What do all these students have in common?

Andrew Brid talks violins and parenting

Tamara Connor Features Editor Hi, my name is Tamara and I’m a fourth-year political science student.

I have taken a lot of different courses here at SFU, but I started as a political science major, and I will graduate as one — one day.

When I enrolled in political science at SFU, I knew it was not my greatest passion. It wasn’t even my second greatest passion.

Those titles are reserved for English and communication, respectively. Nor did I choose to study political science for any promise of money or a career.

I was drawn to politics by the memory of my late grandparents.

I know it must sound ridiculous, and sometimes during those late nights when I’m up writing about the Canadian Senate it seems like a ridiculous reason to me too.

My Nana and Grandad died during my adolescence, and I have always felt robbed of so many years with them. But before they were taken from me, they inspired me, they educated me, and they showed how important it was to do good in your community.

Grandad grew up in the foster care system during the Great Depression, after my great-grandmother abandoned him. By the time he was 12, he was working full-time as a farmhand for a small wage. As a teen, he paid a woman to pretend to be his mother and

joined the army to fight in the Korean War and WWII. He then came back to Canada, met my Nana, finished his high school diploma, and got a job at a printing press.

Soon after, he had four children and became the president of his local union. Through the union he fought relentlessly for his fellow workers, but his fight didn’t stop there. He went on to

help progressives get elected. In the ‘70s, when Tommy Douglas ran for MP in Coquitlam, my Grandad was his campaign manager. And when it came time, he himself ran for city council in Burnaby and became a sitting councillor for four terms.

Despite his rough start, and despite not having any good reason to want to give back to a world that had given him so much to be angry about, my Grandad always wanted to make our community

better. And so did my Nana. She was in the background of each of Grandad’s campaigns, doing everything from the nitty-gritty campaign tasks to caring for the family at home. She, like many other women supporting their husband’s careers, will not be remembered for her contributions.

But I remember — well, I remember the stories at least.

They taught me what it means to influence, and what it means to do good by your home and neighbours. So fast-forward to 2011, when a young and awkward-looking me was applying to SFU. My best grades were always in social studies and English. I loved creative writing and was fascinated by media.

But I picked political science and have never looked back because I wanted to honour my memories of the community leaders I can call Nana and Grandad.

Maybe I would have received better grades in a different department. Maybe I would have been on a better career path if I’d chosen a different program. Maybe I would have enjoyed more of my classes in a field that indulged in all my interests.

But in the end, it’s my grandparents I care about. So Nana and Grandad, I don’t know if you are in a place where you can hear me or not, but know that I think of you all the time. I hope I can do some good through public service in our community to make you proud.

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News

Jamal Dumas / Print News Editor

news@the-peak.ca

PIPELINE PROBLEMS

Photo courtesy of The National Observer On May 14 protesters converged on the Westridge terminal in North Burnaby in a kayak floatilla.

National Energy Board recommends proceeding with Trans Mountain SFU visiting prof named to new pipeline review panel by Trudeau government Tatum Miller Peak Associate There are 157 conditions, but the Trans Mountain Expansion Project has been recommended for approval by the National Energy Board (NEB).

In a 533-page report released by the NEB, they suggest that the Governor in Council approve the project, which has a very controversial history.

Earlier last week the federal government appointed three individuals to the National Energy Board review panel for the proposed expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline.

Kinder Morgan is looking to invest US $5.4 billion to almost triple the capacity of the current Trans Mountain pipeline to 890,000 barrels a day. The original pipeline was built in 1953, to act as a conduit between Edmonton and Burnaby.

Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr announced a three-person review panel on May 17. Among those named is Tony Penikett, former Yukon premier and visiting professor at the SFU School of Public Policy. Penikett has authored numerous books, including

Reconciliation: First Nations Treaty Making in British Columbia.

Also named were Annette Trimbee, University of Winnipeg president and former deputy finance minister of Alberta, and Kim Baird, former chief of BC’s Tsawwassen First Nation who owns a consulting agency for indigenous policy. The proposed expansion has come under scrutiny from environmentalists, First Nations, and the mayors of both Vancouver and Burnaby.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has expressed his opposition to the expansion. Robertson has said that “Vancouver continues to be very much against the expansion,” and that “there’s no confidence in the community in the ruling.”

Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley looked to Ottawa for a goahead on the pipeline. In an address to the United Steelworkers’ National Policy Conference in Montreal, she said, “Let’s work together. Let’s get to ‘yes’ on a pipeline.

“It’s critical to the future of our country and to the well-being of every Albertan and every Canadian.”

Conservative natural resources critic Candice Bergen voiced her support for the pipeline, as The Globe and Mail reports.

“Oil workers have been through so much. They’ve been to hell and back,” she said. “Alberta needs to see something positive; they need to see some light at the end of the tunnel.”

Alberta’s budget shows a deficit of roughly $10 billion. Low oil prices and the recent fires have crippled the Albertan economy.

The CBC reports that “Royalties from oil and gas projects are expected to decrease by 90 percent next year.”

include Kinder Morgan’s ability to respond to oil spills, something that must be “world leading” in order to be approved.

The NEB review has been in the process for nearly three years. The aforementioned final report and recommendation have been in deliberation since February 17, when Trans Mountain filed its last written rebuttal.

Another proposed pipeline, TransCanada’s Energy East, has run into opposition in Quebec.

The Obama Administration also disallowed TransCanada’s Keystone XL phase 4 pipeline expansion in November 2015.

Those in support of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project claim it will generate “almost $1 billion in economic activ- Rachel Notley, ity and nearly Alberta Premier 34,000 jobs annually,” acThe BC government has of- cording to the Conference Board ficially come out against the of Canada.

Kinder Morgan pipeline expanThough the NEB review sion, according to a written panel has recommended going submission to the NEB in Janu- forward, the final decision will ary. Their primary concerns come from Trudeau’s cabinet.

“It’s critical to the future of our country and to the well-being of every Albertan and every Canadian.”

SATELLITE SIGNALS Woodward’s On May 25 at the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, SFU’s Centre for Dialogue will be co-hosting the launch of Jim Hoggan’s book I’m Right and You’re an Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean it Up. The event will be held at the Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and the event will run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. with a reception and book signing to follow. Tickets are $10, but if finances are short, you may contact dial@ sfu.ca for help.

Surrey SFU’s Surrey campus is hosting a dialogue session titled Elder Abuse in the South Asian Community on May 31. If you’re a service provider, or simply interested in contributing to the conversation, come to room 5380. Topics will include what this form of abuse looks like in British Columbia, who is most at risk, and who are marginalized groups within this community.

The event is free and all are welcome. Registration is required, and can be confirmed by contacting lgbteol@sfu.ca.

Sarah Finley Peak Associate

News

May 24, 2016

HUMAN INTEREST

WATER WORLD

New campaign celebrates SFU’s student volunteers

SFU-made machine turns air into water

Photo courtesy of Danny Ly Volunteer Yasmin Khalili snaps a selfie with SFU president Andrew Petter at the Burnaby campus clubs day.

Students can share their personal experiences of volunteerism on the recently launched website

Zach Siddiqui Peak Associate An SFU-based initiative designed to share student volunteers’ stories has just launched.

Volunteers of SFU has been in the works since January.

Launched on May 15, it is a Humans of New York-style campaign that gathers a variety of tales from SFU students. Broadcasting their anecdotes through social media, the campaign seeks to garner recognition and appreciation for student volunteers. It also seeks to help students link up with future volunteer opportunities via networking.

“Students don’t like to hear ‘You should volunteer!’ from the school, because you hear that all the time from everyone [. . .] and then you’re like ‘Yeah, okay, but I’m giving my time for free — why would I do that?’” said volunteer and former co-op student Sarah Campbell, who proposed the idea to Career and Volunteer Services early last December. “[I]f your friend comes up to you and they’re like, ‘I just did the best event ever and I volunteered with the coolest club ever and it was so much fun and you should check it out’? You’re way more likely [to do it].’”

The campaign has shared 27 stories so far on Facebook, as of publication time. Students who would like to be featured are encouraged to offer their

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stories themselves through the website, and by using the hashtag #VolunteersOfSFU on their social media posts. “[Students] don’t have to win Volunteer of the Year to have an amazing story,” stated Albert Fung, volunteer services coordinator. Fung noted that many students on campus who volunteer in their spare time do not receive the recognition that they deserve. He described part of the project’s goal: “to showcase, recognize, [and] appreciate the work that they do.”

Aside from volunteer work done through SFU, Volunteers of SFU also aims to cover the stories of students working with local non-profit organizations, many of which have recruited from SFU’s student body in the past. Fung noted that the campaign is working to ensure that the array of stories presented is diverse and that “every group [at SFU] is represented.” “[Getting interviewed] was really interesting; it wasn’t something I was expecting at all [. . .] it was really fun,” said Yasmin Khalili, previously one of the volunteers interviewed, and currently working with Volunteers of SFU. “I think one of the biggest things [. . .] that’s made [my time at SFU] so good has been volunteering on campus, and just getting out and meeting new people and doing new things.”

The project plans to run events and contests throughout the summer and fall, and it will continue to collect stories. Campbell and Fung expressed hope that the various departments of the university that have shown interest will be able to keep the campaign going and growing for a long time.

Photo courtesy of SFU News Professor Bahrami sips a cup of water from HAWgen.

HAWgen unlike similar technologies generates water in an eco-friendly way Amneet Mann Peak Associate An SFU engineering team has made a breakthrough in green technology with their atmospheric water generator: a machine that, in essence, turns air into water.

Professor Majid Bahrami and Dr. Farshid Bagheri, the latter a recent PhD graduate of SFU, led a six-person team working in SFU’s Laboratory for Alternative Energy Conversion to develop the hybrid atmospheric water generator. In an interview with The Peak, Dr. Bagheri described the generator he co-invented as “a novel technology in which a high-efficiency condensing unit extracts water from a preconditioned air stream.”

The preconditioned air stream is the crucial component of the invention, as it is precisely what makes the Hybrid Atmospheric Water Generator (HAWgen) unique from other water conditioners. According to the technology’s website, preconditioning the air “significantly increases the dew point temperature (water content) for superior water harvesting.”

Dr. Bagheri testified to the significance of increasing the dew point temperature of the water, as it “guarantees a superior rate of water generation

under all climatic conditions.”

This is in contrast to traditional atmospheric water generators, which decrease in efficiency in dry regions (for example, in deserts) due to the lower water content in the air.

After preconditioning, the air is funnelled into a refrigeration unit where the water in the air condenses, generating the liquid water which is collected by the machine. The generated water is then filtered to produce a drinkable, safe product.

Another common concern for new technology like this is its energy source: the team’s generator obtains its energy from waste heat and solar energy.

When asked about how the concept came about, Dr. Bagheri described a fortuitous meeting of two separate streams of research: his work in “high-efficiency air conditioning and refrigeration systems” and Dr. Bahrami’s “multi-disciplinary research products in different areas including sorption technology [one of the multiple technologies integrated into the generator]” met to make an existing technology operate with greater efficiency.

“After finding the defects of current [atmospheric water generators], we invented our Hybrid

Atmospheric Water Generator in which those defects disappeared,” said Dr. Bagheri.

The technology was developed in SFU’s Laboratory for Alternative Energy Conversion (LAEC), where Dr. Bahrami is the director. LAEC is able to simulate different environmental and temperature conditions, allowing the team to test the innovation’s performance in a wide range of conditions.

The development of HAWgen led Dr. Bahrami and Dr. Bagheri to create Watergenics Inc. to market their new technology.

In an interview with The Tyee, Dr. Bagheri spoke about the support the startup received from Venture Connection, a program that helps early-stage entrepreneurs at SFU. “We don’t always see the business and financial parameters like they do,” said Dr. Bagheri. “They were asking questions that I hadn’t heard before.”

Dr. Bagheri elaborated on the business and financial obstacles Watergenics Inc. is currently facing: “The capital cost of HAWgen is higher than the existing [atmospheric water generators] due to usage of more elements, higher efficiency components, complexity, and intelligent optimizationbased controller. However, we are trying to reduce the capital and operating costs of the system through optimization.”

On the other side of the business hurdle, however, the future for the project looks promising.

“The HAWgen is scalable and can be used in residential, commercial, or industrial application to provide potable or feedwater [with] close to zero impurities,” declared Dr. Bagheri.

The versatility and applicability of the HAWgen technology is also being recognized by the industry, as Watergenics has been shortlisted for the BC Technology Industry Association’s 2016 Technology Impact Award for most promising pre-commercial technology.

Locally, the HAWgen is already making an impact as it will be installed in Surrey’s BioPod Initiative, a greenhouse agri-tech innovation hub.

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News

Jamal Dumas / News Editor

news@the-peak.ca

RESEARCH ROUNDUP

University Briefs

By Sarah Finley

2 13 Jamal Dumas / The Peak

News stories from campuses across the country

TORONTO

Study shows that money does buy happiness

1 With files from The Toronto Star

Buying a coffee for a friend could make both of you happy, according to Aknin’s research.

U of T hosts STEM education event On May 13, the University of Toronto engineering program partnered with Google and Actua, the country’s largest STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) charity, to host Innovate U. The STEM event brought in over 1,400 students in grades 3–8 from 45 different classes in Toronto. The children spent the day doing various hands-on activities, ranging in focus from video games to genetics.

SFU prof argues that spending on others can boost your mood

money. They found that the children smiled more when they give things away rather than when they receive.

The correlation between money and happiness does not stop at the generosity principle.

Dr. Aknin described a few other ways that money can buy happiness, as derived from the book Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Sp e n d i n g

by Elizabeth Dunn and MiDr. Lara Aknin, chael Norton.

One such psychology professor example is spending time with a person “In both rich and poor coun- on whom you’re spending money; tries, we found the same results for example, going out for coffee hold. In South America, Uganda, with a friend, rather than just buyand even Vanuatu, a small scale ing them a coffee or giving them traditional society with no running money. Or, when donating to charwater or electricity, and the find- ity, choosing one that you care ings replicated,” said Dr. Aknin. about and where you know how Dr. Aknin also worked with your money will be used. Moredevelopmental psychologists over, one could use anticipation to and saw similar results in chil- gain more happiness, by paying for dren, using treats instead of something now to enjoy later.

VANCOUVER

the activity they were interviewed about their feelings, and those assigned to spend on others were reported being happier than those who spent on themselves.

They then expanded the study to other countries outside of North America, and found the results remained consistent.

UBC prof develops cancer treatment The University of British Columbia’s mechanical engineering professor, Hongshen Ma, is at the head of research that could potentially improve cancer treatments.

Through a relatively simple process, a device would separate cells based on their “size and softness,” isolating cancerous cells that have left their original tumours. Co-author Dr. Kim N. Chi reported that in the first experiment on blood samples with cancer cells, their device captured more than 90 percent of the cancerous cells.

“Spending generously or spending on others makes people happier.”

3 TORONTO

With files from York News

Anyone who has turned to a fresh pair of kicks or a new handbag as a form of retail therapy might be familiar with the saying, “money doesn’t buy happiness.”

However, an SFU professor has published a study that argues the contrary.

According to professor of social psychology Dr. Lara Aknin, spending money does in fact make people happy, and it is a way to strengthen social relationships. As she puts it, “spending generously or spending on others makes people happier.”

Dr. Aknin’s interest in this area was sparked by considering “[the ways] to make wiser spending decisions, and what things predictably made people happier.”

She and her colleagues began by recruiting students and giving them either $5 or $20 to use on their everyday spending choices.

They were told they must spend it by the end of the day. Half of the group was tasked with spending it on themselves — to pay a bill or buy a gift for themselves — and the other group was told to buy a gift for another person or give to charity. Upon completion of

With files from Science Daily

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Rumneek Johal Peak Associate

E. coli detecting invention created by York scientists Researchers at York University have created an invention that can detect E. coli contaminants in water in just a couple of hours. This process is much faster than current methods, which need at least a few days.

The detection system turns red when the bacteria is present, and will be used at water sources “before people start drinking contaminated water,” Professor Sushanta Mitra told York News. Mitra also noted that the invention is “so user-friendly that even an untrained person can do the test using this kit.” The kit is much more convenient than previous methods. Before, water samples had to be sent to microbiological labs. The team also developed an app for phones that can broadcast the test results.

Opinions

The SFU Art Gallery in the Academic Quadrangle only serves a small portion of the population while occupying one of the busiest spots on Burnaby campus. Because of this, those who run the gallery need to either make their exhibits more interactive and accessible, or consider relocating elsewhere.

The Art Gallery was established for the purpose of helping us contemplate art both politically and socially. A recent exhibit by Alex Morrison was focused on bringing attention to how physical locations affect our behaviour. However, this is 2016, and these functions may be better fulfilled today by Internet forums, social media, informative pamphlets, or even a well-written essay. Using such a large space in the AQ is overkill.

Another concern is that the average undergraduate is not able to fully appreciate the exhibits that are currently being displayed. Simply put, the gallery is a little pretentious, and seems to have failed its intended function by not providing enough information about the

artwork. This problem could be remediated by providing, on each display, detailed information that spells out exactly what the intent of the artist is in relation to each piece, and the relationship between the pieces themselves.

Moreover, the Art Gallery doesn’t engage undergraduates or create a space for interaction and dialogue between visitors. This could be easily remedied by implementing exhibits that are more interactive. It would allow visitors to contribute to the display, rather than being a bystander absorbing ‘wisdom’ and ‘inspiration’ from a great artist. That said, there are occasionally events and tours that help visitors engage with the exhibitions, even if those events seem fairly sparse.

Another solution would be to relocate the Art Gallery and repurpose the space in the AQ as a multiuse room for daily activities, such as board games, video games, arts and crafts, casual improv or theatre games, drop-in jam sessions for SFU musicians, or weekly events or contests. The space could also be used to hold workshops and to teach students skills that we might actually be interested in.

Adam Van der Zwan / Opinions Editor

May 24, 2016 opinions@the-peak.ca

I used to be extremely antiTrump. “He’s a racist, the wall is ridiculous, he’s a bad businessman, and he has no experience,” I would say. Like many, I was quick to attack the man but not his policies. Last week, The Peak produced the front-page opinion-editorial by Sarah Finley called “Fuck Trump.” Now, there’s a lot of misinformation causing unjustified hate toward the Donald that needs to be cleared up.

business failures. He said he started off with “a small loan of a million dollars,” as Business Insider reports, and turned it into his multi-billion dollar empire and some of the most renowned buildings on Earth.

Oh, Trump’s companies have declared bankruptcy? Yes, he admitted in a 2015 debate on Fox News that he “used the Chapter laws” in four cases to legally protect his businesses when they were closing. The Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City became a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises in 2016; but in the last few years, several

Is the wall a stupid idea?

Trump’s wall is his most controversial proposal. People sometimes overlook the fact that there is already a border wall. It doesn’t function well at all, and illegal immigrants — specifically unescorted children — have poured into the United States recently, causing what’s known as the “2014 American Immigration Crisis.” Getting Mexico to pay for it is a long shot, but it is possible if you read his plan.

A nation is not a welfare system for other countries’ citizens. Canada has geographic luck on our side, and we don’t have to worry about walls to keep out illegal immigrants.

Countries should have full control over who comes in, and a wall would do just that.

Atlantic City casinos have declared bankruptcy or shut down.

Finley called Trump a “reality television personality,” something I’ve heard time and time again. He was famous before his appearances on The Apprentice, though: his book The Art of the Deal, released in 1987, was on the New York Times’ bestseller list for 51 weeks.

Is Donald Trump a bad businessman?

How about we hate on the GOP instead?

Trump has oddly come under criticism for his supposed

Fuck Donald Trump? Fuck the GOP for not producing any

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strong candidates. John Kasich was the managing director of Lehman Brothers, the Wall Street investment bank that went bankrupt in 2008 and almost took the US economy with it. And the Bush dynasty simply shouldn’t hold another US presidency for obvious reasons.

Finley said Trump is “the harshest GOP candidate,” partly because he said he would “bomb the shit out of [ISIS].”

Meanwhile, Ted Cruz’s policy was to “carpet bomb [ISIS] into oblivion,” adding that we’d soon find out if “sand can glow in the dark.” Former speaker of the House, Republican John Boehner called Ted Cruz “Lucifer in the flesh,” and said he has “never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in [his] life.” Would you prefer Cruz to Trump?

Trump is by no means perfect — just like Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, the only other candidates still running. His position on torture is horrifying, and his lack of experience is a drawback.

But in the end, many of Mr. Trump’s policies are actually well-done. His China-US trade policy addresses the $365-billion trade deficit through tariffs. For those of you interested in policy, and not perception, check out Trump’s positions on immigration, healthcare, and especially the wall. I think you may be pleasantly surprised.

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Opinions

Stuart Rojstaczer is not exactly a household name, but he has caused quite a frenzy. A retired professor from Duke University, he has titled himself as “America’s grade inflation czar.”

Rojstaczer left his teaching position at Duke to pursue researching grade inflation, and his findings have since caused quite a stir.

From his research came a list of the 16 universities in Canada and the United States where it is most difficult to receive an A letter grade.

Included on this list are MIT, Princeton, and Purdue; Simon Fraser University ranks 16th and is also the only Canadian university to be found on the list.

In a video interview with The Voice, Rojstaczer provided a short summary of his paper, “Where A is Ordinary: The Evolution of American College and University Grading, 1940–2009.” He described how universities have always had unregulated grading systems, which leads to a lack of uniformity. According to Rojstaczer, grades were reasonably consistent until the 1960s when professors in the US began to give higher grades to male students so they could avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War. In the

1980s, he said the “culture of colleges changed”: grades steadily increased, and haven’t stopped since.

There’s not only a lack of uniformity in how grades are achieved, but there’s also a noted discrepancy between grading systems. At SFU, an 80 percent in the history department would be in the A- range on a transcript. That same percentage would fall in the B or B+ range in other departments. At the University of British Columbia, an 80 percent is in the A- range no matter what faculty you’re in.

Furthermore, when one delves deeper into the issue of GPAs, there is very little similarity between SFU and other schools. Schools like SFU have a GPA scale of 4.33, but the University of Toronto, for example, uses the much more common 4.0 GPA scale.

Adam Van der Zwan / Opinions Editor

opinions@the-peak.ca

So why does any of this matter?

This might all just seem like a solid excuse when you’re explaining to your parents why you failed a 101 course — but it could cause long-term damages. A UBC student and an SFU student with the same percentage average have wildly different GPAs, which can have devastating impacts on merit-based scholarship and grant applications. When applying for grad school, said UBC student could have a better chance of being accepted if the grad school in question isn’t fully cognizant of the different grading scales.

The better alternative would be to adopt a universal grading scale.

Since it’s nearly impossible to successfully guarantee that all schools will grade fairly and with the same level of leniency (although some high school programs such as International Baccalaureate have given us a pretty great example of how it could and should be done), universities will gain reputations as either easy or hard grading schools.

Our methods of measuring student success are long-outdated, and indeed our teaching strategies in general need some revamping; a good place to start would be for universities to adopt similar grading schemes. Then we can delve into the issue of overly lenient professors and flawed college cultures.

SFU continually boasts about its commitment to environmentalism, often while citing the Zero Waste Initiative. That kind of thing sounds great on a brochure that’s handed out to naïve prospective students.

But is SFU truly doing its part to cut down on waste? The answer is no.

With more than 25,000 students, a proper waste management initiative could actually make an impact on a large scale. We have compost, and plastic- and paper-recycling — but that’s it. We could take initiative and recycle batteries (pretty much every science and business student has a calculator), metals (tinfoil included), and extruded polystyrene foam — also known as styrofoam.

My main beef with our recycling system is the fact that we still have styrofoam containers on campus. Styrofoam is not only a possible human carcinogen, but it is not easily biodegradable. It lingers in landfills long after most other waste.

Zero waste plus styrofoam equals ‘does not compute.’

True, not every restaurant on campus uses foam products — but a handful do, and that can add up in a hurry. If one percent of the student population, or 250 students, buy a meal complete with styrofoam packaging every day, then over the course of the year that’s more than 90,000 foam containers heading to our landfill.

Yikes.

Instead of styrofoam, food vendors on campus have a wide array of recyclable and compostable take-out packaging to choose from. Eco Products®, GreenWare®, PrimeWare®, and many other manufacturers have greener options. There are paper containers and compostable plant-made plastic containers to suit any possible food-related need.

Yes, there is the concern that it could cost a couple more cents per container, but I for one would happily pay the extra nickel to avoid using styrofoam for both food and beverages. It would be great for SFU’s current vendors that don’t use compostable coffee cups to make the switch.

A second major problem we should all look into is the recycling of soft plastic. With Nester’s, Subway, and now the BC Liquor Store sharing our campus space, recycling plastic bags, plastic wrap, and other similar items would do a lot to boost our ‘Zero Waste’ reputation.

Would this mean that every current four-bin waste stop would have to grow to six bins?

Not exactly. But soft plastic could be part of another recycling category, and it might be best to take away the trash option on these Zero Waste stations, as there are plenty of standalone trash cans as it is.

Will it take students three seconds longer to put their shit in the right receptacle?

Probably. But three seconds of your life in order to ensure that there’s a life-sustaining planet in your future seems like a small price to pay.

Opinions

Adam Van der Zwan’s opinion piece entitled “Student-faculty romance. Sorry, where’s the problem?” further perpetuates the need to constantly satisfy our every desire instantly. In the age of fast food, fast fashion, and instant messaging, we have become so used to fulfilling our needs quickly, diminishing the need for waiting. We neglect to really take time to think and look seriously at the potential consequences. Pursuing a relationship with a professor will indeed incur many consequences that can be incredibly damaging to both parties.

Like many other students, I too have come across professors and faculty members who are incredibly attractive. Every week, I feel my heart beat faster whenever they begin their lecture, and always find excuses to go talk to them during breaks and office hours.

But fantasizing and whispering with friends is as far as I will ever go, because embarking on a relationship beyond a professional one is not just unprofessional — it’s wrong.

Professors are people who have spent a considerable amount of time researching and studying, and because of that they deserve their students’ respect. But make no mistake, this level of respect also comes with great responsibility. According to SFU’s Code of Faculty Ethics and Responsibilities, professors have a responsibility to ensure that they do not “exploit students for their private advantage.”

May 24, 2016

Even if the student initiated the relationship, the professor has the responsibility to realize that this is a boundary that cannot be crossed. Conflict of interest, favouritism, potential blackmailing, and sexual assault are all problems that can be prevented if professors and students alike realize that the relationship between both parties must be a professional one.

Further, I stand behind UBC interim president Dr. Martha Piper’s consideration to ban romantic relationships between students and faculty. There is indeed an “inevitable power imbalance” that comes about from these kinds of relationships, and this can lead to exploitation.

Ultimately, there will be people who you find attractive that you just cannot touch, either by virtue of social norm or just because it is absolutely not your place. Trust me, I’ve been there and I’ve drooled over certain professors, too. It’s never easy to put aside your feelings and your pride, but the last thing you need is a black mark to your name — and their name — before you finish your degree.

If you absolutely can’t keep your feelings to yourself, then I urge you to wait until you have your diploma in hand and you have tossed your mortarboard in the air.

I urge you to pursue graduate studies away from the institution where you fell in love with Professor McHottie. No one can guarantee that this relationship will work out. If it doesn’t, both parties are in for an emotional roller-coaster and a host of problems.

Take a breath and step back. Love may be blind and irrational, but that doesn’t mean that you should be too.

When a tragedy like the fire earlier this month in Fort McMurray strikes, we absolutely have to acknowledge the terrible loss of homes, the displacement of thousands of residents, and the devastation it leaves behind.

But we also have to talk about the causes of the tragedy, and that includes climate change.

To ignore that the intensity of the fire in Fort McMurray is a result of increased temperatures, longer fire seasons, and hotter, drier weather would be to ignore an opportunity to illustrate what can happen in these conditions and what is likely to be more frequent as these conditions are only exacerbated by climate change.

Due to climate change and higher average temperatures, fire seasons are being extended and we are experiencing more frequent, intense fires. According to Natural Resources Canada, “recent years have seen more destructive fires in terms of area covered,” as the CBC reports. David Andison, an adjunct professor in the faculty of forestry at UBC, was quoted by

the CBC as saying that “climate change models and research all point to the idea that fire season is going to be longer in the coming years, and the fires will be more severe.”

The question isn’t whether we should be talking about this reality, but how. There is no need to frame the dialogue as a kind of ‘I told you so’ message; but we do need to point out that there is more where that came from, and our wildfire seasons are going to become longer and more intense. Mentioning the link to climate change is not a negation of the suffering that the residents of Fort McMurray have experienced, and it is not meant to be insensitive.

It is, in fact, only natural to question the cause of tragic events.

It’s a shame that climate change — a topic that affects us all and

9

threatens our very survival — has become politicized and taboo. Green Party leader Elizabeth May was met with backlash when she stated that there is a link between forest fires and climate change, even though she was simply speaking the truth.

Justin Trudeau said, “What we are focussed on right now on [sic] is giving the people of Fort McMurray, and across Alberta, the kind of support that they need.” While saying that it’s not time to lay blame, he sidestepped the question of climate change and avoided angering those at either end of the political spectrum. By taking the ambivalent, balanced approach, Trudeau may have also made May look too reactionary — but ignoring the link is a detriment to us all.

It’s never too soon to talk about something that affects everyone, and we can’t ignore that climate change played a role in this devastation. With an unusually dry and warm winter, low precipitation, early snow melt, and a warmer than usual spring — all effects of climate change — the fire quickly grew out of control.

When it comes to the cause, we are all to blame. We are all users of oil. We are all responsible for acknowledging the connection to these extreme weather events and taking action to prevent the continued warming of our planet.

Cecile Favron, Peak Associate

Hiding in plain sight Even though she wants to speak out about her experience, Ava faces the tremendous stigma attached to selling sexual services.

Many post-secondary students who earn an income through sex work feel compelled to keep the nature of their work secret to protect themselves from discrimination. This is despite the fact that students gaining an income from sex work is neither new nor uncommon.

Simon Fraser University recently made news for having one of the fastest growing “sugar baby” populations in the country — that is, an increasing number of students signed on to the website Seeking Arrangements. While some users see it as just a dating app, others use it as a way to pay their tuition.

Ava used the site to meet clients who would in turn pay her for her services, which she considers sex work to be. However, she recognizes that the stigma attached to the sex industry means that many other website users do not view what they do in the same light.

As students may choose not to identify themselves with the sex industry, there are no representative statistics on how many may be involved in selling sexual services.

Stigma can also be a factor in the choices clients make

Tricks of the trade For Ava, balancing university life with sex work was rewarding — at least, for the most part.

Besides earning substantially more per hour than she could at other jobs, Ava said that she found her friends to be largely open to the idea.

“My friends were really shocked at first, and then they were like. . . ‘I guess you’re doing what you want and you’re doing it safely,’ so they were okay with it,” she reflected.

Her arrangement with her main client didn’t pose any major problems, either.

From the start, Ava proposed a written agreement stating the boundaries of their interactions as well as her rates. For BDSM, which was also included in the agreement, she sought special limitations. She said that her client always respected the conditions of their relationship.

Though Ava admits that what she was doing was sometimes dangerous, she took precautions by notifying her sisters of her visits with her clients and telling them where she planned to be. Looking back, she wishes that she would have been even more careful.

“If I was to coach somebody else on how to get into the industry, I’d [tell them] ‘make strict rules for yourself, don’t break them, they’re for your safety,’” she said. “I definitely

when hiring a student sex worker, according to Ava. Those using sites such as Seeking Arrangements, she speculated, prefer to seek out a student in order to distance themselves from the stereotypical notion of sex work.

Though our image of a sex worker might be someone working on the street to support a drug addiction, Canadain studies show a different picture: they place the figure of nonstreet-based sex workers between 80–95 percent of the overall sex worker population. This encompasses male, female, trans*, and non-binary workers providing a variety of sexual services from massage parlours and escorting to online sex work.

Despite the variety of services, one commonality remains: that dealing with those outside of the industry can often be a sex worker’s greatest challenge.

A study released by SFU researcher Raven Bowen earlier this year found that Vancouver women leaving the sex trade reported harassment when transitioning into mainstream careers and even faced losing their newly secured job due to “whore stigma.”

Still, many sex workers are eager to voice their experiences so that people can relate to their work.

“People know about sex work, [but] they don’t know any sex workers,” Ava contended. “Sex workers can still lead normal lives within sex work, and then out of sex work, regardless of what the media thinks.”

met two of my clients for the first time in their car, and they were strangers — which is dangerous.”

However, Ava still found balancing her work with her professional and personal life to be her greatest challenge. The fear that her parents would find out about her work always loomed in the back of her mind.

“I was having constant anxiety about that,” she admitted.

As an advocate for normalizing sex work at university and having just completed an application for grad school, she also acknowledged how that experience could affect her education.

“I’m glad I didn’t talk about sex work on my Twitter account, because I know they vet you online,” she explained. “If they’d found that, whatever committee admitted me to grad school might have a different opinion of me. Because, of course, sex workers are still considered criminals.”

Despite her concerns, she speculated that she’d probably do sex work again if the opportunity arose. She broke off her earlier gig with the economic downturn in 2013, as her main client could no longer afford to buy her services. Ava said at the time she didn’t want to go through the hassle of finding another client who would accept her terms — so she quit.

Part of her reason for speaking out is that she feels it is important to tell people about her experience in order to dispel the overwhelmingly positive or negative views of sex work that many people hold.

“Really my experience was neutral,” she explained. “It was like having a job in a retail place for three months.”

A similar experience Ava is not the only person who reports that they were drawn to sex work out of curiosity. Brenna chose to give online sex work a try when she heard how much she could earn, and worked extensively as a ‘cam girl’ while saving up to go back to school.

“I saw the opportunity to use it as a form of employment while I went back to school, which was the goal at the time,” she said. “I saw it as something to do while I was in school.”

Brenna, who identifies as a trans woman, found that her role as an online sex worker was a reliable and profitable job to support herself.

“I enjoyed a lot of things about my work. I enjoyed the freedom it allowed me to control my schedule, to control my financial freedom,” she explained.

“Often my work was just chatting with people about their life and making them feel a little less lonely. There were certainly many clients that I had very positive working relationships with, who I felt really respected me and valued their time with me. I always hoped that, at the end of the day, they felt a little less lonely and a little bit more validated in their life after talking to me.

“I had days where I didn’t want to log in or I just wanted to stay in bed or go to the beach with friends, but that can be said with any job.”

Over time, Brenna found that the stress of regularly facing the stigma of sex work really took its toll on her mental health. Shortly after she exited

online sex work, she found a corporate job and said that she was worried, on a daily basis, about explaining the gap on her resumé or being ‘outed’ by co-workers.

“I started to burn out because of living two separate lives and not being able to communicate with people in my life,” she said.

Brenna was unable to divulge to some people — including roommates and colleagues — how she had been occupied during the time she worked online, knowing that it could put a strain on those relationships.

“There were more than a few times where I witnessed myself become a different person in someone else’s eyes when they found out what I did for a living,” she explained. “I witnessed myself becoming a victim to people in my life and I also witnessed a loss of my own voice, people stopped believing that my experience was the truth.”

Her counsellor at the time felt he was unequipped to help her with issues surrounding sex work and referred her to a support service for sex workers, which proved to be a turning point in Brenna’s career.

“It helped me rebuild my self-esteem — which, I feel like the stigma around the work and the constant message that I was receiving that I, myself, as a sex worker was damaged goods — has really had a huge impact on my sense of self-worth. The secrecy around it had created a lot of anxiety for me,” she disclosed.

Not long after, Brenna found a position working for the agency which had helped her manage the stigma of sex work. She now works as the communications person for the Vancouver-based PACE Society.

continued on next page

Arts

Jess Whitesel / Arts Editor

arts@the-peak.ca May 24, 2016

acoustics of the hollow space to whistle and play his violin, the environment became an interchangeable part of his songs, embedded in the aching draw of the violin. The stark and sweeping album plays in sharp contrast to the loud, raw licks of Are You Serious?, which also reflects the environment of its inception: the studio.

In an interview with The Peak, Bird described his new record as forceful, loud, and intentional. He approached it thinking that “If the record is dead or dying, let’s do one more attempt at a high-quality album. [I] was determined to get people in the room as good as [myself ] or better.” As a result, he enlisted the help of a producer for the first time and sought to challenge conceptions about his sound.

The first time I listened to Andrew Bird was a decade ago, cross-legged on my high school crush’s bedroom floor. The song was a release from one of his early projects, Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire. As I tapped my foot to the twisting violin, my crush asked me if I knew what I was listening to. I paused, focused on the winding falsetto, and hazarded a guess: “Billie Holiday?”

It is very unlikely that anyone would hear traces of Billie Holiday in Andrew Bird’s newest record Are You Serious? This speaks to how awful my ear is, as well as the ease with which Bird effortlessly moves along a continuum of sound.

Over the last two decades, Bird has released 13 studio albums, a number of EPs, collaborations, a score to the new Zach Galifianakis show Baskets , and singles — one of which was fea-

tured in the most recent season of Orange is the New Black . In doing so, Bird has traversed the

unexplored corners and combinations of jazz, blues, folk, pop, and experimental classical soundscapes.

Yet there is still continuity to his music. Bird always sews together playful semantic puzzles and eerie whistling hooks, couching them in the cadence of his violin.

Prior to Are You Serious? , his last release was Echolocations: Canyon , a seven-track album that Bird recorded in Utah’s Coyote Gulch. Using the natural

Are You Serious? is “an act of restraint from a virtuosic record,” carving out space for lyrics and hooks to move to the fore.

Bird explained that he wanted to “grab people by the gut,” scaling back on his use of the violin and focusing on a dense, tight rhythm section.

Acknowledging the central role the violin plays in his music, Bird substituted it for the whistle or the guitar on this record, explaining that, “[the violin] has a lot of associations that can pull you away from the matter at hand.” Bird joked about the “Celtic mists” that the violin can summon, adding that he seeks to move away from those associations, as well as the impression people get when they see him and think, “A whistling violinist — how cute, how whimsical.”

The opening track of the album, “Capsized,” smashes through any cartoonish conceptions listeners may have of Bird,

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as its distorted guitar and vocal effect are more reminiscent of Breaking Bad than Planet Earth.

Bird pointed to this song as emblematic of the struggle with sparsity he had on the record, as he constantly removed layers of violin and whistling that he worried would distract the listener from the raw power of the track.

“Valleys of the Young” is another track that reflects the changes Bird has made on this album. It’s a simple and stunning song about the life adjustments that come with parenthood.

Bird explained the process to creating this song: “A couple months ago we were people without a kid and now we have a kid. . . [we’re] in the trenches thinking, why didn’t anyone help us?” Bird wanted the song to be unavoidable in its honesty. He crafted it as a scouring, overwhelming message in order to force the listener to confront the wild reality of parenting. Bird speaks to this reality as beautiful and shattering, because “when you have a child, it’s kind of like your heart is constantly broken for the rest of your life.”

Referring to his notorious and enigmatic wordplay, Bird explained that his love of lyrical ambiguity was pushed to the side for this record. Bird took himself to task on this record and challenged himself with honesty, because “I like to do the thing that feels like it’s asking the most.”

Scaling back on the coded metaphors led to the creation of sharp and intentional lyrics, which carve a narrative arc through the album for the listener to rest in.

Are You Serious? finds Bird asking himself the titular question throughout his songs, whether he jokingly sings about health and chemotherapy, or quietly confronts the changes of adulthood. You can catch Bird at the Orpheum on May 21, for a show which he promises will be sharp, tight, and oh-so-groovy.

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Arts

Jess Whitesel / Arts Editor

arts@the-peak.ca

The debut release of Anohni is a jewel to behold. She heads straight for the gut with the phenomenally strong opening track “Drone Bomb Me” — the general of an army of 10 knights.

Each of the album’s 11 songs is a euphoric ball of synth-electronica with a sharp core of political protest against Western capitalism, modern technology, and the slow downfall of contemporary society. A surprising product which could come from none other than the former lead singer of a band known for sad piano ballads — Antony and the Johnsons.

The approachable pop style that is reflective of our current nostalgically ‘80s zeitgeist (i.e. Swift’s 1989, The 1975, etc.) mixes perfectly with the strength of Anohni’s voice to produce an album that defies the segregation of pop and art. Contrary to its title, there is a hope in music, in government, and in the world that is still standing on its weak legs. – BB

Reaching into the very depths of our souls, James Blake has yet again moved us into another dimension of time. Since his last release in 2013, we have been waiting tirelessly for this moment — the moment where we feel things we didn’t even know were humanly possible.

The electronic R&B artist captures us with his unique voice and his even more unique beats, transporting us into a world of complete (un)awareness. I can’t even describe how I feel about the tracks on this album — the only thing I know for sure is that no other artist has ever made me feel so close to them.

Passion seeps from every moment, every second of The Colour in Anything.

Every track is extremely different from the other, yet it has this uncanny ability to come together oh so gracefully and take over your soul, if only for one hour and 17 minutes. – ZM

The Strumbellas’ third album has recently gone Gold in Canada, and their breakout hit, “Spirits,” keeps gaining momentum. With lyrics like “I’ll be a dreamer ’til the day I die / But they say oh, how the good die young,” this single is immediately infectious. As soon as “Spirits” comes on the radio, you find yourself turning up the volume and rolling down the windows.

The rest of the album is equally worth your time, and presents a mix of slower, folk- and country-inspired tunes. “Shovels and Dirt” references banjos, cowboy hats, and a strong work ethic. “Young and Wild” is a likely candidate for their next single with its singalong potential and carefree theme. Their alternative country sound is refreshing, with an edge of raspy vocals and the same rousing melodies that thrust Mumford & Sons into the spotlight.

This is a hopeful, beautifully crafted collection of songs that I look forward to enjoying many times over. – TP

The Pack a.d. played a hometown show at the Cobalt, a smoky bar with a disco ball that provides great rock ambience. For those who missed the live performance, the Pack a.d. recently released a music video for their latest single “So What,” off their upcoming record, Positive Thinking.

Joined by Glad Rags and Dead Soft, the show was high-tempo from the get-go. The two openers took well to their mission to amp up the crowd.

Once the Pack a.d. appeared in the wing of the stage, the crowd was roaring for them to begin.

The female duo market themselves as having a lot of sound for only being two people, and they are not wrong. Singer and guitarist Becky Black and drummer Maya Miller used their garage band/ psych-pop style to get the Cobalt positively humming with excitement. Combined with their surprisingly good stage presence — despite being restrained by mic stands and a drum kit — the Pack a.d. is a musical force to be reckoned with.

The Peak got to chat with Miller following the back-to-back nights at the Cobalt. On the performances, she said, “They went great, yeah, super. It was really great to play something smaller again, just to get a real sort of punk-feel back. [May 13] was good and sweaty — it was pretty hot.”

The Pack a.d. formed 10 years ago, after the end of the duo’s summer fling band. They got started on music on a whim, recalled Miller.

“I can’t even remember who said it, but someone was like, ‘Oh, we should be a band,’ and then all of a sudden — within a week — we were all buying instruments. So we made a band, and that band didn’t last, but through it, Becky and I found that we played well together. We liked the same stuff.”

They originally named themselves the Pack, recounted Miller, “Because we like wolves. And then there was another the Pack in California. A rap group. They were giving us grief so we added the a.d,” she laughed. “[E]very single album we go to make, we think ‘Oh, this is the time, we’re gonna do it. We’re gonna drop the a.d.,’ but it’s already so ingrained for anybody else that it’s just what it is.”

Miller and Black played “So What” at the shows, because

according to Miller, “Everything from the upcoming album is really fun.” That doesn’t mean they’ve changed: “We’re still the same band.

It’s only one facet of the album.

There’s traces of that throughout the album, but there’s definitely heavier psych rock songs,” said Miller.

“Creepin’ Jenny” also made an appearance, and for Miller, “That’s kind of a personal favourite.”

Miller’s open to branching out in their music in the future, too. “If there was some way I could throw some rap in there, I probably would, but it hasn’t happened yet.” She listens to a lot of rap, and Black listens to psych rock and ’80s music. Miller specified that the music she likes to listen to and the music she likes to play are different: “I really enjoy playing rock.”

A writer in addition to being a drummer, if Miller wasn’t in the Pack a.d. she’d be “Slogging away at writing for film and TV.” According to Miller, Black “[w]ould be pursuing her neuroscience aspirations.” However, Miller advised that if you like music, “Always pursue music. It gets you at different spots. Neither of us had any thought of going into music, and did it on a whim, but it’s a whim that lasts.

Music’s a very gratifying profession.”

Catch the Pack a.d. this summer as they embark on a crosscountry tour — with a few stops in the US — and stay tuned for their August release, Positive Thinking.

Arts

Ah, summer. A time for patio drinking, long road trips, and getting sunburnt on the beach.

While all of these are part of having a successful season, the most important part of summer is the music. It’s the kind of music that you want to get day-drunk on pitchers of sangria to; the kind that says roll the windows down and push the speed limit, but also the kind of music you can chill on a beach to.

Summer songs are hard to define, much like when summer — not the season determined by the sun — actually starts. Is it the first day you wear flip-flops, or is it when the patio opens? Our friends at Billboard say summer is from mid-May to mid-September, and put together handy lists of summer songs based on their charts.

But are any of these actually capable of capturing the feelings of summer, and what I expect from a summer song? Based on my super biased, feelings-based definition of what a summer song is, here are my five best, and worst, summer songs of the past 10 years — presented in chronological order.

Best: “Lose Control” – Missy Elliott feat. Ciara and Fatman Scoop (2005): OK. Stick with me for this one. At first listen it doesn’t have the classic summer song vibe, but the more you listen to it you realize it has the perfect mix of upbeat and chill to make a great summer jam.

“I Kissed a Girl” – Katy Perry (2008): It might be overplayed now, but when it was released it was fresh and perfect for the summer,

May 24, 2016

with its fun yet slightly chill vibe.

“Give Me Everything” – Pitbull feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack, and Nayer (2011): I could solely be saying this is a great summer song for nostalgic reasons, but this was the song that summer. I road-tripped, drank on patios, and got sunburnt on the beach to this song.

“Summer” – Calvin Harris (2014): This is just a really fun summer song. Harris knew what he was doing when he named it “Summer,” even if it does come across as a little self-aggrandizing for a song title.

“Lean On” – Major Lazer and DJ Snake feat. MØ (2015): This is a summer jam. It’s fun and screams ‘Let’s get turnt,’ but is also chill so you won’t get kicked out of anywhere for getting too turnt either.

Worst: “You and Me” – Lifehouse (2005): We get it, this song was big in the summer. But if I remember slow dancing to it in middle school and high school, it’s not a summer song.

“Unfaithful” – Rihanna (2006): Ah, nothing says summer fun like breaking your SO’s heart so much that you feel like you are killing them. Well, not really — but hey, summer is when the song came out.

“Hey There Delilah” – Plain White T’s (2007): No. Not fun, not summer, and super overplayed. But to be fair, even when it was new it was never a summer song.

“Bleeding Love” – Leona Lewis (2008): I do still think of being stuck inside working at Safeway during the summer when I hear this song.

But this is just too depressing to be a good summer jam.

“Fight Song” – Rachel Platten (2015): It’s empowering, but I didn’t like it as a summer song when it was new last year.

It doesn’t give a fun, carefree, I’m-just-here-to-have-a-goodtime vibe.

Post-punk Calgary band Ultrviolence kicked off a mini-tour with their EP release party in Vancouver at the Emerald in Chinatown.

Black Sea is their latest, following 2012’s Burn then Shine EP. During an interview with The Peak, singer and bassist Nate J., drummer Kirk Power, and guitarist Ali Abbas discussed the uphill battle it took to make Black Sea a reality.

Power: It’s taken two years to get to this point.

J.: It’s been quite the hardship.

Abbas: The plates kept on breaking. Every time they’d get pressed, something would go wrong with the plates.

It took four broken plates, one “bunk test pressing,” and one remaster to get the EP out to the world, according to Power. Abbas joked that “it wasn’t meant to be,” and it certainly seems that way. The band hasn’t had an easy road. Their tour vehicle was at the mechanic’s the night of the show. It was spitting fire earlier.

J. and Power have been friends since childhood. They started the band in 2002, back when they were a “rock, metal, Danzig band,” said J.

They made the switch to post-punk because “It seemed like a natural transition. . . and a more interesting avenue,” Power explained. Abbas only came on board two years ago, but their signature moody sound was tight on stage.

During every pause in singing throughout their set, J. would take the time to very enthusiastically dance to the music. In true postpunk form, the set was dark and sorrowful, with soulful lyrics and moody guitar and bass. The rollicking drum riffs helped elevate the sound to another level.

The fan favourites happily coincided with Ultrviolence’s own favourite songs to play. “One of my favourite songs, I think, is probably “Turn the Lights Off” — the first song,” said J. Abbas added that, “It gets things started.” Power really enjoyed their cover of an Actors song, which is a local band in the same genre. They ended on “Do You Love Me,” which turned out really nicely and has a “slow, jazzy bit” of which J. is a fan.

They also commented on their band name, saying that it’s drawn from New Order’s song “Ultraviolence,” but that they made themselves the modern version by leaving out letters. “It’s kind of a play on that. A bit satirical,” said J.

15

“A way to stand out, too. Especially because then Lana Del Rey had a record that came out right away that was called Ultraviolence.

Every time you’d search, that’s the first thing that would come up,” added Power.

When asked to describe Black Sea, they said that, “it’s kind of our answer to second- or third-wave punk, like AFI. We just got the idea that that all these songs are very expressive, very dark, very moody, so we used that whole metaphor of oceans and waves for that specific reason.

“We just had to create that abstract commonality between everybody. It’s multi-dimensional and works on a lot of different levels.”

Ultrviolence’s tour ends in their hometown of Calgary, where they spend almost every spare moment in their out-of-town farmhouse practice and recording space. All three of them are car and motorcycle nuts, with Power building car engines and Abbas working on bikes. They all have ‘day jobs,’ but whether your dream is music or something else, the guys said “just do it and don’t give up. Just go no matter what, or how hard it is. Follow your heart and you’ll never fall.”

16 Diversions

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

23: MONDAY

3: FRIDAY

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

Humour

A group of students calling themselves the FroYo Freedom Fighters (FFFs) are livid with the recent opening of a Menchie’s yogurt bar at SFU. According to them, Yeti Yogurt is the one true frozen yogurt place, and the new Menchie’s is an affront to the purity of what Yeti Yogurt brings to the mountain.

Connor Anderson is one of the students affiliated with the dessert disruptors. He said that he’s been loyal to Yeti Yogurt for years now, aggressively pulling out his Your Yeti rewards card during our interview and shoving it in my face.

“You see this shit?” he asked, oblivious to the fact that it was now the only thing in my line of vision. “I’m a Frosty Member. That’s next-level dedication right there. I don’t have a whole lot going for me, but I’ll be damned if Menchie’s takes anything from me.”

Anderson acknowledged he has no plans to physically take action against Menchie’s — “I love frozen yogurt as much as the next guy, but

I’m not going to jail over this,” he said — but plans to spend a few hours over the upcoming weeks telling anyone who will listen to him that the Yeti Yogurt versus Menchie’s debate actually matters.

Over at Menchie’s, located within the Simon C’s Convenience Store, customers aren’t necessarily feeling the same obsession with their new treat on campus, but acknowledge it is nice that it’s there.

“It’s perfect, just in time for summer!” said Amy Evans. “I’m still kind of bummed I have to take

Justin Stevens / Humour Editor

May 24, 2016 humour@the-peak.ca

summer courses up here, but it’s much nicer having a Menchie’s than not having one.”

When asked about the FroYo Freedom Fighters, she was taken aback: the group hadn’t yet infiltrated her life in any way, for which she had been thankful.

“I think both places are nice!” she said, remaining blissfully unaware of the gravity of the situation. “I don’t understand why people have to be so weird about these things. It’s just frozen yogurt.”

So far, the Menchie’s seems to be a big hit, but is still in the honeymoon phase where anything new to campus is still exciting and hasn’t been tainted yet like most things available to students.

Anderson and the rest of the FFFs are trying to hasten that, standing outside the location with picket signs and yelling at potential customers.

“Give it time,” scoffed Anderson.

“They’ll come crawling back to the Yeti way.”

Meanwhile, the Highland Pub remains closed, which is what everyone on campus really wants open.

A recently released anonymous report has suggested that the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) has orchestrated the Highland Pub’s ongoing financial worries and recent closure for a secret purpose: seizing the premises for wild ragers in the comfort of their home campus.

The SFSS directors might be straitlaced, hard-working students with a desire to give back to the non-existent community of this commuter campus, but as the report mentions, that reputation comes with a cost: severe repression of the natu-

ral human need to get weird sometimes.

“They’re under great societal pressure to maintain squeakyclean images,” remarked Psychology student, Baz Semke,“who can blame them for resorting to foul play and falsification of documents if it meant finally letting loose the way Blue Mountain State promised they would at university?”

17

All official documentation indicates that the popular student hangout has indeed been silent and sealed off around the clock. Yet there have been a number of eyewitness accounts of strange goings-on at night, up to and including a competitive dance-off conducted to a remix of “Hotline Bling.”

“I knew the SFSS was responsible right away,” asserted one student. “The glinting of VP Student Life’s distinctive earrings as he moved to the groove was unmistakable to me, even while half-asleep.”

Deepak Sharma, the President of the SFSS, denies all claims of foul play: from rumours of VP Finance faking the Highland’s bank statements to allegations that John Flipse, general manager of the Highland, was baked into a pie and replaced by a suspiciously similar substitute.

“Yes, the pub’s got a nice pool table, and sure, we’ve been tempted to divert funding towards Boozy Fridays. But our little meeting room is our home,” said Sharma. “Besides, if we really cared about the collegiate party scene, we would’ve transferred to UBC or UVic a long time ago.”

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Humour

COMICS Serious Bananas by Destiny Hsu

Creator’s Pet by Destiny Hsu

Peers by Leslie Lu

Summertime Sadness by Paige Smith

Justin Stevens / Humour Editor

humour@the-peak.ca

Humour

May 24, 2016

19

If you ever bring another cucumber into this house, I will shit on your dead mother’s satin pillowcases.

You may adore your fuzzy feline, but it feels quite the opposite about you. In truth, your cat probably thinks you’re a real ass-hat most of the time. It continually observes you and your strange human practices and has concluded that there are infinite reasons to hate you — but it doesn’t have time for that with all the midday naps she takes. So here are the top 10 reason your cat think you’re an asshole.

Health? If death wants me, she can have me — I just never want that man’s finger in my asshole again.

I would not like to be coddled by all these odorous flesh bags, thank you.

It’s only polite that you feast on the mangled mouse corpse a cat has brought for you to enjoy.

It’s really just simple manners — I don’t understand why you insist on being so extravagantly rude.

You waste so much time washing your genitals manually.

You ought to try licking them clean instead.

The amount of dried shit in my fur isn’t unreasonable at all.

Honestly, I really don’t understand what the big fuss is about.

Your unsightly nude figure makes me wretch.

It’s a warzone in there, man.

You go into a dark room full of week-old shit to relieve yourself and tell me how you feel. I, however, will enjoy a pleasant piss on the couch.

Look I don’t understand what you’re yelling about, but I just wanted to inform you that I may have puked on the rug several times. Just in case you weren’t already aware. Watch your step!

Baby needs rubs, and baby needs rubs often. I guess I’ll just have to pass the time knocking over your mother’s urn. Maybe then I can have a clean place to shit.

Jacey Gibb Peak Associate Unicyclists in the Greater Vancouver area are being advised to be extracautious with their rides this summer, as the number of unicycle thefts across the Lower Mainland have nearly doubled since last year.

“Our research has shown that men between the ages of 18 and 35 are the most likely to have their unicycles stolen — mostly because no one else would even think about riding a unicycle in the first place,” Police Chief Will Schneider told reporters last Wednesday. “Follow-up interviews did reveal that some individuals would consider riding a unicycle if they were in a situation that called for one, like maybe being part of a circus or if they were dared to do it, but other than that, it’s a mystery.”

In a statement released in conjunction with the press conference, police revealed that over 40 unicycles have already been reported stolen across the Greater Vancouver area in 2016. Police suggested that the number might even be higher, as some individuals fear the ridicule that comes

with being publicly known as owning a unicycle. Trevor Stills is one of those 40 who reported their unicycle stolen.

“I had just left my barber shop for my bi-weekly moustache condi-

tioning when I noticed my fixed-gear unicycle wasn’t where I’d locked it up,” Stills explained. “That’s when I knew that some thief with probably

modest-but-refined taste had stolen my ride.”

Stills’ story is a common one, and Vancouver police are utilizing new tactics in hopes of preventing future unicycle thefts. Following the press conference last week, authorities released a map using collected data to show the areas of the city where thefts are more likely to occur. Included amongst these “hot spots” are outside the Urban Outfitters on Granville Street, several vegan juice bars located in the downtown Vancouver core, and literally every block of Main Street.

“If it’s impossible to stay away from these high-risk places 100 percent, then we recommend that people use alternative modes of transportation,” advised Schneider.

“In the ideal world, we want potential future unicyclists to reconsider and instead purchase bicycles. Bike thefts in the Lower Mainland are actually higher in sheer number and frequency, but at least those folks don’t look like assholes when they’re riding around town.”

20 Last Word

There’s No Place Like Home Brandon Tidy just finished his first year at Simon Fraser University. He played for the men’s hockey team, and is trying to transfer into business.

He went back home for the summer hoping to make some money for school.

He was going to see friends and family, and spend more time with his girlfriend. A typical summer for a lot of SFU students — with one major exception.

Brandon’s home is Fort McMurray.

Within two days of being back home, he was evacuated.

“I got back Sunday night [May 1] and there was some smoke. On Monday, it was really smoky. Tuesday, it was all clear, but by the afternoon it was bad and we heard on the radio basically just ‘Leave town,’” he recalled. “I was only back for a day and a half, and then right away we had this problem and we had to leave.

“The initial shock is over. Now it’s just kind of frustrating.”

Within 48 hours, his entire summer plan was gone. Instead, he and an entire city now had to look ahead, and quickly.

He had less than half an hour to figure out a plan to get what he could in one fell swoop, and leave his home for what could be the last time.

“I was at the gym with my girlfriend and we got back to my house and they

basically said on the radio that we had 20 minutes to get out. One minute you’re just planning lunch, the next minute you’re packing,” he said.

“My dad was at work and we were trying to go pick him up. We were trying to go north, but officers told us we had to go south. We actually drove through the fire, it was pretty crazy. Driving through town, you look to your left and you look to your right and all you see is flames. It was surreal. Once you get out of town, you drive 50 kilometres, and it’s clear blue skies again.

It’s just really weird.”

A Family Divided Brandon is now on Vancouver Island, where he grew up before moving to Fort McMurray seven years ago. He’s with family and his girlfriend, Sophie. While he and his family are all now safe, the evacuation was hectic as they were all split up. Brandon’s father was trapped for days by the fire.

“They’re safe now. My mom got out right away as well. I was worried about my dad, he got trapped north of Fort McMurray,” he said. “He was sleeping on a piece of plywood for four or five nights before they were able [to get to him]. He was supposed to fly out the next day, then eventually it cleared up enough for him to drive out.

Tamara Connor / Features Editor

features@the-peak.ca

“The smoke was so dense that even driving through the car they had to wear gas masks,” he said. “The air quality was so bad, it was suffocating.

“That was a little tense, and my mom was having a hard time especially when my dad couldn’t get out of town, but now we’re all safe and out of town. Now we’re just waiting for when it’s safe to go home.”

The Road Ahead It’s now the waiting part that could take up Brandon’s summer. With the fire still raging on, there’s no telling when evacuees can return to the city. Once home to 80,000 residents, Fort McMurray won’t see many of those folks return until early June, as outlined in Alberta’s conditional timeline.

There’s no timetable in place for any sort of permanent return, which means Brandon and the tens of thousands of other evacuees are in limbo.

“We’re trying to make a plan, but it’s tough. You want to get a job and save money for school but no one wants to hire you for as little as two weeks depending on what happens,” he said.

“Right now, it’s been great getting support from everyone. The whole nation has been supporting this cause.

“So I just keep putting myself on Kijiji and trying to do odd jobs for cash, trying to

save some money and hopefully I’ll have a job to go back to when I get home.”

Brandon is one of the fortunate ones whose home wasn’t touched by the fire.

He said it got as close as 700 metres, but smoke damage is the worst he’ll have to deal with personally.

“My home is likely going to smell like a campfire for a while, but at least I have a house to come back to so I’m really grateful for that,” he said.

Another thing he’s really grateful for is the “overwhelming” support he and the rest of Fort McMurray have received from everyone. The drive from Fort McMurray to Vancouver Island was filled with fundraisers, and the donations and relief efforts hit home for him. The kindness of strangers was most pronounced in a bar the first night on the road after he evacuated.

“Me and my girlfriend and a buddy from Edmonton went to go for a beer and when they ID’d us, they saw we were from Fort Mac. They said ‘Everything is on us, don’t worry about it.’ Everywhere you go, everyone’s trying to help out the best they can, and it’s awesome how kind Canadians are,” said Brandon.

“I just want to say thank you to anybody [who supported Fort McMurray] and even if they have no ties, being a Canadian people are still supporting the cause and it means a lot.”