The Cascade Vol. 23 No. 8

Vol. 23 Issue 8

March 4, 2015 to March 11, 2015

since 1993

Rally

to save the

Writing Centre p. 8-9

Mad about mechatronics New diploma program comes to UFV — and yes, it’s as cool as it sounds p. 5

Ghost Sick Celebrating writer in residence Emily Pohl-Weary’s new book of poetry p. 10

Culture clashes and coexistence Rudy Wiebe on history of Mennonites and First Nations in the Fraser Valley ufvcascade.ca

p. 10

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NEWS

News

Rick Hansen Secondary becomes science and business school

ABBOTSFORD — Rick Hansen Secondary school is the first science and business-focused high school in BC. Offering programs in science, business, and medicine, the school is prioritizing those fields to prepare students for post-secondary education. The traditional teaching method of textbooks and lectures will be substituted by more group-work and problem-solving skills, which the school says will prepare students for work in those careers. Rick Hansen will still teach math, arts, languages, and humanities, but will emphasize education in science and business.

— Abbotsford News

SFU protests international health and dental plan

BURNABY — The SFU Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) presented a petition to university administration last Wednesday. The Union is protesting the Guard.me plan, which automatically opts in international students when they arrive in Canada, as the domestic healthcare plan takes a few months to begin. However, Guard.me re-enrolls students in the plan after that point, and the Union says it charges twice as much. TSSU started a petition, now having over 600 signatures, and presented it to SFU administration last week — who gain a five per cent return rate from each collected fee.

— The Peak

UNBC profs striking

PRINCE GEORGE — On Monday, the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) faculty gave a 72-hour strike notice, threatening to begin on Thursday. After multiple attempts to present their case — pointing out the university’s ranking in the country and the faculty and staff’s working conditions — the administration and faculty have not come to a decision. The UNBC Faculty Association has been lobbying for raises, but the university says there’s not much it can do under the funding constraints from the provicinal government. If it lasts long enough, the strike may threaten final exams, as faculty are withdrawing all services, including organizing exams.

— Prince George Citizen

Have a news tip?

Let us know! news@ufvcascade.ca @CascadeNews

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Meet your SUS reps

News

4

Opinion

6

Culture

8

Arts in Review

14

Broad City, bitches!

Sports & Health

20

To the final four!

Briefs

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015

The votes are in! Check out your new 2015-16 Student Union Society (SUS) board of directors.

Sex ed for the 21st century

Teaching kids about different gender identities and sexualities is essential to building a safe, supportive environment for them to grow up in, writes Ashley Mussbacher.

To Light a Candle

The persecution of the Bahá’í people, a minority religious group in Iran, has been gaining attention globally as they fight for the right to education. Valerie Franklin reviews a documentary screening and panel discussion hosted at the Reach.

Broad City’s Abbi and Ilana are back, and season two is no tamer than season one. Check out Sasha Moedt’s TV review.

The Cascades men’s basketball team narrowly beat the Calgary Dinos in a bid to the Canada West Final Four. Check out varsity writer Nathan Hutton’s take on the games.

With UFV wrestling suspension, reckless speculation is not the right approach KATIE STOBBART

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Storytelling comes with responsibility. If the telling’s not right and you don’t get all the facts, you risk causing harm.

The Cascade is currently investigating a story that could cause a lot of harm if mishandled.

From the beginning, the writers working on this have been painfully aware of that responsibility to relay information in a way that is comprehensive, fair, factual, and in service of the public good.

All this while their supposedly professional counterparts fail to do the same. The coverage to date on the same story is speculative and misleading at best; at worst, it’s false and teethskinshy of slander.

Fact. Four wrestlers from the UFV men’s team have been suspended due to alleged misconduct.

On February 27, the Abbotsford News published an article

by Vikki Hopes and Tyler Olsen which is little more than a list of dead end leads. While their approach isn’t ideal, the subsequent “coverage” by CTV’s Jon Woodward eclipses it.

Volume 23 · Issue 8 Room C1027 33844 King Road Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 604.854.4529

Editor-in-Chief katie@ufvcascade.ca Katie Stobbart Managing Editor valerie@ufvcascade.ca Valerie Franklin Director of Business Development joe@ufvcascade.ca Joe Johnson Production and Design Editor anthony@ufvcascade.ca Anthony Biondi Copy Editor kodie@ufvcascade.ca Kodie Cherrille

Woodward speculates under the guise of unbiased coverage, conflates footage from scandals at other universities with no publishable evidence of a link, and, frankly, resorts to gossip: “sources say” it all started at a party … an unspecified social media post supposedly alluded to the nature of the misconduct … It’s garbage journalism.

Prior to publishing, both Hopes and Woodward approached The Cascade offering to work together on the “tale” (Woodward), probing for information.

They were wrong to think we’d give it to them.

The Cascade is part of the UFV community, and we’re taking this coverage seriously; when we tell a story, it should be because there’s some good in our audience (fellow students) knowing, not just because we know it’ll get read by a scandalized audience.

If that means waiting a couple of weeks to get the whole story, and to make sure the people implicated in it aren’t unduly harmed in the process, so be it.

On March 2 I spoke with Woodward on the phone. I expressed my concerns and displeasure with the nature of News Editors megan@ufvcascade.ca Megan Lambert katie@ufvcascade.ca Katie Stobbart (interim) Opinion Editor alex@ufvcascade.ca Alex Rake Culture Editor nadine@ufvcascade.ca Nadine Moedt Arts in Review Editor sasha@ufvcascade.ca Sasha Moedt Interim Sports Editor sasha@ufvcascade.ca Sasha Moedt Video Editor mitch@ufvcascade.ca Mitch Huttema Webmaster ashley@ufvcascade.ca Ashley Mussbacher

his approach to this story. He brushed me off, made excuses.

He tried to suggest we were after the same thing.

“You and I are cut from the same cloth,” he said. (Because we’re in a B-movie, apparently?)

Later the same day my colleague, who is working on the story, spoke with Woodward at his request. He made the offer of working together, and if we

The coverage to date on the story is speculative and misleading at best; at worst, it’s false and teethskin-shy of slander. agreed, he’d hold The Cascade up on screen.

My colleague told him she did not want to be associated with unethical journalism. He laughed at her.

After all, why would she pass up the opportunity to work on a “major story” with a “major news organization”?

If real journalism means becoming blind to the stories that need to be told and the people whose real, lived experiences they reflect; if it means seeing

only the scoop and the profit, financial or otherwise; then I want nothing to do with it.

This kind of sloppy storytelling by journalists in the field is negligent, and it’s appalling.

Woodward appears to be mongering for scandal. He has waited outside homes and ambushed people with questions in their driveway. He has allegedly tracked down their personal cell phone numbers, called their parents where they work, and recorded conversations without disclosure. His tactics are invasive, even predatory.

Until the misconduct investigation ends, policy prevents anyone implicated from sharing the story fully. Meanwhile, we’re aiming for diligent reportage that is properly researched, includes interviews from multiple perspectives, and presents the facts — all the facts.

So with that in mind, please bear with us, because this is about more than a shot at national gold in Edmonton, and it’s a bigger issue than can be properly covered in a four-minute news segment. We owe it to our readers, and to the owners of this story, to tell it right.

Varsity Writer nathan@ufvcascade.ca Nathan Hutton

Printed By International Web exPress

Production Assistants shyanne@ufvcascade.ca Shyanne Schedel

The Cascade is UFV’s autonomous student newspaper. It provides a forum for UFV students to have their journalism published. It also acts as an alternative press for the Fraser Valley. The Cascade is funded with UFV student funds. The Cascade is published every Wednesday with a circulation of 1500 and is distributed at UFV campuses and throughout Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Mission. The Cascade is a member of the Canadian University Press, a national cooperative of over 50 university and college newspapers from Victoria to St. John’s. The Cascade follows the CUP ethical policy concerning material of a prejudicial or oppressive nature.

Submissions are preferred in electronic format through e-mail. Please send submissions in “.txt” or “.doc” format only.

Articles and letters to the editor must be typed. The Cascade reserves the right to edit submissions for clarity and length. The Cascade will not print any articles that contain racist, sexist, homophobic or libellous content. The writer’s name and student number must be submitted with each submission. Letters to the editor must be under 250 words if intended for print. Only one letter to the editor per writer in any given edition.

Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of UFV, Cascade staff and collective, or associated members.

eugene@ufvcascade.ca Eugene Kulaga Advertising Representative jennifer@ufvcascade.ca Jennifer Trithardt-Tufts Contributors Martin Castro, Miranda Louwerse, and Jasmin Sprangers Illustrations Brittany Cardinal, Wayne Chin, and Sultan Kano Jum.

Cover image: Anthony Biondi Photos by: Megan Lambert

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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Got #UFVProblems? You’re not alone Twitter account creator speaks on anonymity, engagement, and bonding over the bad MEGAN LAMBERT

THE CASCADE

It started as a hashtag: #ufvproblems.

Then the inaugural tweet by UFV Problems (@ufvprobs) came on November 5, 2013: “Hey guys!

We are here to bring you the best of the worst of our beloved (hated?) university!”

At time of print, it has over 400 followers keeping up to date on issues, complaints, or quirks UFV students encounter — whether it’s the search for parking on campus or the infamous Tim Hortons line, which has been known to snake its way out of the Peter Jones Learning Commons and onto the Green.

The account is anonymous, and the human behind the hashtag — we’ll use the name Sam — wants to keep it that way.

“I made the account and didn’t

tell [anybody]. None of my friends know. Nobody knows,” Sam says.

The idea was to create an account to see how many other students go through the same small things on campus.

As it turns out, there are a lot.

The account has more than 400 followers, and Sam says the response from students has been positive, even over negative things.

“It’s kind of funny to see the community come together and bond, even though we’re all just random people put together.”

Trying to foster a student community and engagement on campus has been a puzzle at UFV for years. Sam notes that since UFV is a commuter campus, establishing community can be difficult.

But even with the bonding happening on Twitter, UFV Problems doesn’t want to join up with institution-run initiatives.

“I don’t want it to be one of those faculty-run, in-your-face, annoying [social media accounts],” Sam says, explaining that if it’s influenced by the institution, the tweets won’t be as funny or relatable.

Like any sensible superhero, Sam will continue acting as campus vigilante under the mask of the account. The account-holder’s identity may be revealed upon graduation, when the search for the right person to carry the torch begins.

In the meantime, Sam’s true identity will remain secret from other students, and will continue to be waitlisted for classes and wait in the cold for a coffee like the rest of us.

“It’s kind of mysterious, but they know I go to UFV and I’m experiencing the same crap they are.”

If a tree falls on campus ... what happens?

CEP campus replants and repurposes old and hazardous trees as part of tree management program VALERIE FRANKLIN

THE CASCADE

Students familiar with the CEP campus’ elegant, shady trees may have been surprised to see a pile of over a dozen logs on the grounds when they returned from reading break. As part of the tree management program, the university has taken down 15 trees identified as potential safety hazards.

Like other individuals and organizations with large trees on their property, UFV is required by provincial and municipal bylaws to have a tree management program. Director of facilities Mark Goudsblom notes that while the CEP campus’ tall trees are attractive, they can pose a threat if not properly maintained. In past years, blowndown trees and branches have posed a threat to structures near the university, including the president’s house.

“We’ve got a beautiful lot that we need to manage, and we have to keep in mind all the people who could be walking under the trees,” Goudsblom says. “And as such we have to be very mindful that these trees [that] pose a hazard or that could be a risk need to be considered as a safety concern, and as such are taken down.”

Under UFV’s tree management program, the CEP campus land

Image: Joe Johnson

Fifteen trees were taken down, but an equal or greater number of trees will be replanted elsewhere. is divided into five plots. Every year an external arborist inspects these plots for potential safety hazards, such as trees that may fall in a windstorm, trees that need to be trimmed or “deadwooded,” and trees that have simply gotten too old to remain standing safely. Following this review process, the university is given a list of recommendations and hires an outside company to carry these instructions out.

This year plot number two was examined, and it was determined that 15 trees needed to be removed. Goudsblom notes that each of these trees posed a potential safety hazard, including

a row of hedges which was also removed under the tree management program.

“One of the recommendations from the arborist was to bring down the hedges so it creates an open line of sight across that plain,” Goudsblom says. “It makes for a much more open, wider, feel … It can be dark there at night, so it reduces some of those safety risks.”

Although a pile of logs can be a saddening sight, Goudsblom emphasizes that the university has been conscientious about sustainability in its replanting efforts.

“We took down 15 trees, but

… for every tree we took down, we planted at least one more tree back,” Goudsblom explains.

He adds that the university will be planting even more trees between V building and the barn: “We’re working with [agriculture instructor] Tom Baumann and the agricultural program, and we’re planting another 12 to 15 trees there as well,” he says.

However, choosing where to plant poses a unique challenge: the university must think 20 to 50 years in advance in order to leave flexibility for future building plans. Goudsblom notes that the university has also planned ahead for future heat waves,

planting a line of shade-giving oak trees along parking lot 10 — a large patch of asphalt that heats up in the summer.

“It gets really hot,” Goudsblom explains. “So we planted fast-growing oak trees along that road, and … when they grow they’ll start to provide shade onto the parking lot, and with that it’ll reduce the thermal output.”

Through the process of replanting the trees, the university has also been mindful of the unceded Stó:lō territory on which it sits.

“We worked with [UFV’s senior advisor on indigenous affairs] Shirley Hardman and we’ve planted back three cedars close to A building, because they have a spiritual significance for our aboriginal population,” says Goudsblom. “When we plant trees back, we need to make sure we do that in line with how we see the future of the university, how we want to use our ground.”

Although some of the fallen trees may be sold to a mill as a cost-recovery effort, Goudsblom says the majority of the logs will go to UFV’s carpentry program to be used by students — an appropriate final destination for trees that have overlooked a place of learning for decades.

With files from Megan Lambert.

4

NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Prof Talk

The fox and the hedgehog Political science professor Ron Dart talks university, politics, and mountaineering MEGAN LAMBERT THE CASCADE

Prof Talk is The Cascade’s oral history series, featuring interviews with the people best qualified to talk about what UFV has been like over the course of its first few decades: its professors.

Each week we interview a professor from a different department, asking them what UFV was like before it was a university, and how they predict things will continue to change here.

Ron Dart is a political science professor at UFV who has done work with Amnesty International and other non-governmental organizations. He also wrote a chapter outlining UFV’s history in an upcoming book titled The History of Abbotsford.

What brought you to UFV? I was on staff with Amnesty International in the 1980s and had done a lot of work on international relations and human rights.

Work at Amnesty was very busy: travelling around and having to go to embassies and general offices. I had two young kids at the time and I had moved out here, and I was asked to come lecture on Amnesty International in Scott Fast’s international relations course.

This would have been spring of 1990, and [when he became head of the department] he asked, “Would you be able to teach my courses in international relations and philosophy of law in the autumn?”

I said, “Well, I’ll try to balance dashing about with Amnesty” — then I was directing the Western region — “and two courses.” So I did it. Quite demanding, quite tiring, and after I did that for a year or two they asked if I would come on fulltime in the political science department.

How would you describe the culture or feeling of UFV when you first got here?

Fraser Valley College was smaller; it was only a few buildings. It was much more collegial. We knew one another as faculty and staff. We worked a lot closer with the students. [There were] not as many demands on us in terms of responsibilities. As we moved from a small college to a university college to a university, demands grow and grow, and become greater and greater, so our time is increasingly insulated.

What kind of courses did you start out teaching?

My first semester was international relations. It was a natural hand-in-glove fit for the work I was doing. I also taught philosophy of law — a lot of criminology students.

As an amusing sidebar, a lot of students did their degrees in criminology, then they’d be at the border here, so when I would go mountain climbing at Mount Baker and other places, I’d often find I’d get them and they’d revert to a student role and shuttle me through very quickly.

Image: Ron Dart

Ron Dart climbs mountains when he’s not teaching political science at UFV. What kind of changes have you made in your teaching approaches or methods?

There are two different extremes. One: I’m the sage of the stage, you’ve got all these little birds with their beaks open and I drop the worms in. That’s the one tradition. The other is the conversational tradition, where people just sit around and talk about reading and there’s not a lot of teacher input, other than being a facilitator or midwife.

I’ve always seen teaching not as delivering facts, statistics, information. It’s more about, at its best, listening or evoking wisdom in terms of what is important in life in the soul, our growth, our life, and understanding as a human being. We can get computers to deliver information and facts. It doesn’t take a lot of brains to do that.

But to help a person to come to understand who they are, their life’s journey, what’s meaningful, what’s silly, what’s worth living for. That’s more about education’s wisdom. “Education” comes from Latin educar, to draw forth. A good teacher draws forth the potential of their students in terms of what they might be.

What other projects or research have you

been working on?

Oh, lots. I was what they call a ski bum; I travelled with my skis on my back and I went mountaineering and just a couple years ago I did a 30,000 foot descent down Mount Everest. So, that whole mountaineering side, I’ve written books on mountaineering and humanity and beats of the northern Cascades.

I’ve done work on red Tory tradition, an old form of conservatism in Canada, so I’ve done four books. I’ve spent time at the homes of Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, some of the leading European intellectuals of the 20th century.

I have an interest in many things. Isaiah Berlin wrote a book called The Fox and the Hedgehog, and he compared two types of people: the fox, who romps across the terrain, a brain of varied and diverse interests, and the hedgehog, who just burrows into a narrow inlet. So I have the hedgehog side, with certain interests I just burrow deeper into, and then also I have a wide range of interests. Like the fox and the hedgehog.

While we often talk about UFV as a single entity, each student or prof brings something different to the table and

takes something away. How would you describe what you’ve taken out of UFV? My three major areas of university life: humanities [and] social sciences, sciences, [and] the business side. My interest is the humanities, what makes us human in a thoughtful and significant way. The humanities are a bit of an endangered species. They’re not going to immediately hit you with a job.

The danger of a place like this is that it can shrink to a Shire; it’s a bit like The Hobbit. There’s the Shire but then there’s the big world. I’d like to think I bring the bigger world to the Shire.

A university teaches, at its best, to think not just globally in terms of business or getting jobs, but educating in the best sense of educating souls and minds and imaginations to live in a more meaningful manner. There’s a tendency now to think the university is just a job training centre, and really, it’s just trades we’re getting people involved in. The older, classical tradition is a deeper, contemplative way.

That gets lost in the hurly burly and the demands of the university as a business, like any other business, that sells information like apples and oranges. A university can lose its soul when that happens.

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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Mechatronics diploma taking off despite recruitment and hiring challenges MIRANDA LOUWERSE

CONTRIBUTOR

Students and faculty were excited to see the new engineering physics diploma in mechatronics unfold this semester, having been underway since the fall.

Mechatronics is a branch of engineering that combines mechanics and electronics. Students enter the diploma after a year of university studies in physics and mathematics. They then take two years of physics and engineeringintensive courses that focus on learning the theory of mechatronics. At the end, students complete a final project in a course titled “Mechatronics.”

Lin Long, an electrical engineer hired by the faculty of sciences to help develop and run the diploma, describes the final course as

the “milestone project,” in which students work in groups to apply everything they have learned throughout the program.

“For our courses, we have automatic control systems, we have mechanics, and we have sensors and actuators,” Long says.

“So this would combine all those courses together to work on this project.” She adds that the course combines hands-on and theoretical approaches.

“Most of it would be hands-on; they have to assemble it. On the academic side, they need to … figure out the control system,” she says.

This blend of applied and theoretical approaches is what sets UFV’s program apart from other BC engineering diploma programs, according to physics professor Tim Cooper.

“Generally two-year programs, in order for their graduates to be useful, have a lot of hands-on skills and therefore less academic skills. There’s only so much room in two years; we wanted a higher academic level, but we knew we couldn’t have a degree,” Cooper explained back when the program was under review in October 2013.

The capstone course, in combination with the rest of the diploma, will qualify students for jobs as if they completed a fouryear engineering degree. Cooper says the diploma’s intention is to streamline the process and allow students to graduate faster; because students get work experience sooner, in the end the diploma is about equivalent to a full degree.

Right now, one of the main efforts of the program developers is

to attract international students, as they pay more tuition to take the same courses.

“The program is self-funded,” says Long. “We have to take international students to support us.”

When the diploma was developed, the university intended to admit 18 students: nine domestic and nine international. Cooper says there are currently 13 students enrolled, two of whom are international. He says that because the program is new, they have not been able to promote the program internationally yet.

To encourage international enrollment, they have been in contact with universities in China, who are now preparing to send 30 to 40 students to study mechatronics at UFV. Another difficulty facing the program is hiring qualified in-

structors. For an engineering program to be allowed to give students credentials, the instructors must have an engineering degree and at least four years of experience in the field. Cooper says these qualifications indicate instructors have gotten past their first job; they are more firmly established in the field and therefore more qualified to teach. However, it also usually means they currently have high-paying jobs and it is more difficult to attract them to teaching at UFV. “This is our new program and we have had some difficulties to start up in the beginning,” Long says. “On the other side, [students] are very excited. In courses for this semester, I am teaching circuit analysis and electronics, and I can see that they are very excited [and] interested.”

New board, new budget, new gavel

SUS election results are in and the financial plan for 2015-16 is on the table MEGAN LAMBERT

THE CASCADE

Firmly rapping a shiny rosewood gavel at the head of the table, chair Zack Soderstrom called the February 27 Student Union Society (SUS) board of directors meeting to order.

As it was the first meeting following the SUS election, which ran from Feb. 23 to 27 on myUFV, the results of the vote (right) were announced. Just like with the current board, these students will congregate once a month to discuss issues from their respective departments and propose new ideas to the rest of the board.

Four hundred and seventythree students voted in the election. Outgoing president Ryan

Petersen noted that out of 9,000 students in those faculties, that number is not an accurate representation of the student body.

“The whole idea of democracy works when everyone participates,” he said.

“We would really like to see that increase in participation from our membership.”

After the new board members were announced, Thomas Davies (currently VP internal) presented the new budget to the board. The 2015-16 financial plan passed unanimously.

Davies noted that instead of adjusting last year’s budget for next year, he and the SUS budget committee started from scratch using historical data. This, he said, will allow for a more accurate budget, and funds the soci-

ety was not using could be reallocated.

SUS will hold a budget forum on Mar. 13 to publish the completed plan and further explain how much money will go to employees, clubs and associations, and other SUS services.

A few days later on Mar. 16, SUS will hold its annual general meeting (AGM). Then it will end the month by hosting the annual Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) conference, where student unions from across Canada will congregate to discuss lobbying initiatives and common student concerns.

The next board meeting will be March 20 at 6:30 p.m. in A2428 at CEP in Chilliwack.

Position

Elected

For

President

Thomas Davies

285

VP internal

Ricardo Coppola

285

VP external

Sukhi Brar

231

Aboriginal rep

Jennifer Janik

230

College of arts rep

Ekaterina Marenkov

221

Faculty of health sciences rep

Ria Geluk

235

Faculty of professional studies rep

Derek Ward-Hall

250

Faculty of sciences rep

Joshua Wilke

125

Broken glass not-so-breaking news KATIE STOBBART

THE CASCADE

The Science Centre was closed temporarily last week after one of the panes in the glass-walled study centre broke. While the exact cause is unknown, director of facilities Mark Goudsblom said the break did not seem intentional.

“The broken glass was iden-

tified by one of our building maintenance workers on Monday morning [Feb. 16]. It appears to be accidental (as we did have a contractor in on Sunday working that area) or it could have been a tension break,” he stated in an email.

The missing pane has since been replaced, and students can access the room again.

Image: Katie Stobbart

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OPINION

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

SNAPSHOTS

Image: Eugene Kulaga

Net neutrality versus #thedress

Curtailed commentary on current conditions

Image: Anthony Biondi

An amoral world

Image: Sultan Jum

Image: Anthony Biondi

Hidden in the trees

Did you leave your lights on?

Mitch Huttema

Jasmin Sprangers

Joe Johnson

Nina de l’Aparcamienta*

In past months, a battle has been waged against the corporatization of the internet.

Big internet companies have been spending millions of dollars lobbying for something called “internet slow lanes.” This will basically allow them to charge customers more money to use the internet and even control what sites users can access. But on Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission confirmed that they will stop internet service companies from purchasing fast lanes, cementing a policy that will ensure the internet remains equal and open for all.

However, rather than celebrate its liberation last Thursday, the internet exploded into controversy over the ambiguous colour of a blue and black (or gold and white, whatever) dress. How characteristic of the internet: a six-month battle to keep it open and free succeeds, and we find its users blissfully ignorant, debating the pointless and staring at cat videos.

One thing that really bugs me about the world today is the lack of morals that people seem to have. I’m not claiming to be perfect, because I know for sure that I am not, but certain morals should come naturally. Like lying: the little white lies told by everyone can be harmless in small doses, but can cause huge issues when they snowball.

There’s also theft. Theft really bugs me because people work so hard for the things that they have. As students, textbooks and laptops are our lives — in fact, our grades (and futures) live within these possessions.

And when they are stolen, well ... There goes our hard work, money, and extra time studying as we try to recreate what we lost.

It all comes down to honesty and motivation. Honesty and motivation will get you far in life, and when those two things are constant the world will be a better place.

At the south side of the Abbotsford campus, nestled into the large, towering evergreens, sits a sizeable open space. It’s fairly simple to get to — just walk across the ring road near where the gym and student union building meet. This is my favourite spot on campus. It’s intimate, yet accessible, and not affected by the noise of the university. But nobody ever really uses it, which is shocking. Sure, right now it’s a little damp out and picnicing or lying on the grass to read doesn’t seem too appealing at this time of year, but even in the summer it’s not really used. This is a great spot, and I just want students to use it for cool and interesting purposes. Forget the Green — let’s have concerts in this forgotten and intimate location in the trees.

Hello, excuse me, and thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight in the Snapchat application of your newspaper. Today I saw an autotruck with the lights on at the Park and Ride on McCallum. I was roaming the roundabout, looking for raccoons to sauté, when I had noticed a light coming from the parking stall I take residence in. I thought it was a fire, made by some other ex-resident of the Target I had once lived in, but as I approached I saw it was just an autotruck with its lights left on. Whoever you are: I hope you get this Snapchat before your battery dies.

But thank you for leaving the autotruck there, as I slept under it and it made a nice blanket from the rain. I have hidden a gift of raccoon behind the stall for you.

*Nina is not a real person, despite her insistence to the contrary.

Sex ed needs to include discussion of orientations ASHLEY MUSSBACHER THE CASCADE

When I was seven years old I learned what a vagina was. The teacher awkwardly sat down on the carpet with my grade three class and showed us illustrations of a girl and a boy. And, yes, the illustrated children were naked.

It was probably the truest, most profound moment in my elementary school education, even beyond learning that I live in a country called Canada and the big bright thing in the sky that my mom told me not to stare at was a star. The teacher was talking about something I could confirm with my own minimal experience for once.

I pointed to a fellow male classmate and exclaimed happily that he had a penis! I remember the feeling of the new words when I spoke them. For that brief moment, penises and vaginas

weren’t weird.

But as I grew, other words like “gay” and “lesbian” started floating around the playground.

I knew these by their connotations, and categorically they didn’t fit with the salt and pepper model the teacher had described.

I started thinking about gender like a Venn diagram; on one side there was male, the other female, and in the middle a grey goo that not even my parents could distinguish. Nobody could. In fact, nobody wanted to even talk about it.

This unsolved mess left over from my elementary school experience followed me until I moved into high school. And that was where I met my first girlfriend.

It was weird at first. After having basically no knowledge of different sexual orientations, or that there are in fact more than two genders, I was at a loss when I began to crush on a female friend.

It was just like a normal crush. I wanted to talk to her all the time, I thought she always looked great, and I always wanted to be around her. On the inside, I was abusing myself because I had been conditioned throughout my life that this was wrong, unnatural, and there was a good possibility if I came out to my family a few of them would turn their backs on me. I was caught between a complete shift in my identity and living a lie. And I chose the lie for many years.

My insecurity stemmed from those around me. The adults I looked up to weren’t comfortable discussing sex, nudity, and gender. By extension, I lost faith in their ability to comprehend anything beyond my very outdated textbook; instead of imparting knowledge, they imparted taboos.

Sex and gender are governed by fear and insecurity in this

country, and our attitudes are long overdue for change. If children don’t get the sexual education that encompasses all genders and orientations, they will never understand consent, how to protect against STIs, and how to prevent pregnancy.

When over five per cent of Canadians openly identify as LGBT, it is not a phenomenon — it’s a fact of life. And as citizens, they have the right to be represented in our sexual education curriculum just as much as anyone. Instead, they are stigmatized starting at a young age. The result of not opening communication focused on nurturing the marginalized groups is horrific: 28 per cent of suicides in Canada are by LGBT people.

Parents’ main argument against allowing the “six gender” discussion in school is that they want control. They don’t want their children growing up and

being “confused” about their gender. Which are they? Twospirited or questioning? Male or transgender? But these questions shouldn’t be feared — they should be encouraged. The classroom should be a safe place where students at any age can explore, question, and imagine everything from scientific theories to their identity. And yes, that includes gender and sex.

If this discussion is limited to abstinence and met with anxiety by authority figures, then guess what — the child will still have those questions, but the topic will be layered in fear and insecurity.

Their social support network falls apart, they feel unable to confide in those closest to them, and they begin to question their place in their society and family. This is our reality, and all those opposed to the renewed sexual education program are facilitating it.

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OPINION

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Satire

Save the Riding Centre, and #SaveUFV CARLIE BOYDEN

THE CASCADE

With such a big deal being made of the re-structuring of UFV’s Writing Centre, you’d think some of that saviour’s impulse would extend to other equally (if not more) important issues. But no, students are stomping their feet about some arbitrary change while turning a blind eye to an actual issue: the closure of the UFV Riding Centre.

Most students are unaware of the Riding Centre located at UFV’s Langley campus. Apparently there is not a lot of value placed on the essential skill of horseback riding, which is a shame because horseback riding is really the best method humans have to express, transmit, and understand ideas. If students can tell the flashy riding from the substantial, they won’t fall into as much of the propaganda coming to them through popular horsemedia.

Public service announcement: the Writing Centre is simply transitioning, not closing down.

If any of the well-meaning but naive protestors had read any of the official statements on the matter, they would realize that this transition is an indisputably good thing. While there is not really a student debt problem according to BC’s Minister of Finance Andrew Wilkinson, and so the whole hiring of students thing is not much of an important step forward, the promotion of

Image: Wayne Chin

There are more important centres at UFV than the Writing Centre. the experienced Writing Centre tutors to pure professors of academic writing definitely benefits everyone. This is not a costsaving measure, but a savings-

creating measure. Get it in your head.

Meanwhile, something actually important is utterly shutting down. Five instructors and 700

horses will be out of work. What will we do with all these horses? We live in the age of PowerPoint, so we don’t need glue for poster assignments. We can’t

even release them into the wild because of all the ethical implications. Somebody will have to continue to pay to maintain the horses and it’s probably going to be poor Ol’ Frank, the Riding Centre instructor who gave many of us our first lessons on the coherent structure of saddling and how to properly cite cowboys (CB style, or Reverse Cowgirl, depending on the academic field).

UFV’s Riding Centre is the best of its kind in Canada. I’m certain that many of the protestors at the Writing Centre rally last Wednesday were there due to a miscommunication, because there’s no way that so many universityeducated young people see inherent value in something as needless as professional, experienced advice when it comes to writing.

Based on how students write these days, I doubt they even see an inherent value in writing itself. We can all agree that we should leave reading and writing to people who can actually affect the world with it, like politicians and bureaucrats.

So rather than raise a sign for something we don’t need, come to the rally on Mar. 13 outside the Riding Centre on the UFV Langley campus. And spread the word! Use the horsetag #SaveUFV on Twitter. Seven hundred horses and the future of our university depend on you.

Professors cheat, too University staff should be held to the same standard as students JUSTIN DALLAIRE THE FULCRUM

OTTAWA (CUP) — “Beware of plagiarism!” reads the University of Ottawa’s official handout on academic fraud. “It’s easy, it’s tempting … but it can be very costly!”

It’s a warning that all students have heard before. But what about professors, arguably the most distinguished members of any university? If you give them the chance, do they not bend the rules? And if they are caught committing academic fraud, do they get expelled?

More often than you think, the answer is no. Last year alone, three different cases revealed the difference in the way plagiarism is handled when the perpetrators

are university staff.

In April, assistant professor Vanessa Ryan from Brown University was caught for having plagiarized materials more than 30 times in her 2012 book Thinking Without Thinking in the Victorian Novel. According to the Brown Daily Herald, Ryan called the incidents of plagiarism “inadvertent errors of attribution,” even though lengthy passages were used verbatim from the original source without quotation marks.

In the end, a review committee deemed Ryan’s mistakes unintentional and, as punishment, she later was named associate dean of the university’s graduate school.

In May, Matthew C. Whitaker, a history professor from Arizona State University, was accused of plagiarism for a second time.

Despite being a multiple offend-

er on this front, the university eventually decided not to pursue punitive action, despite massive protests from students and professors alike.

Another case was made public in November, when former University of Regina engineering student Arjun Paul accused professor Shahid Azam of having plagiarized passages from his master’s thesis. Even though a CBC investigative team found that as much as 24 per cent of the article had been plagiarized, Azam insists he wrote most of Paul’s thesis himself. Despite Azam’s claims, his publisher decided to retract the plagiarized article. But the school? Nothing so far.

How can this be? What would have been done to a student who had committed similar errors in

judgment? He or she would have certainly been treated as having committed a crime of the highest order, punishable by death of reputation or banishment from the land of academia. So why is an erring professor offered clemency when it comes to plagiarism?

In a recent article for CBC News, professor Benson Honig of McMaster University’s business school said this double standard is a matter of administrations trying to save face: “My observation is the institutions have much more interest in pursuing student ethical violations than faculty violations because the faculty violations reflect on their institution.” But doesn’t a university’s reputation also suffer when it tolerates academic fraud from its staff?

These recent examples of professor plagiarism reflect a larger lack of transparency and accountability on behalf of postsecondary institutions. Most of us will have seen the “Beware of Plagiarism!” document, and its contents are widely discussed on the U of O campus. But there exists no specific regulations for staff regarding plagiarism at this university, nor is there a set disciplinary process for professors who are caught cheating.

The problem, in other words, is acting as though profs are beyond reproach, when in reality, they too will occasionally break the rules. And when they do, there’s no reason that the cost of plagiarism should be any less for them.

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FEATURE

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Students rally to #SaveUFV

By Megan Lambert with Katie Stobbart

Photos by Megan Lambert

A GATHERING ON THE GREEN On Feb. 25 at 11:20 a.m., The Cascade’s video editor and I stood at the base of the Green on the Abbotsford campus, wondering aloud if the Writing Centre protest was going to be noticeable or effective.

The protest had been in the works for about three weeks. Shortly after the UFV administration announced its plans to change the model for the Writing Centre into an Academic Support Centre staffed primarily by students, alumnus Jack Brown started a petition and set the date.

It was about 10 minutes before the protest scheduled to take place against the closure of UFV’s Writing Centre. As we walked up the path to the Peter Jones Learning Commons — the building that houses the library, Tim Hortons, and the Writing Centre — bright green signs and cheerful faces popped into view on the horizon. Dozens of students, faculty, and alumni had congregated there, continuously growing into a group of about 70.

“This Writing Centre is about more than just simple skills that students get from it. It’s about what the university community wants,” Brown said into the megaphone before introducing political science professor emeritus Scott Fast to speak, then College of Arts Council student representative Jennifer Colbourne, and finally Gloria Burrows, a member of the Writing Centre faculty.

Burrows spoke about the difference between learning simple writing skills, like grammar or punctuation, and learning to organize and express your thoughts in writing.

“If you cannot master this critical engagement as a thinker and a writer, then you will always be at risk of being a zombie: someone who will be led by others, but will never lead,” she says.

THE VOICE OF THE UFV COMMUNITY At its inception, UFV brought a new flavour to the valley, and it has served as a site for dialogue in a community context. In 2000, when Abbotsford decided not to have a pride parade, UFV students held their own on campus in the form of protest. Before that, students have marched down King Road to protest funding from the provincial government.

So it came naturally: chants composed on the fly were initially fumbled before protestors picked up the pace: “What do we want?”

“PROS!” “What are we saving?” “...” (The Writing Centre!) The first attempts were marked by a kind of smiling self-consciousness.

At one point a faculty member approached the megaphone and offered something a little wordier but more rhythmic: “No consultation deserves agitation!”

These were the words that stuck as the protestors, at precisely noon, marched from the Learning Commons to the junction of A and B buildings, where provost and VP academic Eric Davis would be waiting to receive the petition. As they gained momentum, so did their voices. The chanting reached its peak when those gathered, nearly 100 in number, stood in a semi-circle as Davis walked into the melee.

The provost did not take the megaphone as he accepted the petition that had garnered over 800 signatures from the UFV community; instead he spoke directly to Brown, noting quietly that he, or the UFV administration, supported the right of the protestors to speak freely and demonstrate. Davis and Brown shook hands.

Then Davis turned and retreated back into A building, then up the wide stairs of alumni hall to his office on the top floor.

The crowd began to disperse peaceably, lingering in small groups to chat. Undergrads joked and laughed; a few went to collect signs remaining on the Green; faculty and staff remained deep in conversation. They exchanged thanks and long hugs.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

9

FEATURE

THE PROVOST’S RESPONSE In his office, Davis offered a response to the protest. Part of this inevitably included his position on the decision; he reiterated that this was not, in his view, an end, but an expansion to the services UFV offers. He also made a point of stressing his stance on students’ qualifications for the new model of the Academic Success Centre.

“Some of my students are more qualified than me in some ways — they’re brilliant. That doesn’t make me a poor instructor; it actually enriches the class,” Davis said. “The quality will not suffer.”

The new model, however, is untested at UFV. As it doesn’t exist yet, only time will tell whether the Academic Success Centre will be the best way to guide students toward academic success.

As far as the persuasiveness of the protest goes, Davis said he would review the petition. There is a committee forming for the Academic Success Centre, and Davis says that somebody with an opposing opinion would be allowed to join.

“If a student was out there protesting today, and [if] by the time we set up the oversight committee they feel like [they] can contribute in a constructive way to ensure that this model works, I would not turn down that student,” he says.

THE AFTERMATH: IT’S NOT OVER The lifespan of the protest was just under an hour. When I returned to the site after my short interview on the third floor, the crowd had dissolved, and there was no physical indication anything had occurred.

At time of print, there are no additional protests in the works, nor other noticeable public attempts to persuade UFV to change its decision, despite Brown’s promise at the end that the fight isn’t over.

Whatever happens, this protest did prove one thing, a question that has been long debated.

“Do you think this is actually going to be a thing?” I asked at 11:20, before ascending the slope. There was a threat of rain in the air, in the clouds overhead. There had been no mention of free food.

But it happened—people came. UFV has a community, and that community has a voice.

Whether or not that’s enough to preserve the Writing Centre is up for debate. But Nadeane Trowse, another Writing Centre faculty member, says anything can happen.

“It’s evolving every day as you watch. It’s like watching an old-style film develop — only bits and pieces are emerging.”

Brown is right in at least one way — this story isn’t over.

Make sure to check out our video coverage at ufvcascade.ca.

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CULTURE

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Writer in residence’s new poetry book celebrated at AfterMath MARTIN CASTRO CONTRIBUTOR

Students, faculty, poets, and literature fans gathered at AfterMath on February 25, where the English department held a launch party for writer in residence Emily Pohl-Weary’s new collection of poetry, Ghost Sick. Much of the poetry in this volume was inspired by the reality of poverty and violence in downtown Toronto, where Pohl-Weary was raised.

“A lot of these poems are a response to something that happened [in my life],” explained Pohl-Weary. “My brother’s best friend was killed and my brother was shot.”

The evening was hosted by English professor Andrea MacPherson, and featured readings from several UFV students, as well as Pohl-Weary herself, who read selections of poetry from Ghost Sick.

Throughout the reading a slideshow was projected onto a screen beside the stage, depicting images from Pohl-Weary’s childhood neighbourhood in Toronto.

Jasmin Chahal was the first of several UFV students reading poetry. Chahal prefaced her reading by asking the crowd to reflect on UFV’s presence on unceded Stó:lō territory. As she later said, “It’s

Image: Martin Castro

Ghost Sick, Emily Pohl-Weary’s new poetry collection, contains dark, sometimes violent stories inspired by her adolescence in downtown Toronto. important to acknowledge [people] who are pushed to the side of society.”

Chahal read poetry to a crowd of 20 to 30 people, including Pohl-Weary’s “Crab-Apple Girl,” which deals with the in-prison suicide of 19-year-old Ashley Smith, who was incarcerated for

throwing crab-apples at a postman when she was 15. Chahal explained that her interest in such poems stem from their intense and human subject matter.

Chahal also read a poem of her own, “On Resisting Silence,” which told the story of a woman subjected to torture in Punjab as

retaliation for her husband’s involvement in a resistance movement. The sombre reading was full of vivid, powerful descriptions of a violent interrogation, punctuated by a resounding chorus: “Where is your brother?” / “I don’t know.”

Katie Stobbart followed Cha-

hal, reading Pohl-Weary’s “Hungry Ghosts.” Stobbart also read a selection of her own original poems, among them “Fall Diviner” and “On Repeat.”

Pohl-Weary was then introduced to the stage by MacPherson, who gave the crowd a short history of Pohl-Weary’s literature: she has published seven books, and is a long-time advocate for community learning. Pohl-Weary further explained she had organized writing workshops for people suffering from mental health issues, which she postulated is where some of her inspiration for the poems of Ghost Sick was generated.

Pohl-Weary read several poems, the first of which was titled “Ghost Days,” a take on street violence in Toronto. Pohl-Weary explained that Ghost Sick is written in two sections.

“I see the second section as being about the neighbourhood [in which something like violence and poverty] happens,” she said.

Pohl-Weary then read several more poems to the enthusiastic AfterMath patrons, all from Ghost Sick.

Katie Stobbart is the Editor-in-Chief of The Cascade.

“I did not comprehend that this was racism” Rudy Wiebe discusses Mennonite / Canadian Aboriginal relations in peace and conflict studies lecture NADINE MOEDT THE CASCADE

“I’ll begin with my own experience, because if you’re writing fiction, if you’re writing books the way I have, you don’t start somewhere on a distant planet.”

So began Rudy Wiebe’s lecture on his experience as a refugee and “new colonialist,” whose family escaped Stalin’s Russia “by the grace of God” to find a new home in Saskatchewan — specifically, on the territory of Treaty 6, home of Canada’s Cree, Ojibwe, and Assiniboine Nations, among others.

Wiebe, a prolific and internationally prominent author and pioneer of Mennonite literature, spoke on his experience with Aboriginal Peoples growing up in a era of racist superiority, and on his understanding of colonialism in Canada.

The lecture was part of a speaker series offered by the peace and conflict studies program at UFV. According to UFV instructor Ste-

ven Schroeder, Wiebe’s discussion tied into PACS 200, “Conflict Analysis & Peacebuilding in the Fraser Valley” — a course which deals with “how personal experiences and viewpoints factor into conflict and peace-building work” and how these elements factor into unique facets of life in the Fraser Valley, such as relations between diverse cultural groups.

Considering the wide range of different ethnic and religious groups who call the Fraser Valley their home — from Mennonites, Japanese Canadians and IndoCanadians to the Stó:lō Nation — studying the history and relationships between different groups is crucial to fostering understanding.

Rudy Wiebe was born not 40 miles from the birthplace (and living space) of his inspiration and “spirit mentor,” Chief Big Bear. It was a time of political and social upheaval; as his family cleared the boreal forest to make way for their farms and homesteads, a concept of racial superiority fes-

tered into a violent movement of social political forces. Nietzsche’s concept of the “Übermensch,” or the superhuman, became part of the cultural DNA, and those who were different suffered for it.

To Wiebe’s family, the land they had come to occupy seemed like it had always been empty.

“No one had ever lived there, we were first. Of course there were the Indians, we would say ... they had perhaps long ago walked here, hunting, but what did that matter now?” said Wiebe.

Their contact with the local First Nations was limited to buying smoked salmon. Government policy had intentionally isolated the reserves.

“They were all black-haired and dark-skinned — far away from us, thank God, we said. That’s the way it was. We white newcomers were contemporary pioneers.”

Wiebe further said that the conviction that God blessed the Mennonites because they were “hardworking Christian believers” has racist sentiments. The Mennonite

Church had the habit of viewing Aboriginal groups as those “who should be evangelized and converted” into “little white men.”

Wiebe’s family rationalized this by categorizing Aboriginal Peoples as “past relics,” and “probably inferior.”

“As a child I did not comprehend that this was racism,” Wiebe said. This way of thinking fuelled what Wiebe describes as no less than an ethnic cleansing.

“Genocide usually begins with some conviction of racial superiority, that these are somehow inhuman people.”

Following the 1876 treaty that whisked away land, Aboriginal people were subjected to injustice after injustice; they were fenced into reserves, forbidden to practise cultural traditions, and suffered in residential schools.

“We must confess to ourselves that we are talking at the very least about attempted genocide for over a century,” said Wiebe.

Wiebe talked about his boyhood experience learning about

the Cree chief Big Bear, who heroically attempted to resist white tyranny through peaceful protest.

“How can an Anabaptist novelist resist a character like that?” he said.

Following the publication of Wiebe’s book The Temptations of Big Bear, his life further intersected with the historical figure after he received a letter from the great Chief’s great-great-granddaughter.

These connections and experiences allowed Wiebe to see beyond the historically “typical Mennonite attitude toward Indian people” and work towards an understanding of experience and common humanness.

The lecture wrapped up with further discussion of how students can apply their experience to reducing conflict between different groups within the Fraser Valley.

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CULTURE

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

“Don’t curse the darkness” Documentary To Light a Candle shines a light on persecution of Bahá’í followers in Iran VALERIE FRANKLIN THE CASCADE

Being unable to go to university because of one’s religion is unthinkable for most Canadian university students — for followers of the Bahá’í faith living in Iran, it’s an ugly reality.

On Thursday, Feb. 26, Marcella LaFever’s Communications 335 class partnered with the religious organization Bahá’ís of Abbotsford to facilitate a screening of To Light a Candle, a documentary

by Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, at the Reach.

(Bahari’s name may be familiar; his, 118-day imprisonment and torture in an Iranian prison was the subject of the 2014 film Rosewater.) To Light a Candle reveals the brutal persecution of Bahá’ís under the strict Islamist regime in Iran over the last 35 years, and documents the formation of the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE), an underground university formed in resistance to Iran’s banning Bahá’ís from receiving higher education. The documentary’s title comes from a Chinese proverb: “Don’t curse the darkness, light a candle.”

The room at the Reach was packed, with over 50 people from a variety of walks of life in attendance. Following the film, three special guests participated in a panel discussion: Neda Tanha, a former student of both BIHE and UFV; Ian Kluge, a Bahá’í philosopher, journalist, and instructor at BIHE; and Jacqueline Nolte, UFV’s dean of arts.

A peaceful minority Bahá’ís has been a religious minority in Iran since the faith was founded in 19th-century Iran by

the prophet Bahá’u’lláh. Since then it has spread across the globe, with approximately five million followers worldwide today. The religion teaches nonviolence, emphasizing the unification of all beings and the celebration of humanity’s differences.

It takes a syncretic approach to religious mythology, recognizing various religious figures including Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad as divine messengers sent in times of spiritual need. Women and men are considered equal, and science and spirituality are put on equal pedestals; to the Bahá’ís, education is not only a right, but is compulsory for all human beings.

However, since Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979, Bahá’ís have been considered “enemies of God.” Followers of the religion have been systematically rounded up, tortured, and executed for refusing to convert to Islam, as the documentary illustrates through heartbreaking interviews with surviving family members, who live under constant threat of similar fates. Although these actions have been condemned by governments across the world as gross violations of human rights, they continue today; according to the film’s website, educationisnotacrime.me, over 100 Bahá’ís are currently imprisoned in Iran for their faith.

Education is more than a right Among other injustices suffered by the Bahá’ís, they have been denied the right to education, and are not permitted to study or teach at Iranian universities — an especially painful restriction considering their religion’s emphasis on knowledge and learning.

In defiance, Bahá’í followers

established BIHE in 1987. To Light a Candle describes the challenges faced by the organizers of this illicit, unaccredited institution, which is run by volunteers and does not hand out degrees, but instead exists to share knowledge for the sake of learning.

Although it is unaccredited, BIHE’s students have been accepted into graduate programs at many universities around the world, including UBC and SFU, providing young Bahá’ís with previously impossible opportunities for advancement. When Tanha was in high school, she felt left out when her peers talked excitedly about the universities they would attend and careers they would embark on after graduation.

“For me, being Bahá’í, [I felt] deprived,” she explained. “But when we heard by Grade 12 that BIHE was formed, it was such a hope, and there was so much joy for us. Like the film says, it was a candle in the darkness. We saw the hope, and we were so happy.”

Nolte, who grew up in South Africa observing similar inequalities in the Apartheid system, notes that when societies deny education to a portion of the population, problems like violence and crime arise as an emotional response to inequality. However, BIHE was formed as a peaceful response to the discrimination against Bahá’ís, breaking that pattern.

“What’s so inspiring for me is the way this society has contradicted those social ills by focusing on a positive way of generating knowledge and taking control yet again,” Nolte said. “That is so difficult to do when you’ve been denied your humanity and you’ve been denied choice.”

Daring to teach “I was just informed that one of my students got out of jail today,” announced Kluge. The Bahá’í woman in question had been imprisoned for the last 11 weeks for teaching Afghan refugee children privately in their homes in Iran — a violation of the country’s ban on Bahá’ís teaching or studying.

“There’s an example of BIHE reaching well beyond the Bahá’í community, reaching into the general communities in Iran, but particularly into another minority subgroup,” Kluge added.

Flaunting the law comes with great danger in Iran. In the early years of BIHE, instructors taught in living rooms, and kept their teaching materials secret for fear of being discovered and arrested.

With the advent of the internet, access to BIHE has become widespread, and today it offers education to Bahá’ís across the world — but there is still danger. In May 2011, 16 instructors were arrested after their homes were raided and their possessions seized by police, and many of them were sentenced to prison. Many of the faces in To Light a Candle are blurred out to evade similar identification and punishment. However, BIHE students and instructors continue to secretly teach and learn, passing their knowledge to a new generation of Bahá’ís who otherwise would not have a chance to be educated.

“I think it would be really constructive for all students to see how desperate human beings can be for an education,” said Kluge.

“How much they can value an education instead of feeling that it’s something they can take away.”

CAMPUS FILM SCREENING LISTINGS Thursday, March 5, 3:00 p.m.

Pink Saris (96 min.)

Presented by UFV FSA in U-House (F125)

Screening to coincide with International Women’s Day, Kim Longinotto’s documentary records the speeches and actions of Sampat Pal, a feminist leader in India speaking out against the caste system and sexist restrictions in the country. Light refreshments will be served, and UFV professor Rajnish Dhawan will lead a post-screening discussion. In Hindi with English subtitles.

Friday, March 6, 12:00 p.m.

Mona Lisa Smile (117 min.)

Presented by UFV International in B223

Kirsten Dunst plays a Wellesley College student who writes for the school newspaper, warning against a just-left-Berkeley professor spreading radical ideas on campus that must be stopped!

Upcoming: Directly Affected (2014) on March 11; The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011) on March 19

Upcoming

Events March 5

Exploring BC stories An all-day conference at UFV will celebrate the ways in which the Fraser Valley is represented in fiction, poetry, drama, and oral culture. Speakers will include students, instructors, local writers, filmmakers and UFV alum. Topics of history of place and orature of the Fraser Valley will be discussed; a complete schedule and list of speakers can be found online. The day will wrap up with a party for budding writers at AfterMath. Admission for the day is $10 for students.

March 6 Visual arts grad show Visual arts diploma students present their work in a final presentation to showcase their diploma. Mediums and exhibit styles will vary widely from painting, sculpture, video and photography. An opening reception to celebrate the grads’ accomplishments will start at 4:30 p.m. in the S’eliyemetaxwtex Gallery. The exhibit will be displayed until March 24.

March 6

Leadership at the scholarly sharing initiative This month’s scholarly sharing intiative will feature former Baker House manager Tracey Mason-Innes, and teaching and learning instructor Maureen Wideman. Mason-Innes, who is currently is working with the SFU residence, will discuss the importance of leadership identity among students. Wideman will lecture on incorporating universal design components into a first-year course. Admission is free and a light lunch is provided! The afternoon of sharing starts at 1:15 p.m.

March 6

Masquerade ball UFV international, among six other student groups, are putting on a celebration of the Lunar New Year with an evening of masks, music, and dancing.

Come celebrate the Year of the Sheep in your finest formal wear and most mysterious mask. The night starts at 7 p.m. and admission is free!

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ARTS IN REVIEW

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

TV

Broad City grabs season two by the balls

SASHA MOEDT THE CASCADE

There’s a lot of same-old sameold on TV. Sitcom, reality, law, rich-people drama, crime, crime with a smooth-talking guy that knows all — any genre with a smooth-talking guy that knows all — the list goes on.

So when a TV show finds a new niche and strikes a chord, it’s a good thing. Think Game of Thrones, Community, The Good Wife, Walking Dead; they’re a twist on the old stuff, commentary on the current stuff or a fresh idea based on a great story.

Broad City has managed to find its own niche: it’s all about girl humour for Abbi and Ilana, the creators and stars of Broad City. And this isn’t 2 Broke Girls humour. This is the nitty-gritty of being a real girl, a comedy of the female experience: periods, coworkers, catcalls, social media, dildos, romance, pegging, friendships — Broad City handles it all. It’s not always glamourous or sexy, and that’s a wonderful thing.

Image: facebook.com

Broad City shows it has the strength to evolve in season two.

Season two continues with season one’s strengths as the 20-something New Yorkers Abbi and Ilana continue to take on young adult life, with all its pitfalls and joys. The chemistry

of their friendship is amazing, New York is dirty and flawed, and life is colourful.

After season one, viewers were left wondering how Broad City would evolve. There was a

threat of stagnation; the show was leaning a bit hard on the comical differences between wild-child Ilana and the-girlnext-door Abbi (who has an Oprah tattoo). At a certain

point, the show was simply Abbi being Ilana’s foil character.

But with season two comes a focus on Abbi and all her wonderful exploits. In episode one, she finally snags a date with hot Jeremy; one melted dildo later, and that relationship falls apart, perhaps signifying the end of Abbi’s basic bitch, girlnext-door status. She’s moving on and establishing herself, however awkwardly. And by episode five, she’ll knock your socks off. She’s not turning into Ilana, she’s paving her own wicked way.

Broad City is blossoming.

Any character or relationship that seemed one-dimensional in season one — the gross roommate Bevers, Ilana and Lincoln’s fuck-buddy status, Jeremy as the flawless crush — evolves into something fearless in season two. Nothing is left to trope, and anything near cliché will be flipped upside-down.

It’s smart, snide, and wholehearted, and I can’t wait to watch more.

Highlights and lowlights from the 87th Academy Awards MITCH HUTTEMA THE CASCADE

Though it was a moderate flop on the entertainment side, the 87th Academy Awards provided relatively fair recognition for the nominated films and a healthy dose of politics.

To open the night, host Neil Patrick Harris stuck with what he’s known for: song and dance.

Anna Kendrick and Jack Black joined him in a musical number that gave homage to 87 years of movie history. Everything from Hitchcock to Back to the Future was remembered in a series of montages and collages. Black’s presence alongside Kendrick and Harris brought a touch of that Tenacious D “angst” to the performance.

Unfortunately for Harris, his song and dance was the only truly great part about his hosting. His best bit was a locked box he had with his Oscars predictions inside. He promised to open it at the end and stun the audience with his accuracy. His constant references to it seemed like a crutch, and the end result seemed too accurate to be true.

Harris said in a statement to

Image: Brittany Cardinal

Entertainment Weekly, however, that it was all real, no tricks, but that it was incredibly hard to set up.

Opening the night with the first win was J.K. Simmons.

In his speech he declared his

children “above average” and called to action everybody everywhere to call their parents and tell them they love them.

Not text, not email, but call.

On the more political side, Patricia Arquette called for

wage equality between men and women. Possibly the greatest part of the Oscars this year was Meryl Streep’s reaction to her speech: a “say it, sister!” expression while shouting “YES!” and waving her arms in the air.

Since then it has gone viral as a gif.

John Legend shed light on surprising statistics about racism in the US, stating that there are more black men incarcerated now than there were black slaves in 1850. Screenwriter Graham Moore piped up about social problems as well, revealing that he attempted suicide as a teen because he felt weird and different. His punch line was a call to “stay weird” and to be different and never give up— an inspiration to anyone, whether or not they are considering suicide.

Once again, John Travolta appeared onstage and made a mess. While apologizing to Idina Menzel for bungling her name last year, he touched her face far beyond a casual amount. Maybe it’s because after all his Botox he’s forgotten what a real face feels like, or maybe he just has a weird thing

for Menzel. Either way, he’ll be back next year to apologize about it.

The most enthusiastic guest of the night was Eddie Redmayne, whose pure joy was as contagious as Ebola. He seemed to float onto the stage with excitement, but it could just be because he jumped onto it.

Most surprising was Lady Gaga’s astounding tribute to The Sound of Music, demonstrating a set of vocal chords that her normal music doesn’t usually showcase. Her voice enraptured the audience, and the performance received a large amount of buzz on social media.

As a tribute to Birdman, the winner of Best Picture, Harris did his own rendition of Michael Keaton’s underwear scene. Hairless — pardon, Harris — showed up onstage wearing only his briefs. Luckily for Harris, his days at the gym served him well and he didn’t completely embarrass himself.

Though nowhere near as entertaining as last year ’s Oscars hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, the 87th Academy Awards were nonetheless enjoyable to watch.

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ARTS IN REVIEW

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Albums

Dark Sky Paradise is Big Sean’s darkest album to date MARTIN CASTRO CONTRIBUTOR

CHARTS 1

Viet Cong Viet Cong

Johnston 2 B.A. Shit Sucks

3 Various Mint Records Presents: Hot 4 5

Heroes Queen Bee & the Buzzkills Stalk to Me Cheap High Idle

No! Yoko 6 Oh Pinhead’s Paradise

7

Father John Misty I Love You, Honeybear

8 Spectres Dying From Above 1979 9 Death The Physical World de Courcy 10 Johnny Alien Lake B-Lines 11 The Opening Band

12

Anthony Naples Body Pill

13

Astral Swans All My Favourite Singers Are Willie Nelson Melted Ziptripper

14

Amazing 15 The Picture You

16

Whitehorse Leave No Bridge Unburned

Pink 17 Ariel pom pom

18

Elliot Maginot Young/Old/Everything.

In.Between

Shuffle

AARON LEVY

STATION MANAGER / LEG BARBER

Explorer division teams are 5-4 vs Pioneer division teams in CanadaWest playoffs this season, so here’s a shuffle about surprises.

Radiohead “No Surprises” Buried deep within the latter half of Radiohead’s earth-shattering OK Computer, itself named after a brief two words in a sprawling five-part trilogy, just like the two words bought from author Douglas Adams in order to title the album’s first single, “Paranoid Android.” Unfortunately, unquestioning of the answer.

Katy Perry “Birthday” “Cover your eyes, I’ve got a big surprise.” I’m not only including a Katy Perry song in this surprise shuffle, but unfortunately for Calgary Dino big man Philip Barndt (over fifty per cent rate deep shooter in regular season play), it was his birthday Saturday night after UFV shocked UC’s coach of the year.

Modest Mouse “The World at Large” “The days get longer and the nights smell green / I guess it’s not surprising but it’s spring and I should leave. “ And leave this spring, the men’s Cascades basketball team shall, to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Surprisingly, Kevon Parchment and Kadeem Willis played college ball at nearby Lakeland in Lloydminster, SK. Queens of the Stone Age “You Would Know” From their debut record, a killer one at that, QOTSA’s Josh Homme (pronounced like “mommy”) claims that his “girl’s all out of focus, ain’t no big surprise,” and Cascades fans hope UFV is in focus for their final four matchup this weekend! Don’t even mention the following week in Toronto!

Pink Floyd “Money” Unlike this song’s subject, UFV’s fourth straight final four CanadaWest finish is going to ensure that “if you ask for a raise, it’s no surprise” — they’ll probably be willing to hand one out for exemplary performance.

Big Sean has never come across as a conscientious rapper — his music is consistently full of materialism and ego — yet the way he presents himself has a certain charm, which definitely comes across Dark Sky Paradise, the Detroit rapper ’s third album.

Intro track “Dark Sky (Skyscrapers)” is forgettable, and is almost completely overshadowed by the track that follows it. “Blessings,” which benefits with a verse from Drake, sees Big Sean departing from the sounds of 2012’s Hall of Fame to a moody, more airy soundscape. As the title suggests, this record — perhaps more so in terms of production than lyrical content — is Big Sean’s darkest project to date, and “Blessings” reflects that aesthetic. Sean’s flow is more impressive rhythmically than it is lyrically, but the track is quite enjoyable.

“All Your Fault” sees Big Sean and Kanye West collaborating over a track that isn’t bad, but also isn’t great, or even good. Kanye West’s verse is (as most of his recent work has been) petty and repetitive.

Kanye’s flow sounds pretty

Image: i.ytimg.com/

much the same as it has on everything he’s put out these past couple of years; however, a pretty decent verse from Big Sean pulls the track together.

The following track is probably Big Sean’s most widely recognized song after “Control” by this point: “IDFWU,” which sees Big Sean take his bravado and confidence to an even more exorbitant height, is actually one of the best songs on the record. A consistent rhyme scheme, as well as a feature by the seasoned E-40, makes “IDFWU” one of the best tracks on this record. Big Sean himself is more focused here, and his verses are composed with a higher lyrical quality than most of his previous album.

“IDFWU” is followed by “Play No Games,” which proves to be one of the most

forgettable tracks on the album, having a laid-back production that’s aesthetically neither here nor there. Big Sean delivers a verse that’s again filled with materialism and bravado, and at this point in the record, this sort of content loses any charm it might have once had for the listener at the beginning.

Sean delivers a succession of impressive verses on “Paradise,” one of the best-produced tracks on the record, opting for brooding bass lines and a minimalistic yet ominous contribution from a horn section. “I Know,” produced by DJ Mustard and featuring supporting vocals from Jhene Aiko, is a much more laid-back track than the rest of those on the album, and Jhene’s vocals are a welcome addition. The moodiness of the record is substituted for a much more upbeat and funky outro, reminiscent of Kanye West’s The College Dropout.

For all its content, Dark Sky Paradise proves, like much of the rapper ’s early work, to house a few well-crafted gems amidst a mass of not-quitesubpar lyricism and production. This being said, it does show growth from Big Sean — growth which will hopefully continue.

Lovin’ On You EP hints at Brothers’ new direction JOE JOHNSON THE CASCADE

Cary Brothers is in fact not a band composed of brothers, but it is the name of a fascinating singer-songwriter who recently toured with Joshua Radin. And perhaps that’s indicative of the kind of music he performs.

However, Brothers’ recent EP, Lovin’ On You, is an interesting mix. Sitting at four songs, it’s very easy to consume but hints at the new directions Brothers is looking to take for his next full-length release.

Almost all of Brothers’ past work has been released under his own independent label, Procrastination Music. Having been active on the music scene for over a decade, he’s created a name for himself by releasing a considerable number of his

Image: i.imgur.com

songs through television and movies, the majority of these being romantic in nature.

But stepping back from this facet of his career, interpreting his music for what he’s actually saying is far more fascinating.

And this is why I’ve particularly enjoyed this EP. It feels very much like various strings of his life are being pulled to-

gether for a short time. This short, eclectic group of songs leaves the listener wanting to understand more. When Brothers releases his next full-length, it’s going to provide that missing depth.

Lovin’ On You begins with the title track. It’s the story of loving a person and the internal growth that can provide: “Lovin’ on you’s the best thing that I ever did for me.” Yet it’s very basic lyrically and lighthearted, with a guitar-driven pop sound. Then there’s “Fallin’,” which is the story of him selling his soul to the devil, done with an entertaining, fastpaced, Southern country spin.

“Words of Mine” and “Kick the Can” finish the EP off with deep expressions, enhanced through the piano on the former and through hauntingly elongated, driving vocals on the latter.

14

ARTS IN REVIEW

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Book

Sweetland is a wasteland: Crummey’s newsest effort falls flat KATIE STOBBART THE CASCADE

The ideas behind Michael Crummey’s Sweetland are intriguing. I knew before flipping to the first page that it would feature a retired Newfoundland lightkeeper living in total isolation on an uninhabited island.

I knew he would be separated from the central characters in his life, that he would have a particular relationship with the place he lived, and that he would struggle to survive cut off from the rest of the world.

Yet the story doesn’t go much further. The book is split in two equal chunks of narrative — pre- and post-inhabitation of the island called Sweetland — with the main character, Moses Sweetland, not reaching that state of isolation until the second half. A few scattered subplots are threaded into the bifurcated storyline, ends sticking out askew.

I had some criticism for Crummey’s last novel, Galore, but overall the structure was reasonably effective. Here the sprockets — structure and synopsis — don’t quite mesh. The reader spends the first half of Sweetland wondering when

Image: cbc.ca

Crummey’s Sweetland fails to mesh structure and synopsis. we’re going to get to the “good” part, while searching for reasons the characters matter in the grand scheme, and the second half wondering why the story didn’t start here, why we needed so much preamble.

The real meat of the tale is the question of Sweetland’s sanity; while the structure suggests Crummey might intend to establish contrasts by demarcating the beginning of that mental shift, it would have been more effective to compare lucid moments with fractured ones, to raise that question in the read-

er: which are real? As it stands, that question falls flat; the element of surprise is lost before it can be invoked.

The characters have their moments, and I enjoy their authenticity; they don’t pigeonhole easily. Ultimately, though, their quirks do not make them unforgettable, and moments in their lives that should have been charged with emotion felt curiously distant, almost unmoving except when Crummey adds shock value (mutilated rabbits and ocean-brined bodies, for instance).

Sweetland is almost comically unprepared for self-imposed isolation; perhaps there’s a point Crummey is hoping to make somewhere in that, the idea that none of us today, even a supposedly sea-smart and gritty geriatric, could do without electricity, internet, plumbing (but wait, there is running water somehow?), and community. Still, if his aim is not to die anytime soon — and it doesn’t seem so — I have a hard time with a man who buys scant supplies and tends a vegetable garden, but doesn’t ensure he has

a decent fishing vessel or comprehensive supply of canned goods and ends up having to use old Harlequin pages (wink, nudge) for toilet paper.

I wish I could say these problems were redeemed by flawless prose, that Crummey brought his poetic sensibility out to play, but frankly the writing was not as strong as I expected, either. Fragments and splices were distractingly prevalent, Sweetland’s internal voice and the narrative vernacular seesawed between the fisherman (Sweetland) and the academic (Crummey), and every bit of Newfoundland slang (even words I liked upon first use, like “glim”) dried of its original sheen from overuse.

In an article for CBC Writes, Crummey said he had no organizational devices when it came to writing Sweetland, that he just sat down and wrote without referring to his notes, and liked the way it turned out on the page.

Unfortunately, the result is a novel that feels poorly structured, unrefined, and like a disappointing example of what Crummey is capable of — a step down rather than an improvement on his last work.

Concert Review

Trio at the Rio: Joshua Radin, Cary Brothers, and Andrew Belle ASHLEY MUSSBACHER THE CASCADE

Joshua Radin performed at the Rio on Saturday night, Feb. 28, with Cary Brothers and Andrew Belle opening for him. The Rio proved to be a perfect venue for the show. It is intimate, which was certainly the theme of the night.

Cary Brothers, who is in fact one person, opened the show with a casual performance and great humour. He began with a few songs from his new album Lovin’ On You, captivating the audience with a guitar and smooth vocals. The instrumentals weren’t complex, but they set expectations for the rest of the show. Instead of flashy lights and smoke machines, the artists had their voices and the few instruments they brought, enhancing the sense of authenticity and intimacy.

Brothers took the time between his songs to talk to the audience and share jokes. He

Image: Ashley Mussbacher

Energy ebbed and flowed at the Rio with Brothers, Belle, and Radin. moved from using the guitar to the piano, explaining how when you’re on tour you lug clunky instruments around and end up with bruises and dings. He told

the audience that he has a cut on his thumb, and when he thumbs a note on the piano it hurts. He vocalized this by singing, “ow, ow, ow,” on a particular note,

which was hilarious.

By the time Andrew Belle took the stage, the audience had returned from the convention area with popcorn and drinks.

Without addressing the audience, Belle jumped right into his first song with a percussion loop and guitar. His songs had a similar rootsy feel, but with an electric tone laced throughout.

He played toned-down versions of songs from Black Bear, downplaying the electric sounds of that album.

His closing was anti-climatic: the song looped and faded, and Belle quietly left the stage. The lights faded, and stage crew prepared the scene for the final act of Joshua Radin.

Unlike many concerts I’ve been to, Radin addressed the audience like they were friends he hadn’t seen in a while. Before each song, he gave context to them, telling stories from his life, epiphanies that led to the music. It transformed the songs for me. I’ve heard the albums

over and over again, but learning how and why they were created gave a whole new meaning to the lyrics.

Before the last few songs, Radin noted the audience looked a little sleepy because all of his songs had been slow and tender. He instructed everyone to stand and help the percussion with clapping and stomping.

“Even the balcony,” he said.

“I’m sure it’s sturdy.”

The audience involvement raised the energy in the room significantly, and generated a feeling of belonging and unity — fitting, since the song was called “Belong.”

To finish the night, the encore featured an unplugged version of a Tom Petty song, and everyone including Cary Brothers and Andrew Belle joined in on a single microphone to perform it.

www.ufvcascade.ca

Upcoming

Events

March 6 - 8 BC Boat & Sportsmen’s Show / BC Hunting Show Into boating, hunting, fishing and recreation? Then this is the show for you! Check it out at the Tradex in Abbotsford. Admission $13.

March 7 Head of the Fort regatta The UFV rowing club is hosting the annual Head of the Fort regatta on Saturday March 7. The first launch is set for 9:30 a.m., the second launch at 11:30 a.m., and the third launch at 12:30 p.m. Check it out at Bedford Channel in Fort Langley!

March 7

Intramural basketball tournament Bring your campus card, a toonie and some friends for

Division realignment a reality for next season NATHAN HUTTON THE CASCADE

Early into 2014, the Cascades basketball teams were dominating their regular season schedules and were showing no signs of slowing down. Then there was a shift: Canada West announced a change to their basketball conferences, putting the Cascades in the new Explorers division and dissolving the current Pacific and Prairie format. The Explorer division would include the six newest teams in Canada West basketball, where the larger Pioneers division would include 11 teams, including three of the four “final four” teams from last year.

This week Chris Bertram, interim athletic director at UFV, confirmed that there had indeed been conversation about new possible formats for the upcoming season. Bertram confirmed the proposed Pacific, Mountain, and Prairie divisions, or a 7-5-5 division structure, but noted that it’s still in the works.

“You are weighing out things like what the competitive balance will be within a season [and] how that could potentially be balanced by the playoff structure,” he said.

Bertram reiterated that the committee would first have to vote on the two structures, and then vote on whether or not to implement that structure for the 2015-2016 season.

Whether the new structure will begin next season is unknown.

“I think we are really close on consensus on what the new structure looks like,” he

Image: pixabay.com

said. “The only question in my mind is when it would begin.

We [UFV] are obviously pushing for next season, but that would have to be voted on and approved by the leadership at Canada West.”

Head coach of the women’s basketball team Al Tuchscherer hopes it will be changed by next season.

“I think that there is a lot of things that make us look pretty silly as a conference,” he said.

“You have lower seeds having a potentially easier path to go to the conference championship. I think that is not visually appealing to anybody [and] I don’t think that it is positive for our conference.

“I see only one solution to this and that is to change it to a more realistic system.”

Tuchscherer, whose season is over after losing to the Regina

Cougars last weekend, had insight into why the two divisions look so unbalanced on paper.

“I look at teams like Grant McEwan and Thompson Rivers, [who] are playing Alberta and Victoria. Alberta and Victoria have both been through the battles all year, they are battletested. Those teams [TRU and McEwan] aren’t, necessarily,” he said. “When you play 16 of your games against teams that aren’t Saskatchewan and Regina [two of the top teams in the Pioneers division] you aren’t ready for that level.”

On the other side of the table is men’s basketball star Kevon Parchment who admitted, after the team’s win Saturday night, that there is an added element of pressure when coming from the so called “weaker” division.

“We definitely feel like there

is a little pressure on our division and we feel like we are going to make a surprise,” he said.

The yearning to be a surprise to Canada West basketball fans comes from a Cascades squad who lost only one player from a year ago and are now one game away from a trip to the nationals.

Canada West executive director Diane St. Denis stated that when the current model was implemented, it was “the best competitive format the members could see for the association.” She noted that competitive formats need to be voted on by two-thirds of the membership.

“Through more dialogue we may be getting to the point where we may make an adjustment, but we are still in the dialogue phase,” she added.

Scoreboard

some ballin’ fun! 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in E105. Register at www.ufvcascades.ca/rec/intramurals.

15

SPORTS & HEALTH

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015

Date Feb 27 Feb 28

Men’s Basketball Game UFV vs. Calgary W UFV vs. Calgary W

Score 78-71 72-65

The Cascade is looking to hire a

Sports editor

If you love writing as much as you love sports, this is the job for you.

We’re looking for a creative, organized self-starter with excellent communication skills. Must be currently enrolled in UFV classes to apply.

Send your resumé, cover letter, and writing sample to valerie@ufvcascade.ca by March 8.

16

SPORTS & HEALTH

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 www.ufvcascade.ca

Looking back at five years of basketball with Celeste Dyck SASHA MOEDT

five years and I was kind of in the back-up position. But as the group got to year five, it became more of a family. It was a tight knit group. Then when that group left, I was in the position where I’m in my fifth year now and now I have to lead this team. I’ve never had that opportunity, I’ve always been behind Aieisha [Luyken]. It was a big change. I think I grew as a person, and I think I grew as a leader.

THE CASCADE

Major: Business Height: 5’6’’ Position: Point Guard Celeste Dyck took the leadership role in stride as senior point guard in her fifth year with the Cascades.

She is a strong facilitator, finishing top 10 in the CIS in assists. As she heads toward graduation in June, Dyck looks back on five years with the Cascades.

Why did you pick UFV? The more obvious reason was it was close to home so I could live at home. It wasn’t expensive. I wanted to play CIS. I was in Junior Cascades the year before and I loved Al, the coach, and I loved the place.

What’s it like playing for Al Tuchscherer?

He’s one of the best coaches in Canada. I mean, words can’t explain. He’s very passionate about his job. He’s always willing to make us better, throughout the whole year. He’s smart, he’s loving, he’s kind; he really cares about this school, and about us — what’s going on in

Image: UFV Flickr

our lives. In a way he’s become a father figure. So, it’s kind of cool to see that. You don’t get a lot of coaches that care about your personal life — they just care about basketball.

You’ve been playing with the Cascades for five years. Tell me about the team’s evolution.

It’s been a huge difference from year one. Our team was young [when I came in]; there was a [core] group that went through their first year already. When I came in, it was scary. They had this core group ready to go for

What was taking on that leadership role like?

It was intimidating. But also I was like, okay, this is my time, I’ve got one shot. I was ready for it. I’ve been under Aieisha for four years and she’s taught me a lot so, I was ready for the position to take on that role.

It’s been a cool experience, just going back to my high school days, to think where I was as a point guard those days to now.

It’s just amazing. I’ve grown so much skill-wise and personwise.

You’ve done really well with assists, which points to a very selfless style of play. Tell me about your approach to being

point guard.

I have a lot of patience. I am more of a chill, laidback kind of point guard. I don’t care much for scoring. I’d rather have assists than points. For me, I like to set up my teammates more than score buckets. It’s nice to score buckets, I feel great about that, but it’s nice to give that one more pass for them to score. I’ve always been [one to] pass first, score second.

Can you comment on the conference structure this year?

How has being in the Explorer division rather than the Pioneer affected your team?

I didn’t like it. I hated it. You have to verse a team four times — it gets repetitive. And our school takes a hit, recruitingwise, because [strong players] might say, “Oh, I don’t want to go to an Explorer team,” you know, they want to go to the Pioneer league. But yeah, it kind of gets boring. I like versing the hard schools, like UBC and Saskatchewan. And we just didn’t get that opportunity this year.

How do you balance academics and athletics?

For me, I’ll say this: this girl

hates school. The balance is tough. You know, you just got to put out effort. A lot of time you’re on the road. You always have to catch up throughout the whole year. It’s kind of hard at times if you’re taking four classes — I like to stick with taking three, it’s a good balance between basketball and school.

You just have to find time. It’s all about time management.

You definitely can’t procrastinate, though I do. But I always pull through, and that’s what counts!

What’s next for you?

Well, I have one more semester in the fall, and I’ll graduate in June. I don’t want to start my life [immediately]. I really want to travel — and I haven’t had time to because of basketball. I’ll see where it takes me.

I’d really like to have my own business in the future. I would love to have my own basketball store, that’s on my future goals list. If Al [Tuchscherer] needs me, if he needs an extra coach, I’d for sure come back. I’ll always have a place here, and Al will always keep a place for me here.

Solid defense propels men’s basketball team to final four NATHAN HUTTON THE CASCADE

Defense, defense, defense.

Those were the words preached by men’s basketball head coach Adam Friesen in his office last Thursday in response to the tough task of designing a way to stop the University of Calgary. Their superstar, Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson, is the only player in Canada West this year to earn himself a triple double — double-digits in three statistical categoriesm— when he garnered 26 points with 11 rebounds and 10 assists on January 16 against the University of Lethbridge. It was that game that threw Jackson into the national university basketball spotlight, and he has been a mainstay ever since.

Friesen’s task was simple in his eyes: stop Jackson, and the rest of the team falls apart. Friesen’s approach was to not allow Jackson to dictate the flow of the game or else the Cascades wouldn’t stand a chance against the Dinos. The biggest problem for the Cascades was

their lack of experience with the Dinos. The Dinos, fifth in the pioneer’s division, were the second lowest seed remaining in the playoffs, but that didn’t mean a cakewalk for the Cascades.

Playing in the Pioneer division, the Dinos had a leg up on the Cascades. They had been playing the toughest teams all year. The opposite was true for the Cascades, who hadn’t been tested since October.

What was on the line was a trip to the Canada West final four and a potential berth at nationals. It would be the fourth consecutive final four appearance for the Cascades, and a return to glory for the Dinos after missing the playoffs last year.

While the Dinos started the season hot, their recent struggles highlight their inability to have an offense outside of their star player. At the Christmas break they were tied for first place in the division, but won only three of their last nine games and fell to fifth place in the division.

Although game one of the se-

Image: Dan Kinvig

ries saw a good back-and-forth for the first half, the Cascades trailed at halftime by three and it seemed that the Dinos were getting the better of them. Coach Friesen’s squad rebounded, outscoring the Dinos by 10 points in the third quarter. They never looked back.

Game two was when the Cascades shone brightest. Their switching on pick and rolls enabled them to get the upper

hand on Calgary’s Jackson and shut him down for the majority of the game. However, it’s impossible to shut down a star like Jackson forever. He finished with 16 points, but scored 12 in the fourth quarter where the Dinos cut down a 23 -oint deficit to two points, with just over 30 seconds left in the game. The Cascades composed themselves after a Friesen timeout and were able to turn that

two-point lead back to a safe seven points by the time the clock hit zero.

“We had a little bit of a meltdown,” said Cascades defensive juggernaut Kevon Parchment about the fourth quarter after the game, “but the team stayed strong, and most importantly we got the job done.”

With that win, the Cascades locked up their final four berth and will play the University of Victoria Vikes and Canada West MVP Chris McLaughlin on Friday night in Saskatchewan. A win for the Cascades would mean an opportunity to play for Canada West gold, and ensure a berth at nationals as one of the top eight teams in the country.

Post-game, Parchment was all business and already preparing for the tough battle ahead of them.

“Our team is very confident in our ability, we share the ball well and we are just glad to be here,” he said. “We just hope we can remain consistent.”