Starved for Cash

When did ‘masculinity’ become such a dirty word? I feel as though my own identity as an innocent man has been beaten and bruised by the feud between feminists and men’s rights activists — two vicious children fighting for toys in a sandbox. Now, each time I even utter the word ‘masculine,’ I’m confused by how guilty I feel.

Unfortunately, this just seems to be a quagmire of identity that plagues universities, as of late. It’s escalated so much at Ryerson University that a men’s issues group is taking the student union to court after being refused group status.

The debate stands: feminists seek equality through the lens of historically oppressed women and minorities, while ‘meninists’ claim ‘true’ equality through strict anti-feminism in the belief that their issues are misunderstood. In turn, men like me are walloped over the head by a pair of stances stubbornly unwilling to take a perspective on life that isn’t their own.

As such, I’ve slipped into a confused crevice that separates the feud, clawing at either side to hoist myself to a definitive shelter, before realizing that this crevice is a shelter in itself.

I am a cautious bystander who sees merits to both ideologies, but I avoid siding fully with either camp. Maybe this is the result of working with so many opinions over the years as opinions editor. Perhaps it’s because, as a man who doesn’t consider himself to be overly ‘macho’ or

‘masculine’ in the stereotypical sense (nor do I want to be) I feel I have a clearer view on my position in society than many who voraciously subscribe to these two groups seem to.

The truth is, masculinity is vastly diverse, and is becoming even more so. Traditional masculinity has, for many men, become a layer of prosthetic skin peeling from what was once

thought to be natural biology.

The fresh layer seeks to toughen itself from the battle of words waging in society — much less universities.

To be a man is not what it once was; more men have recognized this and, despite the critical world they face, are striving to become comfortable with their evolving identities.

I think this is the ideology that men’s rights activists try to convey, if it weren’t stifled by their misunderstandings and harrowing insults toward feminists — especially SFU’s men’s advocacy group, which portrays itself as almost hatefully antifeminist. This makes the collective seem far more ignorant

and undignified than what their intentions probably are.

I find these ‘new’ men are the ones who would muster enough bravery to seek support from something like a men’s centre, while not only avoiding, but believing in the efforts to avoid the ‘old boy’s club.’

This is something many terrified feminists need to understand, rather than to point a finger to the wrongful notions that men will turn savage if thrown into a room together, because apparently that’s what men have always done.

I’m sorry to say it, but these beliefs are a far cry from equality. Yes, women and minorities have been historically oppressed, and recovering from these wounds is strenuous. But feminists can only draw from the past — they cannot live in it.

Instead, they must be open to the winds of change; their ideologies must evolve by steadily realizing that men have been riding these winds ahead of them for a while now; we’re just waiting for them to catch up, to accept and trust differing masculinities just like they would trust any human from their own belief-circles.

That’s a step toward true equality.

Common ground exists, so as soon as meninists grow from an infantile mindset into something a little more open-minded, mature and dignified — and as soon as feminists understand that to survive with societal change they’ll need to give today’s men a little more credit — I’ll continue to hide my ‘unconventional’ masculinity in this lonely crevice.

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News

Thirsty summer students hankering for a beer may need to find a new watering hole: the SFSS recently announced that the Highland Pub would be closed for the summer. The move comes as Food and Beverage Services (FBS), a branch of the SFSS, tries to grapple with its trend of yearly deficits.

SFSS CEO Martin Wyant and newly elected SFSS President Deepak Sharma sat down with The Peak to discuss the closure. Wyant noted that the pub has accounted for a lion’s share of the approximately $3 million loss weathered by the society over the past eight years. The past several years have seen deficits upwards of $100,000. Current estimates for 2016 point to around a $360,000 loss. “When we say it loses money, what that really means is student dollars that are going to cover the deficit,” said Wyant.

According to Food and Beverages Services General Manager John Flipse, the pub “usually ends the summer with about $100,000 loss” due to fewer students being on the Burnaby campus during the summer semester. “The board has no more appetite for such a loss,” he said.

The SFSS board began considering measures to address the deficit, including considering whether the FBS might run as a “for profit” business or as a service that would need continual subsidies.

Wyant looked into the history of the student society’s food and beverage operation when he began at the SFSS and was unable to find any record of it ever making money. Similarly, when reaching out to student societies that run pubs at campuses across the country he found that “almost all” had lost money. “We’re not alone. That’s kind of cold comfort,” said Wyant.

He pointed to the challenges associated with providing studentrun food options on campus. Just last semester, a Big Smoke Burger

(which is licensed) and a BC Liquor Store opened in the Cornerstone building on campus. When the Higher Grounds coffee shop originally opened, competitors like Starbucks and Tim Hortons did not operate on campus.

In addition to competition, Wyant noted that although food prices have been rising, particularly in BC, FBS hasn’t raised its own prices in a while. “We’re sensitive that students have limited capacity to pay,” he explained.

Furthermore, unlike most restaurants, FBS workers are unionized, resulting in higher labour costs. Wyant didn’t see a problem with this, arguing that workers should make a living wage; however, he notes that it is one of many challenges the pub faces. “I don’t want to give up on it but we have to stop the bleeding,” said Wyant.

Wyant and Flipse both noted the need to change the pub’s business model when the pub reopens, likely in the first week of classes in September.

Wyant in particular pointed to the success of events such as SFSS pub nights and those held by other clubs which can prove profitable for the pub. The new pub could focus on events and catering, an area under FBS which Wyant remarked is financially sound.

“I think we’ve got some opportunity there. We have 200–300 clubs here at SFU, that are tied to SFSS. [The pub] is a wonderful space. We would like to reimagine that space.”

Wyant suggested that changes to licensing could be an option on the table, with a space for underage students to lounge in the pub area. Sharma, however, noted that changes to licensing may prove challenging, as the university holds the liquor license and not the student society.

Wyant was optimistic about the pub adopting a new business model while still providing a space for students to socialize. Said Wyant, “I would love to find a way to have that space better used with less money coming out of student wallets. That’s what it comes down to.”

Jamal Dumas / News Editor

news@the-peak.ca

News

May 9, 2016

On May 15 at 8 p.m., SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts will host an evening of music and dance in Studio D at the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. Musician Makigami Koichi will begin the event with a solo performance, later joined by musician Stefan Smulovitz and dancer Jay Hirabayashi for an improvised performance. The event is $25 for general admission, and $15 for students.

Surrey City Centre Library will host another Philosopher’s Café event on Wednesday, May 18 at 7 p.m. Somayeh Bahrami, a PhD student in the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Department at SFU, will moderate a discussion on the topic of “barbaric cultural practices.” This forum is in response to the recent Conservative government’s attempt to “create an RCMP tip line for Canadians to call if they believe a child or woman is a victim of barbaric cultural practices.” Admission is free, and the event is sure to engage.

On May 12, SFU’s Management and Professional Programs, Continuing Studies presents an information session on the Career Development Practitioner Certificate.

The event will be on the Surrey campus in room 5360 from 5:30–6:30 p.m. and is meant for those interested in a career in employment counselling or career development. The event is free, but guests are being asked to register in advance.

NCAA Division I hockey might come to SFU as early as the 2018– 2019 season. Athletics director Theresa Hanson has launched a three- to six-month consultation process that she hopes will lead to a decision from administration by the end of the summer or September 2016.

“DI hockey makes sense on a lot of levels, certainly in our market,” said Hanson in an interview with TSN 1040. “We’re a hockey-crazed country, [but] we have no DI university hockey in our country,” she said, adding that many great student athletes leave Canada to play NCAA Division I in the US.

SFU is the only Canadian university that competes in the NCAA, with 17 teams competing in Division II in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. SFU is allowed two Division I teams, and is exploring the possibilities of men’s hockey and beach volleyball to make the jump.

Division I is the most prestigious division in the NCAA, and features

the most competitive schools and athletic programs.

SFU men’s hockey has played against NCAA Division I teams in exhibition and has games with said teams scheduled for next season as well. Two years ago, the team played against NCAA Division I champions, North Dakota, a game they lost 4–3.

Men’s hockey currently competes in the BC Intercollegiate Hockey League against UVic, Selkirk College, Trinity Western, and Eastern Washington.

Moving to NCAA Division I would be good for SFU, Burnaby, the province, and the country, said head coach Mark Coletta to CKNW 980.

Former Executive VP Business for the Vancouver Canucks, Jon Festinger, told The Province that SFU Division I hockey would engage audiences on local, regional, and national markets.

It’s “a game changer” said Hanson, due to the uniqueness in the hockey market and the story associated with it. Imagine, the only NCAA school in Canada, offering Division I hockey for Canadian-born athletes to play while

receiving the world-class education SFU has to offer, Hanson explained.

In the most recent Frozen Four NCAA national championship 10 BC-born players were on the North Dakota, Quinnipiac, and Denver teams. In addition, Canucks first-round pick Brock Boeser played for North Dakota in the national championship; goalie Thatcher Demko, another Canucks prospect, played for Boston College in the semifinal.

“Sustainability is the biggest thing,” said Coletta. He noted that while the move would be years away, stakeholders must look “50 years down the road.”

Coletta also argued that the consultation process will help the school decide whether to move forward.

There are some significant challenges that the consultation must address, the most prominent being the venue.

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SFU does not have a rink, and therefore external rinks must be looked at, such as the Pacific Coliseum.

Other factors include conference affiliation, travel, equipment, revenue streams, and number of student athletes on scholarships.

SFU’s scholarship fund currently sits at $11.5 million.

Hanson aims to increase the funding to $20 million.

Joining Division 1 could mean SFU could compete on an even larger scale, but at this point it’s too early to tell if SFU could sustain an NCAA Division I team.

SFU has contemplated one in the past, but with the consultation process now in place, it shows this time around there is a serious intention of pursuing the distinction.

“It’s a lofty goal, but I think it’s doable,” said Hanson.

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News

Jamal Dumas / News Editor

news@the-peak.ca

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A duo of professors from University of Alberta’s Faculty of Agricultural, Life, and Environmental Sciences have reinvented the “Mediterranean diet” for the Prairies.

Catherine Chan and Rhonda Bell’s goal was to find a dietary pattern that would help diabetics in their region remain in good health. They deduced that the Mediterranean diet — plant-based and well-known for its health benefits — was an ideal starting point. Noting the challenges of obtaining necessary food items so far from the Mediterranean coast, they adjusted by replacing more “exotic” food choices with homegrown items that are easily accessible to people in the Prairies.

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Sharing their passion for beer, six SFU students have teamed up to create Brewstr: a startup that facilitates simple beer brewing at home. Specifically, Brewstr is an automated home brewing system controlled by an application on mobile phones.

Ryan Lymburner, a fifth-year Mechatronics student at SFU who helped to create Brewstr, described the beer-making process as “tedious,” “boring,” and “quite [a lot] of manual work.”

Brewstr was designed to allow users without the usual knowledge or experience to make beer and cider that can be personalized to suit the owner’s taste.

The Technology Entrepreneurship@SFU program at Surrey campus was where it all

started. The program’s main goal is to successfully commercialize projects and establish new startups. There Lymburner first met his team: Jeremy Thompson, Derek Muxworthy, and Jordan Sciberras, all of whom are Mechatronics students, and Business students Karan Thakur and Kavi Sekhon.

Lymburner called his team “a great blend of everything,” describing their diverse skill sets and backgrounds.

Brewstr has gained much attention from local media, despite having begun in January of this year. Lymburner added that the team is very “motivated” to know that their projects are gaining popularity and “going [quickly]” to the next stage.

Regarding Brewstr’s near future, the complete prototype will be finished soon and ready for public tests and funding. In addition, the team will work closely with local breweries to ensure that the quality of the beer is suited to the tastes of consumers.

Lymburner and his team see their inventions as a “complement” to the local beer industry, rather than a competitor to it.

They suggested that local breweries could create their own ingredient packs and kits for purchase, allowing them to share their recipe with people more easily. Ultimately, the Brewstr team hopes that their invention might help to create a community of people who, like them, enjoy a cold brew.

A University of Toronto professor recently unveiled an app designed to help users avoid pollution in their city.

By measuring “ultrafine particles” released into the air by cars, Marianne Hatzopoulou’s Clean Ride Mapper app shows users the least-polluted route through the city to the destination. Factors exacerbating the levels of air pollution include speed of traffic, the height of buildings, and the width of roads. Cyclists and transit-goers are currently being polled regarding the extent to which they care about evading polluted routes. Hatzopoulou believes that knowing which routes are cleanest will have a significant effect on those with ailments such as asthma or diabetes.

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Researchers affiliated with the University of Victoria have produced a digital encyclopedia mapping the flora and fauna of the Great Bear Rainforest.

Central Coast Biodiversity, available through the App Store, caters to a wide variety of users ranging from researchers and students to nature enthusiasts. Users worldwide now have the opportunity to remotely explore the species that call the rainforest home. At the moment, the guide encompasses approximately 290 animals and 330 plants.

Opinions Legal marijuana is upon us! Health Minister Jane Philpott announced on April 20 (oh, the irony) that the process of legalizing pot would begin during the spring of 2017. Students, stoners, and probably several of our professors rejoiced.

As most Canadians know, the federal government has been promising to legalize marijuana since the beginning of Trudeau’s campaign.

It’s a promise that really resonated with the younger electorate, and I’d bet was at least partially responsible for Trudeau’s popularity at the polls.

Considering the upcoming changes to drug laws in Canada, why are law enforcers still wasting their time and our tax dollars enforcing outdated and soon-tobe-off-the-books laws? Both the general public and members of the judicial system have already begun questioning the morality of criminal marijuana charges since the government announced the pending changes.

According to CBC, tens of thousands of Canadians are still considered criminals in the eyes of the law, despite the obvious change in attitudes around personal and medical marijuana use. The delay between promise and (hopefully) implementation of this law has created a moral and legal quagmire that is difficult to navigate. The only sane solution is to stop enforcing existing laws around possession for personal use and the sale of cannabis products in shops.

Criminal marijuana charges seem especially ridiculous when compared to actual violent or disruptive crimes that occur daily. Some direction for law enforcement on negotiating the interim period would go a long way to settling the concerns for those caught between old laws and new attitudes.

Unfortunately, to most law enforcement agents, the law is the law, illogical logistics be damned. It seems the responsibility falls on the Liberal government’s shoulders to urge law enforcement to stop the criminal pursuit of petty drug charges — which are a waste of time and morally ambiguous at best. This would be the best way to protect innocent Canadians from marring their (otherwise clean) criminal records.

Luckily for us, the Lower Mainland and its associated police forces have adopted a much saner stance on drug prosecution. CBC stated last September that Vancouver Police have made it clear they barely pay attention to marijuana dispensaries. Other than instances in which dispensaries have been accused of selling to minors, or

Adam Van der Zwan / Opinions Editor

May 9, 2016 opinions@the-peak.ca

being involved in organized crime, the Vancouver Police Department won’t pursue charges.

Moreover, the current dispensary crackdown in Vancouver is due to the fact that these shops are, by city rules, too close to public schools and community centres; not because people may have been found with illegal possession of the drug.

Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer has publicly spoken of Trudeau’s legalization of pot, stating that more dangerous drugs are

his priority — as they should be!

Politicians like Tom Mulcair, and Neil Boyd, director of the school of criminology at SFU, have publicly urged Liberals to pardon past and present offenders.

The entire legalization procedure is complex, and I understand that the logistics of such a major change in the law take time and planning. Still, this doesn’t negate the fact that these offenders aren’t really criminals any longer, and therefore should not be treated as such.

The crop top: Honey, I shrunk the T-shirt in the wash and it actually looks pretty cute now.

This top is a symbol of freedom, liberating lower abdomens and absolving body complexes everywhere. Check this belly out, baby! White crop tops make me feel like an elven queen wandering through the forests in her large feminist kingdom, looking for hot forest nymph babes to make out with.

We all have dreams, and the crop top always helps bring me a little closer to mine. The crop top is also Lara Croft’s go-to garment, and I absolutely love that “I am fully capable of killing you right now” aesthetic. The crop top is also great because it barely takes up any space; I have 300 crop tops in my backpack right now!

What? What do you mean it’s strange that I have a bag purely filled with crop tops? Diversity is the spice of life!

Look, it’s not that I’m denying that baby crocs look great.

Baby crocs do look great. Crocs were made for babies — crocs become art when tastefully matched with the baby. The shoes reveal just the right amount of cute, fat baby foot to effectively entrance and seduce. The croc is a modern revolution in babywear.

My issue with baby crocs is that they’re everywhere: lying suspiciously in parks, beaches, and

on sidewalks. Who are all these babies? Where do all these crocs come from? What happens to lone baby crocs once their partner has been lost? Why do these babies keep losing their crocs? At this rate, the whole city is going to become covered in baby crocs and we will all descend into chaos.

Baby crocs will flood the streets, the sea, the lakes, the parks, and the lives of unsuspecting citizens.

The a-croc-alypse is coming.

By Janis McMath

On April 26, Albertan couple David and Collet Stephan were found guilty of neglecting their 19-month-old son, Ezekiel Stephan, who died of meningitis in 2012. The defence argued that the parents, who attempted to heal Ezekiel through natural remedies rather than by seeking professional medical help, believed he simply had the flu.

Prosecutor Lisa Weich noted the Stephans had been warned by a registered nurse that Ezekiel likely had meningitis, and additionally that they should have been able to interpret their son’s symptoms as something more serious.

Having been born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, a city known for its Birkenstock-wearing, organic garden-planting, and vegan-eating residents, I’m familiar with the type of people who swear by their home remedies. My own family exists in this circle. For Christmas, my sister once gave me an awful serum that supposedly reduces anxiety, and my mother keeps a bottle of echinacea to treat colds and the flu — the same medicinal mixture that the Stephan parents used — stocked in the medicine cabinet at all times.

I’ve never complained about my family’s alternative health practices because, if need be, we seek professional advice. We have healthy diets, exercise, and yes, take echinacea. When that isn’t enough, we pay the doctor a visit. This is what the Stephan family should have done.

I have plenty of qualms with the population that favours alternative medicine. Scientists have developed amazing medicines, remedies, and cures, so why do some of us refuse to use them?

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I understand the distrust in big pharmaceutical companies, and I understand the anger toward powerful higher-ups who care more about their bank accounts than patients (looking at you, Martin Shkreli). Ultimately though, doctors are here to treat us, to cure us, and to save us.

Why would they want to do anything else?

It’s foolish to believe otherwise. Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, says turning to unproven alternative medicine is not the answer to our cynicism about conventional medicine.

Alternative medicines are considered inherently less harmful because they are perceived to be more natural. However, alternative medicine lacks testing.

According to doctors Phil Fontanarosa and George Lundberg, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “there is no alternative medicine.

There is only scientifically proven, evidence-based medicine supported by solid data or unproven medicine, for which scientific evidence is lacking.”

At worst, these medicines can hurt us. At best, they heal us. Often, they simply do nothing. Such was the case with Ezekiel Stephan.

The world of ‘unproven’ medicine extends beyond one tragic case with a sick child. This is about a generation of children raised without vaccines that have worked for decades because ignorant parents are worried they may cause autism.

This is about children dying of suffocation because parents no longer trust the chemicals in inhalers long-known to treat asthma. We now live in a world where germs, viruses, and bacteria have become increasingly dangerous, and now there’s an entire generation of children whose immune systems are perfect targets.

There is no doubt that David and Collet Stephan loved Ezekiel, but as Weich put it, “sometimes love just isn’t enough.”

Ultimately, had the Stephan family sought medical help for their son earlier, he would probably still be alive today.

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Diversions

Clue: “Aided” is another word for “assisted.” onlinecrosswords.net

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Opinions

Oh, hookup apps. Never before has it been so easy to communicate sexual interest. A simple swipe to the right on a screen unlocks access to a wide market of potential mates.

But can we really blame Tinder or Grindr for an STI outbreak?

Alberta Health Services certainly thinks so.

“To the extent that social media could be enabling these hookups to occur more often/ frequently, social media would also be contributing to the STI rate increases we are seeing,” Dr. Gerry Predy, Alberta Health Services medical officer of health, told CBC News. Alberta does have a crisis: there were 3,400 reported cases of gonorrhea in 2015. This represents an 80 percent increase from 2014.

There isn’t any doubt that Tinder and Grindr facilitate hookups without the strings. However, a few issues arise with placing sole blame on ‘hookup apps.’ These apps only make it easier to meet new people, while the nature of the relationships is left to the users. It seems much more prudent to blame our culture of independence and aversion to commitment on this issue.

Admittedly, I have Tinder. So do many of my friends. It is a stereotype to say that Tinder is purely for hookups. The majority of people I’ve spoken to on Tinder say they aren’t looking to hook up (or maybe they just deny it). Many are innocently searching for platonic relationships, and many others are looking for long-term commitment. In fact, the CBC reported last year that a study by UBC instructor Jocelyn Wentland found most Tinder users are primarily looking for relationships over sex.

A Tinder match doesn’t confirm one’s interest in hooking

May 9, 2016

up. I swipe right any time I see a profile from SFU. It’s a wonderful platform for breaking the ice and meeting new people. In fact, I had three Tinder matches from one of my classes this year, and it was great for sharing notes.

Tinder is just a new player in the already-existing hookup market. Clubs, bars, and parties were, and still are, notorious for sexual encounters. At least on Tinder you can view pictures and talk to somebody before deciding to hit third base. At a club, the lights are too low and the music’s too loud to properly meet somebody. On Tinder you can find out if somebody knows the difference between ‘their,’ ‘there,’ and ‘they’re.’

We live in a culture of noncommitment. I look at my circle of friends and good, healthy relationships are few and far between. They exist, but I’d imagine less than five percent of my friends are in committed relationships. How many excuses have I made to justify my avoidance of commitment? “I don’t know where I’ll be next year.” “What if I find somebody better?” “Every relationship ends in a breakup or marriage, so why bother right now?” “I’m too busy.”

Maybe I try too hard to convince myself to avoid the longterm. I’m young, have a decent job, and my education hopefully promises me a good future. Why stay single? Will there come a time when it’ll just ‘feel right,’ or is it a conscious decision to pursue something real?

Tinder reinforces the single life by exposing a wide world within the dating market. But I blame our culture and not our apps for the STI increase. Albertan authorities should stop making blanket statements about causations for sexual infections that they don’t have any data to support.

What I do know is that I’m scared of hookups now. Gonorrhea is the last thing I want.

Leave it to the UBC administration to consider a means for sexual assault control that’s so shortsighted it’ll leave you questioning the professional competency of the institution. The Globe is currently frolicking in a sticky story that involves potentially ‘legislating love’ between students and faculty members at the university.

UBC faculty say they’re “‘absolutely’ willing to consider a ban” on consensual relationships between these two parties, The Globe reports.

This is primarily as a means to avoid the coercive power dynamics involved in any sexual assaults on students. The school’s interim president Martha Piper alludes that such a ban may be necessary to stop such troubling behavior — a ban akin to that between a doctor and patient.

Of course, all the hoopla surrounding sexual assaults on school grounds has Canadian universities frantically ensuring that assault policies are given a thumbs-up from their politically correct patronage. But sadly, this is a case in which executive action may be taking measures that are more invasive than needed to secure everyone’s safety on campus. Dr. Piper openly admits that she is unaware of any other Canadian university to have implemented this kind of ban.

Wake up, Piper: it’s because every other university realizes that such a ban defies the natural sexual attractions that occur between two consenting adult humans.

Now, the same could be said for the school’s current conflict-of-interest policy requiring that faculty do not formally assess any studentlover with whom they have current classroom connections. But the ban UBC is proposing would be a trivial restriction on freedom of choice outside the classroom.

While The Globe references one incident of alleged assault by a former PhD candidate at UBC to explain the school’s willingness to implement a campus-wide ban, Dr. Piper doesn’t use any evidence to prove that all ‘academic love’ is dangerous. So maybe she should draw upon actual data, or conduct

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some proper research to prove that this dirty romance epidemic propels unrelenting assaults — as if that’s the only thing faculty members want to do.

If this is the case, we might as well ban people from consensual relationships altogether. Yes, sexual assault occurs, but because student-faculty romances are so rare, it’s safe to say that non-consensual encounters happen far more often outside the academic world than within it.

Further, to liken this kind of ban to a patient-doctor relationship couldn’t be more misguided. It insinuates that patients can’t date doctors from a hospital they visit, even one who isn’t registered as their doctor. It simply doesn’t make sense.

I hope never to see the day when school executives power trip so much that they start blindly pulling Orwellian policies out of their rears to restrict who we sleep with when there are no professional connections involved.

While we’re at it, how about they restrict with whom students and faculty marry and have children?

Cite your sources, Dr. Piper. Sure, it might be a little weird to see secondyear Sally from psych class necking with a 65-year-old, nearly retired Nobel winner, but in the end our choices are ours to make as consenting adults, regardless of your opinion.

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Arts

You can feel the endorphins rushing to your brain watching Sing Street. It’s like the sweet-spot of a run when you only feel the euphoria, a drug trip right before the freefall, or an orgasm that lasts nearly two hours. This is superlative wish-fulfilment: unashamed, delightful, and frequently quite awesome. It’s so unabashedly earnest you couldn’t find a subatomic particle of cynicism in its genetic makeup.

Set against a job crisis and an eroding Dublin in the 1980s, a group of delightfully weird teenagers search for themselves by creating music inspired by their life in a crappy Catholic school, and their favourite countercultural artists of the time — Duran Duran, Elvis Costello, and many more.

It’s an angst-ridden search for identity. If we all had to be perfectly honest, though, the whole band thing was just to get a girl and pass the time in a place that can be more boring than watching the plaster peel from their homes’ deteriorating walls.

I could tell you that the boy gets the girl, that the band nails their climactic gig, and that basically everything works out.

But what good would that do you? Would you be any closer to understanding the moment where Conor, the high school band’s frontman, imagines a candy-coloured music video with a ‘50s prom? Do I need to tell you that the band nails every note in this hallucination? How about the sequence where Conor and the lead guitarist write their first song, surprising themselves with how

damn good it is? How about Conor’s sloppy first make-out with Raphina, an orphaned and mysterious girl, when he goes in for a kiss while she is still chewing on a mouthful of cookies?

Sing Street transcends clichés and formulae, actively reinventing what we thought possible in our snarky and ironic times.

This film was directed by John Carney, a man whom I suspect hasn’t told a lie in his life — unless, of course, it was for the sake of graciousness.

He has made two other musically-inspired films: the surprise indie-hit Once , and the totally inauthentic yet completely sincere Begin Again.

Sing Street, like two of his other musical films, has a killer soundtrack; at times it practically mounts the entire film on its airless wavelengths. All of his films are variations on familiar rhythms.

There is always a girl and a boy and a band. They play music.

They fall in love. They struggle, but create something special along the way.

That last part, the struggle, is just as important for Carney. He is not reducing anyone’s pain in Sing Street. He is resolving it, finding a way for his characters to heal at a time when it’s hip to be bleak. This doesn’t minimize sadness or reduce its importance. Conor’s anxieties are founded on a world collapsing around him.

His older brother, who listens to records and smokes pot all day, is a victim of his country and family’s degradation. There are real problems on display here, real tragedy lurking underneath the sweet charms.

This is a great film of the rarest kind: simply beautiful, essentially perfect within its own constraints, and so committed to making you fall in love with the world, even if it only exists for the brief moments it is on screen. Sing Street is a nostalgic, clichéd, and catchy fantasy. It also doesn’t give a damn what you think about it.

Jess Whitesel / Arts Editor

arts@the-peak.ca

The latest Hollywood ‘racism’ scandal that has ethnically minded moviegoers filling up their skivvies is a photo of a stoned-looking Scarlett Johansson gazing at what appears to be a wall of glass. The still-shot from the upcoming Hollywood remake of Ghost in the Shell, based on the popular Japanese anime, shows Johansson as the lead character — an ostensibly Japanese cybernetic policewoman.

All would probably have passed more smoothly if the filmmakers hadn’t decided to give Johansson the character’s original animestyle hair. Further, the fact that her clearly Caucasian film character goes by the name “Motoko Kusanagi” is so hokey it’s comedic — almost as if Johansson were a guest on Saturday Night Live.

Given the ongoing public distaste with Hollywood’s recent casting choices (think Oscars 2016), I’m left unphased by Twitter’s accusations over the film industry’s choice to ‘whitewash’ what would otherwise be an Asian character.

Though diluted from all the claims that ‘Hollywood is racist,’ there’s a fleeting truth that proves we activists are forgetting how the film industry actually runs. As always, it boils down to money, folks.

What’s forgotten is that the film studios acquiring super high-budget films aim to make all of that money back when the film is released. Given that Hollywood currently has only a handful of actors that we could label ‘A-list’ — roughly 95 percent of whom are white — filmmakers are aware that if they do not acquire wildly popular actors from this small group of people, then film studios will have less interest in acquiring the rights to their expensive films.

In other words, Scarlett Johansson is what’s saving this film from being bumped to the ‘B-list’ that makes only a fraction of what it would make with a white actor playing the lead role. Sad, isn’t it?

So, let’s revisit this question. Is Hollywood racist? When it comes to making money, Hollywood will be as racist as it needs to be, while playing off the majority of mindless American film fans who enjoy the same darn actors re-packaged in mildly different ways. This means Scarlett Johansson dressed as every action-oriented, superhuman character in spandex — regardless of the ‘proper’ ethnicity.

The real question we should be asking ourselves is why the pool of A-list actors comprising Hollywood’s successful films is so small.

Why aren’t there currently any mainstream female Asian celebrities to fill these roles? Let’s face it, our blockbuster entertainment industry is a system run by profit and trepidation — something of which we should all be ashamed.

So next year, don’t boycott the Oscars because you think it’s racist. Boycott it because it symbolizes an industry that takes your hard-earned money to stab your eyes with the same old crap because it’s scared of delivering anything else. Every single time.

You want a proper portrayal of Kusanagi? You’ll have to download the original.

Arts

May 9, 2016

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The Summer Set’s latest album very much echoes their previous records, featuring an all-around pop sound with a hint of rock. Although their sound seems to have matured on the opening track “Figure Me Out,” the rest of the album, while fun, leaves the listener wishing for more of that depth. They deliver the same themes over and over again: youth, nostalgia, and their signature we-did-some-crazy-shit, most prominent on “All My Friends.”

“Figure Me Out” is the best track on the album musically. It reads as an autobiography of the band, unsure where they fit in: “I’m a bit too pop for the punk kids, but I’m too punk for the pop kids.”

“Jean Jacket” is the only other track that experiments with saxophone and a groovy, out-of-character bassline. It has the makings of a great summer album with catchy hooks and riffs, but there’s nothing risky about their music.

I’ve always found Explosions in the Sky to be great study music. With mostly instrumental songs, their previous albums have been studying gold. Alas, all good things must end. This album, though recognizably Explosions in the Sky, doesn’t contend with 2003’s The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place.

The entire album is minimalistic and heavily reliant on percussion. There is a cultivated monotony to the track, like they decided to deconstruct their sound and left most of it at the side of the road.

“The Ecstatics” builds into a powerful pep talk, full of motivation. “Tangle Formations,” which follows, keeps the energizing feel, climaxing in a rollicking tune. Other tracks like “Disintegration Anxiety” and “Landing Cliffs” are relaxing, calming tunes, with the latter adding in a dreamy, subdued quality.

For any fan of ambient music, Brian Eno’s newest release is a bountiful one, both innovative and recognizable. Listeners of 2016’s The Ship will immediately identify with the chorus’ over-sustained vocals and light strings that have typified Eno’s most well-known works: 1978’s Ambient #1: Music For Airports and 1983’s Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks.

The four tracks that make up this album inevitably build off one another to form the sense of a movement rather than an album. This will be no surprise to those familiar with Eno’s early ambient works mentioned above. Aside from the thematic inspiration of the sinking of the Titanic, Eno actually provides verbal narration in a couple of tracks that pull off as omnipresent poetry. A must for Eno fans.

Until the moment you devour one of Angelina’s fresh berry pannekoeken or their locally famous eggs benedict, you are missing out on seriously amazing shit.

Throw Denny’s in the bin and sit yourself down at a patio table at Angelina’s, enjoy the view of the New Westminster Quay, and weep joyfully over the Dutch-inspired breakfast and lunch.

Angelina’s is a small daytime restaurant quite conveniently located across from New Westminster Station, open weekdays 6:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. and weekends until 3:30 p.m. It has the nostalgic local diner feel that everybody seems to love and is often very busy. So busy that the only open tables without a waitlist

are on the patio overlooking the river. Like any brunch place, Sundays are the craziest, so don’t be dumb like me and show up on Sunday at 2 p.m. starving after a night of drinking — there may be quite a wait for the food.

The menu has greatly expanded since opening and they offer all the standard breakfast fare such as waffles, French toast, omelettes, and oatmeal. But what really stood out as different was the savoury and sweet pannekoeken.

A pannekoek is a Dutch pancake that is the happy medium between a pancake and a crepe — it’s every breakfast lover’s dream.

Light but flavourful, it’s delicious when served sweet with berries and cream but also savoury with housemade hollandaise sauce and ‘yummy hash’: a mixture of hash browns, various vegetables, and your choice of protein (or mushrooms for vegetarians). You

will be fully convinced that you can eat 40 of them in one sitting after a single bite.

Their omelettes, although quite ordinary, are done right: chock full of fresh vegetables and five cheeses to choose from, served with toast and perfectly seasoned baby potatoes. A highly recommended local favourite is the eggs benedict — even rumoured to be the best in Vancouver. I definitely neglected the lunch menu as Angelina’s is notorious for its bragging rights over a damn fine brunch, but a lunch menu does exist and consists of sandwiches, wraps, soups, salads, and burgers.

Although maybe not the optimal hotspot for vegans — its menu does not include fake meats, tofu, or vegan pannekoek — Angelina’s Restaurant offers many vegetarian options alongside their bratwurst. The coffee was good but not great, and the service was friendly but not brisk enough for a busy restaurant.

Price range is about $15–$20 per person, which I found a bit on the pricier side, but fair for the portions and quality of food.

At the end of the day, Angelina’s is a charming local brunch place with a nice view and homestyle fresh breakfast food, that never fails to receive a thumbsup in response. Definitely worth a visit — just not on a hungover Sunday.

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Humour

Justin Stevens / Humour Editor

humour@the-peak.ca

Photo courtesy of Niko Bell (Facebook)

After her sexual assault two years ago, Ross was torn between wanting to make rape jokes and never wanting to hear a rape joke again.

An interview with Heather Jordan Ross On taking her rape show on the road and starting the conversation Jacey Gibb Peak Associate Three years ago, Heather Jordan Ross made the jump from being “one of, like, two female stand-up comedians on Prince Edward Island” to part of the burgeoning Vancouver comedy scene. Since then, she’s co-founded several local shows (Poke the Bear, Comedy Deux Soleils), but none as resounding as her latest project: the show Rape is Real and Everywhere (RIR&E). A brainchild between Ross and fellow comedian Emma Cooper, Rape is Real and Everywhere is a stand-up comedy show where survivors tell jokes about their rape and discuss the humour in an otherwise traumatic experience. Read on to learn more about how telling rape jokes is like “free therapy” for Ross and how she feels about taking RIR&E on a national tour starting later this month.

The Peak : Where does the idea for a comedy show about rape come from?

Heather Jordan Ross: I was raped and I reported it, and then immediately after reporting it I went onstage and did a set, and it was terrible. But I realized that a) I wanted to make rape jokes, because I wanted to joke about it, and b) I never wanted to hear rape jokes again. So it was a really weird place to be in. I was talking to Emma Cooper over beers, and said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we

did a comedy show about rape jokes, but only by survivors?” and Emma said, “Yes, it would. We’re going to call Hot Art Wet City, I have five people we can do this with,” and she just went with it.

P : Historically, rape jokes have been at best controversial.

How are the performers with RIR&E changing that standard?

HJR: When it comes to writing a joke, you have to think about why you’re writing it, and who you’re supporting when telling it. Always be punching up. If you make a rape joke and the person who laughs are the rapists, and the person who cringes are victims, you kind of suck. If you can tell a rape joke and you make me laugh, then you’ve done your homework. People doing this show, it’s great for them because they’re parsing through the experience and they’re making jokes about it, which is super cathartic. It’s been amazing for me, like free therapy where I technically get paid.

Funny shit still happens throughout your whole life, through the best parts and the worst parts. So it’s great to be able to talk about it. We want people to be able to talk about their rapes, but also talk about the funny parts. The fact that I got raped in Burnaby is the funniest thing in the world. The only thing worse

than being raped is being raped in Burnaby.

P: All three RIR&E shows in Vancouver sold out. How does it feel to have found a topic that’s clearly resonating with people?

HJR: Really, really wonderful. It’s something that’s always been close to my heart, even before what happened two years ago. There’s this conversation not happening, in schools or in

concept of finding humour in a systemic issue like sexual assault?

HJR: Mostly no. People have been very supportive, even survivors who’ve said they would never come to it themselves.

The only negative things I’ve had have been guys I know sending me messages; I don’t even know how to articulate it, sending me messages saying, “I don’t know if I agree with the fact that you call it real and everywhere, and I feel like consent is a very grey area, and I also feel that women are liars.” It’s been really weird. I’ve deleted three people from Facebook who’ve been, “Um, actually…”

“There’s this conversation not happening, in schools or in the workplace, it’s not happening fucking anywhere.” the workplace, it’s not happening fucking anywhere. So we’re just living in this epidemic, where we’re casually not acknowledging that one in four of the women and one in every 33 men you know has been sexually assaulted, and for some reason we’re all just cool with it.

We’re just pretending this isn’t a thing where clearly, if there was a little bit more conversation, it wouldn’t be such an epidemic.

P: Has there been any negative feedback to the show, or people who struggle with the

P: The show is hitting the road later this month for a Canadian tour. What inspired the transition from local show to a national one?

HJR: When we sold out the first show, we had people asking, “Why aren’t you in Toronto?”

We encouraged people that if they wanted this show in the city, then they should do it, and then we thought, “Why don’t we just fucking do it?” People were asking across the country, survivors who liked the idea or comedians who wanted us to bring it to their city. The demand was there.

P : Aside from being performed in different cities, how will RIR&E change when it’s on the road?

HJR: We’re going to have local talent, which will be really interesting because we’re going from, “Hey, I’ve talked to you on the Internet,” to, “Hey, let’s talk about the worst thing that’s ever happened to you,” which is going to get pretty weird, but I’m excited for it. I just hope we reach the people we want to reach. Vancouver was much easier because we had a network already; with these different cities, we have to find people. It feels funny to go through my old contacts and be like, “Hey Charlie from university, want to come to my rape show? Hey Diane who I used to be a reporter with, want to come to my rape show?”

P : If there’s one thing you hope people take away from the show, what would that be?

HJR: Let’s talk about it. Let’s laugh about it, let’s talk about it, and let’s kill this epidemic. Rape is real and it’s everywhere, and it shouldn’t be. Let’s talk this out, let’s find out what’s going wrong, and let’s change this.

The Rape is Real and Everywhere: A National Comedy Tour Launch happens on May 15 at the Rickshaw Theatre, where Ross and Cooper will be co-hosting and performing alongside six other local comedians. Tickets are $15 and can be bought online in advance.

Humour

Last month, the SFSS announced that Highland Pub would be closed for the summer semester, causing an unplanned fourmonth hiccup in drunkenness to SFU’s Burnaby campus. But do not fret, my fellow classmates, as the notorious student-fee sinkhole isn’t the only place folks can go to for a drink on Burnaby Mountain; here are five alternatives for where you can get boozy after — or, let’s be honest, before — class.

Club Ilia: With happy hour everyday from 3 to 5 p.m. and a formidable menu to choose from, Club Ilia seems like the candidate most likely to become the go-to destination for Burnaby students to get gooned. The summer is also prime time for drinking on a patio, which Ilia counts among its amenities.

Mountain Shadow Pub: Located just a short 135 bus ride

May 9, 2016

away, the Mountain Shadow Pub has been a staple of an SFUer’s liquid diet for the past three decades and… oh really? It did?

Just last year? They tore it down to make room for more condos?

Huh. Weeeeell let’s just keep the Shadow on this list as an in memoriam, okay?

The parking lot down the street from the new BC Liquor Store: April 13 marked a brave new era for Burnaby Mountain, with the opening of a BC Liquor Store within walking distance of campus. What the parking lot down the street from the BCL lacks in food and services, it makes up for in sprawl and pavement, solidifying its spot as a fan favourite for students to go drinking.

Visitor’s Parkade, West Mall: Are you a summer baby, but your birthday falls on a weekday this year? After class is over, round

up your favourite classmates and head on down to the Visitor’s Parkade, which is adjacent to the lower bus loop. Sure, there are no fancy ‘chairs’ or ‘tables’ in this echo-filled, multi-floor parkade, but one student’s place to park their car is another student’s summer hangout spot.

Just remember to keep an eye out for moving vehicles, and you’ll be making memories in no time.

A goddamn field: Let’s double-check the requirements a place needs to be a perfect haunt for you and your school chums to partake in the consumption of

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alcohol. Does it have ground or a floor for people to sit/stand on?

Yes? Then this field passes with sky-flying colours. Just quit your complaining and make sure you keep an eye out for any buzzkill security guards who are really just trying their hardest to stop you from having fun.

met the newly elected Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) president, Deepak Sharma, on his fourth day of presidency. Outfitted in a suit and tie, the edge of which was taken off by his wide smile, he gave me a firm handshake followed by a soft-spoken introduction.

As the interview progressed, I realized that in many ways, Sharma is composed of these two opposing sides: exuding professionalism and experience, but always with a tinge of the astute self-awareness of someone who’s still surprised to find himself in such a position.

Sharma, having grown up in Whalley, describes his beginnings as humble. While it was a slip of the tongue that he regrets during a debate, Sharma still identifies with the “inner-city kid” who may find himself out of place in a student body president’s office.

But his experiences growing up in a fairly unknown school in a fairly unknown part of town also led Sharma to one of his greatest passions to date: youth mentorship.

His experience attending a small-town public school in which students were more likely to act out due to neglect, abuse, or misguidance inspired Sharma to return to his community as a mentor. “It’s easier for students to connect with someone they’re aspiring to be like in a couple of years. . . who won’t judge them,” Sharma says.

Sharma’s impressive level of community involvement, which includes volunteering in hospitals and homeless shelters, playing and then refereeing community-based football, and being a general ambassador for TEDxSFU, earned him a spot in Surrey Board of Trade’s Top 25

Under 25 in 2015. But it was his lack of SFU-specificinvolvement that led Sharma to student politics. Sharma’s political career began as a science rep, followed by VP Student Life, and now president of the SFSS. According to Sharma, his disconnect with SFU’s extracurriculars stemmed in part from the fact that his early university experience was at SFU’s Surrey campus, which he maintains has yet to have a complete sense of unity with the Burnaby and Vancouver campuses.

In his opinion, SFU’s reputation as a “commuter campus” pre-empts students from being proud of their choice of institution and from getting involved on campus.

But Sharma envisions using SFU’s commuting culture as an advantage: “If we don’t address the fact that we’re a commuter campus, how are we going to have a presence at Vancouver and Surrey?” Sharma asks. “There needs to be a way to work alongside the [three campuses] instead of just being Burnaby-based.”

Sharma’s focus on providing an equally fulfilling student experience to membership attending all three campuses seems to contradict his support for Build SFU, a project to build a student union building (SUB) and stadium that may cost the university, and thus students, up to $65 million. One of the major arguments against this controversial project has been that it unequally benefits Burnaby-based students, but students in Surrey or Vancouver will experience the same increase in tuition fees to fund it.

Sharma maintains that his support for the project was far from contradictory, as the benefits of the project would percolate out of Burnaby to benefit Vancouver and Surrey students as well: “We [are trying] to say we’re all part of one community. . . [the SUB] is [a step] towards building that community instead of further dividing it.”

Sharma seems the most at ease when discussing policy, rattling off the three main goals of his board: governance reform, enhanced communication among students and between students and their elected officials, and efficient reimbursement programs.

However, when Sharma is confronted with specific questions that his rehearsed rhetoric can’t adequately answer, his hesitance seeps to the surface. His shortcomings in addressing concerns spontaneously garnered the new president criticism during the debates leading up to the election. Sharma admits that a personal challenge he already anticipates for himself is effectively communicating the work that is being done by the SFSS. “If my board and the rest of the membership doesn’t know what I’m doing, that’ll be a poor reflection [of our work] and will limit the momentum we have,” he says.

When asked for his opinion on additional concerns directed at the personal projects that dominated his work as VP Student Life, Sharma concedes that his agenda has thus far been portrayed as highly focused on social aspects, but that it is not an accurate representation of what he hopes to accomplish as president.

Specifically, Sharma mentions four values that his board aims to address in the next year: along with student life, he plans to focus on student finances, academics, and (mental) health and welfare.

In a manner I had come to expect by the end of our time together, Sharma softens all the bold promises with an acknowledgement of the other possible outcome of his term as president: “Of course, you may come back next April and ask me, ‘Deepak, what about this, this, and this that you promised to do but never did.’ That wouldn’t be very good,” he chuckles.

“I’ve just got to make sure my actions speak louder than my words.”