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OPINION
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca
So this is Christmas, and what have you done to our cups? DREW BERGEN
CONTRIBUTOR
I’m sure we’ve all heard about it by now: Starbucks decided not to wish you a merry Christmas through their cups, and people got mad. In fact, one may say a lot of people got mad based on how much publicity this got, right? Well, it can’t be said for certain exactly how many people got mad. But I can tell you how this all happened. One day, Starbucks decided, “Hey, let’s just do red cups this year instead of any decorations. I mean, it saves money on ink, and people are just going to put sleeves over the cup anyways.” Then, one guy noticed, and got angry enough to post a video on Facebook that got shared around a lot. Again, I can’t say how many people agree
with them, but from the media I’ve seen, I believe I can safely say that the percentage of the population making fun of this situation eclipses the percentage of those who actually agree. Either way, this is something neither Christians nor anyone else should be giving the time of day. Practically everyone is going to be slipping a sleeve over the cup anyway, and so their only exposure to it is when the barista hands it to them; they get a nice sparkly sense of holiday spirit, and then they forget about it ten seconds later. It’s insignificant, and speaking as a Christian, we don’t need companies like Starbucks acknowledging the holiday like that. I find it obnoxious that people will latch onto these silly little things and not let them go. I’m
one of those people that get annoyed by these silly, popular news stories that get way more attention than they should as a consequence of the era of Facebook. But unfortunately for anyone who’s sick of seeing so much about this, there’s a good chance this topic is going to remain in your newsfeed for a while because it’s so silly. I don’t care if cups wish me merry Christmas or not, and neither should anyone. These are cups for a chain of coffee shops; Starbucks is free to put whatever they want on them, and whether the cups wish you a Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, or Happy Hanukkah, it will not affect anyone. The world will not come to an end. Image: Starbucks
No. None of this matters.
Humour
Head over hooves: why UFV needs goats SONJA KLOTZ
CONTRIBUTOR
Everywhere you look on the internet there are many pictures, videos, and witty captions of goats of all breeds and sizes. We have all seen the infamous YouTube video of goat sounds harmoniously blended with Taylor Swift’s hit song, “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Once people discovered the entertainment value, they couldn’t help but join in on the party. Wired UK declared 2013 “The Year of the Goat.” In response to that, Nerve.com recognized what seemed to be a “herd mentality” of people falling head over hooves with goat memes and videos. I, for one, am a true fan of this phenomenon. More specifically, I am a strong
advocate of bringing these wonderful creatures onto our very own UFV campus. Not only are they adorable and obnoxiously entertaining to watch, but they can also contribute to our environmental sustainability initiatives. Owning a goat can increase one’s self-esteem, create a sustainable social network, provide therapeutic functions, and, of course, generate income, according to a 2011 study by Robyn Elizabeth Winsor and Morten Skovdal that appeared in the Western Kenya Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. More importantly, the human-animal bond creates a sense of security, comfort, and joy. Just as dog therapy has positive psychosocial effects on stress reduction, a goat has
therapeutic value, while also going above and beyond the call of adorableness by adding to the environmental and economic sustainability initiatives here at the UFV campus. Just imagine going from one lecture to the next and suddenly being greeted by a smiling goat. I don’t know about you, but my stress levels would most likely go down enough to feel rejuvenated for my next lecture. Seeing goats can also increase one’s self-esteem when it comes to personal hygiene; no matter what you may think about yourself, know that you will always smell better than a goat. Environmentally, goats are the most reliable and durable creatures when it comes to creating beautiful landscapes. They are hardcore mountaineers, and they
clean up the brush and tread upon places no human dares to go. As stated on the Eco-Goats website, “Grazing goats are very effective at eating the kinds of excessive weeds and brush that pose a risk of unwanted fires ... Goats eat year round, but the best time to use goats depends on the vegetation to be removed.” According to a 2009 CNET article, the Google Corporation brought in 200 goats as an alternative method for mowing their large landscapes in beautiful California. I don’t know about you, but bringing in 200 goats to mow your lawn sounds to me like way more fun than always hearing a huge lawnmower go by when you are in the middle of programming the world’s largest internet search engine. No matter what you are studying or
working on, I believe that goats grazing right outside of your window allows a sense of peace and tranquillity. There would be nothing more perfect than to have goats on our university campus, especially as we’re surrounded by farmland. How fitting would it be to have them mowing our large lawn, and fertilizing the land, while also providing milk, cheese, and other natural resources for our very own café? I say UFV needs to do something out of the ordinary. If we want to be known for something in the Canadian world of post-secondary prestige, let’s be the first university to have goats and decrease our carbon footprint on a regular basis. Let’s goat for it!
Capra aegagrus hircus: useful, environmentally friendly, and adorable
Image: Jlhopgood / Flickr