the watch
October 2014
RESTRUCTURING Across the board cuts have made every department pinch some more than others
BOOK BUYING FRACKING NO MORE
the watch EDITOR’S NOTE After staring at an InDesign file on a computer for hours on end, it’s hard to know if you even exist outside the program, let alone if the magazine you’re creating will be appreciated and liked by your fellow King’s comrades.
Sophie Allen-Barron and Dina Lobo are joining us as co-online editors this year - without them, you would never see a facebook post or livetweet, and our website would be woefully empty.
Keili Bartlett - writer of two articles Luckily for us, our work paid off. for our last issue and one for this We’ve seen and heard how people copy - has been hired as our copy have appreciated our work, and editor, and John Sandham has it makes it worthwhile to sit back taken on our treasurer position to down at our respective desks and make sure we can keep providing these magazines to you. hammer away at it again. Of course, nothing could have happened in this issue or the last without the work of our tireless and intrepid writers and photographers. It was awesome to be able to meet the people we had been emailing all summer - to put a face to the writing. Some of those people have become our newest staff and exec.
Besides getting acquainted with our summer contributors and reconnecting with school-time sources, one of the best parts of September is meeting the new and shining faces of first-years. Two of the articles in this issue have been written by first-time Watch contributors, and it was so exciting to see their work. If these two are any indication of the new King’s students, we’re going to have some fantastic work from upand-coming writers this year. We’ve had a steep learning curve these past few months, but it seems like it will all work out.
VOL. 32 NO. 2 - OCTOBER 2014 watchmagazine.ca watcheditors@gmail.com TWITTER @kingswatch
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF PUBLISHER Nick Holland Rachel Ward Grace Kennedy ONLINE EDITORS TREASURER Sophie Allen-Barron John Sandham Dina Lobo
PUBLISHING BOARD Michelle Johnstone Adrian Lee Ocean-Lee Peters James Pottie Emily Rendell-Watson Fred Vallance-Jones
We welcome your feedback on each issue. Letters to the editors should be signed. We reserve the right to edit all submissions. The Watch is owned and operated by the students of the University of King’s College. o
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But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people not be warned: if the sword comes, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at watchman’s hand. -Ezekiel 33:6
So here we go, round two from the 2014/2015 Watch team.
-Nick and Grace
2 watchmagazine.ca Be green. Share and recycle this issue.
COPY EDITOR Keili Bartlett
CONTRIBUTORS Haleigh Atwood Ashley Corbett Colleen Earle Rebecca Hussman Emma Jones Claire Matthews Sean Mott Brooke Oliver Sander Ragetli Paul Rebar
the watch IN THIS ISSUE
4 Inside King’s Take a look inside your school
6 Book Shelf Decisions Where we buy our books matters
9 No Fracking Way Why the province banned fracking
12 New Lingo in the Dictionary Laura Penny on the English language
15 In her words Advice on school from Jess Geddes
17 Go Blue Devils See our athletes in action
5 News Bulletin A look at the headlines at King’s
7 Grant for the Cosmopolitan Destroying the Plato to Nato narrative
10 Undergoing a Restructuring Cuts make everyone do more with less
14 Comeback Kids Returning students and dropping out
16 I am not an athelete The culture of sports at King’s
18 8 Places Beyond Sodexo There’s more than tatertot casserole
|watchmagazine.ca watchmagazine.ca 3
INSIDE KING’S
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Photo: Nick Holland
Tucked away in a highly secure room with a controlled environment is the library treasure room. With books dating back to as early as 1536, probably even earlier, it’s no surprise the room is constantly monitored. The Watch even agreed not to disclose its specific location. In here you’ll find history, and plenty of it. Some texts are shrouded in dust with the occasional bookworm - yes, there are actually dead bugs in some of these books. If you ever want to read a book you’re more than welcome to, but only under strict supervision. You won’t be shown the treasure room, but rather guided to a reading room where you can sit with several friends for a few hours. After that - well... tick tock, time is up. Right now some artifacts to celebrate the school’s 225th are on display on the bottom floor. 4 watchmagazine.ca
Here’s what you’ll find on the walls and in the aisles
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Biblical and Theological works
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Political history
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European history
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Science & Technology and Medicine
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Kingdon collections - Anglican ministers owned these. When they came over to do missionary work they were given plenty of books that would be useful to them.
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Folios - a.k.a. really, really big books. King’s use to have a divinity school associated with it. These texts are mainly biblical and theological.
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Photos and portraits of the school, it’s history and memorable faculty.
NEWS BULLETIN Monitoring Canada’s Secrecy By Brooke Oliver
King’s journalism professor Fred Vallance-Jones is concerned with the lack of transparency from the Canadian government. “I worry that democracy in Canada has been significantly diminished as a result of the kind of control the governments have imposed from coast to coast,” he says. This concern stems from the results of the annual Freedom of Information Audit that he does on a contract basis for Newspapers Canada. Along with the help of a student, Vallance-Jones submits requests for information to various municipalities in each province and territory across the country. The results of the latest audit, released in June, held no surprises. “We don’t have a real culture of trans-
parency in Canada. We have a culture of government control of information and a great reluctance to share, especially the things … that are more sensitive with the public. We see that every year in the results,” says Vallance-Jones. Emily Kitagawa, a King’s journalism graduate, has worked on past audits and agrees with Vallance-Jones. “It’s a really sad day when a request is sent (back) to you saying it’s a final response with black lines running through the text. You’re sort of wondering, what’s so secret about this?” Vallance-Jones believes that the audit does put the pressure on government officials, although he says that much of the resulting change is internal, and not obvious to the public. Small changes have been seen based on the results of the audit. Vallance-Jones remembers a case a few years back
when a municipality in British Columbia made changes to their assessment of fees after negotiations over the tremendous cost to obtain cell phone records of employees. These sorts of changes, ones that come from the municipalities, are the ones that will make a real difference in the responses to future audits, Vallance-Jones says. “It’s very clear that if you don’t have the Stephen Harper’s and Stephen McNeil’s of the world very publically saying, ‘We want to be as open as possible, we want to have a policy where it’s release if you can, as opposed to find some way to not release.’ It won’t happen because the people lower down know where their bread is buttered.” Preparations are currently underway for the 2014/2015 audit. |w
McOuat Nominated for SSHRC Prize
By Claire Matthews
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) has recently nominated Gordon McOuat, professor at King’s and director of the Situating Science program, as a finalist for the Impact Award in the council’s Partnership Award category.
collaborate with other institutions. The project has been running since 2007, and is coming to a close.
If McOuat receives the Impact Award, he says its prestige would help to move along the next phase of the project, “Cosmopolitan and the local in science and nature,” which Situating Science provided work- has already received a SSHRC grant. shops, conferences and lecture series for students and scholars across The $50,000 Impact Award, McOuat the country, creating opportunities says, “would allow a set of planned for historians, philosophers and sci- activities to carry on the things that entists to advance their research and were done (in Situating Science),
and put them into new areas, which will facilitate new events.” He plans to “take lessons from Situating Science and go international.” Members of Situating Science will find out the results at the SSHRC awards ceremony in Ottawa on Monday, Nov. 3, 2014. |w
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BOOK SHELF DECISIONS By Sophie Allen-Barron
In a school based around a heavy reading load, where students buy their books can have a dramatic effect on both their university experience and the affordabilty of their education
Oh, you go to King’s? Isn’t that, like, a LOT of
reading?
Yes, composite Dal student. Yes it is. Those who make this awed observation are most likely referring to FYP. And while the programs offered at King’s don’t stop there, it seems the school’s reputation is firmly rooted in the readings.
Photo: Paul Rebar
Carolyn Gillis, bookstore manager, estimates that about 80 students bought their FYP books as a package this year. “For those who do, we offer a contest: if you buy all your books by the end of September (for foundation year) then you have a chance to get entered in the contest and win your money back.”
When it comes to shelling out for tuition, most of the A good incentive, seeing as the FYP book package is tacked on fees are mandatory. But where students do currently listed for $650, or $570 for science students. have a choice is how they choose to obtain that all-important reading material. Still, the bookstore’s independent status means that it isn’t always the most economical option. King’s size Tucked away in the NAB, the closest option is the King’s means that unlike the Dalhousie bookstores, the Co-op Co-op Bookstore. Ever since it opened in 2006, custom- Bookstore is unable to offer book buyback or rental proers who pay the one dollar membership fee have the grams. ability to attend the annual general meeting, apply to be on the Board of Directors, and generally have a say in “Generally at the end of the year when people are wantthe way the store is run. ing to sell their books, we’re broker than the students are,” says Gillis. Most King’s students first encounter the bookstore in search of those oh-so-daunting FYP books, which the Students looking to save a few dollars where they can bookstore offers individually or in a package. First year aren’t without other options. FYP and journalism student Trent Erickson chose to get his books from the bookstore for the convenience. “If I can’t find them for free online, I go by whatever the cheapest option is, so if it’s not used from another “Instead of having to shop through Amazon and trying student it’ll usually be from Amazon,” says Gwendolyn to find the right editions of each book, they’re just all in Moncrieff-Gould. one package. Click it once and it’s all done, right away.” Erickson, like many others, had his books waiting for him on campus on move-in day. The bookstore also offers to ship the package, or the first section, to students’ summer addresses. 6 watchmagazine.ca
Moncrieff-Gould is a third year student doing a combined honours in political science and contemporary studies. She says her professors have largely been understanding of students who choose to use PDF texts from sites like Project Gutenberg when available.
Many of the texts taught at King’s have entered the public domain and can legally be distributed at no charge. In Canada, copyright usually expires 50 years after the author’s death. The issue with online editions, however, is that they’re not often the exact editions called for in the syllabus. And in the case of translations, discrepancies from version to version become that much more significant. Using this year’s FYP books as a sample, what costs $650 in the Co-op Bookstore can be found for about $510 on Amazon. With conditions in place that they are the specified editions, Prime eligible and the cheapest concrete option, it does seem that Amazon can provide the majority of books needed for first year.
on Amazon, Augustine’s Confessions was over twice the price on offer in the basement of the NAB. Ultimately, it’s a case of priorities. For Erickson, getting the correct physical copies was part of establishing a legacy. “I want the books to have because it’s the start of my own library for the future. These are a good basis of books to always have.” Moncrieff-Gould has a soft spot for the Co-op bookstore. “It’s a nice environment, a nice thing to have. For me it is really price. There’s such a huge markup at the bookstore that I just can’t afford to buy all of my books there.”
But it is not without its caveats. The specified edition of In addition to offering the texts for King’s classes, the the Communist Manifesto was not available at all, while bookstore is able to make special orders if requested. others like “The Waste Land” and Pride and Prejudice were only available for the Kindle. At times the Co-op “If we can find it, we can order it for you,” says Gillis. Bookstore even proved to be the cheaper option; at $28
Grant for the Cosmopolitan
DECONSTRUCTING THE PLATO TO NATO NARRATIVE
By Emma Jones
In
McOuat said will continue to dispel the “uni-linear” collaboration with a number of universities across concepts of history, philosophy and science. the nation, King’s recently received more than $200,000 in partnership development funding from the Social “It’s disrupting our notion that there is a ‘Plato to NATO’ Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada narrative of the so-called West that is just built on itself, almost dialectically, and that the rest is a mere periph(SSHRC). ery that isn’t participating in the story,” McOuat said. The grant will fund an extension of a nearly decade-old research project directed by King’s professor and doctor “In reality, all along the line, the stories of our supposedly modern world have always been totally engaged of humanities, Gordon McOuat. with non-European explorations of the world.” The project, called “Cosmopolitanism and the local in science and nature: Creating an east/west partnership,” This view is grounded in cosmopolitanism, McOuat focuses on globalizing the traditionally Western aca- said, which involves the shared responsibilities of a globalized world without centres and peripheries. demic framework that exists across North America. It encourages exchange between Western and Eastern The grant will allow the project to address this cosmocultural, scientific and philosophical schools of thought, politan responsibility through a number of short-term through research and collaboration between schools in implementations and long-term goals. Canada, America, India and Southeast Asia.
The recent grant is a testament to the program’s prolific success, and will fund the three-year extension that
One course currently in session at King’s is a short-term Story continued on the next page watchmagazine.ca 7
for collaboration. “Throughout this time, we were working up an idea that we could make institutional relationships between Canada and India in the humanist and social studies of science and technology,” said McOuat. Thanks to the SSHRC grant, there is a possibility for an exchange program between North American and Indian students and scholars. Photo:aPaul Rebar “It’s utopian
goal of the grant. Called “Centuries of Dialogue: Asia and the West,” it features a number of lectures from national and international scholars and philosophers.
“It’s a utopian dream which I think is realizable,” McOuat said.
The exchange program would include a summer school in India for eastern and western students, followed by the opening of a similar program in Canada. The final The course’s motives echo those of the research proj- goal is to offer an international, online course shared by ect; it aims to identify the ways Asia has influenced his- eastern and western students, taught and accredited by torical and modern western culture, science and phi- a school in Canada and India. losophy. By examining the ways these areas converge, students are asked to question the isolated Western “The logistics are crazy, so it will take a lot of work. Right narratives and frameworks that may exist in their own now the project is very exploratory,” said McOuat. thought. But the members of the research project believe it will Douglas Berger, a visiting scholar from the United be worth it. Both McOuat and Berger are excited by the States and a doctor of religious studies, is the class’ pro- prospect of cross-cultural, interconnected academic fessor. He believes the addition of Asian thought into thinking. the King’s curriculum is a beneficial – even essential “One of the things that’s so prevalent today is a kind of – choice. ‘us versus them’ thinking, where we think we can’t un“Given the kinds of things that King’s has generally derstand each other, and dialogue isn’t possible,” Berger been doing, to really talk about cultural hybridity is im- said. portant,” he said. “I think that it’s very important for people to realize that “It is important to realize that European culture isn’t not only is that not the case, but also that dialogue and one thing with a closed set of traditions and systems interchange have been going on for millennia. That’s of thought. It’s evolved over the centuries precisely the way that cultures are shaped and they develop.” through interaction with other cultures. McOuat agrees. For him, the grant means the possibil“This is true of Chinese culture, it’s true of Japanese cul- ity of a new global worldview for history, philosophy, science and technology. ture. It’s true of everyone.” Long-term goals of the project are still in the “prelimi- “I think that it is so amazing to begin to open up our nary inquiry phase,” McOuat said, though, like the lec- doors a little wider to perspectives from all over the ture series, these contain the potential for international world,” he said. “It’s beyond exciting.” |w partnership. Over the past nine years, leaders from institutions in Singapore and India have been meeting with leaders of Canadian and American universities to explore options 8 watchmagazine.ca
No
fracking way
By Paisley Conrad
, health. After a harsh public outcry and a se- environment and ries of environmental debates, fracking is now banned in Nova Scotia. Reports even said the digging of wells causes minor earthquakes. The heated issue caught the attention of many, including university Public interest grew in 2012 as student Liv Bochenek. groups like Sierra Club Canada, the Nova Scotia Fracking Resource and She’s studying sustainability and Action Coalition and Sustainability political science, and developed an King’s organized petitions and eninterest in the anti-fracking move- couraged residents to get involved. ment after learning about the science backing environmental groups. In response, the NDP government called a moratorium on the practice, “The climate impact is incredibly disallowing any approval of fracking important. The methane that of- projects for two years. ten seeps out has a damaging effect and the water table can be seriously The Wheeler report, led by David compromised,” she said. Wheeler, president of Cape Breton University, is the result of six months Fracking is a process where oil and of research covering all areas of the natural gas gets extracted through issue at hand. Fracking was evaluatdrilling into bedrock, creating cracks ed from many different angles and that release the gas into collection perspectives, including many facets wells. A combination of chemicals, of science, public health, industry sand and water being pumped into and economics. the ground is needed to drill deep. During the summer, public meetWith each fracking job, millions of ings were held around the province, litres of foreign material are used to allowing more than 1,200 Nova Scocreate these openings. tians to attend and provide community input for the study. This is where two sides were butting heads. Bochenek attended 10 of the 11 meetings. “They included studies Those for the process insisted there on indigenous land rights, which is were jobs to be made. Those against incredibly important here in Nova worried about the effects on the Scotia,” she said. “The panel was
also quite diverse for something of this nature and the results were so much more than we ever could have hoped for.” Ultimately, the report said the government should think carefully about fracking and added Nova Scotia wasn’t ready for fracking. Energy Minister Andrew Younger took their advice seriously and on Sept. 3 he announced a ban on hydraulic fracturing. “This is a big win for the climate movement, because in general there is so much opposition,” said Bochenek. “It’s a huge step in terms of shifting the economy from something fossil fuel based to something more community run with focus on renewable resources.” While fracking is illegal, there are still other natural gas projects being carried out in the province. Bochenek said, “The main thing is, people put so much pressure on the government by voicing their opinions, and that played a huge part in letting the government know that they can’t just push things like that through without consulting the communities.” |w
Photo: Joshua Doubek/Wikipedia
watchmagazine.ca 9
Undergoing a Restructuring By Sean Mott
Returning to King’s for the fall semester is always accompanied by familiar sights. Freshly polished floors and cleaned dorm rooms. The latest editions of FYP texts in the King’s bookstore. Comforting items on the Sodexo menu. But this year a different sight can be seen. There are new faces around the campus. And some faces that can’t be seen at all. That’s because three King’s employees have been let go from their positions; one at the Journalism School and two from the Advancement Office. Kate Ross, the technician at the journalism school, was fired after working for the college for seven years. Katrina Pyne has been hired in her stead to provide IT support to the journalism school. The two positions share similarities. Ross’ duties included computer software repairs and management, assisting students with Microsoft Word and overseeing the J-School computer lab. Pyne’s position involves many of Ross’ old tasks, including managing the computer aspect of the journalism program. However, the positions differ in two distinct ways. Ross’ job provided little to no assistance to the video program in the J-School, while Pyne’s position has a much stronger emphasis on video, offering technical video support and preparing the TV room for students.
10 watchmagazine.ca
Across-the-board cuts, curriculum reviews and a deficit of $299,000 are forcing many university departments to restructure in order to survive in a money-crunching year.
Ross had also provided technical assistance to students in the newspaper and magazine workshops – speciality classes for fourth-year and one-year journalism students. Ross helped navigate students through the process of constructing newspapers and magazines. Pyne’s position does not offer support to those workshops, although Kelly Toughill, the director of the journalism program, says that students will not miss out on support and assistance. “We are hiring specialists to provide student support for Photoshop and InDesign in both the newspaper … and magazine workshops,” she says. “We have also hired a specialist for small revisions to our website.” Toughill says that these changes were made to provide the best experience for students, although it is still a work in progress, as the journalism school is currently undergoing a curriculum review. Pyne is only signed to a one-year contract. Because of the curriculum review, the journalism school is still evaluating its technical support needs.
This means that most departments have to cut 12 to 13 per cent from their budgets. Toughill says that the budget readjustments made to the J-School – which came to $25,000 in reductions – did not impact the restructuring of Ross’ job, which was made before the across-theboard cuts went into effect. Many departments have been hit hard by these cuts. The athletic department is losing $29,000, while student services is out $21,000. The bursar’s office, library and registrar’s office are also receiving significant cuts. The advancement office is receiving an across-the-board cut of $25,000, and recently had to restructure the positions of two employees. The office has absorbed a marketing responsibility previously managed by the registrar’s office and external companies, along with fulfilling their communications function. Because of this, two communications employees, Cheryl Bell and Lorna Ash, were let go, and their former positions are being offered to people versed in both communications and marketing.
“Sometimes institutions have to make hard decisions in order to get to a place where there are more efficiencies and synergies,” Adriane Restructuring is the name of the Abbot, the advancement director, game for King’s at the moment. In says about the restructuring. a recently released operating bud- Bell’s position as Manager of Comget, it was revealed that across-the- munications involved strategic board cuts are currently in effect planning, website management for the first time in King’s history. “I anticipate a more comprehensive restructuring of the position in the spring,” Toughill says.
Photo: Paul Rebar
IN THE NUMBERS
and media relations, but had nothing directly related to marketing. Bell will continue to work for the university on a freelance basis.
Doyle let Ash go before finding a replacement. He is still looking for someone to fill the new position.
“I need a specialized person,” he “The college cannot hire more says. people, and yet Doyle compliI need a great“Sometimes institutions have to ments Ash’s work, er breadth of skill in my of- make hard decisions in order to but says that, beof budget fice,” Abbot get to a place where there are cause cuts, they were says, referring more efficiencies and synergies” unable to keep her to how she has on board along swapped two with a new employee. old positions for two new ones. “It will not cost the college any “Across-the-board cuts hit hard,” additional resources but it will in- Doyle says. “We’re using every crease our office’s skill capacity.” dollar we have and we didn’t have The advancement office is cur- the luxury to keep Lorna.” rently hiring for the two new po- Doyle says that the cuts have made sitions. some positive improvements, Lorna Ash also worked part-time forcing facilities to be creative. for facilities, another depart- Working with the KSU and foment that suffered cuts totalling cusing on sustainability, facilities $72,000. Because of this cut, Ash has cancelled garbage pickup in all buildings, replacing the system lost two jobs at once. with streaming bins. Doyle says Ash was hired a year ago as a that this effort has saved money, part-time worker who managed and has made students and faculuniversity IT twice a week, acting ty more environmental aware beas “eyes on the ground” for Alex cause they take responsibility for their garbage. Doyle, director of facilities. “She was a great resource,” Doyle Doyle also had to restructure the cleaning services contract to save says. money. This year, however, with King’s switching over to the Dalhou- “It’s about managing money,” sie online server for an undeter- Doyle says. mined amount of time, Doyle needed a more full-time and ad- While all of this restructuring may have benefits for students, vanced position to be filled. they will also be deeply affected by “We have privacy issues and we the across-the-board cuts. Due to need to make sure we have the a three per cent raise in academic correct firewall,” Doyle says. fees, students will be paying a to“We’re looking for other options tal of over $8.8 million. This raise comes in part from the low numfor IT.” bers of enrolment this year, which “This is a more robust position,” has also resulted in the hiring of he adds. “We’re entering a new two fewer FYP tutors. phase.” At the moment, everyone at King’s
How did the university calculate the amount of the across-theboard cuts (ATBs)? How much will your department or program have to pinch?
12.4 PER CENT CUT
BASE FOR ATB CUTS $2,404,000
This was calculated by looking at the expenses in the budget and then adding additional revenue from the sale of goods and services
DEFICIT
$299,000
This is the amount of money that was not covered by the original budget, and will be accounted for by the ATB cuts
DEPARTMENTCUTS HOST EMSP CSP FYP Bursar Other Academics Chapel Chapel Music President Library Residence Journalism Advancement Athletics Registrar General Administration Facilities
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
$700 $900 $1,700 $2,600 $3,700 $6,500 $7,000 $8,700 $10,900 $11,600 $20,900 $24,600 $24,700 $29,400 $33,100 $39,600 $72,400
For more on the state of the school’s finances visit |watchmagazine.ca watchmagazine.ca 11
Laura Penny on the new lingo By Ashley Corbett
O
xford Dictionaries added yet another slew of popular slang words and acronyms to its vocabulary in August. Adorbs, neckbeard, amazeballs and YOLO are just a few examples of what now grace the webpages of the online dictionary, neatly defined and used in sentences for further clarification.
However, Penny does recognize there are times a slang word isn’t appropriate as she encourages her students to write essays in formal academic English.
“I do want my students to know proper grammar so that they can culturally distinguish themselves to, well, snobby people,” she says. “I don’t approve of this type of snobbery, I Could the recognition and celebration of these think it’s inimical to learning anything, but words point to a cultural decline brought about there are snobs in the world and occasionally by the millennial generation? you have to ask snobs for a job.” Laura Penny, professor of early modern studies Penny thinks people should be able to alter and contemporary studies at King’s, embraces their language depending on their audience. these updates to the popular dictionary with In fact, she thinks code switching is a skill that glee. a person should get out of a liberal arts degree.
“
“I think people always want to appeal to a golden People who are actually eloquent can move age when everyone spoke properly, but ain’t no from popular slang to technical terms. such thing,” Penny says with a laugh, pointing her finger with enthusiasm. “From what point would Penny embraces new language with open we be charting this decline?” arms. Neckbeard, she says, is a good insult, and binge-watch is a concept we need a word for. She professes she’s pro-slang, but rejects an insistence on linguistic purity, as she says it’s mis“Saying that there should never be any new placed and hostile to the way that we actually use words, or that new words are the sign of a cullanguage. tural decline is like saying there shouldn’t be any new restaurants or new houses or new Penny thinks English is a wonderful language streets… cities change and language changes,” precisely because it can accommodate so many she says. |w new words. “The ultimate test for whether a word is a word is whether people use it and understand it. I would argue that lots of people use and understand FML or YOLO,” she says. 12 watchmagazine.ca
”
Our Favourites! #WDYT
amazeballs
Extremely good or impressive; amazing
binge-watch
neckbeard A growth of hair on a man’s neck, especially when regarded as indicative of poor grooming
WDYT
Watch multiple episodes of (a television programme) in rapid succession, typically by means of DVDs or digital streaming
What do you think? (used in electronic communication)
hotmess
A person or thing that is spectacularly unsuccessful or disordered
adorbs
humblebrag
Arousing great delight; cute or adorable
hench
An ostensibly modest or self-deprecating statement whose actual purpose is to draw attention to something of which one is proud
(Of a man) strong, fit, and having well-developed muscles
SMH
Shaking (or shake) my head (used in electronic communication to express disapproval, exasperation, frustration, etc.)
YOLO
You only live once (expressing the view that one should make the most of the present moment without worrying about the future, and often used as a rationale for impulsive or reckless behaviour)
watchmagazine.ca 13
Comeback Kids
Returning students and the decision to drop out By Keili Bartlett
S
imultaneously smoking a cigarette and coasting into the quad on her bicycle, Jess Geddes is every bit the King’s student. But this is Geddes’ first month back in university since 2010, when she dropped out after three years at King’s. She is one of 24 students returning to King’s this fall, according to the registrar’s office. “I do see myself as an old soul of King’s, but also a newcomer in a lot of ways,” says Geddes, “I see all the people I went to school with and swapped notes with, taking oral exams and taking up positions at the registrar’s office. It’s interesting. I feel like I’ve developed in a different way, but also, now I’m coming back into King’s at the same, or maybe less, of a position than everybody else.”
“It was very hard for me to get situated in a university context. There were a lot of problems for me advocating for myself and talking to my professors before things became a problem. That’s something that I’m really working on coming back to school. It’s an important life lesson that I unfortunately learned while paying out of the nose for my student loan, you know?” By the time she visited the guidance counselors at Dalhousie, Geddes says it was too late, although they were helpful.
over again,” says Yeo, was the need for more financial help. This school year, King’s is offering more access to bursaries, which will be reviewed on an individual basis. King’s Students’ Union president Michaela Sam sat on the subcommittee of enrolment management as a student representative. By crowdsourcing through the union’s social media and website, students were able to give their feedback. Among other responses, Sam says that tuition fees are “monumentally affecting enrolment numbers.”
Elizabeth Yeo, the registrar at King’s, says that it’s very common for students to return after a year or more. There’s quite a range of reasons that students dropout, says Yeo. While some students leave to travel and reevaluate their degrees, many leave because of financial or personal problems, including physical and mental health issues. When Geddes dropped out, there were several factors leading to her decision. The first was her chronic illness, Crohn’s disease, for which she was hospitalized during her third year. “It’s really bad with stress, and I felt it was really stressful to be in school,” said Geddes. When she returned to school, her academic advisor was gone. He had helped Geddes access accommodation for her learning disabilities, and no one else knew her file. “It was a big slap in the face. On top of my chronic illness, accessibility problems and issues, I also just was not very good at school to begin with,” she says.
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“If a student is considering leaving, we first try to determine what are the contributing factors. We really try to pinpoint what the issue is,” says Yeo. A number of services are available to students at both Dalhousie and King’s, including career services, mental health facilities and financial help. This past spring, King’s held a Strategic Enrolment Planning process, asking students what the university could do to help students stay in school. One of the things students mentioned “over and
She also believes that there are ways that King’s could improve their mental health facilities, which they share with Dalhousie. The Mental Health Matters campaign, started in Nova Scotia, is a new initiative that the KSU supports, and focuses on how mental health affects student success. “I feel like dropping out of university, it’s not something that you really want to talk about. There’s still a stigma about it. It was really hard watching all of my friends graduate, the ones that continued on,” says Geddes.
Photo: Keili Bartlett
“It sits right here on your chest,” she says, tapping her own chest with both hands. “People say all the time that they wish they could get time back, but that’s not time that you can get back. If you don’t make decisions from your heart, at least make decisions stepping back. I’m glad that I did, and that I have the opportunity to continue to do so. There is empathy, there is compassion; you have to be patient with yourself. It’s
ok that you don’t have it all figured out. You can always come back to school if you want to.” Her biggest piece of advice? Talk to some one. “There are so many people that would love to listen to you at King’s. If they’re going to drop out, know that there is hope…Your late teens, early twenties should not be the end all, be all of your
Some of you may know me, but I’m University can be useful and also going to assume at this point that isolating. Being a university student and ascribing to this label has nomost of you reading this don’t. bility – it is considered to be “a cut It’s been three years since I have been above the rest” – but what does that in university. My FYP class graduat- mean for us who don’t choose it? Or ed in 2012 – that is, of course, if all stand away from it? Or misuse it? Or of them followed the rigorous aca- can’t go to begin with? demic standards that predict a deUniversity allows you to have many gree to take only four years. things that I really missed when I I stand before your eyes a student was out of school; namely, additionagain, in third-ish year. I am wiser, al healthcare benefits and my bus but also the same as before. I have pass. When out of university or off learned intricately that university is your parents’ healthcare plan, you a privilege, and it is not one acces- have to work for a long period of sible or given to every individual. time to get the same coverage that is In my time away, I’ve met smarter offered to you by your hardworking people than I, who have never gone students’ union at day one. to university; I have met people like me, who have dropped out; and I Sometimes you don’t get that job have met people who have a degree, at all, and you are forced to live on and are still in a place of confusion part-time paycheque to part-time about what it all means. This leads paycheque, without health benefits. me to think that we all live within the same social structure, but one As for the bus pass, accessibility is difficult for some individuals. When that affects us all differently. it’s not included in your tuition, A ‘student’ is a label that one takes you have to rethink getting around. upon themselves, but is also socially $2.25 is not cheap for some. I havforced by others onto them. Being a en’t really gone anywhere in three student is an environmental and so- years that wasn’t accessible by a bicial sphere that can feel like a bubble; cycle ride. it is one that I don’t want to burst on you, but one that I want you to be aware and hopefully critical of.
life. I hear about people who just decide what they want to do in their sixties. I’m just grateful that I came back three years later and still wanted to do the same degree. “But I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up,” Geddes says with a laugh. |w
Just remember, Halifax considers you a pain and a pleasure. Students are its bread and butter. Halifax would look a lot different without you and I to buy its products, go to its spaces, and rent its houses and apartments. When Nova Scotia raises the prices of goods and services, builds condos where community spaces used to be, doesn’t regulate its landlords or support ethical business practices, you suffer. When the government raises tuition fees making university an even more selective space, we all do. This brings me to my final point: enjoy your university experience, take it seriously, but your life isn’t over if other things come up. If there’s anything you can glean from my words or my experience it’s this:
you have to take care of yourself. Your time comprises your degree, but your degree doesn’t comprise all of you, or your community at large. Talk to people outside of your program, outside of the university structure. Listen to them, and you’ll see that education comes in a lot of different forms.
-Jess Geddes
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I am not an athlete By Colleen Earle
I am not an athlete. I wouldn’t even say I’m anything close to athletic. Most sports scare me. I’m uncoordinated. I am not an athlete. I am, however, a fan of sports. I am not particularly hard to miss. I wear a lot of Blue Jays paraphernalia and am pretty proud to call them my favourite team, as far as baseball goes. This has caused some problems for me, though. Don’t get me wrong; I love the heckling, the “Why would you like that team when team x is better,” and all of the Jays hate. It gives me something to be passionate about beside Kant. What I don’t like is the “Why do you like sports? Isn’t it boring? I can’t stand thing x or y about z.” As a fan, this hurts me; as a student of this school, it worries me. These questions have, in my experience, come from a place of ignorance and a refusal to learn. In my experience, these questions have come from a place that is the antithesis of what King’s represents. This article, despite how it appears at first glance, is not about me. It is about our collective ignorance about the sports that our classmates perform ex-
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ceptionally well in. If this perception of sports bothers me, I wonder how the people who are actually playing feel. Is it not bad enough that their achievements are vastly ignored by the majority of our student body, that we also have to frequently bad mouth what they love and enjoy in all of our spaces? Why don’t we care more? We have before. Five years ago, when I first toured our beloved campus, my tour guide told me about the fabled “King’s Army” and it sounded fantastic. For those of you who don’t know, the “King’s Army” is a group of enthusiastic King’s students who went out to cheer on our sports teams – albeit mostly the men’s rugby team – and make sure they knew that they were supported and loved in our community. Why did we stop? What happened? Historically, we’ve been very good at sports. When my grandmother attended our fine educational institution, there was a mandatory one hour of exercise per week in order to graduate. We here at King’s are all about our history, aren’t we?
So why do we choose to ignore this? Why have we settled for this view of King’s where academia is all that we have? Why aren’t we working to further this reputation of excellence in sport, as we are our reputation for excellence in academics? We say we’re worried about the strength of our community, worried that we need to be more unified, that we don’t know how to be more than this small box – or quad – that we’ve grown comfortable in. Yet every year, it seems, we become increasingly closed to those who do not fit our residence and FYP-centred idea of what it is to be a King’s student – even though there are so many ways to be a contributing member of our community that are equally important and valid. I am not an athlete, but this is a call to action. We need to change our new views on sport. We need to revive old traditions that have been forgotten. We need to overcome our fear of the unknown and learn. We need to have the courage to become full members of our community and recognize its fullness instead of this half-view that we have started to prefer. |w
Photo: Sander Ragetli
Go Blue Devils!
These photos were taken from the men and women’s rugby games on Sept. 20 and 21. The men, against St. FX, lost 47 to 15, while the women were defeated 87 to 0 by Saint Thomas University.
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8 PLACES BEYO Donnini’s Pizza: 5576 North St.
Donnini’s Pizza is for all of the frugal, bad-decision-makers who are up at 4 a.m. writing essays or watching television. With 16” pizzas for $10.69 and 16” garlic fingers for $12.29, it’s the cheapest pizza on the peninsula! While the quality is simply mediocre, I can guarantee it will taste like the best thing ever when you’re mentally exhausted and forgot what your thesis was supposed to be.
Bramoso: 6169 Quinpool Rd
Bramoso is home to a variety of artisan pizza, including a selection of gluten-free and vegan options. Their hand-tossed dough is baked in a brick oven and covered with a selection of flavourful and health-conscious toppings. If you happen to be venturing out to the Seaport Market on Saturday, you can also visit Bramoso’s vendor stand on the second floor; they sell hearty slices of breakfast pizza, complete with their renowned “white sauce” and a home-style egg.
Shawarma Stop: 6290 Quinpool Rd
Shawarma Stop replaced Quinpool’s Pita Pit over the summer and so far all I’ve heard are great things. Some very prestigious shawarma connoisseurs claim that it is now one of the best places to get your fill of the tasty Levantine treat while still retaining some pocket change. Shawarma Stop also offers delivery for those of you who don’t want to leave your study knoll, but who are drooling for some comfort food.
Wasabi House: 6403 Quinpool Rd.
If you want the best sushi in Halifax – no joke, the people voted (The Coast’s Best of Food Awards) – then get yourself to Wasabi House. With the line cooks dishing out complimentary sushi to go along with your order and happy hour every night from 9pm - 11pm, it’s not only delicious, but also absolutely affordable! Note: they also have a take-out menu. 18 watchmagazine.ca
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OND SODEXO By Haleigh Atwood
In our last issue we shared our top places on the Halifax peninsula to explore and experience. Now, let’s talk about the glorious eats that are available in our coastal city. Although we are all grateful and appreciative of Sodexo, there is a time in every young scholar’s life when we must peek out from under the wing of our meal-plans and taste what the off-campus world has to offer.
DeeDee’s Ice Cream: 5668 Cornwallis St.
DeeDee’s locally made ice cream is available all-year round, handcrafted from organic fair-trade sugar cane and prepared in a fancy Italian gelato maker. It has been voted the best ice cream location in Halifax by The Coast since 2012, and boasts mind-blowing flavours such as buttered almond, Mexican chocolate, raspberry passion berry and mango sorbet. They also have heavenly burritos and quesadillas, if you’re looking for something a bit more filling to accompany your frozen dessert.
Willy’s: 5239 Blowers St.
If you have a soft spot for fries, gravy, and squeaky cheese curds, then look no further! Willy’s offers fresh cut poutine and burgers on a late-night schedule: it’s open almost every night until 4 a.m., and on Tuesdays it’s open until 5 a.m. Poutine has never been more accessible, or environmentally friendly – Willy’s now serves all its meal choices in biodegradable containers!
Cha Baa Thai: 1546 Queen St. Cha Baa is a blessing when it comes to having a large selection of quality Thai dishes. The atmosphere is incredibly easygoing, so feel free to wear your best or just slip into a pair of jogging pants and a cozy sweater. I recommend bringing a group of friends and splitting a couple of options (green curry, rice bowl, fresh spring rolls, cashew chicken, and – of course – pad thai). You’ll get a greater selection, and your taste buds will thank you. Just Us! Coffeehouse: 5896 Spring Garden Rd.
Just Us! was created by Jeff and Debra Moore of Windsor, Nova Scotia who were inspired by their passion for social justice in regards to fair-trade coffee. Aside from its admirable beginnings and moral aspirations, this coffeehouse is surely one of the most adorable and functional in Halifax. Located in a three-storey Victorian home, Just Us! has a comforting atmosphere on the main floor, complete with fireplaces and fish bowls, and a series of upper-level rooms guests can utilize when they feel the need to bunker down with course work. watchmagazine.ca 19