No Pipeline — Protestors obstruct Kinder Morgan survey crews

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FIRST PEEK

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» CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2013

Picture me in the fourth grade — a little girl in a bubble vest, sobbing over a report card while eating chocolate. I had failed to get an A in one of my courses, and all my shame and disappointment came in a flurry of tears and an amplified sweet tooth. I can look back at this memory now and have a good chuckle, but even as a child, I always set high expectations for myself.

You see, these lofty expectations, have been the love and bane of my existence. Growing up, my dad always pushed me to do my best, and fed my (then) ambitions to become a civil engineerhumanitarian lawyer, who also animated for Disney. I had big dreams for myself, and I thought that this was great. To have a goal to work towards is a healthy and beneficial thing, especially if it’s something that is meaningful to you. Self-efficacy — the strength of one’s belief in one’s own ability to accomplish tasks or goals — is

also critically important to actually accomplishing these goals.

However, while high self-expectations motivated me to put forth my best work, I developed a cycle of confirming my own self-worth, in the process. Each time my work was evaluated, I believed it was an assessment of who I was as a person, and as my parents’ marriage deteriorated, I began setting expectations for myself that were out of my control, and assumed responsibilities that weren’t mine to bear.

I believed that I could hold my parents’ marriage together by being the ‘perfect daughter.’ I had put their happiness into my own hands, and I tried to reassure myself that doing enough good things would fix our broken family. When my parents finally divorced, however, I was met with the crippling truth that it would never be enough. To me, this translated as “I’ll never be enough.”

Though it felt good to earn that little ounce of self-worth from doing good deeds, a wave of shame and guilt for not trying harder would always come rushing after.

When I began to self-harm, I had slipped into a major depression that made me all the more susceptible to feelings of worthlessness. I believed that every cut would compensate for each one of my failures. But of course, cutting didn’t solve any of my problems, and only made me feel more ashamed and empty.

As I look at my surroundings, I realize that we live in a society that tells us that we need to be more than who we are. We hear that we’re not pretty enough, or muscular enough, or smart enough, and it hurts. It takes a lot of effort to reach that bar, and when we miss and come tumbling back down, it takes a lot more to get back up again.

Yes, oftentimes I still slip and fall, and it takes a while to stand up. But I am grateful for my faith, and amazing friends and family who tell me that I am enough, and support me the whole way through. My ambitions have changed, but I’ve learned to revel in the big accomplishments as well as the small, intimate ones of daily life. Over time, I’ve become better at recognizing what I can and can’t handle, and on a good day, I’ll even get a decent amount of sleep. Though it’s a bumpy slope, I am ever so slowly learning to become more content with who I am.

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NEWS

November 3, 2014

news editor email / phone

Leah Bjornson associate news editor news@the-peak.ca / 778.782.4560

Melissa Roach

5

With the university’s 50th birthday less than a year away, SFU administration is preparing a number of events that both students and faculty members can enjoy during the 2015 academic year.

Joanne Curry, SFU associate vice-president, external relations and chair of the 50th Anniversary Planning and Implementation Team mentioned that they “have a whole number of objectives for the 50th celebration, which will essentially take place [from] September 2015 to convocation June 2016.”

According to SFU’s 50th anniversary report, there will be a multitude of events called Signature Initiatives that celebrate a university that has “grown up without growing old.” These will include a World-Wide Week of Welcome, special SFU Clan games and homecomings, and a Burnaby Festival of Learning.

Annual events such as SFU’s Public Square, the Terry Fox Run,

the Annual Alumni Gathering, and the President’s BBQ will also be linked to the 50th anniversary celebration.

Different faculties and departments plan to show off their unique initiatives during the anniversary year. For example, Curry speculated that the Faculty of Science might organize a brewing course in which they would brew a specific 50th anniversary beer.

“It doesn’t have to be large, it’s up to each department to plan out what they would like to do,” commented Curry.

Curry explained that the university will “use this opportunity to talk about the history of SFU, because it has had such an interesting history, but also [about] the future of SFU.” Simon Fraser University opened its doors on September 9, 1965 with an initial class of 2,500 students. The university was named after the explorer Simon Fraser, who discovered the Fraser River in 1808. Originally called Fraser University, the name Simon was added after the administration realised that the abbreviation would otherwise be F.U. On the university’s 50th birthday, on September 9, 2015, there

will be two events: a Morning Ceremony, which will include speeches by SFU president Andrew Petter and other significant community figures, and a Founder’s Ball. During the Founder’s Ball, attendees will be served dinner in Convocation Mall and have a chance to dance under the stars near the AQ Pond. A prominent artist will likely entertain the guests, as well.

Curry noted, “It is an engagement opportunity for the current students, alumni in different countries, prospective students, [and] for [the] community in

general.” She stressed the fact that everybody will have the chance to be involved in some form or another throughout the anniversary year.

“It is a great opportunity to raise the profile of SFU. [. . .

Some people] have a view from 20 years ago. So, it’s just a great opportunity to showcase SFU and all of its accomplishments and amazing people, students, staff and faculty,” said Curry.

She also noted that the 50th Anniversary Planning and Implementation Team is eager to hear what students would like to

see or contribute for “studentled type events.”

Nicole Wong, an SFU co-op student who is helping to plan the anniversary festivities, said, “The anniversary year will be a special one, so be sure to go out and participate in the various events! [. . .] Participating in these events will definitely be a way to ensure that your time at SFU was memorable.”

Curry mentioned that schedules for the fall events will likely be outlined in the spring. “And again, any ideas are more than welcome,” she concluded.

The Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) met quorum for the first time in six years at their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on October 22, but not everyone was able to get into the venue, which quickly reached capacity.

With over 400 students in attendance and many more lined

up outside of the SFU Theatre, the venue filled up shortly after the meeting began at 1:30 p.m.

As such, not everyone was able to cast their vote on two motions concerning the Build SFU Student Union Building (SUB) and Stadium projects.

Several students in line voiced their concerns to The Peak. “It’s refusing members of the clubs the right to vote,” said Jesse Kazemir, a second year engineering science student. “It sort of renders the people who weren’t let in powerless in terms of the vote. They may not have changed it, but still it’s denying them that right.”

Many students also left after the Build SFU motions, resulting in a loss of quorum for the remainder of the meeting.

Consequently, only regular business could be conducted from that point onward.

“The SUB wasn’t the only thing I was planning to vote on.

There were a lot of concerns that a few clubs wanted to bring up in light of the SFSS’ policy towards clubs,” said Sarah Kim Dao, a first year computing science student and SFU business alumna.

Because an inquorate meeting is only able to discuss regular business, “a lot of the things that the clubs wanted to bring up weren’t brought up at all,” she said.

At the SFSS council meeting on Wednesday, student representatives brought up their ideas for how to better accommodate students in the future. Suggestions included allowing students to vote

online and planning for an overflow space with a live feed of the meeting to allow more students to follow the action.

Chardaye Bueckert, SFSS president, responded to council members’ concerns and explained that this was a problem that they had not anticipated: “In the past, for our AGM’s, it’s always been a huge struggle to achieve quorum of 250 students, and we booked the largest available inside space which was the SFU Theatre.”

She continued, “The only alternative that could have accommodated more students would have been Convocation Mall, but it was quite a cold and windy day so we made the call to hold the meeting inside, in efforts to try to attract

more people, particularly in light of the fact that we hadn’t made quorum for many many years.”

Bueckert stated further that they did not turn any students away: “We just hit fire capacity and couldn’t let that many people in without it being incredibly unsafe [. . . and eventually] everybody who did wait did get into the meeting.”

The SFSS is considering what they can do to maintain these high levels of engagement and accommodate more students. “We do take these concerns very, very seriously and our hope is that going forward we will need a bigger space than the one that we had this year, because there’s going to be so much sustained interest,” Bueckert said.

6

NEWS

November 3, 2014

1. I am running because I bring fresh 2. I want to increase community en- 3. perspective to the table and want to serve my community (Coquitlam) now that I am almost done with SFU. I believe my background in engineering (familiarity with BC Building Code, BC Fire Code, and LEED) and experience in governance (SFSS four years, Senate four years and basically committee structured government) would be a great asset for Coquitlam council.

gagement by targeting youth and multicultural communities in Coquitlam. You can’t expect the same from the current background with all current councillors from the same background (Canadian) and same age range.

I also want to push for sustainable development and help council make decisions on new projects by educating them on engineering factors and economical influences on neighbourhoods, businesses and community groups.

Last but not least, I think we should push for a convention center in Coquitlam, as currently none exists within the Tri-Cities. Just like Build SFU!

If elected, I will advocate for the following: 1) Increase in 143 buses (Coquitlam – SFU) during peak hours and possibly extending the hours into evenings on the weekdays and continuing the service in the weekends.

2) Extend the Coquitlam library hours during midterm and final exams which makes it more convenient for Douglas College and SFU students to stay local for their studies.

3) More co-op and internship opportunities within the City Hall for post-secondary students.

1. I believe that Coquitlam is brim- 2. I would like to see the city focus 3. I am focusing on jobs and the ming with opportunity and has the potential to be a regional leader. We need to focus on job creation, public safety and respect for taxpayer dollars. There is a lot of work ahead. I know the issues, having ran in the last two municipal elections, and I have experience volunteering within the City of Coquitlam and having worked for the federal government for the past few years.

on the three main aspects of my platform: (a) Jobs and the Economy; (b) Public Safety; and (c) Respect for Taxpayer Dollars. We need to do more with job creation — especially since we lost 500 jobs in the past year. People are speeding up and down our streets and we need to invest in public safety to crack down on dangerous behaviours. I want to see the city use our money effectively, efficiently and responsibly, so that we can lower our taxes.

economy because I know that students are looking for a place to start a career, and I would like Coquitlam graduates to be able to find a job within Coquitlam.

We need to compete with other municipalities to draw businesses into Coquitlam and create good local jobs here at home. Also, Coquitlam needs to work on our transportation plan (i.e. 143 buses) to make it easier to get to and from class, especially during the peak hours and during exam periods when exams may be held on weekends.

1. I am running because I am con- 2. I would like to facilitate the inclu- 3. I will lobby for increased funding, cerned about the erosion of public education. I want to preserve for current and future students the educational opportunities that I enjoyed during my schooling in SD43. My commitment to quality public education, constituent outreach, and my respect for learning will inform my decisions as School Trustee. As a successful student of Political Science here at SFU, I have developed a firm grasp of setting, reading and evaluating public policy, and I am excited to put these skills to work for the betterment of our public education system.

sion of young taxpayers and those who fund education, yet have no children, in discussions concerning our public education system. Their support for quality public education and student achievement will secure long-term adequate funding and the understanding that we all benefit from an educated and well-adjusted society. This will only be realized when we have a Trustee who understands the importance of their position and treats it as a full-time position, rather than an add-on to their busy schedule. We have settled too long with mediocrity, and our students have suffered because of it.

as our district receives less per student than the provincial average. I will engage constituents to raise awareness of the importance of public education. I will also work with other school boards to improve public education; by forming relationships with constituents, teachers, administrators, support staff and other school boards, I will contribute to building a united front to protect our system. I will help bring an end to the board balancing its budget by excessively laying off district personnel. I’m also committed to finding administrative and operational inefficiencies and directing more funds to students.

NEWS

Last Wednesday, October 29, in the Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema, Benjamin Bratton delivered a presentation called, “The Stack: Design and Geopolitics in the Age of Planetary-Scale Computing.”

The lecture discussed how computation has grown to be a “global infrastructure that is changing not only how governments govern, but what government even is in the first place.”

SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences along with the Surrey Firefighters Charitable Society presented a lecture last Tuesday, October 28, on how to recognize and eliminate gendered and racialized violence in media.

Professor of women’s studies at the University of Victoria, Jo-Anne Lee gave the talk in the Surrey City Hall’s council chambers, with a reception following.

This past Sunday, October 26, the SFU Association of Latin American Students (ALAS) gathered on Abbott Street to help those in need with the profits collected during the Havana Night event hosted on October 17 at the Highland Pub. The ALAS executive team and volunteers prepared over 400 sandwiches and matched each sandwich with an apple and a water bottle to provide the hungry with a basic lunch.

November 3, 2014

7

Anthony Bianco Peak Associate People of all different shapes and sizes gathered at SFU on Saturday, October 25 to discuss and engage in activities concerning body diversity and acceptance.

Hosted by the Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group (SFPIRG) in collaboration with Fat Panic! Vancouver, the event titled Body Size Diversity: It’s Just How We Roll! took place at SFU’s Burnaby campus.

The event engaged participants in discussions, writing exercises, and theatre activities to uncover what it is like to be overweight in our society. The team also highlighted how other forms of prejudice and discrimination, such as sexism and racism, interact in our society.

A total of 24 participants took part in the event, which lasted seven hours. Kalamity Hildebrandt, a social justice educator and consultant with SFPIRG, led participants through all of the activities.

“We started out considering the nature and impact of body shaming and body policing generally — looking at how many forms of injustice use these tools of abuse,” she explained.

“Part of what we did during that process was a writing and sharing exercise in which participants completed a number of questions about how they had first been taught body shame, and what this had cost them in their lives, and how they are working to heal from and resist body shaming and policing.”

In the afternoon, participants discussed the politics of fatness in North American society. A theatre

performance illustrated situations in which overweight individuals were harassed, and portrayed practical intervention strategies to alleviate harassment.

When asked about what this event means to her and to others, Hildebrandt said, “To me, events like this are incredibly important. I have been doing this work for around 20 years now, so I already know much about the countless ways in which systemic forms of injustice like fat oppression harm people, but I always learn more through what participants choose to share.

“It is always very touching to see how brave people can be in sharing their stories, sometimes for the first time.”

According to their website, his article and similar opinions contribute to making the university campus a “more hostile, less inclusive place for many people.”

Together, Fat Panic! Vancouver and SFPIRG plan to host more events to inform people of the prejudice and

discrimination towards overweight people, and the harm that this causes.

“Both organizations seek to build a better world — a world in which no one is taught to hate their own, or anyone else’s, body, for any reason,” said Hildebrandt.

THE PEAK IS HIRING! WE’LL BE PUBLISHING NEWSPAPERS IN THE SPRING, AND WE NEED PEOPLE TO PUT THEM TOGETHER! GET PAID TO WORK ON THE NEWSPAPER AND THE WEB SITE IN A FUN, FLEXIBLE WORK ENVIRONMENT! CONTACT EIC@THE-PEAK.CA TODAY!

YOU COULD FILL ANY ONE OF THESE AMAZING POSITIONS: Co-hosting the event was Fat Panic! Vancouver, a group committed to bringing an end to the oppression of overweight individuals.

In the past, Fat Panic! Vancouver has referenced an article written by Clinton Hallahan and published by The Peak in 2012, titled, “NO FATTIES,” as an example of commonly held views about body diversity; the group aims to displace these views.

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CONTACT EIC@THE-PEAK.CA FOR THE DETAILS!

8 NEWS

Protesters continue to clash with Kinder Morgan over a proposed pipeline route that would expand the project through the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area and Burnaby Mountain Park.

Kinder Morgan has now filed an injunction against five individual protesters, demanding that they allow them access to two testing sites. The company is also suing these individuals for $5.5 million in direct costs and $88 million in lost revenue for Trans Mountain for each month that the project is delayed.

This confrontation follows the National Energy Board’s (NEB) ruling on October 23, which stated that the City of Burnaby cannot stand in the way of Kinder Morgan’s plan to test at sites on Burnaby Mountain.

The energy company announced on October 24 that they would resume testing after 48 hours.

In response, protesters worked over the weekend to reinforce two blockades which have been present

November 3, 2014

on both sites for the past month.

Stephen Collis, an SFU professor of English and spokesperson for the protesters said on Monday, “We’re going to peacefully and non-violently stand in their way.”

On Wednesday morning at approximately 10:00 a.m., protesters spotted Kinder Morgan crews advancing into the woods towards the first testing site. Protesters, journalists, and film crews rushed to the site where self-proclaimed caretakers were already blocking crews by linking arms.

One young protester pinned himself under a Kinder Morgan jeep, saying oil was destroying the earth and that he would stay under the jeep for “as long it takes.”

Some minutes later, the surveyors left the site. In an e-mail to the Vancouver Observer, Greg Toth, senior project director of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project said, “At some locations, our crews were obstructed and have left for the day.”

For professsor of molecular biology and biochemistry,

Lynne Quarmby, this was a victory for the people. “We put out the call, we let people know that we were going to be here, and it’s just phenomenal the number of people that are still pouring in, so there’s just a tremendous amount of support from the community,” she said.

When asked what she thought the next few days would bring, Quarmby replied, “We expect that they’re going to try to outwait us, but [. . .]

I don’t think you can overestimate the commitment of this group of people. We will outwait them.”

The repulsion of Kinder Morgan crews only brought a short reprieve from the pressure, however, as the company filed their injunction on Thursday afternoon.

In the application, the company asks that the court “restrain the defendants’ trespass upon Burnaby Lands, and their wrongful obstruction, impeding, interfering with and prevention of” its field work on the mountain.

In a press release Friday morning, Collis and Quarmby, along with Alan Dutton of Burnaby Residents Opposing Kinder Morgan Expansion (BROKE), wrote, “The US-based

corporation has the audacity to claim residents are ‘trespassing’ in the park. Clearly, Kinder Morgan is using the courts to silence opposition, suppress dissent, and deprive Canadian citizens of their constitutional rights.

“This is Big Oil against the people, in its most raw and offensive form.”

The hearing took place on Friday at 2:00 p.m. at the BC Supreme Court in Vancouver where protesters gathered to oppose the injunction. The case was adjourned until Wednesday November 5, and the hearing is expected to last three days.

University of Calgary opens energy research institute in Beijing UBC Researchers develop test for vitamin B12 deficiency Researchers at the University of British Columbia have developed a new testing method for vitamin B12 deficiency that only requires a single drop of blood. The technique is sensitive enough to work on anyone, including newborn babies.

“This minimally invasive approach helps us measure deficiency in an easier and more convenient way, especially in large samples of people,” says the author of the study, Yvonne Lamers, a professor in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, and Canada Research Chair.

This method is important because it can be used to test and collect blood samples in rural or remote areas where elaborate lab equipment is unaccessible. Presently, the technique is being used in a research project in rural Indonesia.

With files from UBC News

Collaborating with Chinese partners, the University of Calgary (U of C) has opened a jointly funded research institute in Beijing to take advantage of the country’s potential for gas development.

The goal, according to U of C president Elizabeth Cannon, “is to develop new innovative technology that we’ll not only bring back to Canada, but will help China move from a coal economy over to gas through unlocking some of their unconventional oil and gas reserves.”

One partner, industrial giant Kerui Group, will put $11.25 million in funding towards collaborative research and training programs to improve the extraction process for tight oil, natural gas hydrates, and oil-sands bitumen.

With files from The Globe and Mail

Musicians are better multitaskers If you’ve ever had trouble trying to do homework while also watching TV, a new study from York University may make you want to add a guitar into the mix as well.

According to their research, trained musicians appear to have a “superior ability to maintain and manipulate competing information in memory, allowing for efficient global processing.”

The study was comprised of a series of tests that measured task-switching ability, and showed that musicians have a stronger ability to “shift flexibly between mental sets,” an advantage not found within other groups, including those who are bilingual.

With files from Pacific Standard

NEWS

November 3, 2014

While you may be stuck with that annoying cat allergy for some time longer, the face of allergy research is about to change in a big way.

The Allergy and Asthma Portal (AAP), an online database and search engine developed by SFU’s own professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, Fiona Brinkman, will help uncover key risk factors in the development of asthma and allergies.

The AAP acts as a catalog for some of the information already known about the human body at the genetic and protein levels. As researchers add more information to it, they will be able to look for trends that might otherwise be invisible on a small scale.

With time, this means that the database will become more and more useful, allowing researchers to overlay their own findings in order to understand the big

picture of what’s going on in the human body.

Similar resources exist for other diseases, such as cancer, but allergy and asthma are relative newcomers to the ‘big data’ scene. The AAP’s direct predecessor, InnateDB, was a resource used to help research the immune system.

“It’s essentially a natural progression for us to extend this to allergy and asthma, and we’re quite enthusiastic because it’s only the start,” Brinkman told The Peak.

The human immune system is made of dozens of cell types which sometimes overreact to something otherwise harmless, causing allergy or asthma. The AAP already contains over 4,500 of those cellular

New research from SFU’s criminology department shows that the level of oxygen in the ocean has a significant impact on the decomposition of submerged bodies.

The study involved the threeyear observation of three underwater pig carcasses in the Saanich Inlet, submerged at a depth of 100 metres.

Carcasses placed in the water were scavenged after about a month, when dissolved oxygen levels were “tolerable,” but when the inlet was anoxic, or without oxygen, the pig lasted many months before all soft tissue was consumed.

Gail Anderson, an SFU professor of criminology, led the study, with fellow SFU professor of criminology Lynne Bell as a co-author. Bell examines the effects on the bones remaining after ocean scavengers, like shrimp and crabs, have done their work.

The underwater observation technology, Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea (VENUS), enables researchers to watch a live video feed of the carcasses, and frequently measures the level of dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity, density and pressure in the water.

“Saanich Inlet is hypoxic (deficient of oxygen) most of the year and anoxic (without oxygen) at some times,” explained Anderson.

These findings also show that this shift in oxygen levels dictates which scavengers are in the area at a given time of year. When larger scavengers are driven away by low oxygen levels, scavenging is left to smaller creatures, such as Squat lobsters. However, these animals can’t break through the skin as

interactions, and over 3,000 genes that are implicated. These interactions could be used as specific targets for therapies that could prevent, or even reverse allergy.

Brinkman went on to say that “what we’ve found is by looking at complex diseases as more of a network [. . .] things become a little more simple.”

However, Brinkman explained that another part of the picture is getting attention from the scientific community: “There’s a lot of information coming out showing the role of microbes in development of allergy and asthma and the importance of exposure, appropriately, to microbes as an infant.”

The principle, sometimes referred to as the ‘hygiene hypothesis,’ suggests that an environment that is too clean may actually cause disease in the form of allergy. In more economically developed countries, like Canada, allergy rates are significantly higher than in less economically developed countries, and this may have something to do with insufficient exposure to microbes in the environment.

However, according to a recent study of certain households, pets may be of significant help. “One of the most protective things you can do to avoid developing allergies is to basically get a dog,” Brinkman said, explaining the theory that a dog brings microbes from outside into contact with its owners, though there may be other factors involved.

While the AAP is set to integrate data on a vast scale, Brinkman stressed the importance of organizing data to make it legible and useful.

“One of the biggest challenges we have in biology is it’s becoming more of an information science, and we need to get that data properly organized and we need to get it more integrated,” Brinkman said.

“We really want to find discoveries more efficiently.”

easily and have a harder time scavenging the body.

“This gives us a better understanding of what happens to bodies in such waters,” said Anderson.

In the published study, they explain the relevance of their findings to crime-solving efforts: “These studies have provided valuable information for underwater death investigations, describing conditions of bodies over time in hypoxic and anoxic environments.”

It continues, “These data will be valuable in forensic investigations involving submerged bodies,

indicating types of water conditions to which the body has been exposed, identifying post-mortem artifacts and providing realistic expectations for recovery divers and families of the deceased.”

This study is one in a series of pig carcass deployments at various depths and locations. Anderson and Bell’s latest deployment can be viewed via VENUS online at venus.uvic.ca.

The duo’s next step forward in this research will take them east of Vancouver Island to Barkley Canyon.

9

Craig Vandermeer, an SFU alumnus and the co-founder of Schools Building Schools, made a presentation to council asking for feedback on the project, which began as an SFU club in 2009.

Schools Building Schools aims to reduce global poverty through the support of educational institutions, specifically vocational schools, in Uganda. The program hires local labour, and 95 per cent of its funds go towards the work in Uganda, with five per cent going to administration and fundraising fees.

Because SFU students voted in spring 2012 to institute a $1 levy per term to support the project, Vandermeer asked for feedback, as well as permission to use the SFSS logo on their posters. Council recommended that the board of directors allow Schools Building Schools to use their logo, and that they look into increasing awareness about opt-out options concerning the $1 levy.

David Paterson, the associate dean (administration) for the Faculty of Education, presented to council on a new program based out of SFU called the Centre for English Language Learning, Teaching, and Research.

The centre, located in a 1,400 square foot area on the bottom floor of West Mall Centre, offers English as an Additional Language (EAL) Service to students who are non-native speakers.

As a new program, Paterson asked council for feedback on the types of services offered, and how they might engage stakeholders to curate and create services that fit the needs of the community.

In response, council struck a working group, which will potentially be the host of the consultation programming with the student body.

10

OPINIONS

Burnaby mayoral candidate Sylvia Gung promises to ban all public displays of affection, including the wedding kiss ritual and hand holding, if elected. When I first read of her platform in the Vancouver Sun, I was stunned that such a person would run for mayor, and absolutely terrified that such a person might win the position. As expected, she is undergoing a lot of rapid fire from the media and community.

Gung feels that public displays of affection lead to violence, and can hurt public decorum. In a phone interview with Drex, a radio host on CKNW AM980, she cited an incident where a same-sex couple seen kissing in public was subsequently tailed and severely injured by homophobic bystanders. Her belief is that ‘bedroom behaviour’ is unacceptable on the streets because it encourages blatant sexuality, and leads to rape and assault. Even if Gung’s solutions to these problems

Recently, Honduras became the eighth individual state with which Canada has a free trade agreement with. Rabble’s Don Davies was quick to call out the government for providing “economic backing to an undemocratic regime that commits, or tolerates, wide-spread human rights abuses.”

This deal has become part of an ongoing discourse on the ethics of cooperating with morally reprehensible regimes around the world, but also seems to highlight

November 3, 2014

opinions editor email / phone

Adam Van der Zwan opinions@the-peak.ca / 778.782.4560

of violence are well-intentioned, they are terribly ill-founded.

Her logic criminalizes passionate innocents, and blames them for giving criminals opportunities to take advantage of them. Essentially, she blames the rape victim for the rapist’s actions, which is exactly the kind of mindset that our society is trying to reverse. There are definitely more relevant and effective ways to curb violence.

Even if, just for a moment, we hypothesized that her motion had legitimate grounds, how could it be enforced? How many people would be fined or incarcerated for such ‘acts of misdemeanour?’ How much taxpayer money would be wasted on a non-issue, rather than fighting the real criminals?

This is an extreme logical fallacy that can only ever be impractical and counterproductive.

As for public decorum, in an interview with National Post, Gung said that people who insist on showing public affection are “bullies” — in other words, they do not care about how uncomfortable their actions make to those around them feel. That, however, is a personal opinion, and while it may be shared by others, it is a personal prejudice that should not infringe upon an entire community’s public

behaviour, or a person’s freedom of choice.

I don’t know Gung personally, and so any value judgments I can make about her derive from how the media chooses to portray her.

When questioned on her standpoint, it did not appear that she knew what she was talking about.

Her ‘logic’ was illogical, her responses did not fully answer the questions posed, and any evidence she provided was merely

hearsay or, at best, of isolated incidents in the newspaper with no statistical proof.

Gung may mean well with her ideas to ‘improve’ Burnaby, but at the end of the day, she is not a reliable spokesperson for the city. We need individuals in government who can carry society forward — who can advance it and not regress it. In this day and age, there is no room for Sylvia Gung in Burnaby City Hall.

the hypocrisy surrounding such a discourse, as well as the weakness of nation-focused approaches to human rights.

Economic partnership with Canada remains such a minuscule imperative for Honduras that, whether or not this partnership exists, Honduras’ domestic policy is unlikely to change. By opening up Canada’s markets to Honduras and vice-versa, we are not condoning the policies of the pseudo-democratic government, nor are we supporting them.

Similarly, by withholding a free trade agreement based on our amorphous moral code, we would not be encouraging Honduras or similar states to change their ways.

The moral statements that we make, though they seem resolute and strong, bear little significance; a debate which centres around Canada’s enabling of the brutal

Honduran government to commit various atrocities and human rights abuses, rather than taking a stand and making a moral statement, is unimportant.

the common good of the international community.

Human rights abuses in Honduras are not Canada’s problem.

The international community must be far more prudent about applying its norms and developing its institutions to adequately deal with human rights issues, which are global in nature.

Empowering institutions such as the United Nations to implement elections monitoring, to add enforcement measures to ensure adherence to conventions, and to expand the scope of the UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review would be a good start. This would ensure that human rights issues around the world are looked at equally, making human rights a dimensional issue — an ever-changing and evolving discourse in international relations.

Furthermore, Canada has its own issues with human rights to

address — the NSA’s PRISM program which Canada supports, and the abhorrent discrimination against Aboriginal peoples, for example. Canada is in no position to criticize the human rights situation in other nations. Thus, a multilateral approach is not only the most effective way to deal with human rights, but it is the only morally defensible way.

When states imply the rhetoric of morality to condemn the actions of other states, it is almost always in the own self-interest of the former.

If Canada reversed its free trade agreement tomorrow, we would still import products from China and export weapons to volatile regions around the world.

The agreement is inconsequential, but the discourwse around is revealing. One thing is clear: civil rights are not commodities that Canada can export.

It would, however, be wrong to say that Canada is powerless against morally corrupt regimes, like in Honduras. A multilateral approach to dealing with human rights globally would involve cooperation from all states, democratic consensus as how to approach such topics, and a concerted effort to put aside petty political agendas for

OPINIONS

November 3, 2014

develop more sustainable options, the amount of waste being produced in the meantime is shocking. According to journalist Murray Carpenter, last year alone Keurig sold enough of these pods to wrap around the equator more than 10 times.

At times, I find that coffee is the only reason I manage to make it to that 8:30 a.m. class.

Every day, people around the world brew themselves a cup to de-stress, or to lift their spirits.

This is why we need to wake up to the damage being done by the latest brewing trend: singleserve coffee pods.

In the past few years the big names in the coffee industry — Keurig, Starbucks, Nestle and others — have invested in this new coffee technology. Many of us have seen or used coffee pods at some point, but have never considered what happens to those plastic cups after making ourselves a fresh brew.

Around 95 per cent of all coffee pods are made of composite plastics, meaning they’re not easy to recycle. The amount of pods that are recycled is difficult to measure, but according to microbiologist Thomas Clark, the chances that many pods make it to a depot are slim.

While companies such as Keurig have promised to

After a single use, the pods reach the end of their life and are thrown out only to sit in landfills. This is especially problematic, as plastic is not biodegradable the same way drip-brew filters are. Plastic photodegrades over time, meaning it breaks down into smaller bits and eventually finds its way into our ecosystems.

In recent years we’ve seen a push to reduce plastic bags as well as disposable coffee cups, yet these inherently wasteful pods have not been criticized nearly to the same extent. In order to work towards a cleaner environment, we must move away from this kind of destructive plastic.

As if the environmental impact isn’t enough, it is also

important to note that the plastic used to create the pods is potentially dangerous to our immediate health. While the United States’ Food and Drug Administration greenlighted this product, recent research suggests that even non-BPA plastics can test positive for synthetic estrogenic activity.

Moreover, Keurig could not confirm or deny the presence of polystyrene in their pods — a chemical known to cause damage to the nervous system. This means that our bodies could be absorbing these chemicals without our knowledge.

Sales for coffee pod machines are at an all-time high; Keurig shattered all previous records by raking in an impressive $1.62 billion in gross income last year. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters cites ‘convenience’ as a leading factor in the success of these single-brew coffee pods. But the immediate personal convenience should not outweigh the long-lasting environmental and health impacts of these cups.

A simple solution to this growing issue would be to move away from this coffee fad, and back towards traditional brewing methods such as drip brew machines or French presses. I encourage all of you to think twice before investing in the coffee pod craze.

11

Smoking is great! It makes you look cool, sexy, and mysterious, like a star of a 1940s film noir. Chain-smoking is a good way to focus your mind, and was vital to the production of many of the greatest pieces of art, literature, science, and political progress over the past several hundred years. If you smoke often enough and over a large enough period of years, your voice will eventually become deep and authoritative.

Don’t underestimate that huge advantage! You never see Barack Obama smoking in public, but do you think he’d have that smooth, trustworthy voice without the help of his most loyal friend, nicotine? And let’s not forget the social opportunities in designated smoking areas — who will you meet there? A friend? An employer? Maybe a spouse! While I personally do not smoke, the advantages are clearly numerous.

It’s commonly argued that smoking should be heavily taxed because smokers cost our public healthcare system a lot of money. Which is true, briefly. You know what costs a lot more money? Staying alive for an extra couple decades — or in our generation’s case, likely longer! Christopher Hitchens was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in June 2010 at the age of 62 and didn’t live to see Christmas 2011. The average man his

age is expected to live more than 20 years longer than that, making liberal use of drugs, surgeries, and all manner of horror-show treatments the whole time.

Do we, as a generation, really expect to be able to bear the cost burden of our parents’ healthcare, our children’s, and our own? Face it: it’s pretty much your patriotic duty to die young, so get on that while I head to the gym like a chump.

12 OPINIONS

Recently, I’ve been in the throes of a group project that requires students to address a social issue. At the start of the semester, I groaned inwardly when classmates expressed their interest in an environmental topic. During presentations about environmentally related issues, I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

Before you peg me as the anti christ of environmentalism, let me tell you that I believe we need to take better care of our environment. In fact, my summer job for the past three years has been picking up garbage and planting greenery.

However, the idealistic and utopian ideas that tumble out of my peers’ mouths like rainbow-coloured vomit is appalling. Not only does this show a lack of understanding in terms of how things work realistically, but it is often only substantiated by information gleaned from biased pieces that exclude the full

picture and have no accountability for misinformation.

If oil were a person, I am certain some of my fellow students

November 3, 2014

would form a mob, hang him in the Academic Quadrangle and feed his remains to the koi fish in the pond. However, what

MORE THAN READY

they neglect to consider is just how many petroleum products touch our lives. Did you wear a sweater today? Oil product. It rains a lot in Vancouver, thank god for umbrellas! Oil product.

Did you brush your teeth today with a toothbrush? Oil product.

I’m not advocating that you go out and purchase a foam finger with the words “#1 Oil Sands Fan” printed on the front, but I do think it’s high time that students opened their eyes to reality. Unless you are hiking the mountain to school, sporting ‘Adam and Eve’ leaf couture, you cannot feasibly say that you are accustomed to a lifestyle without petroleum products.

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The grim reality is that we currently do not have any other energy sources that can replace and improve on what we get from oil. So no, the oil sands are not in business solely because greedy oil tycoons want to watch the world burn as they soak in bathtubs full of crisp hundred dollar bills; oil is actually something we rely on to maintain the quality of life modern society demands.

In a tutorial, my TA asked if we supported pipelines. I was the sole person to raise my hand in support. My classmates’ eyes burned into me as the TA asked for my reasoning. My answer was simple enough, but a revelation to the dissenting crowd: oil was going to be transported regardless, and I’d rather have it done via the lesser of evils.

A quote from a Forbes article serves as a poignant reminder that “1.5 million gallons of crude oil spilled in a single day last year in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, and 47 people were killed” during a railcar accident a little over a year ago. Plus, let’s not forget that “five out of the 10 largest oil spills in US history were from boats.” Pipelines aren’t perfect, but are you really advocating what’s best for the environment by protesting against them?

When it comes to the environment, enough is enough.

Students, of all people, should know that, while ideals are really nice and we all yearn to live in the romantically simplistic world they paint, these notions are just not realistic.

OPINIONS

November 3, 2014

New Westminster (NUW) — On October 21, Toys R Us pulled a series of Breaking Bad-inspired action figures off of their shelves, after receiving a petition against the toys from a collective of mothers in Florida. Nine-thousand signatures sent the Walter White and Jesse Pinkman toys on ‘sabbatical,’ leaving me wondering how those concerned mothers could be so nearsighted.

During the week of October 20, Canada’s role in the ongoing War on Terror reached a new level, as the country was the victim of a pair of terror attacks. Two members of the Canadian Armed Forces were killed on home soil while another was injured in what appeared to be targeted attacks

by ISIS sympathizers. Amazingly, these attacks have not seemed to damage the Canadian psyche, but have instead drawn out the best qualities that Canadians have to offer.

On Wednesday morning, when a rifle shot claimed the life of Corporal Nathan Cirillo as he stood ceremonial watch over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, bystanders rushed to his aid and attempted to save the reservist’s life — delivering CPR to the fallen soldier while the shooter was still in the area.

As the shooter entered Parliament, we saw police and security services perform their duties with incredible calm under pressure. While our elected members of Parliament prepared to defend themselves

with whatever was at hand, retired police officer Kevin Vickers, the Parliamentary Sergeant-at-Arms, shot and killed Cirillo’s murderer before he could claim any more lives.

While many news networks, including CNN, gave into hyperbole and emotionalized coverage, Canada remained calm in the face of the unknown threat. CBC, anchored by veteran broadcaster Peter Mansbridge, kept Canadians informed of the situation developing in the capital without allowing the story to devolve into wild speculation.

Other Canadian broadcasters were also quick to focus on the heroes of the day, and on what makes this nation and its people great. Our political leaders were on hand to remind us that now is the time for the Canadian people to stand firm, with Prime Minister Harper informing the world that “Canada will never be intimidated.”

When Parliament reopened the following morning, it did so with increased security measures, including lack of public access, but our government representatives were prepared to do their duties. Kevin

Vickers was honoured with a standing ovation from a grateful House of Commons, as he performed his daily ceremonial duties. Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair acknowledged the previous day’s actions, stating “We don’t know the names of all the heroes, but we all saw heroic gestures yesterday.”

In true Canadian fashion, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau extended a hand to the Muslim community with the statement that “yesterday was a terrible perversion of your faith” and further reminded all of us that we are “a nation of open minds and open hearts and we won’t be intimidated into changing that for anybody.”

But the strongest display of unity was to come from the Prime Minister himself. Anyone remotely familiar with Mr. Harper knows that he is not one for public displays of emotion, which makes what we saw on Thursday even more impressive, as he crossed the floor to deliver a pair of handshakes, which he then transitioned into hugs, to both Mulcair and Trudeau.

For a brief moment, Canadians were witnesses to three men — who by all accounts can’t stand each other — unified in the face of tragedy and adversity, providing a microcosm of the unity that is occurring across the country.

Canada will continue to stand, the True North strong, free, and united in defence of the principles that have made this nation great.

Now and then, I wander into a Toys R Us retailer and feel disappointment that resembles a knee to the groin.

There is no nostalgia; the florescent-lit store could not feel more foreign to me. Still, I’ll explore the aisles, looking at the common toys: fake weapons, brawny plastic action figures, constructed to battle to the death, and sultry dolls that nurture an unobtainable expectation of beauty. Aaron Paul perhaps said it best with the tweet, “Hmmmm… I wonder what is more damaging?”

Paul continues to stand by the toys constructed in his image. His counter petition to return the Breaking Bad toys to Toys R Us has already received approximately 30,000 signatures. Although I haven’t signed anything, I do think the original removal of the toys was a ridiculous initiative.

First off, if parents are worried about their children becoming methamphetamine addicts or dealers, then they’ll

13

have to do a bit more than eliminate a few toys. Moms, talk to your children about drugs: explain the legalities and educate them on the harmful effects of addiction. Action figures are not a gateway into a life of crime, but poor parenting is.

Nothing hinders the growth of children more than paranoid, overprotective parents.

We’ve seen many attempts to hide drug usage and deter temptations, but it seems that concealing cigarettes behind corner store cabinets, or implementing strict drinking ages only creates another obstacle that can easily be thwarted, should young people dare to experiment.

Secondly, mothers need to focus on the big picture.

Drugs, violence, and sex cannot be avoided in this world, so prepare your kids effectively with confidence and intelligence. Hell, maybe even watch Breaking Bad with them and show them the horrible, destructive outcome of each character involved.

There are a billion other concerns in the world that should worry mothers. It’s funny that they chose a battle against an inanimate object. After all, the worst pain those action figures could cause is the crippling pain of stepping on them barefoot.

Moms of Florida, why not turn your attention toward gun control, drug trafficking, the broken educational system, overzealous spending, racism, sexism, gang crimes, pollution, heart disease, cancer, homelessness, unemployment, and many other dire problems in the world?

On a chaotic planet, we should just let the children play, imagine, and have the freedom to explore what they are curious about, guiding their curiosity in a positive direction without limiting them. No more half-measures, moms.

D

rug: any chemical substance (excluding food and water) that alters the structure and function of the body. This is quite a broad definition — shampoo, soap, and moisturizer all roughly fit this description. But what we’re usually talking about when we talk about ‘drugs’ are psychoactive drugs. These substances lead to changes in the chemistry of the brain, altering per-

amphetamines

ceptions, mood, thinking, and behaviour.

To know how drugs affect the body, it’s worth learning the difference between pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Pharmacokinetics is the study of the movement of a drug through the body, which is often dictated by the method of drug intake.

How you administer a drug has a significant impact on

the drug’s effect and duration.

Routes of administration such as inhalation, intravenous, and insufflation all deliver the drug to the brain very quickly; however, the faster a drug is delivered to the brain, the faster it will be broken down and its effects eliminated. Other routes of administration, such as oral ingestion or transdermal administration (on the skin), will have a slower onset, but the

drug’s effect will last longer.

Pharmacodynamics, on the other hand, is the study of what a drug does to the body.

In order for a drug to have an effect, it must be able to enter your brain and affect its cells.

These cells are called neurons, and you’ve got roughly 100 billion of them. Neurons communicate with each other by secreting chemicals called neurotransmitters — psychoac-

tive drugs alter the activity of these neurotransmitters, leading to changes in perception, behaviour, and mood. This is what we think of as a ‘high.’

Not all drugs affect everyone in the same way, but there are observable patterns for specific drugs.

The most common psychoactive drugs tend to fall into two categories: stimulants and depressants.

Caffeine is usually ingested orally through coffee, tea, or caffeine pills. If it is taken orally, caffeine is subjected to firstpass metabolism, which means your body breaks down some of the drug before it is able to reach your circulatory system and brain.

At the neuronal level, caffeine blocks adenosine receptors. Adenosine dampens brain activity, and is associated

with behavioural effects such as lethargy, fatigue, and decreased locomotion. By inhibiting adenosine from binding to its receptors, caffeine helps you stay aroused and alert. It can also increase the amount of serotonin in the brain, a neurotransmitter associated with elevated mood.

Other behavioural effects of caffeine, in moderate doses, are increased arousal, mood,

energy, locomotion, and sociability. Furthermore, caffeine is widely accepted to have some beneficial effects such as decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. In higher doses, however, caffeine can lead to feelings of anxiety, panic, and irritability.

Believe or not, you can overdose from caffeine consumption. However, it would

take roughly 80–100 cups of coffee, consumed in a relatively short time, to accomplish this.

Like any other drug, if you consume a lot of caffeine, you will develop a tolerance. Withdrawal symptoms will also occur if you are a regular latte sipper and you stop drinking coffee entirely; headache, lethargy, and fatigue are all common.

Cocaine comes from the coca plant native to South America.

Recreational use of cocaine is usually administered through insufflation (snorting), or intravenously. Both routes of administration bypass first-pass metabolism, and quickly enter the brain.

When the neurons in your brain send neurotransmitters to communicate with other neurons, some of the remaining neurotransmitters

are recycled and return to the neuron that released them; cocaine blocks this mechanism.

Since the neurotransmitters that were released cannot go back into the cells that released them, they continue to stimulate adjacent neurons.

Cocaine acts on neurons that secrete dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin — all of which contribute to your arousal and mood.

In moderate doses, the

behavioural and physiological effects of cocaine include increased energy, heart rate, self-esteem, talkativeness, and feelings of euphoria, but decreased appetite. In high doses, irritability, anxiety, hostility, aggression, and delusions of grandeur are often observed.

High doses of cocaine can often result in tachyarrhythmia (rapid irregular heartbeat), as well elevated blood pressure. Overdose from cocaine

can lead to respiratory failure, stroke, heart failure, or cerebral hemorrhaging.

The body breaks down cocaine relatively quickly, and its effects are notoriously short-lived. This leads many individuals to administer additional doses, which can quickly lead to tolerance.

Common cocaine withdrawal symptoms include lethargy, hypersomnia, dysphoria, and temporary depression.

Amphetamine is a synthetic derivative of ephedrine, a stimulant used as a decongestant and appetite suppressant. The route of administration will vary with an amphetamine due to its chemical composition.

When most hear the word amphetamine, they may attribute it solely to methamphetamine.

However, methamphetamine is only one variation.

Although methamphetamine is usually inhaled through smoking, other forms

such as dextroamphetamine and levoamphetamine, which are found in medications such as Adderall or Dexedrine, cannot be vaporized. Despite this, common routes of administration range from oral ingestion, intravenous, insufflation, and inhalation.

Like cocaine, an amphetamine will alter levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine in the body’s nerve cells. After it has reached the brain, an amphetamine will

enter nerve cells and displace neurotransmitters, forcing them out of the cell. The neurotransmitters then bind to other surrounding nerve cells, increasing levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine — thus boosting arousal, locomotion, and mood.

In moderate doses, the behavioural and physiological effects of an amphetamine are similar to cocaine: increased alertness, heart rate, locomotion, talkativeness, restlessness,

euphoria, along with a decrease in appetite, are all common effects. In high doses, irritability, anxiety, hostility, and aggression can be expected.

Common causes of death by amphetamine overdose are respiratory failure, cerebral hemorrhaging, circulatory collapse, and kidney failure.

Withdrawal symptoms include fatigue, temporary depression, hypersomnia, increased appetite, and decreased movement.

Most of us are familiar with the media image of drug addicts, namely the physical effects of drugs like meth and heroin. But are drugs the sole cause of physical deterioration in their users?

Not according to Dr. Bryan Jones, professor of psychopharmacology at SFU. He notes that “many of our images of the typical drug user and the images of physical deterioration associated with drug use are not actually due to the drugs’ physical effects. [. . .] Conditions like ‘methmouth,’ [for instance] in which adult methamphetamine users have decayed teeth and receding gums, are most likely due to lifestyle factors, such as lack of oral hygiene, decreased water intake, poor diet, and decreased sleep.

“People who use meth regularly as prescribed by their

Ethyl alcohol is usually consumed in the form of beer, wine, or spirits. One very common misconception about alcohol is that different alcoholic beverages will give you different experiences while drunk — in truth, alcohol will do the same thing no matter what beverage it’s in. How much you drink, body composition, stomach contents prior to drinking, tolerance, and other factors will affect bloodalcohol content or ‘drunkenness,’ but whether you drink 40-proof tequila or 40-proof whiskey will not.

Consumed orally, alcohol is subject to first-pass me-

tabolism and is broken down.

After entering the brain, alcohol binds to specific receptors on nerve cells called GABA-A receptors. This allows specific ions to enter nerve cells, which decrease the ability of said nerve cells to send messages to adjacent neurons. The result is an overall decrease in brain activity.

In moderate doses, the behavioural and physiological effects of alcohol include decreased alertness, relaxed inhibitions, and some loss of motor coordination. In higher doses, effects include slurred speech, exaggerated emotions, severely impaired motor

coordination, and loss of consciousness.

When an individual’s blood-alcohol concentration reaches 0.45, coma or death can occur. Death from alcohol overdose is a result of paralysis of the medulla oblongata, which controls and regulates breathing. At high enough doses, alcohol will inhibit the medulla oblongata entirely, resulting in asphyxiation.

Acute withdrawal symptoms, such as those you might feel after a night of heavy drinking, include an inability to sleep, headache, cold and hot flashes, nausea and vomiting, and a feeling of rest-

lessness. Chronic withdrawal symptoms may include shaking, increased blood pressure and heart rate, seizures, and hallucinations. In the case of some chronic alcoholics, withdrawal can even lead to death.

There are a number of problems associated with chronic alcohol consumption, such as liver damage, coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke, and brain damage. However, despite chronic effects, moderate alcohol use — alongside good nutrition and regular physical activity — is associated with some health benefits such as a decrease in cardiovascular disease.

Heroin is a derivative of morphine, and both come from the opium poppy. Interestingly, differences between heroin and morphine are almost nonexistent — heroin is basically morphine with two acetyl groups added to it.

This difference allows heroin to enter your brain more quickly. But once the drug does enter your brain, the acetyl groups are cleaved and the

molecular structure becomes identical to morphine. Common routes of administration for heroin are intravenous, insufflation, and inhalation. All of these routes quickly deliver the drug to the brain.

Heroin acts on the brain’s opioid receptors, which are distributed in different areas of the brain. Heroin’s effects on neurons will vary depending on which type of receptor

is located in a particular neuron. No matter what, though, heroin always decreases neural communication. This is reflected in its depressive physiological and behavioural outputs.

A moderate dose of heroin will induce euphoria, shallow breathing, pupil constriction, constipation, decreased sex drive, and muscular weakness. At high doses, heroin’s

effect on opioid receptors in the medulla oblongata can shut down respiratory function entirely, leading to a likely death.

Some of the withdrawal effects of heroin include dysphoria, irritability, pain, hyperthermia, diarrhea, restlessness, insomnia, and — if you have a penis — spontaneous ejaculation.

Marijuana does not fit perfectly into the classification of depressants, as some of the effects of marijuana can include small amounts of stimulation.

Hallucinations can even occur at extremely high doses.

Marijuana is most often burned, and its smoke inhaled into the lungs. This route of administration results in the drug contained in the plant, THC, entering the circulatory system very quickly. However, THC in

marijuana can also be infused into edibles such as cookies or brownies. If consumed this way, the effect of THC has a slower onset, but the duration of the drug’s effect will be much longer than inhalation.

The psychoactive compound in marijuana, THC, binds to cannabinoid receptors in the central and peripheral nervous system. There, it induces a sequence of actions which inhibit a neuron’s abil-

ity to send neurotransmitters to adjacent neurons. As a result, there is a minor decrease in neural communication.

In a moderate dose, some of the effects of THC include euphoria, muscle relaxation, dry mouth, red eyes, increased appetite, and slight impairments in judgement and motor coordination. In higher doses, anxiety, paranoia, and hallucinations can occur.

Unlike many others on this list, 7+& GRHV QRW KDYH D VLJQLŵFDQW HIfect on the brainstem, which controls vital bodily functions, such as respiration and heart rate. This means that respiratory failure, the most common cause of death due to drug overdose, cannot occur as a result of THC consumption.

Some withdrawal symptoms of marijuana include an inability to sleep, irritability, anxiety, and decreased appetite.

physician, such as children with ADHD, do not experience this condition.”

As for drugs as inevitably addictive substances, Dr. Jones says, “There is no such thing as an inevitable addiction. The most addictive drug we know of is tobacco, and heroin is the most addictive of the illegal substances. However, according to the National Institutes of Health in the USA, about 23 per cent of people who use heroin become addicted to it, while approximately 20 per cent of prescription opiate users may have difficulties in stopping despite pain cessation.

“With methamphetamine, again using American data, less than 10 per cent of people using meth in their lifetime have done so in the last year

— hardly the mark of an inevitably addicting drug.”

Dr. Jones also responded to the fear that the legalization of a drug might threaten national health. “While it is certainly possible that legality — or regulation of a drug, like we have with tobacco and alcohol — could increase overall rates of use, there is no evidence that it would increase addiction or deterioration,” he explains. “In fact, the opposite has been seen. Multiple studies have shown that when heroin addicts have been given access to pure heroin by their physicians, their physical health actually improves, as do their employment prospects.

“In countries where drugs have been regulated or decriminalized, rates of use have actually decreased.”

42 per cent: Amount of

Canadians who report using marijuana at least once in their lifetime (2012) Amount of Canadians who report using alcohol at least once in their lifetime (2012)

The amount of coffee required to overdose

November 3, 2014

16

COMMUNITY PHOTOS November 3, 2014

photo editor email / phone

Anderson Wang photos@the-peak.ca

ARTS

arts editor email / phone

November 3, 2014

If a revolution is a release of pressure, what becomes of the force following its release? Andreas Bunte, a recent SFU Audain Visual Artist in Residence, attempts to address this question by looking at two spaces of differential pressure in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Bunte’s two films, presented as a double film installation at the Or Gallery, use an athletic training facility, Underdruck (Low-Pressure), and a synthetic diamond manufacturer, Künstliche Diamanten (Synthetic Diamonds), as respective subjects to document the technological achievements of the GDR.

Bunte primarily works in the medium of 16mm celluloid film. The grainy, anachronistic look of 16mm is congruous to the subject matter being depicted. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, each of these spaces was affected. The synthetic diamond institute lost its state funding. It then had to relocate and become a private enterprise. The training facility, designed to simulate the low pressure of high altitudes, fell into disuse due to the cost of renting the space. Because of the way it was built, it was also too costly to destroy, ostensibly becoming a monument to the era in which it was created.

Both spaces feel lost in time due to the prevalence of the dated, analogue technologies that they contain. Through these short films, Bunte affords the viewer a privileged look at processes and spaces rarely seen, while also framing the banality inherent in each.

A diamond is created over billions of years in high-pressure areas kilometres beneath the earth. In Künstliche Diamanten, we witness the transformation

of graphite into a diamond over the course of several minutes.

The final product is cut out of its casing using a tool that looks like a butter knife.

In Underdruck, Bunte takes us into what looks like a Cold War-era spy bunker, straight out of a Roger Moore James Bond film, but then reveals the banality within: the faded plastics in the offices, the humming frequencies of the rooms, and the blinking fluorescent lights.

Due to its isolation, the GDR had to rely on synthetic processes to maintain its independence.

Whether it was through the production of plastics, synthetic fibres, or synthetic diamonds, a GDR state-owned economy had to rely on technological innovation to keep up with its Western counterparts, let alone stay afloat. The two subjects of Bunte’s films are a testament to the stubborn ingenuity of the GDR, which reduced the need for its people to bring in outside goods or travel outside the country — not that the GDR populace ever had much choice.

A couple blocks away from the Or Gallery, Andreas Bunte also has an exhibition at Republic Gallery.

This exhibition, Lettuce Partially Emerging from a Shopping Bag, features another 16mm film, titled Suspended Durations. The film documents actors performing everyday tasks, such as unpacking a bag of groceries, using a swipe card machine, and untangling a set of earbuds. In each film there is a grid background placed in the frame of the action, and as each action is performed, sometimes in multiple takes, the sound of the 16mm camera whirs in the background, along

with the artist’s voice calling out directions over sections of black in between shots.

The placement of the grid within the frame of action, along with the uncut sound and occasional flash frames, give the sense that we are watching a scientific motion study — normally conducted to improve work

Tessa Perkins arts@the-peak.ca / 778.782.4560

17

practices by maximizing the efficiency of the body’s movement — while also referring to what is taking place behind-the-scenes. By juxtaposing the mundane activities in a makeshift setting of empirical observation, Bunte questions the motives behind these motion studies, while also creating absurd scenarios of everyday life.

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18 ARTS

A horrible tragedy happens, the news gets the story, and then the circus starts. Anchors talk about the school shooting or terrorist attack for hours, speculating and spinning without proof. They depict the event graphically, instilling fear in their viewers. People watch for hours, craving more and more details. It’s a form of twisted entertainment and we love it; Nightcrawler explores this.

A current topic appearing in many different movies is that of media, and the bias behind corporations that run media outlets. Deserving culprits include Fox News, for their shifty and deceptive perspectives and manipulation of uneducated and less discerning viewers, as well as the political and social left wing cheerleader, CNN, whose stories may spin the truth better than the Democratic Party.

Nightcrawler is about the media, but less about the behind

Fans of opera be warned, this show is far from typical. It is, in fact, so much more. Part beauty, part tragedy, and many parts pain, Stickboy did not fail to deliver at the Vancouver Playhouse.

The show, directed by Rachel Peake, was adapted from Shane Koyczan’s autobiographical book of poetry of the same name, with music composed

by Neil Weisensel. According to Leslie Dala, the Vancouver Opera’s music dramaturge, they first approached Koyczan in September 2013 and asked him to transform his story into libretto for the opera to perform.

Mixing classical with contemporary styles of music, traditional

November 3, 2014

the scenes of a station. Admittedly, it does focus on how ratings drive the material put on television, but its master stroke lies elsewhere — it shows you the horrors of a news station that picks its stories based on their visual power and fear factor, and then tells you how you are a part of the process.

This is an ingenious film that thrills you with its images and graphic violence, and then repulses you as you begin to realize that you crave these violent depictions. We go into these kinds of dark, gritty movies looking for someone to die, and then are thrilled by the spurting of their blood. The spectator is as involved with the unethical situation as the characters.

Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut presents a sordid story of underground crime journalism in LA. Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), a man struggling for work, videos car hijackings, fires, and murders for the news. He captures raw images of dying, upper class whites, and sells them to Channel 6 News; they take the footage and manipulate it, so that viewers are drawn to their station. Lou doesn’t care about ethics; his aim is to capture the perfect shot of the dying, struggling victim, as these images can be sold to the

operatic libretto with spoken word, and live theatre with animated visuals created by Giant Ant — the company behind Koyczan’s viral “To This Day” video — Stickboy pushes boundaries to its advantage. The busy, visual opera certainly had something for everyone, but focused on one universal theme: bullying.

From the perpetrator, to the victim, or even a bystander or

station at a higher price. Everyone in Nightcrawler has a monetary value; people cease to be human.

They are products for Lou to capture and sell, commodities for the station to publish, and a pathway to high ratings.

As Lou drives from crime scene to crime scene, the audience is invigorated by the proceedings. We don’t know the victims, but we are intrigued and thrilled by their horrible situations. We voyeuristically watch

someone close to someone who has been affected, bullying can greatly alter the lives it touches.

Stickboy took the story of bullying one step further. Based on Koyczan’s real life experiences in Yellowknife and Penticton, it illustrates just how destructive bullying can be. It also plays on the realization that we all have a monster inside of us, and that we all have the capacity to do terrible things.

their final moments, as those who watch Channel 6 News do. I was simultaneously enraptured and repulsed.

Nightcrawler is a daring movie that succeeds on its surface level and leaves you thinking about more than a roaring mustang on the streets of LA. It’s an arthouse action film with brains and brawn. Long takes and fluid handheld cinematography build tension with slow movement within the frame, before the sequence

explodes and the average shot length diminishes, cutting more frequently, and consequently increasing the tension in scenes.

This is the odd movie that you want to see, then not see, then see again, before not seeing it. Nightcrawler is action-packed, playing on our desire for violence before making us look in a mirror and revealing us as the culprits who fuel this immoral form of journalism.

We demand the violence; they provide the supply.

According to Dala, the show “talks about the thing we all have within us — the capacity to harm others, or to just be bystanders who do nothing about it. All of us can think of times we’ve been one, or both, of those.”

and concerned grandmother passes a notebook under the doorframe. Conversations are splayed across the pages, and moving visuals play on the screen behind them. Differing, perhaps, from many shows, Stickboy does not provide its audience with any reasoning for its horrors; it only offers “because” as an answer, and doesn’t feature any precise ending, because one generally doesn’t get either in real life.

With it’s ability to tackle themes that many shy away from, Stickboy seems to resonate with audiences, and was well deserving of the minuteslong standing ovation it received.

There are plans to adapt the opera into a shorter play, with the aim of traveling to elementary schools throughout BC.

The story follows ‘the boy,’ played by Sunny Shams, as he navigates the tough terrain of childhood, with scenes at age 10, age 13 and age 17. The settings range from classrooms, playgrounds, and treacherous hallways, to his sanctuary at home, featuring both graphics and Koyczan’s pre-recorded narration between scenes.

Some of the most poignant scenes revolve around his bedroom door, as a caring

ARTS

Three years ago, when looking to pursue a second degree in visual arts, one characteristic made me choose Simon Fraser University over the multitude of art schools that offer post-secondary education in the Vancouver area: the art practices of the faculty members themselves. Among all of the practicing artists teaching courses in Vancouver, one of them stood out to me more than any other — Elspeth Pratt.

By a turn of coincidence, Pratt evaluated my entry portfolio during the admission process, though, as of yet, she has not been one of my professors.

That being said, it was a pleasure to conduct a short phone interview with her, to get a sense of her teaching career prior to becoming the associate director of the School for the Contemporary Arts at SFU in 2010, and

At 8:00 p.m. on a Saturday night, my boyfriend and I found ourselves at Little Mountain Gallery, an intimate, down-to-earth venue on a side street off of Main. The next street light was 20 metres down the road. The odd car passed by every so often; other than that, it was relatively quiet, with the occasional laugh from a nearby cafe drifting lazily across the night air.

There was a completely different vibe inside the gallery

November 3, 2014

then obtaining the director position in 2013.

Hailing from both Winnipeg and Toronto, and earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Pratt finished her M.F.A. studies at UBC before going on to teach at the University of Victoria in the mid-80s. Afterwards, she also held positions at the Emily Carr College of Art and Simon Fraser University.

I discovered that one of the first exhibitions of her work was as a participant in the now legendary October Show in 1983.

This exhibit was the first artistrun warehouse show to take place in Vancouver, and was organized in order to contest the Vancouver Art Gallery’s selection of artists during their historical retrospective that same year — Vancouver: Art and Artists 1931-1983.

Of course, there have been many other exhibits of her works in Vancouver since then.

In 2008, Kathy Slade curated a solo show of her art entitled Nonetheless, which took place at the Charles H. Scott Gallery.

A monograph of Pratt’s work bearing that same title was later published in 2011. (I happened to pick up a copy of this

— that of the perfect intimate theatre. We were enveloped in positive energy that radiated off of the bare walls, hummed beneath the music, and burst forth from exuberant conversations taking place around the room.

We were right on time for the show, but there were still people trickling in.

Shirley Gnome stood by the ticket booth and welcomed us, excitedly recognizing The Peak

19

publication at last year’s Vancouver Art/Book Fair, as it is the main reference tool when studying her work.) Also in 2011, Pratt was commissioned to produce a site-specific installation at the Vancouver Art Gallery’s offsite location titled Second Date. The piece was presented from June 29 until January 8, 2012.

I even stumbled upon one of her pieces this past summer when visiting the VAG. The work, titled Portico (2011), was part of the Out of Sight exhibit that featured recent acquisitions to the gallery’s permanent collection, and I remember taking the time to examine it carefully.

This particular wall study is assembled from wood, particle board, and laminate, which are basic construction materials for today’s urban spaces. Through a succinct selection of diagonal shapes and the presence of two triangular negative spaces, Pratt manages to maintain a constant struggle with gravity that places

her work at the crossroads of painting and sculpture, while addressing the architecture of the gallery space itself with her selection of materials.

It seemed only logical to me when I read that Elspeth

Pratt had been honoured with a Mayor’s Arts Award in the Visual Arts category a few weeks ago. Even more exciting to me though, was learning that she will be teaching my fourth year Studio course next term.

and offering me a small clip-on pink hat. It was a miniature version of her own sparkling cowboy hat, and every woman in the room was wearing one; for 90 minutes, we all sat in smiling, laughing, female solidarity.

Shirley Gnome wowed me — and just about everyone else in the room — with her stunning personality and gorgeous voice.

Gnome gives off a very lighthearted vibe that pulls all those in the room together. She would purposely mess up on camera (it was a live recorded show), joking that they could always edit it out later. You know you’ve got a commanding, likeable presence up on stage when you can get the entire room to erupt into enthusiastic, loud farts in amazing synchrony on command.

I can’t speak highly enough of Gnome’s voice; she was so versatile, able to sing anything from songs with a country spin to soft rock and pop. She captured the entire room from the very first note she let out.

She was preceded by Scarborough, a singer-songwriter who impressed the crowd with his improvised songs about household items, and gave her just as much praise as the average audience member.

What makes her truly talented is her keen and discerning consciousness about the world, which really shines through in her lyrics. The greatest compliment you can pay a writer is to tell them that they listen well, and Gnome definitely listens to what the world is telling her.

She skilfully gleans social norms, cues, and mannerisms from conversations with friends, and from random observations of the most normal, everyday situations, giving birth to her brilliant, subversive, and ironic lyrics.

The show was pure gold, flowing through the audience and making us all feel rich. Don’t be fooled by the most obvious theme of her albums, with titles such as C*untry Music; even though all of her songs are about sex, most of them have really positive messages, and are downright hilarious. I can’t really say more without giving too much away, but during those 90 minutes, we heard songs about bad sex dreams and glittery vaginas (literally). Shirley Gnome is a magical musical wonder. Look out for her; she’s a star on the rise.

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SPORTS

November 3, 2014

sports editor email / phone

Austin Cozicar sports@the-peak.ca / 778.782.4560

Most sports, including lacrosse, are team games; they are not necessarily driven by one individual, but by a group of players working together putting up a cohesive effort.

However, on most teams there are leaders, those that push their teammates to work that much harder, and who keep the team focused and ready for the win.

Defenceman Bayne Bosquet bears that responsibility on SFU’s lacrosse team. One of four players voted by the team to be captain, he now enters his second season carrying that honour.

It’s not a responsibility that Bayne takes lightly, saying, “It’s a big honour being the leader up here, I try to lead by example. I think a big role that I have to take on [. . . is] being a senior captain up here.”

He is one of two senior captains on the team, along with midfielder Sam Clare, and he explains how his role changed as he transitioned from a junior to a senior captain: “I think it’s just the maturity level, going from junior

to senior you just have a little bit more experience, and a little bit more awareness of the game.”

As a senior, he has gone through many of the things that his teammates are experiencing, such as joining the team as a freshman, and having to learn to focus on the smaller details.

“When I first came to SFU, I was pretty raw — I’d say uncoached,” Bayne said. “I think there’s a lot of things that are just minor but have shifted my game to the next level.”

Elaborating, he adds, “[Like] just being aware of where everyone will be for your slide, in defence when [you] go to the net, someone has to fill your position, so just being aware you know who’s got your back and who doesn’t have your back, and just being able to do that without thinking about it. “[I learned that] there’s shifts in the game, going up and down,

that you just have to ride it at a common motion all the way through. There’s always a lot more time than you think on the clock,” Bayne explained. “Don’t rush things; there’s a time to go super hard, and there’s a time that you just have to sit back on your man and just wait for that opportunity to arise.”

He also remembers the process of bulking up as a young player: “There’s a lot of physical prep coming up here. I came into [SFU] 165 lbs and I’m 200 lbs [. . .] I think in my freshman year I gained 25 lbs, that’s a pretty good amount of weight to gain.”

He recalls the academic experience of being a freshman, having learned the importance of time management, saying, “I think going from a freshman thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve got so much time’ and then realizing, ‘Oh no, I’ve got a midterm next week, or two days from now and I should start studying’, it’s been a big step up being like, ‘I’m going to prep for my midterm two weeks in advance.’”

Bayne tries lead by example in many ways, but his hardhitting play stands out among these. “I feel like I play a pretty aggressive style of defence, I like

to push out on the man, I like to get in their hands, I like to be a takeaway defender, really, with good body and I like the big hits.”

Despite the inevitable individual focus of an interview such as this, it became quite clear that Bayne greatly values his team, attributing his passion for lacrosse to the team environment.

“I think what really drew me to lacrosse was the fact that it

is pretty close-knit, and a lot of the kids who were older than me played lacrosse,” he says.

It also doesn’t hurt that he comes from athletic parents: his mom was a volleyball player and his dad a golfer. As a tribute, he combined their numbers, two and eight, when choosing his own jersey number 28.

Rounding out the interview, Bayne returned to the benefits of team sports, explaining that lacrosse has helped him academically: “Just being in a team atmosphere always helps, [it has helped me be] able to work with people, be a problem solver, and my people skills are definitely improved.”

SPORTS

Last Saturday, the Clan traveled to Monmouth, OR for a rainy, windy rematch against the Western Oregon University (WOU) Wolves, who bested them at home on September 13.

In that game, the Wolves won 38-14, and gameplay was marked by little offence in the first half; SFU did not take the lead once.

Saturday’s game was not very different — at least, not in the beginning. In the first half, only 17 points were scored between the two teams, with a touchdown each, and an SFU field goal.

SFU made some decent yardage in their drives throughout the first quarter, but it would be the Wolves who drew first blood, scoring the only points of the first quarter — a touchdown.

SFU, though, answered quickly at the start of the second quarter.

Having only gained one yard before the quarter switch, Stanford

November 3, 2014

threw a 60-yarder to wide receiver Lemar Durant, putting the Clan at WOU’s 19-yard line. Spagnuolo would gain five and seven yards in two consecutive rushes to put the Clan at first and goal.

However, they lost two yards on their next play, and Stanford was unable to pass into the end zone for the touchdown. SFU was able to put up their first points of the night, however, with a 26-yard field goal by Tiernan Docherty.

With three points on the board, the Clan did not wait long to put up their own seven-pointer.

After the Clan were able to keep the Wolves to just one yard on their previous drive, middle linebacker Jordan Herdman intercepted a Bergman pass. This

time, Stanford wasted no time, and threw another bomb — this one 51 yards — to Durant.

SFU had the 10–7 lead going into the half, and with a tight defence, they looked to be headed to their third victory of the season.

Looks can be deceiving though, and the Clan would only muster two more field goals, while the Wolves found their offence in the second half, putting three touchdowns on the board.

“The weather was a factor and with the lead at halftime that we had, I really thought we could take the extra possession in the second half and try to build on our lead,” head coach Jacques Chapdelaine told SFU Athletics. “We did not do [that] unfortunately.”

Western Oregon scored their second touchdown of the afternoon just under five minutes into the third quarter, when SFU allowed a 35-yard Wolves pass.

The Clan responded with two consecutive field goals to reclaim the lead. The failure to convert for a touchdown, though, on either of these drives foreshadowed the direction in which the game was heading.

After preventing the Wolves from gaining a single yard, the Clan looked primed for another touchdown, or at least a field goal, having made it to the goal line. However, a bad hut would cause Stanford to panic and throw an interception. Although the Wolves only gained six yards on the resulting drive, this signalled the end for the Clan.

Western Oregon scored two more touchdowns — off of 29- and 54- yard passes — and the Clan could not manage a first down in either of their responses, feeding the Wolves the 27–16 victory.

Despite the late game turnover, Stanford had a solid night putting up 299 passing yards. However, he had a below 50 per cent passing percentage and had a hard time converting for touchdowns, despite multiple lengthy passes to take the Clan near the endzone.

Durant had a great night, notching 184 receiving yards, as did Spagnuolo who led the team in rushing yards with 132 yards.

The team is now 2–2, and remains at sixth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), and will play their remaining games at home at Swangard Field.

21

SFU hockey travelled to the Ian Stewart Complex in Victoria to face the UVic Vikes, losing 8–3. UVic scored three quick goals in the first period, and despite goals by Taylor Piller and Mike Ball, the Vikes’ lead was too much to overcome. SFU now lies at third in the league with a record of 3–3–0.

Clan volleyball were awarded the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) team of the week for their performance last weekend, notching a historic fourth place in the conference, and guaranteeing a winning season for the first time in the NCAA. They were not able to carry the momentum to Thursday night’s match, however, losing in Ellensburg, WA to the Central Washington University Wildcats, by a score of 3–1.

The SFU swim teams set new records at the swim meet in Santa Cruz, CA. Eight different Clan swimmers set records: Saveli Yungman, Gabriel Lee, Junior Kiedrzyn, Tim Woinoski, Youn Ho Choi, Nicole Cossey, Alexandria Schofield, and Adrian VanderHelm who broke three records. The men’s team won three duals, only losing to the Division I University of the Pacific, while the women went 4–4. The teams will compete next at the Clan Cup International, held November 21 to 23.

The SFU women’s wrestling dual team opened their season in Oklahoma City, OK at the Cliff Keen Duals on October 24 and 25. Starting strong, the women won 43 of their 48 matches during the first day of the tournament.

However, the women would fall short of their goal on the second day of the competition, placing fourth overall in the tournament. Though it was not the outcome the women’s team had anticipated, wrestling coach Justin Abdou was not disappointed in their performance, keening in on areas for improvement.

“In our matches we gave up too many [extra] points.”

said Abdou. “In the final dual the girls simply ran out of gas, [with] the girls wrestling their 10th match of the weekend.”

Accolades were also expressed by coach Abdou for senior Bailey Halvorson, 155 lbs, “[who] was solid all weekend, [competing] with poise and control, [wrestling] the way we expect our seniors to.”

Additional members of women’s wrestling traveled to Calgary for the Dino Open, where freshman Alyssa Wong won the 67 kg weight class, with mentionable performances from Maegan Kuruvita and Vanessa Gonzales.

“For [their] first tournament of the season, it went how [one] would expect,” said women’s assistant

coach Justina Di Stasio. “The girls showed their strengths when [winning], and showed the areas they need improvement on [within the matches] they lost. Hopefully we can correct some of these areas before our next competition.”

The women's wrestling team then returned to Burnaby to compete in the Clan International, along with the men's team.

22 SPORTS

Men’s basketball opened their season at home with an exhibition game against SFU alumni.

Although the game did not count for anything, it was a fun opportunity for the current team to play the stars of yesterday, and practice before the season gets into full swing.

“We’re trying to simulate games as best as we can,” said head coach James Blake. “[We’re] bringing in officials, playing with the alumni [who] are good basketball players, they’re a little bit out of shape, but they’re smart.”

Indeed, the alumni team got the quick start scoring the first five points of the game. However, the current team quickly took the lead and slowly increased the gap, winning the first half 69-48. “[The alumni] frustrated us in the first half because they were breaking our press, and we were getting hands and deflections on balls but we weren’t turning them over enough,” commented Blake.

The alumni team featured former stars of the Clan including 2007 graduate Aaron Christensen, and 2010 graduates Sean Burke and Kevin Shaw.

The team also had two players who played for the Clan just last year: Dillon Hamilton and Ibrahim Appiah.

Hamilton, who arrived at SFU as a transfer from the University of Western Ontario in December 2012 and graduated just last month, said of the team, “I loved it right when I came [here].”

In his last season with the Clan, Hamilton led the team

November 3, 2014

in free throw percentage, making 14 out 15 attempts.

“It’s funny,” he exclaimed, about playing against the Clan as an alumnus, “It’s just like being back on the team.”

During halftime, Hamilton admitted, though, that it was a challenge facing his old team: “We’re just trying to keep up with them, they’re getting a lot of open three [pointers] because we can’t run back.”

The alumni had a hard time at the beginning of the second half, going long stretches without scoring, and at one point falling 43 points back to the current Clan. However, they were resilient, and with great play from Hamilton, Appiah, and Burke in particular, they cut the gap at one point down to only 22 points, at 111-89.

In the end, the current Clan were too much for the alumni. With standout performances by Adam Westfall, Sango Niang, and Roderick Evans-Taylor, as well as freshman Patrick Simon, they won 122-91.

Coach Blake was pleased with the team’s play in the second half, saying, “As the game went on, we got some good reps and that pace that we want to play.”

He stressed, however, that the team still isn’t playing to its potential: “We want to play a really fast, exciting style of basketball. We’ve done a little bit better job at it over last week, but I think we can play a lot faster.”

The Clan will get their first true test on the road, as they open their regular season in Moscow, ID, before returning to the West Gym for their home opener against Northwest Indian College on Friday, November 14.

On a foggy Thursday evening at Terry Fox Field, the men’s soccer team picked up a crucial 3-1 win over the University of Mary (UM) Marauders.

Their fourth straight win sees the Clan jump to third place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) standings, with the remaining pair of games to be played with a home advantage.

Thursday night’s match got off to a slow start in the rain and fog, but was not without excitement. Joel Malouf looked deadly after moving from his familiar post at right back to striker, and could have fired in an early lead in the opening minutes if not for the Marauders’ keeper, Michael Frenzel. Ryan Dhillon added to the Clan’s pressure with an effort shortly afterwards, stopped again by Frenzel.

However, it was the Marauders who capitalized on their chances first, as Marauder midfielder Aaron Brennan was gifted space outside the box to thump in a 25-yard strike past Clan goalkeeper Brandon Watson. The Clan looked frustrated at the setback, with many players getting vocal to motivate a response.

Late chances in the final minutes of the first half would come, as Calvin Opperman’s dangerous shot into the area was blocked by the defence, before Jovan Blagojevic nearly headed home an equalizer from Joseph Martin’s cross.

After surviving the onslaught before the break, the Marauders could not escape a stunning comeback initiated by the play of Jovan Blagojevic.

Less than 10 minutes into the second half, the Coquitlam native used his crafty footwork and deadly finishing to equalize. Immediately after, the captain scored again, achieving his

conference leading 16th goal in Cristiano Ronaldo-like fashion (celebration included).

“He’s playing like a senior that has the ability to be a professional,” said head coach Alan Koch — who recently saw his SFU goal scoring record, notched as a player in 1998, overtaken by Blagojevic. “He’s turned games around and he’s been doing it all season long, he turned it around tonight and we’re grateful we get the three points.”

Following the brace by the Clan’s number nine, Niko Schroettle buried the winning result, after heading in a corner kick from Robert Hyams in the 61st minute of play.

“These guys are mature enough now,” added Koch. “I think we learned early in the season that we were looking too far ahead, now we just go one game at a time, we took care of business, and we know Saturday’s game is just as big so we’ll need to take care of business again.”

SPORTS

It wasn’t supposed to end this way for the Whitecaps.

A year ago, they had missed the playoffs after stumbling down the stretch, winning only three of their final 10 games.

Their offseason wasn’t much better. They lost star player Camilo Sanvezzo, who had 22 goals in MLS and should have won league MVP. They let go of manager Martin Rennie and brought in Carl Robinson, who was an assistant under Rennie. Most — myself included — foresaw a year of rebuilding for the ‘Caps.

They had a young squad, and maybe the following year, they could contend for a playoff spot.

Instead, they found themselves in the playoffs after a stretch during which they went five straight games without a loss. And that’s what made Wednesday night’s playoff

On an incredibly wet Saturday night at Terry Fox Field, the women’s soccer team lost to the visiting Seattle Pacific (SPU) Falcons by a score of 2-1. The Clan came into the match with a 2-13 overall record, 2-9 within the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). They were looking to play the role of spoiler against a solid Falcons side, who held a 9-4-2 overall record and a 7-3-2 record inside the conference, good enough for third place.

The Clan got off to a poor start in the first half, conceding an early goal in the seventh minute. Off a low cross, Seattle Pacific’s Isabel Farrell rang a shot off the right post. The rebound wasn’t properly handled

by SFU, and Falcon forward

November 3, 2014

matchup against FC Dallas such a treat — although perhaps a bittersweet one.

The Whitecaps came out very flat to start the game, and their only noteworthy chance was a 26th minute long range shot by Pedro Morales. The lone goal of the first half belonged to Dallas, and was due to a mix up between Kendall Waston and Andy O’Brien, which allowed Tesho Akindele to deposit the ball into the lower left corner.

The second half saw the Whitecaps push the pace to start.

In the 57th, Morales — who had

23

struggled mightily in the first half — came off for Kekuta Manneh.

This proved to be a brilliant move

by Robinson, as Manneh’s shot in the 63rd deflected to Erik Hurtado who tied the game up.

But the big play of the game came in the 81st. Off of a throw in, the ball seemed to go off defender Kendall Waston’s hand in the box. But on the replay, it was shown to go off his arm, an unintentional play that resulted in a penalty. Dallas player Michel Garbini Pereira calmly scored to give Dallas a 2-1 lead. It was a

brutal way to end the season — on a very iffy penalty that really shouldn’t have been called.

Despite the heartbreaking loss to Dallas, ‘Caps fans can take solace, as this appears to be a young team on the rise. After two great performances off the bench for Kekuta Manneh, it seems that he should, at the very least, be given a chance in the starting 11 next year by Carl Robinson. With Erik Hurtado starting up front in the most important game of the season, have we seen the last of Darren Mattocks? He’s only in his third

MLS season, and at 24, there will be plenty of teams looking for his services. The Whitecaps have also found a star in Pedro Morales, an excellent player to build around, and one who should win the MLS Newcomer of the Year award.

The success of the Whitecaps this year was dependant on their defence. David Ousted led the MLS with 13 clean sheets, and Kendall Waston not only provided stability in the heart of the defence, he also gave the team a target on set pieces and corners. With Steven Beitashour, Jordan Harvey, Andy O’Brien (if they offer him a new contract), and youngster Sam Adekugbe, the defence looks to be set for next season.

The role of management now is to reinforce the front lines, as the Whitecaps lacked a true natural goal scorer this season. Whether it be through the annual draft, trade, or signing a designated player, they need to fill this hole in order to become an elite team in the MLS. Wednesday night’s game was a bitter pill to swallow, but concluded what was the best season ever in the MLS for the Whitecaps, and what will hopefully be the first of many.

into the back of the empty net to make it a 2-0 lead for the visitors — just an unlucky play in pretty terrible conditions.

SFU managed to get one back in the 50th when Elishah Jilling took the shot off the bounce and put it past a

sprawling keeper to make it a 2-1 game. SFU’s Sandhu made a great save off a terrific free kick in the 58th, but after that the Clan didn’t have any standout chances to tie the game up. They did seem to play with more purpose and intensity

after the goal, though, to put them within one.

The Clan then traveled to Billings, MT to face Montana State University Billings (MSUB). They were shutout by a score of 3-0, and dropped to 2-15 overall, and 2-11 within the GNAC.

Hannah Huesers put the ball into the net to make it 1-0 Seattle Pacific.

The only other great chance of the half was by the aforementioned Farrell of Seattle Pacific, who had a long range shot deflect off of an SFU defender and almost go in. It seemed like the weather was also affecting Clan keeper Priya Sandhu; twice, she had chances to get off her line and challenge for the cross, but elected to stay in her net, making for some nervous moments in the SFU area.

The visitors once again got an early goal in the second half.

In the 47th, SFU goalie Priya Sandhu attempted to catch the ball, but it slipped out of her hands. Seattle’s Huesers once again gladly deposited the ball

24 DIVERSIONS / ETC

November 3, 2014

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HUMOUR

Youtube’s servers were temporarily offline last Monday, leaving many devoted viewers and users in the dark. Following the 22 hours and 13 minutes of Youtube-less existence, news outlets across Canada reported increased business productivity, uncharacteristic substance abuse among teens, and several untimely deaths.

Multiple corporations — including the Royal Bank of Canada, Telus, and the Ford Motor Company — reported recordbreaking productivity last Monday during the outage. A district manager from Telus, who wished to remain anonymous, said that during Monday’s strategic planning session, his employees’ eyes stayed focused on the meeting and never once strayed to trending videos on their iPhones.

“It was a blessing to have my team focused on the meeting, and not staring down at their phones watching ‘May 2012’s fail compilation’ or ‘Cat jumps over gate.

Though it was a little nerve-wracking to have everyone so attentive

November 3, 2014

the whole time. It meant I couldn’t secretly text behind a notebook or under the table.”

Although Youtube’s day-long server shutdown led to unprecedented productivity in the business world, Cody Villain, chief of police in Sacramento, reports that drug use among teens and young adults skyrocketed. “If anything, Youtube has kept kids away from crime and drug use. Like television once did, it gives them something productive to do, a purpose in life,” said Villain.

Michelle Weeps was one such victim of Youtube’s server meltdown. A promising young student and athlete, Weeps was set to enter the Summer Olympics in 2016 for swimming.

“Every morning, alongside breakfast, I used listen to relaxing nature music on Youtube.

This calmed me before training.

When Youtube’s server was down, I didn’t know what to do. Without being able to listen to eight hours

of nature sounds, I couldn’t relax.

I saw no other way out, I turned to heroin,” said Weeps. Throughout the day, her Youtube withdrawal became worse.

“I was shooting up and drinking a 40 of Silent Sam every three hours that day, but it just didn’t compare to the high I get from eight hours of soothing relaxation sounds,” she explained.

On Tuesday, when the Youtube server came back online, Weeps quickly quit her heroin and alcohol binge — though she has since been hospitalized, after suffering a Youtube overdose. Doctors say she will never be the same as she has suffered cerebral hemorrhaging, a common side effect of a severe Youtube binge.

Another report claims that a team of engineers failed to adequately fix a column of a bridge, leading to its collapse. After investigating an eroded column supporting the bridge, the team was stumped as to how to fix it. They admitted to going on Youtube and searching “how to,” but since the server was down, they were on their own.

Kevin Bobb, head of the team of engineers, turned to his undergraduate degree to find a solution.

Looking at his old popsicle-stick and glue models of bridges, he determined that these didn’t offer any help.

“It seems like my whole undergraduate degree didn’t teach me anything useful. Everything I’ve learned was from hands-on training,” said Bobb.

Without knowing how to fix the problem, the team of engineers left the column untouched. Later, the bridge collapsed causing 1,654 deaths.

The team of engineers is now filing a lawsuit against Youtube for its inability to provide lifesaving information.

humour editor email / phone

Jacey Gibb humour@the-peak.ca / 778.782.4560

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26 HUMOUR

November 3, 2014

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HUMOUR

November 3, 2014

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28 LAST WORD

features editor email / phone

Max Hill features@the-peak.ca / 778.782.4560

“Everything here is important to me. This is my life.”

This was the answer that Dr. Patricia Sutherland, a federal archaeologist working on a site in Baffin Island, gave to her employer after being asked if there was anything important that she needed to get from her office. Sutherland had just been dismissed from the government project that she had been working on for many years. The reason for her abrupt dismissal? She had spoken to the media about her research without her employer’s approval — research which includes data proving that the earliest recorded contacts between Aboriginals and Norse explorers --------------- occurred roughly 1,000 years ago.

The Canadian government’s attempt to maintain arctic sovereignty by promoting 19th century British naval expeditions proved to be at odds with Dr. Sutherland’s project. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Her findings also proved contradictory to the revamping of the museum where she worked, which was rebranded as the Canadian Museum of History, with a decreased focus on new research. She has since been denied access to her work by the museum.

Dr. Sutherland is only one of over 2,000 scientists and researchers who have been dismissed from their government jobs over the past three years after sharing their research with the media in spite of government policies. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------These dismissals are the result of the enforcement of a country-wide gag order that prohibits federal scientists and researchers from talking to the media. Under our government’s system, journalists requesting interviews from federal experts are redirected to federal government communications workers in the information services sector. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Their requests are then passed on to the government director of the relevant ministry, under which the researchers and scientists in question work.

Other processes used to limit the dissemination of information include having federal employees read off of a script during interviews or responding to a list of questions pre-approved by a communications worker, sometimes requiring that a communications worker sit in on the interview. --------------------------------------------- This gag order policy effectively keeps scientists and researchers from providing information to the public, and as a result, has significantly harmed the average Canadian’s understanding of scientific research and advancements.

Two weeks ago, Karen Magnuson-Ford, a research assistant in SFU’s Department of Biological Sciences, released an analytical report on the issue of government muzzling of scientists and researchers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The report was published by Evidence For Democracy, a non-profit group promoting evidence-based public policies.

Dr. Magnuson-Ford said that she was driven to pursue the issue after hearing stories from some of her SFU colleagues who had been prevented by the government from talking to the media about their work. She felt that a formal assessment, made fully accessible to the public, was necessary to help solve this problem.

-----------------------------------------------This report analyzed and graded media policies from 16 federal departments, based on how well they promote openness and timeliness of communication, how much protection they offer scientists from government interference, how well they protect scientists’ rights to free speech, and how much protection they offer.

Its conclusions were sad but predictable; the report found that government media policies did not support open and timely communication between scientists and the media, that they do not protect scientists’ rights to free speech and whistleblowing, nor do they protect them from political interference. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In fact, 14 of the 16 departments assessed received a ‘C’ grade or lower, with five departments given a failing grade.

Dr. Magnuson-Ford explained that the public needs to be made aware of the consequences of government muzzling of scientists. -----------------------“Scientists are the ones on the ground doing the work in health and environment,” she says. “They need to get information to the public through the media without political interference.”

The work of scientists and researchers is crucial to our understanding of our world.

They provide information on important issues, such as drug safety and climate change, ------------------------------ and taxpayers have a right to know how the government is using science in its decision making. ---------------- Furthermore, the government must be held accountable if their decisions are at odds with science.

Margrit Eichler, president of the collective Scientists For the Right to Know, argued in The Toronto Star, “Canadians are being made more ignorant about

November 3, 2014

our country and ourselves. Good policies must be based on solid evidence.

Democracy requires an informed electorate.”

Recently, several scientific reports — long kept under wraps by government constraints — have come out, showing just how valuable much of this research is to the public. Fifteen years of Dr. Peter Ross’ toxicology research on marine mammals in Canada’s north — specifically his discovery of the high levels of toxicity in fish that the Inuit were eating — had been buried for many years, much like Dr. David Schneider’s work on the pollution of the Athabasca watersheds in Northern Alberta, caused by the oil sands.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Though the government has created a huge problem by restraining communication between scientists and the media, Dr. Magnuson-Ford is confident that there are solutions. She explained that the federal departments need to work together, promoting policies which allow scientists more freedom to discuss their work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Different policies had different strengths and weaknesses,” she says, based on the wide range of grades given to these departments in the report.

Next, she suggests looking towards the United States as a model of how to build a better relationship between the media and scientists. -------------------------------------------- US departments regularly score much higher on scientist-media transparency than Canadian departments, due to improvements in policies made during the past few years.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dr. Magnuson-Ford also asserts that the public can be part of the solution by sending messages to MPs, informing them that this is an issue that must be addressed. She suggests signing a petition on the Evidence for Democracy website, which sends a letter to government representatives in support of scientists.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Scientists are the best spokespeople for their own work,” Dr. Magnuson-Ford told The Globe and Mail. “Barring rare instances where information is highly sensitive, it is essential that they be able to communicate their expertise to the media and the public.”