Rai/Flickr

small arena—17,534 seats—which equates to 1.2 per cent of the population. That is a pretty large number, considering the general apathy surrounding hockey in the city. Columbus’s statistics look slightly better – 18,144 seats is 0.98 per cent of the 1,836,536 population. So, with those numbers in mind, let’s take a look at Saskatoon. Their metropolitan population, according to the 2011 census, was 260,600 people. No, that number isn’t missing a digit. Applying Vancouver’s successful seat-to-population percentage, they can expect to sell 2,110 tickets per game. So, sorry Don Cherry; the Jets are doing alright so far, but things don’t look good for Saskatoon. Simply put, installing an NHL team in a city with such a small population is not a money-making venture. Seattle, on the other hand, has 3,439,809 citizens according to the 2010 census. Though they already have two national sports league teams, it’s not unreasonable to think that they could theoretically sustain a third, especially given the fact that everybody outside the province hates the Canucks with a burning passion. Given their population, demonstrated market for sports, and lack of proximity to any other NHL team that they’re willing to cheer for, Seattle looks to be a prime candidate for an NHL team. Saskatoon? Not so much.

SEAN EVANS the cascade

With 11 games remaining in the regular season, the Heat, once poised to take first or second place in the Western Conference of the AHL, are in a fight for a spot in the playoffs. With just a few weeks of the regular season left to play, the Heat have seen victories come few and far between. In their last eight games, the Heat have won two, lost four and lost one in a shoot-out. The points that they failed to earn during the last third of the season may come back to haunt them, as there are just four points separating 10th place and third place in the Western Conference. Like the NHL, the AHL playoff cutoff is eighth place. Currently, the Heat find themselves sitting in sixth place, with only three points separating them and 10th spot – the team in 10th, the San Antonio Rampage, also has two games in hand. It will be a fight to the finish for the Abbotsford Heat. Generally speaking, good hockey teams do two things: score lots, and don’t allow many goals. Right now the Heat are doing the complete opposite. In their last 10 games, the Heat have allowed 30 goals and scored only 23. The lack of solid goaltending falls on the shoulders of both Danny Taylor and Leland Irving, as the two have largely shared the role – with Irving rotating between the Heat and the Calgary Flames. All that said, aside from a couple of unfortunate outings, the goaltending has not been terrible – not great, but not terrible. The lack of scoring, however, has been the primary concern for the

Heat during the latter half of this season. As it stands, the top scorer for the Heat this season, Krys Kolanos, has 19 goals in 38 games played. Ben Walter, who leads the team in points, has 44 points in 65 games. These numbers are simply not good enough to win games. All AHL teams have to deal with the fact that star-players will be called up to the big leagues, but it seems that the Heat have had to face the loss of key players far too often. On March 5, the Flames recalled three key Heat forwards: Guillaume Desbien, Krys Kolanos and Greg Nemisz. Although Kolanos returned to Abbotsford a week later, Desbien and Nemisz are still missing from the Abbotsford roster. Again, all AHL teams have to deal with this frustration, but the Heat, a team that struggles offensively, have desperately missed having a consistent line-up of forwards that can score. Indeed, the Heat will need some players to step up to the plate with just a handful of games remaining for them to seal up what could be their second ever post-season appearance. One player who may help with the offensive touch is Hugh Jessiman, who joined the Heat mid-February. In his 16 games with the Heat, he has four goals and five assists. Although not amazing numbers, Jessiman scored 20 goals and notched five assists in his 43 games with the Lake Erie Monsters earlier this season. Perhaps some of that offensive finesse will show up in Abbotsford – and hopefully soon, if their hopes of a playoff berth are to be realized.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

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SPORTS & HEALTH

Health Kick: (don’t) hit the wall

image: Zoriel/Flickr

KEN MUIR

CONTRIBUTOR

Marathon runners often talk about a condition known as “hitting the wall” in which, while running, it becomes significantly harder to maintain your speed and effort level. The 2007 movie Run Fatboy Run showed a literal interpretation of this phenomenon. The concept has always intrigued me; I’ve taken part in many endurance events in my lifetime, lasting two hours or more, but never encountered a specific “wall hitting” moment in which my fatigue significantly increased. So, I set out to discover what exactly causes this condition. Hitting the wall basically means your glycogen stores have been depleted, and your body becomes forced to rely solely on fat reserves. The breakdown of glycogen into glucose, and glucose into adenosine-triphosphate (ATP), is the primary pathway and source of fuel for the body when it’s working at a high intensity. Fat mol-

ecules are generally more difficult for the body to break down into glucose and therefore ATP, but this process is easier for the body to implement when it’s working at lower intensities and still has a supply of glycogen left. This is the reason why the “fat burning zone” when exercising is always at lower intensities, or at approximately 60 per cent of your maximal effort: at this effort level your body will more readily break down fat molecules. Theoretically, hitting the wall is another way of reaching the fat burning zone, because your body has little else to burn at that point. However, I’d personally advise against that route, as hitting the wall is quite hard on your body, and is simply much more difficult to achieve in practice than exercising at lower intensities. The side effects of hitting the wall are, not coincidentally, very similar to the symptoms of hypoglycemia, such as dizziness, fatigue, headache, poor judgment and a lack of coordination. Interestingly, resting does little in the way of relieving these symptoms. The

only cure is a restoration of your glycogen stores. In layman’s terms, eat something. There are numerous ways, however, of avoiding hitting the wall in the first place. Don’t exercise at high intensity for long periods This is kind of a lame way to avoid crashing, but it is guaranteed to work. Don’t want to hit the wall? Just don’t put yourself in a position to hit the wall. This means not working at high intensity levels continuously for more than an hour or so. Essentially you can avoid the wall by either exercising for shorter periods of time, and/ or lowering your intensity level to one in which more fat is used as fuel. This information isn’t exactly helpful (or encouraging) if you’re planning on running a marathon though. Eat something while exercising I’ve heard varying recommendations from different fitness professionals, but it is a good rule of thumb to eat something during your exercise if you plan on working out continuously for more than 40 minutes at

high intensity. You can avoid hitting the wall by replenishing your glycogen/glucose levels as you go along by eating or drinking something every 15-30 minutes. It’s worth mentioning that you should definitely be drinking something; as I discussed two weeks ago, dehydration has its own host of debilitating effects. Take small sips of liquid as often as possible. Carb-Loading This is probably the most effective way to avoid hitting the wall if you’re unable to eat something every once in a while during exercise, or if you simply don’t want to go through the hassle. There are several often debated ways to carb-load. The first and probably most well-known is to significantly decrease the amount of carbohydrates you consume in a day several days before the planned workout or competition, and then on the last day before the competition, eat meals that are almost completely comprised of carbs, such as pasta. The logic there is to increase your body’s “hunger” for carbs, causing it to ab-

sorb and store way more glycogen than normally would, which in turn increases the amount of time you have before those stores run out. A softer approach to carb-loading is to simply eat many more carbs on the day before competition without having to leave them out of your diet the few days beforehand. A third way to carb-load calls for a short, high-intensity workout followed by an increase in carbohydrates the day before a competition. Studies conducted by the University of Western Australia found that this method increased athletes’ glycogen stores by as much as 90 per cent. In short, the reason I’ve never really experienced hitting the wall is that I always carb-load before long endurance events, or before any event in which I have to compete at during numerous times throughout the day. Mystery solved! Hopefully, armed with this information, you’ll never have to experience hitting the wall either.

There ain’t no cure for seasonal allergies SASHA MOEDT THE CASCADE

Spring is in the air, and, as allergy sufferers know so well, so is pollen. Seasonal allergies are caused by the budding and blooming of new plantlife that comes with every spring, and more specifically, the level of pollen in the air that is produced by these plants. In the early months, tree pollen dusts the air. Later on in June and July, the grasses pollinate the air, and symptoms worsen as these grasses are mown. In an article in Canadian Parents on spring allergies, Dr. Paul Roumeliotis outlined the three main symptoms spring allergies cause: nasal, eye and asthma. Nasal can include itchy nose and itchy palate, as well as a stuffy nose. Asthma is respiratory symptoms, the wheezing, coughing, breathing troubles. Eye symptoms are the well-known itching, red eyes that tear constantly like you’re weeping so your friends ask, “Hey... are you okay?” Spring isn’t a good time to be walking around sniffing, eyes welled up with tears. But you can’t really

image: Dartmouth Electron Microscope Facility

cure allergies. According to Roumeliotis, allergies are hereditary. “If both parents have allergies, there is a 7580 per cent chance that their children will develop allergies. If one parent is allergic, then the chance of an allergy developing in his/her child is about 40 per cent.” However, there are ways to reduce the severity of symptoms. Before

looking at medication, find ways to reducing your exposure to pollen. Of course, it’s impossible to avoid pollen completely; however, being aware of pollen index levels in the air could help. “Pollen levels fluctuate from day to day, but seem to be higher during hot humid days,” explained Roumeliotis. You can look up pollen levels on the local weather network, or online.

If they are high, avoid being outside for long periods of time. Keep your windows closed, and don’t hang your clothes out to dry, because it will carry the pollen indoors. Of course it’s difficult to hole up during the spring whenever pollen index levels are high – especially on those hot and humid days. According to Roumeliotis, users of medica-

tion should be aware that the best approach is to try to avoid what you‘re specifically allergic to, because medications “treat the symptoms and not the cause of the allergy.” Depending on your symptoms, there are various over-the-counter medications. Antihistamines can be taken orally or in eye drops. Nasal pumps can also be effective. If these treatments are ineffective, going to your doctor may be your best option. It’s best to know specifically what you’re allergic to. That way, you can better prepare yourself by starting medications in advance – before that particular pollen becomes airborne. According to Roumeliotis, the only way to know which specific pollen is to take a skin-prick allergy test, or a blood test. Though you can’t completely avoid the pollen, avoiding the irritant and using medication can lessen the symptoms. Knowing what your allergic to specifically is a huge help to avoid the symptoms, as well. After all, with a long, grey winter behind us, students should be looking forward to spring – not dreading the pollen it brings.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

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SPORTS & HEALTH

Playing with swords: Sabre fencing white vest, an irritatingly cramped mask, and equipped with whippy THE CASCADE little sword straight out of a Dumas novel. The first came with an uncomfortable crotch strap, the second with Fencing is a gentleman’s sport, a jaw-strangulating grip on any powhich is why when Alexei Sum- tentially clever banter, and the third mers—The Cascade’s pipe-smoking, turned out to be a sabre, not a tradisuit-wearing, gin-and-tonic drink- tional foil. Not that I could tell the ing, aristocratic* resident Russian— difference. revealed he was a fencer, I wasn’t too Fencing it turns out, is one of those surprised. Yet when he revealed he sports that is strictly rooted in tradiwas in need of a hapless peasant to tion. Kicking, punching, ambush thrash with his blade (a sparring part- tactics, and deliberate mutilation are ner in more common parlance), I was not encouraged, which is surprising shocked by the opportunity. considering the mortal consequence “Pick me Lord Alexei,” I cried, of losing a real fencing match. Both “Though I am but a humble journalist combatants are required to restrict from the uncouth territories of Cali- themselves to a single line of movefornia!” ment (dodging sideways is illegal and “Shut up,” he commanded, “or I’ll highly dishonorable), and to keep the have my polo horse trod on you!” hand without the sword behind the Thus it was agreed that I, Paul back. “Touches” must be scored on the upper body Kicking, punching, ambush tactics, and (no deft emascudeliberate mutilation are not encouraged, lations), and, unwhich is surprising considering the mortal like in a certain consequence of losing a real fencing match. popular film, it is unusual for comEsau, would be given the honour of batants to flip, or spin, or fight leftcrossing swords with royalty. And it handed. Lord Alexei, for his part, was surwas how I found myself, last Thursday morning, standing in the Envi- prisingly generous with my fencing sion Athletic Centre garbed in quaint faux pas, and even suffered me to

PAUL ESAU

ALEXEI SUMMERS THE CASCADE

Any avid sportsman—or at least any who can make the claim that they are in fact an avid sportsman—has at one point in time turned their gaze to fencing and thought that it would be something they would like to try. It’s a game of swords. The rules are simple: land a blow on your opponent to score a point. Gather enough points and the match is over. There are three different types of fencing weapons – the foil, the épée, and the sabre. Each different weapon changes the game a little, because of the design of the sword, one must alternate one’s method, and technique in accordance to it. Some fencers specialize on just one of the three swords. However, fencing is not for everyone—some people simply do not have the skill—and the unrealistic depictions of wasteful fast-paced swordplay in cinema has given most westerners a false sense of what the sport really is. My own fencing instructor, a man who is my friend, and mentor, and also the former coach of the Ukrainian SSR National Fencing team, and current assistant coach

of the Canadian National Fencing Team, Victor Gantsevich, once said something about this which I am very much inclined to agree with. I believe it was something to the effect of, “if one were to pair up an Olympic fencer with these people on the television, and allow them to fight with their respective styles—that is, the television swordsman doing all these fancy moves for aesthetic, and cinematographic purposes, and allowed the other fencer to use his regular French or Italian dueling methods—that the television swordsman would be finished off in a matter of two seconds.” The reason for this is simple. Modern fencing is not about fancy moves, it is an art form, and it is about finesse, rather than strength. It is like playing a physical game of chess at rapid speed – it requires high intelligence, and the ability to mentally process, and react to changes in the environment in the blink of an eye. To quote my instructor, Victor; “Fencing is about the brain. You must think first. Then you can duel.” Modern styles of fencing became redefined by the French and the Italians in the late 19th century. Before then, it had largely been a blood-sport, where a duel would be to the death to

settle a quarrel. Eventually it evolved and became a sport and a hobby, rather than a cause for bloodshed. When, in 1896, the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, fencing became an official Olympic sport, and it has been ever since. Every year there are Fencing World Championships held, where athletes attend the event looking to prove their skill with the blade. The last Championship took place in Catania, in October of 2011. Next year, for the 2012 Fencing World Championships, it is to be hosted in the city of Kiev, in Ukraine. Footage of the 2011 Championships are available on YouTube. To those curious about the wonderful sport of Fencing, it might give one a clearer idea of what fencing is like on a competitive scale by watching these videos. Fencing, above all, is a sport of honour, dignity and finesse. Every match begins and ends with a salute, and then of course, comes the clash of the blades, and the rush of adrenaline. Yet, there is always honour and courtesy. It creates fast-thinking sportsmen, and strong men and women of integrity, and develops true grace under pressure in the athlete.

land a hit or two upon his gentlemanly torso. The lightweight elasticity of the sabre allows for a terrifically fast exchange of blows, which generally favours the attacker over the defender, so even an unschooled opponent can occasionally overcome skill with sheer violence. Yet, in general, fencing is an elegantly minimalist sport. It favours movements of the wrist over those of the arm, small, efficient attacks over massive, swinging blows. In other words, I wasn’t very good at it. There’s about a half-millennium of theory behind the evolution of fencing, along with a bunch of French words like croisé, dégagement, and fléche. Lord Alexei would perhaps explain it if asked. My personal fencing theory is best described by Antonio Banderas in the first Zorro movie. “Do you know how to use that thing?” Anthony Hopkins asks him pointing to a sword. “Yes,” Banderas asserts, “the pointy end goes into the other man!” Even you can’t argue with that, Alexei. *He’s a Lord of the small nationality of Sealand.

UNION SOCIETY

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

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SPORTS & HEALTH

in the SAC

STUDENT UNION SOCIETY

Invest in yourself ! Your SUS social house on Campus.

It’s about the BUDGET. y - Money. r That means Your a s s e ’s nec

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STUDENT UNION SOCIETY

ch o s March 28th, 1 p.m. - Chilliwack Theatre SUS Budgetary Extraordinary General Meeting Agenda

STUDENT UNION SOCIETY

1. Adoption of the Agenda

List of Motions ( full wording at ufvSUS.ca )

2. Motions ( go to ufvSUS.ca for the

2.1 - To adopt the 20122013 UFV SUS Budget as presented

regarding preparation of the SUS Operating Budget

2.2 – Motion to ratify the SUS 2011 Student Union Building funding referendum

2.4 – Motion to define ‘Honoraria’ in the SUS bylaws

Budget and full wording of the motions )

3. Question Period

2.3 – Motion to amend SUS bylaws 39 & 40

4. Adjournment

Your SUS • U-Pass

• AfterMath

2.5 – Motion to amend SUS bylaws 5, 6 & 32 regarding SUS

membership status 2.6 – Motion to amend SUS bylaw 47 regarding VP Finance signing authority 2.7 – Motion to amend SUS bylaws 26 regarding tenure of directorship

Your

brings you..

socialhouse

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AfterMath socia1hou5e in the Student Activity Centre Your SUS social house on Campus

u f v S U S . c a Come out to the EGM to have your say on how your money is spent in the interest of enhancing the student lifestyle at UFV!