The Cascade, Volume 31, Issue 11

Editor-in-Chief Brad Duncan brad@ufvcascade.ca

Production Manager Sherryl Agingu sherryl@ufvcascade.ca

Business Manager Marie-Ange Routier marie-ange@ufvcascade.ca

Culture Editor Jayden Talvio jayden@ufvcascade.ca

Digital Media Manager Wilson Agyapong wilson@ufvcascade.ca

Features, Cover & Illustrator Gaurav Gomes gaurav@ufvcascades.ca

Asst. Digital Media Manager Anisa Wilson anisa@ufvcascade.ca

Snapshot Illustrator Iryna Presley iryna@ufvcascade.ca

Staff Writer Gauri Sethi gauri@ufvcascades.ca

Staff Writer Veronica Powell veronica @ufvcascade.ca

Editorial // Welcome to Fall ‘23

Managing Editor Matthew Iddon matthew@ufvcascade.ca

Creative Director Gabriela Gonzalez gabriela@ufvcascade.ca

News Editor Rachel Tait rachel @ufvcascade.ca

Copy Editor Aasha Khoyratty aasha@ufvcascade.ca

Features Editor Brad Duncan brad@ufvcascade.ca

Arts Editor Gianna Dinwoodie gianna@ufvcascade.ca

Sports Editor Teryn Midzain teryn @ufvcascade.ca

Production Assistant Diana Blanco diana@ufvcascade.ca

Distributor Kirat Dhami kirat @ufvcascade.ca

Community Engagement Coordinator Sabrina Morgan sabrina @ufvcascade.ca

WWW.UFVCASCADE.CA

@UFVCASCADE

The Cascade is UFV’s autonomous student newspaper. It originated under its current name in 1993, and achieved autonomy from the university and the Student Union Society in 2002. This means that The Cascade is a forum for UFV students to have their journalism published in an entirely student-run setting. It also acts as an alternative press for the Fraser Valley. The Cascade is funded with UFV student funds, and is overseen by The Cascade Journalism Society Board, a body run by a student majority. The Cascade is published every other Wednesday with a print circulation of 800 and is distributed at Abbotsford, Chilliwack (CEP), Clearbrook, and Mission UFV campuses and throughout the surrounding communities.

The Cascade is open to written, photo, and design work from all students; these can come in the form of a pitch to an editor, or an assignment from an editor. Pitch meetings will be digital for the remainder of the semester. Please email managing@ufvcascade.ca to be put on the assignment email list.

In order to be published in the newspaper, all work must first be approved by The Cascade’s editor-in-chief, copy editor, and corresponding section editor. 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. Letters to the editor, while held to the same standard, are unedited, and should be under 200 words. As The Cascade is an autonomous student publication, opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of UFV, The Cascade’s staff and collective, or associated members.

The Cascade is published on the traditional, unceded territory of the Stó:lō peoples. We are grateful to be able to work and learn on this beautiful land.

BRADLEY DUNCAN

Hello, University of the Fraser Valley students. My name is Bradley Duncan, and I am your editorin-chief here at The Cascade, UFV’s autonomous student press. I'd like to welcome you all to the fall semester with a little introduction (or reintroduction for those returning students) to the UFV Abbotsford campus.

To kick things off, the Student Union Society has arranged its third annual Kickback event which will be held Sept. 21 on the UFV Green. You can spot the Green by its rich, baby-turd brown hue. Last year's event was a rousing success, so it's safe to assume that this year will be no different. The festivities will include music, games, and plenty of food trucks to choose from. Fill your belly, because eatery options on campus are sparse. The Cascade has sponsored $1,000 in ice cream vouchers, as it was the most efficient calorie delivery system to fuel your road to finals, so carb load while you can!

After you’ve stuffed your face, feed your mind with some art! UFV has some beautiful murals, paintings, sculptures, and expressive creations dappling the corridors and adorning the halls. Take yourself on a tour between courses! However, if you like your art in a more compressed space, the S’eliyemetaxwtexw Art Gallery is the place to be! Exhibitions change frequently, so don’t be a stranger — but, you know — also don’t be creepy about it. Feeling sleepy? Coffee can be found in strategic locations around campus — and by strategic, I mean strategically inconvenient — clumped together as far away from the poor suckers in Building K as logistically possible. Tired learners can find a Tim Hortons in Building G, or Fair Grounds Coffee in the Student Union Building (SUB) — but as hours of operation are based on a congruence of astrological signs and the predictions of a Magic 8 Ball, availability is… mercurial. Building A also contains a small Spirit Bear Cafe kiosk, last in operation during the Vietnam War. Groovy.

Can't get your caffeine fix from the local barista? Treat yourself to a vending machine Monster Energy Drink for the price of a midsize sedan. And please refrain from bringing your beverages into the laboratories, no matter how toasty the Bunsen burners keep your latte.

Students looking for a quiet place to study, listen to a podcast, or swipe for matches on Hinge, can find lots of little hideaways around campus. Check out our feature on some of the best places to study on and off campus, but some of my favourites are right here in the Cascade office. If you’re a business major, there's a quiet room set aside for you to really focus on those forms and spreadsheets. Keep your chin up and you’ll find it!

If quiet solitude isn't your thing, feel free to be a little more social by grabbing a table in the SUB. If you find one that doesn't wobble, you're entitled to a free 6-inch SUB sandwich. Just ask the good people at CIVL (no matter how confused they appear by your request), and don’t leave without that cold cut trio.

Photography by Bradley Duncan

Kickback 003: The Last Taste of Summer

RACHEL TAIT

The third annual Kickback event is being hosted by the Student Union Society (SUS) on Sept. 21 from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. on the Abbotsford campus Green. Students can expect food trucks, games, music, a DJ, free giveaways, and more. Kickback 003: the Last Taste of Summer, is a free event that students need to register for to access the free food and beer garden. Several UFV departments will also be participating in the event with different activities and prizes. Ashley McDougall, SUS president, sat down with The Cascade to discuss more about Kickback 003.

“One of the big points of feedback we got from previous Kickback events is that there wasn't enough free food,” said McDougall. So that's been one of our biggest improvements this year. We've really increased the amount of food vouchers we're going to be giving out.”

SUS will be handing out more than 600 food vouchers to students during Kickback 003, and they have expanded on their drink options to include both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks this year. Additionally, SUS will be handing out 1,600 free items of merchandise that includes T-shirts, hats, and tote bags designed by their team.

“There are going to be a lot of departments having a presence at Kickback, which is great because I think it's also a great point to show off departments that can help students, especially at the beginning of the term.”

SUS will be collaborating with the UFV Library, Centre for Accessibility, the Centre for Experiential and Career Education, the International Alumni Association, the Office of Sustainability, Advising, Campus Living Student Experience Office, and IT. McDougall also hinted that the departments will be giving out various prizes to students.

McDougall anticipates a bigger turnout for this year’s event. “I'm also hoping to see students make connections that they will have throughout the year. One of my favorite things about Kickback is [that] a lot of the time that's where students meet some of their good friends for the year on campus.”

Some of the vendors and brands that SUS is collaborating with include Brewhall, Trading Post, and Cinco Drink Co. for the beer garden. There will also be shawarma, Juicy Green Express, Little oOties Mini Donuts and Crema Ice Cream.

McDougall wants to emphasize to students that Kickback “is completely open for everyone. We encourage all students to come to this event. I think the biggest goal is just being super inclusive and welcoming, and also allowing students to build connections.”

To learn more about Kickback 003, please visit ufvsus.ca/kickback and follow The Cascade for more coverage on the event.

“This event is for everyone”

Photography by SUS

Illustration by SUS

Advice

Piracy is NOT a bad word

An argument for the ethical piracy of video games

MARIE-ANGE ROUTIER

When I was four, I wanted to be a pirate when I grew up. Well, a ninjapirate, but still. I’m all grown up now, and although I’ve not traveled the seven seas, nor been cursed by booty, I have met a few beardless, swordless pirates. In fact, my best friend is a pirate, and the more I get to know him, the more I’m convinced piracy is not as unethical as the You Wouldn’t Steal A Car ads lead us to believe. By observing how he pirates video games, I have come to believe in ethical piracy. Piracy can be useful, allowing consumers to buy their games in a more intelligent and calculated manner, leading to less regret. My friend, the privateer, still buys games — he just bootlegs them first. Just like test driving a car, this allows him to make better decisions with which games he spends his money on. He can decide if he likes the game, but he also tests if his computer can handle the game on

Canada //

a performance level. If it’s deficient, he knows to invest in newer components for his PC before purchasing the game. He also gets to see if the reviews are accurate.

Ethical pirates and serious gamers like my friend understand that people need to be paid for good quality games to be made, and are willing to pay for a game if they deem it worth the money — they just don’t want to support bad ones. When Metal Gear Solid 5 was being badly reviewed, my friend relayed that he pirated a copy so that he could try it for himself. Contrary to the negative criticism, he enjoyed it. In fact, my friend liked it so much that when he did buy it, he splurged on a special edition that came with a life-scale model of the Phantom Arm which now adorns his living room as a trophy. See, pirating didn’t stop him from buying the game, in fact in this case it drove him to spend more money than he would have had if he hadn’t known how good it was.

Game developers covet the sales of paraphernalia like clothes and models, and piracy can clearly assist with that. Let’s say I can’t afford the new Zelda game, or I’ve never played Zelda before. With the help of a pirate, I can play it for free, fall in love with it, and talk it up to my friends (some of whom might purchase it, driving sales). Now we are all loving it, and my friends (good as they are), decide to buy me a Link plushie for my birthday. The sales of any items related to the game help the company market the product, and makes it a part of the culture. None of this might have happened if I hadn’t pirated a free copy. Piracy allows for interest to grow, which is ultimately good for the producers and studios.

My friend, the privateer, still buys video games, but the first argument we hear when discussing piracy is that the industry loses on the sales they would have had because of pirates. There’s a flaw in this logic. Many (if not most) who would pirate a game can’t actually afford to buy it, so the industry would have never seen those sales anyways; especially considering games now regularly cost over $100. A 2015 study suppressed by the European Union (EU) actually demonstrated that in the case of video games, piracy actually

Meta pulls News feeds from Facebook

The potential disappearance of easy access news on social media.

RACHEL TAIT

In August, Meta decided to remove all news feeds from their Facebook and Instagram platforms in Canada in response to the Online News Act, Bill C-18 that was passed in June 2023. This law requires social media tech companies to pay Canadian news organizations that upload content on their platforms. Meta’s ban will affect how Canadians get their news.

According to the Canadian government, the bill was passed to help “support news businesses to secure fair compensation when their

news content is made available by dominant digital news intermediaries and generates economic gain.”

The new law will reportedly come into effect at the end of the year, and Google has also released a statement that they are considering taking similar action.

According to a statement from Meta, they believe that “the legislation is based on the incorrect premise that Meta benefits unfairly from news content shared on our platforms, when the reverse is true.”

“I imagine that these big social media platforms are getting a little bit scared,” said Dr. Noah Schwartz, assistant professor of political science, in reference to Australia’s enactment of the News Media Bargaining Code back in 2021. “More and more countries are going to start wanting to do this, and it's going to cut into their business model.” Meta also temporarily banned Australian news feeds from their platforms in retaliation to the legislation.

“It feels like we are reversing instead of progressing,” said Anaahat Sohal, a UFV student, regarding Meta’s action to block Canadian news feeds. I don’t know why there is a need to do that

Photography by Instagram-Meta

at all.” Sohal goes on different social media platforms to stay informed.

“I would do informal surveys ask[ing] how many people get their news from social media,” said Schwartz. “I think more and more people are relying on it.”

“I think the problems are a result of the way it's used,” said Dr. Jeffery Orr, associate professor of digital communication, “but the way it's used is influenced by the algorithms, and if you make a real effort to keep a balanced news feed, you can do it on social media. But if you tilt a little bit towards one side or the other, as many of us do, then you're going to end up having those tilts or biases reinforced by the algorithmic structures of the platform itself — and that's a problem.”

Rudraksh Nagpal, a UFV student, explained that he relied on social media to get his news, “but since the ban on Facebook, I have no idea what is going on.” He now has to rely on other resources like reading newspapers to stay informed.

“Social media and Facebook products certainly have a place in social discourse,” said Orr. “They're great for connecting friends and family. They run into difficulties when they become an alternative news source because, algorithmically speaking, they feed perspectives, opinions and

Illustration by Gaurav Gomes resulted in increased sales According to the study, “The positive effect of illegal downloads and streams on the sales of games may be explained by players getting hooked and then paying to play the game with extra bonuses or at extra levels.”

Piracy adds value for developers, driving sales when the game is presented at a discount. If you can't afford a game, but want to sample it, pirating gives you a free trial. Once a sale comes around, if you enjoy it, I urge you to purchase it. With the death of the video rental market, there are few options left to try before you buy, and if you need to really watch your spending, you’re going to opt for a less risky purchase. Personally, I can’t afford to waste my money. So, no, you wouldn’t download a car — as the meme goes — but aren’t you more likely to buy one if you can test-drive it first?

news stories that are not as impartial as they ought to be.”

In response to Meta’s decision, the Canadian government has pulled their advertisements from both Facebook and Instagram, saying the company is being “irresponsible” because they would rather remove the content than pay the news organizations.

“We need more Canadian journalism with greater reach, not less,” said Orr, who is concerned over Meta’s actions, and thinks that their decision “is disadvantaging Canadian journalism.”

Schwartz thinks that this should be “a wake up call for people to start thinking about diversifying their news sources and trying to go right to the source rather than relying on social media.”

Photography by Marten Bjork (2018) Unsplash

SNAPSHOTS

Illustrations by Iryna Presley

Nights apart make for better days

My boyfriend and I sleep in separate rooms, and it’s made our relationship stronger.

While I like to go to sleep at 9 p.m., my boyfriend is practically nocturnal. When we used to share a bed, I would have a hard time falling asleep because he would still be very much awake, even though he would try to be quiet. Then, when I eventually would fall asleep, a second problem would arise. I struggle with chronic pain, and even in my sleep I can’t get comfortable, so I spend my nights tossing and turning trying to find a comfy position. When my boyfriend

Enjoying the fruits of my labour

eventually does get tired, he can’t sleep, because he’s busy dodging my erratic movements. And then there’s my snoring. I can’t comment on that one, but apparently it’s — unpleasant — like a car with no muffler, prowling the streets at night.

My favourite part of having separate rooms comes down to this: I appreciate our time together even more now that we spend nights apart, but separate rooms is the extent to which I agree with the phrase “distance makes the heart grow fonder.”

What if poltergeists are just ghost cats?

Late at night, when I can’t sleep, I hear strange noises in the house: the crashing sound of my belongings as they’re thrown from the kitchen table, unearthly yowls echoing through the hall, and a desperate scratching on the walls. Frankly, it’s unsettling. The reason I haven’t called an exorcist? I know the source of the strange clatter: my cats. Yes, it’s annoying, but listening to their nocturnal antics has helped me better understand a mysterious phenomenon that has plagued humanity for centuries: poltergeists. Are they disgruntled human visitors from another plane of

existence? Nay, they are cats. Think about every poltergeist movie you’ve ever seen. The ghosts are always knocking over lamps and tearing at the wallpaper for no apparent reason. Sounds like the behaviour of ghostly cats, no? Perhaps they’re unhappy with the food selection in the afterlife.

I suspect that if we were able to talk to them, we’d get a hungry “meow” in return.

Of course, that still doesn’t explain the strange messages scrawled in human blood on my wall — but I wouldn’t put it past our furry feline friends.

As we near the end of the summer, we are also nearing the end of another growing season. This year, I decided to up my game and plant a variety of fruits, herbs, salad greens, and whatever else I could fit on my microscopic townhouse patio. Sure, in the past I had the odd basil plant on a windowsill and appreciated the miscellaneous sprouts of chives that would pop up in my yard at the mere suggestion of sunlight, but this year was different. I invested a little more time and energy into my garden, and it paid off in more ways than one. Keeping things alive and watching things grow from tiny little seeds,

forced me outside everyday which, in turn, helped keep me from spiraling into a cave of depression and anxiety. Simultaneously, I produced enough herbs to actually begin dehydrating and saving for the (inevitably depressing) winter months. And, although summer is technically coming to a close, we are fortunate enough to live in a place with a long growing season. Bring on the winter crops! I see an abundance of spinach, kale, and collard greens in my future.

AASHA KHOYRATTY SYDNEY MARCHAND

What happened to headphones?

Headphone options are amazing. Not long ago, they essentially came in two varieties: large cans that swallowed half your head, and the small, cheap variety that felt like they were fashioned out of household recyclables — all wired up, of course. These days, the options for style, fit, and budget are almost endless. I don’t want to brag, but I own multiple pairs of headphones so that I can choose the right one for any activity. Some are wireless, some block out ambient noise, and some can be worn in just one ear to keep from getting smooshed by a bus. Talk about luxury! It’s this cornucopia of acoustic options that leaves me so baffled at the random,

solitary dudes who skulk, strut, and swagger through town with speakers blaring for nobody in particular.

I appreciate the need for a posse of prepubescent teens to share a common speaker — even if the cacophony sounds like five songs played simultaneously — but why, sir, are you playing your backpack tunes for the whole neighbourhood? One sad peacock in particular wanders the streets with a boombox lashed around his neck — like he’s selling ballpark peanuts — the quasi-barrel shape making him look like the only St. Bernard you wouldn’t pet. Maybe he’s still saving up for bagpipes…

MATTHEW IDDON BRADLEY DUNCAN

Will be Black and white still editing.

in CANADA

BRADLEY DUNCAN

Marketing has evolved. During my childhood — back when the McBarge served McChickens instead of tetanus, and the iconic Pizza Hut roofs actually contained pizza huts — advertising was comparatively primitive. Marketing companies focused on trends and demographics to line up their ads with their target audience. If you were watching Saturday morning cartoons, you’d get the promos aimed at kids, while the denture commercials aired that night during Matlock. Now, all you have to do is walk into a store with a smartphone to get ads an hour later for the product you just talked yourself out of buying. It’s no wonder you regard your Alexa with suspicion. Narc. Ads have evolved, and Meta and Google absolutely dominate digital advertising in Canada. With a combined 80 per cent market share, they collected the bulk of Canada’s $8.8 billion digital ad revenue in 2019. By 2022, Canada’s digital advertising market surpassed $14 billion, making it one of the most lucrative in the world. You know what they say… “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money.” Canadian news outlets, however, took in a measly four per cent of the 2019 market share, in part, because most people don’t actually visit or remain on the news publisher’s site anymore.

with nearly 450 news outlets closing up shop between 2008 and 2021. Local journalism has been the hardest hit, resulting in “local news deserts” and fractured communities prone to increasing polarization and institutional distrust. Public service media like the CBC have come under increased pressure.

In June, the Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford released their 2023 Digital News Report based on a survey of over 93,000 online news consumers. They found that only 41 per cent of Canadian respondents found public service media to be of personal importance. The perceived importance was even lower for young people, who “have grown up preferring digital and social media, and have little or no experience of using these services.” That discrepancy is stark. For someone like me, who was raised on CBC children’s television in the 1980s, the service is indispensable. So too are public institutions outside of Canada, such as the BBC, and PBS. The erosion of confidence in institutions is a global phenomenon, and correlates with trust of traditional news media dropping to a historic low last year.

A lack of community reporting makes institutional distrust self-reinforcing. When local news is so profoundly eroded, it loses the human-capital, cash flow, and journalistic clout required to take on the powerful. Governments and corporate interests become more opaque, shutting out inquiry into their operations and decisions. Without a journalistic check on their power, cronyism and corruption begins to burrow into the system like a tick, and once entrenched, becomes hard to dislodge. However, that doesn’t mean it goes unnoticed. Whispered rumours replace investigative rigour, and conspiracies circulate online to be woven into preexisting theories about globalist deep-state agendas. Stories of a mysterious and all-powerful elite are more interesting than simple human greed, bribery, and graft.

While on average, Canadians spend two hours a day on social media sites, time spent on news websites (or any other websites) are typically measured in seconds. Advertisers understand the value in that sort of disparity, and invest their dollars accordingly. Journalistic organizations post their stories where they’ll be seen: social media. This increases their reach and engagement, but it also forfeits much needed ad revenue, and Canadian media has collectively haemorrhaged billions of dollars over the past decade. This dynamic — a market that has rapidly shifted to the digital sphere, where platforms offer an endless array of content and products while mining your data — has left journalism an impoverished shell of its former self.

According to a government report, “At least one third of Canadian journalism jobs have disappeared since 2010,”

In August 2023, The Atlantic published “The Local-News Crisis Is Weirdly Easy to Solve.” The article’s author, Steven Waldman, argues that directly funding local journalism in the U.S. through tax revenues “wouldn’t just be cheap — it would pay for itself.” Waldman, who is the president of Rebuild Local News and a cofounder of Report for America, has long worried about

"While on average, Canadians spend two hours a day on social media sites, time spent on news websites (or any other websites) are

Propped-up by public funding, local news has the power to expose the corruptive practices that drain the lifeblood from communities, rob people of opportunities, and degrade our

CANADA

the decline of America’s newsrooms. According to Pew Research, while digital-native newsroom employees in the U.S. have risen from “7,400 workers in 2008 to about 18,000 in 2020,” newspaper newsroom employment plummeted over the same period, “from roughly 71,000 jobs to about 31,000.” That precipitous decline has seen “1,800 communities that had a local news outlet in 2004 without any at the beginning of 2020,” according to the Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Those that remain are often staffed by skeleton crews and prone to predation by private-equity firms.

The reduction in local journalism presents a prime opportunity for the amoral and duplicitous to exploit. Waldman cites numerous cases of fraud, extortion, and shady backroom deals uncovered by local reporters in which large sums of money were ultimately returned to the taxpayers — reporters are a great investment. Propped-up by public funding, local news has the power to expose the corruptive practices that drain the lifeblood from communities, rob people of opportunities, and degrade our societies and natural environments.

A 2018 study found that local news coverage reduced the emissions of nearby polluters by 29 per cent. Civicminded reporting is being swiftly replaced by digitalnative journalism that focuses on issues of broad and sweeping appeal. The brighter the spotlight, the darker the shadows outside its beam’s periphery appear. I doubt anyone in an online newsroom in Toronto is investigating what coal stripmining will do to Lethbridge’s water supply — but the Lethbridge Herald is.

The shift to digital media from a consumer-perspective makes sense. On average, Canadians spend over six hours of “screen time” every day, with nearly half of that time spent on mobile devices. News outlets around the globe face a dilemma not so different from retailers and manufactures who market their products on Amazon, only for Amazon to undercut them with their house brand — you’ve got to go where the people are, even if it’s ultimately a losing proposition. For news media, that means uploading your stories to social networks because that’s where the eyeballs are. It’s this new paradigm that’s been dubbed “the attention economy.”

This economic model sees human attention as a scarce and finite resource — a commodity that can be extracted like petroleum. Humans only have 24 hours of attention to spend each day, and much of that is taken up by routines like work, sleep, and socialization. The insidious brilliance of tech is that they continually develop new methods of extracting increased amounts of attention, like watching YouTube on TV while scrolling TikToks on your phone. Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google, thinks that increasing the size of the attention

CAN’T SEE THIS CONTENT

economy through this multitasking shortcut has serious, harmful implications. “The problem,” said Harris in an interview with NPR, “is we're fracking people's brains to split their attention into less and less valuable chunks to get more attention out of them.” The incentives imposed by the attention economy has led to increasingly addictive practices being employed on our devices to stripmine every last ounce of human consciousness. It’s all about keeping our gaze where they want it.

The captive audience created by companies like Google and Meta has made much of the internet irrelevant. These platforms know us so well that they serve us the next thing we want before we know we want it. Predictive algorithms have been known to discern their user’s sexual identity before the users are aware of it themselves, and identify our interests — and vulnerabilities — in mere hours. This leads us to more niche content in a rabbit hole effect that exerts enormous influence. I see you like videos about organic food. Would you like to see this anti-vax clip? These companies know what we want — and what we don't. “We know the people using our platforms don't come to us for news,” said Rachel Curran, Meta's head of public policy in Canada. Recent reporting backs up her claim.

In November 2021, Canada’s federal government began its work crafting a bill that would attempt to level the playing field. Tech bristled. On June 22, 2023, Bill C-18 received royal assent — the final step in its journey from a bill to a law. The now infamous legislation, commonly known as the Online News Act, would require big tech companies to compensate news outlets for articles hosted on their platforms. Faced with the fed's attempt to claw back some of news’ lost ad revenue, Facebook opted to take their ball and go home.

The decision has impacted The Cascade as well, and though we are not tied to the same advertising model as many news outlets, social media — primarily Instagram — was a primary tool we employed to disseminate articles to our followers.

On Aug. 1, Meta released a statement of its intent: “In order to comply with the Online News Act, we have begun the process of ending news availability in Canada. These changes start today, and will be implemented for all people accessing Facebook and Instagram in Canada over the course of the next few weeks.” Shortly thereafter, Facebook and Instagram users began seeing the various new organizations they follow, blocked. A statement from Google a month earlier indicated that they may soon follow suit. The decision has impacted The Cascade as well, and though we are not tied to the same advertising model as many news outlets, social media — primarily

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— was a primary tool we employed to disseminate articles to our followers.

Meta denies the claims that they are contributing to the impoverishment of Canadian news outlets, stating that they are “proud of the role [they] have played to support a healthy and diverse news ecosystem,” and that their platforms have in fact generated “$230 million in estimated value in a twelve month period.” They conclude with a call for the Canadian government to amend their policy in a way that “upholds the principles of a free and open internet.”

Let’s consider their statement carefully by picturing the “ecosystem” of a “free and open internet” as a river. The river is chock-full of fish, and supports a vast population of fishers. Some toss nets from the bank or wade into the shallows to cast their line, while some trawl from large boats sailing up and down the length of the estuary. The large operations catch the vast majority, but there are always fish in the river. Then, someone gets an idea. If they can simply divert part of the river, they can claim all the fish in their tributary. They dig the requisite channels, and soon, the water is flowing and the stream is populated with fish; but what if they could have more fish? What if they studied the fish and learned just what attracted them? They could add that to the water, and more fish would come. So they studied, collected, and analyzed their data, and applied their tactics. It worked so well, they soon had 80 per cent of the river’s fish crammed within their private stream. Fear not, other fishers. We have learned exactly what each fish in the stream wants, and we’ll sell that information to you.

The business model of companies like Meta and Google is to provide so much value to the user that they look past the real world harm they do — and it works. In 2018, Facebook was used to incite a genocide in Myanmar against its Muslim Royhinga population. According to a PBS report, “The timing coincided with the rising popularity of Facebook in Myanmar, where for many people it served as their only connection to the online world. That effectively made Facebook the internet for a vast number of Myanmar’s population.” Google’s Gmail was so good at filtering out spam that we let them loot our emails for data, just as they do with Search, YouTube, Maps, and Android’s operating system. Given Facebook’s problematic history, Sam Harris, on his Making Sense podcast,

asked Scott Galloway, Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business, about the ethical concerns of marketing his meditation app on the platform. The response from Galloway was on-brand for the boisterous best-selling author.

“I believe that Facebook's underlying business model is fueled by rage. And I also think, sitting on top of that unbelievable rage machine — that creates rage and dissent among a population greater than the southern hemisphere plus India — is controlled by a single voter/shareholder class owned by one individual who got his start building a website evaluating women on their physical appearance; screwed over his friends in college; totally fucked over his best friend out of school; demonstrates all the characteristics of a sociopath; is the most dangerous person on the planet [who] can't

The business model of companies like Meta and Google is to provide so much value to the user that they look past the real world harm they do — and it works

be removed from office, potentially for another 60 or 70 years… [who] delays and obfuscates necessary regulation and scrutiny we provided to other organizations; such that this platform can be weaponized by advertisers, paying in rubles, to suppress the turnout in key swing districts, electing an illegitimate president that puts people on the Supreme Court that every day are chipping away at a woman's rights for sovereign domain over her own person and body. I think Facebook is the most dangerous organization in the world. If I were you, I would 100 per cent advertise on Facebook.”

The professor’s words ring true in a world increasingly dominated by a few massive tech companies. While in reality, you can browse the internet without Google and connect with friends outside of Facebook, the reason they have consolidated so much wealth and influence is the very real value they provide to billions of people. While many online video sharing platforms exist, YouTube dominates its competitors. As of 2020, 62 per cent of Americans use YouTube daily — a figure that climbs to 92 per cent for weekly use, and 98 per cent monthly. The almost total cultural saturation of YouTube is a credit to the friendliness of its interface, and the recommendation algorithm that operates behind-the-scenes.

The power of the algorithms and refined targeting of the ads is based on a dragon horde of information scoured from users — and like a dragon, tech companies covet the data they have claimed as their own. With it, they have become almost unimaginably powerful, gobbling up whatever they like, and growing fat and lazy in the process. Even tech reporters are noting that Google Search — the company’s first and most iconic product — isn’t what it used to be.

This article won’t show up on Meta’s platforms in Canada. We’ll adapt. So will the market. The decline in local journalism isn’t a Canadian problem — it’s a human one — and it will take humans to solve it. Perhaps some young, innovative student will develop a news-based social media app for Canadians; an aggregator that will learn from our actions and feed us important, relevant, legitimate news while sharing its ad revenue with the publishers. Maybe other legislators will stand up to the tech companies that say the crumbs that fall from their ravenous mouths is ample compensation. Or we

could decide, as a nation, that robust local journalism is worth funding from our own pockets, and invest the few hundredths of a percentage of the budget required to rebuild our communities and our democracy. Those should be our goals, assuming we can agree, collectively, to not back down. Meta’s co-founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerburg once said, “The biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” The Online News Act is risky, but it’s better than doing nothing. Alternatively, to surrender and reverse course now would be catastrophic, and would show the states and countries drafting their own laws, and waiting to see who breaks first, that the tech giants truly are sovereign.

In the meantime, there’s another “Zuck” quote that my American friends should consider: "We have a saying. 'Move fast and break things.'” Well it’s time for the U.S. government to pick up its antitrust hammer. Break ‘em up. Do it fast.

While in reality, you can browse the internet without Google and connect with friends outside of Facebook, the reason they have consolidated so much wealth and influence is

The decline in local journalism isn’t a Canadian problem — it’s a human one — and it will take humans to solve it.

Event Coverage //

CHASI’s Tea Dance and Queeraoke closes out Pride Month in style

The event delivered great music, delicious treats, and a fabulous atmosphere.

JAYDEN TALVIO

On June 28, from 4-8 p.m., UFV's Community Health and Social Innovation (CHASI) Hub held a Tea Dance and “Queeraoke” for the purpose of “transitioning the Pride display to a more permanent home.” This 19+ event took place at the Abbotsford campus on Building K’s patio. Tickets were $5 for UFV students and $10 for all others.

Props to Kristen Bencze, social media intern at CHASI, for curating the epic playlist — conjuring an upbeat and positive vibe for the evening. Think: “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge, “I’m Every Woman” by Whitney Houston, and “Walking On Sunshine” by Katrina And The Waves.

The event organizers served up an assortment of delicious snacks to sustain the guests until pizza arrived, and beverages on-site were of the alcoholic and non-alcoholic varieties. I spent a decent chunk of time working on a Pride puzzle while others enjoyed some lively games of cornhole.

Throughout the event, attendees wrote individualised messages on

by AC/DC to a thoroughly supportive crowd that enthusiastically cheered on every singer. The evening also featured a line dance to “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” by Brooks & Dunn, and several of us kept on dancing even after the party ended.

Andrea Moorhouse, student research assistant at CHASI, spoke of the repeated vandalisation and theft of Pride flags that has occurred on campus since April 24. She said that she sees this event as “a celebration as well as a resistance — of saying, ‘we're here, we’re queer’ and that is fun and okay. We will still be that resistance.”

Emma Hones, member at large of the UFV Pride Collective, was in charge of emceeing and taking care of the technological aspects of the event. “No matter what is going on out there in the world,” said Hones, “we're still here and we're still going to be us, and that's something that's always worth celebrating in any month.” Hones also spoke to the importance of allies to the queer community, and that when it comes to encouraging others to support LGBTQ+ people, “it's really hard to change an opinion, but it's easy

small rainbow flags, then attached them to a string so there were three rows of flags. Some of the messages included, “No closet is big enough!,” “I’ve finally found a place to belong,” and “You are not broken.” Some quirky messages included: “Pansexual is bestsexual,” and, my personal favourite, “Gay is love, gay is life.”

There was karaoke, too. I took advantage of this opportunity to belt out “You Shook Me All Night Long”

to plant a seed … maybe that seed will grow into something and they'll change their own opinion.” Overall, the event was a blast, and I encourage everyone to attend their second Tea Dance and Queeraoke party on Aug. 31.

Phography By CHASI

Phography By CHASI

Thousands gather to celebrate Sikh heritage in Abbotsford

The annual Nagar Kirtan parade, a commemoration of Sikh culture, beliefs, and traditions, transcended cultural barriers.

GAURI SETHI

On Sept. 3, 2023, I had the honour of seeing Abbotsford come alive at the Nagar Kirtan festival. This gathering of individuals from all ethnic backgrounds was a striking illustration of the inclusivity that Sikh customs and culture represent. Thousands of people attended the celebration thanks to Gurdwara Kalgidhar Darbar Sahib's kind organization, and it was clear why it won their hearts. This year’s Nagar Kirtan was nothing short of spectacular, and I felt privileged to be there.

The procession initiated with an Ardas: a prayer to God, at the Gurdwara Kalgidhar Darbar Sahib proceeding to the parade. Winding its way through the streets, the parade was headed by various floats adorned with lavish decorations, lights, and symbols from Sikh heritage. Groups of people sang prayers and gave speeches on the teachings by the gurus, but the foremost float was the one with Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scriptures. Attendees of all ages dressed in vibrant traditional outfits. On top of that, I also witnessed performances like sword fighting, singing hymns and prayers, and marching with flags.

The captivating ambiance was produced by the melodious singing and the drumming, which drew spectators and participants alike into the festivities of the Nagar Kirtan. Moreover, local schools like Khalsa School and some local organizations also participated in the parade, with their floats highlighting the community's diversity and togetherness. Local officials maintained the safety and orderly conduct of the event as people from all over the city lined the parade route. To guarantee the attendees’ safety and wellbeing, police officers and medical professionals were also on hand.

The origins of Nagar Kirtan can be traced in the holy scriptures of the Sikh religion by Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founding father of Sikhism. The Sikhs' dedication to spreading their faith via music, prayer, and community service is shown in this act. "Kirtan" denotes the singing of hymns in a devoted manner, while the term "Nagar" denotes a town or a city. Nagar Kirtan, then, is a community procession that includes hymn singing and prayer in open areas.

The idea of Langar, a free communal kitchen that provides meals to everyone, regardless of their origin or social status, is the core of the Nagar Kirtan experience. The participants had home cooked meals that were made and served by volunteers. In addition, all the delicacies were completely financed by volunteers who worked diligently behind the scenes. Along the route, there were all sorts of food vendors from traditional Indian food and sweets to pizza and ice cream stalls where anybody could eat for free. There were also devotees who volunteered to provide cleaning services after the procession. I was impressed when I learned that the event was fully funded by people who were willing to contribute selflessly. An attendee of the event, Simran Sanghera, said, “For almost six years, I've never missed this event and it's amazing to see how our community comes together and welcomes other cultures.”

The Nagar Kirtan parade served as a prime example of how individuals from across various socioeconomic levels can come together and celebrate in a culture of warmth and oneness.

Phography By Gauri Seti

Column //

The Cascade Kitchen: Chocolate Chip Cookies

VERONICA

POWELL

The Cascade Kitchen is a student-run food column that brings you budgetfriendly recipes and cooking tips. Check back weekly for something new to try in the kitchen, or if you want to see your own recipe featured next, get started by reaching out to culture@ ufvcascade.ca.

Chocolate chip cookies are a classic recipe that comes to mind when I think of back to school. They can be made gluten-free and are super simple cookies to make. Most often, I make these with semi-sweet chocolate chips, but they can be made with any chip of your choice. They are particularly famous in my household: one will often be paired with ice cream or a cold glass of milk to satiate a late night craving.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Bake time: 12 minutes

Makes: 30-40 cookies

Ingredients:

* 1 ½ cups butter (unsalted)

* 1 cups sugar

* 1 cups brown sugar

* 2 eggs

* 2 tsp vanilla extract

* 2 tsp baking soda

* ½ tsp salt

* 4 cups flour

* 1 cup chocolate chips (or as many as you like)

Method:

1. Start by preparing a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2. Then, cream the butter with a hand mixer in a large bowl.

3. Add in both sugars, then mix together with a wooden spoon.

4. Once mixed, add in the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix.

5. Then, add the baking soda, salt, flour, and chocolate chips.

6. Scoop a tablespoon of dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with all the dough.

7. Bake for 12 minutes.

8. Take out of the oven and remove from the baking sheet. Let cool.

Enjoy!

Phography By Veronica Powell

Study Break

Crossword //

ANSWERS:

Horoscopes //

Your weekly life predictions made by J. Talvio.

Aries - Mar. 21 to Apr. 19

Remember that not every scenario needs a hero. Consider easing up your “leadership skills” so as to not come across as being domineering and full of yourself.

Taurus - Apr. 20 to May 20

Stubborn as always, eh? Just make sure you make room for your friends to make their case on issues you disagree with.

Gemini - May 21 to Jun. 20

Expect to make your friends laugh with your quick-wittedness. This week, they’ll appreciate your sense of humour more than ever before. Next week, no promises.

Cancer - Jun. 21 to Jul. 22

Try your hardest to not “fall in love” with yet another person this week. It’ll be worth it in the end. Instead, know your worth, and hold back on intimacy for a while.

Leo - Jul. 23 to Aug. 22

Check in with your quiet friends this week — chances are, they’ll need your boisterous personality to help them fix a problem or two. Before jumping in, play-act approaching your friends humbly and not like your main objective is to boost your own ego.

Virgo - Aug. 23 to Sept. 22

Although it may not seem to be the case right now, trust that your hardworking nature will pay off in the end. Don’t get too cocky about that, though.

Libra - Sep. 23 to Oct. 22

Your zest for life can help raise others’ spirits this week. It may also cause some conflict, however, if you tell your friends about how great your life is going when they’re down in the dumps. Never do that again.

Scorpio - Oct. 23 to Nov. 21

Consider being selective about who you’re going to try to seduce: for instance, your sibling’s best friend is probably off limits. Go for someone who has a higher chance of reciprocating your feelings towards them.

Sagittarius - Nov. 22 to Dec. 21

To avoid ending up on another blacklist, know when it’s best to tell the truth and when it’s best to tell a white lie. Hint: bluntness is almost never the answer. Keep this in mind and you’ll be Gucci.

Capricorn - Dec. 22 to Jan. 19

Your ability to notice the small things in life is a great gift for you to embrace. However, this skill can become detrimental if you use it in the wrong contexts, such as to tell your aunt you notice she has more “tinsel” in her hair than usual.

Aquarius - Jan. 20 to Feb. 18

Make sure to speak your mind at your next work meeting — lean in to your creative side a bit more. If your boss hates your ideas, C’est la vie.

Pisces - Feb. 19 to Mar. 20

Eat a tub of ice cream if it makes you feel better. You’ve earned it, considering it takes you 10 business days to recover from a minor argument.

Music //

Hozier’s Unreal Unearth is a tapestry of sweet tragedy

A deliciously dark album with plenty of secrets waiting to be uncovered…

MATTHEW IDDON

Our first visual impression of Unreal Unearth is the album’s strange cover: a partially excavated human face, surrounded by soil, clamping a flower tight between its teeth. The corpse of Andrew Hozier-Byrne is quite literally pushing up daisies.

Across the Irish singer/songwriter’s body of work, Death has been a frequent muse. Although most people know Hozier for his 2013 hit, “Take Me To Church,” his debut album from the following year is an absolute masterclass in macabre poetry. Songs like “Work Song” describe a love so powerful that it brings a man back from the brink of death: “When my time comes around / Lay me gently in the cold dark earth / No grave can hold my body down / I'll crawl home to her.” Meanwhile, the Karen Cowley duet “In A Week” chronicles the tale of two dead lovers as they rot and return to the soil together: “They'd find us in

a week / When the weather gets hot / After the insects have made their claim / I'd be home with you.” Morbid? Yes. But the morbidity of nature is Hozier's specialty. In the song “Shrike,” gory lyrics about a bird impaling its prey on a thorn sound divine when sung in his soothing accented baritone. His vocal range is dynamic; he can switch from soft and sweet to raw and bluesy with ease. Not to mention, his songs are always accompanied by gorgeous instrumentation; from the distorted guitar fuzz on “Jackie And Wilson” to the gentle acoustic fingerpicking on “Cherry Wine,” there is a transcendental quality to his music that is hard to find elsewhere.

I mention all of this because, despite the fact that he has never quite emerged from the shadow of “Take Me To Church,” Hozier has been consistently knocking it out of the park since 2013. So how does his third album, Unreal Unearth, stack up against its predecessors?

The album kicks off with “De Selby (Part 1),” a soft, lovely intro featuring three verses sung in English, and an outro sung in Irish Gaelic. Its sister song, “De Selby (Part 2),” is the polar opposite. Similar to “Tell It To My Heart,” Hozier’s 2022 foray into EDM, “Part 2” wouldn’t sound out of place at a nightclub. While Hozier and mainstream pop production may seem like a strange combination, the result is totally electrifying (and the music video features Domhnall Gleeson, which is always a plus).

Once again, Hozier’s lyrical content is rich with meaning and symbolism. There are references to Greek mythology, Dante’s Divine Comedy, and the Bible embedded throughout the tracklist. “First Time” and “Francesca” are notable examples of this, using metaphor and mythology in tandem to great effect. This album also showcases a diversity of genres and styles. “I, Carrion (Icarian)” is a gentle lullaby, “Son of Nyx” is orchestral and unsettling, and “All Things End” is unapologetically gospel. “Unknown / Nth” would sound right at home on Hozier’s grungier 2014 debut, while “Eat Your Young” is biting satire of the older generation’s capitalistic consumption of the youth: “Come and get some / Skinning the children for a war drum / Putting food on the table selling bombs and guns / It's quicker and easier to eat your young.”

This being said, there is a drawback to the album’s wealth of content. At 16 songs, Unreal Unearth is longer than both Hozier (2014) and Wasteland, Baby! (2019). Across these 16 tracks, there is some fat that could be trimmed. The presence of so many songs that sound similar has a diluting effect on the overall product. The strength of an album like Hozier is its brevity; at only 13 songs, it’s imperative that every song stands out. Maybe a shorter and more concise tracklist would have made songs like “Francesca” even more impactful.

Still, that’s but a small nitpick. Once again, I’m impressed by how much care and artistry Hozier and his band/producers put into their work. This album absolutely gets a positive recommendation from me. If you enjoy bleak fall afternoons, gloomy weather, and thinking about death while drinking tea, you won’t regret unearthing all that Unreal Unearth has to offer.

Artwork by Rubyworks

Photography by Jackson, J. (2023).

CHARTS

15.

16.

17. FRANKIIE Between Dreams

18. DOPE.GNG NRNTB_BLEU

19. THE PENSKE FILE Half Glow

20. PLANET GIZA Ready When You Are

SHUFFLE

In every issue of The Cascade, CIVL station manager Aaron Levy runs through four songs for your playlist’s pleasure, conveniently next to our weekly charts. This week we’re focusing on talented Fraser Valleybased singer-slash-rapper dudes. Stay tuned for the next issue for some completely different local artists!

BOSLEN - VULTURES

You may recognize him from Coachella, his Juno nomination, or Kids Help Phone’s “We Are The World”-ing of Serena Ryder’s “What I Wouldn’t Do.” This fire-spitting phenom arrived in 2020 with singles like this one, representing Chilliwack, and winning a Fraser Valley Music Award in the same year.

MAUVEY - I DARE YOU TO BREAK

After playing Glastonbury this year without even having released his first proper “album”, Mauvey has released a gaggle of pre-album releases, and continues to tease his eventual fulllength debut. If the fervour of his inspiring live performances are any indication, the record’s gonna pop.

CODY LAWLESS - GRACE

This new record is a fresh, accessible new sound. Lawless has been serving up steaming hot hip hop and rap tracks since he was a Mission high school student whipping up basement parties and touring with artists like Snak the Ripper and Merkules. Sweet sound AND boy.

SAINT SOLDIER - MUDRA GANG (FT. YVNG DARKO)

The Qui-Gon to Cody’s Obi-Wan — an older, more experienced artist who proved himself long before Lawless’s previous project. This song, off of this summer’s new release, “The Way of The Artist,” even features CIVL’s very own music director.

Photography by Aryan Kathuira

Note: Some of the events require tickets, and most are online. If something catches your eye, take to the Internet for more details, including those about social distancing measures for