march 9, 2022 issue 12 | volume 32 nexusnewspaper.com
camosun’s student voice since 1990
Inside out Lansdowne campus as you’ve never seen it PAGE 6
Black History Month was only the beginning page 2
Camosun College student gets co-op award page 3
New exhibit explores potlatch culture through art page 8
VIEWS
2 camosun’s student voice since 1990
Next publication: March 23, 2022 Deadline: 9 am Monday March 14, 2022 Address: Location: Phone: Email: Website:
3100 Foul Bay Rd., Victoria, BC, V8P 5J2 Lansdowne Richmond House 201 250-370-3591 editor@nexusnewspaper.com nexusnewspaper.com
Publisher:
Nexus Publishing Society
NEXUS PUBLISHING SOCIETY STUDENT BOARD MEMBERS
President - Jayden Grieve Vice-President - Ethan Badr Treasurer/Secretary Samara Oscroft Director-at-Large - Celina Lessard Director-at-Large - Grace Miller MANAGING EDITOR
Greg Pratt STUDENT EDITOR
Caitlin Kingsmill STAFF WRITERS
Lane Chevrier Nicolas Ihmels Jacqueline Sperber ADVERTISING SALES
Greg Pratt 250‑370-3591 NEXUS IS A MEMBER OF CANADIAN UNIVERSITY PRESS CONTRIBUTORS
Parker Dix Nya Elliott Remi Johnston Alexis Koome Eric Lee Celina Lessard Jasmine Ng Anthony Rizzo Emily Welch
Send a letter Nexus prints letters to the editor. Nexus reserves the right to refuse publication of letters. Letters must include full name and student number if a Camosun student (not printed). Nexus accepts all letters by email to editor@nexusnewspaper.com. We reserve the right to edit all letters.
OVERHEARD AT NEXUS: “Fucking Overheard at Nexus...”
With reading break now over, it looks like the end of this semester is already in sight. Hopefully you’re looking forward to some fun and exciting summer plans. Since January, the state of things seems to have been getting progressively weirder and more unsettling. Over the last couple of weeks, Canada invoked the Emergency Act for the first time, Russia invaded the Ukraine, and Kanye West went on an Instagram tirade teasing his new album, which was, unfortunately, not released. When people originally started using the term “the new normal,” I think it was mainly to signal a post-pandemic era in which COVID-19 no longer existed. But, as it turns out, that does not appear to be on the horizon, and the consensus is that COVID-19 is something we will never entirely be rid of. Accordingly, we are facing economic, social, and political turmoil. If you’ve worked in customer service over the past couple years, you’ve probably noticed that the public is literally going insane. People are losing their minds and being unbearably annoying—and understandably so. In an effort to dilute the misery that encompasses working a customer service job throughout a pandemic, I’ve started to view work as a comedic event instead of an actual job. I think it’s good to try and stay amused by the absurdity of things instead of only thinking about the bad stuff. Despite all this, some things have not changed. I still go to sleep each night, my cat still always wants to play fetch with hair elastics, my nextdoor neighbours still order Skip the Dishes for dinner every day, and I still drink coffee and listen to music on my way to school in the mornings. On one hand, I’m taking the existential fear and uncertainty as an opportunity to move somewhere new and start doing something different with my life, and, on the other hand, I’m learning to cherish the repetitive and mundane parts of life. I can at least count on those things to stick around. As the year continues to unfold and reveal its unconventional and worrisome happenings, hopefully you can all find a few little rituals in your life that never cease, and that never fail to be enjoyed. When they said “variety is the spice of life,” I think they mistook the first word, which should have been “routine.” Caitlin Kingsmill, student editor caitlin@nexusnewspaper.com
flashback 25 Years Ago in Nexus
All editorial content appearing in Nexus is property of the Nexus Publishing Society. Stories, photographs, and artwork contained herein cannot be reproduced without written permission of the Nexus Publishing Society. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors, not of Nexus. Nexus has no official ties to the administration of Camosun College. One copy of Nexus is available per issue, per person.
COVER PHOTO: Celina Lessard/Nexus
editor’s letter Routine is the new variety
Dabber dispute: Our March 3, 1997 issue detailed how Camosun students and faculty were feuding over the school’s pending involvement with The Satellite Bingo Network. The school planned to put revenue generated through the partnership toward bursaries and food vouchers; although some members of the school board said they should do whatever necessary to help students, most were outraged by the idea of endorsing gambling. Positively Purdy: Also in this issue, one of our writers interviewed
esteemed Canadian poet Al Purdy at his home in Sidney. Purdy spoke about his roots in writing and his thoughts on nationalism and the environment. Purdy passed away just a few years later, in 2000. At the time it was said to have occurred in his sleep caused by his battle with lung cancer. However, in 2016, news surfaced that it was an assisted death guided by the founder of the Right to Die Society of Canada. Lurking and wiping: In this issue’s crime report, news of a man lurking in women’s washrooms on campus surfaced. He was reported to have been seen on multiple occasions, sitting in stalls for hours at a time and covering the crack in the door with a long coat. Also, the person behind the auto theft recorded earlier in the semester maybe returned to Camosun, as a windshield wiper was stolen from a vehicle in the parking lot.
March 9, 2022
open space Black History Month is a good start, but here’s what else we can do NYA ELLIOTT CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Now that Black History Month is over, I already feel people losing interest in the movement. Maybe because they believe that everything Black Lives Matter-related happens in February, but that’s not the case. There’s so much we can do in the other months as well.
in our society we have to put in the work every day of the year. That’s what makes the difference between a movement and a moment. Too many have lost interest now that media coverage of Black Lives Matter is slowing down. But there are still Black people being killed and fighting against racism every day in the world, including here.
One month out of the year is a good start, but to see a difference in our society we have to put in the work every day of the year. That’s what makes the difference between a movement and a moment. I don’t just mean going to protests or donating to Black charities. Although those are all great examples of how to be a proactive ally, it’s also important to continuously do smaller acts that are easier to commit to, like supporting Black businesses, further educating ourselves about the Black experience, and speaking up against racism toward Black people and any members of the BIPOC community. There’s still lots of racism and discrimination directed toward the Black community. It can be subtle, but when we notice it it’s vital to speak up. Unchecked comments and racist “jokes” cause a lot of pain; I’ve seen and heard a lot of these over the years. I’ve also witnessed how others struggle with speaking up against these comments; I’ve even experienced this myself. I remind myself that being a bystander is just as negatively impactful as being the one spreading these comments. It’s the small things that we can do year-round that help create a safe community for everyone, of every race, going to Camosun. One month out of the year is a good start, but to see a difference
A lot of people think Victoria is a progressive city, but I believe we can’t call it that just yet. We need to work harder to end discrimination and prejudice in our community first. This looks like raising and supporting more Black voices, and making conversations about race more common and encouraged. When these topics are considered awkward or taboo it holds us back from sharing views and information. An easy way to start is to spread awareness on social media or with your friends in person. Another important thing for us to do is to move away from the “I don’t see colour” philosophy. This kind of thinking holds us back. It’s not true that we are all seen as equal, so pretending we are isn’t going to get us anywhere. Instead, we should be celebrating our differences and the things that make us special. Moving past February, I’d like to see more students educated on Black history in Canada. I also hope the Black community celebrated their heritage this February. But February is just the beginning.
Something on your mind? If you’re a Camosun student, send Open Space submissions (up to 500 words) to editor@nexusnewspaper.com. Include your student number. Thanks!
Help us diversify. Join our team of volunteer writers. Have your voice heard.
What is your favourite hidden spot on campus?
by Jacqueline Sperber
JORDAN DANG
VICKI BOOMER
CHARLIE BLECHS
MARIA THOMAZ
CAMILLE LACROIX
“Probably the computer lab [in the Lansdowne library]; I like to do my homework there.”
“My f avourite spot on [L a n s d o w n e] c a m p u s i s Na’tsa’maht. It’s a beautiful, serene, spiritual place for me.”
“My favourite spot is probably t h e s e con d f lo or of t h e [Lansdowne] library, in one of the far corners or at the tables that have the windows, because it has a nice view and it’s quiet and good for studying.”
“The [Interurban] library, because of the view when you can see the window and a beautiful field out there.”
“These little pods here [in The Alex & Jo Campbell Centre for Health and Wellness at Interurban]. It’s a pretty good spot to do homework. They’re nice little pods, you have your own private space.”
B E K K Y S TA C H U R A LALLI “The fourth floor [of The Alex & Jo Campbell Centre for Health and Wellness at Interurban] facing out [toward Interurban Road]... There’s a corner that has a lot of windows and it’s really nice to study and get some light.”
NEWS
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students
Camosun Social Work student takes home co-op award CAITLIN KINGSMILL STUDENT EDITOR
Second-year Social Work student Matthew Hicks was recently awarded Camosun College’s 2021 Yvonne Thompson Page (YTP) Coop Student of the Year Award. Hicks worked as an electrician for 20 years before suffering a workplace injury and returning to school at age 43. “After a couple years of appointments they deemed it a permanent disability, which made me eligible for vocational retraining,” says Hicks. “So I came back to school and figured I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to completely change my career and have the funding to do so.” Hicks chose to go into social work; he says that throughout his life he has witnessed the effects of alcohol and drug abuse in the communities he’s lived in. “It just reinforced all of the social problems that people are facing and all of the challenges that kids are facing,” he says. “And I just really wanted to help.” Hicks says that the co-op program wasn’t something he initially planned on participating in, but he decided to do so after discussing his education and career goals with his mentors and educational stakeholders. He quickly began to find the program very valuable and impactful. “The co-op program gives you so many different skills,” he says. “Even for myself, who had a successful career, learning about social networking, building up your contacts for different jobs, learning about professional resume building, doing practice interviews. All that
“The co-op program gives you so many different skills. Even for myself, who had a successful career, learning about social networking, building up your contacts for different jobs, learning about professional resume building, doing practice interviews. All that stuff, even if you think you know it, there’s still stuff you can learn, still things you can improve.” MATTHEW HICKS CAMOSUN COLLEGE STUDENT
stuff, even if you think you know it, there’s still stuff you can learn, still things you can improve.” Applying these skills, Hicks did an informational interview at the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, which oversees income support for those facing barriers in BC. This is where Hicks ended up securing a position for his co-op work term, and where he started to catch the eyes of his colleagues and Camosun’s co-op faculty. “While he was on his co-op, just the way that he worked with clients—and these are people that are vulnerable—the way that he worked with them showed so much empathy and patience and a growth mindset that his colleagues started to notice,” says Camosun co-op and internship coordinator Sarah-Joy Kallos. The co-op program traditionally ends with a final report, but Hicks was asked by his co-op mentor and
Social Work instructor at Camosun to create a presentation for her first-year Social Work students. He agreed, and incorporated into the presentation information on different levels of government programs, how his experience relates to social work, and his own thoughts and feelings. “Word got out and within the week after I gave that presentation I was contacted by people at Camosun, all the way to the president,” says Hicks. “I was contacted by the co-op program, the Social Work program, and various representatives at Camosun. Then BC Public Service got ahold of my presentation and I started getting contacted by all different levels of government across BC.” Hicks did several more presentations at Camosun and at various levels of government. He was also asked to write a blog, which was shared on the internal provincial government website. When
PHOTO PROVIDED
Camosun College Social Work student Matthew Hicks.
Camosun’s Applied Learning, Co-operative Education and Career Services department got together to nominate a student for the coop award, they looked at factors like how students had impacted Camosun’s community and their own workplace. Hicks was chosen for the award. “I think the thing about him is he’s very approachable, he’s very accessible, he’s very kind, and that connects with people in a big way,” says Kallos. “I think that’s what
allowed him to be so successful in his workplace and in making an impact.” Since receiving Camosun’s YTP Co-op Student of the Year Award, Hicks’ award application has been passed on to provincial and national co-op associations. Hicks has chosen to stay in school for another year, and has been invited to apply for a permanent position with the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction.
sports
PHOTO PROVIDED
The Camosun Chargers men’s volleyball team took home gold at the PACWEST championships in late February; the team now advances to the nationals in Quebec from March 24 to 27.
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fitness
Camosun College aims to provide community, reduce stress with drop-in sports “We offer drop-in sports because it is a way to provide a nice social element and it increases self-confidence, you get the opportunity to meet new people.” MEGHAN LAMBETH CAMOSUN COLLEGE
BEN ANDREWS
Students playing badminton at a recent Camosun drop-in sports night, held at Lansdowne Middle School.
JACQUELINE SPERBER STAFF WRITER
Camosun College is offering free drop-in sports for students throughout the semester. The drop-in sports program provides a social element to students’ lives, says Camosun fitness and recreation coordinator Meghan Lambeth. Lambeth—who says that some form of drop-in sports has been offered at Camosun since 1993—says that students get the opportunity to meet new people, reduce their stress levels, and maybe learn something new while they’re at it. “We offer drop-in sports because it is a way to provide a nice
social element and it increases self-confidence, you get the opportunity to meet new people,” says Lambeth. “Especially if you’re a student who comes from another country or another province, you’re probably not going to know many people here, so it’s a great way to meet new people and create friendships that could be for the rest of your life. And also to have fun, stress reduction, that’s a big part of it. And for some of them, it might be learning a new sport.” The drop-in sports take place at Lansdowne Middle School on Tuesdays from 8 to 10 pm and Thursdays from 8:30 to 10:30 pm; basketball,
volleyball, badminton, and indoor soccer are currently being offered. Equipment is provided and the drop-in is mostly funded through the monthly $3.36 student recreation fee, which every student pays. For activity classes like yoga, Lambeth says that most of the classes are around $8. While activity classes are not offered this semester due to a lack of interest, Lambeth says that there are possibilities. “If you’re in a program, and if there’s five of you and you all want to have a break at 8 in the morning for yoga,” says Lambeth, “I’ll find an instructor.” Drop-in sports attendant Ben
Andrews, who is in Camosun’s Mechanical Engineering Bridge to UVic program, says that maybe half the students who show up come by themselves, so a community gets built around the drop-in sessions. “I would say maybe half the people come alone. So the other half maybe have a friend or two at most. But the whole idea is that there is a very fluid community,” he says. “There is something there for everyone, and because it is very unstructured and very casual, absolutely people who can come in can just walk right in. That’s the whole point—it’s drop-in. We barely even keep score. It’s very relaxed, it’s just there so people can meet each other and have fun, and get a little bit of exercise.” Due to that gym being in high demand, the drop-in classes take place in the evenings, which Andrews admits is “not at the best time.” “But the thing that it is convenient for is that it’s right next to Lansdowne campus, which a lot of
our students are living close to,” he says. “So that’s what’s convenient, we get a lot of people who live close by the campus already and dropping in at 8:30 or 8:00 is not so bad.” While Camosun tries to focus on connecting the student body with each other, Ben says that students being able to bring friends to the drop-in sports might happen in the future. “This semester, we really tried to focus on the student body,” he says. “It’s making sure that students feel like it’s for them, because it should be. Students shouldn’t feel like they walk in and they see a lot of people they don’t recognize or a lot of people they can’t necessarily relate to, because it’s about building community and making friends.” Andrews is enthusiastic about volleyball and badminton being offered this year. “It’s really fun to see; it attracts a wider variety of people,” he says. The sports end for this semester on March 15. See camosun.ca/ services/fitness-recreation for info.
camosun Camosun College Automotive instructor Patrick Jones receives excellence award
PHOTO PROVIDED
Patrick Jones (middle), Industry Training Authority of BC CEO Shelley Gray (L) and Camosun president Lane Trotter.
LANE CHEVRIER STAFF WRITER
The Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship Award for Excellence in Apprenticeship Education may be a mouthful to say, but for one Camosun instructor, it’s an unexpected acknowledgement of a role passionately performed. Automotive Service Technician instructor and program leader Patrick Jones has been teaching at Camosun
for 12 years, and winning the award came as a shock to him. “It’s pretty special to me that I was even nominated in the first place,” says Jones. “I’m pretty humbled by it, because it’s a special recognition of what I do here, which is certainly most appreciated.” Jones is the first-ever recipient of this annual award, which honours Canadian educators who deliver innovative and top-quality
instruction to Red Seal trades apprentices. One of the ways Jones has been innovative is by keeping Camosun’s automotive program current through the induction of electric vehicle repair training. “Teaching electrical theory can be a real challenge,” says Jones. “I try to come up with ways that are very engaging and that help students be able to essentially see electricity in action.”
Jones says that his love of cars is what inspires him, and he tries to infuse this into his students. “I like spreading the enthusiasm that I’ve got about cars. That’s really what got me into the trade, what kept me excited about being in the industry for so long, and what drove me to be an instructor in the first place,” he says. “I think at the end of the day it’s about inspiring students to be enthusiastic about cars, and the benefit of that, for the students coming out the other side, is they end up with some really good-paying jobs, and it kind of keeps the cycle going.” Level 3 Automotive Service Technician student Meghan Mrozinski thinks that Jones’ passion for his work is transformative. “He’s an actual car enthusiast, and you can tell. He’s always really up on what’s relevant and current in the car world,” she says. “For some people it’s like a job, but he genuinely enjoys cars and the technology and where it’s headed, so that can’t help but rub off on people.” Rather than use a static model of education, Jones says that he values a synergistic connection with his students. “I’m not trying to come across like I know everything. Even a student that has never learned anything about cars has something they can teach me too, which is awesome,”
says Jones. “I draw off the students, and I try and provide what they need to get out of the course, and I’ll do whatever I can to try and ensure that each student is coming away with the understanding that they need.” Mrozinski agrees, saying that Jones goes to great lengths to ensure no student is left in the dark. “He really makes a strong effort to make sure you understand,” says Mrozinski. “He’ll try and teach it to you several ways; he won’t just skip through something if you don’t understand.” Jones says that he takes a grounded, results-based approach to teaching, such as eliminating time limits on tests, which he doesn’t believe facilitate an effective flow of knowledge. “If some student takes quite a bit longer than another, then that’s okay,” says Jones. “I try and make sure that there isn’t pressure in that regard, because that isn’t really conducive to learning. I’m more concerned that students come out of the courses with a reasonable knowledge level than good scores on tests.” Mrozinski says she and her classmates all fully stand behind Jones as he receives the award, sharing his magnetic enthusiasm. “He’s incredible, we’re all so excited for him,” she says. “He really, really does deserve it.”
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alumni
Camosun alumna Jenessa Joy Klukas finds her voice in journalism CAITLIN KINGSMILL STUDENT EDITOR
Camosun College alumna Jenessa Joy Klukas, who completed the University Transfer program in 2018, has always had a passion for writing, but never anticipated the path that she would take to reach her current role. Looking back, it seems that every seemingly small decision has helped guide her to her writing position with IndigiNews. “Writing was a part of my life for as long as I can remember,” says Klukas. “It was something I really enjoyed and it was something I did to help me process, and it just slowly started to morph into more the older I got. I don’t think there was ever a time; it just happened.” Klukas began her studies at Camosun with interest in music and writing programs. “I started out with the writing courses because I needed to transfer over my theory classes with the Victoria Conservatory, and I was in the process of figuring that out,” she says. “And so I just did writing, and then I never stopped.” After Camosun, Klukas transferred to UVic to complete her writing degree. Her initial goal was to specialize in fiction, but upon discovering that all of the fiction workshops were full, she settled on creative nonfiction and screenplay writing. However, Klukas says she still wasn’t really considering going into journalism at that point. “I thought that screenwriting might be my end goal, but I didn’t really know what that looked like,” she says. “I thought maybe I’d work for a year and then go back to grad
“I really like the work environment at IndigiNews. We have a lot of Indigenous ways of being and Indigenous culture in the way we have the workplace running, and that makes me really happy. It’s a really powerful space and it feels like a very safe space to be in. ” JENESSA JOY KLUKAS CAMOSUN COLLEGE ALUMNA
school for screenwriting before I had really even considered journalism. There was definitely a level of uncertainty in any field of writing, and journalism is very competitive.” It was during this time that one of her professors at UVic recommended that Klukas submit one of her pieces to The Tyee, an independent Canadian news website. She did, and before long she had secured a fellowship with them—her first experience with professional journalism. “I never did anything like Nexus, or the Martlet. So that really was my first jump in, at The Tyee. I loved it,” she says. “I was really happy and excited to be there.” During the interview process with The Tyee, Jenessa expressed her desire to cover child education and welfare in her writing. Her passion for these subjects developed throughout her 11 years working in childcare, which she did before and during her studies. “I was in childcare for that long because I genuinely loved it. But I ultimately felt like it wasn’t where I was meant to be long term,” says
Klukas. “I’m really glad that I get to be a voice for education in a different way, and support education and childcare and child welfare in other ways.” Kari Jones, who fondly recalls teaching Klukas composition and creative writing courses at Camosun, says that her passion for child welfare was just as apparent back then. “That definitely seemed like something that she was interested in,” says Jones. “Not in her writing per se, but in just who she was as a person.” After her fellowship with The Tyee, Klukas landed a job with IndigiNews, an Indigenous-led news platform with offices on Vancouver Island and the Okanagan, where she works now. “I really like the work environment at IndigiNews,” says Klukas. “We have a lot of Indigenous ways of being and Indigenous culture in the way we have the workplace running, and that makes me really happy. It’s a really powerful space and it feels like a very safe space to be in. It’s just great to always feel
PHOTO PROVIDED
Camosun alumna Jenessa Joy Klukas now works at IndigiNews.
heard and welcomed as an Indigenous person.” In her role at IndigiNews, Klukas specializes in child education and welfare. After her time working in childcare, and completing a degree in writing, Klukas feels like she’s found her voice in journalism and is grateful to be able to address what she’s passionate about. “I think initially I never really
considered journalism because I didn’t know where my voice would fit,” says Klukas. “In this case, what I write really is in covering education, child welfare, childcare, and the foster-care system, and that means a lot to me. Those are the topics I’m really passionate about and I’m so glad that I get to cover them and that I get a way to tell other people’s stories in these spaces.”
comedy
Comedian Kirsten Van Ritzen brings comedy night back with March Madness
DAVID BRUCE PHOTOGRAPHY
Erin Sterling at a previous year’s March Madness comedy event.
NICOLAS IHMELS STAFF WRITER
Local comedian and actor Kirsten Van Ritzen and her group of comedy students will be putting on their annual March Madness Comedy show on March 9. Ritzen says that the event serves as a graduation show for her students and a chance to show off their skills for the first time. “It will feature a dozen performers who are in this current class of mine,” says Ritzen. “It’s their
graduation show. Half of them will be performing stand-up for the very first time, which will be a terrifying and exhilarating experience for them, and the other half has taken my class two or three times before, so they’ve got some experience on stage. They’ve got really strong material and they already know how much fun it will be to entertain a really big crowd and get those huge waves of laughter.” Ritzen says that one of the main goals of the upcoming show is to put
a bit of a comedic touch on the state of today’s world. “I call it March Madness because it feels like there’s a lot of craziness out there and a lot of anger, but it’s really up to each individual performer what they want to talk about,” she says. “There might be jokes about relationships, about their jobs, there will probably be a few pandemic jokes; people might choose to talk about a struggle that they’re having. I encourage people to find humour in difficult situations, such as if someone is experiencing anxiety or has lived with something like insomnia... It really can create awareness and provide a valuable connection to the audience through laughter and exploring those topics.” Ritzen says that comedy to her is a outlet that people can use when they need to unplug from life. “I love comedy,” she says. “We all need to laugh, especially coming out of this pandemic, life has been hard. All forms of comedy give us an outlet and a release and we need it. It’s a great pleasure to be able to perform comedy and to facilitate other people doing stand-up.” Ritzen says that what she loves so much about teaching comedy is meeting people and helping them find their voice.
“I love that I get to meet people from all different walks of life,” she says. “In this class, we’ve got people who are in age range from 18 to 80, so that’s just an incredibly diverse range of life experiences and perspectives. I’ve met people who are college students to retirees and every job you can imagine—lawyers, teachers, firefighters, construction workers. And everybody brings their own unique sense of humour, and I really enjoy getting to meet them and to help them explore comedy and discover their own voice.” Ritzen says that the main thing she wants out of this show is for the audience to laugh and enjoy themselves. “I want them to have a really good time,” she says. “I think that
it’s just so wonderful that we get to gather as a group to share an experience and that we’re all watching something happening live, we’re not watching a Netflix special. We’re watching a live comedian in front of us, sharing their point of view and we all get to share in that humour, so I want people to walk away saying, ‘Wow, I had a really great time. I can’t believe those comics, many of them were performing for the very first time, and they just did an amazing job.’”
March Madness Comedy 8 pm Saturday, March 19 $15 advance/$20 at door Sports View Bar & Grill, Oak Bay Rec Centre broadtheatrics.com
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Inside out
FEAT
Lansdowne campus from a different p
TURE Photos by Celina Lessard, contributing writer
perspective
nexusnewspaper.com
Sometimes in order to stop taking great sights for granted it’s important to look at them from a different perspective. And sometimes you just gotta get inside the clock tower in the Young Building. Either way, we did both here in this photo spread, offering you a different glimpse of sights students see at the Lansdowne campus every day. (And, some they don’t, like the inside of the clock tower in the Young Building.) Enjoy, and may this serve as a reminder of how many great sights there are out there every single day. Greg Pratt, managing editor
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art
New exhibit explores potlatch culture through art
PHOTO PROVIDED
Artist Whess Harman’s chew the bones, they’re soft runs until April 30.
LANE CHEVRIER STAFF WRITER
Whess Harman’s chew the bones, they’re soft exhibit is in Harman’s own “potlatch punk” style, which incorporates their own work with collaborations with other local Indigenous artists. Harman says the inspiration for their artwork
comes partly from their complex interaction with the concepts of home and identity. “A lot of [my ideas] are about home and yearning, and I wouldn’t say that I’m estranged from my community, but it’s a bit of a difficult place to navigate as someone who’s queer and the town I come from is
pretty small and pretty conservative, and I know I’d have a hard time living there,” says Harman. “Most of my work has been about this push and pull of wanting to go home, but knowing it’s not necessarily going to be the thing I want.” A major theme of the show is that of exploring the potlatch from a historical and contemporary perspective. “It’s our government; it’s how people gather and make the collective community decisions, but it was also important as a social event,” says Harman. “And sometimes someone has a better year than someone else, so it’s a way of redistributing resources and making sure everyone has something, rather than hoarding it, essentially.” Harman says that the nation-wide ban on potlatches, which spanned from 1885 to 1951, had a profound impact on Indigenous culture because it outlawed a practice that embodied and pervaded every aspect of how the native Canadian peoples ran their societies. “Potlatches are so interesting, because they’re governance, they’re culture, they’re art, they’re social; like it really is the nexus of everything about who we are, so to take that away was such a huge blow to so many communities,” says Harman. “That was 66 years where we didn’t get to explore our own culture freely, we didn’t get to innovate, we didn’t get to be flexible and move with the time in the same way, and
“I think the frustrating thing I had coming out of a post-secondary program was this idea that contemporary art had to be perfect and polished, and look very manufactured in a particular way, and I think that’s really intimidating.” WHESS HARMAN ARTIST
I think we are starting to move back to that.” An Emily Carr University graduate, Harman says that they don’t agree with the idea that art has to prescribe to a strict style. “I think the frustrating thing I had coming out of a post-secondary program was this idea that contemporary art had to be perfect and polished, and look very manufactured in a particular way, and I think that’s really intimidating,” they say. “It’s like, if you have an idea, it doesn’t have to work out, what’s actually more important is to just try it and see if you like it. A lot of my projects, they’re a little messy, and you can see the mistakes, and I’m happy to share those mistakes as a way of signalling that you can do this, and there is value in it, and there’s value in the mistakes, and relearning and reapproaching the work.”
Regarding the title of the exhibit, Harman recalls a childhood memory that stuck with them. “The first time I was conscious of eating fish, I just remember asking my mom, ‘Can I eat the bones?’ which is just such a morbid sounding thing, but she just laughed and said, ‘Yeah, of course you can eat them,’ just very warm and tender about it,” says Harman. “What I would really like is to just offer that invitation to someone, to be like, yes, absolutely, chew on the thing that is tough.”
chew the bones, they’re soft Until Saturday, April 30 Open Space openspacearts.ca
music
Spark to Flame concert showcases student talent
PHOTO PROVIDED
Max Francis will be playing violin at the Spark to Flame concert this year.
NICOLAS IHMELS STAFF WRITER
On Saturday, March 12, Victoria Conservatory of Music (VCM) dean and chief artistic and academic officer Stephen Green will conduct the yearly Spark to Flame concert. Green says that this year’s concert will be aimed at giving experiences to young students who are seeking a career in music.
“The students get to perform with an orchestra that is our VCM chamber orchestra, and that’s usually a collection of some of our students and some of our faculty and also some local professionals, which are often members of the Victoria Symphony,” he says. “This orchestra this year is conducted by maestro Timothy Vernon, the artistic director of Pacific Opera Victoria. So it’s a
great opportunity for our student soloists to have that chance to be on stage and perform live with an orchestra of professionals, with a professional conductor and achieve a level that normally most people would not be able to access. So this is giving access to young students to something that is very difficult to get access to.” Green says the VCM has been doing the annual concert for almost 15 years, and those in the concert have worked hard to get into it. “It features a group of student soloists who have all auditioned in order to win a place in the concert. [The] students can be any age,” he says. “This year our youngest is 10 years old and the oldest is in their 20s and is a post-secondary student.” Green says that this concert will feature mainly classical music as well as a little bit of traditional fiddle mixed in. “It’s primarily classical music and concerto movements, so that’s a piece for orchestra and featured soloist,” he says. “So we have a collection of these pieces put together. One of the pieces this year will also be a Canadian fiddle piece for orchestra and fiddle. The arranger is Scott Macmillan, a Canadian from the east coast... We also have a piece
“The main thing about this is community, so to bring professionals together with students who are learning to become professionals at playing their instruments, this has a lot of influence.” STEPHEN GREEN VICTORIA CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
for clarinet and orchestra, and one for flute and orchestra, one’s a cello and orchestra, one’s a violin, and two pieces that are for piano and orchestra.” Green says that the main thing this concert will address is the need for community. “The main thing about this is community, so to bring professionals together with students who are learning to become professionals at playing their instruments, this has a lot of influence,” he says. “It influences the students, of course, because it’s a great opportunity for them to play at a professional level with professionals all around them and it’s a great influence for those who are professionals to be reminded that they were once also students, and it inspires them to continue learning, because with music you
don’t just learn to a specific point and then stop. It’s really a matter of lifelong learning. So we’re sort of completing the circle by bringing all of these people together.” Green says that what makes music meaningful to him is its constant presence in our dally lives, and its ability to shape society as a whole as well as make a difference on a personal level. “To me, it’s life,” he says. “It’s something that’s always present around us and is something that can shape society and can help every individual discover who they are.”
Spark to Flame 7:30 pm Saturday, March 12 $19.25, Victoria Conservatory of Music vcm.bc.ca
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music
Pacific Baroque Festival celebrates composer Heinrich Schütz “I think baroque music in many ways is more approachable for listeners who aren’t used to hearing classical music, because the pieces tend to be short, and they often follow similar forms to pop music.” MARC DESTRUBÉ PACIFIC BAROQUE FESTIVAL
PHOTO PROVIDED
The Pacific Baroque Festival is celebrating its 18th year in 2022; events will take place from March 16 to 20.
LANE CHEVRIER STAFF WRITER
Now in its 18th year, the Pacific Baroque Festival will be treating audiences to the energetic experience of live classical music this month. This year, the festival will be honouring 350 years since the passing of influential composer Heinrich Schütz, across five days of live performances. Pacific Baroque Festival artistic director Marc Destrubé is a seasoned violinist leading the Pacific Baroque Festival Ensemble; he says that the goal of the festival is to showcase lesser-heard classical music.
“The motto of the festival has kind of over the years become ‘Music that deserves to be heard’ because we’ve realized there’s a great deal of really fantastic music that doesn’t get heard so much,” says Destrubé. “Part of it is that the whole legacy of the 19th century, and a little bit before, has left this giant shadow, and we tend to not be aware of what lies behind the shadow, and sometimes within it. It was a very, very rich time; it was a time of upheaval in Europe, and composers could be actually very adventurous, they weren’t stuck to strict models in how they wrote music.”
Destrubé, 66, has been playing violin since he was nine years old. An avid performer and music lover, Destrubé enjoys its capacity to convey complex emotions beyond language. “I think music has the unique ability to express different emotions at the same time; maybe poetry is the only other art that has come near to that, so I just love the ability to use music as a vehicle for communicating with others,” he says. “Music, even if it has no text, is always saying something, so I very much enjoy that aspect.” Destrubé also recognizes that music brings people together, which
is something we’ve been sorely lacking over the past couple of years. “Music is a social activity. It brings the audience and the musicians together for a shared experience, and I think especially after the pandemic we’ve been deprived of that,” he says. “I think we’ve all become very aware of how important that is in our lives. We want to have social community and shared experiences, and music is a wonderful way of creating that opportunity for us, so I love being a part of that.” Baroque music differs from other classical music in its length and intricacy, and Destrubé believes its unexpectedly similar characteristics to contemporary music are a great way for newcomers to get into the genre. “I think baroque music in many ways is more approachable for listeners who aren’t used to hearing classical music, because the pieces tend to be short, and they often follow similar forms to pop music,” he says. “A great deal of popular music has that similar juxtaposition of a bass line and then one or two vocal
lines, and that’s inherent in a great deal of baroque music as well.” Destrubé thinks the festival is a great opportunity for people to experience music across time and space while immersed in the visceral intimacy that only live performance can bestow. “I think a festival is like going to a sweets fair—you can sample all the different tastes and flavours from a given place or time,” he says. “It’s an opportunity to immerse oneself in a particular style and time, and actually get to know it much more intimately than one might just by hearing a piece on the radio, or putting on a CD. What I hope people might get out of it is becoming familiar with a whole world of music that they might not have known before.”
Pacific Baroque Festival Various times, Wednesday March 16 so Sunday, March 20 Various prices and venues pacbaroque.com
hockey
Victoria Royals strike back against Vancouver Giants at February 26 game PARKER DIX CONTRIBUTING WRITER
After a tough 0-4 loss the previous night to the Vancouver Giants, Victoria Royals head coach Dan Price wanted to return to the previous season’s success against the Giants, and on Saturday, February 26, they tasted that success. The Royals have had a rough start to 2022, battling injuries and a challenging schedule. However, they have dominated their divisional rivals. A 4-2 victory on Saturday night brought them to a 9-3 record against the Giants. The Giants came out firing in the first with big hits and accurate passing, and they more than doubled the Royals with 12 shots on net. Royals goaltender Tyler Palmer kept them in the game with an excellent first period. At the five-minute mark, Palmer shut down the Giants’ breakaway chance. The Giants were given a second chance to strike first on the board when Payton Mount was rewarded a penalty shot, but to no avail as Palmer denied the Giants, to keep the game scoreless in the first period. The Giants had strong control of the puck over the Royals, but the
locals weren’t going down without a fight. Any mistake the Giants made, the Royals were ready to steal their momentum and take the lead. The Royals showed a sense of energy coming into the second period. The horns sounded as the first goal of the game was scored by the Royals on a power play by Tanner Scott in the second period at 3:41 for his tenth goal of the season. 38 seconds later, Royals captain Tarun Fizer made a quick back-handed goal to put the Royals up 2-0 at 4:19 in the second. The Royals did not take their foot off the gas and out-shot the Giants 14-2 in the second period. The power plays started to stack up against the Giants in the second period, as the game got chippy. The Giants players started laying massive hits on Royals forwards to counter the offensive push by the Royals. To close out the second period, Fizer skated down the whole length of the rink, dancing around defenders at full speed to get a beautiful buzzer-beater at 19:59, the Royals up 3-0. The stage was set for an exciting third period for the 3,900 fans in the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.
The Victoria Royals defeated the Vancouver Giants 4-2 on Saturday, February 26.
The cheering would be cut short by Vancouver defenseman Alex Cotton, who put the Giants on the board at 14:26 in the thrid. Shortly after, the Giants’ Mount would fight for a loose puck and put it into the
back of the net to bring the Giants to within one goal. The determination and effort from the Giants players was almost enough to even the score. But with less than a minute remaining in the
PHOTO PROVIDED
game, Scott Tanner put the dagger into the Giants by scoring an empty netter to secure a 4-2 Royals victory. This was a big home win over the Giants and improved the Royals record to 15-31-4-1.
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March 9, 2022
Kaleidoscope - Remi Johnston
Oh How the Flowers Fly - Anthony Rizzo
Take a Break with Shuffle Duck - Jasmine Ng
What’s happening at nexusnewspaper.com Week of February 28, 2022, top five most read stories: 1. “Camosun College aims to provide community, reduce stress with drop-in sports,” March 2, 2022 2. “Victoria Royals strike back against Vancouver Giants on weekend,” February 28, 2022 3. “Let’s Talk 2.0: The beauty of diversity,” February 28, 2022 4. “This System Is Broken: ACAB, FTP (part 1),” March 1, 2022 5. “Nic’s Flicks: The Power of the Dog immersive, powerful,” March 1, 2022
Check it all out at nexusnewspaper.com, and find us on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook today! And while you’re at it, check out our new app at the Apple and Google stores. Search “Nexus newspaper” and download it for free to ensure you never miss any Camosun news!
Let’s Talk 2.0
by Celina Lessard
The double standard of self-sexualization Hollywood has long objectified women for profit. It’s not surprising to see young, fit, and conventionally attractive women in large blockbuster movies, as these movies are usually directed toward a male audience. But it’s interesting to see how women are treated when they’re sexualized by someone else versus when they are sexualized by themselves. Self-sexualization is a method used by many women to express themselves, feel empowerment, and escape the exploitation of others. It’s a way of shifting the narrative of objectification to reclaim the power stolen by the heteronormative ideologies of our society. It can be anything from dressing slightly promiscuously to working in the pornography industry. And it’s a really big deal. Although many argue that self-sexualization does little to escape from the initial objectification, this process is a huge part of many lives. Many women use this process to create careers or ignite a change, and the rising popularity of online platforms like OnlyFans is a testament to this. If you’re being judged,
shamed, and sexualized by society regardless, why not make money or gain fame at the same time? Unfortunately, a large majority of society doesn’t see it this way. Female streamers, YouTubers, sex workers, and other independent creators are often criticized for things like self-sexualization. These women are at best discredited and disregarded, and at worst slutshamed and stigmatized. Our society has lots of rules for how we can or can’t act, and it’s infuriatingly ridiculous that one of those rules says that women can’t use their looks for themselves. Hollywood sexualizes actors all the time, but it’s considered unacceptable when it’s done toward yourself? I find that absolutely hilarious. Why are we slut-shaming individuals when their actions are completely consensual and normal? At the end of the day, it shouldn’t matter if someone wears short skirts or makes adult films. They’re allowed to do whatever it is that makes them feel confident; we don’t have the right to tell them it’s wrong when they do it for themselves. If anything, we should be shaming
Show Me the Money
the big media companies that perpetuate stereotypes and treat female actors unfairly. Hollywood has long objectified women for profit, and it’s time to demand a change in the business—even if those demands fall on deaf ears. There is some hope, though, as this topic has gotten lots of media attention recently. The TV show Euphoria has gotten a great amount of backlash for forcing lesser-known actors to be partially (or fully) nude during certain scenes. Actors like Sydney Sweeney have spoken out against the (very real) stigma associated with nude performance, which could just be the catalyst for reform in the film industry. I’m not saying self-sexualization is any kind of solution to fixing the patriarchal society we live in. But acknowledging the practice and letting people do what makes them happy goes a long way. We should always be living for ourselves and engaging with whatever boosts our confidence. Screw what anyone else has to say about it.
by Eric Lee
The pump and dump scam Scammers have probably been around for as long as money has been in existence. The financial markets are where some of the most high-profile scams have been pulled off, from the eponymous Ponzi scheme in the 1920s to Madoff’s $64.8 billion (USD) fraud. In this issue, I will discuss the pump and dump scam in stock markets, and how to spot and avoid it. Scammers employing this scheme will buy up relatively obscure stocks and drive up their prices. They will then hype up these stocks and dump them on their victims. Often, scammers will strike up conversations with their victims on social media or messaging apps by pretending to have mistaken them for somebody else. They may spend weeks or even months building up their victims’ trust before even
talking about stocks. Once they do, however, they employ high-pressure sales tactics to force their victims into buying the pumped-up stocks. There are a few red flags that can help you to spot a pump and dump. The first is receiving an unsolicited tip from someone you do not know. Although this may seem obvious, be aware that scammers will attempt to gain your trust, and some of them have become incredibly good at this. They are also really good at making their victims believe that they need to act fast or they will lose the opportunity. The second red flag is that the stock being pumped will usually be that of a small and obscure company, with very few shares listed. It is much easier to manipulate shares of a small company than shares of, say, Microsoft. If you receive a stock
Leaving the Cave
tip for a company you have never heard of, look up its price history. Chances are that you will notice a sudden multi-fold spike in its share price. Note when the share price started moving, and do a Google search for news about the company published around the same time that could explain the price movement. If you cannot find anything significant, then alarm bells should start going off, if they haven’t already. In general, the age-old adage that “if it’s too good to be true, then it probably isn’t” applies almost without exception when it comes to investments. If you find yourself thinking that something is an unbelievable opportunity, then maybe don’t believe it. Always do your own research and talk to someone you trust, no matter how urgently you think you have to act on a tip.
by Emily Welch
Picking up the pieces As we are now in the middle of the semester, I am so curious about how many of us have had or know someone who has had COVID-19. We walk around with only half of our faces showing, taking for granted that our neighbours who walk next to us are who they claim. (I also wonder if the crime rate has gone up with all this opportunity to have our faces covered.) We as a general population seem to be taking everything in stride now. We’re getting used to things: seeing someone without a mask is enough to make us jump backward in surprise. In the beginning we were pan-
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icked, and rightly so. There was a similar impact to society as there was in the 1960s when people were building bomb shelters. I don’t know if they were lining their shelter shelves with massive amounts of toilet paper, but I know that the grocery stores had shortages on canned produce and Spam. Picking up the pieces after something breaks is usually an arduous process. Especially if it is an unexpected, worldwide break. It also applies to ourselves, of course. People don’t want the jobs back that were lost when COVID-19 broke out. It’s not just about being sad and
maybe a bit cranky over the whole mess, but people were forced to discover new ways to function in the broken society. It’s hard to imagine some gigantic broom-and-dustpan solution for what has been lost. I still want to remain optimistic and believe in the greater good. It has always been creativity, cheerfulness, and genuine empathy with some backbone that wins in the end. But hearing about the invasion of the Ukraine this morning really freaked me out. Isn’t taking a breather a feasible option at this point? Geez.
Nic’s Flicks
by Nicolas Ihmels
CODA’s passion offsets its predictability CODA (2021) 3/4 One great movie of many that have come out of this year’s award season is Sian Heder’s streaming sensation CODA. This is a masterfully directed film about family, tolerance, and—most importantly—about love triumphing over all other obstacles. Based on the French film La Famille Bélier, CODA follows Ruby Rossi, a musician and the only person in her family who can hear. Throughout the film, we follow Rossi as she struggles to accomplish her dreams while at the same time being there for her family to help them with their daily struggles. The main perk of this movie is Heder’s writing and direction. This film is beautifully written and is full of rich character work, colourful humour, and captivating dramatic tension. Heder’s direction is also well implemented. In fact, it’s so masterful that it’s hard to believe that this is only her second fulllength feature film. Another thing that I really like is the acting. Emilia Jones is wonderful as Ruby—this is one of those
performances where you can just tell that she worked hard to be in this movie, and this type of passion is clearly shown throughout the film. Troy Kotsur is also really good here. He truly delivers an Oscar-worthy performance as Frank Rossi, a strong and loving father who fights to earn a living and provide for his family despite living in a society that has trouble with accommodating people’s disabilities. (Kotsur’s Oscar nod makes him the first deaf male actor in Oscar history to receive a nomination for an acting award, and only the second deaf actor to attain an Oscar nod.) The only thing that I was not a big fan of in CODA was its predictability. Everything that happens in this movie the audience can see coming from a mile away. There is no real surprise twist, it’s just a well-told story of a small-town girl struggling to find a balance between helping her family and achieving her dreams. Despite a rather predicable plot, CODA is a true gem that successfully holds its own among other movies the Academy has showered their love on this Oscar season.
This System Is Broken
by Alexis Koome
ACAB, FTP (part 2) Where I live, a small government body made up of Indigenous locals is our first point of reference (Council of the Haida Nation). They make a lot of calls that we listen to and abide by on Haida Gwaii, but ultimately we still exist under the canadian government and their enforcers, the rcmp. When there’s “crime” in a place so localized (like an archipelago 80 kilometres off the coast), we usually know or hear whodunnit. It’s a member of our community. This initiates a desire to help that person, and then curiosity of why the cops are writing them tickets or putting them in paddy wagons. Why does that person have to now carry around a criminal record? Do they deserve it? I’m not saying that cops are literally unable to offer care and compassion to the “lawbreakers” of the world, I’m just saying they usually don’t. I wonder if (some) cops are just people who love rules and order, but never had the awareness or capacity to dive down to the root of law and wonder if it can change. I hope recent years have served as an awakening that the rules must be updated. We don’t necessarily need to change the response of “dial 911,” we just need to change what happens when those calls are made, and why exactly rcmp are dispatched at all. In what situations are their
rigid reactions required? At what point do they call in mitigators, mediators, or deactivation specialists before resorting to physical violence? We’ve seen clear as day lately that the rcmp are just bouncers for the government parties. Whatever racket our prime minister is making, the rcmp are there to let people join in or get thrown into jail and the court system. Seriously: these guys decide when and why folks go to jail, and then charge all kinds of money to make bail or hire lawyers. Of course people will try to avoid arrest, which just makes it worse. It feels like these rules need to at least be updated, if not completely overhauled. And in the meantime, can we broaden the 911 response teams? Why is this coveted group so protected and devoid from questioning? In a world evolving and expanding as much as ours, it’s only a matter of time before the framework of systems we follow must evolve as well. Think about all the reasons citizens find solace in calling 911, and how frequently white men with guns and Tasers on their hips arrive. Truly, what often would be beneficial is a multi-gendered, multi-racial team gathered from many backgrounds with a diverse array of skill sets. Everyone deserves to feel seen and supported when calling the number that “sends help.”
Find web-exclusive stories at nexusnewspaper.com.
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CAMPUS
March 9, 2022
eyed on campus
PHOTO PROVIDED
CAMOSUN COLLEGE
The Camosun College Student Society Women’s Collective has been out on campus spreading awareness.
Camosun president Lane Trotter holds a paddle, a gift from the University of Victoria celebrating 50 years of friendship between the two post-secondary institutions, at a ceremony on March 2.
The app. Available now in the Apple and Google stores.
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