4 News
On Saturday, March 4, SFU’s co-ed pre-medical fraternity Phi Delta Epsilon hosted their second annual Anatomy Fashion Show at Harbour Centre. Instead of designer clothes and shows, the models of this fashion show were strutting their organs. Inspired by medical fraternities from the United States, the Anatomy Fashion Show featured a
Young Women in Business SFU celebrated women’s accomplishments in pushing for social, economic, and political equality with the seventh-year return of their pillar event, the International Women’s Day Gala. The sold-out event at the Pinnacle Harbourfront on March 4 welcomed over 100 guests with the purpose of helping connect upcoming female leaders with established female powerhouses and business professionals in the Lower Mainland.
Ashley Fraser / Print News Editor
news@the-peak.ca
different body system painted on each model – from digestive to reproductive, muscular to skeletal. All money generated through the event was raised for BC Children’s Hospital and the local Children’s Miracle Network, the organization with which SFU’s pre-medical fraternity is affiliated. Each system was introduced by a fun fact by the night’s master of
ceremonies and committee chair, Monique Sekhon. Consequently, attendees not only got to examine the intricately painted muscle structures and veins on the models as they walked, danced, and cartwheeled down the runway; but they also learned that the right kidney sits lower in your body than the left kidney and that the uterus can expand up to 500 times during pregnancy. To properly showcase their painted organs, models had to bare quite a bit — walking the runway in little more than briefs and sports bras. While Monique noted that the revealing nature of the show led to some volunteers cancelling
their commitments, it was an enticing prospect for other models, such as fourth-year molecular biology and biochemistry major Nathan Chatron. Covered head to toe in paint showcasing the muscular system, he responded to the question of what led him to model for the show with a laugh: “To be honest and frank, I just work out a lot and it’d be kind of a shame not to model for the fashion show.” The unconventional nature of the fashion show proved to be an interesting opportunity for the makeup artists, who were recruited from local beauty schools. “Painting for this event is definitely different [than] for a fashion show,” noted makeup artist, Raven. The show also promoted other local forms of art through performances by contemporary ballet dancers from Pro Arté and contemporary dancer Alexandra Fontaine, as well as a set by local singer Argel Monte de Ramos during intermission. Before and after the event, as well as during intermission, the venue was lively and warm. Huddles of event organizers in purple shirts could often be seen throughout the evening, especially in the back left of the room where the new fraternity recruits were stationed to help inform attendees on the Children’s Miracle Network. Tiffany, Crystal, Kirat, Bob, and Mary were all recently initiated into Phi Delta Epsilon in January, and spoke about what being
a part of the organizing fraternity meant to them: “When you enter university, you feel really lonely and it’s hard to find your niche or people who are passionate about what you’re passionate about. So this is what Phi Delta Epsilon is about — we’re all passionate about being pre-med students and giving back,” they commented. Similar sentiments were echoed by the organizers backstage. After discussing some of the challenges about organizing such an extensive event with so many volunteers, Monique spoke about how the “team is pretty go-with-the-flow, able to take things, build resilience, and run with them.” While the first annual fashion show hosted in 2016 was a definite success — it was a sold out event — this year’s show was noted by organizers to be significantly smaller. The change in location from SFU Burnaby to a smaller space in Harbor Center, along with the fact that early March had a full event calendar, including Phi Delta Epsilon’s Dance Marathon, meant that this year’s event had to be a more closeknit affair. With the combination of tickets, raffle prizes, and donations, Phi Delta Epsilon aimed to raise a total of $2,000 for the event for BC Children’s Hospital. By the end of the show, event chair Monique seemed pleased with the event’s turnout: “It’s gonna bea long takedown,” she laughed, “but I’m pretty pleased with how it went and how many people showed up.”
Lori Joyce, most commonly known from the television show Cupcake Girls, spoke about focus and the importance on being your authentic self in building your own business. “Focus on what you can control, focus on what you can do and what your competitors cannot do, and focus on doing it right,” said the CEO of Betterwith Foods Inc. In addition to an inspiring keynote, four diverse panelists from varying industries of health, technology, food, and social
development talked about several concerns in finding your voice, finding the right support network, and creating your own path. “You have to nurture who you are outside of business and take care of what your spirit needs,” emphasized Shannon Bosa-Yacoub, a proprietor of Glowbal Group. Nohemie Mawaka from Global Health, and TEDxSFU 2016 speaker, refused to let discrimination hinder her progress, quoting Shonda Rhimes, “‘I know that racism and discrimination exist; I just choose to not acknowledge it.’" She added, “It’s important to acknowledge it, but don’t let it hold you back.” Both Shannon Juzenas, a software engineer at Google, and Zoya Jiwa, founder of As We Are, also detailed their stories on their vulnerable moments. Laura Ko, a first-year
attendee said, “Everyone had different stories and experiences, but they all had relevant and similar advice in a way.” She added the importance of the panelists’ advice on embracing vulnerability, “All the speakers had a time of vulnerability when they faced obstacles, but they didn't give up on what they were passionate about and stayed limitless. [That] really inspired me because I've definitely experienced those moments where it felt almost impossible to do what I wanted to accomplish.” “IWD [International Women’s Day] was organized with the idea of empowering individuals and cultivating a collaborative community,” said Angela Sibia, the chair of the organizing committee.
“I wanted attendees to leave feeling inspired to take on the challenges that they didn’t dare dream were possible [and] to connect with a diverse group of female leaders from various backgrounds whose challenges resonate with those of our delegates,” Sibia continued. “Hearing that such successful women felt the same way at some point motivated me to work harder and effectively collaborate with others instead of taking on everything on my own,” added Laura Ko. It looks like there will be a new inspired generation of female leaders in the SFU community. Mika is part of the Executive team for Young Women in Business SFU.
News
Alex Smiciklas Staff Writer
March 13, 2017
5
6 Opinions
Scrolling through Facebook this International Women’s Day, I was stunned by how many people believe that gender inequality has been eradicated. These sentiments were echoed, confusingly, at the WinTech Kick Off Breakfast I attended last week — the first of many events for Women in Tech Week. The speaker’s talk was rife with conflicting stories and data, leaving me unsure about whether or not she actually saw gender equality in STEM. The main takeaways ended up being about finding mentors and role models, and standing up for oneself — vague, “inspiring” suggestions that had little to do with addressing the gender gap. It seemed like an odd start to a series of events advertised to be “bringing together community partners to discuss practical steps to increasing diversity in tech." It demonstrated how easily gender inequality is swept under the rug, even at an event devoted to discussing it. Thankfully, SFU has very clearly acknowledged gender inequality as a problem that it needs to tackle. But despite our efforts,
It’s easy to critique someone’s efforts than to actually try to do better. Regardless, I’m going to critique SFU’s recently-launched 20-year Sustainability Vision. As a campus resident, my observations within the past three years have me raising my eyebrows at the sustainability “engagement” that SFU prides itself on. SFU’s visions and goals always end at planning, at efforts, and at celebrating, while the actual execution suffers. Their institutional push for sustainability takes the form of words such as “global leader,” “communityengaged,” “zero waste,” and “core values of sustainability.” Doesn’t that sound familiar? It’s the MO of just about every other
Zach Siddiqui / Opinions Editor
opinions@the-peak.ca
there’s a missing piece: visible efforts to recruit more women straight from high school into the applied science programs. We need tangible actions impacting admissions, because the focus has been mostly on piquing younger students' interest with little follow-up, and on retaining the small number of women already in FAS. Let's get one thing straight: gender inequality exists, and it’s magnified in STEM fields. Canadian numbers indicate that over three quarters of all tech positions are held by men. Less than 25% of STEM employees are women, despite 40% of STEM degree holders being women and over 75% of young girls indicating an interest in science and technology. Additionally, women are paid 7.5% less than their male counterparts in STEM jobs. SFU is part of programs like Technovation, Science AL!VE, and Girls Exploring Physics which encourage middle- and high-school girls to engage with science and technology, and hosts clubs like Women in Computing Science and Women in Engineering. There are also many scholarships for
current students in the faculty of applied sciences, including the Rajan Family Undergraduate Entrance Scholarship by the CEO of Simba Technologies: the initiative that most directly impacts admissions to SFU. But while these things are great for their demographics, they do little for potential female STEM students looking to break into this academic field in the first place. There’s also an abysmal lack of female role models for STEM students. At SFU, female students make up a little over half of the total enrolment. But only 15% of undergraduates and 23% of graduate students are enrolled in the faculty of applied sciences. 14% of the computing science faculty are women. To create a more welcoming system, we could start anonymizing resumés, have all-female recruitment cycles, and get more female recruiters to go to high schools. All those and more are valid tactics, but we can’t start trying to improve if we don’t know how far along we’ve progressed. While I’m thrilled to be at an institution that is at least willing to acknowledge and talk about problems with the system, we need more transparency on exactly what is being done to
recruit women into FAS and cultivate them. The only way we can create more technically brilliant women like the speaker at the WinTech event is by actively defying society’s subliminal messaging about engineers, physicists, and computer scientists being men. We
must provide women with the necessary opportunities and support to earn STEM degrees and jobs. As a woman of colour studying computing science, I am beyond grateful that SFU seems to share my views — the school just needs to go a little bit further and be a little clearer.
leadership project and underperforming government out there. The university has many years behind it, with genuinely commendable efforts to make our campuses sustainable. My cynicism originates from the only partially-visible impact of those years. SFU celebrates their ‘successes’ way too quickly, because they get overly excited at the first sign of positive public reception. For instance, SFU’s execution of a fair trade campus has been clean and on-track, but pardon me for stating that SFU is content with simply receiving the status of “fairtrade.” While many administrative members strive to push for fair trade practices, they fall short of actual impact on the student body.
The majority of SFU students likely don’t know (or care!) that they’re sipping fair trade coffee. We often blame this kind of disconnect on the general ignorance and indifference of students. Yet maybe the problem is SFU’s half-assed efforts at determining the most effective means of educating and engaging us on these issues. The school’s trying, yes, but their attempted methods aren’t working. SFU’s Sustainability Strategic Plan lays down innumerable strategies to execute sustainable goals from 2018–22 — using a strategic plan last revised in 2013. In 2017, I want to see what strategies have improved sustainable causes on campus; a fresh strategic plan before the launch of the 20-year vision would have been optimal. There’s no one strategy in the plan I could point to and call impractical. However, the detailed accounting of sustainable
practices at SFU fails to highlight the complexity of dealing with those who should be most involved in bringing forth change: the students. SFU does a phenomenal job of publishing reports, organizing events, establishing systems, and providing opportunities to engage students. But it turns a blind eye once these efforts have actualized into a public, tangible form, such as their relaxing on the pursuit of fair trade methods: ever since the days of receiving their certificate and piloting fair trade through Starbucks back in 2013, SFU’s fair trade trajectory has needed more mobilization. The Zero Waste Initiative is a prime example. SFU has been awarded national and international recognition for the program, but how many students actually “stop, think, sort” garbage on campus? Every week, I notice coffee cups in landfill bins.
SFU’s efforts in sustainability aren’t far-reaching; an international student isn’t as likely to care, because there might be cultural and regional values dissonance. As an international student, I had to cultivate my own understanding of sustainability — something not everyone does. SFU has no strategy for providing us with motivation to care. All this suggests that SFU cares more about sustainability’s nominal value than about actually maintaining it. I don’t say this to discredit all the people, organizations, and efforts that have worked in creating the vision. I just wonder: how many of these people go to bed thinking about sustainability? SFU’s umbrella of sustainable strategies might look good on the surface, but it’s incoherent, shows minimal outcomes, and, ironically, has barely any student engagement. But, I guess SFU’s excuse is that they’re at least trying, right?
Opinions
As an international student whose first language is not English, I’ve witnessed plenty of students insulting other students, or even TAs for having difficulty speaking English. A few semesters ago, I heard a student criticize our TA (a PhD student) after he received a bad grade on his paper, because: “I don’t know if I can trust my grade because of his bad English." Well, considering he’s a PhD student in his field, you certainly should be able to trust him regardless of his accent. ‘Blame yourself for your bad grade,’ I thought. I can only imagine that that person, and other people around campus who use this kind of rhetoric, are the kind of monolingual, ignorant individuals who’d probably tell me to speak “American.” Nevertheless, you should know that SFU does have several stringent English requirements for admission. These include a specified score on an accredited international test like the TOEFL, IELTS, or IB; a minimum grade of C in English at your secondary school institution (provided you took
As you all know, we live in the information age, which means information is of the utmost importance. When you forget yours and your partner’s anniversary, having someone to refresh you on the 411 is great. When your drug operation is about to get busted and put you at risk of arrest, having a
March 13, 2017
three years of English in an English secondary institution, or four in an international school); or three transferable units for an English class with a grade of C- or higher. Most of these standards are accredited worldwide. If SFU believes that a prospective student will do well as a member of our community with their level of English based on one of the previous, maybe you should, too. People regularly complain about the ineptitude of international students in their classes. Yet according to a BBC article, bilinguals usually have “a superior ability to concentrate, solve problems, and focus, [and have] better mental flexibility and multitasking skills.” Try learning another language and tell me how easy you find it. It goes without saying that this kind of discrimination against non-native English speakers (regardless of being Canadian or not) is unacceptable anywhere, on or off campus. But beyond that, people must understand that the heavy ties
between language and culture mean that it also perpetuates the division of people who think differently from each other — in a time where we really don’t need any more division. By insulting us, you’re disseminating hate and creating an ‘us’ and a ‘them.’ It’s ridiculous that in today’s age, people have yet to understand how this kind of rhetoric is problematic.
This is my call for empathy, or at least sympathy, from all who get frustrated by ESL students' lack of English abilities. The more you shame us, the more we’ll insult you in our own language and you’ll never know. (I am only half-joking here.) And the more you insult us, the more you shame our speaking abilities or accents, the less confident we will feel about speaking English
and the more we will use our own languages. Yet, by having some patience and encouraging each other, we could more easily share each other’s cultures. If we could respectfully communicate with each other, and understand that language is a significant part of one’s identity that shouldn’t be trampled on, perhaps half of the problems occurring around the world wouldn’t exist.
411 on the exact distance between you and the police is imperative. Most importantly, you need someone to give you the 411 when you’re being unreasonable and nobody’s emotionally ready to call you out. Self-reflection is everything, and you can’t have that if you don’t know yourself.
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Sadly, a 404 error message sometimes interrupts your searches for the truth. Sometimes, you need to refresh your memory on Marshall McLuhan’s favourite catchphrases or locate the embarrassing 2009 Facebook photo your friend just resurrected — only to be consigned to a
fate of metaphorical, enumerated darkness. My parents always told me to read more books whenever we lost Internet, but unfortunately, books don’t let you stream Riverdale. The solution? Nothing. Accept mediocrity and firstworld problems as a reality of your sad, sad life.
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INFORMATION SESSIONS March 21 and April 18
10 Arts
Jessica Whitesel / Arts Editor
arts@the-peak.ca
From February 23 to March 4, SFU students from the faculty of performance arts brought the star-crossed lovers of Verona and their entourages to life on stage at SFU Woodward’s. They’ve worked with director Cole Lewis since September on hours of workshops, rehearsals, text analysis, and spontaneous, trial-and-error creative challenges. As soon as spectators step into the theatre, the gorgeous sets paint the modern aesthetic that will be reprised by the sound and costume design. Actors were also adorned with old-fashioned ruffled collars that interfered with the fall of actresses’ long hair or seemed cumbersome. The massive structure of unpainted plywood is as imposing as it is full of surprises, and though it may seem plain, its intelligent design and exploitation fits every scene in turn. Doors punctuating the set and opening a private and separate room in the back meant that scenes rolled into each other quickly, and you could never predict where to look, which helped to make a familiar story new. Romeo
himself cut through the audience on his way to Juliet’s balcony. Romeo and Juliet jumps at the audience from the beginning, where a dynamic entrance and fast-paced choreography sets the violent and tense atmosphere of Verona, where the Capulets and Montagues act out an age-old feud. Duels and a miseen-scène, emphasizing the use of the enormous space, and near-constant movement highlight this energy and urgency. During a Q&A following the last matinée performance, Lewis revealed that her interest in Verona as a divided world was one of the factors prompting the play’s selection, particularly given how evocative it is of current events. Secondary characters your English teacher may have neglected came to life and demanded just as much attention as the conflicted titular lovers. Lord Capulet becomes a sleek and imposing businessman, his wife sports a dusty rose pantsuit or skimpy silk bathrobe, Juliet’s nurse is sassy and loving, and Mercutio is an absolute blast to watch and with whom to keep up.
Cast members shared their experiences and challenges embodying characters with such long histories. Students ranged from Romeo and Juliet fanatics for whom the roles were exciting, yet daunting to Shakespearean virgins, but the consensus on how to approach characters carrying so much baggage seemed to be personalization. “Cole very early on said, ‘Always bring yourself to the work,’” said actress Eddy van Wyk, who played Juliet’s nurse. “The Nurse is traditionally played as this really old woman, kind of boring, kind of slow. [. . .] I’m
a pretty sassy person, I have a lot of attitude, and I like to play. Where are those moments inside the text and what are my scene partners giving me in those moments that I can fill in with Eddy as the Nurse, not just this idea of the Nurse.” Similarly, this production tapped into a body of academia suggesting Mercutio’s unrequited love for Romeo. Pascal Reiners, a firecracker in the role of Mercutio, brought his love of dancing alive in a wildly entertaining lip-sync and dance number to Dame Shirley Bassey’s “History Repeating.”
“A lot of it came down to to pleasure and what is Mercutio’s need, and his need is to have his best friend and the person he cares about, Romeo, at his side,” said Reiners. “To be seeking that love and for it not to be there, how do you mask that? How do you cover that with pleasure?” “I think that when you don’t personalize and when you don’t make it your own, we end up with cardboard copies of people onstage,” said van Wyck. And this production brimming with personality most certainly was not a cookie-cutter affair.
If you have a Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter (and if you also happen to have a pulse), then you have probably been hearing and reading an exceptional amount of buzz and critical acclaim regarding Get Out, a horror film-turned-phenomenon. After being released almost three weeks ago, the film has swept the world, breaking and exceeding the expectations of critics. Whether making $45 million dollars in its opening weekend (which, regardless, is an impressive feat, as the budget of this film was $4.5 million), or the fact that, upon release, it had garnered a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the consensus was crystal clear: Get Out is the must-see movie of 2017. Jordan Peele, one half of the famous comedic duo Key & Peele, is the mastermind behind Get Out. Peele created the film to be a profound form of art which entertains the audience through eerie occurrences and crude humour. Nevertheless, Peele’s greatest objective through the production and distribution of Get Out
was to encourage discussion on the very harsh realities of racism and micro-aggressions which western black folk continue to face in the 21st century. Rest assured, Peele has most certainly achieved this objective. The film follows the story of a relationship between a young black man, Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), and his white girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams). Upon his girlfriend’s invitation to meet her parents and family for the first time, Chris packs his bags and commutes with Rose to the rich, predominantly white neighbourhood where her family resides. While formally meeting her parents, Chris experiences a number of micro-aggressions. It is with this that I, a 22 year-old black man, truly connected with Chris’ character. I cringed as Rose’s father, Dean (Bradley Whitford), sporadically assured Chris that he “would have voted for Obama for a third term.” I gave vicious eye rolls and firebreathing, dragon-esque sighs as
Rose’s brother, Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones), ominously told Chris that, in the realm of martial arts, he could do some serious damage due to his “genetic build.” Alas, the scene that really had me laughing — not because I thought it was funny, but because I was all too familiar with the dialogue — was when, upon Rose introducing Chris to her parents’ friends, an older white woman abruptly halted the conversation and shamelessly asked Rose, “So, is it true? Is it really . . . better?” As she asked Rose this question, her eyes remained locked
on Chris, her lips smiled seductively, and she hungrily looked Chris — who is half her age — up and down. While I watched Chris endure all of these experiences on screen, I sat in the audience and experienced them with him. I wish I could say this was because of my empathetic nature, but truthfully, I resonated with Chris because I know how these experiences feel. Any black man does. It was just that now, perhaps for the first time, certain white and nonblack folk were seeing how these exchanges felt.
People felt uncomfortable with this film, however many didn’t know why. Perhaps it was because this was a film that, symbolically, reflected the struggles and fears that remain for black folk in our society. Perhaps it was because the struggle this film was trying to present took a lot more effort to ascertain than a slave movie that shows the physical abuse black folk endured for centuries. Perhaps it was because some realized that a number of these horrors in the film are, to them, just horrors, but to others, these are realities.
Arts
March 13, 2017
Riverdale — the newest teen drama offering by American network The CW and, perhaps, more familiar to us north of the border under the banner of Netflix — is a gritty and modern adaptation of characters from the beloved Archie Comics. It’s also named after the idyllic town in which the characters live. Despite a few failings, Riverdale is a surprisingly compelling show with a lot of potential. Right up front, the show’s roots from The CW are very obvious. That is to say, all of the characters are very pretty. Like, weirdly pretty. And that might be a bit surprising for those who are expecting the goofy 1940s comic book design that many with which may are familiar. The rather clichéd dark-andedgy tone might also be jarring for those expecting classic Archie. Betty (Lili Reinhart) is straining under the pressure of good grades and a controlling mother, Veronica (Camila
Mendes) is reeling after her father is incarcerated for fraud and embezzlement, Jughead (Cole Sprouse) is a sad and brooding wannabe novelist, and Archie (KJ Apa) himself is torn between playing for the football team and pursuing his passion for acoustic guitar. Plus, there’s a mysteriously murdered classmate they all get wrapped up in investigating because, of course, the adults are useless. However, it is in this meeting between the gritty and the idyllic that Riverdale is most successful. The show excels when it is being aware of the clichés it uses. One episode called out the gay best friend character for being the gay best friend character. Another mocked the local mean, popular girl for being a “stock character from a ’90’s teen movie.” Most notably, a surprising chunk of the first episode features multiple characters separately, yet repeatedly, being surprised at how hot Archie got over the summer. The show follows
through with this by having Archie shirtless at least once in each of the first few episodes. In combination with the more realistic tone, this awareness and reshaping of expected character traits add a level of depth to what might have otherwise been shallow, one-note characters. At one point, while investigating the murder that begins the series, Betty says to Jughead that
“nothing this bad was ever supposed to happen here, but it did,” and that is the very argument the show is making. The town is supposed to be a perfectly peppy little community, but the murder is the thread which unravels that idea both in the citizens of Riverdale and in the eyes of the viewer. Though it has already been renewed for a second season, being a show with a central mystery means
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that everything is dependent on a successful finish. If the final episode of this first season does not reward its viewers with a satisfying conclusion, it will retroactively make the previous episodes pointless and irrelevant. However, if the season finale is able to match the potential of what has been laid out so far, then Riverdale will be a fantastic show. New episodes are released Fridays on Netflix.
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12 Sports
Nick Bondi / Sports Editor
sports@the-peak.ca
Sports
March 13, 2017
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Nick Bondi Sports Editor
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14 Humour
Janis McMath / Humour Editor
humour@the-peak.ca
Humour
March 13, 2017
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16 Diversions
Maia Odegaard / Business Manager
maia@the-peak.ca