The Gauntlet -- September 20 2021

THE GAUNTLET The University of Calgary’s independent student newspaper

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Vol. 61, Issue No. 1

NEWS:

VOICES:

ARTS & CULTURE:

CAMPUS VACCINE MANDATE

STRUGGLING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

CALGARY EXPO PHOTO ESSAY

p. 3

p. 8

p. 10-11

EDITORIAL Editorial: There’s so much information, but it’s important you don’t get overwhelmed I t’s been an eventful first few weeks of school and the information overload doesn’t seem to be stopping. We know that with living in a digital world, access to information can be found everywhere by virtually anyone.

Not only is there a municipal election on the horizon next month, but a snap federal election was called for the end of September.

Along with trying to keep up with issues that affect us both locally and nationally, the university just managed to make up their minds about whether people should be vaccinated when attending in-per-

son lectures — two weeks into the fall semester.

Especially if you are new to campus or to the city, staying on top of information can be a challenge.

Not only can it be confusing, it can be tiring and draining as well. It’s not enough that the passage of time seems to fly by at an incredible speed, but the amount of content to sift through can be completely unrealistic at times.

We know that with the onset of the pandemic, students in particular have been forced into — sorry about this — unprecedented situa-

tions. And even though struggling through university courses, parttime jobs and extra-curricular activities among other things is stressful, it is increasingly important to stay informed and on top of the information that comes your way.

Whether it’s following specific hashtags on Twitter, or making sure to spend the first 10 minutes of everyday reading the daily news, we must all make sure that we understand and are aware of the incoming updates that effect our futures.

Of course, making sure to schedule time for self-care is crucial, so don’t be afraid to take breaks from social media to just refocus and recharge. But if the confusion and the uncertainty persist, it is up to us to ensure that we are well-informed when speaking on or engaging with critical issues.

Just because the leaders that lead and the institutions that govern don’t know how to make a decision when it counts, doesn’t mean we should also be in the dark about what matters.

– Cristina Paolozzi Gauntlet Editorial Board

Twitter: @GauntletUofC Instagram: @gauntletuofc Online: www.thegauntlet.ca

MASTHEAD Editor-in-Chief:

News Editor:

Cristina Paolozzi eic@thegauntlet.ca Sophia Lopez news@thegauntlet.ca

News Assistants:

Luis Armando Sanchez Diaz Enobong Ukpong

General Editors:

Ava Zardynezhad Rachneet Randhawa general@thegauntlet.ca

Voices Editor:

Aymen Sherwani voices@thegauntlet.ca

Visuals Editors:

Megan Koch Valery Perez visuals@thegauntlet.ca

Layout Editor:

Ramiro Bustamante Torres layout@thegauntlet.ca

Online Editor:

Masoud Karimi Fatemi online@thegauntlet.ca

Business Manager:

Gurman Sahota business@thegauntlet.ca

Contributors Anjali Choudhary // Sebastian Vasquez Gutierrez // Christian Lowry // Funke Ogunmefun // Krishna Shetye // Demilade Odusola // Harleen Mundi // Furor Arma Ministrat Room 319, MacEwan Students’ Centre 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, AB T2N 1N4 http://www.thegauntlet.ca The Gauntlet is the official student newspaper of the University of Calgary, published monthly throughout the year by the Gauntlet Publications Society, an autonomous, incorporated body.

Membership in the society is open to undergraduate students at the U of C, but all members of the university community are encouraged to contribute. Stories under the Opinions and Voices sections contained herein are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily represent the views of the entire Gauntlet staff.

Editorials are chosen by the majority of the editorial board. The Gauntlet is a forum open to all U of C students but may refuse any submission judged to be racist, sexist, homophobic, libelous, or containing attacks of a strictly personal nature. We reserve the right to edit for brevity. Grievances regarding the Gauntlet follow a three-step process which requires written decisions from the Editor, the GPS Board of Directors, and the Ombudsboard.

The complete Grievance Policy is online at: thegauntlet.ca. The Gauntlet offices are located on Treaty 7 land.

The Gauntlet is printed on recycled paper and uses an ink made from the matcha and chai tea that is missing from your local campus coffee shop. We urge you to recycle the Gauntlet by steeping for 20 minutes max.

Cover Photo by Valery Perez The Golden Spatula – Enobong Ukpong Eno has sat and braved through weekly SLC meetings to update the campus community on the important issues affecting the Students’ Union.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021 | 3

NEWS »

Editor: Sophia Lopez news@thegauntlet.ca @GauntletUofC

CAMPUS MANDATE »

Vaccination will be required on U of C campus Sophia Lopez News Editor

I

t was announced on September 13 that the University of Calgary, along with eight other Albertan post-secondary institutions, will be requiring campus community members and visitors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

By Jan. 1, 2022, students, faculty and staff are expected to be fully vaccinated or have an authorized exemption to vaccination. Campus visitors will be expected to prove their vaccination status starting Oct. 1.

In an email from U of C President Ed McCauley to the campus community, he explained how this plan will ensure that the spread of COVID-19 will be reduced and that in-person classes can continue while remaining safe.

“Our campus is a special place and it has been invigorating to see it return to life this fall,” said McCauley. “We are taking these steps to protect all of you and our ability to remain open.

Vaccination will be a requirement for all employees and on-campus students.”

This plan means that rapid-testing will no longer be accepted as an alternative to vaccination. However, rapid-testing will still be used for members of the community who cannot be vaccinated based on medical or other protected grounds outlined in the Alberta Human Rights Act. The university encourages the campus community to get vaccinated as soon as possible in order to protect yourself and the community from the virus.

“The value of vaccination to com-

Rapid testing will no longer be considered as an alternative for vaccination come January 2022. bat COVID-19 has been well-established,” said McCauley. “Vaccination is how we move past COVID-19 and is necessary to retire stopgap mea-

sures such as mandatory masking and regular rapid testing.”

For more information on getting

VALERY PEREZ

vaccinated, visit the U of C website.

If you are in need of support during these times, visit the U of C’s Student Wellness Services.

UCALGARY COURSE »

Embedded Certificate in Pluralism and Global Citizenship partment of Classics and Religion, is teaching this course. He spoke with the Gauntlet about the certificate and what students can expect from Pluralism 201.

Grewal is excited and glad that the university is offering this course for students. He said that this certificate is a great way for students to learn and speak about issues they are passionate about in a safe and inclusive space.

courtesy DR. HARJEET GREWAL

Cristina Paolozzi Editor-in-Chief

T

his Fall 2021, the University of Calgary is launching a new embedded certificate program in Pluralism and Global Citizenship.

The program is open to all undergraduate students from any faculty and the first course needed in the program is called Pluralism 201.

Dr. Harjeet Grewal, a sessional instructor at the university in the de-

“I think this is a great opportunity for students to have a chance to discuss things that young people are passionate about as a learning framework [and] to have an open safe space for diversity of views,” he said. “And really, I think the University of Calgary has done a great thing by tracking this path and opening up the certificate.”

Grewal said that the goal of this certificate is to help hone useful skills into a more global perspective, making students more competitive in the employment market.

“The goal is allowing students, as they move into different and multiple career paths, to be able to use some of the skills that are going to be relevant through a global, pluralistic

perspective,” he said.

The goal for Pluralism 201 is to give students a broader understanding of global citizenship and allow them to gain a deeper understanding of the kind of society Canada really is.

“The goal of 201 is really to have a bit of a mix,” he said. “The first is to have a conceptual understanding and basis of where pluralism is coming from, what’s important conceptually, holistic frameworks and looking at the socio-political and cultural developments that lead to conversations around liberalism in multicultural, secular democratic societies like Canada.”

But what Grewal is most excited to share is that there is also a large applicability aspect to this course.

“The really exciting piece, I think, is the applicability aspect,” said Grewal. “Often, students feel like ‘Oh, these are very abstract, high-level irrelevant things.’ And I would say to students that we often don’t understand the importance of some of the abstract things until we’re into our careers and reflect back.”

Grewal also mentioned that a large part of the course is about learning

to combine how to think logically with having empathy.

“If you can think empathically, learn to think about what the emotional basis is behind some of these perspectives, rather than simply thinking only through rational approaches,” he said. “The other part of the empathic approach is that if it makes no sense and you don’t understand then what what can you bring in that you might be able to find a parallel?”

The need for an understanding of pluralism is shown these days by an ever-increasing interconnected world, best exemplified by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Grewal said that this course is intended to bring forward those connections for students to really understand the significance of global events, and how they cannot be solved or managed by one country alone.

Grewal said that global issues, like climate change, won’t change because the issue is too specific in a nation-state framework. He also said that there has simultaneously been a global trend for individual citizens to think with identities and formations.

“Those two things, in my opinion, are what drive the importance of

pluralism,” he said. “Because it’s where those two parallel trajectories often are unable to meet.”

Grewal gives the example of reconciliation within Indigenous communities. There is no one location where, if the problem was solved locally, it would solve the issue for everyone. He said there is a global need for reconciliation that must be approached from a plural perspective.

“So that’s where I think pluralistic thinking and pluralism is important,” he said. “Pluralism is trying to find a way around these flashpoints. So that when you can’t agree, when you can’t find consensus and there’s an immediate need to solve something, what do you do?”

Grewal said that the diversity of opinions alongside having conversations and dialogue, both have the ability to help us move forward, while also having “a constellation of diverse answers” that can pivot as needs arise .

More information on the Pluralism and Global Citizenship embedded certificate can be found online. Pluralism 201 will be offered this fall and winter semesters. Registration for the course is now available.

4 | SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

news@thegauntlet.ca

VACCINE-MOBILE »

Alberta’s COVID-19 vaccination bus touring post-secondary institutions

courtesy 19 TO ZERO

The bus is available to students in need of vaccination.

Luis Armando Sanchez Diaz News Assistant

A

COVID-19 vaccination bus the government of Alberta’s effort to increase vaccination uptake across the province has reached the University of Calgary and is scheduled to arrive at other post-secondary institutions all month.

During the early days of September, a mobile clinic was available for U of C students, staff and community members to get their COVID-19 vaccine at the main campus on Sept. 1, 8 and 9 while Foothills campus saw the arrival of the bus on Sept. 2.

This initiative comes after the Government of Alberta, 19 to Zero and several enterprises — labeled as the Industry for Vaccination — came together to offer more accessibility

for those who want to get vaccinated.

“The clinic’s focus is on rural communities, hard-to-reach populations, or those working in remote camps where vaccinations may be less accessible, or uptake may be low,” reads a statement on the 19 to Zero webpage.

According to the CTV news vaccination tracker, 78 per cent of eligible Albertans have received at least

one COVID-19 vaccine dose as of Sept. 12. However, younger generations have had the lowest vaccine uptake not only in Alberta but in Canada as well.

The latest data from the COVID-19 Tracker Canada notes that only 55.16 per cent of Albertans between the ages of 18 to 29 have been partially or fully vaccinated.

The bus clinic will be available for those living in the Calgary area on

Sept. 17 at the Centre for Newcomers and on Sept. 22 and 23 at Mount Royal University.

Those in Edmonton can access this service from Sept. 13 to 17 at NorQuest and MacEwan University as shared on social media by the Government of Alberta.

It is worth noting that international students are also eligible to get the vaccine through the mobile clinic or at another location.

MAYORAL OCTAGON »

Municipal debate at Calgary Central Library

Sophia Lopez News Editor

O

n Sept. 8, My City Speaks to Me presented the first live Calgary Mayoral Candidates Election Debate Night this year at the Central Library Candidates Jan Damery, Jeff Davison, Virginia Stone, Teddy Ogbonna, Zane Novak, Dean Hopkins, Grace Yan and Shaoli Wang attended the debate. They are a few of the 27 candidates running for mayor in the Calgary municipal general election this year which takes place on Oct. 18.

The candidates were asked questions regarding their plans for the city. Davison, in particular, is focused on creating more job opportunities for the younger generation and making Calgary a place where people want to stay.

“We need to be preparing children going forward for, frankly, the careers that they’re going to want to have, not need to have,” said Davison.

When asked about some of the barriers newcomers face when they come to Canada, particularly in Calgary, Novak expressed his concern for the lack of support immigrants

are given when it comes to gaining recognition for their education and academic achievements from their home countries.

“We need to work with the provincial and federal governments to make sure that we advocate for recognition and academic standing,” said Novak. “We have not taken the lead in helping [immigrants] use their academic background to find their success stories.”

The candidates were also asked about their opinions on the COVID-19 pandemic and how the city has handled it. Damery discussed how she is in support of a vaccine passport in order to keep the city safe and reduce the transmission of the virus.

“I came out in May advocating for proof of vaccination,” said Damery.

“Just by showing proof of vaccination, that assures that we can actually reduce [COVID] transmission, which also protects our kids in schools right now.”

The new Green Line LRT was discussed during the debate, and although he agrees with the decision to move forward with it, Hopkins hopes to completely change the transit system in Calgary if elected

Left to right: Grace Yan, Jeff Davison, Dean Hopkins. mayor and have it fully powered by hydrogen.

“I want to bring hydrogen to our city,” said Hopkins. “I want the LRT to eventually be powered by electricity provided by a hydrogen turbine.”

The candidates also shared their point of views on topics concerning the city

such as diversity and inclusion. This included questions regarding accessibility for those with mobility challenges, along with local art displayed within the city — to which they all said was lacking and needed improvement.

To hear more about what the candidates discussed during the Calgary Mayoral Candidates Election

MEGAN KOCH

Debate Night, watch the recorded livestream.

The municipal general election will take place on Oct. 18, 2021.

For more information on the candidates present at the debate or the other mayoral candidates, you can find their contact information on the Elections Calgary website.

THE STUDENTS’ UNION Run in the Students’ Union By-Election

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Nominate yourself! Packages are available online starting Sept. 13. Campaign funding is available.

The SU Fall By-Election is Oct. 13 - 15.

There will be three plebiscite questions on the ballot get in the know and then vote for the plan that works best for you!

Nomination Days: Sept. 27-29, from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Please see the new nomination procedure to learn how the SU is keeping candidates and students safe during the By-Election.

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See the plebiscite questions on our website: www.su.ucalgary.ca/elections

Visit www.su.ucalgary.ca/elections for available positions and more details

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM Participate in the unique opportunity to showcase your undergraduate research alongside your peers from all faculties!

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force The Students’ Union collectively represents tens of thousands of undergraduate students at the University of Calgary who represent innumerable identities and diverse backgrounds.

This year’s event will take place in a blended format, with participants submitting video presentations of their work to be featured during Research Week: November 22 - 26.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: October 8, 2021 @ 4 p.m.

For more information and to apply, visit su.ucalgary.ca/urs

The EDI Task Force is a working group that will ensure the Students’ Union is appropriately equipped to include and advocate for all the students we represent.

Applications are open until 12 p.m., Friday Sept. 24.

Visit www.su.ucalgary.ca for more details.

Complete listing of student events, concerts and more: www.su.ucalgary.ca/events

suuofc

6 | SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

VOICES »

Editor: Aymen Sherwani voices@thegauntlet.ca @GauntletUofC

SHELF SURVIVOR »

The Contemporary Dilemma: Decolonizing your bookshelf

AYMEN SHERWANI

Expand your library and your perspective with these titles.

Aymen Sherwani Voices Editor

I

f you pride yourself on being a reader, take the time to examine the names that have found a place on your bookshelf. There are probably a lot of fun and quirky young adult novels and, of course, “the classics” that everyone tells you to read at least once in your life — but have you ever stopped to consider what exactly classifies as classical literature? I’ll give you a hint — oftentimes, it has nothing to do with when a work was published but, instead, everything to do with who published it, especially if they’re a white author. Obviously then you’d ask ‘Well, what’s the problem with that if what I’m reading is good?’ Depth. Nuance. Lived experience that white voices will never understand. What if I told you that many authors of colour have equally thought-provoking

works from around the same time periods, yet are passed over when discerning what constitutes literary canon?

While the problem of gatekeeping within the literature community continues to persist, what readers can do is make the effort to “decolonize” their bookshelves, and fill them with the voices of authors of colour that process stories and historical events through a deeper lens than that of a white observer. Below are a couple of my favourites.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958) Achebe’s most famous work, Things Fall Apart, is seen as a response to Heart of Darkness (1899) by Joseph Conrad within which Conrad offers parallels between London as “the greatest town on earth” and Africa as places of darkness, where “savages” live, ultimately alluding to the

benevolence of British colonialism.

Achebe’s work counteracts Conrad’s earlier novel and instead is a heavy exploration of the Nigerian Ibo tribe’s customs and how they are impacted

by European colonialism and the coercion of Christian missionaries. The Nigerian novelist later went on to call for Heart of Darkness to be removed from canon classical literature due to its heavy reliance on racist imagery and notions that British colonialism may have been a good thing. Overall, Things Fall Apart is worth the read because it challenges the traditional narrative of African tribes needing European colonialism to “modernize” but, rather, how discriminatory and white-supremacist the notion of modernization is in itself.

Orientalism by Edward Said (1978) Said focuses his commentary on the misconceptions of what is considered to be the “Orient,” ranging from Morocco to Japan, and how

colonialism has led to the gross oversimplification and fetishization of such a diverse region. The Palestinian-American author explores how the term itself is contemptuous and has historically been used to position the inhabitants of that region as inferior to the West, further explaining our contemporary understanding of international politics. As readers, it’s important to understand the racial nuances and implications that are proposed in Western literature and Orientalism

by Edward Said has sought to challenge these assumptions. This was the book that made me realize that it didn’t matter that I grew up in Canada because my status as a visible minority creates preconceived assumptions about who I am, further affecting the way I am treated by complete strangers.

Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Garimara (1996)

Pilkington wrote Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence based on her own personal account, as an Indigenous-Australian, from when she was held at the Moore River Native Settlement internment camp due to her “half-caste” — or mixedrace — identity. The book parallels her experiences, as well as those of her relatives, and focuses on the characters of Molly, her half-sister Daisy and their cousin Gracie who are taken to Moore River for schooling to become assimilated into white-Australian society. They are part of the Stolen Generation of Indigenous children that are subject to the eugenics-based policies in Australia at the time. Readers should definitely consider this work as it is a raw account of the genocidal tactics used to suppress the Indigenous identity and also draws large parallels to Canada’s own dark history of residential schooling and our persisting legacy of colonialism.

SEPTMEBER 20, 2021 | 7

thegauntlet.ca/category/voices CONNECTING ON CAMPUS »

The Muslim Voice: Navigating campus as a Muslim Aymen Sherwani Voices Editor

Places to Pray on Campus:

W

If this was high school, a teacher would probably wonder why you’re washing your feet in the bathroom sink at lunchtime. At the U of C, however, students have two Multi-Faith rooms located in Mac Hall alongside bathrooms with ablution, or wudu, stations that are designed so that you can sit down and use them as needed.

These Multi-Faith rooms are available to all students should they need to come in, meditate, pray or even just reflect. In addition to this, the Vitruvian Space, which is located in the basement of the Dining Centre, has also been used to host Jumu’ah prayers every Friday before the quarantine. It has reopened for group use beginning Aug. 30.

hen I was a first-year student, one of my biggest worries was whether my identity as a Muslim woman would be accommodated on campus — whether it be regarding my dietary restrictions, access to prayer rooms and support groups where I meet other Muslim academics.

Fortunately, I had little to worry about as the University of Calgary and Students’ Union (SU) both do a relatively good job in making all of these easily accessible. The problem is that not a lot of students enter campus knowing these little tips and tricks, so on behalf of the Gauntlet, this is my insider’s information on navigating campus as a Muslim.

Halal Food and Alternatives: Mac Hall is the heart of the university and is the one place where students flow in from all corners of the campus whether it’s for a study snack, breakfast, lunch or dinner. As a Muslim student, your options for halal food are albeit limited but not the worst.

Craving some halal chicken or

Multi-Faith rooms are available to all students in MacHall.

beef? Your duas have been answered. The iconic Bake Chef ’s Vietnamese sub sandwiches are a campus staple and also offer halal meat options. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had their subs for a summer school iftar and had my mind blown every single time. The Den also has a variety of halal items on their menu — I might have blurted out a mashallah after trying their chicken quesadillas. And if you happen to be an international student worrying about whether you’ll be served halal options at the Dining Centre, The Landing makes an effort to cater to students with all forms of

courtesy JUSTIN QUIANTANCE

dietary restrictions.

Most restaurants located in MacHall do have vegetarian options but it’s just a matter of finding the good ones. As someone who eats halal food, I also know how hard it can be when my options are limited and the vegetarian options aren’t that exciting either. Thankfully, A&W and Carl’s Jr. have Beyond Meat burgers that exceed expectations when it comes down to flavour profile and just being overall good meals — Noodle & Grill Express does not disappoint either with it’s stir-fried noodles and veggie egg rolls, especially when it’s 11 p.m. and you’re desperate.

Sarah Ashton, the Pluralistic Engagement Coordinator of the U of C’s Faith and Spirituality Centre, states that the Vitruvian Space will be available to students during the 2021 term.

“All multi-faith space users are expected to follow UCalgary’s COVID-19 safety requirements, including guidelines around masking and rapid testing, as well Alberta public health guidelines regarding places of worship,” she

said. “Groups are required to book in advance online. Bookings may be subject to change based on the ongoing situation with COVID-19.”

Overall, both spaces have been described as calming and beautiful environments where Muslim students can drop in for any of their five prayers throughout the day and find spiritual rejuvenation.

Clubs and Community Support: Making friends is tough as a first-year student. This is amplified now more than ever as a result of the pandemic.

And pandemic aside, so many Muslim students feel an overwhelming sense of isolation when coming to campus — many people don’t know where to start when it comes to finding that sense of identity and community.

Your best bet is to sign up for an SU club like the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA), Muslimah Empowered’s U of C Chapter or a volunteer-based club like the Muslims of Southern Alberta Initiating Change (MOSAIC). If you haven’t already signed up for these clubs during O-Week, it’s not too late to shoot them an email telling them you’re interested in attending their next event or if they’re actively recruiting junior executive members for a more hands-on role.

REFLECTION »

Year One: The second-years’ pandemic dilemma and accomplishment. Neither the enthusiasm and pride I felt receiving my first A, nor the immense fear I felt speaking up in class have managed to create a meaningful impact within my mind. To be quite frank, skipping over the past year entirely would likely leave me with the same emotion I currently feel — anxiety.

A large population of students are experiencing in-person lectures for the first time.

Anjali Choudhary Volunteer

I

along with thousands of my peers, have been badgered with continuous isolation, devastation and confusion in arguably the most difficult year out of the four most formative years of our lives. Fall 2020 and Winter 2021

at the University of Calgary felt like a constant battle of feeling wrongfully robbed of my firstyear experience, yet recognizing the necessary sacrifice we all needed to make for the greater good. Now, as we enter a year full of higher expectations and even higher stakes, the title of a second-year student fails to register in my mind.

VALERY PEREZ

While online education impacted many aspects of my life, I was astonished by the large mental block it created within my mind.

Reflecting on the past academic year, I felt as though I completed it in auto-pilot mode. Although I have successfully completed 10 classes, the memories of the substandard Zoom lectures and mind-numbing breakout rooms have greyed over my initial feelings of excitement

When it comes to preparing for the upcoming Fall 2021 semester, my self-doubt in my ability to live up to a second-year standard overshadows many of my thoughts. Potentially upsetting upper-year students with my lack of directional knowledge and hallway etiquette are obviously major concerns, but my fears also stem from harder classes, an uncharted social environment and everything being one step closer to real post-graduate life.

But in all honesty, I know that I — and every single one of my peers — will not only survive but also find ways to thrive in our campus environment. Despite the overpowering negative emotions I’m experiencing, the promise of a fresh start that this year will provide acts as a beacon of hope amidst the

chaos of back-to-school sentiments.

Regardless of how my previous year went, this is an opportunity to be a new student and ensure that in a year from now, my new memories will not be greyed out, but instead be bursting with colour.

The biggest preparation for myself and other second-year students alike will not be the annual back-to-school shopping spree, but instead taking the time to internally reflect on this past year.

In 2020, the entire world had seemingly come to a standstill.

Now, everyone is aware of the unusual circumstances of the incoming second-year class. While it is crucial to internalize the lessons learned this past year, a do-over doesn’t sound so bad. If you share my sentiment of still feeling like a fresh high school graduate, it is perfectly acceptable to treat this year as your first year. It is our first year on completely uncharted territory and the expectations will simply not be the same — and for what it’s worth, at least we have the reassurance of going into this year knowing not to ask questions that can be answered by reading the syllabus.

8 | SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

voices@thegauntlet.ca

ROUGH TRANSITIONS »

Around The World: Is the university doing enough for international students at this critical time?

Sebastian Vasquez Gutierrez Volunteer

W

hile back to school energy is usually full of optimism, this year domestic and international students alike are now feeling robbed of their promised university experience. Many international students, in particular, are devastated that they spent thousands of dollars travelling to Canada, quarantining and paying for living accommodations, only for classes to be switched to online learning at the very last minute. Many students have mentioned that if the return to online learning had been sooner, they would not have made the decision to travel to Canada and subsequently pay those extra fees. International students already pay around $17,000 more than domestic students, and now, they have to worry about recovering from such a large financial burden.

When asked about what the U of C is doing to support international students at this time, Vice-Provost of Student Experience Dr. Susan Barker said that generally, if students have questions, to reach out and that the university would try its best to answer on a case-by-case basis.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

“There is an [Students’ Union] SU Quality Money COVID bursary that is coming on right now, so when students indicate to us any additional financial

burden, we direct them to a range of bursaries that may help support them,” said Barker. “This will be the best way to get money to students who are in financial need because they have to validate that they are in financial need, rather than give every student an ‘x’ number of dollars. When students reach out and tell us this, we direct them to these bursaries.”

While the previous SU administration did outline COVID relief in this year’s Quality Money budget, it should be noted that their online application seems to only be reserved for on-campus projects and initiatives and lacks the needed accessibility for the proposed financial assistance to students.

The U of C also recently announced a new $1000 Fall 2021 Online Learning Relocation Grant for international students who accrued relocation, moving or living costs to attend in-person courses but many have already expressed dissatisfaction at how limited the financial compensation is on top of increased tuition and living costs.

Three international students living in India were interviewed by the Gauntlet to understand their perspectives and how they are handling the unfolding situation. Jaahnvi Iragavarapu is a fourth-year student majoring in Psychology and minoring in Management and Society. Zaara Kudchiwala is a first-year student majoring in Psychology and Simardeep Kaur is a

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fourth-year student majoring in Communications and Media Studies.

Prior to the most recent news on the return to online classes, Kaur expressed her frustration.

“What if we get there and then the third wave hits and they shut down the university again? That is a huge financial burden.”

It has become clear that the worst fears of many international students have become a reality.

“The least the university could do is arrange [evacuation] flights for students from India to Canada directly because taking routes via three different countries is very expensive,” Kaur said. “[A] one-way flight is $4000 which is even more expensive than a round trip on normal days. I personally don’t have that much money to take a one-way flight.”

In addition to this tough financial spot many international students find themselves in, the accessibility of in-person courses for those living overseas is now being put into question. It is up to the discretion of U of C professors on whether they choose to provide virtual accommodations for their classes, should they choose to host them in person. However, many international students who have lived abroad during the pandemic, are

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skeptical of this.

“As an international student on the other side of the globe, [I can testify that] a lot of professors did not try to record their lectures — some did not even offer a 24-hour period for midterms,” said Kaur. “This was really tough because sometimes I would be attending lectures or writing exams until 5 a.m. I even had to take a block week class, for which I used to stay up from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.”

Kaur adds that she’s most concerned about the courses she needs to graduate with. “[U of C] would just tell us to take courses that are offered online and that might [impact] many courses I

need to graduate since this is my last year,” she said. “I still don’t have much of an idea about the courses that are offered online and ones that are offered in-person. But I hope they have both options for people who aren’t able to return this fall since the flight restriction from India is still in place, and impacts me.”

As we saw with these responses, the university is trying to manage a situation that they are not familiar with, and they are trying to find possible solutions that will benefit their students. It is clear that the university has been negligent of the finances of international students and we hope that they reach a possible solution for this upcoming semester.

International students are struggling with U of C’s pandemic response.

MEGAN KOCH

ARTS & CULTURE »

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021 | 9

Editors: Ava Zardynezhad & Rachneet Randhawa general@thegauntlet.ca @GauntletUofC

PROFESSIONAL BUSKING »

The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra brings live music back to Jack Singer

courtesy CALGARY PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

The Jack Singer Concerta Hall will have a reduced audience to accomodate social distancing.

Ava Zardynezhad General Editor

A

fter a year of pre-recorded, online performances, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra is back at the Jack Singer Concert Hall with live music for their 2021–2022 season. The organization announced their live season last month and have already held their first live concert.

The Gauntlet sat down with the orchestra’s Music Director, Rune Bergmann to discuss the new season and the CPO’s return to live performance.

“The most important thing is that we’re back. What we play is secondary. I think what’s important for everyone is that we’re actually back on the stage. It has been a horrible time for musicians and for everyone.

I think that the toughest part for me has been not being able to enter Canada,” says the Norwegian conductor.

Bergmann commented how this

past year has been tough for everyone, but specifically for musicians.

Despite the financial impacts of the pandemic, he explains how the psychological hit of this experience has also been very significant.

“The psychological effect of not being able to do their profession, not being able to meet their colleagues and not being able to meet the audience, I think, has been tough for everybody,” he says.

our audience online. But of course, it’s not where and how we want it to be,” Bergman explains. “The city spaces was a cool project because it shows parts of the city that maybe people know, but in a different way.

I think it was a good project, both for the audience and also the musicians.”

Of course, as with any ensemble, a question that exists is how well the orchestra can come together after spending so much time apart.

The musicians spent the last year mostly in isolation, unable to play as an ensemble. However, that didn’t stop them from putting on solo performances around the city. Most notably, the CPO presented the City Spaces series during this period, which featured music in many of Calgary’s most iconic buildings and spaces.

“I’ve been thinking about this every day for the last 18 months,” Bergmann says. “I think it will be a little bit strange and it’s going to take a little bit of time [to readjust]. But, on the other hand, I think that we are coming back to the stage more humble and more eager,” he explains.

“I think that during the circumstances, we did as good as we could both in terms of quality and also the fact that we were able to produce some content and also to meet

“My goal for the season, and especially for the future, is for this to make us stronger and make us better — because you lose something in technique, but you gain some-

thing in experience.”

However, despite the return of live performances, it is important to note some significant changes in how music will be returning to our city.

“Unfortunately, [live music] isn’t coming back for all of us, as we cannot fill the house,” Bergmann says. The audience for each concert will be reduced to accommodate social distancing. Similarly, the number of musicians on stage

will also be reduced.

The season opened on Sept. 10 with a tribute concert to frontline and essential-service workers. For the rest of the season, Bergmann promises to pick up where he left off before the pandemic — celebrating Beethoven. So far, only the fall concert schedule has been released, but be sure to keep an eye out for the announcement of the CPO’s winter concerts in October, as well as their Spring concerts in January 2022.

CPO’s new Music Director, Rune Bergmann

courtesy CALGARY PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

10 | SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

general@thegauntlet.ca

NERDING OUT IN STYLE »

PHOTO ESSAY: CALGARY COMIC EXPO

thegauntlet.ca/category/arts

SEPTMEBER 20, 2021 | 11

COSPLAY RED CARPET COMPETITION PHOTOS BY MEGAN KOCH AND VALERY PEREZ

12 | SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Editors: Ava Zardynezhad & Rachneet Randhawa general@thegauntlet.ca @GauntletUofC

OPINIONS » COVID-19 »

Why vaccine mandates don’t threaten your freedom Christian Lowry Volunteer

T

he successful development of a number of different COVID-19 vaccines was greeted with celebration throughout the world, which lost 4.5 million lives and saw at least 218 million contract the disease between Jan. 28, 2020 and Sept. 1, 2021. In Canada alone, COVID-19 has caused the deaths of 27,020 people over the same period, making it a tragedy unparalleled in our country’s peacetime history. 72 per cent of Canadians have fulfilled their civic duties and received at least one vaccine dose and 65 per cent have received a full vaccination of two doses.

Unfortunately, there is still a great distance to go in overcoming the catastrophe of the coronavirus. A nationally representative survey conducted in June found that 18 per cent of Canadians were “vaccine-hesitant,” and 10 per cent were opposed to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine at all. While the size of this demographic has decreased over time, it represents a fertile breeding ground for vaccine-resistant variants of coronavirus and an ominous liability to public health — both for the unvaccinated and those in their path.

There is no reason for such a situation to continue. As with all other vaccines, the COVID-19 vaccines have proven their safety and effectiveness and both the side-effects and extremely rare adverse effects experienced are dwarfed by those resulting from the novel coronavirus itself. Of 53,559,981 vaccine doses given prior to Sept. 3, 2021, only 2,656 — 0.004 per cent — resulted in serious complications, or “adverse events of special interest.” The longevity of COVID-19 in Canada now owes itself almost entirely to the unvaccinated. Of all new confirmed cases reported between Dec. 14, 2020 and July 26, 2021, 90 per cent were among unvaccinated people, along with 85 per cent of hospitalizations and 82 per cent of deaths.

The result has been a shower of proposals aimed at compelling the vaccine-hesitant — also referred to as anti-vaccine or “anti-vax” — population to become immunized against COVID-19, known as vaccine mandates. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to require vaccines for public servants as well as travellers using ships, planes and trains. British Columbia will soon require proof of vaccination to access sporting events, restaurants, gyms, weddings and other venues, and many other provinces are following suit. In anticipation of these regulations, protests have formed in Vancouver, Calgary, Victoria, Kamloops, Montreal, Kelowna and elsewhere. In addition to the existential threat they pose to others, anti-vaccine protesters at these gatherings risk blocking ambulances and have harassed health workers going to and from their jobs, proving the necessity of tougher penalties to ensure public safety.

Paradoxically, some major anti-vaccine personalities don’t seem to know what vaccines are or what they do, but have devoted their waking hours to opposing their use in society nev-

ertheless. Thus, on Dec. 17, 2020, farright provocateur and Human Events senior editor Jack Posobiec tweeted to his 1 million followers, “What if instead of a vaccine[,] we just were able to get exposed to a weak version of the virus that enabled us to build the antibodies we need to fight the real thing[?]” Of course, anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of medicine knows that a vaccine is the “weak version” of a virus that builds “the antibodies we need to fight the real thing.” For these and other reasons, vaccine mandates are becoming increasingly necessary because there are no equally compelling alternatives to them, and, contrary to popular belief, they are the best means for guaranteeing both security and liberty in a pandemic.

One frequently-invoked, hands-off alternative to vaccination is herd immunity. But proposals to allow natural “herd immunity” are particularly galling, offering neither immunity nor protection for the “herd” while the endless wait for immunity drags on. While some natural immunity does exist for COVID-19 survivors, the very idea

only patience and discipline to work.

Since a small but active minority of malcontents continue to sabotage public health efforts, vaccine mandates are required to ensure that existing vaccinations are not rendered ineffective by coronavirus variants, that further infections are prevented, and to end the constant flip-flopping of easing and tightening restrictions. If society desires immunity from COVID-19, it must be sought rather than awaited. Vaccine mandates promise to deliver that solution by removing the incentives for the unvaccinated to avoid getting the shots they need.

It has been frequently stated that mandating a vaccine violates the human rights of those receiving them, and the same has been claimed of other pandemic responses such as masking requirements, social distancing, isolation and others. However, the consequences of lifting these restrictions are far worse than those of keeping them, and as a result, so are the violations of human liberty that comes with sudden sickness. In the absence of these widely-supported constraints, the careless-

In this case, the alleged dilemma between freedom and security is little more than a long-settled moral debate whose verdict we constantly acknowledge when we conduct our daily affairs in peace. The choice is not so much between freedom and tyranny as it is between two competing concepts of freedom, as outlined by Jean Jacques Rousseau in 1762. The first freedom, which most people are familiar with, is “civil freedom,” in which each person only has the rights and liberties of everyone else -— life, security of the person, mobility, assembly, thought, the press, speech and worship among other things, and everyone is free to do what they please as long as they do not harm someone else. The other freedom, which is pleaded by the vaccine-hesitant, is “natural freedom,” in which no established authority of any kind can restrain a person’s actions in any circumstance, and which was practiced in its purest form by prehistoric human ancestors and relatives. It is total, uncompromising and utterly Darwinian in its extent, and its credentials as a worthwhile doctrine for human society are unimpressive since virtually every imaginable evildoer in history has subscribed to its one-sided view of liberty.

If all people have “natural freedom,” then no person actually has freedom, because any person can violate the rights of another at any time for any reason and with no sure hope of punishment. Of such a brutal, terrifying and desperate world, the political philosopher Thomas Hobbes wrote a century before Rousseau, “In such condition, there is no place for industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of the earth [...] no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

MEGAN KOCH

is inherently self-contradictory and counterproductive. The basic idea is to prevent sickness by allowing as many people as possible to get sick, consequently defeating the purpose of the resulting immunity. Such an approach is like fighting a fire by allowing it to burn out of control in order to leave nothing for future fires to burn when the entire point is to prevent people and things from being burned to begin with.

Herd immunity proposals are also perverse because they create a false equivalence between the immediate pursuit of luxuries and the saving of human lives through immunization. The implication is that life is not worthy enough of saving to sacrifice personal desires long enough to safeguard the population through vaccination. There is no excuse for pursuing such a policy when well-tested alternatives such as “Zero COVID” lockdowns, mask mandates, vaccination drives and social distancing are ready for use, requiring

ness of the vaccine-hesitant threatens themselves and others with COVID-19, including weeks of unpleasant symptoms, the drastic worsening of widespread pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, cancer and hypertension, the outright decimation of the elderly population and immunocompromised, increasingly transmissible and deadly coronavirus variants, hospital overcrowding — along with all the implications that entails for victims of other illnesses — burnout of healthcare workers and, for sufferers of “Long COVID,” various forms of lifelong disability.

Such cavalier disregard for human well-being on a global scale deserves at least as much recognition as a foregone patio dinner, a lost gym exercise, or the pain of a needle. Rights are not merely declarations of things that one wants — they are social conventions dictating what basic calamities should be avoided by a collective human effort. Premature mass death from infectious disease is one such calamity.

While there are numerous maladies in all human societies, humanity generally doesn’t fit Hobbes’ description of a world dominated by “natural freedom.”

Since such a world is horrifying to each person, “civil freedom” has generally replaced “natural freedom” throughout the world. The emergence of liberal society, in which people trade their “natural freedom” for “civil freedom,” is arguably humanity’s crowning achievement and remains the foundation for all of its subsequent leaps and bounds.

The “civil freedom” of sedentary society is the result of people refusing to live with the terror of natural freedom as the grounding fact of their lives.

Moreover, not all rights of “civil freedom” are of equal value. Some of those previously mentioned can be divided into what philosopher Henry Shue calls “basic rights,” which are required for the exercise of all other liberties — a right to food, shelter, medical care and clean water — and “non-basic rights,” which include everything from civil liberties to property rights. Some aspects of civil freedom are pleaded by apologists for the vaccine-hesitant, such as mobility and assembly rights, which are partially compromised by some of the regulations of vaccine

mandates. However, bioethicist Samuel Gorovitz accurately responds that “rights are of value only to the living.”

Consequently, those who endanger the lives of others must be made to remedy their ways before they can fully enjoy their non-basic rights. Because vaccine mandates soften the impact of novel diseases on tens of millions of people in Canada alone, they will substantially expand the freedoms of its people.

If receiving an extensively tested vaccine from trained professionals violates the personal liberty of a few holdouts, then deliberately spreading an extremely contagious and unpleasant virus certainly violates the personal liberty of the majority, whom they place in constant danger of catching it. Viewed this way, vaccine mandates do not stand in opposition to human rights — they are the majority’s way of invoking their rights to life, physical security and self-defense against the unvaccinated. If the government did not try to vaccinate its citizens and allowed the unvaccinated to pillage the health of the public with wanton abandon, then it would effectively be commanding the majority of society to sicken or die without complaint. This truth becomes more grave when we realize that the coronavirus plague is not the world’s first pandemic, and will almost certainly not be its last.

I should note that vaccine mandates will not only rescue many people from this preventable infection and death but also that they stand no danger of introducing tyranny to Canada. Arguably, the tyranny that vaccine skeptics fearmonger about has long since arrived, though perhaps not in the way they imagined. Instead of its victims, they are both its enforcers and its beneficiaries. With their fingers in their ears and voices raised, they insist that they can do whatever they wish at the expense of everyone else. Invoking one’s human rights is meaningless if the right in question is not compatible with everybody else having it.

When their hyper-individualist outlook is taken in isolation from any other beliefs they hold, a tiny minority of militantly vaccine-hesitant people expect the exhausted remnants of society to wait on them, never considering the human cost, in a relationship more akin to that of masters and slaves than ordinary people inhabiting a liberal society on equal terms. In fact, this is what the term “authoritarian” describes — the manner in which a person or group of people with little to no popular support forces their will on everyone else. The presence of an actual dictator, clique of shadowy leaders, or other examples of blatant coercion are not required for an authoritarian system to exist. What matters is that a tiny but extremely vocal minority meets its antisocial goals by using force and power instead of consent and rationality. Instead of bemoaning their lost concerts and banquets — which they can regain if they choose — they should be thankful that those are the only things they stood to lose in humanity’s most recent pandemic.

Many others have lost much more.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021 | 13

SPORTS & LIFESTYLE »

Editors: Ava Zardynezhad & Rachneet Randhawa general@thegauntlet.ca @GauntletUofC

VARSITY LIFE »

Return to Dinos sports: Football Rachneet Randhawa General Editor

I

t has been nearly twenty-one months since the Dinos Football team played the 2019 Vanier Cup Championship and almost two years later they are set to relaunch the 2021-2022 football season with a bold combination of strength and resilience. The comeback kickoff commences on Sept. 25th against the Saskatchewan Huskies at McMahon Stadium. The Gauntlet sat down for an interview with coach Wayne Harris to learn more.

Being the longest off-season in Dinos history, Harris reflected on how the rest of the Dinos team is feeling.

“The guys are all very excited,” he said. “They’ve been working hard through the last number of months [in the] last year and a half to get ready to play. It’s been challenging obviously with all the shutdowns and the inability to get into gyms and training facilities but they’ve been working hard through the summer and they’re ready to get out of.”

Overall, Harris mentioned that the team’s initial reaction was one of enthusiasm as many of the players pursued football growing up and was a passion of theirs. Having it being

taken away from them was offsetting. As for adhering to COVID-9 protocols and safety requirements the biggest concern was training and having normal practices to get the team members back into proper shape — most of which has been progressing slowly and building up to which Harris hopes will gain momentum in the coming weeks ahead.

For vaccinations, the majority of the team has either had both or a single dose with the remainder taking care to comply with rapid testing as the game season quickly approaches.

During the shutdown, the training over the past year and a half had mostly been limited due to players not being local and were spread out over the country from Vancouver Island to Quebec. Mostly, team members had to find their methods of training with this past summer being given a first chance to do in-person training again with those who participated looking to be in good shape.

The first opening game of the season is for the Hardy Cup against the Saskatchewan Huskies — a team last challenged in 2019 which has always been a tough and well-prepped nemesis. As for preparation for the game, like every year a training camp is scheduled usually at the beginning of August that prepares players for the first game of the season. But due

to restrictions, they’ve had to reduce the schedule and dial it back a few weeks. As students are also of course attending classes as students of the U of C, players must figure out their class schedules with the new hybrid format and there are still some kinks that need to be worked out.

As for getting recruits, it’s typically a year-round process with an addon of 20 to 30 athletes every year.

These recruits are making big adjustments with the transition from high school including studying at the university level. Because of the level of responsibility that comes with post-secondary education and athletics, the onus is on the students to remain accountable to ensure they are keeping up with their coursework and balancing that with the time commitments which can be up to 30 hours a week.

For overall gameplay and strategy, Harris claims they are going to rely on their offence to carry them through the games with a lot of the returning players focusing on the offensive side of the ball and defensively they are looking forward to many new players entering the lineup. The greatest challenge is to “quickly learn the speed of the game at this level and to be able to understand the playbook,” according to Harris. Moreover, their star

Go Dinos! quarterback, Josiah Joseph, an academic all-Canadian has been on the team for five years but has mostly been serving in a backup role.

Lately, he has had more key opportunities to lead the team and Harris is looking forward to the energetic leadership he brings to the team for his last season before he graduates. Harris mentioned one challenge they are hoping to overcome this season is adapting to the uncertainty of the game, like getting to know the opponents. Because of the extended time off and with some players

MEGAN KOCH AND VALERY PEREZ

now graduated, it’s difficult to get back into the swing of things at play at the high level they’re used to. However, they hope to meet this challenge head-on.

“We have great leadership in our program,” said Harris. “The veteran players have returned [to] understand what they need to do and they’ll carry us through.” For last remarks, they are excited to be back after being the national champions in 2019 and hopefully will have the opportunity to play for that championship again this year.

STUDENT LIFE »

Campus experiences to look forward to in a golden light, so here are some of those things that we are stoked to experience in person come this fall.

the sale, right after my classes.

Funke Ogunmefun:

I’m really excited to organize and volunteer at events for the Nigerian Students’ Association! I’m on the club’s executive team and I’m so excited to hopefully meet lots of new first-year club members at our events and at Clubs’ Week this fall.

The club has been an immense part of my journey at U of C and I always look forward to seeing both new and familiar faces around campus at club events.

Imaginus:

Students get to experience life on campus again.

Enobong Ukpong & Funke Ogunmefun News Assistant & Volunteer

N

MARIAH WILSON

ow that the Fall 2021 semester is upon us, we’ve thought a lot about what we’re hoping to experience again for the first time in nearly two years. The pandemic has painted most things pre-quarantine

One of my favourite University of Calgary on-campus experiences simply has to be the week-long Imaginus poster sale. This event occurs twice every academic year— once in the fall semester and once in the winter semester—and is consistently met with excitement and an excellent turnout. Each semester, the poster sale features a myriad of posters with subjects ranging from classic album covers to TV show posters to obscure paintings of exotic animals — the list is as unpredictable as it is expansive. The posters are arranged in a fun maze that I often spend far too much time exploring nearly every single day of

Clubs:

Enobong Ukpong: Campus Walks: I’m really excited to have a reason to walk around on campus. I really miss the anxious speedwalking when you’re nearly late for a class.

Or the mocking sting of frostbite on your fingers when it’s -30 degrees

and you decided not to bring your gloves with you because you didn’t want to take them off when you used your phone. I miss walking too close to the geese but giving the rabbits a wide berth. In September, I will definitely complain that the ten-minute walk between my dorm and my classes is simply too strenuous, but right now I’m eager to stretch my legs.

TFDL:

I’m also looking forward to going to the library. I’m excited to go to the fifth floor — in my freshman year someone told me that was the coolest floor and I never stopped to question it — and spread my textbooks on one of those wide tables right across from the windows.

There I can watch the sun set in oranges and yellows, squint when the light gets into my eyes and go home when I inevitably forget to bring my laptop charger.

14 | SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

general@thegauntlet.ca

TEST STRESS »

So you’re struggling academically — now what?

courtesy ENERGEPIC.COM from PEXELS

There are on-campus resources for students to access when they need support.

Rachneet Randhawa General Editor

W

ith the start of the new school year, you’re bound to get burnt out and in need of some academic support. For when you inevitably fail your first midterm, here are some resources you can check out.

Academic turnaround program: For those who are facing dire straits and need to regain their confidence in their academic standing, this is a great option. The Academic Turnaround Seminar Series is a weekly non-credit class designed to provide you with context strategies, help create goals and allow you to reflect on your continual improvement and wellbeing on a step-by-step basis. It comes with a cost of $500 and you require a passing grade of 70 per cent. It may seem too extra but it’s well worth your time as there will be tremendous gains in the long run — one of which may be getting off of academic probation.

Not everybody is admitted, so be sure to chat with an advisor first to see if you’re an appropriate fit.

Success Seminars: For those that are decently passing their courses this may be the right option for you and a popular one for most students. Through condensed but handy workshops a group of trained peers or students share their key tips and skills for students to learn for study habits. Their programming focuses on three key areas — “Learning How to Learn” which includes helpful tactics to make you study smarter and not harder, “Time Management

and Avoiding Procrastination” which includes becoming proactive about scheduling study sessions assignments and lastly “Note-taking” which includes taking result-oriented notes for lectures and readings to bolster your study sessions. Workshops are offered often and I guaranteed to attend a handful will Fastrack you to GPA glory PASS program:

These are organized study groups for designated courses usually run by PASS leaders or student peers who have completed said course and did well.

Not all courses are supported— only the coveted ones that are considered more difficult. The nice aspect about this alternative approach is that you are getting the peer’s lived experience in a collaborative way where you are free to ask questions. It may also be less intimidating than asking your professor or Teaching Assistant (TA) for help. It doesn’t hurt to try it out, plus you might make a friend or two that is stressing out about the exact same midterm.

Virtual study hall: It’s not for everyone, but will definitely help keep you motivated and remain on track. These Virtual Study Groups are online, collaborative, peer-to-peer study groups that occur weekly and are offered in a variety of different formats including course-based, program based, open study sessions and first-year study groups. We are social creatures, so it helps to make a connection once in a while to stay in the loop. For those of you who are new to virtual learning, or even commute to campus so don’t get to interact with others as much, I would recommend

this as you can make new friends and adapt together to the daunting new task of going to university.

busy college student juggling multiple responsibilities, but to give yourself balance. It also has a drastic impact on your academic performance.

Writing Support Services:

Group programs:

Gone are the days where you can churn out a book report for your English Literature class the night before in high school and still pass smoothly with a decent B+. You will probably make at least a few trips to the writing support services thanks to the boatload of research papers you’ll write.

I’m telling you this now because pretty much all your professors and TA’s will tell you to go here first before you reach out to them after you’ve bombed your first-course writing assignment.

And although you may think you’re a pro, I’m not kidding when I say even a few sessions will improve your writing skills dramatically. The one-on-one coaching for writing support enables you to become an independent and effective writer. The writing support tutors come from a variety of backgrounds from disciplines and offer consultations based on your academic needs. They’ll walk you step-by-step through your writing process and give your useful strategies to write more relevant content for your course paper.

Better yet they give ongoing feedback on a little bit of everything from essay structure, paragraph development, sentence structure, style, grammar and punctuation. Whether or not English is your first language you are bound to learn a thing or two.

These are basically guided tours and peer self-help guided by psychologists and social workers from the mental health team. For example, Roots of Resiliency is a seven-week program I highly recommend as you learn from professionals to develop a growth mindset, earn an honorarium and usually snag a gift certificate. Overall, you have the chance to learn how to practice new skills in goal setting, physical literacy, healthy eating, healthy thinking and problem solving, stress management and spiritual and social connectedness. Typically it’s led by professionals like nutritionists, health promotion practitioners and counsellors. Plus, you get to meet like-minded peers who are experiencing similar issues of stress, anxiety or depression that you may also be facing making it more relatable and interactive than going to a generic counselling session.

Active living: Although we’re all given access to the campus gym for workouts it may not be as valid of an option given social distancing requirements. You can turn it up a notch and spice it up through other facilities like drop-in organized sports or virtual workout sessions.

Intramurals and Rec Sports: Beginning Aug. 16, students can begin registering for their favourite sports.

This is a good option as it keeps you more motivated to maintain a fitness routine rather than doing the basics of cardio and weight lifting at a traditional gym.

Workshops:

Virtual fitness groups:

If groups are not your thing or you require more flexibility with your school schedule, these 50-minute wellness workshops offer quick and effective strategies to maintain mental health. These workshops are based on four themes of self-acceptance, stress and anxiety, improving behaviours and mood and emotional well-being with virtual options as well.

For those who commute to campus and are time-strapped, what better way to get moving than to participate in a virtual fitness class? There’s usually a fee but it’s so worth it compared to the conventional gym membership in which you’re mostly isolated for workouts. If you don’t want to drop cash then you can also lookout for the UCalgary Together events like stretching, yoga and exercising together where you can find community support amidst the social distancing.

Wellness services: Recovery College Calgary: Physical and mental wellbeing are so crucial, not only to avoid burnout as a

from offered via the Canadian Mental Health Association Calgary branch, these on-demand courses are proactive in teaching you about various mental wellness topics like Body Image, Adulting 101 and Building Better Boundaries. For those of you with busy schedules, you can easily do one of these in your off-times. And best of all they’re free for U of C students.

With more than 30 courses to choose

SEPTMEBER 20, 2021 | 15

thegauntlet.ca/category/lifestyle BRAIN UPKEEP »

Tips to stay mentally balanced during the transition back to campus Krishna Shetye

Everyone handles stress differently.

Enjoy a social buffer period.

As important as it is to respect yourself during this time, it’s just as important to allow people around you to process their emotions. There is no need for you to compare your unique feelings to your peers. You owe nothing and there is no step-bystep guide that you need to follow to come out successful during the transition.

Cut yourself some social slack. Many students have not interacted with different people in over a year. It is completely normal to have less social endurance post-isolation. Again, comparing yourself to others will only damage your self perception and it’s important to respect your transition into university social life.

Volunteer

A

s the University of Calgary begins its fall transition into in-person learning, students may find it difficult to cope with the apparent normalcy of a face-to-face environment. There is a massive incoming wave of students who are unacquainted with the campus atmosphere. Most third-year students have only had one full semester in person, while second-year students have never experienced in-person university at all.

In times like these, it’s important for students to take care of themselves and their mental health. To prepare for this tough transition and avoid burnout, the Gauntlet has compiled some tips to assist all students.

It’s ok to not be ok.

No matter how severe the experience, all students have lived through a global pandemic. Any feelings you have are valid and it’s important to respect your own healing process.

Whether you feel exhausted or elated, just know that you are not alone.

No need to overcompensate.

Isolation from university was difficult for many students in many different ways. Students who never experienced the university atmosphere were unable to take part in incredible clubs and organizational activities that shape the character of U of C. It may be tempting to jump into every in-person activity you see.

However, it’s important to pace yourself, and choose your commitments carefully. School will get much more stressful as the months progress and it’s important to not burn yourself out at the expense of your academic standings.

Empathize with your fellow students.

The best way to realize you’re not alone is by discussing your difficulties with your peers. No matter how alone you feel in university, you can find your people just by discussing and relating your struggles.

U of C has an incredible student body with so many varied interests and stories. Being open-minded will do wonders for those who are struggling because the chances are, the person next to them feels the same way.

Trust yourself.

You know yourself best. During this transition, it’s important to

courtesy PIXABABY

Mental health is important. trust your instincts and maintain your own personal boundaries.

While open-mindedness will help you make meaningful connections with fellow students, you should never compromise your own boundaries, like touching and hugging, just to feel a part of the group. This goes both ways — if your peer is visibly uncomfortable with the breach of physical boundaries, respect their preferences.

Lean in to the fresh start.

In a way, we are all first-years again. Although some have more

experience than others with in-person university, returning is a fresh experience for us all and it can be a great opportunity to gain some fantastic perspective.

Self-care is critical.

Self-care was and continues to be vital as a university student. To ensure you are holding yourself accountable, try to plan your week to include a few activities that will improve your mental and physical health. Never compromise on these standards and continue to support yourself.

16 | SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

general@thegauntlet.ca

ADVICE CORNER »

The world’s best first-year advice Rachneet Randhawa & Demilade Odusola General Editor & Volunteer

I

f we were to write a letter to our first-year self back when we were freshmen we would give ourselves a lot of advice for embarking on our university journey. Now, looking back, we want to impart some valuable advice so you don’t make the same mistakes we did. Here’s some unsolicited but hopefully useful advice for the upcoming year.

Know the difference between “F” and “W.”

This is my best-kept advice. Be wary of the huge difference between a Failure, or “F,” and Withdrawal, or “W,” because one doesn’t sting as hard as the other. If you were to score less than 50 per cent overall in a course and end up with an F, your GPA would plummet and although possible, it’s difficult to recover to good standing. A withdrawal is when you remove yourself from a course by the academic calendar deadline.

Although both show up on your academic transcript, one has a greater impact than the other. Please don’t get into the mindset of winging it — it’s tempting as a first-year student to do this in a junior-level course and take your chances. But trust me, it’s not worth it. Your head will be spinning when you realize that professors do indeed drop F-bombs and no sir, it’s not high school where you can brush it off during summer school.

Join a club.

There are over 300 clubs ranging

from sports clubs to cultural and ethnic clubs to academic clubs and they can all be found on the Students’ Union (SU) website. Clubs are a great way to make friends if you are looking to meet people who share similar interests with you outside of your area of study or degree.

Go to professor office hours and use academic resources.

Another must that is often overlooked is going to office hours. Many new students find it nerve-racking to have a sit-down with their course professor. In fact, by default, professors will have office hours for the semester, but most students fail to take advantage of them. It seems daunting at first, but trust us, your instructors are the ones to cheer you on. Not only are they a powerhouse of knowledge, they may also impart some valuable advice for approaching your next big assignment, or provide timely feedback on how to do better on your next midterm. But always remember to go prepared with a handful of questions ready to go as it looks impolite and as if you’re disinterested. Typically, your professors and TAs are always available to help — all you have to do is ask. There are also lots of academic resources offered by U of C that are only a search away on the school website.

Book an appointment with your program advisor early on.

Another mistake I see students making is going to generic faculty academic advising rather than their program advising. Of course, this is difficult if you don’t have your degree program decided, which is why

There are ways to make your first year go more smoothly.

we recommend booking an appointment with an Exploratory Advisor at the Student Success Center at the Taylor Family Digital Library. Once you do, your program advisor will help you determine the best track to complete your core and elective requirements. We would advise you to talk to your faculty advisors at least once a semester just to make sure you are on track for completing your degree. You can also use that to figure out what steps you need to take to get back on track.

Create a virtual study group.

For those of you who commute to campus or who work and have less time for camaraderie and socialization but are also wanting someone to discuss course material with, online study groups are a great two-in-one deal. With Facebook groups or applications like Slack or Discord, it’s easier than ever to stay in touch and set up a regular Zoom or Google hangouts and study group. Although study groups are not for everyone, what I appreciate about them is that they allow you to become transparent and accountable. Also, since you’re forced to re-teach the course material to another person, you can reinforce your understanding of it. There are so many people all around campus — students and staff alike — that are willing to help and offer assistance in whatever capacity they can. There are bound to be struggles, issues or concerns while you are studying, and more than likely there are other people that have gone through or are going through those same situations. Sharing your issues

with someone and reaching out for help will very likely help you reach a solution quicker.

Start networking early.

Networking is essential for exchanging information and professional development. You will see multiple events like the Career Fair and Graduate School Fair pop up on campus so be sure to drop by them once in a while. If you want more coaching, check out the campus Career Services who can give you more tactics. Finally, another way to meet people is by attending events on campus. Many different faculties and offices like the International Students Services or Leadership and Student Engagement Office are always hosting and organizing events on campus.

Take advantage of student discounts and deals.

I think this is the one good reason to be — and pretty much the only reason to remain — a student, because you maintain a modicum of respect in a working society by getting some sweet deals. There’s plenty of options like the Student Price Card, UniDays and Student Beans to name a few. Plus, if you join certain clubs on campus as a contributing member, you may receive a benefits card with which you receive discounts at local shopping venues and restaurants.

Take a block week course to fulfill elective requirements.

For some reason, I came across

this way too late. When I first heard an entire semester’s course can be completed within a single week, my mind was blown. This is a super great backup option for those who cannot give up their spring and summer semesters to fulfill course requirements, or cannot handle a full course load during the regular fall and winter academic school year. Some courses are exclusive to block week — like Ecofeminism, which is back by popular demand. It’s a hustle to brave a boot camp-style learning experience, but so worth it once that pesky degree requirement is done and over with.

Self-care is important.

Remember to take breaks and to have fun. This is one of the most important tips I can offer to any student. Schoolwork can — and will — get overwhelming and it is important to remember to take breaks and pace yourself. I know I have talked a lot about taking your studies seriously, but sometimes spending that extra hour studying will not make a difference and will only cause burnout. I read somewhere that scheduling breaks or carving out time for hanging out with friends or maintaining a social life makes it easier to actually have a social life. I do not know the extent to how true this is, but if you find that your social life is suffering because of your studies, you can try it out.

Well, there you have it. These are our tips on how to survive your first year at the U of C. We wish you the best of luck!

VALERY PEREZ

SEPTMEBER 20, 2021 | 17

thegauntlet.ca/category/lifestyle LITERATURE FOR THE SOUL »

courtesy MONSTERA from PEXELS

Take your time to get to know which book is right for you.

Why the non-fiction genre of self improvement might be for you Harleen Mundi Volunteer

I

remember the first time I tried meditation.

To be fair, I have been exposed to and have been practicing meditation my entire life without realizing it but an eleventh grade World Religions class seemed just the place to start.

We sat down in our separate corners with instrumental music dancing in the background. All I could think about was how uncomfortable it was to sit on the floor or open my eyes periodically to watch if other students were taking it seriously.

My mind lived in a constant state of chatter and at the time and I believed that to be a good thing. It meant that, as my sister jokes, I was able to live in my safe little world because my imagination distanced me from reality. What that also meant was that when I would be asked to grab milk from the fridge, I would be so caught up in my daydreams that I’d come back with bread and be branded as insane by my family. It sounds humorous but what I lacked was mindfulness and as my dad always says, “everything is good in moderation.” Therefore, even imagination, like everything, comes with a price. That price can look like forgetfulness but it can also be when the story in your head shifts from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days to Insidious 3.

Desperate to maintain mindfulness, decrease anxiousness, improve my overall well-being and keep my mind in a romantic comedy, I catapulted into a literary genre I had never dared to venture into before — “self-

help” and “self-improvement.” In no time my life would resemble a movie montage of the characters who decide to change their lives overnight and spend the next few months going on runs every morning, picking up weights while simultaneously reading and listening to podcasts while cooking. This. Was. It. It’s important to realize that when we are navigating the self-help genre, we’ll also have to accept that not everything will resonate with us. That’s probably the most captivating part of it all. We can choose what serves us best whether that’s between the texts or within a text itself. The readings I mention in this article are more about ways to improve your mindset than anything else. It’s up to you to decide what will be your main takeaways and the following are three of mine.

Atomic Habits by James Clear It is 2021 and I have become that much more acquainted with meditation than I was during my World Religions class in 2018. During the beginning of the pandemic, I struggled to make a habit out of it. There were days when I felt perfectly fine and did not make the effort to sit down. On harder days, meditation came about more naturally. Now I’m aware that for it to truly make a difference, I have to make a disciplined habit out of it. I wake up around 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., sit outside and meditate every morning using a variety of sources, my favourites being Headspace and Balance. I expect that in no time restlessness will be a long-forgotten memory but as the famous saying goes, “the day you plant the seed is not the day you will

eat the fruit.”

In a book I recently started called Atomic Habits, James Clear speaks on the “Plateau of Latent Potential,” a certain “threshold” we have to pass for our habits to truly make a difference. In other words, he focuses on the concept of delayed gratification, how small habits can accumulate to become something great over time. It’s as if we are doing “1% better every day” which seems like an insignificant quantity, something as atomic as picking up a coffee mug that’s been on your bedside table for days now. However, it prevents us from doing “1% worse every day” and eventually ending up with stacks of dishes in our bedrooms.

Of course, when we don’t instantly witness the benefits of these habits, we are less motivated to continue to pursue them in the long term. Clear refers to this as the “Valley of Disappointment.” By this, he means when we expect progress to be “linear” and to follow a certain time-frame, we suffer from disappointment. Or as he later writes, when we confuse “motion” with “ action,” we set up the false idea that we are making any progress at all. In preparation for this article, I revisited books that have impacted me and also all the highlights and markings that I made on them to brainstorm what I wanted to write about— that is motion. However, here I am actively writing the article and that is action. Often we get caught up in disappointments and lack of progress that we don’t realize it is the effort of acquiring seeds, getting the right soil, watering the plants and having the right weather conditions that we can finally see our flowers start to

grow. It takes persistence to achieve what Clear calls our “breakthrough moment.”

101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest I have never been one for routines.

Growing up I regarded them as boring and incapable of spontaneity.

Nevertheless, I still subconsciously took part in them. Brianna Wiest’s book is packed with essays that surround emotional intelligence, expectations and subconscious behaviours. Particularly, her essay on the “Psychology of Daily Routine” teaches us that when we become habituated to our routines we can increase our “sense of safety” and stability by “deactivating our fight or flight” and “fear of the unknown.”

Implicit in Wiest’s essay is that routine also reduces decision fatigue, a concept Jay Shetty shares in his podcast “On Purpose.” Psychologically we can save our energy when small decisions such as when to have lunch are already entrenched into our day. In all my years of schooling before post-secondary education, I wore uniforms. Cut to the first year of university and it took real energy to choose what to wear. Therefore, when we practice “habitualness,” we can preserve energy for bigger decisions in our day and give ourselves the freedom to be spontaneous in those moments.

Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty Shetty’s comparison between a “monkey mind” and “monk mind,” along with the fact that we have around “seventy thousand thoughts each day” provided the basis for my analysis when it came to my own

mind as well. For starters, it was easily distracted, succumbed to procrastination and overthought little things. My main focus when I came across this genre, was clearing the white noise or as Shetty terms it “the dust” that “obscures our true selves” because that is what it means to “think like a monk.” From exercises the book introduced that audited my negative thoughts to ones that allowed me to rate my fears, I learned that in reality —some thoughts are just thoughts.

As simple as it sounds, we don’t need to judge them, analyze them or prove them right or wrong. Andy Puddicome, founder of the digital meditation app Headspace often offers the analogy that meditation is like “sitting on the side of the road and watching the traffic go by.” We don’t try to jump in front of the traffic or stop the cars. We just peacefully watch them go by. Kevin from “Fearcast Podcast’’ insists that thoughts are quite neutral and their presence alone is not enough to convince us that they are true but when we fear them and attach them to a strong emotional response, we program ourselves to hold onto them.

Furthermore, Think Like a Monk references the analogy of a “charioteer” from the Bhagavad Gita, describing the reins a charioteer uses to direct horses as a metaphor for the mind.

In the end, once we sit back and explore things objectively without expectations and judgements, build discipline with habits and routine we can truly take control of the reins or the mind and steer our life into the direction that best serves and resonates with us.

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CAFFEINE FIEND »

Coffee lovers: Best places to get a caffeine boost on campus Rachneet Randhawa General Editor

W

e’re counting down our top five best places to grab a coffee on campus. Now, to avoid being generic, we will not include big-name coffeehouse chains like Tim Hortons or Starbucks. Not only are those obvious choices

for most of us, but we also want to support more niche and local businesses that brew some delicious coffee. For your reference, here’s a complete list of coffee outlets on campus by building.

The Coffee Company: I have always been a fan of this place. It took me a while to warm

up to it, but it was well worth it — especially their hazelnut cream coffee blend, which is simply delectable. Their pastries are a bit overpriced, but I appreciate the fact that they’re located in Mac Hall and I don’t have to wait in a long queue, unlike other coffee places on campus.

Good Earth: This is the next best and I guess premium choice after Starbucks with two convenient locations — one in the Taylor Family Digital Library (TFDL) and another in the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) building.

Although their espresso is a bit strong for my taste, most of their drinks really pack a punch.

Whether you’re grabbing a cafe mocha or latte, you’ll be sure to be awake for those pesky early morning lectures.

Teeja:

courtesy NATHAN DUMLO

If you are willing to make the trek

to the other side of the world, we suggest you check out this place in the EEEL building. Ironically, coffee is not their strong suit, but they do have that option. If you’re equally a lover of tea like myself, you’ll love their 100 per cent organic tea bar, free of toxic chemicals and additives. So, if you’re all about sustainability or being a health-nut, I would drop by for tea instead.

Coffee dispensaries: These are places that don’t specialize in making coffee, per se. There are one-off places like The Landing in the dining hall, which offers an automated dispensary with some fun flavours, or and Bento Sushi in the Education Tower. These aren’t exactly premium coffee places, but don’t be deterred. Dispensaries are a good option for those of you who are in a rush and scurrying to get to your group meetings. On a brighter note, Cinnzeo has recently opened a new location on campus and also sells different but basic blends of

coffee.

Again, you may just prefer your good ol’ Starbucks. In that case, you’ll find three convenient locations — one in the bookstore, another across the Olympic Oval, close to Crowsnest Hall and the last nearby the U of C residence buildings in Yamnuska Hall. Another fun fact — many offices on campus offer coffee free of charge if you’re dropping in to study or volunteer as a peer helper, like the Women’s Resource Centre, if you’re on a budget or prefer a simpler drink.

As you can see, you have a boatload of options to get your caffeine buzz on and there’s bound to be something for everyone. If you’ve never had coffee and were a low-key hot chocolate lover or aren’t a fan of coffee to begin with, as an incoming freshman we guarantee you’ll adopt a semi-addiction by your senior year either way. So keep calm and coffee on because where there’s coffee, there’s hope.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021 | 19

HUMOUR »

Editors: Ava Zardynezhad & Rachneet Randhawa general@thegauntlet.ca @GauntletUofC

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

FROSH tarot reading ship, which is a very important partnership. But, yes, it also deals with love and relationships so keep an eye out.

X - The Zipper: The Zipper and the Wheel of Fortune are one and the same. They both speak of the ups and downs in life and the cycle that we all follow. This card also deals with luck — many who have spun the Zipper did it for good luck while others have overspun, making their luck go sour.

Ramiro Bustamante Torres Third-Eye Enthusiast

E

veryone’s a little worried and excited about going back to university and what it’s going to be like. For some, this will be their first time on campus ever. To ease your worries, I have consulted the university spirit guides and have received a message of what to ex-

pect for the coming year. Below are the three cards I pulled from my special university tarot and used in a three-card spread to symbolize the coming semester as a whole.

man. Here we can see the eagerness to get started along with a full backpack, a clear symbol of being in preparation.

0 - The Freshman:

This card correlates with the Lovers card. Now, it doesn’t just deal with love but with partnerships, like in group projects or with lab partners. It also refers to friend-

Similar to the Fool in the common major arcana, this card deals with beginnings — like being a fresh-

VI - The Group Members:

Now that we have our spread, let’s interpret it. With the Freshman in the spread, we can expect tons of new people on our campus — firstyear students and upper-years who have never been on campus before.

There has also been construction ongoing since before online classes began, so some familiar spots won’t be so familiar. The Group Members showing up is a clear indication of everyone coming back together again, after spending months seeing each other through tiny screens

or not even seeing each other at all — yes, I know some of you never turned your camera on, not even once. It can also signify the start of new friendships and maybe even a relationship. But don’t rush anything yet. Finally, the Zipper signifies that this year will be a move into the routine that we all know and love but with some changes.

This semester back will have many of the same experiences as before, including running around campus trying to get to your lecture before someone takes your unassigned seat, hunting for a study spot wherever you can find one and trying to find a spot to just sleep after a three-hour lab. Now add a face mask and many bottles of hand sanitizer in the mix and we’ve got a spruced-up routine.

Also, some lectures will be online only, so make sure to check your schedule for those. All in all, this new year will bring new things for everyone, even the university veterans on the verge of graduating.

I wish everyone good luck — and please, wash your hands.

HOROSCOPES »

What section should you volunteer for at the Gauntlet based on your zodiac sign?

Ramiro Bustamante Torres Lazy Libra

Virgo (August 22 - September 22) You should try the News or Lifestyle sections. As an earth sign, you are here to get the facts and the news section is just that. As a perfectionist, I know you have tips on how to get your life together and in the lifestyle section, you can share them with everyone.

Libra (September 23 - October 22) For you, the Humour or Arts & Culture sections are the best.

As an air sign and one of the most social signs, both of these sections work well for you. On one hand, your witty jokes will be perfect to write a quick piece like “Top 10 Most Embarrassing Moments on Campus.”

On the other hand, by showing up to new events happening like concerts or art shows, you will give an exemplary review to bring in the crowd.

Scorpio (October 23 - November 22) Try out the Lifestyle or Sports sections. Always one of the best dressed, you can write an article giving fashion tips with a list of Dos and Don’ts for first dates. You’re also no stranger to the field of competition so you would excel at writing reviews for upcoming sports events.

Sagittarius (November 23 - December 21) Give a shot at the Opinions or News sections. A fire sign never runs out of thoughts and you would have the hottest takes for the opinions section. Interviews are where you thrive by asking the hard questions so you can get the story your readers deserve.

Capricorn (December 22 - January 20) I divine that Visuals or Voices would be something for you.

You have an eye for the finer things in life so taking a picture or putting together a graphic for the visuals team is something you could try.

You’re also aware of all that is around you so getting your voice heard can

be something you should do — your experiences might help others.

Aquarius (January 21 - February 19) For an Aquarius, the Voices or Science and Technology sections could be your forte. As one of the most unique signs, you are exposed to the most interesting facets of life and it would be enlightening to read all about them. With your third eye on the future, writing about the breakthroughs in science would be in your skillset.

Pisces (February 20 - March 20) The best sections for you are Lifestyle or News. You are keenly aware of your emotions so you have figured out ways to work them out and keep an eye on your mental health. As a lifestyle writer, you can share what you’ve learned and what steps others can take to get help or just maintain a healthy set of habits.

You are very empathetic to others so you seeing injustice happening or major decisions being made while those impacted are unaware gets to you. The news section will be your spotlight to bring those issues to

light.

Aries (March 21 - April 20) For the ram of the zodiac, the News or Opinions sections are perfect for you. Getting the latest scoop takes the tenacity of a fire sign. Not fearing their opinions to be heard takes the will of a ram.

Both of these sections are in your domain.

Taurus (April 21 - May 20) Two great sections for you are Science and Technology or Sports. Being straightforward and upfront of the facts is good for the science section and remaining grounded in a heated match or game will be needed for the sports section.

Gemini (May 21 – June 21) Opinions or Humour.

The chatty sign has thoughts and opinions that need to be heard so why not try the Opinions section? Also, a very sociable sign you can lighten the mood with a few jokes or some dry humour and try your hand at the Humour section.

Cancer (June 22 – July 22) For this water sign, Voices or News sections are where it’s at for you. The power of emotions can make a piece an amazing work. In the Voices section, you can explore your experiences and share them with an audience who can benefit from it. Much like Pisces, injustice is something that salts your crab so getting that interview or exposing the shadowy deals occurring would be something you could do.

Leo (July 23 – August 21) Who else could excel at these two — Arts & Culture or Visuals sections — if not you, Leo? As the lion of the zodiac, you are well aware of who is in the limelight and you can write reviews that will have readers pulled in and wishing they were there with you. You know what can also grab everyone’s attention, so by helping the visuals section you can get that perfect, golden ratio photograph that looks like a renaissance piece.