Capilano Courier | Vol. 49.5, Issue 16.

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NEWS – Fight for $15 coalition looks to sway students in the leadup to election

VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE 16

MARCH 6 –12, 2017

How politicians divide and conquer to win.

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18 OPINIONS – BC can learn from Ontario's tactics for thwarting ticket scalpers

CONTENTS

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News

Campus Life

Sports

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14

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Features

Arts & Culture

Columns

Advertising

THE STAFF

COLUMNISTS

COVER

TRUDEAU RENEGS ON HIS BIGGEST PROMISE

Andy Rice EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

editor@capilanocourier.com Carlo Javier MANAGING EDITOR

carlo.capcourier@gmail.com

WHAT'S NEW WITH THE CSU? BUDGET, THAT'S WHAT.

24-HOUR PIANO MARATHON

PHOTOS: EXPLORE CAPILANO INFO NIGHT

THE WEEK IN GEEK: ARCHIE

MARTI CHAMBERS

NOTICE OF REFERENDA

CONTRIBUTORS Nima Boscarino Tony Stark is a self-proclaimed genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist. Nima Boscarino is not self-proclaimed, but he is a genius, could one day be a billionaire, probably is too handsome to be a playboy and is a philanthropist waiting to happen. Tony Stark is a tech expert, so is this man. The only difference is that Mr. Stark is a comic book character. Mr. Boscarino is real.

Rachel Wada ART

Annie Chang ART

Juliana Vieira ART

Wolfgang Thomo

Kevin Kapenda

ART

NEWS EDITOR

news@capilanocourier.com

Syd Danger

Syd Danger

Jessica Lio

Armed with low self confidence and the ability to loop every conversation back to the Marvel Universe, Syd ventures out to bring her fellow geeks news from the fabled outside world. Valar morghulis, motherfuckers

ART

OPINIONS EDITOR

opinions.capcourier@gmail.com

WORDS

FEATURES EDITOR

Rachel D’Sa

specialfeatures.capcourier@gmail.com

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

arts.capcourier@gmail.com Christine Beyleveldt CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR

campuslife.capcourier@gmail.com

WORDS

Andrew Yang

Gabriel Scorgie

Justin Scott

Keara Farnan

Kevin O'Neill Communications student Kevin O’Neill is one of Capilano University’s truest stand up students. His dedication and work with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation is both inspiring and impressive.

In his column, he’ll be shedding much needed light on some of the issues that Canada’s First Nations communities face. Fun fact: Kevin is the most accessible person I have ever met – you could text himwhenever you want and you’ll get a response.

WORDS

Layla Kadri WORDS

Cristian Fowlie

VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 16

ART DIRECTOR & LAYOUT DESIGNER

artdirector.capcourier@gmail.com

Brittany Tiplady

Noah Penner

Coming in to rescue our promising and ultra important column on feminism is Brittany Tiplady, co-founder and co-editor-in-chief of Loose Lips Magazine. Armed with a breadth of experience in the journalism world, Brittany is set to bring a significant and much-needed voice to the Courier. Look out for some explosive truth bombs!

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

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

community.capcourier@gmail.com POSITION AVAILABLE!

THE CAPILANO COURIER

BUSINESS ADVISOR

business.capcourier@gmail.com Brandon Kostinuk WEB COORDINATOR

web.capcourier@gmail.com

Kevin Kapenda One of the best things we can do as citizens is to be better informed about the political environment we live in. Thankfully, Mr. FuturePrime- Minister-with- a-Mixtape, Kevin Kapenda, is here to provide some much needed sober second thoughts on the upcoming provincial elections. Expect some harsh, but fair truth bombs from our very own version of the East Atlanta Santa, only much smarter.

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

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EDITOR'S DESK

ANTISOCIAL MEDIA: A HOW-TO-GUIDE Andy Rice EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

THE VOICEBOX with Carlo Javier

Hi Carlo!

Hello.

I just wanna say I appreciate the good work that you guys do for the school. Your coverage of the student community, sports, professors and the oddball articles outside the school are all dope as hell!

Oh thanks!

Also, one more thing.

THE CAPILANO COURIER

What’s that?

Vending machines? Really?

Yeah it should’ve been on video, right!?

That’s not the problem.

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

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VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 16

Four days of the work week, I’m glued to my phone and computer, tending to various contracts as a freelance writer, editor and communications professional.

Not Wednesdays, though. On Wednesdays I honour my past life as a musician by sitting in a five-by-six room teaching kids how to play the piano. I’ve done it for years, but somehow this year has been harder than all the rest.

Why? Not because the hours are long and the breaks are few. Not because of all the backtalk, repetition and feeble excuses from “suuuuuuuper busy” children who have failed, yet again, to practice. Not because 90 per cent of these little buggers have mastered the art of ‘silent but deadly’ flatulence and somehow think I don’t notice.

It’s because I’m officially and unapologetically addicted to my phone and every Wednesday is like a cold-turkey detox session for my tech-hungry brain. I’m not a smoker, but I imagine it’s like being stuck aboard an intercontinental flight on an involuntary 12-hour nicotine drought.

My teaching schedule is perhaps slightly better in that it’s only nine hours and I’m actually able to look at my phone if I want to, I’m just a terrible person if I do.

From the moment I set foot inside my studio to the moment I leave, there’s a little voice that whispers in my ear: “Check your email. I bet you have one. Maybe you have three. I bet they’re urgent.”

I know darn well that Little Timmy and his C Major scale deserve my full attention, and his parents have paid good money for it, but like a dull itch the voice repeats. And then it shifts its focus to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and so-on. When I finally do get a moment to check in on things, I’m sure it looks as though someone has let a dog loose on a bone.

Often, as I’m going about my daily business, I’ll see other people in the act of playing catch-up as well. Everyone has their favourite spot to do it in. Some people can be found speed-scrolling as they ride the SkyTrain, others do it in the middle of the escalator at the mall. A few even do it while their (in)significant other is trying to chat them up over coffee. The truly ashamed, like me, make their best attempts to do it in private.

I guarantee you that most of the people sitting in bathroom stalls at this very second haven’t gone there to deposit more than a few puffs of air. Toilets, above and beyond their actual purpose, have become a private seat where we can take some much-needed ‘technology time’ without being brought back to reality anytime soon.

Just try not to think about that the next time someone hands you their Samsung Galaxy to show you a photo of their new baby niece…

Computer dependency – and, by extension, cell phone and social media dependency – are a very real thing. I would imagine that communications, social media and marketing professionals are more susceptible than just about anyone else, given that they are expected to be responding to emails, collaborating on press documents, writing promotional copy

and stoking the Facebook fire at all hours of the day and night.

You may notice that people in this line of work are some of the quietest when it comes to updating their personal pages, simply because they’ve been creating content all day at the office – the last thing they want to do is create more once they get home. But I guarantee you they’re still scrubbing through their news feeds for the latest and greatest content from others.

The problem with that is that soon, the brain starts to rewire itself so that constant checking becomes the norm.

In reality, this is far from normal for the average person, and eventually it starts to affect your social life; you start to see people and things as posts – or worse, a delaying factor in your ability to read and react to the posts of others. This is what I’ve been noticing on Wednesdays, as this nasty habit from one job has begun to affect another job – and, above all, my life. Instead of enjoying what’s happening right in front of me, I’m somehow more concerned with what I might be missing on a miniature screen in my pocket.

So, what’s a guy to do? Well, here are some things I’ve been trying over the past couple weeks. I’m not sure if they’ll become long-term solutions, but I’ve decided to share them, just in case that’s ever you in the next stall over during one of our generation’s inevitable bouts of technological constipation.

1) Set your phone to ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode and enjoy a ringer-free day.

2) Call a cell phone truce in social situations. Put it in the centre of the table, leave it in the glovebox of your car, shut it off; whatever it takes, but don’t you dare look!

3) Take advantage of the ‘Schedule Post’ feature, a hidden secret of digital content strategists everywhere, but highly underutilized for personal pages.

4) By all means take your photos now, but save the posting and captioning for later.

The #latergram hashtag is your friend!

It’s also perfectly okay to pretend you ate that lasagna or cuddled that puppy the day after it actually happened. (Though, if you ate a puppy and cuddled a lasagna, you probably shouldn’t be putting that on the Internet…)

5) Reply to emails in batches. Use stars, flags and tags to your advantage.

6) Avoid anything that involves other people having to do a thing. That includes classic lines such as: “Wait! Don’t eat it yet!” or “Can you take a photo of me doing ___?” Chances are, you’re encroaching on someone else’s experience, if not your own.

7) Have some tips you’d like to share?

Email me at editor@capilanocourier.com!

NEWS

FIGHT FOR $15 MINIMUM WAGE COALITION LOOKING TO SWAY STUDENTS AHEAD OF MAY PROVINCIAL VOTE BC Federation of Labour lists housing costs, high tuition and loan debt as key reasons for increase Kevin Kapenda NEWS EDITOR

Chances are, if you are a student in BC, you have or know someone who has earned between minimum wage and $15 per hour. In fact, per provincial statistics and the BC Federation of Labour (BCFED), British Columbians between the ages of 15 and 24 account for only 12 per cent of our population, yet consist of about 21 per cent of those who are earning minimum wage or rates under $15 per hour.

This reality, according BCFED Executive Director Irene Lanzinger has led to more young people struggling to stay in the black and earn an education at the same time. “There are many students working for less than $15 an hour, about 21 per cent or a bit more than a fifth of the low-wage workers in the province,” said Lanzinger.

“We all know and have heard about the high cost of post-secondary education these days. Tuition fees have skyrocketed and student debt is out of control, with most students carrying an average of $25,000 annually. Higher wages help students with all those things.”

According to Vice’s guide to student loans, published in Oct. 2015, BC had the worst student loan rates, tied with Ontario.

GLOBAL STEWARDSHIP FOR THOSE LOOKING TO MAKE AN IMPACT IN SERVICE OF OTHERS

THE CAPILANO COURIER

VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 16

The story behind one of Capilano’s most foremost interdisciplinary programs Christine Beyleveldt CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR

For students looking to impact social change in the public, non-profit or for-profit industries, Capilano University’s Global Stewardship program continues to be an interdisciplinary bridge to those ends.

The Global Stewardship program is a two-year associate of arts degree that serves as a stepping-stone for many students into a number of different fields, including political science, communication, social work, education, health sciences and international development. Upon completion, students can begin their third year of post-secondary studies in

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The magazine described them as “god awful.” The reasons for this assessment were broken down in a Feb. 2017 Metro Vancouver article, where it was revealed that, for years, the government charged an additional 2.5 per cent interest on top of the prime rate, which is about 2.7 per cent.

In their pre-election budget, the BC Liberals addressed this discrepancy in relation to what students repay elsewhere in Canada, eliminating the additional percentage on loans and declaring they will only charge prime from now onward. While this change won’t apply to students already repaying interest on previous loans, the reality that BC was, and as of now still has some of the most expensive student loan rates in the country is why many groups, such as the BC Federation of Students, have thrown their support behind the Fight for 15 campaign.

As for what has contributed to students taking on more debt in the first place, the BCFED cites the doubling of tuition fees since 2002, and the elimination of provincial grants in 2003, as some of the main reasons why a higher wage is needed to help students borrow less for university.

While Lanzinger believes the Fight for $15 campaign is especially relevant to

students, enacting poverty reduction plan is key, so workers both young and old can earn a living wage in Canada’s most expensive city. “This is really a part of bigger issues I talk about when I’m campaigning for the minimum wage increase. There’s a quarter of the working population in BC, 500,000 people, working for less than $15 an hour,” said Lanzinger. “Those workers span all demographics. Students are a piece of the poverty problem we have in British Columbia. We need a poverty reduction plan, which includes a number of elements, such as an increase to the minimum wage that would lift hundreds of thousands of people above the poverty line.”

Though post-secondary education generally yields higher incomes in the middle and later stages of one’s career, her organization believes as many as 53 per cent of people earning less than $15 per hour in BC surprisingly have college or university credentials, something that is unacceptable to Lanzinger. “The stats really show that you will have a chance at a higher paying job if you earn postsecondary education,” said Lanzinger.

“But the fact is that many people who

have earned a post-secondary degree are working for less than $15 an hour, and that’s quite shocking. You’ve paid a lot of money for an education, you probably have significant student debt, you’ve studied hard to get your qualification and you’re still working for a poverty wage.

That’s just not fair.”

So far, the adoption of a poverty reduction plan and $15 minimum wage is something that has been endorsed by notable political leaders such as NDP Leader John Horgan, Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson and Grand Chief Philip Stewart of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs.

Organizations that are endorsing the BCFED’s calls include the Health Officers of BC, the United Way of Vancouver and the BC Teachers Federation, among many others.

The debate around increasing the minimum wage to $15 is one that has not only polarized progressives and freeenterprise advocates in BC, but the entire West Coast, from Hawaii to Seattle. While supporters of the increase view it as existential for the working poor, it is also political and could become a ballot box issue for many when British Columbians choose their next government on May 9.

any other program, or choose to continue their education anywhere else in British Columbia.

In their first semester, students are required to take geography, politics, critical thinking and a language credit. Their second semester requirements include environmental policies, anthropology, a math credit, economics, world history and leadership.

The purpose of taking courses in so many different areas of study is to broaden students’ minds and teach them what it means to be a global citizen. Political Studies instructor Cam Sylvester loves working with students in the Global Stewardship program for that reason.

“Teaching in the program is really great because you’re working with this energetic, fascinating group of young people who are challenging you as much as you challenge them,” he said.

Sylvester used to lead a postbaccalaureate diploma in the Asia Pacific Management Cooperative Program (APMCP), which served as Global Stewardship’s predecessor.

Students would learn history, languages and culture before taking part in a yearlong co-op work placement in Asia. But he was teaching graduate students, and he wanted to return to working with undergraduates.

“I knew that there were a lot of students out there in high school who were leaders in their schools,” he said. “We created this program so that we’d get these 35 really interesting leaders [to] come in with many many different backgrounds but would work together on projects in the community and gain skills as a result.”

Only 35 students are accepted into the program on a running basis each fall, and at the end of their first academic year, students find an organization to volunteer their time with. “Their job is to find an organization that’s doing the type of work that they would like to go into,” he explained. “[They] offer to volunteer for that organization, but in return – and this is why it’s a little different from just volunteering – they would identify a skill that they would like to get while volunteering.” Some students volunteer with Amnesty International or Oxfam, others find paid internships overseas in sustainable international development through the Youth Internship Program.

In the first year that the program was running, nearly 15 years ago, Sylvester taught a student named James Haga. Haga took an internship overseas in Kakamega, Kenya where he was evaluating programs in a region that saw heightened violence during elections. Despite the dangers

around him, Sylvester described that the experience made Haga shine. It started his career as a Director of Advocacy with Engineers Without Borders, and Sylvester often invites him back to CapU to discuss his success.

Such opportunities aren’t for everyone, though. “Our students, if they want to, can get to know us very well, and we get to know what their strengths and weaknesses are,” said Sylvester. “So we can write a really good letter, an honest letter that is recognized by those organizations.”

He admitted that among the chief concerns of organizations overseas taking Canadian students as interns is their adaptability. They care about a student’s flexibility and cultural awareness. Handson skills they can teach, open-mindedness they can’t. The same can be said for applicants to the program. Prospective students must submit a letter of intent, and Sylvester explained that Global Stewardship accepts students based on their interviews rather than their GPA. He stressed that if students concentrate all of their efforts on maintaining the highest GPA possible, they give up on their passions and they quit volunteering. The students who volunteer in their communities and have a lust for life are the ones he wants to see in his program.

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CREATING CONNECTIONS IS BACK WITH MORE INDUSTRIES ATTENDING THAN EVER BEFORE School of Business’s premier networking event to be held evening of Thursday, Mar. 9 Kevin Kapenda NEWS EDITOR

On Thursday, Mar. 9, the Capilano University School of Business will be hosting its annual networking soiree for

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students, known as Creating Connections.

The purpose of the event, as described in its name, is to connect students with potential employers and professionals who are in their field. Many of the industry representatives in attendance are also CapU alumni, and work for all kinds of firms, from large, to boutique. The event will take place at the Pinnacle Hotel near Lonsdale Quay from 5:30 pm to 8:30 p.m. This year's keynote speaker will be David Katz, founder of the Plastic Bank. Katz has previously been named Entrepreneur's Organization Global Citizen of the Year. “Creating Connections is a School of Business event that allows students to network with industry and alumni, and create long lasting connections with professionals in their preferred sector,” said Sogol Khadivi, a fourth-year business student and Creating Connections organizer. “Students who attend are able to build and expand on their network.

After you graduate, it is all about who you

know, in addition to your education and experience.”

Creating Connections was first hosted in 2006 as a forum for business professionals and firms to connect with recent and future CapU business graduates. Since then, the program has gone on to be hosted 11 more times. Originally, Creating Connections was primarily tailored to students pursuing careers in accounting and finance. However, this year’s event will feature industry representatives from all of the School of Business’s streams, so as to make it accessible and useful to as many students as possible.

“All the business sectors taught as streams in the School of Business will be there, including the big ones, such as finance and accounting,” said Khadivi.

“New to the event this year is having more representatives from the marketing and human resources sectors. We wanted to provide an opportunity for all students in

the School of Business to attend.”

This year’s list of industry attendees is quite diverse, with established names in media, banking, accounting, as well as business advocacy groups, such as Chambers of Commerce, all sending representatives to the event. Notably, KPMG, the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Press Reader and the Insurance Corporation of BC will have a presence at the event.

As for who should attend Creating Connections, while it is of most benefit to those nearing graduation, Khadivi believes it is never too early to begin networking and gaining perspective from professionals in your desired sector or role. “This event is geared towards third and fourth-year students, but we are not going to stop eager first or second-year students from attending,” said Khadivi. “The earlier the better, as the relationships you make today are going to impact your future.”

next year,” she said.

Furthermore, the budget for events was reduced from $23,000 to $20,000. VP Student Life Beatriz Miralles explained that the CSU garnered more sponsors this past academic year, and initially students present questioned what would happen if the next VP Student Life were not able to garner as many sponsors, but Miralles defended her ability and stated that she has been working to establish relationships with her current sponsors that should ensure that they would continue to work with the CSU for several more years at least.

The decrease in funds set aside for events has allowed for a $1,000 budget increase for on-campus clubs. There are 40 clubs on campus currently, which Miralles expects and hopes will grow to become more inclusive of the CapU community.

“This is a really great opportunity to use the money that you have paid,” El Mentari agreed. “You need to have that opportunity to support each other through being part of clubs or being part of the student union.”

Under administrative expenses, El Mantari pointed out that the usual budget of $500 for IT support has been

discontinued, and that the CSU will make use of CapU’s IT support in the future.

Although the CSU’s revenue has decreased from $911,847 to $903,133, they anticipate their expenditures to not exceed $893,723, leaving a surplus of funds consistent with previous years.

Following the budget, a proposed motion asking that the CSU lobby CapU to relocate its smoking areas away from walkways and building entrances at the request of two students was discussed.

However, because quorum of 75 was not met, the CSU amended the motion to read that the CSU should advocate for the relocation of CapU’s smoking areas, rendering the motion non-binding, but still pursuable.

Unfortunately, the two students who made the request had not proposed an alternate location for the smoking areas.

Reportedly, Health Services told them that the smoking areas could not be moved, but they decided to advocate for having the smoking poles and shelters relocated instead of requesting that they be removed entirely. The CSU agreed that smoking areas should not be in close proximity to

walkways and building entrances, and after going to a vote the motion was carried with a two-thirds majority.

Finally, Fabry announced the dates of the referendum concerning proposed fee increases affecting the CSU’s and the Capilano Courier Publishing Society’s budgets. They will be held on Mar. 21, 22 and 23, concurrent with the voting period for the CSU elections. The deadline to submit nominations for any position with the CSU during the following academic year is Tuesday, Mar. 9.

Executive positions, including internal and external relations, student life, university relations and services and equity and sustainability will be open to candidates, as well as faculty representative and liaison positions. General Manager Christopher Girodat added that the CSU has created two eight-week full-time employment positions for the months of April, May and June. The students who fill these roles would be responsible for assisting the CSU in launching an inclusion and diversity program.

Job postings can be found at Csu.bc.ca/ jobs.

WHAT’S NEW WITH THE CSU? Budget for new academic year revealed at special general meeting Christine Beyleveldt

VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 16

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THE CAPILANO COURIER

On Mar. 2 at a special general meeting the Capilano Students’ Union (CSU) presented to students the following academic year’s budget.

VP Internal Amina El Mantari reviewed each line of the budget with students who attended and highlighted significant changes. The budget for CSU board members’ wages and benefits has increased from $399,041 to $442,333 and the pool of elections funds has increased from $6,000 to $8,025. Among the standout changes to the budget included an increase in funding for clubs, summer employment and external relations conferences. President and VP External Sacha Fabry explained that the external relations committee successfully carried out the CSU’s Where’s The Housing campaign and lobbied on the lawn of the Victoria Legislature, so the budget was increased to allow for further municipal, provincial and federal lobbying over the course of the following year.

Students questioned the need to double the budget for workshops and development.

The budget for development this past year was $5,900 and going into the next academic year it has increased to $11,000.

Fabry described the benefits the CSU reaped from attending conferences and workshops, citing a conference attended by several members of the CSU in 2016 about attracting potential sponsors. “Because we went we were more effective at getting sponsorships which reduced costs elsewhere,” he said. “It’s a way of moving away from generalized training towards specialized training.”

The Services line item of the budget was decreased from $140,267 to $74,803, which El Mentari explained was a result of the discontinuation of ski tickets. “It has not been used by our students, it has been used by the public [and] we are here to support students so we discontinued it for

-KEVIN KAPENDA

CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR

CAMPUS LIFE

WHO YOU

ON THE ROAD TO NEW ORLEANS CAPUMA set to compete in final round of AMA Collegiate Case Competition Christine Beyleveldt CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR

Mark McDonald joined the Capilano University Marketing Association (CAPUMA) last year as a secondyear business administration student to make new friends on campus and develop the skills that would make his resume stand out among others. A year and a half later, CAPUMA under his leadership as President has become one of the more active student associations on campus, intent on providing opportunities for students to develop their skills and gain new experiences outside of the classroom.

Consisting of business administration students, most of whom are pursuing a focus in marketing, CAPUMA recently ran a successful clothing drive in conjunction with the Capilano Students’ Union (CSU) to raise funds for Wired 4 Success. They also attracted approximately 100 students to their fourth winter social, We Are North Vancouver, in November, which catered to first and second year students looking to make their first connections within and outside of the School of Business. Throughout the year, networking events allow students to meet members of the business community and make those vital connections that will hopefully lead to job opportunities following graduation.

CAPUMA is one of two collegiate chapters of the American Marketing Association (AMA) in Canada, the other being the BCITMA. McDonald explained that all the executive members hold AMA membership and they

UPCOMING EVENT

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VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 16

Eighth annual Waste Audit Every year thousands of coffee cups are incorrectly discarded by members of the Capilano University community. It only takes a moment to throw disposable containers in the wrong bin, but nobody is going to pick through the contents and remove all the recyclable items from the garbage.

That is, except for students, staff and faculty of the Biology, Tourism Management, Geography and Outdoor Recreation departments, who help organize the CapU Waste Audit every year in a campaign to educate the school community about their disposal habits.

Working two shifts in teams of 80 students each, the Waste Audit is a sorting process that sees heaps of garbage and recyclable materials separated behind the Sportsplex. The process will last from 8 am to 3 pm on Tuesday, March 7. Joining CapU this year for the Eighth Annual Waste Audit is the solid waste coordinator of the District of West Vancouver, Bo Ocampo.

Coffee cups, food containers, plastic wrappers, bags and bottles will be counted to measure compliance

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submit a chapter plan each fall and an annual report in the spring, which allows them to access database information that normally wouldn’t be made available to the public. Their membership also affords them the opportunity to compete in any of 20 different case competitions, which consist of teams pitching business solutions in mock scenarios.

This year, CAPUMA is sending six of their members to New Orleans to compete in the AMA Collegiate Case Competition from Mar. 15 to 19. Fourth year business administration student, Pauntehah Poursaba, who won her spot in the competition through an in-class market research project, leads the team. “Our main focus was to rebrand eBay and make them more relevant to the target market,” she said. The demographic she was targeting consisted of 18 to 25-year-olds. “We pushed the idea of community to make the brand more exciting.”

She submitted a report and then teamed up and pitched the case to a panel of judges consisting of School of Business instructors Robin Furby and Andrea Eby, and alumnus Ali Abassi. Seven CapU finalists were selected, and to their excitement they qualified to present their case in New Orleans on Mar. 16 as one of the top ten teams in the AMA. This is the first time that the CAPUMA has qualified for the Case Competition in New Orleans, which follows the internal competitions at CapU. “Well, you look at the calibre of schools that you’re going up against, so coming in as a team of people just put together is a little bit intimidating,” Poursaba admitted. The team will receive their ranking the day following their presentation, and if they qualify for first place they will be invited to speak again on stage before everyone in attendance.

Next year, Poursaba will return to mentor CapU’s case competition team, although when she finishes her undergraduate degree she wishes to pursue law.

“I would say that the case is the most I’ve learned in my entire education career,” she said. “It’s what I can imagine using in a hands-on marketing position.”

with the school’s goal of achieving zero waste. “The results will tell us where we have strong compliance and where further education is needed,” said senior communications advisor Cheryl Rossi. She added that even though it’s a standard, messy procedure, they’ve encountered a few surprises. “One year, students found a whole turkey in an organics bin,” she said.

Electronic waste can also be dropped off behind the Sportsplex for appropriate disposal, and the Birch building will be open to visitors from 11:30 am to 1 pm, where members of the public will get a chance to learn about CapU’s recycling and composting initiatives. In the last 10 years CapU has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 53 per cent. The university aims to continue that streak of success, reducing emissions by 67 per cent of its 2007 levels by 2020, and by 80 per cent come 2050. Already, encouraging students, staff and faculty to adopt new habits has reduced CapU’s carbon footprint in a significant way.

But back to those coffee cups for a second. Did you know, they can’t be thrown in the recycling container?

There’s a special bin for beverage containers because the plastic and paper linings can’t be separated.

How David Kirk went from supporting aboriginal students to educating CapU Kevin Kapenda NEWS EDITOR

David Kirk came to Capilano University because he had a love of education. His story differs to that of most of his colleagues, though, in that he has always wanted to help aboriginal students in their individual pursuits of knowledge, a value that was instilled in him at a young age.

“My grandfather insisted his grandchildren get educated, so my mom and my siblings were some of the first people to attend public school in Chilliwack,” he said. Kirk is a member of the Stó:lo Nation whose traditional territories run along the Fraser River. Like so many names that were imposed on indigenous lands and spaces, Stó:lo is the original name for the Fraser River.

Kirk completed an undergraduate degree in social work before continuing on to obtain a master’s degree in education at UBC. He worked in grade school education for a number of years before transitioning into social work, but he always missed pursuing his own education, which ultimately led him to CapU where he serves as a First Nations advisor.

In 2013, the Kéxwusm-áyakn Students’ Centre was completed. With an understanding of the intrinsic connection between indigenous culture and space, Kirk decided to assign the Squamish name of Kéxwusm-áyakn to the Centre, in recognition of the Squamish and TsleilWaututh Nations. “It was very important for us to carry a word from the people here, in their language,” he said. “In the Squamish language, Kéxwusm-áyakn means meeting place.”

After a decade spent with CapU, Kirk has seen the aboriginal students that he supports reach new heights.

Kirk has taken pride in using his background in both social work and education to facilitate common understanding between First Nations students and the rest of the CapU community, something that hasn’t always been easy.

“Having conversations about what it means to be a First Nations student or asking someone what they know about the history is how it starts,” he said. “A lot of people – whether you grew up in this country, [immigrated] here or are a visiting student from another country, you didn’t necessarily get taught this history of our people, a very dark part of Canada.”

He describes that Canada, 150 years after confederation, draws to mind a history of colonization and the horrific conditions exhibited in residential schools.

The catalyst behind what Kirk describes as increased awareness of aboriginal history and the legacy of colonialism was a policy he was asked to develop by the administration.

Three years ago, Kirk produced an Aboriginal Student Success Strategy. “That document has led to different initiatives, and of course the biggest initiative has been Truth and Reconciliation Week, to bring awareness to the survivors of residential schools.”

While discussions of colonization and residential schools are never easy, Kirk is pleased that CapU sets aside a week in September each year to introduce Canada’s tumultuous history to those who are unaware of it. It heightens understanding and provides context for the struggles faced

by First Nations today.

Visit Capilanocourier.com for extended version of this profile.

CAMPUS LIFE

EXPLORE CAPILANO INFORMATION NIGHT Despite the discouraging weather, Explore Capilano Information Night on March 2 was one of the most popular open houses of the year.

Hundreds of prospective CapU students and their parents toured the Birch Cafeteria and learned about the various programs and services offered, while hosts Sacha Fabry and Rhita Hassar interviewed current students and faculty for a Facebook Live broadcast.

-CHRISTINE BEYLEVELDT PHOTOS

THE CAPILANO COURIER VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 16

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PHOTOS BY PAUL YATES

SPORTS

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM TAKE HOME MULTIPLE PACWEST AWARDS TO END SEASON Blues find building blocks in promising 2016-2017 season

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VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 16

Carlo Javier MANAGING EDITOR

It took a few years but it’s finally looking like the Capilano Blues men’s volleyball program is starting to turn the corner.

After winning the provincial gold as a fourth seed in the 2012-2013 season, the Blues went into a bit of a rebuilding phase, cycling through players and coaches and piling losses that placed them near the bottom of the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) in the past few years.

This time around, led by second-year head coach and former Capilano Blue, Emmanuel Denguessi, the Blues not only doubled their win total from last season, they also saw three players get recognized with year-end awards from the PACWEST.

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Blues second-year setter and cocaptain Simon Friesen was selected as one of the PACWEST First Team AllStars, validating his play as among the conference’s premier offensive anchors.

Two rookies on the roster also made their marks in conference play, with right side Justin Yee winning the PACWEST Rookie of the Year and getting selected to the PACWEST All-Rookie Team and libero Jonathan Lee also getting named to the All-Rookie Team.

Friesen’s selection builds off his impressive debut last season, where he made an immediate impact to the Blues volleyball program as a first-year setter, and saw his efforts get recognized with a selection to the All-Rookie Team. Although a greater magnitude of leadership was placed on the shoulders of Friesen and third-year co-captain John Dela Cruz, Friesen still managed to excel as one of the best at his position. For Friesen, he knew he could compete in the league, but he didn’t exactly expect to rapidly rise to the level of a First Team All-Star. “I thought that it was possible for me to get nominated, but I only had hopes for maybe a Second Team All Star,” he admitted.

While Friesen’s continued growth as one of the best players in the PACWEST is a major plus for the Blues, it’s the rapid rise of two rookies that’s really created a buzz of excitement for what the Blues could

be two or three years from now.

Yee’s lightning-fast ascent to the upper echelon of this year’s rookie crop is more than just a testament to his talent and work ethic, it also speaks volumes about his willingness to sacrifice for the team.

Having played the setter position for most of his volleyball days, the first-year student out of Moscrop Secondary School shifted to right side after joining Blues, “I would never have imagined the amount of success or recognition I was going to receive when the season was starting up,” he said. By the end of the season, Yee’s excellence was all over the box scores, finishing in the top 10 in four different categories: aces, digs, kills and total offence. “[Rookie of the Year] is very humbling, and I’m grateful to accept it,” he said. “This has opened my eyes in terms of my future in the league and is going to push me to work harder to stay successful.”

While Yee’s exploits above the net took the PACWEST by storm, another Blue was also making a name for himself, this time closer to the ground. Right off the bat, Jonathan Lee knew he could hang with the best players in the PACWEST. The 5’6 libero from David Thompson Secondary had a memorable performance in the season opener against the University of Fraser Valley Cascades, and even though the Blues fell, Lee’s confidence never wavered. “From there on, I kind of just

had a feeling that I’d be doing really well this season,” he said. Lee, who suspects he had 20 or so digs in that single game, wound up finishing the season at the top of the leaderboard with 347 digs, nearly 70 more than the next player.

Considered by many as the heart and soul of the team, Lee quickly became one of the most exciting players to watch in the entire Blues varsity program. His knack for making spectacular diving saves became a nightly highlight and his effort on the court was effervescent. The hard work and sheer joy for the game that Lee played with were evident with the Blues, who completed several memorable comeback wins this past season. “We’re that team that never gives up until the game’s over,” he said. “We’re a really scrappy team and we like to piss off other teams.”

With a young core that’s already developing into one of the most dangerous teams in the PACWEST, the Blues look ready to take another step towards their championship aspirations. For Lee, if the team stays and matures together, in a few years, he doesn’t expect anything less than a provincial banner. “For sure,” he said. “Honestly, I think we could’ve done it this year, nerves just took over us in that first round and right after that game everyone instantly started to look forward to the next season.”

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WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM PRIMED TO CONTINUE PACWEST EXCELLENCE Departing seniors have built a sustainable culture of success and professionalism with Blues Carlo Javier

With the impending departures of fifthyear co-captains Sarah Hughes and Kira Sutcliffe, as well as fifth-years Kolby Richter and Kelsi Boroevich, questions arise about the future of the Capilano Blues women’s volleyball team.

The past few years have seen the Blues flourish as one of the most consistent units of the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) conference, winning three straight bronze medals, a silver medal in the 2013-2014 season and a total of five podium finishes in the last six years. The “Blues family” as the players affectionally refer to it, has been a sustained culture, built from the bonds that the studentathlete community creates.

At the start of the 2016-2017 athletic calendar, head coach Cal Wohlford told the Capilano Courier that having four fifth-year players is a near unprecedented scenario in PACWEST play. Although the Blues ultimately fell short of the provincial gold and their national hopes, the work that the seniors have done throughout their careers have the Blues set to continue competing for that elusive gold medal.

One of the players set take on a greater leadership role is second year left side Tyneille Neufeld. The versatile player quickly integrated herself to the Blues

CALL ME THE REFEREE BECAUSE I BE SO OFFICIAL Blues forward Marti Chambers talks about her experience officiating Men’s League Jessica Lio

contest.

Another standout player from this season was rookie Anika Kolybaba. The first-year right side earned herself a spot on the PACWEST All-Rookie Team for her contributions on the defensive end, and the rapid growth she made as an offensive threat. “I did not expect to get this at all, just because as a first year coming in it's not the easiest,” she said. “You basically feel like you’re learning volleyball again because it's so different.”

Like Neufeld, Kolybaba was also overwhelmingly grateful for the support that her team has given her in her first year as a Capilano Blue. “[The Blues] were the biggest supporters of making me a better player because they know what you can do even if you don't know it yourself,” she said.

“Overall I'm so grateful for getting [AllRookie Team] because it means I'm doing something right.”

Neufeld and Kolybaba are just two members of the Blues’ exciting building blocks. Fourth year libero Abigail O’Neil

is poised to take on a greater leadership role, both on and off the court. Although she was hampered by a late-season ankle injury, third year middle Danae Shephard is also among key foundational players moving forward. Although she missed a huge chunk of the season due to injury, second year middle Keeley Bell found herself back in rotation for the playoffs, and her presence will be integral for the Blues’ return next season. Finally, second year outside hitter Meghan Koven, who herself earned a spot on the All-Rookie Team last year, was among the team’s clutch performers these past playoffs, and her continued development stands as one of the most exciting aspects of the Blues’ future.

The Capilano Blues women’s volleyball team may be saying goodbye to four cherished seniors, but the strong existing culture of family with the team ensures that they won’t be saying goodbye to their place as one of the PACWEST’s best teams any time soon.

men’s league game last semester, she saw it as a good opportunity to pick up some extra work on campus that’s related to basketball.

“I refereed girls’ basketball and some guys’ basketball in high school but going from that to men’s league was really hard,” Chambers explained. “They’re all a lot bigger than me and they’re faster so I’m sprinting across the court just to make sure I don’t get run over.”

“At the beginning, I was kind of concerned with how they were going to treat me compared to the men,” Chambers admitted. She knew the men’s league was used to having male referees and that it would take some adjusting for her to enter the league as a referee. Thinking back to some of her first games, she remembered initially not knowing how to react when players got mad about calls. “They yelled at me, they got mad… I [wondered] ‘do they talk to everyone like this?’” she recalled with a lighthearted laugh.

Chambers had worked as a referee for women’s tournaments, but the environment she observed in a competitive league was different. “I’m not saying that girls are not aggressive. Girls definitely do swear sometimes, but not to the point where you could probably kick them out of the game,” she said. With the men’s teams,

she felt the players were more competitive, even if the stakes weren’t very high. “They want to win. If you call something they don’t agree with, they’re probably going to say something to you about it.”

Most of the players understood that she was new to refereeing, but Chambers recalled one game when a player became so angry at her that he was swearing at her throughout the game. Even though he’d been given the call he wanted, he continued to yell and insult her judgement. “I should have told him to settle down but the entire time, I was actually scared. There was another referee and he was a guy, so I let him deal with it,” she explained. Since the players had already become close with the male referees at that point in the season, she knew that they were more comfortable discussing calls amongst each other. With her coming into the league as a new referee, she could see that a lot of anger was being directed towards her, but she didn’t take it personally. When a player got too aggressive towards her at any point in a game, she would just take a step back and disengage.

After every game, Chambers asked the players and the other referee for feedback.

She knew that if she constantly learned and improved on her own weaknesses, she would be fine to deal with anything that

came her way during games. “Getting to know the [players] has helped me a lot,” she stated, reflecting on how she’s learned to improve as a referee. “I know a lot of guys on the team so it’s easy for them to give me criticism.”

Chambers feels things have settled down now that she’s become more experienced, and she’s even developing a new perspective on the game, which she has considered when she’s playing basketball herself.

“It’s really hard to see some calls,” Chambers said, adding that her experience as a referee has influenced how she reacts in game situations with referees. There is no way for referees to feel what the players are physically feeling - calls can only be made based on what is actually seen.

It took Chambers some time to build up trust in her own judgement, but she’s comfortable now enforcing the rules without being dependent on others. “Now, whenever I see something I just learn to blow the whistle and call a call,” she said.

“No matter what, one team isn’t going to be happy with the call,” Chambers said, reflecting on the lessons she’s learned since her first game. “I think it’s confidence. You just have to be firm with your call.”

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Marti Chambers began working as a referee in the Capilano Basketball League (CBL) last semester. Learning the rules was never a problem for the charismatic 18-year-old Blues forward, who has been playing basketball since the second grade.

What took some time for Chambers to get used to, however, was enforcing the rules without second guessing her own judgement.

As a first-year student, Chambers balances basketball practices and games, full-time courses and a food service job.

Like many other student-athletes, some days she’s on campus from 8:30 am to 11 pm. But when Blues athletic director Chris Raeside asked her to fill in as a referee for a

rotation and finished the season as one of the team’s best in digs, kills and hitting percentage (.423) – a number that had her as the seventh most accurate hitter in the entire Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Neufeld’s versatility stems for her experience with the libero position, a role she primarily played during her time with the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack.

Throughout the season, Neufeld exhibited her excellence both as an attacker and as a defensive player, culminating in a selection to the PACWEST Second-Team All Star. “I would just like to say that I am flattered to receive this recognition, being a new player to the league,” she said. But despite her undeniable individual efforts, Neufeld insists directing credit towards the people that surround her. “I couldn’t have done it without the support from my team, coaches, and family. She was also key to the Blues’ bronze medal clinching victory over the College of the Rockies Avalanche, being named Player of the Match after the

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OPINIONS EDITOR

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MANAGING EDITOR

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VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 16

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NO MORE REFORM

Justin Trudeau backed out of his biggest campaign promise Christine Beyleveldt CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR

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Trudeau was in a position of privilege to be able to promise any sort of structural reform, given that it was unlikely he would ever have to deliver on such promises with as few seats as the Liberals had.

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commitment after commitment has disheartened her. “Every prime minister promises [reform] and nobody does it so it’s not really a surprise,” she shrugged. “Really, the guy’s more of a segue out of Harper than anything.”

Schouls described how, coming from a position as a third party, Trudeau was in a position of privilege to be able to promise any sort of structural reform, given that it was unlikely he would ever have to deliver on such promises with as few seats as the Liberals had. But he won, and even though the Liberals occupy most of the seats in the House of Commons, he has been made to see the criticisms of electoral reform. “He needs to be able to demonstrate and convince Canadians that the level of ambivalence associated with electoral reform was so high and such that he believed it would not be responsible to continue,” said Schouls. If he has been made to see that proportional representation would not be

practical with so many parties registered in the system, Canadians have yet to be shown. Schouls continued by adding that it has been suggested to Trudeau that proportional representation may be a problem because more parties have a chance of being elected to the House of Commons, or a leading party in a coalition might be held hostage to a minority party, but Trudeau’s supporters see the issue in black and white in much the same way Trudeau himself did a year ago.

“A lot of people understand that the first past the post of the single member plurality system tends to suppress voter turnout,” said Schouls.

“A lot of people believe that when they cast their vote, their vote’s essentially wasted if they don’t cast their vote for the winning candidate in their constituency.” The Liberal Party secured a majority government with just 39.5 per cent of the popular vote. They went from having just 36 seats in the House of Commons to having 184 seats after the 2015 federal election. First-pastthe-post is a fickle system; for Trudeau, it put him in a position of power that he doesn’t want to relinquish. At least that’s how his critics see it.

When the BC Liberal Party lost the provincial election to the BC NDP in 1996, despite having the support of the popular vote, Gordon Campbell who was then the leader of the party vowed to look into electoral reform in the next election that would adjust the number of seats won in the legislature in accordance with the number of votes. In 2001 the Liberals were elected, and they didn’t have the support of the popular vote, which meant that proportional representation would have cost them a majority government in the BC Legislature, much like it would cost Trudeau a majority government in the House of Commons. “[Campbell] held true to his promise even though it wasn’t to his benefit or advantage,” said Schouls.

“If they had gone to a proportional representation directly after the election they would almost certainly been a liberal minority government from there on in, and to his detriment, but he held true to his promise.”

Schouls believes that Trudeau was naïve on the campaign trail, but like any politician who wants to keep their supporters loyal, he must live up to his promises. Campbell isn’t the best example of an honest politician, given the fact that he had to step down from his post as BC Premier in 2010 after introducing a harmonized sales tax (HST) when he had claimed it was not on the BC Liberals’ agenda in the 2009 election.

“We knew we were getting more of a photogenic, politically-trained candidate, and he hasn’t brought up any scandals,” added Rossbacher. “Honestly, we can’t complain given what’s happening in America.

I think we’re getting to where we want to be, but this is more of a transition period in my opinion.”

She doesn’t see him as a bad person, just as an inexperienced politician who’s discovering that he can’t please everyone. Politicians, both seasoned and inexperienced, face the same difficulty in office, and that is to try and live up to their campaign promises in the face of opposition.

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ne of the biggest promises Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made on the campaign trail leading up to the Oct. 2015 federal election was electoral reform. “We are committed to ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system,” he said. So it came as a surprise when Canada’s spirited prime minister with genuine but lofty dreams of achieving reform chose to back out of one of the biggest promises of his campaign.

In the 2011 election the Liberals, in a stunning defeat, lost official opposition status to the NDP and became a third party, while the Conservatives formed a majority government with just 39.6 per cent of the popular vote. Seeking to rectify the electoral system that cost them so many seats, Trudeau promised reform.

In his mandate letter to Minister of Democratic Institutions Karina Gould, Trudeau removed structural electoral reform from his agenda.

Instead he asked Gould to make amendments to the Canada Elections Act that would enhance government transparency and review limits on party spending in election campaigns, and finally to launch an investigation into the threats posed by cyber criminals – hackers – to the electoral system. Trudeau can and has been accused of breaking his biggest campaign promise, but reform isn’t entirely off his agenda. It’s just not the kind of structural reform most of his supporters had hoped for. “Our democratic processes are subject to so much manipulation, and I think that sometimes it’s the structures themselves,” said Capilano University political studies instructor Tim Schouls. “That’s a form of manipulation, the outcome one gets is inconsistent with the outcome people have declared they would like.” He added that insulating the current system in the face of external parties seeking to influence elections for their own benefit is reform of its own kind, though a far cry from seeing first-past-the-post dissolve and become a proportional representation.

NDP democratic reform critic, Nathan Cullen called Trudeau a liar for reneging on electoral reform. It’s easy for the opposition to make accusations, but on the campaign trail NDP leader Thomas Mulcair was promising to abolish the senate if he became the next Prime Minister.

Like Trudeau has discovered after a year in office with no prior experience holding the reins of the country, living up to exorbitant campaign promises is easier said than done. Most of Mulcair’s supporters would have been disappointed once they realized that living up to such a promise, given that the senate, like first-past-the-post, has been a part of Canadian political identity for 150 years, isn’t as easy to repeal and replace as something like Obamacare.

Second year Liberal Studies major Dana Rossbacher identified herself as a socialist and supported the NDP in the 2015 federal election,

but she was happy to see Trudeau come into power. “I thought that he was a better alternative to Harper, and that he’d probably be able to bring some good changes to the table when he got in,” she said. Mainly, she was concerned with Harper’s environmental policy, and wanted to see more eco-friendly energy solutions explored, so when Trudeau approved the Kinder Morgan Pipeline expansion on Jan. 11 she began to lose faith in his ability to live up to his campaign promises.

Electoral reform wasn’t at the top of her list of changes she wanted to see brought about, but seeing a promising, young politician renege on

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Say that an election is coming soon near you, but you don’t have any clue which party to vote for, let alone which individual to support. Under these circumstances, would you vote for a candidate solely because of the party they run under even if you disagreed with their positions, or would you vote for the other person, even if they might be labelled the opposition in your community? With groups on both the left and the right popping up and looking to demonize the other, it’s important to look at the effect joining a movement can have on one’s ability to think clearly.

Andrew Yang CONTRIBUTOR

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If we look back from the previous century, a rise in identity politics identified social injustice and inequality such as the Civil Rights and Feminist movements. These social movements addressed affected individuals facing poverty, violence and marginalization because of their ethnicity, gender and many more social factors. Supporters of identity politics believe that someone’s identity is essential to their needs and must be politicized There are advantages created from identity politics, just like how a female politician would advocate for policies beneficial to women. On top of that, support for political causes usually requires massive participation from special interest groups in exchange for empowerment. An example would be the Pride Parade serving as the frontier for gay rights; individuals who identified themselves as being part of the LGBTQ community are part of a microcosm of social divisions.

According to Capilano University sociology professor

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Rita Isola, “Identity politics is a highly contested topic especially in cultural studies. Today all claims to identity are interrogated and the links between identity, politics and knowledge are questioned and critiqued.” It’s not enough to ask yourself who you are and which group you belong to in our society. Even if you can be easily grouped together with others who share your ethnicity, gender, class and/or faith, there’s no guarantee that they share the exact same quirks and interests you do.

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Facts by themselves are irrevocably true, but the way people use them to justify their arguments can pose fallacious setbacks. Take the Black Lives Matter movement as an example; the statistics they cite are usually correct, such as the number of blacks killed by the police each year and the police brutality against blacks in America. The problem is that they either ignore other facts that would put the others into context (the number of violent crimes committed by black people) or add their own biased, anecdotal "evidence" to support their argument, such as being stopped three times by police in the same month for no reason, and drawing the conclusion that all police are racists.

Sam Harris commentated from his podcast, Waking Up, “If you are reasoning honestly about facts… Your

The problem is that it is too easy for the interest group either to become or merely to be taken as a monolithic entity defined by the policies of its representative organizations, rather than a large number of possible rather diverse individuals.

Identity politics has the potential to encourage an “us

UNVEIL POLITICAL EXPLOITATIONS THROUGH IDENTITY

In 2013, Premier Christy Clark has to admit and apologize for using a “quick-win” strategy to guarantee the security of her political position. If Clark’s party platform benefits only a specific demographic such as white civilians with higher income earnings and corporate power, she and the BC Liberals run the risk of alienating other voters who can keep the BC Liberals afloat. Earning votes from the highly populated group like the East Asians from Richmond or the Southeast Asians from Surrey is merely a part of her party’s contingency plan. Part of the strategy in winning the trust of the Chinese and Indian communities is by acknowledging historical wrongs such as the Chinese Head Tax (1885-1923) and the Komagata Maru Incident (May 1914). Clark and her lobby members soon face a political scandal that can potentially end their political careers; confidential documents revealed multiple controversial decisions involving ethnic voters.

It is unlikely that a party member will win his/her riding without appealing to the sought-after demographic.

So how about electing a candidate who matches the specific criteria in terms of race and ethnicity? There is no surprise that Chinese voters are more likely to support a Chinese politician. That is not to say that Chinese voters have a discriminatory approach to politics; rather, the Chinese community would prefer to have a representative who can fully understand the culture and struggles that a Chinese-Canadian experiences.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s victorious federal election campaign is a parallel to Christy Clark’s provincial campaign when it comes to their identity liberalism. But how does the Canadian government take responsibility for their actions in manipulating voters into a false sense of collaboration and reconciliation?

When Clark and the BC Government proposed to host a citywide yoga event on the Burrard Bridge, it was on the same day as National Aboriginal Day. Not only did Clark ignore the protests of the Vancouver citizens, she sent out an egregious Twitter post online; her dismissal of the protesters as “yoga haters” added insult to injury towards the Aboriginal community. It wasn’t until corporate yoga sponsors faced public outrage and withdrew financial support that Clark had to cancel the yoga event. By prioritizing Indian culture over Aboriginal culture, Clark and her lobby demolished any further authenticity of reconciliation towards the ethnic minorities.

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identity is irrelevant.” Harris went on to remind his podcast audience that the nature of any argument is that its validity doesn’t depend on who you are. Beliefs often exist completely independent of any factual basis at all. People may form beliefs on information they believe factual, but they may also form beliefs on the basis of other preexisting beliefs, or personal inclination, or gut feeling.

Prejudice and discriminatory attitudes can cause preemptive judgments, and outrageous insults like "typical white trash" or "she's such a man-hater".

“But identity politics can be destructive when it encourages people to fixate on, or exaggerate, their sense of persecution,” wrote Douglas Todd, reporter for the Vancouver Sun, in a 2013 blog post. Todd shared his concerns over how identity politics does not well address issues of economic inequality – and could often be a distraction from it. Indeed, a deliberate distraction can undermine the common good when pitting our complaints against each other and prioritize one group over others.

In December 2016, Todd also made an observation of the USA election: “Some identity liberals continue to make the mistake of writing off Trump’s backers as racists, haters and white supremacists. Even though some extremists support Trump, stereotyping such a broad swath of voters illustrates liberals have not been listening to Main Street.”

vs. them” mentality among groups. The worst mutation of this is tribalism, currently exemplified in present-day America where 50 per cent of the country thinks the other half is evil. This is problematic because an open discourse between opposing groups is necessary for a society to advance. If a group truly believes their way is correct, they should be willing to argue their position against the best version of the opposing view. Instead, the opposition gets labelled as racists, sexists or nationalists and all healthy discourse is abandoned.

The problem is that it is too easy for the interest group either to become or merely to be taken as a monolithic entity defined by the policies of its representative organizations, rather than a large number of possible rather diverse individuals. Worse, as an interest group achieves some level of success, it risks becoming a mouthpiece of a political party at the cost of the members’ unique perspectives. The next time that a spokesperson claims to be representing you and people, ask yourselves this question: “Do they truly care about my issues or are they using me to gain power?”

This can easily generate political and ethical tensions, pitting the interest groups of identity politics against the basic tenets of liberal enlightenment. An example is the tension between the feminist drive towards higher convictions rates for sex offences and the right to a fair trial, and to be assumed innocent until proven guilty.

In theory, identity politics serves its agenda well in the opposition, but loses its appeal once exposed.

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“Identity politics both unites and divides communities,” said Isola. “An interesting case study can be found through the infamous Westboro Baptist Church (WBC).

Ironically, none of the Baptist organizations have any affiliations with the WBC due to its contradictory tenets from orthodox religion. There are those who claim that identity politics makes claims about identity that assumes identities are ‘real’. Others argue that all claims to identity obfuscate the internal heterogeneity of groups and that the processes creating identity lie entirely outside of the individual.” The simplest way to explain Isola’s elaborate interpretation is to observe the inner struggles of our sociopolitical landscape.

There has been a major concern with over-generalization, radically separatist and deterministic approaches to the politics of our identities. Also, as far as the whole identity politics thing goes, the problem arises when people aren't thinking for themselves. Different ideologies and camps aren't necessarily intrinsically bad, however they tend to foster tribalism and conformity. People in tribes will begin to thrive off the approval of their tribe and will start to conform to what the tribe expects. They may have formed their own opinion on a certain issue which lead them to their group, but as other issues arise they will be more likely to go with the herd.

This happens because most people still enjoy a sense of community and belonging because humans are social animals, and having to critically think about every individual issue is too much trouble for most people. Most people would rather do some general soul searching, find their group that matches that most closely and then just conform to that group. In the words of former US president George W. Bush, “If you’re not with us, then you’re against us.” A simplistic dichotomy like this statement is what prevents us from finding more common ground in a splintered society.

When it comes to strategically earning support from voters, the tactics to garner support from visible minorities appear to be ruthless and conniving for any politically aware individual. Yet, that will not stop political parties from being pragmatic in gaining effective and desired outcomes from their demographics. So long as the means justify the end results, nothing else can prevent the politicians and the party platforms from compromising the trust and integrity of a democratic society.

It is interesting to also note that the Chinese, Indian and Aboriginal communities all received apologies from the Canadian government; yet one ethnic group receives priority over another during election campaigns. Even though targeting ethnic voters can reap potential rewards for a political party, it does not necessarily guarantee a democracy will be in any way satisfactory. Promises will be broken and ethnic voters will serve only as a means to an end for major platforms to stay in power. Undermining the trust of the people also degrades the value of our democracy into a mere numbers game. So does that mean that by electing a representative candidate of your own race, you are doing the right thing for the wrong reason?

Or does that mean that by excluding the minority voices to keep the democratic system functioning, you are doing the wrong thing for the right reason? Moral ambiguities run deep in targeting ethnic voters, as politicians will need to make the tough decisions of whether to run an honest campaign with few but loyal supporters or run for office with multiple ethnic groups with a fragile alliance towards the cause.

@CAPILANOCOURIER

ARTS & CULTURE

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE Exit 22 Productions takes on another classic production Rachel D’Sa CONTRIBUTOR

With theatre and film production being some of Capilano University’s main focuses, it comes as no surprise that the BlueShore Centre for the Performing Arts will be hosting the highly anticipated production of the classic, Thoroughly Modern Millie. The show, which will kick-off its opening night on Mar. 15, will be put on by CapU’s very own Exit 22 Productions.

Originally a 1967 movie starring the delightful Julie Andrews, later adapted in 2000 into a stage musical, the production tells the tale of Millie Dillmount, a smalltown girl living in the 1920s. Millie travels

to New York City in an attempt to start a new life for herself, making the decision to live “thoroughly modern”, intending to marry for money as opposed to love.

Setting her sights on her new boss, trying to save her friends from a slavery ring and falling in love, Millie dives into the city head-on, all while dancing and singing along to catchy song and dance sequences.

Directed by Gillian Barber, Exit 22’s adaptation of the show will surely be astonishingly entertaining. The production company gives Musical Theatre, Acting for Stage and Screen, Costuming, and Technical Theatre students the opportunity to showcase their continuously developing talent, all while putting on multiple outstanding productions a year.

Emily Matchette, who stars as Millie Dillmount, is a third-year student of the Musical Theatre Program. Matchette is one of the many talented actors in the production, and is excited to bring her character to life. “I love Millie's spunk and bravery. She really has this passion to go after what she wants, which I really admire,” said Matchette.

Eager to watch the original Julie Andrews film, Matchette is excited to be taking on the largest role she’s ever had in a production – launching her successful acting career.

“My parents are both in theatre and I've been acting for so long that it is really just a part of me. I love to tell the stories that theatre tells and the escape from this crazy world that it provides, for me being on stage and for the audience watching,” she said.

Graduating from CapU this Spring, the young actress plans to continue her education at Douglas College, as a part of their Bachelor of Performing Arts program. “A big emphasis is put on professionalism in this program,” said Matchette, discussing her time at CapU. “The Musical Theatre Program is pretty intense [in order] to get you ready for the ‘real world,’ but it has really been amazing.

“This is my second production with Exit 22 and they have both been amazing,” added Machette. “Last year, I played Berthe, one of the Kit Kat Girls, in

Cabaret. Two completely different shows and characters, but both so much fun with this company. There are so many things to be excited for: the costumes, the sets, the everything!”

Exit 22 commenced the production with a set of concentrated auditions involving the preparation of songs and scenes from the show, and auditioning a dance combo choreographed by Shelley Stewart Hunt.

“Auditions can get pretty stressful, but I found the Millie auditions so much fun. The style of the show is so exciting it's impossible not to have a good time,” recalled Matchette.

The cast and crew of the production have been working as hard as ever since, preparing a top tier show, with constant, busy rehearsal periods that began on Jan. 30. “Other than reading break, it has been nonstop into the world of Thoroughly Modern Millie,” says Matchette.

Catch Exit 22’s production of Thoroughly Modern Millie at The BlueShore at Cap on March 15-18 & 2225, 2017 @ 7:30pm; March 19 & 25, 2017 @ 2pm. Tickets starting at $10.

descent. After accepting an invitation to present her work at a festival in Iran, Ming begins to awaken her identity and come to terms with her family’s history through the stories of others she meets along the way.

The feature premiered in France last June at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and soon began to make waves in North America as well.

In addition to being listed among the Toronto International Film Festival’s top 10 Canadian flicks, Window Horses took home honours as the Best BC Film and Best Canadian Film at the 2016 Vancouver International Film Festival.

All eyes will be on Saba on Sunday, March 12 as the Canadian Screen Awards are handed out in Toronto. He is joined in his category by fellow CapU alum Jesse Zubot, who was nominated for different film, Two Lovers and a Bear.

Saba began his stint at CapU back in

2003, taking a year off in 2006 to score a film for his father, the noted Iranian cinematographer Farhad Saba. “I was in the cinema business with him, sort of, since I was a little kid,” he recalled. “It was always my dream to be a film composer, but I wanted to learn more about music. I took voice lessons, piano, jazz theory and then composition; different classes, different instructors.”

While attending university, Saba continued to compose music for commercials, short animations and the Capilano University Singers before jumping back into the film industry fulltime. That’s when Window Horses caught his eye. “I really, really enjoyed working with animations and stop-motions,” he said. “I had no idea, it's a totally different world than movies with actual actors.

In animation everything is made up and created so in a way your hands are open to

write more music and do more sound.”

As he waits for the reveal of the Canadian Screen Award winners later this month, Saba has been putting the finishing touches on the score for another animated project, this time with students from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design.

Schedule permitting, he says he would be thrilled to collaborate with filmmakers and animators from his alma mater as well.

“I was always willing to write different things in different genres,” he said, “but I'll tell you one thing – it wasn't easy and it's still not easy to stay in this business.

After this nomination, I think it was sort of a push for me not to give up. I would never, but it's a good motivation.”

To view a trailer and learn more about Window Horses, visit WindowHorses.com.

The Canadian Screen Awards will air at 5 pm on March 12 on CBC and Facebook Live.

CAPILANO ALUM NOMINATED FOR CANADIAN SCREEN AWARD Composer Taymaz Saba scores big with Window Horses soundtrack Andy Rice

THE CAPILANO COURIER

VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 16

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

In early January, Taymaz Saba sat down at his computer to google the 2017 Canadian Screen Awards. He was hoping to find out when they were and who the nominees might be, but never expected he’d be among them.

“I had no idea,” said the 31-year-old film composer, who is up for Best Achievement in Music - Original Score. “It was really my first professional job.”

Two years ago, the producers of Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming, had to be convinced to take a chance on the Capilano University alumnus, unsure of whether he had enough experience to give them what they wanted.

As a trial, the film’s writer/director Ann Marie Fleming gave him two sequences to work on. “She really, really liked them but she said ‘I'm not too sure because you're too young,’” recalled Saba. “I was 29 back then.”

Saba soon put their doubts to rest, creating a soundtrack that drew upon his extensive knowledge of Western Classical and Iranian music styles; along with Chinese and Japanese systems, which he learned especially for the job. “If I had 10 features on my resumé they wouldn't say the same thing, but in order to write music for 10 features I think you get to a certain age,” he said. “Anyways, [Fleming] trusted me and I wrote about 68 minutes of music.

It took about five months.”

Window Horses is an animated film that tells the story of Rosie Ming (voiced by Greys Anatomy star Sandra Oh), a 20-yearold Canadian poet of Chinese-Persian

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GUITAR HERO

This will be Grinke’s first time at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, an experience he has been hoping to take in for quite some time now.

“From what I hear from people who've been there before, it's sort of like a gigantic palooza,” he said.

While Grinke’s flights are already booked, he’s still trying to raise money for the trip. His main plan for doing so is an undertaking many would find too daunting to even consider – a non-stop 24-hour piano marathon. “I've been wanting to do a 24hour piano thing for years now, like years and years,” he said.

The marathon, which will only take breaks to allow Grinke to have a quick bite to eat or if he needs to use the restroom, has an exciting schedule which includes sing-a-longs, an open jam session, video games accompanied by an improvised soundtrack, a live rendition of a classic film score and many more. It will be kicked off by weekly event, Friday Night Live (FNL), which Grinke helps host at Lynn Valley United Church nearly every Friday night.

FNL allows locals to enjoy or participate in unscripted performances ranging from dance to slam poetry, and of course improv theatre.

“It's certainly the most unique night out you can get in North Vancouver,” said Grinke. “It's different every week and you don't really know what's going to happen.”

Once FNL has concluded, Grinke will continue his marathon throughout the night until the following morning when breakfast will be served to all those in attendance.

“It's going to be awesome, from 7:30 am to 10 am my jazz trio is playing and some

of the church ladies are going to make pancakes,” he stated with clear enthusiasm.

“My brother's girlfriend is making lattes – breakfast is going to be great!”

Grinke will then forge on throughout the day until the finale, a live scoring of one of his favourite films, The Lion King.

While the event sounds like it will be one to remember, there is one glaring fact that is not so exciting – human hands are not designed to play a piano for an entire day. Even though Grinke has scheduled the event as efficiently as possible, switching between what he calls “playing hard” and “playing soft,” the cramps and pain are inevitable.

“I know at some point my hands are just going to hurt,” he said. “That’s just going to happen.”

For Grinke, though, one day of pain is easily worth the trip.

Accompanying him will be the shows creator, Alan Marriott. The two have performed Will Shakespeare’s Improv Musical together in the past at Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach.

“What we did with it before was we got the audience to choose a Shakespeare play, any Shakespeare play, and an occupation that you might find in the Elizabethan era. Then we kind of use the themes from whatever [play] we were given,” Grinke explained.

“A lot of people on the cast were Shakespeare experts so they knew all about the [plays], so we kind of take the themes from the [play] that was given to us by the audience, and the occupation is usually the job of the main character in our story, and we just kind of go from there.”

The show was performed in full

Elizabethan English until it came time for the musical numbers, when the cast switched over to a more modern take on the language.

Outside of his marathon and the festival, Grinke is focused on graduating from Capilano University with his degree in Jazz Studies. He had hoped to graduate this semester, which was the reason for his unfathomable 11-class endeavour, but won’t be done until next year.

The marathon’s schedule can be found on Grinke’s website, mattgrinke.com – but be cautioned, not all times are set in stone. “If people are still having fun doing the sing-a-longs after 1:30 pm when it's supposed to end, then we can keep going on the sing-a-longs,” Grinke said.

In regards to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Grinke is excited to take it all in.

“It's a world stage. There's people there from all over the world putting on their creations,” he said. “I've heard that just meeting people from other countries and seeing their shows, and seeing what their country has to offer, is a very connecting experience.

And while Grinke is excited to take in new experiences and cultures, he intends to share just as much as he gains on his trip. “I hope some people will see our improvised Shakespearean musical and be like 'Wow, that's amazing, I wish I could create something like that!' and [have it] inspire them to do the same,” he said.

Grinke’s marathon will begin at 7 pm on March 10 at the Lynn Valley United Church, with tickets ranging from $10 to $25. For more information, visit mattgrinke.com; to donate, visit generosity. com/fundraising/get-matt-to-edinbrugh.

Carlo Javier MANAGING EDITOR

Madeleine Elkins was 12 years old when she first realized her love for the guitar, but her initial inspiration couldn’t be further from the sound she wound up pursuing. “I was super into pop punk music,” she said.

Although she laughs it off now, she openly admits that the main reason she wanted to take up the instrument was because of her love for Green Day. “I just wanted to rock out and shred like Green Day, which is funny now because I definitely don’t listen to them anymore. In hindsight, maybe they aren’t the most accomplished musicians or songwriters, but that was super popular at the time and that’s really what inspired me to play guitar.”

Today, Elkins’ style and sound is primarily rooted from the philosophies of contemporary jazz. She’s also dabbled in the world of folk and bluegrass, among others.

After graduating from Capilano University’s Jazz Studies program last December, Elkins quickly found her way back to an educational environment, teaching private guitar lessons to a wide

THE KEYS TO A MARATHON Jazz Studies student sets out on a 24-hour musical performance to help fund trip to international festival Justin Scott ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

While Capilano Jazz Studies prodigy Matt Grinke usually graces numerous musical theatre productions with his acclaimed piano playing each semester, he had to take a break from the theatre this term, seeing as he is enrolled in 11 classes. In order to make up for the lost income, Grinke will be embarking on a 24-hour-piano-playing marathon on March 10 at the Lynn Valley United Church.

The marathon, which will also be streamed online, will be a fundraiser for Grinke, as he and two colleagues will be travelling to Scotland this summer for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to perform their musical improv show, Will Shakespeare’s Improv Musical. He hopes to raise $3,000 for his trip.

“The guy who kind of created it, Alan Marriott, he lived in the UK for 20 years and formed his own improv group over there,” said Grinke. “So, when we head over in late July we're going to rehearse with the team that he built up over there and then we're going to put on the show in August.”

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incentives has been a useful tactic for Elkins, whether it’s a simple sticker, or allowing them to try one of her instruments.

Yet the most powerful tool she has is the very music she’s teaching. She exposes her students to music they may have never heard of before – a strategy that she hopes could kindle a genuine interest among them, since some of her students are taking lessons on their parents’ accord.

“I’m trying to get the kids more inspired and interested music on their own.”

While teaching offers Elkins an outlet for the technical and educational aspect of music, freelancing gives her the opportunity to embrace her creative side. One of the elements of the music industry that Elkins had to adapt to was her membership to the Musicians’ Union, an organization

Recent jazz grad Madeleine Elkins is already back in the classroom – this time, as the teacher

THE CAPILANO COURIER

range of students at the Neil Douglas Guitar Shop in New Westminster. For Elkins, working at the studio has become much more than just a job. It not only provides her with another platform to share the breadth of knowledge she’s learned from school, but seeing her students achieve their goals is a fulfilling experience that encapsulates the very spirit of music. “If you’re teaching 40 different people, you’re seeing all the different types of learning processes and some of them pick things up in completely different ways than others,” she explained. “It’s really showed me the diversity of pedagogy that exists.”

Just like the classrooms she grew up in, Elkins can face unruly and uncooperative behaviour from the students she teaches, especially from youth. Giving her students

that helps artists secure workers’ rights and equal pay. “It’s obviously to protect musicians and you’re supposed to file things through them,” she said.

She has also found work with the Arts Club, even performing as part of their production of Bittergirl: The Musical, a show that will return to the stage this summer.

Through a network of friends and colleagues she’s met in her time at CapU, Elkins has found a way to maintain a relatively consistent stream of gigs around Vancouver. On Mar. 5, Elkins performed at the Hycroft Manor’s Full Moon and Empty Arms show, a celebration of big band love songs from the 30s and 40s. On Mar. 28, she’ll be performing at The Main and will be playing a show at The Blue Martini at the end of April. Although playing with strangers is nothing new for Elkins, she does point out the challenge in adapting to someone else’s style of play. “The hardest thing is trying to play with someone who is so wrapped around what they’re doing that they’re not aware of their surroundings and what the people around them are playing,” she confessed. “It sounds cliché but music is pretty much another language… and it just depends on how they play,” For now, Elkins is enjoying the rewarding elements of teaching. She hopes to one day continue her studies in education and pedagogy – and also to gain some momentum with her own songwriting. “I’m kind of interested where this music takes me,” she said. “I’m interested to see more work like this for sure.”

THE CAPILANO COURIER

VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 16

SHORTS

DIRTY PROJECTORS

HNDRXX

THE CHIEF

AMERICAN TEEN

Dirty Projectors

Future

Jidenna

Khalid

Carlo Javier

Justin Scott

Carlo Javier

Carlo Javier

MANAGING EDITOR

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

MANAGING EDITOR

MANAGING EDITOR

Ever since the formation of the Dirty Projectors, frontman and guitarist David Longstreth has been the sole constant amidst its ever-rotating lineup of now wellrespected Brooklyn-based musicians.

After 15 years and seven albums, Longstreth stands as the only member left in Dirty Projectors, effectively making its self-titled eighth album his debut solo record.

Longstreth is just as experimental and just as exciting on his own, but without the signature harmonies and vocals of the likes of Haley Dekle, Angel Deradoorian and of course, Amber Coffman, Dirty Projectors sounds like an effusive manifesto of loneliness, regret and isolation.

The new album is very much Longstreth’s way of coping and expressing his thoughts after his breakup with Coffman. It’s an emotional body of work that holds no punches. He takes a deep dive into the genesis of their relationship in “Up in the Hudson” and sounds both relieved and optimistic in the vibrant “Winner Take Nothing.”

The writing on Dirty Projecters can be overt. In fact, sometimes the words even border on cringe, but Longstreth’s knack for layering different genres and styles over top of one another masks the album’s theme of heartbreak.

Longstreth quite literally does everything here. He mixes synths to animate his sound, pitch-shifts his voice in the same manner that Frank Ocean did with “Nikes” and he creates fragments of his own character – singing both in unison and against each other – to illustrate the post-break isolation he’s been living in.

Dirty Projectors is an exciting album that checks off every box in the emotions spectrum. It might lack the sheer joy of his previous work, but Longstreth is still as creative as ever.

Three weeks ago, Future released FUTURE; the next week he released HNDRXX. While the self-titled first release was an ode to his past, both personally and musically, the second release was a look into his very bright future, no pun intended.

FUTURE is full of street life stories, with no shortage of drug dealing and drako references. However, HNDRXX stole the show.

HNDRXX is almost a love album. It sees the influential Atlanta rapper utilizing his singing style over light and airy beats, with deep bass, sharing stories of past and current affairs with a multitude of women.

While there is an absence of the harder aspects often found in Future’s music, there is no lack of the prescription pill references he is so fond of.

Tracks like “Incredible” and “Fresh Air” are upbeat offerings that will undoubtedly receive more radio play then many of Future’s past hits. He may have released softer tracks in the past (think “I Won”), he has never released a full body of work in that style.

Other stand-out tracks include “Coming Out Strong”, which features The Weeknd, and the closing track “Sorry”. Overall, HNDRXX is better as a whole, and should be listened to as such.

Not only is HNDRXX one of, if not Future’s best works to date, it also marks a new chapter in his career. While FUTURE assured fans that their favourite Atlanta rapper was still able to release an album as riddled with low-end frequencies as his stories are with bullets, HNDRXX showcases his crossover potential. Expect to hear a number of tracks off this album on the radio and at Fortune Sound Club throughout the summer.

For most of its history, rap has been intrinsically linked with braggadocio and luxury. Rappers will brag about just about anything to gain notoriety. It could be about their lavish lifestyles, or even the time they got shot nine times and lived to tell the tale.

For Jidenna, the Wisconsin-born rapper who blew up after his irresistibly catchy and low-key inspiring 2015 hit, “Classic Man”, bragging is an inherent aspect of rap – it just doesn’t have to be about the wrong things.

Jidenna will be the first one to tell you that he’s educated. In his debut album, The Chief, he raps about his decision to turn down Harvard so he could instead study music in Stanford. He raps about the times he spent with the Kennedys, the Clintons and the Obamas. Most importantly, Jidenna raps about modern issues that haven’t exactly been present in the trapdominated landscape of rap.

Ambition is evident in The Chief.

Jidenna sings just as much as he raps, and the sound is idiosyncratic – almost to a fault – exploring trap beats, tropical house vibes and even the stripped-down, drumheavy, freestyle-centric beats of the late 90s. Although the wide range of styles and sounds that The Chief illustrates reveals Jidenna as a potential star in mainstream hip-hop, it also ultimately becomes the greatest pitfall of a relatively solid debut album.

The Chief is a commendable record that showcases the talented, educated and socially conscious rapper that hiphop needs right now, but it also derails its cohesion and focus by venturing towards too many different styles all at once.

Don’t be surprised if Khalid’s debut album American Teen, flies under the radar and never scratches the surface of today’s unforgiving r&b environment – it’s just the nature of the increasingly populated genre. Yet, don’t be shocked if months from now, the 18-year-old from El Paso, Texas is singing hooks for the likes of Drake, Migos or Kaytranada. American Teen is just too smart, too catchy and too in tune with the elements that turn albums into hit albums to miss the boat.

In his debut album, Khalid appeases all sorts of r&b fans with his wide-ranging sounds and willingness to explore all branches of the genre. “Coaster” is an ode to the Maxwell-signature quiet storm sound, while “Saved” features some understated, but effective percussion that’s reminiscent of pre-Overgrown James Blake. Album standout “8TEEN”, gives Bieber’s affinity for tropical house a run for its money – albeit with some much-needed reality check as Khalid naively laments about still living with his parents at 18 years old.

Regardless of tempo and sound, Khalid consistently exhibits his cool, steady vocals.

He doesn’t take many risks and avoids the big falsetto moments that are commonplace in a Miguel or Jeremih record, nor does he bob and weave through rhythms like Frank Ocean.

His uncompromising steadiness might be his greatest strength, though – obviously, aside from the extremely polished production for a dude without a Wikipedia. Among the seemingly endless amount of up and coming r&b artists tasked with creating their own signature and flavour, Khalid already seems ahead of the curve – now all he needs is a verse from Quavo.

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CALENDAR

6

MONDAY

SUMMER 2017 REGISTRATION & WAITLIST

CAPILANO UNIVERSITY 10 AM / YOUR TUITION MONEY It’s kind of cruel how the powers that be at Capilano University set the summer semester registration dates right in the crunch time of the spring semester. It’s like you don’t even have a breather before you go back to school, again, for the umpteenth semester. Let’s look at the bright side, though. I for one will not be taking courses this semester, because I am done! *Starts cramming for marketing midterm.*

10 FRIDAY

EARTHWORKS: INVASIVE SPECIES PLANT PULL

7

TUESDAY

BEHIND THE SPORTSPLEX 8 AM / FREE The annual waste audit is one of Capilano University’s favourite events. It gets a lot of traction in the local media, particularly here, and also draws quite a lot of success and respect from environmental communities across the province.

It just kind of sucks that the person that once spearheaded the waste audit won’t be here to see the 2017 edition. What up, Snoop?

PERFORMANCE WORKS 8 PM TO 11 PM / $100+ It took me a while to realize that the event is not called “A Dream Come True”, which tells you everything you need to know about my knowledge of whiskey. A Dram Come True is where you can have some of the finest whiskey from around the world, in conjunction with some of the best local restaurants in Vancouver. Sounds more like a dream come true.

11 SATURDAY

MUSIC THERAPY INFORMATION SESSION

8

WEDNESDAY

BIRCH BUILDING, ROOM 323 11:30 AM TO 12:45 PM / FREE When I first started my Bachelor’s Degree in Communications Studies back in [REDACTED], I took a public speaking course with the great Maryse Cardin. To this day, that public speaking course stands as one of the two or three most lifechanging courses in my time at CapU. Point of the story is, any workshop with a focus on oral presentation is worth your time. No, seriously.

HOW SCHOOL FUNDING MATTERS SFU WOODWARD’S – WORLD ART CENTRE 7 PM TO 8:30 PM / FREE You don’t need an official description to know what this is about. SFU Woodwards will be bringing in numerous people from the Institute for Public Education, BC academics, journalists (not me, I’m afraid) and education analysts to talk about the importance of governmental expenditure on education. You know who’s not coming? The folks that gave Capilano University college-money.

THURSDAY

LIBRARY BUILDING, ROOM 188 11:30 AM TO 12:30 PM / FREE ChatLive is great because you get a notation on your transcript after you attend three of them. You also get free pizza, which is likely to be a selection of cheese, pepperoni and vegetarian. This edition will be a discussion on International Women’s Day, so I’m hoping that room 188 gets packed because of the magnitude of this topic. Knowing Capilano though, looks like I’ll get to take some pizza to go again!

WESTWOOD PLATEAU GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB 7 PM TO 9:30 PM / $65+ The BC Uncorked Festival is a showcase of the 45 best rated wineries in the province as well as some of its top local restaurants. It also doubles as a fundraiser for the Ride to Conquer Cancer, and features things that rich people do like silent auctions. Hosting this at the Westwood Plateau Country Club is just like a big sign that says: “Welcome Rich Old White People”.

12 SUNDAY

WORLD’S FIRST KFC COOKING SCHOOL KFC ABBOTSFORD 9 AM TO 11 AM / $5 Here are my questions: There’s a KFC cooking school and this is the very first one in the entire world? Why is the KFC cooking school not happening in Kentucky, where Colonel Sanders was born and raised? What business does Abbotsford have in having a KFC cooking school, much less the world’s first KFC school? I think I have to go to this.

A BUSY PERSON’S GUIDE TO REDUCING STRESS DAILY YWCA VANCOUVER PROGRAM CENTRE 11 AM TO 2:15 PM / $15 I’m a busy person and here’s my guide to reducing stress daily: sleep. As the great 50 Cent once said, “sleep is for those who are broke,” and you know who’s not broke? 50 Cent. You and I on the other hand, are probably broke, or at least close to it. So, instead of spending $15 on a motivational workshop you can get for free on the Internet, get some much needed shut-eye and spend the cash on a pork belly sandwich at North Vancouver’s own Black Forest Deli. That’s how you reduce stress.

ALEXANDER GASTOWN 9 PM / $20 The legendary J. Dilla is a favourite of hip-hop heads and general music enthusiasts alike. His beat-making prowess was so ahead of his time, that more than a decade after he passed away, his estate is still dropping unheard of gems by Detroit’s finest.

This nationwide tribute by Illa J and DJ Spinna is gonna be so amazing, even if its probably because of the rich content they’ll be pulling from. Only $20!

PROUD OF YOU COMEDY

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CANADA LOVES DILLA TOUR

THE CAPILANO COURIER

9

CHATLIVE: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

PROUD OF YOU COMEDY: OUR BEST SKETCHES EVER

VANCITY THEATRE 9 AM / $20 The Proud of You sketch group of Vancouver wins the award for best name, and also, as one of the coolest and most diverse groups around, considering that there are only three groups around.

They’re hysterical, creative and in tune with current events, which is pretty much all you could want from your dose of comedy.

Their shows are also super affordable, which is all you want from anything.

BC UNCORKED FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL

FIR BUILDING, ROOM 119 7:15 PM TO 8:15 PM I’m still waiting for someone to really get into the nitty gritty of the differences between the Music Therapy program and the Jazz Studies program. Would you rather be in Music Therapy or Jazz Studies? Isn’t music a form of therapy? Since it doesn’t have the word “jazz” in it, can I go into Music Therapy and pursue my rap career? Are you drunk right now?

ELS SPEAKING: ORAL PRESENTATIONS

FAIRMONT HOTEL VANCOUVER 7 AM TO 9 AM / $100 I really had to get it into my head that the 2017 Equality Breakfast is a fundraiser, because at $100 per head, it sure looks like this version of equality doesn’t take pockets into account. Also, what kind of breakfast could they possibly be serving with a $100 price tag? At least we know that equality isn’t just a fallacy, it’s pricey, too.

A DRAM COME TRUE

CEDAR COURTYARD 2:30 PM / FREE Earthworks puts on the best events on this campus, no joke. These guys bring in real food, a ton of easy-to-digest information and you even get a notation if you attend some of the programs they put together. With Trump’s omnipresent villainy towards the environment, learning a thing or two about sustainability has never been more in demand.

EARTHWORKS: WASTE AUDIT

2017 EQUALITY BREAKFAST

OPINIONS

LEGISLATIVE ACTION IS NECESSARY FOR PROSPEROUS LIVE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY BC government must look towards Ontario’s actions to address ticket scalping Carlo Javier MANAGING EDITOR

There aren’t many things quite as disappointing as waiting in anticipation to purchase tickets to the first Bruno Mars show in Vancouver in over five years, only to come up empty mere minutes after sales began.

Music aficionados and live entertainment enthusiasts are all too familiar with the unforgiving nature of buying tickets to live shows in Vancouver. The city is more than just bereft of venues and late night transit.

It also becomes a playground of sorts for the godless bottom feeders that live off unethical manipulation of the live entertainment industry and the hard-earned money of

many customers.

The ticket marketplace’s nearcomprehensive transition to web-only transactions not only changed the way customers procured tickets, it also created a new breed of thieves. Ticket resale (street name: scalping) is the process of the mass and immediate acquisition of tickets using bot technology. Upon the opening of sale to the public, scalpers can launch Internet bots to rapidly purchase tickets in great quantities. Once the availability shrinks, they then make their tickets available to the market at a dramatically inflated price.

At first, scalpers populated classified advertisement websites like Craigslist.

However, in an effort to keep business under its own roof, Ticketmaster created its own space for resellers to operate – scalped tickets and all.

There is a growing resistance against the ill will of ticket scalpers. Prior to his twonight show at the UBC Thunderbird Arena on Dec. 7 and 8 last year, comedian Louis C.K. sent out a warning that any scalped tickets found on third-party websites would be invalidated. The threat proved to be successful, as the CBC reported that no tickets were available on StubHub the morning of the first show. In an even more radical route, Chance the Rapper bought nearly 2,000 scalped tickets to his own music festival in Chicago. The re-purchased

NATURE CULTURE ENCOMPASSES URGENT NEED FOR CONSERVATION AND CONNECTION Addressing the dire necessity for a culture grounded in sustainability Layla Kadri

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CONTRIBUTOR

- RACHEL WADA

There’s a dilemma faced by those who hope to promote environmentally conscious lifestyles and consumer behaviour.

How can we promote bringing nature into people’s everyday lives beyond just adopting catchy slogans or superficial practices, to affecting actual change to ensure choosing environmentally friendly products, monitoring consumption, waste and greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging people to get outdoors to

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enjoy wildlife and outdoor recreation? The solution may be simple: create a culture in which sustaining nature is a fundamental part of its traditions, customs and beliefs.

A “nature culture,” according to Rob Butler and Mike McKinlay, creators of the film The Perfect State, provides a “philosophy for innovation, technology, arts and science.” By spending time outdoors and actively connecting with and giving gratitude to the nature around us, many

tickets were then made available as strictly physical copies, between $45 and $75 – much less than the scalped prices.

While Louis C.K. and Chance the Rapper have both set examples of what a performer can do against scalped tickets, country star Eric Church has taken matters into his own hands to combat the entire secondaryticket industry. Church was able to void 25,000 scalped tickets for the remaining stops of his Holdin’ My Own tour, including a performance at Rogers Arena on Mar. 14.

The invalidated scalped tickets were made available at face value for the rest of his tour stops.

To put the gravity of the scalping industry in perspective, investigators from the New York Attorney General’s office found that only two scalpers acquired more than 15,000 tickets in U2’s 2014 North American tour.

With Bruno Mars trending as one of the biggest pop musicians in the world, tickets to his concert at Rogers Arena on July 26 are bound to be in high demand. Initial prices for Mars’ show start at $40 plus service charges, with some plaza level tickets climbing up to a little over $200. Although the concert is “sold out,” Ticketmaster’s resale platform still features hundreds of scalped tickets, with the cheapest balcony level seats listed at $79 and the most expensive floor seats peaking at over $2,000.

Last year, Ontario began tabling Bill 22, an amendment to the province’s Ticket Speculation Act that would “prohibit the use of ticket purchasing software and to require the listing of a ticket’s original purchase price.” If approved, the amendment will subject individuals caught using ticket purchasing bots to a $50,000 fine or a yearlong term imprisonment. A corporation caught using bots will receive a $250,000 fine. Listing secondary tickets at a mark-up price will yield a $10,000 fine on first offence and $25,000 on every subsequent offence.

As the amendment awaits legislature, Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi announced that the provincial government will be reaching out to the public to discuss the best plan of action towards further addressing the secondary-ticket industry.

If the BC government truly wants to achieve a prosperous community and culture through the arts, they need to look no further than Ontario’s progressive move towards consumer protection.

Ticket scalping isn’t harmless – it’s a vile act that completely betrays Kant’s categorical imperative, as scalpers are freely using people as means to an end.

Yet the onus isn’t on the scalpers – they’re hopeless after all – change and betterment can only come from the very institutions that ushered the unfair environment of the secondary-ticket industry.

people already unknowingly practice living in a nature culture. By rejecting traditions that encourage excessive consumerism and celebrating those grounded in conservation and respect for wildlife and the environment humans are a part of.

Admirably, First Nations communities were essentially the first peoples to ever have nature so closely interwoven with their culture. From stories and traditions to clothing and tools, everything was recognized as being a product of nature and given gratitude as such. In contrast, today in our modern society, natural resources are processed and treated with artificial dyes, transformed and assigned meaning that’s far removed from its original form before the final products reach us. It can be hard to remember that everything we have, from ceramic mugs to the jacket you are wearing, comes from nature. We’ve created a massive disconnect, and we’re already seeing the devastating outcomes.

In order for us to promote a nature culture, we must first collectively develop a greater awareness of the resources that we use and have access to, especially here in Canada. We must remember that it is a luxury to be living in a country with such an abundance of natural resources and show respect for the ecosystems that nourish us. Conducting an audit of your current lifestyle will allow you to find areas where it’s possible to make changes for a more sustainable world and align your lifestyle to your values. Remember to have patience as some aspects need transition time.

Transforming our entire society here on the Salish Sea coast, into one that actively embraces and respects nature would inspire individuals to adopt more environmentally conscious lifestyles while finding the beauty and benefits of living more connected to our land. It would become natural instinct for people to practice conservation. Whether it’s encouraging people to buy locally grown

products as a way to reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to local economies, or to eat less meat and choose sustainably sourced seafood, a nature culture would encourage people to act collectively rather than feel discouraged about their ability as individuals.

When a society encourages sustainable practices and traditions on a wide scale, taking responsibility for the environment impact of human activity doesn’t seem nearly as daunting. These practices, such as buying clothing and household items second hand (and repairing objects when possible), cleaning with homemade supplies, composting and using cloth napkins and reusable water bottles, are more than essential to sustaining a nature culture.

With reusable water bottles for example, the benefits of ditching plastic bottles would be invaluable as the cost of a three dollar water bottle is the same as 700 gallons of tap water, an estimated 80% of bottles don’t get recycled and it takes three times the amount of water in the bottle just to produce enough plastic for the bottle. Plastic water bottles are also prone to collecting bacteria and they are not recommended to be used more than once.

In a nature culture, it would be entirely possible to reduce the amount of single-use plastic water bottles at a dramatic rate, while ensuring that all citizens have clean and easily accessible drinking water.

In the words of Baba Dioum, a Senegalese forestry engineer, “In the end, we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught.”

These words provide inspiration for us to build a new relationship with the nature all around us. I encourage you to get outdoors and learn more about plants, animals and all the peaceful and lush pockets of life on our beautiful West Coast. I hope you then find inspiration to protect it.

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- WOLFGANG THOMO

HEALTHY BODIES ARE ONLY ACHIEVED WITH A HEALTHY MINDSET Letting go of competition and self-criticism Keara Farnan CONTRIBUTOR

By this time of the year, most people have given up on their New Year’s resolutions to be healthier and lose weight. As the weather slowly gets warmer again, there will be pressure to have a “bikini body” to show off in the sunny days to come. But for those who really want to improve their health, just focusing on how our bodies look isn’t going to be a solution.

When it comes to body image, it’s

LOBBYIST REGISTRY HUGE STEP TOWARDS ROBUST TRANSPARENCY

Kevin Kapenda NEWS EDITOR

not choosing what type of food we eat based on what we see on social media. It means eating food that makes us feel good, not just food that’s trendy or photogenic. We need to begin thinking about the benefits of food and what it can do for our bodies, not just what to avoid or cut out of our diet. If you have a positive relationship with food, you can still indulge in a delicious meal without it being a negative or shameful thing.

What should matter most is that you are healthy and content. Embrace your size and learn to love your body for what it really is. Do what you can to make your body strong, instead of focusing on making it smaller. There may be some days where you look in the mirror and negative thoughts come to your mind, but don’t fixate on that judgement. Everyone is beautiful and unique in their own way.

Just remember that when it comes to criticizing your own body.

liberals and reform conservatives, one can imagine how difficult it can be to get residents to agree on issues in Vancouver.

This is perhaps why the bi-partisan motion to implement a lobbyist registry in the city, sponsored by right-leaning NPA councillor George Affleck and his left of centre Vision Vancouver colleague Andrea Reimer, is so refreshing. With developments breaking ground and taking shape in all corners of the city, residents are demanding to know which groups are lobbying Mayor Gregor Robertson (Vision) and Council for approval of their projects.

This renewed call for a lobbyist registry in Vancouver, which also was a campaign plank of the NPA during the 2014 municipal election, comes after Mayor Robertson’s former Chief of Staff and current consultant Mike Magee has visited the Mayor on many occasions since his official departure on Sep. 30, 2016 to provide advice on a variety of files. Between then and now, Magee has been meeting with developers and others who do work in the city, as reported on Feb. 20 in The Globe and Mail.

Currently, lobbyist registries are in place federally and in seven provinces (including BC), as well as in the cities of

Toronto and Ottawa. All municipalities in Quebec are also required to maintain records, and it only makes sense for our largest city follow suit.

As a local example, Surrey, BC already has a lobbyist registry for all matters related to rezoning, development permits, or community plan amendments, implemented in 2008 by former Mayor Dianne Watts and council. In 2016, Surrey’s registry had about 250 registrations for separate matters, with many lobbyists being registered multiple times on behalf of one or more companies. Surrey’s registry alone, of course, has not addressed many of the issues facing the city, including increased congestion, lack of school space, too much construction of single-family homes and a lack of affordable housing.

No registry is going to fix the issues facing Vancouver and other municipalities on its own. However, it will equip residents, the media, policy researchers and other watchdogs with the information they need to put pressure on both council and companies whose developments don’t provide their community with what residents need.

The purpose of these registries is not to do citizens’ jobs for them. It is to help

them share in the governance of their communities by giving them the facts they need to have. In a province where evidence-based debates rarely happen, and corporate money flows into the war chests of candidates like water, collecting as much information on how the powerful use their resources to influence politics is essential to preserving our democracy.

For progressives who regard this registry as toothless placation, view it as another tool in your democracy-saving kit instead. Potential connections made between unpopular developments, the companies advocating on behalf of them and their interactions with council in the lead up to their approval, could result in a political double of sorts. The rejection of a development and the voting out or humbling of council, both achieved through organizing that was made possible in part through a lobbyist registry. Let the implementation of this registry not be the end of the road, but the start of a long journey towards increased accountability in BC municipalities, and hopefully, in elections finance, with residents of our cities, districts, towns and villages returning to the polls in 2018 to elect councils.

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Critics who argue the creation of a lobbyist registry in Vancouver won’t reverse trends of overdevelopment, gentrification and lack of affordable housing are missing the point of the initiative altogether. The purpose of a lobbyist registry is not to rid municipalities of the issues they face, but to ensure the lifeblood of our democracies (the media, organizations and most importantly, residents) know which interests are trying to sway their council at all times. This alone warrants celebration and cross-partisan support.

In a city of greens, social democrats,

and there’s no reason for you to compare yourself to Gigi Hadid or Kim Kardashian.

Even though Hollywood’s standards are shifting to show more celebrities of different shapes and sizes, we know based on Beyonce and Lady Gaga’s experiences with fluctuating weight that people will still find reasons to criticize each other’s bodies. It’s frustrating to see paparazzi and Twitter trolls mocking such talented and beautiful singers about their bodies, but it’s important to ask: if we don’t like to hear people criticize strangers, why do we think it’s okay to criticize ourselves?

Sometimes, being strong means killing our own insecurities with kindness. If you’ve had a bad health day or even a few bad health weeks, don’t add to the fire by shaming yourself for the mistakes you’ve made.

We need to work on being better to our bodies and taking a long, hard look at our relationship with food. Part of that means

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Residents must separate improving municipal oversight from resisting bad developments

unfortunate that people think “eat less” by default. We look at people whose bodies are different from society’s “ideal” figure and feel free to make judgements about their health. We compare own bodies to these images and judge ourselves for not measuring up. But what do we really think we’re accomplishing by that?

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight, but when it comes to developing unhealthy eating habits and obsessing over the way our body looks, people really need to take precaution. Humans need food to be strong, healthy, energetic and productive.

However, if you feel like you need to follow a perfect standard with your food all the time, it will only set you up to feel more guilty about what you eat.

We know the “average woman” doesn’t look like the models in Vogue magazine, or anywhere else in the media where we’re told we have to be skinny in order to be happy. Everyone’s body is built differently

COLUMNS

THE WEEK IN GEEK

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Artsy Fartsy Archie

- SYD DANGER

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Syd Danger STILL WATCHES EVERY EPISODE

Growing up, every single person I knew had approximately 1,700 Archie comics. Wholesome and pure, although sometimes unintentionally very sexual, the world of Riverdale was always the perfect place to escape while sitting on the toilet at your friend’s house.

When I heard an Archie television series was filming in Vancouver, I’ll admit I got excited.

Archie could be a breath of fresh air amid dark and gritty superhero reworks, I thought. Boy, was I wrong.

So very wrong. Comic book adaptations are always a coin flip. You have all this amazing source material and characters that have been loved for generations, which should make things easier, and yet 99 per cent of the time, someone fucks it up along the way and you end up with Killer Croc in velour sweatpants.

The charm of Archie has always been with the characters. The comic’s namesake, Archie Andrews, is a gangly, freckled redhead who somehow won the affection of two babes, sometimes likes to play football, sing in a band and low key get bullied by everyone.

With this source material, the CW gave us a new and improved Archie Andrews: Vampire Diaries style.

Pretty much always shirtless and sweaty for reasons I don't understand, this new Archie is a buff brunette with really crap red hair dye. He enjoys activities such as: running down the street in the middle of the night with no shirt on, brooding, banging hot teachers and having absolutely no charisma or presence whatsoever. The casting still baffles me, mostly because I know someone on the casting committee was like, “Okay we’re looking for Archie Andrews, a cute, average redhead teenager with freckles. You know what we need? Someone who is the opposite of all of that.” I don't know what kind of high school these guys went to, but apparently to them the average 16-year-old has the body of a Calvin Klein model and has at least one bottle of baby oil on him at all times.

A huge departure from the pastel 50’s vibe of the comics, the television counterpart of Riverdale is a mysterious town where people get murdered and everything is tinted blue. However, even in this world where Jughead is the human equivalent of Hot Topic, Betty is a literal rectangle and it’s more fun to watch Veronica’s eyebrows slowly combine into one super eyebrow than actually watch the episode.

Yet the character that takes the cake for being an actual pile of garbage is none of them, it’s Cheryl Blossom, an apparent liquid lipstick lover who talks like a 30-year-old woman who read Pride and Prejudice one too many times. She seems to be happiest casually lounging in her dead brother’s bed wearing lingerie, straddling classmates to sensually apply blush and then calling them a fat cow immediately afterwards. To be fair, I don't remember much of Cheryl from the comics, but I feel that I would have remembered a character that made a little part of me die inside every time I saw her on the page.

I’m sure that taking something as niche as a comic book and turning it in to something a wide variety of people can love is no small task, but I just don't understand taking a comic so far away from the original material that it’s completely unrecognizable. While the characters’ names and some locations are the same, this new Riverdale is nothing like it’s print counterpart. I appreciate how hard it’s trying to be relevant, I really do, but no amount of moody narration, social media references or sweaty shirtless Archie will ever come close to any of the original overprinted comics I used to beg my mom for at the grocery store, read once and then stack more important things on top of.

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I CAN CODE YOU THE WORLD

- JULIANA VIEIRA

The Internet of Things Nima Boscarino COLUMNIST

Last time on this column, we looked at some of the uses for cloud computing. One such application was dealing with “Big Data”, as the cloud gives us access to the necessary computational power needed to make sense of massive amounts of data.

But where does all this data come from?

Some data is submitted to the Internet by users in forms like tweets or snaps, but there’s also a large amount of data being polled from devices with sensors scattered all over the globe.

Welcome to the Internet of Things! Since the early 2000’s there’s been a movement to connect everyday appliances and devices to the Internet, for the purposes of both gathering data and controlling the devices from online interfaces. By now, it almost feels like there aren’t any household items left that haven’t had the title “Smart” slapped onto them. Smart thermostats, smart fridges, smart scales… the list is endless!

“Smart” appliances can offer advantages over traditional appliances when it comes to things like tracking data over time. For example, the Fitbit Aria is a smart scale that makes tracking your daily weight, BMI and body fat percentage a breeze.

Not only does it immediately record your measurements and store them on your private online profile, but it integrates with other Fitbit items you might own to help you reach whatever fitness goals you may have by sending you calorie intake suggestions and other tips.

Smart items like the Aria try to take all the activities surrounding the original product and condense them into one product that does it all. Tracking your weight and making meal plans are activities that have always been closely tied together, so it’s not that ridiculous to combine them with one item. On the other side of the spectrum are products like Samsung’s Family Hub fridge, a fridge that streams Internet radio,

FIRST NATIONS FIRST

Kevin O’Neill COLUMNIST

like smart smoke detectors and home security systems, it’s easy to see how a security breach could lead to catastrophic events. Even some cars are connected to the Internet, which in some cases has exposed ways for hackers to slam a car’s brakes remotely, or even kill the engine completely!

As we move forward, this network of connected devices is only going to get bigger and bigger, with an estimated 50 billion objects by 2020. Let’s make sure we keep the network safe and healthy by making smart choices about the sensors we add to our lives.

The lack of First Nations education in the K-12 system is baffling. Aside from Social Studies in the fourth and 10th grade, there were minimal mentions and lessons about the realities that First Nations people faced throughout history. I can remember at times when we did learn about our history within the K-12 system, and in those years, they didn’t tell the appropriate stories, particularly regarding the engagement between First Nations and Europeans.

The actual history between Indigenous and settlers was cast aside. Instead, I learned about peace and harmony between the two – lessons that were later revoked in post-secondary education, and through conversations with elders.

In reality, peace and love didn’t exist – only war. There was an abundance of sickness that spread throughout the four corners of North America, which wiped out much of the population. There was genocide and destruction of land. There

was assimilation, a reality best captured by the notorious saying: “Kill the Indian, but save the child.” The books never taught students about the dark, but real side of history.

If it weren’t for the elders going underground, the culture would’ve ceased to exist.

I believe that our education system has a long to way go, and that we must include a greater discussion about “genocide” and “assimilation” into the K-12 curriculum. Most people wouldn’t know about the pain and suffering that the First Nations peoples lived through.

If it weren’t for researchers and members of the community who had the courage to raise their voices, students today would understand even less of the historical truths we still fight for.

One of the worst massacres that First Nations had to live through in their territories was the Wounded Knee Massacre. The attack on the reserve led

to the death of approximately 300 people, almost of half of whom were women and children. The Wounded Knee Massacre is one of the incredibly important historical events that the K-12 system seem to have largely ignored. Settlers used their weapons and resources to wipe out a community and yet, we rarely talk about it.

What we learn in K-12 are false revisions of history. Information that praises settlers and paints First Nations peoples as the source of tension. The very education system we grew up in happens to be a contributor to the lack of knowledge and awareness we deal with to this day.

To ensure that the students of the next generation learn the right information, it would be important to teach the right history about the interaction between First Nations and the Europeans.

Only then can we fully understand the ills that colonialist mentality brought down on North America’s First Nations communities.

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Raising awareness and coordinating action towards positive change for our First Nations cultures can’t happen until we address one of the foremost problems in our society: the utter lack of information about First Nations culture in the K-12 system.

Growing up and going through elementary and secondary school, I found that the school systems not only failed in providing enough information about First Nations culture in North America, they also had the tendency to focus on trivial, and sometimes false details.

that’s posed to our privacy. The data collected by our smart devices could very easily be used to monitor our movements, spending habits, or even our conversations.

Because of this, some critics are worried that normalizing this trend of consensual monitoring and tracking could lead to more insidious digital surveillance in the future.

Besides privacy from companies and the government, there’s also the issue of security vulnerabilities in smart devices which can be exploited by hackers. The high rate at which new products are being developed means that more and more devices are entering the market with serious software bugs, making it easier for people to maliciously control devices they don’t own. With a smart fridge, the risk is fairly low as a hacker might just turn the fridge off and spoil your produce, but as you move on to other devices

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The troubling lack of First Nations education in the K-12 curriculum

acts as an electronic bulletin board for your family, displays recipes and even gives your phone access to cameras built inside of the fridge so you can check what you need to stock up on while grocery shopping.

Compared to the something like a simple smart scale, the Family Hub seems pretty bloated with unnecessary functionality.

Beyond appliances that we personally interact with, the concept of the Internet of Things also extends to devices that passively monitor their surroundings, or elements that might be part of large automated systems. In manufacturing plants, for example, equipment and machinery are fitted with sensors and networked together to automate processes, which can help prevent potential failures.

Connecting items to the Internet doesn’t come without its drawbacks, however.

One big concern is the potential threat

COLUMNS

LEGISLATURE WATCH Budgets under Liberals continue to defy postrecession conventional economic wisdom Kevin Kapenda NEWS EDITOR

In 2001, then BC Liberal premier Gordon Campbell cut income and corporate taxes by 25 per cent, including eliminating the corporate capital tax. These policies, for better or worse, would mark the fiscal identity of the self-described “freeenterprise” Liberals for the next decade and a half, an era that has been described by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), Sierra Club, The Tyee and most independent analysts as a period of “tax shifts” from progressive revenue sources, to regressive ones.

Years later in 2008, the Liberals implemented the “revenue neutral” Carbon Tax, a tax that was initially small, priced at $10 a tonne, to deter consumption of fossil fuels. Enamoured by the reductions they saw in business and corporate taxes, industry continued to push for increases to the tax, which is paid into by all British

DROPPING THE F-BOMB Finding my own Feminism abroad Brittany Tiplady COLUMNIST

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I discovered my own feminism while living in Lima, Peru in 2012. At 21, I had been working two jobs while tackling a full-time journalism degree, living at home under a mild dictatorship and found myself at the brink of what would be the first of many nervous breakdowns.

I took off on my first solo travel journey to South America to discover my lineage and escape the prison of my small suburban routine. At this point in my young adult life, I had already been through some tough breakups, years of verbal abuse, two battles with my own reproductive rights and a handful frightening sexual

Columbians regardless of their income level, in exchange for reductions to their own taxes. Experts such as the Sierra Club and the CCPA argue these increases to the Carbon Tax have actually resulted in it becoming revenue negative, with corporate and income taxes having been cut so low, the poor are now shouldering a larger tax burden than higher income earners.

This year’s budget saw the government reaffirm their regressive agenda, with taxes and reductions to services that seem neutral on the surface, but have a disparate impact on those with modest incomes. For example, in the 2017 budget, the Premier cut MSP Premiums in half for households (two adults) earning between $40,000 and $120,000, and eliminated them completely for individuals or families earning less than $24,000.

The issue with MSP is that it is not tied to income levels, and in a province where all British Columbians are feeling the crunch of housing, soaring Hydro bills and rising ICBC premiums, it’s little comfort to people making $40,000 dollars that their family will have to pay the same amount for healthcare as those earning up to $120,000.

As for why we still have this regressive head tax, Minister of Finance Mike de Jong’s arguments in favour of the premium have ranged from “British Columbians

must know health care is not free” to “we are instituting a dramatic cut in the premiums as part of a strategy to ultimately eliminate them all together,” per a recent Tyee article.

With the regression of the MSP Premium having been brought to Premier Clark’s attention years ago, and many examples of how to tie health care services to income levels from other provinces, earmarking its death as “to be announced” is frankly insulting.

MSP and this government’s shift to regressive taxes in their almighty pursuit of balanced budgets is just one way in which their policies have held British Columbians back and caused suffering.

Since 2001, when the government took office, government expenditure has decreased from 21 per cent of GDP to about 18 per cent in 2016. This standard measure of government expenditure is often used to determine just how much is being spent on social services, regardless of the spin that revolves around “balanced budget” politics.

If BC’s spending had remained solid at 21 per cent, BC would have had an additional $8.6 billion to spend in 2016, funding that has been foregone and returned to the very rich. This absence of revenue and expenditure is directly correlated to our shift to regressive taxes. Because the Liberals have starved the beast, its output has decreased drastically.

While Premier Clark and Minister de Jong have continued to cheap out on British Columbians, economic experts in our post-recession world, including the International Monetary Fund are calling for governments to boost expenditure, invest in education and social services and clean transportation. In fact, back in 2001, BC’s per capita spending led all provinces. Today, we are ninth, trailing all provinces but Ontario. Lest we forget that a promise to spend made Justin Trudeau Prime Minister (while earning praise from President Obama and Michael Bloomberg).

The ads that will fill your television screens and radio airwaves in the coming weeks and months about our balanced budget deserve caution and careful analysis. Clark’s budgets have not been common sense as she likes to suggest.

They have been budgets of suffering, marked by cuts to nearly all social services except health care, and epitomized by the Liberals’ declining expenditure as a percentage of GDP. This means that as BC’s economy has continued to expand and population continue to rise, our government hasn’t held up its end of the bargain, by investing the money we pay them into social services our communities need.

I don’t know about you, but this budget definitely doesn’t call for a toast.

encounters all by my damn self.

In my mind, I was one tough B. South America had nothing on this girl.

Growing up in a middle-class household I was flowered with white privilege. And although I am the child of an immigrant, that adversity never touched my white girl lifestyle. My mother was a stay-athome parent, my dad a mechanic. Food was always on the table, clothing while never lavish or designer, was provided. I had ballet lessons every day, a piano in the living room to play and the occasional trip to Disneyland. My mother came to Canada as a 14-year-old girl, with one doll, a few days’ worth of clothing and zero English.

She had no concept of the Western World other than that it would be paradise compared to her semi-impoverished life in Lima. She met my French-Canadian born father two years later in the high school halls of Hugh Boyd Secondary, and soon after was a fluent, English-speaking Canadian with no desire to revisit her Peruvian roots.

While I am by all standards a white

woman, I have always battled a magnetic call to my heritage and took off to feed that curiosity. To walk the streets my mother did. To abandon my privilege.

Instead, I spent the better part of a year consistently and often violently reminded of my privilege. White women in South America, like in many foreign countries, are seen as commodities, goddesses, rare breed deities, meant to be gawked and clucked at. At this point in my life I knew what feminism was, but I wasn’t the openly feminist #bossbabe I am today.

Going from suburban white girl to prized object sparked a new sense of fire in my quest for independence.

In middle to upper class Lima, kids go to University paid for by their parents, and don’t earn an independent living until they are able to work a job that’s in their field of study. Young people that work in malls or restaurants are considered to be of the lower class, generating an unspoken divide between social classes.

Navigating through the social terrain in Lima, where I had made a semi-

permanent home, I was ridiculed for having earned my own money. I was hunted for sex. I was aggressively approached on the beach and followed into taxis as I tried to escape. I fell in love with a Peruvian boy who toted me to family gatherings where I was stared at like a miniature pony that would be unwillingly pet. After one of these events a group photo was fired off to a rather large email list by my now ex-boyfriend’s father. It read: “Jorge, and his new white conquest.”

I discovered my own personal feminism in these months because I had to. I was pushed into research, devouring all feminist lit that I could find at the local English bookstore. Dodging the chasms within the local mentality and emerging with a new sense of self.

Dropping that F-bomb became my defence mechanism. I came home to Canadian soil identifying as a feminist so that I could feel, and let all corners of the world know, I had autonomy over my own body and nationality once more.

PEPPERONI CHEESE VEGETARIAN MEAT LOVERS’ HAWAIIAN MEDITERRANEAN DEMOCRACY. 22

Grab a slice, help us out.

Quorum is 15. Pizza is delicious.

Capilano Courier Special General Meeting Tuesday, March 14 at Noon Maple 122 At this meeting, membership will have a chance to vote on bylaw refresh with updates/amendments pertaining to new technology, policy and succession planning for the Capilano Courier Publishing Society. Free pizza provided.

To review the proposed changes in advance, visit: www.capilanocourier.com/bylaws

NOTICE of

REFERENDA Please be advised that the Capilano Students’ Union will be conducting polling on the following referendum questions: STUDENT UNION BUILDING FEE Do you approve the replacement of the existing Building Levy Fee with a new fee as outlined in the following schedule: $4.00 per credit fee, to a maximum of 15 credits per semester effective September 2017; $5.00 per credit fee, to a maximum of 15 credits per semester effective September 2018; $6.00 per credit fee, to a maximum of 15 credits per semester effective September 2019; $7.00 per credit fee, to a maximum of 15 credits per semester effective September 2020; $8.00 per credit fee, to a maximum of 15 credits per semester effective September 2021; for the purposes of building a student union building on campus that meets the following standards?: Shall meet LEED gold standards Designed based on Passive House International Principles In consultation with First Nations This fee will be increased with the rate of inflation as determined by the consumer price index.

Note: If this referendum is not approved, Capilano Students’ Union members will continue to pay the existing Building Levy Fee.

EXTERNAL ADVOCACY FEE Do you approve of a $0.33 per credit fee to a maximum of 15 credits per semester effective September 2017 to be used for external advocacy? This fee will be increased with the rate of inflation, as determined by the consumer price index.”

CLUBS AND EVENTS FEE “Do you approve of a $0.29 per credit fee to a maximum of 15 credits per semester effective September 2017 to be used for clubs and events? This fee will be increased with the rate of inflation, as determined by the consumer price index.

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FEE Do you approve increasing all Capilano Students’ Union fees, other than U-Pass and Health and Dental, with the rate of inflation, as determined by the consumer price indexing effective September 2017?”

THE CAPILANO COURIER

RECREATION AND INTRAMUALS FEE Do you approve of a $0.50 per credit fee to a maximum of 15 credits per semester effective September 2017 to be used for recreation and intramurals? This fee will be increased with the rate of inflation as determined by the consumer price index.

CAPILANO COURIER PUBLISHING SOCIETY FEE Do you support an increase to the Student Publication Fee for the Capilano Courier Publishing Society from: $1.27 per credit with a maximum of $16.94 per term to $1.46 per credit with a maximum of $18.98 per term, with annual adjustments tied to the Canadian Consumer Price Index, in order to: create more paid opportunities for Capilano University students, improve the quality of the newspaper, increase the number of issues published per year, and improve digital content and engagement?

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VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 14

Polling will take place March 21, 22, 23 (9:00am to 5:00pm) in the CSU Members Centre and March 22 (11:00am to 4:00pm) at the Sunshine Coast campus.

Students must bring photo identification to vote. Email the CSU chief returning officer (cro@csu.bc.ca) or visit csu.bc.ca/elections for more details.

CABOOSE

HOROSCOPES

THINKING CAP

Q:

IF YOUR BIRTHDAY IS THIS WEEK:

Only one more year left.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20 - FEB. 18):

LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22):

Don’t let life get you down. Let your appearance do that..

PISCES (FEB. 19 - MARCH 20):

VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept. 21):

Your lack of sex life has left both you and the expired box of condoms in your dresser disappointed.

ARIES (March 21 - April 19):

Stop everything you’re doing. That includes breathing.

LIBRA (SEPT. 22 - OCT. 23):

Alcohol: what’s the worst that could happen?

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20):

Don’t get too excited by that new friend you made, you will disappoint them soon enough.

New office policy: latex or less.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20):

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22 - DEC. 21): You could disappear and nobody would notice.

CANCER (June 21 - July 22):

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 - JAN. 19):

The closest thing to a compliment you’ve ever received is when your parents called you a happy accident.

Your dad really wishes you wouldn’t follow your moms career path as a stripper.

TO ADVERTISE in the Courier’s pages, please contact us by phone at 778-855-9942 or email Andy Rice, our editor-in-chief, at capcourier@gmail.com.

We are proud to offer discounts to non-profit organizations and North Shore customers. A full media kit with sizes, rates and deadlines is available on our website, www.printablesudoku99.com CapilanoCourier.com. Classified advertisements up to 50 words are free for students.

Hard Sudoku Puzzles 10

SUDOKU

VOLUME 49.5 ISSUE NO. 16 THE CAPILANO COURIER

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7 9 3

6 1

3 8 2 5

8 8 4 2

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"I did have an ant infestation last summer, I went full-on chemical warfare and raided the place."

Geronimo Alec, fourth year Tourism Management

SCORPIO (OCT. 24 - NOV. 21):

In case of emergency: hyperventilate, panic and collapse to the ground.

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"Just lay down like 20 pairs of pants on the ground and make a bridge."

Rebecca Brule, second year Acting for Stage and Screen

Your athletic peak was when you walked up that flight of stairs and were only sort of out of breath.

Do your community a favour by never going outside again, ever.

Sudoku Puzzle

So... the Capilano Courier has an ant infestation. Do you have any creative remedies?

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"I suppose anteaters are the traditional route but instead of trying to deal with the infestation I'd probably paint them different colours and create a large scale logo. " Ceraphina Sin, first year Business Administration Program

"First off I'd be worried because we [the Courier and the CSU] share walls. Every week we'll wait for the guy who empties the vending machines and we'll have the ants form a line that people will follow to the voting booths at the referendum."

Sacha Fabry, fourth year Business Administration

"Ant fight! Ants against ants.

Maybe I’d lure them out with sugar into the cafeteria and watch people freak out."

Branden Kupfer, third year Acting for Stage and Screen