The Gateway Magazine - November 2020

NOVEMBER 2020

Published since November 21, 1910 Circulation 1750 ISSN 0845-356X Suite 3-04 8900 114 St. NW University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2J7 Advertising execdirector@ gateway.ualberta.ca Website www.gtwy.ca

LOOKING BACK ON LEGACIES

Editor-in-Chief Adam Lachacz

Opinion Editor Mitchell Pawluk

Magazine Editor Tina Tai

Staff Reporter Rachel Narvey

Art Director Sofia Capettini

Webmaster Hugh Bagan

Photo Editor Christien Ford

Executive Director Shayla Breen

Online Editor Pia Co

Business Administrator Sukhmani Kaur Saggu

News Editor Khadra Ahmed Arts & Culture Editor Tom Ndekezi

Marketing & Outreach Coordinator Emma Jones

Contributors An Bui Alys A. Caswell Remi Hou Bree Meiklejohn Daria Malin Marlee Jade Willier Nataly Zuria Cover Sofia Capettini

Copyright All materials appearing in The Gateway bear copyright of their creator(s) and may not be used without written consent.

GSJS The Gateway is published by the Gateway Student Journalism Society (GSJS), a student-run, autonomous, apolitical not-for-profit organization, operated in accordance with the Societies Act of Alberta.

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Printing Printed in Canada at Burke Group, on FSC® certified uncoated paper.

The Gateway receives funding through the COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations Grant

NEWS • OPINION • ARTS & CULTURE • PHOTOGRAPHY • ILLUSTRATION

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ILLUSTRATION DARIA MALIN, "BUILDING LEGACIES"

DEAR READER, Welcome to the November magazine!

November is arguably the best month of the year as pumpkin spice from (Canadian) Thanksgiving lingers in the air while fresh snowflakes sparkle with a hint of holiday cheer.

At The Gateway we have another cause for celebration this month. On November 21, 2020, The Gateway celebrates its 110th year anniversary!

While we celebrate, we’ll also be taking an introspective look at our complicated history and evaluating the legacy of our organization. This issue also discusses other legacies in our community, from the Orchesis Dance Performance Group to how Ruth Bader Ginsberg affects modern day feminism. As always, head to the back for some diversions, including your monthly horoscopes and a crossword puzzle related to journalism.

Enjoy looking back on legacies with us, and we hope everyone has a great November! g Tina Tai Magazine Editor

Sofia Capettini Art Director

NOVEMBER 2020 1

CONTENTS REQUIRED READING 4

Reading Recommendation: Aya de Yopougon Dive into a graphic novel that celebrates life on the CĂ´te d'Ivoire!

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Who Does Justice Leave Behind?

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: a monument to gender equality. What does her complicated legacy mean for modern day feminism?

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32

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Indigenous Students' Column: Living in the Shadow of Residential Schools: An Inescapable Legacy A reflection on the impact of residential schools and how they continue to affect Indigenous communities for generations to come.

Humans of UAlberta: John & Peter Johnson Read about the Johnson twins leaving their marks in undergrad‌ and medical school!

Hindsight is 2020 Come along with some of our current staff as we evaluate our time at The Gateway.

FEATURES 10

Dance of the Orchesis Discover a dance group that has been a part of our campus for over fifty years!

COLUMNS 6

THE STUDIO

Perpetual Revisions Discover the tumultuous history of The Gateway and how the organization continues to evolve and learn from its past.

THE GALLERY 22

History in Photos Travel through time with our most notable photos over the past 110 years.

DIVERSIONS 34

Horoscope Need some advice on how to get through November? Read the horoscopes for some truth bombs.

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Crossword Test your knowledge on journalism and the structure of articles.

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Advice With Parker the Pepper How do we evaluate and regard people who have left complicated legacies throughout their lives?

TEXT ALYS A. CASWELL ILLUSTRATION AN BUI

REQUIRED READING

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REQUIRED READING

Reading Recommendation:

Aya De Yopougon Entre! Apportez juste du Koutoukou…

Come on in! Just bring some Koutoukou...

Bonjour, mes amis! Bienvenue à La Côte D’ Ivoire, Deh! This recommendation, written

by Marguerite Abouet and illustrated by Clément Oubrerie is a bande dessinée, or graphic novel within the Francophone world.

Aya of Yopougon, Volume 2 primarily centers around Aya, a young adult with keen eyes on her future. Aya’s story, nestled in the broad walks of life that compose Yopougon city and her social circle are engaging. Set in the 1970s, the short lived prosperity of this little corner of the African continent forms a backdrop against the personal triumphs and struggles of everyday life. This is a unique vision provided by Abouet, a native Ivorian who wanted to see another Africa — unfamiliar to much of the West — as prosperous and dealing with both French and ancient African legacies, and their costs.

This text provides a look at the average west african city, growing in wealth before decline in the 1980s, and a peek at the potential of this region of Africa.

Aya and her friends all have their own ambitions. Bashful Bintou desires a luxurious life, Adjoua to get by, and others to find some degree of comfort in their lives. Aya forms the core of the narrative as an intelligent, driven young woman with ambitions who provides an ear for the gripes and disappointments of her friends. The legacy of colonialism in Africa as well as this land’s limiting roles play out in this story causing conflict and confusion. The economic success of this small era in West African history provides a setting poised for the struggles of the

young and old alike in a colonial landscape.

Aya’s desire to be independent echoes that of many Ivorians with ambition, and their struggles to build a life at home and abroad.

The debut event of this volume begins with a paternity crisis as Adjoua bears a son close to her wedding with Moussa Sissko, a local heir to an alcohol brewing business. The child is not accepted by the Sissko family due to a lack of resemblance, and questionable parentage.

This results in a scramble by Adjoua’s father Hyacinte to find a relative to compare him to. This is built on his assumption that the child resembles a relative on her side of the family, and simply represents her lineage more. This search to secure the child’s paternity results in some success, only to find more than they bargained for.

To spare further spoilers, the plot of an Aya volume usually consists of personal relations and romantic subplots, such as an affair or the strife of love along with traditional values being put to the test.

Aya struggles to qualify for medical school early in the series but nurses her ambitions while aiding other characters. The stable element of Aya grounds this drama, but the cast also provides character to the stories and much needed levity. Illustrations in good graphic novels are also essential to conveying the story and this novel is no exception with warm colour palettes and detailed artwork giving life to the events.The legacy of the Francophone world and bindings to ancient Africa provide a new identity, and

new struggles. To further immerse a reader into the story are uses of local language and culture, such as the popular exclamation “Deh!” that is used to indicate excitement or surprise. Many of these terms are provided in the text of the novel, but also in vocabulary sections at the end of volumes that provide context to terms. We learn that the local distilled drink is “Koutoukou” and the “Marquis” as a popular gathering place.

Everyday strife and hopes are put to the test in a new Cote D’ Ivoire with the Francophone legacy, and old tensions boiling underneath the surface. This series has a following within France, but it has importance in the current political climate as well. The series showcases the potential of the African continent, rather than simply the poverty stereotypically shown to Western audiences.

Students may enjoy this showcase of African culture and its struggles to evolve from the colonial era and it’s own values.

It also provides a compelling story of a young woman and her community, and the hope for development of a growing middle class.

This story also tackles subjects like changing gender dynamics and increasing access to education in the Cote D’ Ivoire.

The series comprises multiple volumes where the ongoing story of Aya’s ambition matches with ongoing shenanigans of the cast. The full series is available from most libraries, Francophone booksellers and online. Suggestions are to begin with Aya De Yopougon 2, though the first volume is also a good start. g

NOVEMBER 2020 5

COLUMNS

Living in the Shadow of An Inescapable Legacy TEXT MARLEE JADE WILLIER ILLUSTRATION TINA TAI

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ndigenous peoples are no strangers to legacies — the things handed down to us from our ancestors or a close loved one — be it clothing, jewellery, songs to sing or ways of knowing. For us, these gestures are at the core of who we are; we find strength and comfort in each of our relations, and sharing what we’ve learnt or what we owned is what connects us. There lies an unavoidable legacy within Indigenous culture though, a harsh reality for which every Indigenous person knows the raw truth behind. This legacy is the one left by residential schools.

One thing I want to ask of the reader is to question yourself: when did you learn about residential schools?

Was it only in university, or perhaps you’ve never learned of them before? The answer for most people I know is 1) in university, or 2) it’s never been taught. Even as I write this piece, news of the Alberta government planning to possibly remove mentions of residential schools from the K-Grade 4 curriculum is released. We have to criticize our own education in its failure of informing us on Indigenous history. For me, learning about residential schools is a privilege. Since unlike most, Indigenous people cannot simply read about residential schools in a magazine such as this and move on in their day. The legacy of residential schools is and will always be our life. We do not need to read about the atrocities committed against our people, about the generational trauma solidified within our people. It is embedded in our lifelines and ways of knowing.

There are various analogies being made about residential schools, comparing it to an unshakeable poison within the community or a stain in Canada’s history, all of which are true. But it’s important to know the truth behind these analogies, to criticize residential schools not only as a vicious moment of our history but also as continuous trauma, abuse and harm that carries on until today.

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Residential schools are often purposely taught as a thing of the past, committed hundreds of years ago and most certainly distant from us. This is the farthest from the truth. Every Indigenous person either has a family member who has gone to residential school, or knows of someone who has.

Within these schools, 3,200 deaths of children have been confirmed, with nearly half of all deaths without a listed cause. Nearly one-third of the deceased children were registered without a name, and the majority of the children’s deceased bodies were kept on school grounds.

Although this is the first generation in 100 years where children reside with their parents into their teenage years, the children of today are just as interwoven to the trauma brought by residential schools as were their mothers and fathers. Trauma does not just stop at the abolishment of these schools or some wish-wash apology from the government, nor does it stop at Treaty money or ‘free’ schooling (which isn’t actually free, at all). Trauma is a trickster, and it takes different forms.

If you’re Indigenous, you know this inherently as fact.

If you’re Indigenous, you know this trauma through your life growing up, either on reserve or off-reserve, in which your entire youth is spent seeing for yourself what drugs and alcohol can do to a friend, a sister, a mother or a father. You feel for yourself the defeat and anger from a missing family member or of the police’s dismissal of your brother’s death. You wonder why these experiences are so common in your family: what makes us different from everyone else? Of course, society feeds you the idea that you and your culture are damaged.

You’re seen as less than human; a victim of harsh government policy but it should be okay now since ‘Indians have it easy’.

In fact, the ‘Indian’ experience is everything but.

COLUMNS

f Residential Schools:

Every Indigenous person either has a member of their family who has gone missing, or know of someone who has done so. Indigenous women are five times more likely to experience violence than any other population in Canada, and homicide rates of these women are four times more than non-Indigenous women.

Indigenous people are targeted systemically and maliciously purely because of their identity. Residential schools gave us a terrorizing, isolating reality and the government failed to give us any tools on how to escape it. The forced assimilation that was inherent to residential school policy was unforgiving and damaging. During the time that Indigenous children attended, which was for the large majority of the year, expressing Indigenous culture was punished, children were forbidden to speak their Native language, colonial religious customs and English-speaking was the only acceptable outlet for children to explore their development, and a large majority of children were abused, physically, emotionally and sexually.

Children were forced away from their mothers and fathers, their only lessons on nurture and child development being their experience within their trauma.

Of course, not all experiences in residential schools were like this for every Indigenous person. Some were fortunate, in the fact that they had a (thankfully) comfortable experience, visiting their families on the holidays. Yet behind this comfort and thankfulness is what I’m trying to convey: these children were still being ripped away from their family and culture. The fact that some did not face abuse or neglect within these schools does not mean that their quality of life stayed the same. Culture was still lost, family ties were broken, love and nurture was scarce. We need to remember though that for Indigenous children growing up, that was being lucky.

What people fail to understand is the generational trauma this instilled on Indigenous communities. This was intentionally done by the government; to give Indigenous populations slim chances of survival since the children coming out of these residential schools would have no idea how to function without self-destruction.

The government themselves were certain that Indigenous populations would kill themselves off through the rigorous assimilation they were subject through. What happened when Indigenous culture survived was simple; Indigenous people were and continue to be systematically oppressed and harmed by the government, and Indigenous lives are not deemed valuable. We have communities that are rife with abuse, addiction and financial struggle, with diminished quality of housing, unclean water, and reserves that are isolated from any larger community (which is not a coincidence, either).

Indigenous culture and communities are consistently fighting to break out of this intergenerational cycle, but how can we? Trauma is immortal in the fact that it is continued through connected lives. It’s in this way that the destructive legacy of residential schools lives on and will continue to live on. It’s my place as an Indigenous person to educate those around me on what this trauma means, and to not beg for pity but to demand understanding of the reality of this country and of the Indigenous families, struggling addicts, homeless youth, young mothers, and residential school survivors around us. g

NOVEMBER 2020 7

REQUIRED READING

TEXT BREE MEIKLEJOHN ILLUSTRATION NATALY ZURIA

BEHIND? My first introduction to feminism was my mother telling me I was just as smart as any of the boys in my class, and that I was under no obligation to ever let them be mean to me without fighting back. As a first generation Canadian and the first woman in her family to go to university, my mom was always an advocate for my siblings and I seeking a higher education so as to not have to be dependent on anyone — let alone a man. These ideals helped shape my own sense of worth as a girl in our society, as they did with many other Gen Z feminists.

My mother’s generation was not the first to question the rules of their parents, but they perhaps had a quicker shift towards gender equality than previous ones. They also had the help of feminist icons of the era to help push the movement and whose legacy trickled down to my generation. One of these icons I heard my mother speak about was Ruth Bader Ginsberg (RBG). With the recent passing of the second female justice of the American Supreme Court comes the question of the complicated legacy she leaves and what it means for the next generation of feminists and who we choose to commemorate.

In the 1970s, as the second wave feminism movement was gaining traction, Ginsberg served as the co-founder of the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization that took the Reed v Reed case challenging the preference of men as estate administrators.

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As a result, the Supreme Court held that a classification based on sex was unconstitutional, and violated the equal protection clause. During that time, Ginsburg paved the way for the Equal Opportunity Credit Act, allowing women to open bank accounts and apply for credit cards and mortgages without a male cosigner. In 1972, she argued that the Air Force excluding pregnant women is sex discrimination, helping protect pregnant women in the workplace across the country.

In 1996, in the U.S.A v. Virginia case, she wrote that it was unconstitutional for state funded schools to bar women. More recently, in the Obergefell v. Hodges case of 2015, the notorious RBG’s vote swung the ruling to allow queer people the right to marriage.

As well, while she thought Roe v. Wade’s logic was flawed and should protect a woman’s right to equal protection rather than their right to privacy, RBG supported the outcome of the monumental piece of legislation that legally enforced a woman’s right to choose, and helped to enforce the separation of church and state.

These rulings continue to uphold the rights of American women and LGBTQ+ citizens, some of which may not be enjoyed without her input. As Canadians, these rulings helped

REQUIRED READING

WHO DOES JUSTICE LEAVE set a new precedent for women’s rights and gave credibility for the fight for gender equality internationally.

However, Ginsburg’s legacy is a complicated one. While Ginsburg was instrumental in the fight for gender equality, she also helped uphold colonial structures that infringe on the land rights of Indigenous peoples.

In June of this year, Ginsburg voted in favour of a permit for an 8 million dollar pipeline through the Appalachian Trail.

The majority decision found that the Appalachian Trail remains “federal lands” under Forest Service jurisdic-

tion. In 2016, she made dismissive comments about Colin Kapernick’s kneeling protests against police brutality, calling it “dumb and disrespectful,” a comment she would later apologize for. In Utah v. Strieff and Mullenix v. Luna, concerning unlawful searches and seizures and fatal police shooting respectively, Ginsburg did not join fellow justice Sonia Sotomayor in dissenting against the impact of police violence on BIPOC communities in particular. By dismissing issues of police brutality, an issue that disproportionately affects BIPOC people, Ginsburg not only is complicit in upholding a white colonial structure, she enabled it.

The ways in which she is only perceived as a hero stems from white feminism, a line of feminist thought unconcerned with BIPOC women and other marginalized communities. White feminism serves only women who still hold a fair amount of privilege within their racial, class, sexuality, and national identities while leaving members of less privileged groups behind in their fight.

For example, last August in Central Park, a statue of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth was unveiled, hailing them as women’s rights pioneers.

White feminism applauds this; intersectional feminism recognizes that Susan B. Anthony only fought for the rights of white, upper class women, and held the racist belief that Sojourner Truth wasn’t fully human because she was Black. In the 70’s, during RBG’s time on the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project, much of the women’s rights movements were products of white feminism and excluded queer, trans, and BlPOC women, leaving those intersectional identites to form their own movements.

Those who hold Ginsburg unaccountable for the full range of her rulings on the Supreme Court may be content to ignore her rulings that continue to colonize Indigenous land and her dismissal of the fight for human rights for Black Americans. But as intersectionality continues to stay an issue at the forefront of Gen Z’s consciousness, it’s important to consider all the ways in which RBG’s legacy affects minority groups, not just in the United States of America, but worldwide. White supremacy and hetero-patriarchy are global issues, and when a world power like the U.S.A makes these decisions, it only makes it more acceptable for other federal governments to sweep these issues under the rug. Ginsburg helped uphold gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights, but only as a part of a colonial system that harms Indigenous and Black people.

To be honest about Ginsburg’s legacy is to hold both these truths at the same time. It’s possible to be thankful for the progress she helped make, while also being critical of her shortcomings. Moving forward, our generation should keep these things in mind when deciding who we choose to call our heroes.

Moreso, we should use RBG as an example of why we should examine and critique our own ideas of feminism and equality, especially if our fight only benefits certain identities. When thinking about the legacies our generation will leave, it’s important to consider whose voices are uplifted, whose are being drowned out, and what systems we are upholding, intentionally or not.

May her memory be a revolution. May her memory inspire better. g

NOVEMBER 2020 9

FEATURE

perpetual revisions

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FEATURE

TEXT EMMA JONES VISUALS SOFIA CAPETTINI

This is a year unlike any other (in case you haven’t heard yet, these are “unprecedented times”), and amongst everything that is going on in 2020, it’s also the 110th anniversary of The Gateway student newspaper here at the University of Alberta. Not only is that an important anniversary to look back on, but fundamental shifts in the ways we live our lives — like the world going into lockdown — always inspire a little reflection. There’s nothing like a good crisis to make us take stock of our history and purpose as an institution, and all of us here at The Gateway have been considering where we’ve come from and thinking about where we’re hoping to go over the next 110 years.

COVID isn’t the first crisis The Gateway has weathered. In 1911, only a year after its founding, two editors contracted typhoid, leading to a reduced publication of only six issues that year.

During the First World War, over 200 U of A students enlisted and were sent overseas.

The Gateway published an editorial that year stating, “Our object, primarily, in publishing the paper this year is to forward it to the front.”

The goal was to keep students informed of the U of A’s goings-on even from thousands of miles away. During that time, The Gateway was forced to stop publishing for a time because of an influenza outbreak. This year, students aren’t fighting against any overseas combatants, but we are all fighting our own personal battles amidst the pandemic, and The Gateway has endeavoured to keep students informed about all of the changes taking place at the university and in all of our lives through this crisis.

Amongst the turmoil of the last 110 years, The Gateway has been a resilient institution, making the gradual transition from a twice-weekly printed paper, to a once-weekly printed paper, to a monthly magazine with daily online content. Back in the days of the printed newspaper, editors used to put in upwards of 70 hours a week producing articles, taking photos, designing layouts, and assembling the final product. Mike Kendrick, The Gateway’s Editor-in-Chief from 2008 to 2010, describes the painstaking process as a labour of love.

“There was a long-running joke between the editors at that time that you were just a part-time student and a full-time editor,” says Kendrick.

“And full-time meaning that everyone was working like 80 hours a week.” At the same time, he says, “it didn’t feel like work. Everyone was very dedicated.” His now-wife Kelsey Kendrick, who worked in Design and Production at the same time, agreed.

“We had a lot of pride in it,” she says.

When the paper was printed twice a week, editors would assemble on Mondays and Wednesdays for press nights finalizing the paper, often with last-minute dashes to take photos, make edits, or rearrange layouts. “As the night went on it would get progressively more mad,” says Erika Thorkelson, the Arts and Entertainment Editor from 2001 to 2002, “and I would be able to measure how the night was going by the size of David Zieben [the Production Editor]’s hair. He would start running his fingers through his hair out of stress.”

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, the paper would be printed and delivered to campus, where the distribution team — termed the Circulation and Public Affairs Liaisons, or CircPALs — would pick it up. “We had a nondescript white van,” says Kelsey Kendrick. “It was kind of weird and cool first thing in the morning to randomly drive everywhere, because people will let you drive anywhere if you’re in a big white van.

They don’t ask any questions — lawns, sidewalks, jumping the curb, it’s all good.”

Over time, The Gateway paralleled the transition that most media outlets were making, scaling back its print production and increasingly emphasizing digital content. The Gateway has

been through so many iterations over the past 110 years that it can be hard to compare year over year. Many students’ experience of The Gateway differs enormously based on the year they started reading. It is important, though, to take stock of the relationship between students and The Gateway big-picture, in order to try and understand how this newspaper can better serve the campus community.

I personally have spent a lot of this year reflecting on The Gateway’s legacy. When I worked as the Opinion Editor two years ago, I got used to reading Reddit hate threads and critical Facebook comments, but I regret not spending more time reflecting on my own work and how it fit into The Gateway’s complicated history. Now that I’ve had the chance to learn more about that history, it is abundantly clear to me that The Gateway has never been perfect and we should never pretend that it has. We’ve done a lot of growing as an institution over the past 110 years, and we have a lot of growing left to do.

The growth The Gateway goes through isn’t always linear. “The Gateway sort of operates in phases or cycles” says Alix Kemp, the Opinion Editor from 2010 to 2011, describing how the culture of The Gateway shifts every year with a new Editor-in-Chief, each of whom can dramatically change the direction of the organization. “Which is why you always end up with the people who say ‘the last time The Gateway was good was when I was there. By its nature The Gateway is going to change.”

“...I would be able to measure how the night was going by the size of David Zieben [the Production Editor]’s hair.

He would start running his fingers through his hair out of stress.”

OCTOBER 2020 11

FEATURE There are, however, some broad trends we can observe. For example, since 1993 only 5 out of the 27 Editors-in-Chief have been women — a meagre 18 per cent. Kemp says “I didn’t feel like The Gateway was an ‘old boys club’ when I worked there, but it did sort of become that after I left.”

The Gateway has been criticized for a male-centric culture at various times in its history, and those criticisms are definitely warranted.

That being said, The Gateway has also been a place for women writers to get their first big break, and many of the alumni I interviewed for this article spoke to me about the importance of The Gateway in giving them a platform and helping them overcome their fears. The broader media landscape is often also male-dominated, and places like The Gateway are often where women reporters get an opportunity to prove themselves.

Uzma Rajan, a staff writer from 2003 to 2006,

says that The Gateway was a really supportive space that helped her overcome her fear of publishing. “I was very much one of those people who was like ‘I don’t know if this is good enough’,” she says. Rajan now works as a writer, and credits The Gateway for making her career possible. “The Gateway played a really big role in helping me put my writing out into the world.”

Erika Thorkelson believes that a big part of her getting the job at The Gateway was a recommendation from a fellow woman editor who came before her. “The year that I applied to work at The Gateway it was me and two or three other guys who were applying for the position.”

Thorkelson says everyone was certain one of the male candidates would get the job, so much so that the prospective editor was speaking to volunteers as though he had already been hired, but the former News Editor, who was a woman, fought for

“The Gateway sort of operates in phases or cycles... Which is why you always end up with the people who say ‘the last time The Gateway was good was when I was there. By its nature The Gateway is going to change.”

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Thorkelson to be hired instead. “That taught me so much about what it means to be a woman in media and in writing. It means going to bat for the next person, and I really appreciate that a great deal.”

Alix Kemp, in fact, used their platform as a Gateway writer to criticize what was then called the Women’s Studies department for teaching what Kemp saw as a narrow and exclusive version of feminism. “I am, and was at the time, out as being non-binary,” says Kemp. “I had taken some classes that I just really didn’t like because they were filled with white cis straight girls who were talking about how inclusive feminism was and how they’d never felt like an outsider.”

Kemp wrote about their concerns, and their articles sparked controversy all across campus.

“I had a woman come up to my office and tell me that I was giving ammunition to men’s rights activists” they say. Kemp recalls being recognized on campus and in stores on Whyte Avenue as a Gateway editor, and both students and professors wanting to discuss their articles.

Kemp’s series of articles about the Women’s Studies department caused so much controversy on campus that a Women’s Studies professor put one of the articles on her exam, asking students to respond to Kemp’s contentions about feminism and intersectionality. Since then, the department has pivoted to a much more intersectional view

FEATURE of feminism. The department has even shed its former name and is now called the Women and Gender Studies department, and though the name change cannot be officially attributed to Kemp’s articles, The Gateway has proven countless times over the years to be a vital platform for students like Kemp to express their grievances with the university.

It is important that The Gateway take this responsibility as a platform for student voices seriously, and that includes a dedication to the diversity of those voices. This year, that has included a series of partnerships with campus cultural groups, including the Black Students’ Association and the International Students’ Association, as well as a recurring Indigenous Students’ Column in every printed magazine. However, it will take more than a few columns to ensure that The Gateway is able to uplift the voices of all students, especially as an institution founded in whiteness and colonization.

Even the selection of the name “The Gateway” in its founding issue speaks to a long colonial history. AE Ottwell, the first-ever Editor-in-Chief of The Gateway, wrote in his inaugural remarks in the paper that “Gateway” was chosen because the University of Alberta, at the time, was “standing at the portal of a great underdeveloped and practically unknown region, rich in potential-

ities of future greatness.” Of course the parts of Canada to the West of us were not unknown to the Indigenous people living on those territories, and the “future greatness” Ottwell was envisioning ostensibly amounted to the colonial occupation of those lands. Ottwell decried the importance of “a publication worthy of the institution, the gateway of the Last West and of opportunity,” mimicking the classic colonial rhetoric of discovery and opportunity for settlers.

The Gateway is supposed to belong to all students, and it is our responsibility to work against that colonial framework our institution is built upon. A guest column won’t fix all of that, and it is crucial that The Gateway dedicate itself to justice for Indigenous students every day.

April Hudson, the News Editor from 2012 to 2013, puts it well when she says that “The Gateway is all about people. The people you interact with, why things are important. There are a lot of journalists out there who lose track of the people side of journalism, but that’s really what it’s all about.”

The Gateway represents a community of student writers, editors, illustrators, and photographers, but it also serves the broader community at the University of Alberta and exists in direct relationship with that community. The campus community are both the people that

The Gateway keeps informed and the people The Gateway informs about. That relationship can be rocky, and it certainly has been during various times.

“To get noticed, we had to be a bit disruptive,” says Sam Brooks, a longtime volunteer from 2007 to 2012. Back in the day of the print newspapers, classic favourites like The Getaway, the satirical edition, and the Purity Test, a quiz of vices, got the highest pickup, and editors occasionally tried to create a similar spark in the weekly content.

Adam Pinkowski, a volunteer from 2013 to 2015, described to me a particularly controversial edition that included a photograph of a flacid penis covered in rhinestones. “It was when vajazzling became a thing,” Pinkowski says. “That was hugely controversial and there was a lot of bite-back with that one, but pick up was really high that week.

Sex sells I guess!”

“We had a sense of humour and would play around with the student body,” describes Erika Thorkelson, and there was clearly a strong relationship between The Gateway and students during her time on staff. “People used to talk about articles in The Gateway in class,” she says. “There was a lot of conversation that went on.”

For a long time, The Gateway had a very unique relationship with one group on campus: Engineering students. The Getaway, the edition of

OCTOBER 2020 13

FEATURE satirical news The Gateway publishes every year, was actually created by Engineering students in the 1950s to mock The Gateway’s genuine content. It appears as though a series of jabs were exchanged back and forth between The Gateway and the Engineering Students’ Society (ESS) during the decade, including a kidnapping of The Gateway’s pet rat that was attributed to the ESS, and culminating in the Editor-in-Chief Bob Scammell having his feet encased in cement in the basement of an engineering building.

There is no longer a fiery rivalry between The Gateway and Engineering students, but it is still very much an area of growth for the institution to ensure that student voices from all faculties are represented. “I’m an odd duck in that the whole time I was working for The Gateway, I was an engineering student and I got an engineering degree,” says Brooks. “People were always shocked that I was in engineering.” Unfortunately Brooks would still be an “odd duck” at The Gateway now, as Gateway writers and editors majoring in engineering are still relatively few and far between.

One of the most important relationships The Gateway has on campus is with the Students’ Union. The Gateway is the only news source that covers student politics on campus, and students involved in governance are also an important readership base. The relationship between the two has looked very different at various times in the past 110 years. Ottwell was the first SU President in 1911, overlapping with his second term as Editor-in-Chief at The Gateway. For a long time The Gateway operated under the umbrella of the Students’ Union, leading to all kinds of scandal and drama between the competing interests of the two entities.

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In 1972, Gateway staff elected Ron Yakimchuk as Editor-in-Chief, but the decision was quickly overturned by Students’ Council, who replaced Yakimchuk with an American named Terri Jackson who was considered more friendly to Council’s interests. Several Gateway staff went on strike under Jackson’s leadership, accusing her of turning the paper into an “impersonal rag,” and some former writers started a competing paper called the Poundmaker.

Perhaps even more scandalously, The Gateway published an editorial about the resignation of the Students’ Union General Manager in 1978, prompting a lawsuit from the General Manager himself. Being still ultimately in charge of The Gateway, Students’ Council was forced to pay the then ex-General Manager $250 to drop the suit.

Finally, in 2002, the referendum granting The Gateway its independence from the Students’ Union passed, with 71.4 per cent of students voting in favour. As the two entities went their separate ways, Kelsey Kendrick says the relationship evolved. “The relationship with the SU was

friendly adversarial,” says Kendrick, “almost like a sports rivalry.” That rivalry occasionally hit some rough patches, like when, as Kendrick reports, SU executives would physically try to block the distribution team from picking up freshly printed Gateway papers when the executives felt that the upcoming stories showed them in a negative light.

Sam Brooks says that overall the relationship between The Gateway and the SU looks a lot like the relationship between any journalists and the politicians they cover — generally cordial and professional, with the occasional shared beers at RATT. “At the end of the day everybody still got along and went to the same parties,” says Alix Kemp.

Covering SU elections has always been one of the most crucial jobs of The Gateway, and election night is a memory near and dear to many writers’ hearts. “It was the best simulation you could ever ask for of what a breaking-news newsroom goes through,” says Brooks. “I’ve been in the [Edmonton] Journal’s newsroom during a provincial election and it’s actually incredibly the same atmosphere.”

“It was the best simulation you could ever ask for of what a breaking-news newsroom goes through... I’ve been in the [Edmonton] Journal’s newsroom during a provincial election and it’s actually incredibly the same atmosphere.”

FEATURE During Kemp’s time on staff, part of the Gateway office was used as extra storage space for SU campaigns, meaning that candidates would store their campaign materials and supplies there.

“Both sides would set up these tape lines,” says Kemp, “basically saying ‘no hacks allowed in the Gateway office and no newspaper hounds allowed [in the SU space]’.”

While it is sometimes necessary to make tape lines on the floor in exceptional circumstances like an election, I sincerely hope that The Gateway breaks down more walls than it creates. It is certainly an institution with a storied history — alumni at various times have lovingly referred to it as “the leaky deathship” and “an entertaining nuisance.” While I’m not proud of everything The Gateway has done, I’m proud to be part of an institution that dedicates itself to the community that it serves, and gets a little better at fulfilling that mission every year.

Back in the very first edition of The Gateway in 1910, AE Ottwell wrote “an honest effort will be made towards constant improvement.” That was a

promise made to students at the University of Alberta, made to you by The Gateway right from the start. What The Gateway means to me is student journalists devoting themselves to that promise with every article they write, photograph they take, or illustration they draw. I know those words have guided The Gateway for the past 110 years, and I can only hope that they continue to inspire staff and volunteers alike for the next 110 years to come. g

OCTOBER 2020 15

REQUIRED READING

TEXT REMI HOU ILLUSTRATION SOFIA CAPETTINI

I

magine the University of Alberta in the 1964–65 school year.

The planning for the Centennial Centre of Interdisciplinary Sciences (CCIS) was still decades away and Walter H. Johns was the president of the university.

Evidently, much has changed since the university’s 56th year, but at least one thing has watched the Green and Gold campus grow all these years: the Orchesis Dance Performance Group.

Originally founded at the University of Wisconsin by Margaret H’Doubler, a physical education professor, Orchesis programs found their way across the border and into the country of the maple leaf. Dorothy Harris, professor of dance in the faculty of physical education and recreation (currently the faculty of kinesiology, sport and recreation), introduced this program to the University of Alberta in 1964, filling a dance vacancy in the province’s capital city.

However, there’s more to this dance group than meets the eye. While superficially, audience members may be awestruck at the intricate choreography and spectacular lighting displays, this group means much more than the performances to its members.

Wendy Gervais, a dancer in Orchesis in the 1980s and an instructor for the Orchesis program for 30 years, recounts fondly her experience during her time with this pioneering group. “When I came on board, I was dancing newly in Edmonton. Orchesis just seemed a very inclusive place, and especially a safe place to be when you didn’t know anybody,” she said. “But it wasn’t so much just safe; it was invigorating to come among these people who were dancing just for the love of dance.”

Gervais describes the group as a safe space for everyone. “There are no biases, not

16 GTWY.CA

just age, but sexual orientation, gender, race, there are none,” she said. “I know hardly any organization that does inclusivity so well.”

Orchesis started out as a class, led by Dorothy Harris, which was mandatory for students in the faculty of physical education and recreation — and it was greatly supported by the dean at the time, Maury Van Vliet.

These students ended up performing in the former dance studio E-19 (currently VVC 1-220) and very quickly, it evolved into an annual tradition.

Tamara Bliss, who served as the Orchesis Dance Performance Group director, dance teacher and choreographer from 1995 to 2018, reflected on the diverse options for students interested in dance. “Orchesis began predominantly in the modern dance era, in the 1920s when it was started about a hundred years ago. But it includes other genres: jazz dance, musical theatre dance, ballet, anything” She also shared with great enthusiasm about how much she saw the group grow during her time there. “I feel that over the time I was directing this program, which was at least 23 years, it achieved a pretty high level of proficiency and a degree of professionalism that many universities and colleges don’t get to experience unless these students are actually in a professional program,” Bliss recounts.“Many of these students never planned to become professional dancers nor did they want to,” Bliss continues. “But they wanted to perform at the highest level possible and — myself, advisors and other faculty who teach in the Orchesis program — we wanted to produce the highest level of quality in our performances”

REQUIRED READING

But the impacts of this dance group upon its members do not stop once they graduate.

Some have taken what they have learned and expanded it to greater causes. Lindsay Eales, a former Orchesis student, started her own company called CRIPSiE. The aim of this company is to help people with varying abilities and disabilities to start dancing and performing.

Not only do the skills remain with former members, but the people they meet through the group also make an impact on them.

“It is incredible how all those Orchesis friends I have known for [...]the past 30 years are still part of the fabric of my life,” Gervais said. “Whether they are still dancing or not, [Orchesis] was very important to them and very important to me.”

When asked about whether they have stopped participating as much after retiring, both Bliss and Gervais were happy to assure that their involvement is far from over. “I am more involved than I was in the past because in the last even just five years,” Gervais eagerly informs. “I have been in every [Motif] production and involved in so many different ways.”

Other than Gervais, many other past dancers and instructors remain on the board to help support Orchesis.

In 2011, the Orchesis Dance Society, a non-profit organization, was started as a way to support this group.

“We find ways to raise money if at all possible to help support [Orchesis] projects,” Bliss explained. “Occasionally a little tour if there is something available like that.”

Each year, Orchesis has its Dance Motif, a week-long event in January in Myers Horowitz Theatre where dancers and choreographers rehearse their pieces and present them at the end of the week: it is quite a popular attraction.

“The Myer Horowitz Theatre has a maximum of about 700 seats,” describes Bliss. “We typically have only the bottom area sold out although we have had over 700 attend, but the bottom area takes up about 500 seats give or take a few [...] it is full most of the time.”

With the current pandemic that is causing much disruption to the world, the annual Motif will be looking very different this year.

Current plans appear to point at some socially distanced pieces performed in the Dorothy Harris Studio in the faculty of kinesiology, sports and recreation. Choreographers will be adapting their art and translating it to the screen, utilizing this new medium to portray their work. However, while in some ways disappointing, this approach also brings along with it anticipation as to what intriguing performances will be developed.

“I find it all quite exciting and challenging,” Gervais says with anticipation.

“I look forward to what it’s going to look like this year.”

Whether virtual or in-person, whether fifty years ago or today, all Orchesis members live by an ever present motto which Dorothy Harris has infused into everyone of her students: Everyone has rhythm and everyone can dance. g

NOVEMBER 2020 17

THE STUDIO

t h g i s Hind 0 2 0 2 is T E X T TH

FIA C UALS SO IS V Y A E GATEW

APETTIN

This is my second year on staff at The Gateway, and no other job I’ve had compares to this. One interesting thing I’ve learned at the job, and continue to learn every single day, is that The Gateway is very truly a student lead organization, every single step of the way.

That level of freedom and autonomy to run this now 110 year old organization, as a group of young people in our 20s, is simultaneously the most amazing experience and a humongous responsibility! The staff members of The Gateway are all students, and we’re all learning and growing together alongside this institution.

To be honest, like many other news media organizations, The Gateway started off as a very male-dominated, old boys club. There was simply not enough representation of people of colour, and not enough focus on outreach to marginalized groups on campus. But — for many, many years, inspiring women, people of colour, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community have worked to actively dismantle the not-so-good histories of representation in media, and I am where I am today because of their hard work.

— Pia Co, Online Editor

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I

On November 21, 2020, we’ll be celebrating our 110th year anniversary.

In this retrospective time, some members of our staff looked back on their experience working at The Gateway so far. Here are some of our favorite things that we have learned on the job!

One of my favourite things to do at The Gateway is trawl through our one hundred years of archives and read articles from decades ago. It’s like stepping into a time machine. Each issue of The Gateway is a snapshot in time of what it’s like to be a student at the University of Alberta. My favourite pieces will always be what got me into the game: the cartoons and comics, of which The Gateway has a rich history (Bub Slug, anyone?). But when I read through many decades of publishing, the common factor that I see is the shared experience. The Gateway isn’t just a paper — it’s a project. It is a mosaic of the thousands of people who have contributed to it over the years.

Here’s a tidbit: Did you know that the creator of Bejeweled, Jason Kapalka, is a Gateway alumnus?

We truly do stand on the shoulders of giants.

It is a privilege to be the webmaster for our twenty five thousand monthly readers and dozens of hardworking contributors. Like the proverb: “I ask not for a lighter server load, but for broader shoulders.”

Thanks for reading!

— Hugh Bagan, Webmaster

THE STUDIO

I worked as the Opinion Editor at The Gateway from 2017-2018, which means that I got to cover the huge student protests against tuition increases that year.

Huge swaths of students came out to show their discontent, attending town halls in such large numbers that overflow rooms had to be booked, and marching through campus to President Turpin’s office to demonstrate there.

It was my first experience of student activism on that scale, and it was a privilege to get to add my opinion to the conversation. I have always been enormously grateful to The Gateway for giving me, and so many other students, a voice, and I really felt the power of that voice during those protests. My friends, who I didn’t even know read The Gateway, stopped me in the hallways to comment on my articles, and it was the first time I really felt like my writing could make a difference.

I hope that every other student contributor gets an opportunity to feel the power their voices can have, and I know that The Gateway will continue to be a platform for those voices for the next 110 years to come.

— Emma Jones, Marketing & Outreach Coordinator

Writing for The Gateway has taught me countless skills, such as learning to write ledes or how to conduct an interview. However, the important lesson I learnt through writing for the Opinion section wasn’t something new but rather something I had to re-learn: how to find my own voice.

Throughout my two years at the University of Alberta, I had become a much more anxious person than I was before. While I loved what I learnt, the stress I incurred through classes and extracurriculars caused me to become hesitant when making decisions. Instead of following my instincts, I was unsure of them, double-guessing myself constantly.

This changed when I started writing for the Opinion section in my third-year. With the help of my phenomenal editor, I started writing columns on a variety of topics affecting students. While I learnt countless things about campus through writing for The Gateway, I learnt even more about myself. I started taking pitches for stories I knew little about but subsequently became invested in.

I took more risks in my writing and found unique angles on issues because of it. I learnt to stop hesitating and follow my instincts when writing.

In this process, I was able to find my voice again through analyzing issues on campus. For me, this is the importance of The Gateway: equipping students with the ability to look at a story and subsequently find themselves within it. For that, I’ll be forever thankful.

The beauty of writing for The Gateway is the freedom I’ve had to explore my interests as a writer, and I can’t think of a better example of that than the weekly satirical gambling series I wrote in my third year as a volunteer.

I got the idea for the series in the fall of 2018, back when the buzz around Donald Trump’s possible impeachment was reaching a fever pitch. One day I happened to look up the betting odds of Trump finishing his first-term — partly out of curiosity but also to see if the rest of the world was as hopeful as I was — and what I stumbled upon was a strangle (legal) corner of the internet where people were betting on everything from Oscar winners to Bigfoot sightings. I immediately saw the potential for something different, and after sending a few emails back and forth with the Opinion Editor at the time, “The Degenerate’s Corner” was born.

Over the course of ten weeks between late 2018 and early 2019, I got to write about the odds of P. Diddy becoming the next James Bond, Oprah hosting Jeopardy, Jeff Bezos winning Time Person of the Year, and Kim Jong Un’s face being added to Mount Rushmore. It was a weekly exercise in silliness, but it was also some of the most valuable writing I had done up to that point. Rather than being given an essay question to respond to or assigned a story by my editor, I was able to create the story from scratch.

Writing “The Degenerate’s Corner” wasn’t just the most fun I had ever had as a writer, but it was also incredibly eye opening. Coming out of high school I had only been taught to write one thing, and that was essays.

Working for The Gateway, I was able to try out styles and forms I was completely unfamiliar with, and with “The Degenerate’s Corner” I got to see the fruition of all that exploration in the most wonderfully ridiculous way possible.

— Tom Ndekezi, Arts and Culture Editor

— Mitchell Pawluk, Opinion Editor NOVEMBER 2020 19

THE GALLERY

HISTORY IN PHOTOS

TEXT CHRISTIEN FORD

Photographs have been used to draw attention, capture emotion, and tell stories ever since The Gateway's beginning over a century ago. We decided to find some of the most attention-grabbing, emotional, or interesting photos published by The Gateway.

University of Alberta Training Corps Unknown Photographer, 1915

Ball dropped on field by plane prior to opening game between Varsity Polar Bears nad Edmonton Hi-Grads Unknown Gateway Photographer, 1936

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THE GALLERY

Officers in Training at Sarcee Camp before deployment.

Many were University of Alberta students.

Unknown Photographer, 1942

Seismograph mockup showing the ground movement caused by the Milrow nuclear test in Amchitka, Alaska captured

by University of Alberta geophysicists.

Unknown Photographer, 1969

NOVEMBER 2020 21

THE GALLERY

Fred Hampton, prominent activist and member of the Black Panther Party, visits the University of Alberta to discuss the Black Panther Party platform with students.

He would be assassinated two weeks later.

Terry Malanchuk, 1969

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THE GALLERY

A suspected case of arson occurred in a residence in HUB mall.

Grant Wurm, 1977

NOVEMBER 2020 23

THE GALLERY

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu gives a lecture on human rights and racism, in a week coinciding with the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Chul-Ahn Jeong, 1998

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THE GALLERY

The Golden Bears win their first CIAU championship in men’s basketball in their 83 year history. They would go on to win another championship the following year.

Kevin Gulayets, 1994

Students stand in SUB shocked as news of the September 11 terrorist attacks unfold on TV. Mark Wells, 2001

4979 students participate in a worldrecord setting game of dodgeball. This was the third time the University of Alberta claimed the Guiness World Record for largest game of dodgeball.

Matt Hirji, 2012

THE GALLERY

The bronze Alberta Bear is unveiled to commemorate the grand opening of the Physical Activity and Wellnes (PAW) Centre and the 50th anniversary of the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation.

Christina Varvis, 2015

Climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks during a climate strike at the Alberta Legislature.

Helen Zhang, 2019

THE GALLERY

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at a memorial for victims of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 held in the Saville Community Sports Centre. Ten members of the University of Alberta community were lost to the crash.

Helen Zhang, 2020

NOVEMBER 2020 29

COLUMNS

TEXT ADAM LACHACZ VISUALS SOFIA CAPETTINI

Getting into medical school is a feat in and of itself. To do it alongside your twin brother is another level.

Twins John Christy Johnson and Peter Anto Johnson beat the odds by doing just that: both applying and successfully getting into medical school at the University of Alberta. The two brothers didn’t know fully what they wanted to do prior to their undergrad. Once they were immersed in their degrees, the two started to dream of getting into medical school to have the opportunity to become physicians or researchers helping to push the boundaries of medicine.

Both Johnsons have begun their first-year of medical school. Prior, the twins completed honours degrees in science focusing on physiology. John is co-completing his studies in medicine alongside his masters of science in biomedical engineering. Peter completed his thesis-based masters in medical sciences under the department of pediatrics researching heart rate assessments for newborn babies.

The two applied to medical schools in third-year of their undergrads hoping to get in somewhere. They weren’t successful and ended up applying again next year with the same unfortunate result. The two decided to pursue masters degrees and then apply again for medical school.

“That was a turning point for us,” Peter said. “After two unsuccessful tries we decided to gain experience through a masters.”

For John, a large factor that helped him get to medical school was that he had such a knowledgeable brother to support him but also offer some competition.

“We would compete with each other.

I would feel more motivated to do certain things when I saw my brother doing it,” John said. “Obviously it can be healthy, but at times it could be unhealthy. We learned pretty quick how to hone in on those healthier aspects.”

John added that the two of them would study independently but then quiz and race each other on who could learn material faster. “When we were preparing for our MCATs it was really helpful to have this partner to

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rely upon to keep me on-task but also could offer different explanations of concepts that I might have not understood fully.”

“It was that coming together after learning material — debating about it, pointing out wrong understandings, and offering different memory tricks — that enhanced our learning,” Peter said. “I’d recommend having a reliable study partner not just to those preparing for the MCAT but for any university class.”

Throughout their time at the university, the Johnsons participated in several research projects, clubs, and founded companies and clubs. John was a former president of the undergraduate physiology students’ association and was a member of the faculty

association. Additionally, John was part of the Student Health Community which acts as a bridge between different campus health-related groups to implement change and advocacy. He was president of TEDxUAlberta as well during the COVID-19 pandemic when their events had to be pushed to the online domain.

John helped to found Click & Push Accessibility Inc., a student-led startup developing devices and mobile applications to allow those with disabilities to access an atlas with environmental conditions and accessibility concerns. This would allow people with accessibility issues to plan ahead and decide how difficult it would be to get to their destination, preventing overexertion.

JOHN & PETE

COLUMNS

The company is still a work in progress that John is involved within.

John was also heavily involved in the Sensory Motor Adaptive Rehabilitation Network Technology (SMART) group that uses interdisciplinary expertise to create knowledge and technology to better inform future medical devices and innovative rehabilitation strategies.

For him, participating in student politics allowed him to learn useful communication and diplomacy skills he relies on. Being a part of a start-up taught him the skills it takes to work with a team and solve complex problems with limited time.

“My undergrad was definitely the peak of my university career. It helped me build new connections, meet people, and enjoy the best of what campus-life has to offer,” John said.

“The friends I made in my undergrad are all people I will have lifelong connections with. Even now we are still staying in touch despite the pandemic.”

“Being so involved really helped me

translate what I was learning in-class with the real world. I hear so many friends ask why we are learning what we learn in class. I got to see that first-hand and learn even more.”

Peter agreed with John and added that being involved in campus clubs gave him the opportunity to actually strengthen class knowledge and expand it.

“Getting involved on campus was the best decision I could have ever made,” Peter said. “I found learning in-class so much more interesting and easier because I could relate to the concepts in real-world applications or scenarios. It made me want to go to class more so I could then use those concepts in my research or work.”

Both John and Peter collaborated to create the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research Chapter for the U of A. The group helps to find students who enjoy research to connect them with mentors, resources, and opportunities to continue to learn and pursue research.

ER JOHNSON

Peter was involved for a number of years in UAlberta Run and Support for Health (RUSH), a student charity supporting other charitable causes by hosting running and exercise events. He helped to found the Physical Literacy for Active Youth Program (PLAY) to help lead children at elementary schools and daycare centres in physical activity and education. PLAY helps to teach children about effective exercise strategies and pair students with mentors to show positive physical and mental health. Peter’s involvement on campus also included being a part of the Interdisciplinary Science Students’ Society (ISSS) and Graduate Students’ Association.

For Peter getting involved in different organizations and clubs actually helped him remain balanced in his studies. “It actually gave me a great opportunity to have breaks where I wasn’t worrying about those assignments or midterms,” he said. “I instead could do an exciting research project or go for a charity run, focus on the task at hand, and then come back and have a clear head to approach my academic studying after.”

The twins encouraged students to find a campus group or club to get involved in.

“Campus learning is only part of your experience at university,” Peter added. “A lot of the real learning you will get when you are part of a club or founding your own start-up is what will help you more in life — whether you are going to medical school or not.”

John echoed Peter’s remarks by saying getting involved made him a more well-rounded individual. “There are so many opportunities out there,” Peter added. “Even in a COVID-19 environment. I would recommend all students to get out there and find something they would like to try.”

“Academics, while important, will introduce you to what you might be passionate about. Actually getting involved in research opportunities or volunteering and being a member of a club will give you that first-hand experience to push your passion to the next level.”

The pair of U of A students have already left their mark by setting a legacy of new student groups. Now they’ll take their skills onward and set legacies in the field of medicine. g

Photo supplied by John Johnson & UAlberta Students

NOVEMBER 2020 31

v

DIVERSIONS

HOROSCOPE TEXT TINA TAI VISUALS SOFIA CAPETTINI

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

Not everything has to be perfect! Embrace imperfections for their authenticity and make room for “good enough.”

Chase after your dreams! Repeat words of affirmation to yourself!

Let your confidence grow and stop doubting yourself!

Keep working hard but remember to take more breaks and appreciate your loved ones!

Enjoy the sunshine every day.

It’s okay to speak up for yourself, so don’t let anyone make you feel bad for doing it. Now is the time to communicate your valuable insights!

NEWS • OPINION • ARTS & CULTURE • PHOTOGRAPHY • ILLUSTRATION

gtwy.ca/volunteer 32 GTWY.CA

DIVERSIONS

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

Keep wearing your mask and social distancing, you’re doing a good job! This might also be a good month to really get into Among Us.

Communication is an acquired skill and sometimes it’s more important to listen than to speak. Always evaluate what others are saying judiciously!

Less is more. Live more lowkey this month to find internal validation and a better understanding of yourself.

Let go of feelings of imposter syndrome! Also, open your blinds and let the sunlight in, your skin needs it to make vitamin D.

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Treat yourself kindly and get relaxed with a good book. Your schedules may be hectic but find time to be at peace.

Get creative! Have you been wanting a new tattoo? Another piercing? Plan out your next bold move for when it’s safer to go outside and do so!

Don’t blame Mercury in retrograde! Do some self reflection and start making positive changes for you! Get those blue light filter glasses!

Is something dramatic going on, again? Take some time away from social media this month and invest in new hobbies.

Hobbies that don’t include screen time. g

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FM88.5

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s i n c e 1 9 8 4.

Tu n e i n L i st e n Vo l u n t e e r

Head to cjsr.com for more info & to start streaming!

DIVERSIONS

TEXT & PUZZLE KHADRA AHMED ACROSS 2. Credit to whoever wrote the article.

8. Grammarly can only provide you with a few of these; a process we still need humans for.

9. On or off?

12. Long-form, emotional, and human-centric journalism.

13. Hook in readers with this first line (the double ‘e’ way).

14. Advice _________ 16. The guide most Canadian news outlets use (shorthand style).

18. Opinion article, but make it a guest writer.

19. Opinion, Arts & Culture, and News all need someone to steer the ship.

20. Good or bad, an article to write after trying something new.

21. Extra, Extra, read all about it. Picture a child on a bike early in the morning… in the early 50’s.

Find answers on our website, gtwy.ca

34 GTWY.CA

DOWN 1. The first indication of what the article is about.

3. Comms people spend their day putting these together. (2) 4. You gotta read this right away!

5. Think ancient Egypt, but upside down.

6. Journalists have to get their information from somewhere.

7. Something both insurance agents and journalists use.

10. A function of computers used as slang for published press.

11. Usually contains the five W’s plus “how.”

15. Court, crime, and sports are all examples 17. An opinion article representing the news organization.

DIVERSIONS

november mag 1 2 3 4

5

6 7

8 9

10

11

12

13

14

15 16 17 18

19

20

21

Across 2. Credit to whoever wrote the article 8. Grammarly can only provide you with a few of these; a process we still need humans for 9. on or off?

12. long-form, emotional, and human-centric journalism 13. hook in readers with this first line (the double ‘e’

Down 1. the first indication of what the article is about 3. comms people spend their day putting these together (2) 4. You gotta read this right away!

5. Think ancient Egypt, but upside down 6. Journalists have to get their information from NOVEMBER 2020 somewhere

35

DIVERSIONS

ADVICE WITH

Parker the Pepper VISUALS SOFIA CAPETTINI

Q Dear Parker the Pepper, How do we approach the legacies of people and organizations who did incredible good in one area of their lives, but then had questionable beliefs in others, for example, Gandhi?

Sincerely, QuestionableBeliefs

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DIVERSIONS

A Dear QuestionableBeliefs, Thanks for the question!

Well, I think that this is a really serious and complex topic. I want to start off by saying that this is truly case dependent, in a lot of ways.

However, I’m comfortable with saying that anybody — especially if they’re somebody who is supposedly a really good figure in their communities, should be remembered for who they are as a whole.

That is, remembering the good they did, but also being cognizant of the harms that person perpetuated. I think this is something that is especially important when we think about politicians and leaders.

For example, although it is true that JK Rowling created a beloved series of books that ultimately was really important in making a lot of kids feel accepted, her own life hasn’t been very reflective of that, in her continued denial of recognition of trans people. The legacy of the Harry Potter series being important in helping a lot of LGBTQIA+ kids feel empowered, in a lot of ways, doesn’t belong to JK Rowling. It is a phenomenon beyond her.

Roald Dahl, best known for his novels Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, is a really well loved children’s storybook writer. However, he was deeply antisemitic and outspoken about it. Although many of us may have been enamored by his funny and macabre books, antisemitism was a core belief of Dahl’s. This being said, his children’s books were not the vehicle Dahl used to convey those views, and he passed long ago. I personally think it is up to people if they want to continue to consume his work, as long as they are mindful of his views, especially because they are not directly financing creation of new work (unlike Rowling).

Truly nobody is perfect. It is actually disingenuous to pretend as though that person didn’t have those harmful sides to them as well — it is part and parcel of what they have left behind, even if it isn’t good.

It’s important to note that for a lot of these people, they are proud of the negative aspects of their legacies, as for example Rowling is vocal about her negative views on trans people and Dahl was vocally antisemitic. People are complex, so naturally their legacies are too. What matters is what we do with legacies and how we learn from them. g Stay spicy, Parker the Pepper

NOVEMBER 2020 37