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When online, compliment my character, not my selfie

first peek

For years I’ve struggled to accept being a hairy woman. I like to joke about it, but the truth is I’ve long loathed the dark, coarse hair on my pale arms and legs. I don’t want to encourage this view at all, but for years it’s made me feel unfeminine.

In my youth, shitty friends have commented on my body hair. They’d note when I didn’t do a good job of shaving — “Your legs are so prickly!”

They’d point out my arms’ thatches of hair, or the wisps above my lips.

My insecurity over being a hairier lady developed long before these comments, though. I remember begging my mom to let me start shaving my legs when I was 11. I made her take me to a consultation for laser hair removal. Over some 10 years,

I’ve tried bleaching, shaving, tweezing, waxing, epilating, and depilatory creams. My body is Panama, and I’ve been bent on deforestation.

Even those methods for hair removal that are marketed as ‘convenient’ have been neither easy nor pleasant. Creams and bleaches are obviously chemical-based, and it seems there is no way to make them

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smell good. After about 10 minutes spent wearing a thick film of goop, it will be hours before the fragrance wears off, no matter how much you wash.

Tweezing is fine, but only for small areas. Waxing is painful, not to mention expensive. Shaving is expensive, not to mention environmentally unfriendly. Epilation’s only saving grace is it did a great job preparing me for the comparatively mild pain of getting a tattoo.

Basically, I hate most if not all methods of hair removal. I have never tamed my body hair because the act of doing so actually pleased me.

When I was in high school and middle school, I shaved my legs in an effort to fit in and to avoid being judged. As I got older, I only shaved when I’d be seeing my boyfriend: to feel feminine and ‘traditionally’ attractive. I’d joke that you could tell how long it had been since I last saw my partner based on the length of my leg hair.

Unfortunately, I know there’s also judgement on the other side, for those who don’t have ‘enough’ hair — as if there’s some theoretical, ideal amount of body hair to possess.

I’d like to pin these ideals of hair on media: how many advertisements have I seen for hair removal?

How many movies, TV shows, and music videos featured women with groomed, perfectly plucked bodies? The media isn’t the cause of our cultural obsession with hairless (or hairy) bodies, though; it simply helps to perpetuate it.

I’m now more confident in myself, and I no longer associate with people prone to picking on prickly legs. Still, my comfort with going au naturel fluctuates from day-to-day, and I think it always will.

I’ve come to recognize though that femininity is highly constructed and very personal.

The fashion trend of dying armpit hair is one example of merging both the traditionally ‘unfeminine’ and feminine.

You can forgo shaving your legs entirely and still rock a dainty pink dress.

While it can be difficult to always do as you please — those social influences always seem to wriggle their way in — a person’s construction of femininity, masculinity, androgyny, or whatever else tickles their fancy is ultimately their own.

“Well, the animals are cute. Like, super cute. The moose, the owls. [. . .] Oh, and the people are cute too!”

Pinjie Zhang First-year business

“I like the food here. [. . .] Before I came here, I’d never had poutine, and [when] I came here, I was like, what is that? It was pretty awesome.”

Zoe Vang First-year business

“Beaches, and the weather.”

Hamza Ada First-year engineering

“I like that it’s open. The people here seem to be pretty open to new cultures and to different people. [. . .] The culture in general seems very accepting, and that resonates with me since I’m an international student.”

Bek Hisi Third-year business and communication

“Probably the diversity. It’s nice to see different people with different cultures around, and everyone’s pretty friendly.”

Raquel Espinoza Fourth-year health science

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Jamal Dumas / Print News Editor

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Creative Mornings is back this month with the theme of love!

Join Vivienne McMaster, photographer and supporter for positive body image, for this short talk. With her program Be Your Own Beloved, McMaster promotes body positivity through photography and selfportraiture. This session will be held on July 8, from 8:30–10 a.m. at the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. Coffee, tea, and breakfast sandwiches will be provided for the participants.

Miranda Macfarlane Peak Associate In May, a flaw in a supposedly private SFU database was discovered. The database, which held the contents of IT help tickets from 2013 to 2016, reportedly did not have the appropriate security measures activated.

According to director of university communications, Kurt Heinrich, “The privacy breach occurred on January 27, 2016, when IT Services inadvertently copied incidents, inquiries, and requests onto a server with an unprotected database during the transition to a new trouble ticketing system.

The exposed database was discovered on May 16, 2016, and was taken offline on May 17, 2016.”

Though the information on the database is not the type typically sought after by hackers, chief information officer Mark Roman insisted that no breach in privacy is acceptable.

“We have a standard protocol that we follow for a security breach, so we make sure we follow all the government-defined protocols, we make sure the appropriate people are notified. Even if there was only one name and one piece of private

information there, we have to follow the full protocol, and I think that’s appropriate.”

After the breach in security came to light, the university notified the affected individuals. An estimated total of 20,000 emails were accessible on the server through the Internet: roughly 12,000 SFUbased accounts and 8,000 nonSFU accounts, which were tied to over 100,000 IT requests.

Almost all of these requests pertained to tech inquiries and computer aid, but there’s no way to tell whether some contained private information that users did not want to be available to the public. “[S]ometimes people do communicate more information in

these things, like, they’re conveying a sense of urgency about the ticket, and it might explain the reason why, and sometimes the reason why might contain private information,” Roman told The Peak.

With the recent ransomware attack at the University of Calgary, the need for online privacy security seems more pertinent than ever. U of C had to pay a $20,000-ransom to get the university’s IT systems back from hackers due to improper server patching and mishandled management, as Roman said.

Luckily, the gravity of SFU’s situation is not comparable to that of U of C. “There’s all kinds of horrible problems that happen when you manage these issues like the University of Calgary did. So we’re not there,” said Roman.

“I don’t like these things happening, and we do our best to prevent them. But it’s not what happened to the University of Calgary, it’s a very different problem.”

As for whether this breach will impact SFU’s phishing email problem, both Roman and Heinrich seem doubtful. “I don’t think so, I don’t think they’re related,”

said Roman on the matter. Each day of the 1.2 million messages sent to SFU emails, 1 million are spam and the university must work hard to block them.

Heinrich stated that “we have no evidence that there has been any misuse of the information contained in the database. That said, we are asking that any impacted students/staff/faculty monitor personal accounts and be vigilant for attempts at social engineering, spear phishing, and fraud.”

Moving forward, SFU will administer several preventative online security measures, including conducting an external audit, increasing security staff, forming a change advisory board, and hopefully implementing an artificial intelligence tool that is able to monitor suspicious online behaviour.

“These systems are so complex,” said Roman. “There’s 160 people in our central IT organization here, and we’re managing massive systems, and hugely complex systems.

So we try really hard to do our best in terms of security.”

As for how SFU students and staff can help avoid liabilities to their personal online accounts, Heinrich advises them to “be vigilant for attempts at social engineering, spear phishing, and fraud; never share your passwords with anyone; and use anti-malware software and keep your computer and mobile device patches up-to-date.”

Calling all soccer fans! On July 6 and 7, watch the semi-final games of the Euro Cup 2016 on the Mezzanine at SFU Surrey.

Both games will be screened at 12 p.m., competing teams are TBD. Bring your lunch and your friends!

On July 5, from 6–8 p.m., join this talk on the refugee experience titled, “Notes from the Field: Covering the Refugee Journey from Syria to the Balkans” with multimedia broadcast journalist Natalie Carney.

At this discussion, Carney will be sharing some of the stories of the refugees she has met in her 15 years in the Middle East. This event will be held in room 7000 at the SFU Harbour Centre.

News

July 5, 2016

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EMERGING TALENT

SFU lecturer wins praise for science-inspired fiction often regarded as separate worlds, Kovalyova sees things differently.

As a child growing up in the former Soviet Union, Kovalyova was an avid reader. She fell in love with short stories through the works of Anton Chekhov, Mikhail Bulgakov, and other Russian writers.

Even when she became interested in science in high school, Kovalyova said, “I never left literature behind.”

“Even if I set out to write a short story that doesn’t have any science in it at all, inevitably there would be something,” Kovalyova said. “That’s what I do and I can’t get away from it.”

She noted that she gets a lot of inspiration from her classes at SFU, adding, “I blame my students for a lot of the short stories.”

Kovalyova published several fiction and non-fiction pieces in literary magazines before compiling Specimen. Along the way, she realized that a lot of her work was linked by common themes of Irina Kovalyova looking beyond oneself and fosKovalyova jokingly calls herself tering empathy. a “triple threat” as she went on to Her stories take place across get graduate degrees in chemistry, the world, from North Korea to microbiology, and immunology, Poland to Vancouver, and bridge and most recently an MFA in cre- cultures, beliefs, and expectaative writing from UBC. tions. She writes about the fall of “I always find it strange that the Berlin Wall in one story, and people are surprised by the fact that unexpected side effects of Botox I’m a scientist and yet I’m also a injections in another. writer. I don’t think the two things Kovalyova plans to continue are necessarily separate,” she said. writing and experimenting with difKovalyova learned to ap- ferent forms of fiction. She hopes to proach science with a complex, remind readers of the power of colnarrative point of view, and to laboration, not segregation, in the apply a critical, investigative workplace and their lives. lens to her writing. Specimen’s “Ultimately [. . .] my goal is to unique combination of science, explore humanity and [. . .] urge technology, and human emotion people to integrate, not separate, came naturally to the author. but integrate in whatever way we After all, it reflects her own life. can,” Kovalyova said.

"I blame my students for a lot of the short stories."

Photo courtesy of Irina Kovalyova Kovalyova holds both a PhD in microbiology and an MFA in creative writing.

Irina Kovalyova’s Specimen bridges cultures and disciplines Erika Loggin Peak Associate SFU molecular biology and biochemistry senior lecturer Irina Kovalyova is receiving critical praise for her most recent publication, a collection of short stories titled Specimen .

Published in June 2015 by House of Anansi Press, Specimen recently earned Kovalyova the Emerging Writer prize in Literary Fiction from Kobo. Kovalyova’s stories are influenced by

both her background in science and love of literature.

In the story “Mamochka,” set in Kovalyova’s hometown of Minsk, an archivist at the Institute of Physics grapples with her daughter’s new marriage to a Chinese man living in Vancouver.

In “Peptide P,” Kovalyova uses a clinical lab report to tell an emotional story about sick children.

While science and art are

DRAFT DAY

NHL Draft picks are not always precise: Beedie prof Peter Tingling has studied the reasoning for choosing future players Nick Bondi Peak Associate For most people, the NHL Draft is when a year’s worth of scouting comes together to make in-depth predictions on players’ futures. But according to Peter Tingling, an associate professor in the Beedie School of Business, people in charge of these decisions do not always make the best ones.

“In terms of decision making, what I would say is that most teams are not very good at it, and what most teams talk about [doing], they don’t do,” Tingling told The Peak.

“My research quite clearly states that this business about whether teams draft by position or best player available, it’s just nonsense.”

In particular, Tingling’s research on the Draft focused on ordinal ranking error. As an example, he mentioned the players picked by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2003 Draft, some of whom were key in the Blackhawks’ recent Stanley Cup wins, such as Brent Seabrook, Corey Crawford, and Dustin Byfuglien.

However, they were not picked in that order. While Seabrook and Crawford were picked first and second respectively, five players were picked by the Blackhawks before they eventually selected Byfuglien. According to Tingling’s research, ranking error would occur

28 percent of the time if you simply randomly selected players. The Vancouver Canucks have ranking error 38 percent of the time, while the Red Wings, widely considered one of the best drafting teams in recent memory, have ranking error 56 percent of the time.

Another aspect of Tingling’s research is the value of Draft picks. It likely comes as no surprise to learn that the most valuable pick to have is first overall.

Over the last 30 years, all the first overall picks have played more than 160 games, and there is “statistical significance” within the first 30 picks, according to Tingling. However, there is no real statistical significance between late-second round picks and third round picks, and none between picks 120–210.

Tingling’s research has caught the attention of some NHL

executives, and figures such as St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong have reached out to speak with the professor about his research.

Tingling’s upcoming research has him still focusing on the NHL, but this time looking at the relationship between front office movement and on-ice movement.

“Our research shows quite conclusively that [as] front office movement goes up, trading goes up. If I’m Vancouver, and I send one of my AGMs [Assistant General Manager] to Florida, then you’d expect there to be more trades, because we know each other.

“What’s interesting is that what we find that the more you trade [with a particular team], the more likely you are to go to that team, so there’s a bit of a circular relationship.”

Five players were picked by the Blackhawks before they eventually selected Byfuglien.

“He [Armstrong] asked some incredibly insightful probing questions. [. . .] I sent him some of my research, he phoned me up, and one of his questions was ‘Talk to me about the inter-round variance.’ [. . .]

This is not some guy who just knows arithmetic. This is a guy who is asking a pretty sophisticated question.”

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Jamal Dumas / Print News Editor

news@the-peak.ca

Vinh Quang Peak Associate

In the summer of 2013, the sea stars that once carpeted North America’s west coast began dying by the millions, prompting an SFU research team to investigate.

“Evidence for a trophic cascade on rocky reefs following sea star mass mortality in British Columbia” is a study recently published

by SFU’s Jessica Schultz, Ryan Cloutier, and Dr. Isabelle Côté. The paper documents the findings of the group as they dove in the waters of Howe Sound in the wake of one of the largest sea animal mortality events ever recorded.

The mortality of the sea stars is attributed to wasting disease, as researchers from Cornell University reported in 2014. The virus has been present in sea stars for decades, but became lethal for undetermined reasons. The marine biologist team at SFU examined the effects the sea star mortalities had on the surrounding ecosystem. “[Our team was] in a good position to do this [research], because a couple years before, we had done surveys around Howe Sound for a separate study where [. . .] we had collected information of parts of the ecosystem which are now

affected,” Dr. Côté explained to The Peak. To examine the differences between the ecosystem before and after, the team surveyed a total of 20 sites.

Their study found that the population of the sea star prey, green sea urchins, had quadrupled while the population of sea urchin prey, kelp, went down by about 80 percent. Furthermore, the abundance of small shrimp and crabs in the water decreased as well, possibly owing to the dramatic decrease in their primary food and shelter source, the seaweed. This domino effect in the marine ecosystem due to the disappearance of the top predators (sea stars) is a prime example of what biologists call a trophic cascade.

When asked what the most remarkable finding from the

dives were, Dr. Côté responded with an observation the team made about the sea urchin population: “Given the size that the urchins were, they were probably already around before the sea stars died,” she said. The phenomenon is known as a release of fear effect, where prey may have been previously hiding in undersea cracks and crevices, only to come out of hiding when the sea stars disappeared.

Dr. Côté and her team have yet to determine whether the sea star disappearances constitute a one-off event, or are part of a larger global warming effect. “When you look at the sea star and urchin populations, they are known to go through cycles of boom and bust for various causes,” stated Dr. Côté.

If anything, she maintained that her alarm regarding the situation was due to the geographical extent of the sea star disappearance, from California to Alaska.

The taxonomic extent was also concerning, as 20 different species of sea stars have been affected.

“I’d like to think, and I’m pretty certain,” opined Dr. Côté, “that the sea stars will re-establish themselves.”

Charles Chang, a Beedie School of Business alumnus, has donated $10 million to SFU to create the Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship.

Chang is the founder of Vega, a multimillion-dollar nutritional company which offers a variety of vegan products.

The institute offers courses in various faculties such as applied sciences, health sciences, environment, and communication, among others. Students who complete the requirements will receive the Charles Chang Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, along with their program major degree.

Chang spoke to The Peak about the motivation behind his decision: “The reason I want to give back is because SFU did a lot for me. I did my co-op there, [got] my degree there, and I feel like SFU and I are aligned when it comes to entrepreneurship.

"Especially when Vancouver becomes more and more expensive and harder to afford, I look at the kids and think where they’re going and how they can afford to live here and so forth.

The way to do it is to create an entrepreneurship mindset — whether it’s actual experience or just people who think more about entrepreneurship,” Chang suggested. “That’s the biggest long-term benefit that I can give.”

As Chang explained, the idea to donate to the institution started a year ago: “There’s been a lot of conversations going back and forth and working

together with SFU to figure out what the best way was to make the biggest difference.”

He emphasized the wide accessibility of the university to those from a diverse array of disciplines. “The issue is that everyone has access — whether you’re in sciences or in arts or in design or in engineering, it doesn’t matter. Wherever you are, you can actively participate in the institute in getting the certificate in entrepreneurship, and we are not only promoting business students. That is what matters.”

The details of the institute and its plans are still in development, and The Peak will be offering further updates as required.

SFU president Andrew Petter expressed his gratitude to Beedie Newsroom. “Thanks to Charles’ generosity, students from all disciplines will have the opportunity to gain market knowledge and skills, and to learn how to transform their ideas and innovations into businesses and social ventures.”

On the Simon Fraser subreddit, SFU senator Paul Percival wrote a clarification on the news: “As a member of the university Senate, I feel that I must make clear an important detail which the press release glosses over: While Charles Chang has donated money to support the institute and the certificate program [. . .] he has no control over the operations of the institute or the curriculum of the certificate program.

“SFU would never compromise its academic integrity for the sake of donations.”

In our June 27 issue, The Peak attributed comments made by Madeline Millsip to an interview with our own writers. In fact, these quotes were originally published in several articles featured on the Beedie School of Business website.

In the same issue, we wrote that the proposed SFU gondola would "remove more than 20,000 bus trips up and down Burnaby mountain" according to the

mayors' office. In fact, the gondola would only affect trips via the 145 bus, whereas the previous figure refers to bus trips taken on all four bus services to SFU. In the same issue, two of the photos published for our Humans of SFU feature were switched. The top left photo, which depicts Mide, should be switched with the one below, which depicts Bono.

The Peak regrets these errors.

Opinions

Adam Van der Zwan / Opinions Editor

July 5, 2016 opinions@the-peak.ca

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RE: SFU and ResLife have failed women on campus I'm genuinely curious to know, how is this a university issue?

Shouldn't he be reported to the police and criminal charges be brought against him? If he is guilty, then the issue should be resolved in the judicial system (the administration can do very little to truly establish guilt or punish him). If he's innocent, the administration has no business telling him what to do.

I'm really sorry to hear about the two victims who had to drop out of university because they were feeling unsafe.

They deserve better.

— Raymon Gulati SFU does not have the same kind of power to impose sanctions on the accused, so is not held to the same standards as those required to establish guilt in a court of law. Furthermore, no one has (yet) suggested that he be [sic] suspended or expelled; the question at hand is his ability to continue living in Residence. People have evidently been evicted for far lesser offenses which did not require definite proof before termination of their contracts with ResLife. No one says a word about people being kicked out of their homes due to an alleged joint or some loud music, but once it's sexual assault, we should be up in arms about the due process rights of the accused?

This bizarre double standard is a gross betrayal of the women who rely on SFU to provide them with a safe living space. No one should have to risk re-victimisation by law enforcement just to have somewhere safe to live.

— Amanda Klassen RE: SFU Advocacy for Men and Boys hosts open discussion of alleged gender bias in the legal system I can state that SFUAMB is NOT a men's club. It is not an "extremist", "neckbeard" society!!!

The injustice men suffer under due to a gender biased legal system is extreme. This is a fact. Facts manifest themselves in real world ways. I have experienced the injustice towards men, not in my daydreams, in the actual world, according to actual fact. If you are unsure about this, go as [sic] ANY family law lawyer. Furthermore, as a woman, I have been welcomed with open arms into this alleged "men's group". There is no gender bias in this group. SFUAMB is an advocacy group that advocates for the underdog: men in our court system. When we see inequality we should not be ashamed to point out that inequality, nor should we be browbeaten into submission and silence.

— Marian Lochrie

SFU president Andrew Petter recently reignited the idea that a Burnaby Mountain gondola should be constructed between Production Way–University Station and SFU. This weathered saga has been ongoing for nearly a decade now.

The Peak has been reporting on the prospects of such a project since 2009. For a while, yes, TransLink was dead serious on building an environmentally conscious transit-lift that would relieve their slogging, carbon-fuelled bus system, and cut the time for commute up the mountain by half.

However, need we be reminded for the bazillionth time, TransLink has made it clear that the project has been shelved.

While a healthy environment is something to strive for, the money is ultimately what matters, and the financials simply did not calculate the project to

save costs when balanced with the current bus system. Additionally, two years ago TransLink released a solidified 10-year outlook plan that makes no mention of a gondola. In other words, the project likely won’t be considered for another eight years.

And given that both our provincial and federal governments have never been interested in providing enough funds to maintain our institution — leaving SFU starved of the hundreds of millions needed to fix the cracks in the eroded concrete, for example — why should we expect TransLink to receive any funding to further meet the interests of our university? Especially those that aren’t immediately necessary?

The mayor and our government care about prioritizing the ‘larger society,’ and I see this as a reasonable decision. After all, it makes sense to shell out the

valuable millions toward road maintenance and bridge-building opportunities that will be used by the bulk of the city. To me, a gondola simply isn’t a priority, but a niche indulgence; a tourist trap; a joyride in the eyes of the SFU community.

The government may see in TransLink a bus system that, while less efficient, still does the job while costing less. Good enough! If anything, they should be providing funds to improve road conditions up the mountain, as these would most likely be used by more people.

So, what grinds my gears is when educated individuals, such as Petter, pull the publicity card by once again voicing vigorous support for a project that was scrapped long ago because it was neither financially feasible nor immediately necessary.

In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he found this an opportune moment to distract

attention from the fact that the administration has no idea how to handle sexual assault cases on campus. Remember the environmentally friendly and economical gondola everyone was once raving about? We still support that! So let’s talk about that instead.

Granted, a gondola over Burnaby Mountain would provide nice views and convenience for the rushed student. But creating an ongoing, needless discussion on a project that won’t be considered for almost another decade is not a wise move; it’s just a waste of time and public attention. This goes for any further statements from all other public figures or groups, such as the SFSS. SFU administrators no doubt understand this, so what reason is there for Petter to flog this dead horse?

The answer is clear: to boost notions that he has responsible environmental and social morals, that the university administration adopts these morals by extension, and that in the grand scheme of things, SFU is practically the best place on earth.

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Opinions

When you’re at Safeway buying your groceries, the cashier drops the usual question: “Do you need a plastic bag?” Many of us reflexively answer with “Yes, please.”

On campus, purchasing bubble tea in between lectures, we are often confused as to which coloured trash receptacle the cup goes into. I’ve named only a couple of instances that evoke a feeble voice within my head — do we really need all this plastic in our lives?

My attention was further drawn to our reckless disposal of plastic after watching a viral video (God bless the Internet!) of a plastic fork jammed inside a turtle’s nostril. Afterwards, I laid in bed questioning the world. We treat the environment, particularly

In her article entitled, “Why I’m not ‘pretty for a black girl,’” Edna Batengas urged others to avoid mentioning one’s race when giving a compliment. She briefly mentioned that she would much rather receive a compliment on something that isn’t based on her appearance at all. I agree with her entirely. I would rather be complimented for who I am rather than what I am.

In fact, I hate to be cliché, but it really is the inside that counts. In our day and age though, it seems that this has been forgotten. Simply take a look at the comments posted underneath selfies on Instagram

Adam Van der Zwan / Opinions Editor

opinions@the-peak.ca

oceans, as spheres of waste disposal for two (nerdy-termed) reasons: the free-rider problem and our anthropocentric view of domination towards nature.

When we don’t pay for the costs of polluting the water with our garbage while we’re on a cruise, we become the ‘free-riders’ causing the problem. When we believe that nature is here to serve us instrumentally, we dominate as we please. The end results are irreparable consequences on aquatic life and degradation of water resources.

The truth is that plastic waste has become a specimen of the hydrosphere all over the world; it now seems to be on top of the food chain, killing most things that live on the ocean surface. A study at UBC found 93 percent of birds called fulmars had stomachs stuffed with plastic. Plastic obviously isn’t tasty, but if I were a bird and saw a transparent head floating

nearby, I’d think it was lunchtime as well!

Polyethylene has become our best friend. Its accessibility and reliability is a trait that fits my reallife best friend as well. The difference is that my real best friend is biodegradable, but plastic isn’t. All plastic produced since its invention in 1907 still exists even in the most minute forms on Earth today.

I didn’t conduct multiple experiments to accumulate this

understanding over what polymers do. I simply wondered why the turtle or the fulmars’ fates were due to something that could have been avoided.

Plastics are used by various billion-dollar companies to make products for our purposes — for us humans. If we consciously advocated for a gradual ban of plastics in favour of more environmentally friendly and biodegradable alternatives

— if we cared about the consequences of needless disposables — we would start to find fewer pieces of plastic in both land and aquatic animals.

A little throwback reminds us that plastic bottles started being recycled in 1977. My hope for the future is that we finally see the last plastic-anything be properly treated and recycled, before King Polyethylene takes over the Earth kingdom.

and Facebook. We live in an extremely superficial society.

It’s rare to see someone appreciating another’s character or life successes. When such comments are given, they are almost always disregarded or lost in a sea of shallow remarks. Take, for example, an Instagram post of the attractive Mikhail Varshavski, who is better known as Dr. Mike. The post is meant to celebrate his achievement upon finishing his internship, and while a couple of comments actually celebrate his accomplishment, essentially every other is as meaningless as “Ugh his hair looks great here.”

Why do we praise others’ looks so much? I’ll skip the whole philosophical discussion on mind versus body, but I ultimately think that what makes you or me is so much more than our bodies. We should celebrate us, not just our figures.

I feel that in the height of social media, people are constantly fishing for compliments by posting selfies or photos of meaningless things. How can people really get to know you when your social media posts are all of your face and body? Showcase your thoughts, your art, your talents — give people the chance to get to know your inner beauty, your inner being.

It’s so much nicer to be complimented on some characteristic, such as one’s kind nature, rather than on one’s physique.

One feeds the soul while the other fuels your ego.

The compliments that I’ve received that had nothing to do with my appearance are the compliments that truly stick with me. Some of the most flattering remarks that I’ve received had to do with my skills, work ethic, and my sense of humour. While being complimented on something physical can be nice, it can be easily forgotten.

a bit thrown off when someone gives you an insightful compliment? I think that our culture has become so accustomed to giving and receiving superficial compliments that it’s viewed as weird to comment on anything other than one’s outer beauty.

I’d love to challenge people to really think before they speak.

Think about the individuals in your lives and what makes them great.

Yes, the “inner them.” Dig deep and ask yourself, “What do I really like about this person?”

To quote one of my favourite television characters of all time: “Oh, screw beautiful. I’m brilliant. If you want to appease me, compliment my brain.”

Preach, Cristina Yang.

All that said, perhaps people stray away from commenting on something other than one’s looks because it’s not that common. Think about it: aren’t you

Features

July 5, 2016

9

SFYOU

SFU’s Marina Elliott is helping the world better understand evolution and humanity’s past

Courtney Miller Peak Associate Marina Elliott has been named one of National Geographic’s Emerging Explorers of 2016.

An SFU alumna who studied biological anthropology, Elliott has spent the past few years in South Africa, uncovering the history of humanity.

Elliott’s journey began in Calgary, but she found a place to call home here at SFU. One of her favourite experiences during her time in school was joining the Human Evolutionary Studies program research team headed by professor Mark Collard. That research team has since opened up some great opportunities for the budding palaeoanthropologist, Elliott explained.

Her background in climbing and cave exploration, or ‘spelunking’ as it’s referred to in the field, made her a perfect candidate for the Rising Star Expedition under the leadership of Lee Berger.

Rising Star is an excavation site in the Cradle of Humankind, where the remains of Homo naledi were discovered in 2013. The Cradle is a 47,000-hectare World Heritage Site about 50 km northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. It’s composed of complicated limestone caves where many hominin discoveries have been made.

“I spent quite a bit of time as a kid in the Rockies and the

Badlands, running in and out of dark places,” Elliot said. Now the five to seven hours per day that Elliott spends in the small cave-home of the of Homo naledi is child’s play, she added.

As soon as she’s out of the caves, though, “the next priority is a shower and snack!” The explorers generally move around the cave in bare feet, so that they “are more sensitive to the ground and where the fossils might be,” but that can lead to a dirty work day.

Elliott has also gained experience at other locations.

She has worked in Siberia and Alaska, but noted that “both projects were very different from Rising Star — and also each other. Siberia was a Holocene burial area on the shores of Lake Baikal. The burials can vary quite a bit in size and complexity, but are generally [. . .] straightforward to excavate.

“Alaska was more of a ‘salvage’ operation, as the burials were in danger of washing into the sea as a result of erosion caused by climate change. The burials there were harder to

identify, and so we dug a lot of ‘test pits’ to find the material.”

The pressure was on in Alaska in more ways than one.

The crew at that site excavated under armed guard, which is not a typical experience. Elliott explained that the protection was there “not for people, but for the polar bears.”

Elliott’s had plenty of adventures already in her career, and she can’t wait to embark on new ones. “I’d love to go to some

“In particular, I think it is reminding us that we still have a lot to learn about the human family tree [. . .] It demonstrates that there were a lot more species out there than we realized and some we couldn’t have predicted in advance. I think it’s also reinforcing the idea that exploration is still an essential part of the scientific process — we need people to get out there and be looking for new discoveries [. . .] in all disciplines,” Elliott explained.

The young explorer recalled that her initial reaction “to seeing the chamber and the fossils for the first time was surprise.

“We had been told that we would likely be excavating a single individual, probably of a known species, [. . .] but when I saw the amount of material in the chamber, I realized it was going to be a much bigger project than we anticipated. [. . .] We brought up fossil after fossil and realized that we were dealing not only with multiple individuals, but with a species unlike anything anyone had seen before.

It was pretty mind-blowing,” Elliott said.

“Exploration is still an essential part of the scientific process.”

Marina Elliott of the other hominin sites [. . .] around the world. This is a really exciting time to be in anthropology and exploration science.”

Of the Rising Star find, Elliott remarked that “Homo naledi’s discovery is challenging a lot of ideas about how palaeoanthropology does ‘business’ and about how we think about human evolution.

In addition to excavating Rising Star, Elliott has spent her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Witwatersrand. There, she’s been doing “an awful lot of outreach and public speaking on the discovery, [which] has been really interesting and rewarding.”

She has also conducted research on the Homo naledi skeletal material, and been in charge of other field operations. Currently, Elliott is heading a six-person exploration crew that explores and surveys other caves in the Cradle to try and find new sites.

She misses her family, which makes Skype an important tool in her arsenal. What she misses most about Vancouver is the ocean. “I love the sea, and sometimes wish I could go for a run or walk along the Seawall like I used to do in Vancouver.”

Luckily, Elliott gets to return to Canada a couple of times a year, which has helped her stay grounded.

If you ever do meet her, just keep in mind that Elliott is not a paleontologist: “I don’t dig up dinosaurs! I get that a lot when I say I am a palaeoanthropolgist. [. . .] It’s not that I don’t think dinosaurs are cool too, but it’s not what I do.”

Through her careful excavations, Elliott is helping SFU build its name as a home for world explorers.

10 Arts

The band previously known as Room 202 has reinvented itself as the Pacific. A move lead singer and acoustic guitarist Zishan Abdullah said stemmed from the fact that “we’re all West Coast boys and love the city we live in. I’ve always had an affinity for the coast, all the way from beautiful BC to the sandy beaches of California.”

Bassist Earl Moya and lead guitarist Rosendo Flores are the other two founding members from Room 202. Rhythm guitarist Rick Nolet and touring drummer Jarren Louie are relatively new additions, and they did wonders to elevate the group’s sound during their performance at Studio Records on June 25. The Pacific opened for other local bands Gold & Shadow, In Bliss, and Hawking.

Abdullah talked about some of his favourite songs to perform: “I’m going to have to go with ‘Vibration.’ We played it for the first time and boy did we feel it. I also really like ‘Lost Souls.’A lot of our fans are about to finish school and step into the ‘grown-up’ world now. That song touches on the topic, and how easy it is for us to get lost in our own worlds.

It’s different, it’s scary, and it’s getting real.”

Abdullah is intimately familiar with those feelings, having recently graduated from UBC. This is good news for fans, though, because that means that “I have more time to commit to the band.

I’m an engineer by day and a musician by night, and we’re going to fly at the speed of light from here on out. This is an exciting time in all of our lives and I really hope we can make some solid memories as a band and with our fans.”

They certainly made some memories with fans at Studio Records. Between group singalongs to crowd-pleasing covers — namely “I Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick and “This Love” by Maroon 5 — and their infectious energy, we all went home with fond recollections.

Their cover of Hedley’s “Hello” was also a winner that night, pumping up the crowd with their stage presence, despite the tight fit of five guys on a small stage.

Moya was super groovy, a true delight to watch, and Flores hit those solo notes with the touch of an old pro. The Pacific’s songs are alternative rock with some pop thrown in for good measure. They love what they do, and they do it well. “Always strive for excellence and success will follow you everywhere you go,” is some free advice from Abdullah.

With the new project, the band has left some of their older Room 202 songs off their setlist, stating that their goal is to create brand new material for their shows. “The band really takes pride in putting on an entertaining performance for our fans and making sure they get what they came for,” Abdullah told The Peak.

“We definitely may throw in some favourites from Room 202 once in a while, because who doesn’t love “European Girl”?”

The song is arguably their most famous original creation, and garnered plenty of appreciation and anticipation at Studio Records.

They don’t have an EP available yet, but they are hoping to get one out once they’ve finished writing new songs for it. “We are working hard to make sure every song on that EP is well-written and purposeful.” You can still catch them this summer though: they’re hoping to work out a tour of Western Canada once more songs are ready to be performed, but you can see them at the Roxy sometime this August.

Jess Whitesel / Arts Editor

arts@the-peak.ca

Summer’s here, and with it comes plenty of reasons to be hitting the road. Music festivals, weddings, cabin getaways, trips back to your hometown — through any combination of the above, you’ll be spending plenty of time on the road, sweat-soaked skin likely pressed grossly against the back of a car seat.

With that in mind, I’d like to make a declaration: the greatest musical offence a road-tripper can commit — not including the sin of just choosing straight-up bad tunes — is to have an itchy musical trigger finger. Playlists were literally made for road-tripping, but if you’re putting on an album, listening to a handful of tracks, and then already scrolling for the next album, you need to rethink your game plan. Or you can forgo giving it any more independent thought of your own, and just check out some recommendations from a certified, seasoned road-tripper like myself.

Start of the road trip: The beginning of the road trip is all about momentum, so start with something loud and high-energy.

Keep in mind that the start of a road trip is usually plagued by false starts — last-minute stops at the grocery store, filling up on gas,

circling back to someone’s house to retrieve a forgotten, crucial item — so maybe wait until you’re officially on a highway to pull out the big guns.

Recommended listening: Guitar Romantic by the Exploding Hearts: A fun punk-pop album with a grisly backstory: while on tour for Guitar Romantic, the band was in a car accident and only one member survived.

Leave Me Alone by Hinds: Pleasant fuzz-rock, buoyed by a pair of standout female vocalists.

The Courtneys by the Courtneys: While the Courtneys’ self-titled release is in my regular music rotation year-round, there’s a noticeable spike during the summer months.

Middle of the road trip: That initial embarking buzz has worn off, and conversation may be dying off a bit. This is where you call on the albums with a good, steady beat, or even albums with noteworthy lyrics that might otherwise get lost in the commotion at the start of the road trip.

Recommended listening: Elephant Eyelash by Why?: The band’s signature blend of hip-hop and indie-rock make for a sprawling, lyrically nostalgic album that benefits from close-listening.

Reconstruction Site by the Weakerthans: A dream of mine is to one day drive across Canada listening to nothing but the Weakerthans. I’ll let John K. Samson’s voice take the metaphorical wheel.

Thr!!!er by !!!: !!! albums can get a bit silly, but they’re at their best on this catchy, beat-driven release from 2013 — and just in case the question arises during your road trip, their name is pronounced “chk chk chk.”

Night-time driving: Often, time constraints mean you’ll be driving through at least part of the night, which can be tricky.

You want something mellow enough so that people trying to catch some shut-eye can do so in peace, but you don’t want an album so ambient that the driver falls asleep and kills y’all. Throw on one of these albums to find a happy medium.

Recommended listening: The Colour in Anything by James Blake: The album’s a surprisingly effective combination of sexy and haunting, which matches the tone of night-driving perfectly.

The Fall by Rhye: Silky smooth music that slips seamlessly between genres and into your trailblazing ears.

The First Days of Spring by Noah and the Whale: Break-ups produce some of the best music, and this album — inspired by the disintegration of frontman Charlie Fink and Laura Marling’s relationship — is the perfect combination of heartbreak and cautious optimism.

Arts

July 5, 2016

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12 Arts

Jonathan Pabico Peak Associate Independence Day: Resurgence is a block without the buster. With dry dialogue, failed attempts at comic relief, and two-dimensional characters that leave audiences wondering why they were even in the film, it falls short of the expectations set by its predecessor. The film places too much weight on new actors who deliver downright unsatisfying performances.

However, it’s not all bad. The film does have moments of exhilaration and sci-fi action spectacles. This is especially the case at the beginning of the film, when a gigantic alien spacecraft destroys cities with its own gravity, landing on Earth as if it is a huge glove that grips the planet like a baseball. The biggest spectacle of the film is the military’s battle against the invaders’ monstrous queen, whose colossal size rivals that of Godzilla and King Kong.

After 20 years of peace and prosperity, Earth has become highly advanced, integrating both human and alien technology to improve its military strength. After the characters discover that an alien ship even more devastating than the previous one is on its way, they once again find themselves fighting for the preservation of the human race.

An underlying theme is the film’s advanced innovative technology. The modern military aircraft, state-of-the-art weaponry, and a tightly secured alien prison in Area 51 reflects the highly mechanized world in which the film is set. But as interesting as these themes can be, they do little to alleviate the film’s lack of heart.

The film is ultimately hindered by the lack of a compelling core relationship, such as that between Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum in the first Independence Day. While Goldblum does return, the absence of Smith in this sequel definitely hurts the film as a whole. Without his hotshot attitude and memorable humour, this sequel ends up being incomplete and empty.

The weakest link of the cast is Liam Hemsworth, whose portrayal of a hotshot pilot is little more than an archetypical character that has been done way too many times before. From his weak chemistry with Goldblum’s character to his not-sofunny scene of urinating in front of aliens inside their spaceship, his character can only be described as a caricature of Tom Cruise’s Maverick from Top Gun and Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill from Guardians of the Galaxy.

On top of all of these failings, the one that really takes the cake is the presence of a talking alien sphere near the end of the film. (Spoiler!) The sphere, which poses as an obstacle to the alien forces in conquering the universe, ends up becoming an ally of the human race. This development completely breaks the film’s momentum and ends up being downright silly.

Overall, Independence Day: Resurgence copies its predecessor without including any of the heart or energy that made it great. Although Goldblum leads the charge once again, the film fails to meet expectations with low-quality dialogue, two-dimensional characters, cliché heroisms, and repetitive close calls that elude any possibility of being genuine. Any hopes for this sequel to have the same excitement that made the first film an entertaining adventure fades away within its first 10 minutes.

Jess Whitesel / Arts Editor

arts@the-peak.ca

Formerly known as Blackstone Rngrs, Pale Dian is a band from Austin, Texas specializing in dark pop/dream pop. Consisting of vocalist/keyboardist Ruth Ellen Smith, guitarist Derek Kutzer, and drummer Nicholas Volpe, Pale Dian is a group that strives to make an emotional connection with their audience.

Unfortunately, they weren’t able to cross the US/Canada border to play their scheduled show at the Rickshaw Theatre on June 19.

They talked to The Peak, though, and expressed that they were really excited to play here. They’ve never played a show in Vancouver, and it seems like that won’t change anytime soon.

Kutzer cited influences in Roy Orbison, Cocteau Twins, and Bob Dylan, and said his favourite song to play is “In a Day.” Smith, on the other hand, favours the album intro off Narrow Birth, as well as “Diana.” She also added that she feels the “stage is therapy for me. I am raw and not expecting to show or feel any other way than exactly how I am.”

On the subject of moving from the Blackstone Rngrs project to Pale Dian, Kutzer said, “Well, we had just let go [of] our drummer and original member of Blackstone

Rngrs, and we had finished recording about half of what became Narrow Birth, and we kind of took a step back and viewed everything and realized that whatever was developing was something different than Blackstone Rngrs.

“We had grown apart from the name, and really felt overly self-conscience [sic] about it, and thought it was the right time to make a change. Ever since we started Pale Dian we had a newfound confidence, and it really felt more like ‘us.’ It felt more natural, for sure.”

Narrow Birth is their debut LP. “If I could break it down into one sound, I’d say buzzy/distorted,” said Kutzer.

The trio is also familiar with hardship, and trying to make ends meet — a struggle students are often all too familiar with. They spend almost all the time away

from the band working to pay rent and finance their lives.

“It is hard to have a normal life,” admitted Kutzer. “When you are gone for two months at a time, you’ve got to figure out all those finances, because you’re not generating the income to pay all of your bills and rent, and to top it all off, you’re working some job that pays shit wages/tips, which means you gotta work a whole lot of hours to earn anything substantial.

“So, yeah, we all work a whole lot. But we are trying to get to a level where the band can start replacing the socalled day jobs for generating the income it takes to survive in a market-capitalist system.”

Kutzer even joked about having a ‘normal life’: “Wouldn’t it be nice to tend a garden? Wouldn’t it be nice to not stress about where I’m gonna live when I get back, or not have to find someone to sublease my room? Wouldn’t it be nice to not work service industry and independent contractor jobs just because they [all] have a flexible schedule? All those things would be nice! But, nah. It is nicer to create something on your own terms and then take it out to the world, even if it means sacrificing a great deal of the so-called comfortable life.”

Humour

Get to know the folks behind the laughter as The Peak explores the burgeoning Vancouver comedy scene with our recurring column, Laugh Track. From podcast hosts and improv royalty to monthly showrunners and people just being funny weirdos, there’s never a shortage in this comedic goldmine called Vancouver.

Interviewing comic Kevin Banner provides a sense of closure that I didn’t even know I needed.

Back in 2014, I saw Banner perform an opening set at the Comedy Mix in Vancouver, and while I remember the headliner getting a few good laughs from the crowd, Banner undoubtedly stole the show. Fast-forward a year and a half, and I’m messaging that same stand-up comedian to apologize about being late to our arranged interview at Starbucks.

Thankfully, Banner is as easy to talk to as he is a joy to watch perform.We dig into conversations about his comedic stylings, along with the main reason behind the interview: Banner’s upcoming debut comedy album Dreamboat.

The Peak: "Self-deprecating" and "dark" are a few ways I've read you describe your humour.

What makes this a useful angle from which to tell jokes?

Kevin Banner: Because it's real, it's genuine. That's me. I'm a little bit dark, and I'm definitely self-deprecating. I always feel stupid when I get into these conversations, where I'm picking apart comedy, because I'll say stuff that sounds great in the moment, but when I read it back later, I think, "Is that true?"

A lot of my favourite comedians are pretty close to themselves onstage, but they're very genuine for what they're doing. That's my favourite kind of comedy, so that's what I want to do. You'll see young comics starting out, and they'll be really selfdeprecating when they're onstage, but when they get off stage, they're living the life; they have abs, and they're having fun.

But it gets to be too much onstage with the self-deprecating, because they're really trying to push that they're this dark character. But if you're not, it shows, and it's harder to connect with that as an audience member.

P: You're about to record your first comedy album. At what point does a comic see doing a live album as the next step?

Justin Stevens / Humour Editor

July 5, 2016 humour@the-peak.ca

KB: When you feel like you've got a set that you want to commit to permanency. I know there are plenty of comics who don't think you should ever record a special or an album, and you should just keep your act, but there are definitely some jokes that I've told for a long time. Some of them I don't really want to get rid of yet, but they fit with where I'm at right now, so they'll fit on the album.

That's the thing about stand-up that really appeals to me: there are no real rules to it. There are etiquette things, but it's not like, "OK, you've

done this, this, and this, now you record an album." I did the two shows with Bill Burr in January, and I was approached by 604 Records and asked if I'd be interested in doing an album, and it was something that I'd thought of before.

P : What makes the Comedy Mix, where the recorded shows will be, a good venue to record a comedy album at?

KB: It's the best club in, if not Western Canada, the entire country.

I know a lot of other comics who've recorded their albums there. It's a great room, and you know it's going to have people in it. You don't have to worry about drawing people in. I don't have a fan base that comes out to see me, and definitely not enough to record an album in front of. The Comedy Mix also tends to bring out good crowds, for the most part.

P: What are some behind-thescenes things most people wouldn't even think of that are really important in organizing something like recording a comedy album?

KB: I feel like there are people out there that think every time they see a comedian, they're seeing them come up with those thoughts on the spot, until the people see them again and think, "Oh, I've heard these jokes." The answer to that question is probably a lot, because I don't think the average person knows or cares to know about the inner workings of stand-up comedy. It's just the diehard fans and the comics themselves. I'm sure there’s a lot of stuff that the average person doesn't know about, but to me it doesn't stand out

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as something because it's just natural to the people who do it. There's a lot of logistical stuff that's just falling to the record label, though; I just have to show up and tell the jokes.

P: Was the album's name always going to be Dreamboat or were there any other titles you considered?

KB: Ultimately, the name Dreamboat doesn't mean a lot to me. I just like the flow of it, and it's not a name that I'm going to regret. There are people who put out an album, and they give it a wacky title, and I feel like they'll hate it eventually. "Dreamboat" is baby food.

It's nothing, it doesn't matter, so it's not going to bother me years down the road. It just sounds nice.

P: I’ve just purchased a vinyl copy of Kevin Banner's Dreamboat; I place the album onto the record player, and I slip on my headphones. What's one thought you want me to have while listening to your comedy album?

KB: "This is fun." I just want an album that I'm proud of, and I want people who buy it to not feel ripped off. So if somebody buys my album, I just want them to enjoy it. I'm pretty meat-and-potatoes, so I just want you to dig it.

Be a part of the magic when Banner records his first comedy album, Dreamboat, at the Comedy Mix over three evenings: one show on July 7, and two shows on both July 8 and 9.

14 Humour

Justin Stevens / Humour Editor

humour@the-peak.ca

store razors, and say hello to the new Dyson FaceBlade!

Dyson People Mover

Dyson, makers of the iconic ball-based upright vacuums and bladeless electric fans, have recently announced their upcoming products at a private shareholderonly event. We have managed to get a copy of just one page of their internal release document, and have included it below.

Dyson Toilets Following their success in the vacuum and hand dryer industries, Dyson is setting their sights on the bathroom! Using suction and centrifugal force, both from the world-renowned Dyson digital motor, the Dyson Toilet will be the most effective toilet available, all without water! Plus it incorporates the trademark Dyson BallTM technology, which allows it to be angled as either a toilet or a urinal with no loss in suction. With the Dyson Toilet, you won't have to go to the bathroom for weeks!

Dyson Pet Sphere Don't worry, Fluffer McKitty won't be left out of the Dyson fun.

The Dyson Pet Sphere is a newly designed pet carrier and terrarium. It’s durable and contains a pet-friendly environment designed for comfort.

The Dyson Pet Sphere also allows for easy transport, due to its sleek and compact design, and its durability makes it handy for people with even the most energetic pets.

Dyson FaceBlade Dyson is taking their bladeless fan technology and rubbing it right up against your face with the upcoming Dyson FaceBlade bladeless face razor. Gone are the days of accidentally nicking your face with little metal razors — the Dyson FaceBlade has no blades at all! Following recent breakthroughs in Dyson technology, the FaceBlade is able to remove unwanted facial hair with nothing but extremely concentrated bursts of air. Say goodbye to disposable dollar

Did you know there is a whole network of pneumatic tubes beneath the streets of New York City? It's true!

Dyson has already begun alterations to the system, expanding them for human use and incorporating both their vacuum and bladeless fan technologies. Soon New Yorkers can expect to move faster than a yellow cab ever could. Travel from Sugar Hill to Soho in less than two minutes during rush hour with the Dyson People Mover. Hold onto your hats!

Dyson EndoSkeleton Dyson cares about the elderly, and understands that some former customers may be too frail and infirm to use even the most compact Dyson product, commonly due to weakness in their bones or joints. The Dyson EndoSkeleton seeks to change that. Working with hospitals and machinists across the globe, the Dyson EndoSkeleton is a piece of advanced medical equipment that will give Grandma and Grandpa the strength they need to walk to the park, toss little Suzie into the air, and far more.

Replace Grandma's bones today!

Top EU officials hosted an emergency meeting in Brussels last week to make and rank catchy exit slogans for every country following the UK’s Brexit vote. Officials said they were “very pleased” with the outcome of the summit.

“Czech-please” was crowned the winner of the summit, with “Poland-out” in second and “Departugal” in third.

“We hope all EU nations will be satisfied with the naming of their countries’ referendum slogans,” said EU president Donald Tusk.

“Slovakthis,” “Belgdone,” and “Finito” did not make top three, but were close behind in the running.

Cyprus’ top EU official expressed his dissatisfaction with the discussions: “Many nations like ours are unable to make catchy slogans.” Members from Malta and Croatia echoed these remarks.

“This is completely unfair,” said Spain’s EU representative, Juan Aristegui. “We don’t even stand a chance against ‘NetherLeave’ or ‘Grexit.’”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chimed in, adding that he hopes “there’s no talks of a Quebexit” following the UK’s referendum.

He continued by noting that the 1980 and 1995 referendums on Quebec sovereignty may have been “a different ball game” if they had been nicknamed “Quebexit,” rather than the significantly less catchy “Quebec Sovereignty Referendum.”

Meanwhile, Texans dissatisfied with the Supreme Court ruling on abortion bans last week seem to have taken inspiration from the UK, and are now calling for a “Texit” referendum.

However, according to hiphop icon and geopolitical scholar Kanye West, most of these nicknames don’t hold a candle to the original. “Brexit had the best slogan of all time,” he yelled indiscriminately at a reporter from The Peak. “This is just played out now."

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said he hopes his pivotal role in helping to coin the term "Brexit" will be his legacy once he resigns, rather than introducing the vote itself.

Diversions

Maia Odegaard / Business Manager

June 27, 2016 maia@the-peak.ca

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42. Mature 44. Chorus voice 45. Baltimore athlete 47. Classified ____ 48. Glossy 50. Town's announcer 52. Hear 55. Rise up 59. Actress ____ Farrow 62. Guess 63. Setting 64. Academic guidance 68. Otherwise 69. Plan LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

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19. Lily species 21. "Phantom of the ____" 25. More ashen 26. Wood source 28. Audition tape 30. Jazz great ____ Fitzgerald 31. Lump of dirt 32. Chef's measures (abbr.)

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EVENT LISTINGS ARE FREE FOR SFU STUDENTS AND STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS. SEND THE DATE, TIME, LOCATION, NAME, AND A 15-WORD DESCRIPTION TO CLASSIFIEDS@THE-PEAK.CA

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Tamara Connor / Features Editor

features@the-peak.ca

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