The Cascade Vol. 20 No. 26

Vol. 20 Issue. 26

www.ufvcascade.ca

OCTOBER 17–24, 2012

The cost of these burgers is too damn high since 1993

From humble beginnings

Adbuster and UCFV alum Darren Fleet on his journalism career p. 10

TPush pin Super Mario mural finds Zelda counterpart p. 11

Face shot used with permission from: Darren Fleet

E. coli: what you need to know p. 17

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S ISSUE News

Opinion

Arts & Life

Sports & Health

A Transit Referendum Approacheth

Taquitos & Politics: The Perfect Couple

SAUS Hosts AfterMath Event

Volley-Ho

After a lot of debate, SUS decided at their last General Meeting to approach the student body with a referendum. The question: are students willing to pay $6 a semester to fund transit between Abbotsford and Chilliwack?

Read more on page 3

Who says you can’t mix politics and terrible gas-station coffee and slowly rotating faux-mexican food? This year, 7-Eleven is once again stepping into the political arena with it’s 7-election. Is this good for democracy?

Imagine getting completely sauced with SAUS. Sociology and Anthropology students don’t have to anymore. With two awesome live bands, trivia, prizes and cheap shots of Indiana Jones, UFV’s social science students were in for a lively night. Check out the story.

Read more on page 16

Dessa Bayrock reviews UFV volleyball’s performance in opening weekend action against the CBC Bearcats. Who came out on top?

Who fell behind? Can a news editor actually write about sports?

Read more on page 8

Read more on page 18

Autonomy, SUS and “the independent Toque”

THE CASCADE

“Drunk at Ikea since 1993” “Thinking you might call since 1993” “UFV’s student press since 1993” These and other tongue-incheek phrases like them are a front page staple of The Cascade, some obscure reference or joke with a built-in weekly reminder to students that we’ve had their backs for close to 20 years. But

Editor-in-chief nick@ufvcascade.ca Nick Ubels Managing editor amy@ufvcascade.ca Amy Van Veen Business manager joe@ufvcascade.ca Joe Johnson

EDITORIAL

NICK UBELS

Volume 20 · Issue 25 Room C1027 33844 King Road Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 604.854.4529

that’s not really true.

The truth is this date has little to do with the The Cascade you hold in your hands today.

UFV has had a newspaper since its inception as Fraser Valley College in the ‘70s. It changed names nearly every year and finally settled on The Cascade 19 years ago. It was student-run, it had the same name you’ll see on this week’s cover, but it was a fundamentally different publication.

So when did The Cascade be-

come The Cascade?

Not until 2002.

The Cascade was pretty different 11 years ago. And I don’t just mean the staff, columns, equipment or cover design, though these things have certainly changed as well.

Eleven years ago, UFV’s student press operated under the control of the Student Union Society.

In the face of increasingly antagonistic behaviour on the part of the SUS, two 2001-2002 Cascade editors resigned and banded together with a group of ex-Cascaders to form an independent, progressive campus newspaper called the Toque.

Acting editor-in-chief Kris Lind wrote a manifesto of sorts entitled “WHO WE ARE AND WHY WE’RE HERE” that appeared in the debut issue of UCFV’s second campus press. Lind outlined the specific conditions that lead to the rift.

The newspaper’s budget, hiring and operating policies were under the purview of the SUS. After eight years of partnership, they began to exercise greater editorial control of The Cascade both directly, in censorship of particular political views and content critical of the SUS, and through indirect methods like cutting staff pay by 50 per cent, writing arbitrary dismissal clauses into contracts, seizing furniture and office space, and claiming all Cascade advertising revenue as SUS revenue.

It seemed The Cascade was destined to become nothing more than a SUS newsletter.

What happened instead was that for just over a year, two student newspapers fought for the UCFV readership. And the Toque was gaining fast, despite having no student funding.

It was because of the Toque’s efforts and fearless journalism that, in March 2002, students voted with a 71 per cent majority to make The Cascade an autonomous, not-for-profit organization run independently of SUS, collecting its own student fee, in charge of its own finances, staff and content.

Having secured its autonomy, The Cascade entered negotiations to merge with its once-rival paper. In the rehiring process, most of the former Toque staff won out.

Separation of press and government is right up there with separation of church and state as far as freedom of expression goes. It is what allows us to report honestly on matters concerning the SUS and properly hold them to account.

Autonomy from the student union and the university itself is vitally important for that very reason. But it’s something that has to be fought for and protected through bylaws like the one that bars SUS representatives from holding positions with The Cascade.

And we have the Toque to thank for giving UFV’s students a real voice.

Sincerely, Your autonomous student press since 2002

Online editor michael@ufvcascade.ca Michael Scoular Production manager stewart@ufvcascade.ca Stewart Seymour Art director anthony@ufvcascade.ca Anthony Biondi Copy editor joel@ufvcascade.ca Joel Smart News editor news@ufvcascade.ca Dessa Bayrock Opinion editors opinion@ufvcascade.ca Sean Evans Arts & life editor arts@ufvcascade.ca Sasha Moedt Sports editor sports@ufvcascade.ca Paul Esau Staff writers Karen Aney, Taylor Johnson, Nadine Moedt, Jess Wind

Contributors Mike Cadarette, Joel Colbourne, Jeremy Hannaford, Beau O’Niell, Ryan Peterson, Tim Ubels, Jesse Wertman

Printed By International Web exPress

UPCOMING EVENTS Oct 18

October 22

October weekends

October 25

BSCA presents blood drive on campus

Bring a friend to dodgeball

Grave Tales at Fort Langley

Addicted to Plastic

UFV’s Biology and Chemistry Student Association is bringing blood donations to campus. Roll up your sleeves next Thursday between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. in the south gym on Abbotsford campus. Approximately one Canadian a minute needs a blood transfusion, so don’t be stingy with your veins.

Ever miss the adventure of the court and the thrill of chase that you felt while having things hurled at your head? Well, now you can return to the joys of the dodgeball terrain on Abbotsford campus by throwing together a team and hurling yourselves and a multitude of balls at an opposing force! Drop by the North Gym between 2-4 p.m. for some good, oldfashioned fun.

It’s that spooky time of month where everyone wants to light a bonfire and hear some scary stories.

For a mere $15.50, meander through Fort Langley in the dark through rolling terrain and a myriad of creepy ghost stories that are very nearly guaranteed to send chills down your spine. For tour times and more information, visit the Fort Langley website or call 604-5134777.

SUS, the BCSA, and the brand-new UFV chapter of Cinema Politica present a free film showing next Thursday. “Addicted to Plastic” will explore society’s craving for and dependence on plastics, and there will be a student-led discussion after the credits roll for those interested. The film will start at 7 p.m. at AfterMath SocialHouse, and anyone and everyone is invited to attend this free event.

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 75 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.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

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NEWS

Potter steps into Vidal’s shoes as interim SUS president

Image: SUS

Word on the street says Potter is the new Vidal.

nick ubels THE CASCADE

Former VP east Shane Potter has been appointed interim SUS president, besting two opponents to secure the position left vacant

by Carlos Vidal.

Potter will be taking over the position immediately.

The SUS board of directors made the decision through a series of secret ballots at last Friday’s regular, biweekly meeting.

VP social Chris Doyle and representative-at-large Ryan Petersen also accepted nominations.

The first vote by secret ballot resulted in a tie between Doyle and Potter, with one abstention.

As meeting chair, outgoing president Carlos Vidal declined to cast the deciding vote.

“I’m not in a position where I can make this decision myself,” Vidal said.

Aboriginal students represen-

Intersection fix in the works near CEP nadine moedt

tative Ahmed Hussein asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.

“So what do we do, guys?” he said.

The board debated tabling the decision for one week, which would have given the position to VP internal Greg Stickland until a decision could be reached. Stickland had earlier declined a nomination by Petersen.

AfterMath manager Brad Ross suggested that waiting one week could result in a dividing campaign between the two front-runners.

“You talk about how you want to keep this board working together,” said Ross. “You’ve just had a tie and you’re now going to give these guys seven days to openly campaign and separate this board, potentially?”

The board ultimately decided to hold a runoff vote with only Doyle and Potter on the ballot.

After the second round of voting,

Potter was declared the winner.

Potter humbly accepted the position.

“If it was Chris, Ryan or myself, we would have all done a great job,” said Potter. “I have a lot of respect for Chris and it was really down the middle.”

Vidal congratulated Potter and expressed his admiration for all the candidates before giving an emotional goodbye speech and moving to ratify the results.

“I respect all of you,” he said.

“I know we don’t always agree on everything, but I respect all of your opinions and I’m thankful for the things we’ve been able to accomplish together.”

VP finance Sam Broadfoot suggested keeping Vidal on as chair for the remainder of the meeting, an idea that was warmly accepted by the board.

Now that Vidal’s shoes have been filled, the search turns to finding a new VP east – the position Potter will leave vacant.

The SUS board of directors may take up to one month to decide on a suitable replacement for the position of VP east at one of their regular meetings.

Except for the office of president, interim executive positions can only be filled by non-executive SUS representatives, significantly narrowing the pool of replacement candidates.

SUS by-election results will be ratified at the October 26 meeting, which means that the newlyelected representatives will also have the opportunity to be appointed to the vacant position.

Carlos Vidal’s complete farewell speech “I just want to say thanks. I’ve had a great time working with all of you. It’s difficult. I didn’t realize how connected I was to this position and this school until I broke down at the board of governors meeting as well, presenting to the executives there.

I respect all of you. I know we don’t always agree on everything, but I respect all of your opinions and I’m thankful for the things we’ve been able to accomplish together.

I respect Shane. I know that Shane will do a great job, continuing to lead the SUS as your interim president. And I fully support him and I want to express that and the decision has been made. And I am grateful to those other candidates who have stepped up, I respect you as well.

Continue to work with UFV. See them as a partner. We may not always agree as well with everything that UFV’s doing, but if we continue to work with them as a partner, SUS and UFV will continue to make great things happen.

Thank you, guys. I appreciate everything you’ve done. I love this school and I’ll always remember my experience here. With that we move on to vote on this motion.”

SUS transit levy referendum coming soon

THE CASCADE

The City of Chilliwack is working to put up some form of traffic control at a dangerous intersection close to the new Canada Education Park campus.

The intersection where Keith Wilson and Tyson roads meet has become increasingly busy since the opening of the new campus, and has been the site of two vehicle collisions within the last two weeks.

UFV instructor John Carroll teaches at the CEP campus. Any upgrade to that particular intersection, he says, would make getting there a whole lot easier.

“Considering the number of vehicles going through there now,” Carroll said, ”and the growing enrollment at CEP expected in the next few years, it doesn’t seem like the present routes can adequately accommodate the traffic.”

Mayor Sharon Gaetz stated in a Facebook post that the city is considering two different methods: a conventional traffic light or a roundabout. In the meantime, the intersection has been turned into a four-way stop.

The Chilliwack Progress reports that the overall estimated cost of the project, according to city staff, would come to just over $1 million if a single lane roundabout is constructed, as opposed to the conventional traffic light, which would cost about $300,000.

nick ubels THE CASCADE

SUS will be asking students whether they agree to a levy of up to $6 per student, per semester to support a private shuttle between UFV’s campuses in Chilliwack and Abbotsford.

Currently there is no public transit option between the two cities. This is a problem for much of UFV’s commuter student body.

The referendum question reads: “Do you support up to $6.00 per semester Chilliwackto-Abbotsford transit fee to secure mass transit between Chilliwack and Abbotsford for our students [and] have this removed when a public option becomes available.”

The decision to put the question to referendum was reached at last Friday’s SUS board of directors meeting.

VP academic Dan van der Kroon read the motion and emphasized the importance of transportation between the two campuses.

“The provision of mass transit between these cities is essential for our students,” van der Kroon said. “The only feasible way to do it in the short term is a private option between Abbotsford and Chilliwack.”

However, van der Kroon expressed some reservations about

Image: FerryDude2012

Will a private Abbotsford-Chilliwack connector see much use or go ignored by most students? putting this question to referendum. Only five per cent of UFV’s student body is required to answer a referendum question for it to be considered legitimate; van der Kroon explained he felt this percentage is not large enough to truly gauge the will of the student body.

The total cost per student of the proposed private shuttle is $10 per semester, but SUS is currently working with the university on creating a model funded by both student levy and contributions from UFV. The SUS board of directors is hoping to receive a commitment of up to 60 per cent of this cost from students so they can move forward with this plan as soon as possible.

Incoming interim president Shane Potter first expressed some concern about bringing the

question to referendum before finalizing negotiations with the university, but retracted his earlier statements after representative-at-large Jay Mitchell indicated that the deadline for next semester’s fees is quickly coming up.

Waiting to approach students with this question would have also meant the referendum could fall during exam period, resulting in lower student voter turnout.

“I think we should go ahead and put this forward,” Potter concluded.

A date is yet to be set for the Chilliwack-Abbotsford connector poll, but it is unlikely the vote will be held in time to add the new fee to the winter 2013 semester if the referendum passes.

VP social Chris Doyle raised concerns over whether or not

students would actually use the service if the referendum passed.

“Have we, in any way, checked how many students will actually be using this service?” Doyle asked. “I don’t want an empty bus running back and forth because we haven’t checked there are enough students.”

Potter addressed Doyle’s concerns by pointing to the petitions and letters SUS has received over the past five years.

“We have a public push for this,” Potter said.

Meeting chair and outgoing president Carlos Vidal suggested that referendum was the only way to determine whether the project has a student mandate.

“I think the only way to answer your question is to go to referendum,” he said.

The SUS board of directors adjourned before reaching motions to pose three additional referendum questions: two concerning the student union’s membership in the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) federal advocacy group, and another that would ask students whether SUS levies should be tied to inflation.

A bylaw change made in this year’s SUS AGM allows the SUS board of directors to pose referendum questions to the student body with a two-thirds majority vote from the board of directors instead of the previously-required 75 per cent majority.

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

NEWS

There will be blood; it’s in you to give

AfterMath joins the Twitterverse jess wind

dessa bayrock THE CASCADE

THE CASCADE

With Halloween right around the corner, there’s talk of zombies, gore and horror from every angle.

UFV’s Biology and Chemistry Student Association (BCSA) is also talking blood – but their event, planned for this Thursday, October 18, is far from creepy.

They’ve organized a blood drive on campus, and Canadian Blood Services (CBS) will be working at UFV’s Abbotsford campus from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. accepting blood donations from any students, faculty or staff who are willing to give.

Anyone interested in donating can stop by the North Gym of the Envision Athletic Centre throughout the day, where CBS volunteers will take about a pint of blood from each participant.

Although the event itself is only a few hours long, it represents years of planning.

“I started donating probably in my first year, and it just became something I was almost addicted to,” says Danielle Hamel, BCSA VP academic and driving force behind this project.

She began volunteering after travelling made her temporarily ineligible to give blood, and the process became something she wanted to share with other students.

“I thought, ‘well, a lot of students would donate blood if there was [a clinic] on campus,’” Hamel explains.

She contacted CBS to organize a day students could donate on campus, and with the support of the BSCA they started working closely together last year to make the event a reality.

Hamel says there are a couple

Never again will students need to ask, “What’s the daily special?”

In 140 characters or less, AfterMath will be tweeting daily specials directly to students’ phones and computers around campus from @AfterMathToday.

That’s right; AfterMath Socialhouse is joining the plethora of UFV affiliates on Twitter. The campus pub has already overhauled their information on the SUS website and launched a Facebook page, and any day now the restaurant will begin tweeting updates as well.

According to manager Brad Ross the account was actually launched over nine months ago, but no one seemed to remember.

“It got lost when we did Facebook and the new website with SUS and we just never used it,” Ross explains.

But after some gentle cajoling from AfterMath patrons, Ross decided to start.

He hopes that the use of Twitter in conjunction with other social media will bring more students out to the social house.

Along with the daily specials, AfterMath’s Twitter account will also be home Ross’ personal brand of humour – general rants.

“I’m probably the most politically incorrect person on this campus, so why not?” Ross says, explaining that it’s the sort of humour he thinks students can relate to.

However, the real draw to Twitter is the connections it will help AfterMath build. Many clubs and associations at UFV are active with their social media sites, and Ross hopes to join them in hashtagging their way to collective student awareness.

Image: Imagine Canada

A blood clinic will be running on campus this week. of things students should keep in mind if they want to donate blood.

“There are a lot of common sense things, like make sure you have a full meal before you go in … don’t drink a lot of coffee because it’s a diuretic and it will make it harder to donate,” Hamel notes. “Afterwards, make sure you wait your 10-15 minutes at the table and have your cookies and your juice.”

If students can’t make it to the clinic on Thursday, there are clinics throughout the Fraser Valley several times a week, and CBS is always looking for more donors.

Members of the BCSA have been handing out flyers all week to help raise awareness for the event. Hamel says that no matter what, she expects it’ll be a success.

“There’s a lot of interest in it, it’s just a matter of getting people registered. Right now we’re at

55 per cent booked,” she notes.

“They prefer to have mostly booked and not have a lot of walkins, but considering it’s a campus, there are going to be a lot of walkins.”

UFV isn’t the first BC university to organize a blood drive on campus; Trinity Western University holds a similar event at which they’ve raised approximately 70 units of blood every year for the past three years.

“One unit of blood improves a life, and two to three units save a life,” Hamel notes. “I think it would be awesome if we could at least meet how much they do, if not exceed it.”

Students are encouraged to register online, but anyone is welcome to drop in to donate between classes or appointments.

More information is available at the BCSA Facebook page or at www.blood.ca.

Image:rudecactus.com

Image: Reuters

The most followed account is @goUFV with over 2700 followers, which is run by the institution and tweets about everything and anything pertaining to the university.

Other departments, like Ross, are also moving online with their information distribution. The varsity sports department tweets play-by-plays and final scores via @UFVCascades. Last week @UFVCareerCentre launched, as did @ufvcics, representing the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies. Both of these departments said they are looking to get more students involved with events on campus through tweeting.

AfterMath has become a common choice for events on campus that require good food made to order, a welcoming atmosphere and and/or alcoholic beverages.

By using Twitter in conjunction with the restaurant’s other social media outlets, Ross plans to continue to build the relationship with student clubs.

“I love my student clubs,” Ross notes. “I work closely with [Chris Doyle, VP social] on making things happen.”

There have been many tweetworthy events held at AfterMath already this year, and many more on the horizon. They have accommodated the Business Administration Student Association’s BASA Bash, English Students Association’s Words and Wine, The Louden Singletree’s magazine launch, and more recently the Sociology Anthropology Undergraduate Society’s Sauced with SAUS event. AfterMath has also housed more formal events including an English class’s recitation presentations and the SUS AGM. After all, the AfterMath Twitter is intended to serve as one more way for information about these events to reach students.

NEWS BRIEFS

Image:CUP

Image: Reuters

Image: Reuters

Increase in HIV testing in BC leads to new patients’ rights guides

Eduflation: the cost of learning

Ontario premier resigns, says party needs renewal

Canadian naval officer pleads guilty to spying for Russia

Brad Pitt mystifies as first male face of Chanel No.5

VICTORIA (CUP) — Some BC hospitals and emergency rooms are beginning to offer HIV testing to all admitted patients as part of a pilot project — a result of new treatment options that can treat infections earlier. But this does not mean mandatory and uninformed testing, says the BCCLA. “We absolutely support the goal of increased access to testing. That said, we don’t want people to feel like they were tested against their consent—which is against the law—because they didn’t understand their rights,” said BCCLA policy director Micheal Vonn.

FREDERICTON (CUP) -- On average, it costs a student $6186 a year to study at a Canadian university, not including the cost of books, and living expenses.

According to a recent study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, that number is expected to rise to $7330 by 2016.

The study, titled Eduflation and the High Cost of Learning, found although provincial governments and supporters of high tuition fees claim fees should reflect the cost of living, fees have outpaced inflation since 1990.

TORONTO (Reuters) -- Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced on Monday he was resigning as head of Canada’s most populous province just one year after winning a third successive term, saying it was time for a renewal in leadership.

“After 16 years as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party and after nine years as premier, it’s time for renewal, it’s time for the next Liberal premier,” McGuinty said.

(Reuters) -- A Canadian naval intelligence officer pleaded guilty on Wednesday to handing over secrets to Russia in a four-year espionage operation that involved access to a computer network shared with the United States and other allies, according to media reports.

The Canadian government, noting that proceedings were still subject to a publication ban, gave no details of the evidence against Sub-Lieutenant Jeffrey Paul Delisle. It confirmed that he had pleaded guilty to espionage.

The Globe and Mail newspaper said Delisle had “offered to betray his country for cash.”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Brad Pitt made his debut as the first male face of Chanel’s iconic No.5 fragrance on Monday, in an ad campaign that had fans and fashionistas split on the actor’s latest role.

“It’s not a journey. Every journey ends, but we go on. The world turns, and we turn with it. Plans disappear, dreams take over. But wherever I go, there you are, my luck, my fate, my fortune. Chanel No.5, inevitable,” the Moneyball actor says.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

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OPINION

7-Eleven steps into the election DESSA BAYROCK THE CASCADE

“Get your steaming hot cup of democracy,” the campaign declares.

At first glance it may seem that politics and taquitos have no business together, but as piles of Americans gear up to cast ballots in November, there is one particularly surprising addition to the election crowd: 7-Eleven.

For the fourth American election in a row, the late-night slurpee-expert convenience store has launched its own national polling station: coffee cups.

The concept is simple. 7-Eleven replaced its usual to-go cup pattern with two new designs, one of which bright blue and reads “OBAMA” in clear letters, the other (as you’ve probably guessed) is crimson and reads

“ROMNEY.” This unofficial way of obtaining a customer’s political view is fun in theory, but it sounds far from accurate.

The surprising fact is that the “7-Election” has correctly predicted the past three elections in the United States, as well as one in the Philippines. According to this year’s current results, Obama will win the election with 60 per cent of the vote.

At first, I was skeptical. In general, I am absolutely fed up with the way advertising inches further and further into my life every year, and the last thing I need is to see political propaganda on a coffee cup.

But the more I thought about it, the more the idea grew on me. To begin with, 7-Eleven isn’t really advertising so much as performing a social experiment. They aren’t printing campaign ads on the sides of these cups, just

names. And by giving customers a choice between Romney and Obama, 7-Eleven isn’t advertising a candidate so much as advertising the idea that citizens should vote for someone.

Maybe less subtly (and more effectively) they’ve transformed the idea of an election into something everyone can understand, something material; they’ve made it into a game. Instead of rolling up the rim to win, customers are battling president-hopefuls against each other like Pokémon.

Imagine two people passing on the street, one with a red cup and one with a blue cup, glaring death-beams into each other’s eyes. Now it’s personal; it isn’t one presidential hopeful versus another, but my coffee versus yours.

At the same time, every time someone walks into 7-11 and gets a hot beverage, they are getting a subtle re-

minder that election day is coming. In an age where fewer eligible voters are casting ballots than ever before, that’s something I am whole-heartedly on board with.

I might be reading a little too far into this, but in my head, 7-Eleven is driving home the fact Americans need to pick someone in the same way they need a coffee every morning. Voting is a basic right, and participating in elections is one of the duties of an American citizen. You wouldn’t dream of skipping morning coffee, so why skip an election?

And at the end of the day, 7-Eleven is just doing its job as a convenience store. Say it’s 3 a.m. and you need a bottle of Advil, some Gatorade and a taquito or two? Pick up some politics on your way. It comes free with a cup of coffee.

This just in: thickrimmed glasses and plaid shirts will not get you a job AMY VAN VEEN THE CASCADE

“Hipster is not a full-time job.”

Interesting marketing campaign, BC government. It really brings together the older generation of dads, moms and government employees who aren’t entirely sure what a hipster is. The over-40 crowd sit on the Skytrain and open the newspaper to see these massive colour block ads and nod appreciatively, while the target demographic—those dirty “hipsters” too lazy to find work—see these adverts and feel less than motivated to do as the government says.

It seems like a lesson from Marketing 101 would be to avoid offending the audience you’re trying to reach, but maybe these government employees with a so-called sense of humour didn’t take that course in university.

There is a whole series of advertisements aimed at motivating the 15 to 24 crowd to find a job, specifically a job in the employment deficit area of trades.

An example is one that The Cascade ran last week on page 13: “Because marrying rich may not pan out.” It’s a good thing they told me, because I was really hoping to jump on board that train. It’s actually why I’m taking out student loans to get a university degree in order to push me to the front of the job queue. Thanks, BC government, for reminding me of the faith you have in my generation.

It’s difficult to see where the government is coming from in these ads without seeing them as ignorant about the actual job market – not the job market they see with graphs, pie charts and figures, but the one where people are sitting in retail positions to make rent while also attempting to send out dozens of resumes or complete their diploma or degree programs for the employment light at the end of the tunnel.

A recent study by Skills Canada, as covered in the Financial Post, revealed that despite the fact that 40 per cent of new jobs will be in trades, only 26 per cent of this hipster youth generation (13-24) are considering a skilled trade

position and a whopping 59 per cent admit they have never been directed to a career in trades by their parents.

It’s almost as if the government feels painted into a corner with the “you can do anything” attitude of parents. All they see is an upcoming demographic of workers who are nothing more than Daniel Radcliffe in the SNL skit “You Can Do Anything.”

The skit parodies the idea that you really can do anything, like Irish dance while doing Chinese calligraphy, while holding majors in poetry and clowning. Maybe the BC government should have partnered with SNL to appeal to the current and future voters they’re currently insulting.

If they want to get it out of people’s heads that not everyone can own a coffee shop, be a singer-songwriter and self-promote their blog to fame, then maybe they shouldn’t break the code by calling hipsters “hipster.”

Some hipsters are too cool to admit that they’re hipsters, which is the very essence of being hipster, and other hipsters aren’t even aware they’re hipster. So why, might I ask, would the BC government feel the need to laugh at rather than with the generation they’re trying to motivate?

Maybe those who are skilled in the trades shouldn’t be attempting to become writers or professors and maybe students need to focus their studies to more than just a major in General Studies, but maybe the problem isn’t the 15- to 24-year-olds, maybe the problem is the system.

Maybe post-secondary education is failing us. Maybe parents are too encouraging and enthusiastic about every crappy picture we draw or terrible poem we write. And maybe giving participation ribbons to all the kids makes for some skewed ratios of selfesteem to work ethic, but maybe that’s not all the fault of the kids. Take a step closer to the data, government, and figure out the dozens of additional factors that contribute to the fact that there is an unemployment rate of 14.7 per cent in the “hipster” generation.

Image: infacinatorinc/Flickr

Is Sarah Palin a feminist?

NADINE MOEDT THE CASCADE

A new category of feminism, defined by Sarah Palin herself, has been making the rounds. A “pro-life feminism,” otherwise called “Tea Party feminism” or “Sarah Palin feminism.”

This new brand of feminism turns the old outmoded version on its head. The right to choose? Who needs it! Equal rights for the working class, the physically challenged and gay men and women? So yesterday! Today’s feminism is a feminism for white, privileged women who are looking out for themselves. Good old Palin knows exactly what she’s talking about. She’s now the cult leader of a weird antifeminism.

There are many definitions of feminism. American feminist Barbara Smith describes it as “the political theory and practice to free all women: women of colour, working-class women, poor women, physically challenged women, lesbians, old women – as well as white, economically-privileged heterosexual women. Anything less than this is not feminism, but merely female self-aggrandizement.”

Self-aggrandizement is a good way to describe Sarah Palin’s feminism.

A powerful woman who voices her opinion is not automatically a feminist. She may be a female that many women look up to and admire, but unless she respects other women’s freedom and rights, she cannot call herself a feminist.

Of course a woman can be prolife and be a feminist. She can make the personal decision that if she were to conceive an unwanted child, she would not consider abortion an option. If she is a feminist, however, she will respect other women’s choices to abort that child. Palin—an educated, affluent and healthy woman—cannot make the pro-life choice for every woman, for she cannot understand every woman’s situation. She calls herself a feminist and then continues her fight to take away a woman’s most basic right.

Some feminists respond to Palin’s statement with a shrug. “There are a lot of ways in which this [conservative feminist] logic is contorted,” writes Meghan Daum in the Los Angeles Times. “But putting that aside, I feel a duty (a feminist duty, in fact) to say this about Palin’s declaration: If she

has the guts to call herself a feminist, then she’s entitled to be accepted as one.” Daum considers it a bit of a compliment that a woman in such a position would be brave enough to associate herself with feminism. But the “emerging, conservative feminist identity,” as Palin describes it, is the antithesis of feminism. It’s a bit like calling yourself a Buddhist who also believes in murdering people.

Other feminists are pleased with the idea that feminism might be catching on. Perhaps it’ll be the next cool thing. I can definitely see how that would go over. Just like how so many people on Facebook who call themselves activists are making such a big difference in the world. Click “like” to be a feminist!

I’ll respect Palin’s choice as a woman to be pro-life, to be conservative and bat-shit crazy (not in a she’s-apowerful-woman-so-I’ll-name-call type way but in your-politics-are-disgusting-to-me type way). I’ll respect her choice, but I won’t call someone who is determined to take away the rights of women across the U.S. a feminist.

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

OPINION

Lectures are dumb SEAN EVANS THE CASCADE

Forgive me for sounding unintelligent, but lectures are dumb.

They are lazy, ineffective, boring and a supreme waste of time and money. Why are we physically going into a classroom to do something that could be done from a couch with a laptop? Honestly.

Could we make class time worth our time, please?

Don’t get me wrong, I think that it is necessary for us to meet together. It is what the university is built upon—a coming together of the minds to pursue knowledge and understanding. I may sound high minded, but the lecture is a poor substitute for a coming together of the minds.

I am aware that the university setting is not some flowery environment where we talk about our feelings and our minds collectively “come together” (unless, of course, you are majoring in creative writing). There must be a teacher and a student; facts, knowledge and a plethora of other things need to be transferred to the student. What I am saying is that the current method of choice for imparting knowledge—namely, the lecture—is not fostering a community of learners

that actually engage with the material and each other on a significant level.

There are a variety of arguments that professors use to justify spending up to four hours of class time a week talking at, not with, their students. Some say it is the best way to ensure students cover all of the bases, others believe that they will inspire their students to engage with the course material on a more meaningful level on their own. Still more argue that students are simply not capable of learning on their own, and thus, they must spend countless hours listening to a human PA system drone on and on.

The problem is not that lectures are boring—although they almost always are—it is that they are simply ineffective. Even if every professor on campus suddenly found the ability to communicate their subject material with beautifully powerful oratory, lectures would still be useless. It is essentially like trying to jam a square peg through a round hole. From my experience, and from conventional wisdom, the vast majority of people can’t maintain focus for much longer than 25 minutes – if that. Beyond that, there remains the question of whether students will even understand or learn the stuff that they are able to pick up in the first 25

When tutoring becomes plagiarism

taking 300 and 400 level courses I found myself nodding off in fewer lectures and engaging in more discussions. The professors—Sylvie Murray, Chris Leach and Raymond Welch to name a few—began allowing the class to lead the way.

It was an amazing thing. We were told to do the readings, some of us did, and we talked about what the author argued. We talked about why it mattered. We engaged with the material, and something happened; I actually started learning how to learn. It would not be an overstatement to say that I first learned to read in the fourth year of my post-secondary education.

Perhaps the first years of our post-secondary education would be more valuable if they were spent like the last two of my degree. Now, I know that that would raise countless problems—class sizes, students who don’t do the readings or simply cannot engage in an intelligent conversation, and a lack of motivation to evolve in some chronic lecturers—but, perhaps it would be worth it in the grand scheme of things. A degree would be so much more valuable than what it currently is if students learned to read and write and engage with the material in their first year rather than their fourth.

The Cascade is now hiring an opinion editor Terms of contract: January 2013 to December 2013 Pay: $100 per issue honorarium Job Summary: The Opinion editor of The Cascade is responsible for assigning, collecting, editing and laying out the content of the Opinion section of The Cascade. The Opinion editor shall ensure that issues relevant to students are presented in his/her section, and allow for a diversity of opinions to be expressed on a range of topics.

SUSAN CURRIE

THE PEAK

BURNABY (CUP) — I’ve done a lot to sustain my addiction to higher education: I’ve been a student caller, a maid, a cat sitter, a waitress and a security person in a big yellow coat.

Hell, I’ve had someone offer me one hundred dollars to publicly kiss my feet and take me out for sushi, which I accepted (who wouldn’t?). I’ve done tawdry things to get myself through my post secondary education — and still those yellow security jackets still haunt my dreams.

Yes, when it comes to tuition payments my morals drop, but as I scrolled through the “Part Time” section of Craigslist and decided to try my hand at tutoring, I didn’t think I’d be risking all that much. Not like I did when I replied to those “Sexy foot photos, no nudity, HONEST” ads.

The ad was for a part-time tutoring service, so I put in my resume and had a reply within days. I sat down in the illustrious Bread Garden where the interviews were being held and was asked the standard questions.

When I got to the end of the interview I figured “Here’s another for the mediocre jobs list,” with no idea that the real interview was just beginning.

“You said you were able to tutor up to second-year university?”

“Absolutely.”

“That’s great.” My interviewer

minutes. What results is a generation of students who go to class in order to be seen by the professor and get the participation marks.

Often professors complain that students are on Facebook or YouTube or whatever during their lectures. While that is a fairly rude thing to do and I am in no way justifying it (although I may be guilty every once in a while), it does say a great deal about how effectively the class time is being used. Professor, if your students are paying more attention to Facebook than their immediate surroundings, you are at least partially responsible for that.

I am currently in the last semester of my BA in History and English. In my first year I feverishly took notes on everything the professor said. In my second year, I jotted down a few key facts and notes.

By my third year, I was done. The lectures that I sat through week after week taught me little about why what I studied mattered.

To be honest, my cumulative GPA in my last two years is .60 points higher than in my first two years. Wasn’t it supposed to be the opposite? I thought upper-level classes were supposed to be the hard ones.

To my shock, when I began

Image: Mike Davies/The Omega

looked around and then back at me, “Sometimes our students, they’re really busy and they don’t always have time to do their homework — they don’t always prioritize English classes, and well sometimes they might ask if you’d be willing to ... ” “Oh, yeah, don’t worry, I’ve had friends who are TAs and I’m more than aware of how easy it is to catch someone who’s cheating. I’d inform the student of the risks, and tell them that those are not the services I offer.”

I beamed, knowing I’d said the right thing.

I realized my folly when I saw how my interviewer’s eyes got wide and she looked side-to-side and then down — her mouth became smaller and thinner. “Well ... ” she said.

“Oh” I said, getting it, “Oh ... well ... I’d still tell them how easy it is to get caught, but ... if you wanted me to do that you’d have to pay me a lot more.”

She smiled happily.

The moment I said it I felt dirty.

“We tell them it’s a reference, that they’re only to use it to reference off

of.”

“Of course,” I agreed. “So when I write their papers for them I’m not really writing them to be handed in.”

She didn’t like that I said it out loud.

I negotiated the cost of pimping my brains. I left the interview with a contract.

What was I getting myself into? As I watched candidate after candidate file in I realized that almost every one of these individuals was going to have the same request made of them. The implications were tremendous. I’d be out of school soon and not working in the education system, so what would be the actual harm to me?

I realized that this isn’t an obese man struggling in the streets to kiss my pedicured toes — this is plagiarism. And unlike toe guy, it wouldn’t be a one-off deal.

When you get that dirty feeling outside of the bedroom you know what to do. Yes, it’s costing me potential dollars, but let’s just say this: I’ll do a lot for cash, but I won’t do that.

In my opinion, it’s just not worth it.

Duties and Responsibilities: 1) Ensure that matters of interest to UFV students are covered in the opinion section.

2) Assign, collect, edit, and lay out articles for the opinion section of The Cascade.

3) Request and select appropriate images for the opinion section in consultation with any graphics and/or photo editors, the production manager, and the editor-in-chief.

4) Lay out the Opinion section of each issue, ensuring that it adheres to The Cascade style guide 5) Hold at least one writing workshops per semester for the purpose of training.

6) Update the Opinion Training Manual as necessary, to ensure that contacts, issues, &c. are shared with successors.

7) Write a minimum of one article for the opinion section per week.

8) Along with the editor-in-chief and managing editor, solicit volunteers to generate story and feature ideas to be covered in depth in the Features section.

9) Must work five hours per publishing week in The Cascade’s office.

10) Perform other duties as required by the editor-in-chief.

11) Attend all writers’, editorial board and lay out meetings.

Qualifications: 1) Must be a member in good standing of the Cascade Journalism Society.

2) Must be registered in at least one credit course during the fall/winter semesters.

3) Must be available to work varying hours.

4) Must be available to be present in the office for at least five hours per week.

5) Must be able to deal effectively with the Society and university staff, students and the general public.

6) Must demonstrate strong command of the English language by passing an editing test, which will be administered during the interview process.

7) Basic literacy is required 8) Must have knowledge of all relevant laws and journalistic standards concerning libel.

Send cover letter, resume, and sample article to nick@ufvcascade.ca

by Friday, October 26

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

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OPINION

Image: Stewart Seymour/The Cascade

Sean (left) and Nick (right) take some pointers from Paul Ryan’s excercise regimen.

AmPol: Malarky!

NICK UBELS and SEAN EVANS THE CASCADE Last week Nick and Sean discussed the ever-changing dynamics of the 2012 presidential election. They noted that Mitt Romney could be launching a comeback through his strong showing the first of three presidential debates.

This week, the boys analyze the debate between vice-presidential candidates, Joe Biden and Paul Ryan. Did Biden get the Obama campaign back on track? Did Paul Ryan test positive for steroids? Only two poli-nerds can answer those questions ... and more.

Sean: Well, I think one thing is certain. That changed nothing. As entertaining as the VP debate may have been, historically they have not been crucial in deciding the final outcome. Aside from Biden’s apparent sense of humour, what did you see as the highlight of the debate last Thursday night, Nick?

Nick: Biden’s blindingly white

smile.

Truthfully, I thought Thursday’s vice-presidential debate itself was a winner because both sides brought some much-needed spark to the table after last week’s snoozefest.

It seemed like both second-in-commands were keyed in and came prepared to duke it out over important issues.

Moderator Martha Raddatz of ABC News also did a tremendous job keeping the debate on track, asking follow-up questions, and often demanding specifics when the VP hopefuls equivocated. She managed to fit in 10 primary questions on a wide range of topics— including the economy, national security, abortion and health care to name a few—in only 90 minutes, which made for a spirited and rigorous debate.

How about you, Sean? What struck you as most remarkable about the vice-presidential debate?

Sean: What I found to be notable was that neither side came away the “clear winner.” In the end, both

camps will declare their man to be the victor, but I highly doubt that any undecided voters would have been swayed by either man. Biden came across as condescending and perhaps a little “off balance,” as the Romney campaign put it, and Ryan was robotic and ultimately failed to have his voice heard in the midst of Biden’s numerous well-timed interruptions. Nick, let’s talk about how you think the candidates did.

Do you think Biden hurt himself with his constant laughing and the plethora of interruptions or was this effective? What about Ryan?

Nick: I actually thought that Biden came across a little better than his opponent in the vicepresidential debate, much in the same way that Romney did in the first debate. Biden’s tactics were exactly what his ticket needed him to do here, to show that the ObamaBiden camp was not going to let the first debate’s lackluster showing set the tone for the remainder of their campaign. By calling Ryan out on each point of his arguments,

he prevented Ryan from gaining any momentum, especially where questionable facts were concerned.

Ryan often seemed amateurish and out of his depth.

In response to Biden’s questions about Romney’s infamous 47 per cent speech and take on the auto bailout, Ryan awkwardly produced a canned anecdote about Romney providing for a family at his church whose sons were paralyzed in the aftermath of a car accident. It was presumably intended to showcase Romney’s compassion, but was in incredibly poor taste considering the well-known death of Biden’s wife and daughter in a 1972 crash.

As far as catering to the audience, I think most Americans will take Biden’s interruptions and more aggressive performance as a sign of strength and conviction, though I think he would have fared much better if he had been able to keep a straight face. His strategy is a double-edged sword. Lots of Dems will love his performance, while the independents Obama needs to sway seem to be disproportionately put off by the negative tone of the campaign. They won’t take kindly to his apparent rudeness and condescending laughter in the face of Ryan’s arguments, but will that bad taste ultimately determine their vote?

Sean: I would be very surprised to hear of anyone who would change their vote based on their perceptions of a candidates’ VP choice. The only people that will be in a huff about it are those who are committed Republicans who will find themselves more confirmed in their opinion that the Obama/Biden ticket is out of touch.

I thought Biden was fairly effective, although sometimes a little too out there.

Nick: Biden was Obama’s bulldog in Thursday’s debate. He was on the attack in a role I think we’ll see him continue as the campaign moves forward. Biden can be the more aggressive part of the ticket without tarnishing Obama’s reputation. Any negative attention will be directed towards the Vice-President, who can afford to take the PR hit.

He did manage to squeeze in quite a few memorable lines along the way, calling out Ryan’s talking points as “a bunch of stuff”

and “malarky” or demanding that Romney’s running mate, “stop talking about how you care about people. Show me something. Show me a policy.”

I think we’ll see a more assertive Obama in the next debate, but he’ll have scaled back from Biden’s approach.

Sean: Exactly, Nick. Exactly. On another note, what about the talk about the terrorist attack at the American embassy. There is some debate among the fact checkers as to whether or not Biden was incorrect in stating that “We weren’t told they wanted more security there.

We did not know they wanted more security.” This statement came a day after officials from the State Department testified in Congress that a request for more security the US embassy in Libya was indeed made. Now, was Biden claiming that specifically he and Obama did not know (certainly a possibility), or that the State Department did not know? There is certainly a case to be made either way. In any case, is this an issue that will sway voters in November? The Romney/ Ryan ticket seems to think so, and is arguing that it showcases an administration that is incompetent.

Romney told a crowd in Virginia that “when the Vice-President directly contradicts the sworn testimony of state department officials ... the American people deserve to know what happened.”

Nick: If Romney’s right, then this certainly could be a big factor in people’s decision-making in November. There’s a level of trust and competence required of the executive office. But barring any conclusive evidence that Biden was, in fact, lying, I don’t see these allegations as having much of an impact.

If they are proven false, then it reflects poorly on the Romney-Ryan ticket.

Sean: Indeed. In the end, the VP debate will not affect the race.

This one will come down to Obama versus Romney – who, by the way, will be back on the debate stage in no time.

Join Sean and Nick next week as they attempt to make sense of the final stretch of the race for the White House.

Justin Trudeau has eyes on the Liberal prize JOE JOHNSON THE CASCADE

The man from Papineau with the locks and forgotten goat finally came forward on October 2.

Of course, that would be Justin Trudeau.

The right wing media seems to have developed a fixation on his hair and how great it is – though in the past he’s been known to sport a pretty pitiful goatee.

Trudeau has at last announced that he wants to lead the Liberal Party of Canada.

He’s also the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, if the name and media attention haven’t somehow already given it away.

And what a name he has to live up to. His father, Pierre Trudeau, was Canada’s Prime Minister from 1968 to 1979, and again from 1980 to 1984. He was the man responsible

Image: Dave Huehn

Justin Trudeau: the new face of the Liberal party?

for making one of the great changes to our country’s constitution in the way of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

It’s primarily this reason that this younger Trudeau is known.

So Trudeau has some work to do.

He needs to show his own strength and leadership if he is to be chosen to lead the party at the April convention in Toronto.

In the 2011 Canadian election the Liberals were devastated. They were relegated to third place with 34 of 308 seats in the House of Commons. But they were sputtering for years before that.

After that disaster of an election—right or wrongly deserved— under former leader Michael Ignatieff, perhaps they do now need a celebrity leader. In this case Trudeau is the man to get them back in the game and see their key demographics return.

However, saying Trudeau needs to come out strong and be his own man is a disservice to what he’s up against. As much good as his father did for the country, he was also a polarizing figure. This is most certainly something the opposition will try to paint Trudeau with.

He’s also somewhat inexperi-

enced having only been in government for exactly four years this month.

Then there’s the blunder he made at the beginning of the year with his remarks on contemplating a separatist Quebec.

And Trudeau’s star power could potentially cause other would-be candidates to shy away and make this leadership race a one man show. There’s still no competition and the possibility that Trudeau could emerge as leader without ever really being pushed on policy issues.

But downsides often come with upsides as they do with Trudeau.

For one, he’s relatively young at 40. Potentially he would have a better chance of connecting with Canadian youth than previous leaders have.

Secondly, his freshness to the political scene could rejuvenate the party in a way that they haven’t seen since the Chrétien days. Mar-

tin, Dion, Ignatieff and even most recent interim-leader Rae could not do that.

The question of whether he is capable is still in the air, as he has yet to really demonstrate his potential.

If there are no other candidates it would harm the party more than unites it. It is an open question as to how things will unfold from here until April, but at this time with Trudeau as the potential leader, there is no reason to count the negatives over the positives.

Will Trudeau ever make the difference to the lives of Canadians that his father did? It’s very unlikely. But let’s see what unfolds. After all, even if he does get the leadership there’s still the next federal election to contend with.

It would be a great achievement itself to bring back a hurting Liberal party.

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

ARTS & LIFE

CROSSWORD

Abbotsford Landmarks ACROSS

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5 6

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1. Exit where you’ll find the giant dangling raspberries. (10 letters) 2. Santa’s workshop opens here come Christmas. (5,4 letters) 3. Cars for sale here, near the freeway and upcoming mega-mall. (4,4 letters) 6. Nightmarish wait to turn at this famous intersection. (4,7 letters) 9. Named after the early sawmill on its shore. (4,4 letters) 11. Taboo stomping grounds. (6 letters) 12. Religious pioneers built it one hundred years ago. (8 letters) 13. The flea market shares this space with horse shows and rodeos.

(2,3,6 letters)

DOWN

1. Kiddie casino. (6,3,4 letters) 4. Vern’s breakfast sandwiches. (7 letters) 5. AHL hockey happens here. (4 letters) 7. Abbotsford’s art gallery, next to the library. (3,5 letters) 8. Flatlands with golf and skydiving. (7 letters) 10. Lounge right below Atangard. (3,4 letters)

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SASHA MOEDT

THe cascade

LAST WEEK’S Answer Key Across 2. Louise 6. Guildenstern 7. Cher 8. Laurie 11. Ginger 12. Bran 13. Vanna White 14. The Sundace Kid

Down 1. Louise 3. Ernie 4. Cleopatra 5. Tuxedo Mask 8. Luigi 9. Robin 10. Estragon 12. Bandit

13 EclipseCrossword.com

The Weekly Horoscope Star Signs from Swamp Bob Aquarius: Jan 20 - Feb 18 Venus predicts that you will feel calm and content with life this week … That is until you lose your lucky pen which throws you into psychotic fits of rage, welsh yodeling, and the destruction of a small African nation (but not Ghana, because everyone loves Ghana).

Pisces: Feb 19 - March 20

Gemini: May 21 - June 21

Mars insists that he is too busy trying to get back his lawnmower that he loaned to Mercury. Mercury, however, insists he never got it in the first place, and had to buy his own which just happens to look like the same one Mars had. This probably indicates you will find tiny William Shatner gnomes under your bed.

Libra: Sept 23 - Oct 22 Mercury mentions that while attempting to flavour your foods in pumpkin in celebration of fall is admirable, he explains that the pumpkin-flavoured toothpaste will probably not be well received.

Cancer: June 22 - July 22

Scorpio: Oct 23 - Nov 21

Pluto states that you will witness the attempted destruction of a small African nation by a lone enraged UFV student.

He suggests bringing popcorn and a lawn chair.

Venus, after suffering a severely bad hair day, curses all individuals to premature balding. I would suggest offering up a sacrificial offering of snickers and a six pack of strong bow to appease her. These can be dropped off at The Cascade office and will be forwarded on to her.

Pluto suggests switching your elderly neighbour’s yappy dog for something quieter while she is sleeping. Like a hamster or a brick.

Aries: March 21 - April 19

Leo: July 23 - Aug 22

Sagittarius: Nov 22 - Dec 21

Uranus states that your drink order will be mixed up. Instead of your usual order of flaming grand marnier you will receive a cup of cream of Earl Grey instead.

(Personally I suggest adding a shot of rum to it).

Calypso and Venus caution against forgetting your book on the bus lest you never get to the end, and never discover if Bella chooses to be with Jacob or Edward.

Pluto cautions you that your neighbours will take up “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” with Richard Simmons, and suggests sticking turnips in your ears to keep down the sound.

Taurus: April 20 - May 20 On a dare from Neptune, Jupiter gave life to his tea set which predicts your future to hold much tannin goodness and the potential of some Battenberg.

Virgo: Aug 23 - Sept 22 Saturn surmises that you will be mauled by an unruly overripe tomato wearing too much makeup, which is odd considering they are out of season.

Capricorn: Dec 22 - Jan 19 Jupiter quips that your week will be filled with cool fall mornings, warm caffeinated beverages and the loss of all your left socks.

He informs me that this is not due to mischievous sock elves but rather a rather ruthless tumble-dryer.

Visit us at www.monktucky.com!

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

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ARTS & LIFE

Discussions Below the Belt Having the talk: doing sex-ed the right way JOHNNY RODDICK THe cascade

I get it. It’s not easy talking about sex to your kids. After all, we’ve grown up in a society that labels anything remotely related to sex as adult-oriented. Even those of us without kids can probably guess that it’s a tricky subject for a reason. But things have to change.

What we’re doing now is not effective. Kids need to know more about sex than the scientific names for reproductive organs, how the menstrual cycle works, and the multitude of sexually transmitted diseases they’ll risk contracting if they dare have sex. And they also need to know it younger.

Knowing the facts about sex doesn’t ruin someone’s childhood.

That’s a myth we need to do away with. Learning about how our bodies work doesn’t squash away a child’s imagination and it doesn’t send them into a sex-obsessed frenzy. It just increases their understanding. That’s it. It allows them

to make smarter choices. Give kids a little credit.

A big part of the problem is the way we transfer our discomfort with sex—which we inherited from the discomfort our parent’s generation felt for sex and the generation before them felt—onto our kids.

One way we do this is by using terms like wee-wee, vajayjay or the cringe-worthy “cooter” to talk about their genitals. What we’re really telling them is that these are strange, shameful, mystifying parts of their body.

We also have to give up the charade that kids won’t realize that genitals feel good to the touch if we just keep it a secret. Sex feels good. That’s a major reason why people do it. It needs to be addressed. Making a baby is almost never the primary intention.

I get the abstinence-only motive.

I do. It’s easy to assume that your child will get all caught up with the exciting desires to have sex, and they’re do something they’ll

Book Review DESSA BAYROCK

THE CASCADE

This is a massive and partiallysatisfying novel. With his growing popularity, Murakami has become (like JK Rowling) a little insufferable in the length and absurdity of his novels, but I still can’t help it – I love the guy.

The novel begins in 1984, in Tokyo, but we don’t stay there for long. With one wayward shortcut, our protagonist Aomame is shifted to a not-quite-parallel world which she dubs 1Q84. The most noticeable physical difference is that there is a second moon, a little green companion to the familiar one of 1984. Nobody else seems to notice that they’ve shifted worlds, but Aomame is not like other people – she’s a trained assassin.

Murakami treats these developments calmly and matter-offactly, and the novel is dream-like where another author would make it intense. Aomame’s assassinations are treated with the same thorough, precise description as her meal preparations; seeing the world described so simply and utterly makes us reconsider how absurd it is.

As soon as we get familiar with Aomame, Murakami swaps to another point of view: that of Tengo, a math teacher and part-time novelist. We later find out that Tengo and Aomame are connected at the metaphorical fingertips; they shared a moment of revelation when they were both in grade school, despite being separated since they were children, and are established as polar love interests.

Tengo is likewise shifted into 1Q84 after he is approached by his publisher to rewrite a novella on the sly to win a prestigious award.

The original author is an indecipherable high-school girl who rarely speaks. Her novel revolves around a race of mischievous and manipulative creatures called the Little People.

As Tengo and Aomame find out,

regret – before they’re ready. Unfortunately, telling your kid that they just should not have sex, case closed, is about the most ineffective way of convincing your child not to have sex.

The best way to enable a child to make smart decisions about sex is to arm them with the best, the most accurate, and the most unbiased information you can – on all aspects of sex. They’re going to hear more abrasive versions of what you tell them on the playground anyway (especially in the age of internet-browsing phones, which one of your kid’s friend’s brothers is going to have, I promise).

Tell them about masturbation, about porn, about blowjobs and abortions. Tell them about orgasms and the way people sometimes feel insecure about the size of their genitals or the way they smell. Tell them about the way labia come in 100 different colours and sizes, and that it’s totally normal. Tell your son that too. They’re going to hear it, and they’re going to worry

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

the Little People are real, and are the secret puppet-masters behind the world of 1Q84. The novel revolves around the idea that the Little People can spin an “air chrysalis,” to create a doppelgänger of anyone they choose.

These copies are called dohtas, and the original person becomes a maza – an obvious play on the English words for mother and daughter.

This is a novel of dualities; two moons, two characters, two worlds; the balance between male and female, reality and absurdity, maza and dohta, mother and child, past and future, destined and decided. Everything in the novel is connected by vague tangents, and Murakami skillfully weaves a web within the novel that winds back in on itself. Who is maza and who is dohta? What is real, and what is a manipulation of the Little People?

Murakami has an absolute grasp on how to mix fantasy with reality to make both elements shine, and the novel seems like the best sort of lucid dream.

I always dive into Murakami’s work with a sigh of relief; the change in pace between fiction written in Japanese and fiction written in English is absolutely refreshing. Things are slowed down and explored in detail, from trainstation schedules to folding laundry to hiding from the authorities after killing the leader of a cult.

I only have one issue with the novel: with so many threads to pick up and keep going, some get dropped at the end. Knowing Murakami’s purposefully mysterious (and also somewhat insufferable) style, there’s a distinct possibility that those threads were dropped on purpose. This doesn’t mean I have to like it. I believe that things should wrap up at least somewhat

about it, and they’re going to wonder about it.

But at what age are you supposed to tell them? I can’t say I know for sure, but sooner is better than later. You’d be surprised by how young kids are hearing things from their friends. So many parents are surprised when their kids turn to them when they finally get sat down for a “talk” and hear “yeah, I already knew that!”

That means you missed the boat.

And by the way ... don’t make it a “talk.” Make it an ever-present conversation topic with two-way communication. Let them direct the flow of the discussion as much as possible. Your goal is to become a resource. And that means you should actually do some research yourself – never, ever, ever lie to your child. Don’t repeat myths or stereotypes as fact. You don’t want to be part of the problem.

If you’d known then what you know now, think about how you would have approached things differently. Sometimes you need

Image: Sébastien Barillot/flickr.com

to make your own mistakes, but it never hurts to have all of the information you can at your disposal.

Give that to your children.

Don’t let your anxiety and the weight of our culture’s insistence that sex is dirty keep you from becoming an important ally for your child in a world where there are no more secrets. In the process, your child will probably teach you to be a lot more comfortable with who you are as well. It’s time to make a change.

Haute Stuff Animal-free fashion alternatives KAREN ANEY

THE CASCADE

neatly, and obviously Murakami doesn’t agree with me.

The novel still has a prized spot on my shelf, and whenever I can find the time I’ll pick it up for another look. The language and phrasing are purposeful and wellconstructed, despite being translated. Each chapter contains absolute gems of phrasing, most of which are meaningless out of context.

The verdict? This novel is definitely worth picking up – I would just leave it until winter break to make sure you’ll have time to finish it. If 924 pages sounds like a couple hundred too many, I’d recommend picking up some of Murakami’s shorter work to test the waters and see if you have patience for the rambling prose that comes with the territory.

My only regret is losing my cool and buying the hardcover version almost as soon as I saw it hit shelves; it’s a big book, and part of me wishes I’d held out for the super cool paperback version, which is a boxed set of three slim and gorgeous volumes. On the other hand, the hardcover version has some of the coolest art I’ve seen on Murakami’s books yet, and it’s worth taking a peek.

Lately, it seems like every other student on campus is staying away from meat. Whether it’s based on cost (a vegetarian diet is cheap!) or ethical reasons, living the life of a plant-eater is becoming more and more common.

To be candid, I myself am vegetarian. It’s been over a year since I stopped eating meat, and I’ve spent that time wholly ignoring my choices and their impacts on my sartorial decisions. The thought of walking into Danier Leather makes me a little queasy, actually – and not just because of the prices. That being said, I’m still happily carrying my pebbled black leather Coach purse that my boyfriend got me years ago (and the thing is still good as new – damn, that’s a great bag). Go ahead, judge me.

Leather gives cause for concern even if you don’t share my carnivore aversions. Before the material can be turned into clothing, belts and other accessories, it’s treated with a host of chemicals. Cyanide, formaldehyde, and other long and unpronounceable substances all contribute to tan the leather and ensure that it will endure long-lasting wear. Most of Canada’s skins are considered a by-product of the meat industry, and are shipped to other countries for tanning. Because of that, it isn’t high on the list of environmental risks in our country. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S., however, lists tanneries as one of their main “Superfund” focuses, meaning they consider them to be one of the biggest risks to the American environment.

One reason to incorporate nonanimal clothing into your wardrobe is cost. Yes, just like with the diet, it’s cheaper to dress without animal products. Think about it – is it cheaper to buy a pair of boots at Walmart or from Frye? If you’re

concerned about the source of your garment, going cheap is one way to make sure you aren’t getting leather. That being said, you could be compromising quality if you go this route.

Even if you’re content to eat meat, are able to pay for leather, and aren’t too concerned about environmental impacts, here are a few brands worth looking into.

They’re vegan, cheap and surprisingly well-known.

Matt & Nat: this one gets top billing because I love it. It’s a Canadian company that is completely vegan, and many designs are created completely from recycled materials (such as plastic bottles or cork). They’ve partnered with Apple, so they often have pieces designed specifically for Apple products (Macbook messenger bags, purses with iPhone-sized zippered pockets). I have a few purses and wallets from them (all purchased on sale or at Winners, do not pay regular price for this!) and they’ve shown great longevity.

Neuaura: They’re available in a few stores in the Lower Mainland, but it may be best to find these through their website or even Amazon. This company is pretty well known in the vegan world; their designs are indiscernible from non-vegan companies and their products are high quality. I’m particularly interested in their ballet flats, which aren’t just, well, ballet flats. They actually have supportive soles and beds – that’s more than I can say for most shoes on the market!

Steve Madden: First, a warning: not everything from this name is vegan. However, their Madden Girl line is completely vegan and each of their collections (including clothing) include at least a few pieces that are as well. They aren’t selling outerwear on their website this season, but I’ve seen it on Overstock, on Amazon and in Winners. It’s worth looking out for.

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www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

FEATURE

“I’m surprised to still be in print” Former UFV student and current Adbusters senior editor chats about an accidental career in print and how The Cascade used to suck TAYLOR JOHNSON

THE CASCADE

Before Adbusters where were you working and what were you doing?

Well a couple cool things: in 2008 I had an internship with Journalists for Human Rights in Zambia, which was eight months. The job title was media trainer, so I was working with Zambian journalists in Livingstone and helping with getting more human rights content into their media. But I was also working on skills and stuff, story outlines writing and photography.

The best part about that, though, was actually being in Livingstone and being in South Central Africa.

Honestly, it was an incredible cultural experience; I got to meet the old Dictator and the President.

It was absurd in many ways, but quite often inspiring.

I’m actually planning to go back this May because there are a couple stories I would like to do that I think are important.

Your time here at UFV: did it help you build your future and get you to where you are?

I was only at UFV for two years.

When I started at UFV during my first week it was 2001. During my first ever Political Science class, September 11 happened. It was a mind-blowing time. It was quite interesting to start studying political science in the context of that event happening.

I was also on Student Council when I was at UFV and the time I was there was when the tuition freeze was being lifted in British Columbia. At a board of governors meeting—I might not have even been on Student Council at that point—I went in and we were saying not to raise the tuition because [we felt] they didn’t really have to, and I made this promise that if they raised the tuition I would leave the school.

The dean at the time had done a lot for the university and I think that all deans kind of had a gun to their backs. The government wasn’t going to give them any more money so if they wanted to carry on, they would have to raise tuition.

So I finished with my Liberal Arts Diploma and went to SFU. It was probably good because there wasn’t a lot of the type of history I was interested in doing at UFV, at that time.

In total I think I did 69 credits at UFV. I loved it and it kind of broke my heart to leave. I really loved the art galleries; I would always go and walk through it.

How did you start working for Adbusters?

I’ve been here almost two years.

Most people who work in media

Darren Fleet is an alumnus of UCFV and has worked at Adbusters Magazine for the last two years. He’s been involved in journalism for almost a decade, moving from work at UCFV’s student newspaper to writing for the Langley Advance, collecting a Masters in Journalism from UBC along the way. probably have a story similar to this one, which is I didn’t apply for the job – it kind of fell into my lap.

I’ve never met a journalist who doesn’t have a story like this. I think someone I knew had applied for the job, got it, didn’t want it, [and] said to call their friend Darren.

So I started out being a freelance editor, which is weighing in on some concept of the magazine, writing a few small pieces and then editing some things. That developed into being an associate editor, and I did that for about a year. We just had a pretty big staff turnover so now I’m senior editor.

We’re a small team; there are only about 11 of us. One day I just looked at the map and it said I was the senior editor. I don’t think they even told me. It’s kind of an office joke. My role hasn’t really changed.

The other awesome thing we have been doing, which I am most excited about, is publishing a book. It’s called Mean Wars: The Creative Destruction of Neoclassical Economics. It’s been in the works at Adbusters for four years. It kind of got put on the backburner, and then obviously with Occupy Wall Street it was renewed with vigour.

We put in our final touches in June and it comes out in November.

It’s been a pretty cool two years.

I used to want to work at Adbusters in 2007, but then after journalism school I always thought I would work in film. The reason I took a Masters of Journalism at UBC was because I wanted to learn film. I’m surprised to still be in print.

It’s a dream job though, definitely the best job I have had. Kind of feels like working for a student newspaper. It reminds me of The Cascade and the Toque.

How was your time with The Cascade? What is the Toque?

Well, when we started at UCFV, The Cascade was horrible. It was run by some pretty conservative people, and it was lame. The issue that ran us over the edge had flower bouquets on the cover.

I came late to the table, but this group of students started a radical publication called the Toque. I joined in a few months later after I read the first copy. I thought it was amazing, so I started submitting for the publication. Eventually we ran a student referendum to have the Toque made the student newspaper. I think we won the referendum, but it was a negotiating process.

The Cascade refused to hire us – they completely ignored us. I think we worked out a deal, where the Toque and The Cascade would merge, but the name would stay

Darren Fleet on assignment taking photos in Zambia.

Darren Fleet making connections in Zambia. the same. At the end of the aca- Cascade. That’s when we created demic year I was there, the two de- other positions, like the staff writcided to merge. We had a pretty in- ers and paid editors. We just wanttense meeting, were we cast votes ed to get people to write and give on who was going to be the staff of them a chance. the new Cascade.

It ended up being a complete Where would you like to be in purge; I think there was only one five years from now? person remained from the original I want to be living in Zambia.

Images: Used with permission by Darren Fleet

I just started a PhD in Communications at SFU, but my long-term goal has always been to live in that part of the world. It would be amazing to work at a university there. I recommend to anyone on Earth to go there!

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

11

FEATURE

From Mario to Link UFV’s pushpin murals JESS WIND

THE CASCADE If you’ve taken a walk through the second floor of D building in the last year, you may have noticed a bit of nostalgia hanging on the wall.

Members of the Computer Information System Student Association (CISSA) are responsible for the pushpin mural depicting a pixellated Mario in action. Comprised of 17,438 push pins, the mural was started in 2008; since then CISSA has worked on a Megaman mural and are now well on their way to completing one for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

CISSA president Ryan McCann admits there may be a theme emerging.

“I could do something obscure, but everyone would walk by and think ‘what’s that?’” McCann says, explaining how the mural ideas were plucked from classic and rec-

ognizable videogames to keep the project open to everyone passing by.

McCann has been involved with the projects since the first mustachioed plumber was constructed.

“I brainstormed that one, I didn’t actually finish building it,” he explains.

The first mural, now encased in a plexiglass frame near the CISSA centre, is a screenshot reminiscent of Super Mario Bros. 3 for NES: a powered-up Mario has jumped over a piranha plant, avoided two goombas, and is about to punch a question block.

According to an article posted on the UFV website in 2009, it took over two semesters to complete.

Many of the original students that worked on the mural have now graduated, but McCann has kept the project going. Most of the reason the original Mario mural took so long to complete, he says, was caused by difficulties in

A push pin restaging of a scene from Super Mario Bros. 3.

Link under construction.

acquiring enough of a uniformly-sized pin. With that problem solved, progress on the third piece began in September and is moving along much more quickly.

McCann explains that construction of a pushpin mural is, at its core, relatively simple.

“Make image, find out how many pins are in the image, buy pins, paint pins, put pins in the board,” he says with a laugh. But there is a little more to it than that; the image needs to be broken down in order to determine the amount of pins necessary, and this is where computer science enters the project.

“I wrote a little program to do it,” notes Mccann.

After getting a pin count, the CISSA group applies a grid to their canvas on the wall and mark dots for each pushpin. Following a printout of the image, McCann and other CISSA students stab each pin into the board after spray-painting

them the correct colour.

However, despite following the printout, mistakes still happen.

“Hopefully you catch it before you do too much work,” McCann explains, wielding a pair of needlenose pliers. The pins are so tightly compacted that it isn’t as easy as taking a pin off the wall to correct a mistake.

McCann, who graduates this year, hopes to be finished his last classic videogame-themed pushpin mural by the end of October.

Once completed, the Zelda mural— featuring Link on his travels—will contain 16,900 pushpins.

There was a second project, depicting Capcom’s Megaman, between the original Mario project and the one now in progress, but the mural took longer than necessary to complete due to lack of contribution from students.

“We don’t talk about it. It was sitting up there for a year with maybe 500 pins left,” McCann ex-

plains.

It is finished now, and leaning against the window of the Student Computing Centre, but getting the murals displayed has proven to be a long and arduous process for the CIS department—Mario wasn’t displayed until three years after its completion.

However, this doesn’t mean that people weren’t responsive to the artwork. “Mario was a quarter million hits online,” MacCann reminisces, bringing up the Flikr account where the original photos can be viewed. The students hope to gain a similar response for Zelda.

All three murals can be seen at the Student Computer Centre at D224 on the Abbotsford Campus, and all students are welcome to stop by and stab a pin in, or take a look at the work in progress.

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www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

ARTS & LIFE

Dine & Dash Krause Berry Farms 6179 248 St, Langley BC Hours: Wednesdays to Sundays, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

(Closed October 29 to November 21) 604-856-5757 www.krauseberryfarms.com

AMY VAN VEEN

THE CASCADE

Mini Album Reviews

SoundBites

Ever feel like being a tourist in the Fraser Valley? It’s quite amusing when you get the opportunity.

As long as you bring a camera with you and pretend like you’re from the east coast, no one will suspect a thing – until you see your dentist or neighbour who stymies your ruse.

Krause Berry Farms offers the perfect faux-touristing spot with their Barley Maze, pumpkin patch, market and “on the porch” eating.

It does sound a little like a family destination and in a large part that’s true, with van after SUV driving down their gravel road to enjoy an autumnal afternoon out – to feast on every kind of pie and corn pizza. This place can also be fun for the student (or group of students) who wants nothing more than comfort food and adorableness.

Upon parking diagonally on the

Krause Berry Farms have turned U-pick into a foodie and family destination.

Image:Amy Van Veen

pops out of every side, staining both the pastry and your lips as you dive into the icing sugar and cinnamon topped piece of heaven.

It may seem a little pricey, but it is too good to pass up. And what person doesn’t want to follow the advice of Tom and Donna from Parks and Recreation. Treat yo’ self.

Certainly, Krause is making a killing off their “aww” factor, but why shouldn’t they? One step through their market doors bathes the customer in smells so delectable that they can’t help but put their nose against the bakery display glass and drool a little over the cookie-topped pumpkin pies and selection of fudges. A little further and baskets upon baskets of fresh vegetables tempt even the most averse to nutrition. Shelves, cute corners and little baskets are filled with fresh jams, berryinfused balsamic vinegars and gadgets that can fill a dozen junk drawers. It’s like having a farmer’s market that always has consistently cute stuff, not the typical disappointing one with five tables in a row of homemade scarves that look ... homemade.

If there was ever a good excuse to be a hometown tourist, fresh pie would be it.

grass (don’t worry, it’s allowed), Krause welcomes visitors with a giant strawberry that says, “Welcome.” The choices are then nearly endless. You can stroll to the right to see the old pick-up truck laden with dozens of different kinds of pumpkins and gourds, go a little further to their mini-maze garden or walk a little further to the right to explore the barley maze (a little less claustrophobic than a corn maze since the barley is only

knee-high). Or you can go straight past the friendly strawberry into their expanded store, off of which is a covered patio where mouthwatering waffles are made and topped with farm-fresh berries. Or you can go left past the strawberry and up onto the porch where a selection of desserts and lunches are offered.

It’s on the porch that you can make your selection of corn pizza, soups, buns, pies, milkshakes, cof-

fee or their culinary triumph, the berry shortcake.

The Krause shortcake is different from the traditional strawberry shortcake; it’s not simply a layer of pound cake topped with whipped cream, sliced berries and sprinkled with white sugar. Their creation is more like a berry-stuffed scone, with two layers of pastry baked and busting with a mound of fresh berries on the inside. The juice of raspberry, blueberry or blackberry

Jason Lytle Department of Disappearance

Wildlife Control Wildlife Control

Metz Metz

Freelance Whales Diluvia

This album has a summery feel to it, anchored by easy guitar chords and occasionally complemented by a brass section, simple keys and a bicycle bell.

The first song feels like the kind of thing you want to blare in a convertible on a day when the sun is shining so brightly it washes everything out.

It’s the kind of song that sneaks up on you, suggests you drive to California and makes you think it was your idea. The second song sounds like what would happen if John Lennon and OK GO joined forces to record electrified pop, a weird combination that makes an absurd amount of sense. The clear piano chords anchor the sound in a way that dabbles with jazz, and by the time we hit “Melody,” the overall tone has become meandering and mellow, sunshiny and distorted. Spoilers: Marimbas and they don’t even sound awkward. It’s an album of gentle transitions and toe-tapping instrument combinations, and when they sing out “Everybody’s Moving to Brooklyn” as an anthem, I’ve already bought my bus ticket and I’m on my way there. So can you be.

Metz comes at a time when radio listeners may be whining that the most popular Canadian acts right now is Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepson, but I am just positively delighted that there are Canadians making great music too – including this Toronto outfit that has produced an incredibly solid album of post-hardcore. Coming from the illustrious SubPop Records, Metz’s eponymous album is a collection of hard, jarring, noisy punk, the type that’s not so fast as it is pulsing, rambunctious, and perfectly timed.

There is an artistic precision to the resonance of the cymbals, there is a high level of attention paid to everything.

The guitars are fuzzy, crunching conveyors of rhythm that at times relapse into sustained dissonance. The vocals are mostly strains of yells that seem to come from a chorus of chained men shouting through bullhorns at the bottom of a well or an industrial-sized fractionation column, and though the lyrics are unrecognizable, the sound alone is ample. The tracks are made the better by repeat listening because of their layered toughness, and this is easily done as each is around 2:30.

Diluvia—the sophomore record and questionable science fiction odyssey from the precocious New York indie quintet Freelance Whales—is likely to put listeners to sleep before it ever demands their attention. Sequence is even more important on a concept album, yet Freelance Whales have opted to put some of their least compelling work near the front of the track list. The band’s best asset is its ability to craft centrifugal and interlocking musical motifs that gracefully unspool over the course of a track. The problem here is that these motifs act as mere ornament on lacklustre, predictable song writing. They are crutches rather than fully-realized extensions of a compelling musical vision. But there’s something even more disappointing about Freelance Whales’ overly agreeable dream-folk digest: they play it far too safe. There are some moments, like the urgent “Spitting Image” and the wide-open bridge of “Winter Seeds,” that provide glimpses of how affecting Freelance Whales could be if they demanded more of themselves. Untethered and listless, the band could use a serious injection of danger and daring to give their ornate arrangements some substance.

While Jason Lytle—former lead singer of Grandaddy and indie-rock superhero—tends to structure his songs around simple stories, he always finds truth and a deeper understanding in life’s details. He is one of the few modern songwriters writing his songs like they are screenplays, giving his characters self-contained story arcs, whose themes are threaded together throughout the album. Lytle’s latest record, Department of Disappearance sounds an awful lot like a Grandaddy album – although for those unfamiliar with their melancholic quirks and technological fetish, it’s tough to decipher where Grandaddy stops and Jason Lytle begins. DoD however is not just another Grandaddy album; it’s his best since Sumday. The title track is a self-reflective crime noir, as Lytle’s characters argue about bureaucratic authorization, “You’ll never get the clearance/I work for the department/ the department of disappearance.”

The album’s most stunning moments come during “Your Final Setting Sun,” a sinister track about a kind of cult leader, punctuated with robotic keyboard woops and the ambiance of a public access television station. Lytle’s optimistic ballads about forlorn regret offer the listener moments for gentle reflection, making Department of Disappearance infinitely strange and wonderful.

TIM UBELS

DESSA BAYROCK

BEAU O’Neill

NICK UBELS

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

13

ARTS & LIFE

Album Review

REWORK_Philip Glass Remixed – Various Artists KAREN ANEY

THE CASCADE

CHARTS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Ladyhawk No Can Do Stars The North Madchild Dope Stick Teen Daze All Of Us, Together

Real Problems Welcome to Scum City

D-Sisive Asian Elvis

Dusted Total Dust Purity Ring Shrines AC Newman Shut Down The Streets OPOPO Extracts

The Thrashers Ramp Locals Miike Snow Happy To You Gabrielle Papillon Little Bug Crystal Castles Crystal Castles III Thee Oh Sees Putrifiers II Ty Segall Twins Woods Bend Beyond The Mallard Yes In Blood Treasure Eyes Treasure Eyes

V. Vecker Ensemble In The Tower

Shuffle JEREMY HANNAFORD

CIVL DJ/I AM BATMAN

Jeremy Hannaford is big into movies and their soundtracks, which he views as a key part of the film as they meld together to build the story and setting.

He loves nothing more than a late night film with some friends and bowl of popcorn. He hosts CIVL’s program Listening to the Movies at 8 p.m. on Thursday nights.

“Hands of Time” – Groove Armada Truly anything from Collateral could be used in a shuffle but “Hands of Time” is one of the best songs in the film besides The Roots with “The Seed.” Michael Mann continually proves that he can film LA night life smog free, and also accompany great tracks to driving scenes.

“Tick of the Clock” – The Chromatics Speaking of driving, this is another great track to play when one is making a long night drive. Played during the opening scene of Drive, “Tick of the Clock” brings a sense of sensual feeling as well as uneasy aggression. It also sounds really cool!

“Lonesome Town” – Milton Mapess While it isn’t a film, the video game Stubbs the Zombie: Rebel without a Pulse has one of best soundtracks I’ve ever heard for a game. All recorded especially for the game, “Lonesome Town” stands as one of the best homage songs for its respects to the original by Ricky Nelson as well as adding its own flair and style.

“Ultramarine” Brook

–

Michael

Finishing off with a Canadian track, Michael Brook’s “Ultramarine” truly captures the light landscape of LA as well as the mystery of crime and wealth. Still waiting for the right moment to play it, the soundtrack from Heat is basically the benchmark of Michael Mann’s career and a standing point of film and music.

Philip Glass is an icon. His library of works is extensive and eccentric, ranging from classical operas to purely vocal tracks to trance and back again. He’s extensively trained in harmony and counterpoint—the languages of music composition—and is arguably one of the greatest musical influences of our time. If you’re trying to figure out where you know the name from, here’s a few popular examples: he composed the tracks for Kundun, The Truman Show, The Hours and Notes on a Scandal, and his music has been featured in Battlestar Galactica, Watchmen and Grand Theft Auto IV. REWORK was created in celebration of Glass’s 75th birthday. It is a compilation album, featuring re-imagined versions of Glass’s works by a rather eclectic group of artists. Beck, who spearheaded the album in its entirety, is present in the form of a 20-minute tribute entitled “NYC 73-78.” Given prior acquaintance with Glass, one might be able to discern the myriad tracks. They’re in minutelong snippets, and strung together with everything from wavering synthesizers to persistent clanging of gongs. It’s a gentle piece, in true Glassian form, more meditative than explosive. It wouldn’t be out of place in a yoga class or during a paper-writing session, but it has enough interest to keep you awake during savasana or that one paragraph that no one cares about but you feel compelled to include because the outline specifically mentions it.

“Knee 1” is one of the bigger departures included on the album.

Created by Nosaj Thing, this track takes a song that originally consisted purely of vocal tracks chantcounting, and turns it into an instrumental version. The vocals are still there, but as an afterthought; their elusive presence is evocative of an echo. It’s an interesting move, historically speaking: west-

ern music has progressed from purely vocal to vocals with instrumental accompaniment to heavily instrumental with sparse vocals to the relatively median mix we enjoy today. The shifts followed the church – at one time, music was all secular. Words—sung—were tributes to God, and instruments were originally thought of as marring that tribute. During a time when music was predominately instrumental and vocals sparse, the remaining words served as a link to keep the music respectful.

In Thing’s tribute, the words do the same thing. They’re present, an evasive link – but the true song is in instrumental melody, the capitulation of the original song.

Silver Alert’s contribution to the album was “Etolie Polaire: Little Dipper.” It begins with gentle percussion, quietly persistent like the rain we’ll be seeing for the next seven months. It shifts rather abruptly to abrasive sounds devoid of rhythmic niceties, sounds that wouldn’t be out of place at a Skrillex concert. To clarify, this isn’t to knock Skrillex – it’s an in-

teresting juxtaposition and true to the remixer’s roots. The track progresses to a heavier focus on the original song’s vocals, but these are laid over a track from some sort of synthesized instrument. It sounds like a keytar, and let me tell you, they’re only awesome when you can see them in person. This aspect of the track was unexpected and jarring, but not in the good way.

Overall, this album is a great listen. The tracks are well-produced, and vary in their links to the original songs. Glass’s influence is everpresent, ensuring that the album in its entirety is eclectically beautiful. Allen Ginsberg—who was a friend of Glass—once wrote in a journal entry that “fortunately art is a community effort – a small but select community living in a spiritualized world endeavoring to interpret the wars and the solitudes of the flesh.” If you’re feeling the need to dissect some flesh, try listening to this album—this community effort—it’s pure poetry.

Gnome Chomsky says:

‘Come to our next assignment meeting!’

Want to get involved? The Cascade holds weekly contributor meetings on Mondays at 10 a.m. in A421. You can meet our editors, take an assignment, or just find out a little bit more about what we do.

If you can’t make it, why not swing by our office in C1027? We’re open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (and often later) every weekday. Or you can always email editor-in-chief Nick Ubels at nick@ufvcascade.ca.

Image: Anthony Biondi

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www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

ARTS & LIFE

Cascade Arcade

Reliving the resonance cascade

ANTHONY BIONDI THE CASCADE

“I’m seeing predictable Phasa rays,” says an anonymous scientist operating the test chamber from a safe room. Famous last words. It doesn’t take long for the discrepancies to arise, and for the experiment to go so horribly wrong. It is in those fateful moments at the beginning of HalfLife that the iconic hero Gordon Freeman is thrust into a whirling adventure of monsters, military and mayhem.

I grew up with these moments.

I can still fondly recall Gordon Freeman’s quest through the Black Mesa research centre with stunning clarity. In 1998, when the game was first released, it was a sensation, winning multitudes of awards. It’s one of those shooters—like Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64—that becomes something everlasting in the minds of gamers everywhere.

In its wake, Half-Life 2 followed with an equally massive following. The sequel, still starring Dr. Freeman, took PC gaming to a whole new level. It introduced a solid engine built with detailed models and realistic physics. We have come a long way since the Source Engine was introduced, but it still, for the most part,

Image:microcosmologist.com

The test chamber remade. stands the test of time.

Not long after the release of Half-Life 2, a team gathered to recreate the memorable experiences within the Black Mesa compound with the new and improved Source Engine. They saw many hiccups along the way, but finally after nearly a decade they have released a playable game that has all the charm and adventure that the original Half-Life

started with. They call it, simply, Black Mesa Source.

It is a game that is nearly word-for-word the original. The environments are nearly identical, with some additional tweaks and details. However, the team took it upon themselves to improve the gameplay as well.

Half-Life may have broken boundaries back in 1998, but when it is looked back upon the

science team is comprised of only four different models. On top of this, these characters never seem to interact with one another in any meaningful way. They simply put on a one dimensional show that passes for lab activity as you march past them to your next goal.

The team of Black Mesa Source recognized this issue and included a multitude of new elements.

The science team now has indepth dialogues and interactions with one another, as well new models surface, giving the illusion that each new person you meet is someone different. As well, to bridge the original and its sequel, the team added some characters from Half-Life 2 that had mentioned they had worked with Gordon during the Black Mesa Incident.

Overall, the game feels more alive than ever before. In turn, it allows the player to become more involved with the game, giving it a more personal spin as well as a breath of fresh air in a nearly identical remake.

The only trouble I had while playing this game was with a few of the mechanics. I was frequently glued to ladders, unable to free myself from their strange grasp.

In truth, this release of Black Mesa Source is something of a Beta. The

game is not yet complete – it is still missing the Xeno segment at the end of the game. This means that the occasional glitch will arise. At one point, I was loaded into the floor of a hallway while I was changing maps.

This being said, the gameplay overall is still extremely enjoyable. In the end I found myself faced with the same monsters as before but in new and creative ways. In the process of recreation, the team has also changed the layout of enemies, so players that have memorized the original game’s monster locations will be in for a surprise.

Black Mesa Source, I can confidently say, has been a fresh and exciting experience, while sticking very close with the original game it mimics. I have never enjoyed a fan-made game as much as this. I have to admit it feels like it was professionally done.

So, for those who are looking to relive the moments of the Black Mesa Incident or perhaps for others who have not yet experienced the original game, this is definitely worth the download.

All it requires is a copy of the source engine to play. There is no longer any excuse for a gamer to say that they haven’t walked in the shoes of Dr. Gordon Freeman.

Women’s rights, cultural oppression and the writer’s process with Shauna Singh Baldwin JESS WIND

THE CASCADE So many people were eager to hear the humble words of a successful Canadian author that extra chairs had to be brought out. Excitement wafted through the air with the enticing aroma of Indian cuisine, provided to the attendees – the students, aspiring writers, professors and friends of the University, all gathered in the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies.

On Wednesday, October 10, Shauna Singh Baldwin stood in front of over 60 guests and spoke about her latest book, Selector of Souls.

Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies (CICS) director, Satwinder Bains addressed the room. “There are two kinds of authors; those that make you think, and those that make you wonder. [Baldwin] does both.” Baldwin last attended UFV in 2006 and her visit this time “is like welcoming back an old friend,” Bains commented.

The mic was then passed over to Anisha Gill, student and research assistant at the CICS. Gill, an aspiring writer herself, was given the honour of introducing Baldwin and her new novel.

Baldwin’s first novel, What the Body Remembers, won the Commonwealth prize for best book.

Her second novel, The Tiger Claw, was a finalist for Canada’s Giller prize and has been optioned for a film. She was born in Canada and holds an MBA from Marquette University and an MFA from UBC. She didn’t discard her first degree for her second one either; she is the chief information officer of her own business. “I still have my day

Image: David Ball

Shauna Singh Baldwin reads an excerpt from her latest book, Selector of Souls. job,” she laughed. “Business has helped with my writing, it gave me economical motivation.”

Baldwin was inviting and inspirational to aspiring writers, she was very aware that it takes business and craft to be successful. “At the end of the day you are producing a product, you have to be a business person. It is a product danger if you choose one or the other.”

Baldwin read from Selector of Souls, and gave the audience an insight into the three main points of view at work in the novel. With the first came an intensely vivid

description of handling an infant.

The room was silent as Baldwin’s words resonated; there was an intense tonality with her storytelling. The second passage allowed for humour amidst the oppression that was being experienced. The third passage that Baldwin shared showed a new side of the gender separation argument. “Women’s stories are important, but I also think that it’s time we started talking about men’s stories – the brokenness of the men from trying to live up to this patriarchal society,” She said of giving men a voice in her novel. “Even women have for-

gotten the feminine, everyone has to be so macho.”

Event coordinator at the CICS, Sharanjit Shandra, opened the floor for discussion by touching on some of the major themes in the work. Baldwin responded to a question about the ending, without giving anything away. “It is a bit of a book club ending. No phone calls at 3 a.m. about the ending.” She had a way of warming up a room, and after some slight witticism, the searching questions began to flow.

Baldwin responded to a question about her choice in character names with precision, conveying

a serious commitment and familiarity with her characters. With a novel set in India in the mid-1990s it was speculated that to the nonIndian reader, substance would be lost. “It tells a different story depending on the experience you, the reader, bring to the reading.”

Of the writing process, Baldwin didn’t sugarcoat the realities and difficulties of getting a book from conception to publication. “It takes a village to make a book. It’s this kind of process,” she said as she waved a finger wildly through the air. The novel, she said, was started in 2005, but took a pause when she published a collection of stories on the hyper-masculinity that came from the Bush administration. “I realised there were elements from those stories that belonged in the novel. There was a character from What the Body Remembers that wouldn’t go away.”

Nearly all the main characters in her novel, it seemed, were developed from secondary characters in her earlier works. “I trust the characters. I have to hold back my intent and let them tell the story.”

From UFV Baldwin was catching a 7 a.m. flight to continue her cross-country book tour. She will be attending writing fests and doing book signings, eventually ending her tour at the International Writers Fest in Toronto. That she fit UFV into her busy travel schedule is an honour. That the room was filled with eager-to-learn writers marks the worthiness of events like this one on campus.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

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ARTS & LIFE

In review: VIFF week three MICHAEL SCOULAR

THE CASCADE

Like Someone in Love is the opposite of baffling. It invites reconsideration, resetting and, most of all, as in many of the films of Abbas Kiarostami, an entrance into the liminal space of the vehicle—glimpsed through windowed reflections and inner quiet, in between unknowable (pre) destinations—where moments of performance and contemplation are questioned and fleetingly rekindled.

To the people she knows, Akiko (Rin Takanashi) is a student, though the film never shows her in any institutional study space.

By night, she sits at empty tables at

Like Someone In Love (Japan, Iran, France) a private club, waiting for clients while still trying to manage her public perception, whether it is to her insecure, suspicious boyfriend or unknowing grandmother. Her encounters with both, as well as an elderly sociology professor (her major) and his next door neighbor, are the four poles Akiko is pulled towards, into conversation and out of the definition of her public personae, over the roughly 18 hours the film spans.

Like in Certified Copy, Kiarostami’s long takes and discussions are transformed by the different cadences and new location – in-

terrupted humour and one-sided cellphone conversations (the generational (our generation’s) divide) alike. But it goes beyond even that. Unlike the platonic dialogue of his previous film, here conversations—untranslated but not unimportant—overtake our field of sound, mixing or taking more prominence in Reza Narimizadeh’s sound editing. The most recent comparison point might be the extended cut of Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret, but the distinction here is how these voices are alternatively shut out into muffled distance or midnight silence, a pointed illustration of the division

of public and private life, though intrusions, breaking down this division, do occur.

With this point in mind, one of the inquisitive spirits of Like Someone in Love might be the one related to acting – Takanashi is expected to be, but how much of this is performance, and how much has this spread into her life outside of her work? Again as in Certified Copy’s example of Juliette Binoche and William Shimmel, (Kiarostami’s two foreign excursions might come apart, be able to be seen as completely separate and different from another over time, but for now they seem to follow naturally

from one another) despite using trained actors there is the tenor of unadorned portrayal of the self – Takanashi in the film’s opening scene or Tadashi Okuno, playing the professor, shuffling around his study. But as dialogue and storytelling spilling out from characters takes over, identification and responsibility develop and mutate.

Nearly every sentence seems to be a turning, a divergence, leading to breaks and abrupt disconnections that shatter the sensible multidimensionality of Kiarostami’s construction and turn it over to the unpredictable public sphere.

more of hand-painted Brakhage than reality construction. This suggestive, rather than indicative quality transforms the everyday, the accepted as organic, into the unsure realm of artistic possibility. One of the most lasting effects of Leviathan is in its sound design

by Ernst Karel and Jacob Ribicoff: submerged bursts of pressure and oxygen, like fretboard squeaks turned manic and unfamiliar, the constant machinery and the quiet of the sky. This too seems like it is rooted in the naturally occurring, but bears an exactness, a precise viscerality countered barely by relief that conjures an off-kilter appreciation for nature, its manipulation, or something less easily defined.

Of the many paradoxical plea-

sures of Leviathan, this one remains: in the moment while watching, its agitated REM version of lurching reality seems more than enough for a lifetime.

It’s enthralling images and hearing-loss inflicting noise should be indelible and lasting. But in the time since seeing it, Leviathan refuses to resolve itself in the mind.

Its seed of furious commotion, wordless work is there undiminished, but its images, half-forgotten, half-formed already, beckon, to be explored again not out of reverence, but to explore in a way words can’t their interlocking, inexact relation between human and inhumane.

capture everything without end, and deadened movies released to dumbstruck audiences in unending plethoras, this only obscures the true potential of cinema.

Refusing to ignore lives over brands, valuing loving detail of moving bodies over fake, reconstituted sensation, and wrapping passion in framing that exposes juvenility as a scourge against the relentless desire to create, Carax does not declare that film is dead as so many are, but that it is living, and we are too often dead to it.

In the days preceding this, as it turns out entirely appropriate, closing film, the main hub of VIFF and last evidence there ever was a Theatre Row, the Granville 7, was announced as closing November 4. Predictable and expected, but no less a major blow to VIFF and other Vancouver film festivals, it’s yet another movement toward cold, monolithic quasifuturistic-looking multiplexes that overcharge, blare constant advertisements and occasionally show movies as being the theatres of non-choice.

But it is not all dire. VIFF’s VanCity Theatre and repertory haven the Pacific Cinémathèque will continue their excellent year-round programming, and VIFF, in whatever form, venue, size, will continue to be the highlight of BC’s filmgoing year. No thinkpiece in Salon or The New Republic can change that.

Leviathan (UK, France) Leviathan is a documentary co-directed by Lucien CastaingTaylor and Véréna Paravel, and it—at least when described in a distanced, need-to-be-topical way—is a condensed catalogue of the catching, gutting, enduring process of oceanic fishing in three movements. Leviathan keeps the long takes and isolated subject of Castaing-Taylor’s Sweetgrass (codirected with Ilisa Barbash), but with the shift from solid ground to dark and unstable water, Castaing-Taylor and Paravel not only turn the camera into an active, sometimes ceaselessly moving impossible extension, but upset preconceived notions of the immediate area and its travelers by wrenching images, sounds, and their absence from just about

everywhere – only sometimes including eye level. This is not the experience of being on this vessel in these conditions over this period of time, but an abstracted view of a shifting surface, its underneath and exploding contents, in an indeterminate, crashing concept of the passage of minutes or hours, or who knows how long.

As later scenes show, CastaingTaylor and Paravel have the ability to show the layout of things in longshot, steadily as observers, with the sound dialed back and everything safely at a distance.

But Leviathan is instead marked by assaultive camera and sound work – not as a derogatory, but as methodology. Plunging, sliding, whip-panning in the dark and deck and drowning expans-

es, Leviathan has so many visuals to bump up against it’s a wonder it coalesces into order. But it does – the sequence of fisherman routine becomes the only thing to acclimate to, even as that too changes and is never represented the same way twice. In its most straightforward capturing of bloodletting—undesirable inedibles hacked off, gathering, spraying on the indifferent ground in a machine-like calmness by bodies in motion to be revered and/or criticized in their perseverance— Leviathan recalls Franju’s Blood of the Beasts. But this is a small occurrence next to the more visceral decktide sweep of guts and heads into camera, or the night hauls, delimited vivid color immersed in crushed black – the appearance

Holy Motors (France) Holy Motors literalizes the star vehicle, placing Denis Lavant in the actor’s limo’s chair with nine scripts in one day and Edith Scob as chauffeur.

Like the most vital pieces of the French New Wave, Holy Motors is a piece of filmmaking is that creative criticism, a direct address to what is current valued in cinema by general moviegoers and, opposing this, director Leos Carax. While placing his film in a position against an audience (the opening is of one asleep, dead to anything but perfunctory function), Carax in a way trusts and plays off the familiarity an audience has with familiar narratives: deathbed sentiment, young adolescence, fantasy violence, and so on, using this to then go off the deep end of intensified disconti-

nuity.

Surrounded by vicious satire, outrageous release of irritation, and mockery of hypnotic convention, the nucleus of Holy Motors, though superficially changing, remains the same. While in many ways a contemptuous reaction to problems that have always been endemic in film culture, Holy Motors is above all an attempt at the defence of romance, either by deriding twisted, lazy forms of this, or bringing actorly commitment into focus. All nine of its extent parts communicate this, but perhaps none clearer than the undeniably beautiful entr’acte, separate from the others in that it holds back, for just a moment, in narrative demolition and audience recalibrating of the most forceful kind. As yet another

changeably talented physical exultation of acting, Denis Lavant takes up instrument, and following several solitary acts, is surprisingly joined by other joyous performers. The intermezzo lasts only two weaving, concentrated shots, but contains in it all the ecstasy of a creative act – all the more because it comes in relief of conflicted, exhausting genre commitments.

At one point, Lavant is questioned, asking if by preferring a more pure, simpler type of camera-actor relationship, he’s being overly sentimental and nostalgic.

What Carax proposes in diverse, divisive delivery, is not that things used to be better, but that whether its an actor so immersed in assignments acting never begins nor ends, cameras that can

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

ARTS & LIFE

SAUS IS SAUSING IT UP WITH SAUSY SAUS EVENT SASHA MOEDT

THE CASCADE

The Sociology Anthropology Undergraduate Society (SAUS) was getting saucy Thursday night, with two bands ready to get up on the stage at AfterMath, Anth-Soc trivia cards on the table, and a new $3 shot called the Indiana Jones (get it? Because of archaeology?).

Needless to say, UFV’s social scientists were pretty happy.

The music was blaring, and the place was filling up. SAUS board members wandered from table to table selling the 50-50 draw. They had a deal – $10 for the amount of tickets that can be measured from finger tip to fingertip, arms spread out. Good idea in theory, but perhaps they weren’t expecting the giant guy with the wingspan of an albatross sitting with his buddies at the back of the pub.

Students, delighted that they could use what they learned in the classroom in the real world, filled out the trivia cards.

The bands took a while to get on the stage. Daniel Moir and his crew got on first. Moir’s done pretty well as a Canadian musician—from Edmonton—at age 20.

He sang some quiet folksy-pop music that smoothed the atmosphere in the darkly-lit pub. CIVL worked the sound. Moir has a very soft, mellow voice that matches his young, boyish face, and he had an honest, almost solemn or shy pres-

Image: Sasha Moedt

Daniel Moir and his crew began the SAUSy festivities. ence that made him feel pretty authentic.

Between the bands, Sophie Thomas, SAUS president and Caity Therrien, secretary, read out the trivia winners. Of course I didn’t bother guessing the questions – as an English major, the phrase Homo floresiensis doesn’t ring any bells. Apparently, it’s the smallest human species that ever lived, standing at three feet tall. But, the species is nicknamed “the hobbit” by anthropologists ... So I think we English majors can mingle with the Anth-Soc types after all.

Those who did guess correct won some cool stuff: gift certificates for shoes at Lady Fern and food at the Roasted Grape (both in downtown Abby), a Storm Brewing hoody and a beach bag filled with goodies. Mr. Albatross and his friends won the 50-50, of course.

This is THE SHOES came on loud and awesomely bluesy.

Jereme Collette started off with heavy beats on the kick drum and electric guitar, and Sabrina Robson just blew everyone’s mind with a sexy, husky voice that was so pow-

erful. Robson played the harmonica and smashed the cowbell with equal energy, and Collette rocked his beard (it just made that raw, rough vibe stronger). Robson’s vocals alone could have kept me there.

SAUS president Sophie Thomas was the one who brought forward the idea of bringing them out to Abbotsford; she knew them through her partner’s family. “I actually met them a few months ago at a wedding, and had got chatting with them,” Thomas explained. “They were quite keen on

getting out to the Valley, so, I had heard them and then I presented the SAUS board members with the music – that this was a really excellent opportunity, let’s get them out, students will love them ...

Jereme was actually an Anthropology student himself so there’s that interesting connection there.

It can’t be denied that This is THE SHOES really made the night.

Sophie Thomas said that “the goal with looking at a band like them was primarily wanting to focus on a local band, somebody related and fun and that was going to be stimulating and enjoyable for the students as well.” It certainly was that!

All in all, SAUS board members were happy with the event. “It ran smoothly! This was our first pub night, so there were little details we didn’t even think to take into account, like the kitchen closing at 8 p.m., we just assumed that it would be open,” Thomas laughed.

“So that would probably be the one glitch of the night.”

“Other than that, we had tremendous amount of support from Brad at AfterMath and from the SUS board members and from CIVL ... to get us all the information we needed in order to have it run smoothly, so because of that support it went very well.”

Sophie Thomas and Caity Therrien handle the raffle.

Students getting SAUSed at the SAUS event.

Jereme Collette of this is THE SHOES closes the event.

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

17

SPORTS & HEALTH

E. coli: Critical thinking, critical eating JESSE WERTMAN

UFV Scoreboard

THE CASCADE

In lieu of the recent XL Meats E. coli outbreak, concerns about meat quality and illness prevention are understandable. As a student eating in the cafeteria or buying your own meat to cook, the E. coli concerns become even more relevant.

Prevention is the key and to do this you must know your enemy and defeat it. After all, according to Abraham Lincoln, “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”

Escherichia Coli, or E. coli, is often associated with bad meat and product recalls, along with the unpleasant effects of food poisoning.

“The truth is that E. coli is a common bacteria of the intestines,” said registered nurse and UFV graduate Celeste Noble. The bacterium is rarely ever pathogenic, but when the occasional pathogenic strain appears, it will cause a panic as seen in the XL incident.

“Fecal-oral transmission,” is how E. coli spreads, Noble explained. That means feces are where you’d find E. coli living outside the body for a brief period of time. “Transmitted by eating fecal matter means that E. coli isn’t restricted to meat,” Noble said, noting several transmission routes, including “unhygienic food prep, crop contamination from manure or irrigation of fields with grey water, or directly drinking grey water.”

Knowing the transmission

Last week’s scores Men’s Soccer Oct. 12 UFV vs. UNBC W 3-0 Oct. 13 UFV vs. Victoria W 2-0 Image: Anthony Biondi/The Cascade

Actual E. coli bacterium on an actual steak ... seriously. routes of any virus/bacteria makes the ability to prevent infection easier. Hand washing after bathroom use is essential, especially when handling food. Vegetables can carry these bacteria, Noble mentioned, making it important to wash your vegetables and rid them of any trace of the E. coli pathogen. Becoming vegetarian won’t prevent E. coli. “Just don’t eat poop,” Noble joked.

There still is a trust issue with meats though. “Properly cooking” beef and other meats is a popular debate. Cooking meat thoroughly will kill the pathogen, but many people enjoy a juicy raw steak.

Wes Wertman, my father and a local hobby farmer, is confident the cows on his farm are safe. “My beef could be eaten raw,” he said. This is because he grows and slaughters the cow himself. “I’ve seen what happens to the meat from birth,” he said. Going to the local butcher is much the same. But we can’t all eat local as it is more ex-

pensive and even trusting restaurants is difficult. Denny’s (and others) has a cautionary disclaimer on their menus that reads: “Note: Consuming raw or undercooked meats ... may increase your risk of food-borne illness.” Although just a disclaimer it still adds weight to the “raw meat is bad” argument.

“If E. coli is transferred through feces, why would raw meat be dangerous?” questioned Noble.

That is an important question for all consumers. Where our food—both meat and veggies— comes from should always be considered. All cuts of meat have an internal temperature recommendation, but this is often to maximize tenderness, not consumer safety. Start questioning if you want to buy ground beef with a sticker that says “For your safety cook at 160 degrees F.” Wash your hands, cook your meat and don’t eat poop and hopefully you can avoid the bloody diarrhea that comes with E. coli poisoning.

Women’s Soccer Oct. 12. UFV vs. Victoria L 0-1

Women’s Basketball Oct. 12. UFV vs. Regina L 58-75 Oct. 13. UFV vs. Alberta W 65-55 Oct. 14. UFV vs. Carleton W 59-58

Men’s Volleyball October 12,13 UFV vs CBC L 2-3, L 1-3

Women’s Volleyball October 12,13 UFV vs CBC W 3-1, W 3-2

Upcoming home matches Women’s Soccer Oct 19. UFV vs TWU (5:00) Oct 20. UFV vs UBC (5:00)

Women’s Basketball October 20 UFV vs. Capilano (6:00)

men’s and Women’s volleyball at the Envision Athletic Centre UFV Cascades vs Camosun Chargers Friday, October 19

Women @ 6pm / Men @ 8pm Saturday, October 20

Women @ 1pm / Men @ 3pm $5 Adult/Alumni | $2 non-UFV Student UFV students FREE

For more information,

604-557-4041 www.ufvcascades.ca UFv Cascades athletics

For more information, call 604-557-4041 scan the QR code or visit www.ufvcascades.ca

@ufvcascades

18

www.ufvcascade.ca

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

SPORTS & HEALTH

Cascades women’s volleyball reign over CBC Bearcats

Image: Blake McGuire/The Cascade

The women celebrate around libero Brittany Stewart after a point.

DESSA BAYROCK THE CASCADE

The UFV women’s volleyball team defeated the Columbia Bible College Bearcats in the first game of the season this past weekend, beating the former provincial contenders 3-1.

The game started off quick with some lively volleying and the Bearcats taking the initial lead. Cascades quickly tied it up with a series of neat spikes, and the two teams stayed neck and neck, helped by some sick serves from UFV’s Kiera Noot and Kayla Bruce’s miraculous ability to be in exactly the right place at the right time.

Players on both teams were good-natured, loud and enthusiastic, fearlessly throwing themselves in front of the ball and trusting teammates to catch it on the rebound. CBC was clockwork, setting their shots up perfectly to

neatly tuck the ball over the net.

After a close battle, CBC took the first set 25-19 and kept their lead into the second. UFV trailed by a hair and finally pulled ahead, thanks to Jenna Evans’ calculated tip to sneak points by the opposing team. UFV took the set 25-22 after some hard rallies and out-ofbound mistakes by CBC. UFV also took the third set 2522, with some seriously spectacular spikes from Janina Toljanich, who landed several jabbing shots that CBC couldn’t defend. The Bearcats couldn’t keep it together, and the Cascades controlled the last set, landing the death blow at 25-16.

“We had a bit of nerves coming out in the first set, but we’re still learning how to play with each other,” said Janina Toljanich, a five-foot-eight power from Vancouver.

“There’s a few new faces on our team, and by the end of the game

Image: Blake McGuire/The Cascade

Left side Jenna Evans follows through on a hit.

it got really exciting to see where we’re going to go and how much better we’re going to get,” Toljanich said. “It’s going to be a good season for sure … it’s only going to get better.”

“We’re working on a faster pace, and it seemed that it went pretty well tonight,” explained Jenna Evans, a five-foot-seven left-side from Abbotsford. “We’re working really hard in practice so we’re hoping to be the best that we can be … it’s just nice that we can all support each other on the court and if we make a bad play, we’ll get it next time.”

On Saturday the Cascades repeated their victorious ways with a 3-2 victory over the Bearcats at CBC, stealing the fifth set 17-15.

The women’s volleyball team will tackle Camosun College next, on Oct 19 at 6 p.m. at the Envision Athletic Centre on Abbotsford campus.

Image: Blake McGuire/The Cascade

Jenna Evans and Kayla Bruce go for a block.

Men’s volleyball team falls to the claws of the Bearcats DESSA BAYROCK THE CASCADE

The UFV men’s volleyball fell to the Columbia Bible College this past Friday, defeated 18-16 in a fifth set by a rebuilding Bearcats team.

The Cascades team started off slowly, anticlimactically hitting the first serve straight into the net. The Bearcats gathered up a five-point lead before the audience could blink, despite several powerful spikes from Trevor Nickel and a fast-paced game on all sides.

CBC continued to sneak points in past UFV’s defence; the reactions of the UFV team seemed to be on a half-second delay, and the team likewise trailed in points.

Several key digs from Adam Chaplin helped UFV get their head back in the game, and his powerful leap of a serve formed the foundation for UFV to start building points upon. CBC still stayed on top and took the first set with a decisive 25-19.

The second set started with a terrific rally, ending in first blood to the Cascades. UFV gave the Bearcats a run for their money with a much closer set, and the Cascades eventually took the set 25-18.

Although CBC came back to win the third set, the Cascades tied it up again in the fourth with a score of 25-22.

During a close fifth set, the Bearcats dug their claws into the

Cascades to take the set and the game with a score of 16-18 and an overall score of 3-2.

“We had our opportunities to finish plays, finish sets and finish the game ... but we didn’t capitalize,” said assistant coach Carl Neinhaus. “The boys will draw their lessons from this one and come out for redemption tomorrow night.”

The Cascades fought hard on Saturday in a rematch against the Bearcats (this time at CBC), but were once again unable to snatch the final set in a 3-2 loss.

The Cascades men’s volleyball team will play Camosun College next, on Oct 19 at 8 p.m. at the Envision Athletic Centre on Abbotsford campus.

UFV’s varsity golf team celebrates their victory

Image: Blake McGuire/The Cascade

Cascades slam one over the night in Friday’s valiant effort.

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

19

SPORTS & HEALTH

Commitment is key for UFV women’s soccer

Vikes 1 Cascades 0 Amidst the Mud PAUL ESAU

THE CASCADE Record: 6-3-1 Goals for: 23 Goals against: 8 Scoring Leader: Donna Pinning (5) Currently fourth in Canada West

Image: Paul Esau/The Cascade

Team goals for the season from a document on the door of Giesbrecht’s office.

PAUL ESAU

THE CASCADE

Two years ago when the UFV women’s soccer team won Bronze at the CIS National championships it was a precedent, the beginning of a new chapter for UFV varsity.

Last year, while the Cascades began the season with a promising four wins, they quickly entered a bewildering tailspin which resulted in the team missing the playoffs entirely.

This year, coach Rob Giesbrecht and team promised themselves things would be different. It’s a promise taped to the door of Giesbrecht’s office, a promise found in the team binder of each player, a promise agreed upon by the team during a pre-season trip to Portland. It’s a promise consisting of five commitments: to have the best goals-against-average in Canada West, to be undefeated at home, to host a Canada West playoff game, to win a CIS National Champion-

ship and to maintain a team GPA of more than 3.0.

Coach Giesbrecht is aware of the heights that these targets aspire to; still, with only two games left in the season, he and his team have already posted a significantly better record than last year. “We’ve lost a home game which was tough,” he said about his team’s commitments, “but we still have a fantastic goals-against record; we still have the potential of hosting a home playoff game; we’re still in the running for a national championship ... I think it’s a great document for us to have ...

[The women] see it every day and they’re reminded of the ambitions that we have as a group. They’re reminded of what the cost is to get to that.”

Team-building is also an important part of the Cascades’ commitment, something that Giesbrecht feels has been integral to the women’s success. “Well,” he explained, “I always find that if you get a group of athletes together that have common vision,

“Because we go into battles, we go into battles on the weekends against these Canada West opponents, and when you’re in the trenches in these battles and you care about the person next to you in the trenches, you’ll go that extra yard for them ... ” common purpose and they enjoy spending time together, then you get a nice synergy amongst the

group. Because we go into battles, we go into battles on the weekends against these Canada West opponents, and when you’re in the trenches in these battles and you care about the person next to you in the trenches, you’ll go that extra yard for them, you’ll do whatever it takes for them. And that’s the thing we’ve tried to create among our team ... we’ve really focused on creating a positive team environment.”

The team has already outscored last year’s squad by a score of 2313, and while these impressive numbers are partially the result of several new teams to the Canada West division, they are also the product of a younger, hungrier Cascades side. Fullback Donna Pinning has five goals this season, while the always-dangerous Carly Neeson has four from her position as striker. Coach Giesbrecht has been especially impressed with Neeson’s ability so far. “I think Carly Neeson’s a big reason for [the difference in scoring],” he said.

“Not only is she creating goals and scoring goals in the play, but four times this year she’s been brought down in the box and we’ve scored on the penalty kick. So Carly Neeson’s maturation from a secondyear player to a third-year player is pivotal for us hitting our offensive statistics this year.”

The women’s achievements are even more remarkable considering team captain Chelsea Steffen and defensive stalwart McKenzie Shopland suffered season-ending injuries in August.

This weekend the Cascades take on TWU and UBC at home at the Chilliwack Exhibition Field.

These two games will be an important test for the team as they seek to improve their position in the Canada West going into the playoffs. The women have already guaranteed themselves a spot in the post-season, but this weekend will determine whether they meet their third goal for the season: to host a playoff game.

In this season’s first truly rainy contest last Friday, the Cascades weren’t quite good enough to steal three points from a tough UVic squad. The Vikes improve to 8-1-1 on the season, while UFV falls to 6-3-1, retaining a tenuous hold on fourth place in the conference. After an exciting first half filled with chances for both squads, the Vikes put one past UFV keeper Kayla Klim in the 38th minute to score the match’s only goal.

Despite strong play from both the defensive line and the strikers, the Cascades continually had trouble moving the ball through the midfield to the attack. To compound the problem, the few opportunities UFV created in the second half were squandered through weak shots at the Vikes keeper or beyond the net.

One of the brighter spots on the UFV side, striker Carly Neeson, expressed how close the contest was. “I thought we played pretty good but just didn’t get a result,” she said. “We had lots of opportunities on net [just] like they did. They’re a good team, but we fought to the end, and just didn’t quite get the result we wanted.”

Despite the loss, coach Giesbrecht was proud of his team: “I thought we played great today, I thought we worked very hard. We just let up for a little bit and got punished, and that’s what good teams do, you let up for a little bit and you get punished. I thought if we were a little more composed and executed better in the final third we could have got more out of the game. Can’t fault their effort, their work was great, the commitment they showed was outstanding, and for my young team to go through that battle and do so well, I’m very proud of them.”

With 19 points in the standings, UFV remains one point ahead of Alberta. A strong showing next weekend could allow the Cascades to overtake UBC and prove they are a serious contender in Canada West.

Heat finish off the weekend with back-to-back home wins over the Rivermen

MIKE CADARETTE CONTRIBUTOR

The Abbotsford Heat picked up where they left off the previous night in a dominating 6-2 win over the Peoria Rivermen on Saturday evening.

In a game that saw the Abbotsford Heat come off a 4-1 win on Friday, the Heat continued their relentless offensive ways scoring three goals in the first period.

After a quick goal from Peoria enforcer Anthony Peluso only minutes into the game, Heat sparkplug Carter Bancks responded by dropping the gloves on the ensuing faceoff with Chris Bruton.

Two minutes later, Lance Bou-

ma got the Heat’s first goal of the game with a quick snap shot that beat Peoria goaltender Jake Allen cleanly.

The Heat fell behind for the second time after Rivermen rookie Sergey Andronov, playing in only his second pro game, shot a puck on net that goalie Danny Taylor misread; it resulted in a 2-1 lead for Peoria halfway through the first period.

Five minutes later the Heat came from behind again, on a goal from Ben Walter. Walter, who played in his 500th AHL game on Saturday, reflected on his long, yet successful career after the game.

“It’s gone by really fast,” said Walter. “It’s been a pleasure. I’ve been

around some really good people in the hockey world … Hopefully I can play as many more as I can.”

After the game, Heat head coach Troy Ward commented on Walter’s dedication over that 500 game span. “I think when you endure this business … you have to have a special quality of who you are as a person. I think that just speaks to how he is as a man. It speaks to how he is in day-to-day life and how he carries himself.”

With only two minutes left in the first period, Flames’ top prospect Sven Baertschi scored on the power play with a laser of a shot, which proved to be the eventual game-winning goal. “That’s an NHL type goal from an NHL type player,” said Ward, “It’s a real pleasure to have that type of talent.”

The Heat finished the first period with 17 shots on net, which was one more than the Heat were able to muster in total on Friday night’s game. “We made more of

a conscious effort to get pucks to the net,” said Ward, “That was our main point of emphasis this morning [at practice].”

Three minutes into the second period, former Chilliwack Bruin Roman Horak was able to score on a Ben Olsen pass from behind the net. On that play, Peoria goaltender Jake Allen was knocked down in the crease and Horak was able to capitalize on the opportunity.

Shortly after a small brawl involving both teams, the Heat found themselves on the power play once again. Last season’s Heat rookie leading scorer, Dustin Sylvester, was able to find the back of the net on a beautiful passing play from Ben Street and defenceman TJ Brodie.

Brodie, who finished the game with three assists and the game’s first star honours, commented on the huge minutes he’s had to log from the blue line. “It’s definitely different from last year,” said Brodie, who played sparing min-

utes with the Calgary Flames last season, “I’m just trying to focus on each shift … and make sure they’re not getting chances against us when I’m out there.”

Only seconds later, Heat AllStar Krys Kolanos, who was a healthy scratch on Friday night, was able to capitalize off his own patience. Kolanos glided patiently from the top of the left faceoff circle and waited for the Rivermen goalie to move first before snapping the puck far side.

The Heat finished their opening weekend with a flawless record.

This marks the first time in Heat franchise history that they have started the season 2-0 at home in their four-year existence.

The Heat will be back in action on October 19 and 20 when they host the Chicago Wolves, top affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks.

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012

www.ufvcascade.ca

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